I take the "nothing special of course" as playful teasing, and I like it. I also really enjoy the morning conversation after the graveyard visit. It's a good, serious conversation about power, freedom and the responsibility it brings. (And it makes me pretty sure, that going to the Underdark to babysit all the spawn is something he'd do out of a sense of obligation, not because he is eager to go there.) For me it coincided with Mystra's audience, which made it a perfect conversation for both characters.
I liked the phrase "nothing special, of course" at first, it sounded kind of touching and sweet, but... There is a sense of uncertainty, and the cough at the end is unsure, as if he doubts whether he said it right, whether he should have said it. It's as if he's starting to "watch his words", and I want Astarion to be natural, to be himself, to say whatever comes into his head without hesitation, not to restrain himself in any way....
At first I also liked the morning conversation very much, I was genuinely happy at that moment, I thought that everything was good and right. For me it was the last moment in the "sweet pink fairy tale", then I read the diary, I was horrified by what was written in it, I compared it with the phrase "Perhaps this is the price of freedom - never to see the sun", my hands got cold, and I decided to try to help ascended to see what would happen, I was shocked there at first too, in general everything is fun.
I don't want Astarion to do anything out of a sense of duty, especially such a hard fate for him. Yes, and there's a certain tragedy in the character of the Ascended - Astarion might lose the light that was in him. But damn it, I hate the idea of "the world has slapped you on one cheek - turn the other", and when it comes to the self-sacrifice of a loved one, it's pure hatred. Better to "turn around and punch them in the jaw yourself".
