InsaneJournal

It had been some time since Vax had needed to go to the DOA offices to meet a new arrival. When he considered it, it may have been just over four years prior, when he and Vex'ahlia had been teleported by Gilmore to pick up their then eight-year-old half-sister, who had appeared with nothing but her owlbear plush in hand. It had been a rollercoaster of four years since then, with plenty of highs, but sadly a handful of lows to bring Vax back down to solid ground—and, as he flew through the air, from the youth center to the DOA, he found himself pondering all of that right then.

He had missed Keyleth, of course. Vax had missed all of Vox Machina, though Keyleth and his sister had ranked at the top (not that he had a ranking, surely). When he had first arrived in Vallo, things had been a little shaky with Keyleth, after his confession and her gentle request for time, but that had changed with time, as Vax continued to be blessed (or plagued, depending on the day) with memories from Exandria. With each one, he seemed to find himself growing closer and closer to Keyleth, until their relationship blossomed, grew solid, and then, in a sense, ended altogether with his death and crossing to the Matron's side.

Vax had built a life for himself alongside Gilmore in Vallo, one that he had no desire to change, but he wasn't so obtuse to not recognize that this was a delicate matter. He didn't even know what state he was in for her: alive? dead? an orb?

Touching down on the sidewalk, dexterous enough in his landing to avoid bowling over any pedestrians, the wings were tucked away and Vax entered the offices. Soon enough, he was brought to the room she'd been left to wait for him and there she was, the Voice of the Tempest herself. He smiled, easy and naturally.

"Hey, Kiki."

Keyleth, Voice of the Tempest, Leader of the Air Ashari, (a) Savior of Vasselheim, Long-Standing Member of Vox Machina, and powerful druid in her own right launched to her feet, nearly upsetting the glass of water she'd been given while she'd waited for "someone" to come fetch her.

"Vax!" she half-shouted, trying to quickly round the table to embrace him tightly - before this all fell to shambles and turned out to be a trick or a dream or something else thought up by her litany of enemies. She hugged wordlessly, then pulled back for a moment with her hands on his forearms. "You're not an orb?" It was both a question and a statement, because she was confused as to how but also excited to know he was his regular self again.

Vax let out a huff of a laugh, which he felt was indicative of some type of growth; he'd been grappling with the fact he was some sort of spell component to make a literal bridge to Ruidus for over a year now, all of it fresh with the recent update from Chetney. The fact he could laugh about the orb business, well—look at him.

"Not an orb, thank the gods," he confirmed, looking down at his body, obscured by his now signature black hoodie, black jeans, and Boots of Haste combination, as though it would somehow betray him and turn into an orb at any second. "Very alive and well here."

At that, he took a moment to give her a once over, assessing for anything that might be out of the ordinary or if she caught trouble on arrival. To Vax's eye, she looked just as she did when he'd said goodbye to them all in Vasselheim, but that didn't indicate much to him; such was the benefit of being half-elven and an archdruid. "You okay? They explained everything to you? I know it's a lot when you first arrive. I tried to stab someone when I did."

Ah, seeing something akin to happiness from Vax was something she'd longed for without realizing it. He'd always been so guarded and, even when they fully understood everything in front of them, like he'd always had something pressing down on his shoulders - not just the Raven Queen, either. Vax just silently took on the troubles for everyone else, without question. That was one of the reasons she cared for him so much.

She tilted her head in response, though. "Only tried?" She offered a comforting smile, it was good to be able to just immediately jump back into banter with him. Nodding to answer his other question, though, she was glad to see they didn't have different memories, at least. That was also something else they explained. Including that a 'version' of her had been here before, though she didn't recall anything of the sort. She was sure everything was a bit of a stretch, but they'd explained enough.

"I guess my next question is… who else is here?"

"She tranquilized me." The proclamation was paired with a wide smile, as Vax recalled the events. Truly, it was a good story to tell and he knew that he was lucky that it was Evie that had found him; she was able to dodge the dagger and was quick enough to put him down. Besides all that: "She's a good friend now, so I guess it all worked out."

At Keyleth's next question, though, Vax's face started to fall. Not because of the people who were there, of course, but the lack of them. "There were a lot more of us, several years ago, but most everyone was returned home. It's just me from Vox Machina now, but I've got Shaun and Velora, too." The former, of course, was going to require some added context, but for now Vax continued, "There's some others from Exandria, though; some from Wildemount, others from Marquet." He paused a moment, then added, "Oh—and Orym. He was a guard for you at one point, I believe?"

At that, though, Vax had a question himself. His head listed to the side. "I guess it would depend on what point in time you were brought here from?"

With that, Keyleth pulled her arms back and wrapped them around herself, her usual sign of feeling awkward and uncomfortable. It was probably something she'd never outgrow, but at least it didn't detract from the confidence she'd earned over time. "Clearly you know about the orb situation? With time being a thing here, I don't know how much to tell you. Or hold back. I'm sorry that you've been here alone, for the most part. I can't even imagine being away from you all anymore." His face falling the way it did tugged at her heart.

She released her arms and tried on a smile to try and steer the conversation to brighter things. "But yes, on Orym. He's a good friend now, so I guess it all worked out."

Vax watched as Keyleth dimmed and then clearly tried to brighten once more, all of it so very familiar. He knew, perhaps better than anyone at one point, just how strong and formidable Keyleth was, but it felt comforting to still see her exhibit habits and mannerisms that were so very much the young druid he and Vex had met in Stilben so many years before. Some things stayed the same.

"He and his friends are why I know anything," Vax admitted, "as well as Caleb Widogast. He saw it happen, I guess—I don't remember it myself. My memories from home ended when, well—" He grimaced, shrugging one of his shoulders. "After everything with Vecna." It was a blessing, he often thought. He wasn't sure he wanted to know but so much of his new eternal service to the Matron. He respected the Matron, but he was thankful that he'd retained what made him Vax and hadn't fully dipped into the Champion of Ravens.

"But," he continued, shaking his shoulders once as though literally shaking the negative thoughts off, a habit he'd picked up from Gilmore, "like we said, no orbs here. I've been here about four and a half years and have just been me." Vax smiled again. "It's good to get to see you again."

He'd been kind of stuck in time ever since things wrapped up with Vecna? So much had happened since then, was he aware of all of it? Or just what Caleb and Orym could relay? Well, she clearly had so many questions, but those could wait! She didn't really recognize Gilmore's mannerisms in him, but she did recognize an effort to shrug away topics that could wait until she'd settled in and they could maybe at least sit down and relax somewhere comfortable.

"I can't even express how happy I am to see you again, though I already know I'm going to have to say good-bye. Again." She frowned, briefly, but perked right back up. "That just means we need to make the best of the time we have, I think. We should get out of here. I'd love to see everyone else who's here, too. And maybe some tea." She'd picked up some assertiveness over the years, it seemed. But it was Keyleth, so she raised both her eyebrows when she reminded herself it was just Vax here. "Er, if that's okay?"

"We can do all of that, yes—I know they'd like to see you, as well." Vax didn't move toward the door, though, hesitating as his mind turned and he looked at Keyleth. He caught himself just before his hands started to move, to idly spin the ring that Gilmore had given him nearly two years ago that sat on a very telling finger. It had become an ingrained source of fidgeting during that time, something to do with his hands when he was feeling more anxious than normal.

Vax had known from the moment he'd been summoned to the DOA that he would need to tell Keyleth about his relationship with Gilmore. He wanted to; there was no room for shame there or second guessing, as he'd made his choice in Vallo. It had been different than what he'd chosen in Exandria, but it was nevertheless the correct choice for him. That didn't make this conversation any easier, of course, not knowing how Keyleth might react.

He swallowed hard, then let his head list to the side, just a fraction. "There's something else, though, that I need to tell you, before you see anyone else. It's about Shaun."

Keyleth noticed the ring fidgeting and realized the location on his hand. She tilted her head for a second, adding a few things together. "Oh," she said, reaching out to take Vax's hand to see the ring. There was the faintest pain in her heart for a moment, but she'd come to terms with "losing" Vax once before. It didn't mean he was gone from her life and he'd still be there if he was needed. That was always enough. It can still be enough.

She offered a soft smile to him and continued holding his hand. "I guess that makes you one of Gilmore's Glorious Goods?" She ignored the part of her that wanted to be upset, that there always seemed to be something in their way, but ultimately (she reminded herself) she was an older and wiser Keyleth now. He'd been here four years without her or anyone else to keep him company. Of course, that bond would deepen. How could she be upset that Vax tried to build a life?

It was impossible not to chuckle at that, so Vax did, quiet and with his gaze broken from Keyleth's, instead looking at the ring on his hand. "Four years and this is the first time that joke's been made."

Because that, of course, was a timeframe that Vax couldn't forget. He had been in this relationship with Gilmore longer than he'd known Vox Machina during his living years, his time in Vallo a second chance at a very different-looking life, both in terms of relationships and friendships alike, for better or worse. Maybe there was another world out there where he and Keyleth got more than a year together, but Vallo was not that world. Vax had made his choice and there were no regrets to be had about it, not when he was as happy as he was with Gilmore (and, he liked to think, vice versa). That didn't make this moment easy, though, especially not for a borderline disaster like himself.

Still, when Vax looked back up toward Keyleth, he had a soft smile—one tinged with a hint of sadness, not because he was sad about his relationship with Gilmore, but simply because he knew this couldn't be simple for her—to match to give her in return. "But yeah, I'm a most glorious of goods now. I just needed you to know that, for the both of you."

She had preened when he commented that she was the first to make that joke (even if it surprised her, she half-expected him to say it had been made a hundred times already and then she would laugh it off saying that she hadn't been here for any of them so it didn't count and they'd both kind of be trying to validate the other -- no, this was way better).

Instead, she set her shoulders and fixed a smile on her face. "I'm glad you told me, and quickly because I would have totally made it weird later. I'm happy for you both. I really am. I'm only sad I missed the wedding."

"Ah, well. That." Vax shrugged a shoulder, smile going a bit crooked. "We haven't made it that far just yet, but it's on our to do list. Engaged suits." It was something that he and Gilmore knew was on their horizon, and likely coming more quickly than they realized, based on all they'd seen from the future through the visits with their children. They had both just been enjoying their lives and weren't in any hurry.

At that, Vax reached out and squeezed Keyleth's arm once, gently, before withdrawing the hand back again. "We ought to spring you, though. Get you that tea, some food, whatever you like."

Keyleth brightened. "Well, then. I haven't missed it. But engagement works, and that ring is probably more official than a high-five." She smiled again and took Vax by the arm. "Okay. I'm ready. Show me everything, teach me how to use this com-pyoo-ter, and I hear there's bagels? Are they as good as Pike's?"

Vallo was going to be a new adventure and honestly she was due one, especially if they were right and time was basically paused back home. It'd give her a chance to maybe research ways to help Vax-at-Home without losing time and really, a stress break would be nice.

"I don't know if much of anything can compare to Pike's baking, but these are sold by a minotaur, which—"

At that, another notification came through on Vax's phone and he paused their trajectory to the door. Glancing over the screen, another smile immediately bloomed across his face. Vex was here. Vex was here.

"Alright, quick pitstop. It looks like we're getting bagels with Stubby, too."