[ it would also seem he does not pull punches with his questions, though she is at least very good at pretending it doesn't make her want to die a little. ] I am indeed married, but it's a complicated thing. [ he doesn't want to be married to her anymore. ): or well, she'd assume. she had to flee in the dark of night. she blames his meddling family. ]
I hear you understand that, though. [ complicated things. ]
I didn't realize it was so complicated- ah, painful, I mean. I apologize for broaching the subject. I was operating on minimal information, and I- I wanted to ask a good, personal question, which could really help you to be- Well. ( it's difficult to not broach the subject he's attempting to avoid if only because of how much it relates to the universe he's from, to the world and story that he comes from.
he gestures vaguely with the mechanical arm in front of him. )
I'd say I'm familiar with complicated things, yes. So perhaps you might forgive me, and we go with something simpler to ease into it?
I'll forgive you, but only because you've asked so nicely! [ and because she does, in this strange realm space, understand what he's trying to evade. it's not something she wants to think too much about, either.
it's sort of funny he began this conversation asking about makysm, because she thinks he would like maksym a bit more than her. they could discuss inventions and other esoteric things, things she found boring and off putting because she was silly. ]
Though asking me to choose is also a little mean, when I'd like to claim most of them. But I like most shades of green. And pale buttery yellows. And burnt orange.
And here I was trying to avoid mean questions, but I won't ask for forgiveness this time as it seems you've come up with acceptable answers.
( that don't delve into too much detail about herself to be fair, but he didn't ask for details about herself - simply color preferences )
Ah, favorite color - ( he goes through a few of the options, but red has connotations he'd rather not think of, and- ) Copper, I think.
It was quite relieving when I placed this on for the first time, and it actually worked with help from my apprentices, of course. ( he pats the mechanical arm which flexes the hand on the other end. )
[ technically, he did ask for just the one, but her nature is such that she'll always want a little bit more. her eyes trail over to his mechanical hand, feeling less rude about doing so since he's the one who's drawing attention to it. ]
Copper and burnt orange are rather similar, aren't they? I salute your taste.
They are. I hadn't considered that actually, but they're within the same realm of color, so you're right. We've both exceptional taste.
( gustave looks down at his arm, which he lifts up in her direction, flexing each of the fingers on the end of it. )
My apprentices designed it actually. They're young- well. ( getting older as the years pass and the oldest person in lumiere becomes younger and younger. ) But they aren't to be underestimated. Obviously, they had oversight and guidance from myself, but the actual look of it was all them working together.
Asking about talents isn't too personal a question either, is it? Where would you say your own talents lie?
[ she continues to study the mechanical hand, eyes rounding a bit as she sees the flex of its fingers. she's never seen anything quite so sophisticated, and looks equal parts amused and impressed that a young cohort of apprentices are responsible for it. ]
I believe the question skirts the line just so, but I've no marvelous invention to show in return. [ unless she herself counts, but that's a secret she reveals to nobody. engineers like gustave, scientists, scholars, mages — they would and have done great and terrible things to study what lies in her very essence. she'd much rather be the creator than the canvas herself. ]
But I am not not a chemist. I like working with scents and minerals. I've a very good eye for spotting a gem in the rough, and I like making perfumes for myself and loved ones.
[ getting the composition just right is a genuine treat for her, though more often than not she lacked resources to test all that many interactions. ]
Oh, that's perfectly alright - there are more ventures to explore beyond invention. ( some part of him wonders what he might have been interested in, what he might have delved into if not for the pressing need to invent a great deal of things. would he always have been drawn to the mechanical, to the creation of new and innovative ideas to make life in lumiere better? to attempt to save it? it feels impossible that he would ever be anything else, but it also feels impossible to live in a world that wasn't actively dying one year at a time. )
That is an important skill to be able to spot gems, and making perfumes? That absolutely is the sign of a chemist - a scientist in a way, but also an artist. Correct?
You've got to have a good sense of a person and of how smells meld together to do something like that. What's the process? You start to think of the person and of the scents they most might like?
The two fields are not exclusive in my mind, correct. A lot of creativity and vision is required for both. [ in that sense, gustave is something of an artist himself.
but elisaveta does love beautiful things and she always has. her mother would warn her of the dangers of vanity, materialism. yet she has loved them all the same, with a passion only those who know true hunger may understand. ]
Sometimes. It's not that I don't take into consideration what they like. Once I really know someone, though, an idea starts to take shape. Different scents evoke different emotions, and everyone has a unique chemistry. [ it's strangely intimate and personal. ]
( gustave is perhaps realizing how intimate it all appears to be at least based on the way she's describing it now. that is absolutely becoming clear, and he gestures vaguely but no word actually leaves him.
he clears his throat a little and then shakes his head as if only just now realizing - )
I hadn't considered the way scents bring out various emotions in that sense. I mean, certain scents can certainly draw up memories, which are attached to certain emotions.
But there really are scents that can more universally evoke certain emotions?
[ she always does enjoy a man who is easy to fluster.
apologies, gustave. ]
I believe so, particularly ones that are tied to one's childhood. Their happier memories and their sadder ones. The ones that revolve around the people one loves.
I bet something has come to mind for you just now.
[ though she will behave and not ask about it in case it is sad, and because he has been so polite. ]
People of a certain age die every single year within my world.
Well, their death is- it's turning into flowers, into petals on the wind, and the scent always stays with me. I don't know that other people would have such an association with a floral scent, especially in worlds where that... does not occur. ( and what an amazing thing to consider - a gommage not occurring. it's everything the expedition has been fighting for. )
whatever teasing expression had been on her face has certainly waned now. there's something particularly cruel about something so horrifying being tied to a scent so lovely. she's never heard of anything like it — people turning into flowers upon death. ]
... That's awful! What do they die from?
[ a gommage, whatever that actually means, suggests these people aren't dying of old age. ]
( it feels strange to explain this to another person. everyone in lumiere knows about this since childhood, but he sees the horror in her expression, and his chest gives an ache. )
We don't really know.
A being called the Paintress shows up far off in the distance but we can still see, paints a lower number than the year before, and every single individual who is that age... they turn into flower petals, and they're gone.
We send off Expeditions to try to learn more, try to defeat her, of course, but-
( they face a rather large threat, the threat of someone that has the power of a god at the very least. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ it would also seem he does not pull punches with his questions, though she is at least very good at pretending it doesn't make her want to die a little. ] I am indeed married, but it's a complicated thing. [ he doesn't want to be married to her anymore. ): or well, she'd assume. she had to flee in the dark of night. she blames his meddling family. ]
I hear you understand that, though. [ complicated things. ]
no subject
he gestures vaguely with the mechanical arm in front of him. )
I'd say I'm familiar with complicated things, yes. So perhaps you might forgive me, and we go with something simpler to ease into it?
What's your favorite color?
no subject
it's sort of funny he began this conversation asking about makysm, because she thinks he would like maksym a bit more than her. they could discuss inventions and other esoteric things, things she found boring and off putting because she was silly. ]
Though asking me to choose is also a little mean, when I'd like to claim most of them. But I like most shades of green. And pale buttery yellows. And burnt orange.
[ she's not good at this, is she? ]
What about you, monsieur? [ a favorite color? ]
no subject
( that don't delve into too much detail about herself to be fair, but he didn't ask for details about herself - simply color preferences )
Ah, favorite color - ( he goes through a few of the options, but red has connotations he'd rather not think of, and- ) Copper, I think.
It was quite relieving when I placed this on for the first time, and it actually worked with help from my apprentices, of course. ( he pats the mechanical arm which flexes the hand on the other end. )
no subject
[ technically, he did ask for just the one, but her nature is such that she'll always want a little bit more. her eyes trail over to his mechanical hand, feeling less rude about doing so since he's the one who's drawing attention to it. ]
Copper and burnt orange are rather similar, aren't they? I salute your taste.
You designed this yourself, then?
[ that's quite impressive. ]
no subject
( gustave looks down at his arm, which he lifts up in her direction, flexing each of the fingers on the end of it. )
My apprentices designed it actually. They're young- well. ( getting older as the years pass and the oldest person in lumiere becomes younger and younger. ) But they aren't to be underestimated. Obviously, they had oversight and guidance from myself, but the actual look of it was all them working together.
Asking about talents isn't too personal a question either, is it? Where would you say your own talents lie?
no subject
I believe the question skirts the line just so, but I've no marvelous invention to show in return. [ unless she herself counts, but that's a secret she reveals to nobody. engineers like gustave, scientists, scholars, mages — they would and have done great and terrible things to study what lies in her very essence. she'd much rather be the creator than the canvas herself. ]
But I am not not a chemist. I like working with scents and minerals. I've a very good eye for spotting a gem in the rough, and I like making perfumes for myself and loved ones.
[ getting the composition just right is a genuine treat for her, though more often than not she lacked resources to test all that many interactions. ]
no subject
That is an important skill to be able to spot gems, and making perfumes? That absolutely is the sign of a chemist - a scientist in a way, but also an artist. Correct?
You've got to have a good sense of a person and of how smells meld together to do something like that. What's the process? You start to think of the person and of the scents they most might like?
no subject
but elisaveta does love beautiful things and she always has. her mother would warn her of the dangers of vanity, materialism. yet she has loved them all the same, with a passion only those who know true hunger may understand. ]
Sometimes. It's not that I don't take into consideration what they like. Once I really know someone, though, an idea starts to take shape. Different scents evoke different emotions, and everyone has a unique chemistry. [ it's strangely intimate and personal. ]
no subject
( gustave is perhaps realizing how intimate it all appears to be at least based on the way she's describing it now. that is absolutely becoming clear, and he gestures vaguely but no word actually leaves him.
he clears his throat a little and then shakes his head as if only just now realizing - )
I hadn't considered the way scents bring out various emotions in that sense. I mean, certain scents can certainly draw up memories, which are attached to certain emotions.
But there really are scents that can more universally evoke certain emotions?
no subject
apologies, gustave. ]
I believe so, particularly ones that are tied to one's childhood. Their happier memories and their sadder ones. The ones that revolve around the people one loves.
I bet something has come to mind for you just now.
[ though she will behave and not ask about it in case it is sad, and because he has been so polite. ]
no subject
People of a certain age die every single year within my world.
Well, their death is- it's turning into flowers, into petals on the wind, and the scent always stays with me. I don't know that other people would have such an association with a floral scent, especially in worlds where that... does not occur. ( and what an amazing thing to consider - a gommage not occurring. it's everything the expedition has been fighting for. )
no subject
whatever teasing expression had been on her face has certainly waned now. there's something particularly cruel about something so horrifying being tied to a scent so lovely. she's never heard of anything like it — people turning into flowers upon death. ]
... That's awful! What do they die from?
[ a gommage, whatever that actually means, suggests these people aren't dying of old age. ]
no subject
We don't really know.
A being called the Paintress shows up far off in the distance but we can still see, paints a lower number than the year before, and every single individual who is that age... they turn into flower petals, and they're gone.
We send off Expeditions to try to learn more, try to defeat her, of course, but-
( they face a rather large threat, the threat of someone that has the power of a god at the very least. )