Sharpie

"Maybe the lady would like to see some of those places, too, though?" Surely she wouldn't want to be left behind in stuffy old Rome - when had he started thinking that way about Rome anyway?! - if she had the chance to go anywhere else with Longinus. From what he'd seen of her, she seemed fairly young and sheltered, and with a family he was fairly sure she'd like to get away from for a while, especially if it meant seeing more interesting places. And if Longinus stuck with places he hadn't seen either, they might have the chance of ending up somewhere even half as civilised as Rome, which meant it'd be twice as civilised as Britannia. Longinus' train of thought made Attis catch his lip between his teeth (a preferable result to sucking in a breath). "You - you're not going to replace her permanently, are you?" It was always a possibility, of course, and Longinus had every right to do so, even if he'd promised not to - Attis didn't think any citizen really thought a promise given to a slave would be in any way binding - and Longinus has teased him often enough over the years with the threat of selling him that it was entirely possible he might just replace Metella because that would be the easy way out. And then back to the previous topic - anyone else dealing with Longinus would get whiplash. Attis was used to it. "Your friend the Consul's built his baths. What about building a theatre or something, domine?" Surely Rome had enough temples - more than enough, unless Longinus wanted to dedicate one to Sulis Minerva, or some other British equivalent of any of the Roman pantheon. He wouldn't put it past his master to do that, somehow. @Sara

It took as much self-control as Attis had in order not to spray crumbs everywhere at his master's misconception. Apparently his thought process was quicker than his master's and he'd managed to get a step ahead of him, or something. "I hadn't meant me," he managed once he stopped coughing. "You're the one with the money, I meant you." Anyway, if he did somehow end up in possession of that kind of money, he'd buy himself - and Metella - and probably go on a long trip to see places he'd barely heard of, just for the fun of it. "Take Cassia with you," he said. "Why wouldn't she like to see some of those places too, even if she is a girl - that's not her fault, after all, and she's older now. I'm sure she'd like to spend time with you." He ate the last of his own cake in peace, taking a moment to think. "I don't know. The way you live right now, I don't think you do need any more slaves. But if you're planning to start hosting parties or gatherings of any description, you will need more - the place isn't exactly bursting at the seams." He shrugged. "And pardon me for saying so, Domine, but you're not exactly Marcus Crassus to want to boast about being so rich you have a slave whose only job is to fold your blue tunics, and you've got another one just to fold your red tunics, or some idiocy like that." @Sara

"Me?" It was not a question Attis had ever thought about, hypothetically or... hypothetically; there wasn't an 'otherwise' for a slave like him, after all. "I don't know. I don't know what I'd be good at, even, outside of making sure you're dressed for polite company and everything. A new tunic or several couldn't hurt, some of yours are... well, past their very best." He took another bite of his liberated snack, to give himself time to think. "I've heard rumours that your friend the Consul's wife - or was it his sister? - is thinking about setting up some sort of charity or something to look after orphaned kids, the ones who haven't found themselves sold as slaves. Maybe she'd appreciate some money to help with that?" Slaves' rumours; one day people would figure out that slaves talked among themselves, when fetching water, or when out shopping... rumours in Rome spread almost as fast as fire did. "I suppose you could go travelling, see some more of the Empire - though you might end up as governor of some interesting place or other afterwards, if you get to be Praetor." Cassius Longinus with a retinue of lictors would be something to behold, even if Praetors didn't have as many as Consuls did it was still a number greater than none, which was what he had right now. @Sara

Attis swallowed his mouthful; he'd rather not spray crumbs everywhere when answering his master's question. "Um? Rebuilding the derelict villa? Sponsoring games - no, you're not all that interested in a political career and that's the sort of thing career politicians do to win votes. A new litter and a set of matched slaves to carry it so that you don't have to do the slogging? Redecorating the domus - I'm sure the atrium could look nice in the new style of artwork people are doing these days." Attis grinned and shrugged. "Must be a nice problem to have, though, Domine. You could always put it in trust for Cassia, just in case. Or for grandkids, when she marries." Not that Cassia was anything near marrying age yet, at least according to the wisest of women, Metella. @Sara

"I was hungry," Attis admitted with a shrug, neatly lifting one of the remaining honey cakes before plonking the earthenware plate with the last one on Longinus' desk, right on top of the scroll he'd been frowning at. "Figured you might be, too." He bit into the stolen delicacy with a grin on his face. "What's got you all hot and bothered today, Domine? You were frowning fit to bust a moment ago." Longinus habitually scowled at any paperwork Vitus managed to put in front of him, but this particular one had seemed a more perplexed sort of scowl than the usual schoolboy who doesn't want to do his homework look. @Sara

May 77AD Attis had felt somewhat peckish and tried to resist giving in to the urge to find something to eat. He'd even managed to resist... for all of maybe half an hour, before giving up and going in search of sustenance. He'd come away with three honey cakes, one of which he'd deposited in Metella's hands (along with a kiss on her cheek) before wandering along to Longinus' tablinum. The relationship between the two was mostly repaired since the trip to Greece - repaired enough for Attis to slide back into old habits, though not quite so much that he'd walk straight in and deposit one of his acquisitions under his master's nose. "Domine? Are you busy?" His tone implied that he rather hoped Longinus wasn't - or that, if he was, he wouldn't mind being interrupted. @Sara

"Boys do like the excitement of things like the races," Gaius said with a smile, remembering what he was like when he was younger. "And then they grow up to find that actually, gardens and reading and things have value, too." He let out a breath and shook his head. "No. My heir has decided that he would rather follow a career in the vigiles than in the senate, and has sought adoption into an equite family so that he can do so - you must have heard the gossip about it?" She must have at least heard some of the rumours, anyway. Let it not be said that Lucius Vipsanius Roscius did not have the courage of his convictions, anyway. @Atrice

"You're welcome," Teutus replied, a little startled by the surprise on the other's face, although he supposed that it might be a bigger deal for Jannus than it had been for him even when he'd been a slave himself. He wasn't about to pry, but made a mental note that Jannus didn't seem to have any good expectations from people around him. Maybe he'd open up a bit to Varinia, once he was more used to this household? It wasn't as though Teutus planned on treating his slaves as long-lost relatives (he'd already found her, after all!) or anything, but he was human and so were they, and he'd been a slave. He could treat them with a bit of humanity, after all, show them that he valued them as individuals. There was more to a person than simply the value a slave-trader put on them and their skills, after all. "I think you should keep practising, it'll get easier the more you practise," he said. "That is a suggestion, not an order, you don't have to if you'd rather not. But I think you should. You might find it useful in the future, after all." @Insignia

Azarion had found his footing as a charioteer in the bigae, that was clear from the way he had handled his two horses right from the start of this race. Marcus couldn't help grinning as the kid gestured at the wickedly sharp falx in his belt, the curved blade that every charioteer carried in a race in case they ended up in a shipwreck and had to cut themselves free. Bigae drivers could hold the reins without having to wrap them around themselves, although many chose to in preparation and training for the far more challenging four-horse quadrigae chariots. Azarion was far more level-headed when out on the tracks than he was anywhere else, almost, and Marcus nodded in satisfaction as he allowed his horses to set a pace that would carry them easily around the seven laps of the race. The Red driver was ahead into the very first turn, and still ahead as they came out of it into the back straight. One of the Greens took the tightest curve around the spina as they round the end nearest the starting gates (and Marcus) and managed to hold the lead as the second lap begins. The roar of the crowd informed him of a shipwreck, although he couldn't see it from his position - probably he'd tried to take the turn too tightly and collided with the spina. He could see Azarion's white-clad figure guide the light white-painted chariot wider at the far end, some natural instinct informing him of what awaited him out of sight. He was shaping up to be a very fine investment for the Whites - and there seemed to be some sort of rivalry beginning between him and the Red, whose name Marcus would have to find out. Rivalries could be either encouraged or discouraged and Marcus would have to investigate which way this one should go, before it went too far. @Insignia @Chevi

It would be the only chance, probably, that Jason would ever have to ride Ignis, or any horse of his quality. He'd be an idiot to turn that offer down, and he really had no reason to; Ignis was high-spirited, yes, but he was not ill-tempered or anything of that sort. He seemed very willing, once he understood what Jason wanted him to do - he would turn out to be a very fine mount indeed once he had proper training. "I have no reason at all not to, Domine," he said. "He's very willing to do what is asked of him, once he knows what that is." He demonstrated that willingness by backing him up another step or two, positioning him by the mounting block again. Stupid Roman 'training' that was merely threats and whips would never get this beautiful creature to do anything other than fight. He kept his hand on the animal's neck as he walked around to the mounting block (Romans! to limit themselves to having to use a block or someone's back to simply mount a horse!) Simply sitting on a horse felt as though he'd emerged from a vast river back into air again, though just having his legs hanging without being able to put his feet into stirrups was all wrong. He did not pick the reins up right away, but kept his hand in contact with the horse's neck. He was absolutely going to have to teach these ignorant Romans about stirrups and the advantages and security they gave even indifferent riders (and he would be willing to bet that all Romans were indifferent riders however much they protested that they weren't. They weren't Sarmatian, after all.) @Sarah

"Jason." It wasn't a shout, it never was; he didn't think he'd ever heard his master raise his voice, in fact, and certainly not in anger or anything of that sort. It was enough to make him turn his head and take half a step in response before he registered that he was still here with Junius Silanus, which meant that he was caught between his master's summons and his master's friend. "My master wants me," he said, probably entirely unnecessarily. Well, that is unless Junius Silanus was deaf - but he wouldn't be as attuned to Tiberius' summons as Jason was. "He's here, Tiberius. Come join us." Oh, for fuck's sake. Jason hadn't thought he was a complete idiot, though apparently he was wrong. Even a patrician didn't issue a summons to an Imperial prince! @Sarah @Atrice

Jason glanced skywards too - the senate session would be over soon and his master would be looking for him before he knew it. "I hope you do, too," he said. "Whatever it is you're looking for." It had been nice, to be able to talk with someone outside the Imperial household for once, someone with a different perspective on Rome. Jason wasn't sure he wanted to find Rome becoming home, though he suspected it would soon enough - it had been nearly a decade since he'd seen his own home and his own people, and where he was living would inevitably come to be home, as much as the place of his captivity ever would. He was trying to resist the inevitable, probably, but he wasn't ready to give up just yet. Cynane hadn't, after all, and Jason admired that fire in his blood-sister, and in his cousin. He had no wish to roll over and give up. "Don't let the bastards get you down," he added with his slow smile. "They're not worth it." He hoped he'd meet Jannus again, somewhere, and maybe have a longer conversation. Right now, though, they each had somewhere else to be on their masters' business. "Gods go with you, Jannus - whatever gods you believe in." @Insignia - thread end?

"That... is a good question," Teutus replied, and had to stop and think, running through several different possibilities in his head. "Hmm. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog has all the letters, I think. Let's have that stylus." He took the offered bronze pen and wrote out the suggested sentence, double checking that the sentence did have all the letters as he thought it did. "Yes, that has all the letters, including the Greek ones. But really, the best way to practise writing at all is to do it. Remind me tomorrow to get you a tabula and stylus of your own." He'd let him have these, except he was rather attached to the bronze stylus they were using because it had been the one he'd used for almost his entire secretarial career before he'd been freed. It was a stupid thing to be attached to when he could buy numerous brand new styli, but that didn't change the fact. @Insignia (Note: I picked an English sentence because we're writing in English, so it made sense not to go for an actual Latin sentence... though I fell down a research rabbit hole, apparently there isn't a Latin sentence that does it (at least, not one in any actual texts), probably because Latin authors never needed to check that all letters in a typeface actually worked! But, I'm not the first person to wonder, because I found this really interesting discussion!)

Marcus couldn't say, in all honesty, that he was surprised by the outcome of the race, nor by the fairly predictable reactions of the other teams' riders, although judging by Azarion's expression it had been more than worth it. If the Reds' rider thought that Azarion was going to give a single foot to him in the chariot race that followed, he clearly hadn't been paying attention. "Don't get cocky," he warned Azarion, although he was resigned to the fact that his words would be falling on deaf ears. Well. He let Azarion hand his horse over to Nisus before taking his place in his chariot. "Stick to more conventional tactics for this race, I daresay the spectators have quite enough to think about," he added, before stepping back to let Azarion prepare for the next race. @Chevi @Insignia

"Maybe," Jason answered. Or maybe not; the last time he'd tried had led within a hair's breadth of real trouble with his master's friend and he didn't doubt that if he tried it again, and was caught the same way, Marcus Silanus would somehow force his master's hand and Jason would be in for a very real whipping. On the other hand, Tiberius had let him have time in the stables - probably a punishment for any other slave of Jason's status, but Jason had grown up with and around horses and felt it far more of a punishment to be kept away from them. Rome was too loud, too crowded, too smelly, too dirty, too... people, for Jason ever to feel quite comfortable. And yet Tiberius did spend time away from the city, in the country, and even though Italy very much was not Sarmatia, it was a relief to have that time away. It seemed that Jason wasn't the only one in this city to feel restless on occasion, if Jannus liked walking it just for the sake of walking. What would it be like, to find the high buildings and steep hills comforting rather than constraining? Jason wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to that question. "I wish I had some advice or knowledge I could share with you in the same way," he said. "Except maybe, things aren't always as bad as they seem." Except when they were and you had a really tricky situation to navigate without any clues or help. You only really learned to ride after falling off - the trick was not to fall off very often, and to get back on if you did fall. The analogy was an apt one, apart from the fact that you always had people giving advice when it came to learning to ride and Jason didn't when it came to figuring out the latest tricky situation he'd found himself in. He really was going to have to chat with Silvanus to find out how to deal with Silvanus' master without risking his skin. @Insignia

The sentiment - misspelled it might be - made Teutus smile, a warm genuine smile of the sort he hadn't managed in quite a while. It didn't matter that Jannus was his slave, he enjoyed teaching and it felt good to be able to show someone else something that was so simple and yet so worthwhile. "You're welcome," he said, aware that anything he suggested would probably be taken as an order instead of the suggestion he'd mean it to be. They weren't comfortable enough around each other for Jannus to be able to separate suggestions from outright orders, after all. Not yet, anyway. "If you've got any questions, I don't mind you asking them," he said. A statement, not an order, just to be on the safe side. @Insignia

"All right," Rufus said, and took a quiet breath. He'd never kissed anyone who was mute before, never mind someone who'd had their tongue cut out. Well. He didn't have to use his tongue just to kiss Azarion, did he - Azarion would probably find it uncomfortable if he did, and that was the last thing Rufus wanted. "All right," he said again. "If I - if I do something you don't like, or that makes you uncomfortable, just put your hand on my chest and push me away, all right?" He stepped closer to Azarion and gently put one hand behind his head before tipping his head slightly to one side and pressing his mouth to Azarion's. @Chevi

The praeco's attempted message was reinforced by the lictors at the door of the Curia. "You'll have to wait, the Senate is in session!" As it turned out, the session was over sooner than usual (Aulus was not quite sure which god had managed to arrange that minor miracle!) and it wasn't long before he found himself standing outside the Curia doors, at the top of the flight of steps leading down to the Forum. He was wholly unprepared for the half-wild woman who accosted him there, bearing a white cock which she was holding upside down from its legs - the best way to carry live chickens, in Aulus' admittedly limited experience of such things. Whatever his personal thoughts, his well-honed politician's sense of duty won out. "How may I help you?" @Kah

"Don't dig so deeply into the wax," Teutus said quietly in answer to Jannus' question. "It won't eliminate them completely, of course - every wax tablet needs renewing from time to time, but that's just how things are. A light scrape is easier to erase when you want to clean the wax off for next time, too." Teutus' own writing was the practised neat handwriting that he'd developed over years as his father's secretary. Jannus' writing was rougher around the edges, less practised, more rusty, as though he hadn't used the skill in a long time, and hadn't done it much even when he was in practise. Teutus didn't really need a secretary, and had Olipor for actual secretarial and clerkish work, but he could find things so that Jannus could have some regular practise. It would be a good skill for him to have and to keep up with, after all. "You're doing very well," he said after a moment, looking at Jannus' scratched letters, which were improving a little with each repetition of the alphabet. @Insignia

Owner. Oh, of course he'd be the sort to point out that Jason was owned. How very generous of him to remind him that he had about as much autonomy as a sandal. And it wasn't Tiberius that Jason felt he was disappointing, every day, but himself and his father. His father more than anyone, in fact. He'd been born the son of a chief - well, the younger son of a chief, but still a son of the chief, who would have led men into battle if circumstances had required it, would have sat on the council of elders for his brother. Would have. Fuck you. Sideways. He kept his eyes levelled at the other's tunic collar, keeping his thoughts off his face by sheer determination. I'll tell Tiberius myself, if I need to, I won't give you the satisfaction. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." @Atrice

"Thank you - I think," Jason replied and followed Alexius into the building, passing him to go into the dark room where the girl was. He took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkness - the lamp helped dispel the darkness a bit and Jason crossed the room to get a bit nearer to the bed, whose occupant was watching him with large eyes in a pale, scared-looking face. He smiled, and sat down on the floor, drawing his legs up to sit comfortably cross-legged. "Hi. I'm called Jason, I'm friends with Alexius who you were just talking to," he said, adopting the same soothing tone of voice he'd used when talking to Ovinia. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to ask you to tell me what happened, if you think you can." @Atrice

Jason shrugged. He got restless, too, but not in quite the same way - at least, he didn't think it was quite the same way. "My people are nomads," he said, though he wasn't quite sure of the Latin word, nor of whether Jannus would understand what he meant by it. "We don't live in brick-built houses like the Roman do but in round tents, and we move with the seasons." He sighed. "I miss - it's more that I miss having a horizon, I think. Rome seems too big and too small at the same time - too many people crowded into a space that seems too small because you can't see the sky properly from anywhere. Not the big skies I grew up with, anyway." Rome had everything you could possibly want, if you had the time and the money for it - and Jason's master certainly seemed to have both of those - but it didn't have the wild grass and rolling hills and the sense that you could ride forever and still not reach the edge of the world. @Insignia

"Of course," Teutus answered, slipping easily back into a role he had played for many years. He took the offered stylus and inscribed the alphabet neatly on the opposite leaf. A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z "Some of the letters are used more than others, of course," he said. "And some are hardly used at all - mostly in words we've adopted from Greek." He didn't expect Jannus to become his secretary - he had Olipor to act as his clerk, after all - but it would be a useful skill for Jannus to have, even if only for himself if neither Teutus nor Varinia ever needed him to make notes. "If you know the alphabet, and you know how the written word works, you're more than halfway to being able to write anything you ever need to," Teutus said, and gave the stylus back. "There. Why don't you copy that out - it'll help you remember it better." @Insignia

"You'll make a good father, you know what?" "You've got to be joking," Attis replied, putting his arms around her. A moment later he tipped his head to the side. "Do you really think so? You'll be a wonderful mother, though." He still didn't know quite what to think about being a father, though if his child had to be a slave, Longinus' household would be a good one to grow up in - there were far worse masters in Rome, after all. @Chevi

Teutus slid a two-leafed wax tablet and a stylus to Jannus. "That's a good place to start, then. Write out the alphabet, if you know it - if you don't know it, just write out the letters you do know." That would give him some sort of baseline they could build on. One of the responsibilities he'd had when he was Tertius' secretary had been educating Antonia Varia. Well, teaching her the basics, anyway. It was one of the tasks he had enjoyed doing, as well - the challenge of figuring out what to teach her, what she could do, what he knew... it had been pleasurable and something he had found that he was good at, even with Antonia's swings between utter boredom, fascination, and wanting to know everything possible. Of all the people in Tertius' household, he found that he missed bright-eyed, copper-haired chatterbox Antonia the most. He would have to see if he could do something about that - ask Tertius if he could take Antonia out somewhere, just the two of them, as brother and sister. Almost the way he'd used to do when he was a slave. "If you don't know something, or there's anything you're not sure of, you can ask," he said, banishing the thoughts and memories in favour of the present day and Jannus. @Insignia