what we leave behind

VAI The huntress "So do I," Vai agreed as she gazed at the mobile, leaving Remi to place the infant in the makeshift crib in his own time and moving on to the shirts. "Hopefully it will keep her dreams sweet and her sleep restful." She knew a story or two about a mobile like that, or other trinkets that could do similar things, but she just didn't have it in her to tell them right now. Perhaps when Aoife was older, or perhaps just when Remi planned to sleep. She got the impression he would need it more than the baby right now. The smile may have only threatened on Remi's face, but Vai all but snorted as he began to suggest names for her. "Wow, I am not ready for that. You can choose - I'm sure it'll be suitably embarrassing, and make me feel old." Having set the shirts aside, she settled back to watch the alchemist. "It is impossible to spoil a baby," she said, smirking. "So I'm making the most of it now."

Slowly, like some sort of startled animal, the alchemist did indeed begin to move. His hands wrapped around the girl's developing ribs like protective claws, both wanting to move her, but also terrified to let her go. Each time she parted from him, all Remi could see was Ronin standing tall against the demon. How perfectly easy that moment had been when victory was just a breath away. And then it had all come crashing down. His fingers wrapped around her again, his chin lowering protectively over her as he hummed to himself, not quite ready to put her down. "I suppose I will have to work on my wind magic." He smirked to himself, watching the musical pieces gently jostle against one another. Looking up at her thoughtfully, Remi shrugged. "I never met my mother or fathers parents...Speaking of, I suppose you are due soon?" The alchemist didn't flinch at the thought that Vai's child and Aoife would be so similar in age. Ronin would probably have had a few quips about it. R Ǝ M I How dare you say it's nothing to me baby, you're the only light I ever saw

VAI The huntress "Until you do, you can always rely on mine," Vai murmured, gently blowing into the air towards the mobile; the wind picked up gently, setting it into a gentle spin. Smiling, she finished measuring out the shirts before glancing up to Remi. "Are you happy for me to cut squares out of these?" she asked, wanting to make sure he wouldn't regret it once she began. There were others, upstairs. She had made certain of that. It was sad, to hear how little family Remi had known, and Vai frowned to herself. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to be her nana, then." She shrugged, before glancing down at her bump and the child kicking within. "At the end of Flowerbirth, yes," she said, glancing back up at him and smiling. "Devrum will be beside himself, I am sure."

As the mobile began to turn, the alchemist relaxed significantly, just as entranced by it as Aoife was likely meant to be. And just like that, he rolled over slightly, cradling her ever so gently, and set her into the basket. Tucking the blankets up around her small chin, Remi glanced toward Sugar and wagged a finger. "No cold air from you. Not even for the mobile. Understood?" Likely the dragonling would want to help too, but the last thing Remi needed was for the girl to catch a cold simply because her dragon was a bit too keen. Looking at the shirt, Remi nodded. Had he always been this sentimental? With the loss of his memories it was truly hard to know. And they were just shirts after all. It wasn't like they were ever going to be more than that now. "You hear that? Nana. Shall we shoot for that being your first word then?" Leaning back against the hearth, Remi raised his hands above his head, cracking his back and groaning. He hadn't realized just how stiff he was, but now with Aoife curdled up safely in her basket, his body was more than happy to remind him. R Ǝ M I How dare you say it's nothing to me baby, you're the only light I ever saw

VAI The huntress Vai hid her smile as she watched Remi finally tuck the girl up in the basket, pretending to be concentrating wholly on cutting up the shirts now that she had been given the alchemist's approval. Her gaze flicked across to the dragonling in her den, arching an eyebrow as Remi addressed Sugar. "I'm surprised that she stayed with you all," she admitted softly. "Surprised and glad, obviously. She must have made a strong bond with you." Setting the shirt squares to one side so she could stitch them later, Vai sat back and tutted at Remi. "Her first word? Hardly. It will be papa, and I'll make damned sure of it," she said, a touch sadly. While he stretched and paid himself due attention, likely for the first time in a long time, the huntress moved to start preparing the stew in a pot over the fire. "How are your injuries?" she asked offhand. "You're still in your bloody clothes, so... probably not great, is my guess."

Glancing towards Sugar's den, Remi sighed sadly. "Like Aoife, this is the only home she has ever known." Steepling his hands, Remi broke out into a wry grin. "And I feed her. So I think that had won me a few points." Thoughtfully he paused and glanced towards Vai. "Do you think you could do some hunting for us? Or I suppose I could come by the Rathskeller..." He frowned. "I can take her out, right? As long as she is warm and safe?" Not realizing that now Papa would actually mean him, the alchemist just nodded, thinking it a fitting tribute to Ronin. "Ahh.." Frowning at himself, Remi looked down. "I suppose I should do something about that." Touching his shirt, alteration magic flowed through his fingers, removing the blood and fixing the tears. "Isla healed the burns on my hands and made everything else stable. I am stiff and sore but, ali—" Choking on the word, the alchemist lowered his head with a sigh. "I am fine." R Ǝ M I How dare you say it's nothing to me baby, you're the only light I ever saw

VAI The huntress "Yes, I suppose that's true. Especially the part about feeding her." Vai snorted softly; she'd be surprised if the little dragon didn't start prowling around at the scent of the food as it began to cook. At the mention of hunting, she shot him a look that suggested he didn't even need to ask. "Of course I can. I can drop things off to you, or you can come by the cabin with Aoife if you like," she said, before smiling to him. "Yes, it's alright. She survived being carried through Longnight with Ronin - she'll be perfectly fine as long as you keep her warm." Leaving the ingredients to simmer, Vai turned briefly to check on the sleeping child and coo over her, before moving to sit beside Remi while he altered his clothing. "Fine is probably pushing it too," she murmured, reaching out to rest her hand over his. "Aoife is perfect, though. She's fed and loved and protected, thanks to you." Probably at the cost of Remi's own health, but who the hell could stop him?

"I hope to give her a life that is so much more than survival." He replied with a smile, biting back on the words it is what Ronin and Vanya would have wanted. Inhaling deeply, Remi's stomach rumbled loud enough that he quickly glanced over to Aoife to make sure that it hadn't woken her. With a sheepish smile, he glanced towards Vai. "One of us apparently forgot to eat." He said with a laugh, but it was more true than he'd like to admit. Remi had ensured that both Aoife and Sugar were well taken care of. Isla could manage her life now just as well as she had when she was human, but in the midst of all of that, he'd entirely forgotten about himself. Indeed the mere smell made him suddenly ravenously hungry. "I am so glad you came." Remi admitted as Vai returned to mother over Aoife. "Sam was here earlier and I just...I.." Sighing he hung his head with shame, closing his eyes and rubbing at them with his fingers. "I remember nothing. And I see how he looks at me, I know what he wants and needs but I do not have it to give. He sat here so sweetly, just wanting to help, and I was so cruel to him." Remi said, raising his eyes and looking both weary and young. R Ǝ M I How dare you say it's nothing to me baby, you're the only light I ever saw

VAI The huntress "Your hope is well founded. I'll do my best, too, for you to make it happen." Vai smiled gently across at the sleeping infant and the tinkling mobile overhead. Her tranquil thoughts were interrupted, however, by what sounded like a dying beast in Remi's stomach, and the witch was forced to hide her laughter behind her hand to avoid waking the baby. "I am pretty certain it wasn't me," she told him, motioning to her very obviously pregnant belly, before shaking her head. "Luckily you won't have to wait long for it," she said, nudging him gently. As the humour faded from the conversation, Vai's smile turned sad. Silently, she reached out to wrap her arms around Remi in a hug that was as much for her as it was for him. "Now is not the time to feel guilty about reactions you can't help," she said softly to him, holding him close and tilting her head to rest it against the alchemist's curls. "Apologise, when you're ready. But don't dwell on it, not when your heart is already so heavy."

Wrapping his arms around Vai, Remi was content merely to feel physical contact in a way that didn't require anything additional from him. Vai always seemed to know what he needed and in what amounts, but what his heart really needed right now, was someone who just knew him. And Vai was that and so much more. Her advice about Sam made sense. Already over what he'd said and how he'd said it was overwhelming, and he very much doubted that Sam would ever forgive him for it. Though perhaps that was for the best ... with Aoife, Remi certainly was not in a position to be in a relationship, and clearly Ronin's death had affected him more than he'd realized. "I hear you are going to be taking over the infirmary?" Remi asked as they pulled apart. He might have just fallen asleep in Vai's embrace, content to be taken care of for once, but the rumbling of his stomach prevented it. R Ǝ M I How dare you say it's nothing to me baby, you're the only light I ever saw

VAI The huntress "Mm?" Vai raised an eyebrow as they parted, the witch giving Remi's shoulders a reassuring squeeze before she left once more to check on the stew bubbling away on the fire. "Yeah, I handed the Rathskeller over to Edrei. I think the responsibility will be good for her - and I couldn't stay there, knowing that Isla wasn't able to continue her work in the infirmary in the same way..." Giving the pot a stir and hunkering back on her knees, she gazed over her shoulder to the alchemist. "A few others have come forward, too. To help run the place - the Hollowed Ground has more healers than I thought, which is encouraging." She smiled. Not that it had made much of a difference in the interim, but Vai didn't mention that. She arranged a couple of bowls and, when the food was done, ladled it into them and offered one out to Remi. "That should make you feel a little more human."

"Edrei?" Remi repeated, a bit stunned. All his interactions with the fire-mage were mostly negative. Still, what he knew of her didn't lend itself to running an establishment well. But ... "Well, you always know what you're doing." He said with a light chuckle and shrug. He meant it too. "Yes she...has been quiet about that." Remi said, gazing towards one of the blackened windows as if suddenly the curtain would fall and there would be Isla with all the answers. He couldn't tell if it was her new body or his distracted mind that had made her feel so distant lately. But whatever it was, on the subject of the Infirmary she had been silent thus far. Gladly accepting the bowl, Remi inhaled deeply. The scent brought him back to when they'd first met, and how wonderful the stew had tasted then. Somehow he knew it wouldn't be the same...and yet it would be exactly what he needed. "How...how does magic work? What I've gained so far has just..happened. There seems to be nothing that I have done or not done to influence it. If I wanted to learn to heal...could such a thing be done?" He asked, blowing on a spoonful of stew to try and cool it. R Ǝ M I How dare you say it's nothing to me baby, you're the only light I ever saw

VAI The huntress "If you say so," Vai murmured with a grin about Edrei, though in all fairness the Launceleyn was very good at socialising (flirting, really). And as soon as those people got less friendly because things at the Rathskeller weren't running to plan, she was sure Edy would sort it out. Or set them on fire. Both were possibilities that Vai was prepared to deal with. She followed Remi's gaze to the blacked out windows as they spoke about Isla, the witch shifting to sit beside him, blowing on her own stew to cool it down. "She must miss the place," she said offhand, sighing and giving her bowl a stir. But it would be unfair on the former-doctor to speak for her, so she left the subject well enough alone. Remi and Isla could speak between them, so he was sure the alchemist would figure it out. In the meantime, though, he had raised a very interesting question. Vai considered him for a few moments, tentatively lifting a spoonful of stew to her lips. "Mm... I couldn't tell you. I mean, it's the same for me. But then I first realised I had healing magic when you were hurt, so maybe it manifested at that point? It's interesting... maybe I can try to teach you? See if you can learn?"

Blowing and causing steam to swirl around, Remi nodded attentively at Vai spoke. "Hmm.," He hummed under his breath. "A lot of my magic has been situational as well. Or...perhaps that is just how I discovered it. Perhaps there is more you and I can do, that we just have never had the opportunity to find out yet?" That seemed quite a strange thought, to think that they both might have latent abilities just waiting for the right set of circumstances to appear. "Yes, please." Remi grinned with an easy nod. Whether or not magic was the sort of thing he could learn, he was sure that he could pick up some knowledge from Vai, even if it was only meager first aid. R Ǝ M I How dare you say it's nothing to me baby, you're the only light I ever saw