Chapter Text
The Necromancer himself,
Deathwatch.
First meeting
>You'd have to pique his interest somehow
>Either you're a survivor who equally matched him, so you/Deathwatch escaped, but still, you landed in his mind and in his thoughts for one reason or another
>OORRRRR you yourself are an Archfactor/Subfactor who decided he was interesting (but im not writing allat)
>Either way, your first meeting is anything but "warm"
>He is annoyed, he is disgruntled, he is literally anything but positive
>The fight drags on, and both of you are tired. His pride is hurt, but he has enough sense to retreat, now that he has an opening, with you also being injured and fatigued
>He hurls a few lines here and there
"Pathetic... someone like you, without a worthwhile title, could never hope to best me!"
>And then he flees because backup has just arrived
>Typical archfactor behavior
Acquainting
>Your meetings become more frequent
>For being a survivor, your fights become somewhat routine
>You track him, you fight, exchange your dialogue during it, and it ends in a stalemate, with reinforcements bailing either of you out
>Both of you are getting used to this, and seeing each other is like clockwork
>Your fights are the most mid arms race ever, learning how to counter each other's styles and develop new ones to counter those counters
Platonic
>Both you and Deathwatch have your own thoughts, and they are disturbing.
>Your encounters are becoming tolerable, almost warm even. Both of you look forward to it, even if you don't realize it. He does, though, and he hates it.
>You are growing on each other
>Deathwatch and you take your fights less seriously, practically ranting to each other about irks in your lives whilst exchanging blows
>He barely opens up about anything personal though
>You have basically become frenemies
>He raises undead while backhandedly complimenting your opinions
>some of them may be actually genuine, but he'd rather die than admit that he's come to enjoy your presence
Pining
>Your respect has mutually grown for each other, and Deathwatch's insults and taunts towards you are hollow, lacking their past venom and bite to them
>He even compliments you! Openly! Genuinely!
>"You're worthy enough to be my match...!"
>Another Archfactor belittles him for having trouble with you, saying that you "were just a pathetic cockroach to be stomped"
>Deathwatch is quick to defend your honor, proclaiming your own proficiency in combat. His outburst surprises everyone who hears it
>Speaking of you, you've come to do the same thing.
>You may overhear chatter of Deathwatch being "a fraud" or "C-tier". You deny them vigilantly, saying his mastery over the arts of necromancy is unparalleled, and that his strength lies in his army
>Your battles become more like conversations over drinks, with the drinks just being clashing of attacks
>He knows you enough that he does not have to hold back, and neither do you
>Yet, you are both perfectly and evenly matched
>Eventually, after one arduous fight, you decide to stick around
>Deathwatch is surprised, but does not resist all too much to the idea
>For the first time, you two actually hold a non-combative talk
>You talk about the most random things, but a notable minority of them are about him and you
>Things like his greatest achievement (he'd brag about Gestalt to you, and mourn it in the next sentence), his origin and what led him to become an Archfactor in the first place
>You do not notice it, but you hover closer, already warming up fast. You even placed a hand on his shoulder when he theatrically lamented Gestalt. He does not pull back.
>Afterwards, your fights are noticeably changed...
>There is a tension, an unspoken energy on top of your familiar fights
Relationship
>He confesses at the end of another one of your uncountable fights, squaring off in some random desolated forest.
>He is paranoid, scared internally, and it shows
>And when he hesitantly called out for your name, ordering you to stay for a moment, you obliged
>For such a strategic person, Deathwatch is genuinely dumbfounded and surprised by your acceptance
>Being in a relationship with Deathwatch is like constantly reassuring him
>His ego and pride are definitely an aspect of him, but he uses it like a mask
>He knows he's weak compared to his fellow Archfactors, and being sent off to die as bait by Demiurge definitely scarred him mentally.
>This guy has trauma
>In relation to you, he'd definitely be as cocky as ever, but would definitely hold back on intentionally harmful words or taunts
>Your fights are literally just dates now and trying out fighting styles on each other is a good way to bond
>You can't do usual lovey dovey stuff like eating (since he's kind of undead), but you still find other fun stuff. Like making him teach you how to raise an undead or integrate dark magic into your attacks to hit harder, or you teaching him some of your moves/style/whatever the hell you use
>It's a way for the both of you to skip out on actually dangerous missions under pretense of rivalry
>Your faction takes notice of your abnormal tendency to battle this one Archfactor, but they reason it to be personal hatred
>Demiurge honestly just lets it slide, amused
>He's good at keeping it secret from the other Archfactors though
>His skin feels like rough leather due to all the undead stuff and the grafts
>I feel like if you were really close, Deathwatch would open up a lot more, even sharing some of his fears of just being tossed away like a tool by Demiurge
>He fucking loves words of affirmation, and uses them for you as well
>Speaking of love languages, his primary two are the aforementioned words of affirmation and quality time (like the previously mentioned teaching each other stuff)
>This doesn't mean he doesn't do the others
>On your birthday, he gifted you a charm that he personally made
>It summons his signature undead, so you obviously had to hide it away (much to his dismayed understanding) whenever you'd go back to base/camp
>You may randomly find an undead or two in your home, and the chores mysteriously done. If you ever asked him, he'd claim to know nothing about it.
>If you tried to do physical affection, he'd act like he'd hate it, but you both know that he secretly enjoys your touch. He finds it very comforting!
>Having you around in general just tempers him out naturally.
>You two once got caught by a scout Guest, and despite his inclinations towards murdering it, you convinced him to let the Guest go
>He's still an Archfactor at heart, and you're the only person he deems worthy in his eyes. Your allies, friends and teammates are just nameless distractions to be erased...