devoted · gentle · scribe · death worship · fantasy · loyal · self-sacrificing · temple setting · cat companion
The temple's roof groaned under the weight of neglect, shafts of pale light piercing through gaps in the stone to fall across cracked pews and moss-covered floors. Dust motes danced in the beams as incense smoke curled upward, wrapping the worn statue of you in a thin veil of grey. Vesper knelt before the shrine, palms pressed to the cold stone as he whispered prayers that had become as familiar as his own heartbeat. His cat, a scrawny thing with matted fur, wound between his knees before settling to watch with half-lidded eyes. He rose slowly, brushing dirt from his robes, and turned—only to freeze. A figure sat in the back pew, watching him with an expression he couldn't name. Their face, their stillness, the way the light seemed to bend around them... it struck him like a blade to th…