The Sun Also Rises

It was almost startling, truly, to consider how close Aiden and himself had come to meeting over that time the Italian Fae had been within the city. Indeed they had missed each other by mere moments of the course of a year or more! Dorian so readily considering the curiosities of fate in that moment and yet, here and now, perhaps such a thing was so hardly the work of fate but rather its ever faithful manipulator. Dorian so allowing his silvered gaze to linger upon Matteo as that very thought so settled within his mind. How much had his father so truly interfered in that destiny? Had even this gathering tonight so come by chance or had Matteo orchestrated such a thing from the very beginning? Had Matteo known, since Aidens birth, of the path the younger man was destined to take or had the Frenchman guided him down it? How many questions he so had! Some, perhaps, surely better left for later in the evening. Dorian, for now, so choosing to allow such deep considerations as the working of fate to settle within the back off his mind for later contemplation. His attention instead focused largely upon talk of that apartment he had so surely had a hand in all but...destroying. That mention of Valhalla and her fire readily seeing that recognition of sorts touch his features. Dorian taking another sip of that drink only to remark at its sheer potency, Sebastian's ready chuckle prompting that simper to his lips all the same as he pondered that very taste upon his tongue before offering those furthered words within that accented tone.

"Sebastian had met Valhalla earlier, she had gotten into some manner of trouble one evening and he brought her back to that apartment. She was quite terribly injured and in our efforts to attempt to take care of her she rather....burst into flames. If Sebastian had not been there she'd have burned me entirely. The couch was all but ruined though."

How well he remembered that evening. That very night one of the first times he had so ever heard his lover hiss, that vampiric sound having come to near fascinate the Monarch in a fashion ever since. How well he remembered too Sebastian's sheer hunger that night. His lover having beset him with all four fangs that evening in sheer desperation and yet, up until that moment, the sheer control Sebastian had maintained had been nothing short of heroic. The very nature of his now-husband, that simple....goodness that existed within him nothing short of endearing. Those simple thoughts so prompting his gaze to linger upon the vampire with that clear affection for but a moment before he spoke readily of Samantha- and that motorcycle he had seen Aiden arrive on more than once. Sebastian readily assisting in that translation only for Aiden to refer to it as something else entirely. Kawasaki? Perhaps he had named the machine the way Sebastian so enjoyed naming things. Dorian readily contemplating that decidedly alluring machine when Matteo's voice so suddenly interrupted with that declaration that there was to be no Motorbikes. Dorian's gaze falling readily upon the elder Fae then with a look somewhat inclined to indignation. Whatever words he had so been about to offer however were abruptly cut short by the Frenchmans insistence he knew what he had been about to say and- more so- that a future existed in which he injured himself. Those very words offered toward Sebastian. Dorian realising perhaps a moment to late of Matteo's terribly underhanded ploy in this. The Frenchman knowing so exactly how Sebastian would respond. That decidedly pointed look he was so offered by his husband prompting that scowl upon Dorian's features in turn.

"Surely I am merely allowed to look at Aiden's motorcycle? Or do you all fear I shall somehow implode from the sight of it?"

His silvered gaze glanced from Sebastian to Matteo and back once more with that veritable protest, his eyes shifting then to Alexander and Aiden in some search of an ally amongst his family. That soft huff so parting his lips once more as he so inquired after that Ark his brother called. The Monarch decidedly astute in his choice of words lest he somehow offend his newest companion. That boat, after all, had been a decidedly.....unusual place. Aiden, for his part, quick to agree that such a place was hardly holy as the same suggested before insisting that damage to the apartment so hardly mattered any longer. The place so apparently vacant now. Dorian so besetting the emerald-eye man with a near inquisitive look. Samantha, it seemed, had abandoned Aiden as she had abandoned them all. A flicker of....protectiveness so daring to dance within him at the idea of any distress that Fae woman might have caused Aiden in turn. Dorian dismissing such thoughts for now even if he remained wholly curious as to how quickly and potently that had accosted him.

"Perhaps you should consider leasing it out? I am sure there exists those more....adapt to home ownership then myself whom might surely rent it without destroying it."

That hint of amusement tugged at his features all the same. Dorian so hardly above finding that humour in his own shortcomings. That very declaration that it was surely time to eat so prompted that collection of beings to make their way toward the table. Matteo's sudden insistence Alexander had touched a plate prompting that short lived argument between the pair. The interactions of the age old Hunter and Fae decidedly amusing to him. That disagreement seeming quickly settled. That look of confusion upon Aiden's features readily prompting that soft gesture from the Monarch as to just where he should sit. His newfound brother quickly taking up that seat across from him as Dorian settled beside Sebastin with that insistence he perhaps found favour in Brandy after all. His husband querying whether it was the brandy or merely the way it made him feel that he so favoured. Dorian readily allowing that good natured roll of his eyes, that easy chuckle rising within his throat all the same.

"It is probably both. Heaven knows I shall remember that night in Spain so long as I live, or in the least I shall remember that I don't remember it at all."

How terribly drunk he had been! That glorious party having swept him up entirely in such revelry. That night so having prompted the Monarch, for months, to have no more than a drink or two with each meal at best. His attention returned to Aiden once more, the Fae's decidedly curious nature so refusing to be sated when there was a terribly great deal more he wished to know! Aiden, for his part, seeming to take those questions with an affable nature before softly insisting Matteo had spoken off him often. That genuine surprise so readily seeming to find Dorian's features in that moment as he regarded his sibling.

"He spoke of me?"

That inquiry was oddly...soft and strangely...hopeful. Dorian so fleetingly wishing that Aiden and himself might be alone, if only for a moment, if only to ask at another inquiry that turned within him. He knew without question of Matteo's affections for him and yet he had wondered often- terribly often- if his Father had been inclined to....remember him with each passing year. It seemed perhaps...that he had. Aiden so continuing then to insist he had lived in this city in turn at that Matteo, as he had done for Dorian, had visited Aiden often. How many more questions such a consideration offered him! Such curiosities pressed aside for that moment as the emerald-eyed man spoke of another sibling, a sister. Nadya. That very name so prompting that recognition within his gaze.

"Do you know, I have met her? It was terribly long ago, Sebastian and I had only just begun courting. Nadya came to the house to take Samantha to a party of some kind and insisted I come despite my reservations. I was rather fearful of cars at that stage, it is foolish I know, but I had not ridden in one before. Nadya- was not terribly accommodating of my concerns. We had a rather vocal disagreement."

Nadya had been one of those few people within the city that Dorian had so managed not to find agreeable. The Fae Monarch decidedly personable in most instances. How different Aiden was from his sister! The near quiet man whom sat across from him not nearly so vocally ambitious as his sister had been. It was that very query of just what Aiden was however that so prompted Sebastian to lean slightly forward once more with that insistence Aiden was surely aware- even if he smelled peculiar. That inquisitive look Dorian so afforded his new brother readily prompted that nod from Aiden in turn, the younger man insisting he was a Were-Panther and that Alpha blood tastes different to vampires. That ready curiosity so touching his features once more.

"Does it?"

He so inquired of Sebastian then, as if his husband might hold some knowledge of that very topic before h contemplated that very animal Aiden had so mentioned. That warm simper so finding his lips.

"I should love to see this Panther! I have not seen one since I was child. Do you think perhaps you might take that form one day? I should be terribly curious to see it."

How fascinating! The very notion he might so be allowed to see a Panther so readily taking up his thoughts until Aiden queried why it was, in any fashion, improper to ask after ones species. Dorian readily blinking in surprise at that question if only because he had never truly considered.....why it was so in any sense. That bafflement surely clear upon his own features.

"Do you know, I don't really know? I suppose I was always simply taught as such. When I was younger there were...less supernatural being then their are now. Our existence was far more secretive and i suspect it was simply once considered a rather prying question. Although I think you are quite right, nowadays it is far less dangerous to admit your species."

What a terribly curious thought to consider. The sudden return of Matteo so preventing any further contemplation on the change of language throughout the years as the elder Fae placed some sort of cheese....drenched past before him. That very dish prompting a grin from Aiden as Dorian inquired exactly what had happened to that pasta. The Monarch so hardly anticipating that sudden and veritable explosion from his newfound sibling. Matteo promptly declared the worst Father ever in between so very many uses of the word 'fuck' Dorian was left but utterly bewildered as he glanced between his father and brother. In all his life, in all his near six hundred years, he had never heard Matteo spoken to in such a fashion. Aiden spoke to their Father as if he was....his best friend ina tavern. How....casual. How bizarre. Dorian so struggling to comprehend just what was occuring at all as he leaned quietly toward Sebastian then, those uttered words for his lover alone.

"Is this a religious holiday we are celebrating?"

Dorian so trying to decide whether or not that lack of religion at such an event so made that cussing somewhat more acceptable and less requiring of a visit to Church the coming Sunday. The Monarch nothing short off utterly baffled by that interaction so occuring before him as his gaze returned to that pasta. Matteo so defending his apparent lack of sharing a dish Aiden seemed to adore with Dorian himself. It was touching, he supposed, that Aiden cared so passionately for such a meal that he might take offense at Dorian's own lack of knowledge upon it. How...brotherly of him. Dorian unable to help that small smile that found his features in that moment. A part of him almost....enjoying to see Matteo told off. Aiden holding no fear in that very regard and yet too, that casualness so spoke volumes of the...closeness of the pair. A small twinge of another emotion entirely so turning within him then and yet he was quick to discard it. Matteo heading back toward that kitchen then as Dorian lifted his drink to his lips once more in search of that alcohol again- only for Matteo to return that language in exactly the same fashion! His sheer shock so readily prompted that spluttering. Dorian choking terribly on that drink in that moment. He had never heard Matteo say such a thing in all his life! And at the dinner table! Alexander so speaking up then to insist Aiden be allowed to speak as he liked and so overruling Matteo's request (if it had even truly been a request, Dorian suspected it was not). The Fae King so glancing toward Sebastian then in some hope his husband might better understand just what they had found themselves within the middle off! The Fae King so at last recovinger enough to glance near wide-eyed toward Aiden once more.

"I do not think I have ever heard anyone speak so bluntly to Matteo in all my life- I quite like you."

That sudden grin so found the Monarch's features in turn. That soft chuckle rising within his throat. Dorian, perhaps aided by that brandy, so seeming to find a rather genuine amusement in that entire gathering- as ridiculous as it had become. The Monarch pulled that Macaroni and Cheese toward himself then to add a serving to his place as the rest of that food arrived. Matteo so even taking that time to prepare something decidedly to Sebastian's tastes before that turkey was placed upon that table and before Alexander for carving. How glorious it looked! The scent nothing short of divine. Matteo the first to hold his plate toward his Godfather as he carved. Dorian rather assured that Aiden, as their newest guest, should have been offered such honours. Matteo quick to refute that very look Dorian had so surely offered him with the insistence he had given him life and as such, turkey was a small price to pay. Dorian offering his father that dubious look. The Frenchman insisting Aiden and himself should surely take to calling him 'sir' in that traditional sense- only for Alexander to suggest Matteo himself was all but foreign to such an idea. Another grin so finding his features then.

"I think, Alexander, I should like to hear a story of Matteo's failing at something. I know not what he has spoken to Aiden about but those stories he shares with me are often off his own brilliance. Aiden and I, I think, would like to hear about his failings to use the word sir or anything else he has done wrong in his life. Oh, this cheese pasta is quite good! I see why you like it."

Dorian Ellington-Aragona