## Preface

AFK: a critrole MMO AU
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/7877485.

Rating:
  Mature
Archive Warning:
  No Archive Warnings Apply
Category:
  Multi
Fandom:
  Critical Role (Web Series)
Relationship:
  Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia
Characters:
  Vex'ahlia (Critical Role), Vax'ildan (Critical Role), Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III, Pike Trickfoot, Grog Strongjaw, Keyleth (Critical Role), Scanlan Shorthalt, Cassandra Johanna Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo
Additional Tags:
  S L O W BU R N
Language:
  English
Series:
  Part 1 of AFK: an MMO AU
Collections:
  Critical role
Stats:
  Published: 2016-08-26 Completed: 2016-11-10 Words: 64,061 Chapters: 26/26

# AFK: a critrole MMO AU

by Shippeh

Summary

> Vaxildagger whispers: casual guild [Vox Machina] looking for serious new members to fill out mythic raid group, need healers/DPS

Notes

> This AU is not necessarily based on any specific MMO; I've played a number of them in my day and I will probably be picking/choosing aspects from each.
> (my WIP title for this was "definitely-not-a-warcraft critrole AU")

> I really hope you enjoy! I have a long ride planned out for this and hope you'll stick around for the trip.

> Feel free to come pester me on Tumblr about this or anything you like- @shippeh
> Special thanks to @asspostate for being a joyful beta and helping me fight "stylistic quibbles"

## Chapter 1

Vaxildagger whispers: casual guild [Vox Machina] looking for serious new members to fill out mythic raid group, need healers/DPS

……

[Guild] Grogman: thats awful

[Guild] Vaxildagger: you wanna do better?

[Guild] Grogman: vox machina needs u to help kill shit. Be gud or git gud

[Guild] Vaxildagger: brilliant

[Guild] Minxie: make sure they know we are really friendly!!

[Guild] Vaxildagger: I only have so much space kiki I can’t write a novel here

[Guild] VexBankalt6: accepting scrubs 10k gold per

[Guild] Vaxildagger: how to not get members, a story by my sister

[Guild] Angelicpike: is that how they let you in scanlan?

[Guild] Lovebard: wow im going to miss raid night due to crying

[Guild] VexBankalt3: lmao as if he could afford it

[Guild] Vaxildagger: alright please act like normal humans for once I'm sending out invites

[NoMercyPercy has joined the guild]

[Guild] Vexahrrow: good god did you charge him extra for that edgelord name

A hand gripped her wrist tight before she was able to continue that train of thought on the keyboard. Vex eyed her brother and, not for the first time, regretted their decision to place their desks right next to each other- his, a secondhand Ikea deathtrap, and hers, a piece from the 90's they'd found on the side of the road. A few nails in the side and it was totally workable, but a good kick might send it collapsing down onto the huge dog that often served as her under-desk footstool.

“Please do not harass this kid out of the guild, have you seen his gear?”

He released her hand, and she hovered over the new kid's stat information. “Holy shit.” Top tier level stuff, to the point it was a wonder he'd asked to join their little shitshow at all.

“That's what I'm saying. So play nice.”

A glance over guild chat over the last few seconds had her sighing. “He better do hot DPS or I don't know how I will handle this.”

[Guild] NoMercyPercy: Is there an entrance fee to this guild? Who do I need to send it to? The guild leader, or is there some sort of guild treasurer?

[Guild] NoMercyPercy: Oh, I see Vexahrrow is ranked as “moneytwin”, how much should I send her?

[Guild] Angelicpike: no there's no fee she's just joking!

[Guild] Lovebard: I'm always accepting donations

[Guild] Lovebard: or selling dances but there's a line

[Guild] Grogman: a line runnin away from u maybe

[Guild] Lovebard: ya'll are heartbreaking tonight

The rest of the night followed in the same line, with their tight group behaving poorly as always, but the new kid (“Just Percy is fine, please,”) stuck around. Most of their members had known each other for a while now, and though distance separated them in the real world, Vex would not hesitate to call them her closest friends. On nights like tonight, when they had nothing planned for the guild, they all were scattered off on their own, but constantly filling the guild chat with chatter.

When Grog and Pike won yet another PVP duo against the latest unlucky pair, they'd all celebrate. Vax mostly liked to screw around leveling and constantly chatting. Vex spent most of her time sitting outside of the auction house and inside the trade chats. Keyleth had somehow coerced Percy into carrying her through old content for pretty new gear, and by the end of the night had wheedled them all into looking at her lovely new outfit.

Finally, as it grew late, her brother logged off and pushed his chair back, standing up. “I've got to work early tomorrow,” he said, stretching his shoulders and walking to the small kitchen.

[GUILD] Vexahrrow: bye all! we gotta bounce for the night

She received a chorus of goodbyes from them, including a “Farewell, it was a pleasure meeting you,” from the newbie which had her rolling her eyes.

She too logged off, shut her computer down, and followed after her brother. While he shoved leftovers into the ancient microwave, she eyed their 'family calender' posted on the side of the fridge. It was neat, and tidy, and was the backbone of their ability to function. Every Thursday was marked in red as “RAID NIGHT” and was often the highlight of their week. Vex's work schedule was in green, her twin's in blue. In yellow on Tuesdays was “Vex- Kennels” and once on every month was written “VAX- MEETING” in big, bold black.

Rarely was anything else on their schedule.

“I'm working late,” she said, grabbing a fork from the sparse silverware drawer. It stuck a little when she closed it, and by the time she'd rattled it shut, Vax had pulled his macaroni from the microwave and moved to the table. Unlike their desks, it was actually somewhat nice, having been abandoned by the previous tenants of the apartment. Once Vex had suggested they sell it and buy a shittier one, but neither of them had quite decided they were that desperate.

Vex took the seat next to her brother and reached out for his food with her fork. He didn't argue and pushed the bowl between them. “This is shit,” she complained.

“It's dollar store mac I made while you were gone on Tuesday.”

“I don't think even Trinket would eat this.” The dog, who was standing next to her and was still easily tall enough to rest his entire drooling head right on the table, huffed at her when she said his name. Vex spared a scratch with her free hand for her truest love.

“That's because you've spoilt him.”

“Absolutely, completely true, and I will continue to do so until my dying breath. Isn't that right, my big handsome wiggle-butt?” If Trinket had any semblance of a tail larger than a nub it would have been a deadly weapon. As it was, his entire big body shook when he was excited, wagging his whole lower half. He could barely keep his muzzle on the table with the strength of his happiness when Vex baby talked him.

Vax rolled his eyes, but was smiling from the side of his mouth. “You two can finish this, I've got to sleep.” He stood, fully handing her control of what remained of the leftovers before stepping to the sink and tossing his fork in. “Goodnight, sis,” he said, pausing on his way back to lean over and plant a kiss along her hairline.

“Night, Vax.” She waved him away and he retreated to his room, the door quietly shutting behind him. Vex took her time finishing the macaroni, making sure to wash the dishes in the sink thoroughly once done. Trinket stayed at her side the entire time, looking hopeful. Perfectly guilty of spoiling him, she offered him a bite of the last remnants, but true to form he turned up his nose.

“That's right,” she told him, running a sponge carefully over the edges of the fork before rinsing it down, “we are too good for dollar store mac.”

(He kept right in her way by the sink, though, because he was still a dog and just maybe she would end up dropping something good and delicious.)

Her night always ended with a short walk for Trinket. He collected his own leash, she grabbed a (big) bag for big dog waste, her beloved Zune, and, per her brother's well-meaning request, slipped a canister of pepper spray into her pocket. He worried a lot, probably too much- it took quite a bit of debate to reach this point where he'd not be insisting to accompany her on an after-dark walk. As if a giant terrifying dog dog wasn't enough of a deterrent. But as Pike always said, “he just really loves you, it can't be a bad thing,” so she took her tiny pink can of spray and didn't complain.

(Pike did not know that his love and overwhelming sense of protection could be and had been a Bad Thing. They didn't need to hassle their internet friends with real life problems.)

The weather was nice and the walk was long, both of them feeling content later as she brushed first her teeth and then Trinket's, crawling into her own small bed and shortly after being covered in too many pounds of dog. The wall between her's and Vax's room was thin, and once Trinket's breathing slowed and quieted she could hear her twin shifting in bed, occasionally knocking against the wall in his sleep. Sometimes a cat would yowl in the alleyway outside her window, or a car alarm would go off, but these and more were the sounds of her hard-earned home, and Vex slept soundly.

This was how normal nights went for them both.

Thursdays were not a normal night.

On Thursdays, they raided. Despite how much they goofed off the rest of the week in game, they were always serious on raid night. 7pm sharp (at least, in the twins' time zone) they had all better be logged in and ready to go in their best gear, enchantments up and gem slots filled. They weren't the most hard-core of players, but for one night a week, they liked to pretend they knew what they were doing. It also helped that they had a few players from a different guild, which raided on another night, who were happy to join in and help fill out their ranks on Thursdays. They often depended on Kima as their second tank, and Kashaw was a beautiful healer (if not a very social one). There was never a shortage of damage dealers, with a variety of players joining them on various weeks- Jarrett, Zahra, sometimes even Gern, though he was in a very difficult time zone (or maybe he was just difficult).

Zahra and Vex had an ongoing competition for highest DPS, but it had fallen largely to the wayside after Percy's joining. In the following weeks he had proven his entry into the guild by doing nearly 30% more than Vex's very best, even on a bad night. The whole thing was made worse by the fact that he was so casual about it, often offering to help carry her on off-nights for better gear or asking if she needed help figuring out her attack rotation.

Vax thought it was hilarious and took joy posting the dps stats after each encounter.

Tonight, though, things were not going well. It was a different issue each attempt. First Keyleth wiped them all by exploding in the middle of the party. She was very apologetic about the encounter, but as usual when it came to Keyleth, Vax was very forgiving. Next try had Scanlan AFK-ing and doing zero heals- Vax was not quite so forgiving about this. At one point they had the boss down to 5% remaining health... and wiped anyway.

Eventually Vax called for a break.

[Guild] Vaxildagger: lets take 5 alright guys, we're close we can do this lets just pull it back together

[Guild] NoMercyPercy: Have you ever considered a guild voice chat? It might help make it easier; I'd be happy to host a server for one.

[Guild] Vexahrrow: we dont have a mic over here

[Guild] Vaxildagger: actually go ahead and set one up Perc

“I've got a surprise for you, sis.” Vax got up from his chair while his sister stared at him dubiously.

“What did you do?” He ducked into his room for a minute and she called after him, “Vax?”

He returned with a box. “I was thinking about saving this for our birthday, but now's as good a time as any. So, happy early birth, Vex.” He sat back down and slid the box over onto her desk. “I figured if we just set it between our desks it should be able to pick both of us up easily-”

“Did you steal this?” Her voice was very quiet.

“No! No, gods, I didn't steal this, I swear.”

She hesitated, but started to open it. “Where did you get the money for this?” It was a cute little microphone, nothing super special, but presumably perfectly functional.

“I took a few extra shifts, and saved a little, and got it at a closing Radioshack for very cheap. Really, don't worry about it, alright?” He grabbed the dangling wire and plugged it into the top of his tower, letting her set the microphone on his desk close to her.

[Guild] NoMercyPercy: Alright, here's the link; there's no password for now unless you feel that we should end up having one.

“Ugh, come here, brother,” Vex slid her chair over and grabbed her twin in a one armed sitting hug. “You're the best, thank you.”

He hugged her back, shoving her a little. “Yeah, well, I owe you.”

“Oh, shut up. Get the chat working!”

It took a bit to install the drivers, and install the voice host program, and log in. By the time they had fiddled with the sound testing on their microphone and headphones, most everybody was already in the group. Raid for the moment was forgotten while the longtime friends enjoyed being able to speak to each other for real.

“Hello!” Vex greeted, her brother repeating her. A chorus of 'hellos' replied, and the twins grinned. Some voices they already knew (Pike and Keyleth were easy with their phone numbers), some of them were incredibly obvious (Kashaw's halfhearted grunt was a dead giveaway), and some of them she couldn't place without looking to see which name lit up as they spoke.

The next voice pinged as 'Betterbard', a player who joined them on and off when she could, “Uhm, wait a second-”

And then Scanlan- “Wait, Kaylie?”

“...Dad?”

“Since when are you- do you even play this game?”

“What the fuck.”

“Language, Kaylie!”

“Oh, my god.”

Vex and Vax turned to stare at each other wide eyed. He slowly reached out and hit the mute button on the microphone, and then both twins burst into laughter. Trinket startled underneath the desk and Vex patted his head back down, still laughing. “This was worth it.”

“Absolutely.” There had been extensive conversations between the twins on whether or not Scanlan was 12 or 40- imagining him trying to flirt with every member of the raid while his own daughter was in the group was a blessing.

Vax unmuted them. “Ok, family drama aside, are we ready to try again?”

A new voice spoke up. “Is there anything that anybody needs explained to them about the mechanics?”

“I guess I don't really understand the timed dispelling of the curse....” confessed Keyleth.

While she and the previous speaker, who kept pinging as Percy, went over how to dispel without murdering everybody in the raid, Vex felt her phone buzz. She picked it up to see a text from Pike.

'holy shit percy's not 12'

'omg pike he sounds like he should be doing radio commercials'

'he can narrate the audio book of my life'

'maybe I should pretend to be bad at mechanics like kiki just to hear him explain them'

'lmao ouch vex'

'do you think I could get him to call me at night and whisper in my ear until I fell asleep'

“Yo Stubby, do you think you could ready up or should we keep waiting on you texting.”

She slowly slid her phone up next to her monitor with a guilty look that could rival one of Trinket's. “Sorry, I'm ready!” She could hear Pike giggling as she hit the green ready check.

They killed that boss easy, and the next one after only 4 wipes.

It was a good night.

## Chapter 2

Chapter Notes

> I hope you guys like slow burn.
> also I have just been floored by the reception to this; never has any of my writing in a fandom been so well received. i love the CR fandom. thank you all so much, and enjoy

> (also again, thank you to @Asspostate for tolerating me, and feel free to come chat with me @shippeh!)

Vex'ahlia was awoken the next day by the loud pattering of rain on the roof and a sharp crack of thunder. She sat straight up in bed, grabbed her phone to check the weather app, and hissed, “Shit.” It was nine am and due to rain long into the evening, thunder-storming wickedly for most of it.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and called, “Trinket?” A whine from underneath the bed was the only response. “Me too, buddy.”

After dressing in sweats and a tank top and brushing her teeth (Trinket got a reprieve this morning), Vex got the text that she'd been dreading from her boss. A very short, “weather's bad, don't bother coming in today,” that broke her heart. Eight hours of pay gone just like that.

“Maybe you should get a job that isn't weather reliant?” her brother would say.

She'd reply, “I love my job.”

“More than you love having money?”

And she would say, “It isn't my fault we have all these extra bills right now.” And he'd snap back, and feel bad, and she'd feel bad, and Trinket would still be hiding under whatever furniture he could fit beneath. By the end of the day, all three of them would be just as gloomy as the rain outside.

She knew they needed money, and the rainy season was particularly hard, but Vex loved her job with the park system more than she would have thought. It was a job that allowed her to be very independent, driving around to the local small parks in the company truck with a big dog in the passenger seat. Her days were spent repainting flaking posts, cleaning bathrooms, fighting with wasp nests, and whatever other maintenance duties the crew tossed her way over the radio. The best days where the ones where groups had parties in the parks, because they usually loved Trinket and would give her leftovers to take home. It was engaging, and fulfilling... but the parks closed when it rained harder than a sprinkle and she was paid by the hour.

Convincing Trinket to go outside in the pouring rain was another ordeal entirely. By the time they came back inside, both of them were soaked and miserable. Vex was barely able to stop him from shaking water all over the tiny apartment before she could get him in the tub. She pulled the curtain over, let him shake hard in the safety of the shower, attempted to dry him off with a towel, and he was good to go slink underneath the table. She rolled her eyes.

Might as well see who was online, then.

She poured herself some coffee while her computer booted up. As she sat, Trinket lumbered over to take his normal spot under her desk. He was a damp footstool, but she didn't mind.

The voice chat group was empty except for Pike, who worked odd hours and could often be found in the middle of the day. Vex slid her headphones on and entered the room. “Hey Pike!”

“Hi Vex! Not working today?”

“Eh, it's raining today, so I can't go in.”

“I'm sorry to hear that, Vex.”

Her first smile of the day. “Thanks, dear. You wanna run some dungeons with me?”

“Yeah!” Vex accepted the invite into her group, and they entered the queue. “Hey Vex, did you know that wombats poop square poop?”

“What? Is that for real?”

“I dunno,” Pike laughed.

Vex laughed with her. Their queue popped and for a while they played together, mostly in silence, calling plays back and forth and once in a while mutually regretting somebody they were matched with. It was going to be unpleasant when her brother got home, and she'd still prefer to be digging fence holes at the park, but spending time with Pike like this was always a blessing.

After a while, there was a little beep signaling the arrival of somebody else to the voice room.

A familiar grunt. “Morning.” It was long past morning for both Pike and Vex, but Percy seemed to exist in a timezone across the country. That, or he simply did not have to obey the normal human constraint of 'sleeping when it's night time'. Vex had seem him alone online in the voice room while getting a drink at 4 in the morning, and once he had been five minutes late to raid claiming “sorry, I only just woke up.”

Pike was glaringly chipper compared to him. “Hello, Percy! Are you not working today either?”

“Ah, I don't have a job, actually, just various projects I'm working on.”

“Oh, that sounds- oh shit, I'm sorry Vex, I definitely just got you killed.”

Vex stared at the sad little corpse of her character, taken out in her prime by a big greedy lizard who had not been thoroughly convinced into attacking the tank. “Please say a short prayer for my repair bill.”

“Are you short on gold? Do you need to borrow any?”

It was an innocent enough question but it had Pike cackling into her microphone to the point of near static. “Percy, please never give her money. She has six characters just used as storage accounts and last I heard at least four of them had the max amount of gold possible.”

“Noooo, Pike! You're cockblocking my wallet!”

“Your wallet needs to chill, Vex!”

If Percy had a reply, it was drowned out by two girls cackling at each other at high pitch. If he was smart, he might have pulled his headphones off until they were done teasing each other.

(If he was really smart, he might have quit the guild right then.)

Suddenly, there was a click as the door knob turned and Vex felt herself cringing. “I gotta run guys, I'll be back later. Brother's home.”

Pike wished her a “good luck!!” before Vex exited the chat room, logging out of the game. She pushed back her chair and made it to the kitchen in time to greet her brother, fresh home from work, soaking wet, and looking less happy than a drowned kitten.

She winced. “What happened to your umbrella?”

“Some fucker stole it out of the break room.” He kicked off his shoes and walked past her, pulling off his dripping shirt before tossing it in the sink.

“I could have picked you up so that you didn't have to walk.”

Vax gave a one-shoulder shrug, leaning over the sink to try and wring out his long dark hair. He did not otherwise reply.

She sighed, moving to stand next to him. “Listen, I know you're mad, but-”

“I'm not mad,” he interrupted, giving up on his hair and letting it fall damply over his bare chest. His hands clutched at the edge of the sink. “I'm not mad, alright? I'm just- disappointed. In everything, not just your job and this stupid rain. And I know-” he finally turned to look at her, one hand held up to stop her from saying anything before he finished, “-I know most of this is my fault, okay? I fucked up, and now I have to work this horrific job with jackass coworkers and the money fucking sucks, and I know it isn't fair for me to get pissy because the job you love isn't perfect but, fuck, Vex, everything is just so....”

“Awful?” she supplied.

“Yeah. Awful.”

He gave her a twisted, half hearted smile, and another one-shoulder shrug. Vex almost wished he'd come in angry again, because while that was rough it wasn't so... heartbreaking. She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around her very wet twin in a tight hug.

“Listen,” she began, not letting him go, his arms wrapping around her in turn, “Listen, this isn't permanent and we're okay. We have an entire two bedroom apartment! In a neighborhood where people aren't getting mugged every night outside! Our bills are gross but we are paying them, with a tiny bit of extra, and my job isn't going anywhere, at least. Plus,” she added, grinning into his hair, “you're gonna get so fucking ripped doing all that stocking at work and then your biggest problem will be keeping everybody off you.”

“Oh, my god, sister, stop,” he said, pulling away from her, but he was laughing a bit.

“Seriously, Vax, our bedroom wall is just too thin, I won't be able to deal with your suitors here every night. It's going to be so stressful. Trinket and I will have to sleep at the park.”

At the mention of his name, Trinket gave a small woof, but remained hidden under her desk. (For a big dog, he was quite the pussy.)

“Oh, Vex'ahlia, you know you'll always be welcome to join my harem. People like twins, I've heard.”

“You're disgusting, that's disgusting, please never touch me again, you fuck.” She was gagging, he was laughing, but both of them were smiling. “Please go change. I'll make food.”

He retreated to his room, still laughing at her. She picked up his wet shirt and threw it at him. “It's going to be soup, because I'm not taking care of you if you get sick and die from walking in the rain!”

He caught the shirt and ducked into his room, poking his head out just to yell back, “Good, because we have eight million cans to eat since you went batshit last time there was a sale!”

She stuck her tongue out at him, and then scowled into the open cabinet- it was entirely full of cheap soup cans.

Later, full of soup and having convinced Trinket to piss back at the rain outside again, they settled back into their computer chairs and logged back into the game and onto voice chat.

“This is completely unfair! I have been betrayed by the two most important women in my life! How could you heartless creatures do this to me?” Scanlan was apparently in the middle of an eloquent tirade.

Vex interrupted. “What is going on in here?”

Just laughter from Pike, before finally Keyleth answered her. “Apparently Pike and Scanlan live in the same town, but she won't say where.”

“Really?? How did you guys find that out?”

“Oh! We're all becoming friends on facebook! Can I send you a request?” Vex got one momentarily, before she was even able to reply (Keyleth worked fast). She accepted and started browsing Keyleth's page while Scanlan went on.

“It's worse, Vex. They're conspiring against me!” More giggles from Pike. “My own daughter and my future wife! Taking pictures together! Without me!”

“Oh, Scanlan, you were at work, it wasn't intentional,” Pike said, doing fairly well at pretending to feel badly.

“I want to see pictures of you two!” said Vex, who had just gone through and hit the like button on every picture of Keyleth's from the last week (and there were quite a few). She was a damn cute red head and Vex was particularly fond of the picture of her covered in a pile of puppies. She got a 'ding!' notification, and accepted Pike's request too. Right there on the front was an image of a short blonde woman locking arms with a young teen with a wicked grin. Vex hit the girl's tagged name and sent her a request as well, leaving a short 'yo it's Vexahrrow' message so she'd know who she was.

“Awwww, Pike, you're so cute!” There was a dramatic sigh from Scanlan that she ignored. “Are we all Facebook friends? Where is everybody else?” Scanlan sent her a request momentarily, and she clicked through to Grog's page and sent one to him herself. “Where's Percy's?”

Keyleth sent her the link, and she checked it out.”Percival de Rolo. That's poncy.” There was absolutely no content that she could see. His chosen profile picture, even, was just a picture of the back of a man in a long jacket. You couldn't even really see the back of his head; the picture was focused poorly and too low. She sent a request. “Damn, he's got his privacy settings pretty high.”

“Uh-uh,” said Pike, “he just made that account when we were all talking about friending each other earlier. It's completely empty in there.”

She leaned over to Vax, away from the microphone, and whispered, “Percy's definitely a secret millionaire.”

He whispered back, “Percy's definitely a secret serial killer.” He didn't really look at her though, and was focused on a chat with somebody in the game.

She nudged his shoulder, mentally blocking out the chatter in her headset. “Who are you talking to?”

“Just Gilmore.”

“God, are you in trouble again? What the hell did you do this time?”

“No no, he's not modding me. He actually...” Vax paused, finally looking up at her, as if he couldn't really believe what he was about to say. “He wanted to know if our group was going to the big game con in the east.”

She frowned. “I don't really know if we can afford tickets to that-”

“No, that's the thing, he said that, as a game mod, they give him a certain amount of passes, and he wants to... give them to us?” It faded into a question, and he paused to type something else into the game.

Vex raised one single eyebrow. “For... free?”

“Yeah. So we'd just have to get there, and pay for housing... which could probably be a lot.”

She drummed her fingers on the desk, and looked at her twin, whose hair was doing all kinds of odd things after the rain, and who still had dark circles under his eyes, and finally she said, “We could take the train there for cheap, and if everybody went, a hotel would be cheap, and I actually have been saving some money...”

Vax gave her his full attention. “What?”

“So....”

“So...?”

“So if the group wants to come with us.... we should go. Let's go. Let's go to the con and meet everybody.”

It took about 30 seconds for chaos in the chat to die down and for everybody to agree to go wholeheartedly. The twins stared at each other, each a bit in shock. Vax broke eye contact first, typing into his chat.

[to gloriousgil(GM)]: we're in

gloriousgil(GM) whispers: Fabulous!

## Chapter 3

Chapter Notes

> as always, thank you to @asspostate for helping me rough this up into Not Trash
> and come find me on tumblr @shippeh!!!

> also THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH ! I did not expect the reaction to be so positive, I'm thrilled. i wanted to get chap 3 up before Legion dropped for you all ;p

Over the next month, plane tickets were purchased, train routes scouted, and after a solid week of debate over which hotel offered the best value for the best price, things were set in stone. Excitement set in immediately and it was all they could talk about; what panels to go to, which guests were coming, who'd be in the artist's alley.

(It was such a topic of conversation that Vax had to ban mention of it during raid night, otherwise nobody was able to focus at all.)

Keyleth was even putting together some sort of cosplay of her character; it was all she'd talk about. Vex often received pictures throughout the day of various bits and pieces, and Keyleth's Facebook was overflowing constantly with updates of what she was working on and links to how-to guides and tutorials. At one point she posted a picture of herself almost entirely topless with just a bit of a cover-up band to show off how she planned to do some of her skin paint. Both Grog and Scanlan liked it immediately.

Vex, browsing her phone on break at work, sitting underneath a giant oak with Trinket flopped at her side, rolled her eyes. “Don't be gross, boys,” she commented.

Scanlan replied quickly. “I am simply admiring her stunning paint job, Vex. Look at the way the swirls of paint blend perfectly together. Can't I admire art?”

“Kiki's really hot.” Grog was a true master of words.

“That too,” wrote Scanlan. He'd liked Grog's comment, too.

Keyleth's reply at this point was just a series of emojis: a couple frowny faces, a couple pulsing hearts, and then a single thumbs up.

“It does look really good, Kiki,” chimed in Vax. Keyleth liked his comment. Vex wished she could unlike it for her.

A picture was added to the comment chain, and once it loaded Vex had to cover her mouth to stifle a laugh. Grog had just posted a topless selfie of his own, flexing an arm to show off his hard-earned musculature and array of very typical tribal styled tattoos. Vex posted a thumbs up emoji and hoped it made her brother cringe as much as she had.

Another picture- this time one of scrawny shirtless Scanlan sporting a theatrical wink.

Immediately Kaylie chimed in and posted, “dad stop” just as Pike wrote, “please don't.”

“Dads need love too.” Scanlan tossed a crying emoji in as well.

Vex glanced around to make sure the park was empty before slipping her shirt up quickly to sneak her own scandalous selfie in nothing but a simple dark bra. Four seconds later she got a direct text from her brother, “not ok!!”

She sent back, “quit texting at work.” A series of pings signaled the group liking her picture one after another. Vex grinned, bracing herself with one hand on the tree to stand up. She went to check her phone one final time before sticking it in her pocket and getting back to work, and saw that one of the notifications wasn't another gratifying like, but was a new addition to the comment chain. Another picture- from Percy.

“Holy shit,” she muttered under her breath, using two fingers to zoom in. Barring his poor excuse for a profile picture, this was the only other image of himself he'd ever posted. As before, you couldn't see his face, maybe just a bit of a scruffy chin, but hot damn, he was topless just like the rest of them so who gave a fuck? Topless and surprisingly well built for a prissy sounding kid on voice chat. Or, well, not a kid, apparently. Very not a kid. He also had a large dark-edged tattoo of some kind of bird skull right down the center of his chest. If a twelve year old goth kid with a hard-on for Edgar Allen Poe got a tattoo with no regard for pain tolerance or sensible placement, this would be that tattoo.

Maybe Vex had terrible taste, but she thought the whole thing was undeniably hot. She started to comment just that, as well- before an error popped up informing her that the picture no longer existed. He'd gotten cold feet and deleted it.

Her disappointment was short-lived. Very quickly she received a text from Pike, with a tiny little wink and a picture attached.

“Pike, you're awful.”

“ ;p ;p ;p “

“i love you ;p”

Was it maybe, sort of, a little bit rude to save a picture somebody regretted posting? Well, sure. Alright, definitely. Vex's thumb hovered for a second over the image. It wasn't like she was going to save it for “private time” material, after all. Just, you know, maybe it would be some good blackmail later when they were contesting the same loot drop. And she could always just delete it entirely if she felt a sudden surge of holiness later. Anyway, Pike was the only pure soul within the group (or so they often joked) and she had saved it first, so that made it okay. With a shrug, Vex gave in and saved the picture to her phone.

She most certainly did not pull it up three more times before the end of her shift.

Time seemed to pass entirely too slow and yet very, very fast over the next few weeks. The twins subsisted on a diet of Ramen and their eternal soup stockpile, trying to save as much money as possible for their trip. Vex's neurotic money counting habits meant they had enough to go, and Vax was completely shocked by the amount she had managed to stash away without him noticing, but if they wanted to eat more than street vendor pizza or buy anything at the convention itself, they needed more pocket change. Living on the cheap was nothing unfamiliar to them.

(They had meant to feed Trinket discount food as well, but Vex looked so heartbroken staring at the cans of Alpo on the shelf that her brother sighed and started loading the dog's normal food into the cart. Nothing very fancy, but at least it was an identifiable meat.)

Raid the Thursday before The Convention was scrapped from the start. Nobody could concentrate and Keyleth kept running from her computer to pack something new she'd forgotten about. Instead, they decided to hang around and chat. Everyone working, and in different time zones as well, meant that, though they were all close and talked often, it was somewhat rare to have the whole group together without a battle plan to follow.

Scanlan was desperately trying to get Pike to tell him where she lived. “You can't be friends with my underage daughter and not give me any information, Pike. That's just creepy. Just tell me where you live. Or work. Or hang out. I just gotta keep track of my daughter's friends. That's the responsible dad thing to do.”

Pike was always a lot more tolerant of Scanlan than Vex ever could have been. Pike just laughed her darling light laugh, and said, “Scanlan, I carry.”

“Carry my heart on a string?”

“A piece, Scanlan. A gun. A real actual gun on my body at all times.”

Keyleth, shocked, “What? You do not!”

“I do! I have for ages!”

“It's true, she's a small badass.”

“Thanks, Grog. Hold on, I'll show you.” It took her a moment to dig it up, but shortly Pike posted a link to a picture of herself in the chat. In it, she was smiling at the photographer while pulling her shirt back slightly to proudly show off a handgun in a private carry holster that looked entirely too big for her small hands.

Percy, who rarely vocalized anything in the group but was almost always there, listening, spoke first. “Nice piece.”

“Thank you, Percival!”

“She let me shoot it once, dad,” added Kaylie, “I hit a bottle off of a log after the third try.”

“Hush, kid, I'm rethinking my life choices,” he sulked. Everyone laughed.

Upon returning from her latest last minute packing decision, Keyleth asked, “Does anybody know a Cassandra? She wants to add me on Facebook but didn't leave a message and I've never seen her before.”

There were a few noncommittal mutterings before Percy answered. “Ah,” he replied, slowly, “that would be my sister.”

“You have a sister!”

“I do. She's... Well, she has been asking who it is I'm always talking to. I might have given her your name, Keyleth. You don't have to accept if you don't want to; she is likely just being nosy. As usual.”

“I already accepted! Is she much older than you? She's very....”

“Professional?”

“It's just a bunch of formal articles and political pieces and her setting up meeting times with random people?”

“That's her. She's actually much younger than I am, but very... driven.”

“I'm going to post a cute doge meme on her wall.”

“She won't-”

“She liked it!”

“....Oh. Huh.”

Vex shortly found Cassandra de Rolo's Facebook for herself, but Keyleth was the only person she ever agreed to be friends with. Her page was on complete lockdown as well, so Vex was never able to properly creep on the little sister. She groused about it until even Vax got tired of rolling his eyes at her.

They teased each other, joking and chatting, until finally it was late enough that most of them needed to sleep or else risk missing flights the next day. Once Trinket was walked, their paperwork all in order for travel, and everything packed, the twins retreated to bed to try and sleep with varying degrees of success.

The train ride started with Vex in tears. Her brother had to guide her by the hand to the seats they'd be sitting in for the next 8 hours (train rides, they both realized much too late, were way too long to be worth the money saved) while she tried not to burst into full-on sobbing. There were plenty of concerned looks from other passengers, and at least two staff members asked if they needed any help. Once seated, luggage stowed properly, Vax threw a tissue box at her. “Will you please calm down, you're making a scene. Just fucking call him!”

She blew her nose loudly into a tissue, taking deep breathes until she deemed herself fine enough for a phone call. Vax reached over with a tissue and wiped her face while she dialed. It rang, and rang... and then a voice answered, “He's fine, Vex'ahlia.”

“Are you sure? Is he crying? Did you show him his bed? Did you put my shirt in it?” She sniffled.

“Yes, he's definitely fine, I will text you pictures every day, but please can you refrain from calling me every ten minutes?”

“Sorry, Jarett, I'm know I'm being awful but I've never been away from him ever and can you tell him I love him?”

“He knows, Vex.”

“But can you tell him?”

A long sigh at the other end. “Trinket, your crazy mother loves you. There, Vex, are we good? He's perfectly happy and I really, really would like to go back to sleep. It's five am and I have to work at eight.”

“Yes, sorry, thank you again. Just please let me know if there are any problems or he needs anything or-”

“We will be fine, really. Go have fun.”

“Okay, okay, thanks, goodbye, Jarett.” Click. “Oh, he hung up.”

“Do you really blame him?”

Vex put her head in her hands. “Oh, god, I'm insane.”

Vax reached out and rubbed her shoulder, leaning against her. “Very.”

The train, as it turned out, was a terrible way to travel. They could walk around freely, and there were no limits on when they could use your internet. They could even use the train's wifi service if they wanted to pay for it (they didn't) and the odds of air turbulence we pretty low. However, the train was constantly stopping to load and unload at various stations, and every time it did so the sharp jostling woke the twins up from any attempt at napping. Watching out the window made Vex carsick almost instantly, and the car they were in rattled in a way that made Vax distinctly nervous.

At one point they stopped in the middle of nowhere for long enough that Vax got up to ask somebody what was going on. Apparently, they'd hit a deer. The train was fine, but they had to stop completely and pull a carcass out of the front of the train before they could continue. Everything just felt like one delay after another, and while it was likely many of the wait times were factored into the trip estimate, the whole ride in general was enough to convince both twins that next time they would be springing the extra money for a plane. They'd have been there in a quarter of the time.

It was extra painful to see their friends post, one after another, about arriving and settling in and meeting and heading to the convention. After one more selfie from Keyleth, Vex just turned her phone off.

It felt like they'd never make it, but eventually they realized the next station was theirs. They were finally starting to feel excited again as they got up, grabbing their tagged luggage and stepping down the stairs to see the big city hosting the con for the very first time. Vex was downright giddy, grabbing Vax's hand and dragging him out of the station.

“Hold your horses! We don't even know where we are going yet!” He pulled out of her grasp, pausing on the sidewalk to pull up a map on his phone. “It should be within walking distance, but I'd rather not get lost with all of our luggage. Let's avoid looking like marks, please.”

She bounced on her heels, even Trinket forgotten (for now) as he pulled up the hotel location. “Let's goooooo,” she whined.

He gave her a look, and said, “Chill. You'll survive.”

She did, in fact, survive. The walk neared the end of the distance that she would have actually considered “walkable” if anyone had asked, but soon they found their hotel and checked in. They were definitely the last ones to arrive (and both hotel rooms were already a frantic mess of luggage and clothing), so they shoved their bags into a corner, changed out of their comfortable travel clothes into light, first day convention wear, and headed out.

“Wait,” Vex said, grabbing him, “take a picture with me!” She wrapped her arm around him and pulled him close, snapping a picture of their matching grins.

She posted it and it took only a breath before Keyleth commented on it, “WE'RE WAITING FOR YOU!!!”

## Chapter 4

Chapter Notes

> YO my darling @asspostate drew art for this fic out of the kindness of her heart
> if you want to see some nice topless Percy check it out

Finding the actual convention was easy; all they had to do was spot one cosplayer in the crowd and tag along. Playing follow the leader with a sexy Pikachu worked out better than one might expect, and soon casual walking traffic funneled into giant crowds all heading to the same location. It was already mid-afternoon and the doors had been open for hours, but the rush of incoming guests was still going strong and the twins had to endure a solid ten minute queue for the privilege of flashing their badges, having Vex's backpack checked (bear-shaped and technically made for children, but she'd never let that stop her before), and moving on into the fenced off courtyard.

“Do you think they're inside already? Or out here? How are we supposed to find them?” Vex had her brother by the arm, anchoring herself to him while looking around in all directions. This was chaos in the best of ways. Being on the shorter side, she couldn't see over much, but there were banners and statues and a giant floating balloon shaped like a... panda? People everywhere were wearing costumes from all possible realms of popular culture, and this was just the overflow. All these bodies couldn't have packed into the main building if they tried. She was nearly run over by an eight foot tall squawking robot before Vax pulled her out of the way.

Vax wasn't much taller than her at all, (no matter how much he enjoyed lording those few centimeters over her), and he wasn't faring much better. “I've no idea; we probably should have-”

“VEX'AHLIA!!!” The shout stuck out even in the midst of so much chaos, and they both whirled around, seeking the source. A whirlwind of red pushed through the crowd, snatched Vex away from her brother's grip completely, and engulfed her into a tight embrace.

She overcame her shock and squeezed back, laughing, “Keyleth!” Vex pulled back and held Keyleth by the shoulders, looking her up and down. “You're-! You're.... Kiki, you're covered in body paint.”

Keyleth was fully dressed in her homemade cosplay, and it was very obviously a First Cosplay, at that. It was a mish-mash of techniques, possibly about to fall apart at any moment, and absolutely fucking adorable. She'd at least had the sense not to copy the sky high heels her character wore and had gone with reasonable flats, and her headpiece was surprisingly well done, with flowers and vines woven through what looked for all the world like actual antlers. However, judging by the bit of blue-gray paint left on Vex's shoulder, nobody had bothered to teach her about sealants.

“You've only a little smudge, sis, quit frowning. Come here, Kiki!” Vax grabbed her before she could start apologizing and pulled her into a tight embrace, not caring a whit about paint.

“Where's everybody else, Keyleth?”

“Over here! They're waiting!” Keyleth pulled away from her brother but took his hand in hers to drag him along. Vex grabbed his other hand before she was left behind in the crowd, promising herself she would Not read too much into casual hand-holding.

They were waiting as a group off to the side near the edge of the maelstrom. As soon as she spotted them, Vex abandoned her brother and rushed forward, snatching a short blonde woman into a full hug. “Pike! Pike! Pike!” She twirled her around, lifting Pike a full few inches off the ground before setting her down and kissing her solidly once on each cheek.

Pike giggled and it was the sound of angels. “Vex! Vax! I'm so glad you both made it alright!”

“Only one death on the way, this time,” Vax said, catching up with Keyleth in tow.

Suddenly Grog, who Vex swore was even bigger in real life than he ever appeared in photos, grabbed a twin in each arm and crushed them into his chest in a bonebreaking hug. “Glad to see you, big guy,” Vax managed to gasp out, entirely too intimate with a giant pectoral.

"Please try not to murder them so quickly, Grog," Pike advised, "we've got a whole weekend for that."

Once freed, Vex leaned lightly against Pike and eyed Scanlan. To her great surprise, he had managed dress like he belonged here. She'd been fully prepared for dad shorts along with socks and sandals, which were staples of her usual mental image of Scanlan. “Where's the daughter?”

“Band camp.”

“Really? That's too bad, I bet she was heartbroken not to be able to come.”

“No, no, trust me, she would sell out her own family for another week of band camp. I'm pretty sure it's a cult,” he replied, grinning.

Finally, Vex realized they were missing somebody else. “Is Percy here yet?” She remembered suddenly that he hadn't been involved in planning the hotel, and wasn't staying with them. “Is he coming?”

“He said he'd be here, but we haven't seen him yet,” answered Pike, “We've actually just been wondering how we'll know him if we do see him.”

“Ten dollars says he's a girl.”

“Grog, you've heard his voice for months,” chided Keyleth.

“My aunt smoked two packs a day and sounded like a pro-wrestler dude.”

“Well, he's not- Oh!” Keyleth broke her sentence and pointed off into the crowd. “There! That's Cassandra!”

“Who?”

“His sister! There, with the, uh, she's got horns and, damn, look at those boots. Cass, over here!”

They all turned as one to see who it was that Keyleth was waving down. It was a younger woman, wearing one of the better cosplays she'd seen yet, gliding effortlessly towards them easily on six inch heels. Her outfit was absolutely stunning, and the group, as one, watched her approach in shock. Black leather and blue plate were the materials of the day, accented heavily with silver. The way she was able to move meant that her cosplay could not possibly have been made of actual plate metal, but it definitely shone like it. Her top was little more than an elaborate bra, showing off stomach and shoulders and more cleavage than most of the other cosplayers seemed willing to commit to. Gauntlet gloves covered her hands, and a heavy silver amulet with a large blue stone adorned her neck.

The centerpiece of the look was her headpiece, a circlet of gems and silver that sported two large twisted horns.

(Later, Vex would find out Keyleth was able to recognize her solely because of her natural hair, long dark brunette with odd streaks of white at her temple.)

“Holy shit,” said Vex. There was such a stark contrast between her costume and Keyleth's that Vex nearly felt bad.

Cassandra gave her a concerned look. “Excuse me?” And yup, she had that same poncy accent their Percy did.

“Your whole...” she gestured vaguely at all of Cassandra, “everything. Did you make that yourself?”

“This? No, no, of course not. He did,” she said. And she nodded casually behind her.

Thoroughly stunned by Cassandra, they hadn't even noticed the man following behind her. It wasn't entirely clear if he was cosplaying somebody or over-dressed for the convention. He was wearing some kind of fancy dark blue coat that was absolutely going to boil him alive after five minutes in the crowds, and his hair was done up all in white. It was certainly a Look. Vex was having a hard time reconciling this with the picture still burning a hole in her phone. He didn't say anything, just stepped next to Cassandra and raised a hand in a small, simple wave.

“Percy!” Keyleth spoke first, moving to give him a hug just as she had everybody else. Before she could, he took a step backwards and held up both hands to stop her.

“Keyleth, I'm thrilled to meet you but you, ah...” He motioned to all of Keyleth, very like the way Vex had just waved her hand over Cassandra. “Did you seal that paint?”

She hestitated. “Uhm.”

“We'll fix that later.” Percy looked her entire outfit up and down. “Yes, definitely.” And then, instead of allowing a hug, he took her outstretched hand in his and bent slightly, bringing it up to his lips for a soft, polite kiss. “A pleasure to meet you at last, Kiki.”

While Keyleth blushed and stammered, Cassandra and Vex's eyes met... then rolled. Cassandra offered her a small nod, and Vex returned it. Brothers.

“Yeah, good, can we go inside now, please?” Grog was getting impatient. Pike whacked him.

“Yeah, because seeing your friends for the first time is just so awful?”

He had the grace at least to look contrite. “No, it's just that, there's good shit in there and-”

“You're fine, dear,” interrupted Vex, “we're all itching to go, so let's go. If we get lost look up and find Grog, yeah?” She took her brother's arm once again and set off, leading the charge through the crowd and into the real action.

Friday was a day of exploring. All the exciting panels and interviews they'd be interested in seeing were on Saturday, so the afternoon was spent wandering through the seller's hall, the artist's alley, ogling people in cosplay (or leering, as was often the case with Grog and Scanlan), and generally enjoying the basics. The group was frequently stopped by people asking to photograph Cassandra, and she was mostly willing to oblige. They nearly lost Percy once, turning to see him five feet behind to explain explaining to an interested party how he was able to support the weight of her foot and a half long horns without constantly falling off.

He fell behind much of the time in general, though, as if separate from the group as an entity. Pike noticed first, and slipped back to talk with him. Vex found herself paying attention to their conversation.

“You're falling back, Percy,” Pike said, having to look steeply upward to address him, “Are you alright? Do we need to slow down?”

He glanced away, (sheepishly, Vex thought?), his hand drawn to the back of his neck in an uncomfortable motion. “I don't want to intrude.”

“Intrude? Percy, you're just as much part of the group as anybody else.”

“Yes, but-”

“Your sister, who has never spoken to anybody but Keyleth, just tried to put her heel through Grog's foot for trying to cop a feel. And she laughed while she did it.”

“He- what?”

“Ok, wait, that was a bad point,” she shook a hand, waving that example off, “what I mean is, we're all friends, right, and you're just as much a part of us as anybody else. Okay?”

It was a slow response (and he was still kind of eyeing the back of Grog's head), but eventually Percy replied, “...Okay.”

“So?”

“So...?”

“So stop dragging your heels back here and join us!” She laughed and grabbed his hand firmly, literally yanking him forward to catch up with the rest of them.

Vex grabbed his free arm as soon as he and Pike caught up, linking her arm with his. “Aren't you just a million degrees in that coat?”

She had disoriented him a little bit with the sudden contact (perfect) but his brain caught up quickly. “Absolutely sweating,” he replied.

“Why don't you just take it off, then?”

“I'd rather not, thanks.”

She turned her most devilish grin on him. “Why not? Are you naked under there?”

“I- no- No, I'm not!”

“Shame!” She gave him a solid wink to be proud of, laughing at him as he spluttered and the tips of his ears turned pink, bright against his white hair. Percy pulled his arm away from hers under the guise of having to cover an embarrassed cough. Vex patted his arm. “I'm kidding, darling, keep up.”

Vax turned his head to offer advice. “Don't think you're too special, de Rolo, she's got a goal in life to torment everybody.”

“Well,” Percy replied, “she's quite skilled at it.” The twins both laughed, and he smiled.

Things went better from there on out. Percy quit allowing himself to fade into the background, even speaking up in conversation once in a while, and Grog finally dropped his terrible attempts at flirting with Cassandra after Scanlan elbowed him hard in the side and hissed, “She's not even legal, you fuck.”

Eventually, hot and worn out from a day of long travel and excitement and wandering a new con hall, Pike suggested they find somewhere to eat and relax, to everyone's relief.

## Chapter 5

Choosing a place to eat proved to be a struggle. Keyleth didn't want anything Italian, and insisted that this included pizza. Vex had a budget that would be lucky to cover the price of a street vendor, while her brother and Grog were engaged in a noisy debate over the various pros and cons of different food review sites. The entire group was loud chaos on a street corner, oblivious to the stares and dirty looks they were getting from passerby forced to swerve around them.

Cassandra and Percy were standing some feet away, watching the discussion with matching expressions of discomfort. She crossed her arms, shifting on a heel. “How do you ever manage to get anything done in your game?”

“Coordination is half the battle,” he replied, helpless to do anything but shrug one shoulder.

“Alright, I can't take this anymore,” Cassandra said finally. She uncrossed her arms put on hand on her hip, raising the other and snapping her fingers at them as she would a pack of dogs. “Okay, that's enough.” Her voice wasn't very loud, but it was firm, and they all turned as one to look at her with varying degrees of guilt. Though young, she made for an intimidating presence in her armor; Vex was still astounded she'd made it through the entire day wearing horns and four inch heels in a crowded convention without complaint.

She waited until Grog, who had lifted Vax up by the collar of his shirt during their debate over the legitimacy of verified reviews, carefully lowered him back onto the sidewalk.

“I'm choosing the restaurant,” Cassandra decided, “and I'm paying, so you can stop arguing.”

Vex was floored. “You're paying?”

“Yes.”

“For all of us?”

“Yes.”

“Dinner for every single one of us?”

“If you'd like to pay for yourself, Vex'ahlia, you are more than welcome.”

“Nope, nope, just double checking,” Vex replied, scowling at her brother and rubbing at her side where he'd just elbowed her.

If she'd been watching Cassandra instead, she'd have noticed the girl swiftly roll her eyes before turning with a wave of her hand. “Let's go, then. Follow please.”

They did follow, like obedient ducklings. Vex ducked her head and whispered to her brother, “They're definitely billionaires.”

“Cannibals,” he muttered, a hand covering his mouth.

“Secret wealthy movie stars.”

“Snuff films, maybe.”

“Ugh, don't be gross.”

Laughing now, Vax took her arm in his and pulled her against him. “Relax, free dinner! Your favorite!”

Cassandra, with her brother walking next to her, lead them down just a few city blocks to an ornate restaurant front with a large canopy over the entrance. Not only was there a well-dressed woman manning a valet booth near the road, but two men in full suits stood in front of the heavy glass doors. “I need to make a phone call; I'll join you all shortly,” Cassandra announced, cell phone already in hand as she stepped away from the group.

One of the doormen gripped the door handle in a starched white glove, holding it open for them as they passed through. It was very quickly apparently that this restaurant was by and far more extravagant than anything any of them would have even thought to consider as an option. Vex paused just inside the doorway, brushing loose strands of hair out of her face with nervous fingers as she slowly took in the room they'd just entered.

It was late, so there were no more than a few intimate couples in the dining room, soft voices muffled by dark colored fabrics and thick table linens. Overhead lighting was dim, and each table was decorated with a pair of flickering candles, illuminating place settings of bone white china. Across the room was a full bar, stocked with bottles of liquors Vex knew at a glance cost more than she made in an entire week. Maybe a month, even.

Keyleth spoke first, her voice a soft warble, acknowledging what most of them were likely thinking; “I'm not sure I'm really dressed for this...?” She looked down, motioning absently towards her novice cosplay. Nearly all of her paint was gone at this point, and it was only through luck and safety pins that physical bits of her outfit were not gone as well.

'What? You're fine,” assured Percy, dismissing her concern with a flick of his wrist. “If you don't question it, nobody else will.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. As long as you act like you belong, they won't think to question you,” he shrugged. “Anyway, we'll have a private room, so it isn't as if anybody will be around to complain.” A woman in a slinky, silk dress slid from behind the bar and began to approach them. Noticing, Percy moved to intercept her, and they had a brief conversation.

They were too far away for Vex to make out what they were saying, (especially over the noise of Vax emphatically trying to assure Keyleth she totally looked just fine and she wasn't going to be a spectacle), but if she had to guess, it probably went something like this: “Please give us your most fancy room, because, as a very rich millionaire, I own this entire building. Also, I will tip you hundreds of dollars because I am a generous rich millionaire whose sole purpose in life is to give free things to cute young women.” That was definitely it.

Whatever was being said in actuality, it was a short conversation before the woman nodded and Percy beckoned the rest of the group to follow as she led them past the bar into a large, windowless room. Paintings and faux curtains draped the walls, a small chandelier glittering above a rectangular dining table set for ten. They shuffled in, quiet as a whole, and seated themselves. Percy sat at the head of the table, with Scanlan, Grog, and then Pike down the left side. Sitting on his right were Keyleth, Vax, and finally Vex sliding into a cushioned chair besides her brother. Vex eyed the table settings; she had thought her table manners were better than average, but she honestly could not guess why she needed so much silverware for a single meal. So many cups seemed excessive as well- a coffee mug, a wine glass, and a short crystal glass presumably for water. At least the napkin wasn't folded into a swan or something, because she wasn't sure she'd have been able to resist laughing at this entire situation if she was sitting face to face with a fabric bird.

A petite young lady in an elegant suit pushed through the doorway and began placing single page menus in front of each of them before stopping just behind Percy's shoulder. “Good evening, Mr. de Rolo,” she greeted with a small bow, before announcing the night's specials. Vex thought he actually looked somewhat embarrassed at the attention; he gave the girl a small nod but then looked away, avoiding the stares from the rest of the table and adjusting his glasses.

The click of her heels announcing her arrival, Cassandra walked into the room. She took a quick look around and then sighed. “You know I prefer the windowed room bordering the river, Percival.”

“It's currently occupied, Cass.”

“I'm sure,” she replied, lips twisting into a frown just for a second before she smiled at their waitress, who was waiting patiently next to Percy. “You may take our drink orders now, miss. I'll just have water, cold but no ice, please,” she said, and sat herself in the seat next to Pike.

(Cassandra, Vex thought, was going to grow up to be every retail worker's worst nightmare.)

“I'll have the same,” Keyleth told the waitress, “except there can be ice in it, if you want; that's okay.”

Percy leaned forward. “You can get whatever you like, Keyleth. You don't need to just get water.”

“Unless that's what you want, Kiki,” added Vax, leaning from her other side.

She looked back and forth between them before admitting, “Actually, alright, can I get something fruity? Like, uhm, an 'appletini'? Is that a thing that really exists?”

Truly a professional, their server didn't even hesitate. “It is,” she said, “I'd be happy to get that for you.” Once the first drink order had been placed, it was as if a seal had been cracked open, and the tension in the room eased. Grog ordered three drinks at once, and even Vax, who typically didn't drink much these days, ordered something hard. Vex and Pike requested to share a bottle of wine between them, asking their server to “just surprise us.”

The menu itself was a simple single page list of the day's offerings. Very few of the options had prices listed at all; most of them simply were annotated [market price]. Vex was sure that if you had to ask what the going market price was on veal, you probably couldn't afford to be in this restaurant at all. She and Vax had a long running gag about Percy being a mysterious rich bachelor, but for the first time Vex was actually a little bit unnerved. A full dinner meal here for eight people, plus drinks, especially at the rate Grog and Scanlan were going, was easily going to creep over five hundred dollars.

And neither Percy nor his sister complained at all, no matter what was ordered. Pike laughed, wondering aloud what the most expensive item was. “The swordfish today, I think,” answered Cassandra easily, leaning over Pike's arm to see the menu. She'd slipped her gauntlets off for dinner, and now she pressed one slender finger against the page. “Try it.”

“I should just get dessert for dinner,” Keyleth joked, eyeing the short list at the end of the menu of today's dessert options. “I don't know that I could decide between these, though.”

When Percy gently got their server's attention and ordered her one of each, Keyleth's eyes went wide, and Vex felt herself go a little pale. She didn't even know what half of the foods listed on her menu were. Pancetta was kind of like bacon, maybe, and trout roe was like an even fancier caviar, but what the hell was waygu? Just one of these dishes could buy her gas for an entire month, or groceries for a few weeks.

“Hey?” Vax's hand on her arm startled her, and she looked up from her menu to find the waitress at her side, smiling and waiting for an order.

Vex swallowed her rising panic and pointed to something. “I'll have that,” she said, looking at what it was only after it'd been noted down and the server slipped out the door. Some kind of fancy chicken salad. Alright, that was safe.

Vax gave her arm a squeeze, and for the first time since they' been seated he turned his attention away from Keyleth and towards her, instead. “What's up? Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” she answered, setting the menu to the side to be collected later. “It's just a little... this is weird, right? Isn't this weird?” She leaned in close, murmuring to him so as to not be overheard.

Vax took a second to gently tuck a few strands of loose hair behind her ear. “Oh, absolutely. This is weird as fuck. I'm still waiting for him to tell us it's a joke and that we're gonna dine and dash.” She laughed a bit, quietly. “But for now, sis, enjoy your vacation, drink your wine, and get soused on somebody else's dollar.” He took her hand and placed her wine glass in it; she and Pike were sharing something with a pale yellow tint, whose name Vex wouldn't have been able to repeat two seconds after hearing it.

Just as she was about to take a sip, Vex felt a buzz in her pocket. She pulled out her phone, just barely on its last legs of battery, and opened up the text she'd just gotten. It was from Jarett, with no words; just a single picture of Trinket, dead asleep and fat tongue hanging from his mouth, a pair of aviator sunglasses perched on his head. Vex covered her mouth, laughing, and showed it to Vax, who snatched the phone from her hand. “Quick, take a selfie with me,” he demanded, flipping to the phone app and grabbing her close, smushing his face against hers. He centered their image in the phone, tapped it to take the picture- and the phone died. “Oh, fuck,” he said.

Vex grabbed her phone back, stuck it back in her pocket, and chugged the entire glass of wine. (Or tried to. She caught Pike giving her a silly grin across the table, and barely stopped herself from spitting the drink everywhere in a laugh).

Dinner felt much better after she let herself relax. If nobody else cared how much they were spending, she wasn't going to either. The amount of wine she was drinking may have helped a little bit with that as well, but she at least didn't get as drunk as Scanlan, who was trying to start a full blown food fight with Grog until Pike moved his entire meal to the other end of the table. Their server was quick to whisk away empty glasses, so it was unclear how many drinks Keyleth had been through, but by the time the bill came around she was in tears over her inability to finish eating every one of her desserts.

Percy picked up one of her many extra forks, reaching to help solve her dilemma, but before he could take a single bite Grog leaned over the table and pulled both remaining plates towards his seat. “I got it,” he assured her.

Cassandra stood first, collecting her gloves. She'd made it through all of dinner without removing any other part of her outfit, not even her heavy headpiece. (Keyleth's was hung over the chair after maybe two minutes.) “Where are you all staying? Nearby?”

Only Pike remembered the name of the hotel, and Cassandra look appalled to hear it. “Truly?” She looked at her brother. “You're not letting them actually stay there, right?”

Percy held his hands out wide, shrugging. “I honestly didn't involve myself in their plans.”

“It seemed like a nice enough hotel when we checked in,” offered Scanlan, “It had decent reviews online.”

Cassandra shook her head. “You can all stay with us.” She seemed to catch herself, adding in a less forceful tone, “I mean, if you'd like to. We've got the space.”

“You live here?” asked Keyleth, who, despite being closest to the two siblings, was just as surprised to hear that as the rest of the group.

“Yes, just a couple blocks away,” Cassandra told her. “That's alright, Percy?”

“That's... yes, that's fine,” he answered.

Vex thought it was pretty obvious he was not entirely thrilled about the prospect, but she was well familiar with the difficulty of arguing with a sibling. “All of our stuff is already at the hotel,” she reminded them, offering him an 'out'.

“I'll have somebody pick it up and deliver it. It'll get there before we do, probably,” Cassandra said, her phone already in her hand. Nobody really had an argument for that (judging from the look Pike and Vex were trading, most of them were dying to see where the elusive Percy lived), so Cassandra, with the largest smile they'd seen on her yet, started dialing into her phone before leaving the room.

“You lived here this whole time and never said anything?” Grog asked Percy.

He offered a half-hearted shrug. “You didn't wonder why I never asked to join you in your hotel?”

“I assumed it would wreck your mysterious vibe to stay with friends,” said Scanlan.

“Fair enough,” Percy replied.

They laughed, chugged the rest of their drinks, and collected themselves. Cassandra was waiting for them outside. “Everything will be delivered shortly! Let's go!” She was excited; it was very cute, Vex thought, to see her acting more her age for once. Even at the convention Cassandra had been very reserved.

“How far away are you?” Vex asked, slipping up next to her at the head of the group.

Cassandra simply pointed out a tall building a few blocks down the street, towering high and lined with glass windows. “Just right there.”

“Your parents won't mind a horde of guests?”

“Oh, no, it's just Percy and me.”

“Vax and I are on our own too,” Vex said, understanding the way Cassandra glanced away, avoiding her gaze.

That drew a short laugh. “I know.”

“Well, damn, you can't have the monopoly on every secret!” Both ladies laughed at that point, Vex very glad to see a smile sticking around this time.

This building also had doormen, two standing outside the doors, two directly on the inside. There was a reception desk on the inside maintained by another man who gave Cassandra a short wave as they walked past him towards a set of three elevators, each large enough to fit all of them inside, if they crammed a little bit. Vex poked her brother in the side, making him jump with a little yelp. She cackled, and when he reached out to get her back she jerked backwards, still tipsy, one foot slipping out from underneath her.

A pair of hands gripped her shoulders firmly, preventing her from wiping out on the elevator floor. “Whoops,” she said, tilting her head backwards, suddenly looking up at a surprised Percy. “Hello, there.”

He pulled her up onto her own feet proper. “You alright?”

“It could be that I'm a little drunk,” she replied, turning to face him (and attempting to step on Vax's foot while she did so).

“Could be,” Percy replied, absently reaching to smooth out her sleeve, wrinkled from where he'd grabbed her. He seemed to realize what he was doing momentarily, and pulled his hand back with a short laugh. “Could be I drank a bit much, as well.”

She swallowed.

Finally, the elevator pinged, and started to open.

## Chapter 6

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

The elevator stuttered to a halt with a peppy 'ding', and the doors slid open into a simple hallway. The décor was nothing fancier than standard hotel fare; solid-colored walls, bold floorboards and edging, a single bright light in the ceiling. There was a single door at the end of the hallway, and as the group filed out of the elevator, led by Cassandra, they passed two more doors, one on each side. One was marked with a small placard reading “rooftop access” and the other was labeled “stairwell”. Vex paused and tried the handle on the door leading up to the roof. It moved slightly, and clicked, but otherwise did not budge.

“What are you doing?” asked Percy, pausing behind her.

She gave it another solid wiggle before accepting that it was locked. “I dunno,” she said, shrugging and turning to look at him. There was a beeping sound ahead of them as Cassandra entered a long series of numbers into a keypad. “Is it neat up there?”

“It's...” He thought for a moment before settling on, “windy. Not actually very exciting, to be honest.”

“Damn,” Vex said, just as a series of chimes sounded. They both turned to watch the main door open under Cassandra's hand.

“Main lights,” Cassandra said, and the lights popped on one by one as she walked through the door.

Everybody paused just outside, eyeing each other, until Grog said, “Holy fuck, its a robot house.”

“Oh shit,” said Scanlan, ducking past Grog to walk through the door. Immediately he yelled, “Lights off!” and the lights, one by one, shut off.

Grog followed after him, calling out just as the lights finished turning off, “Lights on!”

Cassandra's voice echoed from further in; “Is that necessary?”

“Definitely!” Grog and Scanlan answered together in perfect unison.

“I'm going to turn the automatic system off,” Percy muttered, leaving Vex alone with the locked door and following inside after Pike, Vax, and Keyleth, who was leaning heavily on her brother.

Vex trailed them in, pausing to close the apartment door behind her. It was a lot heavier than she expected, and closed with a thud. A soft series of clicks and beeps probably meant that it locked itself behind her. There was something about being locked in by a heavy, high-tech door so quickly that had her suddenly remembering all of Vax's cracks about serial killers.

As Grog turned the lights off again, Vex moved to Keyleth's other side, slipping her arm around the drunk girl's waist and nudging her arm over her shoulders. She felt Keyleth's slender fingers grasp at the edge of her shirt. “How're you doing, Kiki?”

“Ughhh,” she groaned, “cake and vodka are waging a war and I am losing.”

“If you're going to throw up,” said Vax, shifting to give his sister some of Keyleth's weight, “warn us.”

“No promises.”

“Oh boy, let's find you a bed, dear.”

The lights flicked on again without a voice command, illuminating Percy standing at the end of the entrance-way with his hand against a screen embedded into the wall. Grog tried once more to turn them off, making a sad noise when his voice command failed. Pike patted him on the arm. “Good while it lasted, buddy.”

Vex rolled her eyes. “Can I get a bed for drunky, please?”

She expected Percy to answer, but he only turned to look at Cassandra, who had just walked back into view from the doorway. “Mm,” she began, meeting his gaze, “I thought the girls could say in the big guest room with the Jacuzzi, and the boys in the room with Vesper's ugly dog painting.”

“Good idea to stick Keyleth near a bathroom,” he replied, closing the wall panel.

“I assumed the girls would be alright with sharing one bed? The other room has two and we can pull one of the futon mattresses in there as well.” Cassandra turned towards the rest of them, her eyebrows narrowed uncertainly. “Unless that's a problem? I don't know what your sleeping arrangements were.”

“Sounds perfect,” Vex said, speaking up when it seemed nobody else was paying attention. Grog was still thinking hard about the lights, and Keyleth could barely keep her head up. “If Keyleth pukes, we can stick her in the tub. Lead the way.”

Cassandra eyed Keyleth warily before walking across the hall, motioning for them to follow after her. The twins carried poor drunk Keyleth between them, squeezing past Pike and ducking under Grog's arm to get past. Vex tried very hard to check out the place as they moved through, but Keyleth's hair was everywhere and her brother was dragging them along so fast; she saw glass windows and a giant tv and more doorways before they moved out of the main room down another hallway of doors.

Keyleth let out a small groan as they stopped short in front of the first door on the left. Cassandra opened it and walked through; they followed, twisting to get Keyleth past the doorway.

“Good god, this is a guest room?” Vax was the first to speak, his words echoing Vex's thoughts as her gaze shifted from wall to wall. The room was bigger than their own living room. In the center was a giant bed, easily big enough to fit all three girls if they didn't mind touching a bit. It was dressed in simple red and white blankets, but had an excessive spread of matching decorative pillows. There was an honest-to-god chandelier on the tall ceiling (the height probably a benefit of owning a penthouse apartment), and in one corner of the room was a jacuzzi tub that would easily fit two people.

Cassandra flipped a light switch and stopped next to the bed, smoothing one hand over the duvet as she surveyed the room herself. “Closet is through that door, bathroom's that one,” she said, pointing with her other hand, “Feel free to use any of the drawers; I'm sorry about the lack of windows and there may be a little dust, but it's probably better than a hotel?”

“Probably better than-!” Vex spluttered, shifting under Keyleth's arm to see everything. Once she and Vax had stayed in a motel that offered only a single twin bed with one ratty blanket, lights that flickered constantly if they worked at all, and a floor so terrifying they'd made sure to wear shoes at all times. Not only was this nicer than a hotel, but it was also nicer than her own bedroom at home. Cleaner, too, for sure.

“This is more than fine, Cassie,” Vax confirmed, dragging Vex along as he moved suddenly to start setting Keyleth on the bed. The drunk girl groaned a little at the sudden movement, her hand clutching Vex's shirt collar tighter even as Vex did her best to maintain a puke-safe distance.

“Cassandra.” Her voice was short, and the twins paused, looking up, surprised. Cassandra's face had lost the unsure smile of a young host and gone suddenly cold, her lips tight. “Or- Cass, if you really must.”

The twins shared a very quick look over Keyleth's head before Vax replied, “Cassandra. Noted; sorry.”

“It's fine.”

(It wasn't fine; Vex could tell by the way the girl eyed the doorway, her hands seeking each other behind her back. She didn't know what had happened here, exactly, but it was not fine.)

“We can take it from here,” she said, softly, giving Cassandra an out.

It earned her a small smile. “Alright,” she said, nodding, “I'll go see to everybody else, then.” Cassandra looked over the room once more before nodding once more, a single short nod as if she'd decided this room was acceptable, and then she left them alone.

The twins heaved Keyleth onto the bed, where she promptly fell backwards, hair scattered across the comforter. “What just happened?” she asked.

Vex patted her arm, plopping down onto the bed next to her. “How are you feeling now, dear?”

“I don't think I'm gonna throw up.” Keyleth patted her own stomach thoughtfully, eyes closed against the glittering light of the chandelier above her.

“If you need to, tell us,” said Vax, sitting on her other side now.

“Maybe if I just don't move for like, the rest of the night, I'll be okay.”

Vex chuckled, leaning back to brush loose strands of Keyleth's hair out of her face. “ Just lay here. When our stuff arrives I'll help you get ready for bed, okay?”

“Okay.”

“If you gotta throw up, there's a bathroom through the door. If you can't make it, just yell. Alright?”

“Alright.”

“At least make it to the tub.” Vex laughed quietly, pushing herself off the bed.

“We'll send somebody to check on you in a bit,” said her brother, standing up as well. She watched him give Keyleth's hand a squeeze before letting go of it, and raised her eyebrow. She hadn't noticed that they were holding hands over there and she didn't know who had initiated it; judging by the way he pointedly ignored her look, she wasn't going to get any answers from him. As usual. Well, that could be a problem for another day. Vex and her brother left the room, leaving the door open behind them just in case.

Voices echoed back from the living area, but Vax turned towards the left and the hallway of closed doors. “What are you doing?” she hissed at him.

He glanced over his shoulder at her for only a bare second before moving on. “Snooping.”

“Really?”

“Sure, why not?”

“I could think of a few reasons!”

He shrugged, his hand already on the handle of the next room. “Are you coming?”

“Ughhhhh,” she groaned, quietly under her breath. She glanced towards the sound of muffled voices; she couldn't make out words from here but it sounded like they were involved enough that nobody would come looking for them soon. Vex always hated playing lookout for her brother, but she was curious and she didn't trust him not to get into something he shouldn't. “Yeah, I'm coming,” she replied, joining him just as he twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

The first room they entered was another bedroom. This one lacked windows as well (they must be facing the inside of the building) and had two full beds instead of one. There was nothing unique in here except for a single large painting in a simple wooden frame. They both gravitated towards it, then stood staring at it in confused silence for a solid minute before either of them spoke.

“That is creepy,” Vax said.

“It's.... quaint. I think that's what rich people say.” Vex tilted her head, but it looked bad from every angle, especially lit only by a strip of light coming from the door. This was presumably “Vesper's ugly dog painting”, and that was an understatement. The subject of the piece was a black and white dog, drawn by somebody who must not have seen too many dogs. The actual painting technique wasn't awful, but there was an eerie grey sheen over the entire canvas, a rippling darkness curling up from the bottom. Smoke damage, Vex thought.

“I dunno how I'm supposed to sleep with that staring at me.”

“Maybe they won't mind if you just... take it down.”

“Grog's gonna hate it.” They both chuckled. “Okay, next room,” Vax decided. They left the dog painting in peace, taking one last look at it from the doorway before shutting it. “Yikes.”

Fortunately, none of the doors were locked- Vex would have drawn the line at picking locks. Nosing around doors was not worth arguing over, but if Vax had started pulling out his picks she'd have put her foot down. She probably should not have been okay with any of it- but maybe it was the alcohol talking.

The first door across the hall was, again, another bedroom. Unlike the others, this one looked like it was actually used. Cassandra's, probably, judging from the pastel furnishings (Vex would never have pinned the girl as a lover of pastels, but she really doubted Percy would have chosen a bedspread swirled with pink and blue stars). A large set of windows lit this room up well enough to see. There was an excessive amount of jewelry and a few perfume bottles laid out on a large vanity, the mirror lined with sticky notes and pictures. Vex found herself drawn towards it, bending to read some of the notes. Mostly dates, times, reminders... A few motivational quotes in fancy calligraphy. Looking at this, she could almost picture Cassandra as a normal teenage girl. It felt nothing like the severe young woman she'd met.

The pictures were less interesting to her. She didn't really recognize anybody in them; a couple were of Cassandra now with a few other people her age, but it was mostly just a bunch of kids. Maybe family? Vex pressed her finger to one, leaning close to peer at it. That could be Percy, she thought, if his natural hair color was that dark. She wondered what he had done to get such a smooth dye job. White was so tricky.

A door opened, and she jumped, whirling around to see that it was only her brother opening one of the other doors in the room. “Just a bathroom,” he said, and she rolled her eyes.

He opened the final door, and hissed, “Sis, come here.”

“What?”

“You have got to see this.”

She left the vanity and all its glittering treasure and joined him. He pushed the door open further so she could see, and her jaw dropped. Inside was a closet big enough to to store every single thing Vex had ever owned in her life, probably. It was nearly as big as the bedroom itself, and was just full of shelves and racks of clothing. Cassandra even had it all labeled, and sorted by color. At the end of the walk-in closet was a set of full-length mirrors with its own set of lighting.

“Probably came from all their victims,” Vax joked, but this time Vex was too shocked to do her part of that routine. The jewelry she'd seen at the vanity were certainly not costume pieces, but it took this vast display of fashion for her to finally be well and truly hit with the amount of wealth surrounding them.

Her eyes wide, she stepped back. “We should not be prying like this,” she whispered.

“What? We're not doing anything.”

“Vax! They're going to think we're stealing!”

“I didn't take anything!”

“I know, you don't have to be defensive. Just-” she ran both hands through her hair, “We should join everybody else.” She turned her back on him and started to leave the room. “We've been gone too long.”

“Ugh,” he said, but she could hear his light footsteps following. They closed the door and she moved to join the rest of the group, whose voices had quieted some now. “There's just one more door,” Vax said, pausing.

She stopped as well, turning to look at him. His hand was already on the knob, but he was looking to her for permission. “God, just, do it quick.”

He opened the door, leaned into the room for a second, and then pulled back out, shutting the door again. “It's just an office.”

“Thank god,” she said. “You're going to get us murdered someday.”

“No,” he replied, grinning at their reversal of roles, “I think they're just incredibly rich.”

She rolled her eyes, grabbed his arm, and yanked him back towards everybody else.

Chapter End Notes

> there was going to be so many drunk makeouts but @asspostate told me i shouldnt so blame her for having to wait so long

## Chapter 7

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

The rest of their party was scattered around the living room; the centerpiece of the room, a giant television, was on but muted, and was showing some kind of B-rated monster movie involving a two-headed shark and lots of gore. The entire wall behind the television was a line of windows, and Grog was pressed against them, peering out towards the flickering city lights. Pike was attempting to pull his hands away from the pristine glass, glancing periodically towards Cassandra, who was standing with her arms crossed, watching Grog smudge her windows with a distracted frown. Percy was nowhere to be seen, so Vex wandered over to the window as well.

Vax followed until they reached the couch, where he plopped himself down next to Scanlan, who had a reclining section fully extended and was sprawled out on it like a fat dragon over his pile of gold. The fancy upholstery was probably just that expensive, anyway.

Vex peered out the window, conscious of her hands and mindful not to touch.

“Nice view, right?” Pike said, giving up on Grog's manners and looking up at Vex with a grin.

“That's an understatement,” she replied, shooting Pike a quick glance and a smile, but she was drawn immediately back towards the window. It felt like the entire city was laid out before her; rows and rows of empty rooftops, cars like lethargic fireflies in the dusky evening. She could see the convention hall from here, just a few blocks down, still lit and bright as the last of the day's events came to a close. Very few buildings even came close to their height, only a few skyscrapers with tiny lights on here and there. “How far up do you think we are?”

“Like, at least ten stories,” answered Grog, smearing grease across the window as he leaned even closer, forehead pressing against glass, trying to see the bottom of the building they were in. Vex thought she could actually feel Cassandra's despair prickling along the back of her neck.

Pike laughed. “Yeah, that's probably right.”

The door chimed; a sharp, three note tone cutting through the casual conversation. Vex turned; Cassandra was already halfway towards the door.

“It's just the luggage, Percival,” Cassandra called out. Percy had slipped out from an open doorway at the sound of the doorbell, an off-white coffee mug in one hand. He stood at the end of the entrance-way and watched as she tapped on a small panel in the wall. The door's locks disengaged with a series of ominous clunks; now that she had time to think about it, Vex was decidedly unnerved by the idea of a door that she could not open from within. In what world could it be ever necessary to lock someone- your guests, your own family- inside? She wondered if Percy would tell her the code to get out, if she asked.

It was definitely the luggage delivery. Two young ladies in bellhop style suits accompanied a luggage rack filled with their belongings. Vex remembered seeing half of Keyleth's things thrown across the bed in the girl's room back at the hotel; hopefully they managed to get everything put together. Keyleth hadn't complained at all at the idea of strangers handling her items, but Vex was glad that she hadn't stopped to unpack anything of her own.

Percy and Cassandra supervised while the two unloaded the cart, piling the luggage carefully in the hallway. One offered to take the items to their rooms directly, but she was shut down with a quick shake of Percy's head and a “no, thank you,” from Cassandra. It was over quickly; money changed hands unobtrusively (Vex hoped they tipped well, at least), and the door shut once more, locking them all inside.

Vex stepped forward to carry her own luggage, but as she approached the stack of suitcases Percy bent over and grabbed the strap of the duffle bag that happened to be hers. It wasn't labeled, and he was certainly just grabbing one at random, but she rather felt that the universe was trying to tell her something. (The universe, or maybe the alcohol she could still feel warming the bottom of her chest; half a bottle of high-class wine was probably too much).

“That's mine,' she told him, pointing, “I can get it.”

He shrugged one shoulder (not the one still attached to a full mug of coffee) and took a step forward, handing the bag towards her. She took it from him, her fingers brushing against his just as she met his eyes, and she suspected the smile on her face right now was probably entirely uncalled for. Good god, Vex, get it together, she told herself, firmly, you barely even know this guy; he's just kind of hot.

Ok, very hot, she amended, clutching her bag to her chest and turning around quickly before she she actually said anything out loud. Fuck. Hopefully, this was just the wine talking and she'd be back to her normal sane self in the morning.

But she knew that wasn't true, just as she knew how easy it was to pull up his shirtless picture again on her phone.

She heard him pick up another suitcase as she carried hers away, trying her best to think about anything else besides a half naked guildie. Keyleth, it turned out, provided the perfect distraction. Vex cracked the door open to find an empty bed and an open bathroom door. She tossed her bag on the bed and rushed to the bathroom, calling Keyleth's name.

“I'm fine,” Keyleth mumbled as Vex pushed the bathroom door to the wall. The light wasn't even on- Keyleth was sitting on the bathmat in front of the shower, leaning back against glass doors, her eyes closed in the dark.

“Oh, darling, you were supposed to call somebody,” Vex said softly, kneeling down next to her and brushing hair from her face.

“I did... I think.... maybe...”

“Did you puke?” The lid of the toilet was down, and Vex wasn't about to check.

“Yeah.” Keyleth's eyes flickered open, and she peered at Vex. “I made it to the toilet.”

“I'm very proud. How do you feel?”

“I feel much better now.”

“Our things are here; if you can stand I'll help you dress.”

Keyleth breathed for a second, and then nodded. Vex gripped her elbow, helping her as she scrambled to her feet, one hand pressed against the shower wall for support. There was one precarious moment where Keyleth's legs didn't seem to go where she wanted and Vex was sure both of them were going to end up on the floor, but they made it successfully, stumbling out of the bathroom.

“Is she alright?” Percy was in the doorway, a lime green suitcase at his feet.

“Uh huh,” answered Keyleth.

“I think it's bedtime for her,” Vex added, leading Keyleth to sit on the bed again.

“I believe this is her suitcase,” he answered, tapping it with an absent foot. It was vibrantly green and Vex could see the kitten on the nametag from here; definitely Keyleth's.

She went to retrieve it, blatantly closing the door on Percy, with a hasty, “I'm going to help her get changed, please leave!” She hoped he managed to get his coffee out of the way, but mostly she just wanted to avoid looking at him for the moment. Keyleth giggled from the bed.

“Alright, drunk, do you have pajamas in here?” Vex asked, hauling the suitcase up next to Keyleth. She unzipped it, hefting the lid off.

“Mmmmm,” Keyleth leaned over and started digging into it, tossing pieces of clothing to the side before finally dragging out a cute pink nightie. “Here!”

Vex carefully shoved the rest of her things back in the bag, trying to organize it as best she could while Keyleth started trying to pull off the remains of her cosplay. She very shortly got stuck, her hair tangled within a brace, and it took Vex a couple minutes to carefully untangle her without tearing too many strands from her head. Keyleth kept laughing, which made Vex laugh, and the whole thing took much longer than it needed.

Eventually, though, Keyleth was in her long lacy nightie, and Vex had gathered up the bits of her outfit into a neat pile away from the bed. She pulled her own bag to the floor, and started untucking the blankets for Keyleth. There was always something about fancy beds and making them so tight that you might suffocate. She pulled the sheets out at the foot of the bed as well- Vex didn't know Keyleth's preference but she was sure a drunk girl didn't need her feet strapped down. After a moment's thought, she also tossed a number of fancy pillows into the corner, because not even three people could possibly need that many.

“Alright, roll in,” she said eventually, and Keyleth did as directed. Vex pulled the blankets up and tucked her in, arranging her hair nicely on the pillow and patting down the blanket around her. “Comfy?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. I think Pike and I will be in soon, okay? I'm exhausted.” Today had been one hell of a day. Her feet ached and her legs were begging for a break. The wine was starting to drag on her eyelids as it wore off (when it wasn't trying to convince her that an awkward convention hookup was exactly what she needed). Pike would probably be all for an early bedtime.

Just as CK
she started to close the door behind her, Keyleth called out softly, “Vex?”

“Yeah?” she answered from the doorway, “what's up?”

“I didn't brush my teeth.”

“You can brush them twice in the morning, dear, go to sleep.”

“Oh, okay.”

Keyleth was a precious drunk, Vex thought. She was definitely a lightweight who was too many drinks over her limit, but when the alcohol was free, who could blame her? Vex laughed quietly under her breath as she left the room.

She ran almost directly into Pike, who was waiting in the hallway with a hefty backpack slung over her shoulder. There was muffled speaking coming from the boys' room; it seemed like everybody had the same idea about bed. “Keyleth's in bed,” Vex said, “I'm thinking the same.”

Pike nodded. “Yeah, I think we were all just waiting for our stuff. I could probably sleep forever.”

“God, same. Kiki probably isn't asleep yet, so don't worry about waking her. I'll be back in just a second.”

“Oh? Running off for a quick mug down before bed?” Pike's eyebrows were higher than the damn building itself.

“What are you on about?”

“I bet if you're quick you can see if he has any other interesting tattoos.”

“Pike!” Vex hissed, “I'm just going to tell my brother goodnight!”

“Uh huh.....” Pike was laughing, allowing Vex to bodily shove her into the bedroom. “Your mouth says 'no' but your eyes say-”

Vex didn't know what language her eyes were speaking, because she shut the door on Pike and could only hear her cackling through the wood. She rolled her eyes. Pike was bad enough over text; she was a delightful nightmare in real life.

Vex knocked on the boys' door, got a gruff “come in”, and pushed the door open. Grog was face to face with the painting, scowling vividly.

“I'm taking this down,” he said, reaching for it.

“It's probably cursed,” said Scanlan, and Grog's hand froze before it touched the frame.

“You think?”

“Definitely,” added Vax, moving to meet his sister at the door.

“Somebody already tried to set it on fire once,” she said, “I wouldn't mess with it.”

“Ugh. Can I put a sheet over it at least?” Grog asked, letting his wandering hand fall forlornly to his side.

“Probably,” Vax said, turned to his sister. “You got everything you need?” he asked softly.

She nodded. “Yeah, we're all set. You good?”

“Yeah. I'm tired.”

“You look it.”

“Fuck you,” she said, but he was probably right. She pulled him in for a tight hug, and whispered, “Good night.”

“Night, sis. See you in the morning.”

“Yeah.”

As she turned to leave, she heard a clatter behind her, a sharp “Shit!” from Scanlan, but she didn't turn to look.

When she opened her own door again, she stepped in and closed it swiftly behind her, staring at Pike in shock. “Are you naked?”

“Yeah?” Pike replied, casually, as if it was perfectly normal for her to just be bare-ass naked brushing her teeth next to the bathroom door.

Vex was glad the room was dark, as it made it much easier for her to avoid gawking at Pike while she dug through her bag for her own sleepwear. “Why are you naked?”

“I sleep naked.”

At this, Vex did pause and look straight at her. “You don't.”

“Sure I do.”

“Pike, we're sharing a bed.”

“Well, I can't sleep with clothes on!” Pike shrugged. By all appearances, she really couldn't have cared less.

Vex wasn't necessarily very shy either, but sleeping naked in a bed with people whom you'd only just met in real life that very same day was beyond her. “You're a mess,” she said, finally digging up her own clothing. Pike nodded, toothbrush in her mouth.

Since Pike didn't care and Keyleth was in bed, Vex stood in the middle of the room and changed, trading her jeans for an old ratty pair of sweats and ditching her bra for nothing but an old tank top. She'd originally planned to sleep with the bra on if they were sharing a bed, to prevent any escapes, but apparently this was a free-range tit kind of bed. She brushed her teeth, adjusted her braid slightly, and crawled into bed after Pike, shoving the naked woman between herself and the drunk on the end.

As they settled in, fighting idly over the blankets and figuring out pillows, Vex said, “This place is amazing.”

Pike was quiet for a moment, and then said, “I think it's sad.”

“Sad?” asked Keyleth, clearly still awake.

“Think about it,” continued Pike, “they have all this money, and all these things, but today when they went to a huge convention in their home town, we were they only friends they had.”

“Cass never talks about any other friends,” Keyleth added, “I don't think they have any family that cares about them, either.”

“Yeah,” said Pike, shifting around again before finally settling into a good spot with a sigh, “that's what I mean.”

Vex didn't say anything, and the other two let the conversation drop. Money could solve so many of her and her brother's problems- it was hard to imagine that anyone could be unhappy with so much security. They could pay off their cars, Vax's debt, buy a real home... She blinked against the darkness of the windowless room. If this was how the 'other half' lived, it didn't really seem to be much better.

Pike's breathing evened out quickly, and Keyleth started snoring quietly- but though the wine in her head and the exhaustion in her bones tried to drag her under, Vex found it suddenly very difficult to sleep.

Chapter End Notes

> cunfgy @ asspostate

## Chapter 8

Vex couldn't sleep. She tried for what felt like dragging hours, but she couldn't get comfortable, couldn't get her mind to settle enough. Every time she moved she would bump into Pike's soft naked skin and have to pull back; the bed was huge, but not quite big enough for three, especially when one of them was sleeping drunk and sprawled out over nearly half of the mattress. At one point, Vex felt herself just on the edge of sleep, her mind finally agreeing to quiet- when Keyleth started snoring. It was a quiet, polite snore, but the sound in the otherwise utterly quiet room startled Vex straight awake again. She felt Pike shove Keyleth, and the snoring stopped with a grumble, but Vex had lost the trail of sleep completely.

She lay awake, her eyes open towards the shadowed high ceiling. Her pulse was heavy in her chest, louder than the breathing of her bed-mates in her head. There was no clock in here and she had no idea what time it was, but sleep wasn't happening and laying here trying uselessly was torture. Maybe a glass of water would help, a trip to the bathroom to reset her head. With a sigh, Vex flipped the blankets off of herself and slid out of the bed.

The bathroom tile was uncomfortably cold on her bare feet; she balanced on awkward tiptoe as she shut the door and flipped the lights on, squinting until her eyes adjusted to the harsh light. Vex flipped the faucet on and leaned forward. She cupped cool water into her hands and splashed it over her face with a small, unwitting gasp, rubbing at her eyes as water dripped away. She felt awful and expected to look awful, but the face that returned her scrutiny in the mirror looked fine. Her fingers ran under her eyelids, surprised not to see heavy dark shadows glaring back. Her braid was falling apart after all of her tossing and turning, but otherwise she looked much better than she felt. Give it a few more hours, she thought, rolling her eyes as she turned the lights off and crept out into the dark room again.

She eyed the dark shape of the bed, considering, and decided she wasn't quite willing to try that again just yet.

There was a single hallway light on when she left the room; just enough to see by, enough to show, when she turned to look, door partly open, that Pike had already taken up her empty spot on the bed. Oh, great. She left and closed the door before the dim light risked waking either of them. Vex paused to look towards the neighboring door. Was her brother sleeping alright? Did Grog snore louder than Keyleth? Was that odd painting playing havoc with his dreams? Sometimes, at home, they'd wake in the night to find the other was already up, some odd connection joining them in their sleeplessness. She waited idly for a few seconds, waiting- almost hoping- that this might be the case tonight, but the door remained shut and she eventually had to laugh at herself for making such a wish.

Lights from the city skyline lit the living room enough to wander through safely, and though Vex hadn't yet visited the kitchen she was sure it was the room just beyond, through an open doorway. She was surprised to see a light already on in there, casting a solid square out into the main room. Well, she thought, if you didn't have to worry about an electricity bill, it would be kind of nice to be able to leave a light on in the kitchen for midnight trips.

She'd made it a few steps into the large kitchen before she realized the light was on because somebody was, in fact, occupying the room.

“Oh, uh, hi,” she said, stopping short.

Percy (because of course it was him) was sitting at a small dark table, his hands cradling a steaming mug in front of him. He had abandoned his jacket upon coming home, and was just just wearing the same light undershirt he'd had on underneath- he apparently hadn't changed into any kind of sleepwear yet. Percy didn't seem to notice her come in until she spoke, after which he finally looked up from the mug and squinted at her. It was a startling look until she realized his glasses were folded on the table and he probably couldn't see her very well. She stepped closer to the table, one hand fingering the edge of a chair tucked in.

“Can't sleep?” he guessed, placing on elbow on the table and leaning his chin into his hand.

She shrugged, and then realized she had no idea what he could or couldn't see, and said, “Keyleth snores and Pike sleeps naked.”

He raised his eyebrows, a single short laugh escaping his lips. “I truly can't say I'm surprised by either of those things.”

“Why are you awake?” she asked, both hands on the chair now as she leaned on it, debating whether she wanted to pull it out entirely and sit down. “Can't sleep either?”

Percy shrugged. “Just taking a break. I haven't gone to bed yet.”

Vex turned her head to eye the kitchen, looking for a clock, and found large glaring red numbers over the oven telling her it was past 3am. Fuck. Fuck. She'd be lucky to get any sleep at all at this rate. And yet, here was Percy, sitting calmly at his table in the middle of the night as if sleep was a thing that existed only for poor peasant folk like her. (Okay, that was a mean thought- he hadn't done anything to deserve that yet- she was just tired and grumpy.)

“Do you ever sleep, Percy?”

That drew another short laugh. “Unfortunately,” he replied, “that seems to be a requirement I can't escape. I've been working on fixing Keyleth's cosplay, though, and I'd like to finish it for her for tomorrow.”

“You're really staying up all night for the sake of Kiki's fashion?”

“Well, I thought she'd appreciate it. It's nearly finished, anyway; I just left a few pieces drying for a moment.” Percy took a long drink from his mug before pushing it across the table and leaning back. “If you're not sleeping, would you like to see it?”

The thought of shoving Pike back into the middle of the bed and trying to sleep again was entirely unappealing. “Definitely,” she agreed.

He smiled and stood up, unfolding his glasses and putting them back on as he did. “Hopefully it fits her well,” he said, tucking in his chair again and stretching lightly, rolling his shoulders in a way that was entirely too mesmerizing. “I didn't want to bother her with measurements while she was-” He stopped talking mid-sentence just as his gaze fell on her, just a brief catch in his words. She watched him swallow, and cough lightly, before he continued on, “-while she was drunk.”

Vex was confused by the interruption just for a split second before she realized that, with his glasses on, he could properly see her now. Her braid was askew over a shoulder, and she was barefoot wearing only her pajamas; a dark pair of ratty sweats and a light tank-top that, especially because she wasn't even wearing a bra, probably showed a lot more than it hid. She thought she looked a mess, and the only thing she could think to do at that moment was to just give him her best wink.

He stared blankly at her, and she stared back, and the pause stretched on before he finally turned to leave. She followed, pressing her face into her hands. God, she needed sleep; maybe she should just retreat back to that bed.

She didn't have much time to make that decision though, because suddenly they were at an open lit door and he was waving her through. She entered, stopping just inside the doorway, eyes wide. There was probably some kind of organization here, but to her, it looked simply like chaos. The only neat thing in the room was a small bed in the corner, which was untouched. The rest was filled with a variety of things.

“Avoid touching anything, please,” he asked, nudging her gently aside so that he could pass by.

“Uh-huh,” she agreed. Percy moved to a table laid out with bits she recognized easily as reminiscent of what Keyleth had been wearing, but she was more interested in everything else. A second table held a large, gutted computer, familiar parts set out ready for whatever he had in mind. There were shelves along the wall containing all sorts of tools and materials; nothing at all was labeled.

In the corner was a large wooden, stringed contraption that she didn't recognize at all but was drawn towards anyway. It was just about as tall as her, and smelled strongly of glue. She reached out to run her hand along a pale wooden spire, and found suddenly her wrist held back by tight fingers. Vex looked up at Percy, then back to the piece of work, and then finally back to him. She could feel a light heat on her cheeks and hoped to god she wasn't actually blushing.

“Oops, sorry,” she said. She thought she saw him roll his eyes, but maybe that was just a trick of the lighting. He let her go and trailed back to the table with Keyleth's cosplay. Reluctantly, she followed.

“These should be just about dry now,” he said, pointing at a set of bracers placed carefully under a bright lamp. He tapped one gently, seemed satisfied, and switched off the lamp. “Here,” he said, picking one of the pair up and handing it to her.

It was dry when she took it, and heavier than she expected. She ran her fingers over it, surprised at the amount of texture, and the quality, and, frankly, the effort put in. “You did all of this just now?” she asked, still surprised.

He idly started collecting spare bits and tossing them into a large trash can next to the table. “Tonight, yes. I'd need a few days to make it look really well done, but this should be enough.”

She set the bracer down next to its pair. “Enough? Keyleth will love it.”

Percy turned to look at her. “Yeah?”

“Shit, Percy, definitely.” It was hard to find something Keyleth wasn't excited about, but Vex knew for a fact that when she woke up in the morning to find this, she was going to be shocked and ecstatic. Who wouldn't be, really? Not only was the actual work cool, but the gesture itself was extremely kind. It wasn't that Vex thought Percy incapable of this kind of thing, but he had always come across to her as just being so aloof. This was... surprising.

“I hope so,” he admitted. “I just have a little more I want to get done tonight.”

“Don't forget to sleep, Percy.”

She was serious, but he laughed lightly. “I'll be fine. Shouldn't you be getting to sleep as well?”

Ugh. Probably, but... she hesitated answering.

“If you can't sleep there, you're welcome to sleep in my bed,” he offered, so casually.

She stared at him, eyebrows high up her forehead. “Uhm, I mean, I know casual con hookups are popular, but that's a bit forward, Percy.”

He looked confused for a second, and then shocked. “Oh, no, no,” he said, holding up a hand and backtracking, “I meant- I normally sleep in here, so my bedroom's empty. If you wanted a quiet place. That's all, I didn't mean-”

“Percy!” she laughed, “I understand; don't worry.” He was cute when he looked horrified. (She should probably be offended that he did look so surprised at the suggestion, but it was almost 4am so who really gave a fuck?)

“Well, good,” he said, adjusting his glasses in a way she was starting to recognize as a nervous tick. “But you are still welcome to that bed, if you'd like.”

The back of her head ached, she could feel a heavy strain in her eyes, and just the thought of trying to wiggle back into bed with snoring Keyleth and naked Pike made her chest ache. “I'd love to,” she answered, with a relieved smile.

His actual bedroom was right next door, and a million times more organized than the workroom, as well as emptier. There was a bed, a couple filled bookshelves over dressers, and then a large desk with the most fabulous computer system she'd ever seen. Vex was drawn to it immediately; on the desk were three flat screens, each one half again as big as her own single monitor at home. The tower underneath the desk could have fit hers and Vax's systems both inside with room to spare. The whole thing hummed beautifully.

“I can turn that off if the lights or noise will bother you,” Percy said from the doorway where he leaned.

“No, it'll probably be soothing,” she admitted, pulling away from the system before she started actually drooling on it. He definitely built it himself- she wondered what parts were in it but it was too dark under the desk to see if he'd put the product stickers on his tower.

“Alright,” he said, hand on the door to close it, “if you need anything, let me know.”

She moved to the bed and sat on it, enjoying the light bounce. “Go to sleep, Percy,” she told him.

“Soon,” he agreed, “goodnight, Vex.”

“Goodnight, Percy.”

He shut her in, and she burrowed under the blankets, spreading her arms to enjoy the relief of being alone in a bed big enough for two of her. Indulgently, she buried her face in a pillow, breathing in deeply- and it just smelled of stale laundry. Percy certainly didn't sleep here much. It might have been a weird situation, and maybe on another night she'd never have been able to fall asleep in his bed, but she was so tired, and the steady mechanical whirring of the computer was so comforting, that she very quickly fell asleep.

When she woke up, light was brightly shining through a large window in the wall, and a clock on one of the dressers read 10:42.

“What the fuck,” she said.

## Chapter 9

Chapter Notes

> I added a tag guys ;p ;p
> Also I have been asked about an 'update schedule' and the answer for that is a giant shrug. Ideally I'd love to update daily. realistically, you're going to get 1-2 times a week. Definitely at least once! This one is a twice a week update!!

As she stared with mounting horror, the clock ticked over to 10:43. Vex flung the blankets away from her body and stumbled out of the bed, catching herself on its headboard with one hand. The thought crossed her mind that maybe this clock was wrong; if Percy rarely slept here, maybe he didn't bother to set it properly- but the sun creeping boldly through the window proved that it was, definitely, nearly 11 in the morning.

Vex swore repeatedly under her breath as she flung the door open, veritably storming into an empty living room. Where was everybody? Why didn't they wake her up? Why had she slept until 11 on the biggest convention day unhindered? She pushed open the door to her original guest room, and it was empty. The bed was halfheartedly made, pillows stacked back on it in some attempt at making it look proper again. Vex took a moment to check the bathroom, but found it just as empty of life.

She rapped her knuckles against the boys' room and waited only a moment before opening their door onto yet another empty room. Vex stared at the unsettling painting on the wall. “I did not just get abandoned in this fancy prison house,” she hissed at it. The dog did not offer any insight. She closed her eyes, grip tight on the doorknob still, and counted to ten in her head. All she needed to do was call her brother and see what was going on. They were all probably just down the road eating breakfast, or getting coffee. He definitely didn't leave her sleeping without even a note. She sighed, and moved back to their room to make that call.

Her phone was dead. It had died last night, she remembered now, too late, and she'd never thought to charge it. It didn't even have enough power to tell her it was out of battery, no matter how many times her thumb crushed the button. With an aggravated cry, Vex threw her phone. It clattered loudly against the wall and down into the empty jacuzzi with a hollow thunk. Fuck it, she thought. She knew where the convention center was from here; she's just go herself... without a phone. Without her brother, or her friends.

Ugh.

A single knock on the open door drew her gaze sharply from her phone's porcelain grave. It was Percy standing there, pushing the door open further so that light from the hallway better illuminated the still-dark bedroom.

“I thought I heard you,” he said.

“Where is everybody?” she asked, hoping he had a good answer.

He didn't. “They've been gone for a while now.”

“What?”

“I think Grog and Scanlan wanted to be in line for something early. The rest left shortly before the con opened, at ten.”

She stared at him, waiting for the joke. It didn't come. Vex sighed heavily, rubbing an eye with the palm of her hand. She wasn't going to cry, she was just- tired. “Give me your phone,” she ordered, and she immediately regretted speaking so sharply to Percy, who appeared to be the only one who hadn't left her, but she wasn't in a mood to apologize.

If Percy minded her demand, he didn't show it. “Here,” he said, pullinga heavy black brick of a phone from the pocket of yesterday's long jacket. She stepped to take it from him, but he held it back just for a second- “Wait,” he said, typing in a code first, and then placing his thumb against a fingerprint reader on the screen. It lit up, and he handed it to her finally. “There.”

She took it without thanking him, her fingers dialing the only number she knew better than her own. It rang once, twice, a third time; she turned away from Percy, phone against her ear, not wanting her host to see what might happen if nobody answered.

Fortunately, just as the third ring cut out, he picked up. “Uh, hello? Who's calling?” There was a large amount of background noise, but it was still her brother and she sighed lightly in relief.

And then scowled. “Where the fuck are you?”

“Vex'ahlia?”

“Why didn't you wake me up?”

“Uh, Percy said you were up super late and we thought maybe it was better to just let you sleep, so-”

“So you all left without me?” Her voice was sharp and high, and she had to take a deep breath. Vex turned back again to glance at Percy, embarrassed to think he was watching her get into hysterics on the phone, but he'd had the sense to disappear. She pushed the door the rest of the way close and moved to sit on the bed. “You just left me sleeping on our vacation?”

“I'm sorry, sis, I guess we just got caught up in everything and-”

“And abandoned me?”

There was silence, and she started to feel bad, because she knew he felt bad, and maybe she was being a little bit ridiculous. She could always just find them again, and she'd really only missed a couple hours, so... “Where-” she started to ask, but suddenly there was a bunch of static on the line and muffled sounds like Vax had nearly dropped the phone.

She made out a stranger's voice, loud even from a distance. “Vax'ildan! My darling Keyleth!”

Vex heard a squeal and her brother shouted a greeting loud enough to make her pull the phone away from her ear.

There was just a lot more chaos after that, muted static and white noise and words she couldn't quite make out. Finally, after what felt like ages, Vax came back on the line.

“Hey, we just ran into Gilmore; I'm gonna go, okay?”

“Wait, where are you guys at?”

“Shit, I'm not really sure right now; I'll text you soon, okay? Bye!”

“My phone's-” The line clicked before she could finish.

Okay. She was definitely mad at him now. Vex lowered the phone and stared at the screen. It listed the conversation as having been less than three minutes before he hung up on her. Fuck him, she thought, even as she put the number in Percy's contact list under her brother's name. Maybe if he had some sense he'd know to text this number (maybe once she never answered any texts he'd figure it out) and she'd rather Percy not be confused by a random number contacting him.

Because she was nosy, she browsed the rest of his contacts too. Keyleth was in there, and his sister was listed under both 'Cass-Office' and 'Cass-Cell'. Vex thumbed through the rest of the names but didn't see anything interesting or recognizable. It was a surprisingly short list, and most of it was generic listings like 'Concierge' or 'Car Service', or professional listings like 'Dr. A. Desnay' and an 'Anna Ripley, Esq'. Boring.

Vex tapped out of the contacts and stood, resigning herself to a stressful day of trying to track her brother and her friends through a crowd of thousands, when her gaze caught on the little Facebook symbol in the corner. She clicked it, hoping- and was rewarded to find Percy's account automatically signed in. With the phone locked by both a code and a fingerprint, there probably wasn't much reason to protect the actual contents. Vex scrolled his page for a minute, considering. Finally, she made only one change- she changed his profile picture from 'ambiguous coat man' to the stupidest picture of Trinket she could find off of her own page. In the description of the picture, she wrote only 'Nice Dog'.

There. Good enough.

Vex dressed quickly, digging through her bag for something that hadn't been too wrinkled in transit. She settled for a nicer set of tight sweats and a tank reading simply 'DPS'.

(She wondered how Keyleth had reacted to Percy's recreation of her cosplay, and wished she could have been there to see it.)

Percy was waiting patiently for her in the living room. Vex hoped he hadn't heard too much of her yelling at Vax, but he had the sense not to bring it up. She handed him the phone, and he pocketed it again. “Thanks,” she said.

He nodded. “Of course.”

She wanted to ask why he stayed to wait for her, even when his own sister had gone, but she was sure the answer was probably as simple as 'You don't have the code to the door and I didn't want to leave it here for you'. So she didn't bother. Instead, she motioned towards the door, offering him a smile that was almost genuine. “Ready to go?”

“Yes,” he said, turning to go and then, suddenly, pausing. “Vex,” he began, “I'm sorry we didn't wake you; if there's anything I can do...”

“Buy me coffee on the way,” she said, with a wink that, hopefully, let him know she wasn't irritated with him. If she had to order her current shit list, it would go Vax, and then Vax again, and then everybody else for not bothering to wake her, and finally Vax once more for good measure. Percy was the only reason she'd gotten any sleep at all, so he was getting a free pass this morning.

He agreed, the corners of his mouth curving into an odd little smile, and she thought maybe that message got across.

There were no less than six different coffeeshops on their way down to the convention. Percy vetoed the first, and wouldn't explain why. Vex didn't even pause for the second one, because the line was almost out the door. She was sure it was great, but she wasn't going to waste an extra twenty minutes of her already shortened day waiting for coffee. Finally, they passed a tiny corner Starbucks, shrugged, and went inside.

Because she wasn't buying, Vex ordered the biggest drink she could, had them add in three different flavor shots, and told the cashier to fill the top with as much whipped cream as they could possibly fit.

Percy ordered four shots of espresso.

“In what?” the cashier asked.

“In a cup, preferably,” he replied.

“No, like, four shots added to what drink?” Vex asked, trying to help the young cashier, who was clearly flummoxed by both this order and the tall man in the oddly formal coat who was ordering it. Or maybe flummoxed wasn't the right term for it, judging by the dust of red blush on the girl's cheeks. Me too, kid, Vex thought.

“I just want eight ounces of espresso. That's it.”

There was silence for a long second. “Percival,” Vex said, slowly, while the cashier punched that into the computer, “are you trying to kill yourself?”

“I could ask you the same,” he said, nodding to the large cup of sugar death that a barista had just handed to Vex.

She licked whipped cream from around the top. “Life is meant to be enjoyed, Percy.”

“You sound like Cassandra.”

“Good, she's sensible.” Vex wasn't about to mention that she'd nearly choked on her first sip of the drink- there apparently was such a thing as 'coffee too sweet'. She was going to drink it anyway, because it cost twelve dollars and she was queen of 'proving a point', but this was probably enough sugar for the next two days. Maybe if she and Percy combined their orders, they'd have a drink fit for a normal human.

He didn't even seem to flinch as he took his first sip of espresso. Nor the second. Not even the third, which wasn't even a sip but a solid drink. Vex looked horrified; he grinned and offered it to her.

“Not on your life,” she replied. “No wonder you never sleep.”

“Don't reveal my secrets,” he said, still grinning as he took another pull of the black death drink. He was going to finish it within minutes and die of a heart attack before they even reached the convention, she thought.

She rolled her eyes, unable to resist smiling herself. Before she could think twice about it, she stepped closer and wrapped her free arm around his elbow. There was a catch in his step, and she started to pull away, but he didn't let her, instead adjusting his own arm to gain a better grip as they walked together.

As they rounded the corner that led into the convention line, still arm in arm, Percy leaned towards her. “Hey, Vex,” he said, a light chuckle creeping into his voice.

“What?” she asked, suddenly wary.

“We just showed up to the con fifteen minutes late with Starbucks.”

## Chapter 10

Vex dumped her drink in the trash at the gate. When Percy asked what happened to it, she told him that they'd made her throw it out. Really, she just couldn't do it anymore. Her tongue was coated with sugary sludge with every sip, and she'd made it barely halfway through before giving up. His drink had been gone two blocks before they even reached the convention hall.

“I didn't think they made you get rid of food coming in,” he said, joining her again once they'd been scanned in.

“Yes, how odd,” she replied, voice light, claiming his arm once more.

Unfortunately, the convention center was too crowded to walk that way comfortably for long. Yesterday had been full, but they'd at least had room to breathe. Today, every space was filled, the crowd like a solid heaving mass. A series of shouts from the other end of the main hall drew her gaze, just for a second- but long enough that when she turned back, she found herself alone in the crowd. Vex panicked. Separated from Percy, and more importantly from Percy's phone, she'd be stuck truly alone here in the throng of people.

She spun, trying to catch sight of white hair above the crowd, and failing- until a hand gripped her wrist and pulled her forward.

“Where are you going?” Percy asked, as she tried to get her breathing under control. She wanted to laugh; she'd lost him for no more than a few seconds and she had been about to panic like a child. She would need to be put on a leash at this rate.

“I got distracted,” Vex told him, trying to be casual about it. He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly not fooled, but he didn't say a word as she reached for a handful of his coat and clutched it tightly. She wasn't going to lose him again.

The seller's hall was a bit less crowded- or at least it felt that way now that there was a steady flow of traffic. She let Percy lead mostly, surprised at the number of things here that she didn't recognize at all. There were tables full of anime, or comics, or even assorted book series she'd never heard of except maybe in passing. What gaming merchandise there was seemed far out of her price range, or poorly made, or things she'd seen online before and knew she could get for less.

At one point she paused at a booth of replica weapons, tugging Percy's coat until he stopped with her. There were a number of glittering daggers and swords, each labeled with the source of their model and surrounded by signs assuring her they'd ship home for cheap. Percy idly ran a finger along a curved dagger's blade, but she was drawn to a bow of dark wood. She trailed her hand down the upper limb, across the carved sight. There was no price tag, which almost certainly put it out of her budget, but she couldn't help admiring it.

The man at the table caught her eye and moved towards her. “Would you like to hold her, miss?” he asked, already lifting the bow for her.

She took it from him, surprised at its weight and balance in her hands.

“It doesn't look functional,” commented Percy. He'd abandoned the blades and was eyeing her weapon carefully.

“It's only a replica,” the seller said. “It's the bow from-”

“Yes, I know,” Percy interrupted, “but why bother creating it if you can't make it function?”

“I don't even know how to shoot an arrow, Percy,” Vex said, noting the frown the seller was trying hard to hide behind a saccharine salesman smile.

“But you could learn, if you had a real bow.”

“Perhaps you should let the lady decide for herself,” the seller countered, turning that false smile boldly towards Vex.

She gave him one solid look from head to toe, handed the bow back abruptly enough that he had to fumble for it, and said, “The lady doesn't want a product that doesn't even work.” She pushed Percy along and they made it a few booths down before stopping to laugh.

“The lady,” Vex said, “could not have afforded a single thing on that table.”

“I'm sure he could have offered the lady a fabulous payment plan,” Percy replied.

“The only thing worse than somebody who wants to sell you something,' she said, “is somebody who wants to sell you something with interest.”

“In that case, you'd definitely need a working weapon,” he smiled wickedly.

She laughed. This was good. This wasn't the day she'd had planned, at all, and she did still desperately wish her brother was here next to her, but this was good. Thinking of Vax, she said, “Did my brother text you yet?”

Percy checked, and while he did, she turned to eye the booth they had stopped at. There weren't many people looking at this one, and she was surprised, because it looked to be the most interesting place they'd been yet. The table was lined with jars of green liquid, boxes of assorted tiny bones, displays of mounted bugs and birds and bats. A sign near the back said boldly, 'YES THIS IS ALL LEGAL', which answered her first question.

“Nothing yet,” Percy said, pocketing his phone. She waved him over to look, not even bothered, for the moment, about Vax's lack of concern for her.

“Look at this,” she said, holding a petite yellowed skull in her hands.

He leaned over to inspect it. “That's a cat.”

“How can you tell?”

“The large eyes, the teeth, the shorter snout and rounded head.” He pointed at each bit as he spoke, running one finger carefully over one of the suture lines along the skull.

She replaced the skull carefully, knowing she was being watched by the booth owner seated near the back, and instead pointed at a mounted bird skull behind a frame. “Look, that one's just like the one on your chest.”

“Uh?” She glanced at him, and he was staring at her with an unguarded look of surprise, his hand halfway into a box of tiny assorted leg bones. “How do you...?”

“You posted it on Facebook once?”

His face shifted from surprised to confused to a pale look of regret as the memory revived itself, and she couldn't help but laugh at him. “I thought I deleted that,” he said, carefully.

“Not quick enough!”

“Oh, good,” Percy sighed, withdrawing his hand from the bone box.

“The internet is forever,” Vex told him, still chuckling under her breath. She might have felt bad for laughing as she continued to wonder over the objects on the table, but when she glanced over a second time he was still looking at her with a small, resigned smile. She winked over her shoulder.

He blinked, and then narrowed his eyes at her thoughtfully. “You saved it,” he accused her.

“Hmmm,” she hummed, noncommittal, “look at this, Percy.”

“You did!”

“What kind of feathers are these, do you think?” She had a piece of handmade jewelry in her hand now, a hairpiece of three bright blue feathers mounted in curled silver.

His eyes remained on hers for a long second before falling to the item she offered him. Before he could answer, a gently voice spoke. “Macaw.” They both looked up. The owner of the booth, a soft spoken woman in black, had approached them. “They've been sprayed to hold their shape,” she added, “but not dyed.”

“It's lovely,” Vex told her, turning the jewelry over in her hands to follow the silver's design. She was afraid to ask, but would regret it if she didn't- “How much?”

“I'm asking fifty,” the woman replied.

Vex tried to hide her wince, because she was sure the item was worth it and she didn't want to come off as being offensive to the creator. She could afford it, too, technically. She had that much in cash, in her wallet, but that was all. The best way to budget personal spending, she and Vax had discovered, was to carry it in cash and when it was gone, it was gone. So she could buy this, now, but she'd have nothing else for the rest of the trip.

It was very pretty, though.

“Would you take forty?” she couldn't resist asking.

“I...suppose,” the lady agreed, after a moment of quiet thought.

Carefully, Vex set it back on the table. “I'll have to think about it.”

Before she could finish placing the piece down, Percy put his hand on her wrist. “We'll take it for fifty,” he told the saleswoman, his free hand digging a wallet from his pockets.

“Percy, what? No-”

“It's fine, it's fine. Here.” He handed the woman a stack of bills, which she counted swiftly and tucked away.

“Would you like a box for it?”

“Uh.” Vex was still blindsided by the entire affair, her eyes flickering between the woman and Percy. She had enough sense to say, finally, “I'll just wear it, I think, thank you.”

She reached for it, startled to see her own hand shaking very lightly, resolving to hold it still- but the woman picked up the feathered hair piece first, lifting it. “It goes like so,” she said, and as Vex leaned forward she tucked it cautiously just above her ear, adjusting it gently with fingers that prickled like ice against Vex's scalp. “Be careful with it, please,” the woman asked, once she was satisfied with the way she'd nestled the feathers against dark hair, “this was a good bird.”

“A good- I will, thank you.” Vex wanted to reach up and touch it, but she was sure she'd knock it loose immediately.

“Here,” said Percy, and she turned to look at him just as he snapped a picture of her with his phone. He handed it to her, and she took it. In the picture, she had just barely begun to face him, with wide, startled eyes. The lighting was odd in this booth, and the blue and silver in her hair shimmered with some gentle light source. Personally, she thought it was an enchanting picture.

Vex handed him back his phone, and started to tell him to post it to Facebook, or to thank him, or something as soon as she got her damned tongue untied, but just as she placed the phone into his hands, it started to buzz with a call.

“Hello,” he answered, after briefly glancing at the call screen, “Percival speaking.” A pause, and then, “Yes, one second.” Percy handed the phone over. “It's for you.”

She took it, placing it against the ear that wasn't decorated. “Hello?”

“He answers the phone like a tit, doesn't he.”

“Vax?”

“Hey, listen, I don't have a lot of time, but-”

“You fuck! What's going on?”

“Listen! Gilmore got us VIP seats for the panel later, alright?”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah, so you don't have to wait in line, okay, just show up.”

“Oh,” was all she could think to say. Percy was watching with idle interest. She raised her eyebrows at him. He mimicked her. She stuck out her tongue. He rolled his eyes.

“I have to go, sis,” Vax said, and then, quickly, “Hey, why didn't you tell me your phone was dead? I've been texting all-”

She hung up on him.

“Anything exciting?” Percy asked, taking his phone from her and stashing it away again.

“Yeah, Gilmore got us VIP seating to the announcement panel. So we don't have to sit around in line all day.”

“Wow, that's...” he adjusted his glasses lightly, “fantastic, actually. I was worried it might already be full, to be honest.”

“Anything to avoid sitting on the floor for hours,” she said, and then added, “So, lunch?”

“Lunch? Are you hungry?”

“It's after noon, Percy, and I'm not sustained by a hellish amount of caffeine.” She grabbed a fistful of his jacket again, this time to drag him along behind her. “Come on!”

“Okay, okay!” he agreed, stepping quickly to keep up with her. He grabbed her wrist and pried her grip off his coat, and she nearly tripped as he slid his hand down her wrist to join instead with her fingers.

She was glad she was leading him, because she felt heat burn her cheeks and knew she was blushing. God, she was embarrassing herself. She was acting like some virginal schoolgirl, and both of those things she certainly was not. He just seemed so... genuine, about everything. And yet, really, she knew jack all about him besides the fact that he was hot and had money he was too eager to spend.

He was probably bad news, and yet here she was, dragging him through a crowded hall by the hand, with an expensive jewelry gift in her hair, and a laugh catching at the back of her throat. This was ridiculous.

Maybe she'd go home and sleep with Jarrett again to get this crush out of her system.

Fuck, it was a crush, wasn't it.

She felt his warm hand tighten against hers as he tried to keep up with her quick pace, trying not to lose her in the swarm of bodies, and she squeezed his hand in return.

Damn it. She was screwed.

## Chapter 11

Chapter Notes

> bless every single person who has ever left a comment on this fic, seriously, i love all of you

Lunch was a more casual affair than their last meal. Percy and Vex left the chaos of the convention for a while, walking a few blocks away until most of the street sellers who weren't raising their prices to prey on tourists. They chose one at random and ordered; Vex paid for herself this time, making this the first time she'd dug into her wallet this trip. She got her food and sat cross-legged on an empty bench, balancing a styrofoam to-go container between her knees and setting a can of pop carefully on the seat next to her as Percy took a seat on the opposite side.

"I'm not entirely sure what this is," he admitted, flipping the lid of his box up. "I just asked for the special."

She leaned over to see. "Looks like curry or something," she said, eyeing the scattered meats. Vex had just ordered chicken and rice, because it was cheap and because she'd never eaten from a city truck before and wasn't about to make it complicated.

He tried it, declared it, "Not bad," and for a few minutes the pair of them ate in relative silence.

This was the first thing she'd eaten since the night before, and Vex was starving. The way she shoveled rice into her mouth was probably highly undignified, but sitting on a dirty bench eating out of styrofoam certainly didn't call for manners. It wasn't until she'd finished everything (and quickly) that she cracked open her drink, glancing towards Percy.

He wasn't eating much; he had actually put his fork down and was texting with both hands. Vex sipped her drink, eyeing him. He was frowning, lips pressed tight, and not paying her much attention. He wasn't making any attempt to hide his conversation, though, and Vex only had to lean forward a little more to see what was happening on his phone's large screen. Percy was texting his sister. Vex had thought she was at the convention somewhere, but that was clearly not the case, judging by her first message to him.

I dropped my Saturday class.

Was it not the correct requirement?

It was, but they are testing guest teaching this semester. She's the professor for the course, Percival. Of all people.

Even their text conversation was so proper. Vex couldn't remember the last time she'd bothered to actually type a comma into a text, much less insert capitals unless autocorrect insisted that she did. Percy had paused here; she watched him type a few words before erasing them, once, twice, a third time. She wasn't making any effort to hide that she was reading over his shoulder, but he didn't seem to mind enough to stop her. Vex thought maybe he hadn't noticed, but she caught him glancing her way, thumbs still hovering over the keyboard, just before Cassandra texted again.

I really tried. I couldn't do it. I left after half an hour and called my advisor.

Good. You shouldn't be near her.

I agree, but apparently she's involved herself in even my university.

She probably just needed the money; it isn't as if she's competent e nough in her career.

Ha, ha. Funny. But I'm still going to be behind.

Cassandra actually typed out a laugh. Vex wondered if she might have to tie the girl down and teach her chatspeak, like a normal teen. Maybe they could even break out the emojis.

You're working for a doctorate when you should be graduating high school, Cassandra. You'll be fine.

"What the fuck," Vex said; and she hadn't realized she'd said it out loud until Percy turned his full attention on her, eyebrows raised. "Do either of you sleep?"

"She's..." Percy pursed his lips, considering, before he decided on, "driven."

"That's a word for it. Do you already have a medical license or something, then? Qualified in rocket science? Six degrees?" She pulled a long drink of her soda.

He laughed, a quiet chuckle that was more breath than noise. "No," Percy said, "not even close. I haven't been to school in years. Never went to college."

"Well," she shrugged, "me either."

"Did you want to?" The food truck's special must not have been great; Percy closed the box and set it on the empty edge of the bench. Both of them had finished eating, then, but neither made a move to go anywhere yet.

Vex fidgeted lightly with the edge of her shoe, looking away from him. This conversation was trailing into an uncomfortable area, and yet somehow, she didn't feel the tension in her throat that usually accompanied discussions about the future. "I used to. I think everybody kind of assumes they'll end up there," she admitted.

"It's technically never too late."

"College costs money," Vex said, flatly.

"Ah, well," Percy said, "that's true."

She looked up at him then, and he looked so much like a man who regretted his words that she had to laugh, offering him a smile. She was about to speak- to tell him she wasn't bothered, he hadn't crossed any lines- when his phone buzzed again and they both looked down at it instantly. It wasn't more from Cassandra this time; instead, Keyleth's name popped up and he opened a conversation between them.

i think im on a date !!!

Anybody I know?

Keyleth sent only a picture in return, something she was prone to doing. Why type words when a quick image worked? This was one she'd presumably just taken, a blurry picture of Vax from across a table, looking very much like he hadn't been expecting it. Percy tilted the phone towards Vex, as if she hadn't already moved close enough that her knee was dangerously close tobumping his. She sighed.

Another picture. Vax again, but this time a bit less fuzzy, and a wider angle; her brother was sitting next to another man, with dark skin and darker hair, and makeupbetter than Vex's on a good day. He was wearing a bright outfit that Vex could only assume was an expensive cosplay- and he was clutching her brother's shoulder in a hand wearing what looked like too many rings to be functional.

Are you on a date with two people?

maybe??? is that a thing?? can that b a thing????

I suppose I don't see why not?

Vex had some reasons why not. She was very tempted to steal Percy's phone and start listing them, but that would probably be punishing the wrong people.

Keyleth sent them a selfie. With one hand she held the phone, and with the other she shrugged theatrically, a confused grin on her face. (It looked the same way Vex felt. Minus the grin. Vex hadnever much cared for Keyleth's tendency to send an excess of pictures, and she was even less thrilled by it currently.)

Have fun, Keyleth. I'll see you later.

!!!! at the panel !!!!

One final picture. Another selfie, but this time her company had joined her, one on either side of her face. Vax was winking into the camera.

"Ugh." Vex scowled.

"Not thrilled?" asked Percy, tucking the phone away now that the conversation was over.

"No. Well, yes, but- mostly I just wish he'd tell me things on his own," she admitted, uncrossing her legs and settling them back on the ground. Sharp pain prickled through them as feeling started to sluggishly return.

"Perhaps he is just waiting until something's official?" he suggested, standing up. "That was just Keyleth texting me, after all; he didn't know you'd see."

Vex rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm sure he knew just-" she had tried to stand, and her legs weren't ready; if she hadn't reached out and clung to Percy's arm as they tried to wiggle out from under her, she'd have ended up on the concrete.

"Are you alright?" he asked, surprised, and allowing her to brace herself against him until her feet decided they were willing to work again. It took a few seconds before she could let go, embarrassed, her face warm.

"Yeah, yeah," Vex assured him, putting on a show of straightening out her shirt to avoid meeting his gaze until she was she hers was more controlled. "Legs fell asleep."

"Well, I wouldn't suggest falling for me," he said. She stared at him until he cleared his throat uncomfortably and glanced away. "That was a joke," Percy clarified, and then, "well, not that I think you should- it was just a play on words, because you-"

"I get it," she laughed, saving him from the end of that sentence. And then because he still looked like a deer in the headlights behind those glasses, as she started walking, leaving him behind, she added, "I couldn't ever date anybody who couldn't match my dps, anyway."

"What?" Percy caught up with her while she paused to throw her food trash away. "My dps is always better than yours."

"Mmm, I don't think so."

"I've been top of the charts for the past four weeks. Vex'ahlia, I'm reguarly in the 99th percentile in the logs for our class."

Well, she knew he was always top in their guild but she hadn't know that. Hot damn. Vex threw up a shrug. "Well, if you're so insistent," she said, casually, "I guess you're allowed to date me."

"Er, wait- I didn't mean-"

She claimed his arm again, hooking her hand around his elbow. "I'm joking, Percy," she told him, giving him a wink.

"Oh," he said, frowning lightly at her, as if he didn't quite know where he stood anymore.

"Are you really in the 99th?" she asked.

"Ah, well, not usually, no. I was once! I often end up around 95, though," he admitted uncomfortably.

Vex laughed.

They spent the next few hours wandering around the convention. There wasn't anything either of them had any particular urge to see; no panels they were willing to hunt down, no autographs to try for. Any that Vex wanted, she was sure she could harass Gilmore into getting for her, if he was as connected as Vax kept insisting he was. But there was always plenty to enjoy just exploring together, especially on the busiest day, when sellers and attendees both brought out the 'big guns'. Sometimes, literally.

At one point, Percy actually stopped a cosplayer in the hall near the bathrooms to ask them about the weapon they were carrying. Vex just stood back and watched, amused; she rarely heard Percy so animated about anything, even over voice chat. The cosplayer was more than willing to discuss their work, and even started pulling bits of the weapon apart for him. It took a while, and once they finally parted and Percy rejoined her, he started to apologize for making her wait. She waved him off with a smile and an assurance that she hadn't minded at all.

Finally, they decided it was probably time to head towards the main room, where the panel was being held. The line was atrocious; they passed the end of it long before they saw the room. Sitting in that would have been hell, and Vex was sure most of the people who'd been there for hours weren't even going to make it into the panel. She didn't envy the doormen.

She and Percy, though, simply walked past all of them and approached the doors. "Gilmore told us we had reserved seats," she told the woman who immediately stepped in front of her, "Vex and Percival."

"Oh!" The woman rolled her eyes. "He sure knows how to abuse privilege," she said.

"Is this alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're fine. Go on in, I think some of your group is already waiting." She waved them in, and then waved at the people in the beginning of the line to settle down.

Almost all of their friends were there already, actually, clustered together near the front of the large room, just before the stage. Vex pulled her arm from Percy's as they approached, though not quickly enough, apparently; Pike heard them and turned, her grin approaching dangerous levels. Vex ignored her completely, and heard Pike's soft laughter as she swept past.

"Vax!" She grabbed his arm, pulling him from conversation with the man he and Keyleth had been eating lunch with. She knocked his arm with the back of her hand. "You left me!"

"You were sleeping! Ow." He rubbed where she'd hit.

"That didn't even hurt," she told him. "You should have woken me up!"

"Well, I was going to, but-"

Keyleth saved him, interrupting loudly. "Vex! Have you met Gilmore? This is Gilmore!" She guestured towards the stranger Vex had just dragged her brother away from.

Vex looked him up and down. The only word that came to her mind was 'elaborate', but the smile he was giving her was doing wonders to make her forget her irritation with her brother.

"Vex'ahlia!" he greeted, enthusiastically, offering her a hand. She took it, and he shook it firmly. "I'm so glad you could make it, darling."

"Thank you so much," she told him, "for the tickets and the seats and everything."

Gilmore laughed, and Vex was sure she'd never heard a laugh as genuine as this man's laugh. Vex had always wondered how her brother had grown so close to the moderator who was constantly hounding after him, but things were starting to make sense now that she was meeting him herself. "My utter pleasure," he assured her.

The lights flickered, and people started swarming the stage. "I've got to run; I'll see you all soon, your seats are in this row," Gilmore said quickly, pointing. He granted them another bold smile before disappearing.

They took their seats, Vex making an effort to sit next to her brother. They were going to spend at least some of the day together, she swore.

Pike took the seat on her other side, and nudged her arm. "So, you weren't in our bed last night,' she whispered, grinning dangerously.

"Yeah, because you were fucking naked!" Vex hissed back. People were starting to fill in around them, and she had to speak up a bit more to be heard. "I don't know how you slept through Keyleth's bear snores, anyway."

"Hey!" Keyleth exclaimed, leaning forward from Vax's other side. "I don't snore!" Pike and Vex both stared at her, deadpan, until she frowned and sat back. "Well, not that loud, anyway."

"So you slept with Percy instead? Was he fucking naked too?"

"Oh my god, Pike, I'm-" Vex sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead with one hand. "I slept alone, in his spare bed,” she clarified under her breath.

"What did it smell like?"

"Pike, you're a nightmare."

"You gotta let me live through you, Vex."

"Pike."

"He's staring at you right now."

Vex narrowed her eyes, staring at Pike and resisting the urge to spin around in her chair and look at Percy, who was seated on Keyleth's other side. Pike only grinned. Finally, Vex, super casually turned and looked. He wasn't looking their way at all, but was instead whispering back and forth with Keyleth. "Pike, you filthy liar."

Pike laughed, and though she tried to fake a scowl, Vex ended up laughing as well. Vax turned to stare at them both, but before he could voice his confusion, the lights flickered again, the noisy room went silent, and the panel started.

Vex hadn't been to anything like this before. She wasn't sure what she was expecting- but it wasn't this. They took no questions, because the group was too huge. Instead, people she should probably have recognized, but didn't, read from a script and tossed some fancy visuals on a screen. Most of it was a lot of things she already knew, or the speaker just trying to build excitement.

And some of it was exciting, though- Gilmore, they announced, would be joining their payroll as more than just a game moderator. A lot of people cheered, and Vex was again surprised at how popular a member of the game police was.

The biggest announcement was at the end. They were trying something new, they said (Vex heard her brother groan, and sympathized; new was rarely better). This didn't sound awful, though. Big changes, they said, but wouldn't give out details. What they didannounce, though, was a series of intense bosses, one released per week over a span of a couple months, who would each come with world-changing lore and events and gear, and who would each would be progressively harder than the last.

Vex was never a fan of fighting the same fights week after week after week. She could get behind this.

The final point of the night was a teaser; in just two weeks (two weeks? There was no way they'd be ready in two weeks, holy shit, though Vex) a cocky white dragon would be claiming the northern tundras as his home. His overall destruction of the area would depend on how well the playerbase was able to fight him off, and that was probably the most interesting concept so far- that stats would determine lore. Vex loved it.

The panel had lasted a few hours, and time was drawing late. Rather than risk losing everybody again, they agreed it was best to head back to the penthouse. Vex was sure Pike wasn't done interviewing her (and really, she'd be happy to gossip once they weren't surrounded by everybody else), but fortunately talk on the way home centered almost solely on the mystery and excitement of upcoming new content.

## Chapter 12: you know, like...... nyaaa

Cassandra was waiting for them when they made it back to the penthouse, standing at the end of the entrance hall with a glass of something dark in a wine glass. Easily excited and high on the thrill of the day, they cheered to see her; she raised an eyebrow and tried to hide a fragile smile behind her drink. “I've ordered pizza,” Cassandra said, motioning towards the kitchen, and they cheered louder.

The table was covered in large boxes and they were quick to break into them. Initially, Vex thought it was way too much food even for their large group, but as she watched Grog fist two pieces in each hand she decided maybe Cassandra had gotten the order right after all. It looked like she'd called up the nearest pizza place and ordered one of everything; even Keyleth eventually found something she was happy to see, a pizza covered in green and white and looking absolutely like something Vex wanted no part of. Vex dug around through a few boxes herself before finding one with pineapple and taking a piece.

“Disgusting,” said her brother, halfway through his own cheesy mess already. She stuck her tongue out at him. They were alike in most ways, but taste in pizza toppings was absolutely not one of them. “That's cute,” he added, and it took her a second to realize he was referring to the feathered pin in her hair, “is that what you bought at the con?”

The safe choice was probably to just say yes, agree that it was lovely, and that she couldn't resist, but Vex was never one to play it safe, especially when her decisions were tainted by a hint of remaining irritation towards her twin. “Oh, this?” she teased, fingering it lightly with her non-greasy hand, “This was a gift from Percival, actually.”

Vax frowned, and Vex knew exactly what thoughts were running through his head. It was a lecture she was too familiar with and not one she wanted to hear again in the middle of a kitchen filled with their friends. (Strangely enough, though, it seemed neither Percy nor Cassandra had actually joined them for dinner).

Fortunately, before Vax could put any of it to voice, Keyleth spoke. “Oh! It's lovely!”

“It looks like it was made just for you, Vex,” Pike added from across the table. Grog said something as well, but his mouth was so full of food that it was anybody's guess as to what.

“Here, Vax bought these for me today too!” Keyleth was carrying a little bag, and pulled from it a set of long-furred black cat ears, which she slid on, right in front of the headpiece Percy had created for her.

“Did he?” Vex asked, barely glancing at the ears before focusing her gaze back on her brother, eyebrows raised, mouth quirked into a dangerous grin. He met her stare evenly, refusing to give anything away, his eyes only narrowing very slightly.

“Yeah!” Keyleth said. “I can wear them to work, probably. They're much better quality than the other ones I have.”

That completely threw Vex out of the sibling staring contest and she turned her full attention on Keyleth finally. She looked lovely in the cosplay Percy had scrambled together; it had been nearly done when Vex had gone to bed last night, but seeing it finished and worn complete like this really showed off its value and his talent. The kitty ears, though, made for an odd addition.

Scanlan spoke before she could get out a coherent thought. “Where do you work, Kiki?”

“Mr. Mittens Kitty Cat Cafe,” said Vax, completely straight-faced.

“Yeah! We're encouraged to wear ears and sometimes I wear a tail, but usually it just gets in the way, and some of the cats like to just chase it around, which is really hard when you are trying to serve coffee, especially if I'm wearing the one with bells on it, because-” Keyleth rambled on about her potential work outfits for a solid few minutes, not even noticing that everybody had gone completely silent, sharing looks between each other as if waiting for the punchline.

It never came. Really, thought Vex, was there a job out that that was more perfectly suited to Keyleth?

Between all of them, they obliterated the majority of the pizza. There were probably a few scattered pieces hidden somewhere in the stack of boxes, but everybody seemed satisfied and nobody was inclined to bother hunting for more. Pike made a half-hearted effort to pile the boxes into some state of order before giving up, washing her hands in the sink. “It runs on touch, Vex,” she said, tapping the faucet on, off, on.

“It's not the only thing that does,” said Grog, leaning over a chair to high-five Scanlan before he'd even finished speaking.

“Gregory,” Pike warned.

“Aw, Pike, don't do that,” he whined. She lifted her clean, wet hands from the sink and shook one at him with a giggle, cascading water droplets across his face. Vex laughed.

One by one they left the kitchen and piled on the large couch in the living room. Vex leaned against her brother, her feet thrown across Grog's knees. On his other side was Pike, who propped her feet on his lap as well, poking Vex's toes with her own. Vex retaliated, and the two cackled through a kicking war until Grog grabbed both of their ankles and threatened to flip them both off the couch if they didn't settle down.

Vax toyed with her hair, pulling this morning's quick braid apart with practiced hands. She felt him finger the feathers in her hair carefully, heard him hum quietly, thoughtfully, as he twisted her hair back into a tight braid.

There was something on the television, but nobody was really watching it, instead preferring to enjoy this rare company and idle conversation. Scanlan was the first to give in an go to bed, claiming against the complaints that he couldn't help being old and tired. Keyleth was yawning heavily by then, and Vex didn't realize how exhausted she was until she nearly fell asleep herself. Vax nudged her awake and announced that it was bed time for her, as well. She wasn't going to argue; she'd barely slept last night.

Pike cornered her in the bathroom as she brushed her teeth. “Are you sleeping with us or in Percy's bed again?”

Vex spit. “That depends, darling,” she said, rinsing her toothbrush, “are you sleeping naked again?”

“I can't sleep with clothes on!”

“Then I guess I'll just have to suffer in a giant plush bed alone.”

“More room for us!” Keyleth called from the bedroom, sprawled out over the bed, already undressed. She'd left her cosplay with Percy for now, because she didn't have space to pack it and didn't want to break any of it.

Pike picked up her own toothbrush. “It doesn't have to be alone,” she teased.

Vex rolled her eyes, gently pulling the hair pin out of place and settling it carefully on the bathroom counter.

“I'm sure Percy wouldn't mind,” Pike pushed playfully.

“Oh!” Vex glanced out the door to see Keyleth sitting up on the bed now, both hands on her chin. “Are you in love with Percy?”

“Oh, my god! I've only known him for a few days, Kiki!”

“Well, technically, we've known him for a few months,” Keyleth countered.

Vex stepped out of the bathroom and eyed the redhead, her hands on her hips. “Why don't we talk about you and my brother instead?”

“Uhhhhhm.”

“And Gilmore too, apparently?”

Keyleth's hands moved from her chin to cover her entire face. “You're reading Percy's texts!” she accused from behind her fingers.

Vex stuck her tongue out, but the effect was ruined by the fact that Keyleth wasn't looking. “Whatever makes you happy, dear, really,” she said, “but you're not excused from teasing.”

Keyleth groaned, but as it trailed off it became a quiet laugh. She flopped backwards on the bed again as Pike finished in the bathroom and stepped out.

“Well,” Vex announced as Pike started stripping off her shirt, “I'm exhausted, and we've gotta be up early, so I'm going to go to bed.”

“Ugh,” said Pike, muffled behind the shirt over her head, “don't remind me.”

“I don't want to leave!” lamented Keyleth.

“Don't think about it, yet, Kiki,” Vex said, and wished them goodnight before slipping out of the bedroom. She'd already said goodnight to her brother before leaving him in the living room, and headed straight to bed in Percy's rarely used room again.

She was woken some time later by a soft knock on the door and a softer voice calling out, “Percival?” as the door creaked open, a strip of light falling onto the bed. Barely awake, Vex could do little more than blink groggily at the figure in her doorway.

“Oh, uhm- Sorry for waking you, Vex'ahlia.”

Vex started to sit up; she recognized the voice now as Cassandra's, though there was a waver to the girl's words that was entirely unlike her. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, it's fine, I didn't mean to wake you. I had forgotten you might be sleeping in here, and-” Cassandra stepped back, pulling the door closed after her. “Good night, I'm sorry,” she apologized again, just as the door shut with a click, leaving Vex blinking into the darkness once more.

Well, that certainly didn't sound like everything was alright. Vex wiggled out from her blanket cocoon and swung her legs over the side of the bed, considering. It probably wasn't any of her business. It definitely wasn't any of her business. But the thought that their host might be sitting alone on her couch crying or having some kind of breakdown wasn't going to make for easy sleeping, so she got up.

Just as she placed her hand on the knob, though, she heard, faintly, the door to Percy's workshop next door open. Vex paused, and pressed her ear against the door. Eavesdropping was okay if you meant well, right? (Probably not, but Vex never claimed to be a paragon of virtue.)

“Cass?” she heard Percy ask, “are you alright?”

“I'm sorry for waking you, brother, but-”

“I wasn't sleeping.” Did he literally never sleep? Maybe he was a serial killer, but of the ancient vampire persuasion, living the rich bachelor live for eternity. Vex was pretty sure she'd read this exact story in a book, once.

“I had a dream, and I-”

“Give me your hand, Cass, you're shaking.”

“I feel ridiculous, but seeing Ripley today, Percy...”

Their voices dropped, and though Vex pressed her ear harder against the door, she could make out no more than muffled whispering. She considered going to bed now, positive that this was a conversation she wasn't meant to hear, and assured that Cassandra wouldn't be left alone in her distress, when suddenly they were speaking loud enough that she heard clearly even as she backed away from the door.

“She killed you, Percival!” Cassandra's voice was a loud hiss, laced with venom.

“That wasn't real, Cass, I'm right here. Feel my hand.”

This was more than Vex had asked for; this was a conversation entirely too personal. She should back away. Go to bed. Quit listening.

She didn't move.

“After I left class today, I went by the cemetery, and-”

“Cassandra.” His voice was sharp; a warning.

“Why don't you take it down?”

“I'll need it- someday-”

“Then put a tombstone up for me too, Percival!” Cassandra's voice quivered, loud and sharp and wet.

“Cassandra. You're hysterical. Relax.”

Silence, broken by a small sob so quiet Vex wasn't sure if she imagined it or not.

“I'm so sorry.”

“Me, too.”

“Could I have one of your pills, Percival?”

“Of course- let me-”

Vex forced herself to step away as his voice trailed off again, her pulse loud in her throat. She didn't know what to make of what she'd heard; she knew only that she shouldn't have been listening, shouldn't have intruded on this private conversation. Quietly, quietly, she stepped back into the bed, hoping her footsteps were quiet enough to remain unnoticed. Sleep was harder to find, now, as she lay in bed, her mind racing.

As much as she and Pike joked, as nice as Percy had been so far, and as hot as he looked- maybe Vax was entirely right- maybe this was too much to get involved in. What she'd told Keyleth before was too true, and she really did barely know Percy and his sister at all. She didn't know his past, she didn't know what kind of person he was. Vex had her fair share of bad relationships; she should just listen to her brother for once in her life and call this one a loss before it started.

Anyway, he lived pretty fucking far away.

Eventually she fell back asleep, and morning came too quickly. The mood in the air was somber, no matter how hard Scanlan and Grog tried to joke and get everybody to laugh. Keyleth was on the edge of tears throughout the entirety of breakfast, and did cry into her eggs twice. Pike patted her back softly and assured her they'd all get together again as soon as they could.

Percy looked exhausted. Cassandra never made an appearance.

The goodbyes were hard. Grog squeezed her so hard she thought her ribs might burst, but it drew a real laugh from her once he put her down and she could breathe again. Pike kissed her on each cheek, and she squeezed the shorter woman tight as she kissed her in return. Vex's shirt was very wet with Keyleth's tears by the time everybody but the twins piled into a hired car for the airport.

“I'll text you ASAP, Pike,” Vex promised.

“And we'll all be together on Thursday, for the raid,” added Scanlan.

“Back to ass-kicking, as usual,” laughed Pike.

“Hopefully,” whispered Keyleth, through her tears, and she managed a small laugh.

The driver finished loading luggage, and finally they left, driving off to the airport, leaving Vex and her brother behind to walk to the train station. She turned to face Percy, who'd been mostly quiet this morning. He smiled as she met his gaze, and stuck out a hand. “It was a pleasure having you both,” he said.

“You're an idiot,” she laughed, and ignored his hand, choosing to close the gap and hug him tightly instead. He seemed surprised, and she nearly regretted it until she felt an arm come around her back as he returned the hug.

“Feel free to fly us out any time you need help filling up that empty apartment,” Vax said.

She pulled away from Percy sooner than she'd have liked but slower than was probably good for her, and took her brother's hand. They were full grown adults, and not much for hand holding anymore, but he squeezed just as tightly as she did as she worked not to cry.

The train ride home was long, and boring, and awful- but halfway through when Vax reminded her that Trinket would be waiting at home, she smiled.

END OF PART ONE

## Chapter 13

After that weekend, life continued on just as it always had before. Vex found herself remembering those days almost as if they were a dream, something fond to think about while she scrubbed filthy picnic tables at work. She missed her friends all dearly, and though she spoke them them more or less daily on the computer, it wasn't the same.

It was surprisingly easy to abandon whatever she'd started feeling for Percy. She'd never gotten his number, and he rarely spoke up in group chat unless somebody addressed him directly. Pike had teased her about it a bit during their first few days apart, and Vex played along until she decided it might be better to avoid the subject entirely.

“You know, Pike,” she'd said one late night when it was just the two of them together in the voice chat, “I don't think I'm really interested in pursuing anything with Percy.”

“Oh, alright!” Pike had replied, and that was the end of it. That was why she loved Pike so much; she could dish it out like the best but knew when to respect the line. “I should have known Trinket was the only man for you,” Pike added, and Vex felt a tension leave her that she hadn't realized was there.

Whatever was going on with her brother was a different story, though. He didn't talk about it, and she didn't ask, but for the first time in a long while he smiled more, and laughed easier. Even his mood about work improved; he ranted less about the general pains of retail, and shared more funny stories about his new young trainee, or particularly dumb customers. Vex didn't know what the terms of his new relationships were, and she found she didn't care as long as he stayed happy. There were so few things for him to smile about these days.

Their first raid night back was exactly what they needed; everybody together at once, working on fights they had on farm, gearing for the attack of the white dragon and fucking around as usual. The guild was on point tonight, wiping only once when Grog's birds started screaming so loudly that nobody could hear anybody else. Just as the final boss fell to the ground, a withered corpse, the clock ticked over midnight.

“I've gotta be up for work in five hours,” Vax told them, while Vex yawned behind her fist, “so I'm out.” He stood, clicking off his monitor's screen. “Are you coming to bed?”

She considered, then shrugged. “I'm only volunteering tomorrow, so I think I'm going to stay up for a bit,” she decided. “Could you take Trinket out before you sleep, though?” At mention of his name, Trinket woofed and started to rise, excited. Because he was underneath both the desk and her legs, Vex had to slide her chair back to make room or risk being overturned. Thank god the beast didn't have much of a tail, because anything longer than his nub would easily tear her desktop's cords apart.

“Five hours of sleep, sis, if I'm lucky,” he said.

She sighed. “Alright, alright, I'll do it.” Trinket shoved his slobbery muzzle in her lap. “I'll be right back guys,” she told the group, leaning past her dog to flip the mic off.

Trinket didn't like being out on the street after dark any more than Vex did, and finished his business quickly. He took his place back under her desk and she settled her feet once more over his haunch, sliding her headphones over her head and flicking the mic on. “I'm back,” she said, twitching her player out of AFK mode, “Does anybody want to run through some dungeons with me?”

“I think it's just me,” said Percy, “but I'd be happy to join you.”

“Everybody left?”

“It seems so.”

“Well, fuck.”

He laughed quietly into his mic, and it was a low rumble that had Vex thinking of black tattoos and white hair. ('Well, double fuck,' she thought).

“Surely I'm not so terrible,” he said.

“No,” she told him, “I was just hoping Pike would stick around for quick healing queues. Two DPS aren't going to be any better than one.”

“I don't really need any gear; I could heal for you.”

“I didn't know you even had another character,” Vex said, honestly surprised. She'd never seen him on anything but his 'NoMercyPercy' DPS.

“She belongs to Cassandra, actually.”

“She plays?” asked Vex, kicking idly at Trinket's ass with her foot. They could always use another healer.

“No, not really. But I like to keep her character geared up for her, just in case. She likes the lore, I think; sometimes she gets on and just explores.”

“That's fucking precious.”

Percy laughed again. He never laughed this much when everybody else was in the call, Vex thought. She should make an effort to talk to him in quieter settings more often- or, well, except not, because that was not the Plan. “I think so,” he agreed.

Really, Vex had been talking about him- he put so much work into a game for his sister, even thought she never touched it. But the idea of Cassandra logging in just to see which character died this week was cute as hell, too. A group invitation popped up, and Vex laughed. “Really?”

“She picked it; take it up with her.”

Vex accepted the invite to group with 'NotPercy'. “Accurate.”

“Quite.”

Percy's DPS was always top of the charts, even on a bad night. Vex had long since stopped competing with his numbers, and now fought just to stay above her brother's damage. Nobody was really sure why he had joined their guild in the first place, or why he stayed- he could join one of the top tier guilds in a heartbeat. Keyleth had told her, once, that Allura had tried to recruit him into her renowned raiding guild. Percy had never confirmed that rumor, but Vex didn't doubt it.

His attempts at healing, however, were a completely different story. Vex was sure Cassandra herself could have done better, no matter how little she played. Fuck, Vex could probably heal better with her bow than he was doing wielding an elaborate staff.

It was the funniest thing Vex had seen in a long time.

“Perc- Percy, you have to dispel this- oh, never mind, I'm dead.” She was trying so hard not to laugh, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Vex shoved her face into her elbow, trying to muffle the noise and avoid waking her twin.

“Fuck, I'm sorry.”

“At least I'm a beautiful corpse,” she said, waiting while he resurrected her.

As soon as she revived, they were both immediately kicked from the group. Percy groaned. “I'm so, so sorry,” he said, “I didn't realize this was so hard.”

“Well, I mean, it's not usually.”

“Oh, thanks, Vex.”

“Do you just want to switch back to damage, dear?” A ten minute queue time was probably better than four wipes and a kick.

“No,” he said, queuing them up again, “I want to figure this out.”

She hesitated, her mouse hovering over the accept button. “Uhh-”

“I'll send you a thousand gold for repairs.”

“Yup, okay, let's go,” she said, clicking yes.

At some point, Vex must have fallen asleep, because she was woken up by Vax's hand shaking her shoulder gently. She jolted up, her headphones falling forward onto her keyboard with a clatter. Trinket jumped awake at the noise, shoving her chair backwards as he bodily wriggled out from under the desk. Vax grabbed her chair before she fell over entirely. “Have you been awake all night?” he asked.

“Well, I fell asleep at some point,” she muttered, trying to rub creases out of her face where she'd slept smashed into the keyboard.

“What were you even doing?”

She eyed the chat room, empty but for her. “Chillin' with Percy,” she replied, yawning heavily.

“All night?”

“No, I fell asleep, remember?”

“Go the fuck to bed, sis,” Vax told her, ruffling a hand through her undone hair. “You're useless.”

She swatted him away, turning to stick her tongue out at him before frowning in disgust. Her mouth tasted terrible. She was going brush her teeth, and then fall into her bed for the next solid eight hours until she had to be at the kennel.

Trinket shoved his head into her lap and stared up at her.

Okay, first she was going to take Trinket out, and then brush her teeth and sleep.

“Alright, so, maybe I should amend what I told Pike,” Vex told the maltese in run twelve. It stared back at her through a fringe of hair that desperately needed trimming. “Maybe I'm definitely interested in pursuing something with Percy,” she said. The dog's fluffy little tail wagged once, twice. She pulled a treat from the stash she always kept in her pocket and tossed it in.

“But, Pumpkin,” she continued as the dog tried to crunch the treat in a mouth missing most of its teeth, “he lives really far away. And he doesn't share anything about himself, or his family.” Vex rolled her eyes. “Okay, sure, neither do I. But at least I have a real job.” Pumpkin had managed to devour the treat, and was back to staring hopefully. “Do you really need a real job if you're loaded, though?”

A voice from down the line of kennels startled her. “Dog therapists are cheap, but probably not the most effective.”

“I don't know, Osysa,” Vex said, turned and leaning against the metal door of the dog's run, “Pumpkin's got wheels turning in her head.”

The woman laughed as she approached. She was, Vex had always thought, one of the most beautiful people she'd ever met, even wearing scrubs covered in hair. Osysa had long, golden hair any retriever would be jealous of, and warm brown eyes that lured the thoughts right from your mouth. “She's certainly gotten plenty of treats out of you,” she said.

“Look how quiet she's being, though! Quiet dogs get treats!” Vex tossed another treat into the run, and both women chuckled together softly, watching the old dog work to eat it.

“It's not fair to throw my own words at me, Vex'ahlia,” Osysa said, smiling. Vex winked at her, and the older woman raised an eyebrow. “You have boy troubles, sweet?”

“Not yet,” replied Vex, “but I'm considering starting some.”

That drew a laugh from her boss. “Life's not interesting unless you make it so.”

“I think I liked Pumpkin's advice better.”

“Oh? What does Pumpkin think about dating?”

“She thinks boys are dumb and bitches are where it's at.”

Osysa chuckled, then looked Vex up and down thoughtfully. “Have you ever considered working here full time, Vex'ahlia?”

Vex tried to hide her shock. “Oh- I didn't think there were really any openings,” she said.

Her boss hummed quietly. “You've been here... how long? Two years?”

“Three, almost.”

Osysa nodded. “Three years. Maybe we'll find you a position.” Vex swallowed. “Of course, I'm sure we'd have to ask Pumpkin's permission.” She tossed one of her own treats to Pumpkin, briefly checked the dog's chart, and turned to leave.

Vex watched her go, hardly believing what she'd said. A real, paying job at this kennel would be beyond anything she'd dared to hope for. It wasn't a job offer, or even the promise of one, but it was going to be impossible not to think about itand get excited.

Vex pulled her phone out, needing to tell somebody about this, and saw she already had a text.

hey

sup jarrett

u wanna come over tonight ?

Vex started to reply, and then paused. She'd been about to agree, as usual, but- she- didn't want to? It caught her off guard, and she turned to look deep into Pumpkin's eyes.

There really weren't any answers there.

naw thanks tho

np ill see u later V

Vex sighed, switching conversations to text her brother instead. She told him about Osysa's potential job offer, and he replied with a straight line of exclamation points. Finally, she opened the page to her texts with Pike, considering. She wrote a text. Erased it. Rewrote it. Her thumb tapped the edge of her phone while she thought.

“May you live in interesting times, Pumpkin,” she told the dog, finally, and then hit send.

fuck me pike im in deep

omfg thank god ive been holding onto this forever

A moment later, Pike sent a contact transfer. Vex didn't even have to ask to know whose number she was putting into her phone.

## Chapter 14

sup

Who is this? How did you get this number?

Vex considered a myriad of responses before finally settling on a single picture of Trinket's mopey face. She sent it, put her phone back in her pocket, and picked up a slip lead- and then pulled her phone back out to check it. No reply yet. Okay, that was fine. She put the phone away again, and moved down a few kennels to a run holding a big ancient shepard mix. The old guy could barely see, and therefore couldn't judge her when she checked her phone again.

Nice Dog

She laughed behind her hand, startling the old dog awake. Percy had never once made any mention of the fact that she'd changed his Facebook profile picture weeks ago, and she'd always wondered if he'd even noticed. Apparently, he had- and he hadn't even bothered to change it back.

sorry i fell asleep on you last night

Your beauty sleep should always be more important than carrying me.

Holy shit- fuck- okay, that was either an awful insult or a terrible attempt at flirting, and she was pretty sure he wouldn't flat out try to offend her, which meant he was flirting, which meant... ? Which meant she was blushing to a chorus of dog barks in the middle of a chilly kennel. Okay, alright, how to reply to that? Flirting always came so easily when it wasn't serious, and it caught Vex off guard that she didn't have a smooth answer ready. She typed six different responses before giving up and taking a picture of the old mutt, who was nosing around the bars of the cage curiously.

i have to keep up with my competition

She thought that was a pretty good comeback, considering the way her fingers shook against the keys and the heat in her cheeks. God, this was stupid! What was she, fourteen again? He probably didn't mean anything by whatever he said. Relax, Vex.

She's lovely. What's her name?

snowball

She's black.

shes a big fan of irony

Me too, Snowball.

"I'm sure your conversation is enthralling, but if you don't walk that poor old girl tonight, she and I might both cry."

Vex looked up guiltily, shoving her phone away as she met Osysa's gaze. "Sorry!"

Osysa raised a single eyebrow. "When I encouraged you to chase boy problems, I didn't mean during work."

"I wasn't- okay, alright, I'm sorry. No more texting." Yikes. This was definitely not the way to go about pursuing a full time job here.

Luckily, Osysa cracked a small smile, and gave her the sort of wink that Vex could only aspire to achieve someday. "Sweet talk Snowball for a while, Vex; I'm sure she's got more experience than Pumpkin."

"You got any good dating advice, Snow?" Vex asked the dog, flipping the kennel lock open and looping the slip lead around her neck with a fluid, practiced movement. Snowball seemed more interested in nosing around Vex's pockets for treats than spilling her secrets, though. Vex gave her a scratch behind an ear and a crunchy biscuit.

When Vex got home late that night, it was nearly dark and her brother was gone. She took Trinket out for a longer walk, taking advantage of the remnants of sunlight until even he was panting hard. They returned home, and as soon as she opened the door he brushed past her and threw himself up on the old couch. "You're getting fat and lazy," she told him. He didn't care.

"Vax?" she called out, opening the fridge for leftovers. She found a half eaten carton of chinese that smelled alright, and grabbed a fork. "Vax, are you home?" No answer. No note or text left for her, either. She rolled her eyes and fell onto the couch next to Trinket, clicking the television on and settling with whatever random channel popped on. She knew her brother should have been home hours ago, but she wasn't worried. They always swore to leave notes to each other, but both of them were absolutely terrible about it. If he needed anything, he'd text. Vex settled in next to Trinket with her old stirfry, watching evening trash television, and waited for her brother to show up eventually.

A loud knock at the door startled her out of a comfortable daze. Vex sat up straight, glancing at Trinket. He was silent, his head up and alert, floppy ears flicking forward. Not somebody he recognized, then, she thought. She wasn't expecting anybody. Jarrett, their landlord, always texted first if he needed to come over, and he always let them know if anybody was coming to do repairs or an inspection. Anyway, it was starting to get pretty late.

There was another hard knock. "I'm coming," Vex called, her heart in her throat. Thoughts of her brother dead in a ditch somewhere ran through her head. She opened the door carefully.

"Fuck."

Standing on her threshold was a tall, slender woman dressed entirely in dark colors. Her black hair was longer even than Vex's own, and hung stiffly past her waist. The woman outside raised both of her thin eyebrows. Her long nails clicked against a folder she held tight to her chest. "Excuse me?"

Vex felt ice in her veins. She wasn't sure whose face was paler at this moment; hers or this unwanted guest's. "I-"

"Is your brother here, Vex'ahlia?"

Vex could only shake her head 'no', her mouth dry.

"He missed our meeting today."

"That was-" Vex tried to swallow. "I thought that was supposed to be next week. It's on the calender for next week."

"Not on my calender." The woman's eyes flicked down towards Trinket, who was standing still next to Vex, staring, the ridge of fur along his spine raised. "Do you know where he is?"

"I don't; I'll make sure he calls you as soon as he gets home, alright?" Vex placed a hand on her dog's head, hoping to hide the way her fingers shook.

She nodded. "I suggest that you make sure he does." The woman turned to leave.

"Ms. Raven, wait-" She paused, listening. "Is he- is this going to be okay? It was just a mistake, I can show you on our calendar, I swear it says tomorrow, please-"

Vex stopped talking as Raven raised a manicured, pale hand. "Just have him call me, Vex'ahlia," she said, and then left.

Vex closed the door, and then fell to her knees in the entrance way with a heavy sob. Trinket shoved himself into her space and she clung to him. She hugged him tightly for a long minute until she felt like she could breath again, and pulled out her phone with trembling hands. Her brother was on speed dial, and yet she still needed two attempts to hit the right buttons.

It rang, and rang, and rang. He didn't answer. She didn't bother leaving a message. An unanswered call between them was always returned.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Trinket whined. She felt like whining too. "Fuck!" she said again, loudly, and then forced herself to her feet. Vex checked the calendar on the wall; it definitely said the meeting was next week. They were so careful about it. How could they have gotten it wrong? She wanted to tear it from the wall; what fucking good was it if it wasn't even right?

Trinket nudged her knee. She forced herself to take a deep breath. Count to ten. This was the first time he'd ever missed a meeting with her. The consequences couldn't be that bad, right? What was the worst that could happen? People made mistakes; there had to be some degree of forgiveness, yeah? Vex dug out her phone. She'd google what happened to people in this situation and it'd be fine. Totally fine. Okay. Another breath.

She flicked her phone on, and noticed a new text from Percy. She didn't bother to read it yet, but suddenly had a thought, and was calling his number before she really knew what she was doing.

He answered before she could think better of it. "Vex?"

"Percy," she gasped, appalled by the way her voice broke. She swallowed, trying to regain some composure.

"Are you alright? What's going on?"

"Yes- No- Percy, is Cassandra there? She's studying law, right?"

"She is, but she's not home. Are you in trouble, Vex?"

'Everything's fine, thanks, bye,' is what she should have said. Their problems were their own. She shouldn't spill them out into the world for everybody to judge them on. Calling about this at all was asking for trouble. Vax would be irritated and she'd just have to answer more questions and- everybody would find out- but he wasn't on the phone and Percy was and she wasn't thinking entirely straight-

"I need to know what happens when you skip out on a meeting with a parole officer," she spat out, quickly.

"Oh," said Percy, quietly, and Vex regretted the entire phone call in the calm silence that followed until he spoke again. "Is this the first meeting you've missed?"

"It's not me," she said, "but, yes."

She was sure he must know that if it wasn't her, it was Vax, but he didn't comment. "It shouldn't be a big issue," he said, "as long as they contact their parole officer and let them know it was a mistake."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, it is always up to the officer," Percy admitted, "but I like to hope that most people in this world are kind enough to accept an honest mistake."

Vex found it hard to imagine the cold countenance of her brother's parole officer ever being kind, but it was a hope she was happy to cling to, as well. She didn't ask what would happen if she wasn't kind. The answer wasn't something she was willing to consider. "He'll be okay?" Shit, she sounded like a child.

"He'll be okay," Percy affirmed, softly, without judgment.

Vex felt herself relax, like a giant weight was lifted from her shoulders. He'd be okay. She closed her eyes, leaning against the fridge, and just breathed. They'd be okay.

He allowed her a minute of silence, and then asked, "Vex, is there anything else?"

"Oh, no, I'm so sorry, Percy- I didn't mean to bother you. I just panicked, a little."

"You're fine," he assured her, "It's just that I've left the torch on and should probably get back to it."

Vex actually laughed. "Go tend to your fire," she said, and then, more quietly, "and- thank you, darling."

"You're welcome," he replied, "you're always welcome to call me, Vex. I might just need some warning first."

"I'm not great at warning."

"I've figured that much out already."

She laughed, and thought she heard him doing the same over the line. She was nervous, and wished her brother would come home, or call her, or something, but she wasn't panicking about it anymore. "Goodbye, Percy."

"Goodnight, Vex."

She hung up, gave Trinket a good pat, and settled back in on the couch with her dog to wait out her brother's return.

He showed up two hours later. She cornered him immediately.

"Where were you?"

"I went out with some people from work, Sis- a bunch of the stockers went out, and we dragged the new hire with us. Sorry, I should have told you I'd be out late." He paused in the doorway, eyeing her. "Why are you still awake?"

"You missed a meeting today."

"What?" Vax's good mood crumbled completely, his eyes wide. He turned to the calendar, fingers pressed against the day's date.

Vex shook her head, arms crossed. "It was today. We got the date wrong."

"How- how do you know?"

"She showed up here, looking for you."

"Oh, fuck."

"Call her."

Vax glanced at the clock over the stove. "Okay," he said, even though it was long past any proper calling hours, "I'll call her." He headed towards his room, and as he passed the couch, Vex reached out to grab his arm. He paused, and met her gaze. She tried her best to offer a hopeful smile- he tried to match it before moving on.

Just before he reached his room, he paused and said, "This is probably a terrible time to mention this, but Keyleth is going to come visit for a weekend in a couple weeks."

"What? Ugh, just go call her." He winked at her, she rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone again. Maybe Percy was done trying to burn his apartment down.

keyleth is coming to visit us im going to be a third wheel in my own house

Come third wheel here, instead.

lmaom sure thing

Which airport is closest to you? What are the dates? I'll buy your tickets.

Vex's eyes went wide. Oh. He'd been... serious. Holy fuck. There was no way she could just get up and go visit Percy and Cassandra, alone. That wasn't really a thing that could happen.

...Right? She chewed her lip, considering. If she was looking at a new job, she could afford to take time off at her current one. And being stuck in this tiny place with Vax and Keyleth would be... well, if experience with his past partners was anything to go by, it'd be an effective form of torture.

Okay.

Fuck it.

She shrugged, and texted Percy the details.

## Chapter 15

Vex was was nearly asleep by the time Vax finally came to her, settling softly on the edge of her bed in the darkness of her room. "I'll be okay," he whispered, giving Trinket's ass a soft pat.

She shifted, lifting her head from her pillow and turning to look at him through heavy-lidded eyes. "What'd she say?" she asked.

"Lots of things. Warnings about taking this seriously. Reminders about what could have been. Gentle threats. The usual." He sighed, and she pulled her hand from her blankets to reach out for him, clutching his hand in hers. His fingers felt like ice. "We rescheduled for next week," he added, running his thumb across the back of her hand.

"I was so scared," she admitted, closing her eyes and nestling back down into her pillow.

He squeezed her hand tightly. "I know," he said, "This is all my fault and I'm sorry you have to keep dealing with it."

Vex didn't reply; they'd been over this so many times now, and he wasn't wrong, and she didn't have the heart to argue it anymore, anyway. She clung to his hand in silence, counting his pulse underneath her fingers, and breathed.

After a few moments, he said, softly, "I love you."

"Don't leave me," she replied.

"Never," he agreed.

They sat in comfortable darkness together for a little while longer, until he said, "Except I have to sleep, and Trinket's taking up all the bed space here, so-"

Vex laughed quietly into her pillow and released his hand. "Get the fuck out of my room, brother." He pinched her leg and she tried to kick him, but he jumped quickly out of the way and off the bed. She stuck out her tongue, even though it was definitely too dark to see.

He opened the door and was halfway out before she remembered her news, and called out for him to wait. Vax paused, and turned to face her, his profile outlined by the dim light of the hallway. She lifted herself up onto an elbow to see him better.

"So, when Keyleth visits," she began, "I'm going to go stay with Percy and Cass."

Her brother was silent for a solid thirty seconds before replying, "Percy?"

"And Cassandra."

"Why?"

"I thought it'd be nice to give you two some space, and he offered to fly me out there."

"He's paying?"

"Yeah."

Vax left the door cracked open and returned to her bed, though he didn't sit. "If Kiki being here would make you uncomfortable, I can call it off," he said.

He couldn't see, so she allowed herself a full eye-roll. "She's fine; you know I adore Keyleth."

"But...?"

"There's no 'but', Vax; wouldn't you rather have the place to yourselves?"

"Do you really think it's a good idea to stay with Percival alone, though?"

"If he murders me, at least maybe I can get a good meal out of it first," she replied dryly. He was like a broken record when it came to the relationships in her life. 'Is it really a good idea to sleep with the landlord, sister?' had been a running theme of their first six months in the building.

(Okay, maybe getting involved with your landlord really wasn't a great idea on principal, but Jarrett had always been a solid fuckbuddy with no drama involved.)

"I'm not laughing," Vax said, crossing his arms over his chest.

She sighed and sat up. Trinket woofed quietly in complaint behind her, wiggling to get comfortable again now that she had mussed up the blankets. "Listen," Vex said, scratching her dog's ears until he settled down, "I'm just visiting a friend. It's not a big deal. Anyway, the tickets are already bought and paid for."

"You know, you don't owe him anything just because he buys you nice things."

"Oh, my god." Vex couldn't help it; she laughed out loud. Trinket startled again.

"I'm serious!"

"I know, and that makes it worse!"

He rubbed his face and sighed. "Alright, alright. You can't blame me for worrying."

"Do you want to give me a sex talk too?" she asked, "The birds and the bees? Banana condom?"

" Alright ," he groaned, "I get it; you're a grown ass woman."

"If anybody needs a sex talk," Vex continued, "it's probably you. I mean, when's the last time you-"

"No, okay, I'm done, I get it!"

"I'm just trying to look out for Kiki, okay? If you ever want tips, brother, you can always-"

He shut the door to her bedroom with a slam. She fell back into her pillows, cackling to herself until Trinket shoved his muzzle in her face to see what the fuss was about.

That definitely went better than she had expected.

The two weeks leading to her visit dragged terribly. For the most part, life moved on as normal- Vex worked, she volunteered, she played video games. But she was also constantly counting down the days until her flight left, marking the date with a big red circle on their calendar.

Pike didn't help, either. Vex hadn't mentioned the visit to anybody else (really, she didn't talk to anybody else like she talked to Pike), but she more than made up for being the only one who knew.

"It's really not a big deal, Pike," Vex told her over the phone one night, relaxing on the couch. "We're just friends."

"I'm friends with Percy too," Pike replied, "but he sure hasn't paid for my flight over."

"I bet he would if you asked."

"Well, obviously, because that poor kid can't say no to anyone."

"Aw, Pike," Vex laughed, "don't be mean."

"Oh, you know I love Percy, Vex."

"You're ridiculous. I love it."

" What are you wearing? Are you already packed? Do you have your hair planned out for every single day? Matching underwear? Are you getting your legs waxed? Your lady bits?" Pike teased.

"Good lord, we're not discussing my bits, lady or otherwise." She heard her brother make a loud noise of disgust from the kitchen, and added, "But for the record, I'm like a boyscout: always prepared." Vax gagged again; she stuck her tongue out at him while Pike giggled in her ear.

She insisted it wasn't a big deal, but as the day drew closer Vex dug through her closet over and over again, trying to find clothes she was happy with. It wasn't as if she had a lot to choose from; the part of her wardrobe that wasn't ancient or covered in paint from work was limited. She could probably pack most of it in a reasonably sized suitcase. Really, it wasn't even about the clothes- they were just something to focus on when she got nervous.

Not that she'd ever admit she was nervous about visiting Percy. This wasn't anything serious. She was just giving herself a little vacation and allowing her brother to spend some time with his girlfriend alone. Definitely. He was just another nerd from their guild who did crazy damage and who happened to be exceptionally nice to her. And who was really hot. And filthy rich.

Okay, honestly, who wouldn't want to put their face all over that?

"We're just friends, I swear," she told Pike, "but you'll be the first person I tell after I hit that."

Pike laughed so loud Vex had to pull the phone away from her ear.

For all the frowning he'd been doing about the whole affair, her brother still willingly dropped her off at the airport in their little car, Trinket riding in the backseat with his head hanging out the window. As she stepped out of the car and turned to faced down the doors of the airport lobby, she found herself hesitating, her hand gently fondling the feathered hair pin she'd made sure to wear today.

"You're already checked in," Vax told her, shutting the trunk with a clank and dragging her luggage around. "Just get through TSA, find your gate, and wait until they start boarding."

"Yeah," she said, swallowing.

"It's easy; I googled it."

"Yeah."

He stood next to her and raised an eyebrow. "You're nervous? Aren't you just visiting a friend?" he asked coyly.

"Well, I- I've just never flown before."

"You'll be fine," he assured her. She wished she felt as sure as he sounded. "If you get lost, just ask somebody where you need to be, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll take care of Trinket and call you everyday, alright?"

"Text me pictures of him at least twice a day," Vex ordered.

Her brother rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Every hour," he promised, and then pulled her in tight for a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face into his neck. They gave each other a lot of shit, but there wasn't anybody more important to her than her brother. "If anything happens," he murmured against her ear, "just call me, and I'll get you home. Okay? No matter what."

She squeezed him against her, holding him close before letting go and stepping away. "I'd better go, or I'll miss my flight." Vex turned to the car quick and rumpled Trinket's face through the window, giving him a big sloppy kiss. "Be good for Keyleth," she told him, "but make sure you cause Vax as many problems as possible, alright, darling?" His exuberant tail wagging shook the car, and he caught her with his tongue before she could pull away.

"Alright," Vex decided finally, checking her pocket yet again to make sure the boarding pass was still there, "I'm going."

She loved the airplane. Security had been terrifying (they made you take off your shoes ) and finding her gate had been nothing short of chaotic after discovering they'd moved it not once, but twice. Eventually, though, Vex found herself sat in a plush chair next to a bright window waiting for the rumbling beast of a plane to fly. It wasn't first class, Percy had said- apparently flights this short didn't have the same kind of fancy seating and meal service that she'd always seen in the movies- but he'd promised that business class seating was still nicer and roomier than the standard seats and that it "wouldn't be so unbearable".

She had no idea what he was talking about, because it was amazing. They served her free drinks, and gave her a hot towel, and the young lady she sat next to was really kind and didn't mind when Vex got up mid flight to explore a little and discover what an airplane bathroom looked like. She was actively disappointed when the 'fasten seatbelt' sign flickered on again and the steward announced their final descent.

Vex swore she was never, ever riding on a train again as long as airplanes existed.

Only when they landed and Vex stood waiting at the luggage pickup did she start to feel a sinking tangle of nerves again. It would be fine, she told herself, watching the carousel spin. She'd spent nearly a whole day alone with Percy before and it had been really nice. The weekend would be great. She could call her brother at any time. Pike promised to text her whenever she needed. And if she really, really wanted to get out, she could leave at any time. Vax promised.

That was a lot more comforting to her now than she'd thought it would be.

Her bright red suitcase finally showed up, and Vex couldn't put it off anymore. Would it be like the movies- was she going to walk to arrivals pickup and find Percy standing there with a giant bouquet of flowers? Oh, god- he'd better fucking not have her name on a sign.

Percy had neither of those, thank fuck. She turned a corner and saw him immediately, in his familiar dark coat with that same shock of white hair, hands folded politely behind his back as he frowned at the crowd of arrivals, eyebrows creased. She allowed herself to watch him for a moment, privately, as he shifted his weight from one foot to another, until suddenly as if he'd sensed her gaze his bright eyes snapped to hers, and his entire expression relaxed.

She met him halfway, stopping short, unsure if proper protocol here called for a hug or a handshake or ? He didn't move to touch her at all, so she refrained as well. She couldn't really help the grin on her face, though.

"You made it," Percy said, as if he'd fully been expecting her plane to crash (or maybe he'd thought she would have changed her mind and not come at all).

"I think I could live on a plane," she told him.

He shook his head. "I can't bear them, to be quite honest."

Maybe she was reading into things, but she thought, for a second, that his eyes fell on the feathers in her hair and that maybe, possibly, his smile flickered brighter.

"Well, if you'd ever like to buy me an airplane," Vex said, trying not to be flustered by what was definitely an imagined event, "I wouldn't say no."

He expression for sure brightened at that. "I think that's beyond even my budget."

"Shame."

Percy shook his head, and then reached down to take her suitcase. She went to argue, and then stopped herself, allowing him to take it from her. He turned and she followed behind him, working to keep up in the throng of people hunting for their own families. They pushed through and he led her down the sidewalk to a parked car. Percy pulled out a set of keys and opened the trunk, and as he started loading her suitcase, she stared at the car.

It was black, sleek, and beautiful, and if it turned out Percy really just wanted to be friends, she could probably be content making sweet love to this vehicle instead. Vex wiped her hand against her mouth just in case she'd started drooling. Percy, holding the passenger side door open for her, raised an eyebrow.

"I was going to take a limo," he said, and she swallowed hard, "but Cassandra said you'd probably prefer a private car."

Vex wasn't sure if she should curse Cassandra or bless her, but fuck, this car was lovely. This was the kind of car that a man would leave his wife for. The kind of car that deserved a name like Reba or Scarlet. She climbed into the front seat and, god, it was real leather, and smelled brand new, and when Percy turned the key in the ignition it purred like a dangerous tiger.

"This is definitely fine," Vex managed, her eyes catching on the way his hands caressed the leather-covered steering wheel.

Oh, sweet lord.

## Chapter 16

Vex stroked the lining of her seat as she leaned back into the leather. There had been a time in her life when she'd owned quite a bit of fake pleather, and this real stuff was just so much better, softer and beautiful and his car was absolutely covered in it. If she had a car like this she'd never let anybody look at it, much less sit in it. She tilted her seat back with the push of a button and turned her nose into a crease.

Percy glanced away from the road, one eyebrow raised in question.

"It smells really good," she explained, taking a deep, noisy breath.

He turned his gaze away with a snort. "She's still new," he said, "Cass likes to trade them in for the newest model every year."

Vex had never in her life considered buying a new car, not even during that short period of time when she could have probably afforded it, so many years ago. New cars were a pointless luxury, as far as she was concerned. You drove them off the lot and immediately lost half your money. But- oh- as she shifted in the seat and embraced the warm leather and ancient instrumental music that spilled gently from the radio- she suddenly understood.

"You should see her car," Percy continued as they paused at an intersection, "It's a tiny convertible that she had painted bright pink."

"It's not."

"She calls her Lucy."

"She doesn't!" Vex sat up, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Lucille, officially." He was grinning now. She eyed him carefully, trying to decide if he was fucking with her. His eyes flickered from the road to her skeptical expression. "I swear," he promised.

"Jesus," Vex said, chuckling. It was difficult to imagine stuffy Cassandra driving around in Barbie's dream car, but she was still just a teenager, after all. A pink car was certainly a better vice than the trouble Vex and her brother had gotten into at that age.

"You'll see it," Percy said, and he hesitated for a moment before continuing- "Cass wants to take you out tomorrow."

"Out? Out where?"

"Shopping, I think? You don't have to, though- she just mentioned it yesterday but I'm sure she'll understand if you-"

"No, no," Vex cut him off, placing her hand on his arm and looking at him earnestly, "I'd love to spend time with your sister. I was just curious about what she was planning."

Percy glanced down at the fingers on his sleeve, and then met her gaze for a second too long- the stare cut short as he remembered he was still driving and swerved back into the center of their lane. Somebody honked. "Sorry," he said.

She laughed, retrieving her hand. He didn't reply or pull his eyes from the road, but she could see a dust of pink on the tips of his ears. "Don't kill me before we even get there," she said, and laughed again as the blush spread down his neck.

Percy left the car parked directly on the curb outside his building, handing off they keys to a man at the main desk with a quick, "Thanks."

"He just parks it?" Vex asked, eyeing the man over her shoulder as they headed for the elevator, "What happens if he steals it?"

"Why would he steal it?" Percy pressed the button for the elevator, looking at her as if he'd never considered the thought before.

"Because it cost more than he makes in a year?"

"You think?"

"What- you don't know how much your own car costs?"

He shrugged. The elevator slid open and he pulled Vex's luggage inside as she followed. "Cassandra buys them."

Vex watched the numbers of the floors tick up and up slowly. This elevator seemed a lot bigger when there wasn't a hoard of people crammed inside. "Why is your sister always in charge of the money? Do you forget to pay the bills, Percy?" she joked.

"Oh, no, all the money is hers," he replied, completely serious. "Everything is in Cassandra's name now that she's eighteen."

A variety of thoughts ran through Vex's mind as she stood there, mouth hanging slack, trying to come up with a response. She settled on, "Oh," and simply filed that information away. She wasn't going to interrogate him about his spending policies inside a fancy elevator. It probably wasn't a good idea to question friends about their economical habits at all, really, no matter how curious she was.

(The only reason she knew that Pike was in charge of all of Grog's bills was because he didn't think it was inappropriate to shout "Pike, did we pay my electricity this month?" in the middle of clearing dungeon trash.)

Cassandra wasn't home yet; Percy told her, as he carried her luggage down the hall to the same room the girls had slept in before, that she was gone until late in the evening most days, busy with school and a high-intensity internship. That meant it was just her and Percy for most of the night.

Okay. That was fine. That was good. They didn't need a babysitter. Just casual bonding time with a friend. A rich, hot friend who, so far, seemed completely too perfect to be real, but-

Vex realized he was looking at her curiously. "What?"

He blinked. "I didn't say anything," he said, "you were just staring."

"Oh, uhm-" Jesus fuck, pull it together. "Have you eaten? All I've had were airplane pretzels and I'm starving."

Percy's lips pressed into a gentle frown. "You should have said something in the car," he said, "but we can order something now."

"I'm okay with just cooking something quick," Vex shrugged, and started down the hall towards where she remembered the kitchen being. "I don't need anything elaborate."

Percy followed her into the kitchen, tapping the light switch as he entered. "We don't really have much," he said as the fluorescent lights flickered on.

Vex threw open the fridge anyway. It was huge- she and Vax could probably fit in here if they squished, and there was clearly enough room for them to do so because it was almost entirely empty. The bottom shelving was filled with various canned and bottled drinks, there was a small assortment of condiments in the door, and a couple containers of yogurt, but that was about it. She pulled open the freezer drawer, but found only a pile of ice packs and four quarts of ice cream.

"What do you even eat?" Vex asked, shutting the fridge with a slam and turning to face Percy. "You don't sleep, you don't eat, you're always wearing that overkill jacket and you have your hair dyed white- listen, if you're a vampire you'd better tell me now."

Percy raised his eyebrows. "It's not dyed," he told her.

"What?"

"My hair. It grows like this."

"So- is that a yes to being a vampire? Because I have a very personal attachment to my own blood, Percival." He chuckled, and raised his hands in a loose shrug, and she realized- "Oh, are you serious? It's really just white?" He nodded, and she narrowed her eyes. "Let me see."

Vex stepped around the table and joined him in the doorway, reaching up for his hair. Percy looked startled, his eyes blinking wide, but he leaned down towards her, lowering his head so that she could reach. She carded her fingers through his hair; it was soft and clean and had no telltale dark roots. Fuck, of course it would be natural. She brushed through it again indulgently- she liked to think he leaned into her touch, though surely it was just an uncomfortable position to hold.

"Satisfied?" Percy asked, patiently waiting.

"I guess so," Vex agreed reluctantly. He raised his head up, and as he did, her thumb caught on the edge of his glasses. She managed to catch them before they were dragged from his face, unwittingly stepping close to him, creeping up onto tiptoe as she carefully replaced them. They were suddenly very close, then, one hand fingering the rim of his glasses over his cheek, the other still buried within his hair. She stared into intense blue eyes, and swallowed, and tried not to notice the way he bit his bottom lip, just for a second.

She could just kiss him. He wasn't pulling away. She could just lean forward a tiny bit and press her lips to his and get it over with- she could play it off easily if he spluttered and backed away, whine to Pike later, get over it- or he'd be all for it and they'd have a really good weekend . No rewards without risk, Vex, she thought, closing her eyes and leaning forward and running her hand through his hair and down the back of his neck where she could reach better-

-and as she did, she felt something along the back of his neck: rippled, scarred skin underneath her probing fingers. Percy jerked out of her reach instantly, and she pulled her hands away, their wide eyes meeting.

He was silent; he swallowed, and pulled his jacket tighter, one hand seeking to adjust its higher collar. She wasn't sure what to say, but settled with, "Sorry."

He looked away, a faint flush spreading over his cheeks, and coughed.

Her own face felt hot as well; was she embarrassed? She shouldn't be nervous. It was just Percy. They'd spent time together alone already, and plenty of time staying up way too late talking about nothing over the internet. He was just another lonely nerd like the rest of them.

"Uhm," she said, finally, after a silence that dragged on, "want to get food?"

He nodded like he'd never heard a better suggestion. "I'll order in," he said.

"Yeah, that sounds fine," Vex replied, but neither of them moved; they just stood staring at each other. Percy opened his mouth as if he was about to speak- and then closed it. "I'm going to.... unpack," Vex said, finally, and he nodded again. She left the kitchen through its second doorway, backing away from him and leaving him there to order something to eat. She hadn't said what she'd wanted, and really wasn't picky- she just needed to get to her room and breathe for a hot second.

This was absolutely ridiculous, she told herself as she pulled clothing from her suitcase and stuffed it haphazardly into empty drawers. She was being more embarrassing about this crush than even Vax was historically prone to be, and that was a shameful record to beat.

Yeah, she wanted to pin him to the couch and trace the dark lines of his ridiculous chest tattoo with her tongue, but even that didn't mean she should be feeling uneasy. Vex had known she wanted to sleep with their landlord thirty minutes after moving into the building.

("Please don't," Vax had said.

"I'm gonna," she'd replied.

It had taken two weeks to find a free night to knock on his door. "Hey," she'd said once he'd answered, "you wanna have sex?"

Jarrett had eyed her warily. "I usually require rent payment in cash."

"Just for fun," Vex promised him, pressing the door open further with one palm, "scout's honor.")

Easy. It'd been easy. She would have been disappointed if he'd said no, but not devastated. Here, though, with Percy looking like a startled stray cat, she felt her heart sinking. No matter how she joked with Pike, or what she'd told Vax, she really, really liked Percy. The last thing she wanted to do was mess this up, but she'd already almost accomplished that with a few minutes of arriving.

Vex carried her pack of toiletries into the bathroom. "Okay," she told herself, peering into the mirror to make sure she wasn't still blushing like a pre-teen, "take it slow. Chill. Don't fuck up." She adjusted the end of her braid, playing with the hair tie absently, killing time. Maybe it was best to try a crazy new technique called 'being friends first'. Maybe that was all they'd ever be- all that Percy was interested in. She barely had any truly close friends, anyway, so another one would always be great.

"This is fine," she lied to herself, and then groaned softly. This was going to be a long weekend.

## Chapter 17

Chapter Notes

> hello have a chapter and also a a song???

i think ive set a new record time on completely fucking things up

haven't you literally been there for two minutes vex

pike i tried to kiss him and he freaked out and i ran away

YOU'VE LITERALLY BEEN THERE FOR TWO MINUTES VEX

listen !! i thought it was a good time to try guess what it was Not
so now im hiding in my room sitting on the jacuzzi and texting u

damn i never did get into that jacuzzi lol

priorities pike

ok ok. why don't you just pretend it never even happened at all

well thats already the plan

see you're all set you don't even need me

i always need u darling

cute ;p
listen alright, if scanlan can survive me accidentally laughing at his proposal then i think you can live through this

i still dont believe that actually happened

see this is why i know 'pretend it never happened at all' is a solid plan
you're just making it worse by hiding you know

insert shrug emoji here?

GO TALK TO HIM maybe he feels bad and will be like 'shoot i hecked up' and kiss you
that's what i'd do
just flat out start macking on you
how can he resist

there are so many reasons i love you pike

yeah yeah stop deflecting and have a good weekend
my second shift's starting in a few minutes so i'm going to chug this coffee, steal my coworker's coffee, and save some lives
tootles dearest

ugh i need you more than them

There was only so much time one could waste pretending to unpack a suitcase without making it weird (it was weird from the moment she'd dashed from the kitchen, though, if she was going to be honest), so finally, with a long sigh, Vex tucked her phone away and left the room. Living room empty, kitchen empty, workshop door cracked- alright, that was enough of an invitation, probably. She placed her palm against the door and pushed slowly, calling out, "Percy?"

"Come in," he replied, so she nudged the door open and stepped inside.

It was very dark; he had only a single desk lamp on, and the shades were drawn over the window. Percy stood at his larger desk, his hands flat against the wood, one finger tapping idly. He barely looked up from the scattering of papers as she sidled up next to him.

"What are you working on?" Vex asked quietly, peering through the shadows of the room, trying to make out the messy scribbles and diagrams scrawled across the pages. If he was always trying to work in the dark, no wonder he needed to wear glasses.

Percy glanced quickly up at her and then down again at his work. He ran a finger along a few images. "I've been trying to decide the best way to construct a hand with retractable claws," he explained, "but everything so far seems too clunky. They need to be easily exposed but remain sleek and hidden while retracted."

"Claws?" She snagged the corner of a notebook and dragged it closer. The pages were covered with a variety of anatomical and mechanical sketches, and, in one corner, a dark coffee stain. "Percival. Are you making a fursuit?"

He reached over and stole the book back, sliding it away from her while she eyed him with one raised eyebrow and a cockeyed grin. "It's not- it's a bit more intense than a fursuit," he insisted.

"Percy, if you're a furry, you can tell me. I'll only judge a little bit."

"I- Vex'ahlia, I sold my last fursuit for 20,000 dollars."

That cut her short, her widening grin shifting into a surprised gape. "What?"

"It took me months to create, and I went through at least three unique builds. I've got a lot of plans to improve on its design with this new one, and I-"

"Hold on, Percy- what? How much money?"

It was his turn to grin down at her, having caught her completely off guard. "I have some videos of its progress, if you'd like to see it," he said.

"Show me," she ordered. $20,000. That was more than her brother made in a year; almost as much as she made at the park. That much money could pay their rent for years, it'd buy them both cars that could last the next decade; it could pay off the court fees and lawyer's bills that constantly crippled them. How could somebody justify spending that much money on a costume?

Percy pulled some papers from a pile on the desk, revealing a sleek laptop underneath. He flipped it open, woke it from sleep, and started searching through files. Vex had to lean close to see the screen well. She made an active effort to avoid brushing against Percy, worried she'd end up startling him again and reminding him of earlier. So far it seemed that he was also a big fan of the 'pretending it hadn't happened' method, and she was happy to keep it that way.

He flipped through a few images too quickly for Vex to see much more than fur and plastic before settling on one. "This is the picture they sent me after their first modeling shoot," he told her.

Vex wasn't entirely sure what she was looking at, other than a person dressed as a dark, angry wolf, but it seemed impressive. Probably. $20,000 worth of impressive? Probably not. She hummed, unconvinced.

"Here's how it looked in the dark," Percy said, and then clicked to another picture.

This one had Vex paying attention. The background was dark, but the fursuit was not. Points of shimmering light were nestled within the fur, creating swirling patterns over the body. The nails on the hands and feet glowed, and the eyes shone a bright eerie yellow. "Oh," Vex whispered, "wow."

"I don't have a video of it in motion, but here's one of my progress reports that details the head," Percy said. He played a video of himself, in this workshop, holding a very rough skeletal head.

"Progress report 6A, " the video began, and Percy nudged the volume up a bit so that they could hear it better, "Headpiece coming along well. Lighting for the eyes installed along the back of the skull; I have sent a selection of eye models for you to choose from." He held up the head in the video and displayed a cluster of wiring within the skull. "Ears will be movable on a simple rotational basis though I am attempting to allow for back and forth movement as well. Next step is to install the voice modulation device and tiny speakers in the jaw."

Vex glanced over at Percy, and noticed that he was no longer watching the video but instead had his gaze settled intently on her face. She tried not to meet his eyes and turned back to the screen, suddenly finding it very hard to focus.

"Fiber optics for lighting in the fur have arrived, though I am currently undecided on the source of the fur itself. As requested, I have included with this report an estimate for the addition of a cooling system in the suit, though, again, I am wary about the added weight and bulk in regards to your initial design requests."

The video cut out shortly after. Vex could feel Percy still looking at her, keenly aware that he was waiting for her reaction. The current goal was to make sure that reaction did not include vivid blushing. At least it was still vaguely dark in here. "I'd pay 20k for something like that," she said, just before the silence might have become awkward.

"Would you?" he asked, sounding a bit startled.

She licked her lips and finally turned to meet his bright gaze, a smile easing onto her face. "Well, alright, no," she admitted, a small laugh creeping into her voice, "but I suppose I can see why somebody might." She wouldn't drop an entire college fund to be a king furry, but she was genuinely impressed by his work. It was also extremely endearing to see how proud he was of this.

Percy rolled his eyes dramatically, though he couldn't chase the smile from his own face as the doorbell echoed loudly throughout the apartment. He turned to leave and retrieve their food order, and then hesitated- he glanced over at Vex for a second and seemed to sigh lightly, his hands gently fingering the buttons of his coat. Finally, just as she had made up her mind to ask him if everything was alright, he seemed to make a decision and started undoing the buttons, shrugging off his jacket entirely. He laid it carefully over a chair, and without saying anything, now dressed only in a casual dark t-shirt, Percy left the room.

Vex followed behind him, her eyes drawn to the scars that crept up the back of his neck, rippled and pink. His shoulders tensed as he led her to the door, as if he was just waiting for her to ask about it- and fuck, did she want to. How far down did it go? What happened? A car accident? A fight? Maybe it was just a really elaborate birth mark? But she remembered the way he'd flinched viscerally out of her grasp as soon as she'd discovered the scars, and knew that he was trusting her here, without the protection of his coat's collar, and she didn't say a word.

He'd ordered chinese takeout. ("Everybody likes chinese takeout, right? Well, everybody except for the Chinese, I expect.") They'd settled down in the living room, boxes in hand; Percy sat down at one end of the couch, next to a side table, and Vex sat as close to him as she figured prudent. She crossed her legs up on the couch, cradling her food, and he pulled a small keyboard from the end table's drawer. Apparently, the television was hooked up to its own computer system instead of any sort of cable or satellite, and Percy pulled up a huge list of downloaded content.

He asked her what she'd like to watch, and she shrugged, so he put on the first thing that seemed sensible. It turned out to be a calm documentary about the ocean- whales, specifically. That was fine; Vex liked whales well enough. She was a little bit too distracted to focus on much besides getting food into her mouth and the fact that Percy was sitting just a foot away, anyway.

But- "Percy," she said, "I don't speak French."

"What? Oh, sorry." He flipped through the language choices until the narration swapped over to English. (Of course he spoke French. Probably Italian and Swahili, too, jesus.) "Don't tell Cassandra we're eating in the living room," he laughed.

Vex smiled, and then nearly pissed herself as a voice called from behind them, "Don't tell Cassandra what?" They both spun around to see the devil herself grinning from the entranceway, her arms crossed, a stylish leather briefcase hanging on a strap from her shoulder. "Hello, Vex'ahlia," Cassandra said.

"Hi, Cass," Vex said, offering a small wave over the back of the couch. "Thanks for letting me come visit."

"Not sure I had much of a say," she replied, "Percy-"

"Don't you have work to do? A meeting? Phone calls to make?" interrupted her brother.

Cassandra stuck out her tongue at him, and then shrugged. "All three, actually." She eyed the television. "I'll leave you to your... sperm whales. But if I find soy sauce in the upholstery, Percival, there will be hell to pay."

"I will drown your couch in soy sauce, Cass," he threatened casually as she retreated to her own room, the door shutting with a loud click. He looked at Vex. "What?"

She shook her head, her chest shaking with quiet laughter. "Nothing," she answered, "you two are just cute."

"You'll have to let me know if that's a good or a bad thing," he said.

"It's undecided," Vex replied. "Is it alright if I grab a drink?"

He nodded. "Anything we've got is yours," he said, and then added, "One of the cupboards is full of liquor."

"I think water is probably okay," Vex laughed, uncrossing her legs and standing. She rolled her shoulders, stretching as she wandered into the kitchen, leaving her takeout box on the kitchen table. Today was so damn stressful, she found herself without much of an appetite after all. Oh, well. Few things kept better overnight than chinese. Vex dug through the cupboards until she found one with glassware, and eyed the complicated buttons on the fridge before deciding she'd just drink from the sink.

As she filled her cup from the tap, she checked her phone. Just a few texts from Vax there, asking if she'd made it safe and telling her he was going to sleep but to text anyway when she saw it. She shot back a quick "made it ok! love u good night!" and chugged her glass of water. The dishwasher was completely empty and probably hadn't ever actually been used by the de Rolo siblings, so Vex set the glass in the sink before meandering back to the living room.

She paused behind the couch for a long minute before sitting, her gaze falling from breaching whales on screen to the back of Percy's head. How brave was she feeling? Too bad she didn't have Pike on speed dial for moral support, but she was about to make a decision that Pike would be proud of- if she could convince herself it was a good idea. And really, it probably wasn't a good idea considering the decisions she'd made sitting on the edge of the guest room jacuzzi, but that seemed long in the past and she wasn't quite so terrified right now... Okay. Okay, fuck it, Vex decided, and she sat down again on the couch- right next to Percy.

He shifted as she sat, probably surprised, hopefully not horrified, but didn't say anything otherwise. Carefully, he placed his own takeout box on the side table next to him (it seemed to be just as empty as hers had been, which was to say- not very).

Vex could hardly focus on the whales now, even as they started showing killer whales chasing and ravaging penguins who weren't quick enough to avoid them. Her heart was too loud in her chest, her palms sweaty, and she was painfully aware of every point of contact between her legs and Percy's. She felt ridiculous- like some pre-teen who'd never been kissed. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd felt so nervous next to somebody, and it was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

She didn't realize Percy was speaking to her until he repeated himself, nudging her with his shoulder. "What? Sorry, I think I'm just tired," she said, bringing herself back to attention.

"I just said- orcas aren't actually whales."

"No?"

"They're dolphins, technically. Unless they've changed the taxonomy again. Zoologists are often arguing things like that."

It sounded like he was rambling, and Vex privately hoped that maybe he was as nervous around her as she was him, though she found it hard to believe. "Do they?" she asked.

"Sometimes. They are always nitpicking sub-species. Did you know that birds are now officially classed as reptiles?"

She probably would have known this if she'd been able to go to college and pursue the passions she'd always dreamed of, but now she could only shake her head, watching the gore on screen, and reply, "I had no idea. It makes sense, though, when you compare them to dinosaurs."

"Exactly," Percy agreed, and then they fell silent again, watching the arctic dolphins-not-whales hunt and play.

Vex wasn't sure how much time passed in silence. It was long enough for her muscles to grow sore, sitting tense and aware of every movement she made, every time Percy shifted next to her. But, suddenly, some time later, she heard him swallow audibly, and turned to say something, only to see that he was staring away from her towards the windows. She opened her mouth to suggest bed, or another drink, or something- when he suddenly lifted his arm and leaned closer, wrapping it around her. She felt his fingers trembling against her shoulder until he pressed them against her arm, seeking a solid balance.

She was sure her heart stopped. He still wasn't looking at her, and she realized she hadn't moved yet at all. A dark blush was creeping across his neck and ears and she was sure her face looked much the same, so Vex ignored that and, instead, took the opportunity to press herself against his side. After a moment he adjusted his arm to better fit, and she started breathing again.

They didn't speak a word to each other, and all Vex's scattered brain could think was 'wow I need to tell Pike about this ASAP'. If you'd quizzed her on whales later, she wouldn't have been able to list enough facts to fill half a sheet of paper, but she could tell you how Percy's heartbeat jumped whenever she shifted even slightly, or how his hand felt cold and so, so hot at the same time, or how his breath made her loose bangs flutter against her forehead.

Some time later she heard movement behind them, and she sat up against Percy's arm, yawning as Cassandra leaned over the couch between them and ruffled Percy's hair. "Vex and I are going to be up early," his sister said, "so I think she needs to go to bed."

"Mmph," Vex agreed, feeling half asleep already.

"In her own bed, this time," Cassandra added, and her laughter as she led Vex away to the guest room cut off any denial Percy had been about to make.

## Chapter 18

Chapter Notes

> THANKS SO MUCH TO MY BETA @asspostate for helping me wrangle this mess, seriously, this chapter has been the most painful for both of us so I HOPE it turned out ok, yikes

A thud on the bed woke Vex the next morning, and she rolled over to see Cassandra sitting next to her, fully dressed and grinning. Vex blinked groggily at her and then flopped back over. "Come back in two hours," she muttered into the pillow.

"It's already seven."

"Then come back in three hours."

Cassandra sighed heavily and stood up. Vex thought she was safe- until Cassandra reached down and jerked the blankets down to the end of the bed. "We have so many things to do today," she said, as Vex reluctantly sat up, rubbing drool from the corner of her mouth.

"Why don't either of you ever sleep?" Vex mumbled, wincing as her toes hit the cold wooden floor.

"Percival's going to sleep past noon, probably," Cassandra told her while she started opening drawers, figuring out where she'd stashed all her clothes during last night's momentary panic. She pulled out a shirt, considering it, startling when Cassandra asked suddenly, "Is that what you're going to wear?"

"Apparently not," Vex replied, setting the offending article back in the drawer. She turned to eye Cassandra up and down; the girl was wearing a bright off-the-shoulder top, pressed black slacks, and heels. Actual high heels. In her own house. "I'm not sure I have anything to your standards, dear," Vex told her.

"Probably not," Cass agreed, "That's why we're going shopping."

Vex dug out another shirt, and when this one didn't get an immediate complaint, she took out her standard pair of jeans as well. "I doubt I can afford-"

"No, no," Cassandra cut her off before she could finish the thought, waving a hand dismissively. "I'm paying, of course. I've set a strict budget for today, so don't worry."

Of course, she'd said. As if it was the most perfectly natural thing, to take your brother's friends out shopping and insist on paying for everything. Vax was so sure Percy was just trying to buy sex out of her; Vex wondered what he'd say about her being spoiled by his little sister, too.

"Are you going to watch me dress, Cass?" Vex asked, her fingers already curling around the bottom of her sleeping shirt.

"Just hurry up," Cassandra replied, turning to leave. Vex was sure she saw an eye roll before Cassandra walked out, and she laughed as she pulled her shirt over her head.

Vex hadn't necessarily doubted Percy, but she was still astonished to walk outside and find, parked on the curb like a bright beacon, a glossy pink convertible with a license plate reading 'LUCILLE'. Cassandra tossed her purse in the back seat and strolled around to the driver's side, her heels clicking loudly against the pavement. Vex sorely wanted to take a picture (Pike would never believe this) but decided angering the girl who was prepared to buy her an entirely new wardrobe was probably a poor choice, so she slid into the passenger seat without comment.

The seats were covered with plush black fur that was infinitely cozier than Percy's leather seats, but didn't smell nearly as nice. Vex nestled in as the car started with a dramatic roar, loud pop music blaring through the speakers until Cassandra reached over and flipped the dial down. "That's much better than whatever your brother had on," Vex told her.

Cassandra laughed quietly, a sound so light that Vex couldn't hear it over the sounds of the car and only knew it by the way her shoulders shook briefly. "That stuffy piano music?" she asked, sliding on a wide pair of sunglasses. Vex nodded. "It's supposed to help us collect our thoughts, but I can't stand it."

"Not worth suffering through it?"

"I've had more than enough uppity classical music to last me a lifetime," Cassandra said, kicking the car into gear and pulling away from the curb.

The first store Cassandra dragged Vex into didn't even have a name over the storefront, nor did it really have product on the floor. As a seasoned purveyor of consignment, Vex was used to plowing through heavy racks of clothing until something miraculously fit; it wasn't a good pair of jeans unless three other people had already worn trendy holes into the knees. If you ever saw an employee, it was because they didn't happen to see you first and escape.

Here, they were flanked by two grinning salesmen as soon as they stepped in. They knew Cassandra, too, and addressed her formally by name. She seemed to enjoy the attention, and chatted with them idly before introducing Vex. Finally they looked at her, and Vex had to fight down a scowl as they both eyed her from head to toe, their own plastered smiles cracking for a second. Well, fuck you both, she thought.

"I'm not shopping for me," Cassandra told them, "I want to fit Vex'ahlia with an entirely new everyday outfit. I'm paying, and here's the budget." Vex would have killed to hear that number, but Cassandra slipped the nearest man a card that she couldn't see.

Whatever was on it had them paying a lot more genuine attention to her, though. She found herself suddenly swept towards the back and shuffled into a fitting room while Cassandra trailed behind. Before she could even consider protesting, they'd taken her measurements and started piling options in front of her. They both spoke at the same time, outlining benefits of one cut and negatives of another, Vex finding it impossible to keep up.

By the end she stopped trying to listen, and just started trying on colors she liked, or designs she thought would be nice. Most of them didn't have a price tag- until one pair of jeans came straight off of a thin floor model and was marked with a hand written $250. Jeans. For two hundred and fifty fucking dollars. Vex slid them off carefully, like they were porcelain about to crack off her thighs, and folded them back on the pile. Odds were good everything else was similarly priced, but she'd rather just not know.

By the time she was done, they had a pile big enough that Vex wasn't sure her closet would hold it all. She expected Cassandra to ask that she pick her favorites, or set an amount by price- but the girl just waved her hand and said, "Perfect! Bill me!" and had arrangements made to ship them straight to Vex's apartment.

("I'm not trusting airline baggage with this," she muttered, when Vex asked.)

Next stop was coffee. They stepped into a tiny cafe and were greeted by a cheery barista who called Cassandra by name, and had her order started before they'd reached the counter. Unlike her brother, Cass enjoyed some actual coffee with her death, though Vex was still sure the de Rolo siblings together probably funded the local esperesso source. She ordered just a plain coffee herself; she wanted to avoid gorging herself sick on sugar this time and the novelty of spending somebody else's money was wearing thin.

(Ha, okay, no it wasn't.)

They picked up their coffee, sat in a private booth near the back, and Cassandra immediately started in with, "So, you and my brother?"

Vex lowered the cup from her mouth before having even managed a sip. "No preamble on that, huh?"

"Unnecessary." She picked up a coffee stick and started casually stirring her drink; there wasn't anything in the cup to be stirred, so Vex filed this idle motion away as a tell. Cassandra frowned, eyeing Vex thoughtfully for a quiet second before adding, "I really can't figure you out."

"I'm not trying to be a puzzle," Vex answered, raising her eyebrows and finally taking a drink. It was strong, and it was hot, and it was just what she needed to get through this conversation.

"He's a good looking, rich, single bachelor," Cassandra said, "so I'm not unused to running into ladies trying to paw after him."

Vex shrugged, nodding lightly. She'd certainly assumed that much was true, though it didn't really fit the picture of the Percy she knew personally. (She wondered how many of them actually ever met Percy after "running into" Cassandra.)

"But you didn't even know he had money. You don't know anything about him."

"That's not true," interrupted Vex, setting her cup down again with a bit too much force and causing a bit of coffee to slosh over onto the table. "I know a lot about Percy. He likes video games, and he's very good with computers, and building really neat things. He likes dogs and speaks French and has odd taste in tattoos, for example."

Cassandra's eyes widened. "Oh," she said, "You've seen- I hadn't realized you two had-"

"No, no-" Vex corrected her quickly, waving a hand. "No. He posted a picture of himself on facebook."

"Shirtless?"

"Yup."

"Percy?"

Vex nodded. "Maybe you don't know anything about him either," she said, and then winked in an attempt to soften Cassandra's immediate frown.

Cassandra rolled her eyes, and finally laid her coffee stick down onto a folded napkin, her fingers wrapping around the warm mug tightly. "I guess I should have said- you don't know anything about his past."

Vex shrugged, taking another long drink. Cassandra's knuckles had turned white with the strength of her grip against the cup.

"You don't care even a little? Not a bit curious?"

"We've all got shit behind us," Vex said, sparing a quick glance around the cafe as she swore, glad to find it nearly empty. "If he's not going to interrogate me, I won't hassle him."

"I struggle to believe that," Cassandra said, her eyebrows creased in thought, "but it isn't as if our history isn't easy to find all over the internet."

Again, Vex shrugged. "I hadn't really considered it," she lied. She was deathly curious, to be honest. She knew Percy wasn't some secret murderous mob boss like her brother often suggested, but there was nothing typical about these two rich siblings living alone and lonely. Not once had Percy ever mentioned his childhood or his family- but neither had she. Everybody had something they didn't want to talk about. Vex was prepared to accept Percy's as easily as he, so far, seemed to accept hers.

Cassandra pursed her lips, and Vex wondered what the girl was reading in her face. Eventually, she shifted in her seat, pulling her hands from her mug and tucking them beneath the table, and said, "I'm glad. It's just that- there's so much..."

She trailed off, and Vex realized suddenly that while Percy hadn't ever shown interest in discussing whatever events had led up to this point in his life, his sister wasn't him. Cassandra was a young girl who could have had this odd conversation with her any time, but had instead sought to steal an entire day of shopping as well. "If you'd like," Vex said, wishing she'd ordered a bigger cup of coffee (it looked like they were going to be here a while), "you can tell me." Cassandra bit her lip softly, very quickly, and glanced away, so Vex added, "Just to save Percy the trouble of doing it himself, someday."

That seemed to be all the excuse she needed. "There was a fire," Cassandra began without preface, and Vex pictured smoke on a painting and a hidden scar. "We lost everybody."

"I'm so sorry-" Vex began.

Cassandra cut her off with a firm shake of her head and a sharp denial. "No, you don't understand," she insisted, leaning forward, her eyes wide and unblinking as she held Vex's gaze. Her entire posture had shifted, suddenly- she was no longer a soft child unsure of her words, hesitant- she'd turned fierce, as commanding now as she'd been hesitant before, and Vex sat quiet and still under the weight of her stare.

"Someone set it. It was an intentional fire," she said, her voice quick but steady, and Vex knew better than to try and speak until she'd finished. "I think they were dead before it started. I don't know for sure. I can never decide which option is better."

Cassandra hesitated then, falling back in her seat a bit, her eyes leaving Vex as she very swiftly ran them over the empty cafe. Vex waited in patient silence, lifting the cup to her lips again only to find the cooling coffee tasted like salt on her tongue. She wondered if Cass regretted this conversation- this sudden tragic revelation out of nowhere.

Finally Cassandra focused on Vex once more, leaning in conspiratorially close as she shared her secrets. Vex couldn't help but mirror her, pushing her abandoned coffee out of the way. "They took me first, so I wasn't there," she continued. Vex frowned, a million questions bubbling like nausea against the back of her tongue, but she swallowed them down. They took her? Who? Where? Cassandra didn't pause to elaborate. Her part in this narrative isn't important, clearly- there is a point she is making and she needs to reach the end. Vex let her. "Percy got out. He doesn't remember how- or maybe he doesn't want to tell me. He woke up days later in an alley, only to stumble upon his own obituary flashing across a store's television screen."

Cassandra reached out and snatched Vex's wrist up in hard, slender fingers; she startled, but didn't pull away, meeting her intense gaze as evenly as she could. "That's the important part," she insisted, and her voice was softer, nearly a whisper, so that Vex had to lean closer still to catch all of it. "I wasn't there, and I couldn't have done anything about it- but he was, and blames himself for not stopping it, okay?"

Finally she seemed to want an answer, but Vex was speechless, her mouth falling open as words failed her. She barely managed to breathe out, "Okay."

"It wasn't his fault. There was nothing he could do, but I can't convince him."

"Okay," Vex whispered again. Cassandra stared at her for a few more long seconds, and then finally released her grip. She fell back against her seat as if sshe'd just gone through an exhausting ordeal, and, Vex was sure, she probably had. She remembered what it was like to spit her own story once upon a time. How every word tasted acrid and each sentence carried the threat of a memory- the sound of a screaming dog, the pain of splinters in her thighs, the bright red of Vax's bloody handprint-

Vex pushed her mug away, suddenly uninterested and wishing she hadn't drunk as much as she had. She'd expected a classic threatening sibling talk. She'd been prepared for that. She wasn't prepared for this; for this secondhand heartbreak. This sudden understanding- here was why Percy flinched away from her curious touch, why he held himself just beyond reach even among close friends.

"I just wanted you to know first," Cassandra said quietly, her eyes cast down. She looked fragile now that her soul had been partially bared, revealed for a quick second as a truly tragic victim- and then she raised her head again, meeting Vex's gaze once more with narrowed eyes. "I think he really likes you, Vex, and I'd rather it end before it hurt too much."

"Wait- What? You're trying to chase me away?" Half an hour ago Vex had been prepared for a lighthearted threat, but Cassandra, her explanation on the table now, was completely serious. Vex was caught off-guard, and frowned.

"I don't want to see him hurt anymore. I don't think dating him would be easy."

"You don't think he's worth it?"

"He's worth everything to me," she hissed fervently, one manicured hand curling into a fist on the table, her eyes flashing bright in a show of emotion Vex hadn't yet seen from her.

It didn't worry her. She knew Percy. She'd already told Cassandra that- she knew his likes and dislikes, his hobbies- she knew what his laugh sounded like in the dead of night when nobody else was around. Everybody had baggage (God knew she did). She wasn't going to let his sister's fears scare her off; she certainly wasn't going to start developing fears of her own, no matter what dark history he might have.

Vex leaned back easily in the booth, and with some effort, forced a casual smile. Cassandra seemed startled by the sudden shift of expression, blinking. "I'm not easily frightened off," Vex said, "and I'm willing to put in the effort."

Cassandra considered her for a long, long time- long enough that Vex started to wonder if she was going to have to find her own ride home. Finally, she sat back too, a smile of her own creeping across her painted lips. "Good," she said, "Then I guess we've got one more stop."

Vex raised her eyebrows. "Where?"

"Your date tonight is black-tie only, so you'll need a dress."

## Chapter 19

The dress boutique was warm- that was the first word that came to Vex's mind as they pushed the door open. Unlike the stark, frigid interior of the first store they'd raided, this one was filled with fabrics and soft colors and muted paintings kissing the walls. She couldn't say why, because she hadn't worn a real dress in years and certainly hadn't ever shopped for one like this, but immediately Vex felt welcome in this store. A soft light-haired woman greeted them shortly, and Vex, surprising herself, matched her smile with a genuine one of her own.

"Hello, Cass," the woman said, "I haven't seen you in ages. Who is your friend?" She spoke to Cassandra, but she turned her gaze on Vex and offered a hand covered in golden rings.

Vex took it and shook, impressed by the tight grip. "This is Vex'ahlia," Cassandra introduced her, "she needs a formal gown for tonight."

"So soon?"

"I know it's short notice, Sara, but I was hoping you could pull off a miracle for me?"

The women (Sara, apparently) rubbed her chin, humming quietly, and ran her eyes over Vex. "For you, Cassandra," she said, finally, with a curt nod, "I can work a little magic."

"Oh, thank god."

"Come to the back, girls, and we'll see what we can do. What were you thinking? I've a lovely charmeuse piece in."

"That might be a bit too heavy, I think," Cassandra replied. "Maybe chiffon or satin? Just no taffeta; this isn't prom."

Sara led them through displays of beautiful cloth, and it took all of Vex's willpower not to reach out and touch anything they passed. She would have been happy in any of them, really- she was content to let Cassandra decide, especially because she had absolutely no idea what the two women were talking about as they bounced ideas back and forth.

There was a small back corner lined in well lit mirrors, and Sara directed Vex to step up on the pedestal in the center while she pulled out a roll of measuring tape. "What's the occasion? Birthday? Wedding?"

Cassandra sat back in a chair to watch, her legs crossed and one heeled shoe bouncing absently. "She and Percival are going on a date," she replied casually, but there was a wicked glint in her eye as she smiled at Vex.

"Oh?" Sara paused and looked up from the tape wrapped around Vex's waist. "I didn't know he knew what a date was," she said, and winked at Vex, who couldn't help laughing.

"I'm going to teach him," she insisted, raising her arms so that Sara could measure her bust.

"Good luck, doll." Sara wrapped up her tape and stuck it back into a pocket, satisfied with her measurements for the moment. "I'll bring a few things out," she said, "and hopefully one of them will do the trick." With that, she slipped back into the store proper and left the two girls alone.

Vex, unsure of what to do with herself while standing surrounded by five mirror images of herself, crossed her arms. "What about you?" she said, eyeing Cassandra's smirk.

"I don't need a new dress," Cassandra shrugged, eyeing an invisible flaw in one of her nails. "I'm not going with you."

"You're not going on a date with anybody tonight?"

Cassandra's absently bouncing foot stilled, though she didn't look up from her nails. "Me?" she asked, after a moment of silence.

"Sure," Vex said, letting the word draw itself out until Cass finally raised her gaze to meet her. "Don't you have anybody cute to call up on a Saturday?"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "I'm meeting with a study group tonight."

"I had the best study buddy once," Vex teased, grinning. "One kiss for a wrong answer, two for a right one." Though, if she was remembering correctly, she was pretty sure she'd actually failed that particular test.

Turning to Sara, who had just appeared again with fabric in her arms, Cassandra said, "I take it back- please fit her in the ugliest pleather you've got."

"If you think I carry anything 'pleather', you're in the wrong store," Sara answered blithely as she hung one dress after another on a display rack. Vex stared, her mouth open and joking abandoned- every single option she was looking at was stunning.

To her immense shock, Cassandra hummed immediate disapproval. "Nix the two on the right," she saved, dismissing them with a wave.

"Really?" asked Vex.

She pointed at each of them in turn. "That one is too busy, and I don't want black. Can I see her in the green?"

"You've always been my easiest patron, Cassandra," Sara laughed, mixing the two that had been shot down into another rack. She unhooked the green gown and turned, giving Vex an expectant look. "Well, let's strip then."

"Just- here?"

"Oh, now you're being modest about changing in front of me?" Cassandra asked, and Vex remembered her threats this morning.

"Okay, okay," she agreed, slipping her shirt off and unbuttoning her pants. "How much-"

"Just to your underwear is fine," answered Sara, approaching the pedestal and kicking Vex's clothes away. She held the dress carefully and helped Vex step into it, spinning her around by the elbow to zip her up. "Alright, let's see," she said, stepping back.

Vex faced two intense stares, her eyes falling from Sara's considering look to Cassandra's frown. She glanced down at herself, awash in a beautiful mossy green, silken to the touch.

Before she could say anything, Sara said, "Nope-"

-exactly the same time Cassandra decided, "I don't like it."

"Really?" asked Vex, shifting her hips and watching the fabric shift effortlessly around her feet. "What's wrong with it?"

"It does nothing for your breasts," Sara answered. Vex looked down. Maybe she didn't have the best view, but they looked flattering from above, at least.

"The hips are bunchy," Cassandra added, shaking her head firmly. "Do the blue one."

"Are you sure? I like this green color a lot-"

"Blue, please."

Vex rolled her eyes, working to remind herself that this dress was a gift, and that Cassandra was supposedly some kind of expert, and really what did she know about fancy couture at all? It was hard not to sigh dramatically, though, as she turned to let Sara unzip her again. She stepped into the next dress, waited for it to be fastened properly, and then turned to face Cassandra again, her arms spread as she waited for another veto.

Cassandra's eyes were wide, her eyebrows flirting with her dark hairline, and Sara was nodding slowly. "What do you think, Vex?" The proprietor asked, tilting her head.

"Me?"

"Look in the mirror. Do you like it?"

"It's-" Vex turned, and froze. Five reflections looked back, each just as shocked as she felt. This was.. this was a Dress.

"It'll need a hem, and you'll want to take it in a bit in the shoulders," Cassandra said, speaking suddenly from Vex's side. She pulled at a bit of the fabric along Vex's back, testing it. "The neck is rather bare, but that's easily fixed."

"The silk faille is perfect, I think," Sara added.

Vex barely heard them. She'd never- she had never worn anything like this, ever. It wasn't even anything elaborate; thick sleeveless straps plunging down into her cleavage, framing her sharp collar bones in bold lines. The waist was tight, and then billowed out just slightly into a full length gown of the softest sky blue. Vex ran one hand down her stomach. She had been to prom once, a lifetime ago. She didn't remember where she'd gotten her dress (it'd probably been 'generously provided' by her father) but it had been stiff and ill suited to her body. This was nothing like that. This was a quality fabric, and though it hung over her ankles and she could feel one strap slipping from her shoulder, it was like the gown was made for-

Well, not her , obviously. Vex was a girl meant for second hand jeans and printed t-shirts. She wasn't... this wasn't her. She looked at herself in the mirror, and her face fell to see the contradiction. One old bra strap stuck out like a sore beacon, and the braid she'd rushed herself this morning was already falling apart. There was no price tag on this dress, but Vex knew in her heart that whatever the price was, she wasn't worth it.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea," she said softly, closing her eyes against the horrible sound of her voice cracking. She stepped backwards, wanting to leave the podium-

-and Cassandra's hand on her waist pushed her firmly back up. "Here," she said, joining her on the pedestal and pressing close behind her. Cassandra's hands found her hair-tie and she worked it free, untangling the braid and layering Vex's long dark hair carefully around her shoulders.

"Try this," said Sara, holding out her hand. Cassandra took something from her, and wrapped around Vex's neck a layered necklace of glittering silver diamonds. It was a statement piece against the plain beauty of the dress, and sparkled against the walls in the lighting of the display room. Cassandra fidgeted with Vex's hair a bit more, and then pulled the loose strap up over her bra again before finally stepping down and back, her hands on her hips.

"There we go," she said.

Just her little touches made a drastic difference. Vex was- she looked like a real lady. She twisted, feeling the smooth fabric luxuriously twirl around her feet. Carefully, she met her own gaze in the mirror, and smiled. There, she thought- there was a woman who might be worthy of a real black-tie date with Percy. What was dressing up about, anyway, if it wasn't about pretending?

"I love it," she admitted, her hand reaching to touch the diamonds around her neck.

"Perfect!" Sara said, clapping her hands together. "This one runs about $8,500, so we can settle the bill and arrange for some quick alterations."

Vex froze at that price- and her mind ran like an error code the entire time Cassandra went through the motions of getting everything settled.

Cassandra dropped her off at the apartment building, claiming to have some errands to run and giving her the code to get inside. It was an excessive amount of numbers- Vex typed it in wrong twice before taking it one number at a time, afraid if she failed too many times the high security door might call the police on her. Finally, she got it right, and pushed the heavy door open.

It was dark, but she could see the television flickering so she headed towards the living room, the sound of French calling softly from the sound bar. She laughed. God, Percy was such a-

Oh. He was asleep, sprawled out on one of the couch's reclining seats, one arm fallen to his side, the other pressed against the pages of a book forgotten in his lap. Quietly, Vex crept closer, mindful of her footsteps against the hard floor (why didn't they seem to have carpets anywhere in this penthouse? they should get a damn rug, at least). He was cute, asleep- he looked more relaxed than she'd seen him yet, and so much younger than she'd always thought he was. He'd fallen asleep with his glasses on, so carefully, slowly, Vex reached out and pulled them from his face. He didn't wake, so she folded them and set them on the table next to him.

She thought about kissing him- but really it was nothing except an idle fancy creeping unfiltered across her mind. Last night had been really, really nice, but she didn't know where they stood, or what it meant. Probably best to let him be, and get ready for whatever this mysterious date tonight was going to be.

But just because she couldn't resist, she did pull her phone out and take a picture of him like this, biting her own lip lightly to keep from laughing. She sent it to both Pike and Keyleth, and then retreated to her own room. Her long, untied hair was an absolute mess after that final trip in Cassandra's fancy convertible, and she desperately needed a shower.

## Chapter 20

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

The shower was amazing. It started out hot and the warmth never ended. Back home, it took nearly ten minutes for the heat to kick in (if it did at all) and they were lucky to get another ten minutes out of it. A lot of mornings were spent fighting over the right to a warm shower, and Vex skipped showering completely more than once to avoid the ice water. She was owed this shower then, she decided, leaning into the strong flow and closing her eyes. This was payback for years of suffering through a shitty water heater and she was going to enjoy every wet second of it. There were a variety of soaps and shampoos and scrubs in here, too- none of them opened yet and all of them smelling delicious. Vex took her time testing every single one of them until her hands were wrinkled and every surface in the bathroom was completely fogged over.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been in there when she finally decided that she'd better get out before she started growing gills, but it was absolutely the longest, best shower of her life. She regretted leaving as soon as her toes hit the bathroom mat, and considered getting right back in- but unfortunately she had things to do tonight (apparently). "I'll come back," she said, patting the glass door of the shower fondly.

God, going home to her ancient ice box was going to be a trial.

There was a stack of large, fluffy towels waiting for her. She wrapped one around herself and tipped her head forward to tie her hair up in another before sitting on the toilet seat. She'd left her phone on the sink, and reached forward to grab it now while she dried.

awww it's naptime, Pike had sent in response to the picture of Percy sleeping.

i tired him out lmaom

really???

haha no

well you're exhausting me

you love me

forever and always

Vex grinned and shifted on the seat, crossing one leg over the other. She should get Pike and Cass talking; they'd like each other, she thought, and Pike would be the terrible influence the girl needed.

were going on a date tonight i guess
his sister made me go shopping with her and bought me a dress u could mortgage a house w

i need pics???

Vex tilted the phone up and snapped a picture of herself sitting on the toilet wrapped in wet towels, her tongue out.

thanks

anytime dearest

She'd send her a real picture later, and she was halfway through typing just that when the text chat minimized and a phone call popped up. Her brother, finally. She'd expected him to call her last night (though it wasn't as if she'd called him either, had she?) Vex answered, adjusting the towel around her head to clear space around her ear.

"Hey."
"Oh thank god, I was worried you'd been murdered."

"Not worried enough to text?" she asked, uncrossing her legs and leaning an elbow on a knee.

"I was going to, but Keyleth insisted I leave you alone."

(From the background she heard the girl's excited voice yelling something like "Tell her I said hi!")

"Hi Keyleth," Vex said, chuckling. "Are you two having fun?"

"We took Trinket to the dog park today," Vax answered, and Vex was hit with a sudden wave of homesickness. She'd been gone for barely twenty four hours- it was ridiculous to miss home so soon, especially having just been spoiled with guilt-free shopping and a beautiful shower- but she wished strongly in that moment that she could have gone to the park with the pair of them and her dog. "Are you having fun?" her brother asked after she'd been silent for a long space of time.

"I am!" she insisted, and it was true, technically. She didn't know where she stood here, and she was trying not to think too hard about the reason she'd locked herself in the bathroom for so long, but she was, overall, enjoying herself. "I went shopping with Cassandra today, and she bought me an entirely new wardrobe."

"Lucky fuck," he said, "Taking advantage of both of them now, yeah?"

"Maybe some people are just genuinely nice," she replied, "or maybe I'm just so fantastic I could have anybody I want swooning at my feet."

"Is there an option 3?"

"You're hilarious. How's my child?"

"He tried to seduce a saint bernard at the park and struck out, so I bought him an ice cream and now he's pouting on top of Keyleth."

"Vax! No ice cream!"

"It was just a little pup cone! He's fine. He loved it!"

She groaned. People thought she spoiled her dog, but they had no idea. "I hope he farts all over your girlfriend," she told him.

"Me, too," he laughed, and she heard Keyleth shout "Hey!"

"I'm glad you're having fun," she said honestly. "We're going out tonight so I've gotta get ready."

"Us too, I think. Have a good night, sis. Text me."

"You too. Love you."

"Love you more."

She rolled her eyes. "I know. Bye," Vex said, hanging up and tossing her phone onto the sink again. It was getting late, and she had no idea when this supposed date was supposed to happen, so she might as well start getting dried off and ready. She'd intentionally not mentioned anything specific to her brother about this date or the dress or anything else. She knew he'd support her, always, in whatever choice she made- but she kind of didn't want to hear whatever his idea of support regarding this might be. She didn't even really know what was going on, so it was better not to mention anything.

When she finally left the bedroom, her hair towel-dried and brushed out, the dress was hanging on the closed door to the room, covered in plastic. A note was attached, scrawled in overly elegant penmanship: Car will arrive at 7, have fun. She grinned, and pulled the dress down to uncover it, laying it carefully out on the bed.

Around the neck of the hanger was tied a necklace. It was like the one they'd put on her during the fitting, except much more elaborate-four thick layers of glittering diamonds on what was most likely white gold. Vex swallowed, holding her breath as she took the piece into her hands and shifted the gems through her fingers. She didn't- this was too much. Everything was too much- they'd convinced her that she looked fine at the dress shop, but how could she fit this dress? Why should she deserve to wear this expensive jewelry around her neck? Vex was sure she'd look ridiculous in it. Percy would take one look at her and just know she wasn't meant for anything like this high society life.

Did Percy even want to go on this set up date? Did he know anything about this? Had Cassandra suckered him into it as well? Maybe they should- just call it off. Stay in. Relax. Play some video games like casual friends and continue to not discuss any touching that had happened last night. Friends cuddled like that, right? ....right?

Okay, well, maybe not. She could just picture what Pike would have to say about this, but Pike wasn't here. Damn, she wished Pike was here. Vex considered calling her, but knew that she was working at this hour, and it was lucky she'd had a brief second to text at all. What would she even say? Pike would laugh and say, 'Don't be ridiculous, he flew you out there, you're beautiful, I'd kiss you right now if I were there, put the dress on and you'll be fine.'

And she knew all of that was true, in her head, but was so hard to believe.

Vex sighed, and slipped on her old sweatpants and a shirt. She'd just- go talk to Percy himself and make sure he actually wanted to go. If he was as nervous as her, or dreading it, then they could call it off and she wouldn't have to worry. Easy. Solid plan. Leaving the dress abandoned on the bed, her hair still damp around her shoulders, Vex left the safety of her guest room and went to find him.

The workshop door was cracked open, but empty. She bit her lip, considering this a potential chance to avoid giving into the nervous butterflies, and then sighed. Vex walked a few feet over to the closed door to his actual bedroom, raised her hand, and knocked.

She heard him call out, "Yes?" so gripped the door knob, turned it, and pushed the door open.

"Uh-" she said, immediately frozen.

"Uhm," he echoed, turning his head towards her in turn. He was standing there next to his bed, wearing only dark pants, a white shirt in hand and a jacket laid out on the bed like her own dress across the apartment.

"I- uh-" she stuttered again, her eyes pinned to his bare torso. The scar on his neck trailed down the near entirety of his back, pale pink and rippling across the expanse of his shoulders and downward. Fire, she knew now, and oh, she couldn't even begin to image how painful it would have been. It wasn't a handsome scar. This wasn't a fantasy storybook tale with a rugged hero displaying his wounds with pride. It was ugly, and stretched his skin in odd places, and her heart ached to see it.

But across his back, over the violent reminders of his terrible accident, was another tattoo. Bigger than the bird's skull, and much more elaborate- a tree in vibrant black reaching across his shoulders, cradling some kind of circular symbol, and-

That was really all she could make out before he turned to face her, and she saw instead the familiar dark beak staring at her. It looked much better in person.

(She really, really wanted to touch it.)

"Are you okay?" he asked, and it was a terrible effort to drag her eyes upward to meet his.

"Yeah," she said, and her voice cracked so she started again, "Yeah, I just wanted to, uh, make sure you were... I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page?" Was she blushing? She was probably blushing. God fucking bless the terrible lighting in this room because, fuck, her face was so hot.

(Vex was trying to avoid looking anywhere but directly into his eyes, but, if she let herself indulge a little- it was almost certain he was turning a shade of pink to match.)

"For our- outing?" he said, and she noticed the obvious avoidance of the word 'date'. Oh, boy.

"Yeah. Cassandra said-"

"Seven?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

They stood in silence for a moment until Percy coughed lightly, his eyes pulling away and turning to some other point in the room.

"Right, yeah," she said, backing up. "So I'll- see you then." Before she could even hear a response, she pulled the door close and spun around, pressing one hand over her mouth.

Hoooooly fuck.

Well, she thought- she'd better fucking put that dress on, then. Vex slid her lounge clothes off and dragged the dress out of its wrapping, stepping into it and wriggling to get it zipped all the way. There was a horrifying moment when she thought she wasn't going to be able do it herself, and that she'd have to go bother half-dressed Percy again, but with a determined twist of her shoulders she jerked it up the last of the way.

It felt even better on her now that her legs were shaved and she'd ditched the bra- it fit her perfectly after blessed Sara's alterations, but she took one look at her dingy bra next to the blue fabric and wasn't willing to risk it being seen if the neckline slipped. Thankfully, the dress was soft enough that she probably didn't have to worry about chafing in unfortunate places.

That done, Vex focused on getting her hair dried and in order, fluffing it up and letting it fall down around her shoulders and back. She didn't really like wearing it down, and it was a strict habit that she kept it braided and out of the way, but after seeing it down with Cassandra's help, she wouldn't have considered doing anything else. If they were just going to a fancy dinner, then she'd be alright with her long hair left to its own devices. (She did wish, though, that it wouldn't be weird to wear a hair-tie around her wrist, just in case.) After a thought, she tucked the blue feather hair pin behind her ear. It matched surprisingly well, even unintentionally.

The final piece was the necklace, and she'd been avoiding it for a reason. It just... felt like a lot. It felt like more than she deserved. The dress itself was more than she deserved. Now, fancied up in the bathroom mirror, she at least looked like she could fit into a crowd of high society, even if she didn't feel like it. This expensive jewelry, though... Well, at least it was a gift from Cassandra, not Percy. For some reason, that made her feel better about it as she clasped it around her neck. It was probably only being lent to her, anyway, and she could give it back in the morning. That'd be okay. It really, really did complete the whole ensemble.

Vex tried a smile in the bathroom mirror, turning one way and then the other. She looked fucking good, even if she felt nervous enough to throw up. She grabbed her phone and snapped a few pictures that she sent to Pike. She'd have sent one to Cassandra, too, but she didn't have that number. Finally, she couldn't avoid the inevitable anymore.

Time for a 'date'.

Percy was waiting in the living room, standing alone peering down at his phone in one hand. He didn't seem to notice her approach, so she took the opportunity to admire him- he was fully dressed now in a black tuxedo. He was even wearing a bowtie, and if she wasn't completely mesmerized by him in that moment, she might have laughed. (If he'd included a pocket square, nothing would have stopped her from giggling.) But, god, the black and the white and the whole... everything. She was rethinking this whole date again, but this time just because she wanted to throw him down on the couch now and skip the niceties.

Well. Some of the niceties.

Vex cleared her throat, and Percy looked up from his phone.

She had had the opportunity to ogle him in private. He did not, and Vex personally sent a prayer of thanks to any deity listening. She watched his eyes go wide behind his glasses, fall to her feet, and then rise slowly back up to her face. Vex waited patiently, trying and failing to hide a foolish grin. Eventually, Percy raised his phone and flashed a picture. She put her hand on her hip and posed, and he took another.

"How's it look?" she asked playfully, and she wasn't prepared for him to answer seriously-

"Gorgeous."

She swallowed hard. "Well, your sister has good taste."

"Usually," he replied, tucking his phone carefully into a pocket in the inner lining of his jacket. "Ready?"

(One hundred percent absolutely not ready, she thought.)

"I guess so," she said instead.

Chapter End Notes

> how many puns can i make before somebody realizes who sara is ;p ;p

## Chapter 21

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

A limo was waiting for them outside. An actual, real life limo, with a tiny man in a uniform holding one of the doors. He even had a little hat on. Vex couldn't help the squeal that escaped her mouth as she rushed forward, Percy chuckling behind her.

She had no idea what a limo was supposed to be like inside, so anything might have seemed impressive- but as she slid onto a wide leather seat, Vex was confident that this was a limo that deserved her awe. "There's a bar in here," she hissed, adjusting her dress carefully around her knees.

"There usually is," Percy said as he climbed in next to her. The driver shut the door with a loud thud, leaving them in darkness broken only by a small line of LED lights criss-crossing the car's roof.

"Is there alcohol in here?" she asked, leaning forward to test the stability of the row of glasses hanging within a display. "Aren't they worried about these cups breaking?"

He shifted closer, his knee bumping hers as he leaned across to flip open a panel in the wall that she hadn't noticed. A light flickered on from within, revealing a small hidden fridge. "Selection isn't great, but they usually have the basics."

Vex's normal 'basics' consisted of boxed wine, cheap vodka, and bulk light beer. This fridge had none of those things. She nosed through the options, skipping past wine, whiskey, and rum before closing her fingers around the neck of a small bottle of champagne. "Are we allowed to drink this?" she asked, pausing.

Percy unhooked a couple of glasses from the wall. "Sure."

Thank god. Except for that stop for coffee, Vex hadn't eaten anything today. It was probably not a great idea to start drinking now on an empty stomach, but she could definitely have used something to calm her nerves. It wasn't as bad as she thought it'd be, to be alone in this car with Percy so close- she kept waiting for the nauseous butterflies to start acting up, but something about his quiet presence was surprisingly calming.

She thought about the unknown black-tie restaurant they were heading to, though, and pulled the bottle from the fridge. Percy was waiting with a bottle opener and uncorked the champagne while she held it away from herself, avoiding any prospective fizz. He held out two glasses and she carefully poured as the engine came to life and the limo was filled with quiet music.

Vex recorked the bottle and tucked it back inside the fridge. She took her glass from Percy, and then froze as the car rumbled away from the curve. "I'm going to end up spilling this all over myself," she said, holding the drink far away from herself.

"Better chug it then," Percy suggested, smiling easily as he sipped his own bubbling drink, leaning back against the limo seat.

He was definitely joking, but she was going to do it. There was no way she was risking spilling anything on this expensive dress, especially before they'd even gotten anywhere. "Good idea," she said, and upended the drink into her mouth.

Percy stared at her, his eyebrows raised and a grin slowly growing across his lips. She wasn't sure what it was- his stupid smile, the ridiculousness of chugging expensive champagne, or the way he slowly took a sip from his own glass without breaking eye contact with her- but suddenly Vex snorted into her drink. She coughed, leaning forward away from herself and spluttering alcohol over the floor of the car.

"Are you alright?" Percy asked, taking her drink in his free hand while she coughed into her elbow, trying to recover her breath.

She nodded, her face flushed. "Uh huh," she managed finally, wiping her mouth on the back of one hand. "Did I get any on you?"

"I don't think-"

"Did I get any on me?" Vex pulled the fabric away from her torso, trying to see if there were any dark spots against the blue on her dress.

"I don't- see any," he said. "I think you're alright."

Vex realized at that moment that they were both effectively staring right at her tits, and she indulgently tugged the fabric down a little lower. She immediately heard glass clinking and when she looked up, Percy was determinedly hanging their half full glasses back up into the display, avoiding her gaze. Too bad, because she had a perfect wink ready for him.

She settled back against the seat, her hands folded in her lap in an effort to prevent herself from fidgeting too much. Their drinks abandoned, they sat together in (mostly) comfortable silence- she was vividly aware of the square inch of contact between her knee and his.

Suddenly, Percy shifted and said, "About this- dinner."

"Yes?" she prodded, after he went silent for a second.

"I've been thinking. I'm not sure it's something you would actually enjoy?"

"I take it that Cassandra was really the mastermind here, then?" Oh, lovely. Tied into a date with somebody who didn't want to be there. She really should have had that conversation before they got into the car, but she'd been thrown off by his state of undress and everything and now-

"Well, technically, yes," he admitted, and her heart dropped until he added, "Not to say I don't want to be here, because I do, really, but- I feel like a dour dinner with snooty servers probably isn't your.... thing."

Vex wasn't entirely sure what was going on here, or what he might be implying. Percy was talking a lot with his hands, and avoiding her gaze- she could only shrug one shoulder, encouraging him to go on. She had no basis of reference for whether that was her 'thing' or not; she'd always dreamed of it being her thing, but faced now with the reality of it, the whole idea didn't seem very fun. (Well, she was pretty sure most people just endured boring dates to reach the end of them, anyway.)

"So, I had another thought. If you're amenable."

"I really don't know what you're talking about, Percy," she admitted.

"Oh- right. Okay. Well, I'm going to change our plans and hopefully it isn't a terrible decision." With that, Percy picked up the phone on the wall. (A phone! On the wall of the car!) It put him through to the driver, apparently, because he requested a change of destination, gave an address she didn't recognize, and then settled back looking satisfied with himself.

Twenty minutes later the limo came to a stop, and the driver opened their door. Percy slid out and offered his hand to her, and she took it, grateful for something to hold onto while she navigated her dress. Vex stepped out of the limo, looked up, and her jaw dropped.

The zoo. They were at the fucking zoo.

"Uh-"

"Is this alright? I hope this is alright."

"Are they even open?"

"There's an event tonight. It's technically meant for kids but, listen-" He squeezed her hand, drawing her gaze away from the giant letters over the zoo gate. "They're open at dusk for a nocturnal animal viewing, and to talk about bats, and I thought it might be fun- something that you would enjoy more than a stuffy dinner."

She was speechless, her mouth wide as she held his hand tightly, refusing to let go after he'd helped her out of the car.

"It's not too late to get dinner, though, if this is a terrible idea." He continued rambling on when she didn't answer, his cheeks starting to grow pinker the longer she went without responding.

Finally, she recovered from the initial shock and swallowed, her throat dry. "I love it." Vex's voice was little more than a whisper as she spoke.

"Oh," he said, sounding genuinely surprised.

"It's perfect," she added, louder now. She tugged his hand suddenly, pulling him just low enough so that she could lean up and kiss him solidly on the cheek. "I love it," she repeated.

"Oh," he said again, his free hand resting for a second against the spot she'd kissed before he shoved it into a pocket and grinned. "I'm glad."

They both stood smiling at each other like utter idiots until the driver slammed the door shut behind them, startling them both into moving.

It was definitely an event meant for children. The only other people above four foot tall were parents chasing kids around the nocturnal wing, or stressed zoo educators trying to teach something while also getting them to be not quite so loud, please. Fortunately, the animals were already awake and didn't seem to mind too much.

Percy and Vex didn't mind either, really. At one point, a young girl shoved herself between them, forcing them to raise their arms to maintain hand contact, and stood between both of them in front of the glass window shielding a family of possums. The girl pressed her hands against the glass, eyes wide. Very, very quietly, she whispered, "I can't see them."

Vex glanced around to try and find the child's parent, but nobody seemed eager to claim her and she was getting more and more upset the longer she stared into the trees. Suddenly, she felt Percy's hand leave hers and he knelt down next to the child. She watched as he pointed upwards, showing her where a large possum crept behind a branch.

"See her?" he asked.

"Yes," the girl said, reverently.

"Do you see what's on her back?"

"No."

"Look," he said, pointing again, "babies."

There was a pause, and then the child gasped. "Oh! I see them!"

"How many do you see?"

"Five!"

"Very good," Percy said, standing up again. Vex was staring at him, a hand covering her mouth, and he frowned at her. "What?"

"Nothing!" she squeaked, finding herself somehow suddenly overwhelmed. "The- the babies are just so cute." She was sure he wasn't convinced, so she reached out and grabbed his hand again, and he didn't say anything else about it.

The night was wonderful. Vex hadn't ever been on a date like this in her life; they hadn't even done anything but hold hands and yet she was perfectly content. Bats swooped overhead, catching bugs midair- eating mosquitoes and the poor fireflies that danced too high. Kids laughed and ran, and Vex was sure that she and Percy looked ridiculous, wearing high end fashion to a children's educational night at the zoo, but she found she couldn't care at all. She caught a woman giving her an odd stare-down, and Vex didn't even mind.

They stayed late, making elaborate use of the single concession stand the zoo hosted for the night; Vex had never been so willing to choose a hot dog over an expensive gourmet meal. Eventually the children started filtering out slowly, the exhibit halls growing more and more empty until finally a zoo worker told them that the zoo was closing for the night.

The ride home was quiet. Vex, exhilarated, allowed herself to press close to Percy in the car, their fingers still tightly intertwined. She leaned against him, her head on his shoulder reminiscent of the night before, and relished in his company. Percy had the car roof open, and the moonlight lit the interior while rushing wind ruffled her hair.

She was sure that Percy would kiss her, here in the privacy of their limo, but he didn't, and she was... shockingly okay with that.

The ride felt too short; Vex was surprised when they rolled to a stop and they door opened for them. She really didn't want to leave the limo. She didn't want to end up separated back in the penthouse, alone in their rooms like last night, wasting the short amount of time they had together. She had to leave the next day, and the thought of flying back home was already painful.

Vex made it a point not to let go of Percy's hand all the way up the elevator, standing as close as she dared until the lift shuddered to a stop and the doors opened.

He didn't let go of her hand, either.

She eyed the door to the apartment as they walked towards it, wondering if Cassandra was home and waiting to interrogate them, wondering if she might be mad that they went AWOL on her plans- and then her eye fell on another door in the hallway. She pulled on Percy's hand to get him to stop, pointed at the door, and said, "Can we go up on the roof?"

He hesitated, and then shrugged, digging out a set of keys from his pocket. "Sure." He unlocked the door and led the way up a steep set of concrete stairs. It was a trick, but she still managed not to let go of him all the way up-

-until he pushed open the heavy door to the roof with a rush of wind. Her jaw fell and she dropped his hand to rush to the edge. The entire city was laid out before them, a quiet view of vibrant life. Vex gripped the edge of a barrier and leaned over the edge, her hair blowing across her view.

"Percy!" she shouted over the chill wind, goosebumps prickling her skin. "Have you seen this view?"

She looked back, and he hadn't moved far from the door. "I can see it from my window," he called back.

She sighed and went to retrieve him, tugging gently on his arm. "That's not the same. Come look with me."

He shook his head. "I'm not... thrilled with heights," he said, and when she laughed it drew a smile from him.

"You live in a penthouse full of glass windows, and you don't like heights," she mused, turning around again to face the stars. "This is what birds see all the time," she said. "I think I'm suddenly very jealous of them. You like birds, Percy? You must."

"Me?" he asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"You've got one on your chest," Vex said, turning around to face him, her dress swirling around her ankles.

Percy raised his eyebrows as if he'd forgotten his own tattoo. "Oh," he replied, "yes."

"Why a bird skull, then?"

He hummed thoughtfully, his gaze falling out towards the city skyline. "It's a raven," he said finally, and then quietly, "a harbinger of death."

That was- a mood killer. Vex frowned, chewing on her lip. And then, suddenly, she remembered something she'd read on a placard at the zoo. "Maybe in stories," she said, pulling his eyes back to her. "But ravens are really smart," she continued. "They are really good at inventing tools, and teaching each other. And did you know- ravens recognize each other, and people who help them, and they always return to their family."

She watched his eyes grow wide as she spoke boldly, insistently- 'harbingers of death'? Bullshit.

And then suddenly, before she knew what was happening, he'd grabbed her hand again. She smiled, and started to say something-

-and then he pulled her tight against him on the roof and kissed her.

It was quick but hard and left Vex shocked, staring up into his intense, bright eyes. She had no time to react before he was kissing her again, fiercely, and she managed now to reply in kind. She clutched his hand and pressed her palm against his chest, pushing him until his back was against the door and she closed the space between them. He pulled back with a short breath, and she chased after his lips, letting her hand crawl behind his head and pulling him back down to her.

She could feel his scarring again under her palm but didn't bother to care, her hand twisting upwards into his hair while she opened her mouth to him and let her tongue taste his lips until he responded, his breath hot on her mouth in the freezing air. Percy's hand slipped from hers and clung to the small of her back, pressing her hard against him while his other hand caressed her cheek, her neck, sliding up to tangle in her hair.

Vex didn't know who broke the kiss first but suddenly they were staring at each other, chests heaving, her face burning and his flushed. She licked her own lips, swallowing. "Percival," she said.

"Yes," he whispered, utterly breathless.

"Take me inside."

Chapter End Notes

> c:

## Chapter 22

Chapter Notes

> hello this chapter contains mature content enjoy

It was difficult to make it down the tight stairs when all Vex wanted to do was press against Percy- she stopped on a landing to drag him back to her and kiss him again, letting him go only when the concrete wall grew too cold against her ass. She accosted him again at the penthouse door, pushing him against it while he tried to enter the door code, failing once, twice-

"You're making this very hard," he said.

"I haven't already?" she asked, picking apart the buttons on his tuxedo jacket and nipping as far up his jawline as she could reach on her tiptoes.

"Perhaps if you allow me to open this door," he replied, his voice low, "you can find out."

Or she could find out now, she thought, nudging his jacket open and working on the buttons of the vest underneath. Too many goddamn layers.

The door beeped as he finally got the code right and he pushed her inside. Vex was half expecting Cassandra to be waiting for them, wearing a robe and clutching a glass of tea like a doting mother- but thank god the place was empty as they moved through, pausing at the couch to let hands and mouths wander before dragging each other into Percy's bedroom.

Vex drove him into the bed, knocking him onto his ass as the back of his knees hit the edge. She tugged at his heavy jacket until he shrugged it off, letting it fall down beneath the bed. The black vest joined it next, leaving him wearing only a thin white shirt. She pulled the hem of it from from his pants before he suddenly grabbed her wrists, jerking her down with him and falling backwards until they lay together on the bed, her dress tangling between her legs.

Percy twisted until he was hovering over her- supporting himself on his elbows, he took her face in his hands and kissed her again while she fought to continue undressing him from underneath. She tugged at his bowtie, stripping it loose, and tried to figure out the tiny buttons on the dress shirt while he pressed his tongue into her mouth. She groaned against his mouth, frustrated by the stupid fucking buttons, and when he nipped the edge of her lip she pulled hard and popped buttons right off.

For a split second she felt bad, but he laughed against her skin, his lips trailing across her jaw with heavy kisses, so she grabbed the fabric in her hands and tore every single fucking button right off. Percy raised himself up for a moment to discard the ruined shirt, and it joined his puddle of abandoned clothing.

"Zipper," Vex ordered, turning onto her side. He eagerly obliged, pulling the dresses' zipper down to her ass. She moved to slide off of the bed, to stand- he reached for her elbow to get her to stay but she pulled away from his grip. "This was expensive," she explained.

"I don't care," he said, sitting up.

"I'd rather not experience death by Cassandra," she replied, snatching the hanger from the edge of the door before turning to face him with a wicked grin on her face. Slowly, maintaining deadly eye contact, she stripped the dress from her body. She took her time arranging it on the hanger, re-zipping it, and hooking it over the door frame again- all while fully aware that she was wearing only a tiny pair of black underwear and that glittering necklace.

Probably not as aware as Percy, however- his eyes were big and she heard him swallow audibly from across the room. Vex grinned, and considered teasing him further, but she'd been waiting for this for days and wasn't about to torture herself as well, so she moved back to the bed.

She straddled him, and dug her hands into his hair, pulling his head back and kissing him again- she ached to be touched but he hadn't moved yet, his hands resting lightly on the edge of the bed. She tracked gentle kisses across his jaw until she reached his ear. "Percy," she whispered, taking the edge of his earlobe carefully between her teeth and pulling on it once, quickly. His breath caught, and she felt just the tips of his fingers hovering over her thigh, shaking. "Fucking grab my tits already."

He finally obliged, one hand cupping her breast carefully, gently, before gaining more confidence and pressing his fingers into her flesh. His thumb ran softly over her nipple and she hummed into his ear, drawing a similar sound from him in turn as she slowly licked his earlobe.

"Percy," she asked, dragging a hand from his hair and running it down his chest, "that picture you posted on Facebook."

"Yes," he said, leaning forward to kiss her collarbone. She twisted her neck to allow him better access, closing her eyes and enjoying the wet warmth of his tongue on her skin.

"I saved it."

Percy froze, pulling his head back to look at her. "You- saved it?"

"Yes." She opened one eye and raised an eyebrow. "I saved it on my phone." Vex trailed her fingernails down his chest, down the pattern of the bird's skull, and opened her other eye to pierce him with an intense gaze. "I pull it up sometimes. When I'm alone."

He licked his lips, his eyes searching her face, hand frozen on her breast. "When you're-"

She leaned closer against his ear, murmuring softly. "I take out your picture," she drawled slowly, "and I touch myself. Like this." Vex slipped her hand inside her underwear and he whined, turning his head to catch her in a desperate kiss. She dipped two fingers down into her wet folds and stroked herself, arching against him until she could feel the hard length of him against her. His other hand found her thigh, gripping her skin tightly.

She broke the kiss and pulled his head down to her chest- he caught on quickly and took her breast into his mouth, his tongue pressing hard against her nipple while he sucked and she groaned.

He broke away after a moment and she clung to his hair, trying to get his mouth on her again, until he said, quietly, "Vex-"

She didn't stop touching herself, grinding into her own hand, and could only hum a response.

"I saved your picture too."

"Percy-" she gasped, " Percy. "

His hand slid from her thigh to her waist and he kissed her breast again, between her tits, along her collarbone, pausing to nip and suck in turns.

"Do you- touch yourself looking at me?" she asked breathlessly, her hand falling from his hair down to his shoulder, gripping him for support as she felt herself losing control, eyes pressed tightly shut.

" Yes, " he said, and that admission ruined her. She kissed him hard as she came, but it was less a kiss and more Vex gasping against his mouth while pleasure overwhelmed her. She rocked against him and he gripped her waist hard, his hand on her tit squeezing until she slowed, relaxed, settled into a soft kiss, then another.

She slid her hand from his shoulder to his chin, lifting his face so that she could look into his eyes. "Percy," she said, "condom?"

He blinked. "What?"

She kissed him again, a tiny peck, and then raised her eyebrows.

"Uh-" he hesitated- "I don't-"

"Percival. This is an awful time for a joke."

"We can- I can just-"

"No. No. Do not even finish that thought." She sighed and leaned back. "Just hold on." Vex climbed off of him carefully, her legs complaining slightly. She glanced around the room for something quick to wear, and spotted his normal coat hanging on a chair. That'd probably work, she thought- she didn't think anybody was out there but she wasn't going to risk running into Cassandra naked. Percy didn't complain as she shrugged it on, and it was certainly long enough to cover everything.

Vex left him sitting on the bed and crept through the apartment, rolling her eyes. Why the fuck wouldn't he have a condom? You don't jerk off to a girl, invite her over, and not have protection ready . Useless. And just- so, so unsurprising. Fortunately, she was pretty sure she had something stashed in her suitcase and- yup, there, in a side pocket- two. Not very impressive, but better than nothing.

(She wondered how Percy would feel about asking Cassandra if she had a condom stash, and laughed.)

When she pushed open his bedroom door again, he was still waiting on the bed as if dumbstruck. She chucked the condoms at him and he managed to catch none of them, letting them scatter next to him on the bed.

"You could leave the coat on," he said.

"Interesting," she said, pulling it off and setting it back on the chair, "but I think I would sweat to death. Why are you still wearing pants?"

"Oh," he said, glancing down.

She rolled her eyes again- he was a mess. A really, really hot mess. She swept forward and claimed him in a another kiss, her hands tugging at his zipper. He assisted, lifting his hips to slide the black slacks off, letting them pool in the growing pile on the floor. She slid her damp underwear off and helped him pull off his black boxers as well, the only clothing between them Vex's necklace.

Again she straddled him, her knees around his thighs as he looked up at her reverently, his eyes wide as he waited patiently for anything she wished to do. Vex tore open a condom wrapper with her teeth, spitting plastic to the side- he placed his hands on her knees as she took him in hand and rolled it over him slowly, grinning.

Vex leaned forward, letting her face fall to his stomach and trailing her tongue up along the black lines of the beak etched there, enjoying the way his abs twitched under her soft teasing. She kissed his chest, hovering just over him, slowly rubbing herself against the very tip of his cock until his grip on her thighs tightened enough that she could feel his nails in her skin.

"Vex , " he hissed.

"Yes?" she asked, reaching out and removing his glasses. She folded them and tossed them gently over to the other side of the bed.

" Vex. "

"Can I help you?" She kissed him again, her long hair brushing his chest as she left wet spots along his collarbone and neck, brushing her tits deliberately against him.

Suddenly, he reached forward and wrapped his hands around around her waist, and before she could react he pulled her down onto him completely. Vex couldn't help the gasp that hissed through her teeth as he filled her; she pressed her palms against his chest and arched forward. "Fuck, Percy."

"Sorry."

"I don't think you're sorry at all," she said, feeling him start to rock up against her impatiently.

"I'm not," he confirmed, and she leaned forward to kiss the smirk off his face. She lowered back onto him again and he sighed against her lips, so quietly she wouldn't have heard if she wasn't kissing him. As she moved against his cock she felt his hands wander, unable to settle, shifting from her thighs to her waist, her tits to her neck. He fingered her necklace, tracing the diamonds as she rode him, harder and faster, her breath coming quick and quicker, until- his grip tightened, his fingers caught against the chain and the entire thing snapped apart.

Vex froze as diamonds rained down from her neck, cascading down her tits and over Percy's stomach, a growing look of horror dawning over her face.

"Please don't stop," he whined, shifting under her, his hands drifting again to her waist.

"You broke my necklace," she said, shocked.

"I'll buy you another," he promised, groaning lightly.

"Will you?"

"I'll buy you six of them. Matching earrings. Whatever you want," he swore.

She bent over and claimed his lips in another kiss. "Fuck, that's hot," she said and kissed him harder, pressing her tongue into his mouth, sucking hard on his in turn until he arched under her. She shifted again, working against his cock, so wet now that she'd come once already and working towards another. Vex grabbed Percy's hand and pressed his fingers against her clit until he got the picture and started stroking her. Gently, at first, until she growled under her breath and took his hand again, shoving it forcefully against her.

He started rubbing her harder, and she leaned into it, closing her eyes against the feel of his fingers against her and his hard length sliding inside her, again and again and -

Vex came again with a shrill noise, her muscles clenching against him- he didn't stop stroking her and the pleasure built up until it was almost intolerable, drawing a full moan deep from her belly. She stole his hand again and leaned forward, pressing his wet fingers into the mattress and kissing him again, hard, harder, her lips rough against him as she rode him faster, biting his lip, urging him on.

"Percy," she said, " Percy ."

His nails dug into her waist as he came, her name on his lips. She kissed down his neck as he rode it out, gentle presses over his skin until he stilled, his chest heaving, heartbeat quick. Vex raised her head and rested her forehead against his, letting her eyes flutter closed as they breathed together.

"Good?" she whispered, her fingers still entangled with his.

"Yes," he agreed, and he lifted his chin to catch her mouth in another kiss.

## Chapter 23

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Vex woke to the gentle tink of diamonds falling onto the hard floor and a sudden cool breeze against her back. She yawned, pressing the back of her hand against her mouth, and then lazily rolled over towards Percy. He was awake, sitting on the edge of the bed, hands pressed against his knees. She reached her hand out and ran her fingers along the small of his bare back. He didn't move away, but he was very cold, she thought, and his skin was damp with a layer of sweat.

"Are you ready for round two, Percy?" she asked, letting her fingers trace the edges of his scars.

His reply was a quiet mutter that she couldn't make out. Suddenly alarmed, Vex sat up in bed, the thick duvet falling to her waist and baring her chest to the chilly air. She scooted towards Percy, craning until she could see the side of his face, his eyes closed.

"Percival?" she called, touching his arm gently.

Here, finally, he jerked away from her touch, his eyes fluttering open but staring off towards a dark corner of the room. "Don't-" he wheezed, "Don't."

"Don't? Don't what? Percy, where are you right now?" Vex moved even closer until she could reach out and grab one of his hands from his knee. He tried to pull it away from her but she didn't let him, holding tight and trying to force him to meet her gaze. "What's going on?"

"This was a mistake," he said, and she felt the bottom of her stomach drop away like a sheet of broken ice. "I shouldn't- he'll kill you- we shouldn't have-"

She pressed her fingers into his hand, squeezing. "You're rambling," she insisted, her voice a whisper against the sudden dryness creeping down her throat. "Nothing's wrong. We're fine."

Percy shook his head, closing his eyes tight again, his mouth open as if to speak but he had no reply.

"Percy?"

"I'm sorry," he said finally, his voice quiet but firm, "I've made a terrible mistake."

Vex stared down at his hand clutched in hers for what felt like years. She waited- part of her hoping that she'd wake up in a second to find this had only been a bad dream and she was still asleep with his arms around her. But his cold fingers felt too real in hers- the scratch of the duvet against her toes as she shifted them- the tickle of her loose hair falling down over her breasts- this was true, and she was awake, and it was terrible.

"Percy," she said, unable to lift her gaze from their hands but proud at the steadiness in her voice, "if you tell me to leave, I'll go."

"I-"

"But I won't come back."

He closed his mouth, and again she waited- with a patience that came only from the knowing of what was coming next and the quiet dread settled in her gut. He wouldn't look at her. She held his hand so tightly that her own knuckles turned white, but she could see his other hand shuddering against his knee.

He came to life with a sudden heavy breath, his eyes opening once more and only now finding her own. She saw in his eyes what he was going to say before he spoke, and so she wasn't surprised when he gently admitted, "It would be better if you left."

"Okay," she said, and that was it.

Vex released his hand and left him there on the edge of the bed. She tossed the blankets off of her legs and stepped onto the floor, wincing as the sharp edge of a diamond pressed into her foot. She kicked it away and eyed her dress- but there was no way in hell she was putting that back on. Vex recovered her underwear and then moved into his bathroom, stealing a towel from the rack and wrapping it around her naked body. Catching her reflection in the mirror, she paused.

In her hair was still the silver feathered hair piece. She'd completely forgotten about it, and now it was tangled and the feathers had been tattered in her sleep. With a shaking hand she tore it from her hair, almost grateful for the sharp pain as long strands came with it, and set it down on his sink. She adjusted the towel around herself and left, leaving the jewelry there in his bathroom.

Vex threw her suitcase together quickly, pulling on an errant pair of sweats and a shirt. She didn't bother with a bra- she didn't give a shit about much at the moment. She'd considered just going back to bed in this guestroom, but she knew she wasn't going to sleep and she just wanted to be out. Once dressed, her suitcase packed and left in the hallway, she knocked on Cassandra's door.

It took a few minutes for her to answer, blinking sleep from her eyes and wrapped in a dark robe. "Vex?" Cassandra asked, looking her up and down in the faint hall light.

"I need you to call me a car." Her voice was faint but steady. This hurt- she ached and her chest stung- but she'd been through this before and she'd live through it again. These small deaths were familiar.

"A car? It's three in the morning."

"I'm leaving," Vex clarified. "I need a ride to the airport. Please."

"Your plane isn't until this evening. Are you-" Cassandra's sleepy eyes widened as she suddenly realized what was going on. "What did he do?"

Vex wasn't in the mood for this conversation. She should have just called a cab herself, but she knew how often trashy cab companies took advantage of tourists. She shrugged one shoulder absently. "He wants me to leave. I'm leaving."

"Wait," Cassandra said, pulling her door open. "Just let me- I'll talk to him."

If she'd argued, she wasn't sure Cassandra would have listened. She didn't have the heart to argue, anyway- and maybe part of Vex was still waiting for him to come out and apologize, claim it was a nightmare, he was being ridiculous, come back to bed, please. And she probably would have- she could forgive a lot of things- had forgiven a lot of things in the past. So she waited in the hallway, listening as Cassandra tried to open the door, found it newly locked, and rapped her fists against it.

"Percival," his sister called, "let me in. You're fine. He's dead-"

'He' again, Vex thought, remembering his mumbled ramblings. She'd thought she had been filled in on their dark history, but it felt now like she knew nothing at all.

"Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klosso-"

Cassandra rattled off a name longer than a pedigreed dog's, and Vex leaned against the wall, her eyes closing. She didn't know fuck all about this family. She didn't even know his name, apparently.

It didn't take long for Cassandra to come back. "I'll call you a car," she told Vex, unable to even look at her, and she swept into her bedroom once more and slammed the door.

Vex didn't call home until she was in the airport, having been turned away from TSA with a funny look. "Your flight isn't for hours," they told her, "we can't let you in yet."

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked.

They waved her towards a row of terrible seats and a coffee shop that was closed. "Wait," they said.

She set up in a chair next to a row of outlets, her feet propped on the side of her suitcase, and she called home. It rang for ages until she eventually got the answering machine. Vex hung up and called again.

After the third ring, a groggy voice answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," she said.

"Vex?"

"Keyleth? Where's my brother?"

She heard Keyleth yawn loudly on the other end of the line. "Showering," she said. "He has to work in an hour."

"Fuck."

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Vex lied, "yeah. Can I talk to him? It's important."

"Yeah, just one second, okay?"

She waited patiently while Keyleth dragged her brother out of the shower. Hopefully he was almost done, she thought, allowing herself a smirk, or else he'd have to finish it in cold water. Finally there was a burst of static on the line and then he was there.

"Vex? What's going on? Are you hurt?"

"No, no, I'm fine," she assured him.

"It's almost four in the morning," he said, as if she wasn't vividly aware. A few other people had joined her in airport purgatory, and she could see some of the coffee shop employees start to wander in. She shouldn't have called him. She could have sat here until they let her into the air side, taken a nap, gone home and had him pick her up as scheduled. But her fingers had dialed his number reflexively and the thought of sitting here, alone for hours, drew bile into the back of her throat.

"I'm at the airport," she admitted. "I-"

"What? Why? Vex'ahlia? What happened?"

(She could hear Keyleth's whispered "Is she okay?" in the background, and wished she had remembered that she would still be there before calling.)

"Things just- didn't work out."

"What did he do?"

"Don't-" she said, "don't. It's fine." It wasn't fine, but it would be fine. She didn't need her brother getting involved this time. It would be easiest if she could just- forget about the de Rolos entirely, honestly.

Vax was silent, and she knew he was debating with himself over pushing the point. Eventually she heard him sigh, and he asked, "Are you just going to sit in the airport all day?"

"I don't know what else to do," she admitted, and it shamed her to hear how shaky her voice was. She swallowed hard, trying to regain some composure. She'd been doing so until now. "They won't let me through TSA yet," Vex added, and her voice was steady again.

"Buy another ticket," he said, without hesitation. "Come home now."

"We can't afford that."

"You've got the credit card?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Just do it. We'll figure it out. Come home."

"Okay. Alright. Will you come get me?"

He started to agree, and then stopped. "Fuck," Vax said, "I have to work."

"I'll just wait-" she began to say, before Keyleth spoke up again.

"I'll pick her up," she offered, and Vax must have lowered the phone because the rest of the conversation was muffled, too much static and the rustling of fabric for Vex to hear anything.

He picked up the phone again after a few moments. "Kiki will come pick you up," he said. "Just buy the soonest seat and text her the time, okay?"

"Thank you," Vex said, softly. This was why she'd be okay. No matter what happened, she'd always have him.

This flight was different than the first. They'd fit her last minute onto a small, crowded plane, and she was stuck in the aisle next to a man in a suit who'd passed out as soon as the plane started to taxi. Vex tried to edge away from him, but gave up after the third time somebody jostled against her while passing through the aisle. The cabin was dark, and quiet, and up front a young child wailed against the changing air pressure.

She tried to sleep but gave up quickly, her stomach fighting against her. Every time she closed her eyes she felt like she might throw up, and by the time landing started she had the vomit bag clutched between white fingers. Breathing deeply, the air conditioning vent positioned right into her face, she managed to fight the nausea- until they landed, and the plane pulled up to the gate. Everybody stood at once, and started shuffling around, bumping her and standing too close. She felt hot suddenly, and an elbow hit her side, and then Vex popped open the blue vomit bag and puked bile.

Chapter End Notes

> come yell at me at @shippeh

## Chapter 24

God bless Keyleth- she didn't say a single thing about the terrible state Vex was in. She was positive she looked awful; her hair was a nest of knots by this point, pajamas would have looked classier, and she could feel the dark circles under her eyes throbbing. Her breath tasted like vomit. Keyleth was driving Vex's car, and as she slid into the passenger seat with a sigh she started digging around in the glove box for a mint, gum, something.

"Hey," said Keyleth.

Vex popped an altoid in her mouth and crunched, savoring the stinging bite of mint as the first thing to wake her up so far. "Hey," she replied, pulling her seat-belt on as they drove out of the airport arrival lane, "thanks for picking me up."

"Yeah, of course." Vex leaned against the seat and closed her eyes, and waited for the inevitable question. To her credit, Keyleth lasted through five minutes of silent driving before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, no," Vex replied without opening her eyes.

"It's just that- I know Percy's really nice and a good guy and I don't know-"

"Keyleth-"

"This just seems really strange and I bet-"

"Keyleth-"

"Yeah."

"Unless whatever you're about to say can make up for the fact that you're picking me up at dawn after he kicked me out of his house- don't say it."

"Okay, yeah," Keyleth conceded. "Sorry."

"You're fine, dear. It's alright." Vex rested her head against the seatbelt, exhausted.

"Do you want to hold my hand?"

Finally Vex opened her eyes and looked at Keyleth, who was holding one hand open over the middle console. "What?"

"I dunno," Keyleth said, glancing from the road to Vex and then back again. She looked tired too, Vex thought- she'd probably been awake since the phone call. "It'd make me feel better if I were sad."

Vex felt an honest laugh bubbling up- and it was a much better flavor than vomit. She chuckled quietly and took the offered hand, lacing her fingers through Keyleth's slender digits, giving a squeeze that Keyleth returned.

Yeah, Vex thought- this wasn't so bad.

When they arrived home, Vex collapsed into her own bed, Trinket mushed against her, his head under her chin breathing hot wet breath against her chest. She wrapped her arms around him and sighed. Life would just be so much simpler if people were like dogs. Dogs were easy. Dogs made sense. Dogs didn't get up in the middle of the night and decide the last few days were a terrible mistake.

"Love you, Trink," she murmured. He dragged his heavy tongue up her neck in answer.

Exhausted and drained, Vex fell quickly into a dead sleep.

When she woke, it was because somebody was sitting on her bed- something Vex was becoming very sick of. She shifted, sitting up, and Trinket grunted and turned his face into the mattress. She ruffled his ears and stared at Keyleth, who was perched next to her legs, phone in hand, and- she was- crying? Or had been crying, at least; her face was wet and her eyes bright.

"Keyleth?"Vex asked, kicking free of her blankets and sliding closer.

"Did you know about this?" She handed Vex her phone, her voice high and shaky.

Vex scrolled through the article Keyleth had pulled up, and wasn't surprised to read the headline: "Tragic fire takes de Rolo family- one surviving child." The only picture was one of young Cassandra staring forlornly into the camera, flanked one either side by a man and a woman Vex had never seen before.

"Yes," answered Vex, quietly, as she handed Keyleth her phone back.

"I didn't know," Keyleth said, clutching her phone tightly in an unsteady hand. "He's like- my best friend, Vex. I had no idea."

"Well, he didn't tell me either, Kiki, and I fucked him."

"Oh, I'm- I'm so sorry, Vex." Keyleth pressed a fist into her eye and Vex sighed, feeling bad for being so blunt. "I know you didn't want to talk about it, but Vax is still working and Percy won't respond to anything and I just-"

Vex laid her hand across Keyleth's wrist. "It's alright," she said.

"It's not like I'm set on prying into his personal details," Keyleth went on, "but some things are just important. You know? There are some things you tell your friends. I guess."

Vex let her ramble. She slid her hand down Keyleth's wrist and into her hand, tangling their fingers once again. Some things were important, she thought- and she knew, watching Keyleth scroll through article after article, that she was going to have to have a talk with her brother. There were things about a person's past that you shouldn't have to discover through a casual Google search.

"What do you think he did all those years?"

"What years?"

"Before the second fire? After he was presumed dead?"

"I-" Vex shrugged, hardly surprised by any new information at this point. "I don't know anything about that, Keyleth. I don't really know the first thing about Percy." Yesterday, she insisted upon the opposite; she'd promised his sister that she knew him. And yet here she was today, discovering with Keyleth that they both knew fuck all, really. What did it matter if you knew somebody was a dog person when you didn't even know their full name?

Keyleth shifted closer in bed until she was near enough that Vex could feel the heat of her skin. "Here," she said, passing Vex the phone again. Keyleth's long hair tickled Vex's skin as she leaned over her, reading from above her shoulder. Cassandra had been taken in by her godparents, apparently, and lived with them for years until another fire killed them and left Cassandra, yet again, the only survivor. Only then did the articles about the "dead de Rolo son discovered alive" start.

There was no way the second fire had been accidental, Vex knew with a cold certainty- but she wasn't going to mention her suspicions to Keyleth. She would let her be content to think both fires were nothing but terrible tragedies- that her best friend Percy was a victim of circumstance and not... whatever else Vex might suspect now.

It didn't fucking matter anymore, anyway.

Vex clicked the phone off and handed it back. "I don't know, Keyleth," she repeated. "You'll have to ask him. Or his sister- maybe she'll talk about it."

"I don't want to pry, but-"

"I know."

"It's just so sad."

"I know." Vex sighed. She didn't know what time it was now, but the sun was up and she still felt exhausted. "I just... frankly, dear, I do not give a fuck about the de Rolos right now." (That was probably not entirely fair- Cassandra had been nothing but a darling all weekend- but Vex wasn't in the mood to be fair.)

"I'm sorry."

Vex squeezed her hand. "Not your place to apologize. When do you leave, Keyleth?" she asked, changing the subject. "Do you want to play something?"

"I don't need to start driving for a few hours yet, I think," said Keyleth. "I'd love to."

Trinket wasn't very thrilled to wake up (and Vex strongly sympathized) but he was happy enough to take his regular place under Vex's feet as she sat at her computer, Keyleth taking over her brother's spot.

Vax was surprisingly chill about the whole thing- after Keyleth had left, Vex waited for a speech from him. She showered, dressed, and sat at the kitchen table to eat a bowl of cereal, and he stood behind her, taking her hair up to start braiding it. She set her spoon down, familiar with this routine and waiting for him to say whatever was on his mind.

Finally, all he said was, "You alright?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I think so."

"You want me to kick him from the guild?"

"Is it petty to say yes?"

He laughed quietly. "Probably."

"Then I guess not."

"Just say the word, sis," he said. "Your hair's a fucking mess," he added, and that was it. That was the extent of the lecture. God, she loved him. And- so did Keyleth- which meant it was time for another conversation.

"You have to tell her," Vex said softly. His fingers stilled over her scalp for a second and she knew that he knew what she meant. "She'll find out eventually," she said over his silence. "How do you want it to happen? Years from now when she's home alone with a million ginger kids and your parole officer bursts in like 'Oh, by the way, your husband has a whole set of assault charges and served jail time, have a nice night, good to meet you finally'?"

His fingers started twisting in her hair again. "It's not even going to matter 'years from now'."

"It matters today, though," she countered, lifting her spoon again and taking another bite of soggier cereal. Her mouth was full when she said, "Just think about it."

Vax tied off her hair and tossed the new braid over her shoulder. "Yeah, yeah. I will," he conceded, pressing both hands against her bare neck.

She flinched away. "Why are your hands always so damn cold?"

"That's just your black hole of a heart sucking the heat out of them," he replied, kissing the top of her hair.

She shook him off and waved him away with her spoon as he laughed. "Let me eat in peace, you fucker."

Pike texted her later that same night, and Vex was surprised she'd waited that long.

keyleth told me not to ask you about percy so here i am, not asking you about percy

lmao ur so considerate

so how was your weekend (still not asking about percy)

i had a beautiful time with his sister
had a good lay
then got kicked out of bed before breakfast

just??? kicked out??

idk pike he had some kind of existential crisis in the middle of the night
and we decided i guess it was 'better if i left'
so whatever im over it

are you?

no
but its easier if i pretend right

is it?

idk ill let you know
did kiwi tell you all that shit about his fam?
*kiki lmao that was a good autocorrect im calling her kiwi from now on

kiwi i love it
and yes, she sent the whole story in a long rambling message
she's very worried about him, i don't think he is speaking to her

the children never win in a messy divorce

too true
love you vex

love you more pike

call me whenever you need anything ok?

love you /most/ pike

Things returned to normal fairly quickly after that weekend. They didn't boot Percy from the guild- but he didn't show up again to raid, either. They waited for him, just in case, while they stood facing a huge white dragon- the first of the upcoming series of challenges. But he never showed, and Vex was personally very grateful. She was an adult, she was mature enough to handle speaking to him again, if she had to- but she really, really didn't want to yet. She wondered if he was talking to Keyleth again, or if he'd shut himself out completely. She didn't care enough to ask.

It was hard not to miss his absence, unfortunately. They hadn't realized just how necessary his damage output was until it was gone. They wiped, and wiped, and wiped again, the icy dragon laughing over their dead bodies over and over. Vex was able to pull Zahra into the group for the night, and their numbers improved, but morale seemed to be crashing and people started making stupid mistakes.

After hours of death after death, Vax called it. "We'll try again tomorrow, if you guys are free," he said, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

It wasn't any better the next day, or the next.

Finally, finally, Vax convinced Gilmore to run with them, and he brought in both Allura and Kima who were "happy to carry some scrubs". They downed the fucking dragon in one blessed pull, and it was a very necessary celebration after days of morbid defeat.

Unfortunately, that was the last boss of the trials that the twins were going to make it to- their subscription ran out the next week and it was just another thing they couldn't afford to pay with new credit card debt after shipping Vex home. She felt terrible about it, and apologized to her brother often- but he didn't care, he insisted. Some things were more valuable than a bit of game time. They had other things to play that didn't require a monthly sub, anyway.

Vex still felt bad, and missed the game- but, fuck, she loved her brother.

## Chapter 25

"Well, I told her," Vax declared loudly as he came home, throwing open the door and startling Vex out of a half-sleep on the couch. It would have been much more dramatic if he wasn't still wearing his work khakis.

"Yes, hello brother, nice to see you too," Vex replied. She yawned and kicked both her feet up onto the sterilite tub that served as their living room coffee table, knocking the book she hadn't been reading off of her lap and onto Trinket's stomach. He wiggled until it slid off, but didn't otherwise move. Good dog.

Vax kicked his shoes off and walked around the tub-table to join her on the couch, throwing himself bodily onto the cushions and letting his head fall into his sister's lap. "Sorry, yes, hello sister, how was your day off? Have you left the couch at all?"

"I went to visit Jarrett, actually," she told him, pulling the hair-tie from his hair and absently running her fingers through it.

He tried to sit up, grimacing, but she pressed her hand against his forehead before he could make it anywhere and pushed his head back down into her lap. "This is why I don't ask about your day," he complained.

"I dunno, you could probably benefit from visiting Jarrett, too," she teased.

"Anyway," he continued, choosing to ignore her, "I told Keyleth about everything."

"Everything?"

"Well, no. Not everything. Enough, I think."

"Well? Are we going to spend the night moping together on the couch in mutual depression?" She ran her fingers along his scalp, scratching him like Trinket- and it was a toss-up which one enjoyed it more.

"Mutual depression? What happened to 'I'm fine and I don't want to talk about it,' huh?"

"Would you like to talk about my complete lack of orgasm this morning or should we talk about Keyleth again?"

"Keyleth. Jesus fuck, Keyleth."

"That's what I thought."

"You're absolutely appalling."

"I just kept thinking about what Jarrett would look like with white hair and even though his tongue was-"

Vax reached up and pressed his entire palm over Vex's mouth, muffling her until she stopped talking completely. "I hate you," he said, grimacing up at her. She stuck her tongue out and licked his palm; it didn't even surprise him, he just wiped her spit down her arm. "She was fine with it."

"Really?" Vex asked, eyebrows up in her hairline. "Just totally fine?"

He shrugged, and she felt it over her knees more than saw it. "She thanked me for telling her, said she needed time to think about it. Obviously, I panicked."

"Obviously."

"Then she called back five minutes later, asked one or two questions, and it was fine. She started telling me about new kittens and her day at work."

"She's too good for you, brother."

"Yeah," he agreed, sighing wistfully, "isn't she?"

Vex rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help smiling. Her own shit love life was doomed to failure after terrible failure, one bad seed after another. How easy it would be to give up, and grow spiteful- she could see a future where she sat alone surrounded by dogs and wine and cursed love as a product of fiction. It was nice to see her brother sprawled over the couch and happy for once. Vex could, maybe, see a little bit of hope in that. Just a little.

The clothing delivery arrived shortly after Vax did, and it was much better dressed- ribbons and crinkled shiny paper and crisp boxes. Vex was loathe to go through them. The twins piled the boxes on the kitchen table and stared, arms crossed in matching poses.

"They're all for you?" Vax asked.

"Yup."

"For free?"

"Yup."

"Well, shit."

"Yup," she repeated again.

"What are you going to do with them all?" He leaned forward and twisted a ribbon between his fingers.

"I dunno. We could sell them?" she suggested.

"If we start selling couture out of the house, my parole office is going to think I'm up to some shit," he pointed out.

"I guess I could... wear it. Is it wrong to keep it, do you think?"

"I mean, he could have canceled the delivery if he was really feeling spiteful."

"Technically, they were gifts from his sister, not him."

"Oh, that's fine then," Vax decided, shrugging. "No strings attached. Unless you slept with her, too."

"You're an ass."

"It's not like you've told me any details at all, you know."

"I did not sleep with an 18 year old girl, Vax'ildan." She went to whack him in the arm but he dodged around the table, grinning.

"She bought you all these clothes and you still held out?" he teased, keeping himself on the opposite side of the table, grinning over the towers of clothing boxes.

"We're going to have matching assault charges in a second," Vex threatened. "Trinket!" she called.

The dog bolted from behind the couch and Vax managed only a short "Oh, shit-" before he was taken down to the floor by a hundred pounds of muscle and tongue.

Vex wore a pair of her new jeans to work the next day. They were- amazing, frankly. She had thought she had pants that fit, but she'd been so, so wrong. She'd even caught her brother staring at her ass before she left; his response to her middle finger a smug wolf whistle. Everybody needed a fitted pair of jeans. She had debated wearing a shirt, too, but decided that wearing a hundred dollar top to go sweat at the park was probably not a great idea. It wasn't like she was ever going to get another wardrobe like this one, anyway.

Most days Vex liked her job at the park. It allowed her a lot of freedom, and she was always welcome to bring Trinket- but it also afforded her too much time to think. The work was mindless, especially in the middle of afternoon on a cool, overshadowed weekday. Kids were at school, parties waited until the evening, and she was left alone with her thoughts and a dog.

She painted some of the parking stumps with a fresh coat of yellow and tried not to think about Percy. He still hadn't been online anywhere. Keyleth hadn't mentioned him speaking with her again yet- but then, Keyleth was the sort of sweet girl who wouldn't bring up his name in conversation if Vex was present. It was hard to be on this complete radio silence, but then again... then again, if she wanted to talk to him, she had his number. She hadn't tried it once. She'd almost deleted it, her finger hovering over the trash button for long seconds before she'd decide every time to keep it.

(His profile picture was still that picture of Trinket. Not that she checked. Or kept checking.)

Vex did feel for Cassandra, though. Vex knew all she wanted was a friend, but she also knew she couldn't be that for her. Pike had said she'd adopted some kittens- and thank god. That penthouse needed a burst of life. (And Cassandra would be a cat person, Vex thought, laughing quietly to herself.)

It'd only been a few days since that night. The whole thing had felt unreal and remembering now was like trying to recall a dream. She sighed. The wound was still fresh. She shouldn't be sitting here poking it- wasn't she supposed to be trying to think of something else? The prospect of a new job?

Maybe she could start working paid hours at the shelter and still work here at the park. Vex considered that, applying one last brush of traffic yellow before banging the paint can lid back into place. Two jobs would be lots of extra income. The plane ticket hadn't been that much, and if they managed to pay it off before too much interested occurred, it'd only be a couple months of eating ramen and beans.

As long as they had a place to live and each other, they'd be okay.

There had been a time when they'd had neither.

They'd be okay.

"Come on, Trink," Vex said, standing. "Let's take a break."

She'd been sitting browsing her phone for barely ten minutes when a shadow fell over the picnic table.

"Hey."

Vex glanced up just long enough to decide she didn't know the man leaning against the table before returning to her phone. "Sorry, I'm on break. Go to the office if you need help," she told him.

He didn't leave. "I'm hurt. You don't remember me?"

She sighed softly and leaned back, resting her chin on a hand as she turned to look the man up again down. Stupid ginger mullet, sharp eyes, out of date clothing- oh. Oh. Vex carefully nudged Trinket awake with her foot and subtly pulled open the dialing app on her phone. "What do you want?" she asked flatly.

"There, Vexy, I knew you'd remember me!"

She abhorred that nickname, but she made an effort not to show that it affected her, because she knew his goal was to make her uncomfortable. "Sure, Arty," she replied, evening the field with a name she knew he hated. "What do you want?"

"It's a public place; I just happened to see you here and stopped by. Is that a crime?" He placed a hand on the table and leaned forward on it, and as he drew closer to her Trinket, from underneath the table, issued a deep growl. The man stepped back, frowning. "You kept that beast?"

"Treats me better than your cousin ever did," she answered coldly. Why- of all fucking days- was he bothering her at the park now?

"Speaking of Saundor-"

"No."

"What?"

"No, I said," she repeated, sitting up straight, her grip tight on her phone. "No, we're not speaking of Saundor. Did he send you here?"

"I think the restraining order is pretty clear on whether that's allowed or not."

"So you're here all on your own? Forgive me if I find that hard to believe." Her voice was steady, and while she spoke with a chill to rival the fall air, she remained calm. On the outside, at least. On the inside, she was terrified. It took every inch of willpower not to let her hands shake- she slipped one hand underneath the table to clutch her knee, and she pressed her other wrist against the edge of the table until pain held it still. The pain was something to focus on.

Trinket pressed his body against her knees, fully awake and standing now, and still growling.

"I thought we might be friends," he said, tilting his head and putting on puppy dog eyes to be envious. His whole fucking narcissistic family- she'd fallen for those eyes too many times to be caught off guard again.

Vex shook her head. "Let's not."

"You're awfully-"

"If you don't leave right now," she warned, voice soft and low, barely audible over Trinket's increasing threat, "I will call the police."

"Jesus, I'm only-"

"It's the police or the dog. Pick."

There was a silent stand-off. She met his golden eyes firmly, forcing herself not to look away. Finally, he broke contact first, rolling his eyes and huffing a sigh.

"Fine. Just trying to be friendly. Guess you're still a bitch."

"Guess so," she agreed. "Start walking."

He did, and she didn't take her eyes off of him until he got into his flashy corvette and pulled out of the park. Only when she was positive he was gone did she allow herself to break, pressing her palm over her mouth with a gasp. She dropped her phone to the table with a clunk and clutched Trinket's ear, whose head was now pushed wetly into her lap.

Fuck. Fuck.

She heard another car door slam and knew she had to get away from this public table. Vex stood, her legs wavering, Trinket against her. There was an official park building across the road. She could sit in there until she relaxed- until the cold panic in her chest dissipated. Her first instinct was to call her brother as she walked, her step quick, eager to get inside. Her fingers started dialing Vax's number, but before she could complete the call, she received another.

Shit - she swore, thinking it was- but it was Percy.

Fucking Percy.

When it rained, it poured.

She considered not answering. She could hang up and delete any message and never reply again. Close the door on that chapter.

She remembered calling him in a panic before, worried to tears that her brother was about to be shipped back to jail, and she remembered his calm assertive voice relaxing her-

This was probably a mistake, she knew, as she accepted the call and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Vex," he breathed.

She considered hanging up. She should have just hung up. But his voice was- she was shocked by how much of a relief it was to hear his voice again. "Percy," she replied, trying to keep the fear that ravaged her stomach out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry," he began, "I'm so sorry. I need to-"

"Percy," she interrupted, her eyes set on the sanctuary just ahead of her as she crossed the road. "I'm willing to have this conversation," she told him, "but I can't do it right now. I need to-"

She didn't even see the car before it hit her.

Her phone clattered onto the pavement yards away, spiderweb cracks across the screen. Percy's voice echoed through the damaged speaker.

"Vex? Vex'ahlia? Vex?"

## Chapter 26

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Vex dreamed, mostly, of her brother. His voice was a constant presence, a source of continuous comfort in a nonsensical landscape. In the twisting nightmare she could hear his whispers and though she couldn't make out any words, she knew it was him and she knew he was there and she knew that he loved her. A fact.

The other constant of her swirling dreams was a light. A bright light, sharp and vibrant, too harsh to even look at. It came and went and spoke so loudly that though she learned to cover her head with her hands at the first hint of it, she could never muffle the noise. The voice was a steady, throbbing pain in her head; she would have done anything to drown it out, make it stop. It spoke in words that she knew she should understand, but didn't, like a language she had once learned but left forgotten with disuse.

The quiet, dark ramblings of her brother were a sanctuary.

And then, suddenly, the light was back, brighter than it had been before, searing through her eyelids. It reached for her, and she pulled away, shouting at it- but the light laughed at her, and enveloped her, hot and loud and-

-and then it was gone and she-

-woke up.

Everything hurt. The voice and the light were gone but the pain in her head was still there, throbbing insistently like a heart that had gotten lost on its way to the chest and cries out for help. Vex lay still, listening to the beat, and trying to assess the rest of the pain. Everything hurt. If she could have gone back to the yelling light, she would have in a second.

Vex took a breath, and it felt suddenly like knives in her side- she gasped, and the pain increased, and she panicked, her eyes shooting open.

"Relax, relax," she was told, and she knew the speaker but when she turned her frightened gaze on him she was not blinded. He was a doctor, and she was in a bland hospital room, and the pressure against her side was her brother, her brother , and she was okay, she was okay-

"Ow," she whispered, afraid to tempt the dulling pain back by speaking.

"There we go," said the doctor, a tall, thick man in white with a steady smile. She clung to that smile. A doctor with bad news wouldn't smile like that. "Breathe slow. Relax. We're okay."

"Is she alright?" asked her brother, pleading for good news, "Is she okay?"

The doctor ignored him, and she wanted to laugh but was too afraid to do so. "You're a lucky one," he told her, flipping through the various machines whirring near her bed. "This kid hasn't left this room for days."

She looked at him, her dear brother, technically sitting in a chair but mostly thrown onto the bed itself, leaning carefully against her, his hand across her belly to hold hers- her hand that wasn't in a sling. She hadn't realized she was wearing a sling. Everything felt like one jumble of 'ouch' and she hadn't dared to categorize it yet. Vex tried to wiggle her fingers, and found it survivable. Okay. Alright.

Vax looked a mess. He looked like he hadn't left the room in a week. His hair was a mess, tangled and unwashed, and the circles under his eyes would challenge any cover-up. It looked like he'd been the one in an accident, not her-

Oh, god. She'd been hit by a car. She'd been-

" Trinket? " she gasped again, and the jagged pain in her side was nothing compared to the sudden fear blooming in her throat. She struggled to sit up and she knew it was a mistake even before the doctor pressed her firmly back into the bed with a large hand on her shoulder.

"Stop," he said. "Your dog is fine."

"He saved you," Vax answered, his grip shaking. "We didn't know where you were until they got a noise complaint about a dog barking."

"Trinket-"

"He's with Jarrett, he's fine."

"No dogs in the hospital," the doctor added, "despite the variety of arguments otherwise."

A weight off her chest. If Trinket had- if he'd- she might as well not have woken up, if she'd woken up to a world without him.

"That's a good dog, though," he continued. "Like I said, lucky girl."

"I don't feel very lucky," she said dryly. It was getting hard to concentrate now through the pain in her head, but she was starting to differentiate that from the sharp pains across the rest of her body. There was a vivid pain down her leg, though she was covered gently in a blanket and couldn't see it. Her bare arm wore scattered bandages; minor injuries from being thrown against the rocky park road, she thought.

"How do you feel?"

"I feel like I deserve some drugs," she answered honestly.

The doctor laughed quietly. "We'll get you some," he promised, "but we need to run a few quick diagnostics now that you're awake."

"How long was I-"

"Just a few days," he said, flipping the blanket away from her feet and tapping her toes. "You can feel that?"

"Yeah. Did I-"

"Wiggle your toes for me?" She did. He made a few more inane requests, testing her eyesight, feeling in other bits of her, her reactions. She thought it was all a bit inane- she just wanted pain meds, please, and another nap, thanks.

Apparently, a nurse would tell her later, they'd put her into a coma themselves. Impact with the car had cracked her skull open, pressing it dangerously close to her brain, and they needed to reduce swelling and movement until they could operate, and make sure it was okay, and- Vax's face during the explanation was pale, and he looked like he might throw up. (According to the nurse, he'd already thrown up a few times.) There was an entire list of things wrong with her now, but frankly Vex didn't care- she just wanted the pain in her head to stop, please, morphine, please.

"Chill," the doctor told her.

"I'm trying," she said, making him roll his eyes. She got her morphine, and she got her nap- feeling suddenly so exhausted, as if she hadn't been asleep for days (and it wasn't really sleep, the doc said).

If she dreamed at all this time, she didn't remember it.

When she woke up again, things felt better. It was probably just the drugs in her system now, but she didn't quite feel like she was going to explode anyway. She took the chance now, in the dimly lit hospital room, Vax slouched asleep in a chair in the corner, to try and assess. Really, overall, not that bad, she thought. Her arm wasn't in a cast but it was in a sling- minor fracture, they'd said. Two broken ribs, so she made an effort to breath carefully- and was reminded immediately if she made any errors. Bruising everywhere. Minor abrasions all over from the rocky road. A thick bandage over her leg covering a long line of fine stitches. It hurt when she pressed on it- but it was a distracting hurt from the ongoing ache in her head.

And oh, god, her head- the injury was painful, but what hurt her worse was the loss of her hair. She reached up, and felt- nothing. There was a vivid line of staples on the side of her head from the surgery, and- just- fuzz, at this point. They'd shaved around the area, messily, and she traced the edges of her hair with a shaking hand.

She didn't realize she was crying until Vax woke up, switching chairs to be near her and pulling her hand away from her head. "Hey," he said, wrapping his fingers around hers, "hey. It's okay."

"I must look awful," she sniffed.

"You always look awful," he told her softly, and she laughed a little until her ribs reminded her that- HEY- they look awful, too. "We'll get it fixed first thing," he promised. "Get it evened out. That whole half-shaved look is popular these days."

"Is it?"

"Listen, I'll do mine to match."

"God," she said, "please do not."

"Dad sent flowers," Vax said, changing the subject.

She had wondered about the elaborate bouquet on the bed stand. "Did he?"

"Well, his secretary did." Vex rolled her eyes. "Vel signed the card, though. Here." He plucked a lovely card from the edge of the table (one of a few, she noticed) and released her hand so that she could hold it.

' Big sis,' it read, in a messily scrawled pink glitter pen, 'did you know you're supposed to look both ways before crossing the street? love you lots feel better soon and don't eat the flowers' . Velora signed it in her current preferred fancy signature, and underneath was their father's stamp. Charming. Vex swore to keep it forever.

"Who are the others from?" she asked, handing it back so he could add it to the stack again.

"Pike and Grog. Scanlan sent one and then Kaylie sent another because I don't think they every speak to each other. Keyleth sent candies but... you were out for days so the nurses and I just kind of ate them."

"Of course."

"Which I guess if I hadn't even mentioned them, you might not have known."

"Too late, you're on the shit list."

"When am I not?"

"Never. Who else?"

"Jarrett said he was going to send one but decided watching Trinket and letting us go another month late on rent was better than spending four dollars on a card."

"Fair," she said, trying again not to laugh. Jarrett was a better landlord than they deserved to have. The amount of shit they put him through would have gotten them kicked out of anywhere else. But- "Oh, fuck, Vax- how can we afford this? When can I leave? God, I've got to-"

"Relax." He said, grabbing her free hand again and meeting her eyes with a steady gaze. "You're not leaving until they okay you to go."

"But-"

"Don't worry about the bill, dear." They both looked up to see that they hadn't noticed a nurse enter. She paused in recording the screen readings to smile at Vex. "It's been paid."

She tried to catch her brother's gaze but he was pointedly looking away, so Vex asked the nurse, instead. "By who? Was it the person who hit me? I thought they didn't stop?"

The nurse eyed her brother too, giving him a look that said a lot of things Vex wasn't even about to guess at. "By that poor sop who has been sleeping in the waiting room for the past few days."

"What?"

"Your guard dog's been very strict about who has access to your room, love," she replied.

Vax finally met the nurses look evenly. "Thanks," he said, voice bland.

"Vax?" Vex asked, looking from him to her. The nurse, apparently sensing that there was about to be a tiff, finished charting something and escaped without another word.

"Well, I don't know," Vax answered, "I didn't want to stress you out."

"Who-" Vex remembered suddenly, for the first time since she'd been woken up, the phone call before the accident. "Percy?" she whispered.

Vax shrugged.

Oh, god. Oh, god . He was here? He'd been here the whole time? He'd paid her bill? "What- Why?"

Vax sighed, and finally met her wide eyes willingly. "He called me, panicking. We found you. I don't know, I told him where the hospital was and he just showed up. But I don't even know what happened between you two or where you stand- last thing I knew you flew home at three am to escape him." He shrugged. "So he's been sitting in the lobby."

He'd paid the whole bill. Vex knew what hospital bills where like. She'd have been paying for this the rest of her life, even on their shitty insurance. She wished he hadn't done it. She wished he hadn't called, hadn't spent days sleeping on waiting room chairs without even being allowed to see her.

If she could pretend like he didn't give a shit, it'd be so much easier to get over him.

"Do you want to see him?" Vax asked, over her silence.

"I..." she trailed off, unsure, because the answer was yes but, shit, it should be no, right?

Vax squeezed her hand. "I can tell him to leave, if you don't want to. But if you do, I'll go get him right now."

"Do I look terrible?"

"Yes."

"Fuck you."

"I promise he doesn't look much better," Vax added.

She sighed. "Alright," she said, and he nodded before standing up.

Percy really didn't look any better than her- he looked like a man who'd spent four days in a hospital waiting room. His hair was a mess and his dark jacket was wrinkled to hell. The pleats in his pants were long gone and his glasses were smudged, failing to cover dark, sleepless eyes. He shuffled in, Vax slipping past behind him to find his chair again. Percy had his hands shoved into his coat pocket, his eyes downcast, looking like a man who knew he didn't belong here.

There was silence for a long moment until Vex spoke, just has name- "Percy."

He glanced up, met her eyes for a bare fraction of a second, letting them trail down her broken body before falling again to the floor.

"Surely I don't look that bad," she said.

"You don't," he replied firmly, "you don't."

Silence followed. Vax sat in the corner and watched quietly, his eyes shifting from one to the other. Eventually, Vex broke the stillness. "Well-"

"I'm sorry," Percy said, cutting her off. He swallowed, licking his lips, and looked up at her.

"What?" she asked, taken aback by his words and by the heartbreak apparent on his face.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, "I shouldn't have called you. I shouldn't have-"

"Percy-" It was her turn to interrupt. "If you think I got hit because you called me, I'm a grown ass woman, I can talk and walk at the same time. I was distracted by- by something else. This wasn't your fault. Don't be stupid." It hurt her to talk this much, for so long. She could feel her head pound, growing hot. "If you want to apologize to me," she continued anyway, "there are better places to start."

"You can sit, Percival," suggested Vax softly.

Percy, startled, stepped forward quickly and threw himself into a chair next to her. "Tell me where to start," he whispered.

"You made me leave," she said. "You made me- I really liked you, Percy. It was like a dream, and then you... just told me to leave."

"I'm sorry-"

"I really thought- Percy, I really thought maybe you were different and weren't just after sex."

"I wasn't, god, I swear. Vex, I swear."

"And honestly it would have been okay if that's all you wanted? But then you convinced me- it felt like you liked me, too. Percy." She was getting worked up. Her ribs were sore, her head actively ached. She was desperate for morphine but she had things to say, things that she'd been churning over for too long. There were tears dancing at the edge of her eyes- but they were just from the pain, she swore.

He leaned forward, his hand reaching out for hers, but at the last second he thought better of it and let his hand fall on the bed sheets instead, trembling. "I've done you wrong, Vex," he said, voice nearly as wobbly as his hand until he swallowed again, drawing strength into his words, "I'm broken," he confessed, words coming quicker and more desperate. "I'm broken and I never intended for my jagged edges to hurt you, too. I panicked. Believe me, Vex'ahlia, I never wanted you to leave. It feels wrong to ask you for forgiveness, but I could never live if I didn't beg for it."

Her own hand shook too as she reached for his in the thick silence that followed his words. Her throat was tight, and words wouldn't come yet, so she took his cold, clammy hand in hers, clinging tight to it over the white hospital sheets.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, returning her grip just as tightly, until it was almost painful- but the pain of his grasp drew away from the pain in her head, and she held on. "I don't deserve a second chance, but..."

"Oh, fuck that," said Vax, and both of them visibly startled. She'd forgotten, in the heat of this, that her brother was still there, sitting in the shadows. He stood now, frowning, his arms crossed. "What does it matter what we deserve? Do you think she deserves to be in that bed right now?"

" No ," whispered Percy emphatically.

"Did your family deserve to die? Did Trinket deserve to be beat to within a hair of his life?" Vax was ranting a bit now, the pair of them watching him attentively. "You know," he added, "I sure as fuck don't deserve Keyleth. I don't even deserve to have met her, ever. I'm a shit but for some reason, she likes me. And I'm not going to toss that away." He had paced to the door now, and stopped there.

"I lost my point somewhere in the middle of that," he said, and Vex almost smiled, "but if we try to live by what we deserve, we'll all get nothing but suffering." Vax let out a long breath. "Now I'm going to go get some food and talk to the doctors, and you two better figure this shit out before I get back." With that, he stalked out the door. Vex could hear him grumbling a few steps down the hall, and if this had been any other situation, she might have laughed.

Instead, she turned her gaze from the doorway back to Percy, who was already staring at her. She squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.

"I don't know what else to say," admitted Percy.

God, she didn't either. Vex had been talked back into bad relationships before. She'd faced a man pleading on his knees and promising to be better, if she'd just take him back. It'd never been a good idea, but she'd continued to talk herself into it over and over. Then, she'd allowed her brain to override the fears in her heart, her instincts warning her against it.

Now, it felt like her heart was the one trying to prod her brain into some sense.

"Percy," Vex said softly, "I can't lift my head off this pillow."

He frowned, confused.

"That means," she clarified, "if you want to kiss me, you have to come to me."

His eyes widened like a starving man offered a scrap of bread, and he scrambled out of the chair to get to her side. He leaned over her, eyes flickering over her face, and paused. "Are you sure-?"

Still too far for her to reach him, but her hand was free now- Vex reached up, grabbed the collar of his jacket, and pulled his face down to hers. They collided a bit too hard, and she felt the tremor vividly through her skull, but his cold lips felt like holy water on her burning mouth.

When she finally let him pull away, Vax was standing back in the doorway, coffee in hand and a smirk on his face.

Days later when she was finally allowed out of the hospital, Vex was supported on one side by her brother, and clung tightly to Percy on her other side.

Chapter End Notes

> HELLO thank you all so much for following me with this and encouraging me through it!! this has been the biggest fanfic project I have ever worked on in my life and im so happy to have finished it. i hope you all enjoyed it- the support and outflow of positive comments ive gotten from this community has by and far exceeded anything i ever expected and i am so so grateful

> yes this is the end of 'AFK' but not the end of the afk universe... keep an eye out for more short stories and ficlets involving these modern au kids! im not ready to leave it either...

> as for what's next- i have been planning a long prequel story for both percy and vex since i left so many things untouched ;p and SOON there will be a comic out too involving the de rolos and their new fluffy companions!

> anyway, again, thank you aLL soo much !! i love you all !!

> -shippeh

## Afterword

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