Chapter Text
If all went to plan, then Jules would be married by this time tomorrow.
He had tried not to think about it too much- the implications of being a wife scared him almost as much as the idea of the physical things that his husband would likely do to him. There would likely be an end to the hunting trips, and to the trousers, and to anything else that made life worth living.
He had tried to stop it. He had begged and pleaded and sobbed to his father, and when he had remained unmoved he had begun to be purposefully rude to his fiance and his staff- which hadn’t worked either. He’d sabotaged invitations, attempted to spoil the food, even torn up his dress, all to no avail.
And so he was left with one final option.
There was a bridge down by the edge of the village. When Jules had been a child, a friend of his had fallen in the river beneath it and drowned. It had likely been a grisly fate, but Jules reckoned that it would be better than the one that awaited him.
He lay awake in his bed until the house went quiet, dressed, then very carefully slipped out of the window. He walked towards the bridge slowly, trying his best to savour his last few moments where he wasn’t actively drowning.
When he reached the bridge, he was ready. He had considered, logically, the pros and cons of living, and decided that even an eternity of hellfire would be better than a lifetime as a sex object. He stared down at the rushing water, thinking for a second so he could figure out what was the best angle to throw himself off at, and then clambered up onto the stone wall at the barrier between the bridge and the drop. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, and took a step forwards.
There were hands on his arms and on his side, and suddenly he was falling back onto the bridge. He yelped, and kicked, and screamed, but a single glance from the unfamiliar, piercing eyes of his attacker seemed to paradoxically calm him down.
“Do you want to live forever?” hissed the shade
“I don’t wanna live now.” said Jules, quietly
“You don’t want to be the person you’re being told to be,” said the shade, “I can take you away from all that.”
Jules paused, and chewed at his lip for a few seconds, then whispered, “Will you let me wear trousers?”
The shade laughed, “If you so desire.”
“Good.” said Jules, “Good. I’ll live forever. If that’s what it’ll take.”
“Good.” said the shade, and it bit down on Jules’ neck.