Work Text:
Holding Gale close to his chest and staring at the ceiling of their bedroom, Astarion is conflicted. Not because of Gale, who is just now dozing off after letting Astarion feed from him, the twin puncture wounds on his neck pushing out just a bit more of his crimson blood with each beat of his heart. Astarion runs a thumb along them now to catch the drops before they stain anything. He pops the digit into his mouth and licks it clean. He isn’t feeling conflicted about Gale, but rather their anniversary.
Astarion never gives much thought to anniversaries anymore. There was a time when birthdays meant celebrating, holidays meant family, and a year with a significant other was something special to acknowledge. The last time he can remember giving notice to a special date was what should have been his hundredth birthday, an important milestone that would have seen his family welcoming him into his adulthood and the added bonus of not being acknowledged as a child in the eyes of other elves. But that was his future before he lost his soul, grew fangs, and hid away from the sun. The only date he ever kept track of was his turning, because Cazador enjoyed gleefully reminding his spawn of the days their lives changed forever just to add to their suffering. No, Astarion didn’t care much for anniversaries.
So why was he so concerned with his and Gale’s?
He had never intended on making a big deal out of it, despite Gale’s constant reminders that the date was rapidly approaching. Astarion wasn’t even entirely sure what day Gale was using, whether it was when they met or when they slept together or when they defeated the Absolute. Frankly, Astarion hadn’t been all that concerned with taking note either way, nor did he carry a calendar with him during their adventure.
It’s not until Gale wakes him up on the aforementioned day with “breakfast in bed,” that Astarion suddenly feels the pressure to do something for his better half. Running his tongue over his bloodied fangs, running a hand through Gale’s hair, and staring at the ceiling, Astarion vows to make the day just as special as Gale is hoping it will be.
He wants until Gale stirs again an hour later. With some grumbling and a few persistent kisses and shoves, Gale is convinced into the shower. Satisfied that he won’t be interrupted, Astarion hurries out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen. While he can’t enjoy mortal food anymore, he can enjoy watching Gale make it, and he’s not fully forgotten how to create some simple dishes.
He peeks through the cabinets and the ice box, scowling at what he finds, which isn’t much. Gale had been spending more and more time locked away in his study recently, but Astarion kicks himself for not noticing the way he was neglecting even his basic errands in favor of whatever he was doing in his spare time. In the end, he settles on scrambled eggs, along with some fruit that might be a bit overripe. It’s not the most extravagant display, but Astarion feels some sense of accomplishment nonetheless. He can’t remember the last time he cooked anything, let alone for someone else.
Gale walks in as he’s arranging the last of the fruit on the plate; strawberries that he has to turn carefully to hide their mushy spots. “What’s this?” The wizard asks curiously, wrapping his arms around Astarion’s waist from behind. Astarion is enveloped in the smell of his floral shampoo immediately and he can’t help but smile.
“Just some breakfast for you, darling. Since you fed me.” Astarion turns and offers the plate to his beloved with an exaggerated flourish. Gale takes it with a slight laugh.
“Aren’t you quite the gentleman,” Gale replies, sitting down at the table with his plate. Astarion shrugs off the playful compliment and turns back to the countertops to clean his dishes. There aren’t many, and it doesn’t take him long, but when he turns back to Gale, the plate on the table is empty.
“Back to your study today?” Astarion tries to keep any disappointment out of his voice as he picks up the plate off the table.
“No, not today,” Gale replies. “I thought we could spend some time together, since I’ve been so unavailable recently.”
Astarion perks up, turning around quickly. “Really?”
“Yes, really,” Gale laughs slightly. “Is that a shock to you?”
“No, no. I just supposed you had something more important to do in there,” Astarion says, trying to play off his joy at spending the day with Gale’s undivided attention. He would never admit it out loud, and he won’t start now.
“Oh, I do,” Gale says, playing into the indifference. “But I suppose I can make an exception today for our anniversary.”
“Is that today?” Astarion muses out loud, turning back to the sink and scrubbing at the plate in his hands. “I had no idea. You only mentioned it three times yesterday.”
Again, Gale laughs, and Astarion smiles at the sponge in the sink. “I’m just happy,” Gale says, standing up and sneaking up behind Astarion. He wraps his arms around his waist once more, kissing the tip of one of his pointy ears. “Happy that I get to hold you like this, that you’ve been in my life for this long. I don’t know where I would be without you…well, I suppose I do know…”
“Let’s not talk about that, shall we?” Astarion cuts in, frowning now at the water that swirls around the drain. He knows where Gale’s statement is heading, and it’s not something he wants to recall. He shuts off the faucet and sets the plate aside to dry. “Not today, not ever.”
“Alright,” Gale concedes, placing another kiss against Astarion’s neck before he steps away. “Let’s go upstairs and enjoy our day together, then.”
Astarion complies and follows Gale upstairs once more. They do, in fact, enjoy their day. Gale spends a considerable amount of it reading, but Astarion is content to just lie with him.
One year with Gale, and Astarion can see how that year has changed him. His brown hair is streaked with more grays that it was when they met, though it still doesn’t overtake the darker strands. The style is longer as well; Astarion’s not sure if he’s even cut it since their adventure ended. His features have softened, as has his physique, and he wears his glasses more often than he used to. Astarion’s struck then, with the idea that Gale will continue to age and change and he…won’t. What will they look like on their next anniversary? Their fifth? Their tenth? The thought threatens to drown him and he pushes it down promptly, wrapping his arms tighter around Gale’s stomach and receiving an absent kiss on the top of his head in return.
Without that worry to dwell on, another rises in its place. That same conflict from that morning nudges at Astarion’s attention until he’s forced to acknowledge it. All he’s done for their anniversary is make Gale breakfast, and a poor one at that. Meanwhile, Gale has fed Astarion and forgone whatever important business he has, just to appease his neediness and desperation for attention.
For the rest of the afternoon, Astarion racks his brain for any way to even the playing field and plan something Gale will enjoy. By sundown, he has an idea and he’s restless to see it out.
“Gale, dear,” Astarion starts as Gale marks a page and sets his book aside. “Why don’t you go make dinner, and then I can take you out to the thing I have planned for you.”
“That’s quite vague,” Gale chides with a soft smile. But he concedes, leaning in to capture Astarion’s lips once before he leaves their bed. “I suppose I can eat. We skipped lunch, didn’t we?”
“ You skipped lunch,” Astarion corrects, placing his feet on the floor as well. “Every time I asked, you said you’d get up once you finished the next chapter.”
“I suppose I did,” he replies, taking off his glasses and setting them on the bedside table. “Well, I’ll be downstairs. Come find me when you’re ready for me.”
“Just go eat before I’m forced to make you more eggs,” Astarion replies, folding the blanket they’d been lounging on top of for most of the day. Gale’s reply comes as a laugh that fades with his presence as he disappears down the stairs.
———
“Well…this is it,” Astarion says, holding his arms out in a slightly anticlimactic presentation. He brought Gale outside of Waterdeep, just past the city gates. It was a bit of a trek, but the cool night air was enough to keep Gale going and he only complained about his knees twice, which Astarion classes as a win.
They’re standing now in a small clearing of trees, large enough to have a decent view of the night sky above them, but snug enough to not feel entirely exposed. The ground here isn’t entirely bare either, with enough of a grassy floor to hide any hard roots or sharp rocks that may dampen the mood.
“I found this clearing a few weeks ago, when I was out hunting,” Astarion explains. He sets down the bag he’s been carrying on his shoulder and pulls out the blanket he’d packed earlier that night. He spreads it out on the soft grass, smoothing it out with his hands diligently. “It reminded me of the illusion you created in the shadow cursed lands, especially with the stars out like this.”
Gale looks up as Astarion says this and smiles. “It is quite beautiful out here, isn’t it? And it will be much easier to enjoy our time here without the threat of Ketheric Thorm over our heads, hm?”
Astarion rolls his eyes and empties the rest of his bag’s contents. “Everything is more enjoyable without that,” he points out. He sets out two glasses and two wine bottles; one full of Gale’s favorite red and the other magically enchanted to hold blood without coagulating or going off. He pours a glass from each and hands the former to Gale, who takes it with a bright smile.
“This is a perfect date, Astarion. Thank you,” he says. The praise is enough to send warmth through Astarion’s body, but then Gale leans in to catch his lips in a chaste kiss and he could swear he feels his heart beat again.
Gale pulls away far too quickly and finds a place to sit on the blanket. He pats the open space next to him expectantly and Astarion takes the invitation, folding his legs underneath him and sitting close enough that his hip bumps up against his other half’s. He waits for Gale to lean back, one hand placed behind to brace himself. Once situated, Astarion presses closer and lays his head against Gale’s shoulder.
“We should do this more often,” Gale muses, bringing his glass up to his lips.
Astarion sighs, swirling his own glass around and watching the way the dark liquid clings to the edges. “Midnight picnics are not nearly as romantic as I hoped they’d be, compared to sitting down with you in the sunlight. Not to mention all the bugs .”
“I disagree. This right here, with you, is quite romantic. Just look at the sky,” Gale sighs wistfully, and Astarion looks up. He’s right, like always. In this clearing, just through the open canopy, the stars practically sparkle. “Besides,” Gale continues. “The only bloodsucking creature I’m worried about out here is you.”
Astarion makes a face, his head bouncing against Gale’s chest as the latter desperately holds in a laugh. “That was terrible, even coming from you, wizard.”
Gale’s chuckles break through anyway and he presses a kiss to the top of Astarion’s head. “I’m sorry,” he says with no hint of remorse. “Can I make it up to you?”
“No, this is for you,” Astarion says with a huff. He tries to plant his head against Gale’s chest again, but the other moves away, sitting up straighter.
“What do you mean?” Gale asks curiously as Astarion looks up at his face.
“Well, this,” Astarion replies, holding his arm out at his side in a wide gesture. “You did that stuff for me earlier, so now I put this together for you. It’s to make you happy.”
Gale’s smile turns into one of amusement. “Star, it’s our anniversary. It’s meant to be for both of us,” he says, bringing his free hand up to catch Astarion’s chin. “I could care less what we do, so long as we’re doing it together. I want to spend time with you today.”
Astarion just stares back blankly for a few moments until Gale tilts his head. He pulls his face from Gale’s grasp and lets out a quick huff of air. “But you did that stuff for me earlier, with letting me feed off you this morning and staying in all day so I wouldn’t be bored. And I only got you breakfast, so I owe you.”
Gale laughs, but he always has that way of laughing that doesn’t make Astarion feel like he’s being laughed at. “You don’t owe me anything, Star. I just want to be with you. The feeding thing was maybe more for you than for me, but I still enjoyed it. And you’re having a nice night now with me, right?”
“I suppose, yes,” Astarion says, bringing his wine glass up to his lips to take a sip. “Your company does, occasionally, leave something to be desired.”
Gale catches his chin again and he lowers the wine glass. “Let me make it up to you, then,” he says, hand sliding along Astarion’s jaw line to tuck a stray curl behind his pointed ear.
“How do you propose you’ll do that?” Astarion asks, setting his glass aside and leaning into Gale’s hand. The smile Gale gives him in return tells him everything he needs to know.
“I’m sure I can figure something out,” Gale muses. He leans in to kiss Astarion softly and nudge him backwards until they’re both laying out on the blanket. Gale holds himself just over Astarion’s body and trails his lips away from Astarion’s mouth. He slides over the elf’s jaw and throat, down past his collar bone until he meets fabric. Astarion starts to sit up, ready and willing to toss the offending article away, but Gale holds him down with the barest pressure of a hand against his sternum. Astarion obliges, dropping his head back against the ground to look at the stars overhead.
He feels more than sees as Gale lifts himself off the ground to reposition further down Astarion’s body. Astarion reaches down to find Gale’s shoulders in the same moment that Gale’s mouth finds his covered dick. He gasps, gripping hard into Gale’s shoulders as the single touch sends a shockwave through him. That first moment of anticipation always wrecks him more than anything else.
“Keep going,” he breathes out, already anticipating the question of consent that Gale is so diligent on throwing out. It’s appreciated, always, but sometimes he just needs Gale to really get on with the damn thing before he crawls out of his skin— another touch, and another noise bubbles up from Astarion’s throat. Gale’s fingers pinch at his hips and he gladly lifts them off the blanket, allowing Gale to pull his leggings and underclothes off and toss them aside somewhere.
Despite his already chilled skin, the coolness of the night air hitting the slickness on his thighs still makes him shiver. But it’s not unpleasant, because Gale moves closer in the next moment, wrapping Astarion’s bare lower half in his radiating heat. Gale presses a soft kiss just above Astarion’s dick before dragging his tongue along the length of it. Astarion’s hands on Gale’s shoulders jump to his hair instead, fingers tangling into the brown and gray strands until he has a firm grip.
He expects this to go relatively quickly, mostly due to his own impatience. It won’t take long before he wants Gale inside him and he assumes Gale is thinking the same way. But then Gale shoulders himself under Astarion’s legs and grips his hips and Astarion’s head snaps up off the blanket to look down.
Gale is laying out fully on his stomach, Astarion’s thighs thrown over his shoulders. He has his hands mostly wrapped around Astarion’s hips and ass, as if to hold him in place. He meets the elf’s eyes with a devilish smile before leaning down to engulf the entirety of Astarion’s small cock in his mouth. Astarion groans and throws his head back in turn. So, they’re in this for the long haul then.
Gale’s fingers dig into Astarion’s hips as he swirls his tongue lazily around the head of his dick. Astarion, in turn, grips tighter onto Gale’s hair. Gale pulls away until Astarion’s cock falls out of his mouth with an audible pop. He leans in again to press a kiss into the crease between Astarion’s leg and his pelvis. It puts him in the perfect position to rub his bearded cheek against Astarion’s flushed cock, pulling a high whine from him. His thighs shake from trying not to close tightly around Gale’s head.
Gale smiles against his skin and turns his head once more. His mouth skirts just past Astarion’s cock to instead press his tongue into the very wet hole below it. Astarion, still staring up at the sky, pulls hard on Gale’s hair. “Please,” he whispers as loudly as he can, closing his eyes. “Please, suck me off.”
“Anything for you, Star,” Gale replies, and Astarion can just picture the smug smile on his face as he wraps his lips around just the head. He sucks hard and Astarion moans in return. The range of noises Gale can pull from him never fails to amaze him; how Gale’s come to know him so well is something he should probably give some more thought to, but maybe not while the man’s giving him the most mindblowing head of his life.
Gale bobs his head, sliding his lips up and down the short length. The pace finally gives Astarion a moment to relax his tense muscles and ease into the sensations. He lifts his head again, looking down at the top of Gale’s head. As if sensing he’s being watched, Gale pulls off his dick again.
“Are you alright?” He asks, the ever diligent partner. His eyes are blown wide, clearly taking just as much pleasure from the act as Astarion is. His beard is wet with slick and the sight flusters Astarion for a moment. He takes a breath before he responds.
“Yes, I’m fi ngh ,” his words are cut off by a deep groan as he shuts his eyes and pleasure shoots straight through him. When he opens his eyes again, he sees Gale’s self-satisfied smile first. Between his legs, Gale had caught his cock between the knuckles of two fingers, squeezing and stroking the spit slick length. Each pull down exposes his head and each pull back stretches and squeezes his skin just right.
“Gale, I’m not going to last much longer,” he pants the words. His voice catches on the last syllable and his thighs tremble again with the effort of keeping them apart.
Gale doesn’t respond verbally, squeezing just at the base of Astarion’s cock and placing his lips around it once more. He flicks his tongue against the head in practiced motions and Astarion’s entire body tenses up as the pleasure reaches a fever pitch. He gasps and squeezes his thighs against Gale’s ears as he cums. His hole twitches, almost painfully empty as his cum leaks out. The pleasure between his legs rapidly becomes a painful over-stimulation as Gale continues sucking his cock through the waves.
“Please, Gale,” Astarion whines, forcing himself to loosen his thighs. He pulls on Gale’s hair until the other lifts his head. If his beard was wet before, it’s now positively soaked. Without Gale’s warm mouth on him, the cool night air sends a shiver through his entire body and he pulls his legs away from Gale’s shoulders to squeeze them together tightly.
The chill doesn’t last though, and he’s soon fully wrapped in Gale’s arms and legs, pulled in close to the other man’s body. A quick kiss is pressed against his mouth and Astarion shivers again for an entirely different reason as he tastes himself on Gale’s lips. He pulls away after a moment to bury his face in Gale’s chest instead, breathing him in.
Gale’s chest rumbles with a slight laugh and Astarion feels those slicked lips press against the top of his head. “I’ve got you,” he murmurs into the silver curls. “How are you doing?”
“Fine,” Astarion croaks, before immediately amending his statement. “Better than fine. Incredible. Thank you.”
Another laugh and another kiss. “Happy anniversary, Astarion.”
Astarion doesn’t respond out loud, but he squeezes his arms tighter around Gale’s torso.
Maybe, just maybe, he can start to look forward to their anniversaries from now on.