( cr chart )

[sorserer]

shadowstrikes

HAKKYUU GUILD WARS 2 best friend, sex partner. the person in the realm who knows him best. they’ve had some significant ups and downs over the course of a four-year friendship, but with his newfound determination to hold his relationships close stephen is, above all else, grateful to have hakkyuu back in his life. together they’re as prone to all-nighters out on the town as they are to spontaneous witching hour intimacies as they are to public arena beatdowns. so what if stephen hasn’t noticed that hakkyuu makes certain concessions for him that he doesn’t for anyone else? the important thing is that there’s very little stephen wouldn’t do for him in turn.

cryfrustration

VRENILLE GUILD WARS 2 friend, former one-time dominant. there were points throughout their shared tenure in town that stephen thought sleeping with vrenille was an inevitability--it wasn’t. there were points where stephen thought developing untenable feelings for vrenille was an inevitability--it wasn’t. these things aren’t necessarily totally off the table, but stephen doesn’t have particular aspirations in any direction here; he’s just glad to be able to spend time with him again. the watch vrenille gave him once was a good thing to have at the end of the world, a vital reminder of human connection, but with the world no longer ending stephen is determined to see people as people rather than anchors. he’d like to be there for vrenille however he can.

proofofconcept

QUENTIN COLDWATER THE MAGICIANS sex partner. stephen might be in over his head with this one. quentin is at a glance exactly the kind of young man stephen is game to mow down on a given weeknight--except he isn’t at all, because when stephen hauled him in it turned out he had rules, and boundaries, and liked them clearly delineated and given their due. stephen obliged him, but not without confusion, which is more to do with stephen’s own unsteady relationship with the kink scene in duplicity than with quentin himself. he might have written quentin off afterwards, citing base incompatibility, but--they’re both contracted to hope, is the thing. and quentin is also a good kid, the type that stephen’s conscience won’t let him dismiss out of hand. stephen, fresh off the heels of his sequel movie, is trying to embrace that the easy expertise that comes to him in most matters doesn’t always help him with people. he is making an effort to get them both on steadier ground. if pressed he’ll say it’s for hope’s sake, but truthfully he just likes him and wants things to work out. fucking embarrassing tbh

autolatrical

LOKI MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE acquaintance, pain in the ass, occasional sex partner albeit to their mutual detriment. stephen is grown enough now to admit that what he had felt for a previous loki in duplicity was love--toxic and stabby, yes, but undeniably love. thanks to a mindreading spell this new loki knows it too. stephen keeps telling him in no uncertain terms to fuck off; he keeps refusing, and so stephen keeps making good on his threats afterwards, i.e. being mean to him. stephen could be doing a better job at handling all this, particularly since this loki is different--kinder, stephen suspects, and made of softer stuff ... maybe even healthier stuff. stuff you might someday want or love, though differently. but that would mean confronting his feelings more maturely and, look, stephen may have two doctorates but neither of them are in feelings

skulked

LAURA KINNEY MARVEL COMICS friend, sex partner. stephen committed his first in-town murder for laura in order to protect her, a sudden unscheduled flare-up of chivalry that led to a generally positive acquaintance. then laura asked him to help her with quota and, well, stephen is a helpful guy. stephen is genuinely fond of laura, readily accepting of her many mysteries and laconic nature; he’s always hospitable when she comes by and at times downright affectionate. i’d say he has somewhat brotherly feelings here but they also have some pretty disgusting sex so ... you know, i guess the degree to which that’s acceptable depends on what part of pornhub you spend time on

justheavymetal

LOGAN MARVEL COMICS pain in the ass, infrequent sex partner. the second day stephen was in town he had a little spring in his step from reconnecting with hakkyuu the night before. logan swiftly pulled the rug out from under him and, well, it’s been mr. adamantium bones’ wild ride ever since. logan is uniquely frustrating for stephen: he causes problems on purpose, and stephen is never too good to take the bait. in more generous moments, stephen knows that logan is a complicated man with diverse and intense loyalties; that maybe logan wouldn’t be able to make his life difficult if he weren’t already a difficult man himself. most days it’s easier to dislike him. they have never had a normal sexual encounter and possibly never will. rip

transgressings

VANESSA IVES PENNY DREADFUL friend, sex partner. stephen and vanessa were of warm acquaintance during his first and second tenures in the city; now that he’s back with a new lease on life and an overall more positive attitude, he’s grateful to be sharing a universe with vanessa again. aside from her easy and elegant allure and his open attraction to her, vanessa is someone who invites a particular kind of trust and confidence that stephen finds difficult to grant otherwise. truthfully he’s more careful around her than he seems, in part because he can see himself coveting her time and attention in a way that he thinks isn’t quite sustainable in duplicity. it’s rare for his brain to land so immediately on considering someone an equal by every measure. it was a soft landing, to boot. easier not to think about it. easier to stay lovers.

cosmicmistake

HOPE MIKAELSON THE VAMPIRE DIARIES DOMINANT, friend, sex partner. stephen has benefited enormously from hope’s generosity in offering him a stipulations-light contract, but he’s also benefited personally from the unexpected warmth she’s coming to represent in his life. stephen, ever the gentleman, has a bit of a playbook with women he genuinely likes: he loves taking hope on dates, showing her a good time, making disgusting love to her in corners both filthy and pristine. the problem is that it’s still a playbook, indicative of stephen’s difficulty with the kind of emotional openness that leads to places light and lovely. he wants to show her only the best parts of himself. this will probably backfire