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[superniceone]

(open / overflow)

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[superniceone]

"Maelle," Gustave says, and he's trying his best to be firm in the face of those sorrowful eyes. He swears softly under his breath, wiping his own. "You've been here sixteen years. I—"

And then he laughs, not on purpose, but just at the absurdity of his own sudden thought. "We fought a Nevron bigger than this house and you didn't flinch once. You're not going to let your papa erase us."

[recreatable]

"Because I'm strong here," she argues. "Gustave, out there— I can't even talk." She definitely doesn't have a Virtuose Stance Stendhal out in the real world!!

[superniceone]

Renoir also can't summon Axons, what's your point!! "Taking your voice doesn't take your strength," Gustave says, voice a little rough. He slips from his seat then, kneeling in front of her, reaching for her hands to grip in his own. "I'm not kicking you out, Maelle. Your home will always be with me. But I'm begging you—"

He's getting a little choked up, maybe, at the thought of watching Maelle turn into the Paintress, of being unable to stop her.

"Just show him you're keeping your word. We know he made the right choice, we both do, but you have to prove it to him."

[recreatable]

Maelle stares into Gustave's big, brown, watery eyes with her own big, blue, watery eyes, lip trembling— and then she laughs, inexplicably.

"I'm sorry. You're just so sappy." Gross, it's like he loves her or something. She takes a slow, steadying breath after that.

"I'll think about it." Squeezing his hands: "Just... give me time, okay?"

[superniceone]

It's not a no. He squeezes both of her hands in his, leaning down to tip his forehead against their joined hands. "Okay," Gustave says, clearing his throat. "But I'm going to be drinking like a fish every single night until I get an answer. Just living in a state of anxiety-riddled hangover. Just so you're aware."

[recreatable]

"You will not." Even though her nose is red and stuffy now, she giggles. "I thought it was just a few drinks! Now it's drinking like a fish?" She wriggles one of her hands free, then uses it to poke Gustave in the forehead. "You can't keep your story straight."

[superniceone]

"Last night was a few drinks. All bets are off tonight. I'm going to be out causing all kinds of trouble." Gustave swallows again and looks up at her; his tone is carefully light now, but there's no hiding the genuine distress under the slipping mask, not this close.

He releases her hand and stands up, moving to take his tepid cup of coffee. "But I should probably do some work before I start the day drinking."

[recreatable]

Maelle feels a pang of guilt at the way Gustave looks, but— he just doesn't get it. He never could. Even setting aside her burned body and familial strife, the Dessendres aren't exactly known for respecting each other's wishes. The only real way to keep the Canvas safe is to stay in it.

"Are you going to draw more Sakapatates?" Yes, she saw those blueprints.

[superniceone]

Gustave tends to be the sort of man who can't sit still for long. He's always felt like he's on the cusp of running out of time; it made true idleness difficult to bear.

So he pauses when he hears Maelle's question, before he smiles sort of listlessly and admits: "I think I'm just going to go back to bed, actually." For maybe the first time in his life.

[recreatable]

Well, all Maelle has to say to that is an incredulous "...Really?"

[superniceone]

"I know you won't disappoint me. You never have. But until it's settled, I just..." Gustave just sort of shrugs as he trails off, giving her a small wave before he moves to head back to his bedroom.

He isn't trying to guilt her. He just, very genuinely, feels extremely unwell. Everything they'd been through, and he still wasn't sure he could even save Maelle.

I wasn't done.

[recreatable]

Wow, way to make her feel bad. Now both of her ChatGPT brothers are moody. Emma is all she has left now.

"I'm confiscating the wine bottles," she calls.

too bad....

[superniceone]

Gustave won't object — he'll just tidily stack them outside his bedroom door for her, actually, if she's offering to take care of the trash. He's got big plans that mostly involve forgetting he agreed to meet with Verso and staring at the wall, and he's just going to get on those, thanks.

fuck my stupid baka life

[recreatable]

Good, honestly, because now Gustave won't notice that Verso is late. It isn't that he doesn't believe in Gustave, it's just that he doesn't, you know, have faith in Gustave. Hard to live this long and not come out the other side pessimistic. Things just never seem to work out the way he wishes they would.

As long as he doesn't actually ask Gustave what happened, he can't be disappointed, like Schrodinger's Maelle. So, despite promising to come back after breakfast, he avoids Gustave's place until well into the late afternoon, when he finally knocks on the door.

It's Emma who lets him in, not Maelle — thank god. He stands in the entryway with her for a few moments, and yes, maybe he flirts with her a teeny tiny bit out of habit, before she calls, "Gustave! —Honestly, I haven't seen him all day."

[superniceone]

There's a long stretch of silence. Gustave had been genuinely half dozing at that point, hadn't heard the knock on the door and — well, honestly, he isn't even fully sure what time it is. "I'm working, what is it?" He calls, still very much from bed where he's lying in his rumpled day clothes.

Emma just rolls her eyes and indicates Gustave's bedroom door. "He's home, then. I'll leave you to it."

[recreatable]

Auspicious.

Verso takes one step inside Gustave's room and raises an eyebrow. Working, is it? He stuffs his hands into his pockets, hovering in the doorway.

Flatly: "I can come back, if you're nearing a breakthrough."

[superniceone]

Gustave sits up quickly, like he's been caught doing something he shouldn't, and stares at Verso for a long second. "Fuck," he says after a second, and allows himself to fall back in the mattress again. "Shut the door."

[recreatable]

"Not exactly the warm welcome I was hoping for."

Having someone utter fuck at the very sight of him is not flattering. Still, he closes the door gently before perching at the foot of Gustave's bed, a polite distance between them.

"Want to talk about it?" It's not really necessary. Judging by Gustave's attitude right now, he already knows how the conversation with Maelle went.

[superniceone]

If it helps, it was more at the having forgotten plans than at the actual sight of Verso. "Getting her to leave is going to make her hate me, and it's going to hurt her, and I'm just— prematurely wallowing in self-loathing." He wants to reach out to Verso, but it feels like cheating to let himself seek comfort.

[recreatable]

That's pretty much where he's at, too, although it isn't at all relieving to know he isn't alone in his feelings. He wishes he'd never said anything to Gustave at all. All the truth ever does is make things painful and complicated.

"She could never hate you," he says, tone consoling. "She thinks you hung the stars in the sky."

It's Verso who did that, actually. The real one.

[superniceone]

"She won't by the time I've forced her to return to a family she doesn't want to see against her will," Gustave exhales, then shakes his head. "Sorry. I had hoped to— I wanted to cheer you up."

[recreatable]

Verso's pretty sure Maelle couldn't even hate Gustave then, either. He's had to listen to her yap about how great Gustave is for long enough that he can be certain of that. Clearly, though, Gustave is in the wallowing stage, and rational argument will do nothing to improve his mood. Verso's very familiar with this stage, because it's pretty much the stage he's in all the time.

"I'm cheery," he says, reaching out to rest a comforting hand on Gustave's calf. "Don't I look cheery?"

[superniceone]

Gustave squints a little at him, like he's almost offended that Verso is making light of the situation — but what else is he meant to do about it? He swears softly under his breath and flops onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Did I really smell that bad on the Expedition?" he asks, apropos of nothing (or, Maelle's comment.)

[recreatable]

Oh, my god!!! Gustave doesn't like when he's mopey, and he doesn't like when he makes light of things, either. There really is no pleasing this man.

Verso's still going to try, though, because it's what he does. "Compared to Monoco, you smelled like roses." They all smelled bad out there; he doesn't need to make Gustave feel self-conscious!

[superniceone]

Well, it hadn't prevented Verso from sleeping with him!! So he's going to choose to take that as confirmation that he was fine, actually.

"Okay." He pauses, still watching the ceiling. "Can I ask you to lay down for a few minutes, or was going dark meant to be an implied breakup?"

Gustave genuinely isn't being snarky; he's trying to figure out where the lines are and he's too drained to mince words.