ąųdįţǫŗę (mentori) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-07-06 10:00:00 |
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Ezio was very happy to see his family but staying with them was not quite an option. Their villa exuded old world charm and an air of old world money, situated on a stunning vineyard - those vineyards and olive groves went for miles and miles, truly, it was beautiful - but being in close proximity with the Auditore clan, with Elijah? Ezio would pass. He just planned to bring his partner to meet them, where they’d have an extravagant meal, drink a lot of wine, and Elijah would have to pretend to like human food for a little while. They’d done that yesterday, and it seemed to go well. Of course, Maria Auditore was demanding Ezio return with his paramour - and he promised they would, once he showed Elijah around Florence a bit. Their hotel was a little on the outskirts, lovely architecture reminiscent of a fifteenth century monastery, such greenery here as well and lemon trees and rose gardens blooming everywhere. There was even a restaurant on the property that offered cooking classes - it was a pleasant Italian experience, if you wanted the whole gamut. That morning, he’d woken up and they took the shuttle from the hotel into the city proper - convenient, that - and Ezio had stopped to grab his morning cappuccino (at least he could count on shops here to get it right - it was more milk than coffee, so best in the morning and for burning off the calories during the day) before the rest of their adventures. They’d followed the scent of roses along the Arno river and browsed antiques at the flea markets, but truly, Florence was a city best toured at night. It was less crowded, nicely lit, calmer. Ezio had plenty of ideas for what they could do when the sun went down. Like now. “Come with me, bello,” he was saying. “I want to show you something. A hidden secret in the cathedral.” Very romantic! Elijah could not resist this charming grin, could he, as Ezio looped his arm around his partner's. Elijah had been nervous at first, but he felt a little less so now that things had gone well and that he hadn’t entirely made a mess of things. It had gone better than meeting his family anyway. He hadn’t returned a single one of his mother’s phone calls since he left. He was sure that his siblings would be suffering the consequences of his actions, but he wasn’t letting himself worry about all of that here. At least not with so many other things to focus on. It was easy to keep from focusing on it while he was here. It was beautiful and he had to admit that the wine was excellent. Being off work wasn’t so bad either. All of this, however, wouldn’t have been as good without Ezio there. Especially since he seemed to know all the places worth going. He only wished that the idea of human food wasn’t so unappealing. It seemed like the best place to try new things. Or things he’d had before, but likely better. Glancing up, Elijah arched an eyebrow at the look on Ezio’s face. “Hidden secrets, hm?” It was true. He could not resist, but then he didn’t try very hard to begin with. “I suppose you’d better show me this hidden secret of yours, then.” He was curious to see what it was. He’d thought to do more research on interesting places in the area, but time had gotten away from him and he was sure there were things the locals knew more about than the tourist information. Elijah’s parents were...interesting. Ezio thought them to be utterly ridiculous, but he did not want to cause even more problems by being rude - so he’d been as polite as possible, until Elijah said they could leave (and thank the saints they had not been there long). The visit with the Auditore family - Ezio’s mother, sister, brother-in-law, uncle, and niece and nephew - had gone much better. He was happy, wasn’t that supposed to be what mattered? Anyway. “There are many secrets of Firenze,” he nodded, veering off to the left a bit to stop at a row of shops - a quaint market, where he purchased one of his favorite desserts called cantucci. Florentine desserts weren’t overly sweet (they were made with olive oil rather than butter); cantucci happened to be little biscotti pieces topped with almond slivers. They were wonderful dipped in either the evening espresso or the vin santo (dessert wine) which Ezio also picked up now. The last thing he made sure to get was a paper lantern - sky lanterns, as some called them. They were a little early for the Festa della Rificolona, which took place in September, but these lanterns were popular regardless. “One secret is that going up to the bell tower rather than the dome of the cathedral is the better option. Hundreds of steps won’t deter you, will they?” he teased as he shouldered the bag with their goodies and, what else? Copped a feel of Elijah’s backside. “I am sure I will know plenty of them in time.” As they walked, Elijah made note of the places they went. The more information he had, the better. He also made a mental note to see if he could get a few recipes. He may not enjoy human food as much now, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t surprise Ezio every so often with things he liked. “Is that the secret?” He looked up at the bell tower for a moment. “I’m sure I could do so in a matter of minutes even carrying you, so I think I can manage a lot of steps.” It was hard to say if there would be other people there, however, but he wasn’t opposed to using his vampire speed to save him time. “But if you want to do it the normal way, I suppose I’ll oblige. I’m almost surprised you didn’t suggest scaling the walls.” What was not surprising was the hand on his butt. He smiled for a moment, looking at Ezio. “I’m starting to think you only like me for my ass. Not that I could blame you. It does look particularly nice in this suit.” “Did you pack only suits, by the way?” Ezio asked in amusement, because it wouldn’t surprise him if Elijah did. Him and his charming choice of attire. “Enjoy the way your ass looks while you can - “ Check it out in all reflective surfaces, Elia, your boyfriend would only laugh a little, “...because I’m getting you out of that suit as soon as we return to the hotel.” While it was tempting to scale the sides of the old, old cathedral, the ‘normal’ way was probably best. Less attention drawn to them, for one thing. “I did once scale the sides of this structure,” he told Elijah, before paying the Euros required to enter and get to the bottom of the bell tower steps. One taken, four-hundred and nineteen more to go. “And assassinated a priest,” he winked, his accent heavy and dripping with smooth crema. “All during the Bonfire of the Vanities. It is interesting, to be back here after I dreamed everything in the Renaissance.” Comforting, in a strange way. His dream were now complete regardless - he’d passed away, there was no going on after that. “Well, considering that I cannot sleep in suits, I had to pack something other than them.” But sleep clothes weren’t really outside clothes. And he decided against most of the other options. “I have considered those pajamas made to look like suits, but that seems a little much, so I never tried them.” Plus, he really did not need more reason to be teased about his suits. It wasn’t his fault that he was aware of what he looked good in and preferred to wear just that. Though, he supposed the outfit Rebekah chose wasn’t the worst thing he’d been made to wear and he had been wearing it the first time Ezio kissed him, so it held fond memories of its own. “I’ll be sure to prepare myself for my upcoming disrobing.” Somehow Elijah was not surprised to hear that he had, in fact, scaled this building once...and assassinated a priest. Because of course. “I want to be surprised by this knowledge, but I find myself able to accept this story as fact.” He looked up as they walked. “Is the building much the same as it was or are there differences?” According to Rebekah, they had once been to Italy, but he wasn’t sure when. The dreams were disjointed. Most of what he’d seen had been his time in England and his time in Mystic Falls back when the Vikings were prominent. When he was a Viking. He’d even had a sword and apparently been fairly good with it. Perhaps Niklaus had bested him on occasion when they practiced, but that was the point. Practice and get better. He was curious to see what their time in Italy was like. “It is exactly the same,” Ezio chuckled - a slice of history, right here. His dreams were a world of history and the untold stories intertwined; for example, no one knew the role Leonardo da Vinci played in ensuring the Assassins kept their neighboring lands out of Templar control. No one knew the Borgia’s were scum (though they could probably guess), or that the Medici family had been close to Ezio’s own - if it were not for the Auditore influence, in fact, things may have played out differently. The staircase was compact, but not crowded (perhaps because not many knew this trick of going to the bell tower - everyone always climbed up to the dome), and Ezio wasn’t in much of a rush. If he was, it was only because the view was incredible - and he wished to break into the dessert wine. “I also performed a Leap of Faith from this bell tower - but I will not do that now. It is not very romantic, and I do intend to romance you.” It was interesting to learn things about a place. Especially one you had not visited before. That this was the same as it was when it was first built made it that much more curious. His gaze shifted in order to take in more of the details. History was always a subject of interest. It was only made more interesting by the fact that Ezio seemed excited about it. Most of his stories were told in a way to make things interesting as well. Elijah’s stories were mostly very cut and dry and with a rare bit of sarcasm thrown in. “I am glad you would choose not to.” Mostly because he might actually have a small heart attack...even knowing that the Italian would survive the jump. “Admittedly, I am not easily romanced by the ability to jump off very high buildings. As useful as such an ability is.” He couldn’t help but smile all the same. “I’ll be sure to return the favor.” Oh, he was going to return the favor, was he? How promising. Ezio glanced over his shoulder, snorting a huff of a laugh. “Such big talk,” he tsked; the hundreds of steps had passed quickly. They arrived at the top of the bell tower and it was as exquisite as Ezio remembered - the glittering stars, the twinkle of the city lights, the rich black velvet sky. “Pick a good spot, bello, and I will show you a bit of Florentine tradition,” he said, uncorking the bottle of wine. It really was best with the biscotti dunked into it, to soften the hard biscuit - which brought out the nutty, dried fruit flavors of the vino. At night, it was fine to bring food and drinks up here - it made for quite the entrancing experience. “Do you doubt my powers of romance?” It took a good amount of skill to keep himself from laughing. It was perhaps the most ridiculous thing he’d said. Today at least. He couldn’t speak for the time before then. Only now he supposed he’d have to prove himself. He had a feeling he could handle that. “I’m not sure whether to be insulted or not.” But as they got to the top of the tower, he couldn’t help but be in awe of the view. It took him a moment before he was able to focus enough to choose a place. He wanted to be able to look out. “Okay. I can see how this is the better place to go. It was certainly worth the hundreds of stairs.” Hundreds of stairs, like it was such a hardship. Not for those who could climb abnormally fast but yes, Ezio had to agree. The trip up was worth it even if his genetics did not give him helpful boosts here and there. “Is gorgeous to see the city like this, yes? You can see the Dome of the cathedral too, across the way a bit,” he sighed, absolutely captivated by how breathtaking the view was. Leaning against the railing, he grasped the neck of the wine bottle in one hand and reached out with the other, hooking his fingers in Elia’s belt loops on his perfectly pressed suit trousers and tugging him closer. There was a decent summer breeze - it was not stifling hot in Italy, not like the west coast back in the OC - and it ruffled Ezio’s dark hair; he smiled crookedly. “Tell me you will romance me in return.” A terrible hardship. Except not really one at all. “Yes. It is certainly something.” He was slightly distracted with the view as he tried to place everything he could see. It was nice to be able to see the stars. Every time he did, he was amazed by how many there were. The city didn’t really allow seeing as many as he saw now. “I never would have thought about coming here on my own.” He felt the familiar tug on his belt loop and his gaze dropped from the stars to Ezio’s face. It was almost unfair that he seemed to get even more ridiculously good looking with his hair slightly messy. “I will most certainly romance you in return,” he said before leaning in to steal a kiss, one hand on the railing and the other in Ezio’s hair. “You must tell me how,” Ezio insisted cheekily, the wine sloshing in its bottle as he slid both arms around Elijah now - of course, the experienced Italian would not spill even a drop of this ambrosia. It was much too delicious. “Will you bring me flowers? Ravish me on a bed of rose petals? Write me a sonnet?” Elia could ‘steal’ as many kisses as he wanted - it wasn’t stealing when Ezio would give them away free of charge, no? He took a swig of wine from the bottle and chased that with another kiss - the ones that tasted like sweet vino were always appreciated, in his opinion. Whoever thought vampires were chilly was sorely mistaken too. Where had that bit of folklore come from? Because they were undead? But no matter - Elijah was very warm (the layers of the suit might have helped with that), Ezio thought, as he loosened his lover’s tie and undid a few buttons on his shirt. Merda, this man needed some everyday clothes. Badly. “Oh, so I must tell you how. I see.” The suggestions made him smile. “I’m not sure that is what I had planned, no. I am not very good at sonnets. You would be disappointed. I still have a few steps before I can even start my plans.” A pause. “I have every intention of finding some of your favorite foods and somewhere pleasant to eat it. I haven’t planned past that. Though, likely at some point, it will end in ravishing. Mostly because I can’t help myself.” Elijah intended to take as many kisses as he could get. Not that that seemed to be a problem for him in that moment. He could taste all the different flavors of the wine in the second kiss. It was curious how that happened and yet food tasted like nothing. There had been moments where Elijah considered not wearing ties, but considering Ezio’s penchant for using belt loops and ties to pull him closer, it seemed impolite to take it away from him. He couldn’t abide by clip on ties either. “Truly, if there were not an audience here, I’d have half a mind to ravish you here.” Not that he couldn’t handle the audience problem. “How long have we been together and you still do not know my favorite foods?” Ezio teased, but he didn’t seem terribly offended. More like he just enjoyed giving Elijah shit sometimes. “And feel free to ravish me here, bello, it is secluded and quiet up where we are.” Well. It wouldn’t be for much longer, if they fucked in a public place - there was a certain thrill to that, wasn’t there? Then again, this was a cathedral. Ezio didn’t necessarily believe in a higher power, but he was still certain that defiling a place of worship would not lead to good things. That did not mean he couldn’t get in a good grope or several, however - the saints would not protest him worshipping cock, per se, no? Anyway. “Here, caro - “ He managed to tear himself free enough to rummage in the bag he brought, taking out the flying lantern. “We must light the candle and then let this go free.“ Where it went, who knew, likely it burned up in the ether - environmentally conscious folks would squawk over this bit of fun, but there was something magical about sky lanterns. “When it flies off, you make a wish. Or kiss a loved one.” Elijah shrugged. “I know some of them. But I figured there might be places here that would do a better job of it than I would.” He paused, giving Ezio a conspiratory look. “I suppose I could always charm your mother into showing me how to properly make a few things.” He knew very well that he could also charm Ezio into it, but that wasn’t the point. “Perhaps I can also convince her to tell me a great many stories of you when you were younger as well.” Elijah had plenty embarrassing childhood stories of his own, but unless Finn and Freya divulged those, not as many people knew the earliest ones. His attention shifted to the lantern. “I was going to ask.” He wasn’t all that concerned about where it went. He’d heard about things like this, but he’d never seen it, really. “I’m sure the overly ambitious do both.” “You would be more likely to get the embarrassing stories out of Claudia,” Ezio laughed fondly - his sister was as snarky as he was (it was why there was an explosion if they spent too much time around each other), no doubt she’d love talking about what a shit her brother was when he was younger. “My mother though, I am sure she would jump at the chance to teach you to cook some things.” Himself, he was a fantastic cook - but there were some things that were just better when they were made by an Italian woman with that old-world charm. He had a book of matches so he struck the flint on one and lit the candle in the lantern, which he then gave to Elijah. Only fair that he be the one to release it, when it was his first (second? Whichever) time in Italy. “Now you just let it go,” he instructed, motioning to the wide open world out there. “Make a wish first, don’t forget.” And kiss him. But that was apparent. “Ah. The sister. I will rope her into my schemes as well.” It was nice to have family interactions that didn’t make his head hurt after. “I’m sure Kol will tell the ones he knows. And Rebekah.” At least those two would be safe bets. He was already assured that Kol had told stories that were a mixture of lie and truth. “Then I will endeavor to do well enough to not embarrass myself.” But he would likely survive if he did not. Taking the lantern, Elijah considered the wish. Once he had one in mind, he released the lantern into the sky, taking a moment to watch it before turning back to Ezio. He considered making a joke as if he’d forgotten about the kiss, but decided to forgo that decision and pulled him in for a kiss. Maybe Ezio would get to do somewhat normal things with the Mikaelson’s, like hear stories of Elijah’s youth, when his siblings weren’t involved in a knock-down war with the parents - honestly, that famiglia was dramatic and ridiculous, and that said a lot coming from an Italian. He hoped Elijah’s wish came true though, whatever it was - Ezio wouldn’t ask because it was bad luck to share wishes. Wasn’t it? He’d share kisses, though. “Bene, bello,” he crooned as he seized Elijah’s chin and planted another smack of a kiss on him. “We can head back down, if you’d like? The normal way again, with the steps.” There would be no Leap of Faith or Ezio engaging in a bout of parkour - at least not right now, anyway. The knock-down war with their parents was a little much for Elijah. He wasn’t a fan of his parents either, but he was happy to just stop talking with them until they decided to stop being ridiculous. Things didn’t need to be blown up into something more than it was. It was exhausting. He wasn’t really sure he could talk Kol down from whatever he’d decided to do, however. It was a mess. “So you haven’t suddenly changed your mind on how romantic leaping off a building would be?” He tried to suppress the smile, but it didn’t work. Or perhaps it was because he hadn’t tried very hard. “But yes. I am fine to walk back down in the normal way.” “Not unless it would impress you,” Ezio chided, though he was sure Elijah would just have a heart attack at the site of him diving off such a great height. Ezio would have to get him used to it slowly - by still leaping off a building, just one that wasn’t as tall as this. Come on, it was fun. |