#PLUS Tav being unsure with him

[monabee-draws]

Been daydreaming my Tav and Astarion's backgrounds in the case where they meet before the events of the game and I had to draw some designs.

TONS of What-Ifs in here, which I will elaborate below and also hopefully in a series of comics one day!!!

Astarion is a junior magistrate a few years before the Gur incident, and is (as per usual) used as a jockey for the less appealing, more irritating cases by his seniors. Magistrate Waltzman, the insufferable, well-meaning fool (Astarion's words) often gives Astarion difficult or tricky cases to test his mettle.

One day he's given the application for a Lolthite temple to be built in the Upper City. Everyone else laughs it off and Astarion knows it is going to be a pain (because the patriars would never agree, religious zoning law is complex and takes forever to muddle through, and the drow themselves will probably eat him.) Instead he meets Phaerdril, who commiserates with his work situation, and they find a way to improve both of their situations by causing beaurocratic nonsense. The building of the temple is stuck in broken-ground limbo for several years, Phaer's commander loses face for bragging about progress that never materialises, and Astarion's higher-ups are repeatedly inundated by complaints from the patriars.

They remain friends (with occasional benefits) over the next few years, meeting whenever the drow envoy returns to see how construction is going. Astarion gifts her a sending stone, she meets his sister who (to his dismay) falls in love with and marries a gnomish man, and eventually Astarion is given a chance by Wilbur to take on a more serious charge - the Gur case. He makes a conservative ruling in hopes of impressing his peers. It is not taken well, and his backstory plays out as expected.

Phaer, who was speaking with him over sending stone when he is attacked begs for leave to find out what happened but Iimfryn refuses. She leaves anyway, but gets to the city far too late (without sanctioned magical aid it is a long, long trip.)

Something traumatic happens when she finally arrives (which I will eventually illustrate I hope) and when she returns she is given an excessive punishment. Instead of taking it, she abandons Menzoberranzan, and is saved from her hunters by a band of Eilistraeen duergar. She eventually converts, changes her name in honour of her rescuers, and years later meets Astarion again after being abducted from Waterdeep by the illithids. It is awkward and painful and they fall in love again even though they're such different people from those who met 200 years ago.

[serenaoffaerun]

Acquiescence

My version of Chapter 2 to @alpydk's piece, "Consequences" - PLEASE READ THAT FIRST!

Summary: Tav slept with Mizora, Gale left. BIG catty fight ensued for the remainder of their adventures in Baldur's Gate. Hate sex ensues at the epilogue party. And then...

Word Count: 2,640

CW: References to (consenting) sexual encounter, depression, and alcoholism.

Screenshot: Taken from my own gameplay. Please do not re-post as your own.

There are a couple more chapters to follow, because my brain went HAM on this assignment. Stay tuned throughout the week for more!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He spoke first, finally standing up and putting himself back together in his pants. “So, now what?”

She turned to him and pulled her dress back down, trying to flatten the wrinkles and keep her hands busy.

“What do you mean, ‘Now what?’” she barked, a tone slipping out much harsher than she meant. Clenching her fists and slamming her eyes shut, she shook her head quickly, not wanting to go back down this road yet again.

“Sorry, I just…” She sighed and looked at him, continuing in a much gentler tone, “I just mean where could we possibly go from here?” Guilt stabbed at her heart for the eight hundred and fifteenth time that week, and she knew that she was still too tipsy to hide her real emotions much longer.

He sighed, crossed his arms and looked down at his shoes, idly kicking at the dirt with the toe of his boot. “Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know if there’s anywhere to go. But…” He hesitated, unsure if he could commit to his next thought.

He looked up at her while keeping his arms crossed, lest he slip into some inadvertently romantic gesture like grabbing her hands. As he took in the sight of her hair, disheveled from their…escapade, hands nervously fidgeting with her dress, moonlight radiating off her skin, he felt that familiar heartache he’d been carrying around the last six months bloom in his chest. Hells below, he’d missed her, even after all the venomous words and hurled spells.

Her eyes were much softer than they had been earlier this evening. Plus, she’d actually apologized for her tone. Apologized.

He saw a door being cracked ever so slightly open, and gods be damned if he wasn’t going to push through it.

“But I don’t want to believe that,” he continued, voice solemn and quiet. “We’ve done some pretty impossible things together. Surely there’s some kind of progress to be made.”

She chewed on the inside of her cheek as tears welled in her eyes. Damn it all to the hells and back, she did not want to cry. It could be the wine, the adrenaline crash from the mind-shattering rage orgasm, the long-lost gentle touch in the stroking of his thumb against her hand afterwards…or his words just now that betrayed hope in his softened voice. His stupid, comforting voice from his stupid, handsome face looking at her with stupid, soulful eyes that bore a hole in her soul once again.

It was her turn to examine her own shoes now, crossing her arms while sniffling sharply, tensing her jaw and trying to will back the emotions from escaping.

‘Fuck it,’ she thought, meeting his gaze and steeling her resolve.

“I don’t think I can talk about this in-person yet. I don’t think either of us can. But we clearly have unresolved shit to deal with.”

‘It’s a start,’ Gale thought to himself.

He took a slow, deep breath and said, “How about we exchange letters for a while. Take time to properly get our thoughts out without fueling each other’s tempers. Give us time to process and think out our responses.”

She huffed a brief laugh through her nose. “What, communicate like actual functioning, mentally healthy human beings?” They both half-smiled and looked back towards the ground, thankful for the slight emotional reprieve. She continued, “We clearly seem to bring out the worst in each other, don’t we?”

“That we do,” he replied before looking back up. “But there was a time that we’d also brought out the best in each other, once. I refuse to believe we can’t find our way back there again. Someday.” Much to his displeasure, his voice cracked a bit during the last part.

Tav’s breath caught as a few beats of silence went by, her lip quivering. She wanted to run at him and hug his neck and cry until the sun came up. She felt hope for the first time since that dreadful night with Mizora that they could act like reasonable people with each other again, if nothing else. ‘Someday.’ But she figured she’d better quit while they were at least on neutral ground.

“Alright,” she said quietly. She finally looked back up, trying to appear more confident. “I don’t know where to begin, but since I started all this, I’ll go first. Expect a letter in the next week.”

He pressed his lips in a line and nodded his head curtly, if nothing else but to keep himself from rushing forward and crashing their lips together again. He could tell that this was equally difficult for her and wanted nothing more in that moment than to comfort and be comforted by her. But that would have to wait. He didn’t want to push her away.

“Alright. I’ll make sure to respond within the week after.”

“Alright,” she replied.

“Okay,” he said.

After a couple of seconds of silent gazing. She turned on her heel and walked towards her portal home. Before she stepped through, she paused, looked over her shoulder, and said, “Goodnight, Gale.”

Bowing his head slightly, he answered, “Goodnight, Tav.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was pouring rain in Baldur’s Gate when Tav returned.

‘How fucking appropriate.’

As she walked up the steps to her front door, her hands trembling as she brought the key to the lock. She knew what waited inside, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to face it yet. Hesitating with her hand on the knob, she closed her eyes, swallowed thickly, and took a deep, shaky breath.

‘Come on, Tav. You’ve walked into rooms filled with goblins, tadpoled drow, mindflayers, and torture devices before. Get a grip.’

As she swung the door open, she was hit with a wall of smells: stale alcohol, dust, even rotten food. Lip quivering and feet unsteady, she leaned on her door frame looking inside. Books littered the floor in a pile on one end of the room, having been shoved off the shelves in anger a month ago. How dare they smell like his tent. His tent that had contained the tomes of every adventure’s loot pile, begging to be scoured for information that would nudge them closer to a victory. The tent where she’d lain every night for months, her head on his chest, breathing in the smell of him and the pages and letting the sound of his heartbeat lull her to sleep.  

Down the wall from the traitorous book pile was a waste bin filled with dirt and burned scraps of fabric. The charred remains of her camp clothing. That cloth had the audacity of smelling like him too, even after they had started sleeping as far away from each other as possible in the remaining weeks after “The Fight.” She couldn’t explain why, but she’d held on to them in the bottom of her wardrobe when she unpacked. Something inside of her wouldn’t let her get rid of them.

That is, until after she’d returned from Waterdeep with her heart re-broken. The first thing she did when she got home was rip those clothes from the drawer, toss them in the bin, pour oil on them, and light a match. It wasn’t her brightest moment, though the flames that started to lick up the wall sure were. After taking an entire sack of dirt from her garden and quickly dumping it over the fire, she didn’t have the energy or motivation to clean it up.  

Wine bottles littered the tables and the floor throughout the rest of the room, some broken and remnants spilled. Down the hall in the kitchen, some plates were left on the counter with remains of meals barely eaten, days old at this point.

Never would she have admitted to anyone at the party that her home, her life, had been reduced to a disheveled mess of depression and filth. It took everything she had within her to get dolled up for tonight’s gathering, to the end that she was over an hour late. It’s why the first words out of her mouth were a dig at Gale: she was overcompensating.

She made her way over to her living room sofa, collapsing into a pile of tears and rain-soaked hair,Gale’s seed still coating the inside of her thighs. Every emotion washed over her as heavy as the rain outside her windows: guilt, anger, hope, relief, uncertainty, disappointment in herself for being so weak… Kicking off her shoes where she lay, Tav buried her face in the pillow, and cried.

One night. She would give herself one more night to wallow in her self-pity and heartache. First thing in the morning, she’d clean up the house. She would take a shower. She would feed herself.

And she’d write that damned letter. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Meanwhile, Gale popped back into his library in Waterdeep, walking past the dusty shelves, the stacks of papers to grade, the pile of crumpled up letters in the trash – the letters he’d started writing dozens of times over to her. Some were pleading for forgiveness at how harshly he’d reacted to her betrayal, not even giving her a chance to speak. Some were filled with more digs and rage, wanting to make it perfectly clear that he would not be speaking with her from this day forward, including at the party. Others were just random lines of free thought, like how much he missed her and how she inhabited his dreams. He walked past those discarded thoughts and headed straight for the balcony, opening the double doors to the salty sea air and falling back on his favorite bench.

Blowing a huff of air out from his bottom lip to push away some of the stray hairs away from his eyes, he thought, ‘Well, now you’ve done it, genius. You let your guard down, lost all self-control, and allowed her to walk her pretty little high heels right over your heart again, didn’t you?’

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, rubbing his temples like that would erase the memories from the previous hour.

‘Can’t rightly blame her completely though, I suppose. Not like I can say I just so happened to trip and landed with my dick in between her thighs, can I?’

Leaning back again, he let his head fall against the outer wall, arms crossed, looking up at the stars.

A few moments of silence went by before he heard, “You’re brooding again, Mr. Dekarios.” Tara had landed on the other end of the terrace without him even noticing, which already told her he was miles away.

“I do not brood, Tara. I’m reflecting,” he replied, still looking up, a slight pout in his voice.

“Brooding, reflecting, contemplating… Call it what you’d like, but I get the impression the night took an even worse turn after my departure.” Tara hopped up on the table across from him, settling in to pick at her claws with her teeth, dinner having recently been acquired on a neighboring rooftop.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it was for the worse. It’s yet to be seen if it will be for the better, however,” he replied, sitting up straighter and picking at his own fingernails. He didn’t want to look her in the eye. He already knew what was coming.

“…Well? I’m listening…” Tara drawled, still busying herself with her claws.

There was another several beats of silence before he mumbled, “We had sex again.”

Still attentive to her claws, she said, “I’m sorry, dear, I couldn’t quite hear you. Enunciate your words, for goodness’ sake.”

He gave an exasperated sigh before practically shouting, “I made love to her across the top of the picnic table, Tara, is that what you wanted to hear? That I don’t have an ounce left of self-control and I let her completely bewitch my body and soul again? Are you happy to hear that?”

Tara had abruptly stopped cleaning her claws and stared at him unblinking. “MIS-ter Dekarios, I am SHOCKED. Can you REALLY still be so reckless. Why if your mother only knew—”

“Morena will NOT hear a SINGLE. WORD. about this, Tara, do I make myself clear?” Gale was actually shouting this time.

“How dare you raise your voice to me, why I should—” she started to lecture back at him before being interrupted again.

“Not. One. Word, Tara.” he said, voice quieter but still firm. “I am very well aware of just how much of a fool I made of myself this evening, but I managed to keep my prior relationship with Tav from Morena in the first place, including its tumultuous downfall, and I’ll not have you spilling this particular batch of tea to her, if you don’t mind.”

“Hmph,” she huffed as she put her paw down and looked away.

Gale got up and walked over to a chair at the table, sitting directly in front of her averted gaze. “Listen, Tara, I apologize for shouting, but I need you to understand something. The woman I loved, the woman who saved me from myself, from Mystra, the woman who still carries the broken pieces of my heart… She’s still in there, Tara. I saw it in her eyes. I heard it in her voice by the time we parted ways this evening.”

Tara looked back at him narrow-eyed and said, “I’m still listening.”

He took a deep breath and continued, “You know as well as I do that I haven’t been able to forget her. I’ve tried my damndest. Thrown myself into my job, tried going out to the pub for social time, graded papers and researched cures for vampirism until my eyes practically bled… But she won’t leave my heart. If there is one iota of a chance to stay in each others’ lives, to work at repairing the damage that’s been done, I can’t walk away from it again.”

Tara sat up straight and looked down her nose at the pleading wizard. “Well I certainly hope she’s not coming here any time soon. One night of indiscretion at the hands of a devil is one thing, but after all the horrible things she said to you, I don’t know if I can be so forgiving.”

Gale sat up to meet her disapproving gaze. “I’ll remind you, Tara, that I said quite the list of unpleasant things to her as well. I am not blameless in this scenario. And she won’t be coming here any time soon, for what it’s worth. We’ve agreed to write back and forth for a while, so that we may converse in a much more amiable manner.”

“Hm,” she almost snorted. “Well, I supposed that poses less of a risk of splintered tables and shredded curtains at the very least.”

“Tara…” he started scolding.

“Alright, alright, don’t get your robes in a twist. I’ll behave as long as she does. But I promise you, Mr. Dekarios, if I need to spend another several months reminding you to clean the tower, feed yourself, and pull yourself out of bed to go to the Academy, I will go straight to your mother for assistance this time.”

He didn’t want to argue. Tara had a right to be concerned, and he was honestly surprised that she’d conceded this easily to the idea of possible reconciliation with Tav in the first place.

“You won’t have to, I promise. Tomorrow, this tower will be in tip-top shape and nary a fleck of dust will grace these shelves again under my diligent cleaning rituals,” he replied, standing now, but bowing theatrically in her direction.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” she retorted as she spread her wings and flew off.

His gaze followed her across the rooftops by the shore as he thought to himself, ‘These women really are going to be the death of me yet.’

[razrogue]

Cause I was talking about this with a friend and wanna continue my rambling about the Astarion conversation in Act 2. Spoilers plus HC for my Tav and Astarion's romance (on to my unorganized thoughts & short summary at the bottom):

His Act 2 confession and how Gan felt -

The manipulation stuff doesn't bother her (I mean she's in it to have a vampire boyfriend that will be there when she needs <- that never changed as her main goal). She also couldn't really say she was as deep as he may be by that point. Like she cares...but enough that she would have been like let's define all of this? Absolutely not. All that to say, she was taken aback cause she thought it was casual-ish? She knows how to roll in a situation and will tug at heartstrings when needed but it was a surprise to her… So she did look at him a little differently after his confession. They were kind of unsure where it was coming from but they obviously read the situation and knew not to be a prick right then (not like he was a contract target or something).

I've always maintained that he'd have to be the one to pursue a relationship (while respecting her polyamorous stance, which he did) and anything more like marriage (which he will). And she cares....? Definitely not as much as he cares for her initially...but she comes around to him after some time. Like when they realize the true vampire stuff could come to fruition…it becomes a bit more real to her? If Gan had been asked if they loved him right after the confession, the answer would be no. But she could say she could grow to love him given more time. She cared in the way of "hmmm I'd feel very inconvenienced if this person was not a part of my life anymore".

Some of the turning points for them were:

Finding out he could become a true vampire and not just a spawn anymore

Finding out that he was open to polyamory because she is polyamorous and exclusivity is a deal breaker for her

Him accepting that she became an unholy assassin (I mean she was already an assassin before the tadpole chronicles but she wasn't broadcasting that to the world🤷🏾‍♀️)

Him aligning with her personal desire for power

So to her, all this time they're casually together. They might care a little more than casually but nothing that required a confession/declaration at all.

So Astarion going "we need to talk" kinda put them on edge? Like shit we don't want this vampire to stop being in our life so how are we going to play this 🤔

Then he confesses and Gan is like

Relieved that he isn't trying to get away from them (with knowing what they've allowed him to know up to that point).

But then it's like

What to do with this revelation 🤔😂

So she gives him what he needs at the time (a hug and some understanding - she's not completely heartless). Very understanding of his relationship with sex between them from then on. She definitely would want to clarify her stance on HER relationship with sex and what it means for them cause she wouldn't want to be made to feel a certain way since she'd still have desires.

He has a lot of healing to navigate and she absolutely supports that!

But she'd expect him to support that she doesn't share the same relationship with sex as he does by that point. She'd want him to understand that it would strictly be physical release for her and not the intimacy she's willing to share and bare with him…

She wouldn't pressure him into sex with her cause that's fucked up. She also wouldn't want to be pressured to give up solo sex or sex with others (she supports her local brothel and sex workers in multiple ways). Whether she's paying for their services....or they're paying for hers…

In summary: Gan thought they were casually together & was surprised by his confession; didn't necessarily feel as deeply as he did at the time but was willing to comfort him regardless; did develop some deeper feelings some time after him though; has no issue with them not having sex with each other so he can work on and start healing from his sexual and bodily autonomy issues but expects him to respect that she doesn't share those same issues personally and will not tolerate being pressured to shelve her own sexual desires outside of them

[suicidalgamergirl]

I love larian but in my opinion, the way they've tweaked AA's scenes over the updates paints a different picture than what we got when the game first released. And it doesn't help that they've portrayed Tav as fearful or unsure of their own lover in his kiss scenes. Is it major? Not really. But I do think it is enough to cause misunderstandings, especially between people who played the game in EA or as it released, and those who are just beginning to play.

But of course as you said, nothing in the game justifies someone to go and harass a creator for enjoying something. Which is unfortunate to see happening but Im not shocked as I've seen many fandoms end up this way recently 😞

Dude, I’m part of the Sailor Moon fandom. I know drama cause we had Elly from MissDream harass a Viz Editor off Twitter for making the translations wrong in her eyes.

Even though I’m new to BG3 fandom, I feel a connection to the vampire. He was used for sex to please his prey to bring to his master and uses sex to make others fall for his antics.

I like the Ascending scenes cause it shows how proud he is of getting rid of an abusive master and become the powerful Ascendant Vampire.

Anyways, picking up two sourcebooks from D&D to learn more about vampire lore in their universe. I been obsessed with vampires and scared of them cause I read all of the Anne Rice novels as a tween. There was one scene in Interview With The Vampire that caused me to be scared of curtains. That pretty much fucked me over.

But anyways, looking at clips and reading about Neil’s vision of Astarion, I can see why naysayers say you shouldn’t ascend our fave vampire spawn. Despite it is his end goal throughout the entire game.

Plus the bat form is cute. Hence the whole fic I was writing about started from drawings of that bat being coy in some artworks.

Do you want the brushy brushy? You can sleep on this soft pillow for the night.

I am slowly reading/checking out positive Ascendant fics and a new Reddit that was made for fans because the previous Reddit had fans harassing others for liking him.

But yeah. Definitely need some help if I want to continue my writing skills.

-V

[writersblockade]

Uhhhh....

So It's been a while!

I've got a bunch of BG3 stuff I've posted over the past few months!

Bardic Inspirations is all about my first Tav Kairius and dealing with his attraction to Shadowheart while simultaneously being a coward and terrified of feelings. It's mostly one-shots and there is a smut fic in there of him and Astarion :} I haven't written much else for him but I do have a fic cooking for it, though I'm unsure when I will drop it.

Bloodless Orange is all about my second Tav Silas, a sex favourable ace in a weird FWB with Astarion. He has a lot of baggage to sort through plus he and Astarion don't always see eye to eye on certain matters. Their relationship is rocky and a little toxic in the beginning but slowly they fall for each other. Though both are terrified to admit it. Its main work is a multichapter fic, any other works in there are optional one-shots to explore Silas as a character as well as his relationship with sex and intimacy outside of the canon narrative.

[ufuckingpastry]

Bad Bull Boys

Chapter 6: How Far We’ve Come

AO3 Link

First Chapter

Sollux stared one last time at the email before he dropped his head in his hands with a loud groan of dismay. This was bad. This was so bad. He had his fair share of bad days in his career as the self-proclaimed tech lord of the Bad Bull Boys (if he ever had the authority to change the name, he would, god), but this was definitely the worst of the bad. It might have been just an overreaction as his emotional state was heightened by the rapidly approaching deadline, but he was sure this was the worst. Sollux pushed away from his computer, rubbing the bridge of his nose, and stalked away towards the kitchen. He needed art for the new album in less than two months, but the artist they commissioned bailed out. He could hardly blame them. They had suddenly gotten a lot of work and had politely told him they had no time to work on the album art. He appreciated it, and he'd send a reply back when he had calmed down, but he was still left with a problem: he had nothing to present for the album cover.

Sollux grabbed a bag of chips he had nearly finished the night before. He popped them into his mouth as he paced. Salt dusted fingers raked through his hair, growing more and more agitated the longer he paced. He had nearly exhausted his options by this point. The artists they worked with before were either busy with commissions or busy with life. Sollux had very little time to go hunting for another artist this late, but he was going to have to, wasn't he?

Sollux stopped midstep, a thought coming to him. He turned on his heel and hurried back to his computer. He flipped to the group chat with his girlfriend and her girlfriend, typing so quickly autocorrect could hardly keep up with him.

TA: Fef, Neperta, do you know any artists that could do art for the albim cocovrr? Puffie bailed

Sollux waited, then waited, then considered the ramifications of tossing his computer out the window again in an attempt to release some tension, when finally Nepeta replied.

AC: Neperta??? Sollux, are you okay?

TA: Yes, I'm

TA: I'm fine. I'm stressed out.

AC: Obviously! I talked over it with Feferi

AC: You know, after she came up for a breath!

AC: We might know someone! We'll ask them tomorrow!

Sollux sighed with relief, slumping down in his chair. Good. At least he had a maybe. He would have liked more than that, but at least he had that.

-

Gamzee shyly handed off his latest piece of art to Tavros, who took it carefully in his hands. Gamzee loved showing Tavros his art, even if it had taken him some time to even work up the nerve to show them to Tavros. Gamzee watched Tavros' reactions like a hawk. He wanted to know everything Tavros thought of his work, yet feared that Tavros would think it bad or stupid and think that all his effort a waste.

Gamzee had to shake those thoughts from his brain, much like clearing an Etch-a-Sketch. Tavros never thought that. Even when he criticized some of his paintings, there was always a touch of praise, of wonder. Even now, he had lit up like a goddamn Christmas tree and talking about color theory and shapes and affection surged through Gamzee. Once Gamzee expressed his desire to start painting again, Tavros dove into researching art so he could support his boyfriend.

His boyfriend. Gamzee had to take a moment to think on that, Tavros' praise filtering through his ears like music. Approximately three weeks ago, Tavros had dragged Gamzee in behind a wall before a photoshoot and asked in a stuttering, shy way if they could make their relationship official. Gamzee, of course, totally didn't nearly collapse in shock and start crying with delight. No, of course not. That wasn't how it happened at all! Though, he was glad Tavros caught him and kissed him more stupid than he already was. 

Gamzee's attention flicked back on to Tavros, who was now asking questions, when his phone beeped. Gamzee blinked, then fished it out to check the message.

AC: Hey Gamzee! Sollux had a favor to ask! Are you okay if I shoot him your number?

TC: Yeah, sis. What's the favor?

AC: Oh you'll see!

"Everything okay?" Tavros leaned over, wrapping an arm over Gamzee's shoulder.

"Yeah, I think? Nepeta said that Sollux wants to ask me a favor?"

"Huh." Tavros frowned for a moment, then focused on Gamzee's painting. "I mean, the colors in this? Amazing! You are, really getting the hang of it, huh? And the lighting! This corner doesn't match right, but everything else looks so good! Gamzee," Tavros paused, focusing on Gamzee with one of the biggest smiles he'd ever seen. "I'm so proud of you."

Gamzee dropped his head in his hands, whining as heat crawled down his neck. He felt Tavros get near, his chair scraping across the floor as he scooted close. Warmth blossomed where Tavros' lips pressed to his skin.

"Let me see you?" He asked softly, waiting patiently. Gamzee turned his head towards his boyfriend, sheepish and embarrassed and quietly proud. "There you are," Tavros said, cupping Gamzee's face. He kissed Gamzee again. When they parted, he whispered, "I love you."

Gamzee's face broke out into a grin so wide his face ached. "I love you too, Tav." He kissed him back, slow and sweet. His hands hesitated, never sure what to do during times like these. Was he supposed to hold Tav? Touch his sides? Hold his hands? Hold his face? Tavros seemed to sense his hesitation and took his hands in his own. His fingers stroked Gamzee's skin, rough and soft all at once and Gamzee parted in a fit of giggles. "Sorry, sorry bro," he said when Tavros looked at him in worry. "Just never thought I'd end up with you. Or end up so happy and sweet and-"

Gamzee startled when his phone went off, vibrating loud on the table next to them. He lunged for it, squinting at the strange number. "Uh, hello?" He said, confused.

"Good afternoon. This is Sollux Captor. Is… Gamzee Makara there?"

Gsmzee blinked for a second, the name not processing. Finally his brain picked up and he nodded. Then remembered he couldn't be seen. "Uh yes." There was a moment of silence before he winced, then added, "Speaking?" Was that you replied to these sorts of things? He couldn't figure out why he was being so formal! But… he never spoke much to Sollux. He was always a little intimidating, sharp in the way he spoke and moved. Then he realized Sollux was speaking and had asked him a question. "Uh. Sorry, bro, can you repeat that?" A loud sigh came from the other side of the receiver.

"The artist we had for the next album cover bailed and I need something to show in two months to the record company so we can release this thing. You were highly recommended. Can you help me or not?"

There was a long silence from Gamzee, stretching out to the point where Sollux asked, his irritation obviously rising, "Do I need to repeat that again?"

Tavros nudged Gamzee, knowing a fanboy freakout when he saw one. "You good?" He asked, rubbing Gamzee's shoulders. 

"Yes, yes! Yes, I'd love to help! Uh, but, I paint traditionally. Don't you need to…" he trailed off, worried. He didn't want to ruin this opportunity. Plus, Sollux sounded so annoyed…

"I can teach you how to use the paint programs we use, or we can scan it. Doesn't matter to me."

"Uh, okay. But I don't even know any of the songs! How can-"

"We'll send you the tracks you can listen to."

"Oh! Do you want-"

"We'll pay you for your time, of course. How much do you charge?"

"I don't… this is the first time I'm getting paid for this sh-stuff. Stuff. I don't even know…" a beep made Gamzee glance down at his phone. Sollux had sent a picture of a check? An invoice? He realized Sollux was speaking again.

"... was the total amount of money we sent for the last cover, not including any royalties for using the art for advertising and promotions. We can use that as a baseline. I can also help you set up a pricing guide for commissions because, consistently, we have helped the artists of our cover albums receive more commission requests."

Gamzee blinked, then blinked some more, then listened to Sollux ask if he had more questions. "That all, sounds good. Overwhelming, crazy, and- but good. Yeah. I'd love to!"

"Great," came the sigh of relief from the other end. "I'll write up a contract for legality reasons and send it to you, along with any explanation of terms since, no offense, you don't sound like you have a lot of experience in this department. And I don't want you to get in trouble."

Gamzee felt a moment of sudden fondness for Sollux, that he cared enough to go through all this extra trouble. He thanked him for the opportunity- that's what people did, right??? And wished him a good day. After Sollux hung up, Gamzee collapsed back on the couch, his phone dropping on the cushions. Tavros scooted over, eyeing Gamzee’s dazed and bewildered expression.

“So… What was that?” He asked, giving Gamzee a nudge. Gamzee shot up, completely forgetting Tavros was even here. His hands fumbled with nothing and he shot a look at his phone, then back to Tavros.

“Uh, Sollux.”

“Sollux has your number?”

“I think Nepeta gave it to him.”

“Okay… What for? It sounded really official.”

Gamzee licked his lips, unsure why he was suddenly so nervous about this. Except, well. He had just been asked to do the cover for his boyfriend’s next album. Instead of probably thousands of options, it was him. Him! Of course he was nervous. Who could possibly blame him!

“Gamzee, hello? You’re spacing out again.” Tavros waved his hand in front of Gamzee’s face, trying to get his attention.

“Oh, right! Yes, of course! Uh, he. He asked me-” No wait, they’d be paying him to do art for that. That was a commission, wasn’t it?

“He asked you…?” Tavros encouraged.

“He commissioned me to do the band’s next album cover?” Gamzee replied, stuttering over his words. Tavros stared at him, beautiful brown eyes widening in shock. Then a brilliant smile broke across his face.

“Gamzee! That’s amazing! I’m so proud of you!”

Gamzee’s skin went dark under the praise and he gave a small smile too.

“I’m sure you’re gonna, do amazing! I can’t wait to see what you come up with too. And don’t worry about anything Sollux says. He can sometimes come across as harsh, but he means well. Usually.” Tavros’ phone beeped and paled when he read the text in all caps. “Shit. I’m late for practice. I’ve gotta go, babe. Karkat’s gonna have my whole ass if I’m any, later. I’ll text you when I’m done?”

Gamzee nodded and kissed his boyfriend goodbye. He was going to have to take a moment to process all this too. Every time he let his thoughts settle on the fact that he was going to be doing the art! For his favorite band! And he had been recommended specifically!!!