#the slutty slutty freedom of Not Playing Carmen for a while

[outeremissary]

Ohh Balthazar and Daeran. Somone ask that already, right? 😂

(for the alternate love interest)

Well, someone did ask that... in 2021, two weeks before Wrath released. My college friends noticed some conspicuous similarities between Balthazar and what we all knew about Daeran at the time, haha. You'll have to forgive me for working with imperfect knowledge even now- you know about the status of me and Wrath.

Despite the obvious resonances, I feel like I don't have a straightforward answer! I do think there's a lot of chemistry there. Balthazar would enjoy Daeran's sense of humor and his lavish lifestyle, and I think Daeran would appreciate his playful wit and sharpness in turn. They both have a similar cynicism about the world that would be an easy point to bond over, and they're both beautiful people- surely there is attraction there (I say with asexual confidence). I can easily see there being a spark that drew them to one another very quickly. There's even some empathy I imagine Balthazar would feel with Daeran's position and struggle with the Other.

Balthazar prefers to be the one doing the courting, but he's no stranger to having admirers. When Daeran began to make his grander romantic overtures I think it would be generally amusing or flattering, so long as he didn't feel belittled or made the subject of a joke (and his moods on these things can be somewhat capricious). If nothing else, the scandal would bring a smile to his face. He might make a game out of answering with gestures of his own. The thrill and romance of such a game would, I think, be compelling to Daeran. But I think it might be unfortunate for Daeran if he did truly fall for Balthazar...

You see, Daeran is someone who would feel very familiar to Balthazar. His lifestyle, his style of romance, his way of seeing the world... they're all not far from the types of patrons Balthazar found for himself when he still lived in Absalom. He had a talent for insinuating himself into the lives of the idle young rich, latching onto people who were naive or morally curious enough to always be seeking exotic, scandalous, or dangerous thrills. Many of Balthazar's former friends and lovers did have casually cruel personalities the same way that Daeran does at times. So there's a script for dealing with these people, and there's a thing that one gets out of being involved with them: access to power and wealth. Balthazar's never been above using sex or romance to pull himself up the social ladder. A count who's already so careless with his position? That's an opportunity for anyone smart enough to find a way to use it. Even if he did have some genuine fondness for Daeran, that would always be lurking somewhere under the surface or at the back of his mind- along with the reason he was forced to leave Absalom for the north in the first place, and the dangers of being too close with people like the Count Arendae.

I have to imagine it would be terribly devastating for Daeran to learn of such schemes were he invested in the relationship. Learning the one you cared for was really only using you, that everything really was only a game? I'm sure the end of that would be devastating. Not that Balthazar would care all that much. Though at the same time, Balthazar's good at hiding, and he really would enjoy spending time with together. So perhaps he would never be discovered after all.

At any rate, I don't think it's a relationship that would significantly change either person involved whether it lasted or not (well, maybe it could change Daeran for the worse). Balthazar would love to encourage Daeran's worst impulses to see where they go, and he might break his heart along the way. It's all a game- he can be with Daeran and be fond of him and even kill for him without any particular remorse (Liotr would absolutely not survive this), but he could never be Daeran's true love, the person Daeran can rely on through everything. Perhaps something lesser can still be satisfying, but it seems a hollow satisfaction for all involved. And Daeran is so much like the sorts of people Balthazar has known and courted in the past- it would be more like falling back into old habits than anything. Daeran can be as loving and as lovely as you could possibly imagine, but without something more challenging than a romantic streak, he'll never reach be able to make something truly special with Balthazar. But it will be fun while it lasts, won't it?