Astarion's office, surprisingly, hadn't been completely unsalvageable. Most of the documents and books were gone, but they weren't the only copies in existence. The furniture could be replaced as well, it would just take time. So, he would be working in the library for the foreseeable future, which he had come to terms with.
He had made a lame excuse to his boss of why he wasn't in the blaze or why he wasn't around after either. He had snuck away to spend some time with his woman, and his boss frowned but didn't reprimand him. Astarion very rarely did anything uncouth in the eyes of his boss, so a few slip ups were usually met with mild irritations. Gortash also made sure to give the magistrate a wide berth, clearly irritated that the man was unscathed and unbothered by the circumstances.
So, Astarion finished his work day at the library before heading home. He wanted to know how the appointment with Lysa had gone, and also have a chat about what had happened yesterday at the office. He expected Lu to get angry with him, which she would be right to. He hadn't meant to keep it from her, but saying he forgot to tell her was a terrible excuse, regardless of if it was the truth. He unlocked the front door and stepped into his home, surprised by the smell of baked goods. Hadn't they just gone shopping yesterday?
"Darling?" he called out before stopping in his study to drop off his case. When he didn't hear a response, he walked into the kitchen where the bread was. "Darling?"
"Oh, you're home," Lu replied with a grin.
"Why is there so much bread in our home?" he wondered. She easily had seven or eight new loaves in addition to the three they bought yesterday.
"Oh, I stopped by the bakery again today," she started as she took a deep breath. "You know how I've been getting closer to the baker."
"Did you win her affections by buying all her goods?" he teased, immediately hoping that wasn't the case. Lu chuckled and shook her head.
"No, but I did take some off her hands. She said that these were what she couldn't sell yesterday, and it usually goes to waste," Lu explained. Astarion frowned, still not following why it was in their house. "I said that I could figure out what to do with it."
"While I admire your ambition, I don't think you can eat all this bread before it goes bad," he reminded, taking a step towards her. Lu frowned before shrugging.
"I didn't know what else to do. I felt like I was helping, and then she kept giving them to me, and I didn't know how to say no after the third loaf," Lu groaned as she walked towards him, resting her forehead on his chest. "I don't know what I'm doing."
"Well, what were you trying to do?" Astarion wondered, wrapping his arms around her. She groaned before looking up at him.
"I've gotten to know her so well over the last week or so, I was hoping to be her friend," Lu started before she pouted. "But I quickly realized that I have no idea how to make friends."
"So, you said that you would take all the bread she couldn't sell?"
"It started with a conversation about how business was going, and she said it was pretty good. One thing led to another, and then she said that she had a bunch of bread left over that she wasn't sure what to do with. She said it felt wasteful to just throw it away, and I agreed with her. You know how much I love her baking," Lu explained before she sighed. "And then I came home with seven loaves of bread that I don't know what to do with."
"It does sound like you're on the right track to making a friend, at least," Astarion exhaled, looking over her head to the pile of food on the counter behind her. Lu lowered her head and let her forehead hit his chest.
"That's good, at least," she whispered. "I told her that we should meet up for tea or something."
"Are you setting up a date with this girl?"
"Would you relax?" Lu pleaded, staring up at him. "Her wife was standing right there, and I invited her too. Besides, they saw us together yesterday."
"I'm glad they remembered."
"They want you to be there to."
"They actually agreed to tea?"
"They were very excited about the idea, actually. They haven't made many friends in Baldur's Gate, and they thought that this would be a good opportunity," Lu answered as Astarion stared at her. "Why wouldn't they agree to tea?"
"Generally, since were in a different class of people, we wouldn't go to tea with each other."
"Why would that matter?"
"More societal rules and guidelines, I suppose. Nothing saying we can't, but it could drum up some good gossip about us," Astarion shrugged as Lu furrowed her brow.
"Really? Over something as silly as tea?"
"Magistrates and bakers aren't usually seen together in such a casual place."
"Does it bother you?" Lu wondered. Astarion stared at her for a moment, taking in her pleading expression. He smirked and shook his head.
"Not in the slightest. Are they coming here, then?" he guessed before she shook her head.
"I offered, but they said that we should go to their home. They live in a small home not too far from ours in the Upper City, and they don't get many chances to entertain," Lu explained. "Although, I did mention that we have plans, so it would be a few days before we would be free."
"Speaking of which, how did it go with the tailor?"
"It went very well. She recognized me," Lu answered as she stepped back, letting Astarion's hands fall into hers. "Apparently my mother goes to her fairly often as well."
"She's the best in the Gate."
"She's also very peeved that you made the appointment before she got there, and that's how she found out about our courtship."
"Hardly my fault that she's not there when the doors open," Astarion laughed as Lu shrugged.
"Lysa told me that you are to pick up my dress the day of the ball just before noon, and that I could come if I want to as well," Lu grinned as he groaned. That meant that he was going to get an earful from the woman, and he was going to have an audience for it. "But I believe that it went well. She's very nice."
"She's a gossip is what she is," Astarion chuckled before groaning. "And she's going to rip into me the moment I walk into that shop."
"Maybe having me there will soften the blow."
"Somehow I have the feeling that will make it worse."
"I doubt it, she found me positively delightful. She'll forget her foul mood the moment I walk in that door," Lu reassured, starting to swing their arms gently.
"While you have many talents, dear, I'm not sure you can calm that storm."
"We'll have to see then. But in the meantime, I have to figure out what to do with all the fucking bread we have."
"That you have."
"Oh, fuck off. Don't you have any ideas?"
"Other than feeding it to the ducks down the street, not a clue."
"You're not supposed to feed ducks bread, it's bad for their digestion," Lu pointed out as she turned to her mountain of bread. Astarion rolled his eyes.
"Then I have nothing to suggest."
"I wonder if there are any recipes that call for large amounts of bread."
"There might be," Astarion mentioned as she grabbed her cookbook off the shelf. "Are you going to start cooking again?"
"If it means that I can stretch out the shelf life of this, then yes," she answered as she sat down at the dining table. Astarion stood in the middle of the kitchen for a moment, usually taking this as a cue to return to his study or to his room. However, he did have more to talk to her about.
"There is something else I've been meaning to discuss with you," Astarion added. Lu stopped reading and stared up at him, surprised by his frankness. "It's about the fire yesterday."
"Did they find out the cause? Do we have to go into hiding?"
"No, it's not that. It's just that I have more to add than what I told you yesterday," he explained. He thought about sitting down, but he decided to stand where he was, giving him a few feet of space between him and her.
"More to add?"
"I wasn't entirely truthful with you."
"You mean you lied to me?"
"Well, yes, technically, and I want to apologize for that. I didn't think it through. I wasn't thinking straight. I was worried, well, about you," Astarion quickly clarified. Lu leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, waiting for an explanation.
Astarion hastily amended that it wasn't some councilmember's office that had been caught ablaze, but his own. He also explained that he hadn't been the cause of it, at least, not directly. Gortash had come with a warning, which had gone poorly, which led to the attempt on his life. Astarion had been able to get out, obviously, and that was why he was in such a rush when he had arrived home early the day before.
"And you didn't tell me that yesterday because?"
"I was worried that telling you would have sent you back to my office to find him, and I just wanted to get you out of the house in case he came looking for you or me," Astarion answered. Lu stared at him as she tapped her foot in thought. "I promise, I didn't mean to keep it from you like this, I was going to tell you last night, but then we found out about the ball, and that had sent me down a rabbit hole, and it had truly slipped my mind by then."
"I forgive you," Lu grumbled before she leaned forward. "But the next time that bastard even looks at you wrong, I want to know. I know you are more than capable of taking care of yourself, but I'm not going to stand by and let that happen. That fucking asshole, gods I hate him."
"You and me both, sweetheart," Astarion chuckled, sitting next to her.
"Was he at your work today?"
"Yes, and he seemed particularly irritated that I was back so soon."
"While I'm glad he's pissy, try not to make him too mad. This alliance between him and me is flimsy at best, and I really don't want anything bad happening," Lu pleaded. Astarion grabbed her hand and nodded.
"I will do what I can to not piss him off. I will warn you; my existence seems to be enough to do that."
"Good to know. I'm so tired of him, and I still have so much to do."
"Once you do the heist, you'll be free of him, right?"
"I doubt it. It sounds like this is just the start of something bigger. I'm guessing I'll learn more at the ball, but we'll see."
"If I were to kill him, what do you think would happen?"
"He'd probably be replaced by someone else. My god wants this, Astarion," Lu reminded, squeezing his hand. Astarion stared at her, seeing the flash of fear in her eyes. While Gortash was a nuisance, he was manageable. If he needed to be replaced, the next person might not be.
"Fine, I won't kill him."
"Thank you."
"Yet."
"Just wait until everything is said and done, okay. We can even kill him together, if you want. I'm not sure if his blood is any good, but you can have it if it is," Lu grinned.
"You sweet talker," Astarion teased. "You always know just what to say."
"I bet. Now, unless you want to help me figure out what to do with all this fucking bread, let me read. I'm going to figure out something."
"I believe in you, darling. Just be mindful the next time the baker and her wife ask you to take it off their hands."
"Oh, I learned their names. Mila is the baker, and her wife is Kendra."
"You tell Mila that you can have a maximum of three loaves of bread then."
"On whose authority?"
"The scandalous master of the house," Astarion answered with a smile. Lu cackled as she nodded. He stood from his chair before walking towards the door.
"I will be sure to tell her. I'm sure she'll understand."
"Call me for dinner, I'll have a glass of wine and join you."
"Sounds good, I'll let you know."
~U~
Luastra continued to read through her cookbook, finding a few recipes that called for stale bread. Most were different forms of bread pudding, including a sausage stuffing that sounded scrumptious. She wrote down the ingredients that she would need to buy the next time she was at the market, pleased that she had something of a plan. While it didn't extend the shelf life of the bread tremendously, it at least diversified enough where she didn't feel like she was eating just bread for the next week.
For now, she found an easy recipe for dinner consisting of bread, eggs, and milk making a one dish meal. It wasn't anything fancy or special, but she found that cooking at this level was more manageable. Sure, she enjoyed making the lamb and the more intricate dishes as well, but most of the time, simpler was better.
She slid the dish into the oven to cook as she pulled a bottle of wine out of the cupboard before sliding it onto the table. Luastra stared at the bottle for a moment, wondering how long this little domestic dream was going to last. Ideally, she would want it to be forever, only satisfying her urge when she needed to. However, something in her gut told her that something big was approaching. A plan was coming into fruition, and it wasn't one of her making. She frowned, hoping that her intuition was wrong and that she was being paranoid.
"Astarion, the wine's out," she called as she grabbed the silver goblets. She set them next to the bottle as the strange feeling lingered. She wished that she had a divination spell, at least something she could grasp at and understand the premonition.
"Trying one of your new recipes?" he wondered as he returned to the kitchen. She hummed as she watched the oven, her brow furrowed. "Darling, are you alright?"
"What? Oh, yes, I'm fine," she replied, waving her hand toward him. Raising an eyebrow, Astarion walked over to her and grabbed her hand, helping ground her.
"Is it the urge?" he guessed in a low voice.
"No, it's something else," she replied after a sigh. "I just got a weird feeling. A silly feeling, really, nothing to worry about."
"This feeling is giving you a thousand-yard stare," Astarion pointed out, using his forefinger to guide her chin to look up at him. "You can talk to me."
"It's an odd feeling, like someone is making decisions about my life without me. I can feel someone plotting and planning, but I'm not involved when I should be," Luastra informed. The vampire frowned as he kept his gaze on her. "I'm sure it's just anxiety about meeting Gortash at his house. He's the one that put this heist together, I think I'm overthinking it."
"Are you sure? He seems to be the type to plan to wipe out the people around him," Astarion pointed out, reminding her of their conversation. Luastra exhaled as she bit the inside of her lip.
"I think you're right, but I don't think there's anything to be done until I talk with him at the ball. We'll just have to make our own plans for when he tries to betray me."
"Say less, my sweet. Find out all you can of this little plan of his, and we can start figuring out what's going on in his head. Once we know what he's really plotting, then we can make a counter attack."
"Very tactical of you," Luastra chuckled as he shrugged.
"I'm a versatile person, what can I say," Astarion smirked before pulling her into his embrace. "For now, we'll just focus on what we can control. Like finishing this bottle of wine and eating whatever you made tonight."
"It's supposed to be this chef's take on a quiche, but we'll see if it's any good. I put some mushrooms in," Luastra shrugged as she leaned into him.
"I can't say if it'll be good or not, but I hope you'll like it," he murmured.
"If I don't, I'm only eating bread and honey for the rest of time."
"Now that's a bad idea, darling. I don't know much about nutrition, but I know that's not anywhere near what you need in a day."
"It'll keep me full at least," Luastra complained with a light smile. "I'll eat an orange to keep it interesting, and to keep me from getting scurvy."
"I suppose that's a start," Astarion relented before he led her back to the table. She sat down facing the oven as he grabbed the bottle. "Good choice, darling. Any occasion for this vintage?"
"It was the first one I grabbed from the cabinet," Luastra answered honestly as she raised her shoulders. Astarion chuckled before switching out the wines. "One of these days, you need to teach me the difference between wines. I don't want to serve a terrible one when I should've had the fancy one."
"After the ball, we can have a little wine lesson," he agreed, popping the cork on the new wine. Luastra brought her knee to rest over her other leg.
"We have a whole day before the ball. Are you working tomorrow?"
"In the morning, yes, however, I'm coming home early."
"Are you planning to set Gortash's office on fire?"
"Now that's a clever idea," Astarion laughed before shaking his head. He poured the wine into the two goblets before handing one to her. "No, I asked for an early day. I thought it might be nice to have a dancing lesson tomorrow."
"Dancing lesson?"
"Exactly right."
"I thought my dancing was fine," Luastra began protesting.
"Fine isn't going to cut it if you want to impress the higher society," Astarion reminded, taking a sip. "And while I don't care whether or not you are the best dancer in Baldur's Gate, I thought you might enjoy showing off in front of Gortash."
"Why would I care about that?"
"Would he expect you to be unrefined or to be a noblewoman?"
"Unrefined," she answered immediately as Astarion lifted an eyebrow. "But why would he care?"
"Because he's banking on you being an uneducated sewer creature who is at the mercy of her urge. If you show him that you are a woman of refinement and intelligence, then he's more likely to show his hand."
"Then we can see if he really means to betray me or if I'm being paranoid."
"Exactly. You played the part of the noblewoman's daughter well enough at the soiree, but you've been out of the spotlight for a few months now. While I doubt you've fallen out of memory, I doubt people are expecting you to glide across the dance floor," Astarion pointed out as Luastra frowned.
"I'm not expecting myself to do that either."
"Which is why I took a half day off tomorrow. I'm sure your muscle memory will kick in, and you'll be the envy of everyone in that room," he reassured. She sighed before removing her dinner from the oven.
"Alright, fine, dance lessons it is."
