A/N: Please enjoy the fourth chapter, and thank you again to everyone who has reviewed or favourited or followed! :)
Warnings: Not really much, just mentions of injuries from chariot racing (really not graphic at all), and also mentions of prostitution. I thought I'd better include this in case it offends anyone.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.
Nick and Jeff trailed behind Nick's parents as they walked through the streets. Fortunately for them, they were far enough away that they could talk freely without anything being suspected.
"So, where are we going again?" Jeff asked for about the third time, he was completely in awe of the city around him, and so hadn't been paying much attention to whatever Nick had said to him beforehand.
Nick laughed at the excited expression on Jeff's face whenever something new happened, such as when they'd passed a temple and Jeff had been mesmerised by the brightly coloured statues adorning the front steps.
"We're going to the Circus Maximus," Nick explained.
"The Circus what?" Jeff asked, frowning in confusion.
"The Circus Maximus," Nick repeated, "It's a huge arena for chariot racing, and today is the first day of the Ludi Apollinares."
Jeff just looked more confused.
Everything was suddenly very new to him, and he felt slightly uncomfortable with it all; he felt that he no longer had any control over what happened to him. Fortunately, Nick made him feel safer, Nick understood the city, he'd grown up with it all, and maybe he could teach Jeff to understand it all? Yes, Jeff thought that he would like that.
Nick suddenly noticed Jeff's lost look, so he reached over and grabbed Jeff's hand out of impulse and squeezed it reassuringly.
Jeff jumped at the sudden feel of Nick's warm fingers around his. He forced himself not to blush, and he looked up at Nick shyly to see the other boy smiling at him. And then, almost as soon as Nick's hand had appeared, it disappeared and Nick continued talking.
"The Ludi Apollinares is a festival, they hold events, such as the chariot racing we're about to see, for a week at this time each year," he explained, as Jeff began to nod slowly.
"We never had anything like this at home," Jeff said quietly, his voice falling as he remembered his village, "Everything's so…" His voice trailed off and he gazed around him.
"Overwhelming?" Nick finished for him.
Jeff smiled briefly, although his expression was quickly replaced with terror as they had to jump out of the way to narrowly avoid being trampled by a donkey being driven by three young boys.
As soon as they had passed, Jeff felt incredibly stupid; it was only a donkey, he'd seen a donkey before. Maybe it was just the closed-in nature of Rome's streets that frightened him. Yes, maybe he missed the feeling of being able to look for miles in all directions.
"Jeff, it's okay to be scared," Nick's calm voice again broke through his thoughts and comforted him when he needed it most.
Jeff had never had a proper friend before, and he'd never really known what to expect from a friendship, but if him and Nick were friends, then he was enjoying the experience very much.
"Listen," Nick was continuing to talk again, "We're almost at the Circus now, and we're meeting a few of my friends there, Wes and Sebastian, their fathers are senators like my father."
Jeff paled slightly at the idea of having to socialise with other people. What if they didn't hold the same views as Nick and thought that Jeff should be treated like a slave? Would Nick be able to defend him, or would he be left having to go along with it?
"Jeff, they don't bite," Nick said, "Well, I wouldn't put it past Seb sometimes, but he's harmless really." He saw Jeff frowning in confusion again, so he quickly elaborated. "Seb is, well, you'll see when you meet him. Just don't take anything he says too personally."
Jeff nodded, he could do that. After the events of the last few days, he was starting to learn not to let anything get to him; he hadn't become particularly proficient in it yet, though, he was still a human after all, he still had feelings.
"Nicholas, hurry up!" Nick's mother's voice floated its way back to them, "We don't want to miss anything."
"Coming, Mother!" Nick called back.
He and Jeff started walking a little faster, this time in silence as they neared his parents. His mother barely acknowledged their presence once they'd caught up, and his father had already wandered off to speak to some of his acquaintances.
Another finely dressed woman arrived near them suddenly, addressing Nick's mother.
"We'd better head inside to our seats," she said, "The procession will be along in a minute and we don't want to get too close the peasants." As she spoke, she sneered slightly, and wrinkled her nose disgustedly at the thought of ordinary people.
"Of course not," Nick's mother agreed, "Let us go in. Nicholas, follow me closely, please, goodness knows what sort of unsavoury characters one can find around here."
"Yes, Mother," Nick replied dutifully, as he and Jeff trailed behind the two women.
Jeff gave Nick a questioning look, and then motioned towards the other woman.
"She's Seb's stepmother," Nick explained, "Likes money, and that's about all I know about her, I don't think she has a personality." Jeff stifled a laugh just as the two women turned around.
"Nicholas, keep your slave in check, please," Nick's mother said, glaring at Jeff, who now look absolutely terrified.
"Yes, Mother," Nick repeated, hitting Jeff's arm in warning. Jeff flinched and looked a little hurt, before he remembered that he was supposed to be acting.
Nick's mother looked mildly pacified, before she turned back to Seb's stepmother.
"Hey, Nick!" a loud voice called out, causing both Nick and Jeff to spin around. "Happy birthday, Nicky-boy!"
Nick groaned loudly at the sight of the tall brunette waving his arms a few seats away from them. Jeff wanted to laugh again at the look on Nick's face, but he didn't dare risk being told off again.
"Sit down, Sebastian," the boy next to tall brunette said in an exasperated voice, and Jeff could tell that he'd already said that particularly line a few times. "You're embarrassing Nick, you're embarrassing me and you're embarrassing yourself."
The tall brunette, the infamous Sebastian, shrugged and sat back down, taking to flicking dried fruit at the boy next to him instead, who eventually confiscated the bag.
"Oh, Wesley!" Sebastian pouted, while the other boy just glared at him.
"Come on, we'd better go join them before Sebastian starts singing or something equally embarrassing," Nick said, grinning at his friends.
"He's done that before?" Jeff asked, wide-eyed.
Nick nodded.
"And it was the sort of song that no self-respecting citizen ever wants to hear, I dread to think where he got it from. I'm pretty sure the only reason people put up with him is because his father is the Emperor's best friend."
"No, they put up with me because they love me!" Sebastian cried, patting the stone bench next to him for Nick to sit down.
Nick sat down, pulling Jeff with him.
"Is this okay, me sitting with you, I mean," Jeff asked worriedly.
"Sure," Nick nodded, "I could go and sit with the rest of the population if I wanted to, not that my parents would approve."
"Happy birthday, Nick," the boy on the other side of Sebastian said.
"Thank you, Wes," Nick said, "Guys, this is Jeff, Jeff this Sebastian, and this is Wes."
"Pleasure to meet you, Jeff," Wes and Sebastian said at the same time; Wes sounded genuine, Jeff couldn't tell with Sebastian, the other boy appeared to be shamelessly staring at him and he felt rather uncomfortable.
"You didn't say you were bringing a new friend, Nick," Wes said, looking at his friend curiously.
Nick grimaced and looked slightly ill.
"My father had the slightly mad notion that I'm now a man," he began, which earned a laugh from Sebastian, who then got a slap from Wes, "And so, this morning, he bought me Jeff, as a slave."
For once, Sebastian was speechless, and Jeff had to admit that the twin expressions of shock and horror that Seb and Wes were now wearing were quite amusing.
"But," Nick continued, "Me and Jeff have come to an agreement, we're going to be friends."
Wes nodded.
"Like me and David?" he clarified, to which Nick looked slightly relieved.
"Yes, like you and David," he said.
"So, present time, Nicky-boo?" Sebastian asked, grinning at Nick's reaction to the nickname.
"Be nice, Seb," Wes said, slapping Sebastian again, "It's Nick's birthday."
"Alright," Sebastian said grudgingly, "You go first, Wesley."
Wes rolled his eyes, and pulled out a few rolls of parchment from under the bench.
"I knew you would always need more," he said, "My father said it's the finest he's ever seen."
Nick's eyes lit up in excitement.
"Thank you, Wes!" he cried happily, he'd been needing some new parchment for a few days, and he was dreading the time he would have to ask his parents for some more; no doubt they would ask what it was for, and he wasn't planning on telling them that.
"Alright," Sebastian interrupted briskly, "It's just a few pieces of parchment. I got you a real present, Nicky." Nick looked mildly terrified for a second, and Jeff wondered whether he should worry for Nick's safety, or sanity, or both.
"I hope it's better than last year's present," Wes said, giving Sebastian a warning look.
"Oh, please," Sebastian said, "Of course I outdid myself again."
Wes rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.
"Here you go, Nicky-boo," Seb said, placing a piece of folded parchment in Nick's palm.
"I thought you were mocking me for giving Nick parchment?" Wes frowned, "At least I gave him a few decent sheets."
This time it was Sebastian's turn to roll his eyes.
"Open it, Nick," he said, watching as the smaller brunette boy carefully unfolded the scrap of parchment.
Jeff watched over Nick's shoulder, as the parchment eventually revealed some scribbled note. Jeff shrugged, sorely disappointed, he'd thought that it would be something completely outrageous.
"So, what do you think?" Sebastian asked, a cocky smirk on his face as Nick started silently opening and closing his mouth repeatedly.
"Goodness…Sebastian, seriously? No…ew, Seb, really?" Nick finally managed to choke out. Jeff whipped his head back towards the small brunette at the sound of disgust and embarrassment in his voice.
"What is it?" Wes asked in a bored tone, as though he hadn't expected anything else.
Jeff was fully listening now, wondering what could be so bad about the note.
"It's…er…" Nick blushed deeply and couldn't continue his sentence, so Sebastian happily finished it for him.
"It's only a free 'session' at the best place in town."
The way that he spoke put the word session immediately had Jeff's mind whirring, whatever it was, it definitely wasn't just a session.
Wes raised an eyebrow.
"Where exactly?" he asked.
"Only the best brothel in town," Sebastian clarified, looking very pleased with himself.
Jeff, meanwhile, choked on the air he was breathing in at that very moment, and descended into a coughing fit. Nick gave him an apologetic smile and patted his back until he'd finished choking.
"You idiot!" Wes hissed angrily, slapping Sebastian, "Why would Nick need to go to a brothel?"
"Hey!" Sebastian flinched, rubbing the spot where Wes had hit him, "I'm sorry, alright, I didn't realise he already had Blondie over there, did I?"
"What?!" Nick exclaimed, just as Jeff started choking on air again.
Jeff didn't know what to do, he was pretty sure that if he got any more surprises then he was going to pass out. Did Sebastian really think that was what Nick's father had bought him for?
Wait, what if that was what Nick's father had bought him for? The thought alone made him choke even harder, plus, somewhere to his right he could hear Sebastian cackling with laughter.
"Nice one, Seb," Wes' irritated voice interrupted and he slapped Sebastian yet again.
"Your faces were priceless!" Sebastian was literally howling now, as both Nick and Jeff slowly recovered and glared at him. "But, seriously, Blondie's totally hot, Nicky-boy, I'd…"
He didn't get to finish before Nick had slapped him.
"Seriously?" he asked, holding his cheek, "You too?"
"You deserved it," Wes commented, and then, in the same breath, he said, "Look, the procession's starting."
The four boys craned forward to look as the statues of the gods were carried in, and paraded once around the track.
Jeff had never seen so many colours in one place, all of the participants were dressed in bright colours, while the statues themselves were painted every colour you could imagine. Each one depicted Apollo in a different pose or situation, and Jeff found it fascinating to look at each and every one individually. As they passed, a huge cheer was raised from the crowd, and Jeff suddenly thought he might be crushed by the wave of noise.
As soon as the procession had retreated, they began bringing out the chariots for the first race, and Jeff leaned even further forward to watch them. First, the charioteers and the slaves of the Circus led out the horses, while other hurried behind with the chariots. Then, once they were in the starting gate, they attached the chariot to the horses, and the charioteer himself climbed up and strapped himself in. The slaves then handed them their helmets, and then all they had to do was wait for the Emperor to signal the start of the race.
"We support the Greens," Nick explained to Jeff, "There are three other teams, the Blues, the Reds and the Whites." Jeff nodded, trying to take it all in.
"We only support the Greens because the Emperor does," Sebastian muttered, "And therefore our fathers do, and then they make us as well."
"Seb, shh," Wes hushed his friend, knowing full well that they couldn't speak out of turn about the Emperor, especially since they were surrounded by a lot of senators.
Even from the great height that they were at, Jeff could see the horses were starting to get agitated, and he wondered when the race would start.
"Why don't they just let them go?" he whispered to Nick.
"They have to wait for the Emperor to give the signal," Nick whispered back, pointing at a grand box further down the stadium to them, "There's the Emperor now."
Jeff peered at the man emerging from the shade of the box, trying to gauge what he looked like. Jeff was not impressed, to say the least. He'd been expecting someone tall and muscular, with an imposing presence who ruled the Empire firmly but justly. Even his first impression of Nero was instantly negative; the young Emperor was only of average height, quite fat and generally rather weak looking. Jeff frowned, suddenly the whole idea of Rome had become a lot less fantastic than Jeff had been taught to believe by his parents.
The Emperor held out a red cloth, and Nick nudged Jeff, motioning for him to watch the horses as they left the starting blocks. The red cloth was dropped at the same time that a chorus of trumpets sounded, which left Jeff with a loud ringing in his ears, and then the chariots were off, racing around the track.
Jeff watched in horror as the first chariot to crash flipped over on itself, flinging its driver into the air, before plunging him into the dust, where he was promptly trampled by the next load of horses. Jeff felt a little sick as he watched, but morbid curiosity stopped him from looking away; although he found a little comfort in the fact that the man was mostly likely to have already been dead when the chariot flipped over, and therefore did not have to suffer the trampling.
As the race progressed further, and they neared the seventh and final lap, the crashes had become more brutal as there was a desperate and frantic rush to come in first place. Every time one happened, Jeff found himself hoping that the driver would get up and walk away; some did, some didn't.
Right at the last turn, one of the chariots rounded the corner too sharply, and veered up the centre wall, flipping the chariot over onto the one behind it. Jeff bit down on his hand to stop the cry that almost escaped him. While, subconsciously, his other hand found Nick's and grasped it tightly, looking for some reassurance.
Nick glanced at Jeff, down at their clasped hands, and then back up at Jeff.
"It's alright, Jeff," he said, "You don't have to watch."
Jeff flashed Nick a quick thank you smile, and they both turned back around just in time to see one of the charioteers from the Green team win. The Circus erupted into cheers as Nick smiled happily.
"That'll put the Emperor in a good mood for the rest of the afternoon," he said, "I think this is going to be a good day."
Despite worrying about the rest of the chariot races, Jeff couldn't help but smile back at Nick.
Meanwhile, Sebastian and Wes were watching them, small knowing smiles on their faces.
"There is so something going on with them," Sebastian said, smirking at the oblivious pair.
"Maybe," Wes said.
"Oh, no, it's definitely, not maybe," Sebastian said, looking mightily pleased with himself, which was ruined as Wes reached across and slapped him.
"Ow," Sebastian said, "What was that for?"
"Oh, sorry, it's just a habit," Wes said, and shrugged.
"Habit?!"
"Yeah, you're very slapable."
"What?!"
Wes just leaned back in his seat and grinned at his friend's horrified expression; and the fact that there was a very visible outline of a hand print on his face.
Sebastian was so fun to annoy sometimes.
A/N: Thank you to the wonderful Eraman for some of the ideas in this chapter, such as Sebastian's present for Nick, the idea of Sebastian being repeatedly slapped, and also for the last bit of dialogue! :)
Please review and tell me what you think! I'd love to hear what you have to say! :) Or ask me any questions about the story, characters or historical aspects! :)