Chapter 44: A Thousand Years

A Thousand Years, Christina Perri

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He didn’t expect to end up so exhausted, but in hindsight, Ezio couldn’t say why. There were a lot of boxes that had ended up in the lower floor, more for lack of knowing what else to do with them, but everyone was moved into Spire Apartments now. Ezio had to admit, the view really was beautiful.

That morning, the sun had risen over the other side of the city, drowning out the lights and flooding the bay with brightness. Ezio had fallen in love with it the moment he saw it, had even headed out onto the balcony to get a better view, and they could see almost all of San Myshuno from here.

Ezio loved it. He didn’t know why he loved the city so much, he just did. For the most part, Ezio didn’t question it too hard, because it was easier that way. Some things, he didn’t need to understand. Some things he just had to experience.

Most of the apartment was arranged the way they wanted. Ezio had gotten his bedroom set up the way he wanted it earlier that day, coated in books, crystals, and pictures. Lilith had a thing about taking a lot of photographs, and Ezio had gone through some of the albums and pulled a few of the photos out to set on his side table.

Morgyn was such a button-nosed little adorable thing in the eighties and nineties.

Ezio settled down on the floor in the living room, watching the bustling of people below. Uptown was interesting, in that it really kind of was its own little town, just up. Ezio enjoyed that, too. People watching was fun, but dealing with people usually wasn’t.

Eventually, he ran a hand through black waves, pulled his glasses off and set them on the floor, and fell over onto his back with a great sigh. He wasn’t there for long, before he heard footsteps, and Cassandra laid down next to him.

“Like it?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “A lot more than I thought I would.”

She smiled at him. “I had a feeling you might like it up here.”

“You didn’t decide we were moving here because of me, right?” Ezio asked, raising an eyebrow. He should hope not, but it sounded like something she’d do.

“No,” she said. “I decided I liked it up here a long time ago, it just works out that you like it too.”

“I just like the city,” Ezio said. “Not sure why, but ever since I first saw it, I’ve loved it.”

“The lights,” Cassandra said softly, reaching over and taking his hand. “It’s the lights you fell in love with. With the city all lit up at night, if you don’t focus on anything, it almost looks like a sea of stars.”

Ah. Now why hadn’t he thought of that? Now that she’d said it, he suspected she was quite correct, and the city lights reminded him of the stars. Everyone that knew anything about Ezio knew that he loved the stars.

Ancient cultures the world over all had different explanations for stars. What they were, how they were formed. Ezio’s favourite was the belief that they were the spirits of humanity’s ancestors. Ezio liked to think that he and Morgyn’s parents were up there, somewhere, watching over them.

At least, he liked to think that not too hard, because if he thought about it too hard, it started to get creepy.

“Why do you like it, then?” Ezio asked.

Cassandra smiled. “I like being around people,” she said. “I just don’t always like talking to them. They’re interesting to watch. It’s like how light travels faster than sound. People always appear bright, until they open their mouth.”

Ezio snorted with laughter.

Cassandra smiled brighter. “Your laugh is beautiful,” she said.

Ezio couldn’t help the slight embarrassment.

“Sorry,” Cassandra said.

“It’s fine,” Ezio answered. “I just, wasn’t really expecting that.”

Her hand tightened around his for a moment. Ezio’s squeezed a little in response, and for a bit, they just laid there on the floor, watching the clouds through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the apartment. Ezio still wasn’t sure how he felt about having windows so large, but he’d get used to it, he was sure.

Curtains might prove to be tricky things.

“How are you and Drake getting along?” Ezio asked, looking over at her.

Cassandra smiled a little. “We don’t hate each other,” she said, “if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Ezio said. Of course he wasn’t. He was just asking for posterity. Curiosity reasons, yes.

Cassandra rolled over onto her stomach, scooting closer to him. “We have an understanding,” she said, smiling down at him. “Sort of a friendship borne of loving the same person.” She leaned down, kissing his cheek, and stood up. “I’m making salad, do you want something?”

Ezio blinked, sitting up. “Wait, you what now?”

“I said what I said,” Cassandra said. “Now, salad?”

Oh, she couldn’t be serious. Of course, it was really quite rude to dismiss someone’s feelings like that, and certainly he wasn’t trying to. He just, didn’t want her getting too far into this and then realising it was too much.

Whether he was afraid of that for her sake, or his own, that he couldn’t say for sure.

“Yeah,” he said. “That sounds nice, actually.” Maybe this was one of those things that he ought to let happen, and whether things turned out alright or didn’t, that would be in some other being’s hands. He didn’t like leaving it to be what it would be, or at least his anxiety didn’t. But neither did he want to hurt her incidentally, or make her feel like he was invalidating her, or trying to tell her what she did or didn’t feel.

He didn’t know. Maybe the truth was, love was love, and no matter how lasting or not it was, no matter how strong or not it was, none of that made it any more or less love.

“Stay right here then,” Cassandra said. “I’ll be right back.”

“I can get up,” he said.

“But you don’t have to,” she said, practically skipping to the kitchen. Ezio decided to let her go. It seemed to make her happy, and if it made her happy, then maybe that was the important part.

* * *

“There’s not even anything about me to like!” Ezio said, shuffling back and forth in the kitchen.

Morgyn leaned against one of the counters, stuffing face with a tub of ice cream. Now that they were here in Spire, Morgyn seemed oddly upset about something, and Ezio couldn’t say what it was. Of course, he hadn’t asked, either, but he wondered if it had anything to do with what Lilith mentioned the other day.

“You’re awfully good at lying to yourself, you know that?” Morgyn asked, and then shoved a spoonful of vanilla ice cream into the blond’s mouth.

“I don’t see how I’m lying to myself here,” Ezio said. “It’s the truth, and you can’t convince me otherwise.”

Morgyn snorted. “You’re biased,” the blond said. “Drake fell in love with you a long time ago, I’m pretty sure he was in love with you from the time you two got to magic realm. You matter to me, of course. I keep trying to find a boyfriend that’s kind of like you at least, I think Caleb’s in love with you to be honest and that’s his problem with me, and now here’s Cassandra. You’re probably practically a god to her, and she’s the one that confuses you? Wow.”

Ezio blinked, staring at Morgyn for a moment. Then, he probably looked a little sad. “Well, all of that confuses me,” he said. “I just figured dealing with Cassandra first would be easiest. You don’t really think Caleb’s…” In love with him? Really?

Morgyn had to be off the blond’s shit.

“Yep,” Morgyn said, practically throwing the spoon into the ice cream. “But it doesn’t matter. I won’t be the one to tell him that.”

Ezio frowned, for a moment, and then shuffled over to lean against the counter beside the blond. “What makes you think that?”

Morgyn shrugged. “Some of the things he says,” Morgyn answered. “The way he talks about you, I guess. Maybe I’m just overthinking things but he’s avoiding touching me. He apologised for it and he still won’t do it, and every time I lean in for a kiss he turns away. He said something about how he doesn’t want to be just another guy that wants me, but I don’t think that’s why. I just don’t know what else it could be.”

Ezio breathed out, then reached over and took Morgyn’s hand before it could pick up the spoon and throw it back into the ice cream. Morgyn loosed a sigh, setting the tub down on the counter.

“I hate this,” the blond said. “It hurts.”

Ezio frowned slightly, pulling Morgyn over to him and wrapping his arms around the blond. Morgyn’s head dropped onto his shoulder.

“Did you tell him that?” Ezio asked.

“No,” Morgyn said quietly. “I don’t want to deal with it right now. It feels like he thinks I’m tainted or something.”

“Why would he think that?” Ezio asked, glancing at blond waves with incredulity.

Morgyn was quiet a moment, and then shrugged. “You know what I do for a living, right?” the blond asked. “I have a hard time believing you don’t.”

Ezio breathed out, looking up at the dining room wall across the way. “Yeah,” he said. “I know. I like to pretend I have no idea, but I know.”

“Prostitutes aren’t exactly the cleanest in the world, everyone knows that,” Morgyn said.

“It’s bullshit,” Ezio said, almost immediately. “You’re not sick, right?”

“No,” Morgyn said. “At least, I don’t think so.”

“You don’t know?” Ezio asked.

“University kind of cleaned me out,” Morgyn answered. “Haven’t had the money for a doctor’s visit recently, but I don’t feel different.”

“Okay,” Ezio said. “I’ll get something scrounged together so you can go.”

“What?” Morgyn backed away, looking up at him. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t,” Ezio answered. “I want to.”

“I was just going to save for a bit longer and then I should have enough,” Morgyn said.

“And now you don’t have to,” Ezio said. “I’m not doing it because I think you can’t, Morgyn.”

“Ezio, you need that for hospital bills and things like that,” Morgyn said.

Ezio released a sigh. “We live together now,” he said. “And you’re still my twin. Helping you out is kind of part of being related to each other, and then we’re living together too. We take care of each other.”

Morgyn frowned slightly. Ezio could see it, in the blond’s eyes, how little Morgyn liked it.

“You can pay for my prescriptions next time, okay?” Ezio said. “Nice little trade-off.”

Morgyn pouted for a moment, but then hugged Ezio. “Okay,” the blond said.

“Have you put any thought into finding something else?” Ezio asked.

Morgyn shrugged. “A friend of mine mentioned modelling,” the blond said.

Modelling, huh? Come to think of it, Morgyn would probably make a decent one. Ezio didn’t really know specifics of how things worked, and he heard things about the industry that suggested it wasn’t all smooth sailing, either, but it was a start. At least until the blond was done with university, and could pursue something else, if Morgyn so chose to.

Maybe Morgyn would like modelling.

“I’ve started looking into getting into it, but I don’t think it’ll be easy,” Morgyn said. “You know, she also said an agency would love to get us both. You could try it with me.”

Ezio snorted. “I’m not nearly as charismatic as you are,” Ezio said.

“Yeah you are,” Morgyn answered. “You’ve got a calmer demeanour than I do, anyway. It kind of gives you a bad-boy charm.”

Ezio sort of stared at Morgyn for a moment. “I’m going to set that on the table, and walk away from it,” he said.

Morgyn laughed. “Alright,” the blond said. “I’ll leave you alone.”

The two were quiet, for a long moment. Then, Ezio drew a breath in. “Caleb loves you, you know,” he said. “I think maybe he just doesn’t really understand, and is afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing. I think he’s not sure how to move, so he’s not moving at all, because you’re too important to him to just wing it and hope for the best.”

“It’s not like I would want to tell him anything,” Morgyn said. “It’s best that he doesn’t understand. It’s not that great.”

“I know that and you know that,” Ezio said. “But you and I are a little more battle-hardened, for lack of better phrasing. Caleb’s never had to deal with anything like this before. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to have choice taken away from him. To be in a situation where you either survive or you don’t.”

Morgyn was quiet for a long moment. “I don’t know that I can hurt him like that,” Morgyn said softly. “I don’t know if I can talk about it, either.”

“Do you want me to try?” Ezio asked.

“No, it’s okay,” Morgyn said. “I think I have to fix this one myself. I just… wish he trusted me.”

* * *

Cassandra was right. The glittering lights of the city below looked a lot like the stars. Though the light from the city made the stars seem dimmer, they were still visible in the night sky above it, like a huge sphere of sparkling lights.

Ezio really did love it up here, and he’d just hope that everything worked out as well as they thought it would.

As he sat there, in one of the chairs on the balcony, watching the twinkling lights of the city below and the shimmering flickers of light in the sky, someone came outside, and sat down in the chair beside him. He glanced over, and found Caleb watching the lights, too.

Neither one said anything, for a long moment. Ezio was trying not to reach over and slap him, but he knew what Caleb felt wasn’t necessarily something to fault him for. The management of what he felt, on the other hand, that could use some work.

“It’s beautiful,” Caleb eventually said.

Ezio glanced at him again, and then back to the city. “Yeah, it is,” he said. “Like having a city full of stars.”

“You sure like the stars a lot,” Caleb said, looking over at him.

“If everyone spent less time arguing over stupid things and more time looking at the stars,” Ezio said, “I think they’d understand a little better. The things down here, sometimes, aren’t as big as they seem like they are.”

Caleb was quiet for a moment, and then leaned back in his seat, and turned towards the city. “Morgyn told you, huh?” he asked.

“I’ve been asked not to jump into the middle of this,” Ezio said. “And I’d prefer not to. I can get awfully mean when it comes to Morgyn.” Frankly, Caleb should know that already, so Ezio wasn’t really certain what he was over here barking up this tree for.

“Please,” Caleb said. “I could use a little guidance.”

Ezio drew a breath in, and released it. “Okay,” he said. “But so you know, I’m inherently on Morgyn’s side.”

“I’m not sure there are sides yet,” Caleb said.

Well, maybe not. But when there were, Ezio was on Morgyn’s side.

“I got Morgyn a ring, you know,” Caleb said. “A long, long time ago. I kept hoping sooner or later Morgyn might look my way, see me as more than a friend, and then it happened. I still want to spend the rest of my life with him.”

Ezio’s gaze softened. “But…?” he asked. There seemed to be a ‘but’ there.

Caleb didn’t say anything, fidgeting instead, and looking away.

Ah. “Your anxiety,” Ezio said. “I should imagine.”

“I don’t want to be just another guy,” Caleb said. “I want more than that.”

“Have you told Morgyn that?” Ezio asked.

“I did,” Caleb said.

“And what did Morgyn say?” He knew the answer to that, too, but the point wasn’t Ezio knowing, it was Caleb talking about it.

“Morgyn said that I can’t be,” he said. “It made it sound like it didn’t matter.”

Ah. Of course. Morgyn never did master that particular manner of communication, but Ezio had just accepted it by now. He’d figure Caleb would’ve too, but then it was possible they’d never had discussions about important things like this, either.

“It doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter,” Ezio said. “It means it doesn’t ding Morgyn’s radar, that’s all. You’re worried about it, and that’s valid, but Morgyn doesn’t see it as a problem. I had to struggle with it, too, still do sometimes. Morgyn sounds dismissive and uncaring at times, but that’s just not how the idiot means it. It doesn’t make it any less hurtful, and Morgyn ought to work on it, but it does make it a little easier to let go of.”

Caleb went quiet, seemingly thinking about it. “I don’t think I want to share Morgyn with anyone else,” he said.

Ezio released a sigh. “That’s something you’ll have to tell Morgyn,” he said. “But you know, if you’re talking about Morgyn’s work, it’s a little different. You can’t really call that sharing. Work is work, and it doesn’t mean anything. Morgyn’s been trying to get out of it for a few decades by now, at least. Mostly, Morgyn’s not had the time to pick up the skills for anything else. Going to university is the best chance Morgyn’s got of finally finding something else, but paying for it is something too. You know how I paid for mine?”

“No,” Caleb answered, sitting up slightly in curiosity.

“I sold drugs and smuggled for the black market,” Ezio said.

Caleb’s eyes widened like he’d turned into a hydra.

“Smuggling is easier when you can teleport,” Ezio explained. “Were those bad things to do? Sure. But sometimes you’re stuck between what’s right and what’s necessary, and if it’s either you or what’s right, you’re gonna choose you. There are still times when the rent is a little tight and I think, I could fix this easy enough.”

Caleb looked a little unsure, looking back out across the city. “I guess I just don’t understand why Morgyn still does it.”

“Same reason Morgyn started,” Ezio said. “And maybe some of the feeling wanted and desired thing. Everyone wants that, of course. Some find it empowering, or at least think they do but that gets into some psychological hub-drub I don’t have the credentials for. But the root reason is the same. Morgyn needs money, and that’s the easiest way to get it.”

Caleb released a sigh, and slid down in his chair.

Ezio shook his head. “Maybe someone else can make it make sense better than I can,” he said. “If you’re really interested in understanding it, wander around the red light district someday. And while you’re out there, maybe ask yourself if it’s Morgyn that you love, or just the idea of Morgyn.”

* * *

When Ezio came down the stairs, and found Drake sitting on the couch reading a book, it was probably not surprising that Ezio immediately went for him. It wasn’t like Ezio had anywhere that was more important to go, and spending some time with Drake sounded nice about now.

Wordlessly, Ezio sat down on the couch, scooted over slightly, and laid down in Drake’s lap. He made a slight pleased little sound at the back of his throat, idly running his fingers through Ezio’s hair.

Ezio wasn’t sure if he’d said the right things to Caleb, but he hoped he’d said enough to get the vampire thinking about it deeper, at least. There were things that one often couldn’t quite explain through words. Things that didn’t ever really make sense until they were experienced.

Ezio thought this was one of those things, and for everyone’s sake, he hoped Caleb’s experience with it wasn’t gained because something terrible happened to Morgyn. Or Ezio was probably going to go to jail on manslaughter charges and there goes his career. Worth it.

“I don’t know what to do with all this space suddenly,” Ezio said, grey eyes looking out the windows.

Drake snorted. “Yeah, I can’t say I know either,” he said. “We have a gym in the lower floor.”

“Come to think of it, has Lilith come out of it?” Ezio didn’t think so, but he may have just missed it.

“Don’t think so, no,” Drake said. “She’ll uh, eventually have to take a shower, I presume.”

Ezio loosed a smothered laugh. “Probably. We’ll only see her when she needs to take a shower or feed, I guess.”

“She still has classes, too,” Drake said.

“Ah, or she needs to go to class, that’s true,” Ezio answered. “How are you doing?”

Drake paused slightly amid petting Ezio’s hair, and then went back to it and smiled. “I’m doing okay,” he said. “You’re still here, nothing’s gone terribly wrong. I can’t complain.”

Ezio kind of wished he would complain a little. A lot of the time, Ezio could figure out what Drake was thinking, and what he needed and wanted, just by watching him for a while. He had ways of telling the spellcaster what was on his mind without using words, or maybe Ezio had just gotten good at understanding it. Maybe it was a combination of both things.

But it’d be nice, once in a while, to have the verbal confirmation.

Ezio looked up at Drake, smiling. “I miss your hair,” he said.

“It’ll grow back,” Drake answered.

“Yeah,” Ezio said, “I know. And with any luck, your publishers won’t ask you to cut it off again. Or if they do, you’ll tell them no this time. You don’t even do a lot of publicity anyway.”

Drake loosed a snort. “I know,” he said. “But they were right, and my public image is working a little better now that my hair’s less frizzy.”

“Or we could just quit reinforcing the stereotype that only men with short, straight hair are capable of being professional, because of course professionalism lives in your hair, and all,” Ezio said, rolling his eyes.

Drake smiled. “I’m out to get paid, Ezio,” he said. “Not to change the world.”

“Could do both,” Ezio grumbled.

Drake ignored his grumbling, and it was probably for the best.

Ezio went quiet, snuggling down a little against Drake’s leg, watching the lights in the adjacent towers in Uptown turn on. His personal little stars, they were, it felt like. The stars that only lit up for him.

Ha. Yeah right.

“Hey,” he said, looking up at Drake again. “Do you want to do something later tonight? With me? Alone?”

Drake raised an eyebrow. “That sounds nice,” he said. “But what? Anything in particular in mind?”

Oh, Ezio had a few ideas. But, as he shuffled through those ideas in his head, one particular one stuck out. He’d tried it before, of course, and it hadn’t turned out terribly well.

Ezio did wonder how it’d go with Drake, instead. And strangely, Ezio wasn’t afraid of it ending terribly like it had before. Sometimes, he wondered when he’d come to trust Drake with so much of him.

Probably, back at France, when Ezio had fallen in love with him.

“I have a few ideas,” he said. “Just dress up in a few hours, and come out onto the balcony, okay?”

“Okay,” Drake said.

Ezio sat up, taking hold of Drake’s jaw and kissing him, and then scurried off to the kitchen.

* * *

“Don’t set yourself on fire,” Ezio said, picking Mayor Whiskers up off the table and setting him on the balcony floor. Everything was almost perfect, he thought. The table was set, the candle was lit, the music was playing very softly, Ezio had gotten dressed…

He was wearing the grey mermaid dress Morgyn had shoved him into that one day. It did look very good on him, he had to admit, and certainly Drake seemed to like him in it. And he’d made dinner, something simple, Drake’s was made with plasma fruit in, of course, done his makeup and everything.

And Mayor Whiskers was trying to help set the table. (It was more likely that the cat was interested in the fish, not helping with anything.)

He told himself it didn’t matter, that Drake wouldn’t do the same thing Jackson did, but as time went on, and set up got closer to being done, Ezio became more and more nervous. Now, his mind was whirring a thousand miles a second, trying to think up any other excuse he could come up with to decide he wasn’t ready yet. Maybe he wasn’t ready. Maybe this was too early.

Ezio debated changing his mind and calling this one off, but, as the idea bounce around in his head, the door to the balcony opened, and Drake stepped out.

Ezio’s heart almost leapt into his throat, as he turned around, his hands unconsciously smoothing the dress down.

Drake took a deep breath in, smiled, and crossed over to him. His arms wrapped loosely around Ezio’s waist, and he gently kissed Ezio’s forehead. “Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” Ezio answered. And somehow, just that one word managed to soothe away Ezio’s fraying nerves. “It’s done, you’re just in time.”

“Smells good,” Drake said, letting Ezio go to shuffle around and have a seat. Incidentally, he sat down on the side that had the plasma fruit dish. He could probably smell it.

Ezio shuffled around the other side, and sat down, too. “It’s not too much, is it?” Ezio asked.

“No,” Drake answered, already eating. “I think you got this seared better than I normally do. You’ll have to show me how you did it.”

“I didn’t do anything special,” Ezio said, smiling slightly and trying to relax a bit. “You and Cassandra are getting along okay, right?”

“Don’t worry about me and Cassandra,” Drake said. “We understand each other.”

Ezio couldn’t help it. Most people didn’t decide they wanted a boyfriend and a girlfriend, of course, and Ezio wasn’t sure what that said about him. But he had this problem before. Every time he found someone he wanted to date, there was usually someone else, at some point, that he wanted to date, too.

It was something wrong with him. Strange that Drake and Cassandra didn’t seem to think it was. He wanted to wonder why, and at the same time, he was afraid to.

Drake’s eyes fell to the scars on his arm, for a moment, and then looked out towards the city. Ezio tried not to think about it too hard. He didn’t generally like others catching sight of those. He still had a number of them, some had faded, some never had, and some were newer.

Drake knew most of the little marks that were still scattered across his skin. That was the only reason he was brave enough to even wear this dress around him.

“I just want you to be happy,” Drake said, eventually. “And if you’re happy with us both, then, you’re happy with us both.”

Ezio frowned a little, taking a drink of his fizzy juice, and then setting it back down. “I don’t want either of you to be upset about it, that’s all,” Ezio said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Drake smiled, reaching across the table and taking Ezio’s hand. “I think that’s why it doesn’t hurt.”

That almost didn’t make any sense, but then Ezio thought about it, and it made sense. He smiled a bit, going back to his meal.

“Caleb may eventually talk to you,” Ezio said.

“Oh?” Drake asked. “Why?”

Ezio shrugged. “He’s having some trouble parsing his own feelings I think. Something about Morgyn’s vocation.”

Drake nodded. “I see. I’ll try to help, at least.”

“I did, too,” Ezio said. “I’m not sure how much of it made sense.”

They went quiet, for a moment. Then, Ezio noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, and glanced over. Lilith and Morgyn ducked behind the chair, as if Ezio hadn’t already seen them.

Ezio’s eyes narrowed, and then he raised a hand and frosted the glass.

Drake almost burst into laughter, smothering it at the last second.

“They’re so nosy,” Ezio said with a sigh.

“They mean well,” Drake said.

“Yeah, their meaning well is still annoying,” Ezio answered, casting another glare at the large glass pane.

As they talked, and nothing seemed any different from any other time, Ezio’s nerves started to relax. Soon enough, it felt like any other time they’d sat down together for a meal incidentally, and Ezio wondered if maybe they’d always been dating, in a sense.

Certainly, there’d never been a time Ezio could imagine doing a lot of things alone and without Drake. Ezio had heard somewhere that love itself was what was left over when being in love had burned away. It seemed, for him and Drake, being in love was long gone, and they’d become so closely entwined that they couldn’t separate without breaking parts of themselves to do so.

They’d been one for so long, neither could remember ever being two.

Ezio smiled slightly, watching the city lights twinkle in the vague haze. “I think I figured out why I like the city,” he said.

“Did you?” Drake asked. “Why?”

“The lights,” he said. “They remind me of the stars.”

Drake thought about it for a moment. “That makes sense to me, yeah.”

Ezio smiled a bit brighter, and then reached across the table, now clear thanks to a spell or two, and took Drake’s hands in his. “Thank you,” he said.

“For what?” Drake asked.

“For loving me even when I don’t make it easy,” Ezio answered.

Drake didn’t say anything, simply raised Ezio’s hands and kissed the back of them. Then, he stood up, gently tugging on Ezio’s hands to indicate he wanted Ezio to stand up, too.

Ezio looked confused, but he did stand, and then followed Drake’s tugging him around the table and over to the side. And he didn’t have to think about it, as one of Drake’s hands set Ezio’s on his shoulder, and then rested against the small of his back.

The music was barely audible, at least to Ezio, but they slowly moved around in a circle together all the same. Ezio smiled, turning down to the floor, and then laid his head against Drake’s shoulder.

“I’ll always love you,” Drake said, softly. “And I’ll love you even more when it’s hard to, because that’s when you need me to love you the most.”

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