i think that in my crack thistle(rock)caster au, when gorgug and fabian first start dating part of the reason why gorgug is so surprised and delighted by how fabian treats him is that subconsciously he absorbed the hetero-centric idea that girls are the ones who get flowers and nice presents, and that since obviously gorgug and fabian are both boys, that means they're not going to be giving each other thoughtful gifts or going on nice dates. and if orcs are considered to be more "masc" in solace compared to species like elves, then gorgug is EXTRA not expecting to be doted on as much as he is. and when ragh gets involved, i think he has a very similar mindset, even after shedding most of his hangups about being gay and seeing how fabian treats gorgug. he expects (as the oldest and most masc of the three) to be doing the doting, not receiving it. And while ragh *does* dote on gorgug and fabian a lot, they absolutely dote right back. he gets flowers and sentimental notes and little things that his partners saw and thought he would like, and he is absolutely struck dumb every time this happens for probably months.









