🔮 exsanguinated (with @sangwhine)

[mystracal]

tfln | invitations | and there was only one bed | undermountain alurlyath | what could be | blood bond | the price of freedom
it wore his face | dinner with morena dekarios | rediscovery

Comments

[sangwhine]

You do look quite lovely with your cheeks flushed.

[mystracal]

Perhaps, but my mind feels so muddled. Do you have any idea how hard it is to string words together when looking at you?

[sangwhine]

You seem to be faring quite well. I'd hate to think I'd stunned someone as eloquent as you into silence.

[mystracal]

It might take a stronger drink than Undermountain Alurlyath for that, but I'm sure with the right look in your eyes, you could manage to stun me all on your own. It's not your looks, mind you, incredible as you know they are - it's how you make me feel when I look at you.

[sangwhine]

And how do I make you feel when you look at me, Gale of Waterdeep?

[mystracal]

[He laughs; it's loud, hearty.]

Don't make me put it into words when you've had me drinking! At least let me save the poetics for when I'm completely sober.

[sangwhine]

Oh no, I want to hear your drunken ramblings. I want to hear the honesty the wine brings out in you.

[mystracal]

It's no fault of mine if you regret this later, though I will be sore if it diminishes what rapport we have.

[He rubs at his eye with the back of his palm; he knows there's a phrase about wine and wisdom, but he'll be damned if he can think of it at that moment.]

I'll say that I shrugged it off as nothing at first. I assumed I was at best an experiment for you, and at worst a cruel joke.

[He chuckles as he says that, in good spirits.]

It was undeniably flattering to have your attention, but I'd seen the way you acted around the others, particularly the leader of this merry band. That cloying way you'd talk to them, except it was being used on me. And it was tempting, to be sure. I am - currently - not what one might consider desirable, and I've been alone for some time now, so to feel as though I was... otherwise...

[He shakes his head. There goes his train of thought. He picks up further down the track.]

Still, I determined that we could, at the very least, get along better than we had been. Nothing so serious, but a casual camaraderie built upon our aligned goals. I sought to have that, and nothing more... until you caught me off-guard. You...

[He pulls in a breath, steadying himself; his voice has grown softer, somber.]

You said something to me that struck me: that Mystra didn't deserve me. That I could do better than being treated like the playing of a goddess. You made it sound so obvious, but... it felt like, for the first time, someone understood. You understood. There was so much more to you than you let anyone see, and I wanted to see it.

[Even he seems to recognize when he's been rambling. His mouth curls into that lopsided smile once more.]

That's what I feel when I look at you. I see this man with depths and layers that I'm not sure even he realizes are there. When he looks at me - when you look - my heart flutters like a bird taking off for a morning flight. It feels as though it's never beat before, and it's only just realized how.

[sangwhine]

[Okay Astarion was expecting drunken ramblings but not this level of emotionally honest drunken ramblings. Gale can watch as his expression shifts from playful amusement to something more serious, finally landing on a soft eyed awe. He stares at Gale, absolutely dumbstruck. It's true what he said to Gale and he meant every word of it, but for Gale to take words as simple as that and peel away the layers of deception and misdirection and want to truly know Astarion is nothing he'd ever even conceived of wanting.

But now that Gale's said it, put words to that desire, he can't imagine wanting anything else. To be understood at the depth that Gale wishes to understand him. To be seen for all that he is and for that still to inspire a look of awe in the one who sees it.

He blinks, his vision suddenly hazy and misty with emotion. He speaks, his voice a quiet and fragile thing.]

You are so incredible. Truly, there is no one else like you in this world.

[mystracal]

A bold claim, coming from the only vampire who can walk in the sunlight.

[It's a good thing he asked Gale this while inebriated rather than waiting for him to sober up completely; chances are Astarion would have gotten just as many words, but with a far more obfuscated meaning as he danced around his feelings, trying to make sense of them for both himself and Astarion simultaneously.]

[sangwhine]

That hardly compares, darling.

[He smiles, blinking away any moisture that might have gathered in his eyes.]

[mystracal]

[Gale cannot stop staring. Gods, he hopes to remember that face through the haze of his mind come morning. That sincere smile, his fangs, how moved he looks - knowing he stirred such emotion feels incredible. It has to be real, doesn't it?

Yes, this is the real Astarion, and what a gift he is. He finally manages to tear his eyes away.]

Am I grateful now that you gave me another chance after storming out of your tent.

[sangwhine]

I'm quite grateful that you allowed me to bully you into taking a bath and tending to your beard.

[mystracal]

How does it feel to have gotten me undressed faster than anyone else?

[sangwhine]

I am rather proud of myself for that one.

[mystracal]

[Snerk.]

I'll have you know Karlach asked me about my visits. She was not subtle in her insinuation.

[sangwhine]

I'll have to make sure to thank her for that when I see her next.

[mystracal]

Trust me, she'll be thrilled to hear the news. She seemed quite disappointed when I informed her it was purely a social visit.

[sangwhine]

I knew there was a reason why she's my favorites.

[mystracal]

I'd better be at least a close second.

[sangwhine]

You have quite swiftly climbed the ranks.

[He draws Gale's hand to his lips, kissing his knuckles.]

[mystracal]

[If anyone had asked Gale twenty-four hours prior how he felt about Astarion, he'd have been utterly conflicted and struggled to give a concise answer. Now, he'd still struggle to be concise, as his slightly drunken rambling exemplified perfectly, but at least he understands that longing that has been welling in his chest since their first kiss. He knew it was silly to think anything more of it than a passing fancy, more embarrassed about his fixation on it than the fact it happened at all, but...

Well, maybe he'd have regretted it if things turned out differently, but as Astarion kisses his hand, it's hard to argue with that fluttering in his chest.]

So long as you like me more than Shale.

[sangwhine]

[Astarion is really no better off in all this. He never expected to be so charmed by Gale's presence, to feel so well understood by him. It brings with it such an unfamiliar comfort, a balm over wounds that run deeper than he knew. He can't help but crave more of it, to let himself indulge in Gale's company.]

I won't have you disparaging Shale's fine qualities in my presence. He's an excellent traveling companion.

But you are a marked improvement over him in several areas.

[mystracal]

[He runs his thumb along Astarion's hand, still entwined with his own.]

Indulge me. Tell me how.

[sangwhine]

Well, I'm not sure that I could match the verses that you sang for me, but your eloquence is a point in your favor. Shale makes for a poor conversation partner when one wants to match wits. And I feel you and I are quite well matched in that regard.

[Astarion turns to move closer to Gale, still keeping their joined hands between them, but now he's facing Gale fully, propped up on his side against the pillows.]

You are easier on the eyes as well. I've always found sheep eyes frankly unnerving, but yours have a spark, a glimmer. Like the facets of a gem, I seem to always find something new to admire when I meet them. The rest of your body is also, well. We can explore that later.

And that's not to mention your skill and talent. A sheep can hardly protect me from anything more than a wolf I can throw it to as a distraction, but you are a prodigy of a wizard. Your mind imagines possibilities I can't think to fathom. [There's a pause, a beat, as Astarion squeezes Gale's hand in a tight pulse, looking up to meet his gaze.] And you would turn that imagination to helping me, protecting me. That does count for quite a lot.