[ liquor, pastries, and a file? oh my Mr. De Rolo. ]
Door is open darling, come on in.
[ true to her word he will find the door to her apartment open, unveiling a rather familiar living space. since the last time he's been here she has added a few things to the decor. a number of miscellaneous (and shiny) objects she's picked up over the years. he will find Vex'ahlia in the living room lounging languidly upon the couch with her hair down and wearing little more than an oversized shirt. ]
[Percy got here straight from work, judging from the slightly frazzled look in his eye and the soot stains on his clothes. He holds up a paper bag with the name of a lovely bakery emblazoned across the front.]
Croissants and bear claws.
[Holding out the other bag.]
The finest Chardonnay I could buy, aged in oak barrels.
[And he's going to kind of fold down on the couch next to her and hold out his own file.]
We're going to need it, because I took this file out of the Asgard library, and it's a very infuriating, very enraging read.
[ oh, but the slightly frazzled look is just so good on him as is the soot stains on his clothes. it brings to mind a half remembered memory of Percy leaning over a desk, tinkering with this or that. ]
You brought gifts! [ she shifts, reaching out to take the paper bag before he all but folds down on the couch beside her. automatically Vex takes a bear claw from the bag before handing it back and leans against him. ] And some terrible reading material.
[ still Vex takes the file, casually biting into the bear claw as she reads. after a moment her expression shifts, a frown quickly falling onto her features. ]
You're right, it is an incredibly infuriating read.
It explains their interest in me, I suppose. But it’s bloody idiotic—why massacre my parents and my older siblings? They weren’t unreasonable people! If you didn’t meet them with violence first thing, they were perfectly fine with just sitting down and having tea. [A beat.] A glass of whiskey in Julius’s case, but anyway.
[He pushes a hand through white hair, breathing out slowly. Smoke wisps out from his mouth—he was not lying when he said it was an enraging read. The reason why he isn’t hauling off to go kill someone about it right now is that he already did, in the Asgard incursion, and it’s done nothing, really.]
The gifts are to make up for the awful reading material. [Softly:] I tried to find their files—my siblings’ and our friends’ from before, but. No luck yet. I’m sorry, I know you’re still looking for Vax.
[ a few seconds later Vex breathes out heavily, tossing the file onto the coffee table. the whole thing leaves a bad taste in her mouth and reminds her too much of something she'd much rather forget. ]
Why play nice when you can eliminate the competition ahead of time? [ she bites down on her bear claw angrily, brown eyes flicking to the wisps of smoke coming from Percy's mouth. ] There's no point trying to understand how they think now, I suppose.
[ putting the bear claw down Vex turns to face Percy proper, a hand resting gently against his cheek. ]
You don't have to apologize, the fact that you tried is more than enough for me. [ although she had at least hoped he found something about his siblings. ] You know how Vax is, he makes it infuriatingly difficult to find him when he doesn't want to be found.
[ fingers move up to brush white hair from his face. ]
I've got some contacts I can reach out to, now that we know that your siblings survived.
Of course. Why try to negotiate when you can just steamroll over everyone else. [He remembers a flash of fang, a glint of light off a green gem on a choker. This is not the first time.
He leans into her touch, just sagging down next to her.] Little shit. [There's an exasperated fondness there. He and Vax had their differences, sure. At the end of the day, though—they had been family, and that means something to Percy.] When you find him, do let me yell at him for making it so difficult to find him.
...will they ask you for anything? I'm happy to take on commissions, do whatever job they ask, if it means a concrete lead.
[ she misses Vax, that much is true. there is an space in her chest that is painfully hollow without her twin, but it is a familiar ache she's lived with for so long now. an ache that feels like a old friend and has dulled finding Percy again. ]
Of course, you'll be the first person to know when I do. [ Vex shifts again pulling him down with her as she all but lays down on the couch, half using Percy as a blanket. ] He deserves to get yelled at after all the shit he's put us through.
[ congratulations Percy you're now using her chest as a pillow, don't freak out about it. just lay there and let her gently card her fingers through your hair, okay? ]
It's likely. I made a few shady friends over the years, but few of them owe me some favors.
[Cool he is going to do his best to be chill about his head on her chest. Wow these tits are so soft and squishy.]
I vaguely recall telling him that my final words to him would be irritated and indignant. I imagine my first words in this life to him will be just as irritated and even more indignant for this entire mess. [mrrrgh.] I'll go back and keep looking. The library is quite extensive, after all, and we weren't there very long. And...
[There's a silence, before he sighs.]
I'm going to try my best to convince the Order to let me destroy the inventions I made in past lives for them. If they're too dangerous to let out in the world they're too dangerous to be kept intact, and while I trust the people in charge now, I'm not so foolish as to believe that everyone in the Order is as well-intentioned as they are.
[He sighs. Where's her free hand? He's going to catch that one and just...stroke over her palm with this thumb.]
All right. Let them know, then. I'll do commissions for them in exchange for leads.
[ a something flashes across her vision; a sea of raven feathers, golden strings, a pale white mask. Vex breathes in, body tensing for just long enough before the vision fades. this isn't the first time they've been separated, but this the first time there is hope of getting him back.
she listens to Percy all but ramble while she absently plays with his hair. he is worried about the inventions his past lives made for the Order, just as he was worried about his inventions spreading across Exandria. it is for the best that they are destroyed just in case the wrong hands were to somehow find their way into this new edition of the Order─
Vex exhales. all of this is terribly grim and makes her feel as though she is uselessly trudging through a never ending mire. ]
We'll figure it out, Percy. Vax, your siblings, your inventions, all of it.
[ it's time for a change in subject. ]
You know... you wanted to talk after storming the castle, didn't you? [ she threads her fingers through his hair again, her gaze flicking down to where his head is resting. ] About this, us. You left me with quite the confession, darling. And now I suppose we should talk, perhaps even make things... official?
Oh shit now is the time to talk, isn't it. He actually had come over with that intention to try and work out the relationship now, because he loves her and she loves him and that's easy, and now the Black Order is gone and. There's really nothing stopping him.
Well, nothing except the yawning pit of anxiety, anyway, but he's used to working past that. He sighs, and moves to look her in the eye.]
I meant what I said. You have had my heart since I was fifteen years old. [Yep, that long.] If you want me, you will have me for as long as you're willing, in whatever form you wish. I just...
[A breath.]
I don't have much to give you. A little more now that the Unyielding are dead, but—I want to give you the best.
[ better now than leave it hanging over their heads, an uncertain nameless blade ready to drop at any moment. she can understand the anxiety, gods she even feels her fair share of it from merely bringing up the 'later talk' they agreed on.
Vex'ahlia takes a nervous breath in, something Percy will undoubtedly notice giving their position, catching his gaze with her own. immediately she feels all of her guards, her walls, everything crumble in the face of those earnest eyes. ]
As you have had mine. [ there's no denying it, no hiding from it. as aloof as she had been back then he had charmed her from the very beginning. ] You had me from hello.
[ her fingers still thread through his hair slowly but surely loosening it from how he styled it for work, her lips twitching in a fond smile. ]
Percy, darling, I don't need a castle or a fort. [ inch by inch her hand drifts from his hair, brushing gently over his ear then down to the line of his jaw. ] All I need is you. The rest we can figure out just as we always do.
From the very first? [Blink.] I had acne and the patchiest facial hair in the city and was, I'm told, insufferable at that age. Really?
[Percival you're still insufferable now. But he leans his head into her hand, before turning to kiss her palm, brushing his lips over the lines on her hand.]
Well, then. Vex'ahlia—I am yours, and so is whatever I have, little as that might be. [With a gentle little huff.] Suppose this is a good time to tell you I've been working on a bow for you, hm?
Really. [ what? there was something just so utterly irresistible that insufferable, acne riddled, patchy facial haired boy. something she couldn't help but fall head over heels back then. he was, and still is, a light she was inexplicably drawn towards. ] Acne aside you were pretty cute, Percy.
[ she exhales softly, trying to fight off the shiver that runs down her spine as his lips brush against her palm. ]
Have you? [ her eyes practically sparkle with excitement─ an undoubtedly familiar look from another life. ] If making me arrows back then was your way of flirting... What would we call making me a bow, hmm?
Of course. [ despite the fact he has been to her apartment many times, she shoots him an entirely different address. ] I acquired a new place from Goodwill, you'll have to forgive the sparseness.
hell yea new casaaaaaa we gotta throw u a housewarming party v betchu i can find stuff to decorate with
omw
[Astonishingly, there's going to be a knock on the door an actually reasonable amount of time later. Almost like Ace managed to go from point A to point B without getting distracted, hungry, or falling asleep.]
[ it is a rather nice manor, all things considered, with a rather sizable yard for Trinket to wander around if he so pleases. but there is no bear to distract Ace in the yard today though he isn't that far away.
Vex, utterly surprised at how swiftly Ace managed to arrive, opens the front door with a smile. ] Hello darling, come on in.
[ as already warned the manor is barely furnished, even so she ushers him in and toward the sitting room.
to the room Trinket, her large brown bear, naps comfortably on an old rug. ]
[Ace is tired, that much is evident from the moment Vex opens the door. He has shadows under his eyes, doesn't seem to have as much of an edge, and if possible, those perpetually sleepy eyes seem to be drooping even further.
Somehow, though, he manages to give her a little lopsided grin as she opens the door.]
You got fancy on me.
[It's not until he steps into the room and sees an actual real life bear just passed out on the floor that any bit of his normal energy seems to spark.]
Whoa! That-- Vex is that your-- can I??? [He's just stuck in a bent at the knees, wide-stance, half ready to fight the bear pose, gesturing excitedly with both hands from his chest to that big, napping baby on the rug.
[ in all honesty Trinket is the reason she got this place. an apartment isn't suited for a bear, especially not for a bear of his size. not to mention with Percy back in her life... well it just felt like this was the best choice.
seeing some of that spark return to Ace makes her laugh softly, tension draining from her shoulders. it is rare to see him so exhausted, so tense. it's unnerving. Trinket rouses with a low rumble, blinking slowly at both Vex'ahlia and Ace. ]
[Ace just sticks out his tongue and blows a raspberry at Vex' declaration of being fancy.]
Boooo, Baronness VonFancypants. Booooooo.
[But he is going to turn back to Vex's bear, making his way over with his hands held up in best "I come in peace" gesture, reaching out sloooooowly to touch the fur on Trinket's side and--]
Oh. Oh. [Ace gasps, eyes as wide as they can go, as he looks from Trinket to Vex.] I love him.
[Brb, Ace is looking to climb on top and cuddle this big lump of fur.]
That's Lady Vex'ahlia, Baroness of the First House of Whitestone and Grand Mistress of the Greyhunt to you.
[ Trinket blinks again, looking briefly to Vex standing just a little ways back, before sniffing curiously at Ace as he approaches. oh? he's getting pets? the bear makes a curious noise nudging Ace's hand.
this is just adorable. utterly adorable. and completely expected. after all there are no one who can resist Trinket's charms. ]
He is very lovable. [ she settles down beside Trinket reaching out to scratch her son behind his ear as Ace all but climb on top of him, something he will be able to do with ease considering how used to it Trinket is. ] Now, what has got your head in such a twist that you started using proper gramma?
[Ace just scoffs, settling in on top of his new Trinket bed.]
If you think I'm gonna call you Lady, you have another thing comin'. You're lucky I add enough letters to even call you Vex, a irmã.
[He is going to finish sprawling out with a very content sigh, though, humming for a moment before... slowly answering.]
It's... I've been thinking, since this showed up. [He just wiggles his left arm, that ASCE out and on display.] How do you know if you have... other memories?
Oh don't worry, darling, I'm not holding my breath.
[ she gives Trinket another scratch as the bear huffs, adjusting to the weight on his back, before Vex also leans against him. if anything she expects him not really to answer, to flip the subject to something else entirely. she shifts herself to face him, resting her hand on the top of Trinket's head. ]
That's... [ Vex exhales. ] I'm not sure. I got flashes of people I couldn't possibly know and things I couldn't possibly have done. [ like flying on a broom, fighting dragons, marrying the love of her life. ] I still do.
[Normally, he would. He'd change the subject, avoid any kind of serious emotional answer. Normally, Ace would fight tooth and nail to avoid having a serious conversation.
But...
There's something about this. Some heavy feeling in his chest, a pain that hurts more than anything he's ever felt before in his life. A pain that he's so desperate to cling to, because it means something important.
He just... can't put his finger on it.]
... people I couldn't possibly know and things I couldn't possibly have done, huh? [Ace pauses, thinking for a good long moment, before saying so, so quietly: ] That's a pretty good description, honestly.
[ Vex watches silently as his thoughts all but flash across his features. slight twitches that most would miss but Vex easily picks up on. she has always been good at watching people, reading them, it served her well in her years wandering the seedier parts of the world. and it's become second nature in more recent days.
absently the half-elf scratches behind her bear's ear, Trinket contentedly rumbling under the attention, only to break the contact to reach up and poke Ace in the middle of his forehead. ]
I know it is. [ poke poke. ] And there is something rattling around in that head of yours that has spooked you, isn't there?
[Thankfully for Vex, Ace is an open book. He’s never been good at hiding how he feels, has never really bothered to, even with total strangers. So with people he considers family? Well. He might as well be screaming every single thing he’s thinking.]
........ yeah, there is. [Ace sighs, almost like he’s blowing all the air out of his body, practically melting down into Trinket’s fur as he does.]. I think, in whatever past life I lived, I had a huge family.
[People all around him, drinking and feasting and celebrating, sitting with him during quiet nights around crackling fires, screaming crying and bleeding clashing and clashing and falling, staining ice and stone and sea red and all he can do is watch as the only family he had left charge to their deaths trying to save someone who never deserved being saved—]
she had a family once, not one bound by blood but a family nonetheless. words do not begin to describe how much she misses them, how much her heart aches whenever her thoughts drift to them─ to Vax. Vex shifts up onto her knees and wraps her arms around Ace, resting her forehead against his. ]
If you blame yourself for their decisions... [ pot calling kettle. hasn't she thought the same over the years? blamed herself for losing her brother? for potentially being the cause of his death? ] People sometimes do insane things for those they love. Sometimes they even do something so utterly foolish like challenging a god.
[ and dooming themselves to be lost to their family forevermore. ]
You can't hold onto a guilt like that, it will only hurt you.
[Ah-- well. It's been a while since Ace has gotten a hug. It's enough to distract him from the life he's been getting glances of, to have him letting out a breath and leaning tiredly into that contact, his eyes sliding closed.
He's... tired. He's done so much thinking since getting back from the Event Horizon, his brain might as well be dribbling out of his ears.]
A god, huh...? Your gods didn't happen to cause earthquakes strong enough to split the ocean, freeze an entire island, or conjure lava out of nothing, did they? [He pauses, and lets out a little huff.] I just-- how can I not feel guilty when I remember some of their names?
[When he can remember sitting on a giant's shoulder, laughing and talking and weaving reeds into a hat? When he remembers the life leaving those impossibly large eyes, body fallen on top of a crumbling wall, hand desperately outstretched towards him?]
[ it is unsettling how much of what he asks rings familiar. how effortlessly those words drag up flashes of images from the depths; fire that follows impossibly large wings, biting cold ice, the roar of dragons as their home all but crumbles around them, black feathers and the crow of ravens. ]
If they wanted too, I suppose. [ draped over Trinket her grip on him tightens as his eyes slide closed, sparing him from the pained expression that finds Vex's face mere second later. ] I'm not saying don't feel guilty, I'm saying─ [ she exhales heavily, her own eyes sliding closed. ] You can't hold onto it and let it fester forever.
[ her chest aches, that empty space where Vax should sit all but crying out for her twin. ]
I have a brother, a twin brother. In our past life he gave himself over to a god because of me, he gave his life to a god to save me. [ Vex's grip tightens more and she trembles softly. ] All because I was too blind to realize the treasure we were looking for was obviously trapped. And because of that one decision I lost him forever. At the end of everything she took him from me.
[ had she not died that day, had she not fallen from that trap. would Vax have been able to live out the rest of his days with them? with Keyleth? would he have met the family that she and Percy made together? ]
It was my fault, in the end, and if I held onto that guilt forever I never would have lived my life to it's fullest. I never would have made a family with the man that I loved. It would have consumed me.
Something about that stings at Ace's mind, pulls at his heart. A brother. A lost brother. The pain he feels, listening to Vex, taking in her hurt, her cautionary words, it's familiar in a way he can't quite put his finger on.
He just feels that sometimes, people can die for no good reason at all. And you're forced to live out your life without them in it.
In the end, all Ace can do is adjust himself on their therapy bear, returning the hug that Vex had offered to him in full, arms wrapped around her tight and secure.]
... your brother sounds really cool, though. And... a lot like the guys I remember. [The ones so ready to fight a war to save Ace's life. The ones that refused to stop moving forward until their very last breath.
Ace tightens his grip on Vex, squeezing her in that hug for a moment more before he pulls back, giving her his best grin, despite the way all of this turmoil has left him a little drawn, with bags under his eyes.] Hey-- do you have sake, by any chance?
[ she's supposed to be the one comforting him and yet the moment Ace shifts and wraps his arms around her she feels something shift. something snap. Vex breathes in, sharp and short, ache blooming from the center of her chest. this kind of hug, it's different from when she hugs Percy, it's comforting, assuring, familial and gods she hasn't been held like this for years.
tears well in her eyes only held back by a stifled laugh and a butt load of determination. can't have him seeing her cry over something so simple as a hug. ]
Don't let him hear you say that. [ Vex sniffs, trying not to bury herself against him. ] You'll inflate his ego and he's insufferable when he gets like that.
[ but what she would give to have him here right now, to hear Vax's stupid shitty comments about her getting emotional and how Ace thinks he's just really cool. Ace pulls back and Vex shifts trying to hide wiping the tears from her eyes with a strategic hair tuck, she might've gotten away with it were they not so close. or if Trinket didn't immediately make a worried "row?" up at her. ]
Sake? There should be a bottle in the kitchen. [ honestly? isn't at all her drink of choice, but you don't turn away gifts from the kindly old Japanese lady you visit on a biweekly basis. ]
[Ace may be a bit simple sometimes, or maybe seems downright dumb, but— well, it’s not that he’s actually stupid. There’s a difference between not understanding the world around you and just deciding to just never really even try to use your entire brain.
But boy has Ace been slowly getting those wheels turning again, these past few days. And unfortunately for Vex, that means he’s well aware of what that little hair tuck is covering up.
At the very least, he doesn’t address those tears out loud, instead just shifting to push himself back to his feet, reaching down and gently ruffling Vex’s hair as he passes her and goes to find his way to the kitchen. Though he does call back to Trinket with a quick: ] Take care of her for a minute, okay, bud?
[And, after a few minutes and probably a fair amount of concerning clattering around in the kitchen, Ace is coming back with a bottle of sake and two cups.
He sits himself down on the ground in front of Vex, setting the cups down, one in front of himself and the other in front of her, before carefully pouring a small amount into both.]
I remembered this, when we were talking. My past life, if that’s what it is— that world had this tradition with exchanging sake cups. It can mark alliances and loyalty, but if you share equal sized cups from the same bottle— [He grins, bright and lopsided, as he picks up and offers Vex’s cup to her.] That’s how you pledge to be family.
[ he's lucky, so very lucky, she was 1.5 seconds away from texting Sabo and asking him to punch Ace in the arm for the cryptic rabbit images. but those elven ears of hers pick up on the gentle sounds of something scratching at the windowsill. she hesitates, grabbing Fenthras from the coffee table (there is something to be said about leaving a Vestige of Divergence just laying on the god damn coffee table) and moves over to the window nudging it open with her bow drawn. ]
[And there it is. Under Vex’s window, crouched down with two white paws up and trying their best to ease open the window from the outside, is four feet and seven inches of red, white, and black rabbit.
Just
Just a whole-ass pokémon in her bushes blinking with big ol’ innocent eyes at the arrow pointed at his face.]
Ah. [A whole-ass pokemon with a very, very familiar, whole-ass man voice.] Oops. You caught me.
[ there is a gods damn rabbit standing outside the window. a four feet and seven inches tall rabbit outside her gods damn window. and it has Ace's voice!!!
it takes a moment, a heartbeat, then another, before she lowers Fenthras and lets the string go slack her expression a mixture of disbelief and mild annoyance. then she exhales heavily, stepping back a couple of paces and looks at him expectantly. ]
[Oh good! Ace isn't going to have a memory of dying a third time. At least not yet.
He lets out a breath before going and hoisting himself up, hopping up into that windowsill and taking a seat, big ol' fluffy rabbit feet kicking like an excited toddler in a booster seat.]
Yeahhh, I thought the added fur would muffle more. [He is going go digging into a makeshift bag hanging by a string around his neck, fumbling with the drawstring before emerging triumphant with a hot pink plastic egg, offering it up to Vex with the biggest, brightest smile on his face.] For you, irmã.
[ it takes another moment before Vex fully releases her bow, putting both Fenthras and the arrow down on the nearby arm chair. something about this makes her chest hurt, memories of a past life flicking before her eyes as Ace's visage shifts to her mirror all dark leathers and raven feathers. she takes a breath, closing her eyes for a moment then opens them again to─ what?
Vex'ahlia blinks once, then again, tilting her head at the hot pink plastic egg Ace is offering her so triumphantly. that previous ache fades and is replaced by something softer, warmer. this idiot... ]
I could have shot you, Ace. Next time don't try the stealthy approach, it won't go well for you.
[ still, she takes the egg from his gently and starts to turn it over. ]
[ he hasn't ever been the most elegant texter in the months she has known Ace, but something about this immediately sets her on edge. maybe it is the mention of her brother, or maybe it the clear descent into distress she sees as his typing getting even worse than normal.
in reality it is the mess of "nthenuremembertheydied" that sets off the alarms in her head, that distracts her from what she had been doing and causes her to slice open her palm. Vex'ahlia swears, dropping her phone, and scrambles for the first aid kit leaving Ace on read for a few minutes longer than she likes. ]
[It takes probably way too long for ace to actually respond, that 520blazeit is typing.... showing up again and again until he finally manages to type a single word through his tear blurred eyes.]
heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy sis wannaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa have a family game night???????????????????
[Because if you think Ace is gonna wait to deal with the fantasy police about his stolen evil board game before trying for a round two you are incorrect.]
[ it's fine, she hasn't had a consistent sleep schedule once in her life so he doesn't wake her up. she does have to double take the message, shifting off the arm chair she had been curled up on and reaching for her vestige. ]
[considering how highly sabo talks of ace, having a problem related to him is extremely out of character.]
Thank you.
[the second text comes a few minutes later, after he figures out how to say this.]
I've reached the point that it's getting difficult to ignore feelings that I've been sitting on for months. I haven't told anyone about this, but I figure if anyone should know, it should be someone he considers family.
Just having Ace in my life is enough, and I keep reassuring myself of that, but... we were kids when we were around each other last. We're not anymore. Passing each other like ships in the night in my world was gut-wrenching, and because of that, I know what I'm at risk of losing. But I also know what I'm at risk of ruining.
I don't actually have any experience in this... field. I have no idea what I'm doing.
[ for the next few minutes there is nothing but silence on her end. she sits there, reading over the words once, twice, then a third time before exhaling and leaning her head back. on the one hand she doesn't feel like she's the best person to be talking to about this, on the other? it means a lot that Sabo though to reach out of her about it. ]
Oh, sweetheart. [ this doesn't feel like a conversation to be had over text, if they can help it. ] Do you think you can sneak away for a little bit? Come over to my place, Percy is busy in his workshop so you don't need to worry about him overhearing anything.
78 cowboy hats 43 pairs of boots 154 belt buckles 10 mining pans from various overlapping gold rushes 57 cattle brands 13 spit buckets from between 1784 and 1890
i've counted them all and they're all here but there just there HAVE to be more than this. why does it look so empty? someone HAS to have messed with things. moved them around.
it's not weird. AND it's not miscellaneous. everything here has it's place and everything here is important. i'd burn the whole damn city down if something happened to this place.
and something HAS happened to it i just. know. it.
... did sabo sneak you in here? sabo snuck you in here. he snuck you in here and you both CHANGED things.
[ 'i'd burn the whole damn city down if something happened to this place.'
reading those words sends a chill down her spine and her jaw sets, in the back of her mind she hears the echo of a dragon─ large, red, perched atop the city they had dared to call home for the tiniest of moments. it gets worse as she reads, watching in real time as the paranoid latched onto Ace's brain. she feels her chest tighten, fear clawing at her throat.
this... this reads too much like a dragon being possessive of his hoard. he can turn into a little lizard but that isn't a dragon, that's just a lizard. but this? this isn't the lizard brained brother she latched onto so tightly. this is something else entirely and it terrifies her. ]
[ it takes a moment to compose herself, to write a response as she continues to text Sabo at the same time. something is wrong. something is wrong and gods above she doesn't want her fears to be confirmed. ]
Why would he do that? Why would either of us do that?
[Once the full scope of what's happening hits him, Ace is going to feel... horrible. Horrible that he said these things about Sabo, horrible that he acted this way to Vex........ and horrible for the memories he's triggering.
For now, though, the only thing in Ace's mind is his hoard and how... lacking it suddenly is.
How... defensive he is of it. How it infuriates him in a way he's never felt in this life, but is so, so familiar from the past one he's been remembering.]
i don't know. but SOMETHING is wrong here. and if someone touched my stuff.... i dunno vex i'm just
i'm ANGRY.
all of this was enough yesterday but today it's just. nothing. there's so much more that could be in this collection.
[ angry isn't something she has ever seen from Ace, it isn't something she would have thought him capable of feeling. she breathes in, sharply, and reaches for Raven's Slumber that hangs from her hip. ]
Something is wrong here but I don't think it's your stuff, darling. You know we love you, we wouldn't do anything to hurt or upset you. But you're lashing out and accusing us of doing just that.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
un: badnews; one day post-battle
I have liquor, pastries, and the file. Let me in?
no subject
Door is open darling, come on in.
[ true to her word he will find the door to her apartment open, unveiling a rather familiar living space. since the last time he's been here she has added a few things to the decor. a number of miscellaneous (and shiny) objects she's picked up over the years. he will find Vex'ahlia in the living room lounging languidly upon the couch with her hair down and wearing little more than an oversized shirt. ]
no subject
Croissants and bear claws.
[Holding out the other bag.]
The finest Chardonnay I could buy, aged in oak barrels.
[And he's going to kind of fold down on the couch next to her and hold out his own file.]
We're going to need it, because I took this file out of the Asgard library, and it's a very infuriating, very enraging read.
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You brought gifts! [ she shifts, reaching out to take the paper bag before he all but folds down on the couch beside her. automatically Vex takes a bear claw from the bag before handing it back and leans against him. ] And some terrible reading material.
[ still Vex takes the file, casually biting into the bear claw as she reads. after a moment her expression shifts, a frown quickly falling onto her features. ]
You're right, it is an incredibly infuriating read.
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[He pushes a hand through white hair, breathing out slowly. Smoke wisps out from his mouth—he was not lying when he said it was an enraging read. The reason why he isn’t hauling off to go kill someone about it right now is that he already did, in the Asgard incursion, and it’s done nothing, really.]
The gifts are to make up for the awful reading material. [Softly:] I tried to find their files—my siblings’ and our friends’ from before, but. No luck yet. I’m sorry, I know you’re still looking for Vax.
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Why play nice when you can eliminate the competition ahead of time? [ she bites down on her bear claw angrily, brown eyes flicking to the wisps of smoke coming from Percy's mouth. ] There's no point trying to understand how they think now, I suppose.
[ putting the bear claw down Vex turns to face Percy proper, a hand resting gently against his cheek. ]
You don't have to apologize, the fact that you tried is more than enough for me. [ although she had at least hoped he found something about his siblings. ] You know how Vax is, he makes it infuriatingly difficult to find him when he doesn't want to be found.
[ fingers move up to brush white hair from his face. ]
I've got some contacts I can reach out to, now that we know that your siblings survived.
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He leans into her touch, just sagging down next to her.] Little shit. [There's an exasperated fondness there. He and Vax had their differences, sure. At the end of the day, though—they had been family, and that means something to Percy.] When you find him, do let me yell at him for making it so difficult to find him.
...will they ask you for anything? I'm happy to take on commissions, do whatever job they ask, if it means a concrete lead.
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Of course, you'll be the first person to know when I do. [ Vex shifts again pulling him down with her as she all but lays down on the couch, half using Percy as a blanket. ] He deserves to get yelled at after all the shit he's put us through.
[ congratulations Percy you're now using her chest as a pillow, don't freak out about it. just lay there and let her gently card her fingers through your hair, okay? ]
It's likely. I made a few shady friends over the years, but few of them owe me some favors.
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I vaguely recall telling him that my final words to him would be irritated and indignant. I imagine my first words in this life to him will be just as irritated and even more indignant for this entire mess. [mrrrgh.] I'll go back and keep looking. The library is quite extensive, after all, and we weren't there very long. And...
[There's a silence, before he sighs.]
I'm going to try my best to convince the Order to let me destroy the inventions I made in past lives for them. If they're too dangerous to let out in the world they're too dangerous to be kept intact, and while I trust the people in charge now, I'm not so foolish as to believe that everyone in the Order is as well-intentioned as they are.
[He sighs. Where's her free hand? He's going to catch that one and just...stroke over her palm with this thumb.]
All right. Let them know, then. I'll do commissions for them in exchange for leads.
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she listens to Percy all but ramble while she absently plays with his hair. he is worried about the inventions his past lives made for the Order, just as he was worried about his inventions spreading across Exandria. it is for the best that they are destroyed just in case the wrong hands were to somehow find their way into this new edition of the Order─
Vex exhales. all of this is terribly grim and makes her feel as though she is uselessly trudging through a never ending mire. ]
We'll figure it out, Percy. Vax, your siblings, your inventions, all of it.
[ it's time for a change in subject. ]
You know... you wanted to talk after storming the castle, didn't you? [ she threads her fingers through his hair again, her gaze flicking down to where his head is resting. ] About this, us. You left me with quite the confession, darling. And now I suppose we should talk, perhaps even make things... official?
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Oh shit now is the time to talk, isn't it. He actually had come over with that intention to try and work out the relationship now, because he loves her and she loves him and that's easy, and now the Black Order is gone and. There's really nothing stopping him.
Well, nothing except the yawning pit of anxiety, anyway, but he's used to working past that. He sighs, and moves to look her in the eye.]
I meant what I said. You have had my heart since I was fifteen years old. [Yep, that long.] If you want me, you will have me for as long as you're willing, in whatever form you wish. I just...
[A breath.]
I don't have much to give you. A little more now that the Unyielding are dead, but—I want to give you the best.
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Vex'ahlia takes a nervous breath in, something Percy will undoubtedly notice giving their position, catching his gaze with her own. immediately she feels all of her guards, her walls, everything crumble in the face of those earnest eyes. ]
As you have had mine. [ there's no denying it, no hiding from it. as aloof as she had been back then he had charmed her from the very beginning. ] You had me from hello.
[ her fingers still thread through his hair slowly but surely loosening it from how he styled it for work, her lips twitching in a fond smile. ]
Percy, darling, I don't need a castle or a fort. [ inch by inch her hand drifts from his hair, brushing gently over his ear then down to the line of his jaw. ] All I need is you. The rest we can figure out just as we always do.
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[Percival you're still insufferable now. But he leans his head into her hand, before turning to kiss her palm, brushing his lips over the lines on her hand.]
Well, then. Vex'ahlia—I am yours, and so is whatever I have, little as that might be. [With a gentle little huff.] Suppose this is a good time to tell you I've been working on a bow for you, hm?
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[ she exhales softly, trying to fight off the shiver that runs down her spine as his lips brush against her palm. ]
Have you? [ her eyes practically sparkle with excitement─ an undoubtedly familiar look from another life. ] If making me arrows back then was your way of flirting... What would we call making me a bow, hmm?
text; un: 520blazeit
u got that funky magic shoulder tat right
did that
uh
[Give him a second, he's gotta sit up to type this next bit.]
.... did that come with any of that past life memories junk?
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It did, yes.
Would you like me to come over, dear? This conversation might be better had in person than over text.
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yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyno? maybe?
things r
awkward
here
[That awkward moment when the guy who just killed you is the same guy you invited to move in a few weeks prior, you know?]
can i come over there?
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Of course. [ despite the fact he has been to her apartment many times, she shoots him an entirely different address. ] I acquired a new place from Goodwill, you'll have to forgive the sparseness.
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we gotta throw u a housewarming party v
betchu i can find stuff to decorate with
omw
[Astonishingly, there's going to be a knock on the door an actually reasonable amount of time later. Almost like Ace managed to go from point A to point B without getting distracted, hungry, or falling asleep.]
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Vex, utterly surprised at how swiftly Ace managed to arrive, opens the front door with a smile. ] Hello darling, come on in.
[ as already warned the manor is barely furnished, even so she ushers him in and toward the sitting room.
to the room Trinket, her large brown bear, naps comfortably on an old rug. ]
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Somehow, though, he manages to give her a little lopsided grin as she opens the door.]
You got fancy on me.
[It's not until he steps into the room and sees an actual real life bear just passed out on the floor that any bit of his normal energy seems to spark.]
Whoa! That-- Vex is that your-- can I??? [He's just stuck in a bent at the knees, wide-stance, half ready to fight the bear pose, gesturing excitedly with both hands from his chest to that big, napping baby on the rug.
LET HIM CLIMB THE BEAR.]
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[ in all honesty Trinket is the reason she got this place. an apartment isn't suited for a bear, especially not for a bear of his size. not to mention with Percy back in her life... well it just felt like this was the best choice.
seeing some of that spark return to Ace makes her laugh softly, tension draining from her shoulders. it is rare to see him so exhausted, so tense. it's unnerving. Trinket rouses with a low rumble, blinking slowly at both Vex'ahlia and Ace. ]
Go ahead, Trinket won't bite.
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Boooo, Baronness VonFancypants. Booooooo.
[But he is going to turn back to Vex's bear, making his way over with his hands held up in best "I come in peace" gesture, reaching out sloooooowly to touch the fur on Trinket's side and--]
Oh. Oh. [Ace gasps, eyes as wide as they can go, as he looks from Trinket to Vex.] I love him.
[Brb, Ace is looking to climb on top and cuddle this big lump of fur.]
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[ Trinket blinks again, looking briefly to Vex standing just a little ways back, before sniffing curiously at Ace as he approaches. oh? he's getting pets? the bear makes a curious noise nudging Ace's hand.
this is just adorable. utterly adorable. and completely expected. after all there are no one who can resist Trinket's charms. ]
He is very lovable. [ she settles down beside Trinket reaching out to scratch her son behind his ear as Ace all but climb on top of him, something he will be able to do with ease considering how used to it Trinket is. ] Now, what has got your head in such a twist that you started using proper gramma?
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If you think I'm gonna call you Lady, you have another thing comin'. You're lucky I add enough letters to even call you Vex, a irmã.
[He is going to finish sprawling out with a very content sigh, though, humming for a moment before... slowly answering.]
It's... I've been thinking, since this showed up. [He just wiggles his left arm, that A
SCE out and on display.] How do you know if you have... other memories?no subject
Oh don't worry, darling, I'm not holding my breath.
[ she gives Trinket another scratch as the bear huffs, adjusting to the weight on his back, before Vex also leans against him. if anything she expects him not really to answer, to flip the subject to something else entirely. she shifts herself to face him, resting her hand on the top of Trinket's head. ]
That's... [ Vex exhales. ] I'm not sure. I got flashes of people I couldn't possibly know and things I couldn't possibly have done. [ like flying on a broom, fighting dragons, marrying the love of her life. ] I still do.
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But...
There's something about this. Some heavy feeling in his chest, a pain that hurts more than anything he's ever felt before in his life. A pain that he's so desperate to cling to, because it means something important.
He just... can't put his finger on it.]
... people I couldn't possibly know and things I couldn't possibly have done, huh? [Ace pauses, thinking for a good long moment, before saying so, so quietly: ] That's a pretty good description, honestly.
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absently the half-elf scratches behind her bear's ear, Trinket contentedly rumbling under the attention, only to break the contact to reach up and poke Ace in the middle of his forehead. ]
I know it is. [ poke poke. ] And there is something rattling around in that head of yours that has spooked you, isn't there?
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........ yeah, there is. [Ace sighs, almost like he’s blowing all the air out of his body, practically melting down into Trinket’s fur as he does.]. I think, in whatever past life I lived, I had a huge family.
[People all around him, drinking and feasting and celebrating, sitting with him during quiet nights around crackling fires, screaming crying and bleeding clashing and clashing and falling, staining ice and stone and sea red and all he can do is watch as the only family he had left charge to their deaths trying to save someone who never deserved being saved—]
And... I think a lot of them died because of me.
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she had a family once, not one bound by blood but a family nonetheless. words do not begin to describe how much she misses them, how much her heart aches whenever her thoughts drift to them─ to Vax. Vex shifts up onto her knees and wraps her arms around Ace, resting her forehead against his. ]
If you blame yourself for their decisions... [ pot calling kettle. hasn't she thought the same over the years? blamed herself for losing her brother? for potentially being the cause of his death? ] People sometimes do insane things for those they love. Sometimes they even do something so utterly foolish like challenging a god.
[ and dooming themselves to be lost to their family forevermore. ]
You can't hold onto a guilt like that, it will only hurt you.
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He's... tired. He's done so much thinking since getting back from the Event Horizon, his brain might as well be dribbling out of his ears.]
A god, huh...? Your gods didn't happen to cause earthquakes strong enough to split the ocean, freeze an entire island, or conjure lava out of nothing, did they? [He pauses, and lets out a little huff.] I just-- how can I not feel guilty when I remember some of their names?
[When he can remember sitting on a giant's shoulder, laughing and talking and weaving reeds into a hat? When he remembers the life leaving those impossibly large eyes, body fallen on top of a crumbling wall, hand desperately outstretched towards him?]
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If they wanted too, I suppose. [ draped over Trinket her grip on him tightens as his eyes slide closed, sparing him from the pained expression that finds Vex's face mere second later. ] I'm not saying don't feel guilty, I'm saying─ [ she exhales heavily, her own eyes sliding closed. ] You can't hold onto it and let it fester forever.
[ her chest aches, that empty space where Vax should sit all but crying out for her twin. ]
I have a brother, a twin brother. In our past life he gave himself over to a god because of me, he gave his life to a god to save me. [ Vex's grip tightens more and she trembles softly. ] All because I was too blind to realize the treasure we were looking for was obviously trapped. And because of that one decision I lost him forever. At the end of everything she took him from me.
[ had she not died that day, had she not fallen from that trap. would Vax have been able to live out the rest of his days with them? with Keyleth? would he have met the family that she and Percy made together? ]
It was my fault, in the end, and if I held onto that guilt forever I never would have lived my life to it's fullest. I never would have made a family with the man that I loved. It would have consumed me.
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Something about that stings at Ace's mind, pulls at his heart. A brother. A lost brother. The pain he feels, listening to Vex, taking in her hurt, her cautionary words, it's familiar in a way he can't quite put his finger on.
He just feels that sometimes, people can die for no good reason at all. And you're forced to live out your life without them in it.
In the end, all Ace can do is adjust himself on their therapy bear, returning the hug that Vex had offered to him in full, arms wrapped around her tight and secure.]
... your brother sounds really cool, though. And... a lot like the guys I remember. [The ones so ready to fight a war to save Ace's life. The ones that refused to stop moving forward until their very last breath.
Ace tightens his grip on Vex, squeezing her in that hug for a moment more before he pulls back, giving her his best grin, despite the way all of this turmoil has left him a little drawn, with bags under his eyes.] Hey-- do you have sake, by any chance?
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tears well in her eyes only held back by a stifled laugh and a butt load of determination. can't have him seeing her cry over something so simple as a hug. ]
Don't let him hear you say that. [ Vex sniffs, trying not to bury herself against him. ] You'll inflate his ego and he's insufferable when he gets like that.
[ but what she would give to have him here right now, to hear Vax's stupid shitty comments about her getting emotional and how Ace thinks he's just really cool. Ace pulls back and Vex shifts trying to hide wiping the tears from her eyes with a strategic hair tuck, she might've gotten away with it were they not so close. or if Trinket didn't immediately make a worried "row?" up at her. ]
Sake? There should be a bottle in the kitchen. [ honestly? isn't at all her drink of choice, but you don't turn away gifts from the kindly old Japanese lady you visit on a biweekly basis. ]
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But boy has Ace been slowly getting those wheels turning again, these past few days. And unfortunately for Vex, that means he’s well aware of what that little hair tuck is covering up.
At the very least, he doesn’t address those tears out loud, instead just shifting to push himself back to his feet, reaching down and gently ruffling Vex’s hair as he passes her and goes to find his way to the kitchen. Though he does call back to Trinket with a quick: ] Take care of her for a minute, okay, bud?
[And, after a few minutes and probably a fair amount of concerning clattering around in the kitchen, Ace is coming back with a bottle of sake and two cups.
He sits himself down on the ground in front of Vex, setting the cups down, one in front of himself and the other in front of her, before carefully pouring a small amount into both.]
I remembered this, when we were talking. My past life, if that’s what it is— that world had this tradition with exchanging sake cups. It can mark alliances and loyalty, but if you share equal sized cups from the same bottle— [He grins, bright and lopsided, as he picks up and offers Vex’s cup to her.] That’s how you pledge to be family.
telepathy; 3/5
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he's going to get a text not even five seconds later. ]
What the fuck?
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action!
Do you hear the gentle sounds of something trying to come inside?]
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Just
Just a whole-ass pokémon in her bushes blinking with big ol’ innocent eyes at the arrow pointed at his face.]
Ah. [A whole-ass pokemon with a very, very familiar, whole-ass man voice.] Oops. You caught me.
1/3
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[ there is a gods damn rabbit standing outside the window. a four feet and seven inches tall rabbit outside her gods damn window. and it has Ace's voice!!!
it takes a moment, a heartbeat, then another, before she lowers Fenthras and lets the string go slack her expression a mixture of disbelief and mild annoyance. then she exhales heavily, stepping back a couple of paces and looks at him expectantly. ]
A deaf man could have caught you.
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He lets out a breath before going and hoisting himself up, hopping up into that windowsill and taking a seat, big ol' fluffy rabbit feet kicking like an excited toddler in a booster seat.]
Yeahhh, I thought the added fur would muffle more. [He is going go digging into a makeshift bag hanging by a string around his neck, fumbling with the drawstring before emerging triumphant with a hot pink plastic egg, offering it up to Vex with the biggest, brightest smile on his face.] For you, irmã.
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Vex'ahlia blinks once, then again, tilting her head at the hot pink plastic egg Ace is offering her so triumphantly. that previous ache fades and is replaced by something softer, warmer. this idiot... ]
I could have shot you, Ace. Next time don't try the stealthy approach, it won't go well for you.
[ still, she takes the egg from his gently and starts to turn it over. ]
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Orrrrr I could keep practicing until I can really sneak up on you.
[He sticks up his big ol' rabbit feet and wiggles them.] Can't let the fact that I'm padded now go to waste. Besides, I heal fast.
[But he is going to lean forward and nod towards the egg excitedly.]
Open it. I made you something.
text 4/5; 1/???
u haveabrother rite?
rigth
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forge
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diff
erent
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u forgot
the person most important to you
completely
for 21 years
even after u started remembering other things
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and
anddddddd
arentdead??? but u KNOW they dide
likerememberREMEMBER they
what do you DO vex???
fin
1/2
in reality it is the mess of "nthenuremembertheydied" that sets off the alarms in her head, that distracts her from what she had been doing and causes her to slice open her palm. Vex'ahlia swears, dropping her phone, and scrambles for the first aid kit leaving Ace on read for a few minutes longer than she likes. ]
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Ace, where are you?
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hyrulllllllllllllleeeeeeeee
text; 7/28
wannaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
have a family game night???????????????????
[Because if you think Ace is gonna wait to deal with the fantasy police about his stolen evil board game before trying for a round two you are incorrect.]
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[ you cannot trick her you devil. ]
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but
buttttttt
i have things to show u!!!
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telepathy
[Good thing Ace doesn't have telepathy enough that Vex can hear the Lizard Lizard Lizard you know accompanies it.]
text
text; un: revolutionary
I have a problem.
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Is it the kind of problem we can shoot?
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My lips are sealed, darling. Whatever it is stays between us.
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Thank you.
[the second text comes a few minutes later, after he figures out how to say this.]
I've reached the point that it's getting difficult to ignore feelings that I've been sitting on for months. I haven't told anyone about this, but I figure if anyone should know, it should be someone he considers family.
Just having Ace in my life is enough, and I keep reassuring myself of that, but... we were kids when we were around each other last. We're not anymore. Passing each other like ships in the night in my world was gut-wrenching, and because of that, I know what I'm at risk of losing. But I also know what I'm at risk of ruining.
I don't actually have any experience in this... field. I have no idea what I'm doing.
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Oh, sweetheart. [ this doesn't feel like a conversation to be had over text, if they can help it. ] Do you think you can sneak away for a little bit? Come over to my place, Percy is busy in his workshop so you don't need to worry about him overhearing anything.
telepathy
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text; un: 520blazeit 9/5ish
[This is totally normal behavior Vex, don't worry.]
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No, why?
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78 cowboy hats
43 pairs of boots
154 belt buckles
10 mining pans from various overlapping gold rushes
57 cattle brands
13 spit buckets from between 1784 and 1890
i've counted them all and they're all here but there just
there HAVE to be more than this. why does it look so empty?
someone HAS to have messed with things. moved them around.
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Darling, no one has gone through your weird collection of cowboy hats and miscellaneous things.
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it's not weird.
AND it's not miscellaneous.
everything here has it's place and everything here is important. i'd burn the whole damn city down if something happened to this place.
and something HAS happened to it i just.
know.
it.
... did sabo sneak you in here?
sabo snuck you in here.
he snuck you in here and you both CHANGED things.
1/2
reading those words sends a chill down her spine and her jaw sets, in the back of her mind she hears the echo of a dragon─ large, red, perched atop the city they had dared to call home for the tiniest of moments. it gets worse as she reads, watching in real time as the paranoid latched onto Ace's brain. she feels her chest tighten, fear clawing at her throat.
this... this reads too much like a dragon being possessive of his hoard. he can turn into a little lizard but that isn't a dragon, that's just a lizard. but this? this isn't the lizard brained brother she latched onto so tightly. this is something else entirely and it terrifies her. ]
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Why would he do that? Why would either of us do that?
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For now, though, the only thing in Ace's mind is his hoard and how... lacking it suddenly is.
How... defensive he is of it. How it infuriates him in a way he's never felt in this life, but is so, so familiar from the past one he's been remembering.]
i don't know.
but SOMETHING is wrong here.
and if someone touched my stuff....
i dunno vex i'm just
i'm ANGRY.
all of this was enough yesterday but today it's just. nothing. there's so much more that could be in this collection.
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Something is wrong here but I don't think it's your stuff, darling. You know we love you, we wouldn't do anything to hurt or upset you. But you're lashing out and accusing us of doing just that.