i've already written the basic rundown of how timain/vinta happens (though it might have changed a little bit since then. their story is a growing thing), so here's the story of aljanah/orym/navimir, or at least how it looks in my head currently!
- i probably hardly need to introduce Aljanah again, but he's the youngest prince of iphimery, he's flirty and horny and doesn't want any responsibility ever. he is every bad bisexual and aromantic stereotype - he wants all the fun and none of the commitment. important author's note: there's literally nothing wrong or bad about sleeping around and not being in or wanting a relationship. prince aljanah kinda sucks, but it's mostly because of the questionable power dynamics involved and the ways he draws people in and leaves them on read. like, it's no fun if the others don't wanna, and most of the time they do wanna, but how do you reject a prince? especially a prince that seems to put everyone under some kind of spell because he's just Very Pretty and Very Charismatic? and it's like, when you have a huge crush on someone and it just makes you really stupid and you just want to be super available to them constantly even though they don't put a FRACTION of that emotional energy into whatever your relationship is? and you're just hanging on forever, hoping that MAYBE, SOMEDAY,
- which leads us to Orym. local bisexual disaster and court mage, son of the captain of the guard. he is a very sweet young man! growing up in the castle alongside the royal family, he's known prince aljanah for his entire life and is arguably what you could call his closest friend, as well as his tutor in magic. has he been pining for the prince this entire time? oh, you know it. i mean, it's already hard enough to be bi when you're surrounded by beautiful royals who are also your friends (princess adhila kissed him on the cheek one day and he has never recovered from it), and it's even worse when you fall a little too hard for prince aljanah, who is definitely willing to give you physical closeness you could want but will crawl out the window of his own room rather than acknowledge any emotional bond.
- (i mean it's, Difficult, when you just do not do the romantic love thing, it's not something you can force, and even if you Could it doesn't mean you can reciprocate everyone, and like. what are you supposed to do about it? it's not your fault people feel the way they do.)
- orym's heart is just so big and tender and he just, follows aljanah lead like a lovesick puppy for years, no matter how many times his heart gets a little broken with every unspoken rejection, because it's better than nothing, right???!!! he can't even IMAGINE rejecting aljanah, and aljanah never rejects him outright either, because y'know. he likes having orym around. he likes having a lot of people around...
- like timian. orym can only watch timian getting tangled along into aljanah's web. orym feels AWFUL and he HATES timian and AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! all that INSECURITY and JEALOUSY he doesn't know how to aim at aljanah, gets twisted into a lot of petty behaviour and hostile stares towards timian. hard to say why timian of all people presses his buttons so much, when it's hardly the only other person aljanah flirts with. maybe it has to do with how much of himself he sees in timian, whos' just, really kind and good and earnest, or the fact that aljanah actually has to put in quite an effort - unstoppable force (aljanah's charm), meet immovable object (timian's Sense of Duty). WHY DOES HE GET THE ATTENTION AND EFFORT AND NOT ORYM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE'S BEEN HERE FOR SO LONG!!!!!!!
- obviously all the emotions and pettiness comes to a head one day. i don't know who is the first to confront the other, if orym just finally loses it, or if timian can only put up a Shield of Niceness for so long before he has to ask OKAY WHAT'S YOUR DEAL. WHAT AM I DOING THAT IS UPSETTING YOU SO MUCH. probably a combination of both. probably during a sparring match - orym might be the castle mage, but his mother always wanted him to be her successor and so he trains with the royal guards a lot. he's avoided sparring with timian ever since he got there, to the point it was just getting weird, and he's one of the best fighters there and so is timian and everyone kinda pushes them into it for their
betting pools. it's during this confrontation they realize both of them have absolutely hopeless crushes on prince aljanah and neither of them know how to deal with it and WHY IS ALJANAH LIKE THIS!!!! HOW DID HE CURSE THEM!!!!!!!!
- in an unexpected twist of events, orym finds himself bonding with timian over this. it's the first time he ever admits, even to himself, that maybe aljanah is kind of a jerk. a little bit. that if he didn't want to be with orym That Way he should just say it, instead of keeping him around at his beck and call. he no longer feels bad about timian, or at least not as much, because timian is genuinely Nice, and he is finally able to see why everyone else likes him so much. timian also finds it very easy to talk to orym after they crack open that cask of vulnerability and unspoken feelings, and tells him a lot of Tragic Backstory things he hasn't told anyone else Ever. they end up becoming very close friends!
- and poor orym whose big loving heart has yearned for an intimate emotional connection his entire life, can't help but fall for timian. OOPS!!!!!
- maybe if things had gone differently, maybe timian would have felt the same. but timian was already caught in a strange emotional hurricane of letting go of his crush on aljanah, nursing a crush on someone else, and the complicated process of reclaiming his own heart and accepting his desires. so when orym manages to confess that he actually really really likes timian Not Just As A Friend, timian is caught off guard - but very kindly rejects him.
- the rejection stings, of course, and he needs some Time, but... it unlocks something in orym. a closure. he and timian are still good friends, but the limit has been drawn, and it's like - it's okay. it's surviveable. things are awkward but still good. most importantly, he learns that aljanah is not all there is. he can have a life beyond him!! maybe he, too, can reject aljanah. and so he does!!!!! IT'S HARD BUT HE DOES IT.
- here goes a block of time where both aljanah and orym grow a little bit as people. orym is building up his self respect and newly won heart independence - of course he still has feelings for aljanah, but he has broken the spell that kept him pining and yearning and willing to drop everything at the drop of a hat for him. he finds the time to do more things for his own sake, and form new and meaningful connections.
- aljanah, who has never had to deal with rejection before, has been rejected by both timian AND orym. he was not in love with either of them as such, but he doesn't... Know?? how to deal with this??? two people he liked a whole lot are suddenly Unavailable????? WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S A BOUNDARY. WHAT'S A BOUNDARY. EXPLAIN HOW I CROSS THIS BOUNDARY PLS?? OBVIOUSLY I SHOULD BE AN EXCEPTION I'M THE PRINCE??? and he just, gets nowhere. he's at a complete loss until he finally manages to confront the fact that if he wants someone's loyalty, it HAS to be a two way street. no, he does not have to do the romance thing, but any meaningful relationship is going to need some commitment and honesty. that way he might even... find someone who wants the same kind of arrangement as he does??? FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
- it's after orym levels up that he meets Lady Navimir. he still has a lot of character development to undergo, as that is a journey with no end - but when he meets the temple priestess and inevitably falls in love almost immediately, at least he feels secure enough in himself that he won't hinge his entire feeling of worth on her reciprocity. navimir does actually like him a whole lot - he IS very handsome, sweet, and worships her just the right amount without sacrificing his own self respect. and that's important to her, as a servant of the goddess of sacrifice. besides, they're both huge nerds about magic and enjoy the occasional late night conversation with the enthusiasm cranked up to the max.
- they've been a couple for a while when orym admits to just how bad he's had it for prince aljanah basically his entire life, and that he loves navimir So Much but he
still has feelings for aljanah (and timian, too. everyone he's been a little bit in love with. he doesn't know how to not love so much). he's apologetic, but navimir is like Hold On, This Is Interesting. Could You Mayhaps Introduce Me? Only If You Would Be Okay With It Course.
-orym obviously didn't cut aljanah off from his life entirely, they live in the same castle, but he made sure to keep magic tutoring strictly professional. their friendship kinda fluctuated for a bit, for a while it was almost gone completely. but as they grew up a bit, they were both able to be a better and more honest friend to one another. it's during a very surprising moment of vulnerability that aljanah actually apologizes for the way he's treated orym, how he mourns the loss of what they had but knows it wasn't gonna work out like that forever, how he cannot stand the idea of being tied down (figuratively. ropes are fine), and how he doesn't really know where to go from here.
- so when the opportunity presents itself, orym brings aljanah and navimir together. now, navimir is a very emotionally secure person who takes zero bullshit and pretty twinks like aljanah are a dime a dozen to her, so she is basically immune. they get along great - aljanah is basically smitten with her immediately (she has that effect. how's that feel, princeling?), and navimir definitely enjoys his company, especially now that he's less of a jerk than he used to be.
- the establising of the new relationship grounds goes a little awkwardly to begin with, but they do figure out an arrangement that works for all three of them. aljanah still doesn't do the romantic love thing, and he still gets to do, uh, things with other people, but he becomes devoted to the triad in his own way that makes sense for him and does not feel like a prison. orym still has a lot of Heart Emotions but no longer pours all of them on aljanah. navimir has two boys who absolutely adore her to bits and she gets to bully a prince which is fun. IT WORKS
anyway that's how the polycule came to be. i should probably come up with a practical name for it, like the castle polycule or something.
