In Bloom

[Érik]

June 75.

Unlike in Britannia, most days here in Rome were sunny during the summer. Hot. Not rainy and muggy. Everything in Britannia was so green and lush. Here, the skies were blue, to the point it gave Florus a headache to look into them for too long. They seemed to stretch to infinity, to be so blue they became black. Much like everything else in Rome, the blue skies made him feel very small. The lovely weather usually meant that the gardener had to spend a lot of time watering the plants almost every day to make sure the gardens were beautiful.

Today, however, he wouldn't need to do any of that. The rain was falling as though the heavens had broken. It had been going on all day, now, and showed no sign of stopping. In the beginning, Florus had taken it as a sign from the gods that they were ready to drown Rome, but it happened every now and again, and invariably, Rome never drowned.

He'd worked all morning under the pouring rain without an issue, but now that the afternoon was well underway, things just looked to be getting worse. Florus had run out to the edge of the villa, sheltering himself from the weather beneath the roof. The rain was making so much noise, but it was actually kind of soothing, and while he was already soaking wet, at least the gardener was out of it now. This would be good for the plants.

 

@Beauty

[Beauty]

Nymphias had spent much of her day with the eldest of her master’s daughters, serving her was a lot simpler than her younger sister. All these years Nymphias wanted to be a mother, she had helped women with their children back in Britannia but since caring for the young Roman child, Nymphias and being met with reality made her realise how much work went into caring for a child on your own. And yet, surely it would be different when she had Helios’ children? Nymphias’ mind went running as she wandered the domus, small feet pit patting against the cool, pale floor.

The rain outside made her think of Britannia where days seemed either grey or wet. She never thought in her entire life, she would be glad to see rain. She made her way towards the gardens, simply to sit somewhere comfortably and watch the way the rain hit the bobbing flora. She knew better than to rush out in it, she was a good little Roman slave now. It was the best way to be freed, behaving just the way Romans wanted her to. When she reached her destination, Florus escaped the weather and Nymphias jumped out of the way. She was awkward around him for a number of reasons. Firstly, he was male. Secondly, he seemed so distant. But she’d heard all about his secret love affair by now, just like her secret love affair with Helios.

She scooted closer towards him and then looked around them, then leaning in to whisper. “You have to hide your love,” she said innocently before extending her hand so that droplets would collect in the palm of her hand. She stared at the rain. “Masters don’t like slaves being in love. You didn’t hear it from me.” Wasn’t that along the lines of what Helios had said? That Romans even owned one’s heart?

@Ejder

[Érik]

Florus only realized he wasn't alone in taking shelter when one of the other household slaves spoke to him, and she startled him. The gardener turned to face her with a surprised look. He'd seen her around often enough, but they hadn't really spoken much. Florus was polite, sure, but he was very guarded, and kept to himself the vast majority of the time. There had only been two people to break him out of his self-imposed mutism. Attis, who had weasled friendship out of him, and then there was Tranquillus... But there were other reasons for that, he had ended up learning. So he hadn't really had much cause to talk to the other household slaves, even if he had been in this villa for months.

Nymphias, this once was called, he remembered. She seemed to know him a lot better than he knew her. His brow furrowed as she spoke. How in the world could she possibly know about his love? She had to be mistaken. No one knew. Except Attis. Maybe Attis had told her? Florus hadn't thought of that, and now he mentally kicked himself. What if Attis had gone and told the entire household how he felt? How else would Nymphias know?

'I don't know what you're talking about,' Florus said cautiously, though his red cheeks betrayed him.

 

@Beauty

[Beauty]

She looked up at him and her brows crinkled in confusion before her face expression loosened. Perhaps that was his way of showing that he agreed with her and that he understood what she meant. They were speaking in codes now. “Me neither,” said Nymphias. If he was pretending they totally hadn’t had this conversation, surely she should follow suit? “I am not in love either and I don’t leave the house in secret to meet the one that I do not love. You should not go to the Gardens of Sullust with the one you don’t love.” She hoped he got the hint, that that was what he, too, should do if he hoped for their masters not to intervene.

“I don’t know anyone who was in love with a woman and that their master separated the two of them,” said Nymphias. She was beginning to confuse even herself now, especially because  she was speaking Latin in a peculiar way, but talking in riddles and codes was very fun and amusing. Imagine all the things their masters wouldn’t know about if slaves spoke this way and their masters were near, especially since she was forbidden from speaking her native tongue. “Who is it that you do not love? Is it Zia?” It had to be, Zia was very pretty. Was that the name she had heard when accidentally overhearing something about love and feelings?

@Ejder

[Érik]

Florus just stared at the young woman, his expression no longer neutral, because he was absolutely unable to hide his confusion. What was this girl talking about? Why was she talking in riddles? It might be rude to look at someone as though they were insane, but the gardener couldn't really do otherwise.

'Neither do I,' he said. 'Because I'm not in love.' Maybe that part was a lie, but how was it any of her business? Florus was fairly certain she didn't even know his name. How did she know anything about him at all? He should never have told Attis anything. This was probably all his fault.

'I don't love Zia!' Florus responded immediately, growing even more confused. He'd barely ever spoken to the other woman, what could have given Nymphias that impression? 'Quit speaking in riddles, I don't understand it. I'm not in love with Zia. Or with anyone.'

[Beauty]

Nymphias was confused, even if she had brought upon the confusion in the first place. Perhaps she had heard wrong and it had been someone else the other slaves had been talking about. Nymphias stood there, staring at the man and then at the falling rain. Well, this was indeed very embarrassing. She couldn’t just walk away now, however. It was already much too obvious that she was just there talking to him. Nymphias kept her face expressionless, her lips as thin as an elderly man’s hairline.

“I wasn’t talking in riddles,” said Nymphias, she was trying to save face or what was left of it now. Nymphias loved hearing stories of blooming romances and long ago, imagining herself in them. Now that she was in one, she felt like her heart was going to burst. Nymphias pointed into the rain arbitrarily. “Oh my gods, what is that? Look over there! What is happening?” She hoped that changed the subject. Could she dart away in time?

@Ejder

[Érik]

Both slaves were now gazing at each other in confusion, though Florus' lie had made his cheeks grow quite pink. The look lasted for a while, until the girl pointed at something, far off in the rain. Even by squinting he couldn't see anything. The rain was falling in curtains, and it had gotten so dark the trees were barely silhouettes. Whatever she might have seen, he hadn't.

'What am I supposed to be looking at?' Florus said, frowning. After a few more seconds of this, where he still hadn't seen anything, he turned back to look at her. 'What am I supposed to see?'

 

@Beauty

[Beauty]

As he squinted off into the distance, staring at nothing at all, Nymphias was attempting to tip-toe away. Her lips were sewn shut and her eyes stared ahead of her, intent on leaving him as if she had never seen him and he had never seen her. If he asked her what she was on about earlier, she’d pretend it wasn’t her at all. It was her twin. She turned back to make sure he was still looking into the rain but he had since turned to look at her. She stopped and instantly turned to face him, forcing a smile on her face.

“I was just stretching my legs! I am a woman and that’s what women do when they get…,” she lowered her hand around her abdominal area. “Bloated.” She gently walked over to him, her feet creating soft pit-pats against the floor, resigning to throwing away her dignity. She’d just embarrassed herself, he thought her an idiot, and she was stuck in a lie now. How did it come to this so fast? She pointed ahead of them. “Don’t you see it? It’s tall and looks like a person.” But apart from the bobbing trees, there were only shadows. “Perhaps you should check it out?” Would she send him in there to get all wet? She extended her hand outwards to collect some droplets of rain. “It’s so rainy, this is almost like Britannia!” 

@Ejder

[Érik]

'Erm,' Florus replied. It was the only thing that came to mind. She was being weird, and he didn't know why. He had barely ever spoken to her before, if at all, in all the months he'd been here. Fair enough, Tranquillus and Attis were the only ones he'd had real conversations with in the household. He'd never spoken to women much, outside of his mother and sister, but but it was also fair to say he'd also never spoken much to men, either. For all his life, the gardener had mostly kept to himself, and that had been fine. Opening yourself up to other people made for a flurry of emotions, and he was needing to learn to deal with them. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't so much fun. It had been easier when everyone had just left him alone and not really cared to talk to him. Back in Britannia, there was no one like Tranquillus to make him feel like this. Easier. It had been easier before.

'What do you mean, bloated?' Did women feel bloated? Why? Aside from genitals, was that the difference between men and women? That women were bloated? He didn't remember the women in his family being bloated, or saying something to that effect, and Cinnia didn't look especially bloated, either. But then again, he couldn't tell by looking at Nymphias.

She called his attention back to the shadows in the rain, but try as he might, he couldn't see what she was pointing to. 'Are you sure?' Florus asked, still squinting. 'It's raining. If there's someone out there, they should come and shelter themselves.' What if it was Tranquillus, though? Tranquillus, walking through the rain, to check whether he was alright... He was so kind, after all. 'Tranquillus?' He called out. If the body slave was out there, he should get out of the rain. Or else his tunic would be soaked. Hmm. Well.

'Wait, are you from Britannia too?'

 

@Beauty