[ Verso both hates ( and maybe loves ) how much Gustave clearly means that. How even here at the brink of death with a gun pressed to his own head, ready and willing to step off the edge into nothing, speaking of all the pain and heartbreak he's lived for the past two years for chasing after shadow of a man -- Gustave says it was worth it, and he's telling the truth. And Verso's heart could soar from that alone, from knowing someone really does think of him so highly, if it weren't dropping like a stone from the same revelation, from the weight of every secret that Gustave couldn't possibly know.
Gustave smiles through the dirt and blood, leans forward to just barely kiss him, and Verso just wants wants to take that smile, adoring as it is, and shield it from the world.
But then, there's what really brings Gustave back. Maelle.
He nods when he echoes her name, when he studies his face -- searching for the truth. Maybe more trying to tell if he's real rather than tell if he's lying, but Verso meets it all the same, because its true that Maelle is safe and it's truer still that she needs him. Verso is squeezing his hand tight again -- and then finally, finally. in a little shower of chroma sparks, the pistol vanishes. Verso feels something in his entire body unwind, not completely relax, there's still too much ehre at stake, but the relief is real, and --
His attempt to get his thoughts on track onto the plan at large falls away, because Gustave is touching him so gently, thumbing away dried tears. Mon beau. Verso laughs, and it sounds slightly broken, choked on tears, part genuine amusement and fondness at the term and part relief from everything now that the pistol is gone. ]
I -- I'm sorry. I never asked when you would Gommage. [ He closes his eyes, leaning into his hand. ] I was too afraid to know, then too afraid to go back and find you -- gone.
[ A little shudder runs through him. Seeing Gustave with the Expedition ship today had moved through him like a thunder crash. ]
no subject
Gustave smiles through the dirt and blood, leans forward to just barely kiss him, and Verso just wants wants to take that smile, adoring as it is, and shield it from the world.
But then, there's what really brings Gustave back. Maelle.
He nods when he echoes her name, when he studies his face -- searching for the truth. Maybe more trying to tell if he's real rather than tell if he's lying, but Verso meets it all the same, because its true that Maelle is safe and it's truer still that she needs him. Verso is squeezing his hand tight again -- and then finally, finally. in a little shower of chroma sparks, the pistol vanishes. Verso feels something in his entire body unwind, not completely relax, there's still too much ehre at stake, but the relief is real, and --
His attempt to get his thoughts on track onto the plan at large falls away, because Gustave is touching him so gently, thumbing away dried tears. Mon beau. Verso laughs, and it sounds slightly broken, choked on tears, part genuine amusement and fondness at the term and part relief from everything now that the pistol is gone. ]
I -- I'm sorry. I never asked when you would Gommage. [ He closes his eyes, leaning into his hand. ] I was too afraid to know, then too afraid to go back and find you -- gone.
[ A little shudder runs through him. Seeing Gustave with the Expedition ship today had moved through him like a thunder crash. ]
But I'm here, mon chΓ©ri. [ A breathless smile, eyes open again. Nicknames for nicknames. And if Gustave won't believe he's real, then: ] You will see me again.
[ He will. Maybe not -- very soon. Depending on how things are. But he will see him again. ]