[ 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

YES

[cesar]

[ So intent he was in negotiating a fair price in a society where gold is without value and his name means nothing that Cesare jerks slightly before quickly turning about to find-- oh. Oh. Pardon his awkward smile that comes a little too late, and then the equally stilted bow. Derpface. ]

I found what I was seeking last. I may find yet another of my missions a success today.

HEE

[scinlae]

[ she bites back a laugh but it spreads to her face regardless, watching him smile and bow with eyes full of mirth. utterly pleased she is that she managed to catch him unawares. ]

Oh? And what is it you seek this time, my lord?

[cesar]

Cesare.

[ He has little love for titles and regards only his name as fitting. But he smirks. ]

Do you expect me to recall such things after the sight of you?

[scinlae]

Cesare.

[ she barely contains the next laugh. ]

Do you flatter all women this way? If so I worry for your memory.

[cesar]

[ He chuckles too, pleased with himself. ]

Very few, for which my memory is grateful.

[scinlae]

What a relief.

What are the names of these women? I am curious.

[cesar]

Curious?

[ He asks with such skepticism, but then he moves to take a worn book from the shelf, flipping through the pages absently with his attention mostly on her. ]

What do you seek today, my lady?

[scinlae]

A crown.

[ she says it as if teasing him, but her eyes shine with sharpness instead of mirth. ]

[cesar]

Would that I could call my father to assist you then?

[ Namedropping? What namedropping? ]

[scinlae]

Would your father aid me? [ she gives him a curious look, what power would his father have to give her the crown she so deeply desires. ]

[cesar]

If I ask it of him, of course.

[scinlae]

He must love you a great deal. [ or he has a strong hold upon him. ] A pity he is not among us.

[cesar]

[ Wishful thinking, mostly. His father hasn't even granted his one and only request. ]

A pity indeed. For his is the authority to crown and uncrown Kings. Queens as well, surely.

[scinlae]

Truly? [ her eyebrows raise and she looks him over. ] There is more to you than first appears, my lord.

[cesar]

But do you wish to be Queen?

[scinlae]

I do.

[cesar]

Have you claims to any land?

[scinlae]

I do, sadly they are far from here.

[cesar]

As is my father. But one can hope.

[scinlae]

Hope is all that remains to us, it seems.

[cesar]

Everything comes from hope.

[scinlae]

Everything and nothing.