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A bright red box with a silver ribbon is delivered to Dorian. Inside are pink snowflake sugar cookies and a fun selfie. The back of the picture reads:
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Thank you for being amazing! 💗 Elle
P.S. In case Toby doesn't want to share 😋
[Penned in a graceful hand, a letter arrives for Elle on the morning of the 28th:]
Miss Woods,
Good call on the cookies; Toby threw all of his back shortly after they arrived. If he hasn't thanked you already, know that you're his choice baker in the city. Mine hit my sweet tooth in just the right way, too.
Once we're set up in new our house in the Up, please come join us sometime for dinner and drinks.
Yours,
- Dorian C. Gray
Miss Woods,
Good call on the cookies; Toby threw all of his back shortly after they arrived. If he hasn't thanked you already, know that you're his choice baker in the city. Mine hit my sweet tooth in just the right way, too.
Once we're set up in new our house in the Up, please come join us sometime for dinner and drinks.
Yours,
- Dorian C. Gray
Edited 2023-01-02 21:47 (UTC)
[Along with the rest of the post that arrives on the morning of the 28th, Grayson will find a gracefully-penned stationary card sealed in an envelope with a pattern of Art Nouveau-style peacock feathers on the back flap.]
Grayson-
It's taking time, but I'm starting to figure the pin out. Thank you.
I'd say 'Best wishes for the new year', but what's one more of many?
- D
Grayson-
It's taking time, but I'm starting to figure the pin out. Thank you.
I'd say 'Best wishes for the new year', but what's one more of many?
- D
No more than I ought to have. [Not entirely true, but he does have his image of sprezzatura to uphold. Flashing a smile at Adrian, Dorian pours them two glasses of a nice Port, before moving to join the other man on the couch. He situates himself comfortably near the Dhampir, one leg pressing up against the Dhampir's knee.]
But I did have to consider how you might want to be seen. [It's one thing to be dressed beautifully and in a way others find appealing, but the true Art of fashion as he sees it is in the revelation of personality through style.]
That part's going to take some improvisation and help from you. [He keeps his tone playful. There may be some element of seriousness in creation, but in the end he's hoping this will mostly amount to the entertaining seduction of a man he relates to. On that note, Dorian toasts the other man briefly with a clink of his glass against Adrian's before taking a sip of his Port. A moment is given over to savoring the taste. It's delicious.] When you dress, do you do it for yourself, or to affect other people? Or is there some other inspiration?
[He's genuinely curious.]
But I did have to consider how you might want to be seen. [It's one thing to be dressed beautifully and in a way others find appealing, but the true Art of fashion as he sees it is in the revelation of personality through style.]
That part's going to take some improvisation and help from you. [He keeps his tone playful. There may be some element of seriousness in creation, but in the end he's hoping this will mostly amount to the entertaining seduction of a man he relates to. On that note, Dorian toasts the other man briefly with a clink of his glass against Adrian's before taking a sip of his Port. A moment is given over to savoring the taste. It's delicious.] When you dress, do you do it for yourself, or to affect other people? Or is there some other inspiration?
[He's genuinely curious.]
Dorian,
I'm glad it's working for you and that
you're enjoying it.
In this place? That could be a dangerous
question. It's one I plan on trying to
enjoy more than many previous. Luck willing,
we'll both be around to see how it goes.
Regards,
Grayson
I'm glad it's working for you and that
you're enjoying it.
In this place? That could be a dangerous
question. It's one I plan on trying to
enjoy more than many previous. Luck willing,
we'll both be around to see how it goes.
Regards,
Grayson
[His voice is crisp and clipped, not at all how he usually addresses Dorian, certainly not in several months at least.]
I am no longer willing to work with Sims. The matter we began with the creature will either be ours to handle, or if you think him more useful, continue with him. I'll hold no ill will for your decision.
I am no longer willing to work with Sims. The matter we began with the creature will either be ours to handle, or if you think him more useful, continue with him. I'll hold no ill will for your decision.
[He might appreciate Jon more now, but the choice at hand, as abruptly as it's being put before him, rests with ending the matter of the dream creature the way it began.]
Well that's an easy decision to make; We'll take it on our own, then. Thanks to Jon, I know the general location where the creature hiding for whenever we do decide to make our move.
[He could leave it at that, but the gossip hound in him simply can't resist.]
What happened?
Well that's an easy decision to make; We'll take it on our own, then. Thanks to Jon, I know the general location where the creature hiding for whenever we do decide to make our move.
[He could leave it at that, but the gossip hound in him simply can't resist.]
What happened?
Good. His presence for the fight would have been useless regardless unless he could have persuaded the creature into a therapy session.
[Disdain drops in the words.]
He judged and upset Vanessa over a choice he hypocritically made for himself, and he can rot in Hell for all I care. I'm done with him.
[Disdain drops in the words.]
He judged and upset Vanessa over a choice he hypocritically made for himself, and he can rot in Hell for all I care. I'm done with him.
Frankly? Yeah. As far as I know he isn't as hardy as I am, and he was going to bring a protection detail. Extra magical firepower might not be the worst idea, but too many chefs in the creature-hunting kitchen and all of that. [Not to mention layers of potential drama. No, in the end, it really might be better to strip the party down and go with the essentials. Fewer distractions means a quicker push towards putting the creature in the ground where it belongs.
Hm? That's a little more of a guard dog-like reaction than he might have expected. Curious.]
Luckily enough, she doesn't seem like the type who can't fight her own battles, whether they're over hypocrisy or something worse.
Hm? That's a little more of a guard dog-like reaction than he might have expected. Curious.]
Luckily enough, she doesn't seem like the type who can't fight her own battles, whether they're over hypocrisy or something worse.
Edited 2023-01-26 03:02 (UTC)
Indeed. I don't think he'd be of any help at all in a fight, and he might not be able to control himself not to feed if it were to become traumatic enough.
[Nor could he have necessarily trusted any protection detail. He'd know where their loyalty lay. Not with him or Dorian.]
It's beside the point. She's my childe. An attack on her is an attack on me and will be met accordingly.
[He hasn't walked away from every code he exists by, not by any stretch.]
[Nor could he have necessarily trusted any protection detail. He'd know where their loyalty lay. Not with him or Dorian.]
It's beside the point. She's my childe. An attack on her is an attack on me and will be met accordingly.
[He hasn't walked away from every code he exists by, not by any stretch.]
Your childe? [He's only familiar with the vampiric terminology from his own world and some of Grayson's, but as his own question trails off, he realizes that the other man can only mean one thing.] ...You sired her.
[Even before Grayson's confirmed it, the hypothetical takes root in a powerful way. This man's the last person who would do something like that lightly.]
[Even before Grayson's confirmed it, the hypothetical takes root in a powerful way. This man's the last person who would do something like that lightly.]
Yes. He sought to pretend to play civil to me while disparaging her, and I won't have it. Not for a moment.
[Perhaps this isn't precisely how he'd have sought to break otherwise big news, but this has always been more or less a private affair and not something brought up simply for its own sake to anyone.]
[Perhaps this isn't precisely how he'd have sought to break otherwise big news, but this has always been more or less a private affair and not something brought up simply for its own sake to anyone.]
[As much as Dorian respects the catharsis of a good angry rant, it's impossible to let go of the news that Grayson's dropped into his lap as an offhand piece of information. He doesn't know Vanessa that well, but she knows him, and their last significant meeting had been enough to make him curious about her fate.
But the more significant thing is the drastic choice underpinning it all.]
Then he'll get fucked, obviously. [The words are accompanied by an unseen, briskly dismissive wave of his hand. Can they stop talking about Jon now?]
I suppose I'm the last person in the city to find out that you fell in love. [Despite his words, his tone is pleased. Intrigued at the edges.] Congratulations.
But the more significant thing is the drastic choice underpinning it all.]
Then he'll get fucked, obviously. [The words are accompanied by an unseen, briskly dismissive wave of his hand. Can they stop talking about Jon now?]
I suppose I'm the last person in the city to find out that you fell in love. [Despite his words, his tone is pleased. Intrigued at the edges.] Congratulations.
[Now that’s not terribly fair.]
Don’t ‘read into it’. [He huffs.] Not that long ago you insisted you were fighting a battle to see if you had any human feeling left to scrape together.
So you were waiting for the right person—- vampire? Not intentionally, but you were?
[Dish, Grayson!!]
Don’t ‘read into it’. [He huffs.] Not that long ago you insisted you were fighting a battle to see if you had any human feeling left to scrape together.
So you were waiting for the right person—- vampire? Not intentionally, but you were?
[Dish, Grayson!!]
No. Something unexpected happened with the siring. Understand that it's a process much studied but difficult to prove in any concrete way. It's believed the soul essence, whatever remains in a vampire after their own siring, blends with the essence of the childe at the time of rising. It's as though I was infused with a replacement for what I cut away. Grafted. However you choose to term it.
It increased my capacity to feel. Everything else...took care of itself more or less.
[It didn't take him long to love her after the fact.]
It's likely it happened to me the first time I sired at home. I simply didn't notice it because the things I was focused on weren't challenging me to feel at the time.
It increased my capacity to feel. Everything else...took care of itself more or less.
[It didn't take him long to love her after the fact.]
It's likely it happened to me the first time I sired at home. I simply didn't notice it because the things I was focused on weren't challenging me to feel at the time.
[That's more involved than he's ever understood siring to be - certainly more of a give and take than how Toby described his own siring to be like. As far as he understands it, that connection only went as far as linking Ivor and Toby to the extent that Ivor had known when he'd died but little else.
This version is romantic in a macabre sort of way, even with the word 'grafted' thrown in.]
Then if I'm understanding you right, if you sired more humans, theoretically there's a chance you'd continue to become even more human in feeling? Gain more feeling? [Interesting.]
So you're the same, but you've also become more because of her, [he reasons, thoughtfully.]
This version is romantic in a macabre sort of way, even with the word 'grafted' thrown in.]
Then if I'm understanding you right, if you sired more humans, theoretically there's a chance you'd continue to become even more human in feeling? Gain more feeling? [Interesting.]
So you're the same, but you've also become more because of her, [he reasons, thoughtfully.]
I'm not sure. Perhaps I'd fill up to whatever deficiency was left over, if any. I've never heard of it having this specific effect. Most vampires don't make the ritual I performed as permanent as I did.
[If anyone else has, he never spoke to them.]
Yes. It hasn't changed my intentions or proclivities, merely my capacity and...empathy, for lack of a better term.
[He no longer puzzles at most emotional reactions to what he says or does. It doesn't mean he feels for the people he offends or hurts unless he already cares. He's not sure he needs to clarify that for Dorian given how well he does know him already.]
[If anyone else has, he never spoke to them.]
Yes. It hasn't changed my intentions or proclivities, merely my capacity and...empathy, for lack of a better term.
[He no longer puzzles at most emotional reactions to what he says or does. It doesn't mean he feels for the people he offends or hurts unless he already cares. He's not sure he needs to clarify that for Dorian given how well he does know him already.]
[Most of what he's heard by this point in the conversation has been pleasing. He's glad that Grayson's found something like what he has with Toby, in whatever form it's taken with Vanessa and through the supernatural process of how it sounds like it was allowed to happen.
It feels like the closing of a chapter between them-- one that he doesn't think needs to be voiced. If Grayson's graduated to having more empathy, he may have already changed enough that he's not sure where their similarities lie anymore.]
Well, you've done something that I thought wasn't possible for anyone who's lived for as long as you have: you changed. If it's the way you make it sound, I'm sure it isn't easy, [not when it's something new, and that takes adjusting to so suddenly] but I'm happy for you.
[Genuinely. Even as it makes him reflect on how relatively little he feels like he's changed here, in contrast.]
It feels like the closing of a chapter between them-- one that he doesn't think needs to be voiced. If Grayson's graduated to having more empathy, he may have already changed enough that he's not sure where their similarities lie anymore.]
Well, you've done something that I thought wasn't possible for anyone who's lived for as long as you have: you changed. If it's the way you make it sound, I'm sure it isn't easy, [not when it's something new, and that takes adjusting to so suddenly] but I'm happy for you.
[Genuinely. Even as it makes him reflect on how relatively little he feels like he's changed here, in contrast.]
Edited 2023-02-05 01:00 (UTC)
I didn't think it was possible, myself, and I doubt that it would have been to this degree without the unforeseen.
[As gratifying as it would be to be able to take credit, as it is it would also be a falsehood. Intentions aside, he considers it highly unlikely he'd have ever grown beyond an ability to feign appropriate responses where necessary, to remain on the outside looking in.]
Easy, no. Satisfying, quite. A frontier revisited long enough after the fact to feel new. There's very little of this I remember from before.
Thank you. I doubt I'd have embarked on any of it without your companionship and goading. The siring perhaps. Not what started the climb out of dispassion and numbness.
[As gratifying as it would be to be able to take credit, as it is it would also be a falsehood. Intentions aside, he considers it highly unlikely he'd have ever grown beyond an ability to feign appropriate responses where necessary, to remain on the outside looking in.]
Easy, no. Satisfying, quite. A frontier revisited long enough after the fact to feel new. There's very little of this I remember from before.
Thank you. I doubt I'd have embarked on any of it without your companionship and goading. The siring perhaps. Not what started the climb out of dispassion and numbness.
You're welcome. [There's a note of real warmth to the words.] As cliché as it is to say it, that's what friends are for.
[And he knows well that once you've gone gray and reached a certain age, a real friend is one of the more difficult things in any world to find. Someone who can be trusted is even more scarce.
When he arrived in the city, bereft and freshly having decided to keep on trying to live after all, what he'd thought he needed was to recapture lost pieces of himself. What he actually ended up benefiting from, was making a friend.]
But at any rate, now that we've closed the book on our first agreement, once you've parsed your feelings about Jon [he did interrupt Grayson's rant, after all] let's pick the day we take out that creature. It's already spent too much time crawling around the city without some kind of answer to trespassing on my nightmares.
[And he knows well that once you've gone gray and reached a certain age, a real friend is one of the more difficult things in any world to find. Someone who can be trusted is even more scarce.
When he arrived in the city, bereft and freshly having decided to keep on trying to live after all, what he'd thought he needed was to recapture lost pieces of himself. What he actually ended up benefiting from, was making a friend.]
But at any rate, now that we've closed the book on our first agreement, once you've parsed your feelings about Jon [he did interrupt Grayson's rant, after all] let's pick the day we take out that creature. It's already spent too much time crawling around the city without some kind of answer to trespassing on my nightmares.
[ Leaning into a more comfortable side straddle of the couch, Adrian smiled as he felt Dorian's leg press against his own. These little touches were a delight to endure, each time Dorian came close, each time a part of him grazed a part of Adrian, it left him with a fleeting feeling of an excited sort of anxious. Taking the glass of port, inhaling the aroma before tasting a generous mouthful with a pleased-sounding hum. ]
How do I wish to be seen, Dorian?
[Inclining his head aside as he considered the possibilities of such a sentence. How did he wish to be seen? It was a deeper sentiment than first imagined. He wanted to be seen in a different light by different people. To the masses, he wished to be seen as the opposite of his father. To his friends, he wanted to be seen as trustworthy and honest. To those he adored and admired he wanted to be seen as beautiful and alluring and to the one he loved, he wished to be seen as equal. However, something tells him that's not the answer Dorian was looking for. Or is it? ]
Hmm, well...
[ Taking another drink of his port as he's toasted, tucking an unruly strand of platinum blonde hair behind a pale pointed ear. Crossing one leg over the other, his foot gently bouncing against Dorian's leg from the switch of position. ]
I feel I am unable to speak and untruth in your presence, Dorian, so I won't. When I dress, yes, I want to be seen. I want to radiate light, to draw people in like a beacon. I've spent such a long time being alone you see.
How do I wish to be seen, Dorian?
[Inclining his head aside as he considered the possibilities of such a sentence. How did he wish to be seen? It was a deeper sentiment than first imagined. He wanted to be seen in a different light by different people. To the masses, he wished to be seen as the opposite of his father. To his friends, he wanted to be seen as trustworthy and honest. To those he adored and admired he wanted to be seen as beautiful and alluring and to the one he loved, he wished to be seen as equal. However, something tells him that's not the answer Dorian was looking for. Or is it? ]
Hmm, well...
[ Taking another drink of his port as he's toasted, tucking an unruly strand of platinum blonde hair behind a pale pointed ear. Crossing one leg over the other, his foot gently bouncing against Dorian's leg from the switch of position. ]
I feel I am unable to speak and untruth in your presence, Dorian, so I won't. When I dress, yes, I want to be seen. I want to radiate light, to draw people in like a beacon. I've spent such a long time being alone you see.
[A half-vampire who wants to radiate light? He's never met a dhampir before to have a point of comparison, but it does surprise Dorian somewhat to hear that. Nothing over the span of their friendship has told him whether Adrian relates more to the vampiric side of himself than his human side, but with this admission? He's beginning to think it could be the latter.
It feels almost ...innocent? Is that a word that can be applied to a being sired, in part, by a creature of the night? He doesn't know, but it's appealing, and he's intrigued.
The smile he offers Adrian when he confesses to having been alone is softer, and more sympathetic. Placing down his glass, Dorian lays a light touch over the other man's nearest hand in a small offer of warmth.]
Was that before you arrived in Duplicity? Tell me about it, [he encourages gently.]
It feels almost ...innocent? Is that a word that can be applied to a being sired, in part, by a creature of the night? He doesn't know, but it's appealing, and he's intrigued.
The smile he offers Adrian when he confesses to having been alone is softer, and more sympathetic. Placing down his glass, Dorian lays a light touch over the other man's nearest hand in a small offer of warmth.]
Was that before you arrived in Duplicity? Tell me about it, [he encourages gently.]
Edited 2023-02-20 21:21 (UTC)
Indeed it is.
[Some cliches are so for good reason.]
My feelings are well parsed. I'd say sooner rather than later. The longer it lingers, the more time it has to adapt its tactics.
I need some time to perform a few defensive rituals and prepare some surprises for our friend. Three weeks hence should be time enough.
[Some cliches are so for good reason.]
My feelings are well parsed. I'd say sooner rather than later. The longer it lingers, the more time it has to adapt its tactics.
I need some time to perform a few defensive rituals and prepare some surprises for our friend. Three weeks hence should be time enough.
[ It's a silly notion really, isn't it? Adrian knows how dreamy and ridiculous it must make him seem, but it is most definitely the truth. He wants to be the complete opposite of his father and there is no love loss for his kin. Should Dorian ask, Adrian would openly tell him of the struggles he has, feeling neither closer to being either human or Vampire. He feels like something entirely apart from both species, even if he longs to be mortal like his departed mother.
Dorian is right to feel that way about Adrian, as wrong as it feels, as in theory nothing sired by the dead of night could be called innocent, and yet innocent is exactly what Adrian is. Sheltered, privileged, and ignorant in his youth, even going as far as to have never laid with anyone before he arrived here. No, Adrian was innocent, to more of the world than he would care to admit.
The lightest of gasps left his lips as Dorian replaced his wine glass in favor of setting his hand upon the Dhampir's. Considering the question for a long moment, simply looked into Dorian's eyes, as if he were searching them for something to make the answer hurt any less. ]
Yes and no. At first, I didn't wish to be seen at all. Instead, I had a private crypt made, one that I intended on locking myself up in forever. Only, forever seemed like an awfully long time all things considered. So... I left clues, tales, and fables for anyone interested to take as the word of God. If I was going to have company again, I wanted it to be with someone who needed me, Dorian... I wanted to be wanted.
[ Pausing for a moment, setting his own glass down and placing his now empty hand atop of the one Dorian had on his, leaning in with a tilt of his head, golden threads of hair cascading down past his shoulder and chest. ]
Since I've been here, I confess, there's only one person I truly wanted to see me, to shine for them, and yet... Ah, I'm sorry, I feel embarrassed in saying this.
[ Blushing, Adrian turned his head away in the coyest of mannerisms. ]
Dorian is right to feel that way about Adrian, as wrong as it feels, as in theory nothing sired by the dead of night could be called innocent, and yet innocent is exactly what Adrian is. Sheltered, privileged, and ignorant in his youth, even going as far as to have never laid with anyone before he arrived here. No, Adrian was innocent, to more of the world than he would care to admit.
The lightest of gasps left his lips as Dorian replaced his wine glass in favor of setting his hand upon the Dhampir's. Considering the question for a long moment, simply looked into Dorian's eyes, as if he were searching them for something to make the answer hurt any less. ]
Yes and no. At first, I didn't wish to be seen at all. Instead, I had a private crypt made, one that I intended on locking myself up in forever. Only, forever seemed like an awfully long time all things considered. So... I left clues, tales, and fables for anyone interested to take as the word of God. If I was going to have company again, I wanted it to be with someone who needed me, Dorian... I wanted to be wanted.
[ Pausing for a moment, setting his own glass down and placing his now empty hand atop of the one Dorian had on his, leaning in with a tilt of his head, golden threads of hair cascading down past his shoulder and chest. ]
Since I've been here, I confess, there's only one person I truly wanted to see me, to shine for them, and yet... Ah, I'm sorry, I feel embarrassed in saying this.
[ Blushing, Adrian turned his head away in the coyest of mannerisms. ]
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