CHAPTER TWO

Attius awoke to footsteps filling his house on the ground floor, he jumped to attention and bolted down stairs, his arms charged with arcane magic, small runes hovering around his glowing hands. "Oh. I'm terribly sorry sir." He dropped his hands as if he was holding a loaded gun.

"Don't be. You reacted as anyone would if they heard footsteps, I forget how loud wooden floors can be." Genn admitted, as he pushed his weight down into one foot making the floor creek slightly.

"I was coming by to see what my new partner lives like. If you have a dog or not. Things people tend to know when they spend time together." He continued to look around.

"I agree, I saw your quarters so it's only fair. Would you like a drink?" Attius offered to break any tension he thought he could feel.

Genn was fully dressed in his usual heavy leather coat, still looking rugged as he did the night Attius met him. His beard was more than caught up to his normal goatee, the beard trailed down his neck, reaching the tufts of hair that showed through the linen shirt below the coat.

"I am fine, I had something before I came here. The portal works perfectly, I usually get a spinning feeling in my head but not this time."

"Ah! That's because the runes are more attached to the city, it's like the deeprun tram almost but magic" Attius excitedly interrupted Genn without realising

"So that means jumping through your portals would be the best for me. More and more I'm impressed and relieved I got you." Genn gave the mage a smile as he walked around looking up at the stairs past Attius's body "May I?" he stepped up the first two steps awaiting Attius's answer

"Please sir, be my guest" Attius said as he quickly climbed the stairs to get out of Genn's way.

As Genn passed him, he could smell a strong fragrance of cologne and wine. It filled the mage with an odd satisfaction. "I think I've worn that cologne before" Attius blurted out as he saw Genn lock eyes with him before looking off again. "Jeez shut up" the mage thought to himself as he saw Genn look into his bedroom.

"It's bigger than I thought in here, a lot bigger than the other houses? I'll take a wild guess and say it's a perk of being one of the only runemasters around the city?" Genn said lightly even playfully if anyone else were to hear him.

"It has it's perks, plus the bed is comfy. Beats any of the other beds in the city" Attius blinked over to the bed patting it while trying to tidy it up.

"You haven't felt mine, Feels like sleeping on a cloud. It supports my other side as well when he's… out and about" Genn said walking over to the bed and feeling the end of it with his hand for a few seconds "You don't have a big bathtub either, how does someone your height fit in that?" he pointed out to the medium sized tub. Attius wasn't a extremely tall person by any means, he stood at 6 feet tall. A ordinary sized male.

"I make it work, magic helps a lot" Attius blushed at the fact that the Genn Greymane was in his bedroom talking about mundane things. Not giving out orders… yet.

"Per our agreement, you may stay in my quarters if it makes things easier. You can use the bath to see what it's like to fit in a big sized bath and if I'm not around or in it and you feel fatigued you may use my bed to get a good nights sleep." Genn offered "If you aren't allergic to fur that is" he chuckled to himself slightly as he walked out of the room and to the stairs.

"I'll see you around Attius, it's a nice place you have here. Remember my offer." Genn said loudly as he descended the stairs before a small whirl of the portal zapped.

"Oh gods" Attius said as he fell back onto his bed, rubbing his temples trying to progress what situation he landed himself in. Genn Greymane was just in his house and offered his quarters to the mage! Nothing like that happens around this city. Genn is known to be brash and intense but to Attius he was sweet and nice.

The smell of Genn still filled Attius's nose, there was something so sweet yet aggressive about the man that made the mage's head spin. His body warmed up within seconds, as if he had just conjured a fireball.

The fresh memory of Genn's almost naked body flashed as he held his eyes shut, the hair that covered him was unlike Attius had seen before. The way Greymane looked under all his clothes was like a dream.

After a while Attius finally snapped back to reality, thinking about the offer. "I should stay there, theres not much here anyway. Genn's over there so therefore I should be there. I might be able to see him shirtless more often if I'm there." said happily to himself "No! No no it's a business deal I'm helping him out. He just lost the king to some unknown threat hes only being nice because he needs you." Attius tried to reassure himself as he ran around his room packing a medium sized back pack that seemed to fit just about anything he put in it. No matter the size.

Two hours had passed as the mage tidied up his house and grabbed the last bits and pieces he needed, packing them into his back pack as he entered the portal, instantly inside Greymane's quarters. The smell Attius had been trying his best to keep in his mind was everywhere around the room, just more stronger scents this time. The perfumed water that kept Genn's clothes filled the room. Just the enjoyable smells were there, no Genn.

"Sir? It's Attius! I thought about your offer and I'll stay here to get things moving faster." he called out as he walked into the main quarter looking around the eloquent room for Genn.

"In here mage." Genn's voice carried from another room, the bathroom.

Attius blushed as he walked over to the doorway, expecting nothing and everything at the same time. As he approached the doorway he saw Genn relaxing in the bathtub. His chest looking darker than Attius had ever seen. I don't think anyone had seen Greymane this way.

"All that talk of bathtubs in your house made me to just sit down and try to enjoy one but it keeps going cold. Faster than usual" he said with a growl. "Would you mind?" Genn raised his muscular arm out of the water and let it hang over the side.

"I… yeah I can do that. I just…. Need to put my hand in the water with you… is that alright?" Attius said slow as he tried his best not to fumble over his words as he walked over to the tub, standing tall over Greymanes naked wet body.

"Whatever you need to do." Genn said looking directly at Attius then let his eyes wander to the roof before shutting them.

Attius rolled up his sleeve and kneeled down besides the bath. He could not believe that he was doing what he was doing this close to Genn Greymane. His hand hovered over the water before going down.

The feeling of a thick muscular thigh wrapped around Attius's hand, instantly the mage pulled his hand out and apologised, his face red as anything.

"Hah! It's fine. I'm no stranger to being pet. Trust me." Genn said, as the last of his words left his mouth he moved his head looking directly at Attius, giving him a smile

"Sorry. I thought the tub was bigger" he chuckled as he put his hand back into the water and brushed past Genn's outer thigh this time and let his hand glow orange. His hand stayed in the water as steam rose all around the tub

"Ah, that's better. Thank you." Genn gave a sigh of relief "I needed this. I usually take a extremely hot bath before I get to work." he confided as Attius raised his hand from the bottom of the tub and let it brush past Genn's thigh before removing it completely.

"Pleasure to help you sir. I'll leave you to it."

"I'll see you out there Attius. We have a lot of work to do. Please try to relax while we can." Genn said softly "I am well versed in massages if you need." he hummed closing his eyes before sinking into the tub.