Doomtryst | Astarion x Durge

Chapter 10: Dulcis Matrona

Chapter 10: Dulcis Matrona

A young elven man dressed in the most lovely white dress shirt he had, was staring at his reflection rather intently, holding up a silver handheld mirror to his face. His left hand was tracing lines under his eyes, rather dissatisfied with his skin.

''Ugh Gods...I haven't aged well have I?''

He uttered, feeling rather insecure of himself. Though Astarion was 34, he looked rather mature for an elf his age. He should not have looked past his 20's. Seraphina, for example, was older than him by 16 years and did not look over the age of 25, Astarion thought. He had small folds under his eyes which he believed should not have been there, and the corners of his mouth had laugh lines, as well as a few freckles here and there. The reason for his ''aging'' he assumed had to do with the years of his youth in which he spent so long under the sun at the farm. His pale complexion naturally did not fare well under any form of light.

He sighed, putting the handheld mirror down, placing a cream he bought from some herbalist in the attempts of ridding himself of those ''horrid'' wrinkles. Though nobody thought Astarion was ugly, on the contrary. The lines on his face told a story, made him seem bold, rich like fine wine or aged brandy. He was beautiful, he knew he was, but there were times in which he did not see it that way.

Just as he was applying the cream from a little jar, he heard a loud scratching sound against the door. Astarion raised his brow, rolling his eyes, not getting up until he finished applying his cream. He put the jar away and got up, walking towards the door, the hissing sounds getting louder the longer he made him wait. He smiled, letting in a rather chubby white cat inside. He was white all over except for the tips of his tail and ears which were black.

''Pontius! Where in the hells have you been?! It's been weeks!''

Astarion closed the door behind him, wrapping his arms around his chest raising his brow rather concerned. Pontius hissed at him, spreading his little paws out, wagging his spotted tail. The cat meowed at him a few times, attempting to speak to him to tell him his story. Astarion raised his finger at him.

''Wait! Hold on!''

He took a step back and stretched out his hands in front of him, feeling rather focused as he attempted to conduct the sensation of the Weave between his fingers.

''Amicus Animalis!''

Astarion attempted to cast the spell on himself, but there was only a green spark rising from his fingers. He looked up at his hands as he held them above himself, rather curiously. Pontius in the meantime, rolled his eyes, jumping right up on Astarion's bed as if he owned the place. He made another hiss at him as if to tell him to hurry it up.

''No? Ugh...I'll try again.''

He sighed, closing his eyes and repeated the stance again, elaborately moving his hands through the air, feeling the Weave between his fingers until finally he was able to grasp the magic.

''Amicus Animalis!''

Astarion cast the spell again and this time he was successful. Rather than a hiss, he heard the voice of Pontius, his old and only companion for the time being, well other than Seraphina of course. But he and Pontius went way back. In fact Pontius was adopted by Astarion when he was only a small elf of six years old where he had found him as an abandoned kitten, saving him from a blizzard. Though as a cat Pontius was not supposed to live as long as he did, Astarion had spent an entire summer collecting enough coin so that a mage could cast a longevity spell on him. They'd been through it all together. Yet, ever since he'd gotten to Baldur's Gate with his master, the cat had been caught up in rather dramatic affairs..