#( he feels platonic love VERY strongly but he hasn't actually fallen romantically for anyone before. )

[charmonys]

happy  valentine's  day.  i  think  sunday  tends  to  have  the  most  accidental  rizz  imaginable,  simply  by  virtue  of  his  personality  and  halovians  all  tending  to  be  quite  ethereal  and  beautiful  by  default.  he  conducts  himself  in  such  a  way  that  can  be  very  easily  mistaken  for  romantic  interest  —  paying  careful  attention  to  your  likes  and  dislikes,  checking  up  on  you  frequently,  asking  genuine  and  insightful  questions  and  so  on.  he's  not  actually  trying  to  flirt;  he  just  has  a  tendency  to  give  off  that  impression.  (  and  doesn't  always  notice  how  his  actions  might  be  interpreted  because  in  his  mind,  he's  simply  being  polite.  )  he  feels  compelled  to  look  after  others  out  of  habit  and  his  people  pleaser  tendencies  also  mean  that  he's  effectively  hardwired  to  try  really,  really  hard  to  be  helpful.

perhaps  unsurprisingly,  this  has  led  to  a  lot  of  admirers  in  the  past  —  some  more  subtle  about  their  feelings,  others  notably  less  so.  sunday  is  always  very  professional  and  gracious  about  turning  them  down,  though  it's  definitely  something  he  feels  fairly  uncomfortable  about  whenever  it  happens.  given  the  choice,  he  would  prefer  to  either  not  acknowledge  it  or  gently  nudge  their  affections  in  a  different  direction  entirely.

[hazbinned]

In what ways does your muse express their love to someone else (platonic, familial, romantic, sexual or otherwise)?

What has your muse witnessed in their lives that has fundamentally changed them?

What is a promise someone made to your muse and broken it that your muse never forgot about?

for val 😈

In what ways does your muse express their love to someone else (platonic, familial, romantic, sexual or otherwise)?

Platonic? Val likes joking around, hanging out, and occasionally gift-giving. He's VERY touchy, but his touches won't be salacious in nature. He'll want to hit the town and party, and he tends to be sillier with his friends (and kinder, too) than he is with anyone outside of said group. It's like he's a totally different person.

Can't say much for familial, because Val's family was distant, save for his brothers, with whom he did not show much appreciation for aside from hanging out.

With GENUINE romantic interests, and NOT just someone he's trying to manipulate, take all of the above for the platonic ones and sprinkle in some romantic and sexual nuance. The silliness is give or take, depending on the partner and how tangible he thinks the relationship is; if it's someone who he genuinely thinks he stands a chance with, he might start off more suave and romantic (and sexual; romance and sex are very tied together for Val) and then switch between that and silly once they've been together for some time. He's VERY hands-on, and his touches in this case will be more risqué in nature. He will also perform small, thoughtful acts that they won't even notice, such as placing a blanket on Vox if he's fallen asleep at his desk. With crushes he deems intangible, there's still some of the latter, but he might just (harmlessly) harass or tease them; see how far he can push things and how much of his nonsense they will tolerate before they either return his feelings or blow up at him. May or may not be touchy. He likes to push buttons, and he likes to see how people react to that. It's a game to him. Not to say that anyone in his league is exempt from button-pushing. Far from it.

Sexual? All I can say is VERY. This is Val's favorite thing, his obsession, his lifeblood. He uses sex to control, to him it is power; since we're talking love, we are going to focus on Val when he is with a partner he actively loves. This differs strongly from sex with Angel or anyone else he views as a fling or beneath him. If Val loves his partner, he isn't solely focused on his pleasure (though there are still plenty, PLENTY of times where he is, especially if he's in a mood; he's not ideal by any means)— he knows how to drive them crazy (as well as satisfy himself), and will actually listen to them if they don't want to do something... though it might come with some complaining on his end. Partners whom he loves actually get aftercare, and he'll occasionally let them take control— as long as it isn't the majority of the time— especially if they are mad at him or he "owes them one." He wouldn't do that for someone he didn't love.

If Val loves someone, he will cuddle with them after/be more affectionate during sex. Forehead kisses, hair petting, compliments. He'll actually ask if they're okay.

Don't let any of this fool you; Val is a very toxic (and sometimes aloof) lover, even when he actually loves you. He isn't perfect and will have moments where he is only thinking about himself and winds up hurting people he loves, be it intentionally or not. This is about his love languages, though, so the positive side is what the focus is on.

What has your muse witnessed in their lives that has fundamentally changed them?

There hasn't been much in Hell that changed him. He showed up, easily found his footing, and got to work doing what he does best. He's thriving in Hell. In life, however, he was changed by, one: being disowned by his family, two: the traumatic incident with his pimp, and three: murdering his pimp. The murder was the catalyst in Val "becoming Val"; he took control of his life after that, but felt haunted by what he had done and became paranoid and rash.

What is a promise someone made to your muse and broken that your muse never forgot about?

I can't say anyone's ever actually made and broken a promise to him, not explicitly. Maybe they have. More accurately, there have been things that Valentino perceived as promises, but were little more than a wayside comment on the part of the person saying it. The biggest ones would have to be from his pimp: "I'm here to protect you, we're a team, I've got your back"— maybe the word promise was used, maybe it wasn't; while these and similar sentiments meant nothing more to the man saying them than any other pep-talk statement he might have spouted, they were ideas that Val internalized and took to heart. This inevitably lead to Val feeling betrayed and deceived by someone he'd thought of as a force of good in his life.