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Summary
From an outsider's perspective, Verso and Monoco's relationship is a little strange, and not only because a decades long relationship is like a fairy-tale for Lumièrans.
Lune watches and wonders about their secrets. Sciel tries not to be jealous. Mathilde wonders if she should call the authorities. Ophelie just thinks they're cute.
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Excerpt:
...She doesn't know anything about Verso's past, but it's clear he had a rough life on the Continent. Still, every day he comes in and is greeting her politely, a smile on his face.
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This day is just like any other. Mathilde has just seen Caroline out, the woman taking her usual seat just outside the bakery, and the door opens again. Verso waves at her as he enters, throwing his usual "Bonjour, Mathilde !" with a smile.
"Bonjour ! What would suit your sweet tooth, this time ?" Mathilde answers with her own smile. "I have some delicious chouquettes, all freshly done and very sweet."
"You know me so well, don't you ?"
Mathilde knows she doesn't, and she doubts anyone does. Even as Verso smiles at her, his tone almost flirty, his eyes stay distant. Mathilde tried to return his apparent flirting once or twice, ignoring her common sense, but he hadn't even seemed to get the hints and she had decided he did it without thinking about it. Perhaps people on the Continent were just like that, few as they must be.
Instead, she just rings him up with her usual smile, and almost startles when the door's bell rings again.
"Are you finished yet, you lazy oaf ?"
Mathilde turns to greet the unknown customer, and has to double check at the sight. The one speaking is a Gestral. That, in itself, isn't necessarily out of the ordinary. Not since the Paintress' defeat. Gestrals come to Lumière out of curiosity, displaying their wares and demanding people fight them to gain the privilege of buying from them. However, Gestrals being unable to eat mean that it's the first one entering her bakery for anything other than a strange battle challenge – Mathilde had so much trouble making that one Gestral understand that her rolling pin wasn't a weapon.
Gestrals also usually aren't covered in fur, or speaking French. Or wielding a giant bell tied to a stick.
"Are you that eager to lose, vieille branche ?" Verso answers the Gestral, not turning as he counts his money over the counter.
The Gestral doesn't have a face, and yet Mathilde gets the distinct impression that they are glaring at Verso. Perhaps they don't have a choice in the expression, considering the frowning eyebrows painted on their mask.
"Bonjour !" She greets before the Gestral can lift their strange weapon and escalate things. She's heard enough about the property damage Gestrals can cause in their eagerness to fight. "Are you looking to buy something ?"
The Gestral turns their mask to her, and waves their free hand in Verso's direction. "Just making sure this idiot can walk instead of rolling over. You've become rusty." He adds to Verso. "Won't even be a challenge, really."
Mathilde briefly considers offering some help to her customer. Maybe he can slip out of the back, and the Gestral will go to find another person to beat up. But Verso smiles ruefully as he turns, posture more relaxed than she's ever seen. For once, his smile seems to reach his eyes. Mathilde finds it rather unfair, how pretty it makes the man – and he's turning heads on the regular.
"I could beat you with both hands tied behind my back." Verso boasts. Mathilde pushes his purchased chouquettes over, and wonders if she should intervene now, before they decide to fight within her bakery.
"Oh yeah ? That's not how I remember our last fight." The Gestral shifts loosely, and had they been human, Mathilde has no doubt there'd be a mocking grin on their face. "I had to bring your limbs back to you after I finished pummelling you into the ground. You were begging for me to stop."
Mathilde now dearly hopes the Gestral is translating some of their people's language strangely. She looks at Verso, but he doesn't to have any prosthetics. He's also grinning widely, absentmindedly taking his purchase. He waves goodbye as he walks over to the Gestral with something akin to a bounce in his steps.
"I didn't beg, I manfully told you I was done with your cheating."
The bell shims again as Verso opens the door, and Mathilde answers his quick "au revoir" with her own "au revoir et à demain !". The Gestral turns around, briefly looking at her. They seem to frown at her, judging her intentions. They shrug, posture seemingly relaxing. "Thanks for feeding him. He'd starve without help."
Then they leave after Verso, leaving Mathilde confused. She isn't sure if the Gestral is a friend of Verso, or some kind of strange rival. Perhaps she should ask a few Gestrals about their culture, next chance she gets. Or she could ask someone armed and ready to fight for the answers.
The next day, Verso doesn't have any visible injury as he comes in. He greets Mathilde with a grin, his eyes still more alive than she'd ever seen. Mathilde hopes the Gestral, whoever they are, will stay for a while in Lumière. She also hopes those two keep their fights far from her shop.
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