Mobius

Amatus wouldn't hesitate to pay Cynane back if he got the chance. As of right then, he didn't know how he would be able to do so in the place like the ludus, but if he got the chance? He definitely would. Cynane even brought up him doing her a favor in the future, to which he immediately nodded. "Absolutely," he replied without hesitation,"Anything you need, you know where to find me... and if you don't know where to find me, it probably won't take too much searching." It wasn't like there were too many places he could be in that place. The ludus was quite the establishment, but it was no labyrinth and there were only certain places he'd have access to at any given time. If she needed a favor of him, he believed she'd have no trouble finding him. Cynane's namesake was fitting for a gladiator. The name of a commander was a name that brought forth ideas of power, strength, and victory. On the other hand, a name related to the word love was more fitting for a resident of a brothel. "Amatus" didn't bring to the mind an image of a trained fighter meant to kill. "They're definitely fans of cruel irony if nothing else," he huffed. Cynane didn't necessarily think the name wasn't manly, but he wasn't so convinced. "They shouldn't have held back at all and named me Cupid," he joked in return, managing to chuckle at the joke despite not having a good outlook on the topic,"Maybe they were afraid that that would have brought out the wrong customers." As if Amatus didn't fit under that category, too. Amatus smirked when Cynane mentioned his looks. "Well, maybe I'll luck out and one of the guards fights for the other army." That was likely the only way he'd be able to charm any of the male guards. There was another way to get a bit of freedom— win. Winning sometimes bought a taste of freedom and, rarely, true freedom. "Good thing I don't plan on losing then," he replied, though he didn't necessarily sound completely confident in his abilities to avoid losing and the consequences that came with it. Looking at her for several moments, he brought up a thought that had been on his mind,"I'll be honest... I wasn't aware there were women gladiators, too. Do you fight men or only other women?" @Atrice

It might have been horrible, but at least it was Cynane's choice that time. It wasn't always her choice, which made Amatus' brows furrow a bit deeper for a moment. It being forced made it even worse. That sort of thing didn't sit well with him. Not in the slightest, and it was obvious by the look on his face. At least this time it was her decision, which took the bitter taste out of his mouth. It still didn't completely sit well with him overall, but at least it was a mutual arrangement. "Well, thanks for buying me some fresh air, too," he told her, fully realizing that she didn't have to bring him with her. After the overwhelming day, it was nice to just be surrounded by quiet. The conversation was nice, too. It prevented his thoughts from running away from him and whatever anxiety his newfound lot in life might cause from taking over him. Cinnia could have been given a worse name. Cynane was a princess and a commander of Greek armies. "That's fitting," he replied with a nod. Cinnia had been a warrior in the North. The original Cynane had been something of a warrior, too. Fitting. "Amatus is beloved or loved or... something like that," he explained with a shrug followed by a huff,"Incredibly manly, right?" His trademark sarcasm had an extra bitterness to it that time. Love. He had no use for love anymore and being "beloved" by the spectators or his dominus wouldn't help him stay alive when it came down to it. Moments like those, in which he could find some sort of relaxing peace. Those would help him get through his new life. Love? All it would do was mock him. If he could make himself friendly with the guards, it would be easier to find peace. Chuckling softly, he glanced in the general direction of where they came from. "I doubt I'll be able to charm them like you did," he joked, looking back to her,"so I doubt I'll have much success in that endeavor." @Atrice

There was a strange peace and quiet out in the training grounds. Strange due to the fact that, well, it was the training grounds. During daylight hours it was likely anything but peaceful and quiet. Finding it there now was quite strange, but it was a nice change from the busy dining hall. There was a bench, empty like the rest of the place, up against one of the walls and that was where Cynane was headed. Amatus followed, though he didn't sit down right away. His eyes scanned around the place for a moment, taking it in in the dying light. His attention returned to Cynane as she started to reply to him, though it soon flicked over to the gate when she alluded to it. Talk about a grim reality; she couldn't escape from the place and neither could he for that matter. Looking back to her, Amatus' eyebrows furrowed when he realized what she meant. "That's... horrible." There were several words that played in his mind to use. Horrible, unpleasant, piggish, awful, and even disgusting. Obviously, he settled on horrible, but any of the options would have worked. Amatus then settled beside her on the bench, offering a smile when she told him her real name. "It's nice to meet the real you, Cinnia," he replied, pausing for a moment before adding,"Though Cynane's a nice name, too... far better than Amatus." Chuckling, he shook his head at himself before sighing quietly and glancing around again, the peacefulness enveloping him. "I'm assuming it's hard to find peace in a place like this, huh?" he wondered as he looked back to her. @Atrice

It was too bad. Of course Amatus would have preferred to enjoy the festival just like everyone around him. Of course he would have preferred to be in a good mood and have a great time. Unfortunately for him, the gods weren't always kind or had a twisted idea of kindness, as he was the perfect example of. Was there a way for him to enjoy the festival despite his setbacks? There were multiple ways for him to still enjoy it, but his bad mood over his circumstances killed any chance he might have had at finding a good time. He'd been perfectly content to sulk alone, but somebody he didn't even know had decided that being alone was bad for him. Oh, joy. Sighing, he looked towards the girl, relieved to see that she didn't plan on sticking around, too. Amatus watched as the intruder filled the cups up. The man had more to say, but it wasn't any sort of news to Amatus. He was well-aware of the reason festivals existed. Picking up one of the cups, he took a long swig, nearly downing the entirety of its contents in one sitting. He refrained from doing so, though, and set the cup back down with roughly a quarter of its wine left. He finally gave the man his gaze again after that, though the dark orbs looked no more amused than they had before. His expression morphed into one that could have asked 'Do I look like I want to tell you my story?' After giving the guy that exact look for a few moments, he huffed and leaned back in his chair, reaching forward to draw his index finger along the rim of his cup. "You're not going to go away until I do, are you?" he grumbled, looking from the cup to Iophon. Looking back down at the cup, Amatus tried to decide just how he wanted to tell the tale. He had no desire to tell it at all, but especially not to go all the way back to Belgica with it. Huffing again, he finally began,"I was a gladiator. Pretty damn good one, too. I met my match in a fight and my leg got messed up badly. Took a stab wound to the shoulder blade that struck some nerves or something and messed up my arm, too." Amatus paused to sigh, still looking at the cup. "I guess it's a miracle I can walk at all, but I can't walk without a limp now... and my dominant hand is pretty much useless now. Hurts more often than it doesn't, too..." Shaking his head, Amatus finally looked back to Iophon, finishing with,"There you have it. Forgive me if I'm not exactly happy when I've been reduced to a shadow of my former self." Wallow in it, why don't you, Amatus? @Chevi

Amatus was relieved that the question didn't bother Cynane. He was well-aware of how talking about or even thinking about the past could bring up emotions, no matter how suppressed they were, and he didn't know how sensitive she would be to a question that would bring her mind back to home. To her real home. So to hear that she didn't mind the question was definitely a relief to him. Being friendly with somebody in the Ludus would no doubt be an asset, if only to chase away the loneliness and dread that no doubt came from going through that kind of life all on his own. He knew they weren't friends yet, and perhaps they wouldn't ever actually be friends, but he didn't want to burn the bridge of having somebody to talk to. Thankfully, the bridge wasn't on fire thanks to his mouth. Not yet anyways. Cynane was born and raised in Britannia. Amatus' eyes widened slightly at the news. She was even farther from home than he was, but he smartly kept that thought to himself. He might have been sarcastic at times, but he wasn't insensitive. Not intentionally anyways. Sighing quietly, he shook his head. It was bad planning that led to her and her party losing the fight against the Romans. "I'm sorry to hear that," he told her genuinely. He only had a few spoonfuls left of his own stew, and he downed another while he listened to Cynane continue on. She, too, didn't know what she would do with freedom if she was ever given it. "I know the feeling... I mean, my home wasn't attacked or anything, but... how did it change after I left?" The completely accurate way of wording that last part would have been 'Is my mother still alive?' That was a can of worms he didn't want to open in conversation with anyone, let alone somebody he just met, though. "Come." Amatus was in the process of swallowing his last spoonful of stew. Raising a brow curiously, he took a swig of the less potent wine before standing up to follow her. Where were they going? He kept the question to himself, for one of the guards had noticed Cynane. The guard let them pass, though, and Amatus found himself asking a different question once they were out of the guard's earshot,"They just let you go wherever you want?" @Atrice

There were a lot of words Amatus would happily use to describe his father. Jerk was one of the most mild ones. If he ever got the chance to, he would love nothing more than to punch the guy square in the face... then maybe kick him where the sun didn't shine for good measure. He knew that he wouldn't get that chance, though. Long ago he'd given up the hope of returning home. What he wanted even more than getting some good quality payback on his father was to see his mother again. Even if just for one more time. To hear her voice, to feel her arms around him, to spend time with her. Nothing hurt more than knowing that he'd never get to see her again. Hell, he couldn't even be sure that his mother was alive. Who knew what his father did to her once he'd disposed of the person who'd gotten in his way during his fit of rage. Amatus was surprised to hear Cynane speak so negatively about the Romans. The fact that she felt the way she did about them wasn't surprising in the slightest, but the fact that she would actually open her mouth and voice any negative feelings about them while in the heart of their territory was surprising. Very surprising. Shocking even. That didn't stop him from chuckling a bit at her words, though. "They do, don't they?" he replied, though he kept his voice low so as not to be overheard by the wrong people. Sighing quietly, he shrugged. "My father's the worst of them all," he muttered before stuffing the spoon back into his mouth. After swallowing, he admitted,"I honestly don't know how I'd handle freedom at this point. Rome is so different than my little home in Belgica..." As his voice trailed off, he looked towards Cynane again. "Where are you from?" Though he soon realized that that might have been a touchy subject so he proceeded to add,"If you'd prefer not to say, I understand." @Atrice

Almost a decade. The woman had been there for almost a decade. Amatus couldn't even begin to imagine being at that place or living that kind of lifestyle for so long. It had to get mundane after awhile, boring and repetitive to the point that one could go through it on autopilot. Not that the only other alternative, dying, was better than the same old same old day in and day out, though. Initially, the fresh meat looked impressed by how long she'd been there, though. To be honest, he didn't really know much about the fights. His free years had been spent on the outskirts, with nowhere to witness the spectacles of the arena, and he'd had no chances to experience it once he became a slave, though even his masters never went to any matches. He'd actually assumed women didn't play a part in it so he also assumed that their fights were the same as their male counterparts'. The impressed look on his face melted into a more somber, almost sympathetic one as she continued on and mentioned she'd lost her freedom that long ago, too. Cynane wondered if he'd been captured in battle, to which Amatus shook his head. "No, uh..." His voice trailed off. The topic of how he came into a life of slavery was one he rarely talked about. He actively tried to avoid talking about it, actually, not that it ever really came up much. However, he felt like he shouldn't skirt around the topic with her. She'd been open with him, at least to some extent, so he could offer her the same courtesy. "My father attacked my mother, I attacked him, and he sold me off," he explained with as little detail as he could manage, shrugging after,"Bounced around a bit after that. I was a guard for a merchant who sold expensive goods— jewels and things like that. Some thieves got too big for their togas and tried to rob him. I impressed him a bit too much in defending the merchandise so he sold me as a gladiator prospect. Great reward for my hard work, huh?" @Atrice

Amatus wondered just how few and far between smiles were in a place like that. He figured there weren't too many reasons to smile, unless certain people relished in their victories more than they probably should have. The thought turned his stomach a bit, making him realize that he probably would never celebrate his victories if he had them. Maybe he wouldn't wind up winning at all... he wouldn't have to complain about the food for very long if that was the case. That would have usually made him laugh, but it didn't have that effect this time. "I get the feeling that once that false hope is gone, the chances of survival go way down," Amatus observed as his eyes scanned around the room for a minute, making note of the expressions on the faces that he saw. There were one or two that looked like they had given up hope. He didn't want to live like that, even if there really wasn't any real hope to go around. Looking back to the woman, he learned that she'd been named Cynane. She had another name, too, but she didn't slip up and say it. Nodding, he offered her a smile. "Good to meet you, too," he replied before sighing quietly,"Funny, I'm hoping for the same thing." Smirking slightly, he ate another spoonful before asking her,"How long have you been here?" He nearly worded it how long have you survived, but he decided against going that route. @Atrice

"Is that it?" Amatus raised a brow, looking back down at the bowl of stew. "They've accomplished their goal." It wasn't the worst thing he'd ever eaten. If anything, it was far from the worst thing he'd ever eaten, but that didn't mean he'd be craving it in the future either. He took another spoonful, but it didn't taste any better than the first. At least it would be filling. It had that going for it. Could it get much worse than the stew? "I don't know, can it?" he asked, and though his tone was a bit humorous it was a legitimate question. If either of them knew if the food could get any worse, it was her. He didn't know how long she'd been there, but even if she'd only been there two days it was longer than his one day. "Feel free to give me a bit of false hope," he added with a chuckle before downing another scoop. Amatus looked to her again when she asked if he had a name. "Dago— no..." He sighed and looked down, falling into a sad sort of quiet for several moments. Nope. There was no time for any sort of emotions. Shaking his head, he fixed his mistake,"It's Amatus now." Finally looking back at the woman, he returned the question to her,"What do they call you?" It was probably the better way to ask the question. What she went by might not be her real name in the same way that what he was now called wasn't his real name. That was going to take some getting used to... @Atrice

Doing one's job well was always a good thing, especially for a slave who could pay dearly for slacking off. However, as Amatus walked into the Ludus he was questioning the merit of it. The only reason he was there, posed to be trained as a gladiator, was because he'd done his previous job really well. He'd grown used to the life of a rich merchant's guard. It wasn't much of a life, but he had nothing to complain about it. He'd lived with a full stomach, got to learn a bit of reading from one of the educated men in his master's employ, and he didn't find the work to be dull. Technically, his life was on the line depending on how... determined potential robbers were to get away with his master's goods, but it didn't feel like his life was on the line as much back then as it would be moving forward. All because he'd done too well when a group of bandits ambushed them on the road to Rome. His master, never one to miss out on a chance to make some coin, took advantage of his athletic performance and sold him to a slave trader. Once in Rome, the trader sold him into the life, or possibly death, of a gladiator. Thus Amatus was born, with Dago staying outside in the past. It really did feel like he was looking through new eyes as he entered a whole new world. He wasn't the only one. There were others around him, some younger than him and some older. All unsure of themselves in some way he assumed, though some of them hid their insecurities better than others. Amatus was trying his best to appear emotionless if not a bit confident, especially as all eyes turned to him (or more like the group of fresh meat), but he could tell that he wasn't exactly looking confident. All he could do was hope that he didn't look timid or anything like that. Something told him the place preyed on the weak and he didn't want to look weak. He wasn't weak no matter how much confidence or eagerness he lacked. The reason he was there proved that much. The day was something of an adjustment day. Learn the ropes, get a feel for it, that sort of thing. Despite the relative ease of it, Amatus was still quite hungry by the time he walked into the dining area to get his rations. Nerves were starting to build up inside him. He'd have to sit somewhere... and who knew what that would entail. Once he had his bowl of stew in hand, he surveyed the area before spotting an empty seat next to a woman. How bad could she be? Sitting down with a bit of a huff, he only took a quick glance in the woman's direction before honing in on the stew. It... didn't really look too appetizing, but he wouldn't complain. He was about to bring the spoon up to his mouth when the person beside him spoke. Raising a brow, he looked towards her again and actually chuckled a bit. "You're filling me with such confidence," he joked in return before finally eating the spoonful. After tasting it, his nose scrunched up slightly and he commented,"Setting the bar... pretty low, huh?" @Atrice

Cassia wasn't mean-spirited. That would make things easier on Amatus. There surely would be a period of adjustment for him. It was a completely different life than he'd ever lived before. It would take some time to adjust even without the physical setbacks he had to deal with, let alone with them. Hopefully everyone would be as understanding as Attis was making them out to be. All he would have to do was acknowledge and voice any issues he was having, which would be difficult considering he had a hard time accepting his issues to begin with. Bringing them up to somebody else because he couldn't do something or something would be extremely difficult to do? That would be a challenge. Heck, what wouldn't be a challenge at this point? Apparently not socializing with the other slaves. Everyone had been easy to talk to so far. Granted, he'd only spoken to Longinus and Attis for more than a couple of sentences, but still. Amatus nodded, continuing to eat as Attis mentioned who he could go to for help. "... I'm just going to stand back and find some olives to chew on while I watch what happens." Raising a brow, he smirked around the bite of bread he was chewing on. "I'm no glutton for punishment so you'll have to find some other entertainment," he assured Attis after he'd swallowed. Downing a not necessarily pleasant gulp to wet his throat, his sighed quietly. "I've got to be honest... admitting when I can't do something or need help doing something because of... my limitations isn't easy for me," he huffed, looking down at his previously dominant hand, which he hadn't been using at all throughout the meal. "I haven't really come to terms with it yet I guess," he added in a mutter, shaking his head at himself. As much as he didn't want to say all that, he figured it might save his behind in the future. Maybe. @Sharpie

The hope of Amatus had been to escape it all. "It all" included people. But the popina was full of people one might say? None of those people were talking to him. The buzz of their conversations allowed him to further disassociate himself from everything. Even if the jovialness of the buzz was something of a nuisance. The others had their own things going on and those things didn't include him, allowing him to try to escape just like he wanted to. At least it had been that way, with everybody else ignoring the down in the dumps slave in favor of whoever they were with or whatever they were there for. But then somebody decided to not mind their own business. "That is a way too serious look for a way too cheerful day." Somebody was trying to talk to Amatus. The person didn't stop there, though. They proceeded to sit down beside Amatus. Oh, gods, why? he groaned in his head as he slowly looked towards the person, not exactly appearing to be very amused by the sudden company. "Something did," he grumbled under his breath, looking back towards the wine he'd been nursing. Had he looked like he'd wanted company? Narrowing his eyes more out of confusion than suspicion, he looked back to the guy. "What does it matter to you?" Seriously, though... why did this random individual care? Especially enough to not only approach him and talk, but sit down with him... strange. @Chevi

For the past weeks and weeks, Amatus had been away from the hustle and bustle of the Ludus. Recovering in a bed didn't lead to many conversations with actively training gladiators, but even when he was amongst the fully able bodied gladiators he didn't do much in the way of gossiping. Conversations, sure, but rumors and whatnot? They weren't his game. He'd been on the wrong end of rumors before, as had his mother, and he didn't want to damage anybody like that even if the rumors were true. "I won't. That's not my style," he assured, a bite of bread still in his mouth. Manners weren't exactly near the top of his list of concerns at the moments. "Sounds like she might be a handful," Amatus thought out loud after washing another bite of bread down with the bitter liquid, which made his nose scrunch up a bit. Metella sounded like she would be less of a handful than the younger woman. "I'd like to think that I'm likable," he joked with a chuckle, though he did feel like he wouldn't immediately end up on Metella's bad side. Sighing, he ran his better hand through his hair, eating another piece in silence. "It's going to be a balancing act, isn't it?" he thought out loud. Keeping Cassia happy while keeping his dominus happy, which might wind up making the little domine uphappy, sounded like the definition of a balancing act. Balancing wasn't easy when he had a wobbly leg. At least it would be a figurative balancing act... but still. @Sharpie

Festivals tended to bring out all the joy and merriment within a person. No matter a person's lot in life, they could attend the celebrations and forget about their misery, problems, or whatever else they've got going on. For a short period of time, they could feel like somebody else or feel like the person they wish they were. That was the case for most people, but it wasn't the case for Amatus. Despite the revelry all around him, he looked as alone as he could have been, staring downtrodden at a cup filled with... he didn't even know. He'd mumbled to the attendant behind the counter to give him whatever was handy and that was what was given to him. He hadn't even bothered to take one sip. Amatus had his good days and bad days as everyone would, but even the good days weren't as good as they used to be from a physical perspective and the bad days, also from a physical perspective, were downright bad. It took a toll on him mentally. Some days he could handle it and other days he, well, he sat alone in a popina on a day of merriment looking the opposite of merry. It wasn't like he was completely capable of celebrating like the fully able-bodied people around him could anyways, which was part of the reason why he'd retreated to the popina. Sure, everyone else around him was annoyingly happy, but at least they were sitting around instead of joyfully moving about with their perfectly working limbs. They were easier to tolerate than the busy beavers building huts or dancing around or the gods knew what else. In Amatus' defense, how could he be in a merry mood after limping past so many people having a good time in ways he could not? How could he feel hopeful when he was still adjusting to his new life, which posed its own challenges despite the atmosphere being understanding of his limitations? He was like a bug caught in a gossamer web, struggling against something out of his control. The bug had no joy and neither did he. Sighing, he finally decided to take a sip of the concoction he'd been staring at, not realizing somebody was staring at him. His nose almost immediately scrunched up. How... bitter. To be honest, it suited his mood. @Chevi

"'The cream of the shit'?" Amatus repeated, a brow raised. There was a slight hint of a chuckle in his voice, wondering if anybody else in the domus would feel the same way. Sure, he technically probably was the top dog, to put it that way, but it was fairly amusing to hear him word it that way. "Good thing gladiators aren't known for being gossiping hens, huh?" He wouldn't be a tale-teller, to use Attis' words. Nothing good came from gossip. It had aided in his father snapping and ruining his life, after all. "They are known for... colorful language, though. A good shout of 'fuck' is much more of a pain reliever than 'darn'," he continued, chuckling before finishing,"But I know better than to curse at the man in charge." Who would even think of doing that unless it was an accident or something? What Amatus might have a hard time with was asking for help. He was still struggling to adjust to the fact that he just wasn't capable of doing some things that he would have been able to do prior to his injuries. "Right... makes sense," he said through a sigh, stuffing his mouth with a piece of bread to try to hide the frustration at his disability which was starting to show on his face. He didn't feel like talking about it. A drink was needed to get the entire bite down his throat. "Sounds like you and Metella make it difficult to not tale-tell," Amatus couldn't help himself and neither could his smirk. He nodded to the rest, though. It sounded like several people in the house made it hard to not talk. Ismene sounded like the type to make him want to grumble behind her back. Not that he would. That wasn't his style. "So I guess I'll be helping with Cassia... what's she like?" After a pause, he thought of a question that likely would be just as important,"And how can I make a good first impression on Metella? I don't want to wind up on her bad side." That would make life quite difficult. @Sharpie

Kitchen. Bedroll. Metella. Cassia. Amatus was a fan of the new order of things. Admittedly, he'd been so preoccupied with the goings on of the day that he hadn't even noticed the grumbling and growling in his stomach. Now that it had been brought to his attention, though, it was hard for it to not be at the forefront of his mind. "Ah, yes, may the gods forbid my body from cluttering up the floor," he replied in sarcastic jest, a fitting smirk slightly curling up the corners of his lips. Limping along, Amatus ended up in the kitchen meeting another new person. Marta the cook, who apparently might slip him a treat or two if he treated her right. He raised a brow in response to Attis' use of the word sins, but he said nothing about it. Nodding to the cook, he offered up a smile and a simple,"Nice to meet you." Taking a seat at the table, he sighed quite heavily. He never really realized just how great it felt to get weight off of his leg until he actually sat down and did so. Attis soon came over with something for the failed (though technically victorious) gladiator to eat and drink, to which Amatus nodded his gratitude. Taking a drink from the cup, Amatus pondered the topic of questions. Once he set the cup down, he wondered,"Well, what will I need to know to survive here?" It was a pretty broad question, but a necessary one. A tour didn't do much to inform him of the ins and outs of the place or how the ship was run. Before Attis could give an answer to that question, Amatus brought up another one,"And what will I need to know about Cassia to stay on her—" and thus Longinus' "—good side?" Apparently, for that conversation he was a fan of broad questions. @Sharpie

"I have a fairly informal house." Amatus hadn't been in the house in question for very long, but he already had the feeling that it wasn't the usual tightly run ship. Not in the regular definition of a tightly run ship anyways. In a way, it made him feel more relaxed and at ease. The Ludus had been the absolute definition of a tightly run ship and it had been stressful to say the least. There were things he knew he would have to keep on top of here (like not forgetting to properly address the dominus), but it was nice to know that he wouldn't have to worry about every single thing being perfectly perfect. In other words, he could breathe. Without worrying about inhaling and exhaling the wrong way. He could even crack a joke here and there, as evident by how his "testing the water" joke went over. To be honest, he hadn't expected to get such a laugh out of Longinus, but it was the kind of reaction that he needed to put his mind further at ease. He'd been worried that he wouldn't be able to survive there, but now those worries were being put to bed. Some of them anyways. He still had to see how he would manage with the girl, who would probably only be an eighth of his size. At least the two guys liked him, admittedly even, and one of those guys' opinions was very important. That particular guy could have him shipped back to be used as some kind of spectacle between matches if he felt like it. Nodding to Longinus as the tour was officially turned over to Attis, he replied,"Thank you, Domine." For everything, though he kept it at a simple thank you. Looking towards Attis, he allowed himself to crack a smirk. "Fantastic." From the sound of his voice, he might as well have said "challenge accepted." Bedroll. Metella. Cassia. They had a game plan at least. One that might even involve food if Amatus answered in the right way. Shaking his head, he provided that answer,"No, I haven't. Not even this morning, actually. Guess the Ludus didn't want to waste one more meal on me." He chuckled, but he felt like there was probably some truth to that statement. @Sara@Sharpie

Trying every day, even just a little, was half the battle. Dago believed it. The amount of times that he felt like he didn't have the strength or energy to offer up even the slightest bit off effort were higher than he would like to admit, and if Theo or the grunts tending to him didn't make him he likely wouldn't have tried on those days. The more days he slacked, the less likely he would be to do anything other than slacking. In a situation like his, it was far too easy to lose the will to fight. He knew he would of if not for the efforts of the man who had given him the fighting chance to begin with. "Yes, because the gods were such a great help to me at the start," he muttered, though despite there being some kind of truth to the sarcasm it was truly meant in jest. The wounded gladiator could only manage a handful of steps with a great amount of assistance, but compared to being laid up on the medic's table completely unable to move he'd come a long way. Reaching the bed, he sighed heavily as he sat back down, feeling a weakness in his body that he didn't want to acknowledge. It might have been a great improvement from where he'd been, but being so drained by just a handful of steps wasn't exactly a boost for his self-esteem or self-confidence. "A new body and a pretty girl would be nice," he joked as he carefully lay back down. Then, in all seriousness, he added,"Something sweet to munch on if you can?" To look at him, one wouldn't think that he had a sweet tooth, but, well, he did. @Chevi

Moving about, even if it was just to stand upright, wasn't an enjoyable experience. It caused aches and pains to flair up. However, after spending weeks of just laying around, it was nice to shift into other positions. Not that Dago would admit that to the physician. Walking, on the other hand, wasn't nice at all. It took too much out of him, but he knew that he had to at least try to take a step or two whenever he was up on his feet. If he wanted to be able to walk unassisted and relatively without pain in the future he needed to put forth the effort now. No matter how taxing it was. Dago wouldn't have been able to rush his attempt at taking steps even if he wanted to. Slowly was the only option he had. Well, slowly and wobbly, but those options were usually a package deal. As Theo spoke, he managed to take one wobble of a step, albeit while leaning fairly heavily on him and not without wincing as he put weight down on the foot. He looked to the man, feeling an odd sort of encouragement at his words and the pat given to his back. "I really hope you're right," he said through a sigh, pausing for a moment before admitting a realization,"You haven't been wrong so far. Maybe you will be right this time, too..." He could only hope. He didn't need to be able to run again, though he obviously hoped he'd get full mobility back. All he wanted was to be able to walk around on his own. Anything else would be a bonus at that point. @Chevi

Knowing how to defend oneself was a skill every person should have, especially a woman in Amatus' opinion. Unfortunately for the girl's case in that matter, he didn't see himself as capable of teaching her anything. Unless limping or dropping a weapon unwillingly and randomly had suddenly become useful tactics. Maybe they'd come into fashion in his time since being hauled out of the arena a broken, bloodied mess. His sarcasm really had grown dull lately... "Oh... of course." Longinus had a sense of humor and the slave's inability to sense that left him a little bit embarrassed, though he did his best to hide it. "Jokes were few and far between at the ludus, domine," he attempted to explain himself, complete with a slightly awkward chuckle, as he ran his better hand through his hair. Amatus fell back into silence as the dominus spoke to his bodyslave and vice versa, though he did raise a brow at one of Attis' lines. Start a fashion? At first the whole idea was a bit insulting, but there had to be other gladiators out there who felt the same way he did about their lot in life (or, in his case, previous lot in life). Maybe such a trend wouldn't be that bad. It would bail more people out of the life. Designer gladiators, the predecessor of designer doodles. Attis' offer of taking over the tour brought a better version of Amatus' sarcasm to the forefront of his mind and before he could stop his tongue it came rolling off of it in his own attempt at some good-natured humor,"You won't walk into anything else if you do take over, will you? I'd like to see the rest of the house, not the physician's place." The corners of his lips curled up in a smirk. Maybe he should have bit his tongue, but he thought it was funny! @Sara@Sharpie

It was... chilling to Amatus' very blood to think about what might become of him should he be deemed useless. The state of mind, not to mention state of body, he was in for the time being made it difficult to think of any kind of job he could be useful for should he not fully recover. If he couldn't be put to some kind of use... he didn't even want to think about that. He couldn't think about that or he might just lose the will to fight altogether. If he was working for nothing, why work at all? Nope, no, he couldn't think like that. He couldn't think about a hypothetical future that might not come to pass. He'd already improved, not greatly but somewhat, so who was to say he would end up being good for nothing? Theodorus' observation of what it took to train a gladiator brought an amused chuckle from Dago. "You're not all that wrong," he admitted. Oh, he'd needed a laugh. If there was anything worse than the arm exercises, it was attempting to stand and walk. Sighing as Theo moved on to exactly that, Dago ran his good hand through his hair, reluctantly beginning the process of rising to his unstable feet. "You know, I thought it would have been years and years before I needed help moving around... hell, I figured I wouldn't even reach that point in my life..." he muttered, wincing as he put a bit too much weight on his bad leg,"Yet look at me now..." Most elderly people were more mobile than him. Such a great thought for his self-esteem. @Chevi

Nodding, Amatus thought back to the scenery of his homeland. He'd never seen a coastline until the travels forced upon him by the slave trader and those related "adventures" were Southward. "I couldn't see a wave anywhere around my hometown, but that does ring a bell, domine," he thought out loud, brows furrowing slightly,"I must have heard of the place at some point..." That was the only logical conclusion. He knew he'd never seen it for himself. Bringing his attention to the world around him as opposed to the land in his memory, he glanced around as he walked along behind his master, though his eyes soon returned to the man in surprise as he offered up a compliment. "T-Thank you," he sputtered a bit, sounding as surprised as he looked. His Latin had developed out of necessity; life would have been much harder on him if he didn't get a good grasp on the language as quick as possible. His native tongue existed only in a slight accent that occasionally flared up on trickier words. Amatus had just gone back to taking in the sights when the tour came to an abrupt halt. The one good thing about limping was that he was trailing behind Longinus, which meant that he was able to stop before he even had the chance of bumping into the man. The same couldn't be said for Longinus and the unknown person he'd collided with. Eyes widening, he looked around Longinus to take in the sight of the new person who he soon learned was Attis, the master's bodyslave. He offered up a nod of greeting, though his brows soon furrowed slightly at the man's next comment. Even though he had no desire to ever fight again, it was still something of a sore subject that he was incapable of doing so. It wasn't like losing mobility was ever a welcomed thing. Glancing towards Longinus, Amatus sighed quietly, muttering,"I'm not much use when it comes to that..." His gaze dropped down to his leg for a moment before it shifted to his right hand, which he proceeded to squeeze closed for a moment before he slightly winced at the bit of discomfort the action caused. Sighing even quieter than before, he shook his head and looked back towards the two men, shifting more of his weight to his right leg and resting the toe of his left foot against the floor to give it a break. @Sara@Sharpie

Life had rarely ever been easy for Amatus. Even before his father sold him off, he'd had troubles to deal with. It wasn't a pleasurable experience living in a household with a drunkard who had difficulties successfully existing in a functioning society. Why he expected life to suddenly give him a break and even go a little bit easy on him now of all times, well, it didn't make any sense. Maybe he still wasn't thinking completely straight, the pain was getting to his head, something like that. As Theo continued to help him move his leg, he winced. It had been a particularly tough day when it came to getting his minimal steps in and he was still feeling the effort. If there was any consolation to the whole ordeal it was that, at least to Theo, it seemed doubtful that Amatus would have to fight again. It would be a guaranteed death sentence if he had to. "That's one good thing," he said through a sigh,"though what use is there for a limping slave with the dexterity of a toddler?" He usually wasn't so pessimistic, but how could he not be pessimistic in a situation such as this? Though he genuinely did feel relief over the thought of never fighting again, and at least he wouldn't be of any use to the mines so he likely wouldn't end up there. There were some positives... not many, but some. @Chevi

Though he was already tired of it, the road to recovery was shaping up to be a very long one for Dago. Not only did he have the injured limbs to strengthen and, gods willing, get back to normal, he had to adjust to things like using his left hand like he would have his right. It was odd to say the least, and in a way it made him feel almost... childish. He was relearning things that he learned as a young child and, in a way, he was struggling more now than he did back then. It was borderline humiliating, but he tried to suppress those feelings as much as he could, which did prove to be a difficult task sometimes. It was something of a miracle that the bones had gone back together at all. Dago tried to remind himself of that whenever he became frustrated by the difficulties he had with walking and moving it. Sighing, he wasn't surprised that the way to strengthen the leg was by putting weight on it. In other words, by putting himself through more pain. "Why am I not surprised," he huffed,"Why can't any part of this process be easy? I think I've gone through enough pain for awhile... I could use something easy for a change..." @Chevi

"I usually try to take your word for it, but you're right... it doesn't seem like it," Dago admitted in something of a mutter. All of the little improvements he apparently was making would eventually add up into something more noticeable, but it was difficult to see it that way now. He'd gone from a capable fighter to a man who could barely hold his arm up and could only take a few steps. It was a tough fall from grace, even if he never did enjoy being a gladiator. What man who had even an ounce of pride wouldn't struggle with such a loss to their mobility? Even if his right never properly healed, Dago still had his left. It was perfectly functional, but having to adjust to using it to do things he would typically do with his right was a strange and tricky process. "I can use it just fine, but it's... strange." Yes, strange was the proper word for it. The particular exercise Theo now had him do wasn't one of his favorites... not that he liked any of them. Taking in a breath, he squeezed with his left first before doing his best to squeeze with his right, making himself wince with the very brief attempt. When the attention was shifted to his leg, Dago's brows furrowed in thought. "It's a good thing those slaves are strong... I still feel like I'm going to fall whenever I try to put weight on it," he explained, running his good hand through his hair. If they weren't capable of supporting his weight, he surely would have gone tumbling to the ground multiple times— an experience he definitely didn't want to live through. @Chevi