@mscreative545 replied to your post “SOLDIER 24 CONFIRMED IM CRYING ”
I WAS SCREAMING. IM STILL SCREAMING. LIKE WOWIE I AM SHOOK. GABE VOICE. SOLDIER 26. MOIRA SKIN. BLACKWATCH . GABE AND JACK CONVERSATION. NEW MAP. *sobs*
there’s so much holy fcuk
confirmed soldier 24 AND A SKIN FOR IT and his VOICE and his HUMOR
Some concept writing from my genderfluid Renaissance artist story. This was before even figuring out when this was being set, let alone backstories, so it's definitely out of continuity by now XD
A few things to know: Andrea goes by this name in their male persona, and as Andreina in their female persona. They were born Andreina, but when their twin brother Andrea died at a young age, they assumed Andrea's identity and was eventually trained as an artist.
Trigger warning for physical touching against will, although it's not sexual in nature.
When they reached the shipyards in Genoa, Chigi turned Andrea over to his guards with the instructions that he should be restrained in Chigi’s own quarters. Andrea didn’t know what he planned with him, but the ship was too well-guarded to think about escaping. He hoped that he would be left alone once in Chigi’s cabin - and he was.
He was also tied to a chair that was bolted to the floor. Of course. At least there were still windows on the other side of the cabin, although whether or not Andrea would be able to fit himself out of them was the question.
As well as whether or not he could escape before the ship left port. He estimated that he had, at best, a half hour before the Usignolo left Genoa for Rome. After that, he’d have nowhere to go.
As soon as the door closed behind the Chigi guards, Andrea started to twist his wrists in the ropes binding him. The guards had thrust his hands through the slats on the back of the chair and tied his wrists there, effectively anchoring him in place. They hadn’t stripped him of his weapons back when they ambushed him in Cremona, merely disarmed him of his dagger and staff, so if he could reach the seam at the back of his doublet where he hid a sharp file then he could work on cutting himself loose. And maybe then
He had gotten the file part of the way out of the seam (cutting the fabric partially in the process) by the time the door opened again. Instead of the guards, it was Chigi himself this time.
Andrea froze, then forced himself to relax again. If Chigi didn’t know about the file, then he had to do everything he could to keep it a secret from him. However, he didn’t think the ship had set sail yet, so maybe there was still time. Andrea continued to work at the file slowly as Chigi closed the cabin door behind him.
Chigi spared a glance at Andrea, but didn’t seem to notice anything wrong. Andrea tried to keep his face impassive, but didn’t feel like he was doing a good job of it. Maybe Chigi just took it for Andrea’s overwhelming dislike of him. He sat himself down at the desk by the windows (also bolted down, Andrea assumed, like the bed and every other moveable piece of furniture in the cabin) and picked up a pen and a piece of paper. He was keen on ignorign his prisoner, then. Well, Andrea could deal with that.
The scratching of Chigi’s pen filled the cabin, cutting through the silence and (hopefully) masking the sounds of Andrea shifting around. Finally, Andrea got the file out of his doublet seam, almost dropping it before he got a firm hold on it. He went to work on the ropes tying him to the chair immediately. He was running out of time.
He had just about sawed through the ropes when the cabin door opened again.
A man in captain’s dress leaned in. He glanced, with some curiosity, at Andrea before turning towards Chigi. “We are ready to depart, my lord. Awaiting your orders,” he said.
Chigi made a pleased noise and set his pen aside. He stood, taking the piece of paper with him, and waved it to dry the ink. “Very soon. First I must dispatch a man with this news.” He bent over the letter again, folding it up and addressing it before sealing it with his stamp. He handed it over to the captain. “Tell Trifondi to ride to Rome with this, if you will. As fast as possible.” Finally, he spared a glance at Andrea. He smiled a bit. Andrea felt the last of the rope fall apart in his hands. “We finally have good news.”
The captain nodded and took the letter. “It will be done at once, my lord.” He left, closing the door behind him.
Still looking at Andrea, Chigi locked the door. Andrea gathered the rope in his hands, freeing his wrists, trying not to let onto what he was doing. He transferred the file to his left hand. It wouldn’t do much damage, but he could still try to stab Chigi if he got close enough. And, based on how he was walking toward him, Andrea might just get his chance.
“Forgive me for neglecting you,” Chigi said, spreading his arms in an all-encompassing gesture that belonged more at home in his Roman mansion than a small and cramped ship cabin. His smile widened when he saw Andrea’s disbelief. “Arranging your safe passage to Rome has been slightly tricky. You can be difficult to find.”
“There might be a reason for that, you know,” Andrea snapped before he could stop himself. There went his vow of silence. Well, no helping it now. “I turned down your commission. I want nothing to do with your family. I’ve made this quite clear.”
Chigi heaved a sigh. He folded his arms across his chest. “See, this is where we have a misunderstanding. Yours is that you think you have a choice in this matter. Mine was that I thought you understood this.” He turned back to the desk, and Andrea struck.
He yanked his wrists out of the slats of the chair and leaped forward. Chigi turned with a look of surprise just in time to get a punch to the face. Chigi staggered back and Andrea pushed him away from the windows, knowing they were his only way out, especially with the door locked. (Although at least that meant that no more guards could rush into overpower him.)
Andrea climbed up onto the desk to get to the windows. He glanced back at Chigi as he fumbled with the locks - Chigi was stumbled to his feet, grasping at the opposite wall to keep him up. He turned and looked at Andrea, and he looked furious. Andrea turned his attention back to the windows.
He had just gotten the latch open on the window when Chigi grabbed him. He grabbed onto the window and tried to kick at Chigi, but the larger man was too close. He dragged Andrea off the desk and threw him into the wall next to it. Andrea snarled at him, fighting to get away, but soon enough Chigi had both wrists pinned to the wall next to his head and his legs pinned with his own. The file was somewhere on the floor behind them.
“You don’t do anything easily, do you?” Chigi asked. His hair was falling into his face, but he no longer looked like he was going to murder Andrea. He must have enjoyed the fight. Or maybe just winning.
“Fuck you,” Andrea said. He clenched her jaw and stared at a point over Chigi’s left shoulder. He’d get tied up again and thrown in the brig, probably. At least it would only be for twenty hours or so. And then they’d dock in Ostia and from there it would be maybe a two hours ride before getting locked in the Chigi mansion dungeons until he agreed to work on their stupid fucking commission.
“That’s not very lady-like,” Chigi said. He tilted his head. “Though I suppose you must have learned some bad habits in order to fit in with us men.”
Andrea’s eyes widened and snapped back to his face. He couldn’t possibly mean…. “I have no idea what you mean,” he said. His voice didn’t even tremble.
Chigi transferred Andrea’s wrists into one hand and leaned hard into him to keep him pinned. With the other hand, he moved a piece of hair out of Andrea’s face. That done, he traced one of his cheekbones with his thumb. Andrea yanked his face away, but Chigi just chuckled.
“You must tell me,” he said, “whether you ever had a twin at all, or if you made her up to further your disguise.”
Andrea’s heart raced. No. “My twin sister died when we were young. This is common knowledge. I survived because boys are hardier.”
Chigi smirked. He started unbuttoning Andrea’s doublet. “I wonder how many times you’ve practiced that. A thousand times? I would have believed it - I did believe it, before I knew better.”
“What?” Andrea gasped. “What are you talking about? What are you doing?”
Chigi got Andrea’s doublet halfway undone and started untying the neck of his shirt. “Don’t insult me, please. I know that you are a woman. And now I am getting proof of it.”
Andrea felt like a pit opened up where his stomach should be. His shirt was and gaping, and Chigi was working at the ties on his modified corset. He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, trying not to cry. There were days when he felt at home in his body, but now it felt like it was betraying him. He felt cold air on his sternum and bit his lip to keep from making a sound.
Chigi tugged his shirt and corset further apart, exposing one breast. Chigi was silent for a moment, and Andrea waited for him to do something else, possibly force himself on Andrea, but he just tugged his clothing back over his chest, covering his breasts. “You must understand,” Chigi said quietly, “This was not amusing for me. It was a necessary evil, but I had to verify your true sex, signorina.”
“Why?” Andrea demanded quietly. “This is cruel, no matter how you couch it.”
He opened his eyes again and glared right at Chigi. Truthfully, he didn’t look happy. His face was impassive, but Andrea could guess at his feelings. He believe that Andrea was a woman (and true, sometimes he was), and Chigi was always courteous towards women. More so towards noblewomen, but Andrea had never seen him raise a voice or a hand towards a servant or worker woman. Maybe he really did regret doing this.
Not enough to stop him, apparently.
“My family requires a service from you,” Chigi said finally. “Despite your gender, you are one of the finest architects of your generation. When you refused our commission, we could not let that stand. This was the easiest way to control you.”
There was a knock on the door.
“We’re setting off!” a sailor cried through it.
Chigi nodded. “Now, are you prepared to act civilly, as befits a lady, or do I have to tie you up again for the voyage?”
“I’m not exactly a lady, now am I?” Andrea asked. His voice cracked on the word lady. “Unless you want me to find out how I can swim to shore, you’re going to have to tie me up.”
Chigi nodded, looking unsurprised. “Thank you for your honesty, signorina.” Then he slapped Andrea across the face, snapping his face to one side. He cried out, but Chigi was already bundling him across the cabin to the chair Andrea was put in before. He pushed Andrea down into the chair, yanking his arms back through the slats, and roughly retied the rope around his wrists. Andrea struggled, but it was more rote than anything.
When he was done securing Andrea, Chigi stood up and pushed his hair back out of his face. He went over and picked up Andrea’s file from where it lay next to the bed. He held it up, wiggling it a bit for emphasis. “Where did you secret this away, signorina?”
Andrea considered not answering, but his face hurt. “The back seam of my doublet. It was sewn in.”
Chigi nodded. “Any more weapons I should be worried about?”
There were, but Andrea wasn’t about to tell him that. Chigi sighed. He knelt in front of Andrea and grabbed his right ankle. He unlaced the ties roughly and yanked his boot off, and then repeated the process for Andrea’s left boot. He turned them inside out and found the knife sheath hidden in Andrea’s left boot. Chigi glanced up and raised an eyebrow. Andrea pointedly fixed his gaze on the windows opposite him, one of them still unlocked and slightly opened.
Chigi noticed where he was looking and went to latch the window closed again. He came back and cupped Andrea’s face, tilting it up. Andrea yanked back out of his hold. “Please understand, signorina,” Chigi said softly. “Your fate is set. Fighting it makes no difference.”
