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Astarion loves his siblings. Truly, he does. But he's also spent a not insignificant amount of his life wishing he could strangle them. As such, he prefers to keep their interactions limited to their chaotic group chat and once-or-twice yearly get togethers.
This has been the routine with his family for years, without much variation. This year, however, there is one major difference.
Gale is going to meet them all.
It has to happen eventually, Astarion knows that, but it doesn't make him dread it any less. The Ancunín siblings—himself included—are the very definition of dysfunctional. A rowdy bunch of poorly supervised orphans that raised each other as best they could. That is to say, not very well. At least most of them turned out halfway decent.
The thought of subjecting calm, respectful, only child Gale to all of them makes Astarion a bit nauseous. But it can't be helped. They've been living together for over a year. Discussed what they want for their future. Agreed that whatever that future is, they want to be together for it.
Astarion already has the ring. Already planned out the speech. He's just waiting for the right moment, really, and to get this family introduction thing over with. Dalyria would strangle him if he introduced Gale for the first time as his fiancé. Rightfully so, in this case.
He tells himself it won't be that bad, over and over in his head like a mantra. It works, up until Dalyria ushers them inside and all six of the heathens descend on Gale like vultures.
“You’re the boyfriend? I expected someone…” Auerelia drawls, judgement written all over her face.
Astarion scowls at her and she seems to catch herself, fixing her expression into something more neutral.
“Hotter?” Violet chimes in, already cackling like a witch.
“Less nerdy?” Petras adds, and he's snickering, too, like he's said something incredibly clever.
God, Astarion can't stand him. He's pretty sure his brother hasn't had a single useful thought in his entire life. He'll never understand why Dalyria lets him freeload off her.
“Nerdy is better than unemployed,” Leon chimes in, as if he can tell what Astarion’s thinking. There’s a reason Leon is his favorite brother. Then, a suspicious squint at Gale and, “you’re not unemployed, are you?”
Right. Favorite brother, but third favorite sibling at the best of times. Judgemental dick.
“No, um, I teach at the university–” Gale speaks up, finally seeing an opening in the ruckus to actually tell them something about himself.
“Ew, you’re dating a teacher?” Violet asks, miming a gag.
Astarion shifts his glare to her, instead. Baby of the family or no, she's far too old for this.
“Jesus, Violet. What, are you thirteen?” He scoffs.
“What’s wrong with teachers?” Aurelia chimes in.
Astarion appreciates that she's trying to be helpful, even though it is, as usual, largely ineffective.
“There’s nothing wrong with teachers,” Dalyria jumps in, finally deciding some mediation is in order. Too little, too late as far as Astarion is concerned. “It's a perfectly respectable career.”
“Sure, if you like boring people to death,” Petras sneers.
Gale, level-headed angel that he is, seems unbothered, even though Astarion can feel his own eye start to twitch.
“You’re just jealous because you dropped out of college,” Dalyria snaps, quickly losing patience. The two of them have that in common, really.
“Whatever,” Petras rolls his eyes and pulls a vape out of his stained hoodie pocket. “Why should I work hard when you guys already make the big bucks?”
“We’re not going to support you forever,” Leon intervenes, even though Astarion is pretty sure they've been doing as much for at least five years, and he can't imagine his soft-hearted older siblings stopping any time soon.
“Especially not if you keep hotboxing your precious few brain cells,” Yousen adds.
The quietest of them, but always willing to defend Leon, piss off Petras, or both, if he can manage it. He might be a suck up, but at least he doesn’t usually cause problems.
“It’s medicinal, you ass,” Petras grumbles.
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s what your dealer says,” Violet taunts before trying to snatch the vape from his hand and half-tackling him in the process.
It’s almost comforting to watch them team up on each other. Almost, until Gale starts to look overwhelmed, hands clasped politely in front of him as his head swivels back and forth like he’s watching a fucked up tennis match.
They fall into their usual roles as Astarion and Gale watch on in quiet horror. Violet and Petras stir shit up. Yousen and Aurelia egg them on for the fun of it, then sit back to smugly enjoy watching the hot-headed siblings lose their tempers. All while Dalyria and Leon weakly try to wrangle the other four back under control so they can all at least pretend to be normal.
It’s terribly embarrassing, and Astarion half-thinks Gale’s going to dump him on the way home. What was he thinking, bringing Gale to meet them all? He’s already worried enough as is about all the baggage he brings to their relationship. Sure, Gale’s the sweetest, most patient man Astarion has ever met, but he must have a limit. Astarion already has a headache, and he grew up with this. God, he should’ve just lied and said he didn’t have any family when Gale asked.
“So what is it you teach?” Leon asks, trying to steer the conversation somewhere civilized.
“Chemistry. Grad students, mostly, but I take the occasional undergrad class, too,” Gale says, clearly relieved to talk about something he's passionate about.
“Fascinating. I’ve always loved chemistry, but biology has my heart.” Dalyria adds with a smile, easing the vice of anxiety around Astarion's heart.
“An excellent field in its own right!” Gale grins, genuine as always. “Do you teach?”
Dalyria shakes her head before adding in her best impression of modesty, “only at the bedside.”
“She’s a doctor,” Aurelia explains for her, and it is rather sweet how proud she is of all of them. Well. Most of them.
“That’s wonderful. What do you do, Leon?” Gale asks, and Astarion is—not for the first time—immensely grateful that his partner is not only charming, but knows how to deal with social situations like this. Astarion himself is awful at small talk.
“I’m a writer,” Leon says proudly, and Astarion takes a deep breath, because this is one of those topics that gets everyone going.
“Oh! Anything I would know?”
“He’s not a real writer,” Petras interrupts.
“At least he knows how to write,” Yousen shoots back.
“What Petras means is that I’m self-published. Children’s books. Mostly copywriting, though, to be fair. Simple stuff I can do from home.”
“Leon’s priority is being a good dad,” Dalyria clarifies. “His daughter is with her mother for the weekend, but she's a very sweet girl.”
“Ugh, I can’t imagine wasting all my free time on some snot-nosed, ungrateful brat,” Violet groans, feigning a shudder.
“That’s because you still are an ungrateful brat,” Aurelia hisses. “I think it’s sweet.”
“You also cry when you see dogs on TV,” Violet deadpans.
“Because they’re working so hard! Don’t be a dick just because I have a heart.”
“For the love of everything, stop fighting before I kick you all out,” Dalyria demands, raising her voice to make sure they all hear her.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Yousen mutters under his breath, undeterred.
Dalyria pinches the bridge of her nose and takes a deep breath, a gesture Astarion is achingly familiar with. Then, she orders Petras and Violet to go set the table and turns to Gale with a strained smile.
“Sorry about all that. The seven of us don’t get together very often so it can be a bit… chaotic.”
Leon snorts. “That’s an understatement. I don’t understand why those two listen to you and no one else.”
“Because she pays for everything. They’re assholes, not stupid,” Yousen points out.
“Yousen,” Dalyria warns. “Can you not be civilized for a single night?”
“Please don’t worry on my behalf. I grew up in a big family, so it takes a lot to shake me,” Gale says, smiling amiably.
Astarion does a double take. As far as he knows, Gale’s an only child. He’s always assumed it was just him and his mom growing up. Gale spots his confused expression and shrugs sheepishly.
“I have a lot of aunties and even more cousins. The Dekarios clan takes raising children with a village rather seriously.”
“Good to know we won’t scare you off,” Dalyria teases, and Astarion relaxes a bit.
Maybe this won’t be a complete disaster.
“Definitely not,” Gale says, and a strong, warm arm snakes around his waist.
God, Astarion loves him. He knew there was a reason he thought this was a good idea. One gesture, one glance from honey-brown eyes, and all of Astarion’s doubt melts away. It’s impossible not to smile back at him, to plant a hasty kiss on his bearded cheek. He pretends not to see Yousen’s eye roll.
“So how did you two meet?” Leon asks.
Back to normal conversation, thank God.
“We’ve been friends for ages, actually,” Gale jumps into their story effortlessly, like he’s happily shared it multiple times before. He probably has. Astarion can’t stop smiling at him. “We danced around each other for a while before our mutual friends pointed out how ridiculous, and obvious, we were being.”
“That’s so sweet!” Aurelia squeals. “I can’t believe you didn’t mention him sooner.”
Astarion glares at her. Like he’d ever tell his siblings anything about his personal life. Aurelia can’t keep a secret to save her life, and he’d never hear the end of it from Petras and Violet. That, and Dalyria would’ve demanded to meet him far before Astarion was ready. There’s a reason he didn’t tell them about him until–
“I’m just glad to see Astarion with someone that makes him so happy,” Dalyria says, and Astarion's cheeks warm, because he knows it's true. “He’s never brought someone home before, so I was a bit nervous when he told us all about you last week, but–”
“Last week?” Gale interjects, confused.
“I know, Astarion can be impressively secretive when he wants to be, right?” Dalyria teases. “I can’t believe he managed to avoid bringing you up for what, a few months?”
Oh. Oh, no. Like watching a car crash in slow motion, Astarion realizes too late how this looks. Sees the little frown crease Gale’s face.
“We’ve been together for two years.”
“Oh. Uh,” Dalyria clears her throat awkwardly, realizing belatedly that she’s said something she shouldn’t have.
Shit. He can practically see the anxious thoughts churning through Gale’s head. Like any couple, they’ve had their fair share of rocky times. A lot of them stemmed from Gale’s very understandable fears that Astarion wasn’t taking things as seriously as he was.
Astarion’s instinct has always been to run, rather than expose himself to risk. To shut down and close himself off rather than facing up to something that might leave him hurt. They’d both spent a lot of time learning how to express and navigate their respective needs.
Gale is the kind of person who needs reassurance, because before Astarion, it had never been a given that his partner loved him or wanted him around. Somewhere on the other end of the spectrum, Astarion needs space to process when they argue. So he can remember that no matter what he’s still free. That he’s actively choosing Gale. And Gale knows to be there with open arms when he comes out of his shell again.
Astarion can tell Gale is hurt, even though he goes right back to smiling and making small talk with his family. He can’t focus on anything else, not when he’s stuck wishing he could pull Gale aside and explain. It would cause a fuss, and Astarion would have to come up with an excuse, which would just make Gale more upset. This isn’t what he needs, not with his nerves already shot by the ring burning a hole in his pocket. It may actually be the worst possible time for Gale to doubt him, right now when he couldn’t be more committed to him. To them.
“Are you alright?” Gale whispers to him when the attention momentarily shifts off them. Guilt sits heavy in his chest. Of course Gale noticed his fretting, when Astarion is the one who should be checking on him.
“Of course, darling,” he whispers back, and he can tell from the way Gale holds him a little tighter that he isn’t convincing.
“We’ll debrief later,” Gale promises, and Astarion adores this ridiculous man who says things like “debrief” in regular conversation. All while doing whatever he can to make Astarion feel cared for.
Astarion takes a deep breath in. Holds it. Lets it out over a count of four. Gale’s right. They’ll talk after, and he can explain why he’s waited so long to tell his disaster of a family about them. He still forgets sometimes that he can make mistakes. That it doesn’t mean the world he’s painstakingly built for himself is going to come crashing down.
Just as he feels the last dregs of anxiety leave his body, a screech sounds in the kitchen. A noise Astarion is far too familiar with after years of mishaps. Violet. Shit.
“Dalyria!” Petras shouts, “I think something is on fire!”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Dalyria was a good sport about it, really. She didn’t point fingers, but Astarion is sure it was somehow Violet and/or Petras’ fault that the elaborate casserole she’d been baking for lunch burnt to a crisp. No real harm done, he supposes. Gale suggested they order Chinese takeout instead, and the food was good enough to keep any of his siblings from killing each other. He counts that as a win, as far as Ancunín family gatherings go.
This, however, is what he prefers. Walking hand in hand with Gale as the sun sets, taking advantage of the desolate park that he used to run amuck in as a kid. There isn't much from his past that's worth showing Gale, but this place isn't half bad.
“You know,” Astarion starts, leaning against a tree that must be far older than him, “that might be the least stressful get-together I've ever had with the lot of them.”
“That good?” Gale asks, stopping in front of Astarion to rest his hands on his waist.
“Not really,” he answers truthfully, “but you were there. Guess that makes the difference.”
Gale smiles at him, full of soft affection. It's really starting to hit him, that he might get to have this, have him, every day. For the rest of their lives. It's the kind of thing that would've terrified him a few years ago, but now? With Gale? It's one of the easiest decisions he's ever made.
“What's going on in there?” Gale teases, gently tapping Astarion's temple. “You look lost in thought.”
“Just thinking about us,” he confesses. “How far we've come, I suppose. I've put you through a lot.”
“Oh, none of that. We've been through a lot together,” Gale chastises, but there's no edge to it. A reassurance, more than anything. “If this is about earlier, don't worry about it. I know your family is… complicated. I'm sure you had your reasons. We're long past the point where you need to prove your commitment to me.”
“When did you get so good at reading me?” Astarion grumbles.
Gale chuckles, swooping in to press a kiss to his cheek. “Since I made it my favorite pastime, love.”
Astarion never tires of this honeyed affection between them. Never stops being delighted and a little surprised by it. Gale is a romantic, he knows that, but Astarion never used to think of love like this. When they first got together, he was sure it would fade. This constant, mutual aura of devotion. The natural inclination of their thoughts towards one another.
But it still hasn't. Astarion can't believe he found this. That he's been so lucky. It feels like the right time, or at least as right as any other time, so he fumbles for the box in his pocket and tries to remember how his planned speech starts.
“I didn't want to tell my siblings about you before I was ready for you to meet them because they would've been insufferable otherwise. And part of me has been dreading that introduction, because…” Astarion hesitates. This isn't part of the speech, but it feels important to clear the air, first. “It, uh, it felt like the last bit of myself I haven't shared with you. One final thing that might make you realize it's all too much.”
“Astarion,” Gale starts, and he's doing his sad puppy eyes.
“Shush! I know. It was irrational, and that's why I wanted to get it over with, because I've never felt more secure than I do with you. I want to share everything with you. I adore you, Gale, and you know I'm really not that good with emotions, but I–” Fuck. Shit. Astarion can't remember a single word of that damn speech, can't remember what he's supposed to say to get it all across. “You're incredible. You've changed my life, and you keep changing it. And I'm not even afraid of that! Not when it's you.”
Gale's practically beaming at him, bright and gorgeous and everything Astarion has ever wanted. He opens his mouth to say something, but Astarion rushes to cut him off. He can't let himself lose his nerve now.
“I love you, Gale. You're my best friend. Ridiculous, and earnest, and so hot it makes me stupid. I want to spend my life with you.”
“Astarion?” Gale whispers, eyes wide.
Full of awe, and he can feel the hands he loves so much shaking just a bit where they touch him. Which is kind of silly, because they've talked about getting married before, he shouldn't be so surprised that Astarion's actually making it happen.
Astarion finally frees the box from his pocket, feeling clumsier than he ever has in his life as he opens it up to present the ring to Gale.
“Marry me?” And the words are so hard to squeak out, even though he completely abandoned his script and went through that whole romantic spiel.
Gale answers with strong arms pulling him close and a flurry of kisses, completely ignoring the ring. On his cheeks and forehead and nose. Into his hair and over the tips of his ears. They're both giggling like teenagers into a deep, slow kiss, savoring their first taste of each other now that they're engaged.
“That's a yes, by the way,” Gale grins once they part. “In case you couldn't tell.”
“Hmm, I'm not sure, my sweet. I think you might have to kiss me again, to really get the message across.”
Gale obliges, indulging Astarion with tender, needy kisses until Astarion stops him to slide the ring into place on his finger.
Astarion isn't sure he's ever been happier than he is, right now. This moment is for the two of them to bask in and put all their worries aside.
Astarion can worry about breaking the news to his siblings later. Preferably much later.