A man, a plan, Asgard [OPEN]

[pushesgently]

Who: Altaïr and you
What: As the Assassins deal with their collective recent emotional traumas,
When: Day 398
Where: All over the city—you choose!

[It's been a rough few weeks for the Assassins. Desmond and Connor's deaths, Caterina's disappearance from Asgard, the pressures of simply holding the brotherhood together. Add to this the troubles every Traveler in Asgard faces and they've had better days. But Altaïr has had worse. Some might complain of boredom, but under the circumstances, he's glad to have an utterly normal day, if a busy one.

As he makes his way around the city, he's dressed in quite normal modern clothing rather than his traditional robes, but there are still a number of knives tucked away where they can't be seen.

making deliveries; The courier service offered by A Needle in a Haystack isn't his favorite task, but he strives to lead by example. Also, no one else wanted to do it today. If you've ordered an item or other deliverable product from the shop, he'll be there with a reasonably pleasant expression, though not necessarily a smile. Pay up.

free running; Between deliveries, he can be found up on the roofs, making his way to and from the shop and occasionally taking a leap of faith down. He's in a hurry, so he'll be more difficult to spot than usual, but look up at you might see him.

shopping; During his lunch break (which probably comes around 3:00 or so), he goes on an errand to pick things up. Flowers for Maria (because Caterina's departure has reminded him not to take some things for granted), some new books for himself (because he's secretly a huge nerd) and anything else on his list that the shop doesn't already carry.

a needle in a haystack; Early in the evening, he returns to the shop, where he mans the main counter, sharpening his knife (knives) between customers.]

Comments

Deliveries

[iamaplague]

[Mitchell waits outside the clinic, waiting for the supplies to restore the herbs and other natural remedies they usually keep at hand. It's the first time he uses the delivery, so he came outside 5 minutes before the appointed time, just in case.]

[pushesgently]

[Altaïr is nothing if not prompt. But he's probably not coming from whatever direction Mitchell is looking—out of nowhere, he drops off the roof of the clinic a few feet away. He lands easily, as though accustomed to it, and nods.]

Mitchell? [That was the name on the order, right?]

[iamaplague]

[Mitchell blinks, in fact not expecting the guy to drop from the roof.]

Oh yeah, hi. That's me, I made the order. Wow, that was quite fast, thanks!

[pushesgently]

[No one does.]

We try to be efficient for both our sakes'.

[Also he just finds deliveries to be boring.]

free running

[airborn]

[There's very few people who use the rooftops to travel, so when Rue spots Altair nearby, she makes her way over and joins him.]

I've seen you up here before.

[Probably. You look familiar, at least.]

[pushesgently]

[Well, he might have places to be, but how can he run off and ignore a little girl? Even Assassins have soft spots. Altaïr slows down and smiles at Rue.]

Oh? Are you sure it was me and not just someone who looks similar?

[Really, it could be either.]

[airborn]

[She stares at him with concentration, like she’s trying to figure it out herself. It was always from a distance, so she isn’t really sure.]

I dunno! Is there somebody here who looks a lot like you? [Like a brother or something?]

[pushesgently]

There might be. There are a lot of people in the city, after all.

[One of them being his great-grandson, which tilts the odds.]

Free Running

[not_sasuke]

[For once, he's not on the rooftops. As a result, he gets a really great view of Altaïr diving into the stack of hay (why do people even need that these days?) right in front of him.

If it seems like he was reaching for a weapon in his wristband on instinct, that's probably your imagination. He does look quite startled, however.]

[pushesgently]

[Altaïr appears absolutely unperturbed when he pops out of the hay. (Weirdly, none of the hay seems to stick to him, either.)

The stranger's surprise doesn't escape him, nor does his defensive position. But Altaïr doesn't react in kind, merely nods in greeting.]

Good morning.

[not_sasuke]

[He's jumpy. Way too jumpy. Maybe all those angry comments wore on him more than he thought.

Still, he calms himself remarkably quickly - or at least, on the surface. At this point it looks more like he was about to cross his arms in a block than anything else, although he quickly lowers them.]

Good morning. Do you normally start off the day giving people heart attacks?

[pushesgently]

[For his part, Altaïr has no idea the two of them have spoken before--though he'd be very interested to learn so.]

Not usually. That's how I tend to finish my day.

free running!

[coronavitfossor]

[ Well, he didn't expect to see that.

Okay, sure. Allen had done his own set of fancy tricks before. He jumped onto a moving train before, yeah. And he may or may not have crashed through multiple buildings once or twice, yeah. But seeing a guy diving from the height he was at into a little pile of hay? That was actually pretty scary for him.

He would have tried it, yeah. But to see someone else attempt such a thing was another story.

Allen carefully approached the hay, almost expecting to see a mangled corpse lying at the bottom. If he hadn't looked at the moment he had, he wouldn't have even seen this. ] Hey. Are you okay?

lmao at that tag :')

[pushesgently]

[What he finds is the opposite of a corpse—Altaïr jumps out of the hay with alacrity, and almost no hay actually sticking to him. He nods at Allen, as if he doesn't even noticed the shock expression. He absolutely does.]

Perfectly fine. And you?

haha i'm glad it made you laugh!!! u___u

[coronavitfossor]

I'm, I'm fine. [ And a little concerned for a matter of reasons. And absolutely amazed that this guy seems completely normal, almost! No bruises, no clumps of hay stuck in his hair.

...If he tried that stunt, he'd probably end up hurting himself.

Allen didn't say that though. Instead he smiled. Because he just kind of noticed he was staring at this guy like he had two heads, wasn't he? ]

Sorry. I just never saw anyone jump into such a small pile of hay and...not be hurt in some way. [ Or dead. ]

[pushesgently]

[It's an acquired skill. Every novice is a virtual living haystack after their first leap of faith.]

It's larger than it looks, I assure you. At least more dense.

needle in a haystack

[womanfromacre]

[Maria is sitting at a table in the shop, ledgers and accounts sprawled out in front of her on a table she has claimed for her own as she goes through them. There is a quill and ink and some paper set aside for her to scrawl notes on and a cup of tea set at a safe distance off to the side, close enough for her to reach but not so close that it could be knocked over onto the paperwork.

Though the loss of Caterina is still new enough that the thought of taking over her friend's role in the shop fills Maria with a sick, sad sense of dread, there are some things in life that one must undertake without question. She is under no illusions that she has quite the pair of shoes to fill and she doubts she will manage with the same aplomb, but she is determined to do her best for the sake of the Brotherhood and Caterina's memory.

She is so immersed in her work that she doesn't hear Altaïr come in.]

[pushesgently]

[There she is, exactly as he hoped. Altaïr smiles and uses his considerable stealth skills to move quietly towards his wife, willing her not to notice him until the right moment.

Flowers as a gift isn't something that would have occurred to him on his own. But there's knowledge to be gained here, in big and small ways, and he's been long since educated on this topic.

Maria is still here with him, and now more than ever, he knows this isn't something to take for granted. Caterina has left behind a hole in all their lives, and were Maria to leave, he knows he would feel an even bigger one. So he watches her for a moment, his eyes crinkling with fondness as he smiles, before holding out the flowers he's brought between Maria's face and her ledger.]

[womanfromacre]

[Maria all but jumps out of her skin as she's suddenly brought face to face with a bouquet of lilies, roses and baby's breath, and leans back in her seat to turn and look at their source. She blinks, startled, and looks at him with a puzzled expression.]

Why are you attacking me with flowers?

[They are lovely though, but she cannot fathom what's he's trying to get at with them. She smiles though, because it is hard not to smile at him when he's looking at her like that.]

free running.

[hisstrength]

[Tris is practicing. After her and Ellie's adventures jumping from tree to tree in the Alfheim, she's gained a bit more courage concerning how far she can jump. So there's a girl up there today, taking her first running leaps from roof to roof, though it's clear she's not aiming to go anywhere in particular with it.

When she sees Altaïr, she pauses to watch. His movements remind him of another man she's met up here, and once again she wonders if this is really coincidence.]

[pushesgently]

[If he could read her mind, Altaïr might tell Tris that it's not coincidental at all—or he might not. As it is, he's on the move back to the shop; he notes the presence of the young girl, but doesn't stop, though he's not moving at a full-sprint pace.]

[hisstrength]

[It makes her curious. She's sure he could move faster than this, because she's seen Ezio do it, but he doesn't. It's not a difference in skill.

But it is a chance, and she takes it - Tris tries to follow him, even though she's vastly less skilled in free-running. She doesn't bother trying for stealth either, he can notice all he like, but just keeping track of him while not falling and breaking her bones is enough to manage at once.]

free running, duh.

[daddyissues]

[ Connor has the day off and only one thing in mind to do... but he's stalling, strolling around the city lost in thought. In that way he's a lot like his father; he tries his best to keep busy because downtime gives him too much time to think, to get trapped in his head. Today he lets it happen, though, glancing in shop windows and smiling faintly at passerby until a shadow passes overhead. Glancing up he catches sight of a foot vanishing onto the roof and while it's not a distinctive foot in and of itself, Connor has a feeling he knows who it belongs to. He stretches, breathes in, and ducks into the next alley to climb up the side of the building.

They've played this game before. As usual, Connor makes no effort to hide, only to keep up, feeling his worries pushed aside by the wind as they run. ]

[pushesgently]

[They've played together and Altaïr's occasionally watched Connor on his own and so it's completely natural to continue the run, as if this is another lesson or game. But they know too much of each other now for it to be as easy as that; yet not enough when what comes next is actual trust. It remains to be seen whether both will be able to fully extend it.

But for the moment, he turns away from the shop and continues his run. Let Connor work for what's to come.]

[daddyissues]

[ Altair has never lost him yet, though it's been close several times. At the same time Connor has never felt it was important he didn't fall behind... it's always been just a game, a training exercise he didn't particularly need the practice in to start with. Today is different. He sticks closer, at times vanishing only to appear closer based on the direction he predicted Altair to be going. Sometimes he's wrong, and he regains "ground" quickly in these cases, but more often he's right. Their styles are different and Altair has the edge -- Connor has only had his time in Asgard to practice this in a human body, and finds other ways down when the older man does leaps of faith. Still, he's shockingly fast.

He keeps pace, and the sense that today is different intensifies as the game goes on far longer than usual. They've nearly looped the whole city, Connor thinks, with no sign of stopping. Altair takes another leap, and Connor sees there's no gentler route for him without risking not being able to catch up. He could use his power to soften the drop... no. This way.

Breathe slow. Keep your eyes open.

Connor jumps, and for the first time in however many months of playing this game he copies Altair's form as he falls. It's his only example of a human doing this kind of thing, after all, and he's scared but focuses on the pose and timing of the roll -- in this moment he's forgotten about the chase, but that's alright. If he doesn't crack his head open he can catch up. ]