Pale bare feet gently touched the stone rooftop of the Aventine ludus where Kaleesi stood each evening to watch the sunset. Even if she spent the day at the Academy, her brother's villa or even with her father in the upper hills, she always danced her way from rooftop to rooftop back into the Aventine where she could watch the sun reflect across the river as the shipments were brought in across the docks, lanterns and torches were lit to guide the people in the lower hills, and the colors in the sky would glimmer against the sails of departing ships.

Slender white paws stepped gently next to her as she sat down and pulled her knees to her chest, reaching a hand out to caress the soft fur lining the pointed ears of the wolf that sat beside her. Though most wolves, even Scynthian ones, spent their time on the ground, Kaleesi had insisted on bringing Theseus on the roofs with her when they were both very young. She refused to have a wolf who was afraid of heights, though the pup never indicated any such phobia to begin with.

"Cyrie's been looking for you today," her mother's voice called from behind here where a small window had been created especially for her since she often disappeared to the same place - and few were willing to fetch her save for her mother, aunt and cousin.

"I was at the temple of Vesta." Her soft voice spoke without turning to look away from the setting sun.

"They aren't even your Gods," Kalira sighed, stepping out onto the roof with her daughter.

"They are the Gods of my forefathers," she said with a sarcastic smile.

"Gods who've you've forsaken, of your own will mind you," Kalira pointed out.

"It's pretty inside," Kaleesi shrugged her shoulders. "They take in the sick there too. The priestesses are healers," she smiled tenderly.

"You're not . . ." Kalira paused, eyes slightly widening. "Kalee, you're not assisting them in healing are you?" Her tone was worried and Kaleesi immediately picked up on it.

A sigh escaped the young girls lips. Everyone always worried. They worried about all the children equally though, the three born in the year of the great war especially. Some murmured that perhaps their abilities had something to do with what happened, though others believed it was the other way around. Kaleesi however believed that things just happened, not always for a reason or in consequence of something else.

They worried about Adoneus because of his habit of displaying his powers in front of mortals. They worried about Cyrenia because Aliria displayed pyrokinetic abilities at a similar age. And they worried about Kaleesi because she wanted to heal others - but life granted life. One thing could not be given without another taking it's place. And while a fire was easy to put out, a life was not so easy to restore once taken.

"No, I'm not doing anything. I wouldn't reveal myself," she sighed knowing that was her mother's true concern. "You worry too much. You can tell Cyrie that I'm up here." She offered.

"You know one of these days someone is going to notice a giant wolf and a little girl perched on the roofs," Kalira smirked.

Kaleesi turned, her bright violet eyes shined when she smiled. "And who would believe them if they spoke of it?"

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Adoneus Leandros
8/26/2011 10:22:42 am

Adoneus appeared before Cyrenia could make her way up to the roof of the Aventine ludus by mortal foot and hand upon her aunt Kalira's direction, apparently not yet having returned to Cyane's brothel only a few streets away. It was so easy to see the city landscape from up above; he could almost peer in through the windows with his head tilted the right way. He imagined that there were a few Roman politicians and other supposedly upstanding citizens of the republic who would be troubled to learn that fact, though Adoneus knew they were far too busy looking down their noses at all around them to ever bother looking up. Mortals could be such silly creatures.

"Don't you ever get bored admiring the same view?" Adoneus asked half-wryly as he moved across the roof towards Kaleesi, though some part of his question was genuinely curious - as it always was. He found it extraordinarily difficult not to poke at other's brains and motives, friend or stranger, though his lack for tact occasionally caused him some trouble with the latter. "Sunset can't look much different today than it did yesterday," he suggested, yawning as he plopped down beside her and swung his legs over the side of flat roof.

"Spy anything interesting?" he asked her, leaning forward slightly to watch the slowing trickle of people in the streets, making their way home - or to the taverns; perhaps to the brothel. Passingly, Adoneus thought it might be quite fun to follow a person's day from up here, without them ever knowing or noticing. . . though he didn't even have the attention span to consider the idea for more than a few minutes, much less commit to the task - and anyway if he really wanted to he did not need the cover of raised rooftops to track a mortal most discreetly.

Tilting his head far to one side, Adoneus squinted his eyes towards the distance and asked completely seriously, "Do you think I could make a dive into the Tiber from here?"

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Cyrenia Kakos Loire
8/26/2011 10:46:19 am

[b]"Do you think I could make a dive into the Tiber from here?"[/b]

"No, stupid," Cyrenia answered dryly, bare footsteps silent as she approached the pair from behind, rolling her eyes. "If you had more mortal blood in you, you'd squish on the streets like a slug," she giggled, though mostly because she knew the dramatic imagery could never actually come to fruition, before moving to sit by Kaleesi's other side near the edge of the roof, one thin, tanned leg tucked under her while the other dangled lazily over the side of the building.

She'd lost many a shoe the same way - occasionally returned to her by those whose sore skulls or shoulders had caught the lost possessions. Cyrenia smirked slightly thinking of it and peered down to follow the length of the side of the ludus and villa with her eyes, remembering the many times when they'd been younger that the pair, or sometimes trio, had terrified unsuspecting household members or visitors by dangling things from the rooftop at window level, though the loud giggles that followed startled or confused shouts often gave them away quickly no matter how fast they managed to flee through the small window and back indoors to feign innocence.

Unusually, Alecto was not by her side, instead left to feed on a hog from the markets below in the depths of the ludus. Achilles soared between the rooftops, though never indicating that he'd noticed them at all before the brown spotted hawk came to perch on the edge by Cyrenia's side and cawed.

"So where were you today?" she turned her head to ask her cousin as she gently stroked the soft feathers between the bird's folded wings with the back of her index finger. "I was bored! Ali was training all day again," she sighed, understanding of course that her older sister had responsibilities though she still felt entitled to resent them - particularly when she wanted company or entertaining. "And this one gets kind of annoying after awhile," she nodded towards her other, darker-haired cousin on Kaleesi's other side, before leaning fowards slightly to smirk at him teasingly.

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