rivals to lovers with H.B.
pairing: H.B. / hector birtwhistle x gn!reader
tags: friendly rivalry, oblivious!HB, HB trying to flirt, smitten!HB
H.B. doesn't waste his time on most people. there are only a few he views as equals and even fewer he views as above him. but you are one of the few people he actually sees potential in…
and as much as he hates to admit it, H.B. thinks you're actually better than him – in a few fields, at least! obviously, he still has an advantage over you in most, but sometimes you manage to outclass him
whenever he can H.B. tries to turn any interaction with you into a competition! whether it's B.L.A.D.E. related or just mundane everyday things
it's an excuse for him to spend more time with you, though he doesn't even admit that to himself! H.B. tries to convince himself that he truly just enjoys a challenge!
almost every day, H.B. manages to find time away from his B.L.A.D.E. missions to be with you, to fuel that little rivalry!
yet he's the last one to notice that he has feelings for you! all his B.L.A.D.E. colleagues figure it out long before him, given how much H.B. talks about you all the time…
but once he does realize his feelings for you, H.B. becomes even more clingy! only now, he's starting to make hints that you're not just any rival to him…
his idea of flirting is odd, but H.B. wants you to know how much you mean to him – and that you're the one he wants to compare himself to for the rest of his life…
