"Down in one." was all that came as either greeting or even really explanation as the glass of scotch was set down before him by a dainty, ring encrusted hand reaching over his shoulder, the man with whom the hand belonged thoroughly entering his personal space with little regard to social propriety, or even any regard for his personal safety .
But, frankly, that was all Hyde actually needed in the way of either and so, with very little more than a grunt of his own, he downed the glass in a slightly exaggerated gulp. He did grimace just a smidgeon, though that was more due to the temperature than it was of the sensations of the alcohol itself. It was a marvel that the act of licking his teeth following this did not just outright tear his tongue to shreds, but perhaps it had and he didn't care enough to notice it.
"Do I know you?" Edward asked, finally turning his head to acknowledge the person who had purchased him a drink entirely unprompted.
The young man had a generally waifish - not so very much that he might appear unhealthy, but more than enough to leave one to wonder how much credit really could be going to the boning of his laced waistcoat - frame, as delicate and dainty as the lace that adorned his sleeves, gently curled blond hair drawn back with a rich velvet ribbon. His cheeks were gently flushed and his eyes, twin sapphires, seemed just a little too dark to be considered truly doe-eyed.
"You might," mused the young man, claiming the seat that Hyde had very much hoped to remain unoccupied, "Or I might know you, but goodness only knows for certain, there are so very many people out there to know."
"Goodness doesn't know anything." Edward, a little suspicious, remarked, trying his best to try and get anything in the way of a reading on the other. Unfortunately there was something particularly unreadable about the young man so it was more of a losing battle than he had hoped for.
Dorian Gray let out a perfectly lovely laugh, hidden coyly away behind his hand. It was not a natural laugh, Hyde noted, as it had clearly been refined back from something that could have been wonderfully real but was instead left with the tinny, perfect falseness of the upper class. His eyes did flash with something far more genuine, however it seemed wildly disconnected from the rest of his demeanour.
"No, of course it doesn't. Wickedness learns all while the good turn a blind eye from what it knows to be truth in favour of the idealised falsities that we each carry," the laughter still wove its way through his comment, giving it an almost musical ring to it, "Isn't that dull? To simply try and lose oneself to the lies when there are far more lovely things to be lost to." He rested his chin upon his palm, regarding the other with a strangely heavy look for several moments. "No, I don't think we have met. What a shame, I would rather like to meet you."
It seemed Hyde had rather forgotten how to - or did not care to - shape his laugh into something pleasant to the ear. He threw his head back and let out a hoarse, almost barking laugh at this. Really, it was a marvel that he did not start choking from the sheer force of this.
"Of course you do, I'm incredible," said he with the sort of ego that could only be rivalled by the very same man that he was saying this to, "But I don't know if you do, you fragile little thing, you," somehow this managed to skip right over being outright patronising and landed somewhere in the vain of just being purely amusing, "Do you have any idea what you might be getting onto, meeting somebody like me?"
It wasn't that he was trying to scare the other man away, but rather closer to him issuing a challenge that he rather hoped the younger man might try to snatch at. Holding it, or so the saying went, just out of reach to see if he might jump.
"Perhaps not," came the hedonistic gentleman's reply, something a little whispy and almost breathy in this remark, "But I would like to."
Evidently Dorian was not just willing to jump, but outright take the plunge into the deep end with no thought behind the recklessness. This rather dictate his philosophy towards life, to embrace it all with open arms, to do and live and ask for forgiveness only if it absolutely came to it.
With the most delicate of hands, he reached out and ever so gently clasped Hyde's face between his hands. He took into consideration the fact the man cringed a little at his touch - damn you Jekyll and your allergies towards your fellow humans, if it wasn't for that then Hyde would have surely relished this and not have to fight against a sudden desire to cry unholy tears - and slowed his approach a little. Looking for any little signs of distress, he drew their faces so very close together that their breath intermingled.
"Will you teach me?" This was coy as could be, Dorian even going so far as to gently flutter his eyelashes shamelessly. It was a fair assumption that the man had rather forgotten how to be ashamed at all.
"Dorian," a voice, rich an heavy with aristocracy, called, the moustachioed speaker holding a look of smug amusement as he had certainly been watching the pair for just a little too long to be in passing, "Do leave the beast alone, if you linger about like this we will be later than what would seem appropriate."
"Coming, Harry," came the cheery reply, Dorian tossing this over his shoulder. He patted Edward's cheek before he said, with an exaggerated sense of apology, "Another time, then, shall we? I do hope this is not the only time out paths cross."
It was only after Dorian had left the room did Hyde permit himself to shake off the brief encounter. Shake in the most literal sense too, as he shook his head so hard that it made his head spin and a growl to slip though his teeth before he realised he was growling at all. With this completed, however, he thoroughly left it to the past and resumed his evening as he had been previously.