Chapter Text
When the organizers of the Canadian Stars on Ice tour had contacted Vex a little after their fifth place finish at Worlds, it was hard to envision another month of skating after wrapping up their World championship trip. Twelve cities spread across Canada in about four weeks? Weeks with three shows in a row? Her legs were practically collapsing just thinking about it. But then the money was offered…and suddenly she just about believed her legs could do it.
“You’ll be able to finally enjoy Canada as a representative of the country, Vex’ahlia,” Percy says with enthusiasm as they sign the contract after their return from Worlds.
“I’ll admit I haven’t seen much more than Syngorn. It might be nice to get a tour from an expert,” Vex smirks, eyes gleaming in Percy’s direction as she swirls the pen around her own signature on the contract.
“And,” he adds sheepishly, “You’ll be able to meet my siblings. Cassandra properly this time and the rest of the family for the first time.”
That about settles it in Vex’s mind. She’s so curious about what Percy’s other siblings are like. She knows that they more or less fled Whitestone after the Briarwoods threatened harm to Percy and Cassandra but didn’t know much more. If Percy had the pleasure of knowing her whole family, it was time she met his. They sign the contract for all twelve dates and Vex is sure this will mark the beginning of a very important offseason for them, both on and off the ice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scanlan takes the three weeks between Worlds and Stars on Ice to choreograph an entirely new program for them to take on tour.
“I want a little swagger, I want some popping and locking!” Scanlan says as he comes onto the ice with them to work through the different ideas that seem to be swirling in his brain. His purple outfit gleams even brighter in the fluorescent lighting of the rink, his hair pulled back into the tiniest of ponytails. “I want a more contemporary vibe. ‘Hallelujah’ is good for a gala but not for a show every night!”
“Then what do you suggest, oh great choreographer?” Vex replies with a smirk as Percy passes her, hands on his hips. She catches a hint of cologne and is brought back to her room the previous night for a blissful second before shaking her head. Not now, she thinks.
“How ‘bout this?” Scanlan proclaims as he turns on music on the overhead speakers. The opening notes of “Good Kisser” by Usher blare over the speakers to the questioning glances of the other students on the ice.
Vex takes a second to listen to the lyrics and thinks, Huh, maybe now after all. She looks over at Percy to see a pink blush spreading across his cheeks. She raises a questioning eyebrow at him and he nods, “Not a bad beat.”
“It won’t be a content problem, Scanlan?” Vex asks and Scanlan waves it off.
“You two are adults. You can perform adult programs. Oh, and I also contacted the choreographer for the show and he’s coming by to choreograph your second number. I want you two working on your chemistry even when I’m not there!”
They take the better part of the first day just choreographing for their show number and then the rest of the week practicing both that and contemplating next season’s programs. Between debating Scanlan on the merits of Carmen and wondering what their choreographer actually thought could be performed in one night, It’s almost a relief when the weekend comes and Vex can spend her time at home with Percy and Trinket (her one non-negotiable about their relationship was that she could not leave Trinket by himself…so Percy stayed over). They come back to the rink on Monday refreshed and without acknowledging the fact that their show program may have inspired Vex during their weekend.
When they walk in though they’re met with a new face. An older man with long, golden hair is at the boards talking with Scanlan before Scanlan catches sight of them and waves them over. “Vex, Percy, meet a colleague of mine and the choreographer of Stars on Ice most years: Taryon Darrington,” Scanlan says with a flourish toward the other man.
Taryon bows a little toward them both and Percy eagerly takes his hand, “Mr. Darrington, I was…a big fan of yours growing up.”
“Well of course, young man, who wasn’t?” Taryon says with a chuckle. Percy’s smile falters a tad at being referred to as a “young man” but he doesn’t say anything. “And please, call me Tary. We will be touring together of course. My traveling troupe!”
Vex shakes his hand respectfully and Tary shakes her hand too, “And you’re quite the young lady too! Look at you both, so sweet. You need something…not sweet.”
Tary starts talking into his phone, asking it to bring up sad songs immediately. Soon music is pulled up and playing through the arena speakers. Except Tary rarely lets more than a few notes play before skipping to the next song, and the next song, and the next song. It takes more than twenty songs and fifteen bewildered minutes for Vex and Percy before Tary lets out an “AHA!” at the notes of a piano echoing through the arena.
“This one!” Tary says, patting his phone obediently. “He never lets me down. How about a program to ‘How Will I Know’ for the two of you? Hmm? Perfectly emotional in my opinion.”
“I’m almost afraid to say no,” Percy whispers into Vex’s ear as they watch Tary start choreographing the opening movements by himself.
Vex sighs but smiles at Percy, “At least the opening looks good.” She grabs his hand and they skate to center ice to work out the choreography with Tary.
It takes most of the ice session but soon the program comes together and it’s already her favorite she’s ever skated with Percy, and maybe skated period. She loved skating with Vax but she would’ve never been able to perform a program like this with him. A program this emotionally charged with the ability to have similar but complementary lines? This is the type of show program she always was jealous that others got to do. Even with their official relationship status, she can still feel their chemistry between them, charging the dance with a palpable unknown tension to the tune of Sam Smith’s voice. She has to admit, Tary knows his stuff.
“Perfect, just perfect,” Tary exclaims by the end of the session after they perform it pretty well on their first go. “I look forward to seeing you both in a couple weeks for practice. I already have so many ideas for you.”
Tary takes out his phone again and he steps off of the ice with an exclamation of, “Doty, open the notes app!”
“He’s eccentric but he knows what he’s doing,” Scanlan says behind them, startling the two skaters. “Kinda like me! Now run through it again before you leave.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vex is trying to decide between her different casual clothing to bring on tour. They won’t be stopping home at all throughout the three week tour so choosing the right clothing is paramount. At least for her. Percy, for his part, has already picked his clothes out and is sitting on her bean bag with his suitcase next to him. He’s typing away at his laptop, his brow furrowed. She switches her attention from the light blue blouse in her hand to look at him.
“Almost done with that, darling?” Vex asks kindly as he switches from typing to clicking through something with his mouse.
“Your father could’ve at least given the courtesy of a week’s heads up rather than 3 days,” he mutters as his glasses catch the reflection of the computer screen, shading his eyes. “I appreciate his help and all but it is very hard to spell out all that the Briarwoods did in a concise official report.”
“Frankly I’m more surprised he’s helping at all. I wouldn’t take it for granted,” Vex says as she folds the blouse into her suitcase. “As it is, it’ll be hard enough to find more than one other eyewitness account without pushing away the little help you’ve gotten.”
Percy hums to himself as he closes his laptop, “Thank you for asking Imogen about Laudna by the way. I didn’t want to pressure the poor woman by asking directly.”
Vex nods, putting more of her clothes into the suitcase neatly as best as she can. “It was kind of her to agree to a written account of her own. I can’t imagine it’s easy,” Vex replies, closing up a section of her suitcase. “Will you be okay when we go to Whitestone?”
Percy’s face darkens a little as he adjusts his glasses and steps up to help Vex, “It’s unavoidable. I didn’t imagine I’d be back so soon when I left last year. It’s both my home and…anything but.”
Vex rubs his shoulder consolingly, “You won’t be alone, darling. I promise that.”
Percy smiles at her before leaning down to kiss her. It’s short and sweet and Vex turns back to her suitcase again soon after. “Hopefully your father isn’t pulling my leg on this and is actually willing to help,” Percy says as he continues to help her pack. “I feel like I need to confront them.”
Vex shakes her head, “He’s an asshole but not that much. He won’t give you special treatment but he’ll help it along. That’s the best we could hope for.” They use their combined strength, which isn’t much, to close Vex’s suitcase and place it next to Percy’s.
“Well that’s settled,” Percy says, cleaning his sweaty hands off on his pants. “Now, I believe we were talking about how little privacy there’ll be for a month.”
Soon, Percy is pushing Vex down on her bed and no objection falls from her lips for a very long time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first week of Stars on Ice is the one that does not involve a tour at all. It’s rehearsal week. Tary greets everyone as they walk in for the first of a week of practices to learn the group choreography for numbers that open and close each of the two acts. It’s a big deal, simply because no one needs injuries caused by not understanding the way that other skaters are moving. It’s one thing for the pairs and dance skaters to know where their partner is going, a whole other thing to know where the singles skaters were going. It’ll likely take the full week just to get the group numbers perfected. They’re professionals though and learning choreography at the drop of a metaphorical hat is second nature.
Vex notes Orym has arrived before them, along with Kima and Lilith. Kima is a big ball of energy, zooming across the ice with periodic exclamations that she’s more than ready, throwing smiles at who Vex recognizes as Allura. Orym, meanwhile, is silent as he slices into the ice for a warm up. Trisha and Jerry, the other Canadian ice dance couple, arrive just after Vex and Percy do, still on time but with the practiced air of knowing just what to expect of these practices. They’ve been here before. Lilith is likewise a meek presence. She waves at both Vex and Percy as she skates by while Jarrett gives them both a wink.
Tary soon claps his hands together in the middle of the rink and with a shout of “Everyone get in the middle,” everyone makes their way slowly to form a circle around Tary.
“Now I see a lot of familiar faces today and also some new ones. Which is exciting but can be interesting for group numbers. We have to remember what we have in common is that we all rep the maple leaf each time we hit the ice. And that’s what I want you all to focus on today as we go through the choreography. We’re all a team! No one is above or below anyone else, no one is the sole blame if a group number goes bad. We excel or fail each night as a team so start acting like it! Now let’s go and get to skating!”
All of them clap in encouragement before Tary simply tears them all apart and puts them back together again. The choreography is nothing insane, Vex thinks as she and Percy learn the opening number. She’s paired off with him for the beginning part before the whole group converges to skate together across the ice, making sure to maintain parallel space between them. Which is easy for the likes of Kima, her partner Eric, Trisha, and Jerry but isn’t as second nature to Orym, Jarret and Lilith. This, of course, leads to utter chaos for the majority of the ice time, with singles skaters having to shout out to make sure no ice dancers or pairs skaters are in the way as they speed down the ice. With only half of the skaters at any one time knowing the movements of the other skaters, Vex will be happy just to get out of the practice alive and able to skate.
They run through the choreography for the opening number several times, Tary stopping to elaborate on a choreographic moment every chance he gets and every time someone makes even a minor mishap. The practice runs long because of that but Vex can appreciate the meticulous need for everything to go perfectly, even if it makes learning choreography all the more intensive. Soon enough, the choreography for the opening number is nailed down and the first day comes to a close with Vex feeling more than a little drained from the whole experience.
The next day is Vex’s favorite though. Tary hadn’t been lying when he said he had ideas for Vex and Percy. Soon the whole group is learning choreography to a dance where all of the skaters pretend to be students at a dance class to the music of “Hip Hip Chin Chin.” Except Vex is the teacher crushing on her student: Percy. It’s silly, it’s really campy, Vex spends more time looking at Percy than skating but she really doesn’t mind any reason to look at her handsome boyfriend as much as she can. And the number leads right into their “Good Kisser” routine. Which feels fitting. She finds herself chuckling at Orym and Lilith’s attempts at dancing together as part of the supporting cast and even at the choreography that has Lilith trying to get Percy’s attention before Vex’s teacher persona swoops in. Of course, that night she texts Keyleth immediately, knowing full well that the American and Canadian Stars on Ice tours often have similar group numbers. Frankly, she’s fascinated by who would plug in to each part of this monstrosity should the American leg do the number.
The rest of the week goes well. The rest of the group numbers feature different skaters to highlight, which is just fine by Vex. All of them are talented in their own right, they deserve their moment. Plus, she has no intention of hogging the spotlight for the rest of the audience to focus on.
Tary is very concerned about the flow between the individual programs from each skater. “What is the theme? What is the message we’re trying to send?” Tary asks to the group as Orym skates by, practicing his gala number to “Dear Prudence” and “Blackbird.” Which is going after Vex and Percy’s “Good Kisser” program. “We don’t want to lose the audience!”
“The audience is full of a bunch of 50 year old women, Tary. We’re losing them after the opening number,” Kima shouts out from where she’s talking with Allura. Trisha and Jerry chuckle while they practice one of their lifts, the lack of boards in the arena allowing for people to get on and off the ice at their leisure.
“Ugh you people are impossible,” Tary says in a tone that flirts with the line between annoyance and amusem*nt. “It’s the 25th Anniversary so everyone will just be happy to celebrate skating. Just…make sure my choreography looks good!”
Vex and Percy stop practicing their lifts from their “Good Kisser” program to nod at him and soon everyone is circled around again to give a pep talk. There weren’t that many of them, just 10 of the current Canadian skaters and Tary, a certifiable Canadian legend. It was a good number, Vex thinks as Tary encourages them all to take the next day to relax before show night. They clap as they separate and Vex can tell this will either be a complete mess or decently inspiring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day comes and Vex wakes up alone. Well, judging by Kima’s snoring, not quite alone. But alone in her bed. She stretches and laments Skate Canada’s hotel reservation strategy. Just because they didn’t want incidents during the tour shouldn’t mean Vex can’t take advantage of being on a business trip with her boyfriend. She’s an adult, she can make poor decisions on her own. She looks at her phone to see a text from said boyfriend has already come in. “Want to sightsee?” She’s throwing her clothes on in an instant.
Percy and Orym are already in the lobby when Vex and Kima come down with Lilith, who they had met in the hallway. Vex has never done much traveling in Canada before now, which makes all parties insistent on taking her around. They walk next to the harbor as Percy points out the different people kayaking, the bay water glittering in the sunlight shining on all of them, before he steers her toward the market in the city. The other 3 skaters tell Vex more about the city as they walk along the colorful boutiques and different stores that make up the downtown area. Vex feels inundated with new knowledge as she window shops at places she knows she can’t afford to buy from.
Percy runs off for a short bit while they are getting lunch and comes back with Canadian money to pay for the food…and then gives one Canadian dollar to Vex. “For you, so you have a piece of Canada with you after we leave,” Percy says with a smirk. “You may not have grown up here but…as long as you skate with me, you’re Canadian.”
Vex smiles and gives him a kiss on the cheek as she makes sure to keep her Canadian dollar safe.
The day passes by quickly anfter that with both ice time and recovery on the menu. Soon all of the skaters are reporting to the arena to go through their costumes and prepping them each by laying them out. Vex catches Kima making a face as she pulls the costume out for the first group number, “Ugh, is this the one from last year? This thing was itchy!”
“Well at least you know it fits,” Trisha laments as she pulls the costume on. “I can still see my name on the tag.”
“It could be worse,” Lilith says as she lays out her other costumes for the night. “We could have the costumes after the Americans like last year.”
Everyone groans with that knowledge. It was common for the Canadian and American Stars on Ice tours to share costumes between them. Vex remembers being happy she got to use the costumes first at the American tour last year but didn’t think too long about who was getting them second. It always felt weird getting costumes second-hand, even if the costumes were well-maintained, and Vex couldn’t blame the other skaters for expressing that sentiment.
But that’s how Vex is going to be dressed for the opening number this year. The lone tradition of these reused costumes is to put your name on it and the tour, almost like a memento. She looks into the costume to read the tag, curious about who had last worn hers. It shouldn’t surprise her really, she’s the only person it could be, but it still makes Vex smile knowing that she’s wearing a costume once worn by Cassandra for what she remembers Percy mentioning as a guest spot in Whitestone to promote the junior pair only a month before Cassandra had to quit the sport altogether. She hopes that it means Percy’s sister is out on the ice in spirit as they go through Canada, living out the skating life she couldn’t have through Vex.
The show goes as well as a first show can go. There’s awkwardness in the choreography for sure, Vex catches Jarrett fumbling his way through the opening number as Tary pumps the crowd up with his enthusiasm. It really becomes infectious how much Tary is loving performing in front of the crowd and soon the entire cast is smiling widely, despite the hiccups in their performance. Thankfully, Vex and Percy have a little time between the opening number and their solo number of the act as Tary and Jarrett have their own solos first. They quickly change before their “How Will I Know” number and it goes well. Vex can feel the emotional tension in the rink, only able to see the people sitting along the ice in the darkness of the arena. She prefers it that way though as it makes it feel more intimate when she performs, as if performing in a small venue rather than the arena that they’re actually in. As she and Percy have a skate that they’re both proud of, if not perfect, she smiles at him as they exit the ice.
Percy performs in the boys number on one side of the intermission before their “dance school” number opens the second act. Which immediately leads into their solo number. Vex can tell Percy needs a break as they exit the ice after their solo number with a heavy sigh of, “Tary really decided to keep me in shape, huh?”
“Just as long as you don’t drop me on the ice while you’re out of breath, darling,” Vex jokes as they watch Orym from backstage.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Percy says to her seriously.
They don’t have to go out again until the closing numbers, which is a relief. They relax a little before performing their roles in a longer “story” on ice that was Tary’s brainchild, change into their closing number costumes, and close out the show. Vex can tell everyone is exhausted after the show.
“I always forget how long these things are,” Lilith says as she’s removing her skates after the show is over and the costumes start coming off.
“And to think we still have the meet and greet,” Trisha says, looking forlornly at the bench as she gets ready to be seen by the few fans who shelled out the money to meet their favorite skaters.
“Why do we do these shows again?” Vex asks a little sarcastically, a chuckle falling from her lips. They all know why they’re here: they all need the money to even think about breaking even on training for the year.
Vex and Percy spend another hour sitting at a table as they meet fans both young and old, after which Vex is just looking forward to…well, collapsing into her bus bed really. They’d be off to the next tour date as soon as they left here, girls to one RV bus and men to the other RV bus.
Vex is starting to curse this tour as she loads up her suitcase into the bus after a short trip back to the hotel to grab their stuff. Percy soon comes up to her, kisses her and whispers, “I’ll see you in a couple hours, dear.”
Vex nods, rubbing her eyes as she moves inside the vehicle that will take her across the country as she sleeps. As she settles into her bed, she reminds herself that, even though the day has been long, the feeling of skating with Percy had been worth the long day. She’s still seeing Canada with her boyfriend, just not at night. She could deal with that for now. She shuts her eyes and rests her aching limbs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“And done!” Percy says as he finishes typing on his laptop in the bus. Vex sits next to him after the skaters decided to play musical bus at a rest stop for the last couple hours of the drive. Vex had reminded Percy that he still needed to finish his Briarwood report and the past couple hours have been a steady stream of writing and Vex correcting his work with kind pushes. The document spanned an impressive number of pages, even surprising Vex.
“Well then the only thing to do is send that and the audio file to my father in the official investigation database,” Vex reminds him.
“Ah, right. You still have the file saved, right?”
“Mmm, I had Keyleth copy it to her own flash drive before we left. I wanted it far away from Canada. No offense.”
“None taken,” Percy replies as he uploads all of his report, Laudna’s report, and his audio file together for an official investigation request. “I’ll email your father to tell him it’s his responsibility now. And that my family is in an even more vulnerable position than they were before.”
Vex rubs his shoulders, “It’s an anonymous reporting site, darling. They shouldn’t be able to know if a file has even been created.”
“They shouldn’t. But they always seem to,” Percy says, rubbing his face before running his hands through his hair, a gesture Vex can recognize immediately. She reaches to steady his hands with hers.
“You just need to make sure that the evidence is damning. Then it won’t matter either way,” she says as she rubs his hands. “I know…I know you just said you were worried about your family but…do you think it might be worth getting their written accounts?”
Percy seems to think on this for a little while, “We will be passing through each of the cities they live in. It might be worth asking…but I also don’t want more people to be brought into it than necessary.”
“I would argue, darling, that they already are.”
Percy nods, acknowledging the point. They sit like that for a while before Vex hears the toilet flush and Jarrett walk out, “Woof, that was a big one. As the bus lookout, I must warn you both to not enter such a dangerous place”
Percy groans and Vex’s laughter effectively breaks the tension. Everything would be alright. It had to be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thankfully, their second show isn’t until the day after they arrive in the second city. Of course, most of them hadn’t slept well on the bus, which means most of them take the opportunity of a little time off to simply sleep. Skate Canada arranges a group dinner for all of the skaters at a nice restaurant before they all return to their respective rooms for the night.
Vex and Kima don’t really know each other that well, which makes for a little awkwardness each night that they’ve been assigned to room together. As Vex showers, she swears she hears Kima on the phone with someone, talking in a tone that is decidedly not platonic. But as she returns to the open space of the room, Kima quickly hangs up and starts busying herself with her pajamas.
“You know, it’s alright if you’re speaking with someone,” Vex says kindly as she adjusts the towel around her hair. “Gods know I’m probably insufferable around Percy.”
“You kind of are,” Kima says but in a way Vex immediately perceives as being said without malicious intent. “I mean geez you were practically hanging off of him at dinner tonight.”
“I was simply using my time wisely. I enjoy your company but I must admit I think about sharing the room with someone else.”
“So do I,” Kima replies with a shake of her head. “I, uh, have a girlfriend. Ally’s great but she can’t really travel cross-country with me with all of her students so…”
Vex thinks back to Kima talking with Allura during practice and is a little confused. She’s dating someone different? But Vex inwardly shrugs. Not her issue. And plus, she knows how tough it is for Kima to reveal that to her given the way gay women especially are treated in the sport. Vex smiles.
“I can’t imagine. Being away from my partner just during the night is hard enough. Being apart completely? It takes a lot I’m sure.”
“Yeah. We’re planning out a vacation after all of this but it’s a while off right? And I don’t want to wish for it sooner. I actually like these tours sometimes. It’s nice to travel the country each year. Just wish it wasn’t apart from her.”
Vex nods. She could relate to that. “Well, if you ever need to talk to Ally while I’m around, please feel free to tell me to leave. I know how important even the little moments are.”
Kima smiles and Vex can feel a thread of friendship beginning to form between them, “Ah, I won’t kick you out. But if you notice I’m talking to someone…well at least I don’t have to lie about what it’s about.”
Vex thinks about how much stigma surrounds gay people in the sport. Even if the common misconception was that all men in the sport were gay, there were precious few out men and absolutely no out women. Judges from more conservative countries could have biases that they don’t know about so it’s best to keep quiet instead. It’s both something that permeates the talking around the sport and not welcome within it, where men wear sequins and women exist to be attractive. She can see how living like that both inside and outside of the rink could wear on Kima. Vex lays her hand on top of hers, “You don’t ever have to worry about that with me, darling.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vex notices how nervous Percy is throughout the practice the next day. Not majorly so, but she received texts from him throughout the previous night asking about how secure the reporting system is, how anonymous the accounts were, and if coaches had access to it. He seems to be calmed down from that frenzy of texts but even still, he keeps checking his phone after telling Vex that Syldor had given him the update that he had brought it up to the proper parties.
“Are you ok, Percival?” Vex asks him after they practice one of their lifts, which was done perfectly well but which Vex alone can tell was a little off on his end.
“I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Just need to clear my head is all,” Percy replies and goes off to skate by himself to finish out their ice session. She lets him, trusts him enough to know he’d tell her if something was majorly wrong. He comes back ten minutes later with his eyes looking a little more clear, “I’ve just been thinking about the worst-case scenarios. But there’s nothing I can do about that now, just skate.”
“Just skate,” Vex repeats to him. “It’s the one thing we have that takes our mind off of everything else.”
That night, their second show runs smoothly. Well, Vex and Percy’s parts at least. They laugh equally as they see Tary attempt a double loop and crash right next to someone sitting near the ice. But he picks himself up, dusts himself off with showman’s bravado and keeps going.
“How do you just keep skating after that?” Vex asks Tary with a laugh when he returns backstage. “I’d be hurting all over.”
“Oh I am,” Tary says a little embarrassed. “But when you’ve been doing this for 20 years, there’s not much that hasn’t gone wrong during a show. You just gotta roll with it! Plus, I’m prepared for anything!”
“You’re prepared to go flying into paying customers?” Percy asks bemused. In answer, Tary takes out his journal sitting on a table backstage, brings it to Percy, and shows off an entry: “How to deal with falling into a show attendee.”
Percy laughs out loud, “I’ll have to remember to visualize all my failures before a show next time.”
“Ah, are you also a visual thinker? I find I need to write or tell my phone what I’m thinking immediately to build out my ideas.”
And soon Percy and Tary are conversing in abstract ideas that Vex can’t quite keep up with. At least they’re getting along. She only interrupts when she grabs Percy around the wrist as Jarrett’s program wraps up because they have to do their number. She can tell the conversation loosened him up again, and their first solo number of the night has all of the emotion it needs without any of the anxiety Percy has been carrying around all day.
They perform the full show, teacher-student relations and good kisser implications performed in front of an audience of Gods knew who, all of which going as planned. It isn’t until Vex is packing up the bus again that she notices Percy has stiffened up again. And it hits her that Whitestone is next on the show list. And she won’t be in the bus as they cross into the city.
“Hey, it’ll be alright. It won’t be long and I’ll be there when we get off, okay?”
Percy nods but retreats quietly to the other bus without giving her a kiss goodnight. Not that she needs one (ok maybe she’s aching for one) but it’s still odd behavior from him. As she sits in the bus after everyone has gone to sleep, she calls Keyleth and retreats to the back of the bus for some privacy.
“Vex?” Keyleth asks, a tad groggy.
“Sorry dear, I just…I needed someone to talk to,” Vex says honestly and launches into a recounting of how Percy’s been acting the past two days. Keyleth listens quietly…or else she’s fallen asleep. Vex is just about to ask if she’s still listening when Keyleth cuts in.
“Do you think he needs some closure? Like a visit to the rink? I don’t know, it feels like it might be helpful,” Keyleth says, still sounding groggy but at least more coherent. “I mean his fear is just like this abstract idea of the city. I think it might be good for him to just see it.”
Vex nods, “I always forget how wise you are, Keyleth.”
“Yeah yeah, I’m a modern sage,” Keyleth yawns. “But if you don’t mind, I still have practice tomorrow.”
“Oh, right. Sorry,” Vex says hurriedly. “I’ll shut up. I’ll see you soon.”
With a quick goodbye from Keyleth, Vex hangs up the phone and thinks about how to bring up the idea of touring Whitestone with Percy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Frankly darling I think you need to suck it up,” Vex says to her boyfriend at 10 AM the next day as she’s waiting for him to get ready for practice in his hotel room. Okay, maybe not the way to go about it , she thinks to herself. “Let’s just see the city, see how it’s changed.”
“I don’t love the idea of just waltzing down the street around here, Vex’ahlia,” Percy says with a bit of annoyance. “I have no idea who here might recognize me. Or tell them I’m here. I don’t want to be put in their path if I don’t have to.”
“Frankly Percival they’d be idiots to not know you’re here,” Vex replies with the same annoyance affecting her voice. “They know you’re on Stars on Ice tour. They could easily look up the dates. What’s the point in hiding here if they already know you’re around?”
Percy stops as he changes, taking that in.
“You know I’m right,” Vex walks up to Percy and sits down on his bed, listening to Orym brush his teeth in the bathroom. “We don’t have to stay long but I do think it’ll be good for you.”
“Perhaps,” Percy concedes. “But I’m not going out looking like…me.”
Which is how Vex finds herself walking through Whitestone after practice with Percy, who has sunglasses on and his sweatshirt hood up as they walk through the more quaint part of town. The brownstone buildings give the city a warmth she wasn’t expecting but make perfect sense now that she’s here. Mixed in with the grey of other buildings and the parks scattered around the town, she can see how a place like this could become where Percy’s heart truly lied, even if he didn’t often show it.
She can see through his sunglasses that there’s a lot of emotions swirling behind his eyes. “That there is the candy shop I used to sneak out to when I was a kid,” he mutters to Vex. “Julius always took us when he knew our parents were too busy with the other kids.”
He points out a couple of other shops: the skate shop, the tavern, the book store. But she notices that there’s also a bunch of empty storefronts, places that Percy will start to point toward before realizing that the store no longer exists. He looks distinctly put out, coming back to his home even more of a stranger than he had been expecting. “There were more stores last year, Vex’ahlia. Why are there so many empty storefronts?” he asks no one in particular. She of course has no answer.
Vex doesn’t really know where they’re going, she simply follows Percy as he winds his way through the city, not looking in either direction as they speed through the empty streets. Streets eerily empty. Before she knows it, Percy stops in front of a rink, and Vex knows immediately what it is. She looks up at the rink and notices…so much. The posters that still hang outside that acknowledge Percy and Cassandra’s World Junior championship gold, the few skaters going in and out, the signs proclaiming it as the “Whitestone Castle.” Which is a little presumptuous, Vex thinks, but she can imagine why an area like this would flock to the rink as a hub. What she notices most of all is…just how run down all of that looks. The sky blue facade is fading, the sign’s color has gone from red to a rust pink, there are cigarettes crushed in the parking lot. She doesn’t have to look at Percy to feel how tense he is.
“Can’t even be bothered to keep the place up. All they know how to do is steal,” he says darkly.
“Did you want to go insi–”
Percy shakes his head immediately, “No. No, I won't go that far. But now I know.”
Percy turns away, walking alone back toward the town, back to the main street. Vex takes one last look at the rink and her heart hurts for him. She runs after him.
“I want to visit the tavern before we leave,” Percy says as they make their way. “The owner was always good to us. I want to make sure there’s some good left here.”
They make their way quickly through the streets until they get to the door of the tavern. Percy pushes it open and the bustle of the tavern surprises them, especially since the streets are less crowded than Vex had anticipated of a city. Percy leads her through, pushing ahead of her to the podium.
“Excuse me, miss, is Yennen still the owner of this tavern?” Percy asks of the hostess before Vex can ask about a table. Not that there’s much room to begin with.
“I can get him for you if you’re looking for him,” the hostess says, a little uncertainly.
“If you don’t mind.”
It doesn’t take too long before the hostess returns with who Vex supposes is the owner of the tavern. And it takes even less time before Yennan whispers, “Percy? Is that you, my boy?”
Percy lowers his sunglasses slightly and responds with a simple nod. Soon the two are hugging and Percy is introducing Vex with a warm smile, “Ah, this is my…partner. Vex, this is Yennan. He was a family friend before…well the last few years.”
“Still am a friend, I hope,” Yennan says with a chuckle as he shakes Vex’s hand. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t throw a bit of a party before we all went to see you skate!”
Percy looks flabbergasted, “All of these people are coming to the show tonight?”
“It’s been a rough year since you’ve left, lad. Those lovely people who took your rink have increased the prices for skating lessons the past year. And in a city like ours that relies on the revenue from skating families…” Yennen sighs. “It ain’t been easy that’s for sure. So we thought we’d lighten the mood for our hometown champion.”
Yennen claps Percy on the arm but Vex is aware that Percy is…the best way she can describe it is mourning. Mourning the way his town is now. And the way it never could be again.
“We’re actually working toward getting those people out of skating,” Vex begins tentatively, knowing she doesn’t really have a foothold here and hoping Percy will take the lead.
He seems to pick up on that, “I’ve filed an official complaint with Skate Canada. I’ve been looking for more eyewitnesses to their abuse. Do you think anyone at all in Whitestone would be–”
“Oh we’ve got plenty,” Yennen replies vehemently. “The real question is whether there’ll be enough people who aren’t scared of them to give an honest account.”
“It can be anonymous,” Percy emphasizes. “We just need as much evidence as we can to make sure they can never coach again. My account alone might not be enough, given my own stake in it.”
Yennen nods knowingly, “Give me a couple weeks. I can probably round up a few people to help you out. And don’t worry, I’m not about to tell anyone other than those I trust about this.”
Yennen and Percy exchange phone numbers in a flash and Yennen offers them both lunch on the house. Even though they have to decline, Yennen makes a point to offer them dinner after the show for all the skaters. They gratefully accept the offer before making their way outside again.
“You were right, as usual,” Percy says as they make their way back to the hotel.
“You really have to learn to trust me, Percival dear,” Vex says with a slight smirk as she kisses him on the sidewalk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Vex and Percy walk into the arena, the backstage area is absolutely chaotic. Even more so than usual. People are running back and forth frantically, talking into earpieces, and things are being moved around as Vex and Percy walk toward the changing rooms. Vex taps Orym as he walks by a little distractedly, like he’s trying not to notice the mess going on around him.
“Orym, what’s all this about?” Vex asks him as she watches a backstage manager commanding assistants to rearrange seats in the arena.
“Apparently some special guest is coming tonight,” Orym shrugs. “Must be some big deal. They made last minute ticket arrangements with the higher ups. Hell if I know why they’re this insistent on impressing them though.”
Vex has a bad feeling about this and she can feel Percy stiffen next to her. It can’t be, surely? That would be almost too much of a coincidence. The worst kind. And right when I was getting Percy to relax , Vex laments as she tries to scan the crowd walking in. But it’s useless. The arena is dark and whatever guests are coming in would likely be showing up later if they were this important. She notices a couple of arena employees leaving “reserved” signs on two seats but doesn’t notice much more. Maybe it’ll be ok , she thinks. If I keep saying it, maybe it’ll be true .
They get ready for the show, getting into their costumes, Vex thinking of Cassandra as she slips into the costume for the opening night in her hometown. If there’s one place she wants to represent the de Rolo family, it’s here. She finds Percy backstage before the opening number and they do a couple of breathing exercises to get in sync before they gather around Tary for the pep talk to open the show, which ends with a, “And make sure to impress our special guests!”
Everyone nods but Vex’s stomach does a backflip, and Percy doesn’t look much better. There’s no reason to think…well there’s plenty of reason to think. Vex and Percy are gripping each other’s hands tightly as they enter the ice behind the other skaters. Vex glances at the seats that were reserved and notices they’re still empty. Maybe they’re catching a break. Percy also seems to notice and relaxes, but only slightly. They focus on each other for the group number, performing for the audience who are very into it. The whole group number passes by in relative ease and Vex starts to lift her body into their spotlight lift.
Until she catches guests headed toward the reserved seats as she starts into Percy’s arms. An unmistakable pair even after only seeing them twice before. They settle on the side of the rink, right where Vex knows she and Percy will be looking for their individual programs. Right where they could make sure that Percy and Vex could see them as often as possible. There’s no escaping this. She meets Percy’s eyes and his jaw is clenched as he looks at his former coaches. The Briarwoods, for their part, look unperturbed, smug even.
They have every reason to be , Vex thinks bitterly as they close out the group number in a haze. They’ve got us cornered . Which is exactly why she thinks they came late: to make sure that they couldn’t pull out at the last minute with the sight of them, to keep them second-guessing up until they were officially part of the audience. It makes Vex sick just thinking about the lengths they went to to ensure that they could mess with Percy as much as possible.
After they finish the group number, they hurry off of the ice and Percy’s head is in her shoulder almost immediately. “They’re here just to f*ck with me Vex’ahlia,” Percy laments into her costume sleeve. “Here to intimidate me, I’m sure.”
“It’s ok, darling. It’s just a couple of hours and then we can leave. They can’t bother us out there,” Vex says as she runs her fingers through his hair.
“It’s not the show I’m worried about,” Percy says. “It’s why they felt the need to come to it at all. They never came to a single show before, always hated them. Why come to this one?”
And yeah, he has a point there. Vex doesn’t have an answer for it and simply shakes her head. Percy sighs as he removes his face from her shoulder.
“I can’t help but feel that they know about my submission. Either that or they enjoy provoking me for fun, since I’m the only one around,” Percy says wearily as he rubs his face with his hand. “Let’s just…get this over with.”
Vex doesn’t love how resigned Percy looks as he goes to the dressing room but what else can she really give him? He knows she supports him, that she will support him throughout the show. Now it’s about focusing on the Whitestone residents rather than on the couple sitting in the front row.
Except that proves to be very hard. Vex can feel how tense Percy is throughout their solo number to “How Will I Know?” And even though she tries so hard not to look at the Briarwoods as they skate that way, she almost can’t help herself. It’s a panic attack waiting to happen and instead of pushing it down, each glance toward Delilah is another sprint toward it. She knows she shouldn’t look, but she does. And she sees Delilah smirking viciously each time Vex catches her eye. It’s pointed, it's perfectly timed, catching Vex’s attention each time Vex tries to direct her feelings toward Percy due to the lyrics of the song. There’s little consolation in noting that he’s just as distracted as she is, the only saving grace that there aren’t any lifts in this performance until the closing 15 seconds.
“Hey, you two ok?” Tary asks them as they pass each other backstage. “You looked a little nervous. I told you you should’ve practiced more on this ice!”
Vex shakes her head, “It’s nothing Tary. The ice is fine.”
“Good, solid ice,” Percy adds a little dazedly.
“Ah I know what it must be. It’s the guests right?” Tary asks with a knowing look. Before Vex and Percy can do much more than look at each other with startled expressions, Tary continues, “I know everyone wants to impress those guys but really you can’t think about impressing just two people in the audience. There’s a whole arena to focus on!”
Vex and Percy nod a little too eagerly but Tary seems to buy it. “Loosen up and let’s get back to that group number!” Tary says excitedly to Percy as he retreats back into the dressing room. Percy follows with a bewildered expression on his face and Vex isn’t sure if that’s bad or good.
The rest of the show goes by in a daze. Every time Vex is on the ice, she can see them staring at her and Percy. They end up fumbling on their second solo number and the lift during the last group number is bobbled. Vex knows that the “dance” group number features a very distracted version of herself trying to “teach” the other skaters; she barely manages a smile. But she’s trying. Gods is she trying. She knows the people of Whitestone deserve a better show than she’s able to mentally attempt right now.
As she and Percy leave the ice for the last time that night, she lets out a sigh of relief, echoed by Percy.
“You guys ok, by the way? You looked kinda off all night. No offense,” Kima gets straight to the point of course but Vex can’t bring herself to say anything.
“No, nothing major,” Percy says quickly. “A little stomach trouble from lunch is all.”
“Are you sure?” Orym questions, a little accusingly. “It seemed like you were looking at the guests a lot.”
“We’re fine, Orym, thank you,” Vex says brusquely. She can do without the inquisition for now. She just needs to get out of this costume, get into decent clothes, do the meet and greet, and then–
“Looks like our guests want to personally thank you lot for a great show, as I expected from all of you,” Tary proclaims as he bursts through the curtains separating the rink from the backstage area. “No need to get out of your costumes, they’re on their way back right now!”
Percy goes green and Vex is about ready to throw up. Gods they’re relentless , she thinks as she clutches her stomach, not even trying to hide her discomfort, because what the hell’s the difference. What are they trying to hide at this point? Percy’s hands rest on his knees as Tary gestures for the Briarwoods to come backstage.
“Everyone, meet Sylas and Delilah. They’ve been coaching elites out of Whitestone for a couple years now and wanted to see some of the top talent in person. Do you think it was worth your while, coaches?” Tary smiles at the Briarwoods with a friendly demeanor while Sylas and Delilah both smile with so much subtlety that Vex can only just about pick up how fake they are.
“So much figure skating talent in Canada now,” Delilah says, sliding her eyes from one skater to another down the line, lingering on Vex and Percy for a slightly longer amount of time. “You should introduce me to all these lovely skaters. They truly put on a wonderful performance.”
Sylas nodded at her side, “The skaters were truly captivating during the group numbers. My wife and I couldn’t take our eyes off of them.” The statement is punctuated by Sylas’s uncomfortable stare as he looks at Vex like a meal. The urge to vomit rises in her throat again.
Tary cheerfully introduces each of the skaters to the Briarwoods, telling them the strengths of each skater as Sylas and Delilah appraise them with their air of superiority. Vex resolves herself as Tary gets closer. She’s not going to give them any leverage. Not here. She squeezes Percy’s hand and he looks down at her with the same resolute face that she is certain she’s wearing. They turn back toward Tary at the same time, just as he and the Briarwoods approach the two skaters.
“And this is our up-and-coming couple, Percy and Vex’ahlia. I’m sure you saw their skates last month at Worlds. Truly spectacular. And in their first season together too!” Tary says excitedly. “Percy here is quite good at visualizing the technical side. And no one moves quite like Vex.”
“Oh I’m well aware,” Delilah says, inching closer to both skaters, whose faces are stuck in neutral. “I’ve known Percy’s brilliance for a long time. Fifteen years, in fact.” Delilah smiles in what Vex thinks is meant to be nostalgic to others but simply comes across as half-hearted.
“You know our skaters! Well, why didn’t you tell me you two?” Tary asks Percy and Vex a little accusingly.
“It’s no matter. We’ve enjoyed our night either way,” Sylas waves off the indignance of Tary, raking his eyes further over Vex. She resists the urge to cross her arms in front of her chest.
“You know, something I was quite impressed by was the music cut between that group number to start intermission and your solo number,” Delilah says to Percy, her veneer dropping a little as she stands closer to him. “Was that your idea?”
“Vex and Percy were very helpful with that. Even suggested ways to bridge the two cuts of music and scenes together,” Tary says helpfully but Vex isn’t quite sure if Delilah is listening properly as she continues to sneer at them both now that her face is out of sight of the other skaters.
“Mmm, it’s very important to get those things right, to have a proper professional manning the music,” Delilah says, her voice silky smooth. It would be almost soothing if Vex didn’t know better. “It’s so easy to mess up audio files these days. Press the wrong button and instead of playing, the file can just…vanish.”
Delilah emphasizes the last word with a dramatic whisper before shaking her head with a hint of a smile, “And wouldn’t that be a shame after all the work you’ve done for this show?”
“I believe the sound mixers know what they’re doing,” Percy says carefully. Vex can see the gears whirring in his head, likely in a similar way to her own, the puzzle pieces starting to lock into place.
“Perhaps. Though I’ve found a good chunk are simply…in over their heads,” Delilah says smoothly. “Bitten off more than they can chew. Though I’m sure the ones in charge of your tour are doing an admirable job.” She directs the last sentence to Tary and the tension is broken only slightly as Pery takes a quiet deep breath. Vex notes that Sylas is talking to Lilith, who’s younger than both Percy and Vex and barely into her adult life, with particular interest. Vex wants to crawl into a hole and never come out.
“Well, I believe we’ve taken up enough of your time. Good luck on the rest of your tour,” Delilah turns toward Vex and Percy. “And do take good care of Percy, Vex’ahlia. It would be a shame if something were to happen to him.”
Vex grips Percy’s hand a little tighter and hardens her face before replying, “Oh don’t worry, I will be.”
The Briarwoods leave and the tension leaves the backstage area, everyone having seemingly held their breath in the fifteen minutes that they took of their time. And then Vex and Percy are running. Because they’re not idiots. And if what Delilah was saying was worth paying any heed…
Vex is calling her father desperately, knowing full well that private conversations are not usually held in the dressing room. She needs to know though and Percy must feel the same way as he pours over his phone, typing on the keyboard in a tizzy, his thumbs blurring in their speed. It only takes three rings before Syldor is on the phone.
“Father, you’ve picked up! What a surprise. Well, that doesn’t matter right now. Can you check in the database to see–”
“If your audio file is there?” Syldor asks on the other line. “I’ve already been informed by those in charge of the database. The audio file disappeared this afternoon.”
