Where to Begin?

[Atrice]

Hilda would like to see the games and Melissa chuckled, "I'm sure you'll get your chance. Maybe this man I think you should meet will take you. He likes them too." Which was an understatement. Melissa had seen them too, and while she could enjoy herself while there, it wasn't something she went out to see on her own. She would rather go with someone, so she had someone to talk to. Hilda should experience them with someone else though, someone more interested. Alexius would be perfect. But Hilda's man that came with them didn't not wish to see the games.

"I am not really experienced in what a man likes. But as I said, the races might interest him. I'm sure he'll find something." Melissa replied and had then shared that she didn't mourn her husband very much, but she still had her fun. Hilda promised to keep her secrets and wondered why men should be allowed all the fun and asked into Melissa's parents.

"I don't think they would approve no." She said with a grin, that then faded, "And it's just the way things are, in Rome. Women, especially wives, are expected to be proper and modest." Men on the other hand could do as they pleased, "So you see I'm fine with not being a wife. And yes, I live with my parents." 

@Sara

[Sara]

Hilda watched as the smile faded from Melissa's face and she sighed, shaking her head as they trudged forward. She understood. It seemed that Germania and Roma were not so different after all. "I think I'd be fine not being a wife again too." She said with a small smile of commiseration. 

Nodding, she continued; "I understand. We all live together. I don't understand why there are so many homes in Rome if all families share one." She cast a glance around the street as if on cue. "But I know it can be irritating. I wanted the freedom of my own space when I was married. I had one of the men build a little hut in the woods, he was my man, my grandfathers man, so I swore him to secrecy. When my husband was being a prick I used to go there and stay there for a few days." She exhaled with a smile at the memory. "It was the happiest I was with him. You have somewhere you can escape to?" 

 

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[Atrice]

Melissa was glad that she'd met someone likeminded - someone who had been married, but didn't have the best experience with it. So now she was fine with not being a wife. Interesting, that you should meet someone from a land so far away and yet have such a thing in common with them. Hilda explained then that families in Germania lived together and she didn't get why Rome had so many homes. Melissa chuckled, she could easily explain it, but Hilda had more on her mind. Apparently she'd had a kind of freedom even in her marriage, escaping her husband when he was too much for her. 

"Not really... I mostly escape when I'm not at home. I couldn't really just leave my husband, while he lived. Here in Rome, women always follow a man. Usually either their father or their husband. So since my husband died, I am back with my father." Melissa explained, "And you wonder why there are so many homes here? There are a lot of people here. People say it's the biggest city in the world." She added with a smile, it made her feel a little bit of pride over being a Roman, because of that. No other city in the world was as great and big as theirs. It was quite something... "Do you have cities in the North?" 

@Sara

[Sara]

Hilda nodded in understanding. Things were not exactly the same here as they were at home, but the treatment of women seemed the same the world over. She had been treated as a pawn for political capital - bartered off to her late husband for ties and trade, and bidden to follow his will. Unfortunately for all involved, Hilda had never been particularly good at servitude. 

"I can see that." She said with a smirk, as Melissa said it was the biggest city in the world. Too big, by far. How anybody managed to do anything here was beyond her. And what if there was a fire? Or plague? Surely thousands would perish? But she left any comments on poor city planning to herself as Melissa asked her a question. She gave a frown and a shrug. "Nothing like this. We have villages and settlements but not like this. I visited some of the Roman ones across the Rhine with my husband a few times but even they were more...forts than cities. You've not travelled much?" She shrugged and wound an arm around her waist as her stomach growled, protesting that she wasn't eating yet. She glanced at her friend. "It also takes too long to walk anywhere here. Are we nearly there?" 

 

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[Atrice]

Hilda was a good listener, Melissa thought. Or a good learner? She seemed very keen on learning more about Rome while she was here, and she agreed with a smirk that this was the biggest city in the world. And explained they had nothing like this where she came from, just villages and Roman forts. Melissa nodded. There was nothing like Rome.

She shook her head at the question, "Not really... Rome is my home and my life." She replied and looked at Hilda, as she wound an arm around her waist and sounded almost like a child, when she asked how long they had left, "Just around the corner." Melissa said with a smile, "Then you'll get a proper meal. Do you like our food here? I imagine it must be different, with the spices and everything." Did they even have spices in the North? She didn't know. Well she would learn too.

@Sara

[Sara]

"It is different." She wrinkled her nose. "But that might be because the food I ate on the road was shit." She smirked and shrugged, following Melissa closer to her place. "We had to stop hunting the closer we got to the city, less animals." Which was a pity because those they had caught on their first few weeks on the road were far superior to the dirt that was served up at those roadside shacks.

"So you plan to stay here then?" She pressed again, "Doing your cooking?" It was an admirable thing that she had a job, presumably earned her own money (which Hilda was finding out was critical in Roman society), but she couldn't help the slight look of pity on her face. There was so much to see and do and experience outside of this place. 

 

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[Atrice]

Melissa smiled, when Hilda called the food she ate on the way to Rome, bad... and then she spoke of hunting. Melissa arched a brow. Hunting? That's definitely not something you did in Rome, that did sound like something you did outside the borders of the Empire. Where Hilda came from. But Hilda seemed nice at least. They were approaching the shop now and Hilda asked more into whether Melissa planned on staying here or what. Melissa saw the look of pity on Hilda's face, but ignored it. She was fine.

"So far, yes. It's not the worst life, you know." She replied and led Hilda through a doorframe with no door, to a covered area where you could sit on benches by tables, and eat, "Please, take a seat. I'll get something for you." She said. One of the slaves behind the counter in the kitchen looked at her as she approached. Her father was nowhere to be seen, so he must have gone to take a rest. That was fine too. "We have a stew today? Add a little salt. And then bread on the side. Serve to the lady down there." She told the slave and moved further inside to find something for her and Hilda to drink. She soon emerged again with two cups of watered wine with honey. Then she picked up a piece of bread for herself and a little flask of olive oil, before going to the table where Hilda sat. The slave had already been there to serve Hilda's food for her. Melissa sat down opposite her new-found friend.

"I hope it's to your liking." She said with a smile, "What about our wine, you like that? This has been watered and I like to add a little honey, so the flavor is mild." 

@Sara

[Sara]

Hilda merely smiled at Melissa's comment. It wasn't the worst life, she was quite clear on that, but it wasn't what she'd choose for herself, nor her friends. Still, the slight moment of awkwardness passed and she moved into the room, blinking as the light dimmed. She arched a brow and surveyed the scene, quite unlike anything at home. At Melissa's urging she took a seat, glancing about, trying to figure it all out. So curious. 

And then a little woman with an odd wooden necklace appeared with bowl and a piece of bread and Hilda blinked, eyeing her and then the food in front of her curiously. She didn't have to wait too long for an explanation as Melissa took a seat opposite her with a drink. Hilda arched a brow and tentatively took a bite of the stew. She frowned and then choked it down. "So much...spice..." She reached for a cup of the wine and sipped it. So sweet. She grinned though once she'd managed to drink it down and chuckled at her new friend, "Sorry, it is not bad, just...very different. All Roman foods are like this?" She glanced down at her bowl again and took another, smaller mouthful. 

 

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[Atrice]

The sitting area of the thermopolia wasn't large, but it was nice and clean at least and she let Hilda find a seat, while she made sure they had something to eat. She only hoped Hilda would like the stew better than the food she got on the way to Rome. Soon Melissa sat down with her and watched with interest, as Hilda took a bite of the stew. She frowned and called it spicy and Melissa had to chuckle at her reaction, while Hilda instantly drank some wine to down that. She was nice enough to call it different, rather than bad.

"You think this is spicy? It's nothing. It's mild." She chuckled again, "But spices are what makes the dishes different, sometimes. I'm sure you'll get used to it." She said and gently poured a bit of the olive oil on her piece of bread and took a bite, then wrinkled her nose. She held up a finger to Hilda, letting her know she'd be right back. Soon she did return with a small bowl of garum. She dipped the bread in it, then the olive oil. Much better.

"Do you like the garum? It doesn't smell good. But it adds flavour. You don't use spices at home?" She said, curious. Melissa was at home here, quite literally, and she liked talking about the food. Seeing someone from the North react to it was interesting.

@Sara

[Sara]

Hilda grinned at her, hesitating before taking another bite. It was spicy, to her...or at least the flavours were. There was nothing comparable to some of the tastes coming through. Her eyes followed Melissa though as she darted away and returned with another small dish. She eyed it suspiciously, and then even moreso when her friend explained. Well...she couldn't hear that without giving it a sniff and she leant down to do so. Vile. She pulled back up and shook her head with a shudder; "I am not trying that. What even is it?!" She managed, laughing. 

And then she shook her head with a frown; "Not like you do. We salt things of course, but this is very different. And very...unique." She grinned conspiratorially. "Is your food expensive?" She asked with a glance up as she took another bite. It was growing on her. "I knew Romans used coins for  things...I just didn't realise you used them for everything." 

 

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[Atrice]

Melissa watched with amused interest as Hilda looked at the dish with the garum in it and then smelled it. She had to let out a little laugh at the reaction, even though she had more or less expected it. It was just for fun though, she didn't mean to be mean to Hilda. She just had to do it, because this was more or less how all foreigners would react to the garum... "It's fermented fish. Trust me, together with food, it's better than the smell." She said after her little laugh and then Hilda spoke more of their own food in the North. How they would salt things and spice them differently. And she asked if food was expensive.

"We do use coins for everything. You won't get a very long way in Rome without it." She said, but then thought of something else... "Sometimes though, I hear people won't take the coin but asks you to owe them a favor. Don't ever agree to that. You have no idea what they'll want you to do." She explained, a little bit of good advice for someone new in Rome.

"Do you have a place to stay here?" She then wondered next.

@Sara

[Sara]

Hilda wrinkled her nose. She was a brave woman, a woman who knew her own mind, but she was not about to try some fermented fish. She pushed the dish closer towards Melissa, but her features were amused. "I have coin. Some, but I hope my brother will have more." hers wouldn't go very far if she needed to use it constantly. She'd been banking on the fact that she could trade things...not have to pay with everything with their silly little shiny discs. 

The advice was intriguing though and she quirked a brow. "There's very little I wouldn't do, Melissa." She chuckled...only half joking. "It's happened to you?" She asked as she swallowed down another bite of her stew, before shaking her head. "Not yet. We were going to find somewhere. You know of a place? At least until I find my brother?" 

 

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