The Sun Also Rises

That soft sound of disbelief that parted his lovers lips was hardly missed and yet Dorian had perhaps anticipated just that sound to an extent. It was, after all, within the very nature of the vampire to shoulder the blame for any situation in which he might so been convinced he had played a hand. On this topic however Dorian afforded no further response or conversation. After all, he himself hardly knew enough of that tale to make further judgements (though he had surely made several assumptions whether correct or otherwise based purely on his own emotion for his companion) nor did he seek to invite further any consideration that might upset his companion all over again on this very night that was so designed to be about enjoyment. If they were to usher in that New Year, the Monarch held every intention that such disparaging thoughts might be left in the old one. It was Sebastian's query on that game and how it was played that saw the Fae so readily seize upon this distraction. The man determined that by the end of their evening he could make his lover forget all about that wife that had weighed so heavily upon his thoughts since Matteo's curious words had hauled them to the surface of the vampire conscience. It was the very notion of that game however and just what it might entail that seemed to see Dorian think better of their present location, the Fae King so gesturing to the floor and that plush rug. The bed, after all, would surely be enjoyed later.

There was something wholly boyish about that fashion in which they found themselves upon the rug as two children might well have sat. The game Dorian so desired to engage his lover in however was surely anything but childish in the slightest. The Monarch taking those few moments then to instruct upon the particulars of it. The game was, at its heart, decidedly simple and one that had been invented within this very palace itself even before Dorian had been born. One the very English had so ruined by removing those more daring elements and so making it purely a competition of ordering numbers and shouting that ridiculous word when they did. Sebastian, perhaps wisely, making no mention of this games likeness to the one a certain English King had pilfered from Naples all those years ago. The thievery and destruction of such a game by the English perhaps the single point of contention Dorian so held with a country he had, upon this trip, come to utterly adore. His love for that place and certain people from it however did little to remove his assertion that they were game-thieves all the same. Wretched creatures! The vampires question was met with a simple nod of conformation before his lover so seemed to observe that with the right combination of numbers it would be distinctly easy to undress ones opponent, Dorian chuckling softly as that ready simper danced upon his features.

"Perhaps I shall, as long as you run out before me I still win, Mon Cher. I need only beat you too it."

One eye arched neatly upward in that distinct challenge. Dorian having engaged in this game countless times and with countless individuals and each time it seemed such a game was given to change. Sometimes those required numbers came up quickly, sometimes it seemed as if making but one row was a veritable impossibility with those numbers proving to be distant and scattered before inevitably beginning to line up as the numbers lessened within the bag. With his assurance that the vampire understood those basic concepts the Fae King moved to reach into that bag, plucking the number from within it before displaying it to his lover. That two proving to be a grand number for himself while a somewhat poor outcome for his consort. Dorian unable to keep that grin from his lips as those first traces of his more competitive nature so begun to dance upon the surface of his often placid demeanour. That soft murmur to not get 'chuffed' seeing his gaze glance upward and away from his game board momentarily as he eyed the man across from him with a clear amusement.

"You English and your words."

Chuffed, he had come to decide, surely meant 'pleased' or some variation of it, that word readily amusing him all the same as Sebastian reached into that bag, pulling from it a decidedly disappointing twenty-three that hardly afforded either of them any truly great results. His lovers assertion that he would catch up met with the softest of eye rolls and yet Dorian could hardly deny how readily he was so beginning to enjoy such a game as this as he reached for the bag once more. Those numbers this evening were proving to be sporadic and spaced out upon both their boards and yet with each drawn disc his own rows and columns were slowly beginning to fill. Dorian but two discs away from so completing at least one row, red numbers entirely illusive to him before Sebastian plucked that eighteen from within the depths of the bag- Dorian reaching for those red counters before the vampire so declared this to be one of his red numbers. That little tile was flipped readily before being passed to the Monarch in turn, those distinctly ancient words drawing a soft snort of amusement from his lips- but of course he would draw this!

"You won a....treat. One moment."

'Treat' was perhaps the most appropriate of descriptions for such a thing, a grin tugging at his features once more as he moved to stand, crossing the room to that little side table to grasp that ornate golden tray that rested upon it, placing it down to the side of the pair if only so he need not get up again. The contents of that tray so covered with a cloth to prevent the things upon it being seen before Dorian reached beneath it to pull out that small, warm bowl he had ordered prepared while they were at dinner. That entirely rich, chocolatey scent so instantly filling the room, enticing even to Dorian whom surely lacked those more highly attuned vampiric senses of his lover.

"This is a very old dish I suspect you have not had before, it is one we partake off only during holidays, Sanguinaccio dolce, I think you might like it. It is made of rich chocolate heated and melted through thickened cream with but one final ingredient."

His own finger moved to deep within that heated chocolate then, lifting it to his lips a moment later to lick that gloriously sweet treat from it, that faint touch of saltiness from that blood so stirred within it appealing even to him. Dorian wholly curious in that moment as to whether a vampire could smell blood, even animal blood, through that chocolate and cream before dipping his finger within it once more, leaning over that game board to so hold that singular finger out towards his lovers lips.

"Do you care to try?"

His finger so gently graced that fine softness of Sebastian's lower lip, sweeping that glorious bloodied chocolate across it before he so found that singular pointed bottom tooth. His finger pressed upon it as he had done that night they had met to so willingly pierce his own skin and let his own blood well to the surface. Sebastian had surely not fed since they had left London the day before yesterday, the Monarch so entirely content to tease both sides of his lovers nature as he often did- that finger withdrawn a moment later to return to that chocolate, Dorian slowly stirring his finger idly through it if only to add but a mere taste of his own blood to that treat before at last offering the heated bowl to the vampire to enjoy. His single chocolatey finger returned to his own lips to be licked clean. Dorian curious perhaps as to just how his lover might go about enjoying his treat with a distinct lack of spoon or any other manner of eating it save using his hands else trying to lick it out of the bowl, the Fae making himself comfortable upon that rug once more to enjoy such a show. It was only when Sebastian had so finished that treat and his hands were, more likely than not at least a little chocolaty, that Dorian so took a moment to utter his name, gesturing to his own game board. That eighteen, while having afforded his lover that treat had seen Dorian in turn gain those last two discs he needed to complete not one but two rows off his board, both one side and the bottom. The Fae so purposely having waited until his lovers hands might be otherwise tainted before announcing such a victory.

"I shall have both your socks please, my love."

That ready chuckle rose within his throat now, the man pausing to allow that request to be fulfilled before reaching for another number, a fifty no less and a number he lacked entirely, his features scowling with disdain before so noting that fifty afforded Sebastian his first complete column. Bother. An over dramatic, playful sigh was forced from his lips as Dorian moved to lay himself upon his stomach atop that rug, head resting in his hands.

"Oh go on then, what do you want?"

Dorian Aragona