Prancing Princess - Milo x (Fem)Reader
Pompeii (2014) Oneshot
For @empressenchanted
Warnings: Historical innacuracies, town's freak!reader, i completely ignored the natural disaster aspect of the film here lol.
Summary: By chance you are finally introduced to the misterious man your friend has endlessly commented you about since meeting him on the way back home. For once, your odd ways of approach create more than a scandal astonishing the handsome stranger.
Ariadne had called you both at the right time, for you finally had the chance of meeting the man Cassia had been talking about non stop since her arrival. The mysterious savage that talked to horses was brought to the party as part of the entertainment for older, wealthy ladies looking for a thrill. You maidens were supposed to stay out, away from such corruption, but as it would be expected you were the first to rush towards it.
The civilizatory mission of the romans have failed with you, and the relatives receiving you in the capital got sick way sooner. It allowed you to be back home ahead of her, pridefull as you were in knowing your parents had no idea of what to do with you. Senator Corvus had said it himself, believing to be hurting you with his appreciations.
For such beautifull woman, you were an unfixable mess. What he found as minor quircks of her age in your friend, things that would dissapear once he would have forced her into compliance, were on you a serious problem. Rebelious nature, questioning curiosity for exploring limits forbbiden to your kind, and plain confusing oddity were a dangerous mix for a young lady that seemed unbothered by the scandal she would leave behind. Either in Rome or Pompeii, people talked behind your back, to what you would only have optimistic mocks in return for your detractors.
The honor of your family rested safe on the shoulders of your brothers and you weren't going to stop being true to yourself for it. You could already hear the voice of your mother in your mind warning you against approaching the gladiators, but that only increased your already growing excitement. Reaching the spot to get a first sight of the man made you determinated to cause a mess in order to get closer to him without making people suspect you were aiming to be a client of his master's licencious business.
Your friend's servant dared to say what all of you were thinking, enraptured in the wild beauty of the stranger.
" He is a fine specimen."
Answering ahead of her, you were already up to start controversy.
" Indeed, ... I think I am going to introduce myself."
Cassia looked at you in disbelief and released some chuckles, genuinely shocked on how direct your admiration was. Being a lady implied to practice the act of discrete longing, what you usually were decent to teamworking at, but the intense shared interest on him caused a drastical switch in you.
" How? Would you just walk there and leave our neighbors tell our parents we were eyeing the pleasurable night companions of the matrons? "
Even a fellow sharer of your rebellious spirit thought the idea was insane, too much risk to take in one night. Watching him from afar, awaiting for his glance to land nearby gracing any of you, was the proper thing to do if you wanted to save even a bit of your reputation. People thought you were strange, but nobody ever talked of you being a rotten girl ruining herself for marriage.
" No, we will feast our way there." Was your mischievous reply. " ... Observe how I create enough distraction for them to talk about anything else, but our behavior towards the gladiator. "
You took off your mantle and gave it to the servant girl with pleading eyes, leaving behind as well the brooch that was previously keeping your hair still. It was acomodated on the cleveage of her tunic like if would have been a little decoration of hers all along. Hair loosen, letting the skirt of your dress fall wildly on the way, you began to dance and dragged your friend down with you. Gracefull movements that were not, however, completely accord to what the music around dictated. Your pacing around the place looked like the prancing of a wild mare, only more stylish, never letting go the hand of a quite confused Cassia trying to follow you by instinct. Playing with the skirt of your dress gave it a more elegant touch, as if you gallantly teased the observers.
For the very first time in the night, the man was smiling. It was quite clear to him that such odd spectacle was made for his eyes, but your carefree fun managed to get his attention anyways. Even if he despised everyone else around, the two persons-only round of cute dancing girls subtly approaching was the most genuinely lifefull sight the place had to offer. As if you would have read his guesses, encouraged by the signs of life in his face, you let the madness escalate doing exactly what you intended to do all along.
Singing a song, an unapologetical mockery to the situation that reproduced the kind of callout your parents could have been given you. Barely a few verses, untill you raised the bet on the scandal switching to a language none of the guest could understand.
His eyes were suddenly and exclusively fixated on you, the lady dressed in roman attires singing words of the celts. Mixed feelings kept him wary, but the surprise was stronger than any reprehensive attitudes he could held to the spectacle. Finding an echo of his perished world was rare enough, but even weirder was for it to be delivered by the voice and manners of a girl who acted like she existed in her own little bubble with her friend, and his was the only opinion who they seemed to be considering. It was most likely for him that you didn't even knew he was a celt and could perfectly understand you.
Delicate and adorable, cheerfull yet fierce and painfully gorgeous, you were a mistery for him almost as great as he himself was for you. When the arrival of a who appeared to be a parent interrupted your fun, sending you back into the context you were escaping, he felt dissapointed thinking you both were about to get dragged out. Only one of you did, the sweet girl he had meet earlier through the tragedy of the horse. It was a shame, because both of you seemed a delight. However, he soon discovered that missing her friend didn't stop the prancing princess from keep partying her way with the shameless mischievousness of a flirty fae untill being right in front of him.
Annoyed by your strange irruption, some of the ladies who were watching him like fresh meat for their lustfull consuption kept walking. Atticus laughed giving him a side eye, but their master didn't seem so amused.
" What do you think you are doing, lady?"
You directed a mischievous glance to the dark haired gladiator, and only then replied.
" It feels to me that you have a terrible advertisement strategy ... He is way more handsome when you give him a chance to smile."
Even when he didn't want to, the compliment made him smile by instinct.
" Do you find acceptable to embelish the roman feast with the barbaric arts of the celts? Who could have possibly showed you that?"
The taunt fell on you like a compliment, impressed to find out he had recognized a source of your improvised performance.
" Wealthy people don't raise their children, even less around here in this vacational city. The really important ones constantly travel to Rome and we are left at the care of our slaves. " You explained right away, wondering why it wasn't an obvious answer to him. " My most beloved nurse was a celt and I keep her teachings present because I am not ashamed of showing I loved her like a mother. I angered many people in Rome because I refuse to pretend rejecting her memory just to please them."
" What a coincidence, this one is a Celt! " His owner interrupted you, what still didn't let you ignore the gladiator was complicit by approval of your particular expressions of rebellion. " You clearly aren't in the position of buying his favors, so I would at least make you pay for his company if you want to keep talking. "
Perfectly aware that, no matter what you would do, their guards couldn't do a scratch on you because you were even more important than their stock.
" No I won't, what I will do for you is correcting this unflattering mess completely mismatching his virtues."
With no more previous warnings than those words, you took the hands of the slave and helped him down from the stupid exhibition podium so he would dance with you. They yelled, but couldn't stop you, and the handsome gladiator only found amusement on that.
Certainly, you wouldn't have much time untill his captors would lose their patience with you and order would be reinstaured, but he used it the best he could.
" Is this part of your usual deeds, prancing princess? To turn the world upside down as you go?"
" Only when I am on a good mood. " You replicated, then kissed the back of his hand as a mocking emphasis of his saids. " What is your name? It wouldn't be polite to romance a nameless man."
" Milo. " He replied, chuckling before returning the gesture. " May I ask what do you want from me tonight?"
" To make many people of roman ways quite angry, if you are up to? And maybe loose myself in the beauty of your face, that this cursed profession enforced in you didn't spoil at all, only if you would indulge me."
His hands rounding your waist expressed everything you needed to know, and you cupped his cheeks resisting the latent temptation of kissing him.
