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The gods are joking


Beauty

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A crowd had gathered around somewhere near to the markets, they laughed, cheered and gasped. Her settlement in Britannia had been a lot smaller than Rome as well as greener, wetter and was apparently more primitive. It probably didn’t exist anymore. Crowds made her eyes dart like a frightened doe, it was Rome’s first gift to her, apart from removing her family from her life. Eyes watching the crowds, Nymphias was curious about the commotion and so made her way towards it. Looking, she saw men dancing, singing, acting out scenes from stories she had no idea about. With her broken Latin, Nymphias understood about half of what was being said but laughed nonetheless. When one of the actors tossed some flowers into the crowds, Nymphias jumped to catch them.

Smiling merrily, she hadn’t noticed a thief reaching slowly to grab her coin purse while she was quite clearly preoccupied in the crowds, watching the commotion just like everyone else. It wasn’t until she heard a familiar jiggling sound and felt a little naked that she looked down to see her coin purse was missing. Nymphias panicked, looking up to see the back of the thief running into the crowds. She’d been told to speak up but she couldn’t. She was a coward. She’d reacted too slow, the thief was gone. A young and distracted foreign slave with a confused face, she was an easy victim.

She looked left and right, unsure of what to do, before wandering from the giddy crowd, home to pick-pocketers and laughing Romans. The girl sat down somewhere and buried her head in her hands so she could cry her life out. She turned to the person nearest to her, a young woman.

“I am going to die today,” she stated dramatically. “Have you ever seen someone more idiot than me? No because no one is more idiot than me. Where is handsome man to save me when I need them?”

@Jenn

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Tacita had come to the market with Linus as he had some errands to run. While she didn’t exactly need to be there, Corva did not need her at the Domus today and had sent her along with Linus to keep him company. They arrived in the area just outside of the main market. Linus found a bench on the outskirt of the forum and told her to wait there for him. “Wait here, I will be back in a few minutes” Tacita nodded her head and sat down on the bench.

As she sat waiting for him, a crowd gathered, and she heard the laughter and cheering. There were men entertaining the crowd with dancing, singing and drama. So that was what the excitement was about. She shifted slightly on the bench so she could see more of what they were doing. Tacita nodded her head along with the rhythm and watching the crowds being mesmerized by the show.

A young woman sat down on the bench next to her and buried her head in her hands. “I am going to die today, Have you ever seen someone more idiot than me? No because no one is more idiot than me. Where is handsome man to save me when I need them?” Tacita turned to face the young woman next to her. She pointed to the young woman and put her hands apart with a ‘what happened’ look on her face. When she asked where was a handsome man to save her when she needed them, Tacita shrugged her shoulders.

@Beauty

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Nymphias had spoken to Azarion, who was a mute, and had once not known any bit of Latin, making her rely on trying to read the people around her. As a result, she was somewhat understand what the other woman was saying to her. The woman appeared young and so Nymphias to felt quite comfortable.

“I watching the people,” she said, waving a hand in front of her at the crowds and those before them who were entertaining. “And then someone take my money. It was given to me to do work and they ran from me and I was too slow to catch.” Her stomach knotted, fearful already of what she’d get when she returned to her master’s home. Some of the slaves who’d been serving the Roman family a lot longer would surely give her an earful.

“Now I am going to be locked up in kitchen forever,” said Nymphias. The whole ordeal had indeed soured her mood, even the clapping, joyous sounds and music didn’t seem to cheer her up much. “And I will never get to see—” Well, the woman didn’t need to hear about her dramatic love story. Nymphias played with her hands awkwardly, she turned to look at the other young woman. “Sorry, I babbled. Rome is just very confusing place. Has it every happened to you? With people who try to take money from you? Or shopkeeper who try to… rip off?”

@Jenn

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The young woman next to her seemed to understand her gesture enough as she went on to talk about what had happened. Apparently, she had been watching the show as well and said that someone had taken her money. Ah she had been pickpocketed. That was a very common situation in the market.

She then went on to say that she was worried about being locked up in the kitchens forever. Tacita could certainly understand her anxiety. She had been given the money to do complete some errands and instead was going to be returning to her Dominus with empty pockets. This was something that usually had severe repercussions. When she began to play with her hands Tacita attempted to reassure her by tapping the young woman’s hand.

“Sorry, I babbled. Rome is just very confusing place. Has it every happened to you? With people who try to take money from you? Or shopkeeper who try to… rip off?”

Tacita nodded her head and pointed to her voice. As she was unable to negotiate there were many times when shopkeepers would attempt to rip her off. Most of the time she wouldn’t go to the emporium by herself but if she did Tacita had certain merchants that had learned to understand her gestures.

@Beauty

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Tapping her hand was much appreciated, it meant the other woman felt sympathy for and understood her. Nymphias didn’t know if it was paranoia after having been enslaved but everyone appeared so terrifying, their faces looking like it was carved stone. Any bit of kindness made Nymphias inclined to see the other person as a potential friend.

When the woman pointed towards herself, Nymphias merely blinked, trying to discern what the other, older woman meant for a moment, but then assumed she was saying something along the lines that she’d experienced the same. Or perhaps she was saying people took advantage of her voice, thought Nymphias. That was a very cruel thing, if so. People thought because Nymphias couldn’t speak proper Latin, somehow she was stupid too.

“I like what they do over there,” said Nymphias, gesturing towards the crowds. She could hear the laughter and music still. It was hard to be happy after losing coices, a part of her wanted to stall returning to her master’s home but that would only get her into more trouble. “Are you waiting for someone here, is that why you sitting?”

@Jenn

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“I like what they do over there” Tacita followed Nymphia’s gaze back towards the crowds. They could still hear the music and laughter. A smile crossed her face as she also nodded her head in agreement. She loved watching the show as well. Sometimes she would find herself trying to ‘hum’ along to the music but if it was a tune that she wasn’t familiar with she could simply sit back and enjoy the show. She wasn’t required to say or do anything.

Nymphias went to ask if she was waiting for someone here. Tacita nodded her head and pointed through the crowds over to one of the market stands. If Nymphias looked, she would see an older man doing some business with the owner. She had come in with Linus to keep him company and to help him carry things back to their Domus or the warehouse.

@Beauty
 

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Nymphias squinted, looking past the crowd to see an older man communicating with another man. Well, Nymphias had “time” before she was to head back but she didn’t want to, simply because she’d made a grave mistake again. If only she paid attention to her surroundings more and was less gullible, she thought. She tried to imagine herself like her domina, Valeria Flacca, sitting reclined and being all smart… but then Nymphias’ nose wrinkled, she’d be stealing people’s hairs and making them look like bald, naked baby rats.

Perhaps because she was buying her own time, before Betua tore off her ears, or evading the walk of shame back to her masters’ home, she chose to have the other girl serve as a good distraction from her own melodrama.

“Do your master ever try to take your hair from you?” said Nymphias curiously. It had be a common experience, it couldn’t be her domina talking about it as she eyed Nymphias’ hair like a hungry beast.

@Jenn

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