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[thirsted]

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ASTARION

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[thirsted]

[ Completely bypassing the fact that the route he'd been thinking of taking involved no thievery at all: ]

Starve, then, see if I care!

1/2

[corporeity]

[ ??????????????? ]

2/3 jk

[corporeity]

[ TYPING DOTS FOR A FULL MINUTE ]

INT CHECK ✔️ WIS CHECK ❌

[corporeity]

I’ve offended you.

[ but he doesn’t understand how……… ]

[thirsted]

[ After typing out and deleting I'm capable of solving problems through more than petty thievery: ]

Why don't you try eating the house? It's a magical object, isn't it? Brick by brick, it ought to last you years.

[corporeity]

I don’t literally eat magical artefacts, Astarion.

[ a beat. ]

And I suspect the magic at work here tastes most foul.

[ regina george voice: so you admit it. you eat them. ]

I'M SORRY

[thirsted]

So you admit it. You eat them.

1/?????

[corporeity]

I don’t eat them!

[corporeity]

Do you imagine I unhinge my jaw and swallow a suit of armour whole?

[ what the fuck!!!! ]

3/4 🥹

[corporeity]

It’s
The magic
I [ typing and deleting “eat” ] consume the magic

4/4

[corporeity]

And I might not even need to any longer, thanks to Mystra’s
Mercy

[ sure. let’s call it mercy. ]

1/2

[thirsted]

[ ]

[thirsted]

It would be more impressive if you could unhinge your jaw.

[corporeity]

Ever so sorry to disappoint.

I’m sure one of the other wizards here could perform such juvenile feats of transfiguration to amuse you.

[ just checking have you replaced him haha…………….. say no. ]

[thirsted]

None I'd trust.

[ Is he being nice??? ]

I'll wait to ask you again until you're feeling more amenable to being fun and charming.

[corporeity]

I suppose it’s a good thing you’ve eternal life.

[ get it because he’s a buzzkill 95% of the time.

but he does feel better, soothed by that invocation of trust above others. ]

Speaking of our fellows, I met the vampire Armand.

[thirsted]

[ NOW whose turn is it to ask if they've been replaced ..... ]

Did he try reaching into your mind, too?

He has a few friends, here — Lestat and Louis are of his brood as well.

[corporeity]

I’m not certain he liked what he found, rifling through my doleful pages.

[ Gale had wondered if Astarion would be honest about his own first meeting with Armand. One question, answered. ]

Or perhaps he did.

[ Someone else ancient and powerful once found Gale to be a particularly interesting little ant, after all. Musings on choice and power and submission, still to be unpicked. Whyever had Armand bared his throat, when he commanded the crowd around them so easily? ]

His spawn?

[thirsted]

You are a rather rich tapestry.

[ (Derogatory [?].) ]

I don't believe so, though I couldn't quite tell you the nature of their relation to each other. But no one of them is in thrall to any of the others, not in the way I was.

[ His fingers feel thick, unwieldy, typing those last few words. (He's certain Gale can tell.) ]

[corporeity]

[ Sounds like a compliment!

(But, yes, he can tell — or imagine, rather.) ]

I shall exercise more caution than is typical of a wizard, then.

[ when approaching them all, which he intends to do. Another beat. ]

He did mention you, likely on the basis of the tadpole. [ “Likely” because Astarion also could have just crossed his mind. And you barked on command, like a dog. ] Suffice to say, there remains only one vampire I trust.

[ thieving and all. ]

[thirsted]

At least you know you're a rather rash lot, despite what one may make of the stereotype of the wise and all-knowing wizard.

[ He knows there's nothing he can really say here that would dissuade Gale from investigating further. (Though, gods, he'd pay to be a fly on the wall when he meets Lestat.) ]

And, good.

[ He types out and then deletes a thank you, deciding that it wasn't prompted. ]

Let's aim to keep it that way.

[ sorry girlies he's not sharing!!!!!! ]

[corporeity]

You’ve met Elminster now. My unmatched mentor is chiefly all-knowing about where one keeps their cheese and crackers.

[ as for the rest — perhaps it’s predictable that a man who devoted himself so wholly to another would appreciate that hint of possessiveness. it’s a kind of belonging. ]

Of course.
A party of two remains a powerful thing.

[ Far better than the one he was before. ]