"Yeah." And isn't that really the only thing that matters? "I guess I did."
If he thinks too much about how easily he could have missed her in the shadows — if he'd gone in the other direction, into the ruins of Lumiere to search fruitlessly among the wreckage — it would freeze him to the bone. He firmly keeps his thoughts on what did happen instead, hiking easily up the gentle sloping street. "And no, I'm not mad."
Desperately relieved, horribly anxious, but there's no trace of anger anywhere in the turmoil of emotions currently running through him. "Mostly I'm sorry you thought you needed to go. I feel like I've let you down already, and it's only been a few weeks."
Maelle shifts, unable to see his face, but his tone sounds sincere enough. Again, she's surprised. No one's ever said that to her before.
"... everyone makes me go eventually," she explains, as if he wasn't aware. She's lost count if how many times she's ended up dropped off at the orphanage. Some families lasted longer than others, but it always ended the same. "It's usually after they're too tired to deal with me anymore."
And Gustave has looked tired. He didn't hear her when she approached him, peered at his face to see if he was truly out like a light.
"It always happens. Eventually," she repeats. She sounds tired, too. She is tired. "I... know I'm weird and difficult. I wish I weren't, but I don't know how to not be."
He boosts her a little more securely onto his back, taking the turn that leads away from the market square and the street down to the harbor and back towards the apartment that has been his and Emma's since their little family dwindled to only two.
Three, now. He hopes, anyway. "Well, I'm pretty weird, too. And I'm pretty sure some of my friends would call me difficult. Emma, too."
Certainly when he's digging his heels in and being stubborn. "So I think that just means you match."
He makes it sound so simply. So easy. Little does Maelle know, but this is the beginning of Gustave simply making things make sense to her. He's weird, Emma is weird, and he's difficult, and she's weird and difficult and he's not upset with her for running away or keeping him up or making his whole life have to change because she has so much difficulty sleeping through the night.
Her arms tighten around his neck and she breathes in, breath shaky. The effort it's taking to not cry is becoming harder and harder. People have said kind things to her before. No one was especially cruel, and they tried to be patient and understanding and help. But this is the first time it's felt... real.
"Okay," is all she can say without letting the tears bubble out.
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Date: 2026-02-03 06:51 pm (UTC)If he thinks too much about how easily he could have missed her in the shadows — if he'd gone in the other direction, into the ruins of Lumiere to search fruitlessly among the wreckage — it would freeze him to the bone. He firmly keeps his thoughts on what did happen instead, hiking easily up the gentle sloping street. "And no, I'm not mad."
Desperately relieved, horribly anxious, but there's no trace of anger anywhere in the turmoil of emotions currently running through him. "Mostly I'm sorry you thought you needed to go. I feel like I've let you down already, and it's only been a few weeks."
no subject
Date: 2026-02-03 06:58 pm (UTC)"... everyone makes me go eventually," she explains, as if he wasn't aware. She's lost count if how many times she's ended up dropped off at the orphanage. Some families lasted longer than others, but it always ended the same. "It's usually after they're too tired to deal with me anymore."
And Gustave has looked tired. He didn't hear her when she approached him, peered at his face to see if he was truly out like a light.
"It always happens. Eventually," she repeats. She sounds tired, too. She is tired. "I... know I'm weird and difficult. I wish I weren't, but I don't know how to not be."
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Date: 2026-02-14 06:15 pm (UTC)Three, now. He hopes, anyway. "Well, I'm pretty weird, too. And I'm pretty sure some of my friends would call me difficult. Emma, too."
Certainly when he's digging his heels in and being stubborn. "So I think that just means you match."
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Date: 2026-02-15 06:11 pm (UTC)Her arms tighten around his neck and she breathes in, breath shaky. The effort it's taking to not cry is becoming harder and harder. People have said kind things to her before. No one was especially cruel, and they tried to be patient and understanding and help. But this is the first time it's felt... real.
"Okay," is all she can say without letting the tears bubble out.