A Private Celebration

[Sara]

Two weeks after 'The Day that Never Was', a week after the nones of May, 77AD

Ovinia stood in the atrium of the abandoned domus that had been the home of her most private of moments two weeks before. She'd arrived earlier than the time she'd indicated  in her note - and Lucia had begrudgingly helped her to decorate - stringing flower garlands around the atrium, the triclinium and setting the savilum on the small low table in the room off the garden they had dined in last time. But now she was alone - Lucia waiting by the door outside until Lucius arrived and she would go to the bakery. She clasped her hands over her waist and let out a shaky breath, eyeing the door expectantly. 

She was dressed more simply than last time, in a plain dark blue chiton and a matching lighter palla, accentuated with gold details that matched her belt and earrings (gifts from her father and mother). Still, she was nervous and it showed on her flushed cheeks and the nervous way she paced. What if he didn't come? What if he'd got what he wanted and simply wouldn't show? Logic told her that was utterly ridiculous but the small, minuscule part of her that felt some shame for what she'd done suggested that maybe Lucius wasn't as good as she had hoped. Maybe he was the same sort of man all the women in her life complained about, maybe he was...

He was here. The door cracked open and she saw him duck in. She didn't give him a moment to catch his breath before she was running into his ams, body colliding into his in a hug that almost winded her.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Two weeks. It felt like two centuries. After that day in the domus, Lucius was thoroughly distracted, and not always by work. Contrary to what many writers believed, being... with Ovinia had not quelled his longing one bit. Quite the opposite. Now he had even more vivid dream. None lived up to the real thing, though.

He had promised her a birthday present, but it took them some time to find an occasion for another meeting again. Too much time. He was relieved when he arrived, seeing Lucia outside, giving him her usual warning look. He was dressed simply in a dark green tunica and a cloak, carrying a bag slung over his shoulder. He had made sure no one followed him.

All of it was worth it, the moment Ovinia flew into his arms. He laughed at her enthusiasm, catching her and lifting her off her feet. "Missed me, did you" he grinned, setting her back down to kiss her.

@Sara

[Sara]

She grinned, laughing into the crook of his neck as he swept her clean off her feet to sweep her around. She gripped his shoulders, savouring the feel of him, the smell of his hair, the way he grinned as he set her back down and before he ducked down to kiss her - wiping any retort clean from her mind. She made a soft sound of protest against his lips even as she sunk into the kiss. Her head was already swimming. But no time for that. She placed a palm flat against his chest to push him back. 

"Arrogant man." She finally retorted with a sly grin. "I didn't miss you a single bit. I forgot you existed, in fact." She grinned and stroke her fingers across his collarbone. "Happy birthday." She murmured as she stretched up to press a kiss to his jaw.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Not one bit?" he smirked, enjoying holding her in his arms again. Every time they met, it was on borrowed time. Which made it a gift. Birthday or not. "Me?" he hummed as she kissed his jaw, tilting his head. "I thought we were celebrating yours..." He glanced up over her shoulder, noting the decorations, and grinned. "Ovinia... did you do this?"

@Sara

[Sara]

"You." She confirmed as she withdrew finally although on hand still swept across the expanse of his chest and across the muscle of his arm. "And I did." She chuckled and finally stepped away but one hand took one of his to tug him to get closer. "I felt bad you were going to get me something for my birthday, but you are far older and more decrepit and I didn't get you anything." Granted, at the time of his birthday she had been recovering from the attack...but she blinked it from her mind. 

"Come here, it's not just flowers..." She tugged on his hand to lead him deeper into the house and around the peristyle to the triclinium where there were more flowers and on the small table, some honey cakes, dates, breads and cheeses and then in the centre a savillum. With honey to the side. "I remember you making me one of these. Thought you could add the honey." She chuckled. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

She had... really put in the work. Lucius grinned as he looked at the decorations, clearly impressed even before he saw the spread on the table. The savillum made him laugh. "You remembered?" It felt like a lifetime ago. She had been very annoyed back then.

He pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her to give her another kiss. "You wonderful woman" he murmured. "I got you a gift too..."

@Sara

[Sara]

"Of course I remembered." She chuckled and moved back around so she could loop her arms around his shoulders and take him in properly. Now she could touch him - or felt she had licence to touch him - she didn't ever want to stop. Her fingers moved to brush his dark hair from his forehead with a soft sigh of pure contentment. "Your company was terrible but your cooking was very good, I will admit." 

And then he wrapped an arm around her waist to bring her closer for a kiss. She smiled against his lips and kept the kiss relatively chaste, tilting her head to study him with a narrowed gaze and pursed lips. "And do you think it will live up to my very high standards, Lucius Manius Victorius Roscianus?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Of course I remembered. Your company was terrible but your cooking was very good, I will admit." 

"Funny, I remember it being the other way around" he grinned against  her lips. He nipped at her but she pulled back.

"And do you think it will live up to my very high standards, Lucius Manius Victorius Roscianus?" 

"Probably not" he admitted cheerfully "But I'll just have to make up the difference later." he added with a look that spoke volumes. "Then again, I am a decrepit old man who is terrible company, so maybe I should just go..." he added playfully, stepping back away from her.

@Sara

[Sara]

She blushed. Damn him. She swallowed the smile on her lips and the lump in her throat and tilted her head as he stepped back away from her but her fingers held firm on the nape of his neck. "Oh no." She said with a shake of her head. 

"I am a woman who knows what she wants." She grinned at him wryly, "Remember?" She had always been a woman of conviction. But now the target in her sights was Lucius himself. "But  you are ancient." She chuckled and crossed the step between them before trying to tug him closer to her. "I'm also a woman that likes presents." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

She really was a woman who knew what she wanted. He liked that about her. He liked everything about her, really, especially in moments like this. When she was herself. And alone with him. He had hoped they would meet again, but if she had decided to end things, it would have been her right, and he could do little about it. He pulled her against his chest. Gods, she was very distracting.

"It is called being stubborn" he smirked, watching her closely, admiring every small detail. "Do you want your gift then?"

He stepped back to slip the bag off his shoulder, opening it to take out the present, carefully wrapped in cloth.

@Sara

[Sara]

"I am not stubborn." She protested...stubbornly. With no hint of irony. Maybe she was a touch...but she wasn't going to admit that to him. She gave him a slow, sly smile and tilted her face up to his. This close to him she could feel his heart against her own chest and she swallowed a shudder. It was probably for the best he stepped back to slip the bag off of his shoulder. 

She arched a brow and frowned, holding out her hands to take it. It was heavy. She frowned and moved slowly to sit down on one of the couches before pulling off the cloth slowly. She choked, her eyes wide. "I...I had been joking!" She glanced up at him as her fingers brushed against the burnished wood and the strings of the cithara. "T-this must have cost you a fortune!" she glanced up at him in panic. "All I got you was a savillum..." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

He smiled at her reaction, sitting next to her as she opened the present. It had been worth it. She looked surprised... and a little alarmed. He laughed, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

"First off... yes it did. But I'm still an equite, remember?" And now he owed Mania a bunch of money, but he was not going to admit that. "Second, it's not my birthday, and you got me savillum anyway, and I love it. And I love you. Happy birthday, Ovinia."

@Sara

[Sara]

She swallowed and nodded, staring down at the present, running her fingers across the strings to produce a small chord. It was a beautiful sound. And a beautiful gift. She felt tears well in her eyes. She had wanted one for years, begged and asked and had never been rewarded with one. The hydraulis was a beautiful instrument but it wasn't this. Her parents had never trusted her with this. Nor had her friends or her brothers. 

She exhaled and stared up at him with an awkward little smile. "I love you too." And then she glanced down at the cithara. How was she ever going to explain this gift though? Perhaps she could say she sold some jewellery to buy it for herself? She glanced at him. "It's too generous, Lucius." And then she leant across to kiss his cheek softly, lingeringly. "You have such a good heart." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"I am happy you like it." he smiled softly as she played a chord. "It suits you."

It clearly made her happy. In the genuine, soft way that he rarely saw on her. He wondered why no one had gifted her one before, but he was happy he got to do it. He moved away to cut a piece of the savillum, adding honey. "Well, I'm going to eat my cake, and you can play with you cithara." he chuckled. 

@Sara

[Sara]

She chuckled as he moved to cut the cake, and sniffed back her tears. Instead, she shuffled to rest the cithara in the crook of her arm so she could play it. She strummed her fingers across the strings and her face was a picture of pure concentration. She'd never had any lessons but Ovinia had an oddly prodigious talent for music and heard chords easily enough. She was playing softly, testing the waters as she glanced at him after several long, long moments...as if she'd almost forgotten he was there. "Do you want me to fetch a blonde wig so I look the very image of your friend from Tiberius' party?" She asked with a sly smile. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

The savillum was good. Sweet and light, and he smiled as he ate it, watching her completely lost to the music. She was a vision. Then she spoke, and he almost choked on the pastry.

"What..." he coughed, shaking his head as he managed to not choke, and reached for some wine. "Why would you even say that?"

Somewhere deep down he knew he would never live it down, but still...

@Sara

[Sara]

"Well..." She said, utterly gratified at the reaction she provoked and a feline grin stretched on her lips. 

"You buy me a cithara - an instrument she plays - and you bring me to a beautiful, richly appointed domus - much like the one she has I imagine for her...dealings." She wrinkled her nose and leant her chin on the cithara, watching him with narrowed, dark eyes full of amusement...and a hint of jealousy.

"I wondered if you had a type, is all, and whether you'd prefer it if I were an exotic blonde?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"You asked for the cithara!" he protested, a little thrown off balance by the turn the conversation had taken. He was not exactly sure what he had done wrong. And he almost pointed out Vibia's place was nothing like this house... but realized in time that it would probably not be the argument he thought it would be.

"I wondered if you had a type, is all, and whether you'd prefer it if I were an exotic blonde?" 

"Ovinia." he gave her a look, trying to get his bearings. "I am here risking life and limb to be with you, do you think I give a fuck about anyone else?"

@Sara

[Sara]

She blinked and straightened up.

She'd been joking but his snapping hit a sore point and her struck dumb expression quickly turned into one of annoyance. "Are you? Really? Risking life and limb?" She tilted her head to study him, but her questions were rhetorical and she left no room to answer them in any case. "I hadn't realised what we were doing was so serious. I'm so oblivious, you see." She gave him a glare and ground her jaw. 

"I was joking." She shifted awkwardly, further away from him on the couch. "It was just a joke." She repeated, more quietly as she fiddled with the cithara, not looking at him, her annoyance turning to embarrassment. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Alright, this had definitely gone down the hill somehow. Lucius sighed. He did not want to waste time arguing. Especially when he had no idea what was wrong to begin with.

"I know" he muttered. She had been joking... it had just hit a sore spot. Because he did not love Vibia but he could have her any time (provided he had the funds)... but he loved Ovinia, and she would never truly be his. He reached out to squeeze her hand. "I'm sorry. I just... don't know, how to prove what this all means to me. I wish I could."

@Sara

[Sara]

She swallowed, aware that a dark cloud had descended on this little bubble of joy they'd created. She tried to shake it off but she couldn't and didn't know why. She'd seen Lucius annoyed before and generally it was because of something she'd done but this time she had only been joking. He'd taken it well last time. She swallowed and let him squeeze the hand that wasn't clutching the cithara.

She flicked her eyes to him, watching his face as he apologised. She exhaled heavily, letting all the air leave her lungs as she curled back against the couch, setting the cithara down carefully on the table next to the savillum. Such a beautiful gift. One she could never admit the provenance of. "I know how much it means to you." She swallowed, speaking quietly. "And...I promise I was joking. I don't care about her." she did, a bit, but more because she was an odious woman and she didn't know what Lucius liked about her. 

"I...have an idea." She swallowed, watching him. "For us to prove it." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

He watched her. All he wanted was to hold her, and he held her hand until she pulled back, putting the cithara down. He knew that her joke had a grain of truth in it - she never quite accepted the fact that he knew Vibia. And he wasn't sure what to do about it. For now, he just wanted to forget everything outside this domus.

"You do?... Tell me."

@Sara

[Sara]

Ovinia glanced down at her hands and her wrists. Decorating both arms were an assortment of bangles and on her upper arm was a circlet of gold. It was fine, but plain. She preferred it to the snake armbands that seemed fashionable (but tacky) nowadays. She slipped it from her upper arm down her wrist until she held it in front of him. Any of her actual bangles would be too small for him, but this was large enough to (hopefully) fit over his wrist. 

"Wear it." She glanced at him. "You can wrap it in leather so it doesn't look gold...and get robbed off of you, or wear it under a cuff on your wrist." She added in an uneasy smile. Leather cuffs were fashionable for men of his age, or so she'd learned. "And you give me something and I'll wear it." It wouldn't be a wedding ring, but this might be as close as they'd get. And whenever she looked down or up or wherever at whatever he'd give her, it would make her think of him. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius watched as she slipped the golden circlet off her arm; it would be wide enough for him to wear, although he'd have to hide it (or take it off while working). He smiled softly, thinking for a moment what he could give her. He wished it was a ring. He had an equite's ring, but she could never wear that without rousing suspicion. He slipped the golden bracelet on his wrist, before reaching up to unclasp his cloak. The fibula that fastened it was only made of bronze, but it was an elegant piece, of silver with a small green stone set in its head. "It's the only thing I have" he said a little sheepishly, holding it out to her.

He wished it was a ring.

@Sara

[Sara]

She smiled as he slipped on the band and ran her fingers over it. It wasn't her finest piece but she'd loved it. And now knowing he was wearing it, she loved it more. She watched him fumble at his cloak and blinked as he presented the fibula, his voice adorably sheepish. She brushed her fingers over his as she took it and ran her thumb over the shape. It was beautiful. Made moreso because it was his.

She glanced up at him as she fastened it to her palla. It didn't go with the outfit but she didn't care, and it was small enough that it could be secreted in the Pallas folds when necessary. She smiled at him and noted sadness in his eyes. She wondered if he was thinking the same as her. I wish it was a ring. She leant up on her knees to meet him, kissing him gently. 

 

TAG: @Chevi