[ 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. ]