*quietly tags [@MelonHead]*


[center]**[/center]

Florian faced his opponent, determination in his eyes. 

The plate of cold meat occupied most of the large table in front of him. It appeared as impassive as it was five minutes prior. 

[i]I will eat you.[/i] Florian thought. He had no choice, really. He'd paid for the thing already. A King's meal, the innkeeper had told him. Composed only of the finest meat, sculpted so perfectly a greek would cry, dripping with fat and juice, like some sort of cannibal's cornucopia. Limited time only. Its very appearance was daring Florian to take it on. He was not at fault. 

Florian glanced up at Lucian. The innkeeper stared back at him smugly. He'd placed the plate at his table with a certain weight to his movement. The others around Florian were eating their bread and garum quietly, looking down at their plates. Florian had seen Marcus and his parasites tackling the beast in front of him the day before. It was then he'd decided to try it. Of course, there had been four of them, and only one of him. But such odds had never scared Florian Eleuterios. 

He was about to take his first bite when he heard a commotion outside. A man rushed inside, eyes alight. 

"Lucian!" he exclaimed. "Come see! An Icatian gladiator has just arrived! He's in the plaza doing some demonstrations."

"An Icatian gladiator?" Lucian's eyebrows raised. 

"Yeah, some big brute with crazy brown and blond hair," the man replied.

"Oh yeah, I think my cousin told about someone like that," another man in a corner said. "He was in Rome a few weeks ago, apparently that gladiator placed quite highly in the games."

Florian's ears perked up. A renowned fighter, up here in Mediolanum? This was news. He bolted up, turning in the same movement. 

"What are you doing, Florian," Lucian said. "You haven't even started eating."

"If I am to die," Florian began, raising a finger skyward, "it will not be at the hands of grease, but that of a mighty warrior!"

Lucian sighed deeply. 

"I say we go and take a look at this famous gladiator," Florian continued. "I will challenge him to a duel. If I win, you will eat that monstrosity at my table with me."

"And if you lose?"

"Why, I will buy another!"

[center]**[/center]

The gladiator was indeed big, and was indeed strong. He loomed in the center of the theater, as two others circled him. They attacked the man simultaneously. Brennus sidestepped to the left, grabbed one, and threw him bodily onto the second. 

The crowd cheered.

"Brennus!" yelled a third man, in a safe corner. He faced the crowd. "The greatest prodigy Rome's arena's have seen since the time of heroes!"

Brennus flexed his muscles appropriately. Florian grinned. Evidently, this was a practiced routine. His manager was good. 

"Dare any of you stand up on this theater and challenge him?" the man in the corner continued. "Fifty denarii to any who can best him!"

The crowd exploded. There was a small riot as some threw themselves towards the theater and others rushed to pull them back. Florian dodged a flailing limb and jumped up.

"I will!" he exclaimed. 

There was silence.

Florian glanced back at Lucian, who was standing a few meters from the crowd. He winked. 

"I challenge Brennus the gladiator to a duel!" Florian repeated himself. 

"Come forth, challenger!" the manager bellowed. "State your name!"

Florian clambered on the stage. He unclasped his cloak and let it fall to the ground theatrically. 

"I am Florian the Free," he said, trying to have himself heard above the crowd's roaring. "And I am here to have my name sung throughout Mediolanum!" He raised his arms like the imperators in their triumphs. The crowd's roaring intensified. 

"I am also here to avoid dying of indigestion," he muttered to himself, "but nobody needs to know that."

The manager scrambled to clear everyone off the arena. The men Brennus had previously beaten up hopped down the stage lithely. The crowd slowly quieted as the two contendents eyed each other. 

Florian picked up two wooden longswords that had been discarded in a corner. He tossed one to the gladiator and winked.

"Nobody wants to get hurt here."