SMOKE FILLED DREAMS.

         SHE CAN FEEL HIS TREMOR.  It reverberates around the room and down her spine but she has trained long and hard to keep her emotions in check.  The face of vengeance startles her as it takes form,  her own mask slipping away for a moment as she stares him down.  This was what coddled her friend through a time of need but she had no need for vengeance, her brother and friends were alive.  For now.  That was what resonated, a whisper in the darkest corner of her mind.  “ I’ve died once, ”  though she barely remembers it.  “ I won’t let them die.  Vax has the Raven Queen, he is her champion.  He won’t leave me. ”

ok it’s headcanon time.

       EVEN AS SMOKE, she could sense his hesitation.  A question avoided meant that there was something hidden.  She was observant and from what they had seen with Percy, Vex wasn’t willing to drop her guard.  His voice is like a breath, icy against the nape of her neck causing a shiver.  “ But not gold? ”  She asked.  Her friends believed her to be greedy but a comfortable life was nothing to frown upon.  There is no anger in her tone, only mild curiosity at what he can offer but she did not know if she could ever be  sated.  Her desires lied elsewhere, there was no need for revenge and those who had stolen her mother where also her biggest fear.  Her eyes flash, turning to watch the curling wisps of smoke.  “ Who says we can’t protect ourselves?  Percival rid himself of you, we made sure of that. ”

he backs up immediately, and raises his pistol. it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that alarm bells are ringing in his head right now. anybody with any sense would be able to see that this is wrong. mind you, teddy isn’t entirely certain of what he’s seeing. or if it’s something he can shoot. 

      ‘ –who’s that? ’ 

meme. / accepting.

( vax voice ) oh voyeurism. how fun.

( vax voice ) i call you daddy because i call percy Sir

( vax'ildan vessar, grinning ) are you cranky too?

She could feel the smoke rising from her body, the echo of the words in her mind. This hadn’t been the first time she’s heard him egging her on. Originally she’d thought of it as no more than some fever dream, but lately it’s become more of a realization that this was very real. She was far enough from the rest of the group for them not to notice anything off of her, or so she hoped. 

     “I’m working on it.”

It was a shot in the dark, talking back to a voice in her head, but maybe she did need him. After all, she looked down at the body of an almost dead enemy beneath her, he did help at times. She let her rapier fly taking off the head of the person in front of her before whipping the blood off the blade.

( vax voice ) daddy don’t touch me i’m cranky

Everything sort of snaps into place all at once as Vax’s mind catches up to everything happening around him. He almost feels ridiculous, having not put two and two together sooner, but he supposes smoke and an empty room aren’t exactly perfect math to work with. He’s wary, as presumably anyone would be, but again… he hasn’t completely dissected himself from the moment. The most rebellion he offers is to turn his head instinctively away from the claws at his face, no matter how seemingly gentle they make themselves out to be. As one who wields weapons that are fundamentally based on such extremities, he knows all too well how swiftly a kind touch can become cruel. 

“Orthax,” it comes out as a sigh, something clear yet still under his breath, but that hardly says anything really. In this empty space, even a whisper could sound like a scream to someone listening closely enough. “Haven’t you got yourself busy enough in other matters? Don’t make me be the one to break Percival’s heart and tell him you’ve grown bored.” He’s not calm, exactly - but he’s more like himself and less like a confused buffoon now, at the very least. Snark is easy when you know the thing you’re faced with. 

“…why me?” More aptly, why him and not one of the five others still seemingly untouched by Orthax - the rest of them have also lost a home, have they not? ( Ah, but not all of them have a deeply personal connection and an existing penchant for rash, anger-fueled decisions, do they? Thordak. Thordak. And how many times has Vax snapped during an interrogation after moments prior promising a person freedom? And Thordak. ) “If you’ve been watching, then why?”

        “ smart boy. ”  a face becomes more solid in the black and purple mass of smoke still in a contained and calm tornado like swirl in front of vax. before him, vax will see a beast that looks mangled and ungodly. something that looks like the very definition of a nightmare personified. the clawed hand outstretches once more and takes vax’s chin.  “ tell percival all you like. i am sure he’ll be eager to share. ”  there’s a laugh that beats against the walls of the room. like fists knocking against the walls. a thumb reaches close to vax’s lips.  “ he adores you. let him know he is the one that let me catch hint of your most wicked desires. ”

a pair of eyes shimmer in the darkness. a deep purple that seems to indicate a bit of excitement to vax’s question.  “ don’t you want to help your family? ”  the question is answered with a question. he holds onto vax’s face a bit tighter.  “ your sister. your mother. ”  at the mention of vax’s mother, orthax allows his voice a small boom that leaves an echo for but a moment.  “ don’t you want to see the thing that tore your mother from you suffer at your hands? ”  orthax brings his face closer now and he snarls while the smoke begins to envelope around vax, closing him in and making the space around them that much smaller. smoke begins to snake around vax’s limbs once more. 

                                        GIVE ME YOUR SOUL.