#wasperfect

The news of the kiss between Emma and Aldon made its way to Oscar eventually.  With this family, secrets never seemed to last long once they were uttered.  They could remain boxed up for years, going unacknowledged like the growing distance between their parents, but once it was opened, like Pandora's box, there was no closing it.  The secret was out.  In truth, a part of him wished he could ignore it too, push it down, he was Brunner after . . .  but that wish evaporated as soon as he saw the look on Emma's face. 

@wasperfect​ / ciri said:   “did you find what you were looking for?”

     “ mh.  just about, ”  he’d heard the words be careful what you wish for so often, it had lost all meaning by the time he finally dredged up that accursed amphora.  geralt is careful now as he recounts the story — in his usual clipped detail — eyes trained on the knobbly ground, hand tight on roach’s reins.  ciri had the singular talent of asking whatsoever she liked, regardless of if she was likely to get an answer.  who was he to rebuke the temerity, when they would only have each other on this long, quiet trip?

@wasperfect​ / ciri said:   ciri doesn’t know eva, but it doesn’t stop her from showing a poorly drawn picture of a wyvern. ‘ you seen this anywhere ? i lost it. ’

     the girl speaks so plainly, it almost makes losing a wyvern sound trite.  eva could only hope to imitate that level of nonchalance when a problem like this arose, and she certainly tries to imitate some measure of calm — enough to coolly arch an eyebrow at the girl, eye her and her drawing, and then shrug.  “ i haven’t seen any alive ones around here, ”

 around here would mean — the slovenly little village eva has chosen to haunt.  the mage offers a small smile, curious and indulgent all at once, and reaches a hand out to take the drawing.  

percy closed the distance between them in three strides, grabbing ruby’s face.  he scanned her closely, searching for signs of any wounds.  finding nothing but the odd bruise or scratch, percy finally released her and issued a weary sigh.  “and i you.”  he admitted, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.  he couldn’t help the way his eyes darted back and forth, expecting danger to pop out at any moment -- but one could not be too careful.  not after everything that had happened that evening.

“you can’t promise me that.  you can’t.”  keyleth’s voice broke, fraying like her nerves.  it was hard to speak to vax like this -- the realism that had been the foundation of their relationship, the hard truths that had kept them apart for so long.  but as much as she loved him, keyleth knew that false promises would always be harder to stomach.  “vax...  i believe you.  you’ve always protected me, but you -- you can’t promise me everything is always going to be okay.”

never-mind how much longer she would live than him.

gilmore rose back to his full height, no longer interested in scrutinizing the impressive stack of gold before him.  strange as it might have been to trust the bard, shaun found it hard not to.  there was a sort of desperation in his eyes, behind all the charm and sweet-talking, that he found oddly compelling.   “alright, alright, i’m sure you’re correct.  the diamonds are yours.  say, how did you come up with a haul like this?  its quite... unlike you.”

this wasn’t the first time percy had seen vax’ildan naked.  not by a long shot.  its not even the first time they’ve shared a bath.  but their relationship had changed a lot over the course of a few months, and despite himself, percy’s face turned a humiliating shade of pink as vax’s admittedly enticing form slipped into the water with him.

as scanlan’s song came to a close, the room was silent.  a sense of melancholy washed over them, the same feeling they’d been drowning in for weeks.  it was vex’halia who broke the silence, her voice thick with emotion, tears shining in her eyes.  “please, scanlan -- no more.  not tonight, i-” her voice caught in her throat, and vex buried her face in her hands.  beside her, percy placed his right hand on her back.  the left was curled into a fist in his lap, tight enough to draw blood with his fingernails.  his eyes were trained on the floor, jaw set tight.

“so what are we going to do about this?”  it was keyleth.  though her cheeks were stained with tears, nose red and voice wavering, there was a conviction in her eyes that couldn’t be missed.  “all this...  all this crying and moping instead of figuring out how we’re getting him back.  this isn’t what we do.  this isn’t what vox machina does, okay?  so -- so get up, and help me bring our thief home.”

vex looked up, her eyes shining.  “how?”