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[illithidnapped]

[Emet-Selch, you slacker. He’s so proud.]

Potential isn’t a definite. Most nights I actually do get a fairly human amount of rest— provided I’m not toiling away in Riftwatch’s name, or digging up new information at the Blooming Rose, or...

Well.

Far more rare circumstances.

Mm. But don’t worry. I can personally verify that so long as no one opts to break in my door tonight, you won’t have a single responsibility or care to your name.

Sacred earth, in a sense.

You’re welcome.

[arkitect]

Rare, are they? An unfortunate state of events for you, I am sure.

[Another sip finishes off his second glass, and with that, he sets it aside.]

But in that case, I shall hope the current state of peace here remains so. I doubt anyone will go to such lengths so quickly, however.

[illithidnapped]

What can I say? The wellspring here isn't exactly overflowing.

If I were in Hightown, that'd be a different story. Or still in Wycome, perhaps. Pity as it was to leave.

[Otherwise, no: Lowtown's eligible, desirable few have been more likely to drop off a pier or lose their own teeth as of late, what with the city so pressed for space and sanctuary alike.

And, all things aside, Astarion is never desparate. Whether or not an itch needs scratching, sometimes it's simply better to abstain.]

[arkitect]

Even among our number, is it. Though I suppose most of us do tend to have more pressing concerns.

[-or, you know, existing relationships, that sort of thing.]

-just as I suppose that here, you're equally liable to run into someone who means trouble as you are a decent night.

[illithidnapped]

Nosy. [Astarion scoffs through the edges of his teeth in mock offense, pinning a few arched fingers delicately against the set of his own collarbone.]

Besides, Riftwatch is, like you said, fairly fretful overall: morose, withdrawn, afraid, agitated— worrying about the war or what comes next, or whether or not the ones they love will, in fact, ever love them again.

[And how's a vampire supposed to compete with all of that baggage.]

It won't always be the case, of course. And once the war's over, I'll be free as a bird.

[arkitect]

Well, of course I am. I should think you would have expected that.

[He leaves his seat, then, evidently done with it, and comes over to sit on the bed as well; with his presence accepted 'til tomorrow, he makes himself comfortable there, settling in with one leg crossed over the other.]

We can only hope it ends soon, then, for your sake. Mayhap you will find somewhere that a pretty face will earn you better luck.

[illithidnapped]

[The word pretty seems to change something. Moreso than proximity, in fact, given the way Astarion's expression almost brightens by degrees— head canting to one side just so, the way a cat might behave (its dark, depthless eyes dilating) when spotting a bird on a ledge within reach.

Instinctive.]

You wouldn't be trying to charm me just to make sure someone's on your side in all this mess, would you?

[arkitect]

If mere charm were sufficient, I would be quite concerned. I do expect better of you than that, you know.

[He watches that shift in demeanor, though, one brow arched in turn. Honestly, after everything-- it would almost be an insult to think this alone would sway.]

[illithidnapped]

Clever of you to think so, but a common tactic besides.

[It wouldn’t be the first time, in fact, that Astarion’s come across it in the figurative wilds— or the first time he’s used it, either.

Still, unlike Astarion, Emet-selch doesn’t seem the type.]

And...oh, I don’t know. [he starts, leaning in by degrees, given how close the ascian is now for having opted to sit beside him.] I wouldn’t complain if you were.

[arkitect]

Why, don't tell me you mean to charm me to ensure I believe you're on my side.

[It's light, idle; Astarion leans in, though, and he doesn't lean away in turn.]

[illithidnapped]

If I did, do you really imagine I’d confess?

[The words murmured more than spoken, his attention sunken beneath the heavy hang of dark lashes as he cranes his neck higher— pressing chilled lips to the edge of Emet-Selch’s jaw. Tentative. Testing.

The way someone might dip their toe into a shallow pool.]

[arkitect]

You never would, of course. But then neither would I.

[And he is still, at first. Not leaning away from the touch or into it, almost observing more than anything else-- but some of the tension eases from him after a moment, head canted slightly in response to that attention. Silent permission for it.]

...feeling, bright and awful and nauseating. [Murmured under his breath, a mirror of what Astarion had said to him before.] I've begun to think it might not be so terrible to reacquaint myself with it.

[illithidnapped]

It isn’t awful.

[He takes it as permission, that lack of reaction. Knowing Emet-Selch, the man wouldn’t opt to tolerate anything he doesn’t want to.]

Well— not at first, anyway.

[It’s the losing it that torments. The same way it always does.

A conversation they’ve already had.

His teeth, sharp as daggers, scuff their way along the underside of Emet-Selch’s throat— the lightest possible scrape against vulnerable skin, leaving only faintly reddened marks in their wake. That he could do more is obvious. That he could rush for more is, too, but Astarion is a creature of caution at heart: when it comes to touch— and touch alone— he doesn’t take what he isn’t given.]

[arkitect]

Never at first.

[A quiet agreement, exhaled breathily along with the graze of Astarion's teeth. The beginning is the easy part, in that sense-- but in other ways it's the difficult part. Engaging in anything is a conscious acknowledgement of the later consequences. Starting anything sets the timer on when it might end.

But he is likely mortal, now. Now the calculations include the possibility he will not live to see that end.

He might as well live like it, just a little.

Emet-Selch takes a moment to pull the glove off one hand, reaching up-- his thumb brushes the edge of Astarion's ear, then moves past, fingers threading into his hair, hand resting at the back of his head. Not tight enough to pull, just enough to be present; a matching gesture that there could be more.]

[illithidnapped]

[He drinks in that attention the same way he drinks in everything: greedily, without restraint. His head tips into the slow slide of bare fingers, so overwarm from the trapped heat of a glove now shed.

The first time, in fact, that Astarion can remember ever seeing the man without them.

Preventative, perhaps? A barrier between himself and the simplicity of touch? —or just a pair of gloves, and nothing more. Nothing so remarkable or poetic. Either way, Astarion shoves that curiosity from his mind almost as soon as it rises, seizing the opportunity instead to wend his way into Emet-Selch’s lap, straddling the man with ease where he’s perched along the edge of the mattress— mouth to his neck, just above the high edge of that dark collar, raking with teeth, tracing it with his tongue, working higher by the second with all due insistence. Starved, for lack of a better term.

If something well-fed can also be starved.]

i'm just gonna make an early nsfw call here probably

[arkitect]

[There's a low, throaty chuckle of amusement from him when Astarion shifts, a little murmur of-]

Eager, are we...?

[...even as he lets an arm slide around Astarion's waist, curling there, tugging him a little closer. For him, that probably counts as eagerness, too.

His chin tilts back by degrees to allow more space to work with, a bit more of the pale flesh of his neck exposed; before he speaks again, he exhales a slow sigh, hand settling at the small of his companion's back.]

But before we dispense with words-- tell me what you don't want.

[Better now than having to break away from things later. Stumbling on something someone enjoys is a pleasant surprise; stumbling upon something they don't just ruins the mood entirely, and Astarion has said just enough of his history that Emet-Selch does not doubt there are missteps to make in that regard.]

[illithidnapped]

For you to turn tail and run before the night is over.

[Funny. That’s what Astarion would find it, Emet-Selch’s concern. Not that he doesn’t comprehend the idea of aversion borne of suffering, and doubly so in someone else, but Astarion—

His brief moments of tethered freedom were always bought with touch. With warmth, and wanting, and the comfort of being adored in turn by strangers of the highest caliber, even if it was just a cruel game.

No. He wasn’t left without his scars, but they don’t live here.]

Or to bore me.

[The more real danger, all things considered.

His fangs sink deep into the fabric of Emet-Selch’s coat, pulling when he twists his own neck— serpentine— until the clasps come undone either by brute force or momentum alone.

Unmistakably, it’s not a gentleman’s gambit.]

[arkitect]

[That answer gets him a satisfied-sounding little hum. Good. One less thing to think about, when part of the point is thinking a little less. It's a pleasing enough response-

But then those fangs sink into his coat, and he tugs Astarion's head back with a little huff, the other hand quickly shifting to help unfasten the clasps himself as they're tugged apart.]

Use those on me as you like, but I'm not in the mood to need to replace anything.

[Grumbled, but not too heatedly. Just a mild warning. He shrugs the coat from his shoulders, letting it fall, and abandons his other glove as he asks,]

Now, exactly how much do you care about that shirt.

[Because if the answer is 'not much', well, he has a thought or two if Astarion doesn't want to be bored. He did start this.]

[illithidnapped]

I won't weep, but you’ll owe me a new one.

[Astarion rumbles through the edges of his own teeth, all but purring like a scruffed animal, and utterly content in that flicker of incited displeasure.

His hands are still perched on either side of Emet-Selch’s shoulders, weight still settled comfortably across the Ascian's lap— boots to the edge of the mattress, irreverent of everything, always.]

But are you sure you’re not afraid of my fangs? I have been known to bite hard.

[arkitect]

I assure you that I have had worse-- not in bed, mayhap, but I am hardly fragile.

[He's experienced death enough times, after all, for pain not to trouble him much-- and he has mentioned what he wants out of this. If he ends up feeling it tomorrow, even the day after, that won't be a detriment. Better that than tenderness, right now.

Emet-Selch takes a moment to work at the clothing he's still wearing one-handed, fabric slipping from his shoulders, arms pulled free of it; this body is not the same as the one that led a military career, free of scarring (save for a large and oddly-shaped discoloration over his torso), but it still bears the same musculature, hidden up til now under the layers he prefers.

And once he's freed of that, mostly bare down to the waist, he pulls something from the fabric. In a smooth motion, he reaches up to set a hand on Astarion's chest, the flat of his dagger resting there.]

And I have been known to bite back.

[He has no fangs of his own, but he can certainly make do.]

[illithidnapped]

[Red eyes gleam at the press of metal— colder than his own skin. The wicked widening of Astarion’s jagged grin the surest sign of his perpetual weakness when it comes to the allure of self-destruction. The rush of it. The thrill.

For all that Astarion likes to boast and brag and hound society’s pampered few, he’s clearly no less hungry for a momentary, reckless high.

But then, given the nature of his bloodlust, that hardly comes as a surprise.

The pads of his gloved thumbs dig reflexively by degrees, bearing into the bare muscle settled just beneath the arch of Emet-Selch’s collarbone.]

My my.

Maybe you do have claws after all. [He leans in by degrees against the flat of the blade, eyes shadowed beneath the heavy hang of long, dark lashes. That his mouth finds its way to the Ascian's ear is, perhaps, inevitable. The closeness of it, the sharp dig of teeth, the way his breath pools over vulnerable skin, chased by his tongue in the gaps between digging statements.]

If I wasn’t so fond of you, I might be worried, given the gossip.

[arkitect]

[The attention earns him a more ragged breath, exhaled before he can think to steady it-- it has been some time, and this body is only human. He keeps himself otherwise composed, but there is a subtle shift in posture, a reflexive tightening of the hand threaded into Astarion's hair, pulling perhaps a little more than he fully meant to.

Not that he thinks he will mind.]

And what, precisely, would you be so worried I would do to you, with those fangs of yours where they are?

[...not that he minds, either. He's unconcerned about it, mouth curled into a small smirk as he speaks; he has not moved the dagger from its position, either, not easing it away as Astarion leans close. A slight motion tilts the blade, now angled so that if he presses further he's certain to come up against it.]

Or mayhap I should ask instead: what is it that you want to think I would do to you.

[illithidnapped]

A world-devouring villain? Hard to say what you wouldn’t do.

[The way Astarion says it, it’s with all the feathering breathlessness of a swooning Noble at a soirée. One part true appreciation for the idea, one part teasing farce.]

Why, for all I know you could be corrupting me at this very moment— swaying my heart, plotting my very demise.

Waiting to plunge that dagger right between my ribs.

But I’d prefer a different sort of death, if I’m honest. The smaller, temporary, orgastic sort. And much as I’m certain you’re capable of sweeping me off my feet, that sort of denouement is a much....mm, harder feat for some.

So.

[His mouth sinks lower, he’s so very tempted to bite deep into the vulnerable, corded muscle of Emet-Selch’s throat— but without the aid of magic, a bite there could easily be lethal.

Instead, with a resolute exhale, his head turns.]

Surprise me.

[Murmured ever so sweetly...before jagged teeth snap themselves into the sloping angle of Emet-Selch’s shoulder, somewhere just above his collarbone.]

[arkitect]

I suppose I could be.

[He murmurs that idly, releasing his grip on Astarion's hair. As his fingertips skim lower, brushing the nape of his neck, they carry with them a strange energy-- shadow gathered to his hand, his touch suffused with it. It doesn't hurt, no more than ice would had he called frost to him instead, but the sensation of darkness is one that's difficult to put a finger on, warm and somehow energetic.

It remains as his hand trails down to the small of Astarion's back, breath held a moment while his mouth lowers, and at that bite-- he exhales a sharp hiss, the magic gathered around his hand flaring for just a moment in a reflexive response, the sensation intensifying in turn. After a moment, though, it calms as Emet-Selch murmurs a quiet curse (those teeth truly are not to be underestimated), taking a moment to gather himself before pulling Astarion just a little closer. Just enough for the length of the blade's edge to press through fabric and cut flesh in return.]

-but what satisfaction would there be, [he asks, his voice rougher,] in swaying you in such a way?

[Not like that. Far better for everything to be freely taken or willingly given. Even if he could still do it now-- that isn't the way he wants him.]

definitely now officially putting a warning here for bonetown city limits

[illithidnapped]

[The groan that escapes Astarion— squeezing itself through the gaps between overlong fangs and Emet-Selch’s skin— is inescapably lurid. That shivering sensation running along his spine, the dig of the knife where it rests sharp between them, cutting like a thorn.

They’re only flirting with the idea of sinking into sweat and surrender, but even in the prelude to it, Astarion’s struck with addiction over the thought-numbing potency of it all. Touch, heat, the dig of his own blunted nails across skin where he rakes them in patterns that are nothing short of demanding, taken to rolling his hips— heedless of the blade, or the way it nips at him at the tail end of every rutting hitch.

And the taste of blood, rich and regal across his tongue. Smooth as long-aged brandy, and laced with something else he can't quite define. His head tips back when he breaks for air, gasping as the world spins peripherally. Dizzy. Drunken.]

Mmph. [Impatient. Impatient. Slender fingers rushing to begin yanking at the loose cloth of his own shirt, dragging it against both that knife and its own fastenings. Fuck it.] Help me get this damned thing off.