Sooo you say you’re not sweet… but you look after me when I’m sick, say you love me, would fight for me, you treat me better than I deserve ALL the time. Yea okay Grimmy, you’re still sweet, and perfect in my eyes
(Hi mod :3)
You may be right in some parts... But I'm still intimidating, sunshine. And of course I'm not going to argue about that.
(spoilers for ADWD, Beyond the Bet DLC, and Genshin Impact)
You're a mostly regular person. You have an adorable pet, a mundane job, conventional hobbies. You also have a Vision, and years of military and intelligence training, like your siblings in House of the Hearth.
Like your ‘father,’ you're a distant descendant of the Crimson Moon Dynasty, Bloodfire and all. Abyss-touched flames course through your body like blood, yet your Vision also brings life and healing - to your family, to your pet, to people you wish to be well.
Your mastery of the Balemoon Bloodfire is nowhere near Arlecchino's, of course. You use it as sparingly as possible, preferring to rely on your training, your Vision, or avoiding combat entirely.
In terms of your abilities as a Vision holder, you're like if Bennett was a dedicated healer. You even have years of inexplicable near-death experiences under your belt.
Then everything changes one day, when some random stranger remotely breaks into your laptop.
Casper, bless him, doesn't know shit about Khaenri'ah or the Crimson Moon. But he knows your name, where you live, and that you were supposed to die years ago.
Unlike canon, you have several levels of encryption and security on all your devices, even your personal laptop. You're an undercover agent for the House of the Hearth, after all. You're tasked with keeping an ear to the ground, documenting anything that might be useful, and neutralizing threats before they become too big.
You’re not sure what confuses you more - that this random edgy weirdo broke through all of your military-grade security, or that he went to all that trouble just to install a bare-bones chat program and pester you with it. None of your security tools detect any viruses or bugs, so what gives?
When Casper calls himself a Grim Reaper, you assume he's toying with you in some way. Then he calls you by name without you ever introducing yourself, so you assume he knows you're Fatui (he doesn't).
He's clearly Up To Something (he is), so you need to keep him talking in case he slips up and reveals something you can use.
You treat him like a potential threat, a person of interest, but a mortal one… one who's really into roleplay, but you've met weirder people in your own organization.
… And maybe you enjoy shamelessly flirting with this beautiful stranger, and getting him all flustered and blushing, but that's just because you're trying to make him slip up! Not because your little reaper is handsome and adorable and carving out a place for himself in your heart, no siree.
Here, the formation of the soul bridge is an even bigger turning point in you two's relationship
"You wanna stare into my eyes, huh? Can't promise you'll like what you see."
Your soul connection is what hammers home that yes, Casper is serious about the ‘Grim Reaper’ thing, and the whole ‘claiming your soul’ part.
You take it with… well, you're surprised, but not in an earth-shattering way. You’ve never heard of Grim Reapers as Casper describes them, but your 'father' was coworkers with the literal Moon Goddess, so your metric for weirdness is probably skewed.
Casper, for his part, is shocked at how absurdly warm your soul is up close. He calls you Sunshine, sure, but only because your soul is so bright - he didn’t expect it would have the temperature to match.
Before Casper crosses your soul bridge, you warn him (again) that he may not like what he finds on your side - in fact, it might even be dangerous.
Casper mostly disregards that, but when he’s crossing your soul bridge, he finds a strange projection of you at the end of it, and blood-red flames blocking his way.
"Just walk through," you say, like this is fine, "if you really mean me no harm, then the Bloodfire won't harm you."
After some gentle coaxing and a warning not to stare at the dark crescent moon behind you, Casper passes without even a singed hair.
Once it's established that you’re both fine, Casper pulls an Uno Reverse and bombards you with questions for once.
Bloodfire? The Crimson Moon Dynasty? Khaenri'ah???
"Is this why I'm having so much trouble claiming your soul?" You have no idea. "Does the Bloodflame hurt you?" Not anymore, but- "What do you mean, you could lose yourself to Abyssal corruption if you overuse it!?"
Maybe your healing doesn’t come from your Vision after all, but your soul. The Vision only amplified what was already there.
He gets to see you in ‘work mode’ when 5012 corners you in the library, and Casper finds you standing your ground against 5012 - you’ve scorched the senior reaper’s scythe, and the hand holding it, with your own polearm leveled at 5012's head.
You may not be your ‘father's’ equal, and you may be terrified out of your wits, but you received combat training from the Fatui, and even 5012 is woefully unequipped for Abyss-touched fire.
No wonder the council wanted your soul - it’s the same reason Her Majesty spared Arlecchino when she killed the previous Knave.
Speaking of sparing, you leave 5012 alive. Killing a reaper sounds like more trouble than it’s worth, honestly. Instead, you drop the truth bomb you just learned - all reapers were once human, stripped of their memories after death, and forcibly turned into glorified slaves.
Seeing you in combat mode has Casper a little hot under the collar.
You jokingly suggest sparring, and he’s blushing even harder than those two times he was underneath you.
It’s still forbidden for reapers to have relationships with humans… but you skirt the line between life and death, mortal and immortal, human and not, so who even knows how to classify you at this point?
It helps that your Abyssal flame, no matter how seldom you use it, has most reapers keeping their distance.
Arlecchino was the first to notice your sudden radio silence. Your last reports were about a 'strange hacker,' and suddenly they stopped altogether.
No one could reach you, so she sent your siblings to your apartment, where they found no sign of you or your pet.
A cursory examination of your apartment indicated that you left in a hurry, presumably through your open bedroom window. Your front door was locked, and your devices were missing. Had your cover been blown? Was someone hunting you?
To your siblings' relief, you eventually show up at the House, with your pet in tow and a deceptively young, definitely-not-mortal man on your arm.
Your siblings are relieved to see you, of course, but also angry. What happened!? Where were you!? You made them worry so much!
Once Arlecchino confirms that you’re unharmed, uncompromised, and that your own Abyssal contamination is still within a safe range, she plays 20 questions herself, with you and Casper on the receiving end.
So, your 'strange hacker' is a Grim Reaper? A psychopomp, aligned with death? As in, Ronova, the Ruler of Death and one of the Four Shades? Interesting. She wonders if this a similar situation to Asmoday and Her creations.
And you, her fellow descendant of the Crimson Moon Dynasty, also cursed with the Balemoon Bloodfire - you have a soul that embodies life?
That... actually explains your strange luck with both accidents and survival. And why the sick or injured House members always felt better after a visit from you.
She needs to borrow some restricted books, she decides. Maybe ask the Traveler more about the Temple of Space, when she gets the chance. And maybe consult the Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius about his 'mother's' craft.
Perhaps, in addition to the Crimson Moon Dynasty, one of your ancestors was a test subject of of Rhinedottir’s, or even an artificial person. Rhinedottir not only invented Khemia, she absorbed and replace Naberius, the Ruler of Life. If anyone can shed insight on your situation, short of 'Gold' herself, her student might be the one.
For now, though, she busies herself with getting the measure of your lover. To her, Casper seems genuine and competent. A tad naive and arrogant, but clearly capable of learning.
If Casper thinks your aura is strange, a quick glance at Arlecchino’s - dark red, tainted black at the edges by Abyssal corruption - makes him keep a respectful distance.
He refrains from staring at her aura, or her hands, but he does make note of a similar dark coloration on your own fingertips. Is this the Abyssal corruption you mentioned?
He files that question away for later. Right now, your siblings want to meet him too.
5012 can’t stand you.
As far as he’s concerned, you and 8394 are both fools, who make each other more foolish together.
You ruined a perfectly good reaper is what you did. Look at 8394, he's blushing.
5012 still has a dark scar on his hand where you burned him - it’s healed now, but numb and cold to the touch.
Even his scythe, which is an extension of himself, formed from his own essence, has a scorch mark where your unnatural fire touched it.
And you were holding back. For all your composure, he saw the terror in your eyes, but you still didn’t hesitate.
An irritating mortal you might be, but one carrying a power that could erase even a reaper. To say nothing of the human who raised you, or the organization you’re involved with.
Basically, you’re a pain in his ass, and capable of making yourself a credible threat if he forces the issue. Perfect. 8394 just had to fall in love with you, didn’t he?
