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WHO? three disasters.
WHAT? vex and percy impart spoilers about campaign 1 of critical role.
WHEN? outside of time and space, etc. during spider-training sessions.
ANYTHING ELSE?

[ There aren't all that many places to hide aboard BASE, but Vax manages. He likes to think he could manage until they're shuttled off to entertain spiders, but it's inevitable that Vax gives in before they head off to do something dangerous. It's the way of things between them. Vax stalks away, but he always comes back. No matter what's happened between him and Vex, he always comes back to her to try to set it right.

And it's hardly her fault this time. It's no one's fault. (Which means Vax is going to treat it like it's his own fault.) He doesn't remember a large chunk of time and all the terrible things that had passed within it. Vex hadn't done that to him. The separation that causes is difficult enough without Vax creating physical distance between them, or so he tells himself.

He's still telling himself that as he scrapes the glitter off his skin and then makes his way to her room. He'll apologize. He'll do a better job of apologizing than he'd done when she'd been explaining all of what he'd lost in the first place. But when she opens the doorway for him, Vax's footsteps stutter when he realizes Percy's there. Vax immediately stiffens. ]

I can come back.

[ It's nothing against Percy, but if Vax had realized he was here with Vex, he'd have waited until Percy had gone. He wasn't used to having an audience when he and Vex hashed things out. Vax had a hard enough time with just her, nevermind having Percy there to watch him try to navigate the situation. He takes an immediate step backwards, angling to beat a hasty retreat. ]

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[ It shouldn't be noteworthy to find the pair of them together. They're the only three members of Vox Machina aboard. But Percy's hasty exit is it's own red flag. What had Vex been telling him?

But her grip on his wrist is tight enough to discourage Vax's instinctive attempt to try to follow Percy out. He remains, even with discomfort etched into every line of his body. ]

You're a mess.

[ Pot, kettle. Even if Vax is marginally less glitter-smeared, he has his own emotional shitshow to haul around with him. At least Vex isn't having a slow-motion breakdown. ]

D'you want me to fix your braid?

[ As in, let's do something normal. As in, let's not talk about anything that happened before or how I've been ducking you for days.

It's predictable. Vax has to circle around and around to get to an apology, especially if Vex isn't in the mood to take pity on him. ]

[ She watches Percy leave, brow furrowed slightly as he disappears and the door closes behind him. Vex breathes out, slowly releasing Vax's wrist from her almost vice like grip. At least the plan was a success, right? They manage to trap him. ]

Look who is talking.

[ There is glitter in her hair, clinging to her skin, even in a bit of her clothes. More than her brother, by some sort of ridiculous luck he has always managed to possess. ]

What? Oh. [ Pulling her braid over her should Vex shifts, glitter spreading further onto her hands. ] Yes, it's been driving me crazy.

[ Baby steps. ]

[ Vax casts a second, quick eye at the door, assessing, before he sits down on Vex's bed. It's always the same when they come up against these moments. Vax knows she's going to needle something out of him and he knows that he needs her to do it. But none of the makes it any more comfortable for him. ]

I can't do anything about the glitter.

[ Which Vax suspects is the point of the glitter. ]

But I can you make you look presentable. We're going to need to be, I hear.

[ But if there's one thing the twins can do, it's clean up well and blend in among their betters. Vax isn't worried about passing in courtly society, spiders aside. The apology is still sticking in his throat, catching whenever he breathes. ]

[ For a moment she thinks he might run again, weasel out of this before it's even begun. He moves instead to her bed and Vex follows without pause, sitting down back turned to him. ]

I always look presentable, dear.

[ Vex gives him a brief look before looking ahead again, hands curled into fists in her lap. The spider's court is the farthest from her mind right now, a worry for another day when this current elephant isn't stomping around the room. ]

But you never did finish my braid the last time. You owe me.

A braid is the least of what I owe you.

[ Though it's a smart approach on Vex's part. The routine of braiding her hair will always be comforting, and more importantly, it gives Vax an excuse not to look her in the eye.

Not that it really matters. Vex has always been able to tell exactly what he's thinking, whether or not she can see his expression. That's the drawbacks of having been together for nearly every waking moment of their lives. ]

I wasn't trying to interrupt.

[ Though Percy had cleared out quickly enough that whatever they'd been working on couldn't have been too involved. But it's a drive by attempt at apology. The plan is, as ever, address his lesser sins before attempting to tackle the largest of them, and try to escape before the question of the future becomes unavoidable. ]

You're right. There is so much I haven't collected on.

[ It's as comforting to Vax as it is to her, nerves soothed by the familiar motions they go through. Besides the direct approach might be too much and the last thing she wants is Vax walking out on her again.

She exhales, softly, picking at some of the glitter clinging to her hands. The temptation to brush this all off with levity picking at the edge of her mind. ]

It's alright, you weren't.

[ Thankfully. She doesn't particularly want to imagine how this would have started were they more involved when Vax arrived. But then again, that situation is just as tentative, cautious as they feel through the space that lays between them. ]

[ The silence stretches as Vax gently finger-combs Vex's hair out until it spills across her shoulders. He can practically sense the heavier topics he knows his sister has in store, and he knows that walking out a second time won't be so simple. Vex will only give him so much space for so long. ]

Are we gonna have to talk about it? [ He asks finally, voice flat. ] I know you've got something on your mind.

[ He'd like for that "something" to be the mission at hand, but he knows he's not going to be so lucky. ]

[ She can feel the weight of the silence as Vax's fingers comb through her hair, it feels nice but doesn't distract from the metaphorical elephant in the room. They can only sit like this for so long, before it becomes to much and the urge to run becomes to strong in Vax.

Eyes close, fingers curling into fists on her lap. ]

Of course we are. [ And he isn't going to like it. ] There's... things you need to know. Things you should know.

[ Another breath, an attempt to calm the nerves that starts to bubble up inside her. ]

[ Vex wouldn't be phrasing any of this as a barb, but Vax winces over things you should know. Yes, there's plenty he likely should know but doesn't. Even with a few days of sulking behind him, he hasn't been able to shake the sense that he's lost the memories through some fault of his own. ]

It's bad, isn't it?

[ Not that dragons destroying their home yet again could be good news. But what could be worse than that? ]

Just...get it over with, Stubby.

[ As if this is the same as the time she'd accidentally shot him with her bow. Drawing out the shaft had been agony. Based on the tension in Vex's shoulders, Vax is assuming this is going to be about as painful. ]

[ If only it was that easy.

Laughter bubbles in the back of her throat; uneasy, bitter almost, and she swallows it down. It's so much, all of it, she knows it is but Percy was right, they couldn't keep him in the dark forever. It would be worse later. ]

Yeah, it's that bad.

[ Worse even. ]

The leader of the dragons, it was the very same dragon that killed Mother. [ She starts, voice flat. A miserable attempt to distance herself from the memories. ] And we weren't strong enough defeat him, or any of them. We had to run, lick our wounds and find some way to get stronger.

[ As always Fenthras is not far, subconsciously she reaches for it, pulling out of Vax's grip briefly, bringing it over to rest on her lap. ]

So we went on something of a scavenger hunt for these powerful artifacts, the Vestiges of Divergence. You got one─ Two actually, they're pretty cool. This armor you have lets you fly and the dagger, well, you seem to teleport to whenever it's thrown? Sometimes I'm still a little jealous, truthfully. You got wings, you ass.

[ Back on subject now. ]

Not that it was easy, most of them were a pain to get. Like your armor; it was in the bottom of some underwater tomb, there was a Beholder and... I died.

[ Nailed it? ]

Edited 2018-05-09 10:24 (UTC)

[ There's a few little tells that signal he should brace himself for both a longer speech and for a story that's difficult to hear. Vax had almost expected her to explain more about the damage to Emon, or a strategy for retribution or—

Anything. Anything else than what she actually explains.

The mention of their mother would have been difficult enough to weather. Vax leans into her as she speaks, attempts at braiding abandoned as he hooks his chi on her shoulder. She's upset. Vax could practically feel her distress mirroring his own as she names the responsible party (two homes lost to this dragon, and how many loved ones, how many people...) before her voice steadies. Talking about strategy was better. It was comforting for Vax, at least, who was reassured at the existence of a chink in the dragons' armor.

He's thinking admiringly of new armor and that dagger when Vex's voice trips over I died.

It's like having a bucket of ice water dumped over his head. He inhales so hard it hurts, pulling away to edge around to see Vex's face. ]

What did you say?

[ Percy had asked that too. Were both of them dead in whatever future Vax had to return to? ]

What happened? Vex'ahlia, what happened to you?

[ In truth she didn't want to tell him, even now she can feel herself resisting the explanation. If Percy hadn't convinced her she might not have told him at all, brushed over it as though it never happened and Vax never bargained with a god to save her.

Fingers curl tighter around the bow in her lap as he moves, her gaze almost avoiding until he speaks and it is like a dagger to her heart.

Vex'ahlia, what happened to you?

Distress is painted all across his face, in his voice, the worst possible thoughts quick to take up his head. It hurts to look at, and her gaze falls down to her hands, to knuckles slowly turning white. ]

The armor, it was trapped. You were in that whole and we didn't think to check for any traps─ [ Percy didn't, but she can't bring herself to say it. She can't live through her brother and Percy being at odds again, not considering the situation they have found themselves in. ] ─Percy managed to get away but... I didn't.

[ Vex inhales, lifting her gaze and reaching out for one of Vax's hands. ]

Kashaw was with us, so was Zahra. He managed to bring me back.

[ But it's clear from the look on her face, that there is more to it than just that. ]

[ It's not everything. It can't be everything. Vax wants there to be some other explanation or better, for Vex to explain she was just unconscious, close to death. Not dead. Not gone, to the point where Kashaw would need to involve himself. As she takes his hand, he latches onto her. His grip is bruisingly tight. ]

I wasn't there?

[ If he'd been there, he could have prevented it. That thought crystallizes in his mind instantly as he looks into her face. ]

But you're safe now? Whatever Kash did worked?

[ Getting his head around the idea of her being dead and gone is too much for him. The urge to flee is thankfully dwarfed by the need to stay close to her. Her distress anchor him in place, clutching her hand in both of his own. ]

Don't.

[ She can see it, feel it he blaming himself as his hand holds her hand so tightly. Of course he would, because he's right. If they had just waited they could've checked for traps, but they didn't wait and she died because of it. ]

It was my own fault for not waiting, you know how I get about treasure.

[ It won't stop him but she tries, smile stiff, her free hand lifting from Fenthras to close around his. ]

Yeah, I'm safe. The spell worked and I'm very much alive. All thanks to you. [ Her grips tightens, squeezing. ] You tried to bargain with a god for my life, and I guess they heard you.

[ The idea of bargaining for her life with a god is somehow a distant second to the worry that he could have—should have been there to prevent the bargaining from happening in the first place. He brings her hands up, presses them to his mouth for a moment. ]

Stupid.

[ The admonishment is strangled. ]

Wait for me next time, please.

[ He wanted to be able to protect her. What had he been doing leaving her alone like that? What could have been more important than making sure he was there to put himself between a trapped box and his sister? ]

If Kashaw hadn't been there...

[ Vax can't finish the sentence. He doesn't want to sit with the idea that she'd have been gone forever. ]

Yeah, I know.

[ She can't really deny it, the both of them had been fairly stupid in assuming that armor wouldn't have been trapped. If they had checked instead of Percy reaching in and triggering it, she wouldn't have fallen and Vax wouldn't have had to given himself over to the Raven Queen.

But it's to late for Vex to be considering those what ifs, it's been months upon months since the tomb. What's done is done. ]

I will, promise.

[ She shifts forward, resting her forehead against his. Breathing in for a moment, breathing in the distress she can feel all across him. It's the last thing she wants to make him, but the news she bears, it is anything but comforting and he has to know. ]

But he was, that's all that matters. No worrying about what ifs, okay?

[ Meanwhile, Vax is prepared to consider half-formed what ifs, even though he has little more than the bare bones of what happened to Vex in that tomb. His eyes close, brow furrowing before he sighs. He can't give Vex any other answer but an affirmative, even if it would be easier for him to stop his heart beating than to stop worrying about her. ]

I'll try.

[ That's the best he can offer her. How can't he think about what she's told him? The deal is dwarfed entirely by the specter of Vex's death. He doesn't entirely understand where the fits alongside Kashaw's spellcasting. ]

I'm not sure I'm glad you've told me this.

[ Though he clearly thinks that's the end of it. What else could there be? Dragons and death and powerful artifacts are a lot to swallow on their own. ]

[ In truth it is all she can expect. She knows him too well, knows the worry that eats away at him, the what ifs and possibilities that are likely to run through his head. If their positions were switched she would do the same, regardless of how much she was told otherwise. ]

I'm not. [ It's terrible, but honest. ] But we didn't want you to find out about it some other way, any of it.

[ Vex pushes lightly against him, trying to smile but it doesn't quite reach. If only that was the last of it, last of the news she had to tell him. ]

There's more, Vax.

Vex.

[ It shouldn't be surprising that he balks. His grip on her doesn't loosen, but apprehension is clear. ]

Good news?

[ Was anything easy for them in the coming months? Vax had thought that after they'd sorted out the Briarwoods, his biggest problems would be settling his own self doubts. But as he reluctantly allows Vex to put a little distance between them, he knows from her expression good news is probably not what she's going to dole out. ]

Sort of.

[ She breathes in, then out, taking a measure of comfort in Vax's grip, in the closeness they've always shared. Dot points, she thinks, the important stuff to make this go faster. Maybe? ]

We went to the Feywild, it was beautiful. Syldor was there too, they had moved Syngorn to the Feywild after the dragons attacked. That was fun. [ Sarcasm. ] We didn't stay long, we had to find the heart of a cancerous tree so we could get this bow. Which we did, after killing a corrupted Archfey.

[ Don't mention how he got under her skin, or how many nights she spent sleepless doubt and doubting and doubting. ]

We went all over the place really, got so many cool items. Saved Westruun from Grog's old herd and an anicent black dragon─ Which you teleported into it's stomach with Scanlan, you know? It was such a stupid idea. [ Laughter comes, stiff, head shaking. ] Even to Marquet where we found Ripley again. She tried to kill us, managed to kill Percy, but we didn't let her get away with it.

[ Vax is silent for a moment, letting all of that sink in. He knows there are aspects of this tale his sister is trying very hard to soften for him. But it's still easy to understand what's gone unsaid. They fought a dragon. They must have fought Grog's herd. These can't have been easy battles. And Percy... ]

That's why he asked when I found him here.

[ And Vax hadn't understood why then. ]

I thought he was just shocked that we were here. I didn't think he was asking because he was on the brink of death.

[ Vengeance wouldn't be enough. ]

I couldn't save him?

[ What would one more deal for his soul be, set against Percy's life? ]

[ He can read between the lines, the inflections of things left unsaid. As much as she tries to softens things she knows he'll pick up on things. The dragon, Grog's herd, the corrupted Archfey, things she doesn't go into in part because she doesn't have to or want to. ]

You can't save everyone, darling. [ A lesson Vex felt they all learned the hard way the day the dragons attacked Emon. ] You were trying to save Keyleth, there wasn't any way you or I... [ For a moment her voice hitches, emotion tries to sneak in. ] We couldn't have made it to him in time.

[ She shifts, pressing her head against his; a soft headbutt. ]

We took him back to Whitestone, to Pike, she brought him back to us. He's alive, and he knows he is alive. I told him about it after we got here.

[ Having Vex this close eases everything. Even close enough to hear her breath hitching or her voice waver, all it does is remind him that whatever happened in that tomb, she'd come through it alive. The hazy details of the bargain fall further behind as she tells him about Percy, relegated to meaningless detail. Vax has made deals before. He'd have bargained for Percy as well, but he's relieved to hear that happy ending came at Pike's hands in Whitestone rather than under more fraught conditions. ]

He took it better than I did, I'm guessing?

[ The lightness of his tone is meant to brush aside how shaken he was. So he couldn't save everyone. No matter how many times that reality is reiterated, it never manages to take the sting out of the idea that one of their number had been hurt and killed. ]

We'll have to keep an eye on him here.

[ Whatever comes next will likely be dangerous. Vax is going to need to take care of them both, because even the assurance that they'll be rebirthed if necessary doesn't convince Vax that they could take any chances. ]

A little.

[ Despite everything Vex manages a smile, as small as it is, fingers squeezing his. It's a lot, information of the future, deaths of those close to him. It may have been better if she didn't tell him, yet at the same time it had been a weight that sat on her chest even since the baths. Vax had to know, had to be informed of the important things at the very least. ]

Percy was quite surprised. I think he honestly thought there was no coming back for him, but he didn't realize how much we needed him. Or how determined we are.

[ She nods, of course they have to keep an eye on him, on each other, especially with what is to come next. All their training was prepping them in ways to not die, or be consumed. The assumption is easy to make their next mission is going to be a dangerous one. And Vex cannot risk losing either of them on it. ]

Story time isn't done, brother. [ Another smile, small, and she nudges him a little. ] We collected as many of the vestiges as we could, got super powerful, and killed every one of those dragons. We worked, briefly, with the green one to take down the white─ he had made his nest in the ruins of Draconia. [ She pauses briefly, glancing up at her twin. ] They destroyed Draconia. But we killed him, it was pretty spectacular actually... I think Pike got help from Sarenrae because a giant hand just punched Vorugal into the ground?

[ That laugh comes easily, but unsteady. ]

The important part was we took back Emon, we took back our home, and we killed Thordak. You, my darling brother, killed Thordak and got revenge for mother.

[ Vax pulls back from her with a start, eyes widening. Whatever further snippy remarks he'd meant to direct Percy's way die in his throat as he takes in what Vex is saying. ]

Finally? We finally did it?

[ And he didn't remember. He hadn't lived long enough. He wants so badly to know what it felt like to have finally murdered the creature that took their mother and their home from them. Had it been a relief? ]

We did it together?

[ A roundabout way of making sure Vex had been there. Surely, she had been with him. If he'd struck the killing blow, it could have only been with her at his side. ]

[ He pulls away so suddenly it startles her, eyes widening a moment of mirrored surprise. Of all the things she said, that one was the most important, she thinks. The very thing they spent years upon years thinking about, the very thing Vex poured hours to study and training into.

Breathing out, her expression shifts, reaching across the space to rest the palm of her hand against his cheek. ]

Together. We finally did it.

[ Finally. Years of carrying that need for revenge with them, and it could finally be laid to rest. Vax's head tips into her palm, eyes closing in a brief prayer of gratitude to Sarenrae. ]

I wish I remembered.

[ Or that he'd lived through it. Vax isn't entirely clear on how it is that he's lacking this knowledge. But he can glean enough from what he's been told to know that it had been the two of them and their friends who'd finally made this possible. He should thank Percy, but Vax doesn't even know how to address this with Percy. ]

And I wish I'd thought to lie before Percy figured out I didn't know any of what happened.

[ Is it to soon to be flippant about all of this? ]

So do I.

[ It would make things easier overall. Vex wouldn't have to have told him this story, told him about how the dragons came and ruined everything. How Vox Machina scrambled to gain power, almost losing people permanently along the way. And how they finally got revenge against the beast that took everything from them as children.

But they're here now, as they are, all they can really do is work with what they are given. Regardless of how confusing it all is.

Vex breathes out, gently brushing her thumb against his cheek as a smile manages to find her face again. It comes with laughter, soft against her lips, and she screws up her nose a little. ]

You wouldn't have been able to up with a convince enough lie even if you tried. You are much to honest for your own good, brother dear.

[ Part of Vax feels like he should be receiving this news with more fanfare. But they're missing their friends. How does he celebrate this without them? Without even Trinket? Somewhere ahead of him lies this moment. Vax can hold onto it like a talisman while they exist in this strange place. Things will be difficult, but in the end they'll achieve this wonderful thing. ]

I might manage to surprise you someday.

[ But Vax doesn't have any real burning desire to lie to his sister. He might manage to deceive Percy, but there's no way he'd manage to get one over on Vex. That's been the truth of things since they were in the cradle together. He squeezes her knee, head tipped easily into the press of her fingers as he pushes to his feet, flashes a grin at her ]

If there's nothing else about the future you need to warn me about, you can let me finish your braids.

Maybe. But I doubt it.

[ Nothing ever gets past Vex, especially when it comes to her twin. They have spent to much of their lives in each other's company, each other's space. She can read him like a book. He stands as a fond smile finds her face, hand moving to tuck loose hair behind her ear. ]

That's it.

[ A part of her wishes she could promise that was it, that there is nothing else lying ahead to cause heartache and pain. But Vex can't bring herself to speak of Scanlan, of the way he left or the hole he carved out. That wound still stands too fresh.

Instead she shifts, leaning back a little. ]

Don't pull to hard this time.

[ Reclaiming his seat, Vax drops a kiss to the top of her head before he gets back to work. The balance between them is restored. ]

Try to have less tangles then.

[ The usual rebuttal, as they fall into their decades-old routine. ]

Edited 2018-05-21 03:11 (UTC)

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should we call this a wrap!!

yes!! that is a very good idea.

sticks a bow on it