Thread: Decadence (As Day Fades x PixxieGrrl)

One by one they burned their past, thereby embracing their present as their future. One by one they approached the Emperor, these girls, now slaves, walking naked with a guard on either side of them as they came to stand in a circle made up of the most powerful men in the world. One by one they took to their knees, and one by one they offered themselves, some stammering, some sobbing, others a little better kept. The scene panned out from this view, the girls being brought naked to their hands and knees like dogs learning to heel, a wide bronze brazier kicking up flames off to the left side of the screen. The camera panned left, the flame taking center shot, panning away from the room, to the wall, then to black. A little after the sound of the scene died out, replaced by that of walking feet as a new setting began. It was Octavius, some hours later, sandals upon cobblestone as he walked tiredly through the empire's streets. The sun shone in the latter part of the day, glistening beads of warmth on slight bits of facial hair, neck and throat. The bustle of the city was still very much that, a donkey-led cart off in the background, two women with pottery passing by in the foreground, in front of him, but it was a different sort of liveliness. In the late afternoon it was not quite the energy one had during earlier hours, just people seeing to their errands, finishing their respective things before each would venture home. He was already at his. Right in the heart of the city and raised up on four pale white steps, a hand pushed at the door, gliding it open. Octavius brought a foot into his home. Then a second, it sandaled bottom sounding lightly. Then a thi- then two large, raucous mastiffs, barking and charging for him, dancing excitedly all around! With his face breaking out into a warm smile, one that wholly erased any tension left over from the last scene, Octavius dropped to a knee and eagerly pet his two boys. And greetings too to you both! Laughing, Has your mother fed you yet? ...You would lie, even if she had. Tell me, is she even here? One danced around him, sniffing, checking every inch out, while the other was content to sit and simply be pet. Octavius gave each a firm final pet and stood, still laughing to himself, face full of warmth. By what viewers had seen already between this scene and the last it was clear this was not a man who came from the same mold as the others in the Senate circle, or at very least one who had yet to be jaded by it. He stood, removing the white robe from his body that was tradition for meetings, draping it on a nearby table. Underneath was revealed the armor of a man who very much remembered his military days, leather and form-fitting, styled in the shape of a muscled torso and pleated leather skirt that showed off legs and arms both. Closing the door behind him, Octavius unhitched the belt that held his sword at his side, a relic as unnecessary as the rest of the armor considering his newfound position, but one he carried regardless. That too was set upon the table with the robe, and off he turned, peeking about the house for- -a deep moan, long and low. Then again, two seconds after, just as his mind had registered the voice. They were both the groans of a man coming from nearby. From the bedroom? The former soldier's eyes focused. His hand wanted to instinctively reach for his blade, and maybe did, going halfway to the non-existent weapon at his side when he just stopped himself...because he knew. Stepping more, quietly now, there was not going to be a soft-tuned, Darling, I've missed you! in his future. At least not right away. His hand pressed to the bedroom door, guiding it quietly open just in time to hear the lurid pop of a set of lips, the assumed picture coming clearly into view.