Corazon 11: Breathless
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As much as Ezio wasn’t necessarily a sun type of person, there was a certain amount of peace that came with watching the sunrise. The sky shifted colours, the light scattered through buildings and lit up glass windows, and it all had a certain draw to it that Ezio felt, though he never did understand.
Ezio had grown up in a small town in rural northern France. It was so small, half of the town’s residents were related somehow, even if distantly, and the other half were likely migrants from somewhere else. The details were fuzzy now, but Ezio thought his family were originally from Lorraine, likely Upper Lorraine if he had to guess, but who really knew? No one but Morgyn was around now to ask strange family history questions, and Morgyn had no more idea where they came from than Ezio did.
Much of the time, Ezio hardly remembered their family. He remembered they had a mother, and a father, and perhaps a cousin or two somewhere. He didn’t remember what either of their parents looked or sounded like. Sometimes, if he focused on it hard enough, he remembered very barely a song someone used to sing, when he and Morgyn couldn’t get to sleep, for either the rolling of thunder or the threat of monsters lurking in darkness.
Those times were so much simpler, he remembered that too, and now they were gone, like fragile snowflakes when the spring had come.
The sun rose high enough to scatter light over the mountains beyond San Myshuno. The city rested in a coastal valley, and morning light was delayed as the sun had to make it over the mountaintops. Ezio, sitting very high up on the tallest concrete bridge supports, tilted his head slightly, eyes blinking rapidly as sunlight suddenly splashed across his face. The cars below wouldn’t see that light directly for at least another few minutes, but the light getting everywhere happened rapidly once the sun had come up above the mountains, as he recalled from the days it still burnt him.
Though Ezio was hesitant to forgive Morgyn for the poor wording at that time, he wondered if perhaps he was just being too stubborn. But then, the more of those meaningless slights Ezio overlooked, the more frequent they would become, until one day Morgyn wasn’t just making slight missteps anymore. The trouble with Morgyn was that one had to draw very clear lines very consistently, because Morgyn never remembered where they were without help.
Morgyn had a hard time considering others sometimes, in a way. It wasn’t that Morgyn was that way on purpose, the idiot truly did care about others, it was just that Morgyn had a hard time showing it that was all. The added bonus of the intensity at which Morgyn operated didn’t make anything easier. Morgyn went hard, and certain things that were not clear and obvious got overlooked very easily in that passion. Ezio knew this, better than most. It was how he’d managed to forgive so many little slights over the years.
But Morgyn wouldn’t learn if nothing forced the idiot to do so. And Ezio finally refusing to simply forgive something might be enough to start the process of change in Morgyn.
Then, there was Caleb. And Caleb was a whole other problem, one that Ezio was still unsure what to do with. Over the years, Ezio had become quite skilled at handling enemies, as when one was a vampire, there were plenty of them to be found. Battle had become something familiar, a thing Ezio managed easily and fluidly, like war was in his blood and maybe in some way, between the Untamed magic and the Viking descent, it was. Untamed mages, and Vikings, never were terribly docile after all, and though he’d needed to learn his magic the hard way, he’d learnt it quite well.
Caleb was not an enemy, however, and one didn’t handle this kind of thing in the same way. It’d seem Ezio had long forgotten how to do anything but fight. The reasons why didn’t matter anymore. He’d forgotten how to be human, in many ways, though Emilia was beginning to teach him how again, and being around Caleb had awakened the little sparks of that boy that had died in France. It was scary. And not so scary, all at once. Perhaps confusing was the better word. Ezio had always sworn that nothing would ever make him feel that way again, and yet here he was.
There was a difference, of course, between feeling like that little boy that was trapped and helpless, and feeling like that little boy that had fallen in love. Both of these things, they caused conflict in Ezio’s mind. There were times when Ezio wanted Caleb to go away, and to pretend they’d never found one another again. There were also times when Ezio never wanted to lose him again. These were two very conflicting wants, and it was entirely possible neither one would ever truly win over the other.
He had things to do, as much as Ezio didn’t want to do them. It was a weird thing to live on the fringes of society for as long as he had and then suddenly re-enter it, and the humans had no idea how dangerous he was. He hadn’t truly hurt one in a long time. He hadn’t killed on accident in some time now, nor on purpose either. The olden days of being a blood-sucking night-terror seemed to be behind him, and he was simply slow on the uptake.
Ezio stood up, stretching out. The sunlight had begun to splash across the bridge’s suspension cables several minutes ago, and was now making its way through the cars on the highway below. Falling off this bridge would likely be relatively unpleasant, if one were mortal at least. Ezio’s grey eyes, glowing softly in the morning light, watched the cars for a moment. Then, he grinned to himself, and jumped off the concrete support. If you hit the ground harder than the ground hits you, you win, right?
He hit the ground, knees bending from the inertia. The force ran through his muscles, rattled his bones a little, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. Perhaps he’d walk a little strangely for a while. He straightened up, brushing the stray dust from his jacket, then turned and walked towards his apartment across the Spice Market. There, by the bridge, was a cat, wearing a green bow tie and a top hat. Ezio smiled at the sight of him.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked as he drew closer to the cat.
Mayor Whiskers gave a plaintive mewl, though somehow it sounded annoyed, and then trotted off towards the Culpepper apartment complex.
Ezio shook his head, but he followed behind the cat. The sunlight hit the apartment windows, sending blinding light through the alleyways. Some inner part of Ezio recoiled from the vicious brightness. Ezio tilted his head, looking down at Mayor Whiskers. “Say,” he said, “do you want to be my familiar someday?” Ezio had never had one before, but he thought he might like one now.
Mayor Whiskers looked over at him, and then turned away. Somehow, Ezio got the distinct impression Mayor already considered himself Ezio’s familiar anyway.
“I think we’re breaking up,” Emilia said, settling down in a chair across from Ezio. The dim background chatter and clanking of glasses in the cafe around them became almost deafening in the silence between them that followed.
It was routine now. If Emilia didn’t come over to his apartment to bother him, they’d meet up here at a cafe in Windenburg for a coffee and a chat. Sometimes, they’d do both in one week, and Ezio never fussed too much. If Emilia wasn’t around to pester him, Ezio wouldn’t really talk to anyone and might end up sliding back into being a blood-sucking night-terror. Without these markers for the passage of time, maybe he’d even forget what time was.
After a long moment, he tilted his head. “That’s a good thing, right?” he asked. She probably meant herself and Darrel. That was just as well. Ezio had only been trying to talk them into breaking up for years now. Whether Minerva’s heart was in the right place or not failed to be the point anymore. The point was, Emilia and Darrel weren’t in love with each other, not really, and while plenty of people had made marrying their best friend work out in the past, they were well beyond the time of arranged and political marriages. At least, they should be beyond it.
Anyway, with the sages doling out magic to anyone that asked these days, it wouldn’t be long before there were so many spellcasters Magic Realm needed an expansion.
“I guess,” Emilia answered. “It’s just weird to think about. I’ve spent so long trying to become the wife I thought would fit into the Charms, and now I don’t even know who I am anymore, I think.”
Ezio snorted into his coffee. “That’s even more reason for this not to go through,” he said. “It doesn’t do any good to push forward with something like this when you’re not even sure who you are. And besides, Darrel’s not into you. You’re not into him. We’re well past the middle ages, honey.”
Emilia laughed. “Yeah, I guess so,” she said. “It seemed like such a sure thing, and now it’s not. I think I’m having trouble with changing directions suddenly like this.”
“Don’t change suddenly then,” Ezio said. “It’s fine to take this a step at a time. You and Darrel have been a big part of each other’s lives for a long time now. I think it’d be jarring for you both to suddenly separate. You have to detangle a little first. It’s pretty weird to go from 120 to nothing in an instant, after all, and might damage things unnecessarily.”
“You’re probably right,” Emilia said, sighing. “I think now I’ll focus on figuring out what I want and where to go from here.” She fell quiet, idly stirring her coffee, watching the swirls. “So, how about you?” she asked.
“Me?” Ezio asked, looking over the rim of his cup in surprise. “What about me?”
Emilia rolled her eyes. “You know what about you,” she said. “You and Caleb, hello. Since I’m single now, I’ll have to live through you, so come on, how are you doing? Have we made progress? Are there fireworks or butterflies?”
Ezio snorted. Yes. And no. It was all a confused jumble, and some of those things that made it a confused jumble were things Emilia didn’t need to concern herself with. Emilia wasn’t exactly unobservant, however. She’d notice these things eventually. Yet the Ezio of Mortain was difficult to explain to the Emilia of Evergreen Harbour. Or maybe she counted as Emilia of Glimmerbrook now.
“Are you unhappy then?” Emilia asked. Of course she’d ask that.
Ezio may have glowered at her a little, over the rim of his glass. He set it down and shrugged. “Like I said, it’s complicated,” he answered.
“Is it actually complicated, or are you just making it so?” Emilia asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ezio asked, his eyebrows furrowing together.
“What it sounds like,” Emilia said. “Things that seem to be complicated, often they aren’t complicated at all, and it’s just the way we approach them that makes them seem that way. You’re in San Myshuno in the 21st century, Ezio. Don’t be in Mortain in the 17th century in your head.”
Ezio sighed, glancing down at the tile flooring. She had a point. He knew it too. It was easier said than done though. Most of their memories together were in Mortain. It was inevitable that France would eventually come up between them, and Ezio wasn’t expecting anything else. The strange thing he supposed was that they didn’t talk about it, though both could feel it was there.
“I’d like to meet him,” Emilia said suddenly, taking a drink of her coffee.
Ezio looked up at her, confused. “Really?” he asked.
“Of course,” Emilia said. “You’ve got conflicting stories about this guy, you know? As your friend, I’m obligated to make sure you’re not making a huge mistake here. It’s in the friend rulebook.”
Ezio raised an eyebrow. “I think we’re a little bit beyond my friends playing quality control,” Ezio said.
“You’re never beyond it,” Emilia said. “Come on, it’ll be fun anyway. We can go out somewhere together, I’ll bring Darrel, it’ll be like a double-date just more awkward because we’re not engaged anymore, right? You can laugh at me dying internally, and I can get to know this guy.”
Ezio shook his head. “Alright,” he said. “If you insist.”
Emilia wouldn’t have let this go, most likely. It was a decent enough situation for them to end up in when Ezio was so nervous around him. And maybe with others nearby, it’d be easier for Ezio to sort out why he was so nervous to begin with, and whether he should be worried about it or not.
This time, he didn’t need Emilia’s help in choosing something to wear. Ezio had gotten a relatively solid idea of what kinds of things Caleb thought he looked good in ( it’d seem to be basically anything Ezio wore ). That made deciding on something much easier of an endeavour. Mayor Whiskers sat on his dresser, watching him try on and decide against several different things before, eventually, he settled on something.
It wasn’t a dress like the last few times they’d gone somewhere, but Ezio thought he should try something less feminine anyway.
Ezio wasn’t exactly male, but neither did he think he was female. Being gendered as such wasn’t upsetting, but neither did it feel right. Of course, being gendered male had never felt right, either, to be fair about it. It was strange to think that he’d figured out Morgyn’s gender, or lack thereof, in very short order when they were children, but hundreds of years later, he still wasn’t certain what his was. That seemed odd, but in the end, Ezio knew Morgyn better than he’d ever known himself.
After a few more adjustments, making sure the turtleneck under his blazer had settled right and wasn’t going to bunch uncomfortably, Ezio smoothed the jacket down, watching it as well as he could from his vantage point. He smiled to himself, took a breath in, then reached over and petted Mayor Whiskers’ head. “Do you think he’ll like it?” Ezio asked, looking down at the cat.
Mayor Whiskers tilted his head, but he didn’t make any sounds, just stared at him.
“I know,” Ezio said. “You don’t terribly care either way, do you?” Of course not.
Mayor Whiskers had no reason to care, in the end. Caleb had met him by now, of course. They weren’t exactly buddies now, though. In his treatment of Caleb, Ezio understood now how Mayor Whiskers’ behaviour with him was strange to everyone else. If he usually acted with others the way he acted around Caleb, it made sense. Perhaps the cat really did like him, for whatever reason, but maybe it was for the best that he did.
Someone had to like Ezio, and it wasn’t going to be Ezio himself, nor Morgyn, apparently.
“I’ll be back later,” he said, gently brushing a finger against Mayor Whiskers’ face. “Try not to go crazy by yourself, okay?”
He said that, but Ezio didn’t trust any other cat to watch his apartment while he was gone, either. Ezio straightened up, adjusted his blazer one more time, and then turned and stepped into the shadows, walking out of an alleyway he’d used for teleporting many times before. This part of San Myshuno was his territory, of course. He was very well familiar with its ins and outs, and had been for many years.
He made his way to the restaurant he was supposed to be meeting Caleb this time, some seafood place that smelled strongly of lobster and butter. Ezio didn’t manage to eat a lot of fish but when he’d had occasion to, it was enjoyable enough. It was a side-effect of living near the coast, he’d imagine, and San Myshuno was on the bay. It was a wonder there weren’t more seafood restaurants near the water, but it probably had something to do with varying regulations and whatnot.
Humans were so boring with their rules and regulations that were begging to be broken.
As usual, he was a few minutes early, but Caleb was beginning to understand he was always early, and Ezio didn’t need to wait for long. He turned towards the sound of footsteps, familiar ones by now, as he’d gotten accustomed to Caleb’s gait. Caleb came up beside him and stopped.
“How do you do that?” he asked after a moment.
“Do what?” Ezio asked in return.
“You’re good at figuring out what you look nice in,” Caleb said. “I’ve yet to see you wear something that isn’t flattering on you.”
Ezio smiled. “I had to learn,” he said, reaching over to adjust Caleb’s tie. “You’re not so good at ties are you?”
Caleb looked down at him, and smirked. “Maybe I mess them up on purpose,” he said.
“Why would you do that?” Ezio asked, one eyebrow raising.
“Because, I learnt you’ll get in my bubble and fix it if I do,” Caleb answered.
Ezio resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead playfully shoving Caleb, and stepping away from him. Caleb made a disappointed noise at the back of his throat, but he didn’t argue nor draw him back.
“We may not be able to do this very much anymore,” Caleb said. “I’ll be starting university classes soon.”
“Oh,” Ezio said. Somehow, that was surprising. Then, he smiled. “That’s a good thing then, right? That sounds exciting. Let me guess, you’re going into the culinary programme, aren’t you?” Ezio was even willing to bet he was in the distinguished programme.
Caleb laughed. “Yeah,” he said, holding his arm out. Ezio wordlessly looped his arm around Caleb’s. “It was all your idea. Even if you didn’t mean to give me the idea, you still did.” Caleb turned and started towards the door.
“It’s nice that you’re happy about it,” Ezio said, following his lead. “My friend works in the culinary industry. She’s a mixologist, not a chef anymore, but maybe you’d be up for meeting her someday. It could help if you want to work in culinary someday. Having someone already in the industry that can name-drop isn’t a bad idea.”
Caleb smiled wryly. “How are you always helping me out on accident, anyway?” he asked. “If you’re okay with introducing us, I’d love that.”
“She wants to meet you anyway,” Ezio said, a bit of exasperation in his tone.
“Does she?” Caleb asked. “What for?”
Ezio looked up at him, and then looked away and shrugged. “You’re the boyfriend,” he said. “And she’s the bestie. I hear it’s in the rulebook.”
“Oh, I see,” Caleb said. “The best friend’s doing quality control on the new date. Gotcha.”
Ezio nodded. “Yeah, that,” he said. “I tried to tell her we’re a bit beyond the whole screening the date thing, but she wouldn’t listen to reason, despite being fully aware I’ve known you longer than her.” Way longer.
Caleb snorted. “To be fair, we were apart most of that time,” he said. “But it’s good that someone’s been looking out for you. I think it’s cute.”
Strangely, that he didn’t think it was annoying or a waste of time, Ezio thought that said a lot. Somewhat distractedly, Ezio reached up and adjusted Caleb’s tie better. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
“What for?” Caleb asked.
“For being you, I guess,” Ezio answered, looking up at him. After a moment, Ezio glanced back down at their shoes, then shifted up slightly, kissing Caleb’s cheek, and fluidly pulled away. “Come on, dinner won’t order itself,” he said, taking Caleb’s arm back and pulling him towards the door.
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