If the terrain had been less steep, and if the weather had been a little less humid, perhaps Percy could have enjoyed their hike. However, as it was, he was climbing a mountain in a freezing drizzle, following Vex'ahlia, watching his steps in order not to trip. He had every reason to follow behind her, as the half-elf had proven herself to be an experienced ranger times and times again. She effortlessly found the safest handholds and the least slippery footholds. Percy simply walked in her footsteps.

They had set out early this morning after having received information about a clan of bandits that had taken residence at the top of this small peak. It was an ideal spot to see the attacks coming except when, like today, the weather was foggy and rainy. That was why Vox Machina had decided to attack this morning: to ambush the bandits without being seen.

They had split into three groups to surprise the thieves on multiple fronts. When it was decided that he would go alone with Vex, his heart had skipped a beat. Something fragile had settled between his thirst for vengeance and his loneliness. But the more he reasoned, the more the feeling dwindled. Percy filed this event away for later thinking.

"Everything okay on your end?" Vax's voice came through the earrings. Vex was busy climbing, so it was Percy who answered.

"Everything's fine. It is but a matter of minutes. We only have one last cliff to climb."

"Oh? Percy?" It was Scanlan, and he had his teasing voice, the one that had a way of always getting on his nerves. He was pretending to have misunderstood something. "You sound out of breath. That's not why we sent you around with Vex."

Percy blushed while frowning. He could clearly imagine Grog's hearty laughter and Keyleth's exasperated sigh. The strange feeling stirred again.

This time it was Vex who answered. She was still busy climbing but she was angry enough at Scanlan to let go of one hand and touch her earring.

"I'd love to see you try! May I remind you that you're the ones who took the easiest roads? We'll talk about who's out of breath when you take the mountain climbing part and we take the forest hike."

Just then, Vex made the mistake of overestimating her grip on the rock. As she let go of the earring to cling to the wall, her right hand lost its grip. The drizzle had made the rock slippery. Vex fell backwards. Her arms flailed in the air in hopes of grabbing onto something.

Percy reached out to catch her. He thanked all the gods for not having started climbing yet. He firmly planted both feet on the ground. As soon as Vex landed in his arms, he let go of her to grab onto the cliff. The platform was small, and they were a slip away from taking a magnificent dive. An involuntary nudge from Vex hit him in the face, and he felt his glasses slide off.

"Fuck!"

With both his arms busy, he was helpless to do anything against gravity. His glasses slipped off his ears and fell into the infinite abyss below.

"Oh, no!" Vex blurted out.

Percy felt her squirm, probably trying to catch the glasses while she still could, but that only made the situation worse. The rock was wet due to the rain. Percy's hand, the one that had grabbed onto the wall, slipped and shifted from its position. Percy's heart sank. "Stop! Vex!" She stopped immediately. Either she had sensed the danger of the situation, or she had felt Percy's hand trembling, trying to hold her back from a certain death. "Don't move, please."

His heart was pounding. The fuzzy feeling he had experienced all morning had been completely wiped out by the danger and vertigo.

They dared not move, until a strain in his arm forced Percy to do so anyway. He couldn't hold the position all day.

He gently put Vex'ahlia down, only letting her go when he was sure she was securely settled. Vex landed softly. She released Percy's left arm. The gunslinger took the opportunity to straighten up and let go of the sticky rock he had been using for support.

His heart gradually calmed down. They had not fallen into the void. They were safe.

But as he went to dust himself off, he noticed the blood. His right hand was covered in it, and a trickle was lazily making its way down his arm. His sleeve was already stained red.

"Why is your hand so bloody?" Vex was short of breath and slightly rigid, a contrast to her usual composed tone. She took his hand in hers and assessed the damage. "You cut yourself on the rock, darling. It's really deep. Why weren't you wearing your gloves?"

"Not enough grip."

Vex rummaged through her bag. "Take a potion," she ordered, shoving one into his good hand. "You'll need your hands to fight...if not your eyes."

He pushed the potion away. "That can wait. No need to waste a potion for that." Hopefully, Pike would heal him when the fight was over, and he wouldn't have to drink that horrid concoction. "I won't be very useful during the fight anyway."

Vex was staring at him, but he couldn't decipher her gaze. "That wasn't the cause of my worry, darling."

They had a staring contest. Vex raised her eyebrows. She used her best persuading expression to get Percy to give in, but Lord Percival Fredrickstein De Rolo was more stubborn than she was. He raised his chin, frowned, and stared at her until Vex sighed and put her potion away.

"Fine. But don't come crying during the fight, Percival."

She pulled a tissue out of nowhere and started bandaging his hand. Her movements were precise, but a poorly concealed anger made them rough. She tied a knot and squeezed too hard, forcing an "Ouch!" out of Percy.

She finished and let go of his hand like a dirty old rag. He regretted losing the contact almost immediately. "Vex'ahlia, whatever I did, I apologize for."

"And I didn't want to throw your glasses off the cliff, yet here we are." She had already softened. She held her grudges tenaciously, but never against him, it seemed. "Would you be able to shoot without seeing much?"

"In the beginning, at least, yes. Then I'm afraid you will have to forget me. I wouldn't want to shoot any of you by accident."

Vex'ahlia looked back down into the void, as if her glare could scare the glasses so badly that they would climb back up the slope on their own.

"Let's go before Vax and Keyleth start to worry," Percy suggested.

"We'll have to tell them anyway," Vex replied.

Percy put on his glove to protect his bandage. Vex gave him one last indecipherable look before resuming her ascent, this time with even more caution. Without his glasses, Percy was hitting his fingers on some of the handholds, slowing down their progress considerably. Vex had slowed down too, but he couldn't tell if she was doing it for him or if, despite her calm demeanour, she still felt the palpitations of her near-fall into the void. Percy mentally cursed the loss of his glasses. It was making the rest of their journey much more complicated.

Next time, maybe he could...add an eyeglass chain? That kind of accident wouldn't happen again. He would prefer not to repeat the experience. If he'd known that Vex'ahlia would get so worked up over a pair of glasses…