Chapter Text
Domino saw him before he saw her, her eyes darting to him as soon as she entered the Last Light Inn, an instinct that she had tried to repress. There were more pressing matters to attend to, but she was conscious of Rolan the entire time, her eye trained on him as she spoke to Jaheira, catching a glimpse as her party spoke to Raphael, and stealing one last glance as she ascended the stairs to speak to the cleric Isobel.
As the fight with Fist Marcus broke out, Domino swore, wishing she had beelined to Rolan first, before the chaos had erupted. Astarion hid in the shadows, picking off the winged beasts that tried to enter the room while she and Karlach bared down with brute force upon the Flaming Fist. Shadowheart hung back, providing ranged attacks in between making sure Isobel stayed upright, while Isobel tried to give as many advantages to the party as she could. Domino could hear the sounds of battle breaking out downstairs and swung her sword viciously, landing a heavy blow on Marcus' shoulder, nearly severing it.
Fuck. The tiefling children were downstairs, too, vulnerable. It reminded her of her own childhood spent as an urchin in the lower city of Baldur's Gate. She had been weak, and scared, and cold, once. The only drow in a sea of surface dwellers, with no real memories of where she had come from or who she had been before she found herself there. She knew that the children had a hard road ahead of them, and she had tried her best in the Grove to keep them safe, to provide them comfort. Hells, she even let them rob her, playing along with their cons and protecting them from consequence. She had no great love for tieflings before the Grove, but she had plenty for those kids. She had insisted that her party venture out to eviscerate the goblin camp as soon as they could, taking no prisoners, but rescuing a few along the way. Her companions didn't really understand why she fought so hard for strangers, especially with ticking time bombs in their heads, but they had followed, assured by her calm, cold, level head that they were doing the right thing. She had even talked Rolan into staying to defend the Grove; him, too, taken in by her rationale and persuasion.
She shook the thoughts away and tried to focus on the target in front of her. Karlach let out a triumphant shout as she lodged her battleaxe into Marcus' chest. As the Fist doubled over in pain, Astarion appeared from seemingly nowhere, hopping on the Fist's back and driving his twin daggers across his throat. The man coughed, gargling on his own blood, as his knees hit the floor and his face followed soon after. Astarion jumped away from the gore, licking his blade with a satisfied smirk before disappearing into shadow again. The rest of them didn't stop to think before barreling through the doors to the hallway, eager to dispatch the remaining threats. Karlach stayed upstairs to protect Shadowheart, who was casting healing spells on the fighters on the floor below. Domino felt time running short for the defenseless tieflings downstairs, and couldn't afford to wait. She swallowed a featherfall potion before gracefully vaulting over the railing, landing on her feet silently in front of the bar.
Rolan stood to her right, taken off guard by her sudden entrance and staggering back a few steps, breaking his concentration on the witch bolt he had activated. The winged beast saw the opportunity and lunged, but Domino was quicker. In one fluid movement, she strong armed Rolan back behind her with her left hand, and slashed the beast across the chest with her right.
"Get behind me, and keep casting!" She yelled, lunging forward to slam her blade into the creature's thigh. To her faint surprise, Rolan obeyed without comment, sending a fireball at a beast that had jumped onto the bar the children were hiding under. The beast fell into a charred slump, dead on impact. She turned her attention back to the creature in front of her, finally landing the killing blow, her sword slicing the beast almost clean through from shoulder to hip. The two of them advanced wordlessly, taking aim at the final creature standing in the center of the room. He was a nasty beast, a bit bigger than the others, and clearly not eager to die.
Domino pulled her crossbow from behind her back, climbing onto the table in front of her for a better vantage point, letting Rolan work the Weave without fear of hitting her in the crossfire. She aimed bolt after bolt, and he held the beast with his magic as he and Shadowheart lobbed spell after spell until the creature succumbed.
The aftermath of the battle was almost numbing, as she took in the charred corpses strewn about the inn. The children and elderly came out of hiding, all of them standing in stunned silence at the carnage that had been wrought. Domino looked to Rolan, finally, who was staring at her wordlessly, and intently. She couldn't read the expression on his face. She sighed, shaking herself from her stupor and rushing forward to Jaheira, who was counting for survivors. Thankfully, no one had died, and the inn was still protected. She then went upstairs to check on her companions, feeling Rolan's eyes on her back the entire time.
Everyone had made it through the scrape safely, and she was able to finish her conversation with Isobel. The fight or flight feeling finally left her, and she made her way back down to the bar. Her companions had decided to head to the rooms Jaheira had had prepared for them, eager for a reprieve from the Shadow Cursed Lands, but Domino was restless. She needed a drink, and to finally speak to the tiefling she had been most eager to see.
When she first met Rolan in the Grove, she saw nothing but a pompous, overconfident wizard, one of the many before and the many after, she had assumed. She talked him and his siblings into staying to defend the Grove, but she hadn't been terribly invested either way. She saw him again later, and he told her and Gale of his apprenticeship with Lorroakan, and it was only then that she noticed a spark of something. She wasn't sure what, but his pride and self-assured demeanor had struck a chord with her. She longed to feel that secure in herself. Since she had woke in the Nautiloid, she hadn't been sure of anything.
After she returned to the Grove after dispatching the goblins, Zevlor had organized a party in her honor, the defender of the Grove. She had welcomed the refugees into her camp, sitting with each one for at least a few minutes, listening to their hopes and dreams, wishing for some of her own. The wine tasted awful, but she kept drinking until it didn't, letting herself relax for the first night in ages. She had turned down a few of her companions that night, deciding that to get attached to a dying thing was not her speed. She already was a dying thing, and she preferred her fleeting moments of intimacy to be uncomplicated and unemotional. It wouldn't do her any good to get her hopes up, and it wouldn't do a lover any good to wake up to a mind flayer warming their bed one morning.
So she had decided to take her lovers only on the road, never staying more than a night, never getting involved with anyone she liked. A night like this was perfect to let off some steam, and she had a few options in mind. After seeing Dammon sneak away with Karlach, and both Lakrissa and Alfira slipping into Astarion's tent, however, she only had one candidate left. Which brought her feet over to Cal, Lia, and Rolan, who was putting on a light show for the children.
She laughed softly at the playful banter between Rolan and his siblings, all three clearly buzzing from the shite wine. The colorful sparks intrigued her, and she felt a rare moment of childlike wonder at the dancing blues and greens that took over the night sky. When Rolan had finished, she couldn't help but burst into applause. She noticed a slight flush at her attention, though he recovered gracefully, taking a dramatic bow. Domino's smile still lingered as he came back to a slightly wobbly stand.
"We're going to bed, brother. It's a long road to Baldur's Gate, after all. Try not to have too much fun without us!" Lia exclaimed with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows, leading a confused Cal by the elbow over to their tent. The little hellions had disbanded as well, running over to pester Laezel from the looks of it, leaving the two of them alone.
The both of them stood in comfortable silence for a moment, before Rolan finally spoke.
"Thank you," he said, somewhat sheepishly. The flush was creeping up his ears, from the drink or his words, Domino wasn't sure. She looked at him quizzically, her brow quirked in unasked question. He sighed deeply before continuing. "For convincing us to stay. It was the right thing to do. And for clearing out the goblins, of course. Saved me a lot of work," he said with a playful smirk.
Domino laughed, playing along. "It was all for you, you know. Couldn't bear to inconvenience the magnificent wizard Rolan!"
Rolan laughed, a deep, warm sound that Domino wouldn't have expected from the man. It made her feel warm, too. She wasn't used to feeling warm at all, remembering the cold streets of the Lower City, the cold nights standing watch while her party slept, the cold blood that stained her fingers almost daily. Like a moth to flame, she eagerly basked in the unusual, pleasant heat.
"Come here, Rolan. I want to show you something," she said, extending her hand in an offer. He looked into her eyes with surprising sobriety, and time stood still. She could tell that he knew what was on offer if he took her hand. Her eyes flickered, caught off guard by the intensity of his stare. She felt like he could see right through her, knew every thought she ever had. She had never felt a strange moment of connection like this before, even considering the squirmy tadpole that seemed to want to share her secrets with everyone these days. He took her hand, and the moment passed. She grinned wickedly, leading him out of the camp and into the woods beyond. She stopped at the foot of a clearing, a small pond reflecting the moonlight off it's surface.
"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked breathlessly, turning to face her tiefling companion.
"Yes," he replied softly, not sparing the pond a glance.
She wasn't sure later who had leaned in first, but the next moment she was being hoisted up around Rolan's hips, her tongue wrapped around his almost as tightly as his tail wrapped around her hips. She kissed him hungrily, a woman starved, not minding as his sharp teeth grazed her lips, leaving them swollen and bruised. His pointed talons dug into her waist, sure to leave bruises and cuts in the morning.
He moaned into her mouth and she swallowed it eagerly, taking her pleasure from his, her hand snaked up and with deft fingers plucked the ribbon holding his hair in place out, running her hand through his locks. He leaned into her, almost as if he was as touch-starved as her, closing his eyes and humming appreciatively before seeming to remember where he was. He lowered them onto the ground, leaving her straddling him while still supported by his tail.
All she could feel was fire, melting into her skin, past her defenses, turning her limbs to jelly as she kissed, and nipped, and tugged. She made her way to his neck, licking and nibbling at his collarbone, soaking up the needy whimpers that escaped his lips. She tugged at the strap across his waist, easing it off as his robe fell open beneath her.
She gasped, taking in the sight of the tiefling's bare chest, the grooves and slopes along his ribs. She wanted to kiss her way down every inch of him, feel every ridge beneath her greedy fingertips. She had never been with a tiefling before, didn't know what to expect, really, but she had always loved a new challenge, a new thing to learn.
Rolan had misinterpreted her gasp as revulsion, her slack jaw as disgust. He tensed under her, grabbing her hips to guide her off of him with controled gentleness.
"Did you just now remember that you're bedding a tiefling, dearest?" The words came out venomous and took Domino by surprise. "Remembering the horror of our anatomy, perhaps?"
Domino shook her head vigorously. "I didn't mean to offend you, but I wasn't thinking of horror," she tried to explain.
"What were you thinking of then, pet? Disgust, shock, revulsion?"
"Beauty," she spit out with an embarrassed flush, deep purple sweeping up her cheeks, visible even in the darkness. Rolan's eyes grew wide, and for an instant, vulnerable. He hadn't taken many lovers since leaving Elturel, and almost never someone who wasn't a tiefling. Once, in a drunken fumble outside of a tavern, an elf woman had pulled out his cock and hissed in disgust, the drink catching up to her as she retched in the alleyway, vowing that she'd never get drunk enough to touch a hideous creature like him ever again. That had shown him enough about how the other races viewed his kind.
Domino, however, didn't seem to be lying. Rolan considered himself a good judge of character, and he had trusted her to lead him here. He looked into her eyes again, one black, one white, and found no dishonesty, only shy embarrassment, likely brought about by his insecure outburst. His body relaxed again, his tail instinctively coming up to stroke her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I should know better than to speak for others."
Domino's heart stirred at his genuine apology. He'd clearly been told the things he thought she was saying, and it hurt her heart for his sake. She may have been seeking a distraction that night, but that didn't mean she didn't like Rolan, or find him attractive, at the very least. She found it easy to accept his apology, and instead of speaking, dove back in to kiss him again.
He smiled against her lips, filling her with that warmth again. "I'll make it up to you," he whispered against her lips. She nodded, letting him leave her mouth to strip away her clothes, her tunic tossed carelessly to the side as his clawed fingers tugged at her trousers. She lifted her hips and helped him shimmy them down her legs, kicking them off to join her tunic. She was suddenly bare and vulnerable beneath him, her body growing cold before his eyes met hers again.
The heat in his gaze could have stoked the fires of Avernus as he drank her in, hands tracing over her breasts, sliding his claws across them, leaving gooseflesh in his wake before bringing his mouth down to trace her nipple with his tongue. She let out a breathy moan, canting her hips towards him. His tongue flicked her nipple in quick, sharp strokes and she instinctively grabbed one of his horns. The action embarrassed her, and made her nervous that he would retreat again, but he only glanced up at her briefly with a devilish smirk. He pushed his hand between them, palming her bare sex with the heel of his hand, grinding it deliciously into her clit.
She gasped, her grip on his horn tightening as she pulled him up to kiss him feverishly, sloppily. He groaned as he returned the kiss, his teeth puncturing her bottom lip in his abandon. He stilled, worried he'd hurt her as her blood hit his tongue. Instead, she moaned, tightening her grip on him. He resumed his attention on her sex, rubbing tight circles into her as she groaned and bucked into his palm. He could tell she was close, and paused his movements. She whined, preparing to curse him for keeping her from release, but he nipped at her pointed ear, growling into it.
"I want you to look at me," he said, and she nodded eagerly, pushing him to keep going.
He resumed his delicious pace, rubbing into her with abandon as the two locked eyes. Domino felt herself grow more keening and desperate, but her eyes refused to leave his. She must have looked absolutely ruined under his gaze, but he was looking at her with awe as he deconstructed her with nothing but his hand. She came hard with a stuttering shriek, only breaking eye contact when she grew overstimulated, wincing away from his touch. He took his hand away, and she pounced, flipping him onto his back with a blissful grin.
"Your turn," she said, taking his robe off again and finally indulging in her earlier impulse. She nipped, sucked, and kissed her way down his chest, delighting in the short gasps and deep moans that she earned from his lips. She deftly undid the laces of his trousers, sliding them down to his knees.
His cock, now exposed, made her mouth water. She had never seen a tiefling naked before, so she couldn't be sure if it was a credit to his race, or just him. His erection stood tall and proud, deliciously thick. The sides of his cock were ridged, much like his chest. She smiled wickedly, unwilling to wait any longer to feel him inside her, to feel her own walls grip him. She looked up to him again, keeping that eye contact as she lined him up with her soaked entrance and sank down on him, little by little. He looked to have died and found heaven as she clenched, vice-like around him, he struggled to maintain his gaze on her as his body shook with pleasure.
His tail snaked up her chest, settling possessively around her neck, lightly squeezing. Her cunt impossibly tightened at the sensation, so he pressed harder. She finally broke eye contact as her second orgasm of the night crashed into her with no warning, her body seizing up as she was hit with wave after wave of pained pleasure, bringing tears to her eyes.
As soon as her body could move again, she made it her mission to get him off, riding him hard, and fast. She relished in the sensation of his cock slotted perfectly within her, sliding in and out, each delicious ridge hitting her insides just right. She could already feel her orgasm approaching again, but she was determined to wait for him this time.
He was a ruin beneath her, his hips stuttering into her with abandon, meeting her thrusts with his own. He kept his tail around her throat and sat up to grab her breasts, teasing her nipples as he kissed her deeply, a trail of blood flowing down her chin. She took the new position to grab his horns with both hands, using them as leverage to bounce on him even harder, the both of them spiraling into oblivion.
Their eyes locked again as they came together, she noticed that his eyes had become welled with tears as well. She had never felt something as intense before with a partner, and as she looked into his eyes, liquid gold swallowed up by inky blackness, she felt a twinge of fear that she tampered down. He held her tightly as he rode out his orgasm, keeping her upright as she had truly become jelly in this arms. They both breathed together for some time, coming down from the high they had been on.
The afterglow had made them bashful. Rationally, they both knew that they couldn't feel as strongly as that experience had made them feel with a simple stranger, barely an acquaintance. Each felt silly for being so caught up in the moment, yet neither wanted to leave, yet. They silently put their clothes back on, but they lingered in the clearing long after civilized one night stands would have left.
"Could you..." Domino began to ask, but she stopped herself, feeling foolish.
"Could I what?" Rolan asked softly, as if he spoke any louder he would spook her.
"Could you maybe, um. Could you hold me?" She asked, her blush returning. He relaxed at her words, secretly hoping that she'd invite him to stay but seeming unable to work up the courage to ask.
"Of course, pet," he said, lying back down and pulling her into his arms. She rested her ear to his heart, listening to the calming beat. He pet her hair softly, lulling her to sleep in his warm and comforting arms. Hard to believe that a man she had been indifferent to just days ago was the same man that was bringing her desperately needed comfort now.
She fell into trance within moments, finally feeling safe enough to really rest for the first time in days. Weeks, if she was being honest. When she awoke, she was alone in the clearing, a note crumpled into her hand was the only indication she hadn't dreamt the previous night.
Curious, she opened the letter, eyes scanning the page quickly.
"Domino,
I doubt we will ever see each other again, but I couldn't find the right words to say goodbye. Thank you for everything, but mostly last night. It was a gift that I will carry with me forever. You are a kind soul, a brave soul, don't spend all of your time saving the world and shouldering all the burdens. If I could, I'd take them for you, but alas. I am me, and you are you, and this is where we must part ways. If we ever make it to the city, come find me. You could use a friend like me in your corner.
And I will be.
Rolan"
Domino pocketed the note with a sad smile, taking the walk back to camp to gather her thoughts. She had been looking for an uncomplicated tryst, and in some ways, she had found it. He was right, they'd probably never see each other again. And he wouldn't have to be sad when she became an Illithid, or died trying to not be. But she had wanted something with no attachment, and in that aspect, her plan had failed. She couldn't get his eyes out of her head, couldn't help but wonder what he was doing right now, what he was thinking. She'd have to forget, in time, but for now she allowed herself to think of him. Just for a little while.
When she returned to camp, she was unsurprised to find that the tieflings had all left, and only her party, hungover and cranky, remained.
And now, she stood in front of the man she believed she'd never see again, and he was looking at her with those lovely eyes of his, and she began to wonder if her nice, simple plan was never so simple after all.