Whispers of some quiet conversation

[Chevi]

"Am I...? Oh. No, I'm not my master's secretary. Tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure what I am, exactly. I'm new in this house, you see. I'm doing some of the things a body slave does, but he also wants me to tutor his son, sometimes. I learned this, at my old master's, I suppose he thought I'd be useful as a secretary or something. I've only been here about a month, I'm still figuring things out - I was verna before I came here."

That was a much longer answer than Azarion had expected. Why was it so complicated to be a house slave? Masters gave orders, and the slaves did their job, that was how things usually worked. Except Romans had to make everything more complicated. Even slavery. Body slaves, house slaves, comfort slaves, kitchen slaves, verna, secretaries... there was a person for everything.

Azarion returned to doodling the letters of his name again. He would probably never be anything else but a stable boy, but at least he had a name to write.

"What about you? Is he your first master, or have you had others before him?"

Azarion looked up and smirked. He tapped the FVG brand on his arm, then counted on his fingers, making a face for each master he remembered. None of those expressions had anything but disgust and frustration. In the end, he tapped his sixth finger and nodded towards the room occupied by both of their masters. Alucio was not so bad, in the end, compared to the others. He'd seen Azarion's talent with horses, and did not beat him unless he really had to. Azarion marked all that with a shrug. Good enough. 

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"Six? Ugh. I'm sorry," Rufus said, though he really should have guessed there had been at least one previous owner because of the FVG brand. Who kept a slave after giving them that, after all?

Azarion gave an expressive shrug after signifying that his current master was his sixth owner. Obviously he meant 'and he's not too bad'.

He couldn't help feeling sorry for the kid - six owners, a brand and worse - he was probably half-feral and the only people who'd be surprised by that would be the citizens who'd bought him and mistreated him.

He tapped the outline of the horse. "You like horses, huh? Do you work in the stable, then?"

He carefully reached up and pulled the piece of straw out of the kid's hair. "It's easy to guess that, when you go somewhere wearing straw, though."

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

"Six? Ugh. I'm sorry,"

It was no big secret, even for a mute boy, that being sold six times was not all fun and games. Even a houseborn slave like Rufus could understand that, to an extent. Azarion shrugged at the sympathy.

"You like horses, huh? Do you work in the stable, then?"

Again, liking horses. Azarion huffed, then nodded. He worked in the stables, for lack or a better option, or any option, really. The horses were divine creatures, even if they were not his own. 

"It's easy to guess that, when you go somewhere wearing straw, though."

Azarion winced when Rufus reached for his hair. There was no ill intent behind the gesture, but the boy was not exactly used to anyone approaching him like that. He huffed and an both hands through his hair, shaking out a few more pieces of straw. He had tried his best to clean up before they came here, but some things were harder to get rid of than others.

There was a lull in the conversation next door, and in a few moments, Azarion's master emerged. The boy stood up, not with the sharp motions of someone eager to please, but fast enough not to make Alucio look bad. He glanced back at Rufus, and nodded to him, in thanks for the writing lesson. He would have to go with his master, but at least the waiting time was spent well...

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[Sharpie]

Rufus grinned as Azarion ran his hands irritably through his hair, and wondered if the kid had had an older brother. It seemed very much the sort of gesture a youngster would do after an older sibling had ruffled their hair.

Poor kid. He felt sorry for him - born free (presumably!), sold into slavery, and marked for life with the scar of a brand on his arm, and presumably the loss of his tongue, too; there was no other reason Rufus could think of for him to be unable to talk. Life really was  unfair to some people, he thought. A child couldn't possibly have done anything to deserve that.

He stood up too as the boy's master emerged from the tablinum; Rufus was a slave, Azarion's master was a free man, and therefore Rufus could not remain sitting without drawing unnecessary attention.

It had been an... interesting afternoon, he thought. One he would remember for a while. Obscurely, he hoped that he'd be able to spend time with the kid in the future, but that very much depended on their masters. Of course.

"It was nice meeting you, Azarion," he said. "I hope we can do some more of this, some time." He lifted the wax tablet, closed now, to show what he meant.

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

Azarion glanced back as Rufus called him by his name, and for a moment, he flashed him half a smile, and nodded. As slaves, neither of them could promise anything for sure about a next time - but their encounter had already proven better than any other Azarion had had in Rome so far.

Maybe their luck would hold out.

See you again soon, Redhead.

@Sharpie