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Poland, although no one knew really what to expect, was a blast.
Berlin had passed in a bit of a haze of art, history, raves, some really fucking cool street fashion, and frantic searches for Scanlan as he lost himself in many kink events, and after having attended more trance clubs than Vex had ever thought possible in a lifetime (as fuck, did Germans party hard), a break to the seaside was exactly what the doctor ordered. Pike, specifically.
Immediately after crossing the border over into Poland, the group headed north towards Gdańsk, stopping at several castles in the area, the wrong St. Mary’s Basilica, and the old ruins at Westerplatte where Vax proceeded to talk their ears off about the history. Percy quickly became their de facto tour guide, being their only resident Polish speaker, and was rather happy to show them around while learning some new things himself. He slotted into their odd little team like a missing jigsaw piece. Suddenly, it was hard to imagine their group without him.
And yet, Percy still existed as a bit of a mystery. A reminder that he came from somewhere else. Almost everything they knew about the man they had found it through discovery as he barely shared anything about himself (like the fact that he could cook, as the group gleefully had found out one night when Percy had taken it upon himself to put together a dish Vex couldn’t remember the name of). In fact, he rarely said much, was quiet, and only seemed to speak when he had something to say, and was adept at shutting down conversation when it steered into a direction he didn’t want to entertain.
Percy existed as a mystery. But bit by bit, Vex was starting to puzzle him out.
.
Bydgoszcz. Vax pushed Scanlan off Mill’s Island and into the river and then had to buy him a new phone, the group learnt that Percy was a language nerd when he couldn’t remember the word for ‘telephone’ and in his panicked state had resorted to Latin of all things, calling the device a ‘vox machina’, they participated in an undercover city game, got banned for life from participating in future events, visited a museum of soap and dirt where Grog took a bite out of one of the displays, and drooled inside the Cathedral of St. Martin’s and St. Nicholas after Keyleth accidently mixed up the cookies they had bought in Amsterdam with the cookies they bought at a local bakery.
.
Warsaw. They saw a mortal reminder in the form of Chopin’s preserved heart, stared into the red eyes of the Basilisk, didn’t understand a word of what Percy was trying to tell them about the old technology in the Gasworks Museum, somehow lost Grog in the Old Town, forgot what country they were in inside the Fotoplastikon, Vex got a photo with Mieszko the Stone Bear, and they discovered that Percy was twenty-two.
Vex was seated in the hostel lounge organising passports, needing their numbers in order to book train tickets for their own day trip while the boys and Pike (bar Percy) went to the Zofiowka sanatorium, when she felt someone behind her.
“I fuckin’ knew he was a Capricorn!” Pike exclaimed, peeking over her shoulder where she stood, a daypack slung over her shoulder.
Vex jumped. For someone who legitimately did not believe in astrology, Pike had an uncanny ability to correctly guess a person’s zodiac sign, which was terrifying and confusing for reasons she couldn’t quite place her finger on.
“Scanlan owes me twenty euros.”
Vex on her part looked closer at the birthday. A January baby, born twenty-two years ago.
Oh. Vex had thought him to be a similar age, not five years younger.
Suddenly, Keyleth was no longer the group baby, and Vax privately called Vex a cougar once, which ended with the taller twin getting stuck in a headlock until he relented. Then the novetly quickly wore off, and Keyleth was still the group baby, as Percy acted as if he were eighty sometimes. Despite this, the two had become fast friends, they laughed at jokes that know one else got, and both had a way of getting the other out of their head, which was surprising, as the two were almost opposites. Keyleth seemed to bring out the kid in him, and in turn, Percy brought out a self-assuredness in her.
Vex wasn’t jealous.
.
Krakow. The group went to Główny Rynek and spent more money than what Vex had allocated while teasing Vax about vampires, stared into the eyes of the Wawel Dragon, Scanlan and Vax got lost inside the Rynek Underground Museum, the group went to a shooting range where Vex and Percy very quickly got into a heated competition that no one else could keep up with, Grog got to dress up in period clothing and became a local celebrity for a day, Vex got a photo with Wojtek the Soldier Bear, and they found out that Percy suffered from chronic pain.
They were nearing the front of the line outside Schindler’s Factory museum, when Vex realised they were doing bag searches. Very quickly she passed the memo down the line, getting everyone to organise themselves before security could catch sight of them, stuffing their faces with any snacks or drinks they brought before they would be forced to throw it away.
For Vax, that meant a lot of gummy bears, which the group swiftly helped him dispatch.
Grog, ambling beside Vex, blinked at a poster on the wall across the street, picking at the fistful of colourful bears in hand. “Will the museum be in Jewish?” he asked her as Vex rummaged through her bag.
“Yiddish, darling,” she told him. “And I don’t think so, I assume there’ll be English translations.”
“How do you say hello in Yee-dish?”
“Ah gutn tog,” Percy answered from behind her and Vex didn’t think too much of it at the time.
The first half of their party moved through security without issue, but when Vex stepped to the front, there were problems with Trinket. While the men started talking at her, not letting her get out more than ‘he’s a service dog’, Percy stepped forward, and in Polish began to mediate on her behalf, which irritated her somewhat. She was more than capable of speaking for herself. She was the groups negotiator after all.
After a short arbitration, they let her and Trinket through, although their faces were storming. And then they went through Percy’s bag and found more problems.
“They didn’t pull out my prescription,” Vax murmured as the twins stood to the side, watching as one of the guards brandished a little white bottle while angrily speaking at Percy in Polish, who was standing, looking equally irritated with arms crossed. Vex’s mouth twisted. Rule of thumb was to keep all important belongings on you when travelling and hide anything people would want to steal, which meant that Vax had his open meds on him always. There had been some places where he was met with some suspicion, but only once had he needed to produce the letter from his doctor.
And they had already let him in, so this was just hypocritical. “Do you think it’s cause he’s German?” she whispered back.
Vax shrugged. “Might be a factor, although I think they just want to get back about Trinket.” Small men trying to exert power over others. Classic security guard.
The two fell into silence as Percy moved over to the side, addressing the two from the other side of the fence while stuffing everything back in his bag with sharp movements. “Arsch mit Ohren. You go ahead,” he told them. “I will meet up with you later.”
Vax frowned. “Wait, you’re not coming in?”
“They will not let me unless I throw away my,” he hesitated, clearly not wanting to say anything, “medication. Which I need…”
“Fuck that,” Vax breathed. “I’ll come with you. Maybe we can go grab a bite to eat.” He turned back to Vex. “We’ll meet you all back at the hostel.”
“You do not have to-”
“It’s okay,” Vax cut him off. “I wanted to buy Keyleth a gift anyway and can’t exactly do it while she’s around.”
Vex looked between the two of them, contemplating whether she should join. Since Düsseldorf they hadn't really spoken... perhaps this could be a chance? An oppurtunity to sit down and discuss whatever it was that was between them, lay her heart bare, just her and Percy and... Vax.
Perhaps not then. “All-right, you two have fun,” she said. “I’ll let the other half know.”
After the museum, the six of them arrived back at the hostel before Vax and Percy, which wasn’t ideal as she was rather sure Vax had the ticket from the laundromat. With time to kill, she decided she may as well relax and maybe read for a bit, which meant searching for the book she had stuffed somewhere in her bag.
As she searched through the pile of clothing, her eyes kept drifting over to Percy’s bag, tucked beneath the bunk beside Vax’s black one. Biting her lip, she looked to the door, and then back at the bags. For this trip, Vax had to take out several months’ worth of medication and keep it on him, as prescriptions generally can’t be dispensed at more than three different pharmacies, so it wasn’t a long stretch to assume Percy had done the same. Curiosity was egging her on, while Common Decency was telling her no.
Curiosity won.
And that’s how Pike found her rummaging through Percy’s belongings.
“Ooh, what are we doing?” the smaller woman murmured, before kicking the door shut behind her.
“It’s just so strange that they let Vax in but not him,” she responded, pulling out a small black bag that must be toiletries. Maybe it was medicinal weed? That might explain why they refused him entry: many didn’t view cannabis as a legitimate treatment yet. She unzipped the bag as Pike crouched down next to her.
Toothbrush, toothpaste, some sort of cream, a roll of kinesiology tape, razor, cologne, aha! Vex held up a small plastic bottle. There was indeed a couple bottles in here. She squinted at the label, reading out loud, “Naltrexon,” before turning to Pike, confused. She had no idea what that was.
Tapping on her phone, Pike translated the word before snorting. “Naltrexone,” she murmured. “Just had to be sure.”
Vex looked at her. “You know what it is?”
“Yeah. It’s normally prescribed to help treat alcohol or opioid addiction,” she responded, taking the bottle from her. Vex thought back to the first time they met, and how Percy hadn’t drunk anything. In fact, they’d rarely seen him partake in alcohol, only on the rare occasion when Vex or Pike had bought a bottle of wine. Beside her, the little plastic container rattled as the Dutch woman studied the prescription label, all in German, of course. “Although the prescribed amount is usually fifty milligrams, and this is four-point-five.”
“Low dose naltrexone,” said a voice behind them, and in her panic Vex’s brain failed to recognise the source of it. She hadn’t even heard the door open. Spinning on the spot, the two women found Vax standing behind them, arms crossed, and looking more than a little unimpressed with their snooping. But if he were to say he was at least a little curious, Vex knew that he’d be lying. “It can be prescribed in low doses to treat chronic pain conditions, chronic fatigue, and autoimmune disorders, like fibromyalgia and MS.”
“I’ve never heard of it being prescribed like that,” Pike responded as she put the bottle back, before shrugging. “But then again, I haven’t had much practical experience yet.”
Vex immediately started repacking everything, only mildly panicked. “Trinket, find Percy,” she murmured, sending her canine off to hopefully distract the man and buy her a little more time. Chances were he was chatting with Keyleth anyway, but one could never be too sure.
“It’s off label,” Vax told Pike as his twin frantically worked. “We’ve picked up a couple patients who take it.”
“And it works?” Pike asked him, twisting around and getting comfortable on Vex's bed.
“Apparently a fucking life-saver.”
“Huh, I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
Then that dark stare was moving to his sister as Vax leant against the door frame. “Care to explain why you’re rummaging around someone’s private belongings?”
Vex rolled her eyes. Pike was snooping with her too. “The museum,” she explained, shoving the bag back under the bed. “I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t something that was going to get us in trouble.”
Vax raised an eyebrow. “Have you forgotten that I’m on antipsychotics?” he murmured. “It's not fair to judge people on the basis of their conditions.”
“Yes, but we know you, whereas we’ve only known Percy for a month.”
“You were the one that invited him along,” Pike reminded her.
“Yes, and now you can’t accuse me of not being careful.” She huffed, standing and crossing her arms. “Anyway, hermano mio, do you have the ticket from the laundromat?”
Vax pulled out his wallet, searched through it, then began to wince. “Ah, shit.”
.
Outside Krakow. Pike’s Corolla got a flat tire, and they confirmed Percy was Jewish.
“It feels sacrilegious to bring a German here,” Scanlan said, scratching the back of his neck while he contemplated the gates at Auschwitz, the sky above an overwhelming grey that hung above their heads like the history of the site.
Percy eyed him, hands buried in the pockets of his blue coat, and responded with absolutely no expression despite the hard note in his tone, “Some of my family is buried on these grounds.”
Scanlan winced as the silence that followed bore down on him. “Ah…”
“Good one, Scanlan,” Pike murmured as Vex flicked him on the back of his head, the group moving forward around him.
“Word of advice,” Vax murmured to the shorter man, stopping beside him, “if a last name ends in ‘stein’, it’s safe to assume it’s Jewish.”
Scanlan stood as everyone continued on, muttering to himself, “Yeah, I knew that.” Then. “Come on, the guy’s got like eleven last names.”
And when they visited the Wieliczka salt mine, Percy went quiet. Vex watched this with concern. There was a faraway look in his eye, something melancholy, as if he were watching ghosts move through the space. Memories perhaps. He did say he used to visit with his family.
Percy almost never spoke about his family. The only person Vex knew he had in his life was Cassandra, his sister, but other than her, he’d only ever mentioned their parents once, never mentioned other siblings, and the only other person she had seen Percy text or call with was his friend Archie, who Vex suspected was his only friend. Aside from the rest of the group, of course. She would ask about, but whether Percy would answer or close off, with another issue entirely. Questions from other members of their group was met with mostly silence. Vex had no reason to believe that for her it would be any different.
For the past couple of weeks, the two had existed in a state of limbo. Both were aware that there was something between them, brewing, lingering, but neither had broached the subject to cement it. Instead they danced around each other in coy touches and inciting looks. Gods, having lived through the angst fest that was Vax and Keyleth before they finally got together, she could only imagine how she was fucking behaving, even though she’d like to think she was playing it cool. If the near daily eye-rolls she got from Vax were any indication, not very cool at all.
Tension was thick, conversation between them felt loaded, suddenly difficult and halting, and even though they now spent almost every waking hour with one another, Vex had learnt more about Percy in the first 24 hours of meeting him than she had in the past month. It had been easier to say certain things when they had thought they were never going to see each other again.
But they hadn’t spoken about it since, both seemingly too nervous to bring it up.
.
Wrocław. The group visited Narnia, wandered around the Old Town, got banned from yet another tour company, enjoyed all the pretty lights at night, stuffed their faces with pierogis, Vex got a photo at the bear fountain, and hers and Percy’s stalemate finally ended when Vex got food poisoning.
They were at a restaurant/bar/place with an open mic, clapping after Scanlan had serenaded them all with a new song he had 'jokingly' dedicated to Pike, when Vex started to feel ill.
While Keyleth, Percy and Pike went to the bathroom and to the bar to get more drinks, Vex pushed her way through the crowd to the side of the stage, where the other half of their party had gathered around Scanlan.
“I’m sorry team, but I think I’m going to have to call it a night for me,” she told them as she came to a stop, leaning against the wall while she sipped on her water.
“Scanlan’s song that bad?” Vax murmured in response. Regardless, his brow furrowed in concern.
Beside him, the shorter man bristled. “Hey!” Then he looked over to Vex and winced. “You don't look so hot.”
“Fuck you, I'm always hot,” Vex shot back, shooting him the finger and pushing herself off the wall. Even that small movement churned uncomfortably in her stomach. She winced as cramps folded in her belly. “I think I just ate something that didn’t agree with me.”
Vax stepped forward. “I’ll come with you-”
“No, it’s okay, hermano,” Vex cut him off, “you stay here, have fun.”
“But what if you get stabbed?” Grog asked her.
“I’m not going to get stabbed, dear.”
Scanlan looked up from where he was packing his guitar. “You don’t know that.”
“And how many times have you been stabbed?” she shot back, so very not in the mood to be having this argument right now. Her skin felt so hot, and she was growing dizzy. Vax placed a hand on her arm, the other hand coming up to feel her forehead, ultimately lessening the impact of the scowl she sent Scanlan’s way.
“Only once,” Scanlan responded distractedly. “But it was in school, so it doesn’t count.”
Grog frowned at him. “The fuck kinda school you go to?”
The guitar case shut with a click. “A London public school.”
Vex shrugged her brother off. Her head was beginning to pound. “I’ve got Trinket with me, I’ll be fine,” she said, but nobody looked convinced.
“Stubby,” Vax chided.
“I can accompany you,” Percy chimed in, suddenly materialising beside them with two glasses in hand which he passed to Vax and Scanlan, “I am tired and was going to head back anyway.”
Vex narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing. It probably wasn’t a lie; Percy did often retire early. “Very well,” she said, ultimately growing too tired to protest. “Let’s go then.”
Immediately after arriving at the hostel, Vex asked Percy to feed Trinket, locked herself in the bathroom, and started vomiting out her guts.
Why her though, she couldn’t fucking fathom. Grog and her had eaten the same thing, and twice the amount, and yet the one bent over the toilet bowl was her.
There was a soft knock on the door. “Vex’ahlia?” Percy said, concern lacing his tone. Hearing her full name in that accent did something to Vex she would appreciate far more if she weren’t dying. “Are you all-right?”
“The fuck do you think?” she called back, voice watery and weak even to her own ears. Her skin prickled, stomach in knots; manners weren’t exactly a priority.
“Can I come in?”
After a moment of deliberation, she twisted round and reached up to swat at the lock. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this, but at the same time, saying no would probably mean Percy hanging around nervously anyway. Eventually she got it and the door swung open.
Vex only got a small amount of time to appreciate Percy and what he held in his hands before turning to throw up again. There wasn’t much left in her stomach.
Resting her head on her arm, she could only sit and listen as Percy did, whatever, tears dripping from her cheeks, before a hand was stroking soothing circles into her back. “Sit back for a moment,” he murmured, gently guiding Vex back so that he could place a towel down on the ground before helping her return. Oh God, that was so much better on her knees, and to no longer be in contact with the dirty floor was nice too.
Then a gentle hand was brushing back her hair, securing it in place with a fabric headband, before returning to her back once more.
“You’re very prepared,” Vex murmured, slurring her words and wiping her eyes with the back of her arm. Beside her, Percy awkwardly lowered himself to the ground, back against the wall and legs stretched out behind her.
“I have a younger sister,” he simply said, as if that explained it. As odd as it sounded, the mental image of big brother Percy taking care of his little sister was a sweet one.
Vex smiled at him, before leaning over the bowl to vomit once more.
God, it hurt.
As she sat back again, panting for breath and moaning, Percy leant forward to catch her, wet towelette in hand, and gingerly started to wipe the vomit from the corner of her mouth.
She watched Percy as he moved, the concentration with which he worked, the tenderness in the way he held her, and if maybe she leant into that touch a little, who could say. “I must look like a mess,” she murmured as he finished.
“I still think you look beautiful,” he responded, not missing a beat, and Vex blinked at him.
“I have vomit on my face, dear.”
Percy shrugged. “Since the first time I saw you, I have thought that you the loveliest thing. That has not changed just because you are sick.”
What does one say in response to that?
Apparently throw up.
The hand was back, rubbing up and down Vex’s spine as she dry-heaved into the toilet. “Fuck,” she spat as the cramping finally stopped. There was nothing left to come out.
“Here.” Vex blinked as Percy pressed a water bottle into her hand, top already screwed off.
Wordlessly she took it and drank deeply, the plastic crinkling as she gulped it down. Lowering the bottle she then waited a moment to see if it would come back up, and when it didn’t, sat back against the other, mirroring Percy. Her head felt hazy, and everything was too hot. The cool wall of the stall against her back was nice.
Her patience in this moment was short. Her body was already an uncomfortable roiling mess, she didn’t wish to in company that was too.
She was about to thank Percy and send him off, but in this moment, she found she didn’t want to be alone.
“What are we doing?” she asked softly, resting her head against the wall behind.
Percy’s face was full of comprehension. For a moment it seemed as if he was going to make a snarky remark, a joke to diffuse the tension, but instead he hung his head and sighed. “Being scared, I suppose.”
Vex hummed in agreement. “Being scared of what?” she prompted.
He lifted his head, his light jade green searching across her face. She did not raise her mask under his scrutiny, she was too tired to, and was softly pleased to see that Percy had dropped his too. “Of being wrong,” he said after a moment. “What about you?”
“Of not being good enough.”
Hurt flashed across Percy’s face, his brows making peaks of worry on his face as he leant towards her. “Did I do something to make you believe-”
“No, no, darling,” Vex shook her head. “You didn’t. I just worry…” she bit her lip, looking off to the side before shaking her head. “Never mind.”
“No,” leaning forward, Percy took Vex’s hand in his. “You can tell me, if you want.”
Absently, Vex’s fingers traced over the brace on his left hand. She lifted her eyes, and immediately her gaze was trapped within his. Unable to pull away, she nodded. “All-right, I just...” she paused, breathing in deeply, bracing herself to pull out these insecurities from deep within. “I've never been good enough for many, not even my own father, and I found it hard to believe that someone as intelligent and, well, attractive as you would want someone… like me,” she finished quietly.
But Percy only looked more confused at this explanation. “Why would I not want someone like you, Vex? You are many things, but ‘not good enough’ is certainly not one of them.”
“My father doesn’t think so,” she chewed out, the nausea returning.
“You have a PhD! A good parent would be proud of their child for such an achievement.”
Vex laughed bitterly. “I think I only got the damn thing because I felt I had something to prove to him, spent years at work powered by pure spite. And do you know what he said when I presented him with the certificate? He said that I couldn’t even dignify myself with ‘a real science’, and that it was expected of the ‘spawn of some common wench’.” She spat the words out her mouth like poison, bitter and sour on the tongue, face twisting as if she could taste it.
“You may know, we’re Spanish,” Vex continued. “But our father is English. He met our mother while he was travelling in Málaga—she worked at the hotel where he stayed—and they had a night together. Then he left, and she was left with, well, us, and he never answered any of her calls or anything.
“There was a fire at the hotel one day while we were at school, and,” she died. The words stuck in her throat. “We went over to England to live with our father, and God, did he hate us. Never let an opportunity go by to tell us how much of a disgrace we are, of a disappointment, that we’ll never be good enough,” she uttered. “It’s influenced every aspect of my life. My relationships—I mean, fuck, I was in a relationship with some possessive prick named Saundor who used that to manipulate me, tried to cut Vax out my life, and then hit me when I started to place boundaries.” She swallowed down the bitter memories, the helplessness she had felt during that period in her life.
“Vex’ahlia,” Percy breathed, shuffling closer.
“Oh, don’t worry,” she continued before he could say anything, unable to deal with pity right now, like she was some weak and broken thing. “I beat the ever-loving shit out of him when he did that, got Vax to pick me up and never went back.”
And then Vex paused as the tirade caught in her throat, and she breathed in slowly, breath rattling and shaky. Percy watched her but didn’t say anything. Hands clasping hers, he rubbed small comforts and encouragements into her skin, thumb brushing across the back of her hand, and waited, ever patient.
After a moment, Vex swallowed. “I just worry,” she started, voice barely a whisper. “That, that’s what we’re meant for. Just two unwanted bastard children who aren’t worth anything. We were a stain upon his name, he made sure we’d never forget it.”
Percy stared at her as if that was just the dumbest fucking thing he had ever heard. “I do not understand,” he said, brow furrowed. “So, he is blaming you for his own decision? Why is he angry at you for being bastards when he chose to sleep with your mother? How is that your fault for being born? I mean no disrespect, but does he not understand how babies are made? We learnt this in, high school.”
A wet laugh escaped Vex, caught somewhere a giggle and a sob.
“Actually, I am not sorry,” he pulled a hand out of hers to push his glasses back up his face, before returning it. “Your father is a stupid man. He was not capable of seeing how special you and Vax are. You are many things, and he was not big enough to see it, to handle it, and that is his failing, not yours. Never yours.”
A small sob escaped her. Her eyes searched across his face, hot tears welling, and not finding the words, Vex threw her arms around him and hugged. She had no idea how much she needed to hear that. Most people told her to forget about him, that he didn’t deserve her time and attention, didn't deserve them, they spoke to her with pity and sympathy and said things like ‘I couldn’t imagine’.
But Percy’s perspective, it shifted something. She hated her father, and the hating felt all consuming, it felt hot and overwhelming. She hated him and wanted nothing more than to be loved by him. But to pity him? She could pity him, and if she pitied him, did she even want the love of such a small man anymore? She could pity him, and then all of a sudden, he didn’t seem so terrifying.
She could work towards it.
Percy’s embrace felt like an exhale, catharsis, her body melting into his. While she wrapped her arms around his middle and cried into his chest, Percy gently held her against him, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other cradling her head like some precious thing. His fingers trailed soothing lines into back, a language that only they knew, while hers clutched into him like he was a rock and she lost at sea.
“And so you know,” Vex murmured into his throat. “You weren’t wrong.”
Gently, Percy kissed her forehead.
They stayed like that for a little while, Percy gently rocking Vex against him, murmuring comforts while she fell apart, until she was desperately batting her hand against his chest in warning before reaching for the toilet to throw up once more.
.
----------
.
Czechia was stunning.
The country was filled with rolling hills and misty forests, not as mountainous as Germany, but just as mystical. There was an allure to the place, as if offering to whisper secrets to those who searched for them. Colourful buildings rich with history lay layered on foothills, where cobbled roads ran between them like rivers, and very quickly, Percy felt himself got lost within it all. The scents, the scenery, the language, it absorbed him with it's gentle call.
But after the first day spent traversing through Prague, Percy realised the terrain was going to be a bit of a problem, if the lancing pain stretching up his left leg was any indication.
And the group wanted to go hiking.
Aside from the impending limp, Percy had another problem. They had four tents between them. From what Percy had gathered, Grog, due to his sheer size, had one to himself, Keyleth and Vax shared for obvious reasons, Pike and Scanlan despite their ‘will they, won’t they’ dynamic shared another, both being relatively small people, and as no one wanted to share with Trinket, Vex got her own, blissful, blissful space.
But Percy didn’t have a tent.
Before the hike commenced, there had been a quick discussion about sleeping arrangements, in which a couple people put in a couple suggestions on ways to shuffle around tent designations to accommodate their new member. Eventually, the lengthening and increasingly circular discussion about the varying combinations came to a swift end when Vex asked, “do you mind sharing with Trinket?” and when Percy responded ‘no’, declared, “Then you can sleep with us, darling. Problem solved.”
Percy had swallowed, nodded, hiked up his bag, and followed Vax up the path, being enveloped into the trees while Trinket weaved between the group excitedly. Ever since he and Vex had their talk, things between them had eased, and the two had gone from existing in each other’s company to actively spending time together. No longer having to second guess or plan everything they were going to say to the other, conversation between them flowed smoothly, and Vex had seemed to resume her mission of making him blush as much as she could. Of course, Percy had noticed. But the way she looked at him made it all worth it.
He just hoped that sharing a tent didn’t come with any expectations.
The worries of prospective possibilities faded as they delved deeper into the forest, stolen away by the breeze that nudged the spruce and firs, and the birds that flitted within the needles. The sky above was clear, and for a moment, surrounded by friends, performing the meditive activity of just walking, Percy felt at peace.
Until, that is, he started to struggle.
Most of the path was set on a steady incline that although wasn’t troublesome itself, offered no respite. Every now and then they came across sections which required them to climb over rocks and fallen trees, and each time Percy felt himself grow slower. The throbbing in his knee had reached an intensity he was no longer able to ignore by looking at the surrounding forest, and his hip and ankle ached, making each step agony.
There was a brief reprieve when the group stopped for lunch, dumping their bags and seating themselves in a clearing to chew on the thick, dark bread, local cheese, and meats they had brought (except Keyleth, who ate just the bread and cheese and berries. When Percy had learnt that the redhead was vegetarian, he had apologised profusely for not having asked before taking them to that restaurant the first night they met, although Keyleth honestly didn’t seem to mind). Vex opened a thermos of coffee, which sent Grog running for the woods for a while, and while they rest of them waited, the group made idle chit-chat. Percy had taken the opportunity to do some gentle stretches and check the tape, and found much to his dismay, that his leg had rapidly stiffened in the lull of activity.
When Grog finally returned they took off again, and Percy found himself quickly falling to the back of the group.
“You all-right, Freddie?”
Percy looked up as Vax fell into step beside him, the group on moving ahead.
“I am fine,” he murmured in response, not looking at the shorter man. Vax let out a disbelieving huff.
“I’m an EMT and Pike’s a doctor, we can tell when something’s amiss.”
Exhaling deeply through his nose, Percy searched through the group ahead, eyes landing on the Dutch woman who was watching from further up the path. She shrugged and looked away when their eyes met, knowing written in the lines of her face. Yes, it was rather foolish to assume that no one would notice. But in his defence, his leg hadn’t given him this much trouble in years. In the past month he had done more moving than he would usually do in a day.
“You know,” Vax started, leaning in with a conspiratorial smirk, “if I ask Grog to pick you up and carry you the rest of the way, he’d do so, no questions asked. Hell, he might actually enjoy the challenge.”
Percy bristled at the threat. “You do that, and I will swap out your gummy bears with gummy laxatives. I know how to do so.”
“That is… a terrifying fact to learn about you, Freddie.”
“Please stop calling me that.”
Vax sighed. “Jokes aside, you’re struggling, Percy, and I’d wager that you’re not too keen on the rest of the party becoming aware of this fact. So, if you let me help you, we can ensure that doesn’t happen, because if you don’t, it’s only going to get worse.”
As much as Percy hated it, Vax was right. He was going to slow them down, and if he did that, well. “Fine,” he grit out, and Vax clapped him on the back with a smile, having won this little battle.
Percy still hadn’t ruled out replacing his gummy bears.
“Hey Kiki!” Vax called, and Percy had to stop himself from hanging his head in shame. Ahead, Keyleth paused where she was standing on a rock, looking much like a druid of old in her green clothing, jacket tied around her waist. She had found a stick on the trail which she had wrested from Trinket and was now wielding it, like a guide.
“What’s up?” she responded, jumping off the stone with ease.
“Can I steal your staff?”
Keyleth’s green eyes, like oak leaves, looked between the two men. Verdammt, Vax. “Yeah, sure!” She moved towards the two of them and handed it straight to Percy.
“Thanks, Kiki,” Vax smiled, eyes going all soft and gooey as they looked at her.
Keyleth pecked him on the cheek. Then she turned to walk ahead, quickly rushing off with an exclaimed, “Scanlan! No, don’t touch that!” as the shorter man made to put his hands in some bushes.
Vax turned his attention back to Percy. Surely Scanlan touching some sort of poisonous bush is more of a medical emergency than Percy’s old wound.
“Last couple questions then I’ll drop it, promise,” Vax told him earnestly.
“If you must,” Percy muttered. Using the stick was helping take some of the pressure off his leg, but it was still slow progress.
“Injury or condition?”
“Injury.”
“Recent or old?”
“Old.”
“Okay,” Vax breathed. “I have some bandages in my bag, I could wrap it in a makeshift brace-”
“I have taped it,” Percy told him curtly.
For a moment Vax looked at him, then he chuckled to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. “My apologies, you would know how to manage, seeing as you live with it.”
Percy opened his mouth, for a moment going to snap at him, but then thought the better of it. Vax was just trying to help, and he certainly could be more of a shit if he wanted. “Thank you,” Percy murmured instead. “Your concern and assistance, it is appreciated.”
“Anytime, Freddie,” Vax replied, before moving on ahead.
.
After another three hours, and a couple check ins from Vax, the group finally made it to the campsite. While Pike, Vex, Percy and Keyleth set up tents, Grog, Vax, and Scanlan made themselves useful by setting up makeshift goals in the clearing, which no one had asked them to do, before Vex was yelling at them and sent them to go collect firewood instead.
Tents assembled, the group started drinking and played a game of soccer, as apparently a six-hour hike up a mountain wasn’t enough physical exercise to tire them out. Percy sat out under the guise of keeping teams even, and was given the especially important job of refereeing, which ended up with Grog lifting him over a shoulder and threatening to throw him off the mountain when he had called a foul.
Once the sky began to darken, the group moved to prepping dinner, where Percy had been put in charge of getting a fire going to avoid Chef Percy from rearing his head. It’s not that Percy couldn’t cook, he could cook, really well, and that was just the problem. So, to keep him from constantly making suggestions and then inevitably taking over in exasperation, they gave him paper, a lighter, and said ‘man make fire’.
There was something about a flame grilled meal, that despite the simplicity of it, tasted amazing. As dinner was devoured in a near silence, the group settled in for the evening, moving only once more to wash plates lest the aroma attract critters in the night. The smell of burnt marshmallow and melted chocolate wafted throughout the camp, and the popping of flames crackled over the chorus of nocturnal insects. Percy sat himself in the warmth and began stretching his leg, using the techniques his physio had taught him years ago.
“You okay?” Keyleth asked softly, keeping an eye on the drooping marshmallow before her.
“Quite all-right,” he murmured in response, fingers digging into the muscles around his knee. He really should check the tape, but he’d do that later, in private. A part of him considered enlisting Vex for her help, but he quickly shut the notion down. Tomorrow was going to be hell. “Thank you, for lending me your staff earlier.”
“No problem! Although, it’s not really my staff, it belongs to Mother Nature, I was just borrowing it for the hike.”
Percy blinked at her. “Regardless, thank you.”
A pair of hiking boots appeared beside him. “Refill,” Vex said, holding out a mug of wine. As Percy took the proffered cup, Vex seated herself beside him and turned towards Keyleth. “Your marshmallow is burning, dear.”
“Oh, come on!” the redhead exclaimed, pulling out the fire a very crispy molten ball of sugar. “I look away for one second.”
“Here.” Another pair of boots, this time belonging to the other twin, joined them, crouching down to offer another, perfectly browned marshmallow to Keyleth with an absolute smitten look on his face.
Percy turned his attention to the wine and left the lovebirds to it.
“Pike’s pick,” Vex said, watching him swirl the mugs contents. “Garnacha.”
Percy raised an eyebrow at her. “I thought you were the authority on Spanish wines.”
“I am,” Vex assured him, “Pike’s on thin ice after that God-awful tempranillo she picked last week,” she said, raising her voice so it carried across the fire.
From across the pit a shouted, “I already said sorry!” hit them, and Percy chuckled.
“I see you holding that beer,” Vex called back.
“Yeah, cause I’m not gonna drink from the apology bottle.”
With a smirk, Vex sipped from her own mug. “Apology accepted,” she said after a moment.
Scanlan, walking over from wherever he'd appeared from, came and sat on Vax's other side, seemingly trying to finish a conversation they were having earlier. With a keen ear Percy listened in, along with the rest of the group, always interested in whatever tale the short man had for them, however true or embellished it may be.
“I’m not shitting you,” Scanlan insisted, “I’m fucking balls deep in this guy, and then suddenly his wife just walks into the room, just looks at me, says ‘hello’ then sits on the edge of the bed and asks her husband if he defrosted the chicken. So, I keep going, ‘cause I have no idea what the fuck’s going on and no one has yelled at me yet, and she just, didn’t care?”
“No way,” Vax breathed out on a laugh, Keyleth seated between his legs and picking pieces off her marshmallow. Scanlan pointed to him, eyes wide.
“That’s what I fucking thought! But this guy, still getting fucked by me, tells her that yes, he’s defrosted the chicken, as well as put some garlic in the oven to make fucking aioli, and she fucking goes ‘oh, that’s why the house smells so lovely’.”
Laughter spread through the group, Grog’s loud guffaws floating out into the space on bubbles. Vex was sat, cuddled into Percy’s side, their body’s aligned to the point that he can feel every breath and chuckle, every minute movement. He sipped at his wine. The pain from his leg was seeping into his body, bleeding into his mind along with the reminder of how he got it. But having Vex by his side was helping. Just her presence was a balm, warm and constant.
“So then, he asks her how her day was,” Scanlan continued after a sip of his beer, “and she says that it was long and shitty, and that she’ll tell him all about later at dinner. Then she stands up, looks at me, and asks if I wanted to stay for dinner.”
“That’s crazy!” Grog exclaimed.
“You shitting me? That’s free food! I mean, these people make their own roasted garlic aioli, of course I stayed for dinner, and dessert.”
“He brought me leftovers,” Pike chimed in, own beer in hand. “Even reheated in a microwave I saw God.” She then turned towards Percy. “Your cooking is a close second.”
“Appreciated,” he responded, inclining his head towards her.
“What was dessert?” Keyleth queried.
Scanlan wiggled his eyebrows at her. “A ménage à trois.”
“Of course,” Percy hummed while Vex chuckled beside him. He couldn’t help but watch her, drawn to her presence like a plant is drawn to the sun, her cheeks flushed and eyes alight, wine-stained lips sparkling in the firelight.
“What about you, Percy?” When Percy tore his eyes away at Scanlan’s words, he found everyone’s gaze trained in on him. “Germans are a kinky bunch, I’m sure you’ve got some crazy sex stories to share.”
“Pass,” he responded quickly, taking a sip from his wine, and tilting his head in just a way that the firelight would hopefully reflect off the lenses, hiding his embarrassment. He didn’t have any stories to share in that regard. None at all, in fact.
“Oh, come on,” Grog pleaded. “We don’t judge.”
“I guarantee whatever it is,” Vax added, “Scanlan’s done worse.”
“Hey!”
“I said pass,” Percy reiterated flatly. From the corner of his eye, he caught Vex shoot him a furtive look, eyes discerning. Sensing his discomfort, she jumped in.
“I once spent the night with a guy who came trying to put the condom on.”
A mixed reaction of laughter and sympathetic winces erupted around the fire.
.
That night, sleep brought with it memories.
Percy dreamt in flashes, images of the car flipping, landing once, landing twice, landing a third and forth time, glass spraying through the air and metal creaking and crunching with each impact. Pure panic clawing up his throat like molasses. He saw blood pooling on the forest floor, stark red against the dusting of soft snow, the slack and scraped faces of his family, their bodies mangled. The second car crashing past them, stopping so close yet out of reach, wedged between the trees. Seeing that second car and not yet understanding the significance of it. Again, he watched as he struggled to free himself, ears ringing, glasses cracked and fragmenting the world.
Then Cass’s blurry face in his vision as she pulled him from the burning wreckage, her arm bent at an odd angle. The sharp pain that lanced up his leg as he tried to move. Trying to pull out anyone else, but knowing as soon as his fingers touched flesh, warm flesh, utterly devoid of electricity, somehow knowing in a cold, logical place that they were gone.
…Percy… wake up, darling…
Sitting against a tree as the car burned, acrid scents curling in their nostrils, contemplating climbing back up the sharp slope of the mountainside on a broken leg. Cass curled up against him sobbing, while Percy sat, clutching her against him, numb, mind whizzing at breakneck speeds.
The silence inside his mind, while internally he screamed like the roaring fire beside them.
Turning at the sound of something through the brush. Anna’s shining eyes through the forest…
Percy woke with a start.
“Percy, dear, it’s okay. I’ve got you.”
He recognised that voice. Yes, he knew that voice well, and instinctively, he curled towards the source of it as he gasped for breath, eyes screwed shut against the cloud that hung over him.
“Breathe, darling.” A hand lifting his, pressing it into warm flesh, finding a beating heart, electricity. “Can you do that for me? Breathe with me, In, two, three…”
Percy tried to follow count, sucking in shaky inhales, and holding them in, before releasing them in stuttering bursts. He kept doing so, fingers digging into flesh as he tried to copy the rhythm beating under his palm.
There was pressure against his back, warm and grounding, and his free hand reached up, fingers burying into… fur?
“That’s it, dear, you’re doing great,” the voice told him. “In, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four…”
He was warm. Wherever he was, it was warm. The Briarwood manor had never been warm.
When finally, he opened his eyes, he stared at his blurry hand, pale skin pressed against Vex’s chest, the darker shape of hers covering it.
“Hello there,” she murmured gently, brushing the hair back from his face. “Do you know where you are, dear?”
Mind still addled and the language centre of his brain still offline, Percy responded “Tschechien,” voice raspy and raw.
“Gesundheit,” Vex responded.
Percy blinked at her. “Ich habe nicht geniest.”
Vex’s face morphed from passive worry to acute concern. It was almost the same expression, but somehow to Percy, they were inexplicably different.
“Darling, do you know where we are? Who I am?” she tried again.
Oh, that was English. “Vex,” he said, matching her language. “And we are in a tent, in Czechia.”
“Where in Czechia?”
“Somewhere in the wilderness.”
Vex snorted. “Good enough.” Silence spilled into the tent. Pulling away from Vex, Percy sat up, chilly air biting into his skin as the sleeping bags fell away, Trinket shifting to lay his head in Percy’s lap. Vex followed suit, sitting up beside him. He could feel her gaze on the side of his face but couldn’t bring himself to lift his eyes to hers. Everything felt too close, too small, and his hands shook as he buried them in Trinket’s fur.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He shook his head. He had been muttering in German, so Vex probably hadn’t understood a word of what he was saying. Small miracle.
“I need to get out the tent,” he said instead, feeling the abated panic starting to encroach on him again. He searched around the ground for his glasses, which he put on when Vex handed them to him. The world came into focus.
“Would you like company?”
Percy stared at her for a moment, the side of her face lightly illuminated by the cold light of her phone torch and emphasising the worry lines in her features. He didn’t want to be alone, but he also didn’t want to live through those memories for a second time tonight. After a beat, he nodded. “Yes, actually. I would appreciate it.”
The two moved out the tent and to the edge of the campsite, where they could talk without waking the others. They sat, side by side, wrapped in their sleeping bags as they looked out into the night sky, the mountain sloping below, the valley washed in the pale moonlight.
After a while of just sitting in silence, Percy murmured, “Trinket seemed trained to deal with this,” speaking carefully, not wanting to overstep.
“Trinket was trained to be a service dog,” Vex told him, not seeming to pick up on his hesitation, “but failed his final assessment. The family couldn’t keep him after that, so I took him. They just, discarded him.”
Percy turned towards Trinket, who turned over for belly pats when he saw the man’s attention on him. With a small smile, Percy obliged. “I am sure he did his best.”
“He does.” She then looked at him, eyes shining in the moonlight.
“So, Trinket is not a service dog, but you take him to places like he is a service dog?” he asked.
“Well,” Vex bit her lip. “It’s not like I just want my dog with me—I mean I do, but I’m not one of those people who legitimately don’t have issues.” She laughed darkly, a little self-deprecating. “Originally it was to help Vax, actually. Years ago. And then he helped with the aftermath of Saundor. Neither of us really need him now, but I feel better having Trinket around,” she said. “You know, just in case.”
“I believe that is called ‘anxiety’.”
“Shut up,” Vex snorted, nudging him with her shoulder. “You know, Trinket picked you from the moment we met.”
Percy furrowed his brow, not understanding. “How do you mean?”
“The service dog training,” she explained. “He picked up that you’re carrying something, deeper than whatever injury you were trying to hide.” Percy winced at the words. So, everyone pretty knew now, great. “You don’t have to tell me,” she added hurriedly, “but just so you know, we see you, and we’ll be here whenever you’re ready to share.”
“Thank you,” he breathed. “One day, I just-”
Reaching over, Vex covered his hand with her own. “I understand.”
He smiled at her, a thin watery thing that felt more like a grimace. They stared at each other for a moment, before Vex retracted her hand and returned it to the warmth of her sleeping bag.
Percy turned his eyes to the vista, washed in silver. “Has everyone noticed the limp?”
“Everyone,” Vex told him.
“Verdammt nochmal,” he muttered under his breath.
“Even Grog,” Vex smirked. Percy could barely see in the dark, but he could certainly hear it in her voice. “He asked me, ‘did someone hit Percy in the balls?’”
“What?”
“Because apparently, you were walking like Vax after Grog scores a three-pointer.”
“Autsch,” Percy winced. The rules of their strange ball-hitting game always escaped him. “At least adoption is always an option.”
Vex snorted and nudged him gently. “Never too late to put them both up,” she murmured, and Percy chuckled. “I’m sure a nice family would find them.”
“A nice family of ball-hitting heathens.”
Her laughter was intoxicating, addictive, and the sound of it settled somewhere in Percy's chest.
Silence fell upon them as Vex's chuckle tapered off, the night calls of birds and chirps of insects rising up to fill the space she left. The ghosts of memory still clung to the edges of his consciousness, the echoes of brakes screeching, the gunshot of a doorlock being turned, his own panting in his ears whilst they ran, right hand crushing Cass's in his. He turned to Vex. “Tell me about bears,” he said.
Vex raised an eyebrow at him, barely visible in the light, but Percy felt the weight of her judgement all the same. “Worried about a bear finding us in the night, Percy dear? Cause I can assure you-”
“No, no. I need, something to distract me. I need to hear, a living voice.”
Vex looked at him, puzzled, but didn’t press. “All-right,” she murmured. “What would you like to know?”
“Tell me about, your favourite bear.”
“Species or individual?”
Percy turned to her. “You have a favourite individual bear?”
“Oh yes, darling. Most definitely. Her name is Suria, and she’s a sun bear that lives basically in the Malaysian Nature Society camp. And those fuckers have pampered the shit out of her, with good reason too, she’s adorable. You'd have to be a sociopath to be immune to her charm.”
“Is that so?” Percy prompted.
“Most definitely.” Grabbing her phone, Vex unlocked it and began searching through her photo gallery. “She loves belly scratches, and hugs, although she doesn’t seem to realise that even though she’s small, she still weighs a good fifty-something kilograms.”
“Sounds like Trinket.”
Vex snorted and kept searching. “Here!” she let out a triumphant sound and handed her phone to Percy. On the screen was a photo of Vex and a small bear laying in her lap, long tongue lolling out the side of her mouth. But as cute as Suria was, it was the smiling visage of a younger Vex that drew his attention, the sheer joy that sparkled in her brown eyes, the freckles that had dotted her then darker skin. Clearly English weather had not been kind to her.
“Beautiful,” Percy murmured as he returned the device. “Are you going to go back?” Percy asked, “to Malaysia?”
Vex sighed. “Perhaps? Now that I’m finished with my PhD, I don’t have funding to travel to these sites for research. Although I get to travel through Europe fair amount with my current job.”
“And you currently work with Keyleth, correct? At The Nature Conservancy?”
“I do. That’s how Vax met her actually, through me.”
“That is sweet,” he murmured.
“You say that, but my dear, those two the first year of knowing each other were insufferable,” she exclaimed softly, pressing a hand against her forehead. “Both were so head over heels for the other, but too terrified to do anything about it. I couldn’t escape it. Not at work, nor at home.”
Percy winced. It was borderline hypocritical to judge considering his and Vex's behaviour over the past month, but they got there in the end, and without traumatising everyone else in the process. “I imagine it took more than a bout of food poisoning to get them to talk.”
“Oh, it did. I had to lock them in a closet,” Vex told him, far too smug.
“Unglaublich,” he chuckled.
Together they looked out into the night, the edge of the mountain feeling like the edge of a precipice, the rolling valley below the dark waves of the unknown. Vex's presence was a lighthouse on the cliff, glowing in the gloom. Percy wade through the murk of memories towards it, clinging to that beacon which helped guide him, who offered its light to help him chase the ghosts away.
They won't be gone forever, but, seated next to Vex, Percy found respite. He found a moment of peace.
“Well, now that you are finished, you could come study the bears in Germany,” Percy told her.
“Of course, dear,” she laughed. “Because there are so many bears in Germany.”
“So many. You cannot drive without hitting one.” Percy watched her as he spoke, a smile pulling at his lips as she giggled. “In fact, they are so numerous that we have to export them to other countries. You think bears naturally occur here? No, they are not Czechian bears; they are German bears.”
Vex’s gentle giggling had dissolved into a full-blown chortle, which she muffled behind a hand to not wake up the others. Percy couldn't help but smile. His joke wasn’t even that funny, but the sound of Vex’ahlia's laugh was like a key to his chest, unlocking a wealth of joy that bubbled within him.
Fuck it.
Leaning in, Percy reached out and cupped her cheek. Suddenly her laughter died down, choked back in a hitched breath, looking up at him with those wide brown eyes, anticipation swirling within. His heart sang as Vex covered his hand with her own, and he tilted his head, pausing a moment to give her an out, and when she didn’t take it, pressed his lips to hers.
As their lips brushed, Vex surged forward and pressed into him with hunger. She tasted like sleep and smoke and wine, sweet and subtle and spice. Percy had dreamt for weeks now of kissing her, of holding her gently between his hands, reverent, in awe of the wonderful creation that was her entire being. He had dreamt of being held by her, but never in a thousand years would have imagined it would feel like this.
Quickly Vex took the lead. She was possessive, but simultaneously gentle, patient, and what Percy might have expected to find stifling, he instead found comforting. He was wanted. She took the lead and within her embrace Percy was both the Muse and Master. His hand shifted round to cup her jaw, a thumb sweeping over her cheek. Hers moved to grab the back of his neck, fingers threading through the short hairs there. She knelt up and pressed into him, and Percy met her halfway, threading a hand around her waist as she shifted her body towards him.
Beneath the rays of moonlight they moved as one. Percy's hands skirted over her edges, feeling the rise of her chest and the dip of her waist, before settling on her hips, as if they'd been sculpted for this very purpose. Vex teased him with her tongue and teeth, pulling back as she nipped at his lip, her breath skittering across his skin. For a moment the entire world narrowed down to this. To the texture of her skin, the stray strands of hair brushing against his face, the taste of her in his mouth, the soft noises she hummed against his lips...
They broke apart, their heavy breathing filling the silence between them. Percy could feel the heat swirling in his cheeks. He couldn't see much in the dim light, but regardless Vex's eyes shone like stars, alight and hungry in the darkness. She searched his face for a beat, before awkwardly trying to climb into his lap, cautious of his bad leg. Then her sleeping bag got caught beneath her and she crashed into him, throwing him backward on the ground.
Vex lifted herself off Percy, arms either side of his head as she straddled his hips. “Shit, Percy, is your leg all-right?”
Now laying on his back, Percy couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him, looking up at Vex as she lay on him like she were some celestial constellation. Yes, his leg was all-right, but it was hard to tell her that when in the moonlight her beauty stole the air from his lungs. “I have wanted to do that for a while,” he admitted breathlessly.
The concern on her face melted away into a softness. “Same here, darling,” she told him, sweeping a rogue lock of hair behind her ear. “Ever since I first laid eyes on you.”
Percy’s eyes searched her own, and he leant up on his elbows to capture her lips in his once more.
.
The next morning, huddled around a small fire while Keyleth and Grog cooked breakfast, Percy pressed a chaste kiss to Vex’s coffee-stained lips, smiling into it, just because he could now, and felt her smile consume him.
Behind them, Vax made a gagging noise.
“Oh shut it, brother,” Vex barked at him. “Don’t think we didn’t all hear you and Keyleth last night.”
Vax scratched the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly, while Keyleth all but melted, face hotter than the fire.
As the group erupted to rag on the abashed couple, Vex and Percy's eyes found each other in the fray, and they shared a private smile.