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Thunder rumbled nearby, far too near for Barry’s liking.
“I don’t think we’re gonna make it home before the rain starts, hon,” they said to Astarion, gently tugging his hand as they tried to walk a bit faster.
"Ugh, maybe if we just don't acknowledge the weather, it will wait until we're inside," Astarion whined, glancing at Barry and picking up speed to match their pace.
Barry chuckled, squeezing his hand gently in theirs and replied, "I really don't think that's how that works."
"It was a perfectly nice day when we left the house, I don't know why the rain had to rush in out of nowhere," Astarion was pouting now and Barry shook its head fondly at him.
"I thought we weren't supposed to acknowledge the weather?" It asked teasingly.
"Well I thought you said it wouldn't-ack!" Astarion started speaking but at the same moment, as if to spite the elf, it began to rain, with a drop hitting him directly on the head. He glared up at the sky as Barry giggled.
"C'mon, let's focus on trying to get home before we and all the stuff we bought gets soaked." Barry tugged Astarion along at a faster pace but even with their quicker pace, they still had a ways to go to make it back to their house and the rain steadily grew heavier.
An idea popped into Barry's head, to have some fun even if the two of them were getting a bit of an impromptu shower. They looked over at Astarion, grinning, and said, "Race ya!" They let go of his hand and took off.
"Hey! You brat!" Astarion yelled after them, little actual annoyance apparent in his voice, before he started running after them.
The two ran for their house, laughing and yelling at each other along the way. They made it back finally, Astarion reaching the house first after overtaking Barry. He quickly unlocked the door and ran in, though he waited and held the door open from the inside for Barry to run in as well.
"Hah! I win!" Astarion exclaimed, grinning and a little out of breath from the running.
Barry nodded, giving him a small smile and trying to catch its breath, setting the basket of food from the market that it had been carrying down on the kitchen table.
"Are you alright dear?" Astarion asked, setting his basket down as well as Barry leaned against the counter breathing hard.
"Yeah I'm okay babe, things just take a lot more out of me now than they used to, y'know? But that was pretty fun right?" it smiled wider at him as it spoke between breaths, its body slowly calming down from the exertion.
Astarion smiled and hummed before replying, "Everything today except the getting soaked was quite nice."
"Yeah, you do look like a sad wet cat now," Barry smirked, nodding at Astarion's hair dripping water.
The elf stuck his tongue out at Barry, then reached his hand up to see how bad it was, grimacing. "Ugh, it's completely ruined," he whined melodramatically
Barry grabbed a towel from a drawer next to it and motioned for him to come closer. "Here, I can dry you off a bit if you'd like, you big baby."
Astarion moved to stand in front of them, bending down a bit. Barry reached up and gently dried off his hair, wiping at his face and neck as well. Astarion closed his eyes and hummed, letting himself enjoy the feel of Barry's hands and the warmth of being close to them, putting his hands on their waist and squeezing gently.
"There you go, kitty cat," Barry said as they pulled their hands and the towel away from Astarion's hair, "it's at least a start to getting you dried off."
The elf opened his eyes, smiling fondly at his love and wrapping his arms fully around them, pulling them close. They leaned into him, letting the towel drop to the floor as they put their hands on his shoulders. Astarion pressed a soft kiss to Barry's cheek and then leaned his forehead against theirs, murmuring, "I think that we should get these wet clothes off, go take a nice warm bath, and then we can make dinner, hmm?"
Barry hummed contentedly and replied, "I think that's an excellent idea, hon."
The two of them sat leaning against each other on Barry's bed, legs underneath the blanket and hands clasped together between them as they each read from their separate books and listened to the rain still coming down, though now they were safe and warm inside. The bath had been very relaxing and dinner had turned out delicious, they'd tried a new recipe (though most foods were still "new" to Astarion, having only been able to eat food again recently after the many decades of being a vampire.)
Barry sat its book down next to it, folding a corner down to mark where it left off. It turned toward Astarion, just taking a moment to gaze at its love, grateful that the two of them could have these happy, quiet moments after everything they'd been through. It smiled as Astarion turned his face towards it, quirking an eyebrow up in question.
"Like what you see, love?" he teased, a smirk growing on his face.
Barry laughed, squeezing his hand tight and receiving a squeeze back. "Yes, obviously I do." They brought their clasped hands up towards their face and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Astarion's hand. Astarion hummed as they pressed a couple more kisses across his knuckles. "I love you Astarion."
Astarion smiled softly at them, putting his book face down and reaching over with his now unoccupied hand, cupping Barry's face and leaning towards them. He pressed a sweet kiss against their lips and they leaned into it, reaching their hand up to cover his on their cheek. He pulled away after only a brief moment, but kept his face close to theirs, looking into their eyes and murmuring, "I love you too Barry."
Barry grinned, untangled their hand from his, and wrapped both arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. Astarion hummed happily against their lips, causing them to pull away slightly giggling, and then he wrapped his arms around them, pulling them back in. They played with the hair at the nape of his neck while his hands ran up and down their back. The two stayed wound around each other for a few moments before Barry pulled away again, leaning their forehead against Astarion's. They blinked sleepily and contentedly at him before murmuring, "We should probably get some sleep."
Astarion sighed and nodded, grabbing his book and Barry's and setting them down on the nightstand next to the bed. He snuffed the fire out in the lantern on the nightstand and the two of them got fully settled under the blanket, Barry on their back and Astarion laying his head on their chest. Barry wrapped an arm around Astarion's back, kissing the top of his head before saying, "Good night Star."
"Good night my love."