#but then it got genuine after they brutally hashed out things. fucking nerds

[cursedfortune]

Which of Regulus traits annoys Mortem most?

@swordduels in regards to @fallesto's reg

Honestly, not many. Even the traits that would (understandably) annoy others she can actually find pretty charming. It's more about the context. In one setting/situation/conversation, she can find him pleasing. In another, she can find him being annoying. It can be the same trait but the context is what matters. There are many sides to personality traits and habits and she isn't blind to the nuances of an individual.

I think the most annoyed she gets is when he throws a tantrum or doesn't consider his own strength. Not because she gets irritated when her body is damaged. Nope, she doesn't care. What she does care about is how many dresses he has ruined and not always put back together by just reversing time. :I And not even ruining her dresses in a fun way. Solely because he threw a fit and she has to guide him down from it.

That's kind of a ha-ha answer but I think it connects a bit to a larger reason. Most of her dresses she made herself. So when he acts out and says or does things thoughtlessly, it's him prioritizing his respect for himself vs keeping a mutual respect between them. Mortem isn't someone who takes things personally or usually cares about disrespect, tbh. But in this context, she won't humor him saying he loves her one minute and behaving poorly the next. Being mad she was trying to help him and calling her a jackass for it absolutely will lead to her cursing him to be a literal jackass for a week. Enjoy sleeping in the barn, husband. She'll match pettiness with pettiness on occasion and give him a taste of what he dished out.

Her husband is an absolute brat of a man half the time when he doesn't just pause to think. But she understands why he is the way he is. Between what he experienced as a child and the fact he isn't really human anymore, but the embodiment of greed itself, his moral structure has completely changed. And she often finds that change favorable because it means they understand one another more easily. But it doesn't change the fact his humanity was altered as a child and it led and he has mostly being alone for two hundred years, Regulus has had no one to bounce his behavior off of. Unfortunately, Regulus also holds onto a lot of human/mortal ideals and opinions. That's an issue because he sets expectations and standards upon everything, and when things don't go the way he intended them to he uses his power to force a favorable outcome.

Is the morality an issue? No. It's more of the temperament. She doesn't mind his anger and negativity, his greed, any of what makes him, him. Mortem accepted Regulus day one. Even when they throw hands. However, in certain contexts some of these things get strained. He's a very intelligent individual and when he calms down and doesn't get so worked up, he puzzles through things exceptionally well and proves he's far more observant than what one may initially think. But he often runs away with his initial feelings first and has a tendency to takes things personally. He's very Main Character coded; if he couldn't sit down and communicate with Mortem, she wouldn't have married him.

So context matters. Sometimes his fits are hilarious, sometimes they are useful, sometimes he pisses her off. It just depends on why it's happening and what he does that determines her own feelings and what she'll do about it.