Chapter Text
Gustave did his best not to squirm as he waited for his vis-à-vis to finish reading his CV, his gloved left-hand picking at the dry acrylic paint coating the tip of his fingers of his other hand, memento of the last activity he had been able to offer the children on his last day of work.
At his feet laid his bag, full of the drawings they had gifted him as he told them goodbye only one hour earlier.
For while being an animateur hadn’t been his dream job – far from that – Gustave had to admit that he had grown attached to the little rascals. The bitterness of not getting his contract reconduct would have been more bearable if it had happened during one of the holiday break, rather than in the middle of the second school trimester, when he had to face the heartbroken expression on their young faces as they asked him why and you really can’t stay longer?
“You’ve studied Génie Civil?”
The deep, rumbling voice of the one interviewing him brought Gustave out of his silent mussing, snapping him back to the present moment, of the reason why he was sitting at a terrace on a Wednesday evening after his day of work.
“At the INSA Toulouse to be exact, monsieur,” he quickly agreed, twisting his fingers on his laps, thankfully hidden beneath the table, “Though I hardly qualify as an engineer… I mean, I do have some knowledge – one could even argue that have the basic requirements to…”
Great, he was stumbling upon his words not even two sentences into the meeting.
Juste… Putain de génial…
“… I left the school before validating my master’s degree, I mean.” He finished lamely, wondering what the man in front of him was thinking as he bore his dark-eyed, red lined gaze down upon him.
Monsieur Magne let out some sort of agreeing sound, observing him for a few moments more before inclining his head in understanding, long locks of white hair falling over his shoulder in the movement, framing his face starting to be marked by age.
“I see…” glancing down at Gustave’s CV, he seemed to come to some sort of conclusion, lying the sheet upon the small table before taking a sip of beer from the pint he had ordered for himself when the now unemployed man arrived, “… Why did you choose to work as an animateur? From what I read, you have skills that would have allowed you to find a job of higher… standing, for lack of better word.”
Absentmindedly, Gustave right hand rose to scratch at on itch on his left arm, at the junction between his heavily scarred skin and the protection glove hiding the rest of his limb beneath his long sleeved shirt, “… After my incident, well… Getting back into the bowel of a train engine was a bit too much… And I become a locomotive mechanic only because I had left Polytech so…”
He cleared his throat, knowing what his study and professional career path looked like. And he didn’t need Sciel’s cards to know what the following question was going to be.
“I see that you have a gap of three years between you leaving the INSA and getting your BEP.”
Gustave’s fingers finally caught upon a patch of acrylic paint on his right hand and pull it off his skin. The satisfaction of it pealing neatly away somewhat distract him from the knot of anxiety pooling at the bottom of his stomach.
“I had… Personal matters to deal with… Took me some time to get everything back into order.”
It felt as if those dark eyes were able to read right through his evasive answer, and the brunette decided to focus on the complex and eccentric red eyeliner work the older man in front of him was wearing, in hopes of making himself appear more at ease than he truly was.
I’m sure Emma would have one hell of a time to discuss make up technique with him.
“Monsieur Chevalier-”
“Please, call me Gustave,” he quickly amended with a wince, “Otherwise, it feels as if you’re addressing my grandfather.”
As much as the kindergarteners he worked with until today like to say that he was positively ancient at the grand age of thirty-three years old, he didn’t need to feel even older than that, thank you very much.
Though I definitely prefer to be called like my grandfather rather than like that fils de-
“Alright then, Gustave.” Nodded monsieur Magne before crossing his long fingers under his chin, assessing him, “While your CV and covering letter are quite exhaustive, I still have some more questions to ask out of you.”
Swallowing once before taking a sip of his own pint of cider, the brunette nod in a hopefully non shaky way, “Fire away.”
The next half hour was spent discussing about his work as animateur in the last few years, his studies before that, his strength at school as well as his interests during his free time. He told monsieur Magne about his studies in Toulouse, his travels across the west cost of France from North to South before taking his BEP in Lyon, his apprenticeship and succeeding contract in Clermont Ferrand before his incident.
He talked about returning to his childhood home for his recovery period and finding this job as an animateur in the same city soon after being cleared by the doctors overseeing his healing.
“Though honestly, I don’t think I would have managed to get back onto my feet as quickly as I did if it weren’t for my twin.” He confessed with a fond smile, fingers tracing the embroidery said sister had put upon the long glove that covered his left arm.
The elder man in front of him smiled softly in return, “I think I’m not wrong by saying she and you are quite close, aren’t you?”
Gustave chuckled, nodding, “We are, even though this is a recent development. Until studies separated our paths, we could barely stand each other more than a few hours a day but… Well, time and experience mature us, and everyday I’m thankful for having her in my life. She’s the one who talked to me about this job offer, you know?”
Monsieur Magne nodded once, writing down some last few words into his notebook before closing it.
“I think that I have everything I need.” Declared the white-haired man, storing away his belongings after finishing his pint, “I’ll report everything to monsieur Charigot, and I’ll contact you in the coming days to tell you about his answer.” He then shot a smile in the brunette direction that brought into sharp focus the red eyeliner surrounding his eyes, “Though I’m quite certain that you’ll be hired.”
Gustave rubbed at his neck, eyes looking down as he felt a bit of heat starting to appear on his cheek, “I mean… I would love to but… better not count our chickens before they… You know?”
Monsieur Magne laughed warmly, standing up and extending one hand in his direction, which the younger man quickly took.
“It was a pleasure to meet with you today, Gustave.”
“Likewise, monsieur.”
Another smile was sent his way as the man released his hand, “As I am sure we’ll be colleague next time we'll see each other, you might as well start calling me Monoco.”
“Alright mons-… Monoco.”
Bidding him good evening, Gustave watched as the man left the terrace silently, dropping back into his chair with a loud sigh the moment he disappeared around the corner of the nearest street, rubbing at his face.
As if on cue, his brain decided that now was the right time to register once again the noise and bustle of the crowd filling the street around him. And while it was one far more thinner than what he got used to during his studies, he could feel it starting to grit at his nerves and decided to call it a night for now.
With another sigh, he bent down to grab his bag, his fingers gently running over the last drawings the children at the accueil de loisirs gifted him throughout the afternoon before swinging it around his shoulder once closed and made his way back home, texting Emma that he was on his way.
While not being a metropole, Lumière wasn’t a small city by any stretch of the mind either, and it took him a good half an hour before reaching the steps of the building in which he and his twin resided, where the cosy apartment that had grown up in was.
It didn’t take him long to reach the proper floor, the keys in his hands jiggling merrily against the train trinket Lune had gifted him on the day he returned to their childhood city, and opened the door of the flat.
The main room was alighten by several soft lights scattered across it, both twins preferring their warm glow to the harsher one of the ceiling lamps, giving to the entire space feeling of homeness that immediately loosened the knot in Gustave’s stomach.
Lying on the large, weathered leather couch, propped up by several plush pillows, was Emma. Her dark brown curly hair, so similar to his, were pulled back into a lose bun as she focused on the embroidery in her hands, her glasses a little crooked on her nose.
“How did it go?” she shot his way without lifting her gaze from her work.
“As fine as I can hope, I guess,” answered Gustave as he took off his shoes before heading toward the hallway leading to his room, “I was told they’ll contact me soon about their answer.”
“Fingers crossed, then!” smiled Emma, bumping her fist against his as he passed her by, throwing his glove at the low table, only to watch it slide on it and fall on the other side, “I’ve also taken the initiative of ordering pizzas. They should arrive around half past eight. Thought you would need something a bit more comforting than green pesto pasta.”
“Thanks, sœurette.”
Stepping into his room, he dropped his bag near the foot of his bed, taking a quick shower before changing into sweatpants and a loose, well-worn t-shirt, making his way back to the main part of the flat.
Emma had moved around a bit to create a spot for him to settle on the couch. Dropping with a loud sigh, relishing in the feeling of closeness with his twin, he took a look at her current work, snorting ungracefully as he read the words.
« Va te faire cuire le cul », embroidered in a beautiful calligraphy and surrounded by delicate flowers.
“Who pissed you off that much this time?” he asked Emma as he reached out for the remote control to turn the TV on with some shitty show that would create some sort of background noise until they settled on what to watch together.
“Half of the municipal council,” she sighed, rolling her eyes at the ceiling, “The elections are half a year away but they’re already on high alert, as if they are going to be beheaded if they’re not elected once again.”
“And you creating a new liste to face them certainly has no hand in the tension they plague those holy-than-thou halls, eh?”
Emma smacked him on the shoulders with her embroidery ring for his snark, “It's not my fault if they can't handle well the idea that a list made of people decades younger than them might be elected next. And it’s not like I’ve ever try to hide my ambition from them either.” She shrugged before pulling at her current thread, taking a look at her work before searching for her sewing scissor, “We still have a few months to work all together yet, so they should act like the mature elders they claim to be rather than starting some shadow war when we still have a city to run together.”
Gustave hummed in understanding before reaching out to take her work from her hands, forcing her fingers to uncurl themselves from their tense hold, “Well, in that case, I think we both deserved to properly unwind from our respective stressful day, hm?” he gestured at the TV, already switching to a popular streaming service, “Something specific you fancy to watch?”
Emma answered with a cheeky grin, “How about Cœur de Princesse?”
Gustave snorted but didn’t argue that choice. It had been ages since he watched that specific animated film. And while he had been often mocked for watching Babie films in his childhood, he never denied really enjoying them as a little boy, remembering with fondness how Emma and he used to re-act some scenes with her dolls, or singing together their favourite tunes off key at the top of their lungs, to the great dismay of whoever was around to hear them.
Both twins knew the film pitch like the back of each other hand and yet, they still watched it dutifully, cringing at how bad the animation looked now with more than twenty years of 3D models improvement in the animation field.
The pizzas Emma ordered arrived ten minutes after the end of the film, and by then they had switched to a Minecraft stream, listening with half an ear as they discussed some more mundane subjects, making sure that this simple quiet evening really mattered.
The last few weeks had been quite hectic for both of them, Gustave and Emma crossing each other's paths more than really interacting, sometimes simple greetings being the only words they had been able to share for days as they were swept away by their respective lives.
In all honestly, Gustave had thought that living once again in the same home as his twin would end up in a disaster. After all, by the time they finished high school, they barely could stand to be in each other space more than a few hours at a time, even though they still loved each other dearly.
Far behind them, however, were their eighteens year of age. They’ve lived through a lot in the last few years, much more than people their age usually did, and they’ve come to rely more on each other when life seemed set on making them its personal punching bags.
That didn’t mean that everything was flowers and butterflies, but they made it work, and their bond as twin just grew stronger because of that.
“Really Gustave?”
The tired sigh Emma let out brought him out of his quiet appreciation of the moment, and he grimaced apologetically when he noticed her snatching the glove he had carelessly threw in the general direction the low table earlier in the evening.
“I wanted to at least witness the final result of the project I've worked on with the children before the end of my contract, so I might have been a bit careless while rushing to finish it before the end of the day.”
Emma shook her head mock-tiredly, a fond smile upon her lips, “For as much as you often said you didn’t want to be an animateur for the rest of your life, you can’t deny that you really enjoy working with all those children, eh?”
Gustave chuckled warmly, if a bit sadly, “Yeah… I’m going to miss them very much.”
She bumped her shoulder against his as she snuggled back onto the couch, his glove still held between her hands, “Still… You know I have spent a lot of time working on that embroidery. You know better than wearing it while using acrylic paint.”
He gave her a deadpan look, waving his artificial left arm under her noise, making sure that she could hear and see every little cogs ticking and twisting in the movement, “Because we both know that I could easily provide a believable explanation as to why I have a mechanical arm that shouldn’t be able to exist according to today’s technological standards.” He answered back in a flat, desert dry tone.
Like the mature she was, Emma stuck out her tongue in his direction, her right hand reaching out to the air in front of her.
Her Pen materialised between her fingers, shinning a soft golden pink colour as she quickly Wrote above the glove. Ink poured out of its tip, dancing around the piece cloth in her hands. There was a soft shift, and the next moment, the stains were gone, bringing the glove back to his previous almost brand-new state.
“And done.” Said cheerfully Emma before handing it back to Gustave, a smile on her lips, “Please, be more careful with it next time?”
He took it back with a chuckle, “You didn’t need to do it, you know that? I could have gotten rid of those stains myself.”
“Nonsense! As the eldest of us two, it is my given duty to take care of you, frérot!”
Gustave rolled his eyes at the ceiling, “You only have four minutes on me Emma!”
“Which still make me the eldest! Pay respect to your elder!”
“Wait a fucking second-”
And thus passed the rest of the evening. And none of them would have wanted it any other way.
Exceptionally, the end notes are put here, don't mind me, just want to avoid having those one appearing each time at the end of the last updated chapter, lol
Please, let me know what you thought of this start! I can't guarantee when the next update will arrive, so be patient with me!
Until next time, I wish you all an amazing day!
French vocabulary:
Animateur : Someone who works with children around the school system time ("periscolaire", during luch break and after class in kindergartens and elementary schools) and during holiday breaks. Born out of the concept of "education populaire" ("popular education), they offer alternative method of learning to children through games, manual activities and the like to teach stuff the normal school system does not offer. In the periscolaire time, they work in "CLAE/ALAE" and in holiday times, in "Acceuil de Loisirs"
Génie Civil : Civil Engineering
Putain de génial : Fucking great
BEP : a two years profesionnal diploma, often taken after a "professional baccalauréat", but depending on the previous studies one made, possibility of bridging between the courses to shorten it to one year (french schooling system maybe a bit complex and irrelevant to dwelves in more in the context of this fic, but I like accuracy when mentionning details, so here you are lol)
Sœurette & frérot : "Sis" and "Bro", a bit old fashioned, affective way of calling one's sibling
Va te faire cuire le cul : go get your ass cooked
Cœur de Princesse : French title for "Barbie: the princess and the pauper", litt "Princess heart"