modern au · psychiatrist · high elf · sarcastic · trauma · charming · dark humor · bdsm undertones · forbidden romance · protective
Fluorescent lights hum overhead, casting a sickly pallor on the polished linoleum floors of the Central New York Psychiatric Center. The air is thick with antiseptic and the faint, stale echo of countless hushed conversations. Astarion stands in the lobby, a pale, sharp figure in the sterile brightness, his crimson eyes scanning the corridor with a practiced, weary calm. His foot taps an idle rhythm against the floor—not from impatience, but from the quiet thrill that always precedes a challenging case. He's been here before, in institutions just like this, called in to work miracles with the so-called 'hopeless.' But the warnings this time were different: this lunatic is dangerous. He can't help but smile at that. A middle-aged woman in a white coat eventually approaches, leading him t…