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She placed her hand over his, and Dorian cupped hers with his other hand. She was really quite remarkable, but it simply wasn’t the time for them. Perhaps later on when the world was not so chaotic, though Dorian knew better than to hold his breath. Immy wouldn’t be single for long. With her charms and warm heart, she would attract many suitors that could offer so much more than Dorian was able to provide. “I only wish I could have given you more.”

With Andre’s departure there was definitely no escaping being dragged back out into the party by his best mate, but he’d save the confiding conversation for a later time. There was no use getting into the details of the letter he’d been gifted or the first few sentences of it he’d managed to read before becoming overwhelmed by it all. Dorian had loathed celebrating his birthday especially after his parents had passed, and being given more family somehow felt like a slap in the face to the mum and dad that had raised him. Leo would hear it all eventually, but certainly not tonight. Not here. “I’ll tell you about it later,” he agreed. “A stripper cake might actually be a good distraction,” he said with a very slight chuckle, although if Dorcas had anything to do with such a surprise she would likely be the stripper in the cake, in which case Dorian would definitely be passing.

Not really being one to care about his age, it still stung a little with the youngster remarked that his dad listened to Draconus. And then the fact that he had internally referred to Killian as a ‘youngster’ simply put a nail in the coffin. Dorian was a grumpy, old man. He didn’t like that much. “A beer, thanks,” he said with a nod as Killian asked if he wanted a drink. A beer or two wouldn’t be too bad and Dorian could still make it home to Ariel safe and sound without smelling like a nightclub.

Dorian was still somewhat uneasy with the idea of working with Albus Dumbledore behind the Ministry’s back. He knew it was the right thing to do, as Albus had said, but never in a million years would he have imagined he would be part of a vigilante group. Initially, upon Dorian’s introduction to the group, he assumed it was a rather small organization. He had met only a handful of other “Order Members”, some of whom he recognized but had very little relationship with. Dorian realized now that Albus had been testing the waters with him, and after apparently determining that he was indeed trustworthy, Dorian’s understanding of the magnitude of the Order of the Phoenix was rectified. He was shocked and yet not all that surprised to find some of his own coworkers were associated with the Order. How Dorcas managed to keep her lips tight after all these years of quasi-friendship was, in fact, the real shocker, and yet he was aghast to find out he’d been listed as an emergency contact on her Ministry paperwork. The nerve of her.

Dorian waited in a squat position with Tristan until Julian gave his blessing and Tristan exclaimed "He said yes, Uncle Dor!" Dorian smiled. “Brilliant!” Rising to his full height, Dorian politely looked toward Vienna. “It was lovely meeting you again.” Tristan, thankfully, was tugging on Dorian’s arm and he went with his nephew willingly, secretly happy to have gotten the niceties over and done with. He would much rather have spent the day watching Ariel chase paper fairies and even listening to Dorcas’ step-daughter Aurora explain why the fairies her father bought her were better than the ones on offer in the bookshop, but it would have been rude to not say a proper hello.

As they approached the singing fairy, Tristan let go of Dorian’s hand and ran off to dance with Ariel and Aurora, along with several other children. “There’s quite a few people here,” Dorian said as he walk up to stand beside Dorcas, watching the children dance. She could probably hear the disdain in his voice at having one of his happy places, a bookshop, so crowded with people. “Watch me, uncle Dor!” Tristan shouted excitedly to Dorian, who gave the boy his fully attention. “I’m watching.” Tristan flailed around like an adorable munchkin.

Dorian wasn’t sure what to say to Andre, but he appreciated the offer. Sitting in uncomfortable silence was about as comfortable as he was going to get, and so he sat there with Andre, saying nothing for a decent amount of time. After a long while, Dorian sighed, and looked up to Andre just as the door opened again. This time it was Leo, who entered and gave no offer of peaceful silence. Dorian shoved the letter from his birth mother into the inner pocket of his jacket as he looked at the man standing at the door. “Well since there’s a party out there, this seemed like my best option at avoiding it.” Honestly, whomever thought Dorian Humbert would like an event like this, was off their rocker. But of course he’d been told who it was that set the whole thing up, and Dorian couldn’t possibly be annoyed with his brother for trying to do something nice. A party. A letter from their mother. To anyone else, it would have been a perfect way to celebrate a birthday. He couldn’t fault Julian for his plans.

Dorian was rushed by a little pixie with a curly blond mop, and Dorian knelt down to the boy’s level to speak with him face to face. Dorian disliked how some people spoke to children from a towering position, forcing the child to crane their neck upward only to often be scolded when they look away. Dorian’s own parents had never treated him like that, they were always very aware of speaking to him properly and without holding their stature over him when he was little. He tried to emulate that now that he was a parent as well. Tristan took his hand and Dorian beamed at the boy. “Hey there, champ. Let’s ask your dad if you can come with me until he’s done talking with his friend. Alright?” Dorian made sure to never speak for Julian by giving permission to Tristan for anything that wasn’t already agreed upon. There was still sometimes an uneasy air between the brothers that made Dorian uncomfortable, and he would not add to it by assuming more of a role in his nephew’s life than what Julian wanted.