#heiter x reader

Despite clearly being a creature born of evil, you weren’t actually causing trouble for humans…mostly. At least not on purpose like a demon did; you were capable of listening to reason. The only problem was if you ever felt like listening. Frieren had encountered many beasts, but she never met a man who was a living incarnate of a deadly sin before.

Your sloth likeness made it to where you were not only lazy enough to lay on the side of the road, but that you wouldn’t even get up upon being ran over their carriage. It was appalling to say the least. And then you made yourself at home inside their carriage like it was normal. Fern threatened to “obliterate this perverted man” but all you did was shrug.

Frieren first thought your sin was of face value, that you were just lazy; yet that initial thought was quickly snuffed out. Frieren saw a lot of her past self in you: apathetic, emotionally unavailable, and lonely. To see how your suffering was so deeply embedded in you; so strong that even others would fall prey to your pain and suffer together with you. She then knew you were dangerous, not because of who you were…but because of what you could make others become.

“Do you still intend to do nothing?” Fern chastised (Y/N). His body was limp on the cottage’s roof, sun blaring down on him. “Your negative energy is disturbing our peace. Stop clinging to us like a parasite.”

“Or a bad fungal infection.” Stark chided in, holding out a cup of coffee for Fern.

(Y/N) lifted himself up, just barely mustering the strength to as he fell off the roof. A large crater surrounded him upon impact, his malnourished body not looking capable of such a feat. His eyes, devoid of life, gazed at the two stern humans.

“In a vast deep void of life, existence all surrounding, I am in the midst; not important to lead, yet too much to throw away. My mere existence is caused by the existence of others. I am nothing, yet not dead. Therefore I am.” He said.

“…what?” They asked in unison.

Elf ears poked out the sidelines, indicating of the sudden appearance of Frieren. She crouched down towards (Y/N), lifting him out of the crater and making him sit upright with her magic. “He is essentially saying that the existence of humanity’s sloth created him, and that his nature is influenced by it.”

She grabbed (Y/N)’s chin, holding it in place as she examined his eyes. “It does beg the question of it would be possible to change such a nature for the betterment of society; would you die? Or would you simply change?” She asked him.

(Y/N) gently pushed her hand away, holding his neck with both hands.

…

“I’m too scared to know.”

Himmel felt bad for you, a man who was the living embodiment of sloth. He saw a lost soul that couldn’t ever heal because of his own nature. And because of that he wanted to help you. Himmel invited you to spend the week with his party as they were currently holding up in a village, strapped for cash.

Yet despite Himmel’s best efforts to help you feel comfortable with his friends, you just didn’t put in any effort. In fact it was almost as if you were intentionally avoiding him. You carried a deeply apatheic demeanor; too melancholic to get out of bed, and too indifferent to try. An inherent lack of interest in anything made it easy enough for Himmel to at least trust you wouldn’t cause harm.

But your sin went even further than he thought. Your presence changed those around you. And their presence in turn affected you. In your room alone at night he could hear you mumbling, vocalizing your dark thoughts: nothing mattered, you’d fail anyways, everyone was better off without you. Those words plagued his mind, causing sleepless nights and troubling emotions. He couldn’t let your actions interfere with his purpose, so he asked you why you were the way you are.

“My mere existence is marked by a struggle. That struggle is that I am against a world that demands action. But action comes with responsibility.” (Y/N) mumbled to Himmel, his voice barely above a whisper.

He was exhausted, more so than usual. Himmel had (Y/N) come with him further outside into the forest, away from the village before he could start affecting the others.

They sat across from each other under two trees, the sun casting down on Himmel, whilst a shadow fell upon (Y/N).

Himmel leaned forward, “But how could action be a struggle?” The young hero scratched his head with clear confusion. “Are you not always acting? Wouldn’t simply existing be pain then?” He asked the sinner once more.

(Y/N) chuckled, though it was hollow and short; no real emotion behind it. “Existence is pain for everyone…even you.” Himmel flinched at his words, now leaning further away from him; he was beginning to feel uneasy.

“Elaborate.”

(Y/N) continued, “The longer you live the more you realize it: they’ll outlive you. Eisen, Frieren, it’s inevitable. After all, death is the price one pays for having lived.” He hovered his hand above a blooming flower, both watching as it slowly wilted.

“Living is pain. And forcing yourself to make it enjoyable is torture. Rotting like a corpse makes it easy forget everything—responsibility, commitments, risks, all of it.”

Something about (Y/N) words was making Himmel’s brain tick; just like before at the village. The things he said held a power to them. To make someone feel like they were slowly dying beside him.

Even if unintentional, (Y/N) had almost done the same to Himmel.

Still he smiled at the sinner, sitting up and offering him a hand.

“You’re paralyzed by the fear of responsibility, right? Then I’ll just have to show you how great it can be.”

“…why?”

“Because…that’s my responsibility!”

For a corrupt priest, even Heiter felt a sense of duty when he saw you. A man who felt nothing, thought of nothing, and chose to do absolutely nothing. It wasn’t just physical laziness, but even a spiritual apathy; an indifference to the world around you. Never taking responsibility for how your words, actions, or presence could affect anyone’s spirituality; including your own.

People would come to Heiter for guidance, but after you showed up, they always left with a sense of dread. Many devotees admitted to having intrusive thoughts of wanting to refuse the goddesses will. They’d neglected their prayer and developed a general disregard for life, love, and purpose; all whilst mentioning the echoing raspy voice of a defeated man in their sleep.

Heiter knew he couldn’t let your spiritual and physical inertia dictate the lives of his neighbors, people that see him as a trusted confidant. But your power was strong; a sin of sloth so powerful it affected others within a large radius over a long period of time. Heiter invited you to his home to provide you, a being of strife, with refuge; now it was his time to take responsibility.

“(Y/N), you’ve barely touched your beer.” Heiter pestered him. The corrupt priest wanted to have a nice evening drink before he said goodbye to the man. Yet (Y/N) just leaned back in the chair. “Something wrong? I know you’re not upset about me having you leave.”

He nodded in agreement before finally taking a sip. The bitter taste soon turned sweet in a delectably addictive manner. He downed it all in one chug, leaning back into the chair.

“Since being here…I feel…weaker; more than usual.” He said in small breaths, not quite having the strength to speak.

Heiter finally placed down his cup, now holding a stern expression. “Are you dying?”

(Y/N) smiled at the insinuation that he could die, raising his eyebrows in amusement. “No. I can’t die. But now more than ever I have wanted to. Yet I don’t have the drive to actually do it.”

Heiter coughed into his hand at the shocking words. His eyes wavered, becoming much more gentle as he stared at the weakened sloth.

“Why would you want that? There’s so much to live for, even though your existence can hurt others.”

(Y/N) sat up straight with distant gaze in his eyes, irises seemingly growing darker. “I’ve never wanted to be a different person more than since I met you. The worries people come to you with resonate deeply with me, yet while they have the capacity to change, I cannot.”

Heiter listened, shoving his drink aside and giving (Y/N) his full attention.

“…My very being feels a need to remain spiritually indifferent to good, never wanting to pursue it. I feel a deep-seated sorrow whenever I think about having the will to do anything.”

“And you want to be different so badly because it hurts to watch others drown in your misery. Yet you can’t bear changing; not just because of what you are, but because if you failed it would mean you were destined to be alone.” Heiter finished. (Y/N) nodded.

The priest stood up, strolling over and patting (Y/N) on the back. “But why the sudden change?” He asked.

(Y/N) thought for a moment, his face twitching as he tried to find the right answer.

And then the color came back to his eyes.

“It was comforting…hearing what you’d say to them everyday.”

Hmm…interesting. Lügner never had met a creature like you before; an abomination born from the defiled earth. Your capabilities could prove useful. In fact, you were the exact kind of man Lügner needed to achieve his goals. A sin of omission, allowing other vices to take hold and further ruin the lives of yourself and others. On paper it was all perfect…until it wasn’t.

In hindsight Lügner should have seen it coming, but demons had always been rather prideful. Demons already held “emotions” that were purely negative; your presence amplified those feelings. Many times throughout the day and night Lügner would be overcome with profound despair, his mind filled with overwhelming apathy that manifested to a complete lack of motivation for anything.

Your ability to induce your sin in others made Lügner safer, ironically. He was too depressed to feast on human flesh, so he would starve himself. He weakened his body so much it hurt to do anything; doing nothing felt like torture but it was also his only relief. Lügner hated a lot of things…but you…he never hated a man more than he did you.

Inaction.

There was utterly nothing Lügner felt like doing that day. He was supposed to be gathering the humans’ favor by being a “diplomat” for demons. Yet he couldn’t get up.

At this point that damn sinners powers were going to give the humans a false positive; (Y/N) was making everyone depressed. But he just kept crawling around, not even having the will to walk. All whilst everyone around him suffered.

Lügner didn’t dare speak to him, not wanting to have to withstand the pain of speaking. So there they lay across from each other. One glaring as the other fought sleep.

That’s just who (Y/N) was. Even before he put Lügner in that self destructive state, (Y/N) was always lethargic. He was disheveled, he stank, he looked like death, and he barely spoke.

All it took was looking at him to know the man was worse than a demon.

Yet Lügner couldn’t get up.

If he could just muster the strength and run—run to somewhere safer and get his strength back. But then that would mean admitting he, a powerful demon, was outmatched.

But he couldn’t.

And he knew exactly why.

Because even if he came back with a legion.

Because even if he found the strength.

Lügner would never win this battle against (Y/N); that damn sinner; that damned sloth being of pure evil.

Because Lügner was afraid.

And even as he glared, he knew (Y/N) saw it too.

Himmel couldn’t believe it; you…a demon wanting to join them in defeating the demon king? The last time he trusted a demon, a village suffered the consequences of his actions. Immediately on guard, Himmel shoos you away, promising to slay you where you stand if you return.

Devastated at your rejection, you worked tirelessly on the spell you’d been entranced with all your life: a spell that would turn you human. But your filth was stronger than anticipated, and the spell failed, only turning you partially human. Determined, you returned in your peculiar state to Himmel, shocking him in the process; even more so when he witnessed you containing your demonic side, attempting to copy his mannerisms and help others in need.

After some time of examining you from a distance Himmel wanted to consider letting you join, but he respected the opinions and feelings of his companions most. So, despite his own thoughts, he discussed your new found existence with them first.

Eventually they all came to an agreement to monitor you, making sure that your spell wasn’t just another trick you set up, as demon’s do, to lower their guard. Frieren was given full authority to “execute” you if she deemed it necessary. But despite all the precautions taken to ensure their, and everyone’s safety, Himmel hoped that perhaps this could be the start of something new for humanity.

Nope. Frieren immediately tried to kill you on sight. She doesn’t even want to entertain the idea of letting you, a demon, join them. The only reason she didn’t kill you was because you ran off too fast, and she was already preoccupied with something else. Like the others, trusting a demon was non negotiable.

That was until you returned. Half human from a failed spell you had said, yet her feelings were left unturned. The others however could feel their initial thoughts wavering. She understood them, a small part of herself wanting to believe in the idea of a demon becoming good. But she needed to be prepared, so Frieren did her research into your spell, wanting to test you and make sure you weren’t lying.

Begrudgingly she’ll allow you to follow them after confirming you were…surprisingly telling the truth. But you were on a tight leash, literally, with no freedom. She spends most of her time with you afterwards, not realizing that through the time you spent together she had began to open up more.

She’ll continue to be guard around you, but Frieren isn’t blind, and her prejudice isn’t static; she sees you trying to be better, fighting your demonic self, becoming more human. And she does aid you in keeping control from behind the scenes. Bringing you peace at night with a spell of pleasant dreams, and calming your spirit throughout the day when the crawling desire of evil creeps on you.

Heiter was very uncomfortable with the idea of allowing a demon on the team. He’d seen what they were capable of plenty, and how much they tormented others. The last thing he wanted was to be near one; like the others, Heiter didn’t trust your intentions at all.

He was cautious when you returned as partly human, wanting again to join their squad. Yet during the days and nights that you wandered around them he noticed your internal battle with yourself. It was then that Heiter decided: if you were capable of changing, then he wanted to give you a second chance.

He becomes your confidant. Someone for you to let put your voice to; and you open up about your initial intentions conflicting with your new human emotions. He sympathized with how you felt, not quite being able to relate to your struggles, but listening nonetheless to them. Because if giving you an outlet meant allowing you control yourself better, then he’d gladly lend an ear.

During your journey with them Heiter continued to help you better understand your newfound humanity. Finding out your likes and dislikes, developing new aspirations, and showing you how to be gentle to not just others, but also yourself. All throughout this Heiter works overtime getting drunk and acting a fool so you and Frieren can team up to scold him; all to help keep the peace between you two.

Eisen had seen a lot of horrific things in his long lifetime. And throughout those years he learned one thing always rang true: never trust a demon. When you can running up roaring to join them, Eisen was agreeing with Frieren with no hesitation; he did not want you to join them. And he was ready to kill you.

When you later returned appearing half human Eisen was…slightly frightened. He’d never heard of a demon go so far before; sure they tended to go all in on their chosen spell, but your commitment was unlike anything he’d ever seen. It made him question whether your intentions were true, or if now they were due to you being partly human. But nonetheless his courage allowed him to cross the bridge and converse with you on your newfound humanity.

Together the two of you would often have deep talks; sometimes about life, others about meaning, but most of it was on the purpose of life; and more specifically what yours was. Eisen was again shocked at a demon being capable of deluding themselves to achieving such “humanity” to begin with. It made him wonder why you chose turning human as your spell to perfect.

Eisen wants to help you achieve a full understanding of humanity. As a demon, your life changing for the betterment of humanity meant a life time of peace for everyone, and Eisen wanted to see it come true with the time he had left. Because if it meant finding an easier way to ending the conflict of demons and everyone else, then he would gladly fight to live and see it.