Where to Begin?

[Sara]

April, 77AD

Hilda stood in the Forum, trying desperately not to look as gormless and impressed as her man Gerfrid did as the pair of them took in their surroundings. Weeks on the road had brought them to this place and yet she was...underwhelmed. The weather was already too warm and it was only early Spring, the crowds were vile, the people rude and in her estimation the only thing Rome really had going for it was its size and the buildings. She'd never seen anything quite like it before, even on the Limes when her husbands people used to trade with the forts that dotted the area. This was something else entirely. 

"Where should we start?" Gerfrid asked uneasily, eyeing Hilda. He had been a family friend for years, a cousin of some description, but the weeks on the road and dominance of the city had made the usually proud, powerful man a little...nervous, it seemed. It had no such effect on Hilda who glared around the bustling square. "Mother said his name was Varus, the man Wulfric was to meet." She replied in their language, ignoring the curious looks the pair of them were receiving. She placed both hands on her hips, hiking the bag she wore further up her shoulder as she did. "So we find Varus first, and then we find Wulfric. Go and ask around." She gestured with her head to a group of important-enough looking men congregating at one end of the Forum. "I'll start there." She didn't leave room for negotiation as she made a beeline for one of the illicit market stalls set up around the periphery which seemed to sell some sort of pastry. Who knew, maybe they traded in information as well as delicious looking food?

 

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[Atrice]

While the slaves were watching the thermopolia together with her father, who had been doing alright this morning, Melissa had taken a bit of time off to go to the Forum. She needed a new belt, so needed to buy some leather to make it. The old belt was just holding it together right now, but she feared it might break any day now. Carefully she adjusted her palla and the bag she carried over her shoulder. She did not dare to hang her purse in the belt, since it was so worn. The bag seemed the better choice. It wasn't that hard to find the stalls with leather strips and she purchased a few and moved on. Maybe a bit to eat before she went home... she glanced in the direction she needed to go in, to get back to her home, feeling a little worried. Maybe she should go home. No, she deserved a moment on her own! 

And so she determinedly made her way towards a stall selling sweet and flaky cakes. There stood a strange looking woman in front her in the line, her hair was definitely not made up in a Roman fashion and nor were her clothes, actually. Not that Melissa had not seen such people before, all kinds came to Rome and to her place too, but she got curious. The woman reminded her a bit of that infamous gladiatrix, who now served the Imperials... maybe this was a relation or something? 

Finally the line moved forwards and the woman in front of her could pick a cake. Melissa looked at them too, while looking for an excuse to speak to the stranger. Maybe she could persuade her to a proper meal at her own thermopolia? If she was hungry anyway... she looked up, seeing the stallholder being busy with something in the back, having his back turned towards them.

"They all look so good..." Melissa said, pretending she was talking to herself, but then she looked at the other woman, "What's your preferred type?" 

@Sara

[Sara]

The queue was long but Hilda was famished. She had some coin, traded and bartered for with the belongings they brought with them and the small stash of Roman currency she had procured during her years living at the border, but the cost of things still confused and surprised her. It was why she and her companion had camped along the way rather than seeking shelter in any number of the inns and hospitia that lined the road to Rome. 

She was trying to peer over the shoulder of a tall, gangly man to get a better look at the food when a voice caught her attention. She pivoted round to see a young woman and quirked a brow. The first person in Rome to actually try and talk to her...if you discounted the jibes and heckles and propositions she'd received. Curious. "I don't know." She shrugged and huffed as the slow, tall man deliberated over what he wanted. "I've never seen these before. What are they?" They smelled delicious but knowing Romans they were probably laced with something peculiar and vile.

 

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[Atrice]

The strange looking woman seemed surprised that Melissa spoke to her, but then she seemed to accept it and replied. Her Latin was good, perfect even. But of course she had an accent you could not ignore. Melissa saw all kinds of people at her working place and home. This one sounded like she was from the North. Not Briton. It was more rough, her accent. Maybe German? She enjoyed playing these little games with herself, trying to guess things and find out afterwards if she guessed it right. 

She smiled at the stranger, "They're cakes, most of them. And sweet buns." Maybe the woman was new in Rome, since she didn't know what cakes were? Well Melissa was happy to lend a hand in figuring things out. "They make them with honey, almost, dried fruit, dates... sometimes fresh cheese and fat too." She said and inhaled the scent, "I think it'll be honey for me. Once he's done." She added with a cheerful grin, nodding at the slow man in front of them and luckily he was so busy trying to pick what he wanted, that he didn't hear her. Else she could be in trouble.

@Sara

Edited May 14, 2022 by Atrice

[Sara]

She arched a brow as the woman explained and glanced back at the stall. Such variety. It was novel, and made her stomach rumble. Weeks on the road eating preserved meats and tubers and whatever they could hunt or forage had made her leaner than she liked to be, and now she was here she was determined to take advantage of, perhaps, the one positive here in Rome. The food. 

"If you recommend it, I'll have it." She said decisively and turned her attention back to the front. The man was taking an age and Hilda was growing impatient, she called out, unfiltered, "I'm going to waste away. Can you hurry up?" And he turned round to glare, deciding to stall for time a little more instead. She glared daggers at the back of his head and then glanced to the woman next to her once more. "I am not just buying cakes. I'm looking for somebody. Do you know Varus?" Better start somewhere and as always, Hilda was straight to business.

 

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[Atrice]

The stranger listened while Melissa told about all the sorts of cakes there were, although she did not see all of them in this particular stall. But she knew where to find them. The woman then said she'd have a cake if Melissa would recommend it. She chuckled, "I definitely recommend it, just be careful you don't get addicted." She said, the woman was young - maybe around her age - and very slim and nice looking. It would be a pity if she ended up looking like a Nubian queen or something, she'd heard they ate a lot to grow to enormous sizes because apparently that was beautiful there. And the more fat you were, the more wealth you had. But that was not a standard in Rome, at least not as far as she knew. 

The other woman then began talking to the man in front of them, complaining about how slow he was and the man glared at her. Melissa wasn't sure if she was very brave or very stupid, the strange looking woman. Maybe it was not smart to speak to her after all. But it was too late and the other said she was not just buying cakes, but also looking for someone called Varus.

"I know of a Varus. More than one actually, I think." She said, tapping her chin, "Why are you looking? If you don't mind telling me." She asked then, looking the woman over. Why would a foreign woman like her be looking for someone with such a name? Varus. It was famous, of course, and for more than one reason too. Not just historically. She'd read his name on a wall more than once. And didn't they say a Varus had moved in in an insula not far from the thermopolia? Maybe he'd even visited without her knowledge, since she just handed out food, didn't ask for names. Sometimes it was handy though, working in such a place where people talked. Melissa was a good listener.

@Sara

[Sara]

If Melissa was surprised or annoyed by Hilda's proclamation to the man in front of her, the Germanian woman was utterly unaware. People were far less forthright here, that was something she'd established fairly quickly. At home if you had a problem you would lay it out, plainly and deal with it. So far here all she'd discovered was people talked in riddles and grumbled under their breath when they were irritated. It was odd and jarring to a woman like her.

But her attention snapped back to the other woman as she said she knew of a Varus and a feline smirk spread across her lips. Gerfrid would undoubtedly be furious that she'd already uncovered something whilst he likely would come back empty handed. The male ego was a fragile thing. "He knows my brother." She stated with a shrug as she glared at the man, still deciding what he wanted in front of the two women. "I need Tertius of the Varii." She added to clarify, "Who do you know?" She demanded although her tone wasn't unfriendly, just very direct and to the point as Hilda often was.

 

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[Atrice]

Melissa could be forthright sometimes, but that was mostly at home. She knew she had to keep up with her own reputation and that of the thermoplia, so she would act politely and stay out of trouble. That was always for the best. And then there was less of a chance to find out that she had been up to things she shouldn't be up to. Like sleeping around with Alexius when they weren't both occupied. Mostly him though. Gods knew he was often occupied - but no matter, she had to be careful there. So she didn't want to cause trouble and was surprised by the other woman and the way she spoke to the man in front of them. Soon after though, the other began stated her other purpose and asked about the name Varus.

The other smirked and said that a Varus knew her brother. And then she stated it was a Tertius. Oh she'd heard that name in the gossip, hadn't she? The one who was very... productive, wasn't that it? Just not with a wife. And this man knew this woman's brother?

"I don't know any of them personally... but there's gossip." She said with a smile, "I'm pretty sure most of them, or maybe all of them, live in my area of Rome. The Esquiline." Melissa explained and then had a clever idea, "You know, my family runs a thermopolia there... if you're hungry for real food instead of cake, I can show you the way and at the same time, serve you a meal?" She suggested, "I'm Melissa, by the way. Melissa Alethia." There, wasn't that friendly and good service to a stranger in Rome? And to her family at the same time? Melissa strived to be a good daughter to her family.

@Sara

[Sara]

"Gossip?" One of her brows quirked up in amusement. That...did not bode well, but she was prepared to hear the woman out despite her usual nature demanding specifics and information quickly without any preamble. "Es...Esquiline." She repeated as well with a nod, saving that nugget of knowledge for later. If this woman wasn't good for anything else, at least she had a new lead. 

But perhaps she was good for something else. A feline smile spread across her full lips and then it became a grin, although her tense and overbearing nature made it less warm and inviting than most. "Yes. Let's go." She nodded decisively. Hilda was a decisive woman by nature. "Hilda." She jerked a thumb at herself and then stepped out of the line, purposefully knocking into the man in front of her (who was still dithering!) as she did. "I need to find my man." She cleared her throat and yelled out, "Gerfrid!" People stopped to look at her curiously but Hilda didn't pay any attention, and soon enough, the stocky man came jogging up - looking at Melissa warily. "We're going to my new friend Melissa's place for food. She knows where Wulfric is." She explained and then turned to the other woman. "Tell me all you know of this...gossip." 

 

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[Atrice]

The stranger seemed interested right away, when Melissa mentioned the gossip. Which was good and useful for her. Plus, this woman herself would be fine to know. She was quite the character, that much was obvious already, and Melissa would be happy to tell people she met the woman, should they come to her with stories at another point. Not that she wished any ill upon the other, but she just liked knowing things. And collecting stories about people. She nodded with a smile when the stranger tried to repeat the name of the area of Rome, where Melissa lived, "You got it right. There's plenty of foreigners in Rome. I'm sure they'll understand if you ask." She said and then she had offered a meal at her place. The stranger took it right away with a smile too.

"Hilda, good to meet you." She replied and then the other began speaking of finding 'her man'. She had a husband with her? And he wasn't here in the queue with her? Melissa arched a brow, Hilda was full of surprises. And on came another one, as she yelled out quite loudly for someone with a name as strange as Gerfrid. But a man came up to them and Hilda referred to Melissa as her friend now. And then something about a Wulfric. That was her brother? Must be. They all had strange names.

Melissa motioned for Hilda to come with her, sending a glance to the foreign looking man also following them now, before returning her attention to Hilda, "I can't say how much of it is true. It is gossip, after all." She said and chuckled, but tried to wipe it off, "But well, there is a Varus in Rome. Varus, apparently related to the infamous general, if you know him. And what I've heard is he's got many children. With many women. Apparently he's very productive." She added with a grin and a wink, sure that Hilda was no stranger to men. She certainly didn't act like an innocent woman who never slept with a man. In fact, Melissa might judge she had more confidence than many men she'd met. Not all, of course, not more than a certain one, but more than many... but she had to get on with the story, "And I heard someone say that one of his sons moved into an insulae not far from where I live." 

@Sara

[Sara]

Hilda followed Melissa, having to temper her stride as she did. Her back was arrow straight and she glared at people which fortunately worked as they parted as the small retinue strode through. "Any information is good information." Hilda said with a smirk and glanced at the young woman next to her. She wanted  to know every inch of Varus before she met him, she had always done it - pre-meeting reconnaissance - before she met any of her husbands clients, to  unnerve them as much as possible when actually meeting. 

"I know of that Varus." She said with an amused smile, "We were the people who pushed him back." Explaining her origin, but she didn't interrupt again and instead let Melissa continue.  Many children with many women. She laughed garrulously at the euphemism, grinning ear to ear. Interesting. If he was easily swayed than using her own physicality might be good. She knew she wasn't unattractive...when she was...softer, less hard and stern. "Then he is just like all men." she snorted and shook her head, "Do you know the name of the son near you? And how do you know all of this?" 

 

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[Atrice]

Hilda didn't seem to mind that the stories Melissa told might not be true. She would like any information, it seemed. What other business did she have with Varus, besides that the man knew her brother? That's what Melissa was curious about. And why was it so important to find him and to know about him? No matter, Melissa was happy to bring a new guest to her thermopolia and at the same time, dish out a little gossip for free. They walked side by side, although she felt Hilda seemed a bit tense, with how straight her back was. Maybe a good meal would make her relax a little.

She knew about the general Varus and Melissa's eyes widened briefly, when Hilda said that her people pushed him back. Melissa wasn't very educated, but she knew it all happened outside of Rome's current borders, in the unconquered parts of Germania. So that's where Hilda was from. She'd keep that in mind and continued to talk. Hilda laughed at this Varus being very productive and then said he was like all men. And asked about the Varus son Melissa heard about.

"I don't know his name, just what the word on the street is. I work in a thermopolia. People come for meals. And they like to talk while they wait for their meal." Melissa said with a smile, "And I have a good memory." She added with a grin, "I don't know if all men are like this Varus though. Some are good, despite how they spread themselves around." But it would be unwise to spread gossip about Alexius. She thought Hilda might like him though. Hilda was definitely his type. Well anyone was Alexius' type, as far as Melissa knew. Even she was. But as long as they both kept quiet about it, all was well.

@Sara

[Sara]

Hilda considered the little woman next to her with faint amusement and an air of being impressed. People often didn't see women as useful creatures, but already she'd found out more information that she'd likely receive from any man in the city - and certainly she'd been more helpful than any man she'd met on the road. "You listen and retain the information." She nodded with a smirk, "Good for you." She likely heard all sorts of tales, which gave rise to another thought. 

"You're a slave?" Hilda assumed she was, she'd been informed of how the Romans kept their slaves - different to her own people but not that different. "You could use what you know to get your freedom." Blackmail always worked...well...most of the time.

"You shall have to introduce me to these men then," She said with an amused smirk, "It's not so in my experience." Her husband was a shit, as were his people. She doubted her mother had much love for her husband (although that might have been her projecting her own ill-feelings onto their relationship). There had been a few flings with simple, sweet warriors but they had never been the one for her. And they were out riding a different woman the next week, thus feeding into her opinion. 

 

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[Atrice]

Melissa was happy to have made a new acquaintance and the other woman now smirked, seeming to like how Melissa gathered all the gossip that she knew. She nodded, that's exactly what she did, what Hilda described. Then Hilda wondered if Melissa was a slave, which earned her a look, especially as the other continued about how she could use what she knew. Sell the stories? No, she wasn't like that. What kind of a person would she be, if she sold other people's stories for money? Instead, she gave them for free. Much better. But back to the question at hand...

"I'm not a slave and my parents aren't either. We run a thermopolia. We own slaves. But I like serving the meals to guests too." She explained, it was pretty easy and simple to understand she thought. Just like it was easy to understand that not all men were the same and she knew good men too. At least one anyway. Hilda of course wanted to be introduced then and Melissa chuckled.

"I'm sure that can be arranged. If you stay and eat by the thermopolia and entertain me, I think one of those good men I know, will come around." He always did, or often anyway, in the late afternoon for a meal before the evening. Sometimes he stayed for long, sometimes he was busy, but she was sure he'd come.

@Sara

[Sara]

Hilda snorted at the look the other woman gave her and let out an amused chuckle as she explained. She held her hands up in defence, "My apologies. I was told that there were more slaves than free people in Rome...I assumed you were one." It had never made sense to her - if they had strength in numbers, why did the slaves not simply rise up? Surely the Romans were not so well organised in their own city to prevent an attack, plump rich men sat in their luxury would hardly be an ideal defensive force against hardened warriors with an axe to grind from far off lands. She shook the thought from her head, bemused.

She snorted in amusement which prompted a confused look from Gerfrid who spoke precisely no Latin and was evidently confused by the conversation happening. "I'll hold you to that Melissa. Do you know of somewhere to stay nearby your place? We've been camping rather than waste money at the places on the roads." Besides, the first one they encountered had refused to house them given they apparently didn't have the right 'papers' whatever that meant. "We have money to pay." 

 

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[Atrice]

Hilda seemed to know some things about Rome, but she had come to her own conclusions too. Like the fact that if there were a lot of slaves in Rome, more slaves than free people, apparently Melissa might be a slave too. The thought was far out to Melissa, who'd given her a look, that apparently amused her... but Hilda just needed a little help to get used to Rome, didn't she? "Well, not everyone's a slave. Do you want to know how to tell the difference, easily?" She asked, and assuming Hilda did not wish to make the same mistake again, she continued, "Look around, and see... some people wear these tags or signs around their necks. See?" She discretely pointed out one walking past them, "Most slaves wear them. The sign has their name and their owner on it."

Then they'd talked about good men in Rome and that Melissa knew some. And would happily introduce Hilda to such a man. It wasn't like he was Melissa's boyfriend or anything, nor was he her future husband. He wasn't the sort of man to attach himself to anyone, as far as she knew. So she would just make them all happy by this. Hilda seemed to like the idea of it and then wondered where to stay in Rome.

"It depends on for how long you're staying." Melissa said, "Some tavernae have rooms. Else a hospitia. Some are cheap, some are not. If you're here for longer, you may want to try and rent or buy a flat or a small domus to live in." She suggested, "If your brother has been here for long, he may already have a place." 

@Sara

Edited May 28, 2022 by Atrice

[Sara]

Hilda took the lesson to heart and nodded at Melissa, eyeing people as they walked past (probably quite disconcertingly) to see the tablets they wore around their necks. Despite her fluency in Latin, she couldn't read or write it but it was useful to know what to look for. "So many slaves." She commented with interest as a whole host of them drifted past her - old, young, male, female, fancy looking and others desperately poor. "Do Romans do no work themselves?" she grinned, "Besides you, of course." She didn't want to offend Melissa. She was a good woman. 

Nodding, she quirked a brow. "I'll have to find him first, before I stay with him. And we haven't lived together since we were much younger." She wrinkled her nose at the memory. Despite loathing her marriage, it had at least meant she didn't have to hear her brother or parents with their lovers at home. She didn't much want to repeat that experience here, but was hopeful Wulfric had done well for himself and had somewhere big. "Can you recommend me a tavernae? Close to your place?" She glanced at Melissa, "I like to keep my friends close." 

 

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[Atrice]

Hilda seemed to take in the amount of slaves with her new knowledge - now she knew how to tell them apart from the free Romans. After a while she commented that there were many of them and wondered if any Romans even worked, besides Melissa. She chuckled, "Plenty of Romans work, slaves just make it... easier. They can do the hard and heavy work, or the dirty work. And they have no rights. Free servants would have more rights. So it's easier with slaves." She explained. Melissa was born and raised in Rome, having slaves was as common to her as getting up in the morning. And while she'd had a time when she was younger, where she didn't like having slaves, her father had explained to her the reasons why they had to have them. And now that she was doing most of the work in the thermopolia, she understood it. She could never do all that work without slaves. Or with workers who demanded more.

Then Hilda would know where to stay and Melissa had ideas, but suggested that Hilda's brother might have a place to stay. But of course, she had to find him first. And she didn't know him so well, that's what Melissa got from Hilda's words. 

"There's a taverna not so far away, it's cheaper than the closest hospitia." She said and smiled at Hilda, "So we are friends now?" That was new, having a German woman for a friend. But why not? She was a little strange, but seemed nice enough and eager to learn. So yeah, why not?

@Sara

[Sara]

"I understand." She said with a nod. Slavery wasn't a new concept to her, they had them in a manner back home and the thralls were ever present of course, but it just bemused her that a city could be filled with so many people lacking rights who...didn't wish to do anything to change their situation. She'd wager there were more slaves in half the city than soldiers in a legion. They could take them, if they organised themselves. She kept the thought to herself.

"Of course we are friends." She said with a smirk and nodded at the recommendation for the taverna. "Will you point it out? Gerfrid can go and put our thing away whilst we talk. I want to know your best stories." She grinned and felt her stomach clench. She also needed food. The road had weakened her athletic figure in a way she didn't like. Food and conversation was what was in order. "You've lived in Rome your whole life?" 

 

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[Atrice]

Hilda didn't comment much on the slave business, just said she understood. But did she, really? Understand that Rome only functioned because things were as they were, and if anyone changed it, the city might crumble? At least that's what her father had said, that time years ago when he tried to explain to her. And the slaves had to be kept as they were too, else they'd have too much power. There had been slave uprisings in the past, after all. No one wanted that to happen again.

But enough about slaves. Hilda wished to know where to stay and called Melissa her friend. She was kind of surprised that it was so easy to find a friend in a foreigner, but Hilda seemed nice enough and maybe she'd learn more about Germania. And Melissa liked knowing things.

"Sure, as I said, it's not so far from our place." Melissa said and then Hilda wondered if Melissa had always lived here. She nodded, "My whole life, yes. Almost all of it in our house by the thermopolia." Apart from that brief period of time she'd been married, she had lived there. And that hadn't even been a whole year. All other attempts at finding a new husband had failed. Maybe punishment for wishing for help in the first round. But she was fine. She didn't miss having a husband. She had her work and her family, still.

@Sara

[Sara]

Hilda's brows rose as Melissa explained she'd lived her whole life, or almost her whole life, in the same place. She couldn't understand that. She supposed Rome was large enough that one could feel like they'd travelled to a new city whenever they crossed into a different region (at least that's what she felt as a newcomer) but still...Hilda, before her trip to Rome, hadn't travelled extensively but she had been between her families lands and her husbands. She'd been aligned to two tribes, and then frequented the Roman settlements that had cropped up either side of the Rhine. 

"Almost all of it?" She queried with an arched brow. "Did you have a little adventure somewhere else?" She joked and shook her head, amused. "You don't want to see what else is out there, outside of the city? I can tell you," She wrinkled her nose as she strode on towards the thermopolia, "So far...I like Rome the least bit of all the places we travelled to." She missed the serenity and calm of the countryside already.

 

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[Atrice]

It seemed to surprise Hilda, that Melissa had lived here her whole life. Well what other things were there to do? She had a duty to her family and she couldn't leave them. And with all the failed attempts of finding a husband, she'd more or less accepted now, that it was not going to happen. She had to help her parents instead. That was her lot. But Hilda was paying attention, wondering what Melissa had done, since she said she'd lived almost all of her life in the same house. And she spoke of other places outside the city and didn't like Rome.

"Rome is vast and there's always something going on here." Melissa pointed out, "I'm not bored." Although maybe a part of her wanted more. But that part had given up, because this is what there was and it was fine... "I was married, years ago, briefly. I lived with my husband then, elsewhere in Rome. But he died." She said, like it was not really a big deal that she'd been married and lost her husband. She didn't really mourn him... "Have you been married?" She then wondered.

@Sara

[Sara]

"Something fun?" She pressed, gaze narrowed on the girl. "Like what?" Hilda had a demanding personality at the best of times, but the language barrier - even with her fluent Latin - probably made her appear more abrupt than she intended. 

Ah. A marriage. A dead husband. She smiled a little, a wholly inappropriate reaction, this woman might have been in desperate love with her fella. Hilda couldn't understand the feeling. "I'm sorry...?" She offered with a little wince and then a chuckle. "Yes. He died." She answered, her smile back, "Good riddance to rubbish." She shook her head, "Men in Germania are perhaps as bad as men in Rome. I don't mourn him." Ahren had been a useless husband to her, and not because he slept around (she did too), but fundamentally due to a lack of respect. She had been kept on the outside, shoved in a corner, left in the dark. It had been his downfall on the Limes. Had he just listened to her... "Do you have a new man?" She asked bluntly.

 

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[Atrice]

Melissa smiled at Hilda, who was wondering what happened in Rome and if it might be something fun, "There's always some fun stories in the street, and always something to see. People performing, the gladiator games in the arena, the races... but the people are the most interesting, I think." She replied and then she explained how she'd been away from her house and family, when she was married. But he died. So now she was here. And she continued to ask Hilda about marriage too.

Hilda smiled at first, at the mention of a dead husband, but then apologized and told her own story. That she had been married too, but her husband was also deceased and she called him rubbish. And said men were bad in Germania too... "I don't mourn my husband much either. But don't tell anyone." Melissa said with a wink, "I'm good without a husband. I have not married again and I don't know if I will. Not as long as my parents need me." Melissa explained and paused, "That doesn't mean I don't have fun though. But don't tell anyone that either." She assumed Hilda would understand her meaning, when she spoke of having fun without being married. Her parents didn't know so much and they didn't need to either. At least those men she met knew how to be discrete. 

@Sara

[Sara]

"The gladiator games." She grinned and nodded. "I'd like to see that." It was up her street, but from what she'd heard she couldn't actually envisage the scale of it. It seemed beyond comprehension to her. She turned over her shoulder and spoke to Gerfrid in their language, explaining the games. He merely grunted back; "I've seen enough death. What else is there?" Hilda turned to Melissa with a smirk; "And what about entertainment for him?" She jerked her thumb at the man, "He doesn't want to see the games." Back at home, whilst married, Gerfrid had his pick of women on the side. Judging by the reactions to the big bearded behemoth thus far in Rome, he wasn't likely  to experience the same here.

But then conversation moved on to discussions of their respective shitty husbands and Hilda let out a cackling laugh as Melissa finished. "Secret is safe with me." She grinned and then shrugged; "But it's not anything to be ashamed of, it's natural for men to do it so why not us?" Of course that view was shared with precisely no men that she'd known to be in charge, but that didn't bother her. Sex was sex and there to be enjoyed. It took a shitty man to try and stop women from having pleasure. "Your parents don't approve though," She commiserated, "You live with them still?" 

 

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