Ajax lifted his gaze when Maximus reached through the empty space between them, grabbing a hold of his hands unabashedly and looking him in the eyes. Most would have recoiled, chastised the lower class wanderer for his crass behavior, but Ajax simply allowed his fingers to close around those of his new friend and smiled sadly at his reassurances. He lifted his free hand up and rested it on the hands that grasped his own and he held them there as he looked into the gentleman’s eyes. The sad smile perked up ever so slightly at his guest's little exaggeration. It was reminiscent of his former teenaged lover, this ability to lift his mood despite the heaviness heald within his heart.<br/><br/>“I do appreciate your understanding, Maximus,” he muttered, a heaving sigh passing his lips as he erected his stance a bit more in response to Max pulling his hands away. He was a true person, he was told, in his heart where it truly mattered. He supposed it was true enough, he’d felt the pain of loss, the suffering of loneliness, and he’d come back from it in a way that many individuals of his standing didn’t have to. Many would never understand the pain of having what they loved most in the world wrenched away from them so brutally, and in all honesty, he didn’t wish for them to. Despite the depth of soul it created in a man, he’d never wish the distress he’d experienced on any other. It was truly a nightmare he could never wake from, and he wasn’t sure just anyone could soldier their way through such pain.<br/><br/>Maximus pulled away from him, and Ajax was drawn from his brief bit of pondering. He replaced his furrowed brow and tightened features with a warm, inviting smile once again at the wanderer's apology and suggestion and he nodded eagerly. “Ah yes, of course, a bath. I’m sure you’re eager to cleanse yourself in some warm waters, and I’d not mind a bit of a soak myself. There’s a communal bath just downstairs,” Ajax lifted himself up from his seat, grabbing the bottle of wine and smiling as he nodded to the cups, signaling for Max to bring them along.<br/><br/>He led Maximus out of the dining lounge and down the stairwell in the courtyard. They stepped through another door that led into the house, though this time as the room was opened up steam wafted out into the mildly cool air outside. Inside of this particular room was a deeply dug and beautifully tiled bath. Privately owned by Ajax, he allowed it to be used as a communal bath for the men and women who lived and worked within the household, and at the moment there was a pair of servant girls lounging in one rounded end of the large horseshoe-shaped trench. The two young ladies were tittering away happily to with other until the moment when Ajax stepped into the heavily steamed up room. Despite Ajax seeming to be a relatively kind man, especially when he was placed in comparison to other citizens of Greece, it seemed that his servants still held a certain amount of fear within them in regards to their master. He did his best to make them feel welcome, truly, but simultaneously there was a certain amount of control he was expected to maintain. He couldn’t be their friend because he was their master and that was simply the way things had to be.<br/><br/>The women scrambled from their place in the bath, bowing their heads as they hurried to collect towels and move out. He shook his head as he set down the bottle at the edge of the bath before moving over to a small woven basket, where he began his preparation for stepping into the bath by stripping off his sandals and belt. “You can put your things in here with mine, Maximus. I can have your clothes washed prior to your departure if you’d so wish,” he instructed softly before carefully undoing the pins and knots that held his robe upon his body. Slowly but surely the layers of fabric that had been so delicate draped over his body fell away, exposing the smooth, evenly muscled flesh beneath. Only once he was entirely in the nude, his fabric having been set down into the basket, did he turn around to face Maximus again. He was as beautiful in the nude as he was fully clothed, and it was very clear that he was fully aware of that fact. He wasn’t bashful at all about exposing his body to others, even those who were near strangers such as Maximus. Nudity was rather widely accepted within Athenian society, but there was still standards of beauty that many wished to adhere to; Ajax marked nearly all the boxes of the ideal Greek man, at least as far as appearances went.<br/><br/>“Shall we?” He murmured with a little smirk that could have almost been qualified as suggestive.