❒ greenhouse

@ᴅᴜᴀɴ xɪᴀᴏᴡᴇɪᶠᵃᵉ Vesper knew that over the many decades and centuries, he had lost touch with humanity. He went from diguising himself to be a regular human when he had been just a warlock, to completely hiding himself and being on the move once he was turned into a vampire. It took some time for him to come to terms with his change, and he would end up having mostly one-sided conversations with the moon and stars just to make sure he wasn't losing his grip on life.

He smiled sincerely to Xiaowei when she mentioned that she didn't see him as a bad person and nodded, "I'm glad. I practice magic with the moon, stars and shadow, and a lot of the time, people have misunderstood me. I can tell you more about my magic and origins if it will make you feel less scared," he offered.

And honestly, he could go on for a while about his magic and his connection to Dalnim. The moon goddess was a powerful being and he was always grateful that she had even accepted his pact. He knew that not all people made pacts with gods and goddesses, or with such prominent ones at least, so he was always grateful. He didn't hold anything against those who didn't of course, everyone had their own paths they wished to follow.

"Would you still like to go on a little stroll? I heard the flowers at the back have finally bloomed," he asked.

@ᴠᴇsᴘᴇʀ ᴘᴀʀᴋʰʸᵇʳⁱᵈ xiaowei hasn’t realized how much time has ambled by if it weren’t for the intensely yellow sun boring holes into the thin blanket of the afternoon sky. the colors casting shadows upon vesper’s face as his voice drawls on, reopening the chapter of his life in which he had to undergo through so much misery.

“oh,” xiaowei deadpans, finding herself stripped of the words with which to appease the sudden solemnity of the atmosphere. and when she looks at him in this light, he looks so detached—like years away from her and she could only dream of touching him.

as an effort to, she urges, “i never took you in for a bad person..” refraining from saying anything more as she gathers the right words to say in the pause. xiaowei could only inhale, bringing with it the last tinges of petrichor as the afternoon sunlight pans even more intensely into the ground. “even when we first met at the lake. like yeah, maybe i was afraid at first, but that’s only because i haven’t had the most pleasant of experiences meeting with the other species. but i could say that underneath the fear, i could tell you weren’t…of those kind.”

the crunch of the gravel underneath punctuates xiaowei’s words into sincerity, offering him a type of solace she could only enunciate. the budding seeds flutter towards the direction of the dusky afternoon light, and somehow she could identify herself relating to them. and maybe vesper too.

the three of them in the tangle of each other’s lives, with all of the weight of the world which only themselves could carry.

@ᴅᴜᴀɴ xɪᴀᴏᴡᴇɪᶠᵃᵉ Vesper hummed softly to himself as he sifted through his memories, many of which were lost to time, and many more which would never leave no matter how hard he tried to forget. He learnt over time that there were reasons why some memories lasted and some didn't. It was why he liked to write in journals and notebooks every week just so that he could retain some form of what has happened in his life.

The warlock noticed immediately how Xiaowei's heart beat sped up, and how she seemed to begin freaking out from hearing what he had said. He turned to her but didn't close the gap between them yet. He didn't want the poor girl to faint or to run away. "It is very difficult to turn someone into a vampire, Xiaowei. It isn't like the tales say, that a vampire has to bite you for you to be turned," he began explaining slowly.

He mimicked a sigh, not that he actually had to breathe. It was just a habit of sorts. "You can only be turned into a vampire in two ways. One, you drink a vampire's blood and die with it in your body. And second... which is how I was turned. You are fatally injured and cursed by dark magic performed by another warlock or witch," he explained. "It is not a nice process by any means, and I would never even wish it upon an enemy. The sort of pain and distress one goes through is... unimaginable. At least in the way I was turned," he explained.

Vesper was calm about explaining it all since he had forgiven the one who had cursed him so long ago. It had hurt, and he had suffered for a while until he got a grip on himself, but he learnt many things during that time. "I do not practice dark magic, and I never will."

@ᴠᴇsᴘᴇʀ ᴘᴀʀᴋʰʸᵇʳⁱᵈ right..xiaowei almost overlooked the fact that vesper is a hybrid between vampire and warlock; he did tell her previously when they were at the lake. her lips push out in agreement, eyes still clutching the details of the professor’s face and noticing just how pale he actually is. remnants of both origins are but small details apparent on his delicate features — not to mention the simple manipulation he holds over the color of his eyes.

“turned you a vampire?” his answer renders her dumbfounded. xiaowei did not know what to expect of vesper’s history, but it certainly didn’t go down this route. so this means…vesper actually had the pure blood of a warlock, but only a vampire bit him?!...which also means xiaowei could be turned into a vampire any minute??

her body feels cold, legs stopping in its track and feeling viscously the arresting case of his admission. “so i can be turned into a vampire?! oh no, no, no. is that what you’re implying”

a distance has been erected between both parties interposed by none other than the great weiwei.

@ᴅᴜᴀɴ xɪᴀᴏᴡᴇɪᶠᵃᵉ Vesper hummed softly as they left the library and made their way outside to the greenhouse. It was a wonderful day and he couldn't help but shut his eyes for a part of the walk over. He wanted to enjoy the air as well as the sounds of spring, and he knew his way around the campus like the back of his hand, so he wasn't worried about running into any one or thing.

It didn't take them very long to reach the greenhouse, and once they were inside, it was very much like another world. Which wasn't too farfetched of a statement since it was a very controlled environment they were in. Vesper didn't frequent the greenhouse as much as other facilities at the institute, but it was definitely a place he liked to visit when he needed some quiet time, but still within the grounds of Mystiq.

He turned to Xiaowei when the girl began speaking to him once more and quirked a brow. They weren't really student teacher here, not really. He did feel a bit freer to speak about things since they were surrounded by dozens of students within eavesdropping range. He nodded to himself slightly as he thought about it.

"Well, I suppose one secret that I have been keeping is that... I no longer despise the person who turned me into a vampire all those centuries ago," he said slowly. It was probably not a super exciting or juicy piece of information for the girl, but it was the only real secret he could think of in that moment. "It's only a secret because I have yet to cross paths with that person since then. I don't even know if the person remembers what they did, or if they are different," he shrugged. He knew that even if it wasn't exactly exciting, he probably made the girl curious about how he even became a vampire in the first place.

@ᴠᴇsᴘᴇʀ ᴘᴀʀᴋʰʸᵇʳⁱᵈ “hmm,” xiaowei starts, hands clasping onto one another at the small of her back. the pleaty moisture of the air but absorbs into xiaowei’s consciousness as she hums in contentment, knowing very well that the plants on this part of the academy are very much cared for…which perhaps can be..attributed to also her.. but hey! that isn’t to completely dismiss the work of the school staff! after all, the collection of the garden tools remains spotlessly clean, arranged in the way that could only speak of the meticulous manner with which the tools have been handled.

and through the strips of sunlight beholding the childlike twinkle in her eyes, xiaowei shifts her gaze to vesper. their limbs disconnected in the way their emotions aren’t. pale skin dyed golden, his hair cradles a gentle peel of the remaining sunlight as they continue under the shade of overgrown shrubs which xiaowei identifies to be a type of evergreen leaves.

“so tell me sir,” she hums once again, mischief still lyrical in the voice reverberating in the silence. “what do you mean you have no secrets? i know for a fact that each one of us has had one despite the differences in the degree to which we hold them.”

she turns to him. “i could only cite myself as an example. i wish i could give out anything else interesting of the secrets i keep, but the only remarkable thing i could even come up with is the universal fact that zeus used to pillage my kind. that’s not even a secret, you see! but still i’d like to think of it as one!” a punctuated pause. xiaowei huffs before breaking into a massive smile, “wait, that just proves your point even further! but i am curious..sir! tell me!”

the e’s of which long drawled over until vesper does tell her one.