Constellations
A/N: I know a lot of you are waiting for my other stories to be written but after rereading the Trojan War, I couldn't help but begin to write this. I just love Greek history and although I can't remember all of it, this is mostly pulled from memory. For some, unknown reason, when I was younger and it was time to go to the library, I'd get this thick book on Greek mythology. I loved reading the stories of Hercules and Atlanta. I loved the three Gods, Zeus, Hades and Poseidon and always thought these myths made more sense than Adam & Eve. But that was just my humble opinion. Anyways, so some of the myths may not be 100% accurate, but at least it makes for interesting reading material, yeah? So, enjoy, because I spent a hell of a time putting all this together, considering I deleted and rewrote several bloody scenes.
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Desmond took in a large breath of fresh air as Shaun opened the door to the roof. They had climbed up at least ten sets of stairs, finally making their way to the surface.
"And here you are. You have five minutes before I take you back downstairs," Shaun snapped, closing the door behind him as he swung the key on his index finger. The May sky above them stretched out across the world, visually as vast as the ocean and certainly as deep, perhaps deeper. Shaun watched as Desmond ran to the very edge of the stronghold's roof, almost leaning over the edge. "Don't fall off – Lucy would have my head," he scowled, not budging in the slightest.
"Then maybe I should fall off, hm?" Desmond teased, pulling back before he fell off. He looked above him, millions of shining stars that winked back playfully at him. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen the night sky so clearly – perhaps back on the farm?
"That would be a smart move on your behalf, Desmond," Shaun rolled his eyes, scanning the lively sky. It's not like they had originally planned to take Desmond out to the roof but Animus 2.0 – or by Rebecca's childish talk, 'Baby' – had overworked its self. So they were probably running on almost an hour attempting to fix the blasted machine. Although Lucy had wanted to review footage from their previous run through while Rebecca tampered with Baby, so she had suggested Shaun take Desmond upstairs for a little air. Talking as if Desmond was a bloody hound – which he certainly acted like one, minus the flapping tongue and the disgusting slobber on everything. Right now, he could also be reviewing the evidence and help them decode the hidden messages from Subject Sixteen. But no, he had to babysit the bloody fool just to keep him entertained. Who ever heard of entertainment when you were racing against the clock, trying to outrun corporate goons who would slaughter you on the spot?
"You could have just let me go by myself," Desmond said, sitting down on the cold ground. He titled his head to look at Shaun, who hadn't moved an inch since they opened the door and propped it open.
"And let you perform an insane leap of faith into a wagon of hay a thousand feet from this roof? Genius, just genius, Desmond," Shaun replied, rolling his eyes with pure sarcasm. Lucy had forced him to take out Desmond for a limited stroll. Like he would be doing this with his own, precious time. "With your amount of skill, you'd probably just burn through the hay and the wagon, and then smack your face on the concrete ground. Then your face – the only pretty asset you have – would be completely gone."
"You practically stole that line from Federico," Desmond smirked, recalling the memory freshly as if it were his very own. Slowly, he reached his hand up and touched his scar, tracing the faint, pink line.
"No I didn't," Shaun huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. It was a little bit chilly but he could manage as he pulled down his sleeves from their usual three quarter length. He wasn't surprised at how much they had wrinkled in the past two days. He needed a damn change of clothes. Silence lapsed between them, stretching on as if it were the sky above them. Desmond sat, contemplating the universe and how it was created while Shaun stood, staring absentmindedly at Desmond. Shaun watched as Desmond huddled into his sweater, finally feeling the cool spring chills.
Desmond looked over at Shaun, to catch him staring at him. "What? Take a damn picture," he grinned playfully, sprawling out on his back.
"Why would I do that? Your ego is so damn big that I always see you, even when I don't want to," he rolled his eyes, still leaning against the doorframe.
"Mm, sorry about that," Desmond smiled, examining the sky. "There's a lot of stars out tonight."
"A thousand points to captain obvious over here!" Shaun exclaimed dryly, sarcasm dripping off his tongue.
"Very funny. Y'know, not all British people can be comedians," Desmond snapped back. "And definitely not fat, British assholes."
"Oi! You take that comment back or I'll make sure you jump off this building!"
Desmond laughed and looked over at him. His eyes twinkled mischievously as he watched Shaun walk over to him. "I said, take that back!" Shaun yelled. Boy, it was easy to ruffle the historian's feathers.
"Fine, fine. I'll apologize once you stop PMSing," Desmond grinned. Shaun took a deep breath, itching to hit the younger and immature man. He stood in front of him, towering over Desmond who was still lying down, not even bothering to budge for the oncoming threat at his feet.
"Wow, you are a funny one," Shaun groaned, contemplating whether to remain standing or sit beside him. "Twat," he muttered under his breath as he decided to sit a few feet away from Desmond.
"Oh come on, you baby. I don't have any contagious diseases," he laughed, watching the Assassin with interest.
"Last time I checked, idiocy could be contracted if you were around that person long enough," Desmond snorted at his comment and put his hands behind his head, taking a deep breath of fresh air. It wasn't like the country's air, definitely not, but being on this roof made him feel... free. That he could pretend for just a few moments that none of this was real. That the man that sitting away from him was just a co-worker or a friend, and they had decided to go onto the roof for fun. Even if that wasn't normal, it still calmed Desmond's nerves. He was sick of it all. Always waiting for the Templars to come and find them so they could flee like cowards, running with their lives clutched tightly to their chest, like a robber escaping a museum with a famous diamond worth millions.
"Look, there's the Crow," Shaun said out of nowhere, pointing into the sky.
"What the hell? How can you see a crow in the dead of night like this?" Desmond looked over at him and followed to where he was pointing. It was just a bunch of stars sitting idly around each other in a bizarre square.
"The Crow, you mindless tosser. It's a constellation."
"Fascinating," Desmond replied, attempting to mock Shaun's overly British accent but failed, earning a smile from the Brit. "What's so special about it? It looks nothing like a crow."
"Well, it's an older constellation that can be traced to the ancient Greeks. It was either a crow or a raven sent to fetch water for the Apollo – the God of light and sun, truth and prophecy, medicine with healing, plague and so on. The list is quite long. Anyways, he was quite an important figure to the Greeks-"
"Interesting, go on."
"I was going to, before you cut me off."
"Well, jeez, sorry. Continue."
Shaun sighed heavily. "Instead of fetching water for the God, the crow wasted its time by eating figs instead of doing the task it had been assigned. After returning late with the water, Apollo was furious and banished him to the Heavens to endure eternal thirst as punishment. They say that's the reason why the crow caws instead of singing like the other graceful birds, all because of that one selfish clump of feathers."
"Wow, so the crows must be pretty pissed at him, huh?" Desmond smiled, finally seeing the constellation.
"Yeah, I would expect so. It's not a major constellation because it doesn't contain any Messier objects or major items of interest, except a few binary stars."
"Well don't you sound like a little star expert!" Desmond laughed as he sat up and made his way closer to Shaun, not understanding anything about Messier objects or binary stars. He could see it caused a little unease in the man but he would have to deal with it. This way, he could point out stars a little easier.
"Shut up and respect your elders. Do you know any?" Shaun smirked, adjusting his glasses.
"Well, grandpa. Let's see..." His eyes scanned the sky for any visible constellations his mother had taught him back on the Assassin farm. "The only one I know is the Big Dipper."
Shaun laughed. "Ah, how childish. Well, Virgo is right over... there," Shaun pointed out, blushing slightly when he felt Desmond's shoulder brush against his arm. "It's the second largest constellation in the sky, next to Hydra."
"What's Hydra? Isn't that some kind of... sea serpent?"
"Yeah, something along those lines. A water beast that grew back two more heads for each one cut off."
"Yikes, scary," Desmond laughed. "So I guess you're like Hydra in a way. Can we test it out?"
"Ha-ha, very amusing, Desmond," Shaun rolled his eyes and shuffled away subtly from Desmond.
"So what's Virgo about? I mean, I know it's a zodiac sign. But what's the whole meaning behind it?" The younger man asked in sole curiosity. All he had heard about the past few days were Animus, Ezio, Altaïr, Templars, Assassin's and more so along those lines. It was getting a bit tiresome. It was nice to hear about something else completely.
"Well, see that extremely bright star?" Shaun pointed back out to the millions of stars in the sky.
"No," Desmond frowned, trying to follow his direction, but it was hard when he was sitting so far away from him. "No homo," Desmond said quickly, as he slid back and propped his back against Shaun's crossed legs. "Uncross your legs."
"Why?" Shaun scowled, surprised that Desmond was pressing right up against him.
"It'll make it easier for me. Just do it." Shaun sighed and uncrossed his legs. He bit back a rude remark as Desmond slid into the now open space and pressed the back of his head up against Shaun's chest. "Now, show me which star you're talking about."
"Uh..." He had lost his train of thought as Desmond settled himself contently in his lap. "What the hell was that no homo remark for?"
Desmond looked over his shoulder at him, unsettled by their proximity. "Well... Don't couples do this kind of crap?"
"Well... Yeah, I would suppose-"
"We're not a couple."
"No shit, Sherlock," Shaun barked and then sighed as he pointed back up to the sky. "Spica, the brightest star in the constellation. It would be easier to find if the Big Dipper was out tonight. Then maybe you could have shown me where it was."
Desmond smiled and resettled himself in Shaun's lap.
"Well, if I remember correctly, Virgo was often a maiden. From ancient times she was Isis, you know, the Egyptian Goddess? She was the protector of the living and the dead and many viewed her as the ideal mother. Everyone loved her. Slaves, sinners, artisans, and the unfortunate were few of the many. That's from one point of view, there are many out there to what Virgo is, but as I said it was portrayed as a maiden, making her visualization vast."
"Huh. Can you see any others?" Desmond asked, observing the stars with interest. It was amazing how Shaun knew so much about long forgotten pieces of interesting information, but then again, he was a historian.
"Well, the only other one I can clearly see is Centaurus, the Centaur."
"Oh! Those are the half men half horse things, right?" Desmond jumped up, amused that he could at least name one thing Shaun was talking about.
"Very good, another five hundred points to you," Shaun laughed, adjusting his glasses once again. Desmond had bumped them slightly on his excited jump. "This one represents Chiron and as you said, he was half man half horse. He has a rather short story but you know Hercules, right?"
"Of course. The strongest man to ever exist, other than Chuck Norris."
"Right... Anyways, Chiron was not like his brethren. He was intelligent, kind and civilized unlike those of his kind who were the exact opposite. It was... I believe, during Hercules' Fourth Labour that he had accidently shot Chiron with an arrow while chasing away his violent brothers, who were trying to punish him for drinking wine that had been theirs. Hercules tried to heal Chiron, but it wasn't enough as he suffered from the wound, unable to die because of his immortality. But then Prometheus – a Titan – offered to become immortal in Chiron's place, allowing him to finally pass. Hercules honoured him by giving place in Heaven."
"That's... kind of depressing," Desmond frowned, looking at the constellations with great interest. At least he could identify the ones Shaun had told him about now.
"Well, that's Greek mythology for you," Shaun smiled slightly, looking for other constellations to no avail. "I'm surprised you actually listened."
"Hey, it's kind of interesting when you think about it. I mean, come on, a lot of people before our time relied on the stars for information, didn't they?"
"And you call me the nerdy one," Shaun grinned, wanting to lie down. But he couldn't because Desmond was right there and if he lay down, then Desmond would fall on top of him and only Heaven knew where that would go.
"You're the one who does history for a living-"
"No, I do hiding from the Templars and saving your ass for a living."
"Lucy saved my ass, not you."
"Yes, but if it wasn't for me, then all you would be hearing is Italian in the Animus and you wouldn't understand a word. So, ha," Shaun grinned, but he couldn't help feeling a little childish at his last remark. Desmond rolled his eyes since he didn't exactly have a snappy reply. He looked over his shoulder at Shaun, who was looking right at him. The minute their eyes met, Shaun felt something shift inside of him that had never happened before. It was like the idle gears in his head began to turn and something just... clicked.
"No homo," Desmond muttered as he looked over his shoulder and slowly began to lean in towards him.
"Wait, what-" before Shaun could finish his question, Desmond pressed their lips together. Shaun then immediately pulled back and fell on the ground, bringing Desmond with him exactly how he wanted to lie down before, but in a more rushed pace. Doing so, he broke the contact between their lips.
"What was that?" Shaun asked nervously, trying to fight the panic in his voice.
"What did it feel like? Idiot," Desmond grumbled and flipped himself over, both hands on the ground on either side of Shaun's head. Positioning himself over Shaun, he slowly leaned in and kissed him, much to Shaun's protest.
"No, no, this isn't right..." Shaun groaned, pushing Desmond off him. He sat up quickly, watching Desmond slowly rise up to his feet.
"Says the one who's been giving me bedroom eyes ever since I got here," Desmond grumbled, making his way back to the door, which Shaun had left open with a propped cinderblock.
"I have not!" Shaun yelled, rushing to get up. Just as Desmond was about to descend down the stairs, Shaun grabbed his wrist tightly and yanked him back.
"Oh, come on, old man-"
"I am not old!"
"Well, whatever, that still doesn't change anything. I'm giving you what you want on a silver platter and you're just going to toss it away like that? You are the idiot, Shaun," Desmond growled as he tried to pry himself from Shaun's eagle like grip.
"You'd put other people before yourself?" Shaun asked dubiously. That sounded absolutely ridiculous.
"It does wonders, you know? I was so sick of putting myself first that... Well, just being with other people is a gift. Damn it, Shaun. You should try it, perhaps you won't be such a wound up dick then," he snapped, still unable to pull away from Shaun. He felt the man's grip grow tighter and tighter until he couldn't feel his hand anymore. Desmond's comment felt like a blow to the stomach and with the tone he had used, made it a blow below the belt.
"Look, Desmond, it's just..." He groaned, loosening his hand a bit. "We're going to be stuck together for a very long time. And by very long, I mean possibly years. If something like this happens and it all crashes later on..."
"Who gives a shit?" Desmond laughed nervously, finally pulling his hand away from Shaun. How had that never come across his mind? He was doing stupid things now.
"Well, quite frankly, I do. I don't want to avoid you like the bloody plague if things go wrong. We should always plan for the future."
"... Yeah, I guess you're right. Silly me," Desmond sighed.
What? Shaun hadn't expected him to just ignore their situation so easily.
"But-" No, he didn't want to say anything. If everyone just remained friends, then everything would be alright.
"But...?" Desmond had caught his little slip up, leaning in closer to the troubled historian. Looking away, Shaun pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, trying not to fall into the trap he had set himself up for. Desmond had been right. Shaun had been lying to himself the whole time. Denying his own feelings, lashing out whenever he felt them begin to rise. Reserved psychology. That had to be it. Treat Desmond like shit, fall in love with him while doing so. He had hated Desmond because of the way he walked in with his pride shining on his chest, lips tied in a cocky smirk, always treating everything like it was nothing. But that was exactly what Shaun had been aiming for. Perhaps, Desmond was his one chance to loosen up.
"Maybe..." Shaun whispered, extending his hand as he gently took Desmond's chin between his thumb and index finger. Desmond felt his knees shaking at the slightest touch from the older man in front of him.
"Yes...?" Desmond breathed, trying to keep himself from collapsing. He was so used to being in control and to have the roles swapped; it was driving him absolutely mad. He wanted to be the one to make the person below him tremble, stutter and skip heartbeats when he touched them the way Shaun was touching him.
"Maybe... this could work. In some... weird, twisted way, it could."
"You know it could."
"Don't fuck it up," Shaun laughed breathlessly as he began to pull Desmond in slowly. The minute their lips met, an instant desire made itself very aware in Shaun's mind. Seven years of no physical contact. Seven bloody years. Before he knew it, he had Desmond pressed up against the wall, moaning into his mouth and feeling the novice squirm beneath him in pleasure. Shaun could feel all his pent up sexual tension releasing itself into this one kiss as he placed one hand on each side of Desmond's face. He deepened the kiss, going as far as he could. Feeling the other's warm, moist breath in his mouth made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Desmond felt Shaun's tongue glide across his lower lip, earning a small gasp and a moan for more. He could only feel himself give into the pleading moans as he broke their lips apart and began to suck at his neck, leaving his mark.
"Shaun... You can't turn back now... I've got you," he laughed, panting slightly as he intertwined their fingers together.
"I know," Shaun smiled, sincere for once, and pulled back. "I wasn't intending on leaving you. Quite the opposite, actually," he grinned and pulled Desmond back onto the roof, under the millions of witnesses of their very first kiss.
For the first time in years, Shaun completely forgotten about Abstergo and the Templars and finally remembered what it was like to put others before himself.