002 | Dictated

[hellofist]

So, uh... everyone uses journals, here... But I can't read. Know I'm... missing a lot, like this. So, was wondering... are there teachers, here? Or just... someone who can help?

Can't pay, but can trade. Can teach to fight, hand to hand or... with weapons. Most kinds. Going to gym now, can meet there. Can meet... just to spar, too. Could use... sparring partners.

[The recording stops there, but Cass will be in the gym ready to spar with whoever wants to drop by.]

Comments

[hellofist]

[They're perfectly hidden and it's impressive, honestly, that it takes reading his body language to know they're there at all. But a body will always be aware of the weapons on it, no matter how well hidden they are.]

Can use any kind. [She says it offhandedly, more interested in his weapons, and holds her hand out.] Can I see?

[assassino]

See what, dolcezza?

[He, of course, doesn't know that she knows.]

[hellofist]

The kind you use. The way... they're hidden.

[assassino]

Ah.

[Her body reading is much more detailed than he thought. He turns over one wrist to show her the underside, what is visible beneath the laces of his bracers. With a flick of his wrist, a good foot or so of blade slides out of its sheath, deadly fast.]

You are very perceptive.

[Another flick withdraws them.]

[hellofist]

[Immediately she grins, impressed by the way the whole thing works. She wants to see how they work, wants some of her own. She starts to reach for his wrist then but stops, fingers hovering just over the bracer, and glances up at him.]

Is touching okay?

[She remembers things like personal space sometimes.]

[assassino]

Si, go right ahead.

[hellofist]

[Her fingers pick over the laces and wiggle under them, feeling the mechanism for the release and getting a better idea for how the whole thing operates. What she loosens she fixes again, but her inspection of him is thorough. She knows about hidden weaponry but this is different, it's smart.

Making his knife come out seems a little improper, but he told her she could so it must be alright, right? She bends his wrist gently, a pleased smile tugging her lips when the blade springs out. She can see exactly how it would work in practice and even if she doesn't kill, even if she thinks everyone should get the chance to live, she can't help but appreciate the way this weapon works.]

It's good.

[assassino]

[He watches her with interest, watching her prod and toy and test. There was a time where he looked at these weapons with such wonder and curiosity, but now they are just an extension of his own body, as unremarkable as his own arms or legs or neck. They have been strapped to his wrists for ten years, leaving him only to bathe and sometimes to sleep.]

It is better than good. It is the finest weapon to ever exist.

[hellofist]

[She nods gravely. She would never dispute that, she understands what it feels like to have pride in your most important weapon. Her father felt it when he looked at her, she knows what it looks like when she sees it in Ezio.

Carefully, she runs her thumb across the blade to test for sharpness and isn't surprised at what she finds. Of course he would take perfect care of it, it's part of him.]

Where you're from, do all... assassins have these?

[assassino]

No. But if I have my way, more will.

[He looks at her, trying to gauge her expression. He misses his own ability to read people.]

Stephanie says the Assassins of your time do not work for the betterment of the world.

[hellofist]

No.

[She turns his wrist again again to make the blade retract, letting go of him to leave her hands loose at her sides.]

They work for... who pays them.

[assassino]

Hmm.

[It just doesn't make sense to him. Desmond had said the Assassins were weakened, but he did not imagine they would sacrifice their ideals.]

Do you know their symbol? Their Creed?

[hellofist]

[She shakes her head.]

Ran away before... any of that happened.

[assassino]

[He shakes his head, somewhat unsettled.]

And what prompted you to leave, dolcezza?

[hellofist]

[She looks up at him now, studying his face for his intentions. Stephanie trusts him and has for years, he already knows half the story. Filling him in on the rest... it can't really hurt anything. But still-]

Long story. Sure you want... to hear whole thing?

[assassino]

[He reaches to tuck her hair behind her ear.]

If you will tell me.

[hellofist]

[That gets a small, distracted smile. She's trying to figure out where to start.]

When do you... start training, in your world? What age?

[assassino]

Assassins are supposed to train from birth... but my father delayed. He wanted to give my brothers and I a chance at life before the "family business," so to speak. I was seventeen when I started.

[hellofist]

[Maybe she should have been born in his time, then. Things probably would have been easier.]

I was made... to be best fighter. Father was best assassin, mother was... best fighter in my world. [She knows it has to be Shiva, she's the only one who makes sense. Even Bruce thought so, came to the conclusion before she ever asked.] They made me, my father took me.

Didn't know... he was my father. Was just... trainer. There was nothing but fighting. Didn't teach talking, reading, writing. Didn't hear his voice... for years. Instead, learned to understand bodies. He brought best assassins, I beat them. He was proud. I liked it.

[It's a lot of talking all at once so she pauses, tries to find the right place to go next.]

Was five, when he took me... to watch him. Saw him killing. It was... amazing. Admired him, for his skill. Later, he took me... for my turn. His men, they laughed... when I went in. I jumped on him, ripped out throat. Watched him die.

[assassino]

[He shakes his head, slowly. Such a terrible thing to do to one so young... and clearly, these people are simple murderers... assassins but not Assassins.]

Such brutality. My first kill was no cleaner, with an audience just as yours... but I was acting on my own.

[He reaches for her again, for her hand.]

Do you resent him for it? Your father, that is.

[hellofist]

[She links their fingers together and squeezes lightly. It's an upsetting story, she knows that.]

Sometimes. I thought... it was a game. He never- it happened too fast, for him. I read him, while he died. There was terror, then... nothing.

[She still dreams about him sometimes, his fleshy neck and his blood all over her hands, on her face, her dress.]

He- was cruel. Not what a father... [She shakes her head, that's too confusing a subject for her.] He got what he wanted. Perfect weapon, until I ran.

[assassino]

[He's almost sorry he asked, and he winds his fingers around hers supportively. His hands are in good condition, even considering how much he climbs, save for the brand on the back of his right ring finger. The Assassin's crest is seared into his skin, white and raised. He'd done a lot of killing to earn that mark.]

And why run? It scared you, I imagine.

[hellofist]

[Her thumb finds that mark and rubs it gently, her eyes on him now to read what it is, why it's there and what it means to him. She has her own scars, they're why her sleeves are long and her back is covered when she goes out. She's not ashamed, it's only skin, but the response when other people see them is never good. She learned that lesson with Tim, so she keeps them covered in public.]

I was little. It wasn't... a game, anymore. Didn't want to- be his tool.

[assassino]

[Ezio is lucky to have few scars -- armor has protected him from the worst, and given the clothing worn by men in his time, his arms are usually covered. As such, the only visible scar on him is the one on his mouth, running vertically cover his lips and down his chin.

It just makes him look like he got in a sword fight as a youth or something. It makes him rogueish, maybe even more charming. He likes it that way.]

And you are not a tool of the Batman?

[hellofist]

[Cass has never had much luck and bullets have a way of finding their way through just about everything.]

He's not that way. He... sees himself, in me. We're the same. Want to... do good, help people. He's only family... I ever had. Doesn't use me.