#He’s just a romantic your honor

[duskspring]

I’m a ‘secretly soft Secondo’ truther (NSFW under the cut)

He might not always show it in public but if he’s actually with someone romantically this man will know exactly how to make them feel special.

~First of all, for the ‘in public’ part, he indeed doesn’t appear very soft. I do believe he’s quite touchy, but not ‘kisses on the cheek/hand holding’ touchy. It’s more possessive: an arm around their waist/lower back, a hand on their thigh if they’re sitting down, generally having them be by his side the whole time

~Once they get away from prying eyes however, he’s a lot softer: long, slow kisses and words of praise about how stunning they look and how he couldn’t keep his eyes off of them all night

~He’s absolutely the type to say “I would give you the stars if only you asked. I could never deny you anything”. Just a lot of very outwardly romantic words in general

~Spoiling his partner on dates, think fancy dinners and gifts. Only the best for his beloved

~Has anyone hurt or bothered his partner? He won’t hesitate to make a fucking scene about it if it’s necessary, though he prefers fucking with that person in small ways that pile up FAST

~Will sing or read Italian poetry to his partner, especially if they’re feeling down

~Dancing. Having his partner’s head tucked underneath his chin while they slow dance to an old Italian record of his

~He likes having his partner watch him while he works, whether that’s him doing paperwork or cooking a meal. Even if no words are spoken, he appreciates the company

~Allowing himself to laugh around his partner in general. That deep rumbling in his chest only reserved for the one he is closest to

~Though he’s never really the one to initiate it, if his partner wants to cuddle he would never deny them. And though he greatly prefers keeping their head on his chest or arm around their waist, if he’s in a good mood he’ll sometimes allow himself to be the little spoon (especially if his partner is way smaller than him, he finds it more humorous)

~I think he heavily prides himself on his ability to make his significant other (or really anyone) feel good sexually. Yes, he’s more of the type to take charge, but that doesn’t mean he won’t spend hours between his partner’s legs, making sure they feel impossibly fulfilled by the end, even if that leaves them with no energy to get him off in return

[my masterlist]

[tremendously-crazy]

Relationship envy except I envy the bond between iconic fictional characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

[cerise-on-top]

Hi, I saw that you opened your requests again, I don't know if I misinterpreted, but it seems that you haven't been well, anyway, I hope you are better, I'm glad you are taking some time for yourself. <3

Farah, Valeria, Laswell and Price.

(My requests are always about them, they are my favorite ^^)

An incredibly young and immature reader but with such great potential, sometimes they don't even know how the reader comes back from missions alive, and even if they do know, the reader comes back very injured because they don't hesitate to get hurt, or they take risks to save the life of your teammates or to help with the mission.

I imagine the lectures Laswell could give for such stupidity.

And even if they are wrong, the reader just rolls his eyes at the sermons and makes promises of change, not knowing that he is too impulsive to keep that promise. But even if the reader is very irresponsible in combat, he is very skilled, perhaps because he is young, or very intelligent, in addition the reader is a bomb of emotions, perhaps because he doesn't know how his own brain works, it constantly changes of humor, being seen as chaotic, and sometimes he does things so stupid that he makes them laugh, and maybe that's why they keep him around, or maybe because they like to take care of the reader.

Stay well, drink water and have a great day. And as always, I'm using the translator, sorry if anything gets confusing.

Almost two months late, but I got there eventually! This is the last request in my inbox, now I can do as I please!

Price, Valeria, Farah and Laswell with a Reckless and Immature Male!Reader

Price: Oh, you’re gonna give this man a heart attack at some point. He recognizes how skilled you are, he really does, but he wishes you were a bit less impulsive and reckless. As much as he loves having you around, for your skills and the fact that he feels like a father towards you, he will continuously tell you to be more careful. I can see him making you go through more rigorous training than most other soldiers just so you would finally learn to not be so reckless. Sure, he’ll have your back when it counts, but sometimes he needs to focus on his own survival as. He’ll try to cover you whenever he can, but it’s just not always possible. You may be loyal and reliable, but a dead soldier is no good. I feel as though he might get a little loud with you if you roll your eyes at him. He’s used to the disrespect from his soldiers, but that doesn’t mean he appreciates the sass. I don’t think he’d find most stupid things all that funny, especially not if it puts you at risk. You’re definitely gonna butt heads a lot with him. He won’t give in either, though. Price is a pretty stubborn man himself when he needs to be. However, if you get too emotional, then he’ll try to calm you down. He has lots of experience with all kinds of people, so he’ll get there. Tries to be the reason to your impulsiveness and will stop you from doing things that are unwise.

Valeria: She’s probably thoroughly amused by you. Yes, you’re very reliable, intelligent and very skilled, but that doesn’t mean you’re not an idiot in other ways. I think at first she wouldn’t care all that much about you and would see you as another asset, nothing more and nothing less. Once you prove your loyalty to her, she might grow a bit attached to you, though. However, she’ll also give you lectures. Not as many as the others, but she will. Especially when you’re on the verge of death. Yes, she may know nothing she says will get through, but she can try. Will yell at you, though. She doesn’t mind you being impulsive that much, until it puts you at death’s door. You’re a very competent man, you can pull off most things that you do, which she can appreciate. However, she does not appreciate always having to come to your rescue for almost any mistake and miscalculation you make. Sometimes, when she’s fed up enough, she does consider just letting you die. Unfortunately, she’s gotten too attached to you to let that happen. If you do something stupid, then she’s probably the only one on the list to actually laugh. You’re amusing to her, which is one of the reasons she keeps you around. Does not give up hope that you will come to your senses eventually as you mature, but she does want to keep you dumb to some degree. As long as you keep being her loyal mutt, all is good.

Farah: She’s a very meticulous person when it comes to her cause. While not everything goes well, most things have to in order for the majority of the world to not interfere. Farah does not appreciate you being this reckless at all. Not only are you one of her brothers, which means she cares a great deal about you, you almost always come back severely injured. She won’t say too much at first, but she will reach a breaking point eventually. Will scold you rather harshly, if she has to. Does not appreciate the sass and the empty promises. She does threaten you with leaving you behind if you don’t stop this nonsense and start taking better care of yourself. Yes, you’re always trying to save others, but you really shouldn’t be taking this many risks. Your skills are vital, yes, but she will not sacrifice you like that. She’s lost too many people that way already. It highly depends on what kind of stupid things you do. If you’re actively being a menace towards yourself, she won’t laugh. She’ll scold you. You’re young, you shouldn’t be a role model like that for others. She’s a bit harsh towards you, but that’s only because she cares. When you’re seriously hurt, she’ll be a bit more gentle towards you, but will scold you again afterwards. She keeps you around because she cares greatly about you, but is not above taking you out of the fight if she has to. While she’s glad you wanna help her, you’re not going to lose your life just because you’re reckless and impulsive.

Laswell: She’s probably the most calculating regarding where she puts your skills to use. She gets to choose which missions you get to go on, which means she’ll try her best to minimize the risk of you actually dying. Of course, for some reason, you always come back hurt anyway. Yes, you’re highly skilled, but that doesn’t mean she won’t scold you for not taking better care of yourself. However, her words go in through one ear and out the other. I don’t think she’ll actively yell at you since you always have other people in mind, but she won’t stop nagging at you either. Also threatens to send you to an early retirement if you don’t listen to her. However, Laswell is usually a rather calm person when she needs to be. She’s capable of taking care of you when you’re being rather emotional. Like Price, she’ll be the voice of reason and make sure you don’t do anything reckless or stupid. She doesn’t find your endeavors funny either, but will tolerate them, as long as you’re not hurting yourself. She keeps you around for your skills and because she cares a great deal about you, but she will keep on telling you to be more careful. Does not send you on missions on your own since you always need someone that makes sure you come back alive. If she needs a second opinion, then there’s a chance she might come to you. You might lack the experience as of right now, but you’ll get there eventually. She just needs to make sure you will.

[crystallizsch]

these valentines day cards for scarabia got me blushing, giggling, and kicking my feet fr (also featuring me unnecessarily analyzing them) (i really hope the cards are in the right order i think they are or else everything that i say here will look incredibly silly)

━━━━━━━━━━━━✦ kalim al-asim:

To my dear friend— Thanks for the present! What colorful and sparkly sweets. They look delicious! I just had an idea! How about we eat them together after school? Gifts like this taste better when shared, after all. I'll pick out a good tea to go with them. Can't wait to see you later! ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

To my dear friend— Thanks for the gift! It's flattering to know you picked this out for me! I'll treat you to anything you like in return—food, live entertainment, an item you've been pining after... You just say the word. ...On second thought, no. I'll come up with something myself! Just like you came up with this gift to give me. ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

Hey love, Thank you for that wonderful gift! Getting something like this from you just put a smile on my face! Let me throw you a feast to show my gratitude! After that, I'll take you on a magic carpet ride, it'll be really fun! ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

SO LET ME TALK ABOUT THE PROGRESSION BETWEEN THE CARDS???

on kalim's first card, it's really cute but it also feels just like his usual demeanor where he treats everyone as a friend.

but on to the second card, it looks like he's definitely feeling more strongly enough about you to think "hey let me get you something too!! let me be your genie of the lamp!" at least right before realizing it would be more meaningful to give you a surprise gift as well like you did.

his "dear friend" on the second card is more real this time.

BUT OMG THE WHIPLASH TO THE THIRD CARD

"HEY LOVE" ???? KALIM WHAT WHEN I TELL YOU MY HEART JUST WENT HFDSNSFHDJFDK PLSS HE CANT DO THIS TO ME 💀💀💀 THE "MY DEAR FRIEND" -> "HEY LOVE" PROGRESSION YOUR HONOR HE IS IN LOVE(???) NO IT’S PROBABLY JUST A REALLY AFFECTIONATE TERM OF ENDEARMENT CONSIDERING THAT IT’S KALIM (*denial* *denial* *denial*)

the closest ones (that are available) to doing something similar is jade who goes from "my good friend" -> "my dearest" and vil who goes from "dearest friend" to "my dear"

anyways, the third card is kalim finally wanting to go ALL OUT as a way to show you how he feels about you and how thankful he is. he's literally all about having fun with the person he cares about. making every moment memorable.

kalim's love language is also very much extravagant gifts since he's raised in a wealthy family where everything has been handed to him. that's probably how he got the mindset that gifts are the way to show love and affection because that's how his family did it for him. so the bigger the gift the better he can show you how he feels.

━━━━━━━━━━━━✦ jamil viper:

Hello— I was surprised to see you gifted me sweets. At first I wondered if you were hinting for me to make you something similar... But when I pulled the gift out of the bag, I saw all the details you put into it, right down to the ribbon. It's clear this was a heartfelt gesture. I'll treasure these treats as I eat them. Thank you. ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

Hello— I'll admit it. I'm beyond surprised. I suppose a heartfelt "thank you" is in order. In fact, why don't we meet at the school store after class tomorrow? Hopefully I'll be able to find you something to return the favor. ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

Dear friend, Thank you for the gift. To think I would receive something from you... Well, it caught me off guard. I'd like to give you something in return. Hmm... What should it be? What might you like? Why don't you come down to Scarabia sometime and we'll discuss over a cup of tea. ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

jamillll;;;

on the first card, he was suspicious of receiving a gift. at first he's like "are you just giving me something so i could give you something as well?" until he realized "oh this is legit" and that you’re not expecting anything back. and then he just enjoys it which is hella cute.

on the second card (unlike the last one) he's now like "let me get you something in return because i really appreciate the gesture". here i think he's still genuinely confused that you still decided to give him a gift. but at this point it feels like he's only offering to get you something in return because he feels like he has to just to show his gratitude. kinda like a fair transaction.

it seems that jamil is still like "why me". like, you cared enough to see and acknowledge him to even consider getting him a gift. which i believe is something he's not used to. so he just wants to "return the favor" by offering you to go find something you like :)

and the third card;;;

"DEAR FRIEND" GOT. MEEE. YOUR HONOR I LOVE HIMMMMM

i know for other people "friend" is not on the same level as the romantic "love" but i personally feel as strong with platonic relationships as with romantic ones (if not more) and this hit me HARD.

for the third one he's finally comfortable enough to consider you a friend. but he still sounds flabbergasted that you still even thought of him (and **you** specifically) (like he didn't imagine that you'd even give him a gift).

and now this is less of a transaction but more of like he *wants* to make sure that he gets you something that you'd really like. it's not simply just "hey let's go to the school store and see what's available as a thanks", this time it's "hey i really appreciate that you got me something so let's discuss what i can get you as well. i'll be your genie of the lamp, anything is possible (within reason)"

(original twitter thread with these cards)

[pepperuni]

Just started the 5th ep of tua s4 and idk if this is controversial for some but I just came to here to say i do NOT support five x lila!!!! can writers please stop going "well, if 2 people spend an extended amount of time with just each other, OF COURSE they'll fall in love"!!!! lila is still married and also an adult!!! five is aroace and in a minor's body (or close to, idk his exact age atp)!!!

(Please don't take this too seriously i beg)

[aka-indulgence]

(This thing I just thought of that would be good as a comic but I’m just gonna write it out dhjf)

Sans tells you he’s gonna teach you how to go through an encounter

You go :OOOO “Yes please!!”

He starts the encounter. “Song That Might Play When You Fight Sans” plays in the background.

teaches you how to act (you use it to joke or flirt or hug, etc.)

“heheheh, thanks. look out, it’s my turn, you need to learn how to dodge my attacks, ‘kay?”

You get really pumped for it, your soul’s in encounter mode, you see Sans materialize something…

… and then a single.. tiny bone… drags over the floor to you. You basically just step out of the way.

“whoa you did so good! ok that’s all for the lesson.”

“…. Wait that’s it?”

*Sans is sparing you.

“Wait… no that can’t be real, give me something tougher! You told me you’re going to teach me to dodge right?”

He’s yawning. “i mean sure, but we’re just going to prolong the encounter, no one’s gonna attack you. we’re on the surface and i’m not gonna let some stranger pull you into an encounter.”

“Just, give me something more threatening!”

“ok… here goes,”

He sends two tiny bones at you. You dodge the first one and then purposefully put your feet on the second one. -1HP.

“hey that’s ok. i can heal that up for you,”

“Sans that was a tap, I’ll live.”

*Sans heals you.

He yawns again.

“ok that’s all my energy for the day, spare me and lets go home.”

“M….. o…kay.”

*You spare Sans. And the encounter ends.

[mamamittens]

They got a crush~

But how do they act? How did they realize?

SFW

Ace

Boy doesn't realize shit. He's really obvious about to everyone but himself. He's more touchy with you than literally anyone else. He laughs louder, shows off harder, and is generally a lowkey mess. Until it's suddenly made so much worse.

He's talking about his little brother in the East Blue who's going to be the Pirate King--no cap--and realizes that he really can't wait to introduce you two. Two so very dear and important people to himself. And then it hits. Hard. He wants Luffy to meet his 'dad' and 'brothers' sure, but he needs Luffy to like you and the other way around.

Because he really likes you.

He never lives down how close the Moby was to sinking due to the fire Ace immediately created turning into a bonfire. Of course, this clues everyone else into the fact that he's realized his feelings but if anyone missed it, Ace avoiding you like the plague while staring at you from around corners would have done it.

Now, whether or not you confront him, this stalking phase won't last forever because Ace misses you. He misses being next to you. Enjoying your company and not just the echo of your laugh.

And so, Ace, with his heart on his sleeve, tells you the truth of his name. And he cries and laughs and kisses you when he realizes that you don't care.

He doesn't let go of your hand for hours. Marvels at the steady pulse in your wrist--proof that someone so perfectly alive would want him with all his issues. When he's down low he can never bring himself to seriously push you away because the thought of you leaving for real breaks him. He's not magically better just because you return his feelings but... life doesn't seem so hopeless when you take his hand. His blood doesn't seem so corrupt anymore when you kiss his cheek in the morning without thinking. Late one night he holds you close and whispers something against your skin.

Thank you for loving me.

Marco

He's more self aware than Ace, so he's got that going for him. But it does take a bit for him to confirm that he has serious feelings for you. In the meantime, any chance he gets, he spends time with you. Mostly little chitchat, watching you in the corner of his eye. Measuring his own reaction to you. How often his heart skips when you say his name with a laugh. The pride he feels when you focus all your attention on him with admiration. He wants to amaze you and reassure you all at once.

He holds the fond feelings your smile gives him. How he thinks about you even when he should be working on paperwork. He holds it close to his chest while he decides if this is something he wants to cherish alone or try and see if it doesn't turn into something bigger. It's when he can't imagine living his life without at least trying that he decides.

Those that know him well can probably guess he's caught feelings but he's pretty chill about it while thinking it over. Though his reaction to you getting overwhelmed in a fight is... certainly telling. He's never far from you in battle. Not hovering but definitely not more than a heartbeat away.

And then one day, just as the sun was setting, Marco goes up to you. Casually leaning against the railing as he tells you about his feelings. Bears his heart like he could heal instantly if it broke. He's open to the possibility of acceptance or rejection. He's a grown man. He can handle it. It's a risk, but he's beyond caring about anything beyond you in this moment.

The look of surprise and relief when you respond in kind is just a fraction of the warmth in Marco's chest when he kisses you for the first--but certainly not the last--time. Every chance he gets, he holds you close. Feeling you breathing against his side as he works, the warm brush of hands in greeting when you pass by. He follows you without thought simply because he's already decided there's nowhere else he'd rather be.

Thatch

He knows himself pretty well. When he first saw you, he knew he was in trouble immediately. Actually talking to you just confirmed it. Although he was kind of in denial for a bit, desperately hoping that his ridiculous heart would just chill the fuck out if he gave it time.

It did not.

And he was in the middle of a monotonous kitchen chore, dicing vegetables for stew, when he realized he didn't want it to. He wanted to feel his heart stutter everytime you said his name. His head to always turn in your direction when you laugh. His hand to reflexively guide itself to yours when you walked side by side or gravitate to your back so he could feel your heartbeat in his palm.

And he was man enough to admit he wanted you to feel that way too. He was madly, ridiculously in love and not ashamed of it in the least. And when he realized that, he became very familiar with the aftertaste of yearning on his tongue while wondering if you could taste it too when you said his name. He wanted to share everything with you that your gentle hands could hold and everything else could rest safely in his.

Of course, he couldn't just tell you his feelings.

He had to make a whole thing of it.

In fact, you knew what he was up to long before the main course of a private meal because subtlety was far from Thatch's vocabulary. Anymore roses and candles and you'd think he was proposing--oh no he's going to be so fucking dramatic about proposing you could already tell. The confession barely left his lips before you laughed and kissed him silent, much to his utter surprise.

He did whoop with joy as he lifted you into a spinning hug, and yes it was very loud. Whoever somehow missed his obvious affection before now certainly didn't miss it afterwards. Kisses to your head/hair/hand/shoulder/literally anywhere near him when you happened to be close. Gentle touches and endless fond smiles.

Thatch is absolutely living his best life and is making sure you never regret returning his feelings--even if he's put out that you didn't let him recite his whole speech before responding. No, he still hasn't caught on to the fact that he was painfully obvious. But that's just part of his charm, I suppose.

[gentleman-aster]

Reasons why Count Dracula is babygirl:

Fictional

Old man

Homicidal

Kinda gay

Beyond redemption

Spooky and isolated

Tries to act formal and like his plans work but is actually pathetic and kinda silly

[jankwritten]

Jason and Nico are dating and in love and their connection is deep-rooted and incredibly complex and everything.

jason and hazel are best friends. They're besties. They hang out and try over-complicated coffee drinks together and they have sleepovers (with Nico ofc) where they gossip and paint each other's nails and swap stories about growing up and inevitably dive into trauma about their mothers and how that has affected them in the modern day.

Jason and Nico are dating but more often than not Jason has his arm around Hazel's shoulders when they all three hang out together. Nico is always reluctant about touch, or maybe only in the earlier stages of their relationship, but Hazel has no such reservations so she and Jason hug all the time. Jason carries Hazel around on his shoulders when they're in large crowds, usually with Nico holding onto the back of his shirt so they don't get split up.

Hazel and Jason have matching tattoos (Nico and Jason do too, but Jason and Hazel got theirs first). Hazel is the person Jason goes to when he first realizes he maybe wants to wear skirts. Jason is Hazel's first stop when she wants to spar or train with someone, because she KNOWS Jason will not hold back or pull punches.

Nico is beyond happy about all of this as well, because he loves Jason so much and so deeply but there are some days he just. cannot deal with people, he doesn't have the energy to talk or interact or even be in the presence of other people, and on those days, Jason and Hazel hang out and Nico knows that the two people he loves most are taken care of, that they will still be there when he's ready to see them again because they'll keep each other safe.

It's like. Jason and Nico are soulmates and they will always find each other, always save each other, always know each other. but Jason and Hazel are life partners in the way where they didn't fit at first but as they grew older and spent more time together they learned that they were both rebuffed by the walls each other put up and, actually, the person underneath is pretty cool.

Jason and Nico are married and Hazel lives in their third bedroom kind of situation. IDK. they are just important to me. they have to be Connected. near each other. spidey senses tingling when they're in danger.

(this rant brought on by the reminder that there are 7 different kinds of love given names in greek and Jason Hazel and Nico are three of them. Romantic, Familial, and some form of deep platonic.)

[eastwardbound7]

Give me a Tim and Tam met in rich kid school au. Let them get into the stupidest shit while trying to do the mundane teenage things.

Let Tim be able to crash with her and her to go “another Tuesday with my local on fire train” despite her not yet knowing his secret identity

Let them grow apart in his robin days as they both get busy with different life events. Let them try to reconnect and have it fizzle out.

Then let Red Robin come and shove them back into each other.

After it all Him, Her, and Pru should go get food or something. Idk i didnt think this far

[nebula-award]

Bulkhead being pretty much the only one that calls Arcee "Cee" makes me so soft you don't understand

[bumblingbabooshka]

Ok. Get closer why don’t you.

[hecksupremechips]

I always heard people say that Layla should’ve gotten with Warren Peace instead of Will in sky high but guys come on it’s 2023 we all all know she and warren were just bearding for each other I’m sick of pretending they weren’t

[kakusu-shipping]

Pre-relationship 4-6 for the Mario Bros.! (Or your favorite of those questions if you only want one haha)

Yes!!! More Mario Bros ramble!!! Blessed!! Thankyou!!

4. Who felt romantic feelings first?

Hard to say, sense they've always been like this. There's not a specific moment either of them could go back to and say when they fell in love, they've always loved eachother, you know?

Though Luigi was the first to recognize these feelings as romantic, and different than how he loved, say, their mom and dad, and that that was something important. Mario didn't think it mattered what kind of love they had, their mama had taught them Love is Love, so what does it matter, right?

This happened when they were like 7.

5. Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

Maybe not quiet resist, but Mario did consider it for a while.

Around middle school-ish age, 12 or 13, their mom sat the brothers down to explain the difference between Familial and Romantic love, and why that difference was important, kind of assuming they didn't really know the difference in their emotions yet.

The whole thing made Mario feel awful. He'd made his mother worry, his father angry, and worst of all he, the older brother, put Luigi on the line for his own selfish reasoning.

The only reason he didn't fully withdrawal from Luigi and stew in an early sea of self deprecation was Luigi rubbing it in Mario's face that he was right, that the love he has for Mario and the love he has for the rest of their family is different. He did an "I Told You So" dance and everything. He was right and Mario was wrong ha ha ha ha ha!

So yeah. Mario considered resisting his feelings for all of about 20 minutes before Luigi snapped him out of it, and reminded him why that would simply never work. Not for them.

6. If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

Mario doesn't believe in soulmates, he's a simple guy and not all that romantic in the grand scheme sense. Luigi on the other hand is all about Cosmic Connection and the "Over and Over again, life after life, I will find you, and I fall in love with you again and again" kind of cheesy nonsense. He'd be over the moon about it.

[narmothewraith]

You're just in denial Lucius /jk

[bylerisc4non]

nah cuz mike isn't actually that oblivious. he knew damn well he loved will, at least in the back of his head. will was always different than everyone else, in his own category. he was someone mike relied on more than anyone else. someone he cherished and loved more than anyone else, because will made mike himself feel cherished and loved. like he wasn't a mistake. he just convinced himself it was platonic love because of compulsory heterosexuality.

just like how he convinced himself his connection to el was romantic, when, in reality, it was a friendship connection. a trauma bond. elmike will always be better platonic. they connected like friends. they helped one another like siblings who support each other through tough times. ('would i be like your sister?') but they were never more than that. el showed up in a time that mike was panicking, a time that he'd lost the one person he could rely on entirely. his best friend. and then she was there and (after he tried to get rid of her) he latched onto her. it felt comfortable because she was like will. or at least, he made her to be. he projected his best friend onto her and found comfort there while will was missing.

it wasn't real though. el and mike connected merely because she made him feel needed and loved when the one person who had made him feel that prior was out of the picture, possibly for good. el latched onto mike because all she'd ever had was brenner, who was abusive. so, when mike showed her all this kindest and love, being the first person to do that, it felt good. it was all new to her. and she immediately wanted that feeling more than anything, so she stuck around. thus, mike and el trying to fulfill themselves through their shallow, toxic, unhealthy relationship started.

and as for will and mike? mike said it best: 'it was the best thing i've ever done.' will was the best choice he ever made. they are the epitome of true love. soulmates. will was never platonic for mike, he just got confused along the way. understandably. but as i said earlier, he's not all that oblivious, especially in st4. he's finally deciphering the difference between his feelings for el (strictly platonic) and his feelings for will (romantic love and interest).