Problems and Solutions

Remi was not often in his shop anymore, Bastien had been told. No, he now spent most of his time in the Monster Hunter's guild, with a unicorn, a dragon and a baby. It sounded bizzare, like some cheap children's opera. Bastien knew the reasons for the move, of course, but given the whimsical nature of Remi's current situation he hoped he'd find the other man not in totally dark spirits, for two reasons:

1. He needed to ask a favour.
2. Remi possibly still thought him dead.

Of course, he had answers about the 'rumour' of his death, but Remi would no doubt not welcome a ghost at the door given his recent experiences. After talking to Rexanna this was one of the few things Bastien felt real guilt over, knowing his pantomimed funeral had been poorly timed, sandwiched by very real and tragic losses on either side. Though given he could not apologise without revealing his secrets, it was unlikely Remi would ever know of his regret.

Not quite sure what he was going to see on the other side of the door Bastien knocked, holding a bundled package in his arms and his best charming smile on his face.

Bastien

With a flash of the ankle, snarl of the lip
I see you in the street and gasp
Cause only Anarchists are pretty

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

The more time there was between Ronin's death and the current day, the easier life had become. Though Remi hated having to find new-normals without the guildmaster by his side, for Aoife's sake he had done just that. Thoughts of his neighbour still plagued him, but then again, up in the guildhall as he was, he supposed he and Sam were no longer neighbours. They were no longer anythings, and yet still Remi carried the letter the bookmaker had given him. But that was another matter.

Hearing the knock mid-batter making, Remi glanced towards the door covered in flour. On the floor of the kitchen Aoife say banging away on pots with a wood spoon, while Sugar blew bubbles of frost towards the child making them both cackle happily.

Looking down, a piece of cloth tied around himself like an apron and covered with multiple different sticky substances, Remi glanced back towards the door. "It is open—" He called loudly, undoing the large bolt with his magic and pulling on the handle. Though from where he was his magic was weak and whoever was on the other side would need to do the remainder of the work.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

When he heard the call Bastien smiled (Remi didn't sound like he was in floods of tears! That was a start!) and tried to open the door, pausing as he found resistance there. Pushing again he did manage to get it open, though it made a noise that made him cringe and hope Remi had not noticed. He didn't want to have to fix two doors in one year; there were things he wanted a reputation for and door-smasher was not one of them.

Heading into the Guild Hall (it was nice in here, far nicer than his own converted home that served for the main building of his fledgling Artist's Guild, but he tried to not be jealous. It had bohemian charm), Bastien smiled when he saw Remi mid-baking, apparently well enough to be busying himself with food. "Hello there, my friend!" He greeted, not yet seeing Aoife.

Approaching the kitchen he placed his parcel down on a clean bit of counter and looked at Remi's hands. "What are you making? You do know there is already a baker in town, yes? Are you trying to overtake her?"

Bastien

With a flash of the ankle, snarl of the lip
I see you in the street and gasp
Cause only Anarchists are pretty

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

"Bastien?!" Remi said as the man came through the filtered sunlight, a stream of reality lighting up his clearly un-dead face. Rather than exclaim him to be a fraud, the alchemist simply looked delighted. "Bastien you are alive!" He exclaimed happily, dropping the cloth in his hands and moving towards the former priest turned artist and tried to encircle the man in a flour-y hug.

"It is so good to see you!" He remarked with a wide and sunny grin.

Glancing around the kitchen, Remi grinned bashfully and nodded. "I know Amalia well. I do not think this would give her cause for concern...other than what a terrible job I am doing." He admitted with a grin. With a bright tw-BANG Aoife demanded all eyes upon her as she began thumping the spoon merrily upon the pots once more.

With narrowed frosty eyes, Sugar regarded the visitor, liking the strange smells he carried but being ever distrustful of strangers.

"Ah, we were trying to make pancakes?" Remi said with a crooked smile, his voice rising at the edge as if it were a question rather than an explination.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

Bastien gladly returned Remi's hug, squeezing around the other man's back and not caring about the flour on him; he had never been afraid of a bit of mess. "Yes! I am!" Honestly, he was thrilled to be welcomed so eagerly by someone, to know someone had actually missed his presence. Remi had not been one of the ones he'd expected to be thrilled with his return but he was not about to question it.

As they released each other he laughed. "Well now, as long as it is edible it will do for the purpose, ye--" Bastien was cut off by the loud noise and looked around the counter to see Aoife on the floor with her spoon and pot, Sugar by her. "Ah, to feed your...family? I have heard about your odd situation." In an uncharacteristically awkward move, he gave Aoife a small wave with an uncomfortable smile before turning back to Remi.

He clapped a hand on the parcel he had brought, then began to unwrap it. "I have actually brought you a gift for the baby.." From the parcel he brought out a light blue blanket, with small golden threads sewn through the stitches and edges to make it sparkle in the light. "I thought she might need something to keep her warm...it is getting hotter, but Rexanna tells me there is still a chill in the air some nights." Of course, he had no real way of telling himself now.

"Ah. And--" From within the blanket he pulled out a small piece of wood, seemingly blank from the side Remi could see. Bastien held it to his chest to hide the other side for a moment. "I hope you will not find this tasteless. But...I thought perhaps you might like something to remember him with.." He turned the wood to reveal a painted portrait of Ronin on the other side, small but detailed. It had been taken from a sketch of the man he'd done once at the Church, was completed by memory but he liked to think, still captured something of his face. He held it out to Remi.

Bastien

With a flash of the ankle, snarl of the lip
I see you in the street and gasp
Cause only Anarchists are pretty

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

"I suppose we will find out how edible it is soon." The alchemist replied with a laugh. Turning to follow Bastien's gaze, Remi nodded and sighed, wrapping a batter-covered arm around himself as he gazed down at the star-eyed girl. Aoife looked up at Bastien, uninterested, and continued her banging.

"Oh?" Setting down his spatula, Remi watched with pale and appreciative eyes as Bastien opened and revealed the gift. Blinking in surprised delight, he looked up towards Bastien and then back down at the blanket, his fingers splaying overtop of it but not touching. He was far too dirty for that sort of thing, but still he was drawn to it. "Ah, but it is beautiful!" He gushed happily, hoping that Bastien wouldn't take offense to the fact that he couldn't properly hold it in his hands to appreciate it at the moment.

Tilting his head as their appeared to be more within the paper, Remi looked blankly at the wood for a moment. At first he thought that perhaps Bastien wanted Remi to use his magic on it for some reason or another until the artist turned it around. There, in stunning and small likeness, was the former-baron and his best friend. Something inside his chest gave an unhappy flutter while at the same time another part of himself leaped with joy. "Oh Bastien—" This he did take despite the mess on his hands, though he held it reverently and as delicately as he could.

"This is so wonderful...it is...both of these, are perfect." With eyes shiny with joy, appreciation, and a weighted and latent sort of sorrow, Remi smiled boyishly at this strange man who had somehow become his friend. "Thank you. So very much."

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

"I am sure a baby and a dragon will not be harsh critics as long as you add plenty of sugar." Bastien commented, sure that Remi was used to eating whatever he could find or cobble together at the moment, looking after a child and a Guildhall in a period of grief.

Bastien was actually quite glad of Remi not touching the blanket, having immediately seen the flour on his hands and been anxious of it. Once it had been approved he smiled and then picked it up and set it by Aoife, just to her side, to see if she would look at it, or at least get used to it's presence (was that how babies worked? He really had no idea).

He held his breath (metaphorically) for a reaction to the portrait and broke out into a grin as Remi seemed pleased with it. "You are welcome, my friend. I was thinking perhaps if I had more time later I could paint both he and Vanya, larger, to hang over the fireplace? They are in a way the parents of this place, after all." Bastien wished to find a way to memorialize two of his original church members and this kind of work was nostalgic for him, similar to portraits he had painted for noble's houses back home.

Gesturing for Remi to get back to his work he pulled up a chair nearby. "I was hoping to ask for your advice or help on a...personal matter. One that should not leave this room, ideally. Would you hear me out?"

Bastien

With a flash of the ankle, snarl of the lip
I see you in the street and gasp
Cause only Anarchists are pretty

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

"That would be lovely." Remi said with a sort of breathless nod. To think of Ronin and Vanya hung high above the large fireplace made him feel both anxious and quieted all at the same time. But that was grief; a not-quite feeling at all times.

Picking up the spatula and bowl he'd been working on when Bastien had first come in, the alchemist raised a curious brow at the artist's request, but nodded diligently just the same. "Of course Bastien." He replied with a gentle but imploring smile. Though he'd always been on relatively good terms with the former church-leader, Remi did think it a bit odd that the man would belay his secrets to the alchemist. Still, Remi was not the judgmental type and could do nothing else if not keep a secret.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

Remi agreed to his proposed commission and Bastien clapped his hands together, glad to have a project, especially one so meaningful. It certainly was a reason more poignant than the vanity of a Duke, the usual reason he'd done such things in the past.

Once there was permission to speak he glanced towards Aoife then decided she wasn't old enough to understand what he was about to say anyway. "Well. I am unsure if you noticed but I have recently undergone the change of Ascension and not only that - I have become a dedicated man. The lovely Rexanna has agreed to be my beloved." There was a genuine smile on his face, something different than the carefully constructed smirk that usually graced his lips.

But then he sighed and a flash of something more vulernable came into him. "But there is a problem. I would like to.." Here, despite his earlier assessment of Aoife he leaned forward and whispered to Remi, his hand covering his mouth on one side. "..Make love to her. But I cannot feel properly nor...you know. Raise my flag."  There was an accompanying hand motion here to make sure Remi knew what he meant.

"And I heard a rumour. That for that little ginger thing of yours, you made him some kind of...device? That allowed him to do such things. I must say I never took you as the man to so desperately search for an erection you would construct a miracle, deny the nature of a whole race for it. But I admire it. I want to know if there is any way you could make such a thing for me. I would of course find a way to pay you."

Bastien

With a flash of the ankle, snarl of the lip
I see you in the street and gasp
Cause only Anarchists are pretty

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

At the mention of Bastien's ascendancy Remi inhaled sharply despite himself. Of all people though, Remi had a complicated past when it came to the race, what with Isla and Sam, and so it was hard for the memories that their fangs had imprinted on him not to come racing to the surface. "Oh, I—" He murmured apologetically, but then Bastien was still speaking, and the next words out of his mouth were perhaps all the more surprising.

"Rexanna?" The alchemist repeated, lips pulling into a hesitant smile. "Ah, congratulations." Remi added, wondering if perhaps Bastien was here to request a wedding ring.

But then the surprises kept coming.

As Bastien gestured lower, mistakenly Remi's eyes followed and the alchemist found himself blushing as he looked back up, a crooked smile on his face despite the sudden heat in his cheeks. "Ah." He said, now fully understanding.

The mention of that little ginger thing and the following ways Bastien characterized that part of his relationship with Sam had Remi wincing, a hand drifting with embarrassment between his brows to press gently there. "It allowed for other things as well. Temperature. Pain. Other regular sensations." Remi added, as if trying to justify the notion that it was more than just for erections. That it was because he had loved Sam that he had done it.

"Payment is not the problem. What I created....the Voice took and changed. It was not merely my doing and at the time she did not seem pleased. She indicated that there could be serious consequences when it was applied to an ascended. There did not seem to be any with Sam, but I do not know if the same would be true a second time."

Rubbing distractedly at his collarbone, Remi's heart unhelpfully clenched in his chest. The so casual mention of his relationship with Sam catching him off-guard and making his heart pulse in painful sorts of ways.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

"Yes, Rexanna. I know it is unthinkable, that such a beauty would settle with the beastly artist, but it is a tale as old as time, no?" Bastien dramatically held his hands to his chest to really amp up the romance of the concept. He was not often one for self-depricating humour, but when it came to his love he was more than willing to admit to his inferiority.

Typically Remi, he seemed embarassed by the accomplishment. Bastien rolled his eyes fondly; did the man not realise how wonderfully poetic it was? To deny the nature of life here itself to make love? He was impressed. "Those other things are useful too, but they are not my main goal." He actually quite liked the freedom from temperature, but had missed taste.

Still, for reasons other than Remi's embarrassment it seemed like it would not be easily possible for Bastien to achieve what he wanted to here. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, sighed. "I see. Well, there was no harm in asking. Thank you, my friend, for listening. Perhaps I can discuss it directly with The Voice herself. She has been good to me so far, at least."

He did note Remi's discomfort, but...the man seemed to be uncomfortable a lot of the time. Bastien was never really sure why. "Are you still with that man? Or have you moved on to someone else? A handsome face like yours can surely not go long without some attention."

Bastien

With a flash of the ankle, snarl of the lip
I see you in the street and gasp
Cause only Anarchists are pretty

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

With a bright laugh Remi clasped Bastien heartily on the shoulder, his cheeks round and salmon-hued with happiness for his two friends. "I am happy for you both." He said with a boyish grin that was still politely surprised, but none the less joyful for it.

Nodding, Remi's lips twitched thoughtfully. "I do not remember all of it as part of those memories have been taken, but she seemed to think that it was...a step backwards, given how she has made you to be." He offered with an uncertain shrug. "Just...be careful if you do see her. I would hate for that good will to turn sour over this." But of course Remi wasn't the one stifled by physical limitations in certain areas, so he really wasn't one to talk.

With a shaky and surprised inhale, Remi released the breath in a stream of suinny but uncomfortable laughter. "Ahh..No. We are not together." He replied with a small but tight-lipped smile, cheeks flushing at the further compliment.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

"Thank you! It is such a wondrous turn of events I still am amazed myself." Sure, Bastien had been with beautiful people before, but he'd never had the kind of connection with them he had with Rexanna. Who knew relationships were so much more rewarding when you actually cared?

He took Remi's warning on board, but more as a suggestion to work out how to properly phrase his request to the Voice. He was bold with the Gods, always had been (perhaps because he was sure he would one day be one) and was not afraid of what The Voice might do; she took on the form of a child after all. "I will be careful and charming, as always. These Gods are bark and no bite anyway, yes?" True, he'd been cursed, but he'd gotten better.

"Oh, I see. I am sorry, friend. But out with one and in with another, hm? I am confident you will not find yourself alone." He just about managed to hold you could do better anyway back. "I did always wonder if you and Ronin would find yourselves meandering closer after poor Vanya died...but I suppose there is no time to find out now. Ah, life is sad."

This said, he stood. "I shall not disturb your baking for much longer. I have things to be attending to before I go on my grand explore. I shall come back when I have completed my portraits, yes? In the meantime, feel free to come to my Sanctuary."

Bastien

With a flash of the ankle, snarl of the lip
I see you in the street and gasp
Cause only Anarchists are pretty

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

"Not in my experience." Remi said ruefully, shaking his head. He had now been cursed 2? 3 times? had been led towards his own death twice, and now owed the god of souls a favour. For the alchemist the gods were anything but keepers of their promises (and threats), though he was glad that not everyone shared his experiences.

"Mmm." Remi hummed noncommittally, though the mention of Ronin had him raising a brow. The alchemist's anguish was far from doused and this easy quip about there no longer being time to find out had the alchemist frowning. "We have always been close." He said a bit tersely, not liking the memory of his bestfriend boiled down to a missed sexual exploration.

Aoife's banging on the floor broke Remi's stoic expression into a sunny smile in an instant, and the alchemist found himself nodding appreciatively at Bastien. "Thank you for coming by. And for the lovely gift. I cannot wait to see the portrait...You always have been so talented, and it will be nice for Aoife to have a way to know her father's likeness."

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!