#it is 4am sorry this doesn't flow very well

[electricaquarius]

Duchess' 4am fanfiction spree hits once again, this time written at 3am. This one is the tiefling party, Joanna rejects Astarion and has a gossip session with Karlach, there's some Gale shipping, it's a fun time. There's scandalous content like kissing and hand holding! Fic is below the cut.

‘Let's wait until things quieten down. Once the others are asleep, we'll find each other.’

A blush quickly formed on Joanna's cheeks as she processed the fact that she had very much just been propositioned, pretty much out of nowhere. It was bizarre, Astarion had given no indication that he was interested in her, in that way or otherwise. ‘Oh! Oh, um…’ A nervous giggle escaped her lips. ‘Um, no. No thank you.’ She began to play with the hair at the bottom of her braid. ‘I'm… sorry? I'm not really the type to go for, ah, casual arrangements.’

Well, shit. There went that plan. He supposed it didn't matter too much in the grand scheme of things, he'd just have to secure his position within the group in another way. He was more than a little offended though. Astarion had done this song and dance a thousand times before, was he really that out of practice? ‘Hm, well I suppose I'll respect your decision to spend your evening with inferior company. Have a good evening, my dear.’

Joanna squeaked a goodbye and nearly sprinted over to Karlach, who looked a little panicked at her sudden arrival. ‘Soldier! Where's the fire? You look like you've had a right shock.’

‘Karlach, babes, you are not going to fucking believe what just happened.’ Joanna tried to keep her voice low but was unsure how much Astarion's elven ears could pick up. ‘Let's get out of here for a sec, I wanna talk to you privately.’

‘Ooh, hot gossip? I'm game!’ Karlach led the way to the bathing pond, the only place around camp still mostly safe but definitely unoccupied. She plopped herself down on the rock and crossed her legs, like a child awaiting a story. ‘Alright, tell me what happened with Fangs. Oh, I bet he said something just awful, didn't he? He can be such an arse!’

‘Honestly if he didn't spell it out I'd have no idea what he was asking me for.’ Joanna laughed, waving her hands excitedly. ‘He - and this is the gospel truth, I swear it - He just asked me to go to bed with him!’ Another peal of laughter from them both this time. 

‘What? Nooooo!’ Karlach held her hands in front of her mouth in exaggerated shock. ‘Don't get me wrong, sweet, but I'd never figure you for his type. What did he say, exactly?’

Joanna recited the line from earlier, doing her best impression of Astarion's swagger. ‘What bothered me most is it was so presumptive! I guess he's not used to rejection, eh?’ Karlach waggled her eyebrows at her.

‘That's no surprise, now. Still-’ A rustle from the bushes had Karlach holding one finger aloft, scanning the environment for the source. A wave of relief washed over her when Gale appeared, a leaf still clinging to his hair. He brushed it out and made his way over to them. 

‘Gale! Everything alright back there?’ Joanna smiled, hoping there wasn't yet another emergency back at camp when she'd just started enjoying herself. 

‘Everything's going swimmingly. Drinks are flowing, music is playing, everyone is having a good time. I'd noticed you two were missing and thought I'd better come check, that's all.’ Gale did have an ulterior motive for seeking them out but it was innocent enough, he decided.

‘Snoop.’ Karlach snorted, taking another swing from her bottle. ‘Jo was just telling me about her encounter with our resident vampire. I know you saw it, too.’

‘Stop, you're so bad!’ Joanna waved her away, very nearly but not quite brushing her skin. Karlach moved at the last second. ‘Alright, alright, I'll tell you. But I'm making you promise that this conversation doesn't leave our little group. Trust me, it'd be embarrassing for both me and him otherwise.’ Joanna extended her pinky finger towards Gale.

‘I must admit I'm intrigued. I saw you run off quite quickly after talking with him, don't tell me he did something to offend you?’ Gale linked his finger with hers, relishing the warmth of her contact for a moment. 

‘More like she offended him! Did you know, he asked her to‐’ Joanna cut Karlach off with a chorus of shushes. 

‘Look, it's my story, I'm going to tell it! So, he's whining on about how boring this party is and how he'd like more excitement. I ask him what he's talking about, which I think is a pretty reasonable question. He tells me he's talking about sex, acting like I'm completely stupid for not getting it. But then he starts telling me we should meet up after everyone is asleep? And I'm all, ‘I didn't agree to anything!’ And he's like…’ Joanna continued on, the wine loosening her tongue and making her babble. Gale thought it was quite endearing in a way, she was usually so intelligent and thoughtful so to see her letting loose for once made him smile. She deserved it, they all deserved it, just for one night.

Joanna was gesticulating wildly, deep into an imaginary argument with Astarion, when her hand caught Karlach's shoulder. ‘Ah! Shit, I'm so clumsy!’ She pulled her hand back quickly and examined it, noticing an angry red blotch spreading across it.

‘Oh fuck, are you alright? I should've kept my distance, I…’ Karlach sprang up, immediately putting space between herself and her two friends. She hated being reminded of her engine, just when she was starting to feel normal again. 

‘No, no, it's totally my fault. Karlach, love, please don't be upset. You don't need to go.’ Still, Karlach could tell Joanna was in a lot of pain, despite everything. She very carefully came closer and looked at the burn.

‘Shit, looks nasty. Oi, wiz, can you do anything about this?’ Karlach nodded towards Gale who had also leaped up and was examining the back of Joanna's hand. He knelt down and brought his hands towards hers, pausing for a moment.

‘May I?’ Joanna nodded, and he took her hand in his. He scanned the burn, putting together his rudimentary knowledge of medicine and trying not to focus on how nice it felt to be holding hands again. He'd thought about it endlessly since Joanna had conjured the vision for them together in the weave that one night. ‘It's only a mild burn, thankfully. We just need to cool down the affected area.’

‘So… can I help? You need me to go pick some mugwort or balsam or mergrass or something?’ Karlach's tail wagged behind her in short strokes like a metronome, clearly anxious. 

‘No, I should be able to handle this with a modified Ray of Frost. Thank you, though, all the same.’ His eyes flitted back to Joanna. ‘You need to tell me if the cold becomes unbearable, okay? What this should do is cool and numb the burn to stop it from doing any further damage.’

Joanna nodded, wondering idly if it was just her feeling quite so affected by how close they were right now. Any thoughts of comforting Karlach had flown out of her mind the minute he took her hand. He rolled his thumb over her knuckles that the burn had spread across and there was an immediate cooling sensation. 

A knowing smile spread across Karlach's face. Yes, she might have hurt a dear friend but in exchange for getting closer to her wizard, the sacrifice wasn't all that great. ‘Hey, Alfira's started playing again. I should go, I promised Shadowheart a dance.’

‘Bye…’ Joanna looked over her shoulder absently, watching Karlach leave. Content that she wasn't upset about their little accident, Joanna was all too happy for her to leave. She was hypnotized watching Gale work, mumbling to himself. The burn faded every time he swiped his thumb across it until it disappeared entirely. His work done, Gale lifted his eyes to Joanna's but didn't move an inch. Yes, maybe he was being exactly as presumptive as Astarion when he leaned in for a kiss but at that moment he didn't care. Their lips met and he felt Joanna gasp lightly against him.

Time slowed at that moment. Silently, Gale begged for her to reciprocate, to not push him away. When her hand came up to run through his hair he felt like he could finally breathe again. It was ridiculous, juvenile to be so taken with someone he hadn't known for any meaningful period of time but life since the tadpole had become so precarious that he truly didn't know if this would be his only chance. 

Joanna was the first to break away, pulling back and admiring him while she stroked his hair. ‘You look very handsome in the moonlight, you know.’ She whispered sweetly, sensing nothing but love in his eyes. 

‘I should think I look handsome in the daytime, too.’ He laughed. ‘I was hoping that I hadn't followed in the footsteps of our fanged friend, just now. I'm afraid that I find it quite difficult to control myself when I touch you. That, and I have to say, I felt the need to, well, stake my claim, somewhat. Trust me when I tell you that you're very… *popular* among our little group. I can't say I blame them, but, I suppose I'm just too selfish.’ Gale takes a deep breath, considering how to phrase what he wants to say next. He hadn't had time to rehearse and this is absolutely not how he'd typically go about winning over an object of his affections, but time is short. And the worst part was, he didn't know exactly how short. 

‘I want you.’ He continued, giving Joanna's hand a squeeze. ‘And I don't mean to imply you're some kind of trophy or a piece of meat but let me just say I'm not exactly short on competition. You might not believe that Astarion is interested in you but I've seen that look in his eyes. I know it far too well. And of course, you're not bound to me in any way just because I was ‘first’, but-’

Joanna leaned forward and kissed him once more, hoping to silence his worries. ‘Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?’ She smiled, stroking his cheek. ‘I love our friends dearly, but the way I feel about you is unique. Quite honestly, I'd like to show you exactly what I mean.’ She began to trail kisses from his mouth to his neck, working her way down to his chest when the orb began to glow brightly. 

Gale made a soft grunt of pain and gently pushed her away. ‘Believe me when I tell you I'd love to, but I cannot have too much excitement with the orb the way it is.’ He held her face between his hands. ‘I feel very, very strongly for you too but this is as far as we go tonight.’

Joanna sighed and settled against him, his arm settling at her waist. ‘Never mind. Let's just spend a moment here, together.’