Ajax smiled warmly at the moan at escaped his companion at the first taste of the divine liquid that had been poured into their cups. The praise made him puff out his chest ever so slightly with pride as he lifted up his own cup carefully in his long, elegant hands. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it, truly. This wine is derived from my families own vineyard, and I like to believe we produce some of the best bottles in all of Athens,” he murmured contentedly before bringing the glass up to his lips and taking a long, appreciative drink of the sweet summer wine. He took in a deep breath as he finished, setting aside his cup for a moment as he watched Maximus go in for his second glass. He apologized for his eager indulgence and Ajax shook his head with a soft chuckle.<br/><br/>“There’s certainly no need to apologize, enjoy as much as you’d like; there are more bottles in the cellar that we can tap into,” Ajax responded reassuringly, settling back into the lounging chair he had decided upon. He tuned in to what the wanderer said, nodding along eagerly in agreement as he sipped at his beverage intermittently. Maximus turned to him with a question then and he chuckled softly in response to the man’s words.<br/><br/>“I can understand why you’d be confused, it doesn’t seem as though I want for anything. As you’ve said, I do have a beautiful family, a wonderful home. The world is at my fingertips, all I have to do is reach out and grab it. All the material goods a man could want, all the servants, all the fame, and fortune,” he reached out his left hand and grasped at the tablecloth as he did so, running the rich fabric through his fingers before dropping it with a heaving sigh. “And yet, my friend, if I’m being honest with you I’m not entirely happy in my life here. I feel as though something is missing; there’s a gaping hole in my soul and I can’t seem to find a way to fix it.”<br/><br/>Ajax was interrupted by the entrance of another servant, this one coming forth bearing a platter of fruits and cheeses for the two men. He set it down on the table quietly before asking if there was anything else they needed at that moment. Ajax shook his head and dismissed the servant before reaching forwards to pluck a cube of cheese from the platter. He sat back, nibbling at the small bit of foot idly as he started up his little speech again, though his subject shifted slightly.<br/><br/>“Might I be totally honest with you, Maximus?” Ajax began as he lifted his gaze up from the cube he rolled about in his fingers. “I agree with you wholeheartedly. All men have the potential to be great, and that belief had been firmly cemented in my mind since my early teenage years.” Ajax paused, frowning as his mind clearly wandered elsewhere for a brief moment. “I have met men that are greater than I in mind and body, and yet because they were born in the wrong place at the wrong time their potential was wasted, their aspirations stunted. When I was a boy I met the most wonderful young man, he was truly a delight to be around; he had a sounder mind than a majority of my peers, and even our elders … Yet, because he was born in a weakened village in a time when Athenians were on a conquest he was unable to do anything with his life and his beautiful, beautiful mind. Because he was a slave there was no way to protect him when he was lashed through the streets for speaking out of turn. Because he was not a member of Athenian society there was no justice brought upon his masters when he was murdered in the most brutal, humiliating fashion for becoming romantically involved with their son. They held no trial for him, did not honor his soul. They did not raise a glass to his brilliant ideas, or his passionate beliefs. They brutalized him, deposited him in an unmarked grave, and life moved on.”<br/><br/>Ajax hadn’t realized he’d begun rambling, having squished the little piece of cheese between his fingertips in his agitation, and he flushed bright red when he reached a state of mental clarity. “I apologize, Maximus … I don’t know what came over me,” he muttered softly, his features relaxing as he deposited the crushed bit of food to the side. Of course, he knew exactly what had come over him, grief. He wasn’t sure he’d ever gotten over the death of his first love, as he imagined most young men and women didn’t, and he tried not to blame himself too terribly for holding onto the memory of him as their parting had been so traumatic. Having seen the other slave boy, both of them in their later teens, laid out and slowly picked apart in an arena all the while folks gathered around to listen to his screams. It had shaken him to his very core, and he was never sure he’d be precisely the same, nor would he ever be able to look at his family or countrymen the same. He pushed the memory aside for the moment and put on another warm smile for his guest. “I just meant to say that I do agree with you, despite my position in life.”