Chapter Text
Astarion kept his head down as he entered the club. Sure, it wasn't party hours, and sure, he was using the back entrance to go right to Tav's office, but it was still a bit nerve wracking walking back into the building. He hadn't been back for months, since the last time Cazador decided to show him off.
But Cazador was gone, and anyone who showed the barest ounce of support for him had been thrown out of The Dark Urge Club on their ass. Tav had been incredibly clear that they didn't care how much money they lost, anyone who supported Cazador after what he did needed to stay far away from her community.
The court cases had been done for two months now, and Astarion had been in therapy since the incident that resulted in Cazador's arrest and imprisonment. He was missing the scene. Regardless of Cazador's actions against him and his fellow subs, he enjoyed submission. He enjoyed being told what to do. He enjoyed floating in subspace. He enjoyed pleasing someone else. He wanted to be with someone.
So, he was sucking up his nerves and going to a meeting with Tav. Astarion knocked on the main office door, and it was answered by Lae'zel, the club's security manager. "You're here. Good," she said. She always sounded judgmental, but Astarion had gotten to know her well enough after the incident that she no longer scared him. "Go through the door. Tav is waiting." Lae'zel clicked her tongue at him and went back to looking at her commputer screen, reading over notes.
Astarion stepped into Tav's private office. He was met with their brilliant smile and wide arms. He took the hug shyly. He wasn't big on physical touch from most people, but Tav was an exception. "Astarion!" she greeted him, "I'm so glad to see you!"
Astarion pulled back from her hug. "I am glad to see you as well, my darling. I hope everyone celebrates my return as much as you do," Astarion chuckled awkwardly. While most comments on news articles had been angry at Cazador and his abuse, Astarion had seen plenty of comments about how he was a horrible sub for having his former master incarcerated. The worst of them stated that he was broken, and no one would ever want him again.
"Astarion, everyone will be delighted to have you back if you want to come play here. And anyone who so much as looks at you wrong-"
"Is getting thrown out. Yes, darling, I know," Astarion finished for them. Tav had made that promise on the phone the moment Astarion said he wanted to come in and ask about finding a dom. "It's hard not to be nervous, though."
"Of course. Which is why I'm making this as painless as possible. Do you want to do this out loud, or just fill out the survey?" Tav asked, pulling out some paper and pens from her desk.
"Survey?" Astarion asked.
"Yeah, survey. I give it to everyone who asks me for help finding a play-partner. It lists just about every kink, sex act, and a lot of non-sex acts, and you list whether they're a necessity, something you enjoy but don't need, something you need to talk about a lot before you consider it, or something that is a flat no. It won't beat a proper conversation with your partner when you meet them, but it's a solid start. I can match you up with someone who's preferences match yours. And of course you can make notes in the margins or at the bottom of the page," said Tav. They were clearly proud of themself.
Astarion took a seat at Tav's desk. "Well," he said, "I guess I'll just fill out the survey. It'll be faster than going through it out loud."
---
Astarion spent an hour and a half at Tav's desk filling out the massive survey. He was well versed, but there were a few things that even he had to search. It seemed that Tav really had found just about everything one could do with a play-partner and put it down on paper.
In the end, Astarion was left with a survey filled with mostly "flat out nos," and "talk about it firsts." Everything that could've been considered punishment play was a no, and almost all sexual acts would involve a serious conversation. It would've been all sexual acts, but his damned oral fixation made him excited to perform any sort of oral sex. So being able to give his partner oral was a requirement. Maybe, he thought, that would make up for some of his deficiencies in other areas.
The last thing to do was write any notes. Astarion took a deep breath and wrote, "you tell them about my history. I don't want them to meet me and recognize my face." Astarion had been a key witness at Cazador's trial and his identity was well known. Even if someone didn't recognize his name, Cazador's buddies made sure that half internet knew what he looked like while he screamed. The other half knew what he looked like when he cried from relief based on photos taken at the sentencing. It was just easier to let Tav say who he was ahead of time, instead of them meeting him and realizing who he was. Or worse, Astarion thought, having to tell his new partner about what happened to him if somehow they didn't know.
Astarion handed over the paperwork to Tav and slumped over the desk. As much as Tav had reassured him over the phone that they had done plenty of matchmaking and that there was "a dom for every sub," Astarion wasn't sure. What if he was the exception?
Tav flipped through his survey slowly, paying attention to every answer. After they took a first scan, they walked to a file cabinet and pulled out a few files. Astarion listened as they murmured and rifled through the pages. They sat down at their desk and looked carefully from Astarion's survey to the contents of each file, slowly putting the files to the side until the were finally left with one in their hands.
"Well," they said, "here he is. Not only do your answers match up almost perfectly, but I think you'll be good for each other. Read through the file, then tell me if I should send him a message. The club opens in a few hours, you can see about getting dinner and talking things out with him then coming back here to play."
"You talk like he'll meet me right now," Astarion said with a chuckle.
"He's new to the area, said he doesn't have much to do on weekends yet. He's here most Saturdays to watch demonstrations anyway. Go on, look over the file! I'll need to send him your file soon if you're going to talk boundaries before tonight," said Tav. They're smile said that they were confident in their match.
Astarion poured over the file. The Astarion of a few months previous wouldn't have described Gale Dekarios as his type, but he was no longer sure what his type was. Cazador had him sub in front of all sorts of stereotypically beautiful people, which Gale was not. But the smile in his photo was kind, and his survey matched up almost frighteningly well. Astarion had expected to give in and smile through some painplay, but Gale's survey also listed anything relating to pain and punishment as off limits. Sure, they had differences, but none of their requirements clashed with any of their hard boundaries. Astarion came to the notes on the last page. He had expected a few short notes, but instead found several typed paragraphs.
In them, Gale spoke about a previous relationship gone wrong, where he and his former partner agreed to switch roles often but Gale had ended up subbing the entire time. His boundaries were pushed or flat out ignored, and when he tried to take back a modicum of control, he was thrown out. Worst of all, the woman had been his boss. Luckily Gale had been able to leave and move from Waterdeep to Baldur's Gate, but the situation had left him hurt. After a few months of therapy, he was ready for a partner looking for a soft dom.
Astarion put his head in his hands. Where had Tav pulled that man from? He was too perfect. Astarion read over the file and notes again, looking for the flaws. Even the background check tucked in the file was completely clean, as if Tav would've let him be matched without a good background. Astarion had to accept that the man was ideal on paper, and that maybe he could talk to Gale.
"Text him," Astarion said to Tav, "Tell him to meet me at the pizza place around the corner at," he checked his phone for the time, "eight. That should give him enough time to go over the file and get here."
Tav snapped some photos of Astarion's file. "For the notes, do you have a news article I can send him? I can search a good one relatively fast, but I want your consent on any of them."
Astarion pulled out his phone and, in less than a minute, sent a link to Tav. "There, that's the best one."
Tav nodded. "Good, and-" they pressed on their phone dramatically, "sent. Now, we have an hour and a half. Should we gossip? Do makeup? I probably have some clothes you can borrow if you want something fancier."
Astarion patted his bag. "I didn't know if I'd find someone tonight, but I packed some things in here. If you want to help me get ready though, darling, I would love to gossip while you help me get dressed."
---
Astarion ended up at the pizza place at ten minutes to eight, looking fantastic. Instead of the t-shirt and sweatpants he had entered Tav's office in, he was changed into a pair of tight leggings and a tank-top with low-cut sides. Tav had done his makeup, giving him pink lips and winged eyeliner. He felt good about himself, and while he was nervous, he was ready to meet Gale.
While Gale wasn't at the restaurant yet, Astarion wasn't nervous that he was being stood up. Thirty minutes after Tav messaged Gale, the man had sent back an adorably excited voice message. Astarion was glad to hear Gale stumbling over his words in his excitement to meet Astarion.
Astarion told the worker at the counter he was meeting someone, and sat down. At eight o'clock exactly, Gale rushed in. He was wearing a t-shirt and maxi skirt, and looked extremely anxious. Astarion waved him over, and Gale's eyes lit up.
"I, I'll admit I was a touch worried that this was all just a joke," Gale said as he sat down, "You seemed a little too perfect to be real, honestly."
Astarion blushed from the compliments. "Of course I'm real, darling. Tav isn't quite that cruel. Now, pizza and discussion. I think we have some things to go over if we're going to play together."
It was Gale's turn to blush. "Out here? We're in public."
Astarion laughed. "Gale, this place gets most of its business from the club. The food is awful, but it's open until dawn and anything tastes good after the type of workout you can get at The Dark Urge."
Gale chuckled. "Fine then. Awful pizza and a conversation about boundaries beyond what's here. And, if we're happy, maybe a conversation about what we'll do tonight?"
"If you're as good in person as you are on paper, I'm sure we can have a good time tonight," Astarion said with a smirk.
---
Gale was as good in person as he was on paper. Sure, the man had a tendency to ramble, but it was sweet. And he was perfectly fine with sticking to things that Astarion strictly enjoyed, meaning that he wouldn't miss sex, "Um, as long as you're ok with me, well, when I get home, I don't think I'll be able to to help thinking about you when I,"
Astarion laughed at that. "Yes, Gale, of course. I don't think I've ever been more flattered."
Gale's blush at that was firey and incredible. His blush when Astarion explained exactly how much he wanted to hold Gale's cock in his mouth was even better.
There was no discussion of punishment or pain beyond a cursory, "it's off the table." Astarion explained briefly that he liked following orders, and if he wasn't willing to follow one he would call "yellow" and they could talk out an alternative.
FInally, they came to a lull in the conversation. They had finished discussing their surveys, but had yet to move on to if and how they were going to play that night. Astarion decided it was the best time to bring it up. "So, darling, you get one question."
Gale looked confused. "We've been asking questions all evening. One question about what?"
Astarion sighed, he didn't want to say it out loud. "The elephant in the room, darling. About how I was, well, one of Caz-"
Astarion got less than halfway through Cazador's name when Gale helpd up a hand. "Do you want to discuss this? Because I'll tell you, I read what Tav sent, and my old dom showed me a lot of images that I want to scrub from my mind. That bastard did some terrible things that she was keen to repeat, and you getting out helped me get out. We don't need to discuss anything unless you explicitly want to. If there was some sort of magic I could use to take that pain off of your shoulders, I would in a heartbeat, because no one deserves the shit that bastard did to you and the others he hurt."
"You knew who I was," was all Astarion could say.
"Yeah, and I'm sorry. If my being shown those pictures means that you want me to leave now, I'm perfectly happy to-"
It was Astarion's turn to interupt. "Now now, Gale. Let's not be so hasty. You sat with me for," Astarion checked his phone, "over an hour at this point without bringing up the whole sordid affair. That's more respect than I expected anyone in the scene to ever give me again. You clearly don't care about or want to repeat what was in those photos, and if you're telling the truth, which I suspect you are, you didn't go searching them out on your own. Half of the internet has seen those pictures, and if I told every person who had seen them that they had to get out of my life, I'd have no one left. So you're staying right here, and in thirty minutes when the club opens we're going to go have a damn good time, if I haven't put my foot in my mouth to badly by bringing up that bastard."
Gale smiled. "There is nothing I would like more than to go to the club with you after this. You know the place best, what should we do when we're there?"
The pair settled on Astarion showing Gale the club and introducing him to his friends under the pretense of Gale "showing off a lovely new piece of arm candy, dear," and then Gale taking a seat somewhere comfortable and letting Astarion keep Gale's cock warm until they both couldn't take it anymore.
"Uh, one more thing," Gale said as they finished up.
"Yes?" Astarion said, just slightly impatient.
"I, well, I get tired after I climax. I'd rather just take care of myself when I get home, and make sure you have the aftercare you need." Gale's looked down at his lap, unable to hold eye contact.
"Well," Astarion said, "as disappointed as I am that I won't get to taste everything, I appreciate you thinking of me. I've gone far too long without proper aftercare, and I suppose you shouldn't fall asleep in a chair a the club."
"No, I really shouldn't. I'm sure you're absolutely wonderful, and I'd love to experience everything you can do another time, but I want to make sure you can come down safely for now." Gale managed to look back up at Astarion. "You listed on the survey that you like being held? Is there anything else I should know?"
"Not that I know of. There might be more, but, well," Astarion didn't want to finish the sentence.
"Well, then I hold you, and we figure it out together. I brought a few extras in my bag, just some water bottles and candy, but if that isn't enough, I can buy some things before next time," Said Gale. Then, he froze, realizing what he had just said. "Not that there has to be a next time, of course."
"Oh, I think we'll get along well enough for there to be a next time, dear. Now, I believe that the club should be opening in just a few minutes, and you need to show me off to everyone in there," said Astarion, standing up and reaching a hand out to Gale.