Assassin's Creed Modern One Shots

Ezio's Xmas Special

Admittedly, everyone was sapped of energy, and going outside for some Vitamin D didn't sound like the worst idea Desmond had ever suggested.

"So, how's everyone going to spend the holiday? I can't wait to sit around the Christmas tree with all my family... I couldn't think of a better holiday to be with the ones we love," Aveline mused, her fingers working to integrate a flowering weed into Connor's dark mop of hair. Assuming the question was directed at him first, Connor answered,

"My father says he is saving all the flashy parties for work, since it is enough having grandfather and Aunt Jennifer staying. Mother agrees that having a quiet celebration at home suffices." The boy moved away the best he could, to avoid Aveline contributing another accessory to his abundant collection of nature's sprigs.

"What are we doing again, Evie?" Jacob piped up from the sidelines, tossing the worn-down, dirt-covered tennis ball up in the air, only for him to catch it and repeat the process.

"Father said he had something planned —"

"What? You mean driving to the middle of nowhere, accidentally deleting the route on the GPS, dining at a restaurant where everyone looks at you funny, eating hash browns that taste like cow pat, then throwing up halfway across the motorway because the car was too bloody hot? If it's anything like that again, I think I'll pass."

"You didn't let me finish, Jacob!" There went the twins, starting another one of their regular quarrels. Your point of focus reverted all the way back to Altaïr, who had censored out the immaturity from the end of the line, seemingly lost in his head. A finger traced his jawline, as well as you could from the angle you were at, finally catching his attention. Two gold disks flicked downwards to meet you, raising a dark eyebrow — an action requiring no verbal definition. What do you want? You were getting the impression that maybe you disrupted his ideal second of tranquillity.

"What are you doing to celebrate the holiday, Alty?" Throwing him your best puppy-eyed look, with the intention of getting him to answer you without hesitation. You never pulled off the glistening, doe-eyes like Arno could, or the predominant pout Ezio was famous for, but it was the thought that counted. For certain, it counted towards Mister Spacehead responding to you, which you reckoned was enough.

"Studying," he replied, a distant, far-away haze glazing over the gold-flecked chaos of his optics. Your mind, missing a few too many brain cells, waved it off. Fatigue made you as weak-minded as the stormtrooper who believed those 'weren't the droids he was looking for'. At least someone had to accuse Altaïr of... what? Blasphemy? His provided answer was stingy at best, and downright disrespectful at worst. Unless... it wasn't something he celebrated in his religion. But that didn't tie any loose ends, because he always wished people 'Godspeed' and muttered a 'bless you' when someone sneezed. Then again, Altaïr possibly had multiple different religious beliefs. Or none at all. Though you hadn't dared ask, his reclusiveness put a road block in front of the subject. As well as other topics you tried to weave into conversations. The man was a mystery. To even you.

Summing him up from what you did know, Altaïr was an old-fashioned man in many ways. He still had the socially acceptable traits of an aware young person, though at heart, he was a man from another time altogether. Opening doors for teachers whose hands were full of paperwork, constantly using his manners — something most boys his age rarely did. Altaïr was the kind of guy to theoretically help old ladies cross the zebra crossing on the road — quite a turnaround from who he used to be. A 'then versus now' montage proceeded to play in your imagination, even though prior to the current events, you observed the person in question with the eyes of an outsider.

He was cocky, arrogant, vulgar, hostile: utterly unapproachable to someone like you. You, who preferred to be a ghost within your cohort. Physical conflicts arose often, for no other reason than Altaïr had an ego equivalent to one of a cheerleader in a cliché coming-of-age movie. Which is why he didn't back down when a poor, unsuspecting human held a view different from his. Eventually, it got to the peak of chaos, and fought within his numbers. You'd heard Abbas and Altaïr both got a good bruising out of one another. They say: what goes up, must come down, so that's what followed his suspension from school. Then he did something you like to call 'real life character development': getting his act together. Changing to become a better, more considerate human.