#future Mr. Mouse Dekarios

[csphire]

Just Mouse and his future husband. <3

[sweeter-innocence-fics]

You Brought Your Worst and I’m Right Here - Epilogue

Pairing: Gale of Waterdeep x female Tav

Work Summary:

After an explosive falling out between Gale and his academic adviser, Mystra, Tav is left to pick up the pieces.

Modern/College AU.

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Epilogue

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 1039

Read on AO3.

Masterlists.

Taglist: @mrs-kai-anderson @ang3l1te @missryerye

Taglist info

Previous Chapter

One Year Later

When Gale awoke, he was sandwiched between his two favourite girls. Tav’s face was pressed into his chest, and she was snoring softly. If he mentioned that to her, he knew that she’d blush and deny that she snored, but he had the evidence of his own eyes and ears.

Personally, he didn’t see why it bothered her. She was still beautiful even when her lips were chapped, her mouth hanging open, drooling slightly into his pyjama shirt. He hoped that he never had to wake up without her again.

On his other side, Tara was snuggled into the crook of his arm, a gentle purring rumbling in her chest. He was loath to disrupt this blissful little moment, but he needed to pee. He knew as soon as he got up, Tara would start begging for her breakfast, and that, in turn, would wake Tav.

Tav deserved a lie-in. She’d had a busy week. As carefully as he could, he detangled himself from his girlfriend, planting a kiss on her forehead, and then scooped Tara up into his arms and got out of bed.

Tara trilled sleepily, looking around in confusion, but Gale had carried her out of the bedroom and shut the door before she had the chance to start causing a ruckus.

“Sorry, Tara,” he murmured, setting her down on the kitchen floor, scritching her under the chin for good measure. “I’ll make it up to you.”

She meowed at him, so he got to work pouring the little meat sachet into her bowl. She wove between his legs, purring loudly the entire time he did so. He was practised at the art of not tripping over her while she did so. Tara had managed to trip Tav up a few times, though thankfully without injury for either of them.

Tav had adored Tara immediately, but Tara had been a little slow to warm up to an unfamiliar human. Tav would bribe the cat with fishy treats, which had certainly helped.

The flat they lived in now was nowhere near as big as the house they’d shared with Wyll, Astarion and Shadowheart. It had an open-plan kitchen/living room, a tiny patch of grass out the back that could generously be called a garden, and one bedroom. It was small but it was theirs.

They could’ve afforded a bigger place, but they were saving up for Gale’s PhD. For now, they were both working, but Tav had agreed to contribute more to rent and bills if his PhD application got accepted, so that he could focus on his studies. He had tried to protest, but Tav had remained firm.

“You can pay me back when you’re Dr Dekarios,” she had cooed into his ear, and it had been hard to say no to that. Dating a reasonably well-paid chemical engineer had its perks.

His mother had been dubious about how quickly Tav had become entwined with every part of Gale’s life. He knew that it wasn’t necessarily sensible, since they’d only been dating a year, but it came so naturally to him. Tav was his future.

Luckily, Morena liked Tav well enough. He was sure she never would’ve approved of Mystra, had she met her. In fact, Tav was the first girlfriend Gale had had that Morena actually liked, which was a testament to Tav’s character. It felt like every weekend his mother would call him and ask him when he and Tav were next going to visit her.

Once he’d gone to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, he opened up his laptop to check his emails, and was stopped short by a notification from his university application portal.

He stared at it, heart thrumming in his chest. It was a response to his PhD application. He was one click away from finding out the trajectory of his future. He moused over the link, and then away from it again, gripped by anxiety.

“Good morning,” said Tav sleepily.

Gale hadn’t heard her come in, and was so high-strung that he almost knocked his laptop off the table. She filled the kettle, oblivious to way his life hung in the balance. She was dressed in a dressing gown, her feet bare on the tiles.

His eyes homed in on her feet. They must’ve been cold. He should get her some slippers.

“Gale?”

He looked up to see her looking at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to answer a question. “Er, pardon?”

“I asked if you wanted tea?”

“Oh. Yes please.”

“Are you alright? You look like you’re about to vibrate out of your seat.”

“I got an email about my PhD application.”

Tav set the kettle down and crossed the room to him. “What did it say?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t opened it.”

“Oh…” Her hands came up to cup his face. His eyes fell closed as she stroked his cheek. “Do you want me to open it for you?”

“Please?”

“Okay.”

He turned back to his laptop and she leaned over him, resting her chin on his shoulder. Her hand covered his on the mouse.

“Ready?” she asked.

“No.”

“I’m going to do it anyway.”

“Okay.”

He closed his eyes, feeling her moving both his hand and mouse. She clicked once, and then again, and then moved the mouse a little more before clicking for a final time. A warm, bubbly laugh fell from her lips.

“Gale, open your eyes,” she said, gently headbutting the side of his head.

He opened his eyes. For a moment, the words on the screen were fuzzy, but they came into focus. His jaw dropped.

“You’ve been accepted,” she said, kissing her cheek. “Didn’t I tell you that you would be?”

“You did,” he admitted.

“And I am always right.”

“You are,” he agreed, feeling slightly shell-shocked.

“This calls for a celebration. I could make pancakes? Or a full English? Or we could order burritos from- Oof.”

He had shut his laptop, pushed it away from him and pulled her into his lap. “I love you,” he said, tugging at the cords of her dressing gown.

She cupped his face in her hands, a fond expression on her face. “I love you too, Gale.”

---

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed <3

[csphire]

Meet Mouse

Legal Name: Mouse (Mouse Dekarios eventually)

Nickname / Aliases: Just Mouse. He was given that nickname by other street urchins because he was so quiet and small. Mouse does not recall anything about his life before waking up at the Open Hand temple of Ilmater after getting beaten within an inch of his life around seven or eight which gave him those scars.

Background: Criminal (cutpurse/thief)

Age: Unknown. Although he cannot remember his birth or name day or much else before being found, from what he recalls of his life from then on and according to accounts of other children who found him, Mouse has worked out he is at least twenty-two years old. He eventually adopts the day he met Gale as a special day to mark him surviving another year.

Pronouns: He / Him / They

Race/Subrace: High Half-Elf (Possibly of Seldarine Drow in his family tree too.)

Alignment: Chaotic Good (Before abduction Chaotic Neutral perhaps. He doesn't steal as much anymore.)

Deities: It's complicated. Tymora and Ilmater, he prays to the most followed by extending respects to Jergal, Lathander, Loviatar, and Mystra (grudgingly) later in life.

Class / Subclass: Rogue (Thief) / Wizard (Evocation) Instruments of Choice: Whistling, Flute, and lute? (Alfira tried and he's got potential with a sweet sopranist singing voice.)

Weapons of Choice: Shortbow, Crossbow, Hand Crossbows, Daggers, Stave, and Shield. Hand Crossbows are his most preferred weapon.

Personality: He lived up to his name before the abduction in every sense. He's soft-spoken, unassuming, sneaky, skittish, and cautious. All traits that kept him alive so far and that kept him and others alive later. After meeting the others he blooms a bit more in the confidence department and at being more social. It bothers him to kill people and before the abduction, to his knowledge, he's never killed anyone. However, he's not opposed to fighting and softening up or ambushing the enemy and letting someone else take the kill. Bio: At around the age of seven or eight, Mouse was found by a gang of other street urchins in Baldur's Gate unconscious, seriously injured, and dumped in an alley. They took him to the nearby Open Hand Temple in Rivington for healing. Upon waking up he did not talk much and could not give a name. Eventually, the other kids settled on calling him Mouse. It did not take them long to realize the blows to his head and neck had not knocked all the sense out of him as Mouse did understand them and he listened well to instructions. At first, acting as a distraction so the older kids could pickpocket or snatch something, usually food from vendors. Out of a crew of twenty or so kids, only Mouse and four others made it to adulthood. The rest died from illness, were caught committing some crime, executed or murdered by someone else for one reason or another, usually over gold or a grudge. In essence, most of Mouse's life was no picnic. Being kidnapped by mind flayers and infected with a tadpole was actually a first step up for him. If only to experience Gale's fine cooking and three regular meals a day alone. I'm dabbling with the idea Mouse is Gustav's long-lost, slightly younger by a half-hour, twin brother. Since they have similar coloring and they use the same head. No proper name for Mouse yet but will probably go with the idea Fergus was kidnapped and due to a botched ransom is now assumed dead by his family. A few years after Gale and he have been married, and he's polished up his appearance more, someone mistakes him for being Gustav at a fancy party filled with other nobles. When Mouse politely corrects the noble the man goes pale in shock and before fainting he asks, "Fergus?" This eventually leads to a whole slew of questions once the man wakes up, a journey back to Baldur's Gate, and a tearful and uneasy reunion with Mouse's long-lost family.

Skills and Hobbies: Parkour but it's used more as a skill than a hobby, Mouse just calls it running away, usually from guards. Mending is another skill he had to pick up on the streets. This is something he and Astarion bond over as they swap techniques. Appearance and Build: Due to childhood malnourishment Mouse is short in stature. Gale only needs to lean forward to kiss him on the forehead essentially. The half-elf shortly after being abducted was also painfully thin. But in large part thanks to a certain wizard's culinary skills and urgings to eat more, Mouse puts on some more weight and muscle by the time they reach Baldur's Gate. Mouse's hair is a bit of a frizzy mop because he's had no real guidance on how to take care of his wave-textured hair. Astarion eventually takes pity on him and helps him tame it. Still, Mouse likes to keep his bangs over his pale blue eyes for shade as they're sensitive to bright light. Although Mouse has a lovely bone structure and a pleasing face, he doesn't put much effort into his appearance or even look in a mirror. Occasionally he expresses some self-consciousness when it comes to his scars but for the most part, he tries to act indifferent about them. His body is covered in a variety of them but mostly they're all small in size and it's his face that sport the majority of them.

Spouse: Gale Dekarios - Are they the ye old opposites-attract? Um...yes. Yes, they are and I don't care, I'm a sucker for that trope. Look at them, they're adorable. With vastly different upbrings and life experiences upon meeting one another instead of clashing they started to share their knowledge, bond over it, and grow stronger. They just click into place like two puzzle pieces. They are the kind of couple where one (Gale) is the talking charming social butterfly and the other (Mouse) is his quiet introverted spouse who stands next to him at a party mostly listening and saying a few thoughtful things here and there. And does Mouse get annoyed by being dragged to social wizarding functions, not at all so long as there is plenty of food. Gale's initial impression of Mouse was mixed. The half-elf looked every bit the stereotypical troublesome and indifferent rogue who also seemed a touch feral. Mouse also had uneasy feelings towards the prim and proper human wizard and assumed the man would literally and figuratively look down at him. They soon realize they got along just fine. Mouse, being a pretty easygoing person, took all Gale had to say seriously instead of scoffing. Gale, offering up his knowledge but not in any real intentional condescending manner. Mouse in return gave simple tips on how to stretch and loosen up limbs when Gale would complain about his knees along with how to climb up and over obstacles. The wizard also taught Mouse how to read as the rogue has zero formal education before. Again they get along well for the most part.

Best Friends: Gale (of course), Halsin, Karlach and Wyll. Other Friends: Lae'zel, Dammon, Rolan and his siblings, Zevlor, Alfira, Lakrissa, and all the tieflling orphans.

Found Family: Jaheira (aka mom), Shadowheart (aka sis), Astarion (aka brother) It's complicated but still civil: Minthara (He is scared of her doesn't trust her which Minthara would agree is wise.)

Thanks for reading this far and bear in mind this is a work in progress. I may or may not edit this a bit more in the future.