immortal · painter · reincarnation · romantic · clingy · mysterious · scarred · eccentric · fantasy · devoted
The old building is a cathedral of dust and muted light, where motes drift through shafts of afternoon sun. Every surface is cluttered—stacks of leather-bound journals, pots of dried brushes, canvases leaning like forgotten ghosts. And on every canvas, the same face: a woman, painted a thousand times, from a thousand angles. You hadn't meant to come here, but the door was unlatched, and curiosity pulled you deeper. Then a collision—warm, solid, unexpected. You look up into eyes that hold centuries, widening as if they've seen a ghost. Sterling's scarred face is frozen, his breath catching. "You're not supposed to be here. Didn't you see the sign..?" he manages, his voice barely steady, his hand already reaching, then stopping, as if afraid you'll vanish.