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Oh fuck.
She awoke with a blunt pain in her lower abdomen. It made her curl up into a little ball, bringing her knees to her nose, to ease some of the tension. The pain started to move to her lower back, and so she tossed and turned trying to get back to sleep. But to no avail. She then felt a warm wetness between her legs. All of these signs were all too indicative of the horrors of menstruation ahead.
With barely any memory before waking up with a worm in her brain, she didn’t remember the last time she had her period, or that she got such horrible pains from it. It was as if she was getting it for the first time, as she probably did as a girl many years ago.
She slowly got up from her bedroll. When she did, she saw the sheets covered in blood. Looking down between her legs, her underwear, even some of her thighs were soaked with blood. I guess the stress made a whole bunch come out, she thought.
Limping a little to not make the pain worse, she went over to a tub of water to wash herself. She carefully took off her underwear, groaning at how soaked it was. She didn’t know what to do with it, so she put it with the rest of her dirty, blood-soaked clothes. Except this blood was different.
She grabbed a cup and washed herself, taking off her nightshirt as she did. The water gone cold from the weak protection of the tent bit her delicates, and she hissed out in pain. “Fuck!”
When she finished, she grabbed a cloth to dry herself, which she also stained with blood. She threw that to the corner. She grabbed new underwear, using a cloth to catch most of the bleeding. She was about to put her leather pants on, but her aching, bloated belly immediately complained. So she was left to wear another set of underclothes she had for the cold. She kneeled beside her bed and looked at the blood-stained covers. What am I going to do with you? She took her head in her hands, the pain still there, dull and aching, now throbbing.
Just then, one of her lovely companions decided to show up outside her tent. It was her favorite vampire.
“Darling, are you planning on staying in there all day? It’s already noon!”
She took a deep breath not to curse him out then and there. For some reason, his usually annoying demeanor was especially annoying this morning. Or afternoon.
“I’ll be out in a minute.” She yelled out harshly.
At that, he stepped back a little from behind the tent flap. He didn’t expect the response, especially from the “sunshine” of the group. “Alright then, just know that everyone has been waiting for you since dawn.”
She grew even more annoyed at that. Are they fucking kids? Can they not do things themselves? She took another deep breath before looking at her small mirror and making sure she looked half decent before stepping out into the world in her light night dress, blood-stained sheets in hand.
When she opened the flap of her tent, she was met with the light of the blaring sun. She slowly walked out, catching the eyes of her companions, who were sitting around the embers of the fire and their tents.
“Good morning, or should I say afternoon?” Gale took a look at what she was holding. “Is that blood? Are you alright?”, said he with genuine worry. The other companions also took note. Astarion especially.
She had to stop dead in her tracks and collect herself to respond. “I’m fine. Sorry I made you guys wait for me, but I don’t think I’ll be able to join you today. I’m not feeling well.” She tried to go back to walking to the river to wash her clothes, but Shadowheart went up to her.
“Do you want a potion then? You really don’t look so good…”
“It’s just…,” she hesitated a little before replying. It’s just a natural, normal condition, right? It’s definitely not as weird as having an alien tadpole in your brain. Right. So then why did it feel so… embarrassing? She doesn’t remember it feeling like this.
“I’m on my period.” At that, a look of understanding came to Shadowheart’s face. Despite being half-human, she didn’t have the condition, so she knew little about it. But she looked at her and said, “Yeah, you should probably stay in camp then. It’s just hunting.”
Tav looked at Shadowheart with a polite smile and went back to walking to the river. The rest of the companions looked a little confused, the other women included, not having to deal with the condition themselves. When they asked what was the matter, Shadowheart told them, and they looked at her with understanding, if not a little awkwardness. “Should…should one of us stay here then? I don’t think she’s in the best condition to guard camp…”, said Wyll.
“I can do it,” said Astarion from behind Shadowheart. “It was my turn to stay and guard anyway. I might as well just get it over with.” He looked at the other with a disconcerted look on his face. Anything to get out of hunting. The others looked at him with some hesitation.
“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” said Shadowheart, arms crossed.
“Oh come on, I’ve been so well behaved! Besides, by the looks of it, she’ll probably just stay in her tent most of the day. It’ll be fine~.” He tried to put on his best, most convincing look until Shadowheart and the others finally broke. It was obvious they didn’t trust him yet. Not as much as Tav herself did.
They agreed, grabbed their things, and left. Meanwhile, Tav was on the edge of the river, scrubbing her sheets with the little soap she had, trying desperately to get the blood off. It came out little by little, though there were still pink stains. She’d have to buy some more from Arron. When she was slightly satisfied, she decided to walk back to camp. When she got back, she found the others gone, save for Astarion, who was sitting comfortably on a cushion outside his tent mending his shirt.
He looked very focused, posture perfect as his eyes watched his nimble fingers work with the needle and thread. His brow was slightly furrowed, his lips pursed a bit as he focused. His fingers worked expertly, automatically going up, and under, and up, and under, and…
Tav was spaced out for a second before Astarion snapped her out of it. “Back already, darling?” he said in a honeyed tone.
“Where are the others?”
Seeing that she had no interest in humoring him today, his eyes went back to the shirt. “They left to hunt, and they left me to take care of you.”
“Right. I’m going to be in my tent. If you need anything just let me know,” she said in a very matter-of-fact tone.
With that, she walked back to her tent, putting her sheets out to dry. As she did, she realized the big splotches of pink, which made her cheeks grow hot in embarrassment. Oh fuck it, they won’t be back for a while…
What about Astarion?
He’s an adult, he can handle it.
But still…
Speak of the devil, he was watching her discreetly from his tent. He saw her standing looking at the stains on her sheets, and smiled a little. He thought she looked ridiculous. Ridiculously cute. Wait. Not cute. Just ridiculous.
She decided to just let them hang out, fuck what he thinks. She walked into the comfort of her tent but was distraught at the fact she had no sheets to cover herself with but the coarse material of her bedroll. It wasn’t too cold, but she would’ve liked to have the comfort. Something warm to calm the now stinging pain in her lower back.
Some time passed, and Tav was trying to fall asleep. But to no avail. Her pain wouldn’t let her. Just then, she heard footsteps outside of her tent. “Are you all right in there?”
It was Astarion’s voice, softer this time. He was standing outside her tent, looking like a fool with his arms crossed on his chest. It had been a while since he heard any noise, and Shadowheart would drive a stake through his heart if anything happened to Tav, so he decided to check up on her.
At first, she was slightly annoyed at being interrupted. But his voice sounded like it had genuine concern, so she sat up.
“Come in.”
Astarion was a little surprised and hesitated at first, but soon gave in and opened the tent flap. As soon as he did, he got a whiff of something. Blood.
He saw her sitting on her bare bedroll, hair slightly disheveled, a pained look on her face. He sat down at the other end of the bedroll. “Trying to sleep, darling?” His voice still had his usual spice, but it was softer, almost as if he felt empathetic towards her pain.
“Yeah. It’s the only thing I can do.” She looked at the floor next to him.
He waited a bit before replying, “You’ll have to excuse me, I’ve never…where is the pain?”
She could tell he didn’t know how to deal with this. But somewhere deep down, below the obligation to make small talk, there was concern.
She used her hand to trace a line across her entire lower abdomen. He looked at her and nodded his head a little up and down. It was awkward, but he was soon back to his sly self. “Well, would a massage make you feel better? You know, I’m very good with my hands.”
Too tired to tell him off, and not in the mood to argue back, she decided to just nod. He was pleasantly surprised at that, a smirk instantly making its way to his lips. “Let’s start at the back then…turn around and lie down, darling.” Something inside of her, perhaps in her lower tummy, twisted at the pet name. He used it condescendingly before, but this time, it felt different.
She did as she was told, lying on her stomach, her back now to Astarion. She hugged at her pillow and looked back at him, catching his eyes looking at her up and down. When their eyes met, he smirked at her, and she immediately looked away. “I’ll start now,” he said as he took his hands to her lower back, applying slight pressure up and down. At that, she tensed up and groaned a bit. He simply looked at her face and told her, “Tell me if it hurts.”
“A little lighter, please.” At that, he pressed down lighter, almost just passing his hands on her back to calm the pain. His hands worked up and down, side to side, methodically and softly, his eyes flashing to her face to check for any signs of pain.
After a little while, he started to zone out. As he did, Tav’s stomach hurt from the pressure of the rest of her body on it. She looked at Astarion and saw his eyes spread apart, distant.
“Astarion?”
At that, he was back to Faerûn, and he met her eyes. “It hurts my stomach now…”
“I can massage the front side too.” She softly turned onto her back, her front now facing Astarion. She fixed her hair and met his eyes again before he took his cold hands and softly applied the same pressure to her lower belly. Truth be told, this was of little comfort to her. Maybe if his hands were warm. Either way, she appreciated the company. And sometimes, he wasn’t so bad to be around.
As he worked her front, she noticed her cheeks start to warm up and become hot. But as he reached a particularly tender spot, she hissed in pain. Astarion promptly removed his hand from there and instead started to pass his hand lower. At that, the heat returned to her face, heartbeat now excited. She was sure he could feel her heartbeat in her lower stomach, maybe even more so being a vampire and all.
And feel it he did. But he felt more than that. He felt the way she blushed. The way her body tensed more than it relaxed, and not because of the pain. And the smell of her blood was ever present, radiating off of her more than normal. He could practically taste it from here…but he couldn’t ask her for that. Not now. He knows she only let him the other night to be kind; she hasn’t offered since then. So he simply went back to passing his hand, until he absentmindedly went a little too low and started caressing her core.
Tav’s knees immediately flushed together at the contact, trapping his hand. At that, she made her legs fly open again, and Astarion slowly removed his hand from her. She shot straight up, looking at him bewildered.
“I’m-I’m sorry. I didn’t realize…,” said Astarion, hands now on his lap, eyes on the ground near her.
“No, no, I’m sorry for…squeezing your hand. It was, um, I was just surprised.”
They made quick eye contact.
Astarion decided to keep the eye contact going and say, “You know, I don’t think the massage is working. But I know another way I can ease your pain.”
“A-And what way is that?”
He smirked at her. “Making good use of the blood you already have…and perhaps relieving some tension you’ve had for quite a while.”
The heat remained on her face. It was just then that she remembered; he was a vampire, she was on her period…he had probably smelt her condition since the morning.
“I…I would like that.”
At that, he softly grabbed her knees and spread her legs apart. He then took care in lifting her gown and taking her underwear off, careful with the bloodstained cloth. Revealed was a bloody package, all for him to devour.
He lowered himself to meet her core, hooking his arms around her legs to grab her hips. He started to kiss her from her inner knee down to her innermost thigh, right next to where she needed him. He then went to the other leg and did the same.
Once he finished with both legs, he kissed the soft skin of her inner thighs again, nipping and licking lightly, obsessed with the way it made her tense up. “Your skin is so deliciously soft…,” he murmured in between her legs. It had her want to suffocate him with her thighs.
But before Tav could even try, Astarion’s fingers had found their way to her vagina. They traced her lips and came out covered in dull, maroon blood. Astarion licked his fingers clean, then took them into his mouth to suck the remaining blood, making sure Tav could see the whole thing. His fingers came out with a pop. “Delicious as ever, darling.”
Tav’s head fell back on the pillow after seeing such obscenity. Astarion merely chuckled. But despite what he had promised, the pain was still there.
“Astarion, please…,” she moaned out in pain, and not in the pleasurable kind.
And so Astarion decided to leave the teasing to another day and dug right in. His tongue licked a stripe from the bottom up, making sure to pick up all of the blood and what he would later describe as “pulp.”
He savored the taste of her in his mouth, the flavors of blood and arousal coming together to create the beautiful concoction that was her.
He licked her again, this time from a different angle, and placed a kiss on her clit at the end. This made her sensitive nub eager for more friction. He slowly licked again and again until he decided to switch it up, or he might lick her raw.
He instead decided to play with her much-teased clit with his fingers, rubbing the nub softly with his middle and forefinger. It made her tense up and open her mouth into that oh-so-beautiful “O” shape. A hand that was gripping her bed roll made its way to cover her mouth.
He decided he was having none of that, wanting to eat his cake and have it too. So he reintroduced his tongue, which now licked vigorously. This made her hand fly to the back of his head, fingers grabbing his tight curls and guiding his head exactly where she wanted him.
He followed her commands, taking his tongue to the exact place that made her moan even louder and almost suffocate him with her thighs as they tensed.
Without her noticing, blood started to come out of her ever so slowly. This did not go unnoticed by Astarion, however, who moved his tongue down to her hole to lick up the blood coming out, taking time to savor it again. She had to drag him back to her clit, surprising both him and her with her desire. “My, aren’t you impatient to come,” he looked up at her with hooded eyes, meeting her own, pupils blown and face red. “Fine then,” he sucked at her clit, “come for me.”
He licked and sucked at her clit with haste, as if he was trying actually to devour her. It made her knees go weak, her legs cross and tense, her hands alternating between gripping his hair, the bedroll, and the pillow at her head. The pleasure was completely overriding the pain so that the only thing she felt was his mouth on her.
She was starting to get close - he could tell from the way she would tense around nothing, and how her moans would get louder, her hand guiding him more impatiently. He needed only to add his fingers to the equation, which he did, making them easily slide into her blood-lubricated entrance and pump them in a few times before she unraveled completely.
An exquisite moan left her mouth; one of pleasure and pleasure only. Just as he had said, the pain had left her completely, leaving a feeling of satisfaction between her legs.
A little bit of blood came out of her again. Not wanting to waste such a delectable treat, Astarion went back down and licked it up for her. The overstimulation made her hiss.
When he came back up, the lower half of his face was covered in a light layer of her blood. He licked his lips to collect what was left, but there was still a blood mustache around it. Tav giggled when she saw it. He looked at her with furrowed brows.
“What is it?”
She licked her thumb and swiped it over the blood, wetting her thumb again to clean up the rest, tasting herself in the process. “You’ve got a little blood on your face…”
When she finished, she reached up and cupped his face to kiss him. She tasted herself once more, which she thought was kind of hot.
It was a soft, sweet kiss. It was a thank-you kiss. But just to drive the message home, she said it anyway.
“Thank you for this…I feel a lot better now.”
He merely smirked. “Of course darling. Any time.”
And though he said it in a silky, whispered tone, he meant it.
As soon as she got cleaned up, and they walked out of her tent, they were met with the concerned stares of their companions, back from the hunt. Gale looked at the sky. Wyll simply looked bewildered. Shadowheart looked disappointed. Lae’zel was disgusted. Karlach had her mouth open in amazement. Astarion was smirking. Tav was mortified, and as red as the blood that came out of her only moments before.
“Don’t worry everyone, she feels a lot better now. I said I would take care of her, didn’t I?,” said Astarion.
The others simply shook their heads, returning to their tents.