Thank you for the tag, @lilhumanoid! I loved reading the morning dynamics between Jamie and the other companions!
Prompt: what does the average camp morning look like for your crew? (Or night, depending on preference)
Gentle tags for @elceewunjo, @burnt-by-marigolds, @theya-art, @endermal, @litsenn, @spillingteanotpermitted, @lucretiouswept, @optimisticgrey, @roguishcat, and anyone else who would like to join in!
Nighttime is far more lively among this group of companions, widely through the influence of Miss Fortune who is essentially a nocturnal creature. Mornings consist of everyone waiting impatiently for Miss Fortune to rouse themselves and be functional enough to start the day.
We'll focus on mid-late Act 3 because I've covered camp life in Acts 1 and 2 in my fic already and Miss Fortune devolves into a self-destructive rat bastard in early Act 3.
Divider by @/lemongrassgfx
Evenings in the "Camp"
Evenings at Elfsong Tavern are a time for the companions to come together after a long day of adventuring and take respite in one another. Miss Fortune has a strict and unpopular no-alcohol policy until after official business concludes, insisting everyone have a clear head when debriefing on their activities for the day. (Shadowheart breaks the rule most frequently and unapologetically.)
Miss Fortune and Astarion have a private room on the floor below the large suite by mid-Act 3, which they retire to immediately upon returning to the tavern. The pair quickly fall into an intimate domestic routine of helping to take one another's fighting leathers off.
Not because they cannot do it themselves but because there is comfort in taking a mental inventory of their lover's injuries or lack thereof, and it is grounding to slow down and feel gratitude for having survived another day together. His Majesty of course gets some love as well, if he's inside at the time. They join the others upstairs once they bathe and slip into more casual clothes, always with a dagger or three hidden somewhere on their bodies.
Once upstairs, Miss Fortune and Lae'zel preside over the evening debrief, already very much assuming the roles of spymaster and tactician. Each group of companions reports on what they did that day, what they learned, and the next action they recommend the group take. MF and Lae'zel will then consult each other and present the next day's plan to the group before dismissing everyone for dinner and carousing.
Karlach and Wyll nearly always take dinner and drinks in the tavern's common area, preferring the liveliness of a packed room with jaunty tunes played by whatever bard is in residence. Lae'zel, Minsc, and Shadowheart will often but not always join, and the others are hit-or-miss.
Gale can often be found eating upstairs with Jaheira, Halsin, Miss Fortune, and Astarion, who tend to prefer a quieter dining experience most nights. Although Astarion does still feed directly from Miss Fortune, oftentimes if he hasn't had his fill from enemies during the day they'll offer up their life essence into a monogrammed gold chalice they stole found for Astarion so that he can feel more "normal" partaking with the others.
The "upstairs" group will share stories and friendly banter until the rowdier crew comes back upstairs - sometimes Jaheira grows impatient and/or nervous Minsc has gotten himself and everyone else into trouble and will go check on them.
After the whole group reconvenes, drinks continue to flow in the upstairs suite and inevitably genial arguments, friendly bets, and silly secrets fly around the hookah while Shadowheart, Halsin, and Karlach take turns playing with Scratch. Wyll and Jaheira are the primary storytellers with ample nonsensical interruptions from Minsc.
Lae'zel by this time is in a committed relationship with Shadowheart, making her slightly more invested in integrating with Faerunian culture. Miss Fortune's morning slowness also contributes to an eventual shift to where she does not spend all evening sharpening her blades and sparring because she can do so when she wakes. She spends more time cavorting with the others.
Miss Fortune is someone who always needs to be doing something with their hands. Depending on the night, they'll either take out a sewing project or they'll offer up massages, manicures, or hairstyling to anyone interested. Touch is their primary love language so it brings them joy to dote on their friends in this way. Shadowheart and Karlach take them up on the offers most frequently, but Halsin and Gale love a good back massage too.
This continues until Astarion grows tired of sharing his darling and wants their attention for himself, at which point he will set down whatever he's doing (usually needlework or sharpening his and Miss Fortune's daggers) and begins dropping increasingly larger hints that he is a poor neglected lover simply wasting away, unnoticed and unloved *dramatic hand over forehead* until the opportunity presents itself for him to climb into Miss Fortune's lap.
PDA quickly ensues which Miss Fortune is helpless to resist, at which point Jaheira will loudly protest something akin to "Augh, the lovebirds are chirping again! Fly on back to your love nest you two," essentially rewarding Astarion for his bad behavior by dismissing them.
The rogues will often sneak up to the roof for a few hours rather than go straight to their room, holding hands and resting their heads on the other's shoulder while they watch the city nightlife bustle by down below, making catty remarks or making up ever more scandalous and ridiculous stories for the people they watch. Eventually, they return to their room to do...whatever rogues like to do in the dark.
My headcanon for order in which the companions fall asleep, from earliest to latest: Gale; Jaheira; Lae'zel; Shadowheart; Minsc and Boo; Karlach; Wyll; Halsin; Miss Fortune; Astarion.
Edit: I feel I must clarify that I only think Gale would go to sleep earliest during his tadpole adventure. Once back home in his tower and especially upon becoming a professor I subscribe to the common headcanon that he will stay up waaaay too late half the time researching etc, often falling asleep mid-read.
