A/N: I just got to this part Thursday, because I am a very slow and meticulous gamer who spends her time finding viewpoints and codex pages (and not just because you get to go back to Leonardo when you find them, of course not!) But anyway, this takes place right after Ezio finds out he has been cheated out of a mask in Venice. Did anyone else notice his bloody lip? And yes, I know he didn't go to Leonardo after this happened, but just think of this as a pit-stop before he went to Antonio. I know I did a fanfic similar to this not too long ago, but I decided to post this anyway. And you guys, thank you so much for the positive feedback from before! I feel so flattered! Plus, it's nice to see that I'm not the only one who fell in love with this pairing :)

DISCLAIMER: Assassin's Creed belongs to Ubisoft.

"I see you've hurt yourself again," Leonardo said, chuckling to himself a bit as Ezio walked in the door.

"It's not funny, Leonardo," the assassin retorted, sitting down in a chair. He brought a hand up to his lip, wincing and drawing back as he touched the inflamed area.

Leonardo walked over to him with a damp cloth, but instead of placing it on Ezio's bleeding lip, he placed it on the table. His brows furrowed together, and he allowed his fingers to play along the edges of the mask that adorned the other man's face.

Carefully, he removed it, revealing the tan skin and brown eyes hidden underneath.

Leonardo smiled. "Now there's the Ezio I know," he said, placing the delicate piece of ceramic on the table. He picked up the cloth and turned back to the injured man, Ezio wincing in return.

"I haven't even touched you yet!" Leonardo sighed, moving his hand closer.

"It'll be fine! I don't need you to touch it!" Ezio defended, leaning back in an attempt to escape the cloth coming towards him.

"Oh hush, will you? It's swollen. This will help reduce the size, if nothing else."

And before Ezio could protest any further, the cloth connected with his mouth.

"Ouch!" He hissed, digging his fingernails into the arms of the chair.

"You're telling me that you can handle being shot with arrows and slashed with swords, but you can't handle a bloody lip?" The artist teased, a small smirk placed upon his face.

"Shut up, will you?"

"Alright, alright," Leonardo removed the cloth, not missing the sigh of relief that Ezio let out. "That should be better. Oh, don't look at me like that, it did help, whether you believe so or not."

Ezio scoffed, turning his head away childishly.

Leonardo chuckled and sat down opposite of the other man, folding the cloth in his lap. "So I heard that you were cheated out of a golden mask," he said, as if only casually stating facts. Of course, though, it pissed Ezio off, and he was reminded of the reason he came to the inventor's house in the first place.

"I should have won. That bastard cheated, I won every single one of those challenges!"

"It's fine, Ezio, it's fine," Leonardo said, holding his hands out in front of him. 'You'll get a mask, I'm sure of it. You always do have a way of getting out of these sorts of predicaments."

"Yeah, well—ouch!" Ezio grimaced, bringing a hand up to cradle his jaw.

"Don't touch it, It will probably hurt for awhile yet," Leonardo chided, pulling Ezio's hand away from his face. "The swelling needs to go down a bit, so don't upset the area too much or it won't have time to heal."

"Alright madre," the assassin said, complying with the other man's request. "Are you going to kiss it better, too?"

Leonardo's face pinked, and he looked away. "W—why would I do something like that?" He stammered, standing up and grabbing Ezio's arm. He pulled him up and led him to the door, mumbling about how he had better hurry up and think of a plan, or else he would be too late and miss his opportunity to assassinate his target.

Stepping outside the house, Ezio laughed. "I don't think I've ever seen you get flustered like this, Leonardo!"

The artist pinked again, an action which Ezio found strangely cute.

"Yes—w—well, Good night, Ezio," he said, and shut the door, thankful that Ezio didn't notice the loud thumping of his heart.

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