CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
Key:
★ = would spit on your grave/ hates/ absolutely terrified of
★★ = dislike/ afraid of
★★★ = neutral/ acquaintance
★★★★ = friends
★★★★★ = bffs/ love interest/ important person
THE MISTRESS
★★★★★
Definitely the most complex relationship he has. He's careful not to say what he really thinks to anyone, sticking to the facts of what she's said, done, or prohibited him from doing. She's the most important person in his world, and his loyalty is without question always for her, even if he does disobey her occasionally with his attempts to beat the system and have sex. He goes along with her whims and commands, even when they bring him physical harm or humiliation, and he regards that as part of their agreement and the price he pays for learning magic from her and won't hear of people questioning what goes on between them. His education is his business. And even when she wasn't here, he was still careful to try to play by her rules (though he definitely had sex) and maintain his allegiance to her. He won't hear any criticisms of what she's done to him, either, or makes him do. Probably because he seems to be crushing on her.
AGNES/PERDITA NITT
★★★★★
Agnes is the closest thing Ivan has to a best friend here, if not his actual best friend. It helps that she's one of the few women he's met who isn't out to get something from him, whether it's his cock or something more sinister, like his blood. They bicker and tease like siblings, and he sort of treats her the way he would a sister: feeling generally protective of her while trying to be supportive and let her handle her own business. She respects that he's made his own bed with the Mistress and doesn't pick at him over it, which he's grateful for. He hasn't slept with her yet- not because he thinks she's unattractive, but because that would probably make things weird, and he likes having her as a friend. Really needs her as a friend, actually; it's nice having someone to talk to who understands why he finds the city so confusing and can offer him support, and who genuinely wants nothing but his friendship and support in return.
He also knows Perdita, Agnes' other personality, and they're on friendly terms. Ivan chalks up her existence to "weird magic," and compared to other things he's seen or lived through it doesn't seem all that strange. They fight more than Ivan and Agnes do, and he doesn't think much of some of her decisions or her taste in men. Similarly, she's more willing than Agnes to snap back or call him on his own stupid choices. But he likes her anyway.
HELEN
★★/★★★/★★★★
Ivan's opinion of Helen tends to run the gamut of emotions. Sometimes he really wants to punch her in the face, and then sometimes he genuinely likes her. Or at least doesn't want to kick her in the shins. Most of the time she's just frustrating, considering that she's almost always trying to pick on him or get a dig in and she never shuts up. He can't figure out what her deal is, if she actually likes him or just thinks he's fun to try to bully, but he's not above trying to get back at her for being so damn annoying. He doesn't have to put up with that sort of shit from her.
On the flip side, he's not frightened of her for not being human, and they actually have had some friendly moments. He's also tried to subtly hit on her/impress her, though he'd deny actually feeling any interest in her that way if someone tried to call him on it, because why would he want to have sex with someone who's such a bitch? Never mind that she's reasonably attractive (though he won't admit to having noticed that.) So really he just spends most of his time with her being annoyed and frustrated and trying to come up with the ultimate come-back that will get her off his case. Basically they act like five-year-olds dumping sand in each other's hair.
ROSE TYLER
★★★/★★★★
Another somewhat confusing person. Rose is the woman who took his virginity, at least with women, which earns her a special place. He likes sleeping with her a lot, and thinks she's a very nice person, but at the same time he finds her a bit puzzling. Their interactions gave him the idea that their relationship was nothing more sexual (and hey, he's so cool with that.) But it turns out she wants a romantic lover- and he's not sure at all that he's ready for that, or if he even feels that way about her, let alone if it's even safe for him to have that sort of relationship. Since he couldn't make her that promise, they sort of "broke up," though he still thinks of her fondly and is glad for the help she's given him. And he'd still sleep with her in a heartbeat, no strings attached.
YUNE
★★★
They had really weird sex once. He's not sure what's up with her, except that she's pretty powerful. She reminds him of the Mistress in that way, but he can't figure out what her deal was, and she says weird things. They haven't met since, so their sex was something of a big-lipped alligator moment. It was confusing and random. But damn good sex.
MINAMIMOTO SHO
★★★
Another weirdo. Ivan explained sex and foreplay to him in great detail in a very awkward experience with an unchipped hooker. He doesn't think badly of him. He just thinks he's weird and crazy, so he's careful in approaching him and not really sure how to deal with him.
MIRANDA LOTTE
★★★
They've met twice and probably had sex the second time. She thinks he's weird, and he thinks she's nice but quiet and timid. She helped him get over his wonky fear of cats after the Greebo incident, and he feels a little more at ease around her than he might normally because she just seems so meek, and she doesn't pick on him or give him a hard time. Really, her life is just as pathetic as his. Since he kissed her during the handcuff event he'll definitely be looking for her again, and might try to strike up a friendship with her. Or at least some canoodling.
BAHZELL BAHNAKSON
★★★
The hradrani was kind of enough to lend Ivan his shirt when he was having difficulty with his own as a woman. There's a certain cultural gap there, and it was awkward because Ivan was pissed off and scared over the sex-swap, but he's grateful for the help and wouldn't mind getting to know him better. He also knows that he's friends with Agnes, which also makes him feel a little more warmly towards the guy.
CYNTHIA
★★★
They've only met once, but Ivan instantly liked her because she understood that Helen is a jerkface.
SOPHIE-ANNE LECLERQ
★★
Ivan started off afraid of her. She happened to catch him on a bad day asking for him to join her harem, and then he got a little too snappish and wound up getting fed from with no memory of it ever happening. Understandably, he was a little wary of her after that, and he still doesn't know that she gave him her blood. But their interactions have let him warm to her a little bit, despite the fact that Agnes gave him 20000 warnings about vampires and how dangerous they can be. He kind of regrets that his commitment to Mistress means he can't take her up on her offer of protection, room, board, and sex in exchange for his blood, which sounds much sweeter than anything he's gotten as an apprentice; but she can't teach him magic, so she can't sway his allegiance. They had sex when Ivan was a woman, though. He's starting to lose his fear of her and think that they may be able to come to some arrangement...
L LAWLIET
★★
Ivan constantly wants to punch L in the face. The only thing stopping him is that he's Perdita's lover, and it's not kosher to punch your best friend's boyfriend. He keeps insisting that Ivan must be abused, from the very first moment they met, which is not endearing at all. And then he just pissed him off anymore by demonstrating a complete lack of social skills. It really didn't help that Ivan didn't really like him before he even met him, because he asked Agnes to live with him out of the blue. He has that annoying habit of pointing stuff out that Ivan doesn't really want to hear and pushing his buttons, or just being a childish nuisance. Basically Ivan can't decide if he's socially dense, or just an asshole.
GREEBO
★
Haaaaaaaaaate. So much hate for Greebo. It's that multiple rape thing, tends to kill any sort of potentially positive relationship. Ivan can't think of any way to make it any clearer that he wants nothing to do with the cat, but all his attempts to dissuade Greebo's interest in him have failed. He's the only person Ivan genuinely hates and wouldn't spit on if he were on fire.
The problem: he's enjoyed the sex every time by the end of it, even if he didn't want to have sex with Greebo. It didn't help that when the cat was a woman they were handcuffed together and ended up having sex, or that it was the best sex of Ivan's life and female!Greebo was pretty much the perfect partner. That encounter gave Ivan a clue into how difficult and strange this was for the cat as well, and he can't help feeling sorry for Greebo sometimes. But that doesn't mean he forgives what the cat did, or that he'll ever stop hating him.
If I've left somebody off, comment here and I'll add them on. Updated as of April 12, 2010. Coding comes from tipsyfish .