1 - Adopted
"Damn it."
Ezio blamed the Apple. He doubted that his condition was the fault of anything else.
Tiny ears flattened back, nearly invisible against his hair. He was kneeling at the edge of a rooftop, glaring at the now enormous drop to the window. A dark tail swayed behind him, buffeted by rain and wind. It nearly sent him over the edge on a couple of instances, as he struggled to adjust to the different balance and the storm.
He couldn't remember exactly when he shifted to this tiny form. He hadn't touched the Apple in weeks. And while it had flickered with light, nothing remarkable seemed to happen, so Ezio had put it out of his mind.
Obviously a delayed reaction. Now he was at the only place where he knew that he could get help. But getting down to Leonardo's workshop was the issue. He couldn't see any good handholds under the roof, and the normal handholds he used on the wall were too far apart in his current state. He barely made it up to the roof as it was, three buildings away.
He didn't want to double back and return to the street level. His small size had made him a target for any animal in the alleys, and going into the main streets was completely out of the question. He didn't want to be picked up by a curious passerby. Worst case, he'd be found by a guard.
He glanced back down, shuddering at the thought of hanging from the wet roof tile, from the much larger drop to the street if he miscalculated the jump. No, this definitely was not an option to get to Leonardo.
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The trip back was not pleasant, and it had turned dark as he finally got to his destination. At least the rain had stopped by the time he reached the edge of the building. Once he hit street level, a curious cat had decided that he was an interesting plaything, batting at him with a paw.
"Go away!" Ezio shouted, scrambling to his feet.
The beast ignored his shouting, deciding that it would take him back to whatever nest it had claimed for itself, catching him by the back of his outfit and lifting him like a kitten. Ezio flailed but had no real leverage to hit the cat with any kind of force. He could hear the thing purring as he was carted off.
"Put me down!"
This was not one of his days.
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He was lucky in a way, the cat had brought him closer to Leonardo's, ducking into a broken box lined with hay down the street. Ezio had given up on struggling, the swaying from being carried oddly relaxing. He briefly saw a dish outside the box, clearly this cat was a pet. He was deposited in a pile of squirming, warm bodies. The young kittens were quite young, still mewling for milk.
Ezio crawled out the pile carefully, but a paw landed on him before he could get to the broken opening of the box. He was sent sprawling down in the hay, and the cat gently pulled him closer. The purring had grown in volume, as the mother cat firmly held him down before her. He struggled again, but one of his arms was pinned. The assassin froze when he felt the cat's warm breath settle over his head. That was the only warning he got before a warm, rough tongue swept over his ears. He yelped, but it did nothing to deter the cat. He had no choice but to submit to the cleaning.
No, this definitely was not a good day.
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It was morning. Ezio blinked blearily at the light filtering in through the wooden sides of the box. The cat had kept him in her grasp throughout the night, obviously not wanting him to sneak off. He had been lulled to sleep by the rumble of her purr, and he was definitely warm. He could feel her rub her head against his, briefly licking between the two triangular ears. Ezio twitched at the feeling, wondering how long it would be before he could get away.
"This is ridiculous." After that impromptu bath she had given him, he wanted nothing more to get away and dunk himself in the nearest, cleanest puddle of water. Ezio's nose wrinkled at the memory, somewhat disgusted with himself at feeling squeamish from the cat's saliva, when he had been dragged through far worse on some of his missions.
He could hear footsteps outside the box, people going about their business. The cat's head lifted, her ears twitching. Ezio frowned, but soon could hear footsteps getting closer. There was a scrape of something outside the box, and the cat twitched. She grabbed Ezio again, lifting him briefly. She batted a space in the middle of the kittens, ignoring the mewled protests, ignoring the indignant yelp from the assassin, and deposited Ezio in the hole she made. Before he could climb out, the kittens had closed the gap, trying to keep warm.
The cat whisked out, purring and meowing at whoever was outside.
"Hello there! Are you ready for breakfast, hmmm?" More noise and scraping outside, the cat's meows growing more demanding. Ezio frowned, that voice was familiar, but it was muffled and distorted by the box so he couldn't quite place it.
"There you go! You are looking much better, no longer quite so skinny. How are your kittens doing, I wonder? Are they getting enough to eat as well?"
Ezio made a strangled noise as he saw a hand reach inside, now trying to bury himself under the pile. This is bad, this is very bad! His thoughts were chaotic as fear took hold, not wanting to be discovered. The hand gently brushed over the kittens. He felt the fingers settle over him, and another noise strangled out. Instead of continuing on, the hand moved back and one traced over his head gently.
"What's this?"
The hand carefully dug around him, separating him from the kittens. The fingers curled around Ezio and he found himself awkwardly lifted. The tiny assassin twisted in the hold, fear flattening his ears back. He felt himself slip slightly, and he doubled his efforts. But another hand entered the box, preventing his fall as it settled under him as he was pulled out.
"What do we have here, hmm? Another adop—" The voice faltered as Ezio was pulled into view, the hands jerking in surprise. Ezio blinked rapidly, blinded briefly by the bright light, unable to see anything beyond a dark blur between the fingers holding him.
"Wha-what? What is this?" The hand lifted from atop him. "E—Ezio...?"
Ezio's head shot up, finding himself under a sharp pair of blue eyes. Blonde hair and that red hat. Leonardo.
"Leonardo!"
"My word, Ezio! What has happened to you?"
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2 - Clean
Ezio sighed in contentment. He had gotten that bath he wanted earlier in the morning - not from a puddle, but a warm bath. He dimly remembered undressing and climbing into a shallow dish filled with water. Hands had helped him clean off the dried saliva from the cleaning that mother cat subjected him to, a soft cloth rubbing gently over his new triangular ears and tail. Ezio remembered trying to pull away, insisting that he could clean himself, but there wasn't much he could do to prevent the ministrations. The bath was even pleasant despite that, and he nearly fell asleep as he slowly relaxed.
The assassin now dozed, wrapped in something warm and soft. He could hear a chuckle above him, but couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. This was the first bit of peace he had since the start of his dilemma, and he wasn't about to let anything ruin it. Ezio felt the nest of cloth he buried into being lifted and there was a gentle swaying as he was moved.
He twitched, head lifting wearily, trying to see where he was being taken. A box sat on a worktable, sides cut low and it looked filled with batting and cloth. His nest was set gently down, and he turned to look up at who had carried him. His sight was blurry with fatigue, while he had slept while nestled in that cat's embrace, it had been fitful. He remembered someone lifting him from the pile of kittens, and it was by someone he knew...?
"L-le...leon-rdo." It came out slurred, and his head kept dropping down as sleep threatened to take him. He jerked, eyes widening comically as he tried to stay awake. Fingers gently smoothed over his hair, rubbing at the base of his ears. He twitched under the treatment, eyes sliding closed. A hand once again lifted him gently, and Ezio was carefully laid on the makeshift bed. The same soft cloth was gently tucked around him and the tiny assassin drifted off.
"Sleep, Ezio. We can talk later."
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3 - Surrogate
Leonardo stared at the small form. He smiled in spite of himself, finding the sight endearing. Ezio's golden eyes drooped shut, sleep overtaking the assassin despite his attempts at fighting it. Leonardo remembered their brief conversation as he quickly took his friend inside the workshop, Ezio voicing his opinion that his current state was due to the Apple.
Leonardo had the Apple hidden in his workshop from before this...change. He was holding it temporarily for Ezio, and giving him time to study it more. He remembered how the golden ball had sparkled under Ezio's hand, before going dark. Ezio had to be right, that his form was a result of a delayed reaction to whatever the Apple had done. But the inventor still didn't know how the Piece of Eden worked, so how he would change his friend back was going to be a problem.
The blonde turned his gaze back to the tiny assassin and wondered how long Ezio had been wandering the streets before his stray cat, Alcina, had found him. He shuddered at the realization that Ezio had been extremely lucky to be found by that particular cat.
She'd been a stray Leonardo saved, dangerously thin and nearly dead. He had taken her in, fed and nursed her back to health. As soon as she was able, she came and went in the workshop for a few weeks, and Leonardo named her Alcina for the strength and stubbornness she showed. That was just before she completely disappeared one day.
It had been pure chance that Leonardo found her again weeks later, hunting for food along his street. He had attempted to coax her back into the workshop, but she had refused all his advances. He settled for taking one of his unusable boxes, one that had a corner broken off, filled it with hay, and placed it not far from his home. Leonardo fed her every day, keeping an old wooden dish by the box.
Leonardo had been surprised to hear the tiny mewling of kittens one morning, but Alcina had scratched at him when he tried to feel inside the box. He left her alone for a few days, leaving food but not staying to keep her from getting too nervous. When she came out of the box on the fifth morning, the new mother finally allowed Leonardo to carefully inspect her litter. She appeared stressed, moving from him and back to the box before he'd even drew close. Unfortunately, Leonardo found the cause all too quickly – one of Alcina's kittens, a tiny chocolate brown one, had died.
Leonardo had carefully taken the dead kitten away, burying it in the courtyard next door. The next two days had her repeating the same motions, but mostly due to her worry over the now missing kitten. The third day, she seemed much calmer and he found that she had placed a ragged, dark cloth in with the kittens. Alcina seemed indignant every time he took her "adoptions" away, but the process continued off and on for a week.
Leonardo gently ran a hand over Ezio. He had not expected to find his friend in such a state, much less adopted by his cat. He could see why Alcina had taken Ezio, the assassin's hair being very close to the coloring of her lost kitten. She had reacted much the same as the other times he took one of her surrogate kittens, and yowled at him from her position in front of the closed door. He'd learned the first few times to find the small entrances Alcina had used to enter the workshop and close them off so she wouldn't trash the room in her attempts at retrieving her "kitten." He'd learned the hard way the first few times, and lost a nearly completed painting because of her. Thankfully, the mother cat had apparently given up, as Leonardo couldn't hear her anymore.
"You always come to me with new puzzles to solve, Ezio. But this one definitely will take a while." Ezio merely turned underneath his hand, mumbling incoherently in his sleep.
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4 - Hunger
Ezio woke, stomach gnawing and growling at him. He sat up, rubbing at his eyes and brushing his hair out of his face. He blearily looked around, confused at the odd angles around him. One ear flicked.
That made him freeze. His ears should not flick. Ezio's hands came up, trembling, and felt the odd extensions on the top of his head. He closed his eyes, groaning. He'd so hoped that it was a bad dream. Another growl reminded him that it had been a long time since breakfast the previous day.
"One thing at a time. First, I need to dress."
Ezio crawled out from under the soft cloth, looking around for his clothing. He frowned. He wasn't looking forward to putting on the dirty assassin's robes, but it was the only clothing he had. He spotted the outfit laid out near the edge of the workbench, and he padded over.
The clothes were slightly damp, and clean. Ezio's eyebrows shot up. Leonardo must have washed them. Sending a silent thanks to his friend, Ezio dressed. The tail provided a brief problem, for while the outfit had shrunk with him, it didn't automatically cut and sew itself to accommodate the new appendage. His pants rode extremely low on his hips as a result. Ezio was thankful for the full shirt that covered the evidence of the ill fitting pants.
"This will take some getting used to," he mumbled, tugging at the waist.
Feeling somewhat normal, Ezio began looking around for his friend, and perhaps something to eat. He couldn't see Leonardo anywhere, but there was some bread lying on the a table. His ears perked up, tail wagging slightly - until he realized that the table was across the room. Ezio frowned as he paced the workbench, eyes glued to the bread, fluffy tail flicking from side to side. He moved to the side of the workbench, eyeing the table leg. It seemed to have enough handholds for him to climb down, so Ezio carefully began his decent.
Grinning to himself as he safely made it to the floor, Ezio quickly crossed the room and circled around the table legs. This one would be a little more difficult, as a cloth was draped over the top, meaning it wasn't a straight shot like it had been with the workbench. He decided on the side that had the least bit of overhang, and began the climb. Ezio's miscalculation came from assuming that there was only one cloth, and that it was a full piece draped across, and when he leapt from the table leg to grab hold of the fabric, there was a terrifying sensation of free fall and the clatter of metal and wood above him. He heard a shout, but it didn't register above the pounding in his ears.
He landed hard, and barely had time to register the debris that had fallen with him. He was half buried under the cloth he had yanked down, clearly a rag Leonardo used when painting, stained with bright colors. Metal clashed around him, pallet knives and brushes clattering. He curled in on himself, tail tucking in between his legs as he tried to make himself as small as he could. It felt like hours to Ezio as he lay trembling underneath the weight of the scattered paint tools.
Hands were on him then, pushing the art supplies away and picking him up. A whine strangled out as he was felt over for injuries. Fear still gripped him and as his limbs were carefully nudged away from his chest, he latched onto a finger.
"Ezio. Ezio, you need to let go." Another whine, and he heard a sigh. "I need to check to make sure you're not hurt."
"N-nn-no, I'm ff-fine," he managed to stammer, "I-I'm not hurt, Leonardo."
"You're sure?"
Ezio nodded frantically, the tightness in his chest finally beginning to loosen. He opened his eyes and smiled weakly at the blonde. Leonardo stared at him for a minute longer before moving back to the workbench. Ezio slowly released his death grip on the inventor's hand, and found himself deposited back on his "bed."
"What exactly were you trying to do, Ezio?"
Ezio fidgeted under Leonardo's gaze, eyes flicking around the man to the food still undisturbed across the room. A loud growl from his stomach answered the question for him, before he could even open his mouth to reply. The blonde stared a moment more before a smile twitched into existence on his mouth.
"Ah. You're hungry." Ezio nodded sheepishly. Leonardo turned, walking back to the entrance and a bag he had dropped in his haste. He also swung by the table where the assassin had nearly killed himself, and brought the bread over. Ezio scooted closer, climbing off the box, as the inventor pulled some cheese and tomatoes out of the bag. He broke off a slice of the bread and corner of the cheese. Ezio practically snatched the offered food from the blonde, hunger overriding manners as he wolfed them down.
"Slowly, Ezio! You do not want to choke!" There was laughter though, as Leonardo moved away to find a knife to cut the tomatoes with.
Ezio tried, but he couldn't help himself. He could hear Leonardo rifling on one of the tables, metal clattering as he searched. Halfway through the cheese, a small piece of tomato was offered, as well as a tiny metal cup of water. He took both, giving the cup a surprised glance. It was more a hammered bowl than cup, and he wondered if Leonardo had just made it.
"When did you get this, Leonardo?"
"I thought you should have some things that were suited to your new size, until we can fix this. I'll have something better for you later."
A glance at the table the blonde had been at confirmed his guess. A hammer and random shining scraps were scattered across the surface, a few "imperfect" attempts discarded to the side. Ezio shook his head, wondering if he'd end up with a whole set of miniature furniture and dishes before he changed back.
"It is not necessary, Leonardo. This will work just fine."
"Hmmm..." Ezio looked up from the last bit of tomato he had, knowing just what he'd see. Sure enough, Leonardo was at one of his worktables, sketching on a piece of paper and fiddling with small pieces of wood and more scrap metal. Ezio sighed.
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Notes: Alcina means strong willed, if the name website I used is correct.