Luca Anglin

A chatty independent tailor who lives in London, England. Formerly a 'trader' in the Pacific Ocean, he's gained quite a reputation as a wild Autark with not much to lose. Currently spends his time tormenting young magi and fawning over his husband while earning instagram clout.

WARNING! A fair bit of World of Darkness jargon ahead, and a TW for abuse! Take care of yourself!

On the surface, Luca Anglin, born Luca Matenio, had a perfect life. Born the heir of a noble house, he was spoiled as the only son of his family. Sure, his mother had died giving birth to him, but other than that, it was ideal. A perfect boy in a perfect family, such an easy life, it’d be easy to get jealous, right?

If only, oh if only.

Luca Matenio was the son of nobleman Paolo Matenio and seamstress Elionora Anglin, an affair that was covered up with the murder of Paolo’s wife Lucrezia. Paolo was a cruel and calculating man, and saw Lucrezia as disposable once another woman could bear him a son. The only person who also knew of this was Paolo’s brother, Leonardo, who was enraged by the fact that Luca was being treated as a proper heir despite their muddy and bloody birth. Leonardo, who had been hiding his Kindred identity from his family for quite some time now and in pursuit of the family fortune, hatched a plan to embrace his nephew and crush his spirit. A blood bond might be necessary as well, as if a broken boy with his own will wouldn’t have been enough. Anything to exert power, one might suppose.

Luca was used to pain, his father made sure he was familiar with what it meant to be lied to and not what it was like to be trusted, but his embrace was painful. Didn’t help that Leonardo left his unsuspecting mother as his first victim. If he knew what was going on, he’d kill him, tear out his throat right then and there. He didn’t, but he was horrified at what he had become, so he ran.

He just ran, ran into the night until he felt the sunlight begin to burn him and he had to seek shelter in a cave. Everything hurt like hell, the guilt, the hunger, the light. It was obvious what had happened, and he mourned the sun, his heartbeat, his breath. He was a monster now, well, no, he had always been a monster. Jaded from the pain of living, not allowed to rest among the dead, it was pathetic. Now he just had the fangs to show for it.

Despite everything, he still was a nobleman, and he fucking hated it. To Luca, his father, his uncle, the Matenio name, everything could burn in hell. But he still had that status, and that inheritance, and he could use it. So he did. Under the sparkling lights of villa dinner parties, he was socialite heir Luca Matenio, a darling on a grand tour of Europe who left men and women alike swooning in their beds. He preferred the men, but no one mentioned that. Once the light faded back into the engulfing darkness, though, he was Luca Anglin. A jaded and starving beast who murdered and manipulated his way through Europe.

Eventually, he found his way to Portugal, where he found a job with a Ravnos pirate named Li Fen. It was with them they found a new life, not exactly better, but one a bit more productive. Fen had the spark of a crime empire that needed to grow, and Luca was made his right hand man throughout it. The 19th century was spent at the helm of a ship, blood on his hands, free from the shackles of an ennobled world. He lived without remorse, as every corpse was another pitiful human off of this pitiful planet. Every heinous act was justified, as humanity deserved the pain.

That is, until he got to England.

He met a delightful band on fellow Kindred while doing dirty work for Li Fen, what would later become unlife-long friends Victor Castiglione, Jeanne Bonvin, and Ursyn. With their help and a particularly interesting bet, Luca ‘temporarily’ left Li Fen’s service.

Tired of doing petty crime for a monster in a 14 year old’s clothing, he enrolled in the University of Cambridge thanks to the help of his friends and a compromise. There, he found an advertisement for someone needing a roommate, and that’s when he met Oliver Ray.

By god, was Oliver Ray going to change everything.

It never who Oliver Ray was, well it was, but it was who he wasn’t. He wasn’t clawing his way to attention and privilege, he wasn’t sticking his nose into Luca’s business whenever he breathed (or, realistically, when he forgot to fake it). In fact, it actually was about who he was, because he never competed to be the nicest in the room with extravagant gifts, he just was, offering him a cup of tea whenever he came home but understanding when he never did. He never stuck his neck out to be helpful and ruined Luca’s workflow, he just asked, and said ‘let me know if you change your mind’ when he was fine as he was.

And he never tried to be beautiful. Never with flashy clothes, never loudly quoting the gaudiest poetry in an attempt to seem suave. He just was, with messy blonde hair and soft linens that fell on him just right, and red crimson eyes that wavered like a pool of blood…

Blood. He was only mortal, after all. No use getting attached, but maybe some use trying to get a meal or two out of...right? Wrong.

Before, Luca was convinced that crushes were the stuff of fairytales and gaudy poems, but here he was, after 3 months under a roof with a mortal, and he understood. How inconvenient.

He mourned his heartbeat, his body’s warmth, his life.

Oliver got too drunk one night, Luca was pretending to be. Oliver was so close- too close, admittedly, and Luca wasn’t sure if he had the urge to kiss him or bite him, but he knew he shouldn’t do either. He was babbling on and on as drunk mortals do, and as Luca was working on utilizing a willpower he forgot he had when he just spat out that he was born a woman. Didn’t matter to him, he used to be alive, now he wasn’t. He used to not be head-over-heels for a mortal boy, now he was. So he told him that.

That did matter to Oliver. Maybe these things didn’t quite scale.

What really surprised Luca though, was how quickly he bounced back from the shock. Oliver told him he loved him too, and that he didn’t want him getting into trouble just to eat, and offered himself up as a substitute. Now, Luca tried to tell himself that this was all in pursuit of something selfish, that Oliver was just consenting and consistent food, but he knew better. You don’t give your food a pet name, you don’t hold back the urge to cry as you hold them as tight as you can without breaking them. That’s something you do when you’re in love.

Luca was almost disgusted with himself at the idea. He was a beast, a bloodthirsty monster, feeding was a means of survival that was only enjoyable for both parties to keep mouths shut. Oliver didn’t deserve this, but yet he still smiled when blood poured out of his neck.

For four years he stayed with Oliver, so deeply in love with him and the life of a college student he never realized that he had been here longer than he had been anywhere else. He even forgot that his uncle was still after him, ready to rip everything up from under him. That is, until Luca found him on the streets of Cambridge. What a despicable thing, what a pathetic circumstance.

Luca immediately knew what he was after, who he was after. Control over his nephew, everything that made him happy, Oliver Ray.

Oliver was a human, Leonardo was an Elder, he didn’t stand a chance. But Luca did.

As he frenzied, he didn’t mourn a thing. Not his morality, not his soul, not his humanity. Oh no, he wasn’t going to mourn a humanity he never had.

He only came too after Leonardo was unrecognizable, spine shattered under his heel. Not enough to kill, but it’d be a long ass Torpor. Just what he needed, as Leonardo’s been asleep in the bottom of a river ever since.

As he walked to tell the prince about the awful vampires that attacked his uncle, and what a good nephew he was by making sure he rested somewhere he couldn’t be bothered, that’s when it hit him. Oliver wasn’t a passing Toreador infatuation of his, he was willing to kill for this man, and damn well almost did.

And then, another realization.

Oliver was going to die. If not at the hands of his uncle, than by time. He was so soft, so vulnerable, and so very much alive. Nothing was more terrifying.

As much as he wanted to embrace Oliver that night, he knew he couldn’t. He was feeding off him for years, and he almost didn’t want to know what Oliver thought of him beyond that bond. That said, he needed to, so after he knew that Oliver was safe, he ran again. Not forever this time, just for a while, so Oliver could clear his head. Take his offer on level ground.

Somehow, when he came back with an engagement ring and an offer to embrace him, Oliver loved him enough to accept him on both terms.

Oliver was so beautiful the night he was embraced. Luca knew it would hurt, that he’d turn into a feral beast the moment he gave him his blood, but still. His hair had grown long and wavy, and his voice was so soft and loving, and that beauty would be held in time forever.

He was ready to hold him down, tell him that everything was going to be ok, and ready to let him hunt. So when Oliver just asked if it was supposed to hurt so damn much, imagine his surprise.

That night, he also became terrified of Oliver Ray.

He was so calm, so collected while he shook with hunger. Of course he attacked at the smell of blood, of course he drained his victim until there was not a drop left, but before that? Shaking and swearing, but otherwise completely normal.

He’d be lying if he said he thought that wasn’t attractive as hell.

It's here where the stories converge, with Oliver's, with Raul's, with the rest of Twilight London - other than the 15 hellish years Luca spent in Shanghai, but that’s better off not discussed.

• Due to his early days feeding off of dinner party guests, Luca is talented at pretending to enjoy food. Sometimes he will eat an onion like an apple just to unnerve Oliver. It works.
• He only learned how to drive when he realized he couldn’t keep stealing horses.
• Because of how his sire treated him, Luca is extremely uncomfortable with pet names/nicknames from people who are not Oliver. Gabriel tends to be the only exception to this, but it took a lot of getting used to.