Orlando (19th century)

After ten years being the head of his own shipping company, Orlando (who was still grieving Arno) heard from two of his subordinates that there was a man demanding to speak to him, and that they had him arrested. Orlando had a gut feeling it might be Arno, and it indeed was him. Orlando paid for him to be released, and the two tearfully reunited. This happened in 1804.

During their years in Italy, Arno and Orlando were rather decrepit, as they only drank unenriched animal blood. They did, however, live in luxury, and every other need of theirs was met.

Orlando and Arno lived in Italy, where Orlando started his shipping company, for many decades, even living through the Italian Wars of Unification, until 1887, when the two of them moved to London. Orlando sold his shipping company, ammassing enough wealth to live comfortably for a while. Orlando was drawn to the sunless skies of Britain. He was also very interested in the glamour of it all, though they both would have preferred Paris (where they could not return because of what happened about a hundred years prior).

In London, Orlando's hedonism really flourished as he learned more about the Decadent movement and artistic fashion. Soon after connecting with the local vampire community, his fashion sense became more and more strange by the standards of mainstream society. He started wearing boots that reached his thighs and jeweled waistcoats with ruffles, and often wore court clothes from the last century. During this time, Orlando started exploring his gender, realizing that maybe he didn't have one at all and was just a creature of whims. And his whims told him to dress extravagantly. Lysander, a friend he met in London, introduced him to the concept of nonbinary genders, though e did not use that exact term to describe them.

Arno and Orlando made their large house the favoured meeting space for many queer aesthetes, a mingling ground for vampires in search for blood and carnal pleasures and for any human who would indulge them, though there was a strict vetting process to keep dangerous individuals out.

Arno and Orlando made a very good friend in London. Cecil, who had been a vampire since the mid 18th century, still dressed in that antiquated manner, but was a connoisseur of every vampire and their associates that roamed London, and was very helpful in aiding Arno and Orlando steer clear of dangerous, treacherous individuals. Cecil also translated for the both of them, in case their interlocutors' French was rusty.

Though Orlando learned about art from Arno's vast collection of books, Arno himself didn't know too much about it. Orlando got him into art, particularly painting, and the two started painting together as quality time, but for Arno, painting came much more naturally, and he even started selling his artwork.

Around this time is when Arno and Orlando officially got married. They had a vampire-specific ceremony calling on the devils of hell with an afterparty designed for sensualists and aesthetes such as themselves, with many human volunteers exchanging their blood for wealth and treasure. Though Arno and Orlando did tie the knot, they do prefer to keep their relationship open.

Because of the steady availability of human blood (which was given consensually) Orlando was able to shapeshift into a bat for the first time ever, as well as gaining dark vision and heightened strength and speed. Though his poor health affected these abilities, he still posessed a lot more power than he did before.

One regular guest of Arno and Orlando's decadent parties was Lysander, a vampire around 200 years old. E was an artist, a poet, and a writer with a flamboyant personality and an inescapable magnetism. Arno and Orlando included em in their "escapades" rather often, to the point that Arno started to develop romantic feelings for em. Upon discussing it with Orlando, the two of them found that they both had feelings for Lysander. They both awkwardly tried to drop hints, but Lysander didn't seem to pick any of them up. Eventually, Arno and Orlando outright confessed to em, and e confessed back, stating e was waiting for them to make an actual move.

Soon enough, the three of them formed a rather solid triad.

• Though vampires don't burn in sunlight if well-fed, sunlight is harsh on their eyes and skin, so they prefer cloudier climates and always carry parasols. The weather is exactly why Orlando likes Britain.
• Orlando learned English in London, though he has a thick French accent when he speaks it, and speaks French at home with Arno.
• Though Orlando did spend a lot of money on frivolities, he always paid the creatives under his patronage exorbitant amounts, and had a habit of dropping bags of golden coins and jewels in front of any unhoused person sitting by the road as he walked by.
• During this time, Orlando experimented a lot more with his presentation, wearing clothes not traditionally associated with masculinity (or any gender at all!).