Okay, so we need to talk about something or more importantly someone.

Long story: This anon calling him/herself HecateA Fan has been raiding my profile for quite some time now and reading all the things and leaving reviews. And it's really sweet about 100% of the time and I'm really thankful for all of the support and reviews. However since this user is an anon, I can't really contact him/her to throw myself on my knees and say thank you. So here's a little something to say thank you very much even if I don't know what your favourite pairing is. I'm assuming that Jeyna is safe since I write a lot of that usually. This is a head cannon I've had forever, and of course I can't be trusted to make it longer than a drabble without making it sad.

Short story: So basically Jeyna drabble educating all of you on formal Roman wear because I love this anon user

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters below.

Dedication: HecateA Fan. If you don't like Jeyna let me know and I'll write you something else!

Playing Dress Up

"Still in there?" Jason asked at the door. Good thing he'd made his sarcasm obvious because Reyna would have snapped his neck otherwise.

"Excuse me," she said pulling the bobby pins out of her mouth. "Some of us don't have your clear advantages."

Jason frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Reyna groaned and blew her bangs out of her eyes. Apparently no amount of bobby pins was going to fix those few strands. It annoyed her that Jason looked all ready to go, looking all set in a white tunic covered by a toga picta. The Latin denoted it as a specific kind of toga, solid purple and embroidered with gold, generally worn by generals after their success on battlefields. He'd laced up a pair of sandals and combined with his natural looks and inbred rigid posture, looked as ceremonious as could be. If it weren't for the colour in his cheeks and the blue in his eye, he could've been one of the statues in downtown New Rome.

"You get to roll out of bed, wrap yourself up in one of those and go on your merry way," Reyna said. "But as per usual there was a whole other dress code for Roman women."

"Oh," Jason said looking at all of the hair accessories and the make-up collection spread all around her.

"It's not even military," Reyna pouted. "I get to walk around unarmed. I haven't done that since I'm twelve, it's so annoying."

"I'd never really thought of it," Jason said.

"Of course not, nobody does until Lupa drops the bomb on you," Reyna said leaning back towards the mirror. She had to pin up her hair in this braid-twist with these ivory pins that someone had probably killed an elephant for.

"I can get the pins in the back," Jason offered.

"I'm nearly done," Reyna said.

"It looks good." Jason offered once again.

"Good, I wasn't starting over for the life of me."

That made Jason smile. "We're getting 'officially' sworn in as praetors. You'll never have to do it again, don't worry."

"Hmm," Reyna said. She was even wearing jewelry. She had a pin holding up her second tunic (of course she was wearing two) except the sleeves weren't pinned up over her shoulders yet. Jason took care of that for her. A golden bracelet shaped like a snake was around her wrist. The necklace was pearls and glass beads- and Reyna didn't mind wearing that one. Thousands of praetors had worn it before her. Tradition if nothing else.

The make-up she wasn't impressed with, but Jason held in his jokes on it which made it somewhat more bearable. She hated make-up, but apparently she may as well walk outside naked if she didn't wear it since, apparently, that was what women noblewomen did- even though, for the first time in her life, Reyna had argued with Lupa saying that she wasn't a noblewoman, she was a praetor. She was a military leader not a general's show wife. Lupa had been all but convinced, and rather amused.

She finally draped the shawl, called a palla and coloured purple this particular time, over her shoulder.

"I feel ridiculous," Reyna said.

"You don't look ridiculous," Jason said. "Far from that."

Reyna shook her head. "I'm dressed up like a Barbie doll. This isn't why I'm praetor, this is nothing like what makes me Roman."

"No, but it shows just how much sacrifice you're willing to make for the job."

It didn't make her laugh.

Jason put his arm on her shoulder and tried a different approach.

"Honestly Reyna, the dressed up and physical you may not be why you took the job, and it may not be why the legion chose you for it, and it may be frivolous... But people like seeing what they want to see."

"And they like to see praetors playing dress-up?" Reyna asked.

"No, they like seeing beautiful people who could also kick their butts, dress or not." Jason said.