#me / gale / shadowheart … FRIED.

[carrionsflower]

astarion carrying the entire team through the ansur, house of hope, and tribunal fight be like

[sorcerous-caress]

"Do you think we are soulmates in every universe?"

Wyll: I hope so, that our hearts somehow found a way to reunite in every untold story. That our love was enough to overcome all life could throw our way.

Minthara: I am afraid not. My trust in you was hard earned, not a fragile gift of fate. The circumstances of our meeting are hard to replicate, and I fear the person I'd be to you under any other sun.

Halsin: nature always finds a way, I believe even as a pair of birds we would've been destined to nest together. Our harmony is woven into our souls, we must be fated in each life.

Shadowheart: do you want it to? To be with me in every universe?...I do not know but I'm truly lucky to be in this one. I pray that the others weren't lost to the darkness.

Karlach: every universe? Even the one where I'm a bottle of ketchup? Fuck yeah, you'd be my fries. The other Karlachs better appreciate your company and their working hearts.

Lae'zel: there are too many possibilities, it's impossible to give a single answer...and yet I can't imagine a world where you're not by my side.

Astarion: darling please, you know there probably aren't many universes where we get kidnapped by mindflayers? Still...there probably aren't many ones where you're dating a vampire either. Aren't you just so lucky to be here?

Gale: it's safe to assume I'd be sane enough to eventually stumble my way into your embrace, one way or another. But could the same be said for you? Would you still take me as I am in every universe?

[vagabondfandoms]

Falls on Me

Day Two: Morning

Previous Chapters:

Day One: Night

Rating: Teen (For this Chapter)

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Author Note:

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

[baldursgrave69]

Stubborn

Summary: Agnes (the Dark Urge) is feeling a bit under the weather, though she didn’t tell anyone until Astarion stumbled upon her too sick to move. She’s entirely too stubborn to ask for help so Astarion must take matters into his own, icy cold hands.

Pairing: astarion x fem!durge (named)

Word count: 1.4K

Tags: fluff

While writing this I was listening to: Distance by Christina Perry

FInd me on Ao3 here

Camp was quiet as everyone slowly emerged from their tents and prepared for the day. Gale stood by the fire as he fried some eggs for breakfast. Karlach and Lae’zel stood by the water doing their morning stretches while Wyll practiced sparring near by. Astarion emerged from his tent, stretching his arms and yawning as he looked about camp. Astarion’s eyes trailed through camp, making sure everyone was accounted for. But someone was missing. The vampire walked up to Gale, nonchalantly fiddling with his night shirt. “Have you seen Agnes?” He asked, watching Gale flip the eggs. “Come to think of it, I haven’t. She’s usually the first one up,” Gale admitted, scanning the camp for her. The wizard went back to cooking and Astarion walked over to Shadowheart’s tent, who was knelt in prayer. Astarion approached Shadowheart, standing to her side as she prayed. “I haven’t seen her,” she said without opening her eyes. “Right,” Astarion murmured, swiftly leaving Shadowheart’s tent. Astarion looked over to the Agnes’ tent, noticing the flap was still pinned shut.

The rogue made his way over, leaning his ear up to the entrance. He didn’t hear anything at first, but after a moment picked up on the faintest noise; a pained groan. “Agnes?” He said, his hands reaching for the clasps on her tent entrance. “Fuck off,” Agnes growled, her voice sounded gravelly and hoarse. Astarion rolled his eyes at her cursing and opened the flap to her tent anyway. Inside he saw Agnes lying on her bedroll in her smallclothes, her body was glistening with sweat. She had a hand resting on her forehead and her cheeks looked flushed. “And what’s going on in here, darling?” Astarion tuts walking over to the bedroll and leaning down next to her. “Just leave me be, Astarion. I’ll be fine,” she grumbled, turning to face away from him. As she adjusted herself, a wince escaped her lips at the soreness in her body. Astarion placed an icy hand on her neck, her body was radiating heat. “My dear, you’re positively burning up,” Astarion said, his voice more serious now. He went to pull away his hand but Agnes grabbed it, keeping it on her neck. “Don’t move,” she said, turning towards him a bit more. “What is it?” Astarion asked as Agnes awkwardly held his hand. “Your hand is cold and I’m burning up,” she said closing her eyes. Astarion let out a sigh, bring his other hand up to her cheek to cool her off. The cool touch to her skin pulled a relieved sigh from Agnes. “I need to go get Halsin, you need some healing,” Astarion said after a moment, standing up. “Gods, please don’t,” Agnes whispered, her eyes pleading.

“It’s cute that you think you have a choice. Why are you so weird about getting help?” Astarion huffed, crossing his arms. “I’d prefer not to get into that,” she grumbled, closing her eyes. “I’m going to go get the druid,” Astarion said after a moment, swiftly exiting the tent. Agnes opened her eyes to see that the vampire was gone. She took a deep, painful breath in before sitting up. Her whole body ached as she attempted to stand. She could feel her legs buckling under her as she attempted to get herself up. “You little shit,” Agnes looked up to see Astarion and Halsin entering her tent, the vampire had his arms crossed as he looked at Agnes in disappointment. “Where did you think you were going to go?” He huffed, signaling for Halsin to check on the rogue. “Agnes, how long have you been feeling sick?” Halsin asked, leaning down next to her and placing a hand on her cheek. Agnes’ eyes fluttered open as she looked up at Halsin, her vision was blurred, the large elf looked divine in the morning light peaking through her tent. “Wow,” she croaked, her eyes nearly crossing as she gazed up at the druid.

“Agnes, answer me, how long?” He said again, his brows knit in concern. “Hmm, a day or two? Maybe three,” she mumbled trying to remember when the aches in her bones started. Astarion let out a loud huff as Halsin went to work trying to identify what was ailing the half elf. “What symptoms are you having?” He asked, rustling through his medicine pack. “I’m so hot,” she groaned, holding a hand out to Astarion. Halsin looked at Agnes’ outstretched hand in confusion. “What do you need, little thief?” Halsin asked as he pulled some potions and antidotes from his bag. Agnes wiggled her fingers at Astarion, her other hand covering her eyes. “Use your words,” he said with a smirk, stance unmoving. Agnes huffed, her outstretched arm starting to ache. “Please cool me off,” she whined as Halsin mixed together an antidote for her. Astarion rolled his eyes, though he moved to her other side without hesitation. Astarion placed a hand on Agnes cheek, eliciting a groan from the other rogue. He sat awkwardly with his hand on Agnes cheek, watching Halsin work on the medicine.

“You still haven’t told me your symptoms besides ‘I’m hot’,” Halsin said, looking over Agnes. “Aches, chills, nausea, generally feel like I’d rather be dead,” Agnes said, moving Astarion’s hand from her cheek to her forehead. “You very well could’ve been if Astarion hadn’t gotten me,” Halsin said in a stern tone. “Let’s sit you up, you need to drink this,” he added, holding out an arm for Agnes to pull herself up on. Astarion removed his hand from her forehead and assisted in propping her up. Agnes groaned as the two men helped her sit up, her body ached as she tried to adjust to her position. “Down the hatch,” Halsin said, bringing the concoction up to Agnes’ lips. The half elf shivered as she drank down the antidote, it was bitter and thick. She coughed slightly, her body shaking from having to hold herself up. “Get some rest now. Astarion, keep an eye on her. If anything worsens, come get me,” Halsin said as he packed up his bag. “That’s not necessary, I’m fine,” Agnes said, swaying slightly. “I beg to differ,” Astarion growled, helping her steady herself. Agnes groaned, leaning back on a crate behind her. She was entirely too exhausted to argue at this point.

Agnes let out a shaky breath as she slumped against the crate behind her, her body overheating again. “What can I do?” Astarion asked, his tone laced with worry. “I’m burning up. I feel like I’m going to catch on fire,” Agnes breathed, the pain shining through in her voice. Astarion sat for a moment, trying to come up with a way to keep her cool. “Lean forward,” Astarion demanded, standing up next to Agnes. “What?” Agnes grumbled, looking up at Astarion. “Just do it,” he said with a roll of his eyes. Agnes complied, leaning forward. Astarion got behind Agnes, sitting down with his legs in either side of her. “Lean back,” he demanded, holding his arms out. Agnes rolled her eyes, but leaned into him, his icy touch cooling her body. Astarion wrapped his arms around the half elf, pressing his cold fingers against her skin. Agnes leaned her head against his shoulder, her breath steadying. “Gods,” she groaned, finally having some relief from the burning fever. Astarion leaned his head back against the crate behind him, subconsciously rubbing his thumbs along Agnes’ arms. Agnes eyes fluttered shut as she fell asleep in the vampires arms. Astarion listened to Agnes as she slept, little sounds and groans escaping her lips. Astarion rested his head against Agnes’, holding her tightly. “Damn it,” he breathed, closing his eyes. His little plan to manipulate Agnes into an alliance was failing. He didn’t anticipate actually growing to care for her.

Karlach peaked her head into Agnes’ tent to see if Astarion would be joining them for the day. She looked inside to find Astarion holding Agnes in his arms, both were asleep as they held one another. “Awwww,” Karlach squeaked, trying to be as quiet as possible as she pulled her head out of the tent. “Shadowheart!” She whispered loudly, waving the cleric over. “Is everything alright?”Shadowheart asked, hurrying over to Agnes’ tent. “Just look at them,” Karlach said excitedly, parting the tent so Shadowheart could look inside. “I knew it!” Shadowheart whispered, as the two women watched Agnes and Astarion from afar. “They’re cute,” Shadowheart said with a laugh, heading back towards her tent.

[dollstry]

what’s up gamers

my name is Cassandra or Cass! if your here you probably already know me but I’d you don’t I’m a silly guy who loves jervis tetch. I’m bisexual, and adult and I go by she/they.

I write sometimes. uhh.. I cross post most of my ao3 stuff over here for silly goofies.

if you wanna request stuff be my guest I love writing ideas. ough.

my old writing blog is @madnessreruns and my main is @jervis-tetch-my-beloved

Rules:

don’t be an asshole

no terfs or like nazis or racists.

no purity culture weirdos

I’ll write just about anything but I lean over towards fem aligned readers but I’ll write make and gender neutral readers cause you guys deserve content too

i wont write main character death

i tend to lean towards fluff/smut

i write all relationships, both queer and straight

also I can delete any request without reason its my blog and my writing

characters I write for under cut

Characters I Write for:

* = Will so Romantic, but not smut ^ = only platonic/ familial

DC Comics

Gotham (Tv):

Harvey Bullock

Jerome Valeska

Jonathan Crane*

Jervis Tetch

Oswald Cobblepot

Edward Nygma

Victor Fries

Victor Zsasz

Ivy Pepper

Lee Thompkins

Barbara Kean

Bridgit Pike

Ecco

Selina Kyle*

Bruce Wayne

Arkhamverse:

Harley Quinn

Pamela Isley

Selina Kyle

Jervis Tetch

Jonathan Crane

Edward Nygma

Oswald Cobblepot

Garfield Lynn’s

victor Fries

Dick Grayson

Barbara Gordon

Jason Todd

The Suicide Squad:

Abner Krill

Cleo Cazo

Rick Flag

Harley Quinn

George "Digger" Harkness (Game Only)

Peacemaker:

Adrian Chase

The Batman (2022)

Edward Nashton

Bruce Wayne

Selina Kyle

Oswald Cobblepot

Detroit: Become Human

Connor

Kara

Markus

Alice^

Luther

Jerry

North

Hank Anderson^

Stardew Valley

Harvey

Haley

Emily

The Stanley Parable

Narrator

Resident Evil

Jill Valentine

Chris Redfield

Claire Redfield

Leon S Kennedy

Ashley Graham

Luis Serra

Albert Wesker

Carlos Olivera

Ada Wong

Ethan Winters

Lady Dimitrescu

Bela Dimitrescu

Cassandra Dimitrescu

Daniela Dimitrescu

Donna Beneviento

Salvatore Moreau^

Karl Heisenberg

Rosemary Winters^

Mia Winters

Spiderman

Raimi

Peter Parker

Mary-Jane Watson

Harry Osborn

Otto Octavius

Norman Osborn

Spiderverse

Spiderman Noir

Peter B Parker

Gwen Stacy*

Olivia Octavius

Baldurs Gate 3

Gale

Halsin

Shadowheart

Karlach

Wyll

Saw Franchise

Amanda Young

Mark Hoffman

Peter Strahm

Scott Pilgrim

Kim Pine

Matthew Patel

Gideon Graves

Roxie Ritcher

Fnaf

William Afton (Movie and Game)

Mike Schmidt (Movie)

Vanessa Shelly (Movie)

Vanny (Game)

All the Glamrocks

The daycare attendant

[cringecannon]

You know, Gale does all of the camps cooking…. It’s be a shame if he put a little extra something special into your portion

You never used to sleep this deeply, you think. Birds chirp in the distance as the morning chill soaks up the unnatural heat of your body. You’re only conscious for a few moments before a feverish chill runs up your spine and your teeth start to chatter uncontrollably.

Astarion is already awake and notices your state immediately, watching curiously as you curl in on yourself. Oh, how rude, he pouts. You drank without me?

You don’t have the energy to respond, wrapping your arms around yourself. The conversation drew in someone with a better bedside manner, a hand pressing against your forehead and soothing the heated skin. You sigh softly at the contact, eyes fluttering open to see who it is.

Gale is looking down at you, worry written all over his face. His eyebrows are drawn together, his hand flinching away when he sees you watching him. He stammers over his words, wringing his hands as he apologizes. He swears his intention wasn’t just to invade your personal space, but you are burning up. Hold on just a moment, while he looks for something to help.

You want to make a quip about how you won’t go far, but both men have disappeared and you’re far too miserable to bother saying anything out loud. You had assumed he had run off to collect Shadowheart, so you’re a little surprised when he comes back alone. He kneels beside you, helping you up until you’re sitting. Well, sitting as well as you can manage, anyway. Your shoulder leans against his for support, watching him uncork the potion bottle carefully. Here, he mumbles, carefully holding the bottle to your lips and urging you to drink.

Your eyes drift closed as you drink, your body heat lowering dramatically. Thank the gods. Much longer, and he worries it might have fried your mind. Gale pulls the bottle away, using his thumb to wipe away a dribble of the liquid from the corner of your mouth. He seems to regret what he’s done immediately, pulling his hand back like he’d been burned. It’s his turn to heat up, the tips of his ears reddening in embarrassment as he apologizes.

He moves to stand, but you touch his arm gently with a small smile. You thank him earnestly, and his blush deepens. He stammers, struggling to look at your face as he tells you it was no problem at all, he’s always on call to help a friend. He winces a bit at the admission but you just pat his arm, laying back down to recuperate. You feel him next to you a bit longer before he departs to make breakfast, but he says nothing else. You don’t mind. It gives you time to think.

With your fever broken, you can think a little clearer. Your dreams come back to you in bits and pieces, swirling colors and strange imagery coming back to you in a confusing blur. The dream was fuzzy, your body was not your own as you were stuck in midair. You couldn’t be sure whether you were right-side up or not, shimmering water mirroring the glittery sky in a such a way that you couldn’t tell which is which. Ribbons of blue and purple and green cut through the infinite universe around you. You were weightless but sluggish, immobile and free-falling all at once. It was dizzying. It was beautiful. Awe and terror filled you in equal measures, and all you could manage was staring into the glittery abyss with wide eyes.

You didn’t flinch when a hand touched your hip. You thought it might have been accidental at first, the barest skim of fingers. The second touch is more purposeful, a prod. Then a whole palm lays flat against the skin, sliding up to feel your waist. Another hand joins, groping your chest clumsily. It confused you. You couldn’t understand the hurry… wherever you were, time didn’t seem to move.

Whoever this was didn’t share your calm. A hand dips between your thighs and you gasp, throwing your head back. Sensations are amplified by hundreds, each caress feeling like it goes on for hours. When you finish against the hand, arching your back with a whine, the heat never leaves. The burning ache inside you only gets worse when the hands retreat, leaving you alone in the shiny abyss once more. That too eventually leaves you to your misery, nothing but inky black nothing holding you suspended in that boiling stasis.

The fever may be gone, but you can’t fight the general unease that’s settled in your stomach. You glance over to Gale, his hands busy with cooking. He catches your eye, giving you a small smile and a wave before turning back to his work. The gesture is sweet, but does little to ease your growing tension. You choose to ignore it, sitting up carefully and stretching. Maybe you’ll feel better once you help Gale cook. You’d never talked to him much before this, but… it’s odd. After how sweet he was earlier, you find yourself wanting to spend more time with him. Hopefully he doesn’t mind the company.

[blackjackkent]

Oh, man, the Dark Urge personal quest line descriptions are even better than the narrator lines:

Incredible. XD

Anyway. I think Rakha's primary party is going to be Lae'zel (because I think they will be buddies in bluntness), Wyll (bc romance), and Gale (bc Rakha's fascination with magic). So - initial priority is to pick up those three ASAP.

Gale is closest so we'll start heading in that general direction, but on the way we get some combat with the lingering illithid survivors, which of course Rakha barrels into headfirst leaving Shadowheart watching bemused from a slight distance.

Check out this intellect devourer that she fried to a blackened crisp with Shocking Grasp:

More important than the devourers, though, is the mind flayer further up the slope.

"That thing's bound to be dangerous," Shadowheart points out. "Best be careful."

And then, I can only imagine, she rolls her eyes and says "Or don't," because Rakha IMMEDIATELY recognizes this as the mind flayer she almost killed on the ship and is off at a run to finish the job.

Narrator: You approach the dying monster. This is the thing that abducted you.

Rakha's hands are already up, ready to try out the new electrical surge she just learned she could manifest and send it slamming through every remaining cell in this creature's body, to finish the revenge she began.

And then her thoughts are dragged to a sudden halt.

Narrator: You could end its life here and now, if only you didn't feel... compassion.

Narrator: Compassion?!

The rage is still in her, rising, burning, conflagrating her from within but-- muted, muffled under the inescapable, alien kindness that suffuses her consciousness in this moment.

No. You should be furious... shouldn't you?

Narrator: Yes... you feel hate. And you deserve to be punished for it. You should be whipped, made to bow before this creature in shame.

Narrator: It's possessing your mind, forcing you to... love it.

No, says the rage, says the beast in the back of her mind. No, no, NO, NO, NONONONO-- kill, strike, maim, spill its blood silver-white in the sunlight--

She does not know where that voice comes from, she does not know why it takes such joy in the spillage of guts - but she would much rather succumb to that screaming chaos, complete the vengeance she began on the ship, than let this creature possess her for another moment. But she can't move, can't think, is on the point of falling to her knees and placing her head within the grasp of the illithid's fangs--

Narrator: But then the feeling slips... The creature's mind seems to focus elsewhere.

Take advantage of the lapse - break free.

Narrator: The monster lies exhausted, defeated. Its eyes - wet, orange pearls - radiate malice.

She staggers backwards, ripping herself free of the mental grip. And the rage bursts out in full, a fiery inferno that consumes everything. Her vision goes white and the beast-fury takes control.

Close those eyes forever.

-----

She comes back to herself on her knees, elbow-deep in silver blood. What exactly she did is lost to her broken memory, but the illithid's head is some distance away, spiderwebbed with electrical burns. Its body has the spine pulled free and drips steaming alien gore onto the equally alien wreckage.

Shadowheart is watching her with wide eyes. "I think you're finished with it," she says, deadpan, her eyes narrowed.

Rakha stands slowly, wiping the blood in unsteady smears on her robes. "If I could bring it back and kill it again, I would," she mutters.

Shadowheart raises an eyebrow. "Why?" she asks. It's not an innocent question; she's parsing Rakha out, bit by bit, adding to the picture.

Rakha frowns. "I don't know," she answers quietly. A pause. "It put these things in us. It tried to use me. It had to pay."

Shadowheart lets out a soft exhalation that is almost a snort but not quite. "Every hour I seem to have a new reminder not to get on your bad side," she says dryly.

[annalyia]

Hey buddy o friend o pal of mine I'm here to ask you things.

Of the BG3 companions who would say what. Or who would you want to say it.

"Road work ahead? Yeah I sure hope so."

"Apartment complex? I find it rather simple."

"You're telling me a shrimp fried this rice?"

ILY and hope you get extra scoops of ice cream. <3

Okay so Karlach would for sure say the first one, and Lae'zel the last one. No contest at all there.

As for the second one? I can't decide between Gale, Astarion, and Shadowheart. I really do think each of them would say that but each with a different inflection, tone, or meaning, if that makes sense

Ty friend, love you!

[sweeter-innocence-fics]

You Brought Your Worst and I’m Right Here - Chapter Five: As these flowers start to wither

Pairing: Gale of Waterdeep x female Tav

Work Summary:

After an explosive falling out between Gale and his academic adviser, Mystra, Tav is left to pick up the pieces.

Modern/College AU.

Chapter Summary: 

Gale finally confides in Tav.

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Epilogue

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 1976

Read on AO3.

Masterlists.

Taglist: @mrs-kai-anderson @ang3l1te @missryerye

Taglist info

Previous Chapter

Notes:

warnings for professor/student relationship, grooming, Mystra generally, suicide mentions

sorry I didn't update last week, it was my birthday on the Saturday before so I didn't have time

---

Tav awoke, disoriented, later in the evening. Her eyes stung with the memories of tears, but she didn’t have enough moisture left to cry.

It was dark outside. She could tell because her curtains were still open. A light knocking on the door startled her. That must’ve been what had awoken her.

“Tav?” Gale’s muffled voice through the door made her stomach sink. She stumbled out of bed, grabbing a pair of tracksuit bottoms from the floor and tugging them on.

She opened the door a crack, very aware of how much of a mess she must’ve looked. Gale was standing outside her door, holding a plastic bag in one hand and two bowls in the other. From the bag emanated the smell of something delicious and fried that made her mouth water.

“Hey…” he said, shuffling awkwardly.

“Hey…”

“I was hoping we could talk. There’s some stuff I want to… explain.”

She regarded him for a moment. He was frowning, his eyebrows drawn together. His eyes looked a little red too.

“Of course,” she said, opening her door.

“I brought food,” he said, lifting up the plastic bag. “From the Chinese place on the corner. I got that rice you like.”

“Thanks Gale.”

She turned on her bedroom light and went to draw the curtains.

The two of them settled themselves into a position that was familiar from years of study sessions. Tav’s back was against the headboard, bowl of rice in her lap and a glass of coke on her bedside table. Gale sat at a right angle to her, leaning against the wall.

Back when they would spend more time together, they found themselves in Tav’s bedroom more often than Gale’s, because hers had better natural lighting, and his was awfully cluttered. It had been far too long since the last time they’d done this.

For a while, neither of them spoke. Tav must’ve been pretty dehydrated, because she found herself gulping down her drink almost immediately.

“I am sorry,” she said, without looking at him. “About earlier. For yelling. It wasn’t fair.”

Gale seemed to be wrestling with something. She didn’t want to push, so she just ate her food and tried not to watch him too carefully.

Eventually, he said, “please don’t apologise. I don’t want you to feel guilty for expressing your feelings. I know I hurt you, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s not about me,” said Tav.

“Tav…” Gale’s expression looked a little desperate. “I think it’s important that you know I’m not planning on doing anything so… drastic again. I was in pain. Frankly, I was heartbroken, and I think I needed to be reminded that I do have people who care about me. Wyll and Shadowheart and Astarion… they’ve all been so kind, but I think a part of me thought that they were doing all of this out of a sense of obligation or guilt, rather than genuine care. I know that probably sounds ridiculous, but it’s how I felt. So thank you for reminding me that I matter. I’m sorry I had to cause you pain in order for me to understand that.”

“Gale…” she breathed. One word was bouncing around inside her skull. Heartbroken.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed that I… I’ve been… off, lately.” Gale set his bowl aside and scratched the back of his head. Tav had to bite back a sarcastic response, because ‘off’ was the understatement of the century. “It’s… well… You deserve an explanation.”

Tav set her half-finished bowl of food down on her bedside table and turned her full attention to him.

He chuckled nervously. “It’s strange, I’ve thought through this conversation so many times but I still don’t know where to begin. I suppose I should start with last summer, when Mystra – that is, Professor Mystryl – agreed to be my academic supervisor for my final year project. It was a dream come true. Mystra is a brilliant scientist and the fact that I’d impressed her enough for her to take me on as a student was… well, it was everything to me.”

Tav remembered when he’d got the news. He had been positively glowing with excitement. They’d gone out that night with all their friends, drank and danced and partied, and for some reason, had all thought it would be a tremendous idea to all try to sleep in Gale’s bed. Tav had awoken the next morning squished between Gale and Shadowheart, her cheek smushed against Gale’s chest. It was one of the best nights of her life.

“Things were going well,” Gale continued. “Mystra is an excellent teacher. She opened my mind to so many possibilities. And all I wanted to do was impress her. Sometimes, when I’d say something, she’d give me a little smile and I could tell she thought I was clever, and there wasn’t a feeling in the world that was better than that.”

Tav tried not to let her feelings show on her face, but her stomach was twisting uncomfortably. Gale was talking about Mystra with an adoration that wasn’t typical for a student to have for their professor. It made her nervous.

“We had a meeting one evening. It was later than usual, because she’d just got back from a conference, and I couldn’t wait to discuss the latest developments in my project. She seemed… different that day. More… human? I don’t know if that makes sense. It’s hard to explain it to someone who doesn’t know her. She just always seemed so… above everything. But not that day. That day she looked a little tired from the travel, and she didn’t sit up quite so straight, and, well…”

Tav’s lips were pressed into a hard line. She could almost feel her heartbeat in her ears. She really, really didn’t like where this story was going.

“She was sitting across from me on the other side of her desk, and at some point during the conversation, she moved around to my side to look over the work I was explaining to her. I was just showing her some calculations I’d been doing and she… she kissed me.”

“Gale.” His name was an exclamation of utter shock that had escaped her. She hadn’t meant to interrupt but suddenly she really, really didn’t want to hear this story. It made her sick to her stomach. But she couldn’t stop him now. She needed to hear this, and he needed to tell her.

He couldn’t seem to meet her eyes anymore. “And I kissed her back, of course. How could I not? She was the woman of my dreams. She’s extremely intelligent and ethereally beautiful and no one has ever made me feel the way she did. I felt like I could do anything if she was on my side. And we… spent the night together. That night, and many nights since. We started a relationship of sorts, if you can really call sneaking around and having sex in her office a relationship.”

“Gale,” Tav breathed. Her stomach roiled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

His eyes flickered up to meet hers, and he gave her a pained smile. “Because I knew you’d tell me to break it off with her. Because I knew you’d have my best interests at heart, even if I didn’t. And I was embarrassed, I suppose. When I was with her, I felt like a God, but when I was away from her, I felt like some stupid schoolboy being tricked into doing something naughty. I was worried you would think that I was stupid for letting myself get swept up in her.”

“I would never think that. Gale, she abused her position of authority over you. In no world is that your fault.” This was what Tav had to focus on. That Gale was a victim. He wasn’t just the boy she loved sleeping with somebody who wasn’t her. He was a young man who had been taken advantage of by someone he was supposed to be able to trust. Because otherwise, she would be angry with him, and she knew that that wasn’t fair.

“I knew you’d say that, too. And sometimes I would strengthen my resolve. I would go to her office with the intention of breaking it off with her. This entire situation could jeopardise my academic career, after all, not to mention what it could do to her career. I knew that I was taking a ridiculous risk for the sake of my own juvenile feelings. But whenever I tried, she would… well, she has such a way with words. I felt like I was drawn to her. It was… magnetic. I couldn’t let her go.”

Gale’s hands were resting in his lap. Tav shifted towards him and took one of them between her own. He startled, but after a moment, he relaxed into it, squeezing her hand.

“She was very jealous,” he said. “That was part of the reason I wanted to break it off multiple times. She didn’t like me spending time with other women. Not alone. She didn’t like how close I was with you.”

“Me?” Tav stared at him.

“I suppose I talked about you too much for her liking. You’re my best friend. But she would become sullen and sour whenever I mentioned your name. So I stopped. And I drew away from you because I wanted to make her happy. I’m sorry.”

Tav squeezed his hand. Her heart was thrumming in her chest. “I forgive you.”

“Things started to… unravel, so to speak, between Mystra and I… As part of my research, I was building on some theorems developed by Mystra herself. But the experimental data didn’t always seem to line up. I started to make my own modifications to the theorems to see if I could make sense of them. Mystra didn’t like that. She felt like I was undermining her. So she dumped me. As a lover and as a student. We had a huge fight about it. I felt so desperate and lost, like I’d ruined everything. So I took a bunch of pills.”

Tav murmured his name, her heart twisting. At some point during the conversation, they had started shifting towards each other, and by now, the gap between them was almost non-existent. She put her arms around his neck. He slipped his arms around her waist and squeezed. She pretended she couldn’t feel the tears running down his cheek where it was pressed against hers.

They sat like that for a while, holding each other. When that became uncomfortable, they shifted their positions again, so that they were lying side by side, Gale’s head resting on her shoulder.

“You know what I’m going to say, right?” she said softly after a long silence. He groaned softly, but gave no other answer. “You need to report her. She abused her position.”

“I can’t.” He let out a deep sigh. “Even if I didn’t care about her anymore, think of the damage it would do to my academic reputation. It would throw all of my work into question. Not to mention how it might affect my chances of getting onto a PhD programme. It’s better… safer… if I just keep my distance. Chalk it up to youthful mistakes and move on, focus on what’s important.”

Tav wanted to argue, but couldn’t find the words. In truth, she had no idea what would happen if Gale reported Mystra. She wanted to believe that there would be protections in place for a student reporting an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, to ensure he didn’t face retaliation from the university, but in practice, how could she trust them to do right by him?

She still had a painful, sinking feeling in her gut and her chest. She squeezed him a little tighter, dropping a kiss on the top of his head.

“Thank you for confiding in me, Gale. And I’m so, so sorry that you’re going through this.”

Next Chapter

[prynnehesters]

Comic con day 1:

Structure is weird for the staff especially my position bcuz we apparently don't look like staff lol

Dealt w a karen

Convention hall feels super empty bcuz they've moved buildings but it's so funny to see the celebs existing lmaoo

Went to artist alley

They had sexy bg3 prints but no sexy halsin. Cowards!!

Tbh they only had sexy gale, shadowheart and astarion lmao. Also karlach. I think I also saw one of wyll and laezel. Yall are weakkkk

I met irl astarion simps and roasted them (ngl they need to roast me cuz I romanced gale first)

I met Nikki Rapp??!!? (Voice of Lili in psychonauts) wild

I saw a silent hill nurse almost fall down an escalator

Went to get chicken strips

They were good until they were not (fries too hard + salty, seasoning over slathered, mac and cheese too watery)

Going home

Saw a chipotle bowl dropped in the middle of the train station but like, opened and bot spilled

???

Yeah I'm eating somewhere closer to the con next time