anachronismo | (no subject)

(no subject)

Even if Stephanie had access to all the paper in Rome, she didn't think she'd have enough room to write down all that sucked. Bathing sucked. The weather sucked. The clothing sucked. The Borgia family sucked. Lack of deodorant sucked. Lack of modern convenience sucked. Oh, what else? Getting a cut on your arm sucked, because then you worried about stitches and sterilization, and when you're pretty much the most medically advanced person in the history of ever (so far, and maybe that was probably an annoyed exaggeration), that meant you fixed yourself up as best you could, put your shirt back on, and went on with your day. That really sucked.

It was embarrassing, too. She was eager to help, eager to commit to Ezio and the Assassins, but not so eager to kill. The extra care it took to not spill blood (and not make it totally obvious what she was doing) cost her bumps and bruises. And this time, some skin and blood. She wasn't sure if she was more worried about the scar or Ezio noticing--if he hadn't already. She'd lost track of how many chats about killing they'd had, both in Rome and in Paradisa.

For now, she sat herself down at the desk and tried to look busy. She could work on other embarrassing things to distract herself from her "scratch"--like her understanding of local geography. Ugh. Rome was fucking confusing, even after all this time. It didn't make sense to her like Gotham had.

Maybe she'd just invent satellite imaging.

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"It does. So I suppose I will lay right here," he murmured, before rolling over to pin her, careful of her arm but sleepily-playful nonetheless. She would make a good pillow.

She rolled with a little oof, but laughed right after. Someone could still be an overgrown puppy, apparently.

"Good. Wouldn't have you anywhere else." She smiled up at him.

Like she'd resist.

He'd never stop being such a tactile guy.

"Good, as I have no intention of moving," he replied, shifting down to lay his head against her chest. "You are trapped."

"I'm a willing prisoner." She pressed a kiss to the top of his head before relaxing back into the pillows. The hand of her uninjured arm idly smoothed his hair back. "How I love my cuddly Assassin. Not only is he a wonderful friend, but he doubles as a blanket, too."

Luckily for Ezio, she'd learned to keep such comments to private conversations.

He chuckled, a deep hum against her body.

"Not too heavy of a blanket, I'd hope?"

"A little heavier than I remember you being in Paradisa, but nothing I can't handle. This is nice," she replied, honestly. He was never the only one who was a sucker for closeness. She felt needed, even if she knew she was probably more of a detriment to him actually getting sleep. Oh, well. Worth it.

"I have put on weight," he replied, and then added: "Mostly muscle, but I am not exactly climbing buildings just for the fun of it, these days."

He wasn't exactly a lean, lithe young man anymore, but a few extra pounds had done him well, even if they made him a bit thicker, a bit harder. That and he was working with injuries –– as well as he'd healed from the stab wound and the bullet wound, it wasn't as good as new.

Meanwhile, Stephanie was pretty sure she'd lost weight and muscle. Her levels of activity were different here, and there was a distinct lack of soda and chips, so there went her extra padding.

She was also pretty sure a lot of the loss was in her breasts. Sadness.

"You wear it well, still. Don't worry, Ezio, you're just as attractive as you were when you were all young and lively."

"Who said I worried?" he said, closing his eyes and letting out a long, relaxed breath. He missed having company like this –– emotional company. Truth be told, he had felt rather hollow since Caterina had left. "I never worry."

"So that hasn't changed. You're still full of yourself," she laughed, hand leaving his hair to gently pinch his cheek.

"To a lesser extent, yes, I would agree," he murmured, smiling despite the pinch. "I would not want to disappoint."

She returned her hand to his hair. At least he probably wouldn't be balding anytime soon.

"You're the least disappointing person I've ever met." Annoying and frustrating at times, sure, but she'd never genuinely use the word disappointing to describe Ezio.

"You flatter me."

He lifted his head a touch at that, to look at her through the relative darkness of the room, and he slid one hand up along the length of her body. Friendly, warm.

"You know you have never disappointed me, either."

The hand in his hair paused.

"Never? Never ever?" She asked, though the smile on her face was clear.

"Never ever," he confirmed.

"I'm really happy I haven't," she said, wrapping her arms around him despite the discomfort in one. "Even with all the disagreements."

"Disagreements are to be expected, especially between a fiery young woman and a revolutionary Assassin."

"We always figure out a way to not be too pissed off at each other for different views."

"Precisely," he replied, running his hand along her side again. "I let you be progressive without being too... Progressive."

She laughed, though it was more at the hand along her side than what he said. It tickled.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means," he said, "That you are a woman in man's world... And no woman can be revolutionary without meeting violent resistance. We will take up women's liberation in a way suited to this time."

She smiled and held him a little tighter. That wasn't really the best thing to hear, but he was just looking out for her. She tried to not take offense at that.

"It's been hard, getting used to that. Obviously."

"I will do whatever I can for you, bambina."

"More of this wouldn't be bad, if you're speaking generally," she said, not caring if that came off as needy or whatever. "I don't mind playing pillow. Laying here and getting to talk like this is comforting."

Their previous discussion about her staying off the field for a while was pretty much forgotten. It was almost easy to forget that outside of this room there was an entire world she was most unfamiliar with, too.

"I mean, we don't always have the opportunity to do this, but... you know what I mean."

He pressed a chaste kiss to her neck, too lazy to crane his neck further.

"You know that you are welcome in my bed any time, hmm?"