When she hears him come up behind her, she considers Speak with Animals, but when she turns around, it's not necessary. They've always been able to communicate with a meeting of the eyes and his soft huffs, and he sniffs at her abdomen as well. He nudges her, and she goes with it, slowly taking the walk back.
She hopes she hasn't kept Percy waiting too long. Vex is uncomfortably aware that she's occasionally been behaving the way they both did at this time last year, the way that ultimately led to their breakup. After they got back together, they agreed to stop running away from each other like that. He's been tolerant these past few months, knowing all too well she can't be all right, not yet, but she needs to try to not do this for that much longer.
The light's on in the front of her house; he's arrived already. But when Vex steps inside, she sees him talking to Eierin, her housekeeper, which makes her think he's probably only been here for ten minutes or so. They both turn their faces to her, and they both looked relieved and still concerned, she more the former and he more the latter.
Sometimes it still gets to Vex, how many people care about her, now.
"Lady Vax'ahlia!" Eierin hurries over. "Are you all right? You left the house so suddenly. Is there any trouble with the baby?"
"None at all, Eierin." Vex manages a smile; it's too easy to. "In fact, I think I felt them move for the first time today."
"Oh, that's wonderful, my lady." Eierin's delighted. But behind her, Vex sees Percy's reaction. He knows her more than well enough to figure out the rest.
Still, Vex thanks her, and asks for and gets a brief update about the house; there's not much to tell there. Eierin leaves for the night looking very happy. They watch her hasten down the front walk, no doubt excited to tell her family the news.
As he stands behind her, after helping her remove her coat, Percy gently takes Vex in his arms, presses a kiss to the side of her face. "You were happy when you felt it, weren't you?" he asks, just to confirm it.
"I was." Vex feels tears in her eyes; the ones that have been there for hours. "For two minutes, I was almost unimaginably happy. Maybe happier then he ever got to see me." Her voice breaks then, and the tears finally start to flow.
To his credit, Percy doesn't try any reminders that the last thing Vax would want is her feeling guilty about this. He knows she can remember that on her own. Instead, he tries, "You should let one of the ravens see you like that. At least sooner or later, even if you couldn't manage today."
That's a good idea, Vex supposes. And the number of ravens in Whitestone since Vax's death have very visibly increased. She doesn't get daily visits from a single bird the way Keyleth does, which made her angry at first. But she now knows that whenever she's outdoors, she need only raise her arm, and one or more usually come flying down to her. Vax has always known how much to push, when it comes to his need to look after her.
"How are you right now?" Percy asks her, his breath so warm beside her ear. "Can you get to a good place tonight?"
Vex genuinely has to think about it. But she is in his embrace, Trinket is also there with her, and as she stands there, safe and warm in what is her home, she feels the baby move once again.
It'll be easier, she knows then, to bear the happiness, with each passing time. That realization's not without its own sadness, but it doesn't overwhelm her the way the guilt did earlier that day.
"I think I can," she says to him. "Just keep holding me, please."
Percy does as he leads her to the fireplace, where a dinner of meat and carrots has been placed. It's still warm; Eiren must have cooked it when Trinket went off to fetch her. They let go of each other to eat, but he stays near. So does Trinket, although Vex is certain he's eaten already. They probably all want to keep near the fire anyway. They're through the worst of winter, but it's still getting chilly in the evenings.
Eiren even managed to get everything onto a single pair of plates, knowing if there were too many dishes used, Vex would feel the need to clean them all herself immediately. Two plates she's fine with putting on top of each other when they're done, the bottle of wine next to them, all to deal with in the morning. She just makes sure to put them a distance from where Trinket's nodding off.
Her shoes came off some time after they sat down; her feet are feeling a bit more sore than she expected. She feels loose, comfortable, the way it was once only possible for her to feel around Vax and Trinket. It's still hard around the other inhabitants of the town. Here, on the other hand, she can stretch herself out in front of the fire, unbothered by Percy looking on. It's fine if he sees her pulls her stockings off and stick her bare feet closer to flames, wiggling them a little and then sighing as the warmth starts to flow into her toes.
It's also fine when he moves over and takes her right now in his hand, rubbing up and down. She can tell from the look in his eyes where he'd liked to ultimately go with that, but there's no rush. For now, there's just his hand reach under the foot and digging in, and that feels even better.
As he works, he comments, "I talked with Cassandra about the council today. She has decided I should be on it as some sort of Master of Progress-we haven't figured the exact title out yet."
"You would want it to be the right kind of progress," Vex says. "I've heard people describe the rifle brigade as progress. Which, in a way, it is."
"I know." Percy grimaces. "I'll keep that in mind. Cassandra knows how I feel about it, and I imagine she'll be thinking that, too."
He practically plays with her foot, even reaching up and stroking at that spot on her ankle where he knows she's ticklish. Vex gives him free reign; he knows what he's doing. When he finally lets go on one foot and picks up the other, the faint soreness from having been on her feet so many hours is gone, and she can feel her grief receding with it-not going away entirely, because it never will, but going into the background.
He squeezes her left foot, several times, not enough to cause pain, but enough for her to feel it through her bones, running just a bit of heat through her. He scratches hard just behind the ball and she nearly groans. Seeing her reaction, he goes back to her right foot and does it there, too. Vex can't help but smile, especially when it's not long after that when he finally leans down and presses the first, light kiss to the front of her right ankle.
This, too, Percy takes him time with. The tops of both her feet are wet from his tongue when he finally leaves them behind to move up, kissing his way up her lower leg and even pausing to rub at the back of her knees as well. Although this he has to do through cloth; he's been pushing her leggings out of the way as he goes, but now they're bunched up and won't move any further. He pulls himself up to look at her, and whispers, "Let me...?"
This hasn't been how it's usually gone for most of their relationship. From that first night onward, most of the time it's been Vex in charge, Percy eager to go with her and humbly asking for things if he wanted them, and, ultimately, Vex taking care of him as well as pleasing herself. Percy's the one of them that's more obviously needed to be taken care of, who's reached the point where he'll actually let Vex do so, let her press him down to the bed and caress him all over and make him know that he is loved.
But then again, even in the early days, there were a few nights where they reversed roles. Sometimes, Vex finds she needs to be the one taken care of in that moment, and then, at last, she'll let Percy do so. He's always been very happy to, every time.
She can tell he is now, when she whispers, "Kiss me," in response, and he does. He cradles her cheeks first, reaches his fingers out to tenderly caress her ears; he still makes a point of that, and she still lets him. Then he reaches down, touches her sides even as he continues to kiss her mouth, kisses that might make Vex melt even without the rest of it. Her arms are holding on tight.
"You've always held on tight," Percy said to her, not too long ago. "To whatever you've had. Money, things, people." She's had to, of course, and he freely acknowledges that. Nor does he see it as necessarily a bad thing. Certainly he didn't on that first night after they got back together, and she heard him whisper into her skin, "Please don't let me go again." He, who at one point in his life had absolutely nothing at all to hold on to-that, at least, has never happened to her. She very much wants to be something he can hold on to as well.
His hands are otherwise occupied right now. They caress her all over before working to undo ties and buckles, though he doesn't try to actually take anything off her, not yet. Vex has already had to start wearing looser clothing, and even so she feels a bit of relief when her current belt comes undone.
Above it, one of Percy's hands finds the bare skin of her growing belly, and it just stays there for a moment. He even stops kissing her. There's still a part of him, Vex worries, that doesn't quite believe everything that's happened, now up to and including his getting to be a father. He's been the the one of them that's gotten to be unabashedly excited about their first child. Vex doesn't begrudge him that. He had years without any joy.
Though, of course, there's still a little bit of a bittersweet tinge for him, too. He's said he's not sure how his parents and siblings would've reacted to this development for him. And that obviously, his parents would've expected to become grandparents by at least one of their children. That this is a duty for him, even if it's also what he wants, is something that weighs on Vex's mind as well, sometimes.
The moment passes. Percy's hands push further under her loosened shirt. They turn very gentle when they find her breasts, but Vex still groans with it. She moves to lift her arms, ready for him to pull the shirt off, but instead he then moves back down, and she hears his breath quicken in excitement as he hands land back on her belt and start pulling that down, along with pants and drawers both. Which Vex is also perfectly fine with. Especially when he mouth then moves down to her neck, and she knows already just where it's going.
He does push up the bottom of the shirt, though, and pauses to kiss her belly. Vex would've giggled, if at that moment one of his hands hadn't dipped down to where she was bare, and so wet, and the tip of his fingers pressed down. The giggle instead comes out as a gasp, followed by a low moan, as Percy dips his head down, and gets to work.
Vex is just reaching the point where she no longer worries about who might hear them, when Percy starts doing that thing with his tongue on her clit that makes her get louder. She supposes having a baby around is going to complicate that again, but for now, she lets the sounds of her pleasure fill the room. It should hit a certain part of Percy's brain, she knows, the bit that embarrasses him by making him turned on by such impropriety, and tonight, it seems likely he'll let that desire have its way. Indeed, his lips press tighter around her, as does the hand that's holding one of her legs open, even as the other gently parts her folds so he can put his fingers in.
He goes slow with tongue and fingers both, pressing hard against her inner walls as he does. Vex squirms against him, getting his fingers in just a little deeper, and he moans against her a little. It's barely audible over her own shouts, but it's enough to send more want charging through her, and she tries to push her hips up, but there he leans his weight against one hip to keep her down.
"Percy," she pleads, "Percy..." and he can restrain himself for only so long. He picks up the pace, and then further when her own hands at last clutch his hair and urge him on further. He's making more noises, still not very loud, but still enough to work Vex nearly into a frenzy.
Orgasm hits her hard. She nearly throws Percy off with how her body rocks with it, even as her thighs clamp around his head. He, undeterred, works her through it, his tongue and fingers only stilling when the last of her cries die down.
Vex is completely undone, limp and a little dazed as he kisses his way back up her. When they're face to face again, he asks, "Are you..." She can feel him leaking against her thigh, and his voice is strained with need. But he's ready to step away, take care of it by himself if he has to, if she gives the word.
There might even come nights in the future, Vex supposes, where she'll feel the need. She'd have to be absolutely exhausted, of course. Possibly when they've had multiple children, it might come to that. But she doubts any such nights are going to come for a long while yet.
And so on this one, she eventually gets her arms lifted up, and spreads her legs further to welcome him in.
He feels so good pushing inside her; they both groan with it. Vex doesn't think she can come again right now, and Percy can probably tell, since he doesn't aim for that. Instead he moves with slow thrusts, a little deeper each time, letting them both savor the feeling of it. He gasps her name between his lips as his arms press hard into the floor on either side of her; she's pretty sure he's clenching both fingers and toes, trying to make this last as long as he can.
She's probably making that harder for him, reaching up to touch his hair and press into his scalp. But she can't help touching him, caressing him, even moving up to press her mouth to his jaw, though he's in no state to kiss her properly right now. Her entire body surges up as his thrusts get harder, as strained, desperate noises start coming out of him, and the sensation is almost too much to bear, as she cries out again.
She can feel his response to that, how against her his body tightens further, and he can last only moments more after that. He slumps down as he comes, burying his face against her neck, making it easier for her to tenderly stroke his back as he shudders.
This is hardly the first time they've done this here, by the fire. But as Percy stills, and Vex finds herself pressed beneath his full weight and the floor, she suddenly finds that she feels the discomfort of her current position much more than she had in the past. She nudges her husband hard, and he obediently rolls off her, but then releases a noise of pain as he hits the floor next to her.
"We're not getting too old for this, are we?" Vex finds herself asking. "It should be too soon for that, right?"
"Maybe not too old as simply too worn?" Percy offers. "Or it might not be anything plenty of hot water can't take care of?"
"Hot water does sound wonderful right now," Vex agrees.
It takes her a little longer to pull herself up than she would've liked. Standing up again, Vex looks down as her leggings, still on the floor. She's just thinking that really, they can probably stay there, when Percy kneels back down and gathers everything up. Of course he would. He, too, is now only in his shirt, and doesn't look like he's going to bother putting anything else back on that night. That's him being more loosened up than he used to be.
Also, instead of immediately carrying them upstairs to be put right back into their proper places, he just folded both her discarded clothes and his own and places them on top of a table, before joining her to douse and fire and place a thick blanket on top of the slumbering Trinket. When they reach the stairs, he wraps his arm around her back, as if to help her walk up them. She certainly won't need him to do such things for months yet, if at all, but she is far from complaining about it.
He also does the work of drawing the bath, leaving Vex to rest on the loveseat by the tub as he does so. She lays there, listening to the sound of the tub filling up, lets herself feel peace, more than anything else. That may be a feeling that's been even more elusive than happiness in her life, though it's one she's had more of lately, and found far easier to bear.
Somewhere up above them, she supposes, there could be a raven flying right now. There often seemed to be above the roof when she looks, though she hasn't that often with construction of the house complete. She supposed they probably didn't know anything yet, just that she and Percy were safely in here for another night, and somehow, in that moment, that felt like enough.
The sound of splashing broke Vex from her thoughts. Percy was climbing into the tub, beckoning to her with, "Water's perfect." Vex followed, sinking herself into the warm, soothing water, glad to let it get rid of which of her many aches that it could.