THIS WAS NOT MEANT TO BE THIS LONG. This went from a drabble to an entire fic wtf. ANYWHO here’s some Vaxleth in apocalypse au, this was also supposed to be only a little angsty and then fluffy, that did not happen. (warning: Mention of death)
Vax is furious but he tries to not let it show for everyone's sake, Vex and Keyleth in particular. Gods does Keyleth not need the added stress. Thanks to Vex and Pike they know she isn’t due for a couple more months but with the fact that she’s carrying twins? The chance for their time frame to be off, not to mention with Keyleth’s body type it’s been rougher on her.-He tries not to think about the fact that she’s still under weight and how that can affect them, all of them- She tries desperately to hide her difficulties, as long as they aren’t related to the children, but he knows she’s in pain from all the walking. They have to travel slower due to snowfall and her pregnancy and with no car and no way to get one to work in these conditions, they're lucky if they get two to two and a half miles a day if even that.
Currently she’s resting on the couch in the cabin they were able to find, Minxie and Trinket staying at her side or well on her legs in Minxies case. Even from the otherside of the room he can see how tired she is, he’s honestly surprised she’s still awake quietly talking to Pike.
At the sound of oh so familiar footsteps he turns his head to see his sister approach him, stopping to lean against the same wall as him, shoulders touching as they both go back to looking at their family in silence.
“How’s she doing?” Vex asks, nodding her head towards Keyleth.
“Tired and in pain from walking so much but you don’t need me to tell you that.” He responds with a sigh. “She’s been slowing down, she needs a break from the constant cold and movement.”
“Gods, I can’t imagine how swollen her feet and ankles are.” Vex says, causing Vax to grunt in agreement. At least with that he can help Keyleth, once they get her in the bed he’ll make sure to massage her feet, hopefully it’ll give her some comfort and relief. “I saw some rabbits while we were scavenging the town.” Vax’s head snaps to the direction of his twin, her gaze still firmly on the others as she shuffles a little bit.
He knows what she’s getting at and he also knows what she’s asking. This town was a bit bigger than the previous ones, not a city so it’s not too dangerous but not small enough for them to have picked it all clean in the few hours they spent gathering before and with rabbits and possibly other wildlife around?
Vex is giving him the opportunity to make them take a break, let them stop for a few days, let them rest without the fear and gods is he going to take it.
“Bring Trinket with you.” With those four words his sister leaves his side. A sharp whistle and a ‘Here Trinket.’ and the two set off out of the cabin. Keyleth watches Vex and Trinket go before locking eyes with him, confusion and concern over taking her features. He gives her a soft and reassuring smile as he himself finally pushes off of the wall to walk over to her, Pike leaving to give the two of them some space.
“Is everything alright?” Keyleth says attempting to sit up to let Vax onto the couch to which he quickly stops, lightly pushing her back down and sitting on the floor, letting his head rest gently on her side and belly. He takes her hand, playing with her fingers before giving her a response.
“Everything’s fine, Vex spotted some rabbits so she and Trinket went hunting.” His voice is soft and warm as he stares into her eyes. The concern never leaves her gaze but her body relaxes ever so slightly. “How are you and the kids doing?” He can’t help the wide grin that crosses his face when he mentions their twins, their kids. Even if they are coming at one of the worst times he still can’t help but consider them as miraculous gifts.
Keyleth giggles bright and amused. “We’re as good as we can be all things considered.” Bringing up her hand that's not in his up to her heavy belly she gently rests it there, lightly rubbing it. Vax just watches her as she keeps her gaze on her belly, his smile wanes a little by the forceful reminder that her semi gout expression brings.
When they first discovered that Keyleth was pregnant they had to rework and rearrange their meal distribution, Vax would still try to give her some of his but she’d refuse claiming that he needed to keep his share.
He knows how bad she feels about it, which is stupid if anyone is in the wrong it’s him. He’s been able to sneak her some food without her noticing but after being caught once he only does so when he knows she couldn’t possibly notice. He’ll never forget that look on her face, she deserves happiness, she deserves to never have that face of utter despair and worry etch upon her face again.
With the thought of food though bring his mind back to what Vex had been silently suggesting. A quick glance around Vax can see that everyone minus his sister and Trinket are in the same room as them. With a squeeze to Keyleth’s hand, he stands. Keyleth gives him a curious look as he gives off a sharp whistle to get everyone's attention.
“We’re staying here for a couple days.” The first thing he hears and feels after his statement is the sharp inhale from Keyleth and her squeezing his hand tight, the first thing he sees is the shocked and stunned faces Percy, Pike, and Scanlan, Grog just shrugging at Vax's sudden declaration.
Vax-” Keyleth starts before Percy interrupts her.
“You can’t be serious.” Vax can feel himself bristle like a cornered cat at Percival’s tone.
And this is the other reason Vex wanted to go hunting, out of everyone Percy and Scanlan have been the most vocal about getting to either Whitestone and Zephrah as fast as possible. She’d rather not be here when Percy starts to lose his shit. “We’re already behind schedule and you want us to wait around even longer?” Percy hissed and gods can Vax feel his anger boil, he wants nothing more than to slap him but he knows that won’t help anything and with how tight Keyleth is holding onto his hand he doesn’t dare take it from her grip.
“We need to rest, Percival. We are all actively slowing down, with a few nights of good rest we’ll be able to travel faster, not to mention we haven’t completely searched the area. Vex is out hunting rabbits right now with Trinket, meaning if we’re lucky we can stockpile some food which I am pretty sure none of us would complain about.” Vax tries so hard to keep his voice level but he can tell by the slight tug on his hand that he’s doing a bad job of it.
He just wants everyone safe, he wants Keyleth to be able to rest, to regain whatever strength she can but Percy is blinded by fear he knows this. Vax has overheard him and his sister speak, he knows Percy is desperate to get to his sister again the two haven’t been away from each other for this long since before they found each other again all those years ago.
“Percy, I don’t think I can even get off this couch right now.” Keyleth announces before anyone else can get a word out causing everyone to shift their gaze from Vax to her. Her voice is tired with exhaustion and sadness it pulls at his heart strings, Vax’s heart is torn between aggressive protectiveness and the desperate want to cheer her up.
Regardless of her words, Vax can see how blinded Percival truly is with how he huffs and opens his mouth to speak, his face full of annoyance and anger before Pike's voice rang out. “Percival so help me gods if you say one single thing about Keyleth’s pregnancy I will not hesitate to kick your ass!” Her voice booms and echoes around the small room. Percy’s mouth quickly snaps shut with a large exhale through his nose.
Silence reigns out before Pike speaks again. “I agree with Vax, we should stay here for a while. It’s a good place, plenty of blankets and other supplies are here and we haven’t even picked the place clean yet not to mention Keyleth needs to rest. And we do need to at some point have a very serious discussion about planning on a place for us to stay at for a while because look, we are not going to reach Whitestone or Zephrah before Keyleth gives birth and if we are out in the snow and wilderness when that happens?” She pauses and with that pause Vax can feel his heart stop. She looks at Keyleth and then Vax with the same apologetic look before firmly staring Percy in the eyes. “It’d be a death sentence to all three of them, even more so if Keyleth is exhausted from travel.”
As Vax’s blood turns as cold as ice, he can see Percy’s face pale, finally breaking himself out of his one track panic. Silence reigns amongst the group as the information settles within their minds, Vax isn’t sure if it’s him or Keyleth that is shaking, maybe it’s both of them.
“So, unpack and go steal blankets and beds from the other houses?” Grog says, getting up and stretching his arms. With that interruption it seems everyone snaps back into motion. Pike nodding and saying she’ll go help him, the two friends heading out afterwards.
Vax all but collapses back onto his seat on the ground next to Keyleth, rearranging their hands and his body so their joined hands rest on her bump and the entire side of his face is plastered to the side of her stomach, his other hand gently resting on her thigh.
They stay like that for the rest of the day, when night approaches instead of making poor Keyleth go up stairs they instead bring one of the mattresses Grog got from another house right next to the couch so they could help her get onto it. Vax helps Keyleth get situated and comfortable, holding her close.
Vax doesn’t think he’ll be able to sleep this night but that's alright, Keyleth is finally going to get some continuous and comfortable rest.
