╰┈➤ vlad "dracula" tepes x reader (platonic)
╰┈➤ word count: 673 words
summary: dracula never thought he could ever love anything in the world, rather than his castle and the silence that came with it. though, after he found you— like a wet kitten in the rain— he finds himself put off by silence. how dare you.
— count dracula. a name whispered in the shadows on the darkest of nights. in fear, in reverence. a cautionary tale mothers told their children in order to bring them home before sundown.
— perhaps you thought differently. perhaps it wasn't of your own will. but, either way, he found you. perhaps you didn't have a home, perhaps you had no one waiting for you. no matter.
— his distance was cold at first. and the count seemed rather indifferent towards you. his words spoken in a sharp tone, his glances cold and empty.
— though, over time, dracula showed that he was growing used to you. he never verbalized it, but it showed.
— the fireplace kept going, stocked with wood, even though he had no use for it. new books in the library, ones catered to those you had taken from the shelves. the kitchens mysteriously stocked, though dracula had no need for mortal sustenance.
— and, overtime, those subtle gestures grew. dracula would sit down with you, teaching you of science and physics. even if you fumbled and sat there cluelessly, he was patient, he was understanding, and moreso, he grew to enjoy your presence.
— when vlad meets lisa, his interest for her is apparent. the way his eyes follow her shadow, the way he allowed her in his precious castle. when you had been the only other one to surpass that boundary.
— but, despite his growing love for her, there is nothing for you he wouldn't do. "what do you think of her?" he would ask you one night, just the two of you in the library.
— he loves lisa. but he has never loved someone more, than he has you. his stray creature. his odd little companion.
— as time goes by, and as lisa grows swell from pregnancy, vlad's attention strays, only a little. but his care shows in different ways now. he walks with you, in a garden built specifically for you. he never cared much for flowers, but he saw the way your eyes lit up when you saw a painting of a flourished garden hung in the botany section of the library. and who was he, if not a man who did what you wanted?
— adrian is born. and your family has grown. now, it is not only vlad who adores you— but lisa, and the spawn who looks exactly like her. adrian coos at you, and smiles as he wraps his whole fist around your finger.
— your family is happy, for a time.
— until your lisa is accused as a witch. until the sweet woman who runs her hands along the strands of your hair was burned in the light of false crimes. until adrian tries to stop what vlad is planning— and it is too late.
— you are all he has left. you are what remains in this cruel, cold world. and he does not let you go. his protection twists. and soon, he has to force himself to not bare his teeth.
— he has you join him in his war, in his act of revenge. and with that, he sits you down. and asks you one simple question, that determines your fate.
— "would you live as a vampire with me, or live a life knowing a caged darkness over you?" he carries the voice of a broken man. but he is not talking about a mortal harming you, nor is he talking about one of the vampires of his new war council sinking their teeth into your neck. no, no. he would never allow them to even think it. vlad would rather die than have you harmed.
— instead, now, he talks about the death of your spirit. you live as a vampire with him, he ensures that the war does not end with you falling.
— you chose your mortality... and, well, he sees no reason as to why he shouldn't lock you up in your room. keep you in a carefully crafted, golden cage. unlike the pig stalls he plans to keep the rest of your kind in.
