things that haven't happened yet

REMI

the alchemist

"This area of the city is called the Silk Houses." Remi explains, finding that he was able to play tour guide quite well despite how long it had been since he'd lived in Stormbreak. "Some describe it as the seedier part of the city, but really it just caters to a different crowd." But then Remi would say that; given how any breakers with sticky fingers or an inclination to go pocket-surfing were absolutely avoiding the Lullaby like the plague, wandering through the streets was far safer in Remi's presence than it normally would have been.

"That Mateo is likely where we are going...it is not what you might think." Remi adds, sipping in a breath and crinkling his nose slightly. That the number one place to look for his son was a brothel did not speak well of Mateo, and while the botanist absolutely used Molly's services, he did a good deal more as well. So saying the Lullaby leads them to a series of interconnected buildings. "Welcome to Mother Molly's, the best brothel in all of Stormbreak." Arguably in all of everywhere, as well.

i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

ISLA

Saucer-eyed and trundling at Remi's heels like a true tourist, Isla has been absorbing everything there is to see about Stormbreak since the moment they'd arrived in the city. Yes, her head is still spinning a bit from the opportunity to ride up to the floating region on the back of a manticore, but now that they're here, there's a whole new array of things to be overwhelmed by. "I can't believe you lived here for so long," she murmurs, continuing to walk even as she gazes over her shoulder at some boutique they've passed.

It's true that she has technically been to Stormbreak before, you know, for a bit of breaking-and-relic-seeking, but those times are so long past that Isla barely remembers it. Besides, the city had been on the ground back then. "And what might I think?" she challenges with a faint, amused smile, forcing herself to pick up her pace to gaze up at Remi properly. "That he uses their services, or that he sells them?" Or both, maybe?

(Sometimes it's both, but it's better that neither Remedy nor Lullaby know that).

"I am beginning to feel very underdressed," she remarks to Remi as they step into Molly's for the first time; with all of her belongings in the bag she's carrying, the Remedy still looks as though she's come right off the beach, her skirts carrying no small amount of sand, her feet clad in sandals, her hair left to fall in free, beachy waves.

And while underdressed probably isn't a word one would expect to hear for a brothel, the sight of Molly's girls and boys is exactly why the place is so notorious - beautifully dressed in silks and jewellery with exquisitely applied makeup, they drift about the duo (Remi, in particular) the moment they step inside. Isla knows exactly where to look everywhere, she wants to look everywhere and simultaneously feels the need to examine the equally as gorgeous wallpaper, clearing her throat and nudging Remi.

"Do we ask for him at the desk, then, or...?"

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood

REMI

the alchemist

Offering Isla a look that's 1-part constipated and 2-parts hand-in-the-cookie-jar, Remi just grimaces. "Better not to think about it at all, really." He decides in the end, laughing awkwardly as he opens the door for Isla.

"Oh well, unless you are keen to be mistaken as one of the staff, that is probably not a bad thing." He murmurs, and though his mind immediately tries to blend Isla more appropriately into their surroundings, her nudge brings his attention guiltily back to the task at hand.

They don't need to ask for Mateo, not given who the botanist is to this establishment, or who Remi is to the botanist. Once Ronin had spent enough of his free time here that the Lullaby's face was a well-known one. Despite not having been here for years, his association with Stormbreak's former General and physical similarity to Mateo did the talking for him.

Only it apparently it said the wrong thing.

'Room for...' The young man at the counter asked, his sparkling eyebrows waggling. "..3?" You, her, and a third?

i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

ISLA

"It's less that I want to be mistaken for staff and more that I don't want it to be obvious that I'm actively homeless," Isla says with a chuckle; humble though her current existence might be, you can take the girl out of the duchess, etc. etc. And given that she lived in another brothel prior to the homelessness situation, once Isla gets over the beauty of the workers, it's with a rather more entrepreneurial eye that she looks over Molly's, lingering beside Remi as he wows them with his reputation.

It's a lucky twist of fate and nothing more that prevents Isla from hearing the suggestion of 3 from the man at the counter; somewhere behind them at the bar, a very merry patron has accidentally knocked a lantern against one of the velvet curtains, and it's quickly beginning to catch. "Oh, gods--" Without a word to the Lullaby (she thinks he'll forgive her), Isla hurries over to help, her manipulation of the flames quickly trying to stifle them from climbing any higher.

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood

Mateo

Should'a seen what I wore
I had a cane and a party hat

Speaking of the wrong thing, the moment Remi Taliesin set foot into Molly's, of course whispers began to circulate. And in the short few moments it has taken him to approach the counter and enter discourse with the young man there, word reaches one of the elegant side rooms where Mateo is smoking, expertly applying makeup to a couple of workers and being appropriately compensated for his skills.

His father.

At the brothel.

With a girl.

Asking for a room.

It's less that Mateo absolutely must see this for himself (even though that part is still true) and more that he's concerned for his parents' marriage, but either way, no sooner has Isla hurried off to tend to the fire when the botanist appears, curls carelessly tousled by gentle fingers, pants unbuttoned, shirt open and with some magnificently applied eyeliner.

"Dad?" he blurts.

I was the king of this hologram
where there's no such thing as getting out of hand

REMI

the alchemist

"Maybe they will think it is a new style." The Lullaby suggests, though given that today he is back wearing a simple chambray shirt and tan trousers, he's absolutely not the one who should be talking of trends.

Turning, the lilt of his son's accent notifying Remi that he was the dad in question, the Lullaby smiles easily, not looking at all like a man about to have an affair; this might either be a very good or very bad thing, considering. As his eye line drops slightly, the Lullaby tilts his head worriedly to the side. "Bad time?" He wonders, given that he can all but see the shape of his son's erection in his pants.

Only briefly aware of the scuffle of fire behind him, Remi nods politely to the corsetted man behind the counter in appreciation before moving to the side to let other patrons book their rooms.

i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Mateo

Should'a seen what I wore
I had a cane and a party hat

"My eyes are up here," Mateo sasses his father as he sees the Lullaby's gaze drop, the botanist hastily buttoning his pants nonetheless given that he's probably not going to be able to get back to his afternoon any time soon. "And there have been better times, honestly." Sidestepping to allow other patrons to book their rooms (and blowing a brief kiss to the corsetted young man), Mateo leans back against one of the elegant pillars.

"What is this about? Are you and dad okay? You know, if you wanted to have an affair anywhere, coming to Stormbreak probably was not the wisest of ideas." Not only is it, you know, where Mateo lives, but Ronin is still well known and well liked in the region. Suddenly needing a drink, the botanist turns to the bar only to see it very recently put-out, smoke still hazing the counter. "You have been here for thirty seconds and something caught fire," he points out.

I was the king of this hologram
where there's no such thing as getting out of hand

REMI

the alchemist

"So che questo è un bordello, ma Mateo..." Remi whispers with a slight inclination of his head. He's the least qualified to be commenting on being sexually appropriate in public, but that Isla was with him—wait, where was Isla?—had him feeling slightly more conservative than normal.

"Are we..? Un affare?" Remi's cheeks darken, though it's out of embarrassment rather than guilt at having been caught out. Opening and closing his mouth like a fish, the Lullaby follows in his son's wake before briskly shaking his head. "I did not do that." He says immediately, raising one of his hands as evidence of his innocence.

"But no of course..." Glancing around before leaning in conspiratorily, Remi drops his voice to a whisper. "Ovviamente non ho una relazione. E se lo fossi, non sarei così stupido da venire qui tra tutti i posti." Tilting his head disapprovingly, Remi just frowns. "Surely you think me smarter than that."

i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Mateo

Should'a seen what I wore
I had a cane and a party hat

"Ma niente. Questo è un bordello, papà." Mateo raises his eyebrows, feeling no need to whisper back given that nobody here is going to understand a word they say. And if there's ever anywhere he's entitled to have an erection in public, it's here, thanks. And his suspicion doesn't dampen at all by the uncharacteristic flush to his father's cheeks, not to mention the instant denial about setting the bar aflame.

As Remi's voice drops again and he leans in closer, conspiratorially, anyone looking at the two Taliesin men will see a lot of dramatic hand gestures and hear the lilting song of the travelling tongue at a speed that's truly impressive. "Bene, hai messo la tua mano in un dio." he points out. "Chissà come funziona il tuo cervello?" Rubbing at his forehead and forcing himself to relax even with his mind trying to catch up with what his eyes are seeing, the boy shrugs at his father.

"If not that, then why are you here?"

I was the king of this hologram
where there's no such thing as getting out of hand

REMI

the alchemist

"Se è un bordello come dici tu, allora non dovresti arrabbiarti quando la gente ti guarda." The Lullaby counters, raising his eyebrows right back. Not that he particularly wants to win an argument with his son about whether or not he's entitled to look at his erection in public, but listen, this whole situation has already gotten so far out of hand (wink) that Remi doesn't rightly know where to focus his attention.

Rolling his eyes and tossing up his hands theatrically before running his fingers through his curls. "Non ho una relazione, le cose con tuo padre vanno bene e non vado a letto con nessun altro. Bene?"

Huffing out a sigh and wondering if it wouldn't be easier to simply offer up one of the captains at the skyport a bundle of his feathers for the use of their ship, Remi straightens. "I was wondering if I could use your skyship for a day or so."

i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Mateo

Should'a seen what I wore
I had a cane and a party hat

"Non siete persone," Mateo points out (rightly, he thinks), and though he can't raise his eyebrows any higher, he certainly tries. It's a moot point either way, as it happens, because the botanist's libido has been thoroughly doused by his father's appearance in his not-affair-but-might-still-be. Folding his arms across his chest, it's with a furrowed brow that makes Mateo seem a beautiful clash between both of his parents that he considers Remi's point, finally reaching out to suddenly clasp his father's hands, as if to verify things with the wash of his emotions.

"Fine," he says at last, rolling his shoulders and forcing them to relax, only to tilt his head at the request. "La Verbena? I mean... sure, if you do not mind me collecting some clothes to wear for a few days." And a bunch of other stuff, including making his home Remi-proof for both of their sanity. "Why, though? Are your wings okay?"

I was the king of this hologram
where there's no such thing as getting out of hand

REMI

the alchemist

"Questo è un atteggiamento critico per qualcuno che lavora in un bordello." The Lullaby hisses, his hands (the right, specifically) gesturing so wildly now that patrons and staff alike have had to move to give the two Taliesin's space.

Not realizing what Mateo was doing at first, once he did, the Lullaby opened the floodgates of his emotions revealing nothing more sinister than the boyish flush of having a friend back in his life. "Fine." Remi agrees, far too loudly such that it shakes him properly out of being so argumentative.

"My wings are fine. Isla and I are friends again, and I am trying to be a good friend to her this time around." Though Ronin and Remi had never explicitly told either of their children the highs and lows of the Lullaby's friendship with the Remedy, no doubt Mateo had gleaned a good amount of the backstory through paper-thin walls and gossip. "She has never been on a skyboat before and instead of taking one of the larger and more crowded ones, I thought..." Remi shrugs, not knowing how to say I thought I would commander your home for a few days.

i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Mateo

Should'a seen what I wore
I had a cane and a party hat

"Non lavoro qui, come ti permetti," Mateo snips back before he can help himself, and now there's a flush to his own cheeks that only grows as he's assaulted by Remi's emotions. (Not that he can complain about that, because he'd pretty much asked for it by taking his father's hands). As rapidly as the drama had ramped up, once the botanist is fully cognizant of the Lullaby's visit to Molly's - not to mention, he's a little less tetchy now at having been interrupted mid hand-job - things relax considerably.

"Well why did you not just say so?" he says with a dimpled smile, knowing full well that they are both the reason behind this why but unable not to make the comment. "You can have it from this evening, if that is all right?" he tells him, automatically looking around for Isla. He has indeed heard official snippets and even more besides by eavesdropping; besides, the Remedy is his middle name, so Mateo feels entitled to know the story.

"She is not the one who started the fire, is she?" he wonders.

I was the king of this hologram
where there's no such thing as getting out of hand

REMI

the alchemist

"Beh, non è niente che non abbia mai visto prima, comunque." Remi points out, resisting the urge to reach out and ruffle his son's curls as he'd done so often when the botanist was younger. Thinking it would only annoy Mateo now, Remi instead offers him an apologetic look.

"Well I might have if you did not show up con il pene fuori accusing me of having an affair." The Lullaby says with an awkward laugh, before joining Mateo in looking around for Isla. "Mmm? No I very much doubt it. She helped set up a brothel in King's End actually but I do not think she is the sort to burn this one down to try and gain clientele." That, and Remi knew she didn't have the magic for it. Not yet, anyway.

As for taking the boat that evening, Remi brightens. "That would be wonderful. Is there anything I can bring you back from the Greatwood?"

i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!