#using his bear wildshape as an excuse

[unreadpoppy]

i'm impressed there aren't more fics including Halsin and like, stuff involving scent because bears have sense of smell considered to be seven times more accurate than a bloodhounds, and they are creatures that are really into leaving their scent to mark their territory (for example, bears with scratch theirs backs on trees to leave their scent there, you can even see it towards the end of this video), so like idk the potential

[dynjas]

Fighting for you (beta read version from the lovely healthyeyes (who I can't tag 😆))

Halsin X f!OC, slight Astarion X m!Tav, hurt/comfort, Druid!OC, Bard!Tav

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"[...] Halsin makes the perfect shield!"

Before Astarion could finish his snickering, a fist sent him flying on his ass.

Totally shocked, he held his swelling cheek and looked up only to find Serafina standing over him.

The druid wood elf woman was huffing in rage, and he could swear he saw her teeth sharpening. Her eyes were glowing silver, indicating she was shortly before her transformation into a white bear.

"If you dare to say that again, I'll rip your teeth out, you fu-!"

Before she could continue to enrage herself and turn into a bear to rip the vampire apart, Halsin grabbed Serafina and flung her over his shoulder. All air was punched from her lungs and the large druid saw his chance and ran into the treeline, should she still transform.

Meanwhile Saphira went to kneel beside Astarion to heal his boyfriend's cheek.

"You've gone too far, here. I hope you apologize to Halsin later. He's a living being and not an object, you know..." Saphira said.

"Your sister punched me!" Astarion protested.

"Yes, that she did. Halsin is really important to her and you should know that." Saphira said as his blue eyes roamed over Astarion so he could check for other injuries. When he found none, he got back up and pulled the vampire up with him. Astarion was still trying to process that the otherwise kind and caring woman just tried to fucking kill him.

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A good ways away from camp Halsin finally sat a still raging Serafina on her feet.

"This fucking-!"

"Stop! Serafina, breathe! Control yourself! We went over that a year ago already!" Halsin's booming voice and his golden glowing eyes shook her out of it. He was ready to fight her bear with his own, and it wouldn't have been the first time.

When he first found her wounded from a fight with a pack of wolves and brought her back to the grove, over a year ago, she had trouble controlling her wildshape because she didn't have her emotions under control. After living in the woods for over fifty years on her own, being around so many people had been overwhelming, and she had transformed daily for the first few days.

Halsin, with his godlike patience, took time for her and practiced to calm herself down and getting used to living with others again - if she wished so.

And she did.

She didn't want to be alone anymore and Halsin welcomed her with open arms and a big smile into his grove and family. She was thanking Silvanus every day for leading Halsin to her.

So, she did as Halsin told her - she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself down. Before she even thought about opening her eyes again, she felt a big and warm hand on her wet cheek that had been stained with tears.

"Why are you crying, little one?" Halsin's soft and caring voice rang in Serafinas ears and she opened her green eyes to look at his brown grayish ones. She gave him a wry smile.

"I just can't tolerate how people are talking to you. I mean... you already jump ahead in battle to protect us!" She grabbed at his camp shirt and shook her head in disbelief. "You give so much to others, never asking for anything in return! You don't deserve to have people talk so badly about you!"

Halsin grabbed her hands and let his thumbs run over the backsides, "Calm down. You know how Astarion is. It's just -"

"No! Not even him! He doesn't have an excuse! No one does!"

Serafinas eyes were overflowing with tears again, so Halsin pulled her into his lap.

"My dear, calm down..."

She shook her head again and locked her determined wet eyes at him.

"No. I can't be calm. Someone has to fight for you. You don't do it yourself, but I will!”

"But why would you? It doesn't matter when someone says something mean to me. It doesn't have anything to do with you?" he questioned.

Halsin gently pushed a strand of her soft white hair behind her ear and stroked her wet cheek with his calloused thumb while looking utterly confused. Why would she take the burden to fight for him, when he himself didn't see the point? he wondered.

"Because you're worth it! Because you deserve it! Gods Halsin, you're giving everything for others. You're the kindest person I've met in my whole life! And I can't stand when people are cruel to the person I love the most! There is no reason to be cruel to you! Most just want to see how far they can poke you and I see how it breaks you every time inside while you smile politely!! I just can't stand there and watch anymore!"

While Serafina was gasping for air between her words and her tears, Halsin took in everything she said.

"You....love me?" He stared at the woman in his lap dumbfounded.

Serafina stopped rubbing her face and stared at Halsin. Did that really slip out? Nervously she reached for one of her long braids and toyed with one of the wooden ducks attached to the rope that holds her hair. Halsin once whittled two of them for her, so she had a cute little accessory. Those were her most precious possessions and she always had them in her braids.

"I...yes. How could I not?" Her face took a deep shade of red, and even though the night air chilled her skin, she felt really hot at the confession.

Halsin continued to just stare at her for a moment but then Serafina was suddenly pulled into a bone crushing hug. Just when she wanted to ask what was wrong, Serafina felt her shoulder getting wet. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Halsin?" She tried to look at him but he just shook his head into her neck and pulled her impossibly closer, silent. She settled for letting her hands run down his broad back to try and soothe him a little.

Before she knew it herself, she hummed a soft and soothing tune her mother used to sing when she and Saphira were upset to calm them down. She felt Halsin trembling in her arms and she could have sworn she heard some sobs escaping his lips. It broke her heart to see, feel and hear this otherwise strong man so broken.

Her hands continued to run over his back until she tangled her fingers of one hand into the hairs at the nape of his neck. She carefully threaded her fingers through some of the knots to detangle them while her other arm pulled him a little closer.

After a while Halsin calmed down and let Serafina look at him. She was now the one stroking his wet cheeks and smiling reassuringly at him.

"Better?" She asked, giving him a kiss on one of his cheeks, and he nodded.

"I- I'm sorry." Halsin's voice sounded rough from crying. "I'm not used to someone who gets mad for me, wanting to defend me. And then you tell me you...love me."

His voice broke again and he closed his eyes - trying to collect himself.

"Serafina, that's more than I could ever ask for. You're more than I could ever wish for."

Serafina was smiling up at him and took his hands in hers to squeeze them. They stared at each other for a long time - like they were communicating with their eyes.

"Now, should we go back to camp? I promise I won't tear Astarion apart, but I sure hope Saphira gets an apology out of him..." Reluctantly she rose to her feet and pulled Halsin with her.

Just when she wanted to turn her back to Halsin and make her way back to camp, the other druid whirled her around and kissed her softly.

"I'm right behind you, my heart."

Serafinas blush rose again but she couldn't fight the smile.

"I'm always here for you. No matter what."

-------

They walked back to camp hand in hand only to find a stern looking Saphira staring at a grumbling Astarion. When her brother noticed them, he smiled fondly.

"I'm glad you're both back. I think someone needs to tell you something, Halsin," Saphira said.

Serafina grinned beside the big druid, and he squeezed her hand in an attempt to still her malicious joy. He looked at Astarion who rose to his feet, not looking quite as amused. Halsin still didn't need an apology, but Saphira had gone through the trouble to get the vampire to make one.

Astarion let his eyes flicker to Saphira to send him a nasty look. Then he sighed dramatically and looked somewhat at Halsin. He didn't dare to meet the druids eyes.

"I'm... sorry for what I said. You're a living being, a good friend and not someone we can hold before us to shield us," Astarion said.

Halsin was shocked he got such a good apology from the vampire, and it made him even more happy.

"Thank you Astarion. I'm really happy that you put this much effort into this." He smiled down at the other.

Astarion made a "tch" sound and looked at Saphira.

"I'll remember this, darling!"

And then he stomped off into the woods. Most likely to hunt. Saphira just shrugged it off and smiled at Halsin and his sister.

"The apology wasn't that bad, was it?"

Halsin laughed loudly at that and Serafina squeezed the druids middle, pulling him into an embrace.

"I need to apologize to Astarion later too. The punch was deserved but he didn't deserve the threatening of the bear," she admitted.

"Ohhh he can wait until tomorrow." Saphira waved her off and looked at her and Halsin's newly linked hands. "But I think I'll let you two be. You need to discuss some things, I assume."

He dramatically bowed to them and winked at Serafina while retreating to the tent he shared with Astarion.

Serafina and Halsin looked at each other for a while until Halsin led the woman to his tent so they could retreat for the night. His heart felt light like never before - knowing he had found someone who would fight for him.

[unreadpoppy]

Halsin bear related headcanons

So, bears are a special interest of mine which means I have too much knowledge about this animal than what is allowed and I just...needed to make these involving my favorite druid's preferred wild shape. This is part romantic headcanons, part general hcs and part me using this man as an excuse to talk about bears.

As I said in another post, bears have an extremely accurate sense of smell, and they will leave their mark on their territory by rubbing their backs on trees to leave their scent. With that in mind, I can picture some days where Halsin is constantly hugging Tav, holding their hand, just being in physical contact with them, to sort of leave his smell on them. 

Maybe he would do that after noticing how Tav was smelling of others. 

On the topic of smells, bears are attracted by smell, so on days that the group is low on supplies, he wildshapes and scavenges for all sorts of fruits and plants, especially the more sweet ones. 

Also, Halsin sniffing Tav’s hair, especially after a good bath, and saying that it smells nice. 

Many species of bears are omnivourous, I think especially black bears, so Halsin will eat just about anything. If it looks fresh and edible, he will eat it. 

It also means that, during the weeks/months leading up to winter, he is going to be eating a LOT. 

Bears are not true hibernators and for Halsin, that could translate to him just sleeping more during winter time. 

Also, if it’s a particularly cold night, he’s wildshaping into a polar bear and enveloping his partner(s) in a tight and very warm hugs. I say polar bear in specific because they have the fur that is more adapted to handle cold weathers and because polar bear moms will often cuddle with their cubs because their (cubs) fur is still not developed enough to handle the weather, and picturing Halsin in bear form doing that is just so cute. 

Black bears in particular are great climbers and I can see Halsin picking up that as well. On a particular night, where the sky is clear, Halsin would transform into a bear, get his partner on his back, climb up the tallest tree around and then show them the stars and the moon. 

Also, getting a bit into more animalistic things, Halsin would be a very vocal guy, like grunting and growling when he's upset.

When confronted by someone who could be a threat, he'd use his already large size to his favor and try to intimidate the person away. Puffing up his chest, holding his head higher, just showing he's the bigger guy and he's not to be messed around with.

Getting particularly into more…naughty territory, I want to talk about courtship. On the more tame side, if Halsin has his eyes on someone, he’d follow them around more, get them to be comfortable around him. He’d be more playful, like being more outspoken of his intentions and flirting more, but just like real bears, he'd wait until his partner initiated it. 

I don't see Halsin as a possessive man overall, BUT, in specific situations, I can see this side of him coming out, because of bear instintcs. Male bears can get more aggresive towards other males during mating season, and I can see that affexting him.

Maybe he's courting someone and another person gets a bit too close (and his partner makes it clear they're not liking it), Halsin's gonna get into protective mode and scare the guy away.

The last two points are a bit more sexual, so I put them under the cut.

Also, after seeing a video and reading a couple of articles on it, yeah I can see Halsin being into primal play. 

His partner gets a good head start before he wildshapes into a bear and runs after them. Fun fact, bears can run up to 35-40 mph, so I can see him also like, stopping from time to time to prolong the hunt even longer. If his partner in a druid who can wild shape into a bear, I think it’d be even more interesting because the speed of both would be equal. 

Remember how I said he's a vocal guy? Yeah, he's going to be groaning, and moaning and grunting a lot during sex.