Yeah. They're tribes that guard the elemental planes. Seen all of em, but my -
[ ... ah. he pauses, briefly, hand stilling. fingers twitching. the urge to say something, to tell a story, rises up in his throat but he stops it, just barely. for now. ]
... Keyleth.
Um... Keyleth, is their headmaster. Voice of the Tempest. Their leader, at least of the Air Ashari. Fuckin' earned it, too. She's good at it.
[ oh that gets a little laugh. delighted, maybe, or "that doesn't even begin to cover it". ]
Hhhhah. Yeah. The best fucking gardener you've ever seen. She - [ it's impossible to stop the affection in his voice, here, picking up in warmth and tone almost immediately. ] There was a tree in Whitestone like the one in the Central node, yeah? She talks to it, even. Apparently it's the most relaxed being she's ever met. She helped restore it - well, all of us did - but she restored life to all the fields and everything in the blink of a fucking eye. Saved a whole population from starving to death.
[ number one keyleth stan vaxildan vessar ] Kiki could grow a garden out of a shit heap.
vax smiles for a moment longer down at the weeds. thinking about keyleth's energy, the way she lights up a room, and how much he fucking loves it. ]
...Yeah. This place reminds me of her, honestly. [ with a head tilt gesture towards the garden as a whole. ] She'd love it, here. Think she'd like you a lot.
[ listen i flirted with itsuki bisexually in a pc what do you want from me ]
She's a good person. The kind've person that just - everything's better, being around her.
[ unfortunately vax is a wife guy and therefore he could gush about this all day. thankfully, there's this terrible sadness thing going around, so, some of that happiness melts into something a little more melancholy as he tugs on a particularly stubborn weed. ]
...Just said goodbye to her for the last time, before I came.
Here, yeah. I've been more alive here than I have in a while.
[ pulling up a weed, he pauses for a moment - that same hand comes up to rub at his chest. ]
... Really, I died a long time ago. Died a couple times, actually. Apparently that's not normal. [ that part is delivered a little deadpan, as he resumes his work, brow furrowed. the urge to talk this time at least isn't just because shale is really good at it. ]
I gave myself up to the Raven Queen because my sister died in her old Champion's tomb.
Yeah. Well. Been chewed up and spit out by a kraken, and disintegrated. Not a fun one, that.
[ those two are both delivered dryly. but, he makes a little affirmative noise. ]
A goddess. [ again, rubbing at his chest before he pulls his hand away and gets back to work. another weed comes up, then another, with steady hands, vax not looking away from the work. ] ...I told her she could take me, if she gave me back my sister.
Like I told you. [ funny that this topic is returning, kind of - his mouth lifts a little at the edge, into a wry half smile. ] Made a deal with death once already.
You did tell me that. So, your sister is alive, but you're out of time. That's hard.
[it's more than most people get, the opportunity to have a say in who dies and who doesn't. but it's still hard.]
You might be happy here, you know. You'll always mourn the things you've lost, but that's part of life, as you've gotten to know all too well. You say goodbye before you're ready. But you're alive, and there will be new things to look forward to.
[ ... it's just so... it's uncanny, is what it is. there's something about the way shale says it that just doesn't sit right.
vax stays quiet for a little while after shale finishes speaking, just silently picking weeds, and he speaks up when they're near the end of their little patch. ]
... It took me a long time to stop running from it. [ from death, from the raven queen, from his deal. vax had to come to terms with every part, and sometimes he had to be dragged to it with his nails buried in the grass, clawing at the ground to escape the inevitable.
but at the edge of the precipice, he learned. ] ...but I made her a promise, and I intend to make good on my end of the deal.
[ later today, some small part of him will find the purpose of a spider to be squashed, and latch onto it as a reminder - that the raven queen could very well have wanted him here, after all. ]
It's not about my happiness, it's about a purpose I finally understood. [ ... ] And besides, something like being alive again - without Vex? 's not a life to me at all.
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[ ... ah. he pauses, briefly, hand stilling. fingers twitching. the urge to say something, to tell a story, rises up in his throat but he stops it, just barely. for now. ]
... Keyleth.
Um... Keyleth, is their headmaster. Voice of the Tempest. Their leader, at least of the Air Ashari. Fuckin' earned it, too. She's good at it.
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[whether that's at the comment or at the way he shut down his own urge to talk about things, it's not clear.]
Is Keyleth a good gardener?
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Hhhhah. Yeah. The best fucking gardener you've ever seen. She - [ it's impossible to stop the affection in his voice, here, picking up in warmth and tone almost immediately. ] There was a tree in Whitestone like the one in the Central node, yeah? She talks to it, even. Apparently it's the most relaxed being she's ever met. She helped restore it - well, all of us did - but she restored life to all the fields and everything in the blink of a fucking eye. Saved a whole population from starving to death.
[ number one keyleth stan vaxildan vessar ] Kiki could grow a garden out of a shit heap.
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Is that what you like about it? It reminds you of her?
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vax smiles for a moment longer down at the weeds. thinking about keyleth's energy, the way she lights up a room, and how much he fucking loves it. ]
...Yeah. This place reminds me of her, honestly. [ with a head tilt gesture towards the garden as a whole. ] She'd love it, here. Think she'd like you a lot.
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but shale is a nice person and appears to think this is sweet.]
It sounds like I'd like her.
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She's a good person. The kind've person that just - everything's better, being around her.
[ unfortunately vax is a wife guy and therefore he could gush about this all day. thankfully, there's this terrible sadness thing going around, so, some of that happiness melts into something a little more melancholy as he tugs on a particularly stubborn weed. ]
...Just said goodbye to her for the last time, before I came.
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[that's okay, bud. you have so many feelings in there, let them out.]
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I'm dead, so.
[ hm. ]
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[just curious, prompting him to go on if he wants to.]
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[ pulling up a weed, he pauses for a moment - that same hand comes up to rub at his chest. ]
... Really, I died a long time ago. Died a couple times, actually. Apparently that's not normal. [ that part is delivered a little deadpan, as he resumes his work, brow furrowed. the urge to talk this time at least isn't just because shale is really good at it. ]
I gave myself up to the Raven Queen because my sister died in her old Champion's tomb.
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[so it seems like they can accept that he just came back to life.]
The Raven Queen is... a goddess? [that sounds like something a goddess would be called.]
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[ those two are both delivered dryly. but, he makes a little affirmative noise. ]
A goddess. [ again, rubbing at his chest before he pulls his hand away and gets back to work. another weed comes up, then another, with steady hands, vax not looking away from the work. ] ...I told her she could take me, if she gave me back my sister.
Like I told you. [ funny that this topic is returning, kind of - his mouth lifts a little at the edge, into a wry half smile. ] Made a deal with death once already.
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[it's more than most people get, the opportunity to have a say in who dies and who doesn't. but it's still hard.]
You might be happy here, you know. You'll always mourn the things you've lost, but that's part of life, as you've gotten to know all too well. You say goodbye before you're ready. But you're alive, and there will be new things to look forward to.
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vax stays quiet for a little while after shale finishes speaking, just silently picking weeds, and he speaks up when they're near the end of their little patch. ]
... It took me a long time to stop running from it. [ from death, from the raven queen, from his deal. vax had to come to terms with every part, and sometimes he had to be dragged to it with his nails buried in the grass, clawing at the ground to escape the inevitable.
but at the edge of the precipice, he learned. ] ...but I made her a promise, and I intend to make good on my end of the deal.
[ later today, some small part of him will find the purpose of a spider to be squashed, and latch onto it as a reminder - that the raven queen could very well have wanted him here, after all. ]
It's not about my happiness, it's about a purpose I finally understood. [ ... ] And besides, something like being alive again - without Vex? 's not a life to me at all.
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[they nod, understanding.]
That isn't a bad thing. But if the purpose you have changed, would that be a bad thing?
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[ with a little half smile. ]
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Not that I can remember. I wouldn't recommend it, I think. But I'm not talking about going back on a deal.