He didn't know if and when she'd come to him. He didn't know enough about what she wanted from him for that. Really, the only thing he was sure about was the exact nature of his own feelings for her, and even that was a very recent realization on his part.
So as the others retreated into their tents, eager for rest after not only the day's but the evening's Vlaakith-related excitement, Wyll lingered outside, sitting down and gazing up at the sky, now clear and beautiful with the stars once again. He and Karlach had, while in the Shadow-Cursed lands, talked about possibly stargazing together when they were visible again; he'd promised to tell her about the constellations. Obviously he'd understand if she wasn't up to it that night, but he wanted her to know he was available for it.
At first, she, too, went into her tent. Wyll tried to tell himself not to be too disappointed. But then, a few minutes later, she poked her head out, and looked over at him. He beckoned.
"Coming!" she called, and she actually sounded happy, even excited. But as she came over, her walk was slightly unsteady, and she greeted him with, "I'm afraid I'm a little overheated tonight. Not to the point I'd burn you, maybe, but..."
In response, Wyll just held his arm out, and wrapped it around her as she snuggled up against him. He'd let himself one of the members of the group she could be the most touch-feely with, though it might have still been Halsin who'd given her the most hugs. She was running hotter then she had last time they'd touched, a day or so ago.
But it would've had to have been a lot worse for Wyll to not pull her in closer as they lay back for a better view. If he never got anything else from her, he knew, this could still be enough.
Karlach knew of a few constellations already, about the Centaur and the Warrior Woman and the Eyes. But even there, he knew more details of the stories behind them, and he happily regaled her with everything he could remember learning about in his youth. He pointed out some other ones to her as well.
Wyll found himself glad, however, that Mystra's Circle wasn't quite visible yet. She was one of the many powerful entities they were all very unhappy with right now.
For nearly an hour, they lay there, and talked about nothing but the stars. When Wyll's voice was getting a little hoarse, Karlach sighed happily against him, and said, "Thank you so much, Wyll. I needed this so much right now you wouldn't even believe it."
"I think I did, too," he said, because he did. It was the first time he'd felt at all relaxed since the battle in Moonrise Towers and the terrible places below. He pushed back the guilt, then, at the thought that he was lying about with someone like this when who knew what his father was enduring, right at that moment. Seeing Karlach's smile made it easier to do that.
He hadn't expected to talk about anything serious that night, since that clearly wasn't what Karlach wanted. But it was impossible for any of them to get things from their minds completely, and as her smile faded, she asked, "Do you think we'll free this Gith prince? I mean, Vlaakith's claims about him are probably bullshit, but it still could get...everyone killed, or worse..."
She spoke it as if she wasn't sure she should count herself under everyone, as if it was already a given she'd come to the same fate either way. Wyll wanted to protest. But he could only say, "We ought to. I'm certain of that much." Neither of them had gone into the Astral Plane and seen the trapped prince, but Sara, Gale, and Shadowheart's descriptions of him had been vivid enough, and Lae'zel's lack of words as they'd told the story had said even more.
Another victim they couldn't save yet, couldn't even know if they'd be able to save him yet. And while Wyll's father's fate could dictate the fate of a city, this prince's could dictate the fate of an entire race. It was quite a burden to put on the shoulders of someone like Lae'zel. It amazed Wyll that she didn't seem to even realize that.
"You..." Karlach looked a little more anxious. "You're not going to turn on us, or leave us, are you, if we do some truly ugly things to win this fight? Because I'm pretty sure we're going to have to do them."
"I know..." Wyll thought about it for a moment, but then continued. "I do know that sometimes you have to make hard choices. I don't even think the one I made to form the pact with Mizora was the most painful one I made before all this, believe it or not. I always do try to do the ideal thing, or what I've thought was the ideal thing..." He had confided to her already his fear, that they had been others like her, people he'd killed on Mizora's orders who hadn't deserved it, and he couldn't know.
"And I have, too, when I've had a choice about it," said Karlach. "But you do know that sometimes you can't? That sometimes you need to do what'll have the best outcome for people?"
And now her words were very pointed. But surely, he thought, she wasn't...
"I remember what you said, that first night in the Underdark," she said. "About wanting the kind of romance sung about by the bards, about doing things properly. And maybe if we had more time, I could let you. I would've liked it, too. But my life has never allowed me such luxuries, and now it looks like it's not ever going to."
Wyll, too, could remember Karlach having already said something to that effect, though she'd been speaking in much more general terms, then. To some extent, it still made him want all the more to treat her in the way she'd never been treated, much as he heard and understood her arguments against it.
"This has been a rough day for me," she continued. "Even before I started to feel the overheating. When even the circus turns out to not be that much fun...and when I first walked over here, you know, I was telling myself at least I'd end it in the arms of a prince? Because you really are one, and that has nothing to do with your birth, either.
But now, I've been listening to your stories, and don't get me wrong, I've loved hearing them. But...I don't want tonight to be a pretty story. I don't want the prince to dazzle me with things I'll know if the morning I can't really have. I just want the man with horns and scars and fears and uncertainties to hold me close."
"Karlach..." Her name came from him like a breath let out, like he could do nothing besides speak it. His mouth chased his breath towards her, and she came forward to meet it.
And honestly, it felt like a moment from a song, when their lips met. Maybe a little uncomfortably hotter, and a little hungrier, and also with a little more saliva, than the epic poets would've like, but Wyll felt his heart soar just as high, for all that.
That feeling even lasted through a few more kisses, and the air even felt a little exquisite when they paused to breathe it in. "You do love me back, don't you?" Karlach whispered. "I hoped you did, of course..."
"I do. I've been the same." He gave himself another few moments to think, before saying, "I'll hold you tonight. In fact, you don't have to sleep alone again, if you don't want to. I don't suppose we need to mind if anyone knows; we'd hardly be the only pair of beings sharing a bedroll in this camp, after all."
She smiled at that, but said, "But you won't do more than kiss me tonight, will you? I really can't get you to unbend further than that?"
"You're not going to drop dead tomorrow, I hope?" he asked. For a moment, the fear flared up that she actually would.
But she shook her head. "Don't think so. In any case, I'd better not before I get to Gortash...no, I suppose we have at least a little time left. So...you will make love to me, Wyll, before I die? Please, I really want to have that before I go." Her words nearly caught on a sob.
"I will, I promise you that," he said, and he meant it. "But even if we won't wait as long as I normally would, do give me a chance to make it a little more romantic than a desperate fumble coming off a day like this. Please," he said, and kissed her again. "I want to at least give you that much."
"Okay, then," she agreed. "I suppose I really have to love you all the more for that, even if I'm a little disappointed right now. As long as what you can give me will be enough for both of us. It just has to be that."
They stayed out there another hour, even spending a little more time looking at the stars, though much of the time they were quite distracted from them. When Karlach then admitted she was finding the interior of a tent a little stifling, they ended up curling up together on top of a bedroll; the heat coming off her didn't really allow for sleeping in one. When Wyll closed his eyes to sleep that night, he found he was at last doing so without seeing the image of that tadpole entering his father's.