one and only

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Ashetta had left him at the guildhall entrance, the morning light streaming down upon him, catching in his dark hair and on the blue cloak he wore (he'd return it to the assassin later). But still, Ronin couldn't quite bring himself to... what? Knock? Open the door? This was his home, but he... it just didn't feel... Snorting and shaking his head, Ronin gazed down at himself. Still stark naked but for the cloak and the borrowed tunic from a man he had only met for about five seconds, he couldn't really imagine looking more ridiculous or more perfect to step back into Remi's life. At least his modesty was somewhat covered by the tunic and cloak, he supposed. Clearing his throat and taking a deep breath, he reached out to knock the door. He didn't have keys anymore.

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

This was not his shop and he was not the same alchemist he had been before.

Had this been his shop, and/or had he been the same man, he would have an obligation to see to whoever it was knocking. Now though, Remi cracked one eye open, saw that dawn had only just begun to burrow its way into the sky, the faintest smattering of warm light spilling in, and simply grumbled.

This wasn't a monster hunters guild—or bounty hunter, if Roana had her way—not really. If someone outside wanted to scream about some monster or other they needed tending to, it could wait until both the sun, and Remi, were properly awake.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Ronin knocked, and nobody came. So he knocked again. And nobody came again. And so he took drastic measures and kicked the door down ran at the door with the intention of kicking it down, only to bounce off it like the Level 0 weakling he now was. So, on his bare ass (again) on the ground, Ronin swore and climbed up and dusted himself off and folded his arms across his chest. "Oi!" He shouted. "Remi! I can't have a heartfelt reunion with you when you're sleeping. I'm standing out here with my ass exposed, I thought you'd have been all over that, for fuck's sake."

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

Ohhh, but heartfelt it was not to be. Instead the sound of that voice—his voice—roused Remi instantly, though with none of the joy or excitement that the guildmaster likely intended. Instead the alchemist's features temporarily ran through a strange sort of rippling of shifts: eyes going golden, hands becoming claws, and teeth turning into long daggers.

Ianto (possibly), was one thing. But that could have been possible.

But Ronin?

Kicking Sugar's den (causing the dragonling to snap automatically at his foot as she poked her head out with a cold expression until she noticed Remi's own), Remi raised a finger to his lips to indicate silence. "Watch Aoife." He whispered, before turning towards the door with eyes still glowing a primal golden.

Stalking towards it, Remi reached for the handle without real thought for what he was about to it. It was Ludo surely, and even with a dragon's protection over Aoife, Remi couldn't be tooreckless.

But fuck. This was..

This was too far. Even for Ludo. Even for a god.

And so, throwing the door open, Remi grabbed for the cloak with a snarl. "How dare you." He growled in a low and unsteady voice, glaring at Ronin but not really seeing him, instead seeing the god he assumed was masquerading as his best friend.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving "Oh, finally, that took you long eno-- whoa!" It was an unusual experience for Ronin to find himself so easily manhandled, let alone when it was by Remi. He flailed as the fist wrapped into the cloak that didn't belong to him, arms trying to pinwheel, only to find himself held fast without a hope of prying Remi's hand away. "Hey, whoa, no... Remi." Ronin raised his hands in a placating gesture, slowing down considerably so that his excitement didn't get him killed. Of course Remi would assume it was a trap. But he had also sort of hoped that Ashe might have... oh, you know. Told the man he shared a home with that he would be dropping by soon maybe, all not-dead-like. Taking a deep breath and letting it out again, he locked eyes with the alchemist. "I know what it looks like. I know what you think. It's not Ludo, I swear. Look at the sky - one star. It's me. Look at me." And if he did, he'd likely notice that this Ronin, if it was a copy, was an imperfect one. This Ronin had no scars, not from Northaven or Caido or otherwise. This Ronin was new.

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

For a moment, all Remi could do was seethe. He could feel it in the way 'Ronin' moved so easily beneath his grasp that something was off. Glancing down briefly Remi hissed a breath noticing 1. that 'Ronin' was naked, but perhaps more impactfully (somehow), that he was free of scars.

Specifically he was free of the scar he'd earned during the first day he'd met the alchemist.

"Ludo would say that." Remi snarled in a voice that sounded like steel. Wary though, eyes narrowed Remi hazarded a glance up. Unfortunately, given the timing, the stars were already starting to dim, and the alchemist didn't want to leave himself defenseless should this thing try something.

"I do not see it." He grumbled, fist tightening around the collar of the cloak. "It could just be a cloud, or magic. Besides, this is not even remotely what Ronin looked like. What he—" felt like, but that seemed too personal a thing to say before the ghoul or god or whatever this thing was, and so Remi merely set his jaw and returned the too-blue stare.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving "You don't see it because it isn't there, Remi. It's in front of you, half naked. Would Ludo really go that far? Okay, maybe... don't answer that, it hates you, it might go that far. But still, it isn't Ludo." He implored, setting his jaw as the hand tightened around the collar of the cloak, swallowing hard. He arched an eyebrow as Remi said this wasn't what he looked like, before seeming thoroughly offended. "Hey, it's been a long season hanging out in the sky. And it's cold this morning, don't judge." He pouted, tentatively reaching up to rest a hand over the fist that held him at bay. "Remi," he said softly. "I watched you take care of my daughter, watched you and Vai make her a mobile from Vanya's feathers. Go and get Sugar, if you don't believe me. She'd not fall for anything but the real idiot."

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

The old Ronin could have knocked his hand away, could have physically bested him at any point throughout their friendship. This one seemed as though it couldn't even hold its own against a stiff breeze. "Or because it is morning." He replied forcefully.

Despite himself, Remi felt the corners of his lips twitching upward into a smirk. Ludo might have gotten the body wrong, but certainly it had imitated Ronin's wit perfectly. However as he felt the warm affection that his smile seemed to bring course through his body, his anger was fed and the smile disappeared into a much more ferocious grimace.

As 'Ronin' spoke, Remi merely shook his head. A god as well as a star would know those things, if indeed Ronin and Vanya were given that sort of insight. It proved nothing.

But Sugar?

Oh that was an interesting idea—

—but it would mean leaving Aoife unattended, if he called the dragonling out here.

"You stay here." Remi said, pushing against Ronin's shoulder to send him back a few steps. "If you are not a chew toy in a few minutes then...then......." Only Remi didn't know what would happen then.

Because this wasn't real. And Sugar would be the one to prove it.

So saying, he fixed Ronin with a warning glare, and backed into the guildhall, keeping his eyes on Ronin the entire time until the door barricaded his view. Quickly describing the situation to Sugar—though how much she could understand given that she wasn't bonded to Remi the alchemist didn't know—he waited to see what the dragon would do. Whether she understood or not probably didn't matter. Given how short her temper was, Remi very much doubted the man outside would last more than a few seconds parading in Ronin's skin

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving "Or that, yeah. But it's a long time until the sun goes down again and I don't want to be naked and arguing with you all day." Ronin frowned gently, feeling thoroughly useless that he couldn't even move the hand that had clutched at the scruff of his clothes. What had happened to him on his plummet through the cosmos to make him so weak? He stumbled as he was shoved, rubbing at his chest and throat and watching, both wounded and understanding all at once as Remi backed off and glared at him. Drawing a shuddering breath and letting it out again, he wondered if perhaps he should have told Ashe to stay, to explain things before he barged back into the alchemist's life. But then something subtle shifted in his mind, something he had thought all but snuffed out. No - that was his dragon, the one he'd rescued from the Oasis in the middle of Deepfrost - and damn had he missed her. Remi would notice Sugar clinging to one of the inner doorframes to glare out at the intruder after he explained the apparent situation, and at first it seemed as though Ronin was about to become a living, breathing popsicle. But then something seemed to shiver through the reptile, Sugar letting out a soft trill that hadn't escaped her since Ronin had been alive. Chirping a sound of elation and joy, she leapt from the frame to soar outside, wings spread as she crashed into the waiting ex-captain. Laughing, Ronin found himself blinking back tears again as he cradled the dragonling close like a baby, her silvery ribbon of a tail coiling around his forearm, her claws raised and wings tucked in for belly scritches. "I missed you too," Ronin crooned. "Look at you, all grown up and biting ankles."

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

Watching from within the still-dark greatroom, a looming figure above Aoife, Remi could see Sugar's hesitation and his mind locked like a steel trap. It wasn't Ronin. It never had been. The guildmaster was still dead, his best friend tossed into the sky where he was both so close comparatively, and yet still impossibly far away.

And then Sugar...well. She did that sort of trill-song Remi had all but forgotten, and before his eyes she sailed through the open door and into Ronin's arms. There were no ribbons of blood, no screams of pain. There was only happy laughter at the sort of strange purring-sound that only dragons seemed capable of making.

Still Remi was wary.

"Close your eyes." Remi demanded from still inside, still a sentinel over Aoife. "And Sugar look here. If it is you, Sugar can tell you what it is I am doing. Actually wait. Turn around. Even if you are Ronin you would probably peek."

Waiting for the naked man to follow his instructions, Remi leveled a worried stare towards Sugar. If this was really Ronin and their soul-bond intact, he'd see as Sugar did. Even Ludo couldn't mimic a soul bond (right???).

And so, with trepidation and trembling fingers, wanting to badly to believe but entirely convinced of the deception, Remi held up the middle finger to the baby dragon.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Ronin was busy delivering very, very belated fuss to the bonded dragon he'd unwittingly abandoned, whispering apologies for leaving her behind and scritching her scaled belly and cradling her close when Remi's demand rang out. "Huh? I... Okay, okay..." He couldn't blame the alchemist, not really, and Sugar was a good start to him believing he was alive, let alone anyone else. So, dutifully he turned around and closed his eyes, allowing Sugar to snuggle against his chest so she could rest her chin upon his shoulder, staring back at Remi to see what was going on. And as he unceremoniously flipped her the bird (she shrieked, since she was incapable of returning the gesture), the ex-captain burst into laughter. "There's no need to swear," he said, shaking his head but keeping his eyes closed. Though I probably do deserve it."

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

The moments that lingered between the shaky gesture at the dragonling and the captain's bright laughter seemed an eternity. During this time Remi imagined what it would be to tear 'Ronin's throat out, wondering if he'd die like a man or if Ludo would disappear. Would it be like killing his mother, the memory of which would haunt him? Would it feel good? Justified? Would he weep for Ronin again, or had those tears already been spent?

And so as Sugar shrieked back and then Ronin laughed, all those unhappy and murderous feelings turned to strange butterflies of uncertainty in his stomach.

So it was..?

He...he saw?

Which meant...

..it...

it meant...

But tears blurred his eyes and somehow seemed to stop his brain from actually working, and so for a moment all Remi did was take a stuttered step forward, his breath hitching strangely in his chest. Everything hurt and everything was possible and it was Ronin even though it couldn't possibly be (though Sugar was all the confirmation he really did need, save for the stars, but that could come later).

So the staggered step turned into a sort of lurch and eventually the bridge between them was dwindled to nothing. With eyes teary and wide and unbelieving and desperately happy, Remi wrapped his arms around Ronin's shoulder, burying his face against the side of the guildmaster's neck not currently occupied by Sugar.

"Ronin—" He breathed, the word infused with love and affection and grace and disbelief. Then, after a whispered moment he added, "—why are you naked?"

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Sugar growled her unhappiness, Ronin nuzzling her gently and scoffing. "Hey, he didn't mean it," he tried. "If you think about it he was really swearing at me through you." But then he heard the alchemist step out of the guildhall, Ronin swallowing uncertainly and turning to glance over his shoulder - a good thing, too, because Remi all but staggered towards him, and it gave the ex-captain a little time to turn fully around. With a dragonling trilling her glee at having Remi convinced (and utterly refusing to move even if it meant she would be squashed between them), Ronin was able to get his arms around the other man in return. His throat was too tight to speak, at least at first, and he all but clutched for the back of Remi's shirt, barking out a laugh at the question. "Hi, Remi," he murmured. "I... well. I'm less naked than I was. Safrin pulled my star down and I fell. I need some trousers, though." And he'd probably get them, sometime today. But for now Remi would be hard pressed to remove himself from Ronin's embrace, the guildmaster pressing his cheek aaginst the alchemist's unruly curls and closing his eyes. "How is she?" he asked eventually. "Thank you, for being such a good father to her."

all we are is skin & bone trained to get along

Remi laughed against his friend. Something about Ronin having fallen as a star only to wind up naked seemed so perfectly him. Or perhaps it was merely the strange mirroring of their first meeting. Regardless, Remi hardly had the heart to care. What little of it remained was pulled back together as if magnetically, the pieces feuding and forcing into a strange sort of alignment as Remi reached up to gently wrap his hand around the back of Ronin's neck. He could smell the newness of him, but a bit of the familiarity as well.

"Don't you Hi Remi me." He laughed, his unshaven face making pleasant scrrrrpp sounds against Ronin as he hugged his friend tighter, ignoring whatever trills of displeasure Sugar might have to add. He'd take a few frost-burns or scratches for this. He'd take anything for this.

"Aoife.." Remi whispered, pulling back and clasping both sides of Ronin's face between his hands to properly look at him without lingering thoughts of murder. "If somehow I have been duped and you are not who you say you are, I will kill you you know." He whispered, the easy charm and happiness sliding off of his face for just a second as his expression turned stoney and serious.

"She is definitely your daughter. I am sure she is already plotting on how to take over the world, if only she had the words." Remi said with a chuckle, before pulling away reluctantly from Ronin and nodded his head over his shoulder. "Come and see." He added with a laugh, glancing up at the sky quickly and still seeing just one star there.

Just one, and no clouds.

Inside, Remi reached gently into Aoife's basinet rousing the girl from sleep. Immediately her chubby fists when to her eyes and she howled a note of unhappiness. "I know." Remi whispered into her dark curls, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he wrapped his arms around her. "But there is someone who has come quite a long way to see you, so I think you should wake up." He continued, lips moving against the back of Aoife's neck, the sensation causing her to giggle despite this disruption to her sleep schedule.

forever going with the flow, but you're friction

Coding base by Sky!