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Vex stood before the door to Percy’s workshop in Scanlan’s mansion, eyes closed, hands at her sides, just breathing.
In a minute, she would raise her hand and knock at the door. In a minute. But first she needed a moment to prepare. “We’ll talk later,” he’d said, and she wanted to respect his implied request for more time. But events were moving so quickly, with the plan to lure Thordak to Fort Daxio fully in motion; how much more time remained to them? And yet she hesitated. She had initiated their last conversation. Was it too forward to make another move already?
Then again, he had kissed her first. Maybe that made it her turn.
Memory transported her back the woods outside Draconia: his gentle smile, the space between them filled first by an awkward pause and then by him as he stepped closer, the soft warmth of his lips pressed to hers, the feel of his hand encircling her arm. Over in an instant, yet lasting forever. The perfect moment, and never enough. She wanted to be kissing him again, right now.
And the next step toward making that desire a reality was knocking on this door. So she took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and rapped her knuckles against the metal. “Percy?”
Percy opened the door a second later, a black smear over his left eyebrow, a small smile spreading on his lips. “Hello.”
“Hello.” She shifted from foot to foot. “I'm sorry, did I interrupt your work?”
“Nothing that can't wait.” He glanced behind her to take in the empty hall, then stepped aside to let her into the room. As she stepped past, he wiped his brow clean and pulled off his apron. “I’m glad you came.”
“Are you?”
She raised an eyebrow at him, in a way she meant to be joking, but he lowered his eyes in what looked to be true contrition, then sighed. “I am. And I wish to apologize for ending our last conversation so abruptly, and waiting so long to continue it.” He met her gaze. “So. I suppose it’s long past time for it to be later.”
She shook her head. “Not long past. But time. Yes.” She sat on the closest stool. “Talk to me, Percy.”
Percy nodded. He closed the door, thought a moment, and then locked it. Glancing up, he caught her eye. “I suppose that wouldn’t really stop anyone, and by ‘anyone’ I mean your brother.” She laughed, and he rewarded her with half a grin. “But it will, at least, slow him down, and give us some warning.” He settled onto the other stool, close enough to reach out and touch if Vex wanted to. And she wanted to, more than anything… but she waited instead, letting her hands rest in her lap.
“So.” Percy sat up, his back straight. “I have things to tell you. You might not want to hear of them; certainly I have been avoiding saying them. For a long time, in some cases. Too long.” He twisted his hands together in his lap. “You may have noticed that I tend to overthink things.”
Vex had to chuckle and shake her head. “You might say that.” She looked at him fondly. “I don’t mind. It’s just another part of the puzzle that makes you who you are.” That makes you the man I love. She bit back the words – she would say them, and soon, she promised herself. Perhaps even today. But not yet, not while they still only had an unfinished conversation and a single kiss between them.
He ducked his head. “Thank you,” he said, in the same way he always said those words to her, as though she had offered him the world for the taking. Vax was right, she realized; she really had been a dummy. “But…” He stopped and leaned slightly back. “You stopped me, before, when I tried to talk about my death. But there are things I want to say, to make you understand, things that are difficult to put into words. I–-” He paused again, taking a deep breath as he looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t like being at a loss for words.”
“I’ve noticed that, too,” Vex said. “But I promise to listen, and not interrupt while you try.”
“Thank you,” he murmured again. For a long moment, he closed his eyes, as though attempting to pull the impossible words together. Finally, he opened them again, and he looked straight at her. “You know that Orthax took me when I died. He took me, and he tormented me. Held me in darkness and pain, tore at me, flayed my spirit for what felt like an eternity.” This time, his half-smile was awful, filled with horror. Vex swallowed hard against the sick dread in the pit of her stomach and did not turn away, forcing herself to concentrate on his face. Awful as it was to hear this, to have her worst fears for Percy confirmed, she could not begin to imagine how terrible it had been for him to experience. She would not make him relieve it alone.
Percy lowered his gaze again. “I thought what Ripley did to me was torture, but that was nothing in comparison. Nothing. At least then I could hope that death would eventually free me from her hands. With Orthax…” He closed his eyes and breathed deeply again, then met Vex’s eyes again. “There was no hope. All I could do was pray for him to finish me, to be over and gone.”
Though she tried, Vex could not keep a small strangled cry from escaping her lips, a tear from springing to her eyes. She bit her lip to keep it from falling. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m–-”
“Don’t,” he said, swiftly. “I-– let me finish, please.” She nodded, and he let out a soft sigh. “So. It was terrible. And I did not really expect to be saved. In truth, I didn’t believe I deserved saving. But I should have known you all would try. When I saw Keyleth’s hand, felt her magic pulling me out of that hell… it was both a surprise, and a blessed release. And then-– then...” His brow furrowed. “I… the rest is a blur, mostly. I try to remember, and it slips away. Only one thing rings clear: your voice.” He leaned forward then, elbows on his knees, and repeated her words back to her: “'It’s yours.’”
Vex tried to reply but found that her mouth had gone dry. She cleared her throat and licked her lips, then tried again. “Yes.”
Percy nodded, slowly, not taking his eyes from hers. They were wide and blue and filled with the entire world. “It was you,” he murmured. “You called me back. It was not the only reason, but-– it was for you, Vex. Ever and always.”
She pressed her lips together, the wild joy of hope springing up in her heart. “Thank you,” she whispered.
There was an edge to his answering chuckle. “Don’t thank me yet.” He took another long breath before he spoke again. “Death changes a person,” he said. “You know that, I think, as well as anyone. Events are moving so fast lately that I've had little time to take stock. I can’t say yet how dying and coming back has changed me. So I can’t promise you that I am still the man you knew before. But one thing I can say, with complete certainty.” He reached out, and she reached back, taking his outstretch hand in both of hers. “I am, and have been, most desperately in love with you. And, if you will have me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to be the man you need me to be.”
Vex finally breathed again, letting out all the tension and fear. “Oh, Percival,” she said. “The man I need you to be-- is you. Whoever you were then, and whoever you are now. You. Just you. It’s always been you.”
Percy's eyes lit as he broke into a new smile, a real smile of relief and happiness and joy. “Good.” And then he leaned in and kissed her, the same gentle brushing of lips as the first time, his free hand closing around her upper arm.
When he pulled away, Vex stood, and he rose with her. Then she stepped in close, resting a hand on his chest. He curved his fingers around hers, and looked down into her eyes. She smiled at him, and pressed her palm flat against his whole, beating heart. “I think you already know how I feel, but I need to say it, and I need you to hear it. It’s true; it’s all true. I love you, too. And whether or not I knew it, I think I have for a very long time.”
He lowered his head and started kissing her again, slower than before, harder, his mouth capturing hers as though he would devour it. She returned the kiss with all the passion she'd been denying herself, with the pain of losing him and the joy of getting him back. He wrapped his arms around her, a hand brushing her face, then fingers buried in her hair; she wound hers around his neck and pulled him as close as she could, pressing into his tall, lean frame. “Vex,” he murmured between kisses. “My darling, beautiful Vex'ahlia. I will never know what I did to deserve you, but–-”
Vex pulled away and rested a finger across his lips. “Mmm. None of that talk, darling. Not not, not ever. We’re both imperfect people. Even disasters, some might say.” He snorted, and a corner of his mouth turned upward. “For all our imperfections, we’re here, we’re together, and I love you.” Those three words, once so frightening to even think, came forth so easily now, and she let her happiness bubble over into a laugh. “There’s so little joy in this world. Let’s just celebrate it, shall we? And not worry so much about what came before, or what might happen next.” She touched her forehead to his. “Deal?”
“Deal,” he replied. “For tonight, and for as long as you’ll have me.”
“For always, my darling.” Vex rested her arms on Percy’s shoulders, and sank into him. “For always.”