"Oh, don't mind him," Ansel said dismissively. "If Oliver doesn't hate you it just means you've spent too much time with your nose up his ass. He can be a good conversationalist when he wants to be, but oftentimes he just likes to narrow his eyes at people and judge them. The others liked you well enough. Deandra would've loved you even if she didn't have champagne rushing through her veins. The woman was always a bit of a lush, but I like her most of the time."<br/><br/>He stood up straight as Lucio approached, leaning into the young man's kiss and frowning slightly when he pulled away. "Ah, yes, my darling Johanna. You are very perceptive, sweetness. Johanna has always been a social butterfly, dragging me along to all of her social events throughout high school. You can imagine how torturous it was. She would be quite put out if we stayed in here and didn't mingle." Ansel smiled faintly and opened the bedroom door, letting Lucio pass through before him.<br/><br/>"Darling," he said gently, taking Lucio's glass of champagne so as to give Lucio a better hold of the boxes in his other hand. "You managed to find me a second gift in just a matter of days?" he asked, shaking his head, although the appreciation was evident in his voice. "You shouldn't have. But I will gladly accept it anyway." He walked Lucio to the table where a large collection of gifts sat, all looking like they had been professionally wrapped. Ansel cared little about the gifts, typically he just preferred it if his guests contributed to his liquor cabinet, but he did appreciate the thought.<br/><br/>As he waited for Lucio to deposit the boxes on the table, Johanna and a new man sauntered up to the pair. "Ansel, you remember Emerson, don't you?" The man identified as Emerson, tall and lean with a severe blonde undercut and sharp facial features, smiled and held out his hand for Ansel. The professor paused, his lips parted slightly as he set the two alcohol glasses down and then reached out to take Emerson's hand. "Yes, of course. If I remember correctly you and Johanna were very close in high school."<br/><br/>Emerson nodded, his stormy gray eyes sparkling as he looked Ansel up and down. "I recently reached out to her, to catch up, reminisce about old times. I had no idea your birthday was approaching. Johanna invited me, I hope you don't mind."<br/><br/>Ansel shook his head, cleared his throat awkwardly. "No, of course not. It's a pleasure to see you again." Why Johanna would invite Emerson he understood. Why she would bring him over to him now, with Lucio next to him, he couldn't fathom. Johanna was well aware how madly in love Ansel had been with Emerson twenty-five years ago, as two young boys experimenting in their bedrooms for hours on end. He looked just as beautiful as he had back then, with perhaps a few more harsher lines to his face, a slightly darker shadow underneath his eyes. Had Emerson not ended things with Ansel, perhaps the male's life would have taken a very different path.<br/><br/>"Ansel, Emerson wanted to come say hello," she said, a tinge of regret in her voice. Emerson had been asking for Ansel since he had arrived, and Johanna could only put off the meeting so long. Her initial desire, to get Ansel away from Petra by using Emerson as bait, was completely thrown into chaos by the appearance of Ansel's new beau, one that she was sure he was serious about.<br/><br/>"My goodness, you have barely aged a day," Emerson purred, reaching up a hand to stroke Ansel's beard. "This is new, but otherwise you look just as lovely as you did back then."<br/><br/>Ansel gave a quick thank you and stepped back, pulling Lucio to him. "Emerson, this is Lucio. Lucio, Emerson."<br/><br/>"Ah, is this your boyfriend?" Emerson queried, tilting his head as he gave Lucio a very intense up and down. "You're young, aren't you, Lucio, darling?"