what the heart wants

RONIN

Hmming pointedly at that, Ronin lets the matter drop and straightens up to cast his gaze out over the turbulent waves again, wrinkling his nose. "Well, whatever the cause, it's going to make for interesting sailing," he murmurs. Happy to turn his attention back to the comparatively mundane (though for Ronin it's more important than anything else they might have to do today), the Nova nods and glances back at the beach.

"Torchline's tugboat." He grins. "Fiadh will be jealous. And that's a good idea. Shall we heave her ashore now and get it done?" Feeling thoroughly motivated all of a sudden to make their new home a reality, Ronin is already heading back to the dock to unhook the mooring rope from The Northaven.

"Ready when you are," he calls.

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

"Well, I think it's only a tugboat if she's doing the tugging." Remi points out with a grin. "Then again, I suppose that makes us Torchline's tugboat." Frowning, though deciding it was better than being Torchline's bycicle, the Lullaby allowed himself a moment of melancholy at the thought of Fiadh and by extension Ianto, before snapping himself out of it and nodding agreeably.

"What do you mean? You cannot just do it yourself?" Remi wonders, flashing the Nova a teasing smile before pulling in a breath and disappearing down beneath the water line. After just a moment, massive tentacles that suggested Remi was much more than just partially shifted, began to delicately lift the boat from the water. Stretched around the hull tightly as if trying to hug the boards together lest they all snap apart, the Lullaby waits until the entirety of the boat was clear of the water (much to the shock and awe of any wandering along the shoreline), before mentally calling out, there is not room for me to come all the way out, so if you can take her from here...

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

RONIN

the darkstar

Frozen for a second as he tries to decide whether he likes the euphemism of being Torchline's tugboat, Ronin is drawn by the spark of Remi's melancholy, and he offers his husband a warm smile for his trouble. It's a smile that promptly melts into surprise (and no small amount of pride) to see Remi slip beneath the waves and kraken the fuck out. Uttering a soft laugh under his breath, draconic wings push from Ronin's shoulders that he might take to the air.

I've got her, he assures the Lullaby, swooping deftly between massive tentacles to literally take the hull of the boat in his own two hands. It's a feat of truly incomprehensible strength, and one that does have Ronin's jaw clenched and his muscles straining, but with a powerful beat of wings he manages to close the distance between the shoreline and the sea, where his projection waits to take some of the burden (sort of, since it's still all him).

Okay, little help? He huffs out a laugh.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

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

Melting down into the water and into his own body as the weight is taken from him, Remi does his best to hustle himself out of the water to assist Ronin. No amount of demigod strength is enough to properly battle the resistance of the ocean, though, such that the Lullaby is forced to pick his feet high up over the waves just like anyone else would.

Stretching out his hands—all four of them, thanks to his duplicate as well—Remi rests part of the hull on his duplicate's shoulders before narrowing his eyes slightly. "I could...create the bed we used to sleep in the Guild and the one from the mountains? We could use the headboards as a rest for either side of the boat?" Initially he thought their projections could just hold it, but already he was finding his mind mentally taxes from the exertion of both projecting and using his strength at the same time.

"Unless you can remind me of something better from our past to use?" Memory magic, for a man whose memories had been so often rearranged, could be a fickle thing.

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

RONIN

Relaxing as the extra pairs of hands make the boat infinitely more manageable, Ronin smiles gratefully to his husband. "I can't think of any circumstances quite like these," he admits with a grin. "The beds are a good idea. At least we can put this down." Thankfully with the two of them at work, it's less that The Northaven is too heavy now and more that she's just bulky and awkward to be holding up all the time.

Once Remi has magicked up their old beds (and Ronin has taken the appropriate amount of time to not suggest they abandon their task to nap - among other things - in them), he helps to set the structure down, soaked and covered in lichen, seaweed and moss. As for the hull itself, it's obviously watertight else they'd never have gotten this far, but it's in need of a deal of TLC. "I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon than by scraping off barnacles and sanding wood with you." The Nova grins.

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

"Nnnn.' Remi agrees eloquently, if only because having to remember two beds, create them, maintain his duplicate and keep a hold of the boat was stretching the limits of even his faculties. Perhaps if he'd done more than use his abilities to further Ludo's work when called and harass his husband with his tentacles for the past two years he might not be so rusty. Alas.

Having to tug the beds into place, Remi grunts under his breath before lowering his end down onto one of the headboards. Wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm and plastering his curls down in the process, the Lullaby peers around the side of the boat and grins at the Nova. "I can think of several ways we could spend this afternoon, but..." With a boyishly crooked shrug—they could be having sex, Ronin, back up in the mountains—the Lullaby laughs.

"But I suppose this is an alright alternative."

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

RONIN

"As alternatives go," Ronin agrees, wiping off his hands and rolling his shoulders while his duplicate hops aboard to collect their tools and bring them down onto the sand. "At least the tide is going out," he remarks, else they'd be scooting the boat up the beach every few minutes. But with the headboards holding everything in place, they're free to not have sex in the mountains, Remi, but continue with some other hard labour. Hooray.

It is, at least, a labour of love, and between the two of them Ronin is confident that their little boat will be more than seaworthy by the end of the day. That doesn't mean he's a fan of all the seaweed, though. "We should make her a flag," he decides of The Northaven. "And a crow's nest, for Sugar and Oria to hang out in."

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

"You know, once upon a time I would have noticed something like that." Remi murmured, of the receding tide. Back when he'd spent his days selling what little he owned to pay for materials for his experiments, back when even a scrap of parchment was worth protecting. "And now it is like..." Laughing a touch hollowly, he shrugs before looking to Ronin and giving his head a noncommittal shake, not wanting to turn their afternoon into the sort ruined by one of his moods.

'A flag, mmm? A star surrounded by tentacles? Dragon-wings behind a lion's head?' A band of red for blood and one of blue for the sky? "Well, of course. Where are they, by the way?" Narrowing his eyes while tilting his head to try and feel along his bond with Oria, the Lullaby felt only a distantly amused tug in response.

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

RONIN

"You can be forgiven. You're getting old, after all," Ronin murmurs, choosing to make it about the very colourful life they've lived rather than the melancholy pang in his husband's mood. "Perhaps now we're semi-out of retirement you can start engaging your brain again." Grinning and stealing a brief, soft kiss from Remi's lips as he ducks past, the Nova continues to slough lichen and barnacles from the hull.

"They're probably making a flag of their own. You know, a tiny one, to go on the crow's nest." Ronin rolls his eyes. Sugar's faint pulse down their bond is one of fury and indignance, so he can only imagine what they're getting up to. "I hope the inside of the boat is in slightly better shape," he remarks, aware that they've only been focusing on the outside so far.

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

'To wit I say once again to you, if I am getting old, what does that make you?' Remi wonders, inadvertently rhyming thanks to your poem. Crinkling his nose, a gesture he'd recently picked up from Flora, the Lullaby sighs theatrically (again, Flora) and considers. "I suppose you are right. I wonder if I should...get a job?" It sounds ludicrous to say, but then, Ronin would likely be off doing any number of things during the day, and if all Remi was responsible for was keeping their new home appropriately anchored, he'd likely go mad within the week.

Making a prolonged kissing sound in Ronin's wake, Remi grinned and nodded. "Mmm. No doubt so long as theirs is higher than ours, they will be happy." Slorping out his tentacles in an effort to peel away as much of the algae as possible with his suckers alone, the Lullaby drummed his fingers against the boat, before cocking an ear at the hollow reply.

"I would not be surprised if we have to gut her, honestly. But maybe that is not so bad. I could take Mateo to get some wood from the Greatwood for the interior, and you and Flora could pick out some seating and whatnot. We could fill her with all the places we used to live so that it feels like home." That, and including their children was probably a necessary step in trying to be better parents.

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

RONIN

"Older," Ronin says smugly, getting more and more used to being aged and withered in comparison to the rest of the world (and their children, notably). As for Remi getting a job? "Ew-uh," the Nova trills - also Flora, lovely - before actually considering the idea and the potential state of their boat and his husband if Remi is left to his own devices for too long.

"You could set up a stall in the marketplace, make and sell your gin and wine full-time," he suggests with a smirk. "Though our daughter might hate losing your exclusivity." It's a thought, though. "I still remember your old Artisan's guild. I think that's where you were at your most..." He doesn't have a word for the spark that had been ignited in his husband at that time, and spicy doesn't feel right.

Regardless, Ronin leans in as well to listen to the hull and nods gently. "Mm, maybe not," he agrees, his cheeks flushing suddenly as he reaches across to tug Remi against him. "I'd really like that," he murmurs, both of filling the boat with the places they used to live, and involving their children in the process.

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

He should probably have laughed to hear his—their—daughter's exclamation come out of his husband's mouth, but if anything, Remi felt his knees weaken and his mouth start to water ever so slightly. Exhaling with a strained sort of expression, the Lullaby hissed in a breath before giving the Nova an imploring look. "You are far too handsome for your own good." He mumbled before turning back to the boat and nodding.

"I think she would indeed hate it." He agreed, tugging a few barnacles off the boat along with the algae. Waiting to hear how Ronin might describe him, Remi waited with bated breath before it seemed as though no answer would come. Exhaling, he nodded, more to himself given their positions around the boat. "MMm, I know what you mean. I do need some sort of purpose that is not just murd-" Finding himself suddenly pressed against the Nova, Remi's expression is one of surprise as he's seemingly shocked by his husband's reaction.

Blushing as well before dismissing his tentacles in order to curl only the limbs he knows Ronin appreciates around him, Remi grasps at the Nova to draw them properly together. "Perfect." He whispers, eyeing the thrust of Ronin's lips before being unable but to chase it with his own.

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

RONIN

Ronin rolls his wrist in an attempt to finish his sentence for Remi, and this gesture comes directly from the Lullaby rather than any of their children, but he doesn't manage it in the end. "No, you," he objects to remarks on his handsomeness, finding their proximity and the way Remi's eyes flicker down to his lips far too distracting for banter. Their little houseboat also falls by the wayside in lieu of the taste of his husband's kiss, and Ronin melts against him to fully enjoy the moment.

"If we manage to gut the boat by the time the sun goes down, we can fill it with furs and sleep there," he whispers against Remi's lips, though sleeping is likely the last thing on his mind when it comes to their activities in The Northaven. Regardless, before they can come close to any of that, they still need to sand and paint and oil the exterior, and actually rip out the houseboat's innards. No rest for the horny wicked.

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

"If I can find inside as a manticore, we will not even need furs." Remi whispers back before realizing that though he could drape Ronin in his own feathers and fur, he'd not do so if it meant sacrificing his hands. "Then again.." Letting his fingertips splay over Ronin's lower back, the Lullaby gives his head a little shake before pressing his lips firmly against the Nova's once more. You are a wicked, wicked man. He thinks a trifle resentfully, though with appreciation as well; were it not for Ronin keeping them more or less on track, the pair would likely never get anything done.

Still, it's with a huff and a barrage of mental imagery meant to make getting on with their tasks more than a little hard, that Remi parts from the Nova and takes his sexual frustration out on the wood of their houseboat. Sanding and scraping until the hull is smooth, Remi begins cutting out the painting of the hull carefully at first, before writing, I have the hottest husband along the boat in bright red paint.

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)