Papas in situations? COUNT ME IN!
uhhhhhh what do you think the Papas worst case scenario is first date wise? like, when they are taking one last look in the mirror before they go to meet their date, what is their nonsensical catastrophic intrusive thought that has them panicking?
Let's make the old men insecure!
Nihil: Is worried that Sister Imperator is going to find out. Because of course, the date is not with her. He hasn't taken her on a date since 1969.
Primo: His nightmare date is the thought that it goes too well...in like a boring, normal date sense. He yearns for a partner who matches (or possibly even exceeds) his freak and if he ends up going out with a perfectly nice individual who is an attentive listener and genuinely attracted to him but with like no interest in murder at all he will scream. Bonus points if they turn out to be a Christian.
Secondo: Is very good at flirting, joking, and communicating with his body language - but with his words? Not so much. He wants to have fun yes but he wants to connect with a potential partner as well and fuck, that is not gonna be his strong suit, and he knows it, and he is so worried that he is gonna fuck it up or worse let his fear of fucking up lead for him to not try at all and to keep up the glib interactions the whole time.
Terzo: Is worried they will like him too much too fast and are falling for an image, an idealized version of him, and not his real self. He knows how to be good at romance and get a good grade in it, same with sex, but he wants more than to be good at the date, he (like his brother) wants something Real and he is so naturally charming that he is afraid that if any trace of his true inner self shows the person will flee.
Cardi: Honestly what ISN'T he worried about. He could trip and knock over everything on the table and ruin their dinner. He could forget the person's name or Satan forbid the time and date of the date itself. He could misread all the social cues or zone out for an important shred of conversation. His propensity for verbal awkwardness could read as 'creepy old man' instead of 'endearing goof'. What does he even want to be called? C? Cardi? Frater - no that's no work/life balance, fuck. Shit. Papa? Too kinky for a first date. He's staring into the mirror not seeing anything but his own catastrophizing in his head for long enough that he genuinely does risk running late.
Perpetua: Is not afraid before the date. He enters the encounter with hope and sunny enthusiasm and a dorkish confidence. No, no, it is afterwards. When he gets home, after the goodnight kiss (he's enough of a gentleman to not fuck on the first date), when he's sitting alone and looking at his phone wondering if he's going to get a text or a call or an email or smoke signals or something back, he's going over every moment of the date wondering did I smile at the right things - was my smile the big creepy one that scares the ghouls or was it normal and cute? Did I have something in my teeth? Oh fuck what if my fly was down the whole time? He cannot be Calm and Normal about the date no matter how it actually went until he hears back from the person he went with. After which he goes into the next date blissfully confident again...this cycle repeats until they're living together and he no longer has the moments Without to be worried in
