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Prologue
Verso’s acting strange.
Monoco has known this version of his creator for almost seven decades. He knows when the man is happy, or angry, or so sad that he wants to throw himself off a cliff (not that Monoco would ever let him). He also has intimate knowledge of the pain Verso’s very existence causes him on a daily basis. The amount of tears Verso has shed into Monoco’s fur over the years, bemoaning the fact that he’s just a copy, and that everyone wanted the ’real’ Verso back and not him, is uncountable.
Therefore, when Verso starts being weird, Monoco immediately notices it.
Verso suddenly stumbles over his words. He trips when there’s no obstacle in his way. He fails parries that he could’ve done in his sleep previously. He spills food all over himself constantly. And his gaze lingers, particularly on one person. Day-in, day-out.
Gustave.
The engineer is still recovering from a nasty injury. From what Monoco had been told by Lune and Sciel, Verso saved the man just in time, or else he’d have died to Renoir’s sword. At first Monoco doesn’t understand why they hadn’t left Gustave behind in the Gestral Village to recover while they went on with their mission, but after interacting with the man himself, he gets why.
Gustave is stern where it matters, but kind beyond belief. He’d stood in the way of Renoir of all people, ready to fight his way out while gravely injured, which in of itself is a mighty feat. Also, for someone who’s not a Gestral, his brush is well cared for. Monoco kind of sees the allure (he doesn’t) and if Verso wants to spend his days watching Gustave’s every move, who’s Monoco to deny him that. Monoco thinks he should rather duel him, but seeing as Gustave is still injured, that might need to be saved for a later date.
What surprises him is the young human, Maelle, the one who looks so much like Alicia. Whenever she’s not by Gustave’s side, she’s trailing after Verso like a lost gestral, asking him questions about his life on the Continent or to play the piano for her. Almost as if she knows, but not quite. The sight stirs something in Monoco’s old Gestral heart, brings up memories of Verso and Alicia during happier times, flying around on Esquie’s back to have adventures.
These days are over, he knows, and they will never return, for the real Verso is dead. But maybe this version of his old friend can find some happiness. And if that is in the arms of the engineer who he keeps staring at but not approaching, well… maybe Monoco needs to do something about that.
Because while Verso’s too busy looking away whenever he thinks he’s being caught, he doesn’t notice the one thing that would make his life easier.
Gustave is looking at him, too. Day-in, day-out.
Of course, he always does so when Verso isn’t looking. Which is stupid. Why can’t they just communicate if they want each other? Or look at each other at the same time?
Humans are dumb, Monoco thinks. Being a Gestral is so much easier.
Which means he needs to do something to get these two to see their feelings for each other! Simple, right?
Monoco polishes his Nevron feet in quiet contemplation, thinking about what he could do. He’s already at the third foot when he has an idea.
i. le duel
Gustave sits on a tree stump patiently while Lune examines his side. The wound has closed nicely if Lune’s facial expression is to be believed. She regards the raised flesh with barely concealed relief, before she smiles at Gustave. “All healed up.”
“Really?” Gustave asks. “No rash, no infection, nothing?”
“Nope,” she says, popping the ‘p’ loudly. She’s grinning now. “You’re finally out of excuses to be lazy.”
Gustave’s grinning back. “How horrible. And here I thought I could have all of you wait on me hand and foot until the end of my days.”
Her grin flickers, but just for a moment. She looks away. “Well, we’re not doing that. Now that you’re healed up, we can finally plan the track to Old Lumière.”
“Hey, Lune,” he says gently, sensing her unease. He must’ve really scared her for how shaken she is. “Thanks for saving me.”
Her gaze finds his. “Never do that again.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“Gustave—“
“When one falls. That’s what you said.”
“I know, I know,” she says with a sigh. “Just— try not to fall too early again, you hear me?”
Her grabs her hand gently. “I hear you.”
“Good.” Lune stands up from her sitting position and stretches. “I’m going to see if Sciel needs some help with the food.”
“Alright,” Gustave says. He still feels a little tender where the wound used to be, but there’s thankfully no other impairment to his moves. “Oh, one question. Can I start training again?”
She looks him up and down. “Carefully. Only blunt weapons. Start building up your stamina first and then we can talk about sparring, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks.” She nods at him and walks away, leaving the engineer to his inner turmoil. There’s nothing that Gustave hates more than being a liability to his friends, but he doesn’t really have a choice. He’s lucky to have survived Renoir’s first attack, and if it hadn’t been for Verso, he’d most certainly be dead.
As if on cue, his eyes seek out his savior. Verso’s sits leaning against a tree with Noco on his lap, engrossed in conversation. Gustave can’t make out what they’re talking about from where he’s sitting, but Verso’s hand gesticulate wildly as he talks, a happy smile adorning his lips all the while.
Just then, Verso seems to notice that he’s being watched. He looks up, still smiling, so handsome it’s almost ridiculous. Their gazes meet. Gustave feels the blush work its way onto his cheeks and looks away immediately.
Merde, it’s been such a long time that he’s had a crush on someone. He really could’ve gone without the reminder. Even though the flutter in his chest every time Verso looks his way and the way his skin feels hot and cold all over whenever they happen to touch does feel nice…
With a sigh, he gets up and stretches carefully before he walks towards the tree line. Almost immediately, he feels multiple pairs of eyes on him, realizing that the entire camp seems to watch him go about his business. It makes his skin crawl.
“I’m fine,” he announces loudly. “I’m just going to take a leak.”
Sitting on a log close to the fire, Maelle’s face scrunches up in disgust. “Urgh, Gustave. Too much information.”
He smirks. “Then stop asking for it.”
Maelle squeaks at that. “I didn’t ask!”
Her indignation is enough to make Gustave laugh. It’s the first laugh he’s had since the cliffs that doesn’t make him keel over in pain. Once he’s calmed down, he says, “Be right back.”
He looks at Lune and Sciel for confirmation, and walks towards the tree line once they both nod. On his way, he chances a glance at Verso. The older man had been watching him too, but quickly turns away once he’s caught. He continues his conversation with Noco as if nothing happened, and for that Gustave is grateful.
On his way, he passes Verso’s friend, Monoco. So far, Gustave hasn’t had the opportunity to talk to him much, busy with healing as he was, but that hasn’t stopped him from thinking about all the questions he wants to ask him. Especially the most pressing one: how come that a Gestral can learn to speak French? Are all Gestrals able to do so? How long did it take Monoco to fully grasp the language? A year? Two? How often did he—
“Something the matter?” Monoco asks in his deep, rumbling voice. Gustave jumps a little inside his skin, blood rushing to his cheeks. He didn’t even notice that he had gotten lost in thought yet again. Stupid.
He clears his throat. “No, everything’s fine.”
Monoco looks at him — or as much as a Gestral with a mask for a face can look at someone — and says, “Good.”
“Good.” Gustave runs a hand through his hair. He doesn’t know the Gestral, not really, but deep down it feels as if he can trust him. “Hey, can you do me a favor?”
“What kind of favor?” Monoco asks. “Because if you want a duel, I will gladly oblige.”
“No, no, not a duel. Not until I’ve had some chance to train.” Gustave looks at the Lune, Sciel and Maelle before his gaze comes to a stop at Monoco. “Can you make sure none of my friends follow me?”
Monoco seems to contemplate this. He even stops polishing one of those ridiculously interesting Nevron feet. “Why?”
Gustave leans down and whispers loudly, “I— I need some space. I haven’t had a single minute to myself in the last two weeks, and if it continues like this, I feel like I might go insane.”
Monoco regards him, then nods. “I will make sure none of your friends follow you.”
“Thanks,” Gustave says, a little relieved that the Gestral had agreed to his request so easily. “I owe you one.”
“Hmpf.” Monoco goes back to polishing the Nevron feet. “You can help me polish those later.”
Gustave grins. “Only if you explain how your power works to me.”
“You have yourself a deal, then.” Monoco hesitates. “There’s a clearing behind the large boulder on the left. Verso and I killed all the Nevrons in the surrounding area earlier, so you should be safe there.”
Oh. He hadn’t thought of that. “Thanks. Good to hear that I won’t end up as Continental Cheese then.” Once Monoco cocks his head in confusion, he adds, “It’s a joke. Because Continental Cheese has a lot of holes in it.”
“Ah,” Monoco hums. “Your sense of humor is almost as atrocious as Verso’s.”
Gustave doesn’t know if that’s a compliment or not. “Thanks, I guess.” With that, he waves at the others, then he walks into the forest.
For a few minutes, he’s just basking in the relative quietness around him. Crickets chirp, leaves rustle. Somewhere on his right, he hears water sloshing softly, but decides to follow Monoco’s advice rather than to check it out.
And he didn’t lie. He does need to pee.
He relieves himself just before he reaches the clearing that the Gestral mentioned. It’s little more than a break in the trees, but it’s cozy; moonlight streams in from the hole in the canopy, and the stars shine even brighter here. Moss covered stones litter the ground, some of them with obvious signs of a fight on them. It seems Verso and Monoco did quite a number on some of them while fighting off those Nevrons.
Gustave walks forward and sits on the biggest stone in the middle while closing his eyes, taking deep breaths. Finally, a little peace. Some time to adjust to his new reality and try to cope with the fact that he almost died—
He touches his hip, feels for the patch Sciel had been nice enough to use to sew the hole in his uniform shut. It feels different than the rest of his clothes, a physical reminder that his fight with Renoir really happened.
Gustave’s body goes hot and cold all from head to toe. His breath is loud even to his own ears. Fuck. He’s having an attack again. He thought he’d put those past him after everything that had happened at the beach, and the cave, and—
Somewhere on his right, a twig breaks.
Gustave jumps from the rock, sword and gun summoned in less than a heartbeat, ready to strike. “Who’s there?!”
He doesn’t have to wait long. Only a few moments later, Verso appears from the shrub surrounding the clearing, hands held up in surrender. “It’s just me,” he says calmly.
As if his strings had been cut, Gustave sinks down onto the rock again while his weapons dissolve into swirls of chroma. “You scared the living daylights out of me.”
“Sorry.” Verso puts his hands down. “Monoco said you wanted to duel me, but when I arrived, it looked anything but.”
“What?” Gustave looks at him, eyes wide with confusion. “What’s he talking about?”
“I saw you two talking earlier, and he said you wanted to duel me. To ‘secure your place as leader’, he said,” Verso explains. Then he snorts with laughter. “I didn’t know that old fool had it in him to lie to my face. Well done.”
“I just asked him to keep the others off my back in case they wanted to follow me,” Gustave says, still not getting it. “That’s all we talked about. I even told him that I can’t duel anyone just yet.”
“I figured as much when I just saw you sitting there,” Verso says. He looks at Gustave inquisitively, his pale eyes lingering on the engineer’s face for a tad too long. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Gustave says dismissively. While he’s grateful that Verso saved his life at the Cliff, he’s still suspicious about everything the other man had told them so far. “Nothing to worry about.”
Verso’s quiet for a moment before he sighs. He sounds a little upset as he says, “Alright. I’ll tell the others that you want to be alone for a while—“
It wasn’t his intention to make Verso feel like shit, especially after he was lured here by Monoco under false pretenses. “Wait,” he calls him just as Verso turns to leave. In the faint moonlight, Verso’s even more handsome than usual. “Sorry, I just… I didn’t mean to be rude, but—“
“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Verso says. And while he sounds fine, the soft hurt in his eyes projects another image. “I get it. You don’t trust me.”
“That’s not true, it’s just— I don’t know you.” Gustave licks his dry lips. “How about we start at the beginning?”
Verso cocks his head. “What did you have in mind?”
Gustave stands up from the rock and walks towards Verso before he stops a few steps ahead of him. “Something like this.” He holds out his hand to shake. “Hello, I’m Gustave. Thank you for saving my life.”
Some complicated emotions pass over Verso’s face, but they’re gone as fast as they appeared. He grabs Gustave’s hand and shakes it. “Hello Gustave, I’m Verso. You’re welcome.” He says the last part almost softly.
Gustave’s heart pounds in his ears the moment their hands touch. He clears his throat. “So, Verso,” he says, letting go of Verso’s hand. “What do you do for fun around here?”
The small grin Verso gives him is almost feral as he tells him.
Time slips past them as one topic leads to another, and then another, and another. Gustave is relentless with his questions, but unlike Lune, he has the good grace to accept when Verso doesn’t want to talk about something. In turn, Verso is willing to share a lot more information than he did when Lune interrogated him, especially about the role he played in the construction of the Dome.
“And then,” Verso explains, gesticulating wildly with his beautiful hands, “then they just needed to insert the coils like this.” He mimics the movement. “And it worked.”
Gustave hits his forehead. “Of course, the coils! I’m so stupid not to think about them.”
“Shut up,” Verso chides him with a soft hit to his shoulder. They sit leaning against the largest rock, a few feet between them. “You’re brilliant.”
The honesty in his statement almost punches the air right out of Gustave’s lungs. His face burns. He rubs at his neck. “Thank you.”
Verso grin at him, a soft small thing that lights up his eyes like stars. Gustave finds that he couldn’t look away even if he tried. “Just telling the truth.”
“Still—“
“AHA!” Someone shouts. Gustave jumps about one foot into the air as Sciel emerges from behind a tree. “There you are, Gustave! We’ve been worried sick about you!”
“Oh, sorry,” he says.
“We forgot the time,” Verso adds.
“I see,” Sciel says, looking from one to the other with a smirk. “Well, at least you were together. But next time you want to hang out just the two of you, just tell us.”
Once again tonight, Gustave’s face burns. He chances a glance at Verso and can’t help the small smile tugging at his lips. “Alright.”
Monoco’s plan has failed. That’s the only explanation for why Verso and Gustave return to the camp with Sciel on their heels, still unable to hold each other’s gaze. And now it’s even worse, because they’re both showing their teeth a lot — smiling, Verso had called it — something he always does when he feels really uncomfortable.
It seems telling Verso that Gustave wants to duel him at the clearing wasn’t such a good idea after all. Weird. A Gestral would’ve loved that.
Humans are so complicated.
ii. nager a la plage
The sun shines into his eyes. Gustave shields them with his right hand and cranks his head up, trying and failing to see the peak of the Gestral construction in front of him. It’s just too high to fathom climbing up there, but that’s what they need to do to reach the reward on top.
Maelle steps up next to him. “It’s so high.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Who do you think is going to reach the top?” She asks, voice full of mirth.
Gustave lowers his hand from his face and grins at her. “You, probably. I’m far too old to climb such a construction myself.”
She hits his arm. Since she doesn’t pull her punches anymore, it does actually sting. “Verso’s older than you, though, and he’s going to climb up too.”
In an instant, Gustave’s mood plummets. “Somehow I doubt that.”
Ever since the events in Old Lumière and the revelation that the man from the beach is his father, Verso has been quiet. He’s withdrawn and keeps only to himself. Gone are the nights where he and Gustave would talk for hours on end about anything and everything. Instead, Verso usually sits at the edge of their campsites at night staring into the distance, and only talks when absolutely necessary.
Maelle looks towards Verso, who’s sitting on the sand a good dozen feet away. She sighs. “I’ll talk to him. Maybe he’ll participate if he hears you’re coming, too.”
“Now wait a minute,” Gustave shouts, but Maelle is already skipping away with a cackle. Gustave watches as she walks up to Verso, engages him in a brief discussion and then cheers when the man finally nods.
Gustave heaves a groan and summons his swimsuit from his Picto, before he ducks behind a few boulders to change. It’s the one the Gestrals had gifted him at the other beach — after he’d wasted six hours of trying to do their stupid fucking parkour, only for Lune to get fed up and float to the small Gestral at the end without a care in the world—
Just thinking about it makes his blood boil, so he stops himself and pulls the straps over his shoulders. Once he’s fully clothed, he stores his uniform in yet another Picto and walks around the boulder to join the others again.
Lune and Sciel are already dressed, both of them in matching two-piece swimsuits. They’re talking quietly with each other, giggling every once in a while. Gustave stands a little away from them, looking up the height of the tower. While he wants to know if he could see all the way to Lumière from the top, he’s really not inclined to find out. Just looking up has his stomach in knots.
Monoco walks up next to him. “It’s even higher than it looks,” he says in his deep voice.
Wonderful, Gustave thinks. “Have you ever been to the top?”
“No.”
Gustave looks up again. “How high did you make it?”
“Do you see the floating statue there?” Monoco points at it with his arm. It’s about half way to the top. “I slipped and smacked my mask against the stone, then fell into the water. Verso almost slipped himself he was laughing at me so hard.”
It’s hard to imagine Verso laughing at anything these days. “He’s really sad these days,” Gustave sighs.
“I know. He should be joyful for such a worthy challenge to present itself.” Monoco shakes his head. “He hasn’t been truly happy in a long time.”
Gustave looks towards Verso, who’s still talking to Maelle and then ducks behind some rocks himself. “Everyone deserves to be happy.”
“I’ve been telling him that for the last five decades, but does he listen? No. He’s so stubborn,” Monoco says indignantly. “One of these days, I’m going to smack him in the head about it.”
A snort escapes the engineer. “You’re a good friend, Monoco.”
“You have it wrong,” Monoco says dramatically. “I’m his best friend. The bestest, er— is that the correct term?”
Gustave is about to answer when Monoco turns away from him and says, “There you are, Verso. I thought you’d never get ready.”
The man in question has come up towards them while they were talking. Gustave is frozen to the spot, unable to look away. Unlike him, who’s wearing a full-body bath suit, Verso is only wearing shorts that barely reach his knees.
His eyes roam the free expanse of Verso’s chest, the smattering of dark chest hair, the faint scars he sees on his skin. Then they roam further down, follow Verso’s hairy legs to his feet, only to go back up, trying to catch a glimpse of his—
Gustave clears his throat and looks away, willing his body not to react to the sight of this ridiculously hot man the way it wants to. It would be really detrimental to have an erection right now—
He feels eyes on him and looks up again. Verso looks away, face red. Merde, did he notice Gustave staring? Or is this a sunburn? It must be. Yes, that must be it! Verso is only suffering from a little sunburn! He’s not all all embarrassed by being stared at like a piece of meat.
Speaking of meat—
Get it together, Gustave, Gustave chides himself. There are children present!
“Hi,” he finally manages to get out. Clearing his throat, he adds, “Are you excited for the challenge?”
Verso looks at him for just a second before he turns his head up. “Not really. It’s been some time since I tried it.” Verso shrugs. “The last time, I almost made it to the top and then fell down at the most inopportune moment. I quit trying after that.”
“I remember that,” Monoco says. “You were so angry you flung your swords into the lake in frustration—“
“Monoco!” Verso hisses at him.
“—And then you spent three days diving for them.”
Gustave raises an eyebrow. “Three days?” He sneaks a few glances at Verso’s naked skin here and there to get himself accustomed to it, because he sure as shit won’t be able to avoid looking at him all day. “How far did you throw them?”
“…I was really angry, okay?”
Before Gustave can say something else, Lune and Sciel join them, both still giggling softly. Maelle appears as well, having changed into a yellow swimsuit that brings out her eyes.
“Alright, guys,” Lune begins, looking up at the tower. “Who’s ready for this challenge?”
“You mean the one where you will just float to the top and win in no time?” Gustave asks, arms crossed before his chest.
Lune shakes her head in amusement. “Don’t worry. I’ve been told that using this particular advantage of mine is very unfair towards the rest of you—“
”To me, you mean,” Gustave grumbles loudly.
“—so I won’t do it this time,” Lune says, eyeing Gustave apologetically.
“What Lune is trying to say is that we’re going to try to get as high as we can, but we won’t make it our main goal today,” Sciel explains. “We’re here to have fun after all.” She sounds a little nervous.
Gustave looks at her. Will you be okay? he asks with his glance, thinking of her fear of water and the reason she doesn’t want to go in.
Sciel nods at him. “I’ll stay on the ground and maybe prepare some dinner for when you guys get hungry. Just let me know.”
“I’ll stay with Sciel, too,” Verso says. “I’m in no need to get my ego bruised. Again.”
“Coward,” Monoco mutters under his breath. Verso flips him off.
“Alright,” Lune says, a little dissappointment coloring her voice. “Then it’s Monoco, Maelle, Gustave and me. Let’s see who gets to the top first.”
“Just so you know,” Maelle says confidentaly. “I will win and kick all of your asses.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Monoco says, sticking his weapon into the sand with a thumb. “Let’s see who’s the better—“
Maelle doesn’t wait for him to finish his sentence. She just starts running, cackling maniacally.
Monoco looks after her for a moment in stunned silence before he asks, “Is she always like this?”
“Yep,” Gustave says, calmly walking towards the base. He throws a quick glance over his shoulder at Verso and Sciel, who sit down next to each other in the sand and start having a conversation. “Always.”
“Excellent,” Monoco says, then hurries after Gustave.
Lune chuckles. “I wonder how far we’ll make it,” she says, before she walks towards the base as well.
As it turns out, not far.
Gustave is halfway up, trying his hardest not to look down at all. His hands are sweaty from the sun, his feet ache from standing on the small protrusion for too long. The muscles in his arm and shoulders protest.
With a sigh, he heaves himself up onto the top of the statue until he’s standing, resting his hands on his thighs as he catches his breath.
Behind him, Monoco heaves himself up as well. “What a mighty challenge,” the Gestral says. “Out of breath already?”
“Shut up,” Gustave says with a grin. “You Gestrals can’t breath, so don’t even start.”
“You sound like Verso when he can’t accept defeat,” Monoco says. Despite being unable to grin, Gustave sure hears one in his voice. “Just admit that I’m better than you!”
Gustave ignores him and starts climbing again. Maybe, if he’s quick enough, he can escape the Gestral—
Monoco is suddenly next to him, his gangly limbs almost knocking Gustave out. “Watch it,” Gustave says sharply, but it’s already too late. Monoco’s elbow flies into his face a moment later, and the impact leaves him seeing stars. His grip slips. He lets go.
The next thing he feels is a sting in his shoulders. He hears Monoco yell after him, “SORRY!”, then he’s falling, and falling, the wind caressing his skin sharply, before—
He falls into the water with a loud slap, his entire back aching sharply. He’s still seeing stars, dizziness stuffing his head full of wobbling cotton. He tries to struggle to the surface, arms and legs like lead. A huge gulp of breath escapes him in bubbles as the edge of his vision turns black—
Suddenly, there are arms around his waist, grabbing him, dragging him up. His head breaks the surface, and— he gasps for breath loudly, holding onto whoever has saved him for dear life as he coughs.
“Gustave!” A voice calls. It takes Gustave a moment to realize that it’s Verso. “Gustave! Are you okay?”
Gustave tries to nod his head, then groans when his head starts aching. His eyes squeeze shut. “Fuck, that hurts.”
“I bet,” Verso says, wiping something from Gustave’s chin. “Your nose is bleeding.”
Gustave opens his eyes, looking at the man who’s still holding him. Verso’s hair is sticking to his forehead in a swirl of black and white, his face marred with concern. This close, Gustave can see the different shades of blue and grey that make up his eyes. He can’t look away.
“What happened?” Verso asks. It’s only now that Gustave realizes their bodies are pressed together, naked skin on naked skin. He doesn’t know if he wants to lean into it or for Verso to let him go.
“It’s— Monoco was a little too eager to get to the top,” Gustave says, licking his dry lips. He tastes copper. He also notices that Verso follows the motion with his eyes. “He hit me in the face with his elbow.”
“That stupid Gestral,” Verso says. “He’s done it to me before, too. Always so eager.” He adjusts his grip on Gustave so that Gustave’s back is pressed against Verso chest. “Just hold on.”
Gustave lets out a squeak. His face burns from both shame and desire. “Verso, what are you doing?”
Verso cocks his head at him. “I’m getting you back to the shore.” He starts swimming backwards. “I was captain of my swim team in school.” He sounds so proud, and so fond and soft. “I won’t let you go, don’t worry.”
That’s not the thing Gustave’s worrying about. He’s self-conscious of the erection he’s sporting thanks to the proximity of Verso’s half-naked, wet body. “I know you won’t,” he says, voice heavy.
Verso frowns. “Gustave,” he begins, “Gustave, are you—“
“Gustave!” Sciel shouts from the shore. “Are you alright? That was quite the fall!”
The moment is gone. Verso brings him to the beach in silence and helps him to his feet the moment they arrive. Gustave grabs at Verso’s arms for balance when he gets dizzy immediately.
“Oh, Gustave,” Sciel says, a healing potion in hand. “What happened?”
“Monoco was overeager,” Gustave explains. “He accidentally knocked his elbow into my face.”
Sciel flinches in sympathy. “Ouch. I bet that hurt.”
“Yes, it did.”
Thankfully, his erection has subsided by now. He still hides behind the big towel Sciel gives him before he downs the healing potion in one swift move. “Uff, I needed that.”
“Good thing Verso is so good at swimming,” Sciel mentions. “When you didn’t come up, he ran into the water and was with you in almost no time.”
Gustave glances at Verso with a grateful smile. “Thank you for saving my life. Again.”
Verso goes beet red from both the compliment and the gratitude. Gustave is happy to see that he flushes all the way to his chest. “You’re welcome.”
They spend the rest of the day sitting together at the beach, trying to see if the others have made it to the top yet. At one point, Sciel starts dinner for their group, while Gustave and Verso are engrossed in a conversation about their different yet so similar fighting styles.
The others finally join them as the sun begins to set. While Lune and Monoco seem a little gloomy, Maelle has a huge grin on her face.
“You made it to the top?” Gustave asks.
She lights up. “I made it to the top.” She frowns at him. “Why’s there blood in your mustache?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Gustave waves her away. “Now what did you get?”
It’s a little disheartening to learn that it’s a swimsuit for Monoco of all people. Gustave is horrified when the Gestral puts it on right away.
“It… it suits him,” he whispers to Verso, at a loss for words.
“Yeah,” Verso whispers back. “Like a train wreck. I can’t look away.”
His response has Gustave sputtering with laughter. “I hope he’s not going to wear that outfit into battle.”
“Putain, me too.”
They grin at each other, and just continue talking through dinner. Gustave has never felt so at ease.
Monoco’s happy. Somewhat. While his plan didn’t work in its entirety, at least Verso and Gustave are talking to each other while eating their meals. Maybe knocking his elbow into Gustave’s face had been a little drastic, but it had given Verso the push he needed to get close to the engineer. And from what Sciel told him, they had gotten very, very close.
Next time he’ll be a little more careful, though. Just in case.
iii. le vin
“Putain!” Lune screeches. “You could’ve told us!”
“How was I supposed to know that those berries would make humans lose their sense of smell?” Monoco asks. “Verso’s never had that problem.”
“Verso’s immortal,” Lune says with a shake of her head. “Of course he doesn’t have the same problems as us.”
“Guys, it’s fine,” Gustave says swiftly, trying to deescalate the situation before a fight breaks out. “We’ll manage a few days without smelling.”
“What if it doesn’t go away?” Lune challenges him. “I wanna be able to taste my last meal before I gommage—“
“You will,” Verso interrupts her. “I remember another expedition telling me about those exact berries. Their effect lasts for a day, max. So don’t worry, you’ll get your sense of smell back soon.”
Lune raises an eyebrow at him. “Are you sure?”
“I am,” Verso answers.
She sighs. “Good. Let’s make camp here for the next few days. After Sirène, we all deserve a few days of rest.”
Gustave can’t help but agree. The fight against the Axon had been brutal, both physically and emotionally. And while Gustave had been able to say goodbye to her before her Gommage, he had not at all been prepared to see Sophie again, even if it had only been as one of Sirène’s illusions.
The thought of his late ex-girlfriend makes him look at Verso. The man’s helping Sciel start their campfire, face pulled into a frown of concentration. Lately, Gustave imagines how it would feel to wipe the dirt and blood off of Verso’s cheek, then follow the path of his fingers with his tongue.
His cocks stirs with interest.
Gustave ignores it and summons his gramophone for some music before he prepares their sleep rolls for later.
A part of him feels guilty for moving on so quickly. After all, Sophie hasn’t even been dead for two months, but here Gustave is, daydreaming about Verso like a lovesick teenager with his first crush.
However, he and Sophie had been broken up four years already.
She wouldn’t want me to wallow in misery for the rest of my days anyway, he thinks. She’d want me to move on.
These thoughts settle something inside him. They’re a reassurance he didn’t know he needed. He breaths a little easier, and once he’s done setting up their sleeping rolls, he sits down on a rock and starts writing about their fight against Sirene in his journal.
That’s how Monoco finds him a good thirty minutes later, still engrossed. “You’re very talented,” the Gestral comments.
Gustave grins bashfully. “I’m alright.” He finishes the sketch of Sirène on the page, and lists her attack patterns. “I try to be as concise as possible so that future generations may learn from it.”
Monoco nods. “For those who come after, right? You always say that before a big attack.”
Gustave flushes. “Do I?”
“Yes,” Monoco says. He places a water skin next to the rock Gustave is sitting on. “Your water. Sciel asked me to go to the nearby river and get you all some.”
“Thank you,” Gustave says. He closes his pen and grabs the water skin. “I’m really thirsty today.”
Monoco regards him. “Must suck not smelling and tasting anything.”
“I’ve had worse.” Gustave opens the skin and takes a large gulp. The water is cold and refreshing. “Bwah, just what I needed. Thanks again.”
Monoco hesitates for a moment before he says, “You’re welcome,” and saunters away. Gustave drinks another large gulp, then closes the skin and continues writing.
It’s here that everything goes a little blurry. Gustave rubs at his eyes, thinking that he’s just tired. After writing two more sentences, each with worse and worse handwriting, he gives up and shuts his pen, then waits for the ink on the pages to dry before he closes his journal.
Am I dehydrated? he wonders, taking another sip of water. But I drank enough, didn’t I?
He goes back to camp, finding his feet unsteady. Despite the chill in the air, he feels hot all over. Another side effect of the berries, perhaps?
Just as he’s about to reach a log to sit down, Lune ambushes him. “Gustave, you and Verso take first watch, right?”
Sometime between their day at the beach and slaying Sirene, Verso and Gustave had both volunteered to take first watch to talk through everything that had happened that day and to exchange ideas or spar. “Sure,” Gustave nods, feeling as if his brain is too slow for his head. There’s something fuzzy in his mind. “Who has second watch?”
“Monoco has volunteered to take second watch. Sciel and I will do third.” It had been their mutual decision to keep Maelle out of the roster. Since she’s their strongest fighter as well as their youngest team member, she should get a full nights rest most of the times.
“Okay,” Gustave says. “Sleep well.”
“Thanks,” Lune says. Then she frowns. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just exhausted from fighting Sirène.”
Lune nods. “I’m still wary about the Curator’s interest in Maelle.”
“Yeah, me too.” Gustave unscrews his water skin and drinks a little. It still tastes refreshing, so why is he still so thirsty? “Should we be worried?”
“I don’t know,” Lune says with a frown. “There’s still so much we don’t know about this world, we—“ She yawns.
“Go to bed,” Gustave chuckles. “Our problems will still be there tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I know,” Lune says. “Goodnight, Gustave.”
“Goodnight, Lune.”
One by one, the others go to bed. Sciel hugs him, while Maelle lets herself be kissed on the forehead with a giggle and hardly any protest.
He loses time after that. One moment the moon is still touching the horizon, then he blinks and it’s wandered into the sky. He frowns at it, and drinks some more water. Something must be wrong with him, but he can’t pinpoint what…
“Hey, Gustave,” Verso says, sitting down next to him. Gustave doesn’t know where he went, but it doesn’t matter. He’s here now.
“Verso,” Gustave sings his name, just because he can. “How are you?” Verso opens his mouth to answer, but Gustave just continues talking. “You’re so fucking pretty today I can’t handle it.”
Verso is stunned into silence. His entire face goes red. “Err— thanks?”
“Yeah. You and your sexy scar and the sexy curl of white hair and your sexy voice— you drive me insane, you know that?”
Whatever these berries did to him should concern Gustave, but instead all he feels is warmth upon seeing Verso blushing. Verso needs to be told those things more often.
“I like the way you grip your sword handles,” Gustave purrs. “Makes me want to know how it would feel if you handled my sword—“
“Merde, Gustave,” Verso hisses, so flustered that Gustave is surprised he hasn’t run away yet. “What are you saying?”
“I’m only saying stuff you need to hear,” Gustave hums. And that’s the crux of the matter. Verso looks like someone who needs to be told how pretty and amazing he is pretty often. Gustave will gladly be that person. “When the light of the fire hits you just right, you look so beautiful that I want to throw up—“
“Stop, please,” Verso says, face so red he looks like he’s about to explode. “I get it, okay?”
“I don’t think you do,” Gustave says, coming closer. “Did it hurt?”
Verso frowns. “What?”
“When you fell from heaven.”
Verso chokes on thin air. “Putain de merde, Gustave, that’s the cheesiest pick-up line I’ve ever heard.”
“There’s more where that came from,” Gustave says, taking a gulp from his water skin.
Before he can screw it shut, Verso grips his arm and sniffs at it. “Why are you drinking wine?” He asks.
Gustave frowns. “What?”
“You’re drinking wine, Gustave,” Verso explains. “You’re drunk.”
“That’s the water Monoco brought me.” Is that the reason he feels like he’s floating? “I am certainly not dunk.”
Verso snorts. “You are, though. And I’m cutting you off.”
Gustave pouts. “I meant everything I said, though. You’re pretty and handsome and I want you to ride my face like a horse.”
“Gustave!” Verso shrieks. “You can’t say stuff like that.”
Without preamble, Gustave follows the impulse that has been nagging at him for the past few minutes, stands up, and promptly plops down in Verso’s lap. “I can,” he says huskily. God, he wants Verso so badly he aches with it. He’s pretty sure the other man can feel how aroused he is. “Can’t you feel how much I want you?”
Verso swallows. Gustave follows the sight with his eyes. “Gustave— you’re drunk, I—“
“I want you, Verso,” Gustave whispers before he leans in and licks the scar beneath Verso’s eye, something he’s always wanted to do. “I’ve wanted you since you joined us.”
There are hands on his waist, but instead of pushing him away, they keep him in place. A pleased shudder runs down Gustave’s spine. “Gustave, I— Not when you’re drunk, I— I’m not going to take advantage of—“
“What if I want you to?” He whispers into Verso’s ear. Verso’s breath hitches.
And then the world turns sideways.
Gustave scrambles out of Verso’s lap, barely making it a few feet away from the man before he starts retching. Verso’s by his side immediately, rubbing his back as Gustave heaves. Once nothing but bile is coming out and Gustave’s stomach is calming down, Verso gives him a water skin. “Just water this time,” he says.
Gustave groans. “Oh merde, Verso, I’m sorr—“
“Don’t be,” Verso dismisses him. He tries to sound nonchalant, but Gustave hears how much it pains him when he adds, “I know all about the weird ramblings one has while one’s drunk — it’s fine. I take no offense.”
Gustave frowns. “I meant every word I said.”
Verso smiles at him, a sad rueful thing. “Why don’t you go to sleep? I’ll keep watch.”
Gustave hesitates. “Verso—“
“Please, Gustave,” Verso says, looking away. “No more.”
“Verso, I— alright.” Gustave suddenly feels too sober. “Wake me if something happens, okay?”
“I will,” Verso answers in a tone that says he won’t. “Goodnight, Gustave.”
“Goodnight.” It takes Gustave a great amount of strength to walk away from Verso. He didn’t want to hurt him, but he doesn’t know how to assure the other man that he’d meant every word.
I need to tell him again tomorrow*, he thinks as he slips into his sleep roll. I hope I don’t forget.
It’s his last thought before he falls asleep.
When he wakes the next morning, his head is pounding, and he doesn’t really remember what happened the night before. How did I get drunk? he wonders. The last thing I did was writing in my journal.
Something must’ve happened, though. Something big. Verso won’t meet his eyes, and finds excuses to escape him the moment he tries to start a conversation with him. It irks Gustave. Did he do something to jeopardize their friendship while he was drunk?
For the next few days he racks his brain about what he may have done or said to make Verso avoid him like this, but he comes up blank.
What happened? he wonders. Asking the others is not an option. They likely don’t even know something happened, although both Lune and Sciel have already commented how distant Verso and Gustave seem all of a sudden.
Gustave can’t shake off the feeling that he messed up. Big time.
Fuck, why can’t he remember?!
It’s astounding how such a fool-proof plan can go wrong. Monoco shakes his head. He thought giving Gustave some wine would have him make a move. Instead, he and Verso are more distant than ever. What’s worse is that Verso seems to know Monoco had something to do with it. He’s doing his best to avoid both him and Gustave.
What did Sciel call it? Verso’s too ‘emotionally constipated’. Hah! Verso just needs a good duel, then he’ll be back to normal. Maybe the fight with the second Axon will cure him of whatever problems he has.
Monoco nods to himself. All will be alright.
iv. le sac de couchage
The fight against the second Axon is far easier than the one against Sirène, but Visages still leaves his mark on them.
Especially Verso and Sciel seem shaken by their fight.
Gustave isn’t faring much better. Due to a nasty hit he took right at the beginning of the fight, he was unconscious for most of it, only coming to when it was time to deliver the killing blow.
Now all the others are fretting over him, asking him if he’s fine constantly. Maelle is the worst of them, her worried eyes following him everywhere. Verso is a close second. He can’t take two steps without one of them following on his tail and it’s driving him insane.
“Stop!” He shouts after Maelle starts following him again. “I took a hit, so what?! Can’t I take two steps without stumbling over one of you?!” He adresses Maelle and Verso. They both look away guiltyly, and if Gustave didn’t know any better, he’d say they were siblings with how much their expressions resemble each other. “I’m sick and tired of all of you treating me like some delicate flower that’s going to wither the moment you don’t look at me!”
“You almost died!” Maelle interjects. “Renoir almost killed you!”
“I know!” He roars. “What do you think my nightmares are about?! Why do you think I train like I do?! I never want to feel like that again!”
“Like what, Gustave?” Sciel asks calmly.
“Like a liability!” The words rip out from the bowels of his heart. It’s his biggest fear, his biggest shame.
The group is silent for a moment. All Gustave can hear is his own heavy breathing and his heartbeat rushing in his ears. “Let’s face it: I’m not as adaptable as Lune and Monoco, as quick as Sciel and Verso, or as strong as you, Maelle. I’m just… Gustave. I bring nothing to the table. I— I hold you all back. I’m pretty much useless—“
“Shut up!” Verso roars. He steps towards Gustave and rips his backpack off his shoulders before he shoves it into Gustave’s face. “What’s this?! Tell me!”
Gustave swallows. He looks at the small object in Verso’s hand. “The Lumina Converter,” he says quietly.
“Exactly! The Lumina Converter! The thing you invented! The only reason your group even stands a fucking chance against the Paintress!” Verso lets Gustave’s backpack drop to the side and then throws his arms around Gustave in a hug so tight that it squeezes the air from his lungs. “So don’t you fucking dare call yourself useless!”
Gustave’s sight goes blurry. “Verso, I—“
“He’s right!” Sciel comes, hugging them both as well. Her grip isn’t as tight, but her eyes are fierce and full of love. “You’re important to us, Gustave. You gave us the edge we needed.”
Lune steps forward as well and throws her arms around Gustave from behind. “And the Gradient attack you came up with that shows us the enemies weaknesses is pretty handy. It’s saved our asses more times than I can count.”
Maelle hugs him too. “Stupid old man,” she chides him fondly, and it cleaves Gustave’s heart in two just hearing it. “As if you could ever be useless.”
Even Monoco comes over, and while he doesn’t say anything, he pats Gustave’s head.
“I— thanks, guys, I— that means a lot to me.”
“Yay, group hug!” Esquie hugs them and almost smothers them all.
After that, it takes some time to untangle their group from each other. The others say a few more words and then move towards their camp, while Verso stays behind and gathers Gustave’s backpack from where he’d unceremoniously dropped it on the floor.
“Here,” he says softly.
Their fingers touch as Gustave takes it from him. “Thank you, Verso.” He clears his throat and settles the backpack back on his shoulders. Then he just stands in silence for a moment before he says, “Verso, about that night— whatever I said to you—“
“It’s fine,” Verso says, suddenly unable to meet Gustave’s eyes. “I’m over it—“
“I’m not,” Gustave interrupts him quietly. Then, after a beat he adds, “I miss hanging out with you.”
Verso swallows. “Gustave—“
“I’m sorry for whatever I did or said to you,” Gustave continues softly, looking at his boots. “I’m— I can be quite insensitive when I’m drunk or so I’ve been told—“
“You weren’t insensitive,” Verso mumbles. It’s so quiet that Gustave only catches it by chance.
“Then what did I do? I’ve been racking my brain, but… Verso, what did I do to you?”
Verso is visible fighting with himself. He’s looking from one side to the other until he heaves a deep sigh that makes his shoulders slump and finally settles his gaze on Gustave’s face. “You came on to me.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit! How much did he tell Verso about his infatuation with him?! “I— what…? I did— what?”
“It’s fine,” Verso says roughly. “It’s not the first time this happened to me. Don’t sweat it.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Gustave says before his brain-to-mouth filter can kick in completely. “Have you seen yourself?”
Verso looks at him startled. “What do you mean?”
On one hand, Gustave wants the ground to open up and swallow him. On the other, he’s sick and tired of pretending he’s not attracted to Verso. “You’re handsome,” he says as the blood rushes to his face. “And strong. And capable. And sometimes I wanna grab you after you’ve successfully parried an enemy and kiss you until we both can’t breath.”
Verso’s eyes widen and he’s blushing again. “Gustave…”
“Did I say stuff like that during that night as well?”
Verso clears his throat. “Err— yes. More of the same. And— and you said you w-wanted me, and—“
“Putain de merde,” Gustave curses. “And then I forgot it all.”
“Yes,” Verso says, voice small and hurt, and Gustave wants to beat himself up for hurting the other man’s feelings like that.
“I’m sorry for being so dumb.” He comes closer and, once Verso doesn’t flinch away, hugs him once more.
“It’s okay,” Verso says, returning the hug. “It’s not like I’m any better.”
They stay like this for a few moments, just taking each other in. Gustave buries his head in Verso’s neck and inhales deeply, loving the way Verso’s natural musk makes his insides melt in all the right ways. It seems Verso’s affected as well; he shudders in Gustave’s arms.
“So,” Gustave eventually begins as he breaks their embrace. “Let me get this straight—“
“There’s nothing straight about us,” Verso deadpans.
Gustave throws his head back and laughs. “Be serious, will you!” He starts again. “The facts are: I like you, and you like me. Correct?”
Verso hesitates for a moment, then he nods. “Yes.”
Gustave takes a deep breath for courage. “Do you want to be together with me?”
Another moment passes. Verso swallows. “Yes,” he says, voice almost breaking.
“Good,” Gustave says, heart pounding in his ears. “What’s stopping you?”
Verso looks away. “I’m scared.”
Gustave cocks his head. “Of what?”
“I— it’s complicated, I—“
“Try me,” the engineer says. “I’ll wait.”
“Gustave, I— I feel things for you, s-so many things, I— I don’t even know where to begin explaining them all to you—“ Gustave waits patiently as Verso gathers his thoughts. “I— I need some time. To figure everything out. If that’s— if that’s alright with you—“
“Of course it is,” Gustave says hotly. He takes Verso’s hands in his. “I won’t— I won’t do anything you don’t want, Verso. Not ever. Just— let me know when you’re ready, okay?”
There are tears in Verso’s eyes. He looks so sad and so happy at the same time that Gustave can’t breathe. “Okay.”
“Come here,” Gustave says and drags Verso back into his arms again.
Verso hugs back tightly. “I’m pretty sure Monoco is trying to set us up,” he whispers after a while.
“Huh. That explains a few things.” Gustave buries into the embrace. “The wine. Oh, and the duel he said I wanted from you.”
“The elbow to your face, too,” Verso mutters against Gustave’s throat. Gustave shudders. “I bet he planned it all.”
“I bet he’s planning something right this moment. He always seems to strike when we’ve defeated a big enemy,” Gustave chuckles.
Verso snorts. “He’s nothing if not predictable.”
They break their embrace but still stay close to one another. After a moment, Gustave reaches up and touches Verso’s cheek. “I’ll wait for you.”
“Gustave,” Verso say, blushing again. “Thank— Thank you.”
“Come on,” Gustave says. “Let’s see what your best friend has planned for us now.”
Verso rolls his eyes. “Just so you know, I’m going to kick his butt for this.”
Gustave grins. “I’ll be right behind you when you do.”
They walk back to the camp side by side, their hands brushing occasionally. Gustave looks around, trying to find something that’s different from before, but everything still looks just like it did when they’d left to travel to Visages Island that morning.
He looks at Verso inquisitively, trying to ascertain if the other man has seen something. Verso shakes his head.
Just then, Sciel shouts that their dinner’s ready, effectively sweeping the topic from Gustave’s mind.
Monoco’s involvement only comes back to him after they’re done with dinner and get ready for bed. Since Verso and Gustave have third watch tonight, they need to go to bed immediately. Only there’s something wrong.
“Lune,” he calls, “Did you move my sleep roll?”
“No? Why?”
“It’s gone,” Gustave calls back. He’s standing at the place he left his sleep roll at. “I left it right here.”
“I didn’t move it,” Lune says.
“Me neither,” Sciel adds while she feeds some more wood to the flames.
“Mhm,” Gustave hums, rubbing at his face. He catches Verso’s eye, who almost imperceptibly nods towards Monoco. Ah. Gustave is going to kill the Gestral come morning. “Lune, Sciel, can I borrow one of your sleep rolls?”
Lune makes a face. “No offense, Gustave, but I don’t want my sleep roll to stink.”
“Ouch,” Gustave says, a hand over his heart. “Lune you wound me. I don’t smell that bad.”
“Yeah, you kinda do,” Sciel says. “Not in a bad way, just in a… manly way.”
“And we had peas for dinner,” Maelle chimes in, chipper as ever. “Which means you’re going to start farting in—“
“Okay, okay! Merde, we had such a nice moment earlier and now you all backstab me! Traitors, the lot of you!” The girls laugh. It’s so contagious that Gustave can’t help but chuckle as well. “I hate you all.”
Sciel blows him a kiss. “Love you, too.”
“You could share with Verso,” Monoco proposes. “His sleep roll is big enough.”
Gustave narrows his eyes at the Gestral. So that’s his plan. A good plan, but still… “Only if he’s okay with that.” He looks at the other man.
Verso shrugs. “Sure,” he says, a faint blush adorning his face. “It’s big enough… yeah.”
Gustave’s mouth goes dry. He walks over and sits down next to Verso. “You sure?” He asks softly.
The look Verso gives him is the most shy he’s ever seen. “Yes.”
Despite Verso’s description of his sleep roll being big, it’s barely fitting both of them if they want to sleep side by side. It’s inevitable that they cuddle, something that Gustave is not adverse to.
It seems Verso isn’t adverse to it too, because he grins at Gustave and says, “You can even be the little spoon, the far superior position.”
That’s how they end up in the same sleep roll, tugged closely against each other with Verso’s front to Gustave’s back. It’s surprisingly comfortable to lie in someone’s arms like this, especially if the person holding you is the man you adore.
Gustave is warm and comfy, and he wants to sleep like this for the rest of his life. “Verso?” He asks quietly.
“Yes?” Verso whispers back.
Gustave smiles. “Bonne nuit.”
He feels Verso’s own smile against his neck. “Bonne nuit, Gustave.”
Content, Gustave closes his eyes. He falls asleep so fast he doesn’t remember anything else.
He wakes the next morning with his face mashed into Verso’s shoulder and half of his body draped over the other man. Verso’s still asleep, his soft snores tickling the skin of Gustave’s collarbone. For a moment, Gustave just watches him breath, then softly brushes one of his white strands out of his face.
Verso mumbles something incoherently and leans into the touch. Gustave wants to kiss him so badly it hurts.
Instead he stands up and stretches with a yawn, then looks for Monoco. He finds him sitting at the edge of camp, staring into the distance. “Hey.”
“Hello,” Monoco rumbles.
“You didn’t wake us for our shift,” Gustave notices.
“I did not, yes.”
Gustave frowns. “Why not?”
Monoco’s grip on his staff tightens. The bell rings faintly. “This is the most peaceful sleep Verso’s gotten in years,” he explains in a tone that makes Gustave’s heart break. “I didn’t want to take that from him.”
“You really care about him, huh?”
“Of course I do,” Monoco says fiercely. “I’m the only one he has.”
Gustave hums and sits down next to Monoco. “You want to make him happy.”
“He deserves it.” There’s a finality to Monoco’s statement that makes Gustave’s stomach drop. “No matter what.”
Kicking Gustave’s sleep roll off the mountain had been a stroke of genius. Not only did Verso get a fitful eight hours of sleep, but now he and Gustave share Verso’s sleep roll all the time. And it’s not weird!
Not even the girls say anything about it! Which is good, because both Verso and Gustave care about their opinions a whole lot.
Monoco is pleased with himself. For once, his plan worked perfectly.
v. la teigne
“I don’t like this,” Gustave says darkly. “I don’t like this at all.”
Maelle rolls her eyes. “It’s just a cave.”
“Yes, a dark cave. Without any light sources. With a dead Gestral on a socket. No, thank you.”
“Stop being so dramatic, Gustave,” Lune says. The light in her hand glows brightly. “We haven’t even run into any Nevrons!”
“I just— I don’t like this!”
“Don’t worry,” Sciel says fondly. “I’ll protect you.”
Gustave groans. “Not helping.”
He can’t tell them what he’s really scared off. If he does, they’ll laugh their asses off and he won’t be able to look any of them in the eyes for the rest of their journey.
Next to him, Verso brushes his hand against his in a show of silent support. He’s been doing that a lot lately. “I’m with you,” he whispers only for Gustave’s ears to hear. “Don’t be afraid.”
Gustave feels a lot better immediately. He brushes his hand back. “Thanks.”
“Come on,” Maelle shouts. “I wanna find the chromatic enemy the merchant told us about!”
“A worthy opponent,” Monoco says. “I approve.”
“Alright,” Gustave says, taking a deep breath. This cave is way too dark. He already feels as if little phantom feet are crawling all over him. “Here goes nothing.”
They explore the cave for twenty minutes. It’s dark, dingy, and dirty. And there are sounds. So many sounds of critters running, bats flapping their wings, bugs crawling—
Gustave shudders just thinking about it. Bugs. They’re the one thing that makes him lose his cool completely. He hates them. He hates them with a passion. Especially if they crawl around on his skin. Even the phantom sensation of it is enough to drive him crazy. Just like what he’s feeling on his neck right now—
He grabs at whatever there is. Probably a stray hair. His hand finds something solid, however, something that scitters from his touch—
Gustave shrieks. His voice echoes from the walls. “FUCK!”
“Gustave, what in the world—“ Lune starts, but then the bug crawls under Gustave’s uniform—
“PUTAIN DE MERDE, VERSO, GET IT OUT!”
Verso holds his light towards Gustave, swords summoned. “Gustave, what’s going—“
“THE BUG!” Gustave shrieks again. “THERE’S A BUG UNDER MY SHIRT!” He slips out of his uniform in record time and starts shaking it out.
Maelle sputters with laughter. “You’re still scared of bugs, Gustave?”
“THE BETTER QUESTION IS WHY AREN’T YOU SCARED OF THEM?!” Gustave shrieks. He knows he’s milking it, but he’s so grossed out by the phantom sensation of hundreds of tiny feet crawling over his skin that he can’t help but be a little dramatic. “THEY’RE GROSS—“
“Hah! Got it!” Verso shouts, plucking something from Gustave’s back. “It’s a moth.” At once, the sensation of tiny feet disappears.
“Thank you!” Gustave says loudly. “At least one of you takes me seriously!”
“The rest of us don’t want to sleep with you,” Lune mumbles under her breath. Beside her, Sciel snickers.
Thanks to the acoustics of the cave, Gustave understands her perfectly. His face heats up. “What was that?”
“Nothing,” Lune says quickly. “Let’s check out the rest of the cave—“
“Lune, wait—“
“Ouch!” Verso suddenly yells. “It bit me!”
“…”
“Fuck, I let it go.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LET IT GO!”
“Exactly what it means. It’s gone.”
“FUCK, I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!”
“Gustave, calm down,” Sciel tries. “Maybe we should—“
“I WON’T CALM DOWN!” Gustave screams. “THIS PLACE IS CRAWLING WITH BUGS! HUNDREDS OF TINY BUGS WITH THOUSANDS OF TINY FEET READY TO CRAWL OVER MY SKIN—“
“That’s it!” Verso shouts. He steps towards Gustave and sweeps him off his feet and into his arms in one swift move. Literally. Gustave scrambles his arms around Verso’s shoulders as not to fall down. “I’m taking him outside before we all go deaf.”
“Good idea,” Lune says, hands still over her ears. “We’ll come out once we’re done with the chromatic fiend.”
“Good,” Verso says. “I’ll try to calm him down in the meantime.”
Maelle snorts. “Good luck with that.”
Gustave’s face burns with humiliation. As he and Verso make their way outside, he can hear the girls laughing in the distance. “Fuck,” he says once the darkness of the cave gives way to daylight again. He suddenly feels normal. “I made quite a fool of myself.”
“A little,” Verso says. He sets Gustave down on one of the stones closest to the entrance. “How do you feel?”
Gustave feels so stupid. Tears gather in his eyes. “I freaked out over bugs. Bugs, Verso.”
Despite trying not to, the corner of Verso’s mouth lifts in a smile. “You did.”
“This isn’t funny,” Gustave says despairingly. “I was screaming like a little girl in there. Just because of a few bugs.”
Verso’s face turns serious. “We all have our weaknesses. Yours is bugs. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“But I’m a grown man,” Gustave says, wiping at his eyes. “I shouldn’t be grossed out like this—“
“Hey, hey,” Verso says. He kneels in front of Gustave so that they can see eye to eye and takes the engineers hands in his. “There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re not weak because you don’t like bugs.”
“It’s just— it feels like they’re crawling all over me, even if they don’t,” Gustave explains. “It’s driving me insane just thinking about it.”
Verso’s quiet for a moment before he says, “Wanna know a secret?”
Gustave hesitates for a moment before he nods. “What?”
“I don’t like snakes. At all. I mean, I can’t even look at them slither away. That’s how much the mere sight of them grosses me out.” Verso snorts. “Which is ironic, because guess who got eaten by that stupid sky snake like ten years ago.”
Gustave gasps with laughter before he can help himself. “Really? It ate you?”
“Yes,” Verso says, his own voice shaking with amusement. “It took me almost a month to find that stupid thing’s eject button—“
“Eject button?” Gustave cackles. “What?”
Verso grins. “It vomited me out.” Gustave cackles as Verso continues, “I was covered in sick from head to toe, and smelled so atrocious even Monoco didn’t want to come close.” He shakes his head fondly. “That was the longest bath of my life.”
Gustave outright laughing right now, imagining the sight of Verso covered in vomit from head to toe. Whenever his laughter is close to subsiding, the image pops into his head again and he just… keeps laughing.
“Sorry, sorry,” he says after he finally manages to calm down.
“Don’t be,” Verso says. His eyes are soft. “I like seeing you laugh.”
Gustave blushes. “Then make me laugh more often,” he says softly.
“I’ll try,” Verso promises gently. He takes Gustave’s uniform from the engineers hands and takes a few steps back. “I’m going to check this for bugs before you put it on again.” He looks the garments over carefully. He even turns then inside out just in case!
Gustave’s heart swells. He hasn’t felt this cherished in a long time.
It’s in that moment that he realizes he’s in love with Verso.
The realization comes easily to him, like a petal floating down a river. It fills his heart to the brim, makes it ache in all the right places. If someone other than Verso were to look at him right now, they’d immediately see how infatuated he is with the other man.
And suddenly, that thought doesn’t scare him anymore. He’s found someone who likes him as he is. Who will protect him. Cherish him. Someone who saves him, and who he wants to save in return.
Gustave smiles. He’ll tell Verso soon. But not today.
Soon.
His feelings inspire him. Suddenly, he has an idea…
The chromatic enemy had been a joke. It had barely been a warm-up for Monoco, let alone a challenge. Pathetic. Not at all worth the chroma he’d given the merchant to tell his friends about this cave.
Either the Nevrons are getting weak, or Monoco is getting too strong for them to handle him.
He likes the latter sentiment much more.
The sky is already turning pink as their group leaves the cave. Sciel stretches her arms over her head and groans when something pops. Monoco shakes his head. Human bodies are weird.
“Nghh. I hope Verso and Gustave haven’t gotten into too much trouble,” she says.
Lune sighs. “Remember what we talked about in the cave. Don’t mention his aversion to bugs to Gustave.” She glares at the redhead. “Looking at you, Maelle.”
“I haven’t done anything!” The girl protests.
“…yet.” Sciel snickers. “Come on, we all want to tease Gustave about his behavior, but he’s probably really embarrassed about it.”
Maelle heaves a sigh. “Adults. Sucking all the fun out of teasing your big brother.”
“I always tease Verso about his failures,” Monoco deadpans. “The trick is to wait a few weeks. If you do it right after it’s happened, chances are he’ll be prickly like a Nevron and stop speaking to you for a year.”
Maelle snorts. “Alright, alright. I’ll wait.”
“Good girl,” Lune nods at her. Then she frowns. “Do you see them?”
Just then, a chromatic explosion shakes the ground. One of the nearby dunes collapses, the rock next to it pulverizes in a shimmer of chroma.
The group’s running before their surroundings have stopped shaking.
“Gustave, Verso, what… ?!” Lune shrieks, anger and worry mixed together.
Gustave grins at her from the bottom of a small crater. His nose is bleeding, yet he’s grinning like a maniac. “Lune,” he says cheerfully. “Guess what?”
“What?” She asks, breathless.
“I can summon a chroma train!” As if on cue, the chroma from his hand releases, and a glinting train arrives, billowing smoke and all. It drives past with a loud chooo chooo, rolls over another dune and utterly flattens it. “Woohooo!”
Just then, Verso appears from under a mound of sand. He has blood all over his face, too. “That. Was. Awesome!” He yells as he shakes his head like a wet dog, sand flying everywhere, grinning like a maniac all the while. He walks to Gustave and holds out his hand. “We need to test this on a Nevron!”
Gustave takes Verso’s hand and gets dragged to his feet. “Quick, we need to find one, we—“
“You’re both injured!” Lune shouts. “You’re not going anywhere.” Both men look at her sadly. Monoco is oddly moved by their gazes. “No, don’t give me that kicked puppy look. You can test that new ability once we’re at the Monolith.”
Gustave tries. “But Lune—“
“No buts!” She yells. “Stop making my life difficult!”
They both look down as they say in unison, “Sorry, Lune.”
Lune looks at the sky. “What did I do to deserve this?”
Behind her, Maelle snickers.
On their way back to camp on Esquie’s back, everything seems the same. Lune and Sciel talk about dinner, Maelle and Gustave chat about his new ability, and he and Verso sit together in silence. Monoco notices something however; while Gustave and Verso still stare at each other, they now do it when the other one is looking.
Finally.
Monoco’s brush rustles with satisfaction. He did good.
Now he just needs to wait a few weeks to tease them about it. And to reveal himself as the mastermind behind it all.
Monoco can’t wait.
vi. le lettre
The night before their journey to the Monolith is wild.
Sciel finds the wine stash inside Esquie, and while it’s kind of weird to have such a mighty creature vomit alcohol into your cup, Gustave can’t help but appreciate the sentiment of getting drunk before such an important mission.
He’d been entirely too sober for their journey to the Continent.
Therefore, he dances with Lune, then Sciel, then Maelle (in that order), before Esquie sweeps him off his feet and places him atop him. It doesn’t take long for Gustave’s stomach to rebell, however, and he asks to be put down. As Esquie searches for someone else to have on his back, Gustave stumbles away, the wine buzzing in his veins pleasantly.
That’s when he hears it. Verso’s voice, full of sorrow and love. “My beautiful sister doesn’t need this ugly mask.”
Gustave’s heart pounds. Who is Verso talking to…?
Just then, he hears the sound that makes his blood freeze. A cane striking the ground.
The next few minutes pass in a blur. He hears Verso talking to someone, but he can’t make out their words. It’s as if his head is stuffed full of cotton, pulsing in time with his heart. He only comes back into himself when warm hands frame his face. He blinks. Verso’s beautiful blue-grey eyes stare at him in concern.
“Gustave?” He asks softly. “Are you okay?”
It takes a while for Gustave to get his mouth to work again. “I’m— no, I’m not.” He grabs Verso’s arms tightly. “He— he was here, wasn’t he? Renoir.”
Verso stiffens. “Gustave, how do you—“
“I heard him. His cane, I— For a moment, I was back at the cliff, he—“ Gustave stumbles over his words. He hasn’t been this scared in a long time. “Is he going to take you away?”
“What? Gustave, what are you talking—“
“I don’t want you to go,” Gustave begs him. “Please don’t go with him. Don’t— don’t leave me.”
“I’m not,” Verso presses out. Soon after, his arms wrap around Gustave’s shaking frame. “I’ll stay, don’t worry.”
Gustave barely hears him. “I love you,” he says, his feelings spilling over. “Please, don’t go.”
Verso’s breath catches. “Gustave—“ He begins, voice shaking, “I—“
Gustave cuts him off with a kiss.
It’s their first kiss, a desperate mashing of lips. Gustave pours all of his longing into it. He doesn’t know where his sudden fear of Verso leaving them has come from. He only knows he doesn’t want him to go. Not ever.
He breaks their kiss. “I wanna spend the rest of my life with you,” he mumbles against Verso’s lips. Verso chokes on a sob. “Please don’t go.”
“Gustave,” Verso says, desperately. He kisses him again. During their second kiss their tongues meet, and both of them groan into the other’s mouth.
When Verso speaks again, his voice sounds so broken. “There are things I have to do, things that only I can do—“
“You’ve done so much already,” Gustave whispers. “You deserve to be happy, too.”
Verso looks away. “Gustave, I—“
“Verso,” Gustave begs softly. “Please.”
For a moment, it seems Verso’s is going to keep whatever bothers him a secret. But then he sighs, and his shoulders slump. “Alright, Gustave. I’ll… I’ll tell you. I’ll tell all of you everything.”
“Verso—“ Gustave begins, but is cut off by Verso’s lips.
Their third kiss is soft and gentle, as their first kiss should have been. Gustave melts against the hard planes of Verso’s body.
They break apart far too quickly for the engineer’s liking. Verso leans his forehead against Gustave’s and intertwines their hands. “I’m scared,” he whispers.
“I know,” Gustave says. “I’m here.”
“Yeah,” Verso says, the hint of a smile in his voice. “You are.” He takes a deep breath, then gets up, dragging Gustave with him. Their hands stay intertwined as Verso takes a letter from his pocket. “Here goes nothing.”
They walk back to camp, hand in hand.
And later — after everything has been revealed, and all the Painters sans Maelle have left the Canvas and the people of Lumière are safe — Verso turns to Gustave with a soft smile on his face, and says, “I love you, too.”
Fin.