The Tempest

[Chevi]

"Since you were how old? You're not Greek." 

"No. But I grew up in Ostia." Lucius' family had traveled all over, from one port to another, but he'd spent a lot of his childhood in Ostia. Ships small and large continuously came and went there, from all parts of the empire. He'd probably lived a very different life than whatever Ovinia's fancy husband was doing.

"Yes. He's a Senator. An aedile, like a magistrate. He served in the legions as well, he was famed for it actually - all over. Britannia. He was a Tribune in Britannia. I doubt you'd have met him, but he'll reward you handsomely I'm sure when I'm returned. Love pays well." 

Love pays well. Lucius let out a little laugh at that; she probably did not intend that to sound the way it came out. "He must love you then." Or at least felt that his wife was important enough. "Do you have children?..." A thought occurred to him, and the blinked, slightly alarmed. "You're not pregnant by any chance, are you?"

@Sara

[Sara]

"He does." she gave him a deep, smug smile, "We're very much in love." She'd only read about what love felt like - she'd certainly never witnessed it, not between her parents nor her eldest brother and his wife. She tried to draw on what she'd read and gave him heart eyes; "It's indescribable, love. I'm sure you'll understand one day." No need to ham it up, Ovinia...She cleared her throat and glanced back down at her fig...just in time for him to ask his questions. She noted the panic in his voice with a laugh. 

"I don't have children we've not been married long and no-" she blinked. If she was newly married there was a chance she could be pregnant. Hypothetically. She moved a hand to her stomach. You're being ridiculous, you've never even bedded a man! a voice told her in her head, but then again she needed his support and his sympathy. Maybe pulling this thread would work. "No I don't think so but...but I suppose one can never be sure until you quicken." She gave a pretend gulp and her dark eyes flicked back up to his, "I suppose there might be two of us to care for." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"He does. We're very much in love. It's indescribable, love. I'm sure you'll understand one day." 

That... was off, somehow. After her previous comments about how men behaved, suddenly being in indescribable love with her husband... It was strange. Or maybe it was a patrician thing. Lucius was too poor to marry for rank, so he had been holding out for a woman he actually liked. Someone unlike Ovinia.

"I don't have children we've not been married long and no- No I don't think so but...but I suppose one can never be sure until you quicken. I suppose there might be two of us to care for." 

Lucius blinked, his eyes widening as he stared at her.

"Oh, no. That is so not fair." What the fuck was he supposed to do with a pregnant woman on the island?! "I know exactly zero things about childbirth. That... no. Just no."

[Sara]

She choked at his reaction, gripping her sides as a laugh escaped her lips before it increased to a howl of amusement at his face and his body language and the wide, dark eyes staring back at her in horror. 

"It's not as if you can stop it if I am!" She protested through peels of laughter, tears of amusement threatening to fall at the ridiculousness of the situation, "A-And we'll be rescued long before then if I am." She rolled her eyes at him as her laughter settled into chuckles. "Not scared of the sea but scared of a newborn? How very Roman of you, Lucius. I'll just have to be careful and you'll have to be easy on me, just in case I am. I can do the cooking and tidying of the camp." She nodded to herself, "You can get food and build the shelter." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"It's not as if you can stop it if I am! A-And we'll be rescued long before then if I am."

"I sure as hell hope so!" Lucius glared at her as she laughed at him, clearly amused by the whole situation. How was she not just as freaked out at the prospect of being pregnant on a deserted island, with no help? Or even giving birth?... Now he seriously hoped they would get rescued fast.

"Not scared of the sea but scared of a newborn? How very Roman of you, Lucius. I'll just have to be careful and you'll have to be easy on me, just in case I am. I can do the cooking and tidying of the camp. You can get food and build the shelter." 

Lucius did not really give a shit about going easy on a woman because of her social standing. But he was not enough of a monster to not try to be kinder to a pregnant woman. Or a potentially, maybe pregnant one... He sighed, rolling his eyes, and tossed the length of sail at her. "How long before you know for sure?... Also, have you ever cooked anything?"

@Sara

[Sara]

How long would it be before she knew. She had no idea. She'd been the youngest of her siblings and so had never watched her mother with child. Viria, her sister-in-law, likewise hadn't gone into great depth about her pregnancy with Ovinia's nephew. She shrugged, bluffing; "How would I know? I've never been pregnant before. I...suppose..." She tried to figure it out. Women always spoke about missed bleeds and quickening, and then a child would come some months later. Six or so months later, perhaps? "A month or two I imagine. To be certain." 

Her smugness turned to sheepishness relatively quickly though at his other question. "Well...no, not technically." She shifted awkwardly, "My mother always did the cooking at Saturnalia, but it can't be hard, can it? If the slaves do it?" She gave him a self-satisfied little smile, "But cooking requires something to cook. So you had better get fishing tomorrow." She placed a hand flat against her middle. "I may be eating for two." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"How would I know? I've never been pregnant before. I...suppose... A month or two I imagine. To be certain." 

Lucius swore and shook his head. If he was stuck here for more than a month with Ovinia, there were going to be many other problems as well. But the looming pregnancy? That was just a special type of hell. The gods were having a laugh somewhere.

"Well...no, not technically. My mother always did the cooking at Saturnalia, but it can't be hard, can it? If the slaves do it?" 

He stared at her, incredulously to see if she was joking. She wasn't. "I'm... not going to dignify that with an answer." Fucking. Patricians.

"But cooking requires something to cook. So you had better get fishing tomorrow. I may be eating for two."

"Fine, I will teach you to cook. And let's hope we can find some clams that are edible. Those are easy to pick up, even a patrician can do it." Lucius sighed, lying down by the fire. For lack of a better option, he covered himself with the second tunica. Eating for two. Fuck.

@Sara 

 

[Sara]

She merely nodded and picked at her fig. She could tell from the way he led down, bundled up as he was in the tunica and sail that he was ready for sleep and so she made no further attempt at conversation. Instead she sat morosely staring into the flames before she, herself, fell into a fitful, freezing sleep. By the time she woke up, she was so cold she thought might actually be incased in a block of ice. 

She blinked open her eyes with a groan of dissatisfaction, for a moment forgetting where she was, and was about to call out for a slave to put more wood on the brazier. And then she saw the canopy of the trees above her, felt the wind whip at her skin and the ache all over her body. She choked. It had not been a dream, she was here, and she stuck. She cast a glance left to her company but all she saw was empty space. She blinked. The fire was still burning and she hadn't stoked it which suggested somebody had. She scrambled up, moaning in pain as she moved her shoulder and cast a panicked look around. She didn't know what else to do, she felt anxiety well up in her chest and it bubbled forth in a scream from the top of her lungs. "LUCIUS!" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius did not sleep much. For one, he was damn cold, and also he periodically woke up to stoke the fire, because he could not trust Ovinia (bundled up in the sail) to do it, let alone do it properly. After a while he gave up trying, and sat, watching the sun come up, wondering if anyone was looking for them, or if anyone was going to find them at all.

Finally, when there was enough light, he walked down to the water again. Food was not going to be an issue. There were fish, crabs, clams, all kinds of food in the sea; it would take some work to catch them, but at least they were not likely to starve. Lucius, like all sailors, knew enough about sea life to know which ones were edible. As the tide retreated, he waded in the shallow pools, and managed to catch a few smaller fish for breakfast. Stringing seaweed trough their gills he was about to head back when he heard Ovinia screaming his name.

He made the rest of the trip at a run, panting by the time he reached the camp. What on earth was her problem? He glanced around. He fire was lit, nothing seemed out of order... it was just Ovinia who looked freaked out. "What happened?!"

@Sara

[Sara]

She heard footsteps on the sand and whipped her head around, panic wide and open on her young face. She was as breathless as him, although she'd hadn't been running. She wrapped the sail tighter around herself, burying her face in her knees. "I thought you left." she choked. She knew she wouldn't survive the day here without him. She needed him. She hated him and she needed him. Damn all the Gods.

Sniffing, she pulled her face back from her knees to look up at him sheepishly. "Where did you go? You should have woken me! I thought for all I knew you'd crafted a raft and pushed off to sea and stranded me here!" She had no reason to be angry, but was nonetheless. It was her fear, making her so. "Do not do that again." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"I thought you left." 

Lucius stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Left where?"

The entire island was small enough that he could have probably heard her scream from the other side.

"Where did you go? You should have woken me! I thought for all I knew you'd crafted a raft and pushed off to sea and stranded me here! Do not do that again." 

Lucius groaned, setting the fish down on a rock and sitting down next to her.

"First off, making a raft would take a lot more time than a few hours. Second, making a raft is the worst thing one can do if stranded. They can't be steered and they tend to fall apart. Third, I don't know what made you think the plebes are monsters, but I wouldn't just leave someone else stranded. Even if they are as annoying as you."

@Sara

[Sara]

"I panicked." She said quietly. Ovinia curled her toes into the sand, staring petulantly down at them. She listened to him talk and mentally struck 'ask Lucius about whether they can raft their way to safety' off her list of things to do today. 

"I'll ask you if you still believe that in a couple of weeks." She muttered and stabbed the sand underneath the grass with her fingers, muttering. "I am going to bathe - there's a larger spring on the other side of the trees. And then I thought I might explore the other side of the island." She arched a brow at him. "If you teach me to cook those fish first." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"I panicked." 

"I know." She would again, occasionally. Their first night on the island was only the beginning.

"I'll ask you if you still believe that in a couple of weeks. I am going to bathe - there's a larger spring on the other side of the trees. And then I thought I might explore the other side of the island. If you teach me to cook those fish first." 

"No. I'll teach you how to clean the fish first." he grinned. He opened the satchel he had scavenged the day before; next to flint and steel, it did hold a small knife. Lucius made a mental note to try and find some sharp rocks later; one knife was not going to hold out long. He handed her the knife and one of the fish. "First, you have to gut it."

@Sara

 

[Sara]

Ovinia rolled her eyes. Petulant man. She held her hand for the knife, the thought 'how hard can it be?' ringing loud and clear across her mind. And then he said something about gutting it. She threw the knife back at him. Followed by the fish. "No thank you." She wrinkled her nose. "Can't you just...cook it all in one?" 

Gods above she sounded pathetic - utterly, utterly out of touch with the world. Which she was - and that would have been fine had she been in her beautiful, grand domus in Rome with slaves to do her bidding but she wasn't, she was on an island in the middle of the sea being more hindrance than help. She nibbled at her lip awkwardly. "You...you can do it this time. I'll watch." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

 

[Chevi]

"No thank you. Can't you just...cook it all in one?" 

"Hey! Don't goddamn throw the knife!" Lucius protested as knife and fish both flew back in his direction. Damn woman, if she managed to stab him, she really would be alone. "And no you can't just cook it as it is! Gods above..."

"You...you can do it this time. I'll watch." 

"Thanks, that' generous of you." Lucius muttered, rolling his eyes. But because he was hungry, he did. He gutted and cleaned the fish and put them on spits over the fire. They made decent food, although they had a lot of small bones. He hoped Ovinia was paying attention. He was not going to do all the cooking for weeks.

@Sara

[Sara]

She did watch, and was a diligent, attentive student, eyes narrowing almost comically to see what he did. She managed to pass the lesson with only one gag and wrinkling of her nose. By the time the fish was roasted on the spit she had precisely zero appetite, but nibbled at it out of politeness. Food really was better when one didn't know how it was made. 

When they were done, she bit at her lip and eyed him. "I'm going to go to the spring on the other side," She indicated through the trees, "To bathe. I expect you not to follow me under any circumstances. Do you understand?" Her voice might have been imperious and arrogant but her eyes were genuinely anxious. "And then I'll loop around the East side of the island, and when I'm back I..." She cleared her throat, "I'd be grateful if you could look at my wound." She was so used to having help just given to her, that asking for it now felt odd. Her expression softened though as she looked at him, "You should sleep. I know you were awake all night." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"I'm going to go to the spring on the other side. To bathe. I expect you not to follow me under any circumstances. Do you understand?" 

Lucius nodded. He knew she was still anxious that he would give into his baser instincts. Even though she was literally the last woman on the island and all she did was annoy the hell out of him. "What if pirates come?" he asked with a grin, but it was clear he was joking. "Sure, sure. Take your time, domina."

"And then I'll loop around the East side of the island, and when I'm back I... I'd be grateful if you could look at my wound. You should sleep. I know you were awake all night." 

"Fine." Lucius lay down, tossing some twigs onto the fire, and folding his arms behind his head. "Try not to get lost. And bring some moss for your wound."

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia fought the urge to kick him at his joke about pirates and won...just about. Instead she pushed herself up on wobbly legs and made her way towards the trees, stopping to bend down and pick up the tunica he had used as a blanket. She cast a look at the discarded sail mournfully. "You won't let me make a dress out of that, will you?" No, because they needed it for warmth. Instead she'd have to suffer the indignity of wearing a paunchy man's third-best tunic whilst she properly washed her chiton and attempted to mend it. 

She wound her way through the forested part, careful of where she stepped with her bare feet until she came to the larger spring. Set next to it was a rock pool, deep enough that she'd be submerged up to her chest if she stood, and her head if she sat. It was clean water though and after a hurried glance over her shoulder, she disrobed entirely and slipped into it. It stung against the only slightly healed wound on her shoulder but felt like heaven all the same. She moaned in pleasure. The water was warm, somehow, probably from the sunlight filtering through the trees and in a hurried motion she dunked her head underneath, gasping as she came up. 

She stayed languorously in the pool until her skin was pruning and a chill was setting in. She got out with great, great effort and sat on the bank, drying off - not without several hurried glances around to make sure her only company wasn't spying on her. As she sat there, she plunged her chiton into the flowing water, scrubbing out the blood and sand as best she could. She  then took up a twig from the ground and tried her best to work it through the knots of her waist length hair, working methodically but longing for a comb. She didn't braid it, but left it in waves down her back as she redressed into the clean but oversized, short man's tunica and set off for the unexplored part of the island. 

It was only after twenty minutes of walking (and hunting for moss that she spotted it). She thought she was imagining things at first - on the edge of the tree line, a shack. She blinked and took a few tentative steps closer. She couldn't believe it and a grin lit up her face. From her vantage point she could see it was in an awful state of disrepair - roof half caved in, door off its hinges, wood worn smooth from sand and wind but it was a building and it was still standing. But no sooner did she smile than a fear gripped her insides. If there was a shack then there might be somebody in it. And she was alone. 

She backed herself, silently, back into the woods, breathing harder than she ever had before and when the shack was out of sight she bolted. Every step with her wounds, with her aches, was agony but she ran faster than she ever had before right up to Lucius. She was winded, breathless and flushed by the time she made it back. "S-S..." she couldn't get her words out, couldn't catch her breath, and she gulped in more air, "Shack!" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Ovinia just had to make a dramatic entrance every time. Lucius could hear her running and panting before she burst out of the grove, and he sat up, still half asleep. Gods, what was it this time?

"Shack!"

Lucius blinked, rubbing his eyes. How long had he been asleep? It felt like a short time.

"Wh... what?"

@Sara

[Sara]

"Sh-shack!" She gulped in more air and gestured wildly to the direction she had come from, trying desperately to catch her breath and explain herself. It took a few more agonising moments as he sat up, confused. 

"T-there's a shack. A b-building," She panted, "On the other side of the island, I-I didn't go in, I-I didn't know if anybody was in there but it's there." She swallowed and placed her hands on her thighs, head down and hair falling beyond it as she tried to breathe as deeply as she could. How on earth did soldiers and athletes do this?! "It's not big," She gulped, "And looks ancient but its there." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Ovinia was flushed and panting, no doubt from running. She looked like a nymph, coming out of the woods, hair flowing and tunica coming to just below her knees. For a moment, Lucius was distracted.

"T-there's a shack. A b-building.On the other side of the island, I-I didn't go in, I-I didn't know if anybody was in there but it's there. It's not big. And looks ancient but its there." 

Now Lucius was wide awake. He doubted anyone would be there - they would have seen the smoke and come earlier - but a potential shelter was worth a look. He stood, picking up the knife. "Show me."

@Sara

[Sara]

She nodded and set off at once, still holding the bunched up, ruined chiton and the clumps of moss in her hand as she led him through the path she'd run through the woods. It was only fifteen or so minutes of walking, but she stayed silent the entire time, eyes alert, skin pricked, trying to remain as silent as she could until she came to the edge of the treeline, a few hundred yards away from the shack.

She bit her lip and looked up at him with wide, dark eyes. "Do you see it?" It was hard to miss - decrepit though it might be, it was solid - made of planks rather than branches and twigs. Potentially planks scavenged from wrecks of the past. "Do you think somebody could be in there?" Her gaze grew more anxious and she instinctively reached out a hand for his forearm, as she would do before her brothers went off to the legions. "We have to be cautious." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

And there it was. Lucius had half expected that she had made it up, but there it was. A shack, made of crude pieces of wood, no doubt pulled from the sea after shipwrecks. It looked old, with sand piling at the door. It sat among the trees at the edge of a grove, with a view at the sea, but sheltered from the winds on the beach.

"Do you see it?"

"Yes."

"Do you think somebody could be in there?... We have to be cautious." 

He glanced down at her hand on his arm, and nodded. A shack here meant that someone knew about the island. That someone had been to the island long enough to build shelter. Another survivor from a long time ago? Or temporary shelter for sailors?...

"Stay here."

It was clear as he got near that there was not going to be anyone inside. There were no footprints leading in and out. Half the roof was missing, and creepers covered the walls at the back. Te shack had no window, but plenty of light got in through the cracks. 

"No one here." he called back to her, after poking his head inside. "Not for a long time, it seems. But hey! Looks like they left some stuff." A few grey pots, some fishing hooks, the head of a fishing spear. The lines were long gone, though. "We could repair this place." Lucius noted with a grin. "Nice find."

@Sara

[Sara]

She did as he bid and stayed well back as he went to inspect the place, but she couldn't stop the thrumming from her heart as he did so. If she lost him - infuriating, anxiety-inducing as he was - she'd be dead. They both knew that. She felt her heart leap through her mouth as he called back to her and she hurried to join him, as fast as her aching legs would allow. She drew to his shoulder as he poked his head inside and she did likewise. There was no furniture in the place beyond what looked like the remnants of a bed, collapsed in a pile of planks, and the pots and fishing gear. 

She grinned up at him, triumphant and beaming. "You see? I'm not so useless." She, with effort, pushed open the door a little more into a cloud of dust and sand and walked into the room. It was small - she supposed if she stood in the centre she might be able to reach out and touch each wall, but it had walls. Privacy. Tears threatened to spill in relief. "How do I help fix it?" She glanced up at the broken in roof and the detritus strewn everywhere. Normally, she would not countenance being so helpful but she knew his good mood wasn't likely  to last long. It never seemed too.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius was happy about finding the place,but Ovinia... Ovinia seemed touched. Was she... tearing up? The shack was barely more than a few planks, but it was shelter... it was a ray of hope. Lucius smiled at her in the spotted light filtering through the broken roof.

"You see? I'm not so useless. How do I help fix it?" 

"We'll be alright in here." he said, reaching up to run his thumb over her cheek where a tear found its way. Lucius cleared hos throat and stepped back. "Well, um... Maybe, help take all this stuff outside, clean the floor... I'll get started on the roof." he looked out the door at the waves rolling on the sea. "It seems like the wind usually blows from the other side of the island... that's what washed us ashore. This side should be more sheltered. Whoever built this knew what they were doing."

@Sara