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."

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"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."

Aria does not respond but rests his head on Basil's shoulder and puts his arms around him.

"I love you too. I don't know what I'd do without you. Your happiness means everything to me, it's the most important thing in the world."

"I wish you would have a little care for your happiness as well, sweet boy." Basil confesses, finishing his wine and hiding his face in Aria's neck.

"I do," he promises, "I am happy. I love our little home and my job. There's nothing else in the world I want that I don't already have."

"Alright." He says, softly. "I will not let Dorian's surprise visit disturb the little life we've made that I love so much."

"It will likely be nothing," he says, trying to sound a bit brighter, "We're probably worrying for no reason at all."

Basil nods, with as much forced optimism. "Finish your wine, darling, and we'll go to bed. It will all be alright. Who knows how much he's changed?"

Aria does finish his wine, and then presses a kiss to Basil's jawline and another to his lips.
"We shall see what tomorrow brings."

What the next day brought was not peace but a loud ringing of the doorbell at lunch time. Basil went to get the door--

"Goodness, what are you doing answering your own door? Don't you have a man for that kind of thing? Though I suppose you'd have nowhere to keep one, in this place. I confess I nearly passed it."

When Dorian arrived Aria saw that things were even worse than he'd feared - he hadn't imagined him to be quite as young, and not nearly as beautiful. He could see why Basil had been enamoured with him. How young must he have been when they met?

He cleared his throat and loitered in the hall.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Gray. May I take your coat for you?"

Basil hadn't imagined him quite so young either, and he allows Dorian into the house in stunned silence. Looking like someone had slapped him.

Dorian turns towards Aria, and for a moment he's surprised and then his huge blue eyes narrow into chips of ice.

"Aaah, I see why the valet had to be let go."

Dorian's stare goes right through Aria like it really is a shard of razor sharp ice.

"We just prefer to live more simply," he says, trying to be as polite and cheery as he can manage. "Shall I fetch us some tea?"

The most unnerving thing about the look is that the rest of his face remains so kittenish and sweet. He offers his coat imperiously to Aria.

"Of course. That would be lovely. Basil and I will catch up while you do that, won't me."

Aria is reluctant to leave them but there's little else he can do. He looks at Basil to make sure he's alright but then goes to the kitchen.

It takes ten minutes to brew the tea and prepare a tray with home made biscuits and cakes, which he then brings through.