𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒕 𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆 —𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜

[demainvient]

 
𝐔𝐧 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐢 𝐝𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞̀𝐬 𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐢
𝑈𝑛 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑗𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑖 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑡, 𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒̂𝑡𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑐 𝑡𝑜𝑖
 

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[demainvient]

[ He laughs, body shaking in Verso's hold, against the palm that's now lying flat against his belly, and reaches back over his shoulder with his right hand to card his fingers through Verso's hair. ]

If we start with that, we'll never get anywhere else.

[ And maybe that would be all right, if they can meet again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. If he can convince Verso to join the team and be with them in the camp, on the trails. Maybe they really do have time, however little of it Gustave has left. ]

Which isn't to say I don't want to hear it all.

[ Hear it all, let Verso do it all, and do everything he himself had dreamed of doing to this man in the times when he'd let himself imagine it. He turns just enough to find Verso's mouth for a kiss, then gently coaxes those arms to unclasp from around him so he can turn and step back, make a little space between them. ]

But first...

[ He reaches into his jacket, retrieves a little bunch of... yes, flowers, the flowers he'd selected late in the day, trying to keep them as fresh as possible. There's a delicate purple one, but it isn't the only blossom he offers: it's accompanied by a few pink, a few yellow.

His cheeks, too, have a faint dusting of pink on them. He feels slightly ridiculous, but he doesn't care. ]

I did promise.

[versorecto]

[ Verso might not mind if conversation never gets anywhere else, something he doesn't voice but is probably evident in the way he's just a little bit reluctant to let Gustave get even that small bit of space between them, how he only lets him go after another lingering kiss pressed to the what he can reach of his shoulder. But he does relent, for a moment his breath catching in his throat just from seeing his face.

It's absurd, really. He's spent so much time watching Gustave from afar now that one would think it would matter less. But seeing him up close and especially with those eyes looking at him -- the moonlight catches against his skin, joined with the gentle blue gleam of the chroma-afflicted tree nearby. His gaze drops automatically to the curve of his throat, a warmth pulsing through him especially when he sees the bruise he'd left there the night before.

And then -- oh.

This is just as absurd, and shouldn't be a surprise, when he'd been the one to ask Gustave for flowers. It's almost like he's so used to teasing and playing around them, to thinking of his precious Monsieur le fleuriste that has been so long gone from him for all these years, that actually having him here, holding flowers, is -- its almost a bit too much. He feels something in his heart twist, and there might be a bit of color in his cheeks, too, his gaze lowering through the flowers. Not just the single purple blossom, but a little collection of them, gently tucked safely into his jacket to keep them from harm, and in his mind Verso immediately pictures Gustave carefully picking flowers, fussing, nervous, uncertain.

His eyes flick back up, and he sees the bit of pink in Gustave's face, too. Merde, at least it isn't just him. He feels like a teenager again. Two long years since Gustave tucked a flower into his hair, since that same flower has been dried and preserved as best as he knows how, pressed between the pages of his journal, Gustave is here again, in front of him, presenting him with a whole not-quite-bouquet.

Verso briefly wonders what would've been if he'd just -- come to the opera house, the night after. If Gustave had given him that bouquet.

-- And he realizes he's just been staring for just a second too long, reaching out to take those flowers, fingers brushing briefly against Gustave's hand. ]

Thank you. [ There's even less for him to do out here with flowers than when he was in Lumiere, but Verso doesn't care. He draws them closer, taking a few moments to admire the little collection, fingers touching at the petals of a yellow bloom so gently like he's afraid it might shatter and the moment would fade into dreams like so many of them have before. And after another moment's hesitation, he gently picks out that yellow flower from the rest, lifting it to his nose -- a sweet scent. Subtle. Light.

He steps towards Gustave, smiling ( and still with a bit of pink in his cheeks ) -- reaching up to tuck that flower stem just behind his ear. ] They're lovely, mon fleuriste.

[ You're lovely, is what he's really saying, not particularly subtle. ]

[demainvient]

[ He's a little embarrassed, and more than a little awkward, and it strikes him that if Verso had been there that night at the opera house, he'd probably have felt a little like this, offering out that bouquet that he hadn't been sure was such a good idea. What if it had been too much, what if Verso had found it silly instead of endearing...?

But that was almost three years ago now, and this is hardly a bouquet, just a little collection of wildflowers that he'd thought were pretty, that he'd hoped Verso would like, more symbolism than anything else. They're long past the point, or a place, where flowers are something they can indulge in, aren't they?

Well, maybe not. Maybe the real audacity of this, of meeting, of deciding to be together for as long as they can in the time Gustave has left, is that he stubbornly thinks Verso still deserves flowers, even if he has no vase to put them in, no place to keep them, even though Gustave can't follow them up with a lingering date over a bottle of wine and some good food. Maybe it's enough just to cling to this with every ounce of stubborn determination he has, after three years of not being able to let go, after four years since he allowed circumstances to sever him from the only other person he's felt this way about.

Verso tugs a single bloom out from the others, delicate and sunny yellow, and comes close. Gustave feels himself grow still as he lifts his hand, as he tucks that flower behind Gustave's own ear, settling it among the fine soft curls of his hair. If he breathes deep, he thinks he can catch the scent of it. ]

I'd give you more than flowers, if I could.

[ Another wistful wish, thinking of what could have been... but what he has right now, here in front of him, is a man he's spent so long yearning for, and he has no intention of wasting anymore time. His hands come up, cradling Verso's between them, and he leans to press a kiss to that mouth, slow and warm and savoring. ]

I'm glad you like them.

[versorecto]

[ It's so easy to get lost in what could've been. Verso's struggled with that immensely over his long life: more years to live, more mistakes to make, more painful choices he's had to commit to and live by. He spends so much time on his own out here that he too often gets lost in a reverie, imagining what would've happened if he'd just gone a different way, what would've been if he wasn't -- the way he was, if maybe any one of his little dalliances with Expeditioners past hadn't been gently shut down if they ever wanted anything more.

And then came Gustave, and what feels like an entire two years lost in what-ifs and maybes, thoughts spiraling over a man he'd met so briefly and yet still made part of him sing that'd been buried so deep he'd forgotten it was there. He wishes he'd stayed. He wishes he'd found a way. And a still, sometimes, he wishes he'd never met him at all.

But Gustave is here, now. He leans into that kiss, his voice soft. ]

You're here with me. That's more than I thought I'd ever have.

[ And something he knows he could still lose, that he's already almost lost. Here, finally, not just some dream -- he can't get too lost in wishful thinking. There simply isn't enough time. He turns his hand between Gustave's, until he's lacing their fingers together, holding his hand and giving him a gentle tug. No quiet tables in the corner of the café that are just dark enough for him to get away with something, but the clearing is beautiful in its own way. They can sit by the river. ]

-- I think your friends might be get suspicious if you keep sneaking off to gather flowers, though.

[ He was totally watching. All day. ]

[demainvient]

[ A huff of a laugh, as he lets Verso take his hand and draw him towards the river's edge, where the grass is thick and the sound of the water is almost as sweet a song as the ones Verso had played for him all that time ago. ]

They're already suspicious. And I wasn't sneaking off, I...

[ He half-turns to give Verso a narrow-eyed glance, wondering, even as he lets go of Verso's hand so he can sink down and take a seat on that soft, thick grass. ]

Sorry, were you watching?

[ And if he was, does that mean he really did mean what he says, about staying, about not leaving again? ]

[versorecto]

[ Ruh roh. Verso following the Expedition so intently is far from the biggest secret he has, and he must've been watching in some way or another for Gustave to be able to draw him out by flinging himself from that height at all -- but he can't quite let Gustave get the sense of just how closely he's been following them the entire time, or how it extends back to his time in Lumiere.

And while he hasn't been long away enough from people to think that following and watching people from afar is normal, Verso does tend to underestimate how off-putting it can be when it comes up.

He sinks down next to him, watching the moonlight play off the water, for a moment, before with a half-shrug, as casually as possible -- ]

Yeah.

[ It's fine!!! ]

Just in case you walked off any more cliffs.

[demainvient]

[ Gustave gives him a lightly exasperated glance, shaking his head as he draws one leg up to sling his arm around his knee. Watching— of course he was. Somehow Verso was there, just like he was there yesterday, just like he was there on the rooftops. How long has he been nearby, but unwilling to come out and speak to them directly?

Would he ever have shown himself if Gustave hadn't taken matters into his own hands yesterday?

They have time to talk, and maybe if he asks those questions, he'll manage to get some answers. But first things first.

He looks over at Verso, taking in the way the cool blue light from the chroma-soaked tree settles on his hair, his skin, at the hollow of his throat. His monsieur le pianiste looks far rougher around the edges out here in the wilds, far from the baths and fashion of Lumière, but he's still enchanting, impossibly beautiful. If all that happened tonight was that they talked and Gustave could look his fill, he thinks he'd go back to camp happy and content. ]

I'm going to have to tell them I'm meeting someone eventually, you know.

[ Of all the pressing matters at hand, this is the one he'd determined was most pressing. If he has to keep secrets from his team, they'll all pay the price. He doesn't want to, and he's no good at it even if he did. ]

I know— I know you're nervous about it. I don't have to tell them everything, not all at once. But it'll make it easier to meet you if I don't have to try and sneak away...

[ The realization of what he's saying hits him mid-sentence: the unconscious assumption that this won't be the only time they meet. Already, he's letting himself sink into the idea that maybe Verso really will be here, and for more than two days in a row. ]

If you, I mean...

If you were planning to...

[ He grimaces at himself, chagrined. ]

I'm not trying to... although I would really like if, if... if you came back. Again, I mean. Another night.

[versorecto]

[ Verso has been close by for far longer than Gustave could possibly know. Since Alicia fell into the canvas and Clea had appeared to him in a whirl of ink, exasperated and irritated about her sister's folly, Verso's been watching after Maelle. Gustave coming into her life means by extension he'd kept some tabs on him, too, though it wasn't until their chance meeting in the opera house that he took a real interest. But for the past few weeks, ever since they arrived on the Continent? Verso has almost never been too far, would check in on them and watch their progress multiple times in a day, pull ahead to clear some of the more dangerous nevrons out of their path, wind back to the manor to check on Maelle. Once they'd all reunited, he's, well -- he's tried not to watch them literally all the time, but. Its pretty close.

Gustave asks him about telling the others. Verso understands. But he's so careful with Expeditioners, prefers helping them from afar when he can, trying to make sure the time he chooses to make himself known to them is right, if he even does it at all. As much as he fears their retribution and forcing his hand if they take him the wrong way, he also fears Renoir, watching like a hawk at his wayward son's poor decisions. He doesn't want to be the reason any Expedition faces his wrath. It's already happened more than once.

But Gustave keeps talking, tumbling a little over his words, and they're back at the opera house again, Gustave asking about seeing him tomorrow and then embarrassed at the words leaving his own mouth. Verso smiles, shifting where he's seated, sliding closer to him over the grass until he's pressed against his side, one hand reaching out to curve against his jawline and guide his head towards him. ]

I'm sorry it took so long, mon chou, but you'll have trouble getting rid of me now.

You have me. Tomorrow, and after. [ Unless something takes him away, of course, the Continent being what it is, but -- he means what he's saying, his thumb brushing against Gustave's lower lip. ] And you'll have me to yourself.

[ Playful, a touch of heat under the words, but also: no. Don't tell them yet. And probably not for a long, long while, if Verso is honest. ]

[demainvient]

[ It was a long shot, he knows that. Nothing in what Verso had said or done the day before had made him think he might actually agree for Gustave to tell the others, but... still...

He sighs, long and resigned, even as he lets Verso turn his face, even as his eft arm comes up to gently curve his hand there at Verso's arm. ]

I'm not good at this, Verso. And I don't like it. Lune, Sciel, Maelle... they trust me, I can't lie to them. And the longer it goes, the worse it'll be when they find out the truth.

[ A truth even he only knows some small part of, only what he's gleaned so far from Verso's evasive answers and the journals they've picked up along the way. One of them mentions Esquie's immortal friend... it has to be him, doesn't it?

He meets Verso's eyes, searching, his own solemn and inquisitive while the gleam of faint mischief sparkles there in Verso's. ]

I won't betray your trust. But I won't betray theirs, either. There's only four of us left, we have to be able to rely on one another.

Just let me tell them I've met someone. I won't— I won't tell them your name, or anything else until you're ready, I'll tell them you're only comfortable talking to me for now, I just...

[ His fingers tighten a little on Verso's arm, his other hand coming to rest on Verso's side, curving there. ]

Don't make me lie to them, please. Especially not Maelle.

[ His small smile is as wry as the breath he huffs out. ]

She hates liars.

[versorecto]

[ Gustave won't let go of this. Verso does understand, even if he can't -- he can't give in. As Gustave explains himself, tries to find some compromise, any way to get him to agree -- Verso can feel his heart sink a little in his chest. One step forward, two steps back, it feels like. It's nice, it's really nice, to be able to be here with him, to talk to him and sit beside him, to no longer have to hide. It genuinely does feel a little like he can just be a part of his Monsieur le fleuriste's life, whatever little of it remains, and for how much he's desperately yearned to even see him again for two whole years, it really feels like a dream.

But this is a reminder, as unwelcome as it is, that -- he's still just playing pretend. Still lying to him, still lying to everyone, and even if he's willing to give Gustave some truths there are certainly others that he would never tell. Verso is still working to his own ends, and as much as Gustave has carved a little place for himself in his heart, has shamelessly given Verso a piece of his. He doesn't deserve it. He simply can't. Gustave hates lying, and Verso is here, lying through his teeth as easily as he breathes.

Especially when he mentions Maelle, something in him aches. How much he has to lie to him about Alicia, about Maelle, hurts the most -- he's seen how much they clearly mean to each other, how Gustave would do anything for her. But especially when it comes to her -- drawing Renoir's attention could be disastrous. ]

Gustave. If there was a better way, I wouldn't ask this of you.

But this -- [ his hand slides from Gustave's jaw to his hair, careful not to upset the flower tucked behind his ear, curving against the back of his neck. ] -- This isn't just for me. It's better for you, and for them.

[ For Maelle. ]

Just -- hold off a while longer.

[ The right time may never come. But maybe it will. ]

[demainvient]

[ His shoulders lower in another sigh — even knowing it wasn't likely to work, he'd hoped — and he leans his forehead against Verso's, eyes closing.

He hates this. As much as some cautious, giddy happiness has bubbled up in him to have Verso back, to find that he's not dead after all, that they have some time, he hates that this is, for some reason he doesn't wholly understand, part of it.

Verso doesn't know the team. He has no reason to trust them yet, he points out to himself. He's clearly a man with many secrets, secrets he hasn't even trusted Gustave with yet, so maybe... maybe he can understand. For now. ]

All right.

[ It's low, murmured, and deeply reluctant. His lips press, already unhappy with it, but Gustave just shakes his head gently, lightly rolling his forehead against Verso's before he leans back with a heavy breath. ]

For a little while longer.

[ He's just going to have to come up with something that isn't a lie and isn't anything Verso doesn't want him to say. Lune and Sciel trust him enough, he thinks, to leave it alone if he asks. But he can only push them so far, and Maelle...

He visibly shifts gears, switching from one mode of questioning to another, at the memory of Maelle's frightened face and quick, terrified breaths. ]

That man, the one from the beach. Renoir. My sister, Maelle, she's been having nightmares... she says she saw him, him and a, a woman, in camp one night.

[ None of the rest of them had seen anything, and Maelle had been awake... he doesn't understand it, but it isn't as though he hasn't seen his fair share of people who couldn't be here, himself. ]

We're not prepared to meet him again, not yet, but if you know... if you know anything that might help... where he goes, does he have a weakness, how can we... is there even a way to fight him? To beat him?

[versorecto]

[ Renoir -- and Alicia.

A chill runs through Verso's spine. He knows Renoir and Alicia both must be aware of Maelle, but he doesn't know what they may have done about it, up til now. These days he only sees Alicia so rarely, and Renoir he avoids at any at all costs, and both of them are more than capable of moving through the Continent sight unseen, or projecting themselves through chroma and the void. That Maelle has seen them shouldn't surprise him, but it does.

Renoir -- he knows why Renoir would want to see her, knows he'd be working to push her out of the canvas as soon as he can. Alicia and where she lies on that spectrum is different, but what Verso immediately latches onto is the thought of her watching Maelle, reminded of how she's a living, breathing shadow, painted in scars and pain while Maelle --

Breathe. Focus. He really can't let Gustave see any of this. ]

Renoir is more powerful than you may even realize. He'll heal from just about anything, and it'd take significant power to really hurt him in any real way.

[ Not a Painter in truth, but painted like one, and with all of Aline's favor. His hand drops from Gustave's nape to his shoulder, still staying close, touching him just to have some of that contact, but -- his mind is working. The previous Expeditions, there'd been nothing to do but to tell them to run. The lumina converter . . . He still doesn't fully understand how that thing works, but if anything could give them a chance. What it's been doing for them so far has been nothing short of impressive. ]

The best option is to run. You should always run.

But, should worse come to worst . . . I can teach you to at least defend against some of his attacks. But all it'd do is buy time.

[ Gradient counters may still be enough to catch Renoir off guard, to buy him enough time to run. But it won't do anything to hurt Renoir. ]

[demainvient]

[ Run. It's what he'd told Maelle to do, what he'd promised to do himself, but...

But if they're in a situation where Renoir is attacking them again, then maybe what he'll need to do is create time, time for Maelle to get away, time for them all to get away, if they can. His jaw firms, a stubborn shift to it that Maelle would recognize, and maybe even Lune or Sciel. ]

Time might be just what we need. So, yes... teach me. Whatever you think might help.

[ And whatever Verso can teach him, he can imbue with power from the lumina converter. The harder the attack, the more powerful the counter would be. Yes... it could be something. A real option... or at least one that will help him keep Maelle safe.

He lets out a breath, his shoulder loosening under Verso's hand, and gives him a wry look. ]

But don't worry. I'm not planning on doing anything but running. I hear that cane and I am—

[ He pushes a hand out in front of him in a wide gesture, like he's talking to Maelle, trying to get her to laugh. ]

—Off like a shot.

[ It's the first thing he's said to Verso that's anything even slightly like a lie.

(He caught the look in those clear, fog-colored eyes. Verso's worried, he know Renoir's strength better than any of them. No need to make him worry about this, too, when Verso's already keeping an eye on him, making sure he doesn't run off any cliffs.) ]

[versorecto]

[ Its maybe not quite a lie, but it is blatant, and Verso sees through it immediately. He isn't sure where the line would be, for Gustave, and he doesn't think it comes from quite the same thing he'd seen in him in that cave ( that smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, the air thick with death and blood -- ), but maybe there's some shades in it. But if Renoir were to come for them, and especially if Maelle were there . . . He isn't running.

He should be running. Maybe teaching him any of this is making things worse. Making them think they have a chance, when they don't. There's a beat too long when that gesture ends, where Verso doesn't quite respond, where it's very, very clear that he doesn't at all believe what Gustave is saying.

But then he smiles, wry. ]

The sound of that damn cane gives me nightmares, too.

[ Let alone Maelle.

He moves his free hand to catch one of Gustave's, callused fingers soothing over the back of his hand, thumb curving against his wrist. ]

Gradient energy. That was what I was using yesterday -- I can teach you, and you might be able to teach your friends.

[ He lifts an eyebrow, a lopsided smirk. ]

We can have a bit of a spar. And I'll teach you.

[ Now, or later, after more questions, or another time -- though Verso is already thinking of the night before. Watching Gustave fight, clean and graceful, a gorgeous vision of lethal precision with that shirt hanging open and his trousers slung too-low around his hips.

He wouldn't mind seeing something like that again. ]

[demainvient]

[ It's clear that Verso doesn't believe him, but he doesn't push, either. He just catches Gustave's hand in his and muses about teaching him through a sparring session, that warm gleam back in his eyes.

For his part, Gustave laughs, willing enough to leave the subject of the white-haired man for the moment. What Verso has already told him is helpful enough for the moment: maybe he can't be stopped, but he can be slowed down. ]

You're as bad as Maelle. She's always trying to get me to duel her.

[ And she wins as often as not, quick as she is with that rapier of hers. Gustave laces their fingers together and lifts Verso's hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to his knuckles, sweet and fond, the way he might if they were sitting at a streetside cafe in Lumière, chatting over cups of coffee and fresh-baked madeleines. ]

... But I think we may still be too close to camp for a sparring session, if you don't want Lune and Sciel to interrupt mid-way through. They already think I've had one run-in with a Nevron without them around.

[ Which was true, just... not entirely. But this is also a good opportunity for him to say, more easily than he feels: ]

Tomorrow, maybe.

[ Tomorrow. As if it really is a certainty that he'll see Verso again then. Tomorrow night, a little further from camp, somewhere they won't alarm the girls with the sound of fighting.

He'd like to see Verso fight again, he thinks. His intensity, the way he moved, the deadly perfect grace and athleticism. Just the memory has Gustave's eyes darkening a little, recalling the way he'd looked, chest heaving and shirt falling loose around him, the look in his eyes still predatory and focused.

Not really a fit with this calm, peaceful little clearing, here by the gently running river, but something to look forward to again later all the same. ]

[versorecto]

[ Verso laughs a little, soft under his breath, his eyes lidded as he watches Gustave kiss at his knuckles. His fingers twitch a little under the attention, he feels his heart skip a beat. The flowers Gustave had gifted him before are nestled neatly by his side on the grass. This may not be Lumiere, but there's something about it, in flashes and moments, Gustave's sweetness. This is about as close as they can get to what he remembers Gustave describing that day, when he'd asked him what he would do, if he could have stayed, if they had time. It's nice. ]

Tomorrow. [ There wasn't as much doubt in him this time, Verso notices, and at the very least he isn't just second-guessing himself, uncertain for even trying to ask to see him again. Maybe Gustave is starting to believe him, after all. ] And further away. I'd really prefer to not be kicked in the head by one of your friends misreading the situation and rushing in to help you.

[ He's seen what they can do. He could heal it off, sure, but he sure still wouldn't like it.

Verso does see that flicker of something in Gustave's eyes -- remembering something, imagining something, he isn't sure. But just enough of his pupils dilating, something in them darkening. He watches it cross his expression with some fascination, and then, pulling his hand from Gustave's cards his fingers back through his hair ( around the flower, he likes it there ), tipping his head back slightly as he leans over him to catch his mouth in his own.

This kiss lingers, a heat coiling in his stomach and reaching out, wanting to see more of that something in Gustave's eyes, wanting to feel him, wanting to taste him. He urges Gustave's mouth open until he can tongue past his lips to taste him, sinking into it with a low growl. The things he wants to do -- He knows Gustave did say they wouldn't get anywhere else if he started, but. How is he supposed to help himself?

His other hand roams up over Gustave's chest, jacket, waistcoat, buttons -- the straps. He plucks at one a bit idly before breaking from the kiss, mouthing down the side of his neck with a huff of something amused and maybe just a little genuinely irritated both. ]

-- These damn uniforms.

[ There's so much in the way! ]

[demainvient]

[ He chuckles, too, just at the mental image of it: Lune or Sciel or — heaven help him, Maelle — rushing in to the attack right in the middle of a friendly sparring session. ]

Probably for the best. You wouldn't enjoy it. Believe me when I say they all hit a lot harder than they look like they can.

[ And they all look like they can hit pretty damn hard.

But Verso's not thinking about that anymore, it seems; he's distracted, the way he holds himself turning just slightly toward coiled, like he's ready to pounce at any second.

And pounce he does, leaning in to catch Gustave's mouth with his, a little like those first kisses back in the garden when he'd been so intent, coaxing Gustave to part his lips and open his mouth so he can kiss him more deeply, tongue sinking into his mouth and drawing a sharp, guttural groan from Gustave's chest. Merde, this man really might be the death of him, and not the other way around.

Gustave reaches for him, hands at his shoulders, his arms, until he realizes what Verso's doing and finds himself laughing again, eyes crinkled, breathless, against that mouth that he kisses once more and once again. ]

Through with talking, are we?

[ Amused, even as he lifts his own hands to the buckles that keep his pack strapped securely to his back. He'd been careless with it the day before, but this time he loosens it and sets it and the lumina converter that dangles from it carefully to the side before reaching to get his hands back on Verso. He runs his palms up the man's side, over the lines of this unfamiliar uniform with its sash and tassels and buckles. ]

I did think about changing before coming out here, but that seemed like it would be even more suspicious than everything else.

[versorecto]

[ Verso doesn't need to go around in his Expedition uniform, but aside from how genuinely practical it is for being out here in the wild, its usually a mix of sentiment and a bid for trust with the Expeditioners he encounters. It's sometimes backfired in the way seeing a complete stranger pretend to be part of your regiment might, but the fact that his uniform is recognizable as one buys him enough time to get some other explanations out the door. People have always modified the uniforms to suit their own needs, but its clearly changed significantly over time.

He pulls away just enough to let Gustave shrug off his pack, his eyes briefly lingering on the lumina converter before his attention is stolen back by Gustave's hands on his sides. The sound he makes is low and appreciative, rumbling in his chest, leaning in to mouth a more heated kiss along his jawline as his fingers pluck at one of the buttons of his waistcoat. ]

-- We can keep talking, if you have more questions. [ Which undoubtedly, Gustave does. ] I'm just -- multitasking.

[ And maybe that'll make it hard to focus, but as far as he's concerned, that isn't his fault. Gustave is right here next to him, warm and real after all these years, he can't help himself, and Gustave hardly seems to mind. His hand keeps at his waistcoat, his other hand sliding down to settle over one of his thighs, squeezing nicely, enough to feel the muscle under his palm through his clothes. ]

[demainvient]

Is that what you call it?

[ Laughing, even as he lets Verso toy with the button on his waistcoat, as he himself starts idly working at the sash that's wrapped around the man's trim waist. ]

I call it distraction tactics, pure and simple.

[ More than likely, that is, in fact, part of it. It's clear Verso has things to hide, based on his evasions of earlier, though he's been reasonably forthcoming thus far. Perhaps it's because Gustave has been asking about Renoir, not about himself. ]

Maybe it's for the best we were never able to have a date out in Lumière. You'd have to try and keep your hands off me for the length of a whole dinner.

[ And vice versa, really. Certainly he has no qualms with letting his hands work that sash free, or with Verso's palms and fingers running over him from chest to thigh, making him shiver. He's seen this man now three — no, four times, counting tonight, four times in three years. It isn't enough; it's a wonder they managed to start by talking at all. ]

[versorecto]

[ He huffs a bit of an amused sound against Gustave's skin -- and doesn't at all deny it. He has too many secrets, and while he does want to give Gustave an opportunity to ask questions, to learn about him, and part of him even wants to give him answers -- the fact that he can keep any too-sharp questions at bay like this is convenient. It's still secondary, though. The main purpose is just that he wants to do it. ]

I just can't help myself around you.

[ He really can't. Verso pops open under button until he can pull the waistcoat open, running his hand up and down over the undershirt beneath, making some appreciative sound at how much more he can feel of him, warm solid muscle just barely separated from his touch by a thin layer of fabric. The uniform does err on the side of being cumbersome more than enticing, but with some of it a bit out of the way, Verso leaning back to get another look at him, his eyes roaming steadily over his body -- he does see the appeal. ]

I think I would've been smart enough to pick us a more -- secluded table. Somewhere in the corner. [ Tucked away in the corner of this theoretical restaurant, a nice view through the window but otherwise partly shadowed except for a nice candle. Verso ducks his head to mouth a kiss to his throat, hand moving to the topmost button of that undershirt. ] So I could maybe see -- how much you'd let me get away with.

My hand on your thigh. Touching you as we talked.

[ If this sounds like a specific fantasy rather than something he's making up on the fly, its because, well. It is. Two years is a very long time. ]

[demainvient]

[ Maybe if he thought there was some possibility of not being able to stop Verso if he wanted to, he'd push away, create more distance between them, but the truth is he wants this just as much as Verso does. Wants to feel him, real and warm and solid, under his hands; wants to taste his lips and the salt off his skin.

The sash finally parts under his fingers, sliding down to Verso's hips, and he lifts his left hand to carefully undo the cord that's slung from one side of his chest to the other. His right, he shifts down, curving it over Verso's thigh, his thumb running idly over firm muscle through the fabric, just like the man is describing. ]

I think I would find that very distracting. I might even have a hard time finishing my sentences, if you had your hand on my leg under the table like that.

[ His chuckle rumbles in his throat, under the gentle kisses Verso is placing there. ]

Unusual for me, I know.

[ As if he hadn't stumbled over sentences the very first night he met Verso, taken aback by his beauty, by his songs, by the barest hint of a kiss brushed over his knuckles. ]

And then what? You've picked us a table in the shadows for a reason, monsieur le pianiste. Will you stop at my thigh?

[versorecto]

[ Verso smiles a little at the sound of his gentle laugh, at how it bobs in his throat under his mouth. Merde, everything about this man, every response he pulls from him -- he just wants to drink in it, revel in it for more time than they could possibly have left. His hand pulls open that top button of his undershirt, and he immediately chases down the newly exposed sliver of skin with his tongue. His hand lifts to the leather straps across his chest where they are just starting to get in the way of that, pulling them open.

His eyes flick up, lips curved into a smirk, eyes dark when he meets Gustave's gaze. A small appreciative tumble in his throat from Gustave's hand over his thigh. ]

I like when you get like that.

[ Its cute. Endearing. Genuinely, he'd found it horrifically disarming that first night at the opera house, and even more disarming every time since -- but he also likes knowing he has that effect on him. That he can make his words stumble, his thoughts stop. ]

I think I won't, mon chou. [ Verso leans up, pressing another kiss to his lips, lighter, sweeter -- and starting to mouth across his cheek and jaw, over rough scruff to his ear. ] I'd lean close, keep up our lively conversation. Ask you questions, keep you talking.

And all the while I'd be pulling your pants open. Until I could touch you.

[ And would he have really done that, in their theoretical date in Lumiere? Maybe. Maybe not. It doesn't matter. Right now the image is appealing, Gustave dressed nicely for the occasion but coming apart little by little even as he tries to hold himself together. ]

[demainvient]

[ He makes another small sound as Verso makes his way up toward his ear, eyes closing as his head tips, as his hand works a little higher along Verso's thigh. ]

Verso.

[ Breathed on a laugh, half-indulgent and half-scolding, all affection — you wouldn't really be feeling him up in public, would you, Verso? – even as he lets the fantasy coalesce in his mind's eye.

And it is a fantasy, he has no doubt, one of many, going by what Verso had suggested before, and it rocks him all over again, how much Verso had thought about him. That Verso had missed him, longed for him, just as much as he had longed for Verso. All those times he lay back in that garden, staring up at the golden gleam of the dome overhead and imagining that Verso was there beside him, Verso was here, doing something similar. Piecing together what-ifs and might-have-beens, indulging in daydreams where they took each other apart slow and fast and every other possible way in between.

He can imagine it so easily: the low murmur of sound in the restaurant, Verso's voice full of mock innocence, the taste of the wine, his own discomfort and rising desire. His gut twists, heat beginning to chase its way through his veins, simply from the low words Verso is speaking quietly into his ear.

His breath hitches a little as he works that cord free, starts on the buttons of Verso's uniform coat. The desperation of yesterday isn't wholly gone from the way he touches the man, the way he works at those fastenings, but he tells himself sternly to slow down, not to rush. They have time, even if it's not as much as he'd like. ]

That would be very cruel of you, mon cher, teasing me that way. Don't you know how helpless I am in your hands?

And you'd touch me anyway, knowing how hard it would be not to come for you even there?

[versorecto]

[ Verso will make no promises about what he really would or would not have done -- he gets terribly carried away sometimes, in the heat of the moment. He doesn't think it so unthinkable, especially when he hears his own name fall from Gustave's lips, laughing, affectionate, a bit breathless -- every time he hears him say it, Verso think she'd do just about anything to keep hearing it.

He growls a little against his ear, leaning into his touch, encouraging as Gustave starts to work on his coat. Verso's own movements are starting to get a bit of that edge of impatience back even as he knows he has more time, part of him still not entirely convinced that Gustave, beautiful as he is, still isn't going to somehow vanish in a dream. ]

-- That would be exactly why I'd do it, Gustave.

I'd touch you slowly at first, working you up, making you answer more questions -- and when you got closer, I'd stop. [ A sharp nip against his ear, voice low and heated. ] I'd tease you. Stop touching you. Keep talking to you until you started to catch your breath, and then start touching you again.

[ Verso imagines himself dressed nicely for the night, too, one hand around the stem of a wine glass, rolling it idly in his palm, eyes lidded as he teases Gustave under the table, as he works to keep him right on the edge. ]

I'd keep you that way until you couldn't stand it. [ A smile. ] Until you asked me, loud enough for someone to hear, to let you come.

[demainvient]

[ It's the first time anyone's ever detailed fantasies about him to him; if any of his lovers in the past had indulged in similar daydreams, they'd kept them to themselves.

Not so Verso, who simply keeps going, his breath hot against the sensitive shell of Gustave's ear, fingers maddening where they work at the straps across his chest, and Gustave can see it. The dim light, Verso dressed in a suit not unlike his own, relaxed and sly with his hand slipped under a white tablecloth. His own fingers gripping into Verso's thigh like that might keep him grounded, like his breath wouldn't be coming too fast and his whole body shiver with every teasing stroke of the man's hand. ]

And then?

[ Already his own voice is a little too tight, his breath a little lighter, a little more rapid. They're alone and they have time — hours, he hopes; Sciel is a lot less likely than Lune to try and come find him, she'll give him the time alone that he asked for — and all he wants is to push this strange Expedition uniform from off Verso's shoulders, off his body, and lay him down right here in this soft grass.

He wants to see him, finally – all of him, his whole perfect body. He wants to see the way his muscles twitch and flicker as Gustave brushes kisses and runs hands over them, wants to see his hips arch up, wants to feel every shiver like it's his own. ]

When you've had your wicked way with me at the table, will it just be bonne nuit, fais de beaux rêves before you leave me for the night?

Or would you let me walk you home, all the way to your door, where I could ask to come in for a cup of coffee just so I could have you up against the door the moment it closed, after you'd been driving me mad all night long?