Short Story | When I Come Back - Nerissa/Vexx (Patreon)

This is a story shared from Aeriie's personal Patreon. 

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Footsteps echo from the audience chamber, before the creak of the opening door fills her bedroom, pulling her from idle thoughts.

She doesn’t look up when he enters, she can already tell his presence by scent and sound alone. The smell of his cologne, mixed with the air of nightfall that follows him everywhere. The tap of his boots on the carpeted floor.

"Shouldn’t you be off guarding a royal?" she says dryly, her hands flowing across the paper, penning words she's written a dozen times before.

The snicker that escapes him is dark, but familiar. Their conversations in the past had secured a sort of informality between them. Perhaps they could even be considered friends.

"What royal is more important than the heir herself?" Vexx drawls, footsteps stopping just shy of her desk.

Finally, she looks up, giving the man a once over. His uniform is rumpled, his scarlet hair a mess. It wouldn't take a genius to conclude that he'd been involved in some sort of mischief.

And she knew his partner in crime by heart. She wasn't ignorant of the adventures he dragged her younger sibling into, though she didn't have the heart to put a stop to it. While Nerissa couldn't always be there, Vexx could, and he had protected them well enough so far.

"I have my guard," she says dryly, sitting back in her plush, velvet chair and crossing one leg over the other beneath the skirts of her gown. "Though it amazes me that he still lets you in here every single time."

"Perhaps your bot needs to be re-programmed," he shrugs, taking a paperweight from the desk and inspecting the fossil inside. "Make sure he’s doing what he’s told, and all."

Violet eyes flick towards the door as she contemplates the statement, and how utterly ridiculous it sounds.

"K doesn’t do as he’s told, he does what he wants," she says softly, gaze fixed on the gold and ivory molding that adorns the paneled doors of her bedroom, and the audience chamber beyond that.

"That’s why I like him."

"I'm only joking," Vexx huffs a laugh, putting the paperweight back down and reaching for a jewel-encrusted letter opener. "Got a good sense of humor that one. That's probably why he lets me in here."

He holds the letter opener between his fingers, pricking the end on the tip of his thumb and denting the skin.

"He likes me better than you," he finishes, and Nerissa rolls her eyes at the grin that tugs at his lips, before returning to her letter with a sigh.

"Put that thing down before you hurt yourself."

Vexx makes a face that he knows she can't see, before dropping the letter opener back on the desk.  A small, silver box sits in one corner, and the glint of the rubies inlaid in the lid draws his attention.

He pops the top off, eyes lighting up at the sight of the chocolates within. Popping one of them in his mouth, he lets out a contented groan.

"I envy you, N. You always get sent the best sweets from these bozos who are trying to marry you."

"They win you over so well, perhaps you should marry them instead."

"Very funny," he pouts, swallowing the sweet and picking out another one. "What are you writing anyway? A love letter?"

"An invitation actually," Nerissa replies tightly. "I need a date for the wedding, and I have a line of suitors ready to jump at the chance."

She finishes up the letter, signing the bottom and folding it in half. Then she waves it dismissively in the air.

"Lucky me."

"Why do you put up with it all?" he asks, wondering if he'll get a serious answer this time.

Nerissa thinks for a moment, her head cocked slightly to the side and her bottom lip pulled between her teeth, deciding it's too late at night for her usual deflections.

"Because the longer I pretend I’m actually considering these bozos, as you put it, the longer my mother will keep off my back about it all."

He raises his eyebrows and shoves his hands in his pockets to keep them still.

"Makes sense, I suppose. In a sad sort of way."

She gives him a withering glare and he chuckles softly.  Then she slides the letter into an envelope before standing from her desk, her long, golden gown sweeping around her as she circles it.

"Alright, you have my attention, Serif," Nerissa leans back against the desk and crosses her arms over her chest, staring at him pointedly, though he doesn't miss the amusement in her eyes.

"What do you want?"

"See, that’s what I like about you, Princess. No dancing around with the pleasantries, you always cut straight to the point, like a barber... or a crab-"

"Vexx..."

She sighs, urging him to get the the point. It’s well past midnight, and she’d like nothing better than to crawl into bed for some much needed rest. But Vexx has that look in his eyes, and she knows that he's here for a reason.

And once Vexx wanted something, he wouldn't leave until he got it

She eyes the screen that sections off her bedchamber with longing. Her bedroom is large enough to sleep, entertain, and work. Regrettably, two of the three didn't get the attention they should.

"What’s going on?" she presses again when he doesn't answer, but simply swallows hard.

"I have to go away," he says finally, his voice so soft she almost doesn't hear it at all.

"Why?" she raises an eyebrow, confused.

"I can’t tell you."

"When will you be back?"

"I don’t know."

"You’re not giving me much to work with here, Vexx."

"It’s better if you don’t know," he sighs and runs an exasperated hand through his hair as he turns and paces the room. "All I can tell you is that it’s important. I wouldn’t leave like this if it wasn’t."

She's unconvinced, and her face says as much. When Vexx looks at her again his eyes turn pleading. He just wanted this to be easy. He should have known she'd see right through him.

"Just... trust me on this," he says, and her dark eyebrows raise.

"I don’t trust anyone."

"Well, I’m sure that hunk of metal out there will be saddened to hear that," a grin pulls at the corner of his mouth, but she's not smiling.

"Nerissa, I’ve kept your secret all this time," he leans in further, his voice a low rasp. "I need to know you’ll do the same for me."

She swallows hard, a part of her knowing that she should have silenced him the night he found out her secret. That she should have had KY-L3 deal with him already.

But she was not her father. And the best allies were made through trust, not fear.

And besides, she had grown fond of him.

Still, she leans her hands back on the desk and taps her fingers against the wood, unimpressed. She knows well enough the effects his departure will have, and she doesn't particularly want to have to be the bearer of such bad news to her closest sibling.

"What do you expect me to say when certain people come around asking where you’ve gone?" her tone is clipped, to the point. "Because you know they will."

He sighs again and continues pacing, his face half-bathed in the light of the small desk lamp. This was always going to be the hard part. Explaining to them why he had to leave.

He had decided to wait until he returned to delve into the details, and maybe he was a coward for doing so, but he couldn't face them. Not yet.

"Tell them you don’t know," he says finally, and Nerissa scoffs with distaste.

"You expect me to lie to my family?"

"Aren’t you already?"

She falters at that, her eyes losing some of the fire.

"That’s different," she says quietly, conspiratorially. "You know that’s different."

"I know, I just..." he steps towards her, becoming desperate. He needs to get going, to have the best chance of getting out of the Palace unseen.

"I need you to keep this quiet. Please."

She thinks it over for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip in thought.

"So, why tell me?" she says finally. "Why not just slink off into the night when no one's looking?"

A small grin slides onto his lips, eyes shining with a familiar glint of playfulness.

"Because when I come back, which I will, I’m gonna need someone not to throw me out on my ass."

She folds her arms over her chest and gives him a look, not believing him for a second. His face falls, shoulders slumping when he sighs quietly, and the truth comes tumbling out of him.

"Because when I come back... I’m gonna need your help. And I don’t want you to think I abandoned anyone willingly."

She shakes her head in confusion. It isn't good enough, and he knows it.

"I don’t know about this. If you tell me what’s going on then maybe I can help, without you having to leave."

"No," he cuts her off. "This is something I have to do on my own. Trust me."

It takes a good, few moments of her staring him down - violet eyes locked on green - before she relents with a tired sigh.

"Alright. If you really have to go, then you have my word," she assures him, but the thought of her sibling still lingers on the edge of her mind. "Just make sure you come back in one piece."

"Cross my heart," he grins, feeling more confident with his decision than he had all night.

He knows it's a rotten thing to do, disappearing into the night like he is. He had even taken his closest friend out into the city one last time, hoping the memories they had of him while he was gone were only good.

He couldn't bear to return to anything else.

"Just... don’t do anything stupid until I get back," the grin is still there when he speaks again, but his eyes turn hard.

There were many things happening, in the shadows of the Palace. Cogs turning, alliances forming. And he'd decided on his, without a shadow of a doubt.

"In that case, you’d better hurry," Nerissa says lightly, her smile small.

Vexx hesitates, as though he would say more, but upon thinking better of it he turns and charges from the room.

The sooner he leaves, the sooner he would return.