[Despite the fact that Al was the more aggressive, loud, and persistent of his two subordinates, it didn't surprise him that Ciro would come to him first. Al was simple by nature, and even if he didn't like the circumstances, if Faustino told him to sit and stay on train tracks while the train came hurtling down towards him, he would do so without question. Ciro, perhaps, might do the same, but he wouldn't be happy about it. Ciro, after all, made himself indispensable because he was the brains where Al was the brawn, who could manage their more rowdy companion when Faustino wasn't around. He was the one that Faustino could depend on to assess a situation almost as well as Faustino himself could have.

So even without Lancia telling him his lie was a poor one, Faustino already knew. But he had felt the need to save face, in more ways than one.

He leaned back against the pillows propping him upright in the bed, smirking. His face was healing well enough that he only needed the lightest of illusions, though he kept the bruising.]

Well enough that this bed rest is unnecessary.

[He raised an eyebrow at the question, canting his head to the side.]

Dare I ask what trouble you and Al have been in during my absence?