#but there was a good meta i read before about how selena and laslow remember people from ylisee and odin remembers/relates to events

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(1/2) hng so this was a weird thing to take away from ur nsfw hcs (100/10 by the way, i love and theyre perf) but the one ab niles and the choking also made me think ab the diff ways l/n/o handle the trauma theyve been through. (in my personal hc) obvs theres overlap, but leo becomes kinda a workaholic/insomniac, niles is (as in canon)distrusting/often distant w/ def some triggers, and odin/the trio has a warped sense of priorities in regards to their own lives/injuries (listen i have a spiel ab

(2/2)how living a long period of their lives ready to die has shifted their outlooks and while they arent suicidal they have like? A very cavalier outlook on their own lives? ‘Dont do that, you could get hurt’ ‘its cool itd totally be worth it’ ‘not to US dipshit’ and im getting sidetracked and may ask u for hcs ab that later but my original ask was how do u think n/l/o reconcile/help each other w their diff types of trauma? I love ye olde comfort trope (happy holidays FYI! take ur time w this)

Firstly, I totally agree on your points about how these three handle trauma. I hadn’t thought about Leo’s methods too much, but overworking (being 8,000% over prepared for anything/needing that sense of “things are under control”) and insomnia make sense to me, as do Niles’ and Odin’s (which I may have also vaguely referred to before in other asks). (Also I’m glad you like my other hcs, lol).

In terms of how they comfort each other, I’ll start by initially referencing this ask , in which I mention that if Odin’s secret past were to come to light, he and Niles might benefit by discussing their traumas together, as actually verbalizing their experiences (rather than leaving things unsaid as Odin might with Selena and Laslow, who experienced the bad timeline firsthand) and getting fresh perspectives might help. Niles’ and Odin’s pasts aren’t the same (different settings, different monsters, etc), but they can still probably relate to each other in certain ways. (That ask, btw, sorta also references this longer, semi-related ask if you want a larger context, but that’s the gist of what it says). So in a world where Odin is able to discuss his past trauma without giving the time/dimensional travel away (or where it is an open secret), frank discussion would probably benefit him and Niles both. 

I get the feeling Niles’ past isn’t discussed with Leo a lot? In his and Niles’ support, Leo seems pretty uncomfortable hearing about Niles’ past (when Niles is describing it in unpleasant flashes, I mean) and he actually bails kinda early in their C-Support, to the point where Niles apologizes to Leo in their B-Support in case he burdened Leo in some way. (Niles also admits he doesn’t remember a lot of his time before meeting Leo anyway, so that’s something else to unpack altogether.) Leo assures Niles that isn’t true, so he definitely isn’t shutting down that kind of communication entirely. It’s not that he’s unnecessarily unwilling so much as that he’s kinda awkward, I think. He expresses interest in what Niles has to say by asking if he has any pleasant memories of his past at all, which allows Niles to continue talking without diving back into unpleasant material for both of them. Even though Leo’s uncomfortable, he’s probably a decent listener? In their exchange, Leo seems to have the lesser amount of dialogue, often offering two or three word answers. Part of that seems to be a search for words to say, however. He’s probably better when given a heads-up. He and Niles probably don’t talk the same way Odin and Niles do about their traumas though. Leo seems to discuss the present/future worries more than past ones.

That said, I feel like Leo is the type to help more through understanding/making the situation easier for the upset person. Like, if they had to cross a bridge, he might suggest they take the longer way around and would only explicitly ask “Odin, are you okay?” if they were absolutely going to cross the bridge and it was particularly intimidating. Granted, he might not even ask at all if he’s confident Odin will be fine and doesn’t want to draw attention to it. (Leo places a lot of faith in his retainers, which sometimes appears as giving them space and independence in times of stress.)

(Also, I’m not sure Odin would admit to his fear deterring him unless explicitly asked, so that’s probably another conversation altogether too.) Leo might offer slow down or do something more once the bridge had been crossed though. 

But in another example, like, if he were sitting in a room with Niles and Niles was clearly upset thinking about something (maybe the past or another trigger), if Leo asks “Do you want to talk” and Niles says “No,” Leo would sit there in silence with Niles until Niles was feeling better. 

It’s hard to explain, but while Leo is direct in his own way, I feel like if he has all the information on a situation already, he’s not direct/asking questions the same way Niles or Odin might be.

(I feel like I’ve strayed a bit from the “comfort” part of this ask, so let’s get back on track, lol.)

Niles is the first to recognize a panic attack in any of them, including himself, and when Leo has his first panic attack, he’s the one who tells Leo to put his head down and helps him breathe until it’s over and then explains what happened when Leo asks why

When Leo overworks himself, Odin and Niles both take notice and they go out of their way to do more themselves to lessen Leo’s burden. They also either remind him to slow down or try to guide him to bed when he works late into the night too. They take turns staying up with him when Leo can’t sleep; sometimes they both stay up, but one of them has to be functional in the morning, so they try to take turns.

Finding Leo asleep in the library or on top of a book or some other place that isn’t his bed isn’t unusual, but if so, either Niles or Odin usually aren’t far away

There are things Niles Doesn’t Like and places/ways he just doesn’t want to be touched (example: don’t touch his neck too much bc that activates a fight or flight response) and so Odin and Leo don’t do those things and/or back off when Niles seems to be getting oddly fidgety and give him his space when he needs it

that said Niles is pretty tactile in private, so they’re experts by now

His memories before Leo are in fragments (as said in his Supports) so any dreams/suddenly triggered memories of his past make him feel Off for a little while. He doesn’t always talk about it–– Odin and Leo alternate between listening when he wants to speak and giving him space to reminisce depending on his mood. He’ll more often speak to Odin and sit quietly with Leo. It can happen the other way around, but it’s more common the first way.

Odin tries to hide when he’s upset the most? (Niles is super guarded unless alone with Leo and eventually also Odin. Leo also hides it, and while he’s decent, he’s not the best and his retainers see right through him anyway, especially once they’ve been around Leo for a while.) 

Maybe that’s the wrong way to phrase it. That is, while Odin might say he’s not feeling well, he’s sometimes the least likely to say why, especially if it deals with pre-Nohr stuff. 

Odin has a tendency to be vague about what’s triggering or at the very least bothering him, especially since most of his trauma comes from his secret past which is… secret, obviously. The tendency to keep it quiet even if Niles and Leo have already found out about his past still persists.

The main signs that Odin is distressed is that he gets (a.) quiet and (b.) speaks normally and seems reluctant to talk. When the source is obvious (like they’re climbing a mountain and it’s the heights thing), Niles and Leo try to talk to him as a distraction, which usually helps. When the source is less obvious/talking doesn’t help, holding hands to keep Odin grounded in the moment usually works pretty well. 

Touch is pretty good for all three of them most of the time, actually.

Happy holidays to you too! I hope you’ve had a good December!