valerian, evanidus late husband, was not a good man. he was, at first, he was the gentlest, kindest, && most intelligent man evanidus had ever come across. he comforted him after the magical experiments, he was always there to take care of him when he didn't want to leave his bed, && he loved their daughter so much that at one point he would have risked life && limb.
but he was heavily indocrinated.
instead of seeing the blood of god as a comfort && a watcher, he saw him as a tool. when they got married && started a new sect of the cult, valerian continued to experiment on evanidus, claiming it was in the name of love. he didn't hold him down, but he bound him with magic. he never flayed him open, but he injected magic into his body that made him scream with pain. evanidus wore rose-colored glasses, he loved valerian so dearly that he was really lost in him.
it only got worse as valerian got older, especially after he was turned. writing in notebooks became volumes && volumes of communication with a god. he stayed up until sunrise, rather burning in the sun than stopping his frantic research. he started doing strange rituals && drew pictures of tentacles && eyes in his sketchbooks. there wasn't anything valerian wouldn't do to reach his knowledge.
that included hurting the man he loved, even through all his madness. they would still dance under the moonlight, though valerian's movements were jerky && quick. they would have sex, but valerian was violent, hungry, not as gentle as he used to be. he was still kind as ever to their children, but he'd mumble things about them && their usefulness to his god. he would still feast on humans evanidus brought to their home, but they would be absolutely maimed rather than just drained of blood. was still the smartest person in the family. but all of his intelligence seemed to be much more than his mind could handle.
when he died, evanidus still mourned him, not realizing what sort of trauma his husband put him through. he was gone for centuries over a man who treated him like his pet science experiment. who straight up abused him. because evanidus had become attached to him, he loved him so much it hurt. he genuinely couldn't see what his husband had done to him.
to this day, his kids can't talk to him about it without him havingg some sort of breakdown.