[se] passing afternoon

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

Thanks to Flora - though unbeknownst to Remi that his daughter had been the mastermind behind the vial of memories he'd recently drank - the Lullaby had found a new lease on life. It wasn't just having his (one and only) friend back in his life that had caused the shift in his perception of things, but having watched himself go from bumbling and boyish alchemist to asshole demigod who justified his unwillingness to help others and short temper by pointing out the hardships he'd had to endure (as if no one else had ever done anything similar), had been just the sort of wake up call he'd needed.

All that is just to say that rather than stalking around the Archive looking hostile and grumpy, today the Lullaby was bookishly enthralled in scouring the shelves for information on the physics of water.

Wearing a chambray shirt whose cuffs and hems were stained with smears of charcoal, Remi peered at the shelves mouthing the titles of each book as his gaze passed over them. His right hand, ghostly and with a mind more or less of its own, spider-walked its way across the various tombs as if sensing the information inside through his fingertips. It could do no such thing of course, but thanks to Ludo, his right arm was always wont to seem like it was included in whatever it was Remi was doing.

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

Koa isn't often in the Archive, being rather more street-smart (read: decent WIS) than book-smart (read: INT dump stat). A hands on learner (meathead). An intuitive problem solver (throws shit at the wall until it sticks). The kind of kid who will try things out with reckless abandon, but struggles to sit still long enough to truly gain expertise (ADHD).

All these have been written on Koa's report cards over the years. So yeah, you get it: libraries are generally not our boy's speed.

And yet here he is, strolling through the halls of books, a pile already stacked high in his muscular arms. Were one to inspect the titles on their spines, they might be surprised to deduce a general theme of divinity and gods- not the Dragoon's usual fare, but given some of his interactions lately he feels he ought to brush up.

He's so distracted, in fact, that he fully misses the figure looking at physics books (ew, why) until it's nearly too late. Perhaps it's because of Remi's wandering arm, perhaps Koa's head is too high in the clouds - for whatever reason, the usually contentious young man finds himself nicking the demigod, and the collision sends his stack of books tumbling to the ground. "Oh, gods, fuck!" he exclaims, dropping down to start to reassemble his collection. A bashful grin turns up toward Remi, the boy's brows pulled together in embarrassed chagrin. "Sorry - got too caught up. Hopefully you're not hurt?"

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

With 4x the strength of the bumbling dragoon and an immovable personality besides, as the stack of Koa's books knocks into Remi's wandering arm, the demigod hardly registers it. The sudden loud exclamation in a space normally demanding quiet draws the pedator's Lullaby's attention though, and he finds himself glancing down where Koa is scraping his books back into a pile.

"Er-" Looking accusingly at his right hand and wondering if it had been the culprit of the spilled books, Remi grimaces at his waggling fingers as he drops to a knee to help organize the books. "No, no. Not hurt at all." He says with a crooked smile.

"Some light reading, mm?" Remi wonders, raising his eyebrows at the stack of books all seemingly focused on a single topic. Koa looked a bit old to still be in school, but then, with gods aging children up left, right, and centre, there was really no telling that sort of thing anymore.

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

He smiles gratefully as the older man drops down to help, a flush of embarrassment still hot on his cheeks. There's something almost recognizable in the sea-green eyes and mess of curls, but Koa is too flustered to put two and two together well enough to identify the father of his friend.

The loud cursing doesn't go unnoticed. From the depths of the Archive comes a powerful 'Shhhhh!', as a librarian shifts from languid old lady to fierce guardian of the sanctity of silence. Koa grimaces, but when he speaks again his voice is appropriately subdued. "Heh, something like that." Shifting the reassembled pile into his right arm, he extends his left hand for the one closest to Remi: Stories of Stars: Safrin's Gifts Throughout the Ages.

"I'm trying to read up on the gods, to learn the best ways to ask them for aid." He rocks back onto his heels and rises, the collection of tomes now securely lodged against his breast. "Thanks-- and sorry, again. Totally my bad." He chuckles softly, boyish apology in bright copper eyes.

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

Chuckling under his breath, Remi grins down at the floor. "You know, I almost think that shhhhh was louder than you were just now." He muses in a low voice, before handing over the final book. Not bothering to hide the contempt that narrows his eyes and sets his lips into a thin line as he takes in the title, as Koa leans back, Remi's right hand offers the book a cheerfully inappropriate gesture.

"Sorry." He mumbles, also shifting backward while using the fingers of his left hand to corral his right wrist. "Ludo arm." Remi adds as if that should explain things thoroughly enough. But then, if the young dragoon was here to read up on the gods, maybe it wasn't. "Clearly not a fan of Safrins or her Gifts Throughout the Ages." He adds with a quick sigh, not trusting the volume of his exhale to not draw undue attention from the librarian.

"Well...they call certainly have their likes and dislikes." Despite the fingers around its wrist, Remi's right hand rolls in a characteristically Italian sort of gesture that says you know.

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

It's not often one sees a self-posessed hand flipping off a book. Koa blinks bemusedly, perplexed by the act, incongruous with the other man's overall affect. But then he describes it as a Ludo arm, and....

....yeah no, still lost.

Even without the lewd hand gesture, theres nothing subtle in Remi's tone of voice,  or the narrowing of his eyes as he discusses the goddess. "You? Or your.... arm?" The Dragoon questions, muted voice belied by a loudly curious expression. Koa's working very hard to keep his voice soft, the hair on his neck prickling with the sensation of being pinned by draconian eyes.

But it's the Italian roll of Remi's hands that finally clicks a piece into Koa's little brain. Copper eyes widen comically in surprised recognition: "Oh shit, you're Remi," the boy exclaims, his elevating decibels earning another warning "SHHHHHHHH!" from the librarian.

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"Well, both, I suppose." The Lullaby chuckles, finding it just as strange to talk about his arm as if it were detached from him, as to not.

Egotistical as it was to simply assume everyone knew who he was, the soldier's sudden recognition had the demigod laughing under his breath which drew another loud SHHHHHHHHHHHHH from the desk. "Let me guess, you were expecting more tentacles? More death, maybe?" Far as Remi could tell, those were the traits people most often associated with him, and though he'd happily oblige the dragoon by becoming a wraith here and now, he was almost positive that the librarian would be able to withstand his deathly aura and shoo him out just the same.

"But yes, I am Remi. And you are..?"

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

Koa raises his eyebrow at this rather mysterious response, glancing pointedly between the man and his arm. "She, uh, must have done something really egregious, to have both of you upset." Which, yeah, it's pretty weird to be talking to a man and his arm as though they're separate entities, but this is Caido after all. Stranger shit's gone down.

A strangled laugh leaves Koa before he can suppress it, turning into a snort-slash-wheeze as he tries to remain beneath the librarian's radar. "Something like that," he admits, smiling wryly and trying to look appropriately embarrassed at being called out. "But no, honestly, you look like I expected, I just... didn't expect it, y'know?"

As for who the boy is? "Koa Carpenter, sir. I'm a friend of Mateo's, actually- and a Dragoon." The embarrassment, as usual, eases into pride, Koa forever proud to carry on a family lineage. "Seems like Stormbreak's getting all sorts of impressive visitors these days."

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"You could say that." The Lullaby replies with a sigh; egregious felt like it hardly scratched the surface of what Remi thought the goddess had done to him (and his family) over the years, but it was as good a word as any.

Holding out his hand, palm up so that suckers could bloom briefly across his skin, Remi grins a touch mischievously before running his hand across his thigh as if he could just brush away this partial shift. "Oh please. Even at my best, I was never a sir." The Lullaby chuckles, nose wrinkling as he shook his head. That this boy was a friend of his son's was no real surprise, not given what a social butterfly Mateo was. "Is that so? My husband used to run the Dragoons, though..." Huffing out a puff of air through his nose, the Lullaby's grin turns slightly crooked. "..I am sure you know that." He adds, rolling his eyes as if to admonish himself for being so silly.

'Has there?' Feeling as though he shouldn't be lumped into the category of Stormbreak's impressive visitors, it was with a rather sinking certainty that the Lullaby assumed Koa meant Ronin. "Who...else?"

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

Koa raises his eyebrows but does not pry, because getting into other people's business is simply not his style. Besides, he's still a bit traumatized by Sunjata's Info Dump: it feels safer for his poor little brain to err on the side of ignorance, at least today.

The sight of suckers has Koa blanching a little bit because what the fuck that's weird, but he can't help find it incredibly cool at the same time. He's already nodding in confirmation as Remi mentions Ronin. "Yea - my Ma served under him, actually." And here he might have rubbed his neck, were his hands no so very full of books.

The demigod's crooked grin is mirrored in Koa's face. "Oh, that's who I meant," he clarifies with a muted laugh, "The Commander- er, Ronin. We talked about the Dragoons, actually. He even said he'd be willing to come back on, as a mentor." If he weren't so well trained the boy might now bounce onto his toes, so great is his delight as he recounts this turn of events.

"I don't suppose you'd be interested?" he adds somewhat hopefully, bright eyes taking on a puppydog quality. "It'd be so incredible to learn from you, sir."

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"Oh, that is nice." Remi murmurs; had Koa not seemed so very young the LUllaby might have made a joke about his mother serving under the Nova, but of course that would have opened up an entirely different sort of conversation that Remi wasn't keen to have with the young soldier.

"Well, you will have Safrin to thank for that." He replies, sounding moody and making no attempt to hide it. "She has asked him to be more...present." Remi explains, though it's questionable whether ot not this will actually clarify anything for Koa or if it will simply lead to more questions.

"Me?" Looking properly surprised, the Lullaby searched his young counterpart's face before giving his head a slow and vaguely confused shake. "Oh, n-no...I am sure I have nothing to teach you. I was never...part of any sort of army, never had any formal training. I am only strong and fast accidentally, you might say." He says, trying not to be pulled in by the rather adorably pleading look he saw on Koa's face.

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

Remi's dislike for Safrin continues to be a common thread, but Koa determines that you know what, maybe we won't push. After meeting with Sunjata he has a new appreciation for the difficulties demigods must endure; though he is naïve, the boy is not dumb enough to assume that fealty to a jealous herald may have caused some conflict in his friend's parent's relationships.

Also, he knows Mateo well enough to know it's a spot he probably shouldn't prod.

No, he'd much rather continue to gaze at Remi with boyish admiration and then incredulous surprise, an eyebrow raised challengingly at the attestation the demigod makes. "Pardon my saying so, sir, but that's absolute rhampire shit." He's grinning as he says it, head shaking as though to clear away the ridiculousness of the idea. "I'm sure there's a million things you can teach anyone. Your strength and power are legendary - you broke the Core, after all!"

His voice is rising with his boyish enthusiasm, and is is not unnoticed. A trickling dread creeps up Koa's neck, making him go from chattering enthusiasm to terrified silence in the time it can take his mouth to click shut. "She's... she's behind me, isn't she?" he whispers mournfully to Remi - who will indeed see a stately librarian (big McGonagall vibes) towering behind the cowed Dragoon, her eyes flaming with cold authority, a bony finger pointed towards the door in silent command to get out.

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

Rolling his eyes playfully before giving his head an immediate shake, the demigod is left fumbling along the line of trying to be adamant that no, he really didn't have anything to teach without coming across as arrogant. "So you would like me to teach you how to reach your hand into something dangerous?" He asks, eyebrows raised and chin inclined slightly to the side. "Because that is really all it amounted to." That, poor decision-making, and a year's worth of pain that followed.

Before he can add more, Remi's gaze is tugged by the librarian who has seemingly appeared from the shadows. Towering above them (not really, but certainly it did feel that way), the Lullaby dropped his eyes to the soldier, widening them a fraction. Pressing his lips together and nodding stiffly, Remi clears his throat gently before rising. Were he Ronin, he might have offered the woman his arm and told her some charming story, or otherwise disarmed her with his smile and wit. Being the far less charismatic of the pair, all the alchemist can do is shift his fingers into long feathers that he might brush away a bit of dust and some lingering spiderwebs no doubt left by the recent arachnid assaults.

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

"How to be strong enough to grab a god? Heck yeah." Koa's grin is undeterred, Remi's attempts ad deflections continuing to fall on deaf ears. Sorry, Lullaby: you've met a genuine fanboy, and very little you have to say will dissuade him from his hero worship.

You know what will stop it, though? The threat of an angry librarian, here mere presence somehow more terrifying than any demigod.

Visibly blanching beneath the weight of the woman's ire, Koa squirms and shuffles awkwardly as she breathes down his neck. Like a schoolboy caught running in the halls, the poor Dragoon is reduced to childish chagrin, his charm and swagger deflated fully by this stern, silent disapproval. He hangs his head, grimacing as his clutch tightens on the collection of books. "I, uh, I'll just check these out then and be on my way."

Assuaged, the librarian drifts towards the counter, that she might get him on his way right the fuck out.

Lifting his head back up again, he offers a smile to Remi. "Really an honor to meet you, sir," the boy says earnestly. "Hopefully I'll see ya around more? If you ever were wanting to come to the Nest, the Dragoons would love to have you!"

And with that the lad is on his way, off to charm (read: be thoroughly cowed by) an irate librarian.

{fin!}

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time