He-Man might have been the Strongest Man in the Universe, might have been able to fight for days without ever getting tired, but Adam – Adam was a different story altogether. Adam, like any other man, tired eventually, and he’d tired now.
He gulped down his water, heart still beating strongly in his chest, shirt damp with sweat, and shot Orym a grin. “I’m pretty sure if Teela could see me now, she’d be a little jealous. She was always asking me to train this hard. Of course, back then I had an image of a slacker prince to uphold, so I couldn’t really go all out.”
Orym had to pause in the middle of his own drink of water to let out a laugh, just as tired as Adam was in that moment. It had been a while since he'd had a sparring partner of his own, especially one that could keep up with him to the same degree. Not that he would admit that aloud, by any means--Chetney might overhear and try to prove him wrong.
Regardless, it was nice to have someone like Adam to spar with. In a way, it reminded him of training back home in Zephrah, when he was still preparing to be a guard.
"Ah, you made it there eventually," Orym grinned, swinging one of his arms forward to stretch his shoulder joint out. "Half my childhood was spent trying to train like this, but the last handful of years have had me slacking a bit. It's felt good to get back into the swing of it."
“You don’t have to answer if it’s a sensitive topic, obviously, but what sort of things were you training for when you were a kid?” Adam asked. “I grew up crown prince, and so I was expected to be a warrior as well, and I kind of hated it. All the pressure and all that stuff. I skirted my duties way more than I probably should have.”
Part of that was because it didn’t seem to matter how hard he worked, his father always found something to criticise. He’d much rather get scolded for taking a nap in the hayloft at the stables than get scolded for working his ass off and still not performing up to his father’s exacting standards.
"Well," Orym started with a laugh, clearly none too put off by the question, "I was about as far from a crown prince as I could be, which is probably best for everyone." He thought briefly of Dorian, as he so often did, and his position within the Silken Squall. It would have been a wonder to have found himself so surrounded by people who had fallen into positions of varied authority, were it not that he had spent his time as a guard protecting exactly that.
With a soft chuckle, Orym continued. "I'd known that I had wanted to be a Tempest Blade since I was a kid. They're the group that guards the leader of my community back home and my childhood best friend's dad, who eventually became my father-in-law, was in the group, so he trained us until we were old enough to actually join up."
He spoke of it lightly, because despite the bittersweet twinge that always happened in his heart when Orym spoke of Will and Derrig, the happiness of his memories of the two of them now easily outweighed the sorrow. "There were other options and never any expectations," he went on to add, "but I never took to magic or the other career paths, so sword and shield is where I stayed."
Adam’s mind drifted to Teela and Duncan. In another life he’d have cheerfully been able to say that his father-in-law also trained him, taught him everything he needed to know to be a good fighter and an even better hero. Maybe the other him that was still back in his own world would be able to say as much someday.
“That sounds nice,” Adam said. “Being able to protect people, I think that’s the best job there is anyway. I didn’t realize you were married. Are they still back in your home world?”
That bittersweet twinge was already there, so it didn't come as a surprise to Orym when he thought more on Will. He had gone years shying away from bringing him up or discussing him, largely because he had also gone years shying away from making connections or friendships deep enough to do so. Even with Dorian and Fearne, he hadn't volunteered the information until they were called back to Zephrah. Since then, though, discussing his late husband had become easier. He'd thanked Chetney back home for giving him the opportunity to talk about him and it had cracked that door open to talking to his other friends, new and old, about his past.
"Will passed several years ago," Orym explained, giving a small, sad smile. "We were both guards and knew there were dangers in that and unfortunately..." He shrugged a shoulder, not at all nonchalant despite the gesture. Not wanting to bring too much of a downturn to the conversation, he added, "I've spent the last years traveling and sort of rediscovering myself--that's how I met all my friends, the others here in Vallo."
“Oh. I’m sorry,” Adam said, reaching forward to give Orym’s shoulder a friendly squeeze. Adam had never lost anyone – not unless you counted those months when he’d been dead – but he knew how horrible grief could be. He’d seen it on Teela. “I’m glad you have your friends, and that so many of them were able to join you here in Vallo. There’s a bunch of you from your world, isn’t there?”
"There are," Orym nodded. "The larger group is kind of scattered and from different points in time, but a handful of my own party are here." Their number had been greater and Orym still felt the loss of Dariax and Fearne being returned home quite keenly, but he was grateful to still have those he did have in Vallo. Dorian, in particular, for many reasons both old and new, but also simply because they'd been forced to put distance between them in Exandria and that was no longer a factor across universes.
"Thank you, though," he added, head listing a bit to the side. "It has been a long time and the days are easier now than they once were, but I like having the chance to talk about him."
“That’s nice. There’s a few people from my world too.” He paused. “Well, my universe at least. Different planet.” And that planet had been located in a different dimension all-together up until recently. All of them seemed to be, more or less, from the same general time-frame. He thought it might be similar, at least, to having people from the same planet but different points in history.
“If you ever want to, I’ve been told I’m a terrific listener,” Adam said, and frowned thoughtfully. “Or maybe it was terrible one. I wasn’t really listening.” Despite his best efforts, the frown broke into a smile to show that he was kidding.
Orym could barely imagine the idea of people being from different planets, though he supposed there was always a chance of that back in Exandria, too. They had different planes of existence, so was that all that different?
But he laughed, the quiet chuckle that was very much Orym, as Adam joked. "I appreciate that," he said, still giving a crooked little smile he spoke. "Usually I'm more comfortable being the one that listens, but I've gotten a bit better at sharing." He straightened a bit, almost as though catching himself, as he added, "So if you ever want someone to return the favor, I'm all ears." He tapped the end of his pointed halfling ear and joked, "Literally, compared to some."
Adam laughed, rich and warm. Terrible humour like that was Adam’s favourite kind of humour. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. It’s nice to have people to talk to sometimes.” There was Adora and Catra, of course, but there were some things that were probably best not discussed with his sister and her wife; he had other friends too, but having lots of people meant that there was always someone for any situation.
"It is," Orym replied with a smile, having had learned and accepted that fact more or less recently. After so much time alone after wandering around Tal'Dorei after his losses, it had been hard to open up again to someone, even just by way of friendship. Now, though, he could hardly imagine not having someone to turn to, his home full of potential confidants. He had a feeling that FCG would be proud of that realization.
He moved then, stretching out his shoulders and arms as they talked in an idle manner. "I traveled for many years on my own," he said, voicing his thoughts, "so it's been a comfort to have people around in a way I'd forgotten about during that time. So, I'm happy to be that person for someone else, if I can."
“It’s all kind of new to me,” Adam admitted. “Not the staying in place thing. I’m a prince, it’s not like I’m supposed to go gallivanting around.” It didn’t really stop him, but he’d always thought he’d covered for himself well. Apparently well enough for his father; his mother had, apparently, known for some time. “But the whole He-Man thing, back home I was supposed to keep it secret. I had friends who knew, but I could never really tell the people I wanted to tell, you know? So sometimes it’s tricky remembering that I don’t have to keep things to myself here.”
"That sounds like a heck of a change," Orym said, expression a bit thoughtful. He didn't have anything like that for himself; he was just a guard, after all, with only the barest whiff of druidic magic that came with growing up where he did. There wasn't much that he had to hide, or at least felt that he did. Maybe there were things he kept to himself, but even those weren't really secrets.
"But," he continued, "it also sounds pretty freeing. Like, maybe you can be yourself?" It was a guess on his part, at least.
“Yeah,” Adam said. “It turns out that just being honest is way better than keeping secrets from people, even if you think you’re doing it to protect them.” Especially since secrets had a habit of hurting people the longer they were kept. He rolled his shoulders, and stretched his neck from side to side. “Do you want to go again?”
If Teela ever showed up again, at least she wouldn’t be able to accuse him of slacking off.
Adam had a point, Orym thought--his friends were a pretty good indication of that, even if half the secrets being kept weren't even being kept on purpose, but just out of ignorance. Still, there was much to be said for being on the same page and building that trust.
At the question, though, Orym just grinned and jumped to his feet, stretching his arms over his head to grant him a brief moment of added height before he let them drop, rolling his shoulders in turn. "Let's do it."