Just let my brain wander a bit instead of actually working today. I haven't finished the game yet, I'm still very early into act 3 so please no spoilers! Not proofread, just incurable Astarion brain rot:
Do you think that Astarion sits at the large window of the cottage he shares with Tav, the shade casting shadow over the edge of the house just enough for no sunlight to reach him, while he watches them tend the garden each afternoon? A small, adoring smile resting softly on his face as he watches them water the herb garden, the sunlight bathing their features in an ethereal glow he used to be able to see much closer. His gaze is transfixed on every small movement they make, commiting the way the light catches the highlights of their hair and the glow of their skin in its radiance to memory. He remembers how the summer sun brought out the freckles across your nose, how he wishes he would have taken the time to count them all while lying under the midday sun with you. It seems like a lifetime ago that he felt the suns embrace, it's warmpth forbidden to him once again after everything that had transpired. At times, he almost wished that the tadpole hadn't gifted him the ability to walk in the sunlight. To know such freedom and beauty, only to have it taken away again, part of him would always wonder if he'd made the right choice. His smile fades for just a moment as his cold hand brushes against his arm, the lack of warmth all the more present as he reminces about what it felt like to be in the sun.
His gaze had wandered miles away, lost in thought when your laughter brings him back. A giggle ripples through the air as you gently chastize your feline companions and tell them to return inside, shaking your head as you wipe the sweat from your brow. You look back to him, your smile so bright and warm he swears that it rivals the very sun he yearns for so desperately. He would give up a million sunrises just to see you gaze at him so tenderly, one million more days in the sun to hear you call him "love" each night. It was the right decision.... trusting you with his fragile heart was the right decision. You had wandered into his life so unexpectedly, nestled your way into his long cold heart so perfectly...despite his best efforts. This life, cloaked forever in shadows it may be, was worth every struggle it took to be here. Through pain, loss, fear and the demons that haunted him, you never turned your back on him. Love was a mere concept until you came along and wrecked his careful planning....now he'd never been so happy to see his plan fall apart. Despite impossible odds, you have both survived the worst and here you stood. He could hardly believe it some days, thought himself entirely too blessed to wake up beside you each morning. To call you his lover, his equal, the object of all of his desires.
"Are you alright my love?" You ask softly as you make your way inside,setting an armful of herbs for hanging onto the kitchen counter. He looked lost in thought, his mind transfixed on some unspoken puzzle he'd yet to reveal. Even so, he moves to wrap you in his arms quickly, cradling your body with such care as he feels the warmth of the sun still on your skin. He makes a point to hold onto you a little longer than usual today, tucking his head into your shoulder as he breathes in the scent of sun and earth on your skin. He may never walk in the light again, but the world is much less dark with you here in his arms. He leans back slightly, smiling as he sees the freckles he's so found of starting to become more numerous across your nose from the summer sun. His hand cradles your face, thumb caressing gently over your warm cheek as his lips press softly to yours. A small hum bubbling from his chest tickling against your lips as he breaks to gaze into your eyes.
"I am now, darling" he smiles lovingly, stealing a few more kisses before he reluctantly releases you from his arms. His heart will never beat again, but it belongs to you completely, just the same. He vows to show you every day how grateful he is to get to watch you dance happily in the sunshine, each night whisper his devotion to you evermore as he holds you close~
