[ open ] freedom hangs like heaven

[cesar]

Date & Time: anytime in September
Location: all the places
Characters: Cesare Borgia and YOU
Summary: Cesare knocks on certain people's doors or otherwise trawls the city, all formats are fine by me!
Warnings: n/a

Fortune favors not the bold, but the early bird, the night owl, the one who sleeps not. She favors those who know precisely where to aim before the enemy even rouses himself from sleep, from pleasure. It takes only one shot to make or break one's fortune, yet there is so little time and so much to learn, too many red herrings to eliminate.

Only five more years until his twenty-sixth year.

Cesare spends so little time in his room when he isn't bathing or sleeping (sadly still a necessity), usually returning home as the night sky grows brighter and leaving just before noon to start his nocturnal wanderings again. But when he is home, he keeps to himself, silent as a ghost and as absent as if he isn't there at all.

He gives training only the requisite number of hours, because strength and force will never be his advantage. This he already knows. Better that he deals in stealth and information, in learning more about this world to figure out which strings to pull if he were to secure his and his mother's freedom. The Initiative's intent to overthrow the tyrant is a fool's errand so he would lend it little assistance unless the mission keeps him in their good books or aids his eventual escape.

Otherwise Cesare can be found in the city, cloaked in black velvet with the hood drawn up to hide his face. But even his attire would easily betray him, since his vanity would not allow him to dress in rags to hide himself better, and the sword on his hips gleam too brightly against the dismal surroundings. His hand grips the hilt warily as he moves from one shop to another, seemingly in search of something. He would be careful not to reveal his intent while there is another customer in the room, pretending to browse the goods on display, unless they catch him in the middle of a discussion with the owner. Then they might overhear words such as maps and pearls and bullets being discussed.

 

Comments

[cesar]

[ He could wish! ]

I met a man who mentioned you.

[cesar]

As is my father. But one can hope.

[scinlae]

Hope is all that remains to us, it seems.

[justgo]

You did?

What'd he look like, scruffy and grumpy?

[inafadingcrown]

[She does him the courtesy of looking away and sparing him her gaze.]

All too often it seems that lessons of great import come at too high a cost.

[cesar]

Are they worth the cost?

[inafadingcrown]

That is something you must answer for yourself. I confess that, for my own part, I am still not certain. I would not be the woman I am today but for the folly of my youth; yet I feel regret still.

[cesar]

Change is not always for good. And one can change the past, as we have all been told.

[cesar]

[ He chuckles. Sounds about right. ]

He had enough guns to equip an army.

[inafadingcrown]

Yet not without consequences for the present; that is our entire purpose here. [And she's still not sure that it's wise to meddle at all, frankly.]

It is true, as you say, change is not always for good. In my case, it was. I am a better woman for the lessons I have learned- wiser, more cautious, less brash. Can you say something similar?

[cesar]

[ He can say he is less brash, more attuned to the many ways an event can play out, but he would be the last person to say he's a better man for it. ]

I am stronger, yes, in many ways. [ But not in others. ]

[justgo]

Sure sounds like the guy I'm thinkin' of. [Head shaking, she almost rolls her eyes at the thought.] You came to see him about some weapons?

[cesar]

Everything comes from hope.

[cesar]

About a gun. We have cannons in my time, but not ones so small.

wow you should whack me over the head for this )':

[cesar]

[ Cesare eyes that hand on his shoulder curiously. That's not something he allows most to do, those not his father or brother (and even then not quite). But Joel has probably taught him something that would save his life so it seems fitting somehow.

He lowers the gun and rests it on the table again. ]

Would it be forward of me to assume you agree to take me as an apprentice? A student if you will.

[scinlae]

Everything and nothing.

neverrrrrr

[beardedflannel]

[ Joel goes quiet, lowers his head to look down at the gun resting on the table now where Cesare had put it. He thinks on it for a few silent moments; teaching Cesare all that he knows might mean he'd have an extra hand to help him in keeping Ellie safe. Tess is more than capable of watching her own back, Joel knows this for a fact, but it's Ellie and her protection that linger in the back of his mind and nag.

Looking up and over to him, Joel gives a nod. ]

You'll be just as good as me, if not better.

<333!

[cesar]

[ The smile comes easily to him. Trust is what he wants most of all, from his father, his family, more than even affection. He can do all he needs to so long as he holds the trust of those who matter to him. Joel has, in a roundabout way, made himself a place there.

Cesare reaches to pat Joel on his arm. ]

I will find you more bullets.

<3

[beardedflannel]

No need to rush. I'll be 'round whenever you're ready.

[ And he means that. They'll start when Cesare feels he's ready to tackle the guns. And when they can find a suitable spot to fire the ammunition. ]