xxxvi λ winter

[assassino]

-------- Private -------

January 28th.

In some ways, I feel as though I am a ship adrift at sea, or at least a boat lost in a maze of canals. I do not know how to navigate a relationship with a woman from the future. The customs that are difficult enough in friendship prove even more complicated now. I know how a man might dictate a relationship in my time, but Lana is entirely different. If I commanded her, she would likely just be angry with me, so I am letting her make all of the decisions… it is strange, to say the least, but there is little I can do, even if I feel I am being emasculated.

Put like that, it all sounds very dramatic, but it feels as though that is the only way I can express it. It is one thing to be friends with women from the future, that I enjoy very much, but it is somehow different to call one your "girlfriend." I am just not used to being at one woman's beck and call.

I want to be prepared for this, yet I still feel lost… but I am still determined to prove to Molotov and the rest of them that I can be with a single woman and respect her wishes.

(It would be easier, though, if I were not always consumed with... frustrations. She will not even allow me to taste her.)

And what else plagues my mind? The Borgia, of course, as always… I fear Lucrezia will sabotage my relationships, and am concerned about that Cesare has been planning. I dare not place too many thoughts to the page, lest I bring bad luck upon myself.

Then there is Tim, who is Stephanie's "ex-boyfriend" –– I have yet to meet him, but I look forward to it. A bit of sporting fun would do me good.


x






----- Cesare Borgia -----


[written]

Salute.

I'd like to invite you to dinner. Just men –– no fair ladies this time.

E. Auditore.


-------------





Is it time for the snow to vanish into the ground yet? I hate snow. It is miserable to have to bundle oneself up like a Rossian just to go outdoors, and even more miserable to be indoors and wet in such heavy clothing.

Fuck winter, that is what I say.

Comments

[secondchances]

I think he'd be suspicious. Him not responding is probably a sign of that, too.

[assassino]

Then I'll force it out of him.

[secondchances]

Ezio. [She frowns at him.] No.

[assassino]

The sooner I know, the sooner I can be done with him.

[This is a lie, he's never fucking letting this go.]

[secondchances]

You find out, and then... what?

[Yeah, she figures.]

[assassino]

I deal with the problem.

[secondchances]

There's no solution for the problem. Not here.

[Said sternly, but gently. This is a sensitive topic.]

[assassino]

Stephanie, I will deal with it.

[secondchances]

[She doesn't like that, and makes it obvious with her expression. :( ]

[assassino]

Don't give me that look, I'm not going to kill him.

[secondchances]

Then what?

[assassino]

I'm going to scare him off.

[secondchances]

How?

I don't mean to ask twenty questions, but...

[assassino]

By beating the piss out of him.

[secondchances]

[She sighs. Better than murder, but still not something that makes her happy.]

You don't have to do that. He's a freakin' cardinal, I'm sure threatening to do that or just shoving him into a wall will do the same.

[assassino]

[Pointed look.]

Would that stop you?

[secondchances]

I'm not Cesare.

Any big move like that could really screw up your life here, you know. It's easy for Cesare or Lucrezia to raise the alarm on the journals about you. I don't know how many people will actually pay it attention, but [Tim would fffffffffff] it's a gamble, you know? Is it worth it?

[assassino]

You say that as if that is not my life back in Italia... and we must be honest, I have more friends than him, no one will dare threaten me with the allies I have, and the history books from your time are against him. Who would fight for him? You?

[secondchances]

Life here doesn't have to be like life at home. Why have people be afraid of you? Why assume Cesare is going to be the same person?

And Lucrezia has a lot of friends.

I love you, Ezio, but this is dumb. He hasn't done anything. He keeps to himself. He's either too afraid to respond to you, or ignoring you, which is exactly what I wish you would do.

[assassino]

[Sometimes Stephanie really frustrates him, and in this moment, she is. What is it that she can do the same things that he does, yet still ride some meaningless moral guideline hard? These Americans, he thinks, don't understand the duty one should have to their family.]

Stephanie, if you think what I am doing is dumb, then you evidently do not understand us or our ways. I have explained to you why I must do this a thousand times. Have you forgotten what his father did?

[secondchances]

No, I haven't.

[She frowns, keeping her eyes on his face.]

[assassino]

You remember why Borgia killed my brothers, yes? Because that is what you do to prevent a son -- a son like me -- from coming back for revenge, because in my time, family is everything. He killed my father, so I will kill him, and in turn, Cesare and his brothers will seek my head.

Cesare is just a man of the church -- he poses no threat to me as a fighter. But he will have political sway, so it is in my interest to ensure that he doesn't get any stupid ideas about continuing his father's other work. His work as a Templar, as a tyrant seeking to control and unite the Italian peninsula.

[secondchances]

[Another sigh, but this time she reaches for one of his hands. They'll never agree. Maybe this is as good as it'll get, Ezio beating the crap out of Cesare (or trying to), and perhaps then it'll really be done and over with.

... yeah, right.]

[assassino]

[He takes her hand, but hesitantly. He's not about to let her use her feminine wiles to diffuse his hatred of the Borgia.]

Stephanie, I have been doing this for ten years. You have to trust my judgment.

[secondchances]

[Rude, Ezio. She keeps a loose hold on it.]

I try. I'm trying. I just know how personal it is, and how Paradisa makes you feel. You can scare him off, but he's still going to be here until he's not. That's difficult.