Sara

Charis scoffed, arching a brow. "Nice?" It shouldn't have surprised her so much. Tertius had been kind to her, in his own peculiar way, fairly often. Unfortunately his kindness was peppered was acts of (to her) supreme cruelty; forcing her into his bed, locking her in a room for months...she supposed it was possible that he was genuinely pleasant his youth before the years and influence of Rome had worn him down, but she couldn't picture it. Nor a woman - an important woman - volunteering to take him as her lover. She ignored that she'd done exactly that when she was trying to manipulate him in the Gardens, all those months ago. She flinched a little as Wulfric stood, and smoothed out the tunica over her knees. He seemed so genuine...but it didn't make any sense. Surely no man would risk his safety and security to come all the way here just...for a conversation. "I'm sorry." She winced with a little sigh, "I'm sure it's frustrating for you. I...think he is worried you are here for his money, for an inheritance." She flicked her eyes up to his face from where they had been trained on his chest. "He doesn't have that sort of money to give you Wulfric." A lie, but maybe if she suggested he was broke, sweet Wulfric would reveal his true colours... TAG: @Atrice

Ovinia's face was a picture of surprise as Silanus insinuated, and then the blonde confirmed, she knew Lucius. She'd been at most - if not all - of the social events of the year and hadn't spotted her. Was there a party she wasn't invited to? She seethed a little, internally and tried not to let it show on her face. Especially given the way the young woman sized her up. She was beautiful - in a striking, unconventional sort of way with her blonde hair and moonlight-pale skin. Exotic-looking in a way that the brunette, brown-eyed Ovinia would never be. As Lucius deferred to her, she offered a tight smile at the musician. "Do you know anything by Opiter Papinius?" She queried, somewhat self-consciously. "He's fairly recent, from Greece but he does compositions in quite a different way-" She was cut off by the blonde grinning a feline smile that made Ovinia swallow. "Of course, domina. You might wish to stand back, this one gets people dancing." The woman jerked her head to the troupe of actors and dancers behind her and then started up a lively tune on the cithara, which was rapidly accompanied by somebody using something as some sort of drums. Ovinia blinked, she was really very talented. She leaned across to join in Marcus and Lucius' whispers: "She's so talented..." Her voice was almost wistful. "Where did you find her?" TAG: @Atrice @Chevi

She arched a brow, tilting her head and studying him intently just for a moment. He was charming, good looking and evidently wealthy if he was a sitting senator. Curious. "You haven't been subjected to a parade of beautiful young women, all vying for your hand?" She chuckled, flashing a winning smile and shook her head, "I always thought that it was the women that ended up being shepherded around or hounded by men...as it turns out, however, Rome has a dire lack of eligible bachelors. I'm surprised I'm your first experience of the marriage market." Which did not bode well for her chances. There were more beautiful, smarter, more vivacious women undoubtedly out there who would jump at the chance to take her place. "You haven't." She said with an amused huff, but she shook her head. "And I have low standards; a husband that doesn't beat his wife?" A wry smile toyed on her lips, "And one who asks how her day was? And takes an interest in her affairs?" Of the several of the men she'd met as of late, Gaius seemed to be the only one who could tick all three boxes. "Oh..." She chuckled as they moved to the inner sanctum, "And not somebody terribly old. How do you think you fare against my criteria, Senator Roscius?" TAG: @Sharpie

Other lovers? She blinked, and blinked again, her face a perfect picture. The wink didn't help. Soon her cheeks felt like they were on fire and she hurriedly wrapped her palla tightly around herself...although that had the inadvertent effect of highlighting the curves she wanted to conceal. "Oh." she tried to sound nonplussed. What else was there to say? She had no conception of men and their frequent trysts beyond what her sister-in-law complained about, and some vague outlines she'd managed to glean from her mothers stories. "Well." She cleared her throat, "I suppose if you're happy that's what matters." She was monumentally relieved when Melissa returned and gave her a grateful smile. Nodding her head, she glanced between the scrap of parchment and the tablet. "The tablet is fine. You've seen me, and know him," She gestured to Alexius, "I trust that should anything happen to me, you'll be honest with the vigiles when they come knocking?" She gave the woman a firm stare, one she usually reserved for errant slaves and then turned to Alexius, feeling all...flustered and embarrassed. She'd been through the ringer tonight and hadn't wanted to endure embarrassment at her own naivety on top of it. "Do you have your food? I should go home." She gave him an imperious look...slightly undercut by the heavy blush on her cheeks. TAG: @Atrice

She watched his face change...fall at the word. She had been teasing, but now realised her mistake. He'd have all the authority his brother had over him. He'd have the decisions to make and authority to wield them. Of course he had power over his men, but power over a wife and a child were different matters. She wondered, absently, if he'd reconsider his choices and his past once his son came of age and started to rebel as he had done. She shook the thought from her mind. He'd probably revel in it. She raised soft fingers to stroke the strong line of his jaw. "You will be an excellent paterfamilias. Fair and kind and...irreverent. Imagine the family holidays to the villa...picking apples, making wine..." She was teasing, trying to lighten the mood. Which he'd also successfully done. Grinning, she dropped her hand from his face to her bump. "I think you've already achieved the end goal of staying in bed, no?" Not that she was going to say no. She had missed him. "But don't be so combative...you'll not win with Gaius if you're belligerent. Hearts and minds...not fire and blood..." TAG: @Chevi

Horatia, despite the heavy cloud that still lingered over her, laughed, genuinely. To look at Aulus one wouldn't presume he had a particularly good sense of humour but she knew him better than that. She also knew the foolish side of him that others rarely saw; the man that fumbled over his words in a garden in Greece, and forgot most of the rights and honours at their wedding. "Is that how you like your wife?" She teased, with a sly smile on her lips, "Silent and bearing your oafishness?" She was joking of course. He'd come to know her forthrightness, but it rarely made an appearance - primarily because she rarely disagreed with him. When it did, she did so in the shadows of their home, not in public. "I'll tell them." She said with an eyeroll, "But you should make plans for Titus to take his toga so we can announce that at the same time. Soften the blow a little, as it were." She was sure, in time, her children would dote on a sibling but for now it would be a shock...as it was for them all. TAG: @Sharpie

"It's a long way to come Wulfric...just to meet your father, and to learn about Rome." She opined with an arched brow and then remembered herself...she was supposed to be being friendly, making him think it was Tertius that was suspicious not her. She swallowed and offered a smile. "I think he is confused...did your mother not say what sort of man he was?" Surely she would not have bedded him willingly? A woman of high-status? She'd heard that the men of Rome had forced women in Britannia, powerful, important women. Was it not the same in Germania? Shaking her head, she sighed and nudged him with her knee. "He'll not hurt you, I'm sure he won't...but he's not likely to meet you again either, if he still thinks you are here for more than you say..." TAG: @Atrice

Titus watched the woman with a neutral face. She was talking, it seemed mostly to herself, and on the edge of asking him for help. He was growing impatient but the Quirinal was close by, and dropping her back at home wouldn't be a long ordeal. Hopefully. If only she asked. And then she did, with those big brown eyes full of hope. She really was quite beautiful - although judging by her clothes, far out of reach of somebody like him. Besides, he was fond of more worldly sorts than this one seemed to be. With an impish smile he nodded. "Of course, domina. What's nearby your house? Bakeries? Shops that you recall?" He jerked his head and whistled so the dog would follow him (which it did, miraculously) as he trudged back through the alley she'd emerged from. "What's your name?" TAG: @Atrice

"I'm sure he would." She sighed. She knew her father could be difficult, and whilst she loved him and honoured him as she should, there was always a small part of her that wished he would be proud of her as he was her sister. But nobody could come close to his little Livia, in terms of affection. Publius suffered much the same...the perils of being the oldest children. "And I'm sure you're right on that as well." She offered an uncharacteristic eye roll. Things with Livia had been more sour than ever, and their once frequent letters had dropped to practically naught as of late. She was half-minded not to tell her at all, but she knew it would get back to her little sister eventually and then she'd suffer through the inquisition of 'why didn't you tell me!'. She wondered if that was worse than putting up with her moods once she knew. If only her husband would do his duty and get her with child...she knew her sister had been pregnant before, so if there was a fault, Horatia had a suspicion it was not on her part. Then again, for all Horatia knew that could very well have been the reason for the silence. Imagine that...Livia finally with child...she resolved to write again. "You'll have to let the children know as well." She mused with a sly smile. "I'm not doing it." The pair of them fought like all teenaged siblings, but she'd bet anything they'd be unified in their disgust that their aged mother was giving them another sibling... TAG: @Sharpie

She sighed. Well...he'd bought that. Good. She knew keeping this from him was for the best, she just hoped she maintain the facade the closer the birth came. She knew she'd be anxious, and was more likely to let something slip. Perhaps retiring to the villa might be prudent, and he could meet her closer to the birth...she shook the thoughts from her head. There was time to plan for it, and think on the practicalities later. Well...most practicalities; some couldn't wait. "You should write to your father, and let him know. I'll need to write to mine." Marcus would undoubtedly be delighted, given how he doted on his grandchildren. The midwife had suggested she was out of the most dangerous part, or would be soon enough. Memories from her loss in Raetia surfaced, it had been earlier than this though. It didn't seem like she'd suffer the same fate this time around. She squeezed his hand. "And we could invite them to dinner?" TAG: @Sharpie

October, 76AD Ovinia Camilla was faithful in the way that all well-bred patrician women were faithful. She worshipped the lares with her family, she attended the festivals that honoured the Gods and Goddesses throughout the calendar year, and she made sure to make offerings and sacrifices at momentous occasions. Yet she was also fickle - she moaned when she had to interrupt her leisure time with worship, she paid lip service at festivals and she often forgot the minor deities. Bona Dea, however, was different. Ever since her youth when she'd heard of the Clodius scandal the Goddess had intrigued her. She had never been invited to the December rites, if they were still practiced, but she made her own devotions frequently. The touch of scandal that Bona Dea offered only made her more enticing...besides, she had a good practical reason for frequent visits; prayers to protect her chastity, and offerings for healing of her mothers ills were hardly prayers her father was going to refuse. The fact that men were barred from its walls, likewise, gave her comfort. She needed a few hours reprieve from moping over the men in her life. Today the offering had been a white dove that had been sacrificed, and after muttering through a few cursory prayers, ending of course with 'I give that you might give', she nimbly jumped to her feet and made to exit the temple. Pulling down her palla which sheathed her hair within the sacred space, she blinked into the autumn sunshine. The days were growing colder, but there were a few more weeks until she'd be forced to wrap up warm by her parents, and stay inside until the winter chill passed. Lingering on the steps, she let out a sigh - watching as the cold air clouded her breath in front of her. She didn't want to go home yet; she had slaves to chastise and lists to organise in lieu of her mother who had taken to her bed again. She glanced around, looking for a distraction, determined to get a few more hours of fun out of the day... TAG: Open!

"Maybe don't go telling people that." He snorted in amusement, shaking his head. "Vigiles haven't got the best of reputations as it is. If you start telling people you're also a noble? Well...I don't think you'll survive long." The others in the barracks will probably break his nose before he even laid down his head on the first night, given all of them were slaves and ergo, usually previously owned by said nobility. The thought did occur to him though. "You staying at the barracks?" Shaking his head, he smothered a laugh, "And I'll let you come to your own conclusions as to what that word is when you meet them." TAG: @Chevi

Ovinia blinked. He didn't look old enough to have a son nearly her own age. Then again, she was being considered against candidates who were double her age; in their late thirties and forties, so perhaps she was just immune to it. It seemed to be the way of the world that older men got their career out of the way before settling down and finding a wife and children. Alexius, however, as a freedman must have done it differently. Curious. She wanted to ask if his son was born a slave, like he presumably was, but thought better of it. Such things weren't polite. "Sometimes?" She arched a brow, confused. She'd read enough stories and heard just enough gossip that she knew men took lovers. She also knew the vague mechanics of what that meant, but in the literature she'd read and the stories she'd heard, it was some love-match usually and...well...permanent. Not a fleeting coupling as he seemed to be insinuating. "You don't like her?" It was a childish question to ask, "Or are you married?" She added that with judgement. She also knew that married men took other women - judging by the tears from her sister-in-law and muttered comments under her breath. TAG: @Atrice

"Glad you agree." He said with a low chuckle as he broke up the bedframe, levering his weight until the scorched wood snapped into more manageable pieces. "It's like you're speaking a foreign language." He snorted in amusement, "But I've got the gist. So you abandoned everything to do...this?" His voice wasn't sarcastic, it was genuinely surprised. He enjoyed his job, he enjoyed doing what others couldn't or wouldn't do and it would be nice to have somebody to shoulder the burden with. It was perplexing though. "I mean...I get why, but prepare to be disappointed. Our centurion and Tribune and the Prefect are...well, not sure there's a polite, patrician-appropriate word for them." TAG: @Chevi

Fortunately for Alexius, Ovinia was utterly clueless when it came to most innuendos. She considered herself a worldly woman - she ran a household, was on the verge of getting married, but her education was sorely lacking in one department. Her father wouldn't even let her watch the street performers and forbid her from reading graffiti when they ventured out of the domus. She merely smiled politely at the woman and gave her a bemused little look before arching a brow at her company. "Who's Lexus?" Shaking her head at the offer of food, she instead impatiently folded her arms over her chest. "I can see that." She said with a small smile tugging on the corners of her lips. "She's your lover?" She said - trying to sound aloof. She'd guessed that much - even if the rest of the conversation had gone over her head. TAG: @Atrice

Charis shook her head when he offered the fruit again. It wasn't a principle-thing, it was just that it genuinely did look unappetising. Antonia, her domina, loved them though although Rhoda always complained to the heavens whenever she had to prepare it and scrape out all the seeds. Thank goodness the household had nimble-fingered young slaves to do it for her, she always said (ergo, leaving it to Charis). "Mind." She corrected with a gentle smile, "Is something on your mind. And...no, not really I..." she hesitated. She'd rehearsed this, although she hadn't necessarily cleared her approach with Tertius. It was, however, the only one she could really think of that made sense. "I thought I would warn you. Domine...is suspicious." So am I, "Of you, and why you're here. I...thought I had better warn you. Maybe I could tell him I ran into you by accident and got talking and that I believe you are here for a good reason? But...he's going to ask questions..." TAG: @Atrice

"Technically, we're not." He scoffed and shook his head, "I throw you into a burning building tomorrow you'd have no clue what to do. You'd probably walk out of it with all your nice clothes burned up and your hair scorched off if you're lucky." Titus rarely smiled, but a small smirk was playing on his lips. He found this whole enterprise of Lucius' bemusing and fascinating in equal measure. "I wouldn't say that makes you my equal, I'd say that makes you an untested, wet-behind-the-ears recruit. No?" He watched Lucius work for a moment longer, finding an irritating lack of things to correct, before he got back to work himself. "I don't even know what that mean." He said with absolutely no pretence. Adoption? Why would anybody want to adopt a fully grown man? Wasn't that for kids and things without parents? He glanced across at the man and called out, "Bend from your knees with that or you'll throw your back out." TAG: @Chevi

Go figure she was lost. She looked about as sure of herself as the average child that he ran across, left out on the streets by its parents. The sigh would have been sweet, had it not also been accompanied by those downcast eyes. She didn't look like a child - she was quite something to look at, actually, so the sad, wary way she held herself was curious. Most well-dressed young women had enough confidence to knock him for six, this one seemed utterly bewildered. He didn't know yet if it was irritating, pitiful or amusing. "Because that's my job." He retorted with a wry smile tugging on the corners of his lips. He held a thumb to himself, indicating the 'uniform' they donned - a cheap, itchy tunic striped with the colour of the vigiles, and a cloak fastened over his throat (utterly impractical for fires, which is why he only wore it when it was cold). He wore a leather belt with an assortment of tools attached, including the baton that doubled up as a firestick when necessary. "Where do you live?" He asked, still not moving closer to her. The wary act didn't seem much of an act, rather genuine embarrassment, or maybe fear, and he wasn't going to startle her into doing something stupid. TAG: @Atrice

She sank into his touch with a moan of contentment. She tried to remember what it was like before they'd found this intimacy, when she supposedly loathed him. She couldn't recall. "It's not your fault." She murmured, "They hid me well, and you're here now. I have to admit though..." She chuckled, shifting on his lap, "You're taking this," A hand splayed out on her bump, "Better than I thought you would. I thought you would be terrified of it, and the prospect of being paterfamilias and having a son to wrangle..." Flicking her eyes up to his face, she tilted her head to the side, studying him. "How long are you staying? It'll take a week or ten days or so to get a letter to Gaius, and then the same again for him to send somebody down here to get you to leave." She chuckled. That gave them two or three weeks. TAG: @Chevi

Ovinia blinked in surprise. She'd just presumed he was a freedman; hence the loathing of a name. She supposed he could have been adopted, and that's why he didn't like it, but that seemed unlikely. "Everybody knows you?" She arched a brow and gave him a once-over. Why would a security guard at a warehouse be particularly well known? Ah! It hit her like a flash of light and she grinned. "A man that looks like you...a freedman, well known in Rome...who now works in security? You were a Gladiator?" She never thought of herself as particularly intelligent, but even she could see something that was laid out in front of her. She turned her head to a woman that approached, choosing to ignore the obvious familiarity between her companion and the beauty. The way she draped herself over the counter was verging on the obscene to somebody as naive as Ovinia, and she straightened her back, trying to look composure in response. "Salve." Her voice was tight, clearly discomfited at being somewhere like this. "I need you to make a note for me; can you write?" She didn't mean to sound so...patronising, but she didn't even notice. "This man - Lucius Antonius Alexius is walking me home. In the interests of my own security, I'd like for you to make a note of it in case something happens to me. My name is Ovinia Camilla, and I live on the Esquiline." She really had no concept of how ridiculous she sounded. TAG: @Atrice

Titus' shift was only just beginning as the sun dipped closer to the horizon. It was going to be a long night. He'd already broken up a fight between two drunks convinced that the other had stolen coins (they were on the floor, under the table), and helped a lost child - for which he'd sent his partner Armenus back to the barracks to watch over the kid until his parents arrived. Ostensibly the vigiles were always supposed to patrol in pairs, but he was not going to brook a whining kid tailing them all night, nor was he about to cut his shift short before it even began by escorting him to the barracks. The lazy shit Armenus, however, was more than happy to call time early and head back, leaving Titus alone. He was bone tired - there had been a fire yesterday evening that had needed tending to until well after dawn, and his body ached like nobody's business. He rolled the muscles of his shoulders and cricked his neck to the side to try and work out some of the tension as he rounded a corner. At sunset the city seemed to come alive with citizens and slaves hurrying home for cena or after work, and he had to duck and weave through people intent on barging into him (either through ignorance or purposefully, once they caught sight of his uniform). He muttered expletives under his breath as he did and drew to a stop to let a cart pass - eyes scanning the crowds for anything untoward. He caught sight of her almost immediately - a pretty young woman with eyes as wide as plates, glancing around the buildings. Lost. He'd seen it a hundred times. "Salve." he called over, almost bored by having to do this. "You lost?" TAG: @Atrice

"Your Latin is improving." She smiled, genuinely. "It's not so bad to learn...I barely had two or three phrases when I first came here, and look at me now..." Because her domine forbid her from speaking Brythonic. Although she still did with Cynane and Aia...and to Peregrinus when she was sure nobody could overhear. She glanced at the fruit in his hand and wrinkled her nose, shaking her head as she sat down. "I've seen domine eat it, but it's not for slaves." Like most things. "But it looks...unpleasant. Like the seeds I used to plant in the village." She shook her head. The Roman food still confused her - why anybody would eat the dormouse was beyond her - the thing was a pest, not a delicacy. "I'm not disturbing you am I?" She glanced around nervously, "You have time to talk?" TAG: @Atrice

Ovinia swallowed the lump in her throat. What if that had been her? The vain part of her winced at the thought of her skin being scarred like that. It wasn't such a concern for plebs or slaves or forewomen but she was a patrician, and an unmarried one at that and being youthful and beautiful were key to securing a good match. It was such a trivial concern though, and she felt selfish for even thinking it. "Maybe it was him." She agreed with a little sigh, "I'm...glad I didn't find out though. Was your friend alright, in the end?" Presumably so, if she could talk about what happened but nonetheless, she felt sick. As they entered the busier street she felt herself relax and let out a deep exhale. She felt comforted by the crowds even if she felt a bit more secure in the man next to her's presence now. He was of course still a stranger though, and strangers were never to be trusted according to her father. As they drew to a stop in front of a bustling thermopolia she steeled herself to made her undoubtedly ridiculous statement to the owner, but before she did, he asked a favour. She blinked and self consciously wound her arm around herself as he passed. Was he going to ask for...? She blinked. His name? She frowned. "Oh. Yes, yes Alexius. Can I ask why though? You don't use your freename?" TAG: @Atrice

"I think it's a boy." She shrugged, "He feels different to Tadia, the way he moves and the way he feels..." It was hard to explain to somebody that would never, ever experience it. Her smile widened into a grin at his surprised little gasp. She felt a moment of melancholy that she was experiencing this so late; Spurius already had children by the time she had given him Tadia so he didn't really care for her condition. She briefly wondered what it might have been like had she experienced this when she was younger, with the man next to her now. She smiled and nodded a little. "Maybe you're right...I used to be so upset by it but...maybe they knew I should be here. They gave me Tadia so I'd keep going but...I needed to wait for you." It was a nice story, at least. As she felt another flutter and he brushed his hand, another shiver ran her spine and she smiled. "Have you come to terms with the fact you're going to be a father, Lucius?" TAG: @Chevi

Maybe that was the only way? A run across the sea. But she knew she couldn't; not yet at least. Maybe Gaius would come around - maybe Lucius just needed to do a little bridge-building, but as he posed his question, she felt herself soften and gave him a genuine, slightly shy smile. She'd imagined what he would be like as a father - of course she had. Now she was seeing it. "Mhmm." She agreed, "We have a week to talk of plans...you're right." He knew just how to calm her down. She pulled at his hand and placed it against her belly again. "He was moving a minute ago...just wait." She felt different than she did during her pregnancy with Tadia, and in her mind that meant the little thing sapping her energy was a boy. There was a flutter on her side, under where his fingers lay and she gave him a smile. "Did you feel that?" She shifted up a little so she wasn't lying quite so flat. "He's due in January, or early February the midwives think. I...still can't believe it," she laughed a little, "I...thought Tadia was it. The Gods had cursed me..." TAG: @Chevi