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Sciel catches Lune’s look, and gets up off the floor, moving to Maelle’s side on the couch. Move over, petite. She sits down, turning her body to her.

“It counts, Maelle,” Sciel says, gently. “But what happened on the cliff isn’t something you’ve told us, either. I’d like to have that conversation with you someday, when you’re ready. And with me, you can get as emotional as you’d like.”

If she spread the things she does not want to admit to Gustave out like cards on a table, they’d reveal missteps and inadequacies and too many human failings. But it doesn’t matter. Forcing Maelle to recount that night before she’s ready won’t change anything that’s already happened.

She reaches for Maelle’s shoulder.

“But you know this is going to be a hard conversation for Gustave. And you know him! If any of us show any sign of discomfort, he’ll lunge to protect us instead of taking care of himself.”

Sciel smiles. Could Gustave even absorb a word of it with her torn asunder by panic? Probably not. Just looking at Maelle know, she sees Gustave’s care for her written on her sweet face. It makes Sciel think of Frisk with a bitter pang, and just like that her smile is sad. Maybe she was never cut out to be a parent, but Gustave is absolutely cut from that cloth, and he needs care, too.

“So for this, we’ll all need to be centred and calm, and ready to answer questions, even if they’re painful, because he should know what was in our heads. So, like Lune says… you have to be certain.”

Lune watches them in sympathetic silence, feeling a tiny prick at her own inability to offer comfort in such situations. It's the bridge all over again, but this time there no Dualliste to interrupt them.

This is Sciel's wheelhouse, not Lune's. She's able to explain all the concerns Lune has but is unable to put into words, offer Maelle that emotional response she's looking for. Lune can only provide distance, facts. It's hard to put distance between and examine rationally something that should have been final and irreversible, but is now thrust right in front of them to be dealt with Gustave. It's going to be difficult enough for Lune and Sciel, much less for Maelle... and Gustave. Lune isn't certain Maelle is entirely grasping how completely this is going to flay them open, expose every step along the way that they'd been too busy surviving to examine properly, to expose them to critical scrutiny. She's hardly looking forward to it, herself.

She's glad Sciel understands, however, and it comes across the words she's speaking to Maelle. Lune wonders, briefly, what it would have been like to grow up with this kind of support. She's happy Maelle has it, in the eye of such a decision.

Keeping her silence, Lune clasps her hands behind her back and waits for Maelle to work things out.

"If he should know what's in our heads, that includes mine, doesn't it? I have to be able to speak for myself," Maelle says quietly, glancing to Lune before searching Sciel's eyes with her own. Her opinion of Verso matters. She would be dead a few times over if not for his intervention. They know that.

She also knows they want to avoid too much emotion, tears, panic. Maelle is beginning to think that's simply not possible. Sciel's calm exterior and Lune's logical approach are aspirational, maybe, but there's no world where Maelle can stop herself from letting it all bubble to the surface. She supposes now is good practice, and she presses her teeth into her bottom lip as she steadies herself. Takes a breath. Looks to Sciel again, though she doesn't remember dropping her gaze.

"I'll never be certain and I'll never be ready but I can... I can stay calm. I want to be there for him. For Verso, too. Everyone seems to think... it was quick or easy when he joined us. It wasn't. Not for me."

He was easy to talk to once she let herself, and a friend soon after. It was easy to see where the broken pieces of a brother who missed his younger sister and a sister that missed her older brother fit together. They did one another a kindness by never saying anything about it, not directly, but Maelle saw it just as well as anyone else.

But he was no replacement for Gustave. He was a part of their Expedition because they had no choice if they wanted to defeat the Paintress. It’s that simple... until it isn't. The lies complicate it all.

It's not ideal, this kind of promise, but Sciel nods. There is space to try, and there's no reason why they can't adjust the plan if it starts to veer sideways. She gives Maelle a tight little squeeze, her expression sober.

"It was never easy," she confirms, nodding.

She glances back at Lune. They've shared a lot of looks, ever since Verso joined, and selfishly, Sciel is relieved that they can share them again. They're better as a team, the two of them.

"We give it a shot, if Gustave agrees?"

There will be a lot of conversations, anyway, and maybe Maelle doesn't have to know about one until it's already happened, sprung up from drinks she chose not to partake in, or something like that. The thought makes her feel like she's crawled into Verso's skin, and there she sits in it. She's not sure if she likes it, no matter how much she can forgive it in him.

Lune gives a small smile, but there's nothing cheerful about it. Maelle has had to mature far sooner than is fair, had to carry so much on those slender shoulders already. It is so for all Lumièrans, but it feels particularly incongruous here. She's so much stronger than they perhaps give her credit for, sometimes, but is it so wrong of them to want to protect her from more pain?

Be that as it may, Maelle has made her decision, and now it's their turn to respect it. Lune meets Sciel's eyes, nodding.

"If Gustave agrees," Lune confirms, her expression cast with vaguely grim determination.

"We don't have to throw everything at him at once. And shouldn't– not just for Gustave's sake. Staggered approach. We'll take it one step at a time, see how it goes. If it's too much, we'll continue another day."

This is what Lune can do; make plans, draw guidelines. The rest would happen as it will.

Maelle looks to Sciel and Lune and gives them both a nod. It’s settled, then.

"If Gustave agrees. Lune is right, it doesn't have to be all at once. I... I have his journal, and my entries in it. We're going to start going through it bit by bit. When we can."

So, eventually, he might have a better idea of what they encounterer out in the Continent. The Axons, the places he didn't get to see. But she knows he's most concerned about Verso, this strange man that's joined them in their absence.

"So--there's that, too. By the end of this he might not feel so... behind."

Maybe. She hopes. She's already tired of dwelling on the past.

"With any luck," Sciel says, and even now, optimism flares in her. Something has to go smoothly eventually, doesn't it?

She squeezes Maelle's shoulder one more time and then lets go, hands falling to her knees, attention still on Lune. She has a lot of admiration for her, and she feels it now, even as Lune looks stressed; this is far from an ideal situation to come into, but she shoulders everything anyway, even when it's unfair for her to have to.

"And how are you doing?" Sciel asks. "We've put a lot on your shoulders today, especially. Do you need a break?"

Lune exhales a slow breath between barely parted lips, decision made. She may still have some concerns about this, but she's proud of Maelle all the same. "Yes. Let's hope," she chimes in softly on the heels of Sciel's comment.

It's been an eventful day, and it's not done yet. Lune feels herself cycling between different levels of confused, worried, stressed and tired. She meets Sciel's gently concerned gaze.

"I'm fine," she says with a tiniest shake of her head, and it can't come as a surprise to anyone that she does. She never tends to her own issues when there are other things to preoccupy her. "We can keep going, if there's anything else. I'd prefer to know everything I need to up front."

Maelle is simply glad to be included without an argument or fight. There's something ugly that wants to rear up, but for now, it's appeased. She just wants Gustave to be okay. All of them, really, but it's only natural that she worries about Gustave most of all.

"You know you'll probably be living with when this mission is over, right?" She offers as a way of lightening the mood. It's important information! "There's still room."

Especially with Verso down the hall and Maelle sharing a room with Gustave. She tells herself she'll move into her own, eventually, but she's in no hurry.

There’s something she could tell Lune, right then, but the apartment is another thing to consider entirely, and Sciel decides to pivot with Maelle, at least for the minute.

“It would be nice if you wanted to, Lune,” Sciel says. Contrary to the girl’s belief, it is not anywhere near an obligation. “No hard feelings if you’d rather have your own place after a long Expedition. Verso does, and he still comes around for dinner.”

(It’s an enjoyable concession to living apart, actually. Verso is often at his best when he can entertain a little, and clearing the plates is a safe escape for either to leave the table.)

She leans back into the couch, leaning her cheek on her hand.

“It would be nice to have you with us.”

Lune is hardly surprised to hear Gustave and Verso aren't sharing a space. Nor that the rest of them have stuck together. Why wouldn't they, having been reunited with Gustave?

Lune is used to being on her own outside the Expedition– where sticking together was a necessity. They're no longer an Expedition, though. Yet, a large part of her doesn't necessarily want to be alone in that strange new place, before she's found her feet.

"If it's alright with Gustave." She gives a small smile, acquiescing. "Then, yes– at least for the time being."

Yes. Maelle visibly brightens, happy to hear Lune's answer. For the time being is good enough, and maybe she'll like the apartment too much to want to venture out on her own.

"There's enough space for us, promise," Maelle smiles. "Whenever we get to go back, you'll see."

"I can't imagine he'd say no," she says, and she feels grateful for both that and Lune's agreement; anything that lifts Maelle's spirits is a good note.

And perhaps, she thinks, when Gustave and Maelle are ready to stand on their own again, she'll get a place. Maybe something to offer to Lune, too, in case neither of them wants to go it fully alone, but if she's being honest with herself, it would be nice not to explain any visitors to a sixteen year old and two people who can't find anything romantic about ferris wheels.

"In some ways it's like this hotel, you know. The technology, the conveniences. But if you venture out beyond the apartments, there's a lot of open land and strange buildings. Nothing matches! It's like dozens of Sirène islands, all out of place."

Maelle's enthusiasm lifts Lune's spirits for a moment, a tiny smile curving at her mouth for a second. At least her arrival hasn't disrupted whatever existing group dynamic that's been shaped up in her absence too badly. Hopefully.

"Hm– I'm looking forward to seeing it all."

Her left arm drops to hang loosely by her side, right hand clasping the elbow– uncertainty. The curiosity and interest of discovery sparking up within her push against all this newness, and just... new trauma. She probably does need that break at some point in spite of arguing the opposite a while ago.

The group dynamic is a mess, and no small part of Maelle wonders if the tension would be so bad had Lune been with them from the start. She feels hopeful that Lune will help them make sense of things and encourage them to actually solve some of their problems. Somehow.

"We didn't get a chance to explore a lot before this mission. No will be able complain they're bored," she says. Though she has far more appreciation for quiet moments now, especially when she can look over and see Gustave whole and alive as if nothing terrible ever happened.

“I did some exploring,” Sciel replies, amused. “I watched a knight fight a large dragon, and I visited an island and drank rum out of a pineapple with that ‘old’ man.” She glances at Lune, smiling. “Forty-four!”

But since her attention is on Lune, her gaze drifts over that uncomfortable posture, the short response. Sciel glides to her feet, moving a little more towards Lune’s space slowly, obviously. (She’s not going to touch. She promises.) She gestures back towards the couch.

“Are you sure you don’t want that break? Or to just sit?”

That, at least, dredges a small huff of laughter from Lune, her smile brief but genuine. "That does sound like you, Sciel."

Said in all affection! In the face of Sciel's obvious concern, Lune realizes she's let her focus drift, to get distracted. She can obsess later, not now. Shaking her head, her hands migrate to her waist instead.

"Yeah. It's just... a lot on my mind." Understatement.

Maelle rolls her eyes with an amused smile. Sciel didn't waste time, but to be fair, Maelle's found it difficult to go anywhere Gustave isn't. She keeps telling herself it'll get easier, but maybe not so much when the scenery keeps changing.

When Sciel motions to the couch, Maelle scoots over to the far side. See? Plenty of room.

"Is that new?"

Look, their situation is far less bleak than it once was.

“You can come with me next time.”

It could be time to round Lune up and gently crowd her towards the couch until she’s made to take a break, but maybe not; Lune is not quite so permissible, and if she insists she’s fine, it’s so, and if she wants to sit, she’ll go. Sciel drifts past her instead, off to the kitchenette.

“What’s the thought nagging at you most, then?” she asks, taking a glass from the cupboard and filling it from the tap.

The rain of ash and petals comes back at the question and Lune has to take a steadying breath, to glance down at herself to check she's still standing in one piece, not slowly fading away. Swallowing, Lune manages to unroot her feet from the floor and move to the sofa, finally submitting and taking a seat, leaning her elbows against her thighs.

"The Gommage," she says slowly, perhaps predictably. Maybe she should be more concerned by this inexplicable change of scenery, but she isn't. Maybe it's just her mind latching onto something that's familiar rather than processing everything else that's new and overwhelming just yet.

"But we don't need to get into that, now. I'll need to speak with Verso later. Ask a few questions."

Maelle's expression falls when Lune speaks. Predictable, yes, but she had hoped--

Well, what she hoped isn't necessarily the right thing. She turns in her spot to face Lune, attentive.

"We can," she offers. "I still don't understand what happened, but I guess we were all operating under the assumption killing the Paintress would save us. Instead..."

She lifts and drops her hands. It pushed them over the brink, into oblivion. After a false moment of hope. Maybe that's the worst part--the Gommage came after they returned to Lumiere.

Sciel comes back with the glass and offers it to Lune. If not, it goes on the coffee table.

"I haven't asked him about the Gommage," Sciel says. "A little about what happened on the Monolith, but..."

She shrugs. Verso, not bringing up anything of his own volition? Shock of the century. She can hardly blame him for how flippant he's been about it all, anyway. She's been plenty relaxed herself, unbothered by the sensation of her body drifting away on the breeze, even less so by seeing friendly faces on the other side.

Whatever happens next, who knows? But it's not over. Not even close.

"What do you think he knows?"

Lune turns her head to look at Maelle when she speaks, a small, wan smile crossing her lips for a brief moment. "Yeah. It should have."

But it didn't. And since it didn't, a critical part of what they thought was the truth isn't so. Somewhere, there's a faulty supposition– and Lune needs to discover it. Verso is her only lead currently, one that may still amount to nothing. She accepts the glass from Sciel with a nod of thanks, but only cradles the coolness of it between her palms for now. She shrugs one shoulder at Sciel's question.

"Could be nothing. Could be something." Her lips press into an unhappy line for a beat. "Hard to be certain with Verso, isn't it? But after everything... I can't not ask, either."

That's all she can do. She'd been so close to pressing him, when they'd been on their way back home to Lumière upon Esquie. She never did get the chance before they arrived and, well...

"If he knows something and still won't tell, he can at least make the conscious decision to lie to my face and live with the choice."

It's petty, really. Maybe it won't even change anything. But that won't stop her.

She looks between Sciel and Lune, frowning, thinking back to when she first ran into Verso.

"I... don't think he knew what to expect, after we killed the Paintress. How could he? He seemed just as... defeated. I think," she adds, because so much of what they know about Verso, in retrospect, isn't what it seemed at the time.

"He probably thought it was over and he'd finally done what he'd wanted to do for all those years and then..."

She wiggles her fingers. Petals and darkness.

"We lost."

“He thought it would be over, too,” she muses. “The first thing he said to me here is that now we’re immortal…”

He’s been robbed of the normal life he wanted, just as much as they did. She thinks of his face, how age might deepen the lines of it. How much he might look like his father.

She pivots before her thoughts get too into the weeds.

“I hope you get something out of him,” she says. And, a little dry: “Gustave might like proof we don’t just idly accept whatever Verso says, too.”

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