Cobra's Den

This is my main blog, built for my own posts mainly revolving around bg3. I mostly focus on Halsin, but also m/m ships in general. My reblogging is over on @transkingcobra-rb so I don't kill my own feed

My Ao3

My bsky (mainly for nsfw fulls atm)

My art: #tkc art

Bg3 screenshots: #my screenshots

OC Tag List

BG3 Prompts Masterlist

Halsin is wrecked when the party comes back from facing Cazador and he learns his new love sacrificed thousands to an archdevil in exchange for unknown power. He lost the Astarion he loved, but it’s Halsin, so he doesn’t break things off. He just leaves it be and does what he can to cling to what's left of the old Astarion when they are together, spending even more time with the refugees and running off to Reithwin once the Absolute is dealt with. He's needed, it makes him happy, Astarion has all the time in the world to wait for him to come crawling back after his fun. But he doesn’t. A century passes and Reithwin is on the map again, no longer a black smudge of curse, and thriving. But Astarion’s survived the attempts on his life, and all this power of an ascendant trickling in gave him the knowledge of brides centuries early. A Dark Kiss, how romantic. He knows what he must do the moment the ritual comes to him.

Halsin is not a hard man to find, even without money and power. But a little coin and strings pulled left the druid once more kidnapped, though this time without harm. Astarion takes his time as his love is still unconscious from the kidnappers' drugs. One bite. Two. Three...

Astarion half forgets himself as Halsin wakes, mindless and feeding during the ritual. He’s an animal, a beast, and now a creature of the night, and it fits his love so well to be so feral. Wanting, no, needing him so desperately. But the ascendant pulls himself back into the moment soon enough to break free and keep from being drained in the ritual. Halsin sleeps as he turns pale. Astarion finds such rest so beautiful a look on him...

When Halsin wakes up, he is confused at his surrounds, but Astarion is there. He just missed his consort, that’s all. It's a forced vacation for a man who never rests. Relax, darling.

Halsin wonders why he craves raw meat so much… But yes, he can try to enjoy a break to please Astarion. To once again try to find the man he fell in love with, or at least taste the pieces of. Then he can return home.

Astarion keeps him inside for a long while. He's glad Halsin isn't a man of vanity as he had the mirrors put away. Every time Halsin wishes to go outside while the sun is up, Astarion pulls him away for sex. He keeps Halsin fed despite the food not being what he really needs, suggesting raw meats as much as possible and having blood dripped into whatever the servants can hide it in. In time he will learn, but not yet.

Halsin dealing with constantly being hungry but food doesn’t taste right anymore. Doesn’t satisfy, not even honey. Must be his nerves of being suddenly taken, suddenly back in the city he nearly died in years ago, with what remains of his partner -- if he can even call him that anymore. Or perhaps the drugs used to get him here messed with him more than intended. He isn't quite sure...

Astarion finally goes for a walk with him to the park at night “when there are less people about so you can enjoy a bit of peace in your beloved nature.” Halsin can’t get the hunger to leave his mind. He loses himself when a rabbit darts by, near-blacking out as he snatches it in but a moment and bites down. Somehow this raw meat has flavor finally. He’s still hungry. Astarion teases that the bear truly is a beast. Halsin apologizes for the display, he hasn’t felt himself since waking in the city. Astarion says he has nothing to feel sorry for, he quite likes the view. Halsin could stand to lose himself to the “beast” more often. Relax, darling.

Astarion carefully feeds into Halsin's primal side. The bear, the beast, the more natural and feral part of Halsin that Astarion insists is better. But he also carefully isolates him. He doesn't want to be out in the day when all the horrid people are out: Baldur's Gate isn't so different from last time he was here. And Astarion doesn't want Halsin to be sad about the state of the city, not at all. Stay in the palace with your love and have a nice time. It's a vacation, remember? Relax, darling.

He slowly pulls Halsin back down into a cultivated depression. Nature is out of reach but for his own feral instinct and the occasional night walks. Silvanus and Thaniel grew quiet a long time ago. The rats under the palace that Astarion calls pests are attempted friends of Halsin, but he keeps losing himself in fits of hunger. They are not safe around him, so he doesn't even try anymore.

<[ Dawn claiming its dead ]>

And goodness it gets even worse after y'all DO get together. You caress his face, coo at him, tell him what a good boy he is for you

Gods yes.

He heals a wound near-absentmindedly as he’s chatting about what silly thing Scratch did in camp while you were dealing with the crèche. It heals over faster and without a hint of scarring, unlike a similar wound Shadowheart took her time fixing. You compliment him on it, thinking nothing of the compliment itself but rather how different the healers are. He pauses before thanking you while brushing it off. It’s what he’s here for anyway.

You get poisoned in the Underdark and hurriedly brought back to camp. Before Shadowheart can even get to you to work her magic, Halsin is bringing over an antidote for exactly that from a batch which he just finished making that day. You notice all the drying herbs he’s had in his tent now include things from the Underdark and the variety of new mushrooms. You compliment his preparedness and ability to heal even without magic. No one’s complimented his natural healing knowledge over magic before and it leaves him a little speechless. Perhaps you’re a little woozy from the poison still…

But even in the Shadow Cursed Lands, your compliments keep coming. You admire his dedication to his childhood friend, the work he put into researching the curse, the faith and loyalty in Silvanus to poke a hole in the darkness, his ability to know what was wrong with Thaniel, and even how he spoke to Oliver. You swear the darkness is playing tricks on your eyes when it almost looks like the man has started blushing during conversations.

You half hope it’s real, even in such poor lighting he looks so cute like that.

And then he confesses as the party nears the city. It is your turn to hear back everything you’ve done for him. “It was nothing.” “No, it was everything.” You have the wild, heated night together. And you wonder…

You praise his whittling and compliment his eyes, and you were right: he does look cute with that tinge of pink spreading across his cheeks and out to the pointed tips of his ears.

You ask him little favors for camp, for you, for strangers, and even sneak in some for himself. He can barely manage a response anymore when you tell him he did well. He almost seems to expect it now, seeking it out.