Chevi

"No, that'll be fine, thank you," Metella nodded, and turned to leave. The household slaves could fulfill any requests Sergia had. But before she could walk away, the young woman spoke up again. "but I wouldn't mind some company for a bit. I... well, it wouldn't hurt to get to know the kind of people Senator Longinus has in his household. While I'm here. You know?" Metella smiled a little as she turned back to her. So, she was not the only one curious around here. And if she played the game right, this conversation could go both ways. "Sure, domina." "Your name, first, so I can let the dominus know how hospitable you have been to me." "Metella, domina. I am Cassia Antonillia's nurse." The girl was growing up with alarming speed; soon she would be a body slave, rather than a nurse. @locutus-sum

Kissing Lexus was marvelous. This time Septima wound her arms around his shoulders and rose to her tiptoes, trusting him to hold her steady. She was quite lost in the experience, until the moment when someone coughed next to them. "Uhm... Clio?" The illusion crumbled immediately. Clio jumped, letting go of Lexus, turning bright read as she turned around. As if she could hide Lexus behind her back, despite him being taller. "Thalia!" Oh no. This was not going to be good. @Atrice

“Good job there’s a whole group of people who’s time and services can be bought, just over there.” Lucius glanced over at the women splashing around nearby, and sighed. Ovinia was not going to let this topic go. Which made sense, it had to be near impossible for her to get used to her new position in life. Which she was doing with some success, although she still talked back way too much for someone who was not free. "They don't look like they were trained by a medicus." he noted, wiping some of the wet hair out of his eyes. “We can do those exercises when you’re out of the pool. Unless you want to see me drown, I’m not sure a veil is conducive to swimming. How does it feel?” "Like shit" he replied honestly, his arm floating in the water at the moment. Even with the easier movement in the pool, the exercises were still excruciating. He had a very limited range of movement. "I mean, the water makes it a bit better, but..." he frowned. Would the exercises help, eventually? He was beginning to question that. Remembering that he used to swim only made it worse. @Sara

"The only women in here are prostitutes. Which I am not, so no thank you." "Too bad. The water is quite nice" he chuckled, dipping under the surface before he came up again. If he was going to get soaked, might as well soak properly. "You need to actually move your arm if you want it to help. You should run through all the exercises." "Yes domina" Lucius had to admit, Ovinia was taking her nursing task very seriously. He rolled his shoulder, grimacing. The water helped hold his arm up, but it was still not easy to move. He went through the motions slowly, as much as he could before he needed a break. "Here is the thing, though, how do we do the exercises I need help with?" He knew there were some, but so far she had been avoinding them. @Sara

Stretch in the water. Alright then. The closer part of the pool was shallow enough to do that without drowning. However, that was where Ovinia's helpfulness ended. "Seriously?" he frowned at her. It wasn't like he was asking her to get naked or anything. But since she declined to help, he couldn't either. "I do care." He would have to walk all the way home all wet. Ow. Ovinia sat down on the edge of the pool. She was keeping her head down, hiding her face. No doubt she was worried someone would recognize her. Lucius was too annoyed to care. He went to the steps that led into the pool and walked in. A few people raised their eyebrows at him going into the water tunica and all, but not many really cared. Lucius walked in till he was up to his shoulders, allowing his arms to float. "You could get in. Nobody cares here" he smirked at her. @Sara

"Two of the People's Tribunes already part of Titus Augustus' concilium. I am looking for those from whom we would not hear." It made sense, what Tiberius was saying. Lucius did not like to play politics. But he also knew that he was not officially an officer of the vigiles just yet; if a centurion, a tribune, or even the praefect found out that he was counseling an imperial as a mere recruit, he would never get away from the gossip that he used his patrician privilege for going over the head of his superiors. It was a serious accusation he wanted to avoid. So now, he had to make a choice, once again, about making his own life a whole lot harder. "It's nothing formal. It's highly likely I'll never actually gather all my counsellors together. But I can't think how else to explain it. You walk the streets and see the homes of the plebs. You might notice a problem. 'This block of Insulae are too fire prone, those one are falling apart, and these have no easy water access'; that kind of thing." Lucius chuckled, and nodded. "You have no idea how much the people need someone to hear them like this... although I am telling you right now, I will probably see and hear more than you will have the capacity to deal with. But even a little bit helps. And I appreciate it." @Sarah

Alright, so kissing was good. Now that she was a bit more bold about it, it was actually great. Lexus seemed to think the same, and they kissed for a while, feeling all warm and fuzzy as they held each other gently. Eventually, they did have to come up for air. Septima was flushed and smiling, and Lexus looked happy too. "That... was even better. More?" "More" she giggled, feeling light-headed. If she had known it was this good, she would have kissed him a lot sooner. @Atrice

Alexius and Theo were willing to take on the brother. Lucius nodded. Didia also had some suggestion, but she was soon occupied by trying to herd the newcomer out of the room. He must have lived in the insula too. Damn nosy neighbors. Some chaos ensued, as it became clear that Didia, for all her snark and skepticism, was very, very bad at lying. A funeral? Really? Lucius rolled his eyes. "Maybe he could help us? The more the... merrier?" "Do we trust him?" Lucius asked Alexius quietly. He seemed to know the young man. "A missing purse?... Help you? So you want my help finding a missing purse, is that it?" Oh, for the gods' sake. @Sharpie@Sara@Atrice@Liv

"Well, now you've got help. And I bet any of these people will help you kill him - you know I will." Azarion nodded. He wanted a piece of that man. He did not want anyone else to get to kill him, but apparently everyone here had a very good reason to do so. The man had made one too many enemy, and now they were going to find him. Azarion wondered how long it would take to find a... barber, in Rome. He has seen me, he signed to Jason. He couldn't go out looking, even if he could talk. That annoyed him. This newcomer also annoyed him. He did not look very bright. @Sara@Sharpie@Liv@Atrice

For all the fuss she had made about the room, Ovinia sure took her time moving into it. And yet, she did put in the work as promised. Annoyingly so. She made a schedule and everything, and reminded him regularly to do the exercises. They were a pain, both literally and figuratively, so when she told him they were going out for a new kind of exercise, Lucius was already apprehensive. Apparently, they were going to the piscina. "You want me to... swim?" He stared at Ovinia. He had been a good swimmer before, but no one was any kind of swimmer with only one arm. What was he supposed to do, flail? "It'll help. Even if you just move it a little." He looked at the pool, then her again. Was this a thing the medicus had said? Not like he didn't like the water, but he hated the idea of people seeing him struggle. He frowned. "You will need to help me take the tunica off." @Sara

"Oh yes. I'm so looking forward to playing a nurse slave to a man so miserable he..." Lucius' eyes flashed, not that she'd see that. More with pain than with anger. He did not like to be seen as miserable. He hated pity. And he really did not know what to do about it, other than his damn job, the best he could. "That's been my life's calling, clearly." She did not realize what he was offering. Learning that skill would help him for now, and it would give her a room. But Lucius was still a tribune of the vigiles. Anything could happen, if the civil war was any indication. And if anything did happen, she would be sold or given to someone else. He doubted she had realized that yet. "Did you want to start now? Or can I sort my room?" "Whatever." he sighed, getting off the bed. "I'll go talk Marius off a ledge." That was going to be fun. @Sara

"That wasn't a no." Lucius let out an exasperated sigh. "No, I will not try to bed you." He understood why she would be nervous about that. He had been telling the truth, but a master was under no obligation to keep a promise to a slave. Still, he did not want her around if she was going to be constantly wary. "I need a tablet, to make you a schedule. And I need to know what you currently take for the pain." "Opium and wine." he sighed "I'll get you a tablet. And I'll have Marius take you to the medicus so he can train you. Who knows? Maybe you'll be happy to have more useful skills one day."

"Are you going to listen to me, if I agree?" "As long as you make sense." he shot back. If she knew what she was doing, he would follow her lead. He did want to get some use of his arm back, even if he doubted it would ever be the same. And apparently he needed someone to keep him on schedule. But he did not want to be called lazy by a slave more than necessary. Which was none. "And you won't...try anything? With me. I mean." Lucius sighed, rolling his eyes. "I have enough money to pay for a prostitute if I want to." @Sara

"That is not how this works." Lucius noted, more calmly. She seemed very much taken by the idea of the room, but not so much about the... nursing. He knew this was not going to be an easy choice for her. As a patrician girl, she would not have even been allowed to be alone with him, let alone sleep in his room, unsupervised. They both knew he was not going to take advantage of the situation, and her chances at any social standing were all destroyed now anyway, but it still had to sting. "In exchange for the room, you can do whatever the medicus would do. He can teach you if he needs to." he said, sitting back on his bed. "Some of exercises need help, I already know that. So do... well." Using the ointments he'd gotten. And probably portioning out the opium. "It's a job I don't want the servants to take on, so none of them will argue that you get to sleep in here." It was important to him, not to play favorites with her of all people. She did not make many friends in the household. @Sara

Ovinia answered his snarky question, more than he had expected her to. Lucius winced as she poured out the story of her mother, and the pain she had lived with. He was beginning to relate to that. It also explained why Ovinia was so hung up on the issue of healing his arm. Explained how she even dared to take a tone like that with him. "That won't do anything, you have to move the muscle in your back. The medicus said it supports the arm. Or do you want to live without its use, the rest of your life?" "I probably will anyway." he muttered, frustrated. Gods, this mess. His arm, the medicus, the girl... Lucius took a deep breath, wishing he was not already out of opium. He really wanted to sleep. "Fine. You know what? Fine." He gave him a glare. "You want your own room? Take that one." He nodded towards the side door opening from his room. It led to a small, windowless chamber, normally the domain of a body slave. But Lucius did not want anyone to be on watch over him at night, so Marius had another, better room, and this one was... mostly just filled with stuff. "If you want to nurse me so bad, go ahead. At least it looks like you have a job that merits that room." @Sara

"You don't need to him to do house calls. They weren't that hard. You're just being lazy." Lucius quirked an eyebrow at her. Usually, he did not demand the kind of reverence from his servants as many other noblemen did, but Ovinia was really pushing the boundaries. She must have realized it from the look on his face because she quickly course corrected. "...Domine." Lucius scoffed. Ovinia was really putting in the work for that room. "This one - Isn't exactly hard. It'll help. It helped my mother." "Your mother was injured in battle too, was she" he muttered, half-heartedly moving his arm, and wincing from the pain. He did not like these exercises at all. He had to hold his injured arm with the other one to make it move properly. Or at all, really. @Sara

"The free servants don't get to decide where I sleep though." "No, but I still owe them an explanation why they had to share the dormitory while the slave girl gets a room" Lucius pointed out. He really did not have the patience for this conversation. Sure, Ovinia had found him a medicus, but all it had done was put him more on edge. "And he didn't have...s-shit advice. Have you been doing the exercises?" "Ovinia!" "I've got this, Marius!" Lucius yelled. He could only put up with one indignant person at a time. He looked up at Ovinia, and had the decency to look at least a little sheepish. "I've done... some of them. I don't have the time to keep sending for him for house calls." @Sara

The Eastern medicus had some opinions about his arm and his injury. Lucius did not like all of them, but he was also willing to try things he had not tried before. Which was, apparently, some ointments, and a whole lot of exercises. Doctors did not make it easy on their patients in the East. He had done a few of the exercises, but then he got distracted, trying to run the vigiles from behind a desk. Which was, honestly, enough trouble that it made him want to go out on patrol, injury be damned. He got home exhausted and cranky, and not even in the mood to eat. He was sitting in his room, nursing his arm, when Ovinia made an appearance. "Domine?" Marius was somewhere behind her, trying to intervene, but she ignored him and slammed the door. Now Lucius was paying attention, looking up from where he sat on the bed. "Why are you in my room?" "I want to talk about the room. I held up my end of the bargain! The medicus had good advice, and yet I'm still sleeping in the dormitory." "The medicus had shit advice. But sure, if you keep treating the free servants this kindly, they will happily give you a room to sleep in." @Sara

"Deal. I take it that this means I have your permission to leave the domus?" "Sure you do. Marius will take you" he responded with a smirk of his own. He doubted she would run - she did not seem scrappy enough to chance life as a runaway slave - but he did not fully trust her just yet. "And don't take too much. If you die because you've had too much that'll be on may head and even I know what happens to slaves that kill their masters." "Better pray I don't die, then" he noted, turning to leave. He needed the pain to go away. At least until morning.

"Fine. Don't listen to me. Live in pain for the rest of your life." He did not want to. He really did not want to. She was not wrong, she was just very annoying about being right. And nothing was going to solve the pain tonight anyway, even if he took her up on her suggestions later. "I told you I can't sleep in the dormitory. And they all get proper beds and I get some straw stuffed into a sack on the floor. Nobody was using this room so I took it." She was not used to sleeping in the servants' quarters, that much was clear. But Lucius was also not sure what the others would think if the princess suddenly got her own room, because she wanted one. She made a sudden movement, fumbled, and revealed the bottle in her hand. "...found it?" The shrewd little witch. Lucius sighed. He did not have the energy to fight this. "You find me the Eastern doctor, and I will find you a place to sleep. Not this place, because we clearly are using it for storage." And no one needed to trip over her again. "And I'll take the opium for tonight."

"Really? You could have fooled me." Lucius glared at her. She was not looking for the opium anymore, just poking fun at him while he was in pain. Damn this girl. He groaned, pushing himself to stand up. He was not about to tell her the whole story of what had happened to his arm. He wished he could forget it, even though he never would. "As I said. You need a proper medicus; some of them do more than just look and sigh and say there's nothing they can do. There's an Eastern school of thought, all about stretches and things." Stretches. All he wanted was to sleep through a night, and not be in pain, and be able to write his own goddamn letters, and go out with his men on patrol. And instead... stretches. Lucius scoffed. "My advice costs though, I'll take this room in payment." He blinked, looking around. He was not expected to pay her anything for anything, but... this was an odd request. "Why are you in here anyway?"

She turned to look at him, hand on her hip. She still had the attitude of a patrician girl unfairly treated. "My mother used it. It didn't help, just made the next day worse." Lucius knew some people took opium just to escape a different kind of pain. It had an effect of making him drowsy and sleepy, which was good for the pain for most days, as much as he hated losing clarity. Other than drinking himself unconscious like a barbarian, there really wasn't a good alternative. "Your turn to share. What is wrong with it? Your arm?" Lucius frowned at her, his good hand moving to his injured shoulder. "I told you. I got injured in the goddamn civil war." @Sara

Ovinia rummaged around in the storage shelves, looking for the opium. Lucius felt ashamed that she was here for all of this. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoing, coming out the middle of the night. But he was in too much pain to complain about it now. "Then you need to see a better medicus. Some of them are better than others. There's a Greek one we used to use..." He knew he should. But he also did not want to hear the same thing over and over again. It had been bad enough the first time. "How much have you taken?" "Apparently not enough, before I went to bed." he frowned. "It's not always this bad." He added. Sometimes he slept through the night. Apparently, tonight was not one of those. "What do you know about opium anyway?" @Sara

She could have still walked out if she wanted to, Lucius was not going to stop her. In the low light of the candle, he could not quite tell if she was annoyed at him or pitied him. One of those was worse than the others. "Opium won't help. You need to see a medicus. Opium just masks it." Lucius scoffed. "The medicus has done what he could. He said the pain will go away eventually." Sooner or later. Mostly. His arm would never work like it had before, so the best he could hope for was less pain. Right now, it sounded like heaven. "He also offered to just take the arm off, which, honestly, doesn't sound so bad right now." He breathed through his nose, looking around in the flickering light. "Small green bottle." @Sara

"No! I mean... no... not wrong at all. It was nice." "Oh." At least she had not done something she didn't know was a mistake. Granted, she had barely done anything, the kiss had been so brief... "Alright then." He leaned in again. Her heart jumped again. This time, his hand was on her waist, and she leaned forward too, determined to explore the kissing a little more. Her hand found his shoulder as they pressed their lips together, and this time, she kissed him back, parting her lips slightly as her eyes fluttered closed. Oh. Oh. @Atrice