#Kōstantînos xi x reader

[re-re-redline]

-General Headcanons: Constantine XI-

>No spoilers for Traum.

Foreword: My first post! The lack of Constantine disturbed me immensely, thus I humbly bring to you this! It’s just assorted miscellania with not much of a clear direction. But regardless, I hope you enjoy.

This guy does not swear in normal conversation or says any words that’re unseemly or indecorous at all. Not even when he’s quoting someone. He’s an emperor after all, he’s got appearances to keep up in the name of his empire. Even if that empire’s long since disintegrated. The only exception to the rule is when shit hits the fan. It’s pretty rare considering his defensive and tactical genius, but hey. Things happen. If you call him out on this, he’ll flush a bit and apologize for his behavior. Though it really won’t change much, honestly. It’s just how he is.

He’s got a kind of aura about him that scares away the hoes normal people. It’s the kind of vibe you get when you encounter the important big shot you’ve only heard about through your coworkers. He enters the building and a person immediately books it from the lobby and starts popping into various rooms saying “He’s here! Everyone, act natural!” and everyone races to get their shit together. It’s that kind of aura that he gives off. The contrast between that and how he portrays himself is starker than blood on snow, dude. The funniest part is that he doesn’t even know that he has this aura in the first place, which means he’s constantly left wondering why everyone’s so stiff around him despite no one knowing who he is (in a normal HGW scenario). It’s hilarious. Poor guy just wants to be normal for once. In Chaldea it’s significantly less noticeable thanks to the amount of eccentrics, literal gods, and fellow emperors. So, in that scenario, you’d probably be just as clueless as him concerning its existence.

If you have a close relationship with Constantine, especially one that has potential to become a romantic relationship, then get ready for your Rider to be on you about your health. Both of his wives died within a year of their marriage because of a sudden illness and three of his siblings died from the plague when he was a kid. There’s no way that he doesn’t have some form of trauma regarding either of those events. The closer you are to his heart, the more paranoid he is about you getting sick. That said, here’s what you can expect:

I. He constantly checks the weather. If you give this man a phone, then he will check the weather for any changes on an hourly basis. He does this so he can be prepared to wardrobe check you if you’re planning on going out. If it’s cold, he’s already putting a jacket on your shoulders. If it’s hot, he’s making sure you’re not wearing too many layers and that you have water on hand. Constantine is a stubborn mule in the clothes of an emperor, so you are going to adjust your outfit according to the weather. No complaining!

II. On the topic of phones, you can bet he’s using it to look up stuff about modern medicine. He’s pretty amazed at how far the world’s come. So many debilitating ailments from his time are either completely extinct, curable, or at least manageable in some regard. But that doesn’t stop him from getting worried anyways. And so, he’ll still be taking stock of your medicine cabinet and asking you if you took your vitamins and such. Don’t even think about trying to dance around telling him or hoping he’ll forget. He doesn’t.

III. God help you if you actually get sick. He already gives you looks when you cough, and trust me, it only gets worse from there. Constantine will not leave you be for any reason. You think you can just walk this cold off? HA! That’s a good one. You are going to be bundled up in your comfiest blankets and you are gonna like it! He will actually go find or purchase a rope to tie you down with if you refuse to comply. He is that serious about it. Yes, he knows he’s being a little bit too over the top concerning your recovery, but it’ll all work out! And hey, if anything, you should take this experience as just another incentive to stay healthy! You have to think positive, my friend.

IV. Alright, but that’s just a cold. What about some real shit like the flu or one hell of a fever?  Obviously, he’s taking care of your needs and giving you your meds. That’s a given. The more interesting part is how Constantine is dealing with this on his end. You see, it’s times like these that makes our emperor’s calm and collected veneer begin to crack. Your hazy headache riddled head might be blurring all of the details, but you can see his smile strain and his hands fidget with his sleeves as he watches over you at your bedside. He isn’t talking as much as he normally does, opting to just… sit there and stare. Had you a clearer mind, you’d notice that his gaze isn’t actually looking at you, but beyond your feeble form. To a time long before you, where the ambience of the ocean’s waves surrounds him and a fishy smell permeates the air. As you phase in and out of consciousness, you feel your hand being gingerly taken. He clasps it in his, struggling to not squeeze the life out of it and cause you more pain. He needs something, anything to hold on to because he feels like he’s slipping back into an all too familiar territory. Right now, he’s done what he needs to. You’ve taken your medicine, he put the cool wet rag on your head, and he made sure that you drank more than enough water. And thus comes the most dreadful part of the process…waiting. He hates that his efforts haven’t gotten you back to shape yet and the more time passes, the more those dreadful thoughts start sounding real. Constantine shakily takes a breath and does exactly what he did the last time he had to wait for someone he cared for to get better. He prays. Your head is swimming, your ears are plugged up and popping every time you swallow, but you can hear bits and pieces of words you can’t quite understand hastily whispered. 

…Your hand feels wet.

V. And finally, some advice. If you are a master lucky enough to have Qin Shi Huang, then you might recall one of their Valentine’s Day gifts being the actual elixir of immortality. What ever you do… Do not let anyone know you have this. Especially not your trusted, kind hearted and reliable Rider. Constantine is paranoid about your health, we know this. He will do whatever is necessary to make sure that you live a very long time, or at the very least that you outlive him. So… if by some margin, some chance that you happen to say… have something that could eliminate the potential of you suddenly falling ill and dying… Well, he’d much rather beg for your forgiveness for the rest of eternity than watch you wither away and die before his eyes. He will find where you put it and he will get you to drink it somehow, whether you know it or not. After all is said and done, you’ll find that Constantine is much lighter on his feet than usual. Since it was the Qin Shi Huang (the one that actually achieved a form of immortality) who gifted the elixir to you, he’s confident that it’ll at least have some effect in keeping you safe. Though, being the realist he is at heart, he still has his doubts. The paranoia has lessened considerably, but hasn’t gone away entirely. Constantine will still give you that look when you cough, he’ll still check the weather and check you before you leave just out of sheer habit. So on and so forth. All in all, it’s best that you don’t tell anyone about the elixir. Otherwise you may find it mysteriously empty one day and that fatal wounds no longer matter. But hey! At least you have Constantine by your side for the indefinite future! I just realized that that last statement makes him sound like a yandere and, while you’re not wrong for thinking that, I feel like Constantine as I view him is just overprotective. Nothing more. A Yandere!Constantine would not have just stopped there, he would’ve gone MUCH further.

Constantine doesn’t listen to music all that much. In fact, he much prefers sitting in silence more than anything. His whole life was mostly a massive cacophony of noise, so he greatly appreciated the few quiet moments he could get. The stuff he does listen to in his off-time either doesn’t have much going on or is closer to ambience more than anything. He’ll vibe with a piano recital and maybe a small ensemble, but you won’t catch him at the orchestra hall. Choirs are also a solid pick too, a nice bit of reminiscence for the times he visited the Hagia Sophia back in his day. The antithesis to his music taste are songs like “Action Winter Journey” by Nero’s Day At Disneyland, “Untouchable” by Golemm, and most certainly “anybody can find love (except you)” by hkmori. Seriously, he hates that stuff. There’s way too much going on, it’s incoherent, and most importantly it’s just way too loud for his liking. You might be able to sell him on specific songs with those vibes, but I bid you good luck on that front. Really, you’re better off with songs like Lilium (Elfen Lied), Majula (Dark Souls 2), Reflets dans ‘leau (Debussy) and 0354 (Koronba). Those are good examples of what he enjoys, so it’s best to hang around in that ballpark. 

P.S. He’ll stomach a live concert provided you have met the following requirements: 1. You and him are really close bond wise, 2. You have next to nobody who can go with you; if you do have someone then you better have a damn good reason as to why they can’t go instead, and 3. you both leave the moment it feels like it’s getting too much for him; no questions and no persuasion as to the contrary. Constantine will be hating every single second he’s there and he’s not hiding it that well, but he will hold out for as long as he can for your sake. Seeing you smile and enjoy yourself is a balm to his soul, and he supposes he kinda owes you some for all the times he’s tortured you in chess and checkers. So...y’know. What’s some loud music and even louder people on all sides anyways? Constantine’s experienced worse both in and out of his lifetime, so surely a few hours of auditory pain is nothing to Byzantium’s last emperor, right? …Right?

Constantine allows you to call him Micheal. He knows his name is kinda long and doesn’t really roll off the tongue that well either (in his mind anyways). Calling him anything along the lines of ‘emperor’ or ‘your majesty’ just makes him feel too stiff, so that’s not really an option in his books. As for how he got the idea for the nickname, he heard from a few servants that you and him had apparently met before, and thus he looked into the CBC records. And boom. That’s where he got Micheal from. Do keep in mind that he’s only letting you, his master, call him by that name. Everyone else has to either call him by his name or his title, no more and no less. His empire may be gone and the guilt from that weighing heavily on his back, but his imperial pride is still there. Practically ingrained into him since birth and that’ll never change.

As we know from his My Room lines, he likes playing chess and shogi but dislikes Mahjong due to how much luck is involved. Therefore, I think I can say with confidence that he enjoys strategy games in general. I also say with the same amount of confidence that he’s quite good if not exceptional at games that involve military strategy. Think Diplomacy. Speaking of which, a game between him, Vlad, Chen Gong, and Nobu is never not entertaining. Seriously. It’s a treat to watch when all four get together and the crowd standing around the table cements that fact perfectly. On another note, he brightens up like a Christmas tree when you walk up to him asking to play a game and he’ll brighten up even more if you ask him to teach you. There’s something just so wholesome to him about showing you the ropes on a game he enjoys, watching you ask questions and slowly grow to become better and better. It really makes his day and it shows via the smile adorning his lips. It’s so gosh darn sweet that it’s giving you tummy ache from looking at him too long. Oh, and one more thing. Due to the fact that you have expressed an interest, no matter how minuscule, in strategy games… You are now going to have to deal with Constantine bringing in wacky shit like 4D chess to your room from time to time solely because he wants to spend more time with you, along with him playing chess or checkers with you quite a bit during your downtime. A keen eyed master will note that he seems to ask you to play with him more than anyone else. Huh…wonder why.

There are rare times when Constantine will call you George. Not as a joke or an endearment, but simply as an accident. He’s quick to pick up on his mistake and will swiftly apologize for it. The whole thing just happens so fast that you’re left wondering if he actually said that and his composure is certainly lending credence to the idea that it didn’t. But, should you question him on it…well, he’ll tell you that George was someone he knew. Oh, by the way. Did you see what happened in the simulator today? I saw that Van Gogh and Hokusai— Yep, Constantine will give you a dry barebones answer and then change the topic from this ‘George’ person to something about his day that he found interesting, anything to keep you from pressing him on the subject. Curious masters may look into Constantine’s life and discover that the ‘George’ he was referring to might be George Sphrantzes: his best friend and retainer. Maybe he misses his old pal and sees him in you sometimes, hence the mistake. Or maybe you just look like a George to him, who knows? Constantine won’t tell you if you ask and you can bet he doesn’t bring it up on his own. So really, it’s anyone’s guess. You just have to sit tight and hope that he’ll be comfortable enough to tell you.

And that’s that! I hope you enjoyed reading and let me know what you think. Poor Constantine’s got nothin’ from what I saw in the tags, so I hope to fill that void in myself. But until then…

—Redline, over and out!