INT- Windgrace Greenhouse, afternoon
Dorian had taken the morning off from doing the on the ground banana work, but that had not stopped him from going into town, getting the flowers he had in arms and bringing them to his sister. Peonies, in that colour? This time of year? It had been a clear marvel of some sort of botanical magic that he wanted Di to see, and as any day at all for him went, he had a thousand things and more to talk with his twin about. Whistling a merry tune, he'd come to the greenhouse looking for her and upon seeing her grin with a wicked twinkle in his eye, biting his lip was he took in another eyeful of her. Whatever remark he'd readied was stolen from mind and he just beamed at her and would not stop walking until he was just inside of an arm's length away. Then he'd waggle his brow.
Dinah was in her glass house, snippers in hand, snipping the occaisional sprig from her herbs and flowers for drying. she turned at the sound of someone approaching and she smiled delightedly that it was dorian. Chuckling at the approach with his bouquet, she stepped in close to tuck one of her own flowers behind his ear and press a kiss to his cheek before gathering the peonies to her chest.
"i don't get to see you in your fine yellow resplendence today, dori?" she teased playfully, burying her face into the flowers. "Thank you, my beloved"
Dorian shook his head and grumbled with laughter over being teased about the banana routine. But he held up a hand to make sure the flower she'd tucked would stay behind his ear as he did. When he ceased laughing he'd remark, "No, I am afraid no yellow today, my most adored and admired. You are... so magnificent... I count myself fortunate, then I remember it is by your labour and power, so I needn't thank god. I can bring her flowers instead." Having spoken his mind and rather well by his reckoning he'd lean down to try to kiss her cheek in turn. Once he'd moved back a little bit again, he'd bring up another thing he was glad for, "I am glad to see our rabbits have gotten along quite so well given the ahhhhm... appetite of yours?" His tone was inquisitive, inviting her commentary and likely repeated assurance by this point about Hunter.
Dinah laughed and she rested her free hand against his chest, settling her bouquet to her own. "A shame. yellow suits you. I always imagine it to be such a jolly colour so you and gold are hand in hand. you are the sun, after all" she smiled at his praise, reaching up to curl her fingers in his chopped off locks, tilting her cheek up towards his kiss. She giggled though about his remark about the rabbits and she turned to check the rest. "Hunter is out, it seems.. he is a good boy. Very sweet. And harmless to us, i'd wager."she pondered in thought "....though i must confess, I don't know for certain. I THINK he behaves, though"
Dorian took note of her preference of him in yellow, calling him the sun, and it made his smile fan out to toothsome, dimplesome proportions. "Do you suppose he can take care of himself? He... spoke, my love. He spoke to people on the docks and danced. I told them you taught him how to dance. So I have only added to your legend, you see. Hector was down there before you arrived. I sent him off with a crate as a gesture of goodwill. It seemed the least I could do since the only calamity our family was facing was my juggling like a clown, in recompense for his own... good will." He'd made his opinion of the hatted man's timing clear, but he wanted to follow Dinah's lead there.
Bunnivere and Bounce were sleeping, one of them even kicking hind feet in dreams. He'd brush warm fingertips to the underside of her wrist as she placed a hand upon his chest, his movements a dance to keep up with enjoying her in turn, mirroring her he'd reach for one of her fair curls and toy with the end as she played with his hair, utterly rapt in her mere proximity. He didn't even smell like horse.
Dinah giggled and she nodded again, smiling at the thought of little Hunter dancing and talking in public, but she hummed in thought. "He can take care of himself. he is fully self sufficient, and quite smart, considering he hasn't lived in this plane for long. he likes the radio, you know. you and music, you will likely have that in common. when we were talking before, he communicated to me through the radio" she smiled again and she nodded in reply regarding hector.
"he's a strange little duck, isn't he? but I think he means well. he and his retinue" she said thoughtfully. "I quite like him though. For his quirks" she grinned, smoothing her hand across his chest.
Dorian closed his eyes and took a moment to feel her hand on his chest without thinking about any other thing. It kept his smile lingering, and he'd open silvery eyes glamoured like her own again and nodding about Hector and Hunter too, he'd reach over to trace the outside line of her ear down to the emerald pendant that hung there, grumbling a quiet purl of reply, "And what of these cards and this chamber they lead to?" Now that their father was dead, he no longer had to wonder if they should tell him about any of it, though the brain still did that check for a moment, and the reality that dawned after only darkened this thoughts, and his face briefly. The smile would begin to bound back on the thoughts that came after the guilt, and she might even notice that he'd breathe a calming deep draw of breath to relax, after.
Dinah made a soft noise at his finger on her ear and she tilted her head in towards his touch like a cat. She grinned, shrugging her shoulders with a quiet laugh. "have you been yet? it's like a splendid library. With snacks! you're lucky you have a card too, otherwise i might not ever come home" she teased, though she saw the shadow cross his face and she paused "What is it, Dori?" she asked softly, stepping in a little closer though careful not to crush the flowers against him. "something the matter?" If she had given any sort of second thought to their father, she didn't seem to show it on her face at all.
Dorian shook his head about going to that place. Brave as he was, if it was magical, he was pretty sure he should go with someone who knew things. It had only taken one moment's doubt before he'd decided this. And he was quiet for a moment after she asked after his unspoken thought. He'd already moved his warm palm to cup her cheek when she'd pressed in for more petting, and he'd honestly remark, in a quiet murmur, "I was just thinking of Charles. Just for a moment. Do not worry about me. Well do, actually, if you will. Worry about when I can go to this place with you. This snack library. Do they have a cake section? And one for puddings?" He was eager to not talk about it, apparently, from the way he bounded from the topic, where he called his sire by name, which was itself unusual.
She might have noticed that generally he'd been around the house more and less at the shop, knowing as he did that there were hounds loose. That he'd needed to recuperate, his soul, body and mind, no matter how tireless he usually was after the ritual and the world that dawned afterward.
Dinah reached her cheek into his palm with a soft chuckle and she paused at his thoughts of Charles. She reached for his mind, just a gentle probing.
"Do you regret what happened? he had to die, Dorian. he was a tumor on the face of the planet and he had to be excised. I couldn't have him torment you boys a moment longer if i could help it," she murmured. She turned her cheek. nibbling the pad of his thumb and she smiled.
"they had little cakes there. and chocolates. little nibbles, mostly" she trailed off again and she set the flowers down on the nearest chair, reaching her arms up around his neck.
Dorian could not pretend with her, even if he tried. He felt some sorrow over the affair, some guilt. He did not have words to say about their father, even though the man had been very sparing with love, and generous with criticism and outright abuse. And though it was rather difficult to consider with his thumb being nibbled, he admitted why after shaking his head to her quandary about his regretfulness, "I suppose it will take some getting accustomed to. Not having to worry if he will be pleased enough. I suppose it is no more impossible to garner his approval now than it was before." He'd seen that moment when their dying father had looked to him for rescue which was not coming. A disappointment to the last. He'd slip his arms around her waist in turn, scooching down his shoulders to arc toward her and thread his fingers together.
Dinah felt his thoughts filter through her mind and she pressed her lips against his neck, nodding at his words. "he never thought you were good enough and yet he expected you to come to his aid. you were under no obligation to do so, and he'd have given you no thanks if you had....he'd have wanted you to hurt us, you know that, don't you? He'd have wanted to use you as his sword, against Drystan and I. He used us for centuries, Dori. And he would have kept doing so had we let him," she trailed off again, though she rested her cheek against his chest. "he didn't want to take a part of the ritual. he merely wanted the benefits of it." she trailed off, closing her eyes "we'll be happier with him gone. more free."
Dorian unlaced his fingers to wrap his arms around her, holding onto her as if for dear life. Having worked so long for approval he'd never gotten, he naturally considered himself the laggard he had long been told he was. The 'loyalty to the family cause' lessons had taken root, and so he'd worked, done everything he'd been told, apart from leaving Dinah alone. Even so, the man had made him, and though he knew she was right, he only answered her kisses and promises with a quiet grumbling of, "I like this. Holding you this way. I never have to worry again about him seeing us together. I am glad for that. I am sure you are right. I am... it is not that. I am glad I have you. Both of you, it was no choice. Not really."
He just had a yearning for approval built in that was made to leave an empty hole. Perhaps it would start to heal without having to consider past beatings or browbeatings, or exile to the navy as a boy. But he also supposed their mother might be lonely, afraid. And he did not obscure any of his thoughts.
Dinah made a noise of agreement at his sentiment and she smiled, curling her fingers behind his neck. "I want to be nowhere else. mother will never come here, so no one will stop us" she said tenderly "And you never have to worry about you not being good enough for anyone. Because you are perfect, my apollo, and it's high time you begin to know it" she pressed another kiss to his throat again and she smiled as she considered his thoughts. "Mother has plenty of people around her. her own family. And do you think for a moment that father was not awful to her too?"
Dorian leaned down to place a kiss in her hair, and even now could not bring himself to speak ill of the dead, despite the man having tormented him from youth. He argued, "I am not the perfect one, that is you. That is Drystan. I am just also here, and abundantly grateful for it, mind you." He'd never thought much about whether his mother was as miserable under the tyrant's rule as he was. He wanted to believe otherwise, because his mother at least had been kind to him often enough for him to believe that Angelica did not despise him anyway. He'd cease speaking because when she was this close all he wanted was to revel in it, to get closer still, to get his lips to her skin in praise and worship, in thanks for freeing him from a prison he'd never thought he could escape. Outside of fantasy, Charles' nonexistence had never even dawned on him. He did not speak aloud, but he did inform her silently, [I dreamed I was Apollo, I think. We were, all three of us in the sky. Walking across the night. Orion, maybe. There were stars everywhere and the sky had all these colours.]
Dinah shook her head with a quiet laugh and she smiled, reaching for his cheek with her fingertips. "you are me. I am you. us. so anything i am, you must be too, yes? by your own logic, my sweet boy" she grinned, shaking her head. She returned her own cheek to rest on his shoulder. "Dorian, darling. you are beloved. And now you shan't ever need to cut your hair again unless you wish it" she teased. The thought of his dreams made her smile and she gave a soft sigh. "when I met Hunter he was in Orion's belt. I love the stars. One day, we will see them up close. Don't you think?"
Dorian was glad to be reminded of the freedoms coming to him. Available to him. It needn't be just a thing for Callisto and the far side of the world from home anymore. He might not agree about his perfection, but hers, well that could not be argued. Even though he was not the one with deep dark eyes, he felt himself ever the shadow. And mostly he did not mind that. He was dim enough for it. He'd chuckle about his hair, about her sweet words, and he blushed, because his love and joy needed expressing and he hadn't any way to get them off of his tongue just now. "I do see them up close. Upon you. But I think I should like to see the other stars up close too. I do not suppose you mean with the telescope, do you?" He showed her something else then. Something he'd done and not talked about. One of his evenings when he'd gone out to spar against a post, in the wilds before dinner, he'd flown up and up, and up and up. Only he'd never gotten any closer to the stars. He'd just gotten cold and alarmed at how far away the ground was and how tiny the island had looked in the midst of the ocean. He'd push the memory to her of his little used talent that he so rarely considered taking advantage of.
Dinah wrinkled her nose with a smile at his words of her own constellations, though she giggled again. Before, she would have begrudged him implying it was anything along the lines of complimenting the stars in her skin. Instead, she grinned, though she clasped him closer as he showed her his flying. "Darling, you flew so high~" she gushed, holding him closely and she squeezed him again. "Beautiful. So beautiful, aren't they? Gracious," she sighed wistfully. "I am so jealous that you get to fly as high as you do, beloved." she smiled "I think one day, our telescope will be fancier than the one we have now, and I wonder what we will see out there," she reached up to trail her fingers through his hair. "I wonder if some of the things I have seen are stars we have not discovered yet."
Dorian knew enough stars to navigate by as he'd been taught in the service. And when he'd been on watch with a glass of his own, he'd preferred the nights for seeing stars. He'd press her too, and found himself laughing when the mirthful sound fell from her lips. It was his to say, "I am jealous you can swim anywhere you please." And he thought at her again, [I am sure you see stars more distant than we can imagine. If they were so far that flying up made them look no closer. We should go see if we can get above a storm together. No, I can't put you in the kind of danger.] And then he'd laugh aloud. He was no longer thinking about their father, but one his hands had wandered up her back until it found its way to the hair at the nape of her neck and was fondling golden strands at their roots.
Dinah grinned "You have managed to dive to me, twice. and keep up with me as much as you please. when I got my gills, and when I was cursed. you have much the same lung capacity as my gills" she teased, though she nodded, resting her cheek against his chest again. "mn. i would like to see a storm up close, though. It would be beautiful. i think we must get beautiful storms here." she grinned against his throat "When we get a storm, i want to stay in here with you" she whispered playfully, shivering at his teasing of her hair and she laughed.
Dorian shook his head, unrelenting in holding her quite so near as to be able to feel how hot he ran, how his heart pounded to feel her grin against his throat, and argued aloud, "No, you breathed into me, that first time. You breathed for me. And I had to come out of the water a few times before I found you the second time. But in here... that sounds like a perfect place to watch a storm with you. For now though... did you hear that? I think I heard the sound of thunder coming from your bedroom, we had better go check." That was all the warning he gave her before bending to sweep her up off of her feet, to carry her inside. Might as well start celebrating some of that freedom again. And thanking his goddess.