## Preface

AFK: The Side-Stories
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/8481580.

Rating:
  Not Rated
Archive Warning:
  Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category:
  Multi
Fandom:
  Critical Role (Web Series)
Relationship:
  Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia
Language:
  English
Series:
  Part 3 of AFK: an MMO AU
Stats:
  Published: 2016-11-06 Updated: 2017-01-18 Words: 9,985 Chapters: 8/?

# AFK: The Side-Stories

by Shippeh

Summary

> A collection of short ficlets and one-shots occurring within the AFK universe.

> (Feel free to send prompts through tumblr @Shippeh if there are scenes or scenarios you would like to see.)

Notes

> Occurs between AFK chapter 24 and 25. From Vex's point of view.
> (explicit)

## Chapter 1: between her legs

“You’re usually really into this, V; what’s going on?”

Vex sighed and stretched a leg out over Jarrett’s shoulder, the other propped against his coffee table. She was trying- really she was- but her mind kept wandering and no matter how many times Jarrett did that thing with his tongue, she just couldn’t fucking focus.

She wiped her palms against the coarse couch cushion. “Just distracted. Don’t stop.”

“You got it,” he said, lowering his head and complying.

She leaned into the couch cushions and tried to relax, her hand brushing through Jarrett’s cropped hair. She wished he’d grow it out for once, give her something to hold onto as he tasted her. She wished it was white, too, but that was- fuck. That was why she was so distracted. It’d been days already, and if anybody asked, she was over it. They hadn’t even dated, really. Vax had asked her if she’d “heard from her ex” the other day, and she’d panicked, thinking he meant… well, the Other One. Percy wasn’t even an ex in her brain.

Vex pushed against Jarrett’s forehead, drawing him away from her. “Yeah, this isn’t happening,” she admitted.

He leaned back on his knees and wiped her wetness from his lips. “What’s on your mind?”

“Are we having a pantless therapy session?”

“I’m still wearing mine,” he laughed. “We don’t usually… talk. But we can if you want.”

“I think I’m just pining,” she said, shifting her leg from his shoulder onto the other side of the coffee table.

“Well shit,” he said, “that’ll kill any orgasm. Who is the lucky person?”

She rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and wondered why, of all of the people she knew, Jarrett on his knees with her pussy on his mouth was the easiest to talk to about this. “Jackass in my guild. He flew me out, bought me pretty clothes, fucked me, and then made me leave.”

“Yikes, V, you aren’t usually that bad in bed.”

She knocked his shoulder with her foot. “Fuck off, J. I’m a delightful lay.”

“So what- he decide he doesn’t like women halfway through the night or what?”

“I dunno, he has a dramatic history, I think he panicked-” she sighed again, curling her toes against the wooden table. “It makes it really hard to be honestly mad, to be honest. I’m sure he feels bad. Maybe. He hasn’t tried to talk to me at all about it though, either, so like, fuck him, right?”

“Maybe he’s embarrassed?”

“Who knows. I’ve just been with too many jerk-offs in my life to want to waste time chasing another, you know?”

“Trust me, Vex, I know it.”

“Yeah.” “

Yeah.”

“Well, I’m not getting off,” she decided. “You want me to suck you off instead or?”

“I don’t know, V- you gonna cry on me?”

“Fuck off. Also, rent’s going to be late because I had to buy a flight home. By the way.”

It was Jarrett’s turn to sigh, loudly and dramatically, as he stood and unzipped his pants.

## Chapter 2: fail-healing

Chapter Summary

> A combination of two prompts:

> "How about Percy's POV when Vex fell asleep during their gaming session, where they both found out what a bad healer Percy could be?" from @claireyfae

> and

> "Percy totally checking out her Facebook tho like 'i gotta know more' " from @theladyofsummer

Percy had always appreciated healers, he thought. They were the people who were around to save your ass when you stepped wrong (he rarely did) or when the tanks decided to forget the basic fundamentals of existence. When Grog said "Oops" it was always Pike repeating, "We're fine, we're fine, we're fine-" a mantra that almost seemed as essential to the oh-shit style of raid healing as the spells themselves. And sure, sometimes the chant was ended with a quiet, "Ok, we're not fine." But most of the time they could fix their fuck-ups and pull it back together.

It wasn't something Percy thought about much beyond the basics of 'here is where I need to be to make the healer's job easier." And, if he was being frank- if Keyleth could off-heal successfully, he should be able to, as well.

Wrong.

So wrong.

"What the hell even is mana? Am I chugging this wine and pissing bandages?"

"Percy," Vex laughed, "How do you never have mana? We aren't even taking that much damage."

"The tank just keeps going before I can get it back!"

"You keep responding to the ready check! If you aren't ready, say so!"

"Well, I thought I was ready."

"I think you might need more than 30% of your mana on an ungeared character, dear."

"You know- I think I figured that one out."

"I always knew you were the smart one. Just adding another fifty gold to your repair balance."

Percy sighed and leaned back in his chair. He didn't mind paying for her repairs- he'd send her whatever money she asked for without complaint anyway. It wasn't as if he ever used it for anything. He didn't care about collecting mounts or pets, and he had long ago settled on one particular transmog look. Honestly, Vex didn't seem to spend her gold on much either; he was pretty sure she just enjoyed hitting the currency maximum on character after character. Nobody was really sure how many she had at this point- sometimes if he was idle online, his chat log was filled with her logging in and out of bank alt after bank alt.

(He'd even seen her log into an account called 'VexBankAlt19' but he personally thought that one was skipping numbers as a joke.)

He fidgeted with his glasses, fixing their position under his headset. "Vex?"

She hummed quietly over the microphone. "Hmmm?"

"You haven't accepted the rez."

"Oh," she said, and her character quickly popped back to life. "Sorry, I'm just tired."

"At three in the morning? How odd."

"It's only two here, Percival," she pointed out.

He chuckled quietly. "Forgive me," he replied, leaning forward again and gripping his mouse once more. "Do you need to go to bed?"

"No, I don't have to work until late. We can keep going."

"Okay," he said, and 'Good,' he thought. These dark morning hours were familiar to him; he wouldn't even try to sleep until the first edges of dawn started cracking through the curtains. He was used to spending the time alone, joining groups of strangers and helping them power through content he'd seen a million times. When he got sick of that, he'd wander over towards his work room and puzzle over whatever project covered the desk. Lonely nights, lonely days- Percy could go an entire week without ever running into Cassandra, even.

And that was fine. He didn't feel like he was lacking anything. He had everything he'd wanted, right? Security, independence, Cassandra safe and home. His health, mostly; it'd been months since his lungs bothered him, and even longer since the last time he'd coughed himself awake, spitting blood into the toilet. He wasn't going to be running any marathons, and reaching too high for anything made the skin across his back ache as it stretched- but whatever. It'd all been worth it.

Probably.

If he didn't see Cassandra, he could pretend that she didn't look miserable most of the time.

(If she didn't see him, she could pretend the same.)

A sudden loud static through his mic reminded him that there had been a point to this trail of introspection. "Vex?" he called, tapping his headset to lower the sound of the buzzing. Her name was lit, but the only answer that came was more static. "Vex?" Her character had gone completely still. He shot her a brief message and got nothing back.

She'd fallen asleep. He muted himself and laughed. Maybe he should call her? Hope the ringer was on- wake her up and tell her to go to bed? Or maybe she'd just left her mic on and was already in bed, and she'd be irritated if he called her.

(He suspected she'd fallen onto her push-to-talk button and was dead asleep over her keyboard, judging by the static still ringing through his headphones, but the thought inadvertently waking her and upsetting her was largely unappealing.)

Percy logged out of the game, but left the voice chat idling, muted and quiet. He'd fallen asleep at his desk plenty of times. It wasn't comfortable, and most of the time he woke within hours, stiff and sore. She'd probably wake up soon if she'd just fallen asleep there, and if she did, he didn't want it to seem like he'd just up and left. He could say goodnight, at least.

He could just text her a good night. He didn't really have to sit and wait. Would it seem weird if she woke up to him listening to her sleep?

God, probably. What was the normal protocol here? He had no idea.

(He had some ideas regarding why he was so concerned about making the right move, here- but those were all terrifying prospects and best ignored.)

Percy absently browsed the internet, just listening to static. He found himself on her facebook page eventually- he often found himself there when nothing else was going on. When he noticed, sometimes he would browse the rest of his friends' pages, just so that he could try an convince himself that he wasn't picking favorites. But he could only stare at Pike's teasing pictures of herself on Scanlan's lawn so long before admitting to himself that he was being selfish and hitting her name again.

Nothing had even changed since the last time he'd looked, really. She had the same profile picture; the same one her brother had, too, just a picture of the two of them in the sun. Lots of pictures of Trinket, selfies, candids of Vax looking irritated. A post from their little sister- "Dad says if I get really good grades this semester I can actually come visit this time!"

It was all familiar, and it felt, sometimes, like he could fool himself into believing he was actually part of her life. More than just an internet friend from states away that they had visited once out of convenience. Idle, indulgent thoughts- but ones that became easier to trust in the dead of night, alone. Listening to her breath over voice chat.

Vex never came back- eventually he gave up, knowing boredom was a terrible partner, and left to seek a task for his hands and mind. He left the chat room, shutting off his mic, but before he did, he sent her a single message:

"Goodnight, Vex."

## Chapter 3: cheating

Chapter Summary

> "Percy and Vex playing videogames on a couch :) " suggested by @androgynoussquirrel !

"Move over."

"No, you move over."

"I can't move over, Trinket's ass is taking up two cushions."

"Make him sit on the floor like a normal dog, then."

Vex gasped, pulling a hand from her controller to cover one of Trinket's ears, her mouth wide in feigned indignation. "How dare you! He understands English, you know!"

"Does he understand this?" Percy asked, taking advantage of Vex's one-handed game playing to score one, two- three solid hits on her. Her character went down with a sad cry and a dramatic faint, collapsing to the ground as the score read '1-0'.

'You dirty goddamn fucking cheat-"

"Language, Vex! He understands English, you know!"

She gave up on Trinket's purity (he hadn't even moved an inch, dead asleep on the couch with half of his back end slipping off, his nose pressed so tightly against Vex's leg that it was a shock he could still breathe) and clutched her controller with two hands again. The looked she turned on Percy could have chilled the blood in even Vax's veins, but he only raised an eyebrow coolly, egging her on.

"Fight me," she said, hitting the button for the next round to start. The match was a lot closer when both played fairly. He scored a hit, she took the next one. It was a slow battle, whittling away each others' health as the round timer slowly ticked down.

And then, suddenly- Trinket snorted, kicked out in his sleep, and pressed his head against her hard enough to distract her just for one important second. She groaned angrily as Percy took the lead, glancing away from the screen for a moment to glare at him. He wasn't looking, though- he was watching the game intently, the edge of his bottom lip caught between his teeth. Shit, he was cute. She couldn't wait to win and wipe that smug look from his eyes.

Oh, actually- that was an idea. All's fair in love and video games, right?

Ha, sucker.

She nudged him hard with her elbow and stole an extra hit while he flinched away with an offended grunt, pulling ahead just slightly as the clock knocked down the last few seconds. With just a couple moments to go she leaned over and kissed that lip, pulling it from his teeth into her own and grinning while the announcer named her the winner of the round by default. Percy tried to return the kiss but she pulled away before he could, laughing at his appalled grunt.

"Now who's cheating?" he pouted.

"Me," she answered, taking no shame in her victory technique. "We're even."

"Not for long," he threatened, starting the final round. One to each of them through dirty tactics, and a last fight to determine the winner.

They both played dirty. It started with Vex going after his face again, kissing the corner of his mouth, his cheek, the flush spreading down his neck. She was barely even watching the screen, and she should have been failing miserably- but he was distracted by her (as usual), trying to shove her away from him while maintaining his grip on the controller. He elbowed her in the side and she yelped, loud enough that Trinket startled awake and flopped to the floor, the sudden displacement of weight bouncing them both on the cushions.

"Sorry-" Percy apologized, "Sorry!"

"My bad ribs, Percy!" she whined, dramatically falling over into the empty space still left warmed by Trinket's chest, her fingers still pressing buttons frantically.

"Sorry!" he repeated, "Sorry! I- wait-" He narrowed his eyes and she refused to meet his gaze, grinning at the screen. "You filthy liar, that's your other side," Percy accused. He was too far behind her to catch up at this point and let the controller fall to the wayside as he tried to elbow her again, leaning towards the center of the couch.

"No, definitely that side!" she claimed, raising a foot to push him away from her. He grabbed her ankle and forced it back down, shifting to follow her down on the couch, pulling the controller from her hands. She fought him, her fingers tight on the plastic, but Trinket decided to stick his head back on the couch to see what was going on and his wet tongue on her face distracted her enough that Percy was able to win and toss the controller onto their stupid coffee table-tub.

"Which side?" he asked, holding himself up over her on the couch now while she tried to wriggle away from Trinket, who kept following her face with his wet nose even as she tried to palm him away. "So this side's okay?" he pressed, one hand hanging onto the back of the couch for support while the other inched up her left side.

She went deathly still suddenly, Trinket held away, her eyes big and watching Percy's hand slowly slipped under her shirt, bunching up the fabric and revealing dark patches of purple and yellow. "Uh-"

"Are you sure?" he asked again, trying and failing to hide a grin as he ran his hand underneath her shirt and over sensitive skin.

"Percy-" she threatened softly.

"What?"

"Percy-"

"Will you admit you cheated?"

His hand trailed the edges of her lacy bra, her stomach bare as the shirt bunched around his wrist. "Huh?" she asked, distracted. Trinket took the chance to press forward again, slipping past the wall of her hand and going for her face again. "Blah!" she whined, turning away from his dripping tongue so that he could nose her ear and the soft, short hair on her head instead of slobbering all over her face.

Percy took the opening the dog gave him, sliding his hand from her sensitive skin down to the couch and dipping forward, his mouth finding hers. "Trinket and I cheat too," he said boldly against her lips.

She strongly considered kneeing him in the chest, but lifted her head to meet him in another kiss, instead.

From the kitchen, Vax yelled, "Can I eat one fucking meal in peace?" and they both laughed against each other while he sighed theatrically.

## Chapter 4: distract

Chapter Summary

> post AFK - a moment between them
> rated E

"This is fucking stupid," Vex snapped. "I can't do anything with one hand." She huffed, a short angry sigh, and tore the band from what remained of her hair. It was almost funny; a childish pout, and he might have laughed if it wasn't also heartbreaking.

"It looks lovely down," Percy told her, and she pulled her frustrated gaze away from the mirror and towards him, instead. She did look lovely, despite the frown she was giving him, despite the bandages and the bold staples spanning her scalp like a grotesque hairpiece, sitting in front of the mirror in nothing but her underwear. He'd thought she had looked lovely even in the hospital bed, once he had gotten over the initial shock of terror to see her there like that, helpless.

"I can't sleep with it all over the place," she told him, her fingers working through the knots she'd just made trying to braid with one hand. "Do you know how to braid?"

He shook his head. "I've never done it." Mother had braided Vesper's, and Vesper had braided Cassandra's.

"Can you just tie it up for me, then?" He nodded and she leaned away from her petite vanity, nudging a drawer shut before joining him on the bed. Percy shifted to give her space, but she plopped down close enough that her thigh touched his anyway. Vex had no concept of personal space and Percy often felt like an outsider floundering to learn a new language- a language that was multitudes better than his home dialect.

She shifted until her back was facing him, and handed a hair-tie over her shoulder. "Just so it's out of the way," she added.

He took it and flexed the band over his wrist, taking her hair up- what was left of it. He and Vax had both offered to take her to get it fixed up, but she seemed to be stalling, Percy thought. There was always an excuse at the tip of her tongue; the salon must be full, she didn't have time, she ached too much to sit in a chair for too long. She shut down the conversation each time it was brought up, and eventually they stopped bringing it up.

(If she did something about it, that meant her loss was Real. Percy could understand her reluctance.)

He took his time with her hair, allowing his fingers to drift through it. Vex didn't seem to mind; he pressed his fingers to her scalp and she shifted closer with a tired sigh. "How do you feel?" he asked, tracing the jagged hairline gently.

"Like I'm sick of hearing that question," she replied quietly. "It always hurts."

"More meds?"

"I'm supposed to wait another few hours." Vex raised a hand to her head, two fingers carefully testing pressure against the wicked incision. Percy shifted his hand out of her hair and took her hand instead, pulling it away from the wound and down to her lap, where he twisted his fingers between hers. He leaned forward and kissed her neck once, twice, heavy, warm kisses trailing down to her bare shoulder. "Percival."

He hummed against her skin. She squeezed his hand and didn't pull away from him. "Does this help?"

"It's a good distraction," she agreed. He kissed her shoulder once more, softly, and she added, "I can think of better."

"Are you- wouldn't it hurt?" he asked, concerned as always about her ribs, her head.

She laughed, a sound that came too rarely the past few days. (Probably because, immediately after, he felt her wince.) "I'm not asking you to fuck me senseless, Percy."

"Then....?"

"Here," she said, pulling his hand into her lap, and lower, dragging his fingers into her underwear. She untangled her hand from his and pressed him against her. She was impossibly warm and already damp. He pressed his chest against her back to get a better angle, his fingers happy to oblige and explore like he hadn't, before. The first time, it'd been quick and fierce and she'd taken over. Overwhelmed, he'd been more than happy to let her.

"Like this?" he murmured into her skin, testing and teasing and trying to map her into the memory of his mind through touch alone.

Vex shifted, pressing up further against his hand. "You can do it harder, Percy," she told him, her voice breathy. "Like this," she said, slipping her hand again into her underwear and pushing him against her with a force that surprised him. "Like this," she repeated, and he let her take control of his hand as she ground against him, directing his fingers where she wanted.

He focused on kissing her back and up her neck, pressing his lips to her mismatched hairline, trying to pay attention to the way she used him, to remember. He couldn't even see anything from his terrible view but the thought of her, the feel of her against his palm, drove him crazy. He dropped the rest of her hair and slipped his free hand under her arm, dipping inside her bra before she nudged him out of the way. For a moment, he frowned, worried (as always) he'd done something wrong, but she just reached behind her and unclipped her bra entirely before jerking his hand right back to her breast.

"It's new," she told him, the fabric loose around her breasts though still held up by straps, "Don't stretch it out."

"I'll buy you another," he promised, squeezing, his thumb pressing against her nipple.

"That's going to be a running joke between us," Vex managed, her voice quivering. She leaned heavily against his chest now, her breath coming short and quick. He kissed along the line of her neck, and nipped her lightly near the shoulder, tweaking her nipple as he did so, and she gasped, and then grunted, her hand stilling on his for a moment.

"You alright?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes," she replied,"It's just- not enough of a distraction."

"What can I do?"

She was quiet, thinking. His hand was still flush against her, fingers wet and hot, her nails lightly resting against him. It took effort not to move, to hold still now that he thought he had her figured out, now that she'd shown him exactly what she liked. She was dripping and he was vividly aware of his own erection, excited just to be this close to her, skin against skin even without facing each other. And then suddenly she moved, pulling away from him and leaving him cold. Vex stood, turning and leaning to lay a gentle kiss against his lips. When she pulled away, he tried to follow, eyebrows lifted, curious.

"Can I...?" she trailed off, glancing down towards his cock and then back up to meet his gaze.

He would have granted her anything just then- the sight of her standing there, bra slipping from her shoulder, lacy underwear damp, her face flushed- she was still wearing the sling on her shoulder (despite how often she tried to get rid of it without him or her brother noticing) and her hair fell awkwardly over one shoulder, but she could have asked for the world and he would have done his best to give it to her. "Whatever you want," he promised, prepared for anything.

Well, almost anything.

Percy was absolutely not prepared for her to slowly get down on her knees before him. "Do you have that hair-tie?" she asked, adjusting her sling and shifting into a comfortable position. Wordlessly, he showed her his wrist, the tie tight enough against his skin it had left a ring of red he hadn't noticed. She slid closer to him, pressing his legs apart until she could fit between them, and dipped her head downwards. "Can you tie it up?" she asked, looking down at her own knees.

"Are you alright on the floor?" he asked, hands shaking as he collected her hair and shoved the hair-tie over it.

"Sure," Vex replied casually, looking up at him now that her long hair was out of the way. She inched closer still and met his wide-eyed gaze. "Don't looked so shocked," she told him, grinning.

"I-"

"Distractions work both ways," Vex said, and then she winked and he didn't know if he was going to make it much further at all, if he was going to last four seconds once she touched him. His mouth went dry and he could only watch as she got comfortable and reached for him. With practiced ease she unbuttoned his boxers and pulled his cock free, wrapping one hand around it, her thumb stroking gently. "Ready?" she asked, teasing.

"No," he said, swallowing.

"Should I stop, then?"

"No."

She chuckled, then leaned forward and ran her tongue over just the tip of him, so quickly he wasn't even sure it had happened at all. Then she blew on him suddenly, and his whole body twitched. "Vex," he hissed, and she laughed again before dipping forward and taking him fully into her mouth, her hand sliding down to the base to make room for her lips, and his eyes went wide. He suddenly didn't know what to do with his hands- one clutched at the sheets next to him, the other pressed flat against his thigh. "Vex," he said again, drawing her name out.

She hummed over him in response and he felt it vividly, his cock twitching, his legs tensing. He met her eyes and she stared up at him, wickedly, before pressing her tongue against the flat of his cock and finally moving. It was almost unbearable. She was hot and wet and the motion of her tongue and her lips did things to him that he hadn't even thought possible. Before he knew it, his hand shifted from his thigh to her hair, and he regretted agreeing to tie it up for a split-second before he couldn't have regretted anything at all.

She took him in deeper, her tongue twisting against him, picking up speed. She closed her eyes and he swore she groaned against him (but fuck it could have been him, it was impossible to tell) and just the thought that she might actually want his cock in her mouth was enough to undo him completely. He came hard and she didn't pull away, her tongue working as she swallowed and undoing him further. Vex stayed with him until he was finished, his chest heaving as she pulled away.

"Not bad?" she asked, sitting back and wiping the back of her hand against his mouth.

"Uh-huh," he said, and that was the best he could do at the moment.

"In the future," she added, "you should tell me before you're gonna finish."

"Uh-huh," he repeated, and she laughed at him, a small, pleased smile on her lips.

He helped her stand and she kissed him hard, her tongue in his mouth, and he tasted himself, and god- he'd help distract her any time she needed.

## Chapter 5: have you ever

Chapter Summary

> months later, in the middle of the night, vex looses a thought she regrets

Pike had thought she was crazy to take Percy back. 'He showed up at the hospital and apologized for everything' sounded pretty but it wasn't good enough for her yet. "Just be careful," Pike had warned, and Vex had known her long enough to read between the lines. Be careful- you've been here before, love, you have a type. Your type is dangerous. Your type hurts.

Your type is laying across from you in a bed he'd kicked you out of once already, dead asleep.

It'd been months since then, and things seemed okay. When he finally went home, after her sling had come off and she had two hands again, she missed him. They rarely fought- and that in itself worried her sometimes, because she felt like a healthy relationship should argue once in a while, right? She wished she could ask Pike about it, but Pike was already so guarded about Percy as it was. Vax avoided disagreeing with his dates until it became an entirely different issue, and she could just picture Keyleth's response in her head already: "Do you want to fight with Percy? What's he done? I don't understand what you're talking about?"

And that was pretty much the extent of anybody she knew well enough to beg relationship advice from. Vex did her best to believe things were good. They didn't feel like her previous relationships, but, then again, the general consensus was that those had been completely fucked up- so it was probably best that this thing with Percy felt different. Felt too good to be true.

(And in her head, she knew that it was too good to be true, at least for now. They both had secrets. They both had a Past- capital P emphasized. It'd come out eventually and throw them into a blender and they'd have to wait and see what came out.)

Anyway, those were the kinds of thoughts that kept her awake at three in the morning, watching Percy breathe a foot away from her. She loved watching him sleep. He looked like a completely different person in the shadows, his face at peace, years vanishing- it had taken her a while to realize exactly how much younger than her he was, and she still found it hard to believe in the light of day.

Carefully, she reached out and cupped his chin, running her thumb lightly along his jawline. Scruffy. He hadn't shaved since she had arrived two days ago. She'd monopolized all of his time and she planned to continue to do so- though the thought of watching him shave, carefully, deliberately- that sounded appealing, too.

(Especially if she was naked and trying to distract him.)

"Percy," she whispered quietly, his name little more than a faint breath of air. "Are you awake?"

She got no response, just another warm breath across her wrist. Vex shifted in bed, pulling herself closer towards him until she was near enough to lean forward and kiss him carefully, a soft press of her lips against his. His eyes fluttered briefly behind closed lids, but he did not otherwise move. "Percy," she whispered again, just a hair louder.

"Mmm," he grunted shortly, eyes pressed shut, the creases of a frown folding over his eyebrows.

"Are you awake?" Vex asked again, running her fingers across the grain of his scruff until he drew his head away from her grasp.

"Apparently," Percy replied thickly, still resisting opening his eyes until she nudged forward and kissed him again, more solidly this time. Reluctantly, he blinked sleep from his eyes, watching through barely lifted lids as she moved away again. "What?" he asked, slipping a hand from beneath the sheets and dragging her wrist away from his face.

"Percy, have you ever killed anybody?" she asked, and the speed with which he dropped her wrist surprised her. He was silent, still, and stared at her with wide eyes now, bright and clearly awake. There was a quiet tension in the air while she waited for a reply; while he hesitated to give one. "Percy?" she asked again after a few moments had passed.

He frowned and finally spoke, voice even and soft. "Why are you asking that?"

Why was she asking? It hadn't been what she planned to say. It had just slipped out, a thought uncensored in the dark of night. "Sorry," she said, pulling her hand back, grasping the silken sheets near her chest, "you don't have to answer. I shouldn't have asked."

She waited through another thick silence before he spoke again, and to her immense surprise, he wasn't angry. She thought he'd be furious that she woke him just to pry; she expected it. But he spoke just as softly as before, his gaze flickering across her face as if he was trying to read her. She wondered what he would find. "It's alright," Percy told her, "We can talk about it. Just- maybe later."

That wasn't a no, and it scared her. He didn't mind, but she shouldn't have asked. She knew- she really knew that she wasn't going to get a laugh and a quick denial. They'd never... She and Percy had never talked about his past. Not once. What she knew was based on Cassandra's confession and Keyleth's internet history. Yeah, she'd thought about broaching the topic; carefully, maybe over a private dinner, or over the phone where she wouldn't have to meet his face. Not like this. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, both of them unprepared for the possible ramifications.

She wasn't answering him, and his gaze shifted, concern lining his lips. "Vex?" He reached out to her this time, his hand covering hers against the mattress lightly, barely touching her, just enough to be present.

Vex tried to laugh, desperate to avoid this conversation and go back to pondering the honeymoon phase of dating. "I'm just wondering if I should tell you about my ex or not," she said, trying a joke- and as soon as it fell from her lips she knew that was wrong, too.

God, to wake up and have this all be a dream.

Percy's hand gripped hers more firmly, tangling with her fingers in the sheets. "I know about him already," he confessed, his eyes finally drawing away from hers and falling to their hands.

"You... do?"

"Just a bit," he said, still avoiding her gaze. "I read the notes on your brother's case. And the details regarding your restraining order."

"Is that- is that all public knowledge?" Vex asked, a weight settling heavy in her chest; she wondered that it didn't bother her cracked and healing ribs, because it felt real, like a physical presence ensnaring her lungs and cutting her breath.

"Not all of it," Percy admitted, and she wasn't sure if she felt relief or not. "Sorry. I just assumed you'd done the same and thought it'd be easier. You've never asked me about anything."

"Cassandra told me most of it," she confessed. She had googled him, though; it'd been hard to resist after Keyleth had brought it up the first time. It really was only fair that he'd done the same, right?

(It didn't feel fair.)

"That makes sense," he mused. "You knew, then? Before we-?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Vex loved catching him off-guard. It was so hard to do if she actively tried, but seemed to come naturally just through the effect of her existence. He always made that same face; that same eyebrow lift, followed by two solid blinks and that crook of his lips. Did he think she wouldn't have fallen for him if she knew he was a tragic orphan carrying the entire family's dark baggage? God, he was an idiot.

"We should sleep, Percy," she suggested.

"We can talk about this tomorrow, if you still want to."

"Maybe," Vex replied. She wasn't sure if she was ready for this talk, but minds changed as the sun rose. For now... "Will you just hold me, Percy?" she asked, freeing her hand and shifting to turn away from him.

"Of course," he said, reaching for her.

Percy pulled her close, his arm wrapping around her and tucking her there against his chest. She felt his breath warm on her neck as he nuzzled close, laying one chaste kiss against her back with a content sigh. She pressed herself as close to him as possible, until she could feel the beat of his heart behind her, one leg tangling between his. Vex took his hand and clutched it to her breast, finally allowing her eyes to close and her mind to relax.

She was nearly asleep when Percy spoke again, his voice gentle just behind her ear. "Vex," he began, and she hummed a response- she was still awake- "I've never done this before, but-" She felt him swallow, felt his heart beat solidly, his hand shifting in her grip. "Is it too soon to tell you I love you?"

She froze, and it felt very quickly like nothing else existed except his suddenly too-hot body against hers, the sound of his heart and her own pulse like sirens in her mind. She tried to speak, and found her throat too dry for words until she swallowed, licking her lips swiftly.

"Yes," she told him, but she lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it, kissed his thumb, the backs of his fingers, before tucking him tight to her chest once more.

"Alright," he agreed, "Okay."

"Goodnight, darling," Vex whispered, and she smiled when he chuckled faintly into her hair.

## Chapter 6: blood

Chapter Summary

> There's Vax and Vex, and there's Percival and Cassandra- and then somehow, there are Pike and Grog.

Pike didn't know him, but she did know of him; in the same way that any kid in a smaller school was aware of every classmate, she could recognize the kid who sat in the back corner and tossed spitballs at the whiteboard like it was the 1970's. She'd be soul-deep buried in a book when a shout from the teacher would drag her out, and like every other kid in the class she'd spin around to stare at the troublemaker in the back. Every time he was sent down to the principal's office was like a safe space of time to breathe and learn in peace.

Their first real meeting involved his fist and her face, the laughter of boys two grades up, and the taste of dirt. She ended up sitting next to him in the principal's office, wiping blood from her nose just the nurse pressed a wad of bandages to the bite mark on his arm and the principal gave them a lecture that she'd remember forever and he wouldn't hear half of.

Her grandpa had picked her up from the office, taken her for ice cream, and said, "Would you prefer Judo or Karate?"

Nobody ever came to pick up the kid who insisted on being called Grog.

Once you've tasted somebody's blood, you pay attention to them. Even as she avoided him across the recess yard, she watched him. He only had friends in the older class, but Pike didn't really think they were very good friends. Her friends played tag and caught each other on the monkey bars and shared popsicle when somebody's fell on the concrete. His friends didn't play anything and knocked each other's desserts onto the ground on purpose. Their laughter was mean. She didn't like them. She didn't like him, either.

And therefore, her grandpa was incredibly surprised when, weeks later, she asked him to pack her a second lunch. "I know you're growing, pipsqueak," he said, leaning against the counter with a peanut butter covered knife in hand, "but I didn't think you were that hungry."

She scrunched her face, and he knew that she was about to tell him a lie, so he added, "The answer is yes, but you have to tell me the truth. There are few things more important than honesty." He watched his little granddaughter debate, her emotions an open book across her face.

Finally, she shrugged, scuffed her foot, and said, "It's for Grog."

"Who?"

"Uh, Greg. The boy who punched me."

"Is he harassing you for your food now?"

"No!" she said, her hands on her hips. "He never has lunch. Sometimes the school gives him a sandwich but not always! And I think that's not very nice."

He considered his blonde little charge for a while, thinking about the many times his daughter had made that same determined look. The fire in those blue eyes was hereditary. "I'll give you a second lunch to give him, but you have to help me make it." He handed her the dirty knife, and she took it with a grin.

The boy thought she was joking at first and laughed at her, threatened to hit her again, told her to leave him alone- so Pike left the brown bag on the table and ran back to her friends, who had been watching with whispers and wide eyes.

The second time he snatched the bag from her and told her to go away.

The third time he didn't say anything, so she sat down at the edge of the table and ate her matching sandwich.

(Her grandpa called the school after a week, wondering why his granddaughter needed to feed one of their students, and came away very disappointed in the school system.)

He was called Grog, she found out, because his writing was atrocious and it was better to claim you'd spelled your name that way on purpose. He didn't have lunch, he told her, because his uncle rarely went grocery shopping and when he did, it wasn't usually for lunch meat. "What do you eat?" she asked, shocked. He shrugged. "Come home for dinner," she insisted, and few were able to resist Pike when she had a goal set in mind.

He ate dinner with them that night. Her grandpa asked a few questions and got only irritated grunts in reply, though Pike chattered away enough to fill the silence. From then on he made enough food for three.

Grog came home with her from school almost every afternoon from then on (and sometimes she could even convince him to do his homework). At some point he stopped leaving in the evening, and the spare room slowly transformed into a bedroom. If anybody noticed that their kid stopped showing up, they never said anything. Teachers didn't mind when Mr. Trickfoot started asking the kid in the back of the class during conferences; at least somebody was asking after him. At least somebody was there to pick him up from school events, and pay his fieldtrip fees, and put their foot down when the janitor caught him smoking in the bathroom.

Pike didn't realize until years later what she'd imposed on her grandfather- stuck with raising not one child, but two. Not once, though, from the very first sandwich to the day he died, did he ever complain.

## Chapter 7: coy

Chapter Summary

> a sibling talk

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

It was six in the morning, and his sister was awake. Well, probably- Vax watched her slink out of her bedroom after Trinket, her eyes half shut and an inaudible grunt slipping through her lips. She snagged Percy’s jacket from the kitchen chair he’d carefully hung it over the night before and ducked into it before clipping Trinket’s leash on and noisily crashing out the front door.

Vax watched her leave from his seat at the tiny kitchen table, spoon balancing against the edge of a bowl of cereal growing quickly soggy. Trinket must have nudged her awake to piss, probably. Very few things would have gotten her out of bed before the sun, especially when he knew Percy was still in her bed.

Granted, he was going to sleep like the dead until noon, too. At least, Vax hoped that’s all they were doing in there until so late in the morning.

God fucking hell.

He spooned a scoop of cereal mush into his mouth, grimacing. He liked Percy well enough but- the walls in their apartment were way too thin.

Vex came back shortly, kicking off her shoes in the hallway and letting Trinket off the lead. He bee-lined for her closed bedroom door, but Vex didn’t; she shrugged out of Percy’s coat and hung it back on the chair before jerking it out and sliding into it heavily. She leaned forward, elbows on the table, and stared at him. He stared back, eyebrows slowly crawling towards his hairline while he waited for her to do anything but frown at him.

Finally, Vax let his spoon drop into the bowl with a clink and rested his chin on a fist. “Something on your mind?” He was well acquainted with six am, but it was still too early to deal with his sister’s odd shit.

Trinket whined softly in the hallway, and Vex’s eyes flicked to the waiting dog and then back to Vax, falling to his chin and then back up as if she was looking for something. He rolled his eyes and finally she leaned back, one hand slipping down into Percy’s coat pocket and bringing something out of it. She clenched her fist around the object, pausing, and then set it on the table, pushing it to him.

His eyes fell to it. A small velvet box. He knew what was in it before he tweaked it open- only one thing came in dark boxes like this one. Vex waited silently while he pulled the ring out, turning it over in his thin fingers. A small diamond set in white gold, the jewel’s setting folded to look like little leaves or flower petals- a smattering of tiny emeralds and tinier diamonds glittered across the band.

Lovely and- it was perfect. Vax’s lip curved into a thin smile, and his sister’s frown only deepened. “I can’t do this,’ she said, ducking her head into her hands, pressing her forehead into her palms.

He set the ring back into the box and tapped the lid shut with a loud click. “Do what?”

“That’s a ring.”

“Yeah?”

“An engagement ring.”

“Yeah.”

“That. I can’t do that.”

“Get engaged?”

Vex let out a long breath, loose hair fluttering against her nose, before finally lowering her hands to the table and meeting his gaze. There were red marks on her face from the press of her hands, and he might have laughed if she wasn’t starting to look so panicked, eyes growing wide. She shook her head.

Breakfast had been long forgotten by this point, the milk grown warm. Vax considered his words carefully. “You don’t want to marry Percy specifically, or you don’t want to get married?”

She leaned back in her chair, running a hand through the wisps of hair that had escaped her braid in the night. Vex hissed another breath of air, the end of it falling into a soft groan. “It’s too early for this,” she complained, as if he’d dragged her out of bed and forced her into this serious conversation. Vax waited, watching her fidget uncomfortably. He expected her to get up and leave.

Trinket woofed again, his nose pressed against the door. Vex looked at him but made no move to go back to bed. Without drawing her gaze from her dog, she asked quietly, “You love Keyleth, right?”

“Sure,” he replied tentatively, unsure what direction she was taking this.

“If you, you know, proposed. And she said no- what would you do?”

Be tremendously devastated, definitely. He ran his tongue over a lip that felt suddenly too dry. “I don’t think I would ask unless I already knew she’d say yes,” he admitted. “Do you and Percy… talk about that?”

“Are we supposed to?” Vex asked, after a pause.

He shrugged, leaning back in the cold kitchen chair and pushing the box back to her. “There aren’t any ‘supposed to’s in dating, really.”

She picked it up, turning it between her fingers, thinking. About Saundor, probably (definitely). She’d been engaged once. Three times, If you wanted to count the every time she’d called it off and on again. Had they talked about it first? Vax doubted it- the ass had set the whole thing up in a way that she couldn’t have said no, surrounded by his family and people who claimed to be friends.

He hadn’t really known the details at the time. Things had been… strained. She’d told him about the engagement in a mass text and he hadn’t responded.

Hours later, in the dead of night, she texted him again. “Will you be there?”

“Always.”

Still held true.

Vex flipped the box open and then snapped the lid shut loudly, pulling him out of early morning memory. “What if I just don’t ever want to get married?”

“You don’t have to. But- why not?”

“Well, what’s the point?” Vex leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest and leaving the dark box sitting ominously alone on the table. “It’s a lot of fuss for what? A tax break and a new last name?”

“Medical protections,” Vax began, “Cheaper insurance. Better rates on mortgages.”

“God, have you researched this?”

“General legal rights.” He waved a hand absently. “And then, you know- the whole thing about making a promise to somebody you love, in front of witnesses.”

“Ugh.”

“Sounds that bad, huh?”

“Yes. Well, no, I guess. But..” She let herself trail off, eyes drifting towards Trinket, who had given up and was sleeping against the closed bedroom door now.

“But it sounds terrifying?” Vax prodded, pulling her back into the conversation.

“Definitely.”

“I think it’s supposed to. That’s how you know it’s serious.”

“I just don’t want things to change.”

“Between the two of you? Or everything else?”

Vex’s arms had fallen from her chest to her lap, and she eyed them carefully, gaze low. “I don’t know. We’d have to move, right? Where would we go? You’re here, and his sister is there. My job is here.” She paused before continuing, “When I was with Saundor, and we got engaged, that was when I first started to realize that I was trapped. And he was so different. Like he knew I was trapped.”

“I don’t think Percival is anything like Saundor. Is he?”

“No. No, but what if he-“

Vax interrupted her, standing suddenly and picking up the ring box as he did. “I don’t think you should worry about it,” he told her firmly, pocketing the box.

She watched him do it, frowning before looking upwards. “Why? What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” he said, dumping his bowl sloppily in the sink. She spun in her chair to watch him pull a coat on, then put on his boots. “Don’t fuss about it,” Vax told her, pulling the door open. He should have left five minutes ago, and was already going to be late.

“You can’t take that,” Vex said, getting up, “or he’ll know I saw it.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he replied, pausing to wink at her. “It’s not his.”

Vax shut the door quickly behind him before she could work that one out, grinning.

Chapter End Notes

> i havent written anything in way too long and im feeling rusty but. here you go. hope it wasn't the worst thing.

## Chapter 8: orthax

Chapter Summary

> there are some moments in time that stand out as life-changing
> they arent always for the better

> a percy flashback

He had worked hard to get to this point. Sleepless nights, days without meals. Days he couldn’t remember at all. The entire past year had been spent fighting to get here, clawing through scum until he drew the attention of this underworld god and convinced him that helping him would be worth it.

He should feel great, standing here now at the close, his targets tied back to back in front of him, at his mercy.

Percy felt nothing.

“Password, please,” called Orthax idly, ignoring Percy completely. He sat up on the office’s large, ornate desk, one leg crossed underneath him and the other dangling off the edge, the heel of his shoe clicking periodically off the side. He sat slouched, laptop open in his lap, his pitch suit creasing- but wrinkles (like many things) seemed to avoid Orthax completely.

“Fuck off,” snarled the man roped tight to a chair, his lips twisted into a violent snarl.

“That’s it?” Orthax didn’t even glance up from the screen. “I was hoping you’d at least pretend to be clever. Something cliché like, ‘Over my dead body!’ I could have fun with that. Fuck off is so boring.” He sighed softly, as if personally insulted, and then threw a swift nod towards Percy. “Percival, kid, feel free to get that password for me. Have some fun.”

He had a knife. It felt heavy in his hand, as if he were wielding an old iron blade, as if it carried a history of blood- which was a stupid thought, because he was sure they’d given him something brand new, steel sharp enough to split bone. Percy raised it up, knuckles white on the hilt, and Sylas Briarwood turned to meet his gaze.

He’d never met this man in person before; or if he had, it wouldn’t have been an event he’d bothered to remember. And yet, somehow, these eyes had haunted him through nightmares, cut through pain fueled fugues where nothing existed but fire on his back and vengeance in his heart. The look in Briarwood’s eyes was a dare, and Percy stepped forward, prepared to discover if he was ready to meet that challenge.

“536, capital VFA, 1236,” recited the lady quickly; Delilah, bound facing away from her husband but close enough that, Percy noticed now, their hands clasped tightly together against the backs of the chairs, through the ropes. It was an odd kindness to have granted.

Orthax tapped the code in and laughed when it worked. “At least one of you has some brains.” He shifted on the desk, allowing himself to get comfortable while he typed. “It’s always so much easier when you’ve already got your money stashed in illegal, off-shore accounts. Saves me the trouble of having to cover it up later.” His honeyed voice was too loud in the padded office. Percy wished he would stop talking; his rambling voice felt like an offhand form of torture.

A harsh, sharp buzz interrupted the scene, all eyes shifting towards Orthax as he paused his work and lifted a small radio from his coat pocket. “Situation?”

A voice crackled from the other end. “Everything is in position.”

“We’re almost done here. Bring the girl down and get ready to go.”

“Got it, boss.”

He slipped the radio back into his pocket and slammed the laptop lid closed before sliding off the desk, computer tucked under an arm. Smiling wickedly, he walked forward, pausing to lean over and brush a lock of Delilah’s hair behind her ear. She tried to pull back and then tried to bite him; he laughed. “Cute,” he said, joining Percy. “Excited?” Orthax asked, raising an eyebrow, and nudging him hard with the elbow cradling the computer.

Percy flinched, which earned him another laugh. His mouth felt dry; he didn’t have an answer. ‘Excitement’ was an emotion so far and away from anything he was feeling right now. He was saved from coming up with an actual answer by the door slamming open behind them, he and Orthax turning as one to meet their newcomers, a bulky horse of a man and-

“Cassandra,” he gasped, and then swallowed hard. The man was dragging her along, his grip hard on her arm, and her hands tied behind her back. She was silent, makeup smudged by tears that she wasn’t letting fall, dressed only in lacy pajamas. “Why is she restrained?” Percy demanded, taking a single step towards his sister before pausing, stopped by the shock in her face.

Orthax handed the computer to his henchman. “She’s an unknown risk,” he explained loosely. “I don’t take careless chances.”

Cassandra stared, eyes wide and bright and a million questions on the edge of her open lips, gaze shifting from her brother to Orthax and finally past them to the trussed up Briarwoods.

“Cassie, my sweet,” crooned Delilah.

“God, fuck off,” Orthax drawled, turning around to face their captives with his hands on his hips. He lifted one shortly to wave at his man. “Take the girl to the car and get ready to light the place up once we’re done.” Percy looked up at him, and Orthax winked. “We’ve got one final piece of the deal to finish.”

Cassandra found her voice just as the burly man started dragging her away again, her feet slipping as he turned her by force. “Percival,” she cried, “what are-“

Orthax slammed the door shut on her, grinning. He had too many teeth. He had too many teeth.

“Alright, Percival,” he said, “I got what I wanted, now you can have yours.” He casually pulled a dark gun from its holster at his side, and handed it forward.

Percy found himself suddenly unable to move.

Orthax pressed the gun towards him. “Don’t tell me you’re gun-shy now, after all this?”

Carefully, he reached out and took the weapon by the hilt, shocked to feel his body listening. Everything was cloudy now, as if his muscles belonged to somebody else, a stranger’s fingers curling around the pistol. Silently, he turned, gun raised, his eyes once again meeting those of his family’s killer, Sylas Briarwood.

Safety off, he fingered the trigger, listening only to the heavy beating of his pulse in his throat and the steady breath of Orthax at his side.

Sylas laughed. “You should have stayed dead, boy.”

“We don’t have all day,” Orthax said, leaning close. He placed his hand heavily on Percy’s shoulder, making him wince, the pressure of the man’s grip digging painfully across his tender, scarred skin. He was sure Orthax knew exactly what he was doing, breathing down his neck.

Percy hefted the gun up again, taking aim. He wouldn’t miss.

He wouldn’t miss.

A broken sob cut the air. The ropes shifted as Sylas tightened his grip on his wife’s shaking hands, his expression shifting from gloating pride to a scowl of disgust. “Just fucking do it,” he growled.

He should just do it. Pull the trigger. Take revenge on the people who orchestrated the murder of his entire family, the theft of his baby sister. He had dreamed of this day for ages, ever since he crawled from the fire to the panicked barking of Vesper’s dog.

Not that he remembered much of it. Any of it. If he did, maybe he would have something to concentrate on. An inspiration to blow out the brains of the notorious Briarwoods.

If he did remember any of it, he would probably never sleep again.

If he did this thing now, pulled the trigger and burned this house down- would that make him any different from them?

Yes- because this was revenge, this was a rescue, an act of good destroying evil.

Except, no- because he had enlisted a greater evil to do it, had stolen from them, in turn, had, Percy was sure, murdered innocent servants during this raid.

He wondered what Cassandra would say, had she stayed in the room. Would she want him to do this? Would she want to pull the trigger herself?

An instant passed that felt like a decade, a thousand thoughts passing through Percy’s head as he tried to convince himself to cross this line- and then, with a grunt of disgust, Orthax gripped his shoulder tighter and snaked his other arm down to the gun, covering Percy’s hand and

BANG

The gun went off; Sylas slumped forward in the chair, Orthax laughter fuzzy in Percy’s ringing ears.

Delilah screamed.

And screamed.

The gun swung her way and

BANG

“Jesus fuck,” Orthax muttered, pulling away and wiping his trigger hand against his pants. “Should’ve shot her first.” He took the gun out of Percy’s grasp, giving him a congratulatory slap across the shoulder. Sparks of pain flashed over Percy’s vision, pulling him back to reality, back to bleeding corpses.

He’d killed them.

(Or, had Orthax killed them?)

(Who pulled the trigger?)

He had killed them.

The Briarwoods were dead.

And all he could think about was Cassandra’s tear-stained face, and Delilah’s scream.

Orthax opened the door. “Congrats, kid. This place is going up in flames as soon as I step outside. I’d recommend coming with me. Probably shouldn’t leave your sister too long alone with Jack, anyway.”

Orthax laughed, and Percy swallowed bile.

## Afterword

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