I’ve just finished my first little fic!! It’s for @ailendolin’s wonderful little prompt: “Vex falls asleep on Ho-Tan’s shoulder.”
Thank you for giving me an excuse to write VexTan, and a little bit of (very mild) hurt-comfort! I also used he/they pronouns for Vex throughout (just explaining in case people get confused).
The crick making itself known in Ho-Tan’s wrist is the only thing that lets her know how long she’s been writing. She tries to power through for a couple more sentences before forcing herself to stop. She’s not in the chamber, after all, but at her writing desk. She can write at her own pace. It’s dark outside when Ho-Tan looks up, and she thanks her past self for lighting a candle earlier, even if it was only for the scent. The fragrance has permeated through the room by now, hints of cinnamon, vanilla, and squeedlewump all combining to remind her of-
Vex. He would want her to have a break from writing.
She stretches, leaning back on her stool, and peering out of her window. Yonderland really is beautiful at night, and the view from Ho-Tan’s window is particularly spectacular. The starlight traces delicately over the outline of Faraway, a town close to the Elders’ chambers. The roofs are pink, a result of the special clay they make their tiles from, and Ho-Tan can faintly see the sparkle of street lanterns, lit so those drinking in the tavern can still find their way home. She knows that far in the distance is the town of Nearby, but she can’t see it for the towering hill, absolutely covered with peesh, that breaks up the landscape. She hopes the peesh are tucked up warm—having thick wool on their heads and legs but none on the rest of their bodies doesn’t feel like the most sensible strategy to keep the cold out. Smaller villages twinkle in the night, too many to count, and off to the left come distant roars from the Forest of Friendly Creatures.
Even looking out of the window for a couple of minutes has Ho-Tan feeling refreshed. She picks up her quill to begin writing again when her door slowly, quietly, opens and shuts behind her. Ho-Tan would be concerned if she didn’t recognise the footsteps padding up to her desk. Still, she breathes a small sigh of relief when familiar arms wrap themselves around her shoulders and Vex rests his head on hers.
“What are you still doing awake, sweet?” Vex murmurs, tilting their head down to press a kiss to the top of Ho-Tan’s head.
“It’s not that late, is it? It’s only—” Ho-Tan cuts herself off halfway through her sentence as she looks outside again. The second moon has just crested the top of Peesh Hill, which means— “Oh. It’s midnight.” Vex hums against her head, arms still wrapped gently around her shoulders. Ho-Tan slides to the right-hand side of the stool and Vex all but falls down next to her. “What are you doing awake, anyway, sleepyhead?”
Vex doesn’t reply for a while and, when he does, it’s so quiet that Ho-Tan almost misses it.
“I wanted to be near you.”
Ho-Tan turns to the side and pulls Vex into her arms without giving it a second thought. Vex hasn’t been the same recently. They’re quiet, jumpier than usual, and Ho-Tan has begun to think that the stress of Imperatrix and then Cuddly Dick got to Vex more than they let on.
Now the threats have passed, he’s slowly folding in on himself more and more each day. It hurts Ho-Tan to see her love, her favourite person in all the realms, lose a part of himself with each sigh and each sleepless night; she genuinely doesn’t remember the last time she saw Vex smile. They should probably talk about it at some point, and she absolutely plans to, but now isn’t the time.
Instead, she threads her fingers through Vex’s hair, absentmindedly tracing patterns through his curls as she tries to comfort him without words. He shuffles a bit closer, resting his chin on her shoulder, and she tightens her hold on him.
“What were you writing?” Ho-Tan has no idea how much time passes before Vex speaks, words murmured directly into her ear. He presses a kiss where her ear meets the side of her face, right where he tucked a daisy first thing this morning-
That was when Vex last smiled.
“Nothing important, dear. Just a silly little story to read to the Youngers. It’s not too far off being done, now.”
“Can I—” Vex pauses, their voice small. Ho-Tan can’t remember the last time she heard Vex nervous, either, not with her—his tone puts a little more weight in her heart. “—can I read it? Your stories are my favourites.”
“Of course, Vex. Here, hold on.” Ho-Tan squeezes him a little tighter then lets go, turning back round to face her desk. She rearranges a small stack of parchment, then slides it in Vex’s direction. “There you go, darling. I hope you enjoy it. I might even have finished the ending by the time you’ve caught up!” With that, Ho-Tan picks up her quill and continues writing.
About five lines into her latest paragraph, Ho-Tan feels a weight on her shoulder. Vex is resting his head against her, still reading the parchment in front of him. Their hand slips towards Ho-Tan’s, too, and she gently intertwines their fingers, glad they’re sitting this way round so she can keep writing an ending for him. The Youngers don’t know about this, so it wouldn’t matter too much if it wasn’t finished tonight, but Ho-Tan wants Vex to be able to read the whole story if he likes. All she hopes is that it brings him some joy.
Ho-Tan reaches for a new piece of parchment, having reached the bottom of the page, when she realises that Vex is still on the first sheet that she put in front of them. She freezes, listening carefully, and just about hears a snuffle come from her shoulder. Ho-Tan turns, very slowly, to find Vex fast asleep on her shoulder. A dilemma of sorts presents itself to her now. On one hand, she’s so relieved that he’s finally managed to go to sleep that she doesn’t want to wake him. On the other hand…
“Vex, darling?” Ho-Tan is as gentle as she can be as she strokes Vex’s hair, trying to wake him up. Still, he jerks awake, eyes wide for half a second until he catches sight of her.
“I’m terribly sorry, old girl,” he says, eyes already back to being only half-open, “but I think I fell asleep on your shoulder.” Ho-Tan’s smile is so fond that Vex mirrors it, and Ho-Tan doesn’t miss the way her heart flutters a little.
“It’s alright—don’t worry. I just didn’t want you to wake up with a sore neck. Shall we go to bed?” Vex nods, consciousness leaving them by the second now that they’ve managed to sleep once tonight, and the two of them gently make their way over to the bed, blowing out the candle on the way. The bed is a little too small for both of them to fit but they manage, and Vex’s arms wind tight around Ho-Tan’s waist. Despite his sleepiness, he still seems a little too tense for Ho-Tan’s liking.
“Ease down, darling. Ease down. You’re okay here. You’re safe. I love you.” Ho-Tan whispers her affirmations over and over into the darkness until she feels Vex’s grip loosen and begins to hear those snuffles once more. Even then, she carries on holding them, softly following him into rest.