A Game of Chance

[Atrice]

They were a good bit down the alley, before Atratinus noticed him. The busy street was far enough away so you’d have to scream very loudly to be heard. Good. Marcus didn’t change his expression with the other man stopped and turned to face him. His desire to hurt was strong and especially with how Atratinus had treated him. In Marcus’ head, he deserved the pain. He deserved to be harmed.

 Atratinus’ face was distorted by the anger he felt when he turned, telling Marcus to fuck off, he just wanted Marcus to leave him alone. Marcus just stood still, letting him talk, because he was busy examining Atratinus' appearance. As a Senator, he was well-dressed. Often with several layers of fabric. But his neck was exposed. Although imagine the blood soaking that fine tunica and toga… imagine the crimson stain just widen and widen and the man fall to his knees before Marcus. Fall to his knees, kneel, like he wanted Marcus to kneel before him. But that wouldn’t happen, Marcus kneeling before him. Marcus had him now. He had already imagined it all. Now it was all about making it happen.

 He looked at Atratinus again when the other suddenly took half a step back and stared at the knife. Marcus smiled, oddly calm, while turning the knife in his hand, then tightening the grip around it, “What do you think?” He asked, stepping closer, “I told you I prefer showing rather than telling...” He added. Atratinus was taller than him, now that they stood in front of each other. But Marcus had a knife. He hoped that he could make Atratinus back up against a wall. That he was stupid enough to do so.

 But he couldn’t wait. No more. In a swift motion, he lifted the knife upwards, aiming it towards Atratinus’ chest.

@Sara

[Sara]

Atratinus moved, but the weight of his toga was unwieldy and he wasn't as nimble as he could have been otherwise. As he side stepped he felt the sting of steel against his arm, knocking him on his bicep and he let out a hiss of pain. "You fucking psychopath!" He yelled, but could do no more than dodge and lunge away from the man. To take off his toga would take an age, it wasn't something that somebody just slipped off in the time of crisis, and he didn't have time for that now. 

But he couldn't be on the defensive forever and in a burst of inspiration and recklessness, he stopped side-stepping and barrelled into Barbatius with his arm in front of him, pushing him as hard as he could to try and knock him to the ground. 

 

TAG: @Atrice

[Atrice]

He didn't expect he'd get to stab Atratinus the first time he tried, but he got close! The other man moved out of the way though, but not enough... Marcus knew the feeling of his blade touching skin, it was a certain both firm and soft feeling, like when you lay down on a somewhat firm pillow, but you'd still sink down into the middle of it. His blade touched Atratinus' arm. The other man let out a hiss of pain and Marcus was annoyed that the other yelled and dodged so that Marcus could not see the blood! He made the Senator bleed, but it was not enough to make it happen, his desire was towards seeing it. Hurting others and see what the pain produced...

It didn't matter what Atratinus thought of him. He might die. Or not? Marcus had not thought it through, he hadn't been capable of it, because he'd been so focused on hurting Atratinus, giving him what he deserved! But it might be stupid to kill a Senator? On the other hand, it would show them that they thought they ruled the world, but really, it wasn't them. They did nothing. They were on pedestals and didn't know who held those pedestals. Who could make them fall. Marcus could make people fall. And he wanted to do it! Not that he wanted to be Emperor or anything. He just wanted to hurt them. Just because... well... because that's what he wanted! 

Marcus fought hard to try and aim the blade towards the other man's torso again, but suddenly Atratinus made a strange move. He stepped right up against Marcus, with his arm on the front and while Marcus did stumble backwards and although he had a wide stance of his feet, he thought he might stumble down anyway. So he pushed back and gained the familiar feeling again. A blade penetrating skin; a second wound on Atratinus' arm. He fell down onto his one knee and with his other hand he managed to break the rest of the fall. He looked up at Atratinus while he got to his feet again and then instantly lifted the little knife again, attempting against the neck this time, since he didn't get access to the chest. Men were harder to fight than women!

@Sara

[Sara]

He had the upper hand, only for a moment and not long enough to savour. "Ah! You bastard!" He hissed as the knife pressed deeply into the skin of his forearm. He felt the blood begin to snake down his wrist and onto his hand, dripping onto the dark ground below them. As the man went down, he managed to shake off his toga as quickly as he could and managed to deposit it in a heap on the ground just in time to dodge the incoming blow that was aimed at his throat. 

Instinct took over, a desperate urge to survive. He had assumed the man just wanted to mug him, but this act was vicious, demented almost - desperate. He wanted pain and he wanted blood, that much was obvious and Atratinus was not afraid to admit he was scared. 

His uninjured right up swung out in a punch and collided with the mans nose in a satisfying crunch. He followed it quickly with a swift kick - aiming for the balls although whether he actually made contact he wasn't sure. He couldn't help the instinct that overtook him and he yelled out loudly in a clear voice; "HELP! VIGILES!" 

 

TAG: @Atrice

[Atrice]

Marcus was glad that he managed to produce blood twice, but he was not glad that he didn't get to enjoy it, because the man was fighting back! Why did he, anyway? Why was he not running... was it because of the toga, he was simply not able to? He was like an animal, really! If they were scared, they'd flee. Unless cornered and unable to flee. Then they'd put up a fight. Atratinus was just a beast. And Marcus wanted to slay it!

Now the other man had gotten rid of the toga and when Marcus rose again to aim at Atratinus' throat, the other began punching and kicking at him. Marcus yelled when the other hit his nose, making him bleed and stumble. Which was why the kick luckily did not land where it was supposed to! But Marcus could be a beast too and how dare Atratinus make him bleed! He took a few steps back, on purpose. Atratinus suddenly began yelling then and Marcus' eyes widened. Fuck! 

While the other man was busy yelling, he lounged at him, this time using all of his force to back him up against the wall, holding the blade against his throat. Enough of this! 

"Fuck you!" He hissed, "Don't think this means you're safe. You bleed the same blood as anyone." He continued and decided it would be more satisfactory to properly hurt and kill him sometime, rather than kill him now and then run away. What good would that do Marcus? Besides, Atratinus didn't know his real name or his job. He knew nothing. 

So he let go, backed away and ran away from the scene, hopefully in time before the vigiles could get there. Soon he'd be lost in the Saturnalia crowd once more. Soon he'd be safe and Aculia could mend his nose and his anger. Again.

@Sara