Deceptive Cadence - Qoboe - Baldur's Gate (Video Games) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Astarion may have been glowering at the same page of his book for gods knows how long, but he was determined to keep reading. If only the rest of the camp could find something quiet to do.

The stupidity he was trying to tune out started earlier that day after Wyll revealed he was the son of Duke Ulder Ravengard. Elerra teased him about courtly dances, and Karlach mentioned off-handedly she never learned to dance. It spun out of control from there. Lae’zel stated that dancing was an acceptable way to train for balance and footwork. Gale waxed about Waterdeep nightlife, and poor Shadowheart wondered if she had ever learned. As evening set in, Wyll was teaching Karlach how to dance -or rather, Karlach was stepping on Wyll, and neither of them could stop laughing about it. Meanwhile, Shadowheart, Gale, and Lae’zel watched the spectacle while occasionally offering advice.

This display was not what was distracting Astarion, however. It was the bard playing the lyre nearby that kept catching his eye. Over the past weeks, Elerra became the group's de facto leader – despite some troubling murderous tendencies – as they tried to solve their mindflayer tadpole problem. Astarion hadn’t met many Drow before and certainly never one with green hair and eyes, so naturally, he was drawn to her. She didn’t fall for his little attempt to trick her on the beach and seemed to find him funny. No one in his “family” ever found him funny; it was usually the opposite. Elerra also demonstrated herself as an utterly gullible person whose heart bled for every troubled soul they met. She went so far as to let Astarion feed off her. Therefore, she was the perfect candidate out of their group of misfits to seduce so he could ensure she would never turn on him. The others had taken the news he was a vampire who wouldn’t bite them with a great deal of skepticism, and having someone as influential as her on his side would assure his safety during this whole adventure. Seducing her had been easy, instinctual even. Now, he needed to be sure she stayed on his side.

Occasionally, Astarion felt pangs of guilt for using Elerra, possibly a side effect from the tadpole. But it wasn’t as if he promised to be together forever. And she wasn’t some blushing virgin. This was a woman who cut down enemies with insults and who murdered their bard for the hell of it. She was probably using him as much as he was using her.

Astarion watched her fingers pluck the strings with deftness and grace, but she kept her eyes on Wyll and Karlach. Usually, he only heard snippets of her playing, followed by the taunts she hurled at goblins. But this time, she was performing entire songs from her repertoire. A smile would cross her lips at certain points in the music, and Astarion thought she looked so lovely like this. No, that was ridiculous. He turned his attention back to his book.

Gale shouted, “Oh, Astarion? Is that the Necromancy of Thay? If you bring it over here, I might be able to help you open it.”

Astarion didn’t look up, “Nice try, Gale, but I’m not letting you eat that book no matter how nicely you ask.” He noticed Elerra snicker out of the corner of his eye.

Karlach stepped on Wyll again and howled with laughter. “Whew, I’m tired! You’re going to have to find another partner, Wyll.”

“I’m just here to drink wine and point,” Shadowheart said. “Astarion might join in. Astarion, want to dance with Wyll?”

Astarion ignored her.

“He will not come. He would not want to risk looking foolish in front of us,” Lae’zel said.

Astarion could feel their eyes on him but continued to stare at his book.

“Now, now,” Wyll said. “There are plenty of people here.”

He bowed deeply and stretched his hand to Elerra, and Astarion felt a wave of irritation.

What a stupid idea. How would they have music? And why was Elerra giggling about it? Astarion snapped his book shut. Fortunately, Elerra declined, looking bashful. Was she blushing, or was that just the light from the campfire? But Wyll kept his hand out, and -to Astarion’s horror – Elerra laughed and took it. Karlach and Lae’zel tapped a rhythmic cadence on their laps as Wyll led her nearer the fire. Then he pranced around her with his arms raised. It looked ridiculous, but Elerra was grinning. But then Elerra performed a series of pirouettes, and Wyll applauded. “How utterly charming!” Wyll cried.

Wyll raised his hand, and Elerra brought hers against his. Gale and Shadowheart clapped the beat, and Astarion realized this was no ordinary dance: this was flirting . The Blade of Frontiers and son of one of the most powerful men in Baldur’s Gate was flirting with the woman he worked so hard to seduce into a tactical alliance. He felt the tips of his ears heat up as he watched Elerra hold hands and spin. He wasn’t jealous, of course. But he did need to protect his assets, and The Blade would have to find another place to bury his sword.

“Bravo, bravo!” Astarion cried as he clapped and moved between them. Wyll, ever a gentleman, masked his disappointment as he sat next to Karlach, who elbowed Wyll and smirked at him.

Astarion never cared for dancing. It required spending too much time looking his victims in the eye. He preferred whispering in their ears in darkened corners of taverns. But now everyone, including Elerra, was staring at him, so he needed to put on a show – make sure everyone knew she was his, his mark, of course not actually his. He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. He held back a shiver when she placed a hand on his back. Elerra tentatively put out her left hand, and he slowly laced his fingers with hers. Astarion could feel her heart pounding. It was good that she reacted to him so strongly, yet he felt frozen looking into her eyes.

“I’m no expert, but I think you have to move first,” Elerra whispered.

Astarion jolted and then said, “Of course, darling. Just giving you a moment to prepare.”

He led her through a small box step, and both of them were extremely stiff. Astarion felt the sudden urge to impress her. Elerra was so warm, and her hand was soft despite the combat training she must have had. He took longer steps, which forced him to pull her closer, and it delighted him that her heart beat even faster. Wyll hummed a melody to match Lae’zel and Karlach’s rhythm, and Astarion whirled them around the campfire. Elerra laughed and smiled, and Astarion thought he liked the way her eyes gleamed when she laughed. He thought about how he could get her to make that expression again and –

sh*t.

Astarion stopped moving, and Elerra bumped into him. He immediately let go of her, ignoring the way her face fell. He did enough. She was falling for him, and he was definitely not falling for her. He got carried away by the dancing. Yes, that was definitely it. It's a good thing he stopped it.

“See, that is how it’s done, darling. Now, surely we all have something better to be doing.” He bolted for his tent, not turning back to look at Elerra one last time.

The vampire attempted to read his book again, but his mind wouldn’t settle enough to read. His stomach growled, and he thought he could go to Elerra’s tent. Feeding on Elerra wasn’t filling, but he looked forward to holding her each night. It was a nice little routine they had found in all the chaos. He would wrap his arms around her, and she snuggled up against him and dozed off while he held her. But he had already held her once tonight. It would be better to hunt. Astarion crept out of the tent. The others were already in bed, but Karlach was still awake, keeping watch. This was odd.

“Isn’t it Wyll’s turn?” he asked.

Karlach chuckled, “We lost a bet, and now we have to take all Wyll’s night shifts. At least it’s a lovely night.”

Astarion co*cked his head sideways, “A bet? That must have been interesting. What was it?”

Karlach smirked, “Not really. Gale, Lae’zel, Shadowheart, Wyll, and I bet whoever got you to drop that book and come over didn’t have to do night duty. Wyll’s more devious than I gave him credit for.”

Astarion’s whole body tensed up. His plan worked so well that even the others thought his feelings were genuine. They were taking bets on it. So why did he feel so raw and exposed? He forced out a laugh, “That silly Blade – I only came over to stop the second-hand embarrassment I got from all that hopping he was doing.”

Karlach rolled her eyes and laughed, “You’re always thinking of other people, Fangs.”

He turned towards the forest, but Karlach called out, “You know, Astarion. It isn’t a weakness to care for someone.”

Astarion paused but didn’t turn around, “You would think that wouldn’t you?” he whispered.

He didn’t wait for a response and hurried out of the campsite. Caring for someone wasn’t a weakness – it was a fatal flaw. He spent a lot of time thinking about his shortcomings when he was alone in a tomb for an entire year, a consequence of caring for someone. From that day on, he detached himself from every person he encountered. He had two hundred years of practice pretending to be interested in people, so, of course, it would appear to someone as naïve as Karlach or Wyll that he had feelings for Elerra. This bet was a positive development. If the others bought his performance, then certainly Elerra did as well.

The boar Astarion drained was filling but not satisfying. He still felt on edge for some reason. Why was he letting their stupid bet get to him? He passed Elerra’s tent and heard a muffled cry. The bard often had difficult nights filled with nightmares and the occasional murder. She had no memory of her life before they met, and Astarion assumed something horrible must have happened. Elerra once commented that the tiredness she felt after he fed kept the nightmares away; at the time, he felt pride in being the one person who could help her sleep. Pride because his plan was working, obviously.

He could back off some of this cuddliness because things were going so well. He started towards his tent, and then he heard sniffling. Elerra must have been crying in her sleep. He couldn’t have her getting killed tomorrow because she was too tired to pay attention to her surroundings. He tiptoed inside and gently rubbed her back. Elerra turned over and gasped but realized it was him and threw her arms around him.

“They won’t stop,” she sobbed.

His dead heart broke seeing her like this. “We’ll figure it out, darling. We will,” he heard himself saying.

Astarion held her until her breathing evened out and her grip on him loosened. He decided to stay until morning, just in case another nightmare hit. The plan was going too well for him to risk a setback.