#~~ REPLY DROP ~ SCHEDULED ~~

[firepassed]

snowdrops bloom from her palm as keyleth lies in bed, expending the little magic she has energy for in a desperate attempt to keep herself awake. her every muscle aches and throbs but she cannot bring herself to sleep, she doesn’t deserve to sleep and she cannot bring herself to until she knows for certain that her people are safe and there won’t be a second attack. her parents both come in to scold, to encourage her to rest, to assure her that things are alright now, that things are almost restored and are going back to normal but the tempest cannot bring herself to fully relax even. she needs to heal. she needs to rest but keyleth cannot bring herself to even think about it, not till his touch.

she had not realized just how close to the time vax normally returns home the attack was, this whole week being spent being handed off the healers and trying her best to help her people. keyleth had not even realized someone had come in to tell her of his arrival, not realizing he was there until she felt his hand moving up and down her back. that touch alone is enough to tell her who has entered her chambers and keyleth doesn’t hesistate to react, the last snowdrop falling from her hand to join the pile upon the ground as she instead moves to embrace him, head burying itself into his neck as her arms clung to him with a certain desperation, eyes closing.

“ it’s all my fault. ” her voice is strained, keyleth trying her best to will herself not to weep but already feeling tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. “ they were after me. and we stopped them but i failed them. i- “ she sniffs, arms gaining a bit of strength to hold him just a bit tighter. “ everything is my fault… ”

[ rub ]  –  for @ravenant​ to rub up and down keyleth’s back / shoulder as a means of comfort.

[firepassed]

breathe in. breathe out. breathe in. breathe out… a task that is oddly difficult to do the longer she tries her best to look at him through her tear stained eyes. a corner of her mind still wants to say this is a dream. that he will be gone in a blink of an eye. but she feels him, his hands roaming her sides, her cheek, her forehead pressing to his, his words just a breath away from her lips. he says he needs her. and she needs him, but she can't say that, both not able to find herself able to say it should if when he has to leave, but mostly because she is pulled into another kiss.

when he speaks, she takes another shaky exhale against his lips, trying to push herself closer still, as close to him as she can get, one hand wrapping around him as the other runs through his hair, playing with strands. she steals a kiss, more like a peck from his lips, kissing then the corner of his mouth, his chin, his nose, his cheeks and cheekbones, just above each eye before she returns her forehead to his, nose to nose.

" pike is due soon... she told me the names her and scanlan are thinking about. i don't know if i shall share this with you, but i think the one they picked if they have a boy will make you smile. " and she wants to be able to hear it from them, be it in person or in the wind, or strings or however the raven queen shares information with her champion. " grog is still with them, though i do believe he's been spending some time helping at the bakery. i... i haven't been to whitestone in awhile. " she confesses, a sort of sadness filling her voice. she wishes to be honest, but that doesn't cause this sadness to fill her. " percy and vex are... well they are percy and vex. i mean, they do in fact have a cub in the castle i believe. or one on the way? or tricket does i guess... " she makes herself laugh, a shy sort of thing as she noses at his skin, hands freezing in place.

" i have missed you so much. " he knows it, but she has to say it outloud now. it never changes, it never will change the absence of him that she feels in her very soul. " i've thought about praying to her, or to you like you might hear me... " her words are whispered like a secret, wanting him and him alone to hear and nothing else.

even his goddess she wants to banish now. all she cares about is him. all she needs is him.

" you are always on my mind. i... i feel like i see you everywhere. or hear your voice in the wind. " her words are soft, gaze lifting to his. " my beautiful, wonderful, darling vax'ildan... " her words are even softer for a moment as one last tear falls. her hands move again, trying to map out just how different he might be, trying to map him out, to memorize him. this moment.

" your turn. talk to me. about anything... or kiss me again. that was... nice. " and that was an understatement. she doesn't know what she wants more. to hear him or to feel him...

my love·:

green eyes remain shut until the moment that she feels his lips pressed to her eyes, looking to him, her entire body becomes covered in goosebumps the moment she sees him, a figure known to the world for his duty but known to her for everything but. a figure who, despite everything, despite the fact that there was probably a thousand rules he was breaking was here. before her, lips brushing against hers. she forgets about that now, she forgets everything for a moment. 

she does not realize that tears that are trickling down her face until his hand cups her cheek. keyleth cares little, though, not at his words, knowing he’s right. this was a joke on them, perhaps, and if it is, then she needs to be here. she needs to hold onto him, so that’s what she does. not a question leaves her mouth, and no hesitation is in the air before she moves, lips pressing to his nose, then withdrawing to instead just rest her forehead to his once again. one hand moves to hold his cheek and the other moves to hold the one that is on her cheek to her spin, like a plea, to him, to the gods. let him stay. inhaling… exhaling… the tempest wills herself to speak, even as her voice breaks. 

“ i’ve missed you. i have missed you more than i could possibly say or find words for. ” she smiles slightly, thumbing at his cheek as she searches his eyes, looking for differences, for something new that might have changed since they have been torn apart. “ i… i feel like  i should ask if you need anything. if i can get you anything.” she laughs a little at herself, blinking, trying to stop her tears from falling. she stills, though, just looking at him, smiling. 

“ sit with me? we can catch up? and just… hold each other? ” there was so much to share… she didn’t know how much he’d seen, if he’d seen vex… oh she hopes he had.. if not it was no strain to get him to whitestone, but well… she does not want to waste a second. she just… wants to stop crying so she could see him clearly. 

There’s moments when he does not quite REMEMBER his past life. Moments when he goes through the motions of what he’s destined to do and time passes so quickly Vax has stopped counting. Times when he’s no longer Vax at all. Still, he refuses to forget about the life he’s lived before, with all its ups and downs, and now that he’s back, for however long, he feels almost like he’s himself again.

Maybe it’s HER. No, he’s sure it’s her.

Running his fingers across her sides and up her shoulders, and cupping her cheeks as their foreheads rest together makes him think that he could never forget Keyleth. She feels like home, always has, and oh he wishes they could stay like this forever.

“You. You’re all I need.” He whispers, brushing his nose against her own. He knows he should worry about seeing their friends, about seeing his sister, but he’s made a choice, a choice to see Keyleth, and if she’s the only one he gets to see this time he won’t complain. It’s more than he’s hoped for either way, and Vax does not want to waste any time they’re given.

His fingers lift to gently wipe the TEARS away before he kisses her again, long and slow, pretending, for even a second, that they have all the time in the world. “Anything you want, just tell me.”

[bixels]

While I do think anon was rude, I do think it's pretty shitty to set up all this stuff you were going to add the au and then just drop it. It's disappointing. Definitely unfollowing.

Bye.

[ef-1]

🍷<3

[sapphim]

happy "I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me" to all who celebrate

here are some songs that I noticed had crawled under my skin and taken up residence there this year

[firepassed]

in truth, as much as she loved the rest of vox machina, she didn’t mind the space, both as it might help vax, and because she always did well with the open breeze around her. her hand squeezed his and for a moment, letting him take the lead and following after. his words, though, brought a small blush to her cheeks and almost make her trip over her own feet. " i can do that. " the question is, though, what should she share? what would he be interested in? stories? a skill? a fact?

" do you have specifics? i could tell you about my home. or a plant... or i could show you a spell?" fingers absent mindedly fiddled with his fingers as they walked. " ... i could make you a little something? "

firepassed​:

to keyleth, vox machina was and always would be the strongest people that she knew. among them, there was vax, who she believed was the strongest and most compassionate, bravest person that she knew, especially on these harder days. the squeeze on her hand makes her smile a little more, following his gaze, silently checking to see if the others were alright, or otherwise taking a moment as well before following along. “ do you have a place in mind or would you rather just take a walk? ”

“A walk,” he said, a bit definitively. He didn’t want to think about where a work would take him. He didn’t want to think about having a destined path, he just wanted to be aimless, and walk just to do so with Keyleth. He wanted to not think, and just wander, or wonder a bit of both. He missed when he could be more like that. And he felt that he could with Keyleth. “Teach me something, as we go.”

[theunconcernedembalmer]

I may not be as active on the idv scene anymore but I miss seeing you and your Aesop on my dash oop. Glad to see you back fren :3

I missed being here XD thank u so much for the message beth!!

[immortalsins]

this report is about to be the worst work of my degree thus far

[starlightwielded]

out of all the members of her step family, it is rancilda who amuses ella the most- or at the very least, terrifies her the least. she finds her riddling funny and entertaining on the ocasion... but even so, she is not one to be so easily trusting at whatever is about to be her surprise...

@trollgorl declares ❛ close your eyes and hold out your hands. ❜ and a pit forms in ella's stomach, turning from her sister and hoping for a moment that she might just be able to get away with that instead of fully shutting her eyes before she decides it best to not risk it.

sighing, she closes her eyes.

" do i get a hint as to what this is at least? " the lady says, trying to keep her voice numb as she extends both of her hands to the troll. " is it... dishes to be done? some sort of wild creature? "

[slautertm]

out of all the places that steph imagined she would run into ruth, the mall was perhaps the very last place she expected to bump into her, yet here the nerd is. her eyes look about for the other's a little as @hqlfbloods, ruth exclaims a cheerful, " too late for that. you're stuck with me. ", as lauter tries her best to make an excuse for her to keep on roam. steph sighs a little, a teasing sort of thing and she hopes the girl knows it.

" fine but only if the boys aren't with you, and you promise to not spill to pete what i pick and also give me your brutally honest opinion about all of them. " but she pauses, " you're going to homecoming... right ruth? "

[firepassed]

~~ @exandriian ( vax’ildan ) continued from HERE ~~

It’s not the most romantic place to be doing this, he’s the first one to admit it, but it somehow fits them. They’re still very much on the move at all times, rarely having the luxury of a bed at their disposal, though Vax has a few ideas for what they could do once they had one availabe the next time. He smiles, another moan escaping him as he settles inside of her, stilling his hips for just a moment. “Gods...you’re so beautiful...” He knows he’s said it just a moment before, but there’s just something about Keyleth like this, a little wild and blushing all the way down her neck and collarbone, that makes Vax want to devour her.

     “Yes...yes...” He whispers, leaning in to claim her lips with his own as he begnis to move his hips, rolling them to meet hers. They fit so perfectly together, and sometimes he thinks they’re two halves of a whole, simply meant to be together. “Let me hear you...” He knows their friends could hear them, konws they’re not far enough away to be safe, but Vax cannot bring himself to care, not when she’s perfect like this, so he drags his teeth down her neck with another moan. “Please...”

for keyleth, any moment that she can steal away with him is a moment that she wants to take advantage of, be it for a simple conversation or touches or something like this and oh does she imagine moments like this in her head more often than she might admit. especially after days like today. does keyleth like fighting? not necessarily, but does she like watching vax fight? without doubt. even if they had managed to get to a bed, she is more than certain she would have dragged him out here first. the recklessness of it is so intoxicating, the risk, the rush, his hold on her with both words and touch. his compliment earns him another breath, fingers holding his hair a little tighter as she slightly moves, desperate for more, his name leaving her mouth against his lips the moment he finally moves too. that last thing she is expecting though, is his plea and he needs not ask twice, her lips parting slightly and as his teeth make their way down her neck, the very moan she suppressed leaves her mouth. loud and though her blush deepens, keyelth feels no shame.

her tilting just slightly to the side in attempts to give him easier assess to more skin, her hand under his shirt roams upwards, oddly gentle despite her grip on his hair and the movement of her own hips against his. " oh sh-shit, vax- " her eyes open a bit, half lidded, trying her best to watch out for a moment before she lets her eyes shut after feeling certain that they were okay and letting herself focus on nothing but him. a sigh, louder than her moan leaves her mouth. for a moment, she matches his pace before trying to quicken it and take him deeper. " you feel so nice. "

[dawnshe]

wherever vax'ildan went, vex'ahlia follows, and thus is simply how things have always been and how things would always be. hence, when he expressed interest in attending a meeting at the abc cafe, a meeting about something that he intended to be something of a surprise and vex was in fact surprised in the best way possible way. revolution is something her and vax have discussed since they were little, it's in their very blood, they rebel, they seek justice and survival for those close and similar to them. little was she expecting the mixed feelings that fill her chest.

she keeps her voice down, she swallows all of her apprehension and instead watches the others and scribbles on a small napkin till the meeting is over. the men split, vax flirting with one of them which causes vex to roll her eyes for a moment, but she instead makes haste to head to the leader, trying to figure out how to approach her notes in the most... amicable way possible that would allow her to attend the next meeting.

" you know, though my brother and i are very new to paris, i cannot say that either of us expected to find such wonderful and radical notions here so quickly. " there's genuine enthusiasm in her eyes and in her words, though she does speak eloquently in attempts gain respect and an ear from this man. she does hold out her hand, however, smile growing on her lips. " i am vex'ahlia. i try not to speak for my brother, but i think in this case i can : you have just gained two more guns in the people's fight. i would love to hear more of your plans. "

@betterto-die-thanto-crawl plotted!

[cupcaketrickster]

{[ @ambitiousillusions continued from HERE ]}

This is more than Astrid could have imagined, or would have ever dared to imagine, she’d get from life. Surely, she’d always cared about being the best, but it had turned out that’s not entirely everything that matters. Through some stroke of luck, she’s able to have both, a career and people who care about her, friends, and maybe, who knows, one day she can fall in love again. It’s not at the forefront of her mind, at least not usually, but on days like that, that are FILLED with love, it’s hard to ignore, and maybe she doesn’t want to ignore it either, because it feels nice not to fight the warmth that settles in her chest. She spins Jester around once more, lips curved into a smile. “It’s nice, ja.” She agrees then, listening as the music slows down, and Astrid decides not to move, instead slows down their dancing, too. “I’m glad they get to celebrate their love, and that all of their friends are there to witness it.”

most of her focus is on astrid and astrid alone, trying to read her expressions and also just to watch her in this quiet moment, enjoying the slow curve of a smile that stretches upon the wizards face, missing both the fact that she was about to be spun around, though recovering quickly and following through with a chuckle and wide grin of her own, adjusting just as quickly as the music slows.

" it feels like time has moved both so fast and slow at the very same time. like... i have always known they would end up here, on a day like this, but it just couldn't come fast enough..." reluctantly, jester's eyes tear away to look at beau and yasha, unable to stop her smile from growing slightly. " it's just got my mind all running and dreaming and imaging... "

but she shouldn't get lost in her thoughts, instead a sappy lovesick smile spreading upon her lips as she looks back up at astrid. " i just want everyone to find what they must be feeling, you know? to have a special day like this... " but she smiles moving to try and spin the wizard.

[the-nysh]

this is not at all an indictment against Murata as the man has already proven a dozen times over to be incredibly dedicated to OPM, but is it just me or has his art quality since the Psykorochi fight seemed to have lowered on average? Not to say he's incapable of still creating spectacular illustrations but it feels like he's opted for a more cartoony and less detailed style over all.

He's been adjusting his workflow to prioritize speed lately (while noting what new approaches/techniques he's been attempting on twitter) for more consistently scheduled releases, so yes he's been going thru some trial and error for a while now. His more 'cutesy' style (with larger 'moe' eyes for most characters) seems to be a thing, as it's been noted by several readers - so your mileage may vary on how much you 'like' that look, but if there's anything Murata's personally not satisfied with you can bet he'll redraw stuff in higher detail (including improving the assistants' background work) for the volumes later!

[astral-catastrophe]

I’m normal and mentally stable

[unladielike]

    “Oh, right... my birthday is in five days. I guess that means not only would I have to accept the possibility that no one would remember, people will constantly be making weed jokes.” Sure enough, Vivian proceeds to sigh. “God, I’m starting to really envy normies; after all, I’m not popular enough to say I have plans.”

    Knowing her mother, though, she would probably insist on dragging her to a shopping spree and buying her more feminine clothes she will never even wear before arranging a family get together later on that day without any prior warning... which has her shudder, because if it’s one thing she hated, it’s people forcing her out on outings she can’t truly anticipate ahead of time.

    To top it all off, her family members were the most insufferable people she ever met, save for maybe her father, that the notion of spending more than a minute around them has her wishing someone could kidnap her during the upcoming 4/20. That way, the inevitable shopping spree and dinner would at least have to be re-scheduled to a later date...

this post was made with legacy editor because it’s just an obligatory ic post to make everyone aware vivian’s birthday is coming up, so i don’t really expect anyone to wanna continue it as a thread, but you could still have your muse reply to this!