[ At least Astarion knows one thing: Cazador would never claim to love his spawn. He tortured them, used their screams for poetry and tormented them, abused his power over them and turned them into broken monsters, but the term love was never part of the equation. He's not sure that he could begin to imagine what the feeling is like, if he's being truthful.

Watching Gale for a while, he takes note of the body language, how careful he is, and tucks it away. Prodding for another time, perhaps, once he's learned a little more, once they've found themselves inevitably closer. Time travelling together has a way of working wonders like that. ]

We can't have that, can we? I'd end up with people thinking I'm, ugh, nice.

[ He shakes his head, scowling. ]

I'll read the book, but if this character is less appealing than you've made him seen I will be furious.