"I'll do my best to keep up," Astarion says, setting the other DVD case
back onto the shelf. He goes to retrieve the tablet he plays them on.
"Shall we share the bed?"
He's still sore, honestly, and lying down has appeal.
She is, down to her core, a practical and suspicious woman now. A survivor, who trusts only her own people in the entire world, because the entire rest of the world is out to take what she needs to survive at best, to kill her or worse at worst.
But Astarion is her people, and something in her eyes softens.
"Astarion," she says, softly, and offers a gloveless hand to him. "D'you remember what I said? That I'd hear anything you could say to me?"
She'd advised to give himself some grace, to take some time before expecting himself to function again, so she holds steady and then accepts his retraction.
She drops her hand to her lap, still watching.
"Alright - so what's that leave you, then?" she asks. "Sitting on it, letting it rot you from the inside out? Or is it just me you can't talk about it with?"
"Neither. It's...a splinter," he says, figuring that if she can use
physical injury as an analogy then it's fair game. "I want to allow some
time for it to work its own way out before I go digging around with
tweezers."
She's been setting the majority of her own feelings aside, which she's good at when there's a need in front of her, be it her own or someone else's; she'd resolved to keep doing so for as long as she could, or as long as Astarion needed, whichever ran out first.
But even that small contact feels good to something she's not looking at, something that'll be easier to deal with later for having it; she keeps her promise, doesn't try to take his hand, but she does brush the tip of her thumb over the backs of his fingers lightly before tipping her head to invite him to the bed beside her.
"There's nothing to thank me for," she assures him, nonetheless.
"There is," he says, and stretches out alongside her. "You've long since
been decent and patient with me in a way you might see as nothing, but -
I. I don't."
"Well, I am a decent and patient person." She is not. She is markedly not either of these things, and her wry tone advertises that she does in fact know this.
She lets him get settled and then flops back herself, shifting onto one hip so she can see the tablet too.
"You're one of my people, cariño. You have my heart for as long as you want it."
Astarion smiles, faintly, while something sour and bitter writhes in the pit of his stomach. Everything feels...
He doesn't want to think about it. The fight is out of him. Easier to touch and be touched. To concede. If he's choosing that instead of having it thrust on him, then it's...fine.
She sees it, something shadowy and hidden, something unknowable to anyone but him; she doesn't know what she said or did, or maybe even just what she is, that hits on it.
She's dug enough for now. She'll keep her hands to herself, as promised, unless or until he initiates. She smiles for the return words, and nods at the tablet.
"Ready for your introduction to John Hughes films? They're a whole thing."
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 12:05 am (UTC)"Breakfast Club, every time. Although it's high school stereotypes, so I suspect I'll be doing a lot of explaining."
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 12:09 am (UTC)"I'll do my best to keep up," Astarion says, setting the other DVD case back onto the shelf. He goes to retrieve the tablet he plays them on. "Shall we share the bed?"
He's still sore, honestly, and lying down has appeal.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 12:19 am (UTC)Jacob did tell her that he hadn't wanted to be touched last night, after all.
"Could I interest you in another massage?"
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 11:06 am (UTC)"I-"
It sounds nice, he won't deny that. But.
"Something, ah - something happened. During the breach. I'm still...digesting it, so to speak."
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 02:16 pm (UTC)She sits down on the edge of the bed anyway, reaching down to untie her boots, to remove her knife.
"D'you need a sounding board?"
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 02:37 pm (UTC)"I don't think so. It's, ah-"
He swallows the lump in his throat.
"There are certain things I didn't think any version of myself would care to do, and - I was wrong."
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 02:42 pm (UTC)But Astarion is her people, and something in her eyes softens.
"Astarion," she says, softly, and offers a gloveless hand to him. "D'you remember what I said? That I'd hear anything you could say to me?"
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 03:03 pm (UTC)"I do. And I'm sure that if you were to guess what I did, you'd be correct very quickly."
He reaches for her hand with his own, then twitches it away, fingers curling in.
"I would just...prefer not to talk about it."
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 03:07 pm (UTC)She drops her hand to her lap, still watching.
"Alright - so what's that leave you, then?" she asks. "Sitting on it, letting it rot you from the inside out? Or is it just me you can't talk about it with?"
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 03:51 pm (UTC)"Neither. It's...a splinter," he says, figuring that if she can use physical injury as an analogy then it's fair game. "I want to allow some time for it to work its own way out before I go digging around with tweezers."
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 04:00 pm (UTC)"Alright. I'll keep my hands to myself."
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 04:08 pm (UTC)"...Thank you," Astarion says, and then exhales slowly. His fist loosens; his fingertips touch hers.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 04:22 pm (UTC)But even that small contact feels good to something she's not looking at, something that'll be easier to deal with later for having it; she keeps her promise, doesn't try to take his hand, but she does brush the tip of her thumb over the backs of his fingers lightly before tipping her head to invite him to the bed beside her.
"There's nothing to thank me for," she assures him, nonetheless.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 04:41 pm (UTC)"There is," he says, and stretches out alongside her. "You've long since been decent and patient with me in a way you might see as nothing, but - I. I don't."
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 04:52 pm (UTC)She lets him get settled and then flops back herself, shifting onto one hip so she can see the tablet too.
"You're one of my people, cariño. You have my heart for as long as you want it."
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 05:04 pm (UTC)Astarion smiles, faintly, while something sour and bitter writhes in the pit of his stomach. Everything feels...
He doesn't want to think about it. The fight is out of him. Easier to touch and be touched. To concede. If he's choosing that instead of having it thrust on him, then it's...fine.
"...I feel the same."
That, at least, is true.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 05:43 pm (UTC)She's dug enough for now. She'll keep her hands to herself, as promised, unless or until he initiates. She smiles for the return words, and nods at the tablet.
"Ready for your introduction to John Hughes films? They're a whole thing."
no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 05:50 pm (UTC)"A whole thing, you say? Very well, darling. I'm not sure how prepared I can be, but - consider it so."
He reaches for the Play button.