the smoke roils and burns off of the body, and it pulls itself up to sit. shoots again - misses.
and then shoots again, four times in a row. one - hits vax in the shoulder, piercing through. two - the same arm, closer to the chest. three, clipping his side. and four? the gun jams.
the body makes a frustrated noise, and ducks under cover to fix it.]
great. fan-fucking-tastic! just what vax wanted to deal with today, being shot at by percy! he's a slippery young man and dodges the second shot. (where's vex, when you need her? take off the mask, darling - but, a nasty little voice in the back of his head reminds him, you just watched her die)
and it's in that brief moment of distraction that he shoots and connects. the shot goes off and it hits vax before he's prepared for it, a familiar, white hot burst of pain - his body jerks with the second, bam, and he barely manages to keep a hold on his knife, switching hands just in time to arc out of the way of the third shot so it doesn't pierce through his ribcage and just clips his side.
but, the good thing is - vax is used to fighting alongside guns, and he knows the noise of the pepperbox jamming, too. it's a moment of brief respite, desperately needed, and he darts out of the bloodied spot he was standing in with the knife still in hand, his left arm now completely useless and bleeding freely, then rolls into whatever cover he can find, too.
if there's a solid surface vax'll lean up against it for a moment where he's hidden, trying to muffle his breathing as he closes his eyes, tight, grits his teeth, and calls out in a low voice - ]
Percival, that's not you - I know you're in there. Fight it.
the smoke crawls out like hands. one, two, three, dragging the table down in front of the body. cover. for now. vax can hide against the other side of the table, or not at all. the sound of the pepperbox being hurriedly fixed midbattle is probably familiar.
what isn't is the hand made of smoke that reaches around and grabs for him. he's a slippery bastard, though, and it likely misses him.
with a roar, the body stands, and shoots again. again. six times - wherever vax is, he shoots.
and then the gun jams again, on the last try, and shatters in two.]
the pepperbox is familiar, and gives vax enough time to try and apply a little pressure to his rapidly bleeding arm, gritting his teeth - it would be a great fucking time to have access to literally any of his lay on hands points - and try to decide what the fuck to do. in full battle mode, he's on high alert, and narrowly dodges the hand, ducking underneath it so smoky fingertips brush over his head, catch his hood but leave him uninjured.
at least he knows this about this type of percy - orthax, possessed, is sloppy.
the roar gets him scrambling. even if the blood loss is not great he's had worse, and his instincts kick in with a move move move move, in a zigzag pattern. he rolls out of the way of the first shot. rolls out of the way of the second. ducks the the third, narrowly, zips out of the way of the fourth so it clips the edge of his cloak and nothing else. fifth nearly gets him, and he shouts - ] Percy! [ this time tinged with the sort of desperation of watching a friend, your brother, practically, succumb to the darkest of his demons.
the sound of the pepperbox cracking in half is almost a fucking blessing. ]
Snap out of it!
[ no blinkback belt this time. he can't just throw this knife - it's all he has - and his powers aren't going to do him shitall worth of good except for the marine one, which means he's going to have to get into close range.
maybe he can talk him out of it. he's not vex, vax has never been so good with his words, and they both need vex'ahlia here so badly but percy is his brother and like fuck he's going to let him down like this again. bleeding, panting, he shouts at him. ]
You fought this! Fight this, you beat it! You're better than this!
it stares down at the gun, where it's broken. that should be it, shouldn't it? that should be the end, but it isn't. it's still there. it's always been there. maybe that's the problem.
the body staggers. and then looks at vax, and yanks back the hood.
it's percy, but his eyes - they glow red. and he's terrified. he's so scared, he doesn't know what's happening.
he tries to speak, but he can't. his mouth is glued shut.
he staggers again, and starts to dig through his pockets. something. anything.
the smoke winds around him, rising, rising - and then shoots forward, with the goal of knocking vax down to the floor.]
they make eye contact, and the terror in percy's face is so familiar it's like deja vu. he remembers the look on percy's face, when vex'ahlia finally convinced him out of that mask. the unadulterated trauma. fear.
he sees the way his mouth won't move and something angry twists in his chest. the same anger from vex'ahlia, before, a fierce fury at anything that would take his most important things, his family, and destroy them.
he manages a - ] Fucking let him go! [ and then launches forward with the knife in hand, blood be damned. this time, though, he's not quite at fast, and makes a pained noise as the smoke connects.
immediately, his back hits the ground, and he starts writhing, stabbing at it - anything to get it off and kill it dead. ] I said let him go!
[every time he stabs the smoke, there's a muted scream - terrified, pained noises, animalistic in nature, as the smoke wrestles him down. it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, and he can't stop.
he's got him here, now. the smoke becomes an axe, slicing mostly through one leg, and then a mace, breaking the other. vines creep up to hold him down, wrapped around his wrists, and a fucked up, out of tune lute shrieks out a note as acid splashes across his face.
with bright glowing eyes, percy, enhanced by the smoke burning all around him, wraps his hands around vax's neck, and starts to squeeze. he sobs, as he does it.
vax knows these weapons. even if they're not real, just made of smoke. he knows - the sting of grog's axe, has fought it off before when he's been charmed, and sometimes when they were just fooling around for no reason. he makes a choked off noise, a " ghhk--" as blood comes up the back of his throat.
he knows the mace that shatters his leg. it's tiny, held by someone half his size, normally made of golden, glowing light. someone who heals, who has taken vax's confused, miserable, lost soul and soothed it back into place when he was at his most terrified.
the vines - gods, of course. even as he struggles against them, even as they wrap hard against his wrists, it could be an embrace, pulling him free of whatever stupid danger he's normally gotten himself into. the knife clatters free of his hand as it loosens his grip.
even the lute - the shrieking noise is wrong, scanlan sometimes can't play, but by the gods when he does things with his music it saves all of their asses. the acid burns hit him like he's slapped.
how lucky i have been, to know all of you.
vax chokes, and he spits blood to the side and feels the whole world going pitch dark, and all he can see in his tunnel vision is percy, his red, red eyes, the misery and agony on his face. i'm sorry, he thinks, among the pain and the sensation of dying, again, vax'ildan, all you ever do is die at the wrong time. ]
Per... [ again. low.
but there's one missing. there's someone missing. he doesn't have the capacity to think, really, the pain blurring his thoughts together, but someone's missing, and vax breathes out - ] Vex...'ahlia.
[ how lucky he has been, to live among the members of vox machina.
his fingers twitch under the smoke, under keyleth's not real smoky vines, and he thinks about snowdrops, and he thinks about home, and there's a little flicker of amber color as warm as light that forms itself into the tiny shape of a feather that might fall on the end of an arrow, clutched in his hand. ]
[above him, as his vision goes out - there's the sound of sobbing, horrified and wounded. vax might see the remains of it - the neon, multicolored tears dripping down percy's face as he tries to stop himself.
it's a struggle, but as he gasps out his sister's name, the hands come away. whispers gather around the edges of the two of them, indecipherable but for a few. familiar voices. his friends. how lucky he has been - and lucky he is now, maybe, to hear all their voices one last time. come home. come home. vax'ildan, won't you come home? we love you. there was something you were supposed to remember, but even now, you can't reach it. maybe it's safer behind closed doors, anyway. this is nicer. this is better. the people he loves, just once more.
there are no hands around his neck, and for a moment, there's just the sound of weeping, and the sound of a gun's barrel, shaky hands trying to refill it.
he can't have his voice, but maybe this time, he can have mercy.
the revolver slides into place. click. a bullet through the skull, through the forehead.
and it's nonsensical, vax shouldn't be able to hear it. but in the second before his brain shuts down, he hears a second shot, and a thud, the sound of a body hitting the floor.]
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saturations) wrote2022-02-21 11:38 am
no subject
the smoke roils and burns off of the body, and it pulls itself up to sit. shoots again - misses.
and then shoots again, four times in a row. one - hits vax in the shoulder, piercing through. two - the same arm, closer to the chest. three, clipping his side. and four? the gun jams.
the body makes a frustrated noise, and ducks under cover to fix it.]
no subject
great. fan-fucking-tastic! just what vax wanted to deal with today, being shot at by percy! he's a slippery young man and dodges the second shot. (where's vex, when you need her? take off the mask, darling - but, a nasty little voice in the back of his head reminds him, you just watched her die)
and it's in that brief moment of distraction that he shoots and connects. the shot goes off and it hits vax before he's prepared for it, a familiar, white hot burst of pain - his body jerks with the second, bam, and he barely manages to keep a hold on his knife, switching hands just in time to arc out of the way of the third shot so it doesn't pierce through his ribcage and just clips his side.
but, the good thing is - vax is used to fighting alongside guns, and he knows the noise of the pepperbox jamming, too. it's a moment of brief respite, desperately needed, and he darts out of the bloodied spot he was standing in with the knife still in hand, his left arm now completely useless and bleeding freely, then rolls into whatever cover he can find, too.
if there's a solid surface vax'll lean up against it for a moment where he's hidden, trying to muffle his breathing as he closes his eyes, tight, grits his teeth, and calls out in a low voice - ]
Percival, that's not you - I know you're in there. Fight it.
[ not again. not a fucking gain. ]
no subject
the smoke crawls out like hands. one, two, three, dragging the table down in front of the body. cover. for now. vax can hide against the other side of the table, or not at all. the sound of the pepperbox being hurriedly fixed midbattle is probably familiar.
what isn't is the hand made of smoke that reaches around and grabs for him. he's a slippery bastard, though, and it likely misses him.
with a roar, the body stands, and shoots again. again. six times - wherever vax is, he shoots.
and then the gun jams again, on the last try, and shatters in two.]
no subject
the pepperbox is familiar, and gives vax enough time to try and apply a little pressure to his rapidly bleeding arm, gritting his teeth - it would be a great fucking time to have access to literally any of his lay on hands points - and try to decide what the fuck to do. in full battle mode, he's on high alert, and narrowly dodges the hand, ducking underneath it so smoky fingertips brush over his head, catch his hood but leave him uninjured.
at least he knows this about this type of percy - orthax, possessed, is sloppy.
the roar gets him scrambling. even if the blood loss is not great he's had worse, and his instincts kick in with a move move move move, in a zigzag pattern. he rolls out of the way of the first shot. rolls out of the way of the second. ducks the the third, narrowly, zips out of the way of the fourth so it clips the edge of his cloak and nothing else. fifth nearly gets him, and he shouts - ] Percy! [ this time tinged with the sort of desperation of watching a friend, your brother, practically, succumb to the darkest of his demons.
the sound of the pepperbox cracking in half is almost a fucking blessing. ]
Snap out of it!
[ no blinkback belt this time. he can't just throw this knife - it's all he has - and his powers aren't going to do him shitall worth of good except for the marine one, which means he's going to have to get into close range.
maybe he can talk him out of it. he's not vex, vax has never been so good with his words, and they both need vex'ahlia here so badly but percy is his brother and like fuck he's going to let him down like this again. bleeding, panting, he shouts at him. ]
You fought this! Fight this, you beat it! You're better than this!
no subject
it stares down at the gun, where it's broken. that should be it, shouldn't it? that should be the end, but it isn't. it's still there. it's always been there. maybe that's the problem.
the body staggers. and then looks at vax, and yanks back the hood.
it's percy, but his eyes - they glow red. and he's terrified. he's so scared, he doesn't know what's happening.
he tries to speak, but he can't. his mouth is glued shut.
he staggers again, and starts to dig through his pockets. something. anything.
the smoke winds around him, rising, rising - and then shoots forward, with the goal of knocking vax down to the floor.]
no subject
they make eye contact, and the terror in percy's face is so familiar it's like deja vu. he remembers the look on percy's face, when vex'ahlia finally convinced him out of that mask. the unadulterated trauma. fear.
he sees the way his mouth won't move and something angry twists in his chest. the same anger from vex'ahlia, before, a fierce fury at anything that would take his most important things, his family, and destroy them.
he manages a - ] Fucking let him go! [ and then launches forward with the knife in hand, blood be damned. this time, though, he's not quite at fast, and makes a pained noise as the smoke connects.
immediately, his back hits the ground, and he starts writhing, stabbing at it - anything to get it off and kill it dead. ] I said let him go!
no subject
he's got him here, now. the smoke becomes an axe, slicing mostly through one leg, and then a mace, breaking the other. vines creep up to hold him down, wrapped around his wrists, and a fucked up, out of tune lute shrieks out a note as acid splashes across his face.
with bright glowing eyes, percy, enhanced by the smoke burning all around him, wraps his hands around vax's neck, and starts to squeeze. he sobs, as he does it.
its you or him. isn't that how it's always been?]
no subject
vax knows these weapons. even if they're not real, just made of smoke. he knows - the sting of grog's axe, has fought it off before when he's been charmed, and sometimes when they were just fooling around for no reason. he makes a choked off noise, a " ghhk--" as blood comes up the back of his throat.
he knows the mace that shatters his leg. it's tiny, held by someone half his size, normally made of golden, glowing light. someone who heals, who has taken vax's confused, miserable, lost soul and soothed it back into place when he was at his most terrified.
the vines - gods, of course. even as he struggles against them, even as they wrap hard against his wrists, it could be an embrace, pulling him free of whatever stupid danger he's normally gotten himself into. the knife clatters free of his hand as it loosens his grip.
even the lute - the shrieking noise is wrong, scanlan sometimes can't play, but by the gods when he does things with his music it saves all of their asses. the acid burns hit him like he's slapped.
how lucky i have been, to know all of you.
vax chokes, and he spits blood to the side and feels the whole world going pitch dark, and all he can see in his tunnel vision is percy, his red, red eyes, the misery and agony on his face. i'm sorry, he thinks, among the pain and the sensation of dying, again, vax'ildan, all you ever do is die at the wrong time. ]
Per... [ again. low.
but there's one missing. there's someone missing. he doesn't have the capacity to think, really, the pain blurring his thoughts together, but someone's missing, and vax breathes out - ] Vex...'ahlia.
[ how lucky he has been, to live among the members of vox machina.
his fingers twitch under the smoke, under keyleth's not real smoky vines, and he thinks about snowdrops, and he thinks about home, and there's a little flicker of amber color as warm as light that forms itself into the tiny shape of a feather that might fall on the end of an arrow, clutched in his hand. ]
cw: suicide
it's a struggle, but as he gasps out his sister's name, the hands come away. whispers gather around the edges of the two of them, indecipherable but for a few. familiar voices. his friends. how lucky he has been - and lucky he is now, maybe, to hear all their voices one last time. come home. come home. vax'ildan, won't you come home? we love you. there was something you were supposed to remember, but even now, you can't reach it. maybe it's safer behind closed doors, anyway. this is nicer. this is better. the people he loves, just once more.
there are no hands around his neck, and for a moment, there's just the sound of weeping, and the sound of a gun's barrel, shaky hands trying to refill it.
he can't have his voice, but maybe this time, he can have mercy.
the revolver slides into place. click. a bullet through the skull, through the forehead.
and it's nonsensical, vax shouldn't be able to hear it. but in the second before his brain shuts down, he hears a second shot, and a thud, the sound of a body hitting the floor.]