Elsa and Ares walk through the halls, chatting as they make their way to a guest bedroom. Ares can't help but stare as she lets her hair fall from the tight bun it had been in before, "Ugh, I hate having my hair up." She looks to him, her french braid swinging over her left shoulder, almost glowing in the moonlight.
"It looks beautiful either way."
Elsa starts to blush, "Thank you Ares."
They arrive at the door, and she leads Ares inside, "Well, here's where you'll be staying. Your brother will be next door, whenever he decides to come back from his night with my sister."
"Ah they'll be fine." He looks around at the tall ceilings and the king-sized bed, "Wow, a lot nicer than the dungeon."
Elsa giggling, "Yeah, it sure is…" She pauses as he looks around the room, thinking of the best way to word her next sentence, "I uh, I know what you are by the way."
Ares unsure of what she's talking about, "And what am I?"
"An Assassin, for the brotherhood."
Ares a bit stunned, "How do you know of the brotherhood?"
Elsa opens the balcony door and sits on the ledge, Ares following her outside. "My father had a good friend who was an assassin. He always did jobs for him, whenever he needed something done quietly, he was the man... He was from Italy, everytime he came he would bring us a gift, toys, candy, we even got a bike once. He was one of the few people I was allowed to see as a child, since I was always locked inside my room, his name was Alex."
Ares' heart sank at the sound of his mentor's name. The feelings he had at the beginning of the week rush back to him, as he stumbles backwards into the room. Elsa, concerned, follows him in and closes the balcony doors behind her, "I'm sorry! D-did I say something?"
Ares looks down, having no idea how much he could've meant to her, "Alex was my mentor... He... he's gone now."
Elsa wraps her arms around him, "Oh Ares I'm so sorry, I didn't know..."
Ares tenses up at her touch, letting out a small wince as Elsa pulls back from the hug, horrified she may have hurt him further. She fiddles with her hands, not knowing what to do as she asks what's wrong, but more through the look in her eyes than with her words.
"Oh don't worry, it's nothing. It's just my ribs..."
"Ugh, I told you to see a doctor, let me see them."
Ares takes off his cloak, and pulls off his shirt.
Elsa's eyes widen as she whispers, "Woah..."
"What? Is it bad?"
"No... Your ribs are fine... It's your tattoos that shocked me." Elsa examines the markings covering Ares' torso and arms.
"Oh yeah, I got them in the Caribbean, they're huge there."
She runs her hand down Ares' chest, "I've heard about them, never seen one before though... You have a lot of scars too."
Ares trying hard not to blush, "Yeah, I got those from Bryn."
"Bryn gave them to you?"
Ares letting out a small laugh, "Oh no, I got them from protecting him, and bailing him out of trouble. I can remember how I got every scar."
She runs her hand along a series of scars on his left ribs, "What are these from?"
"Stab wounds. Bryn had a gambling problem a few years ago, he owed some money to some bad people. When they came looking for him, I claimed I was him, and learned his lesson for him."
"They just went right up to you and…"
"Yeah, I didn't speak to Bryn for a week, I literally couldn't, it hurt too much."
A puff of cold air escapes her nose, before she runs her hand against another scar on his right collarbone, "How about this one?"
"When Bryn and I were first learning to free run, he slipped and fell off the side of the building, I caught him by the foot, but the force popped my shoulder out of place and broke my collarbone."
Elsa, amazed at Ares' stories, "You would do anything for your brother, wouldn't you?"
"Well yeah, he's all the family I have, he doesn't always make the best choices but I love him. I would do whatever it takes to protect him."
Elsa stands on her toes, wrapping her arms around Ares' neck as she closes her eyes and touches her lips with his, "I can relate."
Ares pulls back from the kiss, but keeps his face close to hers, her arms still wrapped around him, speaking quietly, "I... I'm not royalty... If we do this, the people won't approve. I'm not good enough for you."
Elsa speaking just as softly, "It's not anyone else's job but mine to decide who is good enough for me. I don't want a prince, a boy who was spoon fed everything to him, and doesn't know the meaning of pain. No one will ever understand what I went through, but you come close..."
Ares wraps his arms around her waist and continues to kiss her, his hands eventually moving up to her shoulders. As he begins to slip off her dress, Elsa catches it before anything is exposed. She lets off a small giggle as she pulls back from Ares' lips, "How about you stay around for a bit longer? I do want you... To stay I mean... I just..."
"Elsa, it's my fault I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."
"No... It's not that I don't... Just, please stay around? I want to spend more time with you."
Running the palm of his hand along Elsa's cheek, "I'm not going anywhere."