"...I'm still lost on what about being lean isn't attractive. I know most people don't like when someone looks like they're sick or scarred, and I thought that was odd but they were able to explain it. But he's clearly had enough to eat, he's not that skinny, so he doesn't look sick, he just doesn't look like he swings a sword around. Which he doesn't."

He shrugs. "People's ideas of what an ideally attractive male looks like are more like you than like him and even people who don't want to buy into those still feel pressured by them."

"It wouldn't even help if I offered to have sex with him, would it."

"No, probably not."

"Ugh. People are ridiculous, I should've stayed in the mountains."

"It's not too late to go back."

"No, no, it's too late now. You'd miss me terribly."

"It's true, I would. And I wouldn't want to waste the golden opportunity of getting you and Vallynn in a room together. With me, preferably."

"I can't lie, the thought appeals to me too."

(Visibly. Though, for what it's worth, he's not one of those who ends up with a coatrack jutting out at waist height; it just grabs a bit more of one's attention.)

Third floor.

"Let's see if we can find him—ah, actually, give me a moment, yes?" And he vanishes into thin air.

Yeah, sure, he'll stand here with a growing erection and very little idea what's going on. That's its own kind of fun, really.

It's only a handful of seconds and then he's back. "I found him, and he's not in his room. I want to hide you in there as a surprise gift to him," he says, starting to lead the way towards said room.

Even more fun!

"Go ahead, do I need to do anything for it?"

"Nah. I'm sure he'd be really appreciative if that were up when he walked in," he says, looking down and then back up, "but it might be a bit so don't feel obliged."

"I meant do I need to do anything for you to get me in there. This is not going down."

"Oh, yeah, I'll need to open it for you but." They're at the door now and he twists the handle and it opens. "I have opened it for you."

"I'll make myself at home, shall I."

He does so! Lying on the bed, stroking just enough to keep himself at attention, a pace he can maintain for an hour if he needs to. He probably doesn't, but he could.

So Taharqi walks over to room 308 and fades into the background.

A few minutes later a person wearing the skimpiest possible thing that could still count as mage robes walks out of it. 

His waist is encircled twice by a dark red belt forming an X shape in the front and back. The top V section of that X shape follows his V-lines, and the sides are bare, showing the sides of his thighs and glutes. The lower part of the belt holds a pair of dark grey trousers, which start out skintight enough to show the outline of his penis but then flare out nearer the shins to give space for a pair of slightly less dark grey boots with black soles.

His forearms and most of his hands are adorned by a pair of skintight gloves (except they don't cover his thumbs and middle and ring fingers), which are the same grey as the trousers except for a few dark red accents.

And finally, the ankle-length robe topping the ensemble is sleeveless, its shoulders hard and angled, pointing out away from him. Its neck is long and it has clasps holding it together from his Adam's apple to the middle of his chest, with a single, large, blood-red jewel attached to that last clasp, but below that it splits open to highlight his bare torso. The outside is the same grey as that of the boots, but the fabric on the inside is dark red like the belt and the accents on his gloves.

Even to an untrained eye, the fabric looks very nice. To a trained eye, the whole thing would be easily worth some ten million zeny.

He's a lot fitter than most mages—in a lean and athletic way rather than the more classical largesse associated with heroes, but it works on him—and he's grinning slightly to himself as he shuts the door behind him.

...okay, Taharqi kinda liked the jungle boy look Vallynn used to rock but he has to admit this looks hotter. It's funny that wearing more clothes than he used to would do that but sometimes that's how it goes. Also Vallynn looks—fitter? More adult? They are twenty, it figures that there had still been some maturation leftover to do—something, which Taharqi also appreciates.

"Oh I thought I heard familiar voices," he says, starting to talk before fully stepping out of the shadows.

"Odin's sagging ballsack where the fuck did you come from?"

"I was right here!"

"Fucking Hel, man, have you been hanging out with Alph a lot?"

"How should I know? It's not like either of us would notice the other if we did."

"Yes, yes, har de har har. Come on, if you're going to show up out of nowhere to scare the shit out of me you may as well follow me." He starts making his way out.