Once, on Saturnalia eve...

[Sara]

Oh she could just punch him. Lucius, her brother, had shown her how. She could just ball up her fist and swipe that smug, confused look right off of his stupid, handsome face. 

Her cheeks flushed red. 

"No!" Yes.

She didn't have the brain space for this, as the pieces of her confusion over the last few months slotted and clunked and juddered into place. Her infatuation with Decimus had been just that - girlhood idealisation, not anything deeper she had come to realise. This was different and the dawning realisation made the colour on her cheeks deepen even more. Thank the Gods she could blame the cold for it. 

She sniffed and folded her arms across her chest defensively. "I'm not just some girl you can kiss at a festival and banter about later to your pleb or slave friends...Or your prostitute lovers, I should say. I'm Ovinia Camilla!" She was trying to sound imperious, serious but it was just amusing. "And I'm yelling at you because I..." She groaned and threw her arms up in a visible sign of her frustration, "Because you're awful and I hate you and I don't know why I want you!" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

 

[Chevi]

"I'm not just some girl you can kiss at a festival and banter about later to your pleb or slave friends...Or your prostitute lovers, I should say."

"I don't..."

"I'm Ovinia Camilla!"

Alright then.

"And I'm yelling at you because I... Because you're awful and I hate you and I don't know why I want you!" 

"Well, me neither."

This time, he kissed her deliberately. His hands went to frame her face, fingers sliding into her hair. It could have been a gentle, romantic kiss, but somehow they were so far from that point it ended up echoing her words. I don't know why I want you. Frustration, desperation. Hunger. Somehow, he was going to regret all of this sooner than later, but right now, he really did not care.

[Sara]

Oh gods she did want him. She made absolutely no attempt to protest as he pulled her in for another kiss. Without the direction of the princeps of Saturnalia and the crowd moving around them, they really had no excuse but...she really didn't give a shit. She wound her arms around his neck to pull him down, leaning into an innate side of her that somehow knew what to do when she really didn't. Decimus had been fleeting, almost chaste kisses snatched when they could be taken. This was different - frenetic and heated and everything she didn't know she needed. 

She kissed him back - it wasn't one-sided. She wanted him as much as he clearly needed her and one of the arms and her un-burned hand moved from his neck to his chest, but not to push him away, rather to keep him steady and keep him close as her back made contact with the wall of the alley they had stopped in. Nobody paid them any attention - they were just another young couple in the throes of passion of Rome's most celebrated holiday. 

When she finally broke for air she was gasping, cheeks flushed, lips parted. She felt stirred up and wrung out at the same time. Her eyes were dark as they flicked over his face. So this was what she had been missing. This was why whenever she looked at him or whenever he made another little barb she felt that same flutter in the pit of her chest. 

They really should go and get the food. The smell of smoke still clung to her tunica and her hair and the singed flower crown now askew on the top of her head. She really didn't want to though and she leant up again to catch his lips again.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Somewhere in the distance there was an ever-growing list of people lining up to take turns murdering him in all kinds of horrible ways for this. Ovinia's father, for sure. Her brothers. Likely her mother. Gaius, probably. Titus, most definitely. But all of these thoughts would only occur to Lucius later. Because the moment Ovinia responded to the kiss, he was not really thinking anymore.

He parted his lips and they fell into each other, Ovinia's back colliding with the wall of the building behind them. He kissed her deeply and thoroughly, wanting something he was not even sure he could put into words. He had kissed people before, he had even felt desire before, but this, in all its frustrating and inexplicable reality, was something else. One if his hands left her hair and traveled down her body. The way she reached for him was driving him mad.

They parted, out of breath, and the look she gave him mirrored his own. Ovinia Camilla was damn frustrating woman, but she was also damn beautiful, singed and disheveled and well-kissed like this. Lucius knew he was losing a battle. Or possibly a war.

Or maybe he had lost it a while ago.

She leaned in to kiss him again, and he didn't complain. It was the essence of Saturnalia, a stolen moment that would have never happened in the normal order of things. The festival was not to be questioned, or dissected. His head felt foggy as if he had drunk unwatered wine, and he just went with the desire and the rush. His hand tugged on her hair, tilting her head up, and his lips traveled from hers along her jaw, and the spot below her ear. She had the scent of smoke, and she tasted better than anything he'd felt before.

[Sara]

She let out a noise, somewhere between a groan and a moan as his lips moved from hers and found a spot beneath her jaw. Gods above. She gasped. Was this what this was supposed to feel like? Desire and attraction? She understood it now. She saw the meaning of Alexius' words so clearly it was almost impossible that she had lived nineteen years up until this point without this. 

"Lucius..." Her voice was hoarse as her unmaimed fingers ran through the mess of curls on his head but her fingers kept his head where it was. "Lucius we can't..." Keep going, she meant. And she couldn't do anymore. Even wrapped up in pleasure like she was, she knew that. He, surely, had to know that too. They'd crossed so many lines already and it was intoxicating but she couldn't...

"Lucius..." She said it again, slightly more forcefully this time and tried to turn his head up to look at hers. But what else could she say?

"I hate you." 

Well. That was...something.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

He was lost in her scent and her taste, and the sounds she was making made all of it so much worse. Or better. Definitely better. She had her hand in his hair, and it did not feel like she wanted him to stop.

"Lucius... Lucius we can't..." 

Oh, he knew. As much as he would have lost himself in her forever, they were in public. This was not that kind of place, and Ovinia was definitely not that kid of girl. He moaned, hoping to continue his explorations a few precius moments longer.

"Lucius..." 

She tugged on his hair and he finally looked up. He was trying to catch his breath like he had run a mile, and she was not exactly poised either.

"I hate you." 

"See, I don't think you do." he smiled a little, looking at her up close. "And I don't think I hate you either." Hate played a funny part in this story, but they couldn't exactly pretend anymore. As much as he wished she could be anyone else, so he could take her to the nearest bed available without guilt, Ovinia was Ovinia, and he had to go and somehow... not hate her. One hand was still on her hip, and the other in her hair. "This is a problem, isn't it."

[Sara]

She did. She really did hate him, but she hated him because how on the Gods green earth was she supposed to go back and live her life and meet her suitors now? 

Her eyes raked her eyes over him and made another 'mhmm' sound at what she saw. She felt his fingers on her hip and couldn't help but arch her body into his touch. She had no idea what she was doing but it seemed so...natural. "And that's why I hate you." She mumbled with a shake of her head and a lopsided smile. "I have no idea what I'm going to do now and it's all your fault. I...have to go and meet Sempronius Atratinus next week. I have to go and get food for my family and organise the restoration of the k-kitchen and all I...all I want to do is for you to kiss me again." She groaned in frustration and slumped back against the wall, her face forming into a comical pout. "Big problem. Any bright ideas?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

The way she reacted to his touch was addictive. Lucius knew they had to talk, using words, about what had just happened, because neither of them were going to write this off as a Saturnalia fling. But in the meantime, she was still warm against him, with a look in her eyes that was everything but hate.

"And that's why I hate you. I have no idea what I'm going to do now and it's all your fault."

Lucius sighed. It was not all his fault, but to be fair, he had no idea what he was going to do now either.

"I...have to go and meet Sempronius Atratinus next week. I have to go and get food for my family and organise the restoration of the k-kitchen and all I...all I want to do is for you to kiss me again."

He caught his breath and somehow managed to not do just that. It took a lot of self control. He did not like the idea of her meeting a suitor. He had no clue who Sempronius Whatshisface was, but he already hated the guy.

"Big problem. Any bright ideas?" 

None. He could not court her, because he was not a patrician, and even if he was, his family was not an option for hers anymore. And as much as he wanted to, he could not just grab her and run away. To... say their options were limited was an understatement. Lucius sighed, leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead.

"One step at a time? Let's go get the food before they come looking for us."

@Sara

 

[Sara]

No. No bright ideas because there was nothing to be done and now she was stood in the arms of a man she had been happy to punch only a few minutes ago, perfectly, utterly content. And it was all wrong, because there was no way this would end happily. She swallowed and made a 'mhmm' sound between contentment and despair as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

"So sensible. What's happened to you?" She tried to joke, but it fell a little flat. He was right though. She barely remembered storming out of her domus, so caught up in the moment and the intensity of the fire and seeing him and her stupid, irritating family. But they'd been gone a little while already and the longer she was absent, the more likely it was that they'd come looking...or realise she was missing in the first place. 

Gingerly, she moved from the wall, peeling his hand off of her hip. She attempted to right herself, raking her fingers through her hair and shifting the strap of her chiton back up from where it had slipped under the cloak. Reality began to seep in as she did so. She cast him a cautious glance and then back to her feet. And then again. And then back to her feet, trying to figure out something to say. 

You idiot. Why did you have to go and make everything so complicated. 

She cleared her throat and jerked her head as she stepped out of the little alley back into the crowds. "This way." Better not to talk about, she figured, let's just...brush over the fact that all you can think about is his hands on your waist. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

The kissing had been wild and passionate, but if it had been just that, Lucius might have felt better. Passion was something people did for fun. Kissing her on the forehead though, holding her just a moment longer before they finally parted, made it clear that he did not want Ovinia... like that. He felt protective of her, as much as she hated the idea, which meant that he was now treading very dangerous territory.

"So sensible. What's happened to you?" 

"You happened." Lucius sighed as he stepped back, running a hand through his hair again (not that anyone around cared at all about how disheveled someone was. Hell, several people were just running around naked.) She led the way again and he followed, making sure he did not lose her in the crowd this time.

They found the food place, and managed to put in an order for enough food to make up for the loss of the kitchen. They would have to come back to carry most of it when it was all cooked, but for now, Lucius managed to talk Melissa into handing over a few baskets of fresh pastries. Pastries were the best part of the festival anyway, weren't they? Lucius managed to focus on acquiring and carrying the baskets for long enough. This was the easy part...

 

[Sara]

Melissa was as perky and vivacious as she remembered, which was needed given they were asking for a miracle on Saturnalia. How on earth they were going to get it all back, she had no idea but that was a problem for later - much later - it would be a good while before the feast was ready and able to be carted back. She stood alone as Lucius haggled with Melissa. She didn't fail to see the way the older woman smiled and something flared in her gut. When he came back, arms laden with baskets she gave him a bemused smile but wordlessly took one from him to carry. 

She passed the walk back in relative silence. What on earth did they have to talk about? She opened her mouth to speak several times before slamming it shut again. Her cheeks were burning and longing was rapidly being replaced with embarrassment and shame. She was an idiot. It was a quicker walk this time though with the crowds having now moved on further down the hill, and without the running off and the kissing. She swallowed, her throat dry. 

They came to the domus opposite, its crates still sat there with the little pot of honey still on top. She scooped it up and drew to a stop - a few paces away from the side door to her own domus. She could hear the music and the laughter from here and judging by the pile of burned rubbish from the kitchen in a pile in the street, the Vigiles were nearly done. She swallowed again. 

"So..." Her voice was hoarse from lack of use. She gave him an awkward smile. "Pastries?" She held out her arm for the baskets, deciding being demanding was the best course of action. Better not to think about other things...because what if he regrets it. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius was not sure what he was supposed to say. He was keenly aware that he had messed up this whole thing before it even started. Was Ovinia thinking the same? Blaming him for doing all this too late? Or... at all? They didn't talk much as they made their way back to her domus. The procession had moved on, but there were still many revelers around. Ovinia finally stopped across the street from the house. So did he.

"So... Pastries?"

"Yes please" he grinned, taking one out of her basket. He knew that was not what she meant, but the mood needed some lightening. "The boys and I will bring the rest of the food over in a bit. I'll make sure they don't sample it too much." He paused, still holding the baskets, and looked at her. What was he supposed to say?... "Can I... see you again?"

[Sara]

She rolled her eyes and made a 'tsk' sound with her lips, snatching away her basket but not before he'd managed to pilfer one. It was frankly a little miraculous how quickly she could shift again to seeing him as nothing more than irritant, like a fly to be swotted. 

Real life came flooding back in, however, with his question. She blinked. Had he still been a patrician, had she still been intending on marrying his brother (Oh Gods...) then it would have been an easy yes. They would have seen one another at parties or dinners or social occasions. They could have even spent time together just one on one, undoubtedly. His family had been one to trust. Now though? With his social standing depleted but - more importantly - his reputation turned to the ash he collected in his job, she didn't see how it was possible. She could hardly just ask for a meeting. She bit at her lip and hesitated, not giving him an answer. 

"I..." What? You want to see him again, one part of her yelled out but another part of her was clear; when have you ever done anything as idiotic as this? Stupid girl... "I like to take walks." She gulped out, "On the kalends, nones and ides, in the Portico, where we met at midday. I go most months." It was an offer, but it was an offer of a public meeting; she wasn't some girl to be pushed up against the wall and...well...that was exactly what she was about half an hour ago but still..."But...I don't know," She gave him an awkward little smile, "This doesn't change anything, does it?" 

She still had to find a man, and he'd still made his choice.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius knew it was not fair to ask. He was most definitely not welcome at the house, and she was going to be meeting other possible suitors. Possible suitors. The thought was killing him, now that he realized they had passed each other in the worst possible way somehow.

"I... I like to take walks. On the kalends, nones and ides, in the Portico, where we met at midday. I go most months."

Lucius nodded, keeping his eyes on her. They could meet again. In public, in a polite setting, which might be unbearable, but he would take it, in a heartbeat.

"But...I don't know. This doesn't change anything, does it?" 

"I... don't know." he sighed. "I... I want it to? I've got nothing. I just know I want to see you again."

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia winced. She knew exactly what he meant. She wanted it to change things but it didn't. Maybe she realised that more than him? Maybe his new life had given him a glimmer of hope that somehow things would all work out, as they had for his adoption. She was a little more jaded than that. It didn't stop her wanting things to be different though. 

"Me too." She gave an unusually shy smile, nothing like the flashing grins she usually threw out. Smoothing her hands in front of her plain tunica, she blinked as her unburned fingers caught on the scratchy material of his cloak. She fumbled with the pin for a comical length of time before she managed to shrug it off one-handed. "Here." She bundled it into a ball and threw it at him, but in a playful rather than an aggressive way. "How does this rank for you? Of all your Saturnalia's?" 

Before she had time to finish her thought and say that despite the fire and her red raw fingers, this was easily in the top three (top one...) for her, a whistle sounded and she whipped her head round to the slave door of her domus. 

[Sara]

Titus would wring Lucius' neck the next time the man deigned to wander in, he was sure of it. His first few weeks in the team and he'd already shirked his responsibility to chase off after a girl that looked about ready to murder him, leaving Titus with the amusing job of keeping the domus' drunken occupants out of the kitchen and giving the men something to do whilst he waited for him to return. 

That task was clearing all of the singed detritus from the kitchen out into the street; really not in their job description, but he needed something to do. He suffered the mutters and glares that really should have been directed at his new colleague. Every few minutes he'd stick his head out of the side door to see if their wayward vigile had found his way home with the pompous domina in tow. When, finally, he saw the mop of dark hair and the girl he let out an audible groan of relief and then whistled sharply with his fingers to catch their attention. 

"Domina, your father is looking for you." He wasn't but...oh...shit, his thought came to an abrupt stop. Wasn't he supposed to not speak Latin? Ah well. Damage was done now. "And you, I'm looking for you." He jabbed a finger in Lucius' direction. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Me too."

Lucius' smile was full of relief. Maybe, just maybe, they would have more time to figure things out. He was an eternal optimist, even in the face of impossible odds. It had worked out for him before. He caught the cloak.

"How does this rank for you? Of all your Saturnalia's?" 

"Best one ever" he grinned. He considered the idea of stealing a kiss, but that doomed idea quickly perished as Titus poked his head out the door and whistled at them. Lucius jumped, and managed to look sheepish.

"Domina, your father is looking for you. And you, I'm looking for you."

"That is great, because I am looking for you too" Lucius said lightly, trying to salvage the situation. "We have pastries. And more food to be had. The boys can help carry it back here, and I'll treat them to the menu. You're hungry, right? I know I am. Shall we?"

[Sara]

Titus gave Lucius a bemused smile, and made no move to go into the house, crossing his arms instead over his chest and tilting his head to the side. "The boys will, will they?" You arrogant prick, he added in his head. He liked Lucius - he did - he was a hard worker and had clearly taken a blow to do this, but his view that his word was gospel was...irritating to say the least. Titus and the others didn't work for him, not yet anyway. 

The young woman glanced awkwardly between himself and Lucius and cleared her throat, clearly trying to snatch back some authority. "I'll leave you to sort this out." She flashed Lucius a look that...Titus couldn't place, but made him uneasy. She only shot him a glare which he returned with a smirk. She held out her arms for the pastries from Lucius and then, without another word, moved passed him and slipped into the house. So much for 'thank you for saving my kitchen'. 

"You don't get to wander off for an hour with a pretty young woman all by yourself whilst the rest of the men are here to clean up her mess." He began in a lecturing tone and a shake of his head, "You also don't get to decide we have to schlep all the way to Gods know where to get her dinner for her. If you want to impress her, keep us out of it next time." He rolled his eyes and then jerked his head for Lucius to follow him into the domus. "You get to tell the boys and our Centurion of our new task. Lucky you." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"You don't get to wander off for an hour with a pretty young woman all by yourself whilst the rest of the men are here to clean up her mess."

"She was a victim of the fire and she ran away in shock" Lucius noted, waving a hand in the general direction of the street "It's a madhouse out there. I was just doing my duty making sure she was safe."

And well kissed

"You also don't get to decide we have to schlep all the way to Gods know where to get her dinner for her. If you want to impress her, keep us out of it next time. You get to tell the boys and our Centurion of our new task. Lucky you." 

"Fine" Lucius sighed. Even this could not really mess up his current mood. "Food and drinks on me, obviously." He patted Titus on the shoulder. "Thank you for having my back. I'm an idiot. Io Saturnalia."