Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes) came skulking home through the forest, sleeves to his tunic gone, his hurts were long since healed, and those torn sleeves balled up now that they'd gone some way to cleaning up his bloodstained arm. The drugs had pumped their way largely out of his system so what had been a delightful high with wondrous peaks was now finding new lows. A trek through the woods often delighted him, but not without Irene who did so much of the heavy lifting for a peppermint and a compliment filled brushing. This looming evening with twigs and leaves in his hair from crashing down through the canopy, he tromped home frowning through the lows on the far side of the highs he'd left in his airborne fisticuffs.
There was only one good thing about the pain he was feeling, one thing that made the walk worthwhile, and that was the chance that he'd freed the world of Niles Roesler but for good. ...At least for a while. If the fae German wasn't dead, he was surely incapacitated for some time after what Dorian had seen and done.
Hands full of bloody torn off sleeves, he made his way inside, they'd have to be burned later. For now he'd just keep them palmed and make for the stairs.
[11:46] Dinah had been... confused when she had woken, covered in Hunter in her academy office, and he'd not let her leave right away. By now, it had been a few hours, and her drugs had worn off.
She had heard what had happened, of course, having spoken to the maids as soon as she got home. About how she had passed out, about how she had been carried off, about how dorian had charged out of the window.
She had changed out of her party clothes, now covered in glitter and Hunter-goop marks, and was in the process of wiping off her makeup when she had heard the door, and for now, she listened, trying to determine who it was that had just come back into the house, a slowly ticking timer of irritatability growing.
[11:55] Dorian listened on the stairs for who else might be awake. And when it was not readily apparent, he pressed his luck and crept toward Di's room where he'd stand outside the door listening for the sound of her restful breathing. He did nothing in particular to hide his presence, psychically nor physically, apart from keeping his mouth shut. Sure his boots were somewhat quiet when he properly toed around after prey but that wasn't what this was. Thinking better of going in or knocking, he'd make for the bathroom where he could at least clean the last traces off of him and get out of the tunic that itself had blood spattered upon it's front. His pajamas sounded so fine right now. And clean. He'd hit the creaky spot on the corridor floor because he didn't even consider avoiding it in his retreat.
[11:59] Dinah heard the approach to her door, and then the creak of the retreat. there was only one person that would check at her door like that, and that would likely be someone who had expected her to be in; drystan, after all, had seen her 'leave'.
She approached the door and pulled it open, helios in her hand, the lamps immediately lighting on the blood.
"...dorian" she said quietly "...what did you do?"
[12:06] Dorian had considered what to do in case of this very scenario and he enacted that plan he'd made. He'd posit the question again as if he needed to hear it once more, "What did I do? Oh this?" He gestured to a bloody stain, "--not to worry my love, none of this is mine." He even managed to put forth a wee little smile, for the little crab to see. It was sheepish to be sure, but in mind he meant it to be fulsome and for his excuses likewise to carry with more bravado and none of the being caught red handed like some sort of errant man child.
[12:08] Dinah was, perhaps unsurprisingly, not at all comforted to hear that the blood wasn't his. Her frown deepened.
"...whose blood is it, dorian?" she asked somewhat hesitantly, lifting a hand towards his hair. "...you brought home half the forest, I see" she added, studying him for any sort of injuries that he might have on him. She took a step forward to pluck a leaf from his hair, dropping it over the side of the stairs
[12:15] Dorian moved the ripped off bloody sleeves and the arm that had punched through Niles behind his back, as he answered, dancing around any sort of directness, "You know, it always looks like there's more clearance between branches than there really is. I thought I had gotten all of those." He had not, but he'd had far much forest in his curls when he'd set down upon two feet once more in the wilds. "Like you said, right? Flying is easier than landing. I am still learning myself, honestly." He took another step backward, and was putting together stammering reasons why he was not doing his usual and giving her kisses, "I think half the whole town was here at some point this eve, heh."
[12:21] Dinah was, perhaps even more unsurprisingly, not happy with the fact that he wasn't telling her whose blood that was. She nodded solemnly when he spoke of the difficulty of landing and she cocked her head to one side.
"Dorian. Whose blood is that?" she asked again, setting Helios down on the railing of the stair. The crab scuttled closer, trying to see what was hiding behind his back, whilst di herself hadn't moved. She could still SEE though, through the eyes of the little golden crab.
[12:26] Dorian held a handful of bloody rags which had once been his sleeves behind his back and if the crab looked to the arm holding the things, it'd see streaky blood on the arm that he'd not managed to clean up walking. He did not pay attention to Helios' scrutiny when he answered without answering, "You don't want to know Dinah, I should spare you the truth. You shall sleep better if you put the question out of your head. I need to wash up. You were beautiful this evening, as you always are."
[12:29] Dinah was full-on scowling now, and the little crab scuttled back towards her and clambered back up onto her shoulder.
"Dorian." she said darkly. "...tell me why you tore off the sleeves of your shirt. Tell me why the bloody sleeves of that shirt are behind your back. Don't 'dont you worry your pretty head' me when I ask you a question. Whose. Blood. Is. That?" She asked curtly.
[12:36] Dorian puffed up his chest, lifted his chin stubbornly, though attempts to look serious were surely largely undermined by his sleevelessness, bloodiness and the remaining tiara of twigs caught in blond curls. "FINE," he relented vociferously, "if you insist, then I shall tell you. You know whose blood it is. With my luck he crawled to safety after he fell. I know not. He's no match for me, he is not the better man. How could he ever keep you safe if he cannot even protect himself from ME? I am the one who defended your honour and my own. From Niles Bloody Roesler."
[12:40] Dinah stiffened as he spoke, the more he spoke the more her blood chilled. When he admitted the source of all the vicious stains that had been covering him, she let out a shriek of temper.
"How dare you. how DARE you?!" she shot in a snarl. "Dorian you promised, how could you?!"
Perhaps he was lucky that the only thing that she could have snatched to throw at him was Helios, and she was at least still present in her mind that she didn't want to cast away the only thing she could use to see with.
"My honour?! What, pray tell, would justify this?"
[12:51] Dorian did not like breaking his promise, but in another way he really really had enjoyed the hits he'd gotten off. In his own defense, he lifted his empty hand to tick off points in his favour, "First he tried to strangle one of our guests, then he.... he.... with you. Right in front of me and half of town." That was already four fingersworth by his reckoning, and to boot, "I did not promise I would be unmanned by the worm. Long did I leave him be, but you... ...you know that. Even after whatever the pair of you have got up to. In all your visits to his ship." This last was said bitterly. He had a skewed vision of what Niles had showed him, which had been his adversary's wish. Perhaps just so Dorian would come home with such accusations. "Prove him right and run to him. See if there's enough of that stringbean left to save. Though I know not where he is. He fell." A cold shrug punctuated.
[12:56] Dinah let out an exhasperated growl "He tried to strangle blake because blake BIT him. Blake, this boy who apparently has you convinced that he is satan incarnate, antagonized him intentionally. Why do you think that would be?" she feigned a thoughtful expression, though it was gilded in fury. "Could it be because he's lying? Because if he WAS as terrible as blake claimed, why would he approach him intentionally to antagonize him when he was just standing there with a gods-damned watermelon, dorian?" she spat back.
"When I have visited his ship, I have been faced with nothing but constant accusations and suspicion from you. What is it i have apparently done now? Are we lovers? Tonight was the first time he has ever reached for me in any manner that wasn't gentlemanly and it was because of THIS" she shoved her hand up towards his face, the tanuki ring glittering on her finger "Because if I hadn't, who knows what he would have done to blake for biting him?"
[13:02] Dorian wasn't trying to hear any of anything that was akin to reason. He'd seen what he'd seen, heard what he'd heard and wasn't going to be unconvinced. Apart from one thing, "So you are the one who kissed him?" He'd missed all the watermelon stuff and biting, the dancing had its hold on him then while the music played and dust rained and everything had been lovely. He about faced and stomped off then fully intending to leave the argument where it was. The bathroom was just a few paces away so she'd have to act quick if that was her intention.
[13:07] Dinah (dollihead): "YES" She shot back immediately, still glaring. "With more chastity than i have ever kissed anyone. it lasted less then five seconds. Because I had been sobbing moments prior. But you wont care. You wont care at ALL, because you never care WHY I spend time with him, or why i talk with him. You just focus on one tiny piece that fits whatever narrative you have in your head that I am an adulterous harlot and he is some fiendish manipulator I am too stupid to notice" she bristled. As he headed for the door, it would slam shut, Di's hand still lifted though now her fingers were curled.
"if you walk away. If you leave, you shall never, ever speak to me again, dorian windgrace. So face your fucking scoldings like a man for once instead of pouting off like a child because you KNOW you have done WRONG. You broke your PROMISE. You LIED to ME!! and then you tried to hide it!!"
[13:15] Dorian turned around to face her again, rage primarily playing on his face again, "I broke my promise to you? What promises did you break, Dinah? I am not the one seeking comfort outside of US! You want him, go to him, why waste your time scolding your feckless fucking brother?" He wasn't even the least bit remorseful, he was too hurt. One fist balled around cloth and the other just balled because he was tired of pretending that he wasn't angry. He knew that he didn't want to know why Dinah went to the German, there were a thousand sorts of inadequacy down that road.
[13:20] Dinah narrowed her eyes and her hands lowered to her sides, balled into fists.
"I have broken NO promises to you. None at all. When have I ever claimed I wanted him over you? Only YOU think that. it's only EVER you that thinks that." She took a step, unsteady on limbs trembling with rage.
"I AM wasting my time aren't I? Because you don't care. you don't care that you broke a fucking promise to me dorian. you hurt my friend. Maybe killed him, and you'd be pleased if you had done. You want me lonely. You want me isolated because then I wont know better than to tolerate this from you just because the friend I made has a cock"
[13:27] Dorian stood mutely glaring at her, and would give no further words to the conversation at present if at all. He wouldn't call his sister a liar, but he knew what he'd seen. He was watching her as if trying to evaluate if there was any truth to what she said about herself and Roesler. He wasn't going to dignify that bit about being lonely, because it wasn't true by his reckoning. He wasn't going to apologize for hurting his nemesis, nor for acting out of an overabundance of love for her. But if she wanted to keep yelling, she could. He'd cross his arms and wait for her to run out of steam, his face a mask of mute anger.
[13:35] Dinah gritted her teeth and squeezed her fingernails into the palms of her hands. His silence was just as infuriating.
"you aren't even sorry, are you? Your little friend came to our party, instigated a fight for you and you got what you wanted on the weakest excuse you could muster. And all it took was breaking a fucking promise to me. I hope that makes it worth it, dorian." she muttered sourly. "Keep the sleeves. you might as well have some souvenir after what it cost you" she turned, stepping back into her room and slamming the door.
[13:42] Dorian wasn't going to argue the point, he'd already committed to that course of action. He wasn't sorry, about any of it, other than Di's reaction to his actions. And that he'd not gone to his own room after ascending the stairs. Just now, he'd go to the bathroom to clean himself up. Once he was no longer sporting blood he'd stomp his way to his room. Even if it took some years, Dinah would get over it. The snake probably wasn't even dead, which would diminish his punishment, so there was a small reason to hope for that. He hadn't even needed iron this time.