Ajax shifted his body to the side, smiling warmly as he lifted his big brown eyes upwards and over onto Maximus as he spoke softly to his beloved daughter. The infant looked on with eyes identical to those of her father, taking in the new, disheveled face and falling silent at this new distraction. She didn’t react negative necessarily, but neither did she react very positively, she just seemed thoroughly transfixed by this face which was clearly human but very unfamiliar, unlike any she’d ever seen before. Ajax smiled warmly at the interaction or, perhaps more of a non-interaction on the part of little Elpis, all the less, simply pleased that she didn’t begin bawling in response to the total stranger.<br/><br/>“Ah, yes, the wine,” Ajax murmured in response to the playful murmurings of Maximus. “Come, my friend, we’ll see that you’re fed and then you can indulge in a bath,” he glanced briefly over at Eirene, “If you could fetch Agda and instruct her to draw up a bath for our friend, my dear. Have her heat the coals to warm the water as well.” Eirene dipped her head in response to her husband’s request, glancing briefly at Maximus warily once more before hurrying off to carry out his polite commands. The young man turned, Elpis remaining cradled in his arms as he moved to ascend the stairs, simply assuming that his new companion would fall in behind him.<br/><br/>“I suppose I should ask what sort of foods you’re fond of,” he commented, glancing over his shoulder as he stepped up onto the second level balcony, the warm smile that seemed to be his default expression still plastered onto his face. “We have a variety of fruits and meats on hand currently, I’m sure that they’ve baked some breads this morning as well, and of course we always keep an entire cellar full of wines.” Ajax led Maximus to the first doorway on the left most line of rooms. He pushed the door open carefully, balancing Elpis in his free hand as he allowed Maximus to step through before he followed suit. On the other side they found themselves in what appeared to be a dining hall, and Elpis squealed excitedly when she realized whereabouts they were. Clearly she had some positive associations with the finely furnished and beautifully decorated room.<br/><br/>A series of lounging chairs were positioned around a low set table, a beautifully embroidered, colorful<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F6%2F67%2FGhashghai_rug.jpg%2F220px-Ghashghai_rug.jpg&amp;hash=e570273beebe19cd18d31b9c73bfe274" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Ghashghai_rug.jpg/220px-Ghashghai_rug.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">rug</a>settled down beneath the set up. Along the walls were hung a series of tarps that were embroidered in a similar manner to the rug, one single wall was uncovered, and that was for the sole reason that there was a door set into the wall. A slight haze filled the room, likely due to the smoke that trickled in from beneath the doorway, as well as the candles that where lit all throughout the room, basking the entire space in a pleasantly soft, flickering light. It was an intimate space, clearly meant for the bonding of family and close friends, and yet Ajax invited Maximus into the private lounge with little to no reservations. Perhaps it was foolish of him to trust and accept others so readily, but it was a pleasant character flaw to have he believed and so he never tried to pressures it though others would have him do just that.<br/><br/>“Have a seat, Maximus, and I’ll fetch someone to prepare us a meal,” Ajax said in his default friendly tone, nodding in the direction of the seating arrangement before pushing his way through the door and into the kitchen to chat with the staff briefly before returning to the lounging area, settling down upon the edge of the seat beside Maximus, sitting Elpis upon his knee and beginning to bounce the bubbly little girl.