#i just assume all team sports have four quarters and a half time sue me

[captainjamster]

I couldn't get your inclusivity post out of my head, I've been churning that thought in my little brain for hoursss now.

aromanticism is something that's definitely underrepresented.

and nobody can tell me that Kate Laswell or Simon Riley wouldn't be down for a true fwb situation. like come on.

That is such a fantastic shout, you are SO right Berry omfg!! Gosh, if asexuality is underrepresented, I don't even know how to describe aromanticism. My best friend and another close friend are aroace to varying degrees, and I've heard their first-hand accounts of how challenging it can be to understand what they're experiencing with the lack of awareness - especially because you need to know the terms to actually research them further!

Thank you so much for your ask, ahhhhh!! I'm so glad my little brainworm has infected someone else, I've been thinking about this shit for years! It started when I was much younger and unhappy with every damn fanfiction writing the reader as a petite, pretty little thing. And then I thought damn dude, if it's hard for me to find content that validates and represents my fat ass, imagine what it's like for individuals even further outside of conventional norms.

Now, how I think Simon and Kate would react to an aromantic!reader FWB under the cut ;)

Simon? Oh, I think Simon would go so hard for that. Maybe he'd be a little hesitant in the beginning, mistrusting that your confession of aromanticism is a cover to ease him into being vulnerable around you - maybe hoping that once you slept together enough, he'd fall in love with you.

It's not like he thinks people need to love each other to have sex, or that he doesn't believe in aromanticism - it's because as an emotionally reserved man, he's found himself in the position of unexpected (and unwanted) romantic complications with his FWBs too many times for his liking. Some of them end up wanting more than just sex, others get mad when he's not available during deployments, and a couple go so far as to be angry when he sleeps with another FWB.

Once he realises you're truthfully not here to tie him down, you just want to have a good time mutually relieving sexual needs, I think it becomes his favourite FWB situation. It helps that he genuinely likes you as a person, too. For a while during the beginning, he treated you like an on-call service - you came when he requested and he let you out when you were done. He didn't even want you to stick around and chat, minimising any contact that he sees as a potential romantic chance for you.

Yet true to your word, you never share any indication of wanting something more, something romantic with him. You never fought to stay longer, never begged him for more aftercare than he was comfortable providing, never tried to pull his mask off or kiss him. Each time, you thank him for his company with a warm smile and wish him well on his next deployment, if you don't catch him before he leaves. Sometimes on your way over, you'll bring a container of leftovers (or two, or three, as he becomes more comfortable), and when he initially refuses them in suspicion, you just tell him that it's a thank you for offering up his house every time. Although later on, you confess it's also because one time after a long session of post-deployment activities, you opened his fridge for cold water and found it empty, and you didn't want the poor man starving during sex.

Slowly and surely, you defrost the stand-offish, icy and unattractive front he puts up to deter people. He becomes more interested in experimenting during sex with you, even letting go of his instinctual need for control if you ask to take charge. The F of FWB begins to seep into the relationship, and not only does he take interest in you as a person, he begins to share bits of himself. You bond over the frustration of navigating a world where romance is so highly valued, and how taboo it seems to desire a life without the constraints of what society expects. Sharing the unfortunate mishaps of your FWBs is something he particularly enjoys - Simon thought he had it bad until he learnt someone proposed to you after sex, thinking THAT was the thing 'secretly' keeping you back from loving them.

It isn't until maybe over a year, sweaty and pleasantly sore as he watches your head rise and fall against his chest with each breath he takes, that Simon realises he can't quite remember the last time he slept with anyone else. Not only that, but he doesn't really want to sleep with anyone else, either. It's not because he's in love with you - even if he was, he'd never make it your problem. He's just never felt so understood by someone else, let alone a FWB. All he wants is to maintain your friendship (and the benefits it brings) until the relationship runs its course.

----

Now, bringing up KATE? Berry, you're after my own heart, I love that woman to the ends of the earth and you are SO right.

Before Kate meets her wife, you can IMAGINE how stressed that lady is. Her life is work, work, work. As she was climbing the CIA ranks, it's said that Kate desired a female mentor to show her the ropes of retaining her personal life while maintaining respect for her operational judgment, but never found one. I imagine she paved her own road, learnt what works for her (because obviously she meets her wife <3), but she ended up sacrificing a significant amount of her romantic/sexual life.

It's not for a lack of trying, either. Though she certainly tables the idea of romance, she's open to (and sometimes looks explicitly for) FWB arrangements. The problem for Kate is that she wants a long-term situation without it devolving into romance, and unfortunately, all the people she sleeps with end up wanting more. I mean, I'm not blaming them - if it's something open to you, how could you NOT fall in love with her, especially after you've experienced what it's like being the centre of her affection and attention? But for Laswell, it's the biggest thorn in her side. It leaves her frustrated, both sexually and generally - another issue on her plate that she really just doesn't have time for.

When she meets you during another late night drinking, she thinks that it's too good to be true. She's slumped over a bar, nursing a beverage as she watches the soccer football playing in grainy quality behind the bartender, when you take a seat next to her. Unbeknownst to you, she's at her limit with just about everything. Work sucks particularly right now, her last FWB fell through because she refused to let them stay the night, and she's given up on finding another one. She ignores your presence at first, uninterested in entertaining strangers. It doesn't deter you - you don't even disrupt her game to introduce yourself, just order a drink and sit back, entertaining yourself.

By half-time, she can't deny that she's curious – you’ve sat patiently for almost the whole first two quarters, enjoying Kate’s unreturned company as the occasional customer comes or goes. When the bartender slides another drink over to Kate, she takes it with a nod and jerks her head at you, and a drink is slid your way too. The surprise on your face is endearing as you look up, giving her a friendly smile and a thanks. When Kate asks why you’ve been so generous with your company, you just shrug, telling her that she seemed like she could use a friend.

She can’t tell if it’s the alcohol or her frustrations driving her to impulsion, but she takes the bait, falling into a friendly conversation with you that she enjoys far more than expected. It turns out that unlike Kate, you don’t often frequent bars this late, but a hook-up went sour kicked you out and you didn’t quite feel like going home yet. She can’t help but complain about her own struggles in turn, and you quickly bond over unreliable FWBs, the pressures of work, and how hard it is to destress. Time peaks into the early morning hours, football long finished as it’s replaced by the early bird news, and Kate can’t spend any more time away from base so she leaves you with a number to a burner.

Only a week or two passes when you off-handedly mention your aromanticism, and Kate is flooded with ideas that feel selfish, but won’t stop nagging at the back of her mind. If anything, Kate is an opportunist, and she knows a good deal when she sees one. It takes another week, but she finally propositions you – you scratch my itch, I’ll scratch yours. She’s so relieved when you agree, being up front about the conditions of your FWBs, but hesitant to admit it’s the lack of romantic reception that makes the idea so appealing. She hates how your sexuality sounds so convenient for her, but when you tell her that the situation she’s in is equally convenient for you, the guilt lessens a bit.

Unlike Simon, the F comes first in FWB for Kate. She’s emotionally mature, unafraid to vocalise her needs and boundaries and develop a platonic connection with you, nonplussed by the vulnerability that’s inherent to those actions. Sex with her is nothing short of amazing, and it quickly becomes something Kate values sincerely. I’d go as far as to say she falls into a similar place that Simon does, finding herself so content in what the situation can offer her that she doesn’t seek out anyone but you until she meets and falls in love with her wife.