The Assassin's Change of Plans

He was a man of little words it seemed as he moved past her into his bedroom and through to the bath. A slight blush rose across her cheeks though as she noticed the slight glance he gave her uncovered thighs. But she pushed it off as he told her he was taking his turn. With his bed offered to her, the cosy mattress nearly called to her but Katherine pushed the need to pass out down. A section of her wanted to run up the curved stairs and back to the river, swimming if she had to, away from him. There was no place for her to go, and he knew that. It also left her a bit exposed if she did end up sleeping in his bed as he bathed.

With that thought, she relaxed on the couch carefully, attempting to not show the whole world everything beneath the long shirt. She eyed the room once again, looking over the wall hangings and such, but before she knew it she was gently slumped over the arm of the couch asleep. Even before Ezio had finished his bath.

Ezio took his time, mulling over the next step for them both. He would be in and out of the house frequently, either working or keeping up his cover as a young merchant's son who had inherited a small fortune. There was also the Medicili family to be dealt with. He would see to it that every one of them who had a hand in his betrayal would be found soaked in their own blood. He had the advantage now. He could find them, but they couldn't find him, and they could not tell the city guard or their plot to end Katerine's family would be brought to light.

With all the work that would require, he had little time to spend entertaining her. He needed a way to keep her occupied with somethign that would be sure to grab her attention and keep her from going stir crazy. He continued to ponder this as he got out, draining the tub and putting out the hot coals he had used to keep the cauldron warm. He dried himself off and dressed, leaving the rest of it till morning.

He looked into his room to see the bed empty. He walked back out into the main hall to find her sleeping on the couch. He sighed, feeling a bit like a parent. Deciding to leave her be, he got and extra blanket from his room and gently laid it over her, hiding the even greater amount of leg she now revealed. That done, he sighed, and started putting out lamps, retiring to his bed once he had finished. More than anything at the moment, he needed sleep. Perhaps in the morning, he could think of something to do with the girl's abundance of free time.

There was fire, and a glint of steel. A giant hulking man not so unlike the one at the gala. But instead of running this time, she was shackled to the floor, her father watching from the rafters, crying for her. The fire moved up her skirts, the large man chortled a hearty laugh as she struggled with the chains on her legs. Within her dream, she let out a loud pitched scream as she sobbed violently. The sound pulled her from her sleep and she found herself in the dark room wrapped in a blanket that Ezio must have placed on her. Kathrine fought the cover off of her, fearing its constriction. Her brow shimmered slightly from the commotion and worry from within her dream. Tears began then, in her sleepy stupor.

She had been unaware that she had screamed aloud, so she did not expect her attempted murder to come running for her. With that, she crossed her legs, very unladylike, and put her elbows on her knees to hold her head up on her hands as she sobbed. It could have been worse right now, and she knew that, but Kathrine was still struggling with what was happening within her own thoughts and what had transpired not a few hours before. Had Ezio come to her, she would be sure to hit him or hug him.

Ezio had long trained himself to awaken at the slightest sound of danger. It had helped quite a bit in keeping him alive on several occasions. So when Katerine screamed out from the hall, he leaped from bed, and rushed out into the hall. His heart was racing, his eyes roaming each little shadow in the room, the coals in the fireplace throwing a pale orange glow across the the cut stone walls. Strapped to his wrist was a leather brace, with a rectangular metal box held against the bottom of his forearm. The long narrow blade he had used previously extended from the metal back; his trademark hidden blade.

His chest rose and fell heavily, his upper body bare while he wore a rough pair of brown trousers that ended just under his knees. "What is it, what's happened." he asked, moving over to the couch where Katerine sat sobbing in a very revealing position. However, he had other things to worry about than the girl's level of exposure.

Suddenly, he did appear in front of her, startling her slightly with his question. "Hmm?" she questioned at first, but then realized what he had asked, "Oh, I'm fine. It was j-just," a sniffle, "A bad dream." She shook her head, angry at herself for getting so worked up about such things. "I didn't mean to wake you, I apologize," she added softly and she hung her head in her hands, attempting to hide the tears from him. He must have thought her to be such a baby now. Her lips pursed, trying to halt the flow of tears that was coming of their own free will now. Her breathing was off as she was still sniffling, and her eyes were puffy but Kathrine looked to him honestly, attempting to gleam some sort of person under the mask of a hitman he was currently wearing.

Longing to be held, she averted her eyes away from him once again, knowing that if she tried long and hard enough she might get him to hold her; but she knew it wouldn't be worth it if she forced his hand. Not to mention, fraternizing with the man who was set to kill you was frowned upon in most social circles. So, instead, she decided to work out her dependency issues on her own, rather than just transfer her dependency to Ezio. "I'm sorry," she offered again as she pulled the blanket back on to her lap, realizing how indecent she currently was in front of him.

He let out a sigh as she explained it had just been a dream. This girl was going to give him a heart attack at this rate. A flick of his wrist and the blade returned to its sheath. "Don't scare me like that." he said, though not unkindly. Watching her, he could tell whatever it had been, the nightmare had shaken her. She was not as self possessed as she had been even right after the bath. It would likely be like this until the initial shock and mourning phases passed, and there was no telling how long that could be.

Seeing her so distraught did make him desire to comfort her in some small way. He couldn't help looking at her up until she covered herself again. He reached out his hand and stroked her hair, kneeling slightly. "You're fine now, you have nothing to fear anymore. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He really meant it too. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could do on short notice in the middle of the night.

Her dewy eyes met his as he stroked her still wet hair kindly, offering words of aid. Kathrine sniffled softly and nodded, but then averted her eyes once again, a tear rolling slowly down her cheek as she looked into her hands. "I wish this had never had happened," she whispered softly, those blue orbs slowly working their way back to his face. Leaning into his hand, he essentially supported her head with his large digits. Oh, how she craved for the crying to cease, for the feelings of loss to halt... But even in slumber she could not run from the feelings and pain, even in the darkest corners of her mind it lingered there. Hanging like the stale smoke of his pipe that was lit earlier in the room.

"Can I-erm- Is there any way...?" she wanted to ask if he could somehow sleep near her to wake her if she began to show any signs of nightterrors, but she knew she shouldn't. It was asking too much. "Nevermind," she then said without finishing her question to him. "I think I'll try to go back to sleep now. Hopefully the dream won't return." Her lips pursed tightly into a line, "Where could I get a glass of water, perhaps that will help?" Kathrine rose from the couch, careful not to bump or bolster the man before her. She longed to be swept up, like any girl dreams, and carted of to be taken care of but she knew he was not the sort to put her on a pedestal. It wasn't a pedestal she wanted though, just someone that gave care to her feelings and needs. And didn't think her obnoxious.

It was clear to her that it would be impossible for Ezio to be that person. He most likely couldn't stand her. Because of that, she didn't want to seem incredibly needy or whiny, but it was hard as she was tired; but she of course knew he was too. Once she had placed the blanket on the couch she began to head back towards the hallways, quite unsure of where she was going, hoping that he might assist her, or even accompany her to get a glass.

Ezio sighed slightly while she struggled with her own emotions, clearly needing comfort of some kind, of which a simple stroke of her hair was not going to suffice. It wasn't the first time dealing with a similar situation to this, but he found it to be somewhat in bad taste to try and comfort this girl after what he had planned to do to her prior to the untimely arrival of the Medcili's hired muscle. Rare was the individual who sought comfort in the arms of their would-be killer.

Even so, he did not particularly dislike her. She had been troublesome and created quite a mess for him, but it was not a life-ruining situation and she had at least demonstrating a level of competence belying her stereotypical reputation as just another pretty face. She had managed to hold up well to an insane situation that most people would have passed out from. All in all, she had at least earned the right to have some sort of comfort.

Moving up behind her, he swiftly lifter her up in his arms. "All you need is sleep. Otherwise your body will just fall apart on you." He carried her back to his bedroom and set her down, moving to lay on the other side. "Sleep here for now, being alone will only make things worse." He made no attempt to get to close to her, leaving it up to her how she slept.

The sweep off of her feet forced a gasp from her, and a bit of hesitation at first, but she zipped her lips shut as he carted her into his bedroom. Her lithe arms encircled his neck, but only for support of course, as he held her not to close, but not to far from his body either. She felt his strong muscle through the thin shirt she had donned, and even though she had just been bawling her eyes out, it suddenly seemed okay. After all, he was a big strong man come to save her. Well, kill her first, but now save her.

After he placed her gently on the bed, he moved to the extra space beside her, and since it was a large bed there was a lot of that. Kathrine said nothing to it though, as she had nearly just asked him to do just that a few minutes ago. With a simple nod, she adjusted her head on the pillow, reaching her arm beneath it. Her pale legs still reached from beneath the dark blue shirt that covered the rest of her, but she made no move to cover them, it was odd, it was almost as if she trusted him. Even though she had never lain in bed with a man before, she knew it was no time to be worried about her virtue. Her eyes blinked tiredly at him, her body beginning to pull together on the bed, almost ball-like to comfort herself.

She offered him a small smile, worried he would be tired of hearing her thank yous by now, then her eyes fluttered back asleep. Within sleep, her face smoothed into a look of peace and calm. It wouldn't last though, because there was no doubt the dream wouldn't return. A few hours into her slumber, it did return, continuing on the same path it had before: to her and her parents' demise. The whimpering began as soon as the dream did, and when she blinked awake frantically, she found herself clinging to Ezio, her head buried in his chest.

He rolled over after a few minutes to see her curled up and fast asleep. He sighed again, wondering if this was going to become a standard thing each night. Either way, he had no problem with it, as long as she didn't snore or kick him in his sleep. With that dealt with, he rolled onto his back and let sleep take him over once again, still exhausted from the night's events. His sleep was untroubled by nightmares as Katerine's was, having killed too many for it to bother him any longer. In truth he hardly ever dreamed lately, sleeping straight through the night.

Being the light sleeper that he was, it was unsurprising that he awoke to find the girl clutching him tightly, trembling from what he gathered was another nightmare. Sighing yet again, he rested one arm around her, offering whatever comfort that could possibly provide while she was still asleep, and proceeded to let himself fall asleep once more. He was grateful he lived underground, as he would be sleeping in very late, and did not need the sun coming up and waking him.

A sniffle or two later, she was back in the throws of sleep again. Kathrine hadn't bothered to move or adjust before she fell asleep, so for now she laid gently on Ezio's chest as he slept, his arm holding her kindly. Within the nook of his shoulder and neck Kathrine slipped her head as one arm moved across his torso. It was not of consciousness, but it may have been her unconscious' way getting what it wanted. The heat of his body warmed her, and had anyone known where they were and walked in on them, they would have been fooled into thinking the two were an item. The dream did not return again that night though, perhaps because her body was wrapped around and by Ezio's, perhaps just because her body was too tired to even use the mental power to create a dream. Either way, the morning came and went outside as they slept. Soon, they would wake on their own accords after their bodies had determined the time to wake.

When Kathrine did awaken, she blinked her eyes open slowly to find her forehead met with his jaw, which was slightly stubbly. A small smile formed but she then was forced to decide whether to wake up or 'go back to sleep' until he woke. She chose to rise slowly, as not to wake him, and moved into the bathroom to wash her face and such. He seemed to be out cold when she got off of the bed, his eyes shut tightly, eyebrows relaxed with no sign of a smile or frown. A slight blush crept upon her face as she admired his sculpted chest from the reflection in the mirror in front of her. Kathrine had never seen a man half-naked before, so she watched over his breathing carefully as she bent before the sink to wash.

As always, Ezio's night passed uninterrupted, sleeping peacefully well into the following day, though his underground bedroom gave no indication of the passing hours. He was steadily shifting from sleep to waking, when he felt the weight of something shift off of his body. His mind sluggishly tried to understand what it was, until he slowly opened his eyes inside the dimly lit room, staring at the canopy of his bed. His hand tingled from having fallen asleep, and then he remembered the girl that had lain beside him the previous night. He sat up slowly, yawning, stretching, and going through the other various routines one goes through upon waking up.

He slid to the rug-covered floor and walked over to the bathroom, where a cool bowl of water waited so that he could wash his face. He walked in to find his guest there already, cleansing her face. "A good morning to you." he said, his voice still sounding a bit groggy. "I take it you slept well?" The fact that he had managed to sleep undisturbed seemed to have been proof of that, though he asked anyways.

"If sleeping well equates to dreamlessly, then yes, I did sleep well. Did you?" she asked with a bashful smile, wiping the excess water from her face. When done, she rotated around and leaned against the counter top, her palms resting on the top of it as she looked at her toes. It was a moment or two after his reply but then she turned her eyes back to him, "What do we do now? I figure I can't be seen for awhile but," she paused, "I'm still unsure." Her lips were pulled into a tight line, and the eye contact was severed as she moved her attention to the push rug beneath her feet. Her bottom lip slipped in between her teeth, tugging on it gently as she attempted not to cry again. How ever much she wanted to throw herself into a fit of rage and sadness, but she knew it would do her no good for the time being.

A slow grumble emitted from her stomach and she quickly wrapped her arms around it, remembering her worries of the day before. Kathrine had decided not to eat before the ball, afraid she would look robust in her dress, and her stomach was none to happy about that now. "Sorry," she muttered out softly and sauntered through the bedroom and into the living room, feeling a bit awkward with him now. Knowing full well that when she finally gave herself time to sit down and analyze the situation she was currently in she would most likely crumble into pieces, her best attempt at keeping herself together was to push last night's events into the back of her mind and keep pushing though what was in store for her in the future. And currently, that was her need for substance in the edible form, but she didn't dare ask it of her 'keeper'. Had she of known where the kitchen was, she would have attempted a breakfast for both of them, but alas, she couldn't even get herself a glass of water the previous night.