Chapter Text
There were many quirks that came along with Astarion’s affliction, and not many of them were good. Being hurt by running water and burned by the sun were two of the main ones that caused him anxiety on a daily basis when he was under Cazador’s influence. Not being able to enter homes uninvited was one that surprisingly never came up as an issue. Mostly because Astarion would pick up Cazador’s victims in the taverns and brothels of Baldur’s Gate, among other places. He didn’t have much need to enter other people’s homes uninvited.
He had always found it quite amusing to see people try to ward off supposed vampires with cloves of garlic. Did they seriously think that worked? It was silly to watch, and even sillier still to be on the receiving end of a garlic clove to the face. He was a little ashamed to admit that he’d had it happen once or twice in the early days of being a spawn. That smell was hard to forget.
However, the satisfaction he got when they realised it did little more than create a foul smell in the air was almost worth the disgusted looks he would get from the other spawn when he returned to the palace stinking like that.
The silliness aside though, the vampire had been pleasantly surprised when he found his sunlight hypersensitivity, and the other quirks, had been seemingly cured by the mindflayer parasite.
He didn’t think he would ever be grateful to the squid, but here he was - grateful. They’d given him a sense of freedom and normalcy that he’d not known in nearly two centuries.
Yet there was still one of his quirks that hadn’t been solved by the wriggling worm in his skull.
Astarion had been hopeful and even eager to find out if it had been taken away, but it was glaringly obvious as he stared into the nearby river that it, in fact, had not.
No matter how hard he stared, trying to manifest seeing his own face again, it didn’t appear in the murky water.
His reflection was nowhere to be seen.
The pale elf had to wonder if this was what it was like to stare into an endless void. Oddly enough, doing so wasn’t something he was familiar with despite having been sired by one of the most powerful vampires in Baldur’s Gate.
Cazador was quite familiar with spells, but Astarion could only recall him using them around him and the other spawn a handful of times. He enjoyed asserting his power through manipulation and tricks of the mind. Voids weren’t really in the repertoire.
Upon thinking back, Astarion couldn’t help but muse that it would have been quite the punishment to be forced to stare into an endless void for months on end. The closest he came to such a thing was the year of silence and torture inside that dusty tomb. Perhaps that was comparable.
No. Nothing can compare to that horror.
As Astarion lost himself in his memories of that vile time, a ripple was sent cascading across the surface of the water, forcing him to refocus his eyes and blink - not least because the water splashed him.
Slightly startled and just a bit outraged at the fact that he was wet, his eyes were cast upwards, searching for the culprit.
Del… of course.
Astarion huffed, quirking an eyebrow at the wood elf now approaching him. “I assume you’re coming over here to apologise for rudely interrupting me?” He asked, getting up from the ground and dusting himself off.
Del’s eyes were alight with mischief, a look Astarion had come to know well. “No. Should I?”
“Well obviously! I’m eugh… soggy,” he complained, looking down at himself in disgust. “Do you know how long this is going to take to dry?”
“Yes. About an hour in this sunshine,” Del replied, rolling her eyes.
“Do you always have to be so… boring? Just humour me for once.”
“I humour you all the time. You’re just dramatic.” The wood elf shook her head and looked him over before her eyes dropped to the river.
“What did you want anyway? There must be some reason you came over here.”
Del’s eyes flicked back up to Astarion’s and she raised her eyebrows in question. “I just came to see what you were doing. You’ve been gone for a while.”
“I’m always away from camp.”
“Are you? You’re always lurking… sulking, pouting, whining… but not usually down here by the river,” Del teased. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen you this close to a body of water since we first started travelling together, so… what’s going on?”
Astarion couldn’t help but tut at her and how observant she actually was. Sometimes it really grated on him. “You don’t miss anything, do you?”
“No. So come on… talk to me. What’s all this about?” Her eyes seemed to soften, no teasing behind them now.
A sigh fell from Astarion’s lips as he conceded, rolling his eyes. “I was just looking.”
“At what?”
“I… don’t really know.” His red eyes dropped to the ground as he hesitated for a moment. “I hoped that maybe my reflection would have been returned to me by now, but it seems that the tadpole doesn’t cure everything… only the most useful things. Makes sense, I suppose. After all, what use is there in being able to see myself?”
“How long has it been?” Del asked, tilting her head.
“Two hundred years… give or take a few.” He looked up at her. “I don’t remember what I looked like before and I doubt I’ll ever truly know what I look like now,” Astarion muttered.
He went quiet for a moment before he drew in a breath - a force of habit. “Del?”
“Mm?” She responded softly.
“Do you remember that night when you found me with the mirror, looking at- did you mean what you said? When I asked you what you saw?”
Del’s lips twitched a little bit as she spoke, “Why? Fishing for more compliments?”
Astarion couldn’t help but smirk a little in response, but remained quiet, silently pressing for an answer to his question.
“Astarion…” She took a few steps closer, her hand gently reaching out and resting on his arm. “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a liar. I was being serious. Even when you told me to say you were beautiful.” She smiled a little. “You are beautiful. Even if you can’t see it. I’ll keep reminding you of that for as long as you need.”
The vampire nodded. “I know you will.”
Del went quiet again before she spoke up with an idea. “But you know… I may have an idea that could help you see yourself.”
He frowned. “How?”
“Well… perhaps Gale could create one of those illusions of his for you. Not really like a mirror, but you could see yourself.”
Astarion scoffed. “You’re joking, right? As if I’m going to ask Gale, of all people, to do that. No. No, I’m not asking the wizard for help with this.”
Del rolled her eyes. “Of course you’re not. I thought you might have an issue with it. Luckily, I have a backup option, but you’re going to need to stay still for me. I know that’s hard for you, but it’ll be worth it in the end… I hope.”
“I’m intrigued, darling. What is this backup option of yours?” He asked.
“It’s a secret for now. But… don’t run off from camp for a few days. You’ll see eventually,” Del said, tapping the side of her nose and walking away quickly to prepare supplies for her secret solution to his missing reflection dilemma.
Astarion stood there for a moment, baffled, before he started off after her, whining about how she couldn’t just leave him guessing like that because it wasn’t fair.
Of course, Del felt it was very fair.
And she knew when he finally saw the surprise she had, it would be worth it. The look on his face would be priceless.
She just hoped she could draw as well as she used to…