Sonniel/Relationships

Intro
Gallery
Pre-story
Plot
**Relationships**

## Morell:

Sonniel's older twin. Morell was always pushing him away, but Sonniel still tried to be friends with him. He looked up to Morell since he thought he was very smart. So when Morell said it would be better for him to rule the kingdom instead of Sonniel, Sonniel believed him and trusted his judgement.

Morell contributed greatly to Sonniel's poor self esteem. He was constantly tricking him to make him feel stupid, and was always saying cruel things to him and claimed that he wasn't being mean, he was just being honest. Morell said that everyone who was nice to him was faking it because he's the crown prince and they have to be nice to him, and that he was the only one not afraid to tell him the truth: that Sonniel is a stupid, whiny, naive, annoying, idealistic brat who'd never be able to become a good king.

Even though Morell was horrible to him, he still cared about him, and felt bad about being the new crown prince and taking his spot. He saw that Morell was very unhappy and that it was his fault. When he ran away, he hoped that Morell could be happy again.

Sometime during his stay at the orphanage, he started to resent Morell for what he did. He vowed that one day he'd go back to the castle and confront Morell and take back the throne. However, he doesn't have much of a plan, and just tells himself that he'll get revenge one day, when he was ready.

But eventually, he decided against taking back the throne. After the blind rage somewhat wore off, he thought rationally about it and thought that he wouldn't make a very good ruler due to his troubled upbringing and mental instability. He thought that his people wouldn't want him to rule anyways. He still wanted revenge on Morell though. After word of his murder got around, Sonniel was thankful that he wouldn't have to do it himself, since he didn't think he'd be able to outsmart his brother and take him down. A part of him was also upset, since he had some nice memories of him when they were very young kids, and saw a more vulnerable side to him when he saw the genuine distress that having his "crown prince" title taken away caused. He tried to suppress this though, and disliked that he was getting sentimental about a terrible person's death when he should be completely happy about it.

Despite hating him, Sonniel greatly admired him. He saw him as the perfect prince and a genius and wished he was more like him. After starting Nightmodo, he started to occasionally ask himself in times of trouble, "what would Morell do? What would Morell say?". However, his admiration for Morell faded after Garett assured him that he was better than Morell anyways, and that if he was more like Morell that would've been "a huge downgrade".

## Elise:

His would-be wife. They were supposed to get married, but Sonniel only got the chance to meet her a few times before Morell took his place. They got the chance to play in a garden together, and the two talked a lot about their hobbies and things they liked. Sonniel took a liking to her, only as a friend at the time, but he was excited to spend his life with her since she was positive and energetic like he was. He just thought marriage meant being best friends forever which he was excited about. Also, during one of their meetings, Elise talked about how much she loved hummingbirds, and that when they became rich a king and queen, she wanted Sonniel to buy some for her. He told her that she'd by as many as she wanted, even a million.

Since he went away, he was worried for Elise's safety since she had to marry a big jerk in disguise. Any romantic feelings he had for her faded away, and since he had them when he was so young, they weren't that serious in the first place. But despite his lack of romantic feelings for her, he still cared about her and hoped she'd be alright.

He met her again years later, some time after Morell's death. She rushed to give him a hug, triggering a panic attack, and he hit her and ran off. Later on, Elise tried talking to him after he calmed down, and tried telling him that he knew his true identity and wanted to reconnect and be together. Sonniel rejected her, saying that he loved Anya. She was deeply upset by this, and Sonniel tried to assure her and he wouldn't make very good boyfriend material anyways and that he was hardly the prince charming she imagined him as, and that in his current position he'd never become rich enough to buy her a million hummingbirds. Elise cried and talked about how much she missed him, and that she disagreed with him about him not being good boyfriend material because she thought he'd always be amazing. Then she said that she accepted the rejection and that she hopes that he could find happiness elsewhere.

They went separate ways and didn't see each other for a long time, but they managed to reconnect as adults, and their daughters became good friends.

## Mell:

Sonniel's closest friend back at the castle, and unknowingly his illegitimate half-brother. They played together often, and shared a hobby of drawing. For a long time, Sonniel wondered how Mell was doing, and also wondered if Mell noticed that he was gone. He eventually reunited with him and told him the truth about the swap with Morell, confirming Mell's suspicions. Mell insisted that he take back the throne that was rightfully his, but Sonniel declined and said that the castle life wasn't for him.

## Martin:

Sonniel's abusive adoptive father. When Sonniel first met Martin, he appreciated and loved him a lot. Martin took him in when he was alone in the rain without a home, and adopted him. Martin was always praising him, calling him smart and capable, contrary to how Morell treated him. Martin was also quick to emotionally support him and be there for him if he was ever upset, which Sonniel wasn't used to since Ferroburgh royalty was expected to be stoic, and emotional vulnerability was frowned upon. Martin treated him normally for around a year, but gradually got more and more touchy, like by hugging him often and getting Sonniel to sit on his lap sometimes.

Eventually, after Martin started grooming him and sexually abusing him, he was confused but still happy since he didn't really understand how it was bad and it made him feel special. Whenever he started feeling uneasy or upset, he didn't get frustrated with Martin, but rather at himself. Martin told him that sex was what two people did when they loved each other, and that if Sonniel didn't want to have sex or didn't like it, that meant he didn't really love him. Since Martin had taken him in and treated him with a great amount of kindness and "loved" him, Sonniel was mad at himself for sometimes not being able to properly "return the favor". Because of Martin's manipulation and his talk of them being in love, Sonniel was convinced that he was in love with Martin, despite not understanding anything about romance or sexuality, since he was ten.

After two years of abuse went by and it got worse and worse, Sonniel started to suspect that it was wrong but didn't know what to do about it. He didn't want to admit to himself that he was being manipulated, so he kept trying to convince himself that it was alright despite that clearly not being the case. His BPD started developing here, with Martin being his FP, and he often switched between loving him and hating him. Sometimes Martin could tell that Sonniel was becoming unsure about this, saying things like "oh, you're not enjoying this? That must mean you don't love me, I'm hurt". Then he'd start acting cold towards him and avoiding him, making Sonniel have to do something to get his attention again and convince him he*did* love him, since Sonniel got greatly upset if he went too long without Martin's company and approval.

One night when he was twelve, Martin was especially violent with him in bed, to the point where Sonniel was crying and bleeding. Martin was angry with him because he resisted too much and didn't listen to him. Sonniel's hatred for Martin peaked here, and later that night he impulsively told everything to Matilda, one of the maids, when prompted about what was wrong. He was so angry there was no way he would be able to sleep that night, so Matilda let him take some sleeping pills.

The next morning, his hatred wore off and he deeply regretted telling Matilda. He also wanted to apologize to Martin for being "defiant" the night before and hoped that Martin would be kind towards him again and forgive him, and he didn't know what to do about Matilda knowing and hoped that Martin could forgive him for telling her, or better yet never find out. However, before any of that could happen, Martin dropped dead. There was a lot of denial at first, with Sonniel trying to shake him awake when he was very clearly dead. He eventually stormed off to his room to cry. He was stricken with grief, and missed him greatly despite how horrible Martin was. He was dependent on him and felt lost without him.

Without Martin around, he became incredibly lost and anxious and started lashing out at others and himself. For a while he missed him greatly and wanted him back, but gradually he started to hate him. When Martin was alive, he had to suppress any doubts he had about Martin's "good intentions" and had to hide that he disliked anything he was doing. But now that he was gone he could finally think about how much he disliked him without feeling guilty that Martin could get upset. These negative thoughts about Martin festered and grew into extreme hatred for him. Every time he thought of Martin or something happened to remind him of Martin he got extremely angry. He often took this anger out on himself with cutting.

In the years that followed, Sonniel had frequent nightmares and flashbacks of Martin. Every time this happened he got extremely upset and it took him a while to calm down. His mental health was extremely negatively affected by the abuse he suffered at Martin's hands, so whenever he had a bit of an episode, he thought about how much easier his life would be if Martin had just left him alone. His hatred for Martin often lead to hatred for himself, and he looked back at his younger self and thought maybe that he brought the abuse on himself by being provocative somehow. He thought that maybe if he didn't have such affectionate behavior as a kid, Martin wouldn't have targeted him. The abuse also left him with a messed up impression on how relationships worked, and he thought that sex was something a partner *had* to do to prove that they loved the other person, and that it didn't necessarily feel good.

As he grew up and matured, his extreme hatred for Martin never went away, but he managed to focus on other things and move on.

Also, Sonniel unfortunately came across him in the ghost dimension. Nah just kidding that didn't happen, there's no ghost Martin thank god.

## Dusty:

Sonniel's pet dog. Met him after he helped bust an illegal magibeast fighting ring. A much needed source of happiness in Sonniel's rough adolescence, Dusty brings him a great amount of joy. He thinks it's silly and wouldn't admit this to anyone, but sometimes he vents to Dusty, since Dusty doesn't understand what he's saying and doesn't have the mental capacity to judge him. He's a great source of comfort for him, and Dusty is always there to give Sonniel some kisses when he's upset and crying. Also, when Sonniel's having nightmares and gets restless in his sleep, Dusty wakes him up. Dusty makes him smile and Sonniel loves playing with him, but only in private because he thinks he's being childish and doesn't want anyone to see.

## Anya:

Was Sonniel's closest friend. They met at the orphanage, and stuck together since they were both more introverted. Anya was a low maintenance friend, so sometimes Sonniel would go a week or more without talking to her because he was overwhelmed and needed alone time, and he'd be able to pick up their friendship where they left off. Also, because of Anya's healing magic, he sometimes went to her to heal the cuts he gave himself, since if he went to the owners he'd get in trouble for hurting himself after they kept telling him not to.

After running off to make the guild together, they often got into arguments. They didn't see eye to eye, with Anya preferring to play it safe and Sonniel preferring to take risks. Anya was right most of the time, much to Sonniel's frustration, since he wanted to be the boss. She was constantly challenging his orders, which quickly made Sonniel lose his patience. However, he also valued her input and felt a little lost without it. She became his FP. He often switches between being frustrated with her to wanting her approval and listening to her.

While they spend lots of time together, they don't really know each other on a personal level, and are quite emotionally distant. Sonniel doesn't want to burden her with his feelings, so he never really opens up to her personally. However, he still wants *her* to open up to *him,* but he isn't sure how to get her to do that and also doesn't want to make her share things about herself that she's not comfortable with. He doesn't show it much but he really cares about her. His shows of affection are always subtle, like not letting her do things that are too dangerous, doing her chores for her, and remembering when she mentions something she wants so he can buy it for her later. He does have feelings for her, but he keeps them to himself since he doesn't think she feels the same way.

But despite how much he cares about her, he has a short fuse and is quick to yell at her. Once when he yelled, she started to cry and asked why he was being so mean. Sonniel felt horrible, and made a conscious effort to keep his voice low around her and hold his tongue when thinking of saying something harsh. He also started saying nice things to her more often.

When Anya and Sonniel both got infected with a disease with a solid chance to kill them, he confessed that he liked her in case either of them died and he'd never get get the chance to say so. She confessed the same thing so they became boyfriend and girlfriend. Sonniel also told him his real name and identity as a prince, but asked that he still be called Keiran all the time.

After they recovered, they started dating for real, but it didn't go too well. Early on Anya wanted to hug him, but Sonniel said he couldn't, and after a bit of a breakdown he said that he was sexually abused so intimate touching made him panic. Anya was shocked to hear this and it was quite the information she had to take in all of a sudden but she really loved him and wanted to help him through it. But the emotional distance in their friendship was still there in their relationship. Sonniel wanted to know more about Anya, but he didn't want to ask her to open up since he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. However, Anya actually *wanted* him to ask her, since she wanted him to take the initiative to find out more about her. She was always listening to his problems and was waiting for him to ask her about her own for a chance, but that never happened because he wrongly thought she didn't want that. Anya was frustrated that the "give and take" balance in their relationship wasn't even. He took a lot but never offered to give back.

Eventually, Sonniel's issues became too much for her to handle. She couldn't date someone that couldn't even hug her and looked like he had war flashbacks whenever she said romantic things. She came to the conclusion that it wasn't her job to fix him, and that she needed to spend time focusing on herself instead of living for other people. While Sonniel understood why he was dumped it still made him feel like garbage. He thought his issues ran so deep that there was no hope for recovery and that no one would ever love him. He sat around leaching off his friends for like a month before Garett made him get off his ass and contribute.

## Monia:

A guild member in Sonniel's squad. She's eccentric, clashing with both his and Anya's personalities. She is a great help to the guild and Sonniel appreciates her skill. Monia is also quite skilled at reading people, so she often offers Sonniel unsolicited advice that she thinks he needs. He finds it annoying, but also secretly finds it helpful at times. She also knows how to brew soda which he regularly drinks. He is addicted to the soda, but there are worse things to get addicted to, in their opinion.

## Damon:

A guild member in Sonniel's squad. He wanted to join because he wanted some friends his age, since his childhood as an assassin-in-training was quite lonely. He was overly affectionate towards Sonniel at first, since he wasn't sure how to act around friends, but Sonniel got him to tone it down and showed him how to be more... normal. Damon regularly gets Sonniel gifts, such as flowers and candies, as shows of friendship. Sonniel pretends to be annoyed but secretly appreciates it.

Damon's mostly for stealth operations, but he's a great brawler too, and often storms minor pocket dimensions along with Sonniel. The two make a great team, and after fighting together for so long, the two have managed to communicate in subtle ways. And Damon is sure to steal Sonniel's kills as less as possible, which Sonniel appreciates.

## Ninvi:

A medic in Sonniel's squad. After Anya left, the group needed someone else with healing magic. Since Sonniel was too depressed to go out and do some hiring, Damon took care of it by putting up "help wanted" signs and hosting interviews. He wrote up a profile for everyone he interviewed, and included a picture of them. He took them to Sonniel, who skimmed through them while only looking at the pictures, and picked Ninvi because of his vague resemblance of Anya, thinking "this looks like someone I can trust".

When Ninvi started working for them, he was overjoyed to hear that he was considered trustworthy, since he was having trouble finding a job because he was told he seemed *un*trustworthy. Because he was open about being raised by intelligent monsters, had a monster-speak name, and spoken Eugarian with a monster-speak accent, people kept thinking he was a shapeshifting monster himself, when he was actually 100% human. Ninvi assured Sonniel that he wouldn't regret his decision to hire him, and that he'd put in his best efforts. Sonniel took a natural liking to him despite his usual distrusting nature.

They always have a simple yet good friendship, with the two looking out for each other and casually venting about small things. Sometimes Sonniel got offended by Ninvi's smug comments, and was a bit too harsh in return, but Ninvi didn't mind since he didn't really take his anger seriously.

He even had a small crush on him at first because of his resemblance to Anya, and with her gone he needed another fp to get attached to. But after actually meeting him and learning that he was a bit of a jackass who didn't know when to take things seriously that went away quickly.

## Garett:

Sonniel had to work with Garett as part of a mission, and Garett immediately recognized him as Morell's twin. They had a little chat, and Garett explained that he knew about the swap since Morell told him about it, and he explained the circumstances that lead to Morell telling him about it. Sonniel was skeptical about all this, and learning about Morell's connection to the FHF was a lot to take in.

Also, Garett mentioned that Morell had also said that Sonniel was a really happy and kind kid. He said that the transformation to what Sonniel was like how somewhat shocked him, and became concerned about whatever happened to him to make him so unhappy. Sonniel didn't appreciate the worry, and felt that he was being patronized and looked down on. He insisted that he was just fine, and Garett understandably didn't believe him. Sonniel told him to leave him alone, and Garett reluctantly complied, but said that he would be there for friendship if Sonniel ever had a change of heart.

He was nervous about Garett because he knew of his real identity and old personality, and distrusted him and pushed him away. He didn't like that someone saw through his "tough guy" persona. Also, Sonniel admits to himself that it's a silly reason, but he also distrusts him because his familiar is a snake, which was Morell's favorite animal. He saw that as a "sign" that he couldn't be trusted. Also, it's because of his familiar, but Dusty is hostile towards Garett, and Sonniel trusts Dusty's instincts. Garett wanted to be friends with Sonniel because he felt a connection towards him since they were both wronged by the same person, Morell, but Sonniel wanted nothing to do with him. And he was friends with Marlow at the time, who regularly talked shit about Garett, which didn't help his image of him.

After Anya dumped him, Garett convinced him to take a break and take care of himself for a while. He often visited Sonniel in his room to see if he needed anything, and filled him in on what he was missing. He also talked with him, and told him that he emphasized with him, since he also lost the person he loved, being Morell-- albeit that was through death and not dumping. Sonniel wasn't sure what to think of this information, and asked Garett if he was only getting friendly with him because he looked like his dead crush and hooking up with him would be the closest he could ever get to hooking up with Morell, and Garett insisted that that couldn't be the case because he was 100% over Morell and was dating someone else already. Sonniel was relieved, and took Garett's taken status as proof that he didn't have any bad intentions, and trusted him a little more.

Sonniel later snuck out to get drugs, and Garett caught him using them. He tried to take them away, but Sonniel tearfully tried to stop him, saying that it's the only way he could be happy and that Garett had no right to take his happiness away. Garett insisted that it was for his own good, and managed to take them because Sonniel was drugged up and couldn't put up much of a fight, and fell unconscious soon after Garett left. After Garett threw the pills into a river and after Sonniel woke up not high, he started panicking, begging Garett not to tell anyone about the drugs. Garett assured him that he could relax, and that he had no intentions of doing so. Sonniel was still anxious, since he felt like it was a secret that Garett could hold over his head.

Garett said he wouldn't tell anyone about it no matter what, but just to relieve him of his anxiety, he told Sonniel a secret of his own: that he had killed a guard at the Hecadian castle when he was trying to break Morell out of prison. It was an accident, and Garett only meant to make them lose consciousness, but he had only recently awoken his familiar and he had trouble controlling it. The Hecadian authorities assumed that the guard was killed by Morell's killer-- Wallace-- when really it was him. He said that now if he snitched on Sonniel about the drug thing, Sonniel could snitch on him about that. Sonniel was in shock, saying that telling him such a big secret was unnecessary since all Garett knew was that he used a lot of the guild's funds to buy drugs. Garett shrugged and said that he couldn't think of a smaller secret, and that he trusted Sonniel not to tell anyone anyways. Sonniel called him an idiot for trusting him despite not knowing him well, and Garett agreed that he may be right about the idiot thing. Garett also tried telling him how bad of an idea it was to get on drugs, and that Anya would be disappointed. Sonniel agreed that he messed up, and that he knew addiction was a bad time, and that he was being an idiot. Garett disagreed with the idiot thing, and said that he wasn't an idiot, and that he just made a mistake and he could learn. Sonniel wasn't sure how to react to his kindness, so he told him to go away.

He had trouble showing it, but Sonniel greatly appreciated Garett's company. He managed to care for him without being patronizing, and was generally easygoing around him which helped lower Sonniel's stress. Sonniel eventually got comfortable around him, and because his last FP dumped him, he needed a new one so he latched on to Garett. When he started doing jobs again, Garett was the one he regularly went to for help. He was still uneasy around him though, and didn't like how important Garett was becoming to him, since part of him tried to tell him that he shouldn't trust Garett but his emotional side wanted to be closer to him. This resulted in some bizarre interactions, with Sonniel lashing out at him for little reason, only to regret it and sheepishly apologize later. Garett was patient with his bizarre behavior, and assured him that he didn't take his outbursts personally, since he must be very stressed out. Sonniel was very grateful for his patience, and appreciated him a lot, and gradually fell in love with him. Also, Sonniel gave Garett permission to call him by his real name, at least in private. That's what the quote at the beginning of this is.

During their friendship, Sonniel regularly talked to Garett about what made him upset. One thing was his big fear of even the smallest forms of intimacies such as hugs, and he said he wanted to get over that, but didn't know how. Garett said that getting to the root of the problem should help, and asked if he knew where the fear came from. Sonniel said he knew where it was from, but refused to tell him. Then Garett said that another method would be exposure therapy, where Sonniel would practice experiencing physical contact with someone he trusted, but he said that he didn't know if there was anyone Sonniel trusted enough to do that with. Sonniel sheepishly said that he trusted Garett, and that he'd be willing to practice with him, if he was willing to. Garett accepted the offer and was glad that Sonniel trusted him enough with this.

It took Sonniel a while to realize his own feelings. For a while, he thought it was just a "bizarre attachment" rather than love. But when he realized what his feelings really were, he got incredibly anxious, and felt guilty because Garett was already taken. He also felt extremely jealous whenever Garett would mention his boyfriend, Isaac, and hated that he didn't mean nearly as much to Garett as Garett meant to him. But even so, he wanted to get his feelings off his chest, since either of them could die any day and he didn't want to make the mistake of waiting like he did with Anya. So he told him he loved him one day, to which Garett responded, "I love you too, Sonniel. You're a great friend". Sonniel realized he'd been misinterpreted, and decided against correcting him, because he was already grateful for his friendship with Garett and didn't want to do anything to ruin it and drive Garett away. Ironically, he started trusting Garett *because* he was taken, and now wishes that he wasn't.

Sonniel's love for Garett and jealousy towards Isaac eventually grew to be very intense. He desperately wanted Garett to return his feelings, and the fact that he didn't caused a great amount of stress. Sonniel honestly wanted Garett to cheat on his boyfriend with him, but he wouldn't dare make the first move out of fear of Garett getting angry and abandoning him. They were very close too, and because of the practice to get Sonniel over his fear of hugs, they regularly hugged, and eventually it stopped being official practice and it just happened naturally, with Sonniel not having to prepare himself or tell Garett it was alright every time. And at one point, Garett gave up a chance to learn about his missing boyfriend's whereabouts  in order to prevent Sonniel from getting hurt, and Sonniel was overwhelmed with emotion because Garett chose him over Isaac for something. His heart jumped to conclusions, and he thought that maybe that meant that Garett loved him instead now. He was wrong.

Eventually, Isaac was rescued and Garett was reunited with him. To make up for not seeing each other for almost two years, they started spending as much time with each other as possible, and Sonniel felt awful and abandoned. Logically, he understood why Garett was choosing Isaac over him, but emotionally he felt replaced. He received a grim reminder that he was only second place in his favorite person's heart this entire time, and it hurt him beyond belief. Garett noticed he was hurt, and confronted him about it, and Sonniel tearfully confessed to him again, specifying that he loved him romantically. He told him that he felt awful seeing Garett and Isaac together, and that he knew how selfish he was being but he couldn't help it. Then Garett shocked him by admitting that he knew that Sonniel loved him for a long time, since his first confession, and that he only pretended to be dense in order to spare his feelings. Sonniel split on him and was furious, and told him how much he hated being lied to and that Garett knew that, and Garett apologized for being selfish and lying, and said he just panicked at the moment and didn't want to hurt his feelings. Sonniel got mad at Garett for not being straightforward with him, and said that maybe if he had rejected him months ago, he'd be able to properly move on instead of feeling lead on this entire time. Garett felt awful, and admitted that he messed up. Sonniel wanted time away from him, so he requested to be put in a different division. They didn't see each other again for a long time.

While away from him, Sonniel often thought about how mad he was at him for being dishonest. He was also mad at himself for "being stupid" and falling for it. He also hated how intimate Garett was with him sometimes despite knowing about his feelings for him, and Sonniel felt like Garett took advantage of him for hugs because his boyfriend was absent and he needed another source of physical contact. Sonniel's feelings for Garett went away rather quickly, and he never wanted to reconnect with him because of how hurt he felt.

Well. This section alone turned out to be exactly 1400 words. I feel like there's some parts I could cut out, and there's also probably some repetition in here somewhere, but whatever I can't be assed to edit it. If anything, I feel like it's not long*enough.* I feel like I'm missing something here but I'm not sure what. Ah well.

## Isaac:

He resents Isaac out of jealousy. Before Isaac showed up again, he found himself hoping that Isaac either didn't care about Garett anymore, or died, so he could have a chance. Sonniel felt really guilty about these intrusive thoughts.

When Isaac showed up again, Sonniel did everything he could to avoid him since he just wanted nothing to do with him. He also got his dog to bother him because he was petty.

Even after getting over Garett, Sonniel still didn't like Isaac because of the negative feelings he associated with him. But he didn't hate him so strongly anymore.

## Marlow:

At first, these two got along mostly because of a mutual dislike of Garett. Sonniel felt inclined to trust him right off the bat because they agreed about this, and Marlow was friendly towards him, often inviting him places in their spare time. Sonniel enjoyed his company, and liked how normally Marlow treated him instead of being intimidated by his hostile attitude like most people around him were. He also liked Marlow's sense of humor, and often laughed because of him. Also, Marlow noticed that Sonniel was uncomfortable with his casual touchiness, and made a conscious effort to avoid touching him. Sonniel was very grateful for this.

However, he later realized that Marlow had a crush on him, making him incredibly uneasy. He pretended to be dense for the sake of their group as to not cause drama, but he did start making excuses to avoid him, and was noticeably less happy around him than before. He thought that Marlow was just being nice to him to get in his pants.

After Anya dumped him, Marlow tried to comfort him, but Sonniel told him to leave him alone and that he didn't return his feelings. Earlier he pretended to be dense for the sake of avoiding drama, but now that he was incredibly depressed he just didn't care anymore, and didn't hold back when telling Marlow how creeped out he felt by him. Sonniel told Marlow that he must only be trying to comfort him because he was now single so he thought he had a chance. Marlow denied this, and insisted that he only had the intentions of comforting a friend despite the feelings he had for him. Sonniel didn't believe him, and told him to leave him alone.

Much later on, after some emotional maturing, Sonniel apologized to Marlow for being harsh towards him earlier. He said that he did enjoy his company, and that he shouldn't have jumped to conclusions about his intentions. He asked if they could be friends again, and Marlow accepted the offer.

When they were friends, they opened up to each other a lot. While Sonniel didn't return Marlow's feelings, he liked having the comfort of having someone who cared about him a lot and regarded him as a high priority. While it was getting better, Sonniel still had a lot of self hatred, so having someone who loved him and thought highly of him did him some good. Since back when Anya died, Marlow had listened to him when he told him to leave him alone instead of getting angry at him for setting a boundary, Sonniel believed that Marlow really did care about him and want the best for him and didn't just have the intention of using him for sex like Sonniel had suspected. Sonniel actually managed to trust him. The two talked to each other a lot about personal things. Whenever Sonniel was worried about something, Marlow could always find a way to put a lighthearted and hopeful spin on it, greatly reducing his stress. And if all else failed, Marlow could always find a way to make him laugh. Also, Sonniel did his best to help Marlow through his depression, and often encouraged him to take care of himself, and sometimes took care of his chores for him.

After Garett rejected him, he got even closer to Marlow since Marlow became his new FP. While his BPD symptoms were somewhat less severe at this point, he still often needed Marlow's advice for major decisions, and got anxious if they were separated for too long. However, Marlow wasn't too good at helping with major decisions, as he usually acted on impulse and went with the flow. This caused the two of them to work together for solutions instead of it being a one sided dependency like it was with Garett. He also started getting worried about Marlow leaving him for someone else or not loving him anymore, and Marlow had to regularly assure him that that wouldn't happen. Sonniel got even more worried, because he thought that his new behavior towards Marlow would annoy him, and he was worried that Marlow was just lying to him about never leaving him to make him feel better. As Sonniel grew more attached to him, he gradually fell in love with him.

When Sonniel eventually told Marlow that he loved him and wanted to be together, Marlow didn't believe him. Marlow said that he probably just *thought* he loved him because Garett rejected him and he needed someone else to get attached to. He said that he felt like a rebound and he didn't like that, and because he didn't believe that Sonniel's feelings were genuine, he didn't want to date. Sonniel insisted that he really did love him, and asked Marlow how he could possibly prove that he did, and Marlow admitted that he couldn't really think of a way to prove it. Marlow said he'd think about it for a while, and give Sonniel time to reflect on his feelings.

Later on, Sonniel got a (bad) idea. He remembered how back with Martin, when Martin was skeptical about if he really loved him or not, all Sonniel had to do was initiate sex to get Martin to believe that he loved him again. So with this logic in mind, one night he told Marlow that he had an idea for how to prove that he loved him. He offered to sleep with him, and Marlow declined and was immediately concerned, saying that having sex under the obligation to prove something was pretty messed up and unhealthy. He said that he'd only want to do it if Sonniel was actually enthusiastic about the idea, which he clearly wasn't. Sonniel was confused, and said that he didn't understand why him being enthusiastic mattered as long as he did it and Marlow felt good. Marlow was even more concerned now, and said that that wasn't how it worked at all, and asked where he got that idea. Sonniel broke down, and said he got that idea from a "past relationship", and started to incoherently ramble about how his "relationship" with Martin worked, referring to Martin as "dad". Marlow felt awful for him, and did his best to calm him down, holding him and assuring him that their relationship wouldn't be like that at all. He also said that Sonniel shouldn't feel the need to do anything to prove his feelings, and that his words were enough. Marlow apologized for not believing him earlier and not having faith in him. He said that from now on he'd take what he said seriously instead of doubting him, and that he accepted his earlier offer of being together.

After that little episode was over, Sonniel was upset because he regretted impulsively telling Marlow about all That. Marlow assured him that it was a good thing that he opened up to him, and that he was glad that he could understand him better now. Also, he didn't think any less of him, and said he wouldn't treat him any differently. Sonniel's worry didn't fade immediately, but it did over time, and he felt a great sense of relief now that Marlow knew his deepest secret and still loved him the same and wanted to help him get through it. And likewise, Sonniel did his best to help Marlow through his own problems, such as the death of his mother. The two of them have a great mutual support, and they managed to help each other grow emotionally. Most of the time they still have a more easygoing relationship with lots of positivity and little gestures of love.

## Juno:

Sonniel's second pet dog, a husky. Marlow named her, and she also helped out on missions. Like Dusty she was a great source of happiness for Sonniel. She survived the final battle and lived a long life.