astravates

[astravates]

[astravates]

Dorian gave him a grateful look, a small puff of breath misting the air between them. "Thanks. I’d hate to turn into a fashionable icicle out here." Accepting the cloak—deep purple and lustrous—he draped it over his shoulders and pulled it tight around him. He sighed with satisfaction as the warmth seeped in.

They walked on through the snow-drifted hills, Dorian occasionally pausing to watch snowflakes land and melt against his blue skin. Curious, he caught some between his fingertips until they dissolved into shivering droplets of water. "Is it cold where you’re from?" The genasi asked, glancing at the drow beside him.

"Yes, perhaps you should borrow one of my cloaks, at least for a little while. It may be a tad short on you but otherwise will at least keep some of the chill at bay." Essek recommended. He himself should have thought about gear but it wasn’t often he traveled with other people. Being on the run wasn't conducive to keeping larger company and when he did the Nein were already their own kind of chaos.

"This is the coldest Exandria tends to get so if you need to prep cold weather gear you will know just how bundled up you'll need to be."

[astravates]

Reunions were always Dorian’s favorite. What can he say? He can’t help but lavish in the extra attention. Dorian gave Orym a familiar, charming shrug, and with a laugh spilling over each word, he covered Orym's face in peppered kisses until the halfling’s cheeks were bright pink and Orym was laughing right along with him. Dorian wrapped his arms around him and spins once before setting the smaller man back onto the ground. Grand entrances. They truly were the bard’s style.

It wasn’t too long before a petulant huff comes from his trusted equine dragon, and Coriolis pushes his face into Orym's head, obviously jealous of the attention he pampered on Dorian first. Only fitting that his horse was Dorian’s greatest competition for his boyfriend’s time. "It's okay! I'm okay," Dorian assured Orym quickly as he watched the halfling looked him over again regardless, just in case. "I missed you," he added, softer now.

The genasi was about to tell Orym every detail of his interesting heist incident when his stomach growled insistently. Soon, his face turned a soft shade of plum as he chuckled sheepishly. "Maybe we can grab a snack at home before we dive into everything? It’s going to be so long before dinner tonight." Crystal blue eyes pleaded his case just as much as his voice.

"And before you say anything, yes, I remember dinner is with Nel and your sisters this evening." Even more of a reason for Dorian to want to fresh up before seeing them. Not that Orym’s in-laws have been anything but polite and welcoming—if you don’t count the relentless teasing of Maeve and Baernie—but his relationship was still new enough for the genasi to feel he needed to earn his place.

@astravates asked | ☆ ° • [ 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃 ] my muse holds your muse after not having seen them for a while

A hand anxiously smooths over the blue stone at his hip as he looks over the horizon of the village. He sent a message earlier, so Orym had to be patient. It was only a matter of time. But time is a weird soup, as Fearne would say. A small quirk of a smile plays over his lips. He could practically hear her voice on the wind saying the exact line. He couldn't help but be nervous. It had already been a few weeks without Dorian and he was more than ready to have him home again.

Maybe he should wait for him at home instead? Would that be a better idea? No, no he wanted to make sure he made it to Zephrah in one piece, or he'd head off on his own to make sure that he was okay. Dorian knew how to protect himself. He had gotten so much better at it since the very beginning of their journeys together. Despite how much he and Chetney seemed to get into mischief these days, Orym didn't doubt Dorian's abilities whatsoever. They destroyed a god eater together alongside their friends.

Dorian was very capable. But he couldn't help but be slightly nervous. Too many close calls in the past linger in the Savior Blade's mind to ever be truly at ease whenever Dorian was gone. There were still lingering nightmares from their days on Ruidus that plagued him every so often. Dorian was always there, though, to soothe his worries away, which he really needed to hear a corny joke or a work-in-progress song from him after all the Diplomatic missions and events he'd been sent on.

It was Orym's thought that Dorian would walk home along the path, but it seems his partner had another idea. The sound of wings flapping from Coriolis overhead now pulls the halfling's attention to the skies, and an even bigger grin finds his features. As soon as the dragon horse lands, Orym is striding over, and with a powerful leap, does he wrap his arms around Dorian's neck and his legs around his torso, clinging to him tightly and taking in all that wonderful aura that the bard produced.

"You sure know how to make a grand entrance, Dorian...." Orym laughed softly as he hugged him tighter for just a few seconds more before pulling back, his hands cupping the Genasi's cheeks, checking for injuries passively while he was at it.

[astravates]

Caleb  groans,  low  and  appreciative,  like  Essek  has  just  handed  him  a  treasure.  He  kisses  the  tears  from  Essek's  eyes,  tasting  salt  and  desperation.  "More  than  agreeable,"  he  whispers  before  pulling  back  just  enough  to  look  into  Essek's  flushed  face.

The  human  extricates  himself  carefully  from  Essek's  grip.  His  hands  move  with  purpose  now,  knowing  exactly  where  they're  needed  most.  He  keeps  his  gaze  locked  with  Essek’s  as  he  starts  unfastening  the  waistband  of  the  loose  trousers  that  encircle  his  slim  frame.

"Keep  looking  at  me,"  Caleb  instructs,  letting  the  fabric  pool  to  the  floor  as  he  drags  it  down  slowly,  slow  enough  to  tease  more  needy  sounds  from  deep  within  Essek's  chest.

he   loses   track   of   caleb's   hands,   feeling   them where they aren't;   on   every   inch   of   his   skin.   he   meets   his   kiss   measure   for   measure,   his   moans   turning   into   needy   whimpers.        ❝    i-    ❞        tears   rise   in   his   eyes.        ❝    i   just   want   .   .   .    ❞

he   clutches   caleb's   shirt,   hugging   him   tightly.   essek   wants   to   be   near   him   most   of   all,   but   his   body   has   needs   as much as his heart does.   the   evidence   of   that   grows   more   pressing   by   the   second.

❝    i   wish   you   to   keep   me   against   this   wall,    ❞        essek   says,   his   authority   somewhat   undercut   by   the   emotion   in   his   voice,        ❝    i   wish   you   to   speak   into   my   ear,   and   work   your   fingers   inside   me.   is that agreeable?    ❞

[astravates]

@sanguistar asked: ❛[ 𝐖𝐑𝐀𝐏 ] my muse wraps your muse up in a blanket >:c no. instead of that, astarion wraps his arms behind gale in an embrace!❜ // non-sexual acts of intimacy;; open

His library was a fortress of pages and leather, towering shelves that stretch beyond mere ambition. A wizard’s domain, where hours slip through the fingers like sand—just the way he preferred it. Gale sat ensconced in an alcove, pages splayed across a wide table, runes and glyphs glowing faintly. His fingers drummed lightly, a rhythm that quickened only when he turned to another book, another scroll. Notes scrawled in a hurried hand litter the desk.

Time ceased its relentless march in here.

Where the world outside faded until it hummed gently at the periphery of his awareness, overridden by arcane incantations whispered like lullabies. It is not until he felt the soft brush of fabric against his neck and arms wrapping languidly from behind that he finally stirred.

"Ah! Suppose I've lost track of time!" Gale chuckled, setting down his quill. "Far be it from me to keep a man ignored for too long."

[astravates]

the announcement of the wildemount wildlings mini series is exactly the kind of excitement i needed to help with this post campaign 3 gloom i’ve been feeling

[astravates]

𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐒𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ⋆ 𝐑𝐏 𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬

𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐒𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 is suitable for any romantic or platonic relationship rp or writing.

Please give this post a like or reblog if you decide to use any of these!

☆ ° • [ 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇 ] my muse touches a bruise on your muse’s body with concern

☆ ° • [ 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇 ] my muse tries to make yours laugh when they are sad

☆ ° • [ 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐍 ] my muse cuddles up in bed to yours

☆ ° • [ 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 ] my muse slow dances with your muse with no music playing

☆ ° • [ 𝐏𝐄𝐓 ] my muse lays your head in their lap and pets your muse’s hair

☆ ° • [ 𝐖𝐑𝐀𝐏 ] my muse wraps your muse up in a blanket

☆ ° • [ 𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 ] my muse brushes a strand of hair behind your muse’s ear

☆ ° • [ 𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 ] my muse laces their fingers with your muse’s, holding their hand

☆ ° • [ 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓 ] my muse sits by your muse’s bedside while they are sick/hurt

☆ ° • [ 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 ] my muse removes wet clothes from your muse’s body

☆ ° • [ 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄 ] my muse gently strokes your muse’s back/arm

☆ ° • [ 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃 ] my muse holds your muse after not having seen them for a while

‏‏☆ ° • [ 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃 ] my muse steps protectively in front of your muse

☆ ° • [ 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 ] my muse kisses your muse’s forehead while they cry

[astravates]

early campaign caleb i miss you every day

[astravates]

as i'm sure you've noticed... i have moved back to a multi-muse blog for the time being. i'll be updating my graphics over time but for the time being, i really want to bring back gale as a muse and combine all my critical role muses in one place! i might move back to a solo blog for caleb in the future, but the critical role rpc is just not large enough right now to justify having him on his own blog.

[astravates]

FEUERWIZARD > ASTRAVATES

[astravates]

Caleb  watches  as  Essek's  hand  extends  toward  his  own,  those  elegant  fingers  reaching  across  the  small  but  significant  space  between  them.  He  takes  the  offered  hand,  but  his  grip  is  loose,  distracted.  His  mind  churns  with  images  that  have  haunted  him  since  his  brief  death—visions  of  Essek  alone,  centuries  stretching  before  him,  memories  of  their  life  together  growing  distant  and  faded  like  old  parchment  left  too  long  in  the  sun.

"Are  you  prepared?  Because  suddenly  I  am  not  so  sure,"  Caleb  whispers,  his  voice  catching  on  the  edges  of  each  word.  Evening  light  filters  through  the  curtains,  casting  long  shadows  across  the  floor  of  their  shared  home,  shadows  that  seem  to  mirror  the  darkness  creeping  into  his  thoughts.  "When  I  died,  even  briefly,  I  saw  what  it did  to  you.  And  I  realized  that  one  day,  it  will  not  be  temporary.  One  day,  I  will  be  gone,  and  you  will  have  centuries—centuries,  Essek—to  carry  that  grief alone."

His  eyes  drift  to  the  window,  where  autumn  leaves  dance  in  the  twilight  breeze,  crimson  and  gold  against  the  deepening  blue  of  evening.  Like  his  own  life,  beautiful  but  fleeting,  destined  to  fall  while  Essek  remains.

something   in   caleb's   voice   make   his   stomach   drop.   he   hasn't   realized   what's   happening,   or   perhaps   he's   in   denial   of   it.   he   wants   to   come   closer.   the   small   distance   is   somehow   too   much.

❝    caleb,   i-   i   know   this.   i   have   known   this,   since   we   entered   into   this   relationship.   i   am   prepared.    ❞        it   hadn't   been   that   long   since   the   human   had   seen   him   choking   on   his   own   sobs.   his   words   feel   foolish   under   caleb's   gaze,   even   though   he's   certain   he's   correct.   but   how   to   convince   his   partner   of   that?

❝    grief   is   inevitable,   yes,   but   that   is   life.   it   will   never   rival   the   joy   of   loving   you.    ❞        essek   reaches   out   for   his   hand,   suddenly   worrying   caleb   won't   take   it.        ❝    i   would   not   have   it   any   other   way.    ❞

[astravates]

wizard kisser

[astravates]

Caleb actually laughed at that, the sound warm and genuine, bubbling up from deep inside him. "I do not know if that is true," he replied with a playful grin, his freckled cheeks tinged pink. "It was always a close race between you and Astrid."

He leaned into Eadwulf, wrapping his arms around the larger man's waist and pulling him closer. It felt so good to laugh like this, to be here with Wulf without the weight of the past crushing them both.

"I want you to be safe and happy. Wherever you are, but I am selfishly glad that you feel that way about us." Eadwulf spoke gently as he let his fingers brush against Caleb’s cheek.

"You got even more handsome if that was even possible. You always were the prettiest of the three of us." He murmured. He pressed a kiss to Caleb’s cheek and let himself lean into the shorter wizard.

[astravates]

Caleb shrugged, an amused glint in his eyes. "Keeping him out of harm's way is rather easy." He snapped his fingers, and Frumpkin vanished mid-purr. But before the rogue could comment, Caleb snapped his fingers again, and Frumpkin materialized on Vax's shoulder, nuzzling into his cheek.

"As you can see," the wizard continued with a sly smile, "he never strays too far. I imagine it's because he is too fond of me." His tone was light, but there was a note of genuine affection beneath it, both for the cat and for the man cradling it. "Though in reality I know that is not necessarily true."

Vax squinted at Caleb as the cat sized him up, trying to figure out if he was being sincere. He wasn't sure he entirely believed that Frumpkin was as discerning as Caleb claimed, but then again, Vax had met cats. They were, in fact, very particular about who could touch them.

He smiled down at Frumpkin, reaching out to scratch his little head. Petting a cat was inherently relaxing, and Frumpkin proved to be no exception.

"Is he safe, on the road with us?" Vex'ahlia brought Trinket everywhere with them, but he was a bear. That was a far cry from a house cat. "Although now that I'm thinking about it, I've never noticed him during a fight."

[astravates]

The human breathes in, relief mixing with concern, a cocktail of emotions he's all too familiar with. "Always," he promises, voice barely above a whisper. "I am not going anywhere." He wraps an arm around Paerin, pulling him closer until the paladin’s head rests against his shoulder, until he can feel each breath Paerin takes and lets out matching his own. He knows it can only do so much to alleviate what he's going through, but for now it feels like enough. It feels like something.

When they finally settle, Caleb loops an arm around Paerin’s waist, his thumb tracing soothing lines along his ribs. It’s a small thing but steady, rhythmic—something to anchor them both when the world feels like it’s spinning out of control.

There are so many more words Caleb could say—about how they fought for this; about how it wasn’t just luck or chance but strength and refusal to let go that brought them here—but none of those seem right. Instead, he just hums, a gentle noise of softness that rumbles through both their bodies.

And there is something profound in the simplicity of it: sharing space and quietude after so many battles both outside and within. Though he knows well the messiness of life, of trying to find footing when the ground has been torn out from under you. But Paerin is strong, perhaps stronger than Caleb has ever been, and even if he wasn’t, well… Caleb would still be there, holding on.

But he doesn’t feel helpless or hopeless anymore; doesn’t feel like it’ll consume him this time around. Doesn’t feel alone with it. "One step at a time," he echoes as a murmur into the warm skin of Paerin’s shoulder.

" I have my ways, " he says, wry —— the smile small and weak and not quite lingering, but it’s at least there. In truth, that had been one of the first things he’d grabbed — he’d grabbed it because he’s not a subtle man, he does what needs to be done, and it was right there and easy. Perhaps that’s why he’d even been targeted so directly in the first place, come to think of it —— but that’s neither here nor there, because at least now he can ascribe some kind of win to this whole bloody encounter. 

He listens, though, and hears Caleb well. Of all the people who could talk to him about this kind of thing, he knows Caleb has the life experience and tragedies of his own that hold enough weight and are similar enough to his own, perhaps, that he trusts him with what he says. And it is reassuring, it is.

—— though, in many ways, it shouldn’t be reassuring. There’s little that feels so poisonous to him as to have his memory — his thoughts, the deepest parts of him — altered and messed with. To not be able to trust those pieces of himself, to not be able to trust his recollections of what happened in those days. Because if he can’t trust that, what can he trust? What of his past would he be able to say for sure happened the way he thought it did? 

But he can’t linger on it, because —— " Aye, " he utters, low, careful, letting that consideration unfold in his already battered mind. No matter what it was, though, something about it feels —— solid. Real. It feels like something painful has been peeled open and made raw again, and maybe if it had been like that years ago, the madness would have killed him as sure as anything else. But now, now that he has separation and strength and ——

And this. The way Caleb’s leg presses against his, the way the warmth of his body, the feeling of his breath on his skin. That’s real. That’s now. That’s not all of his strength, because he has plenty of his own, but it’s something he didn’t even know he was missing until it slotted back into his life again. 

" One step at a time, " he echoes, and then looks to the bottle as it’s passed back. There was a day he would have drank it down to the dregs, drank it down until he couldn’t stomach anymore, drank it til the world went black. But now, he just regards it, feels the way it already seeps through his senses and dulls the worst of it away. And with a breath he closes it, recorking it roughly and tossing it aside with a sigh and a scrub of his hand over an eye, and he leans into the kiss. " Aye, " he agrees, quiet. " Rest. I want —— I need y’by me tonight. "

[astravates]

Caleb  can't  help  a  laugh,  "If  that  is  the  price  I  must  pay,"  he  says,  "it’s  a  small  one."  He  lifts  his  hand,  wiping  away  the  tears;  this  time  they’re  of  a  different  kind.  Fingers  linger;  they’re  playing  with  the  ends  of  his  hair.  "But  maybe  you  could  grant  me  parole?"

They're  dancing  around  each  other's  words  now,  like  a  game,  and  a  playful  smile  tugs  at  Caleb's  lips.  He  knows  the  weight  isn't  entirely  lifted  from  Essek's  shoulders,  but  it's  lighter—and  Caleb  will  keep  chipping  away  at  it  as  long  as  it  takes.  "Take  pity  on  me,  ja?  It's  cold  out  there."

he   closes   his   eyes,   leaning   against   caleb   as   his   face   threatens   to   crumple   again.   the   words   sink   into   his   chest,   warm   and   reassuring.   they   don't   trigger   his   alarm;   it's   only   his   anxiety   that   wants   to   be   certain   the human   isn't   claiming   any   sins   that   aren't   his.   but   if   all   goes   well,   they'll   have   plenty   of   time   to   parse   that.

essek   chuckles.        ❝    our   first   argument.    ❞        he's   generously   stretching   the   definition   of   the   word,   but   he's   amused   by   the   thought.   he   smiles   at   caleb   through   his   tears.        ❝    i   believe   custom   would   dictate   that   you   sleep   on   the   couch.    ❞

[astravates]

◆ CALEB WIDOGAST ◆