Even before Ethirdir had said anything, Doryn had realized just how much of a mistake he'd made, not merely in inviting the elf to his table... not merely in getting jealous, insanely so, and tormenting poor Mercy by dragging her along just to try to make another woman jealous... but, no, in having ignored what had been developing between him and Hani for so long. When she looked at him, looking for the first time in all the time Doryn had known her like she wasn't on sure footing, part of it broke his fault because he knew it was his fault. He'd kept her at a distance, and that was bad enough, but then he'd acted like the fool when she'd finally looked like she might make a connection with someone else.<br/><br/>At the very least, when she started talking,-- yelling, really,-- she hit her stride and didn't stop-- nor let him get a word in edgewise --until she'd covered all the territory that she'd intended to. She had the fire of a Northern Woman, it was one of the many qualities that attracted him to her, especially wedded to her more Southern traits of subtlety and delicacy. Some of her words stung, but he knew she was upset and that much of that was his fault, so he didn't interrupt...<br/><br/>...not until she was done.<br/><br/>"I was jealous, yes," he says, looking back into Hani's eyes without flinching. "I have no real defense in this. I was foolish, pigheaded, and frankly, rather insulting. I have a strict rule, that I do not get involved with my buisness partners adn,-- well,-- I have obviously broken it.<em>This</em>, in point of fact, is an example of why I have that rule. I also understand that I was not as clear on that matter with you, and I apologize, I thought.. Well, it mas not my intention that you thought me uninterested. I have never been that..."<br/><br/>He sighs, running a hand through his hair and pacing a bit through the back room that Ethirdir had brought them to.<br/><br/>Here, at least, they had some privacy and while Doryn hadn't exactly been shy about airing everything in front of the entire Dewdrop: he was still glad for some privacy now.<br/><br/>"..I should have been more upfront with you, but I enjoyed our interactions too much, I wanted some excuse to break my rule. On this night, though, my only excuse... my only<em>defense</em>... is that it's considerably easier for me to ignore my feelings for you when you're not flirting with another man not 5-feet from me," he says, glancing over at Lord Talion, giving the Elf a bit of a nod. In truth, Ethirdir surprised him with his actions on this night, he'd have expected most Southerners to jump in and take advantage of his misstep. There was a certain canniness to the action, of course, but it was still one that prolonged the game rather than seeking to short-cut straight to the end. It was an action that Sir Aelland could respect. "Not that you were in the wrong in any regard. You are free to engage with whomever you want, to... dance.. with whomever you want but I must confess that when you accepted his invitation.."<br/><br/>It's enough to make the normally rather forceful and even gallant Knight-Captain of the City Guard look slightly bashful.<br/><br/>"...the act of dancing is a different thing in the North, than here in the South. It is very intimate, a thing that<em>Lovers</em>do, a thing that men kill one another over. I was, in point of fact, exiled from my homelands for dancing with the daughter of my J-- my Lord. The best way to explain it is that Dance is considered.. a prelude... every bit as much as slowly removing a woman's clothes or kissing every bit of her." Poor Doryn actually looks<em>embarrassed</em>at this point, both at explaining these facts about his culture and at his own behavior,-- the thoughts that Hani must've realized were running through his head,- and for the first time in this conversation the Knight-Captain cannot quite look at her anymore. "I'm mostly rather level-headed about these matters, I know it is not the same in the South and I have adjusted. More or less. I still find some of your dances rather perverse and the entire custom of 'cutting in' is something that would get one or the other partner killed or maimed in the North. Even so... I shouldn't have acted like I did."<br/><br/>He sighs, looking back up at Hani.<br/><br/>"I just don't have it in me to be level-headed where you are concerned, despite what a mess I have made of things."<br/><br/>He honestly thinks that,-- he should just go,-- he's made enough of a mess of things for tonight.