cave canem

[Sharpie]

It wasn't at all unusual for Longinus to have a friend, or friends, come to visit, even unexpectedly, and on this occasion as on others previously, Attis had taken Ragum out to the garden in an effort to keep the dog from knocking the visitor over with the force of his wagging tail. He was a friendly dog (and therefore probably a completely useless guard dog) but he was the size of a small pony by now. Attis looked at the thing and reconsidered; he wasn't that big - yet! The size of a small donkey? Large goat?

He would have realised he wasn't alone much earlier except the dog had started barking from almost the moment the front door opened and the ostiarius admitted today's visitor, who turned out to be Sulpicius Rufus. He wasn't alone, and Attis couldn't help smiling as Tranquillus came out to see the garden and get deafened by the dog. And probably knocked over by him, too; Attis couldn't hold him.

"He's friendly!" he said, as the dog finally escaped his grasp and ran to greet the newcomer with a furiously wagging tail and deep joyful barks. And a very wet tongue.

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

It was promising to be a pleasant day. Tranquillus accompanied his dominus to a visit at Longinus' house, and while the men talked and caught up, he was given some time off in the gardens. He knew Attis had to be around the domus somewhere; it would have been nice to catch up with him too. Tranquillus wandered into the gardens, enjoying the cool air and scent of flowers for a brief moment before something the size of Cerberus barreled out of the bushes towards him.

"He's friendly!" 

It was. Overly so. Tranquillus lost balance and landed on his ass, writing instruments flying in every direction as he was buried in a wiggling pile of fur and wet tongue and wagging tail.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF PLUTO..."

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"Licky! Licky, no! Oh, mehercle!" Attis' attempted to call the dog off were half-buried in laughter and it was a moment before he could get himself under control.

"Ragum, come! Sit!" The dog finally paid attention and let Tranquillus sit up.

"Stay!" Attis added, for good measure, before offering a hand to help the other slave up. "I'm sorry. He's young and doesn't know how big he is! I hope you aren't hurt?"

 

@Chevi 

[Chevi]

"Ragum, come! Sit! Stay!"

Tranquillus fought valiantly, fending off tongue and paws, although it soon became clear to him that he was not under serious attack. What hurt most was his dignity as he sat on the ground, his tunic and hair soaked in saliva. The dog finally retreated, although it still watched with excitement from some distance away.

"I'm sorry. He's young and doesn't know how big he is! I hope you aren't hurt?"

"That thing is young?!" Tranquillus blinked, glaring at the dog. It looked larger than most full grown ponies. "Why on earth does your dominus keep a creature like that?"

Obviously it was Longinus' dog. No one would allow something like that inside their household if it didn't belong to them personally. Tranquillus wiped his face with his hands and made an attempt to stand.

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"You can blame your dominus for that, he's the one who gave the dog to mine in the first place," Attis said. "Pretty sure it's going to be the size of a horse when it's finished growing. Aren't you, Licky?" He pulled a clean rag from the gardener's stash and offered it to Tranquillus. "You can wash the worst of the slobber off in the fountain." He shrugged. "He's friendly, though, the dog. Just needs to learn that he's not supposed to lick people half to death."

He had a sudden vision of Tranquillus' master receiving the exact same greeting and couldn't help grinning at the mental picture. That would be something to behold!

 

@Chevi

Edited July 20, 2021 by Sharpie
posted an incomplete reply by accident

[Chevi]

Some people used dogs for hunting or guarding, but so far in the city of Rome Tranquillus had not encountered anyone keeping such a large creature as a pet. Even if it was friendly, and seemed to listen to Attis.

"You can blame your dominus for that, he's the one who gave the dog to mine in the first place. Pretty sure it's going to be the size of a horse when it's finished growing. Aren't you, Licky?"

"It is going to eat you all out of house and home" Tranquillus noted, getting to his feet, and accepting the rag from Attis.

"You can wash the worst of the slobber off in the fountain."

He did so. The fresh water felt good, and definitely did away with the saliva and the dog smell. He still needed to be presentable for when his dominus decided to emerge.

"He's friendly, though, the dog. Just needs to learn that he's not supposed to lick people half to death."

"Good thing he is not supposed to be guarding anything." Tranquillus noted with half a smile, wiping his face. "Well then. Good to see you again? Attis."

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"Good thing my master's a senator - you have to be a rich bugger to be a senator, after all." Attis grinned. "It's good to see you again, too, Tranquillus. Can I get you a drink after that welcome - I ought to try to make up for the dog's lack of manners, after all."

If a burglar broke in and somehow avoided waking any of the members of the household, they'd probably come down in the morning to find the dog licking him and generally being pleased at meeting yet another new friend. Attis had no idea how to train a dog to learn that not everyone was a friend, and indeed some people were the very opposite. Tranquillus was firmly on the 'friend' side of that equation, though Sulpicius Rufus was nearer being a 'not friend' except that he was as thick as thieves with Attis' own master, which complicated things.

"How is everyone else back at your master's house?" he asked, putting out of his mind all thoughts of training the dog to specifically knock down Titus Sulpicius Rufus and lick him to within an inch of his life every time he came around. It would be fun and not something that anyone would believe was a deliberate act of sabotage.

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

"Good thing my master's a senator - you have to be a rich bugger to be a senator, after all. It's good to see you again, too, Tranquillus. Can I get you a drink after that welcome - I ought to try to make up for the dog's lack of manners, after all."

"Yes please. Something without saliva in it would be delightful" Tranquillus nodded with a smile playing on his lips. He walked with Attis, keeping a polite distance from the large dog. It seemed friendly, but he already had more dog hair and drool on his tunic than he knew how to explain to his dominus.

"How is everyone else back at your master's house?"

"We are all doing well, thank you." Tranquillus nodded "We might take a summer trip to the sea again soon, as usual. We haven't decided yet."

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"'We'?" Attis asked, amused. "Who's the 'we'?"

He guessed Sulpicius Rufus, who would be the one actually making the decision, but probably Tranquillus would be going with him, the privilege (or otherwise!) of being the man's body slave. Attis would forever be grateful that they'd each ended up where they had; Tranquillus would bore Longinus to tears, and if Attis had been in Sulpicius Rufus' household for much longer, he would have managed to talk himself into serious trouble and probably a whipping that Rufus wouldn't have shied away from administering personally.

Doubtless the gardener would end up staying in Rome, of course. Relationships between slaves, even slaves in the same house, could be tricky.

He nipped into the kitchen and returned with two beakers of wine and a couple of honeycakes on a chipped plate.

"Let's find somewhere out of the way - and no, Licky, not for you."

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

"'We'? Who's the 'we'?"

Tranquillus blinked in surprise. "The dominus and his household, obviously."

Attis was happy to see him again, and the feeling was mutual. As nosy and impertinent the other body slave sometimes tended to be, Tranquillus had taken a liking to him over the time he'd spent in the household. 

They made a stop at the kitchen, where Attis procured some wine and sweets.

"Let's find somewhere out of the way - and no, Licky, not for you."

The dog gave a puppy look of disappointment after trying to jump up to the plate a few times. Tranquillus followed Attis, trusting him to know the best places in the house to have a friendly conversation.

"How is everyone around here, then?"

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"The entire household?" Attis asked, careful not to mention Florus by name - who knew if they'd got it together, although judging by the fact Tranquillus was standing in front of him and hadn't combusted into a pile of ashes, chances were high that the pair had not got together, and maybe never would. Which was a great shame; someone in that house deserved to have a good time in bed, and it wasn't going to be their master, who could be a contender for the next available position as a Vestal Virgin.

He found them a spot on a marble bench in the garden from where they could see the garden side of the tablinum but wouldn't draw the attention of either man within it.

"Here, why don't you have one?" he said, holding out the plate of honeycakes. "They're as good as Betua's."

Once Tranquillus had chosen one, Attis took the other. "Oh, we're all fine here - Dominus takes his new Dacian out with him when he wants to go running, so I don't get dragged out any more. Which makes things pretty well perfect. How are things back at yours?"

 

@Chevi

Edited July 28, 2021 by Sharpie

[Chevi]

"The entire household?"

Attis was full of strange questions today. Tranquillus was a little surprised he was so intent on knowing about their summer plans. Maybe he was curious, or maybe Longinus had told him to find out more? "No... not the whole household travels." Sadly, Samorix usually didn't.

They settled in the garden, and Attis offered some honey cakes. Tranquillus took one, and he acknowledged with a hum that it was indeed delicious.

"Oh, we're all fine here - Dominus takes his new Dacian out with him when he wants to go running, so I don't get dragged out any more. Which makes things pretty well perfect. How are things back at yours?"

"Can't complain" Tranquillus smiled, a somewhat rare occurrence. "We have all been doing well."

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"We have all been doing well." Whatever that meant, with regard to Tranquillus and Florus and their dancing around one another as far as affection and relationships went. Attis didn't think he wanted to pry into all that - they had each flushed practically incandescent when he'd had The Talk with each of them, and if they hadn't figured it out and got together, well, he was back in his own house with his own issues and they had to do something on their own.

Speaking of his own issues - "Licky!! No - don't dig that up! Not again, you'll kill it!"

The dog had been pawing at the ground beneath a decorative orange tree and ignored Attis, who sprang up from his seat to attempt to drag the dog away.

"I wonder if your master had any idea how big this thing was going to get when he gifted him to mine," he said, dragging the dog over by the collar. "Sit. Stay!" He turned back to Tranquillus. "I've known slaves who were more obedient!"

He'd known free people who were more obedient, in fact, but it didn't seem politic to say so.

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

The dog seemed determined to turn the garden upside down. Tranquillus chuckled as Attis struggled with the large animal, dragging it away from the orange tree. For its size, it as still very much behaving like a pup.

"I wonder if your master had any idea how big this thing was going to get when he gifted him to mine. Sit. Stay! I've known slaves who were more obedient!"

"Did he actually name it Licky?" Tranquillus laughed, watching the now somewhat sheepish dog. "Samorix would die of a heart attack if a thing like this started digging up the trees..."

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

Attis had rejoined his friend on the bench, and the dog flopped onto its hindquarters, looking up at him hopefully before putting a paw on his knee. He grinned and began to fuss it.

"No - he called it Rugam - you can see why. I'm the one who calls him Licky, because he is, very." He shrugged. "I've never really been around dogs, I haven't the first clue how to actually begin to teach him anything. At least, anything really useful, though he shakes hands now." He turned his head, giving Tranquillus an inquisitive look. "Who's Samorix?"

It sounded barbarian, vaguely British.

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

"No - he called it Rugam - you can see why. I'm the one who calls him Licky, because he is, very."

"Indeed." Tranquillus gave an amused look at the wrinkly dog. Apparently Roman nobility liked to name their animals the way they named their slaves. In a very literal way.

"Who's Samorix?"

Tranquillus knew he'd made a mistake, and he gave Attis a sheepish look.

"It's... you know him as Florus. I don't use this name around the dominus. Obviously."

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

The Romans were a truly unimaginative bunch when it came to naming people - and Attis' master was no different when it came to naming pets apparently. But then again, much the same could be said for Attis himself, who'd bestowed a very literal nickname on the big wrinkly mutt.

It was kind of a cute thing, if big and clumsy. He wondered if the dog would ever figure out just how big he was and tone his enthusiasm down. He looked down at it as it rested its chin heavily on his knee, huffing a contented sigh as he continued petting it.

"Obviously," he said in agreement. He didn't think he'd ever learned Florus' actual name - he hadn't had all that much to do with Longinus' captives while in Britannia, and even once they'd all come to Rome, Attis had been focussed on his master and the kid had been half terrified of him because he was so close to the master and he (the kid!) was utterly terrified of putting so much as a toenail out of place. All the stories about how the Romans dealt with misbehaving slaves had obviously got to him.

It was nice that he was able to unbend enough to admit his actual name.

"I can't imagine what it must be like to have to answer to a different name, specially one from a completely different language," he said thoughtfully. Which wasn't the sort of thing he'd normally think about, much less say, but Tranquillus had a way about him that pulled Attis' usually very well hidden serious side a little closer to the surface.

@Chevi

[Chevi]

Tranquillus felt awkward about having given out Samorix's real name. It was a secret only the two of them shared. He doubted Attis would tell anyone, but still, Roman slaves rarely ever got to keep their name, or got to remind themselves that it even existed.

"Obviously. I can't imagine what it must be like to have to answer to a different name, specially one from a completely different language," 

"I used to have a different name" Tranquillus noted, glad to change the subject. "From my previous master, where I was born. My current dominus renamed me... it took some getting used to."

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"It happens," Attis said. "I'm sorry it happened to you, though."

He was suddenly, obscurely, glad that Longinus was a fond of him as he was - he didn't think Longinus would ever sell him (although of course he couldn't take it for granted that he wouldn't, but his master had once told him that he'd arranged for Attis' journey back to Rome and his manumission if anything happened to Longinus during their time in Britannia). He certainly didn't think Longinus would ever try renaming him; he didn't much like the story behind the name, but it was his. He'd probably just refuse to answer to anything else, if Longinus made the attempt.

It was a thing some Romans did, even to unassuming inoffensive people who'd been born slaves. They just had to remind themselves that they were in charge and their slaves were property, with as little right to their own names as a dog was. Bastards.

"Your current master is a bastard," he said. He was pretty sure that Titus Sulpicius Rufus suspected what Attis' opinion of him was; they didn't see eye to eye and Attis was just thankful to have escaped Rufus' house with his skin intact. Sulpicius Rufus certainly wasn't squeamish, about anything, after all.

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

"It happens. I'm sorry it happened to you, though."

"I got used to it." Tranquillus shrugged. His name fit him. Rufus could not have known that very well when he got renamed, but in the end, the name fit the quiet and studious body slave.

"Your current master is a bastard," 

Tranquillus blinked, then shook his head with a chuckle. "I see why you'd say that, but it's not entirely true. He means well, more often than not. And he... lets me teach Samorix to read and write." Among other things.

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"Well, he doesn't like me, at any rate," Attis allowed, though he'd done his best to stay out of the man's sight - out of sight, out of mind and all that. It had mostly worked. To a point. "I  hate to say it, but I'm rather glad I belong to my master not yours." He couldn't help looking up in surprise as Tranquillus continued speaking.

He blinked at that snippet of information. "Well, then. Maybe not a complete bastard, but Florus is absolutely terrified of him - probably thinks he'll get crucified for sneezing or something. I don't know what on earth my master did that convinced him all Romans are terrifying monsters but it seems to have stuck." Poor inoffensive Florus, terrified to put a toenail out of place - and Zia who knew Romans were bastards and was determined to take it out on everyone around her, no matter whether they'd done anything to deserve it or not.

Longinus' household was far more peaceful!

"He's letting you teach Florus to read and write? I take it back, he's only half a bastard, then. How's Samorix - Florus - doing, learning it?"

Latin was an easy enough language to read, at least - writing came with a bit of practise - but that was if you got started at a young age; Attis had had the great good fortune to be taught as a child, maybe because Longinus' father thought he might make a decent secretary when he was older. He was rather glad that he was Longinus' body slave and not his secretary - Vitus had a tough job and Attis wasn't naturally inclined to the methodical way of thinking that a secretary needed.

@Chevi

Edited November 29, 2021 by Sharpie

[Chevi]

Attis had absolutely no love lost for Tranquillus' master, and that did not exactly change during the time he'd spent in the household. He was also snarky enough to say that out loud, which rubbed Tranquillus the wrong way. He had respect for his master, and Attis, well, was not a person who was easy to deal with. But even he had to admit that allowing the slaves to read and write as kind of him.

"Well, then. Maybe not a complete bastard, but Florus is absolutely terrified of him - probably thinks he'll get crucified for sneezing or something. I don't know what on earth my master did that convinced him all Romans are terrifying monsters but it seems to have stuck." 

"He is not verna." Tranquillus pointed out. Samorix had not been born into slavery, or even into the empire. That made all the difference.

"He's letting you teach Florus to read and write? I take it back, he's only half a bastard, then. How's Samorix - Florus - doing, learning it?"

"He is..." Tranquillus blinked, and smiled a little. "He is a very capable young man. He will learn in no time. Provided he puts int he effort and... can keep from being distracted."

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"No," Attis replied soberly. "No, he isn't. I suppose that would alter anyone's perception - and your master isn't as bad as some of them. A lot of them, even. We just... don't suit each other, him and me. It's a personality thing, more than anything." And of course Attis would come off worst in any sort of personality clash with someone of Sulpicius Rufus' status, considering he was a free man and a senator and Attis was a slave.

"I'm sure he will - put the effort in, I mean. I can't say whether or not he can keep his mind on what he's supposed to be doing rather than... anything else."

He guessed, from Tranquillus' earlier slip and the fact that the older man was teaching Florus to read and write, that they had managed to figure things out between them to some degree. Quite whether they had worked out the mechanics of Tab A and Slot B was anyone's guess and Attis was not going to ask about that. If they hadn't, they were grown men and could work it out for themselves, he'd poked his nose into that mess quite more than enough for anyone!

 

@Chevi