Rome, Italy - Monday

[begmetwice]

So, in the end, Irene's incredibly convincing arguments of, 'Why don't we take a trip somewhere with a little culture and also where I won't come back with lice?' had resulted in actual travel negotiations, and a subsequent set of portals to a destination rich in culture, history, weaponry, and food. (And so help her, Irene would pay a guy as many euro as it took to get some arancini on a stick, at some point.)

Shortly before noon (Italian time, anyway -- it was still early morning in Fandom, as time zones were a fickle mistress even without involving portal nonsense), Amaya and Irene were checked into a hotel in Monti that met everyone's (ahem) standards, specifically chosen for its proximity to -- well. The incredibly, incredibly hard to miss ancient arena in the heart of the city, whose shadow they were now -- unavoidably, again due to its size -- standing in.

"So there's obviously loads to do." Irene was consulting her mobile, as though she needed the refresher more than she actually did. "If you fancy a museum, there's plenty. And if you want to try to catch a glimpse of the Pope or visit the Vatican, it's just over that-a-way, but I'll have to change." The Vatican remained, tragically, demanding as far as covered-up fashion, and Irene had dressed for sunny tourism today, from her sunglasses down to her -- yes, really -- flat shoes.

Though, of course, the necklace she was wearing was mostly because she'd just gotten it as a birthday gift. From someone. She had no idea whom, of course, but she thought she'd wear it a whole lot for Amaya anyway. You know? Maybe it would make her jealous or something!

"Or we could take a look at that," she added, jerking her thumb at the Colosseum as though she'd barely noticed it, and hiding a smile poorly.

[for the other birthday girl on holiday with her!]

Comments

[special_rabbit]

You know, petunias just so happened to be Amaya's favorite flower, by pure and complete coincidence, of course, so that must have been the reason she had her own barely concealed smile on her face every time she glanced over at Irene (which was embarrassingly often) and the little gold detailing just so happened to catch the light just right.

Definitely had to be the reason.

But her attention shifted toward the hitch of Irene's thumb for the time being.

"Ah, what?" she asked. "That dinky old thing? Barely even noticed it!"

But her tone was almost as bright as her eyes with curiosity.

"But I guess it wouldn't hurt to just get it out of the way real quick."

[begmetwice]

Well, the necklace had obviously been beautifully made by someone's careful hands, and if there was anything Irene knew about Amaya, it was that she was a great admirer of good craftsmanship. So it just had to be that, right? Obviously!

"Yeah?" Irene wasn't bothering to try to hide her grin, now. "I mean, it is the popular thing to do, but I also have to think someone with your expertise, darling, is going to bring engineering and weaponry thoughts to this party that your average bear might not have."

Not to mention that Amaya would also have the context to actually appreciate how much had been accomplished here before anyone had so much as figured out, say, electricity.

[special_rabbit]

"Well, it'd just be a shame, wouldn't it?" Amaya mused, ungloved hand (because when in modern Rome, dress as the moderns do!) to her chin for extra emphasis on the thought she was giving it. "If we came all this way and didn't even do the popular thing? Maybe just a quick peek," ahahaha, "and then maybe something a little more off the beaten path?"

[begmetwice]

Irene paused, biting her lower lip as though a thought had just occurred, and actually stood on her toes as though trying to see something -- though, logically, she knew she likely couldn't spot what she was looking for from here.

"So, normal admission," she told Amaya, pointing vaguely towards a queue lining the street into the massive structure, "takes you up through the stands where the spectators would have watched, right? And that's all fun and good and all but I'm pretty sure there's a way to go into the tunnels and get a look at where they used to stash the weapons and tigers and gladiators and all that, too."

It wasn't even illegal or sneaky or anything, either! Expensive, sure, but that was normal.

[special_rabbit]

Amaya had a moment of straightening and lifting her chin to try and spot what Irene might have been looking for, as if she'd have even the slightest idea of what to search for.

"Oh, well!" She settled back on her heels with a snort. "We're obviously doing that! You think they still got any of those old weapons in there, too?"

A beat.

"Or those old tigers?"

What?

[begmetwice]

"Maybe. I know that the arena floor itself is a reproduction," Irene told her, starting to wander in the direction she was pretty sure led to the alternate entrance, and those tunnels (though the last time she'd done this, she'd paid in lira rather than euro, so that photographic memory of hers was doing a bit of work.) "But the tunnels and the structure is all original, I think, so I wouldn't be particularly shocked if they've got some kind of old...oh, I don't know. What would a they have even used, you suppose? Pikes? Ballistas? Just swords?"

This was, in part, faux confusion. She liked giving Amaya openings to...be Amaya about things.

(She also, for the record, knew it was ballistae.)

[special_rabbit]

"Oh, I do love a good balista," Amaya noted, enough so to put that slightly extra pep in her step as she followed Irene's lead toward the Coliseum, "though if they were using a lot of those, that definitely explains the state of the place! No, we're likely to see a fair share of gladiuses, short daggers, spears....tridents, if you'd believe it, especially fascinas. I doubt any retes would have survived this long, what on account of the organic fibers of the nets. You know, I was just reading the) other day..."

Enjoy the ensuing historical weaponry babble, Irene. You were literally asking for it.

[begmetwice]

"Is a rete some kind of mounted net?" Irene wondered, and you know what was just a great feature of sunglasses? How you'd really have to actually look, pretty carefully, to see the actual hearts that her eyes had become behind them. "They might've made repros." Probably not accurate enough, though!

She also made a little note to make sure they found some kind of English-speaking (or written) help, somewhere in there, though she doubted that would be any kind of an issue. But she absolutely didn't want Amaya to miss anything just because her verbal Italian wasn't equipped with a whole ancient weaponry vocabulary.

[special_rabbit]

"Weighted nets!" Amaya offered,clearly eager to explain further. "That you use to just...toss over your enemy, tangle 'em up a bit, ensnare 'em, maybe drag 'em around some. Probably worked pretty well on the tigers, too, now that I think about it. Bit of the coward's way to do it, though, if you ask me. Use a sword, like a real gladiator! You're a fighter, not a fisherman!"

A beat.

"Although I have seen a few fishermen put on some pretty epic fights back home. Usually with the fish themselves. And the merfolk, but that was more awkward than anything else."

[begmetwice]

"Might make a nice obstacle for the gladiators themselves, having to fight through a net," Irene offered, since that was part of the spectatorial fun ("fun") of this particular ancient sporting event. And then, too casual to actually be as casual as it sounded -- "I'd like to see where you're from, sometime. If only because I've never actually seen a mer...folk."

Was that correct in the singular? Merperson, maybe?

[special_rabbit]

"Might take a bit of doing," Amaya admitted. "They mostly like to keep to themselves, and who can blame them? I probably wouldn't want much to do with dry land if I had the run of all the oceans and seas, either. Won't find any in Daventry, that's for sure, but back where I grew up? In Llewdor? Good luck keeping them away from those pirate ships. And also out by Timor....Eastern Kolyma...Tanalore...Oh, you'd like Tanalore, it's the sort of place with fancy drinks in coconuts if you keep by the shore...."

Her head tilted thoughtfully as she struck on something, and, thankfully, the rambling seemed to cushion it enough to keep her from second-guessing it before it just came right out with the rest of it.

"You know," she said, "maybe the next time we take one of these, it should be back to my world. Accomodations'll be a bit of a downgrade," there was a faint grin there, "but I'd say I do actually owe you one in that regard, don't I?"

[begmetwice]

"I do like fancy drinks in coconuts, hmmm," Irene told her, returning that grin (though there was nothing faint about hers.) Impulsively, she reached over to give Amaya's forearm a little squeeze as they walked, near her elbow. "I've also met hardly any pirates."

Which was not none, but still! She really was the sort of person who'd get along with pirates!

"Which might make it worth a downgrade in accommodations. I've slept rough before, I'll probably live." It would unquestionably be worth it, no matter what pouting she might do in the moment.

[special_rabbit]

This would all definitely catch up with Amaya eventually, albeit much, much later, when Irene was woken up in the middle of the night not by snoring, but, in fact, by an "Ah, zards," followed by a desperate attempt to convince her that she just realized she wasn't sure if she'd remembered to set the timer on the sprinklers for the plants in the greenhouse...

But, for the time being, she was just a mite distracted by that small squeeze on her arm, near her elbow, where it was slightly more difficult to justify it as just a sudden urge on Irene's part to appreciate a nice bicep.

"Probably," Amaya agreed, her grin a little more obvious now. "But, you know, I might be able to sneak a generator along for the ride, too, so you're not entirely lacking all your usual creature comforts."

[begmetwice]

No, it was more of a sudden inclination towards hand-holding, or something that would likely broker less resistance, really. Admire her restraint!

And really, whomst among us hasn't had a middle-of-the-night, 'Ah, zards,' realization? On holiday, after a day of actually being intentionally ambulatory and heart-eyeing behind her sunglasses, that midnight realization would likely fly right under Irene's sleepy radar.

At least for a guaranteed day or two, anyway.

"See, I always wonder about that sort of thing," Irene noted thoughtfully. "It won't upset some sort of balance of technology available there if I bring my mobile?" Not that it would work properly, but still. "Or accidentally leave behind a bottle of nail varnish, thus giving the fine folks of Llewdor access to polymers that probably don't exist there?"

Something something prime directive?

[special_rabbit]

"Ah, zards," said Amaya, a very different kind of zards that what would be uttered later, although her expression suddenly seemed stricken. "Now I'm thinking of what would happen if the goblins back home discovered na polish.

"But I was already planning on upsetting something with technology if I ever wind up back that way for a bit." She shrugged. "You think I'm not going to know about something about electricity and not try to seem what kind of shiny gold coins I can shake of it?"