[ He smiles, and reaches for one of her hands to bring it to his lips, kissing her fingers they way he would when she was small and he would pretend she was a princess to make her laugh. His mustache and stubble brush rough-soft over the delicate skin of her knuckles. ]
[He was always the best to play with, when she was younger and loved make-believe. He was the most inventive whether it came to building castles out of blankets and chairs, or elaborate plotlines that distracted her from her sad orphan beginning. She would give anything to relive those days. To cherish them properly.]
Yeah. You'd better recognize me still, Gustave.
[A year, nine, eighty. He'll forever be 32 while time passes for her.
The hand he kissed reaches out to brush her fingers over his cheek, the scruff of his beard. She has a hundred memories of her cheek against his, her hair getting caught. So many hugs and embraces and moments she'll continue to miss terribly.]
Did you know? I used to hate my red hair. I always wished it was brown, like yours. It made it obvious we weren't related.
[Her eyes are bright from tears, and now amusement. She runs her thumb against the scruff. The memory is as clear as yesterday. He had looked like a completely different man. And not in a good way.]
Oof. You walked down the stairs and scared me. Surprised I didn't start bawling, really.
[ He's laughing now, for real, happy to play the fool and coax her into smiles and happier memories. He remembers it, too — how he remembers it, he doesn't know, but perhaps they're just her memories sifting in through the mind she's created for this dream — the way her eyes had locked onto him, startled, and then widened in horror. ]
[Maybe, maybe not, but she laughs. The childhood he gave her made up for the years that came before. Her other hand lifts to press to Gustave's other cheek--sandwiching his face between her hands.]
Yeah. This is what I want to remember. You're always so... silly, despite everything. I think you made me laugh every single day we had together.
[Such a silly face. Sillier still, when she gives a little smoosh.]
More than a little. Give yourself some credit.
[Without him, she knows she would be a sorry shadow of the person she is now. She worries, somewhat, about what she'll become without him, but maybe if she keeps the memory of moments like these close to her heart, she'll be okay.]
[He's a clown. It's what won Maelle over so easily--Gustave never took himself too seriously. He loved to create and be imaginative and joke. Anything to make her laugh. She drops her hands to his shoulders, not wanting to pull them away entirely, as if he might disappear if she lets go again.]
All those times I was supposed to be helping her with the chores and you would sneak me off to your workshop.
How I hoped you would show even the slightest bit of interest in engineering.
[ She hadn't, but he took her with him anyway, simply because he knew she loved to be with him, even if she didn't understand and wasn't interested in what he was doing. ]
Showing you sketches for new designs... trying to teach you about mass balance...
[She did try. She paid attention, and while some of it made a little sense to her, it never took. She was never particularly good at anything but swordplay and getting from one end of the city to the other in record time.
A smile stays on her face as she looks at him, though it's soft around the edges.]
I know. I wish I got into it, too. I hope I didn't disappoint you too much.
[He didn't lack for apprentices.]
I'm glad we spent all that time together.
[Never enough, especially looking back, but she loved being with him and he loved being with her.]
We did get a lot of time together. All of my favorite days were with you. Every happy memory was because of you.
[He didn't need to try. Simply sitting quietly together, or listening to him talk to Emma about his day over dinner, or a walk down to the harbor on a sunny day--how loved she felt, how safe, even if Lumiere itself never felt right. He did.]
You'd never looked so unhappy with me as you did the day I told you I was going with. But... it was worth it. Every extra moment was worth it.
[No matter how horrific the end. She got more time with him. That's all that matters.]
[ He remembers it, or thinks he does. Maybe it's more that Maelle remembers it, and so he does, too: that afternoon in the Hanging Gardens, his shock, their argument. One corner of his lips flickers up into a small smile, and he reaches to put a hand on her arm, warm and firm and supportive. ]
But you have to go make some new memories now. The others, they need you. Just like I did.
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no subject
Date: 2025-05-20 01:04 am (UTC)Oh, you did. You kept me safer than anyone else ever could. You taught me how...
[Her voice cracks. Traitor. She clears her throat.]
I wish it was still you, but I can do it. All the things I've learned from you will keep me safe.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-20 02:05 am (UTC)Remember your promise.
[ To live, as long and as happily as she can. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-21 03:33 am (UTC)Yeah. You'd better recognize me still, Gustave.
[A year, nine, eighty. He'll forever be 32 while time passes for her.
The hand he kissed reaches out to brush her fingers over his cheek, the scruff of his beard. She has a hundred memories of her cheek against his, her hair getting caught. So many hugs and embraces and moments she'll continue to miss terribly.]
Did you know? I used to hate my red hair. I always wished it was brown, like yours. It made it obvious we weren't related.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-21 07:08 pm (UTC)You'd look cute as a brunette. But I like the red. Suits you.
[ She brushes her fingers against his beard and he smiles, turning his head a little into her touch. ]
Remember the time I shaved? First time you ever saw me without a beard, I think.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-22 12:20 am (UTC)[Her eyes are bright from tears, and now amusement. She runs her thumb against the scruff. The memory is as clear as yesterday. He had looked like a completely different man. And not in a good way.]
Oof. You walked down the stairs and scared me. Surprised I didn't start bawling, really.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-22 02:00 am (UTC)[ He's laughing now, for real, happy to play the fool and coax her into smiles and happier memories. He remembers it, too — how he remembers it, he doesn't know, but perhaps they're just her memories sifting in through the mind she's created for this dream — the way her eyes had locked onto him, startled, and then widened in horror. ]
It wasn't that bad.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-23 03:04 am (UTC)[Maybe, maybe not, but she laughs. The childhood he gave her made up for the years that came before. Her other hand lifts to press to Gustave's other cheek--sandwiching his face between her hands.]
Yeah. This is what I want to remember. You're always so... silly, despite everything. I think you made me laugh every single day we had together.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-23 03:24 am (UTC)It was easy. You could always find the fun in anything. All I did was... open the door for you, a little.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-24 01:46 am (UTC)More than a little. Give yourself some credit.
[Without him, she knows she would be a sorry shadow of the person she is now. She worries, somewhat, about what she'll become without him, but maybe if she keeps the memory of moments like these close to her heart, she'll be okay.]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-24 12:33 pm (UTC)Oh, don't worry, I give myself plenty of credit. Clearly it was me and not Emma who was the better role model.
[ Absolutely not. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-24 11:24 pm (UTC)All those times I was supposed to be helping her with the chores and you would sneak me off to your workshop.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 11:04 pm (UTC)[ She hadn't, but he took her with him anyway, simply because he knew she loved to be with him, even if she didn't understand and wasn't interested in what he was doing. ]
Showing you sketches for new designs... trying to teach you about mass balance...
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 11:17 pm (UTC)A smile stays on her face as she looks at him, though it's soft around the edges.]
I know. I wish I got into it, too. I hope I didn't disappoint you too much.
[He didn't lack for apprentices.]
I'm glad we spent all that time together.
[Never enough, especially looking back, but she loved being with him and he loved being with her.]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-27 08:58 pm (UTC)[ The very idea feels like an utter impossibility. How could he be disappointed in Maelle simply being Maelle, when he loves her so much? ]
I only wish we'd taken you in sooner. But we got a lot of time together, didn't we? And I'm glad you came on the Expedition, in the end.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-29 07:08 pm (UTC)[He didn't need to try. Simply sitting quietly together, or listening to him talk to Emma about his day over dinner, or a walk down to the harbor on a sunny day--how loved she felt, how safe, even if Lumiere itself never felt right. He did.]
You'd never looked so unhappy with me as you did the day I told you I was going with. But... it was worth it. Every extra moment was worth it.
[No matter how horrific the end. She got more time with him. That's all that matters.]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-30 03:33 pm (UTC)[ He remembers it, or thinks he does. Maybe it's more that Maelle remembers it, and so he does, too: that afternoon in the Hanging Gardens, his shock, their argument. One corner of his lips flickers up into a small smile, and he reaches to put a hand on her arm, warm and firm and supportive. ]
But you have to go make some new memories now. The others, they need you. Just like I did.