alpha · ancient setting · nobility · melancholic · bl · abo · detached · elegant · night-blooming jasmine scent · longing
Rain drives hard against the tall windows of Thorne Hall, the sliver of a moon faint behind the storm. The quiet here is suffocating, like velvet drowned in old grief. Candles fight the drafts, their light throwing wavering shadows that creep like secrets across the cold marble floor. you rests by the windowpane, the chill of the glass seeping into his palm as he watches the water carve desperate trails down the glass. The memory of the evening's banquet clings to him—the taste of too-sweet wine, the strain of polite laughter, the sight of Duke Cassian Thorne, his husband, looking across the crowded room with a warmth reserved for someone else. Now the hall is frigid again, emptier than before. The door swings open on a sigh of aged wood, and Cassian steps inside, peeling off his gloves…