Chevi

The deal was born in the spur of the moment, but it was a good idea. Aia did not have access to things that men talked about anymore, being in a household of mostly women and children. She moved freely in the city, but not the same way she used to, unless she put on men's clothes, but she was quickly losing the ability to pass. Decimus had access to the men's world just like she did to the women's. "It does sound interesting... But what could I tell you? You spent years in legion camps just like me. You know of what men like, but maybe you speak of gentlemen." Aia blinked, realizing a moment too late that Decimus did not quite understand what she had been asking. "Noblemen in this city love a wife that hangs on their every word." And then it was simply too much fun to interrupt him. Aia linked her fingers together under her chin. "Do tell me more." "Just like men in the legion, they appreciate a plump arse, but that'll only get you so far behind these walls... No, noblemen require elegance as well as beauty. All too often women are presented to them who haphazardly throw themselves at their feet. If you really wish to have a man of their ilk, a certain degree of seduction is required. Give them a taste of what they cannot have and they'll go mad for you." Aia made an attempt at batting her eyelashes "Like this?", before she snorted with laughter. "Well, they will go mad for me then, because they are not getting any of this." she noted, making a gesture at her own scrawny self "Bless you, Decimus, I was not talking about finding a husband. Here is another thing about women: We got to deal with what we have, which mostly means men don't want to bore us with the interesting stuff. Like, what's going on at the frontiers. Or what's going on in the Senate. Or what's happening in Rome after dark. It's supposed to upset us or something. I think my domina knows more about politics through her husband, but her husband is all the way in Britannia, and it feels like kind of a pity to live in this city and not actually know what is happening outside our doors."

"Ha! They say that good things come to those who wait, and I'm in no hurry. Besides, I've got nothing to my name yet besides the title. When I have property it'll be different." Property was the key thing in all of this. Decimus could own some, if he could afford it, and start building a life. Right now, he was a praetorian in a position that was a prestigious place, but not one that would make him personally influential. But if he did his job well, and made a name for himself, his future would be a lot brighter. Aiai had never known Decimus to be a social climber, but sometimes, the right place and the right time was useful to make some dreams come true. And he was right, not many people would marry their daughter to a man who did not own anything. "What sort of things do they like, anyways?.. I mean I know that you like to fight, but what do they speak of?" Like to fight, indeed. "Is this a scouting mission?" she smirked, turning to look at him "You want me to be your eyes and ears in the dangerous world of women?" she chuckled "I can do that. Gods know, they talk. And no, usually not about fighting. Unless it's the games. Many of them like looking at a nice gladiator..." she grinned "How about we make a deal? I don't move in the world of men anymore. There is a whole lot that doesn't concern me as a woman. And it bugs me, because I like to know things. So, I tell you what I know, and you tell me what you know. How does that sound?" @Sains

“So you’re here out of your own free will?” There was an edge to the question, and Aia could understand why. For all their barbaric ways, the Britons were a people who loved their freedom, and were willing to die at the hands of the legions for it. Cynane was here as a slave, with a choice between the arena and the guard duty, so for her, Aia's decision to come to Rome had to feel almost like an insult. Aia's shoulders hunched a little. She did not regret any of her decisions, but she still felt a pang of guilt. "Yes. Sort of. I was also offered options and the other options... were not that great." she admitted. As a woman of Rome, her options had never been that great to begin with; being eployed, rather than punished or carted off to a husband was still the best of all of them. "I made a mistake and this is my way of getting away with it." she paused, looking at Cynane again. She had been in Rome longer than her, but she must have been captured in Britannia at or just before the time Aius got there. "Were you captured in battle?" @Atrice

"I wouldn't worry too much about that... I hardly know where to begin looking for one. Not like a house, you see. If I want a house I can take any that I choose, but a woman has many more strings attached. Strange people, your lot." "Tell me about it" Aia smirked. Strange indeed. Women baffled her even though she now lived among them, and was one of them, and they were all too eager to share their everyday secrets with her. She could understand how Decimus could perceive them as mysterious. He was used to order, and orders, the way only the Roman legions could train you, and to the principles of bravery and honor. None of that was going to help him much when it came to marriage negotiations. "Well, maybe if you serve the imperials well, they will make a good match for you." she suggested. Noble families had connections everywhere, and they tended to know exactly where a marriage would be an advantage. To everyone involved. "Or you can ask an augur to see if the gods have a plan for you..." she added with a chuckle. Romans placed a lot of faith in their seers, but when it came to marriage, it was not the most exact way of making a decision. "You deserve a good wife, Decimus. You could have died for Rome more than a dozen times." And he was also a good man. It would have been a pity if the Fates got him stuck with a shrew. @Sains

"Aius?" The lady had her doubts, and for a good reason. When living in a camp full of men, Aia could pass as a young man, in no small part because no one ever assumed that a woman would pass at all, let alone try to join on her own volition. But here, standing alone in a Roman villa, she was aware that she looked out of place, and that her disguise would not stand up to close scrutiny, even if she was used to living and behaving as a boy. Flavia Juliana finished reading a letter and looked up. What she read must have surprised her, but did not slow her down. "I do not know your reason for deciding to dress as a man and go by Aius, it would be safer traveling as a man," "It is, domina." Aius nodded. Safety had been the original concern why her father dressed her and raised her as a boy after her mother died. And this last stretch of the journey, from Britannia to Rome, would have been a lot harder as Aia, even though she was already found out. "You are to be a tutor for Quintus, and teach him the different languages, and... You will do so as Aia." Aius let out a breath she had been holding. With her husband far away, the lady of the house could have put up a fight against the new tutor if she wanted to. Even now, she held the power to make Aia's life miserable. But at least she was not losing her chance at a new life right away. Aius nodded. "Thank you, domina. I will do my best." she paused, looking a little sheepishly at her; now that she knew her secret, it was even more awkward to stand in front of her, dressed as a man. "... I'm afraid I don't... have a fitting outfit yet." @Gothic

"Well, real women often look to marriage at your age, you know? Perhaps some handsome mercenary will sweep you off your feet while in service to the Domina! Maybe you'll be a happy housewife before I even own a house!.. Though you'll have to grow out your hair a bit." "Don't worry, my hair will grow out by the time yours falls out" Aia shot back at him with a grin. A mercenary sweeping her off her feet, indeed. She needed a lot of time before she would warm up to the idea of having a Roman marriage, something advantageous and sensible, but also something that would take away her last chances of independence. Roman wives definitely did not travel the empire. And unless they were comfortably rich, the position seemed like a lot more trouble than being a tutor. Especially because it came with a husband. "If I have room when I buy my new palace, you're more than welcome to bring your old mat over and camp out on the floor. So long as you pay for your own food, of course." "Generous offer" Aia chuckled, but her smile warmed a little. Decimus knew her well enough to know his suggestions of marriage were not something that made her look forward to that future. He had been on the frontier with her where both of them slept in leaking tents with their weapons nearby. Sometimes it was hard to shift from that life to this one in one's mind. "Although I'm not sure your future wife would be thrilled about that."

“I see. That does sound like you’ve been with them most of your life. War captive, like me?” Cynane got the wrong idea, and there was no graceful way of correcting it. Aia had no idea how she would react to finding out how she really got here, which was too bad, because she found the woman fascinating, and it would have been a pity to cut their conversation short. Aia had no hatred for the Britons on principle, although she had definitely done her fair share of fighting them back at the frontier. Eventually, she shook her head. "No, I was born in the province. My father was a merchant, so we followed the legions to Britannia... he was killed when I was still young, so I... made use of the languages I knew, and volunteered to be an interpreter." She stopped there, before she could have told her that she lived her life as a boy back then. The wrong people in Rome finding out about that could have caused a lot of trouble for her, and for her new household... @Atrice

There was a way people in the household tended to look at Aia. She knew she was an awkward site, and not exactly as graceful as she was to be expected, but there was nothing she could do about it right away. And this girl, even though she was a decade younger, had a lot more power and confidence, which made the former interprex feel even more at a loss about how to even begin tutoring her in anything. "I suppose I am, though I will warn you that languages are not my strong suit." Well then. Languages came easily to Aia, but trying to teach them to someone who did not share the same talent might prove difficult, and she knew that. Then again, how much practical knowledge in British or Gallic would a high born Roman lady even need?... Aia followed along until they found a room. "What have you to teach me?" Aia took a deep breath. "Your parents wish me to tutor you in some of the languages of the empire and beyond. Besides Latin, I speak Gallic, the main dialects of the British frontier, and a few Germanic dialects from the Rhine. I think... it might be easiest if we start with Gallic?..." @Echo

Cynane seemed to consider Aia, and her comments, with a sort of strange look on her face. It was clear that she did not like the Romans, which made sense, if she had been a freeborn warrior who got captured in battle. Aia knew enough of the Britons to know it was probably a worse fate than dying in the fight. She had sympathy for the other woman, and also a growing sense of admiration. She knew she probably seemed strange to her, but she couldn't exactly explain her interest without pointing out that she happened to be a soldier from the other side of the same frontier... “I have been in this palace almost two years. I have been in Rome for 11 years. And you, how long have they kept you for?” "Oh, um..." Aia's usual eloquence faltered, and she cleared her throat "I work for Flavia Juliana as her children's tutor. I only arrived to Rome recently... before that, I worked in Britannia. As an interpreter." They were still conversing in Cynane's language, which made it clear that Aia had experience with speaking it. @Atrice

Aius stood at attention on instinct when the lady of the house appeared. She caught a curious glance, but there was really no way Flavia Juliana could have known in advance that the person sent to her by her husband would be a woman in disguise. Could she...? "Salve, domina" she greeted her politely. "Salve, I hear you have a message from my husband?" Aius nodded, pulling the carefully leather-bound message out of her satchel, and handing it to the lady. "Yes, domina. I'm Aius, interprex for the ninth legion in Britannia. Your husband sent me to you. I believe he explains it in the letter." She didn't want to launch into her long and complicated story before Juliana had time to read the message. Her husband probably explained his reasons a lot better than she could. Or maybe the letter just said 'get rid of this person immediately.' There was only one way to find out. Aius found herself holding her breath. @Gothic

Women, at least the women of Rome, did not fight. Ever. The military was a man's world, and women had no place anywhere near it, especially not with a weapon in hand. Britannia... that had been another world. Aia had seen their women fight along with the men. But how did one of them end up in the heart of Rome, working for the imperials nonetheless? “They do. Fighting is what I do best. And it’s not like I have a choice, do I? It’s this or the arena. And I prefer being here. Wouldn’t you?” The arena. "You were a gladiatrix?" Aia noted, her eyes widening a little in surprise. So, she was a warrior, a Briton... and most likely a slave. Arena or guard duty. Aia nodded slowly at the question. "Yes... I'd prefer it too." she admitted. The amphitheater was the central building project of recent years, and with it, gladiator game were beginning to rival the popularity of the circus. Fewer team rivalries, and way more deaths on the sand. Aia had never been yet, but she heard a lot about it. "They picked you because you were a warrior" she mused. Unspoken question: Why did they trust her? Why did she trust them?... "How long have you been here?" @Atrice

"The pay's good enough to find one, sure, but I hardly know the details. Buying a house has a lot of little prickling details... How big? Where at? Not to mention i'll be sandwiched in with a bunch of neighboring Cives..." "Oh no, the horror!" Aia gasped in mock terror, covering her mouth with her hand. She stifled a snicker instead. Decimus, with all the talk of duty and honor, still had plans and dreams like everybody else. A house was a mundane one, but sweet nonetheless. And definitely beat the times when they had bloidthirsty Britons for neighbors. "And what of you? Do you intend on staying with your 'mistress' all your life?" "Gods, I don't even know if I'll last the month!" she snorted, shaking her head with a smile "But no, I don't think growing old as a tutor is my ultimate dream. It's good for now, considering how close things got to... Going terribly wrong, back there. I guess I haven't had time to think beyond that, yet. Too busy learning how real women behave here in the great city... " @Sains

The young woman that was waiting for her looked like a true lady of Rome. Aia did not have natural born trust for other women, especially when they were from the nobility, which was a strange and alien world for her. But right now, she was doing her best to be accepted into the family as a tutor, and to do the work she had been hired for to the best of her ability. "Salve! How nice to meet you, you must be Aia?" "Salve, domina" Aia nodded in greeting, looking at her new pupil. She seemed friendly enough, or at least not completely opposed to the idea that she had a new tutor. "A pleasure to meet you. I am told you are ready for your language lessons?" @Echo

"Sadly no one's made an attempt on her life, as of yet, but I'll tell you if that changes." "Sadly?" Aia quirked an eyebrow, and sat back, leaning against the sacks. It was nice to let go of trying to be poised, and regain some of the familiarity that they used to have back in the camp. "Don't let your superiours hear you talk like that." A bodyguard noting that there had not been enough attempts on the life of his charge might not have been the best recommendation for his job... "Princess'd hardly see me handle a sword unless I needed to. I do all my training at the castra. Not much to cut up in her room beside fine bedsheets and curtains, and I don't know if she'd appreciate it much. I take it the children can speak perfect Gaul-ish now?" "Well, maybe one day you can show off how heroic you can be. I'm sure princesses like that." Aia smirked "The children don't speak anything but Latin and nonsense so far. But I'm trying." she chuckled "So, buying a house, huh? They pay you well enough to settle down around here?"

“That’s where I was born and grew up... much further North than here.” A woman from Britannia, working as a guard in the heart of Rome. Ten years agom such thing would have been unheard of. Even now, Aia doubted most people of Rome were aware that women could exist in such a position. She wondered if Decimus knew her. She wondered how he felt, given his history with Britannia. Then again she could have asked the same about this woman... “What about you, Aia? I’ve only seen Roman ladies use wigs to gain that color of hair – they must be envious of yours. So where were you born?” Aia touched the ribbons on her head. Her hair color was definitely not as common in Rome as it had been in Gaul. "I'm from Gaul. But I... spent time in Britannia." she admitted, taking a seat across from Cynane, and she switched to one of the more common dialects she had learned in Britannia "They let you work here as a guard, even though you are a woman?..."

@Sydney If we can find a reason for them to meet, that would be lovely! Aia is new in Rome, so when she has free time and opportunity, she goes exploring. If it's in the less fancy parts of the city, I would imagine she might wear men's clothes again to feel safer. I don't know how often Justinia leaves the brothel, or where she moves, but I'm sure we can figure something out

A woman wearing breeches... an armed woman wearing breeches was the last thing Aia expected to see in the imperial palace. And yet, here she was. Aia had been dismissed while the noblewomen talked, and for lack of a better idea (Decimus must have been on duty somewhere) she looked for a place to sit and wait. It didn't take long for her to spot the blonde woman, dressed unlike any of the other women at the palace. Aia herself was wearing a simple, clean tunic and stola, and ribbons wrapped around her slowly growing hair. While she didn't have the military cut of her frontier days anymore, her hair, unbound, still mostly resembled a magpie nest on fire. She approached the woman carefully. She did not look like she belonged here, but she certainly behaved like it, greeting Aia in Latin with an unmistakable hint of British. “Salve. I’m Cynane, Claudia Caesaris’ guard, in case they didn’t tell you. You are with my Domina’s guests today?” A guard. A woman who was a guard. Aia knew she was staring, and yet she had a hard time trying to stop. "Aius..." she cleared her throat "I mean, Aia. I'm with Flavia Juliana's household. You are... from Britannia?"

"Ho... Well... Oh, gods... It sounds like a grueling hell. How on earth do you manage it?" Well, the bit about the hair might have been oversharing, but at least Decimus seemed to genuinely feel the pain of the whole idea. He was emphatic like that. Aia made a face and covered her legs again. Wearing a short tunic in the warmer months, he had seen plenty of that back when she was still Aius. He seemed amused at her tirade about the trials and tribulations of living as a woman of Rome. She kicked out at him for the snickering, but couldn't exactly deny the humor in the situation. "If it's any consolation, a dress suits you. Perhaps you need only grow into the role. Plus those children might well teach you a thing or two about how to properly behave! No excuse now. No Britons to distract everyone while you mope in the shadows. " "I can behave when I have to, thank you very much." Aia turned up her nose at him, although it was nice at least to hear she did not look like a hag in the dress. Even if it was definitely far from suiting her in any elegant way. "And how are you faring without the Britons to distract everyone? Have you stopped any political assassinations yet? Shown off your sword skills in front of the princess?"

"The brothels? Why, are you looking for a career?" Aia jabbed at his ribs with her elbow for the snide remark. He didn't mean it, it was just the force of habit. So was the jab. Aia was still scrawny enough to have very pointy elbows. "Joking!.. I don't know, they're there for men with no self-control. I daresay I can wait for fortune to show me a woman before I'll pay for one." "D'awww" Aia chuckled. Such an honorable man. One would have thought Rome stopped making those back in the time of Mucius Scaevola. She had never known Decimus to indulge in things even the best-regulated legionaries allowed themselves sometimes, especially after well-earned victories. He was not only behaving like a disciplined Roman soldier - he actually believed the principles. Bona Dea bless him. "You know... You gave a few things up when you took off the pants of a man. What is it like wearing a dress and being called by your name again?" "Weird." Aia admitted promptly "I mean... you can't imagine how weird. I have never really learned all the... woman things. The dresses, the paints, the... secret bits. Women talk about these things. Gods of Dis, Decimus, you wouldn't believe the things they talk about! And the clothes! I feel like I'm wrapped for a funeral. And this!" she huffed, pulling the edge of her tunic up to flash her shins at him "They take the hairs off your leg! Why on earth are we not torturing the enemy with this?"

"'Gypo gods? I hear Cleopatra was a sight in her day, though I don't suppose her skeleton would want me having a look." Fair enough, Egypt was not all that it used to be a hundred years or so earlier. It was still the source of good food, and the kind of bread they were currently definitely not stealing from the imperial pantry. But the time of grand temples and pharaohs was definitely over. The god that were lucky to survive served Rome now, in their own way. "Well, I guess I like them because I've always looked good in them. Toga's no soldiering garb, I'll tell you that much. Damned thing just gets in the way." "Oh, you poor unfortunate man" Aia said in mock pity as she smoothed out her stola. She was glad that most of the time they did not need her to wear a palla around the house. Three layers of drapery were more than enough to wear. Decimus had to know who he was talking to about uncomfortable outfits... Back at the frontier, they were both used to the same. "Its an age gone past. Any man would be insane to say he loved that place, but the forests were a sight to behold... Not much exploring worth doing around the city. Just bars and brothels. Bars and brothels..." "Yeah, the city seems like such a boring place to be" Aia continued with the sarcasm as she took the last piece of the bread offered to her "Do tell me about the brothels."

Whatever Aia imagined the life of a woman serving the imperials would be, the conjured images did not usually involve her sitting in a pantry with a praetorian, swapping banter. Not that she was complaining. It was a feeling of familiarity she had lacked since she left Britannia. Her life was safer now, and definitely more comfortable... but also, in a way, more lonely. Not many people in Rome shared the place where she came from. None, really, except for this good-natured eligible bachelor on top of the flour sacks. "Oh, be assured young lady, they are benevolent deities the likes of which you've never encountered. They spit gold and drink ambrosia." "So, they spit a lot?" Aia smirked. She was just getting used to her own household, and while they were definitely imperial-adjacent, the Palatine was something else entirely "You should have gone to Egypt if you wanted living gods." "They're just like every other noble family I've met. The armor they hand out is something to see though..." "You always did like a good uniform" she grinned, reaching out to break off a piece of his bread "I guess you don't miss the frontier much, do you?"

"I am a duty sworn Praetorian, charged with guarding a royal princess of the Empire, Ma'am." Had Aia still been chewing on the apple, she would have choked at this point. Maybe it was lucky she had already thrown it away. She had been joking about the duties of a praetorian, knowing full well that anyone in that position would have serious responsibilities at the palace. But... a princess? Truly? She looked at Decimus for a few long moment trying to see if he was joking. He seemed to have a healthy dose of humor, but not making this up on the fly. "Sometimes they let me fold her clothes, if I behave, of course." "Praetorian and handmaiden?" Aia chuckled, shaking her head "Seems like you landed on your feet, Decimus." getting off the barrel, she sat down next to him, her dress bunching around her legs. She let it, too frustrated with the whole outfit to care. "So, what's she like?... What are they all like? Are you allowed to talk about it, or do they pay you too well?"

"Ah, so you let another man discover the dreaded secret. Must be a more common occurrence than I realized. " The apple barely had a bite missing from in when it left Aia's hand and flew at Decimus' face - with more anger than precision, because in the end, it missed by a good few inches, and landed somewhere behind the sacks. It was a waste of a good apple, but she was not exactly thinking about that at the moment. His joke hit a sore spot in her recent past, and came in a way he probably never intended. She could have played it off as part of the banter... but for some reason, she didn't. She huffed, folding her arms again, and watched as he got himself some bread to eat. Idiot. "What do you teach the children then? How to cut their hair or how to wrap bandages?" "I teach them languages" she responded in her native Gallic, then tilted her head as she switched back to Latin "Do you only guard pantries, or do they also let you look after the linen closets?"

"Hardly. Didn't fight alongside many girls in Britannia." Aia rolled her eyes as she bit into the apple. Her point probably passed Decimus by completely, but for now, she was too excited to see him again to stick to the banter. Locked in a pantry - an imperial pantry, mind you, although most of the food seemed completely normal, if not a little fresher and cleaner - it was almost like they were inside a tent again. She wondered what would happen if someone saw a praetorian and a girl disappear in a pantry. Gods, army camps had been so much simpler... Decimus was looking at her, and she made a face at him. She knew how ridiculous she looked in the outfit. "Live here? No. That would be the dream. I live in a castra. It's a while away from here and far less comfortable... Was thinking of buying a house, honestly. And yourself? I assume you sleep on sheets of silk and eat oysters every morning?" "Yes, and I have a slave just to peel the grapes before I eat them, and a muscular Parthian to feed them to me" Aia smirked, flipping the scarf on her head since she didn't exactly have hair long enough to flip, then shrugged "I am a tutor to the domina's children. Got found out, back in Britannia, and Proconsul thought it best to send me away quietly before I ruined the entire legion's morale."

"Oh, you're a woman now, 'eh? That's new." "Bite me" Aia muttered as she followed along. She had always been a woman, really, just one that was pretending to be a man at the time. Which Decimus had known, even back then, and handled admirably well after the initial shock of the news. This many years later, her being dressed as a woman was likely a similar shock to him. Oh, the irony. "I'm not an intruder, far from it. I'm a guardsman, a Praetorian, mind you!" "Prateorian?!" Aia blinked, tilting her head to look him over "What do you know..." Decimus had always been going places. Rome liked to have men like him. Being in the praetorian guard, though... well, no wonder he was hanging around the palace at night. The door revealed a pantry on the other side. Aia snorted as she was ushered inside, the small space closing in around them as the torch was put in its place and the door closed. Once feeling secure, Decimus relaxed his attitude somewhat and took a seat. "Not exactly bliss, but it'll do..." "I bet you say that to all the girls you fought alongside in Britannia" Aia grinned, taking a seat on a barrel, carefully holding her dress so that it wouldn't tear. Looking around, she spotted a basket of apples, picked one up and inspected it. Apples were apples everywhere. "So, you are guarding the imperial family now? This is where you live?"