#Critical Role Fanfic

[shrugsinchinese]

Gravity, and all that’s born within illustrations

I had the honor of collaborating with the wonderful @talesofsymphoniac for her bookbinding project! This is a series of illustrations I drew for @sky-scribbles’s fic, I may have mentioned this fic once or thrice :)

A fan book of a fanfic which inspired fanart, being a part of this project is sort of my love letter to fan creation in general. Seriously, fan creators, you rock.

[primasveraas-writing]

my soul finds rest / in you alone

C3E114 spoilers

—————

“I'm quite tired of watching you die.”

The words are clipped and quiet, in the usual disdained-Percy way. And then Vex looks up at her husband, and there are tears streaming down his face, dripping off his chin, and his shoulders shake.

Vex stands and wraps him in her arms. She presses her face into his trembling shoulder, and swallows back a sob.

“I just want to see the children again.” Vex’ahlia aches for them, a dead weight settled on her chest. She’s tired in the way she’d hoped never to feel again- even with the pain gone, an exhaustion lingers that trumps even the haze of post-labor and an hours-old baby. No matter the way she’s died, Vex has found, coming back has always been the most painful events of her life.

She wants the soft sleep that comes with the blissful exhaustion of young children. The quiet, gentle kind, when her eyes would flutter closer while one or more of her babies lay on her chest and Percy either watched on or curled up beside her.

But she’s older now, and her children have grown, and she’s still tired.

“I want to go home,” she says, and the tears begin. Percy rocks her as they stand and begins to hum a lullaby that he’d sung to each of their children. With that, Vex knows he understands- that Percy knows what she means by home, that her deepest desire isn’t just Whitestone but five children and a group of friends and a brother and a mother who will never all be together at once. That she yearns for days long past and futures that could never be, that the world, which they sacrificed so much to save, has become close to wholly unbearable again.

[elle-thereafter]

Perc'ahlia Smut Fic Recs

After S3E3 of The Legend of Vox Machina dropped the stats on my smut fics jumped overnight which was entertaining. Which strongly indicates a lot of you are looking for some sweet Perc'ahlia smut to follow-up the delights provided to us by the animated series.

Myself and some folks from the Perc'ahlia Week Discord server are very happy to provide a list of our favourites. Some of these (including some of their summaries and tags below) will contain spoilers beyond tLoVM S3E3 so tread lightly into the cut if you care deeply about spoilers. Assume every single one of the fics below contains explicit sex between Percy and Vex. I've included the AO3 summary and the helpful Additional Tags from AO3 to help you zoom in on your favourite thinigs and avoid the things you're less fond of.

After Dinner by Lycaboros

Summary: Vex has some definite ideas for this evening's activities. AO3 Tags: Sex Toys, Toys, Riding Crops, Teasing, Orgasm Delay/Denial

Bathing for Fun and Profit by ViciousRhythm

Summary: The bath sex we all know happened and the sex on a pile of money that Vex'ahlia deserves. AO3 Tags: spoilers for episode 81, Bath Sex, Incredibly self indulgent, sex on a pile of money, PWP

the beast you've made of me by seimaisin

Summary: Vex finds herself transported to her very first Wild Hunt. Percy and Orthax are determined to make her first time a memorable one. AO3 Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Werewolf Sex, Tentacles, Bondage, Animal Transformation, Chases, Dominance, Consensual Non-Consent, Erotic Horror

before those hands pulled me from the earth by worth_the_risk

Summary: Vex knew the gods were still living, sequestered behind the Divine Gate as they may be. She knew their interactions with those who still walked Exandria were limited, but purposeful. She had never had reason to thank any of them. Now, she may have to consider it. AO3 Tags: Explicit Sexual Content, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Explicit Consent, Risk Waxes Poetic About Scar Tissue Again, Past Character Death, Canon Compliant, If you're here from TLoVM and have not listened to C1 here there be spoilers, Scars, Cunnilingus, Love Confessions, Campaign 1 Spoilers through Episode 72-74-ish?, Vaginal Sex

charmeause by anonymous

Summary: Percy takes the material of the hem between his fingers and absently feels at the embroidery, eyes locked onto her and her scrunched nose of confusion. “When you said you’d be right back, my mind had gone to those little rabbit slippers, not… lingerie.” AO3 Tags: Lingerie, PWP, Cunnilingus, Post-Canon, established marriage, Gratuitously sweaty Percy, Stripping, Houston they're in LOVE, Blow Jobs, Light Dom/sub, Fluff and Smut

Comparative Anatomy by Shippeh

Summary: Percy drags Keyleth to a frat party on an errand to find numbers for a project, and ends up discovering something (or someone) a lot more interesting. AO3 Tags: College AU

Control by subtropicalStenella

Summary: Percy needs to sleep, and take better care of himself, but he's also a stubborn bastard and needs to be tricked into it. AO3 Tags: Dirty Talk, Mutual Masturbation, Fantasizing, Multiple Orgasms, Erotic Electrostimulation, Prostate Milking, Overstimulation, Praise Kink

Courage To Go On by subtropicalStenella

Summary: It's That Scene, because we love to fill in fade-to-blacks and I love the powerplay of "I open the door, COMPLETELY NAKED." but also I love damaged people and working through that damage. AO3 Tags: First Time, Porn with Feelings, Rough Sex, Desk Sex, Light Dom/sub, Light Bondage, Introspection, deliberately ignoring that introspection, Banter as Foreplay

darling, so it goes (some things are meant to be) by mischiefseven

Summary: It's the night before the fight with Vorugal, and Vex has left too much unsaid for far too long. AO3 Tags: Past Character Death, Love Confessions, Life-Affirming Sex, Emotional Hurt/Comfort

Debauchery by ladyofrosefire

Summary: If one knows where to look, there is a shop in Emon where one can find all manner of delightful things. Vex lures Percy into it one afternoon while they’re in the city for business. Or: Percy gets pegged. AO3 Tags: Pegging, Sex Toys

Deifying (flew like a moth to you, sunlight) by ladyofrosefire

Summary: Percy and Vex share a lazy morning shortly after their return from Pandemonium. AO3 Tags: Episode: the Search for Bob Spoilers, Cunnilingus, sun freckles, mild blasphemy, Morning Sex

Disciple by ladyofrosefire

Summary: Vex has a new house, new boots, and a very attractive partner who wants to please her in every way he can. That's a recipe for an excellent night. AO3 Tags: BDSM, Dom/sub, light boot worship, Cunnilingus, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Domme!Vex, Riding, Praise Kink, Fellatio, Verbal Bondage, Aftercare, PWP

everyone can see (few can test by feeling) by mischiefseven

Summary: Vex needs distraction. Percy is delighted to oblige. AO3 Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Cunnilingus, Oral Sex, Inappropriate Use of 16th Century Italian Literature

everything has changed (and now it's only you that matters) by rozegold

Summary: Vex takes care of Percy after his second brush with death. AO3 Tags: Blow Jobs, Post-Chroma Conclave

The Feathers in Her Hair by pagerunner

Summary: When Vex starts making changes to the distinctive feathers she wears, Percy begins to suspect she's sending him a sign. Perc'ahlia fic, written between episodes 62 and 63, but without specific spoilers. AO3 Tags: None

A Game of Later by thereafter

Summary: An evening at the opera escalates. Some things are better left unresolved, at least for a little while. Shameless smut, in three acts. AO3 Tags: Cock Warming, Dirty Talk, Established Relationship, Light Bondage, Light Dom/sub, Oral Sex, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Power Dynamics, Public Sex, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn IS the plot, Vex'ahlia is a Little Shit, Percival is also a Little Shit, they are both little shits

Get your hands dirty by umwelt

Summary: It’s not his handwriting. He hasn’t seen ink in weeks, too scrapped for coin for the luxury. The P starting at the base of his hand, affording the traitor his distinction, his name eating up the space of the pad of Percy’s left thumb. Opens his palm. Yes - on the inside of each finger, a name: Doctor Ripley. Lord Briarwood. Lady Briarwood. Sir Kerrion Stonefell. AO3 Tags: Whump, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Percival "Percy" de Rolo III Has Issues, Traumatized Percival "Percy" de Rolo III, Campaign 1, Mutual Pining, Alternate Universe, Percy is the pact weapon AU, Magical Tattoos, me: so. tattoos hot. percy hot. the list hot. what if… all three??, Mild Gore, Injury Recovery, Magical Prosthetic. sort of., henna, Rated for smut in last chapter, Comfort Sex, Woman on Top, None of the angsty tags apply to the sex, Follows Campaign 1 with some extra TLOVM ~flavor~ in places

Grey by percivalium

Summary: There’s a rumble of gruff voices at the table as various other diplomats react to Daventine’s outburst. Silverware clatters, glasses and crystal goblets tink and the general hubbub of the biannual trade route summit create a very unique mashup of noises in the dining hall. And Vex’ahlia couldn’t give a single shit about any of it. AO3 Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Vaginal Sex, Wall Sex, Quickie, Sneaking Away to Fuck During Dinner, Established Relationship

hard to talk (when i'm with you) by percahlia

Summary: Percy's pretty sure at this point that his wife's favorite hobby is showing up and knocking the breath out of him, one way or another. AO3 Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Blow Jobs, Desk Sex, Under-Desk Blow Jobs, domestic sex, Post-Canon, Semi-Public Sex

Have some fun tonight by steelneena

Summary: Ever since that night at the lake, Percy and Vex have made a habit of getting carried away rather often. But it’s really whose house – and more importantly, whose bedroom within said house - they’re in that makes things…tenuous for Percy. It just so happens to be Vex’s dad’s house. And they just so happen to be Vex’s dad’s bed. In Percy’s defense, Vex hadn’t exactly told him until it was too little too late. AO3 Tags: Early 2000's aesthetic college halloween party, to keep with the theme, Mirror Sex, Accidental Voyeurism, brief mention of recreational drugs, Percy is relatively inexperienced still, Vex is very loving, Vaginal Sex, Biting, Dom/sub Undertones, stupid halloween jokes and passtimes, may have been lightly influenced by Scream, Playful Sex, love is best kink

How the Other Half Lives by sabinelagrande

Summary: Percy knows what he likes. He thinks so, anyway. AO3 Tags: Femdom, Dom Vex'ahlia, Dom Percy de Rolo, Sub Percy de Rolo, Under-negotiated Kink, Floor Sex, Self-Discovery, 094-e095 Timeskip, Dom/sub

If You Wanna Be Mine by ViciousRhythm

Summary: For all that Percy can sometimes be really eloquent, he's sometimes really…not. AO3 Tags: Car Sex, just barely touches on dom/sub dynamics, Modern AU, Alternate Universe - High School, Humor

I'll Shout From the Mountains (Love Looks Good on You) by Aesthetic_Pigeon

Summary: Vex is tired of Percy working late into the night and decides to set things right. AO3 Tags: Episode: c01e095 One Year Later…, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn with Feelings, Cunnilingus, Vaginal Fingering, Praise Kink, Coming In Pants, Percival "Percy" de Rolo III Has a Tremor, Idiots in Love

Insight Check by percivalium

Summary: Grey Hunt patrols are long, a bit tedious and solitary. Vex'ahlia must find ways to entertain her brain while performing her Grey Hunt duties out in the Parchwood. One defiantly un-ladylike thought may have caused her some brainrot… and she needs to find a certain Lord of Whitestone to make it a reality. Hopefully he believes her when she claims otherwise. AO3 Tags: Episode: c01e095 One Year Later…, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Some Plot, Surprise Blowjob, Torn Clothing, Manual stimulation, Oral Sex, Dirty Talk, Desk Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Clothes-on Sex, Doggy Style, Hair-pulling, Consensual Kink, Top!Percy, Vex Hands Over the Reins, Ball Massage, Praise Kink, Implied Consent, Mutual Masturbation, Hand Jobs

I wanna make you hungry (then I want to feed you) by writerthewriter

Summary: Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III was not a religious man, yet for one so faithless, he spent an awful lot of time on his knees dedicated to worship. aka the one where percy really loves going down on his wife. AO3 Tags: Cunnilingus, Dirty Talk, percy likes going down on his wife, Vaginal Fingering, Masturbation, Face-Sitting, Light D/s Dynamics

Jumping the Gun by LadyOfSnakes

Summary: Percival has done something very stupid and very dangerous. Vex is not okay with this. Spoilers through episode 73. AO3 Tags: First Time, Angry Sex, Oral Sex, Explicit Consent

A Lesson in Manners by pagerunner

Summary: Vex may usually be the one to call the shots where intimate matters are concerned, but that isn't to say that Percy doesn't have his own ideas. This one might prove to be especially captivating. Spoiler warning for a couple details post-episode 94/early 100s. AO3 Tags: None

Lost in the Woods with You by Her_Madjesty

Summary: When Percy stumbles away from the group, it’s…mostly by accident. AO3 Tags: Sex Pollen, Feywild Arc, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Multiple Orgasms, Oral Sex

Point Made by sabinelagrande

Summary: An argument is interrupted. AO3 Tags: Post-Chroma Conclave, Vaginal Fingering, Percy makes that +6 DEX work for him

Press by modal_contingency

Summary: Vex is unfailingly good at reading people, and Percy can be the easiest of reads. AO3 Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Dom/sub, Dirty Talk, Begging, Breathplay

The Private Games We Play by pagerunner

Summary: After game night ends, Vex and Percy decide to delve more deeply into what went on during their explorations of a certain tavern cellar. Yes, this means pretty much what you're thinking. Set just after the post-episode-115 one-shot helmed by Grog. AO3 Tags: Post-Campaign, Grog's one-shot, the meta is strong with this one, and i should not be entrusted with such inappropriate interpretations of game mechanics

A Private Vex Tape by inheritanceofgeek

Summary: Percy has been at the International Convention for Technological Innovation for 4 days and is already going stir crazy with how much he misses his wife. Lucky for him, Vex'ahlia is an innovative woman who misses him just as much as he misses her. And hey, what are webcams for if not to record home made sex tapes? AO3 Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Sex Tapes, Mutual Masturbation, Sex Toys, Vibrators, Married Life, Mentions of Taryon Darrington, That 7 hour time difference hurts me too, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Fluff and Smut

Put your arms around me, baby by steelneena

Summary: He's not quite sure how he ended up here. He, Percival de Rolo, of all people, who hadn’t wanted to stay in Emon for the summer, who’d wanted to go back home after his year exchange ended, remain cooped up in his room at home with his experiments and his books, was naked in a lake at night, kissing a beautiful woman – also naked – in his lap who could, if he was quite honest, do far better that his wiry, nerdy, early-gone-white self. AO3 Tags: Skinny Dipping, First Time, Hand Jobs, Virgin Percy, Love Confessions, Modern AU, kind of a college au, slight D/s overtones, love is kink, Enthusiastic Consent

remember me love, when i'm reborn by worth_the_risk

Summary: After Elysium, before the Core Anvil, before - well, before. AO3 Tags: Campaign 1, Spoilers through C1E106: The Endless Atheneum, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Life-Affirming Sex, Rough Sex, Vaginal Sex, Established Relationship, Introspection, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, anticipatory grief

Respite for the Restless by pagerunner

Summary: It's been a difficult, troubling day. Sometimes the best you can do is reach for each other. Percy/Vex vignette, set at the mansion after episode 106. AO3 Tags: None

Satin and sweat by umwelt

Summary: Vex bites Percy’s lip in the hopes he gets the message. His fingers slow, only movement at all because she can feel every twitch deep in her cunt. Sorry - she, the lady robbed in a magpie’s iridescent blacks and whites, hostess of the soirée, bites the lip of this bespectacled owl of a man in the hopes he gets the message. It is a masquerade, after all, and one should keep up appearances. AO3 Tags: Campaign 1, Could be an AU could be canon compliant who knows!, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Vaginal Fingering, Hand & Finger Kink, Quickies, Semi-Public Sex, Clothed Sex, Shameless Smut

scarcely can speak for my thinking (what you'd do to me tonight) by worth_the_risk

Summary: “Is it terrible that we are abandoning our best friend’s first state birthday dinner?” The airy tone of her voice suggested she had already divined precisely how she felt about it. “I think Keyleth will forgive us for the excursion, if she even notices our absence.” AO3 Tags: Secret Marriage, Quickies, Cunnilingus, Blow Jobs, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Campaign 1, Spoilers through Episode 95: One Year Later…, Spoilers for The Legend of Vox Machina, Vaginal Sex, Established Relationship, Competency Kink

Second Watch by threepwillow

Summary: Depleted spell slots and some near-death experiences leave an abridged, mansionless Vox Machina camping out under the stars; but now Vex'ahlia's husband is in a mood, and who knew gnomes were such light sleepers? AO3 Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Hand & Finger Kink, That 22 Dexterity Tho, Post-Canon

Seen by subtropicalStenella

Summary: Percy acts smooth but it's a mask over an excitable, anxious dork and we love him for it AO3 Tags: Teasing, Cock Tease, Prostate Massage, Anal Fingering, Blow Jobs, Cunnilingus, Face-Sitting, Percy has some internalized prudishness and it's adorable, and he's an anxious dork, Dirty Talk, Masturbation, Titfuck

someone ought to corrupt you on the dance floor by blackglass

Summary: It's Senior Week and the twins' birthday and Vox Machina is headed to the club to celebrate. With only a week left until they all graduate and go their separate ways, Vex decides she's done with wondering "what if?" Percy is not prepared for what's about to hit him. AO3 Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University, Porn with Feelings, Racebending, Everyone in Vox Machina is multiracial, except percy, Palest white boy to ever be a pale white boy, Background Vax/Gilmore, Background Kash/Keyleth, Clubbing, Grinding

Spoiled by thereafter

Summary: Percy schemes. Vex'ahlia is spoiled. AO3 Tags: Cunnilingus, Dirty Talk, Established Relationship, Light Dom/sub, Mirror Sex, Multiple Orgasms, Orgasm Delay, Porn with Feelings, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Power Dynamics, Softdom Percy, Vex Gets Spoiled

Stand and Deliver by ladyofrosefire

Summary: Percy really just wants to get ravished by a famous outlaw. Vex. He means Vex. AO3 Tags: Sexual Roleplay, Gun Kink, Outdoor Sex, Consensual Kink, Consensual Non-Consent

the sweetest distractions by rozegold

Summary: Coaxing Percy out of his workshop is something Vex has become very good at over the years, but sometimes she has to fight dirty for his own good. AO3 Tags: Fluff and Smut, Domestic smut, Happily Married Banging, Several Years Post-Campaign, Vex In Percy's Coat, Unconventional Usage of Percy's Workshop

take a step that is new by Griftings

Summary: Or, the one where Vex is enthusiastic, Percy is unsure, and… well, basically there's a threesome. With Jarett. AO3 Tags: Fluff and Smut, Crack, Threesome - F/M/M, PWP, Sort Of, like there's sort of a plot but it's honestly almost entirely just sex

Taking a Break by Lycaboros

Summary: Percy is TRYING to get some work done. It's not working very well for him. AO3 Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Interrupted Sex, Rough Sex, Desk Sex, Under-Desk Blow Jobs, post campaign one, Edging

a teaching moment by rozegold

Summary: Percy's eager to branch out and, well, how can Vex say no to that? AO3 Tags: Oral Sex, Blow Jobs, First Time Blow Jobs, Strap-Ons, Vex Teaches Percy About Blow Jobs, Finger Sucking, Percy's Got A Bit Of An Oral Fixation

under your moonlit gaze by seimaisin

Summary: Vex, Percy, the hot springs, and sex. With a brief interruption from Scanlan. AO3 Tags: Fluff and Smut, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot

Unwind already by unknownlifeform

Summary: Percy gets pegged by Vex for the first time. Things that help this activity: Percy relaxing and unclenching. Things Vex has to coax Percy into doing: AO3 Tags: Pegging, Anal Fingering, Rimming, Established Relationship, First Time Bottoming, Porn with Feelings, they are in love your honorand also they are silly!!, this is a being stupid during sex propaganda account, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot

we are learning to make fire by mischiefseven

Summary: The citizens of Whitestone celebrate Winter’s Crest. Their lord and lady have a much more personal celebration of their own. AO3 Tags: Married Sex, Desk Sex, Cunnilingus, newlyweds, Fluff, Consensual Kink, Explicit Consent

whatever you do (do it for me, baby) by mischiefseven

Summary: Percy finds something that belongs to Vex. After testing, he takes it upon himself to make some improvements. AO3 Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Dildos, Mutual Masturbation, Pegging

what she wants by rozegold

Summary: Vex has discovered quite a lovely thing because of her relationship with Percy: ladies get what they want. Except sometimes, they don't. AO3 Tags: Vaginal Fingering, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Vex Can Dish But She Can't Take, Percy Gets Some Payback

when the wicked play by seimaisin

Summary: Vex and Percy only know each other online, through their favorite video game. They're both taken by surprise when their flirty, competitive relationship turns into a long-distance erotic game. Except, it may not be as long-distance as they think, and Percy is definitely more than Vex realizes. His family's fame leads them to a real-life collision, and suddenly everything is way more complicated than it seemed on the internet … (abandoned but fun) AO3 Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Nude Photos, Online Friendship, Cybersex

you'll never know unless we go by sabinelagrande

Summary: Nothing about this goes right, but it's perfect. AO3 Tags: Rough Body Play, Rope Bondage, Resistance Play, Hair-pulling, Rough Sex, Maledom, Dom Percy de Rolo, Sub Vex'ahlia

[sunstone-smiles]

The Legendary Vox Machina Tickle Fight

Original request (from 🦋 Anon): "LE GASP!!!! UR A FAN OF VOX MACHINA TOO 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 Omggggg can you PLEEEEEASE do day 18 tickle fight with the Vox Machina group? They're all so cute together and I'd love to see that!"

Author’s note: Omg, this turned into a huge fic, but I have no regrets, Lol. Here’s Day 18 of Tickletober: “Tickle fight” from August’s Prompt List! I hope you enjoy!

Series: The Legend of Vox Machina

Characters: Pike, Grog, Scanlan, Keyleth, Vex, Vax, Percy, and Trinket

Word count: 4,585

Summary: The Vox Machina crew is having a boring day, so Scanlan attempts to lighten the mood, but Grog’s misunderstanding of one of Scanlan’s words soon turns into a playful fight between the party.  Enjoy!

---

It’s just that kind of day, where the Vox Machina crew gets to relax with one another, but they’re teetering on the edge of drab boredom. They don’t want to go out. Too much effort. So whatever is available in their current cozy sitting room is what keeps them occupied.

Pike, standing on a chair so she can see better over a wooden table, cups a pair of dice in her hands; the sound of the dice clicking can be heard as she shakes them. Grog sits across from her with the table height at his stomach due to his large size. The muffled collision of dice can be heard in his hands as well.

“Ready, Grog?” Pike asks her friend.

“Ready!”

At the same time, they throw their dice onto the table. Pike counts the two numbers on her dice quickly. “I got a six!”

“A three! I win!” Grog celebrates.

“I hate to break it to you, buddy, but six is higher than three,” Pike says sweetly, understanding that her friend has difficulty with numbers.

“Aww…” Grog deflates a little. 

“It’s okay, buddy! We can try a different game.”

Grog leans back in his chair like all the muscles in his body have gone limp. “But we’ve already tried so many. I’m bored.” 

“Heh,” Pike leans her elbow on the table, “Can’t blame you there, buddy.”

“Don’t worry, everyone! Your savior is here!” Scanlan walks into the room, making a performance out of his entrance. He runs up to the same wooden table Pike and Grog are at, hops up onto a chair and onto the table like it was a stage and he was a vendor. “I saw that it was a little dreary in here today, so I know just how to lighten the mood,” Scanlan moves his eyebrows up and down when he says “mood.”

“Oh goody, more mind numbing dirty jokes,” Vex says from her seat across the room. Trinket’s head is in her lap as she passes the time by brushing his fur. Vax sits in a separate chair next to her, polishing his daggers. Meanwhile, Percy draws in his sketchbook as he sits in a chair up against the front wall near the doorframe, while Keyleth sits next to him in another chair and touches up the leaves of a potted plant.

“No no, nothing dirty,” Scanlan replies. “I have tailored this joke to be pristine and appropriate. Ahem!” Scanlan clears his throat loudly. 

“What do you call a cow that’s good at playing an instrument?” Scanlan asks his crowd of friends. He waits and looks around at each of them to keep them in suspense. Then, he answers. “A Moo-sician! Eh? Eh?” he winks and elbows the air.

All of his friends slowly look at each other before looking back up at Scanlan, unamused and in total silence. If crickets were in the room, they would be chirping.

Scanlan puts his hands on his hips. “What? Nothing? Tough crowd.”

“It sounds like you need to get better material, my friend,” Vax shows a brief smile.

“Yes, I would think you of all people would come up with better material than simple puns, Scanlan,” Percy teases.

“I don’t know. I thought it was a little funny,” Keyleth admits.

Scanlan gestures an appreciative hand to the Ashari. “Thank you, Keyleth! But as for the rest of you! How did you not find it funny?! That was one of my best rib-ticklers!”

Grog places a finger to his chin. “Oooh, wait! No wonder no one laughed, Scanlan!” Grog exclaims. The goliath stands from his seat and walks around the table to be behind Scanlan. “That wasn’t a rib-tickler! You got to use your hands. Like this!” Grog finishes his sentence by swiftly moving his hands under Scanlan’s arms and tickling his ribs. The smaller man jumps with a yelp in surprise and throws his elbows down to his sides. 

“Grohohohog!” Scanlan already begins giggling, “I didn’t mehehehean it literally-hehehe! It’s a figure ohohohof speech!”

Grog tilts his head, genuinely confused, “You’ve lost me.”

Pike perks up, a grin brightening her features like the glow of her divine magic. “Oh, yeah! Now this is something exciting!” She stands up straight like she was preparing to charge into a battle. 

“Tickle fight!!!” Pike calls out with the same ecstatic tone as if she was announcing a tavern brawl for everyone to see. She leaps onto the table and rushes over to Scanlan. 

“Grog, hold him for me!” she exclaims.

“You’ve got it, buddy!” Grog keeps his hands under Scanlan’s arms, easily holding the bard in place as his fingers wiggle against his ribs.

“Nohoho, no, no! Pihihihikehehehe!” Scanlan’s laughter increases when Pike joins in and scribbles at his sides. Scanlan curls himself to the side and tucks his face in his shoulder as Pike and Grog successfully team attack him. Scanlan’s joke may have not lightened the dull mood of the room, but his own laughter certainly does.

“Heh,” Vax chuckles as he watches from the sidelines. “Too bad for you, Scanlan. Looks like you’ve waged a war with Pike and Grog.”

“Remember our scuffles that usually turned into tickle fights?” Vex smiles at her brother.

“Ah, yes. You mean the ones I always won?” Vax returns a smug grin.

“Excuse me?” Vex says, playfully offended. “If I recall, you are more ticklish than I. I’d have you begging for mercy in seconds.” Vex places Trinket’s brush on her seat, keeping her eyes trained on Vax.

Vax places his dagger on the table and leans forward, keeping his grin and his eyes on Vex. “I beg to differ, Stubby.”

“Well, I’ll show you, Scrawny!” Vex exclaims and lunges her hands at Vax, immediately getting a solid scribble to his ribs. Vax yelps as the pulse of ticklishness hits his form, momentarily paralyzing him before he clamps his arms down to his sides, then shifts tactics to try and shove his sister away.

“Vehehehehex!” the male twin leans himself off his chair, then crashes to the floor. Vex pounces down after him and tickles his ribs from behind, causing Vax to release a secondary burst of giggles before he curls up and rolls onto his back to attempt to grapple his sister’s wrists. He leans his head back and kicks his legs behind her.

“See, now what did I tell you, dear brother? You’re still the more ticklish one,” Vex teases and easily slips her hands from Vax’s grasp to continue tickling him. There’s no follow up response from Vax except a continuous stream of giggles and a loud snort. Knowing the sound he just made, he curls himself onto his side and tries to hide his face in his arm.

“Aww, and you still snort too. How adorable,” Vex lays the teases on thick.

“Shuhuhuhut up!” Vax finally responds.

“Hey, that’s not very nice. It seems I just have to tickle you more to change your attitude,” Vex smiles and scribbles a hand towards her brother’s belly, causing him to curl himself up tighter. As the twins scuffle, Trinket happily growls at them before trotting off towards the doorway to lie down.

“Hehe, looks like the twins have already roped themselves into the fight,” Keyleth chuckles from her seat.

“It’s inevitable that siblings will get themselves into little squabbles from time to time,” Percy says beside her, not even taking his eyes off his sketchbook.

Keyleth turns to him with a smile. “Did you usually get into tickle fights with your siblings, Percy?”

He glances up at her. “Me? Oh no, no. I don’t do tickle fights.” He returns to sketching.

Keyleth tilts her head. “Huh? But, it definitely sounded like you were speaking from experience…”

Before Keyleth can ask another question, there’s a Scanlan sized giggly scream from the other side of the room. Grog has grabbed Scanlan’s arms and pulled them to the side to allow Pike to scribble into his underarms.

“A lihihihittle hehehehelp here wohohohould be–hehehe nice!” Scanlan shouts out to whichever one of his party members is willing to listen.

“Hold on, Scanlan! I’m coming!” Keyleth answers the call. She places the plant on her chair, then runs over in the direction of Pike. The Ashari makes it to the edge of the table and tries to swipe at Pike, like she was attempting to catch a rabbit, but Pike jumps back.

“Whoa!” Pike says. “Oh no, Keyleth!” Pike already giggles as she turns to run. She hops off the table and Keyleth chases behind her.

“Oh no you don’t, Keyleth!” Grog immediately puts Scanlan down and rushes to Pike's aid. Before the chase has even begun, Grog snatches Keyleth off the ground in a hug as she passes by the corner of the table. He places Keyleth’s feet back to the floor and scribbles into her sides, earling a squeak from the Ashari.

“Eehehehek! Grohohohog!” Keyleth giggles and squeezes her arms down. “Thihihihis height difference mahahahakes it sohohoho unfair!” she says as she realizes the ticklish predicament Scanlan must have been in.

“Sorry, Keyleth! But if you mess with my best buddy, you mess with me!” Grog grins as he carefully wiggles his fingers to Keyleth’s ribs, keeping her in place as she sways like a leaf in the breeze.

Pike twists on her heels once she hears Keyleth’s laughter. She smiles at her buddy Grog as a thank you. Past Grog’s form, however, Pike sees the wooden table they were just at. The once giggling form of Scanlan is now missing. 

“Huh?” Pike wonders. “Where did he–”

“Sneak attack!” Scanlan loudly announces his presence behind her as he digs his fingers into Pike’s sides.

“AHA!” Pike yelps from being taken off guard. “Hahaha! Scanlahahahan!” Pike darts her hands down in an attempt to pry the bard’s hands latched onto her sides.

“You thought you could just tickle me and get away with it? Oh no, no, no, Pike. You see, now it’s my turn to even the playing field,” Scanlan grins. “Who would have guessed that under all that armor that the mighty Pike is so ticklish?”

“Ohoho, yohohohou’re going to rehehehegret saying thahahahat!” Pike giggles.

“I regret saying a lot of things, but this is not one of them,” Scanlan replies.

Seeing six out of the seven party members get thrown into a tickle fight, Percy places his sketchbook on the side table next to his chair, then stands. “Well, if you all are going to continue fooling around with each other, then I think I should take my leave.”

Percy turns towards the doorway to exit. However, as the big brown bear sees Percy walking in that direction, Trinket trots in front of the doorway and blocks the exit. The bear growls at the white-haired man.

Percy takes a step back. “Wha– Trinket?”

“Good thinking, Trinket!” Vex says, seeing the exchange between her bear and the noble occur. “You’re not going anywhere without first joining the fight, Percy.” Vex glances to her bear, “Trinket, be a dear and get Percy, will you?”

Trinket happily growls at Percy. The noble takes another step back.

“Wait, Trinket!” Percy puts his hands up.

The bear growls again and charges at Percival. Trinket headbutts Percy square in the stomach, with enough force to push him, but not to hurt him. Percy hits the back wall as Trinket charges at him and, being the large bear that he is, Trinket easily traps Percy to the wall by having his head right up against his stomach. With another happy huff from the bear, Trinket begins nuzzling his snout into Percy’s stomach, finding a way under his dress shirt and vest for his snout to be most effective.

Percy flinches and his mouth twitches upwards; he tries to restrain his snickers while he attempts to shove Trinket’s big, playful head out of his shirt. “Trinket! Stand down, boy! I am not a toy for you to cuddle!”

“Good boy, Trinket!” Vex exclaims. She leaves her brother in a crumpled pile of giggles and runs over to help her bear. 

“Let me lend you a hand, Trinket,” she says, now standing beside her furry companion. “Or perhaps, two hands?” she wiggles all of her fingers at Percy.

“V-Vex! Don’t you da–AHare!” Percy closes his mouth shut once Vex lunges her hands at his ribs. A few restrained snickers start to trickle from the man as he turns his face away into his shoulder.

“Percival, you’re holding out on me,” Vex teases. “You do know that it’s a tickle fight, right? So, laugh a little,” she moves her hands up his ribs and into his underarms. Rather quickly, his snickers sputter and turn into full blown giggles.

“Vehehehex!” Percy completely breaks into an outpouring of bubby joy. He bends his arms down for protection, but that doesn’t stop the loveable bear from nuzzling into his belly. He tries to wiggle his way out of his predicament.

“There we go! We got him, Trinket!” Vex glances at the bear before looking back at Percy. “See, Percy? You would have missed out on all this fun had you walked out.”

“I will nohohohot be subjugated to-hohoho thihihihis childish gahahame!” He wiggles to the side and successfully dislodges himself from Trinket and the wall, then wastes no time in sprinting across the room.

“This isn’t over yet, Percy!” Vex exclaims. Right before she takes off for the chase, a woosh of black cloth passes by her.

“I’ll deal with you later!” Vax glances over his shoulder to his sister as he runs by.

“Yeah, right. We’ll see about that,” Vex smiles before following suit and running back into the frey.

Percy, knowing he’s a target, skids behind Grog and Keyleth and takes cover.

“Grog! Let me use your body as a shield!” Percy peeks out from the side of the goliath.

Grog’s view turns towards Percy. “Uh, okay.”

“I’ve gotcha, Keyleth!” Vax says from Grog’s other side and leaps onto the table, then he jumps off towards Grog. He lands on Grog and wraps his arms around the goliath’s neck, piggy-back style.

“Hey!” Grog tries to snatch Vax from over his back, releasing Keyleth from his hold. “Get over here, pipsqueak!” Grog spins from side to side to toss Vax off of him, but Vax keeps his grip. Grog sidesteps one way and nearly crashes into Percy, sending the noble stumbling backwards and onto the floor; when Grog sidesteps to his other side, Vex also stumbles backwards and onto the floor when she tries to dodge.  

Grog halts his movement to try and get a better grip on Vax, but the dagger wielder shows him a smirk and uses one hand to scribble at the goliath’s ribs while Vax’s other arm holds himself up by staying wrapped around Grog’s neck.

Grog jolts and a bigger smile grows on his already large features. “Hehehey! Vahahahax!” he tries to reach up at the half-elf again. “Nohoho fair!”

“No fair? We’re playing a tickle fight with a guy twice our size. Creative strategies have to be used, my friend,” Vax smiles at him. 

“And don’t forget about a little bit of magic!” Keyleth recovers and faces her palm towards Grog. Her hand glows and vines sprout from the floor, wrapping themselves loosely around Grog and brushing up against the rest of his torso.

Grog stops going for Vax and pulls his arm down as deep laughter booms from his chest. “Ohohohokay! Mahahahaybe I earned thihihihis!” Grog says through his giggles.

Vex stands up and leans an arm on Trinket. She sees Percy still on the floor, but she’s quite amused with the sight of their tallest ally being overpowered by tickling. She’ll call off her chase, for now.

“Ohohoho no! Grohohog!” Pike says through her own laughter as she hears Grog being felled by giggles from across from her.

“Oooh. What a shame,” Scanlan says over Pike’s shoulder. “It seems like you and Grog have fallen to the same tragic fate of revenge—WHOA!”

Pike uses a burst of strength to yank one of Scanlan’s arms and fling him to the floor in front of them onto his back. As he lifts his head up to regain his bearings, Pike pounces at him like a wolf and knocks him back to the floor. She dives her hands towards his sides, earning a shriek of laughter from Scanlan.

“Pihihihihike! Yohohou already had yohohour turn tickling mehehehe! Hahahave mercy!”

“I’ll consider it, if you help me help Grog,” Pike negotiates with a smile.

“Nohoho way! Hehehe started it!”

Pike shrugs, “Suit yourself then.” She crawls her fingers back up to his underarms, causing Scanlan to kick his legs out behind her and his giggles to increase.

Pike glances beside her to Percy, who’s still leaning back on the floor as he watches Grog’s current fate. “Percy! Come help me with Scanlan!” she says to him.

The noble shakes his head. “No, thank you. I’ve had my fair share of this fight for one day.”

“Come on, Percy. You’re got to have some fun once in a while.” She puts on a smirk. “Or are you too much of a stick-in-the-mud noble to do so?”

Percy’s stunned. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Pike’s tone is one that’s begging to be challenged. Percy narrows her eyes at her, but Pike has already turned her attention back to the giggling bard.

“Now Scanlan, are you willing to help me assist Grog?”

“Yehehes! Yes!” Scanlan raises one arm above his head and purple magic begins to swirl around his hand. Pike pulls her hands away from him, allowing Scanlan—breathless and full of residual giggles—to summon his magical purple hand and glide it towards Grog. Scanlan rolls onto his stomach to see the world upright and controls the magic of “Scanlan’s hand” to tap Keyleth on the shoulder.

Falling for one of the oldest tricks in the book, Keyleth turns to look at the hand. “Huh? Hey!” She exclaims when the hand drifts down to tickle her side. When she twists to avoid it, the hand follows her and tickles the rest of her torso. Scanlan and Pike snicker from the sidelines.

As Keyleth giggles, her concentration on the magic vines falter and the vines retract back into the floor.

Now free, Grog swings his hand behind his back and grabs a hold of Vax’s ankle. He yanks the half-elf from his back and holds him upside down in front of him. A mischievous grin across the goliath’s features is what Vax is met with as he dangles from the ankle. 

Vax releases a nervous chuckle. “Any chance that you’ll put me down, big guy?”

Grog shakes his head like a child who’s gotten their way. “Nope. None,” Grog says and plunges a hand into Vax’s belly. The half-elf barks out a surprised laugh and clasps both of his hands to Grog’s singular large one in any attempt to pry it from his giggling belly.

“Well it wahahas wohohorth a shohohohot!” Vax says.

“All right, Grog!” Pike cheers. Scanlan dissipates his magic hand, releasing Keyleth, then plops onto the floor to take a well deserved break. 

“I’m coming to help!” Pike gets up to dash over to Grog.

“Hold on a minute, Pike!” Percy swoops in behind her and scoops her up into his arms, causing Pike to shriek as he lifts her in a hug off her feet. He has his arms wrapped under hers like he was holding a cat.

“Allow me to show you that a noble can indeed have fun,” Percy smirks. He tightens one arm around her while his other hand starts to scribble into her side. Pike jolts with another burst of giggles and attempts pushing on Percy’s arm to squeeze herself free.

“Pehehehercy, wahahait! I was just kihihihidding!” she kicks her feet in the air.

“Of course. I know that, Pike. But I have to protect the reputation of my good name. You understand,” he smiles. Pike’s squirming becomes strong enough to where Percy nearly drops her, but he catches himself and places Pike safely to the ground, though still with one arm wrapped around her and one tickling her to keep her in place. Percy chuckles as he kneels down, takes a seat on the floor, then pulls Pike into his lap to now have the ability to tickle her with both of his hands, sending her giggles even louder. 

Keyleth eventually recovers, arms still wrapped around herself. She processes her surroundings, noticing Vax’s situation.

“Oh no, Vax. Not again,” Keyleth straightens herself out and prepares her hand to summon more vines.

“I’m going to stop you right there, Keyleth!” Vex rams into the Ashari with a giant hug.

“W-What?! Vex, what are you–dohohohoing?!” Keyleth squeaks at the end of her sentence when Vex takes her turn at tickling the Ashari. 

“Well, you were about to help my brother out of his predicament, and I’m quite entertained by his situation. You wouldn’t want to cut that entertainment short, now would you?”

“Buhuhuhut Vax is in trohohohouble!” she giggles in response.

“Nooo, he’s fine. Look at him. He’s smiling, laughing. He doesn’t need our help,” Vex grins. Trinket happily huffs to himself. Seeing that his allies are enjoying themselves, Trinket trots away over to a spot behind a still resting Scanlan to lie down and watch the rest unfold, until his assistance is requested again.

Just then, a giggly scream from Pike catches Grog’s ears. The goliath turns his head to see that Percy is scribbling a hand at Pike’s belly while the gnome kicks and curls her arms around herself.

“Pike! Buddy!” Grog shouts. He drops Vax to the floor like a bag of gold and dashes over to Pike. Percy looks up just in time to see the massive goliath barreling towards him. His eyes go wide and immediately lets go of Pike. He crawls backwards on his arms and lifts himself to his feet as Grog approaches.

“Grog, wait! We can talk about this!” Percy turns to run, but Grog instantly snatches him off the floor and into his arms, holding him very similarly as Percy did to Pike. Grog spins to face his buddy, then wastes no time in digging a set of his fingers into Percy’s side. Percy lets out a startled chortle before his giggles find their way out again. 

“Pick on someone, your own size!” Grog grins behind him.

“Thahahat’s rich cohohoming from yohohohou!” Percy responds. He wiggles and slips his nimble self from Grog’s arms, ducking under them before running. 

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Grog says before he and Pike take off after him.

Vex witnesses Percy is involved in another chase. She chuckles. “See, Percy! Told you it wasn’t over!”

As she finishes her sentence, Vax suddenly lunges at her and tackles her to the floor. 

“And I told you that I would come back for you later,” Vax smirks above her as he darts his hands towards his sister’s sides. A minor shriek releases from Vex before she slaps a hand to cover her mouth, though Vax can see her smile twitching from under her fingers. Her other hand attempts to shove at Vax while the heels of her boots dig at the floor.

“Ah, ah, ah, sister. We will be having none of that. You saw me giggling my head off, it’s only fair that I see yours,” Vax crawls a hand up to her underarm connected to the hand blocking her smile. Vex yanks her hand down with a shriek that results in the joyful sound of laughter.

“Vahahahahax you a–ahahahaha!” The rest of Vex’s sentence is erased by her giggles. 

“Language, sister,” he playfully scolds her, knowing exactly what she was about to say. He turns to the Ashari. “Keyleth, want to provide some assistance?”

Keyleth nods with a smile, “Okay!” The Ashari makes her way over. She sits on her knees on the floor next to Vex’s other side and joins in, scribbling at Vex’s stomach. The giggles of the female twin grow higher in pitch as she attempts to protect and slap away the two pairs of hands scribbling across her torso.

“Twohoho against ohohone? Well I cahahahan play thahahat gahahame too!” Vex exclaims. “Trinket! Hehehelp me!” she shouts across the room.

The bear growls and lifts himself to his feet. Trinket begins charging forward. Scanlan hears the loud pounding of paws behind him and turns his head to see Trinket running in his direction. Scanlan leaps to his feet and runs straight, keeping his eyes on the bear. Meanwhile, Percy turns the corner on the other side of the room and runs right towards Vex, Vax, and Keyleth, though his eyes are also on his pursuers.

Almost at the same time, Scanlan and Percy look forward, seeing not only are they going to crash into each other, but into Vex, Vax, and Keyleth as well. They try to slow their movement, but Pike and Grog crash into Percy, while Trinket crashes into Scanlan, sending everyone crashing into the twins and Keyleth—which creates a party-sized dogpile with all the Vox Machina members.

As the “dust” settles, Trinket, who was on the edge of the pile, lifts himself up and finds Scanlan lying on the edge next to Grog. The bear nuzzles Scanlan’s neck as an apology, which slowly pulls Scanlan out of his dazed state. 

“Trinket,” Scanlan giggles as the bear gets in one final tickle at his neck. He shoves at the bear’s snout. “Come on, cut it out.” 

The bear growls with glee. As Trinket steps back, everyone else begins to slowly emerge from the pile. Eventually, they untangle themselves and stand to stretch their previously squished bodies.

“Well, that was a fight that I bet none of us were expecting,” Vax says as he stretches out his back.

“To think we were taking a day off and ended up fighting each other instead,” Vex mentions. “But that does seem like something we would do, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know about you all,” Keyleth chimes in, “but I thought it was fun. I know I said something earlier with Scanlan’s joke and no one agreed, but I can’t be the only one who thought this was fun, right? I mean, it was enjoyable enough for Percy to join in.” She gestures a hand towards the white-haried man.

Percy crosses his arms. “My hand was forced into the fight, thank you. Under no other circumstances would I have joined.”

Pike shrugs. “Eh, all it takes is a few teases and poking fun at his royal title to get him to hop in,” she teases and smiles at Percy. Percy rolls his eyes, though he returns a warm smile to her as well.

“It was unexpected, but at least it brightened the mood,” Scanlan says. He turns to look up at the goliath. “You did good, Grog,” Scanlan compliments.

“Hehe, thank you,” Grog takes the compliment. He blinks a few times and puts a finger to his chin. “Um…what exactly did I do good again?”

Vax pats him on the arm. “You were just being yourself, big guy.” 

“And we love ya for it,” Pike hugs his ankle. 

“Aww, come here, you!” Grog picks her up in a gentle, but firm hug, then places her on his shoulder with a grin.

Some would say that they’re one odd bunch of adventures, but to them, they’re just one big happy family.

[saphirered]

Hiii I love ur writing!

I would love to see a Percy x reader where they both kinda hate each other in the beginning but eventually fall in love, if that makes sense? Maybe a rivals to lovers thing

Hope that makes sense! Love ur work :D

Thank you deary! I love a little rivals to lovers moment so I hope you enjoy this one! 😘

You are completely and utterly infuriating. Percy has a multitude of enemies in his life, upon whom he wishes horrible things but you are not a common enemy. You are not a friend either. He does not wish an ill fate to befall you. What he does wish for, is your projects falling apart at the seams, your wine to taste sour and food to be bland, your ink to forever run out, your notes to be messed up, that one tool you need to be missing or just barely out of reach. Percy wishes no harm upon you but he does wish for the most petty things to befall you. Were he anyone else he might feel some kind of way but he just happens to be a petty individual from time to time and when it comes to you, you are no exception. 

Percy doesn’t quite know where it began or when it might end. He cannot remember a time before, where you might have been on less rivalling terms. You’ve just always been so damn you and you can get under his skin like no other with your stupid perfection and incredible mind. Your clever and eloquent words always hit him just the wrong way and you make his blood boil. Where he turned a tinkerer, you turned to magic. You’re a damn prodigy and you have no issue with rubbing it in his face. You just had to get involved in Whitestone politics, didn’t you? You just had to be fundamental in the city’s protection. You just had to rub it in his face you were here when he wasn’t. 

Your skills to disturb his peace just when he needed it are impeccable. Percy was enjoying a late lunch in the dining hall alone after a busy morning and afternoon of tinkering and meetings. You had been entirely absent all day, nowhere to be found. Despite what he might have thought the lack of your presence irked him. He brushed it off as some expectation you might jump out to ruin his day at some point but you never did. Percy would deny it if ever faced with it but he grew worried at your lack of presence. Perhaps you overslept. Completely unreasonable for you as you rise at the crack of dawn and are never a minute late to anything. You’d missed two meetings you were set to attend. No page had come to notify him of your undoubtedly expertly worded excuse. No word of you came at all. And when those meetings came to an end nobody had batted an eye at your lack of attendance. Did everyone know but him? Was this some sort of trick? Another petty thing to get back at him for something he might have said or done? 

Think of the devil and they shall appear. You enter the dining hall and beeline for the decanter and glasses. You fill one and drink, then fill it again with a deep sigh. You lean against the table a little too much as you shuffle over to grab a plate and pile some of the food leftovers still set out; some bread and some fruits, Percy notes. Not your usual choices. If anything you seem entirely careless about the contents. He notes your appearance. You look disheveled. Your clothes are crinkled and you’re sweaty. Your eyes are sunken and your expression is grim. Your shoulders are slumped and there’s a shake to your hands that are usually so steady. You look exhausted. 

“What hell hole did you crawl out of?” Percy says with his usual snark and casually sips his wine. He expects a quick-witted retort. You bite your tongue and shake your head as you drop some grapes on your plate. 

“I’m not in the mood for your quips, Percival. If you’re looking for a fight I suggest you go find your friends and ask them to kick your ass into the next realm.” You grumble picking up your plate now filled and taking another large swig of your drink before you pour a refill. 

“Day drinking already? I recall you saying those are the actions of idiots and alcoholics.” You give him a look, in particular his own glass very much filled with the burgundy liquid yours holds as well. 

“So which one are you? Idiot or alcoholic?” You retort and Percy swears he notes the faint twitch at the corner of your lips. 

“Any one who does not question his sanity is the furthest from it.” 

“The same could be said about anyone who holds a cup and proclaims themselves not a problem drinker.” He snorts and rolls his eyes. You look between him and the exit. Your exhaustion shows and with a shake of the head more to yourself than him you take to the seat opposite of him. You sit down gracelessly, push aside the cutlery, put your elbows on the table as you cross your arms and lean on them. The moment you sit down there seems to be some kind of relief rushing through you, similar to that of muscle ache. What had you been up to? Percy wants to find out. 

“You neglected your duties to the council today.” It’s a statement not a question. You just pick up a grape and pop it into your mouth musing a shrug. “Did you oversleep?” The jab is almost belittling and you shoot him a look to remind him of your first statement; you really aren’t in the mood for this. 

“I was otherwise occupied. Now may I please eat in silence?” The expression, the tiredness in his eyes makes him almost regret his pervious words. What has caused you to be like this? He’s never seen you so-so beyond yourself. You’ve always been the image of composure and expertise and now, you’re almost seem vulnerable, weak, almost human and not just the picture perfect creature you’d set your appearances as. You’re a person, not just some devil sent straight from the hells to make his life a living nightmare. You’re real. 

“If you wish…” He pushes around his food with his fork while you tear bits and pieces off the bread and eat them slowly. You’re too tired to eat. You look like you’re about to fall asleep right here on this very table, or at least deliberating whether you could justify it. You both eat in silence for the next few minutes. Percy has cleaned his plate and reaches for the decanter to pour some more wine. You’re confused when he refills your cup too. 

“Are you alright?” Percy asks out of the blue and you might as well have been shot by one of Vex’s arrows given your surprise. You choke on your bread and cough. 

“Excuse me?” You wheeze and recompose yourself. You look for any kind of deceit or malicious intent, anything that might explain the undertone of his question because you are pretty damn sure that sounded an awful lot like worry.

“Are you alright?” The second time he repeats it does not ease quell your confusion. Still sounds like worry. Why the hell would he have any reason to be worried about you? You two have been nothing but a menace upon each other’s lives. You never had anything nice to say about each other. You constantly question each other’s skill, motives and credibility. You constantly undermine and try to outperform each other. That’s not to say you have not enjoyed any of it, and you remember the looks of satisfaction and pride well when either of you stand victor over the other. You’d never expect worry to be an expression associated with Percy in the context of you. Worry means concern and concern is rooted in care. And that train of thought sends you down a spiral. Does he care? Do you care? Maybe you do. Anyone’s life grows a little duller without their competition nearby, right? That’s just a poor excuse. How do you even answer his question? Honesty. 

“No.” You speak before you can think but you know it’s true. You’ve been pushing yourself too far the past few weeks.

“Will you be alright?” When you answered Percy swears something within him reminisces of glass breaking. 

“I don’t know.” You chuckle to yourself and think for a second. “Do you know you’re the first person to ask me that and and got the real answer? What does that say about me?” The latter you ask yourself. 

“You’re exhausted. Rest.” You’ve heard those words before but not from him. “I can’t very well argue with you when you’re about to pass out onto your lunch.” There’s a light quip in there but it’s far more playful than the ones you’re used to. It’s far more lighthearted than you have ever exchanged. 

“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you? What’s your record? Sixty-five hours without a minute of sleep before you decided a nice risotto would make a comfortable pillow?” 

“You keep reminding me. As you keep reminding me that your record is set at sixty-seven hours and twenty-four minutes and thus you have bested me even in sleep deprivation.” He manages a chuckle as do you. 

“Are these the petty victories we have come to? Have we no better achievements left?” 

“Well, I’ve killed a dragon. You?” He deadpans though there’s no real seriousness about the brag. 

“You and your friends killed a dragon, together. You still got four more to go. Don’t get ahead of yourself, dear.” You wink and swirl your wine leaning back in your seat. Though exhausted the tension begins ebbing away. Who knew it was Percy that would be a comfort and bring peace to the chaos of your life. 

“It’s still one more than you. Besides, we’ll have killed the other four in time.” You shrug and flick a grape at him. It bounces off his arm and rolls on the table. Before you can claim it back Percy puts his hand over it and prevents you from getting it. He cups it as you try to pry his fingers apart and gets it out of your reach lest you disgrace yourself even further and lean over the table to attempt to take it from him. He grins victoriously and pops the fruit into his mouth. You mutter some kind of curse under your breath and he just looks at you innocently. 

“Of course, you take your sweet time skinning some dragons while I keep this city safe hidden from their senses. Tell me, how many lives saved every day counts against the slaying of a dragon? What’s the conversion rate? You’re schooled in mathematics and economics are you not?” You point a finger at him and Percy is sure he has the perfect retort for your statement but then the gravity of it hits him. You’ve been the one keeping up this city-wide illusion. You’ve been the one keeping Whitestone safe in his absence. That’s why you weren’t at the meeting today and that’s why he wasn’t informed. Gilmore and Allura were there, you weren’t. He doesn’t know why it took him two days to figure out no three of you were seen in the same place since he returned from the Feywild. He had known the illusion was there, he passed through it for goodness’ sake. He just never considered that’s what you’d be doing. It’d gone over his head you’d use your skills not to fight but to protect instead. You’d not reach for glory or selfish gain but you’d do what is best for the people. You’d still risk yourself for every soul in Whitestone. You’d been doing so for weeks and you had not flaunted it in his face once during your interactions. How did you end up the one protecting him? Why did you not gloat? Why do you not mention this fact even now? 

“You’ve been pushing yourself beyond your limits, for Whitestone? For us?” He asks breathlessly. The meaning behind those words becomes very real now they are spoken, and the statement is undeniable. The playfulness disappears and a a gloomy sorrow overcasts instead. Still you manage a cocky grin with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well who else is going to keep your precious workshop safe so you can continue constructing the means of a dragon’s demise or while you’re off gathering those pesky vestiges?” Your jest does not make lighter the gravity of your deeds. 

“Thank you.” Percy blurts before he recovers. “I mean it. Thank you, for everything. Whitestone owes you a debt.” ‘I owe you a debt’, he leaves those last words unspoken. Percy cannot quite describe what runs through you but he feels safe to assume you have not heard those words before, not on this matter. It’s one thing to know people are grateful for the work you do. It’s another to actually hear them say it. A thoughtful moment of silence passes before you push back your chair and rise.

“I’m going to sleep for the barest amount possible and then I’m going to go back for my next shift and repeat this all over again.” You twirl your wrists and they crack sending shivers up Percy’s spine. You flex your shoulders and same thing happens. He sees the discomfort pass across your features when you push the chair back in its place and lean on the back of it before you walk around the table and make way for the exit. 

“Get some proper sleep. I’ll talk to Allura or Gilmore-“ Percy argues but you stop and face him shaking your head. 

“They need their rest too if we want this illusion to last.” You counter. You dread every day as this thing eats away at your magic. You don’t know how much longer you can keep doing this but you have to. Every life in this city depends on it. 

“There has to be something…” Percy thinks of the ways to help but there’s nothing. He knows next to nothing about the arcane. He’s no mage. He’s a damn tinkerer and he can’t very well fix this with some mirrors or magical charges. He can’t help bear the burden, not as you carry the burden for him. Whitestone should be his responsibility, but he’s out of his depths. He’s helpless, or would be without you to keep pushing yourself far past your limits. He can only imagine what price you’d pay for this over time, or how long you’d be able to keep this going. He’ll have to admit defeat in this particular query. 

“You could kill some dragons.” You smile. “But until then, I’d appreciate some company while I drain every resource I have until I can barely stand. If you have the time-“ You imply but an answer is given immediately. 

“I’ll make time.” He answers far too quickly. “I’ve come to the conclusion I might like your company far more than I dislike it.” So he has. He cares about you. He looks back upon his life now and he knows it to be true. His pettiness was never born from hatred or dislike. You were perfect, are perfect in his eyes, any imperfection does not chip away at that belief, it is simply part of you. He’s envious of your skill and achievement because he desires to be your equal but felt like he could never be. His pettiness was born from a an unfair coping mechanism and he hopes this is something you two can work on now that veil has been dropped. Perhaps you can discuss as adults rather than bicker like children? He’d like that very much. He likes you. That feel like a disgusting thought he’s still coming to terms with but he knows he can get over himself. He likes you. 

“Is this where we kiss and profess our undying love for each other?” And you like him. Gods he doesn’t need a demon’s bargain to figure that one out. He knows your games and your words, he knows how to read those underlying tones and it’s exactly how he sees now; you like him. Never did he think he’d draw that conclusion nor would he think himself anything but a fool for believing it. Maybe he is a fool. A lucky fool he’ll be. 

“Perhaps in time.” He retorts. Okay maybe old habits do die hard but given you purse your lips and blow him a kiss, it’s not a habit you want to let die either. It’s perfectly you. It’s perfectly him too. 

“I reckon I’ll have you swooning in no time.” 

“That sounds an awful lot like a challenge. A petty one at that.” 

“If you say so…” 

[rainbowcaleb]

FICLET FRIDAY : Hot boi by the sea

Prompt: summer vacation | Rating: T | Pairing: shadowgast | WIP, currently 2400 words

A/N : I rediscovered this fic from June last year and have been finishing it for posting! Enjoy this longer snippet from the middle of the fic…

“But you! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear so little clothes!” She gestures at his outfit, the black linen sleeveless top and loose plum silk trousers.

“Oh, Light.” Essek mutters and uses his free hand to shift the wrap of his shirt a little more closed. His clothes suddenly feel so scandalous, despite being practically required for this coastal heat.

“Oh no, nonono, I’m sorry Essie, I didn’t mean to make you feel all self conscious, but is it really such a bad thing to be a little ogled at?” Jester looks so earnest that Essek feels compelled to answer.

“It is because you are right; it has easily been decades since I’ve worn such garments in public. I may have been a child last. You all have certainly…relaxed me, but I think my comfort level still has legs to stretch.”

Caleb’s hand is back, now brushing against his shoulder, still so careful to touch what is still covered in fabric. “If you’d like, I have a spare shirt packed, if you wish for another layer.”

“No.” Essek says firmly. “Thank you. I think perhaps the challenge is good for me. I would like to see the ocean, and partake in –what was it Jester?– the local iced poles.”

“Pops, but yes Essek!” She snaps the fingers of her free hand. “It’s hot boi summer, let yourself look hot!” She leans forward enough to catch Caleb’s eye on Essek’s other side. “Even Caleb agrees.”

“Ja, I—” He starts, mouth making a couple silent word attempts before continuing. Then he stands straighter. “Yes. Yes, Jester is right. Your chosen outfit is quite…” He trails off, eyes caught in the sheen of Essek’s pants and looking completely lost for correct words.

“You. Two. Are. Dating.” Jester sighs with the gusto of an elephant trumpet. “At some point you’ll see each others’ dicks so you should really stop blushing over clothes. Unless you have doodley-dooed already and you’re trying to throw me off?”

“Jester!” Essek’s sounds are the squeaking mouse to Jester’s elephant. “We, no, what we do is between us–”

Caleb, despite being tomato red, replies in a fairly reasonable tone. “You are one of our closest friends, but there are some things that will stay between us. For explanation, I was simply…flipping through my mental dictionary and coming up short.”

“Hot boi.” Jester rolls her eyes. “It’s his nickname for a reason.”

“You do look—” Caleb gives him a radiant grin, the bastard. “Very hot.”

Essek wants to bury his face in the inside of his robes, but alas his robes are absent and his shirt is far too low cut. “Thank you Caleb, I think you do too.”

“What, this?” He gestures at his open white shirt, offering a lovely view of bare chest and chest hair, and thigh length linen shorts. “You should see my swimsuit.”

Jester breaks out into a giggle and then quickly tries to stifle herself. Essek and Caleb share a look; it certainly sounds like there is mischief afoot.

“Blueberry.” Essek lets the word roll around his tongue, trying out the nickname. Jester looks at him delighted. “Speaking of swimming, we have been walking for quite a while and have yet to reach any sight of shore. I kindly ask again, this is a tourist town by the sea, correct?”

[thechekhov]

Hey, it’s finally finished! I don’t know maybe read it or something.

[kmackatie]

scene index:

1. act one, scene one 2. act one, scene two 3. act two, scene one 4. act two, scene two 5. act three, scene one 6. act three, scene two 7. act three, scene three 8. act four, scene one 9. act four, scene two 10. act five, scene one 11. act five, scene two 12. epilogue

Rating: Explicit Fandom: Critical Role Relationship: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widgoast Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, POV Caleb Widogast, Friends With Benefits, Platonically Sleeping Together, Romantically Sleeping Together, Sexually Sleeping Together, Literal Sleeping Together, Explicit Sexual Content, and there was only one bed, Developing Relationship, accidentally sleeping with your colleague then pretending it didn’t happen, this is a 2000s romcom filled with miscommunication and pining Words: 62,272 Chapters: 12/12

About halfway through writing this fic, I had the hair-brained idea that since I had been joking that this fic is three 2000s romcom movies dressed up in a trenchcoat, it deserved the movie poster / DVD cover / book cover of my cinema dreams.

Enter @lunairka, who made this dream come to life with some incredible art that perfectly captures how much of an idiot these two had been the entire way through. Please give them all the love for creating this, and a version without my graphic design is available below the cut.

With that, I hope you enjoy the final chapter (or is it 👀) available on the 'epilogue' link above!

[railroad-migraine]

Hello! I was wondering if you could write a Mighty Nein version of the hiding in the alley together Bell's hells scenario you wrote? I really loved your Bell's hells one! Thanks!

Thank you darling! I love that post so much too 🥰

Bell's Hells version 💙

Tight Squeeze (hiding in an alley together)

Beau 💜

You're standing on her toes, and her elbow is poking harshly into your side, and you both just don't know where to look. "Sorry, I'll scoot over a little bit-" "No, wait, hang on a sec-" Awkward scrambling ensues. You whisper and try to convince her to put up with the closeness until you guys are safe, but she. Just. Won't. Listen. Eventually, her squirming has you both off centre and reaching for each other for balance, and she murmurs a quiet: "... oh."

Beau isn't a romantic, never has been, and she's never really gazed into someone's eyes as purposefully as she is right now. You're fucking gorgeous. How has she never stopped to just look at you before? Have you always been so... You blink in confusion as she seems to soften, ever so slightly, calming down enough to breathe in sync with you.

You feel a palm drag itself up your arm, up, up, up until she finally cradles your jaw. And you both stand there, unmoving, for who knows how long, before she eventually tears herself away from you and the alley with a grumble. You take a moment to recover from the intense look in her eye, running after Beau only when she calls your name to hurry up.

-

Caleb 💜

His mouth is puckered in a tight frown as he looks anywhere but your face. It's an incredibly tight squeeze where you've found yourselves, so narrow that you're effectively pinning the wizard to the wall behind him. Your palms rest flat at either side of his neck and his hands have curled into little fists between your chests. Your heartbeat is thundering in your ears - or maybe it's Caleb's - you're not quite sure whose it is when you're this close together.

It's incredibly quiet. Awkward, even. So you say something. Anything. A stupid comment on how this is like a cheesy scene in one of the awful smutty books that's been passed around the group, and he can't help but huff a laugh and try to hold back an amused smile. His shoulders relax and he rests his head against the wall to finally get a better look at you, and something makes you lean your head towards him, following his lead. His lips part slightly as you move closer and-

Nott/Veth calling both your names from outside the alley jerks your faces apart, and Caleb very hurriedly inches away from you. "We should, ah..." He reluctantly shuffles towards the road, adjusts unkempt hair and smooths down the front of his coat, fingers twisting the buttons shyly. "W-we should go join the others, ja?" His heart sings at the simple touch of you linking pinkies with him. It's a quiet message he doesn't need to worry about deciphering.

-

Fjord 💜

"Beggin' your pardon." You can't help but snort. Even in times of peril, in situations where you're taking cover from the intense fighting outside of alleyways, Fjord still manages to treat you well and act the perfect gentleman. He shushes you, smiling himself, and it briefly feels like you're the only two people in the world - except for those in the battle mere feet away from your hiding spot.

His eyes soften as you share a secret grin with him, but not in the way you'd like. He clears his throat, peeks out of the gap of the alley."Look, I know this isn't an ideal situation but..." You say his name sweetly, urge him to look up from the ground to meet your gaze, and you see colour quickly spread across his neck in embarrassment. He swallows thickly and looks away, and breathes out the quietest shuddering sigh.

A hesitant hand reaches out for yours, and you grip it tight before he can regret taking the leap. The rest of the Nein find you both in that same position minutes later once the battle had officially ended and it was safe to leave, all tangled fingers and soft gazes. Fjord never wants to let go.

-

Jester 💜

"Are you gonna kiss me?" She's a little cross eyed, a little flushed and out of breath, and so so pretty this close up. Her eyes flick between your own, both your noses just barely grazing. "It feels like now would be a good time to kiss me." And it does.

But the moment is ruined when a swarm of soldiers charges right by the alley's entrance, and Jester lunges forward to hug you close. Together you find yourselves huddled further in the shadows while the enemy runs right by your hiding spot. She's so soft in your arms, perfect - it's like she belongs there - and you want to tell her that, but saying so out loud would easily blow your cover. So you settle for keeping her close, a hand in her hair while she ducks her head under your chin.

You wait until the last soldier has gone before you reluctantly remove yourself from the tiefling (who visibly pouts) and peek outside the alley. Once the coast is clear, you look over your shoulder, only to find Jester already looping arms with you. She smiles, this time confidently, and you enter daylight once more with no mention of the almost-kiss.

-

Mollymauk 💜

He doesn't say a word. Which, y'know, is ideal when skulking about in an abandoned alley, away from prying eyes of spies and mercenaries - but the way how Mollymauk is not-so-subtly glancing your way every few seconds is awfully distracting. You lightly push against his chest, tell him in a hushed voice to stop smirking so much, that this is a very serious situation. "What? Can I not look at you now? Can I not enjoy the little things while we fear for our lives? Who knows when I'll see something so lovely again~"

You push him again, a little more forcefully this time, and he actually barks a laugh, sways back to you and tilts his head with sticky fondness. There's a sudden commotion nearby - heavily armoured folk who suddenly look in the direction of the sound and touch their weapons suspiciously. Quick thinking in the moment has you press your body closely to Molly's, making your forms fit within shadow, and cover his mouth with your hand.

And he's silent again, but his expression has changed. He never looks away from you, nor you him, both of you holding breaths in anticipation - of being discovered, or of something more passionate, you are not completely sure - but the moment is never interrupted. When all is safe and sound once more after the hired fighters evacuate the nearby area, he slowly peels your hand away and presses a single, simple touch of his lips to your palm. It's barely even a kiss, but you don't mind. It's nothing. It's something. It's a promise.

-

Yasha 💜

She's... Well, you already knew that she was tall before this, but you never really knew exactly how tall Yasha was until you were up against each other in a tiny alleyway in some fancy town neither of you know the name of. It's a small space, and there are hired thugs sniffing around town looking for you and the Nein, but you feel so safe with the barbarian - a protective barrier between you and the rest of the world. Your face warms at the thought.

She peers down at you with a blank expression, and you expect awkward silence, but she surprises you with: "Well this is quite cosy, isn't it?" It's dark in the alley, but she can see the wrinkles by your eyes when you smile at her. Good. That'll ease the tension immensely... And the slightly nervous pitter patter of her heart.

Despite it all, she's a little flustered being so close to you. It's weirdly intimate caging you in, and she curses under her breath quietly when you look away bashfully and bite your lip with a grin. She's obviously done something right when you gently rest a hand on her arm and ease her wandering mind. She still feels that touch hours after, and wonders if you're thinking of it too.

-

Kingsley 💜

You don't want to admit it, but you're panicking. What started off as a cheeky side quest quickly spiralled into a catastrophe, and you now find yourself in a claustrophobic space with bad guys on your tails, and you have grazed knees after tripping earlier and you're stuck with your most charming friend who looks at you like he loves you, and it's all too much, and- "Hey, keep your eyes on me."

Kingsley is holding your face in his hands, and you can barely make out his crimson eyes in the dark, but you know he's giving you that look again. "We're gonna be fine, we're gonna get out of this. I'll buy you a drink later, you'll see." You want to believe him, even as your heart drums loudly in your chest, leftover adrenaline dulling in your veins. You follow his lead, breathe in, and breathe out as you move to hold the wrists of his hand that are cupping your face still. You find calm, and he looks proud. Maybe it's only a shadow of an expression in the dark though.

Instead of leading you back towards the ship, Kingsley takes you by the hand and dances around the crowded marketplace towards a quiet tavern on the outskirts of town. He reaches out and holds the door open for you, and grins when you look puzzled."I owe you a drink, remember?"

[critrolestats-salute]

Welcome!

Welcome to a Salute to CritRoleStats!

What is this? It's a thank you and a celebration to CritRoleStats, who have enabled so many fanworks over the years! What better way to celebrate them than to create more fanworks inspired by their stats?

What do you have to do? Create something! Be it art, fic, crafts, songs, meta, stat blocks, cosplay, a delicious pastry, however you want to express your creativity. Then tag it #critrolestats-salute on your social media of choice, or submit it to our AO3 collection!

What are the rules? No AI art, please—otherwise, anything is fair game! No word or effort limit, and submissions can be in any medium.

Need some ideas? You can find our prompt list here, or submit more prompts/stats so everyone can have more here!

Got more questions? Check our FAQ, or message one of the mods: @operafloozy @songofwizardry @aleph-sharp

We can't wait to see what you'll create!

[cr-summer-wildflowers]

Do you think Reani and Keg should huddle for warmth in the mountains while they talk about moral ambiguity? Do you wish Elsie and Rajan had gotten a happy ending? Did LOVM season 2 leave you wanting more polymachina?

All of these and much, much more can be found in the Critical Role Summer Wildflowers Exchange, now taking nominations for the summer 2024 exchange! The exchange is intended to showcase rarepairs, crackships, and even canon relationships that could use a little more love. Platonic and romantic relationships are allowed, as are poly relationships and groups.  For this year, we've chosen to limit the exchange to relationships with fewer than 500 works before April 18th. This rules out most of the top ships and can be easily checked before you nominate.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Check your schedule. Nominations run from May 3rd until May 16th. The rest of the dates for the event can be found here.

2. Nominations are not sign-ups. They do not get you added to the exchange. They do not commit you to the exchange. You MUST sign up when they open (they haven’t yet, check the dates at the link. above) in order to participate. If you nominate tags, however, please at least plan to sign up.

3. Go to the tag set to nominate ships. This will decide the pool from which you can pull when you make your requests. It requires you to have an ao3, and you can only do it once, but you can submit up to 20 relationships.

4. If you have questions, message us. We are available on Dreamwidth, the Haven Discord Community, Ao3, and here on Tumblr.

If you want more information on what a nomination is, go here! We hope to see you in the exchange!

[oneoftheextras]

pairings: percy de rolo x gn!reader / vax’ildan vessar x gn!reader

request: headcanons for percy & vax with touch starved gn s/o?

warnings: none, no spoilers for the campaign or show

percy de rolo:

It takes him a while to notice at first.

Percy, the gorgeously brilliant man that he is; is oblivious when it comes to being attentive to you.

His brain wanders to various different places, all the ways he can improve his inventions, but he misses the way you stutter when his hand brushes yours while explaining blueprints.

Or so you think.

He doesn’t entirely miss it. He makes a mental note of it and keeps watch for any more reactions that would help him draw a conclusion.

The answer only really hits him -quite literally- in the face when Vox Machina are fighting a mountain giant.

The giant’s club hit the ground with such force that the ledge you’re close to starts to crumble.

Percy immediately see’s what is going to happen before you even have a chance to register the club hitting the floor.

He snakes his hand around your waist and pulls you into him and away from the 500 foot drop.

His hand his strong against you. Protective. Afraid to let go.

But his heaving chest quickly calms when he sees you shyly averting his gaze and shifting in his grasp.

There were no words to describe how it felt to be in his arms, but the dopey smile on his face explained that he understood.

He uses the crook of his free hand to tilt your head up to look at him.

“Watch your step” he smiles as he lowers his mouth to meet yours.

From then on, he made sure to give you affection, even if it was a small touch to let you know he was there.

vax’ildan vessar:

Unlike Percy, Vax fully knows you crave his touch and thrives in knowing you want him.

He uses it to his advantage, purposely going out of his way to not let you touch him, always returning the interaction with a sly smirk and a knowing look in his eyes.

It’s infuriating, but it only makes you want him more.

At first you’re determined to catch up and make him pay, but the rogue is just too damn fast.

One night you almost catch his hand after dinner but he swipes it away at the last second with an ‘uh-uh’ and a wag of his finger.

He enjoys watching you start to get desperate for him.

Watching and hearing you whine and beg for his touch with your eyes.

Until you start to torture him back.

You purposely undress in front of him, knowing he won’t be the first to break, he’s too damn stubborn.

You hear his breath catch from the other side of the room and you smile inwardly knowing you have his attention.

This continues for a few nights until he finally snaps.

You don’t even get to do your nightly routine for him before he has you pinned to the bedroom wall

One hand on your cheek, the other holding your hip and his face unbearably close to your lips.

You inhale each other’s breath for a moment, then he airily chuckles “well played” and caves, kissing you passionately.

taglist:

@mylife-demonstrates-murphys-law @hereticpriest @enagmaticether @anxiousgoddest @kodzu-ken @moonnei @diesinspanishbcimhispanic  @fvckmeupyoonz @homosexualjohnwayne @notplutos @moth-baybee @answer-the-sirens @ochakoakabane

[georgiarts]

can we all TAKE A SECOND to admire this sentence in this remarkable fic that’s just getting started, this will live in my head forever -

also let this be an advertisement for both @distant--shadow ‘s beautiful art and beautiful words !!

[uselessgayshit]

takes place at the end of ep 65

———

“Goodnight, girls!” Zhuddana called after them, closing her door for the night.

“Goodnight, Zhuddana,” Imogen responded, shutting their own door and pressing her forehead against it, taking a deep, shuddering breath. Silence except for her breathing. She wasn’t used to that.

She slowly turned. In the dim candlelight, she watched Laudna reach, long fingers attempting to undo her corset. Her head turned to the side, hair swinging across her back, and she looked at Imogen over her shoulder. “Imogen?”

“Yeah,” she cleared her throat, “Yeah, of course.”

She took the few steps forward, fingers shaking. She was hyperaware that Laudna’s neck crooked even more, eyes following her, watching her. “Are you all right?”

She forced a smile, swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Yeah.”

She clenched her fingers to stop them from shaking. This was nothing out of the ordinary. They spent years on the road together, during which she did this every night. Their time apart was paltry compared to what they had been through. There shouldn’t be this chasm between them, not after what happened, not after what they had said to one another.

“Is this one harder?”

Imogen couldn’t help but laugh and she couldn’t keep the slight edge out of it. “No, Laudna, this one is not harder.”

The corset had nothing to do with what was harder about the situation. Returning to Jrusar, a place with which she was familiar, had been all she wanted but when she arrived, everything was quiet. Of her own doing, of course, she knew that. But as the front doors of the tavern opened and Laudna appeared, eyes widening as she took in Imogen, it was still quiet. In that moment Imogen couldn’t move, suspended between an intense need to feel Laudna in her arms again and a fear that all of the swirling thoughts she had had while on Wildemount, and the truth she had stopped shoving away to the deepest recesses, would ruin her. She had lost her music and she was struggling to decide if that was what was best.

“Can you - do you want to take it off?”

Imogen’s hesitation was like a bomb in the small room. Her hands stilled against the ties.

“The circlet, I mean.” Laudna had twisted back around so Imogen couldn’t see her face.

“I don’t think that’s wise.”

“You’ve dealt with the sounds of the city -

“That’s not why, Laudna.” The words came out curt, so different from the afternoon when all she was able to express was love and adoration and comfort. She had curled her fingers into Laudna’s on their way back from the market, though that wasn’t out of the norm. Laudna had made her tea as they sat with Zhuddana that evening but that was nothing Laudna hadn’t done before. Their room and their bed had been a place of solace but now it was thrown into exaggerated relief and Imogen’s mind started racing into their past.

“I know.” The words were only a whisper on the wind.

Imogen finished undoing the corset, dropping her arms and creating space between them. Laudna shrugged it off, gently folding it and setting it to the side.

“I can’t imagine the relief that brings to not have dreams.”

“What?” Imogen said, shaking her head in disbelief.

Laudna gestured toward the circlet. “To keep it on when you sleep and all.”

Imogen blinked and repeated herself again, “What?”

“I understand why you don’t want to take it off,” Laudna responded as if she couldn’t sense that anything was wrong as she pulled down the covers on one side of the bed.

That should have been the reason Imogen was desperate to keep the circlet on - and it had been, at first - but things had changed in the last day. Despite Laudna’s openness, insecurity raged through Imogen’s veins. She had always known what Laudna was thinking before and now she felt the need to second guess her instincts towards the woman who had never only been a best friend. Despite that, she found that she liked the novelty of not knowing. Of being able to ask the question, “Can I kiss you?” and seeing Laudna react to it instead of knowing how she would react. That she could ask a question now that wasn’t part of the little game she played to make everyone feel like they had choice.

Letting Laudna choose to come back to her had been one of the most painful moments of her life. At her core, logically, she understood that if Laudna chose to die, it had nothing to do with her. She would be ripped apart by it, another casualty of Delilah’s cruelty. But that choice had everything to do with the fact that Laudna’s death had been stolen from her once before. That would never happen again. Imogen swore in that moment, that if Laudna did return, Imogen would give her every choice imaginable to make for herself.

If this wasn’t the perfect place to start…

“Is it all right if I still sleep with you?”

Laudna had climbed into bed and looked up at Imogen, eyebrows furrowed almost comically. “We always sleep together.”

Laudna sounded shy and lonely. Her voice weaved around the room, pulling at Imogen’s heart strings.

“I just wanted to check.”

“Of course.” Laudna patted the bed next to her.

Imogen unbuckled her boots, sitting on the edge of the bed to slide them down her legs.

“Is this going to change things?” Laudna sounded so small, scared, something Imogen never wanted to make her.

Imogen paused, one boot off, and turned to give Laudna a soft smile. She wasn’t sure she had succeeded in not making it a sad one as well. Imogen couldn’t very well lie to herself. If Laudna had rejected her in the market earlier, she wasn’t sure what she would have done. It would have cracked something within her adding to a memory of another crack between them. She hid her own fear and sadness at the thought behind the smile, encouraging Laudna best she could. “Well… that’s kind of up to you Laudna.”

“We’ve always slept in the same bed. I… I didn’t sleep well when you were away from me.” Imogen’s heart swooped in her chest. Laudna wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“Hey, this doesn’t have to change anything if you don’t want it to.”

Laudna looked up, eyes watering. “I don’t know how to do this.”

Imogen chuckled. She had spent so much of her time running away from things that it felt like a nice change of pace. “And you think I do?”

Laudna cracked a small smile. “I suppose not.”

Imogen finished pulling off her boot and crawled up the rest of the bed, sliding under the covers. She felt Laudna shift to blow out the candle that she would have left burning all night, her mind distracted by other things.

“Is this all right?” She heard in her ear as Laudna’s hand gently settled against her waist. Imogen nodded, grabbing Laudna’s hand and pulling it around her, clasping their hands together against the mattress in front of her stomach. Laudna’s breath was chilly against her neck as they breathed together.

“I���m terrified.”

“Of?”

“Right now? Mostly everything.”

“Of me?”

“Not exactly.”

“Of us?”

Laudna was silent. Imogen couldn’t have this conversation with her back turned. She rolled over, coming face to face with worry. She reached her hand up, trying to smooth the small wrinkles in Laudna’s skin. Wiped away black ichor that pooled in the corner of her eyes like tears. Fought down the urge to kiss her again.

Laudna blinked up at her, eyes dark and nervous. Imogen held her gaze as she slid her hand to cradle Laudna’s face.

“I’ll say this every day if I have to. I’m in this with you until the end. Always have been. Always will be. I promise.”

[sunstone-smiles]

A Serious Case of the Pent-up Giggles

Original request (from @gladdygirl18): "As a fellow Vox Machina fan, how about day 15 "are you ticklish" with Lee Percy and ler(s) the Elven Twins?"

Author’s note: Aaaaah!!! I’m soooo excited to share this because I’m super happy with how it came out! Gosh, I love Percy. Here’s Day 15 of Tickletober: “Are you ticklish?” from August’s Tickletober List! I hope you enjoy!

Series: The Legend of Vox Machina

Characters: Percy, Vax, Vex, and the rest of the Vox Machina crew

Word count: 1,712

Summary: Vex and Vax think that Percy needs to be “cured” of his case of the pent-up giggles. The twins know just how to help. 

---

There’s nothing like a warm fireplace, a comfortable chair, a sketchbook, and some company to fill the air with ambiance—at least to Percy, that is. And currently, he has all four. His quill delicately lines his pages with a draft of one of his newest project ideas, with intricate details of mechanical functionalities and notes on aesthetics if there’s time or resources. Yes, Percy’s productivity is at its peak. Honed in. Focused. Eyes and mind tethered to his work as he pictures the pieces to sketch. Nothing can distract him now.

Except for a sudden jab to his side. That’s distracting.

Percy restrains a yelp and jumps in reaction. He nearly drops his sketchbook from his hands. Pulled back to his surroundings, Percy glares through his glasses to the left of the couch seats. 

“Vax! What was that for?” Percy snaps at his ally.

“Whoa! Easy there, de Rolo,” Vax puts his hands up in defense. “I tried calling your name, but you weren’t answering. We were just reminiscing about the time Vex was using whole cooked chickens as target practice. I thought you wanted to chime in.”

Percy adjusts his glasses. “I know what you were talking about. I was already satisfied by just listening.”

“That was quite a jump there, Percy,” Vex chimes in from his right. She leans forward on the sofa that her, Percy, and Vax are sitting on so that Percy and her brother are both in her view. “I know Vax surprised you, but you nearly leapt off the couch.”

Percy reopens his sketchbook. His head is dipped down and looking away from Vex. “I was taken off guard, is all.”

“Oh, I totally get that,” Keyleth says from her spot on the floor by the fireplace. She’s been braiding Trinket’s fur with flowers as the bear sleeps beside her. “One time, Scanlan snuck up on me while I was tending to the flowers outside. I nearly fell into a pile of mud.”

“I wasn’t sneaking up on you on purpose!” Scanlan pipes up from an armchair. His legs are propped up on the side while he restrings his lute. “Those bushes are my height. I didn’t know you were there!”

Vex returns the group to the topic at hand, still keeping her eyes on Percy. “See, I would believe you Percy…” She pauses for a moment. A smirk crawls onto her face. “If I didn’t know you were faking it.”

“Excuse me?” Percy scoffs. 

“Well, maybe not faking it, per say. You were taken off guard,” Vex shrugs. “But there’s a second reason why you jumped that high. Actually, I have my suspicions.” 

Vex makes eye contact with her brother. She glances in Percy’s direction before looking back at Vax with a smile to inform him of her thoughts. Vax raises a brow, but after looking at his sister’s smirk and briefly observing where he poked Percy, an understanding grin forms on his own features.

“Oh, I know!” Grog raises his hand in excitement from his chair, “Maybe Vax’s jab was so strong that he nearly pushed Percy off the couch!”

“Or maybe it accidently hurt?” Pike guesses from her seat by the coffee table. She stands and approaches Percy. “Because if so, I can try to heal you–”

“No,” Percy says faster than intended, like he is on edge. He reassures Pike. “I’m fine. Thank you, Pike, but that won’t be necessary.”

“Oh no, Pike. Magic won’t help. What Percy has is a far more serious case,” Vex exaggerates her words.

Vax puts his arm on Percy’s soldier. “It’s a case that explains why he scowls all the time.”

“Why he doesn’t laugh as often,” Vex adds.

“An ailment that eats away at his chest!” Vax says.

“Trapped inside, just bursting to come out!”

“Alright! Out with it already!” Percy growls.

Vex leans back in her seat. Calm. Casual. “What you have is one serious case of the pent-up giggles.”

“What?” Percy scowls at them. He leans forward to place his sketchbook and quill on the table in front of their seats.

“Oh no! Percy, you’re sick?” Grog questions.

“I am not sick,” he answers Grog. “Sick of these two maybe,” he mutters while glaring at the twins. “But not physically ill.”

“But there is still a very important question we need to ask you, Percy,” Vax mentions. “And that question is this…”

The dagger wielding twin stares Percy straight in the eye. A mischievous grin curls up on the corner of his mouth.

“Are you ticklish?”

Percy glares back at Vax. His senses are sharp. His expression remains unfazed. “No,” Percy makes his words crystal clear.

“Ah, denial,” Vex shakes her head.

“One of the main symptoms,” Vax sighs as if hearing bad news, though his smile is still wide.

“Don’t worry, Percy,” Vex says. “Vax and I know just how to cure you. You’re in good hands,” Vex grins. She immediately follows up her words with a poke to Percy’s side. 

The man jumps and wraps his arms across his torso, now glaring at the female twin. “Vex–”

Percy jolts again, now whipping his head to the other side to glare at the male twin who poked his other side again. “Vax!”

Vex smiles at her twin. “Shall we brother?”

“We shall, sister.”

The two half-elves turn their smiles in Percy’s direction. Immediately, they pounce at him, tackling him into the back cushions of the sofa.

“Wait!” Percy exclaims as the twins put their mischief into action. He squeezes his arms to his sides and tries to wiggle from side to side to avoid the onslaught of pokes. “This is ludicrous!” he manages to yell out, right before Vex catches a well aimed scribble to his side.

Percy jumps away from her and releases a giggle-filled yelp. He immediately slaps both of his hands to his mouth before moving one hand to push at Vex’s shoulder, while his other hand continues to contain the bubbling sound of joy that lies beneath. 

Big mistake though. He forgot there were two twins.

Vax sneaks his hands from behind and scribbles into Percy’s unguarded ribs. The human instantly clamps his arms down with a shriek and jolts forward, but he’s easily pulled back by Vax as the rogue gleefully digs his fingers between the stubborn noble’s ribs. Vex also launches her hands at Percy’s sides now that his defenses are lowered.

A snort comes from Percy’s restrained snickers, which is soon followed by an outpour of wheezy giggles that continuously spill from Percy. He nearly knocks over Vax through his squirming, but the male twin holds him up and keeps in prime position for their playful method of "healing."

“Vehehehex! Vahahahax!” Percy shouts at them through his laughter.

“Nice going, brother,” Vex smiles to her twin. “See, Percy? Look at how many giggles you had stored up! You must be so relieved to finally let them all out.”

“Yohohou both are sohoho de-EHehehead!” Percy squeaks in the middle of his sentence from Vex finding another ticklish spot above his hip. He drags the heels of his boots into the seat cushions.

“Can’t throw your famous insults at us when you’re like this, huh?” Vax teases from behind.

“Yes, indeed,” Vex agrees. “I kind of like Percy this way though. He’s a lot less sassy, that’s for sure.”

“Whahahahat? Sahahahassy?!” Percy says, trying to defend the title of his good name even through his giggling state. “I am nohohohot sassy!”

“Ah, a shame. That was a sassy response right there,” Vex fakes a sigh. “It looks like the sassiness is still present through the tickling after all.”

“Maybe we have to tickle him more to remove the sassiness out of him,” Vax says, grinning.

“No-HOho!” Percy's voice goes higher in pitch from the sheer speed he said the word. “Nohoho more! Let me gohoho, yohohou menaces!” Percy nearly rolls off the couch, teetering on the edge of the cushions.

“If you say so,” Vax grins and releases his hold on Percy. Percy immediately crashes to the floor, as the only thing keeping him steady was Vax’s grip. 

Percy peels himself from the floor by pushing himself up on his arms. He glares at Vax from below.

The rogue shrugs. “What? You asked me to let you go,” Vax ends his claim with a smile.

Percy shakes his head with a growl. He retrieves his sketchbook and quill from the table as he gets back to his feet. He looks at his spot on the sofa between the still grinning twins.

He narrows his eyes at them both. “If I sit between you again, will there be any more funny business?”

Vex tosses up her hands. “None from me, darling. I’ve had my fun for today.”

“I’ve still got a little more fun left in me,” Vax says before reassuring him, “But I will save that fun for another time.”

Percy rolls his eyes. He returns to his spot on the cushions and immediately opens his sketchbook to bury his face between the pages. No doubt everyone’s conversation will be skewed towards the sight just now. He’s bracing himself for the following humiliation that his ears are going to hear next. 

“So…” Vex speaks first. 

Gods, here it comes. 

“Where were we in the story, Keyleth?” Vex finishes her thought.

Percy’s features suddenly ease to that of pleasant surprise.

“Oh, right!” Keyleth recalls. “So then I held the chicken really high above my head…” Keyleth resumes her story about the time of Vex’s target practice. The rest of the group begins chiming in again, as if the story was never derailed in the first place. 

Percy lifts his head and glances at Vex. Vex glances back and gives him a wink before turning back to the group. Percy looks to the pages of his sketchbook with a thankful smile.

She has his back. They all do, really. They’re the ones that placed him in an embarrassing set of circumstances in the first place, but perhaps it’s not all that bad when the people around him don’t see his embarrassment as a way to judge his character, but see it as a way to love him even more. He really is lucky to have a family like them.

[saphirered]

Because i like pain, can i get basically the sunken tomb/those who walk away (tlovm) but it's reader who dies, not vex? She jumps in front of vex as the blast goes off. Can be either Vax or percy x reader.

Turned out to a percy x reader and hope you like the result. Angsty but with a happy ending. 😘

He can’t move. He can’t breathe. His heart has stopped in his chest. Life has ceased to be linear, or perhaps even moving at all. He is stuck in that one doomed moment. He is trapped within his own body with is own bloody mind. He can’t. He can’t. Percy can’t even think or process. He’s stuck in that single image of you. That damned sarcophagus. It looked fine. Everything was fine. Vex gave it a once over. The three of you pushed the top off and there was the deathwalker’s ward still on the corpse of the previous owner. You’d stepped to the end, with Vex. You’d taken to observing the intricate runes on the inside. Vex warned him not to touch but it was too late. He’d reached in and set off a trap. It would have hit her if you hadn’t pushed her aside and in doing so, knocked yourself off balance and into the full force of whatever damned thing hit you. 

Some kind of magic struck out, hit you square in the chest and sent you flying like some rag doll. You hit the ground with a sickening smack and crack. That breath, that single exhale that left your body unmoving, that’s where Percy got stuck, watching as the light in your eyes dimmed, those eyes that kept staring at him. They all ran to you but he was stuck. You weren’t moving. You weren’t responding to their calls nor pleas. There was nothing left of you to respond. Once that dawned on him, once it hit him what he had done, had caused, he was left broken. Somehow his legs carried him to your side, where Vax held you in his arms, Vex clutched your hand unable to speak, Pike rushed to heal you but there’s nothing to heal, nothing to be done. You were gone. You are gone. You’re gone. 

Things move quickly after. Percy doesn’t know what grace kept him on his feet when he found it within him to join the others. He could not look away from you. Kash had already started whatever ritual he was performing. A resurrection rite. Everything moved so fast. Questions were asked, what happened how did this happen, who was with you? He was but he couldn’t answer. He couldn’t break away from your cold dead eyes. They’ll forever haunt him. They were so full of life just mere moments before when you cracked a joke and smiled, calling him out on his lack of divine worship. He’d retorted with some clever witty remark. Those were the last words he’d spoken to you. He couldn’t even bloody remember them. He can’t even remember your last words. 

But then reason hits. It’s not working. The ritual it’s not working. It has to work. It has to work! The Raven Queen, she resides over death and apparently resurrections do not sit well with her or her domain. The others try to suggest things, solutions, but they are not that. Percy finds it within himself to speak some desperate sense; they’re under a lake, where are they going to go? They’re losing time. This has to work now. They can’t give up! He’s begging them, begging anyone, everyone. This can’t be happening! The spell breaks and you’re not moving. Percy’s ears are ringing. He wants to shout and scream and cry but inside him a void begins to grow and leaves him terrified of himself. 

Several breaths pass and then, by some miracle, the light returns to your eyes, you shoot up and you’re gasping for air. You’re awake. He’s riddled with guilt once more. You turn to him and stare at him with those damned eyes and while he sees the life in them now, he’s haunted with that blank stare of your corpse. 

“What happened?” How is he supposed to answer that question? He was an idiot and should have listened. This is all his fault. He got reckless and greedy and stupid and it cost you your life! 

“I touched the armour and you… you were…” He can’t speak the words. The others speak but he does not hear them. “It was an accident.” Why do you keep looking at him. Your eyes should be filled with hatred and anger but you’re not. You’re relieved. You look at him as if this is not all on him. Accident or not, he is still to blame. Luckily distraction comes quickly. The armour is procured and in Vax’s possession for some reason. 

You’re back on your feet and a bit wobbly but insist you want to get out of here as much as the others do. Pike has you at first but whether out of habit or sheer guilt, Percy find himself next to you and you lean on him whenever you stumble slightly. He catches you every time you don’t reach for him. It’s definitely a force of habit because each touch is torture. With each touch that scene keeps replaying. Outside on the banks of the lake Vox Machina decides it’s time to take a rest. Everyone’s exhausted and hurt from the fight to get out. Goodbyes are exchanged Zahra and Kash and upon the sunset Percy wanders off on his own. He had the intention of finding Vax, and apologise for what he caused. He did and got punched in the face. Seems that your best friend gave him a smidge of what he deserves. He deserves so much worse but it’s something. But then you have to find him, alone, ass in the snow, processing the pain in his jaw and contemplating every single mistake in his life that could have spared you this fate. 

“Percy?” You come up to him. There’s still a slight tremble in your step despite your self-assured expression. No matter how well you might be at hiding your feelings, you always have a tell. You may pretend this doesn’t affect you but he sees it does. That just makes it worse. Still you find it within yourself to try and make him feel better. He wishes you wouldn’t. It’d be easier if you were angry with him, even better if you too decided to take your pound of flesh. Instead you kneel down next to him and look at what must be the mark of his preview to punishment. 

“I fell…” He tries a poor excuse but you don’t buy it. Especially not with the extra set of footprints leading away. You place your palm against his cheek. Your touch is cold, he assumes because of the snow but for some reason he cannot help but imagine the worst. Still he leans into your touch. 

“Must have been a strange fall. How does one fall on their ass and face simultaneously?” You joke and normally you’d have earned a chuckle or a retort. ‘With great difficulty’ is what you expected him to say or something along those lines but instead you just get silence and downcast eyes that refuse to meet yours. You settle on your knees and bring your other palm to cup his face and lift his gaze to meet yours. Percy bites the inside of his cheek. 

“How can you pretend this doesn’t affect you? How can you take this so lightly?” You pull back and fold your hands together to preserve some warmth. Your skin feels wrong, your body feels wrong. Every breath you take you’re suddenly aware of. The blood pumping through your veins, it’s as if you can feel it and it hurts. Everything hurts and you feel as if you’re going to burst any second as if someone could prick you with a needle and suddenly you’d explode. You feel vulnerable and have become so incredibly aware of your mortality, in anything you do, anything you have done; every choice you’ve ever made. It haunts you past, present and future. You don’t know what to do with yourself. You thought of going out into the trees just so scream but that wouldn’t help. You’d just be left with the pain. You thought of ignoring it but that turned on you quickly. You noticed the silence when Percy was around. When you’re near him you feel alive and not some dead person walking. You feel like you can take on this life without being afraid of what happened and what you might face. You feel as if as long as he’s near you’ll be alright. That’w why you came to find him in the first place, didn’t you. You hoped he’d help you see things as they had been before your accident, but that didn’t seem possible. 

“Because if I don’t I’ll just be terrified. I’ll break down until there’s nothing left of me and I don’t think I’ll be able to cope. This is all that’s keeping me together. You’re keeping me together.” Those words are harder to speak out loud than you thought, as if speaking them makes them real and undeniable. You suppose that’s true. You can feel your heartbeat in your throat along with your breathing. It just won’t go away and the more you try to ignore it, the worse it gets. 

“You died because of me. You shouldn’t even be able to look at me!” There’s so many things running through your head that want to respond to Percy. You manage to stop some of the more irrational ones, the ones you know you’ll regret the moment you speak them. 

“Is that what you think you deserve? My anger? My hatred? You won’t get it. Yes, you caused this but it was an accident. That doesn’t make it right but if you are in such desperate need to repent for a mistake, you can do so! I need you, Percy! I need you right now because without you I fear I will fall apart! So please, I’m begging you; do not abandon me now.” You plead. He’s unmoving. You reach out. He doesn’t flinch or turn away. He doesn’t respond so you halt and repeat once more. “Please, Percy. I’m begging you…” You place your hand on his cheek and this time he leans into your palm, even if hesitantly so. You’re about to pull away, seeing that reluctance but before you can his hand clasps over yours and holds it in place. 

“I will not ask for your forgiveness-“ You got to speak but he’s not finished yet. “I will not accept it should you offer it to me because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself. But you’re right. If this is what you want, I’ll do it. I’d hand you the stars on a silver platter if you asked. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make this right.” 

“Percy…” You sigh. That’s not what you meant. You don’t mean to ask for his compliance or service. You ask him to be your friend, your confidant, your rock when the tides get too much in the same way he has always been for you. You’re asking him to be himself, nothing more, nothing less but here he is offering you the world. 

“I won’t ask you to accept or turn me away. I will be at your whims for however long you wish me to be-“ Percy keeps going. He has to make this right. You give him a chance to prove himself worthy of you and all you’ve given him. You’ve given him the chance to truly earn your forgiveness in your eyes and his. But you interrupt him by literally placing his palm over his mouth to silence him. Once you make eye contact and you give him a silent ‘are you done’ and he nods you let go. 

“Then I order you to stop now.” His heart skips a beat. He cannot breathe. “I don’t need a knight in shining armour or some servant at my beck and call. I just need you. I just need you to be here, now. I don’t need the moon on a string, or you begging on your knees. I don’t need you to fetch me some drink or write me my correspondence. I need you to just be you.” That punch hits far harder than anyone could have dealt. It’s the sheer realisation that his life is more valuable than his actions and choices and deeds. His life exceeds a purpose. It’s a terrifying reality but then he looks at you and sees through you, into your own fear and doubt and he sees, that’s what you need. You need someone who understands fear and pain and he does. Gods he knows he does. That’s why you need him to be here and to be him. That’s why you can look him in the eye. You feel like he’s the only one that truly understands right now because he too, albeit a long time ago came to realise how fragile mortality truly is and all the thoughts that accompany that revelation. 

“I know.” He whispers nodding to himself. He reaches out. He wraps his arms around you and holds you close. You allow yourself to twist and mould into his side, tuck under his arm and curl against his chest. This feels real. This is real. You can hear his heartbeat and the rise and fall of his chest with every breath; something you had previously not been aware of nor ever focussed truly focussed on unless it was out of the ordinary. You take a deep ragged breath yourself. You feel cold trail down your cheeks from your eyes and only truly process you’re crying when gloved fingers wipe them away. Percy whispers words of comfort; meaningless he might say but these are the words he had wished he heard when he was alone and suffering. You pull yourself closer to him until the tears subside. 

There’s still a long way to go. This does not resolve the issue nor Percy’s guilt. This doesn’t make anything right or change anything. It’s the beginning of a road to a better future you carve out together. Wherever it leads, he will be at your side as long as this world allows. He’ll fight tooth to nail to have it be so. He’ll make this right. But most of all, he’ll be there for you.