forum Fantasy poly couple anyone?

Started May 16, 2021 by @Elder-God-Jacks347

tune

Ori rolled his eyes. "Yeah but you learned that stuff. Properly, with teachers and schooling and all of that. I just… I just do it because I've been doing it all my life. There's a difference."

"Ha! School? You're funny. I learned though trial and error! Well, and through some passing bards that got sick of me butchering their instruments. You don't need school to be good at what you do."

Ori gave him a long look before his gaze eventually drifted to the ground in front of them. "Still. You got taught it somehow, by people who knew what they were doing. It's a world of difference."

"And? You're never too old to learn." Archer took Ori's hand gently. "You don't have to be young to have a teacher. You can still be something much greater than this."

Ori flushed slightly, tugging his hands away. "That's silly though. I'm a grown man, y'know? I can do things by myself, and anyways, I'm no good at being taught."

"And yet we've taught you to accept yourself and that loving two people at once isn't something to be ashamed of. I say that's a pretty good start."

"Yeah but that's… that's different." He frowned. "That's just helping me figure out a part of myself, y'know? It's not learning, it's just… accepting."

"Accepting is its own form of learning. Not all learning comes from a classroom. So long as it's you discovering something you didn't know before, its learning. So I say it counts."

"But it's not like I picked up anything new, Archer. That stuff was always there, and anyways it's not like liking yourself is a skill. If I've done anything, I've finally caught up to everyone else."

"Catching up is the first step in surpassing. You've fallen in line, great. Now how do you step it up and pass them? I think only you really know that answer."

Ori huffed quietly, bumping his shoulder against Archer's. "That's just stilly, babe. You can't be better than other people at liking yourself, you either do or you don't."

"No I- you know what I mean! Why do you insist on putting limits on yourself? The only one stopping you from doing anything to improve is you."

Ori frowned at that, a little hurt. "I don't like that that's the way it is Archer, but that doesn't mean I can change it. It's just the way things are, all arguing is gonna do is make it hurt worse when things inevitably go the way they were always going to."

"And here I was thinking that you were actually optimistic like me." Archer cast Ori a sidelong glance, almost disappointed. He shook it off quickly and focused back on the path ahead of them quietly.

Ori wilted a little beneath the glance, giving Archer's hand a squeeze. "I'm not not an optimist, I just… I don't like thinking about myself that way. It's disappointing."

"What, that you're not good enough to become better? That you're too dumb to learn? Ori, I don't get it." Archer frowned, genuinely confused by his thinking.

"What's not to get, you just explained it perfectly well." He glanced off to the side, more than a little embarrassed. "I'm stupid, Archer, and I'm not gonna stop being that way just because you feel like pretending I'm not."

That ticked Archer off. "You're not stupid Ori! You're here and you're alive and you've been keeping us alive since you got here! If you were truly stupid, you wouldn't be here right now!" He took a shaking breath, trying to calm his temper.

"I've been called a lot of things but I will not be called a liar or a fake." Archer spat the words like they tasted foul.

Ori dropped Archer's hand like he'd been burned. He didn't like that he was dumb, but he'd learned time and time against that he was. Every school teacher and disappointed family member had burned that into him from a very young age.

"Well you seem to think I'm the dumbest piece of shit on earth, since you know everything so much better than I do! Who am I to judge my own experiences, huh? I'm just some slow fucking idiot who needs his whole life explained to him."

"No that's not what I-! You know what? Forget it. I'm done, I'm out of here. I knew I'd be better off on my own in the long run." Archer growled with a dark expression before turning on his heel and storming off which caught Fen's attention. "Wait, Archer-!"

"Shut up! I'm so sick of this! Leave me out of your damn quest for redemption you freak!"

Fen recoiled back like he'd been physically hit, his face going a sickly shade of green as Archer stormed off fuming.

(Hehehe, surprise! Archer's been on the edge of breaking for a while! Ori just gave him the push he needed over it!)

(Dude I'll be real, I completely forgot about this. I've sort of been stressed and rp wasn't really on the front of my mind. here's my reply tho! Sorry it took such a long time.)
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Regret shot through Orion like a bullet the second the words came out of his mouth but by then the damage was done. All he could do was flinch and grapple for Archer's hand as he stormed away. "Arch, wait, I didn't…!"

Whatever he'd been trying to say didn't get out fast enough to matter. Archer was gone like he'd never been there at all and Ori was left guilty and dumbstruck, hesitant to so much as look at Fen lest he make the same mistake and run him off too.

(Hey, it's all good! I'm just glad you're still here!)
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Fen dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around himself in a weak attempt to hold back the roller coaster of emotions he was going through. What actually happened was the tears. Rivers of tears that he couldn't stop even if he wanted to.

And then the scream. The scream that ripped itself from Fen's chest was like broken glass, shredding his throat raw. The stress, pain and heartbreak it contained was like popping the cork off the bottle of his emotions. It eventually dissolved in anguished sobs and pathetic whimpers, his body shaking like a leaf as everything poured out.

(We love a good mental breakdown~)

"Oh, fuck, baby!" Ori dropped to his knees beside Fen, gently setting his hands on his boyfriend's shoulders as he started to shake. It was horrible, watching him break down like this and knowing that it was entirely his fault. "It's okay sweetheart, you're okay, c'mere." He wrapped his arms around Fen slowly, giving him him ample time to pull away before Ori tucked him up against his chest. "We'll be alright."

Fen gripped his shirt so hard his knuckles went white, sobbing into his shoulder. "H-He did it…" He hiccuped. "He finally c-called me a f-freak." He practically spat the word like it was sour in his mouth. "I thought he loved me…"

Ori winced, tugging Fen in close so he could rub his back. He didn't really know how to deal with people when they were upset so he just defaulted to what seemed right, pressing soft kisses to his lover's cheek and doing his best to keep him within reach. "He does love you, sweetpea. It's me he's upset with."

"N-No he didn't. If he loved me he w-wouldn't have left. He wouldn't have said what he did." He just sobbed harder, the image of Archer's face at that moment flashing through his mind again.

Ori shushed him gently, pressing a soft kiss to Fen's temple as the sobbing really started to ramp up. "He was upset baby, people say things they don't mean all the time when they're upset." He pulled Fen in a little closer, pecking him on the cheek. "Everything he did was just to get a rise out of you, it doesn't mean anything."

"Then why would he say it? Why would he say something he knew would hurt me if he didn't mean it?" He pulled back to look at Ori. His eyes were red and glassy with tears and absolutely heartbroken. His cheeks and nose were flushed red from his crying, he was a total mess.

Ori winced as Fen looked up at him, one hand coming up to cup his cheek and wipe away the tears. "He just wanted somebody else to hurt as badly as he's hurting right now, honey." He pressed a soft kiss to his boyfriend's cheek, wrapping an arm around his waist to tug him in close. "We'll get him back, alright? He just needs time, and so do we."