when in rome

Fidget

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Flinching a little when she felt the weight of his head on hers, Ania's eyes slid towards him, adjusting slowly to this new development. Exhaling slowly, her muscles gradually loosened and she managed to relax. It was almost terrifying to be in this situation, responsible for propping up another human being. She didn't want to move, lest she disturb him. She stared down curiously at the man that was first presented. He was biiig. She giggled, though, when Hadrian thought he was scary. "You really think he's scary? I bet you could beat him up any day."

The second man was presented, and he was just as muscular as the first. He had a catlike walk about him, and he prowled around in a circle, flashing his scars and egging the crowd on. He was probably a returning champion, from all those scars. The music dimmed momentarily, and it looked like they were about to get started. She took a fistful of linen, a little afraid of what's going to happen, and watched as the two men charged at each other with their weapons. "They're ... dancing."
 

Knox!

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<div align=center>"I think he'd squash me." Hadrian answered with a laugh, he wasn't really one for getting into fights, though that being said, he certainly wouldn't back down from one if challenged, he had too much pride to do that. Hadrian would probably run away from the gladiator before any fight could be started, despite the way he came across, Hadrian was actually scared of things, not many things albeit, but a few things, dying was probably one of them. "He wouldn't even have to try, even if he were unarmed." The boy laughed, though he thought perhaps Altair would put up a pretty good fight against him.

There was a man yelling something in Latin about the gladiators, Hadie realized he was probably introducing them. He didn't catch the first name, but the second he heard easily. Crixus. He knew that name, that gladiator was famous. Ania was right, it did look like they were dancing, it was beautiful in a very strange, slightly sadistic sort of way. The larger of the two took a swing at the other, missing by a few inches. "You're right..." He answered, his voice picking up a distracted sort of tone, it was exciting to watch, though he thought the atmosphere added to that, too.</div>
 

Fidget

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"No, I think you could beat him easy." She didn't know if he could fight, much less if he would, but she still had confidence that he could beat anyone he met! It was definitely very interesting to watch, their dancing. They both looked desperate, fighting for their life. They both knew that only one man could come out alive, and they both wanted to be that man. Did gladiators have families? She hoped not, that would make this worse. One of the men swung at the other, missing by a little bit. A pang of empathy ran through her when one of the men landed a blow and managed to create a long gash on the bigger man.

Ania began to bite the tips of her fingers as she watched them battle it out. It was interesting and exciting, but a little frightening. The bigger man was losing his stamina, and the smaller was agile and quick. It reminded her of a tiger exhausting it's prey before going in for the kill. Just when the smaller tried to move in, the larger overturned his ruse and fought back, flashing the hidden energy he had reserved for this."I wish I had those skills. Maybe I can train to become like them."
 

Knox!

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<div align=center>Ania's persistence made him smile, "you're so sweet." He murmured, absently, almost. A cheer rose up from the crowd as one of the men in the arena was injured, and another a few minutes later as he went down. He got back to his feet this time though and charged at the other man, who gracefully sidestepped him and sent him wobbling off a few meters forward. He wondered if they'd release a lion today, he hoped not, it wasn't nice to watch a man head off against a beast he had no chance of winning against. It was even worse when the animal ended up being wounded as well, it was sad to watch it desperately swipe at the man, neither creature really had a choice, and so Hadrian didn't like it. Then again, he supposed neither of these two men had a choice, either, it was fight or be killed.

Another cheer rippled through the Colosseum as the large man was knocked down again. Hadrian's breath caught in his throat as the gladiator didn't get up again, this time he was out of it. A word was being chanted, and it took Hadrian a second or two to realize what they were shouting. Neco. Neco. Neco. Kill. Kill. Kill.</div>
 

Fidget

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Ania watched in alarm as one of the men began to lose his energy rapidly. He was on the ground shortly, and he didn't appear to wish to get back up. The crowd had begun to chant something, she couldn't understand their words, but she could understand the bloodlust that carried in their voices. She looked at the crowd, panicking internally. It really was a shame she couldn't turn invisible or fly, to help that poor man down there. So, she did the only thing she could do, and that was to cover her face with her hands.

Clapping her hands over her eyes, Ania ducked her head down to shut out the activity going on below. She didn't think she could properly handle the sight of one man killing another. It was one thing to watch a movie with death in it, but a live performance like this was scary. Especially with all the blood that was bound to come out. When the crowd began to go silent, she started to take her hands away, but was stopped by the dull sound of flesh being punctured. Straightening up, Ania took her hands away and avoided looking at the scene below. "Ah, that was ... Interesting. I... hope they don't have families in here."
 

Knox!

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<div align=center>The display was awfully savage to say the least, the one that had one had taken such pride in slaying his victim that, well, if Hadrian wasn't mistaken... He might have even said the gladiator had appeared to rather enjoyed murdering his victim. He might have lived if, well, he hadn't been killed but... The other gladiator would have been slated for letting him live, that was a display of weakness, and that was perhaps the worst thing a gladiator could show. The Romans liked power, if you didn't have any power then you'd probably end up being a slave.

The arena was going crazy. He couldn't understand why they were so excited about someone being killed. "Are you okay?" He asked softly, his eyes slightly wide at the sight of the somewhat mangled body lying on the sand, while the other gladiator seemed to be celebrating his victory. He thought if this went on today, no one would have the stomach for it, no one would ever want to go and watch it. These people loved it though, he supposed that proved the partly savage nature of the Romans. Changing it would completely change history, though, so it was best not to do anything. "I'm afraid..." He paused, frowning, "this is more or less chance for a family outing."</div>
 

Fidget

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"Um! I think I'm okay." As long as she didn't have to look at the blood down there, she wouldn't think too much of it. She didn't think she had seen or heard enough to haunt her. Well, she would find out tonight, anyway. "Are you okay?" He didn't look too effected by the events, but he could just be good at hiding his feelings. He looked a bit like the type of person to be able to hide things.
The idea that this was a family outing was a little odd to her. She could imagine children being into the fighting, but the gore would have made her cry as a child.

"I think I would choose the zoo over this." At least at the zoo you could get little stuffed animals. Did the Romans have zoos? She wanted to go to a zoo suddenly. If this was a common family event, she imagined that people took their lovers and spouses to watch this. "Do these fights run all day?" She wasn't certain she could sit through another battle like that without wanting to go down and try to help the loser. Though, she would most likely end up getting slaughtered too.
 

Knox!

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<div align=center>Hadrian was glad to hear she was alright, he hadn't particularly enjoyed that, if he was honest with himself, the only clue that he was shocked was that his eyes were just that little bit wider than usual. "I.. I'm alright..." He answered quietly, he wasn't sure if coming here was much of a good idea, the fights he'd seen before weren't quite as brutal as that had been, and the actual realization of what was happening seemed to have done something to him. He didn't much like the idea of children watching either, but he supposed that was just the way it was. "Would you like to leave?" He asked.

The zoo probably would have been nicer, he laughed at that comment, though, "maybe I can take you to the zoo next time," he offered, "when are you free?" Hadie had decided he liked being around her, she was fun. He didn't know the answer to her next question, he knew they went on for a long time, fighting gladiator after gladiator until there was a winner. "We can steal you a hat, if you want." He looked at her, and frowned just a little, he thought perhaps she was feeling more or less the same way as he was.</div>
 

Fidget

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She felt bad, dragging him all the way out to Rome just to back out over a bit of gore. "Um... Maybe." She was a bit surprised, when he asked when she was free. Giving him a sly look, she asked, "Are you asking me on a date?" That would be fun, though. It didn't require time travel, either, and was relatively inexpensive. Thinking to her future plans, Ania couldn't think of anything other than classes that would interfere with any plans. "I'm free anytime, really. I'm not very ... Socially active." That made her feel like an odd cat lady, minus the cats of course. Perhaps when she got back home, she should make more plans to make friends and interact.

The cheering began once more as another battle was being set up. Feeling a bit antsy, she agreed to go get a hat. "Yes, it might be easier to steal one now, while everyone is distracted with these fights." Standing, Ania looked back down at the arena. The new competitor was thin and looked a bit desperate. He didn't look like he would last very long at all. "Ah, I don't want to watch this one, I think..."
 

Knox!

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<div align=center>Hadrian rather wanted to leave, he though he'd be able to stomach it, but when they were this close, it was not fun at all to watch. He carefully took Ania's hand, and stood, bringing her with him. Are you asking me on a date? He laughed softly, and looked back at her, a charming little smile upon his face. "What if I was?" He purred, lifting an eyebrow, of course the straight answer to that question was yes, he was. The answer she gave was promising, though, he didn't really have any plans this week apart from school work, and he could ditch that easily enough.

She was right, everyone was in the arena, they could just grab it and run as fast as they could. He carefully guided her back through the crowd that was sat down, and out the door they had come through. He didn't think that fight looked very fair, and the poor man that had been pit against the other, well, he didn't look like he had much chance at all. Hadrian felt sorry for him, he was probably terrified. The guard was still there, waiting outside the door, spear in hand. Best not let that touch me.</div>
 
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