Papa V Perpetua headcanons - cardiophilia edition 🩺🫀
- A little background: Perpetua grew up in a different congregation than the Ministry. In his teens, he went through a rebellious phase when he was interested in Christianity and seriously considered converting to Catholicism. Internalizing the concept of sin made him very sexually repressed for a long time, and quite shy and awkward around women he found attractive.
- His thumper is hella reactive. Just a flash of female ankle is enough to send his heart rate into hummingbird levels, to the point he gets winded.
- For a long time, he fought against the feeling of being in love, that embarrassing palpitation he felt on his chest when he was around someone he had a crush on. His Catholic guilt told him that it was the work of the Devil, even after he returned to the Clergy. It took a lot of inner work to finally embrace that thrilling sensation of loving, the fast heartbeat and the jitters.
- He was a late bloomer in matters of, well, pleasures of the flesh. Being a young, sexually repressed unholy priest and listening to the confessions of the Siblings of Sin was quite a hard time; he'd sit there at his side of the confession booth, listening with a racing heart as the Siblings described their sexual frustrations and how they haven't sinned. His heart would go so fast that he wondered if the Sibling on the other side could hear it.
- He finds medical examinations a tad uncomfortable and awkward, especially if the doctor is female. He tends to get "white coat syndrome", meaning that he gets nervous and his heart rate and blood pressure go up during the examination. The worst thing is if the doctor notices and makes a comment on how fast it's going - he gets red as a beet.
- Conversely, he would love to get an echocardiogram. He's really curious to see what his heart looks like.
- But when a S/O listens to his heart? His heartbeat gets fast... Out of pure excitement. He just melts with them in his arms as they listen and comment on the pace. Top it off with kisses on his heart and you'll drive him crazy.
- Listening to a heartbeat? That's the ticket. Nothing in the world is better at calming him and making him feel loved, secure and completely wrapped around a S/O's finger. He often falls asleep to it.
