They set up camp just outside of Moonhaven, nearer to the little flowing stream out the side of the lefthand gates. This time the tents went up as there was plenty of daylight left. By this time tomorrow in the early afternoon they'd hit the Goblin Camp.
Belle told Gus when he enquired it wouldn't matter what time of the day they hit it, it was full of goblins & they should just massacre they're way through the lot of them. She pointed out on the rough map they'd drawn of the compound where there were groups to take out, what they needed to achieve before taking those groups out & how to take them out i.e. the Wyrven poison in the communal ale tub the goblins would all be drinking from.
The others milled about, listening in & nodding away as Gus worked out the logistics of the ranged, melee & sneak attacks.
"Beastie could join in. Serenade them. It'd make their ears bleed if nothing else." Astarion cuttingly gave his scathing review of her tunes from earlier that day. Asshole!
She blew him a kiss that was intended to slap him when it landed. But instead, she saw that the act stunned him for all of a second. She saw it! He covered it up in the blink of an eye with a smouldering smile at her.
"Oh, ewwww, get a room! Poor Gus, we need to move your tent, like far, far away from those two" Karlach rolled her eyes at the pair of them while her dad had a conniption while she herself went bright red & spluttery. Astarion fled the scene as Gus threw him shade. Shadowheart approved. Lae'zel just looked across at Gale as an idea took root. But Karlach, now? These people were starved for some K-drama!
Later, after everyone stopped throwing amused looks at her & Astarion, who finally disappeared off somewhere, unable to bear the scrutiny any longer, Wyll once more practiced sword work with her & she told him the horns were fine, they were great, he'd get used to them, maybe they could add some cool jewellery to them; she then helped Gale prepare & cook up a stew.
After that, she went to her little box of shit she was keeping trinkets & such in, dug out the large lock she'd found the other day & the lockpick kit she'd also found, stared at it, & gathered up her meagre courage. Ignoring the racing of her heart caused by anxiety, gripping the items with white knuckles, she turned & trotted off to find Astarion. Who couldn't be found anywhere.
"For fucks sake, anyone seen the pale elf?" she called to the group at large.
"He went off thattaway" Karlach pointed further off toward the stream.
"Thanks." She turned to leave.
"Do I need to give you the birds & bees talk?" the tiefling called after her, tongue in cheek.
"Excuse me, I'm older than you, been there, done that. I think I'll be fine." She retorted. Holy shit, why couldn't big red keep her mouth shut? Belle had had purely honourable intentions, nothing to do with getting laid, & now her mind was sleazing its way through the gutter. Fantastic.
Karlach grinned, giving her the thumbs up. Shaking her head, she turned back around & continued on. On the way past Astarion's tent, she ducked her head in to make doubly sure he wasn't in there, & good lord, the poor man had hardly anything in there; a plank of wood on the ground, a dirty looking blanket, empty bottles with congealed blood everywhere & a stack of books. That was it. She'd peered back out at the set up he had going on outside.
A nice little table where he had placed both the hand mirror & another upright mirror he'd found somewhere; cushions scattered over a couple of nice rugs (where the hell was this stuff coming from?) & even a couple of pot plants. Kudos to him keeping them alive; she considered herself a black thumb who murdered plants just by looking at them. Leaning back in once more highlighted the juxtaposition. If that wasn't a metaphor for the man himself, she didn't know what was.
Making a mental note to make sure another bedroll was found for his tent, along with more blankies & some cushions he could actually use in there, along with a chest where he could hide & store his food supplies, she gathered up all the old bottles & dumped them by Gale.
"Can you clean these out with magic, please?" she asked him as he plucked one up, shuddering at the contents. He sighed.
"If I must."
"Return them to his tent when you're done, yeah?"
Gale nodded, not looking at all enthusiastic about the chore. She didn't blame him. Globulous blood was not the prettiest of substances to look at.
Continuing down the path to where it eventually led to an embankment, she was halfway down before she came to a halt. Oh, for the love of… not again! She didn't react like last time; this time, she felt more exasperated than anything. Clearly, this was going to keep happening, whether she wanted it to or not.
He had his head thrown back, eyes closed, arms spread to the sides as he once more soaked in the rays of the sun. Buck naked. At least this time he was facing away from her. His skin, she noted, did indeed glow in the light, reflecting from him & creating an aura. Fallen angel vibes radiated from him.
The scars stood out on his pale flesh, ruddy & raised. Her mind fixed on that a moment, her education in skin indicating to her that keloid scars could mean a dark-skinned ethnicity in his background. Or not; it could simply be that those wounds had been carved so deep they'd been left unable to heal flat. Her eyes drifted to his peachy butt. Ok, the other's might be onto something…
"You know you can still get sunburnt, even if you don't burn to a crip now" she interrupted his sunbathing. Man was like a lizard, honestly. "Considering where you're getting a tan, that might hurt over the next few days."
"If you wanted some alone time, darling, you only had to ask" he purred over his shoulder at her. Interestingly, he didn't turn around. Which was oh-tay by her, because that ass of his was sooo foine!
She spied his clothes behind him, fetched them & handed them to him over his shoulder. He took them, putting on his pants while she watched the water in the stream. But he stopped before putting his shirt on, turning to her & stepping over closer to her. He could look down at her from this angle, & he used it to full advantage. The air between them instantly thickened.
"Well, look at that, we're private now. No one around. We could always just … take our time. Get to know one another a little better." That voice he was using, it was doing very naughty things to her brain & insides…
He reached up, letting his fingertips trail down half an inch away from the skin of her cheek. In not touching her, it made her want him to, a hundred-fold. She wondered if this was a learned technique, or taught technique? Men did not know how to do this unless they had been shown, in her experience.
She grabbed his hand, stopping him from the implied caress. What the fuck was she going to do with him now?
He looked at her hand, bringing it to his lips, (which were freezing!), where he ghosted over her knuckles, eyes never leaving hers. And she saw, straight away, he wasn't there. It was the classic 'lights on but no one home look'. Jeeesus!
"Astarion" she took her hand away, as much as she didn't want to. He blinked, then frowned.
"What is it?" he asked slowly. "I thought we could have a bit of fun…"
"We can, I mean, we could…"
"Then I don't see why …."
"I know. Just stop for a sec. I want to talk."
His whole demeanour changed. He backed off, turned sideways & put a hand on his hip.
"If you don't want this, that's fine. I'll just find one of the others…"
"Astarion! Don't be like that! I like you! But I don't want to do something … you clearly don't want to do!"
Like a switch, he changed back again.
"But I do. And I like you too, you know. I'd like to explore this little thing developing between us. Have a little fun with each other. Admittedly not in front of the others, especially Gus… but we could always sneak off like this on more occasions…"
She gave up. Right now, it was like butting her head against a brick wall.
"I'll tell you what you want to know. It's information that pertains to you, anyway, & you can do with it what you wish."
"….what?" his brow creased.
"I'll tell you all about the Rite. Then you'll have a good, long while to have a think about it before catching up with your former master."
"….why?" he asked, clearly not trusting her at her word.
"Because I want you to know that when I say I like you, it's not for your body. I mean, you're beautiful, of course, but that's not the sole reason why I like you. I want you to come to understand that I like you for all sorts of reasons. So, I'll give you what you want. I can't tell you every last little detail; some of it I don't know myself."
She'd promised herself to not sway him on the Ascendant vs. Spawn issue, & she wouldn't, even if Withers had hinted that she could get a Divine version. But if he chose Profane Ascension, she knew she couldn't be around him. His choice, yes, as it was hers.
"Don't be ridiculous. No one gives anyone anything for free, 'just because'. The world doesn't work like that" he spat at her, grabbing his shirt & jerking it over his head & torso. Bye-bye muscles, she sighed inwardly.
"Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't. Your world view, until now, dictates that it doesn't. I want to show you that, sometimes, it does."
He spluttered. "What does that even mean? Surely you want something in return…"
Well, on second thoughts…she held out the lock.
"You can teach me how to pick locks." She looked up at him. He was staring at the lock. He swept his eyes up to hers, searching for the hidden trap. Not finding any, he reached out & picked up the lock from her hand.
"You're serious" he stated.
"I am. I've always wanted to learn. You're an expert. Teach me. And I'll tell you about the Rite in return."
"I … " he huffed, flustered, but zeroing in on what he thought was an easy win. "Deal."
"Good. Great." She found a place to sit down that wasn't damp. He followed & sat beside her. She pulled out the lock-pick kit & handed it to him.
"I take it you're a complete novice in this?" he asked haughtily, opening the kit & placing out the little tools within.
She nodded.
He began simply by running through the tools, their names & what they were used for. They moved onto how to hold the tools, which he was surprised to find didn't take her long to pick up.
"You're not the only one with dextrous fingers." She wriggled them at him, earning her a smirk. A genuine smirk, she was glad to see.
It took about an hour for him to show her how to use them on the lock before she could do it herself. It involved a lot of frustrated name calling at each other, & lots of inadvertent touching as he placed his hands over hers to guide her movements properly. How he moved those frosty fingers of his around so easily was beyond her. Hers went stiff the colder they got. Finally, the lock clicked open.
"Not bad, you didn't even break a pick" he gave her rare praise, smiling himself at her efforts.
"You should see some of the tools I have to work with back home. Just as fiddly. If I fuck it up, I hurt someone."
"Sounds dangerous."
She laughed.
"It is. You only hurt someone once though; you make sure to never do it again."
The twilight had crept in while they'd been concentrating on picking the lock.
"Oh, shit, I suppose we'd best get back." She looked around at the darkness creeping in.
He looked around, just noticing himself the change in the quality of the light.
"I usually start prowling at this time." He muttered. He looked to her. "Staying in the shadows of buildings until full sundown. Or in the corners of more ... dubious ... establishments"
"Must be strange, change in routine & all."
"It is. All of this is…"
"I promise you, you don't go back to him." She lay a hand over his cold one gently, giving it a small squeeze. She went to withdraw it, only he curled his fingers around hers. He was looking at their clasped hands now, seemingly as mesmerised as she'd been the other night.
"Really?" he finally asked.
"Really. You have to stay with us, the group, though. Wander off on your own…." She shrugged, looking down as he started slowly stroking his thumb over her flesh again. She shivered, slightly, as his coolness left patterns on her skin.
"Then I guess we're a team."
"We are." She acknowledged.
"Tell me later." He said quietly.
"Hmmm?"
"About the Rite. After we rescue this Halsin. Tell me then."
"Oh, ok ... I could have tonight…"
He shook his head.
"I…. don't think I want to hear it … just yet."
He looked up at her, but she could barely make anything out in the twilight now, let alone read what he was thinking.
"Well, I better get you back to camp before Gus comes along to stake me." He got up, & actually held a hand out to her to help her to her feet.
"He wouldn't. It's a dad thing."
"I'm not too sure about that. I've never had to deal with a vengeful father before, & I'd rather not start now."
"Really? You were that good at covering your tracks?"
They started back to camp.
"You ask the oddest questions." He paused. "I like it, actually."
"I think being here's unlocking a side to me I never knew existed. Or, I did know, & just had to mask it for so many years I forgot all about it."
"I'm all for the unmasking, especially if it leads to corruption" he gave her an evil smile.
"See, that's something I like about you. You unapologetically let evil Astarion out to play."
"Well, he is fun, darling." He paused, thinking. "I quite like morning Belle. She's so … spicy" he gave a shiver at that.
"That she is. And you get to deal with her again in the mornings, that is, if you want to..."
"Ooo, has the taboo has been lifted? Good!"
"Where've you been?" Gus thundered at her as they re-entered camp, Astarion exiting stage left immediately.
"Learning to lockpick" she threw him the lock.
"What?" he looked confused, holding up the lock like it'd bite him.
"Where'd you think I was?" she challenged him, chin up.
"Not in camp. Not where it's safe. Where evil…. devils… can get a hold of you." Yeah, right, replace devils with vampires & she knew exactly what he'd been thinking.
"Trust, father mine, is the foundation of any good relationship. You need to practise it."
She tossed her hair in the air, satisfied with that barb, & bounced over to her tent, snatching the bowl of food held out by Gale in passing.