Application: Quintus Lentulus Batiatus (Spartacus : Blood and Sand)

[masteroftitans]

((WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS for Spartacus: Blood and Sand, season 1.))

A middle-aged man of unimpressive stature, dressed in the garments of a successful Roman and drenched in blood, appeared on the floor of the Sorting Room. After a moment, he stood up, looking around. There was supposed to be a river. And a ferryman. And a three-headed dog. But

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[joachim_armster]

((Can Joachim read his mind, or would you prefer not? The most he'd use the info for would be to taunt Batiatus and/or play 20 questions about Batiatus' life, unless any more interesting plotty reasons crop up as they talk.))

So there wasn't likely to be a multiple headed hound to greet Batiatus on his sojourn into the wonderful hell that was Hogwarts, but there was a silver-furred, blue-eyed warg the size of a horse there, lazily sizing the man up as he sauntered around him once.

Joachim stopped in front of the applicant and sat back on his haunches, jaws parted and elongated canine teeth bared in a parody of a grin. It quite nearly managed to be a friendly expression.

"The application is incredibly asinine, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically, his speech accented, but not in any particular way that Batiatus might recognise. "And this is no underworld, as you've no doubt been informed by now, though it does in many ways operate like one. Oh, you shall find that out yourself soon enough..." He audibly sniffed as he tilted his head,

[masteroftitans]

((Go for it, I don't mind. =D Poor Bati's had a really bad day, but, he's not the sort to snap merely because of a mind-reading vampiric canine. XD Edited for a small clarification.))

Having died already that day, Batiatus merely found the sight of a properly Hades-sized canine interesting, and not shocking- even if he was beginning to doubt that Hogwarts was an 'underworld' in any sense he was familiar with. And, as Joachim had but one head, it presumably wasn't Cerberus. He eyed the creature approvingly, death and his sudden relocation failing to prevent his mind from leaping to the remarkable potential of such a beast. Although Batiatus had only trained men to fight in the arena, and not beasts, this sort of beast could be worth something. Animals didn't usually survive the arena, but, this one looked as if it would have an excellent chance

[joachim_armster]

Batiatus' thoughts were leaps and bounds more interesting than what he was saying, and illuminated just what sort of man he was with perfect clarity. A shrewd businessman whose real currency was mortal lives.

And there it was, straight from his own lips. Yes, a lanista.

That he had yet to even flinch spoke volumes-this wasn't a man too stupid or arrogant to be afraid, he was simply a shade brighter and more cunning than the average Sortee who passed through this inane ritual these days. And yet he'd clearly miscalculated somewhere along the line, to show up covered in his own blood, muttering about cocks and expecting to be ushered into hell...

The warg's broad, heavily muscled shoulders shook as he gave a growling laugh, focusing on Batiatus with a keen stare.

"You would make me your slave, hmm? I'm a nobleman of higher rank-and greater power-than many you will encounter here in this silly little establishment." Had been a nobleman, anyway, a few thousand years ago; Batiatus was not the first to contemplate Joachim's potential

[masteroftitans]

((Sorry I'm a bit slow, been a bit under the weather and braindead, and wanting to write a decent tag, not a sucky one. XD))

Batiatus' profession meant that he couldn't flinch- and it was a profession he'd been raised in. His father had owned the ludus before him. Batiatus' own professional plans had required him to temper this trait even further than required within the walls of the ludus, for he'd chosen to aim beyond his position and play the political game. Prior to his unfortunately timed death, he'd finally managed to maneuver circumstances to a position where he had a legitimate chance of reaching the office he so desired- a seat in the Senate. In fact, it had been at the private celebratory games marking the official patronage of the powerful legatus Glaber that his death had occurred

[joachim_armster]

Despite how abrasive and unsubtle Joachim was behaving, he was, in fact, genuinely attempting to play nice in order to make a new friend. He simply had extremely skewed ideas of what constituted acceptable social behaviour-he'd rather forgotten that the inhabitants of Hogwarts tended to react unfavourably to him commenting on their thoughts, since he hadn't been around many people since his buttery return to the castle. Had he only wished to show off, there were a hundred more interesting ways he could have done so: levitating everything and everyone in the room with his mind alone (his usual method of travel in his humanoid form); a flashy demonstration of his magic, which was unlike wizarding magic but no less powerful; shapeshifting, of course

[masteroftitans]

Batiatus' fascination with Joachim's apparent mind-reading skill definitely overrode his unfavorable reactions- he actually noticed that the massive wolf (for he still had no idea that Joachim was a shapeshifter) seemed to be trying to behave in a sociable manner. After all, if a massive wolf felt unsociable, it seemed to Batiatus that it would be behaving more threateningly. Although some might have taken some of Joachim's tone in a ominous manner, it seemed to Batiatus that the creature was boasting, showing off its talents in order to make an ally- after all, Joachim had offered as much, and combined with the display of his unique abilities, had given a very good reason to take him up on it.

But, it wasn't only the obvious potential advantage than a giant mind-reading wolf offered him that inclined Batiatus towards the creature. It was impressive, but, Batiatus also liked the idea of Joachim as a comrade- he would be a truly unique one, the sort that few men could claim. Of course, Batiatus was still thinking of Joachim in canine

[joachim_armster]

A shapeshifting vampire would still be a fairly unique comrade to claim even in a place like Hogwarts, since none of the other vampires who'd passed through or who currently lived there possessed the same abilities, save Alucard-who was technically a dhampir; all the power of a proper vampire without any of the weaknesses, and of course no sparkling either. And Batiatus was pretty much guaranteed to meet him sooner or later if he decided to foster his friendship with Joachim, as Alucard had a tendency to keep a close watch over Joachim to ensure he wasn't 'misbehaving' too badly. There would undoubtedly be some disapproval over Joachim's ideas about helping set up a gladiatorial arena

[masteroftitans]

Batiatus was sure to experience a speechless moment when he learned the true nature of Joachim- he was already damn impressive, even without knowing he was a vampire. Of course, Batiatus would have be educated as to exactly what a vampire was, for in the time he hailed from, myths contained precursors to the concept of vampires at best. Once he did learn what a vampire was, Batiatus was sure to be grateful that he'd found an ally in one, especially when there were several more wandering about the school. The Muggle Studies professor was convinced that he had the best of these, not that he'd been able to rate any of the others. Incidentally, it was an opinion that the Baron would retain, even if introduced to a Joachim in his lovely white-haired humanoid form, the art of which reminds the mun very much of Elric. Pretty as Joachim was, in his humanoid form, he bore a resemblance to a certain attractive, but mad albino