You gotta trust your mastermind

[grandhighwizard]

These things had to be done right. Playing with someone was a pleasant distraction, and like many things in Rhys's life, it was a mixture of spur of the moment decision (he'd certainly never intended to start pursuing the Ancient Runes professor, no matter what he looked like, until he idly needled the man and found out how fascinatingly easy he was to poke) and careful planning to get exactly what he wanted.

So he prepared the herbal tea mixture quite carefully. Blueberry-pomegranate he could do - he had seeds and infusions, and a few black tea leaves, and just a pinch of this and that, all put in a nice little tea ball. It was a tasty mix, with the added benefit that it would render the drinker rather open to suggestion. Not ridiculously so, but just enough that the person would be more willing than usual to go along with requests. Which was just what Rhys needed - Onikous might be oblivious to some things, but best to take no chances. He wanted the younger man thinking this was all his idea.

That morning in the Great Hall, he made sure to get to breakfast in plenty of time to sit down next to the Rune professor, setting a cup of hot water next to the man, and the tea ball dropped gently into the mug, as he settled into his own chair.

"Try that. I made it with you in mind, and I'd like to see if it suits. I can always tweak the formula, if you don't like it."

Comments

[psiignlanguage]

Needless to say, Cyrus was still a bit on edge from the past encounter with the older gentleman. Nothing quite like going from a day of whining teenagers and doting parents, to a load of papers to grade--to being approached by a colleague for sex. It was a most odd encounter for Cyrus, who had often seen himself as being something of an asexual. He never really...found the idea of sexual relations all that appealing. And after the year spent going through Europe with Sal and Di? Well, he'd had most of his curiosity satisfied. And then? Candesca in Norway...? No thanks. After his two best friends and that woman? He was done. Forever and ever.

He was hoping that maybe the week would go by relatively smoothly without any sort of complications arising. But, well, he was still rather...edgy. Being propositioned for sex from someone like Rhys? He knew a little of the man's reputation. All he wanted to do...was get through the day, return some papers. And not think about his rather sudden need to satisfy himself after his encounter with the Potions professor after that night.

And then he felt the man sit next to him and push over cup of tea in his direction. Cyrus looked up from the runic journal he'd been reading and looked at the man directly in the eyes.

"I-I'm sorry?" he asked rather suddenly, before realizing what it was. "Oh, the tea?" he added, as he took the cup, holding it to his lips before taking a light sip. He found his lips quirk into a gentle smile. "Oh my, that's rather ni-ice."

[grandhighwizard]

"I had the seeds for it, so I thought I'd give that a try before the apple-berry," Rhys said, leaning his chin on one hand. He hadn't bothered to tie back his dark curls today, and they fell over one shoulder.

"You're stammering again," he added, almost absently.

[psiignlanguage]

And just like that, Cyrus's hand began to shake just a bit as he sipped at his cup of tea. "N-No it'th not." he said quietly as he set the cup down, attempting to pick up his journal again.

He glanced at Rhys from the corner of his eyes, taking another sip as he opened the small book to the last page he'd been at.

"I-I don't thtammer."

[grandhighwizard]

"Do you really not know you're doing it? How bizarre," Rhys said, sounding amused. "I've heard of that sort of thing before. So you like the tea? Because I could certainly make more of it, if you want."

He changed the subject casually, as though the two thoughts were of course connected. And there was no point in making Cy too nervous, or he wouldn't finish the tea, or stick around to hear Rhys's suggestion.

[psiignlanguage]

"I-I don't!" A beat as he realized that the subject had changed. Wait, had it? He wasn't paying all that much attention. He just wanted to sip the cup of tea.

"Ah, it is very nice though, th-thank you." Cyrus flashes a tiny smile, as he takes another sip, deciding making it was safe to set his journal down. "Would it be troublesome to make more...?"

[grandhighwizard]

"Not terribly. I'll have to owl for a few of the ingredients, but I needed to replenish my stocks, anyway. Besides, I felt it was a fair apology for the other day." Rhys studied Cy's face idly, wondering what it would take to make him lisp again. It would be so easy to just push right now, but that could ruin his plans, so he resisted the urge to make a sly comment about the runes professor owing him.

The little smile was cute. It made the younger man look close to boyish, which was amusing. Most of the teachers here were so young ... really, barely adults for witches and wizards, in his book.

[psiignlanguage]

Maybe it was starting to have an affect, as Cyrus set the cup down again and waved a hand somewhat apologetically. He had a very simple, nearly innocently polite expression decorating his face.

"Oh no, no, it's quite fine." he said lightly, almost...pleasantly? "In fact, I still feel rather poor about leaving you so high and dry like that. Is there anything I might be able to do for you to make up for well, leading you on...?"

[grandhighwizard]

Leading him on? Oh ... oh, that was rich, that was marvelous. And he'd barely had to lead up to it at all! This was perhaps going to be easier than he'd expected.

"Have supper with me tonight. In my rooms," he said smoothly. "Nothing funny, I just prefer the peace to the Hall sometimes, and I'd enjoy the company."

[psiignlanguage]

At...his place. That was...unexpected? He wasn't sure. He also wasn't sure why he had felt inclined to open his mouth and accept the offer so quickly.

"Ah, sure, I suppose that's doable."

[grandhighwizard]

"If another night would be better, I won't object," Rhys said, knowing his offer would just cement it more in Cy's head that he was accepting on his own, that he wasn't under any undue influence. "I just thought, if perhaps you weren't busy ... I'd hate to overstep my bounds."

[psiignlanguage]

The last of the tea is sipped and then the idea becomes firmly decided within Cyrus's mind. His head shook, and his lips tugged into a faint little smile.

"No, no, that's quite alright. Sounds lovely. A night eating away from the hall might be a nice change."

[grandhighwizard]

Perfect. Rhys's wolfish smile came back in full force, though there was no overt sexual innuendo to go along with it. Yet. "As amusing as some of the children can be, I find adult conversation a refreshing change, and rather more stimulating. I'm curious about your studies, your background ... "

And why the hell someone hadn't taken the younger man six ways to Sunday, and shown him just how interesting sex could really be.

[psiignlanguage]

"I-I'll agree with that. I tend to receive rather immature comments from them from time to time, and many don't seem to really understand my passion, finding it to be contrived and dated." He actually managed to laugh at himself there.

"I'm really not all that interesting though, but I suppose I could tell you a thing or two. Ah, um..." A pause as Cyrus glances at the back cover of his runic journal for a moment. "Did you have a time you'd like me to meet you?"

[grandhighwizard]

"Seven, if you don't mind eating that late. I'm something of a night owl," Rhys explained, and that part, at least, was very true. "I thought that would give us some ... time."

He reached for Cy's empty mug, idly wrapping the thin chain of the tea ball around his longer fingers, watching the younger man.

[psiignlanguage]

He didn't stammer and ask what exactly Rhys meant by time, he merely just smiled a little bit and allowed for the tea ball to be taken from him.

"Sure, that time sounds acceptable. I can grade a few papers before then too."

[grandhighwizard]

"Excellent," Rhys said, and he resisted yet another urge, this one to touch the smaller man's face. They were in the Great Hall, after all. Instead he just rose and nodded to Cy. "I'll see you then. Let me know if you have any trouble finding my rooms."

As he sauntered out, he wondered if the Runes professor would noticed that he hadn't eaten or drunk a thing himself, just come over to the younger man, given him the tea, and then left.

[psiignlanguage]

Cyrus did not like to be late for anything. In fact, he had shown up at Rhys's quarters about fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled time, still completely unaware of what sort of affects were happening to cause him to be so compliant. He considered knocking several times, but he wound up deciding it would be best to wait until Rhys actually came to greet him.

[grandhighwizard]

Normally, during the school day, Rhys wore black robes. They occasionally had purple embroidery or trim, but they were fairly simple. He tended to wear rather more jewelry than other wizards, in the form of rings and odd amulets, but otherwise he looked fairly forbidding. The man who opened the door to Cy looked rather different.

The Potions professor had his hair down again, and wore a loose linen tunic with an open collar in a deep indigo, nearly the same color as his eyes. His trousers were a flowing silk that flared from the knees down, in black, with odd circular patterns in that same indigo dyed into the silk. The clothing emphasized his tall, powerful frame, and broad shoulders, but also dated him a bit - wizards didn't really dress that way much anymore. He had been a young man in the 60s and 70s, and tended to favor clothing reminiscent of that era.

He was also barefoot.

"Onikous," he greeted Cy, with a slow, lazy smile, opening the door wider and stepping to one side, to allow the younger man in. "Welcome."

[psiignlanguage]

In an odd sort of way, Cyrus felt under dressed. He dressed incredibly casually for a professor, whether he was teaching or not. He barely cut it in terms of formal attire usually. His robes were usually very standard. Black, grey or occasionally some odd shade of mahogany that stood for the rare flicker of color among his wardrobe.

But like always, Cyrus was dressed in what he considered to be the most fashionable and functional of clothes for him--straight black slacks, white button down with the sleeves rolled up, light grey suit vest, and a tie. This was formal. And this was casual for him.

Cyrus gave Rhys a bit of a once over--for the second time--and concluded that he was probably under dressed for the occasion. He would wear these clothes to the Great Hall for dinner most every night, but this didn't feel all that appropriate.

Cyrus smiled faintly and stepped in, looking a little embarrassed at this point. "I trust you had a relatively normal day?" he asked, as if to make even more small talk.

*sobs* I just lost most of my reply, damn it.

[grandhighwizard]

"Hell no," said Rhys cheerfully. "Thank Myrddin. I had no less than three explosions today. It's always amusing to watch the students scrambling around after, trying to avoid the fumes. Children are so high strung."

He led Cy down the the short hall to his 'living' room. There was a small work room attached, a toilet, and the bed chamber, of course, but this was his public room. It was immediately quite obvious that the Potions professor liked color. There was a small couch here, draped in multiple colors of cloth, and an entire wall decorated entirely with masks, of all different types and colors and cultures. Some were death masks, some harlequin masks, some masks of goats with spiraled horns. There were also multiple bookshelves here, stuffed full to near bulging with various tomes and scrolls - Rhys was an avid reader.

Another wall held a strange painting of a multicolored moth, and a collection of juggling clubs, the kind that might be used in a circus. And then there was the table in the middle of the room, neatly set for two, the candles glowing serenely already and a supper that had been prepared by the house elves set out.

"And what about you, my dear boy?"

Re: *sobs* I just lost most of my reply, damn it.

[psiignlanguage]

Cyrus actually has to blink, shielding his eyes a fair bit. He's become so accustomed to the neutrality of the castle's colors and his own quarters that he's not used to seeing so much bright liveliness in one place--especially indoors. He managed a smile as he can't necessarily agree with the concept of children being high strung--anyone would run from fumes that might potentially kill them.

Cyrus shrugged a bit, almost as if he was bored. "There's a very eager young girl in one of my classes, she always wants to help me with handing out assignments and the like. Keeps asking to come to my office for additional lessons. I haven't really met anyone that eager to learn about runes since, well, myself actually." He laughed a tiny bit. He's utterly oblivious to the fact the girl very obviously is interested in him.

[grandhighwizard]

Rhys laughed more than a tiny bit - he chortled, completely amused. "Oh, so you have a student with a crush, do you? I'm not in the least surprised, you do seem the type to attract them."

He then held out one of the chairs for his guest, indicating he should sit, before perusing his wine selection.

[psiignlanguage]

Cyrus took a seat rather quickly once the chair was offered to him, eyes scanning the room, taking in the brightness and the paintings once more. Impressive stuff, he's got collected in here. Not what Cyrus would expect from a teacher. Let alone a potions one.

"Do you think so?" he asked, inclining his head to watch the man for a moment. "I'm not really the sort that attracts people easily."

[grandhighwizard]

"Mmm. And where, exactly, did you get that impression?" the older man asked, as he sauntered back over to the table and neatly removed the cork from a wine bottle with a tap of his wand. He started pouring for them both without bothering to ask if Cy wanted any. "Did someone tell you that?"

Is the wine laced with something. Haha.

[psiignlanguage]

"What? No. It's just the kind of person I am." He looked a bit surprised at the glass of wine being poured for him, and murmured a quiet 'I don't drink'. But he just managed a gentle little smile for the man.

"I'm not the sort of person that attracts well, anyone for that matter. I prefer to stay invisible."