etraya | UN: ScielCandide

[ He starts out smiling, amused and indulgent — why not give Sciel another chance to tease him, to draw a card and read some ridiculous fortune? — but the more she speaks, the more his smile fades. Disharmony amongst your team—

Sciel has always had a way of seeing directly into his core, into all the things he doesn't say aloud. Maybe it's because they'd spent so much time helping one another through the worst moments of their lives; maybe it's simply her gift, true foresight.

Or maybe it's just dumb luck. Would that be worse? Would it make him feel less like she'd just poured a bucket of ice water over his head?

Too-long of a moment passes after she's finished her reading, before he exhales a sharp, unamused laugh and hauls a smile back to his face, flickering and uncertain. ]

If this is another prank, Sciel, it's...

You could do better.

[She's glad her face is on camera; it would feel stranger to say this and watch his face fall as she speaks from behind a curtain.

She lowers the card a touch, watching him over the video with a mild trepidation. It feels like the understatement of the century to say he did not enjoy that, but a small part of her wonders what he expected. Fortune-telling isn't a joke.]

Of course it isn't. [And, direct and sympathetic at once:] Bit of a knife and twist, though. Sorry.

Yeah.

[ Spoken on an exhale as he grimaces, more at himself than at her. ]

Not your fault, though.

[ Probably? There's always the chance Sciel simply decided to use the cards to tell him something she thinks he needs to hear. He doesn't think he's pushed her away enough for her to feel like she needs to take that kind of stance, but...

He shrugs, a small roll of his shoulders, as if it could be so easy to let those words slide off his back. ]

And here I thought I'd only have to worry if I asked you about love.

Mm. I could have said it a little... differently.

[She could have made up some new meaning for the card, too, but lying would have been worse, even if he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. Hasn't she done enough of that these days?

She puts the card down entirely, and folding her arms against the table uncomfortably to lean into the camera like she's leaning into him.]

I can still pull another.

[That IS a joke.]

But I definitely owe you a drink to go with that new wardrobe.

[ He lifts his hands in a more obvious shrug; a familiar gesture. Lately, it seems like he and Sciel can't manage even the most casual of conversations without him coming away from it feeling as though he's been knocked slightly askew, but maybe that's only to be expected. They still have to learn to be around each other in a world where none of their familiar driving forces really exist.

(Are they saving Lumiere? For whom?) ]

Why? To apologize for knowing me so well?

Besides. It's not as if there was anything all that bad in that reading.

[ They both know he has more flaws than simply feeling off-kilter with changes in his team. ]

[Because she made something fun unpleasant for him. But she won't drive it home if he wants to pretend it was fine; she just shakes her head, smiling.]

Because I like to drink with you and I suspect you like to drink with me.

[There had been a year or two in their lives where "don't drink alone" could have been tattooed on the insides of their eyelids, a reminder not to be stupid when all their relationships felt like they were going to pieces. What better antidote than wine and Lumière's ever-present demand to soldier on anyway?

That feels like a million years ago and the now, happening all at once.

She looks at him through the camera, at the shrug she's seen a million times, and wants to crush his ribs with a hug. Later.]

Did we really need a card to tell us you tend to take things on your own shoulders? I don't think so.

No, but maybe I'll finally listen to a card telling me to knock it off.

[ A little light joke — did the cards mention that he tends to avoid serious topics with humor at his own expense? he's sure that's in there, somewhere — but the look in his eyes is warm.

It would be impossible to count the number of nights past when Sciel had put him back together again over too many bottles of wine. Half the time they felt just like those bottles, empty and purposeless, but at least they'd been together. ]

And I think your suspicion is entirely accurate. A drink it is.

[ Or maybe a few. He's still trying to find a way to talk to her about Verso's absence, to gently pry into her thoughts about it, how she's feeling. ]

Maybe leave the cards behind, though.

If they could fix us that quickly I think we’d have to tough our way through more readings, get the whole “learning” thing over with. But yes. A drink and absolutely no cards.

[Maybe they straight up burn the Three of Pentacles. It might have been better to just draw Death, it might have felt a whole lot more positive.

A pause, leaning in like she’s sharing some secret:]

Are you home?

[Ridiculous if this is happening on opposite sides of a wall or two.]

[ No cards sounds like it's for the best. Maelle isn't the only one who's been in a strange mood lately, and he thinks it's even odds that a few cocktails in he might be morose or reckless enough to ask Sciel to read another fortune for him. ]

Almost. I've been out on one of the trolley lines.

[ Yes, he sat there for the a good chunk of the six hour loop. He had to, to accurately observe the system! ]

Will you wait for me there, or will you meet me out?

[Her fondness for him is equally on her face and in her voice, eyes half-lidded.]

Of course you are.

[She can only be glad that he’s spent his day out in the sunshine, touring the countryside and all of the strange buildings out there. Better than moping at home, or letting the walls close in on him.]

Out, I think. I’ll do one more reading and head over to the station. Unless you need something from home?

Just your fine company. Minus the cards.

[ One fortune-telling is enough for today! Not that he thinks he'll be able to escape a more casual one once they're a few drinks in.

Worth it. It's been too long since he and Sciel managed to go out and have some fun together. ]

Meet you at Harry's Hideaway in half an hour?

[Message received, friend! She laughs.]

Consider them well-hidden, where they cannot reach you. See you in half an hour!

[He doesn’t need to know the last reading is for her. For them. It makes her feel better. It’s strange to think about a proper night out, but maybe the exact thing they need to work some kinks out of the way they’ve been with each other.

So she’s there, in good spirits despite the little ripples of tension. A few minutes late, due to a silly mistake with the trains, but whatever. She lets herself into the bar and beelines for her friend, greeting him by slinging an arm around his shoulders for a hug.]

Have you mastered the trolleys yet? I went one stop in the wrong direction before I got on the right one!

[ He hasn't had a chance to order yet, is just sipping at the water they'd brought him right off the bat and snacking on a few of the salted nuts the server had set in front of him in a little dish. He's bellied up to the bar, dressed down in a pair of chinos and a long-sleeved button-down shirt that he'd rolled up above his elbows, and the material rumples easily under Sciel's cheery greeting.

Gustave suffers the half-hug with a crooking smile, hooks his foot around the rung of a stool next to him to pull it out for her. ]

Most of what I've figured out is that they need a better trolley system. It's absurd to take half the day to get around this place.

[ By the sound of it, he's more than willing to be the one to take that project on. ]

This okay? Or we can grab a booth.

[She slides onto the offered stool with a smile in turn, perching on it askew so she can angle herself to him. One of the pleasant things about a jaunt away from Lumière is being free from how buttoned up it is; she’s taking full advantage in a cropped tank top and breezy linen shorts.

She briefly glances over her shoulder at the empty booths and imagines peeling her thighs from the plastic seats.]

I’m fine with the bar if you are.

[She steals one of his nuts.]

I bet you could fix them up before the next mission. Did you ride the ones in San Fransisco? [Were those trains? Trolleys? She’s not sure she knows the difference.] Every time I saw them there was a line.

[ Gustave shifts the little dish of nuts closer toward her, letting her thieve as many as she likes. There's a folded menu in front of him, but he hasn't looked at it yet; he's not sure if this is going to be a night for wine or for something harder. ]

As many of them as I could, in San Francisco and everywhere else I went.

[ Trolleys, trains, trams; he'd taken them all, making notes and scribbling sketches as he went. ]

How was your last reading?

Considering we were only there for a month, that is a lot of different trains.

[She ignores the menu, too, her attention fixed singularly on him once she has something to nibble on.]

It was good. It was one of those cards that feels like a mistake until you let it roll around in your head for a little bit. But I think things are going to be okay.

[She’s certainly going to keep it in mind.]

I’m surprised I didn’t get more people balking at the whole thing.

And yet somehow, not enough.

[ He'll tease himself easily, leaning his metal elbow on the bar as he studies her. He can't be the only one surprised by a reading tonight, but it's good to know she hasn't had too much trouble. ]

I'm not. People here seem to be willing to go along with all sorts of things. And a reading from you isn't likely to be as harmful as some of the things Aurora's asked them to do... depending on the card, of course.

Or if you're throwing it at them, I guess. In which case it could hurt a lot.

Well, hopefully the next mission will be on a planet full of sapient trains. You can ask them anything you like about their engines and their wheels and their –– stacks?

[She has basically run out of train parts, so she leaves it there with a shrug, eyes on his. Despite their train's tracks having a few more dings to navigate, just looking at him makes her glad to be on it. And who doesn't love looking into Gustave's warm eyes? In Sciel's opinion, a good friendship includes plenty of time appreciating their beauty.]

You know, I was thinking about how there have been precious few opportunities to throw any cards around. Maybe the skeptics who call me a con artist would make for good target practice, so I don't lose my edge?

[1000% joking.]

Anyone who calls you a con artist deserves what's coming to them.

[ And if that happens to be cards flung at their head, well— who is he to try and stop Sciel from dealing with her own detractors however she sees fit?

A companion bot bartender rolls up, and he glances at the menu, then over at Sciel, lifting a genteel hand in her direction. ]

Ladies first. What would you like?

Hmm, hmm, hmm. [She leans over to look, arms folded against the bar, eyes running over a bunch of different cocktails. It’s such a pleasant mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar. What, pray tell, is Fireball? Guess she’ll find out.]

This one. [She holds it up to the bot, finger under the name, for it to see. She doesn’t know what bourbon is either but it at least sounds like a familiar word. She passes the menu back.]

Let’s hope the trolleys let drunks ride, mon amie.

Two, [ he tells the bot, before it wanders off to make their drinks. He has no idea what they're both in for, but at least they'll be taking this hit together.

Their orders in, he looks over at her, his eyes crinkling with his smile. ]

If they don't, then we'll stumble our way back. We've done it enough times back home, non?

And I think my back is still strong enough to carry you, if I have to. Whatever Maelle might say about me being an old man.

More times than I could count.

[She leans just enough to bump him with her shoulder.]

You know, I think she’s the old one at heart, the way she likes to wag her finger at our love for wine. But I’ll take the piggy-back, if you aren’t three sheets to the wind first!

If I am, I'll expect you to be the one carrying me.

[ He doesn't shift with that bump, just leans right back into her, letting her bounce gently off his shoulder. It's an absurd relief to know that two very strong drinks are coming their way, and that Sciel came out to be with him, after... well, after everything. ]

We're overdue for this, I think. So—

[ He couldn't be sly if his life depended on it, but there's a distinctly amused quirk to the corner of his smile. ]

—I'm grateful you're taking a whole evening out of your social schedule for a drink with an old friend.

That’s what all the training was for, you know, waste of time if you can’t sling a friend on your back and carry him across the island.

[And they are so sorely overdue. So much so that she can only roll her eyes to the ceiling and grin at his little tease. She can’t look innocent, not even close, but she’ll return her attention back to him and try it anyway:]

No idea what you’re talking about, I’m home and in bed every night by sundown. [She definitely did not creep in at three last night. Definitely was not out the door again by noon.] And even if I wasn’t, you’re still my absolute favourite.

So you're saying if we put a bell on the door, it won't ring in the middle of the night?

[ He couldn't care less, is just happy she's going out and having such a grand time. It's always been easy for Sciel to make friends, and if she ever did decide it was time to mend her broken heart and move on, she'd have no shortage of suitors.

And he's glad to see she isn't pining over Verso, hurting for more reasons than those affecting Maelle. He'd worried over it for a while; still does, if he's being honest. ]

I'll take it, for as long as I can hold onto the title.

[ Their drinks come, and he pushes hers over to her before lifting his own in a toast. ]

...What are we drinking to, again?

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