"Merda, I almost thought you were that phantom, come to haunt me again," Doctor Brunelleschi said, shuddering in a way that Ezio couldn't quite help but think was slightly overblown; perhaps it was simply because he'd known and worked with Aeon for so long.
"No worries about that amico," he said, seeing the need to reassure the man; Aeon was rather odd, at least to those who hadn't been given the chance to get to know him. "How is Pietro doing?"
"He had a rather concerning amount of canterella in his system, but as I've seen more than my fair share of those poor unfortunates, particularly considering all of the unrest as of late, I've come up with an antidote for just this sort of an occasion."
"I can hardly thank you enough, cher ami," Pietro said, seeming as though he would have tried to sit up on the table he'd been laid out on, but for Doctor Brunelleschi returning with a handful of leeches and a stern admonishment not to move as he busied himself.
"This will finish the work begun," the doctor said, sounding a great deal more settled.
"I'm glad to hear it, dottore," Ezio said, turning his attention to Pietro once more. "And, as to your gratitude, there is some way for you to repay me and mine for the help we've given: the key to the little gate you and Lucrezia use for your trysts at the Castello Sant'Angelo."
"What are you talking about?" Pietro asked, misgivings clear on his face, even as he obviously struggled to regain his composure. "I'm just a poor actor, a victim of circumstance! I-!"
"Listen: Cesare already knows all about you and Lucrezia," he preempted, having the feeling that this man in particular was prone to overblown fits of histrionics, even moreso than most of those in his particular profession.
"Dio mio!" Pietro exclaimed, his misgivings – as well as the protestations that he'd been clearly about to raise – swiftly giving way to true fear.
"But, I can help you," he swiftly reassured the man. "If you would only give me the key."
Mute with clear shock, Pietro dug into a hidden pocket within the loincloth he'd been dressed in. "I've kept it on me since the day she gave it over."
"Wise of you," he said, tucking the key into the same, hidden pocket within his robes where he'd stored the Apple that Aeon inhabited. "My men will fetch your clothes, and take you somewhere safe. I'll detail a could of them to keep watch over you, though you'd best stay out of sight until Cesare looses interest, all the same."
For a moment, Ezio found himself tempted to assure the man that Cesare would soon have a great deal more on his mind than simply the hunt for some little-name actor who'd only caught his eye from the man's own sheer spite and possessiveness. Still, Pietro had proven himself to hardly be the type who could keep secrets, and so he turned his thoughts away from the subject. Soon enough, of course, such would become the focus of his attentions once more.
"But, my public!" the man exclaimed.
"They will simply have to make due with Longinus, at least until it's safe for you to put your head above the parapet," he said, then offered the man a thin, humorless smile. "Unless you would like to have it lopped right off your shoulders," nodding as the actor shuddered, Ezio widened his smile in an effort to be at least slightly more reassuring. "In your place, I wouldn't worry; he isn't a patch on you."
"You really think so?"
"No question," he said, turning to leave, even as he heard the sounds of someone being subjected to the discomfiting sensation of live leeches being attached to their skin
As he swiftly departed from Doctor Brunelleschi's rather large – though still cramped-feeling, considering everything the man actually possessed in such a place – office, Ezio returned his attention to those Assassins that had followed in his wake as he'd made his way to this particular confrontation. In the end, he deputized Saverio and Rinaldo to watch over Pietro in a nearby safe house, a place that would be given extra protection by the thieves that La Volpe had working this particular area.
After they'd all retrieved their normal garb from the Terme di Traiano, of course.