They had just finished with the day's Animus session, and Desmond wasn't even sure it still was the same day. The pang of loneliness still rung straight through his heart and followed him into his bedroom. Even on the compound, he didn't feel this alone. He had family, friends, and was always surrounded by people, even if he didn't want to be. Now? Yeah, he was in a confined place with three other people, but he didn't feel close to them. They didn't even have the heart to remember his birthday.
As he stared at the ceiling from his position on the bed, Desmond began to regret thinking he could call his fellow assassins "friends". If there was one thing he remembered from the compound, it was to never trust anyone. Nothing is true. Especially not friendship.
He heard a noise, but dismissed it as Rebecca messing around with Baby again. She tended to do that, which often led to some... unfortunate situations for Desmond. Not that he was going to complain. Seeing things was just another part of the Bleeding Effect, so none of them would really get too concerned if he just happened to mention he was seeing and talking to his ancestors frequently.
Another noise, and then the cot shifted slightly. Desmond looked around the room and, lo and behold, there were Ezio and Altaïr. Ezio was sitting on the edge of the bed, playing with Desmond's shoes while Altaïr just stood there, trying hard not to look amused. He was failing badly.
"Hey," Desmond began, greeting his ancestors warmly. After all the times he had already seen them, he was no longer surprised when they suddenly appeared. Oddly enough, no one else was every around when they decided to visit him.
"Hello Desmond!" Ezio smiled, not taking his eyes off the shoes. The Italian man loved playing with Desmond's shoes. Altaïr grunted in acknowledgement, and he did look Desmond in the eyes.
"It's your birthday," Altaïr said softly, his eyes quickly becoming distracted by Ezio again. "Why aren't you celebrating with your comrades? Isn't that what you do on this day?"
Desmond shook his head. "No. Well, normally yes. But as both of you know, an assassin's job never ends, so they obviously don't have the time to take ten seconds to say 'Happy Birthday'". It hurt the most that Shaun wouldn't say a word to him at all today. It was like he was intentionally ignoring him. So much for the special thing they supposedly had. Desmond decided he wasn't going to sleep with the bastard for a while because of this.
Turning his head away from the shoes, Ezio looked at him with a confused face. "Not even ten seconds? You kids don't know how to have fun anymore."
"Yeah, well, not a lot of free time when you're trying to save the world. I would much rather have that free time, but some ancient deity decided otherwise."
The Italian man began to climb up the bed until he was face to face with Desmond. "Live a little." He reached down give Desmond a slow, sensual kiss. Desmond was thoroughly enjoying the clash of their tongues; if felt like, maybe, someone actually cared about him. Up until the point that their heads smashed together painfully.
"Altaïr!" Ezio shouted, rubbing the back of his head. "Che cosa!"
"Shut your mouth, young one. We are here to cheer him up, not for you to add another notch to your bed."
Desmond looked back and forth between the two. They were here to cheer him up? They... cared?
"Si. However, wouldn't making love to him put a smile on his face? I know it always does for me."
Altaïr shook his head. "Not in that way."
"Wait, you guys came here to make me h-happy?" Desmond stuttered out the words.
"Of course, Desmond!" Ezio grinned once more, the pain forgotten. "We wouldn't want our sweet little descendent to be alone, now would we?"
How he wasn't crying, Desmond didn't know. Even they were figments of his imagination, they cared for him. What he did know was that it had been the best birthday he had in a long while.