(no subject)

[thewidewideworld]

{from here}

Sinric lead Hannibal out of a doorway and into the warm light of spring afternoon. He cranes to look up, following the line of the wall and the buildings. "We're in the right place. The bath should be just through there."

He points to a alley that leads out the road and the grand entrance to the bath houses. "It is small by some standards. Only large enough for thirty or forty people. Many of the greater baths have closed for the cost to keep them is very high and many wealthy households have smaller bathes of their own."

Comments

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric purrs and stokes back Hannibal's hair where the damp strands stick to his forehead, leaning on to kiss away a drop of sweat as it glides down Hannibal's clavicle.

[cook_the_rude]

"You give me great pleasure," Hannibal whispers, "and have become very dear to me."

[thewidewideworld]

"You bring me great comfort and care. And I have come to love you." Sinric whispers in return. In Lithuanian. Someone's been studying.

[cook_the_rude]

Hannibal bends his head to kiss him again. "Perfect," he whispers back, in the same language.

[thewidewideworld]

He purrs into the "I aim to pleasing." Okay, maybe he hasn't got it just perfect yet.

And then back to modern English. "I think we need drinks. Shall I fetch us some?"

[cook_the_rude]

Hannibal reaches up to playfully touch the drop of sweat on the very tip of Sinric's nipple, then licks his fingertip. "Yes, we are losing liquid and should refill it," he says.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric's breath catches, his tiny snail twitching minutely. A small gesture but one Hannibal is well able to read. "Then I will return."

He briefly wraps the towel about him like a toga, and with a backwards glance, slips out into the corridor.

One of the older men clears his throat politely and addresses Hannibal in Greek. "A most biddable and beautiful boy you have." It is spoke as a compliment rather than a leer.

[cook_the_rude]

"Thank you," Hannibal says, turning to the man. "I take great pleasure in him, and he is dear to me."

[thewidewideworld]

"A fortunate man indeed." He man tilts the bottle of wine towards him. "Care to join us? We would be glad of an extra voice to help us settle an argument."

[cook_the_rude]

Hannibal gets up, and walks over.

"I'm merely a visitor to the city," he says. "So I can't promise that I'll have the answer."

[thewidewideworld]

"We none of us have an answer." the man chuckles, "But each man's voice brings another point of view to the discussion." He pours the wine, a dry white cut with water. "We are debating if the church will fair better under Emperor Leo than it has under Constantine."

"The army certainly won't." Another man adds, speaking into his cup. "I have never known the garrisons so well provisioned."

[cook_the_rude]

"It depends," Hannibal says, "on how you define the church doing well. What is good for it?"

[thewidewideworld]

One of the men snorts softly. "Well Constantine's stance on iconography certainly isn't doing them much good."

The wine is passed around the group. "But Leo's stance is just as harsh. And he's by far a harsher man. He won't just demand they take the pieces down or cover them. He'll take them for himself of have them destroyed."

[cook_the_rude]

"Destroying any work of art is always evil," Hannibal says. "Not just towards the church, but towards humanity and the future."

[thewidewideworld]

"You speak with a philosopher's passion, sir."

Sinric comes in to join them, carrying a large jug of sweetened wine and pear juice. Almost as if he anticipated sharing it. He smiles to hear Hannibal preclamed so. "And a seeker after beautiful." He settles in the bench at Hannibal's side. "What are you learned gentlemen discussing?"

[cook_the_rude]

"The iconoclast movement," Hannibal says. "And yes, as a seeker of the beautiful, I must deplore it. Nothing that is art deserves to be destroyed, for whatever reason. Even if it's lewd, or cruel."

[thewidewideworld]

"Ah." The tone Sinric puts in that one syllable is enough to make it clear this is a subject he can't speak on.

"At least Constantine isn't destroying it. For the most part, anyway." One man muses. "He's not that sort of brute at least"

Sinric sips his wine to cover his expression.

[cook_the_rude]

"I don't get the impression he's a brute at all," Hannibal says, mildly.

[thewidewideworld]

"He keeps the army well stocked and ready." Another man adds, with a note of admiration. "But he doesn't have Leo's youth and spirit. Too cautious, too willing to talk. The young lion will get back the lands Constantine lost."

Sinric squirms a little, clearly uncomfortable but still silent.

[cook_the_rude]

"Unless he overextends himself beyond his resources," Hannibal says, ponderingly, as if the thought had just occurred to him.

[thewidewideworld]

"It's possible." One of them other men adds. "He isn't tested in war in the way his father is. And I doubt he will earn their loyalty quite so well."

Sinric does speak at that, his voice soft and a little strained. "Nor, I think, will he be so practised at managing the provisions of the armies. Long marches can be dangerous without the right arrangements for resupply." After all, Sinric has spend many hours at his master's elbow as these things are planned.

[cook_the_rude]

Hannibal nods. "The boldest army is nothing without sensible supply lines," he says.

[thewidewideworld]

"Shall we move on to the frigidarium, sir?" Sinric asks softly, trying not to show how much he wants to be away from this conversation.

[cook_the_rude]

"Oh yes," Hannibal says. "One really shouldn't stay in the heat too long. It was good to meet you," he adds, politely, to the men as he gets up to follow Sinric out.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric bows politely to the men and carries the empty jug out to the all to be collected. He walks in silence to the frigidarium, taking Hannibal's towel and hanging it before stepping into the cold water without hesitation. He dunks himself completely as if the cold water could shock him back out of his turn of mood.