In the quiet meadow, where wildflowers grow,

A swallowtail dances in a glorious falsetto. 

It flutters through colors of twilight and sun, 

Singing a song that the stars never knew.

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

Six months.

It had been SIX. MONTHS. And here he was, standing outside of the house of an individual he came to know due to being forced together. To say that anxiety quaked his very core would be an understatement. He felt the sweat prick the back of his neck as he hesitated to knock. It didn't help that it was raining hard, lightning crashing all around him as he HESITATED STILL. His outfit was drenched. He was drenched and he was positive that he was going to catch a cold, but here he was, stubborn like a strange ox.

Six. Bloody. Months.

He didn't know the fate of the others besides the basics, Shadowheart and Lae'zel settled down together in a cozy cabin somewhere, while Wyll and Karlach battled side-by-side in Avernus. Halsin had taken the refugee children and built up a grove, while Minthara was... probably causing chaos somewhere, he didn't really care what happened to her. They never did see eye-to-eye on certain stuff. And Gale... well, he was here. He was glad that everyone got their happy ending and stayed together. Well... besides him. His life was a wild tempest after killing his abuser and destroying the Netherbrain and DON'T get him started on his muddy feelings about a certain someone who he was standing at their door.

He swore he could still hear his voice six months ago as they stood watching the Netherbrain sink into the ocean, Nautiloids burning through the skies as Githyanki screamed war cries. After the tadpole disintegrated, his power of walking in the sunlight faded with it. The sweet tenderness of a lover who didn't know any better morphed into a flamed hatred. He had given up unspeakable powers because someone talked him away from it. Saw that he was more than his bloodthirst and he found himself believing them.

"Astarion," he heard the cracking of the male's knee joints as he joined the vampire spawn in the darkness. He had buried his face in his knees as he wiped the tears that threatened to spill. He was now a slave to the darkness once more. "I've been thinking a lot about what home means. I've traveled far and wide, faced countless battles, and yet... there's this undeniable pull. Would—"

"Probably a pull back to your library and the balcony of Waterdeep," the words fell out of Astarion's mouth and afterwards, he noticed the faintest of flinches. Gale let out a stiff laugh as his hands clasped in front of him, eyes farting away.

"Yeah. Maybe that's it..."

The two sat in darkness together, Karlach had been convinced to go back to Avernus with Wyll, while Shadowheart and Lae'zel went to the darkness to say their goodbyes and told them that their Bhaalspawn friend had chosen to kill themselves and they... left after that. He honestly didn't expect any of them to make it as far as they did and here they were, heroes.

"Feels so strange to be a hero," Astarion had admitted.

"Yes," Gale agreed. "I think normalcy will be an impossible bar to ever reach again."

"What are you going to do when you leave?" Astarion had asked, he didn't know why he had the compulsion to ask and the wizard focused into the ground, silence developing around him until he responded.

"I plan to Forge the Crown of Karsus and then research into something. Right now, it's a hunch but I think it could be revolutionary." He felt his heart deflate a lil as he leaned back.

"Now with Cazador dead, I could do anything. I think I'll stay in Baldur's Gate."

Silence consumed their conversation as the day began to set as the evening darkened the sky allowing the vampire spawn to traverse wherever he wanted. It was painful going back to a life in the shadows after seeing the sun for the first time in 200 years...

"Do you think we'll ever meet again if the stars cross?" Gale had asked as the evening darkened. He felt himself rise as he gave a slight chuckle, shaking his head.

"Why would you possibly want to run into me again, darling? Probably not if the stars can help it."

Yet here he was. In Waterdeep. Admittedly, even before he had received a mysterious letter from the archmage, he had felt a tug to go visit the wizard. If he knew where anyone was, it would be Gale. And he was surprised that Gale knew where he was living, too, in Baldur's Gate. He had stood outside the tower multiple times, his feet stuck to the pavement as he didn't know WHAT to do. And so, he left. Every. Single. Time.

This time HAD to be different, however.

He turned his red eyes down towards the note. Gale's cursive letters were almost hard to read as he traced over and over the lines of, "Astarion, I think I figured out a way to help you walk in the sunlight again." Was it a cruel trick? Was it a way to just see him again? Was it a changeling who was using Gale's identity to lure him to his tower to kill him? The more the questions that swarmed his head like flies, the more he wanted to flee and leave, yet he felt his heart scream out a different melody as he finally rang the doorbell.

Run. Run. Run. Run. The words buzzed through his ears as he meticulously ran a hand through his silver curls. This was stupid... this was stupid... this was stupid—

The door flung open, as the shorter man with a properly trimmed beard, long brown hair messily tied back into a bun and a dark purple robe draped around his body, revealing his chest answered the door. A bit of gray streaked through his caramel brown hair as the male's eyes were nearly shut.

"Sorry, if you came here for office hours, that was a mistake in the syllabus, please ask me questions after class as it's 4am in the bloody gods morning.. if you aren't a student, then please state your business and no. I'm not interested in late night pleasures."

"Not even for me, darling?" Astarion leaned against the door as Gale's eyes shot open, hiding behind the door a bit as he could taste the blood swirling in anxiety underneath Gale's skin.

"Astarion..." Gale breathed, placing a hand on his chest as if relieved to see him. "It's a pleasure to see you after all this time, please, come in—" Gale began to shift his hands over the edges of his robe to cover his chest, but Astarion found himself placing his hands over Gale's to stop him.

"No use darling. I've already seen you in more compromising ways, this isn't that bad. Would you like to rest up before this... big talk? It is four am in the morning and I know that you do like to sleep."

Gale didn't say anything, face flushed as he tilted his face away, his eyes softly staring off before focusing back on the taller vampire. "Oh yes, and look at you, all soaked! I'll grab the most intricate robe that will suit your taste!" Astarion let the male worry over him, as he welcomed the vampire spawn into his home. The tower's passage to different rooms was narrow but surprisingly not claustrophobic. It smelled of incense and lavender as pictures of famed wizards like Elminster decorated the walls as Gale stopped at his bedroom.

"Wait here." And so, he did. He heard humming from deep inside the room as Gale once again returned with a purple robe. The same purple robe he was wearing. "Fit for a king, like yourself my dear friend."

"You and your purple," Astarion agreed, hanging onto the robe as the two stood awkwardly in front of his bedroom door. Seeing past, his bedroom was quite neat. Books weren't on shelves as astronomy charts decorated his walls. Gale must've noticed him staring as he let out a cough, bringing his attention back to the wizard.

"I do want to say that I am glad you got my letter. I had to have Withers deliver it to you since I didn't know where you exactly went."

"Ah yes, your letter," Astarion hummed as he flicked it between his two fingers. "I have read it multiple times and in fact, I'm... quite apprehensive. Is this a trick just to see me?"

Gale almost looked hurt. Well, he looked a bit more offended then hurt. "Everything will be explained later in the morning—"

"More like late afternoon," interrupted Astarion, rolling his eyes as Gale huffed. It felt like clockwork getting under the scholar's skin as the shorter man crossed his arms. He always remembered the early mornings of having to wake Gale, who could sleep through anything. Nobody else could - or wanted to - and so, the task was passed down to the dear vampire.

"And I see you still have that sardonic charm that I've come to know and love—" Gale paused, weighing heavily on his words as he took a soft sigh. "And no, this isn't a trick. I've been doing what I do best, scholarly work."

"I would expect nothing less of the Great Wizard of Waterdeep."

Gale muttered something under his breath as his feet picked up and went diagonal towards a closed door. "This is the spare, if you need anything. Well, you know where to find me," Gale responded callously as Astarion's hand turned the knob and pushed open the door.

"Didn't want to sleep together, darling? I'm so hurt," teased Astarion as he watched Gale's eyebrows narrow down as his face contorted into a mixture of emotions. The wizard didn't say anything as Astarion peered past the wizard into a study room that was cluttered with books and papers everywhere. "Do you sit in that room all day, darling?"

"Invested in my studies, yes, I don't think there's anything wrong with that, is there?" The wizard frowned.

"Have you ever considered socializing?" Teased the vampire, who watched as the wizard's face contorted into something he assumed was sour.

"Would it have killed you to have visited me?" snapped Gale, bringing Astarion's attention back towards the archmage. "I've tried to reach out to everyone but it seems like all my attempts were futile. I'm surprised that you came to my tower in place."

Astarion's teasing gaze shifted, displeased to hear the wizard chastising him. Him. He came all this way to see his friend, and he bloody hell wasn't going to be lectured. He narrowed his eyes as he leaned against the doorframe as he retorted: "I've come all this way just to get chastised for my supposed negligence? How very charming. Maybe this letter was just a stunt to get me to come visit you so you can brag about how better your life is by being in a relationship, stable, wealthy and whatever whatever."

Gale flinched at the harsh time as he took a deep breath, trying to restrain the hurt and frustration that he must have been feeling in the moment. "I think it's charming that you insinuate that I have a relationship. I do not. You're absolutely right, I sit in my study all day and research, and people have tried to get with the Great Wizard of Waterdeep but I don't want them. I don't want them to just like me because I am The Wizard of Waterdeep, but me. I yearn for the people I care about. I ... I thought I had that in someone but time slips by. But this is all besides the point you raised, isn't it? A tangent instead of an answer to an end goal, hm?" Gale cut off as he turned his head.

"Then what is the point, hm, Gale?" Astarion taunted as he watched as the wizard's eyes went elsewhere, his voice strained.

"It's about the fact that in the midst of everything that's happened, I felt like I was reaching out into a void. I needed to know if you... if you were still there, somewhere, and if there was a chance for us to be more than just distant memories. But perhaps I was wrong. I'm going to head to bed."

As Gale slinked away, Astarion grasped at his wrist and tugged the male back towards him and in fact, a little too close as their chests collided and they stared face to face. It had been forever since they were this close.

"And what if I told you that I've been here, dealing with my own demons while you've been off gallivanting through the realms?" His voice held a touch of bitterness. "I didn't realize that my absence would be such a blow to your sense of stability."

Gale's shoulders slumped slightly. "It's not about stability, Astarion. It's about wanting to share the burdens and the victories, to have someone to turn to when everything seems too heavy. I thought that's what we had—something real, something that could withstand the distance and time apart." He stared at Gale's droopy, puppy dog eyes as he felt his gut twist into a pretzel. Did he... actually feel sorry for the wizard?

Gale looked up at him, the tension in his expression giving way to a plea. "I needed to hear from you, to know that you were thinking of me, that as selfish as it is, that I could see you again, even if it's for the last time. I truly did find a cure that could help you walk in the sun and I could even—"

"I think lack of sleep is getting to you, Gale," Astarion absently responded. "We'll talk about this in the morning." Astarion let go of the wizard, watching him rub the wrist he had grabbed softly as the wizard went to speak, only to shut his mouth.

"Goodnight, Astarion," Gale murmured as he walked a bit down the hall and disappeared inside, softly slamming the bedroom door as Astarion stood there caught up on every word Gale had said to him. There was no way that Gale was that desperate to see him. The male was probably caught up on naive wishings of the group staying together, yet a part of him wished that Gale would re-emerge out that door and talk his ear off about whatever. Would tell him that he missed him after the defeat of the Netherbrain and actually believe the words Gale said.

Now you're being naive. He told himself as he went into his bedroom and closed the bedroom door, glancing at the purple bed in the first bedroom and suddenly, the night felt a bit colder.