oh it don't break even [tag; genevieve]

He stared at the canvas in front of him, its white space seeming more vast than it was. His eyes traced along the smooth surface before he turned to look at his box of supplies, he hadn’t finished unpacking yet. Casimir looked up at the cabin he had been taking a few slow days to move into. He had to get away from his place in London. It harbored too many memories he wasn’t quite cold to just yet. He’d had a relationship, or, something close to one for a small amount of time. The distance was best when things turned into something a bit messy. The boxes were scattered about but even unpacked he felt more at home in the space than he initially thought he might have.

Cas had stumbled on the information to the small home that had been left to him by his parents as an inheritance. Only a note that had been signed love mom and dad with a key attached to the directions and address. He hadn’t cleaned anything out of the space yet but had rather moved in alongside it. Cas figured that as he unpacked he could pack it would save time and he’d already had boxes made for the rooms as he sorted through who his father had been. Who the man now was seemed to have changed from the stories Cas had often been told. Long fingers opened his supplies and pulled the first set of paints he touched. It soothed him to put color on the canvas. To watch as something grew from the empty space before him.

They had broken up; he and Basil. But he wondered could it be considered a breakup if they had never said the words? If they had never enjoyed the relationship that had taken them time to build? His brows drew together as he thought mostly of his betrayal or rather how betrayed he had felt. Honesty to Casimir was all he truly needed in a partner. The sex and the attraction it would all build upon itself. However, to trust someone - to know they could be depended on - was a rarity in the life of a man who kept others at arm's length. Well, not everyone. He trusted his sisters and his parents. They were his family after all. He trusted Genevieve. Full lips curved at the edges as he smiled, his eyes washing over the painting of his closest friend.

He needed to see her, to hear her give reason to the many emotions that ran through him. It was unlike him to worry so much, to ponder the question of what if. He had always been free and non-committal for a reason. Emotions were tricky and oftentimes when they snuck up on a person they were even harder to deal with. Casimir had never expected himself to care, to think about something with possibility with someone, and yet it had happened. It had happened and left him feeling more in pieces than he ever had. Pieces because just like his mind his emotions were scattered, bouncing all over the place keeping him in a constant state of confusion. Cas shook his head before he took a white sheet to rest near the canvas.

He’d told Genevieve he was moving into the cabin permanently in the letter he had sent requesting to see her. Cas knew she had important things on her plate to handle but he had gone as long as he could without bothering her. She was the only person he would trust when it came to expressing how he felt. He knew there were parts of him that some people would never understand or accept, but, he hoped that like always she could see who he really was. He often allowed others to see him however they wished most of the time built on rumors of his most scandalous deeds. He glanced at the clock before he took the sheet to drape carefully over the painting, moving the easel and canvas into the corner.

Long-fingered hands ran together as he walked over to the door, easing it open with a grin plastered on his face. “Hey, you.” He shifted to lean his head against the doorframe, “Thanks for making the time. I couldn’t talk about everything over a letter.” Though he probably could have explained better. He’d left out all the important bits and simply sent a rather vague, moving into the cabin, can you come by to talk? They had shared letters in the spaces of their visits if time allowed them to. He shifted to step back, “Sorry, come in. It’s more cluttered than you probably remember.” He walked into the room more, “So, tell me first what’s going on in your world. I missed you by the way.” He smiled as his head tilted again. “It’s really good to see you.”

Genevieve was admittedly surprised to hear from him, her face almost immediately lighting up as she skimmed through the contents of the letter and reading the signature across the bottom of the note. He had been one of her closest friends in her teenage years and though they had kept in touch over the course of the years, they had gone their separate ways and pursued other personal interests. It did not help that Genevieve had married and gone on her own quest of acceptance within the ranks of the Reinhardt family. Even so, Genevieve was rather fond of Casimir for a number of reasons and had always wondered, or rather hoped that he might find it within his busy social schedule to spend time with her. It was a rather pitiful thought, she decided, but one she kept to herself.

Had it been anyone else they might have been forced to wait; the young heiress had always enjoyed seeming relatively unavailable to all her male suitors. And to an extent she was unavailable; she was married, after all, into one of the more powerful families in Britain and had plenty on her social calendar to keep her occupied, not to mention should she be seen entertaining a male on her own it would give way to rumor, and her marriage had already been brought to the edge of impending doom on many an occasion due to her misadventures. But Casimir could not so easily be dismissed into the ranks of her previous suitors, as that had always come secondary to the depth of the friendship they had always shared even if as of late, she felt she was revisiting a complete stranger.

Regardless, Genevieve did not spend much time thinking about the connotations of their friendship. What mattered was that there was a sense of urgency in his letter that was uncharacteristic of Casimir and that could only mean that he needed her, that he called to her for a specific purpose. And that was all it took for her to be there. Outfitted in a simple, though hardly undecorated, blue dress and high heels, she gave Effie vague warning of her absence and disappeared just as quickly, remembering the cabin well enough to know where she was going. Taking a moment to straighten her hair, she moved closer to the door, giving it two firm knocks as she waited impatiently. But there was no need to wait as he appeared in the doorway, her eyes seemingly with a mind of their own as they traced along his frame, her smile widening as she looked up at him.

There was nothing disingenuous about this smile; it was strange for her to experience it again, that freedom she felt when in his presence. “Don’t be silly, of course, I’d come over immediately, all you ever need to do is call--” she said, walking into the room as she looked around. It was rather disorganized but nothing some good wand work could not fix. “As long as you haven’t called me over to tidy up,” she teased, looking for a surface where she might sit. “My world?” she looked over at him and arched an eyebrow, “Haven’t you been reading about it in the papers? Social events, fundraisers, fancy dinners with my in-laws, that sort of thing,” she said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. But she didn’t want to talk about that, about the spaces where she was forced to be someone she was not.

“Not enough to call upon me in some time, I see,” she reprimanded but it was a gentle note, something to remind him that he had been quite missed as well. “But I’ve missed you too, I actually had a dream about you the other night,” not the sort she could discuss as a married woman, but it bore mentioning, “so I’d say your owl felt serendipitous,” she added, walking over to a pile of things in the charge before she reached out to touch them. Only barely before pulling her hand back, “So what is the sudden move to the country for? Are you…doing alright?” she paused, looking at him for any sign that might guide her.