[jace-writes-about-things]

Things Will Be Better

So of course I didn't finish my first play through, got to Act 3 and decided instead I wanted to start all over again with a Durge run which of course is going about as well as you'd expect, I'm trying road to redemption and of course I had to resist Gales temptations when he reached out that portal but I'm actively romancing Astarion, so of course here is my Durge Sorcerer Wood Elf Astral romancing Gale <3

tw // childhood trauma

Finally a moment to rest at camp, Astral found herself slouched on one of the bedrolls close to the campfire in the centre of camp, absolutely exhausted with the day the party had faced, having assisted the grove in fighting back against the Shadow Druid’s trying to lock the grove away from the rest of Faerûn, after finding Kagha’s plans to assist them in their plans of course Astral couldn’t sit by idly and watch it all happen. After fighting a couple annoying Mephit’s and some beefy Woad’s the party of course had to confront the woman and help convince her that life in the shadows was not worth the hassle, and then of course fight off the shadow druid’s that had disguised themselves as rats. All in all, a pretty eventful and rather painful day and Astral was ready to kick her feet up, relax and finally get some well-earned sleep.

“Fancy helping me with cooking for this merry band of misfits?” Came the wizard’s smooth voice, disturbing Astral from her peaceful relaxation, opening her eyes to peer at the man towering over her she couldn’t help but smile at his eagerness to provide for their found group. Clutching a mismatching of ingredients, food that they had scavenged, stole and bartered for he wasn’t seeming to take no for an answer.

Standing up, dusting her clothes off she gave the wizard a nod allowing him to lead the way to the dented cooking pot he had been using to whip up the party’s meals, “If we were in my tower back in Waterdeep, my we would have an impressive larder and many spices to make a grand meal, but I suppose a charming cooking pot in a camp in the middle of the wilderness shall have to do.” Reminising of his homeland of Waterdeep, he seemed almost defeated that he couldn’t prepare a proper meal for the people he had come to know and care for, it was sweet.

“What’s on the menu tonight then Gale?” Peering into the pot at the boiling water Astral quipped, “If we’ve ran out of supplies and are having a bowl of warm water each, you can tell everyone because I’m not sure their bellies would be too happy.” Earning a chuckle from the wizard at her silliness she watched as he sat himself down, a makeshift chopping board and a dagger being used to cut up some spring onions they had managed to grab on their roaming’s of the local woods, “Well I was hoping to make a nice stew but I suppose a bowl of warm seasoned water will have to do.” He smiled up at her, enjoying this banter with her.

As she sat down nearby, ready to assist him in his cooking she looked over the ingredients, sea salt of course to give the food a little bit of seasoning at least, a large slab of venison she had cut from a dead sheep herself, some fresh vegetables and of course, his spring onions.

“Where do you need me then?” Rubbing her hands together she was ready to make this cooking go by as quickly as possible as her stomach finally realised she was in the general vicinity of food it growled out in protest at its emptiness, Astral glared down at the interruption as if her stomach could feel the heated stare, “Well, seems your belly is ready to get stuck into some cooking, you could debone that venison and get it cut up as finely as you can, we don’t want anyone having to chew through the fat or picking a couple bones out of their dinner now do we?” Astral couldn’t help but blush at his recognition of her hunger, but she could hardly blame herself she had had a rather draining day, and one needs sustenance to keep fighting.

Dragging herself away to begin helping she set herself up with a slab of stone and slightly smaller slab of venison, cleaver in hand she stared down at the remainer of the sheep in-front of her, swinging down at the meat she of course had never actually cooked for herself like this before living her life on scraps and the rare hot meals she could get in taverns or any safe haven that would provide one, gods she could only remember the last time she had cooked a proper meal was with her mother as a child. So long ago now she wonders as she butchers this meat in-front of her, where if still alive her mother is it had been so very long she wonders if her mother would remember her now if she were to find her wherever her location may be, maybe she still lived in their small cottage just on the outskirts of Baldur’s Gate, maybe she had moved on to somewhere else, somewhere bigger… better. She didn’t realise the mess she had made in-front of her until a gentle hand laid itself on her arm, willing her to stop driving the cleaver she held into the meat over and over and over and over and….

“Astral? Are you quite alright? You were a thousand miles away…” Gale soothed as he shifted to removed the new weapon from Astral’s hand, she clutched it with force but his hand brushing over her clenched fist willed her to release the item from her grasp and in that moment all she wanted to do was curl into a ball and cry out for her mother… her mother, where? Where is she, why isn’t she here? Surely, she wasn’t dead? She had be alive, it was her mother…

“Sorry I seemed to lose myself a bit there, I don’t mean to worry you, Gale.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at the man, she could feel the tears welling in her eyes as she recalled so many memories of times long passed, her childhood it all came flooding back to her so fast, like running into a brick wall at full speed. She could do nothing but stare down at her hands as she fiddled with her fingers, maybe she should just retreat to her tent and pretend that she was fine, pretend that nothing had happened. Yes, that’s what she would do. So, she stood, giving Gale a curt nod and shambling her way over to her tent like a hurt puppy, forcing herself to put one leg in-front of the other.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed as she sat in her tent, curled into her own body nothing could hurt her like this, no one could bring any harm to her as long as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, she wasn’t here in her tent, no she was home in the cottage waiting for mother to come up to lull her to sleep with fairytales and kiss her goodnight as she danced the precipice of sleep and wake. She didn’t notice the flap to her tent gently parting, the wizard slowly lowering himself down to crouch in-front of her, warm bowl of stew in hand and a gentle smile on his face as he took in the situation, she found herself in.

“I thought you might like to try your handiwork, I must say your venison helped make this stew possibly one of the best I have made with the given circumstances, many compliments all round camp of course I had to tell everyone you gave a helping hand, my little helper.” His compliments of the food brought her back to the reality she was in, sitting in her tent a broken mess crying over her long gone childhood that she was so easily transported back to with the simple task of cooking. She gently reached out for the bowl, almost as if it would burn her if she dared to touch it but her belly rumbling in agreement to accepting the bowl had her quickly reaching for the spoon and beginning her devouring of the meal.

Gale sat with her as she ate, she couldn’t bring herself to care of how sloppily she ate her meal, she was famished and would actually fight a man if they dared to remove the bowl from her grasp, she couldn’t help but agree with her campmates as she ate… it really was a delicious meal, definitely one of Gale’s best. As she finished, she laid the bowl down beside her, stretching herself out of the curled up state she had resigned herself to for however many minutes, hours had passed as she had sat disassociated from the world around her. Gazing up at Gale she knew she had to give the man an explanation for her earlier outburst, she had walked off with nothing but a nod after viciously brutalising part of their dinner.

“I can only apologise for earlier, I’m not sure what came over me, but it was no way to act and to simply walk away without any explanation wasn’t right, I’m so sorry Gale you must have thought you were next for the chopping block.” She tried to make light of the situation but looking at Gale’s stern expression she realised, comedy wasn’t going to get her very far in this conversation, “You don’t need to apologise, you were very clearly having a moment, I could see it in your eyes that you were a thousand miles away, of course I removed the weapon not for my own safety, but for yours.” He thought she was going to harm herself, if she was going to do that she would have done in it private, she wouldn’t have made him privy to a show like that, he was too pure for that, he didn’t deserve to see something as horrible as that.

“I appreciate your concern Gale but of course I wouldn’t have done anything like that to myself, especially not in-front of someone, that would just be evil.” She tried to convince herself more than convince him, she almost didn’t believe the words coming out her own mouth, her brain and the words she was saying were warring with each other and the look on her face must have let on, as the wizard reached out to grasp at one of her hands, just like he had earlier.

“I don’t expect you to tell me everything that is swirling around in that head of yours, I understand that whatever is going on up there is most likely private and something that you’re not willing to share with a man you met not even a week ago, but when I say that you can trust me, I mean it Astral, I will not pry into your private matters if you do not wish to share them but whatever is going on please know that if you feel comfortable to share, I am here to provide and comfort you may need.” There were very few people in her life that Astral had trusted with the details of her life, many of whom were now dead having taken secrets of her to their graves, she almost didn’t want to burden him with her thoughts and history, but there was something about him, something that made her want to tell him everything as she crawled into his arms and cried into them over all the broken parts of her.

“Thank you.” Came her simple response, and for the first time in her life, rather than shutting herself off from her emotions and building her walls back up, she let herself move to him, into his arms and cry. Allowing him to wrap his arms around her as she let herself cry, let herself feel her emotions, and as his hand soothed along her back she actually believed that everything might actually be alright. Maybe this time things would different, this time they would be different.

Cross Posted on Ao3 - jacethed00d

[jace-writes-about-things]

A Conjured Bed

Alexa play Hot In Here! Yes, we finally have some smut! Bare with me please because this is the first piece of smut that I have written in a LONG time, I've tried to do this man justice but please if you feel like I haven't tell me! Pointers are always accepted, anyways please accept horny Gale <3

After stumbling across Gale’s apparent mentor, Elminster who had not only forced his way into camp but had come baring a mission from Mystra, a mission that she demanded Gale to basically kill himself to destroy the Absolute, needless to say Tav was seething with rage which considering Halsin had informed their party that he needed assistance protecting a portal from attacking forces so that he could retrieve Thaniel, Tav was more than happy to cut down some enemies in the name of blowing off some steam. Meant at least she would lodge her longsword in the heads of some bad guys instead of misplacing her weapon in the next innocent that annoyed her, or worse one of her campmates.

After a long battle of seemingly endless shadow monsters and undead being thrown at the party left, right and centre Halsin emerged from his barely standing portal clutching a small child in his arms, this must have been Thaniel the poor child looked exhausted, Tav quickly urged Halsin back to camp before taking a moment to assess the damage everyone had sustained during the rather strenuous fight. Glancing sideways she noticed a hungry look in Gale’s eyes pointed directly at her, the stares meaning going directly over Tav’s head she approached Gale with concern, “Gale? Are you all right do you need an artifact? Has Elminster’s magic on you failed?” Confusing his hunger for her with his hunger for magical items Gale seemed to redden in colour at the misinterpretation, “No, it’s just, it’s quite thrilling, to fight off such grim creatures as this region throws at us. Especially being at your side.” He seemed to pause, considering his next words carefully, “I once read a book that explained in some detail the effect a brush with danger has on one’s desire for… other forms of stimulation.”

“Have you ever read anything on that subject?” Tav couldn’t believe what she was hearing, the big bad barbarian reduced to, silence, stunned with what he was propositioning her with in front of everyone no less… “You’re attracted to me… in a place like this?” She wanted to flirt back but given their audience she was hesitant, “I can’t imagine anywhere that would turn my heart away from you, cursed or otherwise. You’d always be as beautiful, and as impressive.”

“Perhaps it’s just the thrill of our near-undead experience talking. But standing at your side through such darkness and disrepair. It only makes me want you more.” Tav was ready to jump his bones right there and then, again given if they hadn’t had an audience, she would have let him take her right there and then below the Last Light Inn safe haven, but her hooded eyes must have given her dirty intentions away as Gale simply smirked and shut down every thought racing through her mind.

“Unfortunately, this is neither the time nor place to indulge such feelings. So, we must be patient and push all such thoughts aside. For now.” With a wink and a smirk, he set off to gather any useful supplies from the bodies the party had surrounded themselves in, the wind knocked out of Tav’s lungs as she stood in disbelief, this wizard had stood and confessed the dirty things he wished to do to her and just walked off like she wasn’t standing there dumbfounded with wet panties, a pitied pat on her back from Karlach and a “No luck soldier” thrown her way brought her crashing back to reality, shaking off the daze he had thrown her into Tav quickly gathered herself and assisted the party in ransacking bodies for valuables.

Only after they had assisted Shadowheart in abandoning Shar and freeing the Nightsong did anything from that night of battle come to fruition. Returning to camp after freeing the Nightsong Tav found a mirror image of Gale standing in his tent where the real Gale should have been, given instructions by the rather goofy mirror image was she transported to a clearing in some woods and there in front of her he sat, staring up to the stars on his blanket he had spread out for the both of them to rest on. All the thoughts of that night came rushing back to Tav in an instant her body and mind remembering all the things she wanted to do to that man that night as he had stood dangling the prospect of a night of passion in front of her face. Turning round to look at who had joined him his smile set her core ablaze. She knew he wished to speak to her of his given mission from Mystra but all she simply wanted to do was spend a night under the stars with this man, this man who ignited such passion within her.

“I love this time of night.” Came his simple greeting as she allowed herself to sink to the floor beside him, “There’s almost a reverent silence that accompanies the peak of darkness when you’d almost believe the dawn will never break. The cradle of eternity.” Tav listened to the man’s poetry as he shifted his hand towards the sky, as if he himself was commanding the very stars himself she found herself staring at the beauty above her, unaware of Gale’s loving gaze, “The timelessness of lovers. The most beautiful of fantasies.” She was lost in his words, listening to this man seduce her with utter poetry made her melt, desperate to be consumed with him. As they spoke of his mission from Mystra, Tav noticed Gale becoming consumed by his need to flaunt his magic talents offering a night amongst the stars with her, but Tav was not swayed, she simply wanted this man in the most carnal, human way possible.

Standing, Tav dragged him to his feet willing to show her commitment to the moral man that the hunger inside her from that night had reignited full force, gazing at him with hooded eyes she slowly slunk to her knee’s gentle touches down his legs on her way down. Gazing up at him revealed just how touch starved Gale was, his fists clenched at his sides as if holding himself back from the true desire he craved, with a smile she gave him her full permission, “Don’t be afraid Gale, I won’t break, use me as you please.” With a swift hand grabbing her hair to force her back to her feet and his lips crashing into hers in a desperate kiss she paced backwards at his command, finding the backs of her legs hitting a soft bed.

Allowing herself to fall backwards out of his grasp, she fell backwards onto a rather soft, cushioned bed, gazing up at him taking in his dishevelled appearance, the usual put together wizard was panting, looking down at her with raw desire in his eyes that tried to convey every single way he wanted to take her, she definitely wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.

Kneeling between her legs, his hands slowly trailing their way up to the waistband of her sleep clothes, looking to her with a plea, begging to let him remove the barrier and let him have his way with her. Her own hands shifting down to help him shimmy her trousers and underclothes down with them, his soft hands returning to her hips to caress her hips, “You are more beautiful than any skyline my hands could ever conjure.” Readying herself to reply to his compliments Tav was swiftly cut off with a kiss to her mound, her hips reaching up to meet him but a surprisingly strong arm clamping over her hips to prevent their movement fixed her to the bed below. His comments of a practised tongue came flashing back to her mind as he carefully took her clit into his mouth, laving it with all the attention she desired moaning into the night as her hands found their way into his hair threatening to rip the locks from his hair if he even dared thinking of stopping, her hips fought against him as he brought her closer and closer to her peak, and just before she got there he pressed a soft kiss to her mound and pulled away as much as her tight grip would allow him to.

“I’m sorry love, I know you don’t want me to stop but the only place you’ll be coming tonight is around my cock.” He was almost staring into her soul as he looked up, his beard drenched in her juices and all she wanted in that moment was to kiss him, let her taste herself on his lips.

Making his way up her body, gentle kisses and touches as he went, feeling his way along her hips, up her sides, to her breasts, committing her entire body to his memory before arriving at her lips, teasing him tongue at her entrance allowing her the opportunity to pull away if she found this uncomfortable in any way, but his doubts were quickly squashed with her lips connecting with his, drinking in her taste on his lips allowing herself to taste herself on his tongue. “Please Gale.” She pulled away, begging for the release she craved, release only he could give her.

Giving her a soft parting peck he knelt above her, removing his own clothing making a bit of a show of it with each piece of removed clothing, letting her hands roam his body to discover all parts of him, everything. Leaning back down he gently kissed her body before guiding himself to her entrance, holding eye contact as he gently slid in, allowing himself to moan out as he bottomed out, stilling inside of her finally slipping inside of her felt like absolute heaven and it took all of his willpower to not cum there and then. “You feel absolutely divine my love, you feel absolutely amazing.” He moaned into her mouth, kissing her softly she felt like putty in his hands, “Gale please I need you to move.” The words were gasped out as he began thrusting, like he had knocked the wind out her lungs with the force, her once words were reduced to moans and gasps, grasping onto his shoulders clawing at skin at the overwhelming pleasure.

Although she had had a number of fantasies and dreams about this moment, but nothing she had dreamed or fantasised could compare to being here with Gale, letting herself be consumed with the overwhelming feeling of Gale. He was all encompassing, he was everywhere all at once, in front of her, surrounding her, inside her, grasping at his shoulders trying to take him in deeper to become one with him, “I’m not going to last much longer love.” Gale gasped out as his hand reached down to circle her clit, suddenly it was stars surrounding her, not so dissimilar to the stars he had conjured for her, stars and then blinding white with gasp Tav let go, let herself be all consumed.

Back to reality, a sweaty and sated Gale lay atop her holding him closer as she ran her hands along his spine, helping to bring the man down from his high. Gentle breathing and soft kisses to her chest, she gazed down at him as he looked up at her with nothing but love in his eyes, “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.” His hand reaching up to stroke her face, she could do nothing but smile at this man and his genuine love for her, such as soft man that she felt nothing but the utmost love for.

“Hope you know, we aren’t done just yet.” His smirk returned as he slid himself down, ready to continue their escapades into the wee hours of the morning, Tav definitely was not getting any sleep tonight.

Cross Posted on Ao3 - jacethed00d

[jace-writes-about-things]

With You I Forget My Goddess

Hello again! Hope you guys are enjoying my seemingly endless ramblings about this silly little wizard man, I'm simply doing my community service writing about him, any ungodly amount of course! Anyways please enjoy this man's beautiful confession!

tw//mystra

"With you I forget my Goddess. I love you."

The words echoed through Tav's head as she lay soundly in her tent staring up at the plain ceiling, repeating Gale's words to herself over and over again in her head, seemingly unable to forget the man's confession made in front of the rest of their party almost made her melt into a puddle adrift the Outer Planes, a major confession just after basically abandoning your goddess and ex-lover. After Gale's chat with Mystra she couldn't seem to keep her mind off the wizard, of course they had shared their moment before in the Shadowlands, but this confession was something entirely different.

No longer did she lay soundly, unable to now find comfort in her earlier position she found herself rising to sit, gazing out towards the rest of the camp's tents watching as others slept soundly after a long day of travelling and fighting. Out the corner of her eye she noticed a light coming from a certain wizards tent, admitting to herself that she wouldn't be finding sleep any time soon in her own quarters she rose and began in his direction, maybe he could provide some company.

"Gale?" she spoked softly, unwilling to awaken any of her fellow companions given that they wouldn't be too pleased being roused at this ridiculous hour of the night, "Tav? Is that you?" came Gale's quiet whisper, gently parting the opening of his tent she was greeted with a soft sight. Laid out in a pile of pillows, glasses hanging slightly off his nose, book propped up in a mage hand with his tent gently lit with strewn candles, the perfect environment to get cosy. A soft smile thrown at her, beckoning her into his warmth she melted, slowly making her way over towards his opened arms she slid down beside him curling her body in towards him, "Hello there my love, what brings you here this early hour of the day?" his voice almost teasing her at her inability to catch some rest and having to seek him out.

She simply curled into his warmth further, wrapping her arms around his middle unwilling to give an answer happy to simply exist in his space. A hand reached out to stroke through her hair as she listened to the turning of pages slowly lulling her into a state of rest, feeling herself drifting off in the wizards arms, "Did you mean what you said?" it was slurred with sleep as she questioned him in her vulnerable state, letting out a moan of protest when his hand ceased it's movement through her hair she could hear the cogs turning in his head and a gaze up at him as he looked down at her quizzically unable to understand what she was asking, gently pressing her head to his chest she gave him a gentle chuckle, "Don't laugh at me whatever do you mean love, talk to me." he tilted her head up to look directly at him, pleading with her to tell him what's wrong what was bothering her?

"I forget my goddess when I'm with you... did you really mean it?" she felt silly questioning him like this, this was Gale she was talking to the man who since the very beginning had been nothing but accommodating, loving and cared so deeply for her every step of the way, and here she was questioning him if he really meant his confession. Her expression must have given her away, told him that she felt silly for asking, for questioning his loyalty and his expression softened at her seeming disbelief that someone could love her so deeply in the way that he did. Holding her face with such softness, he leant down to meet her lips in a kiss trying to convey all his feelings for this woman into this one kiss.

Overwhelmed with emotions Tav grasped tighter onto him, unwilling to let the man move an inch even if they did need to breathe air to survive, she could stay here attached to him for eternity and forever, pulling away with a gasp she drunk him in looking the man over, staring at him like he created the very land they walked on, hung the stars and moon in the sky, he was everything to her and she was everything to him. "Does that answer your question?" came his quiet tease, pulling her closer into him if even possible they'd soon merge into each other’s skin if they tried to get any closer to one another. Another kiss in response interrupted by a chuckle,

"I don't know who in this life has made you feel undeserving of love, but I promise you Tav no matter what I love you with every inch of my being, Goddess be damned, I will love you to the very ends of the earth, till the heavens collapse and the hells split open I will love you no matter what may happen to us because you are deserving of love, deserving of this." his speech sprung tears to her eyes she had never felt such genuine love in her life, always being second best or not enough but she could simply exist and that would be enough for him because Gale was a man of love, a man willing to share his love.

Curling into his chest she felt herself ready for sleep to take her, comforted by his confession she finally felt the lull of sleep willing to take her and where better to drift than in the arms of the man who's love she returned so deeply and as the candles in his tent were one by one extinguished by his roaming mage hand she felt her heart flutter as a gentle kiss found itself atop her head and the gentle whisper, "I love you."

Cross Posted on Ao3 - jacethed00d

[jace-writes-about-things]

Hold Me Close

Couple of TW for this piece, it's nothing major but there is a good description of blood and violence, also a slightly traumatising child death but other than that this is Gale being a sweet little malewife for our traumatised Tav.

It had all happened so quickly, a stray child found wandering the forest, one minute they were chatting away hopeful of recruiting the party to assist them back to their village, as quickly as their gleeful smile in the party's agreement to help them, it was quickly wiped away by the explosion that threw Tav backwards, the ringing in her ears blocking out the seeming chaos that began around her. The only sensation felt being Astarion grabbing her under arms to drag her backwards to safer ground, looking around blankly at the ensuing battle. Desperate to try climbing to her feet despite her body's refusal to stand, she urged herself to rise. On shaky legs she drew her longsword ready to aid the party in the slaughter of whatever force had exploded the innocent child right in front of her.

"Tav stay down! You're too injured!" She heard Shadowheart shout towards her, ignoring the Cleric's protests she began swinging at the vicious goblins that had begun their attack on the unsuspecting party. Knowing that she couldn't dissuade Tav from aiding them, a quick healing spell thrown her way to at least try reprieve some of the damage she had sustained in the blast, Tav simply seeing red swinging with vigour at the evil beings. What sick monster slaughters an innocent child, how could they do this to their mother and father, a slaughtered child to bury caused simply for the sake of sating a murderous urge.

A hand grabbing at Tav's arm as she continued to lodge her sword into the goblin in front of her's corpse over and over, reducing the body to a pile of bloody mush and bones, she didn't realise she was screaming as she swung until the hand grabbing at her brought her back to the stark reality the party had found themself in. One more swing to lodge her sword in what would have been the goblin's skull, she took a minute to rejoin the land of consciousness, looking around at the dead bodies of slain goblins strewn around the forest clearing. A gaze to the side revealed the exact spot where the child she had been talking to not even 10 minutes ago had stood, their body much like the goblin in front of her reduced to a pile of mush, there was nothing left of the child to return to their village, no body, no bones, no belongings, nothing left to bury.

"Tav? You with us?" Came Gale's soothing voice, talking to her like a timid child, she hadn't realised until looking down at herself that she was covered head to toe in the child's blood and body. Her expression must have been that of dissociation, looking at her party they seemed reluctant to approach her. Dislodging her sword from the goblin mush she sheathed her weapon, ready to leave this area behind, "Let's... let's head back to camp." came her simple reply, without concern for if her party was following her, she started in the direction of camp.

Upon return to camp, she seated herself in her tent, unwilling to move herself to remove any of her armour, unwilling to wash the child's blood from her skin, only able to think, would things have ended differently for the child had they not stumbled upon them? Would the child have been able to safely evade their death had she not been there? Was it all a trap set by the goblins... had they noticed the child and waited for an unsuspecting victim to approach them to give them the opportunity to not only traumatise but kill? So wrapped up in her own thoughts she failed to notice Gale now crouched down in front of her, seemingly trying to speak with her.

"Tav? Are you in need of some assistance?" Came Gale's timid proposition, seemingly the only one of the party brave enough to approach their bloodied and traumatised leader, she had seen so much bloodshed in her life why now was she seemingly unable to function? Gazing up at him she didn't realise her eyes were slowly filling with tears, the wizard giving her a soft smile, almost pity at her current state. She was supposed to be their strong leader and here she was ready to cry covered in blood because she couldn't handle a little bit of death, how pathetic.

Silently he reached out, offering a hand to the broken woman, prepared to take on the challenge in front of him. Looking at the lifeline in front of her she took his hand. Standing silently, letting herself be led away from camp into the surrounding forest, she didn't pay much attention to where he was taking her, simply glad to get away from the stifling stares at camp. Only when they stopped did she look up, he had led her further up the stream to a small clearing, a man made path leading into the water in front of them. She finally took a moment to look the man over, he had brought all the supplies needed for her to bathe, soap, oils, makeshift towels, she didn't deserve this man’s kindness.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Gale gave her a soft smile, assessing him now she found that his smile was not pity but simply a soft smile, she didn't deserve softness, she got an innocent child killed, it was her fault, "I can hear you overthinking from here, let's get you sorted first and then we can worry about the horrible thoughts afterwards." it wasn't quite a demand but he wasn't giving her any room to object.

Her armour suddenly felt heavier, ready to drag her to the ground her silent looking asking for aid in removing the weight from her body, with soft hands and gentle touches he began helping unlatch the offending armour from her body. Reduced to her underclothes she couldn't find it in her to feel embarrassment or shame from her undressed state, he was here to help her not to judge her. Placing the items she needed to clean herself down closer to the entrance to the stream he gave her the opportunity to tell him to leave, give her the privacy she deserved, but she couldn’t trust herself alone, not with the thoughts racing through her mind.

"Stay." It came out so meekly, almost a whisper as if she didn't trust her own voice in that moment. The tears that had gathered in her eyes were threatening to spill if left to her own devices. With seemingly no concern of undressing himself Gale began removing his robes, allowing himself the same vulnerable state that Tav found herself in.

Both dressed down to their underwear, she considered wetting her underwear for the sake of decency but remembering their stark lack of clothing and money to purchase anymore she began removing her underwear, this seemed to break the wizard slightly as she noticed him turn himself away from her to grant her at least a little privacy. She found this endearing, doing all this for her but still being ever the gentleman, giving herself little time to consider the situation she moved herself towards the stream wading into the water, feeling the gentle sting of the slight coldness to the liquid, it wasn't a hot inn bath but it was better than nothing.

Slowly she heard him join her in the stream, a gentle hand touching her back to alert her of his closeness. "I can wash your hair for you, if you'd like?" he propositioned, she couldn’t think of anything better as running a hand through her hair matted with dirt and blood, she nodded slightly feeling herself unable to form words at the man's kindness, "I need you to use your voice dear, let me hear you." came Gale's soft voice, she felt herself almost melting at his urge to hear her verbal consent to touching her, "Yes, that would be nice." her quiet reply to the wizard's request. A hand coming to gently pull her body backwards to wet her hair, this moment of gentle intimacy sent a shockwave through her body, not used to such kindness she felt her tears finally ready to spill as his hand raked through her rats nest of hair maybe she could mistake them for rivets of water running down her face from the gentle splash on her head.

Gazing down at her closed eyes he noticed the slow fall of tears, all he wanted to do was scoop her up and take her away from this place, back to his tower in Waterdeep and protect her from whatever evil threatened this world, but of course he knew that impossible given their current situation... maybe once all this was over he could take her home, give her somewhere comfortable and safe to reside. He let himself get lost in thoughts of maybe's as he lathered the soap he had brought with him through her hair, smelling the flowery scent it released as he cleaned all the dirt and grime from her knotted locks, allowing himself to get lost in the domesticity of the situation he currently found himself in. Rinsing her hair clean of the suds he helped her back into a standing position in the water, gazing at the water running down her back, waiting for her to turn, to let him see her. If she would.

Turning towards the wizard's soft expression finally broke her completely, the tears were no longer small drops she could hide, it was ugly, ugly ugly ugly.

Through the thick tears gathering in her eyes she could make out the wizard reaching out to envelope her in a tight hug, she allowed herself to sob, guttural and loud into his shoulder grasping at any skin she could get her hands on almost clawing at him as if in a moment’s notice he'd vanish into thin air as if she had imagined the whole thing. "I'm here Tav, I'm right here" he soothed with a hand holding her heavy head closer to his body, allowing her the moment to just simply let go of all the emotions she was feeling. He felt her body shake as the sobs wracked her body, giving her soothing comfort in his hushed words.

Pulling away, her face red and swollen with the released emotion gazing at the man stood in front of her holding her feeble body close, he gave her one of those smiles reaching a hand up to swipe away the few tears that remained. "Feeling better?" he whispered as if speaking any louder than a hush would shatter her into a million pieces, giving her a reassuring squeeze he began helping her to clean the rest of the muck from her seemingly tonne weight body, as if he let go she would simply sink to the rocky base of the water. Once satisfied with the job he had done his hand grasping hers to lead her back towards dry land where he wrapped her in one of the towels he had hung on a nearby tree before gently lowering her to sit on the bank before wrapping himself up to sit beside her.

Leaning into his warm body Tav forced her walls to stay down, he'd seen it all now there was no point in trying to hide it, a head leant on top of her own relaxed her at least he didn't think she was any weaker for showing her emotions. "I understand you want to blame yourself for what happened out there, but I promise you Tav none of what happened is your fault, everyone has their fate in this world and unfortunately it was always destined to happen no matter how differently you may try to think." of course he was the rational of the two, his words piercing through the loathing she felt for herself, maybe if she listened to him her brain would actually believe the words he was telling her.

A shiver making its way through her body reminded her that she was currently sat at the bay of a river with nothing but a towel covering her modesty and keeping what little body heat she had in her, rising to his feet Gale moved to collect their clothing looking over her weakened state he decided dressing himself first would be the smart decision before aiding Tav in re clothing. Slowly to avoid startling her he began helping her back into her clothing, foregoing her armour helping her rise to her feet. Linked arms as he carried her armour back towards camp, Tav clutched to his arm like a lifeline unwilling to let go, this given comfort being something she refused to let escape her.

Back to her tent, armour hung back up on its rack, Tav tucked into her bedroll with a pleading look in her eye, begging him not to leave her. Climbing into the rather tight bedroll, entangling his limbs with her own allowing himself the comfort of tucking her into his side, guarding her from the world, her protector for the night, a gentle kiss to the crown of her head as the exhaustion of the day finally caught up to her, smiling down at the yawning woman beside him he gently whispered.

"I'm here."

Cross Posted on Ao3 - jacethed00d

[jace-writes-about-things]

An Orb In The Way

It had been a hard fight, but it was finally over, the grove was safe and much to Tav's delight it was time to relax, have a drink and forget the impending doom their party had been feeling for the past week. It's not every day you're thrust into a mission, save the world and everyone in it to ensure the continued survival of the entire world, was a pretty big burden to be forced to carry.

Their party, although exhausted was ready to celebrate their victory over the Goblin Camp, it had been a tedious and hard fight clearing out the entire camp but with the help of the Archdruid they'd come to know as Halsin, they had managed to save the grove from destruction and stop Kaugha's Rite of Thorns from sealing the grove off from the rest of Faerun. Of course, their journey was far from over, but this brief respite was welcomed by the party, and Tav found herself in camp. Surrounded by fellow Tieflings, the party in full swing around her as people celebrated their continued survival.

Making the rounds, talking to her fellow exhausted but celebrating party members, she began with Shadowheart found at her tent sipping on what appeared to be a goblet of wine. "Enjoying the festivities?" Shadowheart asked over the rim of her goblet, she seemed a bit on edge with the sheer amount of people who we're celebrating around the camp, of course she was used to her life of seclusion as a servant of Shar but Tav seemed to notice the slight happiness to her expression, she was enjoying the company of others even if she would staunchly deny it, "Just making the rounds, wanted to check in with everyone before I finally let loose a little." Tav responded, taking a seat at Shadowheart's stool, allowing herself a moment to actually sit down for the first time that day, she didn't realise how heavy her limbs felt till she finally felt a bit of rest. Noticing her leaders fatigue she passed her goblet to the tired Tiefling which she accepted gladly with a sigh before sipping lightly on the rather bitter wine, she must have made a face at the taste judging by Shadowheart's quiet laugh. Handing back the goblet Tav rose to her feet, much to her bones and muscles protest, but she had more than Shadowheart to speak to.

Giving Shadowheart a smile and quick wave she made her way to the rest of the group, noticing that a good chunk of the team was actually drinking together, it was nice to see the small group getting along, even if they had been thrust together with very little concern for some clashing personalities. Looking around, noticing a certain wizard trying his best to keep up with Karlach and La'zel discussing their preferred choice of weapon was a sight to see. They had only known each other a short while but watching the wizard's awkward smile and nodding along as he pretended to understand the different advantages great axes and battle-axes had, considering to him they are pretty much the same thing just that battle-axes are a little smaller. It was rather endearing, someone Tav never thought to even consider, herself a brutish barbarian who very much swung first and talked after, compared to the composed and educated wizard, Gale.

Feeling eyes on her, of course she had been caught staring and of course it had to be Astarion. Looking over at the pale elf, he didn't even have to say a word his smirk speaking for itself, well she'd been found out might as well admit it, even if it had to be to the one person who would absolutely rip the piss out of her. Making her way over to the smug elf with what was definitely an embarrassed look, "Something caught your eye?" said with such smugness it almost made Tav want to slap the expression right off his face, but she was learning to think before acting seemingly getting her further into places and having better outcomes, so she played into Astarion's teasing, "Why? Feeling a little jealous?" she almost laughed at the quick change in his expression. How the tables could quickly turn, but as quickly as his embarrassment came his features were stilled and the facade was back, "Jealous? Of you pining after that wizard? Come on darling you have better standards than that surely?" hiding his face behind his goblet as he drank, almost ready to spit the sour liquid back out, without giving her time to respond to his rather rude assessment of Gale, "Gods this wine is disgusting, you would think that we deserve something better for saving these people’s lives." it wasn't so much as a request more a demand, shaking her head at his rudeness, "Expecting greatness for simply helping people? Not sure you're quite deserving of the hero title, are you?" Tav jested, maybe she could get under his skin the way he does with everyone else, give him a taste of his own medicine.

But of course no luck, seemingly nothing could make the man squirm but this conversation was quickly becoming one that Tav didn't exactly have the energy for, giving the man a short smile and a short farewell she were off, looking around the camp for anyone to have a much more pleasant conversation with.

Of course, everyone was deep in either their own conversations or drinks, a head to the clear sky and the heaviness of her limbs led Tav down to the small bank at the edges of the camp, not entirely silent but still quieter than the full swing of the party happening behind her. Looking out to the water she lowered her tired limbs down to sit just at the cusp of the small tide of the bank, gazing out to the wilderness ahead, peaceful. Lost in her own thoughts, reviewing all that had happened, what was to come ahead, the choices they may be faced with...

So lost in thought she failed to notice that someone had joined her in her seat at the bank, "Did you know that a great axe is great for landing devastating blows to your enemies, but a battleaxe is better for wielding alongside a shield for added defence." came that honeyed voice, a slight laughter escaped Tav at the seemingly genuine interest Gale showed to the different advantages to the different weapons, gazing to her side there he sat with his eyes glowing like a child who'd just learned such important information. Regardless the topic it seemed he was always willing to listen and learn something new, it was endearing. A soft smile thrown his way as he blushed at the attention, "Sorry, I couldn't help but notice you straying away I thought to come check on you, you've made sure we're all alright but it seems no one's thought to ask how you're faring." he looked at her expectantly, willing to be an ear to listen, to rant at, looking at him it felt all too easy to just tell him everything, all of her problems, everything bothering her little or large.

With a sigh and a soft smile she simply looked back out to the water, gazing intensely at seemingly nothing in particular, his gaze followed her own out to the soft flow of the water looking to try find what she was staring so intently at, finding nothing he seemed to realise. A moment of peace, of respite is all she needed, maybe without him, he began to try to stand but a soft hand on his leg stopped him in his tracks, looking towards her again, her gaze still out towards the water, a silent plea, "Stay." it was simple, an easy instruction for him to follow.

His hand over her’s he resumed his seated position, tracing small patterns over her hand that rested on his leg. He'd be lying if he didn't feel the warm burn of blush on his face, isolation had done a number of his tolerance of physical intimacy but in this moment, this moment of peace he couldn't bring himself to care much about the blushing reaction to simple hand holding because it was Tav's hand he was holding, it was Tav's hand.

Sensing a slight shift in his demeanour Tav tried to pull her hand away from the wizard, mistaking his silence as rejection readying herself to pull away completely, if he didn't feel the same way she could simply shut off, it wouldn't be too hard, would it? But the quick snatch of her hand told her otherwise, a glace towards the wizard revealed his reddened face, simple hand holding had reduced this educated and put together wizard to a blushing mush, she could only describe it as cute, "You look like you're about to start running a fever." Tav teased, giggling as the wizards face deepened a shade if that was even possible, his other hand reached out to cover his face, desperate to hide his face in worry that Tav would find him to be childish, blushing at her simply touching his hand, it was embarrassing, horrifying he wanted the ground to swallow him whole but as Tav's hand reached out to block his attempts at hiding he found himself unable to cover his feelings any longer, "I'm sorry I'm usually much better at discussing my feelings but I seem to forget myself around you." even in explaining his embarrassment his words sounded like utter poetry, enough to make Tav swoon.

Gazing into his eyes could have revealed all, dark brown orbs looking back at her like she hung the very stars in the sky, a soft hand reaching up to her face seemingly to wipe a speck of whatever was bothering him from her face, she could get lost in his eyes for however long he would let her, but his glace down towards her lips gave way to a much more appealing idea. Smiling softly, leaning in, eyes drifting closed their lips met in a soft kiss. Tav didn't believe people when they said that when you kissed 'the one' that it felt like fireworks, until now. It felt like a whole crate of smoke-powder bombs had exploded the minute their lips met, it was soft, sweet and almost better than any drink that had ever graced her lips, quickly escalating to hands grabbing clothes and clutching onto his robes for dear life. Teeth clashing, tongues mixing desperate to taste each other like horny teenagers sneaking behind their parents backs it felt rebellious.

But a soft hand pushing against her chest gave them pause. Pulling away to gasp for air, taking note of their new position finding her legs wrapped around his waist planted firmly on his lap as he gripped her hips with the strength of a man holding himself back, hooded eyes as he drunk in her state, breathless and ready for more that he couldn't give, not just yet, "Sorry, I don't trust myself, with this unstable orb willing to see me ended I don't think it smart getting it too... um, excited?" it seemed almost like a question, one that he himself wasn't sure of the answer to. A soft chuckle escaped Tav, of course she couldn't risk Gale letting off an explosion all for the sake of a lay, disappointed but understanding of their situation, grasping his face between both hands she gave him a quick peck, pulling away as he chased, almost as if he himself was fighting the urge explosion be damned, he wanted her but alas the rational part of his brain won the fight, pushed down for a later date hopefully.

Rising to their feet together, gazing at each other glad of the admittance of feelings, the sharing of a moment together albeit not quite what they both yearned for, but a moment, nonetheless. Strolling back to camp with linked fingers and an obvious glow surrounding them both, it almost made Astarion sick to look upon

Thank you so much for reading my first cross posted Gale fanfiction, I've been posting all my writings over on AO3 as well if you want to have a nosey over there at my other writings, if not worry not I will be posting the rest of my fanfictions over here as well!

AO3 - jacethed00d