[ It sounds like a gripe, complete with a dramatic groan, but Astarion can't suppress the upward turn of his mouth at the thought of Gale's entirely unselfish joy. He takes the cloak and slings it over his shoulders, tying it tightly so that it doesn't accidentally slide off. One last look at Iorveth, and—
He returns to the side of the bed to kiss him again, this time on the top of his head. Reginald definitely had a point about their codependence, but he's in no position to listen to it. He unlocks the door and leaves Iorveth to rest.
Gale does, in fact, hug him. Tightly, and Astarion makes a whole scene of pretending to be put out by it. Gale tears up a little, and Astarion pokes fun at that, too, although it's toothless. Afterward, he allows Gale to ask whatever questions he wishes, although he doesn't have many good answers for most of them, something Gale finds out when he asks a question about the Cloak of Dragomir and Astarion furrows his brow and says cloak of who?
He requests that Gale allow him to explore his library after that, but as he's hesitant to come right out and explain that he's looking for a way to cheat death, he simply says that he's interested in learning more about magic— and gods, is that a mistake. Gale comes back with a stack of books so high that he can barely see from behind them, explaining that it's a collection for beginner wizards — "Usually seven or eight years old, but the basic principles are invaluable no matter your age!"
By the time evening rolls around, Gale paces in front of him in the sitting room, launching into his third lecture on magic while Astarion can barely keep his eyes open. "Now, the Spellplague was a disaster heretofore never experienced by practitioners of the arcane arts. Cyric, as well as our good friend's former Lady, Shar herself— are you listening?" ]
no subject
[ It sounds like a gripe, complete with a dramatic groan, but Astarion can't suppress the upward turn of his mouth at the thought of Gale's entirely unselfish joy. He takes the cloak and slings it over his shoulders, tying it tightly so that it doesn't accidentally slide off. One last look at Iorveth, and—
He returns to the side of the bed to kiss him again, this time on the top of his head. Reginald definitely had a point about their codependence, but he's in no position to listen to it. He unlocks the door and leaves Iorveth to rest.
Gale does, in fact, hug him. Tightly, and Astarion makes a whole scene of pretending to be put out by it. Gale tears up a little, and Astarion pokes fun at that, too, although it's toothless. Afterward, he allows Gale to ask whatever questions he wishes, although he doesn't have many good answers for most of them, something Gale finds out when he asks a question about the Cloak of Dragomir and Astarion furrows his brow and says cloak of who?
He requests that Gale allow him to explore his library after that, but as he's hesitant to come right out and explain that he's looking for a way to cheat death, he simply says that he's interested in learning more about magic— and gods, is that a mistake. Gale comes back with a stack of books so high that he can barely see from behind them, explaining that it's a collection for beginner wizards — "Usually seven or eight years old, but the basic principles are invaluable no matter your age!"
By the time evening rolls around, Gale paces in front of him in the sitting room, launching into his third lecture on magic while Astarion can barely keep his eyes open. "Now, the Spellplague was a disaster heretofore never experienced by practitioners of the arcane arts. Cyric, as well as our good friend's former Lady, Shar herself— are you listening?" ]