openmisc | Jacob/Astarion/Rosita

Jacob/Astarion/Rosita

It takes him about two minutes to both scout the place and find a river to sit beside, just like he said he would. He doesn't get out the fishing pole or anything too quick, but he does put Mae on alert, just in case.

He's going to give them a few minutes. Just like he said. Just like they talked about. He's not going to worry until that time has passed because they said they would come and he trusts them more than he trusts any other person.

Right now, he's wants to sit in the wind, the actual wind, and listen to the water, the real fucking water, babble by. He wants to bask in the outdoors and let Mae take over just a little bit of the guarding.

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As a scout for the communities, Rosita had hammered on always being as unencumbered as possible; of all the reasons she would have accepted for not being, holding onto someone's hand would not have made the list in any way, shape, or form. Still, she holds onto Jacob anyway, at least for a little while.

"Let's stay away from them, for now," she decides. "At least until Astarion is here to explain anything we fuck up without knowing." It won't take long, she adapts quickly, but even she needs a warm up period.

She keeps the dagger he gave her, the one that cancels magic, close to hand though as they scout for a good place to make camp. When she hears the yelp, she hesitates, automatically easing closer to a tree she can use for cover while she scans for the source.

Jacob spots a good place across the river, but they need to actually get there to utilize it. He can spot a bridge down the way and sent Mae up ahead to scout for it, meaning the yelp catches them off guard. He lets go of Rosita's hand and draws a bow from his shoulder, notching it silently as he scans the trees.

He doesn't yet recall Mae, even as something approaches in the bushes. Something small, though that doesn't mean he lets his guard down any.

But when Aylin pops through the brush, he nearly drops the bow. "Astarion," he tells Rosita and whistles sharply for Mae.

Astarion himself doesn't quite come crashing through the brush himself, but instead Misty Steps past it to appear out in the open. He sees Aylin, a white blur ambling up without a care to say hello to-

Jacob. And Rosita.

Now, if he were suspended over a tank of holy water, he might admit their presence was something he had hoped for rather than expected. When Rosita had chosen to leave with Jacob - or as good as with him - he'd assumed it was because they'd both come to their senses and realised what they were signing up for. He'd imagined they would have found a less apocalyptic version of Earth to retire to and just...done that.

He didn't really deserve any better, did he? He certainly doesn't now. Yet that isn't what's happened, and sheer relief makes his knees buckle for a moment.

She trusts her people. She does. It's harder when it's someone who can hurt her, but she does her best anyway, she's done her best this time too. But the doubt is still there - she has been let down more than she's been safe - and she does not trust the Admiral or the Barge at all.

None of that matters when Jacob says his name, though, when she recognizes Aylin, when she sees him. Her hand drops away from her knife and she bolts out to meet him without hesitation.

She'll feel ridiculous later. Right now, she just gives in to the feeling that if she doesn't get to him fast, he'll disappear, and they really won't see him again; right now, she just closes the distance.

Jacob hated leaving them. It was a relief to leave the Barge, to get away from the nonsense that it brought, but it was physically painful to leave both Rosita and Astarion.

He felt it in his chest and stomach, like he had swallowed a rock. Like he would never recover because he would never feel right again.

He's a second behind Rosita, his arms around them both and then, only then, does he feel right again.

Astarion wheezes out an unnecessary breath and closes his eyes, letting them surround him. Listening to their hearts beating. Hoping that if this is some illusion, it might persist long enough for him to carve them a little deeper into his memory.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting long," he says, with a brittle little giggle.

She doesn't hesitate: she throws her arms around Astarion, hugging him in tight, fully expecting Jacob a moment behind her. She didn't see any blood on the way over - his or otherwise - so she's content for the moment to just hold onto him and let them all know for a fact this is real.

She laughs when he does, kisses his cheek, waits her turn to kiss him properly.

"You didn't give us long enough to make camp," she promises. "And you know how much Jacob loves camping."

He doesn't bother to hide how relieved he is and holds them close, kissing him quickly, just to prove that he's still there.

"We had a place possibly scouted out, but if you don't mind a tent, then I can have us ready soon." He doesn't move away from holding them, though. He can't.

"Just - just glad you're here." He wouldn't be able to focus enough to make anything until Astarion joined them.

"I'm glad to be here," he mutters, hiding his face against Rosita's shoulder. "Gods - it's been barely any time at all, Gale is still there, I just - I can't. I can't be in that fucking place any more. I can't be what he needs."

Not even for a deal. He can't let the Barge keep hollowing him out and remaking him, over and over. He's had enough. But it doesn't keep the bitter shame from his voice.

Rosita would have focused them. She would have kept her eye on the prize of the soft place to land that they promised, if he took long enough to give them that chance. She doesn't have to now, though.

She curls her hand up over the back of his head, turns her own to shield him better, brow furrowing.

"Cariño," she murmurs, reassurance mostly, not trying to shush him but to remind him he's here with them. He's safe. "It's okay. It's okay. We don't belong there, we don't owe anyone anything, not a one of us. It's okay."

He shakes his head. "None of us. We were only there to get our asses in line and...find each other."

He steps back from them, keeping his eyes cast around. "Come on. We can talk more when we're sitting and settled for the night."

Astarion nods, retreats slightly - reaches up, embarrassed, to knock a few tears away from the corners of his eyes. Ridiculous.

Eventually it will hit him, he's sure, that they're here and solid and with him and this is the true start of their lives together. That they're aware from floods and death tolls, that this is...

...this is real. He doesn't have to just survive any more. He can live.

Right now he's still just waiting to wake up.

"You're right. Tomorrow we can work out where we are, exactly, and - yes." He clears his throat. "We can go from there."

She will spend the rest of her life worrying about Astarion Ancunín, she thinks as she lets him step back from her. From them. She stays where she is, dropping her hands to her sides and then smoothing her palms down her thighs even though they're already dry.

She squeezes Jacob's arm, then looks around for where she dropped her pack. It's not far from them and she goes to scoop it up.

"We have time. I think that's probably going to be the trick: remembering that."

Jacob looks between the two of them as the rest of the world tunnels down to nothing except them. He has made his life about them, about this, because it's his choice.

And he will do his best to fix it.

"Come on. There was a good place up the river, across a bridge. Looked protected against the hill and rocks."

He reaches for Astarion's hand almost instinctively, trying to ground himself in this moment.

"I'll follow you. You seem to have the lie of the land. Aylin, darling-"

He makes a little tutting sound which seems to be understood as a cat-summoning noise.

"Will you be joining us, darling, or will you be embracing life as a wild animal?"

"Miaow."

"I couldn't agree more. You're exactly the right size to be eaten by an owlbear."

She submits to being gathered into his arms.

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Jacob/Astarion/Rosita

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Iiiiiiiiiiii did not get this notif 6_9 I'm sorry

STRAIGHT TO JAIL

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