Una Cosa Più Grande ~ A Short Sprace Story

VII ~ A Glorious Milano Pride Parade

Oooooh PRIDE PARADE!! :)

Again, I've never been to a pride parade before, I've never been to Milan; therefore I have never been to Milano Pride; I think this is a legit triple threat haha; we'll just see how this goes.

Also ... in a previous chapter ... there was some subtle foreshadowing for characters that will be seen in this chapter ... I love this crossover ...

I love this chapter.

Enjoy! :)

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Antonio and Sean spend more time exploring Tuscany and Milan the next two days.

There are many hotels here that are gay-friendly, and are hosting a lot of people coming here for Pride Week and the parade. Sean and Antonio are staying in one of these hotels.

Finally, it's July 2nd: the day of the Milano Pride parade.

Today.

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Today is one of those days where Antonio's mind wakes him up a tad bit earlier than he was planning.

He's fine with it, though. More thinking time for him.

And more time to stare at Sean's face, his beautiful peaceful face, while Sean still gets time to sleep.

Technically, they don't have to wake up that early: the parade itself doesn't start until 15:00 anyway.

Antonio is so glad he has Sean here with him. He had been planning on coming here alone. He also had been planning on going to that concert alone--grazie al cielo that he was able to get a ticket for Sean in such short notice. But he didn't do either of those alone. And he's grateful for that. He's grateful that he's had Sean by his side this week. He doesn't know what he would have done without him.

Sean's going to leave soon.

Antonio stiffens. I know.

He's going to forget about you.

He sighs interally. I know.

But, he reasons with himself, I have this moment, here and now. And I will do my best to enjoy this moment.

Carpe diem.

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A few hours later, they're out of the hotel room and out on the streets, just passing time. By noon they find a place to have lunch.

"A lot of the people here are from the hotel we're staying at, and the other hotels close by," Antonio explains. He gestures around. There are a lot of couples. All look so happy. "And everyone feels safe for once. It's great."

"Do you come to Milano Pride often?" Sean asks. "You just seem to know a lot about this."

"I've come here over the years. Oh, and the thing is, it wasn't called Milano Pride until, like, 2013. I mean, the parade existed before then, but they would just use a different name. Now it's one of the biggest pride events in Italy."

"That's awesome."

"Yeah, Italy needs it." He leans back. "So. Any good pride parades in Brooklyn?"

"I went to one in early June," Sean responds. "It's called the ChamberQUEER Pride Festival. It's a lot of fun, it's where they mix centuries of music together, and highlights underrepresented queer figures in classical music, and it does a whole lot of other things."