Warning: This story contains adult content of the m/m variety. Shitty Italian phrasebook at the end of the piece.

All characters are owned by Ubisoft. I make no money from this

To look out on the canals of Venice once again had been a poignant moment for Leonardo. The loss of his work in Milano, his Gran Cavallo had been terrible. So cruel to see it defiled by the French bastardo, mindless savages who saw his statue as nothing more than a pretty target for their archers. No, he could not bear to stay in Milano another minute. But Venice…

Venezia. Memories of the floating city came with their own heartbreak.

At least some wounds had scabs that thickened over with time.

His musings were interrupted by the jostle of glass. "Careful, Salai! Those lenses are extremely valuable!"

The golden haired devil shot him an impish grin. "Balle, old man!" he said even as he handled the packing crate more gently. "If they break, I will steal you a new one!"

"Scassacazzo," Leonardo murmured with no small amount of affection. This troublemaker less than half his own age had gotten under his skin. Not for his looks or his talent for Salai had been but a boy of ten when Leonardo had taken him into his home. No, it had been the boy's demeanor. The charming rascal.

So much like the assassino.

At first Leonardo had thought the commission of the Gran Cavallo had been a gift from God. It had taken years of study to capture the magnificent beast that Ludovico so wanted as a monument to his predecessor. The bronze that he was given to create his art had ultimately been taken from him, forged into weapons.

It was oddly fitting. To have what he most desired taken from him in such a fashion.

The pounding of a fist against Leonardo's front door startled him. He cursed the quickening of his heartbeat. How many years since Ezio had last come to knock on his door that he still should react like a dog overjoyed at the return of its master? It had always pleased Leonardo that this man of stealth and violence would drop into his life with no rhyme or reason, asking permission for entry like the most demure of visitors.

What direction would life had taken if the man had stayed?

A pause as he gripped the handle, feeling the vibration up his arm as his visitor knocked once more. How foolish he felt. It had been far too long yet this simple summons thrilled him still.

With all what greeted him was not at all what he was expecting.

"Leonardo."

That voice- oh, how it wrapped itself around a simple word. So full of raw sensuality that it always sent a jolt right through him. And to hear that voice say his name…

"E-Ezio! Come in, come in."

The assassin padded into the room with the stride of a lion, strength in every line of him even after all these years. So beguiling still. There were hints of a beard under the man's cowl. It suits him. Leonardo struggled to find his voice. "Perdono. I'm afraid I have only just returned to Venezia and have only myself to offer you in hospitality."

It was only when Ezio's features were fully revealed that Leonardo saw the normally tan face looking worn, drained of the fire of purpose that had so consumed him in his younger days. "It is you that I need most, mio amico."

If only that were true. Leonardo coughed into his sleeve to mask his discomfiture. "It has been far too long since I have seen you last so I am unsure how I may best aide you." He smiled, hoping to tease the other man into doing the same. "Surely you have no codex pages to give me."

"No. No more Codex." Ezio turned angry for a moment, pacing the room as if trying to escape his thoughts. "No more talk of destiny. Or prophets. I have no need of such things."

The small mirror that sat on Leonardo's desk that he favored when backward writing his personal notes caught Ezio's eye. The handsome man seemed fascinated by it, studying his reflection as if only truly seeing himself for the first time. He squinted, leaning in to better examine the marks that time had left upon his face.

With a grunt of dissatisfaction, Ezio straightened and directed his daunting scrutiny back at Leonardo. "In truth, it is more like such things no longer have need of me." He looked distracted, one hand stroking a spot just beneath his ribs. A recent wound troubling him, perhaps. "They tell me my part in this is over. My… usefulness has come to an end."

"Who? Who has told you such foul things?" Leonardo's heart sank. What had happened to make this unstoppable man- this force of nature- sound so hollow, so broken? "The other Assassins? Surely not!"

"No, and that is perhaps the cruelest cut of all." The small laugh that Ezio permitted himself rang false. "After the mountains of suffering, the sea of death my life has become, I am no closer to knowing. No closer to understanding what it was all for."

Ezio moved towards him, a sudden wave of desperation propelling the man forward. The intensity of it made Leonardo take an involuntary step back, halted prematurely as he hit an unyielding wall. The assassin was close enough that the heady mix of sweat and leather made his pulse founder.

"It is why I come here." It was a crime that those full lips would still seem so beautiful, even as the words they formed exposed more of the assassin's torment. "My life needs your luce sfolgorante. Your genius. For if you cannot make sense of it, then I fear no one can."

The man before him almost convulsed under the weight of a haggard breath. So close to a sob yet not. As if the desire of the body battled with the needs of the mind. How accustomed it must have become to lurking in shadows that it fought to prevent revealing any emotion no matter how necessary the release might be.

Leonardo was not a violent man by nature. Anger flared in him, white hot, for this man had lost so much and had given up even more. For this man, whose life should have been his fill of wine and women, who had been thrust into the stench of blood and entrails instead. If someone had cast this man aside after all he had done, Dio mio, he would strangle whoever had caused such devastation with his bare hands if he could.

His rage seized control of his will. "Your life!" Grasping Ezio by the shoulders, he spun them both, thrusting the bulkier man against the wall much to both their surprise. "Your life has never been your own!" Leonardo relaxed his grip, as he struggled to regain some measure of control. "Whatever deeds you have been charged with may be finished, but that simply means you can take back what is rightfully yours!"

Ezio's eyes fluttered closed as he contemplated Leonardo's words. His response was faint and hard to hear. "Finchè c'è vita c'è speranza."

"Yes!" The words on the nature of life and hope infected Leonardo with a passion he had not felt in far too long. He cupped Ezio's head in his hands, warm brown eyes flying open in shock. "No matter what may come from this day onward, you must remember that there are those that still love you! Your mother. Your sister."

His tongue flashed out to wet suddenly dry lips. "And me."

Strong hands, callused hands gripped his wrists. "Do not toy with me, Leonardo. I have had more than my fill of games."

"Non potrò mai smettere d'amarti." With that, Leonardo dared to place a chaste kiss on Ezio's troubled brow. Ezio appeared to have lost all focus. "From the first day we met in Florence." The blonde man kissed just below the other man's eye. "You already had so much responsibility for one so young -I could not dare to take up any of your time." He shifted to kiss the other eye, long lashes beating against his lips. "For I would do everything within my power to make sure you would never desire to leave."

Finally, finally. The feel of those lips. How long he had waited. At first, those lips remained unyielding, sending a shiver of fear up his spine. Had he made a grievous error?

But then it came.

A sigh of relief and those lips parted for him, fierce and possessive even from the outset. The close crop of both their beards made the contact rough and delicious. Their teeth clicked in their eagerness to taste each other. They pressed in close, as if wrestling for position. The feel of cold metal through his thin shirt forced a hiss from Leonardo.

Porco Dio! There would be no more of this between them. Leonardo reached for the layers of straps and buckles that so confined the assassin. Cape first then spaulders and chest guard clanged together violently on the floor. He occupied himself with sucking at the skin above the simple necklace of beads as both pairs of hands fought to remove the seemingly endless number of belts and pouches.

Ezio's attempts to disrobe the artist were batted away. Leonardo sank to his knees, pinning the other man's hips to the wall with all the strength he could muster knowing full well the assassin could easily do as he wished. "So much was taken from you," he murmured, lips pressed on what was firming underneath the breeches before him. "Let me give you this."

With more confidence than he felt, Leonardo released the erection waiting for him. It was slightly above average in size but quite thick and heavy in his hand. He took the head in his mouth, gently suckling as his tongue flicked over the slit. The groan this elicited was deep and resonant.

Anatomy had always been a favorite subject for the artist and he put his knowledge to good use here. Switching from long cat licks up its length to engulfing all of Ezio's length in one go and everything in between. Ezio bucked against him, uncaring of how his skull would crack against the wall as he thrashed.

After some time, Leonardo could see the vessels pounding on the straining man's temple. He knew he should not delight in torturing this man so. Hand snaking between the other man's wantonly parted thighs, he pressed into that spot- just behind the sac- prompting Ezio to release a stream of obscenities that would have made the raunchiest of Teodora's girls blush. It should have been no surprise that everything the man did involved such passion.

Taking that beautiful cock in as far as he could, Leonardo swallowed around the shaft sending Ezio into near-fits as he shot pulse after pulse down the artist's throat. Leonardo stayed with him, guiding Ezio through every precious twitch and aftershock. Rising to support the suddenly unsteady assassin, Leonardo was not expecting to be caught up in another long kiss.

"Mio amore," Ezio rumbled, voice rough and raw in the artist's ear. "Siete la mia aria."

"As you are mine," Leonardo laughed as breath tickled his ear. "As you are mine."

Balle- balls or bullshit
Scassacazzo- Pain in my dick literally or pain in the ass more colloquially
Mio amico- my friend
luce sfolgorante- blazing light
Finchè c'è vita c'è speranza.- In life there is hope.
Non potrò mai smettere d'amarti I could never stop loving you
Porco Dio- literally holy cow, but more like god damnit.
Siete la mia aria- You are my air. (there has been discussion of siete being the plural but I believe it can also be used as a highly formal singular as well- this is my intent)