Jacob/Astarion/Rosita

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

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.

Comments

[sixfeetofdirt]

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.

[handleyourshit]

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.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

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.

[sixfeetofdirt]

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.