Playacting
The guards have become suspicious of Leonardo's ties to the assassins, but the artist has a plan. He just needs some reluctant help from Ezio.
Thanks to Kovitlac as usual for being part of the writing. And betaing.It was early evening, and Ezio was sitting on the roof, watching the street with his eyes narrowed. A guard was patrolling up and down the street, at a higher frequency than normal. He didn't like this. This was the third guard today that had been pacing in front of Leonardo's front door. It couldn't be his imagination (or his paranoia). They were definitely watching the artist.
As soon as the guard had moved on, and was far enough down the street, the assassin dropped down silently to the ground and quickly rapped on Leonardo's front door.
The artist opened the door and smiled, "Ezio, come in."
The assassin didn't return the smile, swiftly making his way inside. "You need to get out of here." He pulled the curtains on the nearest window shut. "Right now. Can you stay somewhere?"
Leonardo looked confused, "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure," Ezio peeked out the curtains and frowned when he saw the guard returning, "But we have to go. Out the back. Now."
The artist scooped up his cat (who gave an indignant meow) and let Ezio herd him out the back door.
There was a loud pounding on the front door, and Ezio gave Leonardo a shove. "Go. I will catch up with you shortly."
Without a word, Leonardo hurried off down the street. Ezio closed the door behind him, while the guards continued to pound and shout at the front door. The assassin melted into the shadows to wait.
"You can't just break the door down," one of the guards was protesting.
"Yes I can! Just watch!" the second pounded harder on the door. "Signore Leonardo! We demand that you open this door!"
"Maybe he's just not home."
"Then we can search his home. That bastardo assassin has to be around here somewhere!"
The first guard folded his arms. "You don't have any proof that he's in league with the assassin. Besides, Leonardo da Vinci has powerful friends."
"You lie," he scoffed, "Who could a lowly painter actually know?" His eyes narrowed. "Besides that damned assassin!"
"You really don't know..." the first guard looked astonished. He shook his head. "On your head then. I'll have nothing to do with this." He moved across the street and leaned against the wall.
The second guard stared at him. "And just who does this damned painter know who scares you so?"
"Most of the nobility in Italia," he retorted.
"So they find a new painter," he picked at the door, and it collapsed inwards in a rather anticlimactic fashion. After the thud of the door, there was silence.
"He must not be home," the first guard said unhelpfully. "Can we go now?"
"I'm going to take a look around," the second one said, making his way inside.
The first guard rolled his eyes and waited. And waited. And waited. He frowned and went inside. He tensed and put a hand on the hilt of his sword, and slowly went through the silent, empty house.
"Dio mio!" he exclaimed when he saw his former partner, lying in the ground, motionless, in a pool of blood.
***
Meanwhile, Leonardo had made his way to Paola's, for lack of anywhere better to go on short notice. While Neroli had protested at first at being moved, she was finding all the treats and attention that she was now receiving to be worth the trouble. She didn't seem to care for all the attention, but she did enjoy the snacks.
Ezio slipped in and was greeted by no less than six girls. He greeted them with a smooth smile. The assassin slipped his arms around the nearest two girls. "I see that Leonardo has been keeping you all occupied."
"He has a kitten!" one of the girls almost squealed.
"And she's darling!" another chimed in.
Leonardo, who was occupied with scratching the previously mentioned kitten behind the ears, looked up when Ezio entered. "Welcome back."
"You may have to stay here for a time," Ezio sounded apologetic.
"I would like to know what's going on," the artist replied.
"Two guards," Ezio replied, "One of them kicked in your door."
"Why on earth would anyone kick in my door?"
"They were looking for me," Ezio sat down, "I am sorry about that, Leonardo. I will try to get your door fixed as soon as I can."
The assassin fell silent. Leonardo could see the guilt on his face - he hadn't wanted to get the artist involved to this extent. The artist stroked the cat.
"Perhaps you should attack me," he said thoughtfully, "In public of course."
Ezio stared at Leonardo as if the artist had grown a second head. "Why?"
Leonardo had a smile on his face now. "It's simple really - who will think that I am in league with you if you attack me?"
"I couldn't possibly attack you, Leonardo."
"Oh not in seriousness of course." He grinned, "We shall have to plot this out carefully. But I think that it would work out nicely."
"Leonardo..."
"I know that you worry that I am a target, because we are friends," Leonardo said, "But if you attack me... well then they won't think we are friends."
The artist rose to his feet, shifting Neroli up onto his shoulder. She purred and settled herself down easily.
"Of course, why would you attack me?" He started to pace, "There's no reason that I would ever be a target of the assassins."
Ezio gave a slow smile under his hood. "Indeed. You are perfectly innocent."
"I suppose it could be an accident..." he continued, and then lit up. "You could rob me!"
His eyebrows shout up. "Rob you? Why would I do that?"
"Because we are not friends," Leonardo said.
Understanding dawned. "To the public."
"Precisely," Leonardo nodded.
"When did you want to do this?"
"As soon as we have all the details worked out," Leonardo said with a nod.
"The sooner the better," Ezio said.
***
Leonardo retreated to a currently vacant parlor with his cat to plan. Ezio retreated upstairs with a lovely young lady.
About an hour later, the two reunited in the foyer. One of the girls was playing with Neroli, who was batting at a ribbon. She gave a tiny growl and bit at the offending object, to the delight of the girl.
Ezio watched this for a moment and smiled and then made his way over to Leonardo, who was in a rather animated discussion with two of the courtesans.
"Si," one of them was saying to the artist, "It will not be a problem."
"Good good," Leonardo replied, "I have heard that my door was broken down, but just in case, here is a key."
Ezio blinked as the two girls made their way past him and out to the street. "Where are they going?"
"They've gone to fetch some things for me." Leonardo looked positively gleeful. "Some tools for our little performance."
Ezio arched a curious brow.
"Now, do you want to get hurt at all?"
Ezio blinked, "What?"
"It might make me look stronger," Leonardo said, "If I were to injure the great assassino."
"I thought you wanted this to be believable," Ezio crossed his arms over his chest.
"Si. I suppose you are right," Leonardo sounded vaguely disappointed.
"What exactly did you send them to get?" the assassin asked.
"Just some paint, some cloth, and a few other things," the artist said absently. "Now, I think that simple is better."
"Simple?"
"Less things to go wrong that way," Leonardo continued, as if Ezio had not spoken. He returned to pacing. "Yes, just a small bundle or two up your sleeve would probably be convincing enough."
"What exactly are you planning?" he sounded uncertain about this. He did not like the look in the artist's eyes.
"I'm going to make some small bundles of red paint," Leonardo explained, "To look like blood, so that it looks like I am a little injured."
"I thought I was just going to rob you."
"Well yes," Leonardo agreed, "but I'm sure that I would put up at least a little bit of a fight."
"I don't know about this... idea... of yours," Ezio said.
Leonardo sat down, automatically moving Neroli into a stable position. "Next week I am delivering a painting to a patron. I shall be paid handsomely."
"Congratulations on finally finishing something," Ezio responded, taking a seat on the sofa.
"After that I will be carrying quite a bit of money," Leonardo ignored the tease, "That would be the best time for you to rob me. After all, why rob me if I have no money?"
"I don't like this," Ezio muttered to himself.
"You could jump down from a roof and attack me, knocking me down and stealing my purse."
"I can do that," Ezio agreed slowly.
***
Under Ezio's orders, Leonardo remained at the brothel for the remainder of the week. Several of Teodora's girls had been bringing him things from his home so that he could work. He was engrossed in his painting. Having a deadline, so that he and Ezio could put on their play next week had given him a great deal of motivation.
Neroli meowed and scratched at the door.
The artist looked up from what he was doing. At home, he had cut little doors in all of his doors so that she had free reign of the place. "I'm sorry mia tesera," he got up and opened the door for her, leaving it open a crack so that she could return if she wished.
Quite a bit later in the afternoon, Leonardo finished his painting. While he was giving it a final once over, Neroli slipped back inside, mewing a greeting.
He looked up and greeted her, "Welcome back."
She hopped up onto his lap, settling in.
"So how many people fed you today?" he asked conversationally.
She gazed up at him with large green eyes and Leonardo chuckled, "That many huh?"
She licked her chops and looked quite pleased with herself.
"That's my girl," he petted her. He held her up a bit, "What do you think?"
***
Leonardo and a particularly brave courtesan were out in the courtyard when Ezio arrived. The assassin entered the court yard just in time to see the woman strike Leonardo across the face, leaving a smear of red across his check. She gave him a hard punch in the stomach and the artist landed hard on his rear end.
Ezio's eyes grew wide and he rushed over. "Leonardo!"
Leonardo grinned and stood up. "Ah, Ezio, you're back."
"What are you doing?" he stared at the courtesan in shock.
"Practicing." Leonardo rubbed at his face with a rag. The red rubbed off cleanly, showing his face was unmarked, "I think that I've finally gotten the color right. What do you think?"
Ezio sighed as his heart rate settled back down. "It looks very realistic. Well done."
"Good," Leonardo looked pleased, "Now, hit me in the stomach please."
Ezio blinked. "What?"
"Go on," Leonardo nodded encouragingly.
Ezio raised his hand uncertainly, balling it into a fist. He hesitated for a moment and then slammed his fist into the artist's stomach. Leonardo didn't even flinch, and Ezio felt very little "give" to his punch.
"What sorcery is this?"
Leonardo opened his coat, revealing a very thick quilted shirt.
"You are going through an awful lot of trouble for this," Ezio said slowly.
"Oh I've had this shirt a long time," the artist replied, "Just never had a reason to use it."
"Then why do you have it?"
He shrugged, "I just wanted to see if I could make it." Leonardo frowned slightly. "Although it is still a bit too bulky. Maybe if I-"
"It will do," Ezio said with a smile.
"For me, si," Leonardo nodded, "But not for someone who runs around on roof tops."
"What's wrong with the armor I have?" Ezio asked, "I happen to like it."
"Si, I know," Leonardo said dismissively. "Anyway, as I see it, for the past few days I have been closeted away from distraction, working on my latest painting for my patron. I have been known to vanish for days at a time when working on a project, so my absence will not be suspicious."
"Alright," Ezio agreed.
***
Leonardo da Vinci was walking down the street, humming softly to himself. His painting had been delivered and he had a heavy purse in his pocket. It took a great deal of effort not to look up, where he knew that the white-hooded assassin was slinking along the rooftops.
When Leonardo walked past their agreed upon spot, Ezio jumped down off the roof, falling two stories before landing hard in a crouch. He slowly rose to his feet, right in front of a rather startled Leonardo.
"What do you want?" Leonardo's voice trembled a bit.
Ezio only smirked, revealing one of his hidden blades. He advanced slowly on Leonardo as a crowd of onlookers gathered around. "Your pouch," he said firmly, "Now hand it over."
"What?" Leonardo held the pouch, "Why?"
"Hand it over," he growled. He snatched the pouch from the artist and opened it. His upper lip curled distastefully. "This is all you have? Give me the rest of your money!"
"That's all I have," Leonardo took a step backwards.
The assassin narrowed his eyes under the hood. "Then that's not good enough."
"But-"
His hand moved like lighting, the back of his palm striking Leonardo hard across the face, "I said that's not good enough!" Leonardo staggered back, stumbling. The assassin gave him another shove.
"Pl-please!" Leonardo stammered, looking up at the white figure looming over him.
"Don't be stupid," the assassin snarled, "I know who you are. And I know you have more than this on you!"
"No, please, I don't have anything else!"
"You lie," he growled.
"Hey!" came a sudden shout.
The assassin glanced to the side and then narrowed his eyes at the painter. "Then you are of no use to me!" He spat on the ground. "You live today."
He glanced at the three guards rushing over, and then took off into a run.
"Stop him!" Leonardo shouted after the guards, "Stop that bastardo assassin!"
The guards gave chase to the assassin, but he was too fast. He escaped onto the rooftops and was gone. The captain returned and apologized to the artist and personally escorted Leonardo back to his home.
***
Several hours later, Leonardo made his way to Paola's once again. There were the usual girls in the foyer, but no assassin. Leonardo settled in to wait.
It was after nightfall when Ezio finally arrived at the bordello. He appeared with little fanfare - most of the girls were off working by this point.
"Ezio," Leonardo greeted him, looking up from his sketch book. "Well done! That went perfectly!"
Ezio gave a small smile at that.
"You are a wonderful actor, my friend."
The assassin chuckled softly, "You aren't too bad yourself."
"Maybe I should go into a new line of work then, eh?" the artist laughed himself. "It has been some time since I have made a painting that has satisfied me."
"That portrait you just completed looked nice to me."
He gave a shrug. "Oh, and speaking of," he glanced at his friend, "May I have my money back?"
"Hmm?"
"The money that you took from me."
"I don't recall taking any money," Ezio replied.
"I see," Leonardo replied, "I must have misplaced it then."
"Indeed," Ezio responded.
Ezio suddenly made a sharp break for the door, with Leonardo in hot pursuit.