<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'"><span style="font-size: 15px">Sebastian frowned. He felt the bizarre tug of jealousy in the pit of his stomach. It was bizarre in that he barely knew Ayaan and had no claim to him, and certainly no right to be possessive of his attentions. Nevertheless, it persisted. He was briefly distracted by the gentle swipe of the cloth up his arm, over his shoulder, and across his pectoral. His eyelids fluttered again but didn't fully close. <br/>
<br/>
Ayaan wore his heart on his sleeve. Every emotion flickered across his features, as easy to read as a book. He'd always been taught that one should hold their emotions close to their chest, so that no one could exploit them or manipulate them. To everyone else, Sebastian must remain an emotionless husk, untouchable and unreachable. Most of the men Sebastian encountered were of a similar belief and upbringing. Because of this, Sebastian watched in fascination as everything Ayaan thought played across his face and in his body language. <br/>
<br/>
He almost didn't catch Ayaan's question, but luckily the soothing sound of his voice was enough to cut through his revere. He hadn't done this at all, actually. Normally he outright refused the aid of slaves or servants. Not only did he disagree with the practice, but he was a usually private man who valued his time alone above most other things. It took much for him to give up his space and time. But Ayaan was intriguing. He pulled at Sebastian in ways he couldn't understand. It was insatiable, his need to know more about the boy. To understand him. <br/>
<br/>
He was clearly in distress for some reason, shaking his head as though to clear it, biting his lip almost obsessively, his cheeks almost permanently dyed a deep scarlet. Sebastian could speculate what it might be about, but he couldn't be certain. Emotions were so fickle, so unpredictable, as were the people they were attached to. Sebastian always felt severely off balance when dealing with them. It wasn't something he could fight or run from. And sometimes, there was no way to cure them, no way to help solve whatever problem had caused them. Sometimes, you had to just let them be, and Sebastian wasn't very good at letting things be. <br/>
<br/>
He shook his head a little and smiled. "Not at all," he answered. <br/>
<br/>
And then, because he couldn't help it and he was really too tired to be in control of himself, he reached up to drag his wet fingertips along the boy's cheek, almost reverently. "You are...very expressive. Tell me what is troubling you?"</span></span>