EZIO AUDITORE + LEONARDO DA VINCI
LEO GETS STUCK, EZIO TO THE “RESCUE”
S FOR SAPPY | COMPLETE
It had been A Week for Signore Leonardo da Vinci. He’d woken up one day with the power to turn anything into wood, and then ate cranberries just hours before that allowed him to see auras. Of course, he’d reported it to Ezio immediately, and went on to look at everyone, delighted in the color array that everyone presented. It was amazing to see what everyone was, and how it translated to their personalities.
He hadn’t meant to get stuck. Leonardo had decided to go on a rooftop, in town, to paint while high and aura-lighted. He didn’t know how long it was going to last, and the headache presented itself whenever he was around a large group of people. Only on his way up, the emergency ladder broke, and he found himself stranded. A quick message to Ezio (one that would likely cause panic, but his brain was a little slow at the moment) and he just simply decided to resume painting the Atlantis city skyline for the time being.
He had at least a few hours before he would freeze and starve to death, probably.
The message in question had in fact caused a little bit of an anxiety attack. Ezio should have known not to make something sound like a challenge where Leonardo was concerned. Particularly when Leonardo’s inhibitions were dulled by drugs. But what was done was done and Ezio was more concerned with making sure Leonardo didn’t suffer for his moment of glory.
He was a little out of breath by the time he made it to the top of the tallest building on the island. But it easiest the sharp feeling in his chest when he laid eyes on Leonardo and his easel. He managed a smirk as he approached and dumped a pack at Leonardo’s feet.
“There is a warmer coat in there. Do you mean to finish that before your official rescue?” he teased, nodding at the painting.
To his high credit, Leonardo did at least have layers. And a hat. And gloves. It wasn’t perfect, and the air was still chilly, but his face lit up with Ezio’s appearance and words. He had almost forgotten that he was stuck and uttered a word of surprise that his lover was there, but kept it to just a big, welcoming grin.
“I am not cold yet, but no doubt the chill will creep up on me.” Waving Ezio even closer with his hand, he gestured to the painting and to the vista ahead. “Look at the sunset right now. Even you cannot blame me for wanting to capture it, and we both know I do not usually do landscapes.”
“Very well,” Ezio smirked. He knew he had a tendency to be overprotective. It had always been an issue, and it was a touch worse now that they were romantically involved. Still, clamping down on that instinct didn’t stop him from crowding up behind Leonardo like an assassin-shaped cloak. His palm moved warm and certain across Leonardo’s stomach as he wrapped an arm around him and hooked his chin over Leonardo’s shoulder.
“It is very pretty, maestro. But you could have seen something not all that different from a number of places on the island.” Ezio let his hand drift from Leonardo’s stomach to rest over his heart. “A number of places closer to the ground, even.”
Leonardo wasted no time making himself comfortable, letting his overused eyes close as he leaned back against Ezio. The painting was forgotten for this moment, though he would pick it up again soon. The warmth of the Assassin behind him was always comforting, and it was still a novelty to him that he got to be this close and linger.
“But where would the fun in that be?” His own hand traveled to Ezio’s, and the cold skin held over the top of his lover’s hand. “I still do not know how to get down.... I may have to fix the ladder first. But now that you are here, I am in no hurry.”
If anyone had been around, old hang ups might have made Ezio hesitate. But the cold, quiet night, and Leonardo leaning into him, made it easy to press his face into the side of Leonardo’s neck to nuzzle there. As new as this still all was, it was still just like breathing most of the time. A simple as taking off a cloak and letting himself walk freely. That said, he didn’t linger excessively. He gave a light squeeze to hug Leonardo to him and then untangled himself to still keep a hand resting on Leonardo’s shoulder as he stepped around beside him.
“I didn’t bring a bag with only a coat in it, Leonardo. There are a few tools in there, and a harness.” Ezio squinted one eye self-deprecatingly. “Twenty years ago I would have just said get on my back, I’ll carry you down, but I might be too afraid a back twinge will end up with you in the street now.”
Leonardo tried to stifle the sound of disappointment when Ezio pulled away, and miserably failed. It was almost like a deflating balloon, having hoped to keep a little of his warm air and losing it to something only adjacent to enjoyable. But Leonardo was often such a tactile person, he often had to remind himself not everyone was. Even with his rather mellow mood, he still grinned at Ezio before going over to the edge of the rooftop and peering down at the broken ladder.
“I could probably just climb it, you know.” He probably couldn’t. “It’s not that high.” Twenty stories, at least. He grinned back over his shoulder at Ezio, before finally straightening. “But with the harness, I can probably dangle and fix it. Is there a welding torch in there? To spare your back.”
Ezio smirked knowingly at the bereft sound Leonardo made and took care to caress his shoulder as he stepped away towards the edge. His protective instincts flared. Surely it didn’t count as running when he meandered over to Leonardo’s side.
“It is too high. Please don’t give me heart palpitations again. I only just got over the last ones,” he sighed. Glancing back towards the bag, his face scrunched into something between amusement and confusion. “I did not bring a welding torch, though, no. But I really can manage lowering you in a harness to the landing down there where the ladder is fine.”
Leonardo huffed out another laugh, knowing full well the herbal remedy got to him just a little bit as he leaned back and towards Ezio again. He didn’t wobble, to his credit, but was more than a little happy to move into Ezio’s personal space, despite the brush off not long before. He was in no hurry to get off the roof and move away, even if it would have put Ezio at ease.
“I trust you,” Leonardo said it with explicit confidence, his words firm and heavy. There was no one he trusted more in this world than Ezio, even against his own self. The brain could trick you, but he would put his life into Ezio’s hands at any moment of the day. “Your aura is so comforting. Warm. Like a blanket wrapped around me. I would be content to never leave it’s space.”
As tempting as it was to tease Leonardo about trusting most people, Ezio felt too warmed by the faith to do anything but tip his head and smile tenderly. He reached up to cradle Leonardo’s face between his hands.
“I am relieved to know that. You have always been that comfort to me,” he murmured, brushing his thumbs over Leonardo’s cheeks. “And I worried...well, I could not be sure all the lives I have taken hadn’t changed my aura forever.” While he had less trouble being willingly vulnerable around Leonardo these days, Ezio still felt self-conscious. He had reached an age where self-reflection was annoyingly common, though. Still, his eyes dropped to a safe spot on Leonardo’s shoulder. “It would have chipped away at something inside of me to know you saw only something dreadful.”
Leonardo dropped a hand to Ezio’s chest, right over his heart. “It is not the lives you have taken, but what is in here.” It was unbearably sappy and he wouldn’t apologize, even once he was out of his slightly inebriated state. “You, Ezio Auditore, have the most passionate and protective heart of a man that I have ever met.”
He was going off on a tangent now, when they should probably be climbing down the building before it got even colder, or finishing up his painting (even though he knew that was likely to get put off forever at this point). “Somedays, I wake up and you are next to me - and I am astonished at how lucky of a man I am that you feel the same way. You matter more to me than any aura, even if it were not comforting.”
Ezio had to bite down on his smile or risk the emotion in his chest bubbling out into a laugh. None of this was funny, of course, but it was very sentimental and affection welled up too fast and too surprising. It shouldn’t have been that shocking by now either, but it wasn’t as if he had a mountain of experience with genuine romantic love.
“I wake up and think the same. After sleeping through the entire night no less.” Ezio leaned in to kiss the corner of Leonardo’s mouth. “You are more than I ever could have hoped for here. Now if I can just get you to stop being a trouble magnet…,” he smirked.
Leonardo laughed into Ezio’s shoulder, and then leaned just to the side to capture a quick kiss, humming against Ezio’s mouth. Despite being stranded on top of a roof in the dead of winter, he was happy, and there was not much he would trade for that.
“You are only attracted to trouble, so I would worry that I would lose your interest.” Leonardo teased, only half serious. In the twenty years they had known each other, neither of them had been very good at avoiding trouble. It was just a fact of life now, as far as the inventor was concerned. “If we stay here much longer, I’m going to hope you packed several blankets in that mystery bag of yours.”
“Not only trouble,” Ezio laughed. “I am also attracted to a sharp mind, a cheeky sense of humor, and pretty eyes that sparkle with both.” He poked Leonardo lightly in the ribs for emphasis and then backed away smiling, moving for his bag. “Sadly, I did not prepare to linger. Well…not sadly. We have two perfectly good bedrooms to choose from.”
Bringing the bag back over to the ledge, he pulled out a simple harness and a coil of rope. “My original plan had been to just strap you to my waist and dangle you below me as I climbed. But you just had to pick the tallest building...”