[She says quietly, firmly. The representation of the court, the realm. If not for this place, she wouldn't be speaking to Gustave right now. She pointedly doesn't look at him because simply remembering that fact is enough to make a lump form in her throat.]
[ Gustave puts his arm around her as he makes a show of trying to think of another target. ]
What don't we like? I'm sure there's something we can aim for. I was just, well, the castle is hard to miss. I just figured it would be an easy target. Unless you think you're up for a real challenge. We could aim for the boat?
[He doesn't draw attention to it, nor does she, but just that simple act of his arm over her shoulders calms her. She's missed this so much--she wonders if there will ever be a day that looking at him doesn't make her heart ache. Some day, maybe this will feel real.]
You like the boat.
[No aiming for things they like.]
Maybe you just show me how to skip stones. I've never understood how that works.
[ Is that confidence? Bravado? Just him trying to keep his mind off other things? Maybe it's all of the above, but really, his focus is on Maelle, and getting as many moments he can before he's out of time. ]
I can do that. We need completely different stones for that though. I'll show you how to pick those out, too. There's a... a technique to it. Picking the right one. Just as much as getting it to skip over the water.
[This, here, is what she missed most. His love for figuring things out. His love for teaching--for teaching her, and she keeps everything he's shown her over the years close to her heart. Her memories with him are her most prized possession.
She can't think that this is only temporary. That this is only extra scraps thrown to them. This has to be forever, in this strange, strange place.]
[ If Gustave had been able to wish for anything, it just would have been more time. More time for this, to share with the people he loved. To learn more about the things he never got the chance to figure out. To finish those old prototypes he had sitting back home in Lumière.
There's no getting back the time they lost, but there's time now and he's not going to waste a second of it. ]
Well, you see, [ and he's animatedly gesturing as he speaks, ] The best ones are always by the river. They—the water smooths out all the edges and they'll glide over the surface. It's aerodynamics. My record is twelve. For skipping them. It would have been thirteen but I was robbed. Waves.
[The correction makes her laugh. Her bond with Gustave was always different than her bond with Emma, but she did always enjoy hearing her share stories of Gustave's youth. Mostly because they were embarrassing. Weird kids, all of them.]
Let's go. We really do need the best stones if you're to beat your record.
[ Maybe it was because he was older, maybe it was just because it was just the way he was, but even though he'd been her parent since they lost theirs to the Gommage, he always tried to be gentle, kind. He was a weird kid turned into a weird adult, but that just meant he might have been better to help other weird kids like him and Emma, like Maelle. ]
Trust me. It makes all the difference. [ Slightly changing their course, Gustave started down the path that should take them to the river. ] You should know this path too. It's good to know where water is. You can usually follow it to keep yourself oriented in case you get lost.
[She gives him a look. She's not intending to leave his side very often, and not for very long if she does. It's difficult to let him out of her sight because she's so afraid that in the next moment she'll wake up from this dream and be without him again.]
[ Gustave gives her a look back, somewhere between parental and amused. It wasn't his intention to smother her while they were here, and it was his job to always make sure that she was prepared to face anything. That included being able to find her way around. ]
But it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Mark a few places we can all meet if something happens here.
[ Gustave smiles over at her. He's not really concerned about her luck, or his, which admittedly isn't that great either. They'll figure it out. ]
That's a good idea. Now we just have to figure out what. [ Something that's recognizable, but not too obvious. There are still people here that he doesn't want finding a trail to follow, deals and agreements aside. So that's the 33 out. ] Any ideas?
[She may still wear the Expedition 33 armband, but she doesn't think it feels right, carving that number into a tree. They're done. It's over. No more expeditions. No more Paintress.
Not here, at least.]
Maybe our initials? M and G. Or G and M, if you'd like to be first. Age before beauty.
[She smiles at him. Little shit.]
spoiler warning in the subject line because this is going to collapse soon lol
[ Gustave has his armband too, has it wrapped around his bicep even if he's thinking of taking the uniform and folding it away somewhere, safe but out of sight. Because that part of their lives is over, or at least, he wants it to be. It's about time he goes down to the market to see what he can trade for. ]
M and G works for me. We'll figure out how to combine them, but yours can be first.
[ He smiles back and nudges her shoulder. ]
I've got a carving knife. Let's pick a tree and see what we come up with.
[He's closer to it than she is, with his engineering and creativity. He even has a knife, where she was just going to do some grand slashes with her rapier.]
How about this one here?
[When Maelle steps away from his side, she moves only a few feet away before stopping to pause and look back at him, waiting. She has no desire to rush ahead. Not anymore.]
I guess it's good we're not trying to make art then, right?
[ Gustave chuckles, toying with the knife he had. ]
It looks like a good one to me. [ And he follows her over to it, chipping away at the moss and bark to find the wood beneath, and he carves their initials into it. ] How's that look?
[ A little goofy, is the answer, but it would be easy to recreate, he thinks. ]
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spoiler warning in the subject line because this is going to collapse soon lol
M and G works for me. We'll figure out how to combine them, but yours can be first.
[ He smiles back and nudges her shoulder. ]
I've got a carving knife. Let's pick a tree and see what we come up with.
set us free aaaaaaaa
[He's closer to it than she is, with his engineering and creativity. He even has a knife, where she was just going to do some grand slashes with her rapier.]
How about this one here?
[When Maelle steps away from his side, she moves only a few feet away before stopping to pause and look back at him, waiting. She has no desire to rush ahead. Not anymore.]
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[ Gustave chuckles, toying with the knife he had. ]
It looks like a good one to me. [ And he follows her over to it, chipping away at the moss and bark to find the wood beneath, and he carves their initials into it. ] How's that look?
[ A little goofy, is the answer, but it would be easy to recreate, he thinks. ]