what the heart wants

RONIN

I certainly am, Ronin agrees, his smile equally as wicked as his back arches under the other man's touch. The idea of being wrapped up in his husband, manticore or otherwise, is at least good for renewed motivation, and as they finally part to get to work, it's with a quiet determination that Ronin picks up the tools.

Still, while Remi is able to sand and oil and paint his grafitti along the hull, Ronin takes a similar-yet-different approach on the deck. He'll paint over it afterwards, but if the Lullaby should see a hasty portrait of himself (tentacles included) on the boards, well, so be it.

By the time the sun begins to wane towards the horizon, Ronin is content with their work, and he's busy ripping out the inside of the boat to create a blank canvas of sorts. "You were right about all of this," he complains nonetheless; almost all the wood inside is rotten or infested with termites and other insects, and they'll be building up their home from scratch.

one more wish for you

Coding base by Sky!

Let's not get lost in the dark blue
But darling if we do, just find me and I'll find you

So they graffiti their love into the boards, and though it would later be covered with paint making it invisible, they would at least always know it was there.

"I usually am." Remi calls from outside, wiping a bit of paint from his forehead before poking his head in through one warped window. "But what am I right about, more specifically?" He wonders, glancing around. It only takes one sniff for him to realize just how rotten the boards actually were, and with a look that says one second, the Lullaby disappears around the side before edging himself in through what will eventually become the front door.

"How much do you think we can actually salvage?" He wonders, glancing about and pushing on a piece of wood which gave way with a weak whine of wet protest. Pulling a face, Remi frowns apologetically before chucking the board out with the rest of the debris.

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

RONIN

"So far? The deck and the hull," Ronin says with a rumble of laughter that manages to be upbeat only because he knows that it won't bother either man to build their world from the ground up again. With Remi's assistance, they at least manage to get rid of all of the detritus from within The Northaven, leaving the space barren and still smelling damp, but nonetheless a canvas from which to begin.

"For tonight, do you think you have enough energy left for some well-placed memory magic?" Ronin asks, even as his arms swarm into crimson and gold feathers and he begins to sweep a phoenix's heat and fire along the inside of the vessel. It should dry the place out and remove the old, damp smell, at the very least.

one more wish for you

Coding base by Sky!

Let's not get lost in the dark blue
But darling if we do, just find me and I'll find you

Raising his arms above his head in order to stretch and moan with such exaggeration that he very nearly pulls a muscle, Remi can only shrug and waggle his eyebrows. He of course had enough energy left over, but what fun was saying yes when he could imply that the pair would be forced to sleep balled up together in the skeleton of their new home?

"I would offer to help, but..." Grimacing, the Lullaby looks around and gives his head a little shake. As an ifrit he'd have to be fire all over, such that either he'd risk burning down even the wettest of wood, or he'd have to constantly be on the move.

"We spent our first night here on the beach anyway." He mumbles, and though the memory isn't a pleasant one, his lips aren't forced into a frown the way they once would have been. "So already it is a better start." Here of their own choosing without the blood of their daughter literally still on their hands, it had taken them several years and several new starts, but finally, things were starting to feel different.

Patting the frame of the boat almost tenderly, Remi presses his thumb against a jut of wood threatening to become a splinter before pulling it out and tossing it harmlessly outside onto the sand.

"I think tonight, the bedding from the Greatwood and the pillows from the wagon."

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

RONIN

"Oof, when you're right, you're right," Ronin murmurs as he swans around the interior of their little boat, peeping outside as he passes one of the portholes to peer down the beach. Passers-by are glancing at the vessel (suspended on the headboards of two beds, as it is) but know better to approach or cause any problems. Once he's convinced that things are appropriately dry and toasty, Ronin dismisses his phoenix down and draws close to his husband again.

"That," he says, sneaking a kiss to Remi's cheek, "sounds perfect. Maybe we can contact Mateo tomorrow and ask if he can come and take a look at the place, get some of his plants draped all around." For now, though, there's just the Lullaby and his too-green eyes, and lips that Ronin can't resist stealing further kisses from.

one more wish for you

Coding base by Sky!

Let's not get lost in the dark blue
But darling if we do, just find me and I'll find you

Letting his hand slide around Ronin's waist to bind the Nova to his side, Remi turns slightly in order to let his cheek rest against his husband's shoulder. "I like that idea. As you said, I am sure Mateo can recommend plants that hold things together as much as they look good." He mumbles softly, inhaling the cedar-y smell set off by Ronin's flames and the old wood boards.

Lifting his chin slightly as their lips come together, for all of his frustration and boyish need earlier, the Lullaby is surprisingly subdued as his tongue seeks to smooth away any barriers it encounters just as his hands on done on the boat earlier. "Every time we start somewhere new it always feels..like the start of something better." He whispers softly, leaning as much against Ronin as the ship's interior. "But it really does this time."

Joy as much as love bleeds out from where they touch, and though the light is low in the little boat, Remi can see an entire ocean of light within Ronin's blue eyes. "I love you so much." Smiling crookedly, Remi inhales the day's work from his husband's skin, savoring the scent of hard work and starbright sweat. "More now than ever."

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

RONIN

"And you know he will do most of the hard work. We can get you a new rocking chair and set it up on the deck while he tends to all the plants," Ronin suggests with a grin. Despite having just literally been a cape of feather and flame, the warmth against his side where Remi presses himself is enough to almost steal his breath, his eyes slipping shut as their lips meet.

"I think it's because we're doing it for our family as well as ourselves this time," the Nova says, the admission mumbled into the kiss as if it might seem less damning there. Straightening reluctantly away from the side of the boat and drawing Remi with him, Ronin lets presses another kiss against his husband's jawline, and yet another to his forehead. "And I love you," he whispers.

"Do you want to get a drink at the Hanged Man? Or go straight to bed?" Or have the equivalent of a bath in the sea first, should the Lullaby insist.

one more wish for you

Coding base by Sky!

Let's not get lost in the dark blue
But darling if we do, just find me and I'll find you

"Maybe a hanging chair." Remi suggests instead, puckering out his lower lip thoughtfully. "Could hang it from the upper floor. It is one less thing to have to nail down, anyway." That was something he'd assume they'd have to get used to doing, lest they lose their furniture to a large wave.

Having the ability to sigh himself directly into the Nova and then some, it took even more restraint to keep himself from doing so. Though Remi wasn't particularly exhausted the way you'd expect him to be, there was an abstract sort of laziness that begged for his knees to buckle and to drag Ronin down with him.

Alas.

"Probably the Hanged Man, if only to check in on Flora. It is why we are here, after all."

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

RONIN

"Oho." Ronin grins, as if the prospect of upgrading their furniture somehow makes the place feel more like a new home than merely replacing it. "Between the plants and our bedroom, there will be enough nailing, I assure you." He winks, threading his fingers affectionately through Remi's curls before he reluctantly parts from him and hauls himself out of the boat. (Well, the shell of what will one day soon be a boat).

"That is why we're here," he agrees. "Come on, then. We can do what we were never able to do in the real Northaven, and hold hands while we walk across the beach." And that in itself makes things feel all the better already.

one more wish for you

Coding base by Sky!

Let's not get lost in the dark blue
But darling if we do, just find me and I'll find you

Tutting under his breath as if to imply that Ronin has gone too far, the look on the Lullaby's face is one that very much wants to begin nailing things in the bedroom right now. Surely their daughter, their obligations, the better parents that they're meant to be, could wait until the morning?

Silently pleading for Ronin's fingers to tangle tightly in his curls, Remi sighs in the sudden space between them. Having to swallow down the moan that had been building in the back of his throat, the Lullaby raked his fingers through his curls to dispel the ghostly trails Ronin's had left.

Of course, Ronin goes and says precisely the sort of thing able to transform the heat in Remi's belly into a sunny smile, and it's with almost no effort at all that he trails in the Nova's wake until he can properly lace their fingers together.

~FIN

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)