spncentral | Trapped in the past?

Claudia didn't know exactly how it had happened, but the guy she'd been trying to snag an artifact from had caught her instead. She remembered being dragged through some kind of portal, and a conversation with some very strangely-dressed individuals that would have scared even some of the toughs she'd known in her time on the streets. It had been hours before she really understood what had happened, to get even a slight grip on the foreign words and sights around her. Somehow, she'd been sent back in time, when exactly she wasn't certain, and given over to these scoundrels to do with as they pleased. It wasn't until she saw the city that she even knew where she was. Nobody could mistake Rome, even this ancient shining city.

Her wrists tied together and into a string with the other unfortunates, the only real indignities she'd been spared were being stripped of her possessions and raped. From the little she could catch, they thought she would being them quite a small fortune as a wonder. Maybe even one of the senators would find her worth having, and it wouldn't do to damage the goods unnecessarily. Still, she had quite a few bruises and a blackening eye from the casual 'encouragements' she'd received. A halting attempt at what she knew of Latin and Greek had only resulted in snickering laughter and an incomprehensible reprimand with a threatening knife at her mouth. Apparently their definition of 'damaged goods' didn't include the ability to speak.

Now, she was turned over to the slave auction, and there, nothing could have prepared her for the indignities. Her clothes, much the worse for wear after all the travel were unceremoniously stripped off her in front of the noisy crowd as one man gave a long-winded description of her, enthusiasm clear even through the language barrier. She struggled against the touches of interested parties, only her bonds keeping her from being able to strike back.

She'd yanked away from yet another impertinent squeeze when she finally saw a familiar face. It made her gasp, her thoughts latching onto the name that went with it in what might have been a prayer of salvation, but she had to get his attention. And if he was the one from this time, she couldn't just call him by name. Not his real name. Still, she knew one of those he'd used in the millenia he'd been hanging around pretending not to be an archangel.

"Loki! Help me!" The words were in modern english, and that was probably a mistake, but she was too distracted to try for something more appropriate to the era just now. She had to get his attention, maybe get the eager shoppers to give her some space. She had to get out of here.

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Claudia couldn't help being relieved when it was time to get out of Rome, and the Empire. It was hard to be the nonentity society mostly wanted her to be, to keep her head down and accept cuffs and reprimands without retaliation. The only joy had been her position at the foundry, making trinkets with skills she had to learn carefully to avoid making too many mistakes.

It was also a relief to be somewhere that the language was natural to her, something she understood and spoke fluently. Learning to manage a household was something else entirely. She'd never really thought about how complicated it could be to warm a building with fires or cook on them. Cleaning, well, the dirt floor was packed, but those rushes...that was new and utterly alien to her. Some of the dogs took care of the vermin that tried to come inside and make homes among them, at least. It was a long way from what she might have seen on History Channel, but she would manage, somehow.

Mending and sewing was turning out to be a lot harder. She'd already been jokingly banished from the looms because her weaving lacked the speed or skill of the other women. They accepted her as an equal on a lot of things, because she had their god's favor, but teasing was quite common as she showed few matronly arts. It was much easier to spend part of her day making beads and other small decorative items to exchange for services she hadn't yet mastered, although she didn't dare stop trying to learn.

And then in the evenings the tables where brought out to have a communal meal and handle any conflicts that might have come up during the day, or visitors, or whatever. She could almost see herself fitting in here, on some level, although she knew she'd always be the outlander to them.

While they kept her busy, Gabriel was able to spend more time actually searching for the current iteration of the Warehouse. Starting in Europe in general and working his way further east.

Although obviously, he couldn't spend all his time doing so, given his responsibilities in Scandinavia. And the need to keep an eye on Claudia. Not that he was concerned about her blowing his cover. Someone like Baldr sniffing around, on the other hand...

Anyway. Tonight's he's actually around for the meal, drifting between groups before settling near the head of the village. Always good to know what's been going on when he wasn't around.

When Gabriel showed up, she would have to eat quickly so she could take her place next to the headman's wife and keep his cup and plate full of whatever he might desire. At least it wasn't a tedious job, but since he'd brought her, she was presumed to be the appropriate one to attend on him. Sometimes it made her smile, but sometimes it got awkward. He hadn't actually acted like he was attracted to her, and she assumed he would do the same to any woman within arms' reach from the gossip. One or two of the unmarried women had been jealous that he hadn't chosen one of them to take as...whatever she was. Her denials that Loki had entertained her as a man with a woman were ignored as being coy or not wanting to hurt someone's feelings because no man could measure up to a god.

Still, she didn't mind it all that much. He was a lot like his future self, although less polished by the passage of centuries and the changes of the world with them. And sometimes, she almost missed having him by her side as a partner instead of this strange balancing act.

As the meal wears on, with people eventually taking their leave here and there for various reasons, Gabriel eventually catches the headsman's eye, flicking his eyes to Claudia and back with a raised eyebrow.

She's fairly promptly shooed in his direction while he sips at his drink as he waits for her.

Claudia takes her usual spot at his elbow, giving an appropriate level of bobbing curtsy to the headman. "You wished to speak to me?"

"Yeah. Been settling in okay?" he starts off with, taking another sip of his drink. He's going to start with the things he's willing to talk about in public.

"I have been informed that my homely skills are atrocious and never to touch a loom again," she said, with a glitter of amusement. "I only burnt two loaves of bread past eating this week, and even managed to keep the stew from scorching for an entire day. Helga thinks that perhaps I shall even manage not to be a disgrace to the village by the time she dies."

It was a good joke to these people, the skillful artisan without any menial skills to speak of. The roar of hearty laughter from the table only emphasized that, and Helga, the headman's wife and nominal representative of the women's needs before her husband and the other leaders gave her a beaming smile. Everyone knew the trickster god had an interest in odd things and people, anyway.

"No worries, Loki, I'm keeping everyone quite entertained."

Hearing Helga's opinion makes Gabriel laugh. "I'm sure she'll figure out how to get you to be more competent outside the forge. Sure, there's already plenty of people available who know how not to burn bread, but that doesn't mean they'll always be around for whatever reason."

Claudia smiles, and a part of her wished she dared sit in her lap as some of the younger women did with the men they favored. The culture was quite open about flirting and other activities, although they did frown upon a woman not choosing someone when they found themselves with child. There were more than a few 'understandings' for the sake of marital bliss.

"I will continue my efforts as long as it does not hinder the welfare of my new people," she promised, in a mockery of formal style. "You know things were different where I come from, and few could hope to find this much welcome anywhere in my situation."

"Yes, no making people sick from cooking something wrong or burning something down, if you don't mind," he says wryly. "I'm going to want to talk to you later about what I've been up to."

"If I burn something, you'll know why," she teased, with a light smack to his shoulder. Sometimes it was hard not to treat Loki like her Gabriel. "Especially after some of those 'talks.'"

The last was more for their audience. She knew he was truly trying to help, but Claudia didn't know how long she could keep trying to live so far from home in both time and location.

Gabriel raises an eyebrow at the smack although he doesn't comment. "No burning things down. I should probably let you get back to it."

"You know as well as I do that my place is here, serving you, at these functions," she said, dropping her eyes slightly in apology at her faux pas. It was more for the others, and damned if she didn't hate having to always be thinking about just how to act or not act. "Would my lord like anything more to eat or drink?"

Gabriel shakes his head. "I think I'm done."

At this point, he's just sticking around because there's other people still here.

"The latest tribute included an interesting mead from that brewer you favor," she commented, mildly, before continuing with a few other items of note to him. It should be business as usual, although she did wonder what he had managed to drag out of the shadows in his wandering this time.

Gabriel just nods his way through the things she says as he sips at his drink.

Once it seems things are finally wrapping up, he drains his drink and sets the cup aside. "I'll see you at whatever point your part in clean-up is finished."

"Of course," Claudia says, taking his personal eating and drinking items away to be personally cared for. She attempts to assist with the clean-up, but Helga decides before long that she shouldn't keep the god waiting, and shoos her off.

Claudia pauses to use the privy and a quick wash, wondering just when it had started to feel almost normal to live like this. She still missed hot showers and other modern conveniences, but the people here had a joy in life and their own skills that most lacked in her time. It almost saddened her to think that things like that had been lost in the name of progress.

Finally, she enters their home, a combination of stone and turf-brick construction that was surprisingly homey and warm. Larger than the others, of course, but not significantly more grand. Just touches that showed that the one who lived here was wealthy beyond measurement in the local standards. Stopping in the doorway to Gabriel's room, she looked at him, thinking deeply about her life.

"Ga--Loki?"

"Galoki?" Gabriel teases, looking over at her. "I finished up with this continent. And the part immediately east that's mostly sand. Looks like they went east to keep the Warehouse out of reach of the Romans. Smart. From the sound of some of the stuff locked up, no one wants them to have any of it."

"The stuff in the Warehouse, nobody should have," Claudia said, doing her best to ignore the teasing. She shouldn't have slipped up. That would have been dangerous.

"Ever heard that story about Pandora's box?"

"Do bears shit in the woods?" Gabriel asks drily. Yes, he's heard of that thing. Who, in the demi-god community, hasn't?

"Where do you think the box that holds all the hope of humanity is?"

"Locked where some moron can't use it to break the world," he says promptly.

"And there are only two places like that I can think of off-hand, and I don't think Zeus and his lot have any fondness for your father."

She knew she couldn't mention Gabriel's nature or name aloud, because that might carry to the metaphorical ears of those with the power to do things about it. He hadn't rebelled in the same way as his older brother, but she'd never found the stories of that family very reassuring.

"I'd consider the Middle Kingdom or one of its neighbors," she said, using one of the older names for China.

"No, they really, really don't. And that's where I'm planning on working my way to, yes." Gabriel takes a moment to mentally map out the path he intends to take before shaking his head. It can wait until another time.

He refocuses his attention on her. "You're actually doing all right though? Not just being polite outside?"

"I'm really all right," she says. "They're good people, why wouldn't I be? I'm a little homesick, but that's something that can't be helped."

She couldn't imagine trying to find herself a place with enough roots to live comfortably while they tried to find a way back. If it weren't for Gabriel, she wouldn't even have had that glimmer of possibility. "The women find it wonderful to have an example to encourage their daughters to actually learn to keep house, and a few of the young warriors have made comments that if I weren't yours, they might consider me. They're sweet, but I'm not interested."