The Sun Also Rises

How refreshing it was to see a young woman's cheeks dance with that flush of red that came from the mere mention of her gentleman caller. Dorian quite unable to prevent that near knowing grin that found his lips in return and yet, for that moment at least, he hardly pressed her further upon the matter. The Monarch instead quite content to merely watch that momentary fluster that found her. How he delighted in seeing those early stages of attraction between a young couple, those delicate moments when a woman might still find herself nervous and filled with flutterings of excitement and wonderment at even the mention off her suitors name and too- those gentleman in turn might spend but hours before a mirror so rehearsing those very lines they cared to give to express their intent or indeed the time spent choosing a token to so display that very affection. How lost the modern world had become in that art of courting. How few so understood that game any longer and just the way it should be played. Dorian so inclined to remember his own early days with Sebastian, that memory alone so stirring a simper to his lips.

How he had adored that letter writing the pair had taken up. After all, letter writing was the proper thing to do. Each of them having observed that correct number of days between encounters so one might not appear to overly eager and yet too, that time period between visits so designed to prevent one ever left waiting to long. The anticipation and the eagerness of seeing one another had become the very delight he had lived for. The very first flower Sebastian had ever presented him with, that carnation, he knew to have been chosen with specific care so that it might convey just the right message. Dorian himself so content to leave Sebastian with that promise of next time after each encounter. How well they had both played that game even if neither had admitted to it and yet- such was that art of courting. That relationship developing naturally over that course of time into something far deeper, something 'official' in every sense of the word. The pair walking out more and more often before he had moved in with his fiance, a break from those age-old traditions in which a woman would never have cohabited with anyone not her betrothed and yet- neither of them was a woman. That moving in a necessary step that had, some months later, taken those final steps in that natural progression toward that engagement. The Monarch so running his fingers across that ring even now. How he adored it. How he loved to even consider that life that lay before them to have. How he looked forward to every moment of it. His gaze so at last lifting to Beylani once more with that gentle chuckle.

"Yes darling, court as in....date. I believe that is the modern word. In my time a gentleman would court a lady he held interests in to see if they might find themselves compatible. Once they had been deemed a good match they would walk out together, that is, be seen in the public eye so others might acknowledge the man's intentions. Then, after a period of time, if both families were in agreement the couple would likely announce their engagement."

He paused then, so allowing the woman to consider those ideals he offered and indeed consider those comparisons between those age old methods of dating and the more modern kind that she was more familiar with. The Monarch so continuing then with that near impish grin.

"Andras fancies you, it is plainly clear, though whether he has stated his affections yet or not I can hardly say. I worry for his courting abilities frankly, but I have faith in him all the same. You are a lovely woman Beylani, I am not at all surprised you have captured his attentions. I hope that whatever happens that you will find yourself happy."

He meant it too, sincerely so. Dorian content to allow the poor blushing girl that reprieve then as she asked after that upcoming wedding, the Monarch grinning readily once more before easily falling into that conversation of the details he had so far mastered in orchestrating and those he still needed to prepare. The Monarch having made rather an effort to distract Sebastian from seeing that bill. Not that his lover had asked after it, had he, the Fae would surely have offered it and yet, until he did, Dorian so hardly saw a need to bring it up. Not that money was truly an object in any real sense. The idea of those vegetarians, a concept Dorian hardly understood, readily taking over his thoughts then. His very irritation at what he deemed an ill of society surely clear in that moment. The man oblivious to the amusement Lani seemed to find in it before the woman offered her own thoughts on the matter. The woman suggesting that most people were vegetarian because they were against taking the lives of animals. That clearlook of surprise finding his features then. The very idea near...baffling to him. Dorian, perhaps, showing his age in that moment. The man simply not.....understanding.

"I have never heard anything so ridiculous. Animals are raised for the purpose of eating just as one animal eats another. It is the natural order of things. How little do they value food that they might turn down one when it is offered? I have seen men fight for even the bones off a rabbit. Farming has led to the rise of society as it is today. They should be grateful for it."

This, it seemed, was a distinctly prickly topic for the Monarch. His opinions on it decidedly potent as his arms so folded across his chest with a huff of sorts. Dorian himself making an effort to change that subject before he became an ungracious companion! The Fae asking instead after the womans work with his own godfather and how she was finding it. That mention of Alexander's solemness prompting that soft chuckle as his head nodded all the same.

"He is a serious sort of being, but he is a very good man, one of the best I know."

He offered simply. The Fae King rather pleased Beylani had found work that brought her some measure of contentment. He himself a decided fan of coffee all the same. That sudden query upon Maxwell hardly anticipated and yet decidedly welcome as that warm simper found his features again.

"Oh yes, he is getting terribly large and rather strong too. He has already knocked me down once, quite by accident. He has done very well at his preschool though, he knows all of the commands and he is proving to be well mannered when he remembers himself. Sebastian is attempting to teach him to retrieve toys when we throw them but so far he appears more interested in running away with them. I think he likes it when we chase him."

He paused, as if to consider that very concept before that waitress appeared at their table. Dorian so having failed to consider that menu at all as he reached hurriedly for it. His habit of rarely eating so resulting in his often forgetting that food at all. His silver gaze lifted to the blue of Lani's own then.

"What are you having?"

Dorian Aragona