#soft very soft content

[rjshope]

Happy birthday, Namjoon (12.09.1994)✨

[nerdallwritey]

Perfect Every Time

Summary: You got up and joined him in the ankle deep water. “Do you want to try right now?” Astarion thought for a moment and clicked his tongue. “I have a better idea, actually.” He gave you a sideways look, his lips quirking up slightly.  “What?” you matched his smile. Rather than answering, Astarion reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head.  You furrowed your brow. “Looks an awful lot like you’re preparing to swim.” He started fiddling with the clasps on his pants and groaned in your direction. “Swimming is not the only thing one can do while submerged in water, dearest.” He gave you a sensual smile that sent heat to your cheeks.  OR Before your party travels into the Underdark, you and Astarion catch one last sunrise together.

Pairing: Astarion x f!reader Rating: 18+ Word count: 7.2k CW: smut, reader is new to sex, hand job, piv sex, water sex, dirty talk, mentions of Astarion's past trauma, blood drinking, extra mild angst, soft Astarion, porn with feelings, reader is an idiot (and a bard), so is Astarion (not a bard, just an idiot), Illmater's blood-stained rack Spoilers: Minor spoilers for Act 1 (in-game dialogue, plot points, etc.), as well as Astarion's plotline Also posted to: AO3 FAIR WARNING: This is PART 4 in my series, "Beauty and the Bard." Find the masterlist here.

a/n: Surprise!! I'm back with a new chapter of Beauty and the Bard! This part is shorter than the other ones (who cheered) because it morphed from a little smut scene into one that deserved its very own part. One million thanks to everyone who's read and enjoyed the series so far, it's so much fun chatting with you guys and hearing your thoughts and it truly means the world that you guys care so much about these goofs. I already have an idea for Part 5, so that will be coming soon, but I have a request to fill first! Thank you all for your patience. In the meantime, please enjoy our regularly scheduled silliness with Astarion and bard!tav :) (Thank you once again to @kermitwazowski for beta reading!) As a reminder, the last part was the Tiefling party!

Taglist: @a66-1, @khaleesiofthewolves, @khywren, @lollipopsandlandmines, @mizuki-nautilus - Let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist for this series!

Several days had passed since the hijinxs of the Tiefling party had taken place. By now, the former refugees of the Emerald Grove were well on their way to Baldur’s Gate, the looming threat of goblins and power hungry druids far from their minds, their thoughts instead replaced with hope for new beginnings in the city. 

Just like he’d promised, Halsin had returned the next day to discuss the parasites, officially joining your party of misfits on your journey towards the Shadow Cursed Lands and Moonrise Towers. His calming presence and sage advice was a welcome addition to the group, especially given that this leadership role had been thrust upon you by the others with next to no discussion. Having Halsin around finally felt like there was a responsible adult among you. Not that you all weren’t adults, but you definitely had your… quirks. Sure, Halsin turned into a bear if he let his emotions go unchecked, but Gale was a bomb. 

As for you and Astarion, not much had really changed, you were both still yourselves, but now you openly tortured your companions with more pet names and cheek kisses and obnoxiously loud banter. Lae’zel had threatened to cleave you both in half on multiple occasions, but had yet to follow through on that threat. The others would groan loudly or avert their eyes politely.

Your days with Astarion were spent fighting side-by-side and teasing one another, and your nights were spent chatting and reading together. Aside from the physical intimacy and emotional vulnerability that came with being in a new relationship, it was really as if nothing had changed. And those were small prices to pay for where you currently found yourself: wrapped together with a trancing Astarion.

Ever since the Tiefling party, Astarion would worm his way into your tent at night. Whether he asked permission, or stayed a little too late into the night reading or talking or drinking from you; you would never ask him to leave. You’d slept together every night, sometimes beside each other, and other nights wrapped in each others’ arms. You were allowing Astarion to set the pace, as you were in no rush to get anywhere in particular. You simply enjoyed his company and his magnetic presence. 

The pair of you hadn’t been too intimate since the party, barring stolen and sometimes steamy kisses. That was plenty for you, and Astarion continued checking in to see if you were okay with his touches and advances. Whenever you assured him that you were, he’d smile and return to your lips. You never asked him for more than he was willing to give, and even though you knew he wouldn’t say anything about it, you could tell he appreciated the courtesy despite the smug mask he so often wore.

Now, you found yourself stroking your hands through his hair as he tranced on your bare chest, breathing quietly; a habit he told you he’d picked up to look more alive when prowling the Gate. 

It was funny, honestly, how sweet and unassuming he looked when he wasn’t fully conscious. And yet, you knew the kind of violence and debauchery and bad jokes he enacted and adored when he was awake. A small sound escaped his lips and you paused in caressing his hair to make sure you weren’t waking him. When his breathing returned to normal, you resumed raking your fingers soothingly over his scalp. 

The hour was a little before dawn. Truthfully, you hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, knowing that today was the day your party would pack up camp and make your way into the Underdark for the foreseeable future. You’d re-emerge eventually to find the crèche Lae’zel knew to be nearby, but the Underdark was worth investigating for the sake of further answers about the tadpoles and a possible alternate route into the Shadow Cursed Lands. Plus, Shadowheart was adamant about seeing the rumored temple to Shar hidden down there.

All that to say, you and your companions wouldn’t be seeing the sun for quite a while. The thought saddened you immensely, knowing how much the man trancing on you would miss it terribly. How cruel, you thought, that your adventure was leading Astarion back into the shadows after he’d just gotten a taste of the sun for the first time in centuries. 

“Why are you awake, my darling?” came Astarion’s raspy voice from the dark. He shifted his head to look up at you, his grip around your midsection tightening a bit, his eyes heavy with grogginess.

“Couldn’t sleep,” you admitted. “You should get a little more if you can.”

Astarion chuckled. “Too busy thinking about me to sleep? I wouldn’t blame you.”

You sighed. “And if I was?”

Astarion’s face fell a little. “Why the hells would you allow yourself to lose sleep on my behalf, pet?” His voice was soft and one of his hands unwrapped itself from your body, taking your hand, and bringing it up to his mouth to kiss the back of your fingers. He cleared his throat. “I mean, obviously I can understand why,” he tried deflecting the sweetness that had seeped into his words by injecting his tone with fake bravado.

You let out an amused breath and allowed your hand in his hair to continue petting him gently. “I want to watch the sunrise with you again this morning.”

Astarion hummed. “And that kept you awake?”

“I didn’t want to oversleep.”

Now it was Astarion’s turn to let out an amused breath. “You could have asked. I would have woken you up.”

“No you wouldn’t, you keep letting me sleep in. It’s like you enjoy watching me sleep or something, you creep.” You poked his nose playfully.

“It’s just amazing how much drool someone of your stature can produce.”

You smacked the side of his head and he laughed softly. The two of you sat in comfortable silence for a little while before you decided to speak again.

“This will be the last sunrise we see for a while.”

Astarion let out a long sigh and remained silent. After a moment, he said, “I know.” 

He sounded sad. 

“It’s not forever, though,” you assured, moving your hand to stroke his cheek and regaining his attention.

He chuckled. “I know that, too.”

You yawned, a little more loudly than you meant to. “Good. I promise you’ll see the sun again.”

Astarion tsked. “Honestly, darling, did you get no sleep at all?”

“I got a little,” you lied.

He held your gaze, lifting a skeptical eyebrow. “I don’t believe you.”

“What does it matter?” you asked, caught. “I can handle a little lack of sleep.”

Astarion rolled his eyes and sat up to look at you more directly. “It matters because we need you alert. None of us knows what awaits us in the Underdark and I- we can’t have you getting hurt because you didn’t get enough rest!”

“I’ll be fine,” you assured, bending upwards to kiss the corner of his mouth. “Besides, I’ll have you to protect me when I get sloppy.”

Astarion groaned. “You shouldn’t get sloppy,” he complained. “I swear, if you somehow hold us back down there, I’ll slaughter you myself.”

“Promise?”

He groaned again. “Would you, just once, allow me to threaten you seriously?”

“No,” you patted his cheek lovingly. 

He sighed and pushed some of his mussed hair out of his face. He took your hands in his. “Just… stay vigilant, alright?”

“Can do,” you said, withholding another obvious yawn.

“I saw that.”

“Saw what?”

He shook his head at you and sat up fully, stretching his arms above his head and giving you a clear view of the scar on his back. You sat up and kissed his bare shoulder.

“I’ll be fine,” you repeated.

“Mhm.” Astarion passed you one of his shirts. “Come on, darling, let’s get a move on.” He tossed on a spare shirt and watched you as you pulled his shirt over your head. 

“There’s still a little time before sunrise,” you said.

Astarion snorted and fixed some of your hair that was sticking up from putting on his shirt. “You could stay here if you want. Drown in your own drool. Up to you.”

You huffed at him, making him laugh again.

“Only joking, my love.”

“Sure,” you said, opening the flaps of your tent and crawling out into the blue that preceded dawn.

You went to stand, but felt Astarion’s cool fingers wrap around your wrist and pull you back. He turned you slightly and caught your lips in a kiss, one that wiped away whatever fake ire you had towards him and replaced it with a dopey grin. 

“What was that for?” you asked when he pulled away.

“Delicious,” he breathed, raising a seductive eyebrow. 

You laughed and grabbed his hand. “Come on.”

You’d only been able to catch two more sunrises with Astarion following the one you watched the morning after you’d slept together for the first time. You’d woken up once on your own after Astarion gently shifted himself away from you, and another time when he woke you up purposely, not wanting to be alone with his thoughts. You’d whine and moan whenever he let you sleep in, despite the fact that it was probably for the best to keep you in tip top shape for fighting and recharging your magic. He’d always find his way back to you, and you knew he needed his own space sometimes, but you still loved to watch him bask in the golden light of the morning and you couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed whenever you felt his gentle hand on your back before opening your eyes and seeing that the sun was already up.

Astarion led you through the forest again, his hand holding yours firmly. You knew your way to the ravine lookout by now, but you liked not having to take the lead for once. He helped you across the little stream that led into the clearing where you first laid together and you felt your cheeks flush at the memory.

“I can hear your heart picking up speed, darling.” He turned to smirk at you. “You’re adorable.”

“Pardon me for still being shy,” you half-joked.

“Mmm,” Astarion hummed. “I’ll pound that out of you eventually.” He furrowed his brow sensually at you and you scoffed.

“Shut up.”

“I, of course, don’t have to-”

You made a whiny sound and he laughed.

“I know, my love,” he said, removing his hand from yours and instead wrapping his arm around you to pull you close. “You’ve been so patient for me,” he nipped at your earlobe. “So good.” 

“I’m in no rush,” you reassured on a shaky exhale. 

Astarion made his own whiny sound and pulled you closer, leading you to the cliff’s edge where he’d opened up to you willingly for the first time, just a few days ago.

He sat, pulling you down with him, far enough away from the edge, where he knew you wouldn’t be nervous of falling. In the distance, the sky was just starting to indicate the sun’s arrival. 

You sighed happily and rested your head on his shoulder. You felt him tense a little. “Is this alright?” 

Instead of answering, he leaned his head on top of yours. 

“What’s something you want to do in the Underdark?” you probed.

Astarion groaned. “You don’t need to make small talk with me, darling, sometimes silence is golden.”

You scrunched your nose, knowing he hated pure silence. “I wasn’t being polite, I genuinely wanted to know.”

He groaned again. “Even worse.”

You laughed lightly and felt him laugh too, his arm gently shaking against your own. 

He thought for a moment before he responded. “That Zhentarim fellow we met mentioned a cache of supplies hidden somewhere down there. That might be fun to pillage.”

You laughed. “I’m surprised you ever stopped thinking about that!”

“Oh I didn’t, but I wanted you to think your little thought experiment had actually evoked some sort of… thought… in me.” He made a face.

“Want to try and rephrase that?”

“Not particularly.”

You hummed fondly, taking one of his hands in your own and examining how your fingers slotted together just so. 

“I suppose you want me to ask you the same question?” Astarion asked, clearly not wanting to ask.

You laughed. “Your interest in my interests always astounds me, Astarion.”

He rubbed his cheek against the top of your head. “Get better interests and I might actually want to pay attention.”

“Rude,” you muttered, a smile on your face. “But since you so desperately want to know, I’ll answer anyway.”

“Oh, goodie.”

You thought about it. There wasn’t actually all that much you knew about the Underdark, aside from the few mentions of it in the books you’d read growing up. One thing did stick out in your mind.

“Singing mushrooms.”

“........What?”

“I read somewhere that apparently there are colonies of sentient mushroom people who communicate through song.”

Astarion pulled his head off of yours to hang it in front of himself instead, groaning loudly. “That sounds like a nightmare.”

“It’s not! It’s fascinating!”

“Sentient mushrooms?”

“Yes.”

“That sing?”

“Yes.”

Astarion shook his head. “Am I still asleep? Do you hear yourself?”

“I’m not making it up!�� you exclaimed incredulously. When he didn’t say anything else, you crossed your arms in front of yourself. “We’re going to see the mushrooms.”

“Whatever you say, darling.” He kissed the top of your head almost pityingly. 

“You’re an ass,” you said, pulling away from him and sitting back on your forearms. The sky was turning a faint pinkish orange in the distance. You snickered to yourself. “More like Ass-starion.”

The ass in question scowled. “That will not be one of your pet names for me.”

You shrugged. “I’m surprised no one’s called you that before.”

“I’ve been called far worse.” Astarion tilted his head up pompously, as if nothing you could say would hurt him.

“Okay great, so ‘Ass’ is nothing new.”

He sighed heavily. “It’s like you want me to throw you off the cliff.”

“Go ahead,” you challenged, catching his eye mischievously, knowing his threat was empty. 

Astarion looked at you and then towards the horizon. He inhaled deeply and rose to his feet. 

“What are you doing?” you laughed nervously as he approached the cliff’s edge that gave way into the ravine below. 

He peered over the edge, his brow furrowed in deep thought. 

You shifted uncomfortably and sat up completely straight. “Astarion, please be careful, you’re making me nervous.”

He ignored you and walked along the edge, looking past a batch of trees and into the distance to your right. He nodded and turned back towards where you sat.

“Up you go,” Astarion approached you and gestured his thumb upwards, indicating that he wanted you to stand. When he reached you, he helped you to your feet.

“You’re not actually going to throw me off the cliff, are you?” You kept your tone playful, but the anxiety you were masking was obvious.

Astarion smirked. “Stop annoying me and I won’t have to.”

You rolled your eyes and began to follow him as he started walking to the right, down a slanted slope and into a patch of trees. 

“What’s happening?” you asked when you caught up with him.

Astarion tilted his head. “I just thought an occasion such as this needed a change of scenery.”

“‘Occasion?’” you echoed.

He nodded. “It’s my last day in the sun-” he saw you about to protest and quickly added, “-for a little while. Might as well start the day off right.”

You hummed. “Why do I get the sense that you’re up to something?”

Astarion stopped in his tracks, a hand held to his unbeating heart in mock offense. “Me? Up to something? You’re far too paranoid, darling.”

“Uh huh.” You kept walking, but quickly realized you didn’t actually know where you were going. You looked back at Astarion for help and found him watching you. 

He rolled his eyes affectionately. “This way, dear, it’s not much farther.” He walked past you, deeper into the trees, and kept talking. “Did you know that that ravine we’ve been sitting above gives way into what I can only assume is either the Chianthar or the Sea of Swords?”

“I didn’t,” you said. “Though those are two very different bodies of water.”

“Give me a break, my geography lessons occurred well over 200 years ago. And we’re in the gods damn middle of nowhere, might I remind you.”

“Mhm,” you affirmed with a smile. “Go on.”

“Well, it just so happens that that ravine’s mouth isn’t far from our little sunrise spot.”

“‘Our?’” you teased.

“Focus, darling,” he said. He turned to the left, leading you back towards the cliff’s edge that had continued along the treeline.

“Astarion, please be careful,” you called after him, hesitantly following him towards the sound of rushing water. 

He turned back and held out a steadying hand for you as you approached the edge. Not too far below you were narrow rapids that gradually became calmer. The cliff that had been on the other side of the one you currently found yourself on had disappeared, forming a mouth where the ravine did in fact empty into a much larger, much calmer, body of water.

You wrapped your arms around Astarion’s middle to anchor yourself and leaned forward a little to see where the cliff you were on ended. A little farther down, you squinted to adjust your eyes to the dim lighting, and saw a tiny beach that quickly shot upwards into a new cliff. Rocks surrounded the shore, keeping it slightly out of view, and gentle waves lapped at the sand, far enough away from the rapids of the ravine to remain serene.

You caught Astarion’s eye and pointed towards the small patch of sand in the distance. “Is that where we’re going?”

Astarion pursed his lips. “Yes, that would be much easier than jumping in, wouldn’t it?”

You scoffed. “You expected me to jump in from this high up? There could be rocks we can’t see! And we don’t know how deep it is!”

Astarion sighed. “You’re no fun. Though I suppose you’re right, I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” With your arms still around his middle, he started walking back into the trees and down towards the tiny beach. 

You laughed as he dragged you along. “You can’t possibly be serious. You’d get your hair all wet!”

“Nobody said I was going to jump in with you,” he teased.

“I’m not going in alone,” you narrowed your eyes at him. 

“Pity,” he tutted. “I like it when you’re wet.” He smirked and you shoved yourself away from him. 

You picked up your pace to put distance between the two of you. When you didn’t hear his footsteps gaining on you, you decided to quickly slip behind a tree, hoping you’d lost him and that you’d be able to jump out to scare him as he sauntered past.

Unfortunately, nothing but silence greeted you. After a heartbeat or two, you peered around the trunk of your hiding spot but saw no sign of his sleek frame or shock of white hair. You started to second guess yourself; was it possible he’d passed you already? Or that he stopped, out of sight for some reason? 

“You’ll have to do better than that, darling,” came his voice softly next to your ear.

You yelped and clutched at your heart, which raced with surprise. 

Astarion sighed happily. “I do love the sound of your blood pumping.”

“How do you do that?” you asked, breathing deeply to calm yourself. 

“Years of practice.” He paused. “Centuries, even.”

You conceded with a nod. “I shouldn’t have even tried.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. The effort was hardly there, either.”

“Alright,” you rolled your eyes and continued on through the trees down to the beach.

“I mean honestly, have these weeks on the road with me taught you nothing about stealth?”

“I play music for a living. My job is making noise.”

“And I don’t know why I even try at this point.” He raised his eyebrows playfully.

“You like my noise,” you said, sing-songingly. 

“You’re loud, I’ll give you that.”

It was then that you emerged from the trees and onto a grassy dune that sloped downward onto the flat sand below. You slid down the dune with as much grace as you could muster, only falling on your ass once, before taking off your shoes and sinking your toes into the cool sand that made up the shoreline. Astarion followed after you, his long strides keeping him upright and as elegant as ever. He came to stand next to you, taking his own shoes off and placing them neatly beside yours.

You exhaled wistfully and grabbed Astarion’s bicep, leaning your head onto his shoulder. From here, you had a clear view of the sun on the horizon. The sky was a deep shade of pink, giving way to golds and oranges the closer you watched. You looked at Astarion, whose eyes were focused on the sunrise in the distance. 

“What are you thinking about?” you asked quietly.

Astarion looked over at you and blinked. Then he smiled. “Just that it’s truly a wonder you’ve made it this far in life.”

“What?!” you exclaimed, shocked and amused.

You could tell he was holding in a laugh. “You are inept at hiding and fall down sand dunes. What were we thinking when we started following you around Faerûn?”

“I’ll push you into the water, pretty boy.”

“I’d pull you in with me, my love.”

“Touché,” you smiled and released his arm, sitting on the sand. You pulled your legs to your chest and rested your cheek on your knee. Around you, reeds and tall grass swayed in the morning breeze. Astarion remained standing, watching the horizon. 

As much as you enjoyed watching the sunrise, you enjoyed watching Astarion watch it more. The way his attention became transfixed on the sky, the way the vibrant light painted itself onto him like a blank canvas, the way his entire body relaxed when the warmth of the sun finally reached his skin. 

You heard him sigh and watched as he walked forward a little, allowing the tiny waves rolling off the water to rush gently over his toes. He flinched a little in shock and you let out an affectionate breath through your nose.

“Cold?” you asked.

“You know, it’s funny,” Astarion said, his voice a million miles away. “It’s been so long since I’ve been able to move through water like this.”

“What do you mean?” You furrowed your brow. “I’ve seen you in the lake at camp before.”

“I don’t know, I guess I haven’t given it too much thought until now. Normally, I can’t move through running water like this. Don’t ask me why, it’s one of those idiotic vampire laws dictated by some ancient devil with an infuriating sense of humor. I can bathe, sure, but I haven’t been proper swimming since… before.”

You stayed quiet as he moved further into the water, letting the waves wash over his ankles.

“I have to imagine I knew how to swim at one point,” he said quietly.

“I could teach you,” you offered. “I was going to teach Shadowheart at some point too. You’re welcome to join us if you want.”

Astarion snorted. “And look like a fool in front of the cleric? I’ll pass.”

“You don’t need swim lessons to look like a fool,” you clarified. 

“Ha ha,” he said humorlessly. 

You got up and joined him in the ankle deep water. “Do you want to try right now?”

Astarion thought for a moment and clicked his tongue. “I have a better idea, actually.” He gave you a sideways look, his lips quirking up slightly. 

“What?” you matched his smile.

Rather than answering, Astarion reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. 

You furrowed your brow. “Looks an awful lot like you’re preparing to swim.”

He started fiddling with the clasps on his pants and groaned in your direction. “Swimming is not the only thing one can do while submerged in water, dearest.” He gave you a sensual smile that sent heat to your cheeks. 

“Oh,” you said, stiffly watching him undress. “Should I-?” you awkwardly pulled at the collar of his shirt that was currently resting on your shoulders. 

He straightened, naked but for his underwear. He frowned a little. 

“You don’t have to do anything, my love. I just thought we might have some fun while watching the sunrise.”

You bit your bottom lip, thinking it over. “I do like fun.”

“I know that about you.” Astarion walked towards you and reached for the hem of your shirt. “May I?”

You nodded and lifted your arms to help. He took the shirt and tossed it over to where he’d discarded his own clothes. He stepped closer to you, pulling you to him so that you were chest to chest, and nuzzled his nose into the area where your neck met your shoulder. He placed a slow, gentle kiss there that had you inhaling sharply and exhaling unevenly. He groaned with need before pulling back and readjusting to kiss your lips. He came at it with more force than you were expecting, causing you to stumble back a little, but his hands firmly gripped your biceps, keeping you steady. You suppressed a giggle and instead smiled against his mouth before opening up for him and allowing his tongue to meet yours. Astarion hummed with pleasure, moving his mouth against yours and bringing his hands up to tangle in your hair. When he finally pulled away, he left one more chaste kiss against your lips before fully pulling back. 

His eyes were alight with something that morphed into joy when he saw the gooey grin on your face. He rolled his eyes affectionately before looking you up and down and exhaling a laugh.

“You are perfect,” he said, almost in awe.

You smiled. “When?”

Astarion pulled you closer, his eyes narrowing seductively. “Every time.”

You snickered and pulled away from him, a teasing grin plastered on his face. You bent to remove your own pants and watched to see what Astarion would do next. When you saw him reach for his underwear, you averted your eyes and heard him laugh.

“Nothing new over here, darling,” he said, and the soft splashing sounds that followed indicated he’d walked into the water.

“I know,” you replied, embarrassed. You turned back towards him and shrugged. “Habit, I guess.”

“Well, cut it out,” he called, now knee deep in the water. His body was rigid from the temperature, his shoulders rising up to his ears. He turned back to look back at you, still standing on the shore. “Illmater’s blood-stained RACK, this is cold!” 

“I don’t know what you expected,” you called back, hugging your arms to your chest and trying to convince yourself to brave the frigid waters and join him.

“I rather expected you would be in here with me to keep me warm,” he said, turning back towards the sunrise ahead of him.

You quickly pulled off your underwear and started walking into the water, tensing at the cold, but willing yourself to keep going. 

“If you wanted my blood, you could have just asked,” you said when you finally reached him.

“There you are, darling,” Astarion said and grabbed your hand. 

“Hi,” you said softly.

“Brace yourself,” he tipped his head forward a little.

“What?”

Without warning, Astarion lowered himself into the water so that it was just below his shoulders, and pulled you down with him. You hadn’t expected to be yanked so forcefully and unsurprisingly lost your footing. You plunged downward, reaching your free hand out to break your fall and ended up dunking your face below the surface. You were submerged for less than a second, but you came up sputtering and made eye contact with a gleeful vampire. He sucked in his lips to keep from laughing.

“And what was that?” you asked blandly, flicking wet tendrils of hair out of your face.

“Apologies, darling, I didn’t mean for you to get your pretty hair all wet,” he pouted at you and sounded less than sympathetic. 

“Uh huh,” you narrowed your eyes at him. You crawled closer to him, made weightless by the water, and sat beside him, the water level reaching slightly higher on your chest than his. You scooted back a little and dragged your arm out behind you. You pushed it forward quickly, creating a splash that soaked the back of Astarion’s head. He instantly hunched forward and yelped. 

“How dare you?!” he exclaimed, his curls flattening and falling partially into his face. 

“Whoops,” you shrugged. Your eyes widened when you saw him wind his own arm back in retaliation and quickly dunked your head below the surface to avoid his onslaught of water.

When you reemerged, you heard Astarion snicker.

“Look at that,” he said, his tone mocking, “you’re all wet for me.”

You wasted no time in splashing him directly in the face.

“Let’s not do this,” he said flatly, his eyes closed. He brought his hands up to wipe the water off his face, even though his hands were equally wet.

“But now you’re all wet for me,” you teased. 

“I’ll show you what I am,” Astarion growled and took your hand underwater. He pulled you closer and led your hand to his cock, which was already rigid with desire, despite the temperature of the water. 

You made eye contact with him as you started pumping your hand up and down his shaft and he hissed out a breath. 

“Easy, darling,” he said shakily. 

“What’s the matter?” you asked, close to his ear. “Don’t you want to cum while watching the sunrise?”

Astarion groaned and you moved your hand up to swipe your thumb across his tip and then back down to continue pumping. You lifted your weightless body up and swung your leg around so that you were sitting between his legs, facing him head on with the sunrise at your back. 

“I know what would make you even harder,” you cooed, wiping wet hair out of his face with your free hand. Instead of finishing the thought, you tilted your head to the side, offering up your neck to him. 

Astarion’s eyes, half lidded with lust, went wide and looked at you. You nodded to him, and he pulled you closer to his chest, kissing your throat feverishly upon contact. Your hand was still wedged between your legs, twisting around Astarion’s length. He moaned as he nosed along your throat for where your pulse thrummed the strongest.

“Thank you,” he said before sinking his fangs into you. 

You let out a moan of your own, your mouth falling open as goosebumps broke out along your arms. The cold water mixed with the ice in your veins created a delicious mixture of pleasure and pain. The hand pumping Astarion’s length started to slow as you felt yourself focusing instead on the satisfyingly dull thrum that came with him drinking from you. 

“Don’t stop,” he murmured against your skin, kissing your throat and licking a few wayward drops of blood that had escaped before returning to his meal.

You made a noise of affirmation and squeezed his dick before continuing to twist your hand up and down, from base to tip and back down again. 

Astarion whined lamely and dug his nails into your scalp and shoulder, which in turn made you moan wantonly. You rolled your hips, trying to find some relief of your own and ended up brushing your clit against the base of his cock. You both groaned in pleasure and you brought your free hand up to tangle into his hair as you continued rolling your hips. 

“Hah,” Astarion huffed sweetly as he pulled himself away from your throat, his cool breath made warm by your blood. He licked at the wounds he left behind and kissed them gratefully before angling his head to kiss your mouth deeply.

The metallic tang of your blood on his tongue sent a chill through your body and you opened your eyes when you felt Astarion’s hands make their way to your hips. You broke the kiss to give him a curious look. 

He returned your look with a blissed out smirk. “I want you to ride me,” he drawled. 

Your eyes widened and the hand that was still working his cock slowed to a stop. 

He surged forward to kiss you again and moved his hands to your ass, where he lifted your weightless form to position you over his length. 

“Are you sure?” you asked. “I thought I was close to getting you off.”

“You were, sweet girl, but I’d much rather finish inside, if it’s all the same to you.”

Your lips quirked up. “I think we can make that work.”

Taking his cock into your hand again, you guided the head to your entrance before sinking down on him slowly. Astarion’s eyes closed in satisfaction and he tipped his head up to the sky, golden light painting his beautiful face into something ethereal. You sucked in a breath and rested your forehead on his shoulder, taking a second to adjust to this new sensation. You hadn’t ridden him yet, nor had you ever fooled around in water, by yourself or otherwise. 

Astarion kissed your ear before encouraging you: “Use me, my love. You’re deliciously warm.”

You nodded and tested lifting yourself up a little and bringing yourself back down. Your mouth dropped open and you adjusted your legs so you were resting on your knees, making it easier to bob on his dick. Your arms wrapped around his neck as you lifted yourself higher and brought yourself down with more force.

“That’s it,” Astarion cooed, “take your pleasure from me.”

“Touch me,” you whined, rolling your hips and picking up the pace of your bouncing.

“With pleasure,” he bent forward to kiss your neck, bringing his hand down to circle your clit. His other hand came up to squeeze your breast. 

“You make me feel so good,” you sighed, raking your nails over the ridges on his back.

“The feeling is mutual, d-arling,” his voice caught when you brought yourself down on his cock. “And I’m the only one who can make you feel this good,” he grazed his fangs across your collarbone. 

“I don’t know,” you said, your body shuddering with euphoria, “Halsin seems like he could give you a run for your money.”

Astarion raised a disbelieving eyebrow at you.

“Teasing, my love,” you kissed him softly before letting out a loud “Ah!” when he started raising his hips to meet yours.

“Oh really?” he asked, his voice coming out like a growl. “You think Halsin could fuck you as well as I can?”

“Hah,” you half laughed, half moaned. “I think technically, in this position, I’m fucking you?” A lopsided grin graced your lips. “But I don’t know, I’m new to all this.”

“Funny,” Astarion remarked sarcastically and pulled his hand away from your clit, making you whimper in protest. 

“Hey!”

“Take it back.”

“Take what back? I already said I was teasing!”

“Say I’m the only one who can fuck you like this.”

You smiled, panting and still riding him beneath the surface of the water. “Are you jealous or something?”

“Hardly,” he rolled his eyes. “But you’re mine and it wouldn’t kill you to remind yourself of that.”

“Sounds an awful lot like jealousy to me.”

Astarion groaned in what sounded like frustration and pleasure. “Do you want to cum or not?” 

You leaned forward and kissed him deeply, moving your mouth slowly in time with the rhythm of your hips. When you pulled away, a string of saliva connected you to his lower lip. 

“Astarion,” you said softly, “I don’t ever want anyone else to fuck me. Only you. For as long as you’ll have me.”

The smirk on Astarion’s face was smug. “Because?”

You rolled your eyes. “Because I’m yours, you stupid bat.” You kissed him, then whispered conspiratorially, “And I like you the most out of everyone at camp.”

“You flatter me,” Astarion said, immediately returning to his ministrations on your clit. You gasped at the contact, which quickly morphed into a moan of delight as you rested your forehead on his shoulder again. His hips rose to meet yours once more and the moan he let out as a result sounded as if he’d been holding it in for a while. Perhaps it was to sound eloquent during your back and forth, but the noise was music to your ears.

“Am I making you feel good?” you asked a little shyly.

Astarion opened one of his eyes to look at you. “My sweet, you’ve only ever made me feel good.”

“I know that’s not true.”

“It’s not, but it is true about the sex.”

“Thank the gods,” you laughed, though you shut your eyes tightly when Astarion hit a particularly pleasant spot inside you with a roll of his hips. “Whatever you just hit felt heavenly,” you relayed to him.

“Good to know,” he said mischievously, and repositioned you on his lap so he could rise to meet that spot every time you sank down on him. 

“Oh, Astarion,” you sighed, a grin overtaking your features.

“You like that, love?” he nipped at your shoulder. 

“Yes,” you sighed again.

Your bounces on his cock were starting to become sloppy as the knot of your climax began to build low in your stomach. You moved your hand to his and reversed the direction he was currently circling your clit.

“I’m close,” you confessed.

“Thank the gods, so am I,” Astarion’s voice was strained.

You opened your eyes to watch him as he approached his own peak and exhaled dreamily at the sight of him, bathed in the orange glow of the sun which was now halfway risen. 

“You’re so beautiful,” you whispered, “and I like you so much.”

“Don’t make me throw up when I’m trying to cum,” he opened up an eye and smirked at you. “You’re not half bad yourself, gorgeous thing.” He groaned when you sat back down on him forcefully. “Now, would you cum for me already? I’m dying here.”

“Almost there,” you laughed. “And you’re dead already.”

“You’re making this very difficult, darling.”

“Let me help you then,” you said, reaching a hand forward and lightly caressing his balls.

Astarion’s mouth hung open in silent pleasure, his fangs glistening in the emerging sunshine. He watched you wordlessly as you leaned forward.

“You’re so powerful,” you purred next to his ear. “You make me feel so good, and you’re the only one who can fuck me this well. The others will never know how good I feel because I’m yours and I’ll only ever be yours. You’re the only one who will ever be inside of me.”

“That’s right,” he groaned. “Your cunt is mine and I love the way it feels around me. The way it grips me so tight. You filthy thing, letting a vampire take your innocence. I could have killed you and instead I brought you the most pleasure you’ve ever felt. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes,” you moaned. “Astarion, please. Need to feel your cum in me.”

“You want this cock forever, darling? Prove it. Prove you want it by cumming for me and screaming my name.”

His command brought you to your peak and you wailed out in pure ecstasy. His name fell from your lips like a prayer, over and over, and your cunt gripped him like a vice, as if claiming it for itself. In return, Astarion groaned loudly and spilled inside of you, moaning your name repeatedly and throwing his head back in rapture and delight.

As you came down from your high, you leaned forward to place sloppy kisses on his exposed throat. He brought both his arms around you and pulled you closer as he returned from his climax. 

“You are-” he didn’t finish his sentence before crushing his lips into yours, moaning pathetically and you giggled in response. He bit your bottom lip with his blunt front teeth before releasing it and peppering kisses along your cheeks and jaw. 

“Go on,” you teased, encouraging him to finish his thought.

He looked as if he wanted to argue, but instead gave in and said, “You’re wonderful.”

The words caught you off guard and you bent forward to kiss him in a way that you hoped conveyed your gratitude. 

“I think you’re wonderful, too.”

“Obviously,” Astarion smirked.

You pushed him backwards, causing him to slip and submerge his head fully underwater briefly.

“My hair was just starting to dry, you wretched beast!” he sputtered, looking appalled. 

“Aw, but you’re so pretty like this!” You brushed some wet hair out of his eyes.

“Um, hello? I’m always pretty, darling.”

“Ah, you’re right, how could I forget.” You gingerly lifted yourself off of Astarion and floated yourself to sit beside him, facing the sunrise. 

“Perhaps you’ve had the lovely head of yours hit in battle one too many times.”

“That must be it,” you agreed jokingly, resting your head on his shoulder. 

He leaned his head on top of yours in return. You sighed happily, enjoying the vibrant hues of the sky above, still filled with the euphoria of your high and the presence of the man beside you.

“I really do like you, so much,” you said softly, accompanied by the quiet lapping of the waves on the shore nearby.

“Ugh,” Astarion groaned. “Let’s not get sentimental, darling. After we just had such an excellent time together.”

You laughed. “Pardon me for wanting to express my feelings.”

“You are pardoned.” He gave you a sideways smile. 

“Thank you, Mr. Magistrate.”

“Of course, beloved citizen.”

You both laughed quietly and returned to a pleasant silence. The sun rose steadily up into the sky and you knew you’d have to head back to camp soon to help pack up, but for now, you were content to sit and watch the horizon with your favorite traveling companion. 

“How are you doing that?” Astarion asked, breaking the silence.

“Doing what?”

“Tickling my thighs. Did you cast mage hand or something of the sort?”

You sat up a bit more to look and snorted. 

“Astarion, my love, I think it’s a fish that’s tickling you.”

“Ah,” he said calmly. Then he shot up, flinging you backwards and underwater. When you came up for air, he was rushing towards the shore, barreling through the water.

“At least it had the decency to wait until we were finished!” you called after him.

Astarion ignored you. “Slimy, disgusting, vile creatures!” He shook out his entire body as if he couldn’t rid himself of the sensation.

You watched him with adoration as he muttered to himself about how irredeemable that particular fish was as he pulled on his pants. It was then that you felt your heart swell with something big and alarming.

Oh no.

You were in love with him. 

Fuck!

[pocketgalaxies]

matt just straight-up saying "critical role is not for you, it is for my friends" is honestly the whole reason it's so good. i love that he's willing to just put that out in the open and that the fandom generally accepts that philosophy

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

That's the face he makes when he's feeling silly.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

OMG I’m so excited for this!!! Can I request Vil with the prompt rainy nights?? Can it be fluffy and romantic? Anyway I hope you have a wonderful day!! :)

Rainy Nights; Vil Schoenheit

Content; Fluff, gender-neutral reader, established romantic relationship

Content Warning; Reader cries because of a movie, death (movie)

Word Count; 700+

Author's Note; I had a vision; watching old movies with Vil as the rain came down. I had a lot of fun writing this, and this is also my first solo Vil piece, so I hope I did him justice here.

As a reminder, do not put my work — or others for that matter — into AI as it steals. Link to Masterlist

You were rummaging around the TV console, going through the numerous DVDs and VHS tapes that were just sitting around and collecting dust. Tonight was your night for movie night, as yesterday was Vil’s, so you were weighing your options. Sure, there were streaming services, but there’s just something that hits differently with a physical copy, flaws and all. Plus it’s not like you could go out since it was raining like no tomorrow outside. So, movie night.

“Having any luck,” Vil gently called from the washroom, still doing his nightly routine.

Your eyes still scoured the various cases, trying to find the perfect one. “Not yet. Just give me a minute, m’kay?”

Vil gave you a hum as an answer, leaving you be.

Horror movie? No, he wouldn’t like that. Mystery? Too predictable… And then you found what looked like the most faded cases, colour worn away from age and a hand going back time and time again. That one.

Pulling it out, you dusted off the case, inspecting the title. Of the smudged-out words, you could make out The, some kind of smudged-out word, Blossom. It looked like a black-and-white movie, and on the front were the protagonists with their backs together, flower petals surrounding them, and a dagger above them. This, this is perfect.

Vil came out of the washroom, wearing his matching royal purple pyjamas and house robe, and glowing from the various skin products that he used. He looked curiously over your shoulder. “Hmm, The Bitter Blossom,” he mused, turning his gaze to you. “Is that your pick, Schatz?” His tone was light, a sign that he approved, and was mildly surprised at your pick.

“Mhm,” you hummed, placing the VHS tape into the VCR player. Whoever had played it last had saved you the trouble of rewinding it. “Have you watched it before?”

“Surprisingly, no. Copies of it are extremely hard to come by.” He got the sofa ready, adjusting the pillows, grabbing one of the many quilts, and a box of tissues, just in case. He noticed the look you were giving him, “I haven’t watched it, but I have heard about how it ends.”

You raised a brow, but shrugged. You pressed play and scrambled over to your spot next to Vil, getting comfy and pulling that handy quilt over the both of you — the rain had made it a little bit chilly.

The Bitter Blossom started playing. Not only was it in black-and-white, but it was also a silent film. The protagonists were two lovers who met by chance, their relationship going from cold strangers to a budding romance. 

But why had Vil grabbed the tissues? The movie was almost over, it couldn’t possibly—

But then the antagonist, a jealous ex of one of the main protagonists, stabbed the love interest in the back with a dagger. The movie ended with the protagonist hugging their love interest, flower blossoms falling down around them.

“Do not let the bitter blossom of hatred and vengeance bloom in your heart or mind, my love. Do not let it ruin the happiness which we fleetingly had.” The words flashed on the screen before the movie ended with the screen fading into black.

That, that was why Vil had grabbed the tissues. Wait, were you crying? That would explain why Vil was gently dabbing away the stray tears as they rolled down your face.

“A lovely film, love,” he whispered, “I should have warned you about the ending—”

You stopped him by grabbing softly at his hand, bringing it up to cup your face. “No, it’s alright. It was a beautiful movie,” you hiccuped, leaning into his touch. 

Vil caressed calming strokes on your cheek, the slow movements helping you focus on him. He placed a kiss on your forehead, a gentle hum escaping as the kiss lingered. “Oh potato,” your old nickname from when the two of you were still just only acquaintances, “what am I going to do with you?”

You grabbed a tissue and loudly blew your nose, “Cuddles?”

Vil sighed softly, but put his arm around you, resting his head against yours and placing a kiss to your temple. “Alright,” he hummed and continued humming a gentle tune until you were falling asleep. While he would prefer sleeping in bed, he supposed he could stand to cuddle with you on the sofa as the rain eased up outside.

~~~~~~~

Schatz; German for treasure, a common term of endearment

Tags; @azulashengrottospiano [I've seen the Vil brain rot and gushing], @eynnwwyjth, @xxoomiii

[switchywhore]

i love aftercare so much it's unreal.

just laying there cuddled up with my pup in my arms, playing with their hair while praising them for how good they were for me.

especially after doing something new or more intense it's so so so important to let your sub know how proud of them you are, but also to make sure they're aware of how loved they are.

as someone who doms more often than not, aftercare is just as, if not more, important as the scene itself. there are a lot of endorphins that are released in more intense scenes as well as a lot of dopamine so its important to bring them back down gently and look after them

clean them up, make sure they go to the toilet, get them water and maybe a snack and hold them close. remind them of how loved they are. their head will more than likely be a bit fuzzy so bringing them back to reality gently is so critical to prevent any kind of drop.

[marketableplushieenthusiast]

Oh hey, I can just. Post pics of my plushies. Wild. Social media is amazing.

Shout out to Noonaneko on Etsy for this FANTASTIC boy who just came in the mail:

Kiki... My best friend Kiki...

She did a wonderful job designing my son, and he is very small and cute. Truly a wowzers moment.

(More pics below the cut)

Kinda silly how small he is compared to Ogerpon. She looks like she's patting his head!

He is a bit bigger than the trainer mascot plush line tho.

Hehe, varied scale plushies are funny.

[ceratedfish24]

If you think Snowbugs (Scott/Tango) is a strange thing to ship because they’ve hardly interacted, I’ll have you know that I think Scott/Doc would be incredible. Stay in your lane mainstream shippers. I am crazy and delusional.

[mapofthemazeinthemirror]

Kissing Huening Kai; Slowly bringing your faces closer together, seeing his smiling eyes crinkling around the edges and shiny with love and the lights from above you through the bangs over his eyes that he grows to hide them. The smile stays on his face until your lips are almost touching – he can't help it – and then you're kissing, sharing the warmth of your lips. It's as if you can feel the warmth he homes inside him. When you part, his smile returns, his eyes twinkling once more, his face so fond. It's love.

[bigdumbbambieyes]

Happy Halloween, lovelies!! 🎃 Day 31: Your Choice for @harringrovekinktober what better way to celebrate than with some SFW ghost!Billy fun?

--

It’s Friday night, it’s Halloween, and Steve’s babysitting.

Which, at this point in his life, he should be used to by now – but it still kinda sucks. He cares about the kids, sure, but he’s not crazy about them. He could be hanging out at Robin’s, watching horror movies and binging on candy and talking about girls and whatever, but no. 

Dustin had invited him to the little hangout in Mike’s basement after Trick-or-Treating and, well…the two of them have been distant lately, so. He said yes. Because Dustin was an annoying little shit with a smart mouth, but he was kind of like the younger brother Steve never had. And Steve wanted to enjoy that just a little longer, until either Dustin became totally bored with him or they kids no longer needed him around.

Which were both very depressing thoughts, so. Steve had agreed to go and handed out candy with his parents until eleven o’clock rolled around and he dipped, saying goodnight to the two of them before making his way over to the Wheeler’s.

Nancy had answered the door, gave him an awkward little smile like she always does these days, and he’d made equally awkward small talk before leaving to go and check on the kids downstairs.

“Steve!” Dustin called out with a smile, actually excited to see him, and it made Steve feel warm.

A grin overtaking his face for the first time all evening, Steve returned the smile and happily did their little handshake – ignoring the eye rolls and laughter pointed at them from the other kids scattered about the room.

The entire Party was there, including El, which was nice to see. Steve couldn’t remember the last time he saw her out, especially after…after…

His eyes land on Max, who’s pale and managing a smile from where she’s curled up on the floor with El, the two of them sorting through their candy piles.

For a second, Steve sees flashes of fireworks and hears the distant screams of Billy in his mind, and shakes them away.

“Hey.” He greets her with a small smile and nod, which she returns before her tired eyes fall to where El’s trying to trade her Milky Way for Max’s Reese’s cups.

“You’re just in time!” Dustin says with excitement, his eyes bright as he tugs on Steve’s sleeve, “C’mon!”

“Just in time for what, exactly?” Steve asks with a furrowed brow, following the kid to the table where they all usually play DnD. But, instead of a map and figures scattered across it, there’s an Ouija board, and Steve stops in his tracks. “Where did you find this?” He asks, his tone serious.

“Will and I found it earlier,” Mike pipes up from around his lollipop in his mouth, tucked away in his cheek, “It’s rad, right?”

“Um, no?” Steve baulks, flounders a bit as he motions to the board with his hands, “Do–you–I–” he huffs and runs a hand through his hair, hating to be That Guy but he sighs, “This isn’t a good idea.”

As expected, a chorus of moans and groans follow him as the kids all head to the table, surrounding it, each of them yelling things like ‘don’t be lame, Steve’ or ‘it’s Halloween, it’s the perfect time to try it’ and other equally as stupid.

The only other person who looks weary is Max, her arms crossed over her chest as she eyes the board quietly.

“C’mon, Steve, just once!” Lucas says, “It’s probably not even real. This kinda shit is always just made up.”

“Yeah, my brother tried it once and he said it didn’t work,” Will adds, his brown eyes looking at Steve, pleading quietly, “Please?”

Fuck.

It’s a bad idea. Stupid, really. And while Steve doesn’t believe in ghosts because he’s never come across one, he’s still seen enough creepy shit in his life that he’s not eager to go poking around for more. Especially tonight of all nights. 

And not mention that he’s used one of these before, when he was their age. He still swears the planchette moved on its own and he’d sworn to himself that he’d never touch one of these things again.

Still, though. He can’t…show that he’s even a little spooked, because the kids would never let him live it down.

Blinking out of his thoughts, he sees every pair of eyes on him, quietly waiting for his approval.

Which, in a way, is nice. That these kids respect him enough to wait for his permission. Not that they really need it – they usually do whatever they want, anyway.

Giving in, he sighs, “Yeah, sure, whatever.” And they burst into excitement, which he’s quick to dampen with, “Just once! Once.” And they all agree eagerly.

As they all circle the table, fingertips going to the planchette, Steve feels his stomach knot uneasily. The room is dim already, Dustin having shut off the lights except for the light above the table, and the kids all look at each other as the realization dawns on them that no one knows how to do it.

“You gotta be shitting me.” Steve huffs in amusement, his mouth twitching with a poorly concealed smile.

“You spoke first!” Mike grins triumphantly, “That means you gotta ask a question!”

Steve’s smile drops and his brows furrow, “What? That’s not a rule.”

“It is now.” Dustin smirks, just as smug.

“Ugh, fine, whatever,” Steve huffs, licking his lips as he eyes the board and says, “Hello. Is anyone there?”

A few seconds pass, nothing happens.

Until the planchette slowly moves to ‘Yes’.

The kids all gasp and freak out a little, but Steve’s quick to shush them, “Shut up! Relax, just…chill.”

He wracks his brain for another question, ignores the tingling at the base of his spine as he asks, “Do you know what day it is?”

“The fuck kinda question is tha–” Dustin starts but quickly snaps his mouth shut as the planchette begins to spell out a word.

Just one word: H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N.

The kids all giggle and gasp again, clearly entertained and unsure of how authentic it actually is.

“Do you…know my name?” He asks, eyes trained on the board.

S-T-E-V-E.

“Holy shit!”

“No way!”

“Who’s moving it?!”

“Oh, my god, shh!” Steve silences them again, ignoring the chill up his back as he eyes each of the kids, trying to see which one of them is doing it – but they all look innocent.

Looking down at the board again, Steve asks, “What’s your name?”

B.

Steve’s throat closes up.

I.

His eyes go to Max.

L.

Horror slowly dawns on her face, his eyes widening and jaw dropping.

L.

He feels ice cold.

Y.

The room is silent for a moment, until Max gasps quietly, “Billy? Is it really you…?”

The planchette moves to ‘Yes’ and her hand goes to her mouth, her eyes welling with tears as she tries and fails to muffle a sudden sob, El quickly wrapping her up in a hug as the boys all begin to freak out, hand after hand leaving the planchette until Steve’s the only one.

His gut twisting, anger flaring, he looks at the boys and snarls, “Hey! This shit isn’t funny, whoever’s doing it, knock it off–”

The planchette keeps moving under his fingertips and he looks down at it, eyes wide as it spells.

B-O-O.

Snatching his hand away, Steve points an angry finger at the kids as Max cries in El’s arms, “Okay, that’s it! We agreed on once and we did it once–”

“Steve, you can’t–” Dustin tries, but Steve cuts him off.

“–No! Whatever the fuck that was, it’s done! I’m done. I don’t need this…this ghost bullshit ruining my night, okay? You can all have your fun but I’m out!” He looks to El and Max, “C’mon, I’ll take you two home, if you want.”

Max is quick to nod and gather up her things, El following suit, but he doesn’t wait for them – he goes back upstairs, hearing Dustin call, “You have to say goodbye to end it!”

Yeah, sure.

Slamming his car door shut, Steve grips his steering wheel and closes his eyes, tries to even his breathing and calm his racing heart. 

Because what the fuck?

It wasn’t real. It wasn’t. It was just some fucked up prank the boys were doing and it backfired hard.

Although, he does jump when the girls open the doors to his backseat and climb in, but he sighs softly in relief when he realizes it’s just them.

And not Billy Hargrove back from the dead or something.

He looks back at them and at Max, who’s quietly wiping away the tears under her eyes. Quietly, he asks, “You okay?”

She glowers at him a little, obviously not okay, so he nods silently and turns back to start his car.

--

He drops them off and makes sure they’re inside before pulling away and heading back home, turning up his music to drown out the annoying memory of Dustin calling after him in the basement, something about not saying ‘goodbye’ and having to–

The radio buzzes with static and Steve frowns, winces a little as it gets louder, the pop song playing suddenly mixing with something heavier, a sad guitar, the lyrics creeping through the static to sing, “You just left when I begged you to stay, I've not stopped crying since you went away, you went away, you went away–”

He twists the volume all the way down and grips his steering wheel, swallowing thickly around a suddenly dry throat.

It was just…an interference. Signals crossing in the air, that’s all. 

The volume stays at zero all the way home.

--

It’s not like Steve’s scared. He has nothing to be scared of, really. 

Because there’s no reason to be scared! Nothing’s happened! He went to bed that night and woke up in the morning, feeling normal. His parents were their usual selves, too. There was nothing to worry about.

Except, he can’t really explain the way ‘Pretty Boy’ had been written onto his foggy mirror after a shower.

Wiping it away with loud squeaks from his palm, Steve had huffed and ignored the cold chill up his spine again, forcing the memory of Billy against his back in basketball practice away out of his head as he got ready for work.

But, even at work, it didn’t stop – tapes that he’d put up on the shelves ended up on the floor minutes later, knocked over and tumbling to the ground. The computer would freeze up or turn off while he’s using it without explanation. The door would shake a little, as if mustering up the strength to open, or like there was a strong wind outside rattling it, but it would never open. 

Weird, borderline annoying shit like that.

At home, it was no better. Doors randomly slamming, scaring the shit out of him. The TV turning off whenever he was watching it, even with the remote far away from him. Once, when he’d left a notepad and pen out, he came back to find ‘BOO’ written on it.

And it had felt so…smug.

So Billy.

But, he refuses to believe that Billy Hargrove’s haunting him. It’s just not possible.

And besides, why him? Why not Max? Or literally anyone else?

--

He goes back to the Wheeler’s, a week after Halloween, in search of answers.

Mike answers the door and Steve immediately asks him, “Where is it?”

The little shit tilts his head to the side, acting clueless despite the amusement in his eyes, “Where’s what?”

“The fucking board.” Steve huffs, pushing past Mike and heading downstairs to the basement, feeling the kid right on his heels the entire time.

“It’s not down here!” Mike groans, “After you and the girls left, Lucas took it!”

“Took it where?” Steve asks as he looks around the basement, standing at the base of the stairs with Mike behind him, looking over his shoulder.

He swears he sees a shadow in the corner of his eye, so he chases it with his gaze, but it’s gone.

“He took it outside or something, I don’t know,” Mike huffs in annoyance, “We were all kinda freaked out so we agreed to keep it out of the house.”

Turning and looking at Mike, Steve frowns at him, “I fucking told you dumb asses not to do it.”

Mike rolls his eyes with a nod and turns to head back upstairs, “Yeah, yeah, I know!”

“Steve.” A familiar voice breathes into his ear, right behind him.

He freezes and his breath catches, eyes widening as he whips his head around, expecting to see Billy standing there but there’s nothing. There’s just the quiet basement, empty.

“Steve!” Mike calls and Steve rushes up the stairs, hoping the voice stays down there.

--

He finds the board outside the Wheeler’s house, behind the garbage bins. He’s lucky it was missed on collection day.

“Okay,” he huffs, setting it down on his bedroom floor and putting the planchette down on the board, crossing his legs as he sits down in front of it. 

He hesitates, for a moment. And feels stupid. 

But, he has to know.

Carefully, he places his fingertips on the planchette again and clears his throat to say, “Hi, um…Billy. Are…are you there?”

His eyes widen as the planchette immediately pulls to ‘Yes’ and stays there.

“Holy shit,” he breathes, licking his lips nervously, “Okay, um…” He furrows his brow,s “Why are you…following me?”

He refuses to say ‘haunting’.

It takes a moment, but the planchette moves across the board, spelling a simple explanation.

F-U-N.

It makes Steve huff a quiet sound of amusement through his nose, rolling his eyes because it’s just so Billy.

Even in death, Billy’s determination to annoy the hell out of Steve is still there.

Almost affectionately, he mumbles, “Asshole.”

Billy spells out I-K-N-O-W.

Which makes Steve tilt his head a little, wondering. “Are…are you in pain?”

The planchette goes to ‘No’.

That’s a relief Steve hadn’t known he wanted to feel. He feels his shoulders begin to relax, no longer lingering by his ears.

“That’s…good. Max will be happy to hear that.”

The planchette jerks and quickly spells out D-O-N-O-T-T-E-L-L.

Furrowing his brows again, Steve asks, “Why not?”

C-O-M-P-L-I-C-A-T-E-D.

“I think she has a right to know. She’s…honestly, she’s been a mess ever since Starcourt.” Steve frowns and worries his bottom lip, thinking back over the last couple of months and how he’s watched the life drain out of her slowly. “She misses you, Billy.”

Billy goes quiet at that, for a while. Steve doesn’t dare move his hand away.

Finally, after another long moment, Billy spells out B-E-T-T-E-R-O-F-F.

“You don’t know that,” Steve frowns again, nearly scowling now, “I don’t know if you’ve seen her, but she’s not doing great. You really scared her that night, y’know – on Halloween.”

I-K-N-O-W.

“You should apologize.”

S-O-R-R-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y.

So sassy. “Not to me, idiot. To her.”

C-A-N-T.

“Why not?”

N-O-G-O-O-D-B-Y-E.

Dustin’s voice rings in Steve’s ears then, ‘You have to say goodbye to end it’.

“So…” he worries his lower lip between his teeth again, “If…I say ‘bye’ to you, you’ll leave?”

The planchette lands on ‘Yes’.

Steve goes quiet then, thinking.

They never really had any sort of relationship before Billy’s death. They were rivals for a short moment, sure, but even then it wasn’t like Steve was vying to be top dog at school. Billy was always the one to pull on his metaphorical pigtails, always ready to annoy him or get a rise out of him for fun, but even that wasn’t much.

But this little board has suddenly opened up an opportunity that Steve doesn’t want to end so soon.

“Okay,” he breathes, “Well…you’re stuck with me, for now, then. I…I want you to talk to Max, because I think she needs it – I don't even know why you’re attached to me, she was there that night, too…”

N-O-G-O-O-D-B-Y-E.

“Oh, right,” he mumbles, realizing that – unfortunately – Dustin was right. He hadn’t said goodbye to Billy that night, so Billy’s tied to him.

He’s not even sure if that’s how any of this works, but it kinda makes sense.

P-R-E-T-T-Y-B-O-Y.

An unwilling smile tugs on his lips then, feeling as if he can hear Billy’s voice in his head as he thinks of the weird nickname. Because even after all of the pain Billy went through, he’s still…himself. In a way. Maybe without all that pain and misery, now.

With a mumble, Steve says, “Yeah, that’s me. Get used to it.”

A-L-R-E-A-D-Y-A-M.

Steve ignores the flare of warmth in his chest at that and mutters, “Okay, well…since we’re going to hang around for a bit, could you maybe not be a total dick when I’m going about my day?”

The planchette goes to ‘No’, and really, Steve should’ve expected that.

“Later, asshole.” Steve mumbles with a smirk as he pulls his hands away, feeling a little bit like he’s just hung up on Billy, and grins as he watches some papers get shuffled on his desk before his curtains are ruffled, blinding him momentarily as sunlight shines on his face.

He chuckles and holds his hand out in front of his face, shielding himself from the little sunshine assault, and wonders what the fuck he’s gotten himself into.

[0rchidm4ntis]

By your side.

[rockingrobin69]

Erm, hello there, may I perhaps have a trick, with some treat vibes?? Pretty please???

Hello my love! Here's some soft smut for you, rated E.

Most Favourite

“I’m not asking for much,” Draco said, reasonably, “only to be your favourite person in the whole entire world. That’s it.”

Harry, still laughing, wiping his face on his sleeve: “Oh, that’s it.”

“Yes! You don’t even have to love me or anything. You don’t need to make any romantic grand gestures or, or, keep finding new ways to please me, or—although this feels fairly nice.”

To the stubble-rough kisses Harry couldn’t help but pepper on his soft inner thigh. “Fairly nice?”

“Fine, it feels fucking fantastic, happy?”

The grin on his face was starting to ache in the corners. “Delirious,” Harry said, and settled himself between Draco’s legs, mouthing the gap under his briefs. “C’mon, baby, help me get these off.”

Draco was mumbling something about getting off, but he did lift his sweet arse so that Harry could pull the boxers down, kissing the soft, fuzzy skin he was baring. To the perfect arch of Draco’s foot, curling with ticklish pleasure; back up to nuzzle behind his knee, to lather his thigh with warm licks and to bite the supple, fleshy part of it till Draco squealed.

“Oi! Brute. You didn’t answer my question.”

“There was a question there?” grinning into blond pubic hair. “Sweetheart, you’re gorgeous.”

An indignant shriek. “You know that wasn’t it!”

“My love,” sprinkling adoring kisses on the base of Draco’s cock, “my sincerest apologies, but I’m a little bit busy, see,” and the sharp breathing and the stirring interest and the lovely pink on Draco’s cheeks when he looked up assured him Draco supported the endeavour. Still, and only savouring it a little: “Would you like me to stop?”

Draco had the cutest pout. “No?” he said. “No. Just—I know it’s terribly childish but I need, ah,” voice melting when Harry traced a wet finger down his crack and round and round his hole.

“You need?” a little cruelly, making up for it with a generous lave of his cock, which had conveniently, fantastically, started to drip.

“Harry,” more a moan than a demand now. “Don’t—ah—change the subject. I—hngh,” trembling under his hands, the dearest and most beautiful little menace Harry’d ever seen. “More!”

“More?” incredulously, enamoured, “oh, no. I think you might need more.”

Squirming and convoluting, entangling himself in the sheets, already so frantic and truly, Harry’s barely even done anything. Apart from teasing him and teasing him and maybe sucking with a little more vigour now, tongue slipping on the vein on the underside of Draco’s perfect cock, and the finger Harry didn’t realise had gone a full knuckle in kept going in circles and, huh, Harry still had his clothes on? Hot, but unnecessary.

With only one hand, and a smidge of his concentration, Harry managed to rid himself of the shirt, and halfway done with the jeans (“Ah, ah, Ha-rry, fuck, ah, gods”) and fuck, if his boxers just, down to the knees right that will do, and in desperation and with the scorching heat of Draco all around him he nearly missed the wail, which would have been a real shame. Every minute of this was a miracle, and—the look on Draco’s face. “What is it?” with a sudden pang of dread. “Darling?”

“I just,” Harry didn’t know if this was good-sobbing or bad-sobbing, but his heart clenched anyway, “I need to know it’s possible. I know you have so many, ah, fuck, there are much better people in your life and, and, Harry, I can’t think when you’re doing that!”

“Doing—” he realised his finger was still moving. Made it stop. “Draco, if what’s possible?”

“If I could ever be your…” desolately looking away, and Harry’s chest was a riot and nothing made sense besides—

“Favourite?” blinking at the contorted face, at this ridiculous, ridiculous man, “you want to know if you can be my favourite? Bloody—absolute ninny, of course you already are?”

“Am what?”

Harry shook his head, words failing him for a moment, then leaned down to pet Draco’s cheek. “A wanker,” he laughed, and kissed his cheek. “A git,” kissed the other one. “An absolute twat,” the tip of his nose. “And my absolute favourite person. You berk.”

Draco laugh-sobbed, eyes big and grey. “Really?”

“Really,” unable to look at him, trailing kisses down his neck, his shoulder, his sides.

“And you couldn’t bloody say so when I practically went and made a gigantic arse of my—argh!” when Draco’s cock was back where it belonged. “Merlin! Give a man a warning, will you?”

Harry shrugged and resumed his very important mission of sucking another confession out of Draco. Maybe if he made him see stars Draco would admit that Harry’s his favourite, too.  

[fanaticalthings]

You’re headcanon of Battinson crying when it comes to his kids makes me wonder what his reaction would be to Jason’s death. Like even in the comics it’s said that Jason’s death shattered and nearly killed him emotionally as well as physically as Bruce literally threw himself into his work and fighting crimes

But you’re headcanon makes me imagine that it would go a little further and just not go out as Batman and instead wonder the Manor maybe spend a lot of time in Jason’s room. I can see Bruce also clinging to Dick and becoming protective of him.

Yess, in canon comics after Jason died, Bruce withdrew himself from everybody, including Dick. He threw himself fully into crime fighting to the point where he disregarded his own safety and health.

And on top of all that, Dick also mentioned how Bruce basically got rid of any evidence that Jason even existed (I'm assuming photos, Jason's clothes, his books, etc) from his (Bruce's) bedroom. So comic Bruce clearly was so pained by Jason's death that he couldn't bear to even look at anything that reminded him of Jason. I have no idea what Bruce did to Jason's own bedroom but I'm assuming he never steps foot in it again.

Now as for Battinson, I think his reaction and grieving would be a bit different. Like anon said, I def think Battinson would cling more protectively to Dick and would spend long periods in Jason's room just mourning the loss of his son.

I also feel like he would sleep in Jason's bed and cry himself to sleep, imagining that he still has his son in his arms with him like all those times Jason sought him out after a nightmare or when he just wanted to cuddle with Bruce.

Comic!Bruce barely cried when Jason died (although it was still very obvious he was distraught over it), but I think Battinson would be the opposite and would cry at every little reminder of Jason, and unlike Comic!Bruce, would make sure to keep all of Jason's belongings where he left them (especially if they were left in Bruce's room)

In the comics, Bruce never told Dick about Jason's death, causing Dick to miss the funeral and making their relationship even more tense than before, however, I think battinson!Bruce would want Dick even more present in his life now that Jason has left a gapping hole.

This man just went through the most traumatizing and heartbreaking thing a parent can experience so of course he'd want to keep his remaining child with him at all times. I also feel like this would make Dick and him closer than ever (even if Bruce's helicopter parenting can be a bit much), since Battinson!Bruce would be more emotionally vulnerable and open, which would allow them to grieve together and maybe in a more healthy way.

Battinson!Bruce would dedicate so many charities and memorials to Jason, and would visit his grave all the time so he could read to him. In general, I still believe this Bruce would still close himself off, but only to people who aren't in his immediate circle/family.

The immediate aftermath of Jason's death would be absolutely devastating for him. If Death in the Family were to happen in The Batman universe, I need Battinson to let out the most heartwrenching cry when he comes across Jason's body, like i need him to be full body sobbing in the explosive aftermath of Joker's deeds. I need to see him viscerally torn apart as he clutches Jason's body tightly to his chest like how a parent would gently cradle their child to sleep. I just need it to be absolutely obvious that this man has just gone through something maybe worse than his own parents' deaths, and I want it to be known that Jason dying meant a part of Bruce died too.

It would hurt so much more considering Battinson!Bruce started off very closed off, and the only reason he came close to functioning like a healthy human was because his first sons broke down his walls and filled his life with a purpose other than serving vengeance. Dick and Jason would probably bring sm love back into his life, so imagine how badly he reacts when suddenly losing a large part of that? Bruce basically raised Jason, taught him almost everything he knew, and in turn Jason (and Dick ofc) taught Bruce how to love, and be a father, so it must've been so painful knowing he'll never get to see his baby grow.

I still think Battinson would pull a comic!Bruce and throw himself aggressively into crimefighting and detective work, except when he comes home he'll make sure to spend time with Dick, and maybe sit around in Jason's room, reminiscing all their memories together.

As for Jason's return as Red Hood? Lmao that man wouldn't dare lay a finger on his son, he would immediately tackle Jason into a loving embrace and cry his heart out after finding out his baby is alive

[artsycooky13]

top 3 fave bbys in the burrito show (bonus SUPER LONG tags on how i feel bout the characters)

[homicidalbrunette]

It's giving I'm Baby/yes you sure are energy

[sage-is-in-fact-very-tired]

I throw my hat into the "petnames ven would give to ic" ring for chat ; I think ven would call them "my comet" (or just "comet", but I think adding the 'my' gives it a better ring). I know Icarus is typically associated with the sun, and not the stars and night sky, but I do think comet fits. Comets, especially more famous ones, pass by the earth every 'really long time' and are simply a line of very bright light in the sky - that only lasts for a short period of time. While not a direct correlation, the light flash could very well be seen as Icarus' happiness - something often short lived, and not somthing that happens often, but something that is oh so bright when it does. Comets, when flyong across the sky, are also very pretty - which. I think that one is more self explanatory.