𝕙 𝕦 𝕟 𝕘 𝕖 𝕣

closed starter ft. @ofcages​.

Seeing Minjae passing her in one of the hallways isn’t abnormal, but her managing to trip and stumble directly into him is. A flush immediately alights on her cheeks, warming them until her face goes rosy pink, and she has to take a breath or two as she looks up at him before she manages to right herself again. “I’m sorry. I, uh — wanted to talk to you actually? If you don’t mind, or you’re not busy, or whatever.”

closed starter for Calus @ofcages

One of the few belongings June brought in his backpack - and perhaps the most precious one - is an old photograph of his father. The colors have faded over the time and the number of dents and scratches grew over the years. He found it in his mother’s things, hidden away. It’s the only thing he has pointing to a father he never knew. She never talked about him much but he could tell his memory brought a mix of sadness and anger to her eyes, like she’s couldn’t decide which one it should be.

And suddenly he was real. The person from the photograph. He’d seen him wander the manor, always in company of another vampire. June didn’t know if there was more to them than friends but he was his chance get to his father without talking to him directly, test the waters. June isn’t quite sure he wants to yet. He understands his mother pain now - torn between the romanticised prospect of a father and wanting to hurt and yell at him for leaving.

It was easier said than done though. The two really stick together like glue. Today is the first time he sees the other vampire without his dad and he takes the chance in a heartbeat. Rushing around the corner he’d been peeking from, June comes tumbling into him, pretending like he didn’t see. “Oh shit. Sorry, mate, didn’t see you there,” he straightens his posture and plays it off as a silly little accident, putting on a sweet smile. “Don’t think we’ve met yet.”

Calus is somewhere far away in his head, thinking about things that he’s already thought about. He’s on his way back to his room after having just visited Avi and Riley. His plans for the rest of the day consist of sleeping, sleeping, maybe reading a little and also sleeping. And waiting for Siwoo to return from work. He’s always waiting for Siwoo. During the last four decades, he’s learned that he can’t live without him. Not that he would want to, anyway.

Reaching a hand out, Taeil takes Kwang’s into his own, leading him out of the garage and making sure that the door is locked up behind them. A soft chuckle escapes from between his lips, and he shakes his head at himself, glancing over the building once before he changes their direction and starts leading him towards the street his apartment is on. “Vampires do get drunk, right? That’s something that happens? I’m pretty sure it is. I think one told me about it once.”

“Whatever I want to do besides eating, you mean?” Still a little bit flushed, Casey decides to make fun of himself, just for the sake of moving past the embarrassment. He’s usually not so bashful, but he’s a little bit nervous about asking a vampire out on a date, especially considering his history and all the ways it could possibly get out. Wanting to hide that part of himself from Kwang and others is why he’s been keeping his head down so much. “For now, do you want to help me choose some floral arrangements for a wedding I’m planning?”

Being let down would imply her having some sort of expectation to begin with. Perhaps being half-way there with Minjae for all of these years has lent her a modicum of knowledge enough to tell her a thing or two about the way things generally go with him around the holidays, but that doesn’t mean that she’s built it up in her head too far or that she sees some grand romantic gesture in her near future. Which is how it still manages to come as a surprise to her, him bringing her a gift like this, like she won’t know exactly what it is and why. There is more sentimental than material value attached to such an item, and she admires it in its box with a little smile on her lips. “You’re such a softie sometimes, you know…” Pointing it it out is only meant to highlight how much she likes it, and she leans over to kiss his cheek gently. “Put it on me?”

“Oh.” Already wide, dark eyes just seem to widen further when he hears the implication there, and he suddenly feels as silly as can be for even making a suggestion like that. Even with the centuries that Casey has been alive, he still makes silly mistakes like that one, and he’s still never going to be used to actually wanting to talk to vampires, let alone wanting to date one. “Sorry, I’m an idiot. Um — I like to go to art galleries, though. Films, though typically not the more mainstream ones. Poetry readings. Plays. Open mics. Are you interested in any of that?”

Explaining to Dante that one shouldn’t have to try to not kill people would probably be a lost cause right now. It’s sad to think that, but it’s a sad reality, and he’s learning to live with those more and more as the days pass. Taking a step closer to him, he lifts his chin, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek before he pulls back again. Maybe this is the best that he can do right now, to take him at his word and hope that things somehow work out between them. Maybe it’s the best he’s wanted to do for anyone in so long that it almost feels like it’s not real. “As long as you know it’s a deal breaker for me.”

“Have you?” Somehow, Taeil finds that surprising. He doesn’t expect Kwang to wonder about him or about anything really in regards to him, at least past the typical sort of polite friendship level. It’s not a bad thing, of course — just interesting in a way he hadn’t thought to look at before. “I mean, sometimes I live at the packhouse, but I prefer my own place still. I’m not super suited to communal living, especially after being on my own for so long.”

closed starter ft. @ofcages​.

“Kwang, I think that we should go out somewhere. Together.” It’s the closest Casey has come to asking someone out on a date in a very long time, and he leaves the suggestion a loose one, like it can be interpreted either way. “Maybe to dinner? If you wanted.” A little fluttery sort of nervousness makes his heart patter in his chest, and he tries to ignore it, keeping a cool composure while he looks over at the other person. Even after five hundred years, he’s still awful at this sort of thing.

Hesitation makes his answer more obvious than it would’ve been had he said it aloud. Sejin has thought of what Dante has told him, and he’s found it wanting, which is hard enough to admit without having to see the look of disappointment he’ll no doubt be faced with. It’s just — there isn’t anything else for him to offer, as much as he’d like for there to be, and he doesn’t know how else to say it other than to just… say it. “I need you to promise me you’ll stop killing people. I’m not trying to give you an ultimatum, but I can’t bear it either.”

He could have seen this coming. Anyone could have seen this request coming. And yet, Dante didn’t. He thought he’d just get dumped and Sejin would move on to someone more fitting for him. A sharp inhale and Dante’s left staring at their hands, his thumb rubbing over the back of Sejin’s. Memories flash through his head of several lifetimes ago, a life lived the way Sejin is asking of him now. Part of him knows he can do it, part of him doubts it and part of him doesn’t want to. A very small part of him tells him he’ll come to resent Sejin for it in the long run. It feels like hours pass by, frown on his face while he thinks it over.