Archive of Our Own

Notes:

You know, I’ve been pondering for a long time how Yuan and Botta respectively would vibe with the party if they had the time to engage in more casual conversations, and I decided that while Botta would hit it off AMAZINGLY with Colette, MUCH to his own disturbance (”I’m feeling extremely awkward having this conversation right now, given that I don’t normally talk to the people I’ve tried to kill at some point. Because - and yes, it is really as weird to say as it sounds - I’m actually very good at this kind of thing…” - “Oh, don’t worry about it! Most of my friends tried to kill me at some point, you know! :D” - “This… is horrible and doesn’t make me feel better at all…”), he’d CLASH with Zelos and CLASH ugly.

I think everything about Zelos’ manners and personality, the truth and the acting, grates on Botta’s nerves like nails on a chalkboard. Conversely, Zelos just starts seething whenever Botta does this “haha I don’t care what happens to me, all that matters is the endgame”. Maybe because he thinks it’s admirable and he HATES that, probably more because he can clock it as dishonest because NOBODY is fully selfless and claiming so is SUCH A LIE and so Zelos (internally?) flies off the handle like HE IS SUCH A LIAR WHY IS HE ALWAYS LYING WHY IS HE ALWAYS SO HIGH AND MIGHTY WITH HIS GODDAMN LYING RAAAAAAH.

Also, but this is just my personal headcanon to amuse myself, I like to think Zelos did his whole “honey~” spiel on him whenever they had briefings about that little. spying. thing. And while he didn’t even bat an eye, the instance he’s alone (or with Yuan), Botta was just yelling at the skies like “I WANT TO KILL HIM WHY CAN’T I FUCKING KILL HIM HE’S SO ANNOYING HOW CAN A PERSON BE SO ANNOYING”.

Just. Clashing personalities and a tendency to play up whatever the respective other hates the most about them.

So I came up with this scenario - and yes, I’m rambling for ages - this scenario here, where idk they’re both involved in some spying / infiltration / double-agent-ing thingie, maybe for the same thing or maybe for something that at least doesn’t directly oppose one another. And Botta is in a shitty position where he’s somewhere deeeeeeep down on the foodchain and he has to just. bear. with whatever is handed to him.

So it’s like. Did he get slapped around? Get called a slur? Had his drink spilled on him? Did someone maybe just outright spit into his face? Whatever happened, there’s really nothing he can do about it but breathe and take it, and he’s still keeping that “wow good thing nothing anyone can do to my body will ever get to my psyche and also I’m so goddamn selfless and mission-focussed I don’t actually care, I’m fucking amazing :D” face up on the outside, for the sake of his task and also because he’s a bit of a pompous, arrogant ass. But Zelos is looking right through him because Zelos likes NOTHING more than to get into endless “Pot - Kettle” discussions with unwilling participants - see him and Kratos lmao - and so Zelos tries to reach out in his insufferable, dysfunctional, extremely grating Zelos Way™ to get him to FINALLY STOP LYING TO HIMSELF AND OTHERS GODDAMMIT and maybe idk share the burden in a way.

And Botta’s urge to push him down the stairs is just ever rising, rising, rising.

/ramble