//cracks knuckles
Alright, you opened the info dump door!

Safir came from a large, loving and supportive family. Neither wealthy nor poor, somewhere in the comfortable middle of things. Their mother is a sorceress so that's where they inherited their magical blood and their father is a scholar, so they grew up reading a lot about everything that struck them as even mildly interesting.
As a child and young teenager they were considered a prodigy in school and so they had no real issues getting accepted into the academia.

When their neurodiversity caught up with them, though, they quickly discovered there's a rather big difference between learning and studying. They were not a fan of the latter and decided to quit after a massive burnout. Their parents welcomed them back home with open arms and that's where they spent a couple of years recharging.
Their father pulled some strings so that they could still have access to the academia because that's where they had made a bunch of good friends, he didn't want them to miss out on those connections just because they couldn't keep up with the demands from their professors.
Not to mention, the library they loved to occupy until dawn was right there and it brought him so much joy to see them happy.

They developed a particularly strong interest for potion brewing and shadow magic and would occasionally work as a tutor for children and young teenagers with similar struggles as they had, doing their best to make a difference in a system not really built for these kids.

Just for fun, they also took crossbow classes because you never know when you might need that.
This is how they eventually met Arannon, they shot him in the shoulder by accident and stuffed a healing potion in his face so he wouldn't die.
They'd seen him before, brief moments here and there when wandering the upper class area of the city, but they didn't really recognize him at the time.

Their friend Nayana (The noble tiefling lady Arannon was fake dating while trying to help her connect with her actual love interest.) did, though, and found the whole thing hilarious.

Arannon would visit the academia to hang out with Nayana and get some time away from the estate where he felt suffocated.
That's how he'd eventually recognise Safir as the "lady" who shot him and tried to discretely ask Nayana if she knew anything about them, making himself the target of merciless teasing from his friend until she agreed to help him get the key to the academia so that he could gain access to it all times of day, as long as he'd help her get some time alone with the guard she had her eyes on.
Easy enough, he made sure they could meet somewhere private and she helped him get the key.

After this, it did take him a little while to actually approach Safir because he wasn't entirely sure what to say. "Remember me? You shot me in the shoulder, how about a glass of wine somewhere?" felt like a less than ideal way to introduce himself.

Eventually, he gathered some courage and decided to just frequent the library during the hours he'd expect them to be there, casually browsing and internally rehearsing ways to strike up a conversation.

They caught him off guard by asking him if they could have the book he was holding once he was finished with it and his brain refused to cooperate.
Mildly amused by this awkward, stammering mess of a man, Safir asked him if he would like to meet up somewhere more private, to which he delivered an affirmative squeak.

Turns out that despite their upbringings being so different, they had many interests and core values in common.
Arannon was drawn in by their intellect and kind, warm demeanor. They were also rather cheeky and had a mildly shocking sense of humour. He felt seen and safe in their presence, they didn't judge him for things like his speech impediment or tendency to ramble and overshare. They would also playfully challenge him, intellectually and in other ways, which was something he wasn't used to but enjoyed immensely.
Their impression of him was practically the meme "Aw, it's adorable!...Oh, it's traumatized.".

He would go on long "walks" just to spend time with them in the library or by the ocean during the day, then the evenings would be filled with drinking and talking in dimly lit pubs downtown until the birds awakened and he would return to the estate, nobody really asking where he went or why.
His parents saw him with Nayana often enough to assume they were actually an item, not just besties plotting.

Safir's home was like a warm, comforting hug compared to what he was used to. His family may have been wealthy materialistically speaking but there was absolutely no genuine love inside those walls.
Getting a glimpse of what parents and siblings are supposed to be like was an eye opener like no other and he knew that this was exactly what he wanted, with Safir. When he asked them if they felt the same, they teasingly asked him back why it took him so long to bring it up.

Making their relationship official was not the disaster he'd anticipated, but wasn't a very joyous occasion either.
Arannon's father didn't give much of a response besides a disapproving, mildly annoyed sigh and his mother chose her usual peacekeeping silence. At least a scholar's daughter (Sircius' words, despite being told the correct pronouns and titles many times. He was just a stubborn man like that and his opinion was that you're either a man or a woman, none of this other nonsense.) was something, at least.
They had two more children, perhaps they would choose other nobles to continue the family bloodline with.
(Joke's on them, Arannon's brother couldn't keep a relationship going if his life depended on it and his sister came out as a lesbian the same day she left the estate to be with her future wife. Har har!)

After a rather modest wedding with mostly Safir's side of the family attending and a handful of trusted friends from Arannon's side, they bought a house within walking distance from Safir's childhood home and enjoyed some joyful, healing years until Sircius died and Arannon was the only one interested in taking over the winery so that's when they moved in and started making happier memories to push the dark ones away.

So to sum it up, they helped him heal. NOT at the cost of their own emotional/mental health, this I cannot stress enough. This is not another AFAB person doing a bunch of emotional labor to "fix" a depressed man story, they helped eachother out.

(Hhnnn I love them so much, thanks for letting me talk about them!)

I do not, actually. I consider them something I have to suffer through because of societal pressure, more often than not. They are constricting and leave a lingering feeling on my body I don't enjoy, like the person's essence is now stuck on me. I feel the same way about most physical touch, to be frank. I'm really annoyed by the fact that back/shoulder slapping is seen as a form of encouragement and if you grab my thigh while we're sitting at the same table, I want you to know that it's taking everything I have in me to not push you into traffic.

There are exceptions, of course. Really close friends/lovers can hug me if they like because by the time they get close enough to me to be considered a close friend, their essence, or whatever I should call it, no longer feels "sticky" and "wrong" on my body.
I still appreciate it if these aforementioned friends don't overdo it. I'm an awful lot like a cat, actually! You may touch me on my terms, and just because I enjoyed being stroked 2 times that doesn't mean I won't bite you on the 3rd stroke because I'm overstimulated.

Difficult? I know. Can't help it though.

Oh dear me, what's not to love about women? I'm hesitant to call them cute/adorable as a group as I find that a bit infantilizing but if we're talking about qualities that can make me develop a crush on a woman I personally find cute then the first thing that comes to mind is if she has a bubbly personality and if she's really passionate about her interests.

I love it when a woman is really into a craft or hobby, for example. The way she lights up when she talks about it.
I love it when she's intellectual and well read but not a besserwisser about it (That applies to people of all genders though, I can't stand it when someone uses their superior intellect to be snarky and rude, only in fiction. I love BBC's Sherlock because he's an asshole but I would hate him in real life, for example.).

Appearance wise, I have a thing for fat women. I'm just really fond of round shapes!
If they're also short, that just makes something inside me melt.
Fun hair colours are nice too, like, I LOVE it when you can tell someone's favourite colour is bubblegum pink or electric blue because they dye their hair that way.
Creative nail art and other fashion details is cute, too.

I have Purple! He's the best son.

Joking aside, no I don't have human kids. I have a cat and I treat/love her like my child. I don't want to hear about how that's "not the same" because the deep love some people describe having for their kids, that IS how I feel about my cat. My love isn't worth less or not as valid just because it's for a pet and I hate that mindset.

I don't want kids as they make me extremely overstimulated and nervous. I don't know if it'd "change because it's my own" and I don't plan to ever find out, I'll be happy with just animals.
It's just too much responsibility I should not be trusted with, ever. I can -barely- take care of myself, being responsible for the emotional, mental and physical well-being of an entire human who'll depend on me for at least 18 years is just a huge nope for me, man.
Not to mention, a lot of illnesses (Both mental and physical.) run in my family, someone really puked in that gene pool and forgot to clean out the filter afterwards. If I were a horse, I would have been shot ages ago.

H E L L NO. Not only is that a minor, but the age difference is so huge I could almost be their dad, that's just wrong on so many levels. Dating someone under 30 is still pushing it for me, I prefer a potential love interest to be around my own age. 25 and below is an absolute nope, I'd feel like a groomer.

If you're the one wanting to know, or "asking for a friend", please for the love of anything holy enough start looking for potential love interests among people your own age. I get it, believe me, I've been there. I could only develop crushes on adults when I was in my late teens and it didn't end well. You're not "mature for your age", you're really not. I'm sorry if that pisses you off to hear, but it's the truth. The brain doesn't stop evolving until you're in your mid 20's, they say. I believe it.

Well, women and femme presenting people of other genders pretty much only need to exist for me to find them attractive. Ironically enough, though, I seem to have a thing for lesbians. I KNOW they're not for me anymore and I will never be a creep about it, but as an ex lesbian I still feel the most at home and comfortable around sapphic people. I AM a binary guy but there's nothing straight about the way I'm attracted to women/femme presenting people. Don't worry, it confuses the hell out of me, too.

When it comes to men and masc presenting people of other genders I have a weakness for the facial features associated with people from the middle east. Dark hair, hooked noses, a nice tan.
Long hair is a huge plus, no matter where they're from.

I also like my men concerningly older than me because I have daddy issues. :D We're talking men in their 50's-60's here, I have no shame.

I like all body types, really, but tend to go for heavier people like myself. If you're morbidly obese to the point of not being able to move I might be concerned for your well being, but I won't sit here and say you're not attractive or worthy of respect/love.

More than anything I'm drawn to good personalities and "imperfections" that make a person interesting. If someone has a really large nose, for example. I think Adrien Brody is the hottest guy alive.
A gap between the front teeth is cute, as well.

So...Most things? I have some things that turn me off, of course, but that wasn't the question.