Was blind, but now -

[Diego Liberatore]

They were an odd trio, these three. A week had passed since their little incident at the church, and it didn't feel like much had changed. Nicola and Diego had become makeshift nurses in caring for their blind friend, though they were far from experts. Multiple times a day they treated the wound with ice and salves and checked the swelling, though like the darkness she suffered, the goose egg on the back of her skull didn't seem to be going away. Strings were tied in different locations around her room to guide her and to give a little more independence. Teamwork was a forced effort spent only in Rahmil's interests, and other than that Diego avoided Nicola like the plague, never allowing himself to be in the same room with him alone. He knew that he had promised to answer his questions, but putting it off seemed to be the better route. So when Rahmil no longer needed or wanted either of them, Diego spent his time in his room, reading, drawing, or caring for his own wound which had since been stitched, in solitude.

The whole ordeal had been a life-changing experience - for all involved. They had spent a week in the tavern, a week listening to drunks and other rabble howl and cackle on the floor below as they tried to sleep in the rooms above. Twenty-one meals of bar food, mediocre alcohol and only each other for company, apart from the regular boozers and a few travelers who occasionally took the time to talk to them. Diego missed his house, and he would have suggested that they all just go there instead, except that he didn't want Nicola knowing where he lived.

So it was no wonder, after so many days in the hole that was the tavern, that they finally went out for a proper meal and a drink. The sun was casting its last golden rays through the streets as it came closer to them, like an old and giant eye casting a level stare at mice or some other small form of creature on a table top. The light shimmered on puddles that had accumulated in the cobblestone streets from the rain the days before, and people walked leisurely between the great buildings. Diego stretched contentedly as he stood from the table, satisfied with the young lamb and vegetables he had devoured, and side-stepped a bit from the wine he had consumed. Glancing down at his other two comrades, he pushed his chair in and tugged gently at Rahmil's fingers, as had become his custom to let her know he was offering his hand to her to help her stand.

[Rahmil Binachi]

If you think about it, the sun is an amazing thing.
It spreads life to the earth that is so precisely positioned from it. One step away everything would freeze, while one step closer everything would burn.
The sun was one of the things Rahmil missed. Knowing that every morning, it would rise above the horizon and shed its light.
Yet being suffocated in total darkness, the sun was slowly becoming a myth that she could only hear of.
After a week in the tavern, it was the little things she noticed that she wouldn't have given any attention to. The sun, was one of them. She could feel the warmth yes, but no light was to be seen, and like before, she was lost in the black void that consumed her.

In just a short week her senses had grown. She could hear things that she never thought she would be able to. Just by little movements she could pinpoint the position of its source, and in the dead of silence she could hear others breathing.
While alone she could hear her own heart beat.
She could feel things, the air move when someone walked past, the pulse in someones arm whenever she grabbed on to balance herself, and the simple vibrations in the ground that also helped her pinpoint the source.
All in just a short week.
It was almost as if she was meant to be blind, like she had known how to focus on all the other senses before, however all it took was the sacrifice of one senses to "see" it.

Today, with being in a completely different environment, she could tell all the more of her 'adaptation'. Before Diego even got up, she could already tell what he was doing, just by the intake of breath he made. She could feel the presence of his hand near hers even before he actually touched her, and she was not surprised to feel his fingers brush hers.

" _{Are we going so soon?} " She asked, turning her head towards him.
Though the blindfold was gone, she kept her eyes closed most of the time. She may have accepted the fact that she was blind, yet the shock of having your eyes open and not seeing was still too hard to deal with.

[Nicola Rangé]

A week had gone by since their friend Rahmil had been rendered blind. Nicola could easily tell that she was adapting faster than anyone could have possibly have predicted. It always seemed like she knew where the young Assassin was, even before he made his presence known. It was actually a little unsettling to say the least.

He had noticed Antonnio's avoidence of him. Never were they in the same room alone. Never did he invite Nicola into his room. Nicola was fine with this. It only showed him that the traitor was afraid of him--or in least that he was cautious enough to avoid getting a blade in his throat. But Nicola couldn't kill Antonnio now. Rahmil need them--both of them. She needed to be cared for. But as soon as she would be fine on her own, Nicola would ensure the Templar's death. Quick, merciless, unexpected. He thought about it quite often. Not necessarily fantasizing about it, but rather predicting the procedure, the outcomes. Rahmil would be upset, that would be sure. But Nicola was loyal to his Creed, and he wouldn't let his emotions--nor those of his comrades--prevent him from doing his duty.

It was a beautiful day out, and it was about time they got away from that old tavern. Nicola sat by the window, taking in the sunshine. A few remenants of his meal remain on his plate, reflecting the large appetite that had been satiated. His attention immediately withdrew as Anntonio stood up from his chair, signalling his impatience to get going.

[Diego Liberatore]

He looked at her closed eyes as she turned her face to his voice. Even though it had been a week, it was still abnormal to him to see them closed. The blindfold had seemed easier to accept, but without it her blindness just seemed so... certain. As if the door had not only closed, but had been bolted as well. Still though, it had only been a week, and he knew that things such as these took time. That's why Diego maintained his hope for her, and also why he looked upon the closed skin of her eyelids when he spoke to her. It was as if, somehow, he believed she could see him.

"Not back to the tavern." he smiled lazily, not wanting to think of returning to that place so quickly. "I just thought we could all go for a bit of a walk before we run out of..." daylight was the word he plucked away quickly from his sentence. It was a work in progress, but he was trying to modify his speech around her, if only to be more polite. "... warmth. It'll be getting colder soon." That cold, of course, which came with the darkness of the nights in Rome. But for now it was beautiful, both in weather and sight, and Diego yearned for fresh air after such a good meal.

His eyes flicked over to Nicola, and he swallowed briefly before speaking. "What do you think, Nicola? Want to go for a walk?" he asked. It wasn't that he feared Nicola. Under normal circumstances, Diego would have been able to defend himself. But the state of his shoulder left him timid. And unlike his rival, the relationship the assassin bore to Rahmil summoned a certain respect from Diego. Not for his sake, but for hers. It was a... delicate situation, at best.