"What was it?" Moku played along, asking the magic questions that all children instinctively know to ask when being told a story.

Seth crossed his arms over his chest with an amused smirk on his face. The blonde was so animated; he seemed to light up when telling his story. It made Seth wonder what he could do to make the blonde flare up at other times.

---
Uh oh... I sense their infamous rivalry about to arise. xD

"It was a horse, Moku. It was a horse made of the finest ebony wood -he knocked on the wooden table- but it had hair and texture that rivaled of a real one. The sound, the movement seemed quite mechanical and stiff but it seriously pass for one! He had the loveliest saddles and fit truly for a prince. It was amazing..."

Jono had leaned closer to him as if telling him a secret before springing back and sitting normally, "Now. For this the prince was quite interested. But the merchant went -change voice, deep and rather husky now- My prince this horse is one of a kind and special... This horse your highness will bring you to any place across the lands by air and the travel time of one year usually will simply be done in a day's time!" With that the horse's fate was sealed, the prince had to have the horse!

And the blond well... was unaware of the feelings he had managed to stir up in the priest. Though he was uneasy by the smirk upon his lips.
___

Weird. O_o I found a story online/copy of the said story I'm telling you but it's DAMN different from the version I read in a story book. -.-

...I think I found a variation of the original 1001 version. I was only four and yes I remember clearly, kind of. Hee hee.

"So what did the handsome prince do, Jono?" Moku asked, his eyes wide with childish wonder. He rocked back and forth in his chair, a grin on his face.

Seth watched the scene with an eyebrow raised, but bit his tongue so he would not interrupt, if only for Moku's sake. If Moku hadn't been enjoying the story so thoroughly, he would be asking sadistic questions before you could say, "Oh Ra."

"Well, he had to have the horse of course! He snuck up on it one day and took it away then found himself in some unknown up in the air! It was frightening at first as he had yet to get used to the controls of the horse, Moku!," he sounded quite sympathetic really. "The control pegs were located at the ears. You twist it back and front to be able to make it stop and go... But he was all wait, do and see really."

He paused and to give the child time to try and see the image for himself.

"...You know where he ended up next?"
---

Sadistic questions? @_@

"Where?" Moku asked, his grin growing wider by the instant. Seth was pleased to see his little brother so happy and remained the silent observer.

---
You know, like, "What kind of magic spell was used to make the horse fly?" "If he's a prince, why does he need a flying wooden horse when he can pay someone to enchant a real one for him?" That sort of thing. xD The kind of questions mean, cynical people ask.

"He found himself in a city like no other... Though it was beautiful and all, he could not seem to compare it to his own home. It was just so different. Beautiful yes... Sprawling with trees and a quietness that could rival his own bustling kingdom. The place was just so serene, Moku. Though lacking luster and energy, it was nonetheless something.

But more specifically he found himself landing on the balcony of a castle. He went in, asking for help and directions but was greeted with a shriek!"

---

It's a mechanical horse. XD

But yeah I get what you mean! So typical of Seth to ask stuff like that. :D

Moku seemed to be enjoying the game, and although he could guess the answer, he still asked the question. "Who screamed, Jono?"

'A girl. More specifically, the girl he will fall in love with.' Seth answered silently, rolling his eyes a little. How predictable.

---
He's practicing restraint. xD

"It was the nursemaid of the owner of the room! She was up bringing her mistress' dressing clothes and found what? Some guy who just came out from nowhere! Geez... If I were me, I'd be screaming bloody murder already!," exclaimed Jono.

He looked at the priest and noticed that the man was starting to get rather bored. Couldn't blame him. These kinds of stories of romance and princes always did lead to marriage. So he decided to twist the story abit and enter the nursemaid. It just delayed the inevitable though.

What the heck...He was trying to impress Moku not Seth anyway. Turning his attention on the child again, he changed his voice and began to mimic how the made up nursemaid would react and overreact to the sight of a man who came out from nowhere.

Seth lifted an eyebrow in mock surprise. So it wasn't the prince's soon-to-be bride? Interesting...

Moku laughed in delight at the description of the nursemaid. It was made double as funny to him because of it's accuracy; Moku's nursemaid as a child would have reacted in the exact same way.

Jono grinned and then settled to a stance. "With that everyone started running up to see the commotion that was started ofcourse! -Who would stir up the princess' Aija so much that she's gone that way!- Someone else said -IT'S AN ASSASINATION PLOT!- ...And then the random -Maybe she saw her mother's ghost-"

He paused so sit down and continued, "So the group went up. As they were about to enter the princess' chambers, the princess herself made her way and was given priority to check on what had caused her nursemaid to react so violently. Upon entering she was most surprised to see her Aija screaming about the devil on horseback."

Had he maintained his squeaky voice from youth, he could have done a good female impersonation alas... And trying to modulate his voice would only produce a comic than a serious effect. So he simply stuck to speaking, describing the princess' attempts to find logic in the situation.

Moku giggled, watching Jono intently. He wondered briefly why the man didn't do a girl voice, but shrugged it off as the story became more and more interesting to him.

Seth went over to his desk to get an early start on his work for the next day, since he wasn't all that interested in the story.

"Because of the wonders that the horse displayed with a matching demonstration, the prince was not believed to be really JUST a prince and was called a wizard! After all having a flying, mechanical horse isn't what you see everyday you know. And despite that it's something man made and all mechanism, it was thought to be divine and all... So, the sultan of that place was in amazement to be visited by such a man..."

Jono then took Moku's hand and began to impersonate the Sultan, talking to the boy as he would have praised the prince turned wizard.

"For this the sultan didn't mind his daughter about this new man and we both know how it goes from there..."

The blond chuckled and continued narrating about their love story which was spent in intellectual conversations, cultural exchanges and brief flirtings.

"When the prince said he would like to marry her and bring her to his kingdom the Sultan did not even think twice! He allowed him to as he trusted him that much."

He said the last statement with a sound of an end and stopped talking. Jono then turned to Moku asked, "Personally, do you think my story's over already?"

Moku paused, his smile becoming a sly grin. "Well, if it was actually over, you wouldn't ask me that. You'd just end it. So, there must be more."

Moku had odd little moments like that, when he revealed that he was, in fact, related to Seth. It always made Seth smirk to himself, and he watched them out of the corner of his eye while still working on his scroll.

Jono grinned, "Well... It's your call really. Do you want it to be over then it will be or if you like there's more..."

The storyteller then proceeded to ask, "Don't you have a curfew or time to sleep, Moku? Class...Anything to wake up for in the morning?"

It was a little awkward asking such questions but then he had been talking but quite some time and was worried that he had the kid too engrossed that they were not aware of the time. Frankly, the blond didn't know anymore what time it was so he was worried.

He wanted to ask Seth about it and all but he was feeling hesitant.

Plus, wasn't it like Scheherazade herself to stop the story for now and continue for the next night to keep the audience pinned to their seats?

...Maybe it would work this time?

"Yes, it's Moku's bedtime." Seth gave his brother a stern look from over at his desk, and Moku huffed.

"But brother! I don't want to go to bed!"

"Moku..." Seth frowned, giving his do-what-I-say-or-suffer-the-consequences glare, and Moku gave up, pouting.

"Fine, fine... But I wanna hear more tomorrow! Okay, Jono?"

The blond nodded, "Of course, Moku... As you please!" He stood up, helping the boy up as well and then reassured him some more by giving him a pat on the shoulder and a smile. "You're going to enjoy hearing more of the world I've told you of. Eh? Confused? I'll explain..."

Then he paused, glad to have caught the boy's attention, "Tomorrow. For now you sleep and don't stay up thinking what else I could tell ya. It's a surprise. Besides the more you stay up, the slower tomorrow comes."

Jono turned to the priest and back at his younger sibling, "Okay? Deal?"

Moku sighed resignedly, giving up this battle to his brother. "Fine, fine... Good night, brother!" He smiled and waved to Seth, then turned to Jono. "Good night, Jono! See you tomorrow!"

The boy ran off to his room, leaving the two men alone.

Seth returned to his papers, flexing his hand a bit to work out that darn cramp before beginning again.

The blond watched the boy take off and let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness the child was a reasonable sort. He had dealt with worse. Plus his immediate family didn't try to do anything near harassment either so all was well. Indeed.

Seeing Seth flex his hand reminded him of the earlier cramps and pains his master felt. Taking initiative, he turned to the priest and cleared his throat, "Sir... If you like I could try to massage your hand. It's not good if you keep popping your joints in and out to relieve the pain."

He tentatively reached for the other's hand, trying not to be so enthusiastic about it in fear of being swatted or reprimanded for being too nosy.

Mouth pressing into a thin line, Seth nodded, extending his hand to the man.

"Go ahead, then..." He muttered, leaning back to get comfortable in his chair. He wasn't sure what to make of this man, but decided to trust him on this for now.

Jono took a deep breath before holding the priest's hand and murmured a soft prayer to Lord of Healing and Medicine. He did his best not to outright sing it loud as it might shock his new master. After which he began to set his work, going through the man's hand with strength and firmness like no other. The blond had learned that it was no use being gentle when you gave people massaged, you had to have conviction and truly knew what you were doing.

"Sir, your hands---You should rest for a while in between your work if they feel tired. Do not strain them... It shows," remarked the slave as he worked out the air out of the joints and put them in place, "Soaking your hands in water immediately or so would not be so good either. Just simple shaking and so will do. Don't pop them out of their joints to get the cracking sounds. It's quite dangerous and it disfigures the hands."

As he spoke, he kept his gaze on the sunkissed hands upon his lap, careful not to accidentally look at Seth. Massaging hands felt very sensual to him personally. For Jono, beautiful hands were something he looked for a beloved.
Not that Seth was a candidate -Hah, dream on. Make a lover out of the High Priest!- but the man had beautiful hands. Long, tapered and elegant fingers...

Jono was slightly blushing, happy to have longish bangs to help cover them as he went along.

"Aa..." Seth nodded, biting on his tongue to keep down a small noise of pain and pleasure. It hurt the way Jou was pressing so hard, but it also felt good in a strange sort of way.

"How do you know so much about this, Jono? Who taught you?" Maybe he'd be able to find out what else Jono knew about. He didn't particularly like ordering people to tell him things; he had found out that if they told you on their own free will, it means they trust you more. He only intimidated information out of people when absolutely necessary.

"I learned massaging out of pure necessity sir," he replied calmly. When he peeked through his hair and noticed the slight change of the man's features, he paused. "Sir, if it hurts or the force bothers you please say so. I'm aiming to make you feel better you know! If I apply too much it's going to make the pain worse. It's...hard to explain but instead of helping you make the rest of the place hurt, know what I mean?"

Jono was out of words and found it hard to explain. It was best if you felt it yourself but not that he wanted to make the man feel that hurt! True enough necessity dictated he knew how to deal with the body as it was just his only means of living now. As a dancer and an entertainer, the blond had to care for his body well. At the same time, it was an alternative means of living!

"It's one of the odd means of living I depend on, sir," supplemented the blond. He knew just saying necessity would warrant even more curiosity so to end up he said that. That should be enough for the priest.

"It doesn't bother me, keep going." He answered swiftly, frowning. He'd always had a high pain tolerance, and this was nothing to him.

He had been given a good enough answer and he let the subject drop for now, closing his eyes. It felt like small weights were tied onto his eyelids, tempting him to drift off into sleep. His body wanted to, but he refused. He would wait until Jono finished.

Jono began to notice the look for sleepiness of his employer's face and allowed himself to smile even for a little. He continued his pace until he was through. After this, the blond stood up and cleared his throat, "Sir... If you'd like I'll continue on to your neck and back. Perhaps even your head if you wish."

Somehow the Roman found himself smiling to himself at how he offered to help Seth out a lot on his first day. Well...To him it seemed like the man had a big responsibility on his shoulders and seemed like a good guy. You rarely found siblings among the nobles who truly shared good relations and even took time out to be together. That really impressed him...and even reminded him of his own little sister ---wherever she was now.
No, he wasn't trying to get the priest's good side like a kiss up and other negative connotations but was just plain helpful like that. And it was just painful watching and knowing that the other was very well on his way to muscle pains on the most obvious areas.

The blond felt too bold. This was just his first day. Goodness. What if...What if...

Swallowing hard, he looked away and bowed, "...I'm sorry. I talk too much. Good night, sir."

Seth said nothing. He simply nodded and changed into his sleeping clothes, crawling into his bed. He watched Jono silently, thinking.

Maybe he'd take the man up on that offer tomorrow... A large part of him knew he needed it, but an even larger part of him was extremely hesitant to make himself vulnerable like that. Once he was sure he could trust Jono more, then he might let him do that. For now, he'd have to deal with muscle pains and tense shoulders.