Reverse bear trap

It's a strange rhythm that the Huntsman falls into once he's found the first fresh set of claw marks in the trunk of a tree. (And he swears he can hear the Greatwood screaming at his husband for such a thing). While the dragon within him wants to stalk and scent and prowl, the luxere feels much more like fleeing from the evidence of such an obviously dangerous presence. The result, then, is disappointingly human, and Ronin hikes through the trees much like any other man might, carefully keeping both sets of instincts under wraps lest he lose his mind and fling himself into the nearby river. Speaking of which, the symphony that the Stonesong has become makes its voice all too clear as Ronin draws close to the banks, turning his blue eyes up to the boughs that stretch overhead. It's with a smile on his lips that he brushes his fingers against what he hopes is the last tree trunk raked by claws, emerging onto the riverbank in search of the Lullaby. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

The Greatwood, both a friend and adversary to the Lullaby, seems to wisely keep itself out of this particular game. It offers no assistance to either man in helping or hindering their efforts, but instead seems to hold its breath so that the game might commence and conclude as quickly as possible.

Will Remi appear from the StoneSymphony, all tentacles and suckers looking to drag Ronin into its depths? Will he roar into flames declaring himself their campfire? Will he instead slip alongside Ronin's bones, cuddling his husband's soul from the inside? There are other shifts we might sketch out, but you get the picture. Instead, descending from the tree like some furry paratrooper is a raccoon mimicking the flight of a sugar-glider. With his arms outstretched, and his mouth opened wide to reveal sharp white teeth, the raccoon angles itself towards the Huntsman (specifically his head) that he might land like some absurd hat.

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Far, far away from Caido, in a world vastly different and yet still filled with wonders and horrors a plenty, people speak of a creature known only as a drop bear. Now, Ronin has never heard of this and thus has no context - but if he had, as his husband drops onto his head like a hat with claws and teeth, he might be convinced he's encountered one. "WH--" he manages (eloquent, yes) before his eyes are covered by what might be a ringed tail or possibly small, dark fingers, and he knows it's Remi even before he knows he's veering unintentionally right towards the Stone Symphony. "What would you have done if it had just been someone who looked like me?" he wants to know through a chuckle, reaching up to try and either fuss the raccoon or peel it off his head. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

As Remi lands, his breath huffed from his chest as his belly contours around his husband's head, indeed it's both small hands and a ringed tail that block Ronin's eyes as the raccoon adjusts his balance.

First of all, there is no one who looks like you. The raccoon points out rather condescendingly, parting the flop of Ronin's hair that he's unintentionally pushed over the Huntsman's eyes. And the day I somehow mistakenly throw myself onto another man is going to be a very bad day indeed.

Unwilling to be peeled away, a fact Ronin will learn via tense claws against his neck should he continue to try, Remi presses his cold nose against the Huntsman's ear and snorfles a few breaths of affection.

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

"Well that is very kind of you to say," Ronin begins, his grin seeming even sunnier for being the only part of his face currently visible. "Though I daresay the pool of people to choose from is very small to begin with - I don't know many men with a fetching hat like this." A hat that utterly refuses to be removed, he might add, the Huntsman soon giving up lest Remi decide to part the flesh on the back of his neck with the skeleton it's attached to. "Bad for whom?" he wonders. Everyone involved, really, but he can't help being a shit about it. Humming a sound of gratitude as Remi kindly parts his hair enough that he can peep out around a ringed tail, it's only now that Ronin realises he's blundering right into the river. "Hey, whoa--!" he manages just before one leg splashes right into the Stone Symphony. And in he goes - luckily his head remains quite dry. For now. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

Listen, sometimes you wear the hat, and sometimes the hat wears you.

Opting not to reply, if only because Ronin already knew the answer (it was indeed everyone), the raccoon instead chooses to remain silent when it came to his husband's current path as well. Honestly, if the Huntsman couldn't hear nor feel the rush of the river, he deserved what was coming. Babe... The raccoon titters cheerfully, nibbling against Ronin's earlobe for just a moment before launching himself off of Ronin's head like an olympic diver.

Landing with a splash (and surely receiving 10s from all the judges), as Remi surfaces it's with tentacles snaking out from his furry belly and a playful grin wrinkling his black nose that he begins to paddle toward his husband. Waterlogged but buoyant, Remi's paws splash obnoxiously against the current as if the water was something he could grab onto if only he tried hard enough.

what should we have for dinner? The raccoon wonders suddenly.

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

About to duck beneath the surface if for no other reason than it would allow him to pretend his husband is in a dunk tank (Ronin being the dunk part, if it wasn't clear), the Huntsman is thoroughly unimpressed to find Remi springing off his head as if going in the river was his intention all along. "I am beginning to suspect you're enjoying yourself," he notes dryly, though with it being the Lullaby's birthday and all, he supposes that means he's doing his job. So as Remi goes from furry menace to Lovecraftian monster, Ronin does his best not to recoil from the betentacled creature paddling towards him, instead wading forward to scoop the raccoon-kraken (kraccooken?) into his arms. "I will go out and hunt us something," he decides brightly. "You can accompany me as a hawk, if it suits you." Whether it's venison, wild boar or whatever else roams the Greatwood these days, Ronin isn't bothered. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

What is not to enjoy? Remi wonders, as if he wasn't the sort of man to find fault in nearly everything these days. As it was, with the sun shining, his husband soggy and impossibly handsome, and in the body of a creature that wanted little more than fuss and food, Remi was enjoying himself.

Attaching his fun-sized tentacles to Ronin's arms and chest as his little black fingers work at the buttons of his husband's shirt, whatever menacing gears had begun to turn in the raccoon's mind abruptly ceased at the mention of food. I think I will stay like this. Whether or not that included tentacles was something Ronin would just have to wait and see. For now, though, the Lullaby was quite content to be carried around, preferably like a baby in his husband's arms, while the Huntsman simultaneously hunted them food. Quite how Ronin was supposed to manage that was, in Remi's humble opinion, absolutely not his problem.

It was his birthday, after all.

~FIN

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!