asgardmeridiem | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Caterina Sforza and YOU
What: Free Tea and Hummus at A Needle in a Haystack!
When: Day 298 afternoon (or whichever the spy was caught)
Where: A Needle in a Haystack, in Odin's district
Rating: PG

[There is a sign outside of A Needle in a Haystack. It reads:

TODAY

FREE TEA AND HUMMUS

CELEBRATE CLEAN WATER WITH OUR HIGH QUALITY TEA
AND A PLATE OF HUMMUS AND PITA BREAD

When you enter the shop, you can find a few employees serving the drinks at the tables, a couple other stocking the shelves and helping customers, and Caterina overseeing the whole thing from a table in the corner. She has a cup of tea and is looking quite satisfied and would not be opposed to some company right about now.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There will always be tumultuous years as well as prosperous years. That is simply how things are. Sometimes, no matter how well planned everything is, it all fails anyway. And sometimes, without any help from us, it all succeeds.

[She shrugs.]

The world is strange.

Wise words.

[He smiles into his tea.]

And this one, I think, is stranger than most.

[She rolls her eyes, but with a smile.]

That much is certain.

[He chuckles]

Still, were it not for this war, I could choose to spend time here, if we were also able to choose when to leave. There's much to learn here.

[She goes a little quiet at that, but after a moment nods slowly.]

Indeed.

[He notes the longer silence, but doesn't comment on it.]

But then, there's no point in dwelling on such thoughts. We can only deal with the situations we face, not with what we wish they could be.

[She shrugs again.]

Sometimes there is very little choice in the matter.

No. Sometimes not.

[And it's his turn to grow quiet for a moment.]

[She sits in silence and drinks her tea and considers the fact that she is dead at home. It's strange to think about sometimes.]

[Well, this got a bit melancholy.]

I wanted to thank you. [NNNNNOT FOR THE LINGERIE, HIS GRATITUDE IS PRETTY WELL ESTABLISHED AND HE'LL JUST...IGNORE THAT HE SEND YOU FLOWERS FOR THAT ahem] Maria's been in better spirits since you began spending time together.

[She smiles gently and takes a sip of her tea before responding.]

It helps to have someone who understands your particular struggles.

As I can't, in this case.

[Okay that was...a little more emotionally honest than he intended. He'll just sip his tea awkwardly now.]

[She watches him for a moment.]

It bothers you.

That I have a son I've never met? Yes.

I know that it's a matter of time. I haven't missed anything, I just haven't experienced it. Yet...

[He sighs.]

[She nods.]

It is very difficult, coming from different times. For a long time, Ezio and I continued to come from different years, having had different experiences. He wished to be as free of knowledge of the future as much as he could, which made it incredibly difficult at times. Still I am uncertain as to whether that was the best method of coping.

There's some wisdom to such thinking. Leonardo and I agreed it's best that I not learn the specifics of my own writing to come in the Codex.

But that's something very different. And I do want to know this part of my future. But I can't miss him—I can only wish I had the opportunity to miss him.

You will have that opportunity. Someday, you will.

[She's certain of it. After all, she had been permitted to live out the rest of her life, and Ezio had been permitted to live out much of his.]

[He looks at her a few moments longer, caught between uncertainty and dismay, then seems to relax.]

So I must.

[Otherwise there will be no son to wonder about.]

In any case, it's more productive for all of us if I focus my attention on what is here and not there, especially if we do find some suitable recruits.

Indeed. It is important to remember home, but ultimately, here it is a distraction more than anything else. You have seen that yourself in others.

[Alastair specifically, since Ezio's days of distraction were before Altaïr arrived.]

And it would be more than a little hypocritical for me not to take the advice I've given others.

[Maybe a lesson in what not to do, but that's a poor rationalization.]

Yes, just a little.

[She smiles wryly.]

It is more than likely they would remind you of it, too.

No doubt.

[He chuckles, and sits up a little straighter.]

Then I'd better do it.

[She laughs a little and takes a drink of her tea.]

Va bene. I have no doubt you can.

Your faith warms me.

[Still smiling, he drains the rest of his tea and pushes back from the table.]

Thank you for it and for your hospitality, Caterina. But I should see to some work that remains. [Now that the whole spy thing is taken care of.]

[She nods.]

Di niente. You're welcome. Any time I can get you boys off your feet for a few minutes is time well spent.

[They work themselves too hard, she's always thought so. It's why she's elbowed her way into running the shop as much as she has, to try to keep Ezio from doing too much and never getting any rest at all.]