mystracal | 🔮 exsanguinated (with @sangwhine)

[Oh thank the gods, he can go back to affixing his eyes on that book across the tent. And from the back, surely Astarion can't tell how mortified he is by this entire experience. Surely.]

I've done that so far, but there's only so long I can insist I'm traveling for my health before she starts to get suspicious.

I'm surprised she's believed you so far. No one travels the Chionthar for health.

[He lets out a quiet sigh.]

Hence why I'll need to come up with a more substantial excuse. I'd rather not break her heart.

I'm sure you've done quite enough of that already.

[He reaches for a bucket, dipping it into the basin for some water before pouring it over Gale's back, it's time to rinse.]

If I may, the first thing you ought to do is come clean about the whole "health" angle. If she's a woman with half a mind, she already suspects it to be a fabrication, and your admission of guilt will make her more likely to believe what follows.

I'm not going to tell my mother I'm a walking bomb.

[That came out more clipped than anticipated; he shakes his head, pushing a breath out through his nose as his fingers curl under the water, digging into his palms.]

[Well, who knew Gale was so sensitive about his orb problem. Astarion's more surprised than he'd like to admit, but he glosses over it in a moment with a heavy exhale.]

So tell her something else in its place, wizard. Admit that you've found some minorly cursed artefact, and you're trying to unravel its secrets. That's practically true in its entirety.

[He gives the barest nod. That is at least some semblance of the truth, save for the 'minorly cursed' part.]

And as to why I've not been home in years?

A recent fascination with Netherese magic. Or some other obscure school of wizardry. If she's your mother, she ought to know how insufferably distractable you are when you've found something to fixate on.

The obsession led you to the artefact, the artefact to the curse, and now you're off with a merry little band of adventurers to unravel the whole thing in the name of knowledge and power. Simple.

[Gale sighs quietly, guilt lacing his features; his eyes land on his hands in the water.]

She's going to press on that, and I doubt my resolve with hold. She knows how I can be, yes, but that's all the more reason she can see right through me. It's not easy, lying to someone who knows you better than almost anyone.

[Astarion sure doesn't know what that's like. His lies were always either for the benefit of someone he'd never see again or as a token resistance against someone who could rip the truth from him whenever he wanted. But it doesn't do well to have Gale so overworked like this. He's hardly useful to them when he's moping.]

If she presses, just distract her with the stories of our exploits. Infiltrating a goblin camp, resolving political tensions in a druid's grove. We've been seeking answers to a problem this whole time, all that you need to do is change the nature of the problem that we face.

[He nods again, seemingly taking Astarion's advice to heart. He just needs to reframe their circumstances is all. He's a terrible liar, but fairly practiced at avoiding the truth, dancing around it with a selective exclusion of certain facts that would complete the picture.]

A worthwhile suggestion, honestly.

[He glances Astarion's way, letting his eyes land on the spawn for only a moment before casting them away again.]

Thank you.

Oh, don't thank me, darling. Not yet, at least.

[Hey, Gale, you know that dirty hair of yours? Astarion's dumping a bucket of water over it now.]

[Yep, maybe he thanked Astarion too soon. His hair falls right into his face with the weight of the water, making the Wizard of Waterdeep look more like a bedraggled cat. His face screws into a grimace.]

Right. I'll save that for after this is all over.

That's right. No need to be premature about these things.

[Maybe Astarion shouldn't sound so cheerful about making Gale look like a pathetic, wet animal. But he can't help himself. He reaches for the oil again, spreading a little on his hands before starting to work it through Gale's hair.]

[He heard that.]

You sound like you're having a better time with this than I am.

[Loathe as he is to admit it, this part actually feels... pretty good. Relaxing in a way he didn't anticipate.]

[He is enjoying himself, it's true. Oddly, it feels better than his usual seductions, the instincts he's been leaning on where he can with their party's fearless leader. But even if Gale's been a little skittish about his advances in that direction so far, drawing attention to it like this gives him a chance, doesn't it? And he could always use some more protection...]

Honestly, I'm surprised you aren't enjoying it more. I've been told that my touch can feel quite pleasurable.

I'm sure it can be, when experienced in less embarrassing and more... intimate circumstances. With the right people, of course.

[Needless to say, Mystra didn't do romantic baths.]

[Certainly not baths like this. Astarion lets his nails drag across Gale's scalp, gently massaging as he goes.]

Ah, and I thought we had a connection. That this setting was perfectly intimate.

[He's playing at being hurt, nothing serious just yet, but it all depends on how Gale reacts to it.]

[The part where he had to strip? Embarrassing. Being scrubbed and oiled and doused? He might have preferred to just stay dirty and hope his mother didn't notice. But this, where Astarion works his hair, his nails etching into his scalp? Gale will never admit to how much he's enjoying it.

But he likely doesn't have to: his head slowly leans back toward Astarion's hands - subtly, gently, and before Gale realizes it. He closes his eyes.]

It's unwise to tease someone who can level a city, you know.

[It's a subtle shift, but it's encouraging to Astarion nonetheless. He keeps up the touch, working the oil through, coaxing away the tension that he finds in Gale's brows and temples. This is something he's done hundreds of times over.]

Darling, who said I was teasing?

[The relaxation starts to ease into Gale's shoulders. It seems like he's trying to fight against it, however feebly, as though he'd rather not let his guard down - and yet, his eyes remain closed, forcing him to take it all in through sensation alone. His brow furrows just a hair, the corner of his mouth curling upward.]

You did say you were a natural-born liar, unlike me.

I did say that.

[And it's not like he's being entirely truthful with Gale at this moment, but how insightful can the wizard really be? Gale seems far too caught up in his own circumstances to interrogate what Astarion's got planned.]

But you have my word, if you would like for this to be more enticing for you, I won't tease.

[Gale of Waterdeep is still, in many ways, a broken man. He has yet to fully reconcile what happened with Mystra, heartache finding him at his worst moments; it reminds him that she's only interested in how useful he can be, whether as a prodigy, as her Chosen, or as an explosive means to an end. Maybe she's always been that way, and he was just too blinded by his devotion for her to see it; maybe his transgression against her really did cause her to lose all faith in him. He's not sure he'll ever know.

Regardless of whether or not she ever felt anything for him as he did for her, her spurning has colored his perception of what it means to truly connect to people. Their leader talked him out of obliterating himself once, but when this was all over, and they went their separate ways, who would he have? If he can't do anything for others, why would they keep him around? And if he couldn't get rid of the orb, what would happen then?

He asks himself that in the moment Astarion seems to offer him a connection, and he finds himself afraid to take it. It's flirtatious, licentious, and he's not sure entirely sincere, but it's still something Gale didn't expect, even teasingly. He laughs quietly with a sober smile, just enough of a chuckle to push the air out of him.]

It's tempting, I'll admit...

[And yet, he turns it down - not because he doesn't trust Astarion, but because he doesn't want the vampire to realize he has nothing to offer. He manages to keep his tone light, though the somber look in his eyes likely speaks volumes.]

But this is probably best saved for when I'm not going to face my mother later in the evening.

[Tempting is enough for Astarion, at least at this moment. It's a seed planted, just enough to get Gale's interest, to let it linger at the back of his mind when he's alone in his tent at night. Then he can lure the wizard in for more, he can sink his claws in deeper. Provided this meeting goes well--and it will go well--Gale will be in his debt. There will be something owed, and if Astarion plays his cards right, he can see that debt repaid in protection, in a pretty little wizard to shield him from his master's wrath and more.]

Oh, of course, darling. We can't have you going to your mother looking undone.

[He lets his hands slip to Gale's shoulders as he says this, his voice dropping lower as he leans in closer. It's a secret, shared just between the two of them.]

[The flush across his face is definitely not the water temperature anymore. He has a more genuine laugh - just one.]

Nice to know you're looking out for me, and not just on account of my hygiene. I'd hate to have more to explain to her than I already do.

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Whoops, sorry that got long!

o man don't apologize that was beautiful.

😊