It was late; Shaun had retreated back to his rooms for the evening, and called Lucy and Rebecca to him from there. He wasn't eager to confront Desmond anymore, now that his head had cleared. Part of him felt something he had done had been the trigger for Desmond earlier, but he wasn't sure. Lucy seemed the most knowledgeable on the subject of Omegas, but Rebecca had surprised him before.
"I did exactly as you said I needed to do, and I got kicked for my efforts. Quite hard, in fact." He licked the split in his lip where his tooth had pierced it. It hadn't bled too much, but it was still really sore. "So, are you going to tell me what I did wrong? Because as far as I know, Omegas are not supposed to lash out like that when they're in heat. They're supposed to roll over and take it."
Rebecca stared at him for a minute before bursting into hysterics. "Where the hell did you hear that?"
Lucy actually looked disgusted. And alarmed. "Shaun, that's not how these things go. Omegas aren't whores - its true they're controlled by hormones during the days they're in heat, but that doesn't mean they're weak." She scrubbed her face with her hands. "Ugh, this is such a catastrophe."
"Look slick, the thing about Omegas is that when they're young and going through their first heat, they can be really volatile. Especially if they're forced into a corner. And Desmond's kinda crazy, with the Bleeding Effect doing its thing," Rebecca had finally calmed down enough to explain, and did so with great vigor. "You've also got to add in the fact that Omegas were much more social than Alphas - and Desmond is quit literally the last of his kind. So you've got a half-crazy, terrified, volatile young adult male coming into his first heat and being confronted by a smarmy, snarky, razor-witted older man that thinks he's easy and exudes sexual desire. You tell me what's going to happen, genius."
Shaun winced slightly. When put like that, it did sound rather unsavory.
Lucy sighed. "I imagine he'll take to hiding for a while, probably somewhere we can't follow. For now, we should leave him be; Shaun, the next time you see him, you need to apologize. I know you're eager--"
"I am not!"
"--but you're going to have to take this slowly. Like Rebecca said, Desmond's not entirely stable right now. And given the mistake you just made, I'd say he's going to be pretty damn far from trusting you anytime soon." She disappeared from the room suddenly. Shaun waited for her to reappear; when she did, she was carrying two books, both paperback. One was a small black book, and the other was a light brown book. Both were journals. "Here. This has enough to help you through any questions you might have."
In the black journal on the back of the cover read the inscription "Malik Al-Sayf" while the brown read "Leonardo da Vinci". Shaun's eyes went wide.
"Malik was supposedly an Alpha. Rumor holds that he was mated to Altair, although you can imagine how debatable that is considering Altair's relationship with Maria. Leonardo was tried for sodomy - the rumors there said that his partner had been none other than Ezio Auditore. The difference is that Leonardo was an Omega," Lucy rattled off. Shaun blinked several times, pinching himself to make sure it was real. The journals of Desmond's ancestors - or someone close to them. A thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Why can't we use these to tell us where the Apple is?"
"Because neither ever mentions it. They talk about missions or meeting the ones they love. Malik talks about his courtship with Altair, and Leonardo's is mostly filled with ideas of art or meetings with Ezio. They'd be of more use to you than to us."
"Methinks you might want to start with Leonardo's journal, Shaun. Get the Omega mindset in your head before you start playing Mr. Big Strong Alpha," Rebecca called to him as they left. The door was closed behind them, leaving Shaun on the bed with the journals.
He was tempted, seriously tempted to start with Malik's journal. But at the same time, Rebecca's words haunted him. Desmond was vulnerable - if he read Malik's first and made the wrong move, Desmond could very well kill him. He needed to get to know his enemy - or rather, his partner - before he could get to know his own role.
So with a heavy sigh he dropped Malik's journal in the drawer beside his bed, toed off his shoes, made himself comfortable and opened Leonardo's journal to the first page.
FILL: The Best Sort of Death 4/?
It was late; Shaun had retreated back to his rooms for the evening, and called Lucy and Rebecca to him from there. He wasn't eager to confront Desmond anymore, now that his head had cleared. Part of him felt something he had done had been the trigger for Desmond earlier, but he wasn't sure. Lucy seemed the most knowledgeable on the subject of Omegas, but Rebecca had surprised him before.
"I did exactly as you said I needed to do, and I got kicked for my efforts. Quite hard, in fact." He licked the split in his lip where his tooth had pierced it. It hadn't bled too much, but it was still really sore. "So, are you going to tell me what I did wrong? Because as far as I know, Omegas are not supposed to lash out like that when they're in heat. They're supposed to roll over and take it."
Rebecca stared at him for a minute before bursting into hysterics. "Where the hell did you hear that?"
Lucy actually looked disgusted. And alarmed. "Shaun, that's not how these things go. Omegas aren't whores - its true they're controlled by hormones during the days they're in heat, but that doesn't mean they're weak." She scrubbed her face with her hands. "Ugh, this is such a catastrophe."
"Look slick, the thing about Omegas is that when they're young and going through their first heat, they can be really volatile. Especially if they're forced into a corner. And Desmond's kinda crazy, with the Bleeding Effect doing its thing," Rebecca had finally calmed down enough to explain, and did so with great vigor. "You've also got to add in the fact that Omegas were much more social than Alphas - and Desmond is quit literally the last of his kind. So you've got a half-crazy, terrified, volatile young adult male coming into his first heat and being confronted by a smarmy, snarky, razor-witted older man that thinks he's easy and exudes sexual desire. You tell me what's going to happen, genius."
Shaun winced slightly. When put like that, it did sound rather unsavory.
Lucy sighed. "I imagine he'll take to hiding for a while, probably somewhere we can't follow. For now, we should leave him be; Shaun, the next time you see him, you need to apologize. I know you're eager--"
"I am not!"
"--but you're going to have to take this slowly. Like Rebecca said, Desmond's not entirely stable right now. And given the mistake you just made, I'd say he's going to be pretty damn far from trusting you anytime soon." She disappeared from the room suddenly. Shaun waited for her to reappear; when she did, she was carrying two books, both paperback. One was a small black book, and the other was a light brown book. Both were journals. "Here. This has enough to help you through any questions you might have."
In the black journal on the back of the cover read the inscription "Malik Al-Sayf" while the brown read "Leonardo da Vinci". Shaun's eyes went wide.
"Malik was supposedly an Alpha. Rumor holds that he was mated to Altair, although you can imagine how debatable that is considering Altair's relationship with Maria. Leonardo was tried for sodomy - the rumors there said that his partner had been none other than Ezio Auditore. The difference is that Leonardo was an Omega," Lucy rattled off. Shaun blinked several times, pinching himself to make sure it was real. The journals of Desmond's ancestors - or someone close to them. A thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Why can't we use these to tell us where the Apple is?"
"Because neither ever mentions it. They talk about missions or meeting the ones they love. Malik talks about his courtship with Altair, and Leonardo's is mostly filled with ideas of art or meetings with Ezio. They'd be of more use to you than to us."
"Methinks you might want to start with Leonardo's journal, Shaun. Get the Omega mindset in your head before you start playing Mr. Big Strong Alpha," Rebecca called to him as they left. The door was closed behind them, leaving Shaun on the bed with the journals.
He was tempted, seriously tempted to start with Malik's journal. But at the same time, Rebecca's words haunted him. Desmond was vulnerable - if he read Malik's first and made the wrong move, Desmond could very well kill him. He needed to get to know his enemy - or rather, his partner - before he could get to know his own role.
So with a heavy sigh he dropped Malik's journal in the drawer beside his bed, toed off his shoes, made himself comfortable and opened Leonardo's journal to the first page.