It was only a few short minutes later that Jiyong came back in, followed closely by Taeyang and the angel...Seunghyun needed to learn the man's name as angel was not something that he wanted to be caught referring to the young man as…not that he planned to continue referring to him, who knew how long the man would be there.

Either way, Seunghyun knew that he was going to have to work to get the answers that he wanted without seeming to be too interested. He was rather close friends with the two oracle readers, having grown up with them while they were being groomed for temple work. This simple fact meant that he knew basically everything there was to know about both Jiyong and Youngbae’s temperaments and knew just how they would react to him having any more than just a minor interest in anything.

The three other men sit down, just as Seunghyun motions for them to do. Jiyong smiles brightly as he takes the seat across from Seunghyun, "How has everything been in the city?"

Seunghyun takes a deep breath and shakes his head. "The same as always, though now one of the concubines has it in her head that her son...little Seungri, deserves something..." Jiyong and Youngbae laugh, and Seunghyun lets his eyes flick over to Daesung who was smiling a little uncertainly, his eyes darting between Jiyong and Taeyang

"Isn't he the over eager one?" Jiyong asks, tilting his head to the side in question.

"The one that used to hang off of Jiyong's every syllable?" Taeyang adds quietly, causing Jiyong to light up.

 "Oh, yes, is it him? That was delightful! A little follower." Jiyong says, smiling a little mischievously. Taeyang scowls slightly.

"Yes, so delightful that you used to hide from him and complain about it." He adds dryly

Seunghyun rolls his eyes and flattens his hands out in front of him. "Alright, calm down. Yes, it's him. Father is thinking of sending him down to the Temple of Osiris...but Mother is afraid that if he's that far away we won't hear of a coup until it's too late"

"I don't think that he would orchestrate a coup...and neither would his mother, for that matter." Taeyang says, and Jiyong nods in agreement.

“Hmm, yes, I agree with you, but you know how Mother is.” Seunghyun says with an offhand shrug.

Taeyang taps Daesung on the shoulder while Jiyong gestures with his hands during the ensuing silence, a sure sign that he is trying to think of something helpful to say, and directs his attention to a cup of water, indicating that he should drink it. Seunghyun catches the little move and his lip twitches up in amusement as he watches and he again wonders about the mysterious man

"You could always have him sent here. We'd have him straightened out right quick." Jiyong says, and Seunghyun notices Taeyang's hand slip as he fills Jiyong's cup with water. "Ahh! Taeyang!" Jiyong exclaims as the water sloshes lightly onto the table.

"Sorry." He mumbles, grabbing a towel from a pile on the floor and wiping it up quickly. Seunghyun isn’t certain that Youngbae means it.

"I don't think so." Seunghyun says, keeping an eye on Taeyang's reaction, who relaxed slightly and nodded in approval. "He will probably be given time overseeing the latest pyramid's construction, or his mother will be quieted.” He sighs and run his hand over his head. “He's a bright, though annoying, kid, so he should be put to use somehow."

They all nod and fall into silence. Jiyong picks up his too full cup, and takes a delicate sip of water, letting his eyes drag over the scene before him. Youngbae was frowning but trying to hide it by focusing his attention on Daesung, even though there was really nothing for the younger man to do but sit there.

And Daesung, Jiyong was happy to note, seemed completely fascinated by Seunghyun and he had even caught the man staring at Seunghyun multiple times throughout the ceremony earlier, as well as during the short time that they had been sitting in here. Seunghyun, too, seemed to be completely enamored by the enigma that Taeyang and he had presented in the form of Daesung. The covert glances were not lost on Jiyong, who had caught every small flick of a glance.

"Taeyang, did you teach him how to introduce himself?" Jiyong asks, nodding toward Daesung before hooking his head toward Seunghyun. Taeyang gives him a blank look, obviously still upset with him for his comments about the Seungri kid, before focusing his attention back on Daesung, and very clearly ignoring Jiyong’s not-so-subtle request. "We've been trying to teach him how to speak. It's not that he can't so much as that he doesn't know how to and we don't know what language he does know." Jiyong says with a look at Taeyang before he shrugs and shakes his head, his eyes back on Seunghyun. "The poor boy must feel so lost and confused all the time."

Seunghyun's face falls into a frown of concern, and he turns his attention back to Daesung and Taeyang, who seemed to be ready. Taeyang pats Daesung on the shoulder and smiles at him encouragingly. Daesung's face shows his worry briefly before he forces a small smile onto his face and opens his mouth to speak.

"Hello...I am Daesung." He says, turning immediately to look at Taeyang who nods approvingly at him. He turns back to Seunghyun with that same bright smile that Seunghyun remembered from earlier, and Jiyong thinks that the poor man has forgotten how to breathe.

"Hello, Daesung. I'm Seunghyun." Seunghyun says after only a short pause, and Jiyong wonders if Seunghyun is even aware of the fact that his normally deep voice was even deeper and manlier than normal.

Daesung smiles and nods, obviously wanting to say something else but unable to think of how to say it. Taeyang notices that the moment was dragging on a little longer than could be considered comfortable, so he places a hand on Daesung's shoulder and leans forward.

"He's smart, but I have to keep my eye on him all the time for fear of the servants taking advantage of his naiveté."

Seunghyun raises an eyebrow. "They've yet to take advantage of yours." He says, clearly, and possibly purposefully, twisting the comment. Taeyang flushes red and shakes his head, but Jiyong speaks instead.

"He doesn't have to worry about that." Jiyong says dismissively, and rather fiercely. "But Daesung doesn't understand anything that's going on really, so Taeyang has been spending most of his time keeping him busy and comfortable."

Seunghyun frowns, thinking; Taeyang needed to be able to do his job, and while Daesung was there, there was no way that Taeayng would be able to do his job near as well or as quickly as he normally did. However, Seunghyun thinks, there was no way that either Jiyong or Taeyang would agree to give Daesung up as they were both clearly attached to the boy… They seemed to know something that they hadn’t told him, and he believed that there must be more to the boy than they were telling him. It was possible that Daesung would serve some type of purpose that the oracle had foretold, because otherwise Seunghyun was fairly certain that they might not have taken him in so completely and warmly

"What do you plan to do with him? You should be busier as the next full moon closes in." Seunghyun asks, hoping that maybe they had a plan. Taeyang and Jiyong look at each other, and it becomes clear to Seunghyun that they most likely do not have a plan for how to take care of Daesung while also getting their jobs done; something that makes a small part of his mind jump in alarm, though he ignores it.

"We must keep an eye on Daesung, he has been delivered to us for a reason." Jiyong states, waving his hand almost dismissively; as if there were no other possible way to handle the situation.

"He's really not much trouble," Taeyang says, looking at Daesung affectionately. "He's very quick, I'm sure that I can come up with something to keep him busy and out of trouble while I go about my duties."

Seunghyun shakes his head, noticing while he does so that Jiyong was as well. "No, Taeyang, that is far more work than you need to be doing. We can have one of the attendants watch him...Sandara, or Bom perhaps?" Jiyong says, but Seunghyun shakes his head,

"No, everyone will need to have their focus directly on the ceremony. Since I will be here through the full moon, I can watch him so that you can get everything ready...and take a rest." He says, nodding over at Taeyang. "You look worn down, you need some down time and since I will have plenty of time I can take care of him." He tries not to sound as surprised by this proclamation as Jiyong and Taeyang both do, as he wasn’t certain where this decision had even come from.

Jiyong's mouth hangs open for a couple seconds, but Seunghyun is almost certain that behind the shocked expression there was one of triumph... and he feels that somehow he's been manipulated, but the genuine look of relief and guilt on Taeyang's face makes him forget about Jiyong's possible trickery.

"There is no need, Seunghyun, you have other duties..." Taeyang starts, only for Seunghyun to hold up a hand to silence him.

"No, it's really perfectly alright. I will enjoy the distraction. I am sick of thinking about Seungri and his mother and any other problems from home. Daesung will be a welcome distraction." He ignores the soft snort that Jiyong tries to cover at that remark and raises an eyebrow at Taeyang; hoping against hope that he didn’t sound too eager, though Jiyong’s reaction had him a little worried.

"Ahhh, alright. But if it becomes a problem, please bring him back to me immediately. We will find something for him to do."

"Oh hush, Taeyang, Daesung is an angel.” Jiyong says a little forcefully, cutting Taeyang a quelling look as he does so. “I've no doubt that he and Seunghyun will get along famously...with or without speaking."

Seunghyun wonders, for possibly the millionth time since he's known Jiyong, if the young man could read his mind. It was an uncomfortable habit of Jiyong's to suddenly say something that you had been thinking, and it happened so often that Seunghyun wasn't sure was entirely impossible.

He watches with feigned disinterest as Taeyang gets Daesung's attention and ushers him up to leave. "We'll go and get ready for him to go with you. Would you like to take him after breakfast tomorrow?" Taeyang asks, and Seunghyun can't stop himself even though he knows that Jiyong will read further into it than he probably should.

"No, no. After dinner will be fine." Taeyang just looks at him for a moment, confused, while Jiyong's mouth slowly tilts up in a smile. "He will be staying in my area for the period of my stay. You have plenty of things to do at night, and keeping track of Daesung will not be one of them." He raises his eyebrows. "You have a lot to do tonight, even. No, no, he will come with me."

Taeyang looks at Jiyong briefly before turning back to Seunghyun with a nod. "Alright." He says, before ushering Daesung out of the room.

"You've only got one bed." Jiyong says simply, a grin on his face. The door had only barely shut, and Jiyong had had trouble holding the comment in for even that long.

"You have an overactive imagination." Seunghyun responds dryly. "I'm trying to do you two a favor." He adds, and Jiyong nods.

"Yes, by taking a deliciously attractive and hopelessly helpless man off of our hands." Jiyong retorts, smiling again.

"Where have you been for the past year?" Seunghyun asks instead of rising to Jiyong's bait. "Taeyang has been doing all of your duties and his for the past year while you were just mysteriously gone." This was more than just a topic changer, to be sure, Jiyong’s disappearance had been quite a big deal. “No one was certain you would be here when I got here.”

Jiyong sighs and leans back in his chair. "I've been working. I had a lot to do for the Oracle. My duties never cease."

"I think that Taeyang secretly missed you." Seunghyun says, trying to see if he could turn the teasing onto his friend.

 "Secretly missed me? Unlikely, he scolded me for over an hour when I came back! Not even so much as a hug." He says on a scoff. Seunghyun considers it a personal victory that a hug was what Jiyong had admitted to wanting instead of the traditional ‘I’ve missed you’.

"Yes, well, quite a few people were worried when you left..." Seunghyun starts but Jiyong scoffs causing him to change his mind. "But Taeyang knew where you were going, didn't he? So he was even more worried about you...which is why he scolded you. You probably deserved it."

Jiyong shakes his head, a frown on his face. "Yes, maybe he knew, but no, I doubt he missed me any more than anyone else. Do you know, I heard the attendants talking about how he spent so much time with them while I was gone...By the gods, it would be a wonder if he were still as innocent as when I left."

"You're exaggerating." Seunghyun says simply, raising an eyebrow and dismissing Jiyong's wild claims with a wave of his hand. "Complain of nightmares like you used to when you were a child, and see how quickly he reacts to save you."

"I did have nightmares when I was a child." Jiyong says on a pout, causing Seunghyun to laugh.

"I'm sure." He says, and Jiyong frowns harder. "Alright, what aren't you telling me about Daesung." Seunghyun says, knowing that that would stop Jiyong from pouting.

Jiyong shrugs his shoulders and his head to the side. "He speaks a language that no one from this time even has a hope of understanding. He has a lovely voice...Taeyang does everything in his power to make him smile because his smile is breath-taking..." Jiyong pauses and lets out a harsh laugh "maybe it's a good thing you're taking him for a while, I don't want Taeyang falling for him." Seunghyun rolls his eyes and sits back, ignoring the clench in his heart over the possibility that Taeyang and Daesung may already have feelings for each other.

"You don't want Taeyang falling for anybody."

"Not true…but it wouldn’t be right as he's got a job to do...you know?"

Seunghyun shakes his head. "No, no I do not. But I think it's time for me to take my leave as I believe I have the unfortunate duty of figuring out where my new houseguest shall rest for the next week and a half." Jiyong rolls his eyes.

"Yes, so stressful; you go order your servants to make up another bed, and I'll just go organize a large festival, feast, and sacrifice."

Seunghyun laughs and follows Jiyong out of the room where he says goodbye and follows his servants to his tent. No, it wouldn't be hard to make up another bed for Daesung...it would however, be hard to convince himself to give the orders.