A Second Meeting (Ezio and Alessandra)

Alessandra had been seriously wondering what she was doing going rooftop climbing with one of the most dangerous men in the city, but the truth was she enjoyed it, and she enjoyed his company immensely and so thought that she should at least give him the benefit of the doubt when it came to the things she had heard and his supposed reputation. It could all be made up, people trying to do his actual reputation damage by gossping.

After he had left her up on the building that night she had struggled to get down the building in her heels, small though they were she lost her balance easily in them, so today, much to her mothers distress she had chosen to wear a pair of flat, black leather boots that reached her knees. She was wearing a dress similar to the one at the ball only this one was a dark green colour, instead of a blue.

Waiting by the square where the masquerade had been last night, Alessandra looked around, some people were still here from the party, straggling on home after falling asleep in a drunken state at the tables that they had laid out. People were beginning to pack things away now, and she smiled softly, it was nice to see the place so quiet, you could better see the beauty around them in the architecture.

Looking up to the sun, she thought it must almost be time for Ezio to arrive, and so she settled, leaning against one of the buildings while she waited for him to appear.

Ezio was more than a little bit concerned that Alessandra would decide not to show up when he made his way to the meeting point they'd agreed on. His mission last night, early this morning, had gone badly and he'd had to improvise. Improvise being his way of saying he'd had to completely forgo using any form of stealth and just stab the guy when he was on his boat. Wasn't his finest moment but he'd gotten away without anyone managing to ID him. And now all he wanted to do was show Alessandra the sights... his way.

Turning a corner, he saw that she was where he had asked her to meet him and his heart seemed to relax a little bit. What he also noticed was that his original assessment of her being beautiful had nothing to do with the lack of lighting at night. She was a truly stunning woman and now that it was light he could appreciate her beauty fully.

He had changed his outfit slightly from his dark grey assassins clothes to his black assassins clothes. It wasn't that much of a change, he realised, but at least these clothes were completely free of blood. Seeing her looking up at the sun as he neared her, he chuckled a little bit,

"Si, signore, the sun is very bright this day but I see that an angelo here on earth who outshines it." he greeted her with a bow, "Signore Alessandra... I feared that you would not come, considering my reputation."

Alessandra was startled out of her revery when she heard someone chuckling nearby her, it sounded like Ezio and so she assumed, even without looking that he had arrived for their meeting, which strangely made her relax even though she had not been aware that she was tense in any way. Smiling softly at him, as she lowered her gaze from the skies and the peaks of the buildings, she was simply glad that he had come, and he meant what he said last night.

"Again with those sweet words, do you ever speak plain?" she asked with a glint in her eyes, surely he wasn't this charming all of the time, if he was, it might get tiresome to even hear compliments if she spent too much time in his company.

When he said he had feared she might not have come because of his reputation she shook her head with a soft smile on her lips, she would always keep her promises and to her, Ezio had not been anything but kind and gentlemanly, so, why should she not turn up for another meeting? If anything she was worried his reputation would stop him from attending.

"I always keep to my promises, I was just worried that you yourself would find yourself victim of your reputation, and not be able to come yourself. I am glad that my worries were proved incorrect." Alessandra smiled shyly "What building do you have in mind for today then Ezio, nothing too hard I hope on a beginner?"

Ezio saw that she relaxed when he chuckled at her and took that as a good sign. If just his chuckle could relax her then he was sure being around him was something that she would likely enjoy. Which was good because he certainly enjoyed her company last night. He could see that she was glad that he had arrived, almost like she hadn't believed that he would actually come. He could understand that, given his reputation, but he'd never stand up a beautiful woman like Alessandra,

"Oh sometimes I speak plain, plainer than most men I imagine." he joked lightly with her. Truth was half the time he was a lot more threatening than he was charming, "But when I get inspired by beauty sometimes I just can't help myself. I suppose it's just my own little curse."

He relaxed a little bit when she shook her head at his fear. That was good, hopefully it meant that his activities as an assassin weren't going to push her away from him as he had feard they might. Of course he had made sure to be on his best behavior when he met her so she hadn't seen his reputation first hand as of yet,

"An honourable virtue to have signore. I strive to keep my own promises but sometimes we must accept that life gets in the way of our desires. I am very glad that it did not happen this time." he told her with a happy little smile before smirking a little bit and handing her a sketch Leonardo had made of the building, "Oh nothing too big... just the tower."

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Alessandra smiled widely when she heard Ezio's rappor with her beginning again, she never really had much chance to speak to a man like she spoke to him, however she was just happy that he was the kind of man who liked such things, and didn't seem like he was going to tell her off or shun her for being a woman of free thinking and free speaking like most men would probably do. Especially if she ended up putting them down in their sparring.

"It is rather a charming curse, I would say you had been let off lightly." she smirked a little bit "After all there are worse things that the Lord could have bestowed upon you."

When she was handed a sketch of the tower, she gently kept hold of it, she didn't want to crease it or anything but then knew she would not be able to both climb and hold it, so Alessandra rolled it into a tight scroll and slipped it into the small satchel bag she was carrying with her. She had thought it would be handy to bring some food with her, a book also if Ezio had not shown up on time.

"Well...I would be a liar if I didn't say that I was more than a little nervous, it is much higher than the building I was on last night with you." she stated, biting her lip nervously "Although I suppose with an expert like you, you wont allow anything to happen, correct?" Alessandra asked with a grin on her lips.

Beginning to walk towards the direction of the tower, she thought about how they were actually going to do this.

Ezio could tell that one of the things that Alessandra liked about talking to him was the friendly banter that they had going on between each other. Talking with her was a pleasure for him as well he freely admitted. It wasn't often that you met educated women who were both allowed and willing to speak their own minds but he seemed to have found just such a woman. She seemed to enjoy the challenge and the friendliness of it especially and he found that he could not fault her for enjoying the same things that he enjoyed. He chuckled a little bit,

"Ah but if only that were my only curse signore... for you see I am cursed doubly so for it seems that I find myself unable to cease talking." he joked at his own expense, "But for every curse the Lord gives a blessing. I can see he has given you quite a few blessings but I see no curses... perhaps you truly are an angelo."

Looking at the way she carefully held the sketch he could tell she knew that it was probably the only one of it's kind. Leonardo didn't like to sketch things very often so his sketches were incredibly rare. Noting the way she seemed prepared with a bag, he smirked a little bit,

"Si, it is a much higher building. However, it is much sturdier and will give us both a much better view of the city." he told her before grinning a little bit, "Oh you flatter my skills signore! But si, I will not let any harm befall you. All you need do is cling to my back and I shall spirit you away to the top of the tower!"

He neglected to mention how exactly they were going to get down but he was sure that she would love it once they were down. It was only scary if you thought about it. After awhile they reached the base of the tower. Smirking a little bit, he crouched down,

"Climb onto my back and hold on as tightly as you can Alessandra... we're going to go for quite the ride."

Alessandra smiled softly and blushed when she heard him calling her an angel again, she didn't think that she had ever been complimented so much, and she knew now that the rumours about Ezio being charming, and being able to charm a lady into the bedroom were probably true...after all there was something about him that seemed to appeal to her even knowing all the things he supposedly got up to, maybe it was that it itself that made these feelings.

"I would like it if that were true, maybe I could appear and answer your prayers in your dreams Signor." she smirked gently "I could be your personal angelo, if such a thing were to interest you."

Not knowing where this bold, almost flirting had come from, Alessandra had enough grace and decency to blush, after all she probably shouldn't have spoken like that, but it was just too tempting to resist.

When he knelt down and told her to climb onto his back, she blushed softly again, more clinging to him it would seem is in order, unfortunately that also meant that he was more than likely to get a better feel of her body than he strictly should do. Although she found herself not really minding so much.

"Alright, just make sure that you tell me if I am holding you too tight, I wont be in any rush to fall off from a building of this height!" she laughed softly, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and her legs around his waist, it looked most unlady like but she didn't mind "I'm ready when you are Signor."

Ezio knew that he might have been laying the charm on a bit thick but honestly she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met and he had met his fair share of women over the years. It was just that none of them compared to her at all. Of course him laying on the charm thickly had caused many vicious rumours about his night-time acitvities to be spread around. Some were true. He did assassinate people from the shadows after all. Others were just blatent lies. He was not, for example, a vampire. When she teased him about appearing in his dreams he smirked and gave her a sly wink,

"Oh you're already featuring in my dreams Alessandra, no need to grow wings to achive such a feat now I'm afraid." he teased her before smirking a little bit wider, "My own angelo? Mmmm I believe I would love to have someone as beautiful as you watching over me..."

He was a little bit surprised that she had gotten the courage to openly flirt with him like that but he liked it very much. When she started blushing again he smirked a little bit. Oh so she was willing to flirt with him but she was still shy about it was she? That was fine by him, the blush just heightened her beauty to him. When she wrapped her delicate little arms around him he grinned a little bit. He shook his head a little bit,

"Your grip is fine for now. If you feel the need to cling tighter when we're moving then feel free to do so but please don't strangle me." he teased her a little bit as he stood up with her wrapped around his body, "Then it's time we were off..."

Reaching up, Ezio grabbed onto a ledge and pulled himself up, beginning to climb the wall as easily as most people would climb ladders. A few times he paused before making jumping lunged upwards but he always made sure that she was extra secure before he did. Resting about halfway with the tower he grinned a little bit at the way she was clinging to him,

"You enjoying the climb?"

Alessandra blinked softly and she didn't know that she had been featuring in his dreams, they had never met before and that must mean that he had been dreaming about her last night after meeting her, it certainly was a charming thought, and more than that, it made her think that maybe he was beginning to develop some sort of attachment to her, which was fine by her, as she might also be forming an attachment to him also.

"Well of what nature was your dream of me last night?" she asked with a grin "For I hope it was not a nightmare that you were having, if so I am most offended you think my face belongs in a nightmare."

Hearing he would like to have someone as beautiful as her looking out for him, she smiled shyly, there he was with the compliments again, however, she was getting more and more used to hearing them so she was glad to be getting her blush under control; "Everybody needs someone to look out for them." she stated with a light smile on her lips.

When he began to climb up the tower, Alessandra closed her eyes and didn't want to look down and see how dangerous the situation was, at least, not until they were safely up on a ledge somewhere. So when he jumped mid-climb she squeaked a little bit she squeezed her grip tighter around Ezio, she was not expecting that and it made her heart race.

"Its not my favourite bit of the experience." she squeaked "I didnt know you were going to jump with me like that."

Ezio could tell that being told that she had appeared in his dreams was a bit of a shock for her and he could understand why. After all he had only met her last night. But even so, his dreams during the night had been dominated by her and her face. Mainly her eyes to be honest. He had seen her eyes the first time he had closed his own to go to sleep and it had thrilled him to the core. When she asked about the nature of his dream with her in it he blushed a little bit,

"Well I can assure you that it was a dream and definately not a nightmare. It was perhaps the most wonderful dream I have ever had." he revealed to her with a smirk as the blush seemed to come back under his control, "You seem much more beautiful in reality than in my dream even still..."

He could tell that she was getting used to his more charming nature because when she blushed this time she actually retained the power of speech. Smirking a little bit, he winked at her, "Well the position of my guardian angelo is vacant if you would care to take up the job."

Laughing a little bit at her reaction to the jumps, he continued his way up the tower. Of course he made more careful jumps just because he wanted to hear her cute little reaction again. Reaching the top of the tower, he smirked a little bit as he revealed the wicker basket and the light cloth he had weighted down with some shingles from the roof. He set her down gently on the roof,

"I thought that we might have a little picnic on the roof." he told her with a smirk, "If you're feeling alright that is."

Alessandra smiled softly when she heard that it was definately a dream that she was featured in, she was glad to hear that he was dreaming of her, it meant that she was playing on his mind and that was a good sign to her...purely because she was beginning to get a little bit of a crush on the strong charming Ezio that she had only met a few hours ago...odd as it seemed, and illogical as it seemed it was happening anyway.

"Thank you Ezio, I must say although I didn't dream of you last night, the light lends itself well to your looks, I can see you much more clearly now after all." she stated with a small smile on her lips, it was true after all, he was much more attractive than she had managed to see last night.

Giving him a light squeeze as he carried her up the tower still she leant forwards and whispered into his ear; "Nothing would make me happier."

As soon as they were up on the tower itself she sighed softly and untangled herself from Ezio, it was nice to be able to be free and wandering around again without having to worry too much that she was going to fall from a great height and probably die in the process. The view up here was so beautiful, she clutched her hands to her chest as she looked out across the city in awe.

"Its so amazing..." she whispered breathlessly before blinking in shock, a picnic? "Oh how sweet, I would love to have one, what better place?"

Sitting down on the roof, carefully so as not to lose her balance and fall, Alessandra smiled gently.

Ezio had been dwelling on Alessandra a lot as of late and he had to admit that he had somewhat of a fixation with the lovely young woman. Whereas before he met her he would have casually thought about other women, once he had met her she was the only woman he thought about. It was strange but not in a bad way at all. It was new, different and altogether rather intoxicating. He wanted to have such thoughts about Alessandra and not about other women. She was the only woman (who he wasn't related to) who played on his mind this much,

"Ah angelo you flatter me yet still! I wonder if you are perhaps a poet of some kind because your kind words have touched this hardened heart of mine." he told her with a small smirk before grinning wider, "And I must say the same is true for you. Starlight does not seem to do your beauty justice now that I see you in the warm light of day."

He shivered a little bit when she whispered into his ear and had to pause in his climb, lest they fall because he had lost his grip. Swallowing a little bit, he chuckled lightly as he resumed his climb, "Then the job is yours my dear..."

After he had set her down he moved around the roof to make sure there weren't any guards on the nearby roofs. They had the annoying habit of firing arrows at him for being on rooftops and he couldn't for the life of him think why. When she complimented his idea of a picnic his cheeks reddened a little bit as he pulled out some fresh bread, cheese and a glass of wine with two cups,

"Si, I thought you might appreciate dining in the most exclusive place in all of Venice." he told her with a slight wink before offering her some wine, "Does it meet your expectations?"

Alessandra was more than a little bit happy when he said that he was flattered by what she had said about him, if she had not recieved any sort of reply she would have been completely disheartened and she wouldn't have known what to say. Although, he seemed to take the compliment rather well and it meant that her confidence grew a little bit, so she would be more likely to say something else.

"I have read and created many poems Signor, although I have never been able to write one that is as moving as your appearance is." she stated with a shy smile "It appears that unlike many others, the light is reveals us in a good light, as opposed to the others who attended last nights party, who will wake with more than a rough countenance today." she joked happily.

Hearing him swallow meant him bite her lip, it seemed she had done something right and inside she was happy, she was being victorious in this situation of teasing him back as well.

Although when she thought she saw him blushing she grinned wider, but she didn't mention it because it was not something that most men would like to admit themselves doing, and so she would keep her little discovery quiet, but it did do wonders for her confidence again.

"No it doesn't meet my expectations." she admitted "It is exceeding them, it is so wonderful up here I wish I could never get down, although, I realise that is a wayward dream."

Ezio was a little bit surprised when she complimented him so well. He thought he was going to be the most complimentary one in this little relationship but she seemed to be challenging that title, she was doing very well in doing so too. Chuckling a little bit, he tried to keep his cheeks from reddening. It was completely unforgivable for a man as worldly as himself to end up blushing, he decided, so he was going to have to try and control that,

"I thought as much Alessandra, you have the look and intellect of a poet. And it shows in your compliments... I assure you signore that I am not as heart-stopping as you say. The truly awe-inspiring one here is yourself." he complimented her, his cheeks blushing red despite his resolve not to blush. She was doing very well for someone with little experience, "Indeed it appears that light is our ally. Kind of ironic considering that most of my work occurs during the night."

He could see that she had caught both the way he had swallowed and the blushing of his cheeks and almost cursed playfully. Seemed that he wasn't going to be able to bluff his way out of explaining why he was blushing right now. Ezio was thankful that she didn't comment on it though. When she said that he had exceeded her expectations he grinned a little bit,

"I am glad that I have managed to exceed your expectations my angelo. My goal was to give you a day that you would never forget. So that you might never forget me." he told her honestly before grinning a little bit wider, "Oh yes... I have a plan for getting down as well. You might enjoy that more than the climb I think."

Alessandra smiled softly, and although she was blushing too at the comments that Ezio made to her, she couldn't help but think that she had done a good job in making him blush as well, she wanted to see him more and more, just having one day with him wouldn't be enough, maybe she would be brave enough to actually ask him to come and meet with her once more.

"I suppose we are never truly going to agree on this topic, although now you know my mind on it, perhaps in the future I can create a poem about yourself, the strong, handsome yet dangerous roof jumper on his mysterious nightly quests." she stated, with a small hum "Actually, yes, it sounds like a most inspiring subject for verse."

With a cheeky smirk on her lips Alessandra placed a hand on Ezio's cheek and stuck her tongue out slightly; "Why signor, are you warm?"

When he said that he wanted to be able to give her a day that she would never forget, so that she would never forget him, she couldn't help but smile shyly, it was such a sweet thought that she couldn't help but wonder just how dangerous this guy could be, he was so sweet and kind to her. Biting her lip she tried carefully to think of an apt reply, one that wouldn't seem so...eager.

"I do not believe I could ever forget you Ezio." she whispered lightly "I do not believe I would ever wish to either."

Ezio took some comfort in the fact that although he was blushing, so was she. Of course Alessandra was a woman of exquisite beauty and the blush just added to it in his mind. A blush on his face would just make him look silly he thought. But the fact was that she had made him blush so easily and it was a little bit strange considering how many other women had tried, and failed, to achive the same reaction from him. He had already resolved that this couldn't be the last time he saw her,

"Si, I know your mind on this topic and you are already well aware of mine I am sure." he agreed before blushing a little bit at the idea of him being the subject of one of her poems, "Really now? I'm glad that you think so. If you do happen to wite a poem like that I would very much like to be with you when you do."

When she touched his blush and asked if he was warm he laughed a little bit. Oh well played, well played indeed. Smirking a little bit, he nodded, "Why si, I do believe I am a bit flushed."

He could tell that his admission had suddenly made her feel shy again and he lightly wrapped his arms around her in a hug, unable to fight the urge to do so. When she whispered to him he smiled happily down at her,

"The feeling is mutual Alessandra... you have been in my life less than a day and already I can feel it changing." he admitted in a light whisper, "Never forget me... the easiest way for that to happen... is to never leave me. Or to see me again... and again... as often as possible."

Alessandra would be more than happy to see Ezio again, even if it was only for that moment when she was writing a poem about him, she was sure that no words could do him justice enough, and he was already one of those men who were so mysterious and unexplainable that she couldn't sum him up in one word, or even a few if she was asked.

Once again, he was blushing and oddly she took pride in her ability to make a man blush, she'd never tried before but it appeared she was rather good at it.

"I shall ensure that I send to you a note when I feel my muse has finally struck once more, if you would like, I shall give you my address so you may call for me if you are nearby and wish to see me?" she asked, hopefully, she did want Ezio to come and see her as often as he may, because she wanted to see him as often as she wanted.

Smirking a little she gestured to his clothes; "It is the black of your clothes that make you warm, it traps the heat you know, you would do better not to wear such heavy clothes in this heat."

When she was wrapped up in a hug she blushed lightly and in turn knelt and wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her head on Ezio's shoulder. It felt odd, to recieve a hug from someone who was not in her family, it made her heart speed up slightly and she smiled softly into his shoulder.

"I wish to see you as often as possible, every week, every day...whenever you wish to be with me I will make sure I am there for you. It is my job, as your angelo after all." she whispered shyly into his ear.