into the endlessness

are you really going to talk about timing in times like these?

"We were talking about immortality." The Lullaby argued with a roll of his eyes, before shooting his husband a boyish grin. "Being killed as a regular old level 7 man hardly counts."

Taking a sip of his drink and swallowing down his Ifrit-inclinations to go sit directly in the fire, he frowns as Deimos describes some of what he'd seen. "Huh." He hums helpfully, eyes narrowing. "I wonder if Phoebe or Sunjata would have any thoughts about any of this..." Realizing that might have been somewhat vague, the Lullaby blinks himself away from the fire's light and glances between the two men. "Surely Frey would know something about it, if it is affecting the plants and animals."

Indeed, even the normally grumpy-Lullaby seems to soften considerably as the topic moves to weddings. Reaching for Ronin's hand, Remi raises his glass to his lips and smiles crookedly against the rim. "Was the last wedding Pheobe and Sunjata...? I think Phoebe and Harper eloped so that does not count. But the spite wedding is the last one I recall." Then again, his memories had been tampered with so often in the past few years, he'd not be surprised at all to find out he was wrong.

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

DEIMOS And in your darkest hour, I hold secrets flame Deimos watched the sudden amount of laden snacks offered for roasting, content with incoming food, before peeling away the offerings he’d brought inside his bag, revealing some ursur steak, placing amidst the others. While they briefly quarreled over immortality and lives lost, and how much they could joke over remnants that had once shattered them before, he snorted, shaking his head before nodding towards Ronin. “Appears to be. I am taking some monster hunters out later to see if we can find anything else. Evie said she would take one plant to Frey.” He hadn’t heard the report on that yet, or lack thereof, but it would be nice to know if the Nature aspects had any notions towards the recent onslaught. Struggling very hard to ignore any mention of Sunjata without a wrinkle to his nose and some deep vexation, he strived to adhere more to celebrations than anything else, grabbing hold of a stick and poking at one of the meats, closer to the flames. “Thank you.” As for other nuptials, he did permit another lingering smile. “Noah and Cordelia married right after the war. Otherwise, it seems to have been relatively quiet.” Expected, perhaps, given how many had to piece and stitch their lives back together. master of nothing place; of recoil and grace

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

"Mmhmmm." Ronin raises his eyebrows at his husband skeptically, though the expression doesn't last for long. "I'm still an old man, I suppose. Just less regular these days." Winking, he glances back to Deimos in time to see the ursur steak, his eyes widening, impressed.

"Oh? Well, if you want another pair of hands hunting..." Ronin can always be tempted to go back to his monster hunting roots, after all, even if he's currently part of the Dragoons.

Reaching out as well to turn some of the vegetables and stop them from becoming charcoal, Ronin takes another long drink with his free hand. "Mm, that's right," he says of Noah and Cordelia. "Doesn't he have twins now, too? That must be keeping him busy."

THE SUPERNOVA

and continue fighting

are you really going to talk about timing in times like these?

"Ah....right." Frowning, and recalling meeting Cordelia just once—and a touch uneasily too, given that it had been at a Frey shrine so soon after the birth of his own twins—the Lullaby just cleared his throat and shrugged as the conversation wandered on without him.

"Do you ever think...now that we are all so spread apart, that it is..." Waving his right arm, the one ghostly and misbehaved, in a circle as if it might finish the thought for him, Remi glances from Deimos to Ronin, and back again. "Maybe it is just because of how my memories are now, but everything seemed so different back when we were all together. Every good thing, every bad...we all experienced it together, and now.." Well, now Remi and Ronin lived on a mountain where it was all too easy to keep every detail of their lives completely hidden.

Then again, maybe Remi was only just now realizing how much of a grump he'd become.

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

DEIMOS And in your darkest hour, I hold secrets flame He didn’t bother muffling the laugh prompted by Ronin’s offer, granting another nod as he curled some flames closer to edges. “Of course.” As for Noah and Cordelia’s children, the Sword granted a nod. “They do. Sounded like they wanted more.” He shrugged, unsurprised by the preferences, figuring the Olsons would eventually pervade through Halo in some facets. Deimos didn’t expect the sudden course of nostalgia from Remi, but tilted his head and directed his attention upon the man just the same. If anything, the Sword felt more immersed in day to day lives, but perhaps it had come with leadership roles and responsibilities; always an individual wearing to bear the brunt of multiple weights. The early days had been different though, in a way that they were all clustered together in the madness, rather than spread apart, each trying to do their own thing in larger expansions and doses. “In the Grounds, everything seemed quick and sudden. There was always something to be shared, discovered, and experienced.” Partially due to the multitudes of Outlanders, and the barrier – before its collapse, they’d had no choice but to forge along together. “Maybe because we did not have much of a choice?” He gave half a smile, before glancing back into the fire. Between LongNights, restless days amidst the Spire, rulers, discovering and fighting blights, monsters, and the platitude of mayhem, lands suddenly unfurling, the reach of gods and goddesses – and they’d changed, altered, right alongside, for otherwise they would have faltered amidst the many. He cast an inquiry to both thereafter. “Which do you prefer?” The lives they had now, apart and away, or coiled amidst other lands, steeled with brethren? master of nothing place; of recoil and grace

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

Ronin smiles to himself - a private little thing that's made entirely redundant by the Attuned bond - to hear that Noah and Cordelia wanted more children. Once upon a time he'd have wagered that there would be a Taliesin clan to rival the Olsens all across Caido, but... well, times change. People, too.

Shaking it off to listen as the conversation trundles on its way, Ronin takes yet another long pull from his drink and sits back on his heels by the fire, nodding his agreement with the others. "We were trying to figure so much out back then, too. Everything was a mystery to be solved. It felt like us against the Grounds," he recalls.

Sinking back on his seat next to Remi, the Nova lets his hand rest warmly upon his husband's knee, offering him a soft smile. "Is it wrong to say I want both?" He laughs, surprising himself with his honesty. "It's been nice up here, taking a break from everything." War, leadership, responsibilities, war...

"But I'm starting to realise what we've left behind, too."

THE SUPERNOVA

and continue fighting

are you really going to talk about timing in times like these?

"Maybe." Remi agrees with a lopsided shrug, before glancing toward Ronin and having to stifle a small apologetic wince. The number of children bearing their blood did outrank all others in fact, though just never in the way they'd have expected. Of their shared five children, that only two were alive and not even full siblings...Taking a healthy sip of his drink, the Lullaby swallows down this wave of regret in lieu of an aim toward happier conversation.

"Ahh well, I am sure something will draw us down eventually." Remi says, glancing at Ronin and covering the Nova's hand with his own.

"But enough of that. Has Halo any interesting wedding rituals?"

And so the evening went, with much beer, whiskey, and gin poured and drank around a fire that never seemed to want for more wood given the strength of the men sitting around it.

~FIN

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)