Chapter Text
Morning sunlight filtered through the dusty windows of her brother's old room as Maelle paced back and forth in front of the Canvas, clutching a letter. The clock in the hall would be striking 8 AM any moment, but there was nothing yet. She began to read the letter again, in case she'd missed something.
Maelle,
I am so, so, sorry. You have to know how much I hated what happened last night. What I did. I know how badly I must have hurt you. It must feel like I betrayed you, abandoned you.
But damn it, Maelle, you hurt me first! Emma and I asked you not to use your powers until we knew more, and you lied to us! You lied to me. And then you hurt our friends. I am so angry with you right now. We are people, Maelle, not dolls, not slaves, and not...not fucking ART, or whatever your family thinks we are. I thought you would understand that.
You should know that Lune was able to undo everything you did, even to Verso, so I know everything now. Please don't pretend that you were just trying to help. That's what Emma thinks, but I know you better. You thought, if you could make everything perfect, no one would leave you again. I understand that, you've lost so much already. But loss is the price we pay for love. You can't have one without the other, and if you try to hold on too tight, you'll lose everyone.
Verso, our Verso, is not your brother who died. He is an entirely different person who just happens to look the same. He deserves to get to be who he is, not forced to be someone else.
And Sophie? Sophie can hardly stand to look at me now, and I can't blame her. How could you think that I would want her against her will? That I would want you to change her for me? That is possibly the one thing that hurts the most.
So yes, I am very angry. But you're still my sister, and I won't leave you there alone. I'll promise never to lie to you again, if you'll make the same promise to me. We've made the outside of the Canvas in your world into a window of sorts. I'll be there to have breakfast with you tomorrow morning at 8, like always, and every morning after.
Gustave
It hurt to read, but...there was hope in it too. She knew she had messed up, but maybe it wasn't irreversible. Maybe there was room for forgiveness.
She looked at the clock, then back to the Canvas. 8:05, and still nothing. She'd already tried using her power to enter again, even though it made her weak and nauseous, but there was some kind of barrier in the way. Where was he? The knot in her stomach grew, and she continued to pace.
Five minutes later. No change. Maybe he'd changed his mind. Decided they were all better off without her. Tears were threatening to fall when she head a billowing sound, and then the blank black surface of the Canvas turned into a small room. She almost sobbed with relief as she saw Gustave fighting with a large, heavy piece of fabric. It must have been covering their side of the "window" he was talking about. Her heart clenched.
Gustave turned and saw her, and tried to wave. "Oh! Good! ...still here!" He was out of breath, and had to bend over to rest his hands on his knees. "Sorry...I'm late...ran here." He tried to straighten, then moved to the side of the room and slumped on the ground with his back against the wall. "Ugh! It's only been two months since I was sprinting around the Continent dodging nevrons. That should not have been that difficult!"
"I don't think people of your advanced age are supposed to run," Maelle said with a weak smile. Her lips moved, and her breath stirred the air, but the sound came from the box tied at her throat.
"Hey, it works!" Gustave exclaimed. Maelle touched the device and nodded. She had tried it out earlier this morning. "Also, not funny. Come, sit, my weak old eyes can barely see you back there."
Maelle looked around, then pulled an old trunk up next to the Canvas, and sat on the ground with her back against it, mirroring Gustave. She faced the other side of the room and let her hair fall over her face. If Gustave noticed, he didn't comment.
"Did something happen?" she asked. "I was afraid you'd decided not to come."
"What? No. Nothing happened," Gustave replied a little too quickly. Maelle turned slightly to examine him more closely. Seeing her look, Gustave added, "It was just a weird night, that's all."
"A weird night made you late?"
"...kind of a weird morning too."
Earlier
The first thing Gustave noticed when he woke up was that his nose itched. He opened his eyes a sliver and discovered that was because it was buried in Verso's chest hair. Oh. Right. That had happened. And apparently he'd used the man as a pillow afterward. Wonderful. He shifted up on his elbows, hoping he wasn't about to discover a puddle of drool, when Verso yawned, stretched, and opened his eyes.
"Hey," he said drowsily, and Gustave damn near melted. Oh no. Keep it together. Don't embarrass yourself.
"Hey," he replied. Then Verso smiled that stupid half-smile of his, and Gustave had to kiss him. Verso's arms came up around his back, and that was the extent of their conversation for a while.
Gustave had moved on to exploring Verso's neck and jaw a bit more closely, and he was vaguely wondering about returning some favors from last night, when Verso turned his head to look out the window. "Not that I'm not very interested in staying in this bed all day, but weren't you going to meet Maelle this morning?"
"Mmm. Not until 8."
"Um."
"Merde. I didn't set an alarm!" Gustave exclaimed while climbing over Verso to get to his closet.
"Well, you were a little distracted," Verso pointed out. "I'll throw some food in a bag for you."
After the quickest shower on record, Gustave ran into the kitchen still buttoning his shirt. Verso, as usual, still did not have a shirt on, and somehow that was even more distracting this morning than it had been every other time.
"Coffee's almost ready," Verso told him.
"No time," Gustave responded, grabbing his work bag by the door. He opened the door, paused, then closed it and ran back into the kitchen. He grabbed Verso for a kiss. "I'm leaving now," he said, not letting go.
"Yes," Verso agreed, also not letting go.
Gustave groaned and pressed his lips to Verso's one last time, before he pulled away and sprinted out the door.
"Is that why you didn't bring any breakfast?" Maelle asked.
"No, I- Oh." Gustave pictured the paper bag Verso had packed for him sitting on the counter as he ran out the door. "Merde."
"What in the world happened, Gustave? You're never like this."
"I told you, nothing. Where's your breakfast?"
"I'm not hungry," Maelle replied defensively. Gustave glared at her. "All right, fine, I'm a little sick to my stomach this morning."
"Are you sure that's all?"
"Yes, I'm sure! It'll pass in a day or two! I could have stayed in the Canvas for years longer before anything serious happened."
"You should have told me," Gustave accused.
Maelle didn't answer, and they were both quiet for a while after that.
"I'm sorry about Sophie," Maelle said to the floor. "Do you think you'll be able to work it out?"
Gustave sighed. "No. It's been over for a while now, and I think it will be forever this time."
"Oh." This was said so quietly her speaker didn't pick it up.
Gustave looked at Maelle, torn. "I don't want to tell you it's all right, because it's not, but...you should apologize to Sophie, not me. I'll be fine. I don't think we'd have lasted much longer anyway."
Maelle looked back at him, shocked. "What? How can you say that? You loved her so much, Gustave, I saw it!"
He sighed. "Yes, I did, and I still do, in a way, but..." He shrugged. "Sometimes love isn't enough." Maelle still looked like she didn't believe him. "I wish I could explain it better. People change and grow, and sometimes they grow apart. Sometimes what you wanted at one point of your life isn't what you want at another. So maybe I won't have Sophie anymore, but also, maybe that will make room for someone else."
Maelle looked at him, brow furrowed. He truly didn't seem upset. In fact, he seemed a little...hopeful? "Wait...is there someone else?"
That was when Verso opened the door. Gustave and Maelle both jumped.
"Hey!" Gustave said, approximately one octave higher than his usual tone. "What are you doing here, Verso?"
Verso stopped short as his eyes met Maelle's. He looked her over, and she turned away. He turned back to Gustave and raised an eyebrow at him. "You forgot your breakfast," he replied, tossing Gustave a paper bag.
Maelle took a deep breath. "Verso, I-" she started, but then couldn't seem to find the words to continue.
"Look, it works!" Gustave told Verso.
Verso frowned back at him. "The vowels are still flat. You said you fixed that."
"What-? It sounds fine!"
"It does not sound fine! How can you not hear that?"
"Maelle, tell him it sounds fine!"
"It-"
"I did not record and balance every soprano at the opera for it to sound fine, it's supposed to sound magical, and flat vowels are not magical."
"It's perfect, Verso!" Maelle called out through tears. "Both of you. It's perfect. Thank you."
Verso looked back at her, but he clearly didn't know what to say either. He looked down and shook his head. "Well. It's nice of you to say that. I'll make sure he fixes it." He turned and left.
Maelle looked back at Gustave, who was still staring after Verso. Before she could say anything, the door opened again, and Verso stuck his head in.
To Gustave, he said, "You should come by the Opera before the performance tonight. We can get dinner."
"Oh, uh, yeah. All right. That- that sounds great, yeah."
Verso smiled. "Good."
"Yeah."
"All right." And Verso left again.
Gustave was still staring at the door, and now his face was doing something very complicated. Maelle let out a strangled giggle, and then couldn't stop herself. Her peals of laughter were mixed with sobs. She had though she'd never get to talk to either of her brothers this way again.
"I'm sorry, what exactly is so funny?"
"I couldn't help it, you should have seen your face!" She started laughing again. "It sounded like you two were going on a date!"
Gustave turned, slightly panicked. "What? No, that's not- I'm not-"
Maelle's eyes widened as she put the pieces together. "Wait... You- and Verso?!"
Gustave stood and pulled out his pocket watch. "Wow, is that the time, I really have to go, bye Maelle, I'll see you tomorrow morning!"
"Gustave, wait!" She was laughing again.
"No, I'm leaving now, just going to cover this up-" He fought with the cloth for a moment, then tossed it back over the frame. "There we go. All right, bye!" Maelle heard the door open and close, followed by a thump that sounded suspiciously like someone banging their head on a door in frustration.
Maelle laughed again, then finally let her tears fall. Maybe she wouldn't be quite as alone here as she thought.