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[weaponwithoutpurpose]

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[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"There's a lot of fish down there. Some with tentacles," he says as a genuine warning.

"So if you go, I'll come with. Save you from 'em," he adds more playfully.

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Good," Astarion says, with feeling. "I have encountered more than enough tentacles in my lifetime already."

After a moment, he lets go of Jacob's hand in favour of slipping his hand through the crook of his elbow.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Yeah, no shit."

He looks down to their arms and laughs. "What, are we fucking strolling now?"

But he walks a little closer to him anyway.

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion's mouth pinches and he moves to pull away altogether - but Jacob is already shifting closer, and it stops him from getting into any self-defensive snits.

"...Not if you'd prefer not to."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Nah, I like it," he assures him, turning and planting a quick kiss on his neck before continuing on. "I do feel real fancy, though."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"I've never known this to be 'fancy'," he muses, arching his eyebrows. "What makes it fancier than holding hands?"

Surely holding hands is more intimate, if anything? Is it less fancy to be more intimate?

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Eh, it's a cultural thing maybe. An Earth-in-my-time thing. I only see it in old movies when the guy and his girl are strolling along some road together, all happy and - " 'In love' is what he was going to say, but he's not pushing that particular button, even in the context of a hypothetical. "- uh, and together. They always dress up, so - fancy."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"I see," Astarion says, sagely. "Well, I can certainly keep my distance, if you'd rather nobody assume that I'm your girl."

He casts him a sidelong smirk.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I fucking knew you'd come back with that." He gets a playful nudge at that as they reach his cabin. Or rather, the cabin he's taken for himself.

"And you can stay right here if you want. Whatever we are, it ain't nobody's business but ours."

He opens the door to find Mae snoring on the bed.

"Some fucking guard dog..." he mutters.

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion laughs, a high quick giggle.

"Come now, darling. Are your wordly possessions really in need of protection right now? She's conserving her energy, that's all."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Don't encourage her," he snorts, unlacing his boots and leaving them by the door. He flips on the lights and Mae looks up, tail wagging.

Jacob hadn't brought much from the barge - some spare clothes, food and treats for Mae just in case, and his own stash of protein powder that he keeps in a worn backpack on the floor. A small DVD player sits on the lesser-used pillow on the bed.

He takes his gun from the holster and sets it on the dresser, giving Mae a scratch as he does.

"She's lazy is what she is," he says fondly.

[sixfeetofdirt]

"We had a dog at our camp, when I was travelling," Astarion says, as he extends his hand for Mae to sniff. "I don't really think he earned his keep, but he was good for morale, I suppose. None of us disliked him and it was essentially the only thing we all had in common."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

She sniffs his hand and then bumps her nose under his fingers to demand more.

"You just picked up a dog along the road?"

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion hums and scritches across her jaw and behind an ear.

"I was travelling with several of the kind of person who would do that, yes. We found him guarding his master's corpse, and after a day or so he followed our scent and caught up with us."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Huh."

He's glad, though.

"You would have left him?" He takes off his outer jacket and lays it on the back of the chair.

Mae scoots closer to him for more pets. She's very sneaky.

[sixfeetofdirt]

Fiiiine. More pets may be happening. He was a soft touch around Scratch as well.

"He had a perfectly good pile of meat right there, darling, he would have been fine. But I...wouldn't have turned him away."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Yeah, I figured as much. You're a sucker."

He crosses the room and snakes his arms around his waist. "You know, we had some good plans, but if you want to go swimming, we can. And I can get us both back to the boat if it goes."

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion leans back into him, turning his head to kiss his jaw.

"No, I like your idea for the evening much more. I'd rather swim in the daylight, anyway."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

He keeps himself close. "Don't say I didn't offer," he says with a playful squeeze. "I'm gonna hop in the shower first. You want to join?"

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Oh, do I want to see you naked and glistening amidst clouds of steam? Perhaps at close enough quarters that I can't possibly avoid touching you?"

He nips at his neck.

"Of course I want to join."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Yeah, that's the best option."

He lets go of him so he can lift his shirt over his head, tossing it to the little corner he had dubbed the laundry spot. The jeans are next and he turns the shower in.

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion laughs and goes about stripping himself likewise, tossing his own clothes onto the bed.

"If I ever get to pick some somewhere after the Barge, it'll have to have hot running water. I don't think I can do without it, now."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Gets so cold at home that the pipes can freeze and it takes a while to get hot water. To the boiler goes out. And that's when I miss it the most."

He steps into the shower and leans back with a happy sort of sigh.

"Shit like this is what I try to avoid."

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion steps under the spray with him, making a soft sound of pleasure as warm water washes over his cool, pale skin.

"Your home doesn't have much to recommend it, it sometimes seems."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"No, but - don't have any other prospects. And if I go back, I can help Joseph rebuild after the collapse."

His hands rest on Astarion's hips.

"Assuming I ever graduate."