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“Hello Bear.” Astarion calls as he hangs up his coat, he looks about the room and sighs when he notices the shutters were still pulled shut.
“Are you not up yet, old man?” He opens the shutters, absorbing the sun that brightens the house.
Astarion moves about the house picking up strewn clothes and tidying up abandoned projects, moving dishes into a sink to soak before he opens another door. He looks about the dim room, notes the reading glasses resting on an upturned book then gazes at the bed at the back of the room, he sees the lump of silvered fur that takes up the mattress. He takes a moment just to listen to the bear’s heartbeat, reassured in the fact that it was still strong and steady.
Crouching by the bed, Astarion lays his hand on the bear’s muzzle and strokes the fur back.
“Rise and shine my sweet.” He smiles when the bear’s eyes open and he lets out a yawn followed by a rumbled burr.
Halsin shifts and stretches, his limbs pop and crack stiff with age and the room lights with the golden fizzle of his wild shape being dismissed. If Astarion thinks too much about how the action used to bring forth a burst of light, he often finds himself melancholy and distant.
In the bears place, lays Halsin, eyes tired but so happy.
“Astarion.” He’s always so happy when Astarion visits…
“Hello darling.” Astarion smiles reaching for the man’s hand, kissing rough knuckles before he turns it over and kisses his palm. He leans into the touch when Halsin moves to cup his cheek with such tenderness to causes Astarion’s heart to ache.
“You are here.”
“I am here. And now, my love, are we going to enjoy the sun or are we going to waste it hiding away inside… Not that I’m opposed of course.” Astarion winks causing Halsin to chuckle.
“I have missed you, my heart.”
Astarion smiles, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss against the man’s forehead.
“I have missed you too Halsin.” Incredibly so, the time between their visits filled with worry and dread, haunted by the fear that one day he may arrive to an empty house and the forlorn faces of Reithwin. But Halsin was here…
“Come on, up you get!” Astarion stands, dusts off his knees before reaching for Halsin’s hands.
He supports Halsin’s ascent, steadies him until he finds his feet.
“Thank you.”
“Can’t have you falling now, can we? Would be a waste of a good trip.”
Halsin laughs, “Of course Little Elf.”
Astarion moves about the small house, collecting clothes for Halsin before helping him into them, brushes and braids the man’s hair. It wasn’t that Halsin was incapable of doing such things, but Astarion enjoyed caring for the man, enjoyed the blush that would take over his bear’s cheeks
Astarion looks at the man now, somehow hadn’t realised how small he looks from how he used to be. Long gone is the truly towering figure, the seemingly never-ending muscle, Halsin uses a walking stick to get around sometimes but gods, does he still look beautiful. His eyes still hold the light they used to, his bones still itch with the wild energy and his smile still kind and bright.
Astarion doesn’t want to lose that smile.
“Would you like your stick darling” Astarion asks eyeing up the intricately carved walking stick propped up against the door frame, even he can hear the way his voice warbles.
“I think I’m okay for today my heart.” Halsin decides after a moment.
“Shall we then bear?” Astarion offers his arm and Halsin smiles shaking his head as he slides his hand through Astarion’s proffered arm.
“Let me pleasure you.” Astarion whispers against Halsin’s ear, placing a kiss at the tip of his ear, he smiles when it flicks,
Halsin deeply exhales a shuddered breath.
“My heart-”
“Sshh” He kisses down Halsin’s neck, moving down to his chest and licking over his nipple on the way. He grins at the strained whimper.
Astarion shifts backwards off the bed, kneeling between Halsin’s thighs, kisses the loose skin of the man’s belly when he sees the almost shameful way Halsin’s tries to shy away from his body.
It was unusual to see the man this way, usually so accepting of his own and other’s appearances. But he’s gotten so old now, and his body wasn’t what it used to be and although Astarion still thinks he’s beautiful, Halsin sometimes needs reminding of that fact.
Astarion kisses his belly again to try and remind him of his beauty; he’s pleased by the flush that sits high on the man’s cheeks.
Astarion smiles and looks down. Halsin’s dick sits limp and soft between his thighs, seemingly uninterested aside from an aborted twitch.
“I’m sorry.” Halsin admits, head hung low with his hair falling in his face.
Oh Halsin.
Astarion leans up and cups Halsin’s each, thumb stroking under his eye.
“Don’t be silly, my bear. You’re okay, you don’t need to perform, just enjoy it.”
A sense of DeJa’Vu hits, and Astarion’s back in their tent trembling beneath large gentle hands as he struggled to find his release.
Astarion isn’t ashamed to admit that Halsin’s cock has always been an attractive asset, that so much of their relationship has been how Halsin could expertly take Astarion apart and seemingly bring together him back together with each breath-taking thrust, fill his cunt with his knot so flawlessly… But it was far from the only thing Astarion loved about the man and he was more than happy to show him that he didn’t need to get hard to deserve pleasure.
Even limp, the man was large. Long and thick with a bulbous base that so rarely grew in the recent years. A perfect specimen, nonetheless, in Astarion’s expert opinion.
He leans forwards to gently kiss the head, hears the soft exhale Halsin lets out at the touch and repeats the movement before taking the tip into his mouth.
“Astarion…” Halsin breaths, he leans back to rest propped up by an arm, his other hand finds it’s way into Astarion’s hair, pushing back the curls out of his face.
His bear was always so gentle. Astarion thinks as he bobs his head lower, taking more of Halsin’s soft cock into his mouth, suckling and skimming the bottom with his tongue.
Halsin shudders and Astarion is alight with pride. He caresses Halsin’s thighs with gentling hands, feels the baby soft hair tickle his palms,
A sucking drag back up has those soft thighs quaking.
Astarion is careful when he pushes the foreskin back, circles the tip of his tongue along the slit, tastes the precum that collects there despite the lack of erection.
He lays a smacking kiss to the tip and takes it back into his mouth, gently sucks and moves his other hand to the knot at the base of Halsin’s cock.
Halsin hisses at the touch, bucking up into Astarion’s mouth.
He’s about to apologise, but Astarion pops his head up to shush him.
“Do what feels natural, honey.” The colour lights Halsin’s cheeks as it often does with the name and Astarion smiles sweetly up at him, ducking to lick a long stripe up his shaft.
“Hnn fuck.” Halsin loudly swallows.
Astarion continues to gently squeeze around Halsin’s knot, enjoys the way the action has his limp dick sporadically twitching in his mouth, precum dribbling onto his tongue.
Astarion leans down, pushes until he feels the knot bump up against his lips and the head was down his throat. He swallows and palpitates the knot and suddenly Halsin is whining, folding over Astarion’s head and those perfect thighs are trembling. Astarion’s cunt clenches alongside his loves orgasm.
“You are beautiful my bear.” Astarion whispers watching Halsin’s heaving chest flushed with arousal.
Halsin huffs shifting in his sleep and Astarion spares a glance over his shoulder from where he sits on the floor, back against the bed before deciding that he wouldn’t be waking anytime soon. He never did nowadays.
Astarion sits with his legs crossed with an ornate mahogany hand mirror sits in his hands. He had found it a while back simply intending for it to be another decorative piece, but the glass had rippled and reflected a picture back at him.
He doesn’t understand how it works; Gale had mentioned something about ‘ethereal planes’ and some shit but honestly Astarion stopped listening after the second “did you know-”
Astarion looks at the empty reflection and strokes his thumb over the polished wood, and again the reflection ripples before an image becomes clear.
It shows Halsin as he is now, grey and wrinkled and beautiful, and another older gentleman. Astarion knows it’s him; the curls and lithe body, though showing more wear and tear of life, gave it away. They sit together on a soft sofa under a shared blanket as mirror-Halsin reads aloud, mirror-Astarion leans his head against his shoulder as his hands slowly work away at what looks to be a blanket.
The mirror didn’t always show that image, sometimes they were younger and laughing, another time they had been accompanied by several children some a perfect mix of the two of them and others from other species. One had them walking along a large lake under the sun, a little girl between them hanging off their hands while she swung.
All the images made his heart ache and his stomach twist in longing.
Astarion continues to watch the image, his eyes are wet, and he swipes away the tears that threatens to fall with a shuddered breath. He watches as Halsin leans down and kisses the side of Astarion’s head sees the smile that blooms over his face as he looks up at him. They share a sweet kiss and Astarion chokes out a sob shoving his fist to his mouth to silence himself, but it doesn’t stop the squeak that forces itself up his throat and he bites his knuckles as his chest squeezes.
Halsin was in the bed behind him, yet Astarion hasn’t felt as alone as he did now, sitting on the bedroom floor haunted by the knowledge that he will lose his love.