[Astarion reaches down to put his hand over Gale's without a second thought. He keeps a loose hold on him as he listens, his own expression clouded and conflicted. None of this is new to him. Nothing has changed about the details and particulars of Gale's relationship with Mystra since they last discussed it. Yet hearing it now, in this moment, is like hearing it for the first time. It casts his earlier words in a very different light, pricking at the unease that's settled at the back of Astarion's mind and giving him a clearer picture into Gale's concern.

He curls his hand around Gale's, squeezing in a tight pulse of reassurance. He leans back just a hairsbreadth, enough to look Gale properly in the eye.

You will always be enough for me. I don't want you to ever feel otherwise. What we have isn't about what use I might have for you. I—I don't want to think of you like that. I don't want you to think I might ever look on you that way.

I love you for your heart. For your kindness, your care. You have given me something no one else ever did. You've shown me what it is to love again, Gale. There's no use to that. But it's why I love you.