#if you want the full experience listen to farewell summer by abby gundersen on loop as you read

[penandpaperfic]

watched episode 64 of campaign 1, had a lot of feelings, queued up the saddest songs on my writing playlist and wrote this in a rush. because who doesn’t want quiet, uncertain nights together in Whitestone?

ps - this is set during episode 64, so watch out for 1) spoilers if you’re still catching up like me and 2) mention of a certain dragonborn sorcerer. he’s not usually in the stuff i write, but i can’t really cut him out of this one

anyway. enjoy or ignore at your leisure:

-

She had thought, when the dragons took Emon and forced them all to flee, that it was by an immense stroke of luck Tiberius wasn’t with them.

She had thought, when he said his goodbyes and took a moment to wish her well, that they would see each other again.

She had thought, even when they heard three fourths of the Chroma Conclave had soared east, that he would be fighting back, wherever he was.

She had ignored the thought, deep in her heart, that he might not even be alive.

Percy asks a few of the Ravenites to take a body down, and he grabs her hand and whispers to all of them not to react. That in itself makes her want to react—and ask him what the hell is going on—but the look he gives her is more than stern: it’s desperate.

Keyleth shuts up, and watches.

He is frozen, and still, and lifeless. But he is undeniably Tiberius Stormwind from Draconia.

They do their best not to react. They really, really do. But a silence has fallen over their group, heavier than their uncertain glances at their uneasy allies so far. Keyleth looks around cautiously as they gather the body, and she knows that the Ravenites know. Tooma tilts her head toward her. There is no sympathy, but there’s a gravity to it. Keyleth lets her shoulders fall as she follows the others away.

Someone suggests the buried library, and really, there is no better place. Keyleth tries to channel her trembling into magic, into energy, as they clear away rock and ice and frozen, ruined books. They eventually make a suitable place for him—not good enough, but better than where he was. Where he had been slain, destroyed, made a symbol of—

Keyleth walks closer to the body and falls to her knees beside him. Why didn’t you tell us? she thinks. Why didn’t you talk about this part of your home?

Questions she’ll never know the answer to. There’s a part of her that’s angry. How was he supposed to be a leader when part of his people were slaves? But that thought hurts even more than the sight of him lying here, cold and still, so she shoves it away.

She reaches for his robes and tears a strip off. She winds it around her hand, tightening her fingers in the soft, fine, familiar fabric, and holds it to her chest. Beside her, Grog pours a glass of ale. Then, remembering something, he dumps it out to the side and fills the glass with water instead. He places it near Tiberius’s head.

Keyleth takes a shaky breath. She looks away from him, across the remnants of the library. There are some books still intact, still on shelves that are standing. There’s a little table with a fine leather chair and an unlit candle on its side. She imagines him sitting there, much younger, nose buried in a tome with the rest of the table covered in papers and ink. His flustered huff of a laugh when he caught on to something, or perhaps couldn’t quite find the answer he needed.

Keyleth shuts her eyes again and tucks the piece of robe away in her bag.

Vex places Lockheed on Tiberius’s still chest. The dragonling perks up with recognition, then mewls as Tiberius doesn’t react. He creeps up Tiberius’s chest to nibble on his chin. When there’s no other response, he deflates, curling slowly, sadly into a circle on his chest.

She can hear Vax’s quiet murmur of a prayer. Percy’s heavy sigh.

“Keyleth,” Percy says quietly. “Can you seal it?”

She sniffs. Nods. Pushes herself to her feet.

“Lockheed,” Vex whispers. The dragonling curls tighter on his chest. “Darling, please, you can’t stay here.”

He resists her. Vex kneels down and reaches out. She whispers something in Draconic. Lockheed raises his head and gives one last, long look at Tiberius’s face. Then he flutters to her shoulder. She runs a finger over his chest and walks out of the library.

When they’re all out, Keyleth raises her hands. She reaches out for the stone and pulls it down, sealing their makeshift tomb. As the stone falls, she falls with it. Snow seeps through the knees of her pants. She focuses on that, not the painful ache of her throat or the tears freezing on her cheeks.

A hand touches her shoulder. Vax, probably. Keyleth is about to shake him off, but the fingers flex, squeezing gently, and she realizes it’s smaller than she expected.

Vex.

She reaches up and covers Vex’s hand, welcoming the touch, clinging to her desperately. She feels Vex lower herself enough to speak softly beside her.

“He loved you well, Princess.” There’s a smile in her voice, as well as the tears. Keyleth feels her own lips curl. She sniffs and nods, holds it together for a moment before crumbling again. Vex’s hand tightens on her shoulder.

“He was so stupid,” she says back. Vex’s watery laugh sounds beside her. Keyleth wants to pull her down to hold her properly, but she resists the urge. Her head is starting to ache. She can feel the tight pull of her furrowed brow. “He should have never left our side.”

She doesn’t think it’s loud enough for anyone but Vex to hear, and Vex doesn’t respond. Keyleth swallows hard.

The party slowly picks themselves up. Vex helps Keyleth to her feet, but then drifts off. Percy is speaking to Tooma. Vax and Scanlan say their quiet, private goodbyes. Even Grog is subdued, standing with his head slightly bowed as he waits patiently for their next move.

They decide to plant their grove—their message, their means of returning—at the top of the ravine. Vex insists that Keyleth should save her spells and flies them all up instead, one by one. Keyleth climbs onto the broom behind her and wraps her arms tentatively around Vex’s waist.

Vex touches her forearm and presses it close. “Tighter, darling. Can’t have you slipping away.”

Keyleth lets herself hold Vex tighter. She presses her face to the space between Vex’s shoulder blades and breathes in, still shaky with tears. Vex squeezes her wrist once more, then pushes off the ground.

The tree grows easily, as does the portal. When they’re back in Whitestone, it’s as if nothing ever happened. Nothing has changed.

As they trudge quietly back up to the castle, Keyleth supposes that it hasn’t. Tiberius was dead when they left Whitestone, and he’s dead now. They already knew these dragons were ravaging the world. They just didn’t know it was this damn personal.

Percy leaves to go talk with Cassandra. Vax pats him on the shoulder before he goes, then murmurs something about a temple and drifts off. Grog declares he needs to find Pike and then get drunk. He offers his shoulder to Scanlan, who climbs up and goes with him.

Keyleth gazes after them. Maybe she should follow. Maybe she really, really shouldn’t get drunk tonight.

“Keyleth.”

She looks over at Vex, the only one still hovering. Lockheed is on her shoulder still, though he’s slumped so much he’s half-hidden in her hair.

Vex opens her mouth to say something, but no words come out. She closes her mouth again and simply stares at Keyleth.

Keyleth wipes at her eyes. “I…”

Vex nods. They both look away from each other, and Keyleth takes it as a cue to leave. Just get the fuck out of here, it doesn’t matter where to. She turns down the closest hallway and, by some stroke of luck, makes it to her room without running into anyone else.

/

Sleep doesn’t come easily. She supposes that makes sense, since they weren’t gone that long. But two teleportation spells and nearly becoming slaves and building a tomb for her once best friend is still draining.

Keyleth stares up at the ceiling above her bed, nearly in tears again just out of the desperation to go to sleep. She turns over and buries her face in the pillow. Let it stop. Let her rest.

They’ve lost so much. They’ve caused so much destruction, and they’ve witnessed so much more. How long was Tiberius up there, made a spectacle in front of the people his kin enslaved? What had he thought, in his last moments? Who was with him? Who fell before him?

Did he think of them? Did he wish he had stayed? Was he glad they weren’t with him? Was he hoping they were somewhere out there, fighting the same threat, coming to save—

Keyleth shoves herself up from the pillow, gasping. She scrambles up until she’s sitting and pulls the pillow to her chest, squeezing so hard it hurts. She wants to scream. She wants to sob. She can’t do this. She can’t.

She stands up before she can tell herself not to. She makes her way out of the room and down the hall, past Percy’s chambers, past Vax’s, to the last door in this wing. She knocks on the wood, soft but quick, before the nerves tell her to turn around and go right back to her own room.

The door opens just enough for Vex’s face to appear in the crack. She’s mostly shadowed, but Keyleth can see her features soften.

“Darling.”

“I—I don’t—I can’t—” Keyleth forces herself to take a breath. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

The door opens further. Keyleth steps in and out of the way so Vex can close it again. There’s no sign of Lockheed, except maybe the window Vex has left open. Keyleth sighs. Maybe he’ll like the mountains outside Whitestone. Hopefully he will.

Keyleth stays standing there, hanging in the dark room, not sure what to do or say now that she’s here. Her thoughts still won’t quiet. She brings her hands up and wrings them in front of her chest.

Vex steps away from the door and reaches for her. She takes Keyleth by the arms, then lets her hands slide down to Keyleth’s, parting them so she can hold them each.

“I’m sorry,” Keyleth whispers, not quite meeting her eye.

“For what, dear?”

“It’s late, I shouldn’t be—”

“If I didn’t want you here, I would’ve told you to leave.”

Keyleth nods. Swallows. Vex’s fingers tighten around hers.

“Come here, darling.”

And then she’s pulling Keyleth closer, into her arms, and leading them over to the bed. They sit, and Vex lets go of Keyleth so she can bring her hand up and tuck her hair back from her face. Her fingers run over her scalp freely, smoothing over the place where her circlet usually sits.

“Do you want to talk?” she asks Keyleth.

“I’m…not sure.”

Vex nods. She shifts so she can face Keyleth more fully. “He died protecting his people, Keyleth. I don’t think he would’ve wanted it any other way.”

“He would’ve wanted more time,” Keyleth whispers.

“We can’t always ask for that.”

She closes her eyes, but suddenly all she can see is Vex’s pale, pale face, deep in the tomb of the Raven Queen’s champion. She opens her eyes again and stares at Vex. She’s still pale, but her eyes are moving. Shining. Looking straight back at her.

“He should’ve stayed with us.”

“There’s no guarantee he would survive everything we’ve been through, either.”

“At least he wouldn’t have been slaughtered as a mockery to his country.” Keyleth clenches her jaw and looks away. “And those people. The Ravenites. He never told us…”

“I know.”

“How could he support that? How could he be okay with it?”

“We’re not sure that he was.” At Keyleth’s look, Vex sighs. “He was…he still had a lot to learn. Just like the rest of us. But that doesn’t change what was in his heart. He loved his people. And he loved us.”

“Does he know we feel the same way?” It’s out before she can stop it, and she flinches in Vex’s grasp.

But Vex just sighs and shifts closer. She rubs Keyleth’s arm and waits for some of the tension to ease away. “I think he did.”

“But he left.”

“I know. I know, and it hurts. But…I think he was right. Our paths were separating. It was the best thing to do, at least in his mind. And it takes courage to make that decision.”

“Or stupidity.”

“Or stupidity,” Vex agrees. She rests her head on Keyleth’s shoulder. “He had plenty of both.”

She can’t help it. A giggle escapes her lips. She feels Vex shaking against her arm, laughter or tears, she’s not sure. Both, probably. It doesn’t really matter at this point. She lifts her arm to wrap around Vex.

“Thank you,” she whispers.

“For what?”

“For not telling me to get lost at the door.”

Vex raises her head to stare. “Keyleth. I would never.”

Keyleth meets her gaze, but just as soon as she does, Vex looks away again. She bites her lip and frowns. Keyleth squeezes the hand she’s still holding.

“What is it?”

Nothing.” Vex shakes her head. “I guess I’m just wondering why you didn’t go to Vax’s room.”

Oh.

Keyleth ducks her head and ignores the heat in her cheeks.

“I—I’m sorry, Vex. I know you…well, no, I don’t actually know how you feel. But I know you want him to be happy. And I just…I can’t.”

She feels Vex’s gaze on her again. “Keyleth. Are you apologizing for not having feelings for my brother?”

“Um. Yes?”

Vex laughs—an actual laugh this time. The tears are still behind it, thick in her voice, but when Keyleth looks up her eyes are brighter.

“Darling, you don’t have to apologize for that.”

“But Vax—”

“Is an adult, and can handle his own feelings.” Vex sighs and tucks a bit of hair behind her ear. “I know I was…I didn’t like the idea of you with my brother, but I didn’t like the idea of him getting hurt. I took both out on you, and I shouldn’t have.”

“…Oh.” Keyleth lets out an awkward, quiet laugh. “I mean, I understand why.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

“No. But…the apology does.”

Vex glances up at her. “Okay.”

Keyleth drinks her in. Vex is here. She is here beside her, breathing and moving and talking and looking at Keyleth. She thinks about telling Vex why she came to her door. Not just because she didn’t want to go to Vax’s, but because…

But that’s a confession that can wait. She knows she’s good at ruining moments, and today has been ruined enough.

Still, she can’t help but ask, “Can…can I stay here tonight?”

Vex nods before she even finishes asking. “Of course you can.”

Keyleth nods back. The tears are rising again, tight in her throat, and she has to drop her gaze. Vex touches her cheek, then reaches for her shoulders and gently guides her down to the pillows.

They curl up close on the too-small bed. Keyleth is reminded of their early, early adventures, back when they could only afford so many rooms at the taverns they stayed in. She lets her arm wrap around Vex’s waist and shifts closer. Vex kisses her forehead, then the rise of her cheek beneath her eye.

“Try to sleep, darling,” she whispers. “You did a lot today, and we need you tomorrow.”

Keyleth nods, then ducks her head. She feels Vex’s hand at the base of her skull, guiding her until she can rest her face in the crook of her neck. She breathes in. Vex smells of leaves and bark, of Trinket’s fur, of the polish she uses on her bows. Keyleth breathes out, and she feels the tears start to fall again.

Vex scratches gently, soothingly, at her scalp.

“It’s okay,” she whispers, her own voice rough again. “I’m here. We’re here.”

Keyleth flattens her hand against Vex’s back. Here. They’re here.

They’re here, they’re here, they’re here. She repeats it to herself, again and again, until her mind is nothing but numbness, and quiet, and Vex.

She falls asleep.

#vexleth #cr fic #if you want the full experience listen to farewell summer by abby gundersen on loop as you read #or at least during the second part #vex'ahlia #keyleth #vox machina #listen i just really mostly wanted to write keyleth going to vex's door instead of vax's #and also what vex says to comfort her at the tomb #they don't really get to be soft with each other ever so like...self-indulgence for the win #gosh i haven't impulse-posted writing in....geez idek when #years? #this ship is dragging me kicking and screaming back into fic writing and i love it tbh #rip to my last nanowrimo project but a girl has priorities #and those priorities are apparently a druid and a ranger who never got to fall in love