#inkheart basta

[vikawantstocomfort]

Girl: Dustfinger 😍

Woman: Basta 🖤

[takahero]

inspired by the prompt “i don’t think i’ve ever seen you smile” from this list

It happens when you’re least expecting it, as these things often do.

He laughs.

Only for a second, yet it softens his entire demeanour, takes years off him. Crinkles by his eyes. Lashes kissing cheekbones. It’s boyish, playful, and so genuine that it feels like you’re looking at him for the first time.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile before.”

He glances at you, brows lifting ever so slightly. You hold each other’s gaze for a heartbeat, then look away again, back at the still night.

“There’s little occasion to,” he confesses quietly, a few moments later.

His words linger in the silence — like a secret, like a sin. He gazes into the dark, searching for something that neither of you can see.

“Well, that’s a shame,” you sigh. “I think it looks good on you.”

He’s caught off-guard by that, thoughts momentarily betrayed by a look of stunned surprise.

“Careful, now,” he murmurs, and maybe it’s just your imagination, but it sounds like he’s holding his breath. “One might think you’re becoming rather fond of me.”

[haljathefangirlcat]

And now, for something completely different... a few Inkheart headcanons, specifically about Smol Feral Trash Cat-Dog With A Knife. Così, de botto, senza senso, as we say here. Some I've picked up through the years by reading other people's headcanons or fic and then developed (if you can call any of this stuff "developed", lol) by building up on ideas I liked, others date back all the way to when I read the books in middle school.

I think it's safe to say that most of the fandom knows "basta!" means "enough!" or "stop!" in Italian. Which... yeah, pretty great name for the kind of violent criminal whose victims would be screaming that kind of thing, at least in a book series for kids. But, like other people who've spent probably too much time thinking about it at some point or another, I do like to imagine a more Watsonian explanation for it being a real, if surprisingly well-fitting, name rather than a nickname he earned during his time as a fire raiser. Mine actually hinges on the fact that, back in the day, before reliable contraceptives or safe abortifacients or even just the idea that there was nothing weird or bad about being married while not having children or sex or not being married at all, couples who ended up with more kids than they could feed would sometimes name the hopefully last one of them Ultimo or Ultima, meaning "last", as a sort of... auspicious name, if for a given definition of "auspicious." I've even heard a story (which, admittedly, might be a urban legend, as I've seen it mentioned in a few places but with no source) about a couple who called their last children Ultimo, Definitivo ("definitive, conclusive, final"), and Finiamola ("let's get it over with!", or "let's stop this!"), each time hoping the new kid would also be the very last... so, yeah. Long story short, I imagine Basta as the youngest child of poor parents living in a small, crowded house, who by the time of his birth were just about ready to say, "Enough with this! If we get another after this one, we'll just carry it into the woods and leave it there, and then it'll be up to whatever animal/fairy/kindly passerby to kill it or raise it!" I also like to think he actually has an older sister named Ultima, running around somewhere in the Inkworld... even if, for both obvious reasons and more headcanon-y ones, he hasn't kept in contact with anyone from his family ever since he officially joined Capricorn.

About the "more headcanon-y" reasons: I once read a fic (I thiiink it was on Fanfiction.net? Probably not AO3) where, as a boy, Basta killed his own father, an abusive drunkard, to prove his loyalty and ruthlessness to Capricorn. Needless to say, I loved it! And went on to incorporate part of it in my vision of Basta as a character. In my own headcanons, I'm not sure if I really see Basta's father or even both of his parents as that actively hateful or violent towards him (if only because I'm not quite sure if singling out just one boy among so many children in that way would quite work, realistically speaking about an in-universe Medieval-ish fantasy world... unless some of those many children died young due to hunger, illness, or simple lack of supervision. Again, in-universe Medieval-ish fantasy world) but as I love that bit in Inkheart where Fenoglio talks about Basta's unhappy childhood, how worthless he thought he was, and how easily he clung to Capricorn, I do picture him being severely neglected and receiving very little in the way of kindness or affection both inside and outside of his family. Perhaps being either dismissed or unfairly blamed for being the runt of the litter and not big and strong enough to help more around the house, or in the fields, or in whatever failing business his father might have owned, given how he's not exactly tall and physically imposing even as an adult? Anyway, I do find the idea of him being miserable in his early life and initially clinging to Capricorn as both a magnetic, irresistible symbol of what neither him nor anyone in his family ever had and his one real hope for money, power, and generally something better, then coming to see him as this godlike figure, as well as a new, better father he'd be willing to exchange his perhaps equally distant but much less impressive (and much less interested in finding some actual use for him) old one for (even at the cost of a very cold take on "out with the old, in with the new"), incredibly fascinating.

For something less dark, more crack unless you consider the implications: building up on the fact that yes I realize we're never given anyone's exact height in the books, no I won't get over the idea of him being essentially a pint-sized menace and Capricorn's very angry, very menacing chihuahua, it amuses me (way more than it should) to think that at some point, probably when he was still one of the youngest among Capricorn's men in the Inkworld or when he and Capricorn were on their own in our world, someone definitely tried dismissing him as a threat (maybe even by making fun of him) due to his height and build... only to immediately, sorely regret it.

Still on the possibly disturbing crack side of things: he makes a big show of hitting on women, particularly the maids in Capricorn's village, and there might actually be some desire under him just liking to pose as this Big Intimidating Man showing off his power by making women in an already inferior or subservient position to him squirm in discomfort... but if any of them should ever respond positively, even just in an attempt to get protection or some sort of special treatment out of him, he wouldn't know how to handle it. Like, it would temporarily short-circuit his brain. The closest he ever got to getting a woman to acknowledge his flirting in any significant way besides pulling back from him and reaching the nearest exit as fast as possible is probably that time a girl rejected him by telling him he had bad breath and then he killed her with snakes and resolved to chew mint leaves for the rest of his life because he's such a confident person. Even Roxane probably never exchanged more than five words (mostly to the effect of "get lost!" and "fuck you!" on her side) with him.

For the last one, a bittersweet one: Basta actually liked Fulvio, the black jacket who got read into One Thousand and One Nights in exchange for Farid. A lot of Capricorn's men did, really, but I like to picture Fulvio as a boy from our world, probably coming from a poor, dysfunctional home, that Basta in particular kind of took under his wing (as much as Basta could do that for anyone...) because he saw something of himself in him. This is, ofc, based on nothing but my hazy memories of reading the Italian translation of Inkheart, where I'm 90% sure a bunch of black jackets are ready to beat Mo to a pulp as soon as they notice Fulvio has disappeared and Basta himself gets all in Mo's face and tells him he will personally make him "pay dearly for Fulvio."

[c4p7ch4]

One-shot: Basta (Inkheart) x OC (Zera)

I've got no excuse for this except I was bored

Warnings: english is not my first language, also: might be out of character, it's late and I can't think straight; also also: fluff and vulnerability (that shit hurts)

"I feel terrible"

"Well, you look terrible, too." Zera said jokingly to Basta, who had just woken up from his feverish slumber. But Basta was in no mood to joke around.

He caught a cold two weeks ago that got pretty bad due to his poor immune system, and he's been bedridden for five days now. The symptoms slowly subsided, but since Basta hardly slept the entire time he was sick, he was incredibly exhausted.

Especially the last two days he could hardly rest, his thoughts were constantly circling around that night and he was unimaginably nervous whenever Zera was around. Neither of them spoke about the kiss, Zera didn't know that Basta was wide awake when she fulfilled his birthday wish and Basta didn't dare to bring it up.

"Come on, stop whinig around and sit up. Breakfast's ready." Zera said and put down a tray with bread and eggs on Basta's lap. When Zera left for the kitchen and came back with a cup of hot coffee, he still hadn't touched any of the food.

"Why aren't you eating?" asked Zera, confused. Basta didn't look up as he mumbled: "I'm not hungry." even though his stomach was gurgling with emptiness, as if it wanted to digest itself.

He didn't feel like eating. He felt awful, not only because he was hungry and tired and sore from lying around in bed so much without getting any rest, but also because he felt dirty. He couldn't remember the last time he had taken a proper bath and he hasn't been able to shave in the last few days, so his face was covered in stubble. He felt disgusting. And ashamed, especially because Zera had to see him like this.

"Of course you're hungry, you've barely eaten anything in two days. Your body's just sending you mixed signals because you're exhausted. I could fetch you something else, if you don't feel like eggs-"

"I said I'm not hungry!" Basta snapped at her and threw the tray off his lap, sending the plate of food flying onto the floor. He regretted his outburst immidiately and finally looked up to meet Zeras eyes, expecting an anxious or maybe even furious expression on her face. But instead, she looked neutral, almost indifferent. She looked Basta straight in the eyes and stared at him, he felt more and more uneasy until he realized that she was contemplating.

After what felt like an eternity, she said, "You should shave. And you should go outside, you didn't have any fresh air since you got here.". Then she took the chair which was standing next to Basta's bed and left for the bathroom. Basta heard her rummaging around at the sink but didn't know what to do, so he just stayed seated on his bed, staring at the mess he created, cursing at himself. He clawed at the blanket beneath him, he wanted to kick himself, angry as he was. His rising fury fizzled out when Zera stepped out of the bathroom, standing in front of Basta, startling him.

"'Think you can walk?"

Basta nodded puzzled and got up without asking any questions. Zera led him to the bathroom and gestured him to sit down at the chair she put in front of the sink. Basta couldn't surpress the brief look of shock when he saw himself in the mirror. He really did look terrible.

"You know, it could be worse," Zera started when she caught Basta's look, "you could look like Cockerell."

Basta huffed at that, but he had to smile at the joke. Then he went solemn again "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

Zera turned away to get the materials she prepared. "No I'm not. I'm not that nice."

She came back with a make-shift shaving set. There wasn't any shaving cream, but she managed to mix something up out of the soap she had at hand. She put a towel over Bastas' shoulders, startling him with the sudden movement, and placed the shaving set on the sink. Basta hadn't yet processed what was happening when Zera came to stand between his legs, leaning against the sink, soap in one hand, Bastas' chin in the other, spreading the soap on his face.

His face felt rough beneath her fingers, but it wasn't unpleasant. In fact, she almost enjoyed tracing the sharp edges of his face. The enjoyment faded when she noticed Bastas wide eyed look, like a deer staring at the headlights of a car, not knowing wether they meant danger or not. There was something else to his gaze she couldn't name. She stopped her movements and stepped aside to make room for Basta to shave himself.

He took the blade with a shaking hand. At first she thought he was shaking out of nervousness, then she realized it was probably because of his weak condition. She stopped his hand and took the knife from him before it touched his cheek.

"Wait, let me do it." she said, shaking her head.

But Basta recoiled from the knife, first anxious, then furious.

"The hell you are doing! You really think I'd let you get that close to my neck with a knife?" he shouted at her, standing up to make himself bigger. He couldn't let her realize how weak he really was. Unfortunately, Zera wasn't intimidated by Basta, especially not when he looked like a rabid dog, with all the foam on his face. She would have laughed at the sight if she hadn't been ireful herself.

"And you really think I'd kill you or watch as you kill yourself, shaky as you are? You know damn well that Capricorn will have me killed if his second in command dies on my watch! Either you let me help you or you can go back to bed." Zera shot back, arms crossed.

Basta stared her down angrily, but he knew she'd stand her ground no matter what, and he didn't feel like fightning, right know he wasn't strong enough for that. Exasperated he yielded, sitting down, arms crossed, tilting his head away from her. Zera came to stand between his legs again and he squirmed, when she took ahold of his face. His breath quickened along with his heartbeat and he had to fight the urge to draw away.

"Relax, I'll be careful." Zera whispered and began to draw the blade gently across his face.

Basta hated to admit it, but he found pleasure in her caresses. Of course he couldn't let her know that.

He hated how weak she made him at times, and if she knew, she'd use it to her advantage, undoubtly. That is, if she didn't know already. She had to know, why else would she be so caring towards him? She's manipulating you already, idiot! On the other hand, she was caring towards everyone. That's something he hated and admired about her. She was tough and fierce, but also caring and attentive, even to those that did her harm. Even to those stupid brats, that were intentionally clumsy just to have an excuse to come see her and be babied by her. Even to him. Of course she takes care of you, that's her job! She's got no other choice! Yet... her ministrations still felt good to Basta, even if they were forced.

He struggled to keep a stern expression, but secretly he was in heaven. His hard stance gave way for a second as the gentle touches made his body tired and his head heavy, so he leaned into her touch. Zera surpressed a soft giggle and used her hold on his face to tilt his head the other way and shave the other side of his face.

She felt that this form of self-care was good for him, despite his stiffness and tough demeanor, and that he desperately needed it. She didn't take it personally that he lashed out at her. Apart from the fact that he was very temperemental in general, he was also very weary at the moment, which made his fight or flight instincts kick in early on. He was on constant survival mode, that's something she noticed about him early on. She supposed that's bound to happen when you live in a hostile environment such as Capricorns community, and as far as she could tell, no one had Basta's back. He was cross with everyone, most likely even with himself. That drains a person, isolation and loneliness, and even though he would never admit it: he longed for company. That's probably the only thing both of them shared.

Basta's cheeks and mouth area were shaved smooth, now only his neck was left.

"Tilt your head backwards" Zera said as she cleaned the blade.

Basta blinked rapidly, as if waking up from a dream and taking in his surrounding again. He eyed Zera for a moment before he did as she bid. Zera took hold of his shoulder and shaved his neck. She saw him swallow hard, he brought his hands down to his legs and clawed into his trousers. It must have been really hard for him to be in such a vulnerable position. Zera decided to try to lighten up the mood.

"Have you heard what happened to Scipio yesterday? He and some other boys did some arm wrestling and he managed to break his arm. I didn't even think that was possible, but yet here we are. Sometimes I wonder how some of them made it this far down the road. They seem like the kind of people who would cut off their ears to find out if they could still hear when they did."

It made Zera smile to hear a low chuckle from him.

"And the other day Amario wanted to give a flower to one of the kitchen maids, but he picked something poisonous, both his hands were red and swollen and then somehow he got it in his eyes too, he looked like a blown up tomato."

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The mood did lighten up a little and soon Zera was finished with the shave. Basta dried his face with the towel and looked into the mirror with satisfaction.

"There, all nice and smooth." Zera commented, leaning against his shoulder, content with her work, "I kind of miss it, a little stubble suits you." Zera gestured Basta to leave the bathroom and started cleaning up. Her last comment upset him a little and he almost regretted letting her shave him, but he felt better than before none the less. He stood in the doorway for a moment and looked back, contemplating what to say. He rarely ever thanked people, but he felt this was the right time to do so. Still, he couldn't bring the words out, he just stood there, mouth open but no words coming out.

Zera beat him to it and said "You're welcome. And now clean up the mess you made outside."

[littlebodyinkheart]

There is no heterosexual explanation for this

[kyra7]

Can I please request a drawing of pathetic man looking pathetic? By pathetic man I obviously mean Basta, my pathetic little meow <333

Hi! Here are a couple of sketches before I'm off for a few days. And what better pathetic Basta than sick Basta. Kinda inspired by the headcanons from last time. Also added some suave scary Basta because I couldn't resist. Had more doodles in mind but it's getting late so I'll probably post them when I can.

Hope you like these <3

[liznfin]

Inkheart.

Listen. Mo has such married, divorced, and dating energy with everyone but especially with Basta and Dustfinger.

[littlebodyinkheart]

Dustfinger and Basta but instead of licks they're clawing at eachother's faces <33

happily married couple

[serpentinespider]

he’s illiterate. he harasses women. he has atrocious daddy issues. he can’t drive. he’s scared of cats. his best friend is a knife. he’s debatably italian. i didn’t say his name but he popped into your head didn’t he

[swugflower]

The difference between Inkheart and Inkdeath are literally insane.

The bad guy in Inkheart is like… a local mafia boss and his handful of cronies. Oh no, he put us in the animal stables and people talk about that he enjoys killing but we don’t ever see it and the worst thing he does is giving Mo a cut on the face and putting people in cages I guess.

The bad guys in Inkdeath, however, are the ruler of the land but also Death herself and we desperately fight against destiny. Every other chapter there’s a fight and people get brutally killed. We are about to scatter Mos fucking kneecaps. Mind torture while experiencing actual torture in the underwater dungeon. Everything is out to kill you but with everything going on death is kinda the least of our worries??

Like boi… that’s full a 180,,,,

[vikawantstocomfort]

Can someone please exchange a couple words about Basta with me? 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

[thedoji]

Sketched fellas cause I’m rereading the trilogy AGAIN

Captioned who’s who in this

[laxeros]

Basta from Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

yummy mint leafs

[c4p7ch4]

Hi 👋🏻

I’m going to use you as a fic suggestion box/idea dumping ground.

I think Basta is terrified mirrors— related to his superstitions. He frequently sees illusions of shadows standing behind him when he’s getting ready in the mornings. He believes the mirror is a portal of some sort and will typically avoid looking at them longer than necessary.

Basta once broke a mirror during a rage and started having a panic attack. It wasn’t his first, but he still couldn’t breathe. One of the maids (your OC maybe) found him after he fainted right into the middle of the glass shards. When he woke up in the infirmary, he wouldn’t do anything but ramble vaguely about how he “broke the gate”.

 welp, notes are at the end of the post

One-Shot: Basta (Inkheart) x OC (Zera)

Warning: english is not my first language; also, mayybe a little infodump on paramedical protocol or whatever to call it (I can’t help it, I’m obsessed with my job) 

“I admire scars. I like to watch them heal, they add character to a person. And they always tell a story.” Basta remembers Zera’s words from today, when she nursed to one of the boys who got a nasty cut on his cheek. The boy got hurt when he and some others were being trained in knife throwing by Basta. The poor fellow was dared by his mates to stand target - and he was stupid enough to follow the request. He wasn’t badly injured, but he became miserable the second he saw blood flow down his face. Basta practically had to drag him to the infirmerie. Before they entered, he hissed into the boys ear: “Not a word on how you got that cut. If she hears that I let you do somethig stupid like that, she’ll take her anger out on me instead of you.”

The boy was white as a sheet when he sat down and Zera did her best to calm him down. The stupid boy was more concerned about having an ugly scar than about the fact that he almost lost an eye, Zera soothed his worries. Her kind words were like honey to Basta, even though they weren’t directed at him. He couldn’t help but feel warm and fuzzy inside.

But now, that he was standing in front of his bathroom mirror, lights out, shirt stripped, arms bare, all that warmth was gone.

I doubt that you’d like this story, he thought to himself. 

Pictures flashed before his eyes, memories of another life. A family, kneeling in front of their house, begging for their lives. A father offering his daughter to save his own head. Capricorn ordering to lock the girl inside the house and set it on fire. Basta following order, reluctantly, lighting the thatched roof with a torch. Flames taking over the house rapidly. The girl screeching inside as the fire consumed her. The sound of her voice was so horrifying that Basta froze in place, too near to the flames. It was too late for him to realize that he stood too close, his shirt already caught fire, eating into his flesh. 

Basta looked at the horrendous scars, which will remind him of his deeds for the rest of his life. An intense anger overcame him. He felt anger and rage and hate. Hate for these horrific scars. Hate for himself. He knew he deserved to look like this. Like the deformed, evil monster he was. 

In his fury, he threw up his hands into fists and banged them against the mirror. The glass broke and shattered down on him like hot, stinging rain.

It took him a moment to calm down. Stunned, numb, he looked down at his bleeding hands, they had splinters. He followed the streaming blood with his eyes and watched as it flew onto the broken glass on the floor. 

He stooped headlong to start gathering up the shards to clean up the mess when suddenly he saw a flash of light reflecting off one of the pieces of glass.

No, this can’t be.

 He froze immediately as images of that fire flashed before his eyes again. Unable to stop the memories, he panicked, his breath caught, tears spilled, his heart pounded.

He tried to steady himself on the sink but he could barely breathe and before he knew it the fire in his head consumed him and everything went black.

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“And that…” The boy aimed his flashlight at the only house on the street that didn't look like it might fall apart at any moment, “is Basta's house.”

"Fascinating. Are you done with your tour now, can we go back to the kitchen now? I'd appreciate it if Mortola wouldn't beat me up for taking too long. Again." Zera stated annoyed. 

Zera had to be accompanied by one of Capricorns men because she wasn't allowed to walk around alone after dark, so she took the boy she'd helped earlier that day with her. She realized that might have been a mistake when he insisted on giving her a tour of the village after the ordeal - in thanks, he said, for her services. He didn't seem to be listening when she told him she'd been around longer than he had.

She had to do a home visit to one of the black jackets because his girlfriend was heavily pregnant and Zera wanted to check on her daily to make sure, she’d take notice of any complications early on. Capricorn sure as hell wouldn’t allow her to be taken to the hospital if anything went wrong. 

The boy looked droopy when he finally noticed Zeras disinterest.

“You didn’t like the walk? I’ve thought you’d like to see the village since you’re cooped up in the kitchen all day otherwise...”

“I’m sure I’d like the area if it wasn’t occupied by my murderous captors. Anyways, I know the surrounding already, I’ve been at Basta’s several times before, because I had to-” the sound of shattering glass interrupted Zera. It sounded as if it came from inside Basta’s house. 

“Basta?” Zera called out.

“I don’t think he’s home, all the lights are out.”

“But that sound came from inside his house, didn’t it?”

“I believe so, but I don’t want to investigate that mysterious and alarming noise, especially since it’s Basta’s house, of all houses.”

Zera huffed annoyed. “Fine, then I’ll take a look.” 

“You want to break into Basta’s home?! Are you off your mind?” the boy whispered anxiously.

“Shut up and wait outside, I’ll be back in a minute.” Zera hissed, took the torch out of his hand and climbed over the wall into Basta’s backyard before the boy could protest.

She entered through Basta’s porch and looked around the house. She realized that Basta had to be at home when she noticed his black jacket hanging next to the front door. He always put it there when he came home.

Suddenly, she heard a thud from upstairs. Zera tensed and walked towards the stairs.

“Basta? You’re home?” she called out. No answer. She went up the stairs with careful steps and turned on the upstairs light. No one in sight.

She turned to the first door, the bedroom, and knocked. When there was no answer, she entered cautiously, but Basta wasn’t inside.

She turned to the last door on the floor but hesitated to knock.

Do I really want to interrupt Basta while he’s taking a shit? she tought to herself. Instead she put her ear to the door and heared... panting? Irregular panting.

“Basta? Are you all right?”

Zera discarded all her worries when she received no answer and cautiously opened the door when she sensed something right in front of it. She squeezed her head inside and turned on the lights. She almost dropped the flashlight on Basta’s head  when she saw him sprawled on the floor, bloody, covered in glass shards. 

She entered quickly, careful not to trip on his body, and checked his airways. They were all clear but he had an abnormal breathing pattern and he was unconscious, even though she tried her hardest to wake him. She noticed the scars immidiately but decided, that they weren’t of importance right now as they were older. She laid him on his side and ran to the window in his bedroom, it faced the street and Zera shouted down at the boy who was still waiting: “Run back to the house and grab the red backpack.”

She turned to run back to Basta when she heard the boy shout: “What? Why, what’s wrong?”

“Just do it!” Zera screamed back impatietly and went back to the bathroom.

By the time she reached Basta, she heard him whimper incomprehensible words. And his eyes were slightly open, but they were clouded and he didn’t respond to any stimuli. Zera was able to heave him partly on her shoulder and dragged him to his bedroom. He was gone again by the time she laid him down. 

She checked his vitals and waited for the boy to come with her materials. What’s taking him so long? she wondered nervously and took the time to calm down and reevaluate the situation. She thought through every possible scenario that could have led to this. circulatory collapse. seizure. hypoglycemia. But none of it matched with the injurys on Basta’s hands. Did he smash the mirror?

It was now that she realized, that she shouldn’t let the boy see Basta’s scars if she wanted to spare him of Basta’s wrath upon him. Or herself. 

She always wondered why he was so obsessed with keeping long sleeves, even on hot days or when suffering a fever. She suspected he hid them out of shame. As much as she dispised this man, she couldn’t let him be exposed like this. It didn’t match her work ethics. Also, she wanted to live for a little bit longer. She scrambled out a shirt of Basta’s drawer and put it on him, which wasn’t an easy task considering he was limp as a bag of potatoes, but she managed just in time for the boy to return and knocking on the front door downstairs.

She let him in and took her emergency backpack. 

“Mortola saw me and asked what all the fuzz was about.”

“What did you tell her?” Zera asked as he was following her upstairs.

“That there was an emergency at Basta’s house. She said she’ll send over some of the men.”

“I don’t need any help from those brutes.”

“I don’t think she meant to send help but someone to guard you.”

“Sounds more likely. Go back downstairs and don’t let anyone come inside. I need peace and quiet if I don’t want to do any mistakes.”

“Is Basta alright?” the boy asked usure.

“Not yet. He will be once I’ve found out what happened to him in the first place. Now go, will you? Let me work in peace.”

The boy seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation and went downstairs without any more questions or protests.

When Zera entered the bedroom, Basta was back at whimpering. He was shaking too, but not like he was having a seizure. It was as if he was cold. Or scared.

Zera started to work, followed emergency protocol, took his vitals, checked his consciousness, but nothing indicated a bodily dysfunction. 

Could it be, that he was having a mental crisis? There was no way of finding out until he was able to talk to her, so she put him on an IV and gave him some medication to stabilize him.

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I know, I’m evil for leaving a cliffhanger, but I didn’t know whether it was worth the effort to finish the story, so let’s see how this is being receicved, if you guys somewhat enjoyed this silly story (honestly, I didn’t put much thought into it, I just wrote down what came to mind, I won’t even proof read it so there might be some mistakes, sorry for that but I planned on returning to study for uni like, 2 hours ago, soo...

(also, sorry for not having replied to any of your other messages yet, initially, I didn’t want to think too much about Basta until I passed all my exams at university because that man occupies my head too much and prevents me from thinking straight BUT when I read that headcanon, I couldn’t stop the imagine from flowing, so I had to write it down -_-)

[littlebodyinkheart]

[kyra7]

Got any headcanons on how Basta would respond to being sick?

Is he macho about it, or is he a cry baby?

Is he clingy, or does he shove off help?

Does he try to push through despite illness, or is he the type to curl up and stop moving?

What do you think?

Ooooo that's an interesting question!

We haven't really seen him get sick in the books, but if I remember correctly he did get some very bad burns on his face during Inkspell and he still fought battles for Adderhead (probably because his life was on the line but shhhhh).

I personally think Basta tries to put on the rough and tough act in front of everyone.

I can picture him with a cold, sweating, head dizzy and sneezing out of his mind but still trying to act all nonchalant about it. He has a reputation after all! I don't think he would even admit he's sick in the first place and just continue on with his work as usual.

And you know how it is with Capricorn's men, any sign of weakness is seen as an opportunity to possibly replace him, and he does NOT want that.

Basically big macho, "fever ain't got nothing on me"TM until he gets so overworked and sick he basically blacks out.

That's when he starts to panic.

Never in front of the other men, but he kinda freaks out, a total drama queen. If anyone is in charge of taking care of him, like one of the maids, they're in for an unpleasant ride.

Keeps complaining about how he's definitely going to die and keeps asking why the fever isn't going away. (I think he can handle injuries pretty well but that's not the case with any form of sickness). This man is about to make his fever everyone's problem.

The only instance where he will actually start to panic in front of everyone is if he thinks someone cursed him and that's the reason he's sick. He starts trembling like a leaf.

As for accepting other people's help, nope. He's untrusting of anyone's intentions except maybe Capricorn.

"Why are you trying to take care of him? Do you think he's too weak? Are you trying to trick him? Poison him? Make fun of him?"

He expects the worst from everyhing and everyone so he only reclutantly accepts assistance if he can't help it.

We all know that deep down he genuinely longs someone that wants to care for him out of pure affection. But he will NEVER admit it, so it would take a loooot of trust for him to accept someone's help without questioning their motives.

Alright, these are my thoughts! Thanks for the question it's alway a lot of fun to try and get in his mindset, hope I did a good job:)

I'm curious to know what's your opinion!