corporeity: (023)
𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑘𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑠 ([personal profile] corporeity) wrote2024-11-12 12:45 pm

INBOX







WELCOME TO THE SALTBURNT NETWORK


USERNAME
@WATERDEEP


text 🔮 audio 🔮 video
thirsted: (Default)

📦 delivery.

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-11-17 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[ A couple of days after Gale first arrives, a little parcel finds its way to his door. Neatly wrapped in paper is an enchanted compass. Upon the paper has been written, in Astarion's careful hand: ]
No unhinging of the jaw necessary. And before you ask, this was given freely.
[ In fact, he bartered for it (or so he'd describe the process), but he's not about to put that down where anyone else can see it. The only evidence of what had transpired is one other word written on the paper, in clearly different handwriting: ]
CATERING
bhaalite: all by cupnoodles | dnt (Default)

text | @orin

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-11-19 01:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Hello Gale.
bhaalite: (003)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-11-19 02:28 pm (UTC)(link)
The days and nights are so very quiet. What do people do with all their time here?
bhaalite: all by cupnoodles | dnt (Default)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-11-19 09:01 pm (UTC)(link)
All I ever did and do was find new offerings for my father. I am the youngest Unholy Assassin on record, that does not happen with complacency and incompetence.

Did you hear that the dead don't stay dead here? Without magic or intervention, they rise anyway.
bhaalite: all by cupnoodles | dnt (Default)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-11-19 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Little point in a death that does not serve the Dread Lord, I might as well not slaughter little lambs at all.

[ which is NOT a legally binding promise do not hold her to it!! but maybe might be a tiny bit of a relief-- no mass murder plans for now. ]

Do you know of this place, have you been there?
bhaalite: all by cupnoodles | dnt (Default)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-11-19 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I would say that none of this house is your usual haunt. We are so very far we home, are we not? You must feel it too.

Okay, Gale, we will go to Otherworld. When?


[ was he actually asking her? it doesn't matter!! ]
bhaalite: all by cupnoodles | dnt (Default)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-11-19 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll bring no knives, wizard, only myself. If it makes you feel at ease I will leave the armour too.
Take me tonight, after the sun dips out below the horizon?
bhaalite: all by cupnoodles | dnt (Default)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-11-20 02:20 pm (UTC)(link)
It has its uses.

Will you share a drink with me? I assume you would not suggest anywhere that does not provide us wine, at the very least.
bhaalite: all by cupnoodles | dnt (Default)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-11-21 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[ some secret third worse thing, probably ]

A gentleman too? Wonders cease to amaze.

Fetch me from my rooms, though be careful not to get lost. Have you had trouble navigating these halls?
bhaalite: all by cupnoodles | dnt (Default)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-11-22 11:25 am (UTC)(link)
Mine would have forgiven me just so, only her opinion stopped mattering quite some time ago.

Tonight then, at a time that suits you most well. I will be ready, and eagerly awaiting your knock, knock, knock.

😊
occupied: (marco 1)

a brief haunting.

[personal profile] occupied 2024-11-20 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ are you having a peaceful evening? are you enjoying the sights and sounds of saltburnt? well, congratulations on finding a new companion tonight: this dog, with glowing hell eyes and fire collar and a stinky sulfuric perfume wafting along with her. if you step away from her, she will follow. if you move towards her, she will step back. just a little dance-y dance for about a few minutes before she decides she's had enough and leaves.

she knows you now. time to report back to her human.
]
occupied: (marco 8)

[personal profile] occupied 2024-11-22 02:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ what a nice person. very decent looking, nice smelling. would be very sad if someone barfed sympathetic ectoplasm onto their shoes! ]
occupied: (gd-ep1-00048)

[personal profile] occupied 2024-11-23 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ if it's any consolation, the doggie is seemingly apologetic. here, let her set it on fire— ]
bhaalist: (202)

@magicincarnate

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
Gale, it is Tilanus.

I spoke with Astarion. You were wounded?
bhaalist: (Default)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 08:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ it's a relief, though the storm of his anger is only mildly quelled. ]

But she dared to try.

What happened, Gale, what threat did she leave you with?
bhaalist: (s t a n d)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 11:31 am (UTC)(link)
Too much, and not enough.

Your party has yet to reach Baldur's Gate, you said? How much would you want to know?

Bearing in mind that there are differences in our past, of course. Not all that is true for me may be so for you.
Edited 2024-11-23 11:32 (UTC)
bhaalist: (12)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 02:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ not anymore. though, as far as gale's concerned... ]

Yes. And a shapeshifter, with doppelgängers under her command.

In my version of things, she infected me directly. She's also the one who took Minthara and her army, and put them to work.

She was waiting for us when we reached the city. Almost at once she infiltrated our camp and took Lae'zel captive. I came here directly after killing her and taking her netherstone, so you can imagine my thrill at finding her alive and well here.
bhaalist: (t h i n k)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 02:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes. Most of what I know of it comes from discovery. Her attack also destroyed most of my memories.

Believe me, if I could kill her again here I would have already. Or she would have killed me. Anyone I care about might equally attract her interest.

Neither you nor Astarion remember me, but she does. If she knows that I care for you...and she may.

She's from earlier than me, but her infiltration of the camp may have happened already. I'm not sure when it started. The two of you should watch out for each other. Though I am sure you would have done so anyway.
bhaalist: (109)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 03:18 pm (UTC)(link)
She is not, though she's the one who will actively hunt me. I feel it's time I did the same to her.

I am glad you seem to be well.

But I must ask - your orb. Is it stable here? The resurrections I've heard tell of seem to take a week or more.
bhaalist: (d o w n)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 03:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ not stable enough.

what would the power behind this place do about that, he wonders.
]

And she believed you, she stopped?

[ that's about the most reasonable thing he's ever heard of her doing. ]

I'm glad of it.

She and I have business that is unfinished, for all that I thought it was. I don't know what resolution we can find here. We'll see.
bhaalist: (125)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he'd tell most other people who said something like that to him where they could stow it.

but this is gale.
]

That is so.

You would counsel caution, then, despite the worm she put inside me?
bhaalist: (271)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ gale of waterdeep, at his absolute finest.

it's unreasonable that this should make him feel warm, but it does. gale of waterdeep indeed.
]

So I've heard.

[ lol ]

Admittedly, it's difficult to imagine the Lord of Murder's hand in a place like this. His temple in the city was so very different. And, I should imagine, it would be difficult for him to gain power from a death that doesn't stick.

It does concern me. I won't pretend otherwise. Have you given much thought to the boundaries of this place? Tried to leave?
bhaalist: (10)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes I've heard that, too. I wouldn't rob the vaults of Sorcerous Sundries for just anyone, you know.

How does the library here compare, have you found anything of use?


[ hopefully you were not expecting a sorcerer to have done any of the reading... ]
bhaalist: (s t u d y)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ah, koby. he spoke to him, read his welcome package. it had been helpful, even if there was no explanation to anything within. ]

The dead rise as a matter of course, and they thought it without magic.

I spoke to a woman who wanted to try and open a portal out of here. Not that she had any idea of how to do so, or any indication of how to reach any of our worlds from here. If we found more direction, there might be merit to the idea.


[ if. it's a very big if. ]
bhaalist: (119)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
That they've given the impression they aren't in control of their home.

[ which is not to say he's taken that as read. ]

There was also some strong opposition to Agathe's idea of interrogating them. It's possible they're prisoners here as much as the rest of us, though that could be a ruse. Did you happen to encounter Auntie Ethel on your travels?

[ she'd played innocent, too. ]
bhaalist: (m o d e l)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I believe lashing out at them would be unwise, at least for now. I can't say I trust them, but it sometimes pays to be patient. I agree with you.

[ about this, anyway. orin is another story. ]
bhaalist: (112)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-23 11:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he's wary of pushing too much, assuming too much. especially after talking to astarion. it's strange to be strangers again. ]

You're welcome.

Gale, if there is anything you need, you need only ask.
bhaalist: (t h i n k)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-11-24 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
I know.

It was no lie when I said I recall little of my past. When I woke on the Nautiloid I knew nothing but my name, and I met you not long after.


[ what he had discovered, he had discovered with gale, and the wizard had not turned from him then. would this version feel differently?

it is a strange thing to be concerned about. there are few people whose opinion would matter to him.
]

Would you take a drink with me? I would rather speak of this in person.
bhaalist: (26)

action?

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-12-02 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
I shall meet you there.

[ and he will. he's explored enough of the house to find it with relative ease. wine is his choice, and he'll be able to be found at a table large enough for two, with a bottle of red. he hasn't opened it yet, though there are two glasses waiting for gale's arrival. ]
bhaalist: (243)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-12-08 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ he straightens when gale enters, and smiles. his eyes flick quickly over him, despite already having been assured he was alright. if orin had truly wanted to do him harm, he wouldn't be walking. tilanus knows that. he also thinks there would've been a good deal more spectacle around it, if that was what she wanted.

he'll allow himself to be relieved.

he gestures to the seat across from him.
]

I'm glad to see it. Thank you, for meeting with me. I'm well, I suppose.

[ aside from being frustrated by this unintended break from his actual life. talking to gale makes it all feel a little more normal, even though this one is not truly the friend he'd gotten to know.

he puts his hand on the wine bottle.
]

I got this in the hope you'd feel like sharing, but I'll get you something else if you prefer. They appear to have everything.
bhaalist: (212)

[personal profile] bhaalist 2024-12-08 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he opens the wine to pour for them both. ]

I've had worse, [ he says, thinking of the old bottles scattered around the shadow cursed lands, covered in dust and snatched up to feed the camp in a pinch.

he's still not really sure how this will go. it should be easier, he thinks. it's simpler talking to people who are strangers to him.
]

Well, if we are to start at the beginning, that was not long ago for me. I told you I woke on the Nautiloid remembering nothing but my name. Perhaps I should ask, what would you like to know? If I can tell you, I will.
thirsted: (Default)

🚪 visitation.

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-11-28 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ A couple of days after Astarion's conversation with Tilanus (in which he, in the privacy of their rooms, has seemed more agitated than usual), the vampire comes through the adjoining bathroom, a pinch in his brow.

He debates a text, debates a letter, debates a call. None quite seem sufficient.

Without any preamble (and without any regard for whatever Gale was previously doing):
] Tilanus. You've spoken with him.
thirsted: (Default)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-11-30 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
At least Elodie had the courtesy to treat me as a stranger, [ Astarion hisses, already beginning to pace a course through Gale's room. As he goes, he pulls his phone from his doublet pocket, scrolling through its contents before he finds the message he's looking for.

In a melodramatic (and frankly uncharitable) tone:
] "There was much that we shared. Much that I know well you would not tell a stranger you had just met." The gall— to speak of knowing me—

[ He bares his teeth in displeasure, still on course to bore a divot into the floor of Gale's quarters. ]

Whatever version of me he knows must be a dolt, else he would know better than to address me so familiarly. Or perhaps I was under some enchantment—

[ The fact is that he doesn't actually know what it is that Tilanus knows about him, but he doesn't want to ask and find out, either. ]

Does he speak to you the same way?
thirsted: (Default)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-02 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ With each new word that leaves Gale's mouth, the corners of Astarion's turn further and further downward, as upset with the (perceived) invasion of Gale's privacy as with his own. ]

Unsettling, [ he repeats, as he briefly stops his pacing to plant his hands on his hips. ] It's insulting. You know, I told him — twice! — that we were strangers, and each time he acknowledged the fact, and yet the conversation always rattled back onto the subject of how we once knew each other, of how he would protect us. Us! As though he were our beloved keeper!

[ And his pacing begins again, though this time, his hands come up to the level of his chest, his palms parallel as he gestures through his frustration. ]

He speaks of earned friendship and yet acts as though the earning has been done already. He says he wishes for us to be on an equal playing field, then persistently mentions how dear we are to him, further reminding us that we know nothing of him at all.

[ He'd stomp his foot if it wouldn't belittle the degree to which he's been irritated by the entire affair — and he'd throw himself onto the bed if it weren't Gale's, so he simply stops for a second time, his fingers curling into fists. But this second pause seems to be enough to get him to relent — not in terms of changing his mind but in terms of calming down for Gale's sake. He realizes, after all, that he's basically made the same complaint twice already.

Actually, suddenly, abjectly:
]

We— we know each other, don't we? A few lost days aside, I—

[ He falters, unusually flustered and unmoored by his own errant train of thought. ]
thirsted: (pic#17360801)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-03 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ When Gale gets to his feet, for a single, terrifying moment, Astarion fears the worst. That he's been coddled, duped — that there's been a stranger in the adjoining room this entire time. It's writ clear upon his features, in the wide set of his eyes, the way the line of his jaw goes taut.

Then — relief. There's a flare of his nostrils as he breathes out, lets go of the worry he'd been holding onto, his expression remaining unusually open just a moment longer (because he sees the way Gale's hand hovers in the air, because something else entirely seizes his chest in that brief moment) before it changes again, taking on something like self-effacement as he allows himself a tsk and a slight stomp of his foot. Even his shoulders slump, leaving him looking small but at least less rudderless than he had been mere moments before.
]

Nor I, you. Any of you.

[ He speaks the words more easily than he typically does similarly honest sentiments, like the syllables are being pried out of a vise. He draws in a breath to say something more, then seems to change his mind, a shadow of Gale's gesture, extended and then curbed. ]

I've had rather enough of him, [ is what he settles on, his tone plaintive as his eyes bore a hole into the middle distance, his apparent lack of focus serving as an indicator of the mental strain used in jumping from one train of thought to another. ] The next time he calls me friend, I'll put stones in my pockets and walk into the lake.
thirsted: (Default)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-17 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ Time, thank the gods, resumes its usual flow. A breath looses itself from Astarion's ribs, forming into a half-laugh (to complement that half-smile on Gale's features) as he imagines the hypothetical outcome. A step removed from the fear that had taken him just a moment ago, he almost thinks he's reacted too harshly against the Drow, but— he's not the type to stew in that type of regret, and besides, it's useless to take issue with a feral cat for using its claws.

(He's grateful, though he won't say as much out loud, for Gale's resetting the conversation, his seemingly ever-steady hand leading them, without much issue, into safer waters. Once, he'd have said it's a skill he's just as deft at using, but— well, here they are.)

Step light, he crosses the room, his hands linking loosely behind his back (as though to keep them out of any further trouble) as he peers over the papers laid out over Gale's desk. Characteristically meticulous — and not as boring to Astarion as he likes to pretend. He suspects that Gale knows as much, that the time they've spent traveling has, for better or worse, dispelled some of the illusion he typically maintains (even if it isn't born of magic).
]

And what kind of surprises have you cooked up for our would-be intruders? [ he asks, with a glance toward the door. ]
thirsted: (pic#17360797)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-23 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ This, at least, is easy. Their laughter, their conversation, their proximity — he doesn't feel the need to shy away or otherwise close himself off. Even that little brush of Gale's shoulder— all it prompts is a shifting of his posture so that his chest is at a perpendicular angle to his companion's, a slight drawing closer that doesn't demand either of them give up any space. ]

Polymorph! [ he repeats, with a bright laugh. (Approval sought and easily given, more and more so with each passing day. He's aware, in some faint capacity, that Gale looks for it, the same way that Astarion himself does. The desire of an unwanted or discarded thing to be wanted.) ] Well, you've certainly got my approval. And I'm sure Shadowheart would appreciate having a new source of prey — not that the very human forms of the other guests have really served as a deterrent.

[ His head tilts, his cheek finding his shoulder as he braces one arm against the desk, admiring the notes covering the breadth of Gale's desk.

Then, mildly,
] Though, one would hope this doesn't result in a menagerie. As much as I'd like to see your wards deployed, I think one or two sheep would be quite enough, if not too much already.
thirsted: (Default)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-31 06:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, hardly. It'd just make it easier for her to lay waste to the place.

[ It's with that thought that Astarion pushes himself off from the desk, a satellite reentering its orbit after lingering too close to a sun. (He registers the blush upon Gale's features, moves away to linger on its sweetness, on how much he finds he likes to see it. He's handsome, Astarion's always known that, and yet—)

He's halfway back to his usual sense of ease when Gale speaks again. For a second, Astarion simply looks surprised, casting a glance back over his shoulder, going still ... then shrugging. Ease to counter the near-shyness in Gale's voice, even if he isn't certain he doesn't feel a little shy, too. Better long to linger on the feeling, anyway.
]

I suppose it'd only be fair. You are doing this for both our benefits, after all.

[ Though he doesn't go to the chair, first, instead checking the door to the bathroom, through which Shadowheart, as though summoned, comes tip-tapping, circling Astarion's ankles once before beelining for the darkest corner of Gale's room.

Then, then he finds the chair, settling in it with his legs thrown over one arm and his back against the other, watching Gale a moment longer before diverting his attention to his phone.
]
volkarin: (pic#17517657)

✉️ text — un: ev.

[personal profile] volkarin 2024-11-28 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
Dear Gale,

Per our discussion on the network, I have something to report as to the nature of death in this place.

The fact of the matter is that it is not, in fact, death. It is something very close to it, practically indistinguishable by those who experienced it, but not death. It's entirely unfamiliar to me, I'm afraid. I wish I knew more, but this seemed significant enough to pass along.

Yours,
Emmrich
volkarin: (pic#17517739)

[personal profile] volkarin 2024-12-02 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
Frankly, I worry that it may be the latter, as it seems that experiencing such a shadow state comes with its share of aftereffects, the nature of which I am still researching.

And of course. I expect it will benefit us all to share from our respective troves, rather than keeping a dragon's hoard.
thirsted: (Default)

✉️ text — un: astarion.

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-02 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ From the other room: ]

Has anyone shown you emojis yet? Or has the illustrious Gale figured them out on his own? 🧙‍♂️
thirsted: (Default)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-02 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The sound elicits a smile in turn, blessedly not the sort of thing that will carry while out of view. ]

Somehow, the other option, beardless though it is, strikes me as even greyer: 🧙
Perhaps it's the glasses?
thirsted: (Default)

1/2

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-03 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
You know, I've always thought that looked rather more like Cazador.
thirsted: (pic#16740284)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-03 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ Then, quickly, lest Gale think he's stepped on a land mine: ]

🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🧛‍♂️
thirsted: (pic#16740274)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-07 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Faintly audible from the other room: ] Oh, that's quite good.

[ Then, momentarily: ]

It's a shame there's nothing more representative of her. 👹 is rather too severe, not to mention hairy.

👺 Does this one resemble Raphael, do you think?
thirsted: (Default)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-08 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ A longer pause, then: ]

   💀
💪🩻💪
🥾  🥾
thirsted: (pic#16740278)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-08 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The sound of laughter begets a smile, and a quick glance in the direction of the open door, though Astarion doesn't move — nor really make any other indication of his own reaction. ]

I've had time to practice, but I'll accept the flattery nevertheless. 😇
Use this new power wisely, my dear.
bhaalite: (044)

text | @orin

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-12-06 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I have a question, if you have a moment for it.
bhaalite: (024)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-12-06 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you know where someone might find a large quantity of lights?
bhaalite: (021)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-12-09 09:55 am (UTC)(link)
Exactly. I wish to decorate a tree. Do you think the kind matters at all?
bhaalite: (015)

[personal profile] bhaalite 2024-12-14 01:55 pm (UTC)(link)
A theme. Interesting, I had not considered that.

I might have need to avail myself of some of these existing lights. If there are so many, surely one or two would not go amiss?
volkarin: (pic#17517759)

🎁 delivery (dated 12/24).

[personal profile] volkarin 2024-12-09 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Upon Christmas Eve, a set of three gifts of varying sizes — all wrapped neatly in brown paper and twine — finds its way to Gale's door.
— One reveals itself to be a copy of Vestalus Pentaghast's Duties of the Prelate of the Grand Necropolis.
— Another is The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York.
— And the last, smaller than the others, contains a pencil and cap.
There's also a note, written in careful, almost cartoonishly neat script:
]
Dear Gale,

In the spirit of the season — somewhat similar to what I am familiar with as Wintersend, though I expect the term will mean little to all else here — I thought I might share one volume relevant to my particular school of magic (and my [arguably former] line of work), as well as one I found on some more distant part of this world's history that I found quite compelling. Perhaps books make for a rather dry gift, but I thought, based on our correspondence thus far, that you wouldn't find such a thing objectionable.

May the new year bring us the answers we seek. Your friend,
— Emmrich Volkarin
Edited (links ...) 2024-12-09 23:36 (UTC)
thirsted: (pic#17360803)

🎁 delivery (dated 12/24).

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-10 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ Astarion debates, not for an insignificant amount of time, whether or not he really wants to participate in gift-giving at all. But it's hardly as though there's much else to occupy his time, and the things he thinks of aren't all the sort that can be picked up and immediately stowed away.

Come Christmas Eve, once the festivities wind down — once Astarion can hear Gale's steady breath on the other side of the door in their shared suite — he steps quietly into their adjoining bathroom and places a single note card by the mirror above the sink. On it, written in Astarion's hand:
]
Find me first
In the place the sun shines
Where your lesson revealed
That reflection of mine.
[ Waiting for Gale in the solarium, upon the table where they'd had their lesson, wrapped in silver paper, is a capsule from the gachapon room, as well as a small pouch containing several of the coins required to use the machines therein. There's another notecard, too, this one reading: ]
Next, seek the room
With the hearth you've enchanted
And seek out the seat
Upon which you're most often planted.
[ This next clue should lead Gale to the little library he's virtually taken up residence in, and upon the chair he most often sits in is a silver paper bag, and within it, wrapped in white tissue paper, is a felted figure of Tara — or at least, of a Tressym with black-brown fur, as best an approximation as Astarion could manage given the occasional description alone. And with it, again, another notecard, another clue: ]
Third, you must look
In the room where we dine
Where often you find
Your chair next to mine.
[ In the dining hall, where they usually sit for mealtimes, is a silver box containing a silver perfume bottle. Around its neck is tied a purple velvet ribbon, upon which has been embroidered, in gold thread: my hand in yours. The fragrance inside smells, even to the untrained nose, of lavender. With it, one more note: ]
And now we come
To the end of the path;
Go look in the place
Where you'd draw a hot bath.
[ If Gale returns to their suite, he'll find, placed upon the mat by the bathtub, a silver jewelry box containing a diamond and opal earring (the gift he considers the biggest swing, considering what the earring Gale already wears symbolizes), as well as a letter, written upon parchment rather than card stock. It's short, though its relative terseness is arguably belied by everything that's led up to it. ]
Gale,

The riddles weren't my finest work, but I expect you enjoyed the experience of puzzling them out better than the gifts they led to. So consider the chase to be my gift to you if none of the trinkets please you.

Either way, don't get too used to it.

Yours Fondly Your friend,
— Astarion
thirsted: (Default)

⭐️ coda (12/25).

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-12-23 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ Christmas Day is, frankly, a little overwhelming. He expects none of the gifts he receives, none of the thoughtfulness that accompanies them.

Then there's the letter that Gale leaves — one that causes his heart to skip a beat, one that makes him wonder if it wouldn't be for the best to text him straight away, to say, it's just a gift, it doesn't matter to me if you wear it or not. It's not so much that he decides to let things play out as they will as that he decides to ignore it, to put it out of his mind until he can't anymore.

Dinner carries with it the scent of lavender, a giddy breeze that helps place a red paper crown upon his white hair, a smile upon his features even as he groans at the jokes hidden inside the crackers that line the table. Only once does he falter — when he feels Gale's hand find his, hidden out of view, though his head turns so quickly that anyone paying attention would notice, his eyes widening a fraction before his thoughts seem to catch up with him. The line of his shoulders relaxes. Their fingers wind together as easily as though he hadn't paused at all.

He laughs more loudly in the gesture's wake, seems merrier, livelier, brighter. When the time comes for them to return to their rooms, he walks the hallways shoulder to shoulder with the wizard, tittering about this and that, the crown still on his head, their hands still linked as his other hand gestures enough for both of them. It doesn't occur to him that this is one of the rare times they enter their suite through the same door — or perhaps it does, though his chatter as they ready themselves for bed remains the same, easy and fond. (Another thing that touches a nerve, better to be glossed over until it's no longer avoidable.)

He waves goodnight on the threshold that divides his room from their adjoining bathroom, and when he does, a sunstone glints upon his pointer finger.

You’ve not got the eyes right on your mirror image just yet. What a strange thing, to be so seen.
]
extent: (tya67)

text — un: nicknack 🙈

[personal profile] extent 2024-12-29 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
hey quick question when you have a minute
is your magic like
teachable?

it's nick btw from the shop hi
extent: (ty116)

[personal profile] extent 2024-12-29 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
really?
ok amazing!

cause like i'm not going to lie i have wanted to learn that hand thing since the first time i saw it
extent: (ty191)

[personal profile] extent 2024-12-29 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
all that money my parents spent on a good education, wasted
this would have been a game changer in high school :(

i don't know if i can teach you anything in return, my stuff isn't super learnable, but we can try?
how are you with potions?
extent: (ty115)

[personal profile] extent 2024-12-29 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
honestly that's so fair though, like who's even capable of learning at that time
(morning people i guess but i don't understand them at ALL)

no debt though, don't worry! just like
fun exchange of like minded ideas and all that or whatever
so long as you can tolerate having a so-so student anyway
extent: (ty116)

[personal profile] extent 2025-01-05 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)
for the record, if you absolutely lose your mind trying to teach me basic baby spells i'm going to remind you that you said that

i've got it in writing and everything
extent: (ty74)

[personal profile] extent 2025-01-12 01:07 pm (UTC)(link)
your dedication to teaching is remarkable professor gale
i promise if i drive you to drink i'll provide the booze
whiskey? or wine

you strike me as a classy drink kind of a guy
extent: all by beticons @ ij (Default)

[personal profile] extent 2025-01-12 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
have yuo tried tequila?
extent: (ty116)

[personal profile] extent 2025-01-13 12:42 pm (UTC)(link)
oh
absolutely yes
everyone's got to experience it at least once in their life
extent: (ty128)

[personal profile] extent 2025-01-16 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
no, but it'll be a hell of an experience

oh you know what we should all do? after work drinks
extent: (ty159)

[personal profile] extent 2025-01-19 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
ok great i'm going to arrange it and you have to come
:)
+1s or whatever you can bring someone if you want
extent: (tya259)

[personal profile] extent 2025-01-25 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)
oh please do, i think it'd be fun to get to know everyones partners a bit better :)
extent: (ty89)

[personal profile] extent 2025-01-25 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
well
actually
boyfriend
but its like very new and im trying not to make a big deal about it
is that totally lame? boyfriends, i mean we're not twelve


[ sir u are nineteen ]
semicharmed: (boredest boy at eton)

text; un: persephone; substance times

[personal profile] semicharmed 2025-01-05 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Am I the only one with a bad feeling about this?

Literally transformations are like the worst thing about this place


[ Wait, he didn't add any context to this, maybe that would help. ]

All these "treatments," I mean. Especially given the source ... I distrust anyone Portia trusts by default.
semicharmed: (mite unsettling)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2025-01-06 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
[ Matt continues to fret that maybe Gale doesn't approve of him (which is his fault), so the first line of that reply is a balm to his hamster-wheeling soul. ]

The transformations always go beyond the physical.

They always do!

I try to remind myself that a lot of people here either didn't know magic was real before they got here, or else came from truly shitty worlds, but at this point

I don't know, I'm not very good at explaining myself. I wouldn't know where to start.
semicharmed: (don't call me shirley)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2025-01-08 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, yes, that's a great point. And I can see why people wouldn't necessarily be on the alert, since the tourney seemed fine and the little winter village was like, mostly adorable

but none of that offered to change anybody.


[ Except, perhaps, for Krampus turning people's internal organs into external ones. ]

Have you taken a deeper look at any of it? The lotion and stuff?
semicharmed: (034)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2025-01-08 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hang on, Matt has to have a full five-minute spiral about the point Gale's made before his main point. The exact topography of it is probably boring to an outside observer, but it boils down to the fact that Matt's been thinking of a lot of that magic as more like regular drugs. Consent-impairing, for sure, but not capable of fundamental alteration. Though werewolves shapeshift all the time and they're fine, so is this a cultural bias of his?

Don't worry, he'll be chewing on the question like a tasty rawhide for weeks if not months. ]


Oh geez, okay. That does push up my personal timeline for investigating

I'll be there. whenever you need


[ He isn't sure if Alina's still mad at him, but the store doesn't have a NO MATTS ALLOWED sign on it or anything. Plus Erik gave him that nice gift card. ]
semicharmed: (crystal vibes)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2025-01-13 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Are we not doing phrasing ...?

Evidently not, because when the name of the game is magic and people he adores are at risk, the thought somehow doesn't cross Matt's mind. ]


Awesome. I'll be there.

[ And as the sun sinks below the horizon, Matt is en route to Sol & Scroll, trusty FEEDETH ME A TURKEY LEG AND TELLETH ME I'M PRETTY tote bag stuffed with freshly harvested herbs, a few essential oils, one of Matt's notebooks (now full of new anxious configurations!), and other bits and bobs. Finding the door unlocked, he slips inside. ]

Gale?
semicharmed: (294)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2025-01-14 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah-- [ Matt doesn't catch the gloves. At least, not with his hands: They arrest themselves in midair, floating into his waiting grasp. Matt quirks a smile down at them, then over to Gale. ] Smart.

[ Honestly, he could stand to wear gloves for more of the stuff he gets up to. He slips them on, then turns to dig into his bag. ]

So where are you so far? I brought some things I thought might be helpful for like, determining the nature of an object or a substance, [ his fingers close on something and withdraw--it appears to be a small gemstone. ] But like I said, I haven't done much with the stuff itself.
semicharmed: (don't call me shirley)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2025-01-23 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Matt frowns suspiciously at the ReSculpt, thinking his own uneasy thoughts about the friends and lovers he's seen altered. The question jars him out of his musing, into a startled smile. ]

Oh, uh. This is kyanite. [ He sets it on the table with a careful clack. ] It's a stone that's supposed to help see through illusions or distortions. I also have ...

[ Matt reaches back into his tote, and swiftly realizes he may have put these gloves on prematurely. Peering into the bag's contents, he inhales quickly, causing a few items to lift into the air: a sprig of honeysuckle, a small jar, his notebook. ]

Honeysuckle for persuasion and psychic insight. Anise essential oil, which is good for a number of things where I come from, but also psychic insight. Plus it smells good. [ His gaze slides back to Gale, and he offers another small smile as the notebook pages flip, flip, flip themselves to the right spot. The page shows a filigree of symbols placed within a circle. ] My method so far with these things is honestly pretty simple ... I just sort of ask it what it is?
semicharmed: (mother nature's son)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2025-01-27 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Matt can't really tell the difference between Gale's forced enthusiasm and the regular kind, but even if he could, there'd be nothing to stop him from projecting. In either case, the solution is the same: Impress him with magic!

And Matt can, at least, tell that Gale expected more oomph out of that clap. He smiles ruefully at him and says, ]
Let's.

[ Matt's magic doesn't require words, as such. Not out-loud ones. What it requires is his focus, an intention to north-star the casting, and the architecture to produce the right notes. Matt inhales, one eye on his notebook and the other on the tabletop, as ribbons of golden light weave themselves into a copy of the design on the page. He compares--a few ribbons wriggle into a slightly different shape--sets the kyanite and honeysuckle in north and south positions. Dabs the anise laboriously onto various spots in the pattern, then onto the inside of the gloves' puffy wrists. The spell circle closes; everything gleams. The words in Matt's mind are part memorization, meant to get him out of his own way. Then such a knower has every pleasure he wills upon the earth, and holds great powers in the grasp of his lotus-like hands. And in part, as he intimated to Gale, they're a simple question:

Who are you?

The answer is somewhere between a vision, a leaf-green whisper, and a smell: hawthorn trees on Saltburnt's snowy grounds, a strange mossy plant climbing their trunks in broad, irregular rings. For a moment, Matt's eyes flicker with verdant tendrils.

Then he blinks, breathless, and seems to come back to himself. ]
semicharmed: (elemental)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2025-02-03 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's outside, Matt's about to blurt--which would be pretty cryptic, so it's probably for the best that Gale's question breaks across his thoughts like a pebble to the surface of a pond. ]

I'm great, [ he says, sincerely. It seems to be true: Matt's got a bit of a bounce in his bearing, a light in his eyes that comes not from any mystical plant communion, but the exhilaration of spellcasting. It falls somewhere between the neat pleasure of solving a puzzle--things fitting into other things--and the awe of prayer.

Just as his own ritual strikes Gale as complex, there's only a handful of spells Matt knows how to cast as quickly as Gale can. So he's slightly uncertain as he adds, ]
Did you do your thing? I wasn't supposed to wait for you, was I ...? [ A sheepish smile. ] What'd you learn?
lightandjoy: (pic#17616843)

a note

[personal profile] lightandjoy 2025-01-13 11:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ Left in Gale's room before he wakes up, potentially delivered by a mouse: ]

Gale,

I'm sorry that we haven't found the time to catch up. If you have the time, perhaps you would like to join me for breakfast and a walk through the gardens? I believe the kitchen staff are able to do "take out".

Halsin
lightandjoy: (pic#17598132)

[personal profile] lightandjoy 2025-01-15 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Shadowheart returns with Halsin's response, vampire chicken turned carrier pigeon. ]

Gale,

Thank you for introducing me to your fine feathered friend! Shadowheart (such a name to live up to!) and I had a very interesting conversation. You didn't mention she had such a sharp sense of humor. I have agreed not to tempt her with mice and look forward to getting to know her.

I will also look forward to breakfast tomorrow. I'd suggest wrapping up warm, the mornings have been quite icy.

Halsin
lightandjoy: (pic#17598130)

[personal profile] lightandjoy 2025-01-17 05:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Gale isn't the only one worried about his companion. Although Dorian has turned him out of his bed and made his feelings on their burgeoning relationship clear, Halsin isn't abandoning him -- like Gale, he pauses outside of Dorian's door to listen for his slumbering breaths before he moves on.

He's not wrapped as warm as Gale, though he's at least in layers, the brightest being a colourful heavy knit cardigan that's somehow sized to his broad shoulders. He grins as he arrives, and doesn't stop moving towards Gale, seizing him in a big bear hug.
]

Gale! It's good to see you. [ Releasing him, he eyes the pastries, smiling at the kitchen worker. ] Savoury, please. And, if you would be so kind, perhaps some bacon and bread? Cold mornings make me rather hungry, I'm afraid.
lightandjoy: (pic#17598137)

[personal profile] lightandjoy 2025-01-23 01:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The kitchen is at least used to last minute requests, and Halsin's efforts to get to know every single person in the manor have paid off. He's given a bacon roll as well as his coffee and pastry, and tucks the latter into the pocket of his cardigan while he works on the hot food.

He measures his stride to match Gale's as they make their way out of the kitchen and the mud room and out into the cold air and the bright morning. He tucks into his breakfast as they step out onto the snowy grass, chewing and swallowing before he answers Gale.
]

As well as I can, I suppose. It is a passing strange place. I'm not used to spending so much time indoors. And this business with the shaman.. [ He frowns, his thoughts lingering on how Dorian had turned him out of his bed the day before, the harsh cold words from a man who had seemed so warm just hours before. ]

I fear there's some darker magic at work.
lightandjoy: (pic#17598140)

[personal profile] lightandjoy 2025-01-26 11:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's not a good topic of conversation, but Halsin views it as a necessary one. They've solved far more difficult problems together, after all, and he gets the sense that Gale wouldn't talk about it otherwise. He keeps eating his own breakfast, his own appetite driven by practicality, though his mood darkens when he hears about Astarion. ]

It is no improvement, unless it's for some crueler goal.

[ Frowning, Halsin studies the grounds ahead of them. He chases the last bite of his bacon roll with a swallow of coffee, then continues: ]

I had been sharing a bed with a young mage, Dorian -- you may have met him. We had been having a good time together over the last few days, but yesterday morning he threw me out of his room, saying that he no longer wanted to spend any time with me. I thought I had offended him somehow, but he has been using that accursed lotion.. and now you tell me that Astarion is also changing. I fear we are headed down an evil road.

[ He glances over at Gale. ]

Do you think we could try to undo it? A cleansing spell, perhaps?
wines: (pic#17528262)

delivery ❖ post-nye

[personal profile] wines 2025-01-13 07:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[ At some point in the days just after New Year's, Gale will receive a small but lovely arrangement of clematis, verbena, lavender, and other purple flowers, with a hand-penned, lightly perfumed note: ]

For your gentlemanly assistance and warm company the other night.

Yours,
Dorian
wines: anabiotic (pic#8928072)

text ❖ @orchid

[personal profile] wines 2025-01-18 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ Now that Dorian's done sweating out his ReSculpt fevers, he's circling back, as they say, on something that's been nagging at him. ]

I hope you've been well, in the midst of all this ReSculpt tumult.

I've been wanting to ask you a personal question, which you're more than welcome to refuse.
wines: (pic#8919980)

[personal profile] wines 2025-01-20 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm sorry to hear that. [ About Gale's nearest and dearest, that is. ] I've only just recovered, myself, and can now officially say I'm not a fan of this place's magical proclivities.

I'm curious about the nature of your mark. And concerned, as well--as your friend, if I can call myself that.

Someone I know back home has an affliction with similarities to yours, at least on the surface. I know it pains them, though they hide it well.
wines: anabiotic (pic#8928079)

[personal profile] wines 2025-01-21 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
And you spoke of consequence and cost, yes?

[ Dorian felt the traces of something curdling in that magic, when he'd traced his fingers up it. He thinks not just of the Inquisitor and their mark--a gift and curse, to be the only one able to close the rifts--but also of Felix. Marked by the Blight to a slow and inexorable death, one Alexius was willing to destroy the world to prevent.

He'd wondered if he'd overstepped, that first night, and feels the propulsion that may take him there again: concern, but also curiosity. ]


I can tell that it's powerful magic, within you. And that there's something else threaded there.
wines: herbskillz (pic#8919970)

[personal profile] wines 2025-01-21 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Dorian, unfortunately, doesn't always know when to leave well enough alone. ]

I don't understand. That's why I'm asking.
wines: anabiotic (pic#8928069)

[personal profile] wines 2025-01-21 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Did he earn that? Yes. Still, owch. ]

Fine. I only wanted to see if I could help.
thirsted: (pic#17656074)

✉️ text — un: astarion.

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-01-28 12:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ Sour feelings begin to fester in him as soon as the ReSculpt starts its long journey out of his system, like a fist closed over his heart, squeezing every time Gale comes to check on him.

For all that it had been an enchantment's work, he remembers every second of it, every thought that had crossed his head, every look on Gale's face, every word that had left his mouth. It all makes him feel— guilty. Sick, sicker than he already feels.

It's in one of the rare moments that Gale is gone that a message lights up his phone. (Astarion hasn't said much since rehab began, has had trouble even making eye contact.)
]

I've something I'd like to say, when you've a moment.
Don't let me pretend otherwise, if I try to say I've forgotten.
thirsted: (pic#17656075)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-01-28 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ The same thoughts exist in Astarion's head — the idea that he's proven himself unworthy, that he's ruined whatever fragile thing had been burgeoning between them. Perhaps he ought to have known this would happen. He's spawn — a low thing, raised into false confidence by the kindness of strangers, here. ]

Please.

[ When Gale arrives, Astarion is where he'd last left him, settled into an armchair with his knees tucked up to his chest, unusually small, unusually childish. His features are sallow, his hair, typically perfectly coiffed, oily and unkempt. He can't help trying to fix it as Gale appears, though he gives up sooner rather than later, sinking back into his seat. ]

Apologies. I— didn't mean to worry you. About the message, I mean.
thirsted: (pic#17656337)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-01-28 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ (In that pile, one book Astarion had brought, himself: the volume Gale had gifted him at Christmas. He's only managed to make it through a chapter or two, any feats of heroism sitting not-quite-right with his current state, but it's there, regardless.) ]

I am returned to my former self, at least.

[ Weak, again. Drained of that shine and sparkle. Just Astarion. Even his usual way with words seems depleted, as he opens his mouth and then closes it, stoppering whatever song might have flown forth, before.

I was not myself, he wants to say, but that's not quite true. Everything he'd been under ReSculpt's influence had been some mirror to the truth, to what he's longed for and worked for since escaping the Szarr Palace. And it hadn't been good, hadn't been enough. Except—
]

I wanted to ... apologize. [ Like pulling teeth. Not the concept of apologizing, as a whole, but confronting his previous behavior. ]

I behaved rather poorly, and you suffered the brunt of it.
thirsted: (pic#17655984)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-01-29 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ Off. Another word to say that what he'd been under ReSculpt's influence hadn't been quite right. He doesn't smile, exactly, but his lips twist as if in an attempt.

His hand skitters, briefly, out to his knee — in search of an anchor, a mooring touch — then retracts.
]

But I was— it was me. [ His gaze falls. Could shame trigger immolation, he would be in flames. ] I'm— what I was. I'm capable of that. I am that. Peel back enough skin, and there— there that ugliness would be.

[ His fingers, in his lap, twist at the sunstone ring still set on his hand, a token he now feels profoundly unworthy of. Perhaps if he had some other idea of where freedom and revenge might lead, he'd feel otherwise, but now— it's as though he's staring into a void. Even where once he might have played at pettiness, turned to meanness to drive Gale away, he can only find the strength for this terrible kind of honesty. He'd taught him how to see his own reflection, and what stares back at him is—

His lip wobbles.
]

You deserve someone beautiful.
thirsted: (pic#17656325)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-01-29 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ If he's honest, he isn't sure he believes what Gale is saying, but the touch of his hand (warm, present) and the gentle lilt of his voice diminish Astarion's ability to argue. If he's managed to pull the wool over Gale's eyes as to what he is, he can't simply sit back and allow him to continue to suffer under an illusion, but— Gale's already seen through it. Accepted him as he is, never once asked for anything more than what Astarion was ready and willing to give.

He aims for a smile and falls short, though the fondness in his voice makes up for the remaining margin.
]

You fool.

[ A word to encompass a multitude of kindnesses that Astarion, so unused to the sun, can hardly begin to understand. Tentatively, he reaches back out, his fingers barely brushing the hand on his knee. ]

You'd have found a way, with or without me.

[ He knows that, because he knows it's what Gale deserves — to choose his own path, to make his own decisions, unfettered from a being incapable of loving him. ]

But I'm glad it was with me. [ A breath. ] I suppose it's my turn to ask you to wait for me. I'll be— [ better, more beautiful, more amenable, except none of that had worked, none of that had been an issue, not really ] —more myself, once I've sweat through this fever.
thirsted: (pic#17655931)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-01-30 06:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ The fact of the matter is that he remembers what Gale as said as clearly as he remembers the words that had left his own mouth. I care for you, as I’ve not cared for another before, the sentiment's weight diluted in the moment by the ReSculpt running through his veins. But when he thinks of it now, combined with a set of words that nearly knocks him back, it's only you, he feels a surge of warmth flood his chest as though there were blood in his veins once more, filling his body, his heart.

There are three words he thinks in response, but he keeps them to himself, because it's too much, especially now, when he's just had his knuckles rapped for overreaching. But it's the one thing he can be certain of amidst a staggering new uncertainty as to what the future holds for him — a different kind of sunlight to walk in, to grasp even if it means he's being selfish.

Pink colors the tips of his ears, the bridge of his nose; color, amidst how pale he's looked otherwise. His lips press together, failing in an attempt to suppress a smile. In tandem, he stretches out his pointer finger, hooking it delicately under the curve of Gale's.
]

Forget I was ever so sickly, once this is over, [ he says, a shade of his former confidence returning despite the shyness of his gesture. ] I'll never forgive you if you remember me looking like this.
thirsted: (pic#17656050)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-01-31 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ If he lets go of the armor he's been wearing since the moment he realized what his lot in death would be, if he looks past the peaks of guilt and loneliness and cynicism that have risen like a shield around his heart, he can admit to himself that the immense tenderness Gale shows him — the trust he places in him, the care he demonstrates — is not entirely the product of naïveté, nor something that Astarion would truly rebuke or dismiss with contempt. He craves it, as much as a man who has been lost in the wastes of the arctic would crave even the faintest heat despite the fact that it might burn to the touch.

He can't help the way his head tips into Gale's hand, his gaze searching the wizard's handsome features for a long moment. He wants to ask how on earth he could think him perfect when he's seen behind the curtain, to ask what it is that makes him willing to stay. What makes him deserving of such attention. But he stops short of giving voice to any of those questions; the moment is too fragile, and he daren't risk fracturing the tenuous peace they've come to.

(And there's one thought he does his best to dismiss entirely, wakened by the mention of memory — that he will have only his memories of Gale to keep him company, as the years wear on, even if the Netherese Orb in Gale's chest becomes a problem solved. Arguably, the simple matter of age is the bigger issue, a knife's edge he finds unusually sharp as his thoughts stray near it.)

But, instead, the patter of his words going from quick to slow as he attempts to remain bright:
] Stay here. Just until dinner.

[ No dear, no darling — the words plain and unadorned. ]

You're magic enough for me.
thirsted: (pic#17655944)

🎀

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-02-01 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Even as he scoffs, scooting over to make just enough room for Gale to join him on the seat, Astarion thinks to himself that he doesn't truly mind it — the awkwardness, the things others might regard as childish or silly, all of it separate from the vocabulary he'd become proficient in across centuries. He cherishes it, the same way he cherishes the way Gale looks when he's been taken off-guard, the particular shade of pink he turns when flustered. Ever handsome, as much a figure from the stories he'd been told as a child as any dashing prince.

It comes across in his lack of resistance, not so pliant and eager as he once had been, but slightly stilted, as though still figuring out his own limbs, or how he might fit against another without the intent of seduction. His arms tuck in, his knees drawing up to his chest as he allows his frame to curl against Gale's.

It takes a last moment for him to let go completely, to allow his head to fall against Gale's shoulder (to feel like he can remit his care to somebody else).

A word comes to mind, but manifests only as an exhale, a breath let out through the slight smile that persists on his features. It's not for him to say, he thinks — it's sweeter on his companion's lips. Simple, singular — wow.
]
nishtha: (pic#17340521)

text - post-mermand

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-11 09:09 am (UTC)(link)
Gale. I hope you're well. I'd like to extend an invitation for dinner, if you'd be amenable to joining me.
nishtha: (pic#17235182)

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-11 12:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Valid questions. ]

I awoke this morning on the shore of the lake, returned to myself. I may have to ask for a little more of your trust that I have no intention of hurting you any more than I already have. It was not my intention to

[ ... ]

mislead you in any way. I regret it.

As I was returning to the manor, I noticed Ebisu is currently in residence on the second floor. It was a favourite restaurant of Daniel's, so they know me there, and are able to supply me with the same blood we get from the staff.
nishtha: (pic#17235178)

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-11 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
You are more generous than I deserve. See you soon.

[ The izakaya is small and already busy with guests crowded along the bar, laughter and conversation competing with jazz music, the rattle and clink of glasses and the noise of the kitchen somewhere behind a door. Thankfully, Armand had arrived early enough in the evening to claim one of the tables along the wall, reclining comfortably on the tatami mat and very much returned to his normal form, albeit with a thin line of dark scarring around his neck, presently covered by a knotted silk scarf patterned with dark purple flowers.

By the time Gale joins him, he's already ordered and some of the food has arrived: salted edamame, pickles, karaage chicken, and a sashimi platter. Armand is also nursing a cocktail glass that appears to be full of blood. Gale will have to order his own drink -- though it may already be waiting for him, given the bartender's gift for knowing exactly what her customers want, no matter what it is.

As Gale arrives, Armand greets him with a rather wan smile, gesturing for him to take a seat (sorry on behalf of your knees, Gale).
]

I thought perhaps I could introduce you to a cuisine you may not have tried before.
nishtha: (pic#17235164)

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-13 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Without asking for permission, Armand reaches across to take Gale's hand in his own, arranging the placement of the chopsticks with gentle fussiness. He then demonstrates by picking up his own, holding them for Gale to observe as he picks up a slice of sashimi and deposits it on Gale's plate. He assumes Gale will be a quick study when it comes to matters of hand-eye coordination.

As for the observation, a wry smile appears on his face. Softer than it ought to be. He's tempted to retreat into melodrama, to explain that what happened is far from the worst thing he's ever experienced, that every vampire is born into a life of trauma and pain from their very first moment. Instead, he finds himself wanting to be honest. So he avoids Gale's eyes as he sets the chopsticks back down and picks up his glass of artificially warmed blood -- O neg, from a sweet young donor who had recently been given a quantity of alcohol, so it carries a trace of intoxicants.
]

I was allowed to feel.. emotions, sensations, that I haven't felt for five hundred years. I tasted wine and bread again. It has awakened.. [ He frowns faintly, rubs his thumb idly up and down the side of his glass. How to express the complexities of joy and grief of being given a glimpse of life again, after so long? ]

I had forgotten how to miss it. That is, perhaps, a gift.

[ Another tiny smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes as he glances up at Gale. ]

It's going to take some getting used to. But I will endure. If nothing else, I am built to endure.
nishtha: (pic#17235201)

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-16 11:15 am (UTC)(link)
[ Gale's musings are met with a quiet gaze, Armand watching him with a mixture of fondness and genuine fascination for a man so enthused about life despite its challenges. He strokes the side of his glass with absent restlessness, light glinting off the pair of rings he wears -- one crowned with a bicolor sapphire, one shaped like thorns -- following the path of the chopsticks back and forth as Gale gestures before meeting his eyes once more. ]

The curse of the vampire requires that we remain the same as we were when we were turned and broken from our mortal life. Frozen in time for eternity. Made perfect, but caught in time, like a fly in a ball of amber.

[ He frowns faintly, looking down at his hands curved around his drink. ]

If we felt pain or fear, it becomes part of us. We are riddled with the trauma of our birth into death. I was dying of a poison in my blood when I was turned, so part of me will always be poisoned. Part of me will always be that boy shivering in his bed. Just as part of you will always be a.. [ He looks at Gale, searching for a better word than failure. ] servant of your cruel goddess.

Yet, it sustains you. Your condition. As I am sustained by the Dark Gift.
nishtha: (pic#17203770)

cw: sexual slavery mention

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-16 01:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Servant, to save Gale's pride -- to Armand it seems no less than slavery, the chains no less heavy for being slender purple lines. He knows how it feels to be promised such gifts; the men who used him would do the same, when they wanted him. Those men would pile gold and jewels at his feet, dress him in furs and silks, press delicacies to his lips. They would praise his beauty and promise to free him, to bring him home with them on their ships. But afterward, they would leave. And no amount of cold coin would pay for what they took from him.

He sees the edges of it in Gale's mind, bright and hopeful for his scraps of reward. Aching in sympathy, seeing nothing but pain, Armand looks away.
]

So it was named to me by my maker. [ He fiddles with the chopsticks beside his setting, rolling them back and forth with a fingertip. ] So it was named to him, thousands of years before we met. A gift, too freely given. But a curse. With it comes the other gifts -- fire, flight, the ability to see into mortal minds and control others. Payment for enslavement to the darkness.
nishtha: (pic#17203747)

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-18 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Enslaved to the dark?

[ He lifts his gaze to look back at Gale, a little vulnerable with it, as if he's finding it difficult to stare into those direct and gently enquiring eyes for too long. A green that looks almost gold in the right light. Daniel had green eyes, before he was turned.

A bright young reporter with a point of view.

Armand purses his lips and looks away again, tapping his fingernail on the tabletop.
]

No, not truly. A turn of phrase. Darkness of mind, not in reality. I have been able to walk in the sun for almost a century now. A benefit of my age. As we collect the years, we become more powerful. But also more remote from humanity. When one lives for too long, one grows too easily bored of the petty troubles of mortal life. Love, loss. Plague and war and endless strife, over and over, always the same. My maker believed that it was better to live among mortals, to share their lives. He was killed for that belief. For daring to think himself above the Great Laws.

[ He takes a breath, makes a bit of an effort to draw himself back to the point. ]

But I digress into ancient and no doubt tedious drama. To answer your question: I am not required to live only at night, or to hide in the shadows and the crevices like a rat. I only need to feed once or twice a month, as I choose. I no longer need to sleep. [ He waves a hand. ] Such is the gift.
Edited 2025-03-18 17:19 (UTC)
nishtha: (pic#17203746)

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-21 10:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ The warmth of blood beneath Gale's skin would be a goad to a lesser vampire. For Armand, it's enough to draw out a gentle smile, pleased by the compliment, and a thoughtful glance upwards beneath his eyelashes, coquettish and almost playful. He dances a fingertip around the rim of his glass. Gale's open curiosity conflicts with old instincts designed to help him evade mortal attention, prompting him to deflect, but he does enjoy it, being fascinating. Being anything but boring. ]

No need to apologise. My kind are unfortunately prone to lingering in melodrama. When eternity stretches ahead and behind, one needs to find reasons to remain interested in the world. Becoming quite aggravatingly self-obsessed is a side effect. And I'm afraid that it only gets worse with age.

[ A wry smile. ]

Please. Ask your questions. Or we can talk about something else. [ He tilts his head slightly, adding an almost mischievous edge to his smile. ] The unexpected pleasures of a new relationship, perhaps.
nishtha: (pic#17203745)

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-25 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The brightness of that loving joy is like a flame that Armand longs to plunge his hand into just to feel the burn, as if the pain can replace the warmth that has deserted his own soul. Once again, he misses Daniel with a physical ache, misses what he had with Louis so long ago, the simple happiness of every mortal or immortal who has ever found someone to share their days and nights and hoped it would be forever.

Like an addict watching someone else get their fix, he can't look away from it. Has to singe himself a little more, a vague attempt at a smile on his face, remembering waterlogged tenderness and the feeling of Gale's mouth on his.
]

Yet he hasn't tasted you.

[ He can tell that much, the marks on Gale's throat the product of a far less deserving vampire, the placement over his carotid a dog's hurried bite rather than the refined evidence of loving teeth. ]
nishtha: (pic#17203655)

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-26 12:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Strange, to think of a vampire so capable of controlling their hunger, to have withheld himself from even a sip -- but then, Astarion is not a vampire like other vampires, never human even as a mortal. Armand studies Gale as he gathers himself and wonders if Astarion would even be significant within his own kind, a singular force of will.

As Gale touches his throat with his fingertips, Armand toys with the rim of his glass, gaze lingering thoughtfully on those small scars. He doesn't appear to be effected by the admission of mortality, already aware of the hot void hollowing Gale out from within. It has been a foundation of his understanding since he was turned: to be mortal is to die. His pity would be a thin and useless thing, not to mention hypocritical, given the corpses stacked in his wake.
]

Sickness will taint the blood. Pain, trauma, sadness, deprivation. As we take the blood, we take everything that comes with it. [ He frowns, pensive. ] My maker drained me as I lay dying, but it was under desperate circumstances.

[ His gaze is steady, searching Gale's expression. ]

Would you like me to try it, and tell you what I think?
nishtha: (pic#17235263)

cw: child sexual abuse mention

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-27 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ A not so surprising answer, and an astute observation from Gale. Armand only lifts his eyebrows a little, acknowledging the point as its scored. He can't deny that his kind have a tendency to lay claim to the things they want, ancient hunting instincts they've never managed to shake off. One of the many reasons the Great Laws had forbidden congress with mortals -- that, and the tendency for the vampire heart to be far more fragile than it appears.

With a twinge of said heart, Armand's expression cools a little, holding on to his silence for a single pointed moment before he allows the change of subject, reaching for his glass for a swallow of tepid blood before he answers, not looking at Gale when he speaks.
]

My memories from that time are.. fractured. Difficult to hold onto. But I believe I.. I begged him for it, endlessly. His mercy. His gifts. Once I discovered what he was, I only wanted to be with him forever. He saved me. [ His tone warms, becomes almost reverent. Still devoted, even after all this time. His accent slips a little, becoming something else. ] Not just then, but before, when I -- he took me from a brothel. At fifteen, I believe, though I don't know for sure how old I was -- how old he was. Arun. That was my name before, I think, I don't remember it for certain. Stolen from his homeland as a child. A good little slave. A good little..

[ His words falter, his jaw working as he closes his mouth on the word he was going to use, a foul word that that had shaped Arun -- shaped Amadeo, shaped Armand. He struggles with it for a few beats, then continues, looking up at Gale with bright and shining eyes. ]

Yes, I wished for him to change me. For I had already been changed, against my will. So many times. Over and over. Raw metal hammered into a shape I did not understand. But he could give me something that nobody else ever could. And he let me choose. He let me want it, do you understand? I never wanted anything as much as I wanted him. To be him. To be with him. And now I am what he made me, and it has been five hundred years since I last saw him, before he was taken from me.
nishtha: (pic#17423043)

[personal profile] nishtha 2025-03-29 01:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The ghosts of those boys sit beside them, unseen but present. Armand tries not to look too closely at them, at Arun's pain and Gale's yearning. Both of them taken and used and broken by hands that should have loved them instead. Devotion. A small word for what it cost them, for how little reward they have been given.

He hears the question that sits in Gale's mind. Did he let you want it? Not the first or the last to wonder at it, though Armand can't approach the details without flinching, retreating into the gaps between those jagged mirror shards of memory. The safety of oblivion, back behind Armand's mask. He sees the warmth of Gale's smile, the compliment in his thoughts meant for a different vampire entirely, but can't feel it, not in that cold void. He fidgets with his drink instead, pointed fingernails clicking against the glass, only vaguely aware that he's doing it. His voice is likewise distant when he speaks.
]

Nobody can. Not truly.

[ After a long beat of staring into the distance, a flat nothingness in his amber eyes, he stirs again. Blinks, comes back to himself, or at least appears to. He offers Gale a pleasant smile that goes no further than his mouth. Rashid's polite servitude, yet another mask. ]

I'm sorry, that was -- I'm not used to talking about these things. It was a long time ago. A lifetime ago.
chipped: (pic#17690685)

text ❖ @SPIKE

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-11 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey

[ He's not used to this, give him a sec. ]

Sorry for biting you. Or whatever
chipped: (pic#17689879)

1/2

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-12 10:42 am (UTC)(link)
Look, I'm new to apologizing for doing what I gotta do to eat

Spent 100 years being plain evil. Wouldn't have even left you alive about a year ago
chipped: (pic#17690644)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-12 10:43 am (UTC)(link)
And I'm still plenty evil, mind you.

[ Don't get any ideas. ]
chipped: (pic#17689900)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-12 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Government put a chip in my head that dampens the evil a bit.

[ The real answer is a lady, but we're not getting into that right now. And there's more to the chip than that, but Spike's not laying all his cards out at jump. ]

Decent of you. Got people holding grudges against me for less than a nibble.
chipped: (pic#17690642)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-12 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Extremely. You ever get tased and wake up in a holding cell? Don't recommend it.

[ Weird things they happen to have in common for $500, Alex. ]

Yeah, your boyfriend took care of that if the taste didn't already

Not to pry or anything, but you might want to get that looked at. Unless you're not human, in which case carry on. Fancy trick to keep predators out of your veins honestly. Like those bugs that squirt nasty smells when you try to squish 'em
chipped: (pic#17690019)

1/2

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-12 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, real charmer
chipped: (pic#17719344)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-12 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't worry, you're not the worst I've ever had. Sometimes you end up biting demons disguised as humans and there's suddenly essence of pond scum and rotten egg in your mouth

You had a little pond scum flavor, I guess. Just a top note though.
chipped: (pic#17690687)

1/2

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-12 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I think Astarion'll turn me into pudding if I try to acquire it, and I can't say I'm tempted. No offense.

Well, yeah. I live on a hell mouth. Demons and other beasties come with the territory.

Most people just don't notice what's around them until they're getting swallowed whole, in my experience.
chipped: (pic#17689881)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-12 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
You said something about your magic, though. So are you familiar? With demons.
chipped: (pic#17689878)

1/2

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-13 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Only one word catches him here, even if he doesn't actually know what a yugoloth is. ]

Hold on
chipped: (pic#17689887)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-13 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't tell me you're the Slayer here. You???

[ They make wet noodle boy versions now????? ]
chipped: (pic#17689927)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-13 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. [ Phew. ]

Yeah, figured you couldn't be. You don't meet the strength prereq by a long shot. No offense

You notice any women with superstrength carrying wooden stakes around after dark?
chipped: (pic#17690021)

1/2

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-15 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Fair enough.

All the better for me and the other bloodsuckers, I guess
chipped: (pic#17689881)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-15 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Say, question for you.

[ Given how they met... ]

Is your username because you can't swim
chipped: (pic#17690644)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-03-16 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
[ ... ]

Right. Good chat

Try not to fall in any more ponds
thirsted: (pic#17656185)

✉️ text — un: astarion.

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-04-30 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
Caroline's gone. I expect you already know that, but

just in case.
thirsted: (pic#17656181)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-04-30 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Caroline, Glinda, even Halsin, though Astarion doesn't yet name him lest it seem like the list of losses seem unending. ]

Of course.

[ How strange — to not only be willing but to have reason to do such a thing. ]

Perhaps after breakfast?
dwelt: (pic#17789456)

text @september | pretend it's the 2nd

[personal profile] dwelt 2025-05-01 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[staring at the ~20 notifications about books from gale, finally with the message read appearing below the messages.]

nothing new for me today?
dwelt: (pic#17789487)

[personal profile] dwelt 2025-05-03 07:05 pm (UTC)(link)
don't be.
i'm doing fine. had a couple of years to catch up on.
dwelt: (pic#17789459)

[personal profile] dwelt 2025-05-04 04:14 pm (UTC)(link)
six.

[he's leaving out that he didn't remember him in his home world and when he woke it was an onslaught of overlapping memories.]

of course.
my friend told me i wasn't out for too long. everything okay?
i'll be back at sol&scroll when i tie a few things up.
dwelt: (pic#17789472)

[personal profile] dwelt 2025-05-05 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
not yet
no, it's tricky magic.


[not letting that slide.]

what gave you trouble?
dwelt: (pic#17789535)

[personal profile] dwelt 2025-05-06 03:16 pm (UTC)(link)
all i can say is i'm removing something. it's not my place to say what.

is there something else you want to know?
dwelt: (pic#17789488)

[personal profile] dwelt 2025-05-11 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ah. of course, that's what he decides to ask.]

it's worse after being away.
dwelt: (pic#17789429)

[personal profile] dwelt 2025-05-11 02:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[he can feel those words through the screen.]

don't get misty eyed, i'm handling things fine.

[debatable!]

what happened with you?
dwelt: (pic#17789513)

[personal profile] dwelt 2025-05-11 10:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[that's not what he wanted to hear gale. has august's own silence bought more from his friends, or are the two of them just as secretive? he'd been so blinded by guilt and anger he ignored the signs from gale. he ignored everyone. there is a long pause before a response.]

okay.
i'm going to make you a ward.


[somehow threatening...]

glad you're doing well now.
you can come to me if you need anything in the future.
dwelt: (pic#17789487)

[personal profile] dwelt 2025-05-13 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
[gale don't act like you have a choice or opinion here.]

everyone says that.
that wasn't a suggestion, i'm making you one.


[dun dun dun.]

do me a favor:
don't apologize to me unless you've done me wrong.
dwelt: (pic#17789419)

🎀

[personal profile] dwelt 2025-05-14 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
good.

[a few days later and (seemingly) out of thin air, a silver brooch appears on gale's dresser. the symbols shift every so often at certain times of the day. when the wearer is in imminent danger, it will release one barrier of immunity and give the wearer 10 seconds to escape. melts after use.]
chipped: (pic#17797148)

text 🩸 @SPIKE

[personal profile] chipped 2025-05-05 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
Got a question for you, Gale.

Make it a couple, actually. But if you laugh at the first one I'll kill you, implosion or no
chipped: (pic#17689922)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-05-05 02:48 pm (UTC)(link)
What would you do if that girl I told you about showed up here. And you didn't remember anything happening between the two of you, other than one very brief but tender kiss, but you've got an inkling she's lying to you about something more happening. Sometime in your future, thanks to this place's radically fucked time travel business, but only days, apparently, because the universe has a truly mental sense of humor and loves to play a game of kick the Spike.


Just theoretically
chipped: (pic#17829580)

1/2

[personal profile] chipped 2025-05-05 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, well-- me being me, I'm a monster to her.

And all her friends. Including one of her exes, who's also showed up because of course he has
chipped: (pic#17690639)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-05-05 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
She was dead, you know.

Sacrificed herself for the sake of the world and her kid sister. Spent six months looking after the niblet in the wake of it, because I promised. Because I'd die myself before I let anything happen to her.

And then her friends brought her back. Had barely--a few days to sit with that before I wound up here. Knowing she was back in the world and I'd been yanked somewhere else.

Doesn't feel real. And at the same time, having her here--

It's everything I want. Selfish of me.
chipped: (pic#17690010)

[personal profile] chipped 2025-05-13 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
Think you might be the first person in all my years since turning to say I'm not a monster.

So...thanks, for that. And for listening. Dumped a lot on you.

Sunnydale's probably gone to hell in a handbasket without Buffy there. Literally.
nightsung: (pic#17712295)

text ❖ @shadowheart

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-12 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Can you send me a picture of your bare chest?

Astarion, if you're reading this over Gale's shoulder, it's not for me.
thirsted: (pic#17656175)

✉️ text — un: astarion.

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-12 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Who on earth IS it for, then???????
nightsung: (pic#17712118)

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-12 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
A girl I met who's conducting a survey on tattoos.
nightsung: (pic#17010933)

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-12 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
It's more about the aesthetic quality, so your orb is still valid.
nightsung: (pic#17712260)

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-12 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
She might be.

I can send her your picture privately, if you don't want it on the network.
[ The concession she'll make to privacy. ]
nightsung: (pic#17707602)

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-12 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
You don't undress in front of your cat?

It's a little weird without your nipples, but it'll do.
nightsung: (pic#17712297)

1/2

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-12 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Sorry. I'm sure I'd love to meet her. [ And pet her cute wings. ]

Anyway. Thank you for the picture.
nightsung: (pic#17707727)

cw: lightly nsfw image

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-12 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ And, as an immediate follow-up text with no comment: a picture that was likely meant for someone else. ]
thirsted: (pic#17656095)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-14 11:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ After a "Gale dropped his phone on his face"-sized pause: ]

WRONG NUMBER.
nightsung: (pic#17658887)

1/2

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-15 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ excuse you astarion there's no need to be rude--

oh. ]
nightsung: (pic#17707768)

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-15 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
Don't do anything weird with that picture, either.
nightsung: (pic#17707674)

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-15 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Would you like to see?
thirsted: (pic#17655980)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-15 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Shadowheart, as lovely as your breasts are, if you send Gale one more picture of them, I will post it to the network immediately.
nightsung: (pic#17712113)

[personal profile] nightsung 2025-05-15 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I was talking about the picture of me that's on your phone.

But you're right that my breasts are lovely.
thirsted: (pic#17656073)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-16 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ A pause, to show Gale the picture and, more importantly, the text conversation it was prompted by. ]

Hurry up and send them to their intended, then.
thirsted: (pic#17656044)

📫 delivery.

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-20 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ Inside an envelope upon which is written, in neat script, from Astarion: ]



[ ooc: there won't be a main log for the movie-watching (at least this time around) but folks are obviously free to icly respond, send their allotted invites, and/or play out their experiences if they so wish! welcome to the rebooted astarion's movie club! 🥳 ]
thirsted: (pic#17656080)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-20 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
The hen, obviously.

[ actually, ]

I imagine she'd enjoy the darkness of the room.
thirsted: (pic#17656320)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-21 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ ]

Charmer.

Try not to cry.
thirsted: (pic#17656363)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-22 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ew ... haha ... ]

Proud? For what? And if you say "for making an effort to be social," I'll consign you to the back row.
thirsted: (easy breezy covergirl)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-22 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I suppose I'll let it slide.
But you're not wrong — at least I know this will go off without a catch.


[ Unless the DVD player or projector break, but he won't speak that into existence. ]
thirsted: (pic#17655997)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-23 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
Nothing, ideally, but for the sake of polite company ... something handsome, so I can show you off, and something soft, for when my head inevitably finds your shoulder.
thirsted: (pic#17656086)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-23 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ A private smile. The shirt you like the other day. He likes that Gale remembers things like that. ]

I trust you'll help me pick something to match.

[ wait— ]

💞

[ Astarion looks at the little pink hearts on his screen for a moment before— not so much changing his mind as adding, as though trying each on for size: ]

♥️
thirsted: (pic#17656068)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-24 07:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, that one's rather sweet, isn't it?

😘
I imagine this is how I seemed to you, when we first met.
thirsted: (pic#17655995)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-25 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
🫣
I’ll admit, I misjudged you. Or perhaps I misjudged myself.
You’re supposed to be the clever one between us, besides.
thirsted: (pic#17656114)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-25 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Perhaps not. 🤭
But still cleverer than most. 🥰
thirsted: (pic#17656371)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-27 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, my darling. You don't have to ask.
But I'm glad you did.
thirsted: (pic#17656281)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-28 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
You know, I've said it so many times before, but never with the same blush of excitement I feel with you.
That is to say, I plan to say it over and over again, until we both lose count.
thirsted: (pic#17656065)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-29 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
On the one day I decide not to accompany you to work. How cruel!
I've half a mind to remedy that, though the other thinks of how I could greet you when you return home.
thirsted: (pic#17656311)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-05-29 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Now there's a thought.

[ And that text is it, for a while, until—

—at intervals, the minutes in between presumably spent putting each outfit together, Astarion sends along a series of photos: pieces from Gale's wardrobe, carefully selected and placed on their bed (for lack of properly being able to photograph himself), at first laid out smooth, still on the hanger, then — by the third picture — posed, the fold of an arm mimicking a hand behind the head, the pants legs crossed. One of Gale's cream-colored shirts, paired with Astarion's black trousers (which, hadn't he been wearing those this morning); one of Gale's polos and a pair of his slacks. Nothing too racy, save for the sixth (and for the moment, final) photo, which features another curated look — and a pair of Gale's underwear, peeking out from underneath.
]
thirsted: (easy breezy covergirl)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-06-01 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
Hardly useless when it's the correct answer.
I wouldn't pick out something that didn't suit me, would I?


[ Typed out as he lies on his back, phone held over his face, feet kicking happily over the edge of the bed. Is it strange to still be so taken by flirtation? To find the effort of sustaining interest to be effortless? ]

At any rate, I shan't spoil the surprise.
You'll have to wait until the end of your shift to see what I've chosen.
And to take it off of me.
😇
thirsted: (pic#17656055)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-06-01 10:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Tortured, hm?
Send me one little photo, won't you?
I want to see that adorable little pinch in your brow.
thirsted: (pic#17656226)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-06-02 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[ When the picture comes through, he smiles without thinking, thumbing over the screen — over that little divot of concentration — as he tallies each other detail like a dragon collecting bits of gold for its hoard. He startles a little when he realizes he still hasn't responding, sending first, ]

♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

[ And then (after setting the picture as his phone background), ]

Alina's lucky I don't spend all day at the shop when you're on duty.
Hurry home when you're done. I'll count the seconds.
thirsted: (pic#17656332)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-06-04 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ The time being what it is (or rather, Gale's sense of dedication being what it is), Astarion visibly startles when the door opens. Then again, perhaps it's less surprise than it is the parallel note of delight. He'd heard the footsteps in the hall, known the gait and weight of them, and yet—

Any sense of decorum seemingly forgotten, he yelps, the sound dissolving into bubbling laughter as Gale's arms wrap around him. The book he'd been reading almost falls from his hands entirely — and he has half a mind to let it, if not for the fact that it's the volume Gale had given him for Christmas, now not just a distraction but an object of some sentimental value.
]

You're back early, [ he says, breathless, his head falling pliantly to one side to bare more of his neck. Greedy, as he's swiftly proven himself to be, for Gale's attention and affection, though he wriggles in the next moment, suddenly stricken. ] Wait, wait

[ As soon as he manages to pry himself free, he — though the effect is somewhat lessened by how excited he still is — strikes a pose, one leg stuck out, his hands on his hips, a grin splitting his features even as the tilt of his head attempts coyness. Heather grey trousers, cornflower blue shirt, slightly large on his frame — both Gale's. ]

Better on a model than on the bed, don't you think?
thirsted: (pic#17655958)

[personal profile] thirsted 2025-06-10 10:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He decides, in that moment, that this is better than any mirror. His countenance reflected not by glass but by the shine of Gale's reaction. Who else is he preening or performing for, after all, than for the person he's deemed singular in his life, in his world? He can see himself, more beautiful than he'd ever boast even in his most facile moments, in the warm color of Gale's eyes, imperfections smudged away under a kind of adoration that accepts them as written.

There's no resistance as Gale reaches for him again, chin tipping up at the encouragement of Gale's hand, lips parted as though around a thought. (He likes to be looked at, by him. Could stand to be looked at by him forever.)
]

Well.

[ He doesn't attempt to hide the fact that he's thinking, his tongue peeking out onto his lips as the cogs turn. There are a multitude of answers — then ask nicely, or I can make that happen — and he takes his time in sifting through them all in search for the right one. When he finds it, a lightbulb seems to go off in his head, brightening his features and straightening the set of his posture. He glances behind him, once, and turns back, swaying as he settles his arms around Gale's neck, his smile turning a little teasing. ]

You'll have to place him, then.
interpersonally: (📞 | seated getting low down)

@stefan

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-21 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
( in the late evening, he places a call.

he has since defied his brother's wishes and cured him. the pulsing, venomous veins have disappeared, but the bite remains in it's place. a bite that festers. a bite not taken care of for weeks because it couldn't be.
)
interpersonally: torture dungeon (what he hath blindly wrought)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-22 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
( He's calming. Careful. Stefan decides he likes Gale. )

This isn't going to make complete sense to you, but I gave Damon what's called the cure in my world. For vampires. The house... I found it. ( A pause as he looks down at his brother. ) The venom is no longer fatal. He's human. But, he still has an infected bite.
interpersonally: (down and laying it out outstretched)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-23 04:43 pm (UTC)(link)
That's --

( Betrayal, but wow covers it. )

He's truly human, just with the cure in his veins. Shadowheart? Is that a title?
interpersonally: (we're going to put it this way sorry)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-23 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
( he only has so much time. and so many resources. (that is, none) )

Okay. Shadowheart. Thank you, Gale.
interpersonally: (down and here at your feet guilt)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-24 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
( He wouldn't say no to company, but he wouldn't ask for it, either.

Shadowheart confirms she can help, which is his first priority. She does. And he doesn't know how to ask for - anything. He doesn't check in. He waits.
)
interpersonally: (i believe in what you can do)

text — action

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-24 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
He's asleep, no doubt from the toll his body took these last few weeks.

Bourbon?


( Should he come to find him (and his brother,) Stefan is sat at Damon's desk, ontop, feet dangling. His phone sits beside him, from the myriad of messages he's been sending and fielding.

He just couldn't sit in that chair by his bedside any longer.

He will again, just not yet.
)
interpersonally: (yep it's me i'm the problem)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-24 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
( that's a look. nice tat, bro.

he's thoroughly impressed that something can be conjured out of thin air, nodding.
)

You should call him Rupert. I hear he loves that.

( Gale gets no holds barred sardonic Stefan. )

The patient is still asleep.
interpersonally: (let me save you)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-27 03:39 pm (UTC)(link)
There's not, to my knowledge.

( He's met Giles. Good guy. A little in over his head but aren't they all.

He takes the glass, holding it in both hands, head dipped down. You've joined the pity party. He did what he did. Now he lives with it. He reacts, turning to look at Gale, eyes the glass and then tastes it - a bit reluctantly.

It burns well.
)

There are notes of vanilla. Probably barrel cask. It's good. Thank you.

( is that the right answer? )
interpersonally: (there was very little trust to begin)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-27 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Our vampires can taste. And even eat. But, it doesn't sustain us.

( Coffee warms their bodies. Alcohol helps curb cravings, especially for young vampires. A lot of vampires are lushes, Gale. )

My unlucky start? ( that's a way of putting it. ) I guess that depends on what you'd call unlucky. Damon being here and alive. Albeit, from after Tyler bit him. ( he slips. only subtly. damon wasn't back there. he disappeared into oblivion when the other side collapsed.

Bonnie, too.
) We're from different times in our lives, apparently. Is that common?
interpersonally: (want to see what you can do)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-27 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I guess the last thing I'd want to be is unusual.

( He supposes it's easier for him to be here, than Damon. Klaus' ritual "killed" Elena, thanks to her uncle John. Her father, John. But, he has a lot to catch Damon up to, if he even wants to be. )

He's from a much more tumultuous time. A breakneck pace of events that didn't let up.

( And then this month dragged on, and other than the wedding neither of them attended or the burning down of the chapel -- they were focused on - well, Damon. )
interpersonally: (you can't call me out)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-27 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
It wouldn't be fair to him, to know certain things. And I'm not planning on telling him.

( unless he asks. but, he doesn't expect him to want much from stefan for a while. he'll live with the burden of everything else. of his own actions, of klaus, of silas. whittemore. and the Travelers. )

interpersonally: (Ⓓ | give up and let go of me)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-27 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I've walked the lonely path before.

( Isolated himself. Changed jobs. Lives. This is no different. And what he's done, his brother may not forgive him. )

There are some things I can't hide. I won't. But nothing unnecessary.
interpersonally: (seated and getting it up together)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-28 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)
( It's not for nothing, at least, and he turns his head, acknowledging Gale. He's not. Maybe it means something for him to hear all this. )

Does it. Because of the musical rooms?
interpersonally: (Default)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-28 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
You had no choice.

( He's not going to be the Stefan he was. Can't even isolate himself if he wanted. Needs to push away the guilt he feels for making the choice for Damon. Damon is alive. Not a monster. Not buried. Not worse. He's alive. )

It won't be long before it happens again, and this time Damon will be just as defenseless.

( But alive. )
interpersonally: (we're going to put it this way sorry)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-28 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
But alive.

( living. breathing. )

Really. Intruders not including vampires. How so.
interpersonally: there's nowhere else (and this is where we're going with this)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-28 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
( he smirks, draining the rest of his glass and setting it down between them back on the desk. )

I mean, how does your magic distinguish between intruders. Does it require everyone to have an invitation? Or, does it work each time someone tries. Just inquiring into the logistics. I'm not against it. Damon probably won't be. But, I need to know how it works. And, maybe I might want one, too.

( But, at least if he has knowledge, he knows how it works. he believes Gale. he comes off as a scholar. and a good person. and real help.

he hopes it doesn't bie them in the ass.
)
interpersonally: (🌲 i wouldn't say control freak)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-28 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
And, what if we made it so that everyone would need a proper invitation. That would fall under code word?

( That seems to be the simplest and keep protections from other vampires. According to Buffy, this place is crawling with them. )
interpersonally: (Ⓚ | bad influence)

[personal profile] interpersonally 2025-05-28 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I have good taste.

( And that's a promise. )

Thank you, Gale. I promise, I won't be throwing myself off the roof any time soon. Or, Damon. I can't guarantee Damon won't be doing the throwing.
blooded: (🌙|115.)

@salvatore; shortly before the end of the month

[personal profile] blooded 2025-05-22 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he has gratitude rounds to do and this one needs to be done in person—but, ]

You're not at the shop.
blooded: (🌙|065.)

[personal profile] blooded 2025-05-24 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
You and my brother both. You missed the part where that was me fishing for your location, though.
blooded: (🌙|020.)

text ➝ action;

[personal profile] blooded 2025-05-25 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
✔️ READ


[ damon doesn't respond to the text, he just shows up in the top floor library after a few minutes. he looks much the same as the last time gale saw him, which wasn't all that different from how he looked as a vampire. less visibly ill, of course, but that was never the vampirism, that was just the fact that he was dying.

he approaches gale, unsubtle and obvious as only a human could be.
]

's there a reason you prefer it up here? [ should he avoid the library-library? ]
blooded: (🌙|271.)

[personal profile] blooded 2025-06-04 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ hellspawn gets an almost-smirk, a rueful quirk of the lips—the hustle and bustle of this place could put mystic falls to shame—and damon crosses his arms, leaning against a conveniently-placed bookshelf. ]

Well, I won't disturb your quiet too long, then. Just wanted to say thanks for the effort.

[ even if it didn't work, it means something that gale tried. damon isn't used to sincere displays of emotion, but he knows how to put one on: eyebrows drawn up, eyes wide and hang-dog, eye contact, the whole deal.

of course, he's about to follow it up with another request for help. but hey, that's being a witch for you—always cleaning up supernatural messes. ]
Edited 2025-06-04 02:38 (UTC)
blooded: (🌙|155.)

[personal profile] blooded 2025-06-06 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
No, [ bluntly honest, shrugging disaffectedly, ] but that's not your problem.

[ it's stefan's. ]

The only cure in my world? I didn't even know it existed until Stefan told me about it. You didn't fail. It was inevitable.

[ which is all true—gale was never going to be able to cure the bite, or save damon from its effects. his life just doesn't work like that. he had to try, for as long as he could, but damon didn't expect it to work.

but...
] There is something new I could use a wi—zard for, [ probably calling the guy you're asking for help the wrong thing isn't a great idea, ] if you're up for it. This one isn't as inevitably doomed as a cure for a werewolf bite.
blooded: (🌙|278.)

[personal profile] blooded 2025-06-08 07:30 am (UTC)(link)
[ jesus christ, where was gale all those times they could have used a witch in mystic falls? bonnie and emily and bree, all powerful and righteous and not anywhere near as eager to help as this one man who's known them for less than a month. there's a voice in his head (suspiciously feminine, disapproving, throaty) admonishing him not to take advantage—

but damon hasn't gotten this far in his life by passing over advantages when they fall into his lap.
]

There's a catch to this, [ he gestures to himself, stepping away from the bookcase and toward gale, ] or really, a whole bunch of catches, but one's a little more pressing than the rest.

[ it's never easy to reveal a vulnerability, but damon takes a deep breath in, breathes out through his nose, feels how it feels his lungs and how his heart thuds against his chest. vital, steady, vulnerably human. ]

If a vampire drinks enough of my blood, they'll take the cure and become human. I, meanwhile, will start to age on fast-forward, to match the age I should be.

I'm 170 years old, Gale.
blooded: (🌙|063.)

[personal profile] blooded 2025-06-10 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ gale casts vicious mockery using the word "gosh". it's a critical hit and damon takes 8 points of psychic damage. ]

Yeah, [ he says slowly, recovering from the effect of a grown-ass man saying gosh in complete earnest, ] something like that.

[ looks like gale's already picking at the problem. given how little damon knows, he probably won't be of any more help—oh, nooo, an excuse not to participate in witch bullshit... what a disappointment..... ]

I couldn't tell you. I can't tell you anything other than that, honestly, I threw Stefan out before he could explain more than the basics. If you have any more questions, he'd be the one to ask. Oh, and I told that Strange guy about this too. Figured two witches are better than one when it comes to the never-before-attempted super-juju.

[ so, please: talk to literally anyone but him about this. he's going to be busy drinking himself numb so he can forget how weird it is to have a living body again.

he takes a backwards step toward the exit, pointing his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the door.
]

Well, I'll leave you to your quiet. Thanks again.

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