Chapter Text
“I don’t want him here,” Vax says, leaning back against his hands, the tall grass tickling his arms.
“I don’t think any of us want him here,” Vex responds, lining up her shot and letting go, smirking in satisfaction when the arrow hits the bulls-eye. “It’s not about what we want. It’s about rebuilding Emon.”
“I know, but why does he have to stay with us?”
“Because the Keep is the only place in town with enough space that’s actually livable,” she reminds her brother, trying to hide her amusement at his sullen disposition. “You should have thought about that when you decided to start sharing a room with Keyleth.”
“Or maybe you should have thought about it before you started sharing a room with Percy,” Vax counters, shooting her a dark look.
“I’m not the one that’s throwing a tantrum,” she points out, aiming an arched eyebrow in his direction as she walks away to retrieve her arrows.
“I’m not throwing a tantrum,” he groans, burying his face in his hands. Logically, he knows it’s technically a good thing, their father coming to town. Emon needs to rebuild, and to do that the city needs to reestablish it alliances and connections. The ambassador from Syngorn visiting to talk to the council would be a very positive step in the direction. And Vax wanted that for Emon. He really did.
He just didn’t want to have to see or talk to his father. And he certainly did want to stay in the same house as him.
“Besides,” Vex says as she starts walking back toward him. “He’s bringing Valora. Don’t you want to see her?”
“She can stay,” Vax grumbles. “Syldor can find somewhere else to go.”
She’s quite for a long moment, watching him as she puts her arrows back into their quiver. “What’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“Usually when it comes to our father I’m the one having the meltdown and you’re the one with the ‘fuck him, who gives a shit about what he thinks’ attitude. Seriously, what’s up?”
Sighing, Vax leans forward, his arms hanging lazily over his knees as he drops his head.
“This is just the worst possible time for him to be around.”
His sister takes a seat next to him. “Why? We defeated the Chroma Conclave and saved the world. We achieved something he thought we couldn’t. Either he’ll respect us in a way he never has before, or we’ll actually have all the reason in the world to give his smug superiority right back to him. I kind of can’t wait, to be honest.”
“It’s just… there are things going on right now that I’d rather he not be around for.”
“Like what?” she asks, her brow furrowing in confusion.
Vax looks away, letting out a heavy breath. He still hasn’t told Vex that he and Keyleth were getting married, had decided not to at least until he has a ring. But the last thing he wants to deal with during this time, while he’s trying to find an engagement ring for his fiancee, planning a wedding, and just spending time being with Keyleth, being in love with her, and knowing that she’s going to be his wife is his asshole father and his judgmental attitude.
“Like planning a wedding,” he says, looking at her with a slightly bashful expression.
“A wedding?” she asks, the realization taking a few seconds to hit her face. “Are you and Keyleth engaged?”
He nods, fighting against the huge smile that’s trying to spread across his face, breaking eye contact and looking at the ground when he finds he can’t.
“Vax!” his sister shouts, wrapping her arms around him. “That’s wonderful!”
“Yeah, it is,” he agrees. “It’s pretty fucking great.”
“Wait a second,” Vex says, pulling away from him. “How long has this been thing? When were you going to tell me?” She shoves at his shoulder, trying to keep the smile off her face as she throws a playful glare in his direction.
“I wanted to wait to tell anyone until I had done it right,” he replied. “Me asking her was kind of a spur of the moment thing. I mean, I had thought about it for a long time. I knew I wanted to. It just, when it happened… it wasn’t the way I planned it. So I wanted to do it right, with the ring and getting down on one knee and everything.”
“You didn’t get her a ring?” Vex says, her voice practically scandalized. “Vax. You have to get her a ring.”
“I know, I will. I’m planning on it. I just… need to find one. The perfect one. And, you know, figure out how to do that in the ruins of Emon.”
“The former ruins of Emon,” she reminds him, bumping his should with her own.
He chuckles, but otherwise ignores her levity. “And that’s one of the reasons I don’t Syldor around. If the only thing going on was just us trying to rebuild Emon I wouldn’t mind so much. But I’m going to be trying to plan a romantic proposal, and then a wedding, and I’d really like to just spend some time with my fiancee. Having him and his… judgment around is going to make all of that far more difficult than it has to be.”
They sit in silence for a moment. “Do you think that father won’t like Keyleth?” Vex eventually asks, her voice quiet and careful.
“No!” Vax responds immediately. He sighs then, running a hand down his face. “Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t care what he thinks of her. I’ve never cared what he’s thought, and the last thing he’s every going to be able to make me do is love her any less. It’s just… she already thinks so little of herself…”
“Yeah,” Vex says, think of her friend and and how much the druid doubts herself, cringing when she thinks of the few times she’s sure she made that problem worse. “Listen, Percy and I will run interference with him while he’s here, okay?”
“Interference?”
“Yeah. We’ll keep him away from you guys. There really isn’t any reason you should have to spend any time with him. He’s going to be in meetings with the council most of the time anyway, so he’s going to have spend a lot of time with Percy as it is. And that can give Percy an excuse to monopolize his time when he’s back at the Keep. And I’ll make sure to keep him away from you and Keyleth as much as I can.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Vax says, smiling at his twin fondly.
“I know I don’t have to. I want to,” she responds. “I like seeing you happy.”
“Thanks, Stubby.” He wraps his arm around her, pulling her close.
“There is one condition, though,” Vex says after a moment of silence.
“Yeah? What’s that?”
She looks up at him, a goofy grin on her face. “Trinket’s the ring bearer at your wedding.”
Vax’s smile fades and his brow furrows as he studies her face, trying to figure out if she’s joking.
Vex’s grin just grows wider as she winks at him.