Everything Changes [Vex & Vax]
Mar. 1st, 2019 11:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
st_ubbyUncle Vax gets to meet little Elaina for the very first time, and the twinnies' hearts are oh so full.
Vex nodded as Percy left to... look into or take care of something. She was sure he'd said what, but if anything the fogginess and forgetfulness she'd had sometimes during pregnancy was even worse right now. Or maybe it was just impossible to think for long about anything except the beautiful baby girl in her arms. They'd made this. Her. Elaina.
A soft smile graced Vex's face as she looked down at her precious daughter, as her finger brushed lightly over one petal-soft cheek and the tiny head turned into the touch, the tiny mouth an O. Until, without her turning, Vex's smile turned more smirkish. "Get over here, stealthy asshole. Somebody needs to meet you."
Percy had tagged Vax in once he'd tagged out, sort of staggering off in search of something without even a clever quip to guild his leaving. He looked exhausted, stunned, elated. He already wore fatherhood well.
Vax had crept in quietly after him, and stopped once he could see her. See them. His sister, and the tiny little red thing held in the crook of her arm. Elaina.
He'd almost forgotten he was just lurking, standing there and staring like an idiot, until Vex called him over. He'd not worn his full armor, though it had honestly been a near thing. He didn't want anyone or anything to have a single chance to hurt this precious, impossible babe. But armor was hard, daggers were sharp, and an infant was the very opposite of those. They needed softness and warmth, bare skin and lots of touch. So he'd put on his most well-worn hoodie and looped Simon at his waist, then prayed instead during the hours of Vex's labor while he waited outside. The hours of boredom and cursing and strain and pain and emotion - and at the end of it all, so much love. Vex shone with it, and his eyes were wet by the time he drew near, something clutched all but forgotten in his hand.
"I don't think I've ever seen you more beautiful," he murmured for Vex'ahlia, kissing her forehead. Then he leaned in a bit, to see the girl closely for the first time. The tiny peaks of her ears, the familiar shape of her nose, the shine of her eyes. Fuck, but he loved her already. "...Hello, little one. I'm your uncle, Vax'ildan."
There were, Vex decided, only two other times she remembered Vax looking at her like he did now: the day he traded himself to the Raven Queen in Vex's place, and the day she had arrived at the inn. Half dead. Half drowned. And now, wholly a mother. A mirror would say she looked a fright, but Vax had always looked at her with his heart that echoed in her chest.
"Just so you know, Uncle Vax is going to teach you all manner of bad ideas, little Elaina. And be the reason you get into all kinds of scrapes. But he'll also be there to get you out of them, soooo, I guess we have to keep him." Vex knew it was true, because he'd done just the same for her, and she was more grateful than she could say that he was here with her, with them, today.
"As if you'd get rid of me now that you need babysitting," Vax quipped back. He moved carefully closer, smelling that new-skin-baby-smell as he kissed the baby's forehead how he'd done for her mother. "I'll show you climbing and hiding, locks and traps, same as I did your mother," he promised her quietly, keeping his voice feather-soft. "And how to braid your hair. Don't listen if she says she can do it better than me."
Vex smoothed her hand over Elaina's head and the fine, dark hair that covered it. "She'll have lots of willing babysitters, I think. Including Trinket. But there's only one Uncle Vax. Just try to keep her out of trouble at least until she has enough hair to really braid, hm?" What she meant was she couldn't do this without him, and she wouldn't want to try.
"By then she'll be old enough to start her own trouble," he smiled at Vex, watching her watch her baby. He wasn't going anywhere, not if he could help it. "I wonder if she likes presents the way you do?"
If Vax hadn't put the twist on the word presents they way he had, Vex might have wondered why he was asking. But he had, and her eyes sparkled as she smiled down at her baby girl. "I think your Uncle Vax has a birthday surprise for you, precious."
"It's like she knows me," he said to the infant, as he lifted the thing he'd brought in upright for their approval. It was pointed in Elaina's direction, but he doubted she could see much yet. The stuffed animal creature was very soft, its approximately equine body all black. The eyes were each made of a stitched white X, and the conical fabric horn stuck out from its forehead was a shiny pearlescent color, matched with the floppy wings that laid on either side of its body. It had black yarn for mane and tail. "This," he waggled the toy a bit to match his words as she spoke, "was made specially for you by your own Uncle Vax, after several truly hideous attempts. And a great deal of help from our friend Corbie. It's just the sort of thing that your grandmother would've made for you, but not nearly as good as that. You're named for her, did they tell you that yet?"
"Look at that. A pretty alicorn, all your own, little Elaina." When the soft toy was close enough, Elaina almost seemed to focus on the motion, or maybe the contrast between light and dark, the combination of black and white in almost equal portions that would probably always remind Vex of the two of them and their salt and pepper armor.
"Stabbing cloth prove slightly trickier than stabbing monsters, Uncle Vax?" Vex teased, while she could feel tears trying to well up again, that her brother would have done something like that for Elaina, and kept it secret until today. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, as she blinked away the incipient tears.
"Sneaking up on the cloth from the shadows doesn't actually make for better sewing," he looked back over at Vex with the kiss, idly jiggling the toy for his niece. (His niece.) He saw the tears in Vex's eyes, and they reflected the persistent sheen of his own. The child was healthy, he'd heard from Percival, and the mother faring well... What else was there left for them to want in the whole of the world at this moment? "Can I hold her?"
There was exactly one person, other than Percival, who Vex trusted absolutely and implicitly to keep Elaina safe, and that was Vax. Her other half. Two bodies, one heart. So the hesitation, the "You are going to put down the toy first, aren't you?", before shifting how she held the baby, it wasn't about not wanting to let Vax hold her. She was looking forward to seeing Elaina and her uncle meet properly. But gods, it was hard wanting to let go of the perfect, precious bundle in her arms.
For the space of a heartbeat, he wondered if he shouldn't have waited. If he'd asked too much, too soon. He understood that it wasn't him, so much as everything that the babe was to her. And how Vex must feel - no, he couldn't know it exactly, but he could sense the general shape of it there in Vex's hesitation.
Vax sank his butt onto the edge of the bed alongside Vex's blanketed legs, and placed the plush toy there beside him. He didn't reach out, not unless Vex started offering. He sat patiently with his hands on his thighs. "I wouldn't blame you," he put gently. "If you wanted to keep her all to yourself for a while. If she's anything like either of us, as soon as she can walk - she'll run."
"It's not that," when she meant, it's not you. "It's..." Vex shook her head. She didn't have words for everything she was feeling tonight. Careful to support Elaina's head, she reached out to set the babe in her uncle's waiting arms. "You're going to wrap Uncle Vax around your tiny little finger. Just wait and see."
Vax was quiet for a moment, as he took the child, with the kind of carefulness that was given to the most precious of all things. He copied the hold as Vex had done it, supporting tiny Elaina's head, keeping her swaddled just-so, as he brought her in close against him. One of her bitty, impossibly small hands had poked from the folds of her blanket, and he brushed his thumb and forefinger whisper-soft over it. She squeezed reflexively. "It's already done," he told his sister, words a bit breathy as he watched the bundle wriggle bravely.
Vex nodded as Percy left to... look into or take care of something. She was sure he'd said what, but if anything the fogginess and forgetfulness she'd had sometimes during pregnancy was even worse right now. Or maybe it was just impossible to think for long about anything except the beautiful baby girl in her arms. They'd made this. Her. Elaina.
A soft smile graced Vex's face as she looked down at her precious daughter, as her finger brushed lightly over one petal-soft cheek and the tiny head turned into the touch, the tiny mouth an O. Until, without her turning, Vex's smile turned more smirkish. "Get over here, stealthy asshole. Somebody needs to meet you."
Percy had tagged Vax in once he'd tagged out, sort of staggering off in search of something without even a clever quip to guild his leaving. He looked exhausted, stunned, elated. He already wore fatherhood well.
Vax had crept in quietly after him, and stopped once he could see her. See them. His sister, and the tiny little red thing held in the crook of her arm. Elaina.
He'd almost forgotten he was just lurking, standing there and staring like an idiot, until Vex called him over. He'd not worn his full armor, though it had honestly been a near thing. He didn't want anyone or anything to have a single chance to hurt this precious, impossible babe. But armor was hard, daggers were sharp, and an infant was the very opposite of those. They needed softness and warmth, bare skin and lots of touch. So he'd put on his most well-worn hoodie and looped Simon at his waist, then prayed instead during the hours of Vex's labor while he waited outside. The hours of boredom and cursing and strain and pain and emotion - and at the end of it all, so much love. Vex shone with it, and his eyes were wet by the time he drew near, something clutched all but forgotten in his hand.
"I don't think I've ever seen you more beautiful," he murmured for Vex'ahlia, kissing her forehead. Then he leaned in a bit, to see the girl closely for the first time. The tiny peaks of her ears, the familiar shape of her nose, the shine of her eyes. Fuck, but he loved her already. "...Hello, little one. I'm your uncle, Vax'ildan."
There were, Vex decided, only two other times she remembered Vax looking at her like he did now: the day he traded himself to the Raven Queen in Vex's place, and the day she had arrived at the inn. Half dead. Half drowned. And now, wholly a mother. A mirror would say she looked a fright, but Vax had always looked at her with his heart that echoed in her chest.
"Just so you know, Uncle Vax is going to teach you all manner of bad ideas, little Elaina. And be the reason you get into all kinds of scrapes. But he'll also be there to get you out of them, soooo, I guess we have to keep him." Vex knew it was true, because he'd done just the same for her, and she was more grateful than she could say that he was here with her, with them, today.
"As if you'd get rid of me now that you need babysitting," Vax quipped back. He moved carefully closer, smelling that new-skin-baby-smell as he kissed the baby's forehead how he'd done for her mother. "I'll show you climbing and hiding, locks and traps, same as I did your mother," he promised her quietly, keeping his voice feather-soft. "And how to braid your hair. Don't listen if she says she can do it better than me."
Vex smoothed her hand over Elaina's head and the fine, dark hair that covered it. "She'll have lots of willing babysitters, I think. Including Trinket. But there's only one Uncle Vax. Just try to keep her out of trouble at least until she has enough hair to really braid, hm?" What she meant was she couldn't do this without him, and she wouldn't want to try.
"By then she'll be old enough to start her own trouble," he smiled at Vex, watching her watch her baby. He wasn't going anywhere, not if he could help it. "I wonder if she likes presents the way you do?"
If Vax hadn't put the twist on the word presents they way he had, Vex might have wondered why he was asking. But he had, and her eyes sparkled as she smiled down at her baby girl. "I think your Uncle Vax has a birthday surprise for you, precious."
"It's like she knows me," he said to the infant, as he lifted the thing he'd brought in upright for their approval. It was pointed in Elaina's direction, but he doubted she could see much yet. The stuffed animal creature was very soft, its approximately equine body all black. The eyes were each made of a stitched white X, and the conical fabric horn stuck out from its forehead was a shiny pearlescent color, matched with the floppy wings that laid on either side of its body. It had black yarn for mane and tail. "This," he waggled the toy a bit to match his words as she spoke, "was made specially for you by your own Uncle Vax, after several truly hideous attempts. And a great deal of help from our friend Corbie. It's just the sort of thing that your grandmother would've made for you, but not nearly as good as that. You're named for her, did they tell you that yet?"
"Look at that. A pretty alicorn, all your own, little Elaina." When the soft toy was close enough, Elaina almost seemed to focus on the motion, or maybe the contrast between light and dark, the combination of black and white in almost equal portions that would probably always remind Vex of the two of them and their salt and pepper armor.
"Stabbing cloth prove slightly trickier than stabbing monsters, Uncle Vax?" Vex teased, while she could feel tears trying to well up again, that her brother would have done something like that for Elaina, and kept it secret until today. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, as she blinked away the incipient tears.
"Sneaking up on the cloth from the shadows doesn't actually make for better sewing," he looked back over at Vex with the kiss, idly jiggling the toy for his niece. (His niece.) He saw the tears in Vex's eyes, and they reflected the persistent sheen of his own. The child was healthy, he'd heard from Percival, and the mother faring well... What else was there left for them to want in the whole of the world at this moment? "Can I hold her?"
There was exactly one person, other than Percival, who Vex trusted absolutely and implicitly to keep Elaina safe, and that was Vax. Her other half. Two bodies, one heart. So the hesitation, the "You are going to put down the toy first, aren't you?", before shifting how she held the baby, it wasn't about not wanting to let Vax hold her. She was looking forward to seeing Elaina and her uncle meet properly. But gods, it was hard wanting to let go of the perfect, precious bundle in her arms.
For the space of a heartbeat, he wondered if he shouldn't have waited. If he'd asked too much, too soon. He understood that it wasn't him, so much as everything that the babe was to her. And how Vex must feel - no, he couldn't know it exactly, but he could sense the general shape of it there in Vex's hesitation.
Vax sank his butt onto the edge of the bed alongside Vex's blanketed legs, and placed the plush toy there beside him. He didn't reach out, not unless Vex started offering. He sat patiently with his hands on his thighs. "I wouldn't blame you," he put gently. "If you wanted to keep her all to yourself for a while. If she's anything like either of us, as soon as she can walk - she'll run."
"It's not that," when she meant, it's not you. "It's..." Vex shook her head. She didn't have words for everything she was feeling tonight. Careful to support Elaina's head, she reached out to set the babe in her uncle's waiting arms. "You're going to wrap Uncle Vax around your tiny little finger. Just wait and see."
Vax was quiet for a moment, as he took the child, with the kind of carefulness that was given to the most precious of all things. He copied the hold as Vex had done it, supporting tiny Elaina's head, keeping her swaddled just-so, as he brought her in close against him. One of her bitty, impossibly small hands had poked from the folds of her blanket, and he brushed his thumb and forefinger whisper-soft over it. She squeezed reflexively. "It's already done," he told his sister, words a bit breathy as he watched the bundle wriggle bravely.
