Title: Sea Air
Characters/Pairings: Ezio/Leonardo
Ezio almost cried with relief as the ship pulled into the Venice docks. Until he found himself at sea, he would have thought what he found out there was his deepest desire. For one, there were no guards, no Templars, no enemies. He was safe. More importantly, Leonardo was there. Safety, peace, and sharing a cabin with Leonardo. What more could he wish for? Instead of being in heaven, however, Ezio was quite convinced he was in hell. Because if it was heaven, he would have no reason to resist the oblivious temptation that was Leonardo. Daytime was bad enough. By day, he had to put up with Leonardo's tongue dipping out every now and then when he spoke. He licked his lips occasionally, causing Ezio to wonder what he was tasting. Did he, like Ezio, taste of the salty sea air? Or did he taste sweet, like those cakes he was entirely too fond of? The assassin longed to find out but, for obvious reasons, he couldn't. They'd probably be thrown overboard if discovered, even if Leonardo did respond positively. But if day was bad, night was even worse. Because there was limited room on the ship, Ezio shared a room with Leonardo. The proximity that drove him mad when he was awake was worse when Leonardo was sleeping. He could hear him when he slept, every tiny little sound. Every sniff and snuffle, every little whimper. Sometimes, Ezio wondered what would happen if he crawled into the narrow bunk beside Leonardo. Well, he thought beside, but really, considering how narrow the beds were, it would be more like 'on top of'. Not that Ezio really minded that thought, really. It was actually preferable to his original plan. It would be absolutely wonderful - if it was a possibility. Which, he was forced to grudgingly admit, it wasn't. So he was forced to ignore Leonardo whenever he asked if everything was okay. He was quite certain nothing would be okay if Leonardo's clothes were not removed from his person immediately, but instead he responded that everything was just fine. So when he finally found solid land beneath his feet, it was all he could do not to bolt as fast as he could, get as much distance as possible between himself and Leonardo. But before he could do so, he was waylaid once again by Leonardo's charms.
"Please, friend? I would like my first experience of this city to be with someone I know."
So as usual, Ezio acquiesced to his request, all the while wondering if he had ever denied Leonardo anything. He wasn't completely sure, but the chances were the answer was a resounding "no". Trailing behind Leonardo, he glared at everyone they passed. Leonardo didn't seem to notice his sullen mood, chatting the entire way (though for all the conversation Ezio provided, he may as well have been chatting with a brick wall). When Leonardo fell in love with a statue, Ezio had fully intended to buy it for him. He would go back later, he promised himself, and focussed on keeping pace with the tour. Then, Leonardo made the one request that almost killed Ezio.
He asked for a simple hug.
There was a brief moment of deliberation before Ezio acted, in which Leonardo's face became clouded with sadness. But then the artist was pulled into a bone crushing hug, far tighter and longer than etiquette demanded.
"Ezio," Leonardo finally choked. "You can stop now. I can't breathe."
Ezio stopped, leering at Leonardo with such possessiveness it made the older man shudder.
"I fear that hug may have earned you more than you bargained for," Ezio threatened, the frustrations of the past few days as loud as ever after the embrace. Leonardo smiled in an innocent look that Ezio knew all too well.
"Really, Ezio? I'm not sure what you mean. Perhaps you could elaborate inside?"
Ezio growled fiercely, grabbing Leonardo's wrist and leading him inside where they did, indeed, elaborate.