S2SOSC for J. Feathers and Shya K.
The apple Altair and Ezio have can be used to view past present and future. For Desmond the animus allows the viewing of Ezio and Altair. Bleeding effect full circle. You can decide who it actually is that's living the life in this clip.
Very little dialogue, mostly thoughts.
"Hey, wake up." A hand rested on his shoulder and shook him harshly. His left hand twitched in an aborted movement at the sudden intrusion to his personal space. "We don't have time for you to be lazing about. The animus might be down for the day but you've still got training to build those pathetic things you're calling muscles." Ah, the animus. It would seem I'm Desmond for today.
He got up and stretched leisurely, ignoring the impatient tapping of Shaun's foot, and enjoyed the fact that he didn't have to be seriously worried for his life immediately upon waking. Desmond's life while hardly perfect or pleasant at times was significantly slower paced than what he was used to. He was never one for mornings. At least the wakeup call wasn't the kind he frequently got as Ezio. Fleeing before fully waking was never a pleasant experience.
"Relax, brother," He waved a hand negligently," there will be plenty of time yet for training today." The typical sharp reply about his slacking that came with the enjoyment of this slow paced life was noticeably absent. He glanced sideways at Shaun while he finished prepping for the day to find him staring at him oddly. What was that look for? He thought for a moment. Ah, he had called the man 'brother'.
He faked stifling a last yawn and pretended he was unaware of his slip. Standing straight he quickly headed towards the room they'd designed for training, hoping his abrupt exit would stop any questions about his choice of words. "Are we going or what Shaun? If not, my bed's still calling to me." He heard the clack of shoes as the man hurried to catch up with his brisk pace. He smirked briefly, the slip of his tongue having been forgotten as the man became annoyed at his flippant attitude.
He would have to do better to remember he was Desmond for today. The last thing he needed was for the man to think that he was ill, that he was 'bleeding'. Those days always ended up boring as he was confined to rest. Still today it was something small and the incident had served to finish waking him up. These past few days he had been Ezio though and that life always seemed to be the hardest to lose the speech patterns of. Probably because neither he nor Altair spoke nearly as much as the Italian ever did. So far he had been lucky enough to be able to stick to English though. Dio! The hassle he'd had to face the one time someone had woken him and he'd slipped. At least he had been able to enjoy cursing them out afterwards as they hadn't understood a word of it.
Having brushed off the morning's incident, he prepared himself for a relaxing day. No mission to fulfill.
"Oi, if you're done daydreaming about that bed of yours I'd like to get started, so get moving. My valuable research time is being cut into to play spotter for you. Can't have you cracking that precious skull of yours." Shaun gestured impatiently towards the veritable jungle of crates, concrete, bars, beams, ropes and whatever other items they had managed to appropriate. Though he still muttered under his breath, 'even if you do act like its empty half the time'.
Hmph, simple training. Another day in the life of Desmond. Perhaps soon he could be Altair again. Ezio's life was certainly exciting, being a far more… social assassin. Having some downtime as Desmond was pleasant also, but there were times when Ezio's cavalier attitude toward the brotherhood and the condescending attitude of Desmond's companions grated on him. It made him long for the solitude he knew he could find in the desert and the in-depth debates he would have with Malik concerning Order matters
There would be time for both later, for now however he would try to ignore the other's presence and enjoy being able to race across the beams and jump the gaps without the guards breathing down his neck. If there was one thing the three could agree on it was that there was no greater rush that flying across the rooftops and feeling the air flow beneath you as you soared.
This is a standalone one-shot though I do have ideas for a day in the life as Ezio and Altair. Right now they're nothing more than point form notes. Just little side comments in this story that spawned there own lives… this one started like that too. If I get enough encouragement/pestering for it I might actually get around to writing them...Or maybe I'll pester Feathers to collaborate with me. Feathers really does like AC…