It would've been so much easier if he felt what he did towards Keyleth. It didn't matter if she had a lover (or a number of lovers) and wouldn't return the feelings of affection. Tary could look at it as a step on the proper path. If his book couldn't have romance then it would mention unrequited love. His father would've accepted that. It would've been proof that his son had outgrown whatever defect he'd been plagued with during his younger years when Taryon had been caught with a tutor. Try as he might, however, his feelings for Keyleth never went past the sort of admiration he always felt for strong and confident women. At the end of the day it was better to force himself to acknowledge this and apologize for wasting everyone's time than it was for him to continue to try and feel something that wasn't there.
He frowned at the sound of his name, sure that this was where the rejection came. This is where Percy looked at him the same way his father had that day. As the other kept speaking, however, he realized that he should've figured Percy would be a better person than his father ever was. Even in spite of his defect the other was still trying to make him feel better, still trying to make him believe he could be an adventurer. It was, however, a little shocking to hear Percy call his father shit. While it was probably a feeling that many people had no one actually said it out loud. Certainly not to Tary's face, anyway. Somehow, that made him feel better.
Before he could say anything more or start his own argument Percy was shifting closer. They had already been close enough that their knees touched in a way Tary had done his best to ignore. He couldn't ignore the proximity now. It would've been best to retreat and put a little distance between them but Tary couldn't bring himself to do that. He was a little more caught up in Percy's words. In Percy saying that this defect wouldn't change anything. It was comforting to hear and Tary fully expected to ask how Percy felt about him (he knew it couldn't be the same, not when the other was in a relationship with Vax and Vex and possibly someone whom he was forgetting in that moment) but, again, before he could get the words out Percy leaned closer and kissed him.
It took a moment for his brain to catch up and process the fact that, yes, Percy was kissing him. It wasn't a sultry sort of kiss on any level but, for a moment since starting this conversation, Tary felt like he could breathe. Like he wasn't wrong or broken in some deeply fundamental way that would hinder his growth as an adventurer more than his inexperience. When the chaste kiss ended he didn't immediately think of his father's disapproval or how the man would probably kill Percy if he ever found out about this. Instead he found that, in that moment, he was less inclined to argue about it. "I..." He started, sure he was blushing furiously. "When I thought about kissing you it certainly wasn't like that." He admitted.