"Mm." He has his own opinions on whether Verso was really just a beneficial ally to a team caught in a net of mourning. He sees the way Maelle looks at him, how comfortable Sciel is with him. Verso hadn't heard the way Maelle defended him, up there on the rooftop, to her own brother. Bonds are forged quickly in the crucible of Expeditions; that's clear not only from his own experience but from the journals they'd found along the way.
But he won't press it. Maelle and Sciel can have that conversation with him on their own, if they want to. He lowers his head a moment, lacing his fingers together, tapping the index finger of his right hand against the metal knuckle of his left. It's strange to hear of himself as a... a symbol, almost. An inspirational memory. Gustave shakes his head, very slightly. "I missed a lot."
It's not a reprimand to himself, just a quiet comment. He missed a lot, and Verso was there for all of it, picking up the slack from Gustave's empty place and helping them in ways Gustave could never have imagined. Is he jealous? Is he grateful? Is it somehow both and so much more, all snarled together in his chest, drenched in guilt and grief? How strange for them both to know each other more from what they've heard from the others than from what they know after meeting here themselves.
But none of that is Verso's fault. Verso isn't the reason he wasn't there to go with them to the mountains, to the Monolith. "I'm glad I get to see them again."
He sucks at his teeth, sits up. "The way I heard it, they never would have gotten to the Paintress without you. Inspiration only goes so far. So it seems like a good thing that we're all here together. A new adventure for Expedition 33."
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But he won't press it. Maelle and Sciel can have that conversation with him on their own, if they want to. He lowers his head a moment, lacing his fingers together, tapping the index finger of his right hand against the metal knuckle of his left. It's strange to hear of himself as a... a symbol, almost. An inspirational memory. Gustave shakes his head, very slightly. "I missed a lot."
It's not a reprimand to himself, just a quiet comment. He missed a lot, and Verso was there for all of it, picking up the slack from Gustave's empty place and helping them in ways Gustave could never have imagined. Is he jealous? Is he grateful? Is it somehow both and so much more, all snarled together in his chest, drenched in guilt and grief? How strange for them both to know each other more from what they've heard from the others than from what they know after meeting here themselves.
But none of that is Verso's fault. Verso isn't the reason he wasn't there to go with them to the mountains, to the Monolith. "I'm glad I get to see them again."
He sucks at his teeth, sits up. "The way I heard it, they never would have gotten to the Paintress without you. Inspiration only goes so far. So it seems like a good thing that we're all here together. A new adventure for Expedition 33."