Sara

Horatia Justina

She gave him an amused look and nodded. Of course she had a proposal written down and without prompting, she pushed herself up from the couch to move to her desk. On it were orderly stacks of tablets and papers - all arranged with tabs to denote what they were, in several separate perfectly orderly piles. She leafed through them until she found the tablet she was looking for and returned to sit next to him, retaking his hand and passing it over. "Here is the one your sister and I agreed on before she departed for the villa. I have copies, so you are welcome to that one." 

She drew their interlaced hands to her lips and left a soft kiss on his knuckles before she chuckled. "And you know I am not the sort of woman that would take credit for such a thing." She shook her head and settled back with a small sigh, thumb still running over his hand. "Have you heard anymore about a Proconsular appointment?" She knew it was unlikely, he would have told her surely, but it never hurt to ask. She had not worried about it - in the same way she had not worried about Raetia - but it didn't hurt to plan. "Calpurnia will be equipped enough to run the charity by herself when I leave...unless she is distracted with a new husband of course." she quirked a brow. 

TAG: @Sharpie

Ovinia Camilla

Ovinia listened. She had enough years of sitting through dinners and courting events to learn the art of patience, but for now it wasn't a mask - she was genuinely interested. "I understand." She chuckled and shook her head. "I don't think I'm cut out for adventure either." She let out a soft sigh and tucked her legs up under herself. 

"We were not born and raised for adventure though." She countered, watching him intently. "You were a slave," She wasn't embarrassed about saying it plainly - although she briefly considered whether he would be embarrassed about her saying such a thing. "Adventure was the very last thing you were supposed to be doing or thinking of. And I was born a woman." She chuckled, "My job and my life is my home. Adventure is not for us...has never been for us, it is for the men - plebeian, patrician, equite, it doesn't matter...but it's for them." she shrugged, "I've often wondered about what would my life have looked like if I had been a son not a daughter..." She mused, "The fourth son. No responsibilities, no requirements. I suspect I would have hated it." She chuckled. Ovinia liked...order. Rules. Even if recently she'd been testing them. 

TAG: @Sharpie

Horatia Justina

She gave him a soft smile and an inclination of her head, no need to say she agreed. She had not been brought up expecting equality in a marriage, and indeed she had not been brought up to think of herself as in any way equal to a man. She knew she was bright and clever, she always had been, but her keen mind had been focused on the womanly pursuits of a girl of her class. It had only been since her marriage, and in particular Aulus' absence that she had moulded it into more practical endeavours. She had never wanted or longed for equality - even if occasionally she found herself frustrated by the confines of her sex, but with her husband she had found it. She had found somebody who listened, who took her opinions on board as readily as he took his own and those of his friends. That had been a light in the darkness for her, and she knew just how lucky she was. 

"Thank you, my love." She smiled softly and stretched her hand to twine her fingers with his, her wedding band shining. "Let me know if you need any information from me - I have summaries written up of the ambitions and aims and more detailed plans somewhere..." She frowned and looked over at her shelves. One had been emptied of its scrolls, and was now dedicated to this project. The small, slight frown she occasionally had when she thought hard knotted her brow before she glanced back at her husband and it smoothed out; "Perhaps we should organise an event here? Ostensibly a dinner for old friends and acquaintances but...we could fundraise as well, of course."

TAG: @Sharpie

Ovinia Camilla

Ovinia inclined her head and smiled softly. "Thank you. I would be grateful and..." She flicked those dark, depthless eyes up to the atrium, "I would of course appreciate your discretion. I would not wish the medicus we have in our employ to be...offended." Nor would her father likely approve. He was a traditionalist in all senses and Eastern medicine had been mooted and dismissed before but...if it helped her mother, then she would risk his ire. She never would have even thought to before but now...life, recently, had shown her a new perspective. 

Her lips twitched though as she listened and then answered his question; "It is not my choice." But she added with a sigh, "I...don't think so. There are things I think I can accomplish in the city now." She glanced out at the gardens, her face a little wistful, "I can help people here...my husband with a political career, the people of the city..." the latter certainly hadn't been a consideration of hers before last year but now..."Maybe when I'm older, I'd like to travel but...for now...I'm content where I am." And then she flicked her eyes back to Teutus, "But you didn't answer my question...I didn't ask if it was possible for you to start over...I asked if you would have been happy, had you had the opportunity?" 

TAG: @Sharpie

Thanks both for your honesty, and so sorry for what you're going through, both of you. Absolutely RL comes first. 

I guess as a member who loves your site, I just want to see it thrive and continue to write fun plots with my friends. I think a reboot would enable that, so long as we can transfer over what we have from here to whatever new setting it is. Although, as you say Gothy, it's a patch that won't last long as the work of running a site builds up again and again over the next few years. I suppose with that in mind, are you open to adding new administrators or moderators to your staff?

This is not me fishing for a job, as you know I already run another board (over which I'm slightly burned out - so I get it! ), but I genuinely think that with some help to manage the parts that yourselves can no longer manage due to to really valid reasons, the site might flourish again. You would all maintain control and ownership of the site still, but you would have people to do;  board maintenance, list updating, running events, NPCing canons, reviewing apps etc. Would really welcome  your thoughts. 

As I said in Discord, thanks for posting this - really appreciate being involved! 

Given the above, I would prefer a reboot to a sandbox, I need the structure of a setting and overarching plot to help with muse. In terms of a reboot - some of my own thoughts on it below: 

Really appreciate the clarifications on the characters/plot being able to transition over because I think that's the most important thing for me. I've spent four-odd years writing them now, and to lose that would be really tough as a player - it's almost as if I'd be joining a new board, and that requires commitment from a member to come up with new plots and characters and interest. To be really candid, it would be hard to muster this for me personally knowing I was really enjoying plots and characters that got wiped in the reboot. If you went for a 'seamless' reboot where all our characters lived the lives as per their apps, either exactly as they are (in option (a) below) or via (b) - just under IRL history up until the civil war, that might make it easier - it would mean that our plots could be the same on a 'new' AeRo? 

As a player of only a few of years on the site, I agree that I found the 'lore'/site history a bit overwhelming when I joined! I mainly just went from the civil war onwards as plot points. If you were rebooting the plot, you could always start there with civil war and either:

(a) keep the history what it is, but don't use the timeline format which can be unwieldy - instead just do a bit of a guidebook of very, very key events (as whilst interesting, events 20 years ago canonically aren't super relevant for new players in the current format);

(b) make it a historical civil war between the IRL historical emperor and Quintus, Quintus be victorious and then have Quintus retire recently. That cuts out a lot in between. For those players that have been around for decades, you could always direct them to the AU board to write those plots.

I agree on new apps/characters being allowed being important - although won't hammer home the point. I think new characters = new motivation to write. 

Either way, I think there will be a lot of work that will have to go into either option - but I'm sure everybody is very happy to help pitch in, or, if leaving things as they are is an option and re-opening apps/jumping forward a month or two in the timeline (which will save the work of rebooting or sandboxing), equally very happy to help.

@Gothic

Horatia Justina

She chuckled and shook her head, cupping her jaw in her palm as she considered her husband in that serene, contemplative way that was so very Horatia. "Well...wherever you are sent as Proconsul, I'm sure, will need new buildings and some attention. That might be marginally more tolerable than another project here in the city." Proconsular appointments were often in the more...unstable outreaches of the Empire. Why she was not exactly thrilled by the prospect of spending several years in some far-flung place, she remembered their time in Raetia with a fondness. It had felt peaceful, despite the chaos that occasionally reigned at the borders. 

She moved to take his hand and pressed a soft kiss to his knuckles with a soft, private smile that was always just for his. "I have been through it..." She grinned and released his hand from her lips, holding it instead, her fingers threaded through his. "We're looking for something small at first...unobtrusive. The school will likely be...unwelcome in many districts. People are narrow minded." She frowned. "I've already heard a couple of people mutter that it's not appropriate...but do they want a whole generation of young women with little children, and no prospects?" She shook her head. "People are fools."

TAG: @Sharpie

Ovinia Camilla

Ovinia was grateful for the diversion in conversation; "She did, she loved it." She said with a private, soft smile. Her mother's health was currently poor. It was a cyclical disease, whatever the physicians had decided it was, and currently she was in almost daily pain. It was painful to see, to be there at her side and know she could do nothing beyond give her the useless tinctures that the medicus supplied. The medicus that cost a pretty penny but produced no real results. The thought occurred to her as Teutus continued to speak and she tilted her head to the side; "Do you have any connection to healers? In other provinces? I've heard of the Eastern medicine being better than ours...or different. Do you...stock any of their wares?" It was probably not the sorts of good he moved, but it never hurt to ask.

Tucking her glossy dark hair behind her ear, her fingers dropped to her lunula and she smiled softly. "Ah to be a man, to have the freedom to do so if you wanted..." Careful, Ovinia, a voice called in her head and she cleared her throat. "Do you think you would have been happy? Starting again from scratch?"

TAG: @Sharpie

Ovinia Camilla

"Well of course I do, have you seen me?" She said with a wide grin as she tossed her hair over her shoulder, in response to his jest about setting fashions. In truth, she knew women looked up to her, girls as well. The benefits of having good looking parents, money and successful lineages on both sides of her family. Ultimately, of course, it would matter for nought if she ended up just another bored, depressed matron. But she tried very hard  not to think of that and instead sipped her wine. 

"My mothers family are from Hispania, distantly," She corrected with a 'tsk' noise and an amused glint in her eyes. It explained her colouring, if nothing else. "And...I don't know." She sighed with a shake of her head as she tucked her legs up under herself. "I used to want a husband in the legions so I could travel the Empire, see all the sites..." She mused, dangerously close to being honest, "Although now I'm homesick at the mere thought...I...suppose I'd like to see Hispania though. Maybe Gaul...to see if all the stories are true. And you?" 

TAG: @Sharpie

Horatia Justina

Horatia's lips twitched in amusement and she rolled her eyes, holding up a hand; "If I say they were worth it, will you promise me not to commence another building project for at least the next decade?" She loved her husband, and loved the baths, although hearing about it day after day had grown beyond irksome. She wasn't sure which she resented more; the building update or his perpetual shadow of lictors during his Consulship. At least the former, she supposed, didn't dirty her atrium and bother her slavegirls. 

"Nothing firm yet," She shook her head, "There's an abandoned floor in insula over on the Esquiline we were considering repurposing but it will need extensive work. And funds." She sighed and shifted to stroke his hand. It was not Aulus' money she'd be spending, at least not directly. Financing the project would come from her fathers purse as even as an emancipated woman, she was still reliant on others for funds. She was hoping, however, in time that..."Although we are always looking for sponsors, know any of your good fine Senatorial colleagues that may be interested in sponsoring a school for pregnant young plebeian girls with no other choice?" She chuckled, having already drawn up a list of men she wanted her husband to approach about it. 

TAG: @Sharpie

Ovinia Camilla

Did she prefer the familiar? Perhaps for most of her life she had. She enjoyed her wealth and her friends who all had similar interests, she liked understanding what she was expected to do with her life and the roles she was expected to play; pious, chaste daughter, newlywed, mother, matriarch...it all seemed so...neat when she was younger. Now thought it felt so...unfulfilling, or most of it did at least. But they were the cards she had been dealt and short of absconding to Egypt with her lover in tow, there was no escaping it. She sipped her wine and tried to push the thoughts away. 

"I can't say I'm hugely educated on the Empire, reading isn't my passion," She smiled to herself, "But I do wonder what their lives are like. I've only met Britons who are slaves, and they never speak of their homeland." She frowned, as if annoyed by that fact and completely oblivious to the fact that the reason they didn't speak of it was because men like her and Teutus' father forbade them too. "But I do have a bodyguard who's from there." She chuckled, "Tattoos all up his face," She wrinkled her nose, "Shock of blonde hair. Quite savage looking, but apparently that's in fashion, I hear Claudia Caesaris has a female Briton as her bodyguard." Her lips twitched, "But if anybody asks you Teutus, I set the fashion." 

TAG: @Sharpie

Horatia Justina

She shook her head, "I like to do it myself, and in any case I would imagine you're keeping Xanthos suitably busy." She chuckled, rolling her eyes at his terrible joke and helping herself to some bread, nibbling at a crust as she tucked her legs under herself. In the privacy of the study she'd forgone the stola she usually wore, instead wearing a plain  but finely crafted sea-foam green tunica with a palla draped across her shoulders to keep away the chill.

"Oh I intend to to draw out my revenge, make it long and twisted and painful." She smiled wryly, reaching for a glass of wine. "But there's very little that's gone wrong enough for me to complain about it." She chuckled. "We're due to meet an agent to explore suitable plots or existing structures we could repurpose, but that isn't until Calpurnia is back from the villa." She shrugged lightly, "So I've just been concentrating on the background work. I don't think it's a surprise that your sister is naturally better at the public facing works, and I the behind the scenes labour." She chuckled and set down her wine, placing her cheek in her palm. "But I'm glad you came up. I...appreciate I can sometimes get a little too focused on a task and neglect my husband." She grinned again, dropping her hand to stroke his wrist. "You have my permission to drag me out of here if that becomes the case." 

TAG: @Sharpie

Tertia Charis

I'm here now. 

She was and Charis gave a small choked laugh, grateful for that. If Cynane had just not turned up it would have signalled some irrevocable breaking down of their relationship. At least now there was hope...even if the concept was alien to her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd dared hope - certainly not since her girlhood. Life was painful and hard and Charis had always had a good head on her shoulders, was always pragmatic rather than filled with dreams. Now, however, she felt that fluttering of hope.  

Charis stayed quiet though, hand still gripping hers, as Cynane spoke. She shook her head and smiled softly; "You're not a bad influence. You weren't the one that suggested we get drunk in the gardens that day with Helion." She chuckled with a vague grimace at the memory. She blamed the blonde whore, but she was beginning to release whether he'd told Tertius or not what she'd said, she would have likely ended up in his bed all the same. It just might have taken longer. "He said that?" She sipped her wine, "That night? Peregrinus' birth? That you're a bad influence?" She asked and shook her head, her smile small and conspiratorial; "He...won't ever know that the first words my son heard were in our tongue." She chuckled and then nodded as the barmaid hurried away to fetch Cynane a drink. "We...just have to...get through the dinner." She grimaced. "I...am sorry." She heaved a sigh, "That you have to come." 

TAG: @Atrice

Tertia Charis

She gasped and offered Cynane a weak smile as she gripped her hand. She squeezed it firmly, savouring the connection of her friend. "Really fucking awkward." She agreed with a weak laugh and a shake of her head as her spare hand wrapped her palla around her shoulders. 

"I don't want to put you through it..." She admitted. "I wanted it to be a dinner...just for us two but he...presumed he would be there and I tried to say he shouldn't but..." She trailed off weakly. She couldn't say no to Tertius, even now as a free woman she didn't know how. He still controlled every aspect of her life although now there was a facade of freedom in front of it, of wealth. It's what caused the chasm between her and the blonde sat opposite her, that and the fact Cynane saw right through that facade, saw how much Charis was still under his thumb and...stayed with him despite it. 

"I think it's a terrible idea..." she murmured, dropping her eyes to stare at  their intertwined hands instead. "But he expects you...I...don't know what excuse I could give that wouldn't get you into trouble." She bit her lip. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry I'm coming to you with this, the first thing, after so many months..." She raised her spare hand to wipe at her watery eyes. "I missed you so much and...and..." there was nothing else to say.

TAG: @Atrice

Horatia Justina

Horatia was enraptured in the paperwork she was completing and it had been that way for much of the morning and now, early afternoon. Quintus dozed in a little crib next to her desk. Really she should have handed him off to one of the nurses they employed to care for him, but she liked to glance across at him occasionally - seeing his little cherubic face made her smile, even whilst she was in the depths of dull legal treatises. 

She heard the knock but didn't glance up from her work, finishing her notes before she did. She shot her husband a sly smile as he moved into the room and set aside her tablet. She adjusted it, to make sure it was at the correct angle before she set down her stylus. "I was examining the accounts of a similar charity to the one your sister and I are working on. Lemnus," One of her fathers clients and a lowly clerk in an administrative function of the city, "Helped me obtain them. It's been fruitful - to see where they went wrong and what they dedicated their funds to. I don't intend on making the same mistakes." She sighed and pushed herself up, peering down at Quintus and running a finger along his cheek - content to sleep even with his parents nattering. She moved to join Aulus on the couch. "Very thoughtful of you to send food. You're not busy?" 

TAG: @Sharpie

Ione

Ione gasped softly, her body arching lightly into his touches as he swept over her skin with his hands and his lips. This was different, very different. She'd bedded men who took their enjoyment of her slowly, deliberately, but very, very rarely did she find one who luxuriated in her as if she were a lover not a prostitute. It was difficult for her to figure out what to do, how to react, and so instead she did what came innately. Her fingers of one hand moved to thread through his hair, softly stroking, whilst the others moved to stroke softly over his chest through his tunic. 

But his question threw her and she let out a little noise of surprise, angling her head to look at him. "What would I like?" She repeated, her face a picture of confusion and embarrassment. She had never, ever been able to hide what she felt - it was what made her a particularly poor prostitute - and now it made her flush in shame. She shifted on his lap a little, moving a hand back to loop around his shoulders. She tried to bluff her way out of it at first. "I would like whatever you want from me..." She gave him a slightly wan smile and then bit at her full lower lip. He didn't like liars, she knew that. She sighed softly, dropping her forehead to rest against his. "Nobody...has asked me that before." She murmured. "I...don't know what I would like. I...sometimes...I touch myself." She gave him a slightly more genuine, shy smile. "I like that."

TAG: @Sarah

Ione

"That way." She said with a small smile and watched him leave. Quickly, she poured herself a soda water, took off her black apron and put his order in the kitchen before following the way he had gone, coming out to the small pub garden. It was dead - but the heaters were on and the lights were twinkling. She saw him sat alone and hesitated on the threshold. 

"I..." She cleared her throat, "It's weirdly beautiful...for a place as terrible as this." She gave him a weak grin. "Do you mind if I sit out here for my break? It's nice to get some air, even for fifteen minutes. I've...I've put your order in, don't worry." She gave him a little chuckle and hesitated still, not moving further into the garden until he gave his okay that he should. She was used to a life of being dictated to, and that - unfortunately - held over even in interactions like this. 

TAG: @Sarah

Didia Nonia

Didia dutifully ignored Decimus and hurried to kneel at Aia's side. She wasn't feverish, which from her limited knowledge, was good. She sat back on her heels with a slow exhale, looking at her. "What did you eat? You didn't get that chicken stew from Marius' did you? You know he undercooks it!" She huffed and glanced at Decimus. He seemed fine and...if it was just vomiting then eating some badly cooked chicken well...there would be other symptoms. 

"Have you felt sick before now? Anything?" She bit her lip. "Any other symptoms either of you have noticed? Anything at all?" This was far more Theo's bag than hers but she was trying to think what he'd ask. "Can you get back to bed if I help you? This floor has gotta hurt."

TAG: @Chevi @Sains

Lucius Cassius Longinus

"Knowing Titus Sulpicius Rufus, he didn't send it out of the kindness of his heart." He chuckled and ducked his head, amused at the image of his friend trying to find the most outlandish birthday present he possibly could. He'd certainly succeeded, particularly as he watched Rugam 'shake' Sosia's hand. He smiled gently and nodded gratefully to Attis. Who knew his body slave had a knack for this sort of thing? 

He arched a brow at Sosia and shook his head. "Usually one of my slaves do...I don't think the gentlefolk of Rome would appreciate me running down the streets with him in tow." He gave her an amused look but  then, realising he'd closed off after her question and offer that made something in her chest flutter, he gave her a small smile. "But how about we take them out?" He asked, hoping he wasn't putting his foot in his mouth or jumping too fast, "If...you'd like to meet again, we could walk the dogs. There's some beautiful scenery down by the Tiber?" and a whole city of chaperones. 

TAG: @Atrice

Ovinia Camilla

Camilla watched him with an assessing gaze and a gave him a slight nod of approval. Maintenance and decency. Two things every good, traditional Roman man cared about. Her chest fluttered slightly at the mention of crime...an aedile doing that role would interface with the urban cohorts and the vigiles. The latter made her mouth run dry and she sipped her wine demurely to try and gather her wits. 

But the conversation moved on, to even more traditional views that should not have been unexpected but nonetheless left her feeling just a touch...deflated. She knew she fit all of his criteria or most of them; she had excellent manners, she was the only daughter of one of the premier families of the Empire, she was level-headed in most respects and respectable...when in public, when with almost everybody. An an heir...she let him continue to speak as thoughts drifted through her mind. Her mother had four sons, one with her first husband then three with her father. Her grandmother - Gods keep her - had five children, three boys and two girls. There was no reason to believe she wouldn't also and the thought made her relax. She could ignore the rest of it, and focus on the family. It was something she desperately wanted. She did have to push down the thought she was barely over four years older than his son. That was...uncomfortable, but she shoved it deep down. 

Her answer to his question came naturally, fluidly; "Children." She said at first, because it was true. "I've wanted to be a mother for as long as I can remember." The smile on her lips was soft...genuine. She let out a sigh and smoothed her dress over her knees, watching him closely. "But...I think a marriage should be built on respect. I am well aware of the different roles men and women play in our society, in a home, but I would hope my future husband respects my mind, my opinions and my say on matters." She gave a slight shrug. She could feel her father's eyes boring into her cheek as he watched her carefully. "And I'm sure it doesn't surprise you to know that a young woman like me would wish for love...or affection." She gave him a half smile, "Or the hope of it." She knew love did not come before a marriage, but now she'd tasted it - even though it was forbidden - it wounded her deeply to think she would never have it again...even if the thought of letting go of the love she felt now was equally painful. She remained quiet. Undoubtedly, before Lucius she would have rabbited on about a desire for a big domus, travel, an army of slaves to command but now...now all she wanted was a family, love and respect. "Does that satisfy you, Senator Justinus?" 

TAG: @Sarah

Ovinia Camilla

Ovinia smiled softly to herself at his comment on music. Few military men that she knew - most of her brothers and extended family included - enjoyed it in an abstract way, asking her to play after cena or something but very few saw it as anything serious. Publius' comments spoke that maybe he did...or at least he would be indulgent of her hobby and main interest. She sipped her wine demurely, trying not to get ahead of herself and instead listen to him speak of Achaea and his career, a conversation she'd heard time before. Publius' ambitions were little different to most of the men she'd met in these sorts of situations but she gave him a polite smile and inclined her head, speaking with a small chuckle. "Do you have a preference for which aedileship you want?" She asked with genuine interest. "I understand there are different roles around the games, the city provisions and the maintenance of the city itself?" She knew it for a fact, but wasn't going to state that. Men occasionally did not like their women politically minded.

The conversation drifted on and she listened, only chiming in with the appropriate platitudes of; "I am sorry. For your losses." But she was thankful she'd had a lifetime of practice at keeping her features neutral so she didn't splutter her wine all over him and her father. I am looking for a wife. Few men were so bold on first meetings and she briefly wondered if it was a product of his own upbringing or his time in the military. She kept quiet all the same, watching him with interest as he spoke. Seemly. Organised. Appropriate authority. Six months ago those words would have delighted her, now it left a hollow feeling in her chest. That was her role - it always had been her role - but it no longer felt...enough, and it was difficult to reconcile that to the fact it was her future. She merely nodded at his question, her face perfectly neutral. "He is. Viria is keen to learn, but my mother has trusted me to run the household in a way she saw fit." She said by way of explanation for Viria's apathy to her own role. Once, she had loathed her for it. Now she wondered if they had more in common that she had realised. 

Her father added, however, for good measure. "Ovinia would be dearly missed, of course, but she knows it is her place to raise and govern her own family when the time is right. Just as Viria knows it is hers to the same to this one." Her fathers good girls, following their orders. She cleared her throat and glanced at Publius. There was so much she needed...wanted to know. "Given you have already mentioned it," She gave him a smile, "What qualities does a man like Publius Horatius Justinus look for in a wife?"

TAG: @Sarah

Lucius Cassius Longinus

He smiled and nodded. "It's pretty, although I can't say I've visited in a while." He grimaced a little. "Truthfully I don't make a habit of seeing much of the city, I go for runs around it, the palaestra, the baths, temples but none of the sights..." His wince turned into a chuckle, "Perhaps we should endeavour to be tourists in our city and see what it has to offer." But any further notion or conversation was shut off by the heavy breathing of the dog...and Attis leading him in. 

He swiftly moved to stroke his wrinkled face, laughing at Sosia; "Of course. Rugam for the wrinkles, of course." It's face was full of them, smushed and folded. "He's just over a year old now and apparently still growing." At present he came up to Longinus' mid-thigh but he didn't doubt he'd get to waist height or taller as the years wore on. "Be a good boy..." He chuckled and extended a hand for Sosia to join him. "My friend has an odd sense of humour, sending him for my birthday." he explained, "But Attis has him well trained." 

TAG: @Atrice @Sharpie

Didia Nonia

Didia was immediately all action stations, huffing at Decimus; "I'm a fruit seller, not a medicus but I'll do my best...Appius!" She bellowed and her bleary eyed younger appeared, "I'll meet you at the magistrate's house, you can handle the first couple on your own?" The man nodded sleepily. She didn't trust him to run a relay race by himself, but she wasn't going to leave Aia ill upstairs with her Praetorian. She liked Decimus, he seemed a decent man and her friend clearly cared for him but what Aia clearly needed was some good practical women's help if the man was banging on her door at this ungodly hour. 

With a nod of approval, she ducked past Decimus and ventured up to their place. "How long has she been unwell?" Didia frowned, throwing a look over her shoulder as she climbed and then without warning, swiftly pushed open the door to their little apartment. Her hand flew to her mouth in shock to see Aia, pale as a ghost, curled up on the floor. The tang of vomit hit her nose and she grimaced, "Be a good husband and clean that up...Dis save us..Aia?" She hurried through, moving to kneel next to her and planted a hand on the woman's forehead. "What happened?" 

TAG: @Chevi @Sains

Tertia Charis

Of course I came. Charis gulped down some nerves. Of course she did, she's your friend, how could you think so poorly of her that she wouldn't show? Although she didn't say she missed you...Her thoughts started to ramble as her fingers fiddled with both the edge of her palla and the wine cup in front of her. She wanted to get Cynane a drink too, but didn't want to be seen to be ordering slaves around, that didn't feel right. Then again, none of this seemed right. 

"Yes...yes! Everything is fine." She answered too quickly, fumbling over the words. She exhaled a deep breath, trying to gather her wits and her words. Cynane was her friend - they'd been through so much, often together. She deserved the Erea that spoke plainly, was pragmatic...not this awkward, shy, uncomfortable young freedwoman. "Tertius wants to have dinner with you." she grimaced and then a ghost of a smile flitted onto her lips. "Or rather I...said I was lonely, and wanted to see you and have dinner and he invited himself. And won't be moved." She sighed again, the heaviness of the sound carrying across the distance between them. "I..." she grimaced, "Feel fucking awkward, Cinnia." there, that was better, she knew her friend valued honesty. 

TAG: @Atrice

Lucius Cassius Longinus

"I really think so." He confirmed softly with a small, private smile. She had an air about her - besides those big doe eyes and the glossy dark hair that was...inviting. Warm. Comforting. And that drew him, and he suspected an army of other men, in. 

His grin was natural, comfortable as she spoke and he shot a conspiratorial glance at Attis at the mention of a dog. Well then. "Not simple at all," He shook his head and then arched a brow at Attis - "Can you fetch Rugam?" He turned his attentions back to Sosia, "A good friend of mine who has...a somewhat childish sense of humour bought me a dog...whom I do love dearly, but he neglected to tell me he'd grow into the size of one of Hannibal's elephants. He's a gentle giant though." He grinned and moved back to sit in the garden, still twisting the torc between his fingers. "I like exploring too. What's the best bit of Rome you've seen so far?" 

TAG: @Atrice @Sharpie