#hellsmusing - lune

The last few hours had been rough, to say the least. They were trained to expect the worst from nevrons, but they were also trained in three man parties. He and Lune had managed to fight through and navigate the Continent well on their own, but it was a relief to find Maelle. Not only for the man power, but more importantly to see her again, alive and well. For the first time since waking up in the meadows, Gustave could breathe.

Camping was no longer an unbearable obstacle. Sleep still wouldn't come easily, but he was at least far less anxious than he had been that first awful night. Well enough to keep watch without being watched.

SLEEP THEMED STARTERS (accepting)

Rest. The chuckle that escapes him is involuntary; it certainly isn't funny. How did she expect him to rest when he had just watched their entire team mercilessly slaughtered only a few hours ago? How did she expect him to rest when Maelle was still out on the Continent somewhere? Possibly injured, maybe scared, or alone. They still weren't sure who left them the message at the Indigo Tree. How did she expect him to rest with so much uncertainty. How could she rest?

Maybe she couldn't. There wasn't a doubt in Gustave's mind that the beach haunted her just as much as it had him. But Lune was strong, or perhaps just more stubborn than him in that regard, unwilling to show a shred of weakness even after witnessing and narrowly escaping an awful tragedy.

Gustave admired her, but he also worried for her. "I'm fine," he said, for fifth, sixth, or seventh time that evening. It sounded less believable than it had the first time. "I can take first watch. You should get some sleep."

RANDOM MISCELLANEOUS DIALOGUE (accepting)

The last thing he expected to do when Lune tells a story, something she so rarely did, was spit out his coffee. She had always been so reserved, in control of her emotions. There were many ways that story could have ended, but never would he have guessed the real one.

Gustave wasn't a morning person. Not these days, anyway, when paranoia and alcohol kept him up most nights. He groaned irritably as sunlight poured into the bedroom, stabbing him through closed eyes. If it weren't for a weight against him, snuggling into his side, he would have turned his back to the window and gone back to sleep.

Wait.

Lazily hooking his arm around their shoulder, he quickly remembered the previous nights "activities" and who exactly was nestled beside him. It was odd -- Lune would always wake before him and leave before he could convince her otherwise -- but certainly not unwelcome. On one hand, they weren't exactly a couple. There was no reason for her to stay, but on the other hand it always left an ache in his chest to wake up the next morning to find the space next to him in the bed empty.

TYPES OF YEARNING (accepting)

Protocol meant absolutely nothing to him after the beach. The expedition meant nothing. His life meant nothing. His eyes opened, his heart was still beating, and yet he had never felt so numb trekking alone through the meadow. His body betrayed his mind, fighting with what little spite he had left, when really all he could think was: I could let this Nevron kill me right now, and it wouldn't even matter.

Gustave was ashamed that the worst parts of him wished it had at the time, or that Lune hadn't found him when she did. He would certainly be damned before he ever admitted it, and preferred to bury it as much as he could. If he had let the Nevron kill him, he would have never seen Lune again. If Lune hadn't found him, saved his life with that raw stubbornness and dedication, something he had come to admire in the years they'd been working together, they might not have found Maelle.

In such a psychologically compromised state, he wouldn't have blamed her for letting him go off on his own. Lune was right. The protocol existed for a reason, and while a part of him had felt a little guilty for arguing with her, baited her into choosing which protocol to break, it warmed his heart to know she didn't hold it against him.

"Duty demanded I leave you behind. My heart never did."

Some had doubts, but Gustave knew she wasn't heartless. Far from it. Although it was often guarded, hidden beneath the dedication for her life's work, Lune had a big heart. A beautiful heart. As he watches the flames of the campfire illuminate her features, embers dancing in her enchanting eyes, Gustave almost doesn't notice his fingers brushing against hers.

He doesn't remember sitting down this close to her. "I'm grateful you came along when you did," Gustave said, just barely above a whisper. For a moment, as steel fingers tentatively try intertwining her soft ones, he wonders if he should pull away. "For many reasons. The expedition, of course, but... It's nice to have a moment like this again."

send me a 📱and i'll tell you your muse's name in my phone and the last text they sent

CONTACT: Lune

TEXT PROMPTS (accepting)

Even if he set an alarm and made a promise to himself that he would go to bed at a reasonable hour, the alarm was always ignored and the promise broken. Getting his mind to switch off was a challenge in and of itself. He could set the work down physically, but he would always be going over it in his head. The next thing he knew it had gone on 1:30 in the morning and what brought his racing thoughts to a halt wasn't exhaustion, but a buzzing from his bedside table.

The last person to text him this late was Emma when she was working late and didn't want to take a late night cab home. As far as he knew she had actually left the office on time hours ago, yet it was still her name he expected to see on the screen when he reached for his phone.

Lune, however, while not the last name, came as a bit of a surprise. Even more so her message. It wasn't like her to be vulnerable, and after a few... interesting encounters that neither of them had been particularly good about discussing, he had to rub at his eyes a few times to make sure they weren't playing tricks on him. Frankly, as he carefully typed out a reply, he still wasn't entirely sure they weren't.

[ SMS: Lune, 1:34AM, 4/12 ] Is something wrong? Do you want me to come over?

[ SMS: Lune, 1:34AM, 4/12 ] Or you can come here. Either way, I can make you some tea or coffee.

WORKAHLIC STARTERS (accepting)

If it weren't for the fact that he (definitely both of them) were going on a twelve hour day, he might have argued with her. Between working out the kinks in the lumina converter and trying to help Lune triangulate the route of Expedition Zero, they'd had their work cut out for them. Nonetheless, that certainly didn't mean he didn't feel it. The exhaustion slowing him down, begging him to rest.

Gustave's eyes felt heavy. His own notes practically gibberish. Reading them again and again didn't help. He still had no idea what they said.

Despite what she said, though, he could tell the day was getting to Lune, as well. She was the hardest worker he knew, and Gustave also knew she would run herself ragged if there was nobody to stop her.

"I'll sleep when you sleep."