No rites for the spawn of whores (open)

[Rosa Giovanno]

For the first time that day, she did offer something that might of been seen as a genuine smile. She didn't have to force herself to make the expression, anyway. Even if it was brief. "I would appreciate that," she said, confirmed in her suspicions, though relieved not to spend another night alone - at least not so soon. "But only if you do not take the chair." She wasn't the kind of woman who needed the manners set by society to play to her favor. And besides, she certainly wouldn't be comfortable with her protector, if that was what he was to be, sleeping the night in one of those uncomfortable things. She had already been enough of a burden on him as it was. "That is, if it isn't too much trouble to you." She didn't want him offering to her just to be polite, either. But if he meant it genuinely, that was another story. She didn't deserve his kindness as it was, and didn't want to further impose.

[Catone[Inactive]]

Relieved, he let out the breath he was holding. She was fine sharing a room with him. I'm fact, she seemed to want it that way. Opening the door, he entered the inn.

That's when her next words came to him. 'But only if you do not take the chair.' Did that mean? Face now awash with a furious blush, he nodded at the innkeeper before heading for the stairs. The innkeeper seemed to only chuckle and turned back to checking his books. Catone headed to the third floor, the third room on the right.

Never even bothering to lock it, it opened easily. The dark room was an average size, with a bed big enough for two, a table with three chairs, and a small stand by the bed. In the corner stood a changing screen, Catone's small bag leaning on the frame. "No trouble at all."

Weariness hit him like a stampede of horses. His knife belts couldn't be unlatched fast enough, he mused as he laid them on the table next to the unlit candle. No way he was going to light it. Too much chance for a fire to break out should his nervous hands drop it.

[Rosa Giovanno]

His deeply reddening face went unseen by her, as she followed him in from outside and then up the stairs. She did catch the expression and girlish giggling of the old innkeeper though, and she bit the inside of her cheek. She hadn't thought about his reputation, a woman dressed as she was following him up the stairs so late at night. Thankfully it was just the old lady, and she doubted if anyone else had seen them. This wasn't his home city anyway, but still. She didn't want his name ruined just because he was a nice guy.

Following him into his room, she looked around. It was very similar to the room she had rented from the other tavern, except the window was on the other side and the bed covers were a different color. It was funny, how uniform the rooms seemed to be when it came to quick housing. Rosa sat at the table, waiting for him to change. That was when she remembered that she had left all of her belongings in the other tavern. Grumbling to herself inwardly, she looked down at his considerable collection of knives as he laid them on the table. Maybe he would have an extra set of something that she could borrow to wear. Otherwise she would just have to sleep in what she wore. Pulling one of the steel weapons from is sheath, she examined it closely as she waited for him, and then put it back. She couldn't imagine ever throwing one of those at somebody, but she was very glad that someone knew how.

[Catone[Inactive]]

Without a doubt, this was probably the strangest night he had ever experienced. As he stretched, he realized she was looking at him expectedly. Oh, right. Night clothes. She didn't have any with her. Heading over to his bag, he fished out the old shirt and trousers that he had. Glancing at her, he noticed that they would be baggy on her lithe frame. "Here. They're clean and I don't really have anything in your size."

He placed them over the changing screen, leaving them to hang there for if she chose to wear them. Sitting down on the bed, he moved his bad ankle through the motions. All the doctors said he should be a cripple by now, but here he was. Maybe these stretches helped. Maybe they didn't. Catone removed his vest before stripping off his shirt. Bared back, he felt his spine crick into place.

He had a few scars, but what Assassin didn't?

[Rosa Giovanno]

Thankful, she stood and and went behind the screen to change. It was tall enough to cover her, of course, but she could still see over the top. Ducking, she removed her blouse and replaced it with the tunic he gave her. It was big, but it would work. Standing straight again she began to get herself out of her skirt. "Does that hurt?" she asked, referring to his ankle. I looked like it did, and she could only wonder what happened to it. She also noted his scar-covered body. They were familiar to her, as she had seen them on many of his creed. It was a heavy burden they all carried together, for the safety of common citizens like her. And a dangerous one at that.

Pulling on the trousers, she tightened the drawstring as tightly as it would go. Like the shirt, they were also big, but would work just fine. Then she folded her clothes and placed them on one of the chairs by the table.

[Catone[Inactive]]

Hmm? Oh, his ankle. "This? Only on every other day." He got the feeling that she wouldn't sleep immediately and he should be ready to entertain some more conversation. "If you want, I can tell you about it..."

Massaging it gently, he scooted back to the other side of the bed. He reclined on his side of it, atop the covers. Catone stared at the ceiling, the moonlight streaming onto it from the window. "You take under the sheets. I get too hot at night anyway."

Glancing at her, he awkwardly patted the space beside him.

[Rosa Giovanno]

"Yes, I would love to hear the story. But I can see how tired you are, so only if you feel up to reciting it." she said. Honestly she had asked because she wondered if she couldn't help him. She had learned a few honorable things in her trade, besides the dishonorable things. With a lotion and hot water she knew she could rub some of the pain at least temporarily from his old wound. And she knew that he wasn't a very sexual man, and she respected that. He wasn't the first she had met to be such a gentleman, but he was surely among the very few. But his awkwardness made it difficult to make such an offer to him, even if it was simply to massage his ankle. Even when she knew it would help him, she didn't want to make him any more nervous than he already was.

Rosa gave him a skeptical look when he made up an excuse not to sleep under the same covers as she did. She wasn't convinced, and she didn't want to impose on someone who was so generous to her. Well, at least he had listened to her and didn't try to sleep in the chair. She pulled the blankets back, climbed into bed and pulled them back up over herself, turning on her side to face him. "I don't bite, you know." she said. If she had been her normal self, she would have added a joke there, where it so naturally seemed to belong. But at least her concern over the sacrifices he made for her took her mind away from the subject that had gnawed at her heart all day, especially now as she laid her head on her pillow. She closed her eyes, still awake and thinking, ready to listen to his story if he was willing to tell it.

[Catone[Inactive]]

Right knee pointing at the ceiling, he blushed. He knew she wouldn't bite. That it, unless..... Shaking his head, his face a almost the shade of a ripened tomato, he chuckled at the joke in between the lines.

Letting his laughter die down, he brought his hands to cup the back of his head. "Funny enough, this thing got busted on a training exercise back when I first joined up. My buddies and I were running across the rooftops, training our bodies for whatever we would need them for. One of the obstacles we faced was a dive into the Grand Canal. It was a sort of Rite of Passage."

Absentminded, his foot flexed at the memory. "Of course, I would be the one to trip. When I fell, my foot struck one of the windowsills on the way down. Il Dottore said I would have a limp forever. Not quite. Now, it only hurts on bad days."

Glancing at her in the darkness, he stopped. Eyes closed, slow breathing. Was she already asleep?

[Rosa Giovanno]

Her eyebrows furrowed visibly, imagining his foot connecting with the window. Those venetian windows... she remembered them, envisioned them in her head. Beautifully crafted and richly painted, with sills like small balconies. And flowers....

For a moment, she dozed. Until she heard the pause in his speech. "That's awful." she said, opening her eyes again to look at him. "And those bad days are every other day?" It was a rhetorical question as she confirmed what he had said before. "You should really go to the Fiore when you are in Roma. Not for anything of a ...typical sort, but they could help you out with that. Buy you a few more days without pain on your foot." Of course, she knew how to help him too. But she favored the idea of seeing him again, someday if he had to have the misfortune of coming to Rome.

She readjusted herself so that she lay on her back, folding her hands behind her head like he did, stretched her body sleepily, and closed her eyes again for a moment or two. As tired as she was physically, emotionally, and mentally, though, she still couldn't quite sleep. She was quiet for a while, unsure if he slept yet or not. She still had something she wanted to say to him, but didn't want to risk waking him either. She turned her head, resting it on her arm as she looked at him, trying to let her eyes adjust to the darkness enough to see if he was still awake.

[Catone[Inactive]]

Only nodding in response, his hands shifted from behind his head to atop his chest. Come to the Rosa? Maybe. Of course, not for the 'normal circumstances.' Catone never had time for a woman. Never even had been with one in 'that' way. In fact, this had been the closest he had ever been to a woman.

He closed his eyes, just for a brief moment. How long had he been away today? It felt like years. The pounding in his skull only reminded him of his weariness. God, couldn't it just go away? Mind slipping into blackness, he was immediately brought back as he felt the shift beside him. Eyes blinking open, he yawned.

Suddenly, he shifted his whole body onto his left side. Emerald irises stared into hers. Perhaps it was only his exhausted mind, but something about her in his clothes, in the dark made her look exceptionally beautiful. Some strange urge suddenly took hold. He didn't know what he was doing as he brushed a stray lock of her hair out of her face.

"Sweet dreams, Bella."

[Rosa Giovanno]

He startled her a bit when he rolled onto his side. Her eyes hadn't quite finished adjusting and she hadn't expected the movement. But she relaxed quickly enough, surprised to find his eyes meeting hers. And despite everything that had happened that day, some stray smile graced her lips when he brushed her hair away from her face. "Good night, Catone." she said. "And thank you. For everything."

She closed her eyes for a while, burrowing snugly in the blankets. The events of the last twenty-four hours played over in hear head. And they replayed. And replayed. She turned away from him as she thought about what she had lost, but only a few tears fell against the cotton of the pillow, most of them already cried and gone. Gradually, the images in her mind became less and less vivid, clouded by exhaustion and weighted down by heavy slumber. Finally, she slept. Her dreams, at last, nonexistent. Though she felt cold, and slowly gravitated toward the warmth she found close by his side.

[Catone[Inactive]]

He couldn't watch her cry anymore. He just couldn't. With a small sigh, he flipped over and listened to the sniffles with a pang in his heart. Slowly, they faded into nothing and left him in the silence. Eyelids weighed down, he felt her form slowly molding against his back as thoughts started slipping away from him. Catone's mind was in a tunnel and it was reaching the end, embracing slumber as an old friend.

----

Light. God, it was bright. Eyes already closed scrunched up in displeasure as he slowly realized he was rejoining the living. No, he wanted to remain there, wrapped in the warmth the sheets and the woman he was holding provided....


Wait, what? Lids crack opened, gifting him the first sight of the morning. He must've moved around in his sleep. It was the only explanation as he was covered by the blankets. That, and his arms were wrapped around Rosa protectively...

Maybe he should try removing himself before she awoke. No, that would only wake her in an awkward position. Maybe, he could- Suddenly, she started shifting. Jamming his eyes shut and slowing his breathing, he pretended to still be asleep.

Perhaps that way, he could spare them both the embarrassment of finding themselves like this.

[Rosa Giovanno]

Bright light played on her eyelashes, tried to tell her it was morning and that it was time to wake up. But she couldn't, not just yet. In a strange state between consciousness and slumber, she made a quiet noise of contempt as she stretched her legs first, not at all pleased with the thought of waking up. What a strange dream she had. Pregnancies and miscarriages and a misery so foreign to her, so unlike her to mourn that way... what had she drank the night before that gave her such nightmares? Her back stretched vertically, and then she stretched her arms, instinctively wrapping them around the shoulders of the form next to her out of habit.

Wait... who was in her bed now? Her eyes flicked open. The Gondoliere. So it wasn't a dream. It was all real. She looked around the room, only moving her eyes so as not to wake him any more than she possibly already had. It was morning, that much was certain. She seemed to be wearing his nightwear. And he was holding her. Rosa sighed quietly, closing her eyes again. She felt better than she had the day and night before. She felt well-rested, her emotions much more stable and back under control. Still, though, she wasn't quite ready to jump out of his bed and face the bright, blinding world. Maybe in five more minutes...

She tucked her head against his chest, feeling safe and savoring the warmth he provided, and he shielded her from the light. Breathing in sleepily, she discovered that he smelled good. Maybe not freshly bathed, but he smelled like a man, like an assassin, like the leather supplies he carried around. Listening, she could hear his heart-beat, and from experience she knew the sound of his forcefully slow breathing was not the sound of a man who still slept. Smiling to herself, she decided to let him decide when he would express that he was awake. As she remembered how shy he was, though, she decided to give him a little sign that she was awake, if that was what he was looking for. She rubbed his shoulders gently where her arms had landed when she stretched, not enough to wake him if he actually was still sleeping, but just enough to get his attention if he was awake.

[Catone[Inactive]]

Feeling her draw even closer, he felt color rising to his cheeks. That would give him away if she didn't already know. He noticed that she seemed content to stay where she was. No way in heaven or hell she was already shrugging off yesterday's events, but she seemed to be done with her tears for now.

Soft fingertips grazed the skin of his shoulders. At first, his Assassin instinct made him stiffen, but he relaxed as the comfortable feeling only grew. Well, if she didn't notice before, his reaction surely acknowledged the fact he was fully conscious. Unstifled, a soft grunt of pleasure reverberated in his throat.

His facade now discovered, his right eye cautiously opened, followed slyly by his left. Sensing no displeasure from her, he allowed his arms to further rope around her smaller body. Giving a sigh of his own as his chin lowered to rest in her hair, he inhaled and discovered that she smelled... lovely. Fragrances exotic and familiar, she was a rare flower growing by the riverside. He dared not to pluck it, for a rose cut would soon wilt without its roots.

Quiet permeated the morning air, uninterrupted by the outside world. This was their Eden, a small oasis away from the rough desert known as society.

[Rosa Giovanno]

She felt the muscles in his shoulders tighten and relax, followed by a grunt that made her smile a little larger, for reasons she didn't know. So she had been right - he was awake. Confirmed in her suspicions, she massaged his shoulders more firmly as he held her tighter, and soon just ran her fingernails softly over what parts of his back she could reach, and then lay motionless again, trying to regain her lost state of sleep.

But it was too nice, being awake. She could feel the gentle weight of his chin atop her head, which kept her from seeing his face. No matter, though. Her eyes were closed, soaking up the leisurely, timeless silence they shared in the morning sunlight. When at last she spoke, it was softly, not breaking the coziness that enveloped them, but adding to it. "Oh buongiorno, Assassino mio." she cooed quietly.