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Words were slowly blurring in front of him. Astarion has been reading the whole time the rest of their companions prepared and ate some awful, without a doubt, dinner. His eyes focused briefly on Tav - when she thought he wouldn’t notice, bard was throwing occasional glances at him through the day. Of course she was, after last night's confession, they both had no fucking idea what..."they" even were anymore. He slowly returned to his reading and decided to call it a day after a few more pages.
"Move, will you?" Mulling over the state of his personal affairs, he was surprised by Tav actually coming over to his tent’s entrance and plucking the book from his hand. She lay beside Astarion on some make-shift blankets.
"Rude. Sneaking up on me, stealing my book and demanding I abandon my very comfortable spot? Where are your manners, darling?"
"I am hardly able to sneak up on you, definitely not able to steal from you, and I'm just setting up a nice evening for us, love." - came the smooth answer.
"Oh?" Astarion felt a familiar twinge of uncertainty. They have discussed...well, sex, or lack thereof from now on, haven't they? Was he misunderstood? Her next words confused him even more.
"You happily indulge in whatever new shitty romance or poetry we find on our way. What do you say for me indulging you this time, hmm? Where did you finish?" Tav was looking at him expectedly, a smirk dancing on her lips.
"I...what?" Astarion's brain short-circuited for a moment, leaving him without his usual witty demeanor.
He heard her sigh in a "I'm not annoyed, but let's pretend I am" manner he knew all too well. "The book, where did you finish, my love?" Tav has finally picked up on his confused expression. "Astarion, I'm just trying to propose reading you aloud this..." - she glanced quickly at the book cover and raised an eyebrow - "Cranial Nerves and other highly specific triggers", if you don't mind, of course. I'm a little surprised at your choice of literature this time though. Anyway, it could be a nice way to spend another night in those wretched lands, hmm?"
So it was not about sleeping together, but reading together? Ah, a cute try on her end to make things, well, normal. Whatever is considered "normal" in their current circumstances. Worry was replaced with relief and curiosity. No harm in a little deflection then, is there?
"This is what you used to do with your past lovers? Playing an old, boring, married couple?". For some reason, it sounded more accusatory and less sarcastic than he intended to. Astarion cringed inwardly at his own words. What was happening to him? When seduction was off the table, he was stumbling over his practiced lines like some damn virgin.
Tav's easy smile faded a bit. Oh shit, did he hurt her?
"This is what I want to do with you, if you let me. If not, just say so and I’ll go back to my tent."
There was no mockery in her words, no play, no humorous retort he'd expect in their usual banter. Faced with simple honesty he had no answer other than being honest himself. And frankly, it could be fun?
"Fine then, I suppose. Start on chapter 3, please." The vampire was not above smiling softly, more to himself than at Tav. He was learning an unknown dance, and for the first time in…well, for the first time, his partner was the one more skillful at it.
Astarion shifted slightly, leaning on his elbow and letting her lay comfortably beside him. Soft candlelight was warming his skin, playing in Tav's hair and on her freckles. She flicked through the pages for a moment and, propped on her forearms, started reading. Bard's voice had a calming cadence to it, quite different to her usual high octave sweet ramblings or singsong spells. If he could fall asleep, he definitely would, as she was reading out passage after passage in that new, almost whispery manner. His own little bard. It had a nice ring to it.
Cazador, tadpoles, Absolute, all of their current troublesomes suddenly seemed far away, if only for this brief moment of respite. Astarion was looking at Tav with something he would recognize as tenderness or, perhaps, even affection, if only he was familiar with how those felt. But for now, the only coherent thought he had was: "This is nice too". And it was just enough for both of them.