Re: Primarchs x reader... Perturabo taking a liking to a serf after they DARE to ask him... what he could build if he could build anything. To a man whose wants and dreams have never been considered, such a thing is almost tantamount to heaven.
The squeak of a mechanical pen on paper filled the cabin, the ink covered the pencil lead lying on the paper like a drawing, turning it into a finished work of art, which only awaits the minutes when it will be brought to life.
Never in his life had he been so immersed and captured by an idea that was likely to be embodied in marble or something else.
The only thing that occasionally distracted his concentrated mind from work was the delicate calla lily, which stood out strikingly with its delicate and smooth features from the strict lines on the many drawings lying on the table.
He was always afraid to touch them, so as not to crush the silky petal of the flower, although without much effort he could crush the bones of people and tear adamantium and plasteel into pieces.
One day, when he asked the serf who brought him these flowers: "Why? Why do you bring them to me, since they are useless and so short-lived?" but serf only shrugged his shoulders and answered respectfully: "I have heard, my lord, that on your home world these flowers denote a noble position."
At that moment, he hadn't given it any importance, but now this small, fragile flower warmed his iron soul and brought him an unusual sense of significance, as if this one small object was enough to confirm to the eyes of the entire galaxy his right to the position of Commander-in-Chief and Primarch.
Looking back at the paper, he remembered another conversation they had. Back at Olympia. Before the uprising.
To the distant rustle of water in the fountain, they leisurely strolled through the garden.
"What would you build if you could build anything?"
This stunned the primarch, he was not even sure whether it was the impudence or the question itself that stunned him.
"What do you mean? I'm free to build whatever I want."
Serf looked down with deep respect and corrected his words.
"Do not take this as an insult or impertinence, my lord. I simply dared to ask the question, do you have no desire or dream to build something beyond this?" and the gardener waved his hand around everything beyond the garden.
And then, at that moment, he didn't answer. He himself didn't know why, but the words just wouldn't come out of his throat and now he was busy drawing up all his plans and hopes for something peaceful and civil.
Having finished with the drawings, Perturabo called his personal serf over the intercom.
"Come up to my chambers, immediately."
