Atlas
By Portrait of a Scribe

"He carries the weight of the whole damn world on his shoulders. The least we can do is listen."
-Anonymous

Achilles Davenport sighs in relief as he sinks into a chair in front of his fireplace, the light from its dancing flames flickering heat across his skin. This winter has been cold, bitterly so; his joints are aching, his bad leg is paining him, and without Connor consistently here to build up a good, hot fire for him, Achilles has had to do it himself, more often than not, as of late. Myriam has been kind to him, helping out around the homestead, but on nights like tonight, Achilles wishes he had just a bit of his old, painless strength left. After all, Myriam has gone back to her cabin for the night, and the house is actually quite drafty.

Achilles hears a creak from upstairs. Then another, and then a thud and a familiar-sounding grunt. It seems as though Connor is having one of his dreams, again. Achilles shakes his head in fond worry. As quiet as Connor normally is while awake, that boy is one of the noisiest sleepers Achilles has ever met. The old man has gotten more or less used to his protégé's nocturnal noisemaking in the five or six years since Connor came to live with him; most nights, he can ignore it. But on nights like tonight, when Connor has just returned home from another taxing mission, bloodied and a little more broken than he was before, Achilles sits up and listens to Connor's soft whimpers and growls and the Mohican babbling, knowing all along that come morning he will leave his room and go upstairs to find the younger man asleep on his floor rug with his mother's necklace clutched to his chest and tear stains on tanned cheeks. Achilles would comfort him, if he could. But every man's demons are his own to battle, and Achilles has faced more than his fair share without adding Connor's into the mix.

Come morning, Connor will get up and go about his day, tired and hollow-eyed after his sleepless night, and Achilles will watch him until the younger man decides he wants to talk about it. Because even though they argue a lot, Achilles is the closest thing to a real father that Connor has ever known, and Connor is the closest thing Achilles has had to a son since his boy died years ago. And one way or another, Connor always ends up talking.

If only it would help.

Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed. Otherwise, Altair and Ezio would have lived to the Revolution at least, because I'm all into time conondrums like that.

Please let me know what you think. Ciao, ragazzi!

-Scribe