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brewstersbru · 6 months

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More scribbles, this time karlachstarion? Astarlach? Whatever the hell they’re called?

It’s done. Finally, after what must have been years of excruciating waiting, Karlach’s heart is fixed. Or, rather, stabilized might be a better word for it.

After talking with Dammon in the druid grove and giving him their only piece of infernal iron- witnessing the sheer joy on Karlach’s face as she realized she was one step closer to touching someone again- Astarion knew he’d do practically anything to find another.

He’d scoured every crypt they’d crawled through, every traveler’s chest abandoned on the side of the road, hells, even some oblivious people’s pockets. Karlach had been searching too, of course, but nothing could compare to the sheer single-minded focus with which Astarion dedicated himself to the task.

Karlach had been kind to him, was the first to stand up for him when his true nature was revealed. She’s never looked at him strangely or doubted his intentions, even when she maybe should have.

The two of them have fallen into a sort of flirtatious tryst- a kind of relationship that Astarion is well acquainted with- but without any of the touching usually involved (a concept less familiar to him). He’s not quite sure how it all came to be as it is now; all he remembers is feeling safe and comfortable enough with her to drop his polite facade.

It was a clear summer’s night and Wyll had been exceptionally, annoyingly heroic that day. Astarion hadn’t eaten for a couple of days and- now spoiled, and fat with all of his current freedoms- found himself quite cross with no sufficient reason why. Still, the bastard he is, he’d called Wyll an ‘intolerable boy scout with raisins for brains’ at the fire that night.

God knows how he came up with that one, but Karlach had laughed something warm and hearty. Grin wide, eyes squinted in mirth. She shined in the firelight. She’d gone to clap Astarion on the shoulder in camaraderie but paused just before making contact, expression falling for a moment. Inexplicably, he’d needed her to be smiling again, so he’d cracked another wise one at Wyll’s expense- who took it with a smile and all the infuriating grace you’d expect- and turned easily to shuffle closer. Not touching, but close enough, he’d hoped, that his presence was clear, despite his cold, dead body.

He’d hated himself for it. For the soft weakness unfurling inside of him, growing larger with each passing day that he spent with these do-gooders. The abundance of food, the absence of his master and the sheer, intoxicating autonomy he’d found here was making him docile.

Still, when- after that night- Karlach had latched onto him, sidling up and walking beside him as they trekked through the trees (she’d shortened her usual lumbering steps), sitting beside him at the campfire, trading quips and jokes almost as if they were sparring. He’d let her. And he’d liked it.

It was freeing, in a way, to be able to just be with someone. When they physically couldn’t ask him for more. Maybe it makes him a bad person for finding comfort in the thing that’s tormented her for years, taken away her own autonomy. But he’s never claimed to be good.

He enjoyed the long nights they spent together, laying half a foot away from each other and staring up at the stars. Talking until the sun rose, or until Karlach fell (adorably) asleep. She snores. Loudly. And Astarion vehemently dislikes the fact that he finds it so damned endearing.

Still, centuries of having the idea that nothing is freely given pounded into his head have left a mark. And Astarion knows that the only currency that he has that’s worth anything in this kind of situation is his body, especially when Karlach hasn’t been able to touch anyone in years. He feels like he owes her this, after all of the kindnesses she’s afforded him, and who knows? He might even enjoy it. He could see himself enjoying it, if he did it right.

He searches so feverishly for two reasons. One, he hates being indebted to people, it makes something cold and wriggling appear in his stomach. Two, Karlach deserves to be free, and he knows that the smile she’ll be sporting when her engine is fully fixed will have been worth all of the painstaking searching and more.

Naturally, he’d found the metal. They’d gone to Dammon, once they found him in the shadowlands, and now here they are. And her smile is so much more than worth it.

Karlach is beaming over at him and he smiles back warm, but a little distant. The implications of this are just now starting to sink in; Karlach will want to get started soon, he’ll need to prepare himself. This needs to be perfect.

A low thrum of anxiety buzzes at the pit of his stomach for the entirety of the walk back to camp. Karlach is walking astride him, making wide sweeping gestures as she babbles on about all of the things she’s excited to do now, no longer over-careful of where her hands go. Catch a squirrel and pet it, give Wyll the noogie of a lifetime, have Shadowheart teach her to braid, kiss Astarion.

He smiles something a little more practiced, almost seductive at this and purrs a few words he could not be held at knifepoint to remember. His body feels miles away but the thought of kissing Karlach is vaguely compelling.

Something old and wretched within him surges forward and overtakes his body. Jerking his lips upward into a smirk, lidding his eyes invitingly. When they make it to camp, the thing that he is now grasps at Karlach’s arm and asks if she’d like to ‘go clean up’ in a voice almost more rumble than words. She agrees, staring at his hand on her arm, and, after collecting some soap and a change of clothes, she follows him to the stream.

It’s cute that she brought soap, as if they’re actually going to ‘clean up’. The naivety of her actions almost bring Astarion back into his body, but he focuses on the pit in his stomach and retreats. This needs to be perfect. And it can’t be perfect if Astarion is all needy and bitchy about being touched like that.

His body moves through the motions of undressing himself, a kind of rehearsed efficiency/allure to his movements. Karlach whistles lowly at the display, but once he turns towards the water, she’s already waist deep and gesturing for him to join her, soap bar in hand.

“Get over here, soldier! You’re covered in dirt.”

… Really? It’s the only thought he can muster at the moment. So she really thought they were just going to clean themselves up? Or perhaps she wants him to work for it a little more, that’s alright. He can earn it.

“Oh I know, absolutely filthy, aren’t I? You’ll make it better, won’t you?” His voice lilts as he wades into the water, muscles tensed, jaw tilted to it’s best angle in an attempt to seem as touchable as possible. If only she’d actually do it.

Karlach snorts and splashes him with water. He stares at her through the barrage and sticks his tongue out to catch some of the droplets that slide down his cheek. Come on.

“Get over here, you.” She sighs, as if she’s talking to a particularly unruly dog and not a vision of sex (Astarion would know, he’d used these same tactics on thousands of others before and they’d all fallen for it).

As he approaches- all swaying hips and cocked eyebrows- she sets the soap in her hand on a protruding rock to her left and places a gentle hand on either side of his face. Cupping him almost like you would a handful of water. He closes his eyes and tries to make it seem as if he’s aching to be kissed. A part of him is. But the pressure never comes.

And just like that, his consciousness crashes back into his body. He can feel the warmth of her hands against his skin, the lap of cool water on his bare hip. Astarion’s eyes flutter open, clearer than they’ve been in hours, and brimming with fear.

“There you are.” Karlach says, voice dipping with a mix of adoration and pity that settles and twists in Astarion’s chest. “Hello.” He chokes. Tries a smile but it feels crooked and wrong on his face.

“We don’t have to do this if it’s too much, ‘star.” He wants to cry a little bit, and sure enough, a tear escapes down his chin.

“I’m sorry.”

She shushes him easily, a little forceful. “Don’t be. Please. I want to touch you, but never like this.” She thumbs across Astarion’s cheek, drying his tears. She’s warm, Astarion notices, but not as searingly hot as she’d been before (although, in the metaphorical sense her hotness has remained the same).

“I’m sorry.” He can’t help but repeat himself, he feels like a broken record. He feels like he’s ruined her night, her big, triumphant moment with his… bullshit, for lack of a better term. She goes to reassure him again but he continues.

“Would you be alright just…. Holding me? Tonight? I’m frustrated with myself, too, but I want to celebrate with you.” He chances a glance upwards at her face, afraid of what he might find. His fear is irrational, of course, because her grin is blinding.

“I think I’d really love that, ‘star. Gods, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to just wrap you in my arms! And now I can!” Her giggle is abrupt, and infectious. The tension bleeds from Astarion’s shoulders and he finds himself overflowing with warmth and affection. Oh, who was he kidding, how could he ever hope to engineer perfect when the embodiment of the word is standing right in front of him.

They rinse off quickly- Karlach helps with his back and he with hers, there are no wandering hands, only reverent tenderness around old scars- and head back to Karlach’s tent. Astarion would have offered his own if only for the fact that he doesn’t think the two of them will fit, what with all of the stolen trinkets he’s crammed in there. What can he say, he’s gone a little wild now that he can actually own things.

It’s surprisingly easy to fall into bed with her, and only in the exceedingly literal sense. He gets in first, curls around himself, and her around him. She fits her knees behind Astarion’s own, and slings an arm around his middle. Her back faces the camp in a move that may or may not be intentional, but makes butterflies flit around Astarion’s gut all the same.

“This alright?” She asks, voice low. Astarion takes a moment to catalogue himself, similar to what he does after battle to find any injuries that may be hidden by adrenaline. He’s not sure why he does it, when he never has before in these kinds of situations, but he finds everything to be in working order. The thrum of anxiety in his gut is almost completely gone. He nods.

“More than, my dear. Thank you.”

“Always, ‘star. Always.”

#wish i had more time to explore karlachs inner stuff #but idk if i have a good enough grasp of her as a character yet #saw some art of these two and was immediately bewitched by them #cuties #karlach #astarion ancunin #astarion #karlach x astarion #astarlach #bg3 #fluff #ofc she calls him star bc its cute and i love them #literally just that hozier song #hold me like waterrr or christ hold me likee a kniffee #brublurbs

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bambuwu-writes · 2 years

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wow your hcs are so adorable! can i ask for gender neutral s/o slow dancing with citron, sakoda and juza? 🌟

Oh this is so cute,.,.my heart.,.,.please.,., like, irl i am vv awkward ab dancing (i only do it alone lol) but oh my goodness, the idea of dancing with someone just melts me lol

Also so sorry ab the inconsistency in formatting, something possessed me while writing citron’s?? And then i shut down completely while trying to write juza’s and didnt finish it for MONTHS IM SORRY

Citron

He’s the one that's physically the closest to you the entire time, at certain points you two can hardly even move, you’re just kinda holding each other while music quietly plays in the background

Obsessed with staring into your pretty eyes <3, he may bump into something, dw he’s ok!!!

The spring troupe had just finished a run with a local college theatre group, while it was their off season, they all loved the script they were given to work with and Citron had an incredible amount of fun playing the role of a young professor. He absolutely adored the big warm coat that was part of the costume and Yuki practically had to pull it off him at the end of practices. Except for today. Somehow, some way he was able to evade Yuki’s inordinately good tracking skills and was holed up in his room showing you how warm and cozy and swishy the coat was! After twirling in it, Citron gasped as if an entire sun spider was crawling up the door behind you. Before you had a second to see what the hell prompted such a reaction, your boyfriend practically tackled you, to your great confusion.

“Darling, oh I know you’d look so cute in this, please please please put it on??”

Oh. oh no. Citron was doing the one thing you couldn't resist. Puppy dog eyes. Damn him and his cute face.

With only a slightly exasperated sigh, you respond with “ok ok, but only for a minute!! If Yuki finds me and tries to induct me into his society of sewing servants as payback for keeping the coat out of the costume room you have to come to my rescue! Promise?”

“I swear!!!”, ever the dramatic dweeb, your dashing prince kneels down, holding your hand, bringing to mind how he swore his loyalty to you when you first started dating.

With such sweet [and mildly embarrassing thoughts] occupying your mind, you hardly notice how Citron jumps up and draws the coat over your shoulders, cooing at how precious you looked!

obvi he started twirling u around to see the coat all swishy on you <3 he loves u soo much waaaajfhkjvdf,,

between the twirls he gets the idea to pull you into a little dance but he just kinda loves holding u so much its not that much moving, more like,,,..,prolonged-standing-hugging

Sakoda

this sweet little punk can be so smooth and fluctuate back to his goofball self in less than 0.0005 seconds it’s almost scary

(don’t let izumi find out or she’ll definitely try and get him into one of the troupes)

You two were watching a movie together and there was a really cinematic scene where two of the side characters just spent a few minutes dancing together. It didn’t really contribute to the main plot, and neither of the characters had much screen time besides that one scene, but something about it was so real, and so sweet that sakoda was practically melting over it.

Whenever you watch movies with him that he’s already seen he tends to watch your face to see how you react to his favorite moments and oh…,,oh his poor little heart,.,.

The soft, cool light of the small television in his apartment lit up your face in the prettiest way. He could see just how imperceptibly your brows furrowed as you tried to catch a glimpse of a poster in the background, how you grinned from ear to ear as you heard one of the characters told the other a horrendously bad pun, oh god, how you leaned towards the edge of your spot on the sofa, how your hand drifted to rest on his knee when it looked like the characters were about to kiss

He could not stand how sweet you looked

And then when you told him to pause the movie and get his cute ass up he was vv much confused

“Ken, I think I know the song they’re playing! Wait one second…Got it!”

He couldn't help but giggle at how proud of yourself you looked as you dragged him into the centre of the living room, gently pushing aside the box of dvds Sakoda was pawing through earlier with your foot

And when you pressed ‘play’ on your phone and he heard the first few bars of music, when you rushed over to him and clumsily placed one hand on the back of his left shoulder, one hand interlaced with his, and oh god when you started to lead him in a soft little dance around the area rug you two bought last month, he was sure he was the luckiest man alive

Juza

Oh my goodness i love this boy so so so much.,.,he’s such a sweet lad,.,.soft boy,,.baby,..,babyyy boyy.,.,

Ok, you will have to take the lead on this one!

As much as juza adores you and wants you to feel like royalty, he is soooooo haunted by the rough edges of his life in a real sad babygirl way

At least at the beginning of your relationship, he really does not trust himself to not screw up. He cares too much about you to make dumb mistakes, and he foresees sooo much going wrong if he tries to pull off something so stupidly suave

So, it was your 1 month anniversary and you were BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS

You!!! You and your boy!!! A whole month!!!! Your!!!! Boy!!!!!!

You wanted to spoil him soooo badddd

He managed to beat you to the punch [unintentional, but a good metaphor for this lad!], by inviting you to a cat cafe he said Mr. Mikage recommended <3 [hell yeah hiso, thank u king]

He even downloaded the little app the store released so your drinks and snacks would be ready when you got there?!?! This boy!??!?!?

The store was owned by this really sweet older couple in the neighborhood who had started dating a few years ago [azuma filled you in on the gossip <3] and you always felt so happy looking into the store every morning as you walked past, with Mr. Hayashi outside, watering the plants, and Mr. Agawa inside, bringing out some baked goods

The only other person in the store at the moment though, was the young woman at the register who seemed to be getting either veryyy antsy or veryyy excited about something. After noticing her looking at you and juza at least 5 times in as many minutes you landed on the assumption that she proooobably figured out you two were on a date

And for some reason she left for the break room

And you could swear the lighting in the store dimmed, even though it was like, 10am and sunny outside

And the music suddenly sounded a lot more like a soft, romantic lofi playlist

…

Ok register girl. I see you. Well played. Well played indeed…

From your vantage point [bean bag chair, best option for observational missions, tactical retreats, and cosy snuggles with that bigass maine coon], you saw juza trying his damnest to keep cat hair off of his shortcake. More than once you saw him raise that silly little cake fork to take a bite and make the cutest scrunched up frownie face when he saw a hair just as he was ab to indulge in delicious strawberry creamy cake-y goodness!! Real tragic!! Real cute!!

you had genuine concern that your heart was going to rupture or strain or pull a muscle or whatever it is that hearts do from the sheer cuteness of the pretty boy in front of you, so you spring into action

nobly shielding juza’s dessert with your jacket tented delicately over the plate, you guided that darling boy of yours to stand up and hold your hands

while juza didnt know exactlyyy what you were planning, he knew it was meant to be romantic, so he took advantage of your single second of strategic slow-dance-stance-ing to give you a little kiss on the forehead :))))

he is vv pleased with himself :)))

i worry im getting repetitive, so i’ll cut to the chase, you tell juza you wanna dance!! [boogie woogie groovy woovy], you step on each other’s feet while trying to avoid stepping on cats, cashier is overjoyed at her instincts proving right, and the cafe owners peek through the staff break room window too and after aww-ing at how cute you two are they start slow-dancing too! bam! done! two cute couples in one hc am i the best or am i the best hell yeahhhgg

#a3! citron #a3!#a3! act! addict! actors!#a3! sakoda #ken sakoda #a3! juza hyodo #a3! juza #a3! hcs #a3! citron x reader #a3! sakoda x reader #a3! juza x reader #ouhhdghd ive lowkey forgotten how to tag my posts lol #anywayss remember to drink some waterrr #ur boys would want u to be hydrated :) <3

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