long is the day

REMI

then it went dark

There is just something about being big. Remi says through their bond, stretching his limbs out to their limits in a way he's rarely able to do these days. In the blackness of the ocean, light hardly being able to reach them down as far as they are, the kraken still has a sense of his immense size despite there being utterly nothing around to compare himself to. Does it feel that way to you?

Far down below there was a rumour of a crater filled with a star field; it was bioluminescent something, the pair were sure, but it seemed like precisely the sort of thing worth investigating for no other reason than, as gigantic sea monsters, they easily could.

Flora channeled me to take down a pirate ship the other day. The Lullaby thinks with a coating of amusement before an accompanying pulse of concern washes away the golden coating of his thoughts. At least...I think it was a pirate ship..

& it rained
and rained and rained

It's a rarity for both of them to be able to spread out like this; indeed, Ronin can count on the fingers of one hand how many times he's been able to fully shift into a leviathan. His movements are slow and confident as they prowl through the deepest dark of the ocean, and he sends a pulse of almost familiarity back through the bond to his husband. I think so, he rumbles in reply. It's different to any other shift I have. Everything else feels weirdly unimportant. Except you, he might add, but that's obvious at this point. Oh? he says with the mental equivalent of raised eyebrows, and maybe even a prang of playful jealousy. I don't believe I've ever been channelled. You're popular. Swimming close enough to brush against one of the kraken's tentacles before drawing away again, Ronin's thoughts are a still swell of reassurance. I don't think Flora would have called you to murder innocent people. He hopes. ronin begin again, as the storm

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then it went dark

It does. But there is also...so much possibility down here. There is nothing in our way, it feels like. Anything they might bump up against was almost sure to be laughably inconsequential compared to the shifts they now embodied.

I would channel you, if I could. Remi thinks back; as a kraken even his mental voice is somehow gargantuan and wildly spread while also sounding precisely the same as ever. Well, so far it has only ever been Flora to channel me, so.. Was there something he ought to read into that?

Maybe later.

Strong as the kraken is, it would take more than just a few of his suckers to restrain a creature as large as the leviathan that pushes against him, but that doesn't stop him from trying. No? Now it's Remi's turn to sound vaguely skeptical, though something about the vastness of the ocean keeps him from worrying about it too much just now. Either way. Perhaps I should have shown up as a kraken instead of myself. He considers, before shifting his tentacles and gathering them together in order to descend toward the ocean floor in a weightless fall.

& it rained
and rained and rained

Mm, that's true. I feel like there's so much more space down here, too. Even as a dragon, the skies do in fact have a limit, and the weightlessness of flight is different to the slow expanse of ocean currents and dark, endless waters. Sending the mental equivalent of a grateful smile towards the kraken, even as he's forced to twist and writhe against the suckers that try to restrain him, Ronin also turns his attention to their descent. I think we already have a sort of channelling, he remarks. He's never had to use their rescue magic, but he feels it vibrate in his bones as sure as the other abilities he possesses. If he called Remi in need, he knows he'd be there in the same way that he knows the sun will rise and set. Propelling himself after his husband with fins and fronds rather than tentacles, Ronin tries to catch the waving tentacles ahead of him (with his teeth, of course). Was Flora on a ship as well? Might have been a bit difficult not to accidentally capsize it, he points out, before a pulse of curiosity interrupts his thoughts. Oh, look. Beneath them the world seems to wink and twinkle, the bioluminescence providing an uncanny light that has no chance of reaching the vastness of the world around them. ronin begin again, as the storm

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then it went dark

In such an enormous body, Remi's predatory instincts are somehow slower as if bound by the same latent gravity that tugs at his limbs. Still, there's a menacing pulse of primal amusement that ripples through the bond as Ronin is forced to tug himself away from the kraken's suckers.

Maybe one of us should orchestrate a situation in order to call down the other. Remi thinks in return. Did he know what sort of situation they'd need in order for the magic to work? Not precisely, though given he'd tried to channel his husband to him when they were out of toilet paper or when he couldn't find a certain shirt without any success, he'd pieced together that in a time of crisis was not as subjective as he'd like it to be.

Wiggling the tentacle caught in his husband's teeth in order to try and latch onto the roof of the leviathan's mouth, Remi shakes his head. She was on another ship. The kraken replies, before being equally distracted by the sudden star field twinkling beneath them.

A large whale drifted over the crater, momentarily blocking a good portion of the light from view like some vast ambling black hole. The leap from stars, to darkness, and then to Safrin in the Lullaby's mind was not entirely unexpected given Remi's thoughts about the goddess and so it was without any preamble that he brought up his earlier conversation with Noah. I spoke with Noah the other day...apparently, Safrin gave him the task of speaking to people who had found it difficult to navigate their obligations with their personal lives. The Lullaby had no eyebrows to raise in this form, but somehow he managed it through their bond.

& it rained
and rained and rained

What, you mean like letting the dragons beat us up to a point where it really becomes life or death? Ronin wonders with a mental smile. Or, well. As life or death as it can for us. He wonders what it says about the two of them, that they're considering getting their kicks by doing this sort of thing instead of, you know, going on regular dates. (He still needs to organise one of those for Remi, he recalls belatedly). The sense of disgust that rolls from he leviathan as his mouth is rudely suckered is altogether silent, as is the way Ronin writhes and recoils away, but he makes it seem loud regardless. Well, there we are then, he says, having entirely forgotten the point he was intending to make - and there are underwater star fields to peep at by now anyway. Letting himself drift lazily over the haze of bioluminescence, Ronin sends a pulse of confusion towards his husband. Oh? What an... odd quest, he murmurs. Did he say why? ronin begin again, as the storm

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then it went dark

Mmmmmmmmm. That does seem a bit extreme, even for us. Remi thinks with boyish mischief. Maybe you can be hunted in Halo next time and let them catch you. He suggests, alluding to what are timelines Remi's plan to assist in a bit of hunting and tracking of manticores in Halo.

It was likely for the best that even through their attuned bond, Remi's emotions were stretched and vast because of the body he inhabited. Had it not been that way, the Nova would likely have felt the sharp emotional tensing that often came with mention of Safrin, rather than the slow, taffy-like unease that stretched out from the kraken. Probably to impart some sort of lesson... He suggested with as much neutrality as he could muster. I told Noah that he really ought to have come to you, instead of me.

Not able to properly shrug, the kraken fans his tentacles out slightly as the pair descend. Apparently he is meant to go to the Grounds and help rebuild it, but is...reluctant. Of course Remi more than understands this, but then, that was why he could never be a demigod for one like Vi in the first place.

& it rained
and rained and rained

I still don't know how they considered it would be anyone other than you, Ronin chuckles of the manticore hunt in Halo. That sort of a creature is a rarity, and they certainl don't frequent the Tundra. But with that being said, celestial dragons and phoenixes are also rarities, so what are the odds, truly, of Ronin going unnoticed as well? (Pretty high actually, given the precedent, but he's choosing the high road). Letting himself freefall in the water for a bit rather than actively propelling himself downward, Ronin twists himself to gaze at the kraken despite needing nothing more than their bond to achieve it. Perhaps I should go and pay him a visit, he suggests. I'm not sure I've had difficulty managing my obligations lately, though. Things are, dare he say it, very good for the Nova at present. Ah, the Grounds, though? This is accompanied with a mental cringe. I mean... I don't envy him that task. ronin begin again, as the storm

REMI

then it went dark

Whatever they believed, I do not think any of them wanted to say it to my face. Remi replies managing to infuse his words with a roll of his eyes. Besides, the first time I met Sah he tried to shoot me, unsuccessfully of course, but I think that had made him quite wary around me.

Leaning back, his tentacles splayed as if he were trying to make a frame around Ronin's silhouette above him the Lullaby marvelled at what a wonderfully powerful monster his husband was. Had anyone else witnessed this particular shift of Ronin's, and if they had, had it filled them with a desperate and terrifying sort of attraction?

Perhaps. Coming from someone like you things might seem far less bleak than I made them out to be. Remi replies with a bob of his tentacles. Not lately no, but I did tell him about when you and I were apart...at least he is allowed to bring his family with him. If there's bitterness in the Lullaby's tone it's dragged away by the sway of the currents

Mmm, no. Not at all. He agrees, before swirling slightly toward where the mer-city gleamed far in the distance. Care to go be the monster in some child's bed time story?

& it rained
and rained and rained

Unable not to chuckle at that, Ronin's amusement warbles through the bond to his husband. He tried to shoot you and he's the one wary, now? Gods, I can't possibly imagine why, he says, angling himself to affectionatly bump himself against the kraken, before turning his attention once more to the glowing expanse of space beneath them. Mm... well, I may as well go and see him, if only to cheer him up after his conversation with you. He laughs. And yes... that's definitely a point in his favour. It's true that the Nova's thoughts also darken a fraction at those memories, but he quickly tries to shake them away before they can seize hold. Never again, he vows, turning as well towards the glittering city. I'd like nothing more. But perhaps I ought to be the hero, since there's only room for one big bad down here, and it's definitely you. Nevertheless, it's with a deep and rumbling trill that almost feels too low to be real that the leviathan angles himself towards civilisation, and the two monsters start their slow creep towards it. ~ FIN ronin begin again, as the storm