Chapter Text
The new guy was kind of cute, Vex can admit that. Keyleth had seriously the weirdest places she had fished people from. Apparently, the guy went to the same library she did one too many times. Somehow made conversation, it led to her ranting about her garden, mentioned the broken water pump, he offered to repair it.
So here he was, working under the rays of the sun, clothes stained with the mud of the gardens. She could see the white streaks of hair stuck to his forehead with the sweat. And perhaps she saw this only because of her acute elven vision, because the human was really far away. Like, really far away. The pump was all the way to the back of the land, and from this distance, it was safe for Vex to watch.
Pulling this garden off was something, Vex would always had to admit, had some fucking merit. Keyleth now lived in the Keep, had inherited this large space from her grandmother, deciding to turn it into a community garden after she passed. Her own home was pretty much open to the public now, and she couldn't be happier with it.
In a large city like Emon was, people hardly visited the outsides of it. In fact, Vex thinks she wouldn't have ever done something like this, had Vax and her not been friends with Keyleth for so long. So of course it was a big deal when Keyleth's became the biggest, prettiest, most organized communal space so far from the center of town.
When she told her and Vax that she was making this place into a community garden, she'd almost laughed in her face. And then she'd felt sympathy, mentally betting on how long would it be before the druid finally gave up on the idea to involve city people into such a hippie hobby. And now this space was protected by the council of Emon, received some free products to keep it sustained, donated all the grown vegetables to a shelter, and offered plenty of activities for all ages. It was the most beautiful thing Vex had ever seen.
The big space was separated into smaller zones to do different things. Fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other plants. Those weren't the exact names, but Vex couldn't be bothered. Then there was a big barbecue area, and a greenhouse. And a workshop to do all kinds of bird houses, scarecrows, painting fences, signs. Pretty much anything the garden required. The little white stone covered paths circled the different areas, including the pond, where you could sit under one of the trees and feed the ducks.
The Keep was also open to pretty much anyone, she closed her main living area, but a few of the drawing rooms and bathrooms were available for people to take a rest from the sun. It was always nice to have somewhere with air conditioner among all that naturality. Somewhere with a big fridge and lots of cold water.
The guy repairing the pump looked like he would love some cold water in that moment.
"Hey Keyleth!" She called when she saw the redhead walking near. She jumped and turned, apparently not noticing her before. But immediately gave her a smile and a questioning nod. "How's the new guy doing over there?"
Keyleth looked in the direction of Vex's nod, and opened her eyes comically when she saw him working there.
"Oh, geez, he's been working for a long time, hasn't he? I told him to take breaks to be out of the sun."
"Who is he, anyway?" Vex shrugged.
"I told you, I know him from the library-"
"Yeah, but his name, you didn't tell us his name, Keyleth"
"Oh, you're right!" She chuckled and blushed lightly at that, "he told me to call him Percy. Didn't say much else. He was really polite, but kind of private... Actually, I might get some snacks for him, he's been there for quite a while."
Vex nodded when she saw the decided look on Keyleth's eyes. She kept watching the man work, he did look tired, but driven, willing to end the task at hand.
"That reminds me," Keyleth blurted out, causing Vex to look at her again, "are Grog and Pike here already? They were supposed to bring some baby trees today."
"Where are you going to put more trees, Keyleth?" Vex laughed, "this place is enormous, but getting crowded, don't you think?"
The redhead gasped in feigned indignation and put a hand over her chest.
"How can you say that!" She complained, and then dropped the act before explaining. "I was just thinking we could have some more shade near Greyskull Keep, don't you think? It would help cooling down the walls so it stays naturally fresh inside."
"Couldn't you grow some trees?"
"I mean, yeah. But why would I, when there's already a bunch of orphan trees that need somewhere to grow?"
"That is... a strange way to see it."
Keyleth laughed. "But I will make them grow faster, though, just some good ol' druid meditation here and there, and we'll have some big shadows to put those wooden tables Grog keeps making."
Vex laughed even harder than she had before. It was true that they had more tables that they needed, after Grog had successfully followed and memorized the instructions to make the first one. And because most of the garden was usually sustained by all the volunteers that spent their days tending to it, Vex often forgot that Keyleth could probably meditate for a while and make it all happen by magical means. But the purpose wasn't really the garden, was it? The purpose was the act of tending to it, and having a nice place to feel proud of, to be a part of something. Not to mention that part of the job Keyleth let to young druids that were still in training.
"Anyway," she started to walk towards the Keep, probably to get some water for Percy, "can you call them, please? Ask them if everything's alright. They should be on the road already."
Vex groaned, tilting her head back.
"You know the reception here is terrible! I would have to walk all the way to the front!"
But Keyleth was already walking far away, and only turned to yell back at her with a smile.
"I know! I'm working on it, alright?! It'll get better soon, I promise!"
And with that, she started her long, long way towards the entrance of the garden. Keyleth went in the opposite direction, towards Greyskull Keep.
"Hey there, is everything going well?"
Keyleth was clumsy by nature. It took so much effort for her to just live her life without stumbling through it like a newborn girafa, that the last thing she would ever consider was that she could be silent enough to startle someone. Yet the white haired human jumped violently at her voice. Looking back with a haunted gaze and an accelerated breathing.
Keyleth stopped where she was, so abruptly that she almost drops the tray that she had been walking so carefully to deliver. She had been rather proud of herself for making it all the way from the Keep without tripping on anything, but now her smile was wiped from her face as she watched the man clear his throat and stand straight like he hadn't been panicking just mere seconds ago.
"Woah, are you okay? What... is everything okay?"
"Oh, yes, yes." His voice did't shake, the smile seemed genuine, his breath was calmer now. Maybe Keyleth had imagined it. The man chuckled. "You just gave me a fright, that is all."
"Uh, alright," it was weird, but she let it slide. "I brought you something to drink, and a few snacks. I didn't even think to tell you but, the Keep is open and there's air conditioner inside. You should take a break, you've been here all day."
"What are you talking about? It's only," he took nice fancy pocket clock, and looked at the time, his eyes opened comically when he saw it. "Good gods, it's late already."
"Yeah," Keyleth pressed her lips in a smile, apologetic, "you came pretty early in the morning, too. Sorry, next time I won't insist on you coming in before I open."
"No, no. It was no trouble at all," he took the water she offered, and his hands were dirty with grease and mud, but she still could see them trembling the slightest. She didn't mention it.
"How's the pump?" she realized she was still holding the tray up, and moved to deposit it on the corner of a flowerbed nearby. She sat on there on the bricks, next to the tray, and watched him get back to his work.
"Almost done. There was no trouble with the pipeline, luckily. It was something in the mechanic side of things, hard to repair without some replacement parts. But I worked my way around it, made a few myself. This guy... Sorry, I'm not sure I remember his name correctly, Scanlan? Pointed me to some scraps, I hope that's okay?"
He looked up at her, suddenly looking a bit preoccupied, like he was just now thinking how that could have gone wrong. She rushed to shake her head reassuringly.
"From the old barn at the back? Yeah, don't worry about it, it's mostly crap that my grandparents never got to getting rid of. I'm glad it came useful."
"Very," he smiled politely. "A few years ago I would have drooled at so many metal scraps to work with," he chuckled, but it was dull and gray.
"What do you do? Aside from the clocks," she knew he repaired clocks, but he also said he could repair pretty much anything, that was the whole reason she ended up mentioning the pump.
"A bit of everything, I guess. Not much anymore."
"Why not?"
Percy shrugged, and went back to his work, she thought that he might have done this to get away with not looking at her.
"Lack of motivation?" It wasn't a question, but it sounded like that.
"Huh," she nodded, curious. The engineering section was next to the plants and vegetation section. She always found him there, nose buried in a book that looked too numbery for her taste.
He was reading about gear differentials and escapement mechanisms, not that she had been peaking at his books every time she picked her own for the past few weeks. She was holding a book titled “Druidic Soil Recovery & Seasonal Composting.” The gardening section was loud in its way, full of colorful covers, flyers for workshops, drawings of earthworms. She fit right in. He didn’t.
She was doing her own thing when she saw the old woman who ran the library hand him a wrapped parcel with delicate care. She placed it on the table next to him, he startled.
“A gentleman dropped this off. I told him you’d be in.”
The man frowned softly, looking at the package. He opened the top of it and Keyleth watched as a beautiful old clock that looked incredibly expensive peaked out of the paper wrapping. He looked about to protest. Keyleth had talked to him a couple of times in the past, just small talk, but she'd never asked his name.
The old woman patted his shoulder. "You’re doing a good thing, dear. Let me know if you need more screws.”
That was when Keyleth noticed. Her eyes lit up.
“You fix things?”
He paused.
"I... guess so?"
"Just clocks? Anything else?"
"Uh, pretty much anything."
She started rambling about her garden. Couldn't help it. Every time she got the opportunity, she did. In the same way Vex just couldn't resist showing you photos of Trinket doing the most mundane activities a bear could do. When she finally managed to get to the point, she had to take a few deep breaths to keep talking.
“Anyway, I have pump,” she blurted out, far too excited. “Near the greenhouse. It's possessed. Or cursed. Or just very, very old. Could you-? Would you mind?”
He hesitated. The thought of being around people made his stomach knot. But the idea of doing nothing again tomorrow was worse.
“I can look at it,” he said finally.
She smiled, big and bright. The man looked somewhat intimidated by it, but Keyleth barely noticed.
"Look at it?" She accused, but her enthusiasm didn't dim. "Or actually fix it?"
"I mean, I can look at it, if it's fixable then I can do that."
Without losing the smile, she squinted at him.
"You just said you could fix anything."
"I said, 'I guess so,' just before that."
A beat.
"Yeah, I guess you make a fair point. I'm Keyleth. What's your name?"
Realizing that she had been creepingly watching the man work for a while, she stood up.
"Uh, anyway. I'll leave the snacks here, just in case you get hungry. And if you need anything else, you know where to find me!" She started walking away, and then she stopped. "Actually, you don't know where to find me, and you probably won't cause I'm always moving around but..."
Percy huffed, and remained respectfully quiet until she gathered her thoughts. She looked around, trying to find a solution for the problem, but couldn't think of anything.
"You know what? I don't know. You may just have to go asking around."
"I can do that," the human assured. "Thank you for the water, and the food. Greatly appreciated."
"Oh, it's nothing. See you later!"
Keyleth left to see whether Grog and Pike had finally arrived, but as always, she ended up doing a thousand things in the middle. First, she ran into Scanlan.
"I saw the repair boy you got for the pump," that's the way he greets her, "did you seriously not give him any replacement parts?"
She might have taken it as judgement from any other people, but Scanlan was already about to burst in laughter, she could tell. She felt herself blushing.
"I didn't know that it was going to need any!" She tried to argue, "I don't know anything about repairing those things! How was I supposed to know?"
Scanlan laughed as he walked besides her, patting her on the arm, she snatched it away from him but she wasn't really angry about the mockery, just slightly embarrassed.
"Well, good luck you had that shit in the barn, or he would've had to drive to town and back to get some parts."
"Yeah," she sighed, relieved. "And for the future, when you know things like that, you tell them to me!"
Scanlan just continued laughing softly while they both made their way to the doors.
"Oh, Keyleth's there, wait a minute. Keyleth!" A voice called from from her right. She turned to see Diana half running towards her.
Diana was a human druid that spent her days helping out in the garden, as well as teaching a group of younger druids the basics of natural magic. She was a kind teacher, good with kids, and patient with adults as well, so Keyleth let her run all the school related things that happened in the garden. But unfortunately, Keyleth did have to be pretty involved with that too, so that's why Diana was often running after her when she saw her.
"Oh, hi!" Keyleth went for a hug and then waved the two teenagers that were just talking to the human but had stayed behind a bit. "What did you need?"
Diana was holding a clipboard that was now showing to Keyleth.
"There are two schools that reached out to visit this place. The first one agreed on monday, and the second one said that can't do it any day that isn't monday but I just- we can't accommodate the two schools at the same time, there's not enough people to- what am I saying? You know that. Anyway, I don't know if just tell them to try again next month, or if to call the first school and see if they can any other day, but I mean... they did call first, so..."
"Uh..." Keyleth looked at the clipboard but the spreadsheet of numbers and times and dates meant nothing for her.
She greeted the schools at the front. Gave them a little prepared speech that she'd said enough times already that she didn't mess it up anymore. She liked to see the faces of the kids when they first saw the big space, but then she pretty much let them be. Some days, she didn't even know a school was visiting until she ran onto them at one of the areas. Some times Diana would act as a tour guide, and Keyleth would be like one of the attraction, whatever she was doing, she stopped for a minute to let Diana introduce her, and then kept going.
"I don't know," she admitted. "We really can't take both?"
Diana blinked.
"I mean, there's the space, but we couldn't give them the whole experience because... you know, there's not enough people."
They offered a couple activities for schools. A talk about the environment, a walk around the place, an activity where kids got to get their hands dirty and leave with their own plant and a few short classes. Like Vex briefly demonstrating archery, and letting them have a go. Or Vax putting together a shitty steeplechase for the kids to play. If the class was small, Pike sometimes would take them to the rather large kitchen of the Keep and thought them to make bread filled with different vegetables that they had previously collected from the garden.
"What if you just add more things to do," Scanlan suggested. And then shrugged when Diana looked at him. "I mean- I can, you know, teach some music. And someone else can do some stupid activities too. If there's an excess of something here, it's people willing to help."
Diana nodded, slowly. She looked like she was beating herself up about not thinking of that. But Keyleth really wanted to get to the doors and see if Pike had arrived, so she dismissed it with a smile.
"I'll tell you something, we'll receive the two, and if it goes terribly wrong, that will be a lesson learned."
Scanlan laughed, probably proud of her careless attitude. But Diana nodded.
"Yeah, that's fine. I will do that. Thank you."
Keyleth said goodbye before continuing to walk, Scanlan right behind her. She didn't make it really long before something else caught her attention.
"Ow, when did that happen?" She complained when she saw one of the fountains was not splashing any water. "When did this broke?"
"I don't know," Scanlan said, getting closer. "Looks like the filter and the air pump are broken as well, the fish are alive though, so it couldn't have been long since it stopped working."
"Shit, that needs fixing like, right away."
"Meh, it's a big pool, it can go on for a few days."
Keyleth's phone rang.
"I don't know if I would like to risk it," she said at the same time she was getting her phone from her clothes. It was Pike, thank gods. She picked up. "Yeah, I'm coming to the door, I swear... I know right? I keep getting sidetracked..."
Scanlan huffed, and walked next to her.
Despite what he'd told Keyleth, Percy took another hour before he finished fixing the pump. It was a delicate matter indeed, because it brought water to the majority of the plantations in that side of the garden, as well as the taps in the greenhouse. So he had to keep walking from one place to the other, checking everything was in order.
But finally, it was done. He had finished the water Keyleth had brought for him, but let the snacks untouched. He retrieved the tray to the Keep. It was open, and there was no one inside, so he just found his way to the big kitchens and deposited there. Then he started to make his way through the place, trying to find a redheaded druid that had warned she was always moving from place to place.
The place was beautiful, that was not in discussion. Kids and their families walked here and there, people came with their dogs. Percy might be going insane, but at one point he thinks he saw a a bear turning around a corner.
There was a constant song to this place. A rhythm kept by the running water, the singing of birds, and the noises of happiness laughter and enjoyment. The earthy smell, and the warm weather made his chest feel light in a way he never felt nowadays. His eyes lingering on every piece of mundanity like it was the most precious thing.
But not Keyleth anywhere.
"Hey there," he was immediately startled by the voice approaching. It was a half-elf with long black hair that walked towards him with a decided stare. "I saw you before, you're the guy Keyleth ranted into fixing the pump?"
Percy tried to smile, and hoped it came out as truthful even though he was struggling to bring his breath back to normal. He nodded.
"That might just be me."
"How is it, the pump?"
"All good now," he assured, "working as good as new."
"Good, that's great. It's been bothering her." The man extended his hand, "I'm Vax'ildan. Pleasure."
Percy hoped Vax'ildan couldn't tell how violently his hands were shaking when he took his hand.
"Percy," he introduced himself. "I was, uh, looking for Keyleth."
"Oh, well, that makes two of us." Vax'ildan laughed, "she's always hard to find here."
They started to walk together, Percy had no idea where he was going, so he relied on the fact that Vax'ildan seemed to know the way... somewhere.
"This place is gigantic," Percy comments as they pass by a few long roads of what could only be berries ready to be harvested.
Vax'ildan huffed, and nodded.
"It didn't start like that," he commented, "but yeah, it's easy to get lost here. We've been meaning to make some signs. I guess sometimes we forget that... there's new people coming in. Not all of us know this place since before it was even a garden."
They kept walking around, Vax'ildan asked every person they walked by if they had seen Keyleth, the answers were mostly no, or not for a while. At some point, Percy's pretty sure that the goal changed from finding Keyleth to just showing him around the place. A rather beautiful place, Percy had to admit. But as much as he appreciated Vax'ildan showing him the best parts of it, he was at the moment, not equipped for such a long walk.
He had been working non-stop, with nothing in his stomach but the water Keyleth brought him. He was not used to being in the sun anymore, nowhere near the heat, actually. He was a mess in warm weathers, he knew that. It seemed like the abuse on his body was finally taking it's toll. Percy was starting to feel dizzy and lightheaded. He kept walking alongside Vax'ildan, hoping he didn't notice.
"And that way's the pond, it's a nice pond. There's ducks. Some fish." Vax'ildan was ranting. "There's a big tree there too, an especially old one, we call her Bertha. Shitty name for a tree but, you know, Scanlan picked it so you can't expect much... Hey, are you okay? You look pale."
Oh, shit. Fucking mother bitch shit. He was noticing. Percy swallowed, his throat extremely dry, and kept walking even though the half-elf was slowing his steps. He had to keep walking, if he stopped, the world that was tilting upside down would send him crushing to the ground. His vision was turning dark at the corners, his stomach was upset, and he wished more than anything to juts sit, just for a minute. But he couldn't say that, could he? And now the adding anxiety of having been discovered was making it all worse, he started to hyperventilate.
"Yeah, fine, fine," he blurts out. Out of breath. And he tried to joke, "not used to this much walking, to be honest. I get everywhere on car."
Vax'ildan huffed, "tell me about it."
But he kept frowning. After taking the next step, Percy stumbled sideways and he felt a hand firmly grabbing his arm. The world stopped as he yanked the hand away as hard as he could, shielding himself in case there were more coming, taking more than two steps back. For a second, his vision was dark but not because of the low blood pressure, he could clearly see the dark stone of the dungeons of Whitestone. If he moved he could even feel the metal bed he was tied to. And if he concentrated, he could hear Anna's voice somewhere behind him.
"Woah, I'm sorry. I just thought you could use a rest. See? We can sit here..."
And then it was all gone, and Vax'ildan was in front of him. The symptoms of his empty stomach had dimmed, but his dizzy spell was still there. He realized he was still standing next to Vax, his hand hovering over his arm without touching him. Apparently he hadn't moved as much as he imagined, he hadn't made as much of a scene as he feared. Good, that was great. Vax'ildan's eyes were worried but not terrified. He could still save himself the embarrassment.
"I will admit I'm actually rather short of breath. Maybe I should've eaten those snacks that Keyleth handed me, it's not nice to work on an empty stomach."
He could practically hear Cassandra's voice mocking him all the way from Vasselheim. Telling him something like "yeah, you're so smart saying that and yet you won't take your own advice, you little prick." But thankfully Cassandra wasn't there to see how much he actually let go of himself. Small victories.
Vax'ildan raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, no, bad idea. Here's a bench."
As soon as Percy sat, the dizziness started to subside. He let out a deep breath as he felt the breeze on his face. He opened his eyes to a bright sun, and squinted to see that they were actually right in front of a big lake. Wooden tables under some trees, ducks on the shore, two dogs running around and jumping in and out of the water.
"Oh, that's nice," he muttered.
"Yeah, we've been walking next to this for quite a while. I guess you weren't really paying attention."
"Wasn't feeling great," he admitted, feeling his cheeks reddening.
"That's okay, we can stay here a while."
For the first time in years, Percy's thoughts weren't racing in the silence, his head was quiet. Which was incredibly peaceful. There was something about watching the ducks fly and swim, dive underwater and take off in the sky... It was soothing in a way Percy rarely got to experience, locked in his house. A dark place, too big for one person, too empty, too cold. The sun was rather nice.
"I find it extremely therapeutic," Vax'ildan said softly, like he could read his thoughts. "I love this place. Come here all the time."
Percy inhaled and exhaled.
"I think we may go on now," he said after a while.
"You sure?"
"Yes. Thank you, Vax'ildan, that was rather nice, that you stayed."
The half-elf just glanced at him, looking like was about to say something that Percy would rather not hear. And then, "just Vax is fine."
"Alright, Vax."
"There you are!"
The sudden cheerful yelp was enough to send Percy into panic again, just for a moment, before Vax talked.
"Keyleth! We were looking for you!"
"You found me," she sang with a smile.
Percy stood up slowly, and was glad to find that he wasn't dizzy anymore. Keyleth gave him a big bright teeth and all smile, and he could only hope he was able to return something even half decent. It felt more like a grimace.
"Just looking for you to tell you that it's all done."
"Ooh, really? Thank you so, so much!"
Then she did something completely totally unpolite and out of place, in his opinion. She hugged him. And Percy, he just... Stayed there.
And it lasted just for a second, but enough to leave Percy utterly confused as to what had just happened. The touch hadn't brought the pain and panic he was expecting, it felt... warm, almost.
"Yeah, so," Percy cleared his throat. "I'm heading out now."
"So soon?" She frowned, and then immediately looked embarrassed about doing so. "I mean, of course. Thank you so so much again."
She started walking him towards the doors. The conversation was nice, different to what Percy was used to. Not that he was particularly used to to any kind of casual conversation. But it was better that the uncomfortable scripted questions that he asked and answered every time he went to the store. This was mostly Keyleth talking, he listened. It was easy to listen to her, specially with all the greens and flowers that were pleasing to look at, so he didn't feel weird about staring too much at her. Vax chimed in from time to time, and even though they asked him a couple of questions about himself, they never pressed after he gave short answer.
They weren't too far from where knew he'd parked his car, when they were saying their final goodbyes.
"It was nice to meet you, Keyleth. I hope to see you in the library from time to time," he extended his hand. She shook it.
"You're welcome here whenever you want. I know it's a bit far away. Thank you so much, again. People come volunteering here because they like to garden, and we often don't think very much about also needing help with all the other things..." She shrugged. "Trouble just never stops, I guess I'm gonna have to put up a sign about needing people to do the hard work here."
"Well, if you ever..." He struggled to say it because he was not sure he meant it. It was more something he needed to say to be polite. Of course, he could've chosen not to offer. But Keyleth was such a bright person, and had been so nice. And this whole experience hadn't been as horrible as he was fearing it might. "You know, need something else..."
He shrugged. Trying to give her a smile, he thinks he did a good job, even if it was lips sealed and didn't reach his eyes.
"That's very kind of you- I- Actually!" She looked somewhere behind him. Then she blushed when she looked at him again. "I actually have a fountain now."
"Yes, I saw it on my way in."
"Yeah, turns out it's broken. Hadn't realized."
"Huh," Percy scraped his chin as he looked behind him, he couldn't see the fountain from there but he knew it was really close by if you turned in the right corner. "So that's what it seemed a little funky. Do you wish me to take a look?"
"That would be-" Keyleth nodded, "I can't ask that of you, so don't feel pressured. I also don't think that's a one day job, but... I have fish there, and I'm not sure whether they will be fine without all the stuff they need."
Percy ended up taking a look at the fountain. By the end of the day, when the sky started to darken. His shirt was soaked in water that smelled slightly like fish, but he had managed to fix the necessary stuff for the fishtank, the actual fountain was a bit more difficult, though. But his body was already telling him that it was enough for the day, he's not used to this much activity. As the sun slowly dimmed, he got more and more cold, his fingers started slightly shaking, and overall he was just drained from any kind of energy. Even so, he still told Keyleth that he's willing to finish the repair.
"Not today, though," he apologised.
"Yeah, no, of course not today," Keyleth accepted as if it was obvious. "Look at you, geez, you must be cold. I'm so sorry, do you want to change? I bet I have some of Vax's clothes around the Keep that would fit you."
"Don't worry about it. I'll be warm in the car and I'll get home in no time. It's really no trouble. So maybe I'll come by to finish that... when it is convenient for you?"
Keyleth kept walking with him even though they'd already reached the road, and he was making his way to his car. She still had a big smile on her face.
"Any day, really. I'm here all the time. I don't really," she blushed, like she was embarrassed in some way. "I don't really need to work, you know, my- I've inherited enough for a lifetime. The garden is what I do every day. It's what I want to do everyday, for the rest of my life."
"I... understand that. Actually, I envy it."
Keyleth chuckled, but it sounded almost self-deprecating.
"I guess I must be living the dream right? Too useless to work, living with my family's money?"
Percy's laugh was exaggerated, he knew it. It sounded wrong, corrupted. Maybe it had been. Even in he himself could hear the self hatred that dripped form that laugh.
"That's not at all the part I envy," he explains. "I... You and I might not be that different, Keyleth, after all. Though I wish I had a garden."
She looked into him, and Percy knew she was reading him somehow. Maybe she could see everything, maybe she saw how useless he himself was. How alone. Maybe she saw it all. Or maybe she didn't. But when she smiled, he could understand that she knew what he meant. Of course he wasn't talking about a real garden. Maybe he just wanted something for himself, that kept him going. Something that forced him to row in the ever-pushing tides that threatened with swallowing him whole.
"This is everyone's garden. It can be yours." She wasn't talking about gardens, either.
But it did not matter how many gardens he was offered, he would always be too scared to take them. The prospect of living was terrifying. As terrifying as hope.
"I'm gonna head home now," he said, rather cold. He hadn't meant to, but he'd truly reached his limits for the day. He wished to rest, to curl up in a ball of darkness and let the world fade around him until it was but a dark cloud holding all of his torments.
"Let's keep in contact, I'll give you my phone number so we can text."
He was pulled out of his thoughts by that. It was his turn to blush. He was halfway into his car, and he realized that there was nothing he could respond to that but the truth. If he lied in any way, he would appear rude, and he didn't want that for Keyleth, the half-elf didn't deserve it. But as soon as he said the truth, he would expose himself as the incredibly insane person that he was.
"I... actually, I don't own a phone."
A beat.
"What?"
He cleared his throat and then swallowed, even though he knew that Keyleth's question wasn't actually a petition for him to repeat himself.
"I said that I don't own a phone."
"I mean, why? I mean. Not to judge, man, but... how do you... anything?"
"Well, there's other ways," he didn't elaborate.
Keyleth frowned at him, looking like she was completely judging. But rather than making him uncomfortable or offended, Percy felt it was quite amusing to see, it almost made him chuckle.
"Alright. So, see you when I see you? I suppose? Bye Percy. It was really nice to have you."
"It was nice to be here. See you soon, Keyleth. Goodbye."
He let out a breath as soon as he closed the door of his car. And he can see Keyleth turned away from him, and she did the same. Just a long sigh, because they both had pushed the limits of what their brains can spend making conversation with a new being.
The drive home is long, but it didn't drag on like the one he took in the morning. The anxiety and fears of expectation surrounding what he was about to face had him imagining the way was a lot longer than it actually ended up being. He was rather hungry on the way, which he thought was rather weird for him, but then he remembered that he hadn't had anything to eat the whole day, that was pushing it even for him.
He picked up some to-go, and the moment he stepped out of his car in the garage and made it to his house, he was actually glad to be home. He left the food on the kitchen. Not the kitchens, the place where the staff usually prepares a feast to eat at the dinning hall. This was just the small kitchen that occupied a corner and it was for domestic use. This house wasn't a castle, it was definitely not Whitestone Castle, but it was big enough for Percy to barely know all of its rooms.
This had apparently been where the de Rolo family stayed during political visits, not that Percy remembers much about life before the Briarwoods. When the council of Emon handed him the paperwork and pointed towards the richest place of the Cloudtop District, he and Cassandra were too tired to make any other decisions over where to live. They never bothered to get a smaller place. It had already been too big for two, but for only one person it was just ridiculously lonely.
Most of the house is dark and covered in sheets. He only turns on the small lights and mostly lets the rest be covered by the shadows. At that moment he left his room after changing into some dry clothes, and passed through his study, where one of the clocks sat waiting patiently. He hadn't had the time to take to his workshop, or he hadn't had the energy to do so.
There were a few sealed letters waiting on his mailbox, he took those and the to-go bag to the study, and eyed through them while picking at his food. One was formal, from the council of Emon, telling him him that they were expecting his confirmation on the date agreed so they could send the arcanists to renew the protective spells of the manor, as they did monthly. He left it at the side to write the reply in the morning.
The other one was from Cassandra. He threw it unopened to the pile of letters that were accumulating from here. Only seeing it there already caused a deep heaviness in his chest and a knot in the back of his throat. He sighed tiredly, put his food aside, no longer hungry all of the sudden, and rubbed his eyes roughly.
He hastily took a piece of paper and a pen from the mess of trinkets and papers that was his desk.
Dear Cass,
I know I haven't been replying to your letters, I apologise, and I promise I will do it tonight. As soon as I read them all I will send my reply to all of them, as I should have done before they started to collect dust over my desk.
I would apologise in a more profusely manner, but I know already what you will say to me if I do, and I would rather spend my ink in other ways. It will worry you more than anger you, I understand, but worry not, please, I'm alright.
I am a bit of a lonely soul. The spirit haunting this manor, but I'm sure I don't have to tell you that, you know it well already. You complain your letters are longer than mine, but you have of course a lot more to tell. As for me, I go to the library from time to time, I fix clocks, if my energy allows me. And that's about as much as I get done in months.
When my head is clear and the fog dims, I read your letters and I deeply enjoy your adventures. I treasure your moments, and I memorize the names of the people and places you tell me about. And I know you wished me to do more than that. I could lie and say I did, but I do not wish to do so.
However, I find myself writing this letter before reading all of yours, because I happen to have something to say.
I stopped by a garden outside the city. A half-elf woman (strangely frantic) asked if I could fix an irrigation valve. I have seen her occasionally at the library but she'd never talked to me outside of the weather. She has shamelessly asked that I drive all the way outside of town to fix something for her, and then kept me there the whole day. There was also an unfortunate fountain that I haven't finished fixing, but caused me to come home wet and tired regardless.
I spent the day in a new place, where people watched me work while I was uncomfortably struggling with metal scraps to get everything working. I had to talk more words today that I have in months, I am now sunburnt, and withered.
Thought it would be awful. It wasn’t.
I don't know, maybe I'll go back for that fountain, I don't like to leave things unfinished.
I hope you're doing wonderfully, and I miss you as always. I know you don't want to visit, but if you ever do, your room is still there, so is everything you left behind.
Love,
Percival.