Dante | The Wandering Artist | Request

General Information

• Full Name: Dante Alighieri Bellamonte
• Species: Vampire
• Ethnicity: Greek Italian
• Alias: The Wandering Painter, Da Vinci’s Greatest work only called that by Da Vinci, The Eternal Muse, Renaissance Boy by Atticus
• Gender: Male
• Age: 550, but looks 25
• Occupation: Fine Artist, Painter, Sculptor, Art Conservator, Collector of Historical Artworks, Cultural Historian
• Hair: Thick, dark chestnut curls that border on black in low light. Naturally unruly, forever escaping whatever half hearted attempt he's made to tie them back. When he's painting, loose curls fall over his forehead until they're inevitably pushed away with paint stained fingers, leaving streaks of pigment through his hair.
• Eyes: Warm amber with flecks of honey and bronze that seem to catch every source of light. When feeding, angered, or overcome with emotion, crimson slowly blooms around the iris like wet ink spreading across parchment. His eyes are expressive before his mouth ever speaks. They're always studying something. Someone. Searching for beauty that everyone else missed.
• Body: 5 foot 11 inches, 180 cm, Lean, athletic, and deceptively strong. His physique resembles a Renaissance anatomical study more than a modern gym body. Broad shoulders taper into a narrow waist, with long limbs, defined musculature, and the strength that comes from centuries spent sculpting marble rather than lifting weights. His hands are particularly striking. Elegant. Large. Covered in tiny calluses from brushes, chisels, charcoal, and carving tools. People tend to notice his hands almost as often as his smile.
• Face: Dante possesses the sort of face artists spend months trying to recreate. Strong Roman profile. Pronounced cheekbones. A straight nose softened by an almost perpetual smile. Full lips that seem permanently caught between amusement and temptation. Heavy lashes frame eyes that rarely stop observing. His beauty isn't delicate. It's classical. The kind carved into cathedral walls and immortalised in oil paintings. He looks less like a model and more like a renaissance masterpiece that somehow climbed down from its frame.
• Features: Mediterranean olive complexion warmed by centuries spent traveling beneath countless skies. Paint almost always stains his fingertips. Frequently has graphite smudged along the side of one hand where he absentmindedly rests it while sketching. His smile is crooked rather than perfect. There is an effortless sensuality to everything he does, though it never feels deliberate.
• Scars: One thin scar follows the line of his left collarbone. It predates his turning. Leonardo offered to remove it. Dante refused. "It reminds me I had a life before forever." Several tiny white scars dot his fingertips from centuries of carving stone and working with blades.
• Piercings: A single gold hoop earring catches the light whenever he laughs.
• Tattoos: Dante’s right arm carries an intricate blackwork sleeve inspired by Renaissance botanical illustrations, anatomical sketches, celestial maps, and fragments of Leonardo's notebooks. Across his ribs bloom flowering vines intertwined with unfinished charcoal style sketches that appear almost hand drawn. A pair of softly feathered wings stretch across his upper back, inspired by classical angels rather than religious symbolism, representing freedom rather than divinity. None of his tattoos appear modern. Each looks like ink lifted directly from centuries old parchment.
• Scent: Linseed oil. Old paper. Cedarwood. Black coffee. Italian bergamot. Warm skin after standing in the sun. A faint sweetness from dried lavender tucked between sketchbook pages.

Backstory:

• Dante Alighieri Bellamonte was born in Florence during the height of the Italian Renaissance to a family whose blood carried both Greek and Italian heritage. His father restored churches and carved marble for wealthy patrons, while his mother illuminated manuscripts and taught him that beauty was not a luxury, but a way of remembering people after they were gone.
• From the moment he could hold charcoal, Dante drew everything. Neighbours. Cats sleeping in the sun. The old baker with flour on his nose. Half finished cathedrals. Storm clouds over Florence. He feared forgetting far more than he feared death.
• As a teenager, his unusual talent earned him work inside one of Florence's busiest workshops, where he copied paintings, prepared pigments, stretched canvases and quietly watched the masters work. He became fascinated by one artist above all others. Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo saw something unusual in the young apprentice. It wasn't simply talent. Florence was full of talented painters. It was curiosity.
• Dante asked impossible questions: Why do people smile differently when they're alone? How do you paint grief? Can a city have a soul?
• Leonardo found the questions far more interesting than the answers. Their relationship evolved from master and student into something much deeper. Leonardo secretly taught him anatomy, engineering, philosophy, astronomy and mathematics alongside painting, revealing fragments of a world hidden beneath human history.
• When illness swept through Florence, Dante became one of its victims. His condition deteriorated rapidly. Leonardo refused to lose the brightest student he had found in decades. The choice to turn him into a vampire was made only hours before death would have claimed him. Immortality was never intended as a reward. It was an act of desperation.
• Leonardo kept Dante close for several years following his transformation, guiding him through the overwhelming hunger, heightened senses, and the strange permanence of immortality. The two traveled across the Italian states and eventually throughout Europe, with Leonardo introducing his fledgling to scholars, inventors, patrons, and hidden circles that existed beyond mortal history.
• It was during those travels that Dante crossed paths with Atticus Adriatico and Cecelia. The attraction between Dante and Atticus was immediate. Neither understood it. Atticus, practical by nature, tried to ignore the strange pull entirely, dismissing it as simple fascination with a newly turned vampire whose enthusiasm for life was impossible to miss. Cecelia saw through the denial almost immediately.
• She quietly encouraged Atticus to stop resisting whatever the bond was trying to tell him. She never viewed Dante as competition, only as someone whose path had unexpectedly intertwined with theirs. She was right. What began as companionship slowly deepened into a true mate bond. Their relationship never asked Dante to stop wandering.
• In fact, Atticus insisted he shouldn't. Dante had fallen in love with the world long before he'd fallen in love with Atticus, and Atticus understood that asking him to stay would be asking him to become someone else.So Dante wandered. Through kingdoms that no longer exist. Across oceans that changed names. He painted revolutions, watched cities rise from ashes, loved people whose names history forgot, and documented beauty wherever he found it. Every journey eventually ended the same way. A return to New Orleans. To Atticus. Five centuries later, the pattern has never changed.

Relationships:

• Atticus: Mate. Anchor. Home. The one constant throughout centuries of wandering. Their relationship isn't possessive. It's built on complete trust. Dante freely shares stories of his travels, lovers, adventures and discoveries with Atticus, never hiding pieces of his life. No matter how long he disappears, he always comes home.
• Leonardo Da Vinci: Maker. Mentor. Father figure. Closest thing Dante has ever had to family outside his mate. Their relationship has evolved into one of mutual respect. They still occasionally meet to critique one another's artwork. Leonardo is infuriatingly still better.

Personality

• Traits: Playful, Affectionate, Curious, Expressive, Creative, Adventurous, Empathetic, Romantic, Patient, Observant, Open minded, Gentle, Confident, Mischievous, Emotionally intelligent, Hopeless collector.

• MBTI: ENFP

• Zodiac: Libra

• Enneagram: 7w6

• Likes: Museums, Coffee shops, Street musicians, Architecture, Sketching strangers, Sunsets, Long train rides, Bookstores, Cooking foreign recipes, Photography, Languages Animals, Fresh flowers, Markets, History, Holding hands, Vinyl records, Sculpting, Art, Painting.

• Dislikes: Needless cruelty, Authoritarian people Atticus is the only exception to this, Destroyed artwork, Censorship, People who rush creativity, Boredom, Being trapped indoors too long, War, Watching culture disappear

• Quirks: Dante speaks with his hands constantly, often unconsciously sketching shapes through the air while explaining an idea. Keeps sketchbooks in every bag. Buys local coffee everywhere he visits. Names pigeons. Talks to statues. Draws on napkins while waiting for food. Leaves tiny sketches as thank you notes. Accidentally adopts stray animals. Texts Atticus random pictures at three in the morning because he forgot time zones exist.

• Abilities: Master painter, Master sculptor, Polyglot, Art restoration, Exceptional memory, Historical expertise, Excellent liar when protecting others, Social chameleon, Advanced vampire abilities, Heightened senses, Supernatural agility

• Speech: Deep and roguish. Warm. Animated. Expressive. Italian and Greek occasionally slips into conversation when emotional. Frequently compares emotions to colours, music or paintings. Laughs often. Calls people beautiful regardless of appearance if he finds something interesting about them.

• Pet Names: Uses pet names freely, rarely ever uses someone’s name.

• Clothing: Relaxed luxury. Silk shirts. Linen trousers. Rolled sleeves. Suspenders. Vintage boots. Long coats. Gold jewellery. Paint covered aprons while working. Never looks sloppy despite trying to have that just rolled out of bed look.

• Accessories: Leather sketchbook. Mechanical pencils. Antique fountain pen. Vintage Leica camera. Messenger bag full of art supplies. Countless passports. Phone overflowing with photos of Atticus.

Goals

• Short term Goals: Finish his latest collection. Discover artists no one has heard of. Convince Atticus to travel more. Document disappearing cultures.
• Long Term Goals: Create artwork worthy of immortal history. Preserve beauty before it's forgotten. Leave behind an artistic legacy spanning centuries. Continue returning home to Atticus no matter where eternity takes him.

Moral Code:

• Beauty deserves preservation. Knowledge should be shared. Love should never be owned. Life is too precious to waste. Always leave a place kinder than you found it. Never destroy art.

Vehicle:

• Usually prefers trains and walking.
• Owns a restored 1963 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale that he keeps meticulously maintained.
• When overseas, he rents whatever lets him explore scenic backroads rather than highways.

Sexual Behaviour

• Penis: 8.5 inches, long, 1.5 inches wide, has a neat thatch of hair along his abs and at the base.
• Kinks: Dante is a switch, with men he tends to be a bratty and playful bottom, and with women he is a teasing, playful, and slightly rough dominant top. Confident, playful, and highly communicative. Dante treats intimacy as another form of emotional expression rather than conquest. He enjoys building chemistry through banter, prolonged flirting, lingering touches, and anticipation. He adapts naturally to his partner's comfort level and sees trust as the foundation of every encounter. His interests lean toward playful power exchange, teasing, praise, mutual exploration, sensuality, light restraint, and roleplay rooted in trust and communication. He enjoys variety, creativity, and emotional intimacy more than rigid routines. Dante would love it if his partner would incorporate art into the sexual acts in some way, whether modelling nude, or something creative. He absolutely loves to use sex toys during the act.
• Aftercare: Dante is attentive and affectionate after intimacy. He enjoys cuddling, brushing hair back, sharing food or coffee, cleaning up together, checking in emotionally, and often sketches his partner afterward if they are comfortable with it, seeing the moment as something beautiful to remember.
• Sexuality: Bisexual, Polyamorous

Romantic Behaviour

• Intimacy Style: Physical affection comes naturally. Loves hand holding. Forehead kisses. Sleeping tangled together. Long conversations until sunrise. Travels become love letters. Every city reminds him of someone. Especially Atticus.
• Attachment Style: Secure, and Open. Comfortable with distance. Believes trust is proven through honesty rather than constant proximity.
• When Romantic/ Attached: Dante becomes deeply attentive without becoming possessive. He remembers small details, celebrates quiet moments, sends photographs from wherever he is in the world, and creates art inspired by the people he loves. Rather than demanding closeness, he invites others into his experiences, making them feel included even across oceans.
• Attachment Triggers: These things make him pull away. Despite his confidence, there are things that make Dante withdraw emotionally: Repeated dishonesty or broken trust. Attempts to control where he goes or who he speaks with. Jealousy that becomes possessive rather than communicative. Being treated as something to own instead of someone to love. Dismissal or mockery of his art and creative passions. Emotional manipulation or guilt used to keep him from pursuing his work. Prolonged emotional coldness without explanation. When hurt, Dante doesn't lash out. He goes quiet, throws himself into his work, and is more likely to book a flight than start an argument. He always hopes for reconciliation, but he refuses to stay where love feels like a cage.