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soupandsorcery · 8 months

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In the morning, her neck hurts. It's like a bruise, throbbing and irritated, and whenever she turns her head, it flares up, reminding her of what she let Astarion do last night. Probably not one of her better ideas, but it worked out in the end. Which was for the best, because it would have been a pity to have to stake him. Astarion's funny.

Vesper stretches and then winces, getting dressed quickly. She checks her appearance in the little mirror she keeps on her, and there on her neck are two little fang marks. They're dully red and neat, evidence of the clean bite. When she presses her fingers to them, they feel warm, and the pain flares just a bit.

Hopefully they'll behave like any other scars. They'll trouble her for a bit and then fade away in time.

"Good morning."

Astarion's voice makes her turn. There's a brightness to his eyes that wasn't there before, but there's something guarded too. Like he's waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Good morning," Vesper says back. "How do you feel?"

"I was going to ask you the same question."

She shrugs. "My neck hurts. How do you think I feel?"

His eyes look her over from head to toe, but for once, it lacks all the flirtatious teasing he's been pulling for the last week or so. It's just...curiosity. A different sort of interest.

"There's something...different about you," Astarion says. "About your blood."

Vesper raises an eyebrow, keeping her face neutral. Now that is something she didn't consider. It's been easy enough to hide her true nature from her new companions, and any slips she might have made have gone unnoticed with the tadpoles and the ticking time bomb they represent taking priority. But Astarion has been closer to her than anyone else. Intimately close, one could say.

"Different from rats and boars you mean?" they ask, affecting lightness.

Astarion picks up on it instantly. Takes a liar to know one, Vesper supposes. "No," he says, lifting an eyebrow. "Well, yes. But that's not what I mean. Your blood was...intense. Almost spicy in a way."

"Spicy?"

"Well, I don't know how else to describe it! It burned, but it wasn't an unpleasant heat. In fact, it was downright delicious. But definitely not normal."

"And how would you know? You said yourself you've never fed on a person before. Maybe this is just what humans taste like."

It's a poor attempt at deflecting, and Astarion brushes it aside easily. "It isn't. I can smell it now that I know what I'm looking for. You don't smell anything like Wyll or Shadowheart or even Lae'zel. A bit closer to Lae'zel, now that I think about it, but still. You're hiding something."

He sounds almost gleeful to say it, one hand on his hip, the other pointing at her with all the sass at Astarion's considerable command.

And all of a sudden, Vesper is tired. Tired of hiding, tired of the subtle disguise spell that changes certain parts of her. This far from Waterdeep, no one's heard of her, and while she'd been worried about Gale knowing, even he hadn't shown any sign of recognition. They'd relished the chance to shake off the mantle of their old life and be someone else for once, but she hadn't considered the burden of hiding so constantly.

She sighs and rolls her shoulders, the bite on her neck twinging with pain again. It keeps her head clear as she regards Astarion and makes a snap decision.

"You're right," they say. "And I suppose fair is fair. Come with me." They turn on their heel and start walking, pacing away from camp.

"I--wait!" Astarion calls after her, then scrambles to catch up. "You can't just say that and then walk away."

"I'm not doing this here," Vesper hisses. "Not where everyone can see."

"See what?" Astarion asks.

Vesper doesn't answer. They just keep walking with purpose towards a little cluster of trees, far enough away from the camp that they don't have to worry about anyone seeing this. She can only imagine what Shadowheart would have to say, if she knew. No, that's a bridge to be crossed later. Maybe much later, depending on how this goes with Astarion.

Astarion, who is waiting, tapping his foot with impatience that seems at odds with the rampant curiosity in his eyes.

"Well?" he drawls. "What have you dragged me out here to see? Oh--is this where you reveal that you've been in disguise all this time? Because I did wonder, you know."

"You...wondered?"

"Naturally. No one is that beautiful. Except me, but that's different."

Honestly, Vesper can't help but laugh. It tickles her down to her bones, and she goes with it, letting the spell she's had up almost constantly since being abducted finally drop.

It feels like breathing. Like taking the first true, deep breath she's had in days. Her wings spread out behind her, shimmering iridescent and white in the morning sun. She flaps them once, twice, and then lets them fall closed against her back. Her eyes shift from the plain, muddy brown they were magicked into, glowing silvery pale with radiant fire. Everything else, her face, her hair, her stature, remains the same.

Some people, apparently, are just that beautiful.

Astarion stares at her, mouth slightly agape. It's the most stunned she's ever seen him, and she grins, feeling suddenly, incredibly amazing.

"I think this is the longest you've gone without saying anything, Astarion. No witty quips?"

"You're an aasimar," Astarion breathes, and he sounds well and truly shocked. "Gods below."

"It's not as exciting as it seems," Vesper tells him. "I'm not some celestial messenger or anything. I'm from Waterdeep, and I was snatched out of a fighting pen by a bunch of mind flayers. The wings are the coolest part, honestly."

"They are quite impressive." Astarion is still staring, but he shakes himself, letting some of the wonder retreat behind his usual haughty pout. "Well, well, we are an interesting group, aren't we? At least that ship full of tentacled freaks had taste in their victims."

Vesper snorts. "Small comfort, but I guess you're right."

"My question is why trust me with this?"

"You trusted me."

Red eyes roll as Astarion scoffs. "That's different. You caught me in the act, and I got something out of it. What do you get out of this?"

"Last night you said you felt happy after feeding on me. Was that just because of the blood?"

There's a pause as Astarion thinks that over. "Mostly the blood, I suppose. Although, there is something to be said for not having to hide it anymore."

Vesper inclines their head to him. "Exactly. I just want to be me."

"It would be hypocritical of me to argue with that."

"It would," Vesper agrees cheerfully.

"I don't suppose you're feeling in a sharing enough mood to explain the fighting pen thing?"

She laughs at that, shaking her head. "Not right now. Maybe next time I let you feed off of me, I'll tell you."

"I'll hold you to that. Am I right in assuming you don't want the rest of our cohort to know about this just yet?"

"You are. I'll tell them eventually, but for now, you're the only one who can know."

"Dangerous, trusting the vampire spawn with a secret."

"Why, Astarion, just last night you told me I could trust you," Vesper says, pressing a hand over their chest dramatically.

He rolls his eyes again. "And I don't think you believed me for a moment."

"Not true. You're here, aren't you? Seeing this." She spreads her wings once more, enjoying the freedom to stretch them out while she can.

Astarion blinks and then glances away. "So I am. Well." He doesn't seem to know what to say to that, and Vesper figures she's pushed him enough for one moment.

She sighs and works her spell once more, hiding the wings, turning her eyes back to mundane brown. It feels worse now, than it did before, and she resolves that she's going to tell the rest of the group soon. And anyone else they encounter will just have to deal with it.

She's free of the pens now, and she doesn't plan to spend the rest of her life hiding. However long that might be. But for today, they have things to do. A druid to find, goblins to kill, and who knows what else.

It feels good to have someone know, though. To have at least one person see her. Vesper would not have assumed it would be Astarion, but somehow it works. It feels right in an odd way.

They're not going to delude themself that this is going to be some kind of turning point where she and Astarion become best friends and start sharing all their secrets, but...it's a start. It's something.

And Vesper has learned to take what she can get.

#bg3 #bg3 spoilers #astarion #tavstarion #eventually anyway #noah oc: vesper #noah plays with words #the fantastical multiverse mod dropped and vesper got a whole new glow up #now they're a she/they aasimar #and yeah i know most aasimar can manifest their wings in the game mechanics #but i'm taking some liberties for the feelings

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faorism · 6 months

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niche crossover of the day that im too lazy rn to clean up and post to ao3 but may in the future: alec hardison (leverage) plays bg3

hardison balances playtime with hacker hours well, which means he moves through hyperfixations but has learned through working with the crew how to prioritize when there's a friend's life on the line. (there will be no more repeats of his crew sitting on a bomb without him right next to them.) sometimes though his partners lose him for a week after a new release, but now that they live together at least parker can drag him to bed for cuddles (and to sleep) and eliot will kept him fed.

it should go without saying that hardison loves baulder's gate 3. he heard such good things about it during early access from his dnd buddies, but hardison refuses to play EA because he will end up encountering bugs and basically writing the code that the devs will end up doing anyway, so why waste his time.

he plays without any prior knowledge, doesn't even know the characters really except from glimpses at their promo pics. but he's excited. he downloads the game, kisses his partners """goodbye""" for the foreseeable future (as long as a job doesnt spring up, but even then it would be a quick one because eliot sprained his ankle and needed to rest it no matter how much he complained he was good).

he decides to play his chaotic good halfling wizard mendula from two campaigns back - fresh enough in his mind to remember the character, but not too recent so that he wont feel conflicted if the tav storyline doesnt allow for precise oc characterizations. hardison gets super into it, but he doesnt linger on side quests, not yet: he wants to get a feel of the game without mods and follow its arc. hardison doesnt usually romance on a first playthrough, but wyll!!!!! wyll was right there being perfect and beautiful and righteous and black and bi and yeah, hardison had to fan himself off during the dance sequence

his party is wizard tav, shadowheart, wyll, and lae'zel, and barely switches them out. when astarion drains him dry and kills him, hardison is so annoyed he kills astarion. he feels very proud of himself when he sniped wyll's devil karlach without much fuss. then he skips a lot of the companion sidequests because he just wants to rush to the end. he gets married to wyll, then starts right over and plays wyll origin, now able to take his time and understanding the mechanics of the game. he also downloads QOL mods that have already come out for EA, and he has notes about ones he will make if no one else does when he's ready for playthrough #3. he purposefully avoids any major ones (so no Polyam Mod for him, though he does eye it, but he wants to see how multiple romances play himself).

he plays will as accurately as possible, which means engaging heavily with the very companions hardison spent ignoring because wyll? wyll cares (and fuck, hardison loves him for that because yes yes, that's him too!). and......

ah. okay so. maybe hardison shouldn't have ignored the companions so much since they do add a lot to the game! and..... maybe, just maybe, hardison was too hasty killing astarion and karlach the first go around. maybe a lot. he thought they would be companions for evil tavs/origins only! he played kotor and [insert game references here, i dont play games like this usually...], so he thought he knew what was up.

anyway, he is drawn so much to these two out of the novelty of them that he puts them into his party (the fourth spot he switches around, thought once hardison gets him, halsin is a fun mainstay because BEAR. hardison gets up romancing both astarion and karlach (and a little halsin, HALSIN IS SO EASY TO FLIRT WITH, larian WANTS you to fuck him)

and....... okay. okay. maybe romancing them both at the same time was a mistake because. because he loves them both. so much. for very different reasons. hardison feels so deeply and then he's forced to make a decision, and hardison crumples a bit. considers downloading the polyam mod but opts out of it to suffer vanilla game logic to its very end.

when he breaks up with astarion, who plays it so damn cool, hardison had to walk away from the computer to mourn by burying himself in his nearest partner's arms (eliot, this time).

he finishes the game, makes wyll go to avernus with karlach (as he made them do during this tav playthrough) and... thinks about astarion.

hardison had carried over the breakup scene save this whole time, and he decides fuck it, and goes back and tries it the other way this time.

he didnt know karlach will just... die on the pier. wtf. wtf. or wyll will go and there wont be any interaction with astarion?? hardison is Distraught. he downloads the polyam mod and while it doesnt force the issue, he can just feel at the edges that nope, this isnt authentic

finds partner's arms again. parker this time. she asks whats wrong with his make believe people, and he pauses for so long that parker thinks he fell asleep or didnt hear her, and then he quietly says that wyll has a heart big enough for two, a romance can be fairytale when made for three, dont they know there's nothing more beautiful than being held between by both the people you love?

parker kisses his temple as tears legit well in his eyes (and he feels embarrassed) and she yells for eliot for emergency group hugs.

eliot, with hardison squished between his two partners, usually doesnt get involved with hardison's gaming but this time he's just like, okay what is it about these characters that's getting to you like this? and why them together? who are they?

and hardison had already talked about wyll a little because disney prince. so he reiterates some of that with a major case of projection. and then when he turns to talk about the companions, hardison stops. and just.

oh.

a black man who was forced to make impossible desperate choices when he was still a teen, which got him into trouble as a consequence, and then being alone and wandering for years until he ran into a pack of different people come together for a common purpose. trying to be good, the best he could be, and hiding behind a flashy name to hide some of the more raw parts underneath. ravenguard and nana have strikingly similar cheekbones.

then theres a rogue with a deeply traumatic past who can be selfish and kinda insensitive and likes shiny things. a pale thief who likes a little bit of chaos even when running good alignment, and who can't help sticky fingers reaching for unsuspecting belts and also... well, also is a top, through and through. a top who likes to bite. vicious when upset. also... also touch adverse and who at first laughs at sincerity and then basks in it but only once your commitment is fully and well established. the only bit of code hardison wrote as he played his wyll origin was to remove astarion saying dont touch me when you switch to him; hardison flinched every time, hearing the cadence of parker's voice scratching at him when she's triggered.

then, a barbarian who handed from one handler (who ended up being a totalitarian dick) down the road until being owned by the literal devil. body put through hell, scars littering a body that spells strength at a distance. once escaped from the nightmare, only wanted their own perseverance. their own life. wanting so desperately for a touch, to be loved, to be held in a way that didn't spell murder. "heartless" after years of working for, again, literal devils, but so full of life and kindness and (also eliot is more coy about it) a deep sense of joy for the world. kind to children. protective of children. wary of deals too good to be true. willing to die than return to a life they once lived. death feels imminent, despite the protestations of everyone around them. really good bedroom eyes.

so.

yeah.

maybe... maybe

hardison couldnt get the words out to say all of that. all he says is, they're a lot like us. (like with astarion, if hardison spelled out the exact overlaps of the characters.)

the games dumb then, parker says. or at least broken. if the game isnt right, just go fix it?

and hardison has protests about the limits of what is possible within someone else's game and...

parker is like, you made a guy hold up a bank in like, 10 min? on a laptop with spotty internet and without a mouse or any preparation?

and this takes some time between other projects he really has to get to, but.... he does it. codes like a motherfucker and bribes eliot & parker into mocap and also genuinely pays the VAs to voice lines for him. shit hardison does for the love of his ot3:

script out unique banter for karlach and astarion in your party that hints of their attraction to one another

code in an extra option when astarion or karlach confront you for to prompt them to consider their own feelings for the other (different from the current but i want to be with you both! line)

a short nighttime cutscene that with dialogue that implies the three have just finished talking and have agreed to be together. they are all holding hands

include astarion and karlach in each other's act iii scenes (they arent the most chatty, admittedly, but they are there and integrated)

outside of camp, if you three are standing near each other, you can cast a spell that cuts to astarion and karlach kissing either of wyll's checks (this is admittedly somewhat buggy but!

edits out astarion cowering on the pier from the sun, just rushes the three to avernus which hardison doesnt have to edit; just uses astarion origin version for wyll.

nexusmods community begs desperately for him to do this for some other ot3s and he is willing to hear them out for shadowheart/lae'zel/tav, he absolutely refuses to break up karwyllstarion and only offers wyll pov. will not even allow for edits being made for a tav/karlach/astarion mod. he deeply pisses off some people, but overall this mod is downloaded a fuckton as the only truly viable polyam romance option in the game. people start writing fanfic specifically for this one mod and eventually it is just integrated into canon lore that karwyllstarion exists as an option

#wyll ravengard #alec hardison #astarion bg3 #leverage #karlach bg3 #wyllstarion #wyllach #karwyllstarion #parker leverage #eliot spencer #faorism meta #faorism work #faorism headcanons #bg3

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