Micheletto's voice comes from a particularly dark corner of Cesare's suite. "Is something the matter, sir?" He asks, cocking his head to the side at Cesare's unusual behavior. "It really isn't like you to be cooped up all night."
Cesare doesn't reply at first. He's still wary, very wary indeed. He trusts Micheletto (after all, after all this time, why would he not?), but he doesn't entirely trust that the voice outside the door is Micheletto's in the first place.
It's very true that this is unlike Cesar though. By now he would be working. Or playing. Whatever he felt like for the day.
He doesn't open the door.
"Tell me something only the two of us would know, so I know I can trust you," he yells through the door.
There is an almost inaudible sigh from the other side of the door. He knows the room behind the door well enough to disappear from the shadow he's currently hiding in to one inside the front door. His knife is drawn in the blink of an eye, and with a lunge from the shadows he presses the tip of it to Cesare's exposed neck.
But it is merely a homage to their first meeting, not an attack. Never an attack. Micheletto stills his movements, then, keeping the blade's end just barely against his master's skin. He breathes evenly, calmly, before finally speaking again.
Cesare doesn't react the best at first. At any other time, he would have tilted his head back and smirked, heart pounding and breathing short. But this time he's more paranoid than usual and he grits his teeth, moving his hand up to Micheletto's blade before the other man speaks. That's when he finally calms down, giving Micheletto a gentle shove to give him some space.
"You should be careful doing that. I'm stronger than I was."
He takes the shove, and with a quick flip of his wrist has the blade back in its holster at his side. "And I more resilient," Micheletto answers mysteriously, stepping toward Cesare to close the distance between them.
"Will you not tell me now what is keeping you cloistered thus?"
Cesare doesn't miss Micheletto's use of the world "cloistered" and he rolls his eyes, though he doesn't move away.
"I have many enemies. With my current election campaign, they are attempting to assassinate me." He says it as if the answer is simple. Obvious really, not the nervous paranoia of a man under a spell.
"You have proof, then?" Micheletto cocks his head to the side, curiously. Was the vampire representative position so coveted, it was worth killing for?
Cesare rolls his eyes. It's surprising, really, that not even Micheletto gets it.
"So I have to wait until I catch a spy sending letters and it's too late then?" It's a deliberate jab at Pascal, not that Cesare knows the man's name. But the point is clear: you don't exactly have a great track record of noticing conspiracies at times.
Now that is too far, even for Cesare. A pain springs from nothing in his chest, a burning pain, sharpening as a flash of dark curls and smiling face comes back to him. The change in Micheletto's demeanor is almost instant. His shoulders stiffen, and he grows tight-lipped. His fingers clench into fists, but stay at his side, as he blinks away his troublesome thoughts. At the same time, he looks away from Cesare to the richly painted walls, letting the silence speak for him.
It is only after he has taken a deep, steadying breath that he answers. "No. But names will be needed. You will have me look through all of London, with nothing to go on?"
"No. And that is why I didn't call you. I have no names yet, only strong suspicions. My only choice right now is defense, to keep myself in here until I know more for certain."
He moves back into the room, walking away from Micheletto for a second. Cesare is concentrating.
"They're out there, Micheletto," he says in the exact same he would if he were completely sane right now, except his words make it pretty clear he's not quite there.
"Have you grown nervous, then?" His gaze flicks to Cesare, voice uncharacteristically loud for a soft-spoken assassin. "You said it yourself, when we met at the Institute. You have enemies across all of Europe, true, and many in London also. And here you are, my lord, paranoid in a locked room. Would you sit here for all eternity and let them hound you here? Or would you meet your enemies on your terms?"
Perhaps he is harsher than he means to be, as the memories of Pascal were dredged up from the deep solely to harm him. But perhaps Cesare does need to hear them, to understand that he does not seem sound of mind, even to his oldest ally.
"What has happened that made you suspect? Perhaps I can go from that. I will be your eyes and ears, sir, and hands if need be. But you must tell me what you know."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
longterm) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
undergrounds2017-01-18 09:02 pm
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Micheletto's voice comes from a particularly dark corner of Cesare's suite. "Is something the matter, sir?" He asks, cocking his head to the side at Cesare's unusual behavior. "It really isn't like you to be cooped up all night."
no subject
It's very true that this is unlike Cesar though. By now he would be working. Or playing. Whatever he felt like for the day.
He doesn't open the door.
"Tell me something only the two of us would know, so I know I can trust you," he yells through the door.
no subject
But it is merely a homage to their first meeting, not an attack. Never an attack. Micheletto stills his movements, then, keeping the blade's end just barely against his master's skin. He breathes evenly, calmly, before finally speaking again.
"My God, you're fast."
no subject
"You should be careful doing that. I'm stronger than I was."
no subject
"Will you not tell me now what is keeping you cloistered thus?"
no subject
"I have many enemies. With my current election campaign, they are attempting to assassinate me." He says it as if the answer is simple. Obvious really, not the nervous paranoia of a man under a spell.
no subject
no subject
"So I have to wait until I catch a spy sending letters and it's too late then?" It's a deliberate jab at Pascal, not that Cesare knows the man's name. But the point is clear: you don't exactly have a great track record of noticing conspiracies at times.
no subject
It is only after he has taken a deep, steadying breath that he answers. "No. But names will be needed. You will have me look through all of London, with nothing to go on?"
no subject
He moves back into the room, walking away from Micheletto for a second. Cesare is concentrating.
"They're out there, Micheletto," he says in the exact same he would if he were completely sane right now, except his words make it pretty clear he's not quite there.
no subject
Perhaps he is harsher than he means to be, as the memories of Pascal were dredged up from the deep solely to harm him. But perhaps Cesare does need to hear them, to understand that he does not seem sound of mind, even to his oldest ally.
"What has happened that made you suspect? Perhaps I can go from that. I will be your eyes and ears, sir, and hands if need be. But you must tell me what you know."