[Wow, like Lancia could talk with that sort of reaction.

He started bandaging up his arms to keep the salve in place and from soaking into anything else and ruining Lancia's clothes, turning his gaze back down to the task at hand. It was either that or have the other man see that flash of irritation and possessiveness spike through him. Lancia was not his, not yet, despite how much he had struggled to claim him. But he was proving to be difficult, a strange challenge he was still puzzling out, even after all of these years. Perhaps Al and Ciro's blind and easy loyalty had spoiled him, to the point where just thinking of something as his made it true. Usually he was better and far more well-versed in take overs than this, but he wanted something different from the older man. What, exactly, was difficult to say and therein lied the problem. 'Everything' was rather nebulous.]

Not as old as I thought you were when we first arrived. The gap between us seems smaller every day.

[Once he was satisfied that everything was in order, he took a few steps back, as if to admire his handiwork.]

Call on me when you need me.