Archive of Our Own ^beta

From the first glimpse of the townhouse “tower” that Gale called home, Ellaria had wanted to get her hands on the piano. The traveling life of a bard had rarely offered her many occasions to play the instrument since she had learned to play in childhood, practicing with tiny fingers. Careful not to scratch the beautiful ivory with her little claws as her mother cleaned the houses of wealthy patriars in Baldurs Gate.

Her hands and claws were much larger now as she caressed the keys reverently, almost hesitant to burst the bubble of anticipation by playing a note, but she pressed down a single key, the warm tone filling the room. Nodding to herself, she ran through a few scales, reacquainting her hands and ears with the workings of the instrument, wincing at a sour note when she played a flat where a natural should be.

Wrong notes non withstanding, it seemed to be in tune. A relief because the damned things were so difficult and time consuming to fix.

Arranging the sheet music before her she placed her fingers on the smooth keys, focusing her practice on the left handed side first. She wasn’t unfamiliar with the bass clef, but it would take more time and concentration to reacquaint herself with as opposed to the treble clef that she knew much more intimately.

She was determined to learn to play the Llirian Suites. Or… at least pieces of them. Namely the piece Gale had played for her with his magic upon the first introduction to his home, where he offered her the pleasures of the gods and she had turned him down in favor of a mortal embrace.

It was still a challenge, to prove that he was enough as he was, but she supposed it was impossible to woo a goddess without feeling the full depth of mortal inadequacies. And those kind of deep seated feelings did not disappear with a few well meaning words and gestures, no matter how earnest.

So she would learn the tune, and one day she would play it for him, and maybe, if her luck held, he would know about the hours she had practiced. The love that drove her, and know that he was worthy of the depth of feeling that had inspired her. She put together a few opening chords, playing the first few measures and pressing a pedal at her feet to hear the music reverberate through the room and linger in the air, even as the books in cases and strewn about tried to absorb the sounds and cast the room back into the reverent silence of libraries.

“I dare say that was exquisite. I had no idea you were practiced with the piano, though I suppose with your impressive musical repertoire it shouldn’t come as a surprise,” Gale praised from the doorway, in a simple navy linen shirt tucked neatly into brown trousers. Ellaria’s cheeks darkened into mauve, both at the praise and at being caught practicing what was supposed to be a surprise.

She waved a hand as if trying to shoo away his kind words. “A work in progress. Nowhere near where it should be but I admit to being rusty. You can imagine that most taverns don’t have pianos. Not ones that I played, at least. They would make for very expensive dancing tables at best, and at worst… well. No one wants to scrub vomit from between the strings and hammers.” She scrunched her nose at the idea and ran her hand over the beautiful wooden case, as if in apology that she would even mention something so horrid in the instrument’s presence.

Gale chuckled as he pushed off of the door frame, crossing the elegant rugs decorating the floor to stand beside her. His hand reaching out to cup her cheek, thumb stroking the mulberry freckles that dusted her magenta skin. He had always thought that the specks of purple across her body were endlessly endearing. He envisioned himself mapping them with touch and taste with more ardor than the greatest astronomers seeking to catalogue the cosmos.

Ellaria placed her hand over his and kissed his palm, lips lingering as she stood. “Ah, you needn’t pause on my account, I would be content to simply admire and be serenaded, if that would please you,” he said, placing his hands on her hips as if they had always belonged there. She shook her head, tail curling around his ankle absentmindedly, “I’ll have time to practice later. For now…” She took a step back and dragged her eyes up and down the wizard.

The robes he usually wore did no favors to his fine form, but the cut of his shirt, tucked into the waist of his trousers accentuated the broadness of his chest and shoulders. The deep blue sleeves rolled up to his elbows bared his forearms, toned and finely muscled from years of practicing fine hand movements.

Gale seemed to squirm the tiniest bit under her scrutiny, but hastily covered it with bravado, “See anything you like?” Gracing him with a smirk, she took one of his hands into hers, massaging his long fingers and palms, circling his knuckles with a firm pressure and moving all the way to his wrist before switching to his other hand and giving it the same treatment, “I can’t see anything I dislike, but if pressed to name a favorite, you know I’ve always had a fondness for your hands. I’ve found them to be, dare I say, magical. ” He chuckled, breathing a bit heavier under the ministrations of her string calloused fingers.

She continued the massage, trailing up his forearms and noting with no small amount of satisfaction how his fingers twitched as if he ached to reach for her. “Though I will admit that having your sleeves rolled up like this… I’m finding it difficult to look away.” Gale reached up to tuck her dark hair behind a pointed ear, brushing his knuckles down her neck to her bare shoulder. “If the theme is to be confessions, I find I have a few of my own, if you would hear them,” he declared, his voice low. Gazing up at him through her lashes in mock bashfulness, she nodded.

“Firstly,” he began, “your hair. I’ve always found it beautiful, the way the sun illuminates the crimson amongst the darker strands, but to see it unbound feels… decadent. And though it may cast me as a poor excuse for a gentleman, your dress… I would find you beautiful in even a burlap sack I would wager, but I struggle to find the words to describe you. Resplendent feels inadequate when I cannot tear my eyes from you. The yellows and oranges juxtaposed with your skin puts one in the mind of a sunset, though your beauty undoubtedly puts even that to shame. In fact,” he paused his musings to tug at her hand, leading her to the balcony where the sun was indeed setting over the bay.

He stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest as one hand stroked his beard. Ellaria spread her arms for his assessment, twirling in place so that the loose skirt of her dress flounced about her thighs. His eyes glazed and his tongue darted out to wet his lips. “Exactly as I thought. You are a vision of loveliness, the very sun shies away from your beauty.”

“You’re certainly poetic today. Have you been into the wine without me?” she teased, beckoning him to her with an outstretched hand, leaning her back against the wrought iron railing.

He crossed the distance between them, taking her hand in his and dropping a kiss to each knuckle before sliding his hands to her waist while she looped her arms around the back of his neck. “Poetry comes easily in the face of so lovely a muse. If I am drunk it can only be on the sight of you.”

She grinned and leaned closer to his lips, voice dropping to a husky whisper, “Now you’re rhyming. You must be besotted.”

“Utterly,” he agreed, capturing her lips with his. Even though their kiss was chaste it lit a fire beneath her skin, curling low in her belly.

She had a secret plan for this balcony. A wicked one. And she was so very curious to see whether or not he would be willing to indulge her. But first, she needed him aching and close to the edge of desperation.

Flicking her tongue against his bottom lip, she pulled back just enough that he had to chase her to claim her lips again, his tongue sweeping into her mouth. The taste of him, dark and the tiniest bit sweet, like the lingering taste of an expensive whiskey threatened to make her knees buckle.

She ran a hand through his beautiful dark brown locks, scraping her claw-like nails against his scalp lightly. He hummed and angled his head to kiss her even more deeply, one of his warm hands trailed from her hip, following the curves of her body to caress her jaw. Every touch sparked across her skin, to the point where she wondered if he was using magic, but when his other hand found a home on her lower back, tugging her closer, her thoughts fled her mind.

Ellaria pressed herself against him fully, fighting the tug of a mischievous smile at her lips. She curled her tail, wrapping it around the warmth of his wrist. It was by no means unusual that her tail found itself wrapped around his limbs, so she waited a few moments, breaking their kiss under the guise of catching her breath. Not that she needed to fake her panting- Gale certainly did have a talented mouth.

A hand on his heaving chest prevented him from leaning down to chase her lips again. She stared into his eyes, brimming with desire, with hunger as his fingers wove themselves into her hair, tugging gently, quietly begging her for more. She leaned forward and he slanted his mouth over hers, kissing her thoroughly. Lazily.

That wouldn’t do at all. She needed him more than hungry. She needed him ravenous and desperate for her and if he was able to be patient… Tugging his wrist with her tail, she moved onto the tips of her toes, his hand coming to rest on the swell of her bottom.

He squeezed the soft flesh roughly, a low groan tearing from the back of his throat as he backed her into railing, metal digging into her back. This time she failed to keep her triumphant smile to herself.

‘Much better ,’ she thought as she wrapped her arms around his neck to anchor herself. Both of his hands dropped to cup her ass, using the leverage to grind his hardness against her roughly. She whimpered, tail releasing it’s hold on his wrist to curl behind his thigh, the flat tip moving between his legs to tease him through the fabric of his trousers. Bucking against her he dropped his forehead to her shoulder, gritting his teeth as he fought to gain control of his desire.

Ellaria almost felt guilty for teasing him so thoroughly. He almost never lost control of himself, but the sight of him panting with lust gave her such a thrill that there was no room for guilt when she was so full of desire. Her core ached and she wondered if she could push him past all control. If she could get him to bend her over the iron railing, lift her skirt and take her. It couldn’t hurt to try, surely.

Arching her back, she offered her chest, tugging gently at his hair in encouragement. She moaned low in her throat as he kissed and nipped along the low neckline of her dress, sucking a deep purple mark into the top of her breast, a hand coming to tease at her nipple through the cloth.

It felt so incredibly good, it was difficult to remember to pause. To remind him where they were and give him a chance to rethink their location. “Just… don’t pull down the dress. I’m not wearing a bra and I don’t know if your neighbors would enjoy the show,” she whispered and Gale paused to look up at her with a crooked grin. “We can move inside if you’re uncomfortable, but this would hardly be my favorite spot if I had to worry about nosy neighbors. The only ones who can see us are the boats on the water. All you have to do is be quiet,” he explained, running his teeth over the shell of her ear, “and no one will even know we are here.”

Ellaria turned her head to kiss him and moved her tail against his erection, stroking him and causing him to groan into her mouth. “If that’s the case,” she purred, pushing him away and unwinding her tail from his leg. She turned around towards the setting of the sun and braced her forearms on the railing before looking at him over her shoulder, “Then what are you waiting for?” She asked, giving him her best ‘come hither’ look. Even going so far as to flutter her eyelashes. Not that he needed the extra encouragement.

She caught him under the chin with the tip of her tail as she saw the desire to kneel cross his face. “Please,” she whined, “I need you.”

He hesitated, and Ellaria smirked at him, “I know you’re worried, but I’m more than ready for you. See for yourself.” She fought the urge to lift her skirt, to show him that not only was she wet and aching, but that her bra was not the only underwear she had forgone. No, she wanted him to discover that on his own.

He placed his hands on the outside of her thighs, dragging his hands upwards. The fabric of her dress bunched around his wrists as his fingertips reached the points of her hips. Surely it was his intent to divest her of her small clothes. She watched him over her shoulder, delighting as his expression shifted from confusion, to surprise, to pure lust. He ran his palm over her bare bottom appreciatively, groaning as he ran a finger through her soaked folds.

“Gods, Ellaria. You are dripping. Is this what you wanted?” He goaded, tearing at the laces of his trousers. Once his cock was freed, Gale made no move to remove any of his clothing, choosing to bunch her dress up around her hips to reveal her to his gaze.

She mewled as he rubbed her with practiced hands, sinking two fingers into her. “You know, it would take but a moments work to dispel my illusions. To open this balcony to the prying eyes of anyone who may walk by,” he offered, leaning over her. Withdrawing his fingers, he lined up his cock to her entrance, teasing her by rubbing the tip through her slick folds.

She whined, pressing back against him, her tail wrapping around his waist to pull him forward. “I- I don’t care if anyone sees! Please, Gale just fuck me!”

“Shh shh shh,” he warned, clasping a hand over her mouth to muffle her moan as he thrust into her roughly, hilting himself. “You have to at least try to be quiet. Unless, of course, you want to be caught.” He pulled nearly all the way out of her before snapping his hips back into hers. His thrusts were hard, even as his pace was steady, and it took mere moments before he found that sweet spot inside of her and angled his hips to hit it with every stroke.

Ellaria’s eyes nearly watered at just how good it felt, his words only serving to ratchet her pleasure higher and higher. There was something about having so little control that was driving her to the edge of her sanity. She had no control over whether or not someone caught them, she had no control over how Gale took her, and she had no control over her voice or hands with his hand over her mouth and her grip on the railing serving as her only anchor against his powerful thrusts. She could already feel the first stirrings of an orgasm approaching.

“Do you like the idea of strangers knowing that you are mine ?” He growled into her ear and she nodded, a moan muffled against his fingers as he laughed darkly. “Oh, you don’t have to nod. I can feel how you clench around me. If you like it that much, I would happily fill you. Mark you from the inside, then take you out on the town with my seed dripping down your thighs.”

Just his words were enough to send her over the edge, screaming her release into the palm of his hand. The rhythmic pulsing of her core around him pushed him over his own peak, burying himself as deeply as he could to spill inside of her, muffling his groan in the crook of her neck.

They both stayed like that for a few moments, panting as they tried to catch their breath. When Ellaria’s legs began to tremble, Gale withdrew himself and straightened her skirt before righting his own clothing. He helped her to lay on the balcony as he sat beside her.

The city of Waterdeep melted around them, dissolving into darkness and stars as the illusion faded, the night sounds of the forest surrounding them. Gale flopped onto the blanket he had laid over the grass next to his lovely bard, drained both physically and magically.

Ellaria smiled at him weakly, pressing her forehead to his. He rubbed her back and grimaced, “I admit that I may have gotten a touch carried away… was it too much?” She huffed a quiet laugh and shook her head, careful not to butt him with her horns. “Not at all. In fact, I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would, and I was expecting to enjoy it a lot. You and that mouth of yours keep surprising me. I may even ask your help for my next dirty limerick.”

He kissed her gently, “It is an honor indeed to be praised by a wordsmith such as yourself. Consider my mouth and I at your beck and call.”

She sighed heavily, “I suppose we ought to head back soon.” In opposition of her words she snuggled closer into his warmth and he rolled to his back, arms coming up around her as she laid her head on his chest, angling her horns away from his face.

Gale stroked her hair lightly. “Camp will keep for a while if you’d like to stay here for a bit longer. You can even close your eyes for a bit. I’m in no danger of falling asleep. In fact I find the threat of impalement to be an excellent motivator for staying awake,” he chuckled, tapping the tip of her horn. Ellaria laughed and tilted her head to steal one last kiss from her handsome wizard before settling back on his chest, the steady beating of his heart the sweetest rhythm she had ever heard.

As she closed her eyes, she swore she would do anything to keep it beating. She would lie, and cheat, and steal, and anything else to find a way for them to both live long enough to see Waterdeep in the flesh.