strangetrip | [Log] Vax & Percy - If You Build It, They Will Come

Vax and Pike have agreed to make a place at the inn for their gods - and those of others, while they're at it. They know a brilliant engineer, but Vax isn't so sure he'll be willing to help.

Vax had passed Vex in the hall, so odds were good he knew where he'd find Percy already. Where else? It wasn't a bad idea for them to have a bit of privacy anyway, when he wasn't sure what kind of answer he'd get once he'd asked what he had come to ask.

He knocked on Percy's door. Not with special urgency, not in haste. A bit hesitant even, maybe. But he rapped his knuckles, and called out besides, in case the man was absorbed in his tinkering. "Freddy, have you got a minute?"

Percy located his glasses and placed them on his face before walking toward the door, buttoning his shirt as he went. He glanced to one side, noting that the light on the Dremel tool Vex had given him for Winter's Crest was indeed indicating that it was at full charge, meaning he could resume his work once whatever Vax needed was dealt with. "A minute, yes," he called back while still moving. He pulled open the door and gave Vax an inquisitive look. "What can I do for you?"

He was definitely smack in the middle of building or fixing or improving or making...something. Vax almost considered coming back later, when Percy would be in less of a hurry to get back to whatever his mind wanted his hands to be doing. But it would only be something else then, even if he did wait.

"Maybe even five minutes, if you've got them," he suggested. Vax couldn't imagine what nerdy cobbling had to happen in such a hurry when things changed so slowly at the inn, but he knew how Percy could be once he was preoccupied. "Do you mind if I come in, or... You could step out, stretch your legs a bit."

Percy shrugged and pulled the door open, stepping back at the same time. As he did, it as obvious he was barefoot. The huge fireplace that dominated the room was banked and quiet. A cloth was laid over the round table to the left side of the door, covering several small objects that made little lumps and bumps. "Come in. Sit down."

Vax gave him a nod, stepping inside and letting his gaze rove about curiously for a moment as he did. He pointed himself towards the long sofa stretched before the fireplace, all green and pink and brown, the rest of the room a loud pink (instead of pale pink, soft pink, 'neon' pink as Steph had called it, or any one of a baker's dozen fucking shades he'd only learned even existed after coming to this place) and mismatched stone. "Thanks. I, ah..." He realized after he'd begun that he was still standing beside the furniture rather than using it, so he swept-tucked his black cloak and sat. "There's something I could use your help with. But I don't know..."

He meant to finish the sentence. But that more or less said it all, didn't it? He just didn't know, about the whole project. And he was well in the woods when he tried to guess if Percy would do him the favor he wanted or not.

"Yes." Percy said, sitting down and crossing his ankle onto his knee. He leaned back and made an impatient gesture. "Assuming it's within my abilities." He didn't sound as though he had any doubts about that, though whether it was trust that Vax wouldn't ask something he couldn't accomplish or that Percy didn't think he had limits, it was slightly unclear. "You're my brother, you've the right to ask me for anything."

The invitation to ask had the funny effect of putting Vax quiet again, though he smiled faintly. He took a beat to just look at Percy, bare feet in contrast with his princely posture and all. Vax thought that even if it was often boring here, even if it could feel stifling, even if they were cut off from Exandria as they'd known it... Maybe this place had done Percy some good, too. Let him be himself, instead of his vengeance, his duty, if only because he had no choice in the matter.

"It's just that... You built a shrine to the Raven Queen, once. For me." He still hadn't quite asked his favor, but he was getting to the heart of the matter, at least. He searched for Percy's eyes, past the glint of his multiple-lens spectacles. "And I know you felt... Shut-out, shunned by the gods, after."

Percy grew still, then nodded slowly. "The gods want nothing to do with me. And I with them." There was bitterness there, faint compared to what it had been a year ago. He would never fully accept that when everything had been lost, it had been a demon, not a god that offered a solution to his pain. If the gods had wanted his honor, they should not have abandoned him.

And here Vax was, Champion of the Raven Queen, sat across from him. He'd wanted as little to do with the "Raven Bitch" as possible, way back when he'd first sold himself to her. He hadn't offered his soul out of faith or belief. He'd done it bargaining for the only thing in his life that had ever been true and real and beautiful and a part of him through it all. Because he didn't think he could go on without her. He couldn't say if that was any better or worse or even different than Percy's need for godly aid. It was because he was 'fate-touched,' probably, and that was beyond the control of any measly mortal. But that had nothing to do with worthiness, he didn't think.

"I don't pretend to understand why they choose whoever they choose. I don't know why... She chose me, when she could've had you." He spread his hands, as if frustrated they couldn't pick up a solid answer and set it down in front of them to examine, then let them fall silently. "All I know for sure is that she's with me, still. I feel Her. But it's also like... Everything is through a wall, now. She's there - here - but it's... Harder to make out what she's trying to tell me."

"Oh, I should think it's rather obvious why she chose you when you offered. She's never struck me as stupid enough to ignore value." Percy's mouth barely quirked. This was all leading somewhere for Vax, but he wasn't quite sure of the shape of it yet. So he waited, knowing Vax would come to the point eventually.

Vax wasn’t sure that was a compliment, so much as a curse. And Percy was probably right. But he didn’t want to prod the comment too hard, not now.

“I want to build another shrine, in this place,” he said finally. “A place for the Raven Queen, on this world. Not just her - a place set aside for worship of all the gods that the people here might need a private spot for prayer to. I talked to Pike already.”

Pike would have been Percy's first suggestion if Vax hadn't mentioned her. The Everlight's Chosen was the best suited for building any temple. Percy assumed she'd agreed, which meant that Vax had come to Percy for something that Percy knew. "You need me to draw up the plans for you, make sure it doesn't fall down around your ears."

“Yeah,” Vax agreed. Labor probably wouldn’t be so hard to come by. There were enough people wanting something new to do, religious or otherwise. But they weren’t bursting at the seams with engineers so far as he was aware. “It’s more than just putting people in a room that’s already there. We want to do it properly, or as close as we’re going to get.” The only thing worse than not having a place to pray when you were in service to a goddess, he thought, would be making her a real shitshow to come home to.

Percy bounded out of his chair and over to the table where he unearthed a large tablet of papers and brought it back. He flipped past pages filled with scrawls and notes until he found a fresh one. "Will you want the blood pool?" He imagined that Vax would. It was a major part of how to commune with the Raven Queen.

He didn't know if Percy seemed suddenly interested out of duty or just as something to do with his restless wits or what. But he did seem so, all of a sudden, and Vax was grateful for it. "Yes, but... Maybe we can have closed-off rooms for private prayer, and it could go there. I don't want to scare anybody. And logistically, with all the blood... I never had to think about it before."

Pencil sketches appeared rapidly as Percy listened to Vax's request. "I don't suppose she'd accept water with a bit of dye? No?" Blood source? was scribbled next to the rough circle he'd drawn. "Alcoves, one for the Raven Queen, one for the Everlight." He spun the pencil in his fingers, then tapped it on the paper. "Perhaps Pike will have thoughts about the theological concerns."

"I don't think it would be the same," Vax admitted. "I'll...ask around about that part, I guess," Vax rubbed the heel of his hand into his forehead. "Maybe worry about how we'll fill the thing later, just focus on the pool itself and what to do when it needs draining for starters."

I know there's other gods that people will want to honor. That Chris - no, that's Christ, the one with the winter holiday, him. Kitty has some sort of holy symbol around her neck she wears, doesn't she? And Alcuin believes in a whole pantheon. Then there's the new people coming all the time... I've no idea how to decide who gets what or how or why." He was feeling more then a touch overwhelmed trying to sort it out already. He wanted to be fair, to be respectful and considerate, but he clearly had no idea what he was doing.

Percy scribbled more notes. "Perhaps an empty altar of sorts, something that people can customize however they need for the moment. I don't believe a building with a hundred alcoves is going to be a proper solution unless we repurpose the expo center. The Raven Queen and Sarenrae would get permanent installations...and a small shrine for Pelor perhaps." Better to make a token effort than risk the Dawnfather's anger at being abandoned by the Lord of Whitestone. Gods did not care if they'd done the abandoning first. "As for the rest...if this Christ needed a temple, surely one of his followers would have made one."

"Sure. An open altar makes sense. That might do for him, too," Vax agreed, trying to follow the marks Percy made with his eyes from upside-down. "...Places to sit, benches or mats or something?" Maybe Percy didn't care much for the gods, but he did care for formalities and the appearance of dignity where public works were concerned. That was surprisingly useful here.

Percy continued sketching. He'd need to redo this all with proper measurements later but this was just the concept stage. "Benches are popular. I wonder about sufficient building materials. Stone possibly." He was almost muttering and it seemed likely that he'd forgotten he was holding a conversation. "Wood? No steady source. Pity there's no druid to enrich the land."

Vax fell silent, contenting himself to watch Percy scribble and mutter for a bit. He supposed he could tell the man that he'd noticed something funny, after working the land all this time. Maybe he was just imagining it, but he didn't think so. He'd be pulling weeds or planting or picking, and it was almost like he could feel the plants, the sky above, the earth, the things that acted on and lived in the soil. Almost as if they were trying to say something to him. Like they'd done with Keyleth. But that seemed like it might just be cruel, especially when nothing much had come of it but some tingly feelings up his senses when he dug around in the dirt. And he couldn't do what Percy wanted it for. So Vax would wait and see if anything came of it first.

"Percival," he said quietly instead, looking up for the man's eyes, though he didn't really expect them to come away from the papers. "...Thank you for doing this."

The scribbling slowed, then stopped. Percy frowned at his designs, then shook his head. "Thank me when there's something to show for it. I'll need a couple days."

Vax pushed himself up out of his seat, watching Percy in his intelligent fixation a moment longer. There were times he thought he saw what it was Vex saw, when she looked at him. Except he hadn't forgotten or forgiven all of the demon-smoke, violence, and madness.

"Take whatever time you need," Vax said as he turned for the door. "I'll have to talk to some of the others before this can be done."

Percy did look up this time and gave Vax a nod. "Whatever's relevant, bring it by."