tfln overflow / open post

[superniceone]

(open / overflow)

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[recreatable]

Impulsively, Verso tugs Gustave back in by the sleeve to kiss him in a deeper, more enduring way. He tells himself that it's purely a physical urge.

When he withdraws, his face has gone slightly flushed again. "Back to camp," he echoes, and leads them back to the others. It's exceedingly obvious what they've been up to when they stumble back into camp, and Sciel catches Verso's eye to give him an encouraging smile. Merde.

"I should check on Monoco," he says before doing just that, settling down on the ground beside him and speaking to him in a soft, comforting tone. Meanwhile, Maelle sidles up to Gustave, hands clasped faux-innocently behind her back.

"Am I still not allowed to bring it up, ever?"

[superniceone]

Gustave cringes slightly at Maelle's approach, nodding to beckon her to follow, just to give Verso and Monoco a little more space. It suddenly feels — well, disrespectful, really, to have snuck off while Monoco was grieving to fool around so close to the gestrals' sacred resurrection river, but, well. Too late to undo it now.

"Well, I'm fairly certain I couldn't stop you if I wanted to." His tone is lighthearted, but there's genuine concern on his face when he glances at her. "You're not going to disown me?"

[recreatable]

Maelle shoots Gustave a pointed look. "I didn't disown you when one of your inventions nearly burned my hair off." An accident, of course. Gustave's intentions were pure then, and she knows they're pure now. They always are. "I'm not going to disown you now for having a secret boyfriend."

It's weird. She can fully admit that it's weird. But: "As long as you're happy."

[superniceone]

Wow, that's a complicated thing to hear from her, because he's not fully sure he can be. Gustave has never dealt well with feelings of helplessness, and now more than ever it feels like he's been cast into a situation where he's able to do nothing but his best to stay afloat as he drifts along with the current.

Luckily, he's tired enough that the grimace on his face doesn't convey any of that — he just seems as exasperated as he always does when she's teasing him. "'Boyfriend' is an extremely loaded word. But would you make sure Verso gets the message, too? He stays pretty worried about what you think of him."

[recreatable]

Which is pretty funny, because for the vast majority of her life, Maelle has been under the impression that Verso is perfect. "I'll pass it along," she says regardless.

"I'm glad you two made up, actually." Obviously, she noticed when her two favorite people in the world weren't talking. She pulls a face. "You were going to make it so awkward when we were all together in Lumière." She would have been stuck between them like a child from a broken household.

[superniceone]

Gustave hums at that, glancing over again to where Verso is consoling Monoco. How sure are you of your plan and We're just using each other are both things he might say to anyone else he was having this conversation with. Instead, since it's with Maelle, Gustave just chuckles.

"You make it sound like we're all going to be in one big house together. I don't know how well Emma would take that."

[recreatable]

That's how Maelle lived, once — everyone she cared about in the world under one roof. One big, happy family. It feels like centuries ago now.

She pokes Gustave in the ribs, playful and lighthearted. "Emma will want us to be happy." Emma will just be thrilled that they're both alive. Maelle will have so much to tell her, so much to explain. She scarcely knows where to begin. "But I suppose he can live down the street."

She doesn't want family too far away. She never wants to feel like an orphan adrift in the world again, and now she never has to.

[superniceone]

It's a fact that Maelle will have a home with Gustave as long as Gustave is alive, but it still surprises him just a little when she says he can live down the street instead of we. Merde. If Verso isn't planning to return to Lumière, he's going to need to have an extremely difficult discussion with her.

"Oh, I see. Convenient to have a place to run off to when you get in trouble for not eating your vegetables. Rascal." As if this were a situation that had or would ever happen. "Come on, I need to revise my notes on gestrals. Come help me."

[recreatable]

Maelle giggles at the idea of Gustave being such a stern disciplinarian that she'd need somewhere to run to. In his dreams. She links their arms, smiling up at him with stars in her eyes. Much has changed for her, but one thing that won't—not ever—is her adoration for Gustave. Teasing, she says, "That reminds me: we need to discuss this unpaid editor work..."

[superniceone]

"I've always been very upfront about my plan to pay you in exposure," Gustave tells her, and can't help but think that if anything is worth all of this, it's Maelle's happiness. She deserves that and so much more.

It's Sciel's turn on the middle shift that night, and she wakes Verso for his early morning one with a wide yawn and a gentle shake. "Up and at 'em, trooper." And while she's settling in to catch another few hours of her own, she'll ask with a genuine-seeming expression of concern: "Did you really have to go so hard on Gustave during your little duel? It's been a while since I've seen him that battered."

She is, of course, talking about the blossoming bruise she'd peeped on his shoulder while he changed.

[recreatable]

As he forces himself to sit up, he squints, uncomprehending—he'd been very careful not to really hurt Gustave during their duel—until some semblance of alertness comes back to him. Right, the bites (multiple). For a moment, he doesn't say anything; the benefit of distance has not made his feelings on their intimacy any clearer. On one hand, it feels unsustainable and somewhat painful to put himself through this. On the other, the orgasm did help him sleep better than he has in years.

Finally, he quips, "Should I be worried about you watching me when I take my clothes off, too?"

It doesn't worry him. He feels a sort of kinship with Sciel, and he can't rightly criticize her when they're of matching libidos.

[superniceone]

Sciel gives him a sleepy smile. "Only if you're undressing in my line of sight. But I promise to only peek through my hands." She keeps her voice a soft murmur, doesn't want to risk waking anyone else up — doesn't want to wake herself up much more than she already is, either. She'd spent a little of her time that evening ruminating about Gustave and Verso, curious about the direction of their relationship... and, ultimately, just hoping that it remains pleasant for them both.

"Are you having a good time?" That seems like a question she can ask.

[recreatable]

Sciel is sweet to ask, and Verso feels the urge to blurt out 'no' and receive her comfort. The person he really wants to talk to, he realizes, is Clea. He wants to lay his head down in her lap and have her tell him that he's ridiculous and dramatic. Once a little brother, always a little brother.

But Clea isn't here, and Sciel doesn't owe him comfort. "As good a time I can have when I'm still smarting from your rejection." It's only a tease. The proposition had meant little, and the rejection had meant less. Her company is what matters, not what form it takes.

"Is it time for you to corner me and ask my intentions, or do we still have a bit left before that?"

[superniceone]

Sciel is drowsy, her processing sluggish, which is why it takes a few seconds to figure out why Verso's answer prickles. She's used to his evasive answers for most things, but are you having a good time wasn't a question she'd anticipated him needing or particularly wanting to avoid.

She yawns widely again and sits back up, patting the ground next to her. Come here, you is the only possible meaning. "I thought you made it very clear this morning that your intentions were 'just passing time.' Is that no longer the case?"

[recreatable]

Ah, right. In his half-asleep stupor, he remembers that he had not only said that, but he'd believed it, too. Verso tries very hard to inhabit that person rather than this person, who has so many stupid, sadsack feelings.

"It is," he answers as he settles down beside her, picking idly at blades of grass. "I'd just expected the third degree anyway."

They're all so very protective of each other, after all. Like family.

[superniceone]

"Sure," Sciel agrees, masking one last yawn with her hand. Something had clearly gone sideways. She turns the situation over in her mind, tries to figure out what could have happened to shift Verso's demeanor from what it was last night to where it is now.

She leans her shoulder into his with a little wince. "I bet... Gustave isn't so great at the 'casual' part, huh. And you don't want to hurt him?" A stab only mostly in the dark.

[recreatable]

Verso isn't actually very good at 'casual' with people who aren't forcibly removed from his life by death, as it turns out, but that's a subject not worth getting into, if only because it would lead to plenty of things that would make Sciel hate him if she knew: I killed my last girlfriend is bad enough, and I wanted to let your good friend Gustave die makes it worse, and I'm also just a generally awful person would be the cherry on top.

Besides, it's close enough. Gustave does make everything seem remarkably un-casual, and Verso does fear hurting him in one way or another. "You know, you're very perceptive, Sciel."

[superniceone]

"Well. I do have eyes, you know." It was the way that Gustave kept glancing at Verso the day that had caused Sciel to turn down his offer of a little adventure together, after all. She assumes he's been pining since then.

She reaches over to take his arm and gently give it a little squeeze. "Don't worry. He's a big boy, and he'll forget all about whatever confusing feelings he's having about you the second Sophie is back in the picture. There's nothing to stress about, I promise."

Sciel will be absolutely mortified if she ever realizes that Verso was the one hurting here.

[recreatable]

Part of it is a relief to hear. It'll be easier to have somebody to hand Gustave off to, so that there's no unpleasant feelings, no lingering loneliness. Part of it feels like shit, too, because it's a stark reminder that he's incapable of doing anything besides acting as a stand-in for somebody more valuable. It's a dynamic he understands, though, and one he's good at.

"You're right," he agrees. "Nothing to worry about." He presses a hand to her arm, congenial. "You should get some sleep."

[superniceone]

"Mmhmm. Don't brood too much, Verso. Go give Esquie a cuddle if you need to." Sciel covers his hand with hers, the squeeze meant to be genuinely reassuring despite her teasing tone, and she'll settle into her bedroll to spend the last few hours of the night sleeping like an absolute baby.

And if in the morning to come, Maelle and Sciel both clam up whenever Verso is close enough to overhear their whispering, they're definitely gossiping about something wholly unrelated.

[recreatable]

"Did you say something to Maelle?" is the greeting Gustave will get the next time they have a moment to talk.

It isn't accusatory, but there is a slight undercurrent of anxiety to it. Gustave has repeatedly expressed that they have more important things to be worried about than interpersonal drama, but Verso is capable of stressing himself out about many things at once, particularly when those things have to do with Maelle. She isn't an idiot, of course, and obviously she must have some inkling of what's going on here, but he dislikes the idea of not being able to control her perception of him and the things that he does.

[superniceone]

Gustave pulls a face at the greeting, offering Verso a piece of his lunch — a thick slice of some sort of dried fruit — that he'd been chewing on. "What, when? Last night? Do you mean before or after she told me she was happy we 'made up'?"

btw i initially read this as gustave offering verso a piece of chewed up fruit jerky

[recreatable]

"Did she?"

In truth, he's more surprised that she caught onto the tension at all, although perhaps he shouldn't be. Maelle has always been observant. He wonders if the awkwardness bothered her, or if she only found it amusing.

Verso doesn't strictly need to eat to survive, so he generally tries not to dig into the group's rations overmuch; he takes the slice of fruit only because it would be more impolite not to. He looks at Gustave as he chews, obviously curious to know what else was said but unsure how to ask without sounding probing.

you can't prove he didn't

[superniceone]

Gustave raises both eyebrows at him, before he leans forward and cuts his eyes away. His voice is soft when he continues. "She's happy if we're happy. If that's what you're trying to ask." It's on the tip of his tongue - that Verso should talk to Maelle if he's not planning on returning to the city, that she's really dreaming up a future for them all.

[recreatable]

Is this 'happy'? It's been so long since he felt joy that he doubts he'd be able to recognize it if it were, but this seems a much more familiar feeling than that.

"She's been whispering with Sciel," he says by way of explanation, jerking his head toward Maelle and Sciel. Of course, Gustave has no idea that Verso and Sciel have been gossiping about him—multiple times—and therefore no reason to understand why Verso would be made suspicious by her presence. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't say that I was taking advantage of your innocence."