

Didia Nonia
Plebeian-
Content Count
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Last visited
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Player
Sara
About Didia Nonia
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Market Trader
Custom Fields
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Face Claim
Ana de Armas
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Location
Rome
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Face Claim
Ana de Armas -
Location
Rome
Recent Posts
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Didia would otherwise of slapped her husband upside the head had she not been so thoroughly enjoying the generously spiced and suspiciously unwatered wine. As it was, she snorted in amusement and only managed to keep the wine from spilling out of her mouth by swallowing and then coughing through her laughter.
She moved both of her hands out to poke both men in the shoulder; "Willing to ruin things, huh Rufus?" She arched her eyebrows and glanced pointedly between them. "You are my husband and I love you," She said to Theo, "You are my friend and I love you." She said to Rufus, "And let's not ruin anything hmm?" Because even in her less-than-sober state, she knew she didn't want to jeopardise anything with either man. Much as deep down she might want to. Shut up inner Didia!
"We were going to fuck," She said with a grin and an arched brow at Rufus before breaking out into a wide grin, "That the sort of thing you were looking for?" She wiggled her finger at Rufus before continuing after a pause, "We were actually probably going to get an early night." She snorted in amusement, "It's awful being a grown up and I have to be at the stall tomorrow." She groaned and slumped down, pouting.
TAG: @Chevi @Sharpie
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Didia reached across to her husband - blinking after an awkward Io Saturnalia and left a soft kiss on his lips and then on his forehead as Rufus spoke to diffuse the minimal tension in the room. That Theo was a good man, an honourable one had made him a perfect choice for a husband. The fact that he was so easy going only made it better.
She glanced across to Rufus as he offered Theo a kiss, and she couldn't help herself and let out a peal of laughter - raising her hand to cover her face as it settled into giggles that shook her shoulder. The fact that she was just as easy going as Theo made their marriage perfection. "Don't," She warned Rufus with a finger jabbed in his general direction, "I'll have to become a jealous wife if you did that...like the time Lucilla - she's our...lady of the night neighbour - propositioned him on the stairs in front of her flat. I slapped her! Me!" She grinned drunkenly. "Although you're far nicer than her..." She glanced between the two men with a studious expression on her face, already tipsy, and trying to work out who would be...where in that situation should the kiss escalate.
TAG: @Chevi @Sharpie
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Didia snorted most inelegantly at Theo's joke and swatted him on the arm. She sometimes liked to tease him, that she was married to an equite and really had gone up in the world, but most of the time let his past lie. She wasn't a woman that cared about fancy things or a big home. She was happy with a husband that loved her and food on the table. That he was attractive, caring, charming and funny were only additional, bonus points in his favour.
She smiled sweetly at Rufus as he spoke of civilising influences and that he wished to make her happy. She had liked Rufus, and maybe still harboured a crush, somewhere deep down and buried. She had been conflicted between the two men for some months and it had vexed her. She had ultimately been happy with her choice, but very occasionally she had the what if... dreams but she tried to blink away such thoughts, especially now in the company of both of them.
Unfortunately Rufus made that almost impossible to do a he leant across to kiss her on her cheek. She blinked and stared back at him, before whipping her head around to Theo. She'd never seen him as a jealous man but felt oddly unnerved all of a sudden, and she couldn't help herself...she laughed. Whenever in an awkward or uncomfortable situation she found the same nervous giggling erupt and it happened now, leaving her grinning and laughing as she glanced between the two men.
TAG: @Chevi @Sharpie
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Didia couldn't disguise her giggles as Theo nibbled the honey off her fingers, though try as she might to wrestle them free from his grasp. Her grinning was only cemented as Rufus spoke. Bless him, so sweet! "No, no you haven't interrupted anything." She giggled and placed her cup of wine (already nearly empty...) down to use her free hand to slap her husband gently on the cheek in jest.
"My husband obviously has no boundaries, you should ignore him completely all evening Rufus, you'll never have a civilised conversation with him." She stopped protesting Theo's grip on her fingers and instead relaxed her fingers into his touch. "And you shouldn't have such a dirty mind," She chuckled, "Married couples don't spend their whole days just ruthlessly screwing, Rufus." She grinned. "Well...plebs don't. Not sure about all the orgies you must be used to in your old domus."
TAG: @Chevi @Sharpie
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Didia nodded, "I imagine there are rotten eggs in the slaves but...I kind of understand?" She shrugged, "I mean, if I was enslaved I'd be pretty pissed off and mad at the world. At least I think I would. Then again, some of the slaves in the fancy houses might have better houses than either of us." She chuckled, "Good food, guaranteed work, no need to worry about wages..." She smiled wistfully with a little shrug. Maybe that stability was a price worth paying for a lack of freedom? It was an unanswerable question.
"It is. I just want a happy life, not fussed about money or fame or any of that." She wrinkled her nose. The raw ambition in some people wasn't something she could relate to at all. "And I have it, I think, for the most part." She smiled up at him as they drew to the streets around the gardens. She glanced up at her company as they neared an establishment - swelling with the sounds of revellers already deep in their cups and the sweet smell of watered, weak wine. Perfect.
"Here?" She smiled up.
TAG: @Atrice
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"Mhmhmm." Didia arched a brow, "No wonder the Gladiators love you, plying them with free, medicinal booze." She chuckled as she stowed the honey cakes with one hand, lightly stroking Theo's free hand with her other.
She chuckled as Rufus chastised her husband and smiled coyly at him as she arranged her cakes. "I hope the Ludus actually gives them the night off." She glanced at her husband, "Not that I know any of them really...whenever I visit him," She gestured with her hand - covered in honey, "I get in and out as quick as I can. Blood makes me..." She shuddered. "Well...let's just say I'm not going to be his apprentice any time soon."
TAG: @Chevi @Sharpie
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Didia dutifully followed Alexius as they moved through the gardens, passing the odd person here and there but for the most part the place was deserted. It was almost creepy. "You being my saviour is more than enough, and you know if I had any bloody money I'd pay you properly for the service." She swallowed the thought that she knew where a lot of money was - in the abandoned domus, the stash under the floor that she and Rufus had found. She had to forget about it.
"I can ask," She offered, "I go into all the Senatorial houses you know - to do my deliveries. Some are friendlier than others mind, some of the rich are..." She wrinkled her nose, trying to find a polite phrasing of 'entitled dickheads' and settled on, "Unpleasant." She continued to walk, the dew of the grass soaking into the hem of her tunica like a spiders web, "But some of them are nice enough. I've even met a few, the wives sometimes run all the households and like to know who their supplier is. I can keep my ear to the ground, and ask some of the slaves in the domi that I go to." Favours were well kept by Didia, and she definitely owed Alexius. "The rich always seem to have dramas, constantly, I'm sure at least one of them will need their own personal saviour some time soon." She chuckled and breathed a sigh of relief as they drew back to the main street.
TAG: @Atrice
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Didia chuckled, "If we go back to the insula, my mother will recognise our footsteps and wonder why on earth we're back from the library so soon." She smirked, "And I'd rather not face an inquisition of that's alright with you?" She smiled as they began to drift slowly towards an exit. The gardens were pretty much deserted now the sun was setting, just a few stragglers and drinkers left soaking up the last rays of the cold winter sun.
"I'm sure you know a place or two," She confirmed, "Although preferably not somewhere I'm going to get mugged. My brother took me to a bar once and he left with no belt - the bastards had taken it off of him whilst he was sat down all evening!" she managed a hoarse laugh, "One of the perks of living here I suppose. Greatest city on earth it is indeed, but also filled with the poor, thieves and miscreants." She shook her head. Sometimes, very, very rarely, she dreamt of the wide open expanse of Hispania but that was in the past. She was a city girl, and knew she'd be bored senseless if she ever went to the countryside for any prolonged period of time.
"How's the job hunt going by the way?" She queried and looked up at him - trying to distract herself and him as her anxiety started to settle, "Besides being my saviour, of course."
TAG: @Atrice
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Didia grinned and poured her own cup, arching a brow at her husband that he hadn't poured one for her - only Rufus. She said nothing though, a look was all she needed to give. Rufus' sweet words made her chuckle though and she glanced back over her shoulder, "Don't be silly. It's one night of a long festival - by tomorrow we'll all be roaring drunk still and we'll forget you're even here Rufus." It was a joke, and she grinned as she said it.
"Why don't you plate up these?" She said to Rufus as she finished unloading the bag, finally taking a sip of the wine she had poured herself. In front of her were an array of items; honey cakes, fruit and cheeses. "You can slice up the fruit," She said as she handed him a bundle of assorted delicacies and a knife, "You worked in a fancy house, you can do it in a fancy way so we can forget we live in an insula for a night." She chuckled and took a seat at the table, setting about unpacking the honey cakes on a different plate.
"Did you not want to go back to your old masters house for Saturnalia, Rufus?" She queried and reached out to tug Theo's hand - making him sit as well. The man would work himself to death if he could. She pushed the cakes to him and nudged him so that he'd start setting them out as well, "Theo here had to be dragged away from the Ludus."
TAG: @Chevi @Sharpie
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Didia sighed, and pushed her hair out of her face, feeling the cold sweat that had enveloped her on the back of her hand. "You see?" She said with a wavering smile, "You're a good man, you're concerned about me." She sighed and wound her arms around her waist. "Maybe...maybe a drink would be better. My legs feel all wobbly and next time I might panic even more and properly maim you, and I don't want that." She said, joking although it wasn't completely a jest. She'd never felt like that before - so completely overwhelmed with panic and fear, she wouldn't have cared in that moment if it was her best friend or her worst enemy, she just wanted them off. Gods, she needed to pull herself together!
"But maybe next week?" She said as she tucked the little knife away into a pouch at her belt, "Maybe I'll feel better by then and it'd do me good to get out of the insula for a bit, and I feel safe with you." She added the latter few words with a soft smile. "You really do have a heart of gold, Alexius." She sighed and then moved closer to him to give his arm a friendly squeeze. "Who'd have thought such a big, brooding ex-gladiator could be so nice, eh?"
She chuckled and took a step back, waving her arm at the expanse of the Gardens around them. "So where to, for a drink? And just one mind, I've got work tomorrow before dawn and don't want to be steaming drunk..." Even if she felt at that moment, that was exactly what she needed.
TAG: @Atrice
Topics I Participated In
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Saturnalia thrice blessed [M]
Started by Quintus Flavius Theodorus ·
"Io Saturnalia!"
The cheers and laughter echoed in the hallways of the insula, and outside on the streets. It was the most joyous of Roman celebrations, one that Theo truly learned to enjoy since his move to the City. Even though they were a small household, a mere apartment in the insula, he and his wife were happily preparing for their first Saturnalia together. They did not own slaves who could have turned the day around on them, but there were still sweets to eat, spiced wine to drink, games to play, and gifts to give. In the spirit of the festivities, Theo was trying to do his very best in preparing said sweets, with honey and flour and walnuts. A plate of fresh pomegranates stood on the table, one of them already opened and spilling ruby red seeds. As soon as Didia returned from running some errands, they would have the whole rest of the day to themselves. The games would not start until the following day, which gave the medicus leave from his usual work at the ludus.
When he head the door open, Theo glanced over his shoulder, grinning with a smear of flour on his face.
"Io Saturnalia!"
@Sara @Sharpie
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After Cena
Started by Lucius Antonius Alexius ·
August, 75 AD - the evening of Tricky Timing
Alexius was ready. He’d not been working much today… well not officially anyway. He did not bring home any extra coin for him and Lexus. Instead he’d lurked around the marketplace to keep an eye out for Didia, as well as having asked people about barbers and other people who’d carry around knives and flasks with scented oils. A slave from one of the brothels said there were girls at their brothel who were scared of this one patron, who always wanted to see blood before he took in their bodies to get release. But when Alexius asked the name of the brothel, they didn’t want to talk. As if they were scared. It wasn’t at all easy, this mystery!
In the evening he had a simple meal he brought back home to the insula and he told Lexus this morning he might not be home until it was dark out. Lexus wasn’t home yet while Alexius sat at his table, downing a bit of wine – a quite common thing for him to do – while he waited for Didia to show up. He was already dressed for the occasion, because when was he not? Short breeches and a thigh-long tunica and a belt that could easily be removed, so you could move easier. He wore his good boot-like sandals and had, just in case, also hidden a blade down a special sheath in said boot. Just in case.
At last there was a knock on the door in the otherwise silent flat and Alexius jumped up to answer it, expecting to find Didia outside, also ready to learn a bit about self-defense in Rome.
@Sara
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Tricky Timing
Started by Lucius Antonius Alexius ·
August, 75AD – the morning after One Night in Rome and A Little Help
Had it been a late night last night? Possibly. Not that Alexius ever knew what time it was, but he knew that some mornings he was better rested than others. Funny though, the mornings when he was not quite rested were also the mornings where he felt most satisfied. Possibly because he had woken up next to someone gorgeous and lovely and that made him feel good. This morning was no different from so many others, in that regard. So far though, he was well asleep in his own bed with an arm around another warm body. Behind another curtain in the other end of the small insula was Lexus, sleeping too. It was warm and quiet.
Then there was a knocking on the door and being a former gladiator had turned Alexius into a light sleeper, when it came to such things. He woke up and sat up. There was another careful knock on the door. He looked towards the small window and could see the sun shining outside. Alright so it wasn’t night, at least. He reached for his tunica, dropped on the floor near the bed and dragged it over his head. Who in the name of Hades was knocking on their door while everyone were still sleeping? He cast a glance to the bed, before leaving it and slipping around the curtain blocking the view from his bed. There were no doors in this insula, after all.
Soon enough he was at the door and opened it, although slowly and only enough to see who was outside. And that caught him by surprise! “Didia…” He said, looking at her, something was definitely off here. It was a bit awkward with the timing though, with both Lexus and his one-night-stand sleeping inside... “Are you alright?”
@Sara
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What else can I do?
Started by Didia Nonia ·
A week after A Little Help
Didia struggled with her load, her arm dragging down, weighed down with the basket overflowing with goods but covered with a square of linen to try and be discrete. Appius had walked with her, both for protection and just because he wanted to see the Ludus but he had strict instruction not to bother Theo or the Gladiators, and instead sit in the free seats and see if any training fights were happening whilst she unburdened herself. He had been confused and queried why she was trekking all the way to the Ludus after the stall closing time, just to deliver a gift to a man she barely knew. She had explained that Theo had treated her friend Lucia for a minor infection, and was delivering it on her behalf. Appius had only half-believed her, but had been too interested in going to the Ludus to put up any more of a fight.
As they entered the complex (after some slight begging to the guards at the entrance) Didia's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't know what she was expecting but the...mundane barrack-type rooms and slaves milling around was not what she was expected. She pulled one aside to quickly ask where the medicus' rooms were, and the training ground and after a firm word with Appius not to cause any trouble, she let him be led to where he could watch a fight or two, whilst she diverted to Theo's work area. She snuck in a corridor, down past rooms (bedrooms?) until she came to a heavy oak door. She kicked it with her foot three times and said, in an inflated accent, disguising her voice; "Delivery for the medicus!" Gods she hoped he wasn't in the middle of surgery.
TAG: @Chevi
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A Little Help
Started by Sara ·
Immediately after One Night In Rome [M-V]
Didia stumbled up the stairs, breathless from her run all the way here and from the anxiety that just wouldn't settle. What if he'd followed her here? She hadn't stopped to look back once she was free of his grip and had just bolted as fast she could back home. Oh Gods above, what if he'd followed her? She couldn't go home, not in this state, not like this - with blood dripping down her neck from the first wound and staining her tunica from the second. She hurriedly climbed the final set of stairs, up past her own landing, to Theo's. She sometimes called on him at this hour - it was evening but she saw light from under his door and she steeled herself to knock. She felt panic rising again and glanced behind her as she desperately tried to smooth away her tears and right herself. It was to little avail though and realising she couldn't delay any longer, she knocked.
She must have looked a state; eyes wide with panic and tears, hair askew, a nice bruise and scratches blossoming on her shoulder blade from the force of his foot and the wall and the small cuts from the knife. She had no sense of how deep they were but they stung. The one on her neck throbbed now and the other, just above the band of her strophium was still dribbling blood - she could feel it - although she dared not look lest she be ill again. She knocked again, heart rate rising and thrumming in her blood. "Theo?" She called out, her voice hoarse, "Theo please answer the door!"
TAG: @Chevi
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One Night in Rome (M - V)
Started by Atrice ·
August, 75 AD
It was dark out. Late and dark. Marcus had been out for a special event, a nobleman had desired a shaving and it had to be Marcus and it had to be at this hour. Why, no one knew. But Marcus was not one to say no to such a job, not when it paid so well and ensured the man would use his services another time too. Now was the time however to return to his home and his slaves. Marcus had a bag over his shoulder, with all the important shaving equipment. He’d brought no slaves with him, the nobleman had his own, after all.
He cast a glance at the Elysium as he passed it. He had a friend there and a whore he thought he might return to sometime. Not because he liked her or anything, but because she’d bled in such a lovely way and it had felt so good to finish in her afterwards. But not tonight. Tonight he might have Aculia, with the pretty new scar on her face, proving that she was never to fail him again.
Marcus decided to use a shortcut down a darker alley nearby. He heard someone walking behind him then and the footsteps were coming closer. Oh really? Marcus smirked to himself, reaching for the small blade in his purse and it was about time, because moments later, there was a hand on his shoulder.
Though before the stranger could beat him up or try and steal his bag, which was what he assumed they would do, Marcus had swung around and pinned them up against the nearest wall. He might not be huge and overly muscular, but he was fast and agile and he wasn't weak either. He held the blade to their throat, “And what exactly was your plan? You picked the wrong victim…”
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On An Adventure
Started by Sara ·
Two weeks after Morning Rounds, Late July 75AD
Didia stifled a yawn and glanced round in the early morning light. Dawn had come and gone only a few moments ago and the Aventine was still sleeping which...for the Hill, was a mercy. Even up at the top surrounded by the domi of the rich and notable, the Hill still held on its rougher edge, judging by some of the fabulous and explicit graffiti drawings scattered around.
She sent word to Rufus to meet her at the corner of a bakers and a yellow-walled domus and she hoped he'd find it. She clasped two sweet buns in her hand, pilfered from the baker (now very aged) that still left them to cool! The aroma brought back so many memories it was surreal; carefree days when her parents were working and she could wander to and fro as she pleased. She'd had to beg and barter to get this morning off, and she only had until sundown when she'd need to go and help prepare orders for tomorrow in the warehouse districts. Maybe she could convince Rufus to come and lend a hand; the man was a sweetheart, she supposed he'd do it regardless.
She leaned against the wall of the domus, ignoring the suspicious glances the porter cast her. She didn't look much like she belonged in this quarter with her simple tunica and hair loosely tied up with a linen strip. Still, they were going exploring so she didn't mind much. A voice startled her to her left and in her surprise, she dropped one of the buns loosely gripped in her left hand. "Shit! Shit!" She stepped back and grimaced up at Rufus, before trusting out the surviving bun in his direction. "Here...you take this one, even though you're late, tsk." She chuckled, showing she wasn't actually irritated but couldn't help a forlorn glance down at her bun, already being used for a feast for the ants on the cobbles.
TAG: @Sharpie
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A few weeks after Another Day
Didia mumbled to nobody in particular as she counted off the bags of supplies Appius was lugging into the domus. It was well before sunrise, so they could get round the restrictions on cart, and Didia still held a sleepy look on her face as she picked up one of the lighter bags to carry in through the slave entrances into the kitchens. Appius deserved a rest, the boy was going to have a heart attack and so she left him keeping watch. After a few trips in and out (oh how the rich could eat so much was beyond her!) she entered the domus again with flushed cheeks but a warm smile.
This house was one of the newer ones on her call list, but conveniently close to Rufus'...or his masters, so it didn't add a great deal of extra time to their route as they made their way up here regardless. The slaves were an unknown quantity, really, although friendly enough and they gave both herself and her brother a cup of cheap lora and a little bit of bread and honey to set them up on their day (and as thanks, she supposed, for carrying in the produce themselves). Appius took his outside whilst she ate hers quietly in the kitchen, the slaves flustering around unpacking. She'd need to sign off the receipt at some point but it was so horribly early that she could use a bit of a rest.
She sat with her back to the external door, facing the curtain that divided the kitchen from the main, fancy portion of the domus (the portion she was never invited to see!). She was glancing about absentmindedly when somebody pulled the curtain aside and stepped in. Her heart leapt into her mouth and she choked at the face that greeted her. A wide, broad grin spread on her face and she laughed, "Manius!" She moved to stand hurriedly to greet him properly before she stopped herself and frowned, teasingly reaching out to swot his arm softly, "I was worried sick! Don't you ever leave a woman waiting for you again!"
TAG: @Atrice
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Another Day
Started by Atrice ·
July, 75 AD
He had nothing. Or, almost nothing. No work, no wife, no place to be and soon he might be out of coins too. Manius barely ate these days. He was trying to make the money last and trying to not go and gamble with the hope for gaining more. On the other hand, he might lose it all and be so indebted they’d take him because he had no coins and then he’d be a slave again. That might be the easiest way to go anyway.
But so far he had not gambled the rest of his coin away. He had spent a little of it on wine. Just a stupid attempt to forget his sorrows for once. That didn’t work all the time though. He was hungry. He needed food.
Manius had gone to the marketplace to see what he could find. The food smelled deliciously, from every taverna and place handing out food, but he didn’t think he was so poor he should get food from one of the places offering for the poorest. He had coins. And someone else needed it more. What could he get though?
He walked by a few stalls. The bread was too expensive. So were the sausages and the flat-bread and the honey-cakes. There was a fruit stall. The apples looked delicious and so did the oranges. He could smell them in the summer-heat. But they were shiny and fresh and there was no way he should spend his money on an apple just because it was shiny. He began turning some of the peaches around and picked one that was extraordinarily soft. Even its color was somehow... off. Overly ripe.
“How much for this?” He asked the lovely young woman in the stall.
@Sara
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Home sweet what
Started by Chevi ·
July 2nd, 74CE
Theo had never lived in an insula before, and he would have happily gone to his grave without ever having the experience. But then the earthquake shook Rome, and things changed in an instant: part of the ludus collapsed, including his rooms; he lost friends, worked for almost two days without sleeping, and was suddenly in need of a new home. Alexius suggested the cheap rooms at his insula, and since beggars could not be choosers, and several insulae had collapsed in the quake, Theo made a quick decision to take one. Since insule, in his understanding, were very bad places for someone as fire-prone as Astrius, he sent the slave to one of the other ludi to help out with the rebuilding (a prospect he was not happy about). Finally alone, bone tired, and sleep-deprived, Theo bundled up his few surviving belongings, and made his way to the insula that was now his home.
The past days were probably still written on his face. While he had washed off the grime and dust and blood best he could, he was still visibly exhausted. He made his way slowly up the stairs towards the top floor where his new room was supposed to be. Gods, the stairs were going to be a pain in the ass.
@Sara
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