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Gustav Sebald often pondered the idea of the duality of man.
More often he pondered the duality of himself.
See, many V.F.D. members worked in pairs or small groups, for safety and networking’s sake. Many times partners became lovers or lovers became partners. Or if you happened to have the last name Snicket, it became complicated.
And so Gustav Sebald found himself with two partners. Perhaps lumping them together is wrong, since each partner filled a different definition of the word.
On one hand, partner can mean something akin to an associate. Gustav had an associate, named Jacquelyn, who worked by day as Mulctuary Money Management as a secretary, and also worked for V.F.D. by day sometimes too. She was his partner, always sharp and quick, ready with spyglass or phone dialing a certain taxi cab getaway. Together they put out fires at the source, or ferried people away to safety.
On the other hand, partner can mean someone with whom you are romantically involved.
Unbeknownst to many in V.F.D., the romantic partner of Gustav Sebald was not in fact, Jacquelyn Scieszka, but one of their fringe members, Dr. Montgomery Montgomery. A eccentric doctor of reptiles, extremely intelligent, and the perfect warm blooded contrast to his room of cold-blooded creatures. Their relationship was like the ocean, rising and falling in passion as Gustav’s V.F.D. schedule continually kept them apart.
As partner to Jacquelyn, Gustav was her complement. (A word that here means “making up for all the qualities his partner lacked) She was classic V.F.D. field trained, able to infiltrate and take down from the inside. She could snipe a man from 67 stories, and have an escape ride ready within seconds. She could take on 2, even 3 men in a fight, aided only by a spare boxing glove.
Gustav wasn't very handy with weapons, only words and codes, and working behind the scenes. Most V.F.D. correspondence was coded by his designs, but he wasn’t big on action. He was as charming as needed, but didn't prefer to be the object of social attention unless it was about his films.
He wrote and directed the films, Jacquelyn starred in them. That's how they worked.
As partner to Dr. Montgomery, it was if he was a completely different person. Dr. Montgomery was tender, caring, if a bit eccentric. He loved his reptiles and his research, and he also loved Gustav. He doted on both aspects of his life, almost spoiling Gustav whenever research or presentations went particularly well.
There are many synonyms of partner that carry the same romantic connotations, and the one Gustav liked most was companion. He was more than an assistant, more than a partner, he was Dr. Montgomery’s companion. As companion he would proofread notes, and order food when it got late, and in return was the object of Monty’s undying affection.
And there were the two Gustavs. Gustav the associate and Gustav the companion. And while he’d spent more time as a companion, he found being an associate ate up much of his time.
Gustav came from a younger generation of V.F.D. recruits than Dr. Montgomery, but they'd met when Monty had been exceedingly generous in opening his home to the young agents freshly spat out from training.
It was all those years ago when Monty had first boarded the new volunteers that Gustav had taken a liking to the man, and stayed while the others were sent out on assignment. Soon he learned everything the doctor knew about reptiles, and had picked up filming them in his spare time.
(If one were to look down in the records of the Reptile Room, one would find 7 home movies, all produced by Gustav Sebald, starring a younger Monty and many of his reptile finds.
And if one were to watch the seventh film, one would first see an opening shot of the Reptile Room, and the turned back of Dr. Montgomery, enticing what looks like a cobra. Eventually the cobra would be subdued and slid into a glass aquarium, which is then set back on a shelf offscreen.
All the while, one would hear Gustav laughing offscreen while Monty babbled on about the false information about hypnotizing cobras and how it's all a party trick and how intelligent the creatures really are.
“Well stop laughing young man and join me for once. Come look at this lizard.” Monty will say, sliding another glass case off the shelf.
“I-” The voice offscreen falters, before one would be treated to 30 seconds of shaky footage. The camera will focus again, and one would be viewing at a different angle. And angle at which one would watch Dr. Montgomery offer something to Gustav, before grabbing the back of the younger man's head and kissing him, despite protests of “this is not a lizard Monty!”
Gustav thinks fondly of the film, as it is marked with nothing but a doodle of a snake in the shape of a heart. There is no doubt of how that night ended, with Gustav tucked safely against Monty’s chest, away from V.F.D.)
His two lives were very different, and he kept them as separate as he could. Even he doesn't know how he manages it. To split himself.
‘And now I don’t have to-’ He thinks with a sickening chill, staring down at the lifeless body of Montgomery Montgomery, sprawled in the chair the two of them had wasted countless evenings and mornings on.
“It was Olaf! It was Count Olaf in disguise!” The eldest child was yelling, while the infant babbled in anger at her hip.
“He didn't deserve this!” The boy was completely still, but Gustav could feel him trembling as he laid a hand on the boys shoulder.
“No. He didn't. We have to go. Now. For your own safety.” He pulls the boy away, forcing himself to look away as well. He pushes the children to the waiting Jacquelyn, now his one single partner.
And they leave the mansion and all it held, but not before Gustav Sebald tore apart the records in the Reptile Room, shoving notes and drawings into a folder, into a bag. The Incredibly Deadly Viper is among the papers, and gives Gustav an knowing look.
Gustav nods, and finally deserts the mansion with six tins of film added to the bag, the seventh, a roll decorated with a heart shaped reptilian clutched in his hand.