"A van Dyck," Dream drawled, dragging a light finger along the gilt frame of the painting propped on the top of one of Hob's shelves. Hob really should do something more formal with that. "Interesting thing to have in your living room, Hob."
"I tell people it's a print," Hob said, coming to stand beside him and handing him his tea.
"Oh, but it is not." There was a smirk dancing on Dream's lips, Hob knew without even looking at him directly.
"Makes sense that you'd be able to tell," he sighed.
"Of course. Just how did you come across such a thing?"
"Well, I was still mingling with the aristocracy in the early 17th century. Met some interesting people." He shrugged. "Really should have sold it when I was, well, destitute, but couldn't bear to. Managed to stash it away. One of the few things I have of that time, actually."
"I can only imagine you had more than one valuable thing in your possession over the centuries," Dream mused, sipping his tea. "Why this one?"
Oh, God. He knew, didn't he?
Hob rubbed at the back of his neck. "Reminded me of you."
Hob had never known much about art, particularly back then. He hardly would consider himself a collector and certainly not a connoisseur. But that particular portrait had caught his attention immediately for its similarity to Dream.
The likeness was, indeed, striking. His hair was longer than it had been when they'd met in 1589, sweeping over his shoulders, and his features were half-draped in shadow, but his eyes. Hob would know that haughty, intense gaze anywhere.
He'd never quite discounted the idea that it was a portrait of his stranger, except that he couldn't imagine him having the patience or cause to sit for it, or the desire to be immortalized in that way.
"It is me," said Dream.
"What? Seriously?" Hob turned to stare at him and found Dream already looking back, ethereal and lovely. There was only one lamp on in the living room, night falling around them, and it cast his face in a similar light to the portrait, soft gleaming skin and plunging darkness as backdrop, limitless shadow in his eyes. "You, allowing a portrait? You're not having me on?"
"I do not joke." Dream took a step closer to him, setting his tea aside on a table. "I suppose I must have been in good humor that day."
Hob raised both eyebrows. "Oh, uh-huh, you in good humor?"
Dream's lips ticked up in a half-smile. "It happens occasionally."
Hob leaned against the shelf, careful not to jostle the painting. "For someone who so disdains the waking world, you sure are very aware of the art scene."
Dream leaned beside him, tilting his head. "You might consider me a patron of the arts."
Hob chuckled. "A patron? Or an inspiration?" He reached out and dragged his thumb along Dream's lower lip. "Dream?"
"A lover of artists, perhaps."
"I'm sure." Hob swept a hand along his cheek, breaking up the light like he was dragging a wet brush through paint. "You look like you could have stepped right out of that painting right now. You could have stepped out of any painting."
Dream looked at him from under his lashes. "Are you calling me a work of art, Hob Gadling?"
"Always."
Then Hob kissed him, hands framing his beautiful face. Dream was like an artwork, constant in essence but changing interpretation in every new light. Hob could imagine how many people over the centuries had had a fleeting encounter with him and come away changed, just as he had.
Dream hovered near him when they parted. Hob looked over to the painting again. No mere depiction could capture Dream in all of his colors, but it really was a rather good try. Van Dyck had gotten the depth of his eyes just right.
"The Baroque period suits you," Hob told him.
"Now who knows something about art?"
"I've picked up a few things over the years. I'm in love with the world's greatest artist, after all."
Dream moved in as if to kiss him, but paused to speak against Hob's mouth. "There are other works of me out in the world, if you care to seek them out."
"Don't open that challenge because I will do it," Hob informed him, quite seriously.
"I hope so." There was a sharp gleam in Dream's eyes. Hob could only imagine what kinds of paintings might inspire that look. "I look forward to seeing what you find."
2K notes
·
View notes
sorn from bg3 (the male prostitute drow) is such a mood cause like people always get flustered whenever i use nicknames on them (like baby/sweetheart/etc). i’ve been called all the petnames too (my current favorite being cloudhead/mooncake atm) and those that i date often tell me that it makes their heart stutter when i use those
but on the other hand i get so unbelievably and irrationally flustered n shy when people who don’t usually call me by my name just use ‘yun’ like smiling and butterflies and all augh
and my friends keep calling me out saying i act like a horny/fetishizing/problematic teenager despite having the vanilla fantasies of a victorian woman
SO I WAS THINKING
QUICK YANDERE SOFT PRETTY BOI SEX WORKER BRAINROT??
could be a camboy, host club worker, pornstar, etc. your choice and imagination
Like ya boi who’s whole job it is to fulfill the most depraved fantasies imaginable. Who lived almost his whole life doing all sorts of kinks and fetishes
but absolutely crumbles when you ask him to have sex with him in the missionary position and maybe even the lights off
like he’ll join massive orgies no problem. host/strip for celebrities like it’s no business
but when you ask if you can hold his hand while you two make love. or kiss him gently with all the love in your eyes
he just
he just ceases to function.
you aren’t a regular of his, as much as he hates that fact. but everytime you schedule a meeting with him, he just has this dopey smile on his face and he’ll often uncontrollably giggle and squeal when you hit him up.
he has some pretty rich and dangerous clients
so sometimes he may or may not drug you when you visit him sometimes.
i mean you can’t blame him if your legs are too weak the next morning (or afternoon/evening, this man has stamina) or if you only wanted to have a nice chit chat but suddenly that pink sweater you bought him started to look really nice especially with his even prettier legs exposed like that.
opens up an exclusive rent-a-boyfriend offer but in actuality it’s just you in that list
overall a menace
you know how some of my readers uses yan harem to beat the yan harem
he definitely uses his fans/clients to keep you leashed
besides, no one else can serve you like he can, so might as well stay for some more hm?
298 notes
·
View notes
had a scary dream last night abt inheriting an old abandoned mansion & getting involved in cult activity/a family curse/murders/town secrets/hidden rooms/horror/etc. scary! awful!! but when the plot of the dream was over i spent the rest of the night lucid dreaming about the history of the mansion & previous owners, interior design & layout, the property it was on, the main & minor characters of the town, etc.
a lot of the history of the mansion was people would only live in it for a short time (bc it was so spooky & cursed) then theyd either sell it for super cheap or abandon it, & then the next people would move in. the previous owner of the house gave it to me specifically & then mysteriously disappeared... turns out i was distantly related to a previous owner decades ago (maybe the original owners?) who had it in the family for a few generations before abandoning it.
it was closely tied with a decrepit old local library with a sealed basement and a secret "aurora room" that could only be accessed by the cult/local town government. there were so many rumors. i decided the town was a hotspot for alien activity in the 1950s. the mansion has a small graveyard somewhere in the dense forest area on its large property. the graveyard was small but at the same time alarmingly big for a private residence?? u know?? there are rumors of a husband drowning his wife in the small pond in the 1880s.
there was a room in the mansion i couldn't get into because i didn't have the key. i discovered a room that had been wallpapered over many decades ago that had a suspicious stain on the floor. the same man had been tending to the property since before its last period of abandonment & he kept coming to maintain the landscape and i dont know who was paying him.... etc etc etc fun stuff
i had to get that all written down before i forgot everything lmao thanks for reading
249 notes
·
View notes