Since Reaps is headcanoned to be made of nanites….he’s able to practically use a small ‘cloud’ of them for anything. Like he can torture people within a few seconds/moments… Practically he just breathes a cloud of nanites into the person’s mouth, they travel to their brain and they fuck them up.
Removing memories, corrupting memories (happy to bad), add memories (torture, war, death, anything that fucks a person up and scars them mentally), replaying the same memory over and over again until the persons driven insane. He can also use this trick to gain information from a target.
It’s…like he can find the host of a person. Like, if this person has had an item for an extremely long time (stuffed toy, necklace, ring, book, etc etc). That item has part of the owner’s soul attached to it. And if the person’s lost it and Reaper finds it… he can “consume” the small bit of soul from the item and see what the owner’s last actions/words were. Like, he sees what they were doing and all the moments before they lost the item. He doesn’t know what to expect whenever he does this. It’s a new vision every time. Most of them aren’t very surprising but some are. He can use this ability to help track down the owner of the item. He uses this many many times when hunting down his enemies… but they’re not out to kill him, his enemies… he needs to continue to eat/consume souls or else his physical body will be no more; he’d be only smoke…or nanites yet he’d still be there in the world…just sort of unseeable only a faint “black wisp” when he moves can you tell he’s there and if you pay attention to those dark corners.
So, y’all already know (or now know) that Reaper consumes souls to remain physical, but also to enhance his abilities. However, before the event that really made him become such a monstrous being in his main verse. Whenever Talon had a problematic member or someone who wasn’t entirely on their side of things anymore (potentially deserting)…they’d either send Reaper after them to “take care of them” or “punish” them by having them go “feed” the dangerous wraith Talon houses....however, in both outcomes....they’re never seen again. At least the world never sees them again. Reaper, however, is another story.
He would be able to, yes. It’s just much harder to do considering he’s unable to wield his guns with that type of form to enable him to easily retrieve said soul - shotguns are powerful up close. He can, however, use his ‘new’ form to attack, they are deadly attacks. But, he refuses to just outright kill his current victim(s) – at least sometimes. Considering that his smoke is more of a ‘his skin is dissipating into the air’ if he’s smokey/misty looking…he’s completely harmless. But his nanite-form is deadly. There’s only a 10% chance of his latter ‘form’ to appear because it’s harder to maintain a semi-physical form for more than a minute or two. That’s where he’d have to plan his attacks wisely, only able to form sort of nanite-blades or tentacles if you’d prefer since that’s easier to picture. Since nanites are so small he doesn’t have to put too much effort into killing or harming his victims. They can cut through skin easily or so he thinks. But, in fact, he can wound his victims so quickly and easily because the nanites are continuously moving. Always moving. So because of this movement they’re constantly in, it disrupts the skin - acting very similar to a saw cutting through wood.
It would, in a way, yes… but it would only be for an extremely short amount of time - a few minutes at most unless the soul was more than a fragment of its owner.
In rare cases, he has indeed found some items that had an entire person’s soul to it. Sometimes it’s not even a living person anymore as if the true owner died and it’s soul attached to said item and the item was handed to a new owner; family, friend or a random stranger.
Yes, he can indeed smell souls…or rather the taste since they are no longer part of their host’s body. It’s this particular reason he continues to kill and kill for souls rather than to maintain his physical form - although consuming the souls does, in fact, assist that, too, but he prefers to just taste the souls. The taste of souls is addicting to him, especially those sweet tasting ones that most naïve teenagers carry. Because of this, he doesn’t consume the entire soul sometimes, only taking part and placing the rest inside a safe place - usually a bottle or container of some sort that’s pocketable.
If it’s of a deceased person, yes. He’d be able to see most if not all of that person’s memories. If you’ve seen black butler, he’s practically a shinigami and these souls are their ‘life flashing before their eyes’. He carries a very heavy burden. He remembers and knows everything about all these people yet he’s stable…well, he’s not. He’s not in Talon and he’s killing whenever he needs to or whenever he feels like it. My Gabi is the same, that’s why he turned towards the good side again.
He has, surprisingly, returned a few things. Mostly to children because adults need to take better care of losing their items. Reaper has only helped two kidnapped victims, one a kid and the other a woman - he saved the kid because they reminded him of Jesse, he saved the woman because she reminded him of Angela…but he’ll never admit it to anyone. It’s his little secret.
So, what’s stopping Reaper from having a super high tech mask like Iron Man? Absolutely nothing because it’s the future. Jack has one so why can’t he?
Anyways, what is he capable of doing with the tech inside his mask??
Sensor Array (night vision, radar and physiological/medical scanners - the last one is mostly for himself but it can scan others if he wants to tho he tends not to bc most people who cross his path die)
Onboard Computer (for strategies, surroundings - though this is limited, mostly giving an outline of things - and communication with his teammates)
So, with the event from a few months ago that added new interactions between characters. Reaper says “You got a problem, Junker?” and it’s directed at both Junkrat and Roadhog. However, he says it at anytime he’s in the game even if Hog and Junkrat aren’t on the team. Like, the bastard just SAYS it.
I’m gonna stretch this into my own headcanon because I’m also a bastard.
So, I’m gonna headcanon this as a manifestation of his PTSD. A hallucination. Moira’s further experimentation broke Reaper’s psyche. Every so often Reaper just sees hallucinations of people he’s come across, however, it’s mostly of people whose souls he’s consumed. It's much worse when it's people who are still alive though he can't really tell the difference between whether they are or not anymore.
So, in Reaper’s main verse, he’s part of Talon’s inner council/the council. Whatever they heckin call themselves. However, at some point he’s....removed. I mean, what’s the point of having someone on the council when they resent the faction they’re allied with? He’s still their greatest weapon though.
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So, my mind reminded me that Reaps' nanites can erase memories or otherwise mess with people from within if he wanted. And my mind just brought to the forefront of my mind a HC I thought of with @apoapsis in which Reaps takes over Sigma/Siebren to keep him safe or to enhance the old science mans abilities....but it took it in a darker direction.
Like, Reaps taking over a Talon recruit or someone else within Talon to escape or to pose as like a rogue Talon agent or some shit, y'know. But like...what if he took over someone and it threw Talon for a loop because "that can't be Reaps bc he's still-" and he is...he is still in that holding cell or where they last monitored him...yet there's this agent or average human that's showing signs of his abilities or extra abilities of him.
Whether he fully takes them over as in all of his nanite-ness takes over them or just a small amount that takes over their mind to control their body...regardless, it's a terrifying thought. Like "who could he be next? Who could he take over next? What else is he capable of that he isn't showing us?"
🤔 He might actually be capable of keeping the look over whoever he took over (only if he fully took them over) considering....a small portion of their soul gets absorbed from this....maybe even fully depending on how he's feeling at the time.
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New interactions between characters. Reaper says “You got a problem, Junker?” and it’s directed at both Junkrat and Roadhog. However, he says it at any time he’s in the game even if Hog and Junkrat aren’t on the team. Like, the bastard just SAYS it.
I’m gonna stretch this into my own headcanon because I’m also a bastard.
So, I’m gonna headcanon this as a manifestation of his PTSD. A hallucination. Moira’s further experimentation broke Reaper’s psyche. Every so often Reaper just sees hallucinations of people he’s come across, however, it’s mostly of people whose souls he’s consumed.
It’s happened with Moira now. Moira has been talking “to” Angela/Mercy even though she’s not there....
So, it’s Reaps revenge upon the scientist. He’s trapped her within a world where Angela doesn’t exist, she’s slowly going insane because she knows our resident angel exists but everyone else doesn’t....everyone else within that world thinks Moira is just going insane talking to an imaginary doctor. Maybe Angela has been dead for many years...maybe she never truly existed in that world, maybe she stole the work of her parents and they never died. Who really knows? Whatever breaks her, right?
Because my Reaps is super canon-divergent….and made of entirely nanites. He doesn’t have a heart or a brain. Like, they just don’t exist for him. He also doesn’t bleed, his nanites just get….disturbed by whatever attempted to harm him. He heals from that pretty quickly. Which is why he’s Talon’s best weapon for missions that’d likely cause far too many of their soldiers to be killed. He’s sent in instead because well…can’t really kill a cloud of nanites or a person-shaped cloud of nanites, can ya? I mean, electrical disturbances do slow him down and/or disrupt him entirely (aka: Sombra’s EMP/hack or Winston’s weapon).
This is why Reaps wishes to “cease to exist”. Because he doesn’t really have an existence. My society — humanity’s standards…he’s not even alive nor is he human. He’s a monster that was born and breed to be horrible. He has no heart, he has no brain, he has no emotions. The only emotions he feels are those he gets from consuming a soul, the emotions someone felt throughout their life.
So, does Reaps actually feel anything for those he’s shipped with? Truthfully, no. Which is why he gets so…conflicted with certain people. There’s a lot of things going through his head and none of it good. Because truthfully, he’s only repeating emotions and actions he’s seen within souls. Outside of that, he doesn’t feel. Though, the same could be said about wild beasts. They don’t feel remorse for attacking you if you trespass in their territory but if you keep them held captive…they’re bound to get angry or frustrated. Which is the same with our local smoke cloud. He’s angry and frustrated at being held captive under Talon’s thumb - but more importantly, under Moira’s talons. Any beast would hate her. He’s no exception.
Maybe anger is the only emotion he truly can feel. A burning inferno within himself that wishes to burn Moira and everything she’s done to the ground.
That’s all he is, isn’t he? Personified vengeance.
Is he doing it for himself? For Gabriel? Maybe all of Moira’s past, present and future victims. He didn’t know. He just wanted her gone. If she’s gone then he can cease to exist. But…she’s not really keeping him here. No one is but himself. So, couldn’t he just disappear at any point?
Yes.
But then who’d take down Talon? Would Overwatch? Were they capable of that? Better yet…who’d take down Moira? It has to be him. He knew what she’s done to herself and he knew the weaknesses it brought. He was the best option for it. Sombra or Winston would help a lot…but it’s not like he didn’t have access to EMP grenades or stun grenades. There’d be a chance they’d be used against him too. Couldn't risk that. Couldn’t risk anyone else being put through this hell. This nonexistence.
Sometimes he wonders if he’s even real. Society and humanity say he isn’t. That he’s the monster that lives under your bed. The nightmares that plague you during your sleep. The Grimreaper waiting to collect it’s due.
These do hold true. He’s lived hidden within Gabriel for many years before finally being released…both within and outside. He’s plagued Gabriel’s sleep with nightmares for many years…and still does. And he is waiting for his due. Moira’s soul. If he kills her, consumes her soul…he’d get all her knowledge…he’d be able to undo it all. Right? He could stop being such a threat. A terror. A nightmare walking.
But what about Wraith? Would they fall to the same fate as he? Would they become the better him…that’s capable of good? They’ve already done so much. Everyone loves them…and everyone fears him.
Was it jealousy?
Envy?
Wrath?
Wraith…..wrath….one letter apart from each other but two opposing sides. Fitting.
Reaps is the wrath to Wraith’s….innocence? Inexperience.
Okay, so…I’ve had this idea for Reaper since his creation. And I don't mean since Blizzard made him. I mean since I started roleplaying him and making him (literally) separate from Gabriel.
In recent years, I've stated that when these two separated, Reaper took the “bad” parts of Gabriel with him. Now, I never really got into that I feel because I felt it was obvious (at the time) or perhaps something that’d come up in roleplay or asks about him. However, neither of those latter things happened (yet). Y’all I just enjoy talking your ears off about this stupid smoke monster okay. Lemme become Marvel and create lore then later retcon it because I FORGOT (read: became big brain).
So, I’ll just info dump on y’all everything I have saved in my head currently or otherwise and I won’t apologize if this gets sad. It should…maybe. Anyways, it gets long :))
Anyways, when these two separated and Reaper took the bad parts of Gabriel with him…well, he did just that…literally. He took the portions of Gabriel that were horrible, that wanted to harm others, that wanted to harm himself, etc etc. However, in doing so…he took half of Gabriel's soul! Which is why Gabi sleeps so often! I believe I’ve stated that before but wanted to add it here just in case. Though, in taking half of his soul…Reaper left Gabriel quite vulnerable. The soldier’s traumas that he might’ve buried before were now resurfaced and back for blood, back with vengeance. Gabriel experiences horrible, horrible nightmares because of it. Some days they’re so bad he can’t sleep and refuses to eat. Others they’re just night terrors that keep him from sleeping for a few hours, that’s when he reads or takes a walk to settle his nerves.
What Reaper got from that? The fuel that Moira used to make a monster, a weapon, out of something that shouldn’t have been possible. He was a sentient swarm of nanites simply because he took half of Gabriel’s soul. That shouldn’t be possible but it was and Moira was going to harness it into a weapon. And she had. He was already fueled by terrible thoughts so it wasn’t hard to convince him to act on them. He was just more free to do so now without Gabriel waking up or trying to take over while Reaper worked.
Which is why when people say nice things about Reaper, want to do nice things with him, spend time with him, or otherwise associate anything that’s not “horrible” or “bad” with him…he gets weirded out by or confused by. When people said they wanted to fuck him, he’s baffled by it because he’s dangerous. He could kill them with a flick of his wrist yet they wish to fuck him? Did they wish to flirt with Death so badly? At least they never have to worry about unplanned pregnancies as he has nothing to help that. And as far as he knows…nanites cannot get someone pregnant by doing any sort of weird thing.
Also on the topic of nanites...he does have full control over them. So because he’s entirely of nanites...he could technically change his height, weight, etc etc at any point in time he wanted because he has no internal organs to speak of because he doesn’t need them to function...so why use nanites to make fake ones when you can use them to add onto your height? In other words, he’s petty someone else was taller than his 7′1″ height so he’s trying to become taller than that. His height ego was bruised.
No, but seriously, he can completely alter his physical appearance with his nanites but also the density of them (ie: wraith form, “physical” form, and my personal favorite form: blades of death - his hands/arm nanites are made into blades that are extremely sharp...think Alex Mercer from Prototype). He can do quite a lot of similar things as Alex Mercer can, actually. Like, consume someone then take on their appearance. However, for Reaper it’s their soul he consumes in order to look, talk, and have the memories of the person for better impersonation. This is a skill and ability he hasn’t shown signs of yet (hasn’t quite “unlocked” it just yet).
Speaking of Death….why does he call himself Death? He wasn’t ever really “alive” to begin with. He was just nanites created to assist Gabriel whose soul gave “him” sentience and later “programmed” to kill and reap souls. Death was a fitting name. He also made a mental note to himself to never go after kids and/or babies regardless of if it was their time or not. That wasn’t his place. However, the scent of death upon them is strong and quite enticing. And yes, all people who are close to death have a scent of death to them that draws Reaper in! That’s where he goes to get his souls from unless it’s a kid/baby then he goes to look elsewhere.
Also, Reaper’s been extremely unpredictable lately because I’ve been playing him with the multitude of emotions/feelings/thoughts going through him that he took from Gabriel but also what was programmed into him by Moira. He’s constantly switching between moods and stuff because the “soul” is fighting with its programming so it’s causing some hiccups and mishaps for the wraith. Which is why certain people get the same reaction when they speak a certain way to him about things because he’s associated that emotion/feeling with that scenario and hasn’t changed it to be a better reaction on his part. It’s all he knows for those types of things. Y’all did a good job breaking him with your thirsts after him because his programmed reaction to that is “what? Why? I’m spooky and death?” which isn’t the best way to…seem sexy. Not that he ever truly tried to be but…
Though, with this that does mean he can be “brought to the light” so to speak. In other words, appeal to that portion of a soul within him and he’ll slowly over time give into it when around you (usually just the two of you). Appeal to that human side of him, it’s the only thing a human has that’s important to them for it keeps who they are intact - their memories, their feelings, their inner/true self. Nothing could replace that.
You’d also think that consuming souls would also appeal to his humanity as he’s literally consuming someone else’s humanity, yeah? Well, while he does get their memories…he once again programmed an automatic response to such things. Which is essentially “they’re just memories and they’re not mine so they matter little as do their feelings” because that’s just how he responded the first time, when he took half of Gabriel’s soul. He tried to distance himself from Gabriel yet couldn’t because everything he was…was because of Gabriel. There was no distancing himself from who he was, who he is and what he’s become. He’s the yin to Gabriel’s yang, the dark to Gabriel’s light, the shadow of Gabriel. He’d never amount to what Gabriel was and is. He’d never be good like Gabriel.
Now, some of you might ask “well, why is he comparing himself to Gabriel when he’s his own person?” It’s their souls. Yin and yang. They walk different paths in life but they’ll always find each other again down the line. They’ll always come back to each other.
It’s just a matter of when, where, and how hidden away his light is.
Sigma: What a strange and fascinating molecular makeup! It could be worth examining.
Reaper: No thank you.
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Now, my Reaps wouldn’t ever allow Sigma to do this...or at the very least it’d take a lot of building up trust with Sig in order for Reaps to do so. Reaps essentially has PTSD from what Moira did to him. This PTSD, when triggered, leads to violent outbursts. He does the more violent approach of “get me the fuck out of here”. So, doctor talk and especially mentions of experiments or even examining on any level can trigger this. Reaps may be a deadly ass monstrosity, but what Moira put him through is something he’d never want to repeat.
Gabriel would be more than welcome to being examined which would shed light onto some of what Reaps and Wraith are, but Reaps is much more complex and deadly.
Wraith would be a little more conflicted on whether they should or not because of the two different reactions from Gabriel and Reaps. They know Sigma isn’t bad or evil in his ways of research, but they’ll remain undecided (even though they’d prefer to be examined to better understand themselves - which Reaps wholeheartedly disagrees with because “I can teach you all of that!”).
Reaper: Your heart is pounding, traitor. Are you scared?
Bap: Had anyone ever told you that you're kind of a creep?
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Now, I already have this headcanoned for my Reaps. His mask is able to do many things like read someone’s vitals. So, he could see Baps raised heart rate. At the same time with what Reaps has gone through since that time....he could be able to just sense and/or hear someone’s heart rate rising similar to a vampire (at least in most media).
My duo (Reaps and Gabi) are still written from my POV of 2016 before all the lore stuff for him/them dropped. Like, from 2020 on, I haven’t added anything new to them. Sure HC wise but nothing including the new lore. Like, I’ve added Martina as Gabi’s ex-wife, sure…but I haven’t changed my old 2016 backstory for them up to fix that. Hell, I don’t even care about it and kinda wanna trash it altogether. My bois are mostly HC based anyways.
And a new idea came to my mind while searching through the reaper tag on tumblr. Came across a post that talked about the errors within OW’s lore and Gabi’s lore itself as well…blizzard doesn’t know him. Is he a villain bc of racial motives forcing him to be or is it just lore getting retconned bc they’ve moved away from what it was before bc of how OW2 has turned out so they gotta change shit to fix it? Like, the post was saying “why would Gabriel killed Antonio/the leader of Talon just to then join Talon???” bc what Talon stands for goes against the motives that were revealed to us and later reenforced in reaper’s “Code of Vengence” story. Yet it still doesn’t explain why he’d join that organization entirely.
Which got me thinking of what was revealed to us in that story as well as certain interactions we got in OW2 for Reaper.
Martina and their son.
Who mentions them?
Widowmaker and Sombra.
Sombra: Wanna know what Martina's been up to?
Reaper: Not interested.
Sombra: Hmm, that's not what my tracker says.
She knows.
Widowmaker: Are you ever tempted to contact your wife?
Reaper: No.
Widowmaker: Afraid she would try to kill you?
Reaper: I'd be surprised if she didn't.
They both know of her. While we know little to nothing about her besides the fact she’d try to kill Reaper on sight or otherwise upon seeing Gabriel again.
How would those two have known about her? Sombra can hack and get that knowledge sure - I don’t think she’d personally share it tho…use it more for blackmail than sharing with the team…but Widowmaker? Perhaps Martina was part of Overwatch during Widow’s time before becoming blue/purple lady of murder? How likely do we wish to believe that though?
What if…the only reason Gabriel joined Talon was because of blackmail. Threats to his (ex)wife and son. Particularly from Moira, Max or Doom - more likely Moira but less in a “I’m openly threatening you” and more of a “this is a subtle threat that you know I’ll follow through on” and the “you” is Gabriel. What if that’s the reason Gabi and Reaps are separated? A deal made between Gabi and Moira for Reaps to remain with Moira to do with as she pleases so that Gabi could return to Martina or at least be promised she and their son would be safe? I always HC’d that Gabi and Reaps hated each other (Gabi hated Reaps bc of the shit he did as him and Reaps never had a solid reason for hating Gabi tbh…I couldn’t think of a reason…until now).
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However, if Gabi made this deal he and Moira (along with Widow and likely also Sombra) know that Martina likely wouldn’t want him back. Whether because of what he did being revealed to the world from Blackwatch and she being disgusted at that, it being revealed he was the terrorist named Reaper but now he’s “better” or whatever. With that knowledge, Gabi doesn’t return to her. Not in a way that he would’ve preferred. He keeps an eye on her and their son, from a distance. He’s a better father dead than a father that’s been alive the whole time and couldn’t be there for his family for sometime. Least, that’s what he tells himself.
Meanwhile, with Reaps…his hatred boils. His own host betrayed him and left him at the mercy of the red headed devils talons….which held no mercy. He’s further experimented on, his abilities enhance and get better…for worse tortures. Reaps could handle what Moira did to him so long as Gabi was there. It was a shared burden. Now it’s his burden. His alone. Alone. He was alone. While Reaps did know those he worked with, he didn’t know them. He knew their names, their faces, the way they smelt…but did not know them. That was Gabi’s job, to know others. Now he’s thrown to the wolves with no backbone to stand with.
It’s worse for those within Talon as well. The Reaper certainly wasn’t always a friendly person…nearly never was in all honesty. However…when the separation happened and things furthered with Reaps….there was a hollowness about The Reaper. There was obvious hatred within him but also an emptiness. Something was taken from him - no, it. That wasn’t a man anymore. That was Death walking amongst men. Were they blessed or cursed for that? Only time would tell.
That Death was a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode. One interaction away from going off and killing everyone it deemed it. Perhaps not even an interaction but a day….a time….a smell….a feeling? Who knows really.
A curse disguised as a blessing it must be then.
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Funnily enough, I always had Gabi sort of reluctant to interact with anyone post the separation because "I did shit I'm not proud of....they have no right to forgive me for what I did and I don't expect them to. I was still there, still present to a degree even if I couldn't stop it from happening." and that's why he was closed off or otherwise terrified to see Ana, Rein, Jack, Cassidy, Genji, etc etc again bc "you dont need to forgive me and i dont expect you to but i am not that person (anymore)". He's so riddled with cPTSD and nightmares that he uses coffee or other caffeinated sources to stay up, losing a lot of sleep to the point of passing out which worsens his nightmares....which starts the process all over again. He's so fucking traumatized by what he did as The Reaper that he can't go back to normal life. Moira knew this. She isn't worried about him ever coming after her for what she's done to him or Reaps. He cannot function in the world anymore. At least he wont be able to for a long ass time and with the right help.
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This is why I like the HC that Reaps needing souls isn't about souls. It's about a soul. Gabriel's soul. Reaps needs him to survive, the others are just a source of torture Moira can use against him. A way to keep Reaps "in line" by taking or giving souls as she sees fit.
That's why I like Wraith being the thing that ties the two together in the Triple Threat verse. They're trying to keep the peace but also trying to get the two not to kill each other (more so keeping Reaps from killing Gabi). Reaps bonds with Wraith well enough. Reluctantly at first ofc as "oh its just another me that was abandoned, huh? how many more is he gonna separate from himself until he's satisfied?" and Wraith knows this. While Wraith is typically portrayed like a child - new to the world and everything….it's more so a way to distract Reaps from his murderous thoughts to - hopefully - teach Wraith how to be like him. At least, how to use the nanites better than like "i want them as a complete carbon copy of myself".
Another angsty thought while we're on this topic: Moira having someone keep tabs on Gabi just in case Reaps does anything, they can just swoop in, grab Gabi and he is at Moira's mercy - which she has none of.
So, Gabi got out to protect Martina and their son but now Reaps technically (albeit not to his knowledge) has the choice to protect or condemn Gabi based on his actions.
While Reaps does hate Gabi for the choice he made, Reaps wouldn't want Gabi dead or tortured because of the choices he - Reaps - made. They need each other even if neither wishes to admit to it.
While Reaps isn't the most intimate person, if at all. If he does form a close bond with someone and he trusts them...they're more likely to see underneath the mask than others. Moira is the only one that knows what he looks like without the mask but she's not a trusted person to him. His appearance has changed since the last time she saw him, though.
He'll allow only those trusted to 1. touch his mask 2. take the mask off & 3. touch his face
Hand-holding will never happen. Don't ask. He won't do it and he won't ask for it.
If he's concerned for someone he's reluctant to give any kind of physical reassurance because of his claws. Now because he's afraid he can't be gentle because he can be and he knows he can be. It's the knowledge that those hands have murdered and he's now using them to touch someone he cares for or otherwise is concerned about to some degree.
If he ever has to use his nanites to heal his partner, he's reluctant to do so. He's used them to kill, never to heal - save for himself. Reaps isn't entirely sure how his nanites will react to others in a nonviolent manner.
Reaps' way of showing he cares is....likely not ideal for most. It's silent or little things. Things you might not even think are ways he'd show it or even ways people show they care. He's not a big PDA or gifts type of being. It's the little things. How his partner prefers the AC or heater set to and always makes sure it's set to that, always setting their alarm if they forget to do so, making sure they get their medication if they take any, etc etc.
He'll notice the smallest of changes in his partner's behavior and adjust accordingly. He'd likely have these memorized before it even got to the partnership level as being close typically means guards are lessened between one another, yes?
While Reaps holds an air of intimidation and murder....if you touch his partner with the intent to harm or maim....you'll get it back tenfold. Don't flirt with his partner either. Do not touch that which Death has taken as his own. Reaps possessive asf and also super jealous.
He doesn't like sharing - yes, he doesn't like sharing in the Triple Threat verse too. Only shows he cares/his affections towards the person in that verse when Gabi and Wraith aren't around. Sometimes when Wraith is around...never when Gabi is around. Reaps can't show Gabi his soft side, not after what he did. Literally just Reaps holding a grudge bc he's a petty bitch lol