Carnal Delight | Astarion x Reader

Beneath the Veil of Night

"You know, you showing me all this is so sweet, it's all so...heartwarming."

"Why do you inferior beings ask questions if you just want to play games with the information provided?" Lae'zel hissed.

"Sorry, sorry," You gestured to the field of stars overhead, "by all means."

"And that," Her finger found its way to the left, settling on a red diamond star, "Is Dur'ok Matelo. My people waged a great battle against the illithid scourge on that flat rock that was instrumental in our rebellion. The grounds are still stained with their blood."

"How do you remember all these names? Every single one of them is a mouthful," You said, squinting at the orb like that may somehow make the blurb more clear.

"You have trouble because your terrestrial mind is too small to adequately conceive the cosmos." She dropped her hand to her side and settled on her back. "Do not ask questions you will not be able to perceive the answers to."

"You have such a way with words," You cooed, finally sitting up from your roll to look down upon the alien next to her. "As much as I'd love to sit here all evening and be lectured on great Githyanki conquests and Vlaakith's glory, I gotta get some sleep."

"Sleep," Lae'zel hissed, "That is all this planet does."

"Not true," You said, offering the warrior an open hand to help her up that she quickly rejected. "We also like to eat and fuck."

"Like animals," She growled, her lip curling down in the corner. Her typical show of disgust that always somehow made her nose scrunch even higher on her short face. She scooped up her blade from its place resting on the rock and slung it back into the brutal scabbard at her back.

"Goodnight," You said, taking half a step away. "But keep in mind I'll be right out here if you wanted to study more of this planet's terrestrial animalistic behaviors."

The grin that spread across your mouth quickly turned into a curse as Lae'zel reached for the dagger at her hip and flung it toward you. You jumped back, laughing as you hurried away from your bedroll and a slew of alien curses you can't even begin to decipher.

You carded a hand through your hair as you rounded the edge of camp, looking out toward the distant twinkle of lights from the goblin camp to the East. The Grove to the West was dark, eager to keep their position as concealed as possible to deter any further goblin interference.

You instinctively frowned at the thought of the stout race. The brutality of the goblins shocked you. You'd just arrived to speak with the camp leaders when they'd hauled a captured dwarf into the center of the encampment. He'd thrashed and screamed, but even if you'd wanted to act on his behalf you couldn't have acted fast enough before he'd been tossed onto a table and had his arm hacked off. The goblins barked with laughter as they moved to his legs. The dwarfs' screaming only flickering out once he'd lost too much blood.

You'd nearly been sick when you saw fresh hunks of flesh roasting over the flame on your way out.

You shook off the memory of burning flesh as you continued along the camp border, heading for Wyll's small tent nestled against the trunk of a large tree. The sound of soft coos tapped at your ears as you made your way closer, but they quickly cut off with a gruff cough just a second before you stepped into the light around the edge of his tent.

Wyll was sitting bolt upright, back as stiff as a board with the fuzzy ball named Scratch beside him. The dog's tail was swatting back and forth with lightning speed.

"You good?" You asked, cocking a brow at him.

"Fine. Excellent, in fact," He said, allowing himself to lean back against a small crate he'd set up next to his tent. "How are you?"