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[superniceone]

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[superniceone]

Verso really is fully unhinged if he thinks he's just going to be able to slip away after this; Gustave really is one of the most stubborn people around, and he's not going to let Emma's visiting councilors be the excuse Verso needs to evaporate again. He'll have to work a little harder than that.

Personal feelings aside (of which there were a lot, more than he was ready to admit to himself - spending his nights reliably clutching Verso's hand in his own had done a number on him those last few weeks), he really is worried. About Verso, about Maelle, the siblings who'd both come to him unwilling to be loved because they felt like they didn't deserve it. Gustave doesn't know the details, of course, but he knows enough for it to make his chest ache.

"Please," he says softly, eyes searching Verso's face, before he turns to lead him to the kitchen and scrub up some potatoes.

[recreatable]

He probably shouldn't be trusted around knives right now, but oh, well. It's not like anything can actually hurt him. Verso follows, washing up at the kitchen sink before doing the same with a potato. He's by no means an expert at this sort of thing—he hadn't done the cooking at home, and food on the Continent was a lot more 'assorted sketchy mushrooms' than cassoulet—but he picks up a paring knife and gets to work regardless. It quickly becomes a sort of lumpy, oddly-shaped potato, but it's a peeled potato nonetheless.

"I didn't know you cooked," he finally says, because this is going to be painful if he doesn't try to keep up some sort of conversation. "What's the occasion?"

Who is it for, essentially, without sounding quite so nosy.

[superniceone]

"Some of the other councilors are coming by. Unofficial meeting," Emma says from the doorway, and Gustave is so laser focused on Verso he startles; his own knife slips, but luckily just hits a metal finger. She tips her head, eyebrows raised. "It smells nice. This is Maelle's—?"

"We won't be joining," Gustave supplies quickly, shooting Verso a sidelong glance, apologetic, like he should have warned him that Emma was home. "But yes. Thank you. Verso, Emma. She's just passing by on her way to the study." The least subtle hint on the planet.

[recreatable]

What the fuck, Gustave!! He wasn't emotionally prepared to talk to two people. But he does find himself endlessly curious about Emma, despite the fact that he really shouldn't get involved. She's part of Maelle's family, too. Is she like Clea, he wonders, constantly off fighting fires the rest of them don't even know about? Or maybe she's more present, the way Clea used to be. Does Maelle look up to her? Want to be like her, when she's older?

"Emma," he echoes, putting down his (still incredibly lumpy) potato and reaching out to shake her hand, charm turned on by habit. "Gustave never said his sister was so young." He's still a dick.

[superniceone]

Emma takes his hand, giving it a polite shake. There's friendliness there, genuine, but less of the open warmth that Gustave seems to radiate. "Not that young," she says with a smile that's polite but sincere. She tilts her head at the potato. "I see he's put you to work already."

Gustave!! Doesn't like this any more than you do!!! He sighs, every ounce the exasperated older brother; it is, admittedly, slightly more juvenile than he had usually been on the Continent. "I'm making coffee."

[recreatable]

Verso forgets, sometimes, that Gustave's family isn't a 1:1 to his own. He'd never had to be the eldest, and for a very long time before Alicia came around, he got to be the coddled baby of the family. It's sort of fun to watch the dynamic unfold between the two of them, and for a split second, Verso forgets he's supposed to be miserable.

"You have no idea. He's always putting me to work, this one."

Verso jabs a thumb Gustave's way, as if to say this guy. He's not sure how much Emma knows, if Maelle told her everything or if they've left her to believe the easier-to-swallow story that all of this was somehow the Paintress's doing, so he's careful not to say too much and put his foot in his mouth.

"I'll be going soon." He picks up his ugly ass half-peeled potato again. "Just... thought I'd check in." And peel some potatoes, apparently.

[superniceone]

Emma holds up one hand, shaking her head. "Stay as long as you'd like. I'll be in my office if you need anything, Gustave." The place she'd spent as much time holed up in as Gustave had his workshop.

He plucks the potato from Verso's hands, like he's hoping if he's lighthearted enough it might forcibly lift the strange mood that's settled onto the room. "Don't flirt with my little sister."

[recreatable]

It wasn't flirting, it was charm, but he wouldn't expect Gustave—who seems painfully oblivious to what actual flirting looks like—to know the difference. He didn't even call her mademoiselle or kiss her hand, which are all real things that he's done multiple times.

"Don't worry, she's too young for me." As is Gustave and everyone else currently in existence, admittedly. He holds out a hand, waiting for his potato back, since apparently that's what they're doing now. Peeling potatoes like there's anything normal about their reality. "I wasn't done. That potato isn't peeled, it's scantily-clad."

[superniceone]

"You just complained about me putting you to work. Sit." Gustave tilts his head toward the table, his eyes still careful as they consider Verso. "I'll be finished soon and then we can go."

[recreatable]

He's in the middle of pulling out a chair when Gustave's comment catches up with him. "We?"

[superniceone]

"Yes? You're clearly looking for an excuse to leave." Gustave hesitates, then adds: "Maelle will be out for another few hours at least. I don't know if that's more or less likely to make you want to stay."

[recreatable]

Yes, he'd already known he was leaving. It's Gustave inviting himself along that's surprising. "I might just have plans." He doesn't, but he could.

[superniceone]

Gustave stares at him, freshly naked potato in hand. "Do you?"

[recreatable]

"Not... as such." That is to say, not at all. "But I think it would be better if I didn't infringe upon your get-together."

He's not exactly in a sociable mood, and besides, even if he were, it would be a nightmare to have to introduce himself to a group of people from a city with such a dwindling population that surely everyone knows everyone.

[superniceone]

His brow furrows; he's not fully sure if he's dealing with a misunderstanding or if Verso is just using whatever he can as an excuse.

"I'm not on the council," Gustave says slowly. "I'm going to be in my room."

[recreatable]

"Oh."

Both?? Verso scratches his beard again. It isn't that he doesn't want to be around Gustave, but more that it feels like he probably shouldn't be. What is he supposed to do, just try to forget that his existence makes everything worse?

"I'm not sure I'm particularly entertaining at the moment. I might bore you."

[superniceone]

"You don't need to entertain me," Gustave says, and he seems a little rankled by the suggestion. "I've got books. You could read. Do a jigsaw puzzle. Stare at the ceiling in total silence for an hour— I don't really care. Just stay here for a little while?"

[recreatable]

Verso wants to tease Gustave for being so blatantly desperate, but he probably thinks that if Verso walks out his front door, they'll never see each other again. It's not a completely unfounded fear — he's still considering the possibility of making his way back to the Continent. Something tells him he'd be seeing Maelle sooner rather than later if he did that, though.

A long pause stretches out, and then he says, "I am really good at jigsaw puzzles."

[superniceone]

Gustave can't help it; he hadn't expected to see Verso on the other side of that door, and he's still mentally calibrating. "Okay," he says, turning to finish with the potatoes. He clears his throat, tries again. "The last week doesn't count. Towards our month, I mean."

[recreatable]

That was an agreement he made when he was delusional enough to think that everything wasn't horrible forever. Obviously, things have changed in that regard. Hell, he'd been insane enough to think that maybe he might be able to make this thing with Gustave work for more than a month back then. Now, he's trying to figure out how to break up with him for his own good for a third time.

But that's an unpleasant truth, and he prefers to dance around those. So, instead, he says, "Sorry, I should have said something." He shouldn't have disappeared in the first place, but he's used to being able to ditch Monoco and Esquie for months and years on end before being instantly forgiven. He shrugs. "Rough transition, I guess."

[superniceone]

"No, I get it. Something— I mean, something is obviously fucked, right? I just assumed you'd talk about it when you were able." He doesn't believe Verso would have tried to destroy the Canvas without a reason. Not that Gustave has any idea if he'd agree with that reason or not, but that's not the point.

He's matter of fact as he finishes prepping, his back to him. "I'm fine. To wait until you're ready."

[recreatable]

Verso stares at Gustave's back, eyebrow raised. "You're not... angry?" About what he did after they'd confronted Maelle's father, about his very inconsiderate disappearance once they landed. About anything, really. It feels like Gustave should be angry with him. In some masochistic, self-pitying way, Verso would prefer it if he were.

[superniceone]

"Putain de merde." It's a frustrated whisper, almost exasperated, and he puts down everything in his hands so he can brace himself on the counter. His back curves in his forward sway. "I'm not angry. I'm terrified."

[recreatable]

Oh. Well, if he'd felt bad before, he feels awful now. He looks away from the silhouette of Gustave's scoliosis-ridden back. "You don't have to be afraid." Because it's well and truly over; Maelle is the god of this world, and there's no point in trying to argue with her. "She won't let anyone get rid of the Canvas."

He can only assume that's what Gustave is afraid of, at least. Verso nearly wiped them all out twice now. It's reasonable to be scared that he might try to do it again.

when i lock the thread again it means im too embarrassed to carry on

[superniceone]

Gustave shakes his head, trying to keep the frustration he feels surge at that swallowed down. He knows; he's witnessed what Maelle is able to do now firsthand.

"The two of you fought about something," he says, careful to keep his voice even. "That's what I'm afraid of." He has no idea what it was that drove a wedge between Verso and his last remaining family member, and it unsettles him. But they have time now, at least, and he can wait — so he barrels on instead. "I'll have to let Sciel know you're still alive. She's been asking after you."