You are causing me no trouble at all! In fact, I am having quite a nice time with you :) I could not have asked for a finer mentor.<br/><br/>~~<br/><br/>She was not alarmed by the sudden firmness of his grasp at the mention of their father. Often he would take her hand, or a bit of her gown within his hand when arguing with their father, at least until he gained enough confidence to argue on his own. She had held his hand through much of his life, through scrapes and bruises, tears and joy, an act of reassurance that she would never leave him. On the day she was to leave for Alexandria, it had taken her most eloquent skill in weaving words to make Commodus release her hand. On that day, she had given him one of her cherished hair ribbons to keep close to his heart, to show that she would most certainly come back to him. Every holiday which she visited with her son and husband, she would allow Commodus to place the ribbon in her hair, and upon her departure she would return it to him..<br/><br/>A small act, which had kept the unstable structure that was her brother, safe for the time being.<br/><br/>As they walked, Lucilla kept silent. He did not seem to want to dwell on the topic of their father, which held both pros and cons for his silence. To remark for good, he was learning to control his temper and his tongue...however to oppose such a sentiment, he was also holding back his anger which, knowing Commodus, would only lead to a complete boiling over of temper and rage. Lucilla acknowledged then that she must try to cool her brother's raging temperature before their father returned from Gaul, for the sake of peace in the palace for at least a short while until her son arrived..<br/><br/>At the mention of young Lucius, and the sudden twist of her thin body towards her brother, Lucilla gave a gentle smile. "He is as well as to be expected...I am certain his sorrow will be aleviated when he arrives to see his favourite Uncle..." she smiled a bit more,  softly stroking her brothers cheek. Her eyes would not reflect any sort of relief to that animalistic urge he sought to find within her. Instead, Lucilla gave a simple kiss to his forehead before stepping away and distancing them for a brief moment in order to step into her chambers. With a soft sigh she looked around...<br/><br/>Everything was excactly as it had been the day she had left. The room reflected almost the eerie perfection of an alter to a Goddess! Not a speck of dust...the air was stale, yet clean. Not a brush nor pillow had been moved out of place...<br/><br/>Lucilla felt her heart sink a few inches more.<br/><br/>Her breath caught within her throat slightly as she turned to face her brother, forcing a smile once more to her thin lips. "My fatigue has caught up with me I am afraid, dear brother..I think a bit of rest would do me good.." With that, she took a small step back, as if to incline she desired to close the doors. It had never been that simple to be rid of Commodus, and she prayed beneath her breath that for once he would allow her a bit of time alone..The Gods however, had thus far not been so merciful to her...