[ If she doesn't like the coffee, he can always just say that she must be better suited for a different type of roast, but still, the pressure is there! He absolutely will make a great cup of coffee, because no matter the vagrant life he's lead for awhile now, some refined tastes are difficult to forget.
When he does find the common room perhaps closer to fifteen minutes later, it's at least clear that he's had the chance to clean himself up, even if that does little to hide the fact that he hasn't slept since their arrival. ]
[Lune absolutely cleaned up well, almost as soon as she found out she could. This is one way to confirm that barefoot is, in fact, the default state and not simply the result of resource-starved circumstances. The expeditioner spends some time perusing the things available in the common area, before settling on a couch.
Closest she'd come to something this soft to rest on since leaving home was riding Esquie. When Verso comes, he can find her with her fingers pressed together as she stares at some invisible point on the ceiling, thinking. Mumbling.]
...The Leaf could be an advanced variation on the design of the radios expeditions used to be able to take out with them. More portable...easier to operate...
[ While he may not go barefoot in public when he can help it, he can still carry a light step, so when Verso walks in to find Lune clearly lost in thought, he keeps silent at first. At least when it doesn't involve panic over recent trauma, the way she tries to put together the puzzle pieces can be quite charming.
Even if he loathes these circumstances, even if he didn't bet on still being around to see her or the others, it's nice to see her having the opportunity to take a moment for...well, maybe rest isn't the right word...
Comfort?
He may be too used to watching others from afar, which is a difficult habit to break, but even he can realize when it may border on creepy, so he'll softly clear his throat to announce himself on stepping around the couch, leaning over to set the cup down on the aptly named coffee table. ]
[Good thing one of them knows when they've been watching too long. There's a beat after he speaks before she stops voicing contemplation to herself, and turns her gaze toward him. Ten minutes already?
Wherever does the time go.
Lune tips her head in acknowledgment before scooting toward the edge of the seat, reaching out to claim the cup Verso just set down.]
Cataloguing, really. It's clear we're going to see a lot of things that aren't exactly what we'd expect to see, on the continent or in Lumiere. [Clearly some wild things could be spotted on the continent, but this is a different kind of different. Lune lifts the cup and breathes in the scent of the coffee.] Mm. Thank you, Verso. For bringing this.
[ Any time being able to sidestep questions ought to be considered a win. Unless he's the one asking the questions, that isn't the same thing. Of course. ]
You're quite welcome. Hopefully it meets your approval.
[ Leaving a cushion's space between them, Verso finds a seat next to her on the couch, elbows propped against his knees while he holds his cup. It's a second cup for him, so it's steaming hot like hers, but there's always something about the aroma that's almost therapeutic, even while waiting for that first sip. ]
The, ah— coffee, that is. Not this place. Though, I can see why anyone would be charmed by it under the right circumstances.
[ Maelle's already ready to make this her new life with Gustave, it seems, and he has every reason to worry that Lune may feel the same. This is an uphill battle, and he has no cards to play at the moment, so he needs to be careful. ]
What do you think of it so far? These fae...'adopting' us?
[It can be so surprising to find out all the amenities taken for granted while living in Lumiére. One day, she could go to a bakery and read a paper. The next, she could be burrowing under a blanket near a fire and calling it a camp. So yes, what she’s found in the castle so far seems quite charming.
And yet, and yet.
Lune considers him, and then lets her eyes close as she enjoys the scent. Let the coffee cool a little yet before she takes a sip. When she speaks, she evenhandedly treats his question like any other opportunity to assess things for the team.]
I think it’s a chance, even if they tell us not to concern ourselves with our old lives. We can work on figuring out the pieces we missed in between - whatever obligations they’re expecting from us.
[And if her last memory from before opening her eyes in the fae realm is right - it doesn’t really matter if it’s been a hundred years, or if she ends up working on her mysteries in terms of years, does it? There’s always a chance that she could figure out what went wrong.]
What about you? I get the impression things are complicated enough for you without mixing adoptions into things.
[ Verso certainly doesn't believe anything the fae have to say about all that time passing, and even if that were so, the implications are different depending on which world they mean. But that, like so much else with him, remains locked in the vault with too many other secrets that would hurt more than help.
Instead, he tries to focus more on what is apparent. The information that they both have access to. If only more of that was pleasant knowledge. Like...cats, and monkeys. ]
Because Renoir is here? That's...
[ His sigh ripples across the coffee, breaking apart his murky reflection while he casts his gaze downward. ]
Him being here doesn't change anything. Things are still as they were, only some of the rules have been shaken up. New beings playing at gods. Our Expedition's a little smaller now.
[ Even with Gustave now filling in the ranks, they're still short a few others. He hates himself more as he continues with a glance in her direction, but Renoir isn't the only revived elephant in the room, per se. ]
It must mean something for you. To have your friend back again. I can imagine that makes this place seem more...amenable.
[Lune is silently doubting Verso when he claims Renoir's presence doesn't change anything. But it's true that the rules are different. And they do still have people unaccounted for. Except for...
To have her friend back. The only person that could be referring to is Gustave. Lune had thought she was watching people die in the hedge maze when he came across her, and at the time she'd thought one of those things was more believable than the other.
Lune's eyes snap open again, desperately reconsidering the facts, even as she tries to keep her voice smooth.]
[ Well, that certainly wasn't his smoothest moment. Here he had assumed that she would have since convened with Maelle and Gustave, but considering it's been something of a whirlwind since their very recent arrival, he should have been more cautious about bringing it up.
The assumption she made is the very same that Verso had considered when Maelle first told him, but whereas he had hoped it was an illusion... ]
Oh, they are playing mind games. But from what I could tell, it was really him.
[ Lowering his coffee, Verso watches her with a mixture of compassion and...something like regret. He can practically see the wheels turning. ]
[It has been a whirlwind, and in fairness - there hadn't been a thorough view of Lune dropping the ball on following up with people, when there'd only been five other people around her. And she'd still had to explain her distance to one of those people.
A fingertip taps the side of the cup, a little grounding fidget. One shake of her head, and then Lune will give him a nod.]
Fine - I'm fine. Changes some ideas. [Didn't scoop up expeditioners she thinks ended up in that unexpected Gommage, or Renoir for getting pushed into a void by Maelle and the Curator. It'd have to be...other reasons. She almost grumbles into her drink.]
[ He suspects she means 'fine' the same way any of them do when being forced to consolidate the onslaught of realizations being thrown at them in this new world. Who is he to judge? ]
I have a feeling he's as lost as the rest of us when it comes to what's going on here.
[ Probably far more lost, considering how much more knowledge the Expeditioners have gained since, well... ]
Which has me realizing, I didn't really ask you, before. About...what you last remembered. Before coming here.
[ Clasping the mug handle with one hand, his nod is slight as he sighs and leans back, rubbing at the back of his neck and down to the scruff of his beard in a gesture both thoughtful and frustrated. It isn't an act, even if the reason for it is entirely different from her own confusion. ]
Yeah, it... We did everything right. So I thought. I wish I knew what went wrong.
[ Truly, they had done everything right, hadn't they? So why are they still here? Or...somewhere else, rather? If anyone can help solve the mystery, Lune is a fit contender, even if he can't help her with all of the puzzle pieces in return. ]
I don't actually remember it. Maelle told me. Last I recall, it was the night before we entered the Monolith. [ A shrug. ] Apparently the fae are known for trading memories, so they must have done something, but I don't know what I would have traded. Unless it was the exchange for bringing us back, but I...doubt it.
[ Unless they do exchanges without consent. He wouldn't put it past them, since it doesn't seem like anybody else agreed to be brought here. ]
You don't think this is the afterlife, do you? Maelle seems to.
[Lune's eyes are on him as he moves, before dipping her gaze and going ahead to try a drink. If it's still on the hot side, oh well. She's done with waiting for her chance at enjoying the flavor.
Did she ever consider the possibility of an afterlife? She had always supposed when one died, it was simply over. If it was still possible to act, was it really death, or being sent to a void?]
This is a place, with a different kind of people and a different social structure than Lumiere. And no one knows what's after a Gommage for the person going through it. My first thought was..."so you go here."
But then there would be others...and Gustave didn't Gommage...
[ Or Monoco or Esquie. It's clear that this place houses more than humans. ]
Or any other past Expeditioners, for that matter.
[ Or Alicia. Why are the rest of his family members here, but not her? He can make an excuse for Aline, but...
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to any of it, which is frustrating. Would he want the others here, not necessarily, but he would like to find a pattern in the mosaic. At the moment, it's missing too many pieces.
Having nearly forgotten about his own coffee, he just stares ahead at seemingly nothing with a furrowed brow, lost in his own thoughts now. Verso can't accept this as an afterlife, either. He can't. Any hope for finding peace would evaporate if so, and then what would be left of him? Only madness? ]
[It'd be nice to see each of them right now. Each were more comforting than Lune in their own ways. She's nodding along, affirming his observation. So wholeheartedly in opposition to Verso's desire to find peace, and Lune doesn't even know it - and yet there's that certainty that death is when true rest finally comes.
At least now she gets to be restless with coffee.]
There is at least one other, though. [The tone of someone who had a stray memory catch its moment in the spotlight.] Someone who was going by "nevron" on those Leaves.
One more data point isn't a lot for a pattern, but it's a start.
[ It's fleeting, the ridiculous thought that if he were to chug the coffee right now, the excuse of burning his mouth and throat will buy him a window where he won't actually have to explain a damn thing.
But eventually, that would pass, and he'd still have the responsibility to say something. And if he supposed to play dumb for the millionth time? He can, of course, but what would be the point in this case? He's already talked to Clea about this, confirming that some things simply aren't worth hiding anymore, not when the risk of discovery is so high. It's no less private, no less painful than the subject of the rest of his family, but he's coming to acknowledge that some things are simply too far out of his control. It's going to come out, sooner or later, so he might as well get ahead of it.
So with a weighted sigh, Verso lurches forward to set the mug onto the table. The allure of it has been somewhat lost in the moment, as he barely casts Lune a pained glance before staring back at his abandoned coffee. ]
Clea...is her name. She can have something of a dark sense of humor, you might say, but she means well. She's someone who's on our side.
[Practically breathing it. Dark humor is something for everyone, isn’t it? Sometimes the sheer absurdity of existence requires an utterly inappropriate laugh. Even if things feel gloomy now, they would grow used to it, and things would have to take another turn for the worse for them to be shaken by it again.
At least, that’s how she sees it, as Verso stares down his cup. There’s something there, maybe something that would make him unsteady while holding that hot drink. Could have had an unfortunate accident, in that case.]
I don’t know - maybe you’re right. But what’s supposed to be ‘our side,’ now? The Paintress? Our hosts?
[ While surprised that the admission of knowing Clea doesn't immediately shower him with a suspicious line of questioning, he'll gladly take it as a win. Guiltily so, if it means he's earned back some of Lune's trust since the Renoir discovery.
Her actual questions are much easier to answer than the ones he was expecting, even if he as to admit to himself that he can't know for sure where Clea's position will be as time passes. She may be tempted by the lie of family one day, but for now at least, he's certain that she has his back. ]
Right now, at least, it means whatever side keeps Renoir from hurting you lot. She's helping me keep tabs on him, so we can find our footing and figure out what to do next.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
un: verso | text
Date: 2025-05-26 01:11 am (UTC)Have you tried the coffee here? It isn't terrible.
un: chanson
Date: 2025-05-26 01:34 am (UTC)Coffee at this hour, Verso?
[As if THAT'S why he'd have a hard time resting.]
It doesn't taste like fruit, like at the feast, does it?
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 01:48 am (UTC)I can indeed confirm that it doesn't taste like fruit.
Happy to make you a cup. At a more appropriate hour?
[ Except she's already awake so really what harm can it do now. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 01:53 am (UTC)How long do you need?
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 01:59 am (UTC)[ Well... ]
To make another cup? Maybe ten minutes. It really isn't worth it to rush. The longer the beans brew before pressing, the more robust the flavor.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 02:12 am (UTC)Brew it, and I'll meet you in the Unseelie common area.
[That should give her some time to get her head straight. And get distracted by something -]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 02:24 am (UTC)[ → action ]
[ If she doesn't like the coffee, he can always just say that she must be better suited for a different type of roast, but still, the pressure is there! He absolutely will make a great cup of coffee, because no matter the vagrant life he's lead for awhile now, some refined tastes are difficult to forget.
When he does find the common room perhaps closer to fifteen minutes later, it's at least clear that he's had the chance to clean himself up, even if that does little to hide the fact that he hasn't slept since their arrival. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 03:06 am (UTC)Closest she'd come to something this soft to rest on since leaving home was riding Esquie. When Verso comes, he can find her with her fingers pressed together as she stares at some invisible point on the ceiling, thinking. Mumbling.]
...The Leaf could be an advanced variation on the design of the radios expeditions used to be able to take out with them. More portable...easier to operate...
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 03:22 am (UTC)Even if he loathes these circumstances, even if he didn't bet on still being around to see her or the others, it's nice to see her having the opportunity to take a moment for...well, maybe rest isn't the right word...
Comfort?
He may be too used to watching others from afar, which is a difficult habit to break, but even he can realize when it may border on creepy, so he'll softly clear his throat to announce himself on stepping around the couch, leaning over to set the cup down on the aptly named coffee table. ]
Problem solving at this hour, Lune?
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 10:59 pm (UTC)Wherever does the time go.
Lune tips her head in acknowledgment before scooting toward the edge of the seat, reaching out to claim the cup Verso just set down.]
Cataloguing, really. It's clear we're going to see a lot of things that aren't exactly what we'd expect to see, on the continent or in Lumiere. [Clearly some wild things could be spotted on the continent, but this is a different kind of different. Lune lifts the cup and breathes in the scent of the coffee.] Mm. Thank you, Verso. For bringing this.
[It buys him time without questions.]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-27 12:15 am (UTC)You're quite welcome. Hopefully it meets your approval.
[ Leaving a cushion's space between them, Verso finds a seat next to her on the couch, elbows propped against his knees while he holds his cup. It's a second cup for him, so it's steaming hot like hers, but there's always something about the aroma that's almost therapeutic, even while waiting for that first sip. ]
The, ah— coffee, that is. Not this place. Though, I can see why anyone would be charmed by it under the right circumstances.
[ Maelle's already ready to make this her new life with Gustave, it seems, and he has every reason to worry that Lune may feel the same. This is an uphill battle, and he has no cards to play at the moment, so he needs to be careful. ]
What do you think of it so far? These fae...'adopting' us?
no subject
Date: 2025-05-27 03:23 am (UTC)And yet, and yet.
Lune considers him, and then lets her eyes close as she enjoys the scent. Let the coffee cool a little yet before she takes a sip. When she speaks, she evenhandedly treats his question like any other opportunity to assess things for the team.]
I think it’s a chance, even if they tell us not to concern ourselves with our old lives. We can work on figuring out the pieces we missed in between - whatever obligations they’re expecting from us.
[And if her last memory from before opening her eyes in the fae realm is right - it doesn’t really matter if it’s been a hundred years, or if she ends up working on her mysteries in terms of years, does it? There’s always a chance that she could figure out what went wrong.]
What about you? I get the impression things are complicated enough for you without mixing adoptions into things.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-27 04:03 am (UTC)Instead, he tries to focus more on what is apparent. The information that they both have access to. If only more of that was pleasant knowledge. Like...cats, and monkeys. ]
Because Renoir is here? That's...
[ His sigh ripples across the coffee, breaking apart his murky reflection while he casts his gaze downward. ]
Him being here doesn't change anything. Things are still as they were, only some of the rules have been shaken up. New beings playing at gods. Our Expedition's a little smaller now.
[ Even with Gustave now filling in the ranks, they're still short a few others. He hates himself more as he continues with a glance in her direction, but Renoir isn't the only revived elephant in the room, per se. ]
It must mean something for you. To have your friend back again. I can imagine that makes this place seem more...amenable.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-28 01:14 am (UTC)To have her friend back. The only person that could be referring to is Gustave. Lune had thought she was watching people die in the hedge maze when he came across her, and at the time she'd thought one of those things was more believable than the other.
Lune's eyes snap open again, desperately reconsidering the facts, even as she tries to keep her voice smooth.]
You've seen him? I...I'd thought he was a trick.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-28 01:41 am (UTC)The assumption she made is the very same that Verso had considered when Maelle first told him, but whereas he had hoped it was an illusion... ]
Oh, they are playing mind games. But from what I could tell, it was really him.
[ Lowering his coffee, Verso watches her with a mixture of compassion and...something like regret. He can practically see the wheels turning. ]
...Are you all right?
no subject
Date: 2025-05-31 12:23 am (UTC)A fingertip taps the side of the cup, a little grounding fidget. One shake of her head, and then Lune will give him a nod.]
Fine - I'm fine. Changes some ideas. [Didn't scoop up expeditioners she thinks ended up in that unexpected Gommage, or Renoir for getting pushed into a void by Maelle and the Curator. It'd have to be...other reasons. She almost grumbles into her drink.]
Going to have to ask him some things.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-31 12:41 am (UTC)I have a feeling he's as lost as the rest of us when it comes to what's going on here.
[ Probably far more lost, considering how much more knowledge the Expeditioners have gained since, well... ]
Which has me realizing, I didn't really ask you, before. About...what you last remembered. Before coming here.
[ A question he's going to no doubt regret. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-01 12:08 am (UTC)Merde.
[That's the best reaction. Lune is proceeding from an assumption, born from knowing she saw others going with her, an indiscriminate culling -]
Everyone was caught in another Gommage. Everyone.
[Her next admission is spoken slow, careful.]
I never thought I'd experience it. It was supposed to be success, or death on the continent.
[And they'd done it, they'd been so certain of it.]
spoilers so many spoilers!
Date: 2025-06-01 02:59 am (UTC)Yeah, it... We did everything right. So I thought. I wish I knew what went wrong.
[ Truly, they had done everything right, hadn't they? So why are they still here? Or...somewhere else, rather? If anyone can help solve the mystery, Lune is a fit contender, even if he can't help her with all of the puzzle pieces in return. ]
I don't actually remember it. Maelle told me. Last I recall, it was the night before we entered the Monolith. [ A shrug. ] Apparently the fae are known for trading memories, so they must have done something, but I don't know what I would have traded. Unless it was the exchange for bringing us back, but I...doubt it.
[ Unless they do exchanges without consent. He wouldn't put it past them, since it doesn't seem like anybody else agreed to be brought here. ]
You don't think this is the afterlife, do you? Maelle seems to.
fdjsklajf yes I failed to mark spoilers but they are HERE
Date: 2025-06-01 05:12 pm (UTC)[Lune's eyes are on him as he moves, before dipping her gaze and going ahead to try a drink. If it's still on the hot side, oh well. She's done with waiting for her chance at enjoying the flavor.
Did she ever consider the possibility of an afterlife? She had always supposed when one died, it was simply over. If it was still possible to act, was it really death, or being sent to a void?]
This is a place, with a different kind of people and a different social structure than Lumiere. And no one knows what's after a Gommage for the person going through it. My first thought was..."so you go here."
But then there would be others...and Gustave didn't Gommage...
no subject
Date: 2025-06-01 07:08 pm (UTC)Right... I don't understand why Sciel isn't here.
[ Or Monoco or Esquie. It's clear that this place houses more than humans. ]
Or any other past Expeditioners, for that matter.
[ Or Alicia. Why are the rest of his family members here, but not her? He can make an excuse for Aline, but...
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to any of it, which is frustrating. Would he want the others here, not necessarily, but he would like to find a pattern in the mosaic. At the moment, it's missing too many pieces.
Having nearly forgotten about his own coffee, he just stares ahead at seemingly nothing with a furrowed brow, lost in his own thoughts now. Verso can't accept this as an afterlife, either. He can't. Any hope for finding peace would evaporate if so, and then what would be left of him? Only madness? ]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-02 03:00 am (UTC)At least now she gets to be restless with coffee.]
There is at least one other, though. [The tone of someone who had a stray memory catch its moment in the spotlight.] Someone who was going by "nevron" on those Leaves.
One more data point isn't a lot for a pattern, but it's a start.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-02 03:29 am (UTC)But eventually, that would pass, and he'd still have the responsibility to say something. And if he supposed to play dumb for the millionth time? He can, of course, but what would be the point in this case? He's already talked to Clea about this, confirming that some things simply aren't worth hiding anymore, not when the risk of discovery is so high. It's no less private, no less painful than the subject of the rest of his family, but he's coming to acknowledge that some things are simply too far out of his control. It's going to come out, sooner or later, so he might as well get ahead of it.
So with a weighted sigh, Verso lurches forward to set the mug onto the table. The allure of it has been somewhat lost in the moment, as he barely casts Lune a pained glance before staring back at his abandoned coffee. ]
Clea...is her name. She can have something of a dark sense of humor, you might say, but she means well. She's someone who's on our side.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-03 03:21 am (UTC)[Practically breathing it. Dark humor is something for everyone, isn’t it? Sometimes the sheer absurdity of existence requires an utterly inappropriate laugh. Even if things feel gloomy now, they would grow used to it, and things would have to take another turn for the worse for them to be shaken by it again.
At least, that’s how she sees it, as Verso stares down his cup. There’s something there, maybe something that would make him unsteady while holding that hot drink. Could have had an unfortunate accident, in that case.]
I don’t know - maybe you’re right. But what’s supposed to be ‘our side,’ now? The Paintress? Our hosts?
no subject
Date: 2025-06-03 07:36 pm (UTC)Her actual questions are much easier to answer than the ones he was expecting, even if he as to admit to himself that he can't know for sure where Clea's position will be as time passes. She may be tempted by the lie of family one day, but for now at least, he's certain that she has his back. ]
Right now, at least, it means whatever side keeps Renoir from hurting you lot. She's helping me keep tabs on him, so we can find our footing and figure out what to do next.
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