[ there is the sound of something moving… and eventually, the door pops open! as it turns out shale’s heal wore off after the trial so vax is currently in a chair that he managed to scoot over enough to get the door open.
grumbling, he flops back fully into said chair. ]
I’m sleeping in that fucking pod tonight. [ free him ]
[ here is percy, bottle clutched in hand. he moves to take the back of the chair. ] Legs up-- [ he starts to push the chair back further in. ]
Good plan. Seems that everything's cleaned up so you should be able to. Do you want some company to make sure no one tries to pry it open while you rest?
[ he's pushing this chair w/o wheels back to its spot. enjoy your lil dumb ride. ]
this is fine actually. he just allows this to happen, reaching to pull his barely attached leg up and letting the other one half dangle as percy pushes him in the wheely chair back to wherever they were. he is not going to miss being immobile. ]
Sure, yeah. Since that's a fucking problem we have now.
[ poor ryunosuke. rip. ] Think an overnight shift'll clear it up faster than a Greater Restoration, at least.
[ he doesn't mind, in fact he would rather this than siting in his apartments. this probably won't bode well, the ever-there need to stick like glue to vax's side, but unfortunately he knows vex would never forgive him for losing sight of the man in the first place.
he's going to go find some glasses because he's not letting vax drink out of the neck of it, but as he does, he calls out. ]
I do hope this strip checking isn't going to become a regular occurrence.
[ as vax is sticking a knife in the cork to just get the wine bottle popped open, he pauses. it's just enough that if percy is watching, he'll see it. ]
...yeah. [ comes his grunt of an answer. ] Felt pointless with all these stupid injuries, anyway.
[ this is a conversation he was very much hoping to avoid, and... as vax is now realizing
he can't get up
so percy has effectively trapped him here.
facing away from him, vax mouths fuck to himself. ]
[ percy hears the cork pop before he sees it, but it's instinct that says vax will take care of it like a monster with a knife.
he knows precisely what he's done, trapping vax like this without use of his legs. vax isn't stupid either, he probably already has percy's intentions figured out, but it isn't as thought he can do much but clam up.
the night is young.
he returns with the glasses and sits down, giving vax one and holding his own out. you opened it, you can pour. ]
The one on your chest was certainly something I hadn't seen before.
[ and unfortunately vax and percy have definitely seen each other's scars up and down. hazards for traveling together, modesty is... a luxury percy revels in. ]
[ the look on his face is - cagey. closed off. the look of a vax'ildan who desperately wants to walk the fuck away from a conversation, his usual favorite tactic of dealing with anything he absolutely does not want to deal with. he's gotten at least a little more mature about this in the past few years of his life, but ultimately, this is a secret he didn't want to let pass.
not yet. this percy doesn't know yet. it's the future - a future that is unavoidable, that will happen, a future that is set in absolute stone. a fate, as the raven queen would say, for her champion, her fate touched.
he stares at him for a long moment, still holding the wine bottle by the neck. tense, expression pulling into a scowl. stupid smart percy. ]
Yeah? [ as he pours his stupid wine. ] And? People get hurt sometimes. Happens.
[ vax knows it's a flimsy excuse. he knows he's not going to win this conversation, and there's no way out of it, but fuck if he can't just lock it up again, just like he did the first week they were here.
he doesn't bother with the glass, just taking a swig out of the bottle fuck you percy ]
[ he knew you would do that somehow, and just swirls his drink in his glass slowly, glancing down at the dark liquid coating the glass. there's a silence that fills the air, and percy thinks on his words, finds a defiance building up inside of him, stubborn. ]
Stop it.
[ firmly, his brows knit, and it's like they've been this way all week, really, so the ache is familiar. he searches what he can of vax's face. ]
We've made friends here, certainly, but you are the only person I will trust in this wretched place, I don't need your lies or your sugar-coated words. People are dying here, Vax. You're not stupid, you know this—
[ a pointed look, one that tries mostly to keep its strength up even after a bone-witheringly painful trial. you almost died. you died. for a second, but you still died. and i couldn't do anything about it. he just stops speaking, buries himself in his glass for a moment. ]
percy's emotional volley back is something he's not immune to, and he's not an idiot, either. he did just die. he did just pull a vax'ildan, running straight into the abyss of danger without any warning and come out of it barely breathing. and maybe where percy's from, vax might have bristled harder, might have just told him to fuck off, would've taken every emotional plea and ignored it, because percy broke his trust and it took a long time to return. hearing you are the only person i will trust now, in this bizarre situation, isn't just fancy words. it's a necessity, and vax knows that.
but that's the thing. it doesn't matter because - ]
-- I'm fucking dead, Percival. [ the phrase is delivered with that same fierce emotion on his end, as vax sets the glass down hard on the closest table, lifting his head to lock eyes with him from underneath his hood. ] Done. Gone. Not like you.
The Raven Queen called me, and I fucking answered.
[ the ferocity in the words belays the truth of it all, too. it's raw, open, and still so fresh - being brought here when he'd finally accepted his fate, only to meet a percy who didn't even remember it, to see what he saw in that strange little trip was a lot. vax'ildan clambered to the top of the steps of grief, and then tumbled all the way back down to the bottom.
that same low ferocity stays in his voice. no more walking on eggshells. ] Whatever happens to me here doesn't matter, because I'm already gone.
[ but you, he doesn't say. my sister needs you, and you will find your way home. ]
[ percy's expression doesn't falter openly, not here, not as he listens to vax and every single one of his words like a knife. he watches as his hood provides all the insight he needs, the sharp glint of his eyes beneath the shadow. the raven queen. the way that vax says her name is like a freshly opened wound, like percy may as well have rebroken his leg himself.
he looks downwards a moment at his lap. ]
I don't...
[ know what to say.
that there has to be some other way? that vax is just pulling his leg (hah!) that this is some sort of sick joke, but instead he's holding onto his glass with what could be a white knuckled grip, it's hard to say with his glove still on. he lets that sit, lets it truly dig into his brain with sharp talons and the taste of blood in the back of his throat and the sounds of her voice.
and then. ]
I don't care. That isn't an excuse to say what happens to you doesn't matter here under my eye.
[ he murmurs ]
You're here now. You're alive now.
[ he is not looking up. he's staring at his glass. he does not accept this. ]
[ alive, maybe. he's not a revenant anymore, at least - not that percy needs to know that part. he needs to eat, breathe, sleep here. he could die here, as easily as anyone else. ]
I'm not afraid of dying.
[ not under his eye, not under anyone else's, but it's returned with a steadiness and maturity that differs from his usual "running-into-the-fire-face-first-and-coming-out-barely-alive". if percy won't accept it, then vax will, because vax already has. he's long since accepted it, and made his resolute goal here much of the same. the raven queen will come find him eventually. percival has to come home. he will do anything to ensure that is how their time in the prism ends.
death isn't something to be afraid of. it simply is.
but, percy's reactions are hard to miss. vax is observant (though never as much as vex'ahlia), and he knows percy. he knows what he's coming from. (but even still, it surprises him, sometimes. percy is his brother, and he knows that, but sometimes...
well. sometimes he remembers telling him he'd never have his trust again, and now, how silly that seems.)
after a long pause, he sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face, and then drinks from the bottle. ]
...I'm not telling you anything else. That was an inevitability, Percy - the rest of it, you've got to live on your own.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Can’t walk
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Let me in.
[ a minute ]
I brought booze.
no subject
grumbling, he flops back fully into said chair. ]
I’m sleeping in that fucking pod tonight. [ free him ]
no subject
Good plan. Seems that everything's cleaned up so you should be able to. Do you want some company to make sure no one tries to pry it open while you rest?
[ he's pushing this chair w/o wheels back to its spot. enjoy your lil dumb ride. ]
no subject
this is fine actually. he just allows this to happen, reaching to pull his barely attached leg up and letting the other one half dangle as percy pushes him in the wheely chair back to wherever they were. he is not going to miss being immobile. ]
Sure, yeah. Since that's a fucking problem we have now.
[ poor ryunosuke. rip. ] Think an overnight shift'll clear it up faster than a Greater Restoration, at least.
no subject
[ he doesn't mind, in fact he would rather this than siting in his apartments. this probably won't bode well, the ever-there need to stick like glue to vax's side, but unfortunately he knows vex would never forgive him for losing sight of the man in the first place.
he's going to go find some glasses because he's not letting vax drink out of the neck of it, but as he does, he calls out. ]
I do hope this strip checking isn't going to become a regular occurrence.
no subject
...yeah. [ comes his grunt of an answer. ] Felt pointless with all these stupid injuries, anyway.
[ this is a conversation he was very much hoping to avoid, and... as vax is now realizing
he can't get up
so percy has effectively trapped him here.
facing away from him, vax mouths fuck to himself. ]
no subject
he knows precisely what he's done, trapping vax like this without use of his legs. vax isn't stupid either, he probably already has percy's intentions figured out, but it isn't as thought he can do much but clam up.
the night is young.
he returns with the glasses and sits down, giving vax one and holding his own out. you opened it, you can pour. ]
The one on your chest was certainly something I hadn't seen before.
[ and unfortunately vax and percy have definitely seen each other's scars up and down. hazards for traveling together, modesty is... a luxury percy revels in. ]
no subject
not yet. this percy doesn't know yet. it's the future - a future that is unavoidable, that will happen, a future that is set in absolute stone. a fate, as the raven queen would say, for her champion, her fate touched.
he stares at him for a long moment, still holding the wine bottle by the neck. tense, expression pulling into a scowl. stupid smart percy. ]
Yeah? [ as he pours his stupid wine. ] And? People get hurt sometimes. Happens.
[ vax knows it's a flimsy excuse. he knows he's not going to win this conversation, and there's no way out of it, but fuck if he can't just lock it up again, just like he did the first week they were here.
he doesn't bother with the glass, just taking a swig out of the bottle fuck you percy ]
no subject
Stop it.
[ firmly, his brows knit, and it's like they've been this way all week, really, so the ache is familiar. he searches what he can of vax's face. ]
We've made friends here, certainly, but you are the only person I will trust in this wretched place, I don't need your lies or your sugar-coated words. People are dying here, Vax. You're not stupid, you know this—
[ a pointed look, one that tries mostly to keep its strength up even after a bone-witheringly painful trial. you almost died. you died. for a second, but you still died. and i couldn't do anything about it. he just stops speaking, buries himself in his glass for a moment. ]
no subject
percy's emotional volley back is something he's not immune to, and he's not an idiot, either. he did just die. he did just pull a vax'ildan, running straight into the abyss of danger without any warning and come out of it barely breathing. and maybe where percy's from, vax might have bristled harder, might have just told him to fuck off, would've taken every emotional plea and ignored it, because percy broke his trust and it took a long time to return. hearing you are the only person i will trust now, in this bizarre situation, isn't just fancy words. it's a necessity, and vax knows that.
but that's the thing. it doesn't matter because - ]
-- I'm fucking dead, Percival. [ the phrase is delivered with that same fierce emotion on his end, as vax sets the glass down hard on the closest table, lifting his head to lock eyes with him from underneath his hood. ] Done. Gone. Not like you.
The Raven Queen called me, and I fucking answered.
[ the ferocity in the words belays the truth of it all, too. it's raw, open, and still so fresh - being brought here when he'd finally accepted his fate, only to meet a percy who didn't even remember it, to see what he saw in that strange little trip was a lot. vax'ildan clambered to the top of the steps of grief, and then tumbled all the way back down to the bottom.
that same low ferocity stays in his voice. no more walking on eggshells. ] Whatever happens to me here doesn't matter, because I'm already gone.
[ but you, he doesn't say. my sister needs you, and you will find your way home. ]
no subject
he looks downwards a moment at his lap. ]
I don't...
[ know what to say.
that there has to be some other way? that vax is just pulling his leg (hah!) that this is some sort of sick joke, but instead he's holding onto his glass with what could be a white knuckled grip, it's hard to say with his glove still on. he lets that sit, lets it truly dig into his brain with sharp talons and the taste of blood in the back of his throat and the sounds of her voice.
and then. ]
I don't care. That isn't an excuse to say what happens to you doesn't matter here under my eye.
[ he murmurs ]
You're here now. You're alive now.
[ he is not looking up. he's staring at his glass. he does not accept this. ]
no subject
I'm not afraid of dying.
[ not under his eye, not under anyone else's, but it's returned with a steadiness and maturity that differs from his usual "running-into-the-fire-face-first-and-coming-out-barely-alive". if percy won't accept it, then vax will, because vax already has. he's long since accepted it, and made his resolute goal here much of the same. the raven queen will come find him eventually. percival has to come home. he will do anything to ensure that is how their time in the prism ends.
death isn't something to be afraid of. it simply is.
but, percy's reactions are hard to miss. vax is observant (though never as much as vex'ahlia), and he knows percy. he knows what he's coming from. (but even still, it surprises him, sometimes. percy is his brother, and he knows that, but sometimes...
well. sometimes he remembers telling him he'd never have his trust again, and now, how silly that seems.)
after a long pause, he sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face, and then drinks from the bottle. ]
...I'm not telling you anything else. That was an inevitability, Percy - the rest of it, you've got to live on your own.