Hihi! I love your Harley Sawyer x Psychologist reader series and love how you wrote the both of them!
I was just wondering if you had any takes on how their relationship would've went? Like, if Harley never got turned into an experiment and the Hour of Joy never happened, what would've life been like? Did they get to go on more dates? Did they ever move in together? Did they ever get married? What was the proposal like? Did they ever have children together? What is Harley like as a dad? Is he gonna end up like his parents, is he gonna change for them, or is he the same old Harley? Does Yarnaby live with them as their sort of pet cat dog lion thing?
Omg I love this!!! Gladly I will answer but I will do it as in character as possible. 🙈👍
WHAT IF?...
Harley never got turned into an experiment:
I certainly believe that both Harley and Y/N would have tried to pursue a relationship, maybe with more initiative into Y/Ns part since Harley still is very awkward in certain matters.
The relationship wouldn't change much, the main thing that would change would be the time spent with eachother out of working hours (Most of your time goes to your work but the spare hours would go to eachother)
He would act more openly affectionate with you (in his own way of course):
He would make the effort to initiate more physical contact, either by fidgeting with your hair strings in private or by touching more your shoulders, arms, and even hands when passing documents.
All of this of course while making eye contact. I think Harley is into that and Y/N basically doesn't know how to talk to someone without looking at them directly in the eyes with little to no blinking so they are a perfect match in that aspect.
Another thing you would notice would be how he takes more care of you in little but heartwarming ways:
If you have your clothes disheveled, like the collar of your shirt is misplaced or your shirt has turned very untidy; he will grab you from the shoulders and with both of his hands he will correct the shirt of your collar.
The first time it happened you gulped instinctively at the touch of his cold and long fingers on your bare neck. His attention was fixated on your collar and after correcting the shirt, he took your arm and started to unroll your sleeves maintaining his hand on your wrist just s little longer than needed.
After that he just looked at you "Be careful with your clothes, they might blend with this recent insistence of yours of having contact with the experiments" He told you in a teasing manner but with a serious face (that will never change, sorry)
Harley also stoped threatening the other employees to shut up when he catches them gossiping about the both of you. Firstly, he reprimanded them reiterating that they were there to work, not to gossip but since you guys actually made it official, he just ignored the comments.
You, on the other hand, started gaining way more confidence than before around him. Harley noticed that when, one day out of nowhere, you took of his glasses and started cleaning them, claiming they were filthy.
His hands tend to be naturally cold and since recently you were having more migraines, you came up with a funny experiment. When one particularly strong headache attacked you while doing paperwork at the end of the night, you took Harleys hand (who by the way was with you in your office) and put it in your head and moved his fingers so they touched your eyelids.
He didn't move, he just looked at you and gave an experimental caress to your left eyelid. Suddenly your migraine seemed to have become weaker just by this action. (He still went out of his way to find you some medicine though)
Refering to dating, you were the one taking the leading role. Harley didn't like to go out much but there were still very good options for you to use.
One of your favourites was dinner at either of your places. You will make dinner together, or order take out from somewhere fancy and later watch a movie or read a fragment of a book and discuss it with one another.
Another great option that was actually Harley's idea was a visit to a Museum.
You were an enthusiastic of both arts and science so he figured that you would like to go to one. He planned out which day would be more empty, scheduling everything perfectly. You were s really quite surprised but ecstatic nonetheless.
He doesn't remember you happier than when you were ranting about the different and pretty toxic materials used in paintings, utensils and other daily tools that people had. You talked about the statistics of the dying population due to this motives.
Harley listened to you and added sometimes some facts about some chemical reactions produced by said material when mixed with other substances.
The day ended in a small bar in one of the many streets of the city. Chatting and eating together.
Another thing to take into consideration will be the conflicts. Every relationship had arguments and yours was not the exception.
You sometimes would get irritated about Harley not listening to your recommendations when handling the experiments which would led to said experiments to become mentally unwell.
You called out his lack of care in regards of their mental healths, arguing that it was an essential part in the whole project.
"I cannot believe I have to repeat this again? Don't you listen? This is damaging m- our project" Was something you often complaint
Another thing that could cause a bridge between you was his lack of management of anger.
When he had a very bad day with the other executives or was just feeling irritable in general he would pay it with everybody around him, including you sometimes.
One thing that Harley didn't really got used to was your stubbornness. Sometimes when arguing you wouldn't back down and later on, you will hold s grudge, making it evident to him of your unsatisfaction about the situation.
Luckily, you both understand that these problems are caused by your own characters and you try to talk it rationally with each other. Compromising and putting effort so both of you could reach a higher efficiency in communication.
He compromised to not become to self absorbed and to recognise you more as a part of his life in a deeper level and you compromised to let go of grudges and communicate more honestly to him
Other little fights you might have are just playful ones that address at your personal preferences in authors of books or just theories you discuss together.
You move in together:
I think he would be the one suggesting it and giving it more thought.
Both of you had fairly comfortable appartments and you weren't necessarily far from eachother (same city after all). But Harley thought that now that you were part of his routine, mind and heart; you could now be part of his personal space.
His apartment was more centric, you usually preferred the outskirts of the city
He suggested it on a lunch break, very casually. "How would you like moving in together?" You looked at him while biting your food. "Moving in... I haven't thought about it, I think it wouldn't be so bad, after all you come a lot to my house.." You responded, he chucked an said "I mean moving you into my home, how does that work for you?
You stayed silent, you knew how protective Harley was of his space and the fact that he wanted to share it with you really made you feel great. "Well, actually I wouldn't mind it at all. I could rent my Appartment and get the extra money" You said happy.
"Any plans this weekend?"He asked, you denied "Good, how about I help you move Friday afternoon" And it was settled
Just like that, you guys started living together. One thing that the staff noticed, believe me they noticed.
The front security saw you every day arriving together in the same car ( usually yours since you invested on a good one) and started tying the knots almost instantly.
At first his house was pretty neutral, very well organised and tidy, just like Harley but when your belongings strated to come in, the house started to look more of a mix between the both of you.
You had pillows and cushions that you added to his sofa and bed, now shared bed.
Your books invaded his room and living room and all of the spices, ingredients and complements you had from home were now on his kitchen. Plus some magnets that you bought from prior journeys to other countries.
The bathroom now had a extra pair of towels, a whole bunch more of shampoos and other soap's and an extra teeth brush.
You had already slept together before in the past but it took a little while to actually adapt to each others sleeping schedules and mannerisms.
Harkey slept as still as a corpse and you always slept hugging a pillow (Harley was said pillow from now on) but other nights his stiffness would break to hold loosely your waist or arm.
Another difference between you both was your difficulty to become asleep. You needed a lot of time to actually fall asleep and some nights you didn't because of some factors you hadn't recognised yet.
Harley helped you with that offering you to read together until you got bored and exhausted. Even sometimes going as far as to make you come infusion to help you sleep.
Due to his not so usual childhood, Harley suffers from some nightmares every so often. He will just wake up in the middle of the night, harshly and unsettled, having difficulties to breath properly or unable to relax on his own for a while.
That was before, since you came in you woke up with him most of those times and helped him to breath, slowly but surely and later on giving him so water. You talked to him about anything and everything to distract his mind.
One fateful night in which the nightmare was specially harsh, he had to wake you up because again, he found himself hyperventilating and unable to breath.
That night he told you about everything that happened to him and you just listened and stayed there for him. Not judging, not talking, just there, with him, and that was all that mattered to Harley.
He haven't opened up to someone else before. It was a slow process but he finally said it all. Harley wasn't familiar with vulnerability but at least he was glad that it was you who heard it. You at least wouldn't insist about it if you knew he felt uncomfortable. He was grateful for that
Another thing he did was installing a table in your now shared bedroom so you could have a space of your own to do your work at home or just for anything you may want to do.
In general his house became a little more colourful (it was all grey and black before you moved in) and he felt comfortable knowing you were there with him.
Home keeping is also an important thing to discuss with a partner. Luckily you both have your own little habits that make the division of task less conflictive.
Harkey likes to have everything tidied up just as he likes it. He has a very specific place for everything and is low key a cleaning maniac.
He has lots of cleaning supplies in a cabinet of the kitchen just to assure that everything is perfectly cleaned up.
You on the other hand, are very particular on your food and what ingredients you used, there fore while Harley manages the cleaning in the home you do the cooking and the stocking of food.
But something you both participate in is the cleaning and folding of the clothes. You are always very careful with each others clothes and always try maintain them clean to ensure their durability (clothes are expensive guys 😭).
In general the coexisting is pretty efficient and both of you end up being a good team. You do your cooking, he does his cleaning and you both always have a clean house and a home cooked meal to come home to. (And a partner that appreciates you a lot)
Another common thing in your life is Harley waking you if you ever sleep to long on your free days.
Normally, you use the weekends to relax, sleep and organise other aspects of your life that you don't have time to address daily.
Well, Harley always wakes up at the same hour. Every day. He doesn't wake up later than 7:00 am.
In weekends when you are sleeping and he sees you moving and groaning for being woken up he just puts hand on your torso or forehead to turn you back to bed so you could sleep more.
But one day you slept a lot. It was already 13:00 pm and he already had the food made but you were still passed out in bed.
When he went to wake you up you were spread out in bed, in a very strange position. That would give you a horrible pain neck later btw.
He turned your body to be layed normally, accomodating your back as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Y/N" He called you while stroking your shoulder so you would wake up "Mhhh?" You groaned "What time is it?" You asked with a very sleepy tone "It's 13:00, wake up, lunch is ready and you are not being productive today" He was opening the blinds slightly so you would get used to the light, his voice in a whisper was like music to your ears. He sat back again in your side of the bed
"Okay, thanks darling, good morning" You said while incorporating and before you got to the bathroom to wash your face, you kissed him on the cheek.
Harley became as still as a stone. That was the first time you called him darling and certainly it was the first time you kissed him on the cheek as part of your good morning routine.
After that day, he found himself waiting for you to kiss his cheek again as a greeting or even as a farewell. When you started doing it more often, he already expected it every day as part of his routine and if he didn't got one he felt as if something was missing.
(My man is touched starved)
Random head cannon: I think this man is into puzzles and he has those that are really complicated, like 10 000 pieces and all that stuff. Or just a lot of rubric cubes with different shapes and sizes.
You got married:
After a few year of living together, Harley realised that you were already life partners.
At some point, Dr White made a joke asking him when was the wedding and that left him thinking for days.
You have been together for a long time and certainly you were acting as if you were already a marriage.
You had your cooking, he had his cleaning. Your late nights reading together in bed and your Saturday movies. You went for dates occasionally and in both of you were generally already very comfortable with each other to the point of letting both your guards down.
(He enters when you are showering to take some towels for the kitchen and start a conversation with you as if nothing and vice versa).
Plus marriage wasn't such a bad option either, it could be economically beneficial and most importantly you both would be officially and legally family.
You would have acces to each others medical care and he could add you to his insurances and likewise.
He didn't make a big surprise of it. Harley just waited until you got back home from work and told you about getting married. He had a whole bunch of documents and arguments about the benefits of marriage.
You accepted. You were happy and comfortable with him, it was only natural for you to take that step.
The next day, the first thing you both did was look for rings. It would be more efficient to chose the ones you liked and buy it straight up.
You bough him a simple golden wedding ring with your names engraved on the inner part. He chose it to be simple, but telling of your union.
He bought the you one you chose. It was simple, just as his, but you wanted a little stone on it because you liked shiny things (your basically a bird tbh) also with your names engraved on it.
I don't believe Harley is religious in the slightest. If you were to be, he would have the wedding as you liked, either by your church or other spiritual entity.
If you were good with civil wedding, that would be his preferred route. It would be simple but meaningful. Each of you would take a witness or two and go to sign to a notary. (You invited your mother and a close friend as witness and he brought Ludwig and Bruno White as he was the closest thing to a "friend" that he had)
After that, he would take you to a fancy place to have dinner and then go back home to, as you put it, "make official the union". 😉
On the following week's you would make jokes from time to time. Calling him husband, teasing him, only to see his deadpan face.
Deep down he liked that, though you would never catched him admitting it. But he felt comfortable with the feeling of you both being officially each others family and partner for life.
On your anniversaries, you would probably organise something like going to the theater or visiting different museums together. Those dates are probably the only ones in which you both cook together in the kitchen (You prefer to cook alone but will gladly do it accompanied by him)
Actually having fun and Harley explaining how cooking is basically chemistry, using examples with the dishes you make while you just listen to him talk and taste whatever you are cooking for the moment.
I think that being in a marriage with Harley would be like a middle aged married couple. Calm, tranquil, organised and filled with routine but with sporadic changes and dates that kept it interesting.
For your birthdays he buys you either books, earnings or special foods such as expensive coffees or fancy baskets of fruit and other goods.
For his birthdays you usually buy him more puzzles, journals for his experiments or new jerseys and shirts.
Once you bought him as a joke a jar of pickles and he looked at you with such a annoyed and disappointed look. (Later you gave him the real gift, a new computer, but that didn't stop you from laughing a bit more).
Sometimes, you get sick and he acts like, em, well, like a doctor. Basically he puts a mask on, makes you stay in bed, and gives you medicines and certain types of food during the day to help you heal.
He also checks your temperature and blood pressure to assure you don't get worse. Water is really important so there's alway a glass full of water next to you at your nightstand.
Basically he shows affection taking care of your health.
The marriage might seem boring to some people but when you both go to sleep at night, next to each other, you do it with the security of having found a responsable partner that worries about you and about your happiness.
Children?
I think that, precisely because what both your works look like, children wouldn't be an often topic in your home.
If you ever got pregnant, there would be two routes to take.
You don't want to keep the baby because your work with children is already conflicting enough as it is so you don't want to complicate things more.
Harkey would support you in the decision because, mainly because he doesn't know how to handle children and secondly because his work would make it difficult to interact with a child outside work. (And of you don't want the child then you shouldn't have it because it will only bring unhappiness to both mother and baby).
But if you decided to keep it, he would be a responsible partner and shate the responsibility with you. (As he should).
While being pregnant, he would be very observant , watching for any symptoms change or checking if you are comfortable.
The first trimester is hard, you have nauseas and you wake several times to throw up.
He always has water on hand to give you after it and a good herbal tea to help your stomach get settled.
Once your belly starts growing, he gets touchy. He starts caressing it and touching around the area, trying to feel if the baby kicks. As a doctor he is always careful, even more considering that it's his child the one inside.
When you start getting cravings, he just gives them to you without much resistance. (He had to physically restrain you with your bed sheets to stop you from eating the most disgusting mix known to man kind). He also starts feeding you more. He investigates about what foods are beneficial during a pregnancy and always tries to implement them in the cooking.
In the second trimester he gets more chill, already getting used to the new situation but will glare daggers at anyone that touches your growing belly. He tries to convince you to take a sick leave often but needs to just being with you more time to make sure you don't get harmed.
After all, the factory was still a dangerous place and not all of the coworkers had good intentions.
(No one from the staff members and the employees could believe that Dr Sawyer was getting laid fr, though they congratulated you).
He starts getting anxious in the third trimester, when you are around 8/9 months pregnant.
He's constantly worried that you might have any kind of complication. At this point you had already taken your pregnant leave for the remaining months of your pregnancy.
Finally, when you get into labor he rushes you to an hospital (probably in one he worked some time ago because he trusts it more with your heath).
He supervises everything the nurses do and helps you stand up so you would have an easier labor.
Finally when the child arrives he just sighs from relieve, just like when he does after a difficult operation ends successfully.
At first he didn't really had any real emotional connection with he child. He took care of them and worried about their health because it was YOUR baby, but it isn't until later on when the child starts getting a more defined personality, that he starts connecting with them more emotionally.
Don't get me wrong, it's his child, he cares for them and change them and feed them but he starts getting more involved and interested in their life as an individual when they are 3/4 year old and start having interest of their own (space, dinosaurs, animals, drawing etc).
The same goes with you, is your baby and you nurture and love them but you can't help the joy it gives you when they actually get an interest of their own.
You try applying your knowledge on child psychology to educate and raise your children the best way possible so they can end up being functional adults.
Harley wouldn't change much in general, but while the years keep passing and the child keeps growing and learning more he starts insisting on teaching the child things himself and making sure they are informed on various topics.
You both would be very honest with the child, at first masking a little bit the truth since the kid wouldn't totally understand but as they grow older, Harley and you would tell them things they asked very bluntly and without sugarcoating.
I think Harley as a dad is the type dad to be strict and trying to maintain control but letting the kid try things as a learning journey. Experience is the best teacher after all.
Emotionally he would be very constipated but worry not, he married a psychologist. You basically have to intermediate when your child and Harley are talking about feelings.
"Look, feelings often interfere with the original purpose of actions but If they matter to you I think I can make the effort of trying to understand you." Harley had just had a fight with his kid and you had to intervene to make them express each other properly (the kid is just as bad with feelings as the dad 😭)
You child looks at him with a understanding look, thanking silently the effort
"You see how dad is making an effort to understand you? Well, a reconciliation cannot work with only one party working on it, both of you need to put effort on this ok?" You asked taking your child's hand "Yes mom" They muttered brushing your knuckles "Harley, this goes for you as well"
After that, you joked with Harley about having to work at home as well. "Children can be so... " He started trying to express "exhausting, tiring, fascinating... You tell me, I work with them every day" You told him "he just gave a very lazy and breathy laugh. He barely did that so you were feeling pretty satisfied how everything turned out
Some times he just performs little experiments on the kid such as trying to make them understand the relation between colors and shapes or simple and basic motor skills.
You on the other hand would try to make your child learn using association. Like if they manage to say a word like mom, dad or simple things like that you would give them a treat.
The child would learn to talk because they would associate it with a positive stimuli.
You do care for your child and always try to do the best you can to not fuck up their mental health, but sometimes you get so overwhelmed that you just delegate the task to Harley.
Mostly when the child was still little and didn't know how to properly communicate he would just hold them hold reading in the sofa while you took a shower or a nap and the child would end up stop crying and sleeping next to their father.
Considering the body changes and how that could affect your own mental health, you tried to make time for yourself to also take care of your body and mind. Even though Harley doesn't understand the insecurity, he appreciates you for more than a body, he knows it affects you to a certain degree and does his best to show you he cares:
Holding you closer while you sleep, taking the child on walks often so you can have more time of peace and quiet etc.
Some nights you look at your child and think about the experiments. It might even give you some kind of guilt but after all, you are to stubborn and blind with your project to look deeper into the problem. So you chose to ignore it.
Some experiment have started noticing you become more... caring? With them. You get more caring with Doey, he'll you even started giving him hugs when he cries.
In general, Harley's support and care is silent but present. He cares about you, you've been together for a long time and have seem things that could turn mad anyone but after all you still stick together.
He cares about his child at first because it's a connection to you and later on he gets to like them as their very own person. Maybe he doesn't understand them completely or at all but it's his very own little experiment with you therefore, it's special.
Yarnaby:
If Harley is still working at playtime co and hasn't been turned into an experiment then I'm afraid to tell you but Yarnaby will still be property of the company and couldn't accompany Sawyer wherever he went.
Though, following this story line in which Sawyer gets to marry you and even have a kid then yarnaby will absolutely notice the little changes.
When you were still in your first and second trimester and you had to run some test on the lion, he would approach you putting his head on your stomach as if feeling that someone was there.
He would smell it and rub his head against it, his hairs jiggling in motion. Another thing he would do is sit next to you laying his big ass head on your lap while you ran the tests.
Basically he became more delicate with you, not knowing exactly why you felt different but deciding to be close to you. (Like a child clinging to his mother while she is pregnant with the little sibling)
Harley would be less violent with yarnaby recognising that at least he was intelligent enough to realise your state.
Once the baby was born and you took it to meet Yarnaby (probably not the best idea but anyhow) he would circle it, curious. Just as when you were pregnant, he would tap his head with the baby's head, making the infant giggle.
The moment the lion heard the giggle, he started bouncing happily around the baby and kept taping him with his head very carefully as the baby continued laughing and reaching for the lion.
Yarnaby usually laid on the floor and you would settle your kid in his yarn with you laid next to him. Both of you using Yarnaby as a pillow.
These moments were closely supervised by Harley who, against all odds, entered the cell to supervise both his wife and kid (and experiment)
If you kept bringing the child as they grew older then yarnaby would learn to treat it as some sort of sibling or friend. Playing together.
-Unedited fanfic-
Hey guys, I only have to exams left. I just had the biggest creativity bust with this prompt that my dear @sillyfishypeople-arts commented.
I hope you enjoy it as always. Have a nice day, drink water, eat food and Hakuna Matata. 🙈😚
I'm sorry if there are any mistakes but I'm sleeping 4/5 hours a day and English is not my first language. Regards my lovelies.<3
