Home sweet what

[Sara]

Didia smiled, amused at his reaction. "No sorries needed, glad I'm rid of him! There's somebody out there better." She shrugged. She wasn't naive, but she was an optimist and surely she wouldn't spend the rest of her life a spinster? She was only twenty-five after all, and had plenty of years for babies and being a wife and all of that. His awkwardness was sweet, however. 

She frowned though. Couldn't afford one? Surely a medicus earned a mint? Then again...She glanced around the room with a wince. Maybe not. But as he continued she couldn't help but splutter, choking on her wine. Her eyes widened and she set down the cup before breaking into uproarious laughter, tears pricking the corners of her eyes and cheeks flushing. "Oh Theo..." She said between laughter, "You do need sleep...and definitely not a woman tonight." She grinned as her laughing settled down. "I'll leave you, if you want? I have a habit of overstaying my welcome." She chuckled, but made no move to leave. She still had wine left! And the poor man seemed so morose when he arrived, she felt it her Roman and womanly duty to cheer his spirits. 

"But I'll keep my eye out for you, Theo. Find you some big brawny woman to carry you in her arms to bed when you collapse of exhaustion, hmm? Or get you a slave or two?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"No sorries needed, glad I'm rid of him! There's somebody out there better." 

There had to be. Didia was a lovely woman, Theo already knew this much. She deserved someone better than the last match she'd had, for sure. It was good to know she had not given up on finding her happiness just because her first marriage did not work out.

His next words came out all wrong. Theo flushed as she almost choked on her wine, then laughed. Leave it to his exhausted mind to make him sound like some kind of a... a man who would make innuendos like that.

"Oh Theo... You do need sleep...and definitely not a woman tonight. I'll leave you, if you want? I have a habit of overstaying my welcome." 

"No, stay" Theo said, maybe a hint too hastily. Her company made him feel better. "Finish your drink, at least."

It was technically her drink, anyway.

"But I'll keep my eye out for you, Theo. Find you some big brawny woman to carry you in her arms to bed when you collapse of exhaustion, hmm? Or get you a slave or two?" 

Theo sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I do have a slave. The only one I could afford, really. He's... a strange fellow, more trouble than help, but they were gonna send him to the mines otherwise..." he shrugged "Had to leave him at one of the other ludi for now. He... has an affinity for fire, which is not a good thing at the insulae, I hear."

@Sara

[Sara]

Didia smiled and sat back down from where she'd risen a fraction. Theo was sweet, and she really didn't wish to leave. "Oh...Gods above, do not bring him here, no matter what you do!" She wagged her finger at him with a laugh, "But good for you...giving him a decent life, I can imagine you're good to him. I've seen some awful masters." She wrinkled her nose. The poor sods that worked up in the fancy houses often came to collect her wares with black eyes or lash marks barely concealed under their tunics. 

"Which Ludus, by the way?" She asked as she sipped her wine, almost finished but savouring it and the conversation. "Just so I know which one to stop by with a care package or a whip...to force you to get some rest." She grinned and arched a brow, clearly joking but leaving the innuendo hanging, just as he had.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Oh...Gods above, do not bring him here, no matter what you do!... But good for you...giving him a decent life, I can imagine you're good to him. I've seen some awful masters." 

Theo sighed, staring into his cup. He had too. He was thinking of Justinia, whom he had not seen for months. Her masters were definitely the worst kind. Not even allowing him to visit her if he paid, which he could not really afford anyway. Could he have given Justinia a better life?... He may never find out. But at least Astrius was waddling along, happily setting little fires and not dying in the mines. That had to count for something.

"Which Ludus, by the way? Just so I know which one to stop by with a care package or a whip...to force you to get some rest."

Theo blinked, looking up at her. The care package was one thing, but the whip... that could really go either way. He chuckled.

"The Ludus Magnus. I think it would be quite the show for the gladiators if you showed up to whip the medicus... Some might pay you for that."

@Sara

[Sara]

Didia managed to keep a straight face for all of a moment as he blinked up at her, before her resolve disappeared and a wide grin stretched on her face, dimpling her cheeks. At least he chuckled. For a moment she was sure he was about to have a heart attack. 

"Ahh, that might be a positive then? A way for me to earn a bit of extra cash?" She sipped the remainder of her wine but kept her hand over the top so he couldn't see it was empty. She didn't wish to go just yet. "I've never much liked the games you know," She wrinkled her nose, "All that bloodshed, all those poor people...but maybe it's just I don't appreciate the artistry from way back in the cheap seats." From the tickets her family could afford, it was like staring at tiny ants hundreds of feet below. 

"They...enjoy it? Those you help at the Ludus?" She was grasping at straws a little. It was odd, she didn't mind the blood shed at the races, but she could justify that because it was usually accidental. But there was something so...animalistic about the games, and not in a good way. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Didia grinned at him, in a cheerful way very much unlike meek Roman women usually did. The double entendre of her words was not lost on her, then.

"Ahh, that might be a positive then? A way for me to earn a bit of extra cash?"

"Not sure what your family would say about it" Theo chuckled. She was still the member of a decent family. Whipping people for money... that was a whole different profession.

"I've never much liked the games you know. All that bloodshed, all those poor people...but maybe it's just I don't appreciate the artistry from way back in the cheap seats... They...enjoy it? Those you help at the Ludus?" 

Theo shrugged. "I am not sure I'd be a spectator either, if I didn't work there. Even as it is, I mostly spend my time in the infirmary..." She did not seem like a woman who would be entertained by the violence of the games, and to be fair, he wasn't really either "Some of them do enjoy it. Some even sign up on their own, although they are an exception rather than a rule... Some see it as avoiding a much worse fate as slaves. I think many of the captives from Britannia feel that way."

@Sara

[Sara]

Didia smiled, relieved that she'd found a likeminded soul. Most of her friends revelled in the games as if the blood sport was the most natural thing in the world. Perhaps it was, to men who had served in the legions or foreigners whose homelands had been violently invaded, but for Didia - who had spent her life largely shielded from bloodshed and war, it was stomach turning.

"Now you see," She narrowed her eyes, "I'm not sure if I'd do much better in the infirmary...blood makes me feel all odd, dizzy, hot..." She shook her head, "It's a good thing you're not looking for an apprentice, hmm?" 

As he continued, Didia tried to imagine it; selling oneself into slavery like that - or taking a punt and doing so as a free citizen. She concluded that some people weren't quite right in the head, that was the only explanation, wasn't it? But for the slaves avoiding worse fates, she could understand that at least. "I suppose that makes sense...if you're some strapping great warrior brute from Britannia and you had the choice of the arena or serving dinner to an awful Roman woman...I suppose the games make more sense." More honourable too, in a way. "And you know I wasn't joking," She arched a brow at him, "At least not about the care package. My brother Appius loves the games, and now I know you, you had best believe we'll be knocking on your infirmary door for an introduction to two." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

 

 

[Chevi]

"Now you see, I'm not sure if I'd do much better in the infirmary...blood makes me feel all odd, dizzy, hot... It's a good thing you're not looking for an apprentice, hmm?" 

"None that wouldn't apply willingly" Theo gave her a good-natured smile. Maybe an apprentice would have been nice, if the ludus could afford it; less work for the medicus day to day, and it would have been enjoyable to teach someone, even if Theo did not consider himself a master of medicine yet either. But it would be no use trying to bring on someone who did not feel the same eager curiosity when it came to how the body worked...

"I suppose that makes sense...if you're some strapping great warrior brute from Britannia and you had the choice of the arena or serving dinner to an awful Roman woman...I suppose the games make more sense."

Theo nodded. To some, they did. Some enjoyed fighting with abandon, face to face with their enemy rather than in the bloody mess of the battlefield. Some enjoyed the fame that came with it. Some liked the chance at freedom they could earn with their skill with a sword or spear. Not many slaves could say they literally had the chance to fight their way to freedom.

"And you know I wasn't joking. At least not about the care package. My brother Appius loves the games, and now I know you, you had best believe we'll be knocking on your infirmary door for an introduction to two." 

"I am not going to turn down any package given with care" Theo smiled a cheerful smile "And I am happy to talk to your brother about the ludus. Introductions... depend on the doctore and the gladiators, but I am on good terms with them. Usually." his smile turned into an expression of honest gratitude. "But really, thank you. I... don't really have family in Italia. It is nice to make friends at least."

@Sara

[Sara]

Didia smiled slyly with narrowed eyes. She now just had to convince her father to up her allowance from the business to procure items for said care package. Food, obviously, the man looked like he was going to keel over...and...other things. She'd have to ponder. And maybe ask her middle brother for advice about what constituted a helpful and nice gift. She didn't realise, at that point, how odd it was that she'd go to the effort for a perfect stranger but she had a habit of picking up strays and Theo most definitely - in his present state - seemed that he needed a little bit of comfort. 

"Well," She said with a satisfied grin that stretched ear to ear and dimpled her cheeks, "Should you ever want an adoptive family, my particularly rowdy Hispanian lot would be happy to host you." Delighted, actually, she was sure. Not everyday that a man with a proper career moved into the building after all."And we are firmly friends Theo," She said with a chuckle, "Whether you want to be or not. However," She set down her cup and pushed it towards him, "As a friend I know when I'm overstaying my welcome. So get in that," She pointed to the bed, "And sleep. And I'll be up tomorrow to make sure you haven't trashed my beautifully tidied room." 

Smiling, she pushed herself up and made her way over to the door, glancing back at him. "Welcome to the building Theo." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

Fin?