OKAYYYY WELCOME TO INTRO TO DROWNEDGLORY ARRANGED MARRIAGE AU 101!!!!! this ended up so long dawg and this is just the summary........ im insaneuhhhh im cuhrayzayyyy
also vote drownedglory in the rarepair tournament
pyro and czeslaw are arranged to be married when theyre kids, their families are close so they grew up together. their engagement was decided when they were around 8 or so, but they werent actually told about it until they were 13. czeslaw already disliked pyro and had been consistently bullying him for years, but with the announcement of their engagement he believed that he owned pyro.
pyro came out as transmasc to his parents and it went Preddy Bad! they were deeply ashamed and worried about czeslaws parents calling off the engagement if they found out, so they outed him to czeslaw and asked for his help in fixing the problem. in the capital pyro lives as a woman, and by the time he leaves hes so scared of people finding out hes trans he decides to go stealth.
pyro managed to convince both families to let him finish school first before they got married. czeslaw wasnt happy about waiting, which is why he targeted pyros notes so viciously. after pyro graduated they got married within the month
their first child is a boy named kaźmisz, who pyros parents get custody over. pyro was an only daughter so they took kaz as their heir. the second child is a girl named rozalia, and the third is a boy named druzjan. the younger two stayed in pyros and czeslaws custody. czeslaw was all but completely absent from their lives, they needed kids but he didnt actually care about them. he was more neglectful than overtly abusive towards them, but they both saw how he treated pyro and were scared of him. pyro loves the kids so so much, even though he never wanted them and was forced to have them. he protects them and tries to mitigate czeslaws negative influence as much as possible.
needless to say the marriage is very abusive. czeslaw is controlling, domineering, and frequently violent. after a few years he started thinking about escaping by poisoning him and fleeing the capital. he never went through with it in fear of what would happen to the kids, with their father dead and their mother his killer.
however. one night czeslaw is drunk and violent. he backs pyro into a corner and grabs him, and in panic they grab the nearest thing they can reach (candlestick) and hits him over the head with it. thinking they killed him, they collect rozalia and druzjan, some of czeslaws clothes, and flee before anyone finds the body.
they didnt check if czeslaw was actually dead.
on their way to oakhurst pyro starts to present masc (using czeslaws clothes, which dont fit him but are still infinitely more comfortable than dresses and skirts) and tells the kids to start calling him dad from now on. he doesnt tell them that czeslaw is dead, just that the three of them are going on a trip and czeslaw is busy and cant make it.
in oakhurst hes notably more anxious and skittish. the town is much nicer and more sympathetic towards him because of the kids. the kids' favorite townsfolk (other than pyro) are pearl, apo, sausage, and ren.
pyro still goes to the obelisk with scott and owen, but because hes more cautious he doesnt just stand around and wait to be attacked. he starts running much sooner, and despite both of them getting a bite out of him he does manage to escape unturned. since the elder vampires both have his memories, they strike a deal (read: scott threatens pyro) that if he exposes their secret, theyll expose his.
sidenote: its actually only scott who is threatening to out pyro as trans. owen is fiercely protective of pyros identity, even if he doesnt particularly care about pyro himself. any disrespect to pyros gender is indirectly a slight against louis which he cannot tolerate.
after a few days of considering it, pyro decides that becoming a vampire might be the best way to protect himself and the kids. he asks owen to turn him, and owen obliges. he doesnt tell the kids that hes a vampire yet.
when the vampires are exposed, pyro takes the kids and goes to the castle. theyre confused and scared at first, but they trust pyro. he may not be able to stand up for himself but he WILL protect his kids.
owen LOOOVES these kids. even though he pretends he doesnt. theyre young enough that they dont hate the Other, and pyro did his best to raise them to be kind and empathetic, despite czeslaws influence. they dont fear him or avoid him, they actively seek him out and it melts his heart. owen is nearly as protective of them as pyro is, and hes the only one that pyro trusts to watch them while hes away.
since pyro willingly chose to be turned, and since his sire is owen rather than scott, he doesnt end up seeking a cure. however, the townsfolk are more determined to cure him than in canon. hes the target of a force cure, because the town knows if he stays a vampire the kids will eventually also have to be turned. it doesnt matter what pyro or the kids want, wont someone think of the poor children?
