Sharing What’s Important
Gale Dekarios x Reader
a/n: Gale is actually like so romantic and sweet in his own way and he definitely deserves to be as in love with someone as they are in love with him. Cue in reader (Tav).
summary: Gale shows you his favorite book and the two of you read it sitting on a window. Things get super cute and fluffy in the moments that follow.
word count: 1.7k
You tilt your head back to the point where your neck creaks with a slight twinge. Your hair falls down as you gaze up at the almost endless amounts of books within the Baldur’s Gate library. You were in a library. You never thought you’d see the day. You slowly begin walking around, making sure not to stray too far. You honestly didn’t think you’d see the day for a lot of reasons. Sharp clicks of a boot ringing against the floor only proved that further.
“Here it is. This is the book I wanted to show you. I have an inkling you’ll take a liking to it,” Gale’s voice called out and you looked back down, straightening your spine to appear casual. A habit you had yet to break, even with him. You catch him just as he rounds the corner, waving a book in the air, a small smile gracing his sharp features.
“You didn’t have it on your person? Now that I don’t believe,” you tease, taking the book automatically as he holds it out in front of you, not wanting him to think for a second that you weren’t interested. Meeting his eye with a grin, you only see pure confusion in that innocent gaze.
“I would never take a book out of the library. Everything I read stays right here. If need be, I’ll sleep in here. Or come back, but I rarely seem to be able to put the things down once I pick them up.” He breaks out into a short laugh, finding himself and what he considers to be antics amusing. You have to bite your lip, not wanting to laugh at him. It would only be out of fondness… but still.
“So where should I read this then,” you ask, bringing the book back to his attention. Gale’s eyes first fall onto you. It makes your heart skip a beat that he’d first look to you instead of a book. Who would’ve guessed that could’ve ended up being a possibility for you, but you learned to take life one day at a time a long while ago.
You took joy in the way Gale’s eyes lit up. The way that, for a moment, he’s assertive as he places a hand on the small of your back and starts guiding you toward a window seat. The view of the city was breathtaking. For a moment you wondered how Gale would never grow distracted. But then you realize that for him, the book would be a distraction from looking out the window.
Gale maneuvers your body on instinct, as if he’s done this a million times before. He shuffles you over as he takes a seat at the window. His brows furrowed as he wiggled in the seat, aiming to get as comfortable as possible. And just when you don’t think your heart could be beating any faster, you watched as Gale spread his legs just the right amount in order to create a space for you. This was his place and yet here he was creating a space for you.
You don’t hesitate to slide onto the window seat, settling into his arms. A smile spreads across your lips as his arms wrap around your waist, bringing you as close as possible. Then he wiggles you as well, his way of making sure you’re as comfortable as possible.
“You done?” You raise a brow, not being able to help yourself from teasing him. Just a bit. He blinks as if breaking out of muscle memory. A routine. Then he hums and shakes his head, surprising you. Your lips part as he leans back, body still stiff and posture intact. But comfortable for him. Then he brings you to lean all the way into his chest.
“Now I am done. You may begin,” he states simply with a small nod toward the book. You slowly shake your head, constantly astounded by this man while also so desperate to know more of him. So you don’t make a quip, don't comment or give a look toward any of it. With a light sigh you open the book and start reading. A curiosity in the back of your mind as you wondered what made this his favorite.
The book was non-fiction. You had gathered that this man wasn’t much of a fiction reader, but you thought he might’ve started you off at least a little easy. At least the book was of a war. A personal diary of a little nobody who had down a whole lot for one of their greatest wars. And no one ever knew until someone found her diary and tracked it back to where she had been captured.
As you read, Gale nuzzles into the side of your head. For a second you start to melt. But then he leans in a little bit closer as you realize… he’s sticking his nose into the book! A book he’s probably read dozens of times, a book he probably knows every word to, and yet he’s moving closer to you in order to read it.
You’re honestly about to complain, rambling nonsense he wouldn’t fully understand, leading you to begrudgingly open yourself up further to him. Gale interrupts this as he nuzzles into you again. This time not further down, but into your hair. He inhaled deeply and you felt the way he melted on your back. So instead you only smile and continue reading.
“What do you think?” Gale asks, voice as neutral as ever. But looking deeper as you do, you can hear the eagerness and excitement in what little tone he holds. Her fingers press against the side of the book you’re reading. A side much smaller than the thick section you had left to read.
“I haven’t gotten much into it, you know.” You can’t help it as your smile widens considerably. You glance up at Gale to see a flicker of disappointment pass over his face before shifting back. He may be blunt but he was just as good if not better at hiding his emotions than even you was. “But it has already made quite the impression.”
Gale’s eyes move to meet yours, looking away from the book and they immediately glow a tiny bit brighter. You inhale sharply at the sight before nodding, hoping to assure him even further. But from what you can tell, he takes your word as pure fact and it’s enough to have him showing off more of his excitement to you.
While you continue turning the pages, understanding more and more why this is Gale’s favorite, you feel his stare. His gorgeous eyes that remind you of the earth beneath your feet, carrying you along your way, supporting you, just as the precious earth does too. Every time you smile, laugh, grow even the finest fraction of emotion, Gale is there to watch it all. Making sure not to miss a second of it.
At first you shift in their seat, the unfamiliar feeling of being watched grew to make her uncomfortable. You weren’t used to this. People watching you. Your whole life was making sure people weren’t watching you. Then came this man who could spend hours in the silence. Just watching. Observing. His favorite thing to aim all that toward? You. And you figure that if anyone were to make you that sort of uncomfortable, if anyone forced you to get used to the idea of having someone’s undivided attention, you were glad it was Gale. Anyone else and it simply wouldn’t have been worth it.
“Oh, I do love this story in particular. How she was able to survive the poison, I don’t know,” Gale expresses enthusiastically. You close your eyes for a brief moment, realizing that Gale had read ahead farther than you had been on the page. Suppose you know what that soup ends up doing to the woman. Despite the spoiler, which you can’t say you completely hated, a chuckle still left you.
“Haven’t gotten there yet, love,” you murmur softly, using your nickname for him. After all the creative pet names he had given you, ‘love’ had been all you could think of for him. But he seemed to like it enough so you weren’t about to go and change things for them both. You figured you’d both hate that more than anything.
From your peripheral, you see Gale very visibly wince, his face twisting in a manner that looked truly uncomfortable. As his eyes closed, you could practically imagine all the thoughts that were probably running through his head. The way he was most likely beating himself up for ruining the surprise and shock value of the moment.
You set the book down and shift in his arms. Without even looking, Gale tightens his hold on you. Fear of you leaving, even due to something like this, gripped him. But you pat his hand lightly before making sure to face him better. In a way you’re not entirely used to, you gently put your hands on his face. The action makes his eyes snap open, already glowing just from your touch.
“Thank you for the spoiler. This book is a real nail-bitter, I was getting nervous,” You made sure to exaggerate. By the way they both lightly laughed, you knew you had succeeded in calming the storm of his overworked mind. A hum vibrates through your throat and it has instant questions replacing the worrying thoughts. “You know, I think it would be better if you read it to me instead. Don’t you agree?”
Gale’s eyes widened and it barely took another second before he started grinning. You briefly wonder if this had been his plan all along. If he had somehow tricked you into this position. No way. You would’ve caught on. Wouldn’t you? Before you can think it over more, Gale shifts them both back into their previous position and picks up the book instead of waiting for you to hand it over. Settling back into his chest, your body soon becomes languid at the soothing rumble of his voice as he reads the book to you. You think you could get used to this. All of it. Every single bit. Especially everything that had to do with him.
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