#bardi

"Will they still be there when we return?" Bardi asked.

"Yes," Davinci soothed. "They aren't going to run off."

Bardi frowned. "I suppose."

"What are you thinking?" Sanzio gently prodded.

"Perhaps the plan needs to change," Bardi said.

Everyone fell quiet. Simoni and Davinci looked at each other.

Bardi had always been so stuck on 'the plan'. The plan that they had made a week after their fathers had been killed, while they were huddled in a train car as stowaways, trying to put distance between them and Bishop. It had been cold and dark, and Bardi had quietly told them they were going to go west and find a place where they could settle.

The plan had changed so little over those years as they crossed the country in a slow zigzag, making money in unscrupulous ways as they searched to lose Bishop and for a home. Bardi had been driven towards it single-mindedly, like nothing else mattered.

Now, they had people who mattered.

"What do you think it should change to?" Davinci asked, breaking the quiet.

Bardi looked down at his hands. "We should be more careful. Less illegal activities, if we can help it. We need to stop attracting attention to ourselves."

"I think that's a good idea," Sanzio murmured.

"It's a hard idea," Simoni added. "Making an honest living means staying longer in places."

Bardi nodded. "Things change," he said quietly.

"That they do," Davinci said. He gave a soft, sad smile to Bardi. "Maybe for the better, sometimes."

"Sometimes…" Bardi repeated, and looked up at the sky. "Yes."

Sanzio gazed at Bardi gently. "It's hard to let go."

Bardi nodded slightly. "It is."

"Our dads would've wanted this for us," Davinci murmured. "To find some place to settle, with people who care about us in the right ways."

"Ooh, you wanna talk about the right ways?" Simoni snarked. "I've seen you and Lucius kissin' behind a tree more than once, is that the 'right way'?"

Davinci smacked him, and Simoni cackled, shielding himself. "You're one to talk, oogling Dante all day long!"

"He's cute!" Simoni cried in defense. "And I'm an honest man!"

Davinci laughed, and Simoni joined him. Sanzio kept his attention on Bardi, who hadn't torn his eyes away from the sky.

"What are you thinking?" Sanzio asked.

"You know," Bardi murmured.

"No. I can feel what you're feeling, but it never comes with your thoughts. And you got so many."

Bardi thumbed his reins. "I am… in love with Miles."

"Oh we did know that," Davinci said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, that was obvious," Simoni agreed while Sanzio nodded solemnly.

Bardi glared at them. "How do you know?"

They all looked at him with various expressions of disbelief and awe.

"You didn't think we knew?" Davinci asked, looking almost impressed. "Everyone sort of knew."

Bardi blinked. "Everyone?"

Sanzio nodded sympathetically, while Simoni moved his horse and patted Bardi's arm. "It's okay, bud. You'll recover from this devastating embarassment in a few years, and then I'll bring it back up and you'll have to go through it all again."

"Miles knows?"

At that, they hesitated. Bardi tried not to be frustrated with their round-about explanations and pauses.

"He's got suspicions," Simoni said casually, shrugging.

"I think he's not sure if you actually feel that way," Davinci explained.

Bardi took in the scenery for a while, breathing in the smells of grass and fresh air. It had rained a few days ago, and the smell still lingered for him, making everything feel new and clean.

"I'll speak to him." Bardi didn't realize that was his course of action until his mouth said it.

"And the plan?" Simoni asked.