[ it must be three or four in the morning.

[ you are roused by vex'ahlia, who looks exhausted even if she's smiling, because it's your turn to do the nightly watch. sitting on the shore of an island, you see her move over to percy, and shake him awake, too. this is routine, for vox machina - no noe sleeps all at once, especially not in the open like this.

percy comes over to sit by you. the only sound is the occasional owl, hooting softly, and the sound of the water lapping up to the shore. tomorrow, you'll search for a vestige belonging to the champion of the raven queen - it will be like any other quest you all take on. you'll get through it, like you got through whitestone, together.

you look at percy, feeling a conversation much needed blooming in your chest, and you start to talk.

(1:15:38 - 1:19:26.) ] Percival. [ there's a yes? ] De Rolo. How are you doing? A lot's going on. A lot. But it hasn't been that long.

[ "No, I'm pleased for the distraction, honestly. I feel--" percy sighs, and you can see the weight of it on him, as you watch his expression in the moonlight. ]

Has Orthax fully left the building?

[ the demon he'd made a contract with, that took him over, that nearly got them all killed; you remember with perfect clarity the sight of percy's horrified face as he struggled with the creature, tried to rip it from his own body.

none of that is there, now. "I don't hear anything anymore, if that's what you're asking."

good. relieving. you glance to vex'ahlia's form across the way, and back to percy, who continues. he's vulnerable, here, speaking so quietly that you'd almost think he wasn't addressing you at all, but you listen.

"I think-- I think all I'm manifesting at this point is scars. Honestly, I feel a little lost now. I'm really not entirely sure what I'm doing with myself. "

you stop him. ] Can I tell you, I believe you are a good man.

[ percy turns his head to look at you, surprised. "...thank you."

because you do. you always have. you've thought percy to the best of you. charming, intelligent, fierce on a battlefield. even if he's a dick sometimes - and he is a dick, sometimes - he is someone you admire, and someone you care for.

... and someone you see too much of yourself in. ] If you listen to your better angels, and they're within your friends. Listen to them. I don't want to be pushy. I'm sorry. But you have a family, if you want it.

[ because that's what you are, isn't it? vox machina. a little, broken family, holding each other together. you're so much more than just you and your sister, now.

"I know. I've been thinking, a lot, about why we're together and what we're doing. And the conclusion that I've been coming to so far -- " another sigh, here. "- and Pike being the exception to this rule, as she's the exception to so many things, is I think we're very broken people, but I think together, we are far greater than the sum of our parts. I like who we are together, and I think that's important.

your heart swells in your chest, and you say, softly: ] I agree with that.

[ percy continues. "And I like the influence that everyone has on each other, and this includes, perhaps, you taking some strides with yourself."

this catches you by surprise. you turn, looking at him fully, eyes a little wide. ] ...how do you mean?

[ percy looks at you, and you think, maybe, he sees you in a way that no one else does. he knows you, because the two of you are too fucking similar - and you're really only realizing it right now, as he keeps talking, just a low voice in a dark night. "It's good to want things. It's very, very good to want things. It's also very, very good to have things. It's good to-- it's good to find the things that are important to you and move towards them. I'm in a place where I'm realizing that I have to make decisions about what's important, and I'm a little envious that you seem to be ahead of the curve on that.

that's. funny. it's almost funny, because you think he couldn't be more wrong, and the corner of your mouth pulls up, but it's not a happy smile. ] ....I wish I felt that way.

[ percy says - "i know."

silence falls between you, for a moment, heavy with the weight of things left unsaid, of words you don't even know how to form with your mouth. you keep going, stumbling forward. ] - Well. I started talking to you. I just - I'm sorry, if I've done anything to offend you.

[ "Never." ]

...We're a bit of an awkward family, but we are trying. [ and this time, when you smile, it's genuine, head ducked, turned to look at percy. you look at him, and you think, and i am so lucky to have you. awkward, broken little pieces that you are, you found a way to fit together.

percy sits back, a little, and makes eye contact with you, and something is happening, here. "...and I apologize for any of the mistakes I've made, and honestly any of the mistakes I'm likely to make, but I am starting to imagine a better version of myself. I'm not quite sure who that is yet, but there is a destiny, I think, for us all together."

a better version of myself, you think.

if you can do it, i can, too.

(it is twelve hours later, when percy reaches into a coffin, and accidentally triggers a trap that kills your sister, and when it's all said and done, vex'ahlia revived by a promise that your soul belongs to the raven queen in exchange, you look at him, and you think, i will never trust you again.) ]