xxsovereignsarayaxx

[painofhumanity]

Thaddeus Nightwell is the purest definition of "He's a little confused, but he's got the right spirit" when it comes to the LGBT community. He understands what the letters stand for, in terms of the words themselves, but beyond that--well, that's where we get into the confused territory. He was nothing but supportive when Zephyr came out as bisexual, and when Zephyr made friends with closeted kids and brought them over, Thaddeus always made sure they knew they were welcome in his home anytime.

However. When he heard about demisexual, he took that 'demi' quite literally, and asked with full seriousness which half of the person was sexual and which half was not. Thankfully, it was just him and Zephyr, so there was no one to roll their eyes at that. However, when a girl Zephyr brought home told his dad she was pansexual, his (again quite serious) reply was, "Well, I don't understand how cookware can get a person going, but I guess different strokes for different folks-- Why are you kids laughing?" Zephyr and his friends were laughing too hard to answer for a good five minutes. Thad doesn't always understand, but he's always accepting, and that was really all any of them needed. Plus Zephyr's friends enjoyed the dad jokes.

[painofhumanity]

The irony of Zephyr's dad being kind of oblivious about LGBT+ stuff (specifically orientation) is hilarious, not only because his wife is a polyamorous pansexual woman, but because Thaddeus himself is demisexual. It's actually what drew Lorelei in, in the first place. Because this man had little sexual energy she could sense, yet he walked on over and started chatting her up anyway; it had been a long time since she'd had someone talk to her purely to get to know her. She fell for his soft, sincere charm, and then one day she noticed that his sexual energy was much stronger than it had been when they first met (because he was sexually attracted to her after getting to know her). Thad and Lorelei have never really talked about it, because she just assumed he knew, but after hearing his comment about pansexuals being turned on by cookware, she realized her husband was a bit slow (affectionate) when it came to these things.

[painofhumanity]

Zephyr will joke that he had three parents: Thaddeus, Lorelei, and Patrick. Now, most would assume that either his dad or mom had a lover named Patrick, but they'd be wrong. Patrick is his dad's Familiar, a no-nonsense tabby cat who absolutely acted like another dad when Zephyr was growing up--and honestly still does even now. Patrick was often in charge of waking up an ornery teenager in the mornings, because he could ignore his dad, but it was a lot harder to ignore a determined cat sitting on him and screaming in his face until he got up for school.

Patrick also acts like a sort of dad to Payback and Karma; he yells (meows aggressively) at them when they're too rambunctious, but also used to clean them when they were puppies as if they were his own kittens. When Zephyr goes back home, Payback and Karma are generally hanging out with Patrick.

[painofhumanity]

Embarrassing nicknames Zephyr's dad still calls him, even though he's a grown man: Z-man, Zephyroni, Zepharoo, Zephaluffagus, Zephyr Bo-Bephyr Bo-na-na fanna fo-fephyr Fee-fi-mo-mephyr.

Zephyr will, of course, groan and complain whenever he hears them, but he would never actually want his dad to stop. Because hearing those stupid nicknames makes him feel loved. They remind Zephyr that his dad is always in his corner, no matter where he goes or how old he gets.

[painofhumanity]

The fact that Zephyr genuinely thinks that, as long as he isn't touching someone, his seduction is totally subtle is just-- Wow. He's just a sexy himbo, y'all.

[painofhumanity]

Incubus/Succubus Thrall

Something Zephyr's mom Lorelei made very clear to him early on was that lust is earned. Incubi and succubi feed on a person's sexual energy; the stronger that person's desire is, the more energy there is to feed on. Incubi and succubi can technically use their thrall to force that attraction so they can feed, but Lorelei told him only the weak had to resort to such measures, and it was a poor supply of energy anyway. His mother's motto: it's either enthusiastic consent or it's a bold no.

On a base level, there's an aura around them that draws people in--but only people who would already find them attractive. There's a step up from this, where an incubus or succubus could nudge someone who's obviously interested to actually follow through on their desires. Then, there's the intentional manipulation; this can either be used to simply make a person do whatever the incubus/succubus wants, or it can be used to force that person into bed with them. Zephyr generally relies on his natural aura and personal charm, but every now and then he uses his thrall to give someone the final push they need to sleep with him. He only ever uses the full force of his thrall to get out of risky situations--or manipulate assholes--but he will never ever use it to force sex.

[painofhumanity]

While Zephyr prefers to take a more dominant role when it comes to sex, he will be whatever his partner wants, whether they're in a committed relationship or it's just a fling. Zephyr feeds on energy from sexual pleasure, so his main focus will always be making sure the other person is getting the most out of the experience as possible. Though truthfully, he does gravitate more towards men or women with a submissive energy, just for his own enjoyment.

[painofhumanity]

Zeph was absolutely a Hot Topic kid, an awkward, emo introvert who happened to be navigating supernatural levels of horniness and sex appeal. One would think that caused a lot of friction with his very suburban dad, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Even though they didn't agree on hardly anything, Zephyr always knew that his dad loved him more than anything. His dad was always there, always supportive, giving him unconditional love and encouragement while Zephyr figured out who he was. He moved into the city because he wanted a more active nightlife than was available in the suburbs, but he tries to visit his dad whenever he can--Thad hates the city, thinks it's too busy. His relationship with his dad is the most important in his life, and Zephyr's not shy about that fact.

[painofhumanity]

Blair gave him Karma and Payback when they were puppies, partly because she knew how lonely Zephyr was as a kid, but mostly because she knew that if she wasn't around to look out for him, his hellhounds would be. She's always been a protective big sister because of the large age difference between them (at least a century, though even Zeph isn't sure how old his sister actually is), and she wanted to make sure that her precious little brother was always taken care of. Even now that he's all grown up, Blair would still kill anyone that hurt him in any way.