Chapter Text
Fire always destroys, but also heals. Fire burns the old to make way for something new.
Lio knew this better than anyone as he and Galo rode up through the mountains the formerly frozen lake on his motorcycle. Hitched to the back was a camper overloaded with supplies and odds and ends Galo said he needed to take care of.
Lio watches the sunset shift into an array of colors as he presses his head against Galo's back. He didn't come out here willingly. All Galo said was that he was working way too hard for one person and was forced to clock out early per Ignis's order.
“Are you okay back there?” Galo called out over the roar of the engine.
Brought back to reality. "Yeah, I'm good." Lio blinks as Galo slows down towards a shore bank.
“There,” he said, throwing out the kickstand and cutting the engine just at the edge of the beach. He stood there, looking out at the lake, now filled with water sparkling before them. Galo removed his helmet and shook his hair free to a fairly disheveled mess. “I’m glad you decided to go camping with me,” he continued as he helped Lio dismount the bike. “I can get camp started if you want to go gather some firewood. Then we can make dinner.” Galo beamed like the rays of the sun that were disappearing behind the mountains surrounding them.
Lio could only nod as he slowly walked around the place. The peaceful surroundings clashing with the storm in his mind as memories of being on the run after the prison break. Starving and cold. His hurting people. Galo’s capture. Thyma’s death--
“OI. I can hear you think.” Galo’s voice cuts through his thoughts as always. “You need to stop thinking so much while we’re out here. We came out here to help you stop that and what better way than to get away from it all and just cool down!”
“I know, I know,” Lio called out as he meandered farther into the woods. “It’s just… weird coming back here.”
Galo stared in silence and nodded. “Well, the only thing we can do to take care of those bad memories is by making better ones!” he said, kicking the trailer attached to his bike free and popping it open. Several camping bags fell out of the overflowing trailer and onto the ground, revealing a large trash bag underneath.
“What is that?” His interest piqued, Lio leaned over the bag and carefully opened it to see old newspaper clippings and ripped photos of just Kray from the arms of a presumably younger Galo. Along with those, there were also old oversized sweaters and yellowed letters with faded handwriting.
“Stuff for the bonfire!”
With an eyebrow raised, Lio turned back to see a sheepish look on the other man’s face. “So you brought me here to get rid of your trash?”
“Not so much trash,” Galo said in his defense, rubbing the back of his neck. “Think of it like a cleanse or something. I’m trying to close that chapter, and I feel like this is the best way to take the first step.”
Even though the intention was running completely on Galo logic, Lio found himself nodding in agreement. He used to solve every problem with fire so why not this too?
“So how about this,” he said, stepping closer to Lio and kissing his forehead. The sky colors both of them in orange. “We get that firewood real quick and get back so I can get where we’re sleeping set up before everything else, okay?”
Lio let out a small sigh and relented. “Okay, well, I’ll go do that and you set up what you need,” he looked up, watching the clouds slowly roll by and the faintest stars twinkling in the distant sky, “We’re losing daylight.”
Setting up camp goes as smoothly as it gets when Galo is around. Lio gathered a good amount of kindle before he feels a branch snag his earring off and fling it a bit aways from their campsite. He let out a cry, clasping where the offending earring once was. Even though it holds no real monetary value, it was a precious gift given to him by a Burnish child he helped, prior to joining Mad Burnish. The entirety of his leather outfit burned away with the second Great World Burn, save for tattered pants and the earring. After discarding the pants that were torn to shreds, that single piece of cheap plastic meant the world to him. Since then, Lio always made sure that he had it on him.
Galo just sees Lio running out frantically, and after Lio briefly explains what happened, Galo insists on helping. Lio purses his lips, panicking as he felt the guilt of losing the small souvenir of his former struggles. It was confusing to him. Although he was happier now than he was back then, the earring still carried the love of the people he called “family” in it. Pangs of guilt twist at Lio’s chest, lamenting at the threat of losing the last piece of his former self until he heard a triumphant cry from the bushes behind him. He turns around to see Galo triumphantly holding the earring, smiling like the sun.
“Lio! I found it!” Galo beamed, presenting the now thoroughly damaged plastic.
Lio looks it over and ignores the slight disappointment when he realizes that the branch bent it beyond repair. The last reminder of his time as the leader of the Mad Burnish was no longer something he could wear proudly on display.
“You’re doing it again,” Galo said, noticing the vague cloud of sadness hovering over Lio’s eyes.
“My bad. Let’s go get that fire started.” Lio snaps out of his daze, quickly putting the damaged earring back into his pocket before carrying an armload of kindling. “I have another load of firewood at your feet. Be sure to bring that, too!”
“Okay! Race you back!” Galo swoops down to grab his armful and rushes past Lio.
Lio quickly follows close behind, “Hey, no fair! You had a head start!” Peals of laughter echoed through the forest and the last traces of a golden sunset shifted between the trees.
A half hour later, Lio found himself lighting a fire in the pit they arranged, and Galo could be heard fighting with the tent. Lio couldn’t help but laugh to himself. The idea of camping for pleasure was new and alien to him. It was just a few months ago when he had to for survival. Who would want to sleep on the dirt for fun?
He heard Galo yelp and he spun around, watching him jump back as a pole fought its eyelet in the nylon. Lio looked over at Galo, startled and he laughed it off with a dismissive wave. Weirdo, Lio thought to himself with a chuckle as he built the fire with a satisfactory crackle.
Dinner was simple but a pleasant one. Despite Lio having more experience with cooking things over a fire, Galo seemed to know what he was doing and let him take charge of dinner while Lio’s focus went back to the items in the abandoned trash bag for a while. He can’t relate to having a role model the way Galo idolized Kray. Formerly, Lio reminds himself and quickly changed gears as Galo starts roasting marshmallows.
“Hey, wanna know what would make those taste better? Burning the trash.” Lio suggests, flicking nonexistent lint off of his clothes and into the fire before him. The two left the station in a rush earlier and both of them were in their uniforms.
“Didn’t I say that wasn’t trash?” Galo frowned, carelessly tossing a marshmallow into the fire to watch it bubble up and melt into cinders. “It’s a cleanse. Like a burning ceremony.”
What Galo doesn’t notice is the slight blush that radiates on Lio’s face. If Galo noticed Lio sudden embarrassment, he doesn’t mention it as he burns his tongue on a perfectly roasted marshmallow. He is quick to recover as he is up in Lio’s face before he can react.
“Sooooooo, did you want to start now and skip dessert?” Galo asked, tilting his head, bumping foreheads with Lio. “You can pick the first thing to burn if you really want,” Galo offers as he unceremoniously dumps everything out from the bag and onto the ground. “Go ahead!”
Lio smiles at the sweet gesture and looks through the items and spots one of the old letters. His smile quickly melts away as he holds an aged piece of paper in his hand. There was no symbol indicating that it was from the former governor specifically but there are the words ‘Galo Thymos’ written in careful penmanship on the top of the envelope. “Oh! I remember that from my days in the orphanage.”
Normally, Lio is always willing to hear more about Galo’s childhood, but a nagging feeling in the back of his mind reminds him that these objects were given to his boyfriend/partner by Kray. He knows that these were important to Galo once upon a time so Lio does not look at the contents out of respect for his privacy.
“From the beginning it is then,” Lio announces as he puts a corner of the letter into the flames and watches it burn in his hand and drops it into the bonfire before it gets too close to his skin. His time with Burning Rescue gave him enough experience to know when to know when the fire is just about to graze his skin. They watch the paper ignite and curl into ashes floating on the night breeze as they set the items ablaze piece by piece.
The evening grew colder as more things were offered to the blaze. Soon enough, it was well into the night when the two finally ran out of things to burn. Galo sat watching a recent article of him receiving the medal of honor burn to ashes when he looked back at Lio. The firelight framing his face quite nicely as he notices the flickering flames reflected in his eyes. That was when Galo made up his mind.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the medallion that started this entire journey. He tried giving it back to Kray the same day he learned about the Burnish experiments and the Parnassus. Kray never took it back in hopes of Galo joining him in his efforts of migration across the stars. Ever since the Promare returned to their universe and Kray was imprisoned, he swore on that medal to always do better than the person he once inspired to be. People should be rewarded by people who deserved to give out rewards. He closes his fingers cover the cold metal laced with cold memories, watching it disappear in his calloused hand. “Hey Lio.”
“Hm?” Lio’s gaze is ever focused on the light before him.
“Hold out your hand.”
Lio finally turns to face him as he opens up a palm towards his partner. He blinks once in shock when he sees what awaits in his hand. “What’s this for?” he asks before he has a chance to think. Of course, he knows what Galo is asking him to do as his fingers trace over the residual warmth of Galo’s palm. Why is Galo so willing to let him destroy something so precious?
“Go ahead, throw it in,” Galo states as if it were the most obvious thing at the moment. “What did you expect I gonna do with it? Eat it?” He took a moment to admire the medal in Lio’s hand, tracing the engraved embellishments. Despite the memories, it was a pretty medal.
“Of course not.” Lio snorts and continues without wasting a beat, “What I want to know is why? Isn’t this important to you?” He closed the medal in his palm and with Galo’s and tried to press it back into his hands. Lio couldn’t. It didn’t feel right with the weight it carried for Galo.
“You earned this too, you know.”
Stunned for a moment, Lio can’t seem to figure out what Galo is implying. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve been thinking--”
“What a surprise. You. Thinking.” Lio deadpans with the hint of amusement evident on his face.
“Hush, you. This is important.” Galo waves away the mood as Lio laughs. He has a nice laugh, he thinks and continues on seriously. “Without your plan on getting caught that day, I’d have never met you. In a roundabout way, your capture is what gave me this medal. Which is what led me to the truth about Kray. Without that, we couldn’t have saved the world.”
Galo watched Lio’s expression turn serious as he paid close attention to his reasoning. “Without you, I wouldn’t even be here with you today, and that definitely wouldn’t be in your hands. So this is not only my medal; it’s ours.”
“But--” Lio tries to return the medal back to its rightful owner but Galo cuts him off and refuses to take it back. He grabs Lio’s hand and holds them, fingers rubbing over his knuckles before placing a gentle kiss on top.
“I don’t need this to remind me to do better. You make me want to keep going, not some medal from a person who wanted me dead.”
The world around them falls into silence. Lio has stopped thinking at this point and was focused on the feeling of warmth in his hands. On his hands. From a heat that wasn’t coming from the fire burning through the night. Right, he’s not burning alone anymore.
Looking to Galo one more time for reassurance, Lio lets the medal slip out of his hand and into the fire, watching the red ribbon turn to ash and metal glows red and blackens.
“No regrets?”
“None when I’m with you.”
Lio sits comfortably for a while. Watching the flames always calmed him down back when the voices of the promare were still ringing in his head. Despite being the aloof leader everyone else thought he was, he still enjoyed sitting with loved ones around an open fire. It’s almost like being with family again, his mind wanders off to the good times at the settlement and was glad to share one of his favorite pastimes with Galo. It was that moment, he realizes the weight of what he had just done.
They are together. Alone. Burning sentimental objects that were very precious to Galo’s life. With the climax of Lio burning something that has the equivalence to a marriage proposal.
‘Wait, slow down. Can this even be considered a marriage proposal?’ Lio’s mind scrambles as he tries to recall how the Burnish marriage offer works. Two Burnish who want to become one flame come together and offer each other gifts to burn. The object in question could be anything but has to be given with the partner in mind. There can be as many or as little reasons and meanings to the selection of a betrothal gift. However, the final step remains the same: in order to accept the proposal, the person burns the gift. He just burned the medal Galo gave him.
He presses his face into Galo’s shoulder with a sigh of defeat. He’s really done it now, hasn’t he? Lio never considered the idea of being married before. His goal was to establish a city of the Burnish, for the Burnish and was willing to devote his life for his people, even if it meant burning out. However with the Promare gone, all of that planning went out the window.
Question is: does he want to pull through with this?
He finally looks up at Galo’s face. Galo is quiet for once. He has a soft gaze looking into the fire, enjoying the moment he willingly shares with him, of all people. It never occurred to Lio that he would be sitting here with the man he once considered his enemy (and not tied up) and being romantic by the firelight. In such a short span of time, Lio’s world views has been shaken, broken, and put back together.
He’s worth it, a small voice resembling the Promare rings in the back of his mind. Galo is his new fire in this chapter of his life; Lio is determined to never let it burn out.
Finding his resolve, he remembers the engagement has to go both ways. Galo has to burn something Lio gives. He has to quickly come up with something as compensation while the now-engagement bonfire is still going strong. Seeing that this entire idea is in the rush of the moment, he might need to give Galo something another day. As he privately panics, a mountain breeze wafts through and he shivers, and his pocketed hand brushing against something he’s forgotten about. With determination, he takes out the now broken earring.
“Hey Galo, do you mind burning one more thing?”
“Sure! What is it?” Ever clueless.
Lio takes his hand and gently places the broken jewelry in the middle of Galo’s palm. “This is the last piece of the outfit I wore when I first met you. Now that it’s broken, I don’t see any reason to keep it.”
With a puzzled expression, Galo asks, “Isn’t this important then? I came here to burn my old ties with Kray. You don’t need to burn anything. I brought you out here to enjoy burning stuff with me.”
Knowing very well that his true intentions didn’t go through, Lio shakes his head. “We all have things to burn out of our lives. It makes way for something new,” he recalls his thoughts from earlier today. “The Promare and the Mad Burnish are no more. You and I both saw to that. I feel like this has to be done for it to be completely over.”
“But why can’t you just do it yourself?”
“You started it, you finish it. Besides, I burned your medal. It’s your turn.” With that, Lio’s decision is final.
Galo only looked at the earring before he tosses it into the fire, refusing to leave Lio’s side even for a second. Lio silently says farewell to the piece of him that melts away.
"Do you regret it?"
"Not at all. At least it was fashionable."
"Hey! That medal was totally flashy!"
"Sure, if you like looking like a tool."
"I resent that. It's not my fault I'm popular. You're lucky to even be around the great Galo Thymos!"
“You dummy,” Lio said, laughing. “You’re only lucky that I, Lio Fotia, can keep that ‘burning soul’ of yours contained.”
Rolling his eyes, Lio playfully shoves him off of the log. Galo falls over onto his back, recovers quickly, and rushes over to the tent to grab a blanket for them to share. Draping it over their shoulders, Lio settled back into watching the fire burn bright as he listened to the crickets in the distance and the waves softly rolling onto the shore. For the first time in a while after everything and the chaos of paperwork, Lio felt his daily stressors vanish.
The lake was glistening under the moonlight as they both looked out over it. For a moment, Lio felt like he was living outside of his own body. The entire evening and the proposal felt unreal. Nestling himself deeper into Galo’s arms, Lio listened to the beat of Galo’s heart which started to sound like a chant of ‘forever… forever.’ It makes him shiver to think about what transpired, but it soon was replaced by the warmth he feels over what is to come.
The two keep watch over the fire until Lio finds himself yawning, exhausted from the long day. Galo’s steady breathing combined with the warmth of the shared blanket lured him to comfort, pushing and pulling at the last stores of energy he had. When sleep finally takes him and the fire dies out, Galo carefully lifted Lio into his arms, leading him to the tent.
“I love you,” Galo said, giving the sleeping Lio a gentle kiss on the temple before tucking him into a sleeping bag and getting himself to sleep.