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Ezio let out a small puff of breath near Leonardo's ear, relishing in how close Leonardo was against him when he shivered slightly in response. His lover's eyes were closed, his head buried near Ezio's nape, his legs keeping Ezio's hips close to his own, sharing the warmth of their slowly cooling sweaty skin from the post orgasmic bliss.
He would have thought Leonardo to be asleep. It was only the tough calloused fingertips grazing and moving over the hard planes of his flank that told him otherwise, moving down from just under the armpit to the dip of his waist. He would then rest his index over the slight depression of the scar that started from his abdomen and ran across his side, making sure to rub and soothe the dead tissue before continuing lower to finally rest his palm over his raised hip bone before beginning to move back up.
"Are you sleepy? Tired?" It was a barely there whisper against his neck, low enough to go unnoticed in case the Auditore had fallen asleep.
"No. Just enjoying this," Ezio replied with a small kiss over Leonardo's matted hair.
He saw Leonardo slowly move up, pushing himself up onto the pillow, drawing forth an unconscious whine from Ezio's lips. Leonardo smiled at his lover's reaction before placing a sweet kiss over Ezio's cheek as he settled back to be on the same level as Ezio.
"I should have lied to keep you the way you were," Ezio replied as Leonardo draped his arm around him again.
Leonardo smiled stupidly, pushing his own body closer to Ezio's, but maintaining enough gap between their faces so they could speak. Ezio, however, nuzzled his nose into the freckled skin to reduce the distance, inhaling Leonardo's smell.
"Let's play a game," Leonardo said, making Ezio pull back from his face.
"Already?" the assassin smirked, letting his hands move lower.
"Not that type…." Leonardo smiled indulgently with a snort. "....Or maybe.." He mused.
"Maybe?" Ezio's eyes glimmered mischievously as he licked Leonardo's earlobe.
Pulling himself up and away to make sure that he doesn't forget what he had in mind before Ezio's ministrations began to arouse him, Leonardo finally replied, "I want to know how you acquired all of these scars."
"Hmm?" Ezio moved back as well, to look at his lover's face more clearly.
"I know your body. I have it memorised. Every sensitive point, every dip, every muscle, and every scar. Many I have healed myself. I want to know the story behind each one."
Ezio blinked twice, slowly. Moving a little away, he began, "I know they are hideous. That you love me despite them is more than I…."
Leonardo placed a soft kiss to stop his lover's words. "This has nothing to do with your body. The body I cannot get enough of," Leonardo let his hand move over a scab just above Ezio's chest with the absence of the dark brown hair there, "the one that makes me intoxicated with want."
Ezio kept staring as Leonardo continued to speak, picking at the slightly crusty skin, "This is about me wanting to memorise myself with your life. The way I have your flesh."
Ezio still remained quiet for a few moments, not because of reluctance. There was no one he trusted more than the man before him. No, it was his own shame, his own feelings regarding his appearance that kept him quiet. Leonardo never sighed or grew tired of his silence, just kept petting him as he waited.
With a small nod of consent, Ezio softly replied, "We can skip the ones you know already."
Leonardo smiled, placing another kiss as he settled closer to him again on the bed. With his fingers, cupping Ezio's face, left thumb running along the indent over his lips, Ezio had already anticipated what Leonardo's words would be before they even left Leonardo's mouth. "How did you get this one?"
"Vieri. He threw a rock at me, just a few days before meeting you. He was tarnishing my family's name and I wanted to make him pay," Ezio replied, before quietly adding with a self satisfied smirk, "The scar he got on his neck two years later is much worse though."
Leonardo smiled, just a small twitch of his lips before moving forward to kiss the side of his lip, his tongue briefly licking the smooth indent there before pulling back. It had always comforted Ezio to know that Leonardo didn't mind his dark sense of humour, the part of him that killed people.
"I actually do not mind this one. It makes me look… more real somehow," Ezio murmured when Leonardo pulled back.
"It does. I like the way it feels against my lips." Leonardo nodded. Dropping his voice lower, Leonardo almost whispered, "The day we first met, I wanted to taste it, made me imagine just how red and swollen I'd leave them if I had you under me."
Ezio felt a shiver of arousal go through him, with a self satisfied smile appearing across Leonardo's face. If they hadn't already cum twice that evening, he was sure that they would have initiated something. But neither had the energy or the intent of doing anything more than lying beside each other with contentment.
Trying to take his mind off of more carnal thoughts, Ezio instead continued, "Federico had begged the dottore to ensure that it doesn't scar, told him that my pretty face was all I had going for me." Ezio smiled at the memory.
"I'm sure your brother was just teasing you."
"I'm glad for it though. Made it a good memory," Ezio replied, lightly licking his upper lip as he did so, letting his own tongue touch the smoothness of the scar.
"Have I ever told you about the one on my forearm?"
With a nod of no from Leonardo, Ezio continued, "The first time I rode a horse alone. We were all going to Milano. For my aunt's marriage. I was only ten then. Papa wanted Federico to begin his riding lessons and told him that he should give it a try. I had been so excited to try it as well and began demanding them to let me have a try as well. I had always been like that. Wanting to do everything together with my brother. Maybe it was jealousy. But I never had any such feelings about Federico, never felt bad when I watched him do something new. I just wanted to try the same things alongside him. Anyway, my parents did not agree. And l snuck out of our camp and began to untie one of our horses from the tree. She was one of the horses that I used to play with so she didn't make any sound when I got her. Before I got far enough though, I heard someone running towards me…"
Leonardo had moved much closer to him now, his bright eyes weren't focused on anything and Ezio could tell that his lover was imagining his words. "I was relieved to find that it was Federico. When I asked if he would tell on me, he shushed me and the two of us quietly made our way further away from our camp. Once we were far enough, he began to rant about how exciting it feels to feel the reins under your hands, the air rushing past him, the feeling of commanding such a strong beast. He quickly helped me up, showed me how to handle the reins, what to do when I wanted to stop."
"That is a horrible idea." Leonardo smiled despite his words. Wiggling further into the mattress, he laid his head over both his joined palms to move closer and listen better.
"I know." Ezio smiled back. "All I remember is the panic in my heart as she picked up the pace. And I never wanted it to stop. It felt so exhilarating. The rush and the sheer excitement of doing something that I wasn't supposed to be doing. It was all so dark and the crisp cold air of midnight. I could literally hear the thumping of my heart. It was like I could feel everything that she felt, when her muscles tensed under my hands. I knew when she moved her head before I even saw it. And when she galloped for the first time I almost screamed out. And that is mostly what I remember, the rush and the excitement. But then I saw a tree in the way. Now that I think about it, I should have done nothing, Bianca could have easily maneuvered around it. But I panicked. Federico had told me nothing about changing directions and so I just pulled on her reins, forgetting that I was supposed to squeeze my legs first to let her know. And I wasn't easy with it either, I tugged on her too harsh and she jumped before almost crashing to a stop. Since my legs couldn't reach the foot rest, I was knocked out onto the ground. Within a few seconds of lying on the ground in pain I had Bianca whinnying and using her head by pushing it against my leg to try and help me and Federico coming over to quickly pull me up. I had tried to dampen the fall with my hands and arms due to which a sharp piece of rock cut through my skin. The other wounds healed but that one is still there, just a fade mark nothing conspicuous."
Ezio saw Leonardo pull his own left hand away from under his head and began to thumb the slight pale but otherwise healed skin of Ezio's right hand that was usually protected in that area by his vambraces. "Needless to say I had papa beside me, scolding us both within five minutes. He had woken up because of the noise. It's still one of my best childhood memories though." Ezio grinned and Leonardo didn't know whether to smile or show his disapproval. He settled for a small chuckle and an amused nod of his head instead.
"What of this one?" Leonardo placed his hand back on his flank.
"When I killed Uberto. I was able to escape most of them. And Paola had taught me well. But I tried to hide too quickly, without first losing sight of them. So I hid into a flower cart. A seeker saw me get in and when he poked inside, I tried to turn and twist away but the spear was able to gash my abdomen. And I was so scared. I had guards chase me before, when I fought on the streets or when I was chased out of a girl's room or when I ran up on the roofs but I always knew that even if I stopped or was caught I would only have to spend perhaps a few minutes with the guards until they realised who I was and then have to deal with mamma scolding me and papa's amused smile. Nothing more. But seeing the blood gush out of my abdomen when I ran again made it all real. It isn't the pain that I remember. It was the realisation. That if I got caught now, it would mean my death. That there was no other way for them. Or for me. That's when I truly understood what my life had turned into."
Leonardo had gone silent for a while, just nodding. "I had been there that day, at maestro's exhibition."
"Were you afraid of me?" Ezio asked. But before Leonardo could answer, he added, "It's alright if you were." Ezio let his finger remove a stray strand of hair from Leonardo's face before letting his hand settle on his cheek. "Sometimes what I do scares me as well."
"I wasn't. Nh-hhn." Leonardo nodded his head no. "But I was… I know that this isn't true and it's probably egotistical of me to even think this but I felt that perhaps I had ruined your life by giving you your weapon. Made you overconfident, sent you onto a path that would eventually kill you. And I guess that you could have just as easily used anything else to kill him but I…. I don't know. Like I said egotistical."
Leonardo stopped for a while, just as Ezio was about to say something though, he spoke again, "I know it sounds horrible of me to say this but I'm relieved to know this. To know that you were scared. And panicking. That you did not just change overnight."
"No. Not overnight. Although it is more mechanical now. A work for me to finish. A duty. It doesn't scare me anymore." Leonardo nodded solemnly, not alalarmed at his words.
"Do you want to sleep?" Ezio asked, sensing the grim atmosphere.
"No. I like this. What we're doing right now." Leonardo slid his hand around Ezio's chest, under his arm.
"The one on my shoulder is from an archer. From San Gimignano. I had been careless. Did not see him. The arrow had pierced inside, I had to pay the dottore five times the fee for his silence."
"What about the one on your calf?"
"That one was also from before actually. Cristina's father had caught us and in my hurry, I had decided to use the window to her room for taking my exit. The frame of her window did that."
"Hmm," Leonardo smiled, "so not all of your scars are sad scars then. There are quite a few happy ones as well."
"I guess so," Ezio replied, pulling Leonardo's hand to his lips before placing soft chaste kisses over the calloused palm. "You have them too."
"Si, all of my ones are on my palms. Burns from when I was an assistant to a fabbro. The cuts from the many times the chisel slipped off from the marble. The gashes from cooking mindlessly. Splinters of wood, some of which I think are still there embedded in the skin when I build things or the ones from hammering nails, accidentally pinching my skin between the metal and the wood. I had once drawn blood from my skin using my own nails. Had been angry at the sight of an abused cat...." Leonardo stared at nothing in particular, trying to think of more instances.
"At least each of your ones make for interesting stories. My ones aren't even discreet, much less memorable. All I see are calluses. It's a miracle that you don't push me away everytime I try to touch you. My hands are hideous." Ezio tightened his grip when Leonardo tried to pull his palms away.
Ezio smirked at Leonardo's little rant. "Seems I'm not the only one with insecurities about his body, huh amore? Nonetheless you should know, your hands are capable of breathing life into whatever they touch. So never curse them again," Ezio chided playfully.
"Never curse your body then either," Leonardo retorted, getting a nod of approval from his lover in return.
"You've told me all of them then?" Leonardo asked, letting his hands roam over his assassin's body to see if he missed any.
"Si. I don't think I have any more that you don't already know of. Well let's see. You know all the ones I've gotten here in Venezia. As well as the ones from our journey here the first time. Many from Firenze as well. When I started visiting you. You've stitched and healed all of them. Know each of their stories."
"Uh huh." Leonardo affirmed.
"The bite and nail marks, the ones I keep getting even as the old ones heal and disappear, I hope you remember them as well." Ezio grinned slyly.
"Don't worry. I know those stories very intimately. And we both bear them, in case you forgot," Leonardo said, licking one such pink mark of teeth near his collarbone from tonight as he added, "None of them would scar though."
"I wouldn't mind it if they do." Ezio smiled back. "Happy memories," he hummed.
"Do you remember this one?" Leonardo asked, pressing his finger against Ezio's right bicep, moving them over the faint lines of the horsehair he had used, the lines remaining despite the material having already been removed long ago.
"Hmm… a lot of firsts for me.. that one," Ezio started, "First time I used my blade. First time I realised how much I could trust you."
"The first wound I had ever stitched on someone that wasn't dead," Leonardo added to his list.
"First time I knew you were going to be someone very special to me," Ezio helped.
"Thank you for saving me that day, Ezio."
"You were in that position because of me. It had been the least I could have done. You could have just as easily given me away to that guard. But you didn't."
"I knew you had no malice in your heart," Leonardo replied with firm belief.
"And look at what I've become now," Ezio scoffed.
"One of the best persons I've had the privilege of knowing? You're still the same boy. Only stronger. Braver. Despite everything that has happened. The same boy who fell asleep in one of my chairs because he trusted me. The one who was ready to lose one of his fingers." Leonardo stared at him, before adding as an afterthought, "Perhaps with a few more scars now."
"I don't mind them as long as you promise to keep healing them." Ezio smiled when Leonardo promised him with a small kiss.