#I had this chaotic half-elf druid in my head forever

[wolfsong-the-bloody-beast]

Some gratuitous pics of my favourite Tav/Durge, Drakira. She's a half-elven druid, having a little bit of an issue, losing herself in apex predator forms. It is difficult for her to stop herself from ripping things apart with her fangs and claws once she starts. She's trying to be better, though.

[beels-burger-babe]

All is Fair in Dice and War

***Soooo, @bagelsinatoaster I love this request. However, you didn't specify which board game and as I am a huge nerd I decided to take some creative liberties and combine this with another idea I've been meaning to write which is: MC introducing the demon bros to Dungeons and Dragons. I certainly had fun with this and I hope you like it!*** Summary: Leviathan's world is flipped upside down when MC tells him there is a game that basically allows him to be the Lord of Shadows in real life!! He demands that his brothers join him as MC introduces them all to the chaotic shit show that is Dungeons & Dragons. For once, it was a peaceful day in the House of Lamentation. Lucifer was lounging in the living room with a cursed record playing softly in the background. For once, Satan had willingly joined him and was sitting by the fireplace, thumbing through a book on the human world. Belphie had been passed out on the couch when he arrived and was still laying there with an impressive puddle of drool collecting near his mouth. Even Asmodeus and Beel had joined in, with Asmodeus gently humming to himself as he painted his nails and Beelzebub happily munching on a snack as he enjoyed the sight of his family getting along. Yes. It was perfectly quiet and peaceful, and Lucifer didn't even have any traces of his regular migraine. But of course, nothing good lasts forever. Everyone jumped as the door slammed open and a wide-eyed Leviathan dragged you into the room. The two you very closely followed by Mammon loudly complaining. "Oi! You're gonna hurt them! Cut it out, Levi!" Lucifer sighed and closed his eyes, momentarily mourning the peace that he had just barely begun to enjoy, and closed his book. "Leviathan, let MC go. What are you freaking out about this time?" Lucifer regretted asking the moment the words left his mouth. Levi looked at it with the expression he only ever got when his limited edition Ruri-Chan merch arrived; his eyes were wide and glittering with excitement while his face bore a grin so large that Lucifer was surprised it didn't rip his skin. The third-born was practically vibrating as he let go of your wrist and pushed you forward. "Tell them! Tell them about the game!"

You laughed at Levi's excitement and casually rubbed your wrist. "I was just telling Leviathan about a game that we play in the human world called Dungeons and Dragons-" "You get to make a fantasy world that everyone plays in, and everyone makes characters. You can be a wizard and cast spells against a huge monster! Or a war hero fighter that has been betrayed by his brother! Or a noble knight who is looking for his lost kingdom! And the best part is that it's real!" Levi interrupted, nearly jumping in place as stars danced in his eyes. You put your hands out towards him to try and calm him a bit. "Well, not entirely real. It is played in person, but it's a role play tabletop game, meaning it mostly relies on the players' imagination. That is unless you have thousands of dollars to spend on 3D maps and figurines of your characters." Levi's eyes grew even wider, if possible, as he started shaking his hands up and down. "I CAN HAVE A FIGURINE OF A CHARACTER THAT I MADE?! GAAAAAAAAAHH!" A pillow flew across the room and hit Levi square in the face as a now awake Belphegor glared at him. "Will. You. Shut. Up?" the Avatar of Sloth hissed as a dark dangerous aura grew around him. Beel gently patted his twin's head in hopes of calming him. Leviathan pouted as he noticed no one else seemed to be getting excited about it. "C-Come on guys! This isn't even a video game! It's a thing that we can all do together and personalize it to be something that everyone will like. It'll be fun! Right MC?" You nodded as you gently tossed Belphie's pillow back over to him. "Yeah. I love D&D. I played it all the time in the human world. There's action, suspense, and even romance if you really wanted it," a couple of the brothers perked up at that. "I could put together a one-shot for you guys to try it out if you'd like? I'll help you make your characters, and we can all get together for an evening and play it sometime in a couple weeks." The room went quiet as everyone thought it over. Most of them had no interest in the game itself, but if it was organized by you... "I'm in," Beel decided with a nod. "I think it will be fun. All of us trying something new; it could be neat." Satan casually flipped a page in his book, "The creative aspect of it is definitely appealing. We'd be the masters of our own fate, and that most certainly piques my interest." Asmodeus smirked as he put the cap on his nail polish. "And you said it could be whatever we want? My, one might say that this game could help our wildest fantasies come true~" he made sure to wink at you as he giggled. Belphie, who had only just got back his pillow, scrunched up his face in disgust and launched it at Asmo. "Don't make this weird Asmo," he looked over at you and shrugged, "So long as you do all the work in putting together the character thing, sure. Why not?" Mammon looked over at you from the corner of his eye. "Ya mean to tell me, that you can make it so I'm some awesome, rich, and powerful prince?" Asmo scoffed as he pushed the pillow off his lap. "Please Mammon, even the world of make-believe has its limitations." Mammon blushed as he growled at his brother. You just chuckled and teasingly elbowed his side. "Don't listen to him, Mammon. There is a set amount of how much money you start out with depending on your class and background, but I'm sure we can find something that will make you happy." The second-born blushed even more as he grumbled quietly under his breath. Lucifer tilted his head in thought. "I suppose that if everyone else is playing, naturally I must as well," he stood and began to make his way to his office. "I look forward to seeing what you come up with MC." The next two weeks were spent planning and carefully figuring out the details of the one-shot and the characters that everyone was going to play. Levi was, of course, the first one who came to you to build his character. The two of you spent hours going through the Player's Handbook and sourcebooks to find the perfect build to recreate the Lord of Shadows. In the end, you put

together a human fighter that you gave a couple magic items to make Levi's vision really come to life. It seemed basic, but for the Lord of Shadows, it was perfect. The moment the two of you finished, Levi dove to his computer and ordered a custom-made mini that looked exactly like his character. Satan was genuinely interested in the game, especially after he learned about all the lore and rules behind the different classes and races. You had just been chilling in your room one day when the door burst open. Satan stood there with wide eyes holding a copy of Volo's Guide to Monsters. "MC, why didn't you tell me there are cat people?!" You chuckled, knowing exactly where this was going. "They're called tabaxi, but yeah, they're basically cat people. Would you like to play as one?" He scoffed and snapped the book shut. "Is that even a question? Of course, I'm playing as one." After some discussion and bouncing back and forth between classes a couple of times, Satan settled on a tabaxi druid; that way he not only looked like a cat, but he could speak to them as well. After a few days of you spending time with his brothers focusing on getting their characters ready, Mammon came to you wanting the coolest, most epic character ever. At first, it was clear that he wasn't fully invested in the process, but as he saw the customizable options and all the cool stuff that his character could have, you got his attention. You ended up designing a golden teifling rogue (you tried to tell Mammon that teifling usually wasn't yellow, but he gave you such a sad look that you couldn't say no) that was decked out with piercings and gems all over its horns and tail. He tried to act like he wasn't that excited about it, but one day during class you caught him doodling what looked like a stick figure version of the character on his sheet with a big smile on his face. Asmodeus came in shortly after Mammon finished,

insisting on having the most charming and beautiful character there was. You tapped your chin at the request. "I mean, stereotypically bards are extremely charming and...well seductive...almost too seductive. But that's only thei-" Asmo had hearts in his eyes before you could even finish. "That's what I want to be!" You sighed and made a mental note not to include any dragons in the session as you marked Asmo down to be an elven bard and helped him create his character sheet. You hadn't heard anything from Lucifer for nearly that entire first week, until one day as you were lounging in the living room, he walked in holding a stack of resource books. "Ah, MC. I've been looking for you. I wanted to inform you that I will be playing a half-elf multiclassing as a paladin and hex-blade warlock." You blinked at him as he put all the books down in front of you. "O-Oh. Would you like help putting together your character sheet?" He just grinned and began to make his way out of the room once more. "I've already done it. I must admit that this was quite a bit more interesting than I thought it would be," and with that he was gone, leaving you to try and figure out what had just happened. With only a few days left until the one-shot, you had to go find the twins and get them to make their characters. Beel apologized like crazy for you having to track him in down in order to get his character made. The poor guy was in the middle of peak Fangol season and had completely forgotten. Once the two of you sat down in the kitchen with an empty character sheet in one hand and snacks in the other, Beel gave you his full attention. He put a lot of thought in his character and wanted to make it really good since he appreciated that you were doing something that they could all do as a family. He bashfully decided to play a halfling. Not only did the little creatures share his love for food, but he thought it would be neat to try being small for once. His class was also a surprise. After carefully flipping through all of the class options, he had eventually settled on a cleric. "They're the healers, right? This way I can help the others if someone gets hurt." You gave him a huge hug then and there. Belphegore, on the other hand, was not so easy to work with. "Belphie, come on. Just flip through the book and choose something!" He groaned into his pillow and rolled onto his side to glare at you. "I told you I would play if you did all the work for me. Me flipping through a book is work. It's not happening." After an entire hour of trying to get him to cooperate, you gave up. In retaliation you made his character a goblin barbarian, just to drive in the fact of how much of a brat he was acting like.

Finally, the day came for you all to play the one-shot, and much like you expected, it was complete and utter chaos. You had tried to maintain some structure and keep everyone on track, but it was hopeless. Levi and Satan were taking the game seriously and, Diavolo bless them, were the only reason their party was making any progress. Mammon was trying to pick-pocket every non-player character that they met while Asmo distracted them by flirting. This worked great for them until Mammon got caught and would've died from the resulting injuries if it wasn't for Beel. Speaking of Beel, the poor fella was trying his best to do well in the game but kept getting confused by all the rules and different stats and modifiers. Belphegor spent most of his time, trying to explain it to his twin, but in the end, Beel accidentally ate his dice and Belphie passed out on his shoulder. And then there was Lucifer. He had been mostly quiet the entire game. Surprisingly, he let Levi and Satan take the charge in any investigations and puzzle-based interactions, but he did so with a smirk. You had a funny feeling in your stomach that he was up to something, and you were right. It was the final boss. Satan and Levi were on the edge of their seats, having worked so hard to get the party to this point. You smiled, knowing that one of the best parts of D&D was finally taking down the big bad. In this case, you had prepared a beholder for them to fight. It would be no easy task. The fight should have required them to work together in an epic battle of wits, magic and melee attacks. Only, when everyone rolled initiative, Lucifer went first. The eldest smiled as his eyes sparked menacingly. "For my bonus action, I'd like to use my hex blade's curse on it, which allows me to add my plus four proficiency bonus to all damage, and makes any rolls of nineteen or twenty critical hits. I will then use my long sword with divine smite at third level to attack him and attack him again using my extra attack," barely giving you time to process what he said, Lucifer rolled his dice twice. "And that would be a nineteen and a natural twenty, meaning they're both criticals due to the curse. That should hit, yes?" "Wha-" You could only watch as Lucifer, now with twice the amount of damage due to his critical rolls pulled out a disgusting number of dice and rolled them all. And of course, with his luck, they all rolled high. "So that's 90 points of damage plus the extra damage from the curse and the bonus from my duelist ability per attack, brings this 102 points," he smugly perched his chin on top of his hands as the table gaped at him. You gulped and looked down at the beholder's character sheet, "Y-You just took o-over half of his hit points in one round..." His grin widened at the information, "What, like it's hard?" You never got the chance to finish the game, as Satan burst into his demon form and pounced on Lucifer, the eldest laughing like a mad man, while Levi tore up his character sheet in a fit of jealous rage. Levi never asked to play with everyone again after that. ***This was just so self-indulgent and I just- I loved it. It combined two of my favourite things and I have never been happier. This was more crack than fluff, but either way, it was fun and I hope you nerds out there enjoyed it 🥰 Thanks again for the request @bagelsinatoaster!*** Taglist: @mimik248 @roseytoesy @ester-is-here

[captaincleverusernamehere]

WHAT I WANT EVERYONE TO PLAY IN CAMPAIGN 3: *but like it’s just, what I would like to see and these are in No Way predictions gfdjhs*

Liam: He looked like he was having so much fun being animals while in character as Caleb, so i think he’d be so entertaining as a druid. Also maybe he could branch out and play an even slightly less humanoid race (half-elf, human, halfling, you know), even if it’s just like tiefling or something. I don’t thing he’d go as stereotypical as to play a satyr druid but something like that could be fun?

Marisha: People have been saying paladin forever and they’re So Correct i wanna see Marisha as a paladin so bad (plus just someone in cr playing paladin as a base class instead of multiclassing and only getting a few levels). As for race i have no idea, but i think it would be hilarious if she was the first animalfolk pc, like a grung or minotaur or uhh harengon or leonin or LOXODON. i don’t think anyone will do that but it WOULD be iconic gfhdkj

Travis: Bard. bard bard bard bard bard. he would be INCREDIBLE, and with branching out with high CHA characters with Fjord, i think he’d have fun playing a non-archetypal anti-Scanlan, really just because i also need another Sam/Travis pc feud bc they’re amazing playing against each other. And also just because i love going for the most chaotic thing, of course im going to say tabaxi. Would he EVER? No absolutely not. Should he though? 👀

Laura: I have had this in my head for MONTHS and i Do Not Know where or why this idea birthed, but earth genasi fighter or barbarian. One: Martial class because i’m in love with Grelnok from the ESO series and Laura deserves to just, chop body parts off, yeah. I fully don’t know where earth genasi came from but its just the vibe man. I would love this character so much. 

Sam: I heard someone on tiktok say artificer once and i cannot let it go. He would be an AMAZING artificer, probably doing absolutely stupid stuff with the infusions (aka the best stuff to do with infusions), but also, as we’ve seen in c1, he’d play such a specific type of chaotic support that i’d love to see with a different sort of genre of character. For race, the Small trend HAS to keep going, but dwarf is just too obvious for a builder. FAIRY on the other hand... come on. come on. Sam Riegel fairy artificer. is that not the best thing you’ve ever heard. gfhdsjk

Ashley: If Travis can’t play a tabaxi, Ashely absolutely can. Why? i have absolutely no idea. I feel like she would be so good with literally any combo i could come up with, but, as people have been saying, she seemed to really like monks, with Beau and Fy’ra Rai, so i think like a really gentle, soft spoken tabaxi monk, who like. kills people in the most blood rending way possible would be RIGHT up Ashley’s ally and she deserves to have badass kills where she like slits people’s throats with her claws.

Taliesin: It’s so obvious. It’s SO obvious. We are long overdue on a Taliesin warlock, and you just KNOW he would go so over the top with it. Like, yes he’s most likely actually going to be the playtester for one of Matt’s homebrewed classes or subclasses, but like also, the potential for Taliesin pc/patron interactions. they would be AMAZING you can’t tell me otherwise gfhdjdh. For race he could do literally whatever he wants. Satyr, warforged (Aeormaton?), vampire, aasimar, uhh fuckin centaur. i just know i’ll be obsessed and they’ll be Gender. ghfdjk

[mrandmrsvex]

Rating: General Audiences Relationships: perc'ahlia - Relationship, Vax'leth (implied) Characters: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III, Vex'ahlia, Keyleth Additional Tags: Angst, Fluff, Post-Vecna, Baby, Keyleth and Percy as BFFs

Summary:

Caring for a newborn is time-consuming and tiring, Percy has learned. So tiring. His constant worry doesn't help, either. So when his friend Keyleth offers to help out - he still can't shut off his brain. He might even have to.. *shudder*... TALK about his emotions.

 Notes:    

This could, in theory, be seen as a second part to my first fic "The Future I've Chosen"... set a few months or maybe a year later.

Because I love the friendship between Keyleth and Percival and I feel like it should be written about much, much more <3

The baby was four weeks old, now. Four weeks. It still felt unreal to Percy, but here they were, cuddled up in the large armchair he'd had transported from the library to the newly furnished nursery. An armchair large enough for a sleeping half-elf, a wide-awake tiny quarter-elf and him. The baby cooed and giggled, and Percy feared for a second it'd wake Vex up, but she was long gone after a day that seemed to stretch on forever.

Four weeks. It would be a blatant lie if he said it wasn't the greatest four weeks he ever had. Oh sure, it was stressful and hectic and chaotic – the baby had decided to arrive a bit too early for their planning (and gods know Percy had planned it meticulously), so they had to hurry through all the official ceremonies and announcements and presentations. But all the stress was nothing against the many moments of peace and joy. Watching Vex feeding the baby in her arms, nothing but a poof of dark black hair against her glowing skin. Learning to bathe the little thing, so small and fragile in his hands. Hearing the noises of quiet blubbering, sniffling, cooing coming from the crib when she finally fell asleep and before they retired to their own bedroom.

However, it would also be a lie if he said that the past four weeks weren't also the most strenuous he ever had.

Fighting dragons and even an undead god seemed to pale against caring for a newborn who combined her father's restless nights with her mother's early mornings. He tried to remember the last time he felt so tired, and couldn't come up with anything. Maybe right after he'd been resurrected.

Even now, he could feel his eyelids slowly pulling down and had a hard time keeping himself awake. He couldn't sleep now, not when Vex was fast asleep herself, and the baby still awake on his chest. He could maybe sleep later, when he'd carried both his ladies to their respective beds, but he knew already it wouldn't be a sound sleep – what if the baby woke up and cried? What if – even worse – it didn't wake up for some horrible reason? He had to be attentive at any moment, and it was draining him.

Luckily, the little one decided to doze off sooner than usual today. He slowly slipped out of the armchair, careful not to rustle Vex, and carried the baby to the large and ornamental crib they'd found in the attic. It took a bit more energy to carry his wife to bed next door, but even that didn't wake her up. Percy studied her sleeping face between the pillows and wondered how she could be so peaceful and calm and resting, when there was so much to worry about – all – the – time. But it didn't take long for him to drift off as well.

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It couldn't have been more than a few hours before he was wide awake again, though. He could hear the distinct noise of a quiet wail starting, meaning that soon enough there would be a full-on proper cry happening next door. Vex mumbled next to him, turning slightly, her eyes still closed. „Shh, dear. She's not hungry, just awake. I'm going.“ He calmed her with a soft kiss to her forehead, and she was asleep again in seconds.

The cold stonefloor against his bare feet as he passed through the door to the nursery's carpet was enough to wake him fully. In the half-darkness of the room, the baby had already begun to cry louder, and only lowered her volume a bit as he picked her up and gently put her on her shoulder. „Sssh, dear, sssh. You'll wake mama again.“ He quickly took her far away from the bed rooms, across the halls down to the reading room with its small veranda, all the while swaying from side to side and mumbling calming words. It didn't help. If the baby was awake, she was awake, and there was no turning back from another day of work, despite the sun not yet fully shining through the room.

He was only half-aware of the sound outside the veranda doors, caught only a glimpse of the magical glow coming from one of the trees in the garden – without his glasses, lying forgotten on the bedside table, he could barely see past the glass doors. But when the figure who'd just arrived at them lifted a hand close to her body and waved as awkward as she could, he recognised her immediately.

„Keyleth!“ A quick fumble with one hand opened the door, and the druid stepped in, bringing with her an airy wave from outside, smelling of pine cones and apples and the crisp autumn morning. „Vex didn't tell me you were visiting!“

„Oh, Vex didn't know. It was a spur of the moment thing.“ Keyleth gave him a half-hug, what with the baby on his other shoulder, to whom she quickly turned her attention. „Hello little Ela! You look so lovely so early in the morning! Did you wake up your papa?“ He couldn't say a thing before she'd already grabbed the baby from his arm and swaddled her. As socially awkward as Keyleth could be around other adults, she was a natural with babies. Elaina's little wail stopped immediately and turned to a soft giggle in her arms. „Well, we're happy to see you any time. Especially if you bring your special druid powers of making babies stop crying, it seems.“

Her laughter was bright as she patted his shoulder. „Oh, it's probably just from the surprise of seeing someone besides her parents. Have you let her out of your sight at all in the past four weeks?“ „Of course not.“ He replied indignant. „She's a baby, Keyleth. She pretty much needs constant attention.“ „Well, she has mine now. So how about you go back to bed with your lovely wife and rest a bit, and then we can all have breakfast later! If, uh, I mean, if it's alright that I stay for the day.“ He didn't even bother to reply to her question, considering all of Vox Machina still had a room in the castle constantly ready if any of them decided to visit. The idea of going back to sleep was tempting, but he quickly shook his head. „I'm awake now anyway. But I'd be thankful if you could watch her for a moment while I, erm, get presentable.“ He looked down at his somewhat ratty pyjamas, partially stained by baby spit up, and heard Keyleth snicker.

-----------------------------------

It was a lovely day. Vex had woken up right as he'd finished getting dressed, and hearing of their friend's visit made her get ready even faster than usual. After breakfast – from which Cassandra excused herself early to work on administrative things – they'd spent some time in the garden, Keyleth entertaining the little baby in her Percy-built carrier with various magical things involving autumn leaves. When Cassandra called Vex in to discuss something concerning the Grey Hunt, Keyleth suggested a walk through Whitestone with Percy and the baby. He obliged, considering how much the people of the town loved seeing their new heiress out and about. Their path took them slowly towards the Sun Tree, as he'd expected, but it seemed like that wasn't the only goal Keyleth had in mind.

„Soooo... I was wondering.“ She abruptly changed the topic of their conversation. „If you and Vex would mind me staying for a bit with you all.“ „Whitestone is your home as much as ours, you know that.“ He watched her fumble with her staff. „But don't you... don't your people need you at the moment?“ Keyleth had thrown herself into her role as Voice of the Tempest after their fight with Vecna, partially, Percy assumed, to keep her mind busy and away from her loss of Vax. „They do. Which is why I'm here.“ She played with Elaina's hand, grabbing for her long red hair. „You're my people as well. And I feel like you really need some help right now.“ Her look drifted towards the dark circles under his eyes. They'd always been there, after all he'd been through before meeting Vox Machina, making him look older than he was – but right now, they were more intense than ever before. „I'm afraid you're spreading yourself very thin, Percy.“

„I'm okay.“ He lied as he always did when she asked. „Just a bit tired, but I'd say that is normal for a new parent.“ „It's not healthy, though.“ Her voice was as stern as she could muster, which wasn't much. „I can't offer a lot, but having a third helping hand in the house, I think, would be good for you. I can change diapers and get up in the night if she just needs company. My room is almost as close as yours.“ It was hard not to admit how wonderful that sounded to him. „We'd be happy to have you stay for as long as you want. I know Vex definitely needs some company apart from two grouchy de Rolos.“

Keyleth laughed her bright laugh again, before continuing innocently enough. „I'm sure you and Cassandra are both good company and help for her.“ „Cassandra is tremendous help. She's taken on basically all royal duties at the moment. Heaven knows I haven't the time for it all. And she's managed all the official bits, the announcements, the ceremonies... She's a born coordinator, it seems.“ He chuckled – as if he'd expected anything else from his little sister, always acting 15 years her senior. „But, ah.“ He hesitated. „She's not... she loves Elaina, that much is clear. She's just not, we were never a very... hands-on family.“ „Well, then you should take advantage of the hands-on new family you got yourself as well.“ He nodded. She was right, of course, as she so often was when it came to her friend's well-being.

--------------------------

Vex was overjoyed about Keyleth's offer when Percy told her about it, after lunch, when they put Elaina down for her midday nap. „Oh, sweet, sweet Keyleth. What a dear she is. Maybe she'll finally convince you to get some sleep, if your wife and sister can't manage.“ She teasingly poked Percy's side, but stopped short when she saw the serious tone on his face. „What's wrong, darling?“ „I just don't want to ask for too much from her.“ He sighed. „It's been a while now, but she's still dealing with- I know she's always eager to help but she needs to take care of herself as well.“ „Darling.“ Vex cupped his face in her hands. „She offered this. I'm sure we'll notice if it gets too much for her. She's not one to hide her feelings well, remember.“ A soft stroking on his cheeks. „Is that really all that bothers you, though?“ He looked away from her, she noticed. „I just worry.“ „You always do. Too much, I'd say.“

 It was almost a calm sleep he drifted into at evening, after bathing the baby and putting her to bed together with Vex and Keyleth, the latter insistent on being shown how to do it all properly. But it wasn't long before he heard the first small cry, followed by a few more, that had him sitting up in his bed as usual. By the time he put his feet to the floor, though, the crying had stopped. It didn't stop him from tiptoe-ing over to the nursery and carefully opening the door.

„Percy!“ Keyleth's voice was almost angry as she stared at him, stood in the doorway, while she put the already asleep Elaina back into her crib. „The point of this arrangement was not to have you wake up with me, you doofus!“ „I just, I heard the baby cry, I couldn't-“ He tried to protest, but his friend wasn't having it. „And you also heard her stop again when I took care of it. Yet here you are.“ He grumbled. „It's really more of an instinct by now, Keyleth.“ „An instinct that gets you all the way across the room and through the door when it's become obvious there's no more crying?“ „No more crying is not necessarily a good thing. Silence is just as bad.“ His voice was tense, he noticed himself. Keyleth had made her way over to him and put a hand on his arm. „I think you need to talk about things. Do you want to talk about this?“ „No.“ He answered, honestly for a change. „But I suspect you'll make me anyway.“ She smiled, at least. „Come on. We'll go to the reading room, leave the three de Rolo ladies sleep quietly. I'm sure there's a drink for you in one of the cabinets there, as well.“

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The glass was empty by now, the ice cube slowly melting, but neither of the two had said a word yet. Keyleth broke the silence by clearing her throat, wrapped in her mantle, her feet up against Percy's side on the chaiselongue they were sharing. „So.“ She tried to sound nonchalant. „Silence is just as bad. Why?“ „Gods, Keyleth.“ Percy could only muster a very coarse laugh while leaning forward, elbows on his knees. „I don't know. How would you feel if there was no sound at all coming from the crib? No sign of anything?“ „She's just asleep then, Percy. She's not...“ It was hard to find the word. „She could be.“ He brushed his hand through his hair, tousling it and making it stand up even more than it already did from the short sleep. „There's... so much that could happen. So many dangers. So much to look out for.“ „She's as safe as any child could be, in this castle full of guards and with you and Vex looking after her.“ „She could be safer. There's always space for improvement.“ „So you're just gonna keep going like this? Staying awake all the time, always by her side until she's what, 18? You're going to damage yourself.“ „Better her than me.“ „Oh, enough with your cryptic drama!“ A pillow softly but pointedly hit the back of his head. „It's the middle of the night, Percival, we're sitting here in the cold instead of enjoying our beds because you've decided to be as neurotic as can be, the least you could do is talk to me.“

„What do you want to hear then, Keyleth? You want to me to bare my soul here? If so, you don't know me all that well.“ He almost snarled back before leaning down again. „You, of all people, should understand my fears.“ „Everyone's afraid of losing a loved one, especially a child.“ „Not everyone's lost so many and so vividly as we have.“ Keyleth was silent, but he could hear her swallow. „We've both seen the person we love most cold on the ground, haven't we? More than once. Is it so hard to understand my mindset, with such a fragile little thing as a baby...“ The sound of her sobbing made him sit up. He leaned over, pulled her into his arms and felt her warm tears on his neck. „Keyleth, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned-“ „No.“ She stubbornly sat up, her hands still on his arms, red eyes staring at him. „You're right, you're absolutely right. We've seen them die. I've watched him walk away... but that doesn't mean we have to be fearful for the rest of our lives.“ She swallowed. „I think it means the opposite, really.“ She shifted on the seat, sitting next to Percy and leaning her head against him. „What would it mean for his sacrifice if the people he loved weren't happy and safe now? That's all he ever wanted.“ „That's true.“ Was all he could muster to say. „And, and we're all his family. Vex said that, after... that's why I'm here, too, with you three. I want to keep you safe and happy. And I want to be safe and happy with you. With the people I love, with my family.“ He put an arm around her back and pulled her closer. „You are.“ „We're keeping each other safe. But we're also keeping each other happy. It's, it's a, a mutual thing. You can't just give and give and not get anything in return, Percy.“ He nodded. She was right again, of course, as she so often was when it came to her friend's well-being. „So please. Go to sleep and let me take care of Elaina. And I promise, if anything happens I'll wake you, trust me.“

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He slept for what felt like days. Not even Vex getting up next to him could wake him up, and she made very sure nothing else would either. When his eyes finally blinked open, the sun had already crept up high in the sky, shining bright through the bedroom windows, bathing everything in a golden shimmer. The same golden shimmer covered the floor of the play room, where he finally found company after getting dressed. Elaina, lying on a fur blanket and gleefully kicking her legs while Vex was on her knees, playing with her daughter's feet. Keyleth not far away from them, in yet another armchair, smiling with a bit of tiredness to her eyes, but content. He sat down on the armrest next to her, one hand on her shoulder.

„I've been thinking, dear, that we need to commission another painting.“ Vex looked up at him and almost groaned. „Another?“ She thought back to the many, many painting they'd already paid for – the official painting of them three for the gallery, the paintings of Elaina alone to send out to dignitaries and friends and family, the special request from Gilmore of a tiny group picture which he'd turn into a beautiful locket to surprise Vex with. „Another, dear. I really think the gallery would do well with a painting of Elaina with her aunt Kiki.“ He could feel Keyleth's hand reaching for his and squeezing it tight.

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