Youʼre yellow rays and burning fire

Яemi

you're every song that fills my mind

"No. Loren disappeared with someone else long before I lost my memories of him. All I really know of him now is that he was a librarian and—" Both Ronin and I had sex with him "—a few other things. I have not seen him in months."

Mirroring Ianto and folding his arms as well, the alchemist grinned. "So it was quite professional fantastic sex, then?" As awkward and uncomfortable as it was, Remi couldn't let the easy lob go.

"Really?" Remi almost couldn't contain his laughter. "Out of a magical barrier only to find a magical forest that won't let you pass either." Shaking his head with a sigh, he raised a brow at the pipe but said nothing. "So you have just been out here by yourself? This whole time?"

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Ianto

"Oh... well. What a phenomenal asshole. You dodged a bullet, Remi." Ianto frowned a touch even as he packed tobacco (probably) into the pipe and placed it between his lips so he could light it. "Good riddance to him. He caused you so much trouble anyways." Maybe it wasn't right to keep bringing up their shared past, but fuck. Ianto had missed Remi dearly.

Drawing on the pipe until whorls of smoke began to drift about them, Ianto grinned. "Absolutely," he said. "We didn't allow the matter to drop until we were both thoroughly satisfied. What isn't professional about that?"

Offering the pipe to Remi as he had done in another lifetime, the fox nibbled on his lower lip at the question, hand unconsciously going to the leather collar about his neck. "No, not quite," he said. "I met the winged folk of the forest - Fae, they call themselves. And I... well. I made a few decisions necessary to my survival here." Only the fact that Ianto did still remember Remi led him to be so candid.

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Яemi

you're every song that fills my mind

"So I have been told." Remi replied with a distant shrug. It made him feel strange to have so many negative opinions about Loren, given how deeply he'd apparently loved the man. Was everyone else wrong about him? Or had Remi been?

Watching the hollows of smoke waft upwards, Remi couldn't help but chuckle appreciatively. Quickly though the smirk dropped into something awkward, perhaps a bit curious, but alltogether uncertain. "Ah. Well.." He stuttered, finding breathing suddenly taking quite a bit of focus as he felt his cheeks colouring once again.

Reaching to take the pipe, Remi regarded it for a moment. Smelling it, he quirked a pointed and telling brow at the fox, but inhaled deeply on it just the same. Letting the smoke fill his mouth for a moment, he exhaled a warm breath creating an uninteresting cloud of smoke.

"Fae?" The alchemist murmured, his lips still partially wrapped around the stem of the pipe. Frowning at Ianto's tone, Remi tilted his head softly to encourage his once-friend to continue. Had he his memories of Ianto, he likely would have been a good deal more worried about him given the bargains he'd made in the past. Even without them though, the altogether sunny and caring nature that was still within Remi, buried under the ash and debris as it was, still wished he might have been able to help in some way.

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Ianto

"Well, indeed. Though in my personal opinion it went a great deal better than well." Ianto tipped a wink at the alchemist, quirking a brow right back as he accepted the pipe and looked at him so questioningly. "Fae," he confirmed with a nod, glancing around at the forest.

They are smaller than the average man, and they have wings and are able to perform magic. There's... a great deal more to it than that, but... they know the pathways of this place better than anyone else. The only thing they haven't disclosed is how to leave, but... then I suppose that is for the best." Ianto shrugged.

The things he weren't saying lay between them like pitfalls, but it didn't feel like a good time. And Remi didn't even remember him, so... yeah. "They taught me how to navigate the forest, in exchange for my coming to their village to sell wares. I've got a wagon."

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Яemi

you're every song that fills my mind

Ianto was so perfectly candid about it all that Remi couldn't help but smile despite himself, even though the fox's wink made something low down in his belly shift uncomfortably. "Well I am in the strange position of having to take your word for it. Which.." Returning the wink, Remi shrugged, indicating that even without his memories, Ianto's reputation had proceeded him.

Blinking into the sunlight, Remi distractedly handed the pipe back as he tilted his head. "How to leave? So.." Again, the ridiculousness of it all made Remi laugh. "So we are all just stuck once again? Just in a slightly larger area this time?"

Knowing enough to sense that it was a sensitive subject, Remi nodded respectfully at the lack of information that Ianto had included. Shifting to what sounded like a brighter topic, the alchemist smiled a tad playfully. "Oh a wagon have you. Impressive." He added, the vine tightening ever so slightly around the fox and creeping a tad higher.

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Ianto

"Listen, my first thought when I saw you was to make damned certain of a repeat performance. So I'm glad you pointed out the thing about the memories quickly." Ianto snorted, though despite the jokes he did seem a little sombre about it. To have waited all this time to see a desperately missed and familiar face, only for Remi to look at him like a stranger... ow.

Accepting the pipe back, Ianto inhaled deeply on it, blowing absent smoke rings and tilting his head back to follow Remi's gaze. "Say whatever you like about it. I'm thrilled to be reconnected with people I know." Even if they don't know me anymore.

Narrowing his eyes playfully, especially as the vine seemed to be slowly intent on strangling him, Ianto lifted his chin with a defiant expression. "Considering we've only just met, you've quite the sharp tongue on you. My wagon is excellent, I'll have you know."

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Яemi

you're every song that fills my mind

Remi gaped. His lips parted and his eyes blinked, and for a moment the vine around Ianto both tugged and softened as the alchemist's fingers clenched and loosened. "Ahh.." The sound left his lips before he had a chance to wrangle it into a word, and so it sort of died rather than becoming anything coherent. Blinking stupid at Ianto as pink doused his cheeks, Remi was entirely without words. "I...I am sorry. About the memories. I were told you were quite important to me." Remi offered slowly. Sadly.

"Well, we are all in there. I suppose everyone will be coming to explore. I wonder what they will think when they are repeatedly spat out by the forest."

Smiling shyly, Remi shrugged with a boyish sort of casualness. "So that is you, then? Trundling about an enchanted forest with a wagon? Oh, sorry. An excellent wagon?"

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Ianto

"Ah-- careful, you'll cut off the circulation." Ianto smiled weakly and tugged at the vine as it couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to do. A blush dusted his own cheeks, the fox clearing his throat awkwardly and glancing away. "No, I... you don't have to apologise. It's just... I... I never thought I'd see you again. So... this is pretty phenomenal." And it sounded corny and ridiculous and it looked as though the silver in Ianto's tongue had tarnished over time.

Concentrating fully on the pipe so he wouldn't have to look at Remi, Ianto nodded absently at hearing about the others in there. "Is Warren?" he asked softly; that was the only other person he had known well enough in Northaven, and part of him turned cold at the mere thought that he might now have two masters.

"Yeah, that's me I suppose. What about you, though? What have you been doing in there all that time...?"

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Яemi

you're every song that fills my mind

"Oh!" Remi almost yelped in surprise and the entire vine dropped away to land limply at Ianto's feet. "I am glad to see you as well, much as I cannot really express it. It is strange to know that I...that we.." The blush darkened and Remi gave an exasperated and entirely adorable sort of sigh, nearly throwing his hands up. "That mask I told you about. I lost it and Ludo was less than pleased. I doubt there is any hope of salvaging the memories now." He concluded uselessly. "Though for what it is worth, I have heard mostly good things about you and I." Vai had apparently not been told about the fantastic sex bit, or perhaps she'd merely left it out. But for all intents and purposes, Ianto had been portrayed as a good friend to Remi, and right now the alchemist was running quite short on those.

"Warren? No." Remi said with a shake of his head. He thought that the old trader had actually died back in Northaven, but he couldn't be sure.

"Is your wagon around here?" Remi prompted curiously, taking a tentative step forward given that Ianto was no longer bound. "Oh..well. Mostly being cursed in a few unhappy ways. One curse is how I gained my magic, and my other shifts. " Remi shrugged. "I have a.." Pausing, Remi's expression did something rather hard to describe. It was both a smile and a frown, his eyes dancing between delight and tears. "Did you know Ronin?" He asked instead.

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Ianto

Relaxing as the vine pooled at his feet, Ianto left the pipe between his lips so he could dust out his coat and take a small step away from the plant, as if worried it might come back to life at a moment's notice. He finished smoking given a few more minutes, the fox seeming a touch more relaxed and smiling softly to Remi. "Not as strange as it is to remember it and be the only one," he remarked, rubbing at his eyes as if to cement the new reality in his head.

"Ludo did this to you? Did you not... oh-- you lost its mask?" He exhaled softly. "I... maybe I can find somethin' for you to barter with it. To get your memories back. If you want them, that is." He shrugged; it was quickly becoming an awkward sort of subject - luckily, it was derailed by the confirmation that Warren was no longer something that Ianto had to worry about.

Smirking, he shrugged his shoulders at the question about his wagon. "Yes and no," he said. "It's wherever I choose it to be at any one time. Do you want to see it? I've collected quite the array of tea since last we met." In the hope that the alchemist might one day visit, perhaps.

He heard out Remi's summary of the last few months with a wince, shaking his head to him gently. "It sounds rough," he murmured. "I do my best not to mess with gods, personally. But... Ronin, though? I didn't know him personally, but he was the Captain of Training, right? He was at the wedding we... well. I saw him at a wedding, in Northaven."

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Яemi

you're every song that fills my mind

Sadly, this Remi understood. Though there wasn't a great wealth of memories between when he had lost his and when Sam had made the decision to throw them away, there had been enough to feel the strange imbalance of it all.

Filing this information away for later, Remi let the conversation swerve away from masks and bartering. Little did he know that if he needed assistance with the latter, he was in the perfect company. But did he want his memories back? To widen the crack between he and Sam and remember all that had happened, that the bookmaker had chosen to forget? And Loren? The man he had loved, who had apparently been quite undeserving and quite unready to reciprocate? He would take back the memories of Ianto certainly, but in the moment he doubted that Ludo would be open to his preferences. Still it was something worth thinking about.

Furrowing his eyebrows in a comical gesture of whaaaaat? Remi smiled a touch hesitantly, not knowing Ianto well enough to know whether or not this was just a blatent lie. "It can...how?" Magic was the answer of course, it had to be. And yet it still sounded so fantastical. "I would yes." Then he paused, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Were we...going to have a tea shop?" Remi asked curiously, unsure if this was actually something someone had told him, or something his mind was merely making up.

The mention of weddings and Northaven made Remi feel distinctly strange. It was actually rather nice to be so casually speaking of their shared land, and yet strange that Remi couldn't recall it. Which wedding? He wanted to ask, but he supposed it didn't matter. "Ah, yes. He..." Biting the inside of his cheek hard and forcing a smile, Remi took a steadying breath. "He died recently. I am raising his daughter, Aoife."

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Ianto

Ianto flashed his friend a truly golden grin, spreading his hands and stepping forward as if to lead them out of the clearing and deeper into the forest. He gave Remi a gentle nudge on the way past, as he might have done very casually once upon a dream; if the alchemist didn't remember him and they didn't know, right now, whether those memories were retrievable, then they may as well make a start on some new ones.

"I'm not entirely sure myself - only that it does," he said simply, glancing over his shoulder to the other man and beckoning for him to follow. As they walked, Ianto whistled - a strange and unfamiliar tune that seemed ever so slightly off-key, but he seemed to be doing it with purpose. Good thing he had finished by the time Remi mentioned the tea shop, or the way the fox's face lit up might have ruined the melody.

"We were," he said warmly. "You were feeling a bit down, because the Tempest Tavern had been bullied away from you by the Hali clan. So we were gonna give them the finger and open a tea shop." He grinned.

They came upon the wagon just as Remi told Ronin's sad tale, Ianto pausing in his footsteps. Around them the woods seemed to blend into a perpetual twilight, even though it was very obviously still morning, and the large, brightly decorated wagon before them was aglow with all manner of lights and baubles.

"Oh, I see... that's..." He smiled faintly. "You'll be her knight in shining armour," he said. "From one orphan to another, I can say that much. To her, you hold up the sky."

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Яemi

you're every song that fills my mind

Remi drew in a breath as Ianto passed—Listen, my first thought when I saw you was to make damned certain of a repeat performance—his entire body tensing uncertainly as he sucked in the air over his lower lip. Exhaling in a rush of adrenaline as Ianto did nothing more than nudge him on the way by, Remi haltingly considered taking stock of the flare of emotions those few steps had inspired inside of him. Thinking better of it though, Remi simply shook his head and followed.

As they walked, Remi indeed noticed the departure from whatever key the song Ianto was whistling was in. However given how true the rest of the notes seemed to be, Remi could only judge it was intentional. Why? He hadn't a clue, but it made him grin slyly as he followed the fox.

With a burst of sunny laughter, Remi looked towards Ianto practically beaming. "That I do remember. The tempest tavern anyways." Shaking his head, he tsked under his breath. "The more I think about it, the more I think it was actually about Koel and Bellamy, than about who owned the stupid thing." Apparently months and worlds wasn't enough to fully take the sting entirely out of what had happened.

Remi actually hadn't noticed the shift in atmosphere until Ianto paused, at which point he looked around. "Either that walk took a good deal longer than I thought it did, or..." Glancing up to where twilight was poking through the tree branches, he gave his head a quizzical tilt.

Frowning at the notice of being anyone's knight, in armour or otherwise, Remi bit his lip. "I would rather just make her stars." He replied glumly. It was not the responsibility he constantly shied away from, but from the Ronin-less life that she would lead. Remi would always do everything he could for her, but he could never fill the guildmaster's shoes.

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Ianto

It would have been foolish to say that Ianto, too, hadn't noticed the crackle of something as he brushed by his old friend, though the fox did everything he could to shove that down back where it belonged. Whatever he had thought and wanted and felt at the time of seeing Remi up in the tree, it wasn't the same Remi, exactly. With this one he was starting again, with a clean slate.

The laughter surprised him, Ianto smiling over his shoulder and shrugging, seeming equally as amused but not quite as bitter. Then again, he hadn't been about to own said tavern. "It most certainly was," he agreed with a roll of his eyes. "And that is why I stayed out of politics as much as possible..." Still, that conversation tapered off as the wagon appeared, glittering in the twilight of the trees.

"...Or we went somewhere else," he confirmed the rest of Remi's sentence under his breath, though he chose not to disclose anything further. Instead, Ianto approached the wagon, whose doors sprung open when he got close. "You're officially invited in," he said to Remi, turning to hold out a hand for him to go first.

The mention of the stars gave him pause, however, and he lowered his gaze and dug a hand in his pocket. From it, he withdrew one such star, made for him by the alchemist what felt like a lifetime ago. "They are very good stars," he agreed.

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