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Had anyone been at the Tower with them at the time, they’d have heard the echoes of raised voices all the way down, but, thankfully, not only were guests rare, there was no one else at midnight waiting to hear their most recent spat. It was absolutely miraculous they somehow had been seeing each other for over a year, with how high the chances were of ending up arguing instead of doing anything a couple would normally do, but none the less, they ended up coming back together again every time.
“One would think you’d at least be happy you can go in the sun again, but no, nothing is ever good enough for you, is it?” Rolan spat at the vampire spawn before him, who had just thrown the Ring of Sunwalking the tiefling had been working on enchanting for weeks to the other side of the room. The gold and the ruby gleamed in the flickering candlelight, as if mocking him for his efforts too.
His own temper flaring seemed to take some of the wind off of Astarion’s sails, his previously vicious tone calming into a much more subdued one – always starting the confrontation to then realize how much a shouting match made him afraid of things escalating.
“The fact you keep trying is endearing, truly, however I’m sure you’re aware I’ve given up on such… lofty aspirations.” Astarion took a deep breath, trying to calm down, they’d had this discussion so many times – and for what? There was no helping his nature and there was no making the obstinate wizard in front of him stop his incessant meddling. “I know you’re going to say you promised me or something equally nauseating to that effect, but as you well know, I’d never hold someone to the nonsense they spew after a nice, thorough fuc-”
Rolan’s red hand appeared suddenly in his field of vision, catching him off-guard in the middle of his tirade, grabbing him by the hairs in the back of his neck and interrupting him. A shiver ran through him, as the tiefling pulling him closer and nearly growled in his face, voice low and serious.
“You may have given up on this yourself, but I didn’t and I won’t.” His hand slackened slightly as he huffed a sigh and lay his forehead against Astarion’s. “I don’t need you to believe we’ll find a solution, or that I’ll be the one to find it at all… Just believe that I… Care about you. Please.” The hand, now on the back of his neck, caressed him slowly, the other one coming to his cheek.
As the tiefling’s golden gaze bore into Astarion, he couldn’t keep his eyes open faced with the sincerity in them, so he just did what he did best and deflected, closing them and surging up slowly for a kiss. It was cut short as soon as pale hands started to wander into a thin waist and trying to snake into the wizard’s robes, as Rolan stepped back, making him drop his hands slowly from his person, stepping away to pick up the ring back up from the corner it had ended up in.
He came back again, breathing measured, the perfect image of composure, and knelt at the vampire’s feet, picking up his left hand, hanging limply beside him, and kissing the top of it. He kept his gaze on the hand, slid the ring in his pointer finger – he’d been meticulous in his measurements, no point in making his skittish partner hate the ring even more by assigning it any extra meaning – and then looked to the red eyes that bore down on him, as he lifted the sleeve of the loose shirt as softly as possible and kept kissing up the wrist, then the arm, as he got up.
The vampire didn’t say anything, just stepped forward again and hugged the one in front of him. He knew he’d never be able to muster up a “thank you” good enough to make up for his terrible fit in the face of such constant patience and care.
He supposed if anyone understood how much seeing the sun, walking in it’s radiance, being allowed to enjoy the most simple of pleasures in it’s presence, could mean, it’d be someone who’d spent time in the literal Hells, unable to see the stars, the sun or the moon, and wondering if it’d ever happen again… He squeezed tighter, until he felt the ridges of Rolan’s back on his hands and those of his chest on his own.
“I could have breakfast with you in the balcony.” He looked up, pretending to be brave just as he felt a tear escape the corner of his eye. The tiefling just kissed it away.
“You could, couldn’t you?” Came a murmur in reply, followed by a genuine smile.