Seth looked up as his Master emerged from the bathroom. If his Master had been beautiful as a woman, he was positively stunning as a man. His long brown hair hung loose in a smooth curtain well past his waist, the rich colour contrasting with the boy's pale skin. Now that the makeup was removed, Seth could see that his Master had an expressive and endearing face, and the large violet eyes were exquisite. Seth's ice-blue gaze travelled down the young man's slender form, and the slave noted that his Master had a deceptively slim form, quite similar to his own. And, with something of a start, Seth noticed that his Master was quite short, more than half a foot shorter than the slave. But that green silk robe did look nice on him....

Something in his Master's bearing warned Seth that all was not right with the beautiful young man. "Are you all right, Master?" Seth asked worriedly, for the second time that evening.

*****

Duo almost jumped in surprise when Seth's voice intruded on his brooding. He had been so involved in his thoughts that he had nearly forgotten about the slave's presence. He pushed thoughts of the mission and the past from his mind and thought to himself <<Not tonight. Tonight I'll just rest, and I'll think about all this tomorrow.>>

He tried to smile and said "I'm fine. A little tired, but fine".

"Well, I've prepared the bed for you Master, if you want to sleep now," Seth said smoothly, gesturing to the large four poster bed.

Duo's eyes widened a bit as he looked at the monstrous, canopied bed. He'd never slept in something that big before. He was half afraid that he'd get lost in it before morning. "Uh... thank you." Duo said, sitting down hesitantly on the soft bed. "Hey, wait a minute, there's only one bed, where are you going to sleep, Seth?"

Seth smiled and gestured to the fireplace "The bear skin rug, Master. I assure you, it's quite comfortable. I usually sleep there anyway, since that bed is a little... intimidating."

Duo laughed softly and said "I was just thinking the same thing. This thing is really huge. I've never really slept on anything other than a cot or in a hammock...." Duo's voice trailed off as his mind was drawn back to nights of lying in the dark, listening to Heero breathing softly beside him, so close, yet entirely untouchable.

*****

<<Shit>>. Seth wondered what had gone wrong. His Master had been beginning to loosen up, then suddenly he had frozen up again. <<Well, if talking to him won't work, I'll have to find another way to relax him.>> Seth moved over to the bed and knelt behind his Master. He felt the boy stiffen as he moved closer and he said soothingly "You seem tense Master, I could help you relax."

Seth could feel heat radiating from the boy's skin as he turned to face him and blushed scarlet. "Ah, no, thanks... I'm really... uh... I'm tired, so... well...."

Seth laughed and laid a hand on his Master's shoulder "No, no, I didn't mean that, Master. At least, not tonight." Seth said, a wicked grin on his face, "I just meant that I could work some of the knots out of your shoulders and neck. A massage." Seth flexed his fingers and smiled at his flustered Master.

*****

Duo blushed even redder and stared at Seth. At a loss for words, he said the first thing that came to mind "Ah, um, this whole "Master" thing is really kind of... weird, Seth. Can't you just call me... ah... " Duo stammered, striving to recall the false name he was going by during his stay in the Palace. <<Maxine Carter, that's it.>> Duo remembered suddenly, "Max?"

"I'm afraid that to call you anything but "Master" would be deemed quite... inappropriate." Seth said, a little uncomfortably, "But I'll think of you as "Max". Is that alright, Master?" Seth added with a smile.

"Um... I guess that'll have to do."

"Now, about that massage...."

Duo tried not to blush again. <<Shit, this is really weird. I didn't think anybody could make me blush anymore. Damn this guy gets to me. But... I am kinda tense...>> Duo thought hesitantly.

But a little nagging voice that sounded suspiciously like Heero replied <<No! Don't let him get to you. Just get some sleep so that you can concentrate on what you're here to do.>>

Duo frowned and thought <<Shut up, you.>> at that little voice. Then he said to Seth "Actually, that would be.... nice. Thank you"

*****

Seth smiled triumphantly as soon as Max turned his back. <<Yes! This is going okay, after all.>> He brought his hands up, slid the silk robe off of Max's shoulders and gently began massaging the tight muscles. <<Damn, he's tense! Well, by the time I'm done with him, he won't remember what tension is.>>

Max winced slightly as Seth's hands hit a particularly tight knot, but Seth could already feel some of the stiffness leaving his Master's slender frame. Seth smiled to himself again as he felt Max's shoulders droop. <<Almost there. Just a little more and he'll be totally relaxed.>>

*****

Duo almost moaned as he felt Seth's hands working out the aches and knots in his back. <<Okay, maybe this was a mistake after all.>> Duo thought fuzzily as he felt his eyelids start to droop. <<This feels too damn good...>> He tried to pull his thoughts together enough to ask Seth to stop, but he couldn't seem to pierce the haze of fatigue that was falling over his mind.

The last of the tension drained out of Duo, and he went limp in Seth's arms. He scarcely noticed when the one of the slave's arms slid under his knees and the other slipped around his shoulders. He only faintly felt it when Seth lifted him and lay him gently on the huge bed. He barely noticed as the slave slid the robe completely off of him and pulled the covers over him. As he slid into an exhausted sleep he dimly felt something warm and soft press against his lips, and he almost didn't hear the breathy voice that whispered "Sleep well, Master" into his ear.

*****

Seth smiled down at the sleeping form of his Master. <<He's even cuter when he's asleep.>> He stroked Max's face lightly and his smile widened.