#keyleth/vax

[you-poopin]

Not Broken- An Ace-Spec Keyleth Character Study

Here is that Ace Keyleth fic I promised! I hope you enjoy! I'd love to hear your thoughts! No cut to AO3, the rest of the fic in it's entirety is under the Read More. Happy Pride!

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She had always been different. That was clear in so many ways, but the one that mattered most when she was a teenaged girl was the whole dating thing. 

She understood it. She knew why the others her age went looking for someone to hold and kiss, and some part of her wanted it too, but she didn't know how. She wanted it, but she also didn't, and she couldn't make sense of that herself, let alone ask someone else to try and decipher it with her, so she didn't. She didn't have time anyway. She had her Aramente to worry about, travels to make. So she didn't. 

And then she met the people who would become her chosen family. And there she had her first ever vague attraction to someone. Sure, she had known different people to be attractive or pretty or handsome, but this wasn't like being told by someone that he was supposed to be attractive. It was confusing and new and all consuming for a time, just like him. 

He was all blue eyes and glasses and mystery. He was funny and quick-witted. He was smart. He was a little scary. He needed a hug. And he was kind to her. And that's what she got hung up on- his kindness to her and the way his beautiful eyes told so much but kept so much a secret. She was a gangly mess, naive and clumsy. People hadn't always been kind. But he was. 

But she wasn't stupid. She saw the way Pike’s cheeks dusted a light pink when he sent any praise her way. She saw the way Vex looked at him, like he was incredible (and he was). And so, she just stopped. She stopped feeling anything but brotherly love towards him. It was easy. It was just a decision she made, just to be his friend and nothing else. And she was happy.

But then there there was Vax, all dark and mysterious in his own right, who loved his sister so much his heart was on his sleeve, whether he knew it or not. Who looked at her with so much kindness, who spoke to her gently. And that's what did her in again, the kindness. 

But she didn't know what to do with it. He was all sharp edges. He flirted with everyone. So she couldn't be special. 

But then, then out of nowhere he had told her he was in love with her. 

How had he fallen in love with her? What had she possibly done to earn that? And the idea made her cheeks burn, but it wasn't the time. She thought he was handsome and kind, he was lovely. But she couldn't possibly understand how he had fallen in love with her without her knowing, without them doing any of the things people who were in love did. And it was bad timing. And she told him so. 

But then there was time. When lingering glances and conversations became light kisses on her cheek, when she reached for his hand, when there were tiny braids twisted into her hair. When she realized she fell in love right back. Cheek kisses turned into proper kisses. A hand on her lower back. A secret shared smile. It made her warm inside, it made her glow. Someone loved her. 

And she loved him too, but the words were hard to say for a while. And he never pressured her to say it back. But when her brain had wrapped itself around the idea of loving him, and she had told him, she wanted to remember that look on his face for the rest of her life. Someone loved her, and she loved him too. 

She knew what people who were in love were supposed to do. She knew how it was supposed to work in theory. But it made no sense to her. The why's and the how's she understood from a purely academic standpoint, but she couldn't understand it realistically. She never thought about it. She never looked at Vax and thought about it. And that was what made her different, and she knew it. 

And when his hand, accidentally or not, gently brushed the inside of her thigh and she jumped away, it wasn't because she didn't trust him. It wasn't because anyone had hurt her in the past. It was truly because her body didn't want that or need that. And it scared her. Because she was supposed to, wasn't she? She was supposed to want it. Was she actually broken? Probably. 

Scanlan really enjoyed running off and doing things with people that he didn't even necessarily care about, and it was so hard for Keyleth to understand as to why anyone would want that. 

But Vax didn't push her, he didn't pressure her. Even though she knew he thought about it, kind of hoped for it, he didn't make her feel like she had to do anything she wasn't ready for. He gave her time. She needed time. 

And when one day, his hand dipped under her dress, up towards her stomach, and he froze, watching her for the go ahead or the knock it off, it was all the time he gave her that made her able to nod with a shy smile. She wanted him to touch her. But like this. This was as intimate as she needed, as she wanted. Maybe it'd be more someday, but for right now this was fine. 

"You're beautiful," he had whispered, as if she were the most beautiful, incredible thing in the world. As if he had seen more of her than she was willing to show at the moment. It made her feel tingly from her head to her feet, just his hand on her stomach under her clothes. He didn't view her as different or broken. He thought she was special. He always thought she was special. 

And eventually, it was more than that. She had worked up to it, they had worked up to it. It was slow and he was so, so patient, so gentle. He asked her constantly if she was alright, assured her that they could stop whenever she wanted in that soft, gentle voice he reserved for her and her alone. 

Honestly, there was no interest there. What they were doing, truly, meant very little to her. Her body reacted the way it was designed, but her brain cared more about his kind words, his gentleness. It was him- his sharp wit and his soft eyes and his genuine interest in what she thought, what she felt- that she craved. This, this physical bit, she could take it or leave it. She didn't mind it. She was willing to do it, but not for her. For him. And not because she was pressured, but because she wanted him to be happy too. She would be happy without it. But his brain wasn't different like hers. 

She didn't hate it. She wasn't scared. It was just… something to do. But nothing she thought about on her own. And thinking about it too much gave her a headache. 

And when she had burst into tears due to her confusion over herself and her body and her heart in the middle of everything and he had fussed over her, worried he'd hurt her, it was hard to explain that her brain was broken and sex wasn't something she really thought about and she was so sorry, she wasn't expecting a gentle hand to brush away tears, to cup her cheek. She was expecting to be told off, to be asked to leave, for him to never touch her again. 

She wasn't expecting him to seemingly understand that she didn't fully understand her thoughts and feelings. She wasn't expecting him to assure her it was alright. That he loved her for who she was, he loved her honesty, he loved how much she trusted him to tell him, he loved her so much. She wasn't expecting to be told that he was fine with that, that her brain wasn't broken, and he would happily live the rest of his life without touching her like that again. And he would be happy anyways, because he would be with her. 

She stumbled over her words again trying to explain that she didn't mind it. She would do it. She wasn't afraid, she just didn't think of him like that very often. But she was willing. Physically, despite not understanding the appeal at face value, she had to admit it did… feel nice. She liked that part. She would do it again. Her cheeks were red and she felt shy.

He laughed at that, kissing her gently. "Only if you really want to, KiKi, okay? You are always allowed to tell me no, and you never have to give a reason." 

And then there was more snuggles, more hugs, more handholding, more soft touches and kisses- the kind of affection she wholeheartedly loved to give and receive. And he was happy. Because she was happy. And she loved him. She loved him so much. 

And sometimes, his hand would drift somewhere and she'd push it away, sometimes they would be kissing and it would get too much for her and she'd ask him to stop. And he never seemed offended or hurt. He always listened. He always respected her boundaries even if they changed from day to day or hour to hour. 

But sometimes, she'd nod at him. Sometimes she'd tell him that it was alright, that he could keep going. Sometimes, after doing it enough times when she had learned what she was supposed to do, sometimes she'd pull him close for a kiss that was too hard to just be a kiss. Sometimes, she would roll over on top of him and watch his face change and laugh. Because sometimes, she wanted to do all that too. Because she loved him. And sometimes, now that she was comfortable and felt so safe with him, with herself, she enjoyed it, for herself. 

But no matter what happened, no matter how they touched or if they did at all, Vax always looked at her like she was the most wonderful thing. Always told her she was beautiful. Always treated her with so much love and respect. He loved her so much that she didn't feel broken anymore. Different, sure. But different was not broken.

A sleepy kiss to a freckled shoulder meant just as much to him as it did to her. Because intimacy could take on so many different forms. And just being together was the most important part. 

[butyoucouldberadiant]

How am I supposed to go on without a third season of Vox Machina being immediately available to me?

[supernaturalcharlie11]

Don‘t forget who is waiting at the end of the line

Is this a line from the „Rogers - The Musical“ Show at Disneyland? Maybe.

But it fit perfectly with this Keyleth/Vax‘ildan idea that I had.

So here is the crossover no one asked for ;)

[twoshortswords]

"I'll find you. I promise. I'll see you again."

[laurasbailey]

Get romanced, Marisha Ray

[ghostpainters]

Vox Machina Plays Mario Kart 

Vex’ahlia is obviously winning. Keyleth is better at this game than she gives herself credit for and isn’t doing half bad. Grog is being a little too aggressive with the turns and keeps crashing into things; and yet somehow, he’s still a place ahead of Scanlan. The game is clearly rigged! 

Vox Machina House Rules: 1). No loud music before 9 AM 2). Butter knives are NOT weapons 3). PLEASE try the doorknob first 4). Whoever breaks the door down, pays for it.

[julidiot]

To those who passed through fire For those who walked away

[little-miss-ghostess]

Season 2 is over but that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop trying to recruit my friends to join in my brainrot.

[annemarieyeretzian]

oh the gale and the raven is so obviously vaxleth smut and I am here for it (as are marisha and liam)

[liltaireissocute]

[shorthaltsjester]

watching the sdcc panel and i am just very :) about how sweet their answers to “what are some of the micro moments from the game that have stuck with you the most over the years?” are. taliesin saying what the fuck is up with that which was the first like The Party Gets To Know Each Other moments of c3. travis saying asking his wife if he could kiss her in campaign. marisha going way back to the cannonball competition in campaign one. ashley choosing the beauyasha date but also just the silly goat noise matt made. liam adding onto that to compliment matt roleplaying grass so well and then saying his favourite moment was writing a story for laura and reading it to her as caleb for jester. and then matt saying that was his answer, and that his favourite moments of the game are when they find ways to give gifts to each other whether tangible or not. and sam saying his favourite moments have less to do with the story and is more so when he can just. see his friends across the table from him. when marisha perches and when laura and ashley are (badly) drawing dicks and liam saying he loves when sam sneezes and ashley tells him to stop it and just. yeah. they Are an extremely popular online powerhouse, but i’m so happy that they’re also friends building a world together out of gifts to and love for one another.

like i Am so enamoured with the characters and the world of exandria but the moments when you can feel the love that those people have for each other reach out from behind the stained glass of their performances (to steal a metaphor from brennan lee mulligan) are so extremely special and i am endlessly grateful that they decided to share their silly little home game with the world.

[twinklestarss]

Vaxleth in Tlovm season 3 trailer

[monabee-draws]

Sometimes I remember that Ludinus' entire plan hinged on the love between two people who were ripped apart by fate for more than 30 years. Somehow he knew that, when it came down to it, not even Vax's transformation into a servant of the gods would prevent him from loving Keyleth of the Air Ashari. No amount of removal of his personhood, or distance from the person he used to be could snuff that out and prevent him from breaking the non-interference accords to be there when she was in danger. Their love was always going to be doomed by the narrative, and in the end it doomed the narrative too. Everyone talks about Delilah and her willingness to rip the world apart for love, but for Vax it wasn't even really will anymore, just the inevitability of all that was left of him other than the Champion.

[triaelf9]

This page is brought to you courtesy of my brain being unable to focus on anything else this week XD

[soaring-trash]

cleaned it up more 😁👍

[totonieee]

Her naughty boyfriend playing his stealthy tricks