Reth has me sat because he goes from "✨Hey babe✨ 😘" to "You still like me right? 🥺👉👈" in half a second flat with absolutely no prompting.
I've said this an ungodly amount in the unhinged server (or just in conversation with @bobthedragon or @str-dusts or someone else in the server ??? might be @doctor-possum ??) edit; it was @doctor-possum
but
Reth's flirting is a front. It's designed to be intimidating, off-putting, overwhelming, and flustering because you're not supposed to get close to him. You're supposed to see this mask and keep your distance because he is such a player, and obviously he talks like this with everyone so you're not special.
he doesn't want you to get close, because he doesn't think he even deserves a relationship, let alone that he can navigate that + work + cartel nonsense + tish like
he stays in the storeroom under the inn, he's out at all hours, running over Bahari Bay, he's got two hospitality jobs and is covered in soup and alcohol and he barely has the time to sleep. who on earth would want to spend time with someone who can't even give them a second of their time?
he's going to let you down over and over and over again
and yet still you come back.
every day, you're at the inn or the underground or even at his quiet spot overlooking the pond behind the tailor's shop and the town, because you know that Reth is someone worth knowing. you know that he's more than his fake charm, his over the top flirtatious personality, the cool guy who winks while he's shaking the cocktails.
and when he realises that you've seen through his mask, his voice softens. he struggles to hide his self-deprecation and his doubts and you know that this is the real test because now he does not believe that you're in love with the real him.
and even though he tries to keep the mask up, the charm, the "hey babes" and the flirting, he can't help the doubts that tumble from his lips, the words pulling you back for one last kiss to solidify the reality that you like him and you are in this with him, your pins clashing as he pulls you close, desperate not to let you go.
