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petit-etoile · 3 months
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Eyebagshawty dropping in to say you're doing so well and l've been loving the works lately! I'm also getting a bit of writers block but you're doing so well :) it's also okay to take a break! Hope you're doing okay <3
AAAAAAAAAAAAA  NO  BC  I'LL  CRY.  i'm  trying  to  balance  out  my  fics  because  i've  started  writing  for  another  fandom  as  well  ( &  i  will  only  tell  you  what  that  fandom  is  if  you  can  guess  close  enough  to  it )  that  are  both  around  30k  &  4k  respectively,  but  i'm  not  done  writing  for  astarion !!  i  think  a  mental  refresh  was  what  i  needed.  i'm  also  about  to  make  my  friend  play  through  it  with  me,  so  that  will  help  for  more  astarion  inspiration !!
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petit-etoile · 3 months
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SAME ANON HERE and UGH YEAH u get me 😭😭 the intricacies of his character and arc are so dear to me I love just being able to love him among other people
Sometimes i feel like I’m too invested in him but u guys make me feel seen 😞
Also (sorry in advance for the small rant) I really really appreciated his story of finding your freedom as a person AND learning how to reclaim your own sexuality, I think the way they approached it was so nice in game! Like, him letting himself have sexual desires of his own, have love and try to navigate it for himself and having the tav give him the patience and space to rightfully navigate it was so lovely
Sorry for the rant he just means so much for me
NO  IT'S  LIKE  I  GET  IT.  seeing  astarion  navigate  his  emotions  &  fears  was  such  a  healing  &  realistic  thing  to  witness.  like  all  of  the  characters  have  very  understandable  character  arcs  where  they  learn  how  to  overcome  their  feelings,  &  none  of  them  ever  figure  out  full-stop  how  to  be  "okay"  with  what  they  went  through,  &  to  me  that's  just  so  realistic.  for  astarion  especially,  i  think  knowing  his  trauma  beforehand  really  makes  his  growth  as  a  character  that  much  more  obvious. he  is  my  meow  meow  &  i'll  cry  about  him  forever !!
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petit-etoile · 4 months
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petit-etoile here requesting astarion x tav, maybe a touch inspired by the e.e. cummings quote "I will rise / After a thousand years / lipping / flowers / And set my teeth in the silver of the moon" !! can be ANY version of tav tho i like durge a ton :33
I Will Wade Out
Pairing: Astarion x Dark Urge!Reader
Warnings: mentions of trauma and past abuse, maybe a little bit of spice
A/N: You just happened to pick one of my favorite poets, I decided to get really poetic hhh also I heavily listened to Margaret by Lana Del Rey while writing this :,)
I will wade out
till my thighs are steeped in
burning flowers
I will take the sun in my mouth
and leap into the ripe air
Astarion tackled you to the ground in a bone crushing hug, the rays of the sun shining golden on you both. It made his red irises look like bright rubies, and his ring on his left hand glinted in the beams. The ring of the sun walker.
“Darling, I was sure I’d be cinders,” he chuckled through his tears of happiness. You kissed away each track running down his cheeks, your fingers fisted in the lilies that surrounded you both.
“So I take that as a yes?” You picked up his ring finger and kissed it, rubbing his knuckles simultaneously. Your eyes were glassy, boring into his with so much love it would have made your past self sick. Astarion nipped at the side of your neck, pressing his lips to the never quite healed bite marks that laid upon it.
“What else would it be, my sweet?” He rolled so that you were on top of him, bringing his hands to your hips and kissing your collarbones. “How could I ever say no,” he whispered. Your lips met, and he kneeded his fingers into your hips as he nibbled at your bottom lip for entrance. He drew a bit of blood, and you opened your mouth to which he instantly soothed the small cut with his tongue, drawling a low moan out of your throat.
He moved his hands to the globes of your ass, causing you to slowly grind against him. He let out a breathy whine. “Aeterna amantes,” you whispered into his mouth as he got to work on your trousers.
Alive
with closed eyes
to dash against darkness
in the sleeping curves of
my body
Shall enter fingers of smooth mastery
with chasteness of sea-girls
Will I complete the
mystery
of my flesh
As the sun sets and the sky turns to hues of navy blue and deep orange, you remember when Bhaal had punished you for rejecting him. In a sense, he had rejected you right back. As each of your bones cracked in different directions, Astarion had screamed your name. You remember when the light began fading from your eyes, the last thing you’d seen being Astarion’s destroyed and panicked expression above you.
“Please, please, please. Darling, wake up. This isn’t funny,” he’d whimpered as he held you close to his shaking chest. “We were supposed to be free. No no no, you cannot do this to me.” As his broken sobs echoed through the temple, Shadowheart placed her hand on his shoulder. He hissed and jerked his shoulder back as if she had burned him, clutching you closer to his chest.
“Astarion
 they’re gone.” Her eyes were glassy along with the rest of the party, who stood in stunned silence around your crumpled frame.
“You don’t get to say that!” He bellowed. His eyes softened as he looked down to you. As he stroked your hair and weeped over you, not caring who saw, he heard the scuffle of bare feet coming towards him.
“Thou hast defied Bhaal, thy liege and father, and in doing so hast earned a place among champions and heroes,” Withers proclaimed. Astarion stumbled back as he thought he saw one of your eyelids twitch. “But, alas, thy courage was in opposition to the divine cosmology that bound thee to the Lord of Murder.”
Withers walked up next to your body, and although Astarion protectively moved towards you, Karlach pulled him back and shook her head. “Thou art now faithless — godless — and doomed to walk the Fugue Plane for eternity,” Withers continued. “I will not permit that, though all the powers of life and death dictate that it be so. So rise, Challenger of Gods, and prepare for battle once more. Death will not claim you whilst I endure.”
You’d scrambled to a sitting position, screaming and coughing up blood. Astarion rushed over to you and held you close as you’d cried into his chest. “Everything is okay, my love. I’m here. I’m here.”
“Darling, what’s going on in that pretty little mind of yours?” Astarion reached over and brushed some hair out of your face. You both laid bare on a blanket in the grass looking up at the stars. You looked over to him and gave a soft smile.
“Just thinking about that moment. In the temple. You were so gentle with me.” He smiled as you spoke, his big round eyes glowing in adoration. “It’s almost odd. We’re both so free now.”
He kissed your temples, then your forehead. “Oh my little love. I’ve been scared most of my life — well, unlife rather. But the fear of losing you
 it had me terrified,” he whispered. He interlaced your fingers together. “Now that nothing can hold us back, I want to experience everything. With you, my treasure. Shall we venture inside for some tea?”
You smiled and accepted his shirt around your shoulders as you gathered your things. “Tea sounds wonderful,” you beamed.
I will rise
After a thousand years
lipping
flowers
And set my teeth in the silver of the moon
The wish spell had worked. At first, Astarion was scared and a bit angry, but with reassurance from you and your closest companions he relented. You were immortalized — aeterna amantes in every sense of the word. You lied in the bed you shared with Astarion; the one you both made love in after your eventual wedding, the one you both cried in each others’ arms in, the one you both came home to every night for so long.
You lifted your hand towards the ceiling and examined it — your skin, your fingernails, the still pristine carmine jewel in your wedding ring. You were 1,587 years old. That is 1,559 years after you left behind your old self; the so called Bhaal-babe that conspired to end the world as everybody knew it. Since Astarion had been freed from Cazador’s rule and given the choice of anything he wanted. And he wanted you of all things.
You heard a loud gasp next to you, and Astarion flew to a sitting position, letting out heavy and panicked breaths. You placed a hand on his and looked over with concern. When his eyes met yours, he immediately calmed, letting out a string of soft and relieved curses. “Apologies, my dear. Nightmares got the best of me.” ïżŒ
You wrapped your arms around him and placed your head against his chest. “I’m here. Which ones this time?” He squeezed your hand and you squeezed back.
“Cazador
 You
 kidnapping,” he huffed out. He placed a kiss onto your furrowed brow. “Hells it just feels so long ago I wish it would go away.”
“You’re not alone, Star. I dream of Alfira every year or two
 I miss her.” He rubbed circular motions into your back. He knew the guilt you would always feel for her, how she didn’t deserve it.
“I understand, my love.” You leaned up and chastely kissed him, pouring in that sweet sadness that comes with self reflection. He returned the gesture, fervently kissing back in a way that soothed your mind. “Now, how about some midnight tea,” he said, barely above a whisper, a smile ghosting across his face.
“That sounds nice,” you whispered back. You gathered a blanket around your bare shoulders and followed him to the kitchen, sitting down at the table as he placed the kettle on the stove. When the tea was done he brought you a mug, and you hissed when the liquid immediately burned at your lips. Astarion chuckled.
“Well my dear, it’s fresh off of a million hot flames, what do you expect?”
You flicked his shoulder. “Shut up,” you laughed back.
“Since this tea is going to take forever to cool, you’re free to feed from me tonight if you’d like,” you said as you shot him a coy smile.
“Are you sure? Maybe we should get you something to eat first for your head—“
“Come on, Astarion,” you cut him off jokingly. “I’ve been literally stabbed through the skull before. Some wooziness is nothing.”
He held his hands up and shrugged. “Well then, who am I to refuse?” He stood up from his place at the dining room table, and you tilted your head to the side to give him access. His fangs pierced through your skin, and in a way it soothed all thoughts from earlier that night. You smiled and placed your hand on his bicep, squeezing it when you were ready and he’d had his fill.
Aeterna amantes, you thought to yourself.
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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ASTARION  ANCUNÍN  &  AEREA,  CHILD OF NONE   ➻   endless  artworks  of  astarion  &  my  tav .   [ 4 / ∞ ]
❛   even  stale,  i'd  recognise  that  bouquet  anywhere .   ❜   ♡        ‷ artwork commissioned from kenta_nagasaki_ . inspired  by  this redraw  meme .
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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ALSO been thinking a lot about :((( human tav and essentially immortal astarion like URGH their eternities don’t mean the same thing, spending your eternity with astarion would be a fraction to his eternity and it BREAKS MY HEART 💔💔 after all that waiting, they never really had long in the end, anyways.
Idk how having children would go with astarion if they become some sort of half thing with double the human lifespan but not quite astarions life span,, still such a sad thought. Imagine your child and husband get to live so long without you 😟😞😞😞
(-💧I left the last one :3)
IT  IS  SAD,  BUT  ALSO ?  think  of  the  impact.  the  epilogue  states  that  astarion  himself  thinks  spending  six  months  with  you  has  undone  almost  200  years  of  torture  ( &  whether  the  healing  he  goes  through  is  entirely  because  of  you  or  the  newfound  freedom  he  himself  has  found  is  still  so  beautiful )  that  even  a  fraction  of  immortality  is  probably  enough  for  astarion.  this  is  a   man  who  has  learned  to  love  himself  &  care  for  others,  as  mildly  or  as  unmildly  as  you  view  it  &  i  think  through  loving  you,  spending  your  human  years  together  is  enough  for  him  to  want  to  carry  on  your  legacy  a s  the  hero  of faerĂ»n !!   &  this  goes  the  same  with  astarion  having  children,  imo.  these  children  you  have  with  astarion  are  an  extension of you.  your  memory  &  living  blood  would  be  enough  to  sustain  astarion  for  centuries  because  his  love  for  you  won't  stop  after  your  death.  your  kids  —  your  great  grandkids  —  your  great,  great  grandkids  ( etc !! )  —  is  astarion  following  your  spirit  through  life  even  when  all  evidence  of  your  first  life  has  all  but  disappeared.  YOU DON'T FADE AWAY AFTER DEATH !!  &  even  if  astarion  finds  love  after  you,  that  won't  erase  your  memory  in  his  mind  . . .  he  will  always  love  you  &  he  will  always  cherish  you  &  what  you've  done  for  him !!
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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Been thinking a lot about if astarion had met tav a few idk hundred years earlier he would’ve killed her on the spot, used her and brought her back without even thinking about who she might be
Idk the idea just kind breaks my heart cause here’s this person who he cherishes above everything and they’re just so lucky to have met when they met
isn't  it  scary  to  think  about !!  that,  at  any  point  in  time  in  baldur's  gate,  you  could  have  run  into  astarion  —  an  angry,  violent,  rightfully  pissed  astarion  who  can  only  do  his  duty  . . .  it  makes  me  so  sad  to  think  about  how  in  the  last  two  centuries,  all  he's  known  is  cazador's  will. &  it's  such  a  contrast  to  who  he  becomes  over  the  course  of  the  game  too !!  he  becomes  somewhat  caring,  somewhat  determined  to  be  a  "good guy"  depending  on  the  choices  you've  made.  astarion  is  a  man  who,  for  all  intents  &  purposes,  views  himself  as  being  alone  &  rightfully  distant  who  then  turns  into  someone  who  looks  out  for  others  &  even  thinks  about  going  out  of  his  way  to  protect  victims  from  the  vampire  spawn  he  holds  himself  accountable  for . . .  UGH.  LOVE  HIM ?
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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Surviving through the pain, strife, and hunger, all bonds are broken.
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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I’m about to beat the game for the second time and I’m still completely taken by #Astarion’s arc. đŸ„ș
Wish there was even more back ground lore exploring the characters lives before the events of the game.
This is how I imagine Astarion spends his night in the city before getting tadpoled and finding a moment of respite.
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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snippet
‘It’s nice,’ he says softly. ‘I can taste your blood beneath your skin from your swooning.’ ‘I’m not swooning,’ you protest weakly. ‘Oh, you aren’t?’ Astarion teases. He licks your pulse. ‘What a wicked lie. If I were to let go, would you fall or stand on your own? Let’s find out.’ Astarion releases you and your knees buckle out from under you. Something akin to mortification floods through your body, but when Astarion laughs at the sight of you kneeling in the river bed, it doesn’t sound mean. He knees down with you and taps the tip of your nose.
everyone say thanks @queenofthespacesquids
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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i thiiiiink im jus feeling a bit down so im gonna be on my blog @aluneposting so if u wanna be fwens i'll be over there & maybe we can chat abt astarion together 😍
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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i  need  you  when  i'm  falling  apart
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pairing  .  ⊱   astarion x tav wordcount  .  ⊱   3,489 part one  .  ⊱   here . content warnings  .  ⊱  mentions of canon compliant temporary character death,  spoilers for act iii endgame other tags  .  ⊱   canon compliant,  character study,  introspection,  p.orn with plot,  pwp,  vignette,  re-establishing relationship,  blood drinking,  m.issionary position,  tav is gender neutral archiveofourown  .  ⊱   here .  
taglist  .  ⊱  @azrielshadows1nger, @pandimoostuff, @faevi, @microskies, @foreverthemaraudersera, @queenofthespacesquids, @claryvoyantfray, @6doodlaang14, @anne-isnotokay, @itshimbotime, @yeeteth-the-raven, @sessils,@8-opossums, @worryknotdear, @abirdaboxandachippedcup, @ghosts-and-ink, @b4um3pfl4um3, @gunslingerorchid, @hypopxia,  @m0ssytrees, @erysione, @odette-attackattack, @catching-fire-in-the-wind, @ashrio20, @wills-mental-illness, @queenofcarrotflowers-s, @kirahlene, @lavenderslemonade, @candyladycry, @chonkercatto, @foxxyhun, @nyxmainex, @angelmawss2, @godoffuckedupcats, @raviolixxx be added  .  ⊱   here .
summary  .  ⊱   You have learned to be good. It's time Astarion learns to be forgiven.
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During the heart of spring, Astarion spends more time trying to avoid you than he does trying to catch up with you. You’re not even sure why he agreed to travel alongside you  —  but you do not ask. You press your lips together and push on anyway.
His eyes are cold, and red.
The first night when you set up camp in an abandoned temple, Astarion moves his tent to the other side of the sanctuary as if he cannot bear to be around you. Like you smell. You’ve never cared much for the thoughts or opinions of others, but an inkling of self-doubt creeps back into the depths of your mind. What is the cost of being good if no one treats you kindly?
Every interaction you have with him is like pulling teeth. You want to fight for the tieflings, and Astarion wants to leave them behind. You want to help Wyll find his father, and Astarion snorts. Any good deed you suggest, he finds the need to punish.
When the cambion Raphael reaches and touches your cheek with a promise of opulence and salubrity, you're reminded of a night two hundred years ago. You stumble out of the House of Hope as fast as you can.
You don’t stop walking until daybreak. One night, you explode on Astarion. Your feelings bubble up like bile in your throat.
‘I tried to look for you!’ you snap at him. ‘You can sit here, and you can be bitter, but if I had known, I would have looked for you! But I didn’t know  —  I didn’t know and it isn’t a crime!’
Astarion’s look of surprise is one thing. He furrows his eyebrows as if properly scandalized, and his frustrated scowl turns to ash when you throw his old cravat at him. You had kept it tied around your neck for two hundred years. You wouldn’t keep it a day longer.
It’s a horrifying mistake to go wandering off in the Underdark by yourself with nothing but a hunting knife at your side, but you never really gave much thought to how you would cope with the gravity of the situation. The fact that you knew Cazador only made matters worse. You stumble past the ruins of the SelĂ»nite Outpost in hopes of running away from your past.
You don’t run into your past in the dark, but you do run into a Spectator.
You’re immediately thrown into darkness and narrowly avoid being petrified, but you have no idea what you’re going to do about this situation besides hide beyond some poor stoned soul. You might should have considered thinking it through. You might should have thought anything through but you didn’t, and that’s the only crime you’ve committed in quite some time. It isn’t a crime is something you’ve begun to repeat to yourself often.
You manage to defend yourself for quite a while in the darkness, but by the end, you’re nursing a nasty wound and bite from the Spectator that will take some time to heal. You’re tucked under some petrified Drow bastard when you hear Karlac’s battle cry and see Gale’s ice spell come from the cliffs. The one that catches you off-guard, the one that will always catch you off-guard, is Astarion flipping through the air with nothing but an elven bow like a prince from your dreams.
Defeating the Spectator is easier with allies, and even the Drow protecting it goes down without much of a fight. You nurse your wounds as best you can, sitting against the cliffs with a bleeding thigh, and try not to frown when Astarion approaches.
‘Give me that,’ he says quietly, snatching one of Halsin’s potions from your fingers. ‘Even after all these years, it seems like you still need protecting.’
You frown and pick at your torn breeches. ‘I know how much you hate that, your honor.’
Astarion looks at you for the first time in several tendays, eyes rimmed with red. ‘I never hated it,’ he says. He dresses your wound like it pains him to see it. ‘I don’t hate it even now.’ Astarion crashes into you full force the night you arrive at the Last Light Inn after you’ve talked to Jaheira but before you’ve talked to anyone else. You’re in your room, and the next thing you know, you’re not alone.
Two hundred years of loneliness are erased at that moment.
His teeth clack painfully against yours as he shoves you into the wall, too uncaring or too pent up to care about the force. He cradles the back of your head to keep you from cracking it on the wall, but other than that, Astarion doesn’t care about hiding the full force of his strength. He kisses you until your mouth is swollen and then he’s tearing your night shirt open with both hands like he can’t get enough.
‘Astarion  —  ’ you try to say, startled.
But you would be lying if you said you didn’t miss him too. You let Astarion push you around, until you’re both stripped of your clothes and he’s lying flat on his back on the hard wooden floor with you pulled into his lap, his cock pushed deep inside you, and his hands unable to stop wandering the planes of your body. Astarion all but sobs into your mouth as he fucks you. He holds your cheeks in his hands like you’re the most precious thing he’s ever seen.
When you’re both finished, no one moves from the wood floor despite there being a bed. You lie on your side next to him, memorizing the slope of his nose while you still shiver with little twinges of pleasure still racing up your spine and between your legs. Astarion’s eyes are closed. He’s pretending to sleep, or pretending to be dead so you don’t have to talk about what’s happened, but you’re curious anyway.
You reach across the distance and touch his chest. You know there’s no heartbeat beneath his ribs, but you like to pretend. You close your eyes and dream it has been nothing but two hundred years of happiness and bliss in Astarion’s home.
‘When I first saw you,’ you say quietly, ‘I thought you were a ghost come back to haunt me.’
‘Are you often haunted by ghosts?’ Astarion asks. He still doesn’t look.
‘I’ve been properly reformed while you were away,’ you tell him. You stare at his neck. ‘There was only one ghost I was running from.’
He smiles. ‘And now you’ve found him. What do you think about this haunting?’
‘I am happily haunted,’ you say honestly. He opens his eyes then and turns toward you, lips pressed into a firm line. ‘But you are not happily haunting.’
Astarion sits up then and you follow him, legs sticky and wet. You reach for his hands and pull them into your lap. You watch as he struggles to accept a kind touch. In a way, you understand that. You remember how kindly he treated you when you didn’t deserve it. You hold his hands even when he tries to run away.
‘I was ashamed for you to see me like this,’ Astarion explains. He looks away, hesitant. ‘My condition isn’t one that I’m proud of. It isn’t fair to say I was tricked, but  —  ’
‘Wanting to live doesn’t make you a bad person,’ you say.
‘Perhaps not,’ he says. ‘But I became what I often chastised you for. I am greedy. I am prone to lying and bouts of theatrics. I’ve killed. It was embarrassing to fall so low.’
‘And now you rescue orphans,’ you say, shrugging. ‘You helped the gnomes. You helped the tieflings. You’re going to help the gnomes and tieflings again. There’s still good in you, your honor, beneath all that vampiric avarice you despair over.’
Astarion laughs and turns away from you. He’s looking for his clothes, and your heart squeezes so tightly in your chest that you move before you can stop yourself. You drape yourself over Astarion’s back and pull his arms away from his smallclothes. You can tell by the musculature of his arms that you only succeed because he lets you.
‘Please don’t leave me alone again,’ you whisper against his shoulder. Your wet eyelashes tickle the nape of his neck. ‘I waited for you that night and
 I don’t want to be alone anymore.’
Astarion stays that night.
He stays every night after that too. For what it’s worth, your third visit to Baldur’s Gate is hardly better than the first two.
Between fighting cultists, saving children, and trying to convince most of your party that they’re not going to become mindflayers, you’re beginning to run a little thin. You feel like you’re going to shrivel up and die. You feel like the world is spinning and falling apart. You’ve killed Gortash and you’ve killed Orin and you killed Ketheric ages ago, but now you’re trying to keep the Emperor from betraying you and sacrificing Orpheus, and Cazador’s invitation is sitting pretty in your hands, and  —  
Well, that’s just it, isn’t it? Cazador’s invitation is in your hands, and you don’t have the heart to show Astarion. You’re afraid of showing Astarion. You know that as soon as you show him the invitation, he’ll lose his mind. You’ve only just recovered him and you’re already worried about losing him again.
You bury the invitation in the garden behind the inn like you’re a dog with a bone. You shovel the dirt with your hands until they’re cracked and raw and bleeding and the invitation is buried six feet in the ground. It should scare you that Cazador knows who you are, but it doesn’t. You aren’t stupid enough to run headfirst into his trap. And Astarion isn’t stupid either, but he’s scared, and being scared makes you do stupid things. Astarion almost does a very stupid thing like you predicted he would.
The Rite of Ascension was right there in his hands, and he had almost consumed it. You aren’t sure what changed his mind at the last minute but you’re thankful. Astarion crawls into your arms that night and sobs for hours. ‘What are we going to do about tomorrow?’ Astarion asks you softly.
He’s been tracing patterns into your spine all evening. If he moves his hands now, you’d still feel his fingertips against your skin. You’re hiding your face in your arms so you don’t have to think about it. You can’t stop thinking about it.
‘We’re going to fight the Absolute,’ you say.
‘Like it’s that simple?’
‘I am going to look another god in the face,’ you say, ‘and I am going to tell it to fuck off back to Avernus.’
‘Do Netherbrains come from Avernus?’
You don’t know. You’re too worried to think too hard about the simplest details. So far, you’re every plan has been to go in, stab whoever is the loudest, and then leave before things get worse. It’s hard to keep your head above the waves as they keep crashing down on you.
You don’t want to talk about tomorrow. If things don’t go well, you’re all going to die anyway and all that planning will have been for nothing. You turn on your side and appraise Astarion’s expression. He’s looking at you with muted disbelief. You choose to ignore it.
‘What are we going to do after tomorrow?’ you ask.
Astarion opens his mouth to chastise you for changing the subject, but he closes it almost immediately. He doesn’t want to talk about it either. It’s a scary thing to walk into the end of the world with a sword and a dagger. At least Dame Aylin will be there. You hope she can just stomp the Netherbrain to death and then it’ll all be over.
‘I could always go back to being a magistrate,’ Astarion says conversationally.
He picks at a thread coming loose on his blanket.
‘If you go back to that, I’ll go back to being a criminal,’ you muse. ‘We can have nasty sex on your desk again. You always did look damn good in a cassock.’
Astarion laughs. He laughs like the sunlight that peeks through the window on a sunny morning. He laughs like the moonlight that splays on the cobblestone of Baldur’s Gate long after everyone else has already gone to bed. It’s hideous  —  it’s melodic and intoxicating, and you reach across the distance and touch his cheek without thinking.
You slide your finger across to his nose. You press your finger against the wrinkle between his brow, and Astarion starts laughing again so you do too. You kiss him while he laughs, and then he holds you and you both laugh together. He will never be a judge again. Your connections with the Zhentarim will die out.
Astarion brushes his fingers against your hip bone. He rolls out of bed like it’s the easiest thing in the world to do, and you miss him. Already without him, the bed is much colder. You dramatically crawl across to his side and press your nose into his pillowcase to smell the faint traces of whiskey that are left.
When he returns, he presents you with his old cravat which has been neatly restored almost to perfection. He had sewn it back together himself. You had worn it for two hundred years as a good luck charm against evil, and the wear and tear had nearly torn it to shreds. You’d never had the heart to try to tailor it yourself. Sewing wasn’t your strong suit, and you had never cried over Astarion’s death until the day you thought you had lost it.
Astarion neatly ties the cravat around your wrist like a promise. He kisses your skin and inhales as though in a dream, nose brushing against the fabric, like the touch of a ghost against your veins. Your throat tightens.
‘Wherever this takes us,’ Astarion says, eyes burning. ‘I want to be there with you in the end.’
You tuck inside your bed with Astarion that night and watch the moon disappear through the window. It’s barely daylight when you’re finally too exhausted to stay awake, and Astarion almost lets you both miss the final showdown. Lae’zel, however, doesn’t. ‘I don’t mind what we do,’ Astarion is saying, ‘once we get to the  —  ’
You watch with muted horror as Astarion’s skin begins to glimmer in the sunlight. The fire begins cracking under his skin, brimming against his cheekbones and nose and throat and hair much like Karlach when she overheats. You watch as the tips of his ears ignite, and then he’s searching for you frantically between all of your friends.
‘I have to go,’ he chokes out. ‘I have to  —  ’
There is a world where you let Astarion run alone, where you both get separated on the docks and never find one another again. He runs from the sun as he bursts with radiant energy and as stars pour from his skin, you forget what Wyll is saying, and you run after him.
Astarion finds sanctuary in melting shade beneath a set of boxes. He’s curled up into himself when you arrive, and you drop next to him, pulling your cloak over your heads. He looks up at you, bewildered.
But you have lived through losing Astarion once, and it has haunted you for two hundred years. You had known loneliness and fear and anger, and the thought of surviving it for even a day more makes your stomach roll. You press your forehead to Astarion’s and stand as tall as you can so the sun can’t touch him ever again.
‘Won’t your arms get tired?’ Astarion asks you faintly.
He watches you with a sense of wonder. His skin slowly returns to normal, no more flickering stardust and ash, and you grin. He slowly smiles too, nervous but you shake your head and keep your cloaked raised.
‘Never,’ you say. ‘Not when it’s you.’
‘My reform worked, then?’ he says.
‘I’ve learned about your stuck-up decorum,’ you say. ‘It’s true. I can confirm.’
‘A sense of propriety?’ Astarion asks, and if his voice goes any softer, you’ll melt too.
‘Let me carry the weight of your sins,’ you tell him sincerely, laughing a little. ‘And if we need to find another desk then we will. But I’ll be your knight in shining armor, your honor, and carry a parasol above your head as a proper chamberlain would.’
Astarion snorts. ‘That isn’t quite the job of a chamberlain.’
You hold the cloak up for two hours at least while Astarion recovers from the damage. You can’t help but notice that he looks happy and content even in the shadows. It must be because you’re there, although you’re hesitant to take credit for all his happiness. When you let down the cloak, the sun has set. When Astarion rises, he kisses your cheek sweetly. ‘The silence stretches on  —  I’m all alone,’ you muse, ‘Please, can I hold your hands, just for a while?’
Bernard’s arms wrap around you gently, and you wrap your arms around his steel ribs. You’ve taken up residence in the old Arcane Tower in the Underdark. You appreciate the permanent nighttime, and if you admitted you only did it because Astarion wanted to be close to his family, it wouldn’t be entirely true. With a bit of help from Gale, you’ve managed to turn the tower into a comfortable fortress. Sometimes Omeluum comes to visit you. Occasionally, there’s word from Shadowheart from the SelĂ»nite Outpost. She’s hoping to restore it. She wants you to come visit.
‘Are you still playing with that dusty old thing, my love?’ Astarion hums from the doorway.
‘You be kind to Bernard,’ you warn him. ‘He’s my friend.’
‘Of course, of course,’ Astarion says, holding his hands up. ‘I’ll be kind to the scrap metal.’
You roll your eyes and step away, touching Bernard’s chest briefly. Astarion has just arrived back from a trip. There are spawn all over the Underdark now, and they treat Astarion as though he’s some sort of prince. They heed your word too, but none so much as his. Their eldest brother, their favorite. They tolerate  you if it means getting to see Astarion.
You’re a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none now. You leave your handiwork for the day or night or whatever it is to go down to your bedroom and recline in bed. Astarion lights each candle one by one until the room is illuminated. You smile and watch as he works.
‘Having responsibility suits you well,’ you say, resting your cheek on your palm. ‘Although it’s funny how our positions have changed somewhat.’
‘I’m the contracted killer,’ Astarion says with a laugh. ‘Are you a magistrate now?’
‘I have at least four hundred years of life left,’ you snort. ‘I, Magistrate Judge Stick-Up-My-Ass, sentence thee to fifty years of community service!’
Astarion rolls his eyes at you dramatically and throws himself into bed, kicking off his boots as he does so. He smells of fresh oils and mist. You bury your nose in his hair. You practically burrow yourself into him, wrapping your arms and legs around him like a mindflayer. You squeeze him tightly in your arms.
‘We have a sprawling manse and all you can think of to do all day is mock me for a position I have not occupied in two hundred years?’ Astarion pouts.
You kiss his hair. ‘What else should I do?’
‘Well,’ Astarion says, tone turning conspiratorial. ‘There are a certain amount of fuckable places here. Several desks, I’ve counted them all, and couches.’
You contemplate it, but after several tendays on the road and a wiggling visitor in your head, you think the bed is the best place. You pull Astarion up to kiss him, arms wrapping around his neck so he can’t leave you. You never want him to go again. You bump your nose against his and hide a smile in his coiffed hair when he melts against your chest.
You sigh prettily when Astarion takes you in your velvet sheets that you float as though in a dream. Your troubles are long over, and that person you thought you lost  —  your immortal soul  —  has returned to you as beautiful as the day you lost him. When you shudder, Astarion brushes hair out of your eyes adoringly and tastes your pulse at your jaw. You dig your fingers into the small of his back.
It’s like you’ve found a family. A very bitey, very competitive family. Still, you wouldn’t change any of it for the world. You hold Astarion’s face in your hands and see the man you knew and the man he’s become. Slowly, you pull his mouth towards your neck and feel your heartbeat jump in your chest.
He bites you for the first time that night.
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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ROYAL AU!ASTARION LOVES I BESEECH YOU TO GO LOOK AT THIS ARTWORK ON TWITTER
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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Delicate Hunger
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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Hello dear~ đŸ·đŸ·đŸ·
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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i’ve never been a huge fan of modern AUs but the way you write them has changed me forever. they’re so good i cannot get enough. started gnawing on the bars of my enclosure reading the taco bell and animal shelter fics. THANK YOU
ahhh, this is such a huge honor !! thank you so much, first of all, for reading my fics but i also think it's so kind of you to let me know that you even like my modern fics !! *gives u treats* i'll write more yummy modern au things soon for you to devour hehe
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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ASTARION  ANCUNÍN  &  AEREA,  CHILD OF NONE   ➻   endless  artworks  of  astarion  &  my  tav .   [ 3 / ∞ ]
❛   i  am  yours  &  you  are  mine .   ❜   ♡        ‷ artwork commissioned from kenta_nagasaki_ .
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petit-etoile · 5 months
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Oh oh I have an AU I haven't had the chance to write anything for. It's pre-vampirism magistrate Astarion and criminal tav who is incredibly well-versed in law. They keep committing crimes and getting caught in purpose just to see Astarion who fucking hates their guts because he can't ever convict them of anything bc they find loopholes and somehow manage to evade the law. It's an "at each other's throats" kinda romance and they kiss with teeth between cases
darling,  if  you  love  me  say  it  back
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pairing  .  ⊱   astarion x tav wordcount  .  ⊱   3,604 content warnings  .  ⊱  canon compliant temporary character death,  tav isn't a human but can be whatever else you like,  astarion isn't a vampire yet,   tav is gender neutral other tags  .  ⊱   canon compliant,  canon temporary character death,  introspection,  p.orn without plot,  oral s/ex,  desk s.ex,  inappropriate use of a cravat,  c.reampie archiveofourown  .  ⊱   here.
taglist  .  ⊱  @azrielshadows1nger, @pandimoostuff, @faevi, @microskies, @foreverthemaraudersera, @queenofthespacesquids, @claryvoyantfray, @6doodlaang14, @anne-isnotokay, @itshimbotime, @yeeteth-the-raven, @sessils,@8-opossums, @worryknotdear, @abirdaboxandachippedcup, @ghosts-and-ink, @b4um3pfl4um3, @gunslingerorchid, @hypopxia,  @m0ssytrees, @erysione, @odette-attackattack, @catching-fire-in-the-wind, @ashrio20, @wills-mental-illness, @queenofcarrotflowers-s, @kirahlene be added  .  ⊱   here .
summary  .  ⊱   The Magistrate Judge Astarion Ancunin has a soft spot for you. You like to exploit that fact.
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‘I need to see you in my office,’ Astarion hisses  —  and the tips of his ears are so red you think they might catch flame. He grabs you by the elbow roughly and tugs. ‘Now.’
‘Let’s do it, baby,’ you say smugly. ‘I know the law.’
Knowing the law might be an overstatement. You have studied the law for only one purpose, and that purpose you know like the back of your hand. So when Astarion presses you, you don’t argue. You do as the magistrate says and allow yourself to be dragged across the court. He admonishes you like one would get onto a dog who misbehaves. You can’t help but laugh.
It isn’t like Astarion isn’t a super serious magistrate with a focus on criminal prosecution. He wants to nail you for your sins, for your crimes. The only catch is that no matter how amazing Astarion is at his job, you’re simply better. If you’ve stolen something, you’re more than capable of hiding the evidence. If you’ve murdered someone, you know all the best ways to hide a body. It comes naturally.
Astarion is wearing that ever familiar frown as he marches through the elegant halls. It’s a frown that says you’re in trouble and there’s nothing that I can do. But that isn’t necessarily true. Astarion will do anything you ask so long as you ask nicely, and you’ve been getting good at asking nicely lately. He prides himself in training you even if it isn’t that simple. He calls it rehabilitation. You call it sex.
‘You can’t keep doing this, you know,’ Astarion snaps at you. ‘At some point you must give it up!’
He isn’t good at whispering when he’s riled up. He runs his free hand through his curls in anger, pushing them away from his face like his bangs being wild make it hard to think. It makes him more attractive.
‘You don’t mean that,’ you say with a shrug.
‘I do,’ he says, ‘very much mean that.’
You grin. ‘You would miss me,’ you tell him lasciviously, and he groans. ‘I know you would.’
He huffs. ‘The only thing that I would miss is the peace after the headache you’ve given me. It’s as though you aren’t even aware of how vexing you are.’
You laugh, and the fine line of Astarion’s temper snaps. He all but throws you in his office and locks it behind him. He’s annoyed with the way you stagger dramatically to one of the velvet couches before his desk. You lean over the arm and kick your feet up.
‘Does the idea of cuffs around my wrists excite you?’
You look over your shoulder. Astarion clenches his jaw. It must hurt to frown as hard as he is. You pull yourself onto the cushions and sit demurely. You study him. His rigid lines, tense gaze. He comes and sits on the edge of his desk, pressing his forehead into his hands as if that will relieve him of his headache. You’re determined to make it worse.
‘I apologize,’ you say sweetly. ‘I’ll behave from now on.’
‘We both know that you are not capable of behaving,’ Astarion says thinly.
He shouldn’t have said that. You can’t help yourself, but most of the time, Astarion makes it so easy for you to dig into his weaknesses and exploit them. You stare at him with wide, innocent eyes.
‘You should teach me,’ you suggest.
Astarion’s patience snaps. ‘I beg your pardon? Have some decorum, please!’
‘Having decorum is so boring,’ you say, pouting. ‘Life is much more fun when you live freely.’
‘And committing crimes is your definition of living freely?’
‘What is the point of living if not to live?’ you ask. ‘Why confine myself to rules of good or bad when I can choose what makes me happy.’
‘What exactly makes a criminal like you happy?’ Astarion asks bitterly.
You’ve always been possessed by a sense of otherness. You rise from the couch and carefully twist your fingers in his cravat, tangling yourself in him as he has become entangled in you. The Silverymoon lace tickles your skin. You pull Astarion closer and he begrudgingly caves to your strength. Your lips barely brush against his and already you can sense it. The barely contained restraint. The hunger. Astarion longs for you. He’s carefully hidden it beneath the scent of bergamot.
Slowly, you slide him free of what pressures him most. The cravat slides from his neck easily. It excites Astarion. His eyes glitter like you’ve never seen before. Being a magistrate isn’t about caring about the laws he’s vowed to uphold. It’s about power. You give it to him. You hold your wrists together with a wicked grin.
You balance the fabric on your fingers. Astarion swallows. Being proper isn’t really his thing. It’s thrilling to watch as he changes his mind. You annoy him  —  he detests you, wishes you gone. You are the object of all his improper late night dreams.
But as if he’s moving through water, he takes his cravat from your hands. You almost think it’s going to be a rejection. Astarion bundles your wrists together with an expertise that suggests he’s done it before. The binding becomes tight but not too tight and you relish in the way it twists your wrists. He fastens the knot into a pretty bow.
And then he kisses you. He grabs you so roughly by the back of the neck that your teeth slam together, but Astarion sighs so prettily against your mouth you decide you could withstand anything.
It’s a passionate kiss made up of teeth and spit and tongue. Astarion is both pushing you and pulling you. He can’t make up his mind. Does he want you and the stain you’ll bring to his reputation? A magistrate with a weakness for a criminal is such an interesting dynamic, but Astarion is a proud man. You are almost certain he would throw you into harm’s way if a situation ever occurred that deemed it necessary. You would do the same given the chance. This is simply a tryst.
You like to pretend it is, at least. You hate coming across as a romantic. You chase a freedom so exquisite no one will ever understand it, but when Astarion pushes you towards the couch, you don’t complain. You fall across the cushions with ease and catch him as he falls between your thighs.
‘You,’ Astarion accuses hotly, ‘are an irrevocable annoyance I may never be cured of.’
‘You are so very frank in all the ways you despise me,’ you say, moaning softly as he kisses your neck. ‘I think you’re capable of being freed after all.’
‘I am glad to see you are finally aware that it is hate that drives me,’ Astarion murmurs thickly. ‘It repulses me that you think you could possibly be endearing.’
You laugh and Astarion sucks a bruise into your collarbone. He’ll pretend to be aloof and noncommittal to your very presence, but he’s invested. You can feel the weight of his pleasure against your thighs even as he denies his feelings for you. Astarion doesn’t bother with your shirt or his own. He clings to your waist as he finds the lace of your breeches and tugs you free.
Astarion pushes his hand inside of your smallclothes and touches your flushed skin, spreading his fingers so that he can touch every inch your body has to offer. The fervor of the motion is what causes you to gasp. He’s a man on a mission, and he touches you at your core so adoringly it makes the bite of his words all but disappear. He fondles you like he’s never touched your skin before. Your gasp turns to a sultry whine, and he bites your neck like a punishment. You almost think he’s going to admonish you, that he’ll say your silence is worth more. He doesn’t. If anything, the echo of your voice spurns him to go further.
Astarion presses two fingers inside of you and the laughter dies in your chest. He’s trying to rearrange you through a perverse method. If he fucks you good enough, crime’s appeal will turn to dust within your mind. It makes you wonder what it would be like to dote on a magistrate. Would it be enough? Could it be enough? Sinning feels just as sweet.
He curls his fingers against your core and your back arches prettily off the velvet cushions. You bite your bottom lip and try to quell the pining, but then you catch a glimpse of him from beneath your eyelashes. Astarion is watching your every move. His lips are parted. His pupils are dilated. His cheeks have colored at the sound of your voice. He is torn between watching your face for your reactions and glancing down at his hand underneath your breeches. You meet his gaze bravely, chin lifting, and smile.
He adds another just to watch you struggle. The angle, the curve of his wrist, and the situation are enough to make your thighs squeeze together, but Astarion doesn’t let you. He roughly throws himself between your legs so that you can’t, and it’s hot, too hot that you cry weakly. He grins at the sound like he always does, like he always will. It’s his victory this evening. 
But as quickly as Astarion deigned to touch you, he releases you. He stands up and drags you by the wrists, turning his cheek the other way when you try to taste his skin.
‘The prosecutor is ineffectual  —  ’
You snort without meaning to, and Astarion digs his fingers into the swell of your hip. You allow him to maneuver you, bending at the waist while he presses you forward, chest against the chilled wood of his desk. You have to rise on your toes to stand comfortably.
‘Is that what you’re thinking about?’ you ask breathlessly.
‘I’m thinking about the necessary reform,’ Astarion snaps.
You press your cheek into the wood and stare at his door. The prosecutor, the defense. It doesn’t really matter, does it? Astarion is the only one who cares. You’re somewhat glad he does. It means he’s taken your case to interest, and when he presses himself to your lower back, you’re excited. He shoves your breeches to your ankles.
‘Are you going to take me here?’ you murmur. ‘On your desk. Where is your propriety?’
‘You dare speak to me of decency?’ Astarion snorts.
‘The weight of my sins will be forever embedded on your desk,’ you say. ‘You flatter me, your honor.’
‘Do you ever stop talking?’ Astarion asks. You can hear his patience snapping.
‘Well, you’re just so boring,’ you say, laughing. ‘Why don’t you do something that  —  ’
Astarion kneels down behind you and shoves his way between your legs. You shiver when he presses his lips against your core. He mouths at you hungrily. He grunts low in the back of his throat and digs his nails into your thighs. It steals your breath away. He’s so determined to change the very essence of your being that his tongue and mouth searching where his fingers first were makes you go weak in the knees. You whine.
You press your fingers into the dark, rich mahogany of his desk and try to keep focus. You want to taunt him. You want to tease him, but that wanton desire is almost forgotten entirely by the way Astarion feasts upon your flesh. He parts you with his thumbs and groans against your skin and you almost forget who you are. This is what he wanted. He wanted to pull your desires from you and replace them with his own.
You let him. He works you up as easily as anyone can be worked up, his fingers and his mouth exploring every inch of your skin that’s exposed. He goes to slide a finger in curiously, but you twist your hips away. Astarion is all work and no play. He will tease you relentlessly as it suits him, and he will do what interests him. You interest him more than he’s willing to confess. That’s why he works so hard for your pleasure.
When he’s done with you, he kisses the base of your spine soothingly. Your legs tremble beneath you. Astarion smooths his hand across your hip. You glance at him.
‘Perhaps I can fuck some sense into you now,’ Astarion mumbles.
He has the audacity to sound inquisitive. It’s not like it’s possible, but he seems determined enough to try it out regardless of his intuition. His hands are warm against your skin, and the excitement only builds in the pit of your stomach as you feel Astarion’s skin touch yours. You hear his clothes rustle and his breath catch in his throat. You hide a smile against your arm.
When Astarion slides into your core, it’s like a possession. The breath steals from your lungs. His touch is a familiar constant  —  you would recognize him anywhere by scent alone. You cry weakly. Your toes crunch from the angle, but there’s nothing you want more at this moment than to learn to be good.
Astarion hums behind you as well, his fingers digging into your hips as he tries to steady himself. The desk crunches uncomfortably against your belly but it’s a welcome pain. It keeps you focused. You still have the energy to wiggle back against him as his cock slowly pushes in until there is no more room left to explore.
‘Be good,’ he whispers, ‘and I will give you what you deserve.’
What do you deserve exactly?
It’s hard to say. You enjoy your life of crime almost as much as you love the way Astarion bends you over his desk. You’re good at stealing, you’re good at killing, but you’re good at being soft and pliant as well, giving in to that sentimentality that keeps you coming back from more.
At first it was an elaborate game. What could you do to ensure that Magistrate Judge Astarion Ancunin looked your way? He was a noble elf, and your hands were covered in fresh dough from the baker you stole from. There was a curious glint in his eyes when he looked over you, yet somehow the gods had deemed the yeast and honey on your fingers was not honest enough to be proof.
You are smitten. You bounce taller on your toes with every aggressive thrust, arms struggling to support your weight. Astarion fists his fingers into your hair and pulls until your throat is exposed. He wants you to sing for him, so you do. You arch your back and moan loudly. The sounds of it bounce around his little office.
‘You wouldn’t shut up before,’ Astarion says breathlessly, a hoarse laugh.
‘Do something  —  worth talking about  —  ’
Astarions laughs incredulously, but he does fuck you harder for it. He releases your hair without much flourish and focuses on dragging your hips back onto his cock, punching forward so hard you see stars. It’s wonderful, it’s powerful. If Astarion’s entire goal was to make you forsake the world, he’s done a good job of turning your life around. The cravat rubs against your wrists as you try to seek purchase on the desk. Your fingers drag across the polished wood, and you shudder as you clench down around his cock.
You sound so breathless and silly, groaning while he fucks you against his desk. He fills you full until you’re certain you can take no more. You press a hot cheek against the wood and try to catch your breath. You hook a foot around his ankle for support, twisting on his desk. You tuck your arms beneath your chest. You feel as though you’re coming undone. All your years of villainy, and it comes undone by the consistency of Astarion’s presence.
Your arms are stiff from constantly being up, but you’re almost grateful when Astarion pauses. He helps you turn on top of his desk so you’re on your back instead, and even though the edge digs into your lower back, you prefer that to anything else.
You meet Astarion’s gaze. He tells you he hates you, that he wishes you were out of his hair, that he despises you, but the gentleness of his eyes tells you otherwise. He slides back into you with a small moan, and you wrap your legs around his hips to guide him in further.
‘It’s good,’ you gasp. ‘It’s good, you’re good  —  ’
Astarion doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to. You can see it clear as day in his eyes. Astarion won’t say he loves you, that in his ardent fervor he seeks you out, but he knows that you know. Why else would fate lead you back together? You reach for his face with your hands, and his eyes flutter closed to avoid the wistfulness. He leans into your touch.
You cry softly as Astarion begins to grind into you again. He helps carry you as he does so. And it feels so good, feels so overwhelming that you briefly consider the fact that he has changed you for the better.
A spirit that slides into your very marrow. Astarion is hauntingly beautiful, and if he is a spider then you are a fly tangled in his web. He calls you a pretty thing and you give into the struggle. You press your wrists against your forehead and strain against his cock, unable to hide from the waves of crashing pleasure.
Astarion finishes inside of you with a low moan. He presses a rough hand against your belly to stabilize himself, and shyly, you touch his wrist with your bound hands just to feel his pulse. As soon as he’s caught his breath, he releases you from your bonds.
You almost miss him when he pulls away from you. He uses one of his hanging cassocks to clean himself with and is kind enough to do the same for you. You’re almost certain that your legs won’t work, so you sit up on his desk to rest and damn his paperwork to the hells. You kick off your breeches from around your ankles and sit, legs crossed, while Astarion tries to fix his reflection in the mirror.
‘You are truly an astute teacher,’ you say casually. ‘The art of lockpicking is all but gone from my mind. Thank you, your honor.’
Astarion snorts and shakes his head, torn between ignoring you and giving into your wiles. He curls his hair back into place and then walks back to you, leaning forward until you’re nose to nose.
You think he won’t kiss you, but then he does. His lips taste like summer oranges and you taste him until it’s the only thing you can think of. He hugs you tenderly. It isn’t the same as when he admonishes you. It makes your chest feel warm. You almost feel weaker for it. Your bite is being taken away.
‘I can’t keep protecting you,’ Astarion says softly against your cheek. ‘You torment me day and night. When I lie down in my sheets, I find myself consumed with worry.’
‘You think about me?’ you tease. ‘In your sprawling manse?’
‘Move in with me,’ he murmurs. ‘Then you can be inferior yet vain inside my sprawling manse.’
Astarion is not there that evening. You try to wait as long as you can without seeming suspicious. There are maids, family members, and their admirers who come inside and out throughout the evening  —  but not Astarion, never Astarion. You wait until the sun sets and fireflies light up the streets of the Upper City but eventually, the malaise of abandonment guides your feet away. You walk the streets aimlessly until a shiver runs down your spine. A chill so violent turns you away from the courthouse.
But in the morning, there’s a fuss. It draws you back into where you left and you can’t help but to lose yourself. Astarion is dead. His mother sobs. The members of the city watch who bear the bad news look equally as morose. Astarin’s father nearly falls to his knees in despair.
When you break into their manse that evening, you look for one thing. You steal a cravat from his wardrobe and tie it around your neck.
Then, you leave Baldur’s Gate.
You aren’t sure where your feet are going to take you.
Part of your yearns for the Underdark. Baldur’s Gate is a cursed city, you decide. You wander back to it after two hundred years of avoiding it like the plague, and not an hour within the city are you spirited away on an adventure you never longed for.
You have changed. You can’t really remember who you were all those years ago, or the hopefulness you might have felt in your chest once. You’re different now. A folk hero. You used to steal from the rich and give to the poor before the mindflayers fed you their parasite and stole that part of you. But you aren’t alone this time. You wander the beach for hours searching for anything that can be of use and pause over a love letter that makes you sob.
It isn’t all bad. You meet a half-elf who scowls as much as she mumbles to herself.
On the other side of the beach, you meet a ghost.
His eyes are different from what you remember. The warmth he once looked upon you with is gone and replaced by unfamiliar sanguine.
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