Alexander, Dorian had decided, had rather a pleasing smile when he decided to actually allow it to show. The Monarch so having the feeling that those genuine grins on the other man's features were perhaps few and far between. At least with those he did not know well. The Hunter a stark contrast to his companion. That French Fae was often quick to grin, though Dorian had so readily learned to tell what was genuine pleasure upon Matteo's features and what was merely the man taking amusement at the world itself and those poor souls within it he so often seemed content to tease. It was perhaps for that veritable taste off his own medicine that Dorian so willingly offered the Hunter that information of just where Matteo had been that past summer, Dorian taking perhaps a little more amusement then he should have at the idea of the other Fae so being caught out in his game. The man moving to utter upon that knowledge of different currencies if only to insist Alexander assured he was paid that owed fee within a decent one. The King so having witnessed his companion swindle any number of beings over the years with that trick of currency conversion, Dorian himself having learned those finer points of it from Sebastian- his lover still so assuredly holding a vastly superior knowledge all the same. That snort that left the Hunter's features saw his gaze return quizzically to the man before Alexander announced Matteo was likely to attempt to swindle him further and pay in dongs- that a word Dorian had never heard before and one currency Sebastian had not discussed with him. Vietnam an equally new word. One he surely must look up when he returned home and yet for now his head simply nodded.

"I am almost displeased to miss seeing you get the better off him. That is a rare phenomenon indeed. Though I am sure to hear about it from him later."

That warm grin tugged at his features again, Dorian assured Alexander knew entirely how rare it was to see Matteo slip up in any fashion and yet, he suspected, if Alex had won that glorious French home from him to begin with then the Hunter himself was a distinctly skilled individual and a rather aged one at that. There was little that so escaped the Monarch's notice, the plethora of oddities surrounding them readily examined from a distance and yet a very great deal of them were older then Dorian himself, the Fae assured Alexander had not merely collected them all from an Antiques dealer but rather gathered them himself over several centuries. It was curious, perhaps, that fashion in which he was given to consider whether or not Matteo's home might have been adorned in just such a fashion with trinkets and curiosities from all over the world and yet the Frenchman hardly seemed the sort to display those things when he so rarely even talked about them. Dorian reminded again how truly little he knew of the man he so suspected he held far more of a connection to then merely there age-old friendship. Those thoughts alone perhaps prompting that question from his lips. He felt entirely foolish to even ask such a thing and yet it had bothered at his mind for weeks now. Surely it should not have mattered and yet how desperately it did. Dorian perhaps longing to hear those words even once, even if not directly from the Frenchman himself, his silver gaze resting almost expectantly upon Alexander in those moments. The Monarch oblivious to his Godfathers determination to do his very duty in that role he had taken on and reassure him of those things Matteo himself perhaps feared to say and Dorian feared to ask.

That relief he felt to hear that assurance from Alexander was almost palpable, Dorian unable to prevent that near glorious grin that overtook his features in the wake of those words. Some worry deep within himself seeming to settle. God, but this business of family was a difficult one! Dorian so unaware of just the extent of those emotions he had held upon the topic until these few weeks passed. For all his years of so pretending his lack of family had not mattered, the very notion that he might yet have one living parent had so prompted within him a want for the truth of it that he almost feared to feel if only because it may not yet prove true and yet surely.....surely it was so. Those slate-hued eyes returned easily to the other man then, Alexander making an effort to assure him it was hardly ridiculous to want that approval of someone he cared for. His lips parted then to answer the man only for Alexander to continue with that assurance that he should hardly be afraid to ask Matteo those things, that the Fae would surely not take offense and were he to do so, that Alexander would see to it he might rethink it. Dorian wholly unable to prevent that simper now, another chuckle falling softly from his lips at the idea of it.

"Thank you. I shall be sure to keep your offer in mind. I have been planning to speak with him on certain matters in the next week or so. I hope truly that you are right and he will not take offense at any of those things I desire to ask him."

Dorian sighed softly then, lifting that coffee to his lips once more before pressing on to those other topics of conversation, Alexander seeming entirely willing to allow him to do just that, Dorian wholly thankful for such a thing. The Fae finding himself terribly inclined to like this man even if simply because he so found Alexander a decent sort of person. Sebastian, he was sure, would have quite liked him too and yet he wholly suspected the two were better not placed within the same room. It was his ever-present curiosity then that so prompted him to ask after that tale of just how Alexander and Matteo had met all those years ago, Dorian utterly unable to picture Matteo as a mere boy. After all, for all off his own life, for several centuries, he had never known the Fae as anything other than that young man he had always been. To envision him as anything less was almost impossible and yet amusing all the same. Alexander perhaps confirming then what Dorian had already suspected in that the Hunter was the elder of the pair and yet by how much still remained to be seen. Alexander speaking then of those 'Oracles' that word alone seeming to spark some recognition within the younger man.

"I know this word, Oracle, that is to say I have heard it before in one of my books. Might I ask, are you Greek then? You said 'within your own time' and I am lead to believe the Oracles were largely connected with the Ancient Greeks. I have one very aged book upon The Pythia but I fear I could not read very much of it. I am not fluent in such ancient language."

It was very much a shame really, that such knowledge might be lost to him. His efforts to teach himself but some of that language aided by Sebastian's ability with that more modern Greek and yet he struggled with those ancient words still. That oracle very near forgotten however in the wake of that mention of Alexander and Matteo's role in the founding of Paris. What a glorious tale! His eyes widening readily in appreciation of that story, a look of utter awe upon his features to hear off this. Matteo had never one mentioned in tale like this! Dorian's mind positively overrun with question then, that decorum of politeness all that held him back in that moment, for surely Alexander should not desire to be bludgeoned with his curiosity and yet how much he desired to know! How much he had to tell Sebastian off when he returned tonight!

"I knew Matteo had been in battles before but I did not perhaps realise how many or how important they had been. Have you two fought many wars together? Forgive my questions, I am given to be hopelessly relentless sometimes and I am assured I am bothersome to people but I can't quite help myself. I missed so much of the world. I shall spend a lifetime catching up."

He admitted such things almost sheepishly. These were but the veritable tip of the questions he had and yet, for now, he so forced himself to keep the others at bay. Later in the week, perhaps, he might subject Matteo to just that line of questioning. Surely it was more appropriate to bother him then it was Alexander. The Fae so allowing himself to be distracted then by the promise off that gift. The Hunter's assurance he need not excite himself to much surely futile. Dorian already finding himself rather intrigued by the idea, that drink he was permitted to bring long since finished. Alexander seeming to find some amusement in that. Dorian's head nodded in agreement to his having enjoyed it before he moved to follow the man up those stairs and into that small and yet pleasant living space above. Dorian wholly surprised to find a veritable home above that store. Surely Matteo did not make him live and work here? The man unable to prevent that slight frown upon his features at the idea as his gaze drifted across those objects and furnishings that made up Alexanders home. The entire space seeming to have an almost comfortable, homely feel even the Monarch so found himself enjoying before Alexander turned to him once more, the man taking something from within a small box to present to him now. Dorian eyeing that roughly made silver coin held out to him.

His fingers reached gingerly to take it, brushing over that rough surface and misshapen edges with a distinct intrigue and clear fascination before he turned that coin to inspect both sides. It was quite unlike anything he had seen before, the age of it not lost upon him, his gaze inclined upward to meet the blue green of the other man's own as the Hunter offered him some explanation of just what it might be used for. The significance of such a gift hardly wasted upon him. It was, Dorian knew, a truly useful gift to be bestowed with and one that had surely prompted some measure of thought. His features shifted into a soft grin once more.

"Thank you, Alexander. I do very much intend to explore the world and this is a gift of very great use! I will be sure to keep it safe. Might I ask though, what does it say?"

His finger pointed just slightly to what he was assured was but a few words inscribed upon either side of that coin, Dorian wholly curious as to what those words read.

Dorian Aragona