twisted wonderland one-shots (requests CLOSED! for now)

sebek x gn!reader

a/n: couldn't stop thinking abt the portrait of malleus that sebek has in his room when i was writing this. he's a real work of art

as always, i do apply headcanons here so u may find a few (or maybe they're canon and i just completely forgor bc my brain works like that)

synopsis: sebek likes you, you like him, and he being him has no idea how to tell u. he wants to protect u but (un)fortunately there's nothing to protect you from, so he's having a hard time trying to come up with excuses to rescue you. malleus, being the gentleman that he is, decides to nearly kill poor reader to give sebek a reason to save him. it goes as expected

tw: some gore, violence

The first time you met Sebek, he'd frightened you.

You'd already gone through six overblots at your time in NRC and were convinced that nothing else could scare you as bad as that.

You, of course, were dead wrong, because while Sebek wasn't physically intimidating, his noise level sure made up for it.

"MALLEUS!" he shouts, even though Malleus himself was only a few feet away. You flinch and cover your ears on instinct, looking up at Malleus worriedly.

"Are you alright?! Who is this human?!" demands Sebek, marching right up into your personal space and giving you a withering glare. You shrink into Malleus' side, feeling a tad bit better as Malleus gives you a pat on the shoulder.

"Sebek, please keep your tone down. This is the prefect; you may recognize them from their many...adventures," he says, chuckling at the nudge you give him at his mischievous tone.

"Hey, none  of those were my idea. I was caught in the crossfire, okay?" you argue, but you're smiling all the same.

"Ah, a troublemaker," declares Sebek, crossing his arms. Before Malleus can tell him that that's absolutely not  what he meant, Sebek continues, reaching out to grab you. "I'll remove them from your presence immediately, Young Master."

"That won't be needed, Sebek," says Malleus hurriedly, putting an arm between the two of you. "I appreciate your concern, but the prefect is a dear friend of mine and I'd very much appreciate it if you didn't scare them away so soon," he finishes sternly, giving Sebek one of his famous looks to keep him at bay.

"Of—of course, Young Master," stammers Sebek, a flush of humiliation creeping onto his cheeks at the tone that Malleus had taken. He gives you a long, hard stare; what could Malleus find so damn interesting about you? Especially when he had him, Sebek Zigvolt, right at his beck and call at every hour of the day!

But each time Malleus brought you back to Diasomnia for whatever reason—studying, tea, or just to talk—Sebek found himself a little less preoccupied for Malleus' safety and more for yours.

You were infinitely patient, something that Malleus greatly appreciated whenever you'd talk to Sebek. At first, he was cold and patronizing, judging your every decision and declaring himself supreme for only being half-human as opposed to yourself.