Sharpie

"I didn't mean to suggest you would, domine," Attis replied. He couldn't be entirely comfortable, there was always the possibility of sale, however slim, but Longinus was a good enough master - Attis could have ended up in a far worse situation than where he was, and he knew it. His master indulged him - witness their present conversation for one thing - and didn't mind his flashes of sarcasm and dark humour. "I have been expressly ordered not to say I'm sorry," he continued. "So I won't. I didn't mean to give the impression I'm moping, though. Do you have any plans for tomorrow - today, I mean? Apart from trying not to yawn in the senate later, that is. Perhaps you should try to picture everyone in their underwear if the meetings are as boring as all that?" He grinned up at his master. "On the other hand, maybe not - I'm fairly sure you've shared baths with some of them, after all." @Sara

"It does happen," Attis said mildly. It would be harder for him, of course; he spent the majority of his time dancing attendance on his master. That wasn't to say it would be impossible - but he preferred to keep his attention within the household. Anyway, Metella and Vitus were more than enough for him, he didn't need to find a way to make anything work with someone from next door or wherever. He shrugged. "That could happen anyway, domine, whether or not the person is from another household or this one." Longinus was unlikely to sell Metella or Vitus - or Attis himself - but that did not mean that it was not a possibility, however unlikely. Attis had to concede that perhaps Metella had a point when she refused to be considered contubernales with him; it was possible for a slave marriage to exist across two household, but such an arrangement only existed thanks to the generosity of the slaves' masters. "I'm in no danger of moping around the house, domine," he said, striving to sound more cheerful than he had so far in this conversation. @Sara

Attis' master seemed as skittish as a virgin in a brothel. It was very much unlike him, and Attis batted his hands away as he tried to tug his pallium even straighter than it already was. "You'll be fine, domine," he said. "Just pretend you're entering negotiations with one of your barbarian friends or something? Except these people aren't likely to run you through if they get upset, at least." And of course Longinus was nervous enough to need wine before anyone had even knocked at the door. Attis had figured that might be the case and personally overseen the watering of it; he had no intention of letting his master get tipsy today intentionally or otherwise, and it was his duty to look out for his master no matter what, whether or not Longinus appreciated it, or even knew about it. All Attis could hope was that his master didn't end up with the same cycle of falling for the girl and losing her as had happened with the last one - he had never seen his master in such despair, ever, and did not want a repeat of those few months. For now, though, he was going to stand watch, serving as if he was one of the house slaves and generally keeping an eye on his master. He owed him at least that much, and would risk the telling-off his master was likely to dole out. That would be later, of course. Much later. For now, the only way he would not be present was if he was directly ordered to leave the room and even then he would contrive to be nearby. @Atrice @Liv @Sara @Járnviðr (Attis isn't going to post in regular rotation, he will b around but I will only post if Attis is directly addressed and I'm tagged in - otherwise consider him exactly as present as any other slave waiting on Longinus and his guests!)

"I don't have anything particular in mind," Aulus admitted, following the other man into his office. He took the cup of wine offered to him - the girl was quiet, as was expected, and pretty. He wondered if she was one of the wares for sale, or not. "I suspect my wife could do with a project," he said, the idea really only coalescing now. Horatia had been a little down of late, if it could really be called 'down'. He couldn't really put it into words, but she hadn't been quite so happy as in previous months - maybe it was because Aulus' attention was now taken by all the rites and duties he had to fulfil as Consul, maybe it was something else. He felt that she needed some sort of distraction, something to employ her powers of intellect and empathy. What that could be, he didn't know. Why he expected he might find the solution in the slave market was equally unknown though perhaps a barbarian child she might be able to teach Latin to, or someone she could train to be a secretary or something might fit the bill. @Jenn

"I was thinking about letting him race in the bigae for the upcoming celebrations," Marcus said. "He's young, but not much younger than any other charioteer, and it would be a good experience for him - although perhaps I should wait for a less prestigious occasion, perhaps in one of the other circuses than the Circus Maximus? I wouldn't want him overwhelmed by the size of the crowd and the importance of the occasion, even if it isn't the quadrigae." The races between the four-horse were naturally much more prestigious than those between the two-horse bigae, and required far more skill - the skill of charioteers such as Menelaus, who would be racing in the most important races, and for the largest prizes. @Járnviðr

Herbs? "I know something about them, but not much - I'm not a cook, or a gardener," Davus replied, a little startled at the rapid speed the conversation had diverted to another topic. Artemon seemed to be one of those enthusiastic, optimistic types, which was different - most slaves of Davus' acquaintance were realists, some even downright pessimists. "Why the sudden interest in herbs? If you're trying to grow something, it needs light and water, though not too much of either - maybe water it a couple of times a week?" he said; his role as a house-slave meant that among his chores he had to water the various plants that were scattered in pots around the house, mostly in the atrium and whatever was in pots in the garden. @Liv (for when you're back, of course!)

The kiss didn't last as long as Aulus would have liked it to; Horatia broke it off, perhaps embarrassed to have her slave-girl watch their intimacy. To Aulus, slaves were part of the furnishings, almost; there to run hither and thither as commanded to do whatever they were told that would make their owners' lives more pleasant and comfortable. He paid them as much attention as he did the furniture, on the whole, and it didn't occur to him to be embarrassed to have a slave witness this private moment with his wife. Yet the moment was cut short as Horatia moved away from him a little, leaving him confused and concerned. "Is everything all right?" The hand she put to his face was reassuring, though. "That is probably the reason behind a lot of wars - men use weapons where women use words when they end up at one another's throats, and it is often for equally foolish reasons. Perhaps more foolish reasons." @Sara

"I should probably go home at some point, but I don't need to just yet." I don't want to just yet even. Alexius was a good-looking man. More than that, even, he seemed genuinely nice, which Teutus desperately needed right now. Even if he'd seemed to somehow put his foot in it during their conversation, Alexius hadn't seemed to mind too much, had made excuses or just gone with the abrupt change of subject, and hadn't let the conversation become as awkward as it might have done with someone else. There were days when it seemed that Teutus' entire existence was one level of awkwardness or another, no matter who he was with or where he was. It must be nice to be able to deflect that and smooth things over - it was a talent Teutus could stand to learn. It seemed, somehow, that ever since he'd been given his freedom, he just made everyone around him awkward or uncomfortable, and it was a nice surprise to meet someone who didn't feel like that around him. He hoped it would last longer than a few minutes. @Atrice

Rufus was a little puzzled at first to find that there was a hand clasping his ankle, and then realised the reason for it. "You don't have to fall at my feet. I wouldn't like Theo to be jealous." Though maybe Theo wouldn't be jealous. That was an interesting thought. "I'll stay," he said, accepting Theo's free hand and turning to help Didia up. It seemed quite natural to turn whatever-it-was into a three-way hug, and he did so, grateful that he didn't seem to have made as big a mess of things as he had somehow expected. "So, um, I don't want to insert myself where I'm not wanted," he told them, a little uncertain of what was going on now. @Sara @Chevi

Attis reached up to rub his head where his master's hand had connected - it hadn't been a hard swipe by any means, but even so! "Do you mean, if I apologise one more time tonight, or one more time, ever, domine?" he enquired, somehow feeling a bit more like his usual self. He couldn't believe he'd off-loaded all that stuff onto his master (well, to be fair, Longinus had asked, and more than once, so what did he expect?). "Either. Both. Well, I actually meant, I would have thought you'd appreciate that I don't go sleeping around with people outside the house. The only other people who know about this -" he indicated his forehead "- are some of the other slaves who were there at the time." He hadn't told anyone in the family, ever, until now. What could they have done about it, after all, and it wasn't as though Attis was one of the slaves at the domus in Rome at the time, anyway. He found that he was mildly astonished that he hadn't been summarily sold, though the confusion of the civil war had no doubt put paid to any ideas of that that the old master might have had. Longinus was therefore the only other person who really knew how Attis had got his scar and quite what he would do with that knowledge was anyone's guess. He couldn't quite believe he'd told his master, and with very little persuasion. @Sara

"You would provide the very finest example of what it means to be a Roman lady," Aulus informed her, though he could not hide a smile as the wind whipped at the loose strands of her hair in a way she would not normally abide were they in public. "You would be able to influence how they educate their daughters and what sort of men they should consider in marriage for those daughters. The husbands will thank you for showing their wives how to run a household neatly and profitably and with good discipline - I do not recall the last time I had to administer discipline in our house, and that is all to your credit." She looked more beautiful in that moment, with her stola and bare feet and the wind pulling at her hair and clothing, and he bent his head to kiss her. "There is no man in the entire Empire who is so blessed in his marriage as I am," he said quietly, wrapping his arms around her. @Sara

"I knew I should have made a greater case for a marriage cum manus," he replied with a laugh. "If I am posted to either province, I shall do my utmost to convince him to allow you to come with me - the entirety of Britannia and Judea is not frontier, after all, and governor's palaces are generally built of at least brick. I can't speak for Judea but Britannia is not quite the nest of savages it once was, and I have walked into their own settlements and come out unscathed. You need not worry that I will make you sleep in some mud hut anywhere - I very much doubt any governor anywhere has anything less than a palace with all the luxuries and amenities his province can provide, which will naturally include a hypocaust in places like Britannia and Gaul - you remember we had a hypocaust in Raetia, and I promise you didn't freeze your toes off there." He paused to look down at Horatia's feet, examining them to see that she did, in fact, still have all ten toes. She did, and very pretty her feet were, too, at least in comparison to his own. "Anyway, having a woman of your rank and standing accompany the governor will give the benighted barbarians an example of what their own wives should aspire to be, surely?" @Sara

"I'm sorry," Aulus said and stroked the side of Horatia's hand with his thumb. "And I know. You are an example of Roman womanhood and I shall be proud to be seen with you at the public events I will have to attend." He knew that Horatia was unlikely to want to be at all the Games he would have to be at; even if they weren't all matches to the death, Horatia did not relish such things, which he could understand. "Britannia? Oh, the beaches were much the same as this, for the most part, though the sea is green if you can credit it, and there are beaches that are nothing but pebble, or shell. And the cliffs at Dubris and Anderida are white - chalk or something. A fine view when approaching from Gaul, at any rate. It is all very wild, though there are forts and towns being built now that you would like. The further north you go, the more the people are savages. The tribes in the south are almost civilised, and the country itself is good farmland, though not for olives nor citrus, I think. Not that I have any real experience or knowledge when it comes to farming, I leave that in the hands of far more practical and experienced people." He ran his free hand through his hair. "Are you hoping I get posted to Britannia once my term is up, my dove?" he enquired. "Or are you just curious about the places I have already served?" @Sara (Dubris is Dover, Anderida is Pevensey in Sussex)

"Oh, by all means, let us not give Secundus Statius Pudens and his admirable wife anything to gossip about - gods forbid!" Aulus said, standing up. He could not deny the thrill it gave him to know that he was the only one who would see his wife with her hair down, wearing just her tunica. "I have missed you, too," he told her. There was something about the simplicity and wildness of natural surroundings which felt more like Horatia than any amount of cultivated parks and fine buildings could - he sometimes felt that to plant an olive grove would be a more fitting tribute to her than any amount of libraries and other public buildings. They had the beach to themselves and the birds - and the slave girl following them, but Aulus naturally paid her no mind. "I am glad to be here, with you. And I will do my utmost to come down with you in the warmer weather, too," he said. It was not cold, nothing like the frigid chill of Britannia, but it was wild and clear and windy, perfect for blowing cobwebs away. @Sara

"Lead the way? I have no intention of having my wife follow behind as women do in the East - or at least, as I am given to understand they do," Aulus said, and took her hand. "You didn't need to change just to walk on the beach, surely?" But that was one of the little foibles he loved about his wife, her perfectionism in all things and her refusal to allow even the chance of looking unworthy of her position in society. The walk down to the beach was not a long one, but it was nice to walk in peaceful silence down to the golden sand and dark blue of the sea. There were seagulls wheeling and calling, and several sitting bobbing on the water. Aulus bent to unfasten his sandals, and then his wife's - the girl could carry two pairs of shoes without much trouble, even with whatever other burden she had, and it would be easier to go barefoot on the sand. @Sara

Teutus was the one who should go. He had no intention of telling his father - he would not ever confide anything in his father, he thought, though Tertius might wish otherwise. But obviously he hadn't been believed, because he was Tertius' son. Not that he had any real rights of sonship, or anything. "I shouldn't have come," he said awkwardly. "But I won't tell - there's nothing to tell, is there. And I'm not a tell-tale, anyway." It would have been so very easy to be, though, with everything Teutus had gone through in his life. So easy to do exactly what Hector did and play on his relationship with Tertius by telling all sorts of tales on the other slaves. He never had, though, and didn't plan on starting now - a man had to have some sort of honour, even if it was just not telling tales on others. He put the cup down. "I should go. Tell Charis - tell Charis I won't tell. And I'm sorry." @Atrice @Sara

"It wasn't your fault," Attis pointed out. He must have let his feelings into his hand or something because the dog whined and batted at his arm, leaving a scratch. At least dogs' claws were blunt, unlike cats' claws. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with the knowledge that his master had just apologised to him, a slave, and elected to ignore it at least for now. He was glad that his master couldn't see him roll his eyes, though. He knew all about the efficacies of valerian root for sleeplessness; being the good slave he was, he'd been the one to procure it in the first place for his master (who'd seemed less than appreciative of it at the time - he was the same way with the willow bark concoctions for headaches). He was not about to use any, even with permission, he simply did not have sleepless nights with any sort of regularity. "It doesn't happen all that often, anyway. I'm just sorry it was tonight and I ended up disturbing you." If he hadn't been in his master's bed tonight, Longinus would still be in blissful ignorance that his body slave knew what a negative memory looked like. Damn. He looked up at his master, who was wearing a more concerned expression than Attis could recall seeing on his face, certainly a more concerned expression than he'd ever worn before when looking at Attis. "I would have thought you'd appreciate that I don't go spreading it around outside the household, though, domine?" He didn't even spread it around within the household all that much, the only people he slept with with any regularity were Metella, Vitus (and him only occasionally) and Longinus himself. @Sara

"I don't recall falling over the garden furniture quite as much as I remember falling over my own words - a fine orator I must have seemed when I couldn't even manage a coherent question! I don't think I have ever come to a decision so quickly in my entire life as the decision I made then, to marry you. And I have never regretted it." He gave the ring on her finger a final stroke with his thumb before getting to his feet, and had to hold the loom for a moment because of the sudden rush of blood to his foot brought with it the sensation of being stuck with hundreds of tiny needles. "I daresasy the time will come when I want nothing more than to retire here and enjoy the quiet peacefulness of the country, but that is unlikely to be for many years yet," he said, and offered her his hand, to help her stand. Not that she needed the help, she was (as she had pointed out) more than ten years younger than him, but it was the polite thing to do. "I should like nothing more - a pleasant walk on the beach sounds most delightful." They could borrow a slave to carry their shoes if they wanted to paddle in the water - even if they didn't, barefoot on the sand would be far nicer than getting sand in their shoes. @Sara

"You shouldn't grind your teeth, domine, it's bad for them," Attis pointed out mildly, and had to swallow a sudden and unwanted lump in his throat as his master squeezed his shoulder. The dog whined as Attis paused in petting him to deal with the unexpected emotion. "At the villa - they didn't get in. I was outside doing - something - and they come up being all... as soldiers are." He shrugged again. "They weren't happy with the way things were going, or the answers I gave to their questions, or something. Whatever. It doesn't even matter now." He took a breath. "They hung around for a bit, cut down a couple of olive trees, messed round with the winepress, pinched or spoilt what they could, tried to get in the villa - it wasn't a big group of them, just a scouting party, I think. Once they were distracted, I nipped round the corner in through the kitchen. We barred the doors, but they didn't hang round for long." He'd passed out at some point and didn't really know what was going on anyway. Why bother telling the slaves what all the infighting was about, after all? "It was all about a thousand years ago anyway," he added, wishing that it was and didn't still make him shake when he thought about it. Why weren't good memories as easy to recall? @Sara

"I don't think my father would agree with Cicero about me - 'Times are bad, children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book'. Titus is perhaps less studious than I was, or displays it in a different way, and Calpurnia - are all girls mysteries to their fathers?" Aulus couldn't help the smile. Calpurnia was a serious, quiet girl, much like her mother. "I wonder if she would like to learn philosophy? Titus should have some training in oratory, I think; whatever path in life he chooses, that can only help." He wouldn't be at all surprised if Horatia would like to join Calpurnia in her studies if he could find a suitable tutor. Horatia's own studiousness was a quality that Aulus liked about her. She directed her household staff and did not need to dirty her hands with doing any chores herself, which would leave her with time to read, or study, as she chose. "I shall loo forward to the day when my son takes his own seat in the Senate, and then at each stage of his own cursus honorum - and whatever Calpurnia does, I shall be as proud of her, too. But let us enjoy our own successes, too, we shall be old soon enough!" Horatia would be as beautiful to him then as she was to him now, of course. @Sara

"I don't snore!" Attis protested, looking up, and caught the humour in his master's face - he was being teased, again. If he did snore, he wouldn't be summoned to his master's bed half as often as he was - or at least, he'd be kicked out of it once the sex was done rather than being allowed to sleep there. He turned his attention back to the dog, which seemed to be enjoying the belly rub. "Yes," he replied in answer to his master's question, and sighed. "I don't know - I never knew. It was a group of soldiers, I don't even know what legion they were from. Sadistic bastards, whoever they were. They wanted something - supplies or just to ransack the place - and decided to have some fun. They'd just finished it and gods know what they were going to do next, only another bunch of soldiers came riding up and I managed to get away." How Attis, and the other slaves, had been supposed to protect the villa against armed and trained soldiers had been beyond them all at the time, even. He didn't even know if the second group were on the same side as the first ones or not. How he hadn't ended up dead was a question he still didn't know the answer to. @Sara

Well, Theo looked amused rather than angry, which was something in Rufus' favour at any rate. "Didia's not the only one here I proper like," he said, and wondered if he'd taken complete leave of his senses. He must have done! "I mean, well, she chose you and anyone she likes is worth liking, and you've been very good to me, and - I should go before I make a worse fool of myself than I have already, if that's even possible." He didn't, though, not immediately. He still felt odd and out of place, somehow intrusive, although he felt less out of place and intrusive than he just had and couldn't quite work out why, especially after that disaster of a speech. Before he could talk himself out of it, he'd got up and pressed a very quick kiss to Theo's lips then stepped back. "Um. You two look very good together," he said and turned towards the door. He really would fare a lot better with the falling plaster in his own rented accommodation! @Sara @Chevi

Aulus couldn't help laughing. "Perhaps I have forgotten, but surely I'm not as old as all that? Though granted, I suppose I must seem to be to Titus and Calpurnia and their friends. He caught his wife's sigh and the slightly sad look that flickered over her face and was gone. "Yes," he said in answer to her question, blue eyes meeting blue, and asked a question of his own. "And if you are worried or anxious about anything - or have any other concerns - you know that you can tell me, don't you?" He thought she knew that, and knew that she did tell him things - they were remarkably open with one another - although he had caught hints on occasion that she did not quite tell him everything. But that was her prerogative, she need not tell him everything if she did not want to, and he would not pry. She knew that she could trust him, after over fourteen years of marriage. He hoped she knew that, anyway. "I know," he told her quietly, in response to her quiet, heartfelt, assertion. "I am proud of you, too, my dove." @Sara

A smile came, unbidden, to Atti's mouth. "I'm sorry?" he said, a flash of his usual humour escaping before he sighed. "I don't often have bad dreams," he admitted. "And I don't think I've ever disturbed you in the middle of the night before." He shrugged again. "I guess I'm just rattled by it." He paused. He'd never spoken of what had happened all those years ago, and Longinus had never asked, not really. He must have been really rattled if he was acting so out of character that even his master was drawn to comment on it! He dropped into a squat by his master's feet. Naturally, this put him at the dog's altitude, and he had to fend the wrinkly thing off, finding himself offering belly rubs a moment later. Now that he wasn't face to face with his master, he was able to add, "It was about how I got my scar. I don't even know why I had that dream tonight, I haven't had it for a while and there's nothing going on that would make me have nightmares." @Sara

Attis' shoulders lifted in a brief shrug. "No, it's not." There was nothing about last evening that Attis could point to that might explain why he'd had his nightmare tonight. He rarely dreamed, and it was even rarer that it was a bad dream, yet whenever he did have a bad dream, it was nearly always the same one, or a variation of it. The evening had been fun, in fact - Attis liked sex, whether with his master or Metella or even (oddly) with Vitus. So what had caused him to flash back to that particular day over a decade earlier was beyond him! He folded his hands in front of him as his master sat down on the marble bench across from where he was standing. "I know you don't, which is even more reason to apologise for waking you, however inadvertently. And Metella won't mind much, Domine. If nothing else, she'll appreciate the fact I woke you rather than her." @Sara