etrayalogs | tomorrow is here

[ One arm curves around her shoulders, holding her close; the other settles over the arm she has snaked tight across his body. She's still so small, only sixteen years old (and now will she only ever be sixteen years old?), barely more than a child and feeling delicate and fragile in his arms even though he knows her strength, her capability. Sixteen might be as good as an adult in Lumière, but that's by necessity, not because it's enough time being a child.

...And he still can't promise to never leave her again. He'd been taken from her once, and it's possible it could happen again, no matter how hard he fights to stay by her side. He shakes his head, holding her close. ]

I do still need you. I always need you.

[ He huffs out a breath that's not quite a laugh, rueful and fond. ]

I saw you everywhere I looked when I first got here. I missed you so much.

[It's not the first time he's said it, but it hits just as hard. As nice as it is to be missed, wanted, after so much of her life going from home to home and wondering if anyone missed her, Gustave shouldn't have missed her at all. She shouldn't have had to miss him. They shouldn't have had to part, especially the way they did upon those cliffs.

She wishes she could stop thinking about it.]

I missed you more. [So there. Maelle gives him a tight squeeze, more force in it than necessary, simply because she can.] Finding you felt like a dream. It still does, I guess. Like I'm going to wake up and we're still at camp somewhere, the Monolith in the distance. Everything that's happened... none of it feels real.

[She's felt like she's been watching someone else's life since they lost him.]

Oof.

[ An exaggerated breath out as Maelle squeezes him, just to be absurd. She could hold him so tight his ribs cracked and he wouldn't complain. ]

Yeah, I know what you mean. This whole place feels like a dream to me, sometimes. For a while I thought it was.

[ For a while he thought it was just his brain creating one last illusion before sputtering out into darkness, but Maelle doesn't need to know that. He's sure she's had nightmare after nightmare about what she witnessed on the cliff, about having to leave him behind. ]

...But we're together, right? So that makes it a good dream, if it is one. And if it isn't, then I guess we get a second chance.

Another life. Another future.

I'm happy as long as we're together.

[She knows that for a fact. There were moments of joy and levity with the others, and perhaps with Verso in particular, but her heart feels whole with Gustave beside her. For the first time in a long time, she feels like she might be okay.]

It's... it's different, no? There's no end in sight. Not one we can see, anyway. We could have forever.

[That seems to be the benefit of the after life, the next life. No Gommage. No countdown.]

[ His eyebrows press up, lips pursing in consideration, and he shrugs one shoulder, careful not to disturb her. ]

Yeah, I guess we could. If Aurora keeps us here forever, and provided you can't die of old age if you're already dead.

[ Gustave looks down at her, the way her red hair presses against his uniform. ]

Is that what you'd want? To stay here forever?

[Dying of old age sounds so strange. A gift, maybe, but Maelle is quite tired of death in general. She doesn't feel dead. Nor does Gustave, warm, solid, and breathing beside her. She felt more like a corpse after his death, trudging behind the others, clutching his arm to her chest.

She lifts her head to meet his gaze.]

Here. Anywhere. Wherever you are.

[ He's never wanted forever, just a life as long as any other person's, a life longer than the one blind chance told him he was supposed to get.

But Maelle is only sixteen. Even another twenty years likely feels like forever to her. ]

Maybe we'll finally be able to do some of the traveling you always wanted to do.

[ He squeezes her gently, pressing a smile into his voice. ]

Sure, there's still a Dome here, but there are lots of new places to see. New worlds, even.

You shall never hear me say I'm bored.

[Said solemnly, but there's a smile from that squeeze, at the prospect of exploration with Gustave by her side. Maybe they can make up for the time Renoir stole. Maybe they can make up for the years Maelle bounced from home to home.]

I think I'm going to ask Sciel if she wants to look at clothing soon.

[There must be so many shops. And while she's sure Gustave has other interests, she offers--]

Wanna come with?

I'm going to hold you to that. Just wait and see.

[ But even Maelle would be hard pressed to be bored here, he thinks, especially with these strange, unknown missions looming on the horizon.

But at her suggestion, he makes a face, shakes his head as the expression clears. ]

Uh, I think you and Sciel will have more fun without me, on that.

Wow, what a face! I knew you would pass. I was only being polite and didn't want you to feel left out.

[It's a face that gets a genuine laugh out of her though, accompanied by a fond squeeze. Oh, she's missed his faces, his open expressions. She thinks it would be good for her and Sciel to spend some time together, and surely she'll want some more clothes, too.

Gustave can stay in the apartment.]

[ Just for that, he scrunches his face back up at her again, then finally lifts his arm from around her as he chuckles. ]

You can be polite? I guess it's true, we really can learn something new everyday.

[ His hand goes to her shoulder, squeezing gently before he gives her a little nudge. ]

You should go back inside. I'll be there in a minute, okay?

[Maelle takes an exaggerated step forward with a laugh. Reluctant as she is to be away from him, she knows he probably needs a few moments alone. Time to think and breathe without her right under his nose. They can't be together every moment of every day. Despite the love between them, they'll go crazy. This building, this place, feels safe. Wherever Renoir is, it's not here.]

I'll count to sixty.

[It's a joke, and it's an acknowledgement. But Maelle has a pit in her stomach, regardless of what she tells herself, regardless of her easy smile. Maybe it will always be there in some shape or form. A scar left by the terror and despair she felt from losing him.

Ridiculous.

She shakes it off with a deep breath and a quick step back towards Gustave. Just to lean up on her tippy toes (with the slightest of bunny hops to reach!) and press a quick peck to his bearded cheek. That done, she turns and leaves.]

tomorrow is here — closed

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