Work Text:
It's almost midnight when he decides to stop his useless sketching for the night. He thinks for a second about not leaving the workshop, but after deciding that an actual bed would be better than the cot in the corner he finds himself back in his pitch black room. The curtains completely drawn closed so no light enters the room, the candles that are around the room were never lit.
Not wanting to bother with lighting a candle, he changes into his long johns by feel alone. Only realizing that there is another person in the room because of the clothing that is already on the floor closer to the bed.
As he places his glasses on the nightstand he can tell that Vex is awake, crying silently. He gets into bed laying on his side, now determined to comfort her the way he couldn't do the night before.
She doesn't turn to face him but she does shift closer, into his space, still crying. Her braid is stuck between them, partly pressed into his shoulder.
After a few moments, he stretches his arm around her, finding not clothing but her warm skin under his fingers. Her bare feet find his covered ones and seem to suck some of the heat from them.
"Do you think he's coming back?" her words are heavy, coming out in parts between sobs. Her breath smells of ale.
"I don't know," he tries to be as neutral as he can, but can't help it when he lets out a single sob into her hair. It's almost like they lost him anyway.
He can feel her exhale before she speaks again, "I don't think we could have said anything that would have changed his mind, he was determined to leave."
It's as if she can feel his regret and shame. His words had been so unkind and he had gotten so angry.
She wipes off her cheek with the palm of her hand before sniffling a little.
"I gave him one of the Gate Stones," he can hear the tight smile on her face as she says this.
"He actually took it?" completely failing to keep the surprise from his voice.
She nods next to him, "yes, after a little bit."
That's something, a glimmer of hope for the situation.
"Thank you," he says before leaning forward and kissing the back of her head.
A few moments of stillness between them until she turns around in his arms, facing him now, she reaches towards his face to wipe away the fresh tears that had started to fall silently.
Her every breath tickles his neck when she settles against him, as close as she can get.
"Percy, you've been lying to me," her voice is thick and slow, he's not sure if it's from actual sleepiness or the ale, probably a mixture of the two.
"Yes." He nods just a little bit, then places a small kiss on her forehead, wordlessly asking for her forgiveness.
A few seconds pass without her reacting, she barely even breathes but then after a long exhale which might have actually been a quiet sigh she says in almost a relieved tone, "so you did hear me."
He had needed some time with her confession before deciding to do anything about it, but she does not like being lied to, which has made telling her this difficult every time he has considered doing so since.
"I think I heard everyone's offerings, but yours is the only one I can remember. I knew after I heard you I had to come back," he says, relieved to finally admit this.
He's about to say more but she interrupts him by gently kissing the spot where his jaw meets his neck. Then she moves away, just out of his arms, still facing him.
She stretches her legs, knocking her feet into his just a little but keeps them close to his after she stops stretching. She's reaching around for something, most likely a pillow from that side of the bed. Once she's stopped moving, he leans in a little and after a few moments finds her hand, takes it and laces their fingers together.
"Percy we are going to talk more about this later because I don't think I'm going to remember the conversation if we have it now." She really does seem tired as she yawns in the middle of speaking.
She moves their hands to be in the middle of the bed so they are still connected but can sleep just a little bit apart.
He wakes up multiple times over the course of the night, sometimes because of his dreams, or because of hers, once because she was mostly lying on top of him and the end of her braid was tickling his face.
When mid-morning light is able to pass through the edges of the curtains he can feel her leave the bed. It takes him a moment to pull himself out of sleep enough to know that she has to let Trinket out.
Once she's dressed and has redone her braid she sits down next to him and he opens one eye then the other just a little as she leans over to kiss him on the cheek.
Vex is a complete blur as she pulls away but he can still see that her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes, but it's close.
"Percy, it's a new day."