Érik

It was crazy how little Florus had thought about his own heart until Tranquillus came into his life. It was always just there, pumping, and doing whatever it was supposed to do, he presumed. Nothing really noteworthy. Just there. But now, when he was with Tranquillus, he was constantly aware of it, pounding in his chest like it wanted to come out. Not in a bad way, like if he was especially winded, but in an indescriptible manner, like it was too full to contain everything he felt, He didn't know what purpose hearts had, except maybe be a receptacle for feelings, and a tell-tale symbol of what kind of person you were. Tranquillus, for instance, had a steady, calm heartbeat, and the young gardener loved nothing more than settling in beside him, head on the other man's chest, listening to his heart. When his heart rushed because the body slave looked at him a certain way, or touched him, Florus understood what it was. The older man made his heart bounce around erratically like a child's stray ball. And right now, as Tranquillus leaned over to kiss him, he felt it. The man's kisses were as intoxicating as wine, and left his head in a better, more blissful daze. The young Briton knew he'd do anything for more of those. Including learning all the letters in the world. 'I'd really love that.' He nodded, then returned to Tranquillus' palm. R-A-I-L-U-S came the familiar pattern, but he remembered it was wrong. He usually got in right, nowadays, but he was used to practicing with a stick in the dirt, not all flustered under the other man's steady gaze. 'No, wait, that's not it,' he said. He was really keen on a reward for getting it right. Especially if it was a kiss. He was fairly certain there was no punishment involved for getting it wrong, but why run the risk of not getting a kiss? T-R-A-M-Q-U-I-L-L-U-S. He thought that was not exactly correct, but even crinkling his features and frowning his eyebrows didn't give him a hint. 'Do I get one for effort?' @Chevi

Florus looked up at Tranquillus, eyes twinkling. It took more time than he would like, but he was succeeding. He was reeling Tranquillus in. The body slave was really intent on teaching him, and it was difficult to tear him away from that. Truly, he loved this. And Florus loved him for it. His intellect, his dedication... If Tranquillus didn't exist, the world would be a sorry place indeed. The gardener could sense in the older man's tensing back that he was winning him over. And right on cue, as predicted, Tranquillus rose and went to sit on the bed beside him. The Briton put a hand on Tranquillus' knee, smiling sweetly, as he cupped his own chin with his other hand. 'I told you I take my education seriously,' he said as the body slave praised him, trying to sound matter of factly, but entirely failing to hide how proud he was of himself. 'In all asp-' Tranquillus tracing letters on his back shut him up in record time, and from somewhere deep inside his spine, he shivered. Florus pulled himself upright, and took the body slave's hand in his own, tracing a T in his palm then looking back up at the other man. He loved it when they were this close. And he loved showing him that he had made at least some progress. @Chevi

Florus looked at Tranquillus with a pout. Maybe he was being too subtle? The fruit had seemed very efficient for distraction, but his words, definetely less so. He hadn't thought he was being subtle at all, so how did he get things this wrong? Time to think of a new strategy. Learning his letters was all good fun, but it was never as fun as any of the other things he and Tranquillus got up to. Most likely he would never read any kind of text whatsoever, but that was of little concern when there were all kinds of other things he could learn. Besides, he'd never wanted to become an erudite. Knowing his letters and being able to read what he came in contact with in the course of his everyday life was more than enough. And if he could, eventually, read something out loud to the body slave, without stumbling too much, just enough to be impressive, well, then he'd be all set. 'I don't think those kinds of poems lack educational value,' Florus replied, having taken a new strawberry, and fiddling with it between his fingers. Maybe this was his new angle. 'There are so many things I don't know about, and I really need a tutor to help me,' the young man said, his tone very much back to the mock-innocent teasing. He grazed his teeth slowly on the fruit, and looked intently at the older man. 'Oh, I'm very focused on my education.' Just maybe not the same kind of education Tranquillus had in mind. To show his good faith, and maybe to help the other man understand exactly where his dedication was coming from, he started tracing letters on the bed. Upside down, taking his time because it was still very hard, he was still razor-focused. L-E-C-T-S. There. Lectus. Bed. Hard to be any clearer. And he was pretty proud of himself. @Chevi

Florus was equal parts amused and fascinated by how easy it was to reduce his Tranquillus to a gaping fish with a few insolent words and a naughty tongue. That he could have such an effect on this brilliant man, so reasonable and clever and logical, it defied comprehension. But Florus wouldn't question it. He just wanted to enjoy it. Tranquillus' answer wasn't especially satisfactory to the young gardener. What did he mean by indecent? Was the detailing of sex something that was indecent? He liked sex, rather a lot, and he didn't think it was a bad thing. It had been amazing every single time. Well, except once, but he was certain that could happen to anyone. But in any case, Tranquillus was flustered, and that was fun. 'Why don't you give me an example of just how detailed?' Florus finished his strawberry, and turned around on his stomach, propping himself up with his elbows. 'Maybe you could act it out?' The tone was perfectly innocent, and his grin did its best to be that way, too, but the glint in his eye was nothing short of evil. He reached out for another strawberry, this time extending his arm out for Tranquillus to take it. 'That's a shame, a scholar like you,' he teased, then shrugged. 'It doesn't matter, though. You could read me a treatise on architecture and it would still be the most attractive thing I'd ever heard.' @Chevi

I seem to kinda be back! Yay! I am most likely gonna be slow, though.

'Alright,' Florus breathed, trying to focus. He knew her arms were going to be around him, he was expecting it. Still, he tensed as she moved to attack him, and it took him a split second longer than he would have liked to pull himself together and remember himself. Bend over. A bit awkwardly he did just that, unsure why that particular movement was necessary. Elbow to the stomach. That one was easier, and didn't require much thought. The movement was very swift. It connected with her belly, and then with her jaw with a precision that was unexpected for someone so inexperienced, and it was gentle. It made contact, and was efficient, but he was just touching, not hitting. If Cinnia wanted to be hit for real, she'd have to ask for that, because it wasn't a service the young gardener was keen to provide. @Atrice

'Oh, so you're like a tutor, then!' Florus exclaimed excitedly, already connecting some dots. 'My, er, um... I know a man in my domus who was a tutor.' The smallest of smiles found its way on the young Briton's face. He couldn't help it, even mentioning Tranquillus made his heart soar and beat more fondly. 'I'm a gardener in a domus,' he said, though she probably wouldn't have needed the explanation. His disheveled hair and dirt-caked hands spoke for themselves. Not to mention the fact he'd already mentioned the first part before. He got a bit light-headed when Tranquillus came to mind. Couldn't help it. 'I live in the villa too, but I don't have my own quarters.' Like Tranquillus did. Undoubtedly she did too, since she wasn't a slave. 'You wouldn't think it, though, because no one in the room thought to wake me up when the earthquake started.' Except Tranquillus. Wonderful, amazing Tranquillus. Fat lot of good the other slaves were, really. If the body slave hadn't had the presence of mind, and the gigantic crush... @Chevi

'I, um, yes?' Florus replied lamely. When Alexius said it out loud like that, it didn't seem reasonable. It made no sense, honestly. What sense did it make to hold out for something that was never going to happen, anyway? The other man was right, if he kept up with this, he would indeed be missing out. And how long, honestly, would it take for him to get over the body slave? Would he be saving his heart and his body forever, just in case? Would he let himself wither away and die, untouched, unloved, because he was unable to just let go? Alexius hadn't said this much, but it sent thoughts spinning in the young gardener's mind. There was no logic to it, and maybe he should just give in to the man, and let himself experience some pleasure. It wasn't as though he knew what that would feel like, outside of his hands. Was he really going to deny himself the touch of a man, just for a pipe dream? Something passed over his eyes as he looked at the ex-gladiator. He was sure Alexius knew how to please a man. By the gods, he spent so much time talking about it, he needed to be good at it! Pleasure. Florus bit his lip. The wine made his mind a bit of a blur. He remembered Alexius touching his hand, and shivering, then. Pleasure. The other man was looking at him the way Attis had looked at the honey cakes. There was a hunger there. Pleasure... 'I can't,' he said, after a too long moment of silence and staring. It wasn't that he didn't want the pleasure Alexius' words and looks promised. No part of him would let him go through with it. It was Tranquillus he wanted. Tranquillus he wanted to inhale with all his sense, Tranquillus he wanted to please in all the magnificent ways Alexius was promising him. 'I want... I want it to be him.' Clearly he was a fool. It was never going to be him. When Alexius offered to continue the conversation upstairs, Florus thought it only fair. Where else would they go to talk? It would probably be odd if they stayed here having conversations of this nature. 'We can talk,' the gardener agreed. He wasn't sure that with Alexius' clear interest, the older man would want to hear about Tranquillus, and what was holding Florus back, but talking was safe. He licked his lips. 'Maybe you can give me tips?' @Atrice

Florus watched Tranquillus' facial gymnastics with mild bemusement. Clearly the older man knew the poet, though why mention of him would elicit such a reaction was lost on the young gardener. Meh. It was far more interesting to try to get some specific reactions from the body slave by taunting the strawberry. Florus was highly amused. He'd never thought he'd have this effect on anyone, let alone this beloved man. Much more fun than poetry, at any rate. 'Or else?' The young man's grin was a couple notches more than mischievous, and his pale eyes issued a dare. 'What do you mean, indecent poems? Like how?' It was confusing, thinking that poems that so obviously sounded like they would be about gardening might be about something else entirely. In what kind of universe were fruits like peaches and cherries sexual? Fruit weren't sexual. It was only when he placed the strawberry between his teeth that it clicked. Strawberries certainly had an erotic potential, when they were used to lure in body slaves, the way Florus was unabashedly doing. But peaches and cherries? He didn't get it. Maybe it was in the manner one ate them? Either way, it was flustering Tranquillus, and that was something he could use. 'Why don't you read them to me,' he said, finally taking a bite of the red fruit. 'And I'll be the judge of that?' @Chevi

Though Florus had been a slave for some years now, he had never partaken in the celebration of Saturnalia. These were not his gods, on one hand, but on the other hand, he'd always just been the gardener, and had never really mixed with anyone. No one bothered with the gardener, no one bothered to tell him that there were things going on. And, quite frankly, for all the other years of his servitude, it had suited him just fine. This year, however... When he'd learned there existed a day where he could just relax right beside Tranquillus without having to worry that either of them had completed their tasks, it had seemed too good to be true. And yet, it didn't seem like a prank. It was too elaborate for the whole house to be in on it, and Tranquillus wouldn't lie to him. He'd accepted the bowl of whatever that was, expression neutral as always as he sniffed. It didn't remind him of anything, but he didn't really believe someone who was waited on hand and foot all other days of the year could wind up being a perfect cook during that one day. Still, though, it was food, and it was warm, and he was not in the habit of complaining. 'Gratitude,' he told the Roman, too distracted by Tranquillus' mere presence beside him on the couch to pay all that much more attention to the man who'd handed him the food. He traced patterns on the body slave's back, very content with his day so far. The Roman wouldn't hold that against him, surely. He wasn't the one who was complaining about everything, after all. Surely that drew more attention than his affection for the older man. Surely everyone heard the surly woman's remarks. She always seemed to have something nasty to say. Although he wasn't afraid of her, he preferred to stay well out of her way. No reason to interact with her, really, was there? @Chevi@Liv@Sara@Sharpie

Florus' tongue tickled the strawberry as he stared insolently at Tranquillus, eyes twinkling. There really was nothing quite like being here, with the older man, his heart feeling so full. He never, ever would have suspected it was possible to feel this good. But here he was. 'Poetry, yes,' he said. 'He said something about you teaching me about Landicus?' The gardener looked at the body slave with some confusion. There was no reason why the Roman would be suggesting poetry to him, and it had seemed weird to him at the time, too, but then again, it was about fruit, so why not? 'He said his poems about, erm, peaches and cherries would be of particular interest?' @Chevi

It was a lazy day, and Florus was exactly where he seemed to be spending most of his time nowadays, which was sprawled on Tranquillus' bed, still dressed, but eating a strawberry in a manner that suggested he might not be so for very long. 'I don't need to be educated,' the gardener replied, frowning. He was educated enough about plants, what more did he really need? Anything he lacked, Tranquillus could help him with. Romans were ridiculous. As if he would ever aspire to get closer to the man who kept him enslaved. How self-centered and oblivious. 'You're a great teacher, Tranquillus. Always teaching me something, even when it's not letters,' he teased.

As you guys will have noticed, I'm a bit all over the place. This was not planned, and I don't intend it to be that way, I promise, and I will be back, but since I don't have a definite date, this is the heads up.

Florus pursed his lips and nodded. It was high time for him to stop asking impertinent questions. That was how he would get in trouble, he was sure of it. He always acted irreproachably, and he was gradually learning to hide the expressions of defiance in his eyes, but he really needed to learn to keep his tongue in check. He had heard of people who'd had their tongues ripped out because they'd said things that weren't to the Romans' liking. If he wasn't more careful... Well, suffice it to say, he had no plans on having it be his fate. Nope. He wanted his fate to be something good, with Tranquillus. He nodded to concede her point. Part of the empire, sure. Did it mean she had to act like the Romans and side with them? He needed to agree to disagree. It was the wisest path here. 'Of course we do,' he said, a glint of defiance in his eyes. 'We're Britons.' Florus cleared his throat. He desperately needed to stop while he was ahead. Somewhat confusedly, he grasped at the first topic that entered his mind. 'Do you live in a palace?' @Chevi

Florus nodded. Greece. Yes, he thought he'd heard that word before. Where it was, though, that was entirely beyond him, and he didn't care enough to extend his knowledge of the topic. What good would it do him? He had an interest in plants and in Tranquillus, and, slavery aside, things were fine just the way they were, thank you very much. 'Ah, yes, I see,' he said. He did not see. What he did see, though, was that she had been on the wrong side of the war. She had been with the bad people. 'Why did you fight on their side?' She wasn't a Roman; he couldn't imagine a world where there'd be any reason to be loyal to the Romans. @Chevi