[Making polite and pleasant conversation with people he cannot care about. What could be worse? His hands unfurl against his stomach. Pinched fingers and thumbs locate his neck and prize loose that hold, that restraint that makes him freeze.]

Do you care to remember that you and I value different meanings of the word?

[His calm voice hides a chill as he lowers their hands and lets them part. His retreat and hide behind his back. Oh, his presence would make some uncomfortable, and he almost agrees to attend for that alone, but he cannot bother himself to pointless chatter about the last twenty years. He might as well speak of the weather.]

You can swing by once the fun is over. Help yourself to a seat and a drink.

[What that seat is, well, the god of love can imagine.]