OMG, snippet party...
Feb. 25th, 2010 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sweetprinceI've been having so much trouble finishing my fics, so you know what that means? Gimme some prompts and I'll reply with snippets. Any fandom I've participated in, although only AU prompts for J2. You can even request bits from this crazy Gladiator fic that I will never finish below...
He’s Suione. The man in the ring. Tall, with his blond hair shorn short. Nate doesn’t understand anything about the games, but he knows the Suione is good. He clips the Baktrian fighter in the jaw with the hilt of his sword and then dumps him in the sand. The crowd roars and the Suione bends down and rips out his throat, raising up again with crimson stained fists. Nate drops his eyes, and when he raises them up again he finds the Suione staring right into his box, gaze arrowing straight through him.
“Is he looking at me?” Nate’s sister breathes, grabbing at his elbow. “He’s so strong and graceful in form.”
“Could be,” Nate says softly, unable to look away from Brad.
*
Nate agrees with great reluctance to go with his friends to the Ludus Magnus. He’s never had much stomach for gladiators, but Servillius and Clodius won’t stop badgering him until he agrees to come. Nate sighs, and allows himself to be dragged out.
The ludus is saturated with the smell of sweat. They’re quickly shown the gallery by a circumspect slave, and Clodius and Servillius laugh and joke with each other, wondering if the Barbarian’s even had the facility to speak. Nate’s only half paying attention, but he doesn’t know why he’s surprised to see the Suione, running through forms in the practice ring with a wooden sword. He stops, watching the way the Suione’s muscles bunch and shift under his oiled skin.
“I see that the Suione has caught the young tribune’s eye,” the master of the ludus says, he sticks his tongue in his cheek and turns to the slave, “Summon Brad.”
Nate colors. “No, please, I importune you not to…”
His protests fall on deaf ears.
-More Winery!AU for
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
pjvilar (from this story Here)-Horrible First Date (from FBI!Nate/Cop!Brad 'verse) for
amberlynne-More Gladiator!Brad and Tribune!Nate for
alethialia-Sci-Fi AU: AI Brad for
oxoniensis-Brad/Nate, hottest day of the year for
soul_cake_duck-High School AU, Brad in military school for
strangie-More Gladiator!AU for
melloniel-Winery!AU: Brad's History for
bijoux-Brad/Nate Pre-Kuwait, Pre-Slash for
jujubinha-Brad/Nate, Cuddly Bear for
tikiaceae
Gladiator!Brad Part 1
Date: 2010-02-27 08:40 pm (UTC)So let’s say that Nate’s sister does something stupid the next time they go see the games and somehow the timely intervention of Brad saves her life, so as a reward Nate’s dad purchases Brad as a household slave and as a bodyguard for Nate’s sister. Because, you know, Nate could protect her, but the next time Nate’s legion goes off conquering he has to leave and obviously can’t take her with him. Also, he is a very important man and must go off time-wasting with other wastrels of the senatorial class. Thus, enter Brad, the bodyguard.
*
There were a good number of young men in the domus aside from Nate himself, but the sudden importation of the Suione—Brad, the lanista had called him—caused a stir. He was one of the tallest men any of them had ever beheld. Nate had only seen taller off the African coast.
He kept stumbling upon him, standing to the side, taciturn and still. He seemed so curious, unlike anybody Nate had ever met. He found Brad’s steel-eyed gaze slightly daunting. Nearly every time he saw him Nate was compelled to ask Brad about himself, but every time he remembered the awkward audience at the ludus, Brad standing before him, arms held to his sides, like he was horse flesh on display. The thought made his stomach turn.
He walked out onto the peristyle seeking some sun and found Brad engaged in a near silent game of tabula with his adoring sister. He backed right out again onto the hem of his mother’s dress. “Nate, what is the meaning of this?” she said, tugging her skirts away from his feet. Two slaves reached out to straighten the stola he’d pulled into disarray.
He bit his lip. “I apologize, I find myself out of sorts.”
She batted the slaves away and shot him a hard look. “You’ve been out sorts for nearly a fortnight. Whatever has possessed you to wander around like a timid rabbit?”
“I…” he didn’t answer quickly enough.
She looked past him at the little garden terrace where Brad and Julia were playing. “Is it the Suione?”
“No—”
“You faced down Decebalus’s warrior hoards. Surely you aren’t unnerved by a simple gladiator?”
“Mother, I do not fear him, he simply—I am unsure of his measure.”
She nodded. “I fear little Julia is in love.”
Nate sighed.
His mother’s eyes sharpened upon him. “Try to master yourself. We have so little time before you leave us for Petra.”
Nate spread his hands before him in supplication and made a quick exit.
A few days later Nate found himself unable to sleep, he finally gave when with the weak dawn light streamed in through his window. He pulled on a simple tunic, two thick red vertical stripes down the fabric indicating his status as part of the senatorial class. The domus was deathly silent. Everybody else was safely ensconced in their beds.
When he went out into the atrium, he found Brad, clad only in subligaculum, running through sword formations on the fine sand. His body shone with sweat and he seemed so engrossed, moving with a quickness that his size should’ve made impossible. His two swords seemed to spin around him. Nate must’ve made some sound, because Brad’s sword arm dropped back to his side and he rotated to face Nate.
“Sorry,” Nate said and then cursed himself silently. He hardly needed to apologize to a slave in his own home.
Brad dipped his head and stepped back, ceding Nate space on the sand. Nate hesitated for a moment and then stepped off the slate tile to join him. It couldn’t hurt anybody to train with Brad, maybe he would even tire himself enough for rest. He ran through a few quick stretches and rotated his shoulders to loosen them. Everything felt stiff and tight. He didn’t know whether it was nerves or poor rest. He kept his back turned to Brad, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to concentrate at all if he looked at him.
Re: Gladiator!Brad Part 2
Date: 2010-02-27 08:41 pm (UTC)Nate caught his breath and turned to look over his shoulder at him. He could lie, but that would only make him a fool in the face of what they both knew well. “Yes.”
“Julia speaks much of your exploits. She says they expect you to be made praetor soon and be given command of your own legion,” Brad replied. “Surely you cannot be afraid of my blade.”
Nate laughed, rotating fully around to face him. “I am not afraid of your blade, Suione.”
“Really,” Brad said dryly with a small smile.
Nate held out a hand for one of Brad’s swords. Brad handed it over wordlessly and then struck up a defensive posture with the other. Nate lifted his chin and tested the weight and balance of the wooden weapon before nodding. He struck first, a test swipe that Brad caught with his sword just above his chest.
“Not bad,” he said with tilted head. Nate rolled his eyes and traded a series of quick blows as Brad pressed in. Brad had the advantage of both strength and reach, but Nate was more agile. They fought playfully but intently, neither holding an advantage for long. Brad had an untheatrical utilitarian style when he wasn’t fighting in the ring and he appeared tireless. Nate wiped sweat out of his eyes and only narrowly escaped being smacked with the flat of Brad’s blade. He deflected the blow and struck back, Brad’s parry strong enough to rattle his arm. Brad raised his brows at Nate’s expression.
Nate narrowed his eyes, and stepped back, giving himself a moment, before pressing in again with a flurry of strikes. Brad defended himself, finally appearing to lose ground. Nate feinted with his sword and then followed it with an open-fisted strike to Brad’s chest that knocked him to the sand. He knelt over him, ready to put the sword to his throat, but Brad kicked out from under him. The world spun around him and he found himself on his back, wrists pinned to the sand, with Brad leaning over him.
He breathed hard, blinking up into Brad’s impenetrable blue gaze. He was helpless in the face of Brad’s wrestling tactics. Brad shifted and his thigh lined up perfectly with Nate’s sudden awkward erection. It forced a hiss out of Nate’s mouth and he could feel his face flame up.
“Ah,” Brad said, like suddenly he understood everything. He whispered, “Do you yield?”
“Yes,” Nate replied softly, desperately wanting to shut his eyes against Brad’s unreadable stare, but unwilling to surrender that ground as well. Brad leaned down and pressed their mouths together, catching Nate’s startled outward breath in his mouth. He nibbled on Nate’s lower lip hard enough to cause pain, but than smoothed it with the flat of his tongue. Nate moaned and tipped his head back further on his neck, straining for more.
Brad pushed his tongue into Nate’s mouth and let go of one Nate’s wrists to cup his jaw. Nate sighed and arched up against him. He dragged his freed hand along the groove down Brad’s back, settling his fingertips at the dimples above Brad’s spine, pressing down to push their hips closer together. Brad made an agonized sound and tore his mouth away.
Nate’s eyelids fluttered over his eyes, and when he finally focused he found Brad staring down at him, face flushed and eyes glassy. Nate was breathing hard, heartbeat pounding in his head. Brad lashes dipped down against his cheek and he reached one long fingered hand out to run tentative fingers along Nate’s swollen lower lip. The light touch burned and Nate shut his eyes and dropped his cheek back to the sand. Brad lingered a moment longer and then rolled off of him. He got to his feet, back to Nate, hitching one of the fallen swords up from the sand. Nate was slower to get up.
“Forgive the impropriety,” Brad said softly, muscles in his shoulders tense.
Nate swallowed and said, “I see no impropriety to forgive.” He straightened his tunic and disappeared back to his room.
Re: Gladiator!Brad Part 2
Date: 2010-02-27 10:07 pm (UTC)guh, this is such an awesome universe :D
Re: Gladiator!Brad Part 2
Date: 2010-02-28 03:34 am (UTC)Re: Gladiator!Brad Part 2
Date: 2010-02-28 04:15 am (UTC)Edited so Brad doesn't come kill me for calling him a grunt!
Re: Gladiator!Brad Part 2
Date: 2010-02-28 07:43 am (UTC)Also, randomly, love the Neverending Story icon!
Ignore my complete and utter fuckery of accepted historical fact. I couldn’t very well have Nate sneaking into the ludus magnus to get his rocks off, could I? Ugh, setting this in the time of empire was an ill-conceived notion.
AHAHAHA! The sins we commit for the hotness; I APPROVE.
Thus, enter Brad, the bodyguard.
Hee! Well, we all know I do love me some bodyguard!Brad.
every time he remembered the awkward audience at the ludus, Brad standing before him, arms held to his sides, like he was horse flesh on display. The thought made his stomach turn.
Aww, of course it did. I loved this bit - it takes a moment we didn't even see and believably shades their interactions with it.
Brad said suddenly in unaccented latin, “I make you uncomfortable.”
LOVE! Especially that Brad is not only pushing the boundaries of his position, but also calling Nate on his shit.
“I am not afraid of your blade, Suione.”
“Really,” Brad said dryly with a small smile.
Ha! I could just hear Brad's tone of voice. Perfect.
Brad raised his brows at Nate’s expression.
Nate narrowed his eyes, and stepped back, giving himself a moment, before pressing in again with a flurry of strikes. Brad defended himself, finally appearing to lose ground. Nate feinted with his sword and then followed it with an open-fisted strike to Brad’s chest that knocked him to the sand.
I had fun imagining what must be going through Brad's mind. Heh.
“Yes,” Nate replied softly, desperately wanting to shut his eyes against Brad’s unreadable stare, but unwilling to surrender that ground as well.
SO NATE! Spot-on, that.
And then there was boy!kissing! And Brad trying to walk back from it. ::hearts like mad::
Re: Gladiator!Brad Part 2
Date: 2010-03-01 03:28 am (UTC)And that ending! That was... that was cruel. But perfect. But cruel. Yes. *flails*
Re: Gladiator!Brad Part 2
Date: 2010-03-01 10:24 pm (UTC)Re: Gladiator!Brad Part 2
Date: 2010-03-04 11:57 pm (UTC)