Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They arrived back at the Elfsong in the middle of the day - bloodied, bruised, and exhausted. Heartsick, too, in a way that Gale was still struggling to come to grips with. 

Astarion had been nearly silent the entire way back, dismissing Tav’s concerns with quick and easy smiles - but his shoulders remained tense, his head hunched, and his voice entirely lacking its usual inflection. It was a walk he was all too familiar with, and it made him ache to think of Astarion going through similar pain. Even if it may have been well-deserved. 

Tav announced his intent to try to sleep and not move until at least the following day. Privately, Gale agreed, not that he would sleep, but he kept his mouth shut, and met with a worried glance from Wyll, a tired agreeing sigh from Karlach, and silence, again, from Astarion. 

They all drifted their separate ways, and Gale spared only a moment to watch Tav burrow himself into Halsin’s arms before he turned to his own bed. Changing from his armor (and taking advantage of a spell to clean himself), to his camp clothes felt almost wrong, but if he was going to go without sleep, he would at least be comfortable doing it. 

He made his way to the chair by the fire, and fell into it, exhaling hard. The others could find food if they wanted it. 

~!~

It was only an hour later, the sun still bright, when Gale heard Withers clear his throat, pointedly. He looked up and caught a gesture toward the door. A glance showed Astarion closing it behind himself carefully. 

It wasn’t hard to know what Astarion was going to do, so Gale stopped only a moment to change back into his armor, grab his quarterstaff, and race out the door. If he cut through the graveyard, perhaps he could catch up with even Astarion’s fleet-footedness. He turned down the alley, ready to break into an outright sprint when he turned a corner in the graveyard and caught sight of Astarion standing in front of an overgrown grave. 

Gale stopped, and watched Astarion kneel in front of it, reaching out to touch the overgrowth with trembling fingers. When it was clear that Astarion intended to remain there for a few minutes at least, Gale made a detour to pick up flowers, before he cleared his throat and approached Astarion, making sure his footsteps were loud. 

“You should be resting with the others, wizard,” Astarion snapped, glaring at Gale as he stepped closer. “You look dead on your feet.” He snorted. “I would know.” 

Gale’s lips twitched into a smile, despite the harsh words. “I am precisely aware of how tired I am. But I’m here anyway.”

"Why," Astarion snarled. 

Gale paused beside Astarion and glanced at him.  There were faint tremors that were running through Astarion, the longer they stared at each other, and Gale smiled sadly.  "I'm here because I wish to be.  Because I don't want you to have to be alone after what was likely one of the worst and best days of your life.  As you are well-aware, I'm not unfamiliar with the sensation." 

Astarion scowled and turned his attention back to the gravestone.  "I'm not going to entertain you."  

Gale waited, but Astarion didn't offer anything further.  After a few moments where it was clear that Astarion didn't want to leave, but also wasn't going to say anything he offered the flowers to the vampire.  He ignored the fact that Astarion's fingers were shaking when they were taken from him.  After that, he knelt down in front of the grave and began to carefully pull away the moss and vines that had gathered.  

Astarion made a faint noise and Gale paused, looking up at him, his fingers still sunk into the moss that he was pulling off the gravestone.  The look in his eyes was agonized, but he hadn't offered any real protest.  He turned back to the grave and wondered which of Astarion's victims this was to have devastated him so badly, even hundreds of years later.  

Another firm scrape of his fingers had the name revealed at last.  He paused, for several long seconds, but Astarion said nothing, so Gale continued to pull the vines and moss away from it.  Once the worst of it was gone, he cast a silent Prestidigitation and watched as the remaining grime melted away from the stone, until it gleamed like any of the more recent ones.  

Beside him, Gale startled when Astarion crashed to his knees, but the sight of tears streaking down Astarion's cheeks gave him pause.  Grief was often a private thing, and he was all too familiar with that.  He turned back to the gravestone and read over it once more.  Astarion Acunin.  Thirty-nine years old at the time of his death.  Gale closed his eyes and breathed out roughly.  Astarion had not even reached majority as an elf before being killed by Cazador.  It was entirely possible his parents were still living, and they did not know.  

"It took me hours to claw my way out," Astarion whispered, staring at the gravestone.  "My fingers were bloody, I was starving, and I didn't understand what had happened.  I was screaming.  I remember, because I choked on the dirt, again and again.  Cazador was waiting when I broke free.  Ready to take me home, he said."  He swallowed and closed his eyes.  

"I'm sorry," Gale breathed.  He could not imagine the horror of that, only to be roped into a life of permanent slavery.  "You should have stabbed him more."  

Astarion let out a broken, hoarse bark of a laugh.  "As satisfying as that would have been, I don't know that it would have been enough."  He reached out to touch the first letter of his name, and then lowered his hand.  "I didn't know what I thought I could gain by being here.  Maybe nothing, really.  But it's here, and there are several thousand spawn out and among the city, going into the Underdark..." he shook his head.  "Gale, what did we do?" 

Gale let out a rough breath.  "You're asking me if we made the right choice?"  There was no movement from Astarion, but it was clear that that question was the one eating him alive.  "I do think that Tav was right.  Taking Cazador's place in the ritual would have destroyed a part of you and made you just like him."  

Astarion shuddered and dropped his hands to the grass, pressing his fingers into the soft soil.  "I do think that was the right thing to do, frustrated as I was in the moment at you both, darling."  

Gale smiled faintly and leaned over, bumping his shoulder against Astarion's.  "Be as angry as you want.  But I'm not going to be angry that you didn't decide to sacrifice your siblings and seven thousand spawn in order to ascend."  He leaned against Astarion a fraction, just keeping up the contact together, because he had a feeling they both needed it.  "It will be something to deal with.  Perhaps they'll look to you for leadership."  

"Leadership," Astarion scoffed.  "Far from it, darling.  That's wishful thinking."  He shook his head and looked back at his gravestone.  "Think it's time for you to go home now.  It's getting dark, and you can't afford to miss your beauty sleep."  

Gale huffed and got back up onto his feet, stretching slowly.  "You're not wrong.  Are you coming back with me?" 

Astarion paused, frowning, before he shook his head.  "I'm not.  I need to hunt, and to make sure none of them are lingering around the house now that he is gone."  

"Aren't the-" 

"Yes, they are," Astarion said, cutting Gale off.  "They promised to keep a perimeter, and to keep an eye.  But I am responsible, and I-" 

"Need rest just as much as the rest of us," Gale challenged, glaring at Astarion.  "You should come back to sleep.  Trance.  Whatever you can do for a few moments of respite.  You deserve that."  

Astarion shook his head.  "Soon enough, wizard.  But I am not ready to face Tav and their lording over how right they were over me just yet.  I need more peace."  

Gale frowned, something clearly off about the whole situation, but what precisely it was, he couldn't tell.  He lingered for a few more minutes before he stood up and squeezed Astarion's shoulder, before making his way to the edge of the graveyard.  A flash in one of the shadows had him frowning deeper, but when he turned to look, there was no one there, only the lone figure of Astarion, still kneeling in front of his grave.  

Astarion's eyes met his and Gale nodded once more before stepping around the corner.  But his instincts were screaming at him, especially as the sun started to slip lower and lower in the sky.  With a huff, Gale pulled out one of his scrolls of Invisibility and cast it, ducking behind another Mausoleum to keep an eye on him until he decided to head back to the Elfsong.  

The sun drew lower and lower, until at last the graveyard was dark.  When Astarion stood up, Gale jolted into awareness.  At last, Astarion was going to head back for some sleep, it was overdue and-

"I know you're there.  Come on out.  I've been waiting."  

Gale tensed and he cast Invisibility over himself once more and crept closer to Astarion, and the several other shadows that were walking closer to him.  Who had Astarion been waiting for?  

Astarion looked up at the low snarl that started and then didn't stop.  He rolled his eyes at the dramatics as several of the spawn stepped out of the shadows and crept toward him.  "Must you be so dramatic?  I'm here, alone, aren't I?" 

"I've waited thousands of years to take my revenge on you."  

Astarion snorted and spread his arms.  "Very well.  Punish me, kill me, rip me limb from limb for what I did to you."  

Gale's eyes slammed wide, and before he could stop himself, he was stepping forward, between Astarion and the furious spawn, a scroll of Sunbeam in his hands.  "Do it and I will kill all of you in seconds," he snarled.  The sight of the scroll was enough to heave them rearing back.  "And I have a half dozen of them.  Not a single one of you will be left standing."  

"He killed us!  We were his victims!"  

"And he will live with the guilt of that for the rest of his immortal life," Gale said, his voice soft.  "Do you think he isn't aware?  That he doesn't know?  That he didn't know?  He was forced to do so.  He couldn't say no.  He was forced.  Every single time.  Can you imagine that?"  

"Gale!" Astarion snapped.  "Get the hell out of here, they deserve to take their vengeance."  

Gale didn't look away from the furious spawn in front of him.  "If you don't leave now - I will make sure not only to kill you where you stand, I will send anyone I can after you.  And I assure you, it is within my means to send a very large number of adventurers after your heads and the heads of the other spawn released today."  

That at least had them pausing, and Gale solidified his position between them and Astarion.  "He was tortured under Cazador, the same as you were.  And yet you are acting as though it was of his own free will that he hurt each of you.  You do not have to forgive him, you do not have to love him, but you must understand that it was not his choice."  Gale gestured to Astarion behind him.  "The only thing I have seen him do under the power of his own choices is go after Cazador.  To kill him.  To escape the monster entirely.  You cannot say the same."  

"He is not an innocent!" One of the spawn snarled.  

"Did I say that he was?" Gale snarled back, magic snapping around his fingertips.  Relying on scrolls for anything large was a must, especially while he was this exhausted, but powerful cantrips were well within his current abilities and he would not hesitate if it meant protecting Astarion.  "I have only said that it was not his choice, and he does not deserve to face your retribution.  Now leave, or I will make you leave."  

Silence reigned between all of them for several long, pointed seconds, but Gale watched as the spawn eventually turned and began to leave.  Though he wasn't positive that they had all left, once it was clear that they were no longer in immediate danger, he turned to Astarion, who immediately dropped his eyes to the ground.  That was his suspicions confirmed then.  

"You knew they were going to come here, to look for you," Gale stated.  

Astarion glared at him.  "And if I did?" 

Gale swallowed the pain of that statement and tried to breathe through it, something small and tentative shattering in him at the realization.  "You knew they would come to kill you.  You knew.  And you snuck out here, alone.  To die."  

Astarion pressed his lips tight together.  "They were all in that position because of me."   

Who knew you could hear the sound of a heart shattering?  Gale had thought he had been exaggerating the feeling after Mystra, but no.  It was the truth, and it hurt, more than any wound he'd received in the past few weeks.  He took a step back from Astarion and looked away from him.  "I see."  The words were insufficient, and he could see that they surprised Astarion, as though he had been expecting something else, perhaps some meaningless supportive drivel.  The same kind that he had dared to allow himself to believe when he'd nearly followed through on Mystra's request.  

"Gale?" 

Where was the Elder Brain?  Hadn't Tav warned them not to go into the Upper City, because it was too close?  It would be in the sewers, beneath.  If he were to go now, in the middle of the night, perhaps no one would even notice.  He could find a place to rest, briefly, replenish himself, and then do what needed to be done.  It would be better, this way.  

"Gale, look at me," Astarion snarled.  

Gale blinked himself back to the graveyard and focused on Astarion.  "You are a better actor than I gave you credit for.  I should have known better.  You should have been honest, before.  I trusted you to be honest above all the others, Astarion."  

Astarion frowned.  "What are you talking about, wizard?" 

"The Elder Brain, of course.  You should have told me to kill it back when I had the chance.  I would have made sure you got out.  I had a plan, one of several, of course," Gale continued, his voice flat and low.  He'd put all of his friends into a truly untenable position, and their kindness and generosity had been the only reason he had not gone through with his orders.  

Astarion narrowed his eyes.  "Your line of thinking is more obscure than usual.  Explain what is going on in that head of yours."  

Gale gave a nonchalant shrug that he did not feel.  He couldn't feel much of anything at the moment, everything was more than a little numb, and all he wanted was to have the hurting stop.  He was so tired of hurting, it was exhausting and it seemed never-ending.  Between Mystra, the Orb, now Astarion?  He was destined for pain.  

"I believe that you would consider it nothing of importance.  But had you taken the time to be honest with me, so many would not have been lost.  Perhaps if I go now, and there's a way to transport it, I can, perhaps, make an effort to adjust a teleportation spell..." Gale trailed off, thinking about it, shuddering under the weight of bearing that much magic all at once.  He could do it, of course.  

Astarion groaned and stomped his foot in frustration on the ground.  "Wizard, the time to make plans is when we are both not exhausted!  Now if you could cease, I would appreciate it greatly!" 

Gale snapped his mouth shut and bit down on his tongue hard enough to taste blood.  It would be for the best for him to walk away now.  To handle things before the others even awoke from their slumber.  He had a potion stashed away for an emergency that would give him the strength he needed.  He nodded once and tightened his hand around his quarterstaff before turning his back to Astarion and beginning the march toward the Upper City. 

"Where the hell are you going?  The Elfsong is in the other direction, I know damn well you know that."  

"To do what I should have done to begin with," Gale answered, not turning to look back at the elf.  To do what he should have been brave enough to do.  He had allowed himself to be a coward, to put himself before the lives of thousands of others and put them in danger with his cowardice.  Perhaps if he went now, the others would finish Gortash and release the city from his grip, and it would again find peace under Wyll and his father.  

Chapter Text

The graveyard blurred as he kept walking.  One foot in front of the other.  How far until he was no longer protected by the Emperor and the Artifact?  How long until he would hear the voice of the Elder Brain and be unable to resist?  It was easy to think about, easy to focus on that instead of what Astarion had nearly done that evening.  It was so much easier than the pain of those thoughts.  That his friend, his dear friend, had walked to his death without a word to them all.  Exactly what he was doing to them all right now.  

Gale stumbled and caught himself against a wall, a tremble wracking his entire body.  Tav would be disappointed in him.  So would Halsin.  Perhaps even Wyll.  They had convinced him that he might be worth saving, that he hadn't needed to obey Mystra's command.  But she had known better, as she often did, and he had dared to think otherwise once more, and the world would pay for it.  He took another shaky breath, straightened his shoulders, and stared at the street in front of him.  Not far now.  Not long now.  

Another foot, then another, but the world was swimming, and there was a pounding in his brain that was getting louder and heavier.  It hurt, and he was so tired of hurting.  All he wanted was for it to stop hurting, to be curled up in his comfortable bed in his Tower, surrounded by his books, the comforting sound of Tara purring, of a fire crackling in a hearth.  It was a dream to think he would ever be able to return to it one day.  To think of inviting the others to visit him, to stay with him, as they found their own peace after all of the fighting was once again finished.  

Gale barely managed to take another breath, his chest aching, when cool hands abruptly grabbed onto his, and just like that, the sensation of drowning was gone, and crystal clarity, and the fear in Astarion's eyes brought him out of the fog that had descended on him.  "Astarion?" 

"Where the hell did you think you were going, Gale?  You nearly walked right into the arms of the Elder Brain!" 

Gale blinked again, slower, and looked behind him at the bridge that led to the Upper City.  "Ah."  He frowned and turned to look back at the vampire.  "What are you doing here?"  

Astarion blinked.  "What kind of a question is that?  I want an answer to my question, wizard!" 

There was a growing note of hysteria in Astarion's voice, and it would have made him afraid, terrified, only a few hours ago, to hear Astarion so worried.  "I told you.  I am going to do what I should have been brave enough to do before."  

Astarion grabbed onto Gale's shoulders and half-shoved, half-dragged him into an alleyway, and slammed him against the wall, glaring at him.  "So you're going to leave now and detonate the Orb?  What happened to living out from under Mystra's thumb, huh?"  

A twinge of pain, at the reminder that he had nearly left his friends with no news and no information.  The death of the Elder Brain would have been enough, of course, but even still.  "You nearly walked to your death this evening.  If I had not come after you, I wonder which of us would have found your body.  If they even would have left a body.  Would we simply have torn the city apart looking for you, only to never find a trace?"  

Astarion stiffened and glared at Gale.  "It is not the same, do not even compare the two."  

"You walked to your death without warning the others," Gale said.  "I stopped you."  

"And I'm here stopping you," Astarion said, his voice edging into a growl.  "Tell me what possessed you to suddenly decide to die all over again."  

Gale swallowed.  "You'd have been dead."  

Astarion stilled, those words ringing hollowly in the space between them.  He closed his eyes, breathing in the ache, before staring at the utterly stupid and yet brilliant human in front of him.  "I am not a reason for you to die.  My death, well-deserved as it would have been, is not a reason for you to suddenly decide to follow that bitch goddess' orders."  

Gale closed his eyes and didn't meet Astarion's angry look.  The thought of losing Astarion, not just to battle, or in one of the many fights for their lives, but to his own penance, his own inaction, was harrowing.  It threatened to carve out the scarcely beating thing called a heart to leave it bleeding on the ground.  "I would have searched for you.  I would have torn the city apart, spent every speck of gold and silver to my name, and then more, to try to find you.  To rescue you."  

Astarion swallowed, his voice softening.  "Gale."  

"I don't think you understand that I wouldn't have been the only one," Gale continued, a tear streaking down his cheek.  "To lose you without warning, without any sort of information at all, to simply have you be gone one day, only your tent and pack remaining, but never again occupied..." he paused.  "I never would have forgotten you."  

"I'm not worth that.  I'm a vampire who killed thousands," Astarion said, his voice wobbling.  "I, I deserve... anything they would have seen fit to give me.  You can see that, can't you?  Can understand that?" 

Gale sighed, and reached out to touch Astarion's arm, afraid that a more intimate touch would send him sprinting for the hills.  "No.  If I am worthy of living, so are you.  No matter what mistakes we have made in the past.  If you think your only usefulness remains in dying, far away from those who would call you a friend, then why would I think anything different of myself after all that time you attempted to spend convincing me otherwise?"

Astarion muffled a frustrated scream.  "You are worth something to this world, wizard.  I am a spawn.  There is nothing I have to offer this gods forsaken world!" 

"I would disagree with that.  So would Tav.  So would many others who have met us," Gale answered.  "But none of them are here.  Only you are here.  Only I am here.  You are my friend.  That alone is something you offer me that few others have dared."  

Astarion's chest heaved as he glared at Gale.  "For all your stories and tales that you enjoy telling, I find it hard to believe that you are so without friends that-" He stopped as Gale's face crumpled and the wizard looked away from him.  Astarion continued to stare at Gale as his throat worked, as he swallowed hard, trembling the faintest amount where he was still pushed against the wall.  

Gale closed his eyes in shame, even as Astarion continued to stare at him with that piercing gaze that saw into the very heart of him, that was determined to flay him open and leave him bleeding, left behind on the ground behind him, just like Mystra.  "You are quite right," he said, far too late, trying to inject lightness into his tone.  "I have a great many friends whom-" 

"None of whom checked on you when you secluded yourself in your Tower for over a year, waiting to die?" Astarion challenged.  "None of whom insisted on making sure you were all right?" 

"There were some who tried, at first," Gale offered, his voice quiet.  "But when it was clear that I would not leave, they stopped.  I made my own bed and now I will be laid to rest in it, if I am ever afforded the opportunity to return to Waterdeep."  It was one of many mistakes that he'd made, one of thousands that he would attempt to rectify if he could, even though he would not deserve it, he would try.  

Astarion sighed and loosened his grip on the wizard, stepping away from him.  "Your arrogance suits you more than whatever this is."  He gestured at Gale.  "You do not deserve to die.  You have more to give than simply your life, no matter how it would supposedly solve the problems in front of us."  

Gale snorted and shook his head.  "You should have let me go."  

"And what?" Astarion challenged.  "Allow you to turn yourself into the bomb that you now seem to believe yourself destined to be?  If I'm not allowed to offer myself to the punishment of my victims, you are certainly not allowed to go make your best attempt at martyrdom!"  

Gale swallowed, a hard lump stuck in his throat at the same argument turned against him.  "Then what?" he asked, exhausted.  The fight against Cazador had left him drained, and now after running out and about the city for hours at a time left him with not much energy to do more than lean against the wall behind him.  "Then what?  We allow more to die, attempt to save the city by destroying the Elder Brain?"  He sighed, louder, staring at the night sky that was not nearly as bright here as it was in Waterdeep.  "We finish what we started?  As though that is somehow enough?  I return to my life and pretend that everything is once more normal?  As though I am unchanged?" 

"At least you will be able to remain in the sun," Astarion snapped bitterly.  "When we finish this supposed quest of ours?  I will once more be consigned to a life without the sun, never to see it again."  

Gale blinked and turned his attention back to Astarion.  The venom and vitriol of those words struck deep, but the reminder of what normal was for Astarion was harrowing and humbling all in one go.  "Will you follow the other spawn to the Underdark?" 

"Provided we survive this insane gambit that we have decided to pursue?" Astarion asked, his voice edging on a sneer.  "No.  Despite this evening and my actions, I do not have a death wish, and returning to the Underdark with all of them there, it certainly would be."  He paused and sighed.  "I do not know what I will do.  It's been hundreds of years, any life that I might have had will be long moved on."  

"You could come with me," Gale said, before he could think about the words, before he could think through what they would mean, how they would make them work, and precisely the level of heartbreak that he would be setting himself up for.  Astarion's eyes were riveted to him, wide and surprised, but Gale didn't rescind the offer.  "You could come to Waterdeep, with me."  

Astarion scoffed.  "Don't be ridiculous, wizard."  

Except, now that he's said it, the more it makes sense, save for what had perhaps been a growing attachment between Tav and Astarion.  Being with Halsin was hardly a deterrent for any involved, and Gale had watched them all with bemusement and not a small amount of jealousy.  "Unless you are planning to make other arrangements with Tav and Halsin."  

Another snort.  "I could hardly confine either of them to eternal darkness.  No matter their pretty words and support, they are not creatures of the night."  

Gale could hear the pain in those words.  Having wanted to pursue Tav much earlier in their adventure, he could understand it.  What Tav and Halsin had managed to build together surprised him, but they were happy, clearly, and he did not begrudge them that happiness.  "Then come with me."  

"You are hardly a creature of the night yourself," Astarion said, glaring at him.  

It was a fair point, but...

"But of all our companions," Gale started, an idea starting to form in the back of his mind.  "I am the one who could perhaps invent a way for you to walk in the sun again.  In spurts, but I believe I could manage it."  

Astarion's eyes widened.  "Wh-what?" 

That was the most hesitant Gale had ever heard Astarion be, and he nodded again.  "I need my books.  And a great deal of experimentation with a few separate spells together.  But I think with time, I could do it."  

"Time I have," Astarion said, still off-kilter.  

Gale smiled despite himself. "Then, perhaps, you will consider returning to Waterdeep with me, after all of this is over?"

Astarion looked over Gale's shoulder, to the bay, where the sky was just turning the faintest shades of pink. "I will consider it," he agreed.

Gale knew a yes, even one that was not fully given, when he heard one. "But for now, let's return to the Elfsong. We both need rest."

Astarion nodded and let his shoulders sag. "You had better be there in the morning, wizard."

Gale wanted to laugh, but he nodded.  "As long as you are there as well, rogue."  Astarion's tired grin had his chest soaring.  

Chapter Text

Tav's scream would echo in his mind for the remainder of his life as all three Netherstones had tried to rip him apart before he had mastered them and managed to destroy the Crown.  Gale had watched it fall into the river in pieces, barely registering it between spell after spell that he had cast.  The remainder of the battle was nothing but shadows.  The hoards of Mind Flayers that had seemed never-ending, springing up from across the entire city as they battled, the shouts and pleading screams of so many being attacked and killed.  There had been no way to help them all, and then there had been the voice of the Elder Brain.  

Gale shuddered and forced himself to take a deep breath, even as he looked around their companions to take stock of them all.  In the end, there had been so many flashes of allies, those who had promised to assist them coming in to help, it had been impossible to keep track of them all.  His eyes flickered over people standing in exhausted clumps.  Isobel and Aylin, Isobel slumped and covered in blood, hers and others.  Minsc and Jaheira, both of them already starting to clear the rubble nearby to help the people trapped under it.  Tav and Halsin doing their best to heal anyone who approached them with what little magic and potions they had left.  

Wyll speaking to the Fists that seemed shell-shocked and lacking direction, needing someone, anyone to tell them what to do, how to move forward from the devastation of the city.  Not far from him, Karlach doing the same, wincing with pain every few minutes that she hid behind a sunny smile.  So many more allies, all of them starting to move, starting to help, staring to reach out to everyone who was beginning to understand what had happened.

The city would take years to truly understand what had happened, but it would recover.  It was still there.  A hissing sound drew his attention and he looked toward a nearby alley of a half-crumbled building.  White hair with blood and dust in it had him snapping in recognition, and Astarion cringing away from the sunlight that was making the shadows that he hid in very small.  Gale cursed and hurried over to him, of course no one had thought anything of the one now trapped in sunlight.  

Darkness leaped around his fingers and in an instant, it had shrouded both of them, as Gale positioned himself between the sun and Astarion.  "It's me," he called out to Astarion, reaching out in the darkness, only for cool fingers to touch his.  

"Gale?" Astarion asked, his voice low and hoarse.  "What are you-" 

"Hold on, stay here. I can cast this twice more.  We have a couple of minutes to figure out how to get you out of here safely," Gale said, his voice urgent.  He took Astarion's hand in his and squeezed it.  "I'm not going to let the sun touch you, I promise.  Even if I have to wrap you in my robe to do it."  

Astarion laughed weakly.  "Once more consigned to a life without the sun."  

"This will not be the last time you see the sun," Gale promised, low and fierce.  "I swear that to you, Astarion.  It will not be the last time."  He turned his attention away from the alley.  "Tav!" he shouted.  He couldn't see him, but Tav and Halsin should be able to hear him where they were standing.  "Tav!  Get the hell over here, we need help!" 

Unable to see in the shroud of Darkness, Gale cast it again when it started to fade under the press of the relentless sunlight.  He'd barely caught a glimpse of Tav, but he hadn't been on his way over.  "Tav!" he shouted again.  "Gods above, Tav, what are you doing, Astarion needs our help!" 

Astarion was starting to tremble where he was pressed against the wall and Gale cursed.  Of course Tav couldn't hear him which meant he needed to think quickly.  Gale cast his mind about and tried to think about what the hell he could do right now, because once he could no longer cast Darkness, Astarion would be almost entirely exposed to the sun.  "I am not going to leave you," he promised Astarion, holding onto his hand tightly.  "I am not going anywhere, but I need both of my hands.  Hold onto my robes and don't let go.  Understand?" 

"Gale, it's all right," Astarion forced himself to say.  When Gale released his hand, Astarion fought down the urge to reach out and grab for him to know he was not alone, only to have his hand shoved against the armor Gale was wearing.  

"Hold on, Astarion," Gale ordered, taking a deep breath, before gathering magic in his fingertips.  The only thing he could do was summon another spellcaster who could help them in this moment, and the only one he would trust with Astarion might answer his summons.  With a tug, Gale reached for the magical signature he knew as well as his own through the Weave and pulled, until he felt the displacement that heralded a successful summons.  

"Tara, it's me," Gale said, when he heard a beat of familiar wings.  "Don't remove the Darkness spell.  It's keeping Astarion safe.  I only have one left, I need you to keep casting it to keep Astarion safe, please.  Tav has a scroll of Teleportation.  I need to go get it from him.  Can you keep Astarion shrouded?"  

"Not even a hello for me?" Tara asked with a scoff, tucking her wings behind her.  "How rude of you, Mr. Dekarios." 

"Tara!" Gale snapped, fear and exhaustion getting the better of him.  "I am sacrificing good manners to make sure my friend does not die, now please!" 

"Oh very well," Tara agreed.  "I will keep him shrouded."  

Gale sagged in relief and felt Tara settle onto his shoulders, before he lifted her carefully and pressed her into Astarion's arms.  "Tara will keep you safe.  I'll be right back," he promised.  He reached up and gently undid Astarion's hold on his armor.  "We'll get you back to the Elfsong and safe, I promise, Astarion."  

Astarion's throat tightened and he managed a nod, before he remembered that Gale could not see him.  "Very well, darling," he allowed.  He felt Gale leave, stepping away from him, and shuddered, leaning back against the wall, taking breaths that he did not need.  

"You must be very important to Mr. Dekarios for him to go to all of this trouble for you," Tara said.  "You, at least, do know how to properly hold a Tressym."  

Astarion wanted to laugh as he felt the Darkness start to fade before it was cast again, immediately.  "I am glad you find my arms comfortable, at least."  He didn't want to think about being important to Gale.  He didn't want to think about how Gale had been the only one to notice that he'd been trapped, or how he had put his body between the sun and Astarion.  If he did, he would never be able to stop thinking about it.  

Tara huffed.  "Keep things close to the chest, do you?  Well, as long as he is sure of your affections, you are better than that goddess of his."  

The mention of Mystra and how she had treated Gale had Astarion tightening his fingers for the briefest moment.  "If I ever get the chance, I would be happy to stab her on his behalf.  Several times over."  

Tara chuckled and settled more comfortably into Astarion's arms.  "Oh, I like you.  You understand what she did to him."  

"Better than I ever could have wanted to know," Astarion agreed with a long sigh.  "But I swear that I will keep him safe, and make sure that he knows he deserves better."  

"That he deserves you?" Tara asked, pointedly.  

Astarion swallowed at that reminder.  He wasn't unaware of the fact that Gale considered him attractive, but then, Gale had made so many jokes about how handsome or beautiful all their friends were.  He and Gale were friends, close ones even, perhaps.  But that didn't mean they were more.  Then again, Gale had understood that he and Tav had... had something.  But Tav had left him here.  Gale hadn't.  But Tav was a hero, Tav was the one who everyone had expected to save them, he and Halsin.  

Gale was the one still here with him, making sure that he was safe.  Gale was the one who had saved him from the spawn when he had wanted to die after being confronted with what Cazador had done.  Gale had made sure... he didn't leave.  Gale who understood his darkness better than any of the others and didn't shy away from it, only told him to try to grow past it.  Gale who-

"Astarion!" 

Astarion barely caught sight of Gale's form as the spell started to lighten before Tara cast it again.  "I'm here," he said, his voice far too weak for his own liking.  "I'm right here, wizard.  Do you have a plan?" 

"A semblance of one," Gale agreed.  "There's a proper teleportation circle in the Elfsong, but I need to get us somewhere safe where I can draw it.  So we're going to teleport into a nearby house.  Tara, I need you to fly up and make sure the roof is intact before we do.  I've got a scroll, I can cast it again while you do."  

"I shall return momentarily, Mr. Dekarios, Mr. Acunin," Tara said, spreading her wings.  

Astarion nearly got a face full of feathers, but then Gale was there, reaching for his hand again, and he sagged in relief when the wizard pressed in close.  "Where was... were, the others?"  

"Tav had gotten pulled a street away trying to help folks who were trapped in another house.  He couldn't hear us.  He asked me to take care of you," Gale said, wrapping an arm around Astarion's waist.  "I promised I would.  We'll be properly safe in a moment."  

Astarion nodded once and let his head fall forward with a sigh, shuddering under the weight of Gale's protection.  It felt good not to have to be the one doing the thinking of his own safety for once.  Gale was here, and Gale would make sure that he was safe.  The wizard's promise was law, in his eyes.  He'd learned that.  

Worried when Astarion didn't say anything further, Gale looked up at the sky, hoping that Tara would reappear soon and he wouldn't have to teleport them somewhere else where he couldn't be sure that Astarion was safe.  But no matter what was required, he would make sure that they were all safe.  That everyone was.  

"Mr. Dekarios, the house you have selected will work well.  I have closed all the windows on the second floor, there should be very little light bleeding into it," Tara said, alighting on boxes near the cloud of Darkness.  "If you aim for the staircase, and then twenty feet to the left, you should land securely in the middle of the room."  

Gale relaxed and nodded. "Thank you, Tara.  I will meet you there, unless you have other things you need to be doing."  

Tara scoffed.  "I may as well ascertain your safety since you pulled me directly from tea with your mother to assist you here.  I will need to have an excellent excuse for her when I return."  

Gale winced. "Ah, yes."  With a flap of wings, he could tell that Tara had left them and brought his full attention to Astarion.  "I should have checked immediately upon finding you.  Are you all right?" 

Astarion cleared his throat and hoped that his burns were not as obvious as they felt.  "You got to me in time.  My hand is burned, but only that."  

"I will have Tara heal you once we are safe.  Now, pardon this, but as I cannot see you, in order to travel safely, I must do this."  Gale stepped in closer, and wrapped his arm around Astarion and pulled the elf as close as he could be.  With another breath, he drew the scroll from his pocket and gently tugged on the Weave.  In an instant, they were transported across the street and safely into the building that had looked abandoned.  Once his feet touched down, Gale made sure there was no light pouring in from outside, and pulled back to look at Astarion.  

Astarion knew that he had to make a sight. He'd lied when he had said the burns were only on his hand, because he'd hesitated, for a few precious seconds, to feel the sun on his skin before he never did again. He'd felt every single second of the death throes of the tadpole, until it was permanently dead, and the sun had begun to burn. And now he would likely be scarred from the sun, but it didn't matter. Those seconds, memorizing the feeling of the sun on his skin before a lifetime of darkness had been worth it.

"Fool," Gale growled, looking at the window. "Tara!"

Astarion shook his head. "It's fine. I'm fine."

"It is not," Gale growled. When the sound of wings coming up from the stairs had him looking over his shoulder, Gale talked over the gasp from Tara. "I need you to go get Shadowheart, tell her it is urgent, don't let her argue. I need her here, now." He turned back to Astarion and touched his shoulder and studied the burns on his skin. "You waited too long to get into shelter."

"I almost didn't make it into shelter," Astarion agreed. "There's not a lot to be had in the middle of the day, and obviously it wasn't top of mind during the battle."

Tara had already made her way out of the house, and Gale was grateful that she hadn't argued with Astarion needing help.  He reached out to gently pull Astarion's shirt away from the burns and watched the vampire hiss.  "We'll get you healed, don't worry," Gale reassured.  Compared to the others, he had come out of the battle relatively unscathed, though the pieces of the crown tumbling into the water were still stuck in his mind.  He could easily take them now and-

"Stop thinking about that bloody crown for half a minute, will you?" Astarion growled, glaring at Gale when he gave a sheepish shrug.  

"I need it," Gale said, his voice soft.  "To be rid of this."  He gestured to the Orb and watched Astarion's eyes widen before he remembered that Astarion hadn't been there to hear the deal he'd been offered.  "If I repair it, and give it to Mystra, she'll remove it."  

Astarion blinked and stared at Gale for several long, impossible seconds.  "Are you telling me that your goddess, the goddess of magic itself, has had the ability to remove the Orb all this time and never told you?!" Fury raced through him, deadening any of the pain he felt from the burns on his skin.  To know that Mystra had not only refused to tell Gale she could help with the Orb, but that she could have healed him from it entirely... 

Gale took a deep, shuddering breath.  The betrayal was still sharp and fresh.  He and Tav had found out only days ago and the realization still stung.  "Yes.  That is what she informed me.  She wanted me to learn my lesson."  

"She wanted you to die for sake of her bloody lesson!" Astarion shouted.  He clenched his hands into fists, even though the aching pain reminded him of what a bad idea that was.  "She was happy to tell you to go off and kill yourself without hesitation, take care of that little problem all in one go, wasn't she?  And now she demands you to do more favors for."  He scoffed.  "Gods.  What use are they in a world like this?" 

Gale hesitated.  "There is... another option."  

Astarion's eyes narrowed.  "What is it?  Does it involve me getting to stab her, darling?  I would be happy to oblige."  

"No," Gale shook his head.  "The Crown of Karsus, who once destroyed all magic."  He touched the Orb in his chest.  "This is the Karsus Weave.  If I were to have the Crown... I could do the same."  He met Astarion's eyes.  "Make my own future, separate from Mystra, separate from anything except what I wanted.  I could at last have my own power back."  

Astarion lowered his eyes and looked at the floor between them.  He smiled faintly as he thought of standing in the ritual circle, Cazador at last at his feet, dagger clenched in his fingers so he could carve the same runes into his back.  How powerful he had wanted to be for those moments, willing to kill his siblings, all the spawn, for sake of power that would allow him to control his own destiny.  How strange that they were here, now, and he was on the other side of this conversation.  

"Darling, you would make a terrible god," Astarion said, smiling faintly.  He could feel Gale drawing himself up in afront and looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.  "If I am not allowed to Ascend as a vampire, you are most certainly not allowed to Ascend to Godhood."  

"It's not the same-"  Gale snapped his mouth shut, the memory of their conversation only days ago stopping him in his tracks.  It was the same.  It was precisely the same.  "Gods," he whispered.  "What a pair we are."  

Astarion let out a chuckle and nodded.  "Exactly as I thought.  Both of us offered power beyond our wildest hopes, wanting nothing more to be free, and needing to have someone else smarter than us tell us not to take it." 

Gale snorted.  "Smarter than me, hm?" 

"This time," Astarion said, huffing in relief when he heard the sound of Shadowheart's heavy armor clanking up the stairs.  Relief flooded over him at the healing magic at her fingertips, and he sagged in relief as the burns were all healed and he no longer felt flayed alive.  He managed a smile for her.  

"Good thing Gale got to you when he did, or you would have been far worse off," she said, looking at him pointedly.  "Are you going back to the Elfsong?" 

"Yes." 

"No." 

Gale looked at Astarion, frowning at his denial.  "What do you mean that you aren't going back?  Of course you are."  

Astarion shook his head.  "The place is full of windows, especially the upper floors.  I refuse to cover every single window and-" 

"Very well," Gale interrupted, turning to Shadowheart.  "I'll take Astarion somewhere safe.  I can manage a Teleportation spell.  We'll be back later, once it's dark and I have had a chance to rest."  When she nodded and turned to leave them, he sighed and put his hands on his hips.  "You truly don't wish to return to the Elfsong?" 

"No," Astarion answered.  It was a memory of a life that he would no longer have, and the more he thought of it, the more he hated the idea of going back.  

Gale pursed his lips another moment and saw the resigned look in Astarion's eyes.  "I am not letting you return to the house of that monster."  

"It is the best-" 

"No, it is not the best," Gale snapped.  "I have somewhere safe to take you.  And you will not argue until we have both rested and had a chance to recover.  Then I will come back, find the pieces of the Crown, assemble them, take them to Mystra, and..." he stopped and took another breath.  "And then figure out what I do next."  

Astarion crossed his arms over his chest.  "And am I left as the Prince locked in whatever Tower you take me to?  I'd rather step into broad sunlight, darling."  

Gale flinched.  "You wouldn't be locked anywhere."  He pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket and began to draw on the floor.  At least this summoning circle he'd had memorized for decades.  "I would never do that to you."  

"If you don't tell me where I am going, I am not going to follow you," Astarion growled.  "I don't care how safe you say it is, if people find out I am a vampire spawn-" 

Gale used a small flash of magic to finish off the last of the teleportation circle.  "I would not trap you in my home.  You are welcome there, always."  The magic under his feet activated, and Gale stepped forward to it, and held his hand out.  "I will not let you come to harm there."  

Astarion stared at Gale's hand and scowled.  "You're taking me to your Tower?" 

"Since you won't return to the Elfsong, and I have more scrolls there?  Yes," Gale answered.  "I need to take you somewhere dark to heal, and that would qualify if you won't return to the Elfsong."  

"And how am I supposed to get back?" Astarion growled.  "How do I know you won't trap me there?" 

Gale glared at him.  "Because at some point in the past few months, I would like to think you have learned that I would never willingly trap you, force you to do anything against your will, or hurt you!" 

Abashed, Astarion cleared his throat and looked away from Gale and the anger on his face.  He was quite right, and Gale didn't deserve him being so suspicious when he was trying to help him.  Taking a deep breath, he reached out and took Gale's hand without another word and felt the tug of the Teleportation Circle, before he was standing on a very plush carpet, in a very large library.  His eyes widened and he looked around him.  

"Welcome," Gale said, sweeping his arm out.  "To my office and library, Astarion.  Let me go close the curtains to the balcony and you will be perfectly safe here."  With a flick of his fingers, the Mage Hand he summoned dashed around the corner and closed off the last of the light coming through the window, the candles on the sconces flaring to life.  "There we are."  

Chapter Text

Astarion was stuck looking at the books that were stacked on every possible surface, reminding him (as though he needed the reminder) that this was the office of a wizard, and one of some renown at that. The scent of the place was heavy with magic, and magic that he knew belonged to Gale after traveling with him for as long as he had.  Tension left his shoulders, and he brought his attention back to Gale.  "Now what?"  

"Now," Gale said with a finger.  "We rest.  First and foremost.  The others can man the city for the remainder of the day, while you and I take a few hours to rest here, before heading back during the night."  

Astarion raised an eyebrow.  "Am I allowed with you on this excursion for your goddess?"  

Gale did his best not to fidget under the piercing and judgmental gaze of Astarion.  "I would not have you trapped here.  If you wish to make other accommodations for yourself upon returning to Baldur's Gate, of course you are free to do so." 

Astarion ordered himself to take a deep breath and back down from his fear and anger.  He was safe here.  Gale had done everything in his power to protect him and make sure he was safe, that he would not have to be concerned about continuing to stay with the wizard.  "Well, if the option is between following you into the depths of the darkest waters the Gate has to offer and remaining in this magnificent library, I think you know precisely what I will choose, darling."  

Gale gave a rueful sigh.  "What is mine is yours, Astarion."  

Rolling his eyes, Astarion reached out and squeezed Gale's arm, drawing the wizard's attention back to him.  "Of course I will be accompanying you on this mad journey of yours.  One of us, after all," he tapped Gale on his nose, just to watch his eyes cross.  "Does not need to breathe and would be very useful in finding the pieces in the water."  

"You'll help?" Gale asked, well-aware that he sounded pathetically hopeful.  

"Once I have slept and had a chance to rid myself of this grime, yes."  

"That, at least, I can help with," Gale said, waving a hand to cast Prestidigitation over both of them cleaning the worst of the grime off of them.  "There.  Now, we can, perhaps..." he paused and huffed.  "Rest.  Gods.  I don't know that the guest room is worthy of human habitation at the moment."  

Astarion bumped their shoulders together.  "I'm sure that we can survive sharing a bed.  I don't know about you, but I am so tired I will be sleeping like the dead."  

Gale huffed as Astarion grinned at him, that cruel little smile that was waiting for him to make the joke that was right there.  "Sleep sounds magnificent.  Come."  He led the way out of the library and to his bedroom across the hall.  "A tour of the tower can wait until we have slept." 

Gale's bedroom was not particularly exotic.  It was a room meant for comfort, not decadence and Astarion had a moment to be surprised before Gale was leading him to the four poster bed, casting another cleaning spell to remove the dust, a Mage Hand to close the curtains he hadn't even noticed, and turning down the covers.  He had been right about the bed being big enough for both of them, and there was a tease hovering at the back of his teeth about the last time Gale had brought someone to his bed, but he refrained, for the moment.  Gale's hand was still warm and enclosed around his.  

"Do you want a change of clothing?" Gale asked, but Astarion was still staring at his bed with an expression he didn't recognize.  

Astarion shook his head.  "I trust you not to take advantage of me, darling."  The blush on Gale's cheeks at the mention was far too fetching and perhaps another day, another time, he would have teased again.  But the bed looked warm and inviting, and the exhaustion of the past several hours (days?  weeks?  months?) was pulling at him. When Gale gestured to the bed, Astarion climbed in, keeping himself to the side with the clearly unused side table as he sank into the very comforting pillows.  

Rather like Gale, everything was warmth and comfort, and though he could hear Gale puttering about the room, likely putting it to rights after his absence, Astarion was far too exhausted to stay awake a mere moment longer.  He closed his eyes and let himself sink into the combination of sleep and a trance that he had perfected over the years.  When, a matter of minutes later, he felt the other side of the bed move, he tensed, briefly, but the sound of Gale's pulse lulled him back to sleep.  

~!~

Gale didn't allow himself to move when he awoke and realized that Astarion had not only moved during the night, but had pressed both of them together, tangled their legs together and wrapped an arm around him.  Whatever comfort Astarion had sought, he more than deserved, and Gale would hold himself as still as possible until he awoke and could untangle them without fear or worry.  If he also, allowed himself to indulge, for a few precious minutes, in the feel of another in his arms, curled close, well.  That was his own business.  

Astarion woke and the first thing he could register was being far more warm than he would ever be on his own pallet.  Warm and cold were things he felt, but they had no true impact on him, however warmth like this was... intoxicating, and not something he was supposed to have.  Which meant something was wrong.  He jolted himself awake and away from the body that he could feel.  He bared his teeth and waited for the bite of the lash, or-

"Astarion!"  

Astarion jolted at the familiar voice and shook himself, blinking rapidly in the dark of the room as several candles leapt to life, followed by what was clearly a Light spell to further illuminate the space.  His eyes darted around the bedroom and he relaxed, increment by increment.  

"You are in Waterdeep.  You are with me, Gale Dekarios.  You are in my Tower, my home.  You are safe.  Cazador is dead.  The Elder Brain is defeated.  It's dark out.  You're safe," Gale said, holding out his hands.  "You're safe, Astarion.  You have my word."  

Astarion heaved in a desperate breath that he did not need, wrapping his arms around himself as he trembled.  "Outside," he panted.  "Let me outside."  

Gale turned on his heel and threw open the bedroom door.  "Come with me," he ordered, doing the same with the door to his office, grabbing the curtain that led to the balcony, yanking it open, before pushing open the glass doors.  He stepped out onto his balcony and held the door open for Astarion, who grabbed for the railing and took in one heaving breath after another.  It was horrible to see him tremble, to see him continue to shake as he sank to his knees under the weight of the deepening night.  

The first sob that choked him was agony, and Astarion barely managed to muffle it against his arm as another followed, tears streaking down his cheeks.  He hung his head and clenched at the balcony, another muffled scream escaping, even as he felt Gale step closer to him.  He dug his nails into the railing, clinging tightly enough to tear the studs apart.  

"Let it out," Gale said, keeping his voice soft.  

A carpet appeared under his knees, cushioning them from the stone of the balcony and Astarion wanted to curse Gale of Waterdeep and his consideration.  But now that he had started this, stopping felt impossible.  It was over, it was all over, and like a fever dream, he would never get it back.  Gale might, perhaps, keep his word, and attempt to find a solution for him, but the idea that such a magic could be invented seemed unlikely at best.  Gale would find other, far more suitable pursuits, and he... 

Perhaps he would join the other spawn in the Underdark.  Then he would never have to know what he was missing, what lingered just beyond reach, constantly.  Astarion attempted to catch his own breath, and focused on what he could manage.  He needed to get himself under control.  They had work to do, and he was no doubt delaying their return to Baldur's Gate.  

How much time had passed, Astarion didn't know, when he felt well enough to stir properly, to blink himself back into shaky awareness, staring up at the overlarge moon above them.  Constricted, once more, to the light of the moon.  He closed his eyes and imagined the weight and heat of the sun, and if he tried hard enough, perhaps he would never forget the memory.  

"Are you all right, Astarion?" Gale asked.  It had been devastating to watch Astarion sob himself dry, crying until his chest was heaving for breath he didn't need.  He was privileged to have been able to be here, to keep him safe while he afforded himself the opportunity to fall apart.  One that he had likely not had after everything that had happened with Cazador.  "Can I get you anything?"  

Astarion wanted to laugh.  There was nothing the wizard could do for him, and yet he was here, kneeling next to him as though his presence alone could fix what was wrong.  "No," he managed.  "Nothing.  I will be quite fine, darling.  Don't know what came over me.  We need to get on with our excursion, after all.  You have a crown to find and give to a goddess, after all."  

Gale watched as Astarion pulled the mask back on, the same one that had been present for months, before they had gotten to know each other better.  The one that let him hide, that let him be whoever he needed to in that moment.  The reminder that he did need to be finding the crown twisted in his belly, but more importantly was his friend who had mourned for all that he had lost.  

Instead, Gale reached out to take Astarion's hands, tugging on the elf until Astarion was looking at him, properly.  "Astarion."  

Astarion swallowed.  "Gale."  

"I swear to you, by every bit of magic I have access to, and every single favor that I can call in across hundreds of colleagues, all of the knowledge I can access.  You will see the sun again," Gale promised, meeting Astarion's wide eyes.  "I swear it, Astarion."  

Astarion yanked his hands away from Gale's and stood, shaking his head.  "Foolish wizard.  There is no need to make such an oath.  This is what I am.  I should accept it."  He turned to stalk back into the Tower, but the reminder that Gale had brought him to the only space that he could guarantee was safe, his home, allowed him to sleep in his bed, to be safe, made him shake.  "Take us back to Baldur's Gate, wizard.  We have a crown for you to find."  

Gale frowned and stared at Astarion's back for several long moments, but the elf didn't move, or turn to face him.  With a grunt, he pushed himself upright.  "Very well.  I'll prepare the Teleportation circle.  My office, I have a room for it."  

Astarion didn't look at Gale as he led the way back into his library, and into a room that was tucked behind another door. He couldn't. It was night, they had work to do, they needed to get a move on and get it done, before the sun began to rise.  "Let's get a move on."  

"Just the matter of a few moments," Gale promised, using a Mage Hand to help him draw the circle.  Astarion was studiously looking at his shelves, refusing to face him, and he gave a faint smile.  He had pushed too far, too fast, it was his own fault that Astarion was pulling back as far as he was now.  Once the circle was complete, he cleared his throat, rather than reach out to touch Astarion.  "Ready?"  

Astarion turned to find Gale standing in the middle of a lit circle once more.  He gave a firm nod and reached out to take his hand, the two of them stepping out and into the Elfsong tavern moments later.  It was much more crowded once they made their way into the main room, but no one stopped them as they headed out to the street.  "Where are we going to begin?" 

"The crown fell into the water.  We'll start there," Gale said.  The bay was huge, but perhaps they would be able to find hints of it.  "At the very least, I know what it feels like, so I can help you locate it."  

"Anything more for us to do than attempt to go fishing?" Astarion asked with an annoyed huff.  

Gale considered it and made his way to one of the captains standing hear a boat.  A few minutes and an exchange of gold later, they were on their way to the middle of the bay.  Once they had dropped anchor, he stepped out onto the bow of the ship.  

"Wizard, what are you up to?" Astarion asked.  The crew was watching, curious and bored, but none of them were fearful about what was going on, which was a big step in the right direction.  

"One way to find what we're looking for," Gale called.  "If we're going to find it, we need a piece of it.  And we know where a piece of it is."  

Astarion raised an eyebrow.  "Did you catch some?"  

Gale chuckled despite himself and pulled a small dagger out of his pocket.  "Hardly."  Taking a deep breath, he lifted the dagger to his chest and pressed the tip in to the center of the Orb.  With a hiss, he waited until several drops of blood had gathered on the edge.  

Astarion stepped up behind Gale, the scent of his blood, the poison in it obvious at this close range.  "What are you doing?" 

"I said once that my blood wouldn't be appealing to you if you were to bite me, instead of Tav.  You never told me if I was right in that supposition," Gale said, glancing over his shoulder at Astarion.  "Am I?" 

Astarion frowned and dropped his eyes to the blade with blood on it.  "It smells poisoned.  No poison I know of, though."  

Gale nodded once.  "That's because it is.  Poisoned Weave, the Karsus weave.  The same Weave the crown is made of, so I can use it to track the pieces of the Crown, and with a little luck and some proper spellwork..." He turned his attention back to the blade and began to chant, softly under his breath, the knife lighting up with blinding white light as it floated in the air in front of him.  

Astarion wasn't skeptical of Gale's skills, rather quite the opposite, but seeing the wizard lit up in violent purple, with the scent of his blood growing stronger in the wind, had him questioning the wisdom of what he was about to do.  The knife lifted higher into the air, and with a twitch of Gale's fingers, shattered into several glowing pieces.  He stepped up to the edge of the boat as Gale gave one final shouted chant, and they shot into the water.  

At the bottom of the bay, he could see them glowing.  Astarion scowled, and watched Gale turn with the largest, most pleased smirk on his face.  Fucking insufferable about this and how it had worked.  "Time to go diving?" 

"Time to go diving," Gale agreed.  "Would you like the spell to let you breathe under water?" 

Astarion raised a single eyebrow.  "I don't need to breathe."  

"But you do," Gale pointed out.  He pulled another two daggers out of his pocket and offered one to Astarion after casting Light on it.  "This should give you visibility down there."  He shrugged himself out of his robe and pulled his shirt off next.  

Astarion blinked once, then again at the sight of Gale's bare chest, thick and hairy, the slight paunch he still had despite all of their traveling.  (They had never lacked for good food, and under Gale's hand, had been, from what their companions had said, very well fed.  Astarion had spent more than one night jealous of their enjoyment of the wizard's cooking.)  "What are you doing?"  

"You're not going to get all of them," Gale said, tying his hair up and out of his face.  "Now, do you want that spell?  I can cast it on both of us, and if we hurry, it'll be done before these expire."  He waved his own lit up dagger.  

"Yes," Astarion said, bracing himself for whatever the sensation of breathing underwater would feel like.  Gale's smile made something tighten in his chest that he was not willing to admit to.  A wave of fingers and another flash of Weave, his vision was mildly distorted by the almost bubble-like Weave that floated around his head.  A similar bubble was wrapped around Gale, but he did not have time to comment on it before the human was jumping over the edge of the ship and into the bay.  Scoffing, Astarion removed his shirt and dove off the bow toward the piece furthest from them.  

--

Wrapping his fingers around the metal of the Crown of Karsus should have felt different.  Should have felt like something, rather than nothing.  But it was nothing.  Ordinary metal, resonating with the magic in his chest so strongly that he could feel it, even now.  Gale brought it up to the boat and was glad for the captain and his men when they heaved it on board before he dove for a second.  

In total, after Astarion had surfaced, and Gale had retrieved the final from directly below the boat, they had six pieces.  He could see the facets for the Netherstones that he would need to collect from Tav, and how the massive crown would fit together.  Perhaps, if they brought it to Dammon, he would be able to reforge it. 

"Time to head back," Gale said with a nod, turning his attention to cleaning off both he and Astarion, until they were dry and had picked up their respective shirts.  He'd done his best not to stare at the sight of Astarion's bare chest, but he was hardly immune to his beauty, though he knew better than to say anything.  The sound of the anchor being raised had him sinking down to sit beside the pieces of the Crown.  This was it, once it was reforged, he would have the same opportunity that Karsus had, to become master of the Weave and-

"Stop thinking about it," Astarion said, glancing at Gale and the wistful expression on his face.  He knew that would lead nowhere positive.  "One step at a time, as you are so fond of saying to me.  One step after another.  do not rush."

Gale nodded once and turned his attention back to the captain.  Even once they got it back into the city, there was no guarantee that Dammon would be able to reforge it.  He repeated that to himself as they made their way to his shop, the pieces of the crown tucked away in the cart they had procured to transport it for most of the gold remaining in their pockets.  Astarion said nothing to him as they made their way to Dammon, and even though the conversation about reforging it as Gale carefully resized it into a crown fit for a human (or a goddess') head, he stayed silent.  

Chapter Text

It took hours, hours that Gale didn't want to wait, and hours for the sun to rise.  Gale met Astarion's eyes and turned to look at Dammon.  "We'll be back for it tonight, and-" 

"Don't be ridiculous.  I'll find shelter, and you can stay until it's finished," Astarion said, crossing his arms over his chest.  "Or do you not trust me to be on my own for a single evening?"  

"I shouldn't even dignify that with a response, Astarion," Gale said, glaring at him.  "Of course I trust you, and I'll come to find you when it's done."  It hurt to hear that even now, even still, Astarion trusted him so little and thought of him as someone dangerous.  "Thank you for all your assistance tonight."  A scoff and the sight of Astarion's back was his only reply.  

"Trouble in paradise?" Dammon asked, raising an eyebrow.  

Gale lowered his eyes to the pieces of the crown, strewn out as they were.  "No," he answered, his voice soft.  There'd never been any paradise between them.  There'd never been anything but grudging respect and a mutual understanding about how much they both loved books.  And, perhaps, an understanding that neither of them were permanent slaves to their past, and that it shouldn't determine their future.  

Dammon let out a snort, even as he turned to the fire.  "You should talk about what happened.  About why it happened.  Leaving it like that, the regret'll eat you alive."  He paused, pointedly, even as he raised a hammer.  "Few of us still meet for drinks, despite it hurting, after the Shadow lands.  Even though we lost so many, we talk, make sure we don't forget them."  

It was sound and wise advice.  But talking about it with Astarion not only felt impossible, it felt like a poor idea.  Like whatever fragile spun thing was between them would be shattered if they pressed too hard.  It would be so easy to press too hard, and then it would be gone forever.  "Our journey together is over," he answered instead, because it was the truth.  Going home to Waterdeep, even if only briefly, had been enough to confirm that for him.  

"Is it?" Dammon asked, before turning back to his forge.  

The question stuck with him as the sun rose steadily, and Gale wondered where Astarion had found shelter, where he had run off to in order to stay safe.  Astarion wouldn't leave him to find a body, he knew that, he'd nearly promised as much.  And when the crown was complete, hours later, Gale held it in shaky fingers as he thanked Dammon.  The Weave in his chest, the Karsite Weave, ached, heavy and painful, even as he clutched the crown close and made his way back to the Elfsong.  Perhaps he would send a Message to Astarion to see where he was, and if he had made it through the daylight hours safely.  

Walking back into the doorway to a cheer of his name had him aching, but he managed a smile and a cheerful hug for everyone who asked.  Word of their heroics was spreading steadily now, everyone aware of the extent to which they had gone to battle for the city.  It didn't matter.  Not really.  Once he'd made his way through the sea of people, Gale trudged up the stairs, and found several of his friends waiting.  Wyll was there, so was Halsin, and Tav, there in the corner.  He could hear Shadowheart around the corner, talking with Aylin and Isobel, and Jaheira was laughing with Minsc.  The familiar comfort of them, even as they shouted his name and rushed him, wrapping him in a tight hug, was what he'd needed. 

"Well there you are, took you long enough to get back here." 

Astarion's voice, dry and sardonic, had Gale's head snapping up, but the sight of him coming out from his bed, dressed once more in his armor, was one that he hadn't realized he had been just as desperate to see.  Gale broke out of the hug from Tav and made his way to Astarion, wrapping his arms around him in a desperately tight hug, squeezing him tight.  

"Oof, hello to you too, wizard.  It's not as though I didn't just see you.  What is all of this?" Astarion asked, even when Gale's fingers dug into his sides for several long moments before he was at last released.  

Gale pulled back once he'd managed to get himself under control and took a deep breath, smiling at Astarion.  "Nothing.  I'm glad that you're safe."  He laughed and shook his head.  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry.  I'm glad it's over.  I just have to deliver the crown, now."  That sobered up his companions, all of them watching him pointedly.  The weight of their gazes had him wanting to squirm.  "Just to deliver the crown." 

The silence grew and Gale cleared his throat, looking at Astarion, and then behind him, at Tav.  "She's... she's promised to remove the Orb if I do."  

"Which means the bitch could have done that this whole time?!" 

Tav's indignation, almost identical to Astarion's, had him laughing tiredly, shaking his head at them as he stepped away and back toward his bed.  He sat down on the edge of it, and breathed out slowly, reviling in the moment the others gave him to be alone.  He took the crown out from his bag and studied it, stroking it.  Dammon had done an incredible job, and he couldn't help wondering how it would feel to step into Karsus' footsteps.  To take control of his own destiny.  Answer to no one, least of all a god.

Someone sat across from him, and Gale had expected Astarion, but instead it was Tav, staring at the crown in his lap, where his fingers were stroking over it.  He glanced to the side at the open window nearby.  Of course Astarion wouldn't have come over.  He couldn't.  He tightened his hands on the crown.  If he did it, he'd have the power to give Astarion what he needed to walk in the sun again.  It wouldn't be a possibility, it would be a certainty.  

"You're not going to do anything stupid when you get in front of her, are you?" Tav asked, staring down Gale.  "Astarion asked me to go with you, since he wasn't sure how long it would take."  

Gale clenched his hands around the crown tighter and let out a rough breath.  He swallowed and shook his head.  "I don't want to do anything stupid."  Wanting to free them wasn't stupid.  It wasn't.  Astarion deserved that.  They all deserved that.  

Tav snorted.  "The expression on your face says otherwise.  So does the hole that Astarion is staring in you from across the room."  

When had these people learned to read him so well?  It was an ache that had settled deep into his chest, the kindness, the care for his person.  They had done more to keep the Orb fed other than Tara.  "Don't be ridiculous.  I could never leave Tara.  Or my mother."  

"Or Astarion," Tav added, a sly smirk on his face.  

Gale felt himself flushing, but he didn't bother trying to deny it.  Leaving Astarion would be impossibly tough, especially after having had him in his home.  "Did he tell you something?" 

"Halsin and I are going back to the Emerald Grove, after we finish here.  We both wanted to make sure he would be all right.  That he wasn't going to go lock himself up in Cazador's mansion, or in the Underdark," Tav said.  "He mentioned you, and going to live with you in Waterdeep."  Tav paused, his voice softening further as he reached out to touch Gale's knee.  "He mentioned that you might help him walk in the sun again."  

"It will take a while for me to figure out how, but yes, I have every intention of keeping that promise," Gale agreed, stroking over the edges of the crown again.  "And he is always welcome."  

"Does he know that you're in love with him?" Tav asked, kindly.  

Gale took a deep breath, the casualness of the question enough to have him ready to fall apart right then and there.  "No.  He may have, perhaps, guessed.  But I haven't told him."  

"You going to get around to doing that, now that we've saved the world?" 

Was he?  What if Astarion decided to leave, decided to then fuck off, and never show his face near Waterdeep again?  Then he would have lost a friend, and be alone save for Tara once more.  Then again, after he helped Astarion walk in the sun again, perhaps he wouldn't bother to stay even then.  He'd have gotten what he wanted, and-

"I see why Astarion wants to kill Mystra so badly," Tav said with a chuckle.  

Gale blinked himself back to attention to find Tav smiling at him once more.  "What?" 

Tav scooted closer and reached out to take Gale's hands away from the crown, squeezing them.  "You know, after we spend a bit of time at the Grove, I'm coming to visit you, right?"  

Gale's mouth went dry and he stared at Tav, at the surprise that flitted across his face, and then the sad smile that grew shortly after.  "You don't-" 

"Shut up," Tav growled, putting the crown to the side before wrapping his arms around Gale's shoulders, hugging him tight.  "Of course I'm coming to visit you. Lae'zel has left.  Karlach... has to go back to try to find an answer. Wyll is going with her to help keep her safe.  Shadowheart is going to stay here for a little while, to help.  You and Astarion are going to go to Waterdeep.  Halsin and I to the Grove."  

Clutching at Tav, Gale held on and felt a sob shake in his chest.  The knowledge that Tav would come visit, would still want to see him after everything meant everything.  "I will be happy to host you both for as long as you please."  

"We'll take you up on that," Tav promised.  "Now do me a favor and sort your shit with Astarion?" 

Gale laughed weakly when Tav gave him another hug and stepped away to head back to the others.  The sound of footsteps, followed by a window shutter being closed told him who was coming next.  Astarion sat across from him, where Tav had moments earlier.  

"Ready to go give the bitch her crown?" Astarion asked.  "And ready to be free of that blasted Orb?" 

Gale huffed and looked up at the ceiling.  The thought of being able to breathe without the weight on his chest, constantly draining his magic?  The very definition of magical.  "More than you can possibly imagine."

Astarion gave a firm nod. "You're not going to do anything fucking stupid while you're at it, are you?" 

Gale shook his head.  "No.  I'm not going to do anything stupid."  For the first time, it didn't feel like an empty platitude that he was saying to make everyone stop worrying.  It felt like the truth, and he needed that more than he realized.  He nodded again and grinned at Astarion.  "I'll be back before you know it."  

"You'd better be," Astarion growled.  "Besides, I have something I want to give you when you get back.  Something that is long overdue."  

Gale's mouth went dry and he stared at Astarion for several long moments, his cheeks flushed and his heart pounding.  "You sure it has to wait until I get back?" 

"I'm sure," Astarion answered, lifting his nose into the air, prim.  "Now get going, so the sooner you can return."  

Astarion's eyes were glittering and had he not nearly promised what his heart told him would be a kiss when he returned, Gale would have kissed him right then and there.  He reached out and gave Astarion's arm a squeeze before he picked up the crown and nodded, staring down at it.  "I'll be back soon."  

Gale could feel the others all watching him as he made his way to the door, tucking the crown into his robes.  He kept his head low and made his way to the temple. He needed the time to think, to consider, and to stay true to his word, that he would not do anything foolish.  

As much as he might have wished for the walk to last as long as possible, the temple loomed above him, and Mystra's statue shortly after.  It was glowing, vibrantly alive with Weave, and Gale recognized an open portal when it was left for him.  He briefly reached in to touch the crown and took a deep breath, ordering himself to be steady.  He could do this.  He would do this.  He'd promised.  Gale reached out to touch the glowing waves of Weave and let himself be pulled.

~!~

Astarion paced across the room for what had to be the hundredth time in the past hour.  The room had gotten steadily more and more tense over the past three hours when Gale had not returned.  The temple had been empty for over two hours, Wyll had sent an inquiry and found out, and he could hear the whispers that perhaps, despite their advice, Gale had done something else than what he had promised.  He ached at the thought, repeating to himself that it could not be possible.  It could not.  

Something had to have happened, something had to have.  Mystra had played a trick, or placed additional demands, or perhaps she had been angry at Gale's success... anything could have happened, and all of them were left with no option but to sit here and stew in their anger, waiting.  Doing nothing but wait.  

(He ignored the voice in the back of his mind that said this is what Gale would have been left doing had he gone through with his plan in the graveyard.  That voice made his heart ache in ways he wasn't ready to look at yet.)  

Astarion made one more lap of the room, when, at last, the sound of footsteps had them all turning toward the door, the entire room silent as they waited.  The sight of Gale's armor, windswept hair, and an exhausted smile was everything he ever could have wished to see and he raced across the room and halted just in front of him, looking over him from head to toe, several times over.  "What on earth took you so long?  We'd nearly given up on you ever coming back!"  

Gale let out a rough laugh.  "It hurt.  Far more than I expected, but perhaps as much as I deserved.  She did not try to dull the pain.  She said as much.  It took me time to recover and be able to travel back without losing my mind in the Outer Planes."  His entire body ached, and he wanted to sleep for perhaps a month, possibly even curled up next to Astarion.  He pitched himself forward and tucked his head against Asarion's neck, breathing in deep and slow.  It was over, all of it was, at last, perhaps, over.  

"But it's gone?  She took it back?" Astarion asked, his eyes dropping to the tattoo on Gale's neck.  It was glowing, but it seemed to already be lighter, as though it were fading.  "Please tell me that it is finally over."  He clenched his hand around the gift in his palm and waited for Gale's tired eyes to properly meet his.

Gale nodded once and took another deep breath.  "Impossibly, yes.  It does seem to be over."  He smiled faintly and lifted himself off Astarion's neck.  "She invited me to be her Chosen again, to, according to her, step into my role by her side."  

Astarion's breath that he did not and had not needed in more than two centuries caught in his chest.  It was agonizing, torture, but if this was what he had to face, then he would.  He would.  Gale deserved this happiness.  

"I confess, I never expected that she would ever want to take me back," Gale continued, clearing his throat as he waited for Astarion to look at him, frowning a fraction when he refused, standing in front of him, trembling.  "That's why..." he paused and reached out to take Astarion's chin in his fingertips and lifted until Astarion's blood-red eyes were locked on his.  "I decidedly savored the pleasure of getting to tell her no."  

"No?" Astarion whispered, his eyes widening.  

"No," Gale confirmed.  "In fact, if my rather excellent memory serves, I told her there was nothing that she could offer me that I would want.  Absolutely nothing.  All the power in the world is worth nothing if you cannot do something worthwhile with it."  He let out a weak laugh, shaking his head as he pushed his fingers through his hair.  "If I'm being quite honest, I can't really believe I said that to her."  

They were standing in the middle of all of their friends.  Everyone was listening, watching, confused and curious about what had happened, where Gale had been, and they were front and center stage for all of their attention.  But it didn't matter.  Not at all.  

Astarion threw his arms around Gale's shoulders, tangled his fingers in Gale's unruly and still uncombed hair, and kissed him for everything he was worth, everything he was, and everything they had somehow managed to survive together.  Somehow they melted together, and around them, there was the sound of applause and cheering when he finally pulled back to admire the blood gathering in Gale's cheeks. 

"Astarion?" Gale managed, clearing his throat.  "What..." 

"Surely I don't need to explain what a kiss is, wizard?" Astarion teased, keeping his arms around Gale's shoulders, toying with his hair.  "If I do, I will demand giving you practical demonstrations.  The only true way to learn."  

Gale laughed weakly, leaning in to kiss Astarion again, since it seemed like, somehow, he was now allowed.  Like this was a thing he could dare to think about allowing himself to have.  "I won't share," he warned, keeping the words soft against Astarion's lips.  "I can't.  Please don't ask me to."  

"Then I won't share either," Astarion said, lifting his fingertips to Gale's ear.  "Especially not with a goddess."  Moving slowly, carefully, he tugged the earring out of Gale's ear, waiting for his protest, but there was none.  Instead, with a flick of his fingers, he revealed the earring he had bought for Gale.  "The North Star.  Not her guiding star, but for someone who respects the stars as you do, a guiding light."  

Gale's breath caught and he blinked away the burn of tears at the thoughtfulness of the choice.  "It's perfect." 

"Of course it is.  I picked it," Astarion said with a scoff, rolling his eyes.  He slid it into place, easily, and left it dangling, brushing his finger along the line of Gale's beard.  "Suits you much more than that old thing."  

"I'd have to agree," Gale said, his voice rough.  He glanced to his left and smiled at the sight of the one room with a door left obviously open to them both.  "Come.  I think we need to spend a few minutes, at the least, talking about that."  

Astarion scoffed and tossed his head.  "What more is there that needs to be said?  You're possessive, so am I, you want me, I find your patheticness appealing, for a reason I cannot fathom, and-" 

"And I'm in love with you," Gale interrupted, his voice soft.  

Astarion's breath caught and he stared at Gale, unblinking, for several seconds.  The words reverberated in the suddenly very silent and very obviously quiet room, but there was no hurry to replace them, to explain them away.  Gale had said them, Gale had meant them, and how those were on the table between them.  He licked his lips and cleared his throat.  "You..." 

Gale smiled at Astarion and reached out to take his hand, giving it a slow squeeze.  "Yes."  He led the way to the private room and tugged Astarion inside, shutting the door behind him, before removing his armor and setting it to the side, before exhaling hard and sinking down on the edge of the bed.  His hands were still shaking, after everything that he'd done, and that he'd gone through, but now he was here, with Astarion, and that was what mattered.  They were together, and that was all that mattered.  

Astarion stared at Gale, and the clear exhaustion on his face, and took a moment to strip himself down before he sat on the bed beside him.  "You are truly all right after confronting Mystra?" 

Gale let out a weak laugh.  "Astarion, I feel better than I have in months, maybe even years."  His head fell back and he stared at the ceiling, breathing in deep.  "There is nothing for me at her side, and I know that now.  Not only do I know that, I'm certain of it."  It had been easier than he expected to say that he was satisfied, that he didn't need any sort of grand knowledge that she could have granted him.  

He was truly satisfied with everything that he could learn as a human, with the power that he had access to, and with the life that he would begin living here, not in the Outer Planes and the Astral Sea.  He had a life here.  He had a reason to focus on life.  And Gale was never going to forget it.  Never again.  There was something to be said for personal growth, and he had gone through more than his fair share in the past two years.  

Astarion nodded.  "I'm glad to hear that you were able to come through things.  You deserve that, darling.  And more, of course."  

"The only more I want is right here," Gale said, giving Astarion's hand a squeeze.  "I want you to come back to Waterdeep with me.  I can make a Sunwalker ring now.  I know it.  It will take me some time, but I have everything I need to do it.  I swear it to you, Astarion.  I swear."  The familiar surge of the Weave inside him, responding to his subconscious call had him shuddering, but all he wanted was to fulfill the wish.  

"You don't owe me that.  You don't owe anyone anything," Astarion said, staring straight ahead at the wall.  

Gale frowned and shifted closer to press their thighs together, holding onto Astarion's hand.  "I don't feel like I owe it to you.  I want to give it to you.  Because I care about you, and I want to give the sun back to you."  

A tremble ran up from the base of his spine through his entire body at the bold statement from Gale, who seemed determined to make him believe it.  "Darling-" 

"If you're going to try to convince me otherwise, I am going to remind you that I am in love with you, and you're going to do nothing but insult me if you try it," Gale pointed out, watching several emotions flick over Astarion's face as he tried to settle on one.  "Now you know where I am at, the question is, what do you want to do.  The thing is not contingent on you being in a relationship with me, Astarion.  I'd make it for you regardless.  I hope you know me well enough to know I would never-" 

Astarion groaned and hung his head.  "Stop it, you absolute buffoon.  Do not even begin to go down that road.  I kissed you on your return from the temple, remember?" 

Gale would never forget it as long as he lived.  Whether he and Astarion became more, that would remain to be seen, but at the very least, he would have that moment of being kissed to hold close to his heart where no one else could see.  He smiled at Astarion and lifted up their hands and kissed the back of Astarion's.  "Of course I remember, I'm not likely to forget it any time soon.  But a kiss is not an indication of wanting a relationship.  We have been through a great deal together, and it is often the case that during these times of heightened emotions that-" 

Astarion decided to forgo any more attempts at conversation by reaching out to Gale, cupping his palms around his cheeks, to pull him in for a kiss.  It was enough to stop him for a moment, but he could already hear Gale gearing up to continue when their lips fell apart, so he did the only thing that could possibly be done and straddled him, pressing him by his shoulders, back against the bed.  Gale's eyes were wide and surprised, but not displeased at his new position.  

Astarion slid his fingers into Gale's hair, stroking through it as Gale panted against his lips, trying to catch his breath.  "You saved my life," Astarion said, his voice soft.  "Even when I did not want to be saved, you dragged me back the entire way, and I have done the same for you.  You have invited me into your home, into your life, and have promised the impossible for me, simply because I have said that I want it."  

Gale licked his lips and stared up at Astarion, trying to find the words.  "Astarion."  

"You have said you love me.  That you are in love with me," Astarion continued, leaning down to press their lips together once more.  "You told your goddess that you didn't need her anymore."  He slid downward just a fraction so Gale's belly was pressed against him and he could hear the flutter of his heart.  The siren call of Gale's blood was something they would need to discuss later.  He could almost taste the Weave in it like this, this close to him.  He paused and pulled back to meet Gale's eyes again.  "I don't know what love feels like." 

Gale swallowed and licked his lips, staring at Astarion's bare chest, then up the arch of his neck, to his lips again.  "Would you like to try to find out?" 

Astarion leaned down and rubbed their noses together, exhaling against Gale's lips.  "I suspect that you will be happy to teach me this, just like you are with all other things."  

Gale pulled Astarion down and into another kiss, before rolling him into the bed properly.  "This is one of those things, my love-" he watched Astarion's eyes dilate and smiled.  "-that requires practical demonstration."  He pressed a soft kiss to the underside of Astarion's jaw and along the curve of it.  

"Lucky me, I have an experienced teacher," Astarion quipped, gasping as Gale nipped down on the skin of his jaw.  The next few moments were taken over by slow, steady kisses, shared gasps, and an ever-escalating heat between them.  "And I suspect I'm going to enjoy this demonstration."  

Gale licked his lips and lifted his eyebrows.  "Then sit back and enjoy, my love."  

Astarion arched back against the comfortable bed and pulled Gale down and into another kiss.  A lifetime of learning to love this?  He could learn to love that.