Reverse bear trap

Remi is lucky; Ronin knows him well enough - especially given their hermit-like status of the past few seasons - not to spring a loud, bustling surprise party on the Lullaby. (Even if he really wants to, and perhaps there will be such a party later in their dreams to make up for his self-control here). And so it is just the two of them, innocuous and yet absolutely not in the marketplace, bathed in golden sunshine. "Yes, because we are certainly a couple who forgets basic information about one another," he replies through a cheeky smile, his own eyes glinting like shards of the sky as he gazes back at Remi. "Don't worry yourself - I haven't planned anything extravagant here." The meaning being that maybe he has planned extravagance elsewhere, but Remi will just have to wait and see. For now, Ronin leans in to plant a soft kiss against his husband's lips (this is mainly to stop himself from blurting out the news to every Fae present, and thus unintentionally starting those unruly celebrations). "We'll get our table and some supplies, and go find a place to make camp," he suggests. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night 'We could be that couple.' Remi points out, raising his eyebrows. "But you seem unwilling to make the effort. I have even had gods help me at it." Gods, the things Remi had been made to forget over the years hung like some impossibly vacuous chasm in the back of his mind; filled with nothing but emptiness that somehow held weight and shape. Grumbling loudly as he's told not to worry, the sound rumbling out of the back of his throat and against his teeth, the sound is briefly muffled by the press of Ronin's lips (though not entirely). 'If I say that you are the only thing I could ever want, will that stop whatever it is you have planned?' The Lullaby asks hopefully, though the slight downward curve of his lips suggests he absolutely knows the answer already. "Thirty." Remi muses, shaking his head slightly. "If you had told me back when I was first shipped off to Northaven that I would make it to thirty, I am not sure I would have believed it."

Remi's grumble vibrates into their kiss, and Ronin hums a sweet and warm sound in return. He's reluctant to part from his husband (isn't he always), but he supposes he can allow them to talk as long as he can keep at least one arm around the other man. "A lovely sentiment, but no," he replies, both predictably and with no small amount of amusement. Spying a carpentry workshop and a stall set up out front, the Huntsman gently begins to steer them towards it, all the while using his free hand to tease at one of the Lullaby's curls. "Thirty," Ronin repeats, though his sigh is almost one of enjoyment. "I am relieved, I was beginning to feel like a cradle snatcher." Smushing a kiss against Remi's cheek as if to prevent further protests, he pays more mind to what the Lullaby is really saying. "Oh? In Northaven?" he repeats, tilting his head. "Why, what were you expecting to happen?" RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night Ronin directs the Lullaby with all the aptness of a collie guiding a herd of sheep, and if Remi is aware that his path is being managed in this way, he gives absolutely no indication that he minds. 'Well, I tried.' Leaning into the hand fussing at his curls ever so slightly, the alchemist becomes aware that the hand he's intentionally shoved into his pocket has begun to slyly walk its way out. Shoving it back in while clearing his throat, Remi turns his attention to the workshop with all its nuanced tools and aroma of creativity. "A cradle sna-? pff." Snorting and nudging Ronin's hip with his own, Remi's cheek hollows adorably with a dimple as it's kissed. "Killed in the war, what else?" It's with a somewhat surprised look that Remi glances over his shoulder at his husband, before shrugging. "Once I had made all the bombs and weapons needed of me, I figured I would find myself on the front lines somewhere. Especially if I had not..." Clearing his throat slightly, the idea still wildly uncomfortable to him even after all these years (even though he had in fact slept with a number of women (that number being 2)), Remi sips in a breath. "...you know, gotten married and had children like we were supposed to do."

"You made a valiant effort," Ronin agrees, unashamed of laying on the compliments thick today, given the whole birthday situation. Only as they approach the workshop in earnest does he let his husband go, and then it's mostly to take a look at the creations available in the stall. This is complicated by the way his husband nudges his hip, and for the second time Ronin is almost pinwheeled to the ground, and he shoots Remi a glance that's endearing and yet promises some form of retaliation. "Nonsense, I would never have let you get killed in the war," he says airily. "You know, given that I would have absolutely been General of the Storm by that point." Wiggling his eyebrows at Remi, Ronin ducks into the stall properly to take a look at the finely carved furniture. He does wrinkle his nose, though, at the reminder of what they were supposed to do in Northaven, and it's something that he can finally recognise as being fairly horrifying for his husband. "You did end up doing both of those things here," he remarks. "And still ended up on the front lines of a war." RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night Remi returns Ronin's declarative stare with one of his own, and though the pulse he sends to his husband through their bond is wordless, the sentiment of walk much? is still quite clear. "If we had known each other longer in Northaven, I think you would have gotten me killed in other ways." The Lullaby murmurs softly, and though the price for being who and what they were to each other back in Northaven would have meant death for the alchemist, the sentiment is still said rather sweetly. In this life as much as their old one, Remi would have died for the Huntsman a thousand times over. Mentally telling his hand to stop it as it began in earnest to try and reach out and touch each and every thing within its vicinity, Remi holds his breath for a moment as he considers. Straightening slightly and turning his head just over his shoulder, the Lullaby utters a single "Fuck." as the truth of his situation is so succinctly laid out. "You are right. And on my birthday." This latter sentiment is said through crooked lips as Remi turns to appraise a rather lacklustre but sturdy table. It would never appear as though it was growing out of their houseboat, but it certainly was sturdy. To prove this, Remi's right-hand reaches out and wraps several times on the table, much to the alchemist's confusion. "Yes, yes." He mutters under his breath, wondering what point his hand was trying to make by bruising his knuckles against the wood.

"I wish I could say I would have regretted it, but I feel like I'd regret not knowing you more," Ronin replies just as sweetly, even if his expression still gives away his thoughts of revenge against the birthday boy. (And because he is the birthday boy, rest assured the vengeance will be centred around that). Humming a solemn and emphatic agreement as he ducks around other specimens of table, some fitting the aEsTheTiC and failing the sturdiness test quite spectacularly. Ronin is lucky he doesn't break anything, honestly, and the knock on the wood (hurr) is quite frankly the distraction he needs before they end up buying a broken, flimsy new addition to their home. "Need a hand?" Ronin asks, wiggling his eyebrows obnoxiously and stepping up behind Remi to slip his arms around the Lullaby's waist. "We could always stick foliage to this one and pretend," he suggests (of the table, obviously). RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night It's strange to think of a time when just brushing his fingers over Ronin's when exchanging a plate or mug of ale might have been enough to have Remi thrown in jail, but gods it fills the alchemist's stomach with butterflies just the same. It isn't even the forbidden nature of it that causes the wings to brush up the back of his throat, merely the firm knowledge that in whatever life they found one another in, they'd always make their way into each other's lives. "I would happily trade you if you have a spare." The Lullaby says on the heels of a sigh as his knuckles continue to wrap out an unhappy beat against the table. "That is not like you to give up so easily." Remi points out as his wayward hand suddenly ceases its tapping once a small click is heard. Pulling his gaze away from Ronin, Remi glances down, wondering what he'd managed to break. The table had looked rather sturdy, but.. '..oh.' Tilting his head, Remi uncouples himself from Ronin so that he might kneel down and look beneath the table. A smile suddenly brightens the alchemist's features as he extends both hands, pulling out a small and previously hidden compartment. 'How about that..' Glancing up the length of his husband from his place on his knees, heat rushes into the Lullaby's cheeks. And if his right hand has begun to untie the Huntsman's shoe, Remi is unaware of it.

"If I ever get a spare, I'll be sure to let you know. Otherwise, I think this one is starting to grow on me." Shenanigans aside, the haunted hand Remi has been gifted certainly makes their lives colourful; as it succinctly proves with the reveal of a hidden compartment. Granted, Ronin only notices that part belatedly - he's a little busy gazing down at his husband, you see, because pink cheeked and flustered is one of his favourite looks on Remi. "I am pretty sure that on days like today, our positions ought to be reversed," he says, almost under his breath, and if the mischievous hand wants to tie his shoelaces together at this point, Ronin has forgotten to care. Clearing his throat and reaching out - perhaps to brush his fingers across Remi's cheek, or through his hair, or to brutishly push his head forward - the Huntsman's hand moves past his husband altogether to click the secret compartment back in place. "I wonder if it has any other extras," he says, trying and failing not to gaze down the length of his own body at Remi in a way that is anything other than predatory. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night 'oh?' The word is mumbled again, though this time there is a crinkle of mischief in it rather than pure wonder. Looking all the more boyish for his knelt position and upturned chin, Remi's breath is held as Ronin's hand moves forward. There is only a split second of consideration on the alchemist's part wherein he wonders if he cares to have sex in such a public space or not, when the Huntsman's hand ghosts past him to press against what, in his humble opinion, is the wrong bit of wood. 'Non so.' Remi murmurs, eyes locked upon Ronin's. Even as a raccoon, Remi is still a fairly predatory being, and so the gaze with which he returns the Huntsman's is not one of submission, but merely a sizing up. "It took a fair bit of pounding to find the first one, so..." That Remi's lower lip is suddenly caught between his teeth is no accident, even if he can't help the coral flush that has overtaken his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

"Mm, that's true enough," Ronin agrees, wondering how much more pounding the table can take, and it has nothing to do with finding secret compartments. His lips part to ask whether Remi wants to look for more secrets by ducking a little further under the table, while Ronin takes a seat at it - you know, for sitting at the table experience - when a cheerful Fae carpenter emerges from the workshop to greet them. Smiling back (though it's absolutely more like a rictus grin), Ronin does as he had promised and takes the full lead on the conversation, though he does reach down to untie his laces before he almost greets the ground for the third time. The Fae is very helpful in a way that Ronin wishes they wouldn't be, giving them a full Marvel Origins movie of the table's creation, even when the Huntsman makes it clear they would quite like to buy said table. "Do you want to go and look for a place for us to camp?" he asks Remi when the carpenter finally ducks back into the workshop to finalise things. "You know, somewhere away from everyone?" RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night Remi wonders, as he's often prone to do, whether the shopkeeper would be dissuaded from further conversation if a series of Lovecraftian shapes were to emerge from beneath the table. Tentacles and flames and a face made of bone might send him running for just long enough in order to... ..but then Ronin is politely hearing the man out, and it's with a pulse of broiling annoyance and lust toward the Huntsman that Remi rises, quite human, and dusts off his knees while making a few adjustments to the front of his pants. The expression on Remi's face suggests that he's going to say something snarky or menacing in response until the crooked slant of his lips resolves itself into a boyish smile instead. "I can do that. But you will have to find me when you are finished here." Bridging the distance between them, Remi presses his lips against Ronin's cheek, infusing the gesture with bright tendrils of sunshine-ochre and careless sea-glass green. "You're it." He adds in a whisper, before disappearing out of the door and into the Greatwood.

"I have faith in myself to do just that," Ronin assures his husband, having to stop himself from turning to steal the kiss intended for his cheek with his lips. He behaves, though, even if it's with a helpless and prolonged stare at Remi's ass that he lets the other man go. Joke's on the Lullaby - Ronin quite likes being it. And so he wraps up their business with the Fae carpenter as quickly as he is able (read: not actually as quickly as he'd like, given the merchant's propensity for small-talk), before setting off into the woods with lungs full of the sweet scent of new leaves and a roll of parchment in his pocket. The parchment is to collect their table later, because as fun as it would be to have it in the middle of their campsite, they'd likely regret the state it was in later. He doesn't call for Remi - despite the other man not needing anything like a heads up, Ronin still isn't keen to give his position away - instead peering through the trees and thickets of foliage to try and spy any sign of a renegade alchemist. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

remi Took a fall from a windy height, I only knew how to hold on tight & pray for love enough to last all night As soon as the alchemist is out of the village he feels a weight leave his shoulders. His muscles move more freely, and though there's absolutely a predatory slant to his walk, there's an ease in it as well. The fae who see him depart their village do so with a sigh of relief, leaving their former ruler to whatever it is he has planned, opting instead to lock their doors and kiss their loved ones extra just in case he makes an encore appearance in their lives later that evening. For Remi's part, he ghosts through the trees leaving claw-marks on various trunks the way others might scatter rose petals to lead their loved ones one. His right hand aims to turn a few of these marks into penises, though given the Lullaby's pace and reluctance to actually stop, they look more like abstract art in the end. Who knows, maybe Ronin will understand them for what they are nevertheless. Opting for a place near the StonesongSymphony where the river is swollen but quiet, and where the tree boughs stretch out across the bank as if to reach the other side, the alchemist glances around at his surroundings before a sly smile presses itself onto his lips and he decides where best to await his husband.