i don't have a creative title for this. here's my fanfic based off the DELIGHTFUL surface au by my good friend @feligayzed. go check it out if you haven't it's literally everything to me
The first thing Sebastian noticed when he woke was the cold, empty space in bed next to him; the space where p.AI.nter usually joined him in bed was void, empty of metal and wires. The second thing he noticed was the aching pain in his joins, drawing a long, tired sigh from the man.
Pushing the soft covers off his body, he groggily reached out to find his cane. These attacks of pain had been happening more often, resulting in Sebastian needing his aids more often than he liked to admit. Slowly but surely, he raised himself out of bed, leaning heavily on his cane for support.
Usually on days like this, p.AI.nter would’ve been by his side, holding him up and carefully leading him through their shared home. The memories of it being so patient during those first few weeks of being “human” again put a smile on his face. His companion had always been so eager to help with anything he needed- whether it be a walk down the hall or even just brightening his day, the bot was there. Hell, it had even decorated the cane in his hand to be less bland, covering it with stars and hearts in all different sizes and colours.
Shaking his head to pull him back to reality, Sebastian began his walk out of the bedroom. Even with his aid, he still placed his free hand on the wall for extra support in an attempt to ease any other pain.
From the hallway, Sebastian heard sounds coming from the kitchen. The soft hiss of something cooking on the stove was almost like music to his ears- until music did hit his ears.
A hum, high and robotic, rang out in the air as Sebastian made his way to the source of the sound- p.AI.nter, working in the kitchen to make breakfast for him. The sound stopped as soon as p.AI.nter caught sight of him, a blush quick to be air-brushed onto its expression.
“I didn’t realize you were awake so early,” It said quietly, looking down at the stove and the soon to be ready food- pancakes, Sebastian noted- rather than at him.
“The bed got cold without you.” He said simply, leaning against the closest countertop.
The blush on the bot’s screen only got worse, its voicebox glitching out for a moment. “Sorry… I just- wanted to try and treat you to something nice this morning. You’ve been in a lot of pain as of recently and I thought breakfast in bed would be nice!” It laughed as it turned off the stovetop, beginning to plate Sebastian’s breakfast. “But you’re up now, so I don’t think that’s really feasible.”
Sebastian only nodded, humming contently. “I could always go back if you wanted?” He teased, grinning.
“No!” p.AI.nter was quick to reply, whipping around to face the other. “You already made it all the way here, I’m not gonna-”
The bot was quickly silenced by soft hands reaching up to hold its monitor. Ever so gently, Sebastian rubbed a thumb along the sides of p.AI.nter’s head, careful to not scratch the metal with his dulled claws. The touch alone caused its fans to speed up.
“Paints, I was joking.” His voice was soft, the grin softening to a smile. “And, thank you for this. I know it’s been… a lot, having to deal with me these past few days.”
“You know I don’t think that.”
“Yeah, yeah. You tell me constantly. Just- let me appreciate you a little, alright?” Without even thinking, he leaned forwards to press a soft kiss to the screen in front of him.
It took a moment for the both of them to realize what had just happened, and before Sebastian could try to play it off, he was pulled into a soft hug from p.AI.nter, nearly drowning in its oversized sweater.
“I love you.” It said, tightening its hold slightly.
This time, it was Sebastian’s turn to blush. His face began to heat up as his fins tilted downwards, an embarrassing squeak slipping from his mouth. After what felt like an eternity to him, his arms wrapped around p.AI.nter’s body. He didn’t reply, too scared of what would fall from him if he did.
The two stood there in silence for a while, before Sebastian was suddenly scooped into p.AI.nter’s arms without warning. A yelp escaped him as he quickly scrambled to take hold of its shoulders, his cane clattering to the tiled floor below him.
“What are you doing?!”
p.AI.nter seemed unphased by Sebastian’s outburst, clutching him close as it began to walk. “Bringing you to take a seat! I’ll bring you what I made and you can just relax.”
Sebastian pouted, grumbling softly to himself. Despite his actions, he snuggled closer to the bot. Even when set down on the couch, he didn’t let go of the fabric of p.AI.nter’s sweater.
“Sebby, I need to go get your breakfast.” It tried to pull away, to no avail. The other only gripped onto it stronger.
“Should’ve thought of that beforehand.” Was the only reply Sebastian gave.
With a huff of its fans, p.AI.nter flopped down next to Sebastian. Immediately, he found his way into sitting on the robot’s lap, pressing close to its warm plating. He set his head down on its shoulder, relaxing fully in its hold.
Summary: When Astarion finds a beat up stuffed animal, he fixes it up and gifts it to Barry.
Read over on AO3 or under the cut!
Astarion glanced around the abandoned house he had found near where the group had camped that night. He'd gone out hunting when he noticed the building and decided to check it out, see if there was anything left worth the effort of looking around. He figured he may as well, he'd already found dinner and was just on his way back to camp to finally rest.
Astarion idly wondered who — or what — had been the reason for the house's previous occupants to no longer be here. The front door had been partially ripped from the doorway and so far the place looked to be in complete disarray. He picked his way through the first room, the kitchen, not finding much of note. Through the kitchen then came a living room, also in bad shape. There were several books strewn across this room, he picked up a few that seemed interesting and placed them in his bag, he could always use more reading material.
He then made his way down a hallway and into the first room on the left, finding it in a bit better shape then the other rooms he had been through. The room had a sewing machine on a desk in the corner, fabrics that had once been folded neatly on shelves now strewn haphazardly on them. A craft room, whoever had previously ransacked the place hadn't been particularly interested in it but Astarion could stock up on some supplies in here.
He'd let slip that he knew how to sew once and Karlach had come to him in hysterics over her favorite stuffed bear, Clive she'd called it, having been damaged and asking him if he could fix the bear for her. He'd obliged, if only to get her to calm down, though there had been a warmth that spread through his chest when he was done and saw how happy and grateful Karlach had been. Ever since then if someone in the group had some tear in their clothes or blanket, they'd come to him and ask if he'd be able to fix it. So he begrudgingly took up the mantle as the group's tailor, and if he found some small happiness in doing this for the others, well they didn't need to know that (he had a reputation to keep up of course.)
He started slowly going through drawers, picking out out some threads and needles and a few other small sewing accessories that would be helpful. He wasn't going to take any of the fabric, it being too large and bulky to carry on the road. As he stood up, ready to move on, something on the ground next to the drawers he'd been sifting through caught his eye. He bent down and picked it up. It was a stuffed animal, shaped like a wolf, one eye missing and a tear down its tail where stuffing was coming out. It looked quite sweet, even with the damage that had been done to it. It would be easy enough to fix it up and then…maybe Barry would like to have it. It did remind Astarion of them and he remembered them cooing over Clive once he'd returned the bear to Karlach. He stared at the toy, thumb rubbing over the soft fabric before placing it in his bag as well and heading out.
--
It was a couple days later with the group once again settled in camp for the night that saw Astarion sat in his tent, looking through some buttons he'd grabbed from that abandoned house to see if he could find something that would match the little wolf stuffed animal he'd picked up. He'd already washed the poor thing up as well as he could the other night and now it was definitely dry enough to work on. He wasn't having any luck find a match for the current button eye, but he had found a pair of pretty blue buttons, so he decided to just remove it as well and replace them with the new pair. He set to work, grabbing small scissors to cut the threads of the remaining button eye and swiftly clipping them, pulling out the little remnants of thread from the stuff animal's face. Once that was done he threaded his needle, tying a knot at the end and began sewing the new eyes on, adding a few extra stitches to each to try to keep them safely on the wolf's face this time.
Once he was satisfied they were secure, he moved onto repairing the wolf's tail, humming to himself while he threaded his needle again and took his time stitching along the previous seam to close it up where it had torn open. He turned the wolf over in his hands when he was done, satisfied with his work; it looked almost as good as new now.
Now…he just needed to find a good time to give it to Barry. If he didn't catch it by itself in the next few days then he'd just have to visit it in its tent (he didn't need the rest of the group seeing him gift the toy to Barry, he'd never hear the end of it if any of them did.)
--
Astarion was once again returning to camp after going out hunting. It had been a couple days since he'd finished fixing up the wolf plush for Barry and he hadn't had a chance yet to give it to them. As he walked into camp this night though, he spotted that only Barry seemed to be up and still sitting at the campfire, no one else in sight.
This was his chance!
He quickly walked towards his tent, nodding his head towards Barry when they paused working on their lute, waving a hand at him and smiling. He ducked into his tent, riffled through his bag where he'd been keeping the plush to make sure it was still there, then picked the bag up and walked back out towards the fire.
"Back so soon? I thought you were laying down to rest," Barry commented, smiling over at Astarion again as he sat down next to it, hands working on polishing up its lute.
"And I thought you would already be asleep, so imagine my happy surprise to see you still awake. I wanted to talk to you alone, so this works out well," Astarion replied smoothly, hiding the tinge of nervousness he was now feeling. It was just a gift he wanted to give his friend, there was no need for him to be nervous! (But what if they didn't like it? What if they thought the whole thing was stupid? Ugh.)
"Oh? You could have grabbed me whenever you wanted bud, I'm always happy to talk," Barry seemed satisfied with the state of its lute now, setting it aside and turning its focus fully towards Astarion.
"It's not an urgent concern or anything, I actually have something to give you," Astarion replied, reaching into his bag to grab out the plush, deciding to just hand it over instead of being coy about it.
"You have something for—" Barry's words were cut off as they gasped, seeing the wolf plush held out in Astarion's hand towards them. "You got that for me?" Their eyes widened, a grin overtaking their face at the adorableness of the toy, tentatively reaching a hand out towards it.
"Yes, I found it one night when I was out hunting and er…I thought you might like it," Astarion placed the wolf in Barry's outstretched hand and they immediately pulled it towards themself, looking closely at it and rubbing the soft fabric with their hands.
"Like it? I love this Star, thank you so much! I love stuffed animals, I used to have so many as a kid…this is really sweet of you, thank you for thinking of me," Barry hugged the wolf to their chest, still grinning, and gently bumped their shoulder against Astarion's. He tensed a bit before smiling back at them, warmth spreading through his chest at how happy they looked.
"Well I'm glad I saw it if you like it so much. I did have to repair it in a couple spots so if anything else happens to it, just let me know and I can fix it."
"I'll let you know if anything comes up. I can't tell at all where you had to repair it, you did a great job working on it! Y'know, I used to sew when I was younger, I can remember a few things about it, but maybe you could show me some basics again? I'd love to get back into when we have some down time…and only if you want to show me, you don't have to of course!" Barry assured Astarion, not wanting to sound like they were trying to make him teach them.
Astarion let those words sink in before softly replying, "I wouldn't mind going over the basics with you, it wouldn't be any trouble…perhaps you could teach me a thing or two about music as well then? As you said, only if you would like to."
"I'd be more than happy to do that! Did you used to play an instrument?" Barry questioned, head tilting adorably to the side.
"I ah…I used to play the piano…I think. I don't remember much about it but it would be nice to see if I could at least read sheet music again…" Astarion glanced off to the side, melancholy taking over his features.
"Hey…I may not know anything specific to playing piano, but I can definitely show you how to read sheet music again, and maybe once we get to Baldur's Gate, we can find somewhere for you to try out playing again, yeah?" Barry spoke quietly, trying to keep a hopeful attitude up for Astarion.
The vampire looked back at them, a small smile on his face, and nodded. The two then sat there for a while in comfortable silence, both looking into the campfire as it slowly lowered.
Barry sighed, still petting and fidgeting with the plush, and glanced at Astarion. "I guess we should head to bed huh?"
"True, we both need our beauty sleep," Astarion smirked, glancing back at them, and Barry snorted.
Barry was hesitant as they spoke up again, "Before we do head to bed…could I hug you?"
Astarion lifted an eyebrow as he looked at Barry questioningly.
Barry stammered, "I just, this was very nice of you and, I don't know, friends hug yeah? I uh, kinda just would like to hug you, if you would be alright with that…" They trailed off, looking down at the plush in their hands.
Astarion stared at it for a moment, this sweet fool sounding so nervous over just asking for a hug…something he had thought about wanting from it before as well.
"…I would like that…"
Barry looked back up at him before a small smile grew on their face again. Astarion opened his arms and Barry shifted closer to him, wrapping their arms around him, one hand still holding the plush so it was pressed against Astarion's back as well. He settled his arms around them, taking in how warm they were, how comfortable their hold on him felt…the two stayed like that a moment before Astarion pulled away, Barry sitting back up as well.
"Thanks, Astarion, and sorry for being uh, a bit weird about that, haha…" Barry smiled sheepishly at him and it was Astarion's turn to snort.
"It's quite alright Barry, honestly I think everyone in this group would or has been weird about touch so…we both fit right in."
Barry nodded, then stood up, picking up their lute in one hand and holding the plush close to them in the other. "Thank you again, Star, for this," they wiggled the wolf in their hand, "it makes me really happy that you thought of me, and that you put in the effort to fix the poor thing too," they smiled fondly at him and Astarion swore his dead heart skipped a beat.
"It's no trouble darling, though if you tell anyone it came from me…" Astarion trailed off menacingly as he stood as well, though his face and demeanor betrayed the fact that he was joking.
Barry giggled, shaking their head, "I know, I know, you have a reputation to keep up. We can't let anyone know you're actually a softie underneath everything else."
"Exactly. I ah…I am glad you like the gift so much. I'll bid you good night for now Barry," Astarion tilted his head towards them as he started heading towards his tent.
"Yeah, good night Star! I hope you rest well," Barry grinned again before setting off for their tent as well.
--
As Astarion laid down, he couldn't help the fluttering in his chest, try as he might to calm it down. Giving Barry the plush went better than he had hoped, but now he felt like a schoolboy with a crush, the feelings he had been trying to ignore popping up in full force. They'd been so warm when they'd hugged…gods these feelings were making him feel like a fool, Barry was so sweet but he had no hope that they might feel the same for him as he was starting to feel for them. Even so…he did appreciate their friendship and he would be happy so long as they stayed friends. He shook his head as if to rid his head of these thoughts, then rolled onto his side, closing his eyes and trying to relax so he could finally rest.
--
Barry sat its lute down before sitting down itself on its bedroll, looking over the plush once again. It felt a bit choked up that Astarion would think of it like this, even going to the trouble of fixing up the little wolf before giving it to it.
It had been a long time since they had been thought of like this, given a present, just had someone care about them. They weren't sure they'd properly expressed to Astarion how much this meant to them, to have a something of their own given to them by a friend…they'd try to make sure to let him know again how much they loved the little wolf. For now they toed off their shoes, set aside their glasses, and settled down in their bedroll, holding the plush close as they drifted off to sleep.
Peter checks the mail everyday after school. Aunt May bought him a packer. It showed up today.
A box lay in the mail with his name on it. Due to impatience, he opened it without May.
As soon as he saw what was inside he started giggling. Peter couldn't stop. He managed to for just a moment to call Mr. Stark and say he got a fake dick, before giggles burst out of him once more.
again, no real title other than more sebpainter! another surface au (owned by the lovely @feligayzed) fanfiction!
wordcount of 2.8k (whoops), more of a hurt/comfort thing this time around. please enjoy! i had a lovely time writing this
The first few weeks back on the surface were the toughest for Sebastian. Everything was new, despite how much he wished it wouldn’t. His body, despite being close to what it used to be, wasn’t all perfect, and the world had changed fast in the years he was gone.
So- once he was finally released from the medical hell that proceeded leaving… there- Sebastian found himself locking up in his bedroom for days on end. It was small enough that he didn’t have to move around much to get from place to place, a welcome relief to his now-aching body (would it always be like that? He hoped not).
He knew it was unhealthy, but he didn’t really care. He didn’t want to be outside, and the outside probably didn’t want him either. After all, he wasn’t fit to be part of the public anymore. He’d missed so many years of humanity to know what was relevant and what wasn’t anymore, not to mention he barely looked “human” anymore. The patches of scales itched and constantly caught his hair (which, itself, was a mess he never had the energy to fix), and the missing finger on each hand weren’t doing any favours either.
But, that was all he could really do with the shitty hand life chose to give him. And he’d much rather rot away alone than deal with returning to the world anyways.
-
Sebastian had been holed up in his room for a while now, p.AI.nter noted. It was the same thing every day. He wouldn’t even come out to get food or water, leading to the bot needing to bring it to him itself. As much as it knew Sebastian needed time to adjust, this seemed a bit… much.
Steeling its nerves, it walked up to the door Sebastian had been hiding behind. With a huff of its fans, it knocked, soft as to not startle him.
“Sebastian? It’s… well, you know who I am… Um- can I come in?”
The air was silent for a long while, to the point p.AI.nter almost thought he had fallen asleep, which wasn’t uncommon these days. He never got rest back at Urbanshade, and it was almost like his body was trying to catch up on the sleep he missed.
Right before the bot could turn to leave, it heard shuffling coming from inside. Cusses mixed with ruffling fabric and clicks against the wood floor as Sebastian made his way to the door. It opened a crack, bright blue eyes peering out at p.AI.nter. Nothing moved, before the door creaked open enough for it to enter.
Not wasting a single moment, p.AI.nter stepped into the room and shut the door. As to be expected, the interior was… well, it was a mess. Dishes and silverware piled up on top of an old dresser, clothes strewn about on the floor to the point that the wooden boards were barely visible. Leaning against the nearby wall was Sebastian’s walker, which he seemed to have a sort of vendetta against with how much he hated to use it. His bed took up the majority of the room, the sheets ruffled up presumably from him dragging himself out of it. The curtains were drawn closed, bathing the room in a dull orange light from the thin fabric.
Turning to face the man himself, p.AI.nter could see Sebastian was in no better condition than his bedroom. Messy and knotted hair framed his face, but the rats-nest couldn’t cover the heavy bags under his eyes. His clothes were all too loose for him, the faded band tee looking more like a dress than anything else, and his shorts were baggy and barely held up by the drawstring. One hand grasped his cane for dear life, the other gripping the nearest dresser edge to hold him up.
“Well? What do you want?” Sebastian’s voice was rough and low- from disuse, p.AI.nter presumed (did he really talk that little anymore? p.AI.nter didn’t want to believe it).
p.AI.nter shook itself out of its thoughts. “Right! You’ve been pent up here for… a while-” A scoff slipped from the other, it chose to ignore it. “-so I was thinking you… came out and got some air? Just out on the porch.”
“No.” His answer was immediate. The mattress squeaked as he sat back down on its edge, hissing at the soreness of bending his knees again.
Another huff of p.AI.nter’s fans. “Come on, how long’s it been since you had any fresh air?”
“I open the window from time to time.” Sebastian looked away, mumbling. A quick glance at the windowsill showed it was covered in dust from disuse.
“Sebastian, please?”
“I said I’m not doing it.”
The room fell into silence for a long time. p.AI.nter didn’t want to give up this easily, but it couldn’t think of anything that would work. That is, unless…
“If you do it, I’ll do whatever you ask. One request of any kind..?” It was a bad offer, it knew that much, but maybe it was enough to convince Sebastian.
Again, silence. p.AI.nter fidgeted nervously in place, looking anywhere but Sebastian.
“Paint my nails.”
The reply jolted p.AI.nter out of its thoughts. It turned back to Sebastian, meeting his gaze.
“That’s… That’s it?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that ‘anything’ didn’t include everything.”
The bot quickly jumped into motion, waving its hands in front of itself. “No, no! If that’s what you want then that’s what I’ll do.”
Sebastian just hummed, the sound resonating in p.AI.nter’s system. Gosh, his voice was so nice to listen to sometimes… it shook its head. It couldn’t be thinking like that right now.
“Stay right here. I’ll be right back!”
-
Sebastian was going to regret this, he felt it in his bones (alongside that constant dull pain, the hope that it wasn’t permanent was beginning to fade). Outside meant people could see him, and people seeing him meant… he didn’t want to think about it.
He didn’t get up from the mattress, waiting for p.AI.nter to return. It had run out of the room nearly as soon as he agreed. He looked around as he sat, his gaze hardening as his eyes landed on the walker leaning against the wall.
It wasn’t that he hated the object itself, but the thing it represents instead. How he couldn’t even function properly like how he did before. Before they came and took him for no good reason, ripped him apart and put him back together, and-
The door creaking open pulled Sebastian from his thoughts. In the doorway was p.AI.nter, with a hairbrush and towel in hand.
“I know we aren’t going to be outside much, but I thought you’d maybe like to clean up a bit before we did?”
Sebastian didn’t move, letting p.AI.nter do what it wanted. Despite how he acted, he was glad his companion still cared for him.
The bot took a seat behind him, crossing its legs as it reached out for his hair. Sebastian jolted as soon as he felt fingers brush up against his hair, tensing up in fear. He couldn’t let anything touch him, if he did then he’d be brought back, stuck in that too-small cell-
Again, p.AI.nter pulled him out of his thoughts (how does it keep doing that, he wonders?) with a soft, “Sorry!”
“It’s… It’s fine. Just don’t do that again.”
p.AI.nter slowly made its way off the bed, leaving what it brought in next to Sebastian.
“Here… if you want to clean up. I’ll wait outside.”
-
p.AI.nter groaned, holding its screen in its hands as it sat down in the hallway outside. Of course it had to mess this up. It was trying to make Sebastian more comfortable, and all it did was make him more upset.
It sat alone for a while, its self-pity party broken only by the door opening. Peeking through its fingers, it could see Sebastian carefully shuffling out of his bedroom. His hair was carefully combed (although still messy, that would never change) and his face was washed off. Still in his faded shirt and shorts, he was careful with one hand on his cane and the other on the doorframe.
“Hey…” p.AI.nter stood, but it didn’t approach Sebastian again.
“Hi. Let’s get this over with.”
The bot nodded, walking alongside him, still not touching. Their pace was agonizingly slow down the hallway to the front door, but p.AI.nter didn’t mind the time.
Sebastian on the other hand, very much minded. Under his breath he mumbled curses and words of anger at his situation. p.AI.nter couldn’t help but feel bad, but it still didn’t act on it. It didn’t want to upset him again.
After what felt like nothing to p.AI.nter and everything to Sebastian, they made it to the door outside. p.AI.nter turned to the other, its eyes looking everywhere but him.
“Ready?”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.”
The door opened with a small squeak, and the front room was bathed in the afternoon sunlight. A gentle breeze ghosted through the grass and leaves, filling the air with a quiet white noise.
p.AI.nter was the first to step outside, a smile quick to be drawn on its screen. It had been so long since it had really seen the outside world. It never got the chance to just sit outside and enjoy it, something was always filling that time instead.
It took a seat on the first step of the stone stairs leading up to the entry, patiently waiting for Sebastian to join it. He did, after a moment. A quiet groan escaped his lips as he lowered down to sit. p.AI.nter said nothing, just returned to looking around.
Thanks to the calm conditions of the day, the other people in the neighbourhood were also out and about, either in their own yards or walking the sidewalks. The sight softened the bot’s expression. They were all so peaceful, it thought. Nothing threatening their safety, nothing dull in colour, no one trying to rip them from their family and trap them in a lone cell, force them to do mindless tasks for god knows how long… p.AI.nter shook its head. It shouldn’t be thinking like that anymore. It was safe, they both were.
p.AI.nter didn’t even realize how much time they spent outside until its gaze again landed on the man next to it. He was shaking, his grip on the handle of his cane tight enough to turn his knuckles a sickly white.
“Sebastian?” It said nervously. “You’re shaking…”
He didn’t turn to look at p.AI.nter, still staring straight ahead. “Can we go?” He managed to croak out, the last words dying off into wisps of air.
Something was seriously wrong. p.AI.nter stood, nodding. “Yeah- Yeah, of course we can. Let’s… let’s get you inside now.”
It stood, Sebastian slowly following its actions. His return inside was much faster than p.AI.nter expected, its heart lurching at the sight. He was forcing himself to speed up to go inside, probably hurting himself in the process. All because of some dumb idea it had…
The walk back to Sebastian’s room was silent, save for the clink of metal on the wood-panelled floors. p.AI.nter opened the bedroom door, letting him in as it followed behind. Sebastian made a straight beeline to his bed, burrowing under the blankets and hiding his whole body under them.
p.AI.nter said nothing, instead it just took a seat on the edge of the bed to watch over the lump under the covers.
-
Sebastian hid. Hid from the sunlight (it was too bright), the breeze (the chill it sent down his spine was very unwelcome), the people (they were so loud and they kept staring oh god they wouldn’t stop-). So he stayed under the blankets of his bed, where he knew it was safe.
It was darker out when he finally peeked his head out, his gaze landing on the bot sitting nearby. It had left the edge of the bed hours ago, now sitting against the wall opposite of the bed. It was clearly lost in drawing, the screen displaying a bright landscape instead of the usually messy eyes and grin.
“What are you drawing?” He asked, his voice filling the room with something more than just cooling fans.
The sudden sound caused p.AI.nter to jump in place, a large, accidental brushstroke covering its artwork. It quickly undid the mistake and saved the file, returning to its face.
“Ah- nothing. Just the usual…”
The room again fell into an awkward silence, neither of the two wanting to look at each other. Sebastian looked down at his hands clutching the edge of the blankets, the promise from earlier in the day resurfacing in his mind.
“You know, you still owe me that promise. Nail painting, remember?” He didn’t look up as he spoke.
The only sound that came from the bot was the near-silent movement of its joints as it stood.
“What colour?”
“Black.”
It only nodded, leaving yet again to find where it kept its real paints.
-
p.AI.nter found itself sitting back on the mattress of the bed within minutes of leaving, right across from Sebastian. Next to it was a small palette, a small dollop of black paint on it (though the orange light from the sunset and old curtains made it look strangely different). In its hand was the thinnest brush it could find.
Truthfully, it didn’t really know what it was doing. It had never painted nails before, but it assumed it couldn’t have been much different than actual painting- much to its joy, it was right.
In order to try and make Sebastian a bit more comfortable, it began to play a local radio station from its speakers. It kept the music quiet to focus, but it was loud enough to be audible.
Sebastian didn’t say anything, but before long he was softly humming along to the tune of a song p.AI.nter didn’t recognize. Both looked down at his nails as they were all carefully covered in a thin coat of black paint.
They stayed like that for a long while, even after p.AI.nter was done with the nails. The paint needed to dry, after all.
The music was cut off with an exhale of p.AI.nter’s fans. It took a moment to collect its words. “Sebastian, listen,” It began. “I’m so sorry for today. I didn’t mean to make you feel so upset.”
p.AI.nter waited nervously for a reply. It wasn’t expecting for Sebastian to magically forgive it of everything it did, but it hoped he wouldn’t be pissed at it either.
“...It’s fine. I know you didn’t mean to. I probably shouldn't have freaked out on you like that either.”
It looked up at Sebastian, eyes widening. “No- you shouldn’t be apologizing here!” Its volume raised slightly. “You had said you didn’t want and I basically forced you out and I even made you upset before everything and-”
“p.AI.nter.” His voice cut through its nervous ramblings. He sounded annoyed, but it knew better than to assume that’s how he really felt. “You said you’re sorry, I said it’s fine. That’s all, alright?”
“...Yeah, alright.”
Sebastian hesitated, before looking up and meeting p.AI.nter’s gaze. “Besides, I got a free manicure out of it, didn’t I?”
p.AI.nter couldn’t help the laugh it let out, quiet and glitchy. “I guess that’s a pretty good plus side to this whole thing.”
The room fell into another silence, but this one was much more comfortable than before. Dusk turned to night, the only light in the room the dimmed screen of p.AI.nter’s face. It stuck around as Sebastian slipped back under the blankets, sitting comfortably at the foot of the bed to continue its scene from before. It tentatively hit redo on the accidental brush stroke from before. Maybe it could find a way to work that mistake into the landscape…
-
Sleep came quickly for Sebastian as he curled up beneath soft blankets. He kept his hands above the covers, careful to not nick them. Taking another glance at the black paint, a dumb grin grew on his face. By no means were they perfect, but to him they were everything. He shut his eyes, listening carefully to the soft droning of p.AI.nter’s fans. And if that night was the best sleep he had in years, he never admitted it.
Summary: Barry gets too caught up in their own thoughts and Astarion comforts them.
Read here on AO3 or under the cut!
Barry sleepily blinked open their eyes, waking up in their darkened room in the Elfsong Tavern. Astarion was still asleep, his head pillowed on their chest and an arm thrown over their waist. Barry closed their eyes again as they pressed a kiss to the top of Astarion's head, breathing in his scent as they did. Honestly they should just try to go back to sleep, there was no rush to get up and go now that the Elder Brain had finally been taken down and the world wasn't ending at any moment, but they already felt too awake now to do that.
They continued to lay there with Astarion in their arms for a few minutes, thoughts turning towards what the two of them would do now that they weren't helping to stop the world from ending. The rest of their friends had gone off there separate ways for now, though they knew they'd keep in touch with them as much as possible.
There was so much that could be done now. Aside from the world no longer being in imminent danger, Barry and Astarion were now free from their masters, and there were no immediate plans they'd settled on yet to move forward with.
What did Barry want to do? Gods, they hadn't really been able (hadn't been allowed) to think about what they wanted to do, well…most of their life. Did they know how to want things? Sure, the past several months had helped with that some, but there had still always been something huge looming over the group that needed to get done (from getting the tadpoles out of their heads to saving the world), so that's what would be focused on and get done. Even when the group would work on other things, Barry always put their friends' wants and needs before thinking of what they wanted or needed. The group had tried to help them with that as well but old habits die hard and it was still something they tended to do. Add that to the list of things to work on…
If it knew one thing, it wanted to help Astarion be in the sun again. They'd talked about it before the big battle, knew that there was no way they would be taking over the Elder Brain to hold onto the tadpoles and allow Astarion to continue to be in the sun that way, but it still felt horrible about it all. There was that brief moment of hope after everything was done and maybe, just maybe, the sun wasn't going to hurt him…and then that all came crashing down as his skin started to burn and Barry cast Darkness as quickly as it could. Astarion deserved to be in the sun again, he deserved the world and if it could give it to him, it would. If there was no way for him to be in the sun again, it would make a way for that to be possible again.
Barry was sure Astarion would be happy to work towards that goal as well of course, but he'd want to know what Barry wanted to do, not just to help him or anyone else, what did it want for itself? Its breath started coming in shorter bursts, its mind blanking on anything that it could want for itself. It was so tired, not in a way that it could fall asleep, but tired in every other way. What the hell was it supposed to want? What did "normal" people want? How the hell was it supposed to just figure this shit out??
It was starting to shake now, hot tears building up and threatening to spill down its cheeks. Its breathing quickened more, and it knew it needed to calm down or it was going to wake Astarion. It tried shifting out from under him without disturbing him when a sob caught in its throat and a strangled noise came out as it slapped its free hand to its mouth but it was too late. Astarion whined and shifted, blearily blinking his eyes open and looking up at Barry. As he took in its distressed state, he quickly sat upright, eyes wide with concern.
"Barry? Are you alright, love?" he spoke quietly, tentatively reaching a hand out towards them. Barry's face crumpled at their beloved's words, shaking their head as the dam broke and tears flowed down their face, sobs escaping in short bursts as they tried and failed to control their breathing.
"I'm sorry," they struggled to get those two words out as they broke down, shakily taking Astarion's hand.
"Oh pup, you don't need to be sorry," Astarion murmured, squeezing Barry's hand and rubbing his thumb over it soothingly. "Was it another nightmare?"
Barry shook their head again and tried getting their breathing under control so they could speak, but it was hard when they were so far into a meltdown, it just lead to them hyperventilating more as they grew upset at being unable to explain why this was happening.
"Can you try breathing with me, so you can tell me what's wrong?" Astarion reached his free hand up to Barry's face as he spoke, cupping their cheek and guiding their head up a bit so they were looking into each other's eyes.
Barry looked back at him and nodded, so Astarion started taking slow, deep breaths, and Barry did their best to follow suit. They were shaky and their breath hitched a few times but as they focused on the sound of Astarion breathing and his chest rising and falling, their own breath started to level out. Tears still ran down their face, slower now though, and Astarion gently pulled his other hand out of Barry's and cupped their other cheek, running his thumbs over both cheeks to wipe away the tears.
Barry closed their eyes, leaning into Astarion's touch as their breath finally settled to a more even rate. They were still shaking slightly, but they'd be able to talk soon, as soon as they could muster up the energy for it, now fully drained from the meltdown. Astarion saw how exhausted they looked and moved closer to them, arms moving to settle around their back. Barry pressed forward, wrapping their arms around Astarion and leaning their head against his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to their forehead, rubbing their back in slow circles and gently rocking the two of them back and forth in an effort to soothe his love.
"…thank you," Barry finally spoke up after a few minutes of being held, pulling away from the hug to sit up, though still close enough to lean against Astarion.
"Of course, love. Would you like to tell me what got you in this state, hm?" Astarion slipped his hand into Barry's once again, and they squeezed his hand gratefully.
"Oh you know, I was just doing what I do best, thinking about anything and everything until I'm spiraling," Barry grimaced, then sighed before continuing. "I was just thinking about what we're supposed to do now that there aren't any pressing threats, now that we're free to do whatever we want…I tried to think about what I want to do, came up blank, and it just went bad from there."
Astarion hummed in understanding, thumb gently rubbing over Barry's hand as he responded, "It is hard, having the freedom to do whatever we want, isn't it? At the very least we don't need to do anything immediately love, we can take some time to figure things out. And honestly we deserve a break after all we've gone through, yes?" He cocked an eyebrow and Barry let out an amused huff, nodding.
"And you don't have to figure everything out on your own, though I know you love trying to take it all on yourself. You have me, pup, and I'll be here to help however I can. We can take it slow for a while, then we'll decide what to do together, and we'll both keep working on wanting things," Astarion smiled warmly at Barry and they returned his smile, grateful for the reminder that they didn't need to do all of this alone.
"Thank you, my Star. I need to work on not getting so stuck in my own head…but there'll be time for that. We have all the time in the world, yeah?" Barry said.
"Exactly, my love. Now after that ordeal, would you like to lay back down with me for a while? We both deserve some more rest," Astarion offered.
"That does sound like a good idea, babe, I'm…so tired now, heh. And maybe we can take a bath when we get up?" Barry asked.
"That is a perfect plan, I'd love nothing more than that." Astarion brought their hands up to his face, kissing the back of Barry's hand.
Barry smiled tiredly, then settled back down into the bed, laying on their side and facing Astarion. Astarion followed suit, pulling the blanket farther up the two of them and then slipping one arm over Barry to pull them close.
"I love you Star," Barry murmured as they closed their eyes, feeling safe and content now in their love's arms.
