"Well, I know I do. But as for Fen, you'll have to ask yourself. I think he's just scared." Archer flashed him an apologetic smile. "Fen has been scared of the unknown and rejection for about as long as I can remember. But if you ask him, I'm sure he'll be willing to talk. Just be gentle with him, emotions aren't his thing."
Ori gave him a sunny little smile in response, squeezing Archer's hand. "Yeah, I know, I just… I'm gonna ride this high for a little, okay?" He couldn't keep himself from stammering, too excited. "This is… um.. this is a much nicer reaction than I thought I'd get, so I'll talk to Fen about it later."
"Good. Because I think you're the piece we weren't willing to admit we were missing." Archer looked to find Fen only to see nothing. "Um, speaking of which, where'd he go? Did he leave without us?"
Ori gave himself about five seconds to be all warm and fuzzy about the admission before he started looking around for Fen as well, glancing behind and ahead and finding that there wasn't any trace of him. "Shit, maybe we left him behind? Do you remember passing him?"
Archer groaned, looking up at the sky. "I think his one track mind made him panic and he ran off without us. He's done it before." He shook his head with a smile. "Once he realizes what happened, he'll come back for us."
Ori couldn't help but laugh, squinting at the trail ahead of them to see if he could spot any trace of their healer. "God, that's cute. Should we try to catch up to him, or should we just keep heading towards the town and wait for him to make his way back?"
"Just keep heading towards town, he'll eventually make his way back to us all worried." Archer motioned for Ori to follow him as he kept on the path towards the town.
Ori smiled and wandered along by Archer's side, lacing their fingers together with a soft smile. "So, ah… how long have you liked me Archer?"
"For a bit." Archer blushed, looking anywhere but at Ori. "I think it started when you saved Fen from that werewolf attack. When most people join us on our journey, they only really try to protect me. Fen is so independent and strong, it's like they just assume that he can take care of himself and doesn't need to be cared for. And I'm not saying that he can't take care of himself but I feel like people forget that he's human too. He has wants and needs, even if he doesn't say it. You were the first person to ever step up and take care of Fen too."
Ori pulled Archer in a little closer with a sunny smile. "Cute," he teased, reaching up to run his fingertips across one of the bard's flushed cheeks. "You really love him, don't you? I didn't even pick up on that, I just… y'know, did it."
He sighed in contentment. "I love him more than anything in the world." He bit his lip with a slight frown. "But I don't know, for the longest time I've just felt like something was missing. It's not that Fen didn't satisfy me, that wasn't it. It was just…it felt like I was forgetting something. And then we met you. And then you saved Fen. And I realized just what I was missing."
Archer looked up at Ori with a smile. "Fen takes care of me but I guess I never really felt like I was enough to take care of Fen. But you are. And I feel like I'm good enough to take care of you. So it all comes full circle and now my heart is the calmest it's been in years."
Ori flushed a little as he listened, unable to keep the smile off his face. "You're so sweet," he said, and his voice was so warm. It hadn't even registered in his head, when he'd saved Fen. They were all hopped up on adrenaline and one of the werewolves had lunged and he had gone off without thinking. Even afterwards, it hadn't seemed like a big deal.
"And you do a fine job taking care of Fen, you just do it differently than he does. It's… it's like you said,." He gave Archer's hand a soft squeeze, turning his smile towards the bard this time, instead of just aiming it at the ground. "He does the physical care, and you do the emotional stuff, and… I guess I'll be there too, when the two of you need me."
"Oh come on, you're selling yourself short." Archer nudged his side. "You help keep us sane. You do all the mental stuff. Fen does what he can but he's no expert and I'm the last person you should go to for something like that. But you. You're steady. You're calming. Like a rock in a violent sea. And I think it's just what we needed."
Ori's laugh was a little bit strained as he nudged Archer back. "You can't possibly know that," he protested, but it was weak even to his own ears. "We've only been travelling together for a few weeks. I've barely had time to steady myself, let alone both of you. And just because I'm better at the brainy stuff doesn't mean the two of you aren't good. You did perfectly well without me there."
Archer huffed, his nose scrunching as he thought before he leaned up and kissed Ori's cheek softly. "That's why we want you here. With us. Then maybe we have a chance at steadying each other just a bit more."
The kiss had Ori flushing all over again, leaning into the touch even as Archer pulled away. "You can't just kiss me every time you want to be right," he complained, frowning down at the bard even though he felt all warm and fuzzy inside. "I can't even remember what we were talking about now, it's not fair."
Archer stuck his tongue out childishly before giggling. "What, are you going to stop me? It works on Fen too, it's my secret weapon."
"Well… I won't do anything to stop you, obviously, but that doesn't mean I won't complain about it!" He tugged Archer in a little closer, pouting by this point. "It's rude, Archer."
"It's not rude if you like it~" He teased. "Archer! Ori! Where are you?!" A far off voice yelled. Archer looked up at Ori. "See? I told you he'd be back for us."
Ori had just enough time to roll his eyes before Fen started calling for them. "We're back here, Fen!" He dragged Archer towards the sound of Fen's voice, sticking to the trail to make sure they didn't get lost too. "You outpaced us a little, just stay where you are and we'll catch up."
"Don't get lost!" Fen called back and Archer shook his head with a smile. "He's the one who left us behind and yet he tells us not to get lost."
Ori laughed quietly, leaning over to peck Archer on the cheek. "He's just worried because you have a habit of wandering off, now c'mon. We're gonna get ourselves in another werewolf fight situation if we don't hurry up."
"Yeah yeah, I'm coming." He kept up with Ori until Fen came into view by the edge of the forest right next to the town, pacing back and forth and chewing on his lip.
Ori let Archer go first, still not quite willing to get between the two of them, but he smiled over at Fen. "We're fine, just so you know. I didn't let your boyfriend run us off the path or anything while you were gone."
Fen looked up at Ori's voice and Archer bounced over and squished his boyfriend in a hug. "I missed you!" Fen rolled his eyes with a smile. "I'm sure you did. By the time I realized you two weren't behind me, I was already at the inn. So I got our room and dinner is on the way so let's get going."