Fictober 2023
Day 13 - Prompt: "Who takes care of you?"
Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3
It wasn’t an easy sleep Gale had dropped into, but he really couldn’t recall the last one he had. Probably before, well, everything. But fitful as his slumber was, he still wasn’t happy when it was interrupted by a paw batting his face. He grumbled, trying to ignore it. Half the time, Tara was just trying to see if he was awake; if he didn’t stir, she’d go somewhere else.
But clearly not today. Another bat came, even more solid than the first. It was finally an exasperated “Mr. Dekarios” that got him to answer.
“Tara, not now,” he said blearily, rolling over. “It’s not time for breakfast.”
“I should say it is not. This is where you’ve run off to?”
Gale opened his eyes, sitting up. He wasn’t in his tower; he was at camp, sleeping beside the fire with the others. From the look of it, they hadn’t heard Tara’s entrance. He looked back down at the tressym.
“Why are you here?” he whispered. “You promised to stay in Waterdeep. ‘Promise,’ verb, meaning to swear that something will or will not be done.”
“And I decided will not.” Tara sat down very primly in the dirt, nose up. “It’s a good thing, too. You look terrible.” She looked around appraisingly. “Have you fallen in with a bad crowd?” she whispered. “That explains that thing on your face, and…” She paused, nose twitching intently before she turned around, back immediately arching. “Oh, by the gods, you’ve even picked up a dog! I let you out of my sight for one moment and look what happens!”
Gale rubbed his face. “I’m not in with a bad crowd. I’m fine. Well, as much as I can be.” He sighed, looking back at the tressym. “It’s not safe for you to be here. Go back home, Tara.”
“The dog can be here, though?”
Gale let out an irritated huff. “The dog belongs to someone else. You belong to me, and—” Oh. Oh no. Oh no, no, he knew the mistake he made the moment the words left his mouth, but there was no time to apologize before Tara was arched up, wings out and a low growl escaping her.
“I belong to you? Oh, no, no, Gale Dekarios—if the decades I’ve been with you have taught you anything, it’s that you have that backward. Who takes care of you? Who spent the better part of a year looking for items to sate that ticking time bomb in you? Who was it that has sat by your side through hells and high water, only for you to stomp off and leave me and your mother worried sick?”
Gale tried to shush her as she railed off with her (admittedly very valid) points, but the damage was done. Astarion was the first to push himself up with a groan.
“What in the hells is that noise?” he grumbled.
“It’s the angriest meowing I’ve ever heard.” Falerin sat up, rubbing his eyes. He squinted at Gale, then glanced down at Tara. His eyes suddenly went wide, and he sat up straight. “Is that Tara?”
“Tara?” Karlach was up in a moment, already wide awake. “Tara’s here?” She looked over at the tressym, hands going to her mouth. “Oh my gods, it is Tara! That’s your sigil on her collar, Gale! Oh, aren’t you a pretty girl?”
In the wake of attention, Tara’s anger subsided, and she sat up to preen. “I see my reputation precedes me. As it should, of course.”
Gale sighed. “Yes, this is Tara. Tara, these are my…my friends.” Oh. It did feel good saying that.
“Some friends indeed, if they’re not telling you to shave,” Tara sniffed, though she wandered over toward them. Falerin held out his hand for her to sniff, and she responded by shoving her face right up against it. As he scratched beneath her chin, she purred. “I do like this one. He can stay.”
“At any rate, Tara was just leaving,” Gale said firmly, only to get a loud protest from all three around the fire.
“How can she leave now? She’s just arrived,” Karlach said between trying to pspspss her over. “And you’ve talked about her nonstop!”
Tara looked up, surprised. “You have?”
“I…may have shared one or two stories,” he said, scratching his chin. “Mostly about how you’ve massacred any pigeons that have come within a twenty-mile radius of the tower.”
“As is her right,” Astarion said. “Clearly she’s never done a single thing wrong in her life. Really, Gale, you’re being terribly unfair.”
“That one can stay, too,” Tara said, unceremoniously climbing up into Karlach’s lap—thank the gods they’d gotten that mechanic to fix her up. The tressym did look pleasantly surprised at the warmth, and she settled in comfortably; Karlach looked on the edge of tears at being chosen. “This one, too. Oh, she’s like a personal heater, how lovely.” She tucked up her wings and wrapped her tail around herself. “Perhaps you are doing quite well out here in the wilds. Even with the dog.”
Gale let out a long sigh. “Fine. You can stay the night,” he said, throwing up a hand. “We’ll discuss this in the morning.”
“Yes, over a decent breakfast. I can tell you haven’t had one since you left home,” Tara said, eyes squinting as Karlach delicately scratched at her ears. “I do hope one of your friends knows Speak with Animals. I’d like to hear a much less biased account of what you’ve been up to while off and about—and give some proper instructions on how to care for you. I can’t have people thinking you’re a stray, Mr. Dekarios.”
Fictober 2023 Drabble Master Post
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