"Course I did," Marek said, amused as well. He hadn't shown up for the party, though, he'd shown up for Duke. The rockstar was older than him, but from the same house, and in a similar situation, politically speaking. Marek had always felt comfortable around him, because it was easy to predict someone who was so like himself, and they were different enough not to butt heads. Unless that was some kind of euphemism for what they'd done before.
He finished his drink and grabbed another as he was dragged along, glad when the sounds of the party became a background hum in the quiet night. He leaned against the edge of the balcony and sipped his drink before looking over at Duke. "Do you have any idea how much you missed while you were gone?" he said, mouth quirking up into a little grin. At certain recent times, he might have felt jealous that Duke had managed to evade all of it, but Marek wasn't flighty enough to travel the way Duke did. Not as much of a homebody as Melinda either, but he was happy with the lifestyle that he had. "Guess I should catch you up."