"Any traps, Astarion?" Gale asked, craning his head around the overturned wagon on the road in front of them. Two mutilated human corpses were strewn between them, the stench of death pungent even with the blustery fall wind sweeping through. Blood had curdled in the dirt.

Astarion would have loved to see the wizard plant his stupid food between the jaws of a bear trap but didn't want to put Tav or Karlach in danger. Karlach seemed to know something was going on between him and Tav but refrained from saying anything. Astarion liked that she minded her own affairs.

"No, it looks like a bear attack," Astarion remarked, observing tracks in the mud and holding back a snide remark. He wanted to ask Gale if he thought bears knew how to set traps.

Karlach began lifting lids off of barrels, hoping to find food that hadn't spoiled inside. Gale remained where he was, repulsed by the smell. Tav stepped right over the bodies and forced the lid of a chest open, her back to them.

"Such a beautiful day, shame this scene has to spoil it," Gale sighed. "Not a cloud in the sky, sun just warm enough…"

"Hah! Someone was having fun!" Tav laughed, sliding items into her pack.

Astarion tried to see what she was taking while he rifled through the pockets of the dead, but could only see the tips of scrolls.

"What is it?" Gale shouted, still unwilling to step near the mess.

"Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy?" she snarked.

Karlach erupted into laughter.

"Weather boy! Gale, tell us what the sky holds!"

Gale scowled and turned away from them as Karlach continued to tease him. Astarion stepped beside Tav, peering into the chest, hoping to understand what she was talking about. One half of the chest was piled with scrolls, the other a confusing mess of leather and metal. He gingerly lifted a piece of the leather out, a strange restrictive ensemble forming as it untangled itself. It reeked of sweat.

"Gods, that stinks," he commented, dropping it back in the chest.

"Check out the thing beneath it," Tav smirked.

Astarion sighed and nudged the leather thing aside, peering at the bottom of the chest. A long, phallic object rested there, partially covered by scrolls.

"Tav, that's wretched," he laughed. "That's been inside someone."

"So have you, I'm not calling you names," Tav laughed while nudging him with her shoulder.

"Can we wrap this up, please?" Gale shouted. He could infer what they had found and still hadn't come to terms with what he had heard outside their tent. Strange, disgusting elves.

"We're coming, weather boy, hold your horses," Karlach shouted back.

Tav pulled two scrolls out of her sleeve and waved them enticingly in front of Astarion before slipping them away again. Given the contents of the chest, Astarion couldn't help but wonder what those scrolls were.

The druid's grove offered little in hospitality, and even less in knowledge in removing illithid parasites. Their best shrugged her shoulders, mentioned something about another druid lost in the woods and left them with their worms.

"I suppose we should set out to find this Halsin, then" Gale said as they departed from the grove. "Unless anyone else has a lead…?"

Everyone shrugged, including Astarion, who kept his thoughts to himself.

We haven't been apart in almost a month. When, pray tell, would any of us have time or the means to find a LEAD?

Tav glanced over her shoulder as the wooden door lowered behind them. She wished she could have razed the entire place. Gale would bitch the whole time, maybe threaten to leave them. Astarion would have a wonderful time. She sighed.

"You alright?" Karlach asked.

"Just wishing we could have found a cure," she lied.

"We'll get there, don't worry," Karlach assured, clapping a searing hand on her shoulder before jerking it away and apologizing.

Tav drummed her fingers on the flap of Astarion's tent.

"Knock knock," she sang, sloshing a bottle of burgundy wine in her other hand.

"Oh, I hope it's not a pretty little half elf here to have her way with me," he sang back.

Tav entered, grinning. Astarion was wiping his boots off with a cloth. His eyes lit up as she stepped towards him. He tossed his boots aside and smiled as she sat down beside him on the rug.

"Did you hear Gale yell at me earlier?" Tav smirked.

"What? No, did you finally tell him to shut up?" Astarion accepted the bottle from Tav.

"Called him weather boy again. He went off about elves and perversion. Karlach almost fell over laughing."

"Perversion? He cornered me at the campfire when I first joined you and babbled about Mystra's tits for ten minutes," Astarion grimaced. "I should have gutted him."

"Oh? Tell me about Mystra's tits," Tav asked, smiling.

Astarion squared his shoulders, set his jaw, and lowered his voice: his best Gale impression.

"Her breasts are the most perfect thing in this universe. All universes. They slope from her chest, full and perky," he blathered, jerking his hands around mockingly, "and bring your eyes to the most beautiful indigo buds. Ripe for pressing your lips against and-"

"What a pretentious idiot!" Tav howled with laughter. "Why would he tell you any of that?"

"I don't know! I was trying to be polite and asked him about himself. A mistake I will never make again," he grimaced. "This talk about Gale is spoiling my mood. Tell me about something else."

"Remember that chest we went through?"

"The one with the fake cock? I hope you didn't sneak that back here. I'll be sleeping elsewhere if you did," Astarion said, looking up and away. He doubted he would be able to drag himself away from Tav, but sincerely hoped the phallus was left in the chest.

"No, I didn't bring that with. I'll keep an eye out for one next time, considering your keen interest," she chuckled. "I was going to show you what I kept."

She slid the scrolls out of her robe and pressed them into his hand. He unrolled the first one.

Unseen servant. Creates a mindless but friendly form.

He unrolled the second one. Project image. Does what it says on the tin.

"What… I'm not sure I follow," he said, confused.

"Cast them. Unseen servant first, then project image," Tav whispered in his ear.

Astarion did as he was told and stumbled over the incantations of the first spell. A formless figure wavered in front of him. As he read over the second scroll, he began to see a duplicate of himself was being cast over the figure.

He gasped. He hadn't seen himself in so long. Mirrors failed him and words could never paint a clear enough picture, but there he was. He was still beautiful.

Astarion rose and placed his hands on the figure's shoulders. It felt real. It grinned back at him. He walked a circle around it, admiring his figure and handsome face. He saw why Tav enjoyed placing her hands on his waist. He saw the way the muscles and tendons in his neck teased. He could smell himself, somehow. Inviting.

Tav reclined, watching the gears turn in Astarion's head as he inspected the form.

"You've made another me," he spoke softly, lustily. "Is one of me not enough for you, darling?"

"He's not for me," Tav murmured.

"Oh? For me?"

"Mhm. He's just like you. If you cut him, he'll bleed. If you touch him, he'll respond."

The gears clicked into place.

"You want me to…" Astarion trailed off.

Commit the ultimate act of self indulgence? Vanity? He asked himself.

He searched for repulsion, hesitation, disgust, anything in himself that resisted the offer.

"I won't make you do anything. If this is too much I'll send him back to the abyss," she assured him, her voice serious.

Astarion placed his hands on either side of the face of his doppelganger.

"Do you hear me?" he asked. The skin was cool beneath his hands. Smooth.

The image continued smiling back at him, waiting. Beautiful. His eyes glimmered. Skin moved under Astarion's hands with the smile widened.

"He hears you," Tav informed him. "He just listens, unless you tell him to do something. Otherwise he'll follow your lead. I'll just watch."

Astarion looked over his shoulder, leaving his hands where they were.

"You want to watch me fuck myself?"

The words excited him as they fell from his lips. She wanted to watch him. He would be able to feel himself in entirely new ways… he would be able to see his beauty from her eyes.

"Fuck yourself, kill yourself, bleed yourself," she sighed dreamily. "Whatever you want, so long as you'll indulge me with the view."

Astarion faced his twin again.

"Take off your clothes," he demanded, quietly.

The being obeyed, stripping the same way Astarion would: shirt first, shoes, pants.

"All of them," he continued, impatient.

Small clothes removed, the figure stood before him nude. Astarion admired the form, circling him again, his eyes trailing the curves and angles of his body. Unlike Astarion, the form hung flaccid in front of him.

"Touch yourself," he commanded. The figure placed its hand on its chest.

"Touch your cock you fool. Stroke yourself," Astarion hissed.

The form complied, shutting its eyes gently as it worked its member in its hand. It's lips parted and short breaths came out. Astarion wondered if this was what he looked like to Tav. It had to be. The figure pulled and teased its cock the same way he did, squeezing all the way down the shaft. It felt strange to see it and not feel it himself.

Astarion stripped himself and stood before his doppelganger again. He glanced over his shoulder. Tav was watching, hungrily. His cock twitched in his hand as he stroked it.

He pressed his lips to the mimicking form, the feeling of two identicals meeting overwhelming. Their tongues met, opposite angles creating perfect resistance. The feeling of sameness was more shocking than familiar.

Astarion had been with men before. He knew how to suck cock and he knew how to lean over a bed, but this wasn't a man. This was him. No matter what he did, he was only pleasing himself. His doppelganger responded the same way he did to having his hair pulled and his lip bit.

"Make yourself cum," Astarion whispered before clarifying. "On me. On my cock."

The figure pumped harder before releasing hot strands onto him, moaning.

Astarion heard his mimic moan. It was so feminine, so desperate.

Pressing their cocks together, Astarion smeared the hot cum over his hand and wrapped his hand around both of them. Oversensitive, his twin whimpered. Astarion pumped harder. Being stimulated while oversensitive was sweet, incredible torture.

They both moaned stupidly. Tav watched, slowly swirling her finger over clit, knowing this was just the beginning. Astarion seemed to have forgotten she was there, and she liked that.

Astarion shoved a finger into the figure's mouth, commanding with a single word: Suck. He felt his tongue, hot and wet, slide around his digit. He slipped his finger out, pressed himself against his body, and slid his finger between his copy's firm buttocks. He pressed his finger tip against the puckered flesh and applied gentle pressure.

This is what he felt like.

His doppelganger gasped, arms hanging uselessly at their sides.

Astarion gently pushed his finger in, knowing he wouldn't get far without an oil to ease the path. Men who tried to mount him without it were walked out on, men who used it were treated to a delightfully tight hole.

A small bottle rolled over the carpet and bumped against his foot. He looked down. Oil.

He turned his head. Tav had abandoned her clothing and stroked herself with one hand while she nodded at the bottle. She wanted to see this. He loved her seeing it.

Astarion released his grip from their cocks and slid his finger away to pick up the oil and coat himself in it. He paused as he uncorked it. An opportunity.

"On your knees," he commanded. The figure fell to its knees, eyes on him.

"Suck my cock," he whispered.

Seeing his own eager expression race forward to wrap his lips around his cock made him shudder. His pretty cat-like eyes looked up at him beneath a mess of curly hair as his lips slid up and down his length. He wrapped his fingers around the hair of the kneeled figure in front of him and forced himself deep into his throat. He felt himself gag around his cock, the muscles of his throat strong. He thrust himself into his sweet, hot mouth over and over again. Teeth occasionally grazed his flesh only enhancing the moment. Tears trickled down his copy's face.

He wanted to ruin himself. This copy of himself. The tears he saw made his breath come hard in his chest as he continued to slam his cock in the mouth. As he came, he pressed himself so deep into the tight throat he felt his nose pressed against his abdomen.

His doppelganger didn't understand he had finished and continued sucking and running his tongue up Astarion's shaft. Torture. Delight.

"I'd clap if I had a free hand," Tav murmured.

Astarion whispered stop to the figure and bowed to Tav.

"I hope that's not the end," she laughed breathlessly, rubbing herself as she looked into Astarion's eyes. His cock was streaked with saliva and cum.

Astarion took a long drink from the bottle of wine before responding.

"Not quite, love. Any requests?"

"May I join in when the mood strikes?"

He felt his cock throb.

"Yes, of course, whenever you want."

"Carry on," she smiled.

"Talk to me?" he pleaded, knowing she knew what to say. He uncorked the oil and dribbled it down his drooping member before he began stroking it.

"Did you like the way your lips felt around your cock?" she asked.

He nodded. They were soft. Gentle. Such a good mouth. His form took it so well, and looked lovely doing it. He hoped his mouth looked as good placed over Tav's cunt. Poised over her hole, his tongue moving inside. Her cunt. He shivered. He was rock hard in his hand again.

Tav winked at him.

"On your hands and knees," Astarion commanded his doppelganger. It complied, and he got on his knees behind it.

Astarion saw, for the first time, how his back had changed. Cazador's scar work was unintelligible amidst the scars and healing wounds Tav had left behind. He sighed, happily, as he slipped an oiled finger into the tight hole. His tight hole. He flexed his finger where he knew his magic spot was and heard himself moan. He wasn't sure if it was his own voice. He massaged and slipped another finger in, readying his mimic.

The tip of his cock traced circles around the tender flesh. He lowered himself in, inch by inch, the walls slick and firm around him. When his hips met flesh he slowly pulled himself back, only the head of his cock buried in the tender pink flesh. The figure beneath him whimpered, eager for more in some strange intangible way.

Astarion slammed himself inside, grasping a fistful of his twin's hair. It moaned as he rammed himself back and forth, pushing back against him with every thrust. It was needy, and so was he. He forced himself back against his male lovers, wanting more. They finished too quickly, his ass too delectable.

It truly was. His cheeks were pale white and burned bright red after being slapped. Astarion let go of the hair in his hand and raked his nails down the back in front of him. Imaginary flesh though it was, it gave way like the real thing. The blood that came to the surface was hot, just like it should be. Just like this. He closed his eyes and sucked the blood off his fingers, moaning onto them, before slicing through more skin.

When Astarions opened his eyes after a few moments, the flesh below him was a mess of blood. It dripped down his copy's sides and onto the rug. Would this blood stain? It tasted like it would.

He closed his eyes again. Thrusting, scratching, tasting. His mouth was full of the bitter taste of his own blood. He had lost control and given in entirely to his raw instinct. He whined, his mouth open and fingers dangling out. It felt so good.

Tav couldn't wait any longer. The smell of the blood set her heart on fire and seeing Astarion lost in pure bliss made her ache. Silently, she picked up the bottle of oil left on the rug and crawled up behind him.

She whispered his name into his ear as she pressed against his body. He gurgled with pleasure as she forced her hips behind his and thrust with him.

"Seeing you go completely stupid with your fingers in your mouth and cock in his ass was wonderful," she murmured in his ear. "You got totally lost in your tight hole."

He thrust forward eagerly, nodding. His face was smeared with blood.

"May I?"

"Yes, yes, yes," he rasped.

Tav slipped her oiled finger between his tight cheeks and into his hole. He was so tight. He quivered around her finger.

"I think I may have learned something watching you two, may I test my theory?"

Astarion shoved is cock as deep as he could inside his mimic, moaning his answer.

Tav flexed her finger downward, searching until Astarion froze in place.

"There?" she purred.

"Mhm," he shuddered.

She gently massaged him with her finger while thrusting from behind him, forcibly driving his cock in and out of the figure. She wrapped her arm around him and traced her finger over a hard nipple while biting into his neck.

If Astarion had wanted to move, for some strange reason, he wouldn't have been able to. By some miracle his knees were keeping him upright and his spine hadn't melted under the pleasure.

"Don't cum yet," she whispered. "I'm still having fun."

He didn't want to cum. He wanted this to last forever. She slipped another finger inside him and he took a deep shuddering breath. His cock was surrounded by his own shivering flesh.

"More," he gasped. "More."

Another finger slid inside him. Tav stopped massaging him and slid her fingers in and out of him. Her fingers were small but they felt huge in his tender hole. They stretched him as they moved inside him.

"You remind me of the pretty girls I've done this to when you make that noise," Tav whispered in his ear. "You're much better though…"

He rolled his head back. Tav kissed his neck and muttered words into his flesh.

"You listen to every word I say… you give yourself to me without hesitation…"

The form continued to moan as it was fucked, but Astarion had gone silent. Only whispered breaths escaped his lips. His ears were attuned only to Tav.

"Do you remember our first night in the woods?"

He nodded. He would never forget.

"Your face was smeared with blood just like it is now," she spoke softly. "And I took my finger, slid it down your perfect lips, and tasted it."

She slowed the rocking of her hips and moved her fingers in a gentle wave.

"Do you remember what you said after that? After you said I was tender?" she asked.

His muddled mind was bombarded with memories of that night, but he very clearly remembered, no felt, the trepidation and excitement as he tried to offer himself to her. He was afraid he misinterpreted her gesture and dreaded the moment ending there. He also didn't know what he wanted back then but felt in his gut that Tav did.

"If only," he said, only much more desperate than the time in the woods, "there was a faster way to deal with this."

His words wavered with the motion of his body.

"Why'd you say that?" she hummed into his ear. "Did you want me to run my finger over your lips until you were clean?"

"Yes," he whispered.

"Did you want me to hold you to the ground while I cut myself over you? Did you want my blood to drip into your mouth even though you were already full? Did you want to taste me?"

Tav moved her fingers and hips faster. Astarion's cock continued to glide in and out of the gripping space. She didn't expect an answer at this point. She felt her own stickiness between her legs.

"When you finish with him, you're going to clean yourself up while I shove your face into my cunt." she spoke. "I think it's time for you to finish, hm?"

Her fingers moved faster inside him as she forced him deeper into himself. She rested her head on his shoulder and watched his mouth go slack, his eyes wide.

She rocked her hips violently against him, licking his bruised neck as she began fucking him with her fingers. As she sensed his climax, she moved quicker and flexed her fingers with the movement.

He forced his cock hard into his doppelganger, gripping his hair to force his cum as deep as possible. Tav worked him with tender ferocity, and his moan came out musical. A long, rising note, dipping as the waves of his orgasm shook his body.

He grinded against the body infront of him until the waves subsided. Tav slid her fingers out of him, eliciting a wistful moan, but remained where she was, kissing his neck and whispering to him.

"That was wonderful, thank you."

He whimpered. She had thanked him.

Tav spoke a few words and the form in front of him vanished. Astarion's cock hung in the air for a second before dropping. He inhaled deeply. He no longer smelled his blood. Tav's sex filled his senses and he shuddered. His head began to clear and he felt Tav move away from him. She reclined on the rug, watching him with amusement.

His mouth watered. He picked up a clean rag and dunked it in the water basin before bringing it to his groin. The water was cold.

He crawled over to Tav and lowered his face between her legs, taking a deep breath. She smelled incredible. Her cunt and legs were drenched. His visage had driven her to his.

His tongue lapped her nectar over his tongue and down his throat. He wiped the rag over himself, cleaning his drying cum off. He tossed it aside but his hand returned to his cock, involuntarily. He couldn't taste her without stroking himself. He couldn't run his tongue over her without squeezing himself. He couldn't suck her clit without pumping himself.

Tav came quickly, the previous display arousing her more than she ever had been. She squeezed her thighs around Astarion's head, feeling his moans vibrate inside her.