xxix λ retirement

[assemblatore]

[Needless to say, Ezio Auditore did not expect to be in this place. No one ever does; if you could, it wouldn't be Paradisa, would it?

And Ezio does not go quietly. Instead, he's the one with an iron fire poker, stalking through the halls with as much haste as he can. His old body make it difficult, but adrenaline has a way of providing one with the strength.

He's on edge. He doesn't know what to make of this strange new place, or how he got here. Is he dead? Did Shao Jun's pursuers get the best of him? And –– most important of all –– is his family alright?

And there's his voice, still heavily accented but much older, much more gravelly:]


Come out, you dogs, and greet me! Or are you too cowardly to face an old man?

Comments

[secondchances]

You've been here before, Ezio. Younger-you, but you've been here before. I know who you are.

[Don't have a heart attack or fall down the stairs or hit her with the fire poker please.]

[assemblatore]

[He looks ahead of himself for a moment, thinking on that.]

How much do you know?

[secondchances]

A lot. Your occupation and how you got there, stuff like that.

[assemblatore]

So you know enough, then.

[He has a concerned thought, though.]

Who am I to you, then?

[secondchances]

You're one of my best friends. [She tries to not do another one of those sad smiles, but it happens anyway. This is probably (hopefully) temporary, but even just the reminder of how quickly things can change is jarring.]

[assemblatore]

[He pauses, and then feels terrible, just seeing the look on her face.]

I am sorry.

[secondchances]

Don't be. [She gives his arm a gentle squeeze, finding it easier to be the one doing the reassuring.] Just think of it this way: I'm sure there's a lot I need to catch up on, and--I can tell you about me. And the stupid things you did here.

It's alright.

[assemblatore]

[He nods.]

Si, of course... but it is still unkind to forget a friend.

[secondchances]

It's not your fault. You liked me a lot, so I'm sure you wouldn't ever choose to forget me. I'm a fantastic friend.

[Trying to lighten the mood for the both of them.]

[assemblatore]

Is that so? I will need to get to know you again, then.

[secondchances]

You will. I'm not going anywhere, and I'll do my best to answer any questions you have.

[Thank god, his room. She lets him go to open the door.]

Here we are. If it's a mess in here, you only have yourself to blame.

[assemblatore]

I would doubt it... I have never been messy.

[He opens the door himself.]

[secondchances]

A trait I've always appreciated.

[assemblatore]

It is easy when you do not own much. My wife, on the other hand, she likes the clutter.

[He looks around the room. It doesn't look like a place he might have lived in back in Italy... too big, with the kind of floor-space one needed to be a king to have. Ezio had spent his formative years as an Assassin taking small inn rooms or taking residence in what meager spare bedrooms had been available, and by time he had the hideout in Roma, there were so many people living with him that even his master bedroom was rather modest.]

[secondchances]

[Stephanie decides to get him some wine as he looks around.]

You were worried about the kind of woman you'd marry, if I remember correctly.

[assemblatore]

Was I? Hmm. When I met her, I just knew.

[But no matter. He pokes around his room.]

Tell me more about this place.

[secondchances]

[Aww. How dare he leave her hanging on that. She goes over to hand him a glass, vowing to ask about this wife later.]

Paradisa is... magical, obviously. People from different times and places you've never heard of end up stuck here. Time sorta freezes. Nothing moves back home for you. People come and go without warning. We don't know how or why. Sometimes, people end up here more than once.

[She fiddles with something or other in the room.] There are losses. There's a permanent one everyone has, and then there are temporary ones. I don't know if you being here is temporary or not, but I figure we'll just play it safe.

[assemblatore]

[He pauses to take that in, and then gives a contemplative nod.]

What would it entail for me to be here "temporarily"?

[secondchances]

I don't know. It's random, when it happens. In a few days, a week, maybe two, you'll go back to being twenty-nine year old Ezio. Until then, you're here, and you get to do with us weird people from the future and a ton of people who know you.

[She takes a good look at his face, and something clicks.]

I gave you a hard time when you tried growing a beard. I didn't think it looked good. This suits you, though.

[assemblatore]

Hmm.

[But that's vaguely amusing.]

I have had a beard since I was in my early thirties.

[secondchances]

Whoops. Maybe I should have stopped you from shaving it off...

[If this is temporary, she'll encourage beard growing :( If it's not... ugh.]

Do you wanna sit?

[assemblatore]

[He does, but he's not sure that he wants to highlight how old he is, so he just shakes his head.]

I gather that we are friends, but how, ah... close are we?

[secondchances]

[Then she'll stand, too.]

Close. [And then her eyes widen, and she waves her hands.] But we weren't--not like that. We never slept together.

I really hope that's what you were trying to ask. Otherwise, ignore me...

[assemblatore]

[Apologetic look.]

Good. I had hoped not.

[secondchances]

That would make this situation a lot more awkward than it already is, wouldn't it? [Bullet dodged. See, she knew keeping away from the Italian hotness would work in her favor one day.]