Closed to @divinestrike
Dec. 7th, 2022 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pale_elf[It had been few weeks of travel since they left the Grove behind and Astarion spent most of his time fighting and preparing for the Shadow Curse and all that it seemed to involve. The original goal was to travel through the underdark after dealing with the Myconids, the durgears and all that nice stuff. He even found himself deeply amused by the little tower exploration and how one of the robot guardians just... hugged one of his companions. Whoever build them had to be a true, lonely loser. A spectator here, a dwarf saved from mushrooms there, the area was secured with Nere dead and... it turned out the elevator was stuck. Days worth of work- WASTED! Katlach had been lucky in getting a new armor from the forge, but all Astarion got was a laughing amulet that refuses to get off him.
After some discussion, traveling on the surface seemed like the best possible option, even if the mountain opass was guarded by Lae'Zel's people and they seemed rather hostile and dangerous. A daring escape from a killing githyanki machine, an encounter with Elminster and many other problems later they were finally on the right road fortheir destination.
And Astarion's Anxiety was only growing the closer they got to Baldur's Gate. Not only now they traveled with a druid, someone who probably saw him as an insult to natural order, but as soon as they passed whatever awaited them in the Tower... he would be within reach of Cazador once more. Needless to say, his need to reaffirm himself as a valuable team member kept increasing the more they traveled.
It was with absolute delight that he recognized some familiar roads during one of his hunting trips, and for once he didn't even mildly protest when the good souls in his group stopped on their tracks to help some villagers in danger. No. He gathered some valuable things, threw in his bag some other things he looted during his journey and proceeded toward Candlekeep. He could remember Cazador talking about lovely crypts right under the old fort and an old entry that allowed to pass through some cracks between the walls. He left the camp at night with the excuse of food, set down his trap, and waited.
The sun was already setting on the horizon and the group's tents had already been set down when he finally approached his prey. How many days had it been since he last tried to flirt with the Cleric of Selune? Probably too many. He smirked, leaned against the tent like he had a real support and tilted his head to the side, trying to give himself a mischievous but also... almost affectionate expression.</small>]
Well, good evening, darling. It's been far too long from the last time we had a private chat, wouldn't you agree?
After some discussion, traveling on the surface seemed like the best possible option, even if the mountain opass was guarded by Lae'Zel's people and they seemed rather hostile and dangerous. A daring escape from a killing githyanki machine, an encounter with Elminster and many other problems later they were finally on the right road fortheir destination.
And Astarion's Anxiety was only growing the closer they got to Baldur's Gate. Not only now they traveled with a druid, someone who probably saw him as an insult to natural order, but as soon as they passed whatever awaited them in the Tower... he would be within reach of Cazador once more. Needless to say, his need to reaffirm himself as a valuable team member kept increasing the more they traveled.
It was with absolute delight that he recognized some familiar roads during one of his hunting trips, and for once he didn't even mildly protest when the good souls in his group stopped on their tracks to help some villagers in danger. No. He gathered some valuable things, threw in his bag some other things he looted during his journey and proceeded toward Candlekeep. He could remember Cazador talking about lovely crypts right under the old fort and an old entry that allowed to pass through some cracks between the walls. He left the camp at night with the excuse of food, set down his trap, and waited.
The sun was already setting on the horizon and the group's tents had already been set down when he finally approached his prey. How many days had it been since he last tried to flirt with the Cleric of Selune? Probably too many. He smirked, leaned against the tent like he had a real support and tilted his head to the side, trying to give himself a mischievous but also... almost affectionate expression.</small>]
Well, good evening, darling. It's been far too long from the last time we had a private chat, wouldn't you agree?
no subject
Date: 2023-12-13 11:31 am (UTC)Oh, come on, you can do better than that. You could talk about the piercing gaze of my beautiful crimson eyes, how my silver hair only add a celestial aura to my features- don't mention the little creases on the corners of my mouth when I laugh though. There was a person, something like one hunddred and seventy years ago, who couldn't shut up about it. Lovely man, but I am not a grandma.
[Unable to see himself in the mirror, he only knew what others told him. Cazador forbid him from getting any portrait done and his memories of what he looked like were hazy at best. It didn't really matter now, though since despite his intent of fllirting more he could actually already hear their teammate's voices in the distance.]
Gods. I want to charm you and I can already hear Gale screaming your name in the distance. Psh... We must have been away for longer than I thought..
no subject
Date: 2023-12-13 01:05 pm (UTC)[She shook her head at him, thinking it would have been more helpful for others to tell him if something he wore looked ridiculous on him. As someone who didn't much care about what she wore or what her appearance was, she was as equally terrible at that. She might have considered driving that point home, but somehow, she suspected that Astarion probably understood, whether he wanted to or not.
Nepione also suspected that she probably could have said all of that in a considerably nicer way. It was something that would warrant later reflection. Much like their entire night, actually.
She stood just a little more straight as she listened in the distance. Her ears couldn't compare at all to present company's, but hers weren't useless either. Better than a human's, at the very least. So caught up she was in the idea that they really had caused concern with their absence that she completely let his 'charming' comment slide right by her.
What he probably had meant was flirting with her.]
It felt like we were in there for a while. I'm not surprised. I feel guilty for making them worry. Do I think they're going to buy that we were just tracking down your dinner? Probably not. Speaking of which— [Turning her attention back onto Astarion.] —I know you said it wasn't my concern how far away from camp your dinners were taking you, but we'll be hitting the Shadow-Curse soon. You can't be doing this sort of thing out there. We don't even know really what to expect. So...
[Drawing in a deep breath, she couldn't actually believe she was going to be addressing this, but—]
When you can't find something near us to sate you, I... suppose I don't mind letting you. [A pause. A slightly uncomfortable one.] You know.
no subject
Date: 2023-12-13 01:47 pm (UTC)I like being called pretty words, you know?
[He was trying his best to sound offended while making his point. But others were approaching and he had to make both of them presentable enough: Astarion picked a poor excuse for a napkin from his pockets, something stained with bloods that he used to clean his lips when he was done with a meal, and after licking it he passed it on his face. At least that part could try to look decent enough.]
They'll survive, don't worry, if anythingg they'll be snappy at me but where is the news? I-
[His voice stopped at the very beginning of his next sentence, mask slipping away as he stared in her direction with wide eyes.] What? I mean- [The recover was quick, but the initial shock had been more than evident. He knew she didn't like being touched, it wasn't hard to tell that much by just studying her interactions and reactions, but- no, he had to push down that little voice in the back of his mind still telling him 'no, you're not worthy' in Cazador's voice. She offered, she was a willing prey and he had to- do somethhing about it.]
Of couuuurse, love. I now can't wait to sneak in the Shadow Cursed lands if it will give me a chance to be closer to you. And I get it, who would waste the opportunity to have an assassin like me at the best of his potential in such a terrible place? I- [Wait, this was the perfect moment to show some 'weakness', a glimps into his true feelings, right? His voice lowered, his tone became more calm and he turned hiss back on her once more, like he didn't want to show her face while saying what was about to come.] I... thank you.
[Now they just had to go back to camp and rest, right? Astarion was going to chalk off the entire night as a complete success after all.]
no subject
Date: 2023-12-13 02:01 pm (UTC)[Who could blame him. She knew he was vain. It was possible there was more to it, as well. Perhaps he'd never thought much of himself either. Or he'd simply thought of himself only in the idea of what Cazador had put him through. She didn't ask and for all the prying she did, she wasn't going to. Astarion deserved better. He had every right to keep that part of his life to himself. Hells, if she'd been him, she would have done the same.
The little pause that ensued from her... offer, she supposed it was, was noticeable, but only in the way that it was momentary surprise. If it had been any other situation, she wouldn't have made it, but she had a difficult time believing the others in their camp would extend the same courtesy. It was a dangerous thing, letting him do that. Would he know when to stop? Couldn't she simply perish beneath his hands? It required a great deal of trust on her part to permit such a thing.
And it had been a respectful exchange for... a few breaths at least before it became what she expected was very, very normal for him. Shaking her head, she loosed a sigh, tired of... Well. Just about everything. His gratitude did not go ignored. As he turned away, her strides continued, long tail swaying behind her, her movements as if she was never injured to begin with. By the morning, she suspected she would feel a great deal better.
There was more she had to say to him, of course, but as they neared camp, those things would need to wait. Another moment that they had privacy in, she supposed. Something where others would not overhear. And she wasn't about to rush them out for that would have only ruined them. Instead, she held them close to her for the time being.]
It's nothing.
[It wasn't nothing and they both knew it, but it would be easier for her to pretend that it was. She wasn't good at lying, but she was good at pretending and that much she could be confident in.]
Let's not tarry any longer. I'll speak with the others. Go wash yourself up and get to your meditations. I daresay you've earned that at the very least.