Percy was dumbstruck and could only stare at Taryon for a long moment. Part of him wondered how someone as smart as Tary could have this so wrong, but then he remembered how it had been for him when he was young. How confused he had been about his sexuality. He'd worked it out, obviously, but it still had been there. And he remembered how Vax had been so convinced he was broken for loving more than one person at once. How was this any different? Taryon was a product of his environment, and his environment had taught him that how he felt was wrong. He just needed the space to see that there was nothing wrong with him. And Percy maybe needed to shoot his asshole father in the face for making him doubt himself so much.
He let Taryon wind himself down from his explanation and sighed. "Taryon," he said, gently but firmly, "there is nothing wrong with you. Nothing at all. People love who they love and want who they want and there is no wrong way of doing that so long as you aren't hurting anyone." It killed him to see Taryon so upset over this. He genuinely cared about him, and this was just terribly frustrating.
"You do not have to like women in that way to be a good person or a good adventurer," he assured him. "And if your father made you feel like there was something wrong with you for the way you feel then...fuck him. He isn't worth the dirt under your boots. He's not. You are wonderful and he's just...he's shit, all right? And the stories...they're stories. I've met real heroes and real adventurers and who they love doesn't change that."
"I don't expect this to be immediately easy for you," he said, shifting that much closer to Tary. "But this won't change how we feel about you. It certainly won't change how I feel about you. This isn't something you get right or wrong. It's just who you are. And I think you'll find that life gets a bit easier when you're true to yourself. And I...fuck it-" He leaned in and pressed his mouth to Taryon's gently and carefully. The kiss was mostly chaste. He didn't want to overwhelm Tary. "There is nothing, I mean it, nothing wrong with you."