It was... you, but not fully. Our task was to-- remind someone of what was important. And when I reached the location, the person I found was-- someone I know from my home, at first.
[his eyes slide shut.]
...he was refracting. Sick. Delirious. And as I attempted to fix it, he became you. Then-- both of you, at once.
it takes him a moment, just barely twining their fingers, while emet's talking, listening.
...and as he finishes, he ducks his head down, and very gently pulls his hand up, careful, careful, not to hurt him, then presses his forehead to his knuckles and just stays there, eyes closed. ]
... Fuck. [ at first, just rough and quiet. ] You had to...? [ kill... that..them... whatever it was? the idea sounds horrible, his stomach churning a little. ]
[that gentle touch is-- more soothing than it has any right to be.]
But it seemed for some time as if it was not working. As if I could not stabilize you both by trying to remind you--
[something occurs to him and he just-- exhales a huff of what's almost a laugh. a little delirious himself.]
Vax, I had to remind you what was important to you and I-- [a wince, a breath.] I realized I never asked you, after the simulation. What their name is.
he looks up, worried, at first, when he winces. but then ... color jitters across his feathers, and a single snowdrop blooms in his hair, just over his ear. ]
...you mean...
[ oh, thinking about her right now hurts. his heart cracks, a little, the feathers shuddering again, but becoming a little more feathery instead of that awful tarlike ink. ] ... Keyleth. 's her name.
...it did help. I think that version of you found it amusing. [he's not looking at him, eyes closed for the moment. seeing something else, maybe.] You both stabilized, in the end, but then... faded.
[ that gets a little bit of a huff from him - not quite a laugh, but the corner of his mouth twitches up. it is kind of funny. how did he not tell him keyleth's name?
and - it's nice, too, that that was what he thought of, to bring him back. vax stays there for a moment, curling his hand gently around his fingers and keeping that hold, there, steady. faded in some illusion, but... real, here. trying to be as grounding as he can. ]
Faded, huh.
[ ... well. he can guess what that means. ] Sounds like you did me a favor, either way.
vax is pretty emotionally savvy - it's one of his best qualities. his brows knit together, at that reaction, and he shifts up from where he's settled, moving to carefully, carefully, sit on the edge of the bed. vax lets emet keep his hand, careful not to jostle him, and then leans over him entirely to bonk their foreheads gently together, dark hair forming a curtain to the side and blocking them both out from the lights of the medbay.
his voice is quiet and intense - tender, too, and he presses a little closer, eyes fluttering shut. ] ... hey, hey. [ he can't help about someone emet knew from home, but this, at least, this at least he can do. it's what happened to him at home, though emet doesn't need to know that, and vax didn't get the chance to comfort the people who loved him when he was just gone. what a tiny, lucky chance, to know that the trauma of it all was just an illusion. ] 's done now, yeah? Still right here. Both of us.
[ if nothing else, vax can be a steady presence. ]
[ admittedly, this is not the first time vax has been nebulously disintegrated and/or faded to nothing in his life, even in some illusion, so the idea doesn't scare him that much. it's mostly just seeing emet actually react to it that's making him worry, compassionate heart giving a squeeze. vax is someone with a lot of love to give - and with the unique circumstances of his current situation, he doesn't seem to mind giving it, freely and openly, to those who've earned it. this is no exception.
for a moment he's just content to stay there, letting some of the bone deep exhaustion of the afternoon settle into place. it's a reassurance for himself, too. here, death feels out of hand, out of control - not being able to know you've done everything you could to stop it (even if you have) is hard on him. what matters now is that everyone came back. maybe not in one piece, maybe not fully together, but they came back, and emet is near the very top of that list.
quietly, a gentle swell of affection to it- ] I know you know, Hades. [ because he's like percival - logical, to a fault. the opposite of vax, really.
and he'll tip back just a little, to lean in and kiss him, and let it linger, like a promise. i know. ]
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he was afraid of that. the wing twitches, suddenly, back to feathers under emet's hand. ]
.... wasn't me.
[ vax knows that doesn't actually mean anything - he knows it from his own, when he saw percy - but it's worth saying, anyway.
... if his other hand's uninjured, after a moment, he'll reach for it. ] ... what happened?
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[he knows, but--
he lets vax take his hand.]
It was... you, but not fully. Our task was to-- remind someone of what was important. And when I reached the location, the person I found was-- someone I know from my home, at first.
[his eyes slide shut.]
...he was refracting. Sick. Delirious. And as I attempted to fix it, he became you. Then-- both of you, at once.
no subject
it takes him a moment, just barely twining their fingers, while emet's talking, listening.
...and as he finishes, he ducks his head down, and very gently pulls his hand up, careful, careful, not to hurt him, then presses his forehead to his knuckles and just stays there, eyes closed. ]
... Fuck. [ at first, just rough and quiet. ] You had to...? [ kill... that..them... whatever it was? the idea sounds horrible, his stomach churning a little. ]
no subject
[that gentle touch is-- more soothing than it has any right to be.]
But it seemed for some time as if it was not working. As if I could not stabilize you both by trying to remind you--
[something occurs to him and he just-- exhales a huff of what's almost a laugh. a little delirious himself.]
Vax, I had to remind you what was important to you and I-- [a wince, a breath.] I realized I never asked you, after the simulation. What their name is.
no subject
he looks up, worried, at first, when he winces. but then ... color jitters across his feathers, and a single snowdrop blooms in his hair, just over his ear. ]
...you mean...
[ oh, thinking about her right now hurts. his heart cracks, a little, the feathers shuddering again, but becoming a little more feathery instead of that awful tarlike ink. ] ... Keyleth. 's her name.
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[he repeats, quietly. committing it to memory.]
...it did help. I think that version of you found it amusing. [he's not looking at him, eyes closed for the moment. seeing something else, maybe.] You both stabilized, in the end, but then... faded.
no subject
and - it's nice, too, that that was what he thought of, to bring him back. vax stays there for a moment, curling his hand gently around his fingers and keeping that hold, there, steady. faded in some illusion, but... real, here. trying to be as grounding as he can. ]
Faded, huh.
[ ... well. he can guess what that means. ] Sounds like you did me a favor, either way.
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[at one point he just got desperate. started saying everything.
he's not sure he wants to revisit that now. so he just holds tight to vax's hand, like a lifeline.]
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vax is pretty emotionally savvy - it's one of his best qualities. his brows knit together, at that reaction, and he shifts up from where he's settled, moving to carefully, carefully, sit on the edge of the bed. vax lets emet keep his hand, careful not to jostle him, and then leans over him entirely to bonk their foreheads gently together, dark hair forming a curtain to the side and blocking them both out from the lights of the medbay.
his voice is quiet and intense - tender, too, and he presses a little closer, eyes fluttering shut. ] ... hey, hey. [ he can't help about someone emet knew from home, but this, at least, this at least he can do. it's what happened to him at home, though emet doesn't need to know that, and vax didn't get the chance to comfort the people who loved him when he was just gone. what a tiny, lucky chance, to know that the trauma of it all was just an illusion. ] 's done now, yeah? Still right here. Both of us.
[ if nothing else, vax can be a steady presence. ]
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[he leans into that reassurance, head resting against vax's. he's never liked for things like this to show, but--
the tenderness in his voice is so much.
he wonders if indulging in this is selfish of him. maybe so. but he does it anyway, keeping vax's hand in his.]
I know. We are both still here.
[he'd prefer not to think of it being otherwise.]
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for a moment he's just content to stay there, letting some of the bone deep exhaustion of the afternoon settle into place. it's a reassurance for himself, too. here, death feels out of hand, out of control - not being able to know you've done everything you could to stop it (even if you have) is hard on him. what matters now is that everyone came back. maybe not in one piece, maybe not fully together, but they came back, and emet is near the very top of that list.
quietly, a gentle swell of affection to it- ] I know you know, Hades. [ because he's like percival - logical, to a fault. the opposite of vax, really.
and he'll tip back just a little, to lean in and kiss him, and let it linger, like a promise. i know. ]