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Wounds and ethics


Chevi

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February 77AD (after The Night Shift)

Aia was asleep by the time Decimus returned in the morning. It had been quite the long night, compounded with blood loss, so once everyone had gone home, she made her way to bed and fell into a deep sleep. Not so deep, however, that she would't wake up at the sound of the door opening. Old reflexes died hard. She rolled over, seeing Decimus enter, still in the outfid he'd come home in the night before, only to find a whole lot of strangers in their old apartment, a murderer, and Aia being stitched up by the medicus.

Yep. Quite the night.

Her wound still hurt, and Aia frowned as she sat up. Her hair was a sleepy mess, and she rand a hand through it as she blinked at Decimus. She was honestly relieved he was home. "Everything went alright?"

@Sains

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Quite the night, indeed. Decimus had spent most of it moving about the city informing those who needed to know. He'd told the commander of the guard, he'd stopped on the way to inform the bloody vigiles, and he would have been sent on to the various gates if his centurion hadn't pitied him. All the while his thoughts were of home, of course, because his wife had been shivved by only the most dangerous man in the city. If things carried on like this he wouldn't have to worry about getting home at night for the stress would claim him. 

"Everyone has been informed of everything that could be said about anything." 

The alliterated response probably did much to present just how tired he was of the whole mess. Happily he moved to sit in a chair just opposite of the bed in hopes that he might clear his mind and finally get down to talking about this mess with the one who mattered most. 

"We'll hear more as the week goes. How's the wound?" 

 

@Chevi

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Everyone had been informed of everything. Decimus looked like he had run around the entire city multiple times in one night. In praetorian uniform. Which was likely exactly what had happened.

"We'll hear more as the week goes. How's the wound?" 

"Not a fan of stitches" Aia frowned, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, and then standing up carefully. She did not like to put weight on her injured leg, but she could stand, even limp along. It did hurt like a bitch, though. "But I'll be fine. I've had worse." Decimus knew that; he'd been the one who saw the other wounds. She limped over to him, leaning on the back of the chair to fiddle with the clasps on his uniform.

@Sains

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An amused snort was all he could offer as she tried to reassure him. As exhausted as he was he still felt an ember of rage smoldering away in the pit of his stomach. He was angry. He was angry; not only at the man who'd struck this new wound upon his wife, but at himself for being absent when she'd needed him most. She lived, and he had only the gods to thank for that, but he could hardly begin to imagine what he would have done if she'd died on the cobbles below the insula. 

It was almost more than he could take to see her limp over just to fiddle with the stupid clasps on his idiotic costume. Here he was draped in all of the kit that showed others how stolid and dependable he was in the face of adversity, and yet here he was with a wounded wife and not even the man's head to show for it. He wouldn't break down now; not while  she labored on through it all. Bringing  a rough hand over hers he uttered a reassurance that was as much meant for his own peace of mind as it was for Aia's. 

"He will die." 

He said nothing more and only looked over his shoulder in hopes that he would see that she agreed. Even if she feigned it, he wouldn't mind. 

 

@Chevi

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Aia could feel the tension in Decimus' movements; the way he spoke and held himself as she undid the clasps on his cloak and armor. She knew he was upset. She was going to be fine... but she remembered too well what it had felt like when Decimus was injured. She couldn't blame him for being on edge.

"He better" she nodded. "I am not completely convinced we shouldn't have just killed him. Knowing Roman law... I don't want to see him get away."

@Sains

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Decimus did his best to relax. He lifted the simple leather breastplate from about his body, once Aia had finished unclasping it, and set it beneath their table for the moment. It was hard, this. He couldn't tell her for certain that he would die at the hands of the state, and she knew that. 

"He won't get away. Not while I'm alive. I'll kill him in that cell if they mean to let him go." he'd proclaim under his breath. 

Of course that would mean potentially throwing his life away and being sent to the brig himself, but it would be worth it for the revenge. Or at least he thought. Deep down he knew that he wouldn't enjoy it as much as the rage deep inside of him tried to convince him it would. 

"And then we'll run to Spain and pick grapes for the rest of our lives." he'd say while turning to face Aia with a short-lived smile. It was an outlandish idea, but the need to lighten the mood was there. 

 

@Chevi

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Aia knew Decimus to be a good, kind, honest man. And yet, she had no doubt that if the murderer made an escape somehow, through trickery or with the help of the actual law, Decimus would kill him without hesitation. She suspected he was not alone in that, among the others involved in the case. Hell, the pretty lady had made an attempt at the man right there (and managed to stab her friend instead). She also knew that Decimus would get in trouble for murdering a free man.

"Idiot." she smiled, leaning down to kiss him. "Come to bed." She didn't like standing around too much, so she tugged on his hand to return to the bed. "And if you think I'd spend the rest of my life picking grapes with you in Hispania... you are completely right. But I'd rather not do it before they fired you for murder."

@Sains

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Decimus would raise his head to kiss her in return and then rise to follow her over to their bed. She was right of course, but if he were released he knew that he could do nothing to stop himself. He would kill again, or worse, and then they'd have to live on with this man wandering the streets with no end in sight. That is of course if he were let go. He wouldn't be let go. He couldn't be let go. It was unthinkable that that were even an option that was still writhing about above their heads like some unseen serpent. Doubt and uncertainty were the order of the day, but he could only hope that some sleep might clear his head. Hopefully news would come in the next few days. 

"Well if they'd let off an unproven murderer then I'd hope they'd at least give an honorable murderer a second chance... Hope we don't find out." 

With that he lay down beside her, resting his hand on her stomach to calm himself. She was here, she was alive, and that was good enough for him. 

 

@Chevi

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"Romans and their laws." Aia grumbled as they lay down, snuggling closer to Decimus. She was too cynical to trust anything working out until she saw the dead body with her own two eyes. "It was a close call, you know" she muttered. "He really wanted Didia dead. If Alexius and I did not show up when we did..." someone might have died. Like others had, from what she understood; others not mentioned or not discovered, killed by the same sick person.

@Sains

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"Aye, well, you did and that's what's important. I'm a bit surprised Alexius didn't get the man before anyone got there if I'm honest." 

Decimus may have. He hadn't forgotten the men that they'd dispatched at the mausoleum all that time ago. Hell, he'd done men in for less than threatening the innocent. Either way he would see justice; Decimus just hoped that it would be gruesome enough to justify the hassle. 

"The punishment for his crimes will be gruesome enough.  We know enough people to make it happen and there are those that will testify. The law may yet surprise you." he'd comment as reassuringly as possible. It didn't always work, that much was true, but when it did it was a real treat sometimes. 

 

@Chevi

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"You really trust those people" Aia observed. She loved Decimus and his loyalty; she trusted him, so by definition she trusted those he trusted. Even though she felt herself way more cynical than him. Romans and their laws, indeed. For now, she was content with sharing her bed with Decimus, being alive. "No one told me it would be this much more dangerous to be a woman around Rome. Maybe I should dress as a man again."

@Sains

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