TLV: IC Contact

[sixfeetofdirt]

Careful; I bite.

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[sixfeetofdirt]

"I can't tell you what I'm getting for her because it's related to what I'm getting for you," Astarion huffs, dreadfully put-upon, but then falls silent and crouches to pick up a stone. A few moments to listen for where the sounds of activity are densest, and then a pebble thrown into the bushes.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

He grins and readies his bow. This time, he manages to get one in a fluid movement, right through the middle. He's not as quick, so that one is enough for him.

"Piece of shit bird..."

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion giggles.

"A good shot, though. What do you have against quail?"

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"They fly too fast," he says, then glares playfully at him. "What the fuck are you cackling at?"

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Just your frustrations at such tiny creatures, Jacob." Astarion kisses his cheek.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

He rolls his eyes and stands up, stretching his arms over his head. "Alright. Now see if you can hit them right out of the trees."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Stationary targets? Traditionally you start with the easy things and move on to the challenge," Astarion tsks, but he's grinning, looking around for a likely branch as he readies his next arrow.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"This isn't a video game," he laughs. "We found the quail first."

He doesn't ready himself, watching Astarion's face instead. "Besides, you have to shoot through the branches."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Oh, is that all?"

He looks around, focusing on the trees, until he sees a few round little shapes huddled together - pheasant? Partridge? He's never been good at telling them apart.

"There," he murmurs, then takes aim and looses the arrow. It's not the cleanest kill - the shaft skims a branch on the way there, and the illusory bird is fluttering wildly all the way down - but it's definitely not getting back up again.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

He tsks.

"Eight out of ten. You fucked the landing," he says with a laugh, then takes off his bow.

"My turn."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Oh, you're scoring now? Whatever will the winner take?" Astarion asks, batting his eyelashes at Jacob.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Winner gets to pick what we do next," Jacob tells him, searching through the trees as they walk. "But I'm the one who gets to decide the scores, so your chances aren't looking good."

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion sighs, deeply put-upon.

"You're terribly lucky I like you so much, Jacob."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Yeah, I know. And we've managed to be together a while, huh?"

He spots a bird and draws the string back, resting it against his cheek as he waits for his moment.

When the bird stretches its wings to fly off, he lets the arrow go, right through the trees. It sails by a little low, brushing through the feathers.

"Fuck..."

[sixfeetofdirt]

The remark hits him somewhere so unexpected that he doesn't even tease Jacob for missing the shot.

"...we have been, haven't we? Together."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

He drops his arm, looking over at him.

"Yeah. Is that - a surprise to you?"

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion looks away, uncharacteristically flustered.

"I. I don't know. A little? I've never - I mean, not in the sense that it's been called something."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

Huh. "I guess. That alright?"

He continues to walk under the pretense of looking for his next target.

[sixfeetofdirt]

"...No. That is - it's more than just 'alright'," he decides. "I like it. Calling it something."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Yeah, me too."

He slings an arm around Astarion's shoulders. "I just know you seem skittish about that kind of stuff."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Skittish?" Astarion scoffs, but he's leaning into him. "You make me sound like a stray cat, Jacob."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Nah, you aren't a stray anymore. You're like Aylin...if she lived on the streets a while. Now she's got someone. Couple of someones," he explains, holding firm to him.

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Rosita's compared me to a cat, too. In the sense that I'm particular about who I'm pleasant to," he adds, "not the biting."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Yeah, well, I don't actually mind the biting," he says with a laugh. "So - together, huh?"

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Yes. I don't know if there's another word I'd want to use," Astarion says. "But I like this. Being - together, with you."