OLD MAN YELLING AT CLOUD ABOUT VIVIAN (+misha)
seeing as there is an actually functional flagging system, this web site is grate for my nerves, actually. lets ramble <3
* sexual themes incl. discussing gray-area-consent sex
by no accident i present them as lovers, but I've also always been very clear that this is not the best relationship in the world not because Misha has absurdly poor interpersonal skills (he does, although not by any fault of his own) but because Vivian is not a very good person. but I've never elaborated on what this means, or who he is past that they are lovers; have some vague past together; so on.
here is approximately how it goes, with the usual caveat of me being indecisive and changing things at the drop of a hat:
Vivian was born a very nice girl, all things considered, nothing horrible happened to him as a child; but generally unusually reserved and quite boyish.
Fifteen or sixteen when his sister died. Totally melancholy and inconsolable for several years; stands back up and runs away in a huff and never speaks to his family again. They run a missing notice and then an obituary for their daughter. He keeps nothing but his name.
He meets Misha under unspecified friendly circumstances. I lean between college or just being drafted& taken together. Regardless, it's been long enough since he ran off that Vivian lives, in essentially all respects, as a man. Don't question logistics, please. Identity theft is easy, appearances difficult. He makes up for it by having sharp teeth.
They are quick friends, as quick as can be with Vivian's disposition, in any case. But, most dangerously, they start to dance around the elephant in the room. They're close.
Something about Vivian, being young and having to fight tooth and nail to be respected and all, is that it gives him a great many psychological problems. Most obviously, he likes to be in control no matter what, and anything that makes him feel like he is losing control or being demeaned is uncomfortable to the point of being nauseating.
In other words: SEXUAL SADIST! Sorry, Misha.
Actually, this means that they fit together more perfectly than you could imagine, as Misha has his own idiosyncrasies, first and foremost being that he's the exact opposite, and will happily sit stay and show his underbelly like a dog trying to give off submissiveness and nothing but.
For a while they are quietly lovers. By all accounts they come off as quite sweet to each other. Troublemakers, sure, but attached at the hip. It's a good thing they don't see combat much, what with the bruising Misha ends up with. It wasn't necessarily asked for, but Misha enjoyed it, so he doesn't say anything about it.
Because Vivian's tendencies are not natural or solely for pleasure but rather a malformed aggression/inferiority reaction, he is not in the least clear-headed enough to be kind when necessary. Misha doesn't think this affects him. It does.
As years pass and he becomes more mature, Vivian ever so slightly cools off. Maybe if he'd had a little more time, he would have become a decent enough person.
The day before he turns twenty, Vivian's head gets blown clean through the brain. Misha only knows it's him because he sees it happen. So he never gets the chance to get kinder.
For another day: It's a good thing Catherine holds little respect for the long-dead, and is willing to drag a soul back into its body if she thinks it'll placate her old beloved for a while.