Sharpie

Teutus still had to bite his tongue when any of his slaves addressed him as 'Master' - he'd been a slave for most of his life and a freedman for only a bit more than a year... and owned his own slaves just a bit less than that. He nodded at Jannus' quiet answer. That was good, if perhaps a little unexpected. He hadn't pried into any of his slaves' pasts, figuring that they might not want to share things like that with their master. And he had a lot he didn't want to share with his slaves. "Can you write?" Reading and writing didn't always go hand-in-hand, after all. The one was easy enough, the other took practise. @Insignia

That was a question Davus wasn't quite sure he knew the answer to, not in so many words, and he had to think. "Um. It's a... it's an act. I don't know. The person the master sees, that anyone else sees... it's a character, a version of you that isn't really you. If they want you to be like a statue, then pretend that's what you are." He wasn't sure about when it came to dealing with customers, not as a prostitute. "Don't take things personally - I mean, if they're calling you names or blaming you for something, it's probably just because you're there. Not because you're you or the one who upset them. And some people just want to be angry for no real reason." He shrugged. "It must be a very sad life, if you just go through it looking for reasons to be angry." @Sara

"Would I treat you any other way?" Attis asked, scandalised. "Dominus would have my hide if I didn't - and if he didn't, you would!" He stepped closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder to get her attention properly. "I'm proud of you, Metella, I hope you know that." And... too serious, too much, too... everything. "I don't think Dominus is likely to treat you like the Queen of Egypt, though." Longinus had taken the news of Metella's pregnancy better than Attis had feared he might - though how he was going to take this latest news was anyone's guess. Attis wanted to see his face when he did - and had the best chance of any of the slaves to manage that. "I'll let you finish getting washed and dressed," he said, and dropped a kiss on Metella's bare shoulder. @Chevi

They had settled into some routine over the last few months, which was something Teutus had been a little concerned about - things had gone smoother than he had feared they might as everyone adjusted to everyone else. Mostly, they were adjusting to him, he thought, because he was the master. It was an anomalous position in the household, of course, but far less anomalous than his position in his father's house had been, even before he'd been freed. Olipor was giving Amandus lessons, with Teutus' blessing, and Varinia was teaching her maid Proserpina something, which left Teutus and Jannus. "Can you read?" Something he had not asked when he'd bought Jannus, nor in the months since. @Insignia

"Well, that would be an interesting choice for an ex-Vestal," Aulus said dryly. "I can see how that might appeal to you, though - and I don't think that is an area the Augusta has considered." He crossed one leg over the other, leaning back in his seat. "What sort of thing would you consider doing for them?" And what sort of future would the children have, born out of wedlock and with no paterfamilias willing to take them up, he wondered, recalling the moment he had first held his own son Titus, thus bestowing on him all the rights of a Roman citizen. He had been unable to do the same for his daughter Calpurnia, although he knew that his father had done so as the paterfamilias - really, it should have been Tiberius who took Titus up, but Tiberius and Aurelia spent their days at the villa at Baiae, only coming to Rome for very special occasions - they had come back when Aulus had returned from Britannia, and again when the family had returned from Raetia. He suspected that Tiberius would make the journey to see Aulus take his seat as Consul, and when Titus took his toga virilis. "I don't expect you to have a fully-hatched plan right now, but if you want advice or help that I can give, you have first claim on my time after Horatia." And if she needed funds for anything, he would help there, too. @Chevi

"I think the people of Rome very much like the racing, with gladiator fights a very close second," Gaius said thoughtfully. "They both have their place, though of the two I would rather watch the races. There's a great deal to be said about the theatre, too, although everything there is far more contrived than other forms of entertainment." There were also private poetry readings and various things of that sort, which he went to mostly for the networking and to stay in contact with other people. "I would guess that your son would like the excitement of the circus too, but what about you?" He thought she seemed a refined type, she might like those poetry readings and things more than the public shows of the circus and amphitheatre. @Atrice

Ah, shit... he'd managed to circle right back around to the topic he'd tried to get away from which had made Azarion so uncomfortable in the first place. He might as well lean into it, if he couldn't steer away from it. "You haven't kissed anyone, have you?" he said. "Would you... would you like to?" He hadn't meant to make Azarion so uncomfortable, or to remind him about certain things. "I'd kiss you, if you'd let me," he added, thinking that Azarion would probably rather kick him in the balls and bugger off, and never see him again. Oh well, it was worth a shot, at least. @Chevi

"I have done some travelling," Marcus told her, his gaze lingering on the very low-cut bodice of her dress... She was good, there was no doubt about that at all. "My grandfather came from Parthia, although I haven't been there myself. I have been to Hispania, though." They bred very good horses in Hispania, after all, which was his main reason for travelling anywhere these days. Britannia was another place to look for horses, as was Parthia - he would like to visit the lands his grandfather had called 'home' and not just to trade in horses. He joined her on the couch. "I can think of one or two... interesting... places to visit," he added, his hand returning to rest on her thigh as it had earlier. @Sara

Jason managed a smile. He hadn't dared get caught simply relaxing since the day Marcus Junius Silanus had nearly tripped over him - sitting up on a roof somewhere would probably lead to a worse set of consequences than he'd had that day. "I miss the horizon," he said, sharing his own secret in turn. Rome had nowhere that he could see to the edge of the world. The wide open spaces of his childhood and youth had been replaced by steep hills and buildings crammed together - buildings as large and spectacular as the new Flavian Amphitheatre and the much older Circus Maximus which was where he'd first seen Azarion after eight years apart, and buildings as high as some of the insulae, and as blank as the inward-looking domi of the richer members of society. He wondered if he'd like Rome more if he had had the choice to come here rather than being brought here as a slave. Life was what you made it, and he did have a good position, much better than many others, even if he was a slave. He really ought to try to remember that more. @Insignia

Jason smiled at the suggestion. He didn't have much reason to smile a lot these days - more reasons recently, since finding his cousin alive and in Rome - but the prospect of being able to sit on a horse again, even for a short time, was a heady one. And of course the Romans didn't equip their horses with stirrups, and Ignis (and the other horse) were both much taller animals than the sturdy horses of the steppe that Jason was used to, which necessitated the use of a mounting block or other aid - Jason wouldn't be at all surprised to find a slave or soldier pressed into service as a mounting block when out in the open country somewhere. He wondered if he could try to introduce the far more civilised method of stirrups - which allowed for greater security when in the saddle, too. Anyway. They were here, in the Imperial stable yard, with mounting blocks and without stirrups, and Ignis was now a few yards from the block he'd originally been positioned beside. "I wonder if you would object to another lesson, my friend," he said to the horse, reaching for another of the apple slices, and pressing his open hand to the horse's chest. "Back." Ignis seemed to give him a puzzled look before retreating from the gentle pressure against his chest. Jason presented the apple slice. "Do you still mean for me to ride him, Domine?" he asked, taking another slice to repeat this lesson a second time. @Sarah

Shit. It felt as if he was walking across a newly-frozen lake in early winter, with every possibility that the ice would give way under his feet. Not a good feeling. Junius Silanus hadn't been stamping around like a herd of horses, at least - and he was wearing his indoor shoes, not the thick-soled caligae of the Praetorians, or similar heavy footwear... but yes, he should have heard him, even so. Was he trying to get Jason into trouble, or was he just exploiting the fact that Jason had pretty much left himself open to it - even though he would probably have been all right had it been Tiberius who'd found him, or called for him? He tightened his hands where they were clasped in front of him, feeling his shoulders tighten too. "No, sir. I am sorry; it won't happen again," he said, even though he didn't think the apology would mean much to the other man who might still choose to involve Tiberius and have Jason punished somehow for just... being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, doing nothing. @Atrice

Jason didn't need to find his way around the city, not really. If he could get to the Forum, or the Circus Maximus, he could easily find his way back to the Palatine. Although he supposed that now it wouldn't be the Palatine but the Gardens of Sallust and the private villa within them. That would be a whole new set of landmarks to memorise. "You weren't pestering me at all," he said. Fitting together the various lands and territories was like fitting together mosaic pieces to make a picture or a pattern - he'd once seen a mosaic makes at work and had been fascinated by the tiny stones and tiles that the man used to make his pictures. "You've been here for so long, do you have a favourite place in Rome?" he asked, trying to work out why people liked the city and whether it had any redeeming qualities or not. @Insignia

"I could talk to her, maybe? See if she remembers anything, or can add something we don't know already?" Jason was a little hesitant to suggest it, though there was nothing to say that Alexius couldn't listen to the conversation. Roman law meant that, probably, it was a good idea for him Alexius to listen in to the conversation, in fact. And probably the very patrician-sounding Lucius would scare her more in a different way. Some people got tongue-tied around people who were a lot higher in social rank, after all - or who seemed to be, even if they weren't really. "I mean, if she's really scared, I don't look like I might be a threat." He was on the shorter side of average for a Roman, and had a slave tag around his neck - that might be more helpful than anything because slaves weren't really a threat, were they? @Atrice

He'd landed himself squarely as the other's target, just for doing nothing at all for a few minutes. There was no right answer to Junius Silanus' questions that wouldn't get him into more trouble, and he had no idea, really, what sort of person he was when dealing with his slaves. Or other peoples' slaves - though he probably wouldn't want to upset Tiberius. There was a fair amount he could do with Jason that wouldn't upset Tiberius but would be varying degrees of uncomfortable for Jason, of course. "I was listening in case he called, sir. And you walk very lightly." And you're wearing indoor slippers, you were walking on grass and not gravel and I could almost bet you did it deliberately. He hadn't really ever been in trouble with Tiberius, not in the four years since he'd found himself being a birthday present for him. It would be a shame to be in trouble now, and for nothing very much - but if Marcus wanted to get him in trouble, there wasn't much Jason could do. He'd have to talk to Silvanus, privately, to find out more about Marcus Junius Silanus and how to stay out of trouble with him. @Atrice

Name: Sharpie Discord Sharpie#4424

"I can't draw a map," Jason said. Mostly because he had no idea at all of the shape of any of these territories and places. "I don't think very many people have heard of Sarmatia, though." Ovinia Camilla hadn't and she was the daughter of a Senator. Though, admittedly, her father or brothers might have - Ovinia's rank didn't mean she'd had any sort of geography lessons. "Sarmatia is... mostly east and a little bit north. Germania is east and north - of us, here in Rome, I mean. Gaul is north of us and Britannia more north of Gaul?" He wasn't certain of that, but it sounded right, and that was how it sounded when his master had spoken about those places in Jason's hearing. "It isn't important, anyway, not really." Only to him, and perhaps to Jannus. It was enough knowing that it was all so far away. Jason might go to sleep facing home every night but that was cold comfort. Six? That was horribly young to have been brought here from as far away as Germania. No wonder Jannus wanted to know about Jason's home and where places were. @Insignia

Jason noticed the look and shrugged. He had been born the son of a chieftain, he could count to a hundred in Sarmatian and (once he'd figured out the number system) in Latin - though he didn't find that so easy because he still had to think what the names were for some of the numbers. He'd give Alexius the count of two hundred if he needed to, once in Latin and once in Sarmatian... Except it didn't take nearly that long. "duodeoctoginta... undeoctoginta..." He was just about to count eighty when Alexius emerged from the house, looking.. Well. He looked worried. "What's wrong?" Jason asked, preparing to fetch Lucius and the medicus, or any other sort of help that might be needed, the moment Alexius gave the word. @Atrice

Jason was very conscious that his own master was rather indulgent, on the occasions that the mood took him... and that he didn't know his master's friend at all, especially not as someone who might have actual power over him. To say that he had nothing to do would probably land like a badly-flighted arrow. "I was enjoying the sun while waiting if my master called," he said. "My master like to be alone when he's reading and thinking." Or at least, not to have slaves around, including Jason. And the words 'my master' would always taste bitter in his mouth no matter who he was addressing. @Atrice

"No," Jason replied. He should be used to this by now, it was hardly astonishing that people didn't know the lands beyond the borders of the Empire. They had probably heard of Germania and Parthia mostly because of the various wars and things. There hadn't been those wars with Jason's people for anyone in the Empire to hear about Sarmatia. "It's beyond the empire, the same as Germania, though. Germania's further north - east and north more." He couldn't draw a map but he knew north no matter where he was, an innate skill and ability that had always meant he could find his way home wherever he was. "You've been in Rome a while, though?" Jannus had the accent, more or less, of the native Latin speaker, where Jason knew he spoke with a foreign accent that was a dead giveaway that he wasn't Roman. Jannus could be; blue eyes might not be common among the Romans but they weren't completely unknown. Anyway, he had the same dark hair as the vast majority of Romans did. He could blend in far easier than Jason, if it weren't for his height and the fact his skin is fairer than the olive-skinned Italians. @Insignia

The signs that followed were rapid and Rufus couldn't follow all of them by any means, though he got the basic gist of what Azarion was on about. "Well, you are, then - haven't you ever seen a nice young man who you thought looked cute? Not the way babies and children are but..." Rufus ran a hand through his hair. "Good-looking. Someone you wouldn't mind kissing, at least." It was a shame that Azarion didn't live or work somewhere he could take a peek at himself in a mirror on occasion - Rufus had only managed it by dint of being around when the mistress' body-slave was polishing the mistress' mirror, after all. Was he about to get murdered? Probably. Oh well. "You're good-looking, even if you don't like the word cute." @Chevi

"Hey! You cheeky thing!" Rufus gave Azarion a cuff around the head, as an older brother might do to a younger sibling. "I don't need to be laid - not as desperately as all that, anyway!" He gave Azarion a considered look. "At least I've had sex in my life... pretty sure you'd burn up from the inside if a girl told you to your face that she fancies you." It felt good to tease someone - it was all a bit of fun, anyway, and he'd stop if Azarion gave any hint of having a thin skin and not being able to take it. The inelegant lettering of RVFVS NEEDS LAYD was proof enough that he could take it, though. "I bet nobody has told you to your face that you're cute, though," he added, watching the younger slave's face out of the corner of his eye. @Chevi

Oh, and just like that Lucius decided he had better things to do with his time! His brother was an ass - and that was putting it mildly. Gaius had been very neatly out-manoeuvred and left alone with a very pretty woman who was, by all accounts, widowed and not remarried. Well, alone with her slaves and his own body-slave Cassander - which was alone for all intents and purposes, of course. Tact was not one of Lucius' strong points! "He's not that bad? He's worse," Gaius muttered and tried to rally himself. "If? No, not really - aediles don't generally have grand civic projects, though there's no reason they couldn't. They're the ones responsible for the upkeep of the temples, and for organising the games and entertainments. I suppose that might be civic enough for plenty of people?" @Atrice

Something to eat and drink - oh, of course! "Yes, sir." Jason managed to hold the sigh until he was out of the other's sight, leaning back against the wall and squeezing his eyes shut. He stayed there for a moment, trying to let go of his resentment that he should have been interrupted - that he was here at all - before pushing himself upright and heading to the kitchens. He was strongly tempted to pour Marcus Silanus a cup of cheap posca but managed to resist - it would only lead to more trouble and he really didn't need that! - and eventually returned with a cup of the Falernian wine and a plate with a flatbread and cluster of grapes. 'Have it brought out here' had had definite undertones of 'bring it here yourself and don't slack' after all. There was a marble bench with a table by it, the perfect place to set his burdens down, and he did so, stepping back and folding his hands, the perfect attentive slave. "Sir." @Atrice

Jason was abruptly jerked back the reality of his life here in Rome as a shadow fell over him a fraction of a second before he was kicked in the side. He eyes flew open to find his master's friend looking down at him, having apparently very nearly stumbled over him. Fuck! At least the kick hadn't been deliberate, although it might as well have been, especially going by the curt order that came next. "Get up." Jason scrambled hastily to his feet, trying to calm his racing heart and adopt the blank yet attentive look of a dutiful slave, while also trying not to resent the interruption. He didn't know his master's friend very well, and if this was the first impression he'd given the young man, Marcus Silanus was probably under the impression already that he was lazy and good-for-nothing. "Sir." At least he was Tiberius' body slave and not some random house slave, slim though that protection might be. @Atrice

February 77 Tiberius was studying or reading or something - Jason had had no idea that scrolls could be so endlessly fascinating! - which had led to Jason's being able to take a few moments for himself, so long as he stayed within call of his master's rooms. That was easily done; his master was in one of the rooms off a private courtyard which gave Jason the opportunity to enjoy the outdoor space while still being within an easy call. He had found a patch of grass in the sun where he could lay down and stare up at the blue sky above, trying to pretend he was looking at a portion of the vast skies over the steppe at home. It wasn't quite working, though, he couldn't hear horses from his position, and the grass wasn't tall enough for the wild prairie grass. Nor was the wind the constant fresh breeze of his home. It was all he could get, though, and if the force of Jason's wishes could move the steppe to where he lay, Tiberius would have looked up to find himself surrounded by eternal horizon where the blue sky and the green grass met. @Atrice