Hearts Entwined - verbivore24 - Baldurs Gate (Video Games) Archive of Our Own

Golden Hearts Games

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Rating: - Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: - No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: - F/F

Fandom: - Baldur’s Gate (Video Games)

Relationship: - Shadowheart/Tav (Baldur’s Gate)

Characters: - Shadowheart (Baldur’s Gate)

Tav (Baldur’s Gate)

Additional Tags: - Fluff

Hair Braiding
Idiots in Love
Female Tav (Baldur’s Gate)
Sorcerer Tav (Baldur’s Gate)

Language: English Series: ← Previous WorkPart 5 of The Long Road HomeStats:Published:2024-05-31Words:1,268Chapters:1/1Comments:2Kudos:17Bookmarks:1Hits:198

Hearts Entwined

verbivore24

Summary:

Waking up together in the abandoned inn, Tav and Shadowheart do each other’s hair and avoid discussing their feelings for one another.

Work Text:

For a little while, Tav could pretend that it was all just a bad dream—that there were really no tadpoles, no mindflayers, and no conspiracy to take over the world. Just this little stone house in the countryside, the beautiful woman in her arms, the narrow bed where they’d made love twice already since sunrise. It was tempting to throw the sheets back over their heads and stay in this cozy pocket of time forever.

Tav pressed a kiss to the nape of Shadowheart’s neck, where her skin was still damp with sweat from their earlier activities.

“Hello, lover,” she said, turning in Tav’s arms and meeting her eyes with a small smile.

Though blessed with a silver tongue that could call storms from a cloudless sky, Tav was stunned utterly speechless. Hells, she must be the most beautiful woman in the world, Tav thought, studying her face in the golden, early morning light. No wonder the gods had fought over her.

“Something wrong?” Shadowheart asked, her green eyes searching Tav’s face.

Tav’s electrified heart beat furiously against her chest like a caged mechanical bird. You love her, you idiot, it squawked. Tell her you love her.

Her voice had already failed her, so there was nothing to do but capture Shadowheart’s mouth with her own. Their passions already sated, they kissed languorously, lazily, as if time was a fairytale and space had narrowed to the points where their bodies met.

It took a truly heroic effort to finally pull away from her soft, lovely mouth.

“I think I need to get up now,” Tav confessed. “Or I’ll never get up at all.”

Shadowheart shrugged as if to ask if that would truly be so bad. “Our clothes are still downstairs.”

“I’ll get them. With any luck, they’ll actually be dry. Keep the blanket, but I’m stealing this,” Tav said, tugging the sheet away as she climbed out of bed. She wrapped it around herself, making a few deliberate folds, and secured it into place with one of her hairpins.

Shadowheart gave her an amused look. “A new style?”

“The latest from Neverwinter,” she said, striking a dramatic pose. “I’ll throw on my robe when I get downstairs, but at least I won’t be roaming the hall naked.”

“I wouldn’t complain if you did.”

Tav rolled her eyes at that and slipped out the door without another word.

By the time she returned, Shadowheart was standing naked in front of a small, cloudy mirror, working the tangles out of her waist-length silver hair with a wooden comb.

“I thought you’d gotten lost, and I was about to send a search party,” she said over her shoulder.

“Oh, you know. Fed Scratch and Buddy, and that’s always an adventure.”

“Still can’t believe you adopted an owlbear.”

“You would have done the same,” Tav insisted, knowing they shared a soft spot for animals and children. It was the first thing Tav had loved about her, a lifetime ago in the Emerald Grove, where they protected a young tiefling girl from the wrath of a power-hungry druid.

“Perhaps.”

“I got your shirt and leggings, but Lae’zel says your armor should be oiled before it rusts,” she said, setting her clothing on the bed with one arm, keeping the other hidden behind her back.

Shadowheart turned around, setting the comb on the side table by the mirror. “Thank you. I’ll do that after I eat something, but it will mean we won’t be on the road again until nearly sunset.”

Tav shrugged. “I spoke with everyone downstairs already, and we’ll spend another night here. We can do some maintenance today and leave at first light tomorrow—I think we can afford that. The road might be a little drier by then, too.”

Shadowheart started to turn back to face the mirror, but Tav took her gently by the wrist.

“I also got these for you,” she said, bringing her other hand out from behind her back, offering the small bunch of brightly-colored wildflowers that she’d picked during her trip downstairs. “I know they aren’t night orchids…”

“They’re beautiful,” she said, pink blooming in her cheeks. She took the proffered bouquet and brought the flowers to her nose. “Where did you find them?”

“There’s a meadow just beyond the garden. I think it might have been a pasture, but the wildflowers have taken over now. I didn’t see it yesterday because of the rain, but once I did, I couldn’t resist.”

Shadowheart pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Thank you,” she said. “It’s sweet of you to think of me.”

Tav bit her lip as a flush spread across her face. In spite of everything they had faced, a kiss from a pretty girl could still have her acting like a schoolgirl.

“Here, you can have the mirror while I get dressed. It’s not worth braiding my hair if I’m just going to ruin it by pulling a shirt over my head,” Shadowheart said.

“Thanks. I won’t take too long.”

Tav shook out her long brown hair and tried to decide on a hairstyle for the day. Her hair was too straight and fine to hold a curl, but it braided well and never tangled. Well… almost never tangled, she thought, working out a stubborn knot with her fingers.

“Here, let me,” she heard Shadowheart say from behind her.

She guided her to sit on the edge of the bed and knelt on the mattress behind her. Tav felt her slim fingers pull her hair back over her shoulders, and then she began work the comb through it.

“Your hair is so much finer than mine,” Shadowheart said. “I bet it never frizzes.”

Tav laughed. “It doesn’t do much of anything. I guess that’s a small blessing when you’re a walking bundle of lightning.”

“It’s pretty.”

Tav closed her eyes as a pleasant tingle spread from the crown of her head and down through her body. She couldn’t remember the last time someone else had combed her hair for her—it might have even been half a century ago in the girls’ dormitory at school.

After a few minutes, she felt Shadowheart’s weight shift on the mattress as she reached for the mirror on the side table.

“What do you think?” she asked, holding up the mirror.

Tav studied her reflection. Shadowheart had gathered the top half of her hair into an elaborate braid, letting the rest fall loosely down her back in a single sheet. It would still stay out of her face when the wind blew, but it was a looser, more romantic style than she typically would do for herself.

“It’s lovely, thank you."

“You’re lovely," she said, giving Tav’s hand a squeeze.

“My turn,” Tav said, taking the comb from Shadowheart. She knelt behind her and started to work the comb through her hair.

“I’m sorry it’s such a tangled mess,” she lamented. “That’s why I always keep it braided.”

“It’s beautiful and catches the light so well, like moonlight on the ocean,” she reassured her, gently combing out the tousled silver waves. “Will you be mad if I do something different?”

“No,” Shadowheart said. “I trust you.”

After a few minutes of quiet, she held up the mirror and let Shadowheart inspect her handiwork. Tav had divided her hair into two long braids, which she coiled into a single, elegant knot at the nape of her neck.

“It’s missing something,” Tav said, thinking.

She looked at the bouquet of wildflowers on the side table, selected a large purple blossom, and tucked it behind Shadowheart’s ear.

“There—beautiful.”

Series this work belongs to:

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