"Please..."
"They say if you love something enough, you let it go, and it returns to you...well then, it must really love you back..."
"Please..." I could barely recognize my own voice.
"So return to me," His voice was smooth and sickening, "my little Oathbreaker."
I opened my eyes, the break of morn barely shining through the canopy of trees overhead. My lips parted, the early chill burning my throat as I inhaled deeply. I can still hear him. I frowned, reaching up, the tips of my fingers barely grazing my lips. I can still taste his blood.
"Who is he?"
My head snapped in the voices direction, spotting a white haired elf sitting on a fallen tree, not too far from me. I sighed, my eyes flickering back up to the leaves above, watching the smaller green ones dance through the air like woodland sprites. We were in the forest, far away from camp, where the devilish bastard 'Astarion' had convinced everyone we laid with each other.
"I don't know who you're talking about." I mumbled, sounding a bit hoarse.
"Falcäo."
Hearing his name from Astarion's lips was unexpected to say the least, it was so surprising that I couldn't stop the faint gasp from escaping me or the silence that followed. I tried to save face, to remain stoic and unmoved, for a moment I almost did. But as I watched those leaves trickle through the air, looking more like ashes from wildfire, I couldn't stop the frown from spreading across my lips.
"Ah, there's that expression again." Astarion sighed, propping his elbows up on his knees, his head in hands. "The only expression I've seen you make." My lips straightened out, as I furrowed my brows in annoyance. "You made that same face four days ago...with the warlock...by the fire." Astarion hummed in thought, tapping the side of his face. "Who is he to make you look like that?" I drew in a deep breath, grunting as I forced myself to sit up. Who is he to make me look like that? To make the stone faced Oathbreaker crack and shatter? I couldn't stop myself after that. My mind had already begun to show me his greatest memories. I could feel the pit in my chest grow, the sickening sadness swirling inside me like a bottomless ocean.
"Someone I once knew." I said under my breath, unsure of why I even said it, rising to my feet and twisting my back for a stretch.
"Oh come on." Astarion scoffed, standing up with me, "You owe me for that bottle of wine I gave you." Astarion crossed his arms over his chest, "It was a vintage and you downed it like it was some kind of brutish swill." I glared at the pale vampire, stretching my arms up with a groan.
"Ale would've been better." I murmured, causing Astarion to look at me like I was insane. He placed an open palm on his chest, shaking his head.
"And I took you for a woman of taste." Astarion scoffed, pausing for a moment as he watched me fasten my leg plating in place on my hip. His lush red eyes seemed to darken, as he narrowed them silently over my movements, seemingly to devour me all over again with just his gaze. From the curve of my hips, to the bounce in my breast as I yanked and pulled on the straps of my armor. "You loved him, didn't you?" His gaze flickered to mine, my expression unwavering as I stared back, but Astarion seemed to know me better than that by now. His lips curled into a toothy grin, tilting his head slightly, "You did." He laughed gently, reaching behind him, and picking up my helmet from the fallen tree behind him, "I wonder how he broke your heart." He thought out loud while dusting off my helmet and holding it in front of himself to inspect.
"How do you know he broke my heart?" I asked, the words coming from my lips before I could stop myself, "And not the other way around?" Astarion seemed a bit surprised by my bite, his watchful eyes flashing to mine for a quick moment, before turning back to my helm in his hand. He thought for a moment, staring at my helmet as if it were actually my head, observing it from all angles before finally deciding on an answer.
"I'd like to think you're a rather loyal lover." He said, not a hint of sarcasm dripping from his words, "You are a paladin, after all." I didn't respond to his words, maybe it was spite or maybe I was angry at myself, but I couldn't bring myself to answer. Or maybe it was because I knew if I had spoken, I wouldn't be able to lie. Only seconds passed before Astarion hummed, "Did I get it right?" He asked, "I do think I am quite the good judge of character." I reached down, scooping my blue tunic off the ground and dusting it off.
"You often think about what everyone is like as a lover?" I snapped, pulling my shirt over my head as he answered.
"No." He said, as I pulled my head through the shirt hole, brushing my hair aside as I watched the pale man stare back. "Just you." I waited for some kind of sarcastic quip to follow his words, some kind of joke after the word 'you'. But there wasn't. His gaze wasn't pure, I mean how could it be after saying something as bold as that, but it wasn't false. Astarion seemed to be reading my face, speaking carefully and slowly, as if he was walking on thin ice. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about me." He whispered, his eyes not leaving mine, "You're not very good at lying with your words." His eyes traveled down my body once more, even while I was fully clothed, it didn't matter. He was shameless about it, the way he inched closer to me, lowering my helmet between us so that it pressed against my lower abdomen. "Our partnership can have a multitude of benefits..." Astarion reached forward, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, "...for the both of us." I felt a heat pulse between my legs, my lips parting for a moment as the feeling spread through my body. When was the last time I bed someone? It has been so long... But Astarion? I'd sooner fuck the damn wizard from Waterdeep.
"You're wrong." I finally said, yanking my helmet from his hands, "I broke his heart."
