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Garin set his glass pen aside and carefully blew on the ink. With a precise fold, a smudge of yellow wax, and a press of the Horned Sun Seal, the letter was ready to join the pile of its cousins.

"All right, that's the last one for me," Garin said, voice tired. He looked up, squinting past the lamp flame at Selia. Her own pen was already cleaned, her ink stoppered and put away in a box next to a second pile of completed letters. She sat slumped over on her stool with eyes closed and arms crossed, her chest slowly rising and falling.

Garin smiled slightly and rubbed at his own eyes. Properly, the Minotaur embassy to the largest Leoni princedom should consist of more than a single junior emissary, one secretary, seven guards, and a cook-slash-housekeeper. Both the importance of the post and the work expected of them would normally require a contingent several times that size. But at the moment they had no choice but to make do with what they had--at least until the succession mess back home was sorted out and the new monarch sent a proper ambassador and retinue.

"Hey," he said, nudging Selia's leg under the table with a hoof. "Wake up."

"Hrn? Wha?" Selia's head jerked up, her horn rings jangling softly. She blinked at him blearily. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"You're done copying out your half?"

"Yeah, all good. I'll just--" she stopped abruptly as a yawn stretched her mouth wide. "I'll just take them all down to the couriers then?"

"No, it's fine. " Garin paused to suppress a yawn of his own. "It's not like any nobles are going to be up at dawn anyway. You should go to bed. I'll get Channa or Jax to take them over tomorrow morning."

"All right chief, if you say so." She levered herself slowly out of the chair.

Garin snorted. 'Chief'? Chief beggar, more like. He'd managed to wring concessions from a few of the merchant guilds here, but when it came to the court he was even more of a supplicant than the unfortunates who lined the dockside streets.

"I do say so," Garin said. "Sleep well. After all, tomorrow is another day, with even more people needing feathers soothed and crises untangled."

Selia rolled her eyes as she pulled open the door to the hall. "I can't wait. Have a good night then," she said.

As soon as the door clacked shut, Garin left off his half-assed pen cleaning and flopped over on the table. His breath escaped in a long groan.

He didn't move when he heard the door creak open again, nor when clomping hoofsteps crossed the room toward him. The mug of mint tea appearing on the table in front of his snout, however, did manage to at least get him propped up on his elbows so he could sip at it. The clean scent wafted u p into his nose, piercing through his worry and weariness. He sighed and smiled slightly.

From the bedroom came the wooden scrape of drawers and the dull clink of pewter as whichever guard it was set out the ewer and washbowl. Normally, housekeeping woul d be a maid's job. But with no money to hire staff and only two of them to guard anyway, the captain had ordered her squad to help out with whatever other work that needed doing. They took turns, some of them bending to it more gracefully than others.

"Anything you still gotta finish tonight?" called a rough baritone voice. "Bells rang midnight already."

Garin's smile grew wider. Tonight's guard was Jax, of course. The tea was a dead giveaway. Though he should have been expecting him anyway--for a month now Jax had been handing him mail in the morning and delivering food to evening work sessions and going out for any sort of errand in between. It was like he'd appointed himself Garin's personal steward.

Which he might have. Garin was sure the guards regularly wagered and traded around every duty they got. Though Garin was unsure whether he rated as better or worse than peeling vegetables.

Regardless, he had no objections to the arrangement. Jax was close to his age and had always been friendly to him. Which was notable for an embassy guard, one of a group chosen for strength and impressiveness rather than personality. The captain, for example, could scatter crowds with her glare alone. Tazik looked like the statue of a war hero come to life--and he acted just as arrogant. Even Channa, the smallest, was a fire-eyed demoness a head taller than Garin, the kind of minotaur that Leoni mothers used to scare their children into good behavior.

Jax himself looked like a thug from a hackneyed stage play. The type who brawled in back alleys and ate orphans for breakfast. Dark and stocky, with a thick brow and notched ears, his broad blocky face would have been hard to call handsome even without the big ragged scar splashed across his muzzle.

In private, Garin usually saw that muzzle sporting a broad, roguish smile. But when on duty Jax could scowl and glower with the best of them--which made him a useful guy to have around when you were trying to convince some Leoni tradesman to take you seriously. Especially considering that Garin himself was as about as intimidating as a bowl of vanilla custard.

Impressiveness wasn't required of a Moon Temple acolyte. For a king's bastard hoping to hide from politics--especially one cursed with the brilliant red-gold fur only found among the highest nobles--any sort of personal allure just increased his chances of being deemed a threat to his more legitimate kin. And Garin had been both acolyte and bastard. At least until last year, when the king had plucked him from the temple, shoved an emissary's credentials into his hands, and packed him off to Leonica.

He still had no idea why. He'd been shocked to find that his papers named him a prince, and nearly panicked when the chief ambassador dressed him up fancy and sent him to play nice at Leoni court soirées. But whatever the scheme had been it never came to fruition: after a few weeks the court tired of him and he was relegated to being just chief Horvat's newest lackey. Where he spent nine months learning that most of the embassy's work consisted of coercing, conning, or bribing the Leonis into treating Minos well--and writing out piles and piles of documents.

Until six weeks ago. When the chief ambassador tossed the Horned Sun Seal into Garin's hands and then rode back to Minosia to jockey for position during the interregnum. Along with almost everyone else in the embassy.

Garin closed his eyes and took a long slurp of the tea, pausing a moment to savor the sharp flavor on his tongue.

"Selia and I finished the letters, and everything else will wait," he said. "So there's nothing left tonight, thank the moons."

"Thank the moons and hard work, " came Jax's voice from the other room. "How come you don't take nights off anymore?"

Garin smiled ruefully. "I wish I could. I don't think I quite appreciated just how much everyone else was doing until they left. The pile just keeps getting higher and I can't justify ignoring any of it--not right now, anyway." He inhaled mint-scented air and let it out with a sigh, his breath rippling the surface of the tea.

"But what about you?" he asked. "Why don't you take an evening for yourself? Go to a tavern with the other guys, perhaps."

Jax snorted. "And what, spend all night watching Tazik get hit on by every Leoni in the city who fancies a bull ride? I'll pass."

Hoofsteps drew closer as he walked into the workroom. "Though it wouldn't be so bad, really, if they didn't come complain at_me_ after he curses them out," he said. "It's like I have a sign over my head. 'Hey, come bitch to me about how much of an ass my friend is!'"

Garin snrked.

Then shivered, as broad hands clamped down on his shoulders and squeezed. He quickly set his mug down and relaxed forward onto the table as Jax's fingers started to rub slow patterns over his shoulders and back, loosening joints and untying knots.

Garin let out his breath in a long, contented sigh.

This was another one of Jax's surprises, from a minotaur who was apparently full of them. From finding real Mino whiskey on an hour's notice, to spotting which market officials were taking bribes, to making pointed commentary about whichever obstinate Leoni Garin had just met with--ever since the old ambassadors left he'd been offering help with this or that. And Garin found himself taking shameless advantage. He and Selia needed any help they could get. Assistants. Contacts. Allies. Friends.

Lately Garin had let himself think that Jax might be a friend. Certainly he didn't keep the distance of a servant--and considering how unlikely it was that Garin would ever gain a position of actual power, it was hard to think Jax was just flattering him for personal gain. And really, Garin just found he liked having the guard around. He was easy to talk to, and you never needed to hire a cart to carry things. Plus he could give shoulder-rubs that melted you into the table.

"So how'd you get so good at this, anyway?" Garin mumbled. It was a bit difficult to talk at the moment--Jax's hands were rubbing at his jaw and around his ears and up to the base of his horns and it felt_really good_...

Jax chuckled softly. "Dealing with nerves before a fight. Necessary skill for soldiers."

"Mmmph. I suppose it would be."

For a long time Garin just lay boneless as Jax worked, slowly breathing in the metallic tang of ink, the smooth mint of the tea, the heavy leather-and-sweat smell of Jax himself. Finally Jax's hands stopped kneading and withdrew.

"That help a bit?"

Garin slowly reeled in his mind from wherever it had wandered off to.

"Yes. Thanks."

"You think you're going to actually sleep?" Jax asked. "You can't keep having restless nights, you know." His voice took on an irritated tone. "You've already started drowsing in meetings. And it doesn't make anything better if you drive yourself into a sickbed."

Garin frowned. How did Jax know about the insomnia? Did_everyone_ know? That could be bad. Even aside from not wanting to worry the others, the Leonis would pounce on any apparent weakness. He daren't seem anything but perfectly calm and healthy.

Though he couldn't do anything about just how_much_ there was to worry about. Or, apparently, when his brain decided to wake him up to worry about it.

Garin waved a hand weakly in dismissal. "Look, it's not that bad. Don't worry, I'll be fine once things calm down. When the traders stop pressing so much. Or when a real ambassador finally arrives."

Jax growled in response. "Oh? And when will_that_ be? Before or after you kill yourself trying to do a job you can't?"

The words struck like a blow. Other people had called Garin a failure before--but was he really so pathetically inept that even a friend would say it to his face?

Stomach knotting and ears drooping, he twisted around on the stool to look up at the other minotaur.

And started back from the looming black demon glowering down at him out of the gloom of the workroom.

After a moment Jax blew out a heavy breath, then clomped around the table to fetch a wide stool. He plonked it next to Garin's and set himself down on it. It creaked slightly.

Garin just kept staring at the other bull, who was now staring back with a melancholy expression Garin could only read as disappointment.

After a moment Garin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the black emotion writhing in his breast. Moons, he was tired.

He opened his eyes. "I am sorry to cause you such worry over the state of things here," he said, voice steady and controlled, posture held stiff. "I apologize. I especially apologize that my efforts so far have not been sufficient to the service that Minosia deserves, particularly from one entrusted with such a great duty as I have been. You are quite right to be disappointed in me. It is to my great regret that there is currently no means within my power for--"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jax interrupted, his face screwed up in annoyed confusion.

"I--"

"Moons' Horns you're dumb sometimes. Who fucking cares about that?" Jax tossed his head and snorted. "Old Horvat screwed you royally, handing you an impossible job and knowing full well you're the only one who can't run back to Minosia. I'm pissed off 'cause you're not doing anything to make it easier." Jax narrowed his eyes. "Worse, nothing_I_ try to help ends up doing jack shit. I do not like feeling powerless like that."

Garin blinked. "Oh," he said. The tense control keeping him upright broke, and he slumped back against the edge of the table like a marionette with its strings cut. "Oh. Sorry. I thought-- Never mind." He chuckled darkly.

Jax scowled at him.

Garin quirked his mouth into a half-smile. "Sorry. I wish I could make it easier for everybody. But I've already dropped everything that's not essential. I'm really not sure what else can be done, except just to endure until it's over."

Jax rolled his eyes. "It's easy. You can leave," he said. "Go to Raksha, or Teremor. Or join another moon temple. It's not like you wanted to be a diplomat anyway."

Garin squinched up his face. "I can't abandon--"

"You can. Everyone else did."

"Selia didn't.You didn't."

Jax crossed his arms over his chest with a grunt. "I still might. Lot of merc companies would love a Mino bruiser or six, and they make some really nice offers. I've gotten two in the past month alone. The captain's turned down at least four more."

His eyes narrowed. "And really, what's Minosia done for you? Your parents abandoned you to the moon temple. The king dragged you out again just so he'd have some royal fur to throw to the lions. Doesn't sound to me like you owe them anything."

"There are more Minos than just royals," Garin shot back, straightening up on the stool to scowl at Jax. "How many merchants and crafters have we gotten out of trouble just in the last week? Plus all the Leonis who need papers to pass the border--the money they bring in isn't nothing. And if handling all that is bad now, how is it an improvement to stick Selia with doing it all herself?"

Jax shrugged. "She'll probably leave too. Things will be fine until the new ambassador arrives."

"That could be months. Years!"

Jax waved a hand dismissively. "Nah. If you leave, the council will have to send somebody even if there's no king yet. The only reason the Leoni Prince-Regent isn't completely insulted by the tiny delegation here now is because he thinks you're a proper prince of Minosia."

Garin winced. He still thought that deception had been a terrible idea.

"But even if they do send someone--I've at least been living here. Whoever comes next will have no idea what's going on in the city."

Jax just shrugged. "They'll learn. That's their job."

Garin frowned and furrowed his brow. He knew everything Jax said was true. But still, it was hard to convince himself.

"I know that--" he swallowed and dropped his gaze. "I know it's stupid. But I promised. Not to the king. I can't just--" He trailed off, staring down at the floorboards unhappily.

Jax looked at him for a long moment, then let out a breath like wet winter wind through the shutters.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. So then you've just got to hire more people."

Garin whipped his head up, scowl returning. "Hire_who_?" he asked. "Who in this moon-blighted city can we trust, exactly? And what money would we pay them with? You think I haven't thought of that?"

Jax looked at Garin like he was an idiot. "What do you mean, who? Just in the six months I've been here I've watched a dozen Mino traders fall over themselves thanking you for arranging some big deal for them. And all you do is smile and wave them off!"

He harrumphed. "Well_I_ think they owe you. So you borrow their apprentices. They can't meet with nobles, but they can do all that scribework that keeps you and Selia up at nights. And you can trust them at least to work in their own interests, which happily have a lot of overlap with yours and Minosia's."

He cracked his knuckles, eyes glinting in the lamplight. "And you know I'd be happy to go persuade a few of them, if you have problems recruiting. Or deal with any... discipline issues later."

Garin gave him an exasperated look. "You really are a thug, aren't you," he said.

Jax just returned him a feral grin.

Garin rolled his eyes and turned the idea over in his head.

"That... could work," he said finally. "They'd surely take bribes on top of the normal fees, but that just means we can pay them even less. As long as Selia or I always looked over the final documents..." He rubbed at his jaw. "Hmm. Good thinking."

"Right?" Jax leaned forward and flashed him a grin. "More than just a pretty face here."

Garin snorted.

"Though recruiting will still take a while," Jax continued. "We need to fix you right now. If not for your own sake, then for all those other Minos you seem so concerned about."

Garin shrugged. "I know you hate this, but I've been fine for this long. I can deal with it for a while longer."

Jax shook his head. "Not happening. Rub-downs aren't helping, so you gotta try something else."

Garin frowned. "I'll be fine. Really. Who are you, my mother?"

Jax ignored him.

"Option one: sleeping draught."

Garin glared, but Jax just stared back with a mulish expression. It was clear he wasn't going to give this up.

Garin sighed. "I can't," he said, shaking his head. "Even if we could find a supplier who would be discreet and wouldn't, say, accept bribes to poison me, or spread rumors about my being deathly ill, those potions always have nasty effects if you use them too often. I'd rather keep my meals down, thank you."

Jax furrowed his brow. "You could try wine, then. No one will think twice about that--old Horvat got sloshed two or three times a week. And we can buy it directly from vineyards if you're worried about poison."

Garin blew out an irritated breath. "You think I didn't try that? It doesn't work unless I drink a_lot._ And daily hangovers are hardly better than just being tired."

Jax waved a hand, conceding the point.

"Fine then. Next option: sex."

Garin burst out laughing.

Jax glared at him. "What. It's a perfectly good suggestion," he huffed.

"It's just--" Garin giggled. "It's just, uh. Sorry, I wasn't expecting that one. It might actually be pretty effective."

He shifted on the stool, sitting up straight. "But it has the same problems as the sleeping draught. Finding a trustworthy, uh, supplier. Making sure rumors don't get out. I mean--bringing a drab here would set the Leonis to whispering about scandal. Visiting a brothel would be even worse. And the captain would hardly let me be alone with a stranger either way. Can you imagine trying to get on with it with her glowering down at you?" Garin chuckled. "And then you'd still need to persuade somebody to lie with me in the first place. Which seems unlikely given how little money we can spare for it." He shook his head.

Jax snorted. "Are you kidding? Don't bother with any of that. I'd fuck you just for the asking," he said.

Garin blinked as his mind ground to a halt.

"What?"

Jax frowned and flicked his ears. "No? I thought I was being pretty obvious, but--"

He turned his head to stare fixedly at the lamp on the table, its light throwing sharp shadows along his muzzle.

"I mean, I get it if you don't want to," he said, voice low. "Or if you want someone else. Like Channa or Tazik." His mouth tilted into a frown. "Everybody loves Tazik. I just thought--" he trailed off.

Garin just stared as the silence lengthened, eyes glued to the other bull. Who was now sitting unnaturally still, steadfastly avoiding his gaze.

"You-- you like bulls?" Garin finally asked, voice faint. "But I've_seen_ you flirting..."

Jax flicked his eyes over to meet Garin's briefly.

"I do sometimes. Some of them are cute. Figured you did too." Jax shrugged and gave him a weak smile. "I mean, you ignore every pretty daughter the merchants parade in front of you. But somehow whenever I'm training in the courtyard, I always see you working on the balcony right above."

Garin felt his face growing warm. "That's-- so, what? So I'm not allowed to take an interest in my own guards' training?" he huffed.

"Oh, but I asked around," Jax said, smile slowly broadening into a smirk as he watched Garin's flustered expression. "And apparently it's only_my_ training you're interested in."

Garin's eyes went wide. But Jax just continued relentlessly.

"Not that I can really blame you," he said. "I mean, who wouldn't love to see a prime Mino stud showing off for you like that? I bet he's pretty impressive. All hot and sweaty and shirtless. Swingin' around his giant sword."

Garin spent a moment just gaping at the smirking bull. "You-- You're really full of yourself, aren't you?" he finally spat back.

Jax just leered at him. "Oh, I am. But I'd rather be full of_you_."

It took several seconds for Garin to figure out what he meant. But only an instant for him to bury his burning, drooling face in his hands.

"I-- Look, you don't have to do this," he choked out, voice muffled. "You don't owe Minosia that much either."

Calloused fingers circled Garin's wrists and pulled his hands away. He looked up to find Jax kneeling on the floor, muzzle an inch from his own. Brown eyes stared steadily across at his.

Jax's broad tongue flicked out and licked his nose.

"Er?"

Jax grinned at him.

"You really are an idiot," he said. Then he tilted his head, grabbed Garin's shoulders, and pulled him into a kiss.

Garin didn't have a great idea of what made for a good kiss. But this one was warm and wet and eager and Garin found himself clutching the fur at the back of Jax's head as his tongue ran in and out of the larger bull's muzzle, tasting tongue and teeth and lips and finally taking one long lick down a thick jaw to where he just stopped, snout buried in the hollow of a wide neck, breathing and tasting the earthy, musky flavor of minotaur bull. Of Jax.

Garin heard a low chuckle. Or rather felt it, Because somehow he was now also kneeling on the floor with Jax's arms heavy on his back and Jax's chest pressed up against his own and an uncomfortable feeling where his now-erect shaft was squished against Jax's hard leather armor.

"Well," Jax said. "I guess that settles that."

Garin felt a rush of cool air as the other bull let go and clambered to his hooves. Then he watched, dazed, as Jax spun around, tail flicking across Garin's chest, and stalked into the bedroom.

A moment later he reappeared in the doorway, smirking again.

"So, you coming? Or do you want me to carry you in like in one of those twopenny theater shows?"

Garin snapped his jaw shut and shook his head, then practically jumped up off the floor.

"Do hurry." Jax put the back of a hand to his forehead in a melodramatic gesture. "Because dear me, I appear to have sprained my arm during training! And I cannot possibly remove my armor without assistance!"

Garin barked a laugh as he doused the table lamp and hurried toward the minotaur taking up most of the doorway. "You're a terrible actor," he said.

"I am," Jax said, then gestured at Garin's midsection. "And yet, I'm already getting a standing ovation."

Garin didn't have a chance to respond to that, because Jax reached out to grab the front of his tunic and pull him the rest of the way into the bedroom.

---

It did not, in fact, take all that long to get Jax's armor off. Though Garin would have managed it faster if Jax had been helping at all. Or at least not kept stopping to flex whatever piece of himself Garin had just uncovered.

When everything finally lay on a pile on the floor, Garin took a step back.

Most of the guards were striking or statuesque. Jax looked more like the sculptor had thrown down the chisel halfway through, leaving him heavy and rough-hewn. But with the light of the lamp throwing each line of arm and chest and thigh into deep-shadowed relief, what his figure might lack in aesthetics it made up for in sheer force.

Garin found himself just staring. Jax returned a frank stare of his own--then slowly turned his back, tail swishing across firm buttocks as he raised his arm, flexed a bicep, and winked at Garin over his shoulder.

"Hey. Hey!"

Garin blinked, the bedroom gradually fading back into view. Jax was standing with hands on hips, smirking.

"You gotta strip yourself too. Before your clothes get any wetter."

Garin's hand immediately felt at his crotch. His face burned when it came aw ay damp.

It took far less time for Garin to remove his own clothing, tunic and leggings and braies falling in a heap on the floor in a matter of moments. But then he stopped, staring down at them as excitement drained out and reality settled in its place.

He knew what Jax would be seeing. The plain, rounded face. The upturned and unaggressive horns. The figure that would politely be called "lean" and less politely called "awkward." Neither moon-priest nor emissary was a profession that lent itself to the sort of eye-catching builds that Jax and the other guards showed off. In fact, the only thing keeping Garin from being completely dull and ordinary was the royal red-gold fur he'd rather not even have.

Garin clutched his hands together. He should have gotten drunk. He should have gotten them_both_ drunk, so maybe then Jax wouldn't just call it all off right here. He'd been three sheets to the wind both times he'd done this before and okay so it hadn't been fantastic but at least it had happened and--

A finger poked Garin in the stomach. Startled, he yelped and jumped back.

Jax was close. His stance wide, his arms folded across his chest, that broad smirk still on his face. And rising between his legs was a shaft half-hard--and twitching itself harder.

Jax raised a brow. "So not that I mind looking at you, but there's plenty more fun stuff we can do. You pick something first."

Garin gaped.

Jax rolled his eyes. "C'mon c'mon," he said. " What's your favorite thing?"

Still reeling, Garin just blurted out the first answer that came into his head.

"You," he said.

Jax's smirk vanished, replaced by a shocked-looking expression. Then his muzzle split into a wide grin.

"Well now," he said. "They teach you how to be that charming in Ambassador School?"

Garin flushed. "Shut-- shut up," he said, crossing his arms and turning his head away in an attempt to recover at least_some_ of his pride. He tilted his chin up haughtily. "I don't know why you want me to tell you what to do," he said. "You're supposed to be the impressive one here. So impress me."

Jax let out a deep, throaty chuckle. Then there was a loud double thump as his knees hit the floor.

"As you wish, my prince," he murmured.

"Don't call me thaaaaaggghhlll..." Garin's voice trailed off as Jax began licking and nuzzling under his chin. His arms brushed past Garin's flanks and up onto his back, spreading fingers wide across his shoulder blades.

Garin's heart was suddenly racing. He clutched at Jax, his fingers scrabbling through short fur over firm shoulders and a thick rope-muscled neck. Jax's mouth meandered downward, his hot tongue leaving a cool trail as he tickled at chest and nipple and stomach. His rough hands slid slowly down Garin's back. Just as they be gan to grope under his tail, Jax's tongue gave a last tickle to Garin's bellybutton and jumped to his quivering dick instead.

A long lick up the shaft and then a hot, wet mouth taking it in--Garin lasted about two seconds before he shook and bucked and expl oded.

And then looked down aghast, his deflating member hanging cold in the air. Jax was crouched over on the floor coughing, a whitish dribble running out the side of his mouth to spatter on the floorboards.

Garin had fallen to his knees and was starting to babble an apology when Jax raised a hand to wave him off.

Jax coughed again, then wiped an arm across his muzzle and looked up.

"Huh. I must be more impressive than I'd thought," he said, giving Garin a tilted smile.

"Are you all right? Moons I am so sorry--"

"It's fine, it's fine," Jax said. "It just means I've got a bit of time to play with you before the main event."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Garin asked. "Wasn't_this_ the main event?"

Jax merely growled in response. Then he leaned down, clamped strong arms around Garin's thighs, and hoisted him up to sling him over his shoulder. Garin yelped as he suddenly found himself face to face with a thick waist and a thicker ass. Then yelped again as Jax's tail flicked up to smack him across the head.

Humming to himself, Jax carried his prey toward the large, ornately carved bed.

---

Garin didn't really remember much of the next while. At some point there was a solid arm slung around his chest as teeth nibbled at his ear from behind. Later he himself was nuzzling along that arm toward the solid curves of a mounded chest, while broad hands pawed over his back and tail. Still later he reached out to compare his hands against a pair of giant hoove--a tongue probed at the soft parts of his own hooves as he lay with chest atop burly thighs and swollen cock rubbing gently against another even more swollen. And then his arms were around those thighs as his snout was buried under that cock and his head was filled with a haze of musk and lust and Jax.

Jax pulled a pot of grease from somewhere and started to paint it onto Garin's cock. Garin glared, snatched the pot away, and applied it to the proper cock instead. Jax's eyes flashed with hunger, and he let him.

Sometime later Garin found himself flat on his back. Jax loomed above him, upright torso framed by Garin's legs under his arms, his face glistening in the lamplight and his mouth set in a fierce grimace as he slowly pushed himself the last bit of the way in. And Garin's discomfort gave way to desire.

Jax toppled forward, catching himself on his hands with a grunt. Hot sweat dripped onto Garin's chest. Hot breath tickled at his nose. A hot gaze caught his own and held it, as Jax started to move.

A little at first, then more, until each thrust struck sparks and Garin found himself slowly inching across the bedclothes. Garin's hand crept toward his cock--but Jax somehow saw him, and a rough hand knocked his away. Jax growled and shifted, rearing back to lift Garin half off the bed and wrap his own slick hand around the forbidden shaft.

The double-fronted assault was too much, and a few thrusts later Garin had spilled himself all over his stomach. But Jax just ran his fingers through the mess with a self-satisfied smirk--then he took a firmer hold of Garin's thighs and began pounding the final few gasps of euphoria out of the smaller mino's body.

For a half a minute Garin rode along, attention still fixated on the brawny, sweaty, wild-eyed bull straining above him. Until finally Jax's snarling face went slack.

He gave a few last newly-slippery thrusts before crashing to the bed half-atop Garin.

---

Garin lay for a long while just staring at the ceiling, listening to sound of spring rain outside the window, the panting breaths of the bull next to him, and his own heart drumming in his ears. Eventually his heartbeat slowed and he lifted a hand to scratch lightly along Jax's cheek.

"Well," he said, voice soft. "I suppose I'm impressed."

Jax barked a laugh.

"Nah, I can do better. But glad to hear it anyway," he said. He turned his head a bit to nibble at Garin's ear, then swipe a long lick down his snout before levering himself up off the bed. "We should clean up a bit and go to sleep though," he said. "That_was_ the point of this, you know."

"Yeah. Though--there might be a problem."

"Hm?"

Garin gave his head a few experimental jerks.

"I think my horns are stuck in the headboard," he said, sighing.

There was a moment of silence.

"So I was wondering," Jax said in an off-handed tone. "Are you ticklish anywhere?"

Garin furrowed his brow. "I don't know? No one's tried it since I was six. But why--"

"You don't know? Really?" Jax's face sprouted an evil grin and he rubbed his hands together. "I think we should find out."

---

Garin did wake up during the night. Once from a dream where papers continually slipped from his hands while Leonis watched and laughed. Once from a nightmare where a cloth merchant was chasing him with shears as large as she was. Both times he jolted to consciousness to find himself in the arms of a large mino bull--who just muttered sleepily and hugged him against a deep chest that still smelled of sex. Worry fled from memory and he slept.

The third time he awoke, Jax was gone. And to judge from the sun streaming in through the window, it was at least two hours past dawn.

He was still scrambling to find a sort-of-clean tunic when he heard the hallway door open and hoofsteps echo in the workroom.

It was, of course, Jax. The guard set a few letters and a bowl of porridge on the worktable and then turned to Garin. Unlike his boss, he was properly cleaned and brushed and back in his armor.

Garin, still shirtless, scowled at him. Jax grinned back.

"Moons, why didn't you wake me?" Garin demanded, making a beeline for the table and plonking down on the stool, wincing a bit as his backside protested. "We had an appointment with High Guildsman Nbara an hour ago! He's not still waiting, is he?" He rifled through the letters with one hand as he spooned porridge into his mouth with the other. Somewhere in the back of his mind he noticed that the cook had gotten her hands on some bacon.

Jax shrugged. "Selia handled it. Nbara protested a bit about dealing with a 'lackey', but she and Channa glared him down."

Garin groaned. "I'll send an apology later," he said. "We're going to have to get them all used to that before we recruit the merchant apprentices though. Did Selia at least tell you to post the letters that were sitting here?"

"Yeah. Lord Miruti even sent a reply. Apparently he gets up at dawn like the common folk."

Garin snickered, then picked the letter out of the pile and cracked the seal.

He was still scanning down the lines when a clean, folded tunic landed on the table next to his porridge.

"Oh. Thanks."

"Sure. Remember to be done working by sunset today."

"Uh huh."

Garin blinked, yanking his thoughts away from Lord Miruti's complaints about the new tariffs and scowling up at Jax. "Wait, what? I'm two hours late already! I can't do that."

Jax ginned at him. "Nah, you're just two hours better rested. And believe me, you're going to need it tonight." Jax's grin shifted into a leer. "Last night I had to be fast because we started so late. Normally I go for twice as long."

Garin flushed. "Wait, you want to do that_again_? Tonight?!"

"You don't?" he asked, sounding disappointed.

Garin glanced down at the floor. "No, I do, it's just that--"

"Then it's decided. Tonight, tomorrow, the day after--consider your evening schedule now full of very important appointments, ambassador." He waggled his brows. "I think tonight we'll see what the chief can do on top, eh?"

Garin gaped at him. "But I have work!You have work! You want to make somebody else do it so we can be off grinding sausage all the time?"

Jax rolled his eyes. "Not_all_ the time. You've gotta relax, not just change how you wear yourself down. So some nights we'll go out drinking or dancing instead."

"But--"

"And I've already asked Selia about it," Jax said, eyes narrowing. "And the captain. Selia was downright enthusiastic. I think she was considering you a hopeless case."

"Uh--" Garin just stared, thoroughly nonplussed.

Jax just gave him a smug smile. "This is where you gracefully concede to having been outmaneuvered," he said.

Garin scrubbed at his face with his hands.

"All right," he said finally.

Jax opened his mouth to gloat, but Garin held up a finger to stop him.

"However, I have a condition," he said. He levelled the finger at Jax. "You are going to be my new secretary."

Jax blinked at him, confused. "What? I can't do that. I'm a guard, not a scribe. Have you even seen my writing?"

Garin folded his arms across his chest, face keen. "Selia and I will need to spend time training and supervising the apprentices. Somebody's going to have to help out with the diplomatic side while we do that. And as you've as you've just demonstrated, you're quite adept at the scheming and manipulation part of the job. We'll work on the writing." He made a sour face. "And on your manners. Perhaps for an hour or so every morning."

Jax stared back at him with a poleaxed expression.

"My evenings for your mornings. Do we have a deal or not?" Garin asked, brow quirked.

A slow smile grew on Jax's face.

"Deal."

---

~ Much, Much Later ~

Garin lay on his back staring up at the sky, stars appearing one by one as twilight faded into darkness. A gentle breeze blew over the embassy roof and fluttered around the edges of his tunic, blessedly cool after the day's midsummer heat.

"So, what are you thinking about?" he asked.

Jax just grunted, barely disturbing the smooth rise and fall of his chest under Garin's head.

"...Nothing."

Garin smiled and reached back a hand to scratch between Jax's horns. The warm arm slung around his middle tightened briefly in response.

"So I hear the council's down to just two factions now. We might have a king by autumn."

"Hrmph."

"Oh? Not looking forward to that?" Garin asked. "It means we might actually get a new ambassador's contingent soon."

Jax was silent.

"And what a mess they'll find when they arrive!" Garin continued. "Cartel spies working for us so they can copy other cartels' caravan schedules. Secretaries who still misspell their own country's name. Ambassadors abusing their position to force servants into their beds." He tsked. "Shameful!"

Jax growled, and Garin winced as a finger flicked his ear painfully.

"Anybody says that, I punch them in the face," Jax declared. After a moment he added, "If Tazik doesn't get there first, anyway."

Garin's mouth quirked into a smile. "That was certainly a surprise. Though it'd be kinder if Selia wouldn't toy with him so much."

Jax chuckled, a deep sound that resonated in Garin's ears. "Oh, that bastard deserves every moment of it. Watching him fawn over a girl who just leads him around by the nose--it's the gods' own justice."

Garin, thinking of how often he was led around by a certain other minotaur, stayed silent.

"Still," he said finally, "We_should_ plan for how to transition to the new ambassador. This isn't a problem where you can just pound on it until it disappears."

"Oh? Why not? Pounding certainly worked for_your_ problem."

Garin could practically hear the bull's leering smirk. He rolled his eyes and punched at Jax's arm.

"Don't be a smartass. If you're feeling clever we can see if you remember your addresses properly."

Jax groaned.

"What do you call a baron's wife?" Garin asked, tone stern.

"Easy! Your ladyship."

"Good. High officer of a guild?"

"Your Honor."

"Uhhuh. Archpriest?"

"Which tem--"

"Temple of the Moons."

There was a pause.

"Your... Looniness?" Jax finally responded, tone half a question.

Garin snorted. "Not quite. It's 'Your Luminance.' How about the son of a reigning king?"

Jax just growled instead of answering. Then Garin yelped as he was abruptly lifted up and set down on the larger minotaur's lap, wrapped up in a tight, bull-scented embrace. One of Jax's hands slid down Garin's front to grope between his legs; a broad snout blew warm breath on his cheek from behind. A moment later he felt something poking into his lower back.

"My Prince," Jax rumbled.