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Chapter Text

Astarion glared down at the fallen aasimar, her hair was a brilliant long wavy gold and her skin a stunning beautiful ivory, almost pearlescent. He had grown powerful enough to take on and defeat even a celestial's descendant with relative ease, but who had sent her after him? Then a thought came over him, it would be a waste to let this beautiful creature just die, why let her go to waste when he can use her for himself instead?

He grabbed her wrist and he transported her back to his dungeon beneath his palace. He drank her dry, her blood was truly delectable, to call it divine would be an insult, he was almost disappointed when she finally ran out. Then he neatly folded her into a rosewood coffin that happened to be in the small area he was at, it was one of the few places with exposed dirt to bury her without risk of others stumbling across her. He didn't bury her very deeply, just enough for it to work.

It didn't take long before he could hear her stirring within the coffin, a few hours at most, he winced slightly on the inside as he heard her cries of pain while she turned but soon it was over and he could hear her smash through the wood, and soon she was coughing and spitting up dirt and blood. She should suffer, she had tried to kill him for fucks sake! But seeing her coughing and wretching up blood and dirt only reminded him of his own transformation all those years ago. He wasn't even sure if this would work considering she was the descendant of a celestial but it worked just the same as with anyone else.

“Welcome back, my adorable new spawn.” He was thrilled to have a fun new winged toy to play with. She had put up quite the fight before he finally took her out, now she was all his.

“Spawn? No! I don't want to be a vampire! How dare you!?” She shouted angrily as she wrapped her arms and now black wings around herself feeling violated and sick.

“Do not yell at your new master pet, you lost, and now you must deal with the consequences. You belong to me now, forever. But fret not, I won't torment you much if you tell me who it was that sent you on me.” He squatted next to her, with a smug grin on his face while resting his chin in his hand, looking like a cat that just finished devouring every canary in the cage.

“I didn't meet him directly but he was an ambassador of some sort for Mrel Alkam I believe. He claimed the vampire in Baldur’s Gate was a scourge on the face of Faerun and needed to be killed in order to save everyone there.” She replied with furrowed brows.

“You didn't know Mrel Alkam was a vampire himself?” Astarion asked, he knew that name all too well, having been someone Cazador had boasted to right before the ritual was to take place.

“Uuuh seriously!?” She held her head in her hands in frustration, how could she have been so STUPID!?

“You wanna kill him?” Astarion asked, cocking an eyebrow, still grinning.

“Yes, gladly. Enthrallment or not I'll do it for fucking free if you want.” Seraphina grumbled in anger and frustration.

“My, we will get along even better than I thought, very well, we shall travel to Waterdeep and pay him a little visit.” Astarion stood up and offered her his hand to help her up out of the dirt.

“Can I at least have a bath first, master?” She asked with an annoyed twist in her tone and her yes narrowed.

“Yes obviously, I'm not some monster who makes their spawn fight for them while looking like complete wretches.” He replied, brushing her off. “Now come I will show you to your new living quarters.”

Seraphina followed him through the large castle's interior, the walls were covered in tapestries and gorgeous paintings of landscapes. One wouldn't think this place belonged to a vampire at all.

He led her past a window before suddenly remembering she would be sun sensitive and looking back to see if she would scream, but she just stood there behind him in the sunbeam wondering why he had stopped.

“You're not burning?...” He asked trailing off in disbelief.

“Huh you're right, that's weird. But maybe Lathander gave me one last blessing before completely abandoning me…” She looked down at her hands, bathed in sunlight that should have been killing her.

An expression of longing and frustration flashed over her face before she composed herself again and dropped her hands, staring at the ground.

“So you're one of Lathander's clerics?” Astarion asked, continuing on.

“Actually, he's my grandfather, I wasn't that much of a cleric, I enjoyed helping the needy back in Waterdeep, I wanted to live an ordinary mortals life, but when the ambassador came to our church, our pastor insisted I go and ‘slay the evil vampire’ as they put it. And now here I am, stolen from my grandfather and religion and life as I knew it. Huuuh whatever, they always tried to tell me to look at the bright side of things, at least I will succeed in killing ONE vampire lord.” She replied flatly while staring out the windows as they passed with her brows furrowed in frustration.

“My my, lucky me. The new master of something so rare and powerful. A beautiful treasure if I may say so, this is going to be fun!” Astarion mused to himself.

“Just please don't force me to do anything stupid or horrible, I like to have my dignity relatively intact and I will not resist against you, oh mighty master.” She said with an unamused expression.

“Negotiating are we? You know you would have no choice if I did command you to do something, there would be little point in trying to resist but very well, I won't make you do anything too horrible. But you seem keen enough to take down my enemies, so that can be your job. But I do insist that you pay your penance for trying to kill me, even if at the request of someone else. So you are not to leave this palace unless you are given permission.” Astarion grinned, reveling in the power he now had, this was so much fun!

“Fine.” She replied curtly. “Can I at least go outside? You know, to spar and survey the area?” She asked in a casual blaze manner trying to make it sound like not a big deal.

“Yes you may have access to the courtyard, but no leaving the palace grounds.” He accepted.

“Thank you.” She replied in a slightly quieter tone, happy to be able to go outside in the mornings as she always had to watch the sunrise.

“And here we are.” He stopped in front of a door, opening it for her.

“Hmm, not very inviting is it?” She asked, rather unimpressed. Stone bare walls with a set of bunk beds along the wall and a small wardrobe in the corner.

“Just be glad you don't have to share it with six other spawn, there is a nicer room you can also use next to this one if you insist.” He rolled his eyes feigning exasperation. “Now don't cause trouble, I will call upon you when I am ready to depart in a few days.” He walked off in another direction leaving her to her own devices.

Six others? Crammed into a room the size of a fucking broom closet? Yikes, who lived here before? He spoke as if he had experienced it himself.

She explored the other room he had mentioned, this one was decently nicer as he had said. It had a larger bed, a desk and a wardrobe. To be fair this room was still better than the one she had at that church back in Waterdeep. She wanted to read a book she had taken out of her bag of holding but the pain in her stomach kept bothering her. What did he expect her to eat?

She decided to fly through the castle, maybe there could be something around to dull this pain. She found a ladder that led up to the attic where she found a large hole in the roof, looks like someone had lived up here for a while as well. They had left a diary, a poor thirteen year old girl was turned against her will by her uncle Cazador. How cruel. So this was the Szarr family home, then who was the vampire ascendant? He's not on the list of vampires within the diary. She read through the diary until evening when there was a strange sound coming from the area of the hole, like someone was trying to get in.

“Are you sure it would be wise to steal from this place? They say vampires live here!” She heard a man whispering.

“Thats just superstition! Also I've heard that asshole Cazador Szarr was killed a year ago, this place has to be loaded!” Another man whispered back.

Seraphina's mind went a bit blank as she smelled them coming in, hearing their warm fresh blood rushing through their veins as they climbed in through the hole in the roof. She effortlessly sank into the shadows being led by hunger and instinct, before she realized what she was doing she was drinking both men dry and once she was finished did she realize what she had done.

She knew she should feel remorse, some sort of guilt, but there was nothing, only satisfaction with the intake of blood. She sat next to the two corpses not entirely sure what to do with them, they would start to smell unless she removed or destroyed them.

“Well well, looks like my little spawn already learned how to hunt, how cute. But I am disappointed you did not save any for your master.” Astarion’s voice sounded from behind her, more disappointed than anything.

“Sorry…” She found herself apologizing, for what not sharing blood with her new evil vampire lord?

This whole situation was fucked and she knew she should have been more disgusted by it yet here she was, saying sorry for not sharing her kill and feeling entirely neutral about it. If anything she felt remorse for not leaving any for him.

“It's alright, at least you protected my riches, I'll be sure to get that hole patched up later. Can't have more thieves sneaking in while I'm away.” He walked over to inspect the hole.

“What um, what do we do about them?” Seraphina asked hesitantly.

“Let the rats eat them, they should be nothing but skeletons by tomorrow, then we can throw them away somewhere.” Astarion replied nonchalantly.

“Alright, I guess.” She made a bit of a face but maybe that's just what people did here in Baldur’s Gate, what a fucked up place.

Chapter Text

“My dear, if you wanted to seduce me you could have done better than this.”

Astarion had walked into Seraphina's room uninvited after she had finished her bath and she hadn't felt like putting her clothing back on to read in her bed.

“You didn't knock, also I'm not seducing you, I just didn't feel like getting dressed. Did you need something?” She asked, cocking a brow.

“I was simply seeing how you were settling in, but it seems you've already made yourself quite comfortable.” Astarion replied rather admiring the view.

Her figure really wasn't of this world, even more beautiful than that of an elf, he had to admit it to himself.

“Yes, as you can see I'm settling in fine.”

…

…

“Is there something else you wanted?” She asked after a bit of silence. She wasn't shy in the least, as if she was wearing a full set of armor.

Clearly she wasn't going to get much of an answer back seeing his near violating gaze, so she rolled her eyes and simply turned around and laid on her stomach to ignore him and continue reading her book.

Eat my sunset master.

He had made a joke about her apparent non seduction attempt but her blatantly ignoring him like that somehow made him upset, she had caught his attention and yet just discarded it as if it were worthless.

She looked over her shoulder, he was still there in the doorway, but he had a bit of a pissed off expression now. What was he so upset about? Can't she secretly grieve her loss in peace? Should she feel happy about seeing him pissed off? Or try to cheer him up? Her emotions conflicted because he's an undead vampire lord but he's also someone she can't kill and therefore she should try to make happy.

HUUUH WHAT THE FUCK!? WHAT DO I DO!?

She smashed her face into her book in conflicted frustration.

“What do you WANT, master?” She asked whilst her face was still smashed into the book's pages.

He said nothing only huffed a bit and walked out of her room and closed the door behind him. For once he had nothing to say or too much to say but he couldn't express it out loud for some reason. She was his first spawn and wasn't sure what he felt at the moment, he was proud to conquer and control something so exquisitely powerful, but in practice he had no idea what he was doing.

Should he humiliate her for making him upset? Degrade her, make her submit to torture? But none of that seemed right, those were all things Cazador would have done, but he wasn't Cazador. He refused to be anything like that monster. She was just a do-gooder doing her job, she had failed but she was simply doing what they do.

Now that he thought about it, a follower of Lathander would already find being a vampire torture enough considering he hates undead, considers them mockeries of everything he represents. She must be going through a lot at the moment which is why she's so irritable.

More importantly, why did her ignorance of his attention make him so angry? Did she feel herself above it? Well soon enough he would make sure she knew just where her place truly was now, as soon as he decided on an appropriate punishment.

Seraphina lifted her head from the book, closing it for the night. Not getting any enjoyment out of it anyway. She blew out all of her candles and tried her best to trance, or at least rest somehow. She remembered her favorite colors of dawn and decided she would take up painting again, there were blank canvases up in the attic, and might as well start a nice new project and add some color into this rather dull room.

After her four hours of meditation she rose once again, and put on some nice clothes she found in the wardrobe, the robe of summer, finally something to help feel a little warm again. There was also a box of dyes at the bottom of the wardrobe, the pale pink was a nice shade so she combined it and put it on, toasty warm, she melted a bit as some of her cold discomfort finally faded. It wasn't enough to get rid of most of it but it helped somewhat.

She quietly opened her door and made her way to the attic again, most things were already up there, easel, canvases and a drying rack, she figured she would just stay up here, why not? Well besides the fact that the corpses were still there by the hole in the roof. She walked over to them, its true the rats were feeding on them but not as quickly as he had suggested they would have. She decided to put the corpses out of their misery and transform them into gems, now she was the proud owner of two brand new diamonds with the help of a little transmutation magic.

The master would probably appreciate earrings made out of these, a rather morbid gift would be right up a vampire's appreciation alley. For some reason she couldn't shake her original personality trait to make others happy, it might be to her detriment but it would make her happy. She pulled out two gold from her bag and transformed them easily into intricate elvin earrings, incorporating the two diamonds into the lobe part of them. She stowed them into a soft leather bag and put them into her bag of holding.

She pulled out paints after she set up a small painting corner and began to paint using pastel light colors. After a few hours Seraphina heard the lord's heartbeat as he climbed the ladder up to the attic.

“There you are darling, it seems you are quite difficult to find at times.” Astarion walked into the attic finding her little corner.

“Difficult to find, but perhaps that is by design.” She replied, not looking away from her painting.

She could see him scowl from the corner of her eye, quite pissed off again, this elf really hates being ignored doesn't he? She sighed, and put her brush down. She pulled out the small leather bag from her bag sitting on a small shelf nearby and held it out to him.

“I apologize for my rudeness to you earlier, please accept these, I made them myself.” She said half awkwardly as he took the bag from her hand.

He pulled out the intricately made earrings, at first not expecting much but as he gazed at them her words actually sank in and he realized she had used her own magic for him of her own free will to make him happy.

“You.. made these? For me? Ehem! Well of course for me, who else would you have made them for?” He felt as if the proverbial rug was pulled out from under him, such a kind gesture out of nowhere, it took him off guard. “Also where are the corpses?” He noticed they were missing after a moment.

“I transformed them into diamonds and put them into those earrings, a gift truly worthy of a vampire lord.” She explained as she went back to painting casually.

“My, how wicked.” He said admiring their beautiful shimmer in the candle light, he couldn't wait for the sun to rise so he could see their true beauty. No other vampires in Faerun can say they wear their spawn's first victims as jewelry that they themselves had created just for them. Truly a uniquely wicked gift, and it made him incredibly happy.

Now instead of punishing her, he felt as if he wanted to reward her. His heart fluttered a bit, he was flattered and taken aback, not sure what to do going forth.

He shifted on his feet a bit, awkwardly while she continued her painting

“Thank you.” He finally spoke after he took a moment to put them on and admire them in a nearby mirror.

His words were sincere, making Seraphina pause in her painting and look back at him. The tips of his ears were a bright pink, but were now decorated with his new accessories and they made the gorgeous color of his blush all the more prominent.

“Hmm, your welcome, the master is more handsome than ever.” She mused, giving him a half smile and once again returned to her painting.

“I will… leave you to your activities…” He said before making his way out of the attic.

As he sat down at his desk to start preparing for his trip it occurred to him that he never even asked her name…

◇

He eventually did learn her name after a few days, Seraphina.

“You can call me Sera if you wish, if you don't feel like saying the whole thing, so long as you don’t call me ‘spawn’ or something else derogatory.” She requested in a flat tone.

“No spawn of mine will ever be referred to in such a derogatory manner darling! What do you think of me?” He was appalled at the very suggestion.

She only shrugged in response, not really sure what to think of him, she knew what she was told to think of him, but she found him oddly captivating at times and she was rather conflicted about it.

He was typically kind to his staff, and he even gifted her new paints the day after he had found her painting in the attic. But perhaps that was just him returning the favor of her gift of jewelry.

Now they were finally ready to start setting off on their trip to Waterdeep, they were at the front doors of the palace double checking everything.

“You know, there's a wizard I know in Waterdeep, perhaps you've heard of him? Gale Dekarios. I've managed to arrange a place to stay for us while we are visiting, after all we are visiting the city of splendors, we might as well stay in splendor while we are there.” Astarion told Seraphina proudly, an excited light in his eye.

“Sounds fun, and yes I know Gale. Met him a few times in passing, he's rather kind.” She replied, smiling lightly as she remembered him fondly.

Astarion’s eye twitched slightly, it seemed to be more than just ‘in passing’ with the expression she had on her face.

“It sounds like it's a bit more than in passing my dear, is there something I should know? Although the idea of literally stealing Gale's lover from him is quite amusing to say the least.” Astarion smirked.

“Lover? Oh no, I was just thinking about his tressym, Tara, she was always nice and let me pet her head whenever I met with them.” Seraphina corrected.

Astarion quietly let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, he wasn't sure why he had such a severe reaction of jealousy when she had mentioned Gale. The very thought of Gale caressing and kissing Astarion’s beautiful treasure had made him irrationally angry and he was now attempting to calm himself down.

“Why would you think I was his lover?” She asked.

“No reason, don't dwell on it darling, anyway let’s get going. Hope you enjoy long flights, as it's faster than any boat.” He replied, dodging the question before transforming into a bat and flying high.

She followed suit spreading her wings and taking off catching up with him easily, and they fluttered in silence for a while.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you wouldn't rather have caught a ship my lord?” Seraphina asked as her all powerful vampire lord clung onto her back as a bat while she did most of the flying after about a day of traveling.

She only heard squeaking in response, presumably him cursing her for her smugness. And having the audacity to even suggest that her master had been wrong in any way. She only rolled her eyes and smiled a little smugly as she continued before she finally got tired. At the rate they were going it would take about seven days for them to get there so long as the weather was favorable.

She found a pretty good spot to settle down for a rest before they could continue again.

“Alright this is our stop master, do get off so I can set up the tent.” She requested flatly.

He fluttered off of her and transformed back into his handsome elf self, before beginning to set up a fire pit while Seraphina used a bit of magic to quietly set up the tent with ease. She had to hand it to the master. He had good taste when it came to decor for his enchanted tent, it was quite comfortable and roomy on the inside. There was just one little problem…

“Master, why did you get a tent with only one bed?” Seraphina asked, coming back out of it.

“Because it's my tent?” He answered plainly.

“Ok, and where am I going to rest?” She asked, looking it over.

He opened his mouth but then closed it again, he hadn't ordered a second tent…

“Huh! Fine! I'll sleep in the fucking dirt.” She snapped curtly, before storming off into the forest to find something to eat.

“Stupid pompous vampire lord, making me do all the work flying then can't even give me the luxury of a fucking bed…” She continued grumbling angrily through the woods.

Traversing by a small creek she happens upon some owlbear tracks, but instead of caution, all Seraphina can think is ‘dinner’.

She followed the tracks to a nearby cave and before she can even enter it she hears its large paws emerge from the cave to defend its territory. Seraphina straightens up and spreads her wings a bit accepting its challenge, before lunging straight for it. It wasn't much of a fight; she managed to grip into its feathers with her new vampiric claws and reach around the side of its head and begin draining it dry. It managed to catch a few blows to her, a few scratches that would be gone soon enough with a potion and rest. She was just so angry she didn't even think of how it would look on her way back to their little camp, she just threw the owlbear corpse out of her bag of holding, stripped its hide, processed all valuable meat and discarded the rest. She used magic to process the hide properly and now she had a bed. She laid down on it facing away from Astarion, clearly still fuming. And she absolutely refused to tell him what she found in that cave, that owlbear egg was all hers.

He only stared at her, and at the owlbear meat then back at her.

“What’s this?” Astarion asked after a moment.

“Dinner, enjoy.” She replied without looking back at him.

He walked over to the bag of meat before noticing she was covered in gashes and blood presumably from the owlbear's claws.

“Are you alright?” His voice was laced with concern catching Seraphina's attention.

She turned her head a bit to look at him, ready to rip him a new one but his expression caught her by surprise. He had a rather concerned look, as if he actually cared that she had gotten hurt.

“I should be fine by tomorrow, vampiric healing and all that.” She trailed off a bit, having the wind taken out of her sails.

“No, that won't do at all.” He walked to his pack and pulled out a potion of greater healing and placed it next to her. “I need you at your best, drink that.”

She rolled over, seeing the potion she raised an eyebrow a bit, out of caution and suspicion, why would he care if she got a little injured? But eventually she drank it down and her wounds disappeared as if they were never there to begin with.

“I apologize for not getting you your own tent, it was an honest mistake, one I will remedy in the future. I will purchase you a proper tent and bedroll when we next arrive at some sort of civilization.” He said in an almost indignant tone but it was laced with guilt she managed to pick up on. “Well, sweet dreams darling.” He said as he prepared to cook the meat over the fire.

Unfortunately he nearly ended up burning the stuff with his lack of practice, He was just about kicking himself for not paying attention to Gale as he cooked on their adventure. Hearing him angrily cursing for the fifth time she finally grew frustrated and pulled out her cooking equipment and began expertly grilling the meat. She seasoned and cooked it all to perfection before handing him the plate of now gourmet cooked owlbear, walked over to the creek to wash her equipment and utensils before once again laying on her pelt without a word.

“Do you cook while traveling often?” He asked as he dug in, the meat was absolutely delicious.

She rolled over to face him, a softer expression on her face.

“Yes quite often, I taught many to live off the land in their travels or just needy people who didn't know it was an option. My favorite thing to cook is… was… fish because they are rather abundant so long as you know how to catch them.” She caught herself, she wouldn't be able to taste her favorite dishes ever again now.

“Was?”

“Yea, was. I'm not going to be able to taste my favorite dishes ever again, yet another thing you stole from me.” She murmured near the end.

His heart clenched a bit at that, regret, loss, guilt. He could feel these things more than ever and it made him frustrated. He thought he had left all of that behind when he ascended, but instead they are hanging over his head like a dead albatross.

Instead he tried to change the subject.

“So you don't just throw a few gold at the needy and call it a day? That's what they are missing aren't they?” He composed himself.

“Is that all you think charity work is? No, we don't just throw gold their way. Although it would help in the short term it doesn't solve the overall problem of corruption within cities to keep the needy poor. I teach them practical skills to survive until better times or to just live off the land without the need to become a slave to some debtor. Lathander praises action over prayer, unfortunately sometimes that can get us into trouble, like it did me. I rushed in without doing proper research first, only took what I was told and went with it. Oh well.” She shrugged it off, trying to stay positive for her future, even though it didn't look all that bright at the moment.

“Why don't you go after the corruption then?” He asked.

“I was never one for politics. I want to help people directly instead of trying to change a city full of corruption that resists me at every turn. I wanted to make some sort of good difference rather than being praised for once again lying about getting taxes fixed, then throwing an overlay extravagant ball to celebrate.” She replied while theatrically gesturing with her hands mock dancing with the air with pouted lips and her nose held high.

Astarion pouted a bit, she was not to subtly mocking the upper class nobility, him included. His balls happened to always be tasteful. But by extension she was also mocking Cazador, which made him feel a bit better.

“I’ll have you know my soirees are all very tasteful and play an important role in my political position.” He replied indignantly.

“Oh of course they do. I’m sure Lady Beatrice of Neverwinter simply adores your endless wine fountains, and it really makes her think, ‘you know maybe I should be more mindful of my less fortunate people.’” Seraphina replied flatly, mocking him directly now.

“Perhaps if you ever attended one and actually had my wine you would change your mind, maybe if you get into my good graces I'd allow you to attend.” He replied indignantly while looking away, his ego was bruised with that comment because he knew it to be all too true.

No one ever cared when he was in need, no one came to help him while he was suffering at the hands of a corrupt man.

“Eh don't bother, I can't eat the food anyway, and that would be the only reason I'd even consider going.” She waved him off.

“Huh if you insist, anyway I'm going to rest, see you in a few hours to continue our little adventure.” He stood up and dowsed the fire before retreating into his tent for the night.

◇

Seraphina slipped into her meditation not too long after, being outside definitely helped rather than being in that stuffy castle. Unfortunately she broke it when she heard some sounds of distress coming from Astarion’s tent. Quietly she looked inside to make sure he wasn't in danger, but no, he seemed to be having a very bad dream, whimpering in his meditation. She knew better than to wake him, but she did know what would help, she quietly murmured the spell for calm emotions and as he began to calm down and finally start resting peacefully she placed a small charm beneath his pillow. Then simply made her way back out and continued her meditation.

But a thought kept creeping its way back into her mind, what would a pampered little noble like him have to cry so violently about in his meditations? Maybe she should go easier on him, she doesn't know what he's been through after all. From the place he lives in and the fact that vampires are notorious for being cruel to each other as well as others, sometimes even worse to their own coven more than anything she should give him some grace. He has clearly been through something intense. She sighed and calmed herself before slipping once again into meditation.

◇

Astarion came out of his medication slowly, for seemingly as far back as he could remember this had been the most restful and peaceful meditation of his life. It had started off the same, being tormented by thoughts and memories of Cazador of his many lovely tortures but then at some point that all melted away leaving only mellow soothing memories and emotions.

He sat up, curious about what was different this time when as he jostled his pillow a small carved wooden charm with a gem in the center and a few feathers attached to the bottom of it fell to the floor with a light clatter.

He picked up the unfamiliar item, brushing his thumb over its carved surface, as he did a light soothing feeling flowed though his body almost as if went right through his bones washing away any negativity in its wake. He managed to recognize they were celestial carvings, powerful ones but rather harmless to anyone who didn't suffer from nightmares or old torments. There was only one person who could have given this to him and he felt a bit strange about it. Yet another act of unprompted kindness, her kind nature would be impossible to break it seems, not that he would ever want that considering he was the one benefiting from it. It was just… not something he was used to, was she trying to gain the upper hand on him for something? He had to watch her to make sure.

He walked out after he was finished with his morning preparations, by the time he walked outside everything in the campsite was packed and prepared while Seraphina was sitting with her legs crossed on a stump drinking the blood of a rather large rabbit.

“The whole owlbear wasn't enough last night?” Astarion asked, cocking a brow.

“I wanted a pillow.” She replied simply as she stowed the drained rabbit into her bag of holding for later. “Anyways, has the elf finished pampering himself so we can continue?” She asked, she told herself she would go easier on him but he took so long it was close to dawn at this point.

“Yes, quite.” He touched the stitched magic circle on his tent causing it to collapse and put itself away. “But just one last little gift for you.” He said with a mischievous smile.

Before she should ask what it was he transformed into a bat and fitted himself between her full breasts in her corset for the flight.

“Very subtle, aren't you?” She remarked flatly at the little bat's smug face.

She rolled her eyes as she shook her head, but continued regardless. Jumping and catching the incoming updraft from the ocean. At least she could fly a lot faster now without his tiny wings slowing her down. She even heard an excited squeak come from him as she picked up her true flight speed, he could only dream of flying this fast.

As the dawn began to crack over the horizon she stopped to watch for a little while. This was always the best view to watch it from. Astarion tried to protest but she poked him on the head a bit.

“If you are going to protest you can make your own way there, or have one very irritated aasimar. I'm only stopping for a little bit to watch. Let me at least have this.” She scolded.

He let out a huff but watched as the dawn cracked over the horizon. He's never watched it from this view before and he was stunned into revered silence as gorgeous colors of all sorts spread throughout the early morning sky. It truly was a sight to see.

After the sun was about a fourth of the way up she continued, soaring through the sky in silence to her way back home, or former home.

Chapter Text

Flying over the Sword Coast's famous jagged shoreline a few hours after midday, Seraphina spotted a rather decrepit looking ship with black flags. It was heading into a hidden cove area within the cliffside, she just couldn't hold back her curiosity. Astarion started to grumble in whatever the bat equipment was until he also saw the ship making birth.

“Master, would it would be a shame to let those pirates attack more ships along this coast, maybe we should relieve them of their many stolen treasures…” Seraphina started, it came out in a far more sinister and malicious manner then she meant but Astarion’s ears twitched at the mention of potential treasures.

She was a bit confused by her own behavior and the new addition of greed to her personality, but she would have to work with it now.

He wiggled out of his rather comfortable riding spot and led the way down. Following his lead she also transformed into a bat to fly down.

“What in the hells!” Astarion asked, baffled.

“You never asked, master, but I happen to be a druid. I thought you'd have figured it out considering I tell you I help people learn to survive in the wilds.” Seraphina rolled her eyes and looked as annoyed as a bat possibly could.

“So you lied to me?” He asked, narrowing his eyes.

“No, I simply didn't tell you everything. I said I wasn't much of a cleric, I am one but I lean more into being a druid.” She replied indignantly.

Astarion felt a bit annoyed that she purposely withheld information but he couldn't do much about it now, so he decided to let it drop and make a plan of attack.

“Ha! This is going to be even more fun! Now, come! Let's come in through the front and blend in with the other bats, we can take a look at what they have if it's worth our time. Or just have them for a spot of lunch.” Astarion licked his fangs a bit, he was feeling a bit peckish.

Seraphina managed to blend in just fine with her black bat fur, but Astarion stood out like a sore thumb on the ceiling among the other bats with his blazing white locks, luckily the pirates were far too busy drinking and unloading their latest stolen haul to notice. They were far enough away that Seraphina wasn't completely blinded by hunger with all of the fresh beating hearts around.

“Is that the last of it?” A human man asked.

“Aye! That be the last!” Another man, a dwarf answered.

“He’s lying.” Seraphina whispered to Astarion.

“No honor amongst thieves darling, seems that even extends to their own crew. Now what would a pirate hide from his fellow pirates?” Astarion asked rhetorically with a malicious grin.

“Hmm… my guess would be something valuable he wants to unload when everyone else is at port and sell it later without the others knowing. Or something consumable like a nice alcohol he wouldn't want to share.” Seraphina answered after a moment of thought.

“Now we must find out. It looks like they are heading to sleep now that ‘everything’ is unloaded. Once they are we can feast on them then explore their plunder. I will show you how to feed quietly, draining a sleeping victim requires stealth and restraint, do make sure not to wake them up.” Astarion warned.

“Alright, what of the dwarf? He's probably going to stay awake.”

“We will wait until he pulls out whatever he's hiding once he deems it safe to do so, saves us the trouble of having to find it ourselves.”

“Ah.”

◇

Sure enough, as soon as everyone was either passed out drunk or honestly asleep the dwarf pulled out his secret cargo, a locked chest, a rather large one.

Astarion flew down silently and landed inside of the crow's nest of the ship, took aim with his very nice long bow and the dwarf dropped dead before he even realized he had been hit. He then waved her down to join him and transformed into a bat once again to go after the others.

Astarion showed her how to feed quietly and they both feasted, though Astarion decided to just quickly stab the particularly bad smelling ones having the pick of the litter. Once they were all dead Seraphina and Astarion both felt quite inebriated.

“Hehehee… -hic- their blood tastss reaaaly goood.. hehee” She giggled as she stumbled towards him as soon as she couldn't possibly drink another drop.

Her vision was going sideways, her bones felt like jelly and she found even the most trivial of things funny. She was completely satisfied from the rather large feeding and her face was flushed a pearly scarlet with blood, though her blood itself had a pearlescent sheen to it so she seemed to have pearly pink skin even more so than before.

“Your drunk darling.” He remarked with an amused expression.

“Drnuk? Noo! I didn't have any alcohol! How dare you accuse me of such a thing?! You're drunk! You're the one swaying around!” She denied adamantly, slurring her words.

“Their blood had plenty of alcohol in it already, you're quite a lightweight aren't you?” He snickered, he was feeling rather tipsy himself but he was able to hide it somewhat.

“Light? Yes I feel light like a featheeer blowing around weee!” She attempted to twirl a bit but only ended up flopping up against him, nearly making them both stumble over. “Hehe oh pretty vampire lord, -hic- but eviiiil.” She scowled, but it looked more like a pout.

“Oh what if I told you I wasn't completely evil?” He replied, catching her and holding her to himself.

“Completely… I don’ know… did you do somethin’ gooood?” She asked, narrowing her eyes, but it looked more like she was trying hard just to focus on his face rather than a threat as she swayed to the side a bit.

“I did help stop the cult of the Absolute a year ago. Surely you've heard of me, Astarion, one of the heroes of Baldur’s Gate? I will admit I am rather hungry for power but not completely evil darling, I have standards.” He spoke in a gloating tone, he couldn't stop himself, she was being adorable and he couldn't help but indulge her, as well as pad his own ego in the process.

“Hmmm yus, das sis good. Hmm, and really warm… I'm always sooo cold now…” She murmured as she nuzzled into his chest a bit.

“Don't worry darling, I can keep you warm.” He mused as he embraced her closer. “But first we should look what's inside that chest over there. Come over with me.”

“Oooh treasure! Yes, let's see the treasure.” She let go of him excitedly and stumbled over to the chest while holding his hand for some semblance of support.

Astarion opened the chest's lock easily enough and his eyes shined as he realized what lay within. Truly it was full of treasure, stuffed and packed neatly with the most expensive and exclusive wines found in Faerun. Each bottle could easily fetch thousands of gold. It looked like it was on its way to a collector in Waterdeep but had been intercepted by the pirates. He was curious who the buyer was but as he managed to find the sales order receipt he couldn't help but laugh heartily.

“Darling, do you know who this wine was going to? The very same Mrel Alkam that sent you after me, the vampire lord. So not only did I spoil his plans to kill me, I also stole his prized alcohol. Oh what a day this is!” He exclaimed jovially.

He picked out one he wanted to try and grabbed Seraphina's hand and started to lead her towards the ship.

“Come darling, time to enjoy this in the captain's quarters! We are celebrating today!”

For a seemingly decrepit ship the captain's quarters were actually quite nice, a large bed, more bottles of all sorts of different alcohol, a large very comfortable looking bed and a desk full of charts and maps. Astarion popped the cork of his chosen bottle and poured himself a goblet.

“Oh yes, simply exquisite!” He just about moaned in pleasure contentedly.

Seraphina laid down on the bed, giggling as she tangled herself up in the sheets. (Not before using magic to clean it beforehand of course.)

“Astaaarion? Can we stay here for the night? I don’ think I can -hic- fly.” She asked as she laid on her back and looked at him while upside down.

“Oh yes, we are staying here, and taking their ship, why let it go to waste?”

“Yaaay, hehe what a lovely holiday this is!” She smiled happily. “But these clothes are so uncomfortable! Mortals and their stupid social standards” She growled and mocked drunkenly.

She began tugging off her clothes while within the sheets as Astarion drank himself into a stupor. He managed to stumble his way to the bed to lay down next to her, his legs no longer functioning the way he wanted them to, especially with the gentle sway of the ship.

Seraphina finally managed to get herself out of the last shred of clothing she had left, threw it onto the floor in victory and stretched out on the bed contentedly, the bed was large enough for them both to stretch out comfortably.

“Aha! Oh darling, you are ever so beautiful like that, perhaps I shall join you.” Astarion grinned, absolutely sloshed at this point.

He attempted to put his goblet onto the nightstand next to the bed, unfortunately he ended up chuckling a bit too much and it tipped and fell onto its side, luckily it was mostly empty as it fell onto the plush pelt rug on the floor. When he went to reach for it however something else caught his drunken hazy gaze, the captain's large feathered hat, it must have fallen off of the bed at some point. Grinning, he put the hat on and grabbed himself another goblet of wine and began to sing off key.

“A yo ho ho and a bottle of- eh I do prefer wine over rum, HAHAHAA!” He laughed.

“Oh dear captain, you're looking awfully hot in those clothes, maybe you need a little help?” Seraphina offered, grinning, her drunken amorous intent clearly showing.

“Indeed my exquisite little siren, I'm in dire need of their removal if you would be so kind? But I do require my hat!” He replied.

Ordinarily she would never be inclined to do something like this, she's never craved sex much, or at least not with anyone she had met throughout her life up until this point. However, this time as she rather sensually removed his overcoat, shirt, trousers, then his underwear and gazed down at his chiseled figure, she was overcome with want. It itched within her bones, curled in her stomach and tingled along the surface of her skin and she wanted EVERYTHING.

After she replaced his hat he caressed and squeezed her luscious thighs, swiftly rolled her over, firmly placed himself between her legs and he pinned her wrists down in his hands.

“Oh captain, my captain, just what will become of me now?” Seraphina mused theatrically.

“Anything and everything I wish you to be darling.” He said in a low sultry voice as he pressed himself up against her practically drenched entrance.

Her skin was smooth and soft, and warmed from the blood feast she’d had. A treasure so beautiful and all his, he leaned down and his lips melted into hers, her very essence seemed to sing to him. A harmonious song of desire and pleasure composed just for him alone.

He shifted himself to spread her legs with his own and supporting himself on his knees he pressed her down with his torso making her moan and beg for more without words, she was far beyond words at this point. As he rolled his hips, reveling in the feeling of dominating her to the point of her body begging for him he finally gave her what they both desperately wanted. He finally sank his tip and then his entire length into her, she was tight and quivering with appreciation causing them both to groan with a deep rooted almost feral need that only grew as he began to move and throb inside of her.

She felt so full even with her foggy mind she could feel every inch of him sinking into her ever deeper and harder as he continued and found his rhythm. Her body tingled with excitement as her hips began to seemingly move on their own in sync with his making them all the more desperate for each other.

He pulled back from kissing her lips to kiss her down her jaw and then her neck to the two scars he had made when he drank her dry, claiming her as his forevermore. He licked them and sucked them, feeling a rush of possessive pleasure rush down his spine, exiting him even more.

Their moans grew louder and louder as they devoured each other, thundering closer and closer, each to their prospective finish, it was sloppy, hot and heavy but neither could want anything else in that moment. He finally felt her insides squeezing and fluttering around him in a massive climax causing her to yell his name out as if to the heavens themselves. As she finished he his fangs tingled as he approached his own finish, he bit down on her neck hard, not to drink just to feel her sweet tender skin within his fangs. He then burst within her, filling her to the brim, truly claiming every single bit of her.

He collapsed on her as they bathed in their afterglow, when he started getting some sense back he expected there to be some feeling of regret, loathing, emptiness, but none of that came, he was only blissfully foggy minded and completely, utterly and extremely satisfied in that moment.

Chapter Text

Waking up after Seraphina didn't know how long, her mind was finally clear, clearer than it had ever been since she had woken up in that coffin. She looked to her side, her vampire master was out cold still clutching his prized empty wine bottle, naked but with a massive grin and a look of pure bliss on his face. She remembered everything, every bit of clothing she had ripped off of him, every kiss, every touch. She hated to admit that it was the most amazing experience of her life, but she also felt nasty, dirty on the inside, she had slept with a monster. Even if he could walk in the sun and enjoy food, he was still capable of great evil, and she was a prime example of this. She quietly slid out of the bed, it was very dark now, there was a small time piece on the captain's desk that indicated it was around midnight. She was wide awake and very sober now to the point she felt she needed to wash off everything that she had done.

She walked out on the deck of the ship and just kept walking until she made her way outside of the cave to the small beach nearby, the moon was large, bright and the ocean was calm. She hated that she didn't know the difference between right and wrong anymore, she was perfectly fine with feasting on all of those pirates without a second thought. Granted, none of them were good by any means but they certainly didn't all deserve to die. One of them looked to only be about fifteen years of age, he probably could have been set straight if given a chance, but she stole that away from him. She knew what she should be feeling but it wasn't there, it was all just… blank, mute. Muted by the constant and ever painful ache in her stomach, no matter how much blood she took in it was always there, like a constant reminder and punishment for failing.

She took in a deep breath of the salty air, and closed her eyes as she dove down into herself, past the hunger, greed and darkness that now made itself at home within herself. She felt a small spark of guilt, a small bit of remorse and it made her happy, she still had a bit of herself in there, still a way to feel and do the right thing even if it was a harder road, it was a road she preferred.

Feeling happy when doing something nice, and feeling regret when doing something cruel were such important things to her, and she willed herself to hold onto those feelings, as small as they may be. She spread open her wings, feeling the gentle breeze between her ebony feathers, and without a sound she beat them together to get airborne. She almost lazily glided to a certain distance out over the water before flying straight up and then plunging straight down into the black abyss. All she heard was a small sound coming from the shore but she ignored it, and then only heard the crash of the water as she plunged into the dark depths. She knew she would be fine, she was just hoping the cold shock of the water would take her mind off of the ache at least for a little while. She drifted in the blackness not sure how deep she was only happy for it to be quiet. The cold penetrated down to her bones, doing a relatively adequate job of making her feel at least a little cleansed. At first it was lonely and cold but then as she drifted for a few more moments she actually started to enjoy herself, she didn't need to breathe or come up for air she was just suspended in darkness, a place without misery, difficulties or constant expectations. She found that she had sunk to the bottom as she felt soft sand against her back. All she could feel was the pressure of the water but she welcomed it, this must be what it felt like to be embraced by Shar, at least someone was still there for her.

◇

Astarion stirred, waking up with the empty wine bottle in his hand, he let it go and let it sip to the floor onto the blush pelt rug. Something was missing, the bed was too big and empty. Where was Sera? Then he sobered up quickly, it would have been the perfect opportunity to escape. He had never commanded her to stay by his side as Cazador had with him, she could be halfway to Evereska by now and there was nothing he could do about it, SHIT! He jumped out of bed not even bothering to dress, he only followed her scent outside then it stopped at the shoreline. A flash of movement caught his eye as he saw his precious spawn plunging herself straight down into the ocean head first. He tried to call to her but she was already lost beneath the waves.

Oh dear… well at least she isn't on her way to Evereska…

But as the minutes passed he grew more and more impatient as she didn't come back up. Did she really hate him so much that she decided the bottom of the ocean was a better choice than being next to him? She seemed like she was enjoying herself, was his drunk performance subpar? She would come back up eventually. He didn't need to worry about her potentially getting snapped up by some massive ugly sea monster….

He began to pace along the shore, out of anger? Nerves? He didn't know but after another moment of her not coming back up he decided to go in after her. Swimming down into the cold, quiet, dark depths he couldn't help but find this oh so familiar to that year in that silent dusty tomb but he needed to find her. The shadows seemingly crept into his skin and into his soul, the water grew colder the further he swam but still he swam ever deeper, his heart beat faster as fear slowly overtook him, not just for her anymore but for himself. The complete silence of the water caused those old memories and terrors to bubble right back to the surface seemingly from the torturous pits of the hells themselves. His vision began flashing between the dark ocean and the old coffin top he had been subjected to starving beneath for that year, and suddenly he couldn’t tell which way was up or down anymore, was he in the ocean or the crypt, what was real and what wasn't?! His heart thundered as he struggled in the suspended inky blackness,why couldn't he breathe?!

Suddenly a sprinkling of small lights started dancing around him, tiny at first bit enough to catch his attention just enough, they grew larger and brighter. They allowed him to focus on something, to see something other than the endless blackness before him. They swayed and swirled around him almost as if they were dancing fireflies, beautiful, then he could feel something else, another presence, then he could see her, not four feet in front of him her very skin began to glow and she had such a beautiful appearance being surrounded by the lights, her hair flowing out like a silvery vail. Her expression was one of concern but even then she looked otherworldly like a water nymph, she swam gently closer and caressed his head in her hands, holding his forehead to hers. The water around them seemingly began to warm and calm now that the darkness was no longer a threat, he embraced her closely as if she had saved him from death itself, he felt so relieved in that moment after the unbridled terror started to pass.

He hadn’t realized she had been steadily bringing him up to the surface until their heads broke from the water. He gasped for the feeling of precious air even though he didn’t need it or crave it, it made him comfortable knowing he wasn't down there anymore. He still didn't let go of her, and she didn't remove him even when his claws dug into her, she flew him out of the water and back to the moon bathed shore to calm the shaking he hadn’t realized was coming from himself. She sat him down on the sand and spoke a small incantation that summoned the small wooden charm to her hand. She pried one of his clutched hands off of her and placed it into his palm as she ran magic through it.

Steadily he felt as if he was being swallowed by a warm plush blanket and he could smell something comforting he couldn't quite place, like the smell of home and safety.

“Shhhh, shhh it's going to be ok.” She whispered to him sweetly and soothingly as she wrapped her wings around them and used an altered version of burning hands to steadily warm both of them up and dry them off.

“Don’t do that again…” Astarion spoke in a low shaky voice.

“I won’t.” Seraphina replied gently.

This poor elf, what sort of torments has he been through?

◇

“I think this is a fair thing to ask but can you inform me or ask me before you run off somewhere? I have half a mind to just withdraw your wandering privileges and just compel you to stay where I can see you at all times.” Astarion scolded angrily.

Seraphina sighed. She had scared him badly, and in the process of doing so caused him to have a severe traumatic episode.

“I’m sorry. I just felt like I needed to feel… clean.” She admitted in a quiet voice.

He felt a clench in his heart at her words, he understood all too well what that felt like, and he couldn’t fault her for that, although it also broke his heart a bit knowing that he was the cause of that disgusting feeling she had.

They both sat across from each other, between them was a burning fire they had started from one of the pirate’s old firepits. Now the atmosphere shifted from angry and guilty to glum and uncomfortable.

“I… Know how that feels… just… please for the love of gods don't do that again.” Astarion finally spoke quietly after a moment of letting the fire crackle between them.

“Yes… I promise… master.” She murmured, staring down at the fire with a dazed and melancholic expression.

“Astarion. You can just call me Astarion.” He replied, a tad more confidently. Somehow hearing the word ‘master’ come from her doesn't have the same kind of feeling anymore, it made him feel loathsome, as if she was speaking to Cazadore through him.

“Yes… Astarion.” Her mouth twitched with a tiny smile, this was far more comfortable.

The fire snapped and crackled between them as they both stared into its burning depths, they both shared an unspoken resolve to be kinder to the other.

“Erm… Astarion… it's going to be dawn soon, did… you want to watch the sunrise with me?” Seraphina asked after a while of silence between them.

“Yes, I would be happy to join you.” He stood up with her and they both put on clothing for the day and went outside to watch the sunrise, this time it truly was the most beautiful one Astarion could ever recall.

Chapter Text

Who needs a crew when you can control shadows to do your bidding?

Astarion was proud of himself as he captained his new pirate ship along with every bit of valuable cargo the pirates previously owned, the weather was fair and the ocean breeze was strong, it was smooth sailing. Sera was off flying above the ocean scouting ahead for anything unusual. They had a minor run in with some sahuagin but that ended with them having seafood for lunch.

They were actually making pretty good time and because they no longer had to take breaks from flying they would be reaching the city sooner than they expected. Sera would take the wheel when Astarion needed to rest, and vice versa, and not too long after Sera could see the city torch lights in the distance she flew back above Astarion.

“Land ho!” She shouted cheerfully.

Astarion waved back up to her to indicate he heard her. They managed to turn into the port, and began to tie up the thick ropes to the dock.

“Unusual ship you've got there.” The dock registration worker stated, looking over the obviously pirate-like ship.

“Thanks, we had a run in with some pirates on our journey here and to the victor go the spoils, it's no longer a pirate ship.” Seraphina replied proudly as she paid her docking fee given to her by Astarion.

Astarion himself was busy with stowing away anything valuable into Sera's bag of holding so thieves didn't have an opportunity to steal his precious loot.

“I see, well in that case, welcome to Waterdeep!” The dock worker replied happily, and relieved he didn't have to worry about trouble brewing.

“Thank you!”

As Sera waited for Astarion to finish she sat at the end of the dock with her feet waving lazily over the edge as she heard footsteps approaching.

“My that is an intriguing ship if I may say so!” A familiar scholarly voice spoke enthusiastically behind her on the dock.

Seraphina turned around to see Gale, he must have seen them come into port from his tower and wanted to investigate.

“Gale! It's good to see you!” Sera stood up and happily walked quickly over to him to greet him properly. However she had to be careful because as soon as she smelled his scent and heard his heartbeat all she could think was ‘delicious!’ But Gale is not for eating! She managed to snap herself out of her hunger daze quickly as he made his way over.

“Seraphina? Is that you? What happened? Your wings are all black and your eyes… no… you didn't happen to have a run in with a certain-”

“Well hello Gale, how wonderful to see you again!” Astarion’s voice feigned politeness.

“Astarion! What have you done to Sera! I cannot believe you stole the city's aasimar and made her into a spawn, what in the hells have you done!?” Gale shouted angrily up to him on the ship.

“I'm still a rogue Gale, you know I do love a well guarded treasure, she lost. She tried to kill me, but instead of killing her I spared her life.” Astarion explained casually looking over his nails and picking off a stray thread from his coat.

Gale looked back at Sera who now wore a rather sheepish expression.

“It's true Gale, I was sent after him by someone and I lost. But now we are here to kill that someone because it turns out they themselves are a vampire lord!” She bounced back enthusiastically, happy to feel the familiarity of home.

“So you're… ok with this?” He gestured to all of her, referring to her vampiric status.

“Well, there isn't anything I can do about it now, the best I can do is look ahead and try to work things out as they come.” She tried to answer positively but she had a slight hint of sorrow embedded in her tone.

“And beg Astarion to not make me do anything terrible.” She added flatly.

“I promised I wouldn't, didn't I?” Astarion replied, smirking as he came down the side of the ship to the doc.

“I know what you say, but what I consider terrible is probably very different from what you consider it to be.” She muttered. “Anyways Gale, I want to give you something.” She produced a fancy wine bottle from the bag of holding Astarion had handed back to her out of habit, he was heavily regretting that now.

“Hey those are mine!” Astarion complained.

“No honor amongst thieves, master.” Sera smiled smugly.

Astarion couldn't even be mad, he only huffed and then laughed, he was proud, this little goodie two shoes learned really fast.

“Alright you win this one, but don't expect to win the next one.” He retorted smugly.

Astarion only laughed in his posh manner and they continued bantering while walking towards the city.

“Wow! This is most excellent quality wine! Where did you get it?” Gale asked Sera, absolutely astonished.

“The same place we procured the ship, from a crew of pirates on the adventure here.” Astarion answered, he didn't like feeling like a third wheel between them, despite them clearly catching up with one another.

“So Astarion, I certainly hope you took my advice on which inn to stay in while here in Waterdeep, because it's just about dusk and I don't have a guest room in my tower.” Gale said in a slightly taunting tone.

“Yes of course! The Jade Jug I remember, now where is it? So we can get ourselves some lodging.” Astarion asked indignantly.

“Really? The Jade is expensive, but then again the pirates were loaded.” Sera shrugged. “It's this way, right on the water.”

“It's tall, I like it.” Astarion gazed up at the four story tall building as they approached.

“It isn't called the city of splendors for nothing.” Gale said proudly.

“Yea sometimes I like to sit up there when I am watching the dawn in the morning. The owners used to be so proud to have an aasimar sitting on their building but now I'm more or less seen as a large nesting bird.” Sera laughed.

“Oh don't let Tara know that, she might try to hunt you down next.” Gale warned playfully.

“Shes already tried to catch me on multiple occasions.” Sera replied just as playfully.

Astarion was getting a bitter taste in his mouth as they continued bantering, like he was the outsider here and he didn't like it. Gale didn't use any sort of charms to get to know her, they were just friends. She had never looked at him with anything less than weariness or disdain, yet she smiled and laughed so readily with Gale. It made him feel… sad. No! He didn't want to feel sad! He should be angry, how dare Gale try to take something that belonged to Astarion!

“Well here we are, I best be getting back to my tower, rest well you two, and Astarion do try not to drain half of my city.” Gale spoke to Astarion pointedly, though he was just poking a bit of fun.

“Come on Astarion! Just wait till you see the inside! Bye Gale!” She waved after Gale and pulled Astarion’s hand inside excitedly.

Her sudden enthusiasm stopped his anger cold and it felt like it tripped over itself in his mind. She wasn't trying to escape with Gale, she was just happy to see her friend. Maybe he shouldn't just immediately assume the worst, but that's how he has survived for so long. Everyone has only ever taken from him, he was used to that, he hated it but she seemed different, she gave him far more than he already deserved considering what he did to her. He stole her away from her home and her life, but now that she was back she was showing him around as if visiting on holiday, he just didn't understand it, she reminded him of Karlach, always acting all happy despite the shit situation they were in.

As promised, the rooms were excellent, and because they were expensive there were always plenty available, according to Gale. Sera decided to hide her wings, she could always summon them again if she needed them and laid down on one of the two massive beds.

She deemed she was done for the night and started getting undressed to relax.

“What are you doing?” Astarion asked as if she shouldn't be doing it.

“Relaxing? I'll keep my undergarments on if it makes you more comfortable.” She replied, confused.

“No, we should be exploring the night life of the city, discovering secrets and such.” Astarion was excited to be in a new city he couldn't wait to explore.

“No offense Astarion but I've been flying all day and I'm tired, I'd like to rest, you can go on without me, I would only slow you down anyway. Just for the love of the gods don't do anything stupid, Waterdeep can be a dangerous place be careful.” She warned.

“I am the vampire ascendant, people bow before my power out of fear, I will be fine, although I appreciate your concern.” He brushed her off as he turned into a cloud of black mist and flew out the window.

She decided to read for a few hours then rest, he didn't return until almost dawn but he hauled back a large sack of gold and proudly plopped in at the base of her bed.

“Were did you get that from?” Seraphina asked cautiously.

“The yawning portal tavern, Gale informed me about it, turned out a vampire is far better at detecting treasure than any mere adventurer.”

“Ah, good for you. Maybe now you could renovate my room.” Sera nodded, impressed then went back to reading.

“Yes it is, now it's my turn to rest then we can go and kill the vampire.” He said as he got undressed.

Seraphina made no moves to leave the room or act embarrassed in any way, she seemed to truly not care. He took off everything aside from his underwear and still she didn't even look in his direction, he wanted to say something but he wasn't sure what, then it just flopped out like a soggy blanket.

“Was it really that terrible for you!?” He almost spat out with frustration.

She flinched and she snapped up a bit in surprise, though he didn't elaborate she knew exactly what he was talking about. She closed her book and took a small breath before looking him in the eyes.

“It was the most wonderful experience of my life.” She admitted quietly.

Her answer genuinely floored him, his face flushed as he definitely was not expecting to hear that from someone who made their deity their main focus in life.

“Then.. Why jump in the ocean?” He asked in a confused and quiet voice.

“It wasn't you personally, I'm just… having trouble distinguishing between right and wrong and I wanted to go somewhere to escape for a little while.” She replied, gazing down at her book cover and running her fingers gently across its spine.

“So then it wasn't my perfom-”

“NO! You were perfectly pleasant! More than pleasant but I don't have the right words at the moment.” She interrupted him in defence.

Somehow this relieved a massive pressure on his shoulders he hadn't realized he was bearing. She doesn't hate him, she isn't disgusted by him either, she's just struggling with the morally grey area he put her in.

“Although it's not like I have anything to compare it to…” She admitted in a quiet voice as she looked away and held up the book a bit to cover her mouth as if hiding the words.

“You were a virgin?” Astarion was stupified and somehow very, very proud of himself, something else he had taken that none had before, she really was wholly his.

“Yes, I never cared much for sex, or craved it with anyone I met besides you. The Dawnbringers all claimed that sex was something for reproduction, to bring new life into the world and I wasn't ready yet, but now I think they only said that so I wouldn't run off with someone, because I'm thirty two now. A full grown adult by anyone's standards.” She moved her gaze back to him without moving.

He put a hand on his face and laughed out of exasperation, it all made so much sense now, and he had been worried about nothing, she just had a few quirks.

“Hahaha! Gods! And all this time I was thinking you would never bear for me to touch you again!” He breathed in exasperation and relief.

“I actually wouldn't mind doing it again sober… if you want to…” Seraphina then just buried her whole face behind the cover of the book, very bashful now.

Astarion smirked at her shy face, so giving physical hints does nothing. If he wanted her flustered he would have to talk about it. Squirming can be achieved in many ways, she just requires a different touch. She still had her face hidden so he steadily crawled onto the bed carefully so as to not jostle her, he then pulled the book down with his index finger revealing his rather seductive and mischievous expression. She jumped a bit in surprise at his proximity.

“Why not now?” He asked as he leaned in close, he was so close to her ear and neck but he didn't touch her, teasing her.

She whimpered a bit and gasped quietly as his body pressed ever closer to hers. She could smell his scent mixed with his preferred scent for the day, a tad of musk with something else she couldn't place.

“Tell me what you want, my sweet little spawn.” He breathed against her neck, still not touching her.

“Astarion.”

She moaned his name as he finally pressed his torso and hips against her and pressed her down and ever so gently rolled along hers, but he was already very hard and she could feel all of him against her. She was completely nude beneath the bedsheet, so there was only that blanket between them. She could feel his warmth through the sheet, so tantalizingly close, her insides throbbed in response.

“Ahh, if sex is only for bringing new life then why does it feel so good? Please Astarion, have me again!” Sera moaned rhetorically as her hips rolled to meet his, her very skin seemed to crave him, every touch satisfying and yet also craving more.

With that he grinned and let out a slight uneven breath against her neck, before kissing it tenderly and rolling his hips on hers as he did, she wove her fingers through his soft silvery hair and pulled him closer, loving the feeling of his lips and tongue on her neck then he bit down and took a deep drink from her making her moan from the strange dizzying sensation. He pulled back, licking his lips that were still dripping her silver sheened blood.

“-Mmmf- still absolutely exquisite.” He just about moaned as he wiped a stray drop from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.

She should have found it repulsive but instead she just wanted to feed him more, to see him happy, and absolutely radiate euphoria from giving him pleasure beyond imagination.

“Have it if you're hungry, if it makes you happy, take it all!” She just about begged him, a sudden rush of a desire to give him anything he wanted washed over her as she gently encouraged him closer.

Astarion raised his brows a bit, he never felt anything like this towards Cazador as a spawn. He was always forced to grovel, but she wants to give anything willingly, to… make him happy? Perhaps it was the lack of torment? He hadn't felt the need to force her into obedience at any point; she already, albeit begrudgingly, followed his instructions.

“No darling, I'm not going to take all of it, I need you at your full strength for today.” He purred, making her shiver. “But because you've offered yourself so sweetly to me I will gladly share something else with you pet.”

He moved his mouth from her neck to her lips and kissed her deeply making her moan in satisfaction and need. While he was kissing her he managed to pull the blanket from out between them in one swift movement making her gasp from the sudden contact from his skin.

“This little habit of yours sure saves time darling.” He chuckled a bit as he gently brushed his fingers over her light pink nipples making them bloom and harden.

“The clothing I've had is always so uncomfortable.” She whined and squirmed a bit as he rolled one of her nipples in his fingers while sucking on the other.

“Hmm well of course, skin like yours deserves to be dressed in only the finest of silks, my beloved treasure should be in nothing less.” He spoke in a sultry low voice as he licked her nipple and continued to suck and nip a bit at it causing her hips to buck up against him involuntarily.

His beautiful unmarred treasure, all his. Touched by no one but him, and he loved watching her melt in his hands like butter and moaning only his name. It stirred something deep down and he just couldn't stop himself anymore, he ripped off his underwear and rubbed himself against her entrance, she was already so wet for him so he plunged his tip in making them both groan with pleasure as he sank ever deeper with small thrusts.

Just like the first time he waited for the disgust and memories to flood but there was nothing, as if her presence was keeping negativity at bay, all he felt was pleasure as he thrusted ever deeper and harder into her as she matched his pace quietly begging for more as she moaned between thrusts.

And as the dawn crested over the horizon Astarion flooded her full as he bit her neck making her moan his name loudly in pure euphoria as her body quivered and clenched around him as if announcing it to the gods themselves.