Summer Showers

[Sara]

July 74AD

Charis was grinning from ear to ear. She supposed if anybody stopped to watch her, she must have looked like a madwoman, but she didn't care. It was the first time she'd seen rain since she arrived in Rome and despite the cities inhabitants largely muttering about how rain in July was ridiculous and appalling, it was like a nectar for her. It reminded her of home. It had thinned now to a light drizzle but the clouds were still that ominous, deep shade of grey and the puddles on the street splashed at her ankles as she walked through the market.

She wasn't looking for anything in particular, she already had her little bag of items that Rhoda had instructed her to buy after her daytime visit to the baths (now, it seems, a ritual) and so she just browsed. She couldn't afford anything that was offered, not even a honey cake as she had frittered away her peculium on trivial things, but it was relaxing to her to be about in the damp drizzle just looking. The weather had also afforded her a bit of peace as the market seemed far less busy than usual. 

She drew to a stop at a stall and glanced at the wares. There was an array of trinkets spread out; children's dolls carved out of wood and useless baubles. She wondered if Antonia would be interested in the former, although she supposed her domina was now of an age where she'd find such things childish. She'd be a woman before Tertius blinked. Still, she picked up one of the dolls with an inquisitive eye, "How much?"

 

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[Sharpie]

The rain in Rome was no different, really, to the rain in Paestum. It was just as wet and cold, really, but it cleared the air and Rufus could breathe again for the first time in what seemed like forever - the heavy humidity had been strength-sapping and everyone in the household seemed to snap at everyone else for trivial things, Rufus had kept his head down and his mouth shut, following every order as best he could.

This brief rain shower probably wouldn't keep the air clear for long; it needed a proper thunderstorm for that, Jupiter willing.

Rufus had been allowed out, if he didn't go too far and get himself lost. He had memorised the directions he'd taken to get here and knew that if he could get to the Temple of Vesta, it would be a hard slog back up the hill to home. He wandered, looking, careful not to look as though he was planning mischief or anything - even slaves were allowed to look, and really, it was not as if every citizen always wore a toga (especially in the heat they'd been having!) and it wasn't as if Rufus wore anything that proclaimed him to be a slave.

The stall nearest him had nothing really of any interest, but a woman had stopped to look and enquired of the price of some item or other. Her voice sounded a little familiar and he paused.

The slave market. A cage with chalk-footed slaves, and one had made sure the others had drunk their fill before she slaked her own thirst. He could not forget that.

"Erea?"

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Charis glanced up at the sound of her old name, her proper name, confused. She glanced about herself looking for Cynane, the only person to have used that name with any regularity. She missed the redhead on her first glance around. It had been months since she'd arrived in Rome, after all. But the she glanced back - his hair was so striking she'd remember it anymore. "Ru-Rufus?" His name came to her easier than she thought given what a state she'd been in when she arrived. 

The stallholder, perplexed at the interaction and irritated at lost custom snapped; "If you're not going to buy that doll, put it back!" And she blinked, realising she was still clutching it to her chest. She set it down carefully and the man muttered, gesturing for other people to come and take a look at his useless, overpriced collection of objects. 

She moved a few paces towards Rufus with a dimpled grin that stretched ear to ear. She wanted to embrace him but thought better of it, given they'd only ever spoken once. But what a conversation it had been! The first bit of humanity she'd experienced here. He undoubtedly had no idea the impact it had had on her that day. "Rufus, you are here!" She said in disbelief in her accented, but rapidly improving Latin. Instead of embracing him, she set a hand on his arm in greeting and looked up at him with a warm expression, "You are okay?"

 

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Edited November 13, 2019 by Sara

[Sharpie]

"I am," Rufus replied with a smile. He had done all right for himself - but she was looking better than he had dared hope she might, when they had parted.

But then, practically anything would be an improvement over a cage and the not knowing... the human spirit could cope with anything, once a person knew what to expect.

"I am well," he repeated in reassurance once they were away from the stallholder and into the crowd. He hesitated a moment before slipping his arm around her shoulders, as a brother might do to his sister, lest they were separated by the press of people who'd taken advantage of the break in the weather to come out at once. If she ducked away from it, or flinched, or gave any other sign it was not wanted, he would drop it and apologise - of course he would. He would not discomfit her for anything.

"I am here," he added. "And so are you - are you well? Your Latin is better than when we spoke before."

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Charis grinned, “Good! You look well!” And he did. Then again, anything would be an improvement on the last time she saw him (or the back of his head...) at the slave market. As he slipped his arm around her and they moved into the throng of people that had descended, she reached up to squeeze the hand that fell over her shoulder. 

“Anything would be better than my Latin back then.” She said with a little shake of her head and roll of her eyes. It really had come on in leaps and bounds, but necessity had forced it. Aside from Cynane and Aia she really had nobody to speak her own language with. The writing and reading lessons with Tertius had likewise helped.

With a little shrug she rolled her eyes and moved back off the street. “I am fine.” She was at least better than she had been. For some time. Turning to face him she arched a brow, curiosity getting the better of her: “You have new owner then? They...nice?”

 

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[Sharpie]

"Yes." Rufus nodded. "Yes, he - " He broke off. This really was no sort of place for a conversation!

"Look, shall we...?" he said, indicating a food stall to one side, where they could be out of the way of the bustling crowd. How people stood this, he could not begin to say - he was sure that if you stood on the steps of a temple - the Temple of Vesta, say, for argument's sake - for long enough, an observer would watch everyone in the Empire pass by, and probably several hundred foreigners, to boot.

"Yes, he's very... fair." He nodded at the stallholder, who looked less than thrilled to be having two people rock up who weren't even going to buy anything. The man's expression cleared somewhat as Rufus turned to his companion. "Would you like something? Stories go better over something to eat, especially something sweet." He wasn't worried about paying for it; Octavius Flavius Alexander was scrupulous about awarding peculium and while Rufus was trying to save, spending some of it in a good cause wouldn't hurt in the long run.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Charis dutifully followed him to the stall, even if she had no appetite, just so she could continue the conversation. “Fair does not mean nice always?” She suggested with a quirked eyebrow, but shook her head at the offer of food. As the months rolled on she had begun to realise the importance of the money that was given to slaves (even if she frittered hers away) and she wasn’t going to make him use his up. “No...no I am fine, thank you.” 

The quietness here was a welcome relief and now she had space to breathe she fully embraced him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and squeezing him tightly. She had a certain knack, it seemed, in being able to run into figures from her past in Rome but she had never expected to see Rufus.

As she pulled away she grinned and left her hand on his shoulder in a warm, almost familial embrace. “You we’re gone before me but...” She swallowed, “You made time in cage so much better.” She squeezed his shoulder. She’d thank him properly later, but she didn’t want to overwhelm him with gratitude right now. Especially given she presumed their interaction had meant very little to him in comparison. Instead she arched a brow at him, “Tell me everything.”

 

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[Sharpie]

"Where do I start?" Rufus said, falling silent momentarily as she hugged him. He returned the hug, though she soon stepped back, breaking it. She kept a hand on his shoulder, though.

"I don't mind, I don't really spend my money usually, so once won't hurt," he told her. 

"He's good. Fair and good, both. He's a senator, connected to the Imperial family. He made me his body slave." The grin he offered her was a shy one. "I didn't expect that, you know. But what's yours like?"

 

@Sara

[Sara]

She glanced at him with a wince, "Are you sure?" The sweet cakes did smell delicious. But she didn't particularly want to put him out, not when she already owed him so much...But he seemed insistent and she hesitantly pointed at one of the small lemon cakes at the front, "That one, if you don't mind." 

But she listened with keenness and when he said he had been made body slave she exclaimed loudly and grinned, delighted for him; "Rufus!" She squeezed his forearm. "I so happy for you! You have what you want." Well not everything, she remembered him mentioning his sister. Although given her experience of body slaves in her own household, she hoped for Rufus' sake that he didn't have exactly the same responsibilities as young Hector. 

As he asked her she sighed and shrugged but kept a smile on her face; "...Complicated. But I am house slave, and work in gardens now so happy." And she was happier than she had been in a long while. But the politics of the Varus household was difficult for her to understand, let alone try and explain. "I thought I end up in ludus or on farm so it is better than I thought it would be." 

 

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[Sharpie]

"I'm sure," Rufus said. It was a moment before she was provided with a lemon cake and he with a sticky layered confection of nuts and honey. It was little enough, and the pleasure on her face was worth any money.

He remembered being a house-slave well enough, but wasn't sure what to make of her statement that it was 'complicated'. Her chores would not differ greatly from what he'd done, so that wasn't worth talking about.

"I am pleased you are happy," he said, licking his fingers. "Is Rome what you expected it to be like? I think it's too full of people, everywhere."

 

@Sara

[Sara]

She gratefully accepted the cake and broke up a little piece to eat now. She'd try and savour it for at least a day. She'd never had an enormous appetite or sweet tooth and she'd no doubt enjoy it more in the morning. At his question she laughed and nodded. 

"Far too busy!" She agreed with a little sigh, "I miss peace and quiet." She admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. There was nowhere really to escape in Rome if you wanted calm. Even the gardens and thermae's were often packed. When she was younger, back at home, she'd spend a great deal of time just...walking by herself in the woods or going to the river. There was none of that here. 

Glancing up at him she grinned, "Where abouts is your domus?" She had no real sense of geography in this city but knew the names of some of the hills. "So, you please here? Happy?"

 

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[Sharpie]

"Lots of people! I miss the peace and quiet, too - I used to live in Campania, near the sea." He was going to say that it was a long way from Rome, but it was closer than Britannia, where Erea was from.

"My domus?" He smiled at her, a slow, somewhat shy, smile. "You make me sound like a rich free man! I live on the Palatine - my master is Octavius Flavius Alexander. He's a senator." And a relation of the emperor, but Rufus didn't want to boast too much. Besides, he wasn't sure of the relationship, anyway. He'd fallen on his feet, but wasn't sure if the same could be said of Erea.

"What about you?"

Rufus had been born a slave, she hadn't - of course she hadn't been as fortunate as him. Slavery was all he'd known, she'd been a free woman and had had to adapt to the loss of her freedom along with everything else. He did feel sorry for her.

@Sara

[Sara]

She grinned, excited they shared something in common; "I miss the sea! Parisii live on coast." She nodded, as if it was a commonly held fact. 

But she couldn't hide her surprise as he mentioned where he lived, not that his masters name meant anything to her. He could have been speaking gibberish and it still would have sounded like a Roman name to her. "Palatine where very rich people live." She commented. She wasn't sure where she picked up that piece of useless trivia, but she knew it nonetheless. "He very important?" All the Romans liked to think they were important, she'd learned. Few - it seemed - actually were. Grinning mischievously she arched a brow, "What you do to impress him? He must like you, to make you body slave." She meant it slightly teasingly - given the way they'd parted in the slave cages, but hoped it didn't embarrass him.

"Es...Esquiline." She said after some hesitation, "He a senator too. Tertius Quinctillius Varus, he a judge." She couldn't for the life of her remember what the proper Latin word was for it, but she hoped he got the gist. 

[Sharpie]

"I don't know what I did," Rufus confessed with a shrug. "He wanted to try me, his last one is getting old now." 

Tertius Quinctilius Varus... He committed the name to memory - not that he had any reason to like or dislike the man, or want his success or failure. Not that Rufus was in any sort of position to do anything of that sort, not really.

"I didn't do anything like that, though," he added. "He's never shown any sort o interest in me that way, either."

It wasn't the most comfortable thing, to be in the room with husband and wife doing.... what a husband and wife did, but it was a small price to pay for the position Rufus had in the household.

"How are you getting on, with yours?" He asked, licking honey from his fingers. "The Esquiline, and a senator - that's not bad, either." 

She wasn't likely to be overworked there - though women could be vicious, and he hoped that her mistress wasn't one of those.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Charis smiled, relieved on Rufus' behalf that the intimate side of the job wasn't his to hold. She knew, from her own (granted, limited) experience that it wasn't always pleasant. She supposed even Hector must feel like that sometimes, although then again the young man was an enigma to her, maybe he genuinely enjoyed being Tertius' pet.

At his question she rolled her eyes dramatically and sighed with a shake of her head. Before she could speak, however, she took another small piece of the cake. She needed to be careful, measure her words. She'd learnt from her mistake with Helios - even if she felt she could trust Rufus far greater than the sodding prostitute. She knew whispers travelled fast in Rome and she didn't particularly wish to be on the receiving end of another of Tertius' lessons. 

"He...complicated." She offered after some hesitation, "He difficult to understand." That was fair, wasn't it? He couldn't be irritated at that? She was careful about her next words as well, "And he...like me, but his body slave doesn't like that. And he has son, who is slave with me so..." She laughed a little, at the ridiculousness of it all. "And he has no wife but noble daughter so very many men in household, not a lot of nice women." Although Rhoda and Jocasta were exceptions. 

She sighed and brushed crumbs from the front of her tunica, "But at least better than brothel or ludus. Oh!" She grinned, a big dimpled smile, "And he teaching me to read and write, so that definitely better." At least if Tertius grew bored of her insolence and sold her, she'd fetch more for being literate she supposed...

 

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[Sharpie]

Rufus hadn't really experienced jealousy from others in his new household, which he was grateful for. It was unusual, too, and he was very thankful not to be subjected to the small but uncomfortable ways that other slaves had of making their dislike known.

"Maybe you could try making friends with his body slave? It isn't your fault if your master's like that, after all," he said. It was really the only sort of advice he had for her.

His eyes widened in surprise as she mentioned that she was learning to read. That was unusual, very much so. He was happy for her - and if he heard anything of her family, he would be able to let her know much easier now he knew where she lived... If she could read, he might not even have to come himself, and that would definitely make it easier, because his position didn't always allow him to be away from his own master. Octavius Flavius liked him to be within call, after all.

It meant that he might not hear anything about her family, or his own sister, at all - but he wasn't about to dwell on that.

"Much better than a brothel or ludus," he said in agreement. He had never been likely to end up in a ludus himself, but it hadn't been a given that he wouldn't end up in a brothel. His former mistress had never imposed a condition of ne serva prostituatur, to his knowledge.

Oh gods. What if Bretta had ended up in such a place? She had the same unusual hair as he did, and striking feminine looks with it, though he knew that the family resemblance between the two of them was unmistakable.

"I see why you say it's complicated," he added, lightly.

 

(ne serva prostituatur - a condition placed on a purchaser that the slave bought was not to be used as a prostitute. Such a condition was binding on all subsequent purchasers, too.)

@Sara

Edited November 20, 2019 by Sharpie

[Sara]

Charis rolled her eyes again at the suggestion she should befriend Hector. "He just doesn't like me." She shrugged, "He doesn't really like anybody except Dominus. You should see him..." She shrugged, "He seems so pro...protective. It not like I asked Domine to want me." In fact, she'd done pretty much all she could to avoid his lust. Not that it had worked, mind.

She saw how his eyes widened as she said she was learning to read and laughed loudly, genuinely and held up a hand, "I know, I know, he make me his pet project." She rolled her eyes again, "I could not leave house or work in gardens for little while and he want to see me and thought teaching me read and write would be good." She shrugged and then narrowed her eyes at him. "Can you? Read, write?" Cynane couldn't and it was a shame - she'd have loved to have been able to pass notes furtively, but then she supposed she'd need supplies and Tertius was bound to notice. 

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[Sharpie]

He took her hand and squeezed it, sympathetically. He knew what it was like, to do have to do that for someone you weren't attracted to, when you didn't want to. "He's probably jealous," he said - though she probably already knew that, of course.

"People don't like people they're jealous of, if they think that their position is being threatened somehow, even if you haven't chosen that. I've been lucky, but I know I might have ended up the same way." In both respects - in his master's bed and with his fellow slaves envious of him because of his closeness to his master when Rufus was new to the household.

"Yes, I can read and write," he said in answer to her question. "My old master taught me, when I was a boy."

It would be nice, if they could keep in touch somehow, despite everything.

"Do you have a tabula?" he asked - it would be an easy way to do it; one plain wooden tabula looked much like another, after all. "A wax writing tablet," he added in explanation, suddenly realising that she might not know the word. She probably did know it, though, if she'd been having writing lessons.

@Sara

[Sara]

She squeezed his hand in return; "I know, I know...But I can handle it," (she couldn't), "And I just glad your life is better, simpler." She laughed a little but dropped his hand quickly. Gods if Tertius saw this, or even Hector...she hadn't been instructed not to socialise with her friends, or men for that matter, but after what happened with Helios she'd rather not risk anything that could be seen as being overly familiar. She hoped Rufus would understand and not think she was being rude. 

Grinning as he confirmed he could read she exclaimed; "Good! Good." And she nodded, "I do, dominus gave me one to practice on but he said not to lose it." She didn't understand what he was planning. 

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[Sharpie]

"We could use those - I mean, I have one, too, so that would be a way to stay in touch, maybe? And they're reusable." It would be so much easier than having to get hold of papyrus or parchment, and ink and everything... Assuming she even wanted to.

He couldn't help returning her grin, her smile was so infectious - and pretty. He hadn't really had much of a chance to see how pretty she was before, in the dimness of the slave market. She certainly hadn't smiled at him there, not properly, which was perfectly understandable - he hadn't felt much like smiling himself, either.

"Have you seen much of Rome?" he asked, though if her master had kept her shut up in the house just so he could look at her... Senators did have slaves as a conspicuous display of their wealth, but surely that applied more to male than female slaves? Though Erea was pretty, Rufus couldn't deny that.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

She looked unconvinced, "Domine told me not to lose it, he notice if its gone, I have to have lesson with him every day." But she smiled a little, "But I see if I can take another one if he not notice, then we can send them to each other!" She grinned now, at the thought. She'd had so few friends here that the thought of communication outside the domus was infectious. Surely Tertius wouldn't notice one of his cheap wax tablets missing? Although she completely forgot that should Rufus decide, for whatever reason, to betray her confidence it wouldn't look good for her. Then again, the more time she spent with the redhead the more she doubted he was the duplicitous sort. 

Nodding at his question, she explained; "Some, more than I thought. The baths quite a bit," And in the day now too - what a treat! "And some of gardens, I went with friend not too long ago and," No, not the other day - don't be too honest, "And markets. But not much more than that. I hear there are hundreds of temples and arena for games and things but I not seen them." She shook her head and considered him with a tilted head, "Have you? Give me recommendation." She smiled.

 

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[Sharpie]

"I mean, I'll send one to you first? If you think it would be all right, I mean." It might not be, of course, and he wouldn't push it. "Then you'll still have one, won't you?"

He might be able to buy another himself anyway, and then it would be even easier than trading two. They weren't expensive things, and he did have a bit of money - slaves were allowed some possessions, at least, and Rufus didn't think his present master would mind if Rufus spent some of his small savings on a simple tabula.

"Where do I know in Rome? Not much, really - I'm not able to get out much, just because my master wants me near him most of the time. I don't think you'd like the games, though - men fighting just because people want to watch them. You might like the races better - slaves can go to the games, or the races, but you'd have to ask your master of course. Um."

The gardens, she knew - he'd only heard of them. She might not want to visit the temples - her gods were probably different from Rufus' and those of the Romans, after all, though he'd heard from his mother that some of them were the same. She'd worshipped Sulis, and told him that the Romans just called her Minerva.

"I don't know," he told her, honestly. "Maybe the Campus Martius, though it's all temples and everything. Rome's all building and people." And claustrophobic for people like Rufus - and probably Erea, who'd come from Britannia and wouldn't have known a town even the size of Paestum.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

She felt like an idiot. She hadn't even considered that he could send her one and flushed a little bit. "That...would be ideal. Thank you, Rufus." But she blinked and shook her head, "But my name Charis now - domine change my name, so don't send it to Erea or they no know who it belongs to." She grinned, "And...if Domine or Hector find out, they may not be happy so...send quietly, if you can. Rhoda - in kitchens, if she take it we can trust her." She knew already that Tertius was possessive, and she dreaded to think what he'd do if she found out a man had been writing to her - even if it was utterly innocent. 

She nodded at his information, and supposed the games didn't sound like much fun but from the way people spoke about them she felt like she needed to see them, at least once. 

She laughed at his description of the Campus Martius and nodded; "Too many people! Why I like the rain." She gestured to the ominously dark sky that was threatening more than the light drizzle they were currently getting. She glanced over her shoulder to ensure nobody was really in earshot as she spoke; "I been looking for Bretta, your sister but," She sighed and shook her head, "Not found her yet. Have you had any word?" She hoped for poor, sweet Rufus' sake he had.

 

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[Sharpie]

It happened, that masters changed their slaves' names sometimes - it hadn't happened to Rufus, who already bore a Latin name, and a perfectly descriptive one, too. What else could he be called, with hair the colour of his, after all, other than 'Redhead'? It must have been a shock to Erea. Charis. He had half expected it might happen to her, though 'Erea' was a perfectly good name as far as the Latin language went - Hades, he'd half expected to have his own name changed, just because.

"It's a pretty name - it's Greek," he told her. She probably didn't speak a syllable of Greek, of course, although it was a common enough language to be heard in the Empire, especially in the eastern part of it - and there were numerous Greek speakers in Rome itself, as well as people who spoke all sorts of barbaric languages from all sorts of places in the Empire. A far greater mix of languages than Rufus had ever heard back in Paestum.

"It means, grace, favour," he told her, though whether she even understood the Latin words for such abstract concepts was debatable.

He shook his head at her question. "No, not yet." He took his mental walk back along that beach. "I haven't heard anything about Letinie, Erea's mother, or Turi, Erea's brother - but I will keep looking, and will let you know." A note, to Charis, at the house of Tertius Quinctilius Varus, on the Esquiline - via Rhoda if it couldn't be direct to Erea herself.

He hoped that her master wouldn't mind if she received messages from a fellow slave - they should probably keep things brief, and not too often, just to be on the safe side. It wasn't as though they really had much to write about, anyway, if he was honest.

 

@Sara

Edited November 18, 2019 by Sharpie

[Sara]

She nodded at his explanation, although didn't quite understand what he meant. "Domine said they goddesses, Charis, of kindness, charm, beauty." She shook her head and shrugged, "He said it suit me. But I prefer Erea." Her lips twitched in a little, mischievous smile. "Even if it means shy, in my language." And if there was one thing Charis was not, it was shy. At least, not at home. Here in Rome she'd found herself uncomfortably sitting in the docile, submissive position of a slave. 

She sighed sadly for him, and for herself. She'd been in Rome months and hadn't even heard the faintest whisper about her siblings, or her mother who had long since been made a slave (or worse, perished). She supposed her brother with his tall, broad fame was likely dead at the end of a Roman sword or confined to the arena and Ardra? Well...she was young, and beautiful and had none of the bite that Charis herself had. Gods only knew what had happened to her. 

Still, it was painful to dwell on and she shook her head, trying to banish the thoughts. She moved to squeeze his hand tentatively, quickly and offered a half-smile; "I will write, if I hear anything. I promise." how many red headed women were there in Rome? As it turned out, thousands and Bretta was just another of them stuck in the crowds. 

But the rain was clearing and Charis found herself jostled between Rufus and several punters, keen to take a look and a bite from the mans stall. Wincing, she glanced up at him. "I think this my cue to leave, I've been out hours." She sighed and glanced upwards to the heavens, "And my rain has stopped." 

 

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