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"How do I know Helios?" Teutus asked, momentarily confused. How did Charis know he'd met Helios - if it was the same Helios, even, which was unlikely but possible. It was an unusual name even among slaves, after all. "I took Antonia to the temple of Apollo because she wanted to ask him to heal her friend's sprained wrist. Or do you mean Alexius?" He let out a breath. "I met Alexius in a caupona the day my father - the day you - that day." It had felt as though his father has taken a sword and stabbed Teutus straight through the heart, although with a great deal less blood than if he had actually done that, and Teutus hadn't been able to bear watching it for a second longer. He'd gone out with the aim of getting very drunk indeed, and managed to get halfway there before Alexius persuaded him to come to his apartment instead. At least he'd saved Teutus the hangover. @Sara

There didn't seem much else to say, really, at least on the topic of music and education. "I ought to show you around, I think - the Palace can be a bit of a maze until you get your bearings, and even Mistress Claudia doesn't spend all her time just in her own apartments," Volusa offered after a moment. "That's if you're not too tired or - anything." They couldn't go exploring the whole Palace for obvious reasons; there were several places that were off-limits to people like them, but there were several places where they could go, and Antheia ought to learn how to get there from the princess' apartments - or how to get to the princess' apartments from there. Who knew when she might have to run an errand, after all? @locutus-sum

"Plenty of people have villas at Baiae, or even Formiae," Gaius said, trying to do something to make this whole meal rather less excruciating than it was. Why it should feel as painful and embarrassing as this, he had not the least idea (it was probably Lucius' fault, as were most things where Gaius had to smooth ruffled feathers and hurt feelings and iron out misunderstandings). "I have spent time in Britannia, as Tribune under Lucius Cassius Longinus," he added, keeping an eye on his brother to note his reaction. "It is quite a pleasant place, though cold and wet in winter. The summers are pleasantly warm, if not so long as ours here. It is still very wild and the inhabitants are less than civilised, really, though there is promise in the southern tribes at least." Now, if only Lucius could be persuaded to actually make a start on any type of suitable career, he might have something to offer in conversations like this that wasn't just from gossip or hearsay. @Chevi @Sara

"Well, more educated, then," Volusa said, putting into words her thought of a moment earlier. That was indisputably true, too; Antheia was a trained philosopha and musician and Volusa had no actual formal education in anything whatsoever - she could spin and weave, but what female house slave could not? Likewise, she could sweep and dust and scrub floors, but none of that required any sort of mental acuity, and all that she needed for her current role was a quick eye and a sense of which colours would go well together and be suitable for whatever activity her mistress was about to undertake. "I'm not really a singer," she added. "It was fun, though, I would like to do it again - I've never really been able to listen to music, much." Perhaps Claudia would like the two of them to perform together, something Volusa was less sure she would enjoy. She was shy when it came to anything that might draw attention to her, after all. @locutus-sum

Davus had dropped his master's toga and several tunics at the fullonica, and while he was supposed to head back, he'd managed to avoid getting told that directly, which was enough justification in his mind to be able to head down the hill to the Forum, for a short while at least. If accosted, he could always come up with a reason for being there; the cook always needed something from the market and there were plenty of reasons for a house slave being out of the house. He stopped at a hot food stall for a snack, only to realise that the previous customer had left their change behind. "Excuse me!" He called, trying to be heard above the noises of the crowds.

"No, our own villa is in the neighbourhood of Neapolis," Gaius said. "I couldn't say whether that is a more or less fashionable place for a countryside retreat, but the villa is equipped with every comfort, as far as possible. It's certainly a more comfortable place to spend the height of summer, when we can." There was less opportunity for Lucius to end up doing something totally embarrassing, too - or at least, he would be rather less visible when doing it. Gaius often found himself dreading entering the Curia for fear the Princeps Senatus or the Censor would catch his eye and tell him to control his brother better. Not that it had happened yet, but it was surely only a matter of time. "Where do you go, when you want to escape the heat of the city?" he enquired, attempting to keep the conversation on suitable topics and giving his brother as little opportunity to say something rash as possible. @Chevi @Sara

Volusa dropped her eyes momentarily. "You're cleverer than me," she said. Or more educated, anyway. "I know the first bit of the Aeneid, but I don't really know much about Troy, not to put to music... arma virumque cano..." Her voice was likewise untrained, but she could hold a tune and not miss note unless they were particularly difficult half-tones or something. It was nice to hear real music, properly, and not just as an incidental to Volusa's own work - being a female slave in the Imperial palace meant that she didn't really get to deal with many of the family's guests or visitors because they had male slaves to deal with all of that sort of front-of-house thing, so Volusa had really only heard music properly in passing or when the musicians were practising out of earshot of the family. "You play very well, though," she said a little later, once they reached a natural pause. @locutus-sum

It was never going to be easy, to connect with his father, certainly not on an emotional level. But something tangible, something that could produce real and visible results and benefits... but wasn't that the way it had always been with Tertius? But he had managed to get an admission of pride, at least, which he had sought and asked for. Perhaps he might have got that earlier but he hadn't exactly been forthcoming himself about what he had been doing, partly because he hadn't thought his father would be interested. It wasn't as if Tertius had shown all that much interest in him before or he might have been more forthcoming to start with. They were both as messed up as each other, Teutus thought. Not that the realisation was exactly startling, or particularly helpful. “I am proud of you, Teutus. Of what you’ve accomplished." The words were like a cool drink of water on a hot summer's day, practically the first time he had ever heard his father say such things to him, and he hadn't realised just how desperately he had needed to hear it. "I hope - I want you to be proud of me, that you will always be able to be proud of what I've done, what I will do, even if I can't follow you into the Senate." He'd wanted that, but even if he couldn't do that, maybe this would be something Tertius could boast of, in the right circles. Maybe, or maybe not. And if he didn't want money, was he too proud to ask for help in other ways? "I... Do you have any clients who might be able to act as an agent for me here in Rome, or as a buyer elsewhere? I can't be in two places at once, buying elsewhere and selling here, after all." Teutus knew his father's clients as well as his father did, after all, but enlisting Tertius' help was preferable to approaching any of them without Tertius' knowledge. And it might help with the relationship between them, if he didn't feel Teutus was completely closed off to any help or advice. @Atrice

"I... don't know," Volusa replied, a little surprised to be asked. Nobody had ever offered to play anything for her before, so she didn't really have a particular song she liked. Most songs she knew were working songs, the sort of thing slaves sang to keep a rhythm, or to soothe their child to sleep. "Though, there was one I heard once, I don't know what it's called," she said, something coming to her mind - an afternoon spent weaving, before she'd entered Claudia's service, and in the distance, someone playing the cithara. If there were words she likewise didn't know them. She began humming, trying to remember the tune. @locutus-sum

"If you think I know the first thing about finding a suitable patrician woman to marry the dominus, you really don't know me very well," Attis said, trying to hold still for Metella's ministrations - that stung, somewhat, but he was a grown man and could take it! He flinched as she found a particularly raw spot near his elbow. "I know Sulpicius Rufus gave him a list, back before he fell for, uh, the Carthaginian girl," he said, trying not to flinch again. "I don't know who was on it, and I don't know very many unmarried patrician ladies at all - and even fewer who'd put up with the dominus. Though he's definitely thinking about it himself, too." @Chevi

"I don't think it matters whether you like the same things or not, but talk with him, show an interest in what he likes." Teutus sighed. It might not be good advice, but it was what he wished his own father would do, what he wished Tertius had done through his life - even when Teutus was still a slave, he could have shown more interest in him than he showed in the chair he sat on. "Make it easy for your son to talk to you about things he likes, that don't matter, and he'll be able and willing to talk about big things that do matter, later on," he added. "Ah, here we are." He guided his friend into the entrance of the baths. @Atrice

"Well, if your father doesn't want to give you funds for whatever you want to do, I will - or rather, I can persuade my father to do so. And it will have your name - I already have my baths, after all." There were buildings throughout the Empire that were built and dedicated by women, after all - and Horatia had left her mark on Raetia. He supposed that anything she wanted to build in Rome (or anywhere else) would be along similar lines. "Do you have too many ideas, or none at all, for projects?" he asked, curious. He thought it was most likely the former, but it was possible for even the most inspired person to run out of ideas and inspiration. @Sara

Teutus managed a smile. "I'll try. I'm paying because it was my fault, what happened yesterday - I'm the one who burst in unexpectedly and upset things. Everything else... I guess I'm just used to apologising for my father and how he makes everything so uncomfortable, at least as far as family's concerned. Things have been uncomfortable between me and Charis for a while, yesterday meant we couldn't escape one another the way we have been doing. We needed to talk, I think it helped. So... I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable for getting caught in it, but I'm not sorry it happened." Teutus talked too much, he knew he did. He wasn't about to apologise for that as well; Alexius was right about Teutus apologising too much! "I hope you get on with your son better than I do with my father," he said a moment later, though hopefully things were a bit better between himself and Tertius than they had been. He didn't know how long it would last, though. Maybe a month or two, with any luck. @Atrice

"It's still so new," Teutus admitted. "I've got a small warehouse down by the river, but there's a bigger one that's come available that I want to look at in the next week or so. And - I don't want to just import olive oil, we have enough of our own, though the stuff from Hispania Baetica is better. I want to expand, bring stuff from the east as well - I'm hoping to have enough to hire a second ship and crew and buy spices from Egypt and further east. Having more ships and trading from different parts of the Empire means it's safer if something should go wrong." And supposing his new brother had meant it when he'd suggested they work together, there was amber from the far north, as well, and that would earn a decent amount, too. "I am proud of it, of what I've done so far. I wasn't sure it would work, but it has, and better than I'd expected," he confessed. Olive oil had been a safe venture - he knew that there was a market for it here in Rome, and that he could purchase a quantity without a vast outlay of cash. Buying more luxury items would necessitate a larger cashflow, but the returns would repay that - and further south in Africa, there was ivory, too. All sorts of goods from all across the Empire flowed to Rome and Teutus was determined to be part of that. He might not have all the training to be a merchant, but half of it was having an eye for what people were buying and the rest was having a keen mind for figures and records, and Teutus had ample amounts of that, at least, thanks to his training as his father's secretary. He wasn't entirely sure it was what he wanted, but it was a venture that was open to him, and one he had proved he could do. "I'm starting to look at hiring staff, too," he added. High-value goods would need protecting, and he wanted someone here in Rome who would be able to run things while Teutus was away on purchasing trips - or vice versa, who could be trusted to purchase goods Teutus could sell. Being able to work with a brother would solve that issue, possibly, at least for dealing with anything from the north. @Atrice

"Good." Marcus clapped him on the shoulder. "How much do you have saved towards your manumission?" It might be an impertinent question, but Marcus was the faction leader talking to one of the faction slaves, no question could ever be deemed impertinent when put to a slave. He had a vague idea of how much Menelaus had, and a better idea of his worth - at one point he had turned down an offer from the Reds to buy him, in fact, reasoning that he would do better here. And he had kept an eye on him, as he did with all his charioteers. "Come up to my office," he said, turning to lead the way up to his own domain, which overlooked the stableyard. @Járnviðr

Congratulations on your graduation, and we'll miss you!! Take care, and we'll be here if you do find time and muse to want to come back! All the best for your future, whatever that looks like!

Would Aulus become such a one as Horatius Justinus in his old age (well, older age; he wasn't ancient), rambling on about gods knew what? He hoped not - but it could not have been easy, to live the last few years without his wife and with four children, grown though they might be. He didn't think that Horatia's relationship with her father was entirely an easy one, but she was reserved about such things, would not divulge her personal feelings and opinions on her immediate family even to Aulus, though she had mentioned her concern about her sister once or twice. "You have a fine family, I have always been proud to have Horatia for my wife. I cannot say that I have seen much of Livia or Secundus, though - he does not come to sit in the Senate sessions very often, for whatever reason. And of course your sons are busy with their careers." Publius was of an age with Aulus, of course, but Lucius was a little younger. "If I can be of service to either of your sons, you should let me know - though Publius will have his own connections by now which will doubtless serve Lucius well, too. But if I can help them in any way, of course I will." gens Calpurnia was an old family, of course - as was gens Horatia - and with a daughter who had served as a Vestal, and a son looking for a Consulship, they were still a prominent family. "Speaking of younger people, what do you make of this rumour that Quintus Augustus is to name his son Titus as the heir to the purple?" @locutus-sum - sorry for the wait!

All Tertius wanted was for Teutus to be a son. Wasn't that what Teutus was trying to do, though? He made a gesture of helplessness. "I don't... I don't know how. All my life, I've just been a slave, just another slave, with promises none of the others ever got but that never came to anything. And... I don't know how to be anything else. I'm only doing this because I need to do something and I want..." He took a breath. "I want you to be proud, and I can't even get that, so I don't even know what to do any more." Wouldn't it just be easier for both of them if Teutus didn't come round, didn't have anything else to do with this household? This was just too hard, for both of them, being like this. And if Teutus did keep away, he wouldn't have to watch Charis' baby grow up with everything he'd never had. "It isn't about money or anything - it never was." Which wasn't to say that money wouldn't help, of course it would. But Teutus could earn his own. He couldn't seem to earn his father's approbation in any real meaningful way, and trying to get it was just hurting them both. @Atrice

Teutus was perfectly happy to head out to the baths; hopefully they wouldn't run into Tertius there (they both lived on the Equiline, it would be inevitable that they'd use the same baths at some point). They didn't have to today, though. He waited until they were out on the landing before turning to Alexius. "Would you mind a bit of a walk to a thermae, or would you rather use one near here? There's a decent thermae near where we're going, after all." It depended on how busy the streets were and how drunk or hungover Alexius was; he wasn't going to drag the other man halfway across the city if Alexius wasn't up to it. That wouldn't be fair - Teutus knew exactly what it was like to be hungover and just want to crawl into a dark quiet hole until the hangover was done with. "It'll be my treat, baths and lunch both," he added. "Seeing as I'm the one dragging you out and you started the drinking partly because of me in the first place. It's only fair." @Atrice

Is that all? Was it? Teutus didn't know any more, and shrugged. It was a moment before he could speak again and his voice was nearly on the edge of breaking. He was no longer the angry animated person he'd been moments before, he was just tired and drained. "What do you want from me? You've never said if you're sad, or happy, or proud, of me, only if my work is what you want, or isn't what you want. I don't know what you think about me." He was left floundering, like a beached fish, which was why he'd chosen to do what he was setting out to do. Even now, Tertius hadn't said what he thought about it, hadn't tried to encourage Teutus or discourage him, or give him any sort of guidance. It was as if the only help he could offer was monetary, as if that was the only sort of help he knew how to give. "You want to be a father. Well, be one. There's more to life than money, and I've got enough of that to make a start with," Teutus said. He was trying, gods help him, but it felt like he would get more sense out of the gladiators painted on the wall behind Tertius. If he couldn't get the approbation he needed, desperately, he'd just give up looking and asking for it, go his own way and treat Tertius as if he were merely a patron and not his flesh-and-blood father, give him reports of the sort he had spent a lifetime reading and compiling from the family's other clients, show up for the morning salutatio when he was in Rome, offer support for the elections, and have absolutely no connection with him of the sort a father and son should. @Atrice

Teutus found himself a cup - it had been used but he didn't care - and poured himself some wine. He needed it, and Alexius had maybe drunk a little too much. "It's all just... complicated," he said, putting the cup down after having a mouthful of the wine. "About my father, I mean. I wouldn't even know where to start." It might do him good to talk about it, but then again, did he really want to tell this man all the crap that he'd gone through and all the mess of emotions Teutus had about the whole thing? "A bath sounds like a good idea," he said. Somewhere a little relaxing, anyway. "And then maybe we can talk about things over a meal somewhere. Put a real plan together." @Atrice

He didn't think his father understood, even now, not really. Teutus had no claim on anything of Tertius' because he had no right to it, to any of it. The things he wanted, and there were several of them, weren't tangible things at all. He wanted to be proud of him, for one thing. He suddenly wondered, for the first time, if Tertius had ever looked at him the way he looked at Peregrinus - it was the expression on Tertius' face as much as anything that had made Teutus leave the house so abruptly that day. And if his father ever had felt about him the way he felt about the baby, Teutus had never seen it, had no recollection of looking up to see that soft fond expression on Tertius' face. All he had ever seemed to get was criticism. Even now, if Tertius really did want to give him something, why not just give it - why make him ask? Did he know how to be generous, to anyone? "You could do one thing," he managed. "Manumit Charis. Don't have another son grow up knowing his mother's a slave when his father could have done something about it - you don't want him to feel like I do." @Atrice

"I don't know - the dealer said it was some sort of defect or impediment, but she seems intelligent enough, and it's her speech that she has trouble with - her hearing's fine," Aulus said, taking his usual seat behind his table. His wife and body slave knew him well enough to be able to guess, correctly, that he'd felt a little sorry for the girl, stuck as the slave of a slave dealer who had probably only taken her in because he didn't think he'd be able to sell her. He accepted the goblet of wine Felix offered him, one eyebrow lifting as his slave admitted that he already knew Tacita. Well, at least she wasn't completely surrounded by strangers. "You may take as much time as you need to show her around and introduce her to the staff, Felix," he said, and looked up at Horatia. He had rather sprung it on her, but his clever, beautiful wife would no doubt find something the girl could do, and be good at. "All right, Tacita - this is an easy-going household. All I require is that you do your work to the best of your ability, and if you have any questions or need any help, you may ask Felix or my secretary, Xanthos - they both read." @Sara @Jenn @Chevi

Well, that was an unexpected turn to the fight. Aulus leaned forward in interest as they spoke to one another, and made their offers to the gathered crowd. He waited until they had turned back towards him - the crowd was one thing (every gladiator wanted to please the masses, after all), but every fighter knew the real power and decision lay with the person in the seat of honour, which, today, was him. He gestured for silence and once he received it (or as much quiet as he was likely to get) he addressed the two fighters on the sands below, pitching his voice to be heard by as many of the gathered spectators as possible. "An admirable target with a clear winner in the end. The winner will receive a purse of money and my patronage. The loser... we shall see." He would not let the loser go unrewarded; a good show should be rewarded, especially if the loser was going to end up stripped naked in public as a result of the fight - or as naked as the other could get them. @Sara @Atrice @Liv @Chevi

Teutus sighed, and joined Alexius at the table - at least the man had two stools, so he didn't have to stand there and look as awkward as he felt. "I won't stop you telling me why you decided to get drunk if you want to," he said, clasping his hands together on the rough wooden planking of the tabletop. "And - I guess you're right, I do let my father get under my skin. He has a habit of doing that, or I have a habit of letting him. Or both." He shrugged. "I didn't come here to spill everything like a leaky water jar - I came over yesterday to ask if you'd come to look at a warehouse with me. I think it's a good one, suitable for what I want - what we want, if you want to work with me. But I need a second opinion, you might see a problem with it that I haven't." And while he didn't particularly feel like spilling his emotions and thoughts everywhere, he'd talk if Alexius pressed him. He'd kept it inside for a while, it was bound to spill out somewhere, somehow. @Atrice