[ he looks up when the grasp touches, hand flexing briefly. that's when he sees it and his expression shifts to something miserable as he looks vax in the eye. it's familiar, way too familiar, he's seen it up close and personal just from combat alone. ]
Vax'ildan... what happened?
[ he thinks about reaching out, very hard. he thinks about covering his hand. instead, he stays still. so close to death and here they are once again, there are no gods here or dragons or clerics with magic, just machines and a pair of already over-worked doctors, and while they do the trick, there's a distinct feeling of fear all the same.
he thinks about the hanging meat of vax'ildan's leg. how he very well could have died there. here. and then what? and then fucking what? what would be the point?
[ his hand stays on percy's wrist, for now, thumb pressed against his pulse - because he has seen that look before. he's wanted to shake him for it, wanted to sock him in the nose and tell him to shape up, if only because he gets it. guilt weighs on you like a mantle, on them like a mantle, and after what percy just experienced before they came, how can vax'ildan possibly make him understand he's so much more than a demon's plaything?
his hand squeezes, and for a long moment, he doesn't say anything.
...but. ] ...It was all an illusion. All of it was bullshit. [ repeated, first, in a soft, low voice.
maybe he can tell him this, at least. owe him a description, even if it's missing parts. ] You were the last thing I saw.
That - thing, acting like you, attacked me. I just had a knife from a kitchen, and that was it to fight back with. Managed to outrun it till it blew up your gun, and then I guess I pissed it off. It formed up the smoke into weapon shapes when it finally caught me and beat the hell out of me.
[ familiar shapes. smoky vines.
a mace, used to shatter a shin.
a greataxe, strong enough to slice through bone.
he doesn't say any of that.]
...You tried to choke me. 's the last thing I remember before I passed out.
[ percy's voice is sharp, but quiet. vax says it was an illusion, but that means this place preys on them so unforgivably deep, knows things about them so intimate that it makes his insides crawl. sure the note had said just about the same, but it's different in reality, different when some facsimile of himself pointed a gun at vax.
and the fact he'd tried to follow it up with choking him? hah.
after a long moment his other hand lands heavily over vax's. stay it says. ]
Did it hurt anyone else?
[ vax knows well enough, knows what happened, the root of evil, of revenge, and percy already can't forgive a fake version of himself for blowing holes in vax'ildan, but gods if anyone else? atsushi? yasusada? even damien. ]
I... tried messaging you, but it said your number was unavailable. Even the residents didn't know where you were, said that maybe you'd left your phone somewhere or... some other excuse.
[ he shakes his head. a bitch can't even shout jenga when it happens like this, so fast and so sudden.
he reaches out briefly and pulls some errant cake out of vax's dumb hair. ]
[ percy is not a very touchy person, and vax... used to not be, but over the years, that's changed. maybe it's an effect of being with vox machina, or maybe he's just always been this way - just need to be around the right people to feel it. but, it does startle him a bit when the hand comes over his. his eyes flick up to percy's, briefly, but he doesn't say anything beyond it.
truthfully, it was a little scary. there's so much more to tell, that he can't say, but when the question comes, his answer is immediate, fierce. ] No.
It was just me and you, at the end. We got separated.
[ which - honestly, good. vax knows percy, knows the way he wears his guilt like a mantle, knows how much that would've hurt him (and even if it was true, he might not have told him) but it feels good to be able to give an honest truth.
in that moment, he just wished - he really wished that vex'ahlia was there. thinking of her makes his stomach twist, right now, makes him -
for a second, he's not quite there. percy's hand near his face plucks out cake, and he blinks at him, letting him take the piece and leaning forward a little to allow the touch. the cake has blue frosting. ]
...I didn't even have it, the phone. Didn't have any of my stuff. Think I was lucky to even have my armor. [ his ac ] Vin thinks hers was part of the Prism. Sure mine was, too.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Vax'ildan... what happened?
[ he thinks about reaching out, very hard. he thinks about covering his hand. instead, he stays still. so close to death and here they are once again, there are no gods here or dragons or clerics with magic, just machines and a pair of already over-worked doctors, and while they do the trick, there's a distinct feeling of fear all the same.
he thinks about the hanging meat of vax'ildan's leg. how he very well could have died there. here. and then what? and then fucking what? what would be the point?
he holds quietly. waits. ]
no subject
his hand squeezes, and for a long moment, he doesn't say anything.
...but. ] ...It was all an illusion. All of it was bullshit. [ repeated, first, in a soft, low voice.
maybe he can tell him this, at least. owe him a description, even if it's missing parts. ] You were the last thing I saw.
That - thing, acting like you, attacked me. I just had a knife from a kitchen, and that was it to fight back with. Managed to outrun it till it blew up your gun, and then I guess I pissed it off. It formed up the smoke into weapon shapes when it finally caught me and beat the hell out of me.
[ familiar shapes. smoky vines.
a mace, used to shatter a shin.
a greataxe, strong enough to slice through bone.
he doesn't say any of that.]
...You tried to choke me. 's the last thing I remember before I passed out.
no subject
[ percy's voice is sharp, but quiet. vax says it was an illusion, but that means this place preys on them so unforgivably deep, knows things about them so intimate that it makes his insides crawl. sure the note had said just about the same, but it's different in reality, different when some facsimile of himself pointed a gun at vax.
and the fact he'd tried to follow it up with choking him? hah.
after a long moment his other hand lands heavily over vax's. stay it says. ]
Did it hurt anyone else?
[ vax knows well enough, knows what happened, the root of evil, of revenge, and percy already can't forgive a fake version of himself for blowing holes in vax'ildan, but gods if anyone else? atsushi? yasusada? even damien. ]
I... tried messaging you, but it said your number was unavailable. Even the residents didn't know where you were, said that maybe you'd left your phone somewhere or... some other excuse.
[ he shakes his head. a bitch can't even shout jenga when it happens like this, so fast and so sudden.
he reaches out briefly and pulls some errant cake out of vax's dumb hair. ]
no subject
truthfully, it was a little scary. there's so much more to tell, that he can't say, but when the question comes, his answer is immediate, fierce. ] No.
It was just me and you, at the end. We got separated.
[ which - honestly, good. vax knows percy, knows the way he wears his guilt like a mantle, knows how much that would've hurt him (and even if it was true, he might not have told him) but it feels good to be able to give an honest truth.
in that moment, he just wished - he really wished that vex'ahlia was there. thinking of her makes his stomach twist, right now, makes him -
for a second, he's not quite there. percy's hand near his face plucks out cake, and he blinks at him, letting him take the piece and leaning forward a little to allow the touch. the cake has blue frosting. ]
...I didn't even have it, the phone. Didn't have any of my stuff. Think I was lucky to even have my armor. [ his ac ] Vin thinks hers was part of the Prism. Sure mine was, too.