Changeful British Skies

[Sara]

By the time Longinus strode back in the direction of his tent the sun was just breaking over the horizon, and for once the constant rain of Britannia was banished. Blood dripped intermittently from his hand into the blades of grass that hadn't been cleared and he had to continually wipe away the annoying feeling from his fingers. Overall, he was pleased; about ten Britons dead, five captured and talking, and only one man lost. The latter, obviously, didn't please him but given what they had encountered it could (and probably should have been much worse). 

Helmet discarded and held cradled to his hip by his good arm he ducked his head into his tent. The neatness and order restored didn't even occur to him as he set the helmet down with a crash loud enough to wake Attis. 

"Good sleep?" He asked with a smile but winced as he moved his injured arm to attempt to begin the laborious process of removing his armour. 

 

TAG: @Sharpie

[Sharpie]

Attis startled, and rolled over, sitting up when he registered that his master had returned. Somehow he'd thought that Longinus would have returned much later but surely early was better? 

"Yes, thank you, domine," he replied, throwing his blanket back and scrambling to his feet. "You're hurt - let me do that and then I'll get a medicus for your hand." If his master didn't want a medicus, Attis would deal with it himself, if it wasn't too bad.

"How did it go?" he asked, dexterously unfastening the straps of his master's armour and carefully removing it.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Longinus waved his uninjured arm and shook his head; "It's my arm, not the hand. I got nicked by some bugger with a knife." It smarted and was sore to move but he wouldn't be able to assess the damage to his bicep until he was stripped down to his tunica or less. But judging by the steady drip of blood running down his arm it wasn't minor, but neither was there a great torrent so it surely couldn't be incredibly serious. He hoped.

He smiled, an easy smile and nodded; "Well. We've got five of them and they're singing like birds," He laughed. The British were a stoic people and proud, but the threat of crucifixion often prompted people to start talking. That, of course, wasn't to say they wouldn't inevitably meet that fate of course. "From what I gather we were right , and there's a bigger force about a days march away but we'll now more after the Tribune is through with them."

He let himself be undressed, wincing every now and again as he moved his arm.

 

TAG: @Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"Let me get the medicus, and some hot water - I didn't expect you back so soon, or I'd have that already," Attis said once he'd got his master down to his tunic and could see what was going on.

He resolutely did not think about what was happening to the prisoners - it didn't concern him but he'd never really liked the necessity of torture. Even if it was justified, which this was. Only five, though, from a camp of about twenty - were the others dead or had they escaped? It didn't concern Attis one way or the other, they were not his people and he'd never met them nor was he likely to.

"And once the medicus has seen you, you'll probably want some sleep, domine," he added, pouring a cup of wine for his master, who looked as though he could use it.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Longinus only waved his hand in agreement as Attis suggested fetching the medicus again and added with a sly smile: "Excuses, excuses." At the statement he was expected back later. Rolling up the sleeve of his blood-soaked tunica to reveal the wound he winced. It wasn't particularly deep, judging by a glance, but it was long and still trickling a steady stream of blood. It was likely to need stitches and thus become one of the many in the litany of scars across his body. 

He took the wine gratefully with a nod of his head in thanks and downed a deep glug. "No, I'm not tired at all." He beamed. Maybe the blood loss was making him light-headed but he had always felt thus after a battle or raid; as the adrenalin and anticipation continued to churn, and the relief that he was alive came down he felt happy - erratic and full of energy. If he'd not been so well satisfied earlier, he may well have pulled Attis into a lovers embrace as he'd done countless times before with other slaves or camp followers after a successful mission, but as it was instead he just smiled and drank the rest of his wine. 

 

TAG: @Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"If you pass out from blood loss, I'm not carrying you back here," Attis grumbled. Mainly because he was shorter and slighter than his master. He'd get Ursus to do it instead; it'd give the other slave a reprieve from chopping firewood and fetching water for a moment.

He slipped out of the tent to fetch the medicus and a basin of water, blithely ignoring the medicus' comments that it could wait by informing him that this was a senior officer, even if he sent an assistant with Attis, that would be more medical skill than either Attis or Longinus possessed, and neither of them knew how serious or otherwise it was, and did he really want to risk a senior officer passing out or otherwise being incapacitated for any length of time because they'd been left to deal with something themselves?

"The medicus is here to see you, domine," he said cheerfully, ducking back into the tent with a steaming bowl of water in his hands, half expecting to see the tent in exactly the same state of disorder as it had been when Longinus left to go on his raid.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Longinus only snorted in amusement at Attis' comment and drained his cup of wine. As Attis slipped out he set about looking  at the lists of men he'd left out on the table, annotating them with an 'I' for injured and 'D' for the poor soul whose life had sadly been lost. The wound in his arm ached and throbbed as he wiped the blood from his hand from a discarded piece of linen. 

When Attis finally returned he glanced over his shoulder to the middle aged man who looked flustered at either being called away from other, pressing matters, or by being in the senior officers tent. But Longinus didn't care and gestured with a finger (the others clasping a piece of parchment) to the wound on his other outer bicep; "It's not that bad, my slave's a worrier." He grinned in challenge at Attis but moved to sit on the front of his desk, discarding the scroll he had been looking at. 

Rolling up the sleeve of his tunica again he glanced down at the wound, about four inches in length and arched a brow at the fussing medicus. "Am I going to lose the arm?" He jested, but the joke didn't translate and the man frowned at him, eyes flicking to the wound and then shaking his head as he unpacked his tools. Longinus cast an eyeroll at Attis. Why did he have to bring the sour faced medicus? The man, however, for all his lack of humour was at least skilled at his trade and promptly came over to inspect the wound. "It will need stitching, sir." Longinus only nodded and mumbled a; "Wine." command to Attis as the man threaded the curved needle.

 

TAG: @Sharpie

Edited February 12, 2020 by Sara

[Sharpie]

Attis gave his owner a bland look and a full cup of wine. It was his opinion that someone needed to worry about Longinus because he sure as Hades wasn't going to worry about himself!

"Let me see, let me see - bring that bowl over here, boy," the medicus said, setting the now threaded needle to one side as he fumbled in his bag for some linen that Attis could only hope was clean. "No, I don't think so, sir, but let me clean that up and have a proper look."

'Boy'. It might be a suitable form of address for a slave (witness also slave names such as Marcipor and Lucipor) but at least Attis' master hadn't stooped to addressing him that way. He brought the basin over and held it steady as the medicus dabbed the blood away with - thank Apollo that the cloth did, in fact, look clean.

"No, it's not so deep that need worry you - you'll have a very nice scar to boast about later, sir," the medicus said, picking the needle back up as Attis busied himself with finding a cloth to clean his master's armour and sword with - he had no real stomach for medical things, and hoed that he would not be needed for the simple operation of sewing his master's arm up. It could not be as awkward as trying to set a broken leg, or something, and sure there was no need for Attis to hover.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Longinus arched a brow at the man and scoffed, "Do I look like a man that enjoys boasting about his scars?" The medicus flushed with embarrassment and continued to clean the wound silently. He had a collection of them across his body although given his armour his arms had born the brunt. It didn't bother him, given his almost complete apathy to the way he looked.

He didn't fail to notice the way Attis politely excused himself to get on with another task and arched a brow. The poor sod would have to get used to the sight of blood if he intended to retain his position as body slave whilst Longinus was on campaign in Britannia. Whilst he rated his own martial ability, accidents or unfortunate circumstances happened often and Attis would have to develop a stronger stomach. Maybe he'd finally found the man's weakness...

He grimaced as the man started sticking, inhaling sharply through his teeth. "You enjoying sticking me like a bloody pin cushion?" The man mumbled an apology and flushed again. As he was stitching he glanced over to Attis and said with a wince as the man stitched a particularly tender part; "Watch what you're doing with that armour it costs more than you." He grinned, obviously joking but didn't quite realise how cold it sounded. The medicus was at least mercifully quick and once he'd cut the spare thread nodded and began to repack his instruments; "I'll be back in a few days to remove the stitches sir." He turned to Attis and clicked his fingers to summon his attention as one might do a dog, "If it swells or starts to bleed or ooze more, fetch me immediately. Mint tea will help with any swelling. Do you understand?"

 

TAG: @Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"Yes, domine," Attis said, hiding a wince of his own at the words. And fuck you, too, he added in the privacy of his thoughts. Not that his value or lack of it generally bothered him, but no slave liked to be reminded of it, and how simple it would be for the master to sell him for whatever reason he chose.

"Yes, sir," he added for the medicus' benefit, though whether the mint tea was to be drunk by the patient or applied to the wound was anyone's guess. Attis thought Longinus would prefer wine. Hades, he'd prefer some wine himself, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. He showed the medicus out once he'd packed his things up again.

"I thought you might like to boast about your scars, given the right audience, domine," he said, glancing at his master before returning to his self imposed task of cleaning off Longinus' military equipment.

 

@Sara

[Sara]

Longinus only chuckled at his slave and with a mischievous grin, surveyed him; "Why? Did you find them particularly erotic? Should I be boasting about them?" He smirked and then broke into a garrulous laugh, moving to slap his slave on the back in a good-natured way with his good arm. Moving to the desk he took up post behind it and, managing to stifle a yawn, started rummaging through various scrolls and papayri and tablets, looking for the lists he needed. 

Whilst he was working, however, he couldn't keep Attis from his eye line as he dutifully cleaned down his equipment. With a softer smile he glanced over his form before saying, quietly; "Thank you - for looking after me." It didn't need to be said, he was a slave, that was his job - that's why the family had bought him. But he wanted to say it. There were few people that aligned to Longinus' particular brand of energy and erratic behaviour and he seemed to have found a kindred spirit with Attis. Or at least one that could suffer him. "I think we're going to have some fun, you know." He added with a wider grin and then stuck his head back down, looking intently at the lists. 

Maybe this posting wouldn't be quite so tedious as he first imagined?

 

TAG: @Sharpie

Thanks for a fab thread! 

[Sharpie]

"There are people who boast about such things, domine." Attis wasn't one of them but then again, it wasn't as though he had much to boast about. A slave's scars weren't generally earned in pursuit of honourable endeavours, after all.

He glanced up from where he was sitting cross-legged with his master's gladius in his lap, carefully wiping it down and sharpening its edge after the night's expedition. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed that his master had shifted position deliberately to get a better view of him without craning his neck.

"Someone has to," he said lightly. Gods knew that Lucius Cassius Longinus would find himself living in a pigsty if Attis wasn't there to keep the place tidy. The admission and expression of gratitude had surprised him, though; nobody thanked slaves for merely following the orders their masters gave them. "You're welcome," he added, felling a little awkward simply because nobody had ever thanked him before (he hastily corrected himself - nobody free had ever thanked him before) and he wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. He ducked his head, trying not to let his abashed emotions affect his face.

"Fun, domine?" he said, looking up again, once he was sure that he wasn't actually blushing from the thanks. "Oh, I do hope so."

At least, he thought, returning his focus to his master's sword, if he had to be dragged out to Britannia, Lucius Cassius Longinus was going to be an interesting master to serve.

 

Thanks for a fun thread, @Sara!