#and astarion takes wyll's hand when he is being honest about his feelings

[avocado-writing]

Could I request headcanons for Astarion, Gale, Wyll, Halsin, Dammon, Rolan, and Zevlor react to his petite gn s/o wearing his clothes?

absolutely, lovely! here you go:

Astarion

100% makes a comment about you looking “good enough to eat”

but, seriously. he jokes to cover up how delighted he is.

you’re wearing his usual casual campsite shirt, the open neck of it revealing a large portion of your chest - Astarion can’t help peppering the exposed skin with kisses 💕

wants to see you in more comfortable domestic situations with him. I think this is part of when he realises how utterly enamoured he is with you.

lets you sleep in it and watches you dream. can’t take his eyes off how lovely you are.

Gale

you’ve definitely stolen a robe of his, I think. probably wearing it because you can’t be bothered to get dressed properly lmao

he’s surprised when he spots you. takes a moment to just watch you being in his clothes. has a huge smile on his face when you turn around.

”apologies, you just look… radiant.”

you laugh - because let’s be honest, he’s compliment his own dress sense too - and pull him in for a kiss.

he runs his hands up and down your body to feel the shape of engulfed in his finery, smiles against your lips 💕

Wyll

so so so so pleased.

we know this lovely lad is a romantic. there’s something so soft and intimate about you wearing something of his.

”sorry I just needed a shirt while I tried to find—“ “keep it. it looks far better on you than it does on me.”

a grin crosses your face, you stalk across to him and wrap your arms around his neck.

“hmm, I don’t know if that’s true… it would look best on the tent floor.”

laugh when he widens his eyes in mock-surprise at the scandal of it all, and you use the opportunity to pull him into a loving kiss 💕

suddenly more of his shirts end up in your wardrobe. he likes knowing you have a part of him with you if you leave the camp without his company.

Halsin

the one most likely to have a visceral reaction.

his jaw tightens. he lets out the littlest growl.

silvanus preserve him, he feels so territorial over you… you’re wrapped in his shirt (he’s huge, you can probably wear it as a whole outfit lbr) and you look so warm and safe. protected. he wants to keep you that way forever - he vows he will.

when you tell him it smells of him and you find it comforting he swear his soul leaves his body

(NSFW) most likely to have you wear it while you ride him later 💕

Dammon

huge grin when he spots you pottering around the forge in one of his shirts.

”why are you in that old thing, love?” ”because it reminded me of you, and you’re my favourite thing in the entire world.”

he grins and puts down his work, wrapping you in his arms as well as his shirt, tail swishing in joy.

wears one of your shirts the next day and is so so happy when you burst out laughing before giving him a long kiss 💕

Rolan

pretends to be annoyed. “get your own clothes!”

secretly so thrilled lol. never had a serious significant other before, especially not one who’d wear his things.

loves how it looks on you. can’t stop stealing glances, appreciating the way it hangs on your body. brings out all the bits he most admires about you.

you catch him looking and wink. he goes a bright red… well, brighter.

Zevlor

“oh, do you need more clothes? I can get some for you.”

laugh good-naturedly at his concern and assure him it’s just because you like wearing something which reminds you of him. watch his eyes soften in adoration.

“ah, my love. you know how to stir this old warrior’s heart.”

holds you at arm’s length while you do a spin so he can properly admire you before pulling you to his chest for a deep kiss 💕

#Zevlor x reader #zevlor bg3 x reader #Zevlor x tav #dammon x reader #damon bg3 x reader #Dammon x tav #rolan x tav #rolan x reader #rolan bg3 x reader #gale of waterdeep x reader #Gale of waterdeep x tav #Astarion x reader #astarion x tav #halsin x reader #halsin x tav #wyll x tav #wyll x reader #wyll ravenguard x reader #my writing #Long post #bg3 imagine

[save-a-forest-ride-a-bear]

🗒 ꒰⸝⸝₊ General Dating Headcanons ❛ ✧

Featuring: Astarion, Gale, Wyll & Halsin

# Note: content warning for very brief talk of abuse and general trauma back to navigation ´ˎ˗

🌿┊ASTARION

Talk about touch and attention starved. This guy wouldn't know a healthy relationship if it hit him in the face. Whenever you're nice to him or touch him without any innuendo, he's on edge. You must want something from him. Why else would you be doing this? It doesn't make sense.

Speaking of which, touching him out of nowhere usually doesn't end well. He has a tendency to flinch. He cackles and says he just thought he saw a bug, "Silly me," but you both know better than that.

He grows used to it, however. It just takes some warming up to. Eventually, the discomfort fades, replaced by a yearning so strong he swore he felt his heart beat again. When his brain realizes you don't want to hurt him and it's safe to be around you, he starts craving more contact. He's too prideful to ask, but he's not good at hiding it, either.

He loves any kind of compliment, don't get him wrong, but the ones that have nothing to do with his appearance seem to stick more. He's heard every single little praise possible for his face and body — but for his personality? For his mannerisms? If it ever happened before, he can't remember it.

Insists he doesn't like cuddling and only does it because you want to. But the one night you didn't, you woke up to him clinging to you anyway. He said he must've done so in his sleep, completely ignoring the fact elves can't sleep. Deception: critical failure.

Surprisingly protective. If you get hurt during a fight he goes ham on the enemy while yelling for someone else to take care of your wounds right now. He lost everything he had after Cazador — lost even himself to the hands of that sick, wicked man. He can't afford to lose you too.

The relationship started with him trying to manipulate you, sure, but that's not the case anymore. He cares. He genuinely cares for something other than himself for the first time in two centuries, and he's scared you still think you're being tricked by his charms. Again, he's too prideful for constant displays of affection, but he does say "I love you" more often than ever. Maybe if he says it enough times, you'll believe it.

He stares a lot. There's just something so endearing about seeing you in your own little world, oblivious to everything else, or at least oblivious to his gawking. It's the most honest part of you, the most yourself you could be, and he enjoys it from afar.

🌿┊GALE

So needy. You leave him at camp for a few hours and you come back to him acting like he needs to be sent to the seaside for his health. A year of living as a hermit does things to a man's necessities for attention.

Loves your scent. He doesn't share his clothes with anyone (that fabric is expensive, dammit), but he insists you wear them so that they smell like you later.

Despite being a cat owner, he's very dog-coded. Will do things with the sole purpose of receiving praise or kisses from you and gets extremely pouty when he doesn't.

Speaking of kisses, he takes any excuse conceivable to kiss you. Good morning, good night and good luck kisses are very much mandatory. Doesn't even have to be on his lips, he's more than satisfied with a cheek or forehead kiss as well.

He enjoys being taken care of, even if he complains. When you scold him for not sleeping over some ancient tome, he can't help but feel loved. Will return the favour, of course — especially if it comes to food. He's very insistent with the "three meals a day" thing.

Will read to you, there's no way around it. It's relaxing for both of you, so he doesn't see why he shouldn't. He also says he can pay attention better to the text when he says it out loud, anyway. You having your head on his lap as he does it is merely a bonus.

🌿┊WYLL

If this man has any flaw, it's that he's always trying to make every moment you spend together perfect and forgets to just lay back and enjoy himself. Even then, he only does it because of how much he loves you.

The last romantic! Goes all out with dates and gifts — fancy restaurants and the biggest bouquets you've ever seen. Money is no object when it comes to you. Truly a good old-fashioned lover boy.

Definitely has a saviour complex — the type to say "I can fix them" unironically. He just loved you and wants you to be okay, and if he has to drag you there himself he will.

Will go on rants about how smitten he is with you and how perfect you are on a daily basis. If you have to leave for the day, he'll write it as a love letter instead.

Always holding you close, but there's no possessiveness to it. It's a display of affection, not ownership. He's yours as much as you are his.

Loves taking showers together. Not for any sexual reason (though he wouldn't complain if things ended up going down that path), he just finds it incredibly intimate and genuinely enjoys washing your hair for you.

You're not just another romance to him — you're the love of his life, the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with, if the gods allow it.

🌿┊HALSIN

Despite the whole "Desire flourishes wherever it finds purchase" thing, he genuinely doesn't see himself falling for anyone else as he did for you. It's nice to know he could still indulge if he wanted, but for now, he doesn't.

Loves having his hair played with. There's just something so soothing about it. Or maybe it's his wild shape talking, asking for pets. We'll never know.

Always finds an excuse for you to sit on his lap. Again, not for sexual reasons, he just likes wrapping his arms around you and resting his chin on your head or shoulder.

Even though he isn't one for commitment, he has a constant, extremely severe case of baby fever. He obviously wouldn't push you if you're not ready, but he does make his sentiments on the matter known.

Stepping dangerously close to smut territory with this one, but he loves how small you are compared to him. The way he engulfs you entirely when he hugs you or how your hand disappears under his as he holds it — it's endearing to him.

I cannot go without mentioning how good his hugs are. Like, seriously. He's so warm and gentle but still strong and it makes you feel safe. It's the best thing in Faerun.

Loves how you look like wearing his clothes. It ties into the size difference thing, since they just look huge on you. Also, much like Gale, he has a thing for your scent, so there's really no downsides.

#bg3 #bg3 x reader #baldurs gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 x reader #astarion x reader #gale dekarios x reader #gale of waterdeep x reader #wyll ravengard x reader #halsin x reader #bg3 headcanons

[frantic-fiction]

Hey you.

Pic: Cuddlelion on steam

Astarion x gn!Tav

Summary: Young Arabella comes to stay at the camp during the trip through the Shadow-Cursed Lands. Her curious questions affect Astarion more than it should.

Based on this post by the-phantom-otaku

Thank you to my lovely friend Ayselluna for requesting this fic sorry it took me so long. Hopefully you like it.

Word Count: 1.5k

Masterlist

The camp is as lively as it always is. Gale is working away on the group's supper, Wyll giving him unwarranted pointers. Karlach is trying to sneak spoonfuls of the unfinished stew only to have her hand slapped away dramatically with a spoon. Shadowheart is in her evening prayer, and Haslin sits beside her in contemplation. Scratch and the owlbear cub are playfully wrestling in a mud puddle. The grinding sound of Lae'zel sharpening her sword echoes through the camp.

Astarion clenches his jaw, hands tightening against the leather binding of the book Tav had gifted him last week. He hated this time of evening the most when it was too late to keep moving on their journey but too late to hide away in his tent. Not that it would have stopped him before, but things have changed. Or maybe he had changed because he was waiting for them instead of tucking himself away.

Tav.

Because they should have been back by now, Tav had said they would only say hello to the skeleton. Something about 'Not wanting him to feel lonely.' It's a thing only Tav would think about because who cares about a reanimated skeleton besides Tav? But that was almost thirty minutes ago, and these woods left a sickly feeling lingering in the air. Astarion was familiar with darkness, but these shadowlands were filled with malice and evil, still not fully comprehended.

Astarion should find them. Ensure they're not trying to bring home an orphaned squirrel, stray cat, or whatever Tav seems to get up to when he's not watching. Make sure they're safe so he can quell the fire of anxiety that's eating away at him.

But as Astarion is tossing his book down to leave, Tav emerges from the red foliage. Their face is stretched into a soft, beaming smile, and the moon's glow cascades down in dim rays. Gods, they're always so breathtakingly beautiful that he doesn't think he'll ever get enough.

Tav shakes their head and speaks down. That's when Astarion notices the small tiefling child holding their hand. He recognizes her from the grove, Arabella. He smirked when he remembered her attempted robbery of that artifact from those testy druids. Then the images of her parents lying stiff in those dirty cots press forward into his mind, and he has to look away.

Now that he knows Tav is safe, he tries to focus back on the book. It wasn't anything special, just a romance novel about a dashing pirate and a blushing maiden. But Tav had gone out of their way to keep his collection filled with new material so he would not complain about the lackluster writing.

Astarion was halfway through the chapter by the time someone had approached. By smell, he knew it wasn't Tav, so he ignored them and hoped they would take the message and move along.

They didn't because soon there was a tug at his sleeve and a small clearing of one's throat.

"Hey, you!"

Astarion lowered the book and looked down to find Arabella looking expectantly up at him.

"Yes, hello," Astarion says cordially before pressing his face back into the book.

If he was being honest, children unnerved him. After being entombed for that long, painful year trying to save that young boy, he did everything in his power to steer clear of them. Astarion's hoping if he ignores the young girl long enough, she'll get bored and move on to bother the next party member.

However, the little tiefling wouldn't be swayed so easily.

"You look sick."

Astarion freezes and stares unblinkingly at the girl. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you're pale, sickly pale. You have dark circles under your eyes, and even your cheeks look kinda hollow. Are you okay?"

Now Astarion is thoroughly offended. Scoffing, he crosses his arms and sticks his nose in the air.

"I'm a vampire. I can't get sick." However, Astarion betrays his confidence by bringing one hand up to his face to prod at the skin under his eye.

"Really?" Arabella says in surprise, causing Astarion to snap his gaze down to the child. "Aren't vampires supposed to look young?"

Now fuming and outright pissed, Astarion sees the ghost of a smirk on the tiefling's face.

"Listen here, you little sh–"

"Astarion!" Tav interrupts, walking up behind and touching the girl's shoulder warmly.

"What? The little shit started it!"

Tav gives him a pointed look that he knows means he needs to calm down, or he will be in the dog house tonight.

"I didn't mean to upset him, ma'am," Arabella says, all sickly sweet, playing into your caring side. "I was just curious. I've never met a vampire before."

"No, the little devil-"

"Astarion," Tav warns, forcing him to bite his tongue. "Don't mind him, Arabella. Let's get you something to eat. Gale made a beef stew tonight."

Tav offers the young girl her hand, and as the two walk away, Arabella sends a smirk over her shoulder and sticks out her tongue, taunting him. Astarions hand twitches towards his dagger, wanting to teach the twerp a lesson, but he takes a deep breath and turns on his heel, storming into the tent.

By the time Tav retires for the night, Astarion is tucked away in the corner of the tent. He's glaring daggers at the hand mirror grasped tightly in his hand, willing the glass to show his reflection. Nimble fingers are poking and prodding and pulling at the skin under his eyes and around his face, trying to pick apart any details he could not see.

A deep frown pulls at his lips and creases his brow. Astarion's shoulders are slumped, betraying how much Arabella's words have affected him. It wasn't a secret the man was vain and took pride in his appearance. To have a child pick apart his insecurities left him upset and wanting nothing more than to see his face just once more.

Astarion is pulled from his brooding thoughts when he feels two arms snake around his middle and the soft press of kisses peppered up his neck. Instinctively, he melts into Tav's touch, still astonished by the simplicity of this new relationship.

"Hey, handsome," Tav breathes into his ear, pressing one more fleeting kiss just below before pulling away to get ready for bed.

He absentmindedly greets them, still too focused on his internal conflict. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches Tav strip bare and move around, tossing random bits and bobs to find their night clothes. Once they're dressed, Tav stops and stands in the middle of the tent. He can feel them staring at him as he's transfixed on the empty mirror.

"Astarion,"

"Do I look sick?" He drops the mirror and turns to face Tav. "Do I look hollow and pale…old?" His voice trails off at the end, and he's unsure if he wants to know the answer, but it's eating away at him.

Tav's eyes soften. "Was that what Arabella said to you?"

Pity. He could see it in Tav's eyes, and he recoiled, disgust curdling in his gut.

Astarion scoffs." Please, Tav, I don't need your pity."

Tav grabs his hand and pulls him close. "There is no pity. Understanding yes. But not pity."

"It's all the same." Astarion looks down.

"No, but that's beside the point. Arabella is a child Star. They will say the most insulting things without realizing it or just because they know it will hurt. Do you want to know what I see?"

Astarion nods softly, holding onto the hem of Tav's shirt. He knows he's being foolish, but Astarion wants the reassurance that Tav is happy to give.

Tav cups his cheek, forcing him to meet their eyes. "Your face might look hollow to Arabella, but I see your high cheekbones and sharp jawline," Tav emphasizes their point by trailing a thumb against his jaw and pulling Astarion into a fleeting kiss. "Not to mention everything those lips and tongue have done to me."

Astarion smirked and chased after Tav's lips, pouting when he was denied.

Tav's hands trail down his chest and slip under his shirt, splaying against his cold skin. Astarion lets out a shaky breath. "Yes, you are pale, perhaps at times sickly. But I love it because after you've finished feeding, I see that beautiful flush covering your body."

"Maybe you have laugh lines and forehead creases that a little girl would consider old. But if you ask me? Astarion, when I see you smile and laugh, gods, it's the sexiest thing in the world. Because it shows me that you're happy and safe and here with me."

Tav has now thrown their arms over Astarion's shoulders and has pulled their body flush against his. Astarion is at a loss for words, especially when Tav looks at him with such love. Tav kisses him softly, and he tightens his hold, wanting nothing more than to meld into their body.

"So, who cares what a child thinks? You are beautiful, and between the two of us. I'm going to be the one worrying about wrinkles, not you, mister immortal vampire."

"Thank you, my love," Astarion whispered against Tav's lips, smiling into another sweet kiss.

"Let's lay down. I think it's time to cuddle, don't you think?"

Astarion's insecurities fade for the night because how can the darkness stand a chance when he has Tav as his guiding light?

Just something short and sweet while I'm in the middle of moving. Sorry if anyone felt ooc. Let me know what you guys thought of it.

Taglist: @heartfully10@ayselluna@marina-and-the-memes@anixson@canonicalchaoticneutral @toadsbitch @meulinkitten-blog @ambr4armr @lotusandcrystals @venussakura @synapticjive @skittleabyss @asterordinary @lariatbunny @whispering-depths @butchboi-chihuahua-slumlord @darkest-part-of-the-forest @queenofcarrotflowers-s @sessils @d20bunny @cherifrog @ophelia-ophelian @bgthree @darlingxdragon @mothynyx @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf @babyqnn @mmendez0124 @kokoyu-art

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#astarion x tav #bg3 #astarion x reader #astarion #bg3 astarion #reader insert #fanfic #astarion ancunin #astarion imagine #frantic fiction #bg3 fic #bg3 tav #baldurs gate 3

[nrvcntr]

My Lover is Like

hey remember how i said i'd write that fic about tav coming from a noble background and having a riddle that someone has to answer to date her and no one ever gets it right and then years later she tells gale and he knows immediately? anyway here it is

There are certain scents that bring back memories - warm grass on a summer’s day, fresh linens placed on a bed, and of course, the sickly sticky burn of a bottle of plum fizz, shared among friends. Astarion recoiled after he sniffed the open bottle, his nose scrunched in horror.

“You can’t be serious,” He said.

“You’re being dramatic. It isn’t that bad,” You replied.

You had found a crate full of bottles on your last trek and dragged it back to the campsite, anticipating a heroic welcome at your generous haul. It was nearing sunset and it seemed as good of a time as any to see what the contents of the crate were. Upon cracking the crate open, your eyes lit up at the sight of bottles on bottles of plum fizz. This had been the drink that defined your adolescence as a noble in Baldur’s Gate. It immediately brought back memories of revelry, singing songs next to bonfires, and a young Wyll Ravengard throwing up in the street. You pulled out a bottle and handed it to Astarion, who had reacted like a man who never knew the joys of noble debauchery.

“It smells like it could raise something from the dead and then kill it again,” He said, handing the bottle back to you.

“Look, we used to drink this all the time when we were kids. It’s like a rite of passage among children of nobility in Baldur’s Gate.”

Wyll, overhearing the conversation, came over to see what you were so impassioned about. At the sight of the bottle in your hand, he recoiled like someone had just smacked him upside the head.

“No. Get that thing away!” He shouted, shaking his hands.

“Oh, stop it. I remember you used to beg to play fizzy hands when we were younger,” You said.

“Fizzy hands.” Astarion said flatly, “What sort of braindead activity is fizzy hands?”

You raised your brow to Wyll, who explained that “fizzy hands” was the beloved drinking game of your youth, where a small magical seal was applied to two bottles of plum fizz, which an individual would hold. The seal wouldn’t break until both bottles were consumed.

“Fizzy hands leads to fizzy guts, which leads to…a fizzy mess, in the street. You couldn’t pay me to take a sip of that now.” Wyll said.

You looked around the campsite and gestured to Gale, who had been beginning the preparations for dinner so intently that he hadn’t noticed the failing case you were trying to make in favor of plum fizz.

“It’s nice to know that your taste in wine is nearly as bad as your taste in men,” Astarion mused, causing you to shoot him a farcefully menacing look. Your affections for Gale were no secret, and the two of you had shared an intimate moment in the Weave, but you were unsure of your current status, or even whether he really returned your feelings. You had begun to write it off as a passing fancy, something to daydream about during long days of traveling. Though, there was no hiding how much you enjoyed being around the man, your conversations often dragging well into the night after everyone else had fallen asleep. You had never met anyone else who seemed to understand you the way that Gale did, or whose company you enjoyed nearly half as much.

“You’re a man of taste, and you’re knowledgeable about wine. Can you settle a debate for us?” You asked Gale when he walked over.

“A glass of wine sounds delightful this evening. What’s the topic of debate?” He asked.

“Astarion and Wyll may not be as cultured as you and I. Just tell them about the fine properties of this blend,” You said, trying to communicate ‘please, say this tastes good’ in your expression as you poured a glass and handed it over.

Gale swirled the glass and his eyes widened at the scent. To his credit, he took an honest sip and racked his brain for something kind to say about it. “It has notes of…berry. And cinnamon. And…” He couldn’t do it. “Acid. It tastes like it would eat a hole through a table if you spilled some on it. Do the youth of Baldur’s Gate really ingest this willingly?” He asked.

You threw your hands up.

“Poor taste, the lot of you. It cannot be helped.”

After dinner, Astarion sauntered over to you, two glasses of plum fizz in hand.

“A drink together. Sort of a truce,” He said.

You were suspicious, but took the glass in hand. The spicy, bitter, sweet, and confusing concoction ran down your throat and made your stomach feel hot. Astarion’s glass was already empty, and he poured you both another. By the time you realized that Astarion had been pouring his drinks out to get you to continue drinking, you were drunk enough to begin telling stories of your youth in Baldur’s Gate.

“So, after Wyll threw up in the street -”

“Can you please stop talking about that. I have plenty of embarrassing stories I could tell at your expense, you know. Lock.” Wyll said pointedly.

“Lock?” Shadowheart asked.

You covered your face, feeling a burning sensation creep up your cheeks.

“What none of you realize is that our beloved companion here was once the most eligible bachelorette in Baldur’s Gate nobility. Her family was wealthy and she was beautiful, intelligent, and charming…”

“Whatever happened?” You asked, making yourself laugh.

“However, she never took a partner. Singles of all creeds, genders, and races tried, but no one could get through to her. So, she began to be known as ‘the lock of Baldur’s Gate’. And, what opens a lock but a key? And the key to her heart was to answer a riddle,” Wyll explained with a dramatic flourish.

“A riddle? How droll. That’s a little…presumptuous, don’t you think?” Astarion asked. You shrugged.

“Why a riddle?” Karlach asked.

“I didn’t want to end up with someone who was a complete dunce,” You joked. It was a half-truth, since the whole truth would have disrupted the mood of revelry among your companions.

“Well, do we get to hear it?” Shadowheart asked.

You leaned back and looked at the faces of your companions. Wyll shook his head, having heard this question lamented among the singles of Baldur’s Gate throughout his youth.

“What is loving Taglath like?” You asked, the question rolling off of your tongue like a well-rehearsed line.

“What a stupid question!” Astarion huffed, rolling his eyes. He had no idea what the answer could be.

“Oh, do you know the answer, then? Since it’s so stupid,” You said, unable to wipe the smirk off of your face. It always delighted you to stump someone with the riddle, and it delighted you even more to watch them struggle with it.

“What is loving like?” You repeated, prodding Astarion for the answer.

“Darling, loving you is like poison seeping through my veins,” Astarion said, pretending to be a romantic poet, his hand gripping his chest, “- and it kills me to be parted from you,” He added, taking your hand in his icy cold grasp.

“Very sweet, but no,” You responded.

Everyone laughed, getting a little chuckle out of Astarion’s foolishness.

“Oh come on, it’s not like any of you geniuses know the answer,” Astarion said, raising a brow to the group. He looked around at their curious faces and wonders aloud, “Do you?”

“Uh, I don’t remember my childhood. Much less silly poems,” Shadowheart said, but thought about it for a moment. “Is it like a rose? Something beautiful out of the dirt?”

You shook your head.

“Chk. This is a waste of time,” Lae’zel said..

“C’mon, Lae’zel, what do you think loving is like?” Wyll probed, the githyanki rolling her eyes at him.

Lae’zel replied, “Like a well-won battle, your enemies dead at your feet.” There is a pause before she asked, “Did I answer correctly?”

“No,” You replied.

Karlach wiped her hands on her pants, not waiting to be asked. “You’re barking up the wrong tree if you ask me, solider,” She said, “But I’ll give it a try. Is it like a cool drink of water on a hot night?”

“That’s sweet, Karlach. It’s own little poem, even. But no,” You said.

“Well what’s the answer?” Astarion huffed, getting frustrated at this little display of ignorance.

“Salamander!” Wyll interjected, snapping his fingers like he cracked the code. This made everyone crack up, to his dismay. “No, because - I mean, uh - well, it’s better than corpses!” He insisted. This only made everyone laugh more.

In this revelry, no one even thought to glance at Gale, who had been watching the scene with a bemused little smile on his face.

There was a lull when the laughter died down, the silence of everyone taking a breath after a hearty laugh.

Through the silence, two words cut through the air like a knife directly to your heart.

“The Sun.”

You gasped (a reaction that, in retrospect, embarrassed you with how dramatic it was). You stared at the speaker, Gale’s dark eyes glinting in the firelight. You felt you must have looked ridiculous, your jaw agape.

In all of the years of telling the riddle, no one had ever known the answer. The key to your heart, you joked. But it had been more serious than you ever let on. As each suitor fumbled through wrong answers, it had only solidified your belief that true love would never be yours. That you would eventually have to settle for someone who couldn’t really understand you.

It was like time stopped, the visions of your companions becoming a blur as Gale came into focus.

Gale, meanwhile, appeared to be blissfully unaware that he had just broken your brain (what was left of it, at least).

“That’s…right. How did you know?” You choked out, hardly above a whisper.

“It’s a very clever riddle. See, most would probably assume that the riddle is about the works of Taglath, whom is renowned as an iconic romantic poet. His works adorn his lover with brilliant metaphors that have captured readers since their inception,” Gale explained to the group, lecturing his never-be students.

“That’s probably why Gef Deldus spent one summer immersed in Taglath’s works,” Wyll recalled, chuckling, “He told everyone that he had solved the riddle. He was convinced you would be his bride by the end of the season. What was his answer?” He asked.

“Love is like a poem,” You replied, still dumbfounded by Gale’s answer.

“The education in Baldur’s Gate leaves much to be desired,” Gale snarked, then continued, “What most people don’t know is that Taglath’s most prominent muse was another poet named Alanis. Unfortunately, most of her work has been lost to history. Almost no complete works remain, and only fragments have been collected for publication. But in her most complete work, she compares her lover to the Sun. It’s a gorgeous poem about loving someone who burns brightly and the fears associated with taking a lover of prominence. Loving despite fear,” He said.

You wondered how it was possible that your body felt like it was on fire but also like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on you. Did none of your companions notice that you were going insane? The realization rocked you like an earthquake.

Gale Dekarios was not a passing fancy, someone to think about kissing when the option presented itself. He was neither a daydream nor a wet dream to pass the time at different hours. He was not the greatest friend you had ever had, the person who you most looked forward to speaking to each morning after you woke and each night before you went to bed. The person who you spoke about nothing and everything with, played games with, or just enjoyed a comfortable silence with. He was not your traveling companion, nor even an ally who had risked his life for you as you had done for him. It was impossible for Gale to be any one of those things because he was all of them all at once and so much more.

Oh, fuck, you realized, your knees ready to give way.

You were in love with him.

The sound of your companions laughing and chattering together mixed together and sounded like ocean waves. If anyone turned to ask you anything you probably would have just stared at them blankly. You attempted to take a step toward Gale and the drinks you had earlier in the night went to your head, sending you tumbling forward and onto the ground.

“Looks like the plum fizz kicked in. ‘Key’, maybe you should take the ‘lock’ to bed,” Shadowheart said to Gale.

You thought that if you closed your eyes, maybe the ground would swallow you up and you would never have to look at Gale again. Instead, you felt him help you to your feet, allowing you to lean against him as he walked you to your tent. You were desperate to know what was going through his mind - did he realize the gravity that he answer had?

“Easy now,” Gale said, helping you down onto your bedroll. He treated you gently, helping you to unlace your boots and get settled in under the blanket. You were sick to your stomach at being doted on by him and kept quiet, trying to focus on anything but the way he looked at you. He left for a moment and came back to bring you some water.

“Is there anything you need?” He asked.

You were quiet for a moment, then spoke.

“Gale?”

“Yes?”

“After we had that moment in the Weave…you mentioned that we shouldn’t talk about it then, with the orb being unstable and everything going on,” You said, then allowed yourself to lean into your own intoxication, asking what was truly on your mind. “Was that really the reason? Because if you don’t see me that way, you can tell me. It won’t hurt my feelings.” The words poured out of you too quickly for you to worry about sounding insecure. It was a lie, of course, that it wouldn’t hurt your feelings. Being rejected by Gale would be devastating.

Gale looked thoughtful, then recited the end of Alanis’s fragments of her poem about her lover.

“My lover is like the Sun, Brilliant and bright He eclipses me And yet I yearn

My lover is like the Sun Blinding and unyielding When he touches me I burn”

He placed his hand on your cheek, his gaze looking through you and into your soul. The two of you could say so much without a single word.

“Am I the Sun, or are you?” You asked.

Gale had loved the poem when he read it as a boy, and later thought of it often when he was with Mystra, trying to make sense of the reality of having a goddess for a lover. He had often wondered if he would ever have an identity outside of being Mystra’s chosen, or whether he would forever be tied to the Goddess. And if that was the case, why did the idea of it make him burn with jealousy?

However, the poem had taken on new meaning since he met you. He felt like the Sun, a ball of fire ready to explode in his chest at any moment. As badly as he wanted to hold you close, he knew that doing so would destroy you. Still, he wondered, might it be worth it to burn if he could have one moment of knowing what it was like to be yours entirely?

Or rather, were you the Sun? He was certainly transfixed by you, drawn to your brilliance. You, a mortal who dared to be more brilliant and enticing than his Goddess. Would following you lead him down the path to certain doom - or worse, would getting close to you lead you to your own demise? It was that thought that kept him up at night, wondering if he should escape in the night. To save you from himself, or at least get you as far away from the danger as possible.

Gale contemplated your question.

“I’m not sure,” He finally replied.

“I don’t know, either.”

You placed your hand on Gale’s, your gaze fixed on each other, searching for an answer in each other’s eyes. Neither of you could find it.

However, there was one thing that was clear to both of you: whether through flames of salvation or damnation, you would burn for each other.

#gale dekarios #gale x tav #gale x reader #gale of waterdeep #bg3 #bg3 gale #bg3 brainrot #gale brainrot

[consistencynevermether]

Astarion x gn Paladin! Reader hcs

A/n: this man has a death grip on me istg. I was writing some Long ass angst about him and decided to take a break for some cute hcs. I might do a few more of these with other classes, so if you’d like to see any other class lmk! Anyways onto the simping

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Alright let’s get one thing straight, this man can and will make fun of you

The SECOND you talk about your oath he’s behind you mimicking your voice with over exaggerated stances. He acts so innocent when you roll your eyes at his antics though

That being said, he actually really values someone who can keep their word. It makes him feel safe, having someone honest by his side after years of toxic manipulation. He’ll never admit to this of course

He finds the armor hot. There’s just something about polished chest plates and clawed gauntlets that look so good on you.

He mentioned once that when he was younger he fantasized about marrying the “hero type, like Wyll” so I think he secretly loves it when you play valiant knight

Please for the love of god give this man a kiss on the back of his hand, he will melt

If you're a more stoic or good aligned tav, he’ll try to convince you to loosen up a little, but never oversteps. Despite his teasings he understands how important your oath is to you, and he loves you the way you are.

Oh and if you ever get short or snarky with someone while your normally composed, this man is howling with laughter. Absolutely encourages little shit behavior

Despite his natural self interest coming first, we see that astarion does approve of you helping children later in the game. So I feel like every time he sees you protect the innocent, or fight for what you believe in, his heart flutters just a little.

You definitely work well fighting together, considering he’s not much for direct fighting and armor is quite hard to sneak in, you both complement each others weaknesses

Speaking of sneaking, Astarion has definitely pickpocketed you just once or twice to see your reaction. Nothing major, just a little trinket or maybe that tart in your backpack you were saving for later. He has to keep you on your toes somehow, plus he enjoys it when you try to chase him down (keyword- try. He’s as slippery as they come and once again, armor isn’t great for speed or sneak)

If you have a routine where you polish and upkeep your weapons and armor, he’s definitely going to keep you company. Maybe he’ll even sharpen some of his own blades while he’s at it. He likes these little mundane moments where you can sit together in comfortable silence. And his daggers have never looked better

While he finds your heroics and honor shtick endearing, you’ll need to understand he’s not looking for some protector or bodyguard. He wants to be your equal, not someone you constantly need to keep an eye on. With that being said, he does enjoy some classic romantic chivalry.

He won’t admit it but that flower you gave him a few months ago? He preserved it by pressing it between pages in his book. He treasures the little gestures you do for him

If you ever have to leave to join some holy quest or whatever for a few months, he definitely wants to come with. But if that’s not possible (maybe it’s after the events of the game and you two are still looking for a way for him to walk in the sun) he’ll definitely write you frequently and try to visit if he knows your going to be in a certain city soon

And you better have the exact👏 same👏 energy👏. Start writing love letters and maybe even send him some gifts as well

And when you're done assisting on this quest, you’d better block out at least a month of time just for him. He won’t admit it but I imagine he’s a bit touchstarved for some wholesome romantic touch

Cuddle him. Now.

While he understands and respects your oath, there’s probably a part of him that worries one day you might leave him if your god asked, or if you needed to go on a quest that might last years or decades

Well guess what? Your god can shove it

You would never abandon Astarion like that, the second you became partners you also became a package deal. You make sure to tell him that your oath is more than just a gods power, it’s a set of ideals that you would gladly follow even without a gods backing if you were ever forced to choose between them and him.

Considering he finds settling down dull and boring, and a Paladin is constantly living a life of adventure, it’s really the perfect match

#baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate astarion #astarion romance #astarion x reader #astarion x tav #bg3 astarion #baldurs gate 3 astarion #astarion #astarion x mc #astarion fic #astarion x you #baldurs gate tav #astarion x y/n #astarionxtav

[trulycertain]

Blech

Karlach guesses she shouldn't be surprised when she's popping off to the river for a quick dip, and halfway into the woods, finds Fangs and their mighty leader snogging furiously.

In which Astarion gets his groove back... and is deeply obnoxious in the process. Based on the arse-grab in the Patch 5 kiss, that banter with Lae'zel about he and Tav barely being able to keep their hands off each other, and the fact that even if Halsin's not involved with them, he's noticed Astarion and Tav having sex again. Because they're clearly That Damn Couple.

Tav/Astarion, background Karlach/Wyll. 2.6k. SFW - some mild accidental voyeurism and mentions of Astarion's canon sexual trauma, but all the bedroom business is implied.

Ao3 link

Something's different, after Lora and Astarion sneak out of camp to do... whatever they did. Karlach probably doesn't want to know. Honestly, she thinks it's got more to do with the fact that his old bastard of a master is dead. Finally being able to take a proper breath for the first time in two hundred years... or the dead-guy equivalent, anyway. Must be a hell of a feeling. Invigorating.

Sure, Astarion still has times when you reach out to touch him and he gets that face, the one that says he'd flinch but he's too well-trained. And sometimes he gets that haunted look in his eyes, the one that makes Karlach think of blood and fire and something getting shoved into her chest; she's only been able to see the edges of his nightmares, but she guesses for him they're probably torture and sex he doesn't want to have and being so. damn. hungry all the time. (Like being lonely, like wanting to be touched so much it aches, and suddenly being awash in a wealth of it. Wyll must've spent most of the journey since her engine got fixed up hugging her - and that's after they spent what felt like three days in her tent. For Astarion, she guesses that it's blood and not getting staked. Sudden scary kindness, all the same.)

But he doesn't snap anymore - not unless he thinks you're doing something really stupid. She offered him a fist and he actually bumped it the other day, while Wyll cackled in surprise (and then coughed when he realised he was doing it). Miracles never cease.

Astarion and Lora have always been, well, weirdly soppy, once you got past the sniping. They'll tell jokes about blowing up hags, disagree on everything, call each other idiots with fancy words while laughing at each other's annoyed faces... and then you'll find them by the campfire, Astarion sewing some frilly thing with his ankle absentmindedly wrapped round Lora's. They hold hands, when they're at the back of the group and think they're being sneaky about it and can pretend it’s just their shoulders bumping; Wyll gave her the eyebrow-nudge the first time he noticed it, and it's been hard not to see ever since. And if you're looking for one of them, it's usually best to knock on Lora's tent so they've at least got time to spring apart and pretend they weren't cuddling.

But something's new. Something obnoxious and... kind of hilarious, if Karlach's being honest.

Lora eats stew in the Elfsong while trying to keep a straight face, but Karlach spots Astarion smirking into his wine glass in that way he gets when he's being a little shit. On impulse, she checks under the table and... she recognises that fancy gold-embellished shoe. And the fact it's sneaking up Lora's shin. Sure enough, there's a far less fancy boot hooked round Astarion's knee.

Karlach snorts when she comes back up. "Footsie? Really?"

Lora seems like she might be blushing, if it was dark enough to show up; Astarion just looks innocent, but his eyes are gleeful, crinkling at the corners.

Gale sighs, "Do you mind?"

He just gets an even louder, more dramatic sigh in response from Astarion, who says, "All perfectly innocent, I assure you. I hadn't even managed to get above the knee." He mutters into his wine, "Spoilsport." Swallowing, he adds, "And no-one's saying anything to Karlach, considering she's had her tail on Wyll's arse for the past half-hour."

Wyll jumps.

Karlach says, "Snitch."

"Coming from you, darling? Really?" But he's smiling into his cup.

Karlach guesses she shouldn't be surprised when she's popping off to the river for a quick dip, and halfway into the woods, finds Fangs and their mighty leader snogging furiously. Except Lora's paused to laugh and go, "Really? Really?" Probably referring to his hands on Lora's arse, unabashedly getting a good grip. (Karlach can't especially blame him. That's a whole lot of woman.)

Astarion's voice is cheerfully haughty. "What, I can't appreciate art?"

"You're ridiculous."

He rubs his nose against hers. "And you're beautiful." Karlach waits for the punchline or the sting in the tail, but it doesn’t come. His voice is soft and silly, like he’s just been hit round the head with something heavy. Fuck. Is that what Fangs in love sounds like? Sure seems like it. At least he’s put his hands somewhere less enthusiastic.

"Sweet-talker." Lora's voice is low, that soppy teasing way that lovers get with each other.

"...Yes, so I've been told. Except this time I get to mean it.”

Yeah, much as a formerly-pent-up part of her would really like to see this, Karlach also isn't paid enough for this shit. Even if she's not a merc anymore. She stares up at the trees and whistles a tune, pointedly. 

Lora actually jumps.

Astarion turns his head and says, “Karlach? I thought that might be you.”

Karlach rolls her eyes. “Just looking for a bath. Not… this. Cute, though.”

Astarion gives a tiny half-grimace, and Karlach realises it’s the closest he gets to embarrassment. “Yes, well. I’d thought I was decent at finding a secluded spot.” He raises an eyebrow.

“Oh, I bet you are. But there’s a whole camp trying to do the same.”

Lora tugs at his hand. “Come on. Let Karlach spend some quality time with the river.”

Astarion throws a jaunty wave Karlach's way as he saunters off. “Later, darling."

So yeah. That's... either not been a thing before, or they're being way more obvious about it.  Which gives everyone full licence to tease, in Karlach's opinion. Especially later, when Astarion won't lace up his stupid frilly shirt, and he has like... wow, are those three lovebites on his neck? Pretty impressive ones. Even Wyll and Gale are staring.

Shadowheart says, "I thought you were meant to be the vampire here."

Lora suddenly pokes the rabbit on the fire with a lot more force; Astarion takes his nose out of his book to give Shadowheart a sharp look, but his mouth's twitching when he gets back to it.

Karlach's even less surprised, somehow, when she goes to answer a call of nature and finds him pinned against a tree with his legs around Lora's waist, mouthing at her neck like he's about to try for another snack.

Karlach says, "Nice," cause it is, and cause it'll annoy them enough to let them know she's there.

Lora freezes; Astarion seems totally unsurprised. And makes no move to get himself on the ground, just opens an eye and says cheerfully over Lora's shoulder, "Why hello, Karlach. I always had you down more as the 'getting stuck in' type than liking to watch." And then the bastard winks. Astarion's always acted like a massive perv. A massive perv and happy? He might be even more of a pain.

Karlach says, "I wasn't watching. Some of us poor fuckers are trying to find a place to piss. You don't own the woods, you know."

Lora puts her face in Astarion's neck like she wants to die a little, but somehow still doesn't drop him. It's kind of impressive.

"I'm gonna find a good hedge. And take a different path back." Karlach gives them a nod. "Soldier. Fangs."

Lora mumbles, still muffled by smug vampire neck, "Thanks, Karlach."

Astarion, being Astarion and tactful as a very pointy brick, cackles so hard it follows Karlach out into the woods.

Not that whatever they have going on isn't hot; neither of them's exactly ugly. But she's not actually trying to know about that much of it. Especially not the big stuff, the real stuff.

Sometimes you don’t manage to dodge the real stuff fast enough.

She hears one night, as she's heading back to camp, "You've gone somewhere else." Lora. Sounding worried.

"Don't be ridiculous, darling. There's nowhere I'd rather be than - all right. No, I can't do it. Don't - We don't have to stop."

"Sure we do. My thigh's killing me, anyway. Oof. Move over." That fidgety sound you get when someone’s shifting bedrolls and a vampire’s stupid-huge pile of cushions around, now Lora’s finally got him to sleep on more than a damn board. (Karlach doesn’t care if he says it helps his back. She’s got enough problems of her own to know that’s a load of shit.)

His voice is fainter. "My sweet, I..."

"Astarion, what's my name?"

Karlach’s trying to head fast to her own tent. Really, she is. But hers is next to his and it’s… hard, when you’re worried for a friend.

"I…" A pause, and he swallows through such a dry throat you can hear it click. "Lora? What - For a moment I thought you were someone else."

"There you are."

"I'm so sorry, I..."

“Why?” Lora asks – gently, but she’s never good at being bullshitted.

“Because it shouldn’t be like this.”

Karlach heads over to her own tent, sits and tries not to listen; strokes a hand over Clive’s fuzzy head. Wyll’s still sleeping in there, bedroll carefully a ways from hers but close enough to hold her hand – she can hear him. She’ll head in given a sec, as subtly as a seven-foot flaming tiefling can.

Astarion says, unsteadily, “He’s dead. They’re all… they’re all dead, or down there in the dark. I’m free. I’m with you. I want to be with you, not… every ghost I’ve ever lain down for. You deserve better.”

Teddy bear fuzz. She can touch fuzz now, and Wyll, without the singeing. She’s here. She’s here, and there are owls and trees and Wyll making those little snoozy breaths behind her and no flames other than a damn campfire. Fuck. She knows Astarion would bite her if she even suggested it, but sometimes she really wishes he had a Clive. Something. She’s seen that ratty old blanket he insists on carrying round and tucking ashamedly into his tent; maybe that’s something similar for him.

Lora says easily, “You’ve got that one wrong.”

Astarion mumbles, fancy cut-glass syllables muffled by a bedroll, “Why didn’t you pick someone easy?” He laughs bitterly. “Well, I’ve always been extremely easy. Isn’t that just the problem. Why didn’t you pick someone normal? Someone boring, with a cottage and a dog and – someone who could fuck you without losing himself.”

Lora says, “Because that’s not my type. I want you. The fucking is secondary.”

He snaps, “It’s never secondary. It’s all there is. It’s all people want me for.”

“Hm. I want you for your sewing, and the way you grin with all your fangs, and your shit taste in books.”

 “It’s better than yours.” Astarion sniffs – the haughty kind. Better than the kind he was verging on before.

“I want you for the way you hold me when I’m afraid, and you get so damn angry when someone hurts me.”

“That’s just common sense. You’re our leader.”

“Hmm. Tactical cuddling’s a new one. …I want you for your gold thread and your sunrises and your little presents you sneak me when you think I’m not looking, and the way you pretend to hate puns but you laugh at them. All the tiny things in life you hoard like treasure. I’ve been free all my life, but I’ve never enjoyed it as hard as you.” There’s a pause, and a shuffle of fabric and bodies. “…I like the way you hold my hand, too.”

“Thank you,” Astarion says, very quietly.

Karlach manages to sneak into her tent without setting Wyll on fire. And she gives him, and Clive, a quick squeeze.

Karlach manages three days before she gets done by a bunch of sneaky-bastard nettles in the woods, and hobbles back to camp. She keeps setting the fucking dock leaves on fire.

“Lora!” she whines, because Shadowheart’s deep in scary intense prayer – she’s switched it to a moon goddess now, sure, but she still looks like she’d stab you in the kneecaps if you interrupted.

“Karlach!” Lora says brightly, even if it’s all muffled, from her tent.

There’s a very posh sigh from the same tent.

Oh. Well. Right. Karlach tries, “You decent in there?”

Astarion drawls, “I was trying very hard to get her indecent, actually.”

Lora groans, “Ignore him.”

“Oh yes, please do. As usual. It’s not as if a man can find any privacy in his lover’s tent.”

Karlach says, “It’s a tent, mate. Privacy and tents aren’t a thing in the same sentence. You can keep it in your trousers ‘til we hit an inn tomorrow, right?”

Astarion mumbles something that sounds like it’s into a pillow. Karlach makes out something about “two hundred years” and “freedom.”

She says, “Yeah, yeah, I get that, but my arse is stinging something fierce.”

Astarion sits bolt upright so obviously the tent moves. “Wait, wait, I’ve changed my mind! Now this I have to see.” The tent flaps swiftly get undone by hands that are obviously way too good with knots, and then he crawls out into the camp, still shirtless and wild-haired, shit-eating cat’s grin all over his face. “What happened, darling?”

A dark brown foot follows him out, and gently prods at the side of his thigh ‘til he moves over.

“Nettles happened,” Karlach says, miserably.

Lora says, “Ouch. Let me see what I can do.” She stands and heads over to Karlach.

Astarion, still outside the tent but now sitting cross-legged, squints at Karlach’s leathers; he’s about knee-height, after all. Not that he ever gets much taller, when he's standing next to Karlach. “Are those brambles? Here I thought they’d all just burn away.” He looks up at her, and the smile in his eyes is less sharp-edged, now; he's trying for comfort. “Do you want to keep them? They really do add something. Like the studding.”

Yeah, the brambles were what she was trying to avoid when she landed in the nettles. “I want to forget all this ever happened,” Karlach moans.

Which is how she ends up sitting on a few borrowed foofy plum cushions outside Lora’s tent in her pants – look, it’s a camp and modesty is a distant memory – while Lora heals her thighs and the side of her glutes (and her shoulders, and that bit under her chin from when she tripped), and Astarion sits with her trous in his lap, picking out bramble after bramble with some fancy little tweezers he’d got stashed away. “Is that better?” Lora says, checking her over.

“It really, really is. Thank fuck. Thank you, soldier.”

Lora beams at her, all sweet and pretty, the way that makes you get how Astarion fell for her – he does have a weakness for sunshine.

Astarion neatly folds Karlach’s battered leather trousers and hands them back to her without a word, even a snide one.  

“Thanks, Fangs.”

All right, so they make her a little sick. But they seem like they’re getting better at subtlety, lately. And times like this, she’s glad that her friends are a weird little couple. Seems like they're good for each other.

Astarion claps her on the shoulder – a rare thing, for him – and gives her a broad grin full of fang. “Marvellous. Always glad to help a friend in need. Now, would you mind being elsewhere, so we can ravage each other?”

No, Karlach takes it all back. She’s gonna feed them both to a beholder.

#tav x astarion #astarion x tav #tav #astarion #karlach #wyll #baldur's gate 3 #my fic #lora mctavish

[sorcerous-caress]

Toxic red flags but they are actually red flags

Gale: gets jealous very easily. You'll be questioned about any other guy you mention or act friendly with. Will always bring up the time you suggested a threesome with Halsin whenever you argue back. The insecurity steams from the fact he still isn't fully over Mystra, so he assumes you're also never truly over any of your exs or crushes and becomes hyperaware of all of your friendly interactions.

Astarion: only shows his true emotions when the two of you are alone, resulting in you looking desperate and clingy around him in public because he pretends to be indifferent. Secretly enjoys it even if it embarasses you around your friends. There is always this small part of him that likes having control over you even if it's in a small amount like making it seem you're the one who cares more about the relationship than him no matter the truth.

Wyll: too friendly to strangers, too willing to cut your date short if someone he knew came to talk to him. Whether it's for the blade of frontier or the archduke son, keeping appearance and remaining friendly is one of his top priorities. Might come off as flirty even, if you ask him about it he'll say it's not serious and just to keep his reputation. Will lose some respect for you if you befriend any demons.

Halsin: he absolutely refuses to put any labels on what the two of you share, never calling it a relationship even after the two of you move together and have kids. Even when you bring him to meet your family, he still denies it being a relationship and says you are free to be with whoever in front of your parents.

Minthara: never initiates affection. You always have to be the one to plan dates, hold her hand, call her endearing names, and cuddle her at night. Besides sexual acts and possessive flirting, she really doesn't bother much with romance or soft stuff. Even if you express you like it, she will tell you it's a waste of time and still mircodose you on poisons in every kiss.

Shadowheart: too dependent on you to lead her through this relationship and life. Fully expects princess treatment while you have to be the one to make the move to start the relationship and take it to the next level. Doesn't bring up the things that bother her and acts distant instead, only talks about it if you corner her.

Laezel: you will always feel like you're on the back-burner in her life. Like you come second to everything she actually cares about, she still treats you with the same harshness she'd to a stranger and you think you got used to it but sometimes it stings a lot especially in arguments. She genuinely doesn't she what she did wrong and why she should treat you more special than other people.

Karlach: too willing to escalate a public disagreement into a fight. It was endearing when she'd punch anyone who threw an inappropriate comment at you, but the more you two dated the less tolerant she had in general to anyone wronging you no matter how small. Absolutely vindictive and willing to go kick the shit out of a merchant for selling slightly old vegetables instead of fresh ones.

Raphael: besides all the obvious red flags, the funniest one is that he actually, genuinely, honest to god needs to look at a picture of himself to reach climax during sex. Either a painting or even his own reflection, he will never finish otherwise no matter how good you are.

#♡Gale #♡Wyll #♡Astarion #♡Shart #♡Laezel #♡Karlach #♡Minthara #♡Halsin #♡Raphael #♡dark content #dark content because I like those red flags I'm not gonna be normal and healthy about them like i want them to get worse

[vagabondfandoms]

Falls on Me

Day Two: Morning

Previous Chapters:

Day One: Night

Rating: Teen (For this Chapter)

Characters: Gale Dekarios, F!Tav: Copper, Lae'zel, Karlach, Wyll Ravengard, Shadowheart, and Astarion in order of appearance.

Warnings: N/A, Gale POV, Mentions of chronic pain

First morning together and Gale is taking over cooking duties for the group.

---

Gale planned to be the first one awake to start the morning meal but much to his disappointment, two figures were awake and moving around.

"Good morning, Gale." Copper says warmly, pouring steaming liquid into a wooden cup and handing it to the young Githyanki warrior. "Were you able to sleep alright?"

Lae'zel gives the cup a displeased look, that reminds Gale of Tara when she's offered food not up to her standards. The young Gith gives it a hesitant sip, looks surprised, and then proceeds to drink some more.

"Yes, I did." Gale lies, knowing full well it took him hours of combating pain from both his orb and the hard ground to finally fall asleep. "But to be honest, I was expecting to be the first one awake this morning. I hope you aren't trying to take away my self-appointed but hopefully well-deserved cooking duties?"

"Ohh, no." Copper says while shaking her head behind the cup that was at her lips. I can't compete. The stew you made last night was delicious. I only put a pot of sib* on the fire to tie us over until more of us are awake.”

"Good," Gale says merrily as he rolls up his sleeves and reaches for a knife. I didn't want to find myself replaced on our second day together. It was very hard making dinner last night with only a couple of potatoes and a dubious-looking cut of meat.”

“Do you want any help, Gale?” the monk asks, already rising to assist.

“No, no. You go on. Relax!” Gale emphasizes. “I have this under control. We have a busy day ahead of us and these carrots are probably the least taxing things we will have to slice and dice today.” 

Gale waves the knife in the air to emphasize the slicing and dicing part. But he could have gone with the fried and flambéed if he was only considering magical cooking metaphors. 

Copper shrugs and sits back down next to Lae'zel. Gale keeps himself busy chopping up the carrots and potatoes to make a hash. 

He can overhear parts of the conversation around him. Lae'zel was answering some questions about the Githyanki culture that Copper was asking and Gale leans in to hear more. Of course, he read books about the Githyanki but it was entirely different hearing a first-hand account from a member of that race. Fantastical stuff.

"Yo, good morning." Karlach bursts out, as she skips over to the cookfire. "Hey somebody made sib, awesome!"

The chatter around the cookfire continues but a little more loudly than before. Gale just finishes browning the hash in the slightly dented camp skillet they bought from the druid trader for a deal when Shadowheart and Wyll arrive for breakfast. 

The timing makes Gale suspect the duo were hanging out in their tents instead of visiting with the group but he makes no comment as he dishes up the potato mixture into their bowls. 

Wyll happily says thanks while Shadowheart gives him a curt nod of acknowledgment for the food before daintily taking a nibble of seasoned potato.

Lae’zel once again looks at the food dubiously but wolfs the meal down with a warrior's grace. Gale is happy to see his cooking being enjoyed so openly.

In the back of his mind, he begins imagining all the ways he could impress his companions if only he they were back at his kitchen in Waterdeep. But if that was the case none of them would be in this situation with tadpoles in their brains now, probably not even him for other reasons.

Gale places a worried hand on his chest and feels the faint pulse of magic. “The orb is dormant now but for how long?” 

Getting lost in dark thoughts of face tentacles and magical explosions, Gale is surprised by the sudden appearance of Copper by his side. “Hey, you should go sit down and eat.” She says as she starts gathering the dirty dishes to get washed. “I can clean up after everyone.”

“Well, I have…” Gale starts to argue but the fiery tiefling cuts in.

“Yeah, wizard, enjoy your meal! We got this mess.” Karlach smiles while placing a bowl of hash in Gale’s hands and quickly marching him over to sit down with the others, who were in various degrees of conversation.

“-a spell for that,” Gale says deflated as his butt hits the ground. Words fall on deaf ears as the two taller women start carrying dishes to the washing tub to scrub.

The wizard picks at his food but listens in on the conversation between Wyll and Lae’zel about the strengths of their preferred weapons, the rapier and shortsword.

Gale grumpily thinks a fireball would make quick work of either weapon when Astarion sashays over, whining about not getting breakfast and getting surprised when Copper offers him the last bowl. 

The conversations slowly die down as everybody starts to get ready for the day. As Gale slowly gets up, his damn knees disliking being that low to the ground, he looks over at the bowl Astarion left by the fire and notices it's still full.

“The prissy elf didn’t even take a bite of his food even after he made a show of not receiving any.” Gale frowns, making a mental note to not take anything Astarion says too seriously.

Author Note:

Sib is a hot drink made of bark, roots, twigs, and herbs that the mercenaries and common folk consume in the book series The Deeds of Paksenarrion, a DnD-like fantasy world. It's something small to tide one over while waiting for actual food.

#bg3 #bg3 fanfiction #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale x tav #lae'zel #karlach #wyll ravengard #shadowheart #astarion #bg3 tav #oc: copper

[daughter-of-melpomene]

TELL ME ALLLL ABOUT YOUR BG3 OCS!

AHHHHH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING!! Okay, so as I said, I don’t have actual appearances for my babies since I don’t have the game, but I will happy give you some info about them.

I have five OCs currently planned:

Raven Waters (they/them), Wyll ship. Human bard, College of Lore subclass, with an urchin past. Grew up on the streets of Baldur’s Gate after being orphaned at a young age and became a decently well-known entertainer when they got older, performing at festivals and every tavern and inn in the area. Very cunning, sarcastic, and good at reading people, and is very unhappy about being snatched off the street only to have a worm stuck in their brain. Cares about people sort of in the way Astarion does - reluctantly and with no small amount of complaining but very deeply - and even though they don’t think much of Wyll at first because they don’t trust nobility or anyone wealthy, it doesn’t take long for them to become endeared by him. Also becomes absolute besties with Astarion because they literally laugh in his face when he tries to seduce them and once he gets over that they have fun judging people together. (There is also definitely an AU where Raven is dating both Wyll and Astarion, but they’re officially a Wyll ship.)

Amalal Quavein (he/they), Astarion ship. Seldarine drow and cleric of the Light Domain for the goddess Eilistrae with a sage past (he’s a huge bookworm when they can get his hands on some), and has been travelling around Faerun since they were just young, trying to find allies to assist in the Seldarine drows’ fight against Lolth and helping everyone he can along the way, before they get snatched up and taken to the nautiloid ship. He’s a total sweetheart who loves caring for people and fighting against tyrants and darker forces, but they’re also a bit socially stunted from being alone on the road for a lot of his life, which can lead people to think he’s naïve even when they aren’t. Astarion definitely thinks this at first, and thinks seducing Amalal will be easy, but really he’s just one of those people who always chooses kindness and doing the right thing because they want to make the world a better place and that’s the best way he knows how to do it. (They’re also asexual, which is very funny given Astarion’s whole seduction thing because not only is Amalal unfamiliar with seduction as a concept but he genuinely Does Not Feel Sexual Things, so they’re painfully oblivious to Astarion’s attempts the whole time.)

Nifara Reedwood (she/her), Gale ship. Strongheart halfling ranger, of the hunter subclass, with an outlander past who was raised in the wilderness and therefore has a very strong connection with nature. Travels all around Faerun hunting and tracking creatures from other realms, making it her personal mission to keep any kinds of invaders from attacking her realm and harming its nature. Also has a very strong bond with animals and is resistant to poison due to all the she’s spent in Faerun’s swamps. A complete and total badass, but is also kind of socially stunted due to all the time she’s spent alone on the road with only animals and the creatures she hunts. Brutally honest and has a quick temper, but also one that’s quick to calm back down if there’s no need for an actual fight, and although she’s slow to trust people would gladly kill and die for those she cares about and absolutely will not let them talk bad about themselves. (Very nearly smacks Gale for not believing he’s worth more than his magic and service to Mystra and calls him an idiot for it more than once, and then somehow that wanting him to think more of himself turns to catching feelings and she’s just like, “Ah, shit”. It’s fine, though, because Gale comes to love her too.)

Nisa Mournspire (they/she), Halsin ship. Mephistopheles tiefling paladin of the Oath of Devotion subclass, with a folk hero background. Adopted when they were a baby by a human couple, but never felt truly loved by them since she wasn’t their blood child, even if they’d given her their last name. Devoted themself to prayer from an early age as a way to feel some kind of belonging and purpose, and took her Oath and set out from their village to travel around and help people when she was only twenty years old. Gained a bit of a reputation around all of Faerun for their heroics, and eventually came to be known as The Horned Warrior. Taken from Baldur’s Gate by the Mindflayer’s goons when she stopped in for the night, and doesn’t hesitate to recruit Karlach and Lae’zel when they’re all on the beach, seeing defeating the Mindflayer and removing the parasites as yet another mission they’re committing to. Very warm and compassionate, able to make friends almost everywhere she goes, and fears almost nothing if it means helping others. A bit of a hopeless romantic who wants to find true love, but also isn’t against brief flings. Does sleep with Astarion once or twice (but they’re incredibly good about it and makes sure he feels good too, because she can tell he’s not used to that), but definitely takes a liking to Halsin very quickly after meeting him and spends a good amount of time staring at his biceps (which annoys Lae’zel incredibly because that should not be the focus right now).

Ellora Keyvaris (she/her), Karlach ship. High Elf half-elf wizard of the Conjuration School subclass with a noble background. Grew up in a wealthy family that was very devoted to maintaining appearances and always trotted her out to social events, but she was much more interested in magic and the study of it, more than happy to spend her time in her home’s library or at the local magical college learning conjuring spells from the professors she’d paid for private lessons. When she learned her family was planning to betroth her to an elf nobleman, she ran away to Baldur’s Gate, where she intended to live a quiet life and continue studying magic before she was kidnapped and infected with the parasite. Ellora is a very quiet and bookish person, but that doesn’t mean she’s timid; she has a sharp tongue and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself or others and say what she thinks. She struggles to connect to her companions at first, with the exception of Wyll since they were both raised among nobility, but she eventually makes genuine friends out of all of them, which means a lot to her because she’s never really had friends before. (She’s also a hopeless lesbian who falls in love at first sight with Karlach and thus is very sad when she can’t touch her, because she very much wants this large muscled lady to be able to pick her up.)

Anyways, yeah, those are my BG3 babies!! Thanks so much for asking about them, and if you have any more questions about any of them feel free to ask!!

Again tagging some of my other BG3 moots: @hiddenqveendom, @endless-oc-creations, @astarionbae.

#asks about my ocs #oc: raven waters #oc: amalal quavein #oc: nifara reedwood #oc: nisa mournspire #oc: ellora keyvaris #bg3 ocs #bg3 tav #baldur’s gate 3 oc #bg3 oc #baldur’s gate 3 tav

[avocado-writing]

7 anon here! Could I request headcanons for Astarion, Gale, Wyll, Halsin, Haarlep, Dammon, Rolan, and Zevlor react to gn s/o trying to comfort them awkwardly? Like asking if they should stay with them & leave to give space? If they should talk, just listen, or keep quiet?

Astarion

Oh, you are just as awkward as he is, and he loves it.

It’s so endearing, the way you try to pick the right words and keep failing. It’s a bit entertaining to see you squirm.

But you’re trying and it’s more than anyone has ever done for him before, honestly.

He wraps you in his arms and holds you close. Whispers in your ear a thank-you for caring. Feels his soul soften when you tell him he’s worth the world to you.

Gale

He’s exceptionally erudite most of the time, and so are you - that is why he’s so taken aback when you struggle for words.

You search the rich well of your eloquence for something to say and come up short. Instead you just pat him on the shoulder… and he bursts out laughing.

He apologises; he didn’t mean to be unkind, he just wasn’t expecting that reaction. In fact it’s enough to lift the mood and get him smiling again.

Wyll

Sees that you’re struggling with the best way to offer comfort, and instead just reaches out to take your hand.

He presses his lips to your knuckles so that you can feel when he talks.

“Knowing that you are here is enough to help, my heart.”

He feels you relax, letting go of the worry while stepping into his arms.

Halsin

You try to make awkward, comforting smalltalk with him, but a heavy hand on your knee silences you.

“It is enough that you are with me. Let us just… be together.”

So you are, sitting quietly side by side, enjoying the view of the flowers he’s sought out.

The simple act of you being next to him is a salve to his hurt.

Haarlep

The incubus is prone to flights of fancy. Melodrama comes with the territory. You’re lucky that, when he’s upset, it isn’t for long.

It’s so obvious how awkward you are. He laughs in your face at it. When you harrumph he turns playful again, wrapping you in his arms and tail and pressing his face into you.

“Oh, darling, I was only playing. Come now, let’s stop being sad and move onto better things…”

Dammon

Really tries to not show how upset he is in front of you, ever.

Prides himself on being strong! It wouldn’t do for you to see him crack and falter.

He can see what anguish you’re in trying to comfort him and never quite finding the right words. It makes him feel better, somehow? Like you should both be more open to showing these parts of yourselves.

The sincerity behind your awkward affection is enough to make him joyful again.

Rolan

Is probably a little gremlin about it, let’s be honest.

“I thought the hero of Baldur’s Gate was meant to be good at these sorts of things…”

”Well I thought the wizard of this tower would be adroit at social situations, but clearly I was a fool…!”

And then you’re back to bickering. It’s nice. It’s familiar. And you’re both happy.

Zevlor

It pains him to see you so uncomfortable.

He takes you in his arms, holds you close. Face pressed into the crook of your shoulder.

“My love, you should be the one leaning on me. I’m sorry to make you fret.”

You reassure him he has no reason to apologise to you, and just hold him until things feel better - which, eventually, they do. Your hug is a cure.

#For dear 8 anon whose harem keeps growing 💕💕 #Zevlor x reader #zevlor bg3 x reader #Zevlor x tav #dammon x reader #damon bg3 x reader #Dammon x tav #rolan x tav #rolan x reader #rolan bg3 x reader #gale of waterdeep x reader #Gale of waterdeep x tav #Astarion x reader #astarion x tav #halsin x reader #halsin x tav #wyll x tav #wyll x reader #wyll ravengard x reader #my writing #Long post #bg3 imagine #Gale x reader #Gale x tav #Haarlep x tav #haarlep x reader

[linnfoster]

Starcrossed, Starfalling

Sometimes two souls are fated to find each other, to fall together-- be it in love, or from grace.

The tale of Sabal Saberkainen, a Drow bard who left the Underdark in search of a better life, and the people they meet across their grand journey, including a vampire with a nice simple plan that doesn’t stay so simple.

(A mix of the canon story and my own material.)

Also available to read on AO3.

Chapter Six: Bitter on the Tongue

Astarion considers his actions the night he seduced Sabal, and how bitter it makes him feel. Despite that, when offered the chance to feed on them again, he takes it.

Astarion had known many people, had met many more.  So many had graced his gaze, partaken in his conversation, been held in his arms— and now Sabal was among them.  He could still feel the raised edges of their scars on his fingertips, the beat of their heart against his hand.  Their voice, soft and vulnerable, whispered in his mind.

You remind me of the sun.

How ironic.

Astarion clenched his hand into a loose fist as he stared at Gale, who was none the wiser, his back turned to the vampire as he went about preparing dinner for the camp.  The Tieflings were long gone, as was the grove, and soon the surface would be as well.  They were bound for the Underdark now.  Astarion couldn’t help but be curious how things would go once they got there, what with their “leader” being a pariah and all.  Sabal didn’t seem concerned with the reunion.  In fact, they were acting perfectly normal as they sat with their newest stray dog— or perhaps bear was the better comparison.

Halsin was an intriguing man with a body that could snap a tree in half but the spirit of a philosopher-poet.  Sabal had taken a quick liking to him, inviting him to join them as they made their way to Moonrise Towers.  This annoyed Astarion, but no one else, it seemed.  They hardly needed more traveling companions.  But that wasn’t the whole story, was it?

There was something about the way Halsin looked at Sabal that set Astarion on edge.  He admired what the Drow had done for him and his people, admired what they had yet to do, but made promises of.  It shouldn’t have been Astarion’s concern, and yet.  And yet.

The taste of bile rose in the back of his throat and he tried to push it back down, looking away from the bard and druid and off into the wilderness.  Some might say he was jealous of Halsin, but he knew it for what it really was.  Fear.  He feared for his safety in the presence of a man like Halsin.  After all, why would a bleeding heart like Sabal choose a charlatan over an honest spirit?  If the sparkle in Halsin’s eyes was what Astarion feared it could be…

He chose not to finish the thought, rising to his feet.

“Astarion?”

The vampire froze mid-step and turned to see Sabal a few feet away, no Halsin at their side.  Where the man had gone, he didn’t see.

Astarion put on his sweetest smile and rested his hands on his hips as he turned to face the Drow.  “Yes, darling?”

“You seem out of sorts tonight.”  Sabal’s tone was gentle and curious, and Astarion couldn’t help but think of someone trying to pacify a spooked animal.

Astarion chuckled, flashing his teeth.  “I am… hungry, is all,” he lied.  “Perhaps I should’ve fed on that Drow woman when I sliced her open.  All that wasted blood.”

“Starting to feel weak again?” Sabal asked.

Astarion nodded.  “Yes, that must be it.”

Sabal glanced this way and that, eyes lingering on Shadowheart in the distance as she noticed them.  They held each other’s gaze for a moment before she looked away, resuming her conversation with Wyll.  Sabal returned their attention to Astarion.  “I could help you again.”

Astarion couldn’t stop the surprise from crossing his face, but it was quickly replaced by his coy smile.  “You would do that?”

Sabal crossed their arms over their chest.  “We had an arrangement, didn’t we?”

“I suppose we did,” Astarion replied.  “We do.”

“Then yes, I would do that,” Sabal said, glancing over Astarion’s shoulder at the door to the old sanctum the goblins had been making use of prior to their eradication.  “We could… wander off for a little while, if you need.”

Astarion looked over his own shoulder, then back to the Drow.  “Right now?”

Sabal shrugged.  “Or later.”

The vampire’s smile slowly returned and he held out a hand.  “Well, why wait?”

Sabal reached out to take it, hesitating a moment as their fingers touched before lacing them together.  Astarion hadn’t expected the gesture, but he didn’t pull away, instead coaxing Sabal to follow him toward the door.  He pushed it open just enough for both of them to slip through, letting it linger ajar as they stepped deeper into the dark.  He led them down into the main room, where the effigy the goblin priestess had built still lingered, leaning to one side as it began its deterioration.  Astarion pulled Sabal to the side and turned them so their back was against the wall, stepping close enough that their bodies were a breath from touching.  “Tell me, Sabal, do you like pain?”

Sabal’s lips tweaked into a lazy grin at the question.  “That’s a… complicated question.”

Astarion tilted his head slightly, almost like he was going to lean in for a kiss, but their lips didn’t meet.  “It seemed simple enough to me.  Yes, or no?”

Sabal’s gaze dropped to his lips briefly before meeting his again.  “Yes and no.”

Astarion’s own casual grin shifted into more of a pout, but he didn’t say anything, waiting for the Drow to elaborate on their own.

“Pain that means something… I like that,” Sabal murmured.  They took Astarion’s hand, still laced in theirs, and brought it up to their own chest, dislodging their hand and pressing his to one side of the line of stars hidden under their shirt.  “Pain like this?  I will drink of it time and time again.”

Astarion’s expression shifted to something more thoughtful as he looked at his own hand on their chest.  Despite how much he didn’t want to, he thought of the markings on his back.  That pain had meant something, but it was not for him.  If it had been, however, would the sting of their memory be soothed?  Would it have been worth it?

Slowly, he shifted his hand enough to be over Sabal’s heart, taking in its steady beat.  His gaze drifted to their neck, where shallow punctures from his first bite still lingered.  Would those scar as well?  His hand followed his eyes, resting over the healing wound.  “And what of this pain?  Does this mean something?”

“Yes,” Sabal replied, hardly a moment of hesitation between question and answer.

Astarion was caught off-guard by that, his fingers jerking back just enough to leave their skin, hesitating in the air a moment before settling on their shoulder.  “What does it mean, then?”

Sabal stared into Astarion’s face until he turned his gaze to theirs, then reached up to take his chin into their hand.  They weren’t smiling now, but there was something calm about the stony expression on their face.  Peaceful.  “It means you’re worth something.”

Astarion was silent, but he could tell Sabal could see the question in his eyes, in the way his brows raised slightly at their response.  He’d learned by now how well they could read others, and part of him hated it.  All these years of practice, of playing the part and hiding how he felt, and this one Drow could still see through him to the truth.  It made his stomach churn with a myriad of feelings, all of which he didn’t want to put a name to.

“You’re worth the pain,” they continued.

“What makes you so sure?” Astarion asked, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.

Sabal took him by the wrist and guided his hand back down to their heart.  “I feel it.”

Astarion couldn’t help himself and scoffed, but he didn’t move his hand.  “That’s it?”

Sabal nodded.  “That’s it.”

“And that’s enough for you?”

They nodded again.  “Is it not enough for you?”

Astarion considered the question for a moment, frowning.  If he was being honest with himself, it was enough for him.  It meant he’d succeeded, that he’d wrapped Sabal around his finger and ensured someone would be on his side if anything got… messy.  It meant he’d played them, just as he’d played hundreds before them.  It meant he’d survive.

So why did he feel so bitter about it?

Astarion forced a smirk onto his face.  “No, it is.”  He returned his hand to their neck, tilting their head to the side to expose more of it.  “Now then, shall we?”

Sabal closed their eyes, leaning back against the wall of the sanctum, waiting.

Astarion leaned in, baring his fangs, and sank them into the healing punctures across the nape of their neck.  The skin gave easily and the blood flowed freely, washing over his tongue.  There was no fear to be tasted this time, only the sweet velvet of willingness, of calm.  Sabal always seemed so calm, it was a delicacy to partake of it.  Astarion felt his own racing thoughts settle as he drank it in, his arms slipping around their waist to pull them close, as if the feeling of their body against his would somehow make their blood flow more freely.  As if it wasn’t already given so readily.  Greed began settling in as he lapped up what they offered.  No beast could compare to the taste of someone else, of someone who trusted too much.  He wanted to gorge on them, to consume so much of Sabal that he no longer felt the guilt, the loathing.  All he wanted was that calm.

“Astarion,” Sabal whispered, a hint of nervousness to their tone.

The elf snapped back to reality and pulled back.  “Yes, yes, of course,” he murmured, running his tongue across his reddened teeth.

Sabal took a deep, steadying breath, pressing a hand over the bite.

That casual smirk crossed Astarion’s face again.  It was so easy to smile, even when a storm brewed inside him.  “Delicious.”

A small smile pulled at Sabal’s lips at that and they leaned their head back against the wall, not opening their eyes.  “What does it taste like?”

Astarion paused at the question, losing his smile.  Another thing he hadn’t expected from them.  “It’s like… a very fine wine,” he finally said.  “No, something stronger.  Richer.”  He rested a hand on his hip as the other tucked under his chin.  “Brandy, aged enough to become mellow and oaky, but still sweet.”

“Someone would pay well for a glass of that,” Sabal commented.  “I should start charging you.”

Astarion let out a single laugh.  “My darling, is it not already a fair trade?  I fight alongside you, you keep me strong enough to do so.”

Sabal finally opened their eyes, meeting his.  “You do fight better when you’re happy.”

Happy.  The feeling curdled in the pit of Astarion’s stomach, but he continued to smile.

Sabal sighed through their nose and pushed themself off the wall, a hand lingering against it to keep them steady.  “We should go back before the others wonder where we went.”

Astarion took a step towards the door, then hesitated and looked at the Drow, holding out a hand for them.  Sabal stared at it a moment before taking it in their own, stepping close to him so they could lean against his arm.  Despite himself, Astarion sounded amused when he spoke.  “Did I take too much?”

“Maybe,” Sabal replied.  “You need to be more careful.”

“I make no promises,” Astarion said, coaxing them to follow as he began walking.  No longer able to see their face, he let his smile fall, the bitter taste of hate coating his tongue, all semblance of brandy gone from his lips.

⬅ Previous Chapter | Next Chapter ➡

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #astarion x mc #astarion x tav #baldur's gate fic #my work #fanfiction #starcrossed starfalling

[laiostoudenn]

hi !! so, i was the one who sent you the ask asking about tav infodumping, and thus i come with the infodumping about my babies !! i really really appreciate you giving me a space to ramble about them, so thank you <3 ( and you can totally answer this publicly, i’m okay with it ! ).

so, the thing is that i haven’t actually played the game, i don’t have the money or the right computer / console for it 😭 but i’ve still put a lot of love and work into making these characters and i can’t wait until i finally have access to the game and can play them out. anyway, i still want to introduce you to my babies and i hope you like them <3

my first one is raven waters ( they/them ), who’s a wyll ship. they’re a human bard, college of lore subclass, with an urchin past. they grew up on the streets of baldur’s gate after being orphaned at a young age and became a decently well-known entertainer when they got older, performing at festivals and every tavern and inn in the area. they’re very cunning, sarcastic, and good at reading people, and very unhappy about being snatched off the street only to have a worm stuck in their brain. they also tend to care about people sort of in the way Astarion does — reluctantly and with no small amount of complaining but very deeply — and even though they don’t think much of wyll at first because they don’t trust nobility or anyone wealthy, it doesn’t take long for them to become endeared by him. they also become absolute besties with astarion because they literally laugh in his face when he tries to seduce them and once he gets over that they have fun judging people together. ( there is also definitely an au somewhere in my brain where raven is dating both wyll and astarion, but they’re officially a wyll ship. )

next is amalal quavein ( he/they ), who’s an astarion ship. seldarine drow and cleric of the light domain for the goddess eilistrae with both a joint folk hero and sage past ( he’s a huge bookworm when they can get his hands on some ), and has been travelling around faerun since they were just young, trying to find allies to assist in the seldarine drows’ fight against lolth and helping everyone he can along the way, before they get snatched up and taken to the nautiloid ship. he’s a total sweetheart who loves caring for people and fighting against tyrants and darker forces, but they’re also a bit socially stunted from being alone on the road for a lot of his life, which can lead people to think he’s naïve even when they aren’t. astarion definitely thinks this at first, and thinks seducing amalal will be easy, but really he’s just one of those people who always chooses kindness and doing the right thing because they want to make the world a better place and that’s the best way he knows how to do it. ( they’re also asexual, which is very funny given astarion’s whole seduction thing because not only is amalal unfamiliar with seduction as a concept but he genuinely does not feel sexual things, so they’re painfully oblivious to astarion’s attempts the whole time. )

third is nifara reedwood ( she/her ), my gale ship. she’s a strongheart halfling ranger, of the hunter subclass, with an outlander past who was raised in the wilderness and therefore has a very strong connection with nature. she travels all around faerun hunting and tracking creatures from other realms, making it her personal mission to keep any kinds of invaders from attacking her realm and harming its nature. she also has a very strong bond with animals and is resistant to poison due to all the she’s spent in faerun’s swamps. a complete and total badass, my girl, but she’s also kind of socially stunted due to all the time she’s spent alone on the road with only animals and the creatures she hunts. she’s brutally honest and has a quick temper, but also one that’s quick to calm back down if there’s no need for an actual fight, and although she’s slow to trust people would gladly kill and die for those she cares about and absolutely will not let them talk bad about themselves. ( she also very nearly smacks gale for not believing he’s worth more than his magic and service to mystra and calls him an idiot for it more than once, and then somehow that wanting him to think more of himself turns to catching feelings and she’s just like, “ah, shit”. it’s fine, though, because gale comes to love her too. )

after her is nisa mournspire ( they/she ), who’s a halsin ship and a mephistopheles tiefling paladin of the oath of devotion subclass, with a folk hero background. adopted when they were a baby by a human couple, but never felt truly loved by them since she wasn’t their blood child, even if they’d given her their last name. devoted themself to prayer to the god ilmater from an early age as a way to feel some kind of belonging and purpose, and took her oath and set out from their village to travel around and help people when she was only twenty years old. nisa gained a bit of a reputation around all of faerun for their heroics, and eventually came to be known as the horned warrior. taken from baldur’s gate by the mindflayer’s goons when she stopped in for the night, and doesn’t hesitate to recruit karlach and lae’zel when they’re all on the beach, seeing defeating the mindflayer and removing the parasites as yet another mission they’re committing to. nisa’s very warm and compassionate, able to make friends almost everywhere she goes, and fears almost nothing if it means helping others. a bit of a hopeless romantic who wants to find true love, but also isn’t against brief flings. does sleep with astarion once or twice ( but they’re incredibly good about it and makes sure he feels good too, because she can tell he’s not used to that ), but definitely takes a liking to halsin very quickly after meeting him and spends a good amount of time staring at his biceps ( which annoys lae’zel incredibly because that should not be the focus right now ).

aaaand finally we have ellora keyvaris ( she/her ), my karlach ship! she’s a high half-elf wizard of the conjuration school subclass with a noble background. she grew up in a wealthy family that was very devoted to maintaining appearances and always trotted her out to social events, but she was much more interested in magic and the study of it, more than happy to spend her time in her home’s library or at the local magical college learning conjuring spells from the professors she’d paid for private lessons. when she learned her family was planning to betroth her to an elf nobleman, she ran away to baldur’s gate, where she intended to live a quiet life and continue studying magic before she was kidnapped and infected with the parasite. ellora is a very quiet and bookish person, but that doesn’t mean she’s timid; she has a sharp tongue and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself or others and say what she thinks. she struggles to connect to her companions at first, with the exception of wyll since they were both raised among nobility, but she eventually makes genuine friends out of all of them, which means a lot to her because she’s never really had friends before. ( she’s also a hopeless lesbian who falls in love at first sight with Karlach and thus is very sad when she can’t touch her, because she very much wants this large muscled lady to be able to pick her up. )

i also have some picrews for all of them !! in order here’s raven, amalal, nifara, nisa, and ellora <3 amalal and nisa aren’t exactly how i imagine them, but they’re all mostly okay — and aren’t they beautiful <3

anyways, i am honestly sorry about coming into your inbox with all of this 😅 you can feel free to infodump right back to me about your babies if you want !! these actually aren’t all of my tav ideas, i’m working on ships for shadowheart and lae’zel but they aren’t quite fleshed out yet 😅 anyways, thank you so so much again for letting me infodump, i hope you’re having an awesome day !! <3

thank you so much for sharing your original characters with me! 🥹 It's pretty obvious you've put a lot of thought and love into each of them (AS YOU SHOULD), and with such detailed backstories and personalities without even playing BG3 yet! I hope you're able to bring them to life someday truly, they deserve that much 🥹 Thank you for trusting me and my blog (you said it was ok to make this public so I hope it's ok that I did!) with your babies, and I'm sure when you finally get to play it'll feel super satisfying to see them on screen. Keep nurturing your creativity and passion for storytelling—it's truly a joy to see from anyone tbh! You give more thought than I do to mine at times tbh 😭 (also they're really really pretty). I'm sorry for how long this was sitting in my inbox! I was taking my time to absorb them before making a comment but! THANK YOU!! They each got a hug from him

#re: ask #long post #THANK YOU FOR THE INFODUMP LOVELY #that's actually really sweet you trusted ME with them #that means A LOT:((((

[awellboiledicicle]

First person to try drilling down on what Fido's deal is would be Gale, between adventuring and actually sleeping. He's limited to whatever books they can scrounge initially [as Fido is hoarding them to learn about the world they're now stuck in], but by the time they get to Baldur's Gate he's going to have some very specific queries outside of the whole Crown research thing.

First person to go "Maybe this is a warlock thing" is, naturally, Wyll. Because Fido is going to eldritch blast something in a panic and he's going to go "now hold on". Also because I imagine Mizora would think it was hilarious another warlock is making noise about his deal. They make some barbed comment to her, the magic flaring a bit, and she tuts at Wyll for consorting with 'that mean old octopus' behind her back like this. Leaves before explaining anything.

Astarion 100% believes they're lying about not knowing they're bound up with some apparently tentacled monster when it comes out. like. just thematically it feels like a thing one should know about. He's just saying that if HE had made a deal to get MAGIC INVULNERABILITY POWERS, then HE would have remembered that. They throw a handful of grass at him and he rolls his eyes.

Lae'zel still occasionally thwacks them with a random sword to see if their protection is still working. This is, she insists, a function of their friendship that she would bother doing a check at all. Deep down she just really appreciates their willingness to listen and learn from her, as well as their absolute unwillingness to take any shit from her. Thus the checking.

Shadowheart still thinks they're a little crazy, for different reasons. Initially it was because they insisted they had no idea elves were real, followed by being from 'earth', followed by their panic response being to yell insults at the enemy to make their brain explode. The warlock thing feels like they might have been lying about it--a skill they seem unnervingly good at in spite of their general honest streak--but honestly? Given how they keep tripping into being good to others, she wouldn't doubt them having been just given the ring by some sorcerer or something.

Halsin feels conflicted about Fido expressly because they have a very... dim view of nature being allowed to take its course. With people. They get along largely after Fido gets fed up and goes "you're ungodly old so you can handle sitting down and leveling with me here. I need you to understand that, where i come from, if someone looks at someone like me and says 'nature should take its course' that means 'i want you to not exist'. It means 'you are unnatural'. We're not having the same conversation when we talk about nature, here. I like the birds doing bird things and fish swimming and whatever. But sometimes nature is cruel and I am living proof that sometimes nature would destroy people and things that should exist." Basically they get along on principal but have initial complications bc Fido spent a lot of time as a chronically in pain child being told survival of the fittest wouldn't allow for them. As a queer kid being told they were unnatural. So on. So they don't actually have beef with him so much as a kneejerk reaction for a little plus the initial GODDAMNIT response when he can't help. His take on the warlock thing is largely being curious as to how that happens without ones knowledge.

Karlach meanwhile is just pissed that she can't hi-five them without it still hurting. Like their skin doesn't melt but they can still feel the sensation of heat and pressure, so it isn't pleasant. She also wants to know how one ends up in a warlock pact without knowing it because that feels like a pitfall to avoid.

Not pictured is the GOO checking in occasionally like it's reading the sunday paper like "oh they had a conversation about the nature of gods with Gale. Cute. Aww they're having cognitive dissonance about the nature of sentience after using speak with animals. Popped a man's head like a cherry. Shame, they could have interrogated that one."

#Fido the Bard

[rosenfey]

hi again !! i come bearing some infodumping about my tavs, if that’s okay !!

so, the thing is that i haven’t actually played the game, i don’t have the money or the right computer / console for it 😭 but i’ve still put a lot of love and work into making these characters and i can’t wait until i finally have access to the game and can play them out. anyway, i still want to introduce you to my babies and i hope you like them <3

my first one is raven waters ( they / them ), who’s a wyll ship. they’re a human bard, college of lore subclass, with an urchin past. they grew up on the streets of baldur’s gate after being orphaned at a young age and became a decently well-known entertainer when they got older, performing at festivals and every tavern and inn in the area. they’re very cunning, sarcastic, and good at reading people, and very unhappy about being snatched off the street only to have a worm stuck in their brain. they also tend to care about people sort of in the way Astarion does — reluctantly and with no small amount of complaining but very deeply — and even though they don’t think much of wyll at first because they don’t trust nobility or anyone wealthy, it doesn’t take long for them to become endeared by him. they also become absolute besties with astarion because they literally laugh in his face when he tries to seduce them and once he gets over that they have fun judging people together. ( there is also definitely an au somewhere in my brain where raven is dating both wyll and astarion, but they’re officially a wyll ship. )

next is amalal quavein ( he / they ), who’s an astarion ship. seldarine drow and cleric of the light domain for the goddess eilistrae with both a joint folk hero and sage past ( he’s a huge bookworm when they can get his hands on some ), and has been travelling around faerun since they were just young, trying to find allies to assist in the seldarine drows’ fight against lolth and helping everyone he can along the way, before they get snatched up and taken to the nautiloid ship. he’s a total sweetheart who loves caring for people and fighting against tyrants and darker forces, but they’re also a bit socially stunted from being alone on the road for a lot of his life, which can lead people to think he’s naïve even when they aren’t. astarion definitely thinks this at first, and thinks seducing amalal will be easy, but really he’s just one of those people who always chooses kindness and doing the right thing because they want to make the world a better place and that’s the best way he knows how to do it. ( they’re also asexual, which is very funny given astarion’s whole seduction thing because not only is amalal unfamiliar with seduction as a concept but he genuinely does not feel sexual things, so they’re painfully oblivious to astarion’s attempts the whole time. )

third is nifara reedwood ( she / her ), my gale ship. she’s a strongheart halfling ranger, of the hunter subclass, with an outlander past who was raised in the wilderness and therefore has a very strong connection with nature. she travels all around faerun hunting and tracking creatures from other realms, making it her personal mission to keep any kinds of invaders from attacking her realm and harming its nature. she also has a very strong bond with animals and is resistant to poison due to all the she’s spent in faerun’s swamps. a complete and total badass, my girl, but she’s also kind of socially stunted due to all the time she’s spent alone on the road with only animals and the creatures she hunts. she’s brutally honest and has a quick temper, but also one that’s quick to calm back down if there’s no need for an actual fight, and although she’s slow to trust people would gladly kill and die for those she cares about and absolutely will not let them talk bad about themselves. ( she also very nearly smacks gale for not believing he’s worth more than his magic and service to mystra and calls him an idiot for it more than once, and then somehow that wanting him to think more of himself turns to catching feelings and she’s just like, “ ah, shit ”. it’s fine, though, because gale comes to love her too. )

after her is nisa mournspire ( they / she ), who’s a halsin ship and a mephistopheles tiefling paladin of the oath of devotion subclass, with a folk hero background. adopted when they were a baby by a human couple, but never felt truly loved by them since she wasn’t their blood child, even if they’d given her their last name. devoted themself to prayer to the god ilmater from an early age as a way to feel some kind of belonging and purpose, and took her oath and set out from their village to travel around and help people when she was only twenty years old. nisa gained a bit of a reputation around all of faerun for their heroics, and eventually came to be known as the horned warrior. taken from baldur’s gate by the mindflayer’s goons when she stopped in for the night, and doesn’t hesitate to recruit karlach and lae’zel when they’re all on the beach, seeing defeating the mindflayer and removing the parasites as yet another mission they’re committing to. nisa’s very warm and compassionate, able to make friends almost everywhere she goes, and fears almost nothing if it means helping others. a bit of a hopeless romantic who wants to find true love, but also isn’t against brief flings. does sleep with astarion once or twice ( but they’re incredibly good about it and makes sure he feels good too, because she can tell he’s not used to that ), but definitely takes a liking to halsin very quickly after meeting him and spends a good amount of time staring at his biceps ( which annoys lae’zel incredibly because that should not be the focus right now ).

aaaand finally we have ellora keyvaris ( she / her ), my karlach ship! she’s a high half-elf wizard of the conjuration school subclass with a noble background. she grew up in a wealthy family that was very devoted to maintaining appearances and always trotted her out to social events, but she was much more interested in magic and the study of it, more than happy to spend her time in her home’s library or at the local magical college learning conjuring spells from the professors she’d paid for private lessons. when she learned her family was planning to betroth her to an elf nobleman, she ran away to baldur’s gate, where she intended to live a quiet life and continue studying magic before she was kidnapped and infected with the parasite. ellora is a very quiet and bookish person, but that doesn’t mean she’s timid; she has a sharp tongue and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself or others and say what she thinks. she struggles to connect to her companions at first, with the exception of wyll since they were both raised among nobility, but she eventually makes genuine friends out of all of them, which means a lot to her because she’s never really had friends before. ( she’s also a hopeless lesbian who falls in love at first sight with Karlach and thus is very sad when she can’t touch her, because she very much wants this large muscled lady to be able to pick her up. )

i also have some picrews for all of them !! in order here’s raven, amalal, nifara, nisa, and ellora <3 amalal and nisa aren’t exactly how i imagine them, but they’re all mostly okay — and aren’t they beautiful <3

anyways, i am honestly sorry about coming into your inbox with all of this 😅 you can feel free to infodump right back to me about your babies if you want !! i just kind of wanted to tell you about my beloveds since you accepted my offer of friendship and offered some very nice tea in a cute pot <3 hope you’re doing well !! <3 <3

🫖🌷🎀 aaa oh my god look at them do they know i love them??? 🩷😭 please don't apologise i always love it when people go to my inbox with oc infodumps!!! i love to see it! thank you again for trusting me with your babies its an honour to meet them!

🎵 wyllromance with a bard is so so so good though??? hes literally a knight in shining armor in here for that high-court romance im living through this. and i love how raven warms up to him so much hes such a ray of sunshine that makes so much sense!! love love love snarky bards here. ✨ okay but does amalal know i love him. does he know. hes so dreamy?? im sorry but good-hearted light domain cleric in service to eilistrae? ace rep???? im obsessed with him and support everything he does ever 🌿 nifara!!! i love nature-aligned characters so so so much!!! being more friends with plants and animals than people??? heck yes (shes me). she and faerene would be good friends i think!! bonding over nature and plants and faerene will make her some sweet tea! there are mushrooms in it. also its a faerie tea so might be careful actually who knows. ☀️ nisa worshipping ilmater sends me so so much??? i love characters with those devotion vibes and the feeling of sacred duty going for them that stuff is so so so hot and shes so real for staring at halsins biceps lbr. 🔮 i love ellora so much???? this is a wizard loving household so naturally i am contractually obliged to love her + her being a bookworm is so so valid of her because i too want to be a reclusive wizard with a vast library of books. go get it girl!!!! she deserves to be lifted up by karlach so much

teehee this is getting a bit long!! but id love to talk more in dms or such!! 🩷 and thank you kindly for your offer to infodump about my girlies, think i will make a separate post for that and tag you if thats alright 🥰

#ask #faerieroyal #in this house we love ocs!!! #thank you sm again this made me smile <33

[yennefer-of-vengerbergs]

Confession

Astarion reflects on his feelings towards Syanna, from when they first met, up to when he finally decides to confess everything to her.

Pairing: Astarion x f!durge

Other notes: This is my own spin on Astarion's thoughts on the relationship he and my durge character, Syanna have, finishing with his confession scene, where I took the liberty of expanding a bit on it, combining most of the dialogue options, as well as mixing in small parts from the Araj confession. I've also followed the order in which some things happened in my own Durge playthrough so far (I'm still in Act 2, haven't gotten to his confession yet, but I am using what I know from my regular Tav playthrough, while double checking other things online).

Read below or on Ao3

Astarion found himself thinking about her. 

What a walking contradiction she was.

On the one hand, she was prone to being a bleeding heart on occasion, wanting to help those she ran into.

Barely off a crashed Nautiloid and she was picking up other survivors from the ship, himself included. Even if he had thrown her to the ground, threatening her with a dagger. She’d taken it surprisingly well too, stating she probably would have done the same in his position.

Then she was agreeing to help out the tieflings from the Emerald Grove. 

And rescuing a child from being killed by the druid leader. 

And helping that bard, Alfira, with her song. 

On the other, she was also prone to bursts of violence and murder, dark urges which she could not always control or resist. 

She always felt guilty afterwards though. Especially so after she had brutally murdered Alfira. Barely a few hours after joining their camp, she was laying there, on the ground, in her own blood.

She had always been completely honest about how broken her mind was. She had asked for advice. She had asked everyone in camp for help. 

Nobody knew what to do or say to her. They just spun some version of ‘oh, we all have those thoughts sometimes’ and that ‘she should focus that on their enemies’. She felt as if nobody was taking her seriously, not realizing just how bad things were.

And once everyone else had seen that she had killed the bard? 

They were scared. They judged. They blamed her. They told her to keep her distance, that they would be watching her. That if she tried to hurt them, they would defend themselves.

She couldn't blame them, not really. 

***

Naturally, she had distanced herself from everyone. 

He noticed that she had taken her bedroll to the small ruin that was next to their camp and started staying there at night, away from everyone, her reasoning being that it was fine, really. Part of the roof was still intact, so she could at least be safe from the elements. If anything, it was an improvement over trancing in the dirt, next to the campfire. She could always use a spell to start a fire of her own to keep warm.

During the day, when they traveled, she would either wander ahead, or stay further back. After all, they had made it clear that they wanted her to keep her distance, so keep her distance she did. 

He’d told her at one point that he didn't blame or judge her for what she had done. 

She appreciated that. 

What she hadn't appreciated was how he then told her that the look of guilt she had on her face was priceless and that she could have been more subtle about it. 

Oh well.

***

One day, they had found a dog, Scratch, close to its dead owner. The dog was hostile at first, but soon calmed once she had talked to him, even sniffed her hand, remembering her scent.

She always seemed to have a potion on hand that would let her speak to animals. She liked animals, so she hoped the dog would follow her to camp.It did, eventually, always keeping her company afterwards.

On another day, they had found the so-called devil that Wyll was hunting, Karlach. Said devil was in fact a tiefling. Syanna had immediately sided with her when Wyll wanted to kill her, pointing out what they had all been shown by the tadpole connection, that Karlach was indeed telling the truth and was not in fact a danger to anyone. 

Astarion found himself approving of that. Hells, in time, there were other things she did that he approved of. Some were chaotically fun and hilarious to him. Others were on the practical side. Others yet were oddly heartwarming, even to him, like how she had taken in the owlbear cub from the goblin camp they had cleared. Most people would have refused to do that, seeing it as nothing more than another beast that could kill them, another monster to be afraid of. 

She didn't. She saw a young cub, scared of its surroundings, wounded, alone, his mother having been killed by the goblins that captured him for their own entertainment.

Most importantly however, she hadn't shunned or staked him when he tried to feed from her while she tried to rest. She had been surprisingly reasonable. Even offered him her blood afterwards. She’d taken his side when the others didn't seem particularly pleased about him being a vampire. She'd agreed with his idea of feeding off their enemies, seeing as he could start fighting with all his weapons, fangs included. But she had also offered to let him feed on her, if and when he needed to. An open invitation, as it were. 

It was a gift. One he would not forget.

***

She seemed better as time went on. The two animals they took in were always near her when in camp, keeping her company. 

She had gotten closer to him and Karlach. Not a surprise, seeing as they were the only ones who truly didn't judge her. 

Karlach had appreciated her help and trust when they met, as well as her bleeding heart, so in her eyes, Syanna was someone good overall, if a little tortured. She had also been honest with the tiefling about her urges and what had happened with the bard, but she had simply told her that if she had the guts to say it outloud, to feel regret, then she would be able to change. And if she was willing to resist those urges, as Syanna said she was, then surely she was on the right track. She had also given her the same line about focusing on their enemies if the urges became too much, but somehow, she felt that Karlach had been more supportive overall.

Later on, when the druid, Halsin had joined their camp, she got along with him as well, for similar reasons. He had even offered to help her with her broken mind once their tadpole problem was solved.

The others, she wasn't as close to. Things had gotten better, but it was obvious whose company she preferred. 

That would do nicely for his plan. All she had to do was fall for it. Easy.

So he had started flirting with her, something which came easily to him. He wanted her on his side, trusting him, never turning on him, helping him.

Seducing her was easy, truly. 

She reciprocated his attention. 

She already preferred his company.

She had accepted his advances when he propositioned her one night.

What he hadn't expected was to… enjoy the night they spent together. Not fully, as at one point his mind had gone somewhere far away (which she had noticed and pointed out the morning after), but at the same time…there were moments that he had enjoyed prior to that. 

She actually seemed interested in what he wanted that night as well, not willing to just be a passive participant. She wanted to reciprocate, to touch him, to show him how he made her feel and to bring him the same kind of pleasure. 

It was surprising to him. Unexpected even. 

He would also be lying if he said he didn't find her attractive. She was a beautiful woman, it was impossible not to. 

All in all, his plan was moving along splendidly.

So he carried on. 

He continued to flirt with her, honeyed words dripping from him each time. 

He invited her back to his bed frequently. Or back to that pretty clearing that he had found. He’d even stolen her away during the party the tieflings had organized once the goblin camp was defeated, their leaders killed. 

Even though several of their group had also propositioned her that night, she still went to him. Excellent. 

At some later point, she started spending her nights in his tent, seeking out his company. When it involved sex, she would simply stay the night, wrapped around him. Others, it was just being with each other. They would read and they would talk. Most surprisingly though, they would cuddle . 

He never had been a cuddler, but having her so close, holding on to him, it was nice. All those nights actually seemed to mean something to him too, a strange comfort starting to emerge whenever it was just the two of them. And when she didn't spend the night in his tent? He actually found himself wanting her there.

Shit.

***

She had done him kindness after kindness on multiple occasions, not expecting anything in return.

She had given him various things for his tent whenever they cropped up during their travels - a new bedroll, alongside a pillow and blanket; she pointed out books that she thought he might find interesting; she grabbed small pieces of decor and art she thought he might appreciate. His own little spot in camp was actually starting to look more comfortable. Tidier even. 

Meanwhile, she didn’t even have her own tent, just a bedroll.

She listened to him whenever he confided in her about something.

She had pointed out his scars and how they were written in Infernal. She drew them out for him to see, first on the ground where they stood, then on paper, so they could both research them more easily. She had promised to keep an eye out for any books, occult or otherwise, that might help him with information too.

it wasn't her problem, but she still wanted to help him.

She had acted as his mirror when she found him trying to look into one, telling him how she saw him. She then had the idea to cast a Mirror Image spell on him so he could actually see himself for the first time in centuries. Seeing that it worked, she then brought him any scrolls for the spell that she found on their travels so he could cast it himself whenever he needed to.

She was always willing to help him - she was already looking into finding out what the scars on his back were before they approached Raphael about them. She respected his wish to keep it between them and not to involve anyone else from camp. 

She then had helped him with his deal with Raphael (and that she did, Yurgir was dead, his end of the deal done, the mystery of his scars clearer, but turned into something even more muddled at the same time).

She even swore she would do everything she could to help him with dealing with Cazador and the ritual of profane ascension that he was meant to be a part of. 

She also stood up for him when they encountered that vile drow in Moonrise Towers, something that he was incredibly grateful for. 

He was grateful for everything she did.

Anyone would agree his nice, simple plan was a resounding success.

So why did he feel so awful?

Well, it just so happens that he had started to genuinely enjoy her company the more time had passed during their travels.

He found himself thinking of her more often. Looking out for her in combat, his arrows always aimed at those who were too close to her. 

He was distraught whenever she was downed by an attack, immediately on his way to help her, a revivify scroll and healing potion at the ready..

He was always first to help her when she slipped or had to climb somewhere, or when she became entangled in some twisting vines. 

He loved teasing her when that happened, tsk-ing and saying that he was starting to think she liked being restrained. She would always tease back, telling him to find out for himself later.

He even wanted to find her a tent she could use when she wasn't spending the night in his own one. 

***

At the same time, he was so concerned for her. She was frequently exhausted and in pain, rest, actual rest, almost always eluding her. Often, she preferred to skip going into a trance altogether, too worried about the nightmares that could return. Of the urge coming back. He could also see how she sometimes was shaking, or how she looked ready to faint. He could see how her urges were eating away at her, how she struggled with them. 

Sometimes, when she was finally too exhausted, she would actually fall asleep next to him, her face nuzzling his chest, an arm draped over him. Whenever that happened, he found that he would have much rather stayed there and let her sleep until late morning, not having the heart to move and risk waking her. 

He felt like such a fool.

***

One night, she woke him up, scared she would hurt him, scared she would kill him , not knowing what to do or how to stop it, asking him to get to safety, to stop her, anything . 

When she collapsed, unconscious, he moved, grabbed a length of rope and tied her up. 

Then, he waited. 

When she woke up, she wasn't herself. 

She threatened, she growled, she tried to bite him, she screamed at him, fighting against her bindings. 

But she also was trying so hard to resist, to break through, to regain control of herself. She tried to show him that she understood, that she was grateful, but it was so, so difficult.

More threats. More screams. 

She sobbed, begging him to just kill her, to make it stop.

It truly worried him, seeing her like that. He had been worried about himself at first, yes, but he was even more worried about her.

He wouldn't let that thing have her. He wouldn't let it win. 

He spent the night with her, trying to offer words of comfort and encouragement where he could. Keeping her safe. Shooing away the rest of their companions whenever they came to see what was happening. 

The night finally passed, bloodless. Syanna was laying on her side, still tied up. She looked defeated. Guilty. Remorseful, with tears in her eyes. She let out a sob. 

Astarion moved to untie her and helped her sit up. Her wrists were raw and bloody from how much she struggled against her bindings. 

He hated seeing her like that. 

He handed her a healing potion and listened to what had happened before she came to him.

He reassured her he would be there to make sure she would get through it all, that she wouldn't be alone, no matter how much she protested that it might happen again, and what if she hurt him then? 

She gave him something to care for and that was worth the peril. After all, they were in it together.

Did he really say that?

Yes, yes he did.

***

He also found himself wanting her approval. 

He wanted her to think of him as something more. 

He didn't want to lie or manipulate anymore.

He cared.

He wanted to tell her the truth, as frightening as it was to him.

Still…

What if she broke things off?

What if she hated him afterwards? 

He could just… not tell her, he could just let things continue between them, knowing that his plan had gone out the proverbial window long ago. That it was real for him. Why risk ruining it?

No. No, she deserved the truth. She deserved something real, something more. She didn't deserve his lies. She deserved to choose if she wanted to continue whatever was between them or not.

Making up his mind, he walked over to where she was sitting. Noticing him, she set aside her book, greeting him with a smile.

“Do you have a moment? I think we need to talk.” 

Gods, he sounded so concerned. Scared almost. 

Noticing this, her smile fell. She stood up.

“What's wrong? Are you alright?”

“Oh yes, I’m fine. I just…feel awful.”

She frowned. 

“That's not how I would define fine, Astarion. Please, talk to me?”

Gods, why was she being so nice to him?

“Look, I had a plan. A nice, simple plan - seduce you, sleep with you, manipulate your feelings so you’d never turn on me.” he laughed nervously.

She didn't say anything. She seemed too taken aback by the sudden confession to say anything.

He continued. He had to continue.

“It was easy - instinctive. Habits from two hundred years of charming people kicked in. All you had to do was fall for it.” 

He hated the way his voice started to crack as he kept going on. He hated how she had tears forming in her eyes because of him. 

This is it. Surely she would leave him. He would lose her.

Still, he carried on.

“And all I had to do was not fall for you…which is where my nice, simple plan fell apart.” He paused for a moment, gesturing towards her. “You…you're incredible. You did so much for me…you helped me, you…cared about what I wanted… you didn’t ask me to throw myself at that vile drow, didn’t trade me for a potion, what I wanted be damned.” he paused. “You deserve something real. I want us to be something real.”

He looked at her, with sad, scared, but hopeful eyes.

“So…the time we spent together meant nothing to you then? All those nights, all those moments, were they just lies?” 

“Of course they meant something - that's the problem! Or part of it.” He sighed. “Being close to someone - any kind of intimacy - was something I performed to lure people back for him . And even though I know things between us are different, being with someone still feels…tainted. Still brings up those feelings of disgust and loathing. I…don’t know how else to be with someone. No matter how much I’d like to.” 

He’d said what he had to say. He looked at her, vulnerability obvious in his expression, waiting for a reply. 

It terrified him.

“Astarion…” she swallowed. “I’m not naïve enough to think that things were something…more between us when they started, but…” she took a breath to calm herself, to keep her voice from breaking any more than it already was. “But they actually became real for me. I thought…I hoped it was mutual. I wanted it more than anything. I do care about you. Deeply. But this…this hurts.” 

Tears were rolling down her cheeks, but she was trying so hard to keep herself composed. 

He hated himself for causing her to feel that way. 

He didn't know what to say to her. 

Could he even say anything that would make things up to her, that would comfort her in any way? He didn't know.

“I’m…I’m sorry. I’d understand if you wanted to end things between us now.” 

It hurt him to say it, but he wouldn't hold it against her if that was what she wanted to do. Which is why what she did next took him by surprise.

She hugged him. 

He was so taken aback by it that he didn't know how to react or what to do at first. He couldn't even remember a time when he had been hugged.

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her.

He didn’t want to let go of her. 

Her voice was a broken whisper, but he heard her. 

“That would hurt me even more.” 

She let go of him and stepped back. She cleared her throat. 

“I meant what I said. You mean a great deal to me. And I want this to be real too. More than anything.” 

Relief washed over him. But he was still….nervous.

“I…just don’t know what ‘real’ looks like. Not after two hundred years playing the rake. I…don’t even know what to do.” 

“Then…what do you want to do?” 

He paused, thinking about her question. “...I don’t know what I want. It’s been so long since I’ve had to decide what I wanted.”

She thought for a moment, unsure how to proceed. 

“Maybe…maybe we can start over then? We can be together. And to make it clear, we don’t have to have sex, for as long as you need.”

“Hah, why, that almost sounds like a challenge.” he was nervous again. He didn’t know how to react. What else could he even be good for, what else could he even offer her? 

“I mean it. I don’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. We can just…be and just… get reacquainted with one another.” 

He took her hand in his own, a small smile on his face. “Honestly, I have no idea what we’re doing. Or what comes next.” 

“Then we can just see where this takes us.” 

He placed his other hand on top of hers. 

“I do know one thing though. I know that this…this is nice.” 

As emotional as she was feeling, she couldn’t help but agree. It was nice to have that honesty between them now. To know they were both on the same page. That if they got through this, then things would be alright. 

#astarion #astarion fanfic #astarion x durge #astarion x the dark urge #baldur's gate 3 #bg3

[csphire]

Meet Anna

Legal Name: Anna Smith

Nickname / Aliases: My Sweet, My Dear or Button (Astarion), Cuzzyl, Sweetums or Oury (Dammon), Cuddlebug, Oury and Kitten (Karlach), Dear Heart, My Lady and Pixie (Wyll)

Background: Artisan (Jeweler/Enchanter)

Age: Unknown estimated around 30s?

Pronouns: She / Her / They

Race/Subrace: High Half-Elf

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Deities: It's complicated. Tymora, she prays to the most followed by extending respects to Jergal, Lathander, Ilmater, Loviatar, and Corellon Larethian too.

Class / Subclass: Warlock (Archfey) / Cleric (Tymora Light Domain)

Instruments of Choice: Humming? Flute?

(She's not really musically inclined.)

Weapons of Choice: Shortbow, Crossbows, Hand Crossbows, Daggers, Staves, Mace, Trident and Shield

Love Interest(s): (She's Polyamorous Semi-Closed)

No randos on a whim, only good friends, basically. She's all about full discloure if she wants to pursue someone new. But she's at a place where she feels rather settled and happy in the polycule she's a part of now. Spouses and lovers are listed in chronological order.

Spouses:

Astarion (Star & You): Their relationship is a rocky one. Both of them have some serious baggage from past trauma. Their respective experiences both help understand one another's more prickly moods and defensive moments. But it sometimes causes problems between them too as they can rub each other raw. Since Anna is a survivor of domestic abuse by her first lover over a decade ago "bite night" and the idea of Astarion feeding off of her is not something she thinks is sexy or enjoys. The first time she permitted it because he said he needed it. Second time again she was trying to figure out if she could tolerate continuing to help keep him in that way. But afterwards she found the courage to admit it deep down bothered her. They settled upon a compromise of sorts. She has no issue with him literally licking her wounds and taking advantage of other opportunities to enjoy her blood that naturally occur. True they bicker like an old married couple often but do love one another greatly. She gifts him sketches and drawings of him and he often gifts her all kinds of treats to indulge her sweet tooth.

Dammon (Sunshine & Hun): Is the one she cuddles with and is the most fiercely protective over, which is warranted given he's only got 8 hp. She does her best to not have favorites and love all her spouses equally but... Dammon she gets along and has the most in common with compared to all the others. They rarely argue and at most lightly tease one another. It's never been bumpy with him only smooth sailing since they realized and acted on their feelings for one another. Their flirting is more honest and sincere. They are very gentle with one another. Both artisans, after the defeat of the Elder brain, they end up spending the most time at home together working side by side while the others all work outside of the home. He with his weapons and armor and her creating and enchanting jewelry as well as some of his stock. Although Dammon can get distracted in a project he's usually the first if not the second to notice if something is bothering her that she's in denial of or is trying to shrug off. Also out of all of her spouses, he's the one who knows how to get her to calm down and check her temper the quickest. Astarion, much to his vexation, still doesn't know how Dammon does this.

Karlach (Beautiful & Wifey): These two can wind one another up and get rather excitable and loud quick. Together they can turn into absolute cussing goofballs much to Dammon, Wyll, and Astarion's woe but usual delight. Even though she's out most of the day when she comes home Karlach has a knack for making up for it and brightening up any evening. I think the only things she and Anna only really quarrel about now are Karlach being a touch messy and Anna "getting too much of a stick up her ass." Do they help one another with their hair, yes. Hair and horn care they all help one another with, it's a bonding thing for all of them. Right behind Dammon, Karlach usually ends up with most cuddles from Anna than anyone.

Lovers:

Wyll (Handsome & Honey): Wyll is honestly more Karlach's main spouse than Anna's or the others. Karlach and he share a deep bond after all the trials they faced in Avernus together. Although Anna and him don't spend much time together they get along well, flirt, and cuddle with one another when they can. Anna has two left feet but with Karlach and Wyll's help, she's getting better at dancing. With Astarion and Karlach, Wyll is often away from home. The trio are deeply engaged in the politics of the city and trying to help manage it. Often this leaves Anna and him only able to write some rather romantic and risqué letters to one another.

Halsin & Shadowheart: We all know Halsin likes to roam and he's not one for the city. So his visits are rare but delightful all the same. It's usually Astarion and Anna who pounce him first to give him a big warm welcome to the city together.

With Shadowheart, she visits a little more often than Halsin does. But usually, Halsin will join her. They're sorta an item as after everything has settled down in Baldur's Gate Shadowheart and her parents decide to follow Halsin to the former shadowcursed lands and work to continue to heal them. Rolan: To put it simply Dammon and her usually do their best to team up to help prevent the wizard from working too hard. All three of them share a business and personal relationship. Both Dammon and Anna sell a majority of their work to Rolan to help keep Sorcerous Sundries stocked with quality enchanted goods. He's in the running to become a fourth spouse for Anna and Dammon.

Please note: that the sex in this polycule is not as wild or as frequent as one thinks. It's more swapping bedmates on occasion than anything. Wyll and Karlach tend to sleep together. Anna and Dammon tend to pair up too when it comes to resting and having sex. Astarion likes to split his time between his spouses and will occasionally go off to visit Sebastian. Shadowheart and Halsin again visit rarely and are warmly welcomed by most. Threesomes and foursomes might happen once every few months. Orgies, more than four participants, are never really planned and might only occur once a year if that.

Did she really screw the Dream Guardian? Technically... um yes. I did not save it, but it still counts according to Steam. Best Friends: Gale, Lae'zel, Jaheira, Alfira and Lakrissa. Personality: Anna can cuss and be blunt as a sailor and get just as loud and excitable as Karlach, but most of the time she's demure and prefers to keep a low profile about strangers. She seems to be kind, polite, and a quiet type of person. One you'd least expect to draw in close, slip a blade into one's ribs, and twist with perfectly calm and collected look. Although she was usually her companion's defacto leader most who met them were unable to tell who was in charge until she stepped forward and started the talking. The kind of intimidation she pulls is all in the eyes and calm actions rather than size or muscles. She rarely uses that method and prefers deception and more charismatic approaches. If there is a problem she tends to grin, bear it, and will try to tackle it herself. Her greatest flaw? She's an expert in bottling up some of her emotions. She struggles with vulnerability and asking for help. But it's something she's working on with the help of her spouses and friends. It also sometimes takes her a while to process her feelings. If she gets upset, angry, or frustrated, she tends to retreat when overwhelmed to sort or cry them out. However, she rarely now spurns any of her spouses or friends who follow to offer comfort or a sympathetic ear to help her resolve an internal or external turmoil.

Bio: There are around two versions of Anna actually. One born on Toril and just your average half-elf artisan warlock. The other is a former human from Earth who woke up in a pod, realized she wasn't in her bed or human anymore, had a tiny freak out but proceeded to suck it up and use her meta knowledge of the game to keep herself and her companions alive. A whole MGIT (Modern Girl In Toril) because I'm a sucker for that troupe and I want to have fun.

Now Earth Anna is a little admittedly self insert-ish. I can't afford to travel and I'm currently not well enough for it so... vacationing in my fan fics. Some things about Anna are based on me and others are not depending on the fic.

Simply put both start off being an artisan warlock half-elf with some emotional baggage that pales in comparison to Astarion's. But it’s enough to help them understand one another better than those who have not been so deeply hurt and controlled.

Before she was abducted Toril Anna was a jeweler in Baldur’s Gate who years earlier secured a pact with an archfey of the Seelie court. Her last name is a pretty common one for humans. Although her human father came from a long line of blacksmiths for decades he served as a Flaming Fist. Anna learned her trade of jewelry-making from her elven mother. What's become of them both is unknown at this time. Anna hopes they fled the city to relatives in Neverwinter.

Her Patron: The assumption they’re from the Seelie court is based on some in-game dialogue we can get when trying to get into the circus. Between you and me I lowkey loath how a Tav or Durge’s patron is barely acknowledged, and we get crumbs of information about them, absolute crumbs.

Toril Anna entered into a pact shortly after fleeing an abusive lover. It was not the best of plans, to just leave him and Baldur’s Gate as fast as possible for another city where she could start over but she feared for her life. How she met her patron one could say was a whole lucky meet-cute story. She literally stumbled over them and profusely apologized. Charmed by her sweet nature, good manners and also finding out why she was in such a hurry, the fey extended to her a bargain to give her power and also taught her how to give her goods a stronger enchantment with a small cost. Now all of Anna’s enchantments always turn out to have a tiny bit of chaos to them but nothing her customers will ever notice… usually.

Unlike Wyll, Anna and her patron have a mostly respectful, sometimes chaotic, very protective, and loving relationship. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Anna is well aware fey can be fickle, easily offended, and therefore dangerous. For starters, she suspects her patron is behind her abusive lover’s untimely and grisly demise. Something she found out years later after her patron coaxed her into returning to Baldur’s Gate with assurances that with her new powers, she would not need to leave and she could disappear easily enough in the large city.

Currently, her patron on occasion only asks her to do some odd and seemingly harmless things to set off a little chaos in the world. What seems like a few setups for pranks or displacing a stone from a circle of them in some forest. Some of these things lead to disastrous results but nothing fatal for anyone… usually. Her patron loves chaos like most fey and was tickled pink when she stole the Blood of Lathander mace. Anna is also obligated to help other fey in need from the Seelie court like the pixie in the lamp. Killing fey from the Unseelie court such as hags and redcaps also delights her patron as well.

Thanks for reading this far and bear in mind this is a work in progress. I may or may not edit this a bit more in the future.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #Anna #oc tav #oc bio #wip #polyamory #polyamourous #ethical non monogamy #bg3 dammon #bg3 Karlach #bg3 astarion #bg3 rolan