so_far_fallen | For withallofmyself

Aria had woken early and left Basil slumbering in his bed. He planned to make him up a tea tray and some breakfast to take up, it was something they often did for one another if they didn't have to be anywhere urgently in the mornings.

As he padded downstairs to the hall Aria noticed an envelope had been put through their letterbox so he went to collect it. He didn't recognise the swirling handwriting the address was written in, and it was very rarely that they received letters from anyone who wasn't Lord Henry, but he gave a shrug and took the letter to put it on the side of the tray with Basil's toast, deciding it couldn't be anything more sinister than a commission from a fan of Basil's art or perhaps a cheque for outstanding payment for a piece.

Once the breakfast was ready Aria took it up and put it on the stand beside the bed, then leaned down to press the softest of kisses to Basil's cheek.
"Good morning."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Basil makes a soft, sweetly unguarded noise in his sleep when Aria kisses him and comes awake slowly. Not jumping awake as he used to. His eyelids flutter open and he smiles at Aria with daft adoration, as if he's always surprised to see the beautiful boy there upon waking.

"Good morning, my love." He mumbles, sitting up. He can smell breakfast and that seems to bring him around a bit. He scrubs his hands through his graying curls and yawns.

"Will you sit with me?" He asks, reaching for a slice of toast when he spies the letter.

"What's this?" He asks, plucking both envelope and toast from the tray.

Aria sits on the bed beside him and smiles.

"Of course I'll sit with you, I'm not going to let you eat all this by yourself," he teases.

In regards to the question of the letter he shrugs, "I'm not sure, it was on the mat when I went down."

"Odd, so few people have this address..." Holding his slice of toast in his mouth (forgetful as ever of social mores), he turns the letter over to examine the return address.

When he sees the florid, looping handwriting he goes white as a sheet and his hands shake as he opens the envelope. One would think he expected to find a live adder lurking there, rather than a harmless letter.

Aria can read Basil like a book at this point so it doesn't take much to know that there's something wrong.

"Darling, what's the matter? What is it? Has something happened?"

"Nothing's happened." He assures Aria first. He puts down his toast, appetite gone. He reads the letter and then sinks back against the pillows, pale and drawn.

"It's a letter from Dorian Gray." He says, feebly.

"Oh?" Aria immediately looks uncomfortable. "What does he want?"

"He's coming to visit." He sighs. "According to his letter, he intends to turn up tomorrow. There isn't even time to make an excuse."

He looks stricken, and afraid.

"Aria, I don't know if I want him to come here..."

"Tell him he can't. Tell him he isn't welcome or that we're going away," Aria says. "He can't expect to be able to just show up at someone's door with no notice and everything to be fine. How rude."

"It's too late now, and I cannot turn him away at the door." Basil says. "The most I can do is make it known that we aren't prepared for guests and hope he wants to stay in town instead."

"Well I don't mind letting him know that I think his dropping in uninvited is extremely ill mannered," Aria says, uncharacteristically cross.

Basil flinches but doesn't discourage Aria'a line of intent. He sighs and nudges the breakfast tray towards his lover.

"I'm sorry darling, my stomach is in knots."

"And he's made you anxious now. How perfectly horrible."

The blond scowls and nibbles on a corner of toast.

"What could he possibly want to warrant such a visit? I thought you said you hadn't seen him for a long time, that he was travelling the world?"

"Apparently he's back in England. Said he was looking for me. Said he had to 'bully Harry into telling him where I'd slipped off to'." He sighs. "Years ago he told me I was foolish, wanted nothing to do with me."

"Well then, in that case hopefully his visit will be brief."

There's a tension in the air all day caused by the news of Dorian's arrival. Aria can feel Basil's anxiety and in turn it caused him to be anxious as well.

The tension in the little house is unbearable and Basil finds himself struggling to eat the dinner Aria has prepared.

Aria has been pushing his food around the plate without eating much of it as well. There's a silence in the room broken only by the tick tock of the grandfather clock.

"Basil, can I ask something?" Aria says eventually. "Why has the news that Mr. Gray is visiting unsettled you so?"

Basil sighs and pushes his plate away unhappily.

"Dorian Gray has always unnerved me. Even when I was enamored with him, he terrified me." He says, miserably.

"I don't know what he wants, and that frightens me enormously."

Aria looks down at his plate, continuing to push his food around and trying to sound casual as he asks, "Do you think you're still in love with him a little?"

"Absolutely not." Basil says, adamantly and feels sick that Aria might feel threatened by Dorian's presence for that reason.

"No." He says, again, hand clenched white in his lap. "At this point, I find him confusing, frightening."

Aria isn't convinced - he knows Dorian through Basil's description and Lord Henry's teasing alone, but it's enough to be aware that he's a fiercely beautiful and powerful young man for whom Basil had held quite a passion for at one point. It's difficult for Aria not to feel threatened, it sounds as though he would be tough competition.

"Worrying shan't do us any good. We shall just have to see what happens tomorrow."

"Yes, I suppose." He says, though it doesn't make eating or sitting still any easier.

What could Dorian possibly want, after all these years? After rejecting Basil so long ago?

That evening while they're spending the time before bed in the sitting room Aria fetches out a bottle of red wine and pours them both a generous glass. Neither of them drink very often or usually very much, but he's hoping it may relieve some of the horrible tension and calm their nerves.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Basil says. "Will you sit here, with me?" He asks, patting his knee while he takes a generous sip of his wine. He just wants to be close to Aria, suddenly, as if that will make him less afraid.

Aria nods and gladly moves to sit on Basil's lap, he's feeling a similar need for closeness, though his may be fuelled by a different sort of fear, one of being upstaged and replaced.

Basil cuddles up to him, sighing.

"I love you." He promises at length about halfway into his glass of wine. "Just you. Your light eclipses all else for me."