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“ Oh, by the Weave, it is hot even in the library here,” Gale thought as he popped two buttons of his linen shirt and rolled out his sleeves to his forearms. It was the second week of Flamerule, and the summer sun was, as the name suggested, flaming hot. Especially in Waterdeep, where it was so close to the sea. The heat has been unforgiving, and no thermostat can regulate the increasing heat of the weather.
It was also nearing the end of his fourth semester and second year of doctoral studies at Blackstaff University. Which meant that the deadline to finish his dissertation proposal was near. His advisor, Professor Tasha, has been egging him on weekly to finish his draft by the end of the week, and still, Gale wasn’t confident with what he put on the draft. His research was about conjuration illusion to preserve the memory of a deceased loved one. But after countless hours of researching and writing, he now felt stuck and not confident with his progress, but he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe the previous research and evidence have not been through enough, and he feared that he just conjured his arguments from the void, like an illusion.
He stared and mindlessly scrolled his laptop for an hour now, and he still couldn’t come up with an improvement to his draft. “ Drat”, he thought, as he furrowed his eyebrows and rubbed his forehead more from confusion. Then, he closed his laptop and sighed in defeat. He was truly defeated, for now. He got up from his seat and walked a bit from his chair. There was no choice but to press on, yes, he knew. But he needed guidance. Not from his advisors because his ego was too proud for that.
Only one person can help him.
His archnemesis, Astarion Ancunin.
His coworker, but Gale would use that loosely.
He started to pull his phone from his pocket and searched for Astarion’s number. But as he was about to press Astarion’s contact name, he thought, “ Absolutely not. He would be thrilled at making fun of me being stuck, that demon.”
Then he thought again, “ but his questions and feedback are always good… no matter how meanly delivered they were.”
Sod it, he pressed Astarion’s contact name, and he waited.
Not even five seconds later, the elf answered vehemently. “ Dekarios, as much as I want to continue our long and hard debate, I am rather preoccupied with my own abomination of a draft.”
“Oh, I never knew the high and mighty elf as yourself would struggle the same fate as us, the lowly human peasants.” He said with a small chuckle.
“ What do you want, Dekarios?”
“Listen here, I am stuck on my predicament, and I don’t know, I feel stuck on my draft, and you know Professor Tasha already warned me to finish this by the end of the week.”
“ Well, I suffered as well, darling. Why do you think I don’t leave my dorm these days? Honestly, that wicked witch.”
Gale chewed his lips in silent agreement. Gale respected the professor, but sometimes her demands were way too demanding. “Yes, I know. I am going to ask you a favor, though. Can you… review my draft for now? I will do the same for you, if you wish!”
“ Oh, as much as I want to add more burdens on my shoulders, I simply can’t, Gale. I am a very busy man, and I can’t let you win at our next meeting with her.” Great, give it to Astarion to turn everything into a competition, Gale thought.
“I’ll pay you. I’ll even cook for your lunch AND dinner if you want.”
At that proposal, Astarion was silent for a few beats before answering, “ hmmm… you are driving a tempting bargain, Dekarios. Very well, come over quickly with your draft. And wear your sunscreen for Gods’ sake, or you will burn to ash before arriving at my doorstep.”
“As you wish, my liege.” Gale mockingly teased before turning off his phone. That was easy. Convincing Astarion through food was always the way to ask him for help. Gale quickly packed his laptop into his bag before walking out of the library and into the men’s washroom to apply more sunscreen to his face and exposed body parts as Astarion demanded. He tied his shoulder-length hair into a low bun before he walked outside to Astarion’s dorm, west from their campus.
It was a short two-minute walk. But for the love of everything, it was indeed hot. The air was hot, and the sun was beaming hard, so Gale tried his best to walk under the shades and shadows. He was grateful to check his calendar and weather report regularly and stocked up on linen clothes to cool down his body in the summertime. And it looked decent and appropriate enough for work days on campus, so that’s a plus.
He finally reached his destination in the Blackstaff University men’s dormitory building. It was quiet, for a men’s dormitory. Maybe the other students went home on summer break, except the ones who don’t have a home to return or, like them, the doctoral students, too busy working on their draft and research deadlines. Gale continued to walk up the stairs to the second floor of the building and walked into the second room near the exit as Astarion instructed.
He knocked twice, and he heard a small come in from inside. Gale was greeted with the sight of a fairly clean room. Behind the large window was one neatly made bed on one side, and one desk on the other. Enough to store Astarion’s laptop, some books and notebooks, a keyboard, a tablet and phone stand, a mug with a few stationery items, and a desk lamp. There was a wardrobe and a laundry bin near the entrance, and a modest bathroom.
Astarion was crouching in front of his laptop with one leg on the chair and didn’t bother to greet Gale at the door, but Gale visited his place enough times to know that he could help himself inside the room. After setting his bag down and setting his shoes on the rack beside the door (last time he didn’t take off his shoes, Astarion gave him an earful of insults), he padded into where Astarion was sitting.
Astarion was listening to music on his earbuds. Figures, Gale thought to himself. Based on the heap of tabs opened on his browser, Astarion must be working hard on his own dissertation since morning, just like Gale.
Gale lightly tapped Astarion's shoulders. Astarion flinched and opened one of his earbuds to turn his head behind him. “Oh, you’re here, Dekarios.” He set his earbuds down in its containers and rose from his seat, meeting Gale on the eye.
“Yes, here I am. And after hard contemplation, I am in dire need of your help.” Gale said calmly with a smirk.
Astarion scoffed. “Finally asking for a truce? A ceasefire? Asking the enemy king for help?”
“Haha, don’t act like you never reviewed my paper before, twat.” Gale broke eye contact and shoved Astarion lightly on the chest. Gale walked into his bag to retrieve his laptop and gave it to Astarion. Astarion took it with his right hand, and he strode into his bed to start opening Gale’s document.
”Wait, what should I do when you ah… reading?” Gale asked, still standing in front of Astarion’s bed, unsure what to do.
”Well, make yourself at home, darling. You can read my books, put my laundry into the washer on the third floor, or you can just stand there, be my room ornament so I can stare and curse at you whenever Tasha compliments you.” Astarion’s fingers continued scrolling through Gale’s laptop.
” Professor Tasha, mind you. And she wasn’t complimenting me, she said that my chapter one is adequate, not good. There’s still more to revise.” Gale crossed his arms in front of his chest.
”Oh, tomato potato.” Astarion sighed dramatically. “Oh, I almost forgot, what part did you struggle with again, dear?”
“It’s just… I don’t know, I can’t really put my finger on it. Maybe the theory was wrong, the evidence is not enough, I just—“ Gale ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation.
Astarion lifted his head from the laptop with an unfazed stare. ”Gale, I might be smarter than you, but even I have limits on my patience; just point out where I should pay the most attention. Here.” He patted a spot beside him in the bed.
Gale followed and sat beside Astarion in bed with a sigh. This room has turned quite hot, especially with two men sitting so close in the bed. “Maybe focus on the comments here,… then in the next two chapters as well.” Gale leaned just a little to point at the comments on his documents. He faintly smelled notes of bergamot, rosemary, and brandy from Astarion’s neck.
”Oh, this should be easy. Common rookie mistake.” Astarion turned his head to Gale and giggled.
“Hohoho, stab your enemy while he’s already down, would you?” Gale chuckled back. With that, Astarion focused on reading Gale’s proposal draft.
Not wanting to disturb his rival, he decided to take a glance at a pile of books beside Astarion’s desk. From the titles he can read in some of the spines, most of the books piled were not Illusions. He noticed one of them was the Adventures of Drizzt Do’urden. He reached out from where he sat on the bed to take the novel on top of the pile and started opening the first page.
Amidst his silent reading, he started to think that it was not the first time he and Astarion sat in the same room together. He remembered in the first year when the program loved to make group assignments consisting of two students. He was unfortunately always paired with Astarion, as if the universe seemed to laugh at this nonsensical rivalry. How could he not? Astarion challenged everything Gale believed in Illusions. Illusions for the purpose of deception? That is a dangerous thought, and he could not stand where such misguided thinking exists in the magic research world.
But every time Astarion presented his case, it was always agreed upon by their peers and professors, for his literature research and writing were spot on, even Gale couldn’t argue. He wouldn’t lie; he admired such traits from Astarion, to say anything is worth researching, and there was evidence everywhere if they were willing to “open their eyes,” so to speak. Astarion was a master of composing winning arguments even against the most robust and proven theory that he researched. Their time in class was filled with lively debates that shrank other students. Sometimes the professors had to pull a lever to stop them from overshadowing other arguments. They never agreed on everything, but he can always count on Astarion’s tenacity and hard work to find even the smallest mistake in his arguments and his writings. So, if Gale wanted completely honest feedback for his papers? He always went to Astarion. Astarion never did the same; he was always too proud to rely on anyone other than himself. Gale didn’t bother to ask such questions, for it always ended with Astarion doing something else than paying attention to their conversation.
When Astarion spoke again after a few minutes of silence, it broke Gale out of his trance. “Gale, it was hotter than Avernus here. Would you mind opening the window?” His eyes still hadn't left Gale’s laptop.
Gale rose from the bed and opened the window to let some of the wind into the room. Then they continued reading separately in silence.
An hour must have passed after Astarion’s request. It’s almost lunchtime.
“Astarion, do you have something to eat?” Gale asked as he tapped Astarion’s shoulder lightly.
“No,” Astarion replied, still focused on reading with his right thumb and index fingers on his mouth, and his left hand hovered over Gale's trackpad.
“Wha– you never cooked here?” Gale’s eyebrow raised.
“When you’re too busy revising and researching a work of art, food is unnecessary.”
“Astarion, you NEED proper healthy food to fuel your brain.”
“I just grabbed a sandwich from Tadpole, and that’s it, I’ll eat it throughout the day.”
“And that is only your usual sustenance for a day?”
“..... Yes? Honestly, Gale, I never understand why it is such a big deal for you. Not everyone can have time to sit down and think about what to eat next. I have several papers and work deadlines that I need to finish before I can sit down.”
This fact surprised Gale. If his mother were in the vicinity, she would lose her mind and insist on sending him weekly food just as she did with Gale, even when he’s already a doctoral student.
“You never tried to cook?” Gale inquired quietly.
“I tried, but the kitchen almost burned down once, so they banned me from the kitchen. I never touched any kitchen… stuff since that happened, so I never bothered.”
Gale took a big breath. “I got an idea. How about you accompany me to the farmer’s market near the campus? It was always packed with unparalleled selections, fresh from the farmers!”
Astarion pressed two keys on the keyboard (to save Gale’s file, nonetheless) before rolling his eyes. He closed Gale’s laptop and looked at Gale.
“Gale Dekarios, on this hour and on this HEAT? Do you have a death wish by sunbeam?” Astarion asked loudly.
“Well, it could be a change of scenery for you as well! I never saw you outside and about, and I am hungry and can cook, so why not take a peek?” Gale still insisted on this idea.
Astarion turned his eyes away to contemplate such an offer. “Hmmm… your offering was quite tempting, dear Dekarios.”
“Fine. I’ll cook for you while you thoroughly review my draft.”
Astarion turned his head back and smirked, “Deal.”
He put Gale’s laptop aside on his bed, and he walked towards his wardrobe and opened it. “I need to change out of this raggedy home shirt first and into a cooler fit…” His eyes browsed the rack of clothing inside.
“Oh well, I read on the internet that linen is the best fabric to wear in summertime. It breathes nice on the skin, and it feels light too, like what I am wearing right now. Cotton is also advisable, as it absorbs the bodily sweat, if you pick the light colors–”
Before Gale continued his tangent about certain fabrics best worn in summer, Astarion opened his home t-shirt and threw it on the floor beside him as he was still facing his wardrobe looking for another shirt. Then, without warning, he opened his black sweatpants, revealing black briefs. Gale’s brain stopped working, and he started to feel a certain.. Heat creeping up his chest towards his face.
Clad in only his black briefs, Astarion continued to silently flip through his clothes in his wardrobe, uncaring that he was still in the vicinity of his eternal rival since undergrad. As he was standing half-naked, Gale could see Astarion’s full physique. Gale believed that his own mother would fuss over him if she knew, for Astarion is all skin and bones. Astarion was always lithe and lean, no matter what outfit he wore, but now Gale can see that certain bones were protruding from his skin from the lack of muscle mass. Astarion did tell Gale that he never ate much during school days, but now Gale can see the proof of such a poor habit. His posture was also not in the best form. How he always slouched on his desk but also managed to stand proud when needed arose. His skin was also so pale. If he could, Gale always tried to sneak in jogs around the campus to get some sweat and sun in, while Astarion did not. He never skipped working in the lab, library, cafe, or even now in his dorm room; never once did Gale see Astarion walk around the campus to get some exercise.
Astarion seemed to find what outfit he would wear when he pulled out a tight white cotton tank top and loose dark cargo pants. As he dressed, he turned around to face Gale with a blank expression. Gale was caught staring at Astarion.
Astarion snickered. “My my. Who would have thought that Gale Dekarios could simply lose his train of thought and speeches while seeing me dressed?”
Gale blinked. “Wha– I didn’t– you were the one undressed in front of your guest! That was uh, inappropriate decorum!”
“Might I remind you that this is MY room?”
“W-well, you didn’t have any courtesy to change somewhere else!” Gale continued to fluster. His bumbling words didn’t help him get his points across.
“Or you could just, I don’t know.., TURN AROUND?”
“I–” Gale opened and closed his mouth, trying to find his rebuttal.
Seeing Gale stumble upon his words again, Astarion laughed triumphantly. “Another point for Ancunin, and zero points to Dekarios!”
Gale blushed and chewed the insides of his cheeks in defeat. “Boohoo. It seems like fate favored you for winning this squabble. Now hurry up, before the sun hates us even more and burns us to ashes.”
Astarion sauntered to his desk, opened a drawer to retrieve a bottle of sunblock. He squeezed a dollop into his palms and rubbed the sunblock onto his arms, chest, and neck. He also retrieved dark sunglasses from the same drawer and put them on his face.
“Well? What’s the verdict?” Astarion spun in front of Gale.
“And now we are ready for the club,” Gale answered flatly.
Astarion frowned dramatically. “Oh, Dekarios. At least if you take me on a date to the farmer’s market this late in the afternoon, you might as well compliment your date properly.”
“What do you want me to say? ‘Oh my darling Astarion, you are so blinding to the eye that not even sunbeam or moonbeam spells could blind my eyes as effectively as you? ’ Said Gale quickly before he too rose from Astarion’s bed into the direction of the door.
Astarion paused for a minuscule second, while turning his face away from Gale, before cheekily replying, “I wonder how many women folded under that line?”
“More than you could count, my liege.” Gale retrieved an umbrella from his backpack and started to walk to the hallway leading Astarion out from the dorm.
Gale thought he saw a tinge of pink coloring Astarion’s cheeks before he turned his back away.
They walked side to side under Gale’s umbrella towards the farmer’s market west of Blackstaff Academy. They were still selling a selection of seasonal fruits and vegetables, a variety of snacks, and different flavors of lemonades, accompanied by loud noises of people talking and haggling around every stand. Each stand was covered by a tent and cooled by a large cooling fan.
“Look around you! Indulge in all the finest summer vegetables and fruits sold here!” Gale exclaimed to Astarion beside him under the large umbrella.
“Ugh, why did I agree to your deal again?” Astarion sighed dramatically. His eyebrows furrowed deeply, and walked closely beside Gale, who didn't want to lose the coverage of the umbrella.
“You were helping me review my thesis, and I cooked for you because if my mother saw or knew that you were not nourished properly, I would never hear the end of it,” Gale answered. They kept walking closely and tried not to bump other people browsing and haggling in each stand.
From the corner of his eyes, Astarion just smiled while still keeping his head down from the heat.
They kept walking for a short bit, until Gale saw a very familiar face in one of the stands selling a variety of fruits and vegetables.
“GALE! MY GOOD FRIEND!” A loud, deep voice bellowed two stands from where they walked. Hearing said voice made Gale smile widely and sped his walk to greet the seller.
“Minsc! I knew you would be here! Is Boo helping you sell, too?” Gale jovially shook the seller's large hands.
“Boo’s always ready to help lure customers with his cute whiskers!” A small hamster crawled onto Minsc’s shoulder and let out a couple of squeaks. “Ahh, Boo is trying to say that you have a new friend here, no?”
Minsc was referring to Astarion. Being acknowledged, Astarion also offered his hand to shake the seller’s hand. “My, the hamster, recognized the magnificent ol’ me? I am honored, darling!”
Boo let out another couple of squeaks before Minsc replied with the same big smile. “Boo was trying to express his concern for you. He said that your face looked like a vampire who never feasted on blood for 200 years!”
Astarion put his hand into his chest, dramatically. “I am? Well, maybe you can be my next meal, hamster.”
Boo let out a louder squeak. “Ahh, Boo said that if you wish to kill him, you need to fuel up with Minsc’s healthy vegetables first!”
Gale and Astarion both laughed with amusement at Boo (and Minsc’s) antics. Gale continued on their mission by asking Minsc, “Now, my good man, might I acquire some vegetables perfect to make salad? Is that okay with you, Astarion?” Gale turned his head towards Astarion on his right.
“As long as you make it, sure. I am not picky like a child.” Astarion scoffed lightly.
“A wise choice, Gale! Boo always knew that Morena Dekarios would raise a smart and genius cook who always cooks healthy foods from Minsc’s selection of vegetables! Go for the veggies, Boo!” Ordered Minsc loudly. Boo proceeded to jump down from Minsc’s shoulder and ran around the vegetables, selecting what looked best from the bunch.
As Gale catches up with Minsc and Boo about his home and mother, Astarion leaves without saying a word towards a lemonade stand. He gestured to the seller, and in just a few minutes, he returned to Gale’s side under the umbrella as Gale finished paying and lifted the canvas bag filled with his groceries to his left shoulder.
“Here.” Astarion gave Gale one of the cups filled with lemonade in exchange for holding the umbrella for both of them as they walked away from the farmer’s market crowd.
“Oh, thank you.” Gale drank from the cup and licked his lips. “Hmm, very nice. It’s not that sour as well.”
“I ordered the ones with honey. Just lemons in lemonades are torture.” Astarion drank from his cup too as they walked further away, back into Astarion’s dorm building.
“I already did your reviews, by the way, for now. There are still sections I haven’t delved too deep yet, but I don’t want to make your forehead crease more,” said Astarion as they settled into the communal kitchen on Astarion’s floor. They were making a summer salad with fresh cucumber, tomatoes, cheese, bacon, carrots, and bell peppers they just bought from Minsc’s stand.
“Really? That was… quick,” said Gale with surprise.
“Well, it’s not that challenging a read, to be frank with you.” Astarion strode into his room, opened his keys, and went inside his room to retrieve Gale’s laptop.
“That’s… a compliment?” Gale inquired, not sure how to interpret his rival’s assessment.
“Take it how you will. Now cook me something delicious while I resume the peer review.” Astarion settled on the large round dinner table and reopened Gale’s laptop.
Gale started washing the vegetables and prepared the ingredients to fry the chicken cutlets that someone had left in the fridge, which Astarion said was fine to cook ( “waste not want not, darling”).
Astarion continued reviewing in silence. His right thumb and index fingers stilled on his cheeks and top lip again while his left hand hovered and scrolled the pages. Same as Gale, who opted to stay silent, letting Astarion do his magic of brutally reviewing his draft. Gods know his mistakes are so far and beyond that he had a smidge of thought Astarion would mess with his reviews just for the hells of it. Astarion reveled in being superior to Gale in his works.
Why did he bother to ask Astarion for help anyway? Just to stoke his own ego? A genuine feedback?
Or… just to be clo–
“Is the food done, hm?” Gale’s train of thought was interrupted by Astarion suddenly appearing behind him and taking a peek from Gale’s shoulders.
“Ah! I sometimes forget that you are very light in your steps.” Gale tried to recover from his startle. Hand still holding the knife steadily above the cutting board, careful not to drop it.
“It’s a gift, what can I say? Is it done yet? I would like a nibble while reading your draft.” Astarion continued asking, still unmoving from his spot behind Gale.
He was so close, Gale could still smell the bergamot perfume on Astarion’s neck, masked by sweat now that they had just escaped from the summer heat.
“The salad was mostly done. It was just chopping ingredients and dumping them in a bowl. I just need to fry the cutlets, then cut them so we can put them on top of the salad.” Gale answered quickly. Tried to cool his heart beating a minuscule bit faster.
“Fine. What can I do?” Astarion moved to stand close beside Gale now.
“What?”
“I said, what can I do to speed up your cooking?” Astarion repeated.
“Oh! You can, ah, take a medium pan and pour the oil deep enough to drown the cutlets. And turn on the stove to heat up.” Gale instructed.
“Must we wait until it’s hot? Can’t we just dump them all in oil?” Astarion raised one of his eyebrows whilst following Gale’s instructions.
“No. If we immediately put them in while the oil’s not hot, the cutlet would soak up all unnecessary oil. We want crispy, not overly greasy, so to speak. There’s a deeper explanation to that, physics and chemistry-wise, but we would be here all day if you let me go on that tangent.”
“Good to know then. I’ll do the frying, and you can start setting the salad then.”
Gale hovered his hand over the oil to test the temperature. “And the trick to it is to throw just a little–” Gale threw a small crumb from the chicken cutlet breading into the oil, “like that. If it sizzles immediately, that means it’s hot enough to fry.”
Astarion nodded and started to pick up one cutlet into the oil. Gale’s eyes widened for a moment.
“NO! Be careful!” Gale grabbed Astarion’s wrist by reflex, just like his mother when he was a boy, trying to cook his own nuggets for the first time.
The cutlet still dropped and splashed a little oil on Astarion's skin. He snapped his hands away from the sizzling cutlet.
“OW!” Astarion exclaimed.
“Are you alright?” Gale reached out for Astarion’s pale hands to check for any oil marks.
Astarion’s expression blanked. Then Gale looked at Astarion in the eye. By then, Astarion quickly answered, “No, no, I think I am fine, I was just a little surprised.”
Gale sighed in relief. “Hah, thank goodness. It’s better to use a tong to drop inside the oil at this temperature.” He retrieved a black tong from the drawer below the stove.
Astarion took the tong and continued gently dropping the cutlet again with Gale’s supervision.
“There you go! Finally, I taught you something!” Gale grinned, and his eyes crinkled.
Astarion laughed mockingly. “Why, thank you, professor! Shall I give you apples on your desk by tomorrow morning, then?”
Gale laughed along.
“Alright, don’t need to watch me. I am done with reviewing your draft. If you have inquiries, you can ask.” Astarion turned his face away from Gale into the stove.
“... Thank you,” Gale said quietly. Gale then moved to the chair where Astarion sat and started scrolling through his draft.
Whatever suspicion he had of Astarion roasting Gale’s writing to pieces in the comments was shattered. Replaced by genuine questions about the nature of his research, suggestions on how to correctly transition each argument, links to journal papers for more referencing, and alternatives to the methods he used to test his hypothesis.
No traces of insulting comments on his grand theory. Most unusual.
His thought was broken by the sounds of fried cutlets being put to drain on a wired rack beside the stove. Astarion turned off the fire.
“Well, any questions?” Astarion asked while leaning his elbows on the dinner table, still standing up.
“Umm… not yet for the moment. I was just surprised you didn’t… insult my use of the grand theory.” Gale said, turning his head to look at Astarion inquisitively.
“To be frank, I don’t agree with that juvenile and naive theory you were referencing for your draft. I thought reminiscing about our dead was bollocks and a huge waste of time. I thought there were other theories that are similar in nature but less naive and more robust than what you were using. I can suggest that to you, but you didn’t ask, so I kept it to myself.” Astarion shrugged, then he sat down on the chair beside Gale.
“Oh.. okay..?” Gale nodded while scrolling through his laptop.
“And you said that you had troubles with your arguments, no? I already put that in the comments. I understand most of your writings, but it would help me understand it even more if you use less of, ugh, purple poetic nonsense like the one you use in chapter 1. That’s your habit to romanticize even research papers.” Astarion continued while leaning his cheek to his left palm. His gaze was not leaving Gale.
Gale nodded slowly, marinating the information and revelations to himself.
“Of course, since I know your strategy with your writing, you gave me inspiration to refute that in my draft as well.” Astarion laughed in satisfaction. “Oh, Gale, I am going to run in circles over your dead body debating that at our next meeting with Tasha.”
With that, Gale groaned and rubbed his eyes with his palms in defeat. “Ahh… of course, that was your idea all along, huh? Why do I bother to do this to myself?” Gale also let out a snicker. They laughed together for a moment.
“Why did you indeed? Never did you have an inkling that I might just sabotage your research by reading your drafts.”
Gale let out a big exhale before he replied and turned his gaze towards Astarion. “I was stuck for a moment. I reached the point where I don’t know what is wrong with my own writing. Were my arguments enough? Methods I’ve chosen? The deadlines were closing in and I was unsure if it was adequate enough for her. That’s why I asked you, my nemesis. I know we never agreed upon our chosen school of thought, but I thought maybe I needed a fresh set of eyes to review it since I can’t be stuck in this limbo of doubt any longer.”
They were silent for a moment. Astarion let go of his leaning arm and turned his body slightly more towards Gale. “I admit that I might have some opinions on your theories, but from what I read so far, it was fine. Common rookie mistake, but it was fine. You might want to follow my suggestions, though. I reviewed a lot of our underclassmen’s assignments by assisting Tasha in a few of her classes. You still have lots of mistakes in conveying proper arguments and referencing, but also why it was important, and the meaning of everything you wrote. You know Tasha loves meaning in everything.” Astarion scoffed at the last sentence. But he was never not serious in giving genuine suggestions and feedback, so Gale listened intently.
Gale was silently nodding once more. Astarion decided to let Gale marinate his feedback by going back into the cutlets placed in the wired rack and cutting them using the knife in the cutting board. He then dumped the cutlets on top of the mixed salad bowl and retrieved two plates from the cupboard to set the food.
“I’m just genuinely surprised that not only were you thorough on giving such useful feedback, but that was quite lightning fast as well. Professor Tasha’s review windows were way longer, and you just gave me those in what, 2 hours?” Gale helped mix the salad and divide the dish for both of them.
“What can I say? You can’t improve on perfection.” Astarion replied cheekily with a wink. Gale rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless.
Astarion took the first bite, and he groaned in pleasure. “Mmmhhh…”
Gale’s ears perked up.
“Never knew eating just vegetables and some sauces could be this good. You’ve done well, Chef Dekarios.” Astarion poked Gale with his elbow.
“You can thank Morena Dekarios for that.” Gale chuckled and forked the fresh summer vegetables into his mouth.
“Did she teach you how to cook?” Astarion took a sip of his honey lemonade.
“Oh, amongst other things.” Gale nodded.
“Where’s your father? He never seemed to be in the picture.” Astarion snickered. “Did he leave you and your mother? Kicked you out of the house? Banished you from Evereska?”
Gale’s hand that forked the food froze on the way to his mouth. He put his hand down and answered grimly, “No, nothing so dramatic. He died when I was seven years old.”
Astarion's smirk dropped. “Oh.”
Gale put the fork down and clasped his hands on his lap. His voice was low. “Mother didn’t tell me much about his death. All I know is that he died from a grave illness. And she always looked sad when I brought it up. That’s why I am researching illusions to project the memories of the dead. I needed to know.”
Astarion didn’t answer back. So Gale continued, “I thought I could fully visualize the memories of my father and his past life before marrying my mother. Bring some closure to Mother so she can move on.”
“Your mother or yourself?”
Gale turned his head quickly. Astarion chewed his food once and swallowed before facing Gale again.
“Don’t tell me who and why I did this research, please.” Gale rubbed his forehead.
“It has been, what, twenty years ago now, Gale? Surely your mother has moved on. How would you know if you never had a heart-to-heart with your mother?”
Gale felt anger rising inside his chest. “Don’t ever talk about my mother like that. You don’t know anything about–” Gale stopped himself before he said something awful.
“What? That I don’t know anything about being close to family? Why should I crave those when I never once had freedom of choice and was always punished for being slightly rebellious? Why should I want to be close to my family when my own didn’t agree with my prospect of becoming a world-renowned researcher instead of a lawyer? They already have those in abundance. Let me tell you that, Dekarios.” Astarion’s face was blank, trying to convey indifference.
“I– I’m sorry. I almost blurted out nonsense.” Gale dropped his head.
Astarion snorted. “On that, then I agree. Anyhow, I hope my reviews are enough to pull your head out of your arse. We can’t afford to give up now.”
Gale smiled. “You are right. I might even want to have closure for myself.”
“Still a waste of time if that were me. But, if that is important to you.. Well, you'd better follow through with that if you want to realize it. I suggest reading those journal links I attached to some comments. I know you always had trouble finding adequate references!” Astarion mock laughed, but Gale knew it was still out of kindness, in his own ways.
“That I can agree. How do you even always manage to find resources?” Gale took the fork back and resumed eating together with Astarion.
“Well, that was the writing part, was it not? Building arguments? They didn’t tell us to follow everything verbatim. Honestly, Gale, you need to open your mind more. I thought you already knew that, being a doctoral student.” Astarion said.
Gale laughed at that assessment. “Fair, it seems we could never learn unless I fall headfirst into the chasm, huh?”
“Oh, don’t look at me, I'm always perfect.”
“You little–” Gale poked his index fingers into Astarion’s ribs, and Astarion flinched away with laughter.
“Thank you for this, Astarion. Never thought I would say this, but I enjoy spending this hot summer day with you. You took your busy revising time to walk with me and even reviewed my draft so thoroughly. I learned quite a lot about this draft and you.” Gale smiled softly and earnestly.
Astarion turned his head away from Gale’s adoring eyes before meekly answered, “You have to pay me more than just food now. As your therapist, as well.”
Gale let out a giggle. “You can count on that, my liege.”
They continued eating in silence and worked on their respective dissertation draft until they separated in the late evening.