Our heroes, our icons have mellowed with age

the sentinel of the north

It was a consolation. The consolation that Noah needed. He let the words sit on his shoulders and sink into his back. He didn't balk and he didn't step away from them, like he would if they had been spoken from someone else. "Remi, you too are a good man. You've got a heart that many people don't have these days." Even as the harbinger of death. Even as an asshole. Even as a puppet without his own autonomy. There was a goodness within Remi that was unable to be demolished, even if the world -- and he -- had tried. He remembered stories of the man Delphine knew, and there was the same light in the depths of Remi now that were present in the shallows of Remi then.

Because, there weren't many people who would give up their insurmountable power and endless time at the side of the one they loved just to protect the world.

Noah sighed, then straightened himself out a little. "I really appreciate you coming down to see me." He let a smile come back to his face, brushing away the icicles that had formed from the seriousness of their conversation. "Halo's changed a bit since the war. Rae expanded and gave us some new territory." He gestured around him at the Greenwing, a blessed place birthed from the trauma to the tundra. "I'd show you around, if you'd like, whenever you'd like."

Noah

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Shifting uncomfortably beneath the other man's observations of him, however praiseworthy they might have been, the Lullaby exhales slowly while focusing on a bit of bark he'd picked up and had begun to fiddle with. Were he Ronin, he'd likely have had some charming retort that would both praise Noah in return and set them both at ease. Alas, for all that he'd picked up from his husband over the years, the Nova's charisma was not one, and so Remi merely offered his counterpart a crooked, but hopefully appreciative smile.

"So I have seen." The Lullaby mused, happy for the change of conversation. "Much of the world has changed, but I should say that Halo is perhaps the most dramatic." Indeed, where other lands had seen a few shifts, Halo seemed to have an entirely new topography in certain places. "I might just take you up on that." He adds, smiling with genuine warmth now. "Where is your favourite, would you say?"

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

the sentinel of the north

"Here." Noah said, lifting his arms and turning with the most grandiose of gestures either of the two men had displayed since their conversation started. "It's green, teeming with life. Where the tundra was always a harsh mistress, the Greenwing is a blessing beyond measure." It was true -- his own freezers and stores were filled with an overabundance of meat, while his dry storage grew and grew with the different arctic plants that grew here.

"I'd never seen this many shades of color in Halo before." He grew up knowing nothing else but the ice and snow, slush and dirt. His ventures into Torchline and the Hollowed Grounds when the portals first opened to Halo were his first interactions with such rich and vibrant colors -- now his own home held them. "This bleeds into a forest with trees so unlike anything else. I played tag there with Ronin a few months ago, actually." Noah couldn't help but flash a smile at the statement. In fact, it was more ridiculous than even he had let on: two grown men and one grown woman had played tag together for hours in that forest. "Then on the other side of Halo we've got a spot that could host a pretty impressive harbor one day." His smile did not fade at the idea of working towards such a project.

Noah

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Chuckling at the sudden flare of theatrics, Remi allows himself a moment to properly look around. Though he'd taken in the scenery already, always it had been done as a way of avoiding whatever internal conflict Noah's previous questions had stirred up in him. Now, unbothered, he was able to pick out the various strains of green that threaded themselves through the canopy overhead and the flora on the ground.

"Did you now?" Raising his eyebrows and looking boyishly surprised, the Lullaby grins and snorts under his breath. Giving his head a wry shake before turning his head as if he might see through the miles to where the harbour Noah spoke of must be, the Lullaby turns back with a thoughtful smile. "Well, if you need help..." He offers with a small shrug that his counterpart not feel any sort of obligation in the offer.

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

the sentinel of the north

Noah dipped his head, gratitude washing over the bond in a silken blue. ”Thank you.” Knowing he could call upon the demigod to help was a confidence Noah stuck in his back pocket. He had thought only minimally of the port on the Svaritus Bay, with the sky port as popular as it was. But the more routes of trade and of commerce they could add to the world, not only to help Halo but also help other lands, simply just made sense.

Shifting his body slightly, Noah noticed the way the sun began to dip towards the horizon. ”I should get back to Cordelia.” Noah said, glacier eyes meeting with Remi’s one last time. ”You are welcome at our home any time.” Noah’s smile was warm as he extended his hand towards the Lullaby once more to shake as they departed, and then Vi’s magic wrapped around Noah and teleported him home.

FIN

Noah