The monk had moved the water off the stove to cool, bringing a sponge with him as he kneeled at Ardnt's boots. Delicate hands worked at the laces, setting them aside and waiting for the man to shrug off his trousers. When Ardnt was fully nude he lifted one of his legs just slightly with a grip on his ankle, rubbing at the print the boots had left on him from having worn them not just overnight, but on his whole 'trip' here. On the surface, it was no different than how he'd usually help men who had lost control of their limbs for one reason or another, young and old. But this foreigner had so effectively captured him in just one night, Luitwin's imagination all too powerful a tool. He suppressed those thoughts well enough to answer the sudden questions.<br/><br/>"That's right... sorry. We're going to Herzland. I normally function at a monastery there, but I've been called to accompany one of our ambassadors." He was sincere in how fondly he spoke to the opportunity, as strange as this all had been for him. "It's sort of a.. right of passage. To carry the grace of God behind the walls of the abbey, and become a priest. A promotion, if you will. The food and the company are quite foreign, but it's been an interesting journey." Softly, he pressed the warm cloth up along Ardnt's calves, massaging the heat into his skin with slow circles.<br/><br/>Luitwin couldn't help but pause a moment to look at the scarring that seemed to cover the man head to toe. "Even here..." Those light, grey eyes followed the marks up Ardnt's thighs, making a conscious effort not to drift to his exposed masculinity. "You get hurt like this often, then... Do you always cheat the devil out of death?" Luitwin was meticulous, every crevice washed clean, every toe on each foot, even failing to neglect the backs of his knees as he had Ardnt's stretch them out for him. At a point he found himself unabashedly admiring him, how rough he looked, the drag of his cloth against skin and hair.<br/><br/>"I would say that you were wrong with so many wounds... It is an act of mercy that you've lived to your age, but you don't seem to agree?" He was a little to zealous in his work, too absorbed to notice that it would have consequences, having used even his free hand to massage at Ardnt's muscles in hopes of releasing the tension built up from a stiff ride in a boat on countless cold nights. Luitwin moved up to look up Ardnt's thighs, a hand set on one of his knees, the cloth in hand, hovering  still as he knelt there at a loss for words. It wasn't incredibly shocking, but greatly unexpected.<br/><br/>"... I could stop." They weren't wise words, Luitwin probably could've said something far more definitive if given the time to think, but he swallowed hard when his eyes caught the sight of Ardnt's arousal for few too many seconds. The monk forced himself to look the man in the eyes if he'd be so willing to look back, pulling his hand off the man's knee and breaking that warmth between them. "I can.. excuse myself, you would have no trouble with the rest." Ardnt still had one good arm, and not bending at the waist would help his comfort greatly. Though Luitwin wouldn't have minded the prospect of washing him top to bottom...<br/><br/>The monk rose to his feet, setting the cloth on the bench. He kept calm, turning his back and picking his coat up to rest over his arms. Luitwin stopped in his tracks before reaching the door, speaking with his eyes to himself. "You know, I would.. love to see a man such as yourself be redeemed. Incidents such as these lead to the implication of sin, and I can see that however great, they may number as high as the scars you carry..." He couldn't help but give Ardnt a glance, "I'll be back with a change of clothes."<br/><br/>With that, he left, not taking too long to find a spare set of underclothes off one of the sailors all too eager to help a holy man in need. Luitwin simply waited outside the bath, robe pulled back on with the stack of modest, white and brown linens in his arms. The monk in his silence wondered as to why the man's body seemed so fond, whether it was just the relief of stress after many nights, a bout of anxiety, or that the man was indeed an enemy of God and his people, a sodomite who delighted in the sight of men at their knees for him only. But how would such filth fair in the eyes of this brother? Who thrusts into his own fist in the late hours of night to the same thoughts.And Luitwin still felt himself free of the same judgement, making appeasement with God over good deeds and holy service.