Something startled him out of trance.
One moment he was on the field of battle, his companions falling around him in a twisted facsimile of what had actually occurred and the next he was staring up at the support beam of the tent, unneeded breath coming in quick pants as the fight leaked out of him.
Astarion wondered if waking up alone would ever become less startling, if he could ever skip the half a breath of panic before remembering where he was. It should've still been light outside the tent but the rumble of thunder he felt all the way to his bones told him all he needed to know. Best to make sure his lover didn't get himself struck by lightning… again.
The area immediately outside the tent was calm, quiet. That had taken some convincing on his part. Nari would have just staked the tent down better and brushed his hands of the matter, not concerned with rain getting inside, or the wind flapping the openings around to hit them during rest.
"Darling, you can do magic, can you not just wave your fingers and keep the elements out?" he'd asked the first time he'd been awoken to a spattering of rain on his face. The tiefling had barely managed to turn his gaze away from the horizon where the clouds loomed dark and heavy.
"Why would I do that?" The sorcerer held his hand out to catch some of the raindrops in his palm, smiling like it was the greatest gift in the world, no longer looking at the sheer incredulity on the vampire's face. It had only taken a bit of whining and a reminder that if the tent blew down and the storm cleared that a single sunbeam would be the end of their relationship.
Now there was a small, calm circle around their tent, the wind and rain swirling just outside of the tiny bubble. The tiefling stood outside of the protective circle, rain soaking his robes to his skin as he tilted his head back into the fray. The sky flashed and before Astarion's eyes could even recover the thunder was shaking through his bones; he couldn't tell if the sharp electric scent was Nari's magic or the storm itself, the boundary between the two often blurring as the sorcerer chased down every storm he could. The rogue just watched for a minute as Nari took in the tempest before stepping up behind him. Taking care that he was still well within the bounds of their calm bubble, he was not going to deal with soaking his hair today, nor was there anywhere convenient to lay their clothes to dry. Nari's tail flicked back to rest on the vampire's hip, a soft acknowledgement, overridden slightly by the static shock that came with his lover's excited magics. Another rolling of thunder swept over the hills before the tiefling turned back to him, an excited smile stretched over his lips.
"You," he kissed a droplet of rain off Nari's nose, "are supposed to be sleeping. How am I supposed to stay warm if my furnace runs off without me?"
"Sorry," the sorcerer's words were only audible now that they were back out of the wind, "I couldn't sleep with this happening." he gestured to the storm raging around them, an arc of raindrops flinging off his arm with the motion. Astarion couldn't help but smile softly at the childish joy that radiated from the other man. It had irked him at first, the delight that came so easily to the sorcerer, thinking it either naivety or simple-mindedness. But that had been before he'd known him, before they'd spent long nights curled together, side to side, and just talked. Shared softly together in a way he couldn't remember having done before finding his freedom. He didn't find the same joy in the roiling weather that Nari did but it made him smile seeing the tiefling in his element.
"Well then, there will be no complaints in a few hours about how tired you are?" He couldn't help but tease, both of them knew full well that the taller man would yawn and struggle through their nightly routine and make grouchy remarks about elves and how it wasn't fair that the rest of them had to spend so much time asleep. Nari didn't deign that with a verbal response, instead shaking water loose from his hair in an unexpected shower onto the unsuspecting vampire.
Astarion yelped and jumped back before retaliating, a mage hand covertly collecting rain water to dump directly onto his lover's head. Infernal blue eyes flashed too similarly to the lightning outside and then it was war.
The storm was starting to move on by the time they were finished, rain now gently pattering along the top of the dome. Astarion winced at the sensation of mud on his back, though it was quickly replaced by the soft tingle that signaled Nari's casting of prestidigitation.
"I can't believe I waited twenty some odd years and a mindflayer tadpole to figure that one out." the tiefling said, another casting clearing the stools placed around their fire pit and one last flick of his fingers bringing the dimming coals back to life. Astarion scoffed, sitting down across from him and using his fingers to part some of his curls back into place.
"I can, I had to look at you when we first met." He lifted his chin, though the smirk he threw at the tiefling took some of the bite out of the statement. To his credit, Nari just rolled his eyes, snarking back
"Because you looked great after crawling out of that pod yourself."
"Excuse you! I look great threatening anybody!"
"Which is why I headbutted you, too pretty, had to take you down a few notches." Nari laughed. Looking back on it, especially knowing how unathletic the tiefling was, it was rather funny that he'd managed to land that blow. Nari was looking back to the storm, watching the way it was rolling over the hills, amusement turning over to warm curiosity in his eyes.
"No notes today?" Astarion had thought he was going to lose the tiefling's affection when Gale had given him that enchanted notebook until he'd taken over twenty minutes to explain how it worked and he'd watched the sorcerer's eyes glaze over.
"It was a pretty standard thunderstorm, nothing of particular to note, I thought I would just enjoy it for a change."
They both watched the roiling clouds as they continued to disperse, giving way to the early night sky.
"How do you think they're doing?" Nari asked softly, Astarion didn't have to ask who he meant, there was only one group they were worried about, changed irrevocably. He'd only heard that they'd left in passing, after Nari had found him on the dock. Truth be told he had expected it when the devil demanded his due, the dragonborn had been far too self sacrificing to not offer up his own body as a mindflayer in the end. Still. He'd done it for the rest of them. And Karlach deserved the world on a platter if that was what she wanted.
"I'm sure your fellow tiefling will keep him in line, besides," he held up an envelope that had appeared on the corner of his pillow in the middle of the day, an invitation, "you'll have the chance to ask him yourself."