#aww that his silver tongue get astarion into trouble?

[justporo]

A Night of Song and Laughter (Part 4)

In which Tav and Astarion bicker a lot. It is their love language to piss each other off and then make up with kisses and sweet nothings - I'm convinced. It's all fun and games until someone ends up as a pile of ash, burned into the ground - am I right?

Thank you all so much for the love so far - I love seeing all the likes, reblogs and I eat up comments, thank you, sweethearts!

Song choice is "Kiss with a Fist" by Florence + The Machine for this one.

As always, you can also read this on AO3 - that and a few more parts already!

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Astarion/Fem!Tav (You)

(Gif from here!)

Astarion set you down on the top step of the staircase, grabbed you by the hips and spun you around until you faced away from him and gave you a little pat on the butt: “Go on, you know the way, dearest.”

You took another step to give Astarion enough space to come up the rest of the stairs behind you. Then you stopped and took in the much smaller area of the gallery. At the back wall was a much smaller bar and the only place you could get halfway decent drinks. No beer though, since the big kegs were way too heavy to carry up here. At the wall above it hung different instruments – lutes, flutes, violins. The inside joke was that these where instruments from bards and bands that… didn’t quite make the cut. But that was kind of an urban legend. Almost all the tables were filled. There only remained a few smaller bar tables at the pillars that slightly divided the area. You motioned to Astarion to go over to one of the bar tables.

You were only just telling him the myth about the instruments hanging on the wall which he listened to with an affectionate smile and one or two snide remarks about the cultural state of society, when you got jumped from behind.

Taken by surprise your survival instincts immediately kicked in, your hands immediately went to where your dagger would have been, had you brought it. You also felt Astarion tense next to you immediately getting into fighting stance. But you recognized the cackling giggle next to your pointy ear and as you turned your head slightly, you saw the face of a half-elf woman. “Lira, get off me, I’m not a monkey bar”, you said and tried to shake off the petite woman that clung to your back like a squirrel. “No, if I let go, I fear you might just disappear into thin air again”, she pouted and shook her head so her braid of thick black hair swung animatedly. You sighed desperately and tried twisting and turning to get her off your back. You heard Astarion quietly chuckle but saying nothing.

As you turned you also saw two different people standing behind you. A tall tiefling woman with dark red skin and even darker facial expression and a pretty young dwarf, at least judging by his rather short beard. “Oh hi, Miyena, Daegin”, you said while still trying to get the half-elf off your back. “Care to give me a hand?”, you asked them with an embarrassed half-smile. But the tiefling woman only raised an eyebrow at you, drew her long sleek ponytail of midnight blue hair over one shoulder and then crossed her slender arms over her chest; and the dwarf just shrugged.

“Alright, some friends you are”, you said and turned around to Astarion. But he just gave you an even more sassy impersonation of the reaction your tiefling friend had given you - dickhead.

“Ugh”, you made in desperation. Then you sighed: “Alright, I get it, I owe you some serious explanation, but how about we do that like civilized people: with everyone on the ground and a round of drinks. First round’s mine of course.” Everyone stared at you for a moment longer then the tiefling named Miyena spoke with a deep voice: “You’ll pay the whole evening and that’s not guaranteeing we’ll accept your explanation or a much needed apology.” At her words the half-elf started to climb of your back, went around you and hugged you deeply.

“Wheredidyougoweweresoworriedaboutyou”, she mumbled into your shoulder. You hugged her back and felt your body relax. They were right, you really did owe them an explanation – at least some of it – and an apology. Miyena and Daegin made to walk over to you and stand around the table. The tiefling still had her arms crossed and looked disapprovingly at Astarion: “Also, who in the Nine Hells is this? But uh” – she made and raised a single hand to silence you, when you were starting to talk – “firstly, you’ll get us some drinks. I’ll take something strong, you know what I like.” “Cherrywine”, Lira mumbled into your shoulder before finally letting go of you. “Ugh, Imma get myself a beer downstairs, you can pay me back later”, Daegin said and went off to head downstairs.

You looked at Astarion defeatedly waiting for his desired drink request but he was quick to put his hand on the small of your back and push you towards the bar: “I’ll help you, my dear, excuse us for a moment.” That earned him another disapproving onceover from Miyena while Lira just giggled and grinned at you knowingly.

Once you were out of earshot of the two, Astarion leaned over to say into your ear: “These are your friends? A chipmunk disguised as an half-elf, a dwarf barely old enough to buy a beer and a tiefling that I think would have smited right on the spot with her disapproving looks had she not been in public?” You heard the smile in his voice but you still felt insulted on their behalf. You slapped his shoulder: “You’re a twat sometimes, you know that?” He shrugged: “You knew I was bloody bastard from the very start, my love, so no news on that front.” You rolled your eyes and stuck out your tongue at him before you said: “I guess you’re not completely wrong, this group is almost as dysfunctional as our little adventure troupe was. But that’s not even Miyena’s most disapproving reaction – for her that’s basically giving you a hug and offering you cookies and a hot milk. I’m pretty surprised.” At that the elf looked quite pleased, as he so easily was with flattery. “Well, I guess who could resist this magnificent face, am I right? Good to know I still got it in me after all”, he purred and fixed his white curls with one hand despite them not needing any fixing at all. “Am I joke to you?”, you said flabbergasted “Does my attraction to you not count, or…” “Of course, my love, but I’ve had you wrapped around my finger for so long now, I bet the sun could burn me to a pile of ash right this moment and you’d still sigh in admiration at me.” He chuckled, full of self-confidence – and also full of himself of course.

This arrogant ass. Did you think of him as your soulmate? You thought you’d might have to give that decision another consideration. In a split second decision you put the heel of your foot down in front of his feet and flipped the tip of your boot, so he tripped over it. He had his wicked roguish senses but you were a ranger and a former thief – so he fell. Right into the half-orc in front of him which caused a huge spillage of red wine. The massive creature turned around with a nasty growled and leveled a stare at the vampire who had only just caught his balance again. The half-orcs linen tunic was completely drenched in red liquid now. He glared at Astarion, very angrily. “Huh”, Astarion made in high-pitched voice “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, must have tripped over a crack” – he snarled the word, you snickered – “in the floorboard. I’m really terribly sorry, but really red is your colour, good sir, I hear the ladies are really into it this season.” The half-orc growled wordlessly again but seemed soothed and turned around again. How the hell had that worked? His silver tongue really worked wonders; also could raise hell as he had just experienced.

Astarion turned to you with a grimace with his fangs showing and hissed at you in a low voice: “Dick!” “Ass!”, you hissed back and stuck your tongue out at him again. “Maybe the next time you think before you make me jealous and take my love for granted”, you pouted. Astarion gave you sad puppy eyes: “How am I to blame when you just tell me that I have an endearing effect on the people around me, you know, I do love the attention. Can you possibly hold it against me?” Then he lifted one of his hands to your face and softly moved a strand of your reddish-brown hair behind your pointy ear: “And you know, I would never take a single thing about you for granted, my love, never.” You were immediately charmed by his genuine tone and soft look in his ruby eyes. You smiled and…

“By the gods, passing through!”, a man pushed through the two of you and the affectionate scene, quite obviously annoyed by the two of you blocking the way to the bar for so long. “For all our sakes, get a room and make some goddamn space for the rest of us”, he grumbled while he stomped past you and Astarion.

„So rude“, you mouthed to Astarion. “Totally”, he mouthed back and dramatically rolled his eyes and then smirked before motioning for you to keep walking.

“Still”, you said and pointed a finger at the elf’s face as you were waiting at the bar to order “if you try and chat up and flirt with my friends while I’m right there, you’ll wish the sun had burned you into the ground long ago, Astarion.” You glare at him, half teasingly, half in earnest. He raised his hands in mock surrender: “I will try and be as monogamous as I can be, my sweet darling, but flirting is like breathing to me.” You pouted at his mocking until he sighed: “I was just joking, love, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” “Apology accepted”, you answered immediately and gave him a peck on the nose before you turned to order.

With two cherry wines for Lira and yourself, a dark, dry red wine for Astarion and a strong herbal spirit for Miyena, the two of you return to the table. Daegin was already sipping from a giant mug of dark beer. You threw him a gold coin for his drink, then handed out the drinks around the table. The other three had already taken up the conversation without you and Astarion and for a few minutes both of you just sipped on your drinks and listened contentedly. The tiefling kept looking at Astarion openly, not even trying to hide her curiosity. Then topics shifted to you, your dis- and reappearance and your mysterious new acquaintance again.

“I guess, it’s time you introduce us to your mysterious beau here, Tav”, Miyena said with her dark voice and eyed your companion again. Now, you almost thought there was something hungry in her stare. You saw Astarion smirk at your friend’s display of interest, but you could tell he was starting to feel uneasy by her attention when he tensed next to you and threw you a short look.  He cleared his throat – a clear sign of his nervousness as you’d come to know – and spoke before you could beat him to it: “Well, my name is Astarion and I met your wonderful friend, Tav, when I was adventuring out in the countryside. She saved me, more than once, and well, first we became travel companions and then… so much more. And well now, we are both happy to be back in our hometown, aren’t we, darling?” You took his other hand that was not currently holding a glass of wine and squeezed it gently in reassurance. The intonation on the words “she saved me” hadn’t been lost on you. He squeezed your hand back, while you took up his story. Over the table Miyena slightly narrowed her eyes at the two of you, she obviously suspected you weren’t telling the whole story. But she said nothing for the time being and let the conversation go on.

The two of you told them of select parts of your adventure, agreeing on parts to be left out without needing to speak about it. Astarion relaxed and started enjoying himself telling stories and making quips about you and your adventures together. You told them about the ogre and the bugbear you happened upon, about vicious gnolls and an exhausting hike trough the mountain pass. You felt your heart fill with warmth at being with your friends again and them enjoying your and Astarion’s company. And your heart filled with even more love seeing Astarion being so open and relaxed, just being himself, making Daegin laugh at his jokes and Lira gasp at his overly dramatic retellings. Only Miyena had become awfully silent, her frown growing with every touch, look and smile you and Astarion exchanged. But you didn’t mind, tonight you wouldn’t let your night be ruined by her grumpy act.

All of you were well into your third round of drinks, when Daegin suddenly stopped, threw up his beer mug and screamed. He was already pretty drunk so his drink sloshed everywhere, a big gulp only missing you because you still had the wits about you to dodge in time. The dwarf waved enthusiastically at someone behind you, he almost fell off the stool he’d organised for himself.

“Eodin, Eodin! Come here, you wouldn’t believe what the cat dragged in”, Daegin yelled. You turned and sure as the sun would rise tomorrow morning, there he was at the top of the stairs: Eodin. You quickly turned back around pretending you hadn’t seen him. You lifted your hand to the side of your face to keep him out of your field of view for as long as possible. Panic filled your eyes as you looked at Astarion, who grinned at you sneeringly, placed his elbow on the table and then his chin on his hand: “Where’s the sun to burn you into the ground if you need it, darling, am I right?”