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romeoandjulietyouwish · 2 years

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submitted by the incomparable @demisexualemmaswan

oh no, my hand slipped and then there was a twitch au fic because I'm a slut for perc'ahlia

She caught it too late.

"Can We Talk About How Hot the Briarwoods Are?"

The article flashed up, those fucking bastards pictures flashed up.

"Tbh, I'd let them murder me anytime," the article began.

Percy went grey.

Underneath the table his hand trembled so hard it made the table rattle and she went to grab his hand underneath the table. Vex needed to try and root him back with her, remind him he was safe, the Briarwoods were gone, it'd all be all right. He was safe, Cassandra was safe...

"Percy?" she whispered softly.

"I can't," he replied abruptly and stormed off into their kitchen. Vex couldn't see him, but the moment she heard the sob, she bolted up and followed him.

Fuck the stream. Fuck the person who sent the article in. It was just supposed to be a silly stream about stupid things they found on the internet.

And it wasn't an accident, she already knew this. Everyone knew who Percy was, what happened to his family and what the Briarwoods meant to him. The fucking media circus surrounding the trial and Percy and Cassandra for a year after had made sure of that.

But they didn't see what she saw.

The horrific nightmares that wrenched him from sleep, the way he sometimes couldn't be touched by their friends if they came too close, the way he begged in his sleep for them to stop...

And they certainly couldn't see her boyfriend hunched over in the kitchen. He was sitting on the floor, knees to his chest, hands in his hair and gasping like he'd never get a deep breath in again.

Tears immediately swam in her eyes and she dropped to her knees front of him, cupping his face in her hands.

"The stream," he rasped jaggedly, his eyes darting to her.

"Fuck the stream, anyone who matters will understand," she told him protectively. "I'm worried about you." Her thumb dragged across his cheek and he leaned into it. "Do you know where you are right now, darling?"

He nodded. "Home."

Vex smiled tenderly at him.

"Then you know you're safe?" she whispered gently. He nodded again. "And you know that I'm here?" Another nod. "Good. Now breathe with me. I've got you, my darling. And I'm not going anywhere."

Her phone buzzed at her hip. It was her brother.

Stream's still up. I'm coming over to turn it off, Kiki's coming with me. Picke's on her way with baked goods and she's already called Cass. Grog and Scanman are moderating the chat til I can get there. Tell Freddie we love him.

Percy's eyes flickered down, shame and self-loathing crossing his features. "They shouldn't...I don't deserve it."

"You do," Vex said fiercely, pressing her forehead to his.

"It was just an article..." Percy's breath hitched and tears swam in his eyes, trickling down his cheeks as he fought to regain his composure. "I...I shouldn't have...lost control like this. I'm so sorry, Vex...I'm sorry...I'm sorry."

Vex pulled him into her arms, unable to bear it anymore. "Don't you dare be sorry," she whispered, kissing his temple. She hugged him as tightly as she could.

She could practically hear Keyleth's voice in her head from one of her streams, "Deep pressure activates the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing people to calm down. It's kind of like the opposite of fight or flight."

Vex was going to kiss Keyleth fully on the mouth for that one when she got here.

"You didn't ask for this--" Percy whimpered. "It was just a picture, I know they're gone, I should be fine...I am fine..."

Vex pressed another kiss into his hair, her body acting as a shock absorber for his. "I knew exactly what I signed on for when I started loving you," she whispered softly. "Just as you knew what you signed on for when you started loving me. If making sure you're safe and all right is a price you think I have to pay, then I'll pay it with interest."

Percy let out a huff of a laugh and she nearly crumpled with relief as he buried her face in her shoulder. "That's very generous of you, dear," he murmured against her skin.

The two sat on their kitchen floor, taking deep breaths. They stayed curled up against each other and Vex didn't remotely try to pull away until Percy gave any sort of sign that he was ready to be let go of.

"Hey, sorry about that folks!" She could hear Vax's voice from the other room. "But glad the people got to see a surprise cameo from the better looking twin--"

"You're a dick!" Vex called over her shoulder to her brother and Percy's laugh this time sounded more solid. He pulled away and she kissed him softly. "I love you, Percy."

"I love you too," Percy replied, cupping her cheek in his hand. "And thank you for bringing me out of that."

"You reaction was more than valid. Those people hurt you and you weren't expecting to see an article objectifying them," Keyleth said, entering the kitchen. She sat beside Percy and Percy leaned his head against his best friend's shoulder. Percy twined their fingers together, and Keyleth shoved a water bottle into Percy's free hand. "Drink," she ordered.

"Are you going to bully me into self-care?" Percy teased weakly.

"Yes," Keyleth said emphatically.

Vex got up to ensure that the stream was off. While it was, she also found her brother glowering at the computer. "It was Saundor," he growled. Still, he forced himself to relax and wrap his sister in his arms. "You okay, Stubby?"

"Furious," she admitted. "Especially now that I know it was Saundor. I...fuck. He did this to hurt Percy, on purpose!"

Percy, who had been her third most stalwart defender (after her brother and Trinket) when Saundor's messages became more intense and more threatening. Percy, who showed nothing but love and devotion and care for her. Percy, who was everything Saundor wasn't...

"I should've taken Percy up on his offer when he threatened to shoot Saundor," Vex joked hollowly.

Vax kissed her forehead. "It's a good thing the stream is off, Stubby, so the only person who heard you say that was me." He went into the kitchen and pressed his forehead to Percy's. "You all right, Freddie?" When Percy nodded, Vax pulled him into a hug that Percy was more than glad to reciprocate. "Good. And even if you're not, Pickle is bringing those brownies you like so much."

"You're all making quite a fuss," Percy observed, but Vex noticed the way that the tips of his ears turned pink when she beamed at him.

"Yeah, it's cuz we care about you or something, you asshole," Vax teased, nudging Percy with his shoulder. "Think you can make it to the couch?"

"Hold on, can you actually set up all the stuff for a blanket fort, I wanna run one of Percy's therapy exercises with him--" Keyleth instructed as Percy groaned good-naturedly. "You know the drill, Perce. 5 things you can see, four things you can touch..."

A few hours later saw Percy cocooned safely in the confines of a blanket fort with their family and his sister. But Vex couldn't sleep, her mind whirring about all that had happened.

What would the next few days look like if he went on social media? Would others try it again?

He'd already asked shyly if he could abstain from streaming for a week or two, if that would be all right. And of course she agreed because she would do anything that helped him take care of himself and advocate for his own mental health, just as he would do the same for her.

Determined to do what she could, Vex logged on Twitter to see her mentions and DMs flooded with mainly concerned fans of his, asking if he was okay, if they could do anything. Scrolling a little bit, there was clear berating of the person who did it and a few firm but thorough rebukes to anyone who had posted a video.

Which some people had, but mainly under the guise of "wow I want someone to love me as much as Vex loves Percy". Which in theory she understood the sentiment, but was feeling more and more appreciative of the fans who took the time to explain why it wasn't a good idea.

"You guys are the best," she tweeted. "We love you very much. Popping on in a bit to talk about what happened. Take care of yourselves and each other."

She logged onto Twitch and took a deep breath. As she stared at her own reflection, she knew she look exhausted and Vex hoped that would get her point across.

"Hi all," she murmured softly, as the numbers began flying in. "It's been a rough night over here, and...and so I wanted to thank you for everyone who reached out to ask if Percy was all right. We really are so blessed to have such a community behind us..."

Her throat tightened and she had to brush the tears from her eyes. The messages flooded the chat asking if she was okay, if Percy was okay and she smiled wetly at them. "I'm sure many of you are wondering if Percy's all right. He will be, with a little rest and a break from streaming and social media. I promise to send him your love and he'll join me again when he's ready."

"In the meantime..." She bit her lip, thinking about what she wanted to say next. "Regarding that article that was so callously sent in. I understand that for some people it can be...tempting treat real people the same way we treat fictional characters, especially when those people are gone and can't react and have no control of the narrative."

"But I need you all to understand that the Briarwoods were real people. They were real people who committed horrific actions, and the children that were hurt by them--even though they are all grown up now--have to deal with those every day. Two people that I love more than anything have had to deal with the press and true crime fanatics forcing them to relive their trauma day after day and I...I beg you, please don't do that here."

And then her face hardened, "Because if I find that you are trying to hurt the people I love, intentionally, I will be getting the authorities involved. Make no mistake. We all know that I've done it before, and we all know that Percy has done it for me. He and I will do whatever we must to make sure the other is safe. To make sure our family is safe and that includes Cassandra, my brother and Keyleth and Pike and Scanlan and Grog."

"And I always will," Percy rasped from the doorway. His hair was adorably sleep ruffled and he stumbled a little bit blindly over to come kiss her cheek. Resting his head on hers, he squinted at the screen. "Ah, it appears we have guests. Hello, all. I don't have much more to say because Vex said it so brilliantly, but I...I will talk about tonight when I am ready. I feel your love and concern and it is very much appreciated. But my mental health journey needs to be my own, bolstered by and for those whom I care most for in this world. In the meantime, take care of yourselves, we love you very much, and we'll see you soon."

He ended the stream and pulled Vex into his arms, swaying with her for a little bit. "Back to the pillow fort then, dearest?" he hummed softly.

Vex nodded against his neck and was soon asleep, surrounded by the safety and comfort of her friends, Percy's steady heartbeat in her ear.

#submitted #submission #OH MY GOD THIS IS SO GOOD #seriously just made my day so much better omggg this is literally exactly how i imagined this scene and i am obsessed with how you write #them!!! ive read this so many times already. youre so incredible thank you so much for writing this!#critical role #vox machina #twitch au #percahlia

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