"Gods, you look like you're just skin and bones." He spoke quietly as he helped you over to the campfire. The small puncture wounds on your neck from him were nearly closed up after a little over a month of disuse. One of your deranged past lovers had not only managed to find your camp but also sneak you out where they'd kept you as a prisoner for months. Your companions had only just recently managed to find you, slaughtering your past lover without second thought. You were almost certain you could still see flecks of blood caught in Astarion's hair as he planted a kiss on your cheek.

He was trying to be gentler around you as it seemed that the slightest noise caused you to jump or bring your hands up to block some kind of blow despite Astarion never raising a hand to you. Whatever your sick past lover had done to you had evidently left you shaken, not to mention how malnourished you seemed. He handed you a bowl of stew with hearty chunks of meat and a soupy broth before sitting down beside you on the log in front of the crackling fire. His hand snaked around your waist to hold your hip and keep you close to him as if afraid of he wasn't touching you you'd somehow slip away and he'd lose you again.