Didia Nonia

Plebeian

Content Count
109
Last visited
Wednesday at 10:26 PM
Player
Sara

About Didia Nonia

Market Trader

Custom Fields

Face Claim
Ana de Armas
Location
Rome

Face Claim

Ana de Armas
Location

Rome

Topics I Participated In

Tricky Timing

Started by Lucius Antonius Alexius · September 19

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
What else can I do?

Started by Didia Nonia · September 19

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
A Little Help

Started by Sara · August 26

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
One Night in Rome (M - V)

Started by Atrice · August 19

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…”
On An Adventure

Started by Sara · August 11

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
You!

Started by Sara · August 8

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
Another Day

Started by Atrice · July 26

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
Home sweet what

Started by Chevi · July 25

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
Anybody for a Peach?

Started by Sara · June 22

Mid July 75AD
The sun was hot today, blisteringly so and as always it impacted the passing trade of her stall. Few ventured out at this time, and if they did they were always in a foul mood - rushing to get this or that for dinner based on a change of their dominus' whims - nobody wanted to be out in the midday sun if they could help it. Her included. She swatted a bead of sweat from her neck and adjusted the strip of linen that held up her dark hair into a loosely piled mass of braids. She was out here alone today; Appius was trying his luck with a small stall outside one of the thermaes, selling fruits to those citizens desperate for something fresh. It wasn't an oddity to see her alone selling their wares, and nor did she feel particularly troubled by it; she knew her fellow stallholders either side of her well, and as chance would have it her apathetic ex-husband was just across the way; trying and succeeding in not paying any attention to her. They'd have her back if she needed it.
Her stall was piled high with an abundance of produce; both savoury and sweet although nobody seemed to want to touch the vegetables that were on offer and most flocked to her to buy a lone apple or a solitary peach. Cheapskates, she thought but tried to brush it aside.
Being midday at the height of summer in Rome, foot traffic was low and she paused to sit down on one of the stalls she had convinced Appius to pack for her. No point making her feet blister and ache if there wasn't any custom to be had. She stifled a yawn as she sat; she'd been up since well before dawn doing deliveries to her regulars and the markets were a tiring affair - even if not busy - owing to the fact that it meant lugging various fruits and vegetables up and down all day, and putting up with the riot of colours and smells that invaded the senses at every opportunity. She fiddled with the edge of her plain tunica and hummed to herself, bored out of her wits as more people came and went - idly eyeing the peaches placed proudly front and centre, yet nobody stopped. Not until a shadow loomed and she blinked up, to greet her customer.

TAG: Open!
Morning Rounds

Started by Sara · June 21

Early July, 75AD
Didia was saving the best until last today, despite her brothers grumbles as he pushed the cart up the hill towards their final stop. By virtue of being seen upwards of thrice of a week by some of the slaves, Didia had made enough friends in the households of the great and the good but certain friendships endured more than others. Certain homes were nicer than others as well, and the house of Octavius Flavius Alexander was by far the nicest she had been in. Although, to be fair to the others, all she'd seen of any of them was the kitchen.
Finally at the slaves entrance, the cook bustled them in as usual and her brother set about the unenviable task of unloading great quantities of this and that, pre-ordered from her fathers business. Bunches of grapes were apparently in order in Octavius' house as poor Appius unloaded bunch after bunch, stomping through the kitchen and back to the cart. Didia helped where she could, with the lighter items, until the bulk of her work was done and she drew the cook over to make her mark on the scrap of papyrus (and it was a scrap, it cost an arm and a leg!) to prove the order had been completed without complaint. Poor Appius went on his way, back and forward whilst Didia gratefully accepted a cup of wine.
She enjoyed the company of the slaves here, they were more refined (ergo - Romanised) than some of the others on her rounds, and the cook always made sure she sat and had at least a cup of watered wine before she left. Appius was content just for a break from the walking and mostly spent his time sat on the cart in the shade outside, trying to snatch a few minutes sleep free of screaming nephews or arguing parents, whilst his sister chatted. As she talked to the cook, a familiar face ducked through the curtain and a wide grin stretched across her face. "Rufus!" her grin settled into a gentle smile, "I thought you'd miss me today, you're busy?" The cook shuffled off to tend to this or that - barking orders at the younger slave girls to stash the food away, and leaving Didia and her friend to catch up.

TAG: @Sharpie