#so... yay

Can you believe I finally got around to this askbox message?

(Okay, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry it took so long, I'm sooo sorry)

THANK YOU!! THANK YOU SO MUCH, I'm so glad to hear that 🥹💖

And... well, while this isn't directly related to what you sent me, I will say...

The interesting thing is: Louis didn't force/make Pyro and Owen to be friends, they basically got along right away. Well... almost.

Back in Oakhurst, Owen didn't hate Pyro, in fact, they even earned a few points in his eyes because they were the one who found Louis and explained the situation to him, and then brought him to Owen.

Then, when they were on their way to the Capital together, Louis sort of... said that they were supposed to be a polycule, and there was simply no protest or resentment. For Pyro, it all seemed only positive: he, who'd been single his whole life, now had TWO boyfriends and a friend? Literally the best news in the world. Owen... his mind was simply busy with other things, as his relationship with Louis remained unclear at the time. (There wasn't opportunity to talk about the massacre Owen had committed two hundred years ago in Oakhurst, but it was clear Louis deeply disappointed with his fledgeling. And Owen was very worried that Louis may not want to be together again, so... It wasn't the polycule that was concerning him. He was just... generally okay with it, as long as Louis still wanted him.)

So, Owen and Pyro gradually grew closer.

It's worth noting that in the early polycule, it was Pyro who initiated many gestures to befriend Owen; they were genuinely kind to him. And at some point, this even caused Owen to become frustrated and then break down, as he often expects the worst from people. Pyro's good attitude could also be unsincere/hiding something rotten underneath. So Owen said some nasty things to their face, stressed by their *suspicious* kindness, when Pyro was just trying to... you know. Treat Owen as his lover and friend?

As a consiqunce, Pyro was deeply hurt by Owen's sudden outburst and started ignoring him, since that's exactly what Owen wanted. Surprisingly (haha), Owen didn't feel like a winner; he missed Pyro's love and care, so yeah... he ended up apologizing.

There were also a few incidents where Owen was jealous of Pyro's relationship with Louis, but they weren't significant or, certainly, destructive to the polycule.

The bottom line is that the Lumberjack got along pretty quickly and relatively smoothly; there were a few downs, but they were followed by ups.

And in the end they formed a very strong emotional connection, they are desperately in love with each other, like they're literally obsessed w each other??

OMG there's whole meme about it (that my co-author did, so credit goes to them)

It goes like:

Louis: Oh, I hope my fledglings will get along and befriend each other and be fine, uhh, I'm kind of worried... 😮‍💨

*Pyro and Owen get so emotionally attached to each other they will live and die and kill for one another.*

... Just saw that Speak Not to the Gilded Dragons doesn't show up in itch.io's search function anymore.