[ Astarion had certain expectations for Gale, and while he won't say he has surpassed them all... He has certainly torn apart a few of them.
There is something to be said about the empathy that he feels, somewhere buried deep down, for a relationship with unequal power balances and the demands of someone far stronger and more powerful than you - and your own desire to match them, in whatever form that might take. Astarion does not want to admit to any kind of understanding or feelings, not unless forced, but he recognises himself in Gale in a way that he finds almost a little uncomfortable.
He isn't used to such human feeling any more. That isn't who he is, the creature he had been moulded into in order to survive, and the discomfort he feels at the realisation is something that he is still processing himself.
Tonight, the rest of their companions doing whatever it is they need to do before rest, Astarion is sauntering over to where Gale is fumbling around with his tent and his belongings, a book in his hand. He doesn't quite hold it out, but he does tilt his head, expression coy as he leans forward - it could definitely be taken as flirtatious, almost dastardly so, and he deliberately tilts the volume so that the title is hidden. ]
I've found something I think you would rather enjoy, Gale.
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There is something to be said about the empathy that he feels, somewhere buried deep down, for a relationship with unequal power balances and the demands of someone far stronger and more powerful than you - and your own desire to match them, in whatever form that might take. Astarion does not want to admit to any kind of understanding or feelings, not unless forced, but he recognises himself in Gale in a way that he finds almost a little uncomfortable.
He isn't used to such human feeling any more. That isn't who he is, the creature he had been moulded into in order to survive, and the discomfort he feels at the realisation is something that he is still processing himself.
Tonight, the rest of their companions doing whatever it is they need to do before rest, Astarion is sauntering over to where Gale is fumbling around with his tent and his belongings, a book in his hand. He doesn't quite hold it out, but he does tilt his head, expression coy as he leans forward - it could definitely be taken as flirtatious, almost dastardly so, and he deliberately tilts the volume so that the title is hidden. ]
I've found something I think you would rather enjoy, Gale.