All's fair in love and war [M]

[Chevi]

Ovinia refilled the cup, and refrained from breaking the pitcher over the girl's head. Small victories. Lucius, on the other hand, was headed fast in a direction he really had no interest in going.

"She is... lovely" Auria, as much as she was unwanted in this situation, did not deserve to have her feelings hurt. "Please, Auria, tell me more about yourself."

Maybe if she talked more, her father would shut up a little.

@Sara

[Sara]

Is she lovely? Really? Ovinia felt herself stiffen again and grow more agitated. She knew he lied often when in company to protect her, but he had no reason to lie now. She was pretty - if one liked the blonde, bubbly type. She glanced down at herself in her ugly, itchy plain tunica and her fingers self-consciously went to her hair - combed but undone. Why did she care? 

Ovinia couldn't stomach the list that Auria started to prattle off; "W-well, I like to visit the gardens and see my friends, and festivals and things of that sort really. And weaving, I'm really quite excellent at it, I find it so soothing!" 

She cleared her throat and took a few paces forward to bend down close to Lucius' ear but speaking loud enough for the others to hear; "This pitcher is almost empty domine, I should go and decant another amphora." 

She'd interrupted Auria's flow and the girl blinked at her, confused. Quintus, likewise didn't look impressed but she was allowed to leave and so off she strode, with absolutely no intention of fetching more wine, but a great deal of intention to talk shit about Auria Nenia with the kitchen girl.

 

TAG; @Chevi

[Chevi]

Ovinia eventually found a way to excuse herself, even though it was not exactly graceful, since she had spoken out of turn. But at least she was out of the room now, and no one complained that she did not come back. After a while, Lucius wished he could slip out too. The girl was nice and naive and a bit star-struck, but her father was more direct and persistent. He wanted this to be a match for marriage. Lucius tactfully avoided making any commitments, but he did not get much of a wiggle room. In the end, Quintus and his daughter left with no promises, many polite excuses, and probably a sour taste in their mouth.

Ovinia was absent for the rest of the day. Probably sulking somewhere. She was always in a foul mood after visits like this. Lucius left her to cool off, and instead decided to go to bed early. The day had been trying enough.

He was already getting ready to put the lamp out when she finally appeared in the doorway of his room. Lucius moved over instinctively, making a space for her in the bed as he usually did, without mentioning it at all.

"I feel like I spent the whole day stacking rocks." he sighed with a roll of his eyes. Having guests was a pain in the ass. "How do patricians do this all the time?..."

[Sara]

"They get their women to do the polite conversation, so the men don't have to." She said with a snap in her voice as she crossed the threshold into the shared space and moved over to her own curtain, yanking it open to rifle through the boxes, looking for the tunica she usually wore at night. 

She kept her back to him, silent, as she searched - seething. Usually his tactic of letting her cool off worked and she usually spent time in a store room or two, writing curse tablets or glaring at the walls. Today though, instead of calming down she felt herself grow more irate. She didn't know why it bothered her that he didn't tell her he was seeking a wife, but it did. Perhaps because of the enormous impact it would have on her life, if there was a woman in this house. That's what she told herself. The way Auria was mooning over him didn't help. 

She found the tunica and stepped into her tiny little room, yanking the curtain closed to get changed. Unlike usual, however, she didn't re-enter his room and instead slumped down onto her bed - the wood creaking at the slightest of movements. "Good night." She called into his room.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Ovinia was still upset. He could tell. She tended to move around like she wanted to break something, every time they had guests over and Lucius had to say something hurtful about her. Partly it was her own fault for showing up at all... But he still felt really bad about it.

He could hear her flopping into bed. That surprised him. They had gotten so used to their routine over the past month... he suddenly realized he missed it. He sat in the bed, feeling dumb.

"Ovinia...?" he ventured. "You... know I didn't mean those things, about you, right?"

@Sara

[Sara]

"I know." She snapped. "Go to sleep." She commanded and led on her own bed, folding her arms across her chest and glaring absolute daggers at the wooden beams above her head. Not even the sheets and the cushions and the pillows and the new incense stick she had found and pilfered for her own space made her feel any better. 

But Ovinia was Ovinia and she just couldn't help herself. Or be quiet when she should have been. 

"You need your beauty sleep. A groom can't look haggard on his wedding day. Did you set a date?" She raised her forearm to her mouth and bit it, hard, out of frustration at herself. Shut it, you idiot. She couldn't help but be petty - it was an ugly facet of her personality but one that was deeply entrenched. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"I know. Go to sleep." 

Oh, she was angry. And it suddenly dawned on Lucius that she might be angry at him. The bossing him around, that was normal, but the tone wasn't.

"You need your beauty sleep. A groom can't look haggard on his wedding day. Did you set a date?"

Oh. Right.

"We didn't. I'm not even sure I'm gonna marry her. I didn't make any promises." he sighed. It took every ounce of tact to avoid it. "But even if I do get married, I'm not sending you away. You know that too."

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia scoffed through the curtain at his protestation. It didn't sound like a very firm rejection, which was only confirmed at his statement. 

"Lucky me." She snapped, still glaring daggers at the ceiling but she'd dropped her arm back down over her waist, fingers pinching into her sides. "I'll get a nice new domina. I know half the equite girls in the city. Can't wait for one of them to own me." She wanted to pace and wanted to throw things but her room was far too small for both of those things - it was barely big enough for her to stand up and spin her arms around, so she just lay there, stewing. 

"Was Auria not your type? I didn't even know you were looking. Give me your type and I'll tell you which of the girls I used to dinner with would work." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Lucky me. I'll get a nice new domina. I know half the equite girls in the city. Can't wait for one of them to own me."

 Lucius winced. She was not wrong. Chances were, if he did get a wife, she would know, or know of, Ovinia, and unless she was an exceptionally kind woman, she would make Ovinia's life a living hell. He had just seen a taste of that.

"Was Auria not your type? I didn't even know you were looking. Give me your type and I'll tell you which of the girls I used to dinner with would work." 

"I am not looking. This is just one of those things that happen when you rise through the ranks, apparently." he winced again. Like Ovinia, being gifted to him. He got out of bed, because talking through the curtain got annyoing. He walked over, pulling it aside. "What am I supposed to do here exactly? Just... never get a wife, and let you run the household?"

[Sara]

"The curtain is there for privacy." she said through gritted teeth, trying to yank it back because she knew she would lose this argument because, yes, her demands were utterly unreasonable. Yes she wanted him to never marry. Yes she wanted to run the household. 

She peered up at him, glare on her face, anger bubbling in her eyes. "Why don't you choose Auria then? She has what? Three brothers? Good odds for you getting a son off of her. Might as well get it over with." She made to yank the curtain closed again. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius was used to Ovinia's moods, but sometimes, when he was also tired, she did manage to get a rise out of him. This was one of those times. He held the curtain open as she went off about Auria's fertility.

"Why do you even care?" he glared at her in the half-darkness of the lantern. "I am doing all I can to keep you safe, and comfortable. I don't know how else to let you know you can trust me. You sleep in my goddamn bed and I've never touched you." he took a deep breath, at a loss. "Why do you care about what woman I like?"

[Sara]

"I don't know!" She yelled back - and actually yelled. She wouldn't be surprised if one of the servants heard. She did know. She knew deep down, she just didn't want to admit it. She pushed herself up to sit on her bed. Lying down wasn't conducive to arguing. 

"I do know," She corrected herself after a minute, shaking her head, "Because it's my life too - this woman - whomever she is will own me!" She moved to shove him but stopped herself, remembering his arm and instead held her fingers out, flexed, groaning in irritation, "And I'm sorry I'm such a burden for that, but don't worry - " She tried to yank the curtain again, "I'll sleep in here from now on and you can marry whatever rich stuck up tacky bitch that you like!" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Now she was yelling. Not unheard of, but she rarely did nowadays, since the attack. Lucius winced. She got up, looking like she was ready to also slap him.

"I don't know!... I do know. Because it's my life too - this woman - whomever she is will own me!"

Lucius groaned. She was not wrong, but... it felt like there was something fueling her anger that was not quite that simple. He still held the curtain open. He was never going to go to sleep like this.

"And I'm sorry I'm such a burden for that, but don't worry -I'll sleep in here from now on and you can marry whatever rich stuck up tacky bitch that you like!" 

"I don't want to marry any of them, Ovinia, but then again I can't have you can I?!"

Too. Far.

[Sara]

She choked, the must unflattering frown falling on her face and she stared at him, silent. Her breath was still ragged from the yelling which must have woken up half the house. Wait, what?

She continued to stare at him, silently, utterly, utterly baffled for a moment. Did...did he just imply she was like them? That she was a stuck up tacky bitch? She choked; "I'm a slave! I'm not..." she protested but it drifted off, still staring at him, watching his face...that was not what he meant, was it? It didn't look like it, from the look he was giving her. He wanted her? She took an involuntary step back and bumped her calves against the frame of her bed. 

"You want...you want me?!" she choked, so confused it was almost laughable. She'd slept in his bed for a month and he hadn't ever tried anything. She'd been in his house for five or six and there was not even a hint of anything - he'd gone out of his way to convince her of the opposite, in fact. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

She stared at him in utter shock after his words, and the realized with a sinking feeling that he had done something truly irreparable this time. He had just ruined whatever trust she had in him, for good. It wasn't lost on him that she took a step back, either.

"You want...you want me?!" 

He looked at her, grasping for something to say. He wasn't even sure where the words came from. But they were true.

"I..." Was she scared of him?... Would she ever not be? "Gods, Ovinia, I care for you, you have to know that..." He ran a had through his hair in frustration. "I mean, you drive me up the walls on a good day, but when they attacked you, I almost went out of my mind, and having you near, since the accident, it's the best..." Gods above and below, he was rambling like an idiot. He sighed, defeated. "I made a promise to you, don't worry. You can sleep wherever you like." He let go of the curtain.

@Sara

[Sara]

She listened, but it didn't help. She did trust him. She trusted him with her life, and he'd proven time and time again that it had  been deserved. But this was different and as he let go of the curtain she choked. She did shove him this time, with two flat palms to his chest. She was still careful to avoid the damaged shoulder. 

"So all that's stopping you from bedding me is the promise? That's it?" She moved to shove him again, "You care for me?" She demanded, utterly confused and felt her anger dissipate to something else - something more raw, as if she'd just been shown how her story ended and she had to decide whether it was good or bad. "I'm...I'm not going to be one of those stupid slave girls that's only good for...for that!" She was protesting because she wanted him too. She did. She cared for him and wanted him and it was all so dark and confusing and ugly that she'd pushed it way, way, way down to the pit of her stomach. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

She shoved him, and he stumbled backwards, stepping out of her tiny room. He'd expected her to close the curtain and shut him out, but instead she followed, shoving him further.

"So all that's stopping you from bedding me is the promise? That's it? You care for me?"

He opened his mouth, but once again, she was carried away by her own momentum. He didn't put up a fight.

"I'm...I'm not going to be one of those stupid slave girls that's only good for...for that!" 

"It's not the promise!" he cut in, frustrated. How to put this entire mess into words?... "It's you! It's your choice. It always has been. I told you, I don't bed people unless they want me to. Gods, Ovinia, I am not trying to take advantage of you!"

[Sara]

"I know." She choked. It would be simpler if he did. Then it wasn't her decision to make - it wasn't her falling so far from grace that she was considering kissing or more with a man that owned her. She had been a sensible girl that had followed every rule ever given to her in her life but she still had ended up here. With him. With her choice in her hands and no idea which way to turn. 

But what else did she have to lose? If he lost interest in her then...she shook her head visibly, as if trying to take out the thought, to extract it before it had time to fester and she would talk herself out of something that she did want. She did want it. She'd wanted it for a while, simmering just below the surface and she got such precious little of what she wanted anymore. 

She choked again but then was on her toes, arm around his neck, pulling him down and into a kiss. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

All of this mess, all of this yelling and shoving, somehow... ended in a kiss. Ovinia leaned into him, and they were kissing, with all the frustration of the fight, and damn it felt good. Lucius delved into the kiss, one hand holding her hip and the other sneaking around her back, pulling her flush against him. It was like falling, losing grip on how they got here, and if it had not been clear before that he did want her, it was clear now. It took superhuman effort to break the kiss, and he gasped for air, opening his eyes too look at her, lips still a breath away. "Are you sure? You... want me?"

[Sara]

"Yes." She choked against his lips. The kiss had felt like...ectstacy, like music she couldn't put into words and her blood was thrumming in her veins, heating her from within. 

But Ovinia's definition of want was undoubtedly different from his definition of want. "But," She swallowed and leaned up to rest her forehead against his. "Slowly." She didn't look at him, embarrassed. She was - or had been - a good Senatorial girl from a good Senatorial family. A chaste couple of kisses in a corridor was the extent of her experience. She needed time. And patience. And she trusted him to give that to her. "This is enough for me, for now." She smiled against his lips and resumed the kiss, falling into him, her legs going weak. It was such a cliche but it was true. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Yes. Yes, she wanted him. Lucius smiled, feeling like a weight had been lifted; he would have lifted her too, swept her off her feet, but he did not trust his right arm yet.

"But... Slowly. This is enough for me, for now."

"Very well." It was not what she meant, he knew it, but he took pleasure in kissing her slowly, humming at how she reacted to his touch. It was dawning on him how many times he had wanted to do this before. Have this frustrating, fiery, incredible woman in his arms and kiss her without holding back. It took a long time before they came up for air again. "Can we... still sleep in the same bed?" he ventured, pressing a kiss to the corner of her lips. "I don't want you to get cold..."

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia had never, ever been kissed like this before and she couldn’t stand how it felt. To be desired. To be wanted. She arched into his touch, holding her arms around his neck, pulling him into her, fingers desperate for him. She did want him. And she did want more. But she didn’t want to rush this, she wanted to be sure…and the perverse part of her wanted it to be worth the wait.

She was panting as he released her lips and grinned against him, blushing, embarassed at her own desire. “Mhmm.” She grinned and left her own kiss against his jaw, testing the waters. She might have initiated this but it was all new to her. It was worth it. “As long as you don’t get any ideas. I’m a proper, good Roman maiden after all.” There was a twinkle in her eye though and she grinned as she pulled away, hand gripping his as she led him to the bed.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

She looked... happy. Flushed, well kissed, dark eyed, and happy. He felt the same. Lucius smiled at her as she gave him her own playful kiss. He wanted to kiss her everywhere.

“As long as you don’t get any ideas. I’m a proper, good Roman maiden after all.” 

"Oh, I am having all the ideas" he chuckled as she led him to his own bed. Like she owned the place. As usual. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, this time, and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "But I can wait."

It was going to be one hell of a long night, though.

[Sara]

Ovinia had slept in Lucius' bed for a month but usually it was a case of creeping in after he was already asleep and curling into the space he habitually left empty on his left side, before leaving in the morning before he woke. Last night had been different and she woke up exhausted because of it. He'd kept his word - all they'd done was kiss and grin and drift to sleep to wake up in one anothers arms. She had never felt safety like it before and so exhausted she might be, but also content. 

She woke up first, as was usual and peered up at him, softly breathing next to her. She smiled to herself and pressed a soft kiss to his jaw. It still felt forbidden; like it was wrong but she pushed that thought deep, deep down somewhere that it would only bother her later and tried to enjoy the sensation of being held in his arms.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

It had taken a while for Lucius to fall asleep; holding Ovinia was too real, something he had been wishing for for a long time. He held her and lay quietly, listening to her breathing. She was peaceful. She felt safe. When he did drift off to sleep, he slept a heavy, peaceful sleep too.

He was awakened the next morning with a kiss. He smiled before he opened his eyes, feeling Ovinia warm and snug in his arms. He shifted, burying his face in the crook of her neck. So, it was still real. Not a dream at all. "Mmning." 

@Sara