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"I am sorry, my love,” Tav says while stroking over Gale's cheek as he looks up at them from where his head rests in their lap with tired and yet still so, so determined eyes.
"You are drained from the fight in the Wyrmway,” they begin but get immediately interrupted by Gale.
"No, I am not, I won’t let you face Cazador alone. You need me,” he pleads but Tav sees the way how his tongue is still heavy from the exhaustion of yesterday’s fight in Ansur’s lair under the Wyrmway when he had channelled the mightiest of magic that he is currently able to to break through Ansur’s powerful lightning strikes.
Tav sees how dark the bags under his eyes are in contrast to his pale lips, drained from all colour and strength.
"Of course I need you, my love,” they coo and gently stroke over his hair. He melts into their touch.
"I hate it when I don’t have you near me, I hate it when I turn around and you are not there. But I see the way your hands tremble, how cold they still are,” Tav reaches for him with their free hand and takes his securely in theirs and kisses each of his knuckles, letting their healing magic flow through them into him.
Gale sighs contentedly, embracing the warmth of Tav's lips on his skin, of their gentle, sacred magic that smells of lavender and the kindness of May that engulfs him now. That lingers in the air around him and lulls him to sleep. Despite his best efforts to stay awake, to keep looking at Tav and the love in their eyes. Despite not wanting to let them wander into the undead lion’s den without him.
“You need rest, there is only so much that even my magic can do to heal. We will be back before you know it, I promise…” Tav says with a reassuring smile and traces the lines of the orb under his eyes with featherlight touches.
Gale hums approvingly and nestles closer into Tav’s lap, into their touch and embrace. And Tav kisses him, sprinkles him with their healing touches, onto each of his brows and cheekbones, his eyelids, the tip of his nose and finally onto his lips.
And Gale melts into the kiss. Reaches up to their face and kisses them back, pulling Tav down to him, savouring their lips on his.
“I love you,” he murmurs when they eventually part for air and smiles. It is a lazy, gentle smile, already half asleep and still, his eyes glitter and shine up at them and Tav knows that they have never seen anything or anyone more beautiful than Gale here and now.
“Come back soon, my dearest heart, please – and make Cazador pay for what he has done to Astarion,” he adds and Tav nods with a smile.
“I love you, too, so, so much,” they tell him. “And of course we will!”
“Good!” Gale props himself up from Tav’s lap to shuffle over to sit on his bedroll with a huff to give Tav room to get up themself.
“Tav?” he calls them back just as they were about to crawl out of the tent.
“Hmm?”
“You forgot something,” he says with suddenly suspiciously awake and glittering eyes but before Tav could even begin to wonder what he was up to was he already planting his lips on theirs after murmuring something unintelligible and they felt magic wafting through them and the world seemed brighter in an instant, brighter with the touch of his lips on theirs, literally.
“Your Darkvision,” Gale explains with a very, very smug smile.
“You and I are only human after all…” he muses.
“And a little magic never hurt to cancel out some disadvantages,” the both of them say in unison and laugh.
“I may never know the kind of magic your oath grants you but nobody can say that my magical lips aren’t just as useful at times,” he adds, his smile once again very smug.
Tav rolls their eyes at his implications with a huff and a fond smile and leans over to quickly kiss him again. They just can’t help it, despite having their friends waiting for them outside, not when he is still so close and so, so wonderful.
“Thank you, my love,” Tav whispers against his lips, unwilling to let go. Though they have to.
“I really have to go now, the others are probably getting a tad impatient,” Tav says with a heavy sigh and strokes over his cheek. “Sleep now. Leaving you here is easier when I know that you get the rest you need…”
“Alright,” Gale agrees and nudges his forehead against Tav’s for the span of a heartbeat.
“Go now. I will be here when you return!” he promises and smiles this little encouraging smile of his with a huff at the end that only Tav gets to see. It’s the smile he smiles to make everything easier for the both of them, even when they both know it’s more lie than truth.
But the both of them also know that his smile is necessary to go on. To believe his smile that promises ‘I will be alright. Don’t worry about me now’.
So Tav smiles back at him and crawls out of the tent.
“Ugh, fi-nal-ly!” Astarion’s impatient voice immediately greets them.
“Remind me to never believe you ever again when you say that you ‘just have to say goodbye to Gale very quickly’. It never is! So, can we go and quickly kill Cazador now please?”