Chapter Text
‘What a shitty little motel’, Astarion thought as his uber pulled into the parking lot. It was a two level apartment style motel, with 5 rooms on top and 5 on the bottom connected by a set of metal stairs on either side. A rickety railing gated in the upper landing, made of thin, rusted metal. Each room had a differently colored door and Astarion wondered which cheap wooden entryway he would be sleeping behind. Other than the colorful doorways, the building was a shade of light gray and with a lot of water stain around the corners. Next to the main motel was a small gray building with a dark gray roof matching the other building, most likely the main desk area.
The place was mostly unoccupied judging from the lack of cars in the parking lot. Astarion internally groaned at the idea of another lousy shoot, as he paid his driver and pulled out his single piece of black soft luggage from the trunk. He had been hoping for something a little more luxurious, given the fame of his co-stars. This was his first big shoot since going solo, but he wasn't going to complain as long as he still got his own bed. He’d been sleeping on his ‘friend’s’ couch for a few months now and his lower back craved a proper mattress.
He pushed down the ball of nerves in his gut, as he always did before starting a job. Tav, his main co-star, had been really nice on the phone but he was going to have to represent himself again and his track record so far was shit. Cazador, his former manager and master, had never let him negotiate or even talk to management before and he struggled with it greatly now.
Astarion walked to the first level room where he was supposed to meet up with the director. The guy had sounded incredibly annoying on the phone, boasting about his former career as an award winning director of short films and going on about his ‘process’. Astarion could already tell this was going to be a pain, but he couldn’t say no to working with Tav given how popular she was right now. He desperately needed the boost in numbers to help start making money again. He had lost everything when he left Szarr Studios and had to do some shameful things to get together enough money to buy the equipment to start streaming again. Only a few loyal patrons were keeping him from total poverty and gave him enough to cover most of his expenses and pay his ‘friend’ for use of his couch.
He hated thinking of them in those terms, they were not really friends. Yonas was an asshole who was just attracted enough to Astarion to let him sleep on his couch so he could fuck him occasionally and slowly bleed him dry of every copper he had. Astarion was desperate to get some real money together and move out but the bastard kept changing the amount of money he owed based on how much Astarion got paid. It never left him with much leftover to save, even if he was skipping meals regularly. Tav had promised his food would be handled by the studio and he wondered again what exactly that meant. He had once been to a shoot where his catered meals turned out to be lost pets abducted by the crew from a local neighborhood; he really hoped he wouldn't have to deal with bullshit like that again.
He reached the bright yellow door he had been moving towards and knocked. Nervously he fixed his curly white hair and checked his carefully manicured pale fingers.
“Come in.” Astarion heard the director’s lilting voice on the other side of the door, as well as the buzz of several other voices talking. He opened the door and was surprised to see how many people had arrived before him. This was a moderately large shoot, with ten people between the cast and crew. Not unusual for the industry, but Astarion was used to smaller shoots, two people, one cameraman type situations. From what he could tell by a quick head count he was the last one to arrive. The room had two double beds covered in white and tan bedspreads. There was a small table against the opposite wall and a clock hanging on the back wall across from where he had entered. The walls were tan colored matching the beds with a white trim and tan window dressings; all very boring in Astarion’s opinion.
Three very different looking women were sitting on one of the beds all in a row, a skinny githyanki, a black haired half elf and a large, muscular tiefling. Across from them, seated on the parallel bed were his famous co-stars, the wood elf Halsin and half Tabaxi/half elf Tav listening attentively, to whatever the large tiefling woman was talking about.
Three human men were at a table on the opposite side of the room looking at a laptop screen while one of them typed away. Their faces all looked deeply displeased.
Astarion fully entered the room, closing the door behind him and was suddenly accosted by the director, Volo. “How are you my dear, Astarion? I hope your travels went well, come in, come in and meet everyone.” Volo was a thin, heavily bearded man with a meticulously groomed, upturned mustache. He was wearing a blue button down with a matching black spotted bow tie, navy slacks and a pretentious matching beret. Astarion had been right, this guy looked as annoying as he sounded. Who the hell wears a bow tie in this line of work?
“It was fine, Darling. Modern medicine makes traveling for us vampires quite easy nowadays.” Astarion responded smoothly. He saw Tav turn to look at him, then get up and approach him, her face open and curious. She looked just like she did online, except even cuter in person. She was so short, at least 3 inches shorter than himself, he estimated. Next to Halsin she always looked little, so he shouldn't be surprised she’d be small in real life. She was wearing a simple white t-shirt and black leggings. And no bra, Astarion noted. He could see the outline of her nipples through the thin fabric. Her eyes were large, almond shaped and gold with cat-like slit irises, which matched her pointed brown cat ears nestled on top of her head of shoulder length straight brunette hair. She was very pretty with her small mouth and high cheekbones, in Astarions opinion, even without her usual makeup and her slightly too long bangs. She smiled at him and he returned the gesture easily.
“Nice to meet you finally, we talked on the phone. I’m Tavienne Silverbough, call me Tav.” She introduced herself politely and held out her hand to shake his. Her voice was different in person but the tone was the same; sweet and feminine. He knew who she was, he’d seen all of her videos and he was(at least this month thanks to several generous patrons) subscribed to her and Halsin’s onlyfans. Astarion takes her hand and turns it, bending to place a soft kiss on the back of her tanned fingers. He made sure to keep their eyes locked as he did this, taking note of the blush that came to her cheeks. He could tell from their phone conversations she was going to be great to work with, she had been so sweet and well informed. He was so lucky she contacted him about working with her and he intended to be his most charming self for the duration of the shoot.
“Astarion Ancunin. Charmed to finally meet you in person Darling.” He used his most practiced, confident tone. He had to appeal to her after all, she was his ticket to this ball and to working with Volo’s company. He released her hand and it dropped to her side. She was looking at him with slightly widened, curious gold eyes.
“Nice to meet you Astarion, I am Halsin Silverbough.” The big druid rumbled, in his signature deep tone. He had approached while Astarion was putting on his little show and was now towering behind Tav, holding out a hand. Halsin was huge in person, easily over 6 feet tall and quite broad. He was wearing a colorfully embroidered green tank top and tan harem pants with sandals. His shoulder length brown hair was gathered into a half bun on the back of his head. He had a strong jawline and piercing brown eyes. A swirling pale red tattoo took up half of his handsome face, one tendril crossing over his right eye. Above his left eye were three thin scars that stretched over his brow. His eyes were an intense green as he looked over Astarion. He was smiling when he met his eyes and Astarion gave his own patented smile back, taking Halsin’s hand and shaking it firmly.
“Come, meet everyone and then we shall show you our room.” Tav nodded at Halsin’s words and took Astarion’s hand, leading him over to the bed occupied with the three women. Already touchy; he would put up with it but he didn’t love it. He had almost forgotten that he was sharing a room with Tav and Halsin, the production only had the budget for 3 rooms. He was supposed to get his own bed though, so he wasn’t complaining. It was just more time to seduce his new famous co-stars in Astarion’s opinion. He wanted to get them wrapped up in him so they would keep calling him back for more work. And he might’ve also wanted the chance to indulge his personal fantasy of fucking one or both of his favorite pornstars. But work was the primary reason.
“This is Lae’zel, she looks mean but she doesn’t bite unless you want her to.” Tav said, gesturing to the lanky, green skinned githyanki woman. She was thin and muscular with wispy shoulder length brown hair, wearing loose blue jeans with a prominent belt buckle, a biker jacket over a tight white tube top and steel toed black boots. Her red thong was hiked up on her hips, obviously on display. Under each of her severe golden eyes was a smear of black makeup. Lae’zel gave him a curt nod when she was intorduced.
“Shadowheart, one of my favorite people in the world and Lae’zel’s wife.'' Tav motioned towards the fair skinned half-elf wearing a black leather collar, black leather halter top and matching tight leather pants topped off with bright red glossy 6 inch heels. Her hair was gathered in a plait on top of her head giving her a long, high braided ponytail and her makeup was dark and heavy around the eyes, making her look very goth. Astarion knew Lae’zel and Shadowheart, they were the Hallowleafs, kink performers like him, not that he’d ever worked with them, they were far too legitimate. Lae’zel was a well known dominant, known for her extreme shoots with her wife and submissive, Shadowheart. Astarion respected their work, even if it did tend to devolve into lovey dovey fluff by the end. Shadowheart gave a coquettish little wave.
“And Karlach Ravenguard. She's our new security tough gal.” Tav finished the row by gesturing to the red tiefling woman with one broken horn. She had bright gold eyes with white sclera, unusual compared to the tieflings he had worked with before. She had a side shaved head with a flip over of medium length black hair and was wearing a green and silver football jersey with a bird printed on the front and black leggings. Astarion couldn't help but notice she was quite tall and absolutely built too, limbs and back thick with muscle.
“Karlach is-” Tav pauses to point at one of the men still at the computer. A black man with a stone eye and cornrows. He had an aesthetically appealing scar over his missing eye. “-Wyll’s wife. He’s a fellow actor. Next to him is Gale Dekarios. He’s our tech guy. Gale! Say hi.” The tanned skinned medium length haired brunet bearded man seated next to Wyll smiled and waved his hand placatingly before going back to his typing. He seemed absorbed in whatever he was doing. “And next to him is Oskar Fevras, our assistant director.” Oskar was a fair skinned, blonde man with medium length hair carefully blown out to frame his pale face. He gave Astarion a nod before returning his tense gaze to Gale’s screen.
Tav turned to meet his eyes. “Let's get you settled in.” Halsin said as he reached a hand out from his place at Astarion’s side, offering to take Astarion’s bag, which, in return, he held tight to his chest.
“No thank you, Darling. I’d prefer to carry my things myself.” Astarion hoped his rejection won't upset the big man, but he doesn’t let anyone but himself handle his anti-mind control meds. They were too precious to take the risk of losing. He was so tired of dealing with large temperamental men, something he had needed to deal with at all his recent shoots. Halsin just shrugs in response though and moves to lead him to his room, much to Astarion’s relief.
Tav walked next to him as they made their way to the second level and he’s shown the faded magenta door of the room they will be sharing. On the way, Tav told him that their gear hadn't all made it to location and that shooting would be delayed a few days. Before he could even ask, Tav told him that he’ll be paid in full for the extra days. He felt relief at the extra cash, but wondered what they were going to do for 3 days while they waited for the stuff to arrive.
The room they were sharing was plain. Beige walls with a singular bland landscape painting hung between a queen size bed and a full. The bedding was covered in a faded flower print that matched the similarly faded window dressing. A basic clock hung between the door and window. It was all disgustingly generic, even the cheap wooden end tables and lamps flanking the beds. At least they had a bathroom, not that even he, with his vampire immune system, would trust the water for drinking.
Tav went to the full size bed and patted it with her hand. “This one is yours if that works for you. Halsin kinda needs the bigger bed.” She indicated, giving a shrug at the end. He nodded and placed his bag on the bed, taking note of Tav and Halsin’s forest green hard luggage set in the corner. So they had some money, Astarion noted. He liked that in a mark. He took the small bag of pills out of his bag and put it into his pocket. He couldn’t leave them in the room. If Tav and Halsin saw him do it, they didn’t say anything.
He turned and noticed Tav was studying his face. She blushed when he met her eyes but didn't look away.
“Sorry, you just look a lot younger in person.” Tav admitted. “If you don’t mind my asking, how old were you when you were turned?” It wasn’t an uncommon question for Astarion. He watched as Halsin picked up a refillable water bottle with a filter in it from one end table to take a drink. Seems he wasn’t the only one distrustful of the sink water.
“I was 39.” Halsin choked mid swallow at his admission and started coughing. Astarion made a face, he knew it was relatively young for an elf, but he was a grown man with a job as a lawyer when he met his undeath. The memory suddenly depressed him. How far he had fallen from those days. Halsin wiped his face with the back of his hand.
“Sorry, that's just, very young for an elf.” Halsin sputtered a bit as he finished clearing his airways. No shit Sherlock, he knew it was young. It’s not like he was a child though, even if he was turned well before elven adulthood.
“I’m aware.” Astarion practically spat, he couldn't keep the tone of bitterness out of his voice. He then noticed Tav was studying his face again before she met his gaze. She looked…curious? Astarion wasn't sure, he was still getting used to reading her. Tav tilted her head inquisitively, ears giving a little bounce.
“Can I call you Baby?” She asked, and Astarion inwardly cringed. He’d never done pet names before, it seemed dumb. He wasn’t going to deny her though, even if he did think it was stupid.
“Only if I can call you Sweetness.” He returned with a flirty tone. Sweetness fit her, she had been a sweetheart so far in their dealings and it was a popular thing for her subscribers to call her. She smiled at him and gave a nod. Astarion noted her canines were slightly elongated, not as much as his own, but noticeably more so than normal. He had thought that was fake from her videos but they were clearly real from what he could see now.
Tav turned to him.“We want to do a quick pov video before we go back down, just me and Halsin. You can watch if you want, but you’re totally free to bail and go back downstairs if you’re not in the mood. If you stay you just need to not talk, you won't be on camera at all.” Her tone was easy and light, and Astarion wondered if this was some kind of test. If it was, he was going to pass.
“I’d love to see you work, Sweetness. I’ll be quiet as a church mouse.” He pressed an index finger to his lips in emphasis. He wasn’t going to miss this.
Halsin sat on the corner of their bed and Astarion sat on his own bed to watch, crossing his legs elegantly and placing both hands on his raised knee. Tav dropped to her knees in front of Halsin and handed him her phone, some expensive looking touch screen thing. He held it in both hands above Tav pointing downward as she started to undo his tan slacks.
Astarion was familiar with these shoots, they were all over their website. He found himself excited to see this in person, it felt like an exclusive fan experience, getting to watch them up close like this.
Tav pulled out Halsin’s half hard member and began to lick and kiss along the length, helping bring him to full hardness. She was looking up into the camera with her big gold eyes as she began to suck him, making little happy noises as Halsin started to groan quietly. Astarion can see Halsin’s large cock slowly disappearing into Tav’s mouth with each downward stroke. She began to bob in a slow rhythm, drawing more strained moans from Halsin. Astarion had to admire the skill, Halsin was definitely fucking her throat with how deeply she was taking him, almost to the hilt. She pulled off to work his spit soaked length with both hands and lick at his slit. Halsin moved one hand from the phone to tenderly stroke the side of Tav’s face, before sliding his hand into her hair and fisting it. She let out a little moan at the treatment, Astarion wondered if it was real or fake. If she liked being treated roughly that should make things easier for him, right? This was his first shoot being a really rough dominant Top.
Halsin was now moving Tav’s head up and down on his cock, occasionally pushing her to the base so she would choke a little around him. Her eyes are watering now too, and drool was running down her chin. He released her suddenly to lean back on one arm and she pulled up to work him quickly with one hand, her mouth focusing on the top few inches. Halsin was breathing hard now, struggling to keep his camera hand steady. Tav paused to add in some gratuitous licking around Halsin’s cockhead and then she started talking, looking at Halsin past the phone’s camera.
“I can feel you getting close, My Love. Taste your precum. Please, will you cum in this Good Girl’s mouth? I want your cum inside me.” Tav moaned out, voice a bit exaggerated. Astarion appreciated the dirty talk, that was something he was getting into himself with his new livestream and it was harder than it looked, er, sounded. Tav had a great voice for it and always seemed so confident when she did it in her videos. Astarion envied her level of ease.
“Yes, My Heart.” Halsin responded breathily and Tav returned to work, working him with both her mouth and hands. It didn't take long before he heard Halsin’s breath hitch and he thrust up into Tavs mouth, spending himself. She suckled him gratefully, then swallowed and showed her empty mouth to the camera before giving a little wave with her tongue stuck out.
With that, Halsin handed the phone back to Tav and she ended the video with a tap on the glass surface of the device. Halsin moved his hands to gingerly wipe the tears from under her cheeks and eyes and the drool from her chin, then bent to kiss her. She melted under his touch, looking blissfully content when Halsin pulled back from her.
Tav got up and made her way to the bathroom, and Astarion watched as she began a quick brushing of her teeth. He noticed Halsin was looking at him and he winked at the big man flirtatiously, which, frustratingly, he returned with a serene smile. He looked blissful and Astarion was jealous. He felt like absolute shit, it had been a week since his last ‘meal’ if you could even call it that. Seeing Halsin so relaxed and satisfied just irritated him in this state. Tav came out of the bathroom and came up next to Halsin then leaned down to give his head an affectionate kiss. Ugh, they looked disgustingly happy when they looked at each other, it turned Astarion’s stomach a bit. He would have to convince both of them to take interest in him, there was no way he was getting either of them to cheat. Besides, while he was pretty sure he could take Tav in a fight, Halsin was another matter entirely, and he had no desire to see the big elfs rage turned on him. He imagined Halsin wildshaping into a bear and eating him, while a ditzy Tav cheered him on from the sidelines.
“That fanged freak actually thought he could fuck me. Get him Honey Bear.” The Tav in his head laughed cruelly as he was ripped to pieces by sharp bear teeth.
The trio made their way back down to the crew room. Tav walked beside him again, asking him boring questions about his travel experience. She inquired about the golden ring he was wearing, as she had sensed it was magical when she got close to him. He informed her it was his sunwalker ring, and it’s what gave him the ability to walk in the sun despite being a vampire spawn. He doesn't tell her it used to belong to Cazador, she doesn't need to know it’s stolen. Tav listens to him attentively, making far too much eye contact for Astarion’s liking.
They quickly made it back to the crew room and Astarion took a seat on the edge of the still unoccupied bed. Tav sat next to him, a little too close but Astarion could work with that. He resisted the urge to pull away from her when her shoulder brushed his arm. She must be a touchy feely type Astarion decided. He could put up with that if it was her, he did find her to be quite attractive after all. Volo cleared his voice loudly before he began.
“Alright, My beautiful Doves! Tonight dinner will be on the most lovely and gracious Tavienne.” He pauses for the light applause and Karlach’s excited ‘Whoo’. Tav, for her part, just smiled and gave a little wave at the cheer. “Afterwards I would encourage you all to head back to your rooms and get to know your co-stars. Go over the script a bit and work out your boundaries.” Astarion internally groaned at the word ‘boundaries’. That was another thing he had been struggling with at recent shoots. They all expected him to express his likes and dislikes clearly, which was the opposite of how Astarion had been trained by his former Master. “Tomorrow we will check out the set and show you the equipment we’ll be working with. Other than that, let’s have some fun tonight!” With that Volo ended his impromptu meeting.
Tav stood up and was quickly pulled away by Karlach and Shadowheart who were excitedly talking about food options. Volo stopped by to tell him he had procured Astarion’s dinner already and it was in the cooler on the table.
As he was wondering about when and how he should take his meal, Astarion is surprised by Lae’zel plopping down next to him, legs spread, bumping her knees into his, causing him to involuntarily flinch. Why was there so much touching going on?
“I have seen your videos, Astarion. You are truly a talent.” She was looking at him with a smirk and narrowed predatory eyes. Astarion’s instincts were suddenly telling him he was in danger. He ignored them, playing it off as just frayed nerves after a long day of travel.
“Ah, thank you. I’ve seen your work as well.” He answered awkwardly, put off by the look she was giving him.
“If you are not yet preoccupied tonight, Shadowheart and I would have you, and experience those talents for ourselves. I pledge to treat you in the manner that you are accustomed to from your videos.” Lae’zel placed a hand on his as she spoke and he quickly pulled it away.
Astarion froze, maybe he was in danger. The gith woman was looking at him intensely, she definitely meant his older work. His stomach gave a nervous lurch. He did not want to know what Lae’zel wanted to do with him, but he was sure he wouldn’t enjoy it, even if she was a talented Dominant. He swallowed around the thick feeling in his throat and considered how to say no, knowing Lae’zel had a notorious temper. Could he afford to say no, he wondered?
The bed shifted as something big settled beside him. He turned to see Halsin had taken a seat next to him, at a more respectful distance than Lae’zel.
“If you are making plans for the evening, I should let you know Tav and I were really hoping to practice with you later, Astarion.” Halsin offered with a gentle smile. Now doing that was something Astarion was interested in. Seducing them would be easier than he thought if they wanted to practice off screen. He could show off how talented he was and win over their bodies before their hearts.Astarion turned to Lae’zel and offered her an apologetic smile
“Sorry, Darling. Seems I have work to do.” His tone is easy and confident, feeling less exposed with the big elf beside him.
“T’sk, fine. Your loss.” Lae’zel relented bitterly and got up to go find out what people had decided on ordering. Astarion felt the knot in his gut relax. Halsin had saved him from that potential debacle. He turned to the elf, who was still smiling at him serenely. Halisn lifted a big hand and grabbed Astarion’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. It felt strangely reassuring.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed as Tav made her way over to him holding his dinner in one hand. “I had Gale warm it up for you. He knows ‘Prestidigitation’ ya’ know. It’s a big part of why we keep him around.” He hears Gale give an offended ‘Hey’ from his spot at the table. Tav turns and sticks her tongue out at him playfully, before returning her attention to Astarion and handing him the warmed blood bag labeled ‘Grass Fed 100% Organic Cow’. ‘How pretentious’, he thought but popped the little tab at the top of the bag and gave it a taste. It was good, better than he was used to and he savored the rich flavor. Tav sat next to him, watching his face as he drank. Astarion met her eyes and raised an eyebrow curiously, not releasing his lips from the bag's tiny port.
“Is it good?” Tav asks curiously, tilting her head. He released the bag from his mouth, having quickly drained half of it. He had been starving.
“It's absolutely wonderful, nothing like a humanoid, but it does the job.” He returned his mouth to the bag after he answered, noting how she smiled at his response and nodded her head.
Dinner was a slightly raucous affair, Karlach having ordered a bunch of alcohol for everyone to share with the food they ended up getting. Astarion paid no attention to their human foods and was currently enjoying a glass of red wine from the selection of bottles. It was shit but it was better than anything Astarion had had in a long while. Volo was next to him seated on one of the tan beds going on about his last movie and how it won some award Astarion didn’t care about.
He was much more interested in watching Lae’zel aggressively hit on a very flustered and drunk Wyll while his wife looked on excitedly. She was sitting on the small couch with Shadowheart draped in her lap. Both of them were quite drunk, not as drunk as Wyll but plastered nonetheless. Gale was still at his laptop nursing the same beer he’d had with dinner with a frustrated look on his face. Astarion guessed all was still not well in computer land, as Oskar was still next to him staring at the screen with a similarly grim face. He, however, was taking vodka shots, and was quickly working his way towards a blackout by Astarion’s estimations.
Halsin was sitting on the other bed, legs crossed beneath him. He hadn't had any alcohol, even after Karlachs whining pleas. The big man said he never imbibes, which surprised Astarion. In his experience the bigger guys tended to have similarly big appetites for alcohol. Halsin had a slightly tipsy Tav in his lap, who was typing away on her phone. She was probably updating their social media and stuff, she handled all that in their relationship from what Astarion could tell. She and Halsin have shared most social media platforms since they got married. Halsin had little online presence outside of his videos, the man having explicit views about not liking technology too much as it conflicted with his hippy dippy morals. Despite Tav eating a very light dinner, Karlach had managed to get her to drink two drinks before she quit, choosing to cuddle up with her sober husband. Astarion wondered if she was one of those girls who never ate very much; that could prove problematic given they had a scene where he was going to drink from her.
Astarion took a long sip from his cup and watched as a drink-flushed Tav giggled, reacting to something Halsin had whispered into the top of her head. She was really cute in person, not just in looks but she behaved cute too. It didn’t seem like an act either, which surprised Astarion, nor was it over the top or grating. Halsin was also super chill, a calm and relaxing man, nothing like he had expected. The couple was more like their online personas than Astarion had suspected Most of the people he worked with had big egos and personas both on and offline but Tav and Halsin seemed like normal people, which was a huge relief. ‘Maybe things won’t be so bad’, he thought, but that was easy to think when he was now fed and things hadn’t gotten bad yet. In his experience, they always got bad eventually.