She glances back at him, and has to fight to keep her face neutral. She sucks air between her teeth. His hand is warm and careful around hers.
"It's not that I'm afraid of you, but..." The arm looped through his tightens against her body. He's an anchor. "I don't know many people who are kind."
She forces herself to breathe evenly, trying to exhale the rising tension.
"And I never thought that someone kind would want me."
"I'm sorry that life has been like that for you thus far." Anger at everyone who hurt her, and the sorrow it leaves behind when it fades, make the orb flicker just once, though he doesn't notice. "But we live the life we're in now, and so long as I'm here, you will never want for kindness, I swear it. Because you deserve it."
She's quiet for a long while, until she finishes the tea. She only moves away from him to set the cup on the table and when she settles back she hugs his arm tightly and brings her legs up across his lap.
She doesn't believe she deserves much of anything good, but he means it when he says she does. So she decides to put her trust in that.
"I'm from Daggerford, originally. I don't remember my mother, and all my father told me about her was that she was beautiful and that she left him because of me." It's another thing that's hard to say when his eyes get so sad, so she turns her face to his shoulder again. "He used to leave me places, but I was good at finding my way home. I thought it was a game we played and that he would get mad because I won. Eventually he took me all the way to Baldur's Gate because it was much too far for a child to walk back and he left me in the Temple District. Figured one of them would take in strays. I was six, maybe seven? So since the start, most people who get to know me decide I'm too much trouble to keep."
If she doesn't want to see him look sad, then it's a good thing she doesn't look at him while she explains all this.
"When adults fail children, it says more about them. That wasn't your fault." He's not good at sitting still, so now what he's finished with his tea, he runs the hand not holding hers up and down her legs in his lap like he's trying to warm her up, except he hardly notices he's doing it.
"I was near that age when my father stopped turning back up. He was a sailor, and my parents were never married, so it's hardly surprising -- downright banal, even." He lifts a hand to make a dismissive gesture, like ending a spell or shooing away a troublesome fly. "In your professional opinion, would you say the same of me? That it was because I was too much trouble to keep?" Except maybe he understands better than he's letting on, because that's sort of exactly what he's always thought, deep down. "In my opinion, their failures don't define you, your survival does."
"I think you're right. I know you're right. But sometimes things that aren't true still feel real, especially things we learn as children."
She sighs warm against the side of his neck. He can feel the tension melt from her as his hands run over her legs. Damn it all, she should have worn a skirt today.
"What I mean to say is that when I flinch, it's not because of you. It's just ... Ghosts, you know?"
"I understand," he replies, leaning sideways to press a little closer, "And I'll help in any way I can." As much as she'll allow for as long as he can. "When you're being haunted, I'm still right here with you."
"If it helps, I've spent little time with anyone who took an interest for reasons unrelated to my magical prowess, so I'm at a bit of a loss. I'll just have to come up with other ways to charm you." He means this all as a light hearted joke, not realizing that it's a little telling and a little sad.
"Rest assured, I'm charmed." Somehow. Inexplicably. The heart is a mystery. She brings their joined hands up to brush her lips across his knuckles.
"Do you know, I almost didn't come to Waterdeep at all? And I was thinking about going back to Baldur's Gate when Tara hit me with that fireball. Funny how fast things change."
"And I'm going to endeavor to keep you charmed," he replies with a smitten little smile that suggests he's already spinning up ideas for how to retroactively woo her like he'd talked about.
"I never asked you what you were doing in Waterdeep to begin with, though I had wondered. It's the City of Splendors, yes, but also a city full to bursting with condescending, pretentious, shitty wizards," he says, grinning as he quotes her.
"And they're still looking?" He pauses, deliberating on whether he wants to continue. "He's still looking?" It still feels against the rules to bring up her former lover, still ominously unnamed, but he reasons that if they're going to do this -- whatever this is -- then such things cannot remain taboo.
"I would help keep you safe, if you'd allow it," he offers. Help being the important distinction here, because he's under no illusions about her capabilities. She has been taking care of herself since she was a child, but she doesn't have to do it alone anymore. "And!" He holds up a finger. "Teach you to swim. Or teach you a breathing under water spell. Though both would really be preferable, considering being able to breathe under water won't stop a riptide from dragging you out to sea."
"Yes, to all of the above." If he has any lingering doubts that she loves him, a willingness to let him tell her what to do in any way should prove the depth of her feelings.
She cradles his face in her hands and leans in for another kiss, stopping just before contact. "Can I? Please?"
There's merely a breath between them, and he doesn't expect her to stop and ask, so he has to open his eyes again. "Oh, so you do know about manners after all?" He's smitten, but that won't stop him from taking a moment to tease. "Yes, you may."
That bit of sass earns him a sharp little nip, which is immediately soothed by her tongue running over the bite. Other than that, she holds herself back and lets him set the pace. It goes against everything she is, but she doesn't want to overwhelm the orb with her unrestrained feminine wiles.
Gale sucks in a sharp breath, but doesn't complain. He kisses like someone tiptoeing on a precipice. The orb is an ever present worry, a niggling pain even when it is sated, but so are other types of hunger. "Minx," he says between kisses, but he's the one to wrap an arm around her waist to pull her into his lap.
Her giggles are interrupted by a sharp, delighted gasp as he pulls her onto his lap. It might be up to Harley to maintain decorum after all, which is a terrifying prospect. Waterdeep may end up a ruined crater before sunrise, but the citizens' noble sacrifice won't be in vain.
She wiggles against his lap for a heartbeat before catching herself and checking for any signs of glow. Unless it's as bad as when she came home (home) and found him insensible on the floor, she decides it isn't enough to be a danger yet and slides her arms around his shoulders. She kisses him like there's nothing else she'd rather be doing, like they have all the time in the world together.
There are still things he should know before he makes any more promises, and something almost like guilt twists in her stomach when she decides to keep him in the dark for at least a few more hours. Let her pretend this is for keeps before he realizes she's more horrible than he imagined.
In the darkest depths of his loneliness and despair, Gale had made a habit of comforting himself with various illusions. When he lets himself think about it, this feels too much like one of those, like something that will slip away as soon as he loses focus on maintaining it. He pulls back and for a few moments, just looks up at her. "Just checking to make sure you're real," he murmurs in explanation.
Harley freezes when he first pulls back, anxiously looking for a glow or anything in his face that would hint he's changed his mind about everything. At no sign of impending disaster, her expression shifts to something soft. A little confused, and a lot fond.
"Real as far as I know," she answers with a quiet laugh. She takes one of his hands and presses his palm over her heartbeat. "What do you think?"
"I think that even at the peak of my abilities, I never could have dreamed up something like you," he replies, barely above a whisper, voice hushed in awe. Underneath his palm, he can feel the steady beat of her heart, and the way it quickens a little at his words.
Some of the things he says would be unbearable from anyone else, but the way he says it, all warmth and sincerity and love... Well, it makes her heart flutter, her stomach flip, and definitely has an effect even lower too.
She laughs quietly and the lips twist up in the kind of smile she gets right before she teases. "Have you had a lot of imaginary girlfriends, Gale my love?"
"I feel like that question is a trap," he replies with a laugh. "If I say none, you'll just say you don't believe me. But to be honest, in my youth, I was much more likely to accidentally summon friends than make illusory ones. The magma mephit, the rabbits, Tara..."
He hopes she can't see the warmth spreading through his cheeks, though she might be able to feel it. She says 'sweet', but it was more like the desperation of a lonely little boy with more magical prowess than charm. At least he improved on both fronts as an adult. "That's enough of that, I think," he says, standing and bringing her with him, lifting her with her legs still around him to carry her back through the study. "Time for bed. Er-" He looks up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to hide the embarrassment but almost tripping over that same pile of books (he makes a mental note to remove it from the floor entirely). "Literally bed, of course, because, well, you know..."
Harley squeaks when he stands up while holding her and then starts taking her through the study. His little slip of the tongue makes her blush, and then blush more when she considers the phrase 'slip of the tongue.'
"Gale!" She's helpless with laughter and buries her face against the side of his neck. "You sure don't make it any easier for yourself! Yes, hurry and take me to bed before you can misspeak again."
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"It's not that I'm afraid of you, but..." The arm looped through his tightens against her body. He's an anchor. "I don't know many people who are kind."
She forces herself to breathe evenly, trying to exhale the rising tension.
"And I never thought that someone kind would want me."
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She doesn't believe she deserves much of anything good, but he means it when he says she does. So she decides to put her trust in that.
"I'm from Daggerford, originally. I don't remember my mother, and all my father told me about her was that she was beautiful and that she left him because of me." It's another thing that's hard to say when his eyes get so sad, so she turns her face to his shoulder again. "He used to leave me places, but I was good at finding my way home. I thought it was a game we played and that he would get mad because I won. Eventually he took me all the way to Baldur's Gate because it was much too far for a child to walk back and he left me in the Temple District. Figured one of them would take in strays. I was six, maybe seven? So since the start, most people who get to know me decide I'm too much trouble to keep."
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"When adults fail children, it says more about them. That wasn't your fault." He's not good at sitting still, so now what he's finished with his tea, he runs the hand not holding hers up and down her legs in his lap like he's trying to warm her up, except he hardly notices he's doing it.
"I was near that age when my father stopped turning back up. He was a sailor, and my parents were never married, so it's hardly surprising -- downright banal, even." He lifts a hand to make a dismissive gesture, like ending a spell or shooing away a troublesome fly. "In your professional opinion, would you say the same of me? That it was because I was too much trouble to keep?" Except maybe he understands better than he's letting on, because that's sort of exactly what he's always thought, deep down. "In my opinion, their failures don't define you, your survival does."
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She sighs warm against the side of his neck. He can feel the tension melt from her as his hands run over her legs. Damn it all, she should have worn a skirt today.
"What I mean to say is that when I flinch, it's not because of you. It's just ... Ghosts, you know?"
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"If it helps, I've spent little time with anyone who took an interest for reasons unrelated to my magical prowess, so I'm at a bit of a loss. I'll just have to come up with other ways to charm you." He means this all as a light hearted joke, not realizing that it's a little telling and a little sad.
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"Do you know, I almost didn't come to Waterdeep at all? And I was thinking about going back to Baldur's Gate when Tara hit me with that fireball. Funny how fast things change."
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"I never asked you what you were doing in Waterdeep to begin with, though I had wondered. It's the City of Splendors, yes, but also a city full to bursting with condescending, pretentious, shitty wizards," he says, grinning as he quotes her.
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"The bigger the city, the easier to disappear. Nobody who knows me would think I'd come here, because of all the shitty wizards and I can't swim."
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She frowns a little and looks out over the dark waves, as though she might see all the way to Baldur's Gate and her tormentor's intentions.
"He doesn't think of me much, but when he does..." She sighs and turns to him with a rueful little smile. "Well, he has a hard time letting go."
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She cradles his face in her hands and leans in for another kiss, stopping just before contact. "Can I? Please?"
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She wiggles against his lap for a heartbeat before catching herself and checking for any signs of glow. Unless it's as bad as when she came home (home) and found him insensible on the floor, she decides it isn't enough to be a danger yet and slides her arms around his shoulders. She kisses him like there's nothing else she'd rather be doing, like they have all the time in the world together.
There are still things he should know before he makes any more promises, and something almost like guilt twists in her stomach when she decides to keep him in the dark for at least a few more hours. Let her pretend this is for keeps before he realizes she's more horrible than he imagined.
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"Real as far as I know," she answers with a quiet laugh. She takes one of his hands and presses his palm over her heartbeat. "What do you think?"
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She laughs quietly and the lips twist up in the kind of smile she gets right before she teases. "Have you had a lot of imaginary girlfriends, Gale my love?"
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She runs her fingers over his hair and sprinkles light kisses across his cheeks.
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"Gale!" She's helpless with laughter and buries her face against the side of his neck. "You sure don't make it any easier for yourself! Yes, hurry and take me to bed before you can misspeak again."