WHO: Expedition 33 (Gustave, Maelle, Sciel, and Verso) WHEN: post-mingle, pre-mission WHERE: the apartments WHAT: the remaining members of Expedition 33 NOTES\WARNINGS: spoilers for Acts 1&2 of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
That last remark gets a smile out of Maelle. If there's one thing she's never doubted, it's Gustave's affection for her. He'd be heartbroken if Maelle felt unloved, even for a moment.
"I guess it's a good time as any to ask if I've offended you, by calling you family," Maelle says lightly, teasing. As if another rejection wouldn't send her into a spiral. But it's Sciel, and Maelle thinks she knows her well enough to anticipate her response.
Sciel laughs, quiet, like Verso might hear her from down the hall.
“I know what kind of exclusive club you keep, mademoiselle, so I consider it an honour,” she says. “Even if you didn’t say it, I knew I must be something to you when you stopped rolling your eyes when I’d go in for a hug!”
"I did not roll my eyes," Maelle says, rolling her eyes, and it's her that goes in for the hug. They may have forever here, but she doesn't want to regret. Regret not giving the hug, regret not saying the words. Even if they're rejected and fill her with shame, at least she's said them.
She's careful not to drop her water glass, but she does fully sink into the embrace, letting out a pleased little hum. Strong hugs are the best hugs. Sciel's are second best to Gustave's.
"What? You haven't seen him roll his eyes?" She asks with a little laugh. Guess where she picked up the habit? "Emma hated it."
“Oh, have I,” she repeats. “You would not believe the eye rolls I extracted from that man during our time at Aquafarm Three. In fact… we can do it right now.”
An eye roll, a laugh, a deadpan look –– any would be a good temperature check, at the very least.
"What? Right now?" Maelle pulls back, putting her glass down on the counter, ready to pay full attention to whatever Sciel is scheming. She tips her head to the side.
“Right now, if you can find him, or whenever he gets home,” she says. “Talk to him like you always do, but you’re going to call him something else. Straight face, without hesitation. The name is…”
Just in case Gustave is outside the door or has developed superhuman hearing, she leans in to whisper it in Maelle’s ear.
She nods. A plan worthy of following without question.
"Got it. He'll laugh. I know it." Because Maelle will sound crazy, or he'll realize Sciel is getting creative with her mischief. A laugh is a laugh, and Gustave could use one after today.
“He’d better,” Sciel says. “If he doesn’t, we’ll have to take drastic measures.”
She’s joking, and has no idea what those measures are or will be, but she’s sure it’ll involve wrapping Gustave in cotton wool until he finally cracks.
She reaches to Maelle again, checking her face.
“Now. Are you feeling better? Even just a little bit?”
The time immediately after Gustave's death is a hazy blur of crying herself to sleep and being unable to find rest, but she does remember Sciel sitting beside her quite clearly. A comforting touch when she needed it, or simply space and company when Maelle's emotions were tangled and twisted.
She had felt so terribly alone, but she wasn't.
"I know. I hope we can experience more than just... bad or sad things together, here."
“We’ll have more good memories,” she says. “Just like seeing the Gestrals, and the Grandis, and the carousel… as much of it as we can make for ourselves.”
The possibilities seem so infinite that it’s hard to imagine what they could even be. The sights of the Continent had been unexpectedly and incomprehensibly beautiful, but she had seen the greater picture of Lumière in it all, their seedling on the wind having strayed from a greater blossom. It was there in the ruins and in the debris and in the great sprawls of nature, so much so that she never felt too far from home.
Here, it’s an eternity of difference. What could she possibly expect to come their way?
“Yes,” she says, with a funny little scrunch to her face. “As long as it’s not more ‘water parks.’”
Maelle mirrors her with a soft smile. Sciel and water don't mix. She knows that much. There's plenty to see, and plenty to do.
"I was thinking we'll want to decorate this place, yeah? Make it a little less... sterile," she says. It feels too much like the hospital. "Gustave won't care as long as he has a place to collect junk to tinker with."
Junk is said affectionately. She never got into his passions as much as he probably hoped, but she knows it's important to him. He can have a corner of the living room or something.
“Definitely,” she says. “We need something to liven it up a little, and a record player, at the very least.”
It’s no concert grand with a savant at its bench, but it’s enough to take the occasional tour around the living room on.
“But, when it comes to Gustave’s collection,” she say. “How much more impressive has it gotten, since I last saw it? I think he could outdo himself, here.”
"A record player for sure," Maelle agrees with a smile. A home full of music would be nice, no matter the source.
Gustave's collection is such a nice way to put it. Sciel's kindness knows no bounds. "The workshop collection or the one at home? It seems to just creep into whatever space is available, like ivy. I'm sure he'll have no trouble planting roots in some corner and slowly growing outwards."
“It’s a wonder he hadn’t collected one of every little thing in all of Lumière,” she muses. “When we were on the Aquafarm team together, you could leave for the night with the workshop all tidied, and he would swear he’d be leaving right after, when he finished one little thing… and you’d come back the next morning and could guess by the state of the place how long he’d been there, tinkering.”
Good times. It makes her heart feel full, especially looking at Maelle’s sweet face, knowing Gustave isn’t too far away. No matter how bad things are, there’s good, too.
“When he started leaving at a reasonable hour, I’m sure it was because he adored going home to you.”
It's a nice thought, one that makes Maelle smile, but she soon huffs out a laugh as she shakes her head.
"Oh, no. I'm sure that was because I never let Gustave or Emma have a solid night of sleep for very a long time after they took me in. The truth is probably that he was exhausted or it was his turn to sit up with me when I woke up from a nightmare."
But he did it all with love and patience. It can all be true.
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"I guess it's a good time as any to ask if I've offended you, by calling you family," Maelle says lightly, teasing. As if another rejection wouldn't send her into a spiral. But it's Sciel, and Maelle thinks she knows her well enough to anticipate her response.
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“I know what kind of exclusive club you keep, mademoiselle, so I consider it an honour,” she says. “Even if you didn’t say it, I knew I must be something to you when you stopped rolling your eyes when I’d go in for a hug!”
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“I must have imagined it,” she concedes. “You’d never. Not in Gustave’s household.”
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"What? You haven't seen him roll his eyes?" She asks with a little laugh. Guess where she picked up the habit? "Emma hated it."
From them both.
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An eye roll, a laugh, a deadpan look –– any would be a good temperature check, at the very least.
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"How so?"
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Just in case Gustave is outside the door or has developed superhuman hearing, she leans in to whisper it in Maelle’s ear.
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"Seriously?" She looks at Sciel, doubtful. "Do I get to know the story behind that, or is it something he should have to explain?"
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"Got it. He'll laugh. I know it." Because Maelle will sound crazy, or he'll realize Sciel is getting creative with her mischief. A laugh is a laugh, and Gustave could use one after today.
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She’s joking, and has no idea what those measures are or will be, but she’s sure it’ll involve wrapping Gustave in cotton wool until he finally cracks.
She reaches to Maelle again, checking her face.
“Now. Are you feeling better? Even just a little bit?”
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"A little more than just a little bit," she says. "You're really good at that."
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“Good,” she says. “I’m glad. And you know I’m here when you need me, yeah? Even if it’s just someone to sit with in silence?”
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She had felt so terribly alone, but she wasn't.
"I know. I hope we can experience more than just... bad or sad things together, here."
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“We’ll have more good memories,” she says. “Just like seeing the Gestrals, and the Grandis, and the carousel… as much of it as we can make for ourselves.”
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"With Gustave," she adds, because they all felt his absence. "... and Verso, once he's... less weird."
He may be old, but there must be so much here he's never seen the likes of before.
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Could be a lot of time, but their best instincts will win out, she’s sure.
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"Are you excited to see new things here, Sciel?" Things that hopefully aren't trying to kill them, in between these missions they'll be sent on.
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Here, it’s an eternity of difference. What could she possibly expect to come their way?
“Yes,” she says, with a funny little scrunch to her face. “As long as it’s not more ‘water parks.’”
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"I was thinking we'll want to decorate this place, yeah? Make it a little less... sterile," she says. It feels too much like the hospital. "Gustave won't care as long as he has a place to collect junk to tinker with."
Junk is said affectionately. She never got into his passions as much as he probably hoped, but she knows it's important to him. He can have a corner of the living room or something.
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It’s no concert grand with a savant at its bench, but it’s enough to take the occasional tour around the living room on.
“But, when it comes to Gustave’s collection,” she say. “How much more impressive has it gotten, since I last saw it? I think he could outdo himself, here.”
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Gustave's collection is such a nice way to put it. Sciel's kindness knows no bounds. "The workshop collection or the one at home? It seems to just creep into whatever space is available, like ivy. I'm sure he'll have no trouble planting roots in some corner and slowly growing outwards."
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Good times. It makes her heart feel full, especially looking at Maelle’s sweet face, knowing Gustave isn’t too far away. No matter how bad things are, there’s good, too.
“When he started leaving at a reasonable hour, I’m sure it was because he adored going home to you.”
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"Oh, no. I'm sure that was because I never let Gustave or Emma have a solid night of sleep for very a long time after they took me in. The truth is probably that he was exhausted or it was his turn to sit up with me when I woke up from a nightmare."
But he did it all with love and patience. It can all be true.
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