Shout of to nensha for beta-reading and not getting killed by my comas. Or the absence of them...
Also I feel like my initial thought of 3-4 chapters was wrong. It more feels like 5, maybe 6.
Hope you enjoy it, we got a bit of humor and a bit action in this one!
And some Astarion!

One week earlier.

"Urrrrg." Astarion made his resentment heard. Tav ignored it.

"I said: uuuuurrrrg!" Astarion added a bit more drama to his annoyed groan and completed it with eye-rolling. Finally, he earned Tav's attention that way.

"What's the matter?"

"The matter? Well, I want to know why the two of us stumble through the forest at dawn while the rest of our companions can already relax at the camp fire," Astarion nagged.

"Well, unless you want to eat nothing but Halsin's herb salad tonight, we gotta hunt a deer or boar... or at least a rabbit for some stew."

"And why couldn't you drag one of the others into the woods for that...? Or do it on your own, since you're the great ranger?" Astarion sighed.

"Aren't you an apex predator or something? Now stop complaining. The sooner we find something, the earlier we can go back to camp." Tav headed deeper into the forest, through thorny bushes and tall grass.

Astarion stared at his back and wondered for a second if he should just leave him and sneak back to camp. Tav wouldn't probably even notice. Unless...

A smirk crept on his face. Maybe there was another reason why Tav had asked him to go deep into the forest... at dawn... alone... just the two of them?

Quickly he caught up to Tav.

"Soooo, tell me," he chirped, his voice as sweet as poisoned honey, "... how was your night with Gale? Was he gentle? Were you rough? Did he use magic in the bedroom? Please tell me he did. Did he, maybe, make your clothes vanish or use a bit of electricity? That could be exciting."

"What?!" Tav stumbled over a small and well-hidden mound, hopped around on one leg and waved his arms like a bird before he caught himself again. "I am not answering that!"

Astarion let out another annoyed groan.

"Don't be so prude! It's so boring out here, nothing of interest ever happens in the wilderness. Share at least some juicy details with me! Did he lure you in with some cheesy lines from a poetry book? Something about stars or magic, maybe?" He started to circle Tav, slowly.

"Poetry book...? What... do you mean?"

"Oh, come oooon. I have very good ears, you know? I hear conversations I am not supposed to hear. And dearest Gale seems to have a habit of gaining your attention through these typical lame lines from cheap poetry books like... I don't know. The Art of the Night, or something similar," Astarion said with a shrug but noticed some change on Tav's stern face.

"Oh. I hit a spot, didn't I," he purred with a wicked grin, showing off his fangs in the dim twilight.

"Is that a... well known book...?" Tav asked carefully, but Astarion wasn't stupid.

"So he did! My, I was just giving an example!" He laughed. "Kinky Gale. Who would've thought."

"Kinky?" asked Tav with some uncertainty in his voice.

"You probably never heard of it, right? It's a book that circulates in Amn. Most of the newer versions one can find are already censored. It's... well, how to put it... slippery lecture. Well, leave it to the walking encyclopedia to woo someone with a book... and to think that it even worked..." Astarion hummed, now standing in front of Tav. There was something in his eyes, a predator gauging up its prey and Tav visibly tensed up. "You know, if I had known that you're into poetry and such corny lines... I would've brought a book, too." He put a hand on Tav's chest, staring deep into his eyes.

Tav blinked a few times but then frowned and took Astarion's hand away.

"Wait. Are you thinking that is happening here..?"

Astarion gave Tav a questioning look and took a step away.

"Well... yeah, obviously! The whole chit chat about needing my hand to hunt was just made up, wasn't it? I mean, like you would need my help to hunt down a rabbit. You could've just told me you want sex. I sure wouldn't have declined...!"

"You got it wrong, Astarion..."

"You're kidding, right? Your eyes have been undressing me a couple of times already. You're really bad at hiding that, you know..."

Tav crossed his arms over his chest and just stared at Astarion with a deep frown on his face.

"Wait. You're serious. But... don't tell me now it's because of Gale? I mean, it was just sex. Wasn't it? You two were drunk. It was a party. Of course you bunked together. Or... wait." Astarion narrowed his eyes and took a real good and close look at Tav. Suddenly he gasped in playful shock. "Don't tell me you caught feelings for the wizard!"

"That's none of your business," Tav grunted through gritted teeth but avoided Astarion's gaze – and that told Astarion all he needed to know.

"Oh, darling." He shook his head and flung an arm around Tav's shoulder. "You're too easy to read. Hiding your thoughts... is really not your strength. But let me give you a fair warning because I came to like you: Gale's not much better than me. He just hides his intentions behind fancy and charming words. I am more the kind of person who openly says what he wants... and yet people think I am the bad guy! I mean... I am. But that's not the point. The point is: if I were you... I would enjoy the man as long as I can, have fun, by all means, let off steam. But seriously, don't waste your time."

"Would a stake through your heart make you shut up finally?" Tav hissed and Astarion lifted his hands in a defensive manner.

"My, my. No reason to get mean."

"Then let's get to work."

What if Astarion had been right? Tav sat on the edge of the bed, the morning sun shone through the windows and he could hear the busy streets of Baldur's Gate. Gale was still sleeping, with one arm stretched out where Tav had been lying.

Tav decided to just watch him. The slow, yet steady movement of his body, his hair all roughed up, some faint, red marks on his back that told a thing or two about their night together. To Tav the sleeping Gale looked ravishing right now - and yet it seemed impossible to keep the dark thoughts at bay.

Tav closed his eyes for a moment but it couldn't be helped. The way Gale had looked at Mystra... again. And Astarion's word echoing in his mind. Don't waste your time. Gale's not much better than me.

That wasn't true. Was it?

Tav almost flinched when he suddenly heard a mumbled "g'morning" next to him. One adorable, sleepy Gale stretched in the bed, beamed a happy smile at Tav and reached out to pull him into his arms – but Tav winded himself out of the hug, stood up and started to search for his clothes.

Gale frowned slightly and sat up. "I wasn't planning to have my way with you, I just wanted a kiss...," he explained, sounding a tad worried, a tad irritated.

"Sorry, didn't notice," Tav just muttered under his breath while getting into his pants.

But Gale was far too subtle to buy these words. "You seem to be very eager to get out of bed already. Is everything alright?"

Tav held still for a moment and lifted his head, staring at the wall. He wasn't someone to tackle on his emotions. Hells, he would rather bury himself in an owlbear's nest than talk about his feelings. But Gale was asking for it – literally.

Tav turned around.

"Gale what... is this between us?" he asked and pointed at himself. "What are we? What am I to you?"

Gale watched Tav, obviously choosing his next words with care but before he said anything, he decided to stand up and close the distance between them.

"I told you already. I cherish you. Nothing about that changed in the past weeks. If anything, it just feels more intense now than ever before..." Gale said softly. "You've put your trust into me and I value that. A lot. I enjoy our adventures together as much as just your company, our conversations... even if I do most of the talking. But I adore the way you listen," he continued with a wink and one of his oh-so-charming smirks. "And I certainly enjoy our nights together, too."

Tav already felt smitten again and hated it. He wished to be half as good with words as Gale but this time he promised himself not to get lured in. And just the fact that he mentioned their shared nights now, after staring at Mystra's image after they'd slept together, made Tav angry.

"So you do," he growled. "Well, maybe we can spice that up, even more! How about... next time you just conjure her image over my face while we're doing it?" Tav didn't want to sound so pissed but his voice was not really caring about what he wanted.

Gale stared at him in honest confusion.

"Why would you say such a thing?" he said, sounding actually hurt. "That's not fair. You know that I-" Suddenly, painful realisation showed on his face. "Oh. You... were awake, weren't you. You... saw it."

Tav groaned and dropped his gaze again.

"Yes. And... I know, I get it. You sometimes have this need to see her, feel the Weave, she's your muse, your inspiration and I am just some guy but... can't you wait with such things until I am not next to you in bed, at least..."

Gale closed his eyes for a second or two and pressed his lips together, taking in a deep breath.

"I am sorry," he then said, trying to appease. "If you would just let me explain, there is a reason... I mean, it's not a good reason, but..."

"Save it," Tav said, sounding tired.

"You're not just some guy," Gale insisted in a serious tone. "You're very important to me. I am not lying about this."

"I know. You're not a liar. Never been. But you like to keep the truth close to yourself... and only reveal as much to me as you think I deserve, don't you."

"Again: not fair. You know my truth already," Gale pleaded and put a hand over his heart. "It is not something I reveal to everyone, every day...! How many people would shove me away from their side, knowing what menace I am? But you didn't and there are no words for how much this means to me. But that doesn't free me from being foolish and doing foolish things and I...," he made a helpless sound, "... understand you're angry, rightfully even. But I really think we should talk about it, if you would let me explain-"

"Let's just go," Tav interrupted him. Words. Words never got anything done. "We have a long day ahead of us."

Gale let out a defeated sigh, knowing that the conversation was over.

"As you wish."

"I know that the streets of Baldur's Gate can be dangerous and I appreciate that you didn't bring one of the others along because this is a rather personal issue to me. But... do you really need to keep this... uhm... thing at your side?" Gale asked carefully and glanced at the giant spider next to Tav while they walked through an empty and narrow alley. The creature had the size of a boar, not even including the eight long, hairy legs, and was of a radiant green colour. Apparently, the spider had slept the whole night on top of the roof of the inn, because after leaving the tavern, it just dropped down in front of Tav. A few innocent people had to witness that and ran away. Screaming.

"Hey! He's no thing. He has a name," Tav said a bit offended.

"He does? What is he called, Spidey? Arachnea?" Gale asked amused.

"Peter Skittler Junior."

"What."

"Peter Skit-"

"I... I heard you the first time. Why would you... give your spider such a name?" Gale wanted to know.

"Oh, that wasn't me. I asked him about his name and he told me. He's named after his father, who was my companion before."

Gale was silent for a few moments.

"His father."

"Yeah. Giant spiders hatch in small clutches. Between six and ten eggs. Their clutches usually get protected by the male spider."

"May I ask what happened to Senior?"

Tav suddenly got silent. He threw a quick and rather tormented look at his spider companion before he continued to walk down the alley.

"We don't talk about this," he finally answered and quickly wiped a tiny tear out the corner of his eye. Gale raised one eyebrow while watching Tav's back but then decided to catch up to him.

"You're a very odd man, you know that?" Gale said fondly and gently nudged Tav's shoulder before he smiled at the spider and gave it a friendly nod. "Well, alright then, Mr. Skittler... pleased to make your acquaintance."

"How's a giant spider odd? You had your own tressym, if I recall correctly."

"Ah yes, sweet Tara. I remember her fondly... well, it's not the spider itself that is odd, it's more..." Gale started but noticed how Tav looked at him, confusion written all over his face. "Never mind. Where are we heading?"

"A tavern near the docks. Not in the best neighbourhood but in my youth I, uhm... used to be there a couple of times. It's an inn where the scum of Baldur's Gate meet but also the best place to get information. If we want to know more about this priestess, we might as well start there. But I am not kidding. This place is dangerous, so make sure to stay close to me. Folks there like to have wizards from Waterdeep for breakfast and I mean that literally," Tav explained.

"Doesn't that sound enticing? But don't you worry, I will make sure not to leave your side," Gale sneered.

It couldn't be that bad.

Or...

Well. Maybe it could.

Once they reached The Hanged Man, Tav made sure to carry his short sword in one hand and have his crossbow ready to draw. The taproom of the inn was crawling with vermins of both animal and humanoid nature; pirates and bandits, cutthroats and figures cloaked in dark robes. Hissing human-thumb-sized cockroaches were fighting with fat centipedes over lost pieces of food – or a lost finger. The floor was awfully sticky and permanently discoloured due to regular, deadly bloodshed.

One might think a tavern like this would be more or less empty at such an early hour but instead it appeared that night just never ended in here. Most of the windows were boarded up and sunlight, as well as fresh air, had a hard time to get in here – though the breezes that did manage to get through smelled like fish and sea salt anyway. Even then it could barely be recognized over the horrible, foul stench that filled the inn.

"You used to be a regular in here...?" Gale asked and shuddered a bit. He could endure a lot – he'd walked with Tav through phase spider infected caverns, the creepiest places of the Underdark, saw goblins roasting a dwarf and waded through a hag's rotten swamp. And yet this was another league.

"Not a regular. I said I sometimes came here."

"For what reason...?!"

"Told you. Best place for information. Now come on. The longer we just stand in the door and stare, the more likely we get stabbed."

They walked over to the bar and could already feel dozens of eyes on them, but it seemed that the spider's company kept anyone from doing something stupid. At least for now.

A burly half-orc with putrid breath and a snout-like nose grunted at them. Probably meant 'hello, guests, how can I help you?' in his very own language.

Behind him on the wall one could read numerous notices from the city of Baldur's Gate, proudly on display like an odd wallpaper.

"Charming!" Gale said and looked around, sitting down on one of the bar stools while Tav took the one next to him, facing the owner of the inn.

"Want something from the special menu," Tav said and slid a gold coin over the counter. "The Eighth Sister of Mystra. Does that ring any bells?"

The half-orc grunted again, took the coin and bit it before he let it vanish into his pocket.

"Sure does. Half of town talks about nuffin' else these days. Says she will blow up da newly built House of Wonders."

Gale turned around. "Surely no cleric of Mystra would blow up a temple, even if it's a Gondite one."

The half-orc shrugged and Tav gave Gale a strange, silent look, which felt almost like a warning. Then he slid another piece of gold over but this time he didn't take his hand off it.

"Where to find her?" he asked.

"Well, here's da thing. Many dumb folks look for her because they say she's blessed or something, ya? Also Gondites wanna find her and word has it that da Red Wizards are after her too. Must be some powerful witch, that Eighth Sister."

"That wasn't my question," Tav said, slowly taking the gold back.

"Wait!" the bartender yelped and slapped his hand on Tav's who immediately felt a rush of disgust running through his body because of how awfully sticky these half-orc's fingers were, "I dunno nuffin' but see them folks over there? At the table? Been ordering rounds of Ale da whole morning, claiming they had a nice run in the Twin Song district, if ya know what I mean. Talk to them, they sure kno' sumthing."

Tav turned his head a bit, glancing over to a round table with five cheering guys that looked rather dirty – in many ways.

"Thanks," he said, letting the innkeeper have the gold while fighting the urge to punch him in the face for touching him.

"Sure thing. Friends of Mr. Skittler are always welcome." The half-orc said.

Gale turned towards Tav and stared at him, then at the spider.

"Don't ask," Tav just said and stood up.

"Let me guess: you don't talk about it?" Gale asked with a raised eyebrow and Tav just gave him a smirk. He was about to walk straight over to the table of shady people but was held back by Gale. "Wait. We might want to make sure that they don't cut our throats just for saying hello, don't you think?" Gale said and turned towards the half-orc behind the bar. "Bring a round for us and these fine gentlemen, will you? Let it be something more expensive than Ale." He let coins wander over the counter and then gave Tav a nod to get going.

"Well, well, look what the rats dragged in, guys," a tall, one-eyed bugbear sneered, gazing up Tav and Gale after they'd come to their table. "What are you two supposed to be? A chicken and a fox? Wonder who of you two tastes better." He grinned widely, exposing his yellow teeth. He gained a round of rough laughter from his company.

"Actually... we're three," Tav said casually and stepped aside, giving view on the giant spider that made a strange clicking noise. The bugbear frowned and exchanged a quick look with his drinking buddies.

"Well! Guess that's the fine dessert then!" he said but didn't sound that brave anymore.

"As much as I love to exchange recipes on how to cook humans and giant spiders, we are here to talk about something else," Gale said with a polite smile the moment the bartender carried over a tablet with shot glasses. They were filled with a foggy substance and had a strong, alcoholic odour. For a second or two the group at the table was actually silent – but then they cheered.

"Butter my ass and call me a biscuit, I like the way you two say hello! You got one minute to tell me what you want," the bugbear claimed and downed his shot. He grimaced heavily but then let out a happy burp.

Tav and Gale both pulled a chair towards their table and sat down. What a bunch of losers, thought Tav and took a good look at each of them. Their leader was obviously the tall bugbear. Then there was a guy with a charming, toothless grin. Next to him, a woman with such a cut up face that Tav wondered, if there was still a person under all those scars at all. A guy with a beerbreath strong enough that he could probably kill small critters just by exhaling. And last but not least, the most ugliest gnome he'd ever seen.

"Twin Song district. Whereabouts of the Eighth Sister of Mystra," Tav cut directly to the case, focusing back on the bugbear.

"Eh. What makes you think we know shit about her?"

Tav shrugged and pulled a silver ring out of his pocket.

"Ring's yours if you have information for me."

The bugbear scratched his hairy face and stared for a good while at the ring, visibly lured in by its obvious value. The other thugs at the table started to mumble with hushed voices and observed their gang leader carefully.

"Sooo, here's the thing. We were… shopping last night in the Twin Song district and maybe we saw several new folks, cleric folks, in a certain house of worship. And maybe we even saw a young girl among them, accompanied by a lot of tough looking guards in full armour. And maybe they carried a certain symbol on their armour that looked awfully close to the Mystra emblem." He stretched out his hand. Tav dropped the ring into bugbear's palm while holding his gaze. "Temple of Selûne. If you're lucky, the clerics are still there," the thug said and put the ring on his finger, admiring its silver shine.

"Pleasure to do business with you. Enjoy your drinks!" Gale said after he and Tav stood up from their chairs to leave.

"Yeah. Pleasure indeed," the bugbear said slowly, a strange spark in his eyes. Tav could still feel the eyes of the group on his back as they turned to leave this rotten place.

Back in broad day light, both Gale and Tav had to take in a deep breath of fresh air. Even if it was filled with the salty breeze of the docks, it felt like a refreshing ointment for the lungs.

"That reminds me of a time I accidentally stumbled into a duergar tavern," Gale started.

"How does one stumble into a duergar inn by accident?" Tav asked sceptically.

"That's a long story for another time. Suffice to say, I wasn't very welcome there so I decided to order one of their local beers, to fit in with the crowd. I suppose it saved my life that day that I was able to order it in fluent Undercommon! But I learned the hard way that the mushrooms they use to brew their beer have interesting side effects on the human body."

"Like what?" Tav asked curiously, already hooked on the story. Some people – well, mostly Astarion – claimed to be annoyed by Gale's constant talking but Tav loved all these little stories. He'd never really left the wilderness around Baldur's Gate until the whole tadpole incident but Gale surely came around. He was such a literate man, speaking so many different languages, been to all the big cities and well-hidden corners of Faerûn, played dragon chess with fairy queens and drank beer with duergar. And Tav... was just plain old Tav.

"Hallucinogenic ones!" Gale answered amused, interrupting Tav's dark train of thoughts. "It was wild. I forgot most of the things I did that evening and I am sure that's for the better," he said and laughed, "Only thing I remember was me waking up with one hells of a headache next to two duergar with really beautiful beards. Up to today, I don't know if they were men or women... hard to tell with dwarves."

"Living the wild life, Gale?" Tav smirked.

"Ahh, don't tell me you didn't have your own wild experiences," Gale said, throwing Tav a wink.

"Not really," Tav mumbled and already felt his cheeks glowing again, "I mean... I have experience! But... not like you. Boring stories. A grateful farmer because I hunted down a ferocious boar... a handsome bartender because I once helped a village with their ogre problem..." He shrugged, not feeling that comfortable to talk about this topic. Tav glanced over to Gale. "Guess the wildest experience I had was... well... you," he admitted but quickly cleared his throat. "And I know you got a witty comment on your tongue about that but swallow it!" he threatened. "Or I will have Peter shut you up."

"Do I want to know how Peter's going to do that...?"

"Spiderwebs," Tav said dryly and Gale chuckled but then frowned and turned his head a bit.

"We're being followed," he said casually and Tav nodded.

"I know. The minute we left The Hanged Man. They'll probably just wait for us to get into a dark, empty alley."

"Well, shall we do them the favour...?"

A thin and evil smile showed up in Tav's face.

Oh yes – they would do them the favour.

Sometimes, thought Tav, it seemed like Baldur's Gate was made of dark alleys alone. You could walk down the main street full of life, take one wrong turn and five minutes later you'd find yourself in a silent labyrinth, large walls of old warehouses to the left and right, not letting the sunlight touch the ground at all. Crates stacked up against the windowless walls, cats chasing mice and a lonely seagull crying out. A barking dog could be heard in the distance and not even the beggars claimed these alleys at the docks.

"Let's just teach them a lesson. There's no reason for us to draw unwanted attention by murdering a group of thugs," Gale said quietly and put a hand on Tav's arm.

"Think they'll be missed?" Tav grunted but just got a pleading gaze as an answer. "Fine. Can't make any promises, though."

They both started to walk slower and finally stopped, turning around. It came to no surprise that the five faces they saw were familiar. The bugbear, the toothless, the scarface, the beerbreath and last but not least, the impressively ugly gnome.

"I have to say, you guys didn't look that ugly in the darkness of the tavern but gods, the daylight is not nice to you!" Gale chirped, his hands behind his back. A golden shimmer surrounded him, indicating that he'd cast a Mage Armour on himself.

"Look who's having a big mouth, guys. The tasty chicken!" the bugbear taunted, weighting a large mace in his hand.

"Wait. I am the chicken? I thought you were-", Gale said, turning to Tav.

"I got the red hair. So of course I am the fox."

"Not fair."

The bugbear blinked irritated.

"Are you two dunces even aware what's happening here?! We're mugging you. Maybe you shouldn't have waved around with your big money in the tavern, ordering the most expensive drinks for us and shit! So hand over your purses and belongings and this doesn't need to take an ugly end."

Tav exchanged a quick glance with Gale and then everything happened rather fast.

"Tormentum!" Gale yelled with commanding voice, pulling his right hand up behind his back for a throwing motion. Five small, glowing missiles found their targets through magic guidance, exploding into the face of each thug. Tav used the moment of surprise to seek cover behind one of the crates. He quickly glanced towards the sky, searching for something at the walls and smirked.

"Get the wizard!" the bugbear shouted angry and in pain at the other bandits. As uncoordinated as only a drunk tavern scum could be, they charged at Gale who just smiled at them and didn't even try to move out of their way.

The ugly gnome met the pavement face forward, after being tripped up by Tav who at the same time greeted beerbreath with an elbow into the face.

"Touch him and I rip your heads off," Tav growled and grabbed the toothless at his cowl, spinning him around and landing a heavy hit with bare fist right between the eyes. He heard the ugly sound of a nose being broken.

The Scarface slipped past Tav, eager to ram her dagger into the damn wizard but Gale just lifted his other hand, his fingers engulfed in flames and a cocky smirk appeared on his face before he threw the fire at the bandit – who rightfully started to panic because her clothes were instantly set ablaze. She threw herself on the ground, trying to quench the flames by rolling in the dirt.

"You cursed amateurs!" their leader shouted from behind and decided to take things into his own hands, grabbing his giant mace and storming straight towards Tav, who barely even struggled with his three opponents.

A horrific hissing and clicking noise could be heard, followed by a spitting and not a second later the bugbear was covered in thick, sticky spiderwebs. With a shocked yell he tried to free himself from the white glue but a large shadow quickly skittered down the wall of the warehouse and jumped, burying the bugbear under its large body.

"Peter! Don't let it end like the last time!" Tav yelled and ducked under a poorly aimed hook to the chin.

The giant spider seemed to hiss in protest but instead of injecting deadly venom or eating its prey alive, it started to wrap the bugbear into a cocoon. Muffled screams of terror could be heard. That view alone was enough for the scarface and so she quickly made off into the distance, leaving a smouldering cloak behind.

And while the beerbreath and the ugly gnome were busy getting their ass whacked by Tav, the toothless thug stared at Gale with anger in his eyes. He jumped up and used the momentum for a quick hit with his right fist. Gale stumbled backwards, caught by surprise after being hit into the face. Fortunately, the magic armour around him had soaked most of the damage.

"Hey! Not nice!" Gale protested, rubbing his cheek. "Vieni tu da me!" he chanted and snapped his fingers – and suddenly, the toothless got slapped across the face by an invisible force. With eyes wide open, he hastily looked around for the culprit but Gale was standing a few feet away, not even moving his hands and Tav was busy with the other two thieves.

"And again," Gale said, watching how the bandit got another slap with so much force, that it made him stumble. "Aaaand again."

"Witchcraft!" the toothless yelled out in fear and wiped some blood from his cracked lip.

"Actually, it's magecraft in this case but let's not be picky," Gale said and happily watched how the drunk and now bloody idiot ran down the alley, to flee from the scary wizard.

Gale turned to look if Tav needed any help but judging from the passed out ugly gnome to his feet and the beerbreath pleading for mercy, he didn't need a hand. There was a certain lust for blood noticeable in Tav's eyes but ultimately, he let the man go and flee like a coward.

"Touch him and I rip your heads off?" Gale quoted and watched how Peter proudly presented a wincing bugbear bundle, neatly wrapped into a thick cocoon of shimmering silk.

Tav had to steady his breath and didn't react right away.

"That your way of being romantic?" Gale added.

"Maybe," Tav scoffed and reached out with his hand, gently touching the spot were Gale had been hit. "Let me see that. Does it hurt?"

Gale winced a bit.

"Not really. It's nothing. You know, I almost got snapped in half by a chuul once and-" he started but then just paused and put his own hand over Tav's. For a moment they just looked at each other, blood still running hot from the fight. Tav wasn't even aware that his thumb gently stroked Gale's cheek but he did feel his heart cramping once again. It was like something inside of him boiled up and wanted to go out but he wasn't even sure what it was.

"Gale, I- this... this morning..." he started to stutter but got interrupted by a sound to his feet.

"Awww, you two are cute..." the frazzled ugly gnome muttered, about to regain his consciousness.

Tav frowned and with a heavy kick into the guts he sent him back into the world of dreams.

Screw this, thought Tav.

"Let's just go and look for the temple of Selûne," he said.

"Tav." Gale's voice was serious as he held him back, stopped him from turning around to walk off.

"You... said there was a reason. You also said it wasn't a good one but... you said there was a reason," Tav finally let out.

"Still thinking about it, hm?" Gales asked carefully, a look of guilt appeared on his face. "I wish you haven't seen that. If I had known you were awake, I wouldn't have- I mean-"

"It hurt."

"I... am aware."

"So..." Tav took in a deep breath because for some reason it was incredible hard to form these words, "... why?"

Gale let out a sigh and started to wander around a bit.

"What you told me... basically threw me into cold waters. There are so many what if's in this story all of a sudden, things I never considered, questions I never dared to ask. What if she is my daughter. What if she is a Chosen One. What if she is an Avatar of Mystra. What if she is all of these things. I... I couldn't sleep with all these thoughts running through my mind, all these questions that soon shall be answered in one way or another. Being cloaked in the Weave usually calms my nerves, helps me to focus and I guess, on instinct, I drew up her picture as well. I thought... what if I actually have to face Mystra again? What would I say? What would she say? I wanted to be prepared, thought her image would help me to do that... but instead it just drew this... this longing up inside of me."

Tav felt a sting in his chest.

"And to answer the question you might want to ask now: I still don't know. Looking at an image of her, even drawn from the Weave itself, is certainly not to be compared with being in the presence of the goddess herself. I guess, ultimately, there is no way for me to be prepared for what's to come. I know. It's probably not what you wanted to hear. But I am glad you're with me to face the challenges ahead."

Tav nodded slowly.

"It doesn't make my words from this morning less true, though! I do cherish you. A whole lot."

"Yeah," Tav said, gnawing on his bottom lip. "Cherish. You like to use that word." He went over to pet his spider companion.

"Well, what word would you use?"

"Love, Gale," Tav said blunt. "That's the word I would use."