The Sun Also Rises

The young woman's murmur of agreement in regards to the man with the pants that seemed to threaten to fall off at any moment managed to prompt that soft smile to his own lips once more. Her query upon what his own sense of self must be like to wear such an outfit saw that soft chuckle hum from within the depths of his throat. Dorian readily content to find amusement in the idea alone. Why anyone might ever wish to wear incorrectly fitted pants he hardly knew. It was surely a decided hindrance to the man and more than that- he was decidedly unlikely to find a suitor who might think of him as a good husband and father when he could not even manage to dress himself! Such modern ways of thinking were, perhaps, rather lost on the ancient Fae. Dorian still struggling to believe what Sebastian and even Samantha had told him- that men and women, these days, were often far more focused on their career to consider marrying and settling down as they once used to. Many couples now apparently even choosing to forgo children, a veritable necessity in his own time to maintain that family line and those estates. Children, whether you had wanted them or not, were simply an unquestioned expectation. Men or women incapable of producing them were all but outcast in society- those higher social circles forever gossiping about such things as that. Along with whom married whom and whether or not they were deemed of a similar enough social class to be a decent match or whether one or the other had reached to high in some effort to break from their own social class and more up another through marriage. They were complex rules to be sure and yet he had understood them. He had played by them once. In that time before he was King. When he, fifth in line and surely never to see the throne before his elder brothers was no more than a mere Prince whose very marriage was a bargaining chip to secure land and armies. How fortunate he was to have escaped that fate.

That train of thought was abruptly ended by the young woman's assurance that Maxwell would surely grow up with that same refined look and confidence as Dorian himself. The Monarch glancing momentarily down at that puppy within his arms. Maxwell decidedly delighted any time anyone chose to look at him for any extended period of time. As if merely the gaze of his admirers was enough to satisfy that need for attention. It was curious really. Yet, Sebastian never had mentioned just where he had gotten the puppy from the night he had returned home with it. They had hardly ever discussed buying a dog. Dorian rather assured such a decision was one that was better discussed between them both and yet- it had taken no more than several minutes for Dorian to promptly decide he adored the creature and that he could not at all remember why they didn't have a dog already. That little puppy seeming utterly starved for attention and affection. Wherever Sebastian had gotten him from, Dorian was rather assured he was better off with them then he had ever been before. His hand lifted once more to rest atop the puppy's head, the Monarch unable to prevent that smile that seemed to find him as that body wriggled beneath his hand before he glanced upward to the young woman again.

"We certainly hope so."

He assured but a moment later. Dorian near oblivious to those thoughts of her own mind and those considerations of just the sort of home he lived in amongest those walls of concrete and stone. The Fae near instantly curious at the notion that the young woman had only moved to that city but a few days ago. How he remembered his own first days! Even if he was rather assured he would prefer to forget some of them. Dorian still not having forgiven that cyclist for colliding with him. The man still maintaining a wariness of those 'pedal horses' in every sense of the word even if he no longer overtly avoided them. That young woman with the striking eyes readily seems to seize upon that mention of where he himself is from, the vast majority of people in that city seeming to share that sentiment- that while they had hardly been to his own country they had surely seen those glorious pictures. It was a curious thing truly, how very much he adored this city and the life he held here with Sebastian and yet, sometimes, he was quite near given to miss his own country in perhaps the way Sebastian surely missed England. That simper that found his lips holding every bit of fondness for that country as he nodded.

"Yes, it is lovely. Busy- at least, busier than it used to be."

His memories of Italy after all were largely from the 15th century. The man oblivious to the idea that the girl beside him may not have been aware of quite how many centuries old he was. Dorian taking that moment to inquire of just where she was from all the same. His fascination with geography, with those places he had never been in turn, readily seeming to inspire his intrigue. The Fae never yet having heard of 'Willowhaven' and yet he supposed there were a great many number of places he had never heard off. The young woman seeming to speak about that apparent small town with a great passion that betrayed her love for it. That desire to see and experience those things she never had reminding him terribly off himself in that moment. After all, how many things had he dragged Sebastian too purely to experience it? The beach and the fair and ice cream and museums. That admittance that he was 'interesting' prompting that chuckle from him once more.

"I do not know that I am terribly interesting- but thank you. Do you know what I saw for the first time in all my life here? The aquarium. Have you seen one before? It is the most glorious place!"

How those simple, modern day things might enchant him still. Dorian entirely capable of finding wonder in even the smallest of things. Those electronic doors at the supermarket still delighting him enough that he had required his entire security to team to walk in and out of them several times if only so he might understand how they work. The Fae King a distinctly curious being in every sense of the word. His attention resting on the woman still.

"What will you do in the city now, for work?"

After all, women, he was told, went to work as only men had done once. Dorian curious as to what the woman before him did when she was not photographing nature. That offer to show her to that tree-lined path seeing the man raise from his seat then. Maxwell carefully returned to the ground, the puppy delighted to be moving once more as Dorian led the way towards their newest destination. The man finding he rather enjoyed the company of the young women. She was a pleasant sort of person, he liked her nature and that grin that seemed to take up her whole face when she smiled. His gaze lingering upon her several moments longer then it might otherwise have done in that contemplation and yet it was that singular moment longer that seemed to bring about a different sort of awareness in the man. Dorian feeling both eyes widen almost suddenly at the realization that the young woman was....strikingly bright. That life that he alone was gifted to see was veritably glowing from her the way it so normally only did from Fae, children or a very select few Hunters. The Monarch taken aback by it then, Dorian oblivious to the idea that he was staring in that moment. The man near desiring to reach out and touch it. He had never seen a human so bright as that, his glasses lifted upward to rest atop his head as he eyed her all the more before that sudden query as to a leaf in her hair hurriedly saw the man look away.

"Oh, no I.....I'm sorry, it's nothing. I was distracted a moment."

That smile returned easily to his lips then, Dorian seeking to cast aside that concern and yet his curiosity remained. Why on earth was she so terribly bright? It was that near age-old determination to be thought of as polite that saw the man hurriedly move to introduce both himself and Maxwell then. The return of the woman's own moniker 'Beylani' seeing his eyes lift slightly once more. That a name he had never once heard. Is head tilting almost slightly at the sound of it.

"Lani it is then."

If she so preferred it then he was certain he could manage it even if he was still becoming used to that use of nicknames that seemed so common nowadays. The name seeming to suit her all the same as they continued on. At least until his own attention was readily seized once more. Dorian pausing abruptly on that path to eye that....statue or.....machine or....whatever it was that sat several feet away. What on earth was it? The mans features readily rearranging into something almost sceptical as if he fully believed the device might intend some sort of harm upon him. Dorian seeming caught between some desire to approach it and a determination to remain away from it all the same. His attention shifted readily back to Beylani then with that inquiry as to exactly what it was supposed to be. The woman's assurance it was a 'drinking fountain' earning little more than a blank look from the man. Why would anyone desire to drink from a fountain? Where did the water come from? Beylani's sudden progression towards it seeing Dorian hesitate in turn.

"Be careful....."

That he truly believed it to be capable of harming the woman in some fashion was surely clear. The Fae shifting slightly closer all the same with Maxwell in tow. The man tensing noticeably as her hand reached for that button only to see that small stream of water erupt from the top. Oh.

"Is that all it does?"

This seemed somehow anti-climactic. Dorian shifting closer now until he stood beside his new companion, his own hand reaching out to press at the button and watch that water flow upward in the same fashion. Still- the very idea you were supposed to drink it was perhaps more than he could stand to tolerate. It did not seem decidedly...sanitary. His features shifted into a look of bemused concern all the same. His finger pressing that button several more times than as if to see if the water might somehow change.

"I am not sure I understand its purpose entirely although I suppose it matters little- I don't drink."

That this was an unusual thing to say had hardly occurred to the man. Dorian continuing to scowl at that water fountain for several more moments before that grin returned to his features and he continued to lead the way back down that path and towards the trail they had been headed for to begin with. Dorian moving then to step onto the grass and lead them through the park itself, his normally wide stride shortened to allow the young woman to walk comfortably beside him as Maxwell became engaged in the scents of that grass. He would need tell Sebastian about that fountain later tonight when his Consort woke. His attention returned in full to the woman then.

"Have you a suitor? If you do you should have him take you to the museums on the East side or the Glass gardens and there are markets on the weekends near the docks you might enjoy too. Although I suppose you do not need a suitor to take you at all. I am given to forget that women are far more independent than they were when I was younger."

Dorian Aragona