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[Orym doesn't know how they've gotten themselves into this.
They'd found themselves taking refuge in a temple to some minor deity that Orym had never heard of before. Bell's Hells had made their way inside, and for a while that was all the halfling knew. Not more than three steps into the temple and he'd collapsed, struck unconscious without even a moment to react. He'd later learn that the same had happened to Dorian -- though the rest of the members of the Hells had been entirely unaffected.
The appearance of the worshippers in the temple had been met with suspicion by most of their still-awake friends, but by the time Dorian and Orym woke up, it was clear that they had no chance but to take the offered help. The temple, it seems, has been in a sort of stasis, a waiting, for the right people to step inside. Some prophecy that is now being fulfilled with a halfling and an air genasi who did not sign up for this. But they are in it now, and there is only one way to survive this curse.
Orym awakes with a start. He finds himself laid out on a stone altar, though soft, silken fabric has been draped over it -- similar to the frankly flimsy material of the shift that he's been dressed in. There are flowers in his hair, and strewn around him and for once he's not the source of them. He glances to his left and sees Dorian there, still sleeping, dressed and adorned similarly. For just a fraction of a second, Orym feels his breath catch. Dorian looks too beautiful to be real, dressed in the same diaphanous white robes, adorned similarly with flowers. Concern takes over in the next moment and he reaches over to set a hand on his chest, shaking gently.]
Dorian? Dorian, wake up.
[He sounds a bit frantic, looking around and immediately noting that his weapons are nowhere nearby. He doesn't recognize this place, the chamber large and lit by firelight and moonlight. And they're alone. Where are the others?
What Orym, for all his perceptiveness, has not noticed, is the thin band of gold that circles his neck, nor the identical one around Dorian's. Those will be a problem he'll learn about shortly.]
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Date: 2023-09-03 06:07 am (UTC)[From hidden feelings to confessions to... desperate ritual sex.
Orym meets that gaze though, and the only thing Dorian will find in those bright green eyes is affection.
As for how he's feeling?] Lucky. Really, really lucky. You?
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Date: 2023-09-03 06:20 am (UTC)[ Admittedly he did feel a little nervous about how quickly everything happened. But seeing the affection in Orym’s eyes does put him a bit more at ease.
Still, he does pause a moment as the question is turned back on him. ] I feel…happy? Happier than I ever expected to be. But I think…I still have some questions. Things we might need to…to talk about, yeah?
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Date: 2023-09-03 06:23 am (UTC)Yeah, I think that's fair. We should definitely talk.
[He nods, though he isn't entire certain where to begin and looks to Dorian to see if he has any idea.]
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Date: 2023-09-03 06:35 am (UTC)…how long? I mean, that you…
[ He gestures vaguely between them. ]
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Date: 2023-09-03 06:42 am (UTC)...a while. A long while. Since the airship to Marquet.
[After Dorian had agreed without hesitating to come with him to chase down clues and leads about the assassins that had attacked Zephrah years ago.]
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Date: 2023-09-03 06:48 am (UTC)Really? That long?
[ To think, all this time…
Maybe it was a good thing the goddess had decided to intervene. Who knows how long they could have gone dancing around one another. ]
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Date: 2023-09-03 06:52 am (UTC)Yeah, that long.
[He's been trying to convince himself that it's been the wrong time to tell him, that they both have so much to do and worry about. But when it comes down to it, he's been afraid of making that leap. He wasn't sure he remembered how to do all this, and he was terrified of doing something to ruin their friendship.]
What about you?
[It's a soft, tentative question.]
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Date: 2023-09-03 06:59 am (UTC)…since Niirdal-Poc.
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Date: 2023-09-08 02:57 am (UTC)[Orym finds himself flushing now too. So there's been a lot of time that they've just been pining at one another like two ships passing in the night. He can't help a laugh, and he shifts closer in Dorian's lap to wind his arms around his neck, fingers finding their way into the bard's hair.]
I wanted to say something, but I was afraid I'd screw up our friendship if you didn't...
[Well. Here they are and those fears it seems, may have been unfounded.]
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Date: 2023-09-08 03:12 am (UTC)[ Dorian leans into Orym’s touch, breathing out a weak laugh of his own. ]
I was…worried about that too. And it just never seemed like…a good time to say anything? [ He glances off to the side again, his fingers idly drifting up and down Orym’s back. ]
Before that we’d been fighting, and it would have been awkward? To say anything. And then after that we had to deal with Opal and the crown - and that was at least partially, if not mostly my fault for wanting to keep the stupid thing, so there’s that. And then you got called to Zephrah, and when Fearne and I went with you, you told us about Will, and I…I didn’t think I could ever tell you then.
[ Especially after learning more about Will, and realizing that he could never measure up to the man that Orym had loved and lost. ]
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Date: 2023-09-08 04:41 am (UTC)[But there goes his Dorian looking away from him, breaking eye contact. The halfling listens, really truly listens, and he hears those familiar insecurities. He's about to scold Dorian about it not being his fault at all, never mind mostly, but when the other man mentions Will, that catches Orym's attention. The way he says he couldn't ever tell him after that.
Oh. Orym can connect those dots into what they are.]
Are you still worried about that? I used to worry about it too, that after loving Will, after losing him, that there was no chance I could love someone like that again. I believed that for a long time. Then I met you. And I was so wrong. I fell so hard. I think I'm still falling. I don't know if I deserve it, deserve you, but I feel like I've been given a second chance. [It's the sort of miracle that doesn't happen in little lives like his, but here he is anyway, and he isn't going to take it for granted.]
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Date: 2023-09-08 04:51 am (UTC)N-No…? I-I mean, not quite like that. I…I was sure that you were capable of loving again. Your heart is made for caring for people, and I knew it was only a matter of time until you found someone that could help you remember that.
[ He just…never expected it to be him. ]
There isn’t any doubt that you deserve someone who loves you, Orym. Honestly, you deserve so much better.
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Date: 2023-09-08 05:34 am (UTC)I can't imagine anyone better than you.
[It doesn't seem possible, plain and simple.]
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Date: 2023-09-08 05:40 am (UTC)I…I don’t know about that. But I want to be…I want to be everything that you deserve.
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Date: 2023-09-08 05:53 am (UTC)You're everything I want.
[Everything he could possibly want, need. He hasn't felt whole like this in longer than he can remember, but now he's in Dorian's arms, and oh he's complete. He's home.]
I'll do whatever I can to be the man you deserve too.
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Date: 2023-09-08 06:02 am (UTC)You don’t have to do anything, Orym. You’re already more than enough.
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Date: 2023-09-09 04:09 am (UTC)This is actually real.
[Not some fever dream. Not some trick of this goddess's strange temple and cult. This is only them. He's certain of that now, and his heart is racing in the realization.]
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Date: 2023-09-09 04:15 am (UTC)It has to be…none of the dreams I’ve had came anywhere close to this.
[ It’s a thrilling realization, to know that Orym truly did feel the same way he did. That he could actually give his heart to the halfling without worry. ]
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Date: 2023-09-09 04:56 am (UTC)Yeah, mine neither.
[Nowhere near this, the way his heart is soaring while still beating in his chest. And since it's right there, he kisses against Dorian's neck, nipping at soft skin.]
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Date: 2023-09-09 05:03 am (UTC)Orym…
[ How easily it would be for things to get heated once again. ]
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Date: 2023-09-09 05:33 am (UTC)Dorian...
[He murmurs the name in answer before leaning back to seek out his eyes, biting at his lower lip.]
You know they're watching, right? [No doubt in his mind about this. He lets his hands run over Dorian's chest then, fingers wet and warm from the water.]
Want to give them something to see?
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Date: 2023-09-09 05:38 am (UTC)Then he grins a little, hitching Orym a little higher up his body. ]
If they want to watch, we might as well give them a show.
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Date: 2023-09-09 06:20 am (UTC)Mm... good. They can look but they can't touch. You're mine, and I want everyone to know it.
[Just a small possessive streak.[
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Date: 2023-09-09 06:26 am (UTC)Surprise flashes across his face at Orym’s next words, though, and he can’t help the excitement coursing through him at the thought. ]
Mm, you’re right. Let them look. I want them to see who I belong to.
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Date: 2023-09-09 06:53 am (UTC)That's right. Dorian belongs to him. But oh the opposite is just as true. He belongs heart and body and soul to the other man.]
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