Please, we need a bedtime story from Dorian. 🥺🙏
The room was dim and quiet, the faint golden flicker of the bedside candle casting long shadows across the walls. Lavinia had just left, she’d ensured that you were comfortably tucked in, the curtains drawn tight, and everything precisely as it should be. Sleep was essential—Lavinia had been clear about that, especially while your body and instincts adjusted to its new life, there was to be no argument about the sleep schedule she set.
But Dorian had other ideas.
Down the hall, the sound of Lavinia’s steps faded as she descended the staircase, and a grin tugged at Dorian’s lips. He moved silently, his movements smooth as he slipped to your door. With a practiced hand, he eased it open just enough to poke his head through, he startled you with his swiftness -and while if either of the other men in this house had done that, you’d have a heart attack- Dorian’s comforting smile calmed you right back down.
“You still awake?” he whispered, his voice light but brimming with mischief.
You squinted at the light spilling in from behind him, a small smile creeped on you face as you pushed yourself into a sitting position, before giving a small nod.
“Good,” he grinned wider. “I remembered another story I just have to tell you. It can’t wait.”
He slips inside the room, closing the door softly behind him. He moves with the ease of someone who’d had centuries to perfect the art of sneaking, pulling the chair beside her bed closer and settling into it with a casual air.
“You know Lavinia will—” you began, but he waves you off with a quick, dismissive hand.
“Lavinia’s downstairs, probably doing something terribly dull, she’s busy and I’m swift. And Soren…” he smirked. “Well, Soren doesn’t scare me… not much, anyway.”
You gave him a hesitant look, but he leaned closer, his expression conspiratorial. “Relax. It’s just one story. Harmless.”
It’s wasn’t only Dorian’s smile that was contagious his mischievous nature was too -so despite your better judgment the smile creeped back on your face and you shuffled into a comfortable position, ready to hear whatever story he was about to tell. Dorian leaned back, folding one leg over the other, his fingers steepled dramatically.
“All right,” he began in a hushed tone, his voice low and dramatic, “let me tell you about the time I nearly lost my head—literally—thanks to a argumentative nobleman who could admit he was wrong- in Prague- We were visiting for a short while due to business-”
Your eyes widened slightly at that opening line, and he grinned, clearly enjoying the effect. “Now, this was back in the 18th century, mind you,” he continued, gesturing with his hands to illustrate as he spun the tale. “Prague was beautiful then—still is, I suppose. But it had this nasty little habit of attracting… shall we say, complicated people. Or maybe it’s me attracting them…” he shrugged away that thought.
He wove the story like a master storyteller, his voice dropping to a whisper at moments of tension and rising with excitement during the twists and turns. Despite the hushed tone, his gestures were grand, his expressions exaggerated, as though he were performing for a grand audience.
You couldn’t help but be drawn in as Dorian described close calls, daring escapes, and a particularly memorable duel beneath a moonlit bridge.
“And there I was,” he said, leaning forward, his voice barely audible now, “cornered by the river, sword in hand, three of them against me—one of them the duke himself. In that moment I thought, ‘Well, Dorian, this is the end. You’ve had a good run.’ But then—”
The floor boards creaked faintly outside as someone passed the room.
Both of them froze, the story hanging in the air like the candlelight flickering against the walls.
“Dorian…” The you whispered, looking from the door to his face for any semblance of guidance on what to do, nervousness in your voice evident.
“Shh,” he hissed, holding up a hand, and listening intently.
The steps faded, and Dorian exhaled dramatically, a hand over his chest. “Close call,” he muttered, flashing her a quick grin. “Now, where was I? Oh yes, cornered by the river…”











