rules: i'll give you five words. find the word (or closest approximation you can) in your works and post an excerpt. tag others to play and give them new words too!
thanks so much for the tags, @xxnashiraxx, @vividiana, @deadly-diminuendo, @bloodinwine! i am, of course, doing every single one of all your words, so this one's gonna be a bit long, but why not? it was fun going back through some of the fics i haven't looked at in a long time~
dream
In her struggle to wake, she had anchored herself to his presence in her own mind, heart thundering loudly in her chest as she had finally torn herself from the dream as if surfacing for air.
( adrift, chapter 1 )
fire
When he pulls back to look at you, his eyes are the fire that finally sets you alight, blazing red embers that simmer with need. You feel warm, almost deliriously so, as the heat that had been pooling low in your stomach begins to ebb throughout the rest of your body.
( denouement )
pull
The anger that's been simmering inside him erupts, and his eyes flash in warning. But she meets his ire with determination, either too drunk or too stupid to realize what she's done. The memories she's pulled to the surface, long since locked away.
( mist and shadow )
sweet
( vis medicatrix )
His eyes pin you in place, wine-dark and hungry. You're left with no option but to look at him as he watches you carefully, considering. “Or are we going to pretend that you're not aching for my cock already?” His voice is honey-sweet, rich and thick and sinfully decadent.
tears
Tears well in her eyes, blurring her vision. Ysera brushes them away with the back of her hand. She seethes with anger, both for herself and for the lives that were lost because of her inaction. Astarion practically wilts beneath the venom in her gaze.
Her voice is strained and stretched thin when she finally finds it.
“You really are awful, you know?”
( adrift, unpublished chapter )
sunshine
The roaring of the rapids is what finally catches her interest, and she stops on the river’s edge, gaze trained on the churning, frothing water as it rushes past. The whispers in her mind are an ever-present companion, especially after sunset, like an itch she can't quite scratch. It's easier to drown out their mournful serenade here where there is so much else to draw her attention.
( adrift, chapter 3 )
melt
The snow is falling thickly now, settling in an icy blanket along the rooftops nearby. Astarion makes a small noise and sighs quietly through his nose, resisting the voice in his head that tells him how ridiculous he must look when he sticks out his tongue to catch a snowflake drifting towards him. No sooner has it melted on his tongue than does he hear Ysera's muffled laughter beside him, hand clapped over her mouth when he turns to frown at her.
( frost & flame )
stay
( adrift, chapter 5 )
It's almost concerning how much she likes it. How, for the first time in her life, she feels like she can be of use to someone, instead of just a burden.
She likes that, too.
Astarion makes a show of gathering the remaining blood on the corners of his mouth with a flick of his thumb and licks the digit clean. He never stays for long once he's finished with her, but tonight it seems he has other plans in mind, and it's more than just the weather that's keeping him.
smile
Astarion’s mouth was made for sly smirks and flirtatious grins, but the tender smile that spreads across his lips now looks better than any of them, the hard edges of his face smoothed by Gale’s profession of love. It suits him, Gale thinks – he will dedicate his efforts to ensuring that Astarion will never again need to hide behind the echoes of his past.
( between the lines of fear and blame )
greed
“Greedy little thing aren't you?” he says, his eyes darkening. He steadies himself with a hand on your hip and hovers over you, lowering his mouth until he's just above your lips.
“How lucky for you that I'm feeling exceptionally generous tonight.”
( ravenous )
blood
His rage is a volatile thing, barely leashed behind the fangs he presses into her throat. A soft whimper escapes Ysera's lips, and she clutches at his shirt. Somewhere on the periphery of his mind, he realizes he's hurting her, but the rush of blood that pours into his mouth as he punctures her neck without warning washes the thought away on a current of red. Her pulse pounds in his ears, and with every swallow he can feel his own strength returning.
He had been purposely avoiding her before, vexed by his concern for her wellbeing, but it all seems so pointless now.
( mist and shadow )
lips
( khywren's kinktober 2024, prompt 8 )
“You’ve got me dead to rights,” he says eventually, hands held up in surrender. The irony occurs to him, then, and he giggles mischievously, “Well, even more dead than I already am, of course.” When she doesn't laugh at his joke, his expression sours, lips pursed as he pouts miserably at her and sighs. “My humor is wasted on you.”
sun
“She sat with me until sundown and made sure that we – that I – had somewhere safe to go,” Astarion continues. His smile turns sardonic as he adds, “In that moment, all I could think of was how weak and ashamed I felt, and she never made me apologize for any of it. She never has. I've never understood why.”
( khywren's kinktober 2024, prompt 11 )
tempt
“I’ve been thinking about it ceaselessly, that delicious little moment we shared.” His voice is low, all gravel and practiced temptation, so quiet that it forces Ysera to focus only on him. And it's not exactly a lie, far easier to weave into the fabric of the fantasy he hopes to paint in her mind.
( adrift, chapter 5 )
adore
There's a sort of aloof detachment in her voice that Astarion finds rather amusing. It's the same sort of subterfuge he often uses, one of his favorite habits that she's picked up from traveling with him these past few weeks.
Oh, she isn't nearly half as subtle about it, wiggling her hips in his lap as she is now, but gods if her efforts aren't adorable nevertheless.
Astarion spares a cursory glance at the book in her hand, a roguish grin spreading across his face as he finally understands why Ysera chose this night in particular to pay him a late night visit.
( khywren's kinktober 2024, prompt 4 )
soft
With a soft sigh, Astarion grasps Gale’s hand and brings it between them, lacing their fingers together. He smooths the pad of his thumb across the back of Gale’s hand with absent, subconscious strokes. It is a profoundly romantic gesture, one of many that Astarion has gained a proclivity for since their settling in Gale’s tower in Waterdeep. Through mirroring the comfort that Gale’s touch has brought him during their time together, Astarion has begun to learn how to use his hands not to hurt, but to heal.
( between the lines of fear and blame )
lust
( what am i supposed to do (but sink my teeth in you?) )
He revels in bringing her this uncontested pleasure, safe in the knowledge that no one has ever made her feel so whole, so complete. His eyes rise to meet her own, so dark with lust that the rich gold of her irises has become like molten honey. She watches him with rapt attention, committing the moment to memory as best she can.
promise
( mist and shadow )
One after another over the course of the evening, he has watched from afar as the tieflings that had survived the journey to Last Light have circled her like vultures, taking what they needed from her – reassurance, hope, a promise to ensure their safety. Alfira is but the latest scavenger, coming to collect the final scraps.
And Astarion is furious. At the tieflings, for being too weak to carry their own weight. At Ysera, for letting them use her without a second thought. And at himself, for being no better than any of them.
faith
“The terms seem rather generous, don't you think? You have so little faith in me.” She clearly doesn't believe that he can avoid waking her, even with the tea to lull her into a deeper sleep. “I'll remind you that I am a rogue – and a rather skilled one at that.”
Ysera remains unconvinced.
“You're also a man,” she says confidently. “Most of you lose all rational thought the second the clothes start coming off.”
( khywren's kinktober 2024, prompt 6 )
death
Astarion had begun his new life – his undeath – on his knees. How strange it had felt, to be on the other side of the equation, as Ysera had knelt so willingly at his feet and offered herself to him with no strings attached.
What else might she be willing to do for him with the right amount of persuasion?
( adrift, chapter 5 )
i know most of you have been tagged or done this already, but if any of you feel like doing it again, here's your chance i guess. 😅 that's what i get for always being super late to the party.
no-pressure tagging: everyone who tagged me, plus @verbenaa, @nyx-knox, @roguishcat, @pinkberrytea, @obsessedwhyyes, @elinorbard, @ladyduellist, @nerdallwritey, @hellethil
