[Emerson Manor] Keeping Us Happy [Ministry Fundraiser Ball]

Cabhan was tired, he was worn out and pretty much ever bone and muscle in his body hurt. But he wasn't going to let his family get him down. He had told Dwyer about the Ball a few weeks prior to the the crazy night at his parents house. It was stupid and he wanted to have some fun. So he had asked Dwyer to escort him to the Ministry Ball Fundraiser being held at the Emerson Manor. He was invited because of his parents but he doubted that they would attend and if they did well they couldn't do anything in public. That would ruin their reputation. He had been staying with Dwyer at his hotel over the summer, it was coming to a close but he knew he could sneak into the house and get his things before they had to leave for school. He pushed himself out of the chair that was by the bed and smiled at his boyfriend. "Hey, Dwy, You about ready to go?" He tapped his leg with his palm before walk over to the bathroom. He ran a hand through his hair and slipped his feet into his shoes. Before looking into the living area. "Dwy. We gotta go..." That's when he saw him and he looked good. He was wearing a light gray color and it brought out the color in his eyes. He couldn't help but smile at his boyfriend. "Come on handsome." He offered his arm to him before they headed out the door to the Manor.

He smiled as they walked up to door and walked inside. His eyes glanced over at Dwyer before he smiled. "Are you ready for this?" He tugged gently on his arm and reached down grabbing his hand before stepping further inside. The place looked wonderful. There was a bar, a few tables of food and of course the dance floor. It would be their first official outing and Cahban wasn't sure how he felt about it. He knew that he loved Dwyer and that he wanted to be with him, even more so now that his parents knew about them. He wanted to protect him and be with him forever. His heart skipped a beat whenever he was with Dwyer and loved the feeling that Dwy gave him.

His feet froze when he saw the amount of people that were there. A lot. He would have to admit to being with Dwyer in front of all these people? That was a very terrifying thought. He shook it off and walked inside and turned to look at Dwy. "You doing okay?" He run a nervous hand through his hair and looked around the room. What was even going to happen. Would there be people there that he knew? He sure hoped not, as much as he cared for Dwy, he wasn't sure he was ready to tell everyone he was gay.

Dwyer was excited. He loved dressing up and going places, and this was the first event for a long while where Dwyer could do so and not look out of place. And he had the perfect date, which made everything ten times better. When Cabhan invited Dwyer to the ball, Dwyer knew he would go no matter what. Though the thought of possibly seeing Cabhan’s family there, no matter how small a possibility that was, terrorized the back of his mind. After being tortured by Cabhan’s grandfather, Dwyer hoped to never see any member of that family again. Except for his boyfriend’s younger sister. She was innocent, and Dwyer was sure they could get along. She was a Ravenclaw, after all. He turned his head towards Cabhan’s voice. “Yeah, okay. Hold on a sec.” Dwyer straightened his bowtie quickly and grabbed for his jacket before turning towards his boyfriend. He smiled, and took the offered arm, reddening lightly at the complement. After all this time, Dwyer still wasn’t quite used to the loving compliments from his boyfriend. Though at least nowadays he could handle reciprocating properly. “Okay, gorgeous.” And Cabhan truly was gorgeous. The boy knew how to dress. His darker colours always found a way to accent the boy’s features. Dwyer smiled up at the boy and let himself be led to the ball.

A smile burst onto his face once they walked in side. Everything was perfect and beautiful. The decorations were elegant, and highlighted the music that floated through the air around them. The place was already buzzing with guests. He turned towards Cabhan at the question. “Of course.” Dwyer squeezed the hand that his boyfriend had grabbed. He knew this was nerve-wracking for the younger boy. He was coming out in a public place, many of whom had the same pureblood background as he did. Thankfully Dwyer had always been surrounded by love and support. Otherwise both of them would be nervous wrecks by now. But the older boy was there for Cabhan, to support him and love him always. Together, they would be just fine.

Cabhan had stopped for a second, taking in the crowd. Dwyer smiled sympathetically to himself, watching the other boy’s nerves start to show through. “Yes, I’m fine, Cab. Are you?” He bumped his shoulder with his boyfriend’s, and smiled at him. Dwyer knew to keep the atmosphere light-hearted. It might help Cahban’s growing nerves. “Would you like to eat, or dance first?” Dwyer also knew that the younger boy needed control when he was nervous. That would definitely calm him down. Dwyer was glad he didn’t mind doing whatever, as long as Cabhan was there with him.

Zachary Incarnadine poured over his notes whilst his family continued to preen themselves for the Ministry Fundraiser Ball.  He has spent the last couple of weeks refreshing his memory of Borgin's peerage, having been caught out by a young upstart of a girl in his adoptive home of Neroli.  That wasn't going to be happening tonight.  He had memorised the anthology of pureblood lines and supplemented the officially sanctioned information with Hogwarts class photographs to bring his visual knowledge up to date and rumours and secrets from as many sources as possible that he could drop hints about knowing should anyone not show him the respect he was due... or if he got bored and fancied making someone squirm for a while. Looking at the précis he'd written himself:

Bane Diverse holdings, Potions. Sampson, Persephone, Tegan, Rosaline, Artemis.
Capp Morticians. Oscar, Verity nee Velling, Mortimer, Finnley, Moira (Kowalzcyk). Tolliver, Myrna nee O'Driscoll, Corvus. [Muggleborn fake identities. Witnesses]
Daley Politics. Eririn [murderer. Have evidence], Aeary, Abiageal nee Maciver, Aderrig, Cabhan, Onora.
Emerson Politics, Philanthropy. Jonathan Sr., Loreli nee Stuart, Jonathan Jr., Katherine. [Annoyingly squeaky clean. Jon Jr. a bit simple]
...
Montgomery Death Research. Edmund, Fatima nee al Bashir.  James (Hassan), Archibald (Hadil), Fatima, Zafirah, Zaara
Odell Law Enforcement. Oliver, Larissa nee Lovell, Theoren, Lorin.
...

and then took his wand to it and vanished the text. He'd written the aide-memoir in his family's secret cipher and for further protection, in an ink he'd developed himself such that once vanished it could only be read under light from the wand that had originally disappeared it, so that sound it fall into other hands - say any of the many law enforcement officials that would be attending the ball tonight - none of the information contained therein would be lost.  Having secured his notes, he folded them up and tucked them into a pocket in his bag.

The family, well, his mother, had decided that all the Incarnadines would be wearing ivory with silver and gold accents for the party tonight and so they had spent a most enjoyable day together as a family in the tailors having everything fitted and accessories worked up. Zi's outfit had ended up as a pair of loose light silver fisherman's trousers with a contrasting darker grey pair of slippers. His robe was asymmetrical across his chest but not quite double breasted. It was in ivory flecked with gold thread, and the embroidery around the mandarin collar, lapels and edges was also golden, but subtle and narrow.  The sleeves were fitted and not closed at the cuff, but overlapping with curved edges matching the drape of the closing across his body. It was finished with a reversible wide sash-like belt, gold on the side that showed as it hung vertically from his waist to his lower shin, but silver around the waist itself. His hair had been cut to only a few inches long and styled by a professional into a refined but casual coiff and wore a subtly masculine scent.

The Emerson Hyde Manor was barely a few minutes walk from the Incarnadine's own Kensington townhouse, and so they set off on foot, all thoroughly disillusioned so as not to be troubled by the pesky muggles about in the park. It was not long before they reached the Serpentine Bridge and veered off the path shared with their non-magical subordinates and took a leisurely stroll down the fairylit avenue.  Mama cast her critical eye over the decorations, judging whilst equally preparing to be overly complimentary to Larissa Odell, Papa was looking for the shortest route to the open bar and Devon was leering at any girls showing the slightest amount of skin.  Zachary was simply looking for the first opportunity to ditch his family and avoid the inevitable night of comments from his parents about how it was time he was starting to think about settling down and starting a family with a nice respectable pureblood girl.  He saw his opportunity when his mother was gushing to the Odell woman, and he spotted Jonathan Emerson Jr. - a schoolfriend or at least schoolacquaintance  - disappearing into another room and so he made his excuses to his family and the hostess and rushed off after Jon.

Once he was out of sight of his parents he slowed down.  He was not particularly bothered about catching up with Jon and besides, the young host was now engrossed in conversation with a gaggle of schoolgirls.  Instead he plucked a champagne glass from a waiter, one or other of the Wolfram twins who seemed not to have quite got his shaving quite together and cast his eye across the room.  Before leaving his apartment in the familial townhouse he had slightly over done it on his observational enhancements and magical speed so he was tweaking slightly - another reason he wanted to get away from his parents.  His mind was working overtime and it was a little bit of a sensory overload. Person after person was jumping out at him and the information he had memorised about each face was appearing unbidden in his head. He was about to go outside for some fresh air and a cigarette away from the crowds to bring himself down a bit but then noticed something too interesting to pass up. A nervously energetic teenager dressed in dark colours (a Hogwarts class picture flashed into his mind and he knew it was Cabhan Daley, an Irish pureblood), whose hand was rising to fidget distractedly with his hair from his side  where that of his companion, another boy currently in Hogwarts but who was obviously of little consequence since Zi didn't recognise him so had apparently not bothered to learn his name, had its fingers still splayed as if they had been interlocked with someone else's just moments early. The unknown blue-eyed lad seemed to be paying more heed than was appropriate for a friend to Daley. This should be fun.

Zi took a couple of sips of his drink - if he wasn't going to get a cigarette before having to interact with people he could at least hope that alcohol to take the edge off, and then swooped determinedly but gracefully towards the couple. He took them from behind, starting to address them a couple of steps before reaching them so that they'd look around and open space for him to slide himself in between them. "Mr. Daley, it's been far too long. It must have been what, five years? Why you were barely in Hogwarts last time we met, and look at you now." He casually but quickly ran his hand up Cabhan's bicep with his free hand while he spoke, gently feeling the solidity of the muscles underneath. His actions were carefully calculated to look innocuous from afar, but suggestive from the viewpoint of the two men he was now addressing.  He carried on speaking without hesitation, hyperloquacious in his potioned-up state but able to control it and speak at whatever length in the perfectly eloquent voice befitting a pureblood heir, carefully selecting his words and tone. "My how you've grown. Marvellous party, don't you think.  The Emersons have such a nice property here. And who's your friend? I'm sorry I don't think we've met. Zachary Incarnadine, how do you do?" He paused for just long enough to be supplied with the shorter boy's name and then launched onwards in his monologue. "You two don't seem to have drinks. We must remedy that at once." He caught the eye of a nearby waitor and summonned him with a slight movement of his head. Pressing his own drink into the lighter haired boy's hand, he took one from the waitor's tray and passed it to his fellow pureblood, and another for the other teenager before retrieving his own, allowing one of his fingers to trail down the boy in grey's wrist, along his hand and index finger before grasping the stem of his glass and relieving the boy its burden. Then he slipped his arms behind the boys, and guided them forward with his forearms across their shoulderblades. "Won't you walk with me, boys." He set out for the door through which the young couple had so recently entered and guided them down of the more deserted paths in the manor house's grounds. "You know, some of these society types will throw you to the dogs if you cavort like that at one of their events. And that's assuming it's not one of those insufferable gossip columnists from the Prophet that manages to snap you. You should exercise discretion when out in public like this, take it from me. I've had to stay away from British Polite Society for years in part because of a peskily observant cousin of mine." His voice was soft and encouraging but firm like a mentor, although the tone of suggestiveness was still apparent, especially in the last utterance he made before finally stopping his diatribe to give the younger boys a chance to get a word in edgeways, dropping his over-the-top formal demeanour and smiling at them mischievously in regcognition of them as peers: "So, who's the top?"

A voice called out Cabhan's name. Dwyer turned, not quite finding the source in the crowd for a moment. Then he saw him. A tall, dark haired man slid between him and Cabhan. Dwyer didn’t quite understand why he had the need to separate him from his boyfriend. But Dwyer sidestepped a bit anyways, so the three of them weren’t so close together. The man spoke directly to Cabhan, with polite, friendly words, and touched the other boy’s arm. That was a weird thing to do, Dwyer looked between the man and Cabhan, trying to catch Cabhan’s eye. How well did they know each other? The taller man had said it had been years. Maybe they used to be close? Dwyer felt awkward standing there, not part of the conversation, and switched his weight from one foot to the other. The man continued talking to Cabhan, not letting either of the younger boys speak, and suddenly Dwyer was asked his name. “Ah -- Dwyer Braniff.” He replied quietly, startled by Zachary’s quick subject change. Dwyer went to smile at the older man, but he had already continued his speech. They needed drinks. Suddenly Zachary’s glass was in Dwyer’s hand, but before the boy could really process that, it had been switched out with a full one. “Thank you.” Dwyer smiled up at the man.  A shiver ran through Dwyer’s body as the man’s finger trailed down his wrist. There was something odd about the man, with his intimate touches. Dwyer glanced over at his boyfriend again. He wished he could hold the younger boy’s hand. Or at least be closer to him. But he knew that wasn’t a wise move in such a place. Who knew how many people here would throw a fit at such a thing. And then Zachary’s hand was on his back, and they were walking towards the door. The hand felt weird, very different from Cabhan’s. But it was also a friendly hand, Dwyer thought. It was a gentle force, and Dwyer heard a the man’s speech shift into a less formal, more friendly tone. And Dwyer knew now that he liked this man. So he had intervened to protect the young couple from the harsh society that surrounded them. Dwyer would have to thank him. He started to, once they were well outside, but Zachary stopped him with a question. Who was the top? Heat immediately rushed to Dwyer’s cheeks. His mouth opened once, twice, four times before he could form any sound. “S-sorry?” Dwyer’s eyes blinked a couple times; he couldn’t process that he had actually asked that. The man had been so formal just a minute ago.

Dwyer looked at Cabhan, not knowing what to say, and quickly looked down and away because the sight of his lover made the blush deepen. He couldn’t say aloud that he usually topped, not in such a public place, and not to a man he had just met. Dwyer took a sip of the drink Zachary had given him. The boy was glad to have some kind of distraction so he could properly gather his senses. Dwyer cleared his throat. "So what do you do?" He smiled at the man, and took a small sip of the drink again. He did want to befriend Zachary, but there were some boundaries, right? Dwyer hoped the conversation wouldn’t turn back into topics that made him flustered. Hopefully Cabhan would help out with that.

Cabhan heard an unfamiliar voice as he turned and perked a brow at the man that called out to him. He didn't recognize him and titled his head slightly. Five years....well he would have been only eleven years old and just starting Hogwarts. Is that where he knew that man from? He had no idea but he didn't want to be rude either so he smiled politely at the man before looking over at Dwyer and back again. He did however, flinch a bit when he ran his hand down his bicep. He didn't remember this man and he felt awkward enough with Dwyer as his date let alone a man he didn't even recognize touching him. "I uhm..I'm sorry. I don't remember your name." It was obvious that the older man knew him or at least knew of him but Cabhan wasn't going to play into it and pretend he knew the man that was talking to him. He then went out about the party and how nice it was Cabhan nodded and looked around. "Yeah, I guess. Nice place. But we've only just arrived." He looked at Dwyer to make sure that he was feeling okay. Even though this Zachary character had managed to squeeze himself between the two he wanted to make sure that Dwyer wasn't feeling like there was something going on between the two of them. He didn't even know him let alone want something to happen between them.

The man then shoved drinks into their hands and Cabhan nodded. "Yes thank you..." He took a small sip from the glass and really wished right now he could smoke. It was awkward and his nerves were getting the better of him. He had even started counting in his head. A finger trailed down Dwyer's wrist and Cabhan perked a brow. What was this man up to. He was starting to get suspicious of him. He was sure now that he'd never seen him before. Or at least not really ever gotten to know him. So why was he playing it off like they were best friends. He had to be have been up to something. Walk with him...well with his arms around then, they didn't really have a choice. Cabhan took a few steps and the numbers ran through his head. One....two....three....four.... They took several more steps and ended at an odd number so Cabhan took on more step to even it out. He looked back at the man and perked a brow. "Top...? I'm not sure that's something that you really need to know. Besides the fact we've just met you, it's not something that should be brought in conversation." Cab was getting irritated now and started clenching his fists.

He let out a sigh, now that they were outside he could smoke, he pulled the silver container from his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He didn't even bother asking Dwyer. He was too stressed out to give a damn on whether he was annoyed by it or not. He flicked his lighter and lit the cigarette and took in a deep breath. "So, forget about what you do....what are you playing at here?" He looked the man up and down. "I'm sure I don't know you, and if I had met you when I was eleven, I don't recall it. So you couldn't have been that memorable." Yes, he was being a little rough and rude but he had made Dwyer feel uncomfortable and he was playing some game with the two boys and Cabhan wanted to cut through the crap and get to the bottom of why he was really here. Why he was talking to them.

The lighter haired, Braniff apparently - not that the name meant much to him, boy seemed somewhat flustered by Zi's fast talking patter and domineering manner. That was fine by Zachary - flustered people are less in control of their thoughts and speech which always makes for an interesting converstaion although the flabbergasted presumed Hogwarts student seemed somewhat tongue tied and so the older man wanted to make slightly more at ease if possible, which would probably mean having to calm himself down a bit.

Daley however responded much more aggressively. He was more assertive than Zi had allowed for in a sixteen year old - a miscalculation that annoyed him, he should have figured that a teenager with that many hormones running through his (rather athletic, if his bicep was anything to go by) body wouldn't take too kindly to his domineering attitude. Zi clocked the fact that he was clenching his fists and the agressive note in his voice seemed to indicate that if he didn't diffuse this situation quickly then he could well end up in a fist fight that probably wouldn't go his way.  At least he was of age though, so could happily draw his wand with impugnity should that become necessary.  But no, he hadn't come here for a duel - against all likelihood he had actually brought the boys aside to help them. Nevertheless, he patted his own wrist to make sure his wand was were it belonged and as his hand fell back to his side, he subtly unbuttoned his bag containing a number of vials of emergency potions to back up his less than stellar wand magic.

Dropping all facade and pretense now, Zachary looked somewhat affronted and hurt. "Okay, no I don't know you well. We have met before, I am sure of it, but nothing worth writing home about. But really, are you so out of practice with these types of events to not realise that fake geniality and familiarity is what is expected of one?" Even when not deliberately acting up to his breeding, his voice was inflected with the upper class vernacular. Still, his exasperation was evident in his tone and he made no effort to hide it.  "I'm sorry if it unsettled you, but I had to grab your attention and get you out of that room before someone less tolerant than me picked up on your behaviour.  Pureblood society is unsurprisingly intolerant of homosexuality and if you haven't faced that problem yet I'm sure it's just a matter of time." Zachary was carefully treading the boundary of making it clear he was on the young couple's side without outright admitting his own orientation. He also was making the effort to speak more slowly because his flight of ideas seemed to be what had wrong-footed Dwyer, yet he still seemed much more amiable and willing to overlook the earlier impropriety than Cabhan. "Now, I think it's applaudable and adorable that you feel comfortable enough to go out in public together like this but I picked up on the way you were looking at each other (and were you holding hands when you arrived?) from the other side of the room.  There were not less than two photographers from the Daily Prophet and at least one reporter from their society section as well as their gossip columnist buzzing around the place.  I can't imagine your grandfather, with his conservative views and ... violent past ... would be too thrilled to see a picture of you gazing lovingly into your boyfriends eyes, now would he? But clearly my advice is unwelcome here, so I shall leave you to fend for yourselves as that is clearly what you'd prefer."    Loaded monologue done with, he turned to leave, fishing his own cigarette case from his belt and sparking up a long white cigarette with golden filter tip with his wand.

When Cabhan spoke, Dwyer could immediately tell that the younger boy was irritated. Dwyer noticed the boy’s fists were clenched. Cabhan needed to have control of something soon, or, Dwyer knew, he would snap. When the younger boy pulled out his cigarettes, Dwyer felt some relief. A smoke would calm him down some. Hopefully. If this Zachary didn’t provoke him any more. Dwyer frowned at Cabhan’s increasingly rude speech, but he knew he couldn’t stop the boy. Instead, he gave Zachary a small apologetic smile. Hopefully he could convince the man that they weren’t normally rude. Cabhan was just reacting badly. But Dwyer could definitely fix it, he needed to. If not, who knew how quickly the situation could turn violent, with the way Cabhan was acting.

Dwyer noticed Zachary’s body language shift, and turned more towards the man. He was now speaking more slowly, and something about his tone was more welcoming, Dwyer thought. This was an interesting, and very welcomed shift. The man was trying to remedy the situation too. Maybe between the two of them, they could get Cabhan to calm down. As Zachary described their apparently obvious relationship, and the dangers of it, Dwyer felt a growing embarrassment heat up his cheeks. He should have known better. They had just experienced the extreme unacceptance of pureblood society. He flinched at the mention of Cabhan’s grandfather, and a ghost memory of the pain passed through his body. He felt his muscles tighten with the memory, and did his best not to show it. Dwyer wanted to avoid experiencing anything like that again at all costs. He knew they needed to be more careful. He glanced at Cabhan, hoping the other boy was staying calm. And then Zachary turned to leave, and Dwyer frowned. He felt unwelcomed? “No, please don’t leave.” Dwyer stepped after the older man. “Your advice is very welcome, thank you for pointing everything out. We really should have known better.” Dwyer looked back at his boyfriend with a smile, trying to tell the other boy to play nice and welcome the man back into conversation. They really shouldn’t be left alone with that gossip columnist around, and the rest of the attendees didn’t look like people Cabhan would want to socialize with.

He turned back to Zachary with a different, polite smile. Dwyer was very thankful and glad that the man had interfered when he had. The boy had a lot to learn about holding back his instincts around Cabhan when in public. Especially in high societal places. And it seemed like he could learn a lot from Zachary. Dwyer wanted to keep him around, hopefully even befriend him. If there was any chance to learn from the older man, Dwyer was eager to take it. “You spoke about the intolerance of pureblood society as though from experience. Can I assume that’s true? If you don’t mind my asking.”

Well that whole situation blew up in a matter of a few minutes. He went from being a sexual deviant and wanting to know who was the top in the boys relationship, to the big brother that was just trying to protect them from the predatory media monsters. Cabhan let out a deep sigh while exhaling smoke from his lungs. He had treated the man in front of them like he was crazy man who was just trying to push their buttons. And maybe that was the case but Cabhan felt sort of bad for the way he had treated him. Especially since Dwyer was giving him the sad, puppy, apologize to that man, eyes. Cabhan threw his almost gone cigarette to the ground "Wait..." He spoke to Zi and took a small step towards him. He looked back at Dwyer and perked a brow. He didn't know what to say to this guy. He was a bit creepy but he had a point. Cabhan should have learned that fact. Homosexuality was not okay, even his parents showed their 'distaste' to it.

"Look....I handled that poorly. You're right...there's all kinds of people out there that would look down upon us, and our relationship. And I have seen it...we both have." He looked back at Dwyer and gave him a small smile. "I appreciate what you were, erm...Are trying to do for us. I'm an asshole...anyone will tell you that. Except for maybe Dwyer here...for whatever reason he thinks I'm a 'good' guy." He let a small chuckle escape his lips as he looked back at his boyfriend. Well this night was turning out to be worse than he expected. He never apologized to anyone before, well except for Dwyer but that was different. Now here this guy got him to not only apologize but almost grovel at his feet. Ugh, he was really turning into a pathetic type of man. He let out a sigh and waited for the man to turn around. God he hoped after all that he didn't just wait his breath. If he didn't come back and talk to them, he would feel like a real git.

He took another cigarette from his pack, he knew that Dwyer hated the habit but if he wasn't careful he was going to start counting the steps that the older man was taking away from them. And that would just not do well for him. Especially since, at this point, the counting would probably be out loud. The younger boy stepped back to his original spot and took a deep drag off his smoke before exhaling. "Please...stay here and talk....I promise to play nice." He was now stupping even lower on his own chain. He was practically begging the man to stay now.

This Braniff fellow was delightfully easy to read. He wore his heart on his chest and his reactions were so transparent that Zachary couldn't help but like him, despite himself. To some certain extent he was reminiscent of Tolfrey, in his unerring amiability and expressive face and old feelings - the original emotions he felt towards his first boyfriend rather than games he played with him last year - stirred deep within his psyche. He was jolted out of letting these cloud his mind by a poorly disguised visceral flinch at the mention of Eririn.  Exercising discretion, because he didn't really want to metaphorically kick the poor puppy-like boy that reminded him of his happier and carefree youth, he filed this away although doubting it's potential future value as he was already comitted to storming off at this point.

As a hurt and apologetic voice pleaded with him not to leave, he slowed his gait but did not turn around or indeed visibly react in any other way visible to those teenagers behind him. Braniff begging him to stay, sweet and kind of cute as he may be, wasn't going to sway him.  He wasn't the one that had been rude and disrespectful in the first place. However, footsteps suggested that Dwyer wasn't the only one chasing after him now, and as a reticent "wait" arrived at his ears, Zi indulged himself in a small smirk of fulfilment as he was facing away from those boys who he now had trying to placate and please him into remaining.  He hesitated, not turning toward them but equally not retreating further as Daley criticised himself in some kind of show of supplication. Well okay then, if someone with as obviously a high opinion of himself and desire for control as the dark haired pureblood would self-deprecate in order to keep Zi around then maybe they were worth his time. However, he wanted to see how far Cabhan would go so he wiped the satisfied smirk off him face and turned back to face the two young men with an unimpressed look.  This clearly had the desired effect, as the latterly aggressive teen was only one step away from being on his knees begging.  Whilst Zi could think of better uses for the boy if he were to fall to his knees, this probably wasn't the time or place, so he finally opened his mouth to accept the apology.

"Well, I suppose if you're a man of your word, I could spare you a few more minutes." His stern face and voice softened gradually and he went on to add "And besides, I have a mother to be hiding from. Family unfortunately isn't one of the things that gets easier as you grow up I'm afraid."

Dwyer's opening question once Zachary had rejoined the conversation was not, however, a welcome one. He allowed a little discomfort to show in his body language but did not take any time to consider his response. "My family have very exacting standards. I they don't like me associating with women who have halfblood second cousins because " he put on a mocking screetching impression of an older woman "you have to wonder about their upbringing." and then returned to his own to supply a confession: "I daren't try to imagine what their reaction would be if they discovered I've slept with muggles." It was a perfectly believable distraction without admitting his sexuality, but one with considerably more deniability since there was no proof or witnesses.  Never mind that some of the muggles he had slept with were men. "Unfortunately, a bitch of a cousin that I have turned up in an unexpected place and caught me in a compromising position. Now I'm the one who's the bitch. I'm her bitch lest she tells Mummy and Daddy what she found me doing."  His face was the picture of distaste at even thinking about Caitriona and her blackmail.