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Orym grunted as he placed his sword and shield carefully at the foot of the bed. Every part of him ached, and his years of experience told him he’d be sporting a fair few bruises in the morning. Unfortunately, those years also told him that sleeping in his armour would be a terrible idea, as tempting an idea collapsing straight into bed was. Grimacing, he started to unbuckle his armour trying to avoid the most tender spots. After several uncomfortable minutes he lifted the armour over his head, hissing with pain as he did so. Setting it down beside the rest of his equipment, he finally fell into his bed with a sigh of relief.
For a while he lay there, enjoying the feeling of cool sheets against his skin. Shutting his eyes he started to meditate, breathing gently as he slowly started to move the pain into the background. Focusing on his breathing and heartbeat, he didn’t hear the sound of the door opening. It wasn’t until he felt a wave of soothing magic course through him that he realised he wasn’t alone. Ordinarily he would have reached for his sword in a second, but he knew the feeling of this magic so instead he simply smiled.
‘Hi there Dorian’, he said, not even opening his eyes, ‘Did downstairs get too boring for you?’.
Orym heard Dorian chuckle, ‘No downstairs was plenty entertaining, but a man needs his rest at some point’.
‘I can’t argue with you there’, Orym opened his eyes to see Dorian getting undressed, tossing aside his own armour for the night, ‘Were you able to get Bertrand to his room alright?’.
Dorian put the last of his stuff away and climbed into bed, ‘I’m afraid not, Bertrand was quite adamant he was going to see the sun rise. I tried to persuade him otherwise, but he was having none of it’.
‘Well hopefully he finds his way to his bed eventually’, Orym rolled over onto Dorian’s chest to get a proper look at him, ‘The old guy needs more rest than us’.
‘Hmm’, Dorian said as he scanned over his boyfriend, unconvinced, ‘Are you sure Mr ‘You’re with me’, because if I recall you got the shit kicked out of you today’.
Orym looked away sheepishly, ‘It’s nothing, I can take a hit, it’s what I was trained for’.
‘Orym it’s not nothing’, Dorian’s tone turned sharp, ‘What if I had run out of healing magic? You could have died’.
‘Look can we not talk about this please?’, Orym sighed, ‘What’s done is done. I survived thanks to you, so everything is fine’.
‘Except it’s not Orym’, the bed creaked as Dorian sat up, ‘How many times does this make it where you’ve willingly directed all attention to you? All the hits and ire of our enemies?’.
‘Well, I…’.
‘Too many to count Orym’, Dorian exclaimed, ‘Every time we go into battle I see you make yourself the target, and it scares me’.
‘Scares you?’, Orym tilted his head.
‘Yes Orym, it scares me’, Dorian said angrily, ‘Because one day I know I won’t be able to save you, and that thought kills me’.
‘It’s not your job to save me’, Orym bit back, ‘I put myself in harm’s way and take the hits because I know you can’t.
‘So what, you think I’m weak?’, Dorian cried, jumping out of bed.
‘No, of course not’, Orym replied defensively as Dorian started pacing up and down, ‘You’re incredible, you can do things way beyond me. But you can’t deny that you fall a lot easier than I do’.
Dorian spun round on him, ‘That doesn’t mean I can’t take any Orym! And it certainly doesn’t mean you can take them all!’.
‘Well what else am I good for!’, Orym shouted, ‘I can only do one thing, and if it keeps everyone safe then I’ll do it again and again!’.
‘Orym…’, Dorian’s voice broke, tears threatening to spill.
It was those tears that made Orym stop dead in his tracks. All his anger seeped out of him as he realised how deeply hurt Dorian was. And he had caused that. That thought hurt more than anything his body had been put through today. Gingerly, he got out of bed and went over to Dorian. Reaching around him he wrapped Dorian up in a hug. The bard stilled for a moment, before giving in to the touch.
They stood there for a minute, before Orym took Dorian’s hand and led him back to bed. Once they’d settled together Orym spoke.
‘I’m sorry Dorian’, he said quietly, ‘I never meant to make you feel like I didn’t trust in your strength’.
‘Oh Orym’, Dorian sighed, ‘I know you didn’t, but it still hurt’.
Orym shifted uncomfortably, ‘Well, let me tell you now that I think you’re one of the strongest people I know and if I ever make you feel less than that I give you permission to remind me of that strength’.
Dorian gave a small chuckle, ‘I may take you up on that’.
Orym smiled before getting serious again, ‘But Dorian I can’t promise that I’ll start letting other people take damage when I can take more’.
‘I know, your desire to save others is one of the many things I love about you’, Dorian pulled Orym in close, ‘But can you at least try and make sure you share the burden a bit more, even if only a small amount?’.
Orym paused before giving a nod, ‘I’ll try, though not sure how successful I’ll be’.
‘As long as you try that’s all I ask’.
The two fell into a comfortable silence, the air still tinged with their earlier argument but already was fading away. Eventually, they off, the day having finally caught up to them. Neither knew what the next day would bring, but for now they had each other and that was enough.