the troupe master likes to be the one taking care of her so at first he really doesn't want to let her see him that state, but it's not something he can hold off for long.
when the cycle begins and finishes, grimm goes through many molts once he's the grimmchild again. these are very quick and usually require very little watching or intervention (nightmare primarily watches over him at this rate). only when he starts shooting up in height do others look after him. hornet is eventually allowed to bring him hunts or make him cocoons (he asks her jokingly but she takes it serious) or watch over him. he finds it a little embarrassing but eventually accepts that she's merely trying to take care of him as his partner.
she's not always around for his molts, especially the adult molts, but she's extra considerate during those times and grimm is very appreciative. before her, he has always relied on the troupe (most specifically the grimmkin or brumm, and brumm has long since left). it is nice to rely on someone who is so capable and tender and who lets him curl around her and recover in silence.
Wait wait, would Grimm be just as jealous in this modern Au? Would he get upset with other colleagues/employees making moves on Hornet? Does Hornet gossip about her dating older persons bother him? Or is this just motivation?
Would Ngk equivalent in this au just be firing them?
Tell me everything, I want to know it all. I'm invested now. Even ideas or thoughts. Old ladies are on my mind now. It's all your fault 😤
this blog's goal is to make u think about old ladies !!
Grimm is still jealous! Not something that changes much on individual AUs, sometimes he just is busier so cannot be properly jealous like he wants to be. Employees or colleagues or god forbid clients do not get a free pass to think they have a chance with Hornet — they make think she is pretty but he thoroughly dashes any notion on them asking her out or trying to flirt. Would give a happy very gentle reminder about who's in charge of paychecks/deals/connections if anyone tries.
He doesn't tell them not to gossip though. It's useful for him because some people see Hornet at different times/states and have knowledge he doesn't. If random employee saw her at the gas station at 2 am buying a yogurt drink he wants to know. Likewise, he's too polite to grill her on her dating history or crushes but he desperately wants to know so he already had someone dig up what was available and also listens in on gossip. Plus, this way he knows who romantic rivals are more likely to be other than NKG's base rule of "every woman that looks at Hornet is a romantic rival". If she only likes aged wines like himself then he only has to keep those in check. So, more motivation than detest!
NKG is the founder/owner of the company! He would never fire Hornet even if she only came into the office to sit down and eat chips and scroll bug TikTok all day. Also wouldn't fire Grimm because Grimm actually does All The Work. He can write Hornet up for HR violations to get her into his office so he can make out with her when just scheduling meetings on her calendar doesn't work. He's mostly just a menace that floats around the company taking care of things behind the scenes — definitely not the one you see at press conferences like Grimm.
I really enjoy the idea of Hornet harvesting the kings fluff as a material for use. Is this something you can see her doing?
Additionally does the fluff get brushed? Who brushes it? Or is it only groomed? I'm very curious on fluff as someone who would utilize a fluffy wife if I had one.
Hopefully this isn't a very specific strange ask.
real insects only groom via their own body parts such as mouths or legs, but given these bugs have technology we can assume they have also invented a plethora of brushes for those who have setae (hair) or other related shellcare! how that affects the act of traditional grooming is up in the air. perhaps it's more intimate, so for those within your tribe/family/partners? perhaps there's no difference at all beyond personal preference and practicality. i currently lean towards the latter.
as for whether nightmare needs it... canonically no. he only exists in the dream realm and outings to the physical are probably non-existent (or rare and short length).
for the sake of me drawing my own blorbos interacting though, yeah, he gets brushed. all higher beings operate in biological bodies though those bodies may be different from the common bug. in nightmare's case while his main body can probably tank damage a mortal's might not, fluff is still fluff. if he lays in a weird pose it's unlikely the mantle is staying undisturbed. bedhead nightmare is real. so he gets brushed if he's out for long periods of time. in general he doesn't like to he bothered, so he'd usually just swipe his hand or a quick brushing. no overly vain grooming.
once he gets with hornet he does tend to pay more attention to his looks. he thought himself attractive beforehand, but now he seeks to actively maintain it. so if she likes him more tidy than unkempt he skews that way, but in all honesty she likes him looking very naturel, not overly groomed. hornet probably does take up the brush herself for his mantle but she's more likely to groom his horns or around his face as opposed to the fluff. just a bit easier to do those other things given how thick and massive said mantle is.
she definitely likes touching his fluff and frequently does, though i'm not sure she's ever collecting any from him. what would she do with it? we don't see her as someone who is very crafty textile wise and it's not as if she'll replace the faydown with nightmare's (though he'd like her to do so).
if there were suitable projects for use of his hair, she would gladly take from him. stuffing grimmkin or her own pillows, maybe, or if it would somehow be useful for her tools. though i lack specific examples and ideas, she would certainly take if there were a benefit to doing so!
Human AU, does it take place in a more modern setting? Older Victorian?(I'm just imagining the Grimms in victorian/vampire like clothing) or something else?
If modern, do you think Nkg would be like one of those obessesive girls who get mad when thier gf don't text them back immediately? Or would they be the kind to never respond much to text becuase they're snoozing all the time?
i usually imagine them as people in a modern setting rather than a historical one, but I'm definitely interested in other eras (i love thinking about older societies and how women operated in them)! modern was definitely what i had in mind with the most recent posts.
nkg isn't necessarily the girlfriend who gets irritated when hornet doesn't answer because she's busy/occupied. what he is is worse; if she hangs up on him or purposefully ignores him then he's calling right back and sending 10 million text messages and eventually showing up to her place. hornet would never say she riles him up like this on purpose, but grimm suspects she does.
though, nkg is probably never responding or messaging anybody other than hornet. maybe for work he sends back "ok" or likes someone's message, but it's very common to get radio silence from him since he's sleeping a lot and doesn't care about other people. people would hate to see what he's saved them as in his contacts and would be very surprised to see him actually looking at his phone much less frequently texting. really irritates certain people that have been on read for 2 weeks that he insta-responds to whatever blurry picture of a bug hornet has sent him.
also, just to clarify, this isn't a firmly established au or anything lol. it really does not go any farther than "modern + human". mentioned this here.
