[ Clive hears the sound of the piano bench scooting, takes it as his cue to turn around and approach, and―
―well, maybe it's funny how much a six-foot man built like a broadsword can resemble a pup in an inflatable pool. A wide-eyed wolfdog, slightly overwhelmed by getting his paws wet for the first time. He glances down at his hands, still thick-fingered and callused and littered with scars, old and new, speaking of violence far more clearly than creation, and flexes them once, twice, before letting himself move to position.
The bench gives under his weight. He's taller than Verso by an inch or two, and so the seat needs adjusting; he doesn't try to figure it out, despite it. Apprehensive and careful, as if doing anything out of turn could cause the setup in front of him and beneath him to break. ]
How they resonate, and what they remind me of. [ A slow parroting, as he places one hand on smooth keys. ] ...Then, decide what to play.
[ His head tips, telegraphing hesitation. Only for a brief moment, though; he exhales a beat later, and rights his posture the way he does before battle.
He has no idea where A4 and D5 fall on the map of black and white in front of him, but that seems far less important than stumbling onto them, so― he starts, index stumbling onto C4, then moving up in a basic do-re-mi; his brain recognizes that particular sequence, and he smiles about it as he tries it with other continuous notes, getting the gist of the scales before he lets himself deviate and skip, making dissonant noise instead of anything resembling a tune.
Eventually, he finds A4. He slides up and down along it, A4 to E5, which conjures the memory of the gentle melody that Verso had hummed for him before, the music he'd said was inspired by Clive. Clive tries to recreate the first three notes of it, plunking around haphazardly until he manages a clunky sequence that he repeats a few times before letting his heart wander again. ]
...Like a child with a training sword, [ he murmurs. ] Not too unbearable for you, I hope.
[Not too unbearable, Clive says, and Verso hooks his chin to guide him into a kiss. Maybe his playing is clunky and haphazard, but Verso isn't paying attention to that, too focused on the familiarity that floods him after the first few repetitions. His song for Clive, memorised and replayed, even though he's only ever delivered it in the low rumble of his own voice, so different from the piano.
It's sweet. Nothing like a child with a training sword as far as he's concerned, just a soft man with battle-rough hands finding another of those infinite ways of saying I love you, or at least something adjacent.
Verso thinks he might add this interpretation to the final version. Those little imperfections in the melody speak to the ones between them, both shared and unshared, and it adds a nuance to the song that he probably wouldn't have considered adding on his own. Something vulnerable that he can't put his finger on, but that he appreciates all the same.]
More like a man after my heart.
[He teases, though he's not sure if it's directed more inward or outward. Regardless, he moves to stand behind Clive, leaning his weight against his back, reaching his right hand over to rest his fingers on the keys.]
You've got a good sense of sequence and sound, so let's start there.
[Verso will spend a while guiding Clive through a sequence of 10 notes, all played with the right hand, a warm up-down-up, a light at the end of the tunnel. There's no melody to them, just note after note after note, any easy enough memorisation task. Once achieved, he rests a hand against Clive's back.]
Now, rhythm. Start playing once you think you've got it. Just your right hand.
[His pointer finger taps a 10-note sequence in constant repetition upon Clive's shoulder.]
[ A bit difficult, to have to pay attention to ivory keys while the man he loves drapes himself against his back. Clive's focus slips from his hand to the warmth of the weight leaning on him and the twinkling tickle of Verso's voice near his ear, but tempers it by invoking the stern, disapproving ghost of Sir Rodney in his mind's eye. "Concentrate, Clive."
He sits up a little straighter. Sequence and sound. Right. Rhythm, too― a waterfall of notes played one after the other, to be configured and changed as Clive sees fit. Not quite a song, but a way for Clive to get acclimated to the process. Learning to lace his boots before he starts running, almost.
So, he laces. Tucks his thumb and stretches his hand the way he saw Verso do it, climbing his hand up and down the keys in time to the tapping on his shoulder. When he's more confident that his fingers have remembered how to move without stumbling, he changes the pace to delight in how that shifts everything, how just a simple slowing down or speeding up can alter the entire gradient of even a tuneless progression. ]
Ah, [ is a soft exclamation, infused with childlike near-delight. It's probably embarrassing to be so impressed by something so basic, but he can only be honest. ] I think I've got it.
[ Quickly, slowly. Staggeringly, then more confidently. Mischievously, as he skips the last note and hits a note two keys over instead; that reminds him a bit of Verso, actually, when he tries to trip Clive up by doing something sweet and impish. Smiling, Clive tries for a different sequence that emulates that same feeling, an orderly progression that breaks for one high, starlit note that lingers and warms his heart.
He glances sideways and up, trying to catch Verso's eye. ] I can see how you might get lost in the process.
[It's not much easier standing behind Clive, but then it doesn't have to be. Verso doesn't need to focus his fingers the keys or his rhythms to some music he's never learned, he only needs to observe, and to feel the way Clive straightens, to see how he moves his hands and reveals observations Verso hadn't realised he'd been making, to sense that shift in him when he starts taking his own creative liberties.
Fuck, he loves him. Clive doesn't just catch Verso's eyes, he captures his heart for the second time in such sort sequence that it's nearly dizzying.]
It's really something else, huh?
[Something heartbreaking. Something heart-restorative. The fingers of his left hand ghost over the keys Clive had chosen on his own, not playing them because he doesn't want to change how they sound in his memory, and then he's lifting them away so that he can shift to the the other side and place his left hand on the keyboard.]
Left, now.
[The process repeats. A memorisation of a different sequence of ten, unique in pattern from the other. A new, complementary rhythm tapped upon Clive's shoulder. More weight and warmth and observations as Clive's fingers familiarise themselves with the keys and Verso's heart familiarises itself with the sound of Clive's music. And, inevitably, a progression to the next level.]
You still remember what you played with your right? Because it's time to play both parts at once.
[There's an impish quality to his voice. A light in his eyes, though Clive probably can't see it shine. Hand synchronicity. Perhaps piano's bloodiest battlefield. He's curious to see what happens.]
[ Clive is getting a better idea, now, of how intoxicating it must be to make music. How all-consuming it might be, too, and how bone-cuttingly lonely it might be to not be able to share it, or to have nothing to draw on from within oneself but sorrow or melancholy to make this complex instrument scream instead of sing. As he practices and finds new ways that the piano can surprise him, Clive counts his blessings that Verso has retained his ability to play; to think of Verso not being able to express himself is now fucking unbearable given this fresh context.
That momentary twinge of his heart shows itself in a stumble, a misstep in a downwards sequence that makes Clive laugh despite himself― oh, it really is impossible to lie when sat in front of an instrument so honest.
Resolve renewed, he putters along with his non-dominant hand. There are more misses this time around, and he sighs when his less-deft hand skids against a key and muddies the note as a result, but the process still remains enjoyable, novel―
―that is, until he's told to use both hands at the same time. Funny, because this usually would be the kind of request he'd jump to fulfill in other contexts. ]
I was wondering when you'd start channeling Cid.
[ Not a grouse, entirely. Clive might not be as competitive as Verso, but he knows that he excels when he pushes himself; he needs a good challenge to break through his self-imposed limits, to keep him from treading familiar ground over and over again.
So. Do or die (it really isn't that serious, but Clive will be Clive). He shifts on the bench, letting leather squeak under his weight as he poises himself and tries to remember where his right hand should be. Once he gets oriented, he lets his fingers start talking.
It's tentative, at first. The lack of confidence translates to the slowness and the poorness of the sync: a constant is this right? am I doing this correctly? But as the attempts progress, Clive pushes past the initial embarrassment and lets himself make the errors as they come, pushing past them the way he'd used to on the training grounds behind his family home, with scraped knees and bloody palms. Come on, Clive, you can do this.
A few more tries later, and he manages a perfect sync at a respectable pace. This time, it isn't near-delight that paints his face: it's full delight, as he glances up again at Verso for his approval. If he had a hound's tail, it would be wagging. ]
[That smile – merde, that smile. Verso reaches down to brush Clive's hair back away from his face only so he can better see the way his eyes brighten to match. How anyone could look at that man and see something that deserved casting aside – how anyone could see someone whose purpose is to live with a sword at his back and blood on his hands – has never been further beyond his understanding than it is right now. The only thing he thinks he understands better is why Clea chose him. That contrast, that tragedy, that subversion.
He presses a kiss to the crown of Clive's head and casts all thoughts of Clea aside.]
Mm, I think we can promote you to found cause.
[He teases at the double meaning, comfortable enough in this honesty they've been establishing to put it to words, even if the tone he uses carries a little more humour than heartfeltness. Baby steps; you can teach an old, sad forestman new tricks, but it might take a while for them to fully take form.
Really, though, he's impressed, which rings through in his voice, too, through fond delight. They share so much that Verso hadn't expected he'd share again, a consequence of the one-man existence he'd committed himself to eking out, but to experience – not just to hear and see and feel but experience – Clive taking so wonderfully to music is something else, that nebulous more requested by Clive but now greedily, if quietly, claimed by Verso.
But, now for the song as a whole, for the coda, for the lesson that exists in Verso's own playing. Taking a seat on the left side of the bench, he scoots Clive over a bit with his hip – far enough away to give Verso comfortable access to the keys he needs, not far enough down to make it difficult for Clive to reach his own.
Verso looks over, a competitive gleam to his eyes.]
Now, try to overtake me without deviating too much from those same notes.
[The part he performs is all drama and bravado, but in an almost silly way, the kind of music that'd be appropriate in a comedic opera that had an underlying darkness to it, a human element that made the comedy almost tragic. But it also feeds off of and into the short sequence he's taught Clive, though in sets of 30 notes instead of 10, each different from the other.]
[ Verso has a boyish penchant for being held, and Clive, in his heart of hearts, blooms when he's praised. Despite his complicated relationship with self-worth, and how he usually deflects words of gratitude or acknowledgment by insisting, truthfully, that he's only ever doing what needs doing, the child in him that always flourished when his father placed a shoulder on his hand or when his brother cheered him on from the sidelines delights when someone he cares for says anything adjacent to good job.
In Verso's voice, punctuated by a kiss, it's pure serotonin. Selfishly and shamelessly (or so Clive thinks), he basks for a moment in that tease-adjacent compliment as he makes way for the other man's presence on the bench, and takes an indulgent moment to loop one arm around Verso's waist as he gets situated.
Just a moment. They still have music to make, and Verso is upping the stakes again.
It is, as ever, pure magic when piano-loved fingers start stitching a melody from thin air; even more so, as Clive realizes more and more that the process is less about playing than it is about making. Spontaneous, malleable, infinite. He almost finds it a shame to have to mar Verso's playing with his own, because he does― his first faltering attempts to merely keep up sound like clumsy trampling― but he tells himself to derive satisfaction from trying, instead of attempting anything approaching 'good'. Verso isn't looking for 'good', he assumes.
Same notes, different cadence. He tries to make the movement of their fingers a conversation, simple as his arsenal of musical words are. The comedic melody bounces, simmers, then sweeps high again: a chuckle, a sob, and a howl of laughter to hide that brief break.
It's fun. Clive has no earthly idea if what he's doing is alright, or if Verso is adjusting himself to match Clive's playing, but it matters less and less as they go on; he laughs when his pinky almost brushes against Verso's thumb, and he dodges that collision like a well-timed sidestep. ]
You're far too fast.
[ A mirror of their fighting styles, almost: Verso, fleet on his feet, overtaking enemies with lightning-fast precision, whereas Clive overwhelms through strength and persistence. He tries to channel some of that now, adding firmness and weight to his sequence as Verso flies over the keys, the anchor to his partner's playfulness. ]
[Impish ball of trouble and mischief though Verso often proves to be, he tries avoid venturing into jerk territory. Usually, he even succeeds. Like now. There's a competitive impulse that rises to prove the extents of that speed Clive accuses him of having, a you ain't seen nothing yet response to something that isn't even a challenge to begin with. Not quite his own chasing of praise, but something that probably from his parents' inclination towards encouragement through criticism. Be good. Be perfect.
He doesn't have to, though; the moment itself has goodness and perfection covered. So, Verso slows his pace instead, laughing lightly in concession.]
All right, point taken.
[And if draws the moment out a little longer – if it inspires Clive to find new ways to let himself speak in the piano's voice – then he'll slip into a larghissimo tempo. Or make the music mournful to see how Clive shifts from anchor to buoy. Because the lesson has fallen from focus, chased aside by the desire to simply exist as two men playing the piano without an audience, without a set of rules to follow, without a purpose greater than enjoying time that won't last, because good times never do.
It doesn't feel like enough to simply shift his pace, though; it feels like too much of a yielding when what he wants is to compel. So, his own playing grows a little tentative, like the first pencil strokes on a fresh sheet of paper, and he shifts further to the side, giving Clive more reign over the piano.]
It's about time for you to lead, anyway.
[Ah, but maybe that would be easier if Verso stopped playing. Ever the eager pianist, he carries his non-song out to what feels like a conclusion, then rests his hands neatly in place, waiting to learn more about Clive in this new language, too.]
[ Slow, slower, until those lovely fingers stop and rest. Clive is given the floor after their teasing back-and-forth, and it gives him pause; what does he want to say? How does he want to say it? How can he, when he doesn't really speak this particular language yet?
So, a tentative slide of fingers over black and white, first. Tracing, without playing. He tries to remember which key sings which note, but comes up short― he'd been too focused on sequences rather than the components that comprise them, and thus doesn't have the imagination or knowledge to start creating spontaneously.
Back to what his fingers remember, then. Tracing the same steps as before, but changing rhythms and adding syncopation. Once he starts paying more attention to the music as a combination of sounds, he finally scrapes together the courage to deviate: flipping highs and lows, repeating two notes in quick succession like a brief trill, emphasizing the deeper notes with dramatic gravitas.
Some of the deviations work, and some of them don't. But more importantly, Clive keeps at it. He favors the high, hopeful sounds over the lower, denser ones, and finds himself more drawn to choral sweeps instead of mournful dirges. What he wants to convey is... joy, he thinks. Gratitude. Awe. Appreciation for this new, beautiful thing that Verso has shared with him. A shy attempt at trying to create something that might make Verso smile.
It's messy. A bit chaotic. Sincere. He tries worming in tunes he knows into the mix― the melody Verso wrote for him, the beginning notes of Verso's practice song, the tune Cid always hummed while working― and when he can't think of anything else to play, he laughs and tips his head sideways against Verso's hair. ]
I think the cause might be lost again.
[ Not at all self-deprecating, despite the content of the words. He closes his eyes, and blindly roots around until he finds a sequence of notes that he likes: it sounds a little like walking into a quiet forest. ]
[Clive transforms the piano into a hearth, and Verso follows along to the best of his ability, himself learning how be all right with stumbling as he familiarises himself with the flow of Clive's music. And maybe the grammar is off. Maybe he expresses things that take a moment to parse. Verso gets there in the end.
And it's nice, he thinks, to emphasise the play in playing the piano. It's something he hasn't really done since... well, it's something he's never really done with his own mind following his own heart and guiding his own two hands across those ivory keys, but he remembers the last time all the same: with a smaller Alicia by his side, her voice free and her laughter making sound, their mother watching from afar with a look of mingled admiration and restraint.
Whether together with or apart from his family, he's felt like he's had to be serious about the piano. He needed to prove that he was better as a pianist than as a painter, more gifted at expressing himself through art that makes a sound rather than art that blooms with shape and colour and a different kind of texture than that of layered notes. Not with Clive, though, who embraces Verso's playing enough to want to experience it himself. Who has hit those keys running, even if took a moment for him to reestablish his footing. Whose laughter still makes for the most beautiful music.]
I'm still going to have to beg to differ.
[Especially with how he ends their playing. Verso's fingers still on the keys, then his hands fall onto his lap. It's also been a very long time since he's heard someone else perform even a scale, and so he closes his eyes and exists in the earthy, meandering music Clive plays, letting himself sway as if taken by a breeze.]
You're good. And I don't say that lightly.
[Technically, perhaps not, but that's to be expected. Creatively, though, expressively, the way Verso can hear Clive's heart resonating – those all sing of special qualities, of an innate sense of and appreciation for the art. All the things that matter the most, at least to Verso.]
[ An undeserved assessment, given Clive's slightly ulterior motives for sitting in front of the piano. But good settles in his chest like glowing embers, soft and warm, and melts his focus as he stops playing anything tangible and starts tracing grooves between ebony and ivory keys. ]
I have a good teacher.
[ The importance of inspiration. When Clive first held a sword, he'd brandished it with Joshua in mind, bolstered by the memory of his infant brother's small hand curled around his finger and determined to change the terms of Joshua's existence; he knows himself, and he knows he applies himself more fully to something when he has someone to do it for.
But even so, music is... nice. Clive doesn't have the vocabulary to articulate what it is about the art that soothes him, but the expression is personal in a way that he appreciates. The piano keeps him honest, and forces him to reflect. A little like swordplay, in that sense. Nowhere to hide, no one to blame for faltering but himself.
Finally, he looks up from his hands and back to Verso. He likes what he sees: the relaxed set of Verso's shoulders, the slant of his body post-sway. Affection wells up and settles in the back of Clive's throat, pinching his windpipe and making it pleasantly hard to breathe. ]
He's given me the chance to find my voice. I thank him every day for it.
[ A nudge, shoulder to shoulder. He's talking about you, by the way. ]
[It's no small thing, Verso thinks, to help someone find their voice. Well, it's no small thing to him, anyway, considering how many separate-but-same voices he has competing in his own head, so he fluffs up a little in turn, almost like a songbird about to preen.]
Your voice is... good at tempering the ones in his head.
[Some still insist upon being heard. The ones that encourage self-flagellation and the ones that call to arms the broader bouts that have been laying siege to him for decades haven't quite been quieted, yet. But they're works in progress – something that hasn't been true for him in a very long time – and all the voices that would have once tried to steer him away from hope and light and tomorrow don't quite ring out as loudly or echo for as long as they once did. Which feels like enough.
So, a soft kiss to Clive's cheek, followed by a contended hum and lips that curl into a smile against soft, warm skin. Then, a playful nip to his earlobe before Verso pulls away and shifts, turning to straddle the bench so he can have an easier time of facing Clive without either of them having to pretzel themselves.]
Maybe not all of them, but...
[More of a tease than the truth. Honest all the same. He will always carry a deep sadness inside of him; he will always be trouble, well-intentioned, poor-intentioned, or absent intention. And stubborn. And hypocritical, at times. Prone to retreat, though he hopes he can keep himself from descending too deep into the catacombs of his thoughts.]
[ The voices in Verso's head. Two versions of the past, and the present. Maybe more－ probably more. All the things Verso thinks he could have been, should have been, doesn't think he is. Clive relates, to some extent, to the feeling of not being able to trust himself with his own existence, but can't imagine what it must be like to have to untangle layers of existence.
A man struggling with all that, telling him that he contributes to the soothing of some of the worst of those existential waves. It means everything to Clive to hear it, though that's not the reason why he stays. It isn't in Clive's interest to become some sort of human-shaped panacea.
No part of him wants to fix Verso. Verso doesn't need to be perfect. He only needs to be, and that's everything Clive wants－ for this lovely, lovely man to exist, not just in paint but through music, through his humor, through his sadness.
It's hard to know how to articulate any of that. So he does it in the best language that he knows, which is the language of touch. Arms around shoulders, chin tucked, hand splayed between well-shaped shoulderblades. Like Verso might shimmer away. ]
Let me play for you again, sometime.
[ In the grand, uncertain map of their future. A promise that they might or might not be able to keep; the coveted next time. Clive will make it again and again, if only to fight tooth and nail to manifest it. He still thinks about Verso and red sheets, of that uncertain-certain I believe you.
Oh, he loves this man so much. Even if he slips into the deepest pits of this Canvas, Clive wouldn't think twice about following him there. ]
Outside, away from this manor. You can choose a place for us.
[A melting, almost instantaneous, when Clive pulls Verso back into his arms. He's tired in that bone-deep way that only rises during periods of relaxation, when his body realises it's been given a rare reprieve from living rough and his past has grace enough to hold back its usual deluge. And that probably shows in how he exhales at first contact, his shoulders slumping as he does.]
Careful. I might keep taking you up on that.
[There was a time when listening to other people's music made him antsy for how it inspired the urge in him to take a seat at his own piano and perform his own pieces. Not because he didn't appreciate what he was hearing because he always did, music was just a persistent enticement for him. He always wanted to be playing.
And then there was precious little music to hear. Sometimes, Expeditioners brought their own instruments with them, or they sat down at one of the pianos scattered across the Continent to play, but such moments were rare. A collision of fortunes between Expeditions lasting long enough, and Verso managing to integrate with them, and at least someone having the inclination to play.
Now, it's been nearly a decade. Or, had been. And the thought of hearing more – even if tenuous – adds another layer to the lovestruck and foolish and refreshingly new sense of hope that's flourishing inside him. Whether wisely or self-destructively doesn't matter; it'll keep him moving, and out here, that's important.]
I'll make us dinner. [For a certain definition of dinner. For a certain definition of make, too.] And call Esquie over to give us some of the good wine. He can fly us up to one of the islands and we can spend the night by a fire, with the stars.
[ It's easy to feel Verso's exhaustion when Clive has him encircled like this; easier still to feel it when Verso relaxes enough to deadweight (for a given value of that term) against Clive's chest.
The man is an anomaly, still. There are some futures that he seems reticent to speak, but some futures that make him settle along Clive's heartbeat and match it like a metronome. There are some pasts that Clive asks about that makes Verso pull back, and some that inspire him to tangle fingers and rest shoulder to shoulder.
This, too, is something Clive loves about Verso. Not knowing, and understanding that he might never know. For now, he tucks when was the last time someone played for you? into the back of his mind, refraining from invoking the past into discussions about harmless desires, and strokes Verso's hair with an open palm. ]
I can start the fire.
[ With levity, to match what Clive wants Verso to do: smile.
Esquie, though. Assuming that Clive and him have met briefly (because I completely forgot that you definitely need him to swim-swim to get to the Forgotten Battlefield), Clive wracks his brain for what he knows of the gentle giant and his enigmatic (?) ways. The last time they saw him, he'd quickly left after depositing them on the shores of the Battlefield, citing that he needed to... visit a 'FranFran'... before he gets whoo (?). Verso must get his mysteriousness from Esquie.
Playing idly with Verso's earlobe: ] Esquie... can he fly? [ Again, in the very short amount of time Clive has spent with the sweet marshmallow, he seems to recall something about rocks... and losing them... actually, Clive didn't understand 80% of what Esquie was saying at any given moment, but it was fine. He seemed very nice. ] I think he said something about... needing to find something first.
[ And, well. Because he was thinking it: ] An enigmatic sort. Like you.
[It's a bit of a dark joke, all things considered about the origin of those stars, but the way he chuckles afterwards suggests a certain comfort with that darkness. Looking out at the world and knowing that the man he remembers being is the child who created almost everything is strange and difficult for him to come to terms with, particularly through the complete absence of any recollection of the painting itself. But it isn't like there's much else for him to do besides weaponise it against himself, and he's committed enough sins that he doesn't need to wound himself over the things that aren't nearly as painful when he puts them to thought.
Still, it's not something he applies across the whole of the Canvas; Esquie and Monoco, the Gestrals and the Grandis – they're different from the stars and the grass and the surreality of the world. Living, breathing, thinking, sentient, real-life beings who the real Verso would never claim credit for creating.
There's an almost-silence after Clive's question, when Verso is still enjoying the feeling of his fingers at his earlobe, given noise only by the whisper of a purr it inspires, and when Verso speaks again, the humour has been fully replaced with fondness.]
And oh yeah, he can fly. All the way to space. If he has the right rock.
[Which he rarely does. Ostensibly because he keeps losing his whole rock collection, but more accurately because Verso tends to keep Soarrie on his person, ever afraid that he'll met up with a promising Expedition and they'll decide to turn away and return to Lumiere, favouring the certainty of passing on information, or even of spending their last days with their loved ones, as it should be, instead of reaching for that miniscule chance of success.
Verso pats his hip. A figurative gesture; the rock isn't there, it's stored away in hammerspace with his piano and weapons collection and accumulated stuff.]
I keep it on me when I can. [A pause while he considers telling the truth, but it doesn't feel like the kind of truth that would help anything, so:] For enigmatic reasons.
[ For the stars. Cute, despite the godlike presence of the unpainted Verso always looming above them, giving actual weight to the idea of creation.
Though Clive, as always, isn't thinking about the man he's never met. It's more a kneejerk inclination to remind Verso that he's Clive's star-filled night, but even Clive has his limits when it comes to abject cheesiness, so he spares the both of them that embarrassment. Instead, he continues dancing his touch over the curve of Verso's cheek and the angle of his jaw, tucking strands of hair behind Verso's ear to see how it frames his face. Not unlike a man paying extra attention to a very well-behaved black cat sitting on his lap.
His hands continue working, more instinctive in its language of tactility than anything else, as he considers this new bit of information about Esquie with a half-amused: ]
A... rock.
[ Rocks usually do the opposite of fly, but. You know. That's fine. It's fine!!! Verso frequently talks about Esquie as if he's talking about the best day of his life, so Clive won't ruin things by questioning the internal logic surrounding the gentle giant's ability to fly using. A rock.
More important is the fact that Verso is safeguarding said rock. Huh. Hiking a brow, Clive sits up a little straighter and tips his head. ]
Alright, monsieur. I won't pry, if this is some secret pact between you and Esquie. [ He laughs, finding this all very charming. ] You and Esquie and... FranFran and Whoo. A shadowy league of rogues, no doubt.
[Verso's swaying reinstates itself, taking on a slightly new form, as Clive refamiliarises himself with his face. The swaying of one dancer following another's lead, the swaying of more, the swaying of that very well-behaved black cat lifting its chin into the touch.]
A very nice rock.
[Verso corrects. There's another correction he needs to make, too, regarding Esquie's involvement in the keeping of said rock, but that one takes him a moment. He can't imagine a reality in which Esquie wouldn't correct Clive's assumption if ever it came up, so perpetuating it is straight out of the question. Not that Verso has any intention of lying to him to that extent, of course, that's just where his mind goes first out of habit. But, again, he doesn't really want to address why, so he has to be a bit careful.
Eventually:]
And... it's not exactly a pact. You could even say that Esquie doesn't know. So, I think that makes you and I the shadowy league of rogues. And I know I need to introduce you to Francois one of these days.
[It's purely assumption, but it's spoken with absolute confidence. Not only is the only member Francios would want in his cabal never, ever combing back to join it, but only Esquie could get away with calling him FranFran, and Verso suspects that Clive wouldn't be perpetuating that nickname if he knew what Francios was actually like.
As for this Whoo...]
I, uh, can't confirm or deny... Whoo's membership, though. Haven't met... them?
[Guess which conversation hasn't happened in this AU!!! But also guess who's a bit alarmed by the idea that there might be another sentient(?) lifeform out there that he doesn't know about???]
[ Clive, a dog person, being charmed into defecting to the dark side (the cat person side); Verso sways, and he's inspired to fulfill that silent more with more combing, more lingering presses of his palm to skin. A different kind of music played, right in front of this concert piano's salad. People will accuse Clive of being hopelessly enamored, and they'll be correct in saying so.
That aside－ ]
－Ah. So I have to be the one keeping your secrets, now. [ Good fucking luck, Verso. Clive can't lie worth shit. He laughs about it, only a little self-aware of his low deception stats now that his brother and his lover have ribbed him about it a few times (he still thinks they're exaggerating, surely he can show some finesse). ] Though I suppose it'll only be up and until you decide to give Esquie his rock back.
[ He won't ask why. Maybe it's not his place to know everything about all of Verso's intentions, and that's fine.
Knocking knees, Clive shifts to pretzel himself a little more in Verso's direction. Not willing to displace himself even for the sake of swinging his leg over the bench to straddle it; that would require pulling away from Verso, and he doesn't really want to. ]
As for Whoo, Esquie said... [ A low hm. ] "I have to find FranFran, before he gets Whoo."
[ Whoo... adjective? Noun? It was hard to tell. Maybe a nefarious creature that not even Verso knows about. So nefarious that Esquie had to speed right back across (?) the sea to keep Francois from getting to him. ]
It all sounded very ominous.
[ Spoken with a smile. Likely, it's not that serious. (Unless...????) ]
[Clive stubbornly pretzels himself and Verso lets out a huff of a laugh, an adoring and unsurprised, you can't help yourself, can you? He'd shift, too, if there were space and reason to do so, but in the absence of both he simply settles his weight a little differently, adapting to this slightly new position with another expression of more.]
About that: Francois is kind of a rock himself. [He swears he can hear Francois calling out, I'm clearly a turtle, all the way from over here.] So, I've got nothing. I'd say we're going to need Esquie to settle this but you've met him.
[Even Verso has trouble making sense of him half the time, and he's known him for a great, great, great many years. The best he can think is that Whoo is a new rock, something that unlocks a heretofore unknown skill. Like mountain climbing. Or mountain descending. Which makes an odd kind of sense to him – whoo kind of sounds like the kind of cheer he's made speeding down the slopes – but which, unfortunately, is destined to prove devastatingly wrong.
There's something especially charming about how Clive talks about Esquie and Francois and this mysterious Whoo that lures Verso closer in a different sort of way. Maybe it's how appealing Verso finds his playful side. Or it could have something to do with how he speaks of Esquie with such sweetness and earnestness. So, he pulls him down into an abridged kiss, then reaches to run a knuckle across his lips just because.]
We might be doomed to spend the rest of our lives wondering what it means. [And then, jokingly, because the painted man of mystery has a complicated relationship with external mysteries, courtesy of this crazy-ass Canvas world:] And how Whoo might bite us in the ass.
[ He always has, but this moment truly cements how much Clive likes Verso's expressions of more. He mouths softly at the touch along the seam of his lips, playful to match the buoyant topic of their conversation, enamored by Verso's comfort with this particular cast of characters in a way that Verso isn't when he's speaking of Renoir, or Aline, or even Alicia in certain contexts.
It speaks to Verso's genuine appreciation for the life that has flourished in this Canvas world. These bright, sunbeam existences that time nor circumstance could dull or tarnish. Esquie is alive in very much the same way that they are, and even if Esquie's friends are all rocks (?), these rocks also hold significance and weight in a way that can delight the creatures around them.
Purpose and meaning are made, not given. This all seems proof enough of that. ]
Terrifying, [ is completely unserious in terms of actually finding Whoo a threat (little does he know that depression is their actual worst enemy), but completely serious in terms of all of this being important things he'll hold to his chest as they make their way around the Continent. ] You and I against Esquie and Whoo. I don't fancy our chances.
[ Sorry Francois, apparently you are a rock and are thus excluded from the headcount. (Clive will come to regret this.) A soft laugh like the stoking of a fire, and Clive thumbs along Verso's scar again, enjoying the feel and texture of it. ]
One more thing to keep us on our toes. Never a boring day when I'm with you.
[ Not even a tiny bit bitter or sarcastic. Genuinely, Clive can't imagine what his life would be like without Verso now; doesn't want to, either. ]
[A laugh at the thought of them facing off against Esquie. Under ridiculous circumstances, they would fall. Under the impossible, never-to-happen serious ones, they would lose heart. Esquie's the most powerful being in the Canvas in more than just the one way, a point that fills Verso with a burst of pride. All the strength in the world and it's only ever used to bring light to the darkness. He doesn't deserve Esquie. He doesn't know what he'd do without him.
The same applies to Clive, of course. Verso's eyes flutter shut when he feels the first press of a thumb to his scar, both to accommodate and to focus on the touch itself, its gentleness, its admiration, its sense of knowing. A breath follows, deep and expulsive, like a shedding of some internal layer of pain or grief or tension that Verso can't put a finger on.]
Boring days are overrated.
[Another double meaning: for him, boring days are dark and quiet and broken, or else unproductive in a way that gnaws at him and finds himself pushing himself harder and harder over subsequent days, as if he owes interest on that lost time. None of this strikes him, now, though, in these moments of quiet, within these walls of unspeakable luxury. Relaxation comes so much easier when there are others to encourage into the same, and when Verso can sit in the rarity of brothers reunited, and information shared, and time to spare.
So:]
But. I wouldn't mind one boring afternoon. We could go to the greenhouse, if you're tired of all the black and gold. Or, we could stay here. You know, grab a bottle of Sauternes and make a complete waste of the day until dinner.
[ A contemplation, here, of what boring days had meant to Clive before his current circumstances. Few and far between, when he was still under Elwin or Rodney's care― always too busy training and stumbling or finding slivers of time to spend with Joshua― and far too many of them, when he was doing dangerous Outdome activities with the Bastards. Nonexistent, under Cid's care. There'd always been something to do, or someone to help.
Everything Clive does with Verso feels new. Novel. Even something as mundane as finding something to fill their unplanned time with is imbued with what feels like intangible promise; the world has more color and texture when Verso occupies it with him.
That said― ]
―I've already made my selfish request of the day. [ A brief flick of his index to the tip of Verso's well-shaped nose. ] I'll defer to you on whether we look at greenery or test how many glasses it takes to get me drunk.
[ Both are appealing, mostly because it gives Clive an excuse to linger around someone he can't get enough of. He sits up after leaving the afternoon in Verso's capable hands, and dots him with a brief kiss before un-pretzeling himself to face the piano proper again.
Just to see if he can, he plays the same sequence that he had before, the way he'd been taught. The keys dip obligingly under his fingers, and Clive smiles about it again. ]
Either way, you'd honor me by giving me your time.
[There is a moment where Verso holds the possibility of both – grabbing some wine and enjoying a change in scenery, finding more of himself to reveal in the way the greenhouse windows, too, open up into nothing – but, in truth, he offered that idea because he'd felt a bit guilty over how his tiredness had driven him towards the other. He hadn't wanted to drag Clive down with him if he was in the mood for another kind of more.
It's just been a very long day. First Clea and Clive, and then Clive and Joshua. Fleeting sleep sandwiched between questions that hadn't exactly felt great to field. His mind just needs more room to travel to simpler places – or to drunker ones, if that's what it's going to take – and perhaps, on some level, it needed the permission to let it happen. Granted, it's your turn to choose isn't exactly permission, but he also suspects that Clive would be unhappy to know that he'd tried to answer based on predictions about his preferences or in deference to that aforementioned guilt, so once Clive releases him, Verso rises with no indication to join him, then pats Clive's shoulder to speak the stay here that he doesn't put to words.]
Flatterer. [Is his response to the honor comment. Then:] I'll be right back.
[Off he goes, and then back he comes with a couple bottles of wine and some glasses, all balanced on a moderately well-stocked charcuterie board in case they need something to soak up the wine, or just to fill their stomachs. He's having some fun with it too, red silk napkin hanging over the arm that's holding the tray, his other arm neatly folded behind his back, as he stands at the threshold to the room and calls out:]
Votre vin, monsieur Rosfield. Et quelques amuse-gueules.
[ I'll be right back says everything Clive needs to know about where Verso's head is at, and it allows Clive to also switch gears. Something lighthearted, something uncomplicated. Once upon a time, he'd sat with Cid in his solar over a bottle of wine, watching the man fall into a heavier but nevertheless welcome state of inebriation; that was when he'd first heard about where Cid found his adoptive daughter, and a bit of Cid's past involving a stern-faced man who left and never came back on his own Expedition ages ago.
Sometimes, wine is what it takes to find out bits and pieces of people Clive would otherwise never have known. And maybe it's his turn to be the one talking about things that would never have occurred for him to say sober, but who knows. He's always been able to hold his drink better than most.
A fun little challenge, perhaps. One he mulls over as he tinkers with piano keys during Verso's absence, and one that lingers in the back of his mind when he's no longer alone again. A little voice that says it's okay to be stupid, especially when Verso announces himself like a very prim maître d'.
He barks a laugh, bemused. ]
Oh, come off it. [ Affectionately (and flushing somewhat at the use of Monsieur Rosfield), as he gets up off of the bench. He can imagine that a concert pianist wouldn't love someone littering crumbs all over his literally priceless instrument, so. Courtesy first!
With that done, he leans into the theater of it all. Approaching, straight-backed, then bending an elbow with his arm folded across his chest, head inclined at a perfect angle. The picture of a medieval knight, bowing to someone above his station. ]
I hope the lovely waiter comes with my food and drink.
[ He says, sweeping his free hand sideways towards... the imaginary table. They'll have to sit on the floor like savages if they don't want to use the piano as a table, and drink next to the rather charming toy train setup. He feels a child again, honestly. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
flamebrand) wrote2024-09-08 02:07 pm
no subject
―well, maybe it's funny how much a six-foot man built like a broadsword can resemble a pup in an inflatable pool. A wide-eyed wolfdog, slightly overwhelmed by getting his paws wet for the first time. He glances down at his hands, still thick-fingered and callused and littered with scars, old and new, speaking of violence far more clearly than creation, and flexes them once, twice, before letting himself move to position.
The bench gives under his weight. He's taller than Verso by an inch or two, and so the seat needs adjusting; he doesn't try to figure it out, despite it. Apprehensive and careful, as if doing anything out of turn could cause the setup in front of him and beneath him to break. ]
How they resonate, and what they remind me of. [ A slow parroting, as he places one hand on smooth keys. ] ...Then, decide what to play.
[ His head tips, telegraphing hesitation. Only for a brief moment, though; he exhales a beat later, and rights his posture the way he does before battle.
He has no idea where A4 and D5 fall on the map of black and white in front of him, but that seems far less important than stumbling onto them, so― he starts, index stumbling onto C4, then moving up in a basic do-re-mi; his brain recognizes that particular sequence, and he smiles about it as he tries it with other continuous notes, getting the gist of the scales before he lets himself deviate and skip, making dissonant noise instead of anything resembling a tune.
Eventually, he finds A4. He slides up and down along it, A4 to E5, which conjures the memory of the gentle melody that Verso had hummed for him before, the music he'd said was inspired by Clive. Clive tries to recreate the first three notes of it, plunking around haphazardly until he manages a clunky sequence that he repeats a few times before letting his heart wander again. ]
...Like a child with a training sword, [ he murmurs. ] Not too unbearable for you, I hope.
no subject
It's sweet. Nothing like a child with a training sword as far as he's concerned, just a soft man with battle-rough hands finding another of those infinite ways of saying I love you, or at least something adjacent.
Verso thinks he might add this interpretation to the final version. Those little imperfections in the melody speak to the ones between them, both shared and unshared, and it adds a nuance to the song that he probably wouldn't have considered adding on his own. Something vulnerable that he can't put his finger on, but that he appreciates all the same.]
More like a man after my heart.
[He teases, though he's not sure if it's directed more inward or outward. Regardless, he moves to stand behind Clive, leaning his weight against his back, reaching his right hand over to rest his fingers on the keys.]
You've got a good sense of sequence and sound, so let's start there.
[Verso will spend a while guiding Clive through a sequence of 10 notes, all played with the right hand, a warm up-down-up, a light at the end of the tunnel. There's no melody to them, just note after note after note, any easy enough memorisation task. Once achieved, he rests a hand against Clive's back.]
Now, rhythm. Start playing once you think you've got it. Just your right hand.
[His pointer finger taps a 10-note sequence in constant repetition upon Clive's shoulder.]
no subject
He sits up a little straighter. Sequence and sound. Right. Rhythm, too― a waterfall of notes played one after the other, to be configured and changed as Clive sees fit. Not quite a song, but a way for Clive to get acclimated to the process. Learning to lace his boots before he starts running, almost.
So, he laces. Tucks his thumb and stretches his hand the way he saw Verso do it, climbing his hand up and down the keys in time to the tapping on his shoulder. When he's more confident that his fingers have remembered how to move without stumbling, he changes the pace to delight in how that shifts everything, how just a simple slowing down or speeding up can alter the entire gradient of even a tuneless progression. ]
Ah, [ is a soft exclamation, infused with childlike near-delight. It's probably embarrassing to be so impressed by something so basic, but he can only be honest. ] I think I've got it.
[ Quickly, slowly. Staggeringly, then more confidently. Mischievously, as he skips the last note and hits a note two keys over instead; that reminds him a bit of Verso, actually, when he tries to trip Clive up by doing something sweet and impish. Smiling, Clive tries for a different sequence that emulates that same feeling, an orderly progression that breaks for one high, starlit note that lingers and warms his heart.
He glances sideways and up, trying to catch Verso's eye. ] I can see how you might get lost in the process.
no subject
Fuck, he loves him. Clive doesn't just catch Verso's eyes, he captures his heart for the second time in such sort sequence that it's nearly dizzying.]
It's really something else, huh?
[Something heartbreaking. Something heart-restorative. The fingers of his left hand ghost over the keys Clive had chosen on his own, not playing them because he doesn't want to change how they sound in his memory, and then he's lifting them away so that he can shift to the the other side and place his left hand on the keyboard.]
Left, now.
[The process repeats. A memorisation of a different sequence of ten, unique in pattern from the other. A new, complementary rhythm tapped upon Clive's shoulder. More weight and warmth and observations as Clive's fingers familiarise themselves with the keys and Verso's heart familiarises itself with the sound of Clive's music. And, inevitably, a progression to the next level.]
You still remember what you played with your right? Because it's time to play both parts at once.
[There's an impish quality to his voice. A light in his eyes, though Clive probably can't see it shine. Hand synchronicity. Perhaps piano's bloodiest battlefield. He's curious to see what happens.]
no subject
That momentary twinge of his heart shows itself in a stumble, a misstep in a downwards sequence that makes Clive laugh despite himself― oh, it really is impossible to lie when sat in front of an instrument so honest.
Resolve renewed, he putters along with his non-dominant hand. There are more misses this time around, and he sighs when his less-deft hand skids against a key and muddies the note as a result, but the process still remains enjoyable, novel―
―that is, until he's told to use both hands at the same time. Funny, because this usually would be the kind of request he'd jump to fulfill in other contexts. ]
I was wondering when you'd start channeling Cid.
[ Not a grouse, entirely. Clive might not be as competitive as Verso, but he knows that he excels when he pushes himself; he needs a good challenge to break through his self-imposed limits, to keep him from treading familiar ground over and over again.
So. Do or die (it really isn't that serious, but Clive will be Clive). He shifts on the bench, letting leather squeak under his weight as he poises himself and tries to remember where his right hand should be. Once he gets oriented, he lets his fingers start talking.
It's tentative, at first. The lack of confidence translates to the slowness and the poorness of the sync: a constant is this right? am I doing this correctly? But as the attempts progress, Clive pushes past the initial embarrassment and lets himself make the errors as they come, pushing past them the way he'd used to on the training grounds behind his family home, with scraped knees and bloody palms. Come on, Clive, you can do this.
A few more tries later, and he manages a perfect sync at a respectable pace. This time, it isn't near-delight that paints his face: it's full delight, as he glances up again at Verso for his approval. If he had a hound's tail, it would be wagging. ]
...Well, maestro? Not a total lost cause?
no subject
He presses a kiss to the crown of Clive's head and casts all thoughts of Clea aside.]
Mm, I think we can promote you to found cause.
[He teases at the double meaning, comfortable enough in this honesty they've been establishing to put it to words, even if the tone he uses carries a little more humour than heartfeltness. Baby steps; you can teach an old, sad forestman new tricks, but it might take a while for them to fully take form.
Really, though, he's impressed, which rings through in his voice, too, through fond delight. They share so much that Verso hadn't expected he'd share again, a consequence of the one-man existence he'd committed himself to eking out, but to experience – not just to hear and see and feel but experience – Clive taking so wonderfully to music is something else, that nebulous more requested by Clive but now greedily, if quietly, claimed by Verso.
But, now for the song as a whole, for the coda, for the lesson that exists in Verso's own playing. Taking a seat on the left side of the bench, he scoots Clive over a bit with his hip – far enough away to give Verso comfortable access to the keys he needs, not far enough down to make it difficult for Clive to reach his own.
Verso looks over, a competitive gleam to his eyes.]
Now, try to overtake me without deviating too much from those same notes.
[The part he performs is all drama and bravado, but in an almost silly way, the kind of music that'd be appropriate in a comedic opera that had an underlying darkness to it, a human element that made the comedy almost tragic. But it also feeds off of and into the short sequence he's taught Clive, though in sets of 30 notes instead of 10, each different from the other.]
no subject
In Verso's voice, punctuated by a kiss, it's pure serotonin. Selfishly and shamelessly (or so Clive thinks), he basks for a moment in that tease-adjacent compliment as he makes way for the other man's presence on the bench, and takes an indulgent moment to loop one arm around Verso's waist as he gets situated.
Just a moment. They still have music to make, and Verso is upping the stakes again.
It is, as ever, pure magic when piano-loved fingers start stitching a melody from thin air; even more so, as Clive realizes more and more that the process is less about playing than it is about making. Spontaneous, malleable, infinite. He almost finds it a shame to have to mar Verso's playing with his own, because he does― his first faltering attempts to merely keep up sound like clumsy trampling― but he tells himself to derive satisfaction from trying, instead of attempting anything approaching 'good'. Verso isn't looking for 'good', he assumes.
Same notes, different cadence. He tries to make the movement of their fingers a conversation, simple as his arsenal of musical words are. The comedic melody bounces, simmers, then sweeps high again: a chuckle, a sob, and a howl of laughter to hide that brief break.
It's fun. Clive has no earthly idea if what he's doing is alright, or if Verso is adjusting himself to match Clive's playing, but it matters less and less as they go on; he laughs when his pinky almost brushes against Verso's thumb, and he dodges that collision like a well-timed sidestep. ]
You're far too fast.
[ A mirror of their fighting styles, almost: Verso, fleet on his feet, overtaking enemies with lightning-fast precision, whereas Clive overwhelms through strength and persistence. He tries to channel some of that now, adding firmness and weight to his sequence as Verso flies over the keys, the anchor to his partner's playfulness. ]
no subject
He doesn't have to, though; the moment itself has goodness and perfection covered. So, Verso slows his pace instead, laughing lightly in concession.]
All right, point taken.
[And if draws the moment out a little longer – if it inspires Clive to find new ways to let himself speak in the piano's voice – then he'll slip into a larghissimo tempo. Or make the music mournful to see how Clive shifts from anchor to buoy. Because the lesson has fallen from focus, chased aside by the desire to simply exist as two men playing the piano without an audience, without a set of rules to follow, without a purpose greater than enjoying time that won't last, because good times never do.
It doesn't feel like enough to simply shift his pace, though; it feels like too much of a yielding when what he wants is to compel. So, his own playing grows a little tentative, like the first pencil strokes on a fresh sheet of paper, and he shifts further to the side, giving Clive more reign over the piano.]
It's about time for you to lead, anyway.
[Ah, but maybe that would be easier if Verso stopped playing. Ever the eager pianist, he carries his non-song out to what feels like a conclusion, then rests his hands neatly in place, waiting to learn more about Clive in this new language, too.]
no subject
So, a tentative slide of fingers over black and white, first. Tracing, without playing. He tries to remember which key sings which note, but comes up short― he'd been too focused on sequences rather than the components that comprise them, and thus doesn't have the imagination or knowledge to start creating spontaneously.
Back to what his fingers remember, then. Tracing the same steps as before, but changing rhythms and adding syncopation. Once he starts paying more attention to the music as a combination of sounds, he finally scrapes together the courage to deviate: flipping highs and lows, repeating two notes in quick succession like a brief trill, emphasizing the deeper notes with dramatic gravitas.
Some of the deviations work, and some of them don't. But more importantly, Clive keeps at it. He favors the high, hopeful sounds over the lower, denser ones, and finds himself more drawn to choral sweeps instead of mournful dirges. What he wants to convey is... joy, he thinks. Gratitude. Awe. Appreciation for this new, beautiful thing that Verso has shared with him. A shy attempt at trying to create something that might make Verso smile.
It's messy. A bit chaotic. Sincere. He tries worming in tunes he knows into the mix― the melody Verso wrote for him, the beginning notes of Verso's practice song, the tune Cid always hummed while working― and when he can't think of anything else to play, he laughs and tips his head sideways against Verso's hair. ]
I think the cause might be lost again.
[ Not at all self-deprecating, despite the content of the words. He closes his eyes, and blindly roots around until he finds a sequence of notes that he likes: it sounds a little like walking into a quiet forest. ]
no subject
And it's nice, he thinks, to emphasise the play in playing the piano. It's something he hasn't really done since... well, it's something he's never really done with his own mind following his own heart and guiding his own two hands across those ivory keys, but he remembers the last time all the same: with a smaller Alicia by his side, her voice free and her laughter making sound, their mother watching from afar with a look of mingled admiration and restraint.
Whether together with or apart from his family, he's felt like he's had to be serious about the piano. He needed to prove that he was better as a pianist than as a painter, more gifted at expressing himself through art that makes a sound rather than art that blooms with shape and colour and a different kind of texture than that of layered notes. Not with Clive, though, who embraces Verso's playing enough to want to experience it himself. Who has hit those keys running, even if took a moment for him to reestablish his footing. Whose laughter still makes for the most beautiful music.]
I'm still going to have to beg to differ.
[Especially with how he ends their playing. Verso's fingers still on the keys, then his hands fall onto his lap. It's also been a very long time since he's heard someone else perform even a scale, and so he closes his eyes and exists in the earthy, meandering music Clive plays, letting himself sway as if taken by a breeze.]
You're good. And I don't say that lightly.
[Technically, perhaps not, but that's to be expected. Creatively, though, expressively, the way Verso can hear Clive's heart resonating – those all sing of special qualities, of an innate sense of and appreciation for the art. All the things that matter the most, at least to Verso.]
no subject
I have a good teacher.
[ The importance of inspiration. When Clive first held a sword, he'd brandished it with Joshua in mind, bolstered by the memory of his infant brother's small hand curled around his finger and determined to change the terms of Joshua's existence; he knows himself, and he knows he applies himself more fully to something when he has someone to do it for.
But even so, music is... nice. Clive doesn't have the vocabulary to articulate what it is about the art that soothes him, but the expression is personal in a way that he appreciates. The piano keeps him honest, and forces him to reflect. A little like swordplay, in that sense. Nowhere to hide, no one to blame for faltering but himself.
Finally, he looks up from his hands and back to Verso. He likes what he sees: the relaxed set of Verso's shoulders, the slant of his body post-sway. Affection wells up and settles in the back of Clive's throat, pinching his windpipe and making it pleasantly hard to breathe. ]
He's given me the chance to find my voice. I thank him every day for it.
[ A nudge, shoulder to shoulder. He's talking about you, by the way. ]
no subject
Your voice is... good at tempering the ones in his head.
[Some still insist upon being heard. The ones that encourage self-flagellation and the ones that call to arms the broader bouts that have been laying siege to him for decades haven't quite been quieted, yet. But they're works in progress – something that hasn't been true for him in a very long time – and all the voices that would have once tried to steer him away from hope and light and tomorrow don't quite ring out as loudly or echo for as long as they once did. Which feels like enough.
So, a soft kiss to Clive's cheek, followed by a contended hum and lips that curl into a smile against soft, warm skin. Then, a playful nip to his earlobe before Verso pulls away and shifts, turning to straddle the bench so he can have an easier time of facing Clive without either of them having to pretzel themselves.]
Maybe not all of them, but...
[More of a tease than the truth. Honest all the same. He will always carry a deep sadness inside of him; he will always be trouble, well-intentioned, poor-intentioned, or absent intention. And stubborn. And hypocritical, at times. Prone to retreat, though he hopes he can keep himself from descending too deep into the catacombs of his thoughts.]
He's grateful, too.
no subject
A man struggling with all that, telling him that he contributes to the soothing of some of the worst of those existential waves. It means everything to Clive to hear it, though that's not the reason why he stays. It isn't in Clive's interest to become some sort of human-shaped panacea.
No part of him wants to fix Verso. Verso doesn't need to be perfect. He only needs to be, and that's everything Clive wants－ for this lovely, lovely man to exist, not just in paint but through music, through his humor, through his sadness.
It's hard to know how to articulate any of that. So he does it in the best language that he knows, which is the language of touch. Arms around shoulders, chin tucked, hand splayed between well-shaped shoulderblades. Like Verso might shimmer away. ]
Let me play for you again, sometime.
[ In the grand, uncertain map of their future. A promise that they might or might not be able to keep; the coveted next time. Clive will make it again and again, if only to fight tooth and nail to manifest it. He still thinks about Verso and red sheets, of that uncertain-certain I believe you.
Oh, he loves this man so much. Even if he slips into the deepest pits of this Canvas, Clive wouldn't think twice about following him there. ]
Outside, away from this manor. You can choose a place for us.
no subject
Careful. I might keep taking you up on that.
[There was a time when listening to other people's music made him antsy for how it inspired the urge in him to take a seat at his own piano and perform his own pieces. Not because he didn't appreciate what he was hearing because he always did, music was just a persistent enticement for him. He always wanted to be playing.
And then there was precious little music to hear. Sometimes, Expeditioners brought their own instruments with them, or they sat down at one of the pianos scattered across the Continent to play, but such moments were rare. A collision of fortunes between Expeditions lasting long enough, and Verso managing to integrate with them, and at least someone having the inclination to play.
Now, it's been nearly a decade. Or, had been. And the thought of hearing more – even if tenuous – adds another layer to the lovestruck and foolish and refreshingly new sense of hope that's flourishing inside him. Whether wisely or self-destructively doesn't matter; it'll keep him moving, and out here, that's important.]
I'll make us dinner. [For a certain definition of dinner. For a certain definition of make, too.] And call Esquie over to give us some of the good wine. He can fly us up to one of the islands and we can spend the night by a fire, with the stars.
no subject
The man is an anomaly, still. There are some futures that he seems reticent to speak, but some futures that make him settle along Clive's heartbeat and match it like a metronome. There are some pasts that Clive asks about that makes Verso pull back, and some that inspire him to tangle fingers and rest shoulder to shoulder.
This, too, is something Clive loves about Verso. Not knowing, and understanding that he might never know. For now, he tucks when was the last time someone played for you? into the back of his mind, refraining from invoking the past into discussions about harmless desires, and strokes Verso's hair with an open palm. ]
I can start the fire.
[ With levity, to match what Clive wants Verso to do: smile.
Esquie, though. Assuming that Clive and him have met briefly (
because I completely forgot that you definitely need him to swim-swim to get to the Forgotten Battlefield), Clive wracks his brain for what he knows of the gentle giant and his enigmatic (?) ways. The last time they saw him, he'd quickly left after depositing them on the shores of the Battlefield, citing that he needed to... visit a 'FranFran'... before he gets whoo (?). Verso must get his mysteriousness from Esquie.Playing idly with Verso's earlobe: ] Esquie... can he fly? [ Again, in the very short amount of time Clive has spent with the sweet marshmallow, he seems to recall something about rocks... and losing them... actually, Clive didn't understand 80% of what Esquie was saying at any given moment, but it was fine. He seemed very nice. ] I think he said something about... needing to find something first.
[ And, well. Because he was thinking it: ] An enigmatic sort. Like you.
no subject
[It's a bit of a dark joke, all things considered about the origin of those stars, but the way he chuckles afterwards suggests a certain comfort with that darkness. Looking out at the world and knowing that the man he remembers being is the child who created almost everything is strange and difficult for him to come to terms with, particularly through the complete absence of any recollection of the painting itself. But it isn't like there's much else for him to do besides weaponise it against himself, and he's committed enough sins that he doesn't need to wound himself over the things that aren't nearly as painful when he puts them to thought.
Still, it's not something he applies across the whole of the Canvas; Esquie and Monoco, the Gestrals and the Grandis – they're different from the stars and the grass and the surreality of the world. Living, breathing, thinking, sentient, real-life beings who the real Verso would never claim credit for creating.
There's an almost-silence after Clive's question, when Verso is still enjoying the feeling of his fingers at his earlobe, given noise only by the whisper of a purr it inspires, and when Verso speaks again, the humour has been fully replaced with fondness.]
And oh yeah, he can fly. All the way to space. If he has the right rock.
[Which he rarely does. Ostensibly because he keeps losing his whole rock collection, but more accurately because Verso tends to keep Soarrie on his person, ever afraid that he'll met up with a promising Expedition and they'll decide to turn away and return to Lumiere, favouring the certainty of passing on information, or even of spending their last days with their loved ones, as it should be, instead of reaching for that miniscule chance of success.
Verso pats his hip. A figurative gesture; the rock isn't there, it's stored away in hammerspace with his piano and weapons collection and accumulated stuff.]
I keep it on me when I can. [A pause while he considers telling the truth, but it doesn't feel like the kind of truth that would help anything, so:] For enigmatic reasons.
no subject
Though Clive, as always, isn't thinking about the man he's never met. It's more a kneejerk inclination to remind Verso that he's Clive's star-filled night, but even Clive has his limits when it comes to abject cheesiness, so he spares the both of them that embarrassment. Instead, he continues dancing his touch over the curve of Verso's cheek and the angle of his jaw, tucking strands of hair behind Verso's ear to see how it frames his face. Not unlike a man paying extra attention to a very well-behaved black cat sitting on his lap.
His hands continue working, more instinctive in its language of tactility than anything else, as he considers this new bit of information about Esquie with a half-amused: ]
A... rock.
[ Rocks usually do the opposite of fly, but. You know. That's fine. It's fine!!! Verso frequently talks about Esquie as if he's talking about the best day of his life, so Clive won't ruin things by questioning the internal logic surrounding the gentle giant's ability to fly using. A rock.
More important is the fact that Verso is safeguarding said rock. Huh. Hiking a brow, Clive sits up a little straighter and tips his head. ]
Alright, monsieur. I won't pry, if this is some secret pact between you and Esquie. [ He laughs, finding this all very charming. ] You and Esquie and... FranFran and Whoo. A shadowy league of rogues, no doubt.
[ Monoco, too? Verso's ever-expanding secret cabal. ]
no subject
A very nice rock.
[Verso corrects. There's another correction he needs to make, too, regarding Esquie's involvement in the keeping of said rock, but that one takes him a moment. He can't imagine a reality in which Esquie wouldn't correct Clive's assumption if ever it came up, so perpetuating it is straight out of the question. Not that Verso has any intention of lying to him to that extent, of course, that's just where his mind goes first out of habit. But, again, he doesn't really want to address why, so he has to be a bit careful.
Eventually:]
And... it's not exactly a pact. You could even say that Esquie doesn't know. So, I think that makes you and I the shadowy league of rogues. And I know I need to introduce you to Francois one of these days.
[It's purely assumption, but it's spoken with absolute confidence. Not only is the only member Francios would want in his cabal never, ever combing back to join it, but only Esquie could get away with calling him FranFran, and Verso suspects that Clive wouldn't be perpetuating that nickname if he knew what Francios was actually like.
As for this Whoo...]
I, uh, can't confirm or deny... Whoo's membership, though. Haven't met... them?
[Guess which conversation hasn't happened in this AU!!! But also guess who's a bit alarmed by the idea that there might be another sentient(?) lifeform out there that he doesn't know about???]
no subject
That aside－ ]
－Ah. So I have to be the one keeping your secrets, now. [ Good fucking luck, Verso. Clive can't lie worth shit. He laughs about it, only a little self-aware of his low deception stats now that his brother and his lover have ribbed him about it a few times (he still thinks they're exaggerating, surely he can show some finesse). ] Though I suppose it'll only be up and until you decide to give Esquie his rock back.
[ He won't ask why. Maybe it's not his place to know everything about all of Verso's intentions, and that's fine.
Knocking knees, Clive shifts to pretzel himself a little more in Verso's direction. Not willing to displace himself even for the sake of swinging his leg over the bench to straddle it; that would require pulling away from Verso, and he doesn't really want to. ]
As for Whoo, Esquie said... [ A low hm. ] "I have to find FranFran, before he gets Whoo."
[ Whoo... adjective? Noun? It was hard to tell. Maybe a nefarious creature that not even Verso knows about. So nefarious that Esquie had to speed right back across (?) the sea to keep Francois from getting to him. ]
It all sounded very ominous.
[ Spoken with a smile. Likely, it's not that serious. (Unless...????) ]
no subject
[Clive stubbornly pretzels himself and Verso lets out a huff of a laugh, an adoring and unsurprised, you can't help yourself, can you? He'd shift, too, if there were space and reason to do so, but in the absence of both he simply settles his weight a little differently, adapting to this slightly new position with another expression of more.]
About that: Francois is kind of a rock himself. [He swears he can hear Francois calling out, I'm clearly a turtle, all the way from over here.] So, I've got nothing. I'd say we're going to need Esquie to settle this but you've met him.
[Even Verso has trouble making sense of him half the time, and he's known him for a great, great, great many years. The best he can think is that Whoo is a new rock, something that unlocks a heretofore unknown skill. Like mountain climbing. Or mountain descending. Which makes an odd kind of sense to him – whoo kind of sounds like the kind of cheer he's made speeding down the slopes – but which, unfortunately, is destined to prove devastatingly wrong.
There's something especially charming about how Clive talks about Esquie and Francois and this mysterious Whoo that lures Verso closer in a different sort of way. Maybe it's how appealing Verso finds his playful side. Or it could have something to do with how he speaks of Esquie with such sweetness and earnestness. So, he pulls him down into an abridged kiss, then reaches to run a knuckle across his lips just because.]
We might be doomed to spend the rest of our lives wondering what it means. [And then, jokingly, because the painted man of mystery has a complicated relationship with external mysteries, courtesy of this crazy-ass Canvas world:] And how Whoo might bite us in the ass.
[Which is actually kind of fair.]
no subject
It speaks to Verso's genuine appreciation for the life that has flourished in this Canvas world. These bright, sunbeam existences that time nor circumstance could dull or tarnish. Esquie is alive in very much the same way that they are, and even if Esquie's friends are all rocks (?), these rocks also hold significance and weight in a way that can delight the creatures around them.
Purpose and meaning are made, not given. This all seems proof enough of that. ]
Terrifying, [ is completely unserious in terms of actually finding Whoo a threat (little does he know that depression is their actual worst enemy), but completely serious in terms of all of this being important things he'll hold to his chest as they make their way around the Continent. ] You and I against Esquie and Whoo. I don't fancy our chances.
[ Sorry Francois, apparently you are a rock and are thus excluded from the headcount. (Clive will come to regret this.) A soft laugh like the stoking of a fire, and Clive thumbs along Verso's scar again, enjoying the feel and texture of it. ]
One more thing to keep us on our toes. Never a boring day when I'm with you.
[ Not even a tiny bit bitter or sarcastic. Genuinely, Clive can't imagine what his life would be like without Verso now; doesn't want to, either. ]
no subject
The same applies to Clive, of course. Verso's eyes flutter shut when he feels the first press of a thumb to his scar, both to accommodate and to focus on the touch itself, its gentleness, its admiration, its sense of knowing. A breath follows, deep and expulsive, like a shedding of some internal layer of pain or grief or tension that Verso can't put a finger on.]
Boring days are overrated.
[Another double meaning: for him, boring days are dark and quiet and broken, or else unproductive in a way that gnaws at him and finds himself pushing himself harder and harder over subsequent days, as if he owes interest on that lost time. None of this strikes him, now, though, in these moments of quiet, within these walls of unspeakable luxury. Relaxation comes so much easier when there are others to encourage into the same, and when Verso can sit in the rarity of brothers reunited, and information shared, and time to spare.
So:]
But. I wouldn't mind one boring afternoon. We could go to the greenhouse, if you're tired of all the black and gold. Or, we could stay here. You know, grab a bottle of Sauternes and make a complete waste of the day until dinner.
no subject
Everything Clive does with Verso feels new. Novel. Even something as mundane as finding something to fill their unplanned time with is imbued with what feels like intangible promise; the world has more color and texture when Verso occupies it with him.
That said― ]
―I've already made my selfish request of the day. [ A brief flick of his index to the tip of Verso's well-shaped nose. ] I'll defer to you on whether we look at greenery or test how many glasses it takes to get me drunk.
[ Both are appealing, mostly because it gives Clive an excuse to linger around someone he can't get enough of. He sits up after leaving the afternoon in Verso's capable hands, and dots him with a brief kiss before un-pretzeling himself to face the piano proper again.
Just to see if he can, he plays the same sequence that he had before, the way he'd been taught. The keys dip obligingly under his fingers, and Clive smiles about it again. ]
Either way, you'd honor me by giving me your time.
no subject
It's just been a very long day. First Clea and Clive, and then Clive and Joshua. Fleeting sleep sandwiched between questions that hadn't exactly felt great to field. His mind just needs more room to travel to simpler places – or to drunker ones, if that's what it's going to take – and perhaps, on some level, it needed the permission to let it happen. Granted, it's your turn to choose isn't exactly permission, but he also suspects that Clive would be unhappy to know that he'd tried to answer based on predictions about his preferences or in deference to that aforementioned guilt, so once Clive releases him, Verso rises with no indication to join him, then pats Clive's shoulder to speak the stay here that he doesn't put to words.]
Flatterer. [Is his response to the honor comment. Then:] I'll be right back.
[Off he goes, and then back he comes with a couple bottles of wine and some glasses, all balanced on a moderately well-stocked charcuterie board in case they need something to soak up the wine, or just to fill their stomachs. He's having some fun with it too, red silk napkin hanging over the arm that's holding the tray, his other arm neatly folded behind his back, as he stands at the threshold to the room and calls out:]
Votre vin, monsieur Rosfield. Et quelques amuse-gueules.
no subject
Sometimes, wine is what it takes to find out bits and pieces of people Clive would otherwise never have known. And maybe it's his turn to be the one talking about things that would never have occurred for him to say sober, but who knows. He's always been able to hold his drink better than most.
A fun little challenge, perhaps. One he mulls over as he tinkers with piano keys during Verso's absence, and one that lingers in the back of his mind when he's no longer alone again. A little voice that says it's okay to be stupid, especially when Verso announces himself like a very prim maître d'.
He barks a laugh, bemused. ]
Oh, come off it. [ Affectionately (and flushing somewhat at the use of Monsieur Rosfield), as he gets up off of the bench. He can imagine that a concert pianist wouldn't love someone littering crumbs all over his literally priceless instrument, so. Courtesy first!
With that done, he leans into the theater of it all. Approaching, straight-backed, then bending an elbow with his arm folded across his chest, head inclined at a perfect angle. The picture of a medieval knight, bowing to someone above his station. ]
I hope the lovely waiter comes with my food and drink.
[ He says, sweeping his free hand sideways towards... the imaginary table. They'll have to sit on the floor like savages if they don't want to use the piano as a table, and drink next to the rather charming toy train setup. He feels a child again, honestly. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)