Fic: The Haunting of Lucius Vorenus
This too was written for trickortreatex.
Title: The Haunting of Lucius Vorenus
Rating: R?
Characters: Vorenus, Pullo, Vorena the Elder, Vorena the Younger, Lucius
Pairing: Vorenus/Antony
Word Count: 1,225
Summary: Lucius Vorenus's dreams are haunted by Mark Antony.
"Jupiter's in a mood today," Pullo commented.
The whole world seemed to shake as thunder crashed again. It was a dark and stormy morning, the kind that made a man wish he could stay in his bed. Vorenus could have stayed in bed, as he was still recupperating from his wounds and the long journey home, but it seemed lazy and undisciplined.
"And so are you from the look of your face," added Pullo.
"Didn't you sleep well, Father?" his elder daughter asked. She looked concerned.
Vorenus took a moment to be grateful that he'd lived to see his relationship with Vorena mended. It was not something he'd dared to hope for, although he had spent many hot, sleepless nights in Egpyt thinking of all that he might have done differently.
"I am troubled by disturbing dreams," he admitted.
"Of Mother?" his younger daughter ventured. She and the boy Lucius had stopped their game of knucklebones and were listening.
"Of Mark Antony." Vorenus exhaled heavily. "His shade haunts my dreams."
"It was the Egpytian woman's fault," Vorena said loyally. She knew how much Vorenus had respected Antony as a commander.
It was indeed Cleopatra's fault that Antony had taken his own life instead of fleeing to fight another day. But the war was not her fault. Antony would never have consented to be ruled by a boy like Octavian. Vorenus wanted to blame Cleopatra for the state Antony had descended into before his death, but that was not her fault either. His idle years in Egpyt had only given Antony the opportunity to display what debauchery had always been within.
"Lemuralia's not but a few days away," Pullo said. "Antony's ghost will cease haunting you after the festival."
"Tell us about the dream and I'll ask at the temple what it means," Vorena offered.
Vorenus had almost forgotten about Lemuria. It had been too long since he'd last observed proper Roman rites. From Antony on down, the men he'd served with in Egpyt had happily taken on Egpytian ways. It would be good to live as an honest Roman citizen again.
He thought about how best to explain what he dreamt night after night. It was not the sort of thing a man spoke of to his daughter. But Vorena had been enslaved and made a whore and there was no going back or pretending it had never happened.
"I dream I am back in Egpyt. It's night and there's a feast. Cleopatra's courtiers gorge themselves on food and wine and on the flesh of slaves." It always felt so real. In his dreams he could smell the incense and hear the music as acutely as if he really was back in Egpyt.
"But Antony is not there." Which should alert him to the fact that he was in a dream, but it never did.
"I find him alone in his quarters. I give my report, but he does not seem interested." It had become rare to get Antony alone or solely in the company of Romans in the last years, but his disinterest in his responsibilities was unfortunately familiar.
"He approaches me with a certain look about him, but I remain standing at attention."
Vorenus took a sip of wine to wet his tongue before he continued. "He speaks my name as if mocking me. He says that I need to be sexually serviced."
"You need to get your cock sucked, Vorenus. Stop being so uptight."
"Sir, it will lead to a breakdown in discipline if-"
"Enough, you're boring me. You handle it if you think it's that serious."
The scene had repeated many times during their years in Egypt. Once Antony had actually called in a slave - a male one - and ordered him to suck Vorenus's cock. It was the only time Vorenus had ever turned his back and walked away from a superior without permission to be dismissed.
"Then he kisses me. In the manner one kisses a lover."
His family and Pullo were watching him with wide eyes. Vorenus forced himself to go on. "In these dreams I do not stop it, as I certainly would if it happened in the waking world."
"I allow Antony to remove my armor. He kisses my face and neck, and whispers words to me that I never remember when I wake up."
"He... he touches me." Vorenus could not speak of it in detail, not to anyone and certainly not to his children.
Pullo looked bemused and Vorena troubled. They assumed that was all when Vorenus did not speak further.
"Well, it's no wonder his ghost is restless after his body was paraded like that," Pullo said.
"I wish he would haunt Octavian instead of me," Vorenus groused.
Vorena brought him an amulet the following day. But it did not work. Antony came to him that night the same as the night before. He didn't tell his daughter though. He found that he wanted her to believe she had helped him.
However it was worse the next night. It went further than before. Antony did not merely cup and knead his arse; this time he slipped his fingers between the cheeks and stroked him there.
"No," Vorenus protested. He was no boy or slave. A Roman man did not allow himself to be penetrated.
But Antony did not heed him. He slid a finger inside him. Then Antony was behind him and he could feel something much bigger forcing its way into him. Vorenus wailed in response to the violation.
He awoke being shaken by a frightened Vorena.
"Father, I've never heard you cry out in your sleep before."
It was only him and the children tonight. Pullo had gone to return Caesarion, who'd run away from the blacksmith they'd apprenticed him to. Perhaps that was why Antony's shade had been so bold tonight.
"Daughter." Voreus embraced her tightly. He remembered one of the rare times he'd been home when she was a little girl and she'd woken from a bad dream calling for her mother. He'd told Niobe to stay in bed and he'd gone to her instead. He wondered if she could remember.
"I don't understand why Antony torments you so. You were loyal to him to the end. Ought he not to torment his enemies instead of his friend?"
Vorenus did not understand either. Perhaps the dead did not think like the living.
The other two were standing by the door and young Lucius edged a bit closer. "It's almost midnight."
"Quick, fetch the beans," Vorena commanded her younger sister. "Hurry, Father," she said to Vorenus.
Vorenus walked throughout the house throwing black beans over his shoulder, while his children banged the pots together. They urged the dead to leave them be.
Afterward they drank some water and the children (Vorena was a woman but she would always be his child) went back to their beds. Vorenus remained seated beside the hearth for the rest of the night. If Antony's shade had not been driven away then he would have to buy a rooster and sacrifice it and hope that appeased him. And if that didn't work either, he'd consult a priest and do whatever he advised.
He hadn't given in to Antony when the man had been alive and he wasn't going to give in to his ghost.
Title: The Haunting of Lucius Vorenus
Rating: R?
Characters: Vorenus, Pullo, Vorena the Elder, Vorena the Younger, Lucius
Pairing: Vorenus/Antony
Word Count: 1,225
Summary: Lucius Vorenus's dreams are haunted by Mark Antony.
"Jupiter's in a mood today," Pullo commented.
The whole world seemed to shake as thunder crashed again. It was a dark and stormy morning, the kind that made a man wish he could stay in his bed. Vorenus could have stayed in bed, as he was still recupperating from his wounds and the long journey home, but it seemed lazy and undisciplined.
"And so are you from the look of your face," added Pullo.
"Didn't you sleep well, Father?" his elder daughter asked. She looked concerned.
Vorenus took a moment to be grateful that he'd lived to see his relationship with Vorena mended. It was not something he'd dared to hope for, although he had spent many hot, sleepless nights in Egpyt thinking of all that he might have done differently.
"I am troubled by disturbing dreams," he admitted.
"Of Mother?" his younger daughter ventured. She and the boy Lucius had stopped their game of knucklebones and were listening.
"Of Mark Antony." Vorenus exhaled heavily. "His shade haunts my dreams."
"It was the Egpytian woman's fault," Vorena said loyally. She knew how much Vorenus had respected Antony as a commander.
It was indeed Cleopatra's fault that Antony had taken his own life instead of fleeing to fight another day. But the war was not her fault. Antony would never have consented to be ruled by a boy like Octavian. Vorenus wanted to blame Cleopatra for the state Antony had descended into before his death, but that was not her fault either. His idle years in Egpyt had only given Antony the opportunity to display what debauchery had always been within.
"Lemuralia's not but a few days away," Pullo said. "Antony's ghost will cease haunting you after the festival."
"Tell us about the dream and I'll ask at the temple what it means," Vorena offered.
Vorenus had almost forgotten about Lemuria. It had been too long since he'd last observed proper Roman rites. From Antony on down, the men he'd served with in Egpyt had happily taken on Egpytian ways. It would be good to live as an honest Roman citizen again.
He thought about how best to explain what he dreamt night after night. It was not the sort of thing a man spoke of to his daughter. But Vorena had been enslaved and made a whore and there was no going back or pretending it had never happened.
"I dream I am back in Egpyt. It's night and there's a feast. Cleopatra's courtiers gorge themselves on food and wine and on the flesh of slaves." It always felt so real. In his dreams he could smell the incense and hear the music as acutely as if he really was back in Egpyt.
"But Antony is not there." Which should alert him to the fact that he was in a dream, but it never did.
"I find him alone in his quarters. I give my report, but he does not seem interested." It had become rare to get Antony alone or solely in the company of Romans in the last years, but his disinterest in his responsibilities was unfortunately familiar.
"He approaches me with a certain look about him, but I remain standing at attention."
Vorenus took a sip of wine to wet his tongue before he continued. "He speaks my name as if mocking me. He says that I need to be sexually serviced."
"You need to get your cock sucked, Vorenus. Stop being so uptight."
"Sir, it will lead to a breakdown in discipline if-"
"Enough, you're boring me. You handle it if you think it's that serious."
The scene had repeated many times during their years in Egypt. Once Antony had actually called in a slave - a male one - and ordered him to suck Vorenus's cock. It was the only time Vorenus had ever turned his back and walked away from a superior without permission to be dismissed.
"Then he kisses me. In the manner one kisses a lover."
His family and Pullo were watching him with wide eyes. Vorenus forced himself to go on. "In these dreams I do not stop it, as I certainly would if it happened in the waking world."
"I allow Antony to remove my armor. He kisses my face and neck, and whispers words to me that I never remember when I wake up."
"He... he touches me." Vorenus could not speak of it in detail, not to anyone and certainly not to his children.
Pullo looked bemused and Vorena troubled. They assumed that was all when Vorenus did not speak further.
"Well, it's no wonder his ghost is restless after his body was paraded like that," Pullo said.
"I wish he would haunt Octavian instead of me," Vorenus groused.
Vorena brought him an amulet the following day. But it did not work. Antony came to him that night the same as the night before. He didn't tell his daughter though. He found that he wanted her to believe she had helped him.
However it was worse the next night. It went further than before. Antony did not merely cup and knead his arse; this time he slipped his fingers between the cheeks and stroked him there.
"No," Vorenus protested. He was no boy or slave. A Roman man did not allow himself to be penetrated.
But Antony did not heed him. He slid a finger inside him. Then Antony was behind him and he could feel something much bigger forcing its way into him. Vorenus wailed in response to the violation.
He awoke being shaken by a frightened Vorena.
"Father, I've never heard you cry out in your sleep before."
It was only him and the children tonight. Pullo had gone to return Caesarion, who'd run away from the blacksmith they'd apprenticed him to. Perhaps that was why Antony's shade had been so bold tonight.
"Daughter." Voreus embraced her tightly. He remembered one of the rare times he'd been home when she was a little girl and she'd woken from a bad dream calling for her mother. He'd told Niobe to stay in bed and he'd gone to her instead. He wondered if she could remember.
"I don't understand why Antony torments you so. You were loyal to him to the end. Ought he not to torment his enemies instead of his friend?"
Vorenus did not understand either. Perhaps the dead did not think like the living.
The other two were standing by the door and young Lucius edged a bit closer. "It's almost midnight."
"Quick, fetch the beans," Vorena commanded her younger sister. "Hurry, Father," she said to Vorenus.
Vorenus walked throughout the house throwing black beans over his shoulder, while his children banged the pots together. They urged the dead to leave them be.
Afterward they drank some water and the children (Vorena was a woman but she would always be his child) went back to their beds. Vorenus remained seated beside the hearth for the rest of the night. If Antony's shade had not been driven away then he would have to buy a rooster and sacrifice it and hope that appeased him. And if that didn't work either, he'd consult a priest and do whatever he advised.
He hadn't given in to Antony when the man had been alive and he wasn't going to give in to his ghost.