ABANDON ALL HOPE

── ⟢ Rafayel

✧ His kisses start out as soft pecks most of the time

✧ Not quite playful but feather light dotted along your jawline as if he's mapping you out

✧ When he finally kisses the corners of your mouth he likes to hover just a breath away from your lips, making you lean in first.

✧ Rafayel gets lost in your shared kisses fast, letting himself indulge in the sensation of your tongues striking each other.

✧ He does smirk against your lips when you get breathless and he might tease you for it.

✧ "Am I stealing your breath, cutie?" He pecks your lips after but kisses you the way he did just before his mocking.

✧ If you make small sounds or clench your hands into his shirt or hair, he gets absolutely addicted to it, trying to get more out of you.

✧ His hands don't seem to know where they want to linger and stay everywhere for a short while - cupping your cheek, holding your neck, pulling you closer by the small of your back.

✧ If things don't escalate he likes to ease out of it the way he started - heated kisses turn softer until they're mere pecks along your cheek.

── ⟢ Sylus

✧ Sylus kisses start out soft to ease you in slow and gentle but the moment you kiss back he deepens them.

✧ He might deepen the kiss but it's not rushed, every move is slow and measured, meant to build up anticipation for more.

✧ When you lean into him more and kiss him back with more desperation, he's satisfied with himself, loving it when you take what you want.

✧ When it's his turn to give you exactly what you want it's all consuming. It's like he's losing himself in you while trying to resist the undeniable pull of you.

✧ Sylus prefers you to sit on top of him, straddling his lap or hips as he keeps you close, strong hands keeping you grounded to his body.

✧ They don't wander far, mostly keeping to your hips or your lower back, occasionally one hand wanders up your spine to cradle the back of your head like you're his most precious possession (you are).

✧ When he pulls back momentarily to allow you to catch your breath, his eyes are half lidded but his gaze is locked with yours, trying to read your thoughts before he leans back in to give you exactly what you were thinking about.

✧ Sylus also loves to nip at your lip from time to time, teasing you almost in a playful manner that leaves you clutching his shirt but he slips his tongue over your lip before letting it slide against your tongue again, daring you to take the control from him which you rarely ever do.

✧ He doesn't really use words to tease you (so he won't need to break the kiss more than necessary) but he will taunt you afterwards when your cheeks are hot and you're almost out of breath.

✧ He usually stops making out with you before he gets too excited if you catch my drift, but if you want to take things further, all you need to do is to slip your tongue in his mouth and he's on you within a second.

── ⟢ Xavier

✧ Xavier's doesn't hold back at all, unable to help himself the second he has you close.

✧ He leans in without hesitation and it feels like kissing him has become second nature, as if you became the oxygen his lungs crave.

✧ He doesn't start slow or eases in, he's all in from the moment your lips touch.

✧ His hands wander all over your body, unable to find a resting spot - cupping your cheeks, sliding a hand into your hair to tug gently, wrapping an arm around you to pull you impossibly close - no matter what he does, he can't get enough of you.

✧ This doesn't mean that his kisses are hurried or messy however - They're passionate with a hint of softness beneath.

✧ He peppers kisses onto your lips between the deep kisses as if he can't get enough of you even though his lungs demand a breath of air.

✧ If you laugh from how sweet he is with you, he smiles against your lips. Hearing how happy you are is all he wants in life, even better if he's the reason you're giggling.

✧ When you tug on his hair, no matter how gently, he will groan softly against your lips, an admission of how you undo him just with a simple touch.

✧ If you're cuddling in bed and it turns into a make out session, he has a hard time to not lose himself in the intensity of it. Everything is so warm and soft around him, he easily loses track of time, drowning himself in your love.

✧ His tongue tangles with yours almost messily but filled with some sort of desperation only more kisses can fix.

✧ When he does pull away, he pulls you closer by the hips, wanting to tuck you against his body and never let go, but if you want to take things further just snake your hands beneath his shirt.

── ⟢ Zayne

✧ Zayne's kisses start composed to test the waters, see how you react when he kisses you out of the blue while you two were just cooking in the kitchen.

✧ He placed you on top of the kitchen counter and stands firmly between your legs, his hands respectfully resting at your side and the other cupping your cheek.

✧ The moment your arms wrap around his neck, he's done for. You have him in the palm of your hand and you don't even know it yet.

✧ His kisses are slow and sensual, grounding you while tearing the floor from beneath your feet all at the same time. He makes you forget how to breathe.

✧ He hums softly into the kiss when you melt against him, parting your lips to allow his tongue to slip into your mouth.

✧ When he's losing himself in the kissing, it's not all consuming or messy. It feels like devotion, rather than desire when his tongue caresses yours.

✧ You can feel how he grows tense and how his breath hitches when you start letting your hands wander, almost as if he has to concentrate to not lose control completely.

✧ When things get too heated, he slowly eases out of the make out session, his tongue caressing yours softer before withdrawing and giving your lips gentle kisses until he eventually pulls away.

✧ His hair looks like a mess when he pulls away and all it takes is one word from you to escalate things from harmless kissing to much more.

── ⟢ Caleb

✧ Caleb's kisses are confident from the start on, gentle but slightly possessive, making sure you know that you're his.

✧ There's no hesitation in the way his hand cups your face, no second guessing when he leans in - knowing that you'll meet him halfway.

✧ His lips feel warm and unhurried against yours, savoring every moment he can spend with you like this.

✧ One hand rests at the nape of your neck while the other stays planted to your hip, holding you close without urgency, because he's in no rush to let you go any time soon.

✧ When you kiss him back, he smiles into the kiss and finally deepens it, his tongue swiping along your lips asking for entrance you won't deny him.

✧ If your fingers slip into his hair or tug at his collar, he just hums in approval as he pulls you even closer since this is exactly the reaction he needed from you.

✧ When he pulls back to let you breathe, he stays close, lips busying themselves with the sensitive skin of your neck.

✧ "You good?" he asks carefully before kissing you again, softer this time.

✧ He never pulls away completely, always keeping some form of contact—his hand squeezing your hip, his nose brushing against your neck while he kisses your pulse point—reminding you that he is right there.

✧ And if you want more than just making out, you don't even need to ask, Caleb is already grinding himself against you, letting you decide if you move with him to take things further or if you slowly ease out of the heated moment.

── ⟢ Valko

✧ Valko's kisses start playful, just a teasing brush of his lips, barely there and just enough to make you chase him before he finally gives in with a soft chuckle against your lips.

✧ His hands roam freely until settling on your sides, thumbs stroking lazy circles as he deepens the kiss, savoring each reaction and shiver he pulls from you.

✧ But Valko struggles to stay serious for too long—sharp canines gently tugging at your bottom lip in a playful nip, not hard enough to hurt but enough to give him a reaction.

✧ The sound makes his ears twitch, and before you know it, those soft wolf ears have popped up from his hair, betraying just how much he's enjoying this.

✧ He doesn't try to hide them, if anything he leans into your caress, tilting his head to give you better access as his tongue slides against yours with a newfound urge.

✧ His hands wander over your body but ultimately one of then slides up your spine to cradle the back of your head, while the other arm wraps around your waist do keep you close to him.

✧ Valko eventually pulls back to smirk at you when your breath got heavier.

✧ "Getting shy on me already?" he teases amused before diving back in to steal another kiss that leaves you breathless.

✧ His body is painfully aware of every small change in the air, his nose picking up the scent of your arousal before you can even voice out a need for more—the moment you do however, his hips slowly start rutting against you to get you even more needy for him.

So much for going for a quick stroll. The air smells of iron and crushed flora thanks to the battlefield still blooming around them, soaked with blood and tainted petals under the pale moonlight.

Yet, the moment is strangely intimate rather than grotesque as crimson clings to them both, drying in streaks along their skin, soaking through the bandages wrapped tight around Blade's torso.

The frenzy has faded from his eyes, but it has not gone far—it never truly does by now. But she steps into his space regardless, without hesitation, without fear, foolish as in every cycle. A gentle hand coaxes Blade to loosen the grip around his sword and let her carry his burden, almost as if the metal belongs in her hands, too. Alongside his sins.

"You should not draw so close," Blade states quietly, but the stubborn one keeps coming closer anyway, lifting her gaze until they meet wild crimson for the world to fall away.

They are standing in a garden of corpses, and yet the moment feels eerily intimate. "Are you wounded?" Winter asks, though she already expects his sarcastic response. The humourless breath of air Blade exhales alongside, "I am always wounded."

Her fingers find the edge of a bandage at his chest, where she slowly begins to unwind it. Peeling away not only crimson-stained layers but icy walls, to reveal old scars layered over newer ones that are already healing.

"And you should not touch me when I am like this," Blade adds in a grumbled tone, his defences high since he rather keeps her at an arm's length than hurt her again.

"When are you not like this?" she replies, tinged with a truth that has followed them across lifetimes. "I promise I won't bite," she murmurs softly, teasingly, though terribly aware that she isn't the danger in their dynamic.

The irony isn't lost on Blade, though he tries to bite back the memories of her blood on his hands, of him clinging to her bloodied corpses or lying on her graves. His jaw flexes then, brows drawing together. "But I do."

Her hand stills against his chest, feeling his rapidly beating heart beneath her palm. Too hard for someone who claims to feel nothing. "It doesn't matter."

Something eerily unknown yet familiar presses against him all the same, a faint sting behind his eyes, a sense of something unfinished that he currently cannot name. "You will be buried because of me," and his voice is hoarse, barely a whisper, a plea. "Again."

She does not look surprised that he seems to remember parts of their past. Sometimes the Aeons are almost kind in their cruelty. His hand comes up to her face where he brushes blood from her cheek as he looks at her like she is his salvation.

"Then you simply have to lay beside me," she answers gently. "Like we promised."

Promised. The word unsettles him, and lands in place Blade cannot quite reach, hitting him like a sword to the sternum. Not clear, never clear, but felt like a dream. A vow of silver rings and a long lost paradise. He remembers the feeling of losing her; that never fades.

"If I lose control," he says slowly, his gaze dropping to her mouth and then rising again with something uncharacteristically soft beneath it, "if the Mara takes me and I turn my blade on you—"

"You have," she interrupts, not cruelly, only honestly. "And I found you again. More than once."

The words should horrify him, but instead they steady him. Because beneath the guilt and the violence there is a crueller truth he has never dared to articulate, which is that she has always come back, that no grave has held her long enough to free him.

The world could end in this moment and he would not notice, too consumed by her eyes as he lowers his forehead. Blood smears where fabric brushes fabric.

"You should not love something that destroys you," he says. "I do not love the destruction," she replies, now that their breaths have begun to mix the truths slips out easily. "I love what remains."

He studies her as if trying to carve her face into whatever part of him survives forgetting, memorising the curve of her mouth, the blood at her throat, the unwavering love in her eyes, and then he presses his forehead to hers.

"I was yours before you forgot," she adds softly. "And I will be yours after I die. We are one," she answers. "Even when you try not to be."

And Blade—the poor immortal, the cursed one, drenched in the aftermath of his own violence—allows himself, just this once, to close his eyes and lean in. As if loving her was not the most dangerous thing he could ever do.

art by @vanillssugar who so amazingly and insanely brought my entire idea to life again!! thank you so much for working with me AND for the chibi 🥹🤲🏼 this is literally the sweetest ever look at mini winnie :(