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Verso's Drafts was the kind of place you only ever dreamt about. Even Verso himself had said that it was unlike anything he’d seen before. And to think that it had been hiding in the Canvas the whole time. Almost like it had been waiting for them to be ready to see it.
The Gestrals, and the colors, and the candy had been a sight to behold all on their own, and then Verso had taken him by the hand and pointed.
The train -the functioning train- had been the highlight of the day. Even if it was something that was ridiculously over the top, and clearly something from a child’s imagination, it was the most wonderful thing Gustave had ever laid eyes on. Then he’d turned around, a smile splitting his face to say something to Verso and his mind had gone blank.
Maybe it was the lighting, the way the fading sun made Verso’s silver hair look pink. Maybe it was the soft, answering smile on Verso’s face, or maybe it was that along with the child-like glee that bubbled up in his chest. In that moment, he saw Verso and had never felt more in love in his life. He’d reached out immediately, fingers itching with the need to touch, to pull Verso in, and he had pressed their mouths together.
“What was that for? I know you’re excited about the train, but-”
Gustave kissed him again, quick and soft, and then kissed his nose, between his eyebrows, and then once again on the lips. “I just really love you.”
Verso had blushed the same color as the candy floss rocks around them and Gustave had laughed, feeling light and warm and like he had everything he could ever want.
He feels that way again now.
He and Verso return to the Drafts, just the two of them. Maelle is back in Lumiere and they’re giving her some space to spend with the others. They tend to hover when she’s around, never knowing exactly when she’ll be back. It’s been hard, trying to get the change in time between their world and the one outside to line up into something that is more regular. So they’re taking advantage of her wanting some time away from her overprotective older brothers to take some time for themselves.
Gustave had suggested going to one of the Gestral beaches, or checking out the casino Monoco has been working on. Verso had insisted that the Drafts was where they should be going, that he had something to show him.
The tree house isn’t what he’s expecting, but one step through the door makes him understand.
“I may not be the one that made it, but I figured you might appreciate it anyway.”
There are drawings on the walls, the floors, on every surface, telling the tale of a brave knight. A brave boy, and his family. His little sister.
Gustave presses his hand against the wall, tracing the tip of one finger over the face of the little painted Maelle, or Alicia, in this case. “It’s beautiful.” If anyone were to ask, he wouldn’t be able to explain why his voice had gone quiet, but it felt like speaking any louder would shatter the fragile moment. This is as much for Verso as it is for Gustave. “I think I would have liked to have met this Verso, at least once. He gave us so much.” He moves around the room, trailing his fingers over the walls, shuffling scribbled on papers. It’s hard sometimes, to think about the man this Verso might have gotten to be.
“Do you think you would have loved him?”
Gustave looks up, already softening the surprised look on his face into something fond. Verso is leaning in the doorway that leads out onto the little deck, arms crossed and shoulders drawn up tight. There’s fading sunlight streaming in behind him and lighting up his silhouette like an angel. “I love you.” Gustave says, firm and assured.
Verso drops his gaze to the floor. “I know. I know you do, it’s just hard sometimes, with his memory still here like this. I wonder if-” He cuts himself off, mouth twisting into something upset. “Sorry. This isn’t why I brought you out here.”
It’s so easy to love Verso, even if the man himself thinks it’s a chore. Gustave takes slow, measured steps as he approaches. “Don’t do that. Don’t hide from me, ok? We promised we wouldn’t do that.” He curls a finger under Verso’s chin to tilt the other man’s face up so he can catch his eye. When he knows he has Verso’s attention he lets his hand brush down the scars across his neck, thumb brushing the ball of his cheek. “Would I have loved that Verso? Maybe. If he was anything like you then probably yes, I would have loved him.”
They said goodbye to that man already. They had their farewells and they let him go to the rest he deserved. It’s impossible not to think of him when the world is full of reminders, but it’s usually bittersweet, wistful. Gustave and the other people of Lumiere never knew that Verso. All they have is the one they’ve always known. “But he’s not you, and you’re not him.” Gustave keeps one hand on the back of Verso’s neck and reaches down to take Verso’s hand with his metal one. “I love you for all the things that this place made you. The things you did yourself. The parts of you that he would have never had the experiences to recreate. Even if those parts make me absolutely crazy sometimes.”
The words just keep coming. Every spewed truth makes him bolder, and Verso isn’t stopping him.
“You’re the man that saved me.” He guides Verso’s hands to his waist so he can take the other man’s face in his hands, easy as breathing. “You’re the man that gave Maelle her family back. The man that bullies Monoco and refuses to eat the frosting in those little pastries Emma brings us for breakfast.”
Verso’s laugh is wet, tears welling at the corners of his eyes. “It’s too sweet, and tastes like flowers. Also, how dare you accuse me of bullying. Monoco is the one that bullies me.”
“This is exactly what I’m talking about, mon coeur.” Gustave settles his forearms on Verso’s shoulders. “This is all you. Something no one else would be able to replicate in a hundred years. Aline tried and failed. You can’t make a person into someone else. You were always going to be you. Just you.”
And every word is true. Gustave believes with all his heart that this Verso, the one he loves, was always going to be his own man. Memories are one thing, but lived experiences are another. You can give someone a memory, let them see how it should make them feel, but you can’t make them feel it.
Aline had come close, true, but she’d been unable to see past her grief and realize that no amount of memory would bring her son back. And in the dark, selfish corner of his heart, Gustave is glad for it. He can’t imagine Verso any other way.
“Damn you and your lovable honesty.” Verso steps back, out from under Gustave’s hands. He’s smiling, wobbly and brittle at the edges, but Gustave can see the embarrassed light in his eyes. He’s not running away, which is an improvement. “I had a whole plan for today, but now it feels silly. I was going to play for you.” Verso nods over his shoulder, backing out onto the deck.
Gustave follows, stepping out into the waning light. Sure enough, there is a piano in one corner of the deck, covered in more drawings and papers. “I’m sure whatever you had planned was going to be lovely. You’re always saying that you don’t get to play as much as you want.” Gustave has heard him before, on the piano in the opera hall, or the one that was set up in the square. It still feels magical, every time he hears Verso play.
“You’re making this even harder.” Verso moans, hand over his face as he leans back against the deck’s railing.
Gustave chuckles, coming to lean against the rail beside him, bumping their shoulders together. “I’m not really here to make anything easier, let’s be honest. I’ve never known you to get stage fright.” Verso gives him a look from between his fingers and Gustave takes pity on him. “Would it help if I turned around?”
“Maybe.” And oh, but Verso sounds petulant now, like a pouting child. Gustave loves him, loves him, loves him.
“Alright fine, but I expect this to be your best performance yet.” He leans in to kiss Verso on the cheek before turning around and leaning his forearms on the railing.
The view from here is amazing. The pink and orange hues of the sun glittering across the landscape, catching on the trees and water below. It really is like a dream. An adolescent sanctuary. A window into the life Verso could have had, if things had been different. That child-like wonder is still there in this Verso, buried deep, but Gustave has seen it.
“I’m noting a distinct lack of music.” Gustave teases. “Trying to think of the right piece? I really will love anything you play, I swear.”
“You can turn around.”
“Are you sure?” But Gustave is already standing up straight, turning on his heel with a smile on his face. “I don’t want to make you-” Verso is not at the piano. “nervous.”
Verso is on one knee.
"I told you I had a whole plan." Verso is saying. "I was supposed to play for you. Something new I'd written, just for you. For the -for our wedding. If you say yes, of course, I'm not assuming that just because of all this," He waves between them like the gesture somehow encompass all their shared history. "that it means a wedding is a done deal or anything-"
"Of course I'm going to say yes." Gustave says, quiet and breathless and trying very hard not to laugh. Because of course this is how it's happening.
"Let me finish." Verso says, eyes somewhere around Gustave's knees. "You are everything I thought I'd never get the chance to have. After everything, after Julie, I didn't think I -I just assumed that this would all end and that would be that. The end of the road. Of me." Gustave watches him work his jaw, taking a deep breath before he continues, finally raising his eyes to meet Gustave's. The emotion there steals the breath from his lungs. "Meeting you and the rest of the 33, those damned loops, all of it made me realize that I deserve a happy ending as much as anyone else. Even after -after everything I've done."
Gustave has to press his lips together to keep himself from saying anything. He wants to defend Verso's actions, even if he knows this isn't the time or place for it. They've been over those grievances more than once, had their fights over them. So instead he keeps silent, clenches his hands tight, and listens.
It's a rare thing for Verso to talk this much at once about his own feelings. No matter how much they talk to each other, there are some things that just don't come easily to the man. Gustave has never faulted him for that -and he never will- but it makes these moments when Verso speaks from the heart all the more precious. Even if he struggles with it, the fact that Verso is doing this for him, for them, fills him with warmth.
"It's not that you make me better, even though you do. It's more that I want to be better for you. You make me want to be the person you see in me. You deserve a man that's going to love you the best way he knows how, and I deserve the chance to give that to you. Will you let me?"
"I'm noticing a distinct lack of a ring box." Gustave says, tears in his eyes and voice thick with emotion.
"You haven't said yes yet." Verso counters.
Gustave laughs, delighted and incredulous in equal measure. "Technically I already did."
Verso's face scrunches up in that way that Gustave thinks makes him look like a confused bear. "What? No, you didn't. I think I would remember you saying yes. I hadn't even gotten to the asking part yet. You have to do it properly."
"Then ask me properly." Gustave volleys back.
Verso reaches out to take Gustave's left hand in his, still on one knee. The metal limb doesn't have tactile feedback, and Gustave mourns not being able to feel Verso's hand in his.
"Gustave, will you marry me?"
"Yes, you ridiculous man."
Verso's smile could outshine the sun. "The second half was unnecessary, but I'll take it." And then he presses his lips to Gustave's ring finger. A breeze blows through, tugging at Verso's hair before he looks up, meeting Gustave's gaze with a wink before he pulls back. And there, on Gustave's ring finger, just at the base of the last joint, is a shining band of silver. It's worked directly into the metal, as if it's always been there, seamless and perfect.
Gustave reclaims his hand, holding it up so that the new addition shines in the ever present dawn.
"I can change it, or take it back." Verso is saying, still down on one knee and trying to explain himself. "I should have asked. I'm trying to be a Painter that doesn't just change things because it's easier and now here I am, doing it anyway. I'll change it back. Let me-"
Gustave grabs him by the shirt with both hands so he can haul the other man up to his feet and kiss him into silence. Verso melts against him, leaning in and pressing Gustave back against the deck railing. Gustave's metal fingers tangle with Verso's while the other slides up into Verso's hair, holding him in place. "Don't you dare." He says against Verso's mouth. "Yes, maybe you should have asked, but I was in the process of agreeing to marry you, so you get a pass." He tugs their joined hands up between them, pressing against Verso's chest. "Are you planning on using your abilities to change anything else about me?"
"What? No!" Verso squawks. "I just wanted to-"
Gustave kisses him again to cut off any other explanations. "I know. I was proving a point, my dear."
"You're going to be an insufferable husband." Verso rests his forehead against Gustave's, eyes closed and a shaky smile on his lips. "There will be no living with you after this."
"We already live together." Gustave points out.
Verso hums, tucking his chin down over Gustave's shoulder so he can press his nose against the side of Gustave's neck. His arms wrap around Gustave's waist and they stand like that for a minute, an hour, an eternity. Time loses its meaning while they hold each other in the middle of this place of memories, making their own.
Gustave is content to stand there forever, head tipped to rest his cheek on the top of Verso's head. Around them, the Canvas continues on. There's the sound of the wind in the trees, the Gestrals in the distance, the low inexplicable drone of music from somewhere. With the heat of an impossible sun at his back, the moment feels ethereal. Almost unreal, like something you'd see through a shop window, face pressed to the glass and dreaming of the day when you could have it for yourself. Now Gustave has that moment in his hands.
The man in his arms, his fiancé -and that word makes a giddy smile steal across his face- is living proof that the impossible is possible. "Will you play for me now?" He asks, quiet enough so as not to disturb the moment, in case Verso would rather stay just like this.
"Hm." Verso hums again, curling in closer to press them together from chest to thigh. He slots into place like a piece Gustave has been missing. "I could." Though he makes no move to actually release his hold.
"You'll have to actually let go of me if you want to use your hands." Gustave says, tugging playfully at short hairs at the base of Verso's neck. "I hear they're kind of integral to playing the piano."
"I'm the most powerful Painter there is. I'll figure out a way."
While Gustave has no doubt that the man would come up with something eventually, he does actually love listening to Verso play. Besides, "Sorry, but I think Maelle still has you beat there. You may be the most stubborn Painter I know, though. You can have that title."
Verso bites him playfully, teeth in the side of Gustave's neck.
"Ow! Spousal abuse already?" Gustave swats at him as he leans back as far as the railing will let him.
Verso snaps his teeth, hands on Gustave's chest as he leans in close again. He presses his mouth under Gustave's jaw and Gustave can feel the smile against his skin. "Like you don't love it."
The absurdity of the moment has a laugh bubbling up in Gustave's chest, spilling over his lips as he tips his head back and lets it free. Verso matches him, laughing against Gustave's throat like it's the most normal thing in the world. Maybe for their world it is. Their beautiful painted world.
Once the laughter trickles away Gustave takes Verso by the face, angling their heads together so he can kiss his fiancé on the mouth, slow and deep and perfect. It pulls a satisfied noise from Verso and Gustave forces himself to pull away before he starts something he can't finish. Not here, anyway. This is a soft place, for sugar sweet kisses and fragile, bubble-thin memories. Later, in their bed, he'll have Verso like he wants to. He'll lay his fiancé down and take him apart with lips and hands, worship him the way he deserves. "Will you play for me?" He asks again.
Verso finally -reluctantly- pulls away, keeping hold of Gustave's hand. The left one. The metal one. The one with Verso's claim permanently etched into it. "Of course, mon inventeur." He tugs Gustave toward the piano, taking his seat on the bench as he urges Gustave to sit as well. "Do you want the new song? Or something familiar?"
Gustave presses their arms together, resting his head on Verso's shoulder. "Play me something new." All of Verso's songs are lovely, but something about this moment begs for a hint of the unknown. Something fresh to start their new chapter.
Verso kisses the top of his head and begins to play.
The music is soft, trailing in and out like the winding curves of a river before it picks up into a quick rhythm that swells into something more intense. Gustave closes his eyes and just listens, allowing the swaying of Verso's body as he plays move him along with the music.
It's perfect, but there's something missing. Some part of the music that feels unfinished. It hits him with all the weight of a physical blow and he jerks his head up to stare incredulously at the side of Verso's face. The man is blushing furiously, red spreading across his nose even as he keeps playing. "Verso, did you write me a duet?"
Verso bites his lip, hands stilling on the piano keys. "I know you played the cello at some point. There's the one that you brought to the apartment from your old house that you never touch, and I just thought -well, I mean if we're going to be getting married we need a song right? I figured it might as well be something new, just for us, and maybe if it was something you could play too, that would be even better." He trails off, going quiet and raising his hands to hide his rapidly reddening face.
Every time Gustave thinks he can't love this man more, he goes and does something like this.
"You wrote our wedding song before you'd even asked me to marry you."
Verso makes an embarrassed sort of honking sound behind his hand and Gustave can't help but laugh at him. "Oh, it's not that bad. I think it's sweet." He tries to pry Verso's hands away from his face, peppering what skin he can reach with kisses. "You wanted to marry me so bad." Verso finally gives in and lets Gustave take hold of his wrists to pull his hands down. Gustave's next kiss lands on Verso's cheek.
"I did." Verso says. "I do. You're it for me Gustave. You have to know that by now." And he sounds so damn sincere that Gustave can't not kiss him again. Properly, this time.
"I do know." Gustave says. "I love you too."
Verso nudges him with his shoulder. "One more song?"
Gustave hums and puts his head back on Verso's shoulder. "Maybe just one more."
https://open.spotify.com/track/7bO1ibY9MdsFQcnxjNVXvs?si=f08eb59225cd4f78