To put it politely, Grymforge was miserable. Gale hated every moment of it with a vengeance. The oppressive heat made him almost constantly thirsty, his clothes were sticking to his skin and the lack of even a bit of air flow added to the horrors. Sweat clogged, he'd resorted to putting his hair up into a bun though strands did escape to cling to his neck and jaw. Looking around the camp, Gale huffed. Most of his companions were in a similar state, wearing as little as socially acceptable when not out and at risk of a fight, flopped over or fanning themselves for a little bit of relief. Even Karlach looked like she was suffering. They all did, except Astarion. It was unfair. Their vampire friend looked unruffled, hair still perfect, complexion as pale as usual. Then again, there were pitfalls to being unaffected.
"Astarion, we'll need you today," Lae'zel called. "Along with Gale and Karlach. We need that drow's head."
Oddly, there was no grumble from Astarion about heading out. Usually he insisted on some downtime where others did the hard work for a change. However, in the Grymforge he had falled strangely pliant and silent, doing as told. Perhaps he knew the others were faring much worse than he was in the heat, Gale mused. Either way, they were off. In silence. Ahead, Lae'zel and Karlach were amicably sharing tales of their greatest fights, it was the only sound from their group.
"Killing the drow means we might be able to save the gnomes." It was an underhanded comment from Gale, he knew how much Astarion didn't like gnomes. Any other day it would have been a surefire way of getting him ranting about what a waste of their time and energy it all was.
"Whatever."
It wasn't a 'whatever' kind of issue though and Gale pushed.
"They might have some handy reward in exchange for their rescue."
"Don't care."
Pouting a little, Gale huffed. If Astarion didn't want to talk, fine, he could keep quiet too. They lingered at the back of the talks with the dwarves, Gale sent a firebolt at the runepowder placed at the bottom of the rocks and blew it to smithereens. Nere stalked out, spouted some shit, Karlach lost any cool she had and picked a fight. After that the fight was a bit of a blur as Gale scrambled to differentiate between dwarves on their side and those on Nere's side.
At long last the fighting stopped, Nere was dead. There were arrows dotted around the place from where they had missed their targets. Gale was certain most were Astarion's doing, he'd seemed less vengeful and bloodthirsty than usual. He didn't have much time to ponder it a lot longer as Lae'zel snarled at the dwarf in charge. Just like that, the gnomes were free. Joys.
"We'll need the head," Gale said to Astarion while the other two were talking to the gnomes. "Shall we?"
"Yeah." Watching Astarion walk to the drow's body, Gale was struck by how heavy his steps were, gait unsteady and the opposite of his usual grace. Dagger in hand, Astarion dropped to a knee by Nere's shoulder and listed to the side before jerking upright.
"Right. Okay," he mumbled to himself. The blade wavered over skin, slicing in the air above it. "Shit. Fuck."
Staggering up, the dagger was tossed in Gale's direction and he barely caught it. Confused, Gale took Astarion's spot but looked up at his companion. Nothing had changed really, Astarion's hair was still perfect, skin devoid of any flush, not a single drop of sweat visible while Gale was positively drenched. But something wasn't right. Watching Astarion, his blinks were slow and deliberate as though trying to clear his vision. He had even stopped breathing, all usual mannerisms to blend in with the living were gone.
"Astarion?" Gale pushed to stand, a hand reaching out. "Maybe sit down for a moment?" Because Astarion was swaying on his feet, listing to the side dangerously.
"Yeah. Sit. Yeah." Except Astarion wasn't moving. He stared at the ground, unable to fathom how his legs worked. "I- Uh-" a hand pressed over his stomach and Gale recognised the motion. Instinctively, he stepped back right as Astarion bent over and retched. Blood blackened bile splashed on the marble floor, a pitifully small dribble. His knees almost landed in it as they finally gave out. It had Gale lurching into action, just about able to guide Astarion to lie on his side before he fell unconscious.
Feeling his skin, Gale hissed. Heat radiated from Astarion almost as bad as Karlach. It made no sense though, there was no sign that Astarion had been struggling with the heat. Not like everyone else had been. Except maybe Gale had got it all wrong. What if is wasn't the case of not being affected but being unable to physically express it? Mind whirring, he began stripping Astarion of his armour.
Sweat was a way for the body to cool itself, to contend with the heat. So was flushing, a fast pulse and rapid breaths. Astarion had none of those. Feeling his skin again, Gale recoiled. He was so used to feeling Astarion's cool body against his, to feel him warmer than he was, it went against everything he knew.
"Now's not the time," Lae'zel huffed at him and hacked off Nere's head with brutal efficiency.
"We need to get him somewhere to cool down." Still kneeling, Gale pulled an ice arrow from Astarion's quiver and slammed it tip down into the ground. Ice spread under him and Astarion, painfully cold but necessary. "He's in trouble."
"We're all hot, soldier. Fangs looks better than most of us."
"Exactly. Please, we need to help him."
Grumbling to herself, Lae'zel thrust the head at Karlach and moved gingerly over the patch of ice. As she scooped up Astarion's limp form, surprise raised her eyebrows.
"I see. We must not tarry. The myconid colony has a more favourable climate."
They took off at speed, Gale found himself struggling to keep up. But he pushed on, pulling his helmet off and discarding it in the empty halls. They'd be coming back anyway, he could pick up then. As they descended the stairs towards the skiff, Astarion stirred with a soft moan. Eyes blinked open but no spark of recognition flickered in them.
"Please," he rasped, a hand blindly reaching out to grasp at something only he could see. "No more. I'll be good. I promise." Voice breaking, he left out a mewling cry. "Please don't. Master, please."
Karlach glanced at Gale as they came to a stop, brow pinched with worry. She whipped her cape off and dunked it in the water and spread it out on the wood of the boat before Lae'zel eased Astarion down onto it.
"It's okay, Astarion," Gale murmured and caught a still too warm hand in his, pressing it to his own chapped lips. "We've got you."
"I'm sorry." It was a croak more than a whimper as Astarion tried to shy away from the touch. "I'll do better."
"You've already done so well."
Reassurances fell on deaf ears as they sailed back to the Underdark. Le'zel sprinted back to the myconid colony and Gale barely caught up with her as she veered sharply right and marched into the stream, armour and all. Gale followed in and reached out. In the water he could hold Astarion, most of the weight would be lost to the stream.
"I've got him. You and Karlach talk to the Sovereign. Sort out that mess."
There was very little in the way of resistance as Astarion was passed over to him. Gale found a low rock to sit on, submerging them both as much as safe to. He could feel as Astarion's confusion ebbed away and stiffness too over from the terrifying limpness of before.
"You're okay, it's just me, we're safe."
Rather than reply, Astarion sighed and slumped into him, face half submerged in the stream. Eventually, he pulled himself out enough to nuzzled against Gale's neck, lips at their usual chill temperature.
"The fuck happened?"
"You got too hot."
Scoffing, Astarion shook his head but still refused to pull away to look at Gale.
"Impossible. I'm already the hottest anyone alive or undead can get!"
Pressing a kiss to his forehead, Gale laughed softly.
"Yes dear, whatever you say."
Cuddling in, Astarion huffed and grumbled to himself a little more but eventually settled, content to not move. Despite his joking, Gale suspected he was more aware and shaken by the events than he let on. That was okay, they had plenty of time to work through it now.
