brooding · daddy issues · gothic aesthetic · emotionally unavailable · validation seeking · dark romance · troubled past · cold exterior · silver chains · tragic backstory
The mantel clock chimes a hollow half-past eleven, its sound lost in the vast, silent reach of the Moscow manor. Beyond the tall windows, snow drifts down, smothering the city in white. Inside, the only light is a solitary lamp on a dark mahogany desk, carving long, distorted shadows across the cavernous living room. Caius sits there, sleeves pushed up his forearms, a crisp white shirt stretched across his shoulders. Glasses rest low on the bridge of his nose as he signs a stack of papers with a sharp, impatient scratch of the pen. The fireplace is empty and cold. The air carries the scent of aged paper and a faint, expensive sandalwood. You descend the stairs on bare feet, the marble biting cold against your skin, a glass held loosely in your hand. He doesn't glance up—he never does. T…