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Breakfast that morning is slow. Wyll and Karlach had cooked, fried eggs and rashes of bacon still sizzling over the fire, a pot of coffee brewing just off to the side.
Gale sits next to Astarion, still quiet, but not silent.
Karlach loads a plate for him, clearly unsure of how much a human really needs to eat, but well aware that Gale has gone without for far too long. She presses it into Gale’s hands. He looks up, still a bit lost, still a bit fuzzy, but he smiles. On his other side, Wyll is pouring a cup of coffee, and he hands it to Astarion to hold, both of Gale’s hands currently busy cradling his plate.
The mood isn’t somber, but more cautious. Voices are kept low, though people still speak. Shadowheart and Halsin are on the other side of the fire, heads bowed together in discussion. Lae’zel is abnormally unarmed, all of her blades still resting by her tent as she tears her bread apart.
She looks over, half a loaf in each hand, and tips one of them towards them questioningly. Astarion nods, and barely has time to react before it’s flying at his head. It hits his face, flopping down onto his lap, and he feels Gale shake beside him.
He looks over, terrified that the other man might have been scared by the sudden movement, but he feels no more fear from their connection than he had done before. Instead, Gale is chuckling, smiling at his baffled face.
“Oh har har.” He can’t get his voice to sound admonishing in the slightest, the joy he feels at hearing Gale laugh all consuming.
He isn’t entirely broken. He will be okay. He’s getting better. They will be alright.
He picks the bread up in his free hand, feeling the crust crunch under his fingers. The coffee didn’t spill, which he’s happy about. He would like to throw something back at her, but both of his hands are busy, and that would require moving away from Gale to grab something.
Once his chuckles die down, Gale is left just holding his plate, looking down at it, not moving to touch any of the food. He looks apprehensive, slightly nauseous. As he raises the plate slightly, shifting his grip, his hands shake, the entire plate threatening to topple over before he puts it back down.
“Are you hungry?” He offers the bread, holding it above the plate. He’d put it down, but there isn’t any space left on it after Karlach filled it up.
Gale half nods, half shrugs, looking more overwhelmed by the second.
He doesn’t know what to do. He wants to do something though. “Do you want some help?”
Gale’s shoulder hunch up, an embarrassed flush climbing up his cheeks before he nods again, small and jerky.
Astarion puts the coffee cup down before breaking off a piece of the bread. He tears a chunk off of the bacon to place on top, and holds it up to Gale’s mouth. His lips part, just barely, and Astarion slides the morsel past them. Gale’s lips are soft against his fingers.
Gale chews it slowly, arduously. His face is drawn in something akin to discomfort, closer to nausea than pain.
Still, he’s eating. He’s letting him help. Astarion can’t help but smile. “There you go darling.”
Gale shrinks further in on himself, face entirely red, but a small flash of pleasure passes through their bond. Astarion allows himself a small laugh, squeezing Gale’s hand. He’s so cute.
He tears off a new piece of bread, using it to pick up a piece of egg, letting it rest on the plate as he waits for Gale to finish chewing. Once he swallows, he holds it up to him. Gale takes the bite, slightly less hesitant this time, though the flush is still high in his cheeks. He is purposely not looking at any of their companions.
It still seems like chewing is a monumental effort, nothing near Gale’s usual interest in food anywhere to be found. Still, he eats, working his way through this bite as well.
In front of them, Scratch trots a lap around the fire. Even he can sense the somber mood, no playful barks or happy yips escaping him. The next time he passes them, he pushes his nose into Gale’s thigh, snuffling softly.
He swallows thickly before speaking. “Hi Scratch.” His voice is scratchy as he speaks, but he manages a weak smile, balancing the plate on one shaky thigh so that he can reach down to pet him. Scratch buts up against his hand happily, tail thumping against the ground behind him. The dog’s gaze quickly locks on the overloaded plate, and he lets out a whine before raising a paw to Gale’s leg. “Do you want some?”
Scratch pants, tongue lolling out of his mouth. The well of sadness inside of Gale lightens with amusement for a moment as he chuckles. He plucks a piece of bacon off of his plate, far more than he has managed to eat, and holds it out for the dog. “There you go buddy.”
The bacon is snatched out of his grasp in moments, and Scratch lets out a happy huff before laying down on top of Gale’s feet. Some more warmth returns to Gale’s side of the bond, and if bribing Scratch with bacon is the price to pay for that, Astarion would gladly hunt and cure his own pig to give it.
He leans down to grab the coffee cup again, holding it up to Gale’s lips. The other man blinks at him for a moment before he brings his now free hand up to hold the cup. His hand is still shaking, and Astarion doesn’t let go, steadying it as Gale drinks.
He hums happily when he finishes, licking his lips. “Thank you.”
The amount that he’s smiling this morning feels stupid, what with what has happened. He can’t stop himself though. Just seeing Gale existing in his own body is like a balm. “Anytime you need.”
Gale grabs another piece of bacon, pushing it over the edge of the plate, letting it fall to the ground in front of Scratch. He doesn’t make any effort to feed himself though.
Astarion huffs, grabbing a piece of bacon himself. He tears it into smaller chunks, leaving a small pile of them on the side of the plate, before he brings one of the pieces to Gale’s lips. “You shouldn’t give your entire breakfast to the dog.” Gale takes it, still more focused on Scratch than anything else. “I think things are already enough of a dog’s breakfast.”
It takes a few seconds for the words to process, and then Gale snorts loudly. “If it’s already a dog’s breakfast, then I think Scratch can have a little bacon. As a treat.”
As he speaks, another piece of bacon mysteriously leaves his plate, never to be seen again.
“That’s-” As he looks at the small smile on Gale’s face, he can’t bring himself to stop the other man. He looks content to be giving the dog half of his meal. The meal is also very big, so half of it would probably still be more than Gale can manage in this state. “As long as you have some as well.”
Gale chuckles. “That might be the first time I’ve been told to eat more .”
Astarion pokes at his lips with another piece of bacon. “You should. You keep losing weight.” The wizard is still soft, but the adventuring has taken a toll on him. His shirts sit looser on him now than they did at the start, his belts notched tighter. “I worry.”
He mumbles a reply, inaudible around the food in his mouth. His blush returns, though, having almost gone down as his focus drifted to Scratch. Now, it sits high on his cheeks again. He brings his cup up, hiding his face in it as he drinks, a few drops of coffee spilling down his chin as his hands shake.
He swipes them off with his thumb, looking for something to wipe his hand on. He finds nothing, and really, it’s just coffee, so he licks it off his thumb.
Gale makes a strangled noise, ducking his face into his cup when Astarion looks back at him.
Scratch yips from the ground, startling Gale, and only Astarion’s hand darting out saves his cup from spilling all over him. The dog is looking up at the plate again, and Gale huffs, flicking another piece of bacon off of it for him.
It’s good. It’s calm.
He feeds Gale another piece of bread, chuckling as the crumbs get stuck in his beard.