fourth.

[eaglet]

[Ezio.]
[Written -- he doesn't feel like talking into a book while standing in the middle of City Royale, ok. Is this a prank or something, he's about to get mad...]

Did you get distracted by something? I am waiting where you directed, but I do not see you, nor do I see anything nearby that would be of interest. Where are we going?

Comments

[assassino]

Of course! It is more fun with more people, you know.

[And the ladies will be along soon, coming in with beer mugs and a small keg and the world's most revealing necklines. There are nipples showing, for fuck's sake. But Ezio doesn't seem to notice that part.]

Ah, ladies! There you are. Come, sit with us, pour drinks and we will play cards.

[eaglet]

[Connor, on the other hand, is staring.

He's

not used to

that.]

[assassino]

[Ezio pats the space beside him, and one of the girls sits with him with a giggle, so close that her hip is against his and her hand rests on his thigh. The other sits with Connor, similarly close, though she busies herself with drinks.]

Connor, this is Bianca and Maria.

[eaglet]

[HE'S STILL STARING............

Then he realises he's staring and gets a little flustered, looking down and fidgeting. It's rude to stare, even though they're... really on display there, oh god. What...] H-hello.

[assassino]

[He flashes a grin to Bianca.]

Connor is perhaps a little shy, but that is why we are here for cards, hmm?

[He slides the extra piles of cards towards the girls and picks up his own to ruffle through them.]

And he will play first, because he is my guest.

[eaglet]

[CARDS... right. Okay. He forgot for a second.

He looks at his own cards, then puts some caisos on the table because they're betting, right, that's how betting works.]

[assassino]

[Ezio puts down his own and starts playing.]

So Connor... Tell me more about yourself.

[eaglet]

That is a broad question. What would you like to know?

[assassino]

[A shrug.]

Well, I know you do not like to have fun, so tell me about your friends, your family. Your favorite foods, your culture...

[Maria is leaning very close to Connor...]

[eaglet]

[This lady leaning all up on him, he can't deal..... he's trying to not pay attention to her without outright ignoring her because that's rude but how do you even do that and he possibly forgot they were playing cards again.]

Well... it is not -- we play games, my friends and I, but -- we are... older now, so there is more responsibility... when I left my village, I had not yet joined a... a hunting party, a war party. But that is what I would be doing now, if I had not left, hunting with the, uh, men...

[Language skills are deteriorating...]

[assassino]

[Ezio chuckles, easily ignoring Maria and her hand running along Connor's back, as well as Bianca's hand on his own thigh. That's just a usual part of the evening, really, not worth noticing –– no more unusual to him than the ladies' dusky nipples peeking over their dresses' necklines and their knowing smiles and roving hands and drink-pouring skills.]

So that is what your people do, when they reach adulthood? Start hunting?

[He deals another round and slides around coins, then takes a swig of his beer.]

[eaglet]

[With a start, Connor drops more caisos on the table mechanically, not even looking at his cards; there's a lot going on all at once, and he's trying his best to concentrate on the conversation. If they were actually speaking English and not this Paradisian tongue that comes more naturally than even Kanien'kéha these days, he would probably just be stammering unintelligibly.]

The men, yes... also constructing weapons and tools. The, uh, women... [Awkward glance at Maria...] The women tend to our crops...

[assassino]

That's it? Don't they tend to anything else?

[Oh, Maria. Both ladies share a giggle and Ezio gives a huff of amusement and glances at Connor, raising an eyebrow at his fumbling.]

What about natural philosophy? Literature? Trade? Surely not all of your people are craftsmen and farmers.

[eaglet]

[INTERNAL SCREAMING......... is this a test, Connor wonders, to see how he reacts in uncomfortable situations...

Is he failing a test...]

They, uh... women also make clothing, and...

[No, that's fine, he'll talk about whatever you want to talk about, Ezio.]

Literature -- no. My people do not write like your people do. Our history is passed down with wampum. [Which he doesn't bother to explain, because it doesn't occur to him to do so, instead just continuing on.] We trade among the other peoples, but my village does not engage in very much of this.

[assassino]

[Ezio keeps moving around cards. A round here, a round there...]

So your people have no interest in exploration, conquest, expansion? What if another people invented something with the means to greatly improve your own culture? Would you not seek it out?

[He leans back in his seat, drink in-hand, and Bianca snuggles up to him, draping one thigh over Ezio's lap.]

[eaglet]

[Connor is doing his best to ignore how Bianca is wrapping herself around him there, that's pretty awkward...

It's easier to ignore when he has something to bristle about, too.] My culture does not need to be improved. We are to coexist with your people, but we do not seek out anything that would influence us. It has been this way for many years, since we first linked arms with the Dutch.

[assassino]

[Ezio shakes his head, almost helplessly.]

You'll find the rest of the word cares very much about innovation. Adaptation, hmm? It is as important to culture as it is to warfare. That is why the Italians have the greatest armies in Europa right now; we strive for excellence in the art of war.

[He absently pets Bianca's hip with the arm that is around her, and she starts running a hand along his waistband.

Maria, on the other hand, is just going to offer Connor beer.]

[eaglet]

[He leans forward angrily, automatically taking the beer from Maria.] My people depend greatly on our culture. It is what drives us and defines our actions. If we 'adapt' and take on the cultures of your people, we will no longer be ourselves.

[He pauses to absently take an !!angry!! swig of beer.]

As for warfare, there is nothing in this world more fearsome than a Kanien'k -- [WOW, BEER TASTES TERRIBLE, as it turns out. Now he's distracted, and deflates as he continues, eying the glass warily.] Ugh... my people are warriors.

[assassino]

Do you think we Italians are the same as we were a hundred years ago? Fifty? My father lived in a time very different than my own. Each generation draws the map of the world a bit broader. I will bring revolutions to cities across Italia, changing life. And by Stephanie's time, Italy will be a quiet culture, long diminished from its prime. You are not immune to change, Connor, you should embrace what is good.

[Ezio fondles Bianca's boob, because. he. can.]

[eaglet]

I will not embrace it if it means my people will be removed from our land or enslaved.

[This is an extremely touchy subject and he's just pissed off now, to the point where Ezio feeling up a girl while they're having this conversation is too much to bear. How can he be so casual about it...]

What are you even doing?

[assassino]

I am not telling you to embrace slavery or ejection, I am telling you that you should be open to change. That is one of the foundations of being an Assassin –– our principles are that men should be allowed to develop and innovate and discover, free from those who would impede them.

[Ezio lets go of Bianca in favour of reaching for his beer.]

Come, now, Connor, why are you getting so upset?

[eaglet]

No -- we are to question everything and not allow men to dictate what would be "good" for us. Our goal is to allow freedom, not to force things on people who do not want them.

[He gestures broadly with his arm, too caught up in this to notice he almost whacked Maria in the face. Sorry, lady.]

You are being too casual about this. You are sipping this beer and fondling this woman as if you were only discussing politics and philosophy. We are discussing my people! It is not hypothetical to me. My mother was nearly a slave to the British, captured before I was born. That is how real this is to me, Ezio.

[assassino]

[There are a lot of things he could say to that –– like how rejecting everything from Europe sounds close-minded, not like freedom –– but what's the point? He sets down his beer again with a sigh.]

Be careful, you almost hit Maria.

[Who is moving out of the way :'|]

Connor, this evening is supposed to be calm. Relax. I am not the one hurting your people, nor do I have any interest in hurting your people. I am just saying that though some men may be conquerors, there are others who will bring things of interest to your people. That is all.

[eaglet]

[Maria... I just nearly hit a girl in the face named Maria...

Connor just looks extremely sour about this entire business; he wants Ezio to stop trying to diffuse the situation, to keep arguing the point, to stop being so calm. He wants an excuse to get mad (even more mad) and fight, which is hard to do when faced with this sort of reaction.]

You do not understand.

[But FINE. WHATEVER. He slumps down petulantly because he is still a dumb teenager despite his very grown up rage.]

[assassino]

[Ezio heaves a sigh.]

I will only ever understand if you properly explain it without growing enraged and tossing things about.

[But no matter. Ezio takes a deep swig of his beer and settles back against the couch, Bianca shifting right back into his lap.]

We should be talking about pleasant things, anyhow.