He manages to focus just on the explanation for a while, before he suddenly notices that... yes, actually, they are very close right now. 

It might be a little hard to tell how red he's gone in the light, particularly given his skin was already a bit red from the heat of the water. His expression at the sudden realization of proximity (!) is much more obvious.  

That's sure is an obvious expression. "Have I mentioned that I have two boyfriends back home?"

"...You haven't, no?" Is that a 'back off' statement or? His parents had Saen, though they had many lovers besides. Not everyone is as free as Ilan-yel was with her affections, though, or Rael before her death.

"I can... be a bit less obvious," he offers swallowing down any feelings he might have on the matter. He starts pulling away. 

"If you so desire, but it felt like a pertinent statement since you appear to be attracted to me and many people would find it relevant back home. Though, most already know about my infamous reputation in that regard."

He pauses, "...Infamous in what way?" 

"Mostly how me and my brothers are powerful mages and that we have a personal harem with dozens and that we share. Which, is false, by the way. People just like to gossip. We have a common boyfriend between the three of us, and I have another that's just mine."

"Ah." 

He moves back in a bit, "I'm... still not clear on whether you're telling me 'no' or not?" 

"I am not telling you 'no'. I am not sure to what we would be saying 'yes' to and I am trying to avoid disparaging expectations."

(Anything, he would have said, were he six years younger.)

"...I am not entirely sure either," he admits reluctantly, instead.

"My brother has plans," He explains. "I need to be... I can't be a weakness. I'm his most influential supporter, anything I do reflects on him, and he needs the support of the public. Many of whom believe that same-sex relationships are wrong, no matter that they're legal. I can't be seen to disagree with that view more than I already do." 

"Gah, politics. What are your brother's plans?"

"A coup, eventually," he says, sighing. "Once Gael is old enough to rule without a regent, once the war is won, or the king worsens, or our support grows enough to lessen the chance of civil war. We worry the Empire will take advantage of the unrest if we move too soon." 

Nod. He gentle starts pulling Jaim towards the pool's edge. "How much does my presence here and the Wanderer affects things?"

He goes where he's pulled. 

"I... I'm not sure. Mostly how things change depends on what you do, yourself, and what the two of you do with the City, and what your people do once you regain contact with them. Fath- the king will be furious that the City is not his, that we missed it for so long that it passed into the hands of someone outside his control. If he has any sense he will try to treat with you for the Artefacts here, at least. I'm not sure he will be sensible, however. Not with Tain whispering in his ear." 

The idea of the politics to come leaves him tired. 

"I am not sure what to do about the Artefacts, I don't want to sell people. Does Tain gain anything by not being sensible? Or whisper the king to not be sensible?"

He pulls himself up and sits on the pool's edge.

"Tain will consider you an obstacle to be dealt with by any means necessary," he replies distractedly. "And will likely underestimate how dangerous you could clearly be, if you chose. He will want you out of the way so that he can get the City under his control, at best, or under the king's, at least. He will not want to offer negotiations as anything more than a pretence to get you out of the city and into the seat of his political ower." 

He stays in the water, standing in front of him uncertainly. 

He makes a face. "Wanderer, how do you feel about that?"

"I feel like I won't be willing to bond anyone who will let them control me and my City like that," Wanderer says, Zephyrinus' sense of their emotional state dipping down to 'bad' briefly, before going back up again. 

He nods, "Tain won't know that," he says. "He sees humans as tools, and thinks even less of the rights and feelings of Artefacts." 

"Oh, the kind of noble that by all means shouldn't rise or stay in power and has a tendency to leave a burning trail of ruins behind them. What alternatives do you recomend then? Do my best to avoid the man?"

"He is that sort, yes. There's no avoiding him or his agents, in the capital. Even out here he has supporters who report back to him, and do as he commands." 

"There will be assassination attempts, if you are at all accessible, once the existence of this city is known to him. This is the kind of thing better men than Rael and Tain would be willing to kill for."

"What you should do about Tain depends on what you intend to do, overall. Take the city outside Cialin, collect refugees, ferry soldiers, try to work with Rael, come over unexpectedly murderous and kill Tain, park the city somewhere and ignore it..." 

"So far my main intention with regarding Tain is how to make him less of a destructive force. This, I would like to point out, does not mean that I want him dead. I recognize it as a way to make him less destructive, but it's not a goal." Sigh. "A lot of what I want to do is highly dependent if we can maintain contact with my world. I would feel much more confident about surviving assassination attempts then."

"You would be safer with back up from your brothers and people, I'm sure," He agrees.

"Tain would be difficult to root out in other ways," he adds. "He's so very good at taking care of problems the king doesn't want to deal with, see. I'm sure there are things which could cause the king to remove him from power. Proof of treason, mostly. Before I was disowned, proof that he was behind the assassination attempts on myself would have worked. Proof that he is working against the king in some significant way. Nothing easy to believably falsify or obtain."

"Yeah, I see the... pattern. It really speaks volumes in favor of democracy. The king wouldn't care about assassinations attempts because you were disowned?"

He supposes it does, yes. 

"...He might still care," he admits, looking away uncertainly, his arms coming up to wrap around himself loosely.

"If proof could be found." 

"Maybe there is a way to find it with my kind of magic... And if you ever need protection..."