#Promises Project

[golyadkin]

you'll get the urge as an artist or a writer to say out loud the things you're worried about "the proportions are off" "kind of out of character" "i'm not good at summaries" "didn't get as much detail as i wanted" "i made a mistake and here's how" and that's the self-conscious part of your brain telling you "it's bad and if you don't tell them you know it's bad then they'll think you're stupid" but you've got to ignore that little voice and pretend you think it's good or else that little voice is going to ruin your life

[zazrichor]

DANDELION | overcoming hardship, healing, resilience, hope

I had the pleasure of painting the illustrious Dorian for @daflowerzine 🌼 leftover sales are still happening!

[raptorrobot]

...like antennas to heaven

link to the full image

[viloxenn]

Stuff that I probably won't finish so here they are

[lambilegs]

. ݁₊ 🦢 . ݁˖ sevika being a grouchy husbutch who, even when she's pissed because of conflict you guys are having, will still begrudgingly drive you everywhere and do everything she always does for you.

she'll huff about it, sure, but she'll still clasp on any jewelry you need to put on before work. she'll sigh extra hard when you call her for a ride home, but avoid mentioning that she was already on her way since minutes ago. she'll still fold your laundry with hers, and pick up the food you like when she hears a catch in your voice. when she's done her half of a crossword puzzle after dinner, she'll slide it over to you without a word.

and when you come to the bed that night with a frown, clearly aching for her, she'll sigh and extend her arm out. when you bury your face in her neck, apologizing or saying you want to fix things, she'll hold onto you tighter, kissing your head and telling you firmly that you guys will be fine.

because, despite any hiccups you two have, she's not one to resort to petty actions to prove her point. she'll make it clear she's annoyed by a situation through telling you as much, but she's not gonna let that give her a free pass to no longer treat you like a partner. to her, the stuff she does for you isn't a privilege, but something that's innate in a relationship. so, even if you piss her off, even if you guys are bickering, she'll still engage in every ritual, every little habit that's built the safety and comfort that that wraps around the two of you when together.

she'll still be unwavering in her efforts to show that no matter what you guys go through, no matter what conflict you need to resolve, you're hers and she's not about to drop that fact just because of a mood.

[abyssalzones]

it's fine it's not like these things get worse with age or anything

[greykolla-art]

Those bitches tricked me.

[appledoves]

(read left to right)

[neoheros]

kageyama is having a horrible night.

he’s hungry, cold, and pissed – and now, to add a new thing to that roster, he finds himself lost in this big ass apartment building now too.

and to be honest, it just about serves him right for ditching hoshiumi and the others back in the parking lot downstairs.

they can’t really blame him though. they were taking way too long in the car, arguing over and over again on how to make an entrance into “enemy territory”, when really its just another harmless reunion party they’ve all been forced to attend.

still, despite all of that, kageyama finds himself here — lost and alone in an empty building corridor, mentally berating himself for forgetting which door number he was actually supposed to go into.

he supposes he could always just text hinata and ask, he would know after all, considering it’s miya freaking atsumu’s apartment this stupid get-together thing’s being held at.

he grumbles to himself again at the thought.

it’s only been a few hours since the adlers vs. jackals match ended and much to kageyama’s dissatisfaction (and surprise), the jackals won over him and his team by a wopping 15 points.

15 of which were scored with atsumu’s sets.

and now, not only is he supposed to live with losing to someone like atsumu miya, but he’s supposed to be a guest at his apartment now too? he really doesn’t want to be here.

“are you here for the party?”

a voice snaps him out of his inner grumblings, and suddenly, he’s back in the cold apartment corridor.

the voice he finds (you) looks at him quizzically, and he realizes there that you’re also pointing towards the door in front of where he’s standing.

he hasn’t really met you before, but he does recognizes you as one of the people in the picture hinata keeps on the back of his phone case.

were you part of the reunion thing too?

“yeah.” he nods, quiet, and its only now he notices the amount of brown paper bags you carry in your arms, it looks like snacks and groceries, so he says, “do you need help with that?”

“would you?” you smile at him, “thank you so much.”

he takes the paper bags in your arms and in return, you open the door for him. you had your own set of keys for the apartment it seemed, so maybe you really were a close friend to the jackals after all.

the two of you take your shoes off as you enter the doorway, and he’s only a little bit startled when you call out, “we’re here!”

kageyama takes a quick scan around the room. there’s at least 10-15 people who showed, half of them he knows from his high school days and the other half he only sees in passing when he plays them during practice matches or official games.

the turn out to this reunion thing is impressive, speaking volumes for the kind of man atsumu miya is for being able to host such a thing.

(he’s more surprised this amount of people like atsumu so much to turn up to such a pointless party. the only thing he remembered about the fake blond back in high school was how punchable his face was.)

the apartment itself isn’t really that impressive to begin with, it’s a standard two bedroom japanese flat, but the way it’s been decorated makes it feel a whole lot more different — homier.

“you can place the bags here.” you tell him, pointing to the kitchen counter, and he remembers that he’s no longer as alone as he was earlier tonight.

he does as he’s told, quiet, skittish, polite and he watches you walk past the kitchen counter and start opening cabinet drawers.

“kageyama, right?”

he isn’t that surprised to know that you already know his name, you are pretty close to hinata after all.

“yes.” he tells you, nodding, “tobio kageyama.”

“shoyo showed me a couple photos of the two of you guys a while back.” you say, rummaging through the kitchen fridge now, “so i recognized you when i saw you at the doorway.”

you turn back to him after another second, a proud smile on your face as you show him what you’d been looking for — drinks.

you hand him the bottle on your right hand and you introduce yourself to him finally, a small smile on your face that he finds actually really nice that he almost misses the part where you say your last name too.

“miya?” he asks, taking the drink you’re offering, “you’re miya too?”

it would make sense if you were, seeing as how comfortable you were in this apartment of his or how close you were to all his teammates.

besides, it wouldn’t be the first time kageyama’s met someone related to atsumu miya anyway, but this time it was less obvious, considering the fact that you don’t share his face and all that.

“are you related to atsumu?” he asks, although a bit obvious.

and you give him a playful smile, shoulders rising a little bit as it kind of gets you to laugh, “something like that.”

hoshiumi and the others still haven’t gotten here yet and he’s got half a mind to just ditch them and leave for making him wait by himself for so long.

but the other half of his thoughts are here, sharing a drink with you, and he thinks, okay, it isn’t so bad.

“so, kageyama,” you nudge his shoulder, “you here alone?”

he shakes his head, “i came with a few of my teammates… hoshiumi korai? but i think i lost them on the way here.”

(he omits the fact that he did leave them deliberately. but if he’s asked, he’ll admit the fact that they deserved it.)

“well, what do they look like? maybe i can help you find them.” you tell him, and immediately you looked more eager to do so than he’d expected.

you were very friendly and polite, a lot different from the usual characters he’d usually meet on the court. not to mention the fact that you’re supposedly related to someone like atsumu miya, someone he knows for a fact was very much not friendly and polite at all.

“he’s short.” is his simple response, and he follows up, just as casually, “like a pigeon.”

that gets you to smile, and weirdly enough, kageyama thinks it’s nice.

“looking for a short pigeon.” you nod, “coming right up.”

you laugh a little bit as you say it, and he thinks well, your laugh is nice too.

to be honest, maybe its the people or maybe its the mood and atmosphere of the party, but kageyama isn’t as invested in looking for his friends anymore.

he feels his ears get warm at that sentiment.

was that a weird thing to think about somebody you just met? he really doesn’t know.

hoshiumi has been hounding him since the day they met that he needed to be more social and less of a recluse, but kageyama always thought of hoshiumi as the human equivalent of a bouncy house, so he didn’t really pay that much attention towards his words.

“do you play volleyball?” he asks you, and he doesn’t really know why. he hates small talk, but he thinks its nice when you talk to him.

“not at all.” you laugh with a shake of your head, “i’m mostly here for shoyo and the other guys.”

the two of you walk around the apartment now, both in hopes to suddenly run into hoshiumi and the other team mates in the midst of the crowd.

you pass by different faces all familiar to him, and they all say their heys and hellos to the both of you, but you seem to receive them a lot warmer than he does.

if he didn’t know any better, it almost seemed like you were the one hosting and not atsumu with the way everyone here greeted you — where was he, anyway?

“actually, before i met them, i had no clue what the hell a libero was.” there’s a soft laugh in your voice as you speak, and he’s all the more glad he made small talk.

you give him a bashful smile, “now i wanna be one just so i can be the only person on the team with a cuter shirt.”

that makes kageyama smile a little bit too. a smile small enough for it to be polite, but still big enough for him to know that it may actually be genuine.

in all truths and honesty, he really doesn’t care about where his teammates are anymore. they could have left and ditched him here for the evening and he felt that it still would’ve been fine.

kageyama has a hard time meeting people. they always think he’s too mean or too cold or too reclusive, and he can’t really blame them, for that’s really just the way he is.

he’s been resigned to this personality for forever that it just seems pointless to try and change anything about it now. if people don’t like him then fine, he’s not asking to be liked anyway.

but for some reason, tonight feel different, different here and different with you.

the conversation feels easy and your words are kind and polite, almost sweet. you smile a lot as you talk to him, and he thinks it’s nice to see every single time.

( it almost makes him think, maybe he isn’t as bad as company as people make him out to be. )

the two of you had done an entire lap around the apartment by now, back at the starting point of where the two of you first met, and still no sign of his team mates that were supposed to be here with him.

“well, should we try calling them?” you suggest, and he only shakes his head in return, you’ve already done so much for him tonight.

he sees you take your phone out of your pocket though and a different idea pops into his head, and immediately, his face feels warmer than it did a moment ago.

hoshiumi’s always been hounding him about being too much of a recluse, always going on and on about how he should seize opportunities and meet new people, and he’s always thought it was a load of bull.

“actually.” he begins, and kageyama feels embarrassed almost to even think about what he’s about to ask you.

but it’s a party and where else would opportunities be seized and where else would he meet new people that made him smile so easily.

so he swallows down his pride a little bit, and he looks at the ground, seemingly having an easier time looking at anything else aside from you, and he says, ears pink and all, “may i ask for your numb-”

“tobio-kun, glad to see ya make it.”

he doesn’t get to finish his question and when he looks up from the floor, he finally sees the man he’s been looking for all evening.

atsumu miya really does have a punchable face.

but it’s so much worse right now as he stands next to you, smug and proud to have seen him at such an embarrassing moment that kageyama could only hope that you didn’t hear him.

“atsumu.” he makes a polite nod of acknowledgment, straightening himself as he bows slightly, “thank you for having me.”

kageyama ignores the look atsumu’s giving him, and he says instead, “you have a lovely home.”

atsumu only gives him a shrug and kageyama swears he’s looking at him the same exact way he does when he sees him talk to hinata on the court.

the three of you stand by the doorway. awkward.

you clear your throat and the two of them look at you now.

“well, it’s all thanks to me, really.” you give them both a nudge, and atsumu knows the laugh you intertwine with your words feel nervous.

kageyama sees you give the blond man to your side a look, and atsumu deflates a little bit, but his menacing — and oh so punchable — demeanor is gone almost instantly.

its less awkward now.

you pat atsumu on the shoulder, “if it were up to this guy, it’d be paper plates kitchenware and dirty socks all over the floor all the time.”

it’s quiet for a second.

then kageyama raises a brow, “you two live together?”

and atsumu quickly replies, “obviously.”

( you nudge atsumu on the shoulder again, harder this time, and you roll your eyes when he says “ow!” )

you look at kageyama, feeling a little bit sorry for him at the confusion this all must be causing him.

“not by choice.” you give him a short smile, and you point to atsumu with another roll of your eyes.

“he’s my husband, so i’m forced to live with him.”

. . . oh.

it takes a second for your words to click in kageyama’s head, another second to notice the bright gold band on atsumu’s ring finger, and one last second to realize that you had been wearing one this entire time too.

. . . oh.

if kageyama hadn’t felt like an idiot before, he sure feels it and a million times more now.

he makes a mental note to never listen to anything hoshiumi tells him ever again, and another mental note to hit hinata in the head for not ever mentioning that atsumu miya, the most punchable guy on the planet, is married to you, the kindest person he’s ever met.

his words feel dry on his throat, his ears a darker shade of pink just from pure embarassment alone, and he chokes out, “ah — congratulations.”

and atsumu smiles widely, not missing a beat, “i set the bar high, i know.”

( surely, this guy has been punched before. )

you look like you’re about to say something to kageyama, (probably something consoling) but before you get the chance to, a stroke of luck in his favor finally happens, and finally — finally — after all evening, kageyama hears hoshiumi call for his name.

truly, he’s never been happier to hear his human bouncy house call for him.

kageyama turns to you quickly, and he bows, polite, “please excuse me, i finally see my friends.”

he sounds eager and quick to leave as he speaks, “thank you for your help and thank you for having me into your home.”

“its not a problem at all.” you tell him, and you kind of feel sorry for him just by looking at how much he already wants to leave.

before kageyama goes though, he looks to you one last time, ears still pink and eyes still avoidant.

still, he tells you, “it was very nice to meet you.” and then he’s gone.

atsumu watches kageyama leave, an amused smile on his face at the sight of how quickly he’s walking just to escape his vicinity, and a second passes, maybe another, and he’s lost in the crowd again.

the two of you are alone now, leaning together by the wall of the door and you nudge atsumu on his side, “you were mean.”

and your husband scoffs at you, “don’t think i didn’t hear him try and ask for ye’r number.”

you wave him off, and he moves closer to you.

finally, he felt like he’s been missing from you all night.

“ah, let it go, he didn’t know.” you wave your hand as you dismiss him, and you smile, “besides, what would you have done, hm? hit him?”

“no.” your husband crosses his arms against his chest, scoffing loudly, almost sounding offended if you didn’t know him so well.

but then he peeks an eye open, tone immediately changing, and he follows, “why? would you have found it hot if i did?”

you laugh and he is closer to you. “absolutely not.”

( you don’t get to experience the smug and punchable atsumu miya everyone else gets, when he is with you, the only smiles shared are big and happy and in between kisses and hugs. )

atsumu pulls you into his arms loosely, just to get you closer, just so he can touch you, “then i must be soooo hot right now because i didn’t, right?”

“oh, yes, definitely.” you match him in every way, “you are soooo hot and sexy for not assaulting anyone on our brand new carpet.”

“oh, i get sexy too? here i was being all humble with just hot.” he teases, and there may be lots of people in the apartment you share right now, but it still feels like its just the two of you together. “you’re very easy to please.”

you laugh — the way he always makes you laugh — and he kisses you, because who could resist kissing you? you kiss him back briefly, your smile breaking the kiss eventually as you push him off.

“i’m married to you.” you say, and you’re as playful as he is, “my bar is very low.”

people are always so shocked to hear it when atsumu introduces himself as your husband, and he knows, for good reason, that yes, it is because the two of you are married so young.

but he also knows that aside from that — and this one makes him very proud — that the shock and surprise doesn’t only come from your age, but from something else entirely too.

because not only is atsumu miya married at 21, but he is also married to someone who’s the complete opposite of him; someone who’s as perfect as you.

[mellowwillowy]

Being a livestock for a vampire has never sounded good until you were kidnapped by a vampire as his spouse.

TW: Yandere, NSFW, SH, and massacre

The vampire was intrigued by the puny human he ran into when he was walking around the river in the morning, testing his new potion and spell that would keep him immune to sunlight.

What was once a plan to kidnap you as one of his livestock turned into a moment where you had to nurse him because he suddenly dropped his whole weight onto you, face blistered from the sunlight.

“You are awake now.”

Your voice stirred him awake more than ever. His once droopy eyes were wide opened in shock. He didn't remember having anyone in his manor.

Your eyes were locked with his Emerald ones and he defensively squinted his eyes. You raised both of your hands, “You passed out right behind me and I had to drag you all the way from the riverbank to my cottage.”

The curtain was drawn close suspiciously, not allowing any light to filter inside the bedroom. Did you know he was a vampire already?

“Was it an allergic reaction?”

“Huh?” he asked, baffled.

“Your face was blistered because it was the only part of you that was exposed. Nonetheless, you healed really fast so there was no need for any extensive care from my herbs. You were only out for a day.”

He started to feel his face, aside from patches here and there, there was nothing wrong with it.

“Ah yes, let me get the hand mirror for you—”

Just before you could stand up, his hand grabbed yours and held you on the spot immediately. If you were to realize he had no reflection.

“Can you help me stand and get me to the kitchen instead? I'm quite thirsty since I haven't drunk in a day.”

You stared at his eyes and glanced at his pale hand. It took you seconds before you agreed to him and supported him by slinging his arm over your shoulder and walked toward the kitchen downstairs.

His eyes scanned through your cottage, it was mainly dominated by white, ornaments, furniture, trinkets, and even flowers.

“You must have really loved white, considering even having flowers that can't grow in this land.” Yulian glanced at the potted flowers. Lilies of the Valley, daisies, baby’s breath, and lilies.

At that, you only hummed and sat him down on one of the chairs. You placed a cup of water for him and returned to the sink to prepare him what he assumed to be breakfast, judging from how bright it was outside the window.

Mindlessly staring into the window, he accidentally hissed from the sunlight reaching his bare-handed hand, alerting you of his discomfort.

“Oh dear, what happened?”

Yulian flinched at the endearment term you spoke before he regained his composure.

“Nothing, I just accidentally bit my tongue.” he lied as he tried to cover his blistered hand. You nodded and turned your focus back to the breakfast you were preparing.

“Are you allergic to dairies?” you asked him. “No.”

“Thought you were one unlucky man, it seems like you are not immune to light or something like an albino. I'm assuming Your skin is very sensitive to light since you were so covered.”

He only mumbled a few incoherent words before you snapped him out of his trance with a clap of your hands, “So what's your name dear?”

“Alan-” instinctively, the man shut his mouth and took a few seconds of silence before answering you.

“Yulian. My name is Yulian.” “Nice to meet you,” you served him a plate of sandwiches, “I’m the local physician here, you’ll be staying here with me for rehabilitation.”

Yulian raised both of his eyebrows, “But I am not wounded terribly in any way.” “Perhaps not, but this is how I work. Could it be that you are not a local?”

Yulian shook his head.

“Where’s your house? Do you need to go back home to your family immediately? I can stay in your place for a few days to make sure there are no more anomalies.”

Yulian frowned, what a persistent human. It was almost annoying, breaching people’s boundaries just to sate their own curiosities. He could read you that much.

But he agreed to stay in your cottage nonetheless.

𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.

But you had always been attentive, drawing the curtain for him when he walked out of his bedroom. Offering to hold the umbrella for him when he wanted to walk.

What was once a plain bedroom was slowly adorned by flowers, mainly baby’s breath.

The food you made or bought was also not bad. They were decent for a human but not a vampire. Sometimes he had to mask his distaste to any food that consisted of onions.

It was not easy to sneak out of the cottage since you were sometimes awake and roamed around the cottage.

But it was a rather peaceful life. There was bustling sounds and noises from the cottage, unlike his dead and dark manor.

It was bright in your cottage but it didn't hurt him in the slightest bit. Was it because it was a ‘White House’?

𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔.

If there was something he disliked from you then it had to be your silver ring. Whenever you touched him with your hand ring, you would sometimes graze his skin with your ring.

He tried not to hiss but there were occasions when it was unbearable, just like when you were compressing him and felt his temperature.

Unlike in a few cases where he could hide his blisters, it was visible that his forehead was bleeding from the contact.

It was alarming for both of you, paranoia and fear downed him as he suspected you were testing him while shock and suspicion flashed onto your face.

There was a rift but Yulian was a great reader, he knew you did not mean anything bad and decided to lie his way out again. Alas, it's harder this time.

Another thing he didn't like about you was how you could be ignoring him for a whole day sometimes. It could be something interesting that got your whole attention or another patient coming.

Perhaps he was simply unamused by the idea of a lesser being taking away your attention from him.

𝑬𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒔.

You often strolled around the riverbank and forest, collecting herbs and wildflowers, sometimes walking down toward the village to buy daily necessities.

You didn't allow him to follow you at first, making him have to secretly follow you out of boredom and partial curiosity.

But upon week later, Yulian started to show you his interest in going out with you. It took him lots of convincing that he wouldn't fall sick from this and you reluctantly agreed to it.

For the first time, he could finally walk side by side with you instead of following you from the dark. It almost felt like his still heart was beating from excitement.

Apparently, all the villagers recognized you as a talented physician. They were all friendly to you and would do anything to help you as well.

It made something within him sting. Was it envy that he wasn't treated just as nice?

𝑽𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐��𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚’𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉.

Sometimes the two of you would sing under the moonlight as a pastime. Sometimes you would come to his bedroom at night and converse with him until he pretended to fall asleep.

Sometimes you would diagnose him. Sometimes you would tell him stories of your life. Sometimes you would ask him questions about his life. Sometimes you would cry in your bedroom.

He couldn't help but wonder what sorrowed your frail heart.

Sometimes he would enter your bedroom and observe your patterned breathing while you were asleep. It was almost as if the role was reversed. He was observing you out of curiosity and perhaps, adoration.

A human’s lifespan is as short as a stick. Not only couldn't they live long, but they were also vulnerable to almost everything.

Yulian brought his hand to cup your cheek, squeezing it just a bit before his fingers traced down toward your neck, feeling your jugular vein pulsating in rhythm with your heart. You were alive but he wasn't. You were loved but he wasn't. You were adored but he wasn't.

Was it envy that brought his fangs close to your neck? Was he envious of your life? Or was he simply being unreasonable? You stirred awake from your sleep, eyes adjusting to the moonlight that lit your bedroom. No one was in sight and the water you placed on your nightstand remained warm despite the chilling temperature.

Perhaps the envy in him was never directed at you.

𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚.

The only reason why Yulian was still resting in your cottage was because of his self-sabotaging. You were a physician and he was a patient, unless he had a logical reason to stay in your cottage then he had to excuse himself.

It started with how Yulian started to fake food poisoning, burn himself from the sunlight, fake an anemic, and wound himself with the silver ornaments you had in the cottage.

But Yulian understood it was only a matter of time before your dense self realized that something was wrong and chased him out of your cottage.

Would you scream at him in fury, fear, or disappointment? He thought he was used to rejection already but something changed within him with the time spent living with you.

And he didn't want to betray your trust. You trusted him with your little secret. The secret that you were actually the village's 'Witch'.

Yulian sighed audibly as he walked toward your bedroom, observing it from corner to corner for any anomalies. It had always been a paranoid habit of his. He wanted to make sure nothing dangerous was inside your bedroom or, to be frank, your surroundings.

Yulian walked toward your dressing table and gazed into the mirror. There was not a single reflection of himself, a reminder that he was never supposed to let you live in the first place.

Yet your touch never failed to soothe his stoned heart, it never failed to make him melt under your touch. And your existence did not hunger him in any way unlike the others would.

He had learned to co-exist with you before he realized it, it was too late for him to undo this dependence and bond, let alone feed on you.

Yulian walked out and waited for you to come back from your visit to the local church. As much as he wanted to join you, he couldn't risk getting caught by them.

Hours passed and the sun sank, the moon lit the dark sky and yet not even a single sound of your footsteps approaching the cottage was heard. Yulian dissipated into thin air and teleported to where you were supposed to be but you were nowhere in sight.

The church was eerily silent to human ears but not to an otherworldly being like him. He could hear an ominous chant beneath him. He could smell the sickeningly sweet incense lit beneath him. And he could feel the mark he left on your neck that night beneath him.

The 'Witch' play ends tonight.

-

You woke up in someone's embrace, the night was lit by the moonlight above you yet there was an unbearable heat nearby.

"You are awake now."

His voice stirred you awake more than ever. Your once droopy eyes were wide opened in shock. You didn't remember seeing him.

Your eyes were locked with his Emerald ones and you stared at his eyes. He smiled at you, “You passed out amidst the fire and I had to carry you all the way from the village.”

You looked behind his back and saw a huge fire consume the village, the villagers' cries were audible despite the distance. You clutched his black robe, "Wait, no! The villagers, they need me! I need to save them!"

"May I know why?" "Because I'm a Witch, the protector of this village!"

Yulian chortled at your remarks before he smirked, "And yet you let an outsider reside in your cottage for months."

All colors were drained from your face, and your heart sank down; "What do you mean?"

Yulian sat you down on one of the rocks and knelt in front of you, his gloved hand brought your hand ring, "Observe this."

He took off his glove and pressed your ring finger to his palm, the skin blistered from the contact and you instinctively pulled away, "What was that?!"

There was a tale of vampires and you wished he would deny it.

"It was troublesome for me having to avoid the mirrors in your cottage and anything that would reflect." Hand mirror.

"I never really like the dishes you made with onions but I stomach it all because I just couldn't muster the courage to see your sullen face," Onions.

"I really hate strolling when the sun is still up because I have to carry an umbrella with me all the time." Sun.

"Though I must say I don't mind being touched by you with your ring hand because it was worth the pain and trouble." Silver.

You backed away from him and just before your back could hit the grassy ground, his arm prevented you from tumbling back, "And I must say, it took me lots of time to properly mark and make you submit to a contract with me."

Contract?

Yulian cradled your confused body into his chest, the warmth you felt was not emitted from his skin but instead, the fire that devoured all the villagers who had been deceiving you.

All of the shock that weighed upon made you succumb to unconsciousness again, mainly from stress and trauma. Yulian frowned at your limp figure as he stood up and continued walking deep into the forest to his manor.

𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕-𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 '��𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆' 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒕.

Yulian did not like the hostility that you showed him at all. The ongoing stress and trauma drowned you in the hysteria that would also make you harm yourself. It pained him that he was one of the causes of your hysteria, a hypothetical scenario would sometimes flash across his mind. What if he had not appeared in your life? Then perhaps your heart wouldn't sorrow to this extent.

Yulian tried his best to help you adapt. The once dark and grim manor slowly turned white. The exteriors and interiors were white before you could remember how it originally looked like. Flowers were blooming in the garden to your liking and a potted white flowers near you for you to adore.

While Yulian had the patience to make you warm up to him and face the reality of your life, he did not have the heart to see you suffer for so long. And as much as he wanted to change you into a vampire just like him, he'd rather not have it done unwillingly.

But time was not so kind for your age. The longer he delayed it, the older and frailer you would be.

Alas, luck was on his side when he secluded himself in his room for a long time for the first time you came here. He didn't expect you to find his presence soothing for you.

It appeared that all his efforts had made you think that his action of kidnapping you was just an attempt to save you from the villagers who tricked you into thinking that you were a 'Witch'.

You looked for him, calmly at first then frantically when you suffered from a panic attack. He didn't mean to test you but he knew well deep inside he was hurting you.

Even for a selfish and cold-blooded creature like him, he had to steel his heart before he could see you again. Everything he was feeling after he met you was his first. You brought colors to his monochrome life. You taught him that the smell of a morning was calming. You taught him how to spend his time with pastimes.

He could not find it in his heart to leave your side. It was his first time to feel alive and he was greedy, wanting more of it.

You stood in front of his chamber, waiting for him to open his door instead of avoiding you altogether.

--

"The servants took great care of you while I was away right, dear?"

Yulian never found the charm in terms of endearment, but whenever you called him 'dear', incomprehensible emotion and feeling surged into him. He still remembered the day you first called him that, it was foreign and weird to him but he didn't find it that bad at all.

You squirmed under his touch, squeezing yourself closer and deeper into his embrace while your hands clenched on the bedsheet. That was not the only thing you were clenching though, for his fingers were knuckle deep inside you.

You tried to form a coherent answer but what came out was simply a blubbering. Tears dripped down from your cheek from the way he curled his fingers, feeling your spot until your toes were curled.

You didn't know that even vampires could feel this much stimulation from sex. You assumed they just reproduced while feeling only half of the pleasure humans could have because of how cold-blooded they were.

You thought they only did it out of curiosity or memories of their past lives, or perhaps from the mood itself instead of doing it for pleasure as well.

Yulian brought his lip to yours, nibbling your lower lip why urging you to open your mouth, allowing his tongue to roam inside you while his fingers did not stop even one bit, drawing multiple orgasms out of you.

You really loved every bit of the man who once tried to kill you. The way his soft fangs felt your skin, pricking it playfully instead of sinking it deep inside your jugular vein and killing you on the spot.

You loved it when he caressed your cheek, you loved how gentle he was when he wiped the tears from your eyelashes.

You loved it when he was inside of you, you loved it when he knew every inch of your body so well to the point he could make you cry out of pleasure effortlessly.

You loved to see his cute face from how fast he came inside you but he never stopped his hip. You loved it when he kissed your face. You loved it when he intertwined both of your hands.

You loved it when he made your insides feel warm and full.

You loved him for severing the illusion of the 'Witch' inside of you. It was undeniable that Yuliad had saved you from the villagers' torturing you for accepting an outsider into your cottage for the first time.

You were simply curious of his condition and yet you were punished terribly for not keeping the said tradition. Yulian knew there was never a tradition, it simply was a doctrine for you who was a prodigy of a physician to save everyone from your village.

You were exiled deep in the forest so that you couldn't learn the life beyond the forest and village.

Yulian knew just as much when he first joined you on your stroll to the village. Everyone treated you differently as though you were a deity and you considered it to be something normal.

It looked normal to him considering they believed in the 'Witch' but Yulian knew better. You were just a human and all of these were just a doctrine from the church. To ensure the prodigy never left the village and was forever loyal to the church.

Spies were sent and he knew the church had probably noticed him as not only a weird outsider but also a vampire. It was unfortunate of you to be dragged into the church's underground and interrogated, forced to drag him to the church and had him staked to death. But you were persistent, you didn't trust them.

Just before Yulian was about to save you, you made a grave mistake of swearing on your name to make a promise with the devil to save you and your companion which was him. He knew you had always been so kind but wasn't that sort of naivety a little bit too much for a stranger like him? Perhaps this was the reason why the church wanted to force a much stronger doctrine onto you.

Their mistake was to not sense the danger that was him earlier. Your flaw was that you were too kind-hearted.

It gave him more reasons to seclude you from the world beyond the White House. His paranoia and obsession growing stronger with each day never seemed to unnerve you who were just a bright soul with a kind heart. A kind heart that was a contrast to his stoned heart.

That alone justified his paranoia of losing you. Surely you understood him right?

Author's Note: Thank you for reading this half-hearted work, I was so motivated to write a damn vampire fic but got writer's block mid-way smh. Happy 7th Anniversary to LIfE Project and 5k to this blog!

[jiguurten]

Throwaway comment that I think about too much, maybe.

See. See, it's a promise.

One, if I remember right, I assume he made to himself. A personal vow of sorts.

Mercy. Consideration. Humaneness. It's not an intrinsic part of his character. It's not who Castiel is. It's not what Heaven made.

It's a choice. One he has to remind himself of, one he has practice at, over and over—until it can come to him as easily as his ruthlessness, his brutality.

And that? Very appealing to me, personally.

When Castiel is kind? It's because he chose to be, not because he is. He wouldn't need a promise like this if he is.

I love characters like that. I really do.

[harriertail]

Crookedstar’s Promise (1983) opening

[v-albion]

Happy (late) Pride!!!

Ps. Lee was 6 years old when Big Mama rediscovered him. Before she found him, the staffs all refered to him as ‘the turtle’, ‘it’, or the occasional ‘she’ because of their only reference of turtle yokai, Frida, is female. When Mama had him examined, the doctor said he was assigned female. He was in the closet for about a couple year or so, and came out when he’s around 8. He’s currently 15 years old.

Masterpost

[witchlingsandwyverns]

[froggydraws]

musical prodigy

[awnrii]

harley-english siblings late night talks