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The moon was high in the sky as Bucciarati crouched to look at the tracks pressed into the mud surrounding the sheep pen. At this time of night, all the animals were huddled together under the shelter provided in their nighttime pens, quiet, but he had a feeling their target was prowling around nearby.
"What do you think?" Abbacchio asked as he came to join Bucciarati after his own rounds.
Bruno straightened up. "Definitely too big to be a wolf. The length of the claws as well pretty much confirms that it's a black dog."
Abbacchio nodded in agreement, adjusting the strap of the shotgun he had slung over his shoulder. "So now we just have to find it."
Bruno looked around at the surrounding countryside. "I have a feeling it will find us."
"So, the waiting game then."
"It's not a bad night for it," Bruno commented. "Honestly, it's rather nice to get out."
Since being forced into hiding after betraying the Boss, Bucciarati and his team had mostly kept to themselves in a little out of the way villa in the Italian countryside. But as their stay stretched on, the Hunters had grown restless and started to take on jobs in the vicinity. When one of the local farmers had mentioned a large dog or wolf killing his sheep, Bruno couldn't help but offer their services. There was no harm in a simple case like that, after all.
And more than that, Bruno needed a few easy cases to get used to his new biology now that he had fully turned and been forced to embrace his vampiric state. He was still navigating this new him, but he was trying to make the most of it.
This was also the first hunt he had gone on with Abbacchio now that he was a vampire. While the other Hunter had been civil enough after the initial reaction, Bruno knew his transformation had been particularly hard on Abbacchio due to his past, which was completely understandable. He knew it was an adjustment for all of them, but if he was being honest, he hated the way Abbacchio looked at him sometimes, as if wondering if he was still really in there. He hoped hunting together might bring back the rapport they used to have.
"Let's do another round of the property, I want to get a better idea of where it might try to get at the sheep from," Bruno said.
Abbacchio nodded, then swiftly glanced away from Bruno, avoiding his newly scarlet eyes as he usually did when the vampire wasn't wearing his tinted glasses. Bruno suppressed the hurt that fought to well up and followed his teammate as they took a round of the farm.
It was almost oddly quiet, the kind that heightened tension when one was suspecting something bad to come. Bucciarati was grateful at least for his newly heightened senses, but it was hard for him to distinguish between the scent of the farm animals and that of any potential predator.
It was then that a sudden commotion sounded from further afield. The distressed lowing of cows, from the northern pasture, the one that skirted the woods where Bucciarati and Abbacchio had determined the block dog resided during the day.
The two Hunters shared a look and hurried in that direction pulling the guns from over their shoulders.
As they reached the fencing of the cow pasture, Bruno could see the animals huddling together in the center, shifting in distress. His eyes darted around, until he caught a large shadow flitting to one side of the fence.
"There," he pointed out to Abbacchio as the other Hunter raised his gun to his shoulder before swearing.
"Can't get a clear shot from here."
They hurried around the fence and Bruno could see the black dog inspecting the area, testing the fence to find the best way in. It stood nearly as large as the cows at the shoulder, powerful muscles rippling under the black fur.
Consecrated iron bullets already loaded, Bruno and Abbacchio both stopped as they got a clear shot and leveled their guns toward the beast.
Two shots rang out, sending the cows milling in terror, but the black dog simply spun around and dashed back into the woods.
"Dammit," Bruno growled, already reloading. There was blood splashed on the fence and trailing after the beast, but neither of them had gotten a good enough hit to take it down, which meant that now it was just injured and extra mean. "I guess we have no choice but to go in after it now." He nodded further down the tree line. "Head down that way and we can try to trap it between us."
Abbacchio nodded and hurried off as Bruno entered the woods, trying to train his ears to pick out the heartbeat of the black dog, or pick up the scent of its blood.
The latter was easier and he was able to follow the trail of blood even though he couldn't see it in the dark. He could definitely see better now in the dark than he could as a human, but nothing was foolproof.
It was then he realized just how quiet the surrounding forest had gone, no typical sounds of the woods at night. Bruno paused so he could concentrate on his surroundings, feeling that the black dog was close. The smell of blood was intense but he wasn't entirely able to pinpoint it.
The crack of a branch and a low growl had him spinning around right as a massive shape barreled out of the dark and slammed into him, bearing him to the ground with a startled shout.
He couldn't get his gun up to shoot because he had to quickly use it to stop the black dog's teeth from going straight for his throat as it bore down on him, snarling.
"Abbacchio!" he shouted, smashing the beast in the head with the butt of his shotgun before trying to scramble out from under it.
The black dog lunged and sank its teeth into Bruno's shoulder, clamping down as Bruno let out an agonized cry. It shook him like a ragdoll before releasing him and tossing him to one side.
Bruno skidded across the ground, coming to a sudden stop against a tree with a ragged gasp of pain. He shakily reached for one of his knives, bringing it up just as the black dog rushed at him again, snarling furiously.
"Bucciarati!" Abbacchio's voice shouted from nearby, and Bruno could hear his feet pounding across the ground.
The dog was on him again, and Bruno slammed the blade into its side, wrenching it down to open a vicious would, but the thickness of the beast's fur and muscle made it less devastating a blow that it should have been, in fact, the action only made it more furious.
It went for Bruno again and he once more brought his gun up to protect his throat, the beast practically chewing through the wooden stock. It snarled and furiously lashed out with its claws, tearing deep furrows across Bruno's ribs and stomach.
He screamed in agony, vision blurring as the black dog wrenched the shotgun from his hands, tossing it aside and clamping its jaw around his ankle to start dragging him away.
A gunshot rang out and the beast staggered, then started to bolt with Bruno's leg still clenched in his jaws.
"Hey!" Abbacchio shouted, getting off several more shots as Bruno tried to kick at the thing's snout, clawing desperately at the passing ground, even as his body felt like it was being torn apart.
Finally, one of the shots hit the black dog in the head and it seemed to think Bruno wasn't worth the trouble, dropping him as it limped off onto the night, pouring blood from multiple injuries.
Bruno collapsed where he fell, numb with pain, gasping for breath, unable to stop the moans that escaped him on each exhale.
"Bruno!" Abbacchio's desperate shout proceeded the pounding of feet as the other Hunter skidded to a stop next to him on his knees. "God, Bruno, holy shit…"
Bruno didn't have the breath to reply, simply blinked to fight back the darkness as he stared up into the horrified eyes of his friend.
~~~~~~~
Abbacchio couldn't see the full extent of Bucciarati's injuries, but he could see enough of the blood on the ground around him to know it was bad. Not to mention the sounds he was making, shuddering there on the ground. He rarely saw Bucciarati allow himself to show this much pain.
"Bruno," he called again, finally reaching out to touch his shoulder, before realizing that there was slick blood under his hand, soaking into his glove. He swallowed back his anxiety for the moment though, and tried to rouse the other Hunter. "Come on, we need to get out of here."
"G-go," Bruno croaked. "I'll be…fine."
"Like hell," Abbacchio snapped. "That bitch is licking its wounds right now, we'll hunt it down later, you need to get patched up before you bleed to death."
Bruno let out a breathless laugh. "Me bleed to death? Y'know it takes…more than that…"
Abbacchio felt a sick pit in his stomach at just another reminder of how much his friend was changed now. "Losing blood isn't good for vampires either. Come on," he growled and heaved Bruno up.
The other Hunter let out a loud groan through his teeth as he was forced upright, sagging instantly against Abbacchio as he wrapped one of Bruno's arms around his shoulders. Bruno gallantly attempted several steps before his feet were mostly just dragging so Abbacchio swore and simply heaved him up in his arms, grunting as he adjusted Bruno's deceptive weight.
The fact that the other Hunter made no protest at this development told Leone just how badly injured it was, and he didn't like that one bit.
He got them back out of the woods and crossed to the barn, which was the only bit of real shelter to be had out there. He struggled a bit to get the door open with his burden, but once they got inside, it smelled comfortingly of hay, a couple work horses snorting from their stalls at the disturbance and the smell of blood.
Abbacchio carried his injured comrade to the back and set him down more heavily than he would have liked in a pile of hay before looking around for some form of lighting.
He found a couple oil lamps and grabbed his lighter, illuminating the area by setting them on a couple boxes nearby once lit.
Now in the light, he almost wished he wasn't when he saw just how much blood was covering Bucciarati.
He swallowed hard and knelt beside the injured Hunter, carefully starting to unbutton his coat. There wasn't much left of it at this point and Abbacchio winced as he realized Bruno probably wouldn't even be able to save the garment. Not that that was the main issue at this point.
"Let's get this off," he murmured as he helped to prop Bruno up and tugged the sleeves down his arms. Bruno moaned in protest and settled heavily back against the hay when Abbacchio was done.
Nausea bubbled up in his throat as he finally got the coat off and saw the red tears in Bruno's white shirt. He steeled himself to peel the shredded fabric open and balked.
Bruno's left shoulder had been thoroughly chewed, deep holes oozing blood, but further down was even worst, Abbacchio realized, seeing that Bruno had very nearly been clawed open, deep red furrows tore across his stomach from right ribcage to left hip.
Bruno's eyes fluttered open briefly. "How bad?" he croaked.
Abbacchio swallowed. "Not good," he replied.
Bruno let out a shuddering sigh. "Black dog bites go septic even for vampires, don't they?"
"Yeah, I think so," Abbacchio said. "And we can't exactly use holy water on you."
"Just lavender and salt then," Bruno muttered, jaw clenching. "Should be some…in our supply bag."
Abbacchio pressed his lips together, but gathered Bruno's shredded coat and folded it up, pressing it against the bleeding wounds in his abdomen. Bruno let out a soft keen of pain as Abbacchio forced his hands against it. "Keep pressure on it, I'll be right back."
They'd thankfully left their extra supply pack in the barn when they'd gotten there earlier so he didn't have far to go. He grabbed it and slung it over his shoulder before he also grabbed a bucket and went to draw some water.
His hands shook slightly and he cursed himself. Bruno would be fine. He was mostly indestructible now, right? That was the one good thing about being a vampire.
And how many of them have you, a mere human, killed, Leone? He asked himself.
He forced those thoughts away, and pumped the water before hurrying back to the barn, casting around to make sure the black dog wasn't hiding anywhere.
Bruno was exactly where he had left him, breathing heavily through his nose.
"I'll make up a wash," Abbacchio informed him. "It's not going to be pleasant."
"I'm aware," Bruno replied.
Leone pulled out some salt and lavender oil, mixing them into the water. It smelled nice, calming Abbacchio slightly, but he knew that wasn't going to last long.
He pulled Bruno's ripped shirt off to at least keep it from getting wet and braced himself.
After looking around and finding nothing cleaner than his own handkerchief, he pulled it out and dunked it into the bucket.
"Alright, I'm going to start with your shoulder," he said.
Bruno nodded, tilting his head to one side, and Leone unceremoniously squeezed the water over his mauled shoulder.
Bruno shifted instantly, crying out as the water hit him. He instinctively started to curl up, forcing Abbacchio to have to press him back down, holding him there with a hand to his chest.
"These wounds are deep so I'm going to have to flush them several times," he said apologetically.
Bruno gritted his teeth, biting his lip with his fangs and all. Abbacchio winced, forcing himself not to look as he concentrated on cleaning the wound, trying to ignore the moans coming from the injured man.
Vampire—he supposed he should get used to saying.
Once he'd flushed the front and back of the bite wound several times, he turned to the deep gases across Bruno's belly.
"Alright, let's take care of these now—maybe turn on your side?"
Bruno rolled dutifully onto his good shoulder and Abbacchio soaked the rag again, restarting the process of squeezing the water over the wounds.
Bruno moaned loudly, back arching in agony. "God—it burns!" he gasped.
"You're torn up pretty bad," Abbacchio murmured, forced to grip Bruno's hip to keep him still as he fought to curl up.
Bruno shuddered with each flush, pressing one of his hands to his mouth and biting into the meat of his palm. Leone wanted to tell him to stop, but he would probably be doing the same in his position. The action barely muffled the sounds of pain, but it made it slightly easier for Leone to concentrate.
When he was finally done, he wrung the rag out and used it to dab the excess water away from the injuries before he rummaged around for bandages.
Bucciarati was barely conscious at this point, a cold sweat beading against his brow, body limp as Abbacchio maneuvered him as gently as possible so he could more easily bandage his injuries.
At least Bruno wasn't losing copious amounts of blood anymore, but Abbacchio was incredibly worried by how much he had already lost. He knew from experience with Giorno that losing blood and being injured in general made him very weak, needing blood to recover. Of course, he was just a dhampir, but Abbacchio assumed it applied to vampires as well.
Bruno was shivering violently by the time Abbacchio finished cleaning up, washing blood off his hands. He moved Bruno away from the wet hay and tried to make him comfortable, helping him put his shirt back on to offer a little extra warmth.
"Are you cold?" he asked lamely.
"Mm," Bruno murmured. "Seem to be."
Abbacchio pressed his lips together firmly, and took his own coat off, wrapping it around the other Hunter who glanced up at him gratefully, huddling under the warmed garment.
"I doubt I'm really…going anywhere," Bruno murmured. "So…if you want to chance it alone…you can go. I'll be fine."
Leone glanced down at him skeptically, pressing the back of his hand against Bruno's forehead and finding it extremely clammy. "You really are cold," he said in surprise and sat down next to Bruno, pulling him in against his side in an attempt to share his own body heat. Bruno grunted in protest at the jostling, but huddled closer appreciatively.
"There's no point in running into the woods for it," Abbacchio muttered. "It knows better where it's going in there. "We'll wait to see if it comes out again tonight and then shoot it."
Bruno sighed, opening his eyes to look up at him. "I'm sorry, I should have been more careful."
"It surprised you, we should have stuck together."
Bruno tensed briefly as a wave of pain went through him before he said tiredly, "I'm still…I'm trying to find the happy medium between knowing I'm physically stronger now, and actually utilizing that in a way that I am not continuously throwing myself into harm's way."
"Oh, so it took you until you become a damn vampire to figure that one out?" Abbacchio asked, not without a little exasperation.
"I suppose that is what got me into this situation in the first place," he replied, then let out a soft moan, curling further into himself. "God."
Leone watched helplessly as the injured Hunter shuddered in pain, breathing through his nose as cold sweat beaded on his brow.
"How bad?" Abbacchio asked quietly.
Bruno let out a shuddering exhale. "Feels like…'m still being ripped…apart." He swallowed hard, eyes squeezed shut as he curled further into himself, heavy against Abbacchio's side.
Leone hesitated slightly before he reached out to rub Bruno's back, trying to soothe, but he knew the other man had to be in a hell of a lot of pain right now.
And he wasn't going to get better this way either. He wouldn't be able to heal himself when he was already so weak. Which…left a question Abbacchio really didn't want to think about, but it needed to be addressed all the same.
"You need blood, don't you?" he finally asked.
Bruno let out a wry, helpless laugh. "It would help. It's hard…to think of that still." He cringed, swallowing down another whimper as he pressed his face into Abbacchio's side. "Blood should help me heal faster though."
"You know you shouldn't feel bad to ask for it," Leone said, though he couldn't keep the discomfort out of his voice. The thought that Bucciarati literally needed to drink blood to survive was still a lot for him to grasp. But he was sure that it was even worse for Bruno so he tried not to let it show.
Bruno looked up at him, red eyes clouded with pain. That was still the hardest thing for Abbacchio to get used to. The fact that he would never see his friend's blue eyes again, evoking so much emotion, either compassion or steely anger. But maybe all of that was still there. He just…didn't like to spend a long time searching.
"I think the farmer might owe us a sheep for our trouble." Bruno replied with a light chuckle that turned into a cringe. "We could say…the dog got it."
"You're going to try to wrangle a sheep in your condition?" Abbacchio asked. "Buggers kick, you know."
Bruno was silent, seeming to consider it. "I don't see another option," he said quietly.
Abbacchio felt a twist in his stomach, because the obvious answer was right in front of them. This was literally the last thing he wanted to suggest, but wasn't it kind of part of the job?
Bruno shifted to try and find a more comfortable position, a choked gasp escaping him. He pressed a shaky hand to his stomach, before pulling it away with fresh blood coating his palm. Leone's heart sank. He was still bleeding, and the more blood he lost…
He took a deep breath weighing his own discomfort against the discomfort the other man was obviously feeling. And coming to the conclusion that he was being a damned idiot. If he could offer any aid to his friend right now, then it was Leone's job to do so.
"If…" he hesitated, biting his lip briefly before he forced himself to continue. "I don't mind," he finally spat, then forced himself to clarify. "If you need to drink my blood."
Bruno's eyes opened, staring at him in surprise. "Leone, it's…I know how you feel about it…"
"You're hurt," Abbacchio grunted, unable to look at Bruno as he said it. "It's not like I haven't given blood to Giorno before…" God, he wished he had Mista's nonchalance about the whole getting used as a bloodbag thing. The other Hunter wore Giorno's fang marks as a testament to their camaraderie in battle like they'd sworn a blood oath or something.
Maybe Leone should start thinking of it the same way. Knowing Bruno's tendencies to getting into scrapes, he had a feeling this wasn't the last time he would be doing this.
"Are you sure?" Bruno asked, looking up at him.
Leone finally met his eyes again, concern mixing with the pain, and swallowed hard, nodding. "As long as you don't take any longer to decide and make me lose my nerve," he muttered.
Bruno nodded. "Thank you, Leone."
Abbacchio didn't reply, simply started to roll up one sleeve. Bruno's eyes were already latched onto the area where his veins ran and Leone's wondered just how much he had been fighting the urge to tap him before. He swallowed down those thoughts though, at least knowing Bruno had a monumental resistance to compulsive blood drinking, considering just how hard he denied himself during his initial transformation.
He certainly didn't ask twice when presented with the option, though. As soon as Abbacchio brought his arm even a fraction closer to him, Bruno had already grabbed hold of his wrist and elbow, leaning over to sink his fangs into the meat of his forearm.
Abbacchio couldn't help the small gasp of surprise he let out as he felt Bruno start drinking, growing more and more desperate with every gulp.
Abbacchio could feel the pull of blood loss, blinking woozily as Bruno only held onto his arm tighter, swallowing greedily, making no sign of stopping any time soon.
"Bruno," Abbacchio called. "Hey…how much do you need?"
There was no reply, just Bruno continuing to drink and Abbacchio feeling more and more drained, the blood loss making him blink dizzily.
"Hey!" he snapped, finally settling his other hand on Bruno's head. "That's enough…I can't…"
Bruno still didn't stop and Abbacchio gritted his teeth and grabbed a fistful of his hair, pulling his head backwards forcefully. "Bruno, stop!"
The vampire finally pulled away with a gasp, collapsing back into the hay. He reached up to put a hand over his mouth, eyes wide.
"Leone?" he asked cautiously. "I'm sorry, I…I didn't mean to drink that much…"
Abbacchio grunted and grabbed some of the extra bandages to wrap around his arm. "It's fine. I volunteered."
Bruno still looked torn, but Abbacchio wasn't about to discuss this right now. Neither of them had the energy. Bruno seemed to realize that and slumped once more, huddled under Leone's coat.
"How do you feel?" Abbacchio asked him.
"Hard to tell yet," Bruno admitted. "But…I think it's working."
"Well, good," Abbacchio muttered and lay back in the hay himself, trying to stop his head from spinning at the sudden loss of blood pressure.
Bruno was silent for a long moment before he said, "Thank you, Leone. Really. I know how hard it was for you and I—"
"Stop, please," Abbacchio glanced over at him, forcing himself to look Bruno in the eye. "You're still my boss—you're still my friend, okay? If I would have died for you before as a human, then why shouldn't I offer my blood to you as a vampire?"
"Well, I guess you really have progressed."
Leone scoffed, closing his eyes.
"I'm sure I'll get better about how much to take," Bruno told him, sounding slightly embarrassed. "Giorno said it might take a while for my diet to even out."
They were silent for a long time, lying there in the warm glow of the lanterns. It was almost peaceful, and Abbacchio was feeling rather tired now.
"I miss it, you know," Bruno said out of the blue, voice quiet and longing.
"Miss what?" Leone asked, glancing over at him.
Bruno was staring at the hand he had bitten, touching the two fang marks in the meat of his palm. "Eating real food. The simple joy of fresh bread and jam—the use of ingredients and spices. The warmth of the sun." His eyes wavered and he squeezed them shut. "Sometimes I wonder what my father would think to see me like this."
Leone turned toward him slightly. "I think from what you've told me, your father would accept you for who you are now," he said, cringing slightly. "He's certainly a better man than I," he muttered quietly, but was sure Bruno could still hear him and wished he hadn't said the words.
However, before they could continue the conversation, the sound of the cows lowing in the pen nearby had them both on the alert.
Abbacchio sat up and reached for his gun as Bruno fought to push himself up, groaning.
"Easy," Abbacchio murmured to him, as he climbed to his feet, fighting back his fatigue. "I'm going to go look."
"Wait," Bruno gritted his teeth and forcibly grabbed Abbacchio's arm, using it to lever himself up as he shakily reached for his own shotgun, still showing the mangled bitemarks from the black dog. "There's a clear view to the pen from the barn door. Get me over there and I'll back you up."
"A clear view, yeah, but no shot for a shotgun. You need a rifle for that," Abbacchio muttered.
"I can be a distraction. The scent of my blood will lure it out," Bruno said. "If you're ready, you can take it down."
"I'm not using you as bait!" Abbacchio hissed. "You can't even stand on your own."
The cows' mooing got more and more frantic and Bruno shook his head, pushing Abbacchio forward. "There's no time to argue. If we don't take it down before dawn then it will just go to ground in the woods somewhere."
Abbacchio huffed, but his Hunter's instinct knew Bucciarati was right. "Fine. But if it starts running toward you, get inside and close the damn door."
"I'll see what I can do," Bruno told him.
Abbacchio brought him to the doorway, opening it up. Outside, they could see the cows shifting around and something dark prowling from the other side of the pen.
"Go," Bruno said, sitting himself up against the door and loading his gun. "I'll be fine."
Abbacchio nodded and hurried off, doing his best to creep up on the black dog.
The beast was growling, limping around the pen trying to find a way inside.
"Hey ugly!" Abbacchio shouted.
The dog turned, lowering itself on its haunches threateningly and snarling.
Abbacchio snarled back and cocked his gun, leveling it at the beast. "Come get me, bitch."
It lunged and Abbacchio shot. The bullet glanced off the beast's shoulder and the Hunter swore. "This thing just won't go down!" he shouted to Bruno.
He stood his ground, taking shot after shot, before the thing barreled past him, heading directly toward the injured vampire, leveling his own gun.
"Bruno!" Abbacchio shouted, reloading as quickly as he could.
Another shot rang out and a yelp. The black dog took a head dive, crumpling half way before it forced itself up again and staggered toward Bruno, snarling in fury.
"Bruno!" Abbacchio cried, shooting again, but unable to get a shot level as the thing ran full tilt toward the injured Hunter.
Bruno simply held his gun at the ready, facing the dog down. Abbacchio swore, giving up shooting and simply ran forward, wondering what the idiot was thinking.
The black dog was almost on Bruno and the vampire moved, lunging forward to shove the barrel of the gun into the beast's open jaws, pulling the trigger.
The black dog's head exploded in a mist of red and Abbacchio skidded to a halt, barely missing the spray.
Bruno slumped back with a pained wince, dropping the gore-soaked gun on the ground.
"You good?" Abbacchio asked, carefully stepping around the twitching corpse.
Bucciarati nodded breathlessly, still not moving from his place against the door, hand clutching his stomach.
"I thought we just talked about not doing shit like this?"
Bruno cracked his eyes open. "It worked, didn't it?"
Abbacchio looked up at the moon in exasperation. Maybe Bruno really hadn't changed at all.
~~~~~~~
After confirming the kill with the farmer the two Hunters packed up their cart to head out. Abbacchio frankly couldn't be bothered to care about making the farmer figure out what to do with the giant black dog corpse. They were doing this for free after all and Bucciarati had been gravely injured. Besides, they needed to get back before the sun started to rise or he'd have even more issues.
As Abbacchio helped his injured companion to the cart after hitching the mule up to it, Bruno stopped him, leaning against the side of the cart.
"Are we good, Leone?" Bucciarati asked him, the question sincere.
"What do you mean?" Abbacchio asked awkwardly. "Because you need a lesson in self-preservation or…"
"Because of the vampire thing," Bucciarati clarified, staring pointedly at him.
Abbacchio let out a long breath, fiddling with the straps on the supply bag before he answered, "This is a change that we'll all need to adjust to, and I know you most of all," he said slowly. "That being said…" He finally turned to look at the other Hunter, forcing himself to meet Bucciarati's eyes. "I came to terms with it the night you told us. I—" he sighed. "In a way I guess I was relieved. Because, I had been so convinced that something was wrong, and that you were dying and there wasn't anything I could do to stop it." He said the rest in a rush, not even having wanted to admit that to himself.
"Not dying," Bruno said simply. "Just undying."
Leone huffed. "So yes, we're fine, and we'll figure out how to make this work more smoothly," he said, tossing their gear into the back of the cart before he gave Bucciarati a hand up. "That's what family does, right?"
"Yes," Bruno replied sincerely, giving him a grateful look as he settled down for the ride home. "It is."