How To Fall From Grace [MxM]

Step 18: Fall prey to family (pt. 2)

"These are surprising news indeed." Valdís' eyebrows arched, looking between her son and his newly revealed suitor. "Like Annarósa says, it's strange that you haven't told us until now."

"It's... new." Frey had to focus most of his energy to keep eye contact and breathe calmly through his discomfort. "It's been going on for a while I suppose, but it's newly... Official."

"Well you must introduce us." Valdís smiled warmly. No caution nor scepticism showed, though Frey had no doubt she'd be able to hide it if she felt it.

He groaned on the inside, but figured they had to get it over with.

"Marius, meet my mother, Lady Valdís Magnusdóttir." His hand swept to the side with subpar enthusiasm. "My younger sisters Lady Annarósa and young Lady Elvie Clausdóttir, and Annarósa's wife, Esther Fredriksdóttir."

He looked down at the sleeping baby in Annarósa's arms.

"And Ingrid."

"Young Lady Ingrid," Annarósa corrected him, gently stroking the girl's cheek. "We're still deciding on whose name she'll take."

"Great, so... This is Marius..." Despite his determination to get through introductions quickly, Frey trailed off earlier than he'd expected, with an awkward realisation that he had no idea what Marius' last name was.

He looked over at the man in question, urging him to continue but Marius did not understand the cue, instead performing an appropriate bow while smiling as though the introduction was over already until Frey cleared his throat.

Marius raised his eyebrows at him, still smiling in obliviousness.

"Hm?"

"I thought you could introduce yourself," Frey half whispered, and Marius' confusion showed through a wrinkle between his eyebrows before he lowered his voice to whisper as well.

"But you already did."

"Yes, well..." Frey gestured vaguely. "... With your last name that I... Seem to have misplaced."

Marius' eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh." He turned to Valdís, who looked at both of them with a thin smile of confusion. "I don't have one. We don't use them where my family is from, originally."

"Ah, you're not from Wypera?" The incorrect assumption dawned on Valdís, and her puzzled look vanished. Marius opened his mouth to deny it however, only to change his mind.

"I'm not," he said instead, pressing his hands against his chest. "I moved to North Kerilia about a year ago... From Zestrei."

"To North Kerilia?" Valdís' intrigue would not let up. "Yet you know Frey?"

"Well, while my extended family here is in the jewellery trade, my expertise back home lies in horses. Naturally, I wanted to continue with my profession here, but there are differences in environment of course and my knowledge of Wyperan horses was limited, so I asked around for people to talk to and the kind Glowells pointed me in Frey's direction." Marius smiled warmly. "And, well... Not being charmed turned out to be impossible."

"And we share a love for fashion as well," Frey joined in. "It took some time for me to get used to Zestrian attire, but I've learned a lot."

"So you moved here a year ago, but you speak Wyperan this well already?" Valdís asked, and Marius nodded with the impressive confidence of someone who wasn't far out of his social depths.

"Everyone in Zestrei speaks at least a little Wyperan."

"How strange," Annarósa remarked, not so much suspicious as genuinely curious. "Wypera and Zestrei aren't too involved with each other, after all."