The Last Light Inn talks. Locked to @divinestrike

[pale_elf]

[Dreaming of a Cazador was the norm, when he lowered his guard and entered meditative state... sometimes things slipped in. Sometimes he just lacked a proper defense from some thoughts and memories flooded back in, vivid and true like the day he lived them. Remembering the night his master lulled him sweet dreams while torturing him with his 'needles' and carving his skin so many times marks managed to stay despite the vampire regeneration- well, it had been a terrible experience, but he pushed through those memories until he could read the marks and make something out of them. Infernal. That was his only lead in understanding what Cazador did to him.

Considering how much the bastard enjoyed stopping by and ask him to strip just to admire his work during the ages, he was pretty sure it was something important- that or Cazador was rather pleased he managed to leave a mark over a body who had incredible regenerative powers. 

He had been considering to try his luck with Raphael for a while, it was his best bet to make sense of something he carried on his back and never saw for... far too long. He studied infernal pacts, had casual conversations with Wyll about it without bringing up his actual intentions and just saying he was moderately afraid that between Mizora and Raphael they were at risk- dealing with a devil, accepting to pay something in exchange of something else was incredibly risky, but was it better or worse than returning in his master's city and not having a clue on what, beside pride, was driving him to seek his spawn back so much?

Hell, he sent a Gur hunter after him. A message and a threat.]

Well, fuck me... just not literally.

[It was with those words that he stepped away from the party that was talking with Jaheira. He knew very well he had to stay in her peripheral vision not to cause any stir or trouble, but the man he wanted to see was right there playing a game with the tiefling kid named Mol. He gave the kid just a push to win, saw her run away and then stopped discussing with the Devil. A deal was made rather quickly, but he still didn't know what he had to pay. At least there was no contract so, as far as he knew, not getting his part done was just going to mean he wasn't going to get any answer, nothing worse.

By the time Nepione was done talking with the druid and Karlach was starting to fangirl after her war hero, he was sitting in front of the game board, barely touching the tip of the queen with one of his fingers and dreading the next move. They... needed protection, they needed to ally with someone and he didn't know if a bunch of surviving harpers were their best bet in this equation. Nor he knew if he wanted to leave the shadow lands, despite the evident lack of food that was starting to take a tool on him, because anything after terrified him. And finding out what Raphael wanted... well, he was going to face that when time came.]

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[pale_elf]

[This was possibly the most important thing he could get from anyone at the moment and the simple idea of not dealing with a devil for any translation? Oh, he could have kissed Nepione if he got answers and he didn't have to listen to Raphael any longer, the bastard made it clear that something was... wrong with whatever he had on his back and Wyll's patron, when asked, refused to get involved. His shoulders fall just slightly when she mentions she can't read it all, it's not what he hoped but anything is still better than nothing at all.]

Okay...

[That's all he said, instinctively arching his back as soon as her fingers touched its delicate skin. Even when he took lovers, even when he was used, he hated feeling anything over there- and this was so different from the familiar pain, even from the more basic stitching of a wound, that he could hardly detatch his mind from it. Her fingers were so delicate... no matter how aware of her claws he was, he felt something mixed with his anxiety and decided completely to focus on her words instead.

Shit, he wished the fucker didn't straight up prohibit him from learning entire languages. The one on his doors, the runes his siblings had, everything. It wasn't surprising the 'love poem' wasn't as romantic ad he had been told, but more she read of it the less confident he felt about this whole situation. An incantation, an invocation, something... the vampite crossed his legs once more, placed his elbows on the knees and rested his head behind his hands.]

If I was some kind of... potion part? That would hardly surprise me considering how many parts of this body he took over time. But you make it sound like I'm some kind of... key? For something? It would explain how he stubbornly kept me to his side unless I was allowed to go outside to hunt for him.

[He nodded in her direction.] They have something, but it's much smaller. A rune here or there, but we weren't allowed to read them nor to learn the language. [A small pause] I was his favorite, you know?

[And it couldn't mean anything good for him. If for some reason Cazador really liked him, in his perverse and horrible way, then there was a fat chance he was going to put the incantation to use just to punish him for running away. He swallowed by instinct before reaching for his shirt and tossing it back on.]

which means I really need Raphael's help.

[divinestrike]

[She didn't know what he was or what part he played in the whole thing, but it certainly sounded larger than just him. Especially when he admitted that he was the favourite. Nothing about that sounded like a positive thing. No wonder Cazador had been so intent to chase him down. She thought back to the Gur that they had encountered in the swamp of the hag's cosy abode. That had only been one man. If Cazador wanted Astarion back so intensely, and of course he did, then it would mean they would only face more.

Astarion had ever reason to experience fear.

At least she could say, despite all of the bigoted treatment thrown in her direction, at least she wasn't being hunted down. At least, not to her knowledge. And if she ever was, she would have preferred to be left in the dark over it. Living every day, never certain if she was safe at night, that wasn't living at all. Astarion, despite not being under the clutches of the vampire who'd turned him, was no more free with her than he had been when he was tortured and tormented.

She shook her head slowly as he pulled his shirt back on, thinking to Raphael yet again. Yes. He'd probably know. Tiefling blood wasn't so far removed from that of devils, which was likely in part why her people faced the prejudices that they had. Raphael was simply... more like a more complete version of herself. A better one, he probably would have argued.]

When he next shows, I want you to let me speak with him. I can't just let you hand yourself over and I'm not willing to let that happen, regardless of how displeased you might be to hear me say as much. That isn't a request.

[pale_elf]

[He took longer putting on his armor once more, mostly because he didn't feel any urgency to do so. The marks on his back weighted more than before but he had to push them to the side if he wanted to be productive in any way and... ha had enough time to panic. Somehow something in this whole process made him feel a bit calmer, even if it made no goddamn sense, and he had the confirmation that talking to Raphael had been the right thing to do, no matter how upsetting the entire thing had been.

He listened, nodded and finished to put everything back in place, his eyes wandering toward the darkness outside once more. What was he even supposed to do? He definitely got the cleric by his side, this was good and the plan all along, but he still felt... lost? He had other things to say, other questions, but his senses alerted him that at least one person was now watching the scene, so he had to compose himself. Was it Karlach who questioned where they went? Was is another member of their group? He didn't even care, he still needed time alone. Or with her, for reasons he didn't understand, but he knew she had others who needed her.]

I'll stick around and alert you if he shows up. For now all I can do is wait. [A deep, deep breath. There was no fresh blood at all in his body to even give the illusion of oxygenation and bring some color to his skin, but he still needed it. The man pushed himself back on his feet, turning toward her and owning his mask once more. A smile, a pose slightly to the side, his tone of voice going back to the sarcastic and amused self he always was...] Love, I think they're waiting for you. Must be our barbarian. I think I felt that blacksmith's smell when I arrived here. Donnel, Dinnel, Dinner... you know, I think the lovely duo is waiting to hear where we put the infernal iron.

I will be fine. I'm just finishing to play my lute and nothing. Is. wrong. Now go. I take the blood offer very thankfully but I'm not hungry and I'm sure I spotted spme juicy goblins not too far from the entrance. Also got to smell a drow. And spiders. Kind of weird if you ask me. I'll go hunting as soon as I am done looking cool by the water.

[Maybe he was wrong, maybe he was paranoid, but if anyone was actually there they had to hear his voice for that part. What followed, on the other hand, was barely a whisper.]

For what it's worth.. thank you.

[divinestrike]

[...For all she wanted to believe him, Nepione suspected he wasn't going to tell her a thing. Which meant probably trying to track down Raphael herself. She hated that idea, too. If she went out of her way to find him, especially on Astarion's behalf, well... That simply spelt out a whole variety of implications that it seemed better to keep out of the heads of others. Although she was tempted to pressure him, even just a little more, she conceded. That he had said as much as he had was more than she had deserved. It would only anger him all over again if she did. He was a little closer to where he wanted to be, even if she hadn't been able to more properly address things on his behalf.

...Surely a little closer was better than not close at all. Or not. Astarion so much seemed like an all or nothing man.

When he made mention of Karlach, she found herself looking around, only partially correcting him when he was making mention of infernal iron. Ah. He meant the blacksmith.]

Dammon.

[She said quietly before lifting her arms above her head in an elongated stretch. Sure seemed like her work was never done. Good thing she was content to run herself ragged. Again and again and again. How long she could keep that up for, she hardly knew. But if Astarion had tolerated her as long as he was able, there was no sense in stirring him up any further.

Instead of addressing things any further, prying into him, nagging him, scolding him, or anything else, however, she simply looked at him when she heard the very quiet, almost imperceptible words that followed. And those ones seemed real. Pausing for some moments, as though she wasn't sure what to do with them, she shook her head.]

It's nothing. I'd best go. If you need anything, let us know. I'm going to make the rounds, check with Karlach and Dammon, take care of what I need to, and map out a route for us for when we leave. I should be prepared to present it tomorrow at some point. We'd best not get comfortable at Last Light.

[pale_elf]

[Probably not, no. At least he told himself thaat it was the best way to handle things- after all if he was away from the others when Raphael decided to show his ugly face it wasn't like he could run back to the team just to have Nepione at his side. The others were going to find this... interesting for sure. Astarion going from being a flirt in front of everyone (and with everyone) to him keeping his distance and the chaste cleric being the one keeping an eye on him- and possibly being the only one who knew what was going on. He as more than glad the conversation dropped, at least.

He had already exposed himself far too much for little to no return and- he didn't need her to show anything more of his real self, whatever that was, to someone who was objectively just part of his survival plan. He raised one hand, gently waving it and not even looking at the woman.]

Yeah, him, Dennis, he probably got good news for his flamey girlfriend or something. Go get happy news for yourself too.

[They had so much infernal iron now, between what they got at the goblin camp, what they got in the blighted village and- everything. The Tiefling deserved to get a chance to get laid or something, he tried to make that comment and it just died on his lips because apparently his brain was against being crass just for the moment. He... needed to reset himself, get ready once more for his travels and things and... something!

He huffed, reaching for his bag and taking a torch out. He was going to do something, maybe look for anything he could bite into and- he didn't even know.]

I'm going to scout the area and put down some kind of map. I know the area shifts and changes but it'll be better than nothing. You try not to have every single person in this camp rely on you for something, mh? We have plenty of problems as it is.