#patho headcanons

I don't think I've said much about it because it's kinda self-explanatory okay so the lavender marriage mention [that I can rember] is from le fameux "inheriting the earth" + 5yrs patho kids now adult designs & lore post with both Khan & Capella having "[material] wedding ring, purposefully mismatched as a sign of lavender marriage". for the uninitiated a "lavender marriage" is a type of marriage of convenience that one (or both) party/ies enter to conceal their homosexuality and attempt to reap the social benefits and personal safety of being in a heterosexual marriage. it can happen with both spouses being gay and using the appearance of a heterosexual pair for reciprocal protection, or only one of them being gay and entering the marriage for protection, the non-gay partner may or may not be aware of the other's homosexuality. if both spouses are gay, they may typically lend each other freedom to see other people.

in khan & capella's situation, a marriage of convenience is decided upon early [cf. Capella's lines] for the sake of "bringing the families together" (political alliance). Oh I have sooo much to think about how the older generation (in that case Maria and Vlad Jr) expect the one after them to rub off their blood and rebuild their shed (pivotal element of pathologic anyways [cf. Burakh]) but that's not about this rn. anyways yes marriage of political interests.

anyways now this is where I'm real I think they're both homosexual. capella knows this about khan because she's clairvoyant. khan knows this about himself. he knows capella knows when she gives him her little bunny smile and he remembers she's clairvoyant. he learns later [this is still pre-wedding] she is too and is like oooooh so we fundamentally can't love each other. thank god I just thought it was a me problem. Capella had been taking theatre classes and she learned to do a theatre-kiss [move the mouth to the side so the other kisses cheek, head angle important] for the wedding day. They shamelessly lie to the population to explain why they, bit by bit, stop living together very quickly after the wedding ("we need separate blankets he keeps stealing if off me" "we need separate bed she has such cold feet it's giving me the shivers" "we need separate rooms he snores" "we need separate houses my presence is draining her of her powers"). Maria knows that's not the truth, she's clairvoyant. Whether she feels anything for the brokenness of the ruling families having been pushed onto her brother as a teenager I haven't decided yet. Katerina knows because she's clairvoyant. Basically all the kids know they don't like each other and a select few adults do (not about the gay thing they just think they're in a normal loveless marriage of convenience like is unfortunately really common [a lot had own parents in one] just slightly happier about it)

In my mind's eye (in my eyes' mind) they both have their own lives pretty separate. Khan fucks off overseas, goes to boarding school, and travels, sends back copious amounts of books. Capella gets the telegram installed into the town and he sends short updates on his travels. She stays in town for Mistress Purposes, reads plenty of books and orders khan to go fetch some in obscure londonian libraries, carries the new administration on her shoulders frankly. the marriage stays as a constant reminded to the oldest siblings and the rest of the adults that it is their bullshit that created this unnatural and uncomfortable situation which reflects poorly on the town with how free both "spouses" live their lives. Capella goes dancing with the girls in the warehouses. Khan routinely goes and hang out with [gestures] this one guy who we don't know what their problem is or if they even have a problem anymore. nobody will let them divorce because that would force the town to reckon with its massive political mistakes and fundamentally broken systems. Capella had gone dancing with the girls in the warehouses on her wedding night and khan had found himself there also because he wanted to tell off notkin for running his mouth during the "speak now or forever hold your peace" and insulting the oldest siblings for cf. like 2 paragraph above and when these two begin jokingly asking what capella is even doing here in this dress she goes "it's my wedding day!!" and they make faces and pretend to be gobsmacked and khan says "and I wasn't even invited??" anyways yeah. very funny to me.