It was beginning to turn to evening, and after a long tutoring on the classics, Lucius and Rufus were more than ready to break free for the afternoon. They had been best friends since they were young as a result of their adjacent family villas and the business relationship between the two. Lucius's father and uncle ran the largest specialty clothing store in the peninsula, selling togas, tunics, and cloths from rare imported fabrics, while Rufus's family controlled and managed shipping lines that traveled to every important city in the area. The families were obviously well-off, powerful even, and lived and worked with such attitudes. However Lucius and Rufus were still young, and although they worked under their fathers on occasion, they were being tutored until a more respectable age.
Until that point, the boys met each day with fervor for fun and enjoyment, and today, like the past few weeks, they met up with two daughters of a nearby powerful aristocrat to laugh, giggle, and blush at the illicit book Lucius had taken from his father's library. Reading The Art of Love by Ovid opened their eyes to a carnal pleasure that they had yet to experience and reaffirmed the tension that had developed between them.
Huddled below the trees on a hill outside the city, Lucius was reading a section on the grooming of body hair when he wondered aloud, "I think I would want a woman with her hair rather than her be shaved and bare."
The girls blushed and giggled a little, and one of them teased him. "How would you know what you want?" She exclaimed, "Have you ever felt a woman? Or even seen one nude with your own eyes?"
He stammered back, "No... of course I haven't... you know that. But I think a man can have his preferences!" Lucius immediately felt stupid and humiliated. They were all laughing at him, even Rufus despite his similar innocence.
Between laughs the other girl quipped, "Well you clearly are not a man yet!" and they devolved into even more laughter.
Utterly embarrassed and red in the face, Lucius continued to read from the novel until they grew tired and went their separate ways. The girls left first, one of them giving Lucius a peck on the cheek as a parting gift. Despite her jests, she was quite fond of him and his strangely contrasting complexion. She loved that his face was sharp but boyish, his skin a deep olive yet light, and his hair curly and straight. The longer she spent with him, the less she seemed to understand about him and that excited her.
Lucius was angry the entire walk home, and Rufus was forced to bear the brunt of his tirade. "How dare they make fun of me!" He exclaimed, " I go to all the trouble of finding the book they wanted and out of my great generosity, share it with them despite the risk to my good name. How dare they! Even you Rufus, you ass!" and with that, Lucius pushed his best friend so hard that they both fell over tangled together in the grass.
Rufus, by far the more mild-mannered, was the first to stand up, and he offered his hand to Lucius who accepted. "Well, it was funny and you did walk right into it," he said with a grin.
"Yea... I guess I did," Lucius said, "but for her to make fun of my manhood like that. Absolutely disgraceful!"
"Is she not correct though? I do not think our fathers would think of us as men until we've had a woman."
"It's not about that! Her audacity is the issue. But yes, you're probably right," Lucius conceded, sounding deflated.
The friends continued to walk through the grass down the hill, the expanse of houses coming into view and their hearth smoke rising and fading into the sky. It was then that an idea and a plan came to Lucius, and he seemed to jump up in expression and excitement. "Rufus! What is stopping us? Let's go to the brothel on the other side of town and become men... Yes! It is settled. We will go tomorrow evening. "
Rufus looked at him with wide eyes. "Lucius, I don't think my father would allow that! Plus how are you going to steal the coin for that. I don't have any."
"Bullshit. You see how our fathers go to that expensive whorehouse in Marruvium at least three times a month. They always come home giddy and drunk, and it always makes my mother so very angry. They are probably wondering why we haven't had a woman yet! Maybe that is why they still look at us as children!"
Rufus was still reluctant, but he was enticed by Lucius's logic. "What if they are expecting us to finish school first? I just don't know. What about the coin?" he asked.
"I have made enough coin for the both of us working for my father and haven't spent a lick of it. I'm beginning to think you don't want to have a woman with all these excuses," Lucius teased, "Are you a coward Rufus? Do you not want to fuck the wet warmth of a woman's cunt?" and whilst vulgarly saying the latter, he grabbed at Rufus's loincloth in jest.
Slapping Lucius's hand away, Rufus rolled his eyes and said, "Of course I want to. How can you say something so stupid? I have to masturbate three times a day to quell the damn urges."
"So you agree to go tomorrow?"
"Fine. Yes. I will go with you tomorrow," Rufus said, cracking a smile, "I am beyond sick of oil and my hand anyways."
At the agreement, Lucius let out a little whoop to the surrounding field and patted Rufus on the back.
The next day, Lucius and Rufus could barely control their overwhelming excitement during their respective tutoring sessions. Both were hard against their loincloths on the thought of what would occur later that day, and more than once had to adjust themselves to avoid suspicion. The relief upon the end of their lessons was immense in a way they had never felt before, and they ran to meet one another at the agreed location around the corner.
"Let's go!" Lucius exclaimed, wanting to waste no time, and so they went. The brothel was in the poorer section of the town near many working-class taverns. The sun had already begun to set behind the branches of the trees on the hill, casting jagged shadows along the unfamiliar streets and alleys that the boys took. Ignorant of many of the difficulties in life, Lucius held his coin pouch lamely in his right hand, but no criminal or thief robbed him for they saw his intricate silk tunic, dyed beautiful muted shades of red and white, and instantly recognized him. Lucius's father was well respected by everyone but especially the poor for the work he supplied to their neighborhood and his generosity in wages. So no one dared to bother the boys on their quest and even threw out greetings and jokes as they passed.
The brothel was easily distinguishable from the surrounding taverns with its doors turned outward and dark, open windows from which smoke emanated. A line of men in varying states of intoxication had begun to form from the front door, but on seeing Lucius and Rufus heading their direction, they moved out of the way and waved at them to enter. Showing thanks, the boys glanced at each other and, with nods of affirmation, went in.
Immediately their senses were overloaded by the brothel. Smoke filled their lungs and eyes, and the grunts and moans of patrons echoed from within their cubicles further down the dim, cloudy hallway. Clearing their eyes, Lucius and Rufus looked around their surroundings. They were nervous in an animated way and jumped slightly at the whirling rush of the Madam who came to stand behind the stone counter. She was an older woman, pretty still but stern in the lines of her face. The Madam faltered slightly in confusion and recognition on seeing the two well-to-do boys standing in front of her but quickly regained her composure.
"What can I do for you two fine young men?" she asked in a syrupy, practiced tone.
Lucius hesitated for a moment. "My friend and I would like to buy some time with your girls. One for each of us." The man behind them chuckled quietly and a small smirk came to the Madam's face.
