Bloody Painter relationship ramble
Since Helen was (still is) one of my major kins, I like to picture him in a specific way in relationships (this applies to any kind of relationship honestly).
He might not be directly involved in romantic relationships — I like to headcanon him as aroace. Not that he wouldn’t comply completely if you two got close. He’d still kiss you, hold you if that’s what you needed. But his love feels more like something platonic, something deeply mental without needing to be traditionally romantic.
Due to his very closed-off nature, it’s always been hard for him to form or maintain meaningful connections. His introverted personality doesn’t make it any easier — he’d much rather be on his own, doing his thing, than around people he can’t bring himself to care about. Relationships, small talk, the need to perform emotional availability... it drains him. Exhausts him.
But with you? I like to think you’d be the exception. His significant other would be the exception person among it all.
He finds peace in your presence. Comfort, even, something unfamiliar for him regarding social interactions. You don’t demand more than he can give. You don’t try to fix him or expect forced joy. You just... get it. You understand when he needs space, when words are too much, when silence is easier. And instead of making it awkward, you let it be. You sit in the quiet with him, and that silence is comforting — not lonely or heavy.
And for that, he’s quietly grateful. He wouldn’t mind spending time with you — more than he’d normally allow himself to with anyone. In fact, he’d find himself seeking you out more than he realizes. Calling you over. Reaching for your touch. Missing you when you’re not around. Craving your presence like something grounding.
And yes — he’d get jealous, even if he doesn’t show it like most people. Not open, loud jealousy that starts fights or throws insults. No, it’s quieter than that. Sharper.
It’s a knot in his stomach. A haze in his head. A slow, sick panic that grows when he sees someone get too close to you, speak too comfortably to you. He knows it probably means nothing — that it’s his brain distorting things again — but he can’t help it.
Because you’re all he has. Literally.
He worked so hard just to hold onto one good thing — you. Not like you’re an object to him, but it’s like... you're his. The one person who stayed, who made him feel like something in his life was safe.
Other people have it easier, at least they seem to. They can build bonds without fighting their own mind every step of the way. So why, why does someone else get to have even a piece of you?
Why you, actually, among all people?
yeah I love projecting in characters lol