#BW sanctuary fall flash

[isilas-o-silas]

Drew these for the Bloodweave Sanctuary Fall Flash trade, our theme was Festival.

Coordinated with my trade buddy, Miss Lillian Valentine, whose fic can be found on AO3 :)

[bekilybi]

My first drawing on here! Which is also a swap with SerenaofFaerun for the Bloodweave Sanctuary Fall Flash Trade!

Since our prompt was "sweaters," we both went for cozy vibes for my drawing and her story (GO READ IT, IT'S SO SWEEEET), and I even whipped up patterns for the sweater designs! If anyone wants to try knitting them or cross-stitching them, just credit me if you post about it. (They might not repeat as they are, but let me know and I'll help you out!)

There's also a little inset pic of the his-and-his t-shirts I imagine under the sweaters ❤️ Also made illithid parody designs of Starbucks cups logos, and there are more little Easter eggs and fanfic homages if you look close, like Gale's orb/Mystra star pop socket, wedding rings a la Silver, Gold and Brass (and Serena's story linked above), and their earring studs from Stay Though My Arms Shake. <3 Happy Fall, y'all!

[serenaoffaerun]

The Proust Effect

Screenshot and fiction by me, SerenaOfFaerun - please do not use for your own purposes.

Written for @bekilybi for the @bloodweavesanctuary's Fall Flash Exchange.

Prompt word: Sweaters

Relationships: Astarion/Gale (Bloodweave)

Tags: Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Domestic Fluff. Fluffity Fluff Fluff Flufferson. Established Relationship. One teensy mention of Cazador. Blink and you'll miss it. Sweet Astarion. Sweet Gale.

Words: 1.8K

Summary: Post-Netherbrain Astarion is reminiscing about times with Gale brought on by the scent in the wizard's sweater. The sweater that the vampire stole before his husband went out of town. After accepting the fact that he's going to just be sad and lonely until Gale returns, a mysterious portal appears in their kitchen...

Read it on AO3 here, or keep reading below the fold.

The Proust Effect

Sandalwood, lavender, and campfire.

Astarion breathed deeply, the purple fabric of Gale's favorite sweater bunched up around his neck and face, that scented blend filling his senses. He sighed as he gazed out of the sitting room window into the back yard. His rose bushes had finished blooming, the last of their petals littering the ground below. The handful of trees they had on their property were at their peak fall colors.

In the distance, the horizon was a swath of oranges, yellows, and reds, highlighted by the golden rays of the setting sun (which was fortunately on the other side of the tower). It reminded Astarion of a campfire. He closed his eyes and took another slow, deep breath as images flashed behind his eyes.

A campfire, surrounded by scared, tadpoled adventurers. Companions. Friends. His lover sitting next to him, hands on each others’ knees. Little moments where he’d bring Gale’s hand up to his lips to place a kiss on those battle-weary palms before holding it to the side of his chilled face. Even though he didn’t technically need breath, he’d take a deep inhale anyway, the lavender of his soap and the sandalwood that Gale used mingling together with the woody smoke and calming his nerves like his own personal aromatherapy. In those fireside evenings, fears were temporarily washed away by the wine, laughter, and love. Sometimes it was the only thing that kept them all going.

Another inhale conjured visions of fireballs thrown and enemies defeated. The side glances and smirks exchanged between lovers protecting each other on the battlefield. Checking on each other at the end of a skirmish, sweat and musk and relief filling the air as they’d embrace, grabbing stolen kisses to remind each other that they’d lived to fight another day.

Yet another memory caused his undead heart to ache. As Astarion breathed in again, he recalled sitting on a wooden bench, the same one that still sits in front of the rose bushes. He had watched Gale light the fire pit they'd built shortly after Astarion moved in. Due to his…condition…most of their outdoor time together was spent in the evenings. Putting in a fire pit barely required discussion. It was the perfect romantic addition to their yard.

They spent many nights around that campfire, but Astarion’s favorite ones involved snuggling up against each other, glasses of wine in hand, warming each other against the chill of the autumn evenings. They had bought each other the coziest of knit sweaters that first fall season. Astarion's was a deep, rich red with white embroidery around the neck, wrists, and waist, much resembling Gale's camp shirt from their adventures. Gale's sweater was a deep purple with golden stars scattered about in a streak across the front, winding around the bottom on the back. Many, many evenings in the fall and spring were spent out back wrapped in those gifts of warmth and love.

Astarion opened his eyes, still wrapped in the feel and the scent of that purple sweater that he'd snatched from Gale's wardrobe this morning. Between the fiery sunset and the smell of the sandalwood mingling with lavender and leftover campfire smoke from a week prior, the memories were so strong that he felt the ache in his chest rise into his throat. Unshed tears blurred his vision.

He missed his husband.

He missed Gale's strong, defined arms wrapped around his cold, undead chest, warming him with the force of his love alone. He missed the scratch of Gale's beard on his neck, especially over his long-worn bite scars from Cazador that Gale loved to cover up with kisses and nips and licks.

Astarion longed to hear the hums of contentment that he’d get from Gale when he let the wizard lay on his chest and snuggle. After a long day of teaching at the academy, Gale’s favorite place to be was curled up like a cat on top of Astarion on the couch, the vampire’s long, pale fingers carding through his hair and lightly scratching his scalp. If Astarion were being honest, it was his favorite place too.

Breathing in again, he curled tighter into himself and swallowed down the lump in his throat as he pictured Gale’s puppy dog eyes and charming smile. That smile was the fastest way to bring life to his dead, vampiric heart. It made Astarion feel safe. Comforted. Protected. But as his love was off at an educator's conference for a few more days, he'd have to make do with the coziness and warmth of the purple sweater.

He sighed and thought to himself, ‘Might as well get a glass of wine and settle in with a book for the evening.’ Taking one final inhale of that heartbreakingly familiar scent, Astarion stood up, smoothed the sweater out, and walked towards the kitchen.

The sound of magic fizzling in the air made his head snap towards the door. Small, glittering plumes of purple smoke came together and swirled into the shape of a portal, growing in size until a silhouette started stepping through. Thinking quickly, Astarion reached over to the kitchen counter, just steps away, and grabbed a large chopping knife. Wielding it like a dagger, something he had rarely done since the fight with the Netherbrain, he whipped back around in a fighting stance.

As the smoky magic cleared, however, the silhouette took on a very familiar frame. A human, long hair pulled back halfway in a bun, in teaching robes…

Gale froze mid-swipe as he was brushing off said robes. Looking up at the shocked face of his lover, he raised his eyebrows, sheepishly grinned, and said, “…H-hi Honey, I’m home?”

Without looking away, eyes as big as saucers, Astarion reached over and dropped the knife on the counter. “You idiot,” he breathed. “You almost gave me a heart attack! And I’m dead!!” The vampire clutched his chest dramatically, earning a hearty laugh from Gale.

“I’m so sorry, my love, I wanted to surprise you!” He opened his arms and started walking towards the kitchen. “Come here.”

As it dawned on him that Gale was actually home, mere feet from him, the lump in his throat came surging back. Tears once again welled up in his eyes as he laughed and threw his arms around his husband’s neck. Astarion held on for dear life, his emotions still raw from his scent-induced trip down memory lane. He leaned into the crook of his partner’s neck, nuzzled his nose into the brown and silver locks, and softly said “I missed you so much, darling.” It took everything he had not to let his voice break.

Gale wrapped his arms around Astarion’s back with equal ferocity, breathed in deeply, and sighed contentedly. “I missed you too, my star.”

He stood and rocked his vampire love gently from side to side for a moment before he heard a sniffle and a shaky breath. Pulling back and gently holding the sides of Astarion’s face, Gale saw the tears that streaked his cheeks. Wiping them away with his thumbs, brows knitted together, he asked, “Why the tears, my love?”

Astarion looked down, chuckled, shook his head and said, “Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just an emotional sap today.” He sniffled again and fidgeted with the cuffs of the purple sweater, baggy around his slender wrists. “I had just been sitting here thinking of how much I missed you. I was remembering our…wait a minute.” His voice dropped for the last bit. He looked back up and cocked his head like a curious dog. “Why are you home? I thought your conference lasted all week!”

Gale shrugged and answered, “The presenter for the remaining lectures unfortunately had a death in the family and had to return home. While any one of us in attendance could have easily talked the others under the table with theories on educational practices, we all decided we valued some extra time off even more.” He pulled Astarion’s face in and kissed him gently before walking back over to the door to hang up his robes. “I almost forgot to go back to the inn to grab my things before rushing back here,” he added with a laugh.

Crossing his arms in front of him, Astarion leaned back against the counter, restraining himself from tackling his husband and taking him right there on the kitchen floor. Gale’s aching knees wouldn’t appreciate that, and the only thing on his mind right now was reacquainting his lover with their bed for what would have otherwise been the remainder of his time away.

He realized that Gale had looked up at him and was chuckling again. Astarion asked, “What’s so funny?”

“You’re wearing my sweater,” Gale answered as he worked at the buckles of his teaching robes.

“Like I said,” Astarion replied, “I missed you. Terribly. We haven’t been apart for longer than a day or two before and I needed to feel like you were close.”

Gale’s shoulders dropped and lip pouted slightly as he looked at his dear, sweet husband like he’d just said the most adorable thing in the world. The endearing vampire continued, “When I start to miss you, I grab this sweater and throw it on for a bit so I can breathe you in and it feels like you’re here. Besides, it keeps me warm, and I couldn’t find my sweater. You know, the red one you’d bought me at the same time. Did you send it to be laundered before you left? Why are you still laughing? What’s so funny about me wearing your sw…”

Astarion was once again at a loss for words. His slacked jaw slowly curved up into the biggest smile as he realized why his husband was so amused. After Gale hung up his robes, he turned back around, grinning so widely as he straightened his sweater. Rather, Astarion’s sweater. The deep red sweater with the white embroidery around the neck, wrists, and waist.

Chuckling and shaking his head, eyes glistening, Astarion walked towards him and said, “We are a couple of sentimental fools, aren’t we?”

Gale pulled his love in close by the waist and kissed him, deeply. Astarion let a few more thankful tears fall as he not only returned the kiss, but added an element of urgency. Their lips never left each other as they stumbled down the hall towards the comfort of their bed.

They would spend the rest of the week in that room, making love and snuggling in each others’ arms. Similarly, the arms of their sweaters would lay entangled with each other in a pile on the floor, the essences of their owners once again mingling into their own personal blend of scented comfort.

Thank you so much for reading!!

This is also baby's first AO3 post! I have a few more things to put up, but I'm waiting until I get a big project off my list so I can focus on them properly. Then, I have a SPREADSHEET full of writing prompts I've been challenged to write - all from BG3!

I plan on coming back and adding a drawing to this piece, as I intend to for MOST of my pieces. I just unfortunately ran out of time this week. Soon though!

You can follow progress of my other works and art pieces on Tumblr and on AO3 under SerenaOfFaerun.

If this fuzzy lil' comfort story made you smile, please leave a kudos (AO3), a like/reblog (Tumblr), and maybe even a comment! I hope it brought you joy 💜❤️

[dorkpatroller]

More Tea, Probably.

[trashpandasaga]

Another prompt from the @bloodweavesanctuary for their Fall Flash Trade Event! My prompt was "bonfire." I promise you it's a happy ending despite it starting in angst.

[trashpandasaga]

AAAHHHH!! These are my friends guys! Go check their collab out! It's so cute I'm sobbing!!

Gale gives Astarion the one thing he wanted back the most - to be able to walk in the sun.

Created these artworks for the Bloodweave Sanctuary Fall-Flash-Trade. Enjoy some fluff, my writing partner did a fantastic job!

[astarionsknife]

My part of the fall flash exchange in the bloodweave sanctuary :3 this is paired with this fic here !

[art-by-ady]

Gale gives Astarion the one thing he wanted back the most - to be able to walk in the sun.

Created these artworks for the Bloodweave Sanctuary Fall-Flash-Trade. Enjoy some fluff, my writing partner did a fantastic job!

[serenaoffaerun]

This turned out SO FREAKING GOOD! Love love love "hipster" Bloodweave. Long-haired, slouch beanie Gale is now officially my 2nd favorite Gale (behind @calolily's uber-long-haired, glasses-wearing Professor Gale haha).

It has been SO great getting to know @bekilybi through the @bloodweavesanctuary's Fall Flash Exchange. Turns out we're basically the same person?? Very honored and thankful that she did this piece for me 💜💜💜

(Posting my story here on Tumblr tonight!)

My first drawing on here! Which is also a swap with SerenaofFaerun for the Bloodweave Sanctuary Fall Flash Trade!

Since our prompt was "sweaters," we both went for cozy vibes for my drawing and her story (GO READ IT, IT'S SO SWEEEET), and I even whipped up patterns for the sweater designs! If anyone wants to try knitting them or cross-stitching them, just credit me if you post about it. (They might not repeat as they are, but let me know and I'll help you out!)

There's also a little inset pic of the his-and-his t-shirts I imagine under the sweaters ❤️ Also made illithid parody designs of Starbucks cups logos, and there are more little Easter eggs if you look close, like Gale's orb/Mystra star pop socket, wedding rings a la Silver, Gold and Brass (and Serena's story), and their earring studs from Stay Though My Arms Shake. <3 Happy Fall, y'all!