The Sun Also Rises

It is the very simplicity of those words, uttered with such gentle ease and so laced within those other lyrics that seem to seize his attention all at once. While they were surely no direct admittance of that most potent of emotions they so alluded all the same to perhaps those three words the Monarch found he desired to hear. How foolish it was, that even after all they had done and all they had said- even after those promised commitments and nights between the sheets, for all the hours spent entangled in sleep or those days often spent merely considering those nights there existed within the man a nervousness all the same over this, perhaps , most final of hurdles. Dorian had heard such words all his life. They were so often uttered with meaninglessness, wasted on ears that didn't care to hear nor held respect for the striking vulnerability of that admittance and yet Dorian understands well that such words, to Sebastian, just as himself, held meaning and indeed would not be offered with any frivolousness as so many before him had offered them. Dorian never yet having desired to hear them so much as he did now. Yet more striking still- he himself had found those very words upon his own lips a handful of times, the Fae so catching himself before they were uttered. After all, such words as that have never been uttered by the King himself in his near six hundred years of life. Yet he desired to say them now, to hear them in return. Yet how complex this was! This turning of emotion so entirely new and indeed barely understood. How even the idea of these admittances so seemed to tangle his thoughts and tumble his nerves! Yet still- he remained entirely assured of the only emotion that so mattered in this and indeed the words he knew already he would utter in response when the moment was right. That distraction of music, for now, turning his thoughts to that night ahead.

The sound of that orchestra was nothing short of glorious. Those blissful notes so rising and falling with a rhythm and time Sebastian seemed to know so very intimately. The sheepish look that had existed upon his features in those earlier moments at his admittance of his adoration in this hardly forgotten. The vampire so seeming to have replaced such a look with a rapt fixation that so delighted Dorian to see in turn. That his first attempts to 'date' were, so far, wholly successful were nothing short of pleasing to the man before he found himself so readily engaged in those notes. Music itself, let alone those instruments had progressed so beyond even his own expectations in this. Each minstrel below seeming to be but a veritable master of their art in one way or another. Focus held so strongly upon the woman seated at the piano- her fingers gliding across those keys with the careful caress of a lover- Dorian leaning forward within his seat if only to better see the movement of her hands as she played. Each note a pleasing blend awash in sound that was nothing short of enchanting from start to finish. Dorian softly joining that crowd to offer his own applause to the congregation below. Oblivious entirely to the way Sebastian's fingers had so kept in time with each offered note upon the arm of his chair.

It is only within that short break that is afforded to the performance that Dorian allows his attention to return to his companion once more, that grin upon his own features surely speaking of his delight in this and yet so very much of this pleasure came so entirely from simply being allowed to share in this music. He leans easily against the vampires shoulder in those brief moments of interlude, one eye lifted slightly at those accented words. His features falling into a momentary look of surprise that Sebastian had been given to fear Dorian himself might not enjoy those musical pieces. How one did not enjoy such playing Dorian hardly knew. Despite all those years that so separated them and indeed all those musical evolutions the very notion of music as itself remained unchanged and it is that very familiarity that Dorian so adores. A soft chuckle upon his lips.

"I should be a heathen, I think, if I did not like this."

It was impossible, surely, to find displeasure in that sort of artistry. The Fae King distracted from his consideration of what they had heard so far by that ever-cool touch of his shoulder against the man beside him and indeed that darker tone to those blue irises. The very notion of Sebastian's species had never truly caused the man any concern. Dorian having so readily accepted the vampire upon their first meeting, hardly fearing his embrace any more then he feared those fangs or that delightful poison that came from within them. Indeed the Fae King was often prone to forgetting entirely of Sebastian's species. Sebastian simply having become.....Sebastian and little else and yet his care for the man's comfort remained. Dorian as bold in this as he was in so many things, holding little concern for simply asking his lover if he so required that blood that was so crucial to his very existence. That look of surprise upon his consorts features stirring a sound of amusement from within him once more. It mattered to him, after all, that Sebastian was content. He cared for this being far more than he had any other. Those silvery eyes flicker briefly upward once more, meeting Sebastian's own in that moment, the vampire assuring him that in this he was entirely comfortable. This assurance readily seeming to assuage Dorian's own concerns as the Fae merely nodded softly, settling into his seat once more, content still to lean into his companions shoulder before the vampire's words so distracted him.

That Sebastian did not, in fact need to eat every night was, indeed, a notion Dorian had so failed to consider. After all, his experience with vampires was limited nearly entirely to Sebastian himself, of the finer points of their needs he had neither considered nor asked- the man merely falling into the belief that, like humans and most other species, the vampire simply desired, else required, to feed each evening. A momentary surprise so touching the man's features now before a chortle rises within his throat.

"I fear I did not know this, though I am intrigued to learn it."

He speaks softly still, words entirely truthful. Dorian forever seeming to find any concept of Sebastian's existence of intrigue to himself, the man considering still this notion of blood taking before the vampire continues. These final words seeing that simper return yet again, his fingers reaching forward to brush against Sebastian's own in that stolen touch of affection now as he meets his lovers gaze.

"I know well it is no requirement of me. The truth of it is that I care for you- in all aspects. That you are content for this evening in the least is all I need. Although, Bastien-"

There is something within that moment so decidedly teasing to his words, an impishness touching those eternally youthful features.

"-you did not believe I might have you bite me in the middle of a concert hall and so surrounded by others did you? I think I might have managed to find a far more private space."

His head tilts just so in that moment, lips pressed tenderly to Sebastian's cheek with those teasing words, one finger trailing lightly down Sebastian's jaw and beneath his chin before so delicately turning the mans head more fully towards him. His lips pressed suddenly then to Sebastian's own in a soft, gentle kiss and yet one that is entirely in view of but that small handful of people still within the auditorium. Such a thing hardly a public declaration in the presence of but a few and yet for Dorian this is nothing short of entirely scandalous. This the boldest the man has ever been. The Fae King smiling wryly against his lovers lips before pulling away just as that crowd begins to return and the musicians prepare to play again. He settles readily within his seat once more, attention fixated yet again upon those delightful minstrels- the man checking that pamphlet to assure himself of what was to come before those melodious notes returned. This evening perhaps, one of his favoured they had so partaken in together so far, the piano yet again the very highlight of those musical performances as Dorian became so captivated by it all over again. The Fae nearly oblivious to that time that passed. Aware only of those notes and his lover beside him, so finding himself curious of so many things all over again before that last and final number is played and those lights adorn that dark space again. Dorian clapping politely once more, his grin still entirely in place as he stands at last, stretching those muscles and so affording himself a closer look at the stage for several moments as he waits for Sebastian to rise.

"Come, let us walk back through those gardens I should like to see them a little more."

He waits only so long as it takes for his lover to reach his side once more, Dorian wandering easily from that auditorium, the softest of hums of that final tune upon his lips as he leads Sebastian back outside and into those lavishly manicured greens- arms folding behind his back as they so often did in a habit centuries old. Dorian content to wander towards a rather elaborate topiary piano now- eyeing it was evident curiosity, fingers extending to tease slightly at those neatly cropped leaves. A frown touching his features once more as he seemed again to consider those thoughts of his mind.

"Bastien, before, during that intermission, do you so recall when it was I said I cared for you? I should like to rephrase it."

It is, surely, a most curious thing to say, his gaze lifting to meet Sebastian's own now. Dorian seeming almost...anxious once more as he regarded his lover- studying each and every feature upon the vampires all-too handsome face to see just how such words might be received. Every bit of courage Dorian had ever possessed surely summoned now.

"I said I cared for you very much, which is entirely true. Yet what I desired to say instead was rather simply that I care because I love you. I am entirely, irrevocably and hopelessly in love with you."

And there it was.

Dorian Aragona