Whilst Laurel had said that she was going to keep her distance from him since the last time he had spurned her attempts to apologise and talk to him, he'd not actually believed she would follow through. She'd said similar in the past and it'd not come to anything, not to mention how their whole interactions had always gone. Laurel had never been very good at letting things go or respecting boundaries when it came to what she wanted. This time though it seemed she finally took it seriously, understood and meant it. She'd provided him with the space he'd requested and honestly, he'd not quite known what to do with the silence of it all.
It was strange really, the anger he felt towards her was still there of course. She'd done a terrible thing. But the quietude the woman's absence left behind... Dorian didn't know how to explain it. It wasn't as though he hadn't been without her before of course but he'd since learned what it was like to have her in his orbit and for all the girls faults, she was energy and life personified. He felt her absence much like a gaping wound she'd given him, both from her actions and her lack of presence and he was worse off for the deprivation.
Trust had always been hard earned where he was concerned, it was one of the main reasons why her actions had such an effect on him. That coupled with his past experiences... well it had set him hard down the path of seeing what Laurel had done as being unconscionable to his mind. Still, both heads and hearts could always be swayed, even someone as stubborn as the dark haired man himself. Such was the burden and charm of being human. He'd always been so set in his mind about things, difficult to sway from his path when he'd chosen it. Very much knowing right from wrong and treating it as thus. It was why he found himself so upended by the others following actions.
To say that he'd faced trials this week would have been an understatement. His quick switches in careers with no warning had naturally left prying eyes wondering. Dorian had hoped that their publicists had managed to squash any negative press but it seemed as though things like this always had a way of rearing their heads in the end. He felt like he'd been settling into the rhythm of being in the new team, proving himself a valuable asset and hopefully earning the support of their fans but curiosity was too high. People were slowly beginning to ask questions about the reasons for his quick exit from his previous team. How he'd left a couple now in swift succession. Honestly, the thought of his private life getting out made him feel physically sick so after a tough day of beating off reporters he'd planned to keep himself to himself in a hole in the wall joint, only to be greeted by the sight of Laurel being interviewed. That in itself wasn't bad per se, at least not at the start but when the topic of the questions seemed to take a turn to focus on him, Dorian found himself sinking further down into the booth, body feeling as though it had been dumped in a ice bath.
What was he liked as a Coach? How did they feel about a male falling into the role? What was the reason for his exit? Wasn't his contract longer because their full time coach wasn't back yet? Has she heard the rumours and is there any truth to them?
Of course they'd have a lot of questions, but he hated the thought of Laurel being the one to answer them. She was somewhat of a loose cannon after all. Chaotic and exactly the type of person they would want to hear from given her unpredictability. With how she'd handled a situation to do with him, he wouldn't have found himself entirely surprised if she did end up saying more than he was comfortable with or perhaps refusing to answer at all. Either one of those could manage to fuel the stories currently buzzing about him. Gossip was fickle like that, you could be damned if you do and damned if you don't and given their current state and most recent interactions, he held no illusions that she owed him anything in loyalty.
However, the more the brunette spoke, the more Dorian found himself pushing himself up in his seat. Disengagement turned to attentiveness with each question she answered until the interview had captured his undivided attention. Far from the responses that Dorian had been anticipating with unease, Laurel actually appeared to show a startling openness, and what Dorian could only read as genuine admiration when she talked about him. Before this point, she'd given her usual sass and playfulness in the interview, but that had appeared to melt away and he was left gaping at the level of care she showed through her words. Whether others would believe her of course was up to their interpretation but he was left feeling a warmth that he hadn't experienced since before they'd fallen out at her attempts to allay their concerns and interest in the topic. He found that the dread he'd felt himself being weighed down by was made that bit lighter by her show of support.
It was for that very reason that he'd taken the decision to do something he'd not thought he would ever do after their dispute and his perceived betrayal, he'd decided to linger outside of the Harpies training ground to wait patiently for their training to finish. With how long he'd worked with them, he knew their schedules pretty well at this point. Unsurprisingly, Laurel was one of the last ones out, and still partially shaded by the shadows that the evening cast over them, he let her know about his presence. "You were kinder than I expected towards me. Probably more than was warranted. You know you could have refrained from answering if you wanted to."
