Dorian Montoir
December 13, 2019 9:48 PM
Can we catch up? (tag Professor Brooding) by Dorian Montoir
It was strange, having Potions be the first class of the day. For three years it had always been the last. It was definitely not an unwelcome start to his time back though, even if he was more keen to see Professor Brooding one on one than with his peers around. He needed, as usual, to talk to her. He suspected she found his mood hard to read from what she saw in class. He had greeted her with a smile but he was… distractible, he supposed, was a good word for it. He was impatient for class to be over, so they could talk, though he was trying not to show that, and it only did so in the most minimal tells – glancing around, not keeping his mind on his work every now and then. Still less so than other students but more so than was typical for him. The assignment that he turned in was still perfectly decent, he just seemed like he had something on his mind.“Are you free?” he asked, when she dismissed the class, suspecting that very few people would find it surprising that he was lingering. “I am free now,” he added, sounding slightly surprised by this. It was odd to have unstructured time on his schedule, but as he was not taking Defence Against the Dark Arts, he didn’t need to rush to another class right now. He was technically supposed to use this time for studying and he felt a little bit guilty about the fact he was not doing that. He didn’t think Professor Brooding was going to be too judgemental about that though. He hoped. And this was important.
“Sorry I did not see you yesterday,” he added, once she had assured him that she had no pressing engagements. It was typical for him to come and find her before a feast, and he hoped she hadn’t worried or been waiting. “I was tired, and I went to rest,” he added, not quite meeting her eyes.
“Your hair is nice,” he added because that was what you were supposed to say when someone had a haircut, after all, although the way his eyes kept flicking to it suggested he was, at best, still adjusting. “You are well?” he checked, wanting to be polite, although he sounded like his mind was on something else, like he was just checking he had permission to hold the floor before taking it…
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Dorian Montoir
Can we catch up? (tag Professor Brooding)
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
December 13, 2019 10:12 PM
Yes please! by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Seeing Dorian in her advanced potions class was a little bittersweet. The young boy she had met just a few years before was now a young man and soon he would be off on his own into the world. She hoped that whatever that was going to look like for him involved a lot of happiness and a little potions - he really shouldn't take the class just for her, flattering as that may be.She didn't question such things though, as she would hardly want to dissuade a student from taking potions. Advanced potions class was exciting and dangerous and complicated and interesting and wonderful and oh how Mary had missed teaching over the summer. She supposed she could get a summer job tutoring or something, but it was nice to be able to just spend time with Tabitha too.
When class was over and Dorian lingered, Mary smiled. "I am free until this afternoon," she confirmed. "No Defense Against the Dark Arts for you, eh?" Mary knew Tabitha's schedule but they didn't talk much about who was in their classes as that seemed generally inappropriate. They tried not to blend their work roles and personal roles; being both colleagues and wives was a bit incongruent at times.
"Would you like to come to my office? I can get us some tea," she offered, wondering whether he wanted to chat or whether he wanted to tell her something. She was trying to hold back any particular emotional response until she was sure either way; his demeanor didn't give her a lot to go on and they hadn't talked before this, except his mouthing at her about her hair and looking tired during the Opening Feast.
Once the location for their chat was decided, Mary waved a hand to dismiss Dorian's apology. "Don't worry a thing about it. I was taking care of a few things, so it worked out. I'm glad you got rest." Maybe something really had gone wrong. Horribly wrong. She'd seen Dorian come back to school in varying states of wellbeing, but it was unlike him not to revel in the return to Sonora as a respite for him. She tried not to put words in his mouth and just let him talk.
"Thank you," she said, absently running her hand through the hair that was visible beneath her hat. "It's so much lighter. I didn't realize how heavy my hair was before and my neck feels so much better already."
He was still so hard to read. Was he asking whether she was well because he was trying to get through the niceties? Because he was trying to delay his revelation? Because he had bad news? She would have been happy to tell him about her summer but not if he was just trying to get through the conversation. "I am well," she agreed, keeping her friendly, warm, neutral expression in place. "Are you well?"
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Yes please!
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Dorian Montoir
December 13, 2019 10:34 PM
Prepare for tea! by Dorian Montoir
“No,” he confirmed, when she assumed he was not taking Defence Against the Dark Arts. “No offence to Professor Hawthorne, of course,” he added, not assuming that Professor Brooding would have taken any on her wife’s part but it was still polite to say so. “It is unfortunate to not be able to keep everything,” he added, which he genuinely found to be true. He found all of his subjects interesting, although he thought that he would definitely miss DADA the least from a personal point of view – he did not enjoy confronting all the worst things in the world. He only hoped that didn’t leave him lacking in necessary life skills.“Tea in your office would be perfect,” he agreed, following her through as they chatted. He supposed he had never thought about how heavy hair might be. He supposed he was glad her neck was feeling better, although he wasn’t sure whether that was true or a joke. It just seemed to be the summer for dramatic shifts to people’s appearance, between her and Tatya. He knew it was silly, but it just felt slightly odd, looking at someone and not quite having the same person looking back any more. Still, she was fixing him tea and was ready to talk to, and those were things that really mattered. So long as she was the same Professor Brooding on the inside…
“I think so,” he agreed, with her question as to whether he was well. “Maybe a little miserable,” he suggested, although the way his face had split into a broad smile suggested this was to be taken with a pinch of salt. He was nervous about telling Tatya, certainly, but he trusted Professor Brooding to be happy for him. There was a little kernel of self-consciousness after last year’s conversation about One True Love, but more than anything he was dying to bubble over with happiness and share his good news with someone who was going to be happy for him. “I think this term, I will really miss my boyfriend,” he admitted grinning triumphantly from ear to ear
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Dorian Montoir
Prepare for tea!
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
December 13, 2019 10:48 PM
OHMYGOSHTHAT'SNOTTHEBESTPART!!!!!!!!! by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Mary chuckled softly at Dorian's assurance that Professor Hawthorne was not the reason he was not taking Defense Against the Dark Arts. "You'll have to make a point to say hi to Ailuros outside of class. I think she's used to seeing you in both classrooms," she warned him, aware that the kneazle was nearly as attached to Dorian as to her owners.She led the way to her office and summoned a pot of water and a selection of tea for Dorian, selecting as well as a cold glass of milk for herself. A plate of cookies accompanied the drinks, and Mary sat in one of the more comfortable office chairs. This was where they had sat to work on Mary's wedding dress together, not to mention innumerable other conversations they'd had over the years. She tried to remind herself not to get too sentimental yet and to enjoy the moment now rather than thinking ahead to Dorian's graduation, and focused on the conversation at hand.
Hearing that Dorian was miserable made Mary's heart lurch, even though it was accompanied by a broad grin. Of all her students, Dorian wasn't famous for his sarcastic sense of humor, but it didn't seem like a sarcastic grin, so then it must be a sarcastic comment. Allowing students to guide conversation was important, so Mary just raised an eyebrow with curiosity, smiling in a tell-me-more way.
AND THEN HE TOLD HER MORE AND OH MY GOODNESS!!!
Mary could not stop this particular change of emotion, except a moment to double take. "Your bo-- your boyfriend! YOUR BOYFRIEND!" Mary jumped from her seat, grinning almost as broadly as Dorian was, and pulled him from his seat in the flurry of excitement. First she hugged him, then she held him at a distance, her hands on his shoulders, and grinned some more at him, taking a moment to look at him and really see him, and then she hugged him some more. "Dorian! I'm so happy for you! Tell me everything. Seriously everything. What happened? Who? Tell me everything!" She could hardly remember a time she was happier for someone else. Of course, having married a wonderful woman and living life in her dream job, Mary had quite a lot of happiness around. But she wasn't usually so happy for other people. Of course, she was also a professor, and so she released Dorian with one last grin and waved at him to take a seat again, doing the same herself. "Well, only tell me what you want to tell me and no pressure but also tell me everything."
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
OHMYGOSHTHAT'SNOTTHEBESTPART!!!!!!!!!
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Dorian Montoir
December 14, 2019 1:46 AM
I KNOW!!!!!! by Dorian Montoir
“I will make sure to explain,” he nodded with sincerity. “Though I think maybe a Kneazle will not understand the idea of not wanting all the RATS?” he added, a small smile to show this was a joke (he could joke in English!) and not an insult to his small fluffy friend’s intelligence.He gave the tea a cursory glance, not sure he could settle to choose one until he’d told her.
When he did, her reaction was perfect. He easily let himself be pulled into the hug, just as happy to give it, and practically bouncing up and down because, yes, boyfriend - he had a boyfriend. It sounded even more amazing every time she said it, and just as good as when he thought it, because he hadn’t had a chance to hear anyone else say it out loud. And she was squealing and wanting to know all about it (all?) and she was reacting more like a friend than a teacher, and that felt perfect because he wanted at least someone, just one person, to make this real and joyous for him.
When they finally let go, his face was already hurting from how hard he was smiling, and he was no where done with that expression yet. Professor Brooding was relenting on her insistence that he told her everything and being a little more like her usual self, whilst still insisting that he did tell her everything, and he had to laugh. He was pretty sure that was just a phrase. No one ever literally told everything – every single moment of a story was far too much to tell. There were also things he wasn’t sure he could include… Jean-Loup crying on his shoulder sprung to mind. This relationship belonged to both of them, and there were parts of it that were things he had been trusted with, and that were not his business to share with other people. He considered how to make another person understand the intimacy between them, that he was trusted and special, that they understood each other, without sharing things that felt private.
There were also a lot of things he really suspected Professor Brooding did not want to hear, both given that she was his teacher and that she thought boys were gross, and that he thought he would actually die of embarrassment if he tried to say out loud. A memory sprung to mind of Jean-Loup emerging from the pool at his own house, his orange swimming trunks clinging, and how vividly aware it had made Dorian of how very, very good he looked without his shirt on, and how he might look even better wearing even less – and this served as a perfect example of details he would be omitting from this. He had to say, he was a little relieved that Ailuros was not here right now, as she tended to have quite firm opinions on how he chose to tell stories, and he didn’t fancy a paw to the face if she thought he was holding back.
“Jean-Loup,” he answered the ‘who’ part first, finding a green tea amongst the selection and helping himself to hot water. Gossiping needed tea, and he was certainly prepared to do plenty of that. He checked Professor Brooding’s face for any sign of judgement, not really expecting to find it, or perhaps just a hint of ‘I told you so,’ but there was nothing that made him want to discontinue his explanations. “He is sweet and sincere and perfect,” he summarised, fully intending to give her the long version too but wanting to make sure she understood the fundamentally important points first.
“We kissed at his birthday party. Not in front of anyone or anything,” he added hastily. It seemed like such a simple set of words to summarise what had been a life changing moment. The start of them… He was going to have to get better at telling this as a good story. ‘We kissed, it was really romantic,’ didn’t really convey to anyone how special any of that had felt. “It was at this fancy hotel in town, and everyone else was outside. I was nosing around a bit – I don’t have that many people to talk to at parties back home. And he came and found me.” It was hard to convey the privacy of the moment, the need Jean-Loup had had to avoid the spotlight, because that was his business. In the future, when they were telling people this story together, this would be where Jean-Loup picked up the thread, filling in the other half. For now, it would have to stay somewhat blank. “Apparently, kissing me in a deserted ballroom is more fun than mingling outside with girls,” he grinned.
“He liked me since a while. I think… he was curious about me before, but last Christmas…” he trailed off with an embarrassed smile, “Apparently, uh, something I did put the idea more firmly in his head.” Or had confirmed, at least, that he wasn’t totally crazy for wanting to pursue something, as Jean-Loup had put it.
“We had to do some working out… what exactly we will have with each other right now,” he stated. He didn’t want to go into the misunderstandings they had had. They had been brief and unimportant compared to the summer of bliss they’d enjoyed afterwards, and he didn’t want Professor Brooding to form bad impressions of his boyfriend (boyfriend!). Without the details of the feelings that had underpinned those incidents, it really wasn’t a fair thing to take into consideration, and again, those were private. “But we are on the same page there.
“And what we have…” he trailed off, trying to find words. He knew that Professor Brooding knew what it was like to fall in love. What it was like to kiss someone (even if he tried not to think about his teacher passionately smooching her spouse). He wanted to share that he understood that too. That he knew what it was like to be warm and loved and just… how freaking amazing kissing was. How it felt like someone casting a charm that tickled all the way up his spine and made him need to press every inch of his body into Jean-Loup’s. The addictive power of their lips on each other, and how the more he tried to sate that desire, the more of him he wanted… Only without saying that. Because Professor Brooding was his teacher. And those things were private. “He’s wonderful,” he reiterated. “He makes me feel safe, and wanted. I… I know I am,” he reassured her, “And that I always was but…it’s different,” he shrugged. That was probably okay. Different people had different roles in your life. Jean-Loup was the person who wanted all of him. “And it sounds so strange, saying we’re safe when I know all of this is a risk but… when he’s there, it’s like nothing bad could come and get me. Like it wouldn’t dare,” he smiled. There was a practical level on which that was true. Being able to cast magic outside of school meant he could keep them from being interrupted pretty literally, and make little safe spaces for them to enjoy their time together, but it was more than that. It was the way that the panic could build up in Dorian’s head when he was left on his own, the fear and the guilt that this was a bad plan, or he was doing the wrong thing, and it was the way it subsided whenever he saw Jean-Loup again and could fall into his arms and be grounded and yet flying all at once.
“I have a picture,” he added. Personality was the more important factor, sure, but it didn’t hurt that Jean-Loup was gorgeous, even if it made Dorian almost mad with impatience, wanting to shove him in everyone’s faces, force them to admire him and then tell them all that he was his. He opened the flap of his satchel, on the strap of which was pinned a little butterfly with orange and blue wings. There was an inside pocket where he kept more personal things – letters he had just received or was working on – and pulled out a picture. He passed it across to Professor Brooding. It was a head and shoulders shot of two people in formal wear. A tall boy with a slight curl to his blond hair and perceptive green eyes. He smiled and waved, and Dorian could almost have sworn gave him a little wink. Next to him, barely brushing his shoulder, stood Émilie, the top of her formal red dress visible. Dorian tried to think of this fondly, as a photo of two his favourite people. Sometimes he was able to perform that little mental trick – after all, hadn’t that evening worked out for him in the end? – but sometimes it was just capturing a moment that should have been his, and he was jealous at being left out. There weren’t any photos of the two of them together, because there was no excuse for any such thing to exist.
“Meet my boyfriend,” he smiled, passing it over, and hoping he could do that for real someday, and with more people than the one sitting opposite him.
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Dorian Montoir
I KNOW!!!!!!
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
December 14, 2019 9:00 PM
*SCREAMING* by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
"Jean-Loup," Mary repeated, smiling at the name. She was happy to think that she may have had some sort of impact in Dorian's life, especially if that meant he had achieved a happiness he had wanted for a long time. She was also feeling a bit validated, but that was not a thing to tell a sixteen-year-old boy. Jean-Loup sounded very nice, honorable, and kind. Those were important things in a partner.Mary listened to Dorian with rapt attention, gasping in eager shock when he said they kissed at his now-boyfriend's birthday party, and aww-ing at Jean-Loup coming to find Dorian, and finally chuckling at the idea of preferring to be inside with Dorian over mingling with girls outside. "I mean, I would have loved to be outside mingling," she teased. "That sounds so sweet! And perfect!"
Dorian's story was wonderful and Mary cooed over it, completely happy for him. Feeling safe was Mary's favorite part of being with the right person and she clapped her hands over her chest in overwhelmed happiness when Dorian expressed that feeling.
"I am so happy for you, and so proud of you! Look at you! I'm so proud," she said while he dug in his bag. When he passed her the picture, Mary took a moment to really look at it. It was a little odd because she didn't want to comment on a barely-adult's cuteness, but also suspected that Dorian wanted to gush over it, and it was a difficult line to draw in the sand. "Aw, he's got a great smile," she said, choosing something that was neutral and sincere. She was still a little uncomfortable seeing Émilie, not least because she had never seen the girl looking that happy in real life. "Are they friends? That's a great picture," she smiled, passing it back to Dorian.
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
*SCREAMING*
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Dorian Montoir
December 15, 2019 6:30 AM
Yup by Dorian Montoir
Professor Brooding was a very sociable person, so the idea of her preferring to be outside mingling went somewhat over Dorian’s head. Most of the girls at the party had been his kind of age anyway, and she was married, all of which contributed to any further meaning passing him completely by.She was an excellent audience for a story though. He appreciated all her reactions. It was also nice to hear her say she was proud of him. In some ways, it seemed silly. Was it an achievement, to have the sheer dumb luck of a very handsome boy swooping in on you in a ballroom? It should not have been. But, in some ways, it felt like one. Or at least, like something and someone he wanted to show off, and have someone tell him that it was a good choice, and they approved. He felt lucky to have that.
“Thank you,” he smiled.
Although ‘nice smile’ was a bit of an understatement. He supposed she wasn’t exactly an expert on cute boys, and perhaps it was sort of weird for her to call someone the same age as her students attractive, so Dorian figured he would have to do it on her behalf.
“He’s completely gorgeous,” he grinned giddily. He suspected photographic Jean-Loup was mostly giving his social smile. It was a nice smile, he looked like the happy and wholesome boy next door. As he himself had said, looks could be deceiving. He had a range of other smiles which Dorian found much more appealing. The one Dorian got when he was being especially adorable. Or the one Jean-Loup gave right before pouncing on him. Both of those were very good ones. And his smile was far from the only wonderful thing about him. He was tall enough that Dorian could just snuggle right into his arms and let the rest of the world disappear. He had strong hands which gave good shoulder rubs. Amongst other things.
Jean-Loup certainly had no reason to be embarrassed at the thought of taking his clothes off, and certainly didn’t seem to mind the idea, though sometimes Dorian felt obliged to get embarrassed on his behalf – not about how he looked, of course, but jut the act itself of being so willing to undress in front of another person. And because he felt slightly hypocritical if he was entirely willing to let Jean-Loup go shirtless without doing the same in return, even if he was really convinced that no one was missing out if his clothes remained firmly on. There was a very obvious downside to dating someone who was tall and who looked fantastic and worked out every day, when you were not or did not do any of things. He could not imagine letting someone else see him in any state of undress.
Of course, some of that problem was removed by night time, and being under blankets.
“He thinks I’m… mignon,” he supplied, realising it was going to be too long a pause to try and find a translation, and after all, he’d only been complemented in French. “I suppose… cute?” he suggested, not quite meeting Professor Brooding’s eyes as he said it because it seemed so embarrassingly untrue. But he was cute and sweet and pretty, apparently. And he didn’t mind being those things quite so much to Jean-Loup, who obviously thought them to be good things. He had even got ‘sexy’ a couple of times but he thought that was definitely an exaggeration and he would die before saying it out loud.
“So-so,” he answered, when Professor Brooding asked if Jean-Loup and Émilie were friends. “I mean, she is best friends with his sister, and they don’t have any dislike of each other. This was at his party, so his parents make a lot of pictures of him with people,” he added, to explain why there was a picture of the two of them together, “With girls who are there, or his Quidditch team. People it makes a good photo to put him with,” he added, sounding only slightly bitter.
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Dorian Montoir
Yup
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
December 19, 2019 6:21 PM
You have come so far. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Mary was surprised and very very happy to hear Dorian gushing over someone who was not Jehan because frankly, Dorian deserved someone who would make him very very happy and be very very gorgeous. If that had been Jehan, Mary would have been fine with it. She would have been thrilled! She couldn't help being worried about Jehan, as she wasn't sure whether he was not yet out, or whether he simply didn't like boys, or if there was something else at play. She hoped he had someone to talk to.In any case, Dorian had Mary to talk to and she was also very very happy that he seemed confident of that. He was gushing! Dorian Montoir, the reserved, shy boy, was a young man gushing over his boyfriend and it was so perfect. Mary had to resist the urge to get up and clap or giggle or something equally embarrassing for him. She was just so happy!
When he explained one of the compliments Jean-Loup applied to Dorian, Mary grinned but said nothing about it. She suspected it would not help if she agreed, as she would certainly mean it in a different way, and anything else would just be awkward. Dorian still seemed like a little boy right now and that was definitely not what Jean-Loup saw in him.
"He sounds like he's really sweet to you," she said instead, happy to acknowledge good where good was presenting itself.
Dorian seemed significantly less thrilled about Jean-Loup and his sister, or girls in general. It was a feeling she could relate to well. It was also another game show moment of 'how much can I tell him without this being weird?', starring Mary Brooding. She wanted to help, always. She didn't need to share things with Dorian to be doing okay, because that would be unhealthy and inappropriate as a professor. She was happy to share with him, though, when it benefited their friendship (as it was) or benefited Dorian directly.
"I understand how that feels, I think," Mary said softly, smiling sadly at her happy happy sad boy. "Not quite the same; my family was not of as much status as yours. But Tabitha's is. She had never dated a woman before me, and her family was . . . well. I've met them and it worked out okay, but there was a lot of discussion about whether they were going to invite Tabitha's ex-boyfriends to our engagement affairs as a last hoorah attempt to make that work out." Mary wrinkled her nose at the thought, but shrugged a moment later. "It hurts lots," she acknowledged. "But I think that, in most cases, it gets better. It's easier when you don't live with your parents, too."
She cocked her head at Dorian, taking in his healthy glow, his growth, his radiant joy. "You seem happy, all the way through."
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
You have come so far.
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Dorian Montoir
December 20, 2019 5:05 PM
But still a way to go by Dorian Montoir
"Professor Hawthorne's parents made her date boys?" he asked, his nose wrinkling slightly. Whilst he would definitely say that was the way to go, it obviously wasn't fair on someone who didn't want to do that. And the idea of trotting them out at her engagement party! That was just... He tried not to project his own future into that mould. Tried not to imagine their parents continuing to push that hard, even though it seemed inevitable. "No wonder she becomes very good at hexing people," he muttered."He is," he agreed readily with the assessment of Jean-Loup being sweet. "And I am," he smiled, when she said he seemed happy all the way, "I mean, it's going to be awful not seeing him for weeks, and there's still a lot of stuff to deal with, with our families," he stated. The things Professor Brooding had said about not living with your family making life easier had rung rather true. "But I've been telling him a lot of the things you told me. And he's seventeen already, and I will be in a few weeks... It's not going to change everything, but it feels like getting a degree of control." He didn't want to put it into words as 'no one can force me to do anything I don't want to,' because that still felt disloyal to his mother, who was not, by nature, a forceful person. Who had done nothing but love him, always. He hated implying, much less outright stating, that he might need freedom from her, or that he would be free to choose a future without her in it... It wasn't what he wanted, but it was what he'd take if he was forced to choose... "And once we both leave school, we can have any kind of life that we want," he smiled decisively.
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Dorian Montoir
But still a way to go
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
December 20, 2019 8:35 PM
Life is a journey, not a destination. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Mary shook her head, realizing it may have come out badly. "Tabitha wanted to date guys," she said, clarifying. It didn't really seem like her business to share too much about Tabitha's identity, and it wasn't something they'd ever put labels on anyway. "Tabitha likes boys and girls both. But her family didn't want her to like girls." She grinned a little, feeling smug. "But they thought I was great as a person, so that was a win. I'm sure they'd be perfectly happy if we were best friends."Mary resisted the urge to clap her hands over her chest and coo. It was all so perfect and also a little not perfect but it was going to be and Dorian had come so far. It was beautiful. So beautiful. She also resisted the urge to begin a letter to Jean-Loup right then and there.
"That's a really good way to look at it. Ooh, I'm so excited for you!" She was proud of herself for not looking entirely jaw-dropped at Dorian's comments. It wasn't very long ago that he'd been worrying he wouldn't have any future at all, and it only took a glimpse of it to help him see the possibilities. That made Mary happier than anything, no matter where Dorian's future did end up taking him. "Long distance is hard, but it sounds like you have a good plan."
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Life is a journey, not a destination.
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Dorian Montoir
December 22, 2019 3:53 AM
Enjoying it as I go by Dorian Montoir
Oh. Professor Hawthorne… Right. Yes. Now that Professor Brooding mentioned it, he dimly recalled such a detail from the Class Where Everything Got Discussed. He had been somewhat too caught up in ‘there is a word for this’ and ‘there are other people like me’ and ‘my friends don’t seem to like this subject’ to pay attention to the finer details. But, yes, liking both… He paused, on the verge of asking ‘How would I know if..?’ and then dismissed it. He hadn’t had those thoughts about any girl he had ever met. He could see and appreciate that some girls were pretty but it didn’t translate into a hot flush creeping up the back of his neck like it did with guys. When he’d been helping Professor Brooding plan her wedding, he had been mystified by some of the fashion shots of bridesmaids and what was deemed an attractive look, and always more able to see why the girls had picked the handsome grooms who occasionally featured than the other way around. And anyway, he had a boyfriend now, who he wouldn’t trade for the world, and not even for the tiny slice of ‘normal life’ he’d thought had his name on it all those years ago. So, Professor Hawthorne was like that. That was fine. But he knew without asking that he wasn’t. And that was fine too.“They are alright now, yes?” he checked, regarding Professor Hawthorne’s parents, “They came to your wedding,” he pointed out, which… he could envisage whole futures where his parents refused to speak to him. Their attendance spoke of some degree of tolerance, unless they’d still been whispering poison in Professor Hawthorne’s ear, trying to persuade her out of it… It had not seemed that way. Again, he felt deeper empathy with her than he had before. She had always seemed so strong and capable - so different to him. And, he supposed, she was. But it was interesting to think they had some shared experiences, of a sort. He didn’t consider that liking both meant she had had any kind of choice that he did not have. After all, she had met and fallen in love with Professor Brooding (and who wouldn’t, if they could?). Or, if she had had choices, she had definitely made all the right ones. “They are nice to you?” he checked, in a very firm tone, that suggested that if they were not, he would be heading over to England to have a stern word with them.
“Work it out as we go along. Eventually, be adults. This is the plan so far,” he replied with an amused shake of his head, “It lacks some detail. I would like that it had more but… But I will be okay with wait and see,” he added, his tone implying very much that this was still an active process - that he was teaching himself to be alright with this. “At least, turning seventeen - that definitely happens. Except for some strange time magic, but I think no one here is that powerful.”
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Dorian Montoir
Enjoying it as I go
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
December 26, 2019 10:17 PM
All the best people do. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Mary could always tell when Dorian was thinking, if not always what about. She wasn't exactly sure whether he had some tell - something in the way he set his jaw, or cocked his head, or raised an eyebrow, or something like that - or whether it was just the fact that he was quiet a little longer than he might have been otherwise. Or maybe it was just the fact that Dorian was always thinking. Often times, he was overthinking. She could relate to that, although it was often in favor of the fanciful or fantastic in her case.She smiled when he came out with a wellness check for her, and nodded. "I think so," she said of Tabitha's parents. She'd already shared quite a bit about Tabitha, but nothing she thought her wife wouldn't be open to sharing as well. However, the strained relationship between the Hawthorne daughter and the Hawthorne parents was a completely different issue. Her expression softened a bit at the thought of how happy Tabitha's parents had been just to see her, whatever the circumstance. "I think that they love Tabitha too much to give her up just because they aren't too sure about me," she said. She was pretty sure it wasn't only gender for Tabitha's parents, but also social status. That was another whole can of worms she didn't want to bust open just now.
"And they are nice to me," Mary promised. It was true, even if they didn't talk much. But it wasn't the whole story. "They are nice, but they are not family close. I think Tabitha and I have made our own family, with Darius and Evangeline and the baby, with you, with all our friends. The people who love us and support us are our family, whether that includes family by blood or not."
She chuckled at Dorian's plan, as it was about as much as she had for her and Tabitha too. "You're right, I don't think anyone will be freezing time soon." She reached behind her to knock on her wooden desk with a sly smile. "For what it's worth, 'work it out as we go along' and 'be adults' is basically the extent of my plan, too. Tabitha's probably one or two steps ahead of me, but not by much."
Mary cocked her head, and sighed, feeling happy. Her chats with Dorian were always nice, but the subject matter wasn't always. It was very satisfying to see him so happy and so grown up. "I am so excited for your life, Dorian. You are a young man now, not the little boy I first met. Although, you weren't very little then either." Her nose wrinkled with humor as she thought about how long it had been since she'd last been taller than students passed their third year at most. It wasn't too often that that happened. "And you're doing amazing."
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
All the best people do.
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