A/N: Hi! So... Yeah, here's an update. I really am a rambler, but I assure you, all this seemingly stupid character shit will factor in later in the story. It's really important that everyone forges a relationship with each other, whether it be good or bad. I'm not saying why, but trust me, it is important. I should also mention that, eventually, this story will take a tour through srsbizness territory. (Probably for the second half, though I haven't quite decided yet.) Morals and ethics and all that terrible stuff will also be called into the room.
I dunno why I'm warning you, but I feel like it's due, because so far, the story's been pretty fluffy.
Oh, and yes... the rating will go up. Eventually. (But we must focus first on relationships. Relationships!)
This is chapter 10 by the way, for those who like to keep count.
Shaun was awoken many hours earlier than he was expecting by what sounded like an electrical storm coming from the main room. The light that was filtering under his closed door flickered, then went out.
"Er, Rebecca?" Shaun called, as the smell of burnt plastic entered the room. "… Are you dead? Cause if you are, we're kind of screwed."
"Thank you for your concern, once again, of my well-being, Shaun. I am alive and well."
Shaun didn't answer, but rolled over to check the time- and then realized that his alarm clock had stopped working. Shaun grimaced. No work for him or Lucy, today, at least until Rebecca fixed whatever just blew up. It was a good thing this warehouse ran on an individual grid, or else the whole block might have just blacked out- not exactly the most inconspicuous thing that could happen when you're supposedly incognito.
"Shaun!" It sounded like Rebecca had just kicked his door. He heard a thump in the main room that he assumed was Desmond falling out of bed due to Rebecca's sudden outburst. "Get up! I need you to go get something!"
Shaun groaned.
"Go get it yourself!" He rolled back over, sticking his face in his pillow. Rebecca wasn't the one who just spent almost a full day confronted with an assassin from almost 500 years ago occupying Desmond's body at the most inconvenient times.
Maybe it was just an elaborate dream. An extremely vivid, sensory overload, crazy, insane, fucked up dream.
Then Shaun touched his still-swollen nose and gave an agitated sigh. Okay, so it wasn't a dream. Maybe it was just a fluke of the Animus. God knows they'd had enough of those to last them a lifetime and a half.
Wouldn't that disappoint you, smirked his brain.
Oh? And why is that? Shaun asked himself.
Oh, no reason, except… historic anomaly, charming, smart, fit, talented, handsome-
Whoa whoa whoa. Shaun stopped his train of thought right there.
Afraid to admit it, big boy? His brain taunted himself.
Shaun felt his face twitch.
We are one and the same, brain, he informed himself. We should be working together, not against each other.
Oh, Shaun-y Shaun. His brain cooed. You and your brain have never been on the same page. You ignore that side of yourself all too often, you know.
Shaun gritted his teeth.
Look, brain, you listen to me, and me only. Leave it alone. We have work to do. Shaun pinched the bridge of his nose. This was ridiculous.
Always work, his brain complained. Work, work, work.
But at least it finally shut up.
Unfortunately, Rebecca hadn't taken the same cue as his brain, and was determined to wake him up by knocking progressively louder on his bedroom door. At least Shaun knew she wouldn't come in- they had had too many awkward moments with opening doors when no advance notice was given, even though Rebecca would never admit it; neither would Shaun, for that matter- it was like walking in on your grandparents. Some things are just too awkward to talk about.
"I swear to God, Shaun, if you don't get out here in two seconds, I'll hook your balls up to the Animus when you're asleep and we'll all laugh at your remarkably short sexual history."
Grimacing, Shaun forced himself out of bed, only because he knew Rebecca would follow up on her offer if given the chance- Shaun was a very heavy sleeper. He dressed quickly in the dark, and met Rebecca in the main room. He could hardly see anything, considering it was still dark out.
"Dear lord, Rebecca, you have the weirdest sleep patterns I've ever seen." Shaun yawned.
"Just because you have the internal clock of a teenager doesn't mean I'm weird," Rebecca retorted. "Honestly, if Lucy and I let you sleep as much you wanted, you'd sleep till 2pm every day."
Shaun rolled his eyes.
"What do you need?"
"I need you to go get me some more fuses. These ones are shot."
Shaun groaned, and knew that he sounded exactly like the teenager Rebecca had just accused him of being.
"I just went out yesterday and almost died, thank you very much. Do I not deserve a rest?"
Rebecca put her finger to her chin in mock though.
"Well, gee, Shaun, I dunno. I almost electrocuted myself this morning. Do you think I deserve a rest? Can I just take time off because I almost died? I mean, it's not like what we're doing here is life or death or anything. It's not like the fate of the world might possibly rest in our hands. Yeah, sure, why don't you take a break? I'm sure the rest of us will appreciate sitting here like wooden ducks waiting for Abstergo to slice off our asses and stick them up as trophies or something. Take as long as you want, Shaun. No hurry."
Shaun was quiet for a moment, then replied,
"But it's so early! The store won't even be open yet!"
Rebecca rolled her eyes.
"Desmond's going with you. You need to wait for him."
Shaun felt himself go red.
"Why the hell would you wake me up now if I've just got to wait for Desmond?"
Rebecca smirked.
"You were snoring."
"Desmond!" Shaun barked, hammering on the bathroom door. "Let's go! We should get there as soon as the store opens!"
He heard a muffled voice on the other side of the door that sounded vaguely like, "fuck you".
"Ugh." Shaun threw himself into his chair and played with his stapler- it was times like these that made him miss Minesweeper.
Shaun saw Lucy enter the room from the warehouse below. He raised an eyebrow. "What were you doing down there?"
Lucy sighed and plopped down into her own computer chair, looking at a loss for things to do.
"I was practising."
Shaun smirked.
"Practising what? Kissing Desmond?"
"Shaun!" Lucy glared at him, but couldn't hide the fact that her fact had gone slightly pink. "For your information, I was practising my free running. Based on what happened yesterday, and your inability to climb buildings, maybe you should follow suit."
Shaun glared back at her, his own face going red.
"I was panicking, what did you except?"
"Panicking? What the hell do you expect to be doing in any other circumstance? Of course you were panicking!"
Shaun refused to acknowledge that Lucy had a point, merely grunted and bounced a stress ball off the wall.
The sound of a door opening gave Shaun an excuse to look around. Desmond had emerged from the bathroom in Shaun's room in only a towel, his naked torso still wet from the shower. He immediately felt himself flush, and busied himself with his stapler again, but not soon enough to ignore the fact that Lucy's embarrassed face had mirrored his own. The only one who hadn't noticed anything was Rebecca, who had her head stuck in the Animus' underbelly.
"Sorry," Desmond muttered, "I forgot to bring a change of clothes."
Shaun felt the separate part of his brain acting up again as it drew his eyes back to Desmond against his will. Desmond reached down to pick up his clothes off his bed, and turned around to see Shaun staring at him. Luckily, Shaun had managed to banish the flush from his face.
"What?" He asked.
Shaun coughed and averted his eyes.
"I- nothing. Can you hurry up, please?"
Desmond shrugged and returned to the bathroom, emerging a couple minutes later, dressed and ready to go.
"Lucy, why do I have to go with Shaun again?" Desmond complained, sounding exactly like Shaun had when he asked Rebecca the same question. Shaun couldn't help but smile.
"Well…" Lucy looked slightly confused. "You guys seemed to be getting alone reasonably well yesterday. I mean, you hung out in the warehouse for long enough once you two got back last night."
"…What are you talking about? Shaun and I were only in the warehouse for a minute…"
Lucy looked concerned.
"No, Desmond. You guys were down there for at least twenty minutes. I assumed you were fighting or bonding, and since neither of you came back with any other injuries, I assumed the latter."
Shaun suddenly clued in as to why Desmond couldn't recall their time in the warehouse- he had spent most of that time with Ezio.
"Uh, Desmond, we really have to get going. Come on!" Shaun grabbed Desmond's arm and pulled him out of the apartment before he could concern Lucy even further.
End note: Yeah, I know Shaun and Desmond already went to the store together, but remember, RELATIONSHIPS!
... Yeah, I'll stop my demented honking now.
Hope you enjoyed!
Oh, and yes, there is a linebreak about halfway through, but it's all still me writing.