"Karev just keeps getting in my way." Mark grumbled to Dorian as they lay in bed facing each other, just talking. Dorian listened and nodded, listening I tently to everything Mark had to say. He just adored listening to his voice. He was a sap.
"Give him a chance love, nobody ever does. Only Bailey has and he's proving himself to her. Just.. give him a chance to do the same. I know he's an intern but he's there to learn from the best!" Dorian gave Mark a cheesy smile and lay back down on the pillow. His arm was getting sore from holding his head up.
"I have been though. He even got my coffee order wrong." Mark was being moody, Dorian could see that. Dorian figured Alex would do better if he wasn't sent on coffee runs but it was up to Mark how he taught the interns.
"Come on Mark, a double bone dry cappuccino? He was doing you a favour" Dorian snorted at the look on Mark's face, utter betrayal.
"Really? You're coming after my coffee now? You're a delight this morning." Mark responded as he flopped back like Dorian did.
"That wasn't how I meant it love. All I meant was, and I mean no disrespect by this it's your business, but Alex is desperate to work with you. You are quite literally his hero and you having him chasing dry cleaning and coffee orders. It isn't the most... riveting of work." Dorian was trying to suppress a laugh in order to be somewhat supportive but he honestly didn't agree with Mark's style of teaching.
"Dori love, not to sound like I don't appreciate your advice but I know how to teach my specialty." Mark replied, clearly not happy with Dorian trying to tell him how to teach. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he wasn't very good at giving the interns a chance and that was the point Dorian was making but it sounded different to Mark.
"I'm not trying to say you don't. I'm just trying to say that Karev will be useful once you actually get past your issues with the fact that he 'knows nothing' yet." Dorian was still trying to get his point across. It wasn't helping though. If anything it was just making Mark more frustrated.
"Dorian, butt out. I know how to teach and I know how to deal with interns" Mark almost growled, he was getting overly defensive. He stood to get dressed for the day, They both had work that morning and it was about time they started their day.
"Really? I'm trying to help you with Alex and you think I'm coming after you? Stop being so arrogant about it Mark. You are supposed to teach us not send your interns after your washing." Dorian had to admit that arguments were his strong suit, he also got defensive and also assertive. He was aware that it really wasn't any of his business but when he has to listen to Alex whine all day, you can't blame him for trying.
"Dorian, I need you to leave me alone right now." Mark sounded far off, like he was stuck inside himself.
Dorian and Mark had their fair share of arguments over the almost three years they had been together, some of them trivial and some of them not so much. Dorian knew Mark just needed to let the current frustration he was feeling, go but he still couldn't help but be slightly hurt by Mark's words. How was he to butt out? Whatever was going on with Alex was clearly on his mind and bothering him.
"Fine." Dorian muttered as he too began to get ready. He just grabbed his clothes and left for the bathroom. He needed to shower.
Mark was still in their room when he got out, waiting on the bed. Dorian decided that if he wanted to talk then he could but until then he was going to carry on as normal.
It took Mark sitting on the bed silent for five minutes for Dorian to finally say something.
"Are.. are you okay Mark?" He asked cautiously. He didn't want to upset him more than he already had, but the walking on eggshells thing was not okay with him.
"Yeah, I was just thinking but I gotta get to the hospital. I'll see you later. I love you, bye." He was quick with his dismissal but at least he didn't just storm out. He left rather quickly and suddenly Dorian was alone in the apartment again. Kai was still asleep under the covers of the bed, lazy pup.
He sighed rather loudly, he was trying to avoid this entire thing by putting his 'constructive criticism' nicely enough but apparently Mark didn't appreciate any criticism to do with his work. Which Dorian was aware of. Mark was proud of his work and he knew Mark felt like he was being dismissive of that fact, but he wasn't.
Kai heard Dorian and struggled under the covers to get his legs loose making Dorian chuckle as he ruffled his hair with the towel trying to dry it off completely. Dorian lifted the blanket of the dog who jumped up rather put off by the thing that wrapped him up.
"Aw my boy. Did that blanket disable your paws?" Dorian laughed as Kai's fur looked like he had been raked through a Bush.
"What am I going to do about that stubborn man, eh boy?" He spoke as if the dog was a human. Dorian just stroked the dog as if he had nowhere to be, it was therapeutic for him to be with Kai. The dog loved attention and Dorian loved to give him it. He was also really thankful for the dog walker. If he didn't have one, there would be no way he would have been able to keep Kai before Mark came. He was just too busy at the hospital to come home every few hours to check on him.
——
"You're her boss?" Dorian asked Meredith after she had explained the situation with Izzie too him. He had no idea why Bailey would make such a bold move. But he was living for it currently.
"Yes, now shush!" Meredith spoke as the walked up the stairs towards the walkway.
"Aye aye, captin'!" He exclaimed as he saluted her right there and then in the middle of the hospital. Mer elbowed him unmercifully in the ribs as a warning.
"I'm sorry about this!" Meredith struggled to hold back her smile as izzie turned to walk backwards.
"It's not your fault. Hey, you want me to fetch you some coffee, rub your feet, maybe?" Izzie sent right back, not afraid to make light of an uncomfortable situation. Dorian gave her a high five as a 'reward' for her timeless humour. Meredith rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly as she asked her rhetorical questions. She didn't find it very fair that Izzie was being forced to shadow her.
"Izz!" Dorian hissed in warning as she bumped into a random guy in a suit stood next to Derek on the walkway. He was trying to alert her but it was too late, she had already accidentally brought attention to the three.
Pleasantries were exchanged between Izzie and Derek. Dorian sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that morning, he was almost positive that Derek would have heard about the small argument him and Mark had that morning. If he hadn't then he would be well and truly shocked.
Their friendship may be a little bit patchy right now but despite that, Dorian knew that Derek was the man that Mark went to whenever they had fallen out. Even when Derek thought they were just friends.
"Derek" he smiled anyway, it couldn't hurt to pretend, eh?
"Dorian, Meredith." He nodded in recognition. Why were things between him and Meredith so awkward.
"Uh- Meredith. Meredith?" Derek kept trying to get her attention as she looked between her brother and Izzie.
"Sorry, it's not like I can leave. I got to stay by my boss' side" Izzie was trying, yet again, to crack another joke. This one wasn't recieved as well as the last one. Meredith was trying to look anywhere but at Derek and Dorian was trying to figure out why. And then Dorian seen Nancy. Suddenly he knew.
"OK, the trailer sucks, but in the light of day the land's nice. Seattle is pretty in the daylight. Plus, you have your thing for ferries, so.." She didn't get to finish because both Grey Siblings and Derek moved to interrupt her.
"Ferryboats." The three said in unison. Derek was just over her being here, Dorian rolled his eyes and meredith was trying to figure out what the fuck was going on.
"Dr Stevens, Meredith, this is my sister Nancy." He introduced her, deliberately leaving Dorian out. And for good reason too. Dorian and Nancy had met but in no circumstances did they get along.
Meredith and Nancy had a brief interaction but Dorian listened carefully. Nancy was passively aggressive. She may not look like much but she could slice through the shell of a coconut with the tongue on her.
"Well, I knew you didn't think I was the wife since you already ran her off." She smiled at meredith as if she was a friend but everyone could see the bitch lurking beneath.
"Oh do one Nancy!" Dorian growled, Meredith was shocked to her core by Derek's sister's words and Izzie was enjoying the free drama.
"Oh Dorian! I didn't know you worked here! If I did I would have left!" She made a joke that Dorian knew was actually just a dig at him.
"Aw Derek! Why didn't you tell her sooner! We would've had to endure her nonsense!" Dorian spoke with a fake smile plastered on his face.
"Oh how I've missed you're terrible jokes!"
"And how I've missed your bitchy personality!" It was back and forth with them continuously, making jabs ans jibes at one another. Meredith and Izzie had left a couple minutes ago as they continued their childish battle. Dorian really didn't like Nancy, Derek had no choice but to love her, she was his sister but clearly he was enjoying watching her struggle to clap back.
"Ah Mark!" Derek interuppted the two after dealing with their pettiness for a while. Dorian instantly shut up. He was hoping not to run into Mark until later. Until he had formed an apology that he actually meant.
"Oh, are you two finished then?" Nancy asked with a smirk, clearly just trying to find a way to hurt Dorian. He smirked back, as Mark approached, hearing what she said.
"No, actually, we aren't finished." He replied, wrapping an arm around Dorian's waist. He was so glad that Mark had decided to say something rather than just ignore them all.
"Well, it's been fun. How about we do this again sometime Nancy? Preferably when I'm dead and can no longer hear that coma inducing voice of yours." Dorian rolled his eyes as Mark led them away.
"Why are you arguing with her, you know she just winds you up." Mark asked as when they got far enough away from her so he couldn't turn around and yell someone he'd regret later.
"Argh, she made a dig at Meredith and it just started from there." Truthfully neither Dorian nor Nancy knew why they hated each other so much. They just didn't get along for some reason and its escalated from there.
"She's a bitch, you know that, I know that. Derek knows it. Just ignore her." Mark spoke calmly as they walked through the halls. "I have a burn victim I need to tend to but I'll meet you later." He kissed Dorian's cheek and took of. Dorian was confused, Mark was just in a mood with him, what happened?
"Okay... bye?" Dorian didn't know how to react, he was confused. Was Mark still mad at him? Was he supposed to be mad at Mark for him being mad at him for telling the truth? Dorian didn't have any idea how to handle the situation so he did so how he knows best. Ignore everything about it in the hopes it goes away.
No, instead of letting it consume his mind he decided to go out and find something to do. Bailey had a habit of forgetting to put him on cases at times and today was no different. She placed Izzie with Meredith and placed Meredith god knows where, then there was Dorian. All by himself.
"Gotta love being an intern" he sighed to himself, practically running to the ER. He was bored, a thought he never thought he would ever have. He was bored in a hospital full of death and murder and gory accidents and not so gory accidents. Yet, he was still bored.
Dorian had no clue where anyone was. Apparently Dr Montgomery had a woman with and pregnant in two uteruses. He figured George would be in on that since he was assigned to Gynie squad as the interns called it, he just knew that Alex would be begging to get in on that but he also was aware of just how much Karev wanted in on Plastics.
——
"George has two uteruses, Cristina has a humpty, Meredith has a woman prepared to literally burn herself to avoid taking a bar, and Alex is on Plastics. Am I the only one who hasn't been assigned to anything?" Dorian went off. He hadn't been assigned to anyone or any cases and he was bored. It was frustrating to no end having to sit around and fill in charts. He couldn't exactly take over cases from residents either so the charts were all he had.
"You can do all your boyfriend's really important phone calls" Alex scoffed, sarcasm falling from every word. He wasn't happy. Alex had been trying to learn from Mark for weeks but still hadn't moved up from the title, 'lackey'.
"Is that what he has you doing?" Dorian had no idea that for today Alex had been running around on hold trying to get Mark's license and insurance switched to Seattle. That pissed him off. Mark knew, better than anyone at this point, Dorian's feelings on the subject although he was only and intern and Mark's an attending. Mark's lack of teaching abilities towards Alex was astounding, Dorian would have thought that the man would be eager to show off his skills but apparently not.
"Yeah, not so great now." Alex grumbled going back to his sandwich. George had to hold back a chuckle.
"I called Callie a pig." George cut in. Dorian's jaw dropped.
"To her face?" He asked, genuinely curious as to how badly he fucked up this situation. When he nodded Dorian slapped the back of his head.
"Ow! It was a metaphor! She was ham and I was eggs! She was committed for the plate while I was just involved." He exclaimed to the room while Alex sat chuckling at George's misfortune.
Dorian ruffled his eyebrows in confusion. Eggs and ham? How does that relate to being committed, and how does it justify calling Callie a pig? Or had he just majorly misunderstood the situation? Probably the latter.
"Still, that wasn't the best thing to say without any context George." Dorian muttered, whether he understood or not wasn't the issue here. George called Callie a pig without meaning to insult her and now she's offended.
"As if I didn't know that." Geogre snapped. He knew that he fucked up, everyone just had to constantly remind him and it was grating on his nerves. Couldn't they just lay off?
"I'm aware of that, I know I offended her and I know I messed up. Happy?" He stormed off. Wow, Dorian thought, He really isn't happy.
"Well, someone isn't a happy chappy," Dorian smirked, no idea how to deal with George's mood swings recently. One minute he was smiling, the next he was biting people heads off which was unlike him.
"Guys! We come in here for quiet! It isn't very quiet right now!" Cristina snapped before turning back to the textbook she had out on her lap. Meredith's eyes widened at the outburst from her best friend and shut up. Dorian pulled a face that could tell a hundred people he wasn't happy about being told to shush. He liked to talk, that much was obvious.
Dorian turned back to his sister, opting to whisper about his argument with Mark this morning.
"You and Mark? The hospitals dream team? Wow, what happened there?" Cristina butted in, as if she wasn't just moaning about people being too noisy.
"I stood up for Alex," Dorian grumbled while rolling his eyes, "I told him that Alex would do so much better if he wasn't chasing dry cleaning and coffee orders. Let's just say he wasn't happy about that.." He finished. The thought of Mark being angry at him was making him less upset and more mad himself. Dorian had every right to defend Alex, he was defending him to his boyfriend, not his attending.
You stood up to Mark Sloan. For me?" Alex sounded confused, nobody gave him chances like that, nobody cared enough to do something like that. And here Dorian was, getting into arguments over his learning experience.
"No, I stood up to my boyfriend for you Alex. He's more than just 'Mark Sloan' to me." Dorian grumbled in return. He loved Alex like a brother so it was worth it to defend him.
"I- Thanks..." it was the first time any of the interns had actually heard Alex Karev speechless and it was an experience they were never going to forget. Dorian smiled at him and turned back to his conversation with Meredith.
"What do I do? He's been hot and cold all day. He saved my ass in front of 'Nancy pants'," Dorian made a face at the nickname she had been given, "but he told me he'd see me later and walked off. He's giving mixed signals right now. I know he needs some space and I'm trying to give him it."
"In my experience, I fuck relationships up so asking me is probably as helpful as asking an old person to do a back-lit but I can try. Just give him his space and if he crosses any lines you've drawn, tell him." Meredith tried, she had no idea how to help. All of her relationships had ended badly and with her current experience with Derek she was in no place to give out advice.
"Figured" dorian muttered, finding no neednto continue a conversation that had only one direction, space.
Dorian stood to leave, sighing loudly to release pent up frustrations. As he exited the room he felt everything hit him but he would not lose control today. He needed to be in control, if he wasn't then life went to shit.
"Do you think they will be okay?" He heard Alex ask as he stood just outside the room, he had yet to walk away because he needed to be sure he wouldn't shatter like glass from a single step.
"Have you not seen their relationship? Of course they will. It's just a spat." He could hear the warning in Meredith's voice, as if daring Alex to say anything in return. Dorian had no doubt that his relationship with Mark would be fine, it was, just as Meredith said, a spat.
Dorian decided he needed to move, he didn't need doubts from any of Alex's comments wiggling their way into his brain. He went down to the pit, needing something to do.
———
Later that night Mark found Dorian in the Intern locker room, everyone turned to face him with surprised looks on their faces. It was a fair reaction too considering that Mark wasn't a fan of the interns.
"Dorian, can we talk?" Mark muttered quietly after seeing Meredith straighten her back. She knew of his and dorian's falling out obviously and Mark wasn't going to do or say anything that could piss her off, she was like an angry mama bear protecting her cub when Dorian needs it.
"Yes Mark, in the car when I'm finished changing." Dorian replied, patting Mark on the chest. The older man took that as his cue to wait outside.
"Okay" he left quietly without making a fuss which Dorian was thankful for.
"Are you gonna be alright?" Meredith asked after Mark left. Dorian pulled his hoodie back over his head and shrugged, he honestly didn't know. He knew though, that him and Mark would sort it out, they always did.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Dorian replied as he grabbed the last of his things from his locker. It slammed shut as his frustration resurfaced. He had no idea how he was supposed to get in that car and talk about something that Mark clearly wasn't happy talking about at that minute but it needed to happen.
"You don't seem fine.." was all Meredith said in return, she let it go thankfully and Dorian left the locker room but not before dragging his hands down his face, clearly tired.
"If you need a place to bunk tonight to escape everything Mer, you can always come over" he kissed her cheek.
Dorian had a firm grip of the hair on the back of his head, a nervous habit he had adopted in childhood. He wasn't scared of Mark, he just didn't want to fall out with him again, that thought was where the anxiety was stirring.
———
"Dorian, wait up!" Mark yelled, Dorian hadn't even noticed that he was waiting outside the locker room. He stopped walking and let Mark catch up, they had barely spoken throughout their shifts but now all Dorian wanted was comfort.
"Are you feeling okay?" Mark asked in concern when he seen the look on Dorian's face, the younger man nodded but Mark had always been able to see through his bullshit. He let it be though because he knew pushing his boyfriend wouldn't help matters.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for snapping this morning, and I'm sorry for rushing off..." Mark apologised straight away, he appreciated that he shouldn't have snapped.
"And I'm sorry for pushing a conversation about a situation that's your's to deal with." Dorian replied, his hand going back to his hair. Mark noticed and pulled it away, holding it in his instead.
"You were right though Dorian, it is my job to teach and the sooner I can get over my issues with that, the sooner we can all move on and be happy being taught." Mark spoke softly, he squeezed Dorian's hand lightly and sent a lopsided grin in his direction. Dorian chuckled at Mark and continued walking out beyond the doors of the hospital.
"I also want to apologise for how I spoke to you this morning, there was no need for me to have an attitude like that. I could blame on stress with the job but I'm not making excuses for being a ass in that moment." He muttered, making Mark pull back to look at him.
"I deserved that though, I shouldn't have spoken to you in that same manner." They both shrugged, Dorian had no idea why he was so nervous for this beforehand. Maybe it was because his mother would always find more reasons to be angry or disappointed and he expected Mark to do the same.
"I love you Mark, and thank you for saving my ass with Nancy." Dorian's comment made Mark laugh, again Dorian had no idea why he disliked her so much but everyone else found it rather funny.
"Your welcome, love. Someone needed too otherwise you two would have gone at each other. And I love you more."
"Impossible! You wound me with your crazy accusations!" Dorian placed a heart to his chest as he turned the key in the ignition of the car. "I love you most." He said in a more relatively normal voice.
"Okay, I yield." Mark held his hands up in defeat. He was never winning this argument and acceptance in key. The drive back to their apartment was quick and loud despite no conversation. Dorian plugged his player into the car and had the music up loud, he needed the distraction. Things were fine with him and Mark but he still had wars going on in his own head he needed to silence.
———
A/N - I appreciate not much happened in this chapter and it was very boring. And I don't know whether Mark and Dorians fight can be classed as a fight but I felt like we needed some drama with those two, but I have commitment issues so it didn't last long. I honestly felt bad, Dorian's character, despite being a little 2-dimensional is like my baby and I felt bed for putting him through that. Anyway I know it's not the best and very boring but I'm trying, that has to count for something eh? It's taken a month and a bit to write this so please forgive the blandness :)
Also it's partly taken a month cause my mum cancelled Disney plus so I had to find other means of watching the show to get details right.