#tav!reader

"How many times is that today?" Wyll snickers.

"I believe we're well into the triple digits, now," Gale replies pleasantly, which catches the vampire's attention.

"Hm? What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Wyll snorts. "Though it is refreshing to hear you so chipper."

Astarion furrows his brow in confusion, and Gale clears his throat.

"What our friend means is you've become quite smitten with our leader as of late."

"Of course I am, we are seeing each other, after all."

"Ah but something has shifted, Astarion. Is it possible that your frozen heart now beats with a warm ember, melting that cold exterior of yours?" Wyll flashes his brows with a playful smile. Astarion stares for a moment, only to scoff.

"Ridiculous. I've always been like this!"

"No, no, you haven't. Tav's name has been on your mind and lips since dawn. Your eyes light up at the mere mention or thought of them, and that toothsome smile of yours flashes across your face, warmer now than ever. I've seen this before. I'm willing to wager that they are the last on your mind before meditation. Dare I say it, Astarion, you're in love," Gale wags a finger at him, which causes Karlach to gasp and start gushing.

"Oh Fang! You're in love?! That's so cute!" She grins widely before it disappears at Astarion's dreadful stare. "Uh, Astarion? You okay?"

Astarion:

Paring: Gale Dekarios x f!reader Warnings: none! reader has hair long enough to be tucked behind their ear

Waking up in a soft warm bed, basked in gentle rays of sunlight was a feeling you would never take for granted again. Especially when you also had a pair of strong yet soft arms holding you tightly, your head resting on one warm bicep as the other arm is draped snuggly over your waist, hand holding your chest.

Fighting gently against the weight of the arm, you twisted, rolling over to face your lover only to be met with his warm chest, his arms tightening around you as he felt you move as if trying to prevent you from moving too far away.

Smiling to yourself, you buried yourself further into Gale's embrace, nose scrunching a little at the feeling of his soft mess of chest hair tickling your cheeks.

"Are you done fidgeting?" his voice was thick with sleep and slightly gravelly, his usual cheery tone usually not appearing until after he had eaten breakfast.

"Sorry," you yawned, snuggling further into him. He had grown a little softer around the edges in the years following your adventures, but you secretly loved it even more. Bringing your arm up to wrap around him, your fingers squeezed gently at the soft skin of his waist. You silently marvelled at the feeling of the soft pudge that had formed there from years of his cooking and your baking, and more reading than running around Faerûn.

The arm that was nestled beneath your head bent, helping to pull you onto his chest as he rolled onto his back. He kept them wrapped around you tightly as he cracked his eyes open, looking up at you squintingly as he adjusted to the sunlight.

"You're lucky you're beautiful. I don't even let Tara wake me up this early," he grumbled, lifting a hand to brush a stray hair from your face, tucking it behind your ear. Instinctively, you leaned into his touch, letting his palm come to rest against your cheek. Twisting your head a little, you placed a gentle kiss on his palm, then his wrist.

"Lucky indeed," you murmured, resting your head back down on his chest once again. His warmth against your face was almost enough to lull your right back for sleep, not helped by the gentle patterns he had started to draw on your bare back – the two of you still bare from your previous night's activities. If you had been a little more alert, you would have realised he was tracing absentminded runes against your skin.

He breathed deeply, inhaling your subtle scent. "I love you, Mrs Dekarios" he spoke softly against your skin as he kissed your forehead.

Tav / reader / whoever goes to confront Minthara and realize that she is also a victim of the absolute / brainwashed and tries to connect to her but fails and is killed by her or a stray arrow from one of the goblins. Bonus points if this is the Tav’s first brush with death and dealing with that after they are revived via scroll or withers.

Seeing how Gortash's expression matches a love confession scene, all I have in my head is Astarion slowly leaning into view behind the Durge looking pissy.

For some reason, the scene from Corpse Bride came to mind XD

Astarion, linking your arm with his: "Darling... Who's this?"

Gortash, his gaze hardening: "Tav, who is he?"

Astarion, scoffs: "I'M their lover."

The thought of these two trying to one-up the other to gain Tav's favor would be so much fun to watch. Gortash would threaten that he could have Astarion removed from the building while Astarion threatens back that he could have Gortash removed from life. Of course, the moment Tav glances in their direction, they stop and pretend nothing's going on.

Furious, he grabs one of his fanatics, who tells him that Tav is in their shared bedroom. They've been there the entire time. They hadn't been feeling too good lately, citing the intake of bad blood which made them stay home. Astarion believes this to be impossible since he has already gone through their room. He drags the fanatic to the room and practically throws them in, demanding they point Tav out if they are so sure. The fanatic stares at him out of fear and points up to the high ceiling. The glare on Astarion's face melts upon seeing something small and silver in the corner of the room.

Surprised, he quickly begins climbing the walls, his eyes fixed on the spot. He slows when he realizes he's looking at a small fuzzy bat sound asleep, much smaller than his own bat form. Tav's scent is all over it and Astarion is now convinced that this is his beloved consort.

"Tav...?" he whispers in astonishment. "You... You figured out how to...?"

He wipes his hands on his chest before carefully reaching out and gently scooping the bat up. It chatters some as he jumps down and starts looking it over. Its small body feels hot in his cool hands, perhaps a fever. He moves to the bed and lays the sleepy creature down, tenderly rubbing its small back with his thumbs. When it opens its eyes, it gives something akin to a small hiccup and in a puff of black smoke, Tav lays before him in their humanoid form with wide eyes.

Before they could speak, a wide smile spreads across Astarion's face and he scoops them into a hug, excitingly talking about how they could now go for nightly flights and how cute they were as a bat. He prattles on about how they must be able to learn other abilities while Tav feels sick and heaves the contents of their stomach onto the floor beside the bed. Astarion pauses and clears his throat.

No cheesy romance lines or him trying to impress them to coax them to do something for him. He's quiet for the most part, wanting to focus on this feeling and if Tav tries to talk to him, he quiets them with a kiss as his hands start to wander places and he grinds into them, sending a clear message of what he wants.

Tav, noting the difference, especially the detail of him closing his eyes where he normally watches for their reaction, will allow themselves to submit or be guided into what he wants, even offering him their neck which, oddly, he doesn't touch. They can tell this was an important event for him and try not to pull away or upset him by trying something different. This wasn't about them, after all.

This does not mean he neglects them, no. He does keep them in mind despite how emotional this could be for him, though Tav may not be bothered by it if he didn't this one time.