Corazon 9: Things Unforgiven

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The coffee shop was louder than he’d have liked. Emilia didn’t seem bothered by it, but it was certainly too loud for him.

Ezio had only agreed to come here because Emilia liked it. This was her favourite coffee shop. Ezio could go anywhere else and be just fine, but he also preferred to make his own coffee. The two sat together at a table, watching the other patrons bustling around. Emilia had a latte, while Ezio had a mocha.

“You seem to be in a better mood today,” Emilia said.

Ezio looked surprised. “No I don’t,” he said. “I’m always like this.”

“Don’t lie,” Emilia said, laughing quietly. “I haven’t seen you in this good of a mood in a long time now. Years, I should think. It’s almost like you’d forgotten what good moods were.”

Ezio wasn’t sure about that. Maybe he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in a good mood, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t recently. He was telling himself that. She had a point, but he wasn’t about to admit it.

“I was in a good mood just last week,” Ezio said, his arms crossing.

Emilia snorted. “Is that what you tell yourself?” she asked. “I remember last week. I do believe you were panicking.”

Okay, yes, a little. Ezio wasn’t admitting that, either. “I wasn’t panicking,” he said. “I was just thinking too hard, and I might’ve been thinking in a rapid, only tangentally logical manner.”

“We call that panicking,” Emilia said.

Ezio sighed. “I’m ignoring you now,” he said.

Emilia giggled, idly stirring her latte. “You can’t ignore me,” she said. “Well, I suppose you could. I should think that’d be difficult, though, considering I’m right in front of you. It’s not like you talk to anyone else.”

Ezio’s arms rested back on the table, his hands wrapping around his mocha, and he smiled. She had a point with that too. Besides, maybe she was right and he was in a good mood. As sad as it was, he thought he didn’t recognise a good mood anymore. It really had been a while, in his defence.

“Caleb asked me to come over,” he said.

“What, like to his house?” Emilia asked.

“Exactly like that,” Ezio said. “He said he wanted me to try some things, new dishes that he’s been working on. I think it was just an excuse.”

“That sure sounds like an excuse to me,” Emilia said, pulling the spoon out of her latte and setting it on a napkin on the table. “Did you say yes?”

“Of course I did,” Ezio said, smiling. “I didn’t even mess around and pretend I wasn’t going to say yes first.”

“That’s almost amazing,” Emilia said. “Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“I won’t,” Ezio said. “Though, I may be pretty tempted.”

Emilia raised her eyebrows at him. “Ezio, honestly,” she said. “We have class and standards around here.”

Ezio snorted. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“You know what that’s supposed to mean,” she said.

“I’m not sure I do,” Ezio said, smirking. “It almost sounds like you were trying to say something unsavoury.”

Emilia snorted. “Not at all,” she said. “But you do seem to be pretty lonely.”

Ezio had to admit that was right, at least in his head. He didn’t have to say it, so he didn’t, instead just staring at her for a moment.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “I’m just saying, when was the last time you dated anyway?”

“That sounds like a question, not a statement,” he said.

Emilia growled softly under her breath. “You know what I mean.”

Ezio smirked. “Of course I do,” he said. “That doesn’t mean you’re suddenly exempt from being made fun of.”

The look Emilia gave him was kind of amusing, he had to admit. She didn’t look so amused, though.

“You’re so frustrating,” she said.

It wasn’t like he didn’t know that. She knew he knew that. It probably just made her feel better to say it.

“Someone has to be around here, to keep you on your toes,” he said.

“I think I have to live with enough of being kept on my toes now that I live with the Charms,” she said.

Ezio raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of which,” he said, “I meant to bother you about that earlier. Your engagement isn’t exactly going well, is it?”

“Oh man,” Emilia grumbled. “I’d hoped you had forgotten about that.”

“Of course I haven’t,” Ezio said. “I meant what I said the last time. Besides, you seem to have figured out that this engagement isn’t exactly happily ever after. So, pray tell, why exactly are you still engaged to him?”

Emilia didn’t answer right away. She didn’t have to. This whole conversation was only because Ezio thought that she needed to think about it, not that he needed to know. The fact was, he already knew. The fact also was she knew he knew.

“I’m not exactly sure what to do about it,” Emilia said. “Darrel and I kind of need to talk about it, but then we’ll have to talk to Minerva, too. She’s not going to be terribly pleased about the sudden change of plans.”

Ezio made a face. He’d not considered Minerva’s role in all of this, as most of the time, he liked to pretend she didn’t exist. She seemed to consider him some sort of abomination due to his being a hybrid, so his reasoning was sound. To be fair about it, it wasn’t as if he’d asked to be a hybrid. Minerva didn’t seem to care. Ezio couldn’t say he cared, either.

“I’m probably being a little mean-spirited,” Ezio said, “but talking to Minerva isn’t really your job. That’s Darrel’s problem.”

Emilia frowned, but it went away a moment later. “I guess so,” she said. “But he is still my friend, so I feel like I should be there, even if just for moral support.”

He supposed she had a point. Sometimes, Ezio forgot that Darrel and Emilia were friends. He supposed forgetting that particular detail didn’t make any sense, considering that was sort of what had landed them in this situation in the first place. But the specifics of it all weren’t really his to know, just to roll his eyes at.

“That’s true,” Ezio said. “But I think if you can’t handle it, Darrel would understand that.”

“I know he would,” Emilia said. “That’s why I can’t justify doing that to him. On the other hand, I suppose he could always lean on Gemma. She’s more supportive than I expected her to be, but I suppose that comes with the territory of growing up Minerva’s child.”

Ezio smiled. “Life has been hard for the Charm family,” he said. “Though Minerva seems to be a little too rigid.”

“That’s being kind,” Emilia said. “Minerva and her rigidity have been getting on my nerves since I moved in with them. Actually, probably since I met Darrel.”

Ezio could see that. It was unfortunate though. “I suppose now,” he said, “you need to have this conversation with Darrel. Having it with me isn’t really going to change anything.”

Emilia smiled. “I know that,” she said. “It’s just easier said than done.”

* * *

By now, Ezio had tried many times to let Mayor Whiskers out. The cat simply wouldn’t go. It was a strange occurrence, given Ezio had been under the impression that Mayor wouldn’t be very interested in staying. Ezio was curious to know if the cat felt differently about it this time, or others had simply had an incorrect impression of the cat. Probably, it didn’t really matter.

It was about time to go over to Caleb’s apartment. Ezio would say that he was nervous, but that was something of a given. Of course he was nervous. Ezio always was when it came to Caleb, so it would seem this wasn’t anything new. It was surprising the trend managed to persist into the modern era, however.

He wasn’t sure what the etiquette for this situation was. Maybe he was meant to bring something along, or perhaps it was merely a matter of showing up. Was it good manners to complement the apartment or should he keep his mouth shut? Did it really matter? The answer may well have been no, and Ezio was simply going around in his head stalling.

He’d already spent several minutes longer than usual getting ready for their… whatever this was. Ezio hesitated to call it a date, but it was most likely that it counted as a date. Ezio hadn’t needed to think about this sort of thing in quite some time. The rules of dating and that had always escaped him, and as it turned out, Ezio didn’t remember a damn one of them. Incidentally, neither did he care.

Caleb didn’t seem to mind. It was just as well Ezio wasn’t thrilled at the idea of thinking about it. He’d reached over and bid Mayor good night with a gentle pat on the head and a request to watch the apartment, then made his way to Caleb’s. Lilith was supposed to be gone today, and Ezio was looking forward to having a conversation with him in private. Ezio fiddled with his clothes, smoothing down the shirt he was wearing for the thousandth time that night, and then reached up to knock on the door. Almost immediately, the door opened.

“Oh!” Ezio exclaimed. “That works, too.”

Caleb laughed. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you, I was hoping to get the door open before you reached for it. That didn’t quite happen. Uh, anyway, come in.”

Caleb moved out of the way, and Ezio went in. He sort of lingered to one side of the entryway, as Caleb shuffled over to the kitchen. It wasn’t a very large kitchen. Actually, Ezio thought he had a better apartment than Caleb and Lilith did, but he thought better of saying that.

“You didn’t have too much trouble finding the place, did you?” Caleb asked.

“Oh, no,” Ezio answered. “I made it over here, at least, and I didn’t get turned around. Do you guys take your shoes off at the entryway?”

Caleb shrugged. “Not really,” he said. “But if it makes you feel better, you’re welcome to.”

Ezio glanced down at his shoes, and then kicked them off, scooting them over to one side by the door.

“So you’re making something with plasma fruit in?” Ezio asked.

“Yeah, or I’m trying,” Caleb answered. “It’s not really working right, but I’m not surprised. This is kind of why I asked you to come by anyway.”

Ezio smiled. So it was. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said. “It smells good at least.”

“I’m sort of trying to make a sauce out of it,” Caleb said. “I don’t think it’s reaching the right consistency, but neither am I sure what to do about that.”

Ezio leaned over Caleb’s shoulder, peeking at it. “You may need some sugar,” he said. “Oh, or have you tried flour?”

Caleb looked over at him and blinked. “Flour,” he repeated. “That could work.”

“Where is it at?” Ezio asked.

“Over there in that cabinet, just above the microwave,” Caleb said.

Ezio moved over to the cabinet, opening it up and searching around for the flour.

Caleb loosed a squawking noise. “You don’t have to get it!” he said. “I can in a minute!”

Ezio snorted. “I know that,” he said. “But I wanted to get it. Besides, you’re kind of busy.”

“I guess that’s right,” Caleb said, reluctantly. “I’m surprised you agreed to come over.”

Ezio snorted again. “Well, what’s the worst that happens?” he asked. “You try to murder me?”

Caleb made a face. “I’m not sure I could,” he said, “for multiple reasons.”

“See,” Ezio said, finding the bag of flour and closing the door. He moved over and set it on the counter beside Caleb. “I’m not worried about it.”

“I’d say that’s strange criteria to use,” Caleb said, “but I suppose that’s the only logical criteria to use.”

Ezio made a noise. “Something like that,” he said.

Caleb moved around the kitchen, mixing up the flour with some water, and adding it to the saucepan.

Ezio watched in silence, then tilted his head. “Make sure you stir that consistently,” he said.

“I know,” Caleb answered, grabbing a wooden spoon and mixing the sauce. Almost immediately, it began to thicken, and Caleb smiled, stirring it steadily.

“Is that better?” Ezio asked.

“Yeah,” Caleb said. “I didn’t have a lot of hope for this, but I think you saved me.”

Ezio smiled. “It was nothing,” he said, looking up at the ceiling. “It was just a stray thought.”

Caleb glanced over at him. “Well your stray thought managed to save dinner, I think,” he said.

“I’m just glad to be useful,” Ezio said. “You know, I wasn’t really sure about coming over after all.”

“Oh?” Caleb asked.

“I decided the risks were worth it,” Ezio said.

“I’m glad you did,” Caleb said.

Ezio thought that he was glad he did, too. He took a breath in and leaned against the dining room table. It wasn’t too far from the kitchen, much like his own. “Anything else I can incidentally help you with?” he asked.

Caleb shook his head. “Nope, that was the last bit,” he said. “The last thing that I hadn’t figured out yet. Now we’re just waiting on everything to be done.” Caleb turned the stove flame down to a lower level, and shuffled over to Ezio.

Ezio looked up at him. “Well, I guess the rest of this part can be spent doing something else then,” he said.

Caleb smirked. “I guess so,” he said. “Did you have anything in mind?”

Ezio shook his head. “That’s up to you,” he said. “Besides, I don’t really have hobbies or anything interesting to talk about. My social life is non-existent. I do work for fun.” He was a real downer at parties.

Caleb frowned. “I think work is supposed to stay at work,” he said.

“Really?” Ezio asked, idly reaching up and fiddling with Caleb’s shirt collar. “I had no idea.”

“Well,” Caleb said, reaching up and taking Ezio’s hands in his, “whatever you want to ramble about, I’m sure it will be fine.”

* * *

“And then you fell down the hill,” Ezio said, “do you remember that? Didn’t you hit a tree or something?”

“Yeah, unfortunately,” Caleb said. “I remember it hurt a lot more than I was expecting it to. And you were really mad at me.”

“I wasn’t mad,” Ezio said. “I was just worried. It was quite the fall you’d taken and you could’ve seriously hurt yourself.”

“I know,” Caleb said. “I wasn’t trying to scare you, you know that.”

“I know that yeah,” Ezio said. “It doesn’t mean it didn’t scare me.” And then he’d gone and fought with Jean like that, too.

Caleb shifted slightly on the couch they’d settled on to have a talk with each other. The rest of the meal was still cooking, but it should be ready shortly. Ezio turned to look out the window. Once again, he was stricken by how pretty the city lights were.

Ezio moved, adjusting where the pillow in his lap lay, and then tucked a hand under his chin.

Caleb tilted his head. “You know,” he said, “I never did get over how beautiful you are.”

Ezio tried not to turn pink. He may have been failing that endeavour. “Thanks,” he said.

“Sorry,” Caleb said, laughing quietly. “I don’t know what that was.”

“You suddenly being forward,” Ezio said. “That’s what that was.”

“Not really,” Caleb said. “It’s more like I was suddenly being honest. Which, by the way, I was being honest. You’re unbelievably beautiful.”

“If you say so,” Ezio said, glancing away.

“It’s just with the lights dimmed, and the sun gone, your eyes kind of light up,” Caleb said.

“They do kind of glow,” Ezio said, looking back and raising an eyebrow at him. “I imagine they do sort of light up.”

“Yeah, I don’t mean the glow,” Caleb said. “I’m not entirely sure what I mean, or, how to explain it I guess.”

Ezio made a wry expression. “That’s kind of cute,” he said.

“My being confused is cute?” Caleb asked.

“Yes,” Ezio said.

Caleb raised an eyebrow.

“No one said I wasn’t slightly mean-spirited,” Ezio said. “More seriously, I like not being the only one that can’t come up with the words for things sometimes.”

Caleb smiled. “Trust me,” he said, “you’re not the only one.”

“Yeah, I figured that out,” Ezio said.

Caleb reached out, his fingers gently brushing Ezio’s hair away from his eyes. Ezio’s breath caught in his throat, and the two stared at one another for what felt like a century before the space between them began to close.

Both jerked away as the door opened.

“-and I was thinking that-oh!” Lilith said as she came in. There was someone else behind her, someone blond.

Caleb groaned, dropping his head onto the couch armrest. “Lilith, I said we were going to be here today!”

“Yeah, I remembered that as I came in, sorry,” Lilith said.

“You’re not staying here for too long, are you?” Caleb asked, standing up.

“We intended to,” Lilith said, “but we can go into the back, and you two can pretend we’re not here.”

“I guess that works,” Caleb said. “Ezio, what do you think?”

Ezio stared at the blond behind her. And Morgyn wordlessly stared back. Lilith and Caleb glanced at each other in mild confusion, and then Ezio stood up and moved around Lilith and Morgyn towards the door.

“Ezio come on,” Morgyn said, “you can’t seriously be this determined to avoid me.”

Ezio stopped, looking over at the blond, his jaw setting in irritation. Just so, his nostrils flared. It seemed like he had no intention of verbally answering, but he seemed to change his mind. “I have nothing to say to you,” he said, his tone low. “And I have no interest in being where you are.”

Caleb winced. Lilith looked like she was debating interrupting, but neither did.

“Why?” Morgyn asked. “What is so terrible about being around me that you won’t stay just because I’m here?”

Ezio was quiet a moment again. “Do you remember what happened last time?” he asked.

Morgyn didn’t say anything. Instead, the sage looked distinctly uncomfortable and glanced away.

“Yeah,” Ezio said. “Of course you do. And so do I.”

“That was an accident, Ezio,” Morgyn said. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“And what other way do you propose you meant it as?” Ezio snarled. “I think you meant every fucking word of it, and I’m not a very forgiving person anymore.” Ezio turned slightly, to look at Caleb. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll have to take a rain check. I’ll call you.”

Ezio moved around Morgyn, pulling his shoes on and heading out the door. It closed softly behind him. No one said anything for a long moment.

“I’m sorry,” Lilith said. “I really did forget, it just completely slipped my mind.”

“It’s fine,” Caleb said. “But you owe me now.”

Morgyn looked saddened, turning down to look at the floor, and then sitting down at the table.

“That was a rather extreme reaction to you simply walking in the door,” Caleb said, looking over at Morgyn. “So what exactly did you do?”

“I said something stupid,” Morgyn said.

“I didn’t mean to make it worse,” Lilith said.

“It’s fine,” Morgyn answered. “You didn’t make it worse. I’m the one that messed up in the first place. Now I have to deal with the consequences of messing up.”

Caleb shuffled over to the stove, making sure everything was okay. Maybe when it was done, he’d pack some of it up and bring it to Ezio. It was a lot for him to eat on his own, and he’d made it for Ezio anyway. He didn’t feel right, leaving things this way, though. He couldn’t shake the worry in the back of his head.

When Ezio walked away, it was usually pretty serious.

Lilith and Morgyn shuffled down the hall. Caleb barely noticed them leave. The evening was ruined, and Caleb was disappointed. Caleb shook his head, turning everything off and then rushing out the door after Ezio. He couldn’t let him leave like this.

Ezio hadn’t gotten far. It didn’t take long before Caleb caught up with him, and wordlessly fell into step beside him. Neither said anything for a moment, walking back to Ezio’s apartment.

“I’m sorry,” Ezio said.

“It’s okay,” Caleb answered. “I just wish I understood. That was a bit much for just not wanting to be where Morgyn is.”

“I know,” Ezio said. “I have a hard time thinking straight around Morgyn, and it’s better if we’re not around each other. Fire and ice tends to happen.”

“What happened?” Caleb asked.

“It’s a long story,” Ezio said. “Morgyn just said something that really hurt my feelings, and I don’t think the idiot’s realised it yet.”

“I think Morgyn got it now,” Caleb said. “You made it pretty clear.”

“I guess I did,” Ezio said, slowing to a stop and looking down at his shoes.

“Hey,” Caleb said, reaching over to take his hands. “When everything’s done, I’ll just bring it by your place.”

“Okay,” Ezio said, looking up at him. “We’ll do this again some other time.”

Caleb nodded. “Yeah, that sounds nice,” he said. “I’ll see you later.” Caleb gently kissed Ezio’s hands, and then let go, heading back to his apartment. Ezio took a breath in, and continued on his way.

Maybe someday, he’d find the strength to forgive Morgyn. That day was not today.

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