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Keyleth is standing in the doorway of her room staring dejectedly at the bed that Trinket and Garmelie had destroyed earlier when Vex appears at her side, hooking her arm through Keyleth’s.
“Alright, come on,” Vex tugs at her gently until Keyleth moves away from the open doorway, steering her towards her own room, “You can bunk with me tonight.”
“You realise that there isn’t much difference between me sleeping on the floor in my room and sleeping on the floor in your room, right?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of you sharing the bed with me,” Vex says, “If Trinket was able to fit on the bed then the two of us definitely can. Unless you’d rather sleep on the floor, that is?”
“No,” Keyleth starts shaking her head before the question is even finished, “The bed sounds so much better to me.” Keyleth wills her blood not to rush to her cheeks.
“I’m happy to hear that,” Vex flashes a smile at Keyleth as they step into her room, shutting the door firmly behind them to shut out their escorts. “Now, get into bed. We need a decent nights sleep if we are going to make it through the Moonbrush tomorrow.”
Vex’s smile grows at the way Keyleth straightens up at the mention of the Moonbrush, a dreamy smile crossing her face. Keyleth’s fascination with the Feywild, although potentially life threatening, is more than a little cute. Or at least Vex finds it cute. At Vex’s prompting Keyleth begins stripping off her clothes, taking the time to fold them and place them on the small wooden table, seemingly unconcerned by Vex’s eyes as she tries her best not to stare, her gaze catching on the long stretch of Keyleth’s legs.
“Vex’ahlia,” The sound of Keyleth’s voice brings Vex back to the present and her tone implies that this isn’t the first time she’s said Vex’s name. She reaches for her, hands hanging in the open air as she waits for Vex to move towards her, “Come here and let me braid your hair before we settle down for the night.”
Vex strips off her armour and underclothes and tugs on her shift before she climbs onto the bed beside Keyleth. The other girl rearranges Vex in front of her with gentle hands and Keyleth’s thighs press into Vex’s sides as the mattress slopes in towards her weight. Vex allows herself to let go of some of her tension at the feeling of Keyleth’s fingers deftly working her way through her thick tangle of dark hair.
“How are you holding up, Vex?” Keyleth’s voice was soft and she took a moment to press her hand against Vex’s shoulder, “Seeing your father again after all these years in these circumstances, it can’t have been easy for you.”
“It was—,” Vex’s voice trembles and her breath comes out shaky, “It was something alright. With how Vax and I grew up I never had any love for him, but gaining some semblance of approval from him today, that felt—. If I had had that growing up how different would everything be?”
“I don’t know, but I do know that you don’t need anything from him. You’re enough as you are.”
Vex lets herself relax into the feeling of Keyleth’s hands in her hair and her sure words. Vex releases a soft groan when Keyleth tugs at her hair slightly harder than necessary and Keyleth pauses in her motions at the sound. Her thighs presses more firmly into Vex’s sides as she pushes herself up and forward until she can lean her head over Vex’s shoulder and see her face.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Keyleth asks, her eyes wide and her bottom lip between her teeth.
“No, Keyleth,” Vex is quick to reassure, her right hand coming up briefly to cup Keyleth’s cheek, “It felt nice, that’s all.”
“Oh,” Keyleth’s eyes widen again, a red flush colouring her cheeks and neck.
“Don’t worry about it, Darling.”
The colour in Keyleth’s cheek darkens ever so slightly at the term of endearment, barely perceptible if not for the fact that Vex was so close to her. Keyleth slowly settles back onto her knees and resumes her work; Vex feels the gentle tugs at her hair pick back up and she lets her mind wander, thinking back over their encounter with her father and everything that had come out of it.
“Hey,” Keyleth’s voice startles her out of her thoughts as she drops the finished braid over Vex’s shoulder, “Where did you go just then?”
“Back to that house with my father,” Vex turns around so she can look Keyleth in the eyes, “Thank you, for everything you did for me today. I know I don’t say it very often Keyleth, but I am very grateful for you.”
“And I know I say it a lot, but I mean it Vex when I say that you are enough.”
Vex leans into Keyleth, resting her cheek against the other girl’s chest and listening to Keyleth’s steady breaths. The other girl rests her cheek against the crown of Vex’s head as she wraps her up in a tight embrace.
“We should at least get under the covers,” Keyleth speaks up eventually, her voice traveling through Vex’s body at the points where they’re pressed together.
Vex is content to let Keyleth manoeuvre the two of them under the sheets. She’s exhausted from their day in Syngorn and is content to just curl into Keyleth’s side.
“Kiki,” Vex’s voice comes out nearly inaudible and Keyleth thinks for a moment she’s imagining it.
“Is everything alright?” Keyleth asks, and when Vex glances up at her the other girl is wearing a worried frown on her face.
“I’m alright,” Vex reaches out and smooths her fingers over Keyleth’s frown lines, drags them down over Keyleth’s cheek and along her jawline before she brushes them across Keyleth’s lips.
Keyleth stares at her with those wide doe eyes of hers, unblinking, until Vex pushes herself up and forwards just far enough to brush a kiss across her lips.
Keyleth exhales in a small puff of air as Vex pulls back, one of her hands coming up to cup the side of Vex’s face. She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t need to.
Vex leans in again, this time with more intent behind her movements, and kisses Keyleth again. Keyleth let’s Vex take charge of the situation, lets herself fall onto her back under Vex’s weight and pulling the other girl along with her. Vex pulls back just far enough that she can see Keyleth, her elbows resting against the mattress on either side of Keyleth’s head as she props herself up.
“Is this okay?”
“More than okay,” Keyleth’s voice comes out breathy and a little raspy. She readjusts herself so she can slide her hand up until it’s resting against the side of Vex’s neck and she can feel the other girl’s pulse hammering underneath her palm.
“Okay,” Vex’s tone matches Keyleth’s and she brushes her lips along Keyleth’s jaw, a smile breaking across her face at the soft laugh that escapes Keyleth when she reaches the spot just behind her ear. Vex brushes her lips over the spot once more just to hear that sound again.
This time it’s Keyleth who initiates the kiss, tugging Vex down with the hand on her neck, fingers curled into the base of her braid. Vex lets out a low groan as Keyleth pulls at her hair again. Keyleth starts to pull back at the sound, but Vex chases after her lips and Keyleth gets the message. Vex lets herself get lost in the slide of Keyleth’s mouth against her own and the feeling of the other girls hand moving from its place against her hip up and along the curve of her spine to pull Vex’s body further into her own. She lets out a low whine when Keyleth eventually pulls back, a satisfied smile on her face.
“I know, but you were the one who said we were going to need a descent sleep for our walk tomorrow,” Keyleth says, reaching up to brush back a few strands of hair that had come lose from Vex’s braid during their make out session.
“Unfortunately I was right about that,” Vex moves off Keyleth reluctantly and straightens herself up. When she glances back at Keyleth the other girl is still lying back on the bed, her hair fanning out around her like a halo and her singlet rumpled and tugged out of place. Vex wishes for entirely selfish reasons that they didn’t have to go trekking through the Moonbrush tomorrow.
Keyleth reaches out and for a moment Vex thinks she’s going to pull her back towards her. Instead she waves her hand through the air in a mildly confusing gesture and mutters something under her breath that Vex barely catches and doesn’t understand. The light in the room flickers and the torches in the wall sconces slowly flicker out, save for the lantern beside the bed.
“Come here,” Keyleth pats the mattress beside her and Vex smiles down at her for a moment before moving to lie beside her.
The bed isn’t really big enough to be sharing, despite what Vex had told Keyleth earlier, but she finds she doesn’t mind cuddling into Keyleth’s side. Keyleth repositions them so Vex is tucked under her chin and Vex can feel Keyleth’s lips moving against the crown of her head as she mutters once again in what Vex assumes is Druidic and the lantern beside the bed does out, leaving the pair lying in darkness.
Vex forces herself to listen to Keyleth’s steady breathing, ignoring her brain’s attempts to replay and evaluate everything that’s occurred recently. She would rather not think about any of it and Keyleth is warm where she’s pressed against Vex and they were just kissing. Things aren’t great, but they’re good. Better than Vex thinks they probably have a right to be considering everything that’s happening in world at the moment, but she’ll take it. She deserves something good.
“I can practically hear you thinking right now,” Vex starts at the sound of Keyleth’s voice; she thought Keyleth had fallen asleep at least fifteen minutes ago. “It’s a meditation technique my father taught me. The breathing, I mean.” Keyleth explains, shifting just enough that she can nuzzle into Vex, clearly close to sleep.
“Sorry,” Vex says automatically and Keyleth makes a noise in the back of her throat that is usually reserved for when Scanlan tells a joke or Grog forgets the rules and picks flowers for one of them out of Keyleth’s special garden.
“In through your nose, out through your mouth.”
“What?” Vex asks and she tries to tip her head back so she can see Keyleth, but the druid is cuddled into her too closely for Vex to be able to see her face.
“Your breathing,” Keyleth slides her hand under Vex’s shift until it’s pressed against the small of her back, half asleep and unaware of the effect her touch has on Vex. “Breath in through your nose and your through your mouth.”
Vex gives it a go and Keyleth makes a sleepy noise when Vex exhales against her collarbone, but is otherwise quiet. Vex isn’t sure which of them falls asleep first, but it’s the first good night’s sleep she’s gotten since the Chroma Conclave arrived in Emon.