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[escapeartiste]

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[Spam Only - If Maelle wanted to talk to you, she would. Don't bother leaving messages.]

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[superniceone]

[as a matter of principle, gustave tries not to stare at people. it's plain bad manners for one — and past that, even he had gotten sick of the pitying looks he'd received before his apprentices had presented him with his replacement arm.

but he's still getting his bearings here, having only really popped briefly by his room to clean up a bit before setting out to orient himself in his new temporary home. his heart does a stutter-step when he sees maelle stargazing on deck — his mind hasn't quite fully wrapped around temporal shenanigans yet — and he stares as he approaches quietly. the blatant disbelief that it's her is there in his voice, like he's certain he's about to embarrass himself by speaking to a stranger with insanely striking but absolutely coincidental similarities.

maelle has never been caught in a fire, after all.]

You look— just like someone I know.

[he's trying SO HARD to play it cool because

this absolutely can't actually be maelle? right???? he just needs that confirmation, thanks!]

[escapeartiste]

[Wholly distracted by the vastness slowly drifting by, Maelle doesn't really question or react when she hears anyone come near. She's been interrupted before. People just seem magnetized to loneliness around here. It makes quiet moments to think fleeting. Which is probably for the best, in a place like this.

It's when he speaks that her attention instantly diverts. Her peripheral is shot, her right side is blind, she has to twist around to find him. She doesn't actually listen to what he says, or catch a glimpse of the doubts in his words. She just hears him.

Unlike Gustave, her disbelief ends with the sight of him. There's a strangled rasp that's supposed to be his name and a hopeful step toward him. Even if she wasn't listening to his words though, she knows what she looks like and she doesn't look like Maelle. She can see the hesitation and the doubts and while she tries to reassure him, 'it's me, it's Maelle' it only comes out in more painful hoarse rasps of air.

Well, she's already crying, thanks.]

[superniceone]

[it's enough to confirm gustave's worst fear: that something has happened to her after he'd died, that they couldn't protect her the way she needed protecting. he has a million questions — who did this to her, why — and anger bubbles up in him so hard he can taste the bitterness of it in his mouth.

but there'll be time for that later, because she's crying and his eyes are hot with a stinging pressure of their own. yes, she looks different, but her mannerisms aren't, and it only takes her one step toward him before he's moving to close that distance entirely.]

Hey, hey, it's alright, I'm sorry. [he starts to reach out to her, freezes — how fresh are the injuries? and will he be kicked out of his role of warden if he dismembers whoever is responsible for this?] I just got here.

[escapeartiste]

[Even if he freezes she does not. She's already holding him tight as if letting go might risk him disappearing in front of her.

She doesn't get to ask if he's real this time, she's desperate just to believe he is.]

[superniceone]

It's okay. I'm not going anywhere. [it's soothing, not reprimanding, and he does his best to suppress the tremor in his hand from the dump of adrenaline in his system as he catches her. voice gentle:] And here I was, worried I was going to have to miss you here.

[escapeartiste]

[It takes time before she can look up and give him the bravest of smiles she can muster.

There's finally a step back to let him go, once she's confident he's really here. She wipes at her eye and digs into her pocket for her device.

She kind of hates this, but it's better than nothing.

She types away before offering it to him.]

I can't really talk so

this works? Mostly.

[Her gaze stays elsewhere. She's not really sure what to do if he starts staring again.]

[superniceone]

Yeah, it works. [gustave is staring, but only because he's overtly worried. he reaches to catch her hand, giving it a squeeze.] Why don't we— let's find a place to sit down.

[escapeartiste]

[There's some gratitude for the hand squeeze, it's grounding. Something she's lacked her entire time here.

She nods before gesturing for him to follow her, typing away as they walk. She's become pretty adept at typing on this tiny thing. It'll never be as fast as talking, but having to use it everyday has somewhat paid off.]

There's a garden and a greenhouse. Neither of them really compare to Lumière's hanging gardens.

But you'll probably like them.

[superniceone]

[they both sound nice, and it's true that he'll certainly come to appreciate them both in time - but for now his mind is still racing. he's mentally cataloging a whole drawer full of things to say and ask.

maelle doesn't seem like she's in active peril, doesn't seem like she's living in fear, so that's not nothing. the tiniest bit of him is able to relax.]

I'm sure I will. But, uh- whichever one is closest works for me right now.

[escapeartiste]

[She is certainly not in peril. It's actually quite the opposite. She keeps looking over to him just to check he's still walking with her and then beaming a smile. This is the best weird thing that could possibly happen here.]

The ship's not that big. They're next to each other.

[It, in fact, gets small very, very quickly. Or at least it did for her.]

[superniceone]

Good to know.

[something in his chest twinges at that smile, but he'll meet it with a soft one of his own. he holds his tongue until they're settled, just because walking and typing seems inconvenient, and the way he glances at the greenery around him is almost perfunctory.]

Hey. How long have you been here? Are you— Is it— [he clears his throat, shakes his head at himself.] Are any of the others...? [that feels like a safe enough question to ask, at least.]

[escapeartiste]

[The smiles cease with the question as she realizes just how much it is he's missed. Verso's canvas is gone. How does she even begin to explain that without explaining everything else? On top of that, it's not gone for Verso. So how does that fit in? There's really no helping it, so after clearly a lot of thought (for her standards) she tries to answer.]

I've been here two months, maybe? Yeah, I guess two months now.

Lune and Sciel aren't here. It's just Verso and me.

And

I know you don't know who that is but

he helped us with the Expedition after

[he let you die...]

after you were gone.

It's all kind of

complicated.

[She isn't even sure how many more questions she can answer before tearing a hole into their reality. It's written on her face that she's worried. When before she kept looking over to him now she's looking away.]

[superniceone]

[she's not wrong: it is a lot to take in. he's trying to triage his questions, especially considering the fact that she has to manually write out the answers. he leans in, rests his hand gently on her forearm.]

How long have I been... gone? [he pauses, then adds with a wrinkled nose:] And Verso is a... gestral?

[escapeartiste]

[Her eye flicks over to him, tries at a smile before she types.]

No... Verso's not a gestral.

[It's almost an amusing thought if she weren't so worried about explaining it all further.]

You've been gone a while? You missed a lot. We found out a lot but

none of it is really what you think and

it's hard to explain. I don't even know how to start explaining it.

[superniceone]

That's alright, hey. We'll go one step at a time, there's no rush. [it's not that gustave isn't burning with curiosity — he is! — but for the very first time in his life, he doesn't feel like he's drowning in the sand of an hourglass emptying too quickly. he doesn't need to press her; maelle safe in front of him is the most important thing.]

If Verso's not a gestral, then—? Don't tell me the ghosts of Expedition Zero came to show you the way.

[this!!! is meant to be a joke!!!! which is why he'll explain, like he expects her not to know—] That's the name of one of the guys from the first Expedition. Those massive statues in the harbour, you know?

[escapeartiste]

[Of course he knows him from the expedition and the statues. She's not sure if that makes this easier or harder.]

Yeah, except

he's not a ghost. He's immortal or

was, I guess.

[ She shows what she has to say before taking it back for a moment.]

You two will have a lot to talk about.

[She gives a smile, bordering a breathed laugh this time. Maybe Verso might actually talk to Gustave. Unlike everyone else she's asked to talk to him.]

[superniceone]

[gustave reads the message, then reads it again, and he's still visibly processing when maelle shows him the second half of her message.

he's bluescreening a little bit.]

What? How? Was he—

[his heart is in his throat, and he looks a little pained when he says—]

Tell me Verso isn't the man from the beach. [the man who, in his very fresh and recent memory, murdered him.]

[escapeartiste]

[She shakes her head before leaning against him while she types.]

That was Renoir.

We killed him.

For you.

[REVENGE!!! There's clearly that familiar fire in her eye that sparks every time she gets worked up. Even while she's calm now with him beside her it hasn't diminished her anger for what has already happened.]

[superniceone]

[well that's a lot to unpack! the kneejerk response is to to scold her for talking about murder so casually, but it dies in his throat. gustave had been actively trying to kill him to protect maelle.

what snaps him out of it is—]

The Captain of Expedition Zero? [verso's father??? the ones who worked on the shield dome???? it's like each answer spawns a thousand new questions.]

[escapeartiste]

[Still leaning on him, the opposite shoulder shrugs.]

Yeah, that's the one.

Was.

[Because he's dead and she killed him. Still waiting on that headpat, btw.]

[superniceone]

[gustave is proud of her, because of course he is. he'd seen renoir impaled on a rock and then shake it off; taking him down couldn't have been an easy feat.

instead, he's going to have the most annoyingly Big Brother reaction possible.]

Putain de merde. I shouldn't have let you come on this— [he struggles, recalibrates—] That Expedition. Were you hurt? Did you— lose anyone else?

[escapeartiste]

[She rolls her eye before sitting upright again.]

Yeah, well you did. And we finished it.

You're welcome.

[The sass doesn't last very long. Because ultimately, it just brings up her own failure. It's hard not to tell him. She doesn't really like this and it's again easily written on her face.]

We lost Noco, but since he's a gestral he's fine. But

But it wasn't

We were wrong about a lot of things. And I

want to tell you but

can we talk about it another time?

[superniceone]

[he reminds himself for the umpteenth time that they're not in a rush, that he can give maelle the space she needs to say what she wants to say.

gustave hesitates, then nods, draping his arm over her shoulders and pulling her in against his side with a gentle playfulness. (it's completely artificial, of course; his heart still feels like it's made of lead, but that's not important right now.)]

Take all the time you need. Just— you finished it? Seriously? Because— I'm going to have to change my deal with the Admiral if that's the case.

[escapeartiste]

[She smiles while she gets pulled in. She only gives a nod to his question. Of course that's his deal. But she can think of a better one. If.. he could fix things, maybe it won't be so bad. There's a little bit of hope there.

But that's another thing that will have to wait until later. Once she figures out how to explain everything. She'd rather just not talk about any of it right now. He's here. She just wants to appreciate that first.]

I missed you.

[superniceone]

[gustave leans his cheek briefly against the top of her head, not immediately sure what to say. when he does speak, his voice is soft, full of genuine affection.]

I'm sorry that I left. [but he won't apologize for standing there between her and renoir, because he'd do it again right now.]