Omg whenever you’re doing hc can I get some Poe headcannons of him being hella awkward in person to someone he’s attracted to but he’s eloquent af on paper
Cannot, for the life of him, form a proper sentence. Words get caught in his throat and all that comes out are awkward ‘heh’ responses especially if you’re within a two foot radius. Really, what ties up his tongue is looking at the details in your features. Memorizing the way your hands move, if you walk with them or if they stay at your sides. The most intricate details because each of them is a tiny mystery to unfold what type of person you are, what you like and dislike. He gets himself so caught up that when it’s his turn to respond it brain short-circuits.
He writes all the things he wanted to say in one of his notebooks so he doesn’t forget, but it takes him a few days to look because it’s still embarrassing to him. Rather than try to spark up a conversation way out of his comfort zone he decides to write down things he wants to talk to you about as well as the answer to whatever question you asked him a few days prior. His brain feels less clogged doing this, and he writes a few pages within half an hour. Covertly slipping it under your door with only his name signed at the end.
Waits to see if you respond well to the letters, and if you do he feels more comfortable. Conversations get more than three whole words out, slowly. He can answer but he feels a lot more at ease with paper. So he keeps writing, the further he falls the more intricate and soft the writing gets. Short stories you’ve inspired, little things that reminded him of you during the day. They’re always three pages long. Slipped under your door at odd hours so you have something to read when you get home.
After a few months the love letters start. Sweet and endearing. Only when he knows you feel something back, though. The fear of rejection is too much for him. Once he has the green light they grow longer than three pages. Sometimes five, sometimes enough to be considered a novella. The way he writes conveys things he would never, ever be able to get out of his mouth. Once his hand starts the words just flow endlessly. Everything capped in his brain comes out and its both relieving and exhilarating for him because at least you know what’s in his head.
Poe isn’t one to think or talk dirty in public, but he feels free on paper. He can’t dirty talk for shit but he can write steamy, dirty strings of innuendos that will leave you hot under the collar. By this time he’s comfortable and established in the relationship with you; even if its already physical, he still writes naughty things for you to read just as a reminder.