A Scripta

(Cimerora stories will take place in or concern themselves with that zone)

Kalius was a light sleeper, a left over habit from all those years on campaign. He thought he heard someone upstairs, and immediately bolted upright. The cellar was dark, though he could see the sunlight at the edges of the door and window. He found the lantern and lit it, illuminating the bed he and Dmitrius had manhandled through the door. He headed to the stairs and peered over the trap door of the floor that led to the cellar they slept in.

He heard a woman's voice, singing a lilting tune, and heard her moving around. Then she heard her stop and say in Latin, "What?"

Kalius cleared the cellar entrance and put down the trap door quietly. He straightened his tunica and padded over to the archway of the seating area. A woman in a simple stola with no sleeves stood staring at the couch where Kalius and Dmitrius had left their duffel bags. Kalius coughed politely.

She whirled, and put her hand to her mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir!"

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I was hired to clean the house once a month, sir," she said, wringing her hands nervously. "My father owned this house before the strange yellow-haired man bought it."

Kalius smiled a little - strange for Grim wasn't the word. "You don't have to come anymore."

She started walking back to the door, her head bowed. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

"No, I had to get up anyway. What did your father do? There seem to be a lot of wine casks around."

"My father was a wine merchant. The buyer bought everything in the house - he wanted it to look lived in." She rolled her eyes a little, "As my father constantly told anyone who asked how he took the stranger for a great amount of money."

"How much?"

"3800 denarii."

Kalius blinked - that was more than he made in one year as a legionnaire in Ceasar's army during this time period. In ten years' service he would have gotten land, but he never lived that long. "Your father certainly did get a deal."

The woman stopped at the door. "I can make you something to eat."

Kalius looked around the hearth - it was cold, and looked like it hadn't been used in a long time. There was a door to the back of the house which led out to a tiny flat area where wood was stacked. His cooking on an open fire was mostly during campaign, and other times women did cook for them. However, he really didn't expect to live there - there were plenty of vendors in the village, and he knew he would be the only one to eat.

"No, I was going to go to town to buy something."

"Oh. I will leave you alone, then."

"Thank you," he said, and watched her leave. He took a breath, and looked around the home. It looked lived in, but in a transient way. He went back downstairs to make sure Dmitrius was all right, and then he did leave to go to a vendor.

He got something to eat and sat on the fountain with some bread, smoked cheese in the shape of a small bowl, and olives in the bowl. He people watched, and the soldiers seemed to examine him out of the corner of their eye. He knew he looked like a stranger attempting to assimilate as best he could. He would have to go to the clothier's to pick up more tunicas.

At the top of the hill to their house stood a man, waiting. Kalius stopped and studied the man from a distance. He was certainly a merchant, from the way he was dressed, probably the man Grim bought the house from. Kalius went up the stairs and the man smiled at him. Kalius gruffly asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Spurius Decia Mus, I was the owner of this place."

"It is a very nice house."

"I thought it had been abandoned. My daughter told me no one had been here for a while."

"He was busy. It'll be used now." Kalius glared at him, waiting for him to leave.

Spurius ignored it. "I will be having a banquet tomorrow night in celebration of my niece's fourteenth birthday. I would like to invite you."

"When?"

"It will begin at sunset."

"Can I bring a guest?"

"Of course!" Spurius clapped his hands. "It is good to meet you..."

"Kalius of Thebes."

He blinked. "Thebes? You're..."

"Greek."

"Ah." The wine merchant smiled even more. "Then it will be good to have you and your guest attend."

"Thank you," Kalius said shortly. "If you'll excuse me..." He opened the door and went inside, leaning against the door. He smiled. He hadn't been to a real Roman banquet in...over a thousand years. Still smiling, he went into the other room and started a small fire in the hearth. This time, he would proudly bring his lover...

Just as the sun hit the horizon, Dmitrius snapped his eyes open. He felt a pleasant, warm weight on his chest, and could hear his lover's heart beat against his own chest, and Kalius' breathing which meant he wasn't sleeping, but lying there comfortably. Dmitrius moved his arm and passed his fingers through Kalius' hair. His breathing quickened just slightly, and he let out a sigh. "You're awake," he said, and moved his head up to Dmitrius' face. They kissed, Dmitrius' fingers still entwined in Kalius' hair, squeezing his fingertips along Kalius' scalp.

Dmitrius smiled, and turned to see the bits of light through the windows. "I've been waking up earlier," he said, and looked again at Kalius. "I have a reason." Dmitrius pulled Kalius on top of him. Kalius smiled broadly.

The sun had dipped under the horizon by the time the two men left the cellar, hand in hand. Kalius put lanterns on through the house, so it was brightly lit. The hearth had a small enough fire to throw off heat to warm Kalius and not disturb Dmitrius. Dmitrius didn't like fire - he tolerated the fireplace in the base, though he sat stiffly next to it, as if ready to bolt over the couch at any errant spark.

"Did I miss anything?" Dmitrius asked, as Kalius finished lighting a lantern.

"We had a couple of visitors."

"Oh?"

"A cleaning lady that Grim hired, and someone inviting us to a banquet."

Dmitrius crossed his arms and gave Kalius a crooked smile. "Us?"

"Me and a guest."

"Ah. When is this?"

"Tomorrow starting at sunset."

"We can show up fashionably late, to let me take a traitorous centurion?"

Kalius nodded. "If we rush now, we can get to the clothiers to get proper clothes."

"Indeed." Dmitrius went to the door and let Kalius out. Kalius locked the door, and when he turned around, Dmitrius was already gone. "Why that..." Kalius chuckled, and saw a dust trail in the dusk leading into the city. Kalius followed at his high speed also.