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Astarion’s pained screams had quieted hours ago, now the only sound coming from his lips is the occasional sniffle and barely audible pants as he slowly calms himself against you. His face is buried where your neck and shoulder meet, and his arms are tightly around you as the two of you remain slumped into each other on the cold floor.
You had rushed to his side the second he collapsed on his knees after he had plunged a final carnal stab to his previous master and abuser Cazador. Instantly encasing him in your arms as you felt his body trembling with rage while his sobs filled the room with the only sound. Turning into your hold he was oblivious to your other companions leaving after you had given them a small nod, no one wanting to utter a word as they left the two of you be.
You had one hand on his back, fingers stroking along the raised lines of the scars adorning his back. The other hand had been caressing into the mess of curls at the back of his head, your touch slowly helping calm his tremors. Your legs had become sore from the position the two of you held, but you had no intention of forcing him to move until he was ready to do so. Feeling him pull back from you caused you to glance down and you were met with his crimson eyes, they held so many emotions in just a single glance that it made your heart clench.
He was covered in drying blood, it was caked in his soft white hair and all over his chest and face. Only the still wet tear trails had managed to wash away some of it. You reached up and cupped his cheek, the light caress making him sigh as he leaned into your palm. “How about we start making our way back to the Inn and leave this wretched place? If you’re feeling up to it?” you run your thumb along his cheek as you ask and get a nod from him as his answer.
The two of you make your way out of the Palace and step by step put more and more distance between it and the two of you. Astarion remained quite, eyes down cast and dazed, he had one arm over your shoulder with your hand laced in his fingers while you had your other arm around his waist letting him put as much weight as he needed against you. The walk back to the little Inn your party had chose to board at seemed to take twice as long in the dark silence, but you didn’t miss how his hand squeezed yours occasionally, almost like checking to make sure you were real.
Leading him up the stairs and into the large room the two of you had rented, you helped him ease to sit the bed. “Give me a few minutes my love and I’ll be right back and we can get you cleaned up.” He doesn’t respond, and you catch the distant look in his eyes, clearly still in shock and a million miles away. You let go of his hand and disappear into the bathroom to start filling the large tub with hot water and soap. In a short time the steam was dancing off the surface of the water and a light scent of lavender filled the air. Stepping back into where you’d left Astarion, you find him slumped in the same spot but with his head in his hands.
The light touch of your fingers on his bare shoulder seemed to startle him as his eyes flashed up to you. He tried to smile at you, but it was just a quick twitch of the corner of his mouth, if you blinked, you would have missed it. You took him into the bathroom and motioned towards the tub. “How about we get you cleaned up?” He went to answer but you stopped him “Astarion... Trust me please… I’ve got you...” He pulled you into a crushing hug, holding you tightly and breathing you in for a few moments, enjoying the feel of you against him. You are the one person who cares so much about him, and stuck by his side earning his trust. You are the one person who loves him unconditionally, who does kind things for him even when he doesn’t know why you would without something in return simply because you care that much about him, and will do anything to show him what he deserves and how he should be treated after so many years of unimaginable abuse at the hands of Cazador.
“Yes Darling ..” his voice is raw when he speaks, no doubt from what he had gone through earlier. Releasing you he turns stepping away and removing his blood stained pants, discarding them in a heap on the floor before slipping into the welcoming tub. The sound that left his lips as he sank in and leaned back was both a hiss and a moan. The tops of his shoulders peaked above the swirling water as he rested his head on the lip of the tubs back arch. With his eyes shut, mouth slightly open you could almost see his fangs, he looked almost serene, but your eyes could see the pain in the slight furrow of his brow. Without a word you reached for the soft sponge and dipped it into the water to begin and with each gentle swipe across him the blood began to wash away leaving his beautifully pale skin again.
By the time your hands had worked over his upper body, neck and face, the furrow had long been gone and his striking features not being hidden in the dirt and blood brought a smile to your lips. The last wipe of his forehead with the sponge was followed with a kiss to his temple before you move to work on his hair. You had two pitchers of warm water set aside in advance knowing this would be the biggest challenge to work out every remaining bit of blood from his beautiful hair. “lean back a little my love, not much left now I promise.” A breathy sigh leaves him as he feels the water being poured over his hair and your hands slowly start working over his scalp, lavender filled the room again as your fingers work the soap into his hair. Making sure to cover every curl and working your way from the crown of his head to his temples and down to the nape of his neck.
Following up with the next pitcher you rinse the suds away, revealing your handy work of his once again pristine hair, all signs of blood and filth gone like it was never there to begin with. Not wanting to take your hands away just yet, you work them down over the tense muscles of his neck down to his tight shoulders. His little breaths had turned to pleasured groans as your hands made the knots disappear as you went. His eyes half opened as he watched you still leaned against the back of the tub. “Still full of surprises I see...” He sounded more like himself as he watched your face break into a smile and a slight flush reached your cheeks. “feeling a little better?” ending the question with a light kiss to his forehead and bringing your hands to cup his face.
“Oh how could I not my Sweet.. you seem to know exactly what I need and when.” His voice is sweet and has some of his typical flirty tone, but his eyes give him away with how exhausting this whole day has been, half lidded and not quite able to shake the tiredness. He sits up and reaches for you as he meets your lips with his. He kisses you so softly, not rushing or hungry, almost as if he’s burning this moment and feeling of the two together in his mind forever. You’re reluctant to break the kiss, but pull away enough to rest against each other’s foreheads. “I’ll get the dirty clothes taken care of if you want to dry off and put on those fresh ones there, then I don’t know about you, but I could definitely use some sleep after today’s events.” You hand him the towel that was set aside and move to collect the discarded pants before heading into the room where you had set your belongings earlier.
Opting to slip on fresh clothes yourself before returning you walk in just as he’s finishing drying off his hair, he’s managed to put on fresh pants but has yet to slip his white shirt on. His back was to you as you came up behind him, the scars on his back drew your eyes along their design and you felt him tense as you wrap your arms around him and place feather light kisses to his back, some on the raised lines and a few between. He relaxed into your hold just a quickly and your lips ghosted over the bite scar on his neck. He let out a little hum at the way you snuggled into him, fully enjoying having the feel of you here with him.
He turned and placed his finger under your chin and tilted your face up till you met his eyes. “Thank you…for this..” he ran his thumb along your bottom lip as he spoke, his eyes watching you, and you can see how much love he possesses for you in just the way he looks at you. He can feel the love radiating off you anytime you’re near him, the intensity almost burning him when you touch him. He surprises you when he picks you up and starts carrying you to the bed, shirt forgotten as he places you down before crawling in next to you. You get comfortable as he pulls you flush against him and he places his head on your chest. His arm stretches across you in a possessive grip as his leg drapes across yours, ultimately keeping you as closely as he can in fear you might vanish while he slept. He feels the exhaustion pulling at him and can see the tired flutter of your lashes as you play with a single soft curl and fight to stay awake now in the comfy bed safely cuddled with him.
“I love you Astarion… more than any words can express and what you did today the choice you made.. is something to be proud of, you are free, free to make your own choices and enjoy what YOU want, and I hope you know that no one will ever take that way from you again, never again will anything that has happened to you happen again, I will personally destroy anyone or anything that so much as thinks to use you or treat you as anything less than the person you are and who I’ve come to love with my entire being. You’ve already come such strides since the day I met you on that beach and you had a dagger against my neck, and I can not wait to see how much further you can go now that you’ve made it here.” You made sure each word you spoke he believed and he knew you stood by your statement to of personally destroying anyone who’d hurt him as he’d seen it first hand the many times that you had spoken up for him, supporting him or absolutely annihilating those who would bring him harm.
“Ah yes, that lovely first encounter.… so glad that didn’t end differently Darling, what a boring time I would be having now without my brave little protector…” though his tone was teasing you can hear the meaning behind his words and see his eyes get glassy as he slowly closed them and pressed a kiss to your neck. “You hold my heart Dearest, and I love you more than I ever knew was fathomable… if not for you I’d never have made it as long as I have, if you’re with me I see no challenge we couldn’t face.” His grip on you tightened for a second before he relaxed and you both felt the fight to stay away leave your bodies as your heart beat slowed and breathing evened out. “I’ll always be here Astarion.” The last whisper on a quiet breath he heard before you both fell into a much needed sleep wrapped up in each other.