nae second spring again

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

The words which were meant to be reassuring felt barbed suddenly, and though he tried not to, Remi felt himself bristle. Saying that Remi needed to rely on others or else he would feel alone seemed to be exactly the sort of thing that Ludo might say. If mere curiosity hadn't been enough to drive Remi to Ianto, then perhaps the mention of being alone would. Or at least that's how Remi's skeptical and suspicious mind was currently framing things.

Either way, in order to put an end to all of this second guessing he did need the fox's help, regardless of whether or not he was in fact the fox.

"I can stand shifted." Remi confirmed. Before doing so however, he knelt behind one of the trees and began to make invisible measurements with his hands. As he did so, a tank began to appear on the ground before him, large enough (he assumed) for a Whisperfish to comfortably swim about in.

With a look half merry and half wary, Remi smiled at the fox, and then promptly began to shrink.

Lead away. Remi hummed through their bond. As much as he wanted to slither through the up the connection to see if there were any tells or giveaways as to the fox's validity, he couldn't make himself do it. And so with a resigned sort of sigh, he padded along silently for a moment. How long had you been in Northaven? He asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

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Ianto

Nodding as Remi seemed to agree to the plan, Ianto stood by and arched an eyebrow as the alchemist moved away for a moment, only to emerge with a tank that would be more than fit for use. "Now that's a neat trick," he remarked softly under his breath, moving to pick up the tank as Remi got more comfortable in a raccoon's skin. "I suppose I better," he quipped in response, smirking down at the furry creature and beginning to head off and into the forest. "Keep close."

They walked a strange path together, one that didn't entirely seem to exist. In fact, Remi would likely believe that Ianto was simply making it up, given that he even went back on himself once or twice. Still, the woods never spat them out again - in fact, they seemed to be heading further in. "In Northaven?" he echoed, voice soft so as not to attract too much attention. "Not long at all. I never even got to find out what my punishment from Warren would be. A couple of months at most. You?"

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all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

I would have thought a traveling merchant with a magic wagon would be unimpressed by something like that. Remi thought back with a grin on his small bandit-like face.

In fact Remi did not notice the slight overlap in their trail. Tracking had never been his strong suit, and just now he was much more focused on Ianto (and any fowl play that might come up), than he was with paying attention where they were going. Then again, given how often Ludo had left him astray, he should have been far more wary than he was.

Punishment? Remi returned, mischief coating the word. You? Your strike me as a model citizen. Whatever could Warren have wanted to punish you for? As the question was turned back on him, Remi twitched his whiskers. I came over in the second wave. So...a year or so? Or had it been two? Remi could hardly remember now, not that it made much of a difference, really.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

Ianto

"I am never unimpressed by novelties and talents," Ianto informed Remi with a smirk, glancing down at the raccoon at his side and being careful where he stepped so as not to trip over with the tank in his arms. "The magic wagon definitely helps, though." It was a helluva lot quicker than the route they were taking, for one, but he doubted very much he would be able to get Remi to travel in it. Not after what had happened before.

He frowned gently, having to remind himself that even though he had explained this to Remi once upon a time, it was new to the alchemist again now. "Uh... I ruined his empire," he said slowly. "I was left in charge of the caravan of wagons when Warren came to Northaven. But the war and poor decisions meant that I... well. I lost it all. Every single one. He brought me through to punish me." He shrugged.

A year or so...? He recalled hearing as much, though he still nodded to show he was listening. "You must have seen much more of the place than I did."

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all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

Hopefully it is more of a talent than a novelty. Remi shot back with a whiskered grin.

Though Remi couldn't whistle with his currently lips, the thought translated as a warble through the bond as the raccoon glanced up with a cheeky smirk. Ruined Empire?. The raccoon hummed. I suppose it is a good thing that Warren is not here then. He added with a mischievous sort of grin, having no concept of just how dire the situation for his friend might have been if the old merchant had indeed come through.

With a toothy grin, Remi shook his head. Oh yes. All of the sprawling area within the wall. Frowning to himself as he glanced around, for a moment the alchemist wondered how different all of this truly was to Northaven. No, there was no monarchy lording over everything ... but there was still poverty. Still disparity and unanswered questions. Still boundaries.

I only went beyond the wall once. Did you ever? He asked, trundling easily along beside Ianto

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

Ianto

"We shall see, won't we?" Ianto laughed easily, blue eyes flitting from the raccoon to the ways before them every now and then. It was some distance to the Sidhe Village, but at least the company was good and the conversation pleasant. He nodded emphatically in agreement. "Yes," he said, "that was one of the first things I checked when I learned that the people of Northaven were behind that barrier." Granted, his godmother likely would have made short work of the older merchant. Anyhow, Ianto was still glad that he didn't have to deal with both of them.

Scoffing, he gave Remi's comment due consideration. "True enough," he said, "it wasn't that big a place. I never got to see beyond it, though. Good thing, I guess. It sounded horrid." He shrugged. "I'll take this place over Northaven any day of the week. Though I am glad to see everyone again." One person in particular, yes, but he hardly needed to voice that.

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all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

Oh, it was not so bad. There was this lovely garden about half a days walk outside. Thoughts of Celosia, his traveling companion that day and now-deceased duchess made him shiver with regret.

At the mention of being glad to see everyone again, for a moment Remi halted his plodding steps, ringed-tail twitching slightly. The alchemist thought of Sam and how distraught the man had been when he'd learned that Remi had forgotten him ... how almost put out he'd seemed when he had to repeat certain details of their past. Given all the Ianto had said explicitly and had implied, the alchemist's relationship with the fox seemed to be similar to the bookmaker, in that they'd been sexual intimate and been in a relationship of sorts.

Ahh.. Remi hummed mentally, picking up his pace again and looking up towards the fox with wide ringed eyes. I am sorry for...not just having to potentially repeat things to me, about our past. But also for the gaps it causes, not just in memory, but in.. Trailing off, his mind sort of gestured vaguely in the direction of us without quite landing on the term.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

Ianto

"A garden? Are you sure? That doesn't sound like Northaven at all." Ianto snorted softly and glanced down at Remi, only to notice that his furry companion had halted a few steps back. The fox slowed down to wait for him, arching an eyebrow and seeming a little bemused - at least until Remi explained. And when he did, he could only smile in return. "You don't have to apologise," he assured him softly. "I mean... it's a shame, yeah, that I have to be so well behaved around you now. But I'm sure I'll break that awkward shell of yours again one day." He winked.

As for the us, Ianto furrowed his brow. "Well, at the time things were... you were very much in love with Loren," he explained as delicately as he was able. "I was a... a friend, shall we say, with benefits. I fell off your roof trying to rob you, for cryin' out loud. It's how we met." He laughed.

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all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

Well it was beyond the wall. So I suppose it wasn't Northaven. Remi grinned back.

It was a good thing Remi's cheeks were black and furry, because the blush that would otherwise have bloomed as the fox mentioned being well-behaved made the alchemist want to run under something quite cold for a moment. If telling an amnesiac the 'first' time with them that you'd been planning on sex in the woods constituted being well-behaved, Remi could hardly imagine what else he was in for should his guard come down.

The mention of Loren riled nothing in the alchemist now. Only a distant sort of understanding that Loren had been a librarian, someone that Remi had fallen in love with, who very much hadn't reciprocated. However hearing that Ianto had once been trying to rob Remi had the raccoon tittering under his breath in a sort of disbelieving cackle of amusement. You said...you were inspecting my roof? Remi ventured, thinking he remembered Vai saying something along those lines when she'd recited the story to him.

I hate hearing about all of this second hand. Or third hand in some cases. Remi admitted with a whining sort of elongated sigh. There is a man here too that I have apparently forgotten about. Though he then chose to forget about me in response so...I suppose it is just you now to sort out.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

Ianto

"Yes, yes I did." Ianto laughed cheerfully at that recollection, wondering how Remi was able to conjure such a detail but thinking it comparatively unimportant. "I had twisted my ankle falling. You invited me in, and I told you stories and we smoked together," he explained, smiling softly. "I liked you from the second I met you. And you made me stars."

Sighing, he nodded down at the raccoon in quiet understanding. "I can imagine... you lost someone else, though? And he... oh." Ianto arched an eyebrow, clearly having an opinion on that but thinking it better not to say it. "Sort me out, huh?" He quipped instead. "A guy could very much get the wrong idea about that, you know."

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all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

How nice of me, to invite my burglar in. It must have been you who provided whatever we smoked. I do not remember having much back then. Remi thought with an amused shake of his head.  The mention of being liked and the making of stars had the alchemist grasping desperately for a feeling of nostalgia and reciprocation that simply wouldn't come. There had been a moment between he and the fox that had changed things, but it had been stolen from him. Clicking his rows of white teeth together, a flutter of melancholy dripped through the bond.

Mmm. The raccoon agreed with a noncommittal sort of raccoon-shrug. Apparently we dated..and...when I lost my memories he...ahhh, well. Was far less patient about it than you are being. Then after Ronin died I ... well I do not know what happened. But he left me a note, saying he had decided to ask the Voice to forget me. With a wince, Remi swallowed, the gulp of awkwardness warbling through the bond as well.  

With a strange sort of open-mouthed gasp, Remi looked up at the fox, a protest of that is not what I meant on his lips. But for some reason he didn't say it. Instead, he merely grinned and shrugged. Someone else might, but not you. You are on your best behaviour after all.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

Ianto

"It most certainly was me," Ianto supplied, grinning down at his little raccoon-companion, though there was a touch of sadness about him as he felt the sadness and melancholy that warbled through their mental link. "Hey," he said. "Don't worry too much about it. I'm more interested in whether you enjoy my company now than tryin' to force memories of what used to be." He shrugged.

"So if I'm on my best behaviour, perhaps we halt this walk down memory lane before I get onto territory where I most definitely misbehaved." He chuckled. "You said you needed a Whisperfish? Is that all?" he asked, seeming curious. "There are much more interesting things in the forest than fish, after all..."

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all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

And just like that, the pressure was off. Well then. Remi thought, before darting up the back of Ianto's coat and up onto his shoulders. Curling there with a sort of feline grace, Remi snickered into the fox's ear.

I already gathered some red lichen. Other than the fish, I need sap from a Wicker Woman? Which I have been told is a type of tree.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

Ianto

Ianto let out a yelp and almost dropped the fishtank as Remi skittered up the back of his coat, and he was laughing and trying not to wiggle about while the raccoon made himself comfortable. "You could warn me," he said, grinning and tilting his head away from Remi's snickering and whiskers.

"A Wicker Woman..." Ianto frowned, glancing to the alchemist. "This is starting to smell like a quest, you know," he said. "I know where you can find some of those trees. But I insist on going with you. If one of them snares you, even you might struggle to get away."

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