Sharpie

"Watch where you're going!" Davus instinctively replied in the same language he'd just been addressed in, before registering that the other bore no signs at all of slavery, and Egyptian was an unusual language to be addressed in. Though less unusual in this part of the city; he recognised the statues of Isis and Serapis (well, Serapis was easily recognisable, after all, with his distinctive headdress!). The temple of Isis and Serapis naturally drew worshippers from Egypt, and of course one of them was going to spill his beer down Davus after walking into him. "I shouldn't have got in your way," he added, just in case this was a free man (there were plenty of those in Rome and several of Egyptian stock, even). Too bad he'd return home smelling of beer and have to get his tunic washed days before it was due for it. @Liv

"Maybe I should practise more with that," Attis said. "The sweeping people off their feet, I mean." He wouldn't, though, not really. He enjoyed sex - who didn't? - but Metella was the only woman he wanted to be with, and what he got up to with Vitus was nobody's business. As to what he and Longinus did together, well, it was every master's prerogative to make use of their slaves however they chose to, and Attis wouldn't breathe a word of what happened in Longinus' bed beyond letting people think it was precisely what any master would do with any male slave they owned who took their fancy. "I don't have any idea how to get him past this, you know. I don't mind if he wants me for a distraction, I just don't think I'm a very good one. Wrong shape and body parts and all, even if he does like that on occasion." Metella already knew at least some of what transpired in Longinus' bed between their master and Attis, after all. @Chevi

"And I am grateful to you, truly," Teutus said. "But, I'm your freed son and can't ever be more than that, no matter how much either of us wish it could be different. Surely your freeborn son will mean more to you than I ever could." And I don't want to have to watch him grow up with all the opportunities I will never have. He didn't think that his father wanted him to go, but equally, he didn't think that his father would be able to keep from favouring his new son over his ex-slave, son or not. If he could leave, even if only to some poky room in an insula down in the Subura, he wouldn't have to watch his half-brother by another slave grow up able to do all the things Teutus could never do, and enjoy all the rights Teutus would never have. @Atrice

"Thank you," Davus said simply, thinking that she must be very kind - his Latin was by no means as good as hers, though it did help that Latin was a regular language that followed the same sort of patterns, in its own way, as his native Greek did. "From Alexandria," he said, somehow finding it quite natural to fall into step beside her, although he was perfectly ready to be told to get lost. She must have heard of Alexandria - it was a city renowned for learning and philosophy, after all. "Can I ask where you're from?" @Echo

And of course saying we should thread doesn't mean I have any threads ideas. Naturally. Apparently I'm not an ideas sort of person! ...There are people of so many different ethnicities and backgrounds in Rome that I wonder if there are cauponae that cater to foreign foods in the same way we have Chinese/Indian/whatever takeaways in our own world? Somewhere that does Egyptian or Greek food might be a good place for Davus to run into either of your people!

"Not hurt at all," Davus said, thankful that the other was equally uninjured. "Uh, Egyptian," he said, in answer to her question - what an odd question to ask, in a city like this, that had people from all the corners of the empire in it. Her own Latin was accented, though much softer. She had probably spoken Latin for much longer than he had, if she'd ever spoken anything else. He couldn't place hers, although the accent of the few words she'd spoken sounded vaguely familiar - yet not quite. "I'm sorry if I, uh..." He indicated her veil, which she had had to rearrange. He wasn't sure where she was from, and from the plainness of her dress, she was possibly a slave, and for a slave to cover her head probably meant she was Jewish or something - he remembered them from his childhood in Alexandria. @Echo

(And also you play Davus' owner, so there's an automatic link there, too! )

Added Davus (and removed Paulus). Looking especially for friends among the others in Titus' household, or outside it.

Davus should thread with Clio (hello fellow Greek speaker!) and/or Artemon (Egyptian reminiscences if Artemon doesn't mind a slave's perspective).

September 75 "Onions, garlic, figs, cumin, lentils," Davus murmured to himself, repeating the shopping list over again (minus the items he had already bought, of course). "Onions, garlic... oof!" He had been distracted in his search and ended up very nearly walking into someone. The someone, when he'd recovered his wits and stepped backwards, an apology ready, turned out to be a young woman, of similar complexion to him, dressed simply, and with a veil over her head. "Apologies," he said, checking that he hadn't dropped anything - he hadn't. "I wasn't watching where I was going - I hope you're not hurt?" His Latin was perhaps more melodious than a native would pronounce it, thanks to his Egyptian Greek accent. @Echo

Teutus took the cup offered, and sipped from it, although even his father's best wine tasted like vinegar to him right now. What was there to celebrate? He was going to have to stand by and watch as yet another sibling was brought up with all the rights and expectations of a freeborn citizen - and this one had even more because it was a male child. Tertius had his heir, finally. And it wasn't Teutus - and Teutus wasn't surprised by it, not really. He'd known this was going to happen, eventually, as soon as Tertius summoned Charis to his bed. It had only been a matter of time. 'Our' name. That was rich. It was Tertius' name - Teutus should by all rights have taken the name Tertius Quinctilius Teutus. There was nothing to say that he couldn't do that even now - nothing other than common usage and tradition. He swallowed thickly and set the cup down; he hadn't wanted it in the first place. "I understand, Father. I think... It isn't necessary for a guardian to live in the same house, especially while the paterfamilias is still alive, and my presence will surely be unwanted here now you have a freeborn son." He took a breath, willing the lump in his throat to disappear. "I should find somewhere of my own to live, I think." @Atrice

Teutus didn't want to be here, would rather be anywhere in the city - in the Empire, even - than here, watching his father decide the status of his new son, Teutus' half-brother. Were there any justice at all, he'd condemn the child to live the life Teutus had endured, but he saw little chance of that happening, which meant that the baby Charis was carrying would supplant him and bring everything he had hoped and worked for crashing down around his ears. Antonia would no doubt be charmed by the baby, which Teutus wouldn't fault her for. He would ask to move out of this house as soon as he could, and in the meantime, he would try to keep away from Charis and her baby. @Atrice @Sara

He hadn't expected that and the only reason he didn't gape at the idea was due to his lifetime as a slave, learning to control his facial expressions despite what he thought. "I... That is..." If Tertius were to die before the two children came of age, that meant that Teutus would have the rights to live in the house and treat the property as if it were his own, though not to the degree that they would have nothing when they came of age. He would be Antonia's guardian until their brother came of age, or (if Tertius willed it) until her marriage - women required a man to act on their behalf in the courts and in other legal situations. He took a breath, deliberately not thinking of the baby, and focussing on Antonia. "I would be honoured, Father." He would never be rid of the stain of his slave past - Roman society wanted its freedmen to always bear the stain of their slavery, after all - but it would improve his standing at least a little, with Tertius' immediate circle. "Should anything happen to you, I will do my best for them," he added, although he would rather not do the best for the boy who would surely inherit everything that should have been Teutus', were there any justice in the world. @Atrice

Honest? Teutus didn't think that his father really wanted him to be honest - he couldn't have a clue what Teutus was thinking, because if he did, Teutus' honesty would be the last thing he'd ask for. "I... He will no doubt be your freeborn heir and will supersede me in every respect. What am I supposed to think?" Even though doubtless a freeborn heir without Tertius' being married would doubtless raise some eyebrows, Teutus didn't think people would be crass enough to mention it out loud where Tertius could hear them. He wondered whether he should move out, find a room somewhere in the less attractive parts of Rome and get work somewhere - there was always work for someone with secretarial training, after all, and not everyone wanted to use slaves for that kind of thing. He would be less beholden to his father that way, and would only have to see him when performing the customary salutatio, rather than every day, knowing that he ate and drank and slept and was clothed by his father's generosity. @Atrice

Wine wasn't going to help anything at all, it would just taste sour and muddy his thoughts, so he shook his head. "Badly, I don't think anyone slept well," he said, and steeled himself. "I suppose I should say... congratulations on the birth of your son." It would surely be easier all round to acknowledge the child rather than try to do whatever process in the courts, or with the Emperor or whatever. He found himself hating the baby, who hadn't done anything to him at all except survive the birth. Distantly, he found himself hoping that the high infant mortality rate would see the child dead before its fifth birthday, and he hated himself for the thought. This wasn't like him at all, but he had nothing - he never had had anything, not really. Perhaps it would have been better all round if he'd been sold at the same time as his mother. @Atrice

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," he said soothingly, relieved that she hadn't burst into tears as he'd thought for one moment that she might. "I told him that you'd sprained your ankle, that the litter bearers were nowhere to be found - really, I should have them whipped!" He tightened his arms around her just a fraction. "Everything that happened after that was his choice, not yours, you are not to blame for any of it - you'd never leave the house if you begin thinking that every conversation you have will end up like this. And Caesar said that he has reservations about some of the Praetorians anyway, though that knowledge is not to leave this room." He would have had to have got the Emperor involved anyway in order to pass on the man's request - the Egyptian Praetorship was in Caesar's gift, to go to someone of impeccable credentials and unshakeable loyalty. "You're not crying, are you?" he added, looking down at the back of her head. He wouldn't be surprised if she was, what with everything that had happened. @Sara

"Well, I told him as much about it all as I know, and he offered to have the man dealt with. And he reassured me that he knows of my loyalty to him, and offered his support in my bid for the Consulship." Aulus picked his goblet back up and took a deep mouthful, lowering it a moment later to reveal the deeply satisfied expression on his face. "You see, there is nothing at all to worry about any more, columbina mea," he added, softly, not entirely liking the expression on his wife's face. She looked... he was not sure he could put into words how she looked but he got to his feet and crossed to her, putting his arms around her. @Sara columbina mea - my dove

"Me, domine? The only other Senator I've been unfortunate enough to work for recently is the one you know about." But he had spoken to Tranquillus about things other than his infatuation with Florus, and received some advice of his own, that backed up some of his own experiences with Longinus - not that Longinus would likely recall that Attis had negotiated lodgings before. Just not a nice house for as long as his master was going to spend in Greece. There was nothing of any real value in Attis' belongings - he kept his valuables on him and his most precious possessions he'd entrusted to Metella. He still had misgivings about leaving the rest of his things anywhere, even if they were technically Longinus' belongings. He would only be encumbered by the bags if he insisted on taking them with them - he was pretty sure Longinus would ensure that Attis got both if Attis refused to leave them here. "Yes, domine," he said. He'd have to figure out which was the best area of the city and see if he could find somewhere suitable. Jupiter knew how long any of that would take, especially with a language barrier to deal with, too. "Anywhere in particular in their Forum?" he asked, thinking that it was probably at least as crowded as the Forum Romanum back home. @Sara

"Well, I'm not much good at cloak and dagger stuff," Aulus confessed. "I think he was counting on me paying a visit at some point - and I made sure that people would notice me going into the Castra, so they would expect me to come back out again." It had been a risk, he knew it had been, but he was a soldier and a career politician and nobody succeeded in either field without taking some risks. The only reason he had left the house himself was to pay those visits today, and he had been as unsubtle about it as he could without hiring a troupe of musicians and dancing girls to precede him. Maybe he should try that in the future - they'd be far more entertaining than the lictors he would be entitled to as a Consul. "I wanted him to know that he hadn't been anywhere near as subtle as he had thought, and that I was aware of what he was doing, though I didn't ask him why." He set the goblet down. "Don't you wish to know what Quintus Augustus had to say?" @Sara

There was something electric that sparked in Rufus as Didia kept her hand to his face for a moment too long, stroking his jawline with her thumb before she remembered who they were and where they were. "Depends what you find to read," Rufus pointed out. "Of course there are plenty of boring things out there, but there's a lot that isn't, too. And if you can read, you'll know what you're putting your mark to without having to trust that you're being told the truth. And Latin's an easy enough language to learn, anyway. You can talk it well enough, reading it isn't much harder, not really." He shrugged. "It's practise, more than anything, once you've been told what the letters are and how they sound, and you don't need me or anyone else for that bit. There's enough writing all over the walls in Rome that you can practise reading when you're doing your deliveries, if you don't mind reading some truly dirty graffiti." Maybe he could set up as a grammaticus once he was freed? Though somehow the idea of teaching kids didn't seem as appealing as teaching Didia Nonia - and he'd stumbled into teaching that other kid, Azarion, more by luck than anything. He couldn't help wondering where he'd landed up, and hoped it was somewhere good. "It'd make up for me making you drop your lunch," he added after a moment. @Sara

Aulus smiled; his wife looked as if she belonged behind her desk, ruler of all that she surveyed - he could imagine the slaves quaking in their sandals were any of them summoned here before the mistress to give an account of themselves. He found a couch and settled on it, tucking a bolster comfortably under his left arm. "Well, I had two meetings today and one of them went about as well as expected. The other went far better than I could have hoped - and I will not tease you and make you guess at which one went which way. The Praetorian was exactly as I had expected him to be, attempting to threaten to besmirch my reputation to ruin my chance of that consulship next year." He held a hand up. "He was persuaded to leave off if I would promote his own interests with the Emperor - he particularly wants the Praetorship of Aegyptus, and I need not tell you of the importance of that particular province." He swallowed a mouthful of wine; walking across the city and back was thirsty work for anyone, even if they were not swathed in the dozens of yards of wool that constituted a Senatorial toga. "My meeting with Quintus Augustus was far more productive - we do not have to worry about that Praetorian any more." He kept his eyes on Horatia's face to see her reaction to that pronouncement. @Sara

(Takes place in the evening of Ave Imperator! and Into the lion's den) Aulus returned to his home feeling far more light-hearted than when he had left it that morning. He had almost not needed to head to the Castra Praetoria, not with Caesar's reassurance ringing in his ears, but some part of him had needed to meet the man who had unnerved his wife and threatened his children and slaves. After that meeting, he had no compunction whatsoever about leaving him to Caesar to deal with. He was still none the wiser as to why he had turned on Aulus' family, but the threat had gone and it felt as if a sweet breeze had blown through the house. One of the house slaves offered him a cup of wine and, when questioned, the information that the mistress was in her own private study. Aulus dismissed the boy and turned to find Horatia. He paused quietly at the door of her room, not wishing to disturb her if she was in the middle of something that could not easily be set aside. He smiled, the fond expression coming easily to his face as he watched her before knocking, the private pattern used just between the two of them. @Sara (Title: The situation as it was before the war)

"Ah - apologies," Rufus said, and gently tugged at her wrist until he'd pulled her hand free, before tapping her palm against his cheek, suggestive of a slap. "There, I am properly chastised for discomfiting you, Lady," he said. He took a breath. "I could teach you, if you wanted to learn," he offered quietly. "I mean, I'm not a proper grammaticus or anything, but I wouldn't tell anyone, and you might find it useful later?" There were all sorts of reasons for people to know their letters, after all, it didn't matter what station in life they held. At least he hadn't blurted the question out anywhere that others might have overheard it, so there was that. @Sara

"Perhaps we ought to go home then?" Aulus suggested, following hard on his friend's heels and unable to keep from overhearing what Longinus had said. "Good to see you again - though you could shave that abominable beard off, you know. You'd look a sight better without it, unless you want everyone to think you're so enamoured of Greek style it's found a permanent home on your face?" He was not going to indulge anyone in morose feelings; tonight was a night to get happily drunk and enjoy being with friends. And despite the ribbing, Longinus looked far more like himself than he had before he'd taken himself and his body-slave on an extended jaunt around Greece. "And congratulations on getting another year older and more decrepit, Rufus," he said to their other friend, who was already nursing a cup. "Getting started without us?" @Echo @Liv @Sara