[ She reassures him like— like a sister reassuring her little brother, like Clea giving a pep talk to him before his first recital, when the room had been spinning and he'd been sure he was going to walk out on stage and retch in front of everyone. She had been the only one whose words could reach him: firm, entirely honest. He'd never, not for a second, thought anything she'd said was a lie.
She wasn't lying to him just now, either. It doesn't hurt; she's careful with his Chroma, precise like a surgeon opening him up, taking him apart, and putting him back together again.
And then it's over, and she's talking to him again, authoritative like she expects him to nod unquestioningly like he used to when they were little. He feels the urge to, even, some deep-seated, inborn desire to follow Clea's lead.
But he doesn't. ]
I thought you wanted me to speak to her. Those are your words.
[ He shakes his head. ]
I'm not going to tell her what to do. I'm going to talk to her.
[ He's right. How annoying. Clea scowls slightly, a familiar facial expression that she often wears whenever something displeases her: When she errs, or when she is incorrect about something. ]
Fine. I was trying to convey that I don't care what she does as long as it mollifies Papa somewhat, but if you want to run into this emotionally, by all means do so. Don't blame me when it goes badly.
[ The real Verso had been like this too. Stubborn when it came to emotional matters. Insistent that he was right, in that tender heart of his, which frequently ended up broken. If he wants to take charge of the emotional aspect, fine. Maybe he is right: Sometimes the real Verso had been. He'd known what mask to put on, how to wheedle people into doing what he wished.
Her place is in the logistics. ]
Depending on how poorly it goes, you may need to leave Lumière.
[ She hopes not, but it is prudent to prepare. ]
You will need to find either the Gestral Village or Esquie's Nest. There are creatures there who will recognize you and help you.
[ Verso raises his fucking eyebrows. No one said anything about leaving Lumière. Certainly not about finding 'creatures' that will 'help' him. ]
Leave Lumière?
[ It seems... extreme. Admittedly, he's not entirely all-in on this plan to begin with; it's difficult to reconcile that Maman's presence here is somehow bad when she—and the rest of their family—seem so happy. Besides, Maman is reasonable. She just doesn't know the extent of what's going on outside the Canvas. Once Verso tells her, he's sure everything will be the way it should be.
And if that doesn't happen, like Clea's suggesting, he— well, he's not sure. ]
If Maman doesn't want to leave, I'm not certain there's anything I can do to make her.
[ Or perhaps he does, given what he follows up his objection with. Yes. Leave Lumière. It had been a suggestion for an action he could take to preserve himself, but if he doesn't wish to, Clea isn't going to wheedle. He isn't her brother. He is an echo. A copy. If he does stupid and dangerous things, that's his problem. Not hers.
Her problem is the remnants of their actual family.
Clea exhales. ]
I'm not certain either.
[ If nothing else, Clea admitting that should tell him how dire the situation is. She never admits to being uncertain about anything. ]
It is worth trying. I do not want to see this place torn apart, even if it has been sullied.
[ No, he doesn't know how unreasonable she can be. Maman is an artist, so of course she's quite emotionally sensitive, but he's never known her to be unreasonable—she's never had cause to be. Everything always just seems to go their way.
If she is as Clea says, then this whole thing is already doomed from the beginning. He can only hope that bias clouds Clea's judgment.
He raises an eyebrow at her last comment, a little surprised. ]
You like this place.
[ It's just that she's sounded so dismissive, so repulsed until now. Like this place is an affront to her reality. After all that, it's strange to hear her say that she wants it to remain intact. ]
[ She corrects. 'Like' doesn't begin to describe her feelings. It is a one-dimensional word for something so much deeper and more complex. It might be Verso's canvas, but she'd helped, every step of the way. Their parents had been busy: with their art and later on, with Alicia. She's the one who had sat with Verso and helped him bring his ideas to life. She's the one who had made the parts of the world that he couldn't figure out or had thought were boring.
The stars in the sky are hers. The passage of time. The flow of the wind.
They'd sculpted this place together, a playground far away from the difficulties of the real world. An escape just for the two of them, untouched by adult logic. Clea smells her childhood in the air, feels it dance across her arm with the breeze.
She'd fought here. Danced here. Dreamed here. And now everything that had been hers and his had been paved over with Maman's realistic cobblestones. ]
Verso and I made this place together, before Maman put Lumière here.
[ I made this place. It feels strange and wrong. There is a God who intelligently designed this world, but it's not the one that has cathedrals built for him. It's— his sister. Or something close enough that she feels like his sister, even though she isn't. He doesn't know where to begin with reconciling that and the life he's known up until now. ]
I'll talk to her.
[ About everything. About the truth of this place, about Alicia languishing outside the Canvas, about what really happened in that fire. Despite everything Clea has said, he still has hope—hope that Maman will see that she doesn't have to hide the truth, that she never had to hide the truth. She only needs to make sure that she's caring for the family outside the Canvas, too. Then everyone can be happy. Together. ]
[ Will it work? Clea doesn't know. Even if Aline can't unmake Verso, she can just create another one. It's a thin thread of hope, and Clea can't find it in herself to become too attached to it: Hope has been proven false. Hope and optimism are tricks. Still, it costs nothing and might prevent a deterioration of the situation, so it's worth trying.
She crosses her arms, putting a barrier between her and the thing that thinks it's her brother. It isn't him, and she's not abandoning him. He has that farce of a copy of her for that, if she actually has any meaning, which Clea often doubts. She's likely there for memory scaffolding. ]
[ 'Does it matter'. It's a childish thing to say, and it gets a childish response. Like they're kids again, arguing about whatever they can find to argue about, just because they were enduring the irritability of adolescence. This feels a lot more fraught than Clea complaining that he dripped paint on the floor, though.
Flat, petulant: ] No, of course not. You've just flipped my world upside down and sent me on a far-fetched quest, that's all.
[ Obviously, he's the unreasonable one here for expecting some sort of ongoing support. ]
[ Clea fights the urge to groan, instead rubbing the spot between her eyebrows in a familiar gesture to fight off a headache that was rapidly forming because someone around her was being idiotic. He's being petulant. Apparently Aline did imbue the copy with her brother's same blindness to things like 'priorities' and 'thinking more than a week in advance.'
She rolls her eyes and speaks in an over-the-top syrupy tone of voice that's clearly sarcastic. ]
I'm sorry, I forgot you were the center of the world. I'll be here every day, reading you bedtime stories and telling you how good you're doing. Aline's career, getting information on the people who are trying to kill us all, and trying to keep Alicia alive are far less important than your feelings.
[ Grow up.
Can he grow up?
It's uncertain. If Aline intermingled him with the part Verso that remains here, he might be forced into permanent childishness. Clea shudders at that. Yes, she definitely needs to get her work away from her parents. ]
[ Verso wants to snap back, and it's evident in the grind of his teeth, the way his hands clench and unclench. He restrains the urge. It won't accomplish anything. She'll just roll her eyes and condescend to him again. Whatever warmth there is between him and his Clea, it doesn't exist with her. His Clea is his closest confidante, but clearly, Maman made some important edits while creating her. ]
Fine, [ he says as he takes a step back, looking mopey and miserable, like a sad dog out in the rain who's waiting to be invited in. He knows Clea will think him overwrought and melodramatic for it, but he can't help it. ]
[ Because he is moping, she can see it. She has seen it, in her actual brother. It's manipulative and she doesn't appreciate it: Any time he doesn't get what he wants, he withdraws and sulks in an attempt to guilt everyone around him. He's moping and he wants to yell at her. As though she had caused any of this. ]
Time moves faster here than outside. You can take some time to think.
[ It's a small concession, but a concession nonetheless. ]
My presence here is not going to improve the situation.
[ And it will break her. She can tell. She feels herself straining when she looks at him. He's so much like him, sometimes she catches a glimpse and her heart sings before she remembers.
They don't have time for her grief, so she won't indulge in it. ]
[ Yes, he's moping. And he feels justified for it—Clea has just turned his entire world upside down and inside out with this information, and he longs to discuss it more with her, although he knows she won't be amenable to it. Of course, she wouldn't think that it matters. His questions have nothing to do with achieving her goal here. They're only to satisfy his own curiosity, help him slot the pieces here into place.
And yes, he's curious about her in particular. About the ways in which someone from Lumière—he has not yet begun to think of them as Painted, although he understands on some level that that's what they are—might differ from their counterpart. Are there parts of Clea that are unique to her, missing from her facsimile? Are there parts of him that are lacking, too?
He says none of this. ]
You sound as if you're trying to convince yourself, [ he points out instead, eternally annoying. ]
[ She could pretend that he's wrong, but it would be false. She is convincing herself, because the part of her that wants to mire herself in this mess should not be listened to. It is a weakness borne out of grief and not to be indulged. They can't afford for her to indulge her weaknesses: Everyone else is already doing so.
Someone needs to be reasonable. Logical. Take care of the manners that need to be attended to instead of throwing a tantrum. ]
Some of us can't indulge our every whim.
[ It doesn't even matter. He has a pale imitation of her. Either there's enough similarity that it's an acceptable substitute (the idea makes Clea visibly shudder), or it's little different than a servant crossed with a dog, in which case he would be put off by her lack of subservience.
The only reason she hesitates at all is he wears her brother's face. Uses his voice. A face and voice she thought she'd never see again. She has to remind herself that she still hasn't. Aline is insane, but she is talented. As are many great artists. ]
Well, you know me. I love indulging my every whim.
[ She acts as if she's the only one who feels any responsibility here! Yes, her responsibilities are outside this Canvas and his inside, but the weight she's just placed on his shoulders is a large one. A weight that would feel lesser if shared, but—
Clearly, that's not the way this is going to go. ]
All right. [ It's more resignation than acceptance.
Unable to completely rid himself of the fraternal affection he feels, there's a little disappointment in his voice as he says, ] Then adieu, Clea.
[ She bites her tongue, tasting blood. He does indulge his every whim, including his whims to sulk. To wheedle, and to manipulate. To inspire guilt in others who had never asked for it. It would be an unfair retaliation: He is not her Verso and who other than Aline knows how deeply he resembles him? (To answer that question is a path to madness that Clea refuses to walk.)
There is something interesting in the distance. It makes it far clearer where Alicia's manipulative tendencies come from. Her desire to be coddled. ]
I will check back at an appropriate time. Adieu.
[ She does not use his name. That name belongs to someone else, someone she is not ready to say goodbye to yet. The woman's form slowly dissolves away, leaving only yellow petals, shimmering with Chroma, on the ground nearby his feet. The rest of Lumière continues on with their lives, unaware of the monumental shift that had just happened. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
She wasn't lying to him just now, either. It doesn't hurt; she's careful with his Chroma, precise like a surgeon opening him up, taking him apart, and putting him back together again.
And then it's over, and she's talking to him again, authoritative like she expects him to nod unquestioningly like he used to when they were little. He feels the urge to, even, some deep-seated, inborn desire to follow Clea's lead.
But he doesn't. ]
I thought you wanted me to speak to her. Those are your words.
[ He shakes his head. ]
I'm not going to tell her what to do. I'm going to talk to her.
[ It'll go great. ]
no subject
Fine. I was trying to convey that I don't care what she does as long as it mollifies Papa somewhat, but if you want to run into this emotionally, by all means do so. Don't blame me when it goes badly.
[ The real Verso had been like this too. Stubborn when it came to emotional matters. Insistent that he was right, in that tender heart of his, which frequently ended up broken. If he wants to take charge of the emotional aspect, fine. Maybe he is right: Sometimes the real Verso had been. He'd known what mask to put on, how to wheedle people into doing what he wished.
Her place is in the logistics. ]
Depending on how poorly it goes, you may need to leave Lumière.
[ She hopes not, but it is prudent to prepare. ]
You will need to find either the Gestral Village or Esquie's Nest. There are creatures there who will recognize you and help you.
sorry for musty and crusty old tag!!!
Leave Lumière?
[ It seems... extreme. Admittedly, he's not entirely all-in on this plan to begin with; it's difficult to reconcile that Maman's presence here is somehow bad when she—and the rest of their family—seem so happy. Besides, Maman is reasonable. She just doesn't know the extent of what's going on outside the Canvas. Once Verso tells her, he's sure everything will be the way it should be.
And if that doesn't happen, like Clea's suggesting, he— well, he's not sure. ]
If Maman doesn't want to leave, I'm not certain there's anything I can do to make her.
no subject
[ Or perhaps he does, given what he follows up his objection with. Yes. Leave Lumière. It had been a suggestion for an action he could take to preserve himself, but if he doesn't wish to, Clea isn't going to wheedle. He isn't her brother. He is an echo. A copy. If he does stupid and dangerous things, that's his problem. Not hers.
Her problem is the remnants of their actual family.
Clea exhales. ]
I'm not certain either.
[ If nothing else, Clea admitting that should tell him how dire the situation is. She never admits to being uncertain about anything. ]
It is worth trying. I do not want to see this place torn apart, even if it has been sullied.
no subject
If she is as Clea says, then this whole thing is already doomed from the beginning. He can only hope that bias clouds Clea's judgment.
He raises an eyebrow at her last comment, a little surprised. ]
You like this place.
[ It's just that she's sounded so dismissive, so repulsed until now. Like this place is an affront to her reality. After all that, it's strange to hear her say that she wants it to remain intact. ]
no subject
[ She corrects. 'Like' doesn't begin to describe her feelings. It is a one-dimensional word for something so much deeper and more complex. It might be Verso's canvas, but she'd helped, every step of the way. Their parents had been busy: with their art and later on, with Alicia. She's the one who had sat with Verso and helped him bring his ideas to life. She's the one who had made the parts of the world that he couldn't figure out or had thought were boring.
The stars in the sky are hers. The passage of time. The flow of the wind.
They'd sculpted this place together, a playground far away from the difficulties of the real world. An escape just for the two of them, untouched by adult logic. Clea smells her childhood in the air, feels it dance across her arm with the breeze.
She'd fought here. Danced here. Dreamed here. And now everything that had been hers and his had been paved over with Maman's realistic cobblestones. ]
Verso and I made this place together, before Maman put Lumière here.
[ Clea pauses, pursing her lips together. ]
I'm tired of having our memories overwritten.
no subject
I'll talk to her.
[ About everything. About the truth of this place, about Alicia languishing outside the Canvas, about what really happened in that fire. Despite everything Clea has said, he still has hope—hope that Maman will see that she doesn't have to hide the truth, that she never had to hide the truth. She only needs to make sure that she's caring for the family outside the Canvas, too. Then everyone can be happy. Together. ]
Will you be back?
no subject
[ Will it work? Clea doesn't know. Even if Aline can't unmake Verso, she can just create another one. It's a thin thread of hope, and Clea can't find it in herself to become too attached to it: Hope has been proven false. Hope and optimism are tricks. Still, it costs nothing and might prevent a deterioration of the situation, so it's worth trying.
She crosses her arms, putting a barrier between her and the thing that thinks it's her brother. It isn't him, and she's not abandoning him. He has that farce of a copy of her for that, if she actually has any meaning, which Clea often doubts. She's likely there for memory scaffolding. ]
Does it matter?
no subject
Flat, petulant: ] No, of course not. You've just flipped my world upside down and sent me on a far-fetched quest, that's all.
[ Obviously, he's the unreasonable one here for expecting some sort of ongoing support. ]
no subject
Oh my God.
[ Clea fights the urge to groan, instead rubbing the spot between her eyebrows in a familiar gesture to fight off a headache that was rapidly forming because someone around her was being idiotic. He's being petulant. Apparently Aline did imbue the copy with her brother's same blindness to things like 'priorities' and 'thinking more than a week in advance.'
She rolls her eyes and speaks in an over-the-top syrupy tone of voice that's clearly sarcastic. ]
I'm sorry, I forgot you were the center of the world. I'll be here every day, reading you bedtime stories and telling you how good you're doing. Aline's career, getting information on the people who are trying to kill us all, and trying to keep Alicia alive are far less important than your feelings.
[ Grow up.
Can he grow up?
It's uncertain. If Aline intermingled him with the part Verso that remains here, he might be forced into permanent childishness. Clea shudders at that. Yes, she definitely needs to get her work away from her parents. ]
no subject
Fine, [ he says as he takes a step back, looking mopey and miserable, like a sad dog out in the rain who's waiting to be invited in. He knows Clea will think him overwrought and melodramatic for it, but he can't help it. ]
Good luck, Clea.
no subject
[ Because he is moping, she can see it. She has seen it, in her actual brother. It's manipulative and she doesn't appreciate it: Any time he doesn't get what he wants, he withdraws and sulks in an attempt to guilt everyone around him. He's moping and he wants to yell at her. As though she had caused any of this. ]
Time moves faster here than outside. You can take some time to think.
[ It's a small concession, but a concession nonetheless. ]
My presence here is not going to improve the situation.
[ And it will break her. She can tell. She feels herself straining when she looks at him. He's so much like him, sometimes she catches a glimpse and her heart sings before she remembers.
They don't have time for her grief, so she won't indulge in it. ]
no subject
And yes, he's curious about her in particular. About the ways in which someone from Lumière—he has not yet begun to think of them as Painted, although he understands on some level that that's what they are—might differ from their counterpart. Are there parts of Clea that are unique to her, missing from her facsimile? Are there parts of him that are lacking, too?
He says none of this. ]
You sound as if you're trying to convince yourself, [ he points out instead, eternally annoying. ]
no subject
[ She could pretend that he's wrong, but it would be false. She is convincing herself, because the part of her that wants to mire herself in this mess should not be listened to. It is a weakness borne out of grief and not to be indulged. They can't afford for her to indulge her weaknesses: Everyone else is already doing so.
Someone needs to be reasonable. Logical. Take care of the manners that need to be attended to instead of throwing a tantrum. ]
Some of us can't indulge our every whim.
[ It doesn't even matter. He has a pale imitation of her. Either there's enough similarity that it's an acceptable substitute (the idea makes Clea visibly shudder), or it's little different than a servant crossed with a dog, in which case he would be put off by her lack of subservience.
The only reason she hesitates at all is he wears her brother's face. Uses his voice. A face and voice she thought she'd never see again. She has to remind herself that she still hasn't. Aline is insane, but she is talented. As are many great artists. ]
no subject
[ She acts as if she's the only one who feels any responsibility here! Yes, her responsibilities are outside this Canvas and his inside, but the weight she's just placed on his shoulders is a large one. A weight that would feel lesser if shared, but—
Clearly, that's not the way this is going to go. ]
All right. [ It's more resignation than acceptance.
Unable to completely rid himself of the fraternal affection he feels, there's a little disappointment in his voice as he says, ] Then adieu, Clea.
Et fin?
There is something interesting in the distance. It makes it far clearer where Alicia's manipulative tendencies come from. Her desire to be coddled. ]
I will check back at an appropriate time. Adieu.
[ She does not use his name. That name belongs to someone else, someone she is not ready to say goodbye to yet. The woman's form slowly dissolves away, leaving only yellow petals, shimmering with Chroma, on the ground nearby his feet. The rest of Lumière continues on with their lives, unaware of the monumental shift that had just happened. ]