( DESMOND CHIAM, HOMOSEXUAL, CISMALE, HE/HIM ) — by the grace of the gods, old and new, i present to you AJAX MYCENAEA of HOUSE MYCENAEA within the lands of ARGNOIA. the gods have blessed us with their presence for 41 years. many know them to be COGNITIVE, CONSIDERATE, and CHARITABLE, and while it is not always shown, it is said they can also be CALLOUS, ELITIST, and PITYING. what will their tale in the story of metia be? only they can write it, so let’s see how their legend unfolds.
effortless.
matters of academia were effortless, for ajax. throughout his years in the halls of his namesake, a structure that was effectively and eventually his by right -- but not by rule, ajax had to find another way to establish himself. by being generous with coin, but not to the point of destitution; by being generous with his time, seeking to uplift those that seemed left by the wayside; by being generous with his effort, spreading himself across fields of study enough to at least appear deserving of his rank.
by the end of his tenure as a student, ajax had solidified himself as a firm and positive presence within those halls. so much so, that when he was elevated to the position of lord, he took the position's privilege as lord-patron of the institution much further than those who came before him. attending gatherings of heads of colleges, discussing curriculum, actively discussing where the house's funding was best utilized.
and as such, lord ajax mycenaea obtained and maintained a position of influence deeply ingrained in one of the most important instutitions within the kingdom of argonia -- and now, across all of metia.
so, for the sake of your sons' educations, try to stay on his good side.
jun’s brows rose and some of the tension in his jaw slackened. it was one thing to be taught and humored but for someone here of all places to show interest in his interest was surprising. granted, he’d always considered ajax a cut above the majority who came to this place- but, with that one comment alone he’d risen even higher in his respect. too bad he was piss poor at expressing such things.
“that sounds… like something I can do.” he said slowly, cautiously like agreeing might mean he was falling into some unforeseen trap. “and it’d be a lot easier than trying to match them tit for tat. you really think that’d work? that they’d fall into that instead of just writing me off as an idiot?” if junyuan sounded hopeful, it was entirely unintentional. the excitement was another thing entirely.
watching junyuan unwind was even more entertaining than watching him wind up. someone so taut, so defensive, guard always raised, being caught from the side? exquisite. hopefully as good for junyuan as it was for himself.
"then I recommend you try it." offered with a low nod of his head. "even if they do write you off as an idiot. what about it?" hair swinging a bit, as he shook his head. "you attempted to engage them in earnest. on the battlefield of their choosing, as they were too cowardly to approach yours. and to besmirch you regardless?" ajax gave an amused frown. "sounds like a whole lot of bluster from a fighter resting on their laurels. they aren't worth the time, and neither are those who listen to them."
"Well, I am used to be grilled, so... I've been conditioned to prepare an offense at every opportunity."
Yuzef places his hand on the other's, hoping to convey his dearest, most genuine intentions. "You're not just a dear, lifelong friend to me, Jax," he begins. "You're also a tremendous thorn in my arse, one who makes my job very, very difficult."
His tone is obviously jovial and teasing, even if there's a little bit of truth in it.
"I understand that," says Yuzef. All of the marital options presented to me by my father are simply not ones I'm willing to entertain. Suppose that must be part of the reason why Argos has chosen to reintegrate itself into Metia... broadening the pool of potential partners. As for whether I would want to lower my standard so much remains to be seen..."
"Now that I think of it," Yuzef says, with a quirked eyebrow of his own, "didn't we pledge to marry each other as boys? If, for some reason, neither of us managed to find a partner before we became old men? Granted, we are now probably around the ages we'd envisioned as old back then—"
"That wouldn't work, would it? We're most definitely not compatible in that way." It's a declarative statement, but one with the teeniest of question marks beside it.
"I've even been told you grill rather nicely." smile flat, eyes pleased. "like a fish. you turn so...flaky." as if they weren't going to go barb for barb.
would it be that easy? reinvigorate argonia's noble dating pools, by simply...letting everyone in. "it would take quite the man for me to look beyond our borders for the next to fill my seat. I've taken the time to build it up so high, I wouldn't imagine letting it fall into some stranger's hands."
concerns would melt, albeit briefly, for a laugh. "damn. we really did, didn't we?" a lifetime ago, it seemed. "don't even think about it. you're lord of a house. I'm lord of a house. what would we do-- combine our lines and take concubines to sire our children?" it's too hilarious to even imagine. "imagine, if-- if it was even the same concubine. if the lords of the mycenaea and the lyconus were brothers."
this is why jun enjoyed ajax so much more than the others. he spoke to him right where he was, not where the world wanted him to be or where those who disliked him assumed he was. even if the man had extensive knowledge, jun never felt like he was being talked down to or being lectured at in a way an elder would a child. he was easily the the person in this establishment the lord coritha wanted to punch the least.
"relentless strikes." he offered as his answer. "I mainly fight barehanded these days so someone's defense is only as good as their body's toughness. I tend to hit harder than they're able to withstand attacks to the same spot over and over. they either need be more aggressive than me- which they won't be able to- or try and get enough space between us that they can recover. if they somehow manage it, I also get some breathing room to get ready to start all over again."
the method junyuan described as evocative as it was... strangely erotic, in its own way. hearing how the muscled and sinewed man before him preferred to act, letting him imagine it. "I think I'd like to see that, sometime," ajax offered. a compliment, friend to friend.
"as for how that translates to speech, then. you find a point you're concerned with, and you hammer it. over and over. no answer, no excuse, no reasoning, should satisfy you. tear after that point. dig into it. bite and burrow down to the bone of it, until the person you're arguing with is either too flustered, too frustrated, or too 'caught' to defend themselves." such single-mindedness couldn't work in every room, but neither would every fighting style. "if they manage to disengage, then simply... pick another point to pound on."
"Master of diatribe, if we'd like to be completely accurate to your... essence," Yuzef quips. "Jax, please trust me when I say that I'm doing all I can to be an ally to you. I'd love to have you on the council, but it is my entirely up to me to make big sweeping changes like that. In believe our lifelong friendship has given me enough of a moral platform as to not be doubted. Trust the process... the process works. Not quickly, but it works."
"And, well... yes, you would be right about that. But a coy look and a pert set of cheeks is not merely enough to sway me, lend some credit... I'm also partial to a voluptuous chest."
Not unlike the one Ajax boasted.
"Speaking of which, how is the master of diatribe faring with natters of the heart these days...?"
"relax, yuz. I'm not grilling you for the failures of your compatriots."
not this time, at least.
"I just meant to...make sure that the council does not forget its word. you aren't it's only member, and I'm complaining to you as a dear, lifelong friend and confidant. if you feel wounded in regards to your position on said council and lack of action, well..." he let his raised brow finish that point.
"if you're asking whether or not I've picked a man to carry the next lord of mycenae, I have not. it's like looking around all these men I've grown up with, and asking which one I want to 'play house' with. it's... disconcerting."
Yuzef normally put on his best business face when discussing these matters, but he couldn't help but get a rise out of messing with his old friend. It gave him a rare opportunity to be... playful. He'd thought that much had gotten beaten out of him as a child.
"Well, yes...!" Yuzef admits, smirking devilishly. "I have not earned my post on the council by chance, Jax. I like to think I am shrewd at my craft. That, unfortunately, means manipulating any conversation to my advantage, even if it means getting a rise out of an old lug like you–"
A playful tap at Ajax's broad, thick shoulder. One that lingers just a biiit too long.
"I'm just teasing, Jax. I've not seriously held these conversations with the council. I think too highly of you to sell out the Mycenaea that easily. You can ask any of them yourself. They would tell you I'm almost stubborn in my dogmatic attempts to show my loyalty on the matter. And trust me, I can be easily bought, for the right coin..."
"You do believe me, yes...?" he asks, his tone not making it entirely certain of his truth. Ajax would just have to decide for himself on that matter.
yuzef's lingering touches were as much a sign of familiarity, as they were a familiar sign. something ajax was accustomed to, from the other man. "our 'just teasing' would be enough for another man to issue a duel," he countered, brow raised. "we always did take things a little far, with one another."
some things further than others.
"honestly, I'm still waiting for the council to ratify the seat I was promised. were they waiting on an official title to come to them?" just extracting that promise was enough of a start, a bit of leverage for him to work with. "what do you think? 'master of lessons'? 'master of lore'? 'master of texts'?" all of them making him sound important -- which he'd made himself believe he was, sitting at the center of the cultural heart of the kingdom. "and I believe you'd be bought with coin as much as a coy look and a pert set of cheeks."
all of that felt so ridiculous. compared to the list of actually ridiculous things the new lord had been forced to deal with, it was practical, sadly. is this how things would be from now on? outrage quelled because whatever new thing that was on his plate wasn’t as pompous or convoluted as the last? junyuan added it to the list of things to hold against his father. he should’ve at least had some inkling for how all this would work even if he was never meant to inherit it.
“that… sounds an awful lot like a fighting style.” not one jun used but one he’d seen practiced. redirection of energy, men with unparalleled strength being brought to their knees from a single opening being exploited. he could understand that even if it wasn’t his way.
with the slight tinge of herbal smoke around them, and the din of conversation riding slow waves of idle music plucked on the floor below them, ajax regarded the good lord coritha. a man living against his nature. raised for war, forced to live without; perhaps almost worse off than those who had aged out of the frontlines, or were born too early for them. the perfect middle of the road, to be left aimless, then squeezed into noble robes and thrown to the wolves.
"I guess it does," ajax admitted, his grin slight but appreciative. "high praise, from one as well and widely trained as yourself." ajax swept his hair to the side, from his face. "how do you prefer to fight? perhaps that will inform how you would prefer to speak. there are as many 'right' ways to address others as there are otherwise, and fewer 'wrong' ways than there are ways some might not prefer as much as others."
"The council votes on a lot of things, Jax. Some of them are even worth our time... sometimes."
Yuzef simply had no patience for the military, more specifically, the amount of money that he felt Argonia wasted on theirs. In some respect, this served him as his only real way to rebel against his father. (He did not have much opportunity to do so growing up.) He truly sided with Ajax on the matter of education being important. However...
"You know I advocate for education and Mycenaea's autonomy to the council... it is often in vain, but I make your voice heard. But I've also got the coin to think about, and if offering room for students from outside kingdoms would help enrich Argonia, it may be something we should seriously consider—"
Then a smirk.
"Plus, you know it would only bolster your name across Metia, and if there's anything as important as education, it's reputation. Opening up the school would make Argonia stronger in every possible way. You don't hate me for saying that, do you...?"
A loaded question, because he knew it would take a lot more than being a shrewd businessman to make his old friend hate him. At least, so he thought.
"yuz--" diminutive for diminutive. "I just said I don't want to sell access to the mycenaea, and especially not under the order of the court, without the mycenaea getting time to build up our position and infrastructure to handle such an...influx of interest." frustrating as the man was, ajax did give him an appraising look. "--been studying your old notes, have you? make your argument, then tether emotional investment -- like our friendship -- to hinge on my agreement, making it seem that by continuing to argue with you, I'm devaluing you as a person." ajax shook his head, grinning. "a bit heavy-handed, but well-utilized."
with the heat of the moment dissipated, ajax sat back, taking a moment to consider. "Is Argonia so destitute that you'd sell our strongest advantage over the rest of the continent for a few coins?" he countered, brow raised in challenge. "As the lord of the kingdom's finances, I'd understand your interest in the topic. But I wasn't aware that we needed to invalidate and punish one of our most vital cultural institutions in order to balance our ledgers." he gestured vaguely to the side. "if the mycenaea must concede, then I would put to reason that the laconus begin selling positions to train foreign soldiers and students at the same rate that the mycanea would be forced to." head tilted, "it is only fair." nothing like a little verbal spar with an old friend.
jun rolled his eyes and barely managed to keep from snapping back by pointing out that he'd just asked. that should count as restraint, right? growth?
he listened intently at the option, frowning at the idea of taking the high road and frowning harder at the idea of a formal killing (if the fool even accepted). the third option was enough to have him leaning back and away from ajax. that was something the brawler-turned-lord would've never thought of. "just... agree? 'yes, I'm a lead-headed, lead-fisted oaf! good one!' that feels..." odd, sure, but it's so strange and so far from what anyone would expect from him that he's almost tempted to try it.
"how do you come up with these things, hm?" he doesn't mean for it to sound so accusatory, it's just how junyuan gets when he's riding his emotions to their normal point of ebbing. "you know so much about... so much that it feels like it's not from books or… studying."
keeping junyuan at the edges of his self-imposed cage, gnashing at the air, wasn't ajax's intention. but it was amusing, at least to a slight degree.
"just agree. within reason, of course; cut down the derisive rhetoric to something more factual, then they have nothing left to work with." of course, nothing was ever so simple, but it's a start.
"well, that." tipping his glass. "you see, comes from years of experience having to defend myself from men who wholly believed they were smarter than me. and the hardest part was, they were. that just meant I had to work around their intelligence to act in the ways they were unable to-- often, using blindspots left open by their acumen and all the assumptions that came with it." the smartest of men were rarely the most social, and vice versa. what's to say a little poison in ones' ear, aiming all those intelligent men at one another when they're so used to nothing but praise and promises falling in their ears, wouldn't work in his favor? "it's all about the angles. I work from the side. you might work better to the jaw. or under the chin."
he was right. he usually was right. damn him and his always right and handsome face.
junyuan leaned forward and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers and groaned. "this was all so much easier when I didn't have to care." truthfully, he was still struggling to find it in him to do so. he'd thought about letting the legacy die with his predecessors and move on more than once. there was still time to do so.
instead, he peeked over at ajax with one eye and asked, "so what should I do?"
"I wouldn't presume to tell the good lord what he should do. but I'd be pleased to offer a few options. perhaps, even, suggestions."
not just careful with his words for his own sake, not to 'poke the bear' as it were, but also... for fun. to poke the bear, just a little.
"you could ignore him. not give him the influence or time of day. it works against some, but for most, they just feel...incensed, or even licensed, to make such comments." ajax pursed his lips, narrowing his eyes at junyuan. measuring, considering. "you could formally challenge him to a duel, in regards to his incessant slander and lack of care for either of your images. either kill him within full legal rights, or embarrass him enough in defeat that he loses more than could've ever gained by besmirching you." options, options, options.
"or, you could simply agree with him. when he's accurate, albeit demeaning, confirming what is fact can pull the wind from their sails. some might laugh anyway, or just lean further into it, but by that point?" ajax grinned behind his then-raised cup. "they'd have it coming."
as expected, ajax managed to disarm him with both his presence and perspective.
what was he to say to all that? most intellectual speak was used to demean him or prove some point. there were chasms not big enough to fill the difference in the training he received and what his older brother had. of course, there was a good chance that his brother and father were now at the bottom of that chasm so it didn't do them much good.
"I'd use those fists so that he couldn't speak anymore." said like it was the most obvious answer. "if nothing else, it'd give him pause about saying things like that in my presence. once his jaw was healed, of course."
"and, in doing so, you'd fulfill the insult, and his expectations of you. at the cost of some pain and his own health, of course."
not that ajax wouldn't mind seeing some naysayers hitting the dirt, now and then.
"will you solve every argument with fists? every disagreement? every insult? where do you draw the line, between shouldering and bouldering someone over?" not that he'd meant to start grilling the man. he put his hands up, signaling for peace, at least, between them. "of course, it isn't my place to comment on such things. and I'd choose to settle any tension with drinks." as he gestured at the servers to pour something fresh for the both of them.
where: wherever the argonian court gathers, around the capital; brunch spot
when: mid-morning
who: high-level argonian nobility/royalty
"does the council vote whether or not other kingdoms enjoy free and rampant use of our navy?"
his cool gaze remained level, as he looked from one person to another. "do we vote on use of our armies? to allow foreign kingdoms to freely spend our coin? to swear our own dragons over to sollia?" his hands tensed under the table, hidden by lengthened sleeves. the cut of his robe allowed a deeper view of his neck and chest, to the top of his stomach nearly, but that was just strategy. and comfort, but also strategy.
"our education is our weapon. to open its advantages to our rivals only invites further invalidation of our relevance and position. and for as long as I am lord of my house, and of the mycenaea, I will resist pressure to 'sell' seats in our classrooms as as bargaining chip for political currency."
meet with the heads of competing colleges about de-coordinating their curriculums so their students don't carry out their pointless feud.
fill in for the house liaison to speak on behalf of the mycenaea against accusations of unfair scoring and placement.
sit in the small council for continuing discussions regarding the revelation of argonia to the rest of the metian continent.
build private tutoring courses for the next royal and high noble children despite not actually being an instructor himself; it worked well enough the last time or two.
lord ajax of the mycenaea kept a very, very, very full calendar. another man by that time would require a trade, or management of a trade, in order to keep the house's coffers full. ajax just charmed the patrons of the mycenaea, built his advisory and financial position into a cornerstone of the institution, and turned his influence against those who would attempt to discount, discredit, or devalue his...adjusted role. previous lords mycenaea didn't have as close a finger to the pulse of the institution, nor did they enjoy such presence among its halls. instead, they served as a validating presence. a figurehead to give the school voice in the nobility.
with a relatively newly minted seat on the small council of argonia, and more than controlling shares of numerous colleges within the mycenaea, ajax certainly was enjoying himself.
for: open to any argonians
when: shortly after everyone got the news about the letters the king sent
where: a private club for the rich and nobility
It was odd being in this place, hearing all the differing opinions on what actions were done on their behalf. That was the king's right, of course. Not too long ago, Junyuan wouldn't even be aware of any of this if it had come to pass. Hell, he'd probably be unconscious and recovering somewhere while his father or older brother did the job of rubbing elbows and sharing idle gossip. This was his duty now, much to the dismay of everyone involved.
Jun knew they all talked about him behind his back. Just like he knew most of them would hush up mighty quick if one of the royal family were to show up while they were having these conversations. Cowards, all of them. But he fought the urge to instigate or call out anyone. For now, he'd just sit back, drink what he had in hand and cut glances at those who stared at him too long. He could leave soon enough and go find some underground ring to let off his frustrations.
spreading himself out across a nearby seat, taking more than enough space for himself, ajax watched junyuan as he soaked in the mire of more social spaces. the fists and blades, exchanged for barbs and cutting jibes. whispered words ruling the air, while those with more physical aptitude were almost consumed for entertainment.
"you've lasted longer than I would've guessed," the lord mycenaea offered, raising a tall glass in salute to his companion's...resilience. "now. what would your response be to that last attempt at intelligent badgering? 'he looks like he speaks with his fists more than anything else'. that's a statement of fact, not an insult. if anything, that's a compliment. you look imposing, and impressive, and any man should be blessed to claim you as his keeper."
