Emericus sighed and put down the basket with a sack of flour and a clay pot of fermented fish in the kitchen. Aquila was gone from the port and it had been a day since he talked with Bion. He couldn't bear the growing tension.

"Oh, shit! Sorry, Gaia." Emericus facepalmed himself as the old woman entered. "I forgot to buy fresh fish. I'll try to be quick. Sorry again." Before she could make any opposition, he had emptied the basket and left.

He made a quick detour to the garden before leaving the house. With an eye out for Bion, he hurried to the port. He reached the spot where Aquila would have been without luck and decided to wait for Bion to come back. He sank down on the bridge and let the sparkling sea engulf his vision. Ships with shining white sails crossed the waves, each set on a planned course.

Could I ever be as confident in my direction? Perhaps I had such a course without knowing it. If so, if I were the metaphorical boat, who manned the sails?

The smallest of boats moved towards us as we sat deep in thought. It got closer until a dark-skinned man wearing a white chiton edged with red was visible.

Emericus stood up and backed away as Bion wrapped up the sail, laid anchor, and tied Aquila to the bridge. He looked at Emericus as if he had to hold back his thoughts from causing damage, leaving a face as rigid as a marble statue.

"I understand that you might never see me the way you did." Emericus talked quickly, words he'd repeated in his mind as if Bion would turn his back on him at any moment. "And that would be okay for me, as long as we can still talk. It was nice to have a conversation with someone, other than Lysandra and Gaia, instead of just having people talk to me all the time." He ran out of breath but instead of letting his next carry him further, he let it out without a word.

Bion looked at his hands and then into Emericus's eyes. "I think I was too shocked to be reasonable yesterday. I shouldn't have said what I did. But still, I don't know how to act around someone who doesn't own themselves."

Emericus swallowed hard and gave a slow nod. "So you don't want to see me?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I'd very much like to keep talking with you! I'll do my best to forget you're a slave. Please let me know if I act any other way."

"I'll do my best. But I don't think I'm very good at telling others what to do." Emericus shuffled a bit on the spot. "So, are we friends?"

"I hope so." Bion smiled, realized something, and jumped into the boat. He turned back with the basket Emericus had forgotten. "I didn't know what to do with this. I thought you might come back for it, but then you didn't... Anyways, here."

Emericus took the basket with now partly stale and partly damp bread with a word of gratitude.

They sat down on the edge of the bridge, their feet tickled by the summer warm waves.

Emericus moved his basket closer and picked up an orange carnation. "I thought you might like this. It's sometimes called the flower of Zeus - I mean Jupiter - and he's connected to Vesuvius. And also, since you liked his temple, I thought you might like this. Shit, I already said that. Anyways, here."

Bion spun it between his fingers, studying the delicate petals. "It's beautiful, thank you. I've never gotten a flower before... But I should be apologizing."

Emericus shook his head. "You don't have to."

"Yes. I do. You're funny and smart and thoughtful, and I like spending my time with you. That should be what matters."

"Thank you." Emericus couldn't help but blush. "No one has ever said something like that to me. I feel the same. It's like I've known you, but forgotten your face somehow."

They stared out over the sea for a moment before Bion spoke once more. "You mentioned Lysandra and Gaia, who are they?"

"Lysandra is master Hadrianus's daughter. She always listens to me and mostly doesn't just order me around like the rest of her family. And Gaia is-" Emericus tensed and shot to his feet. "Shit! I have to get back. Gaia must wonder if I'm pulling the fish out of the water myself." He walked backward with a basket in each hand for a few steps. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"I hope so," Bion answered. "Wait, didn't you want some fish? Where are you going?" He stepped back in his boat and took out a big, brown-striped fish with wide eyes and a huge underbite.

Emericus jogged back over the planks and grimaced at the sight of the fish.

Bion laughed as he placed it in Emericus's basket. "It might be ugly, but it's delicious with garlic." He waved away Emericus's attempt to pay. "Please, see it as an apology."