Chapter Text
Uncertain flame of hope I found
Will you lead me back on the right track?
Ashes by Hiroyuki Sawano
He woke up slowly, eyes blinking, adjusting to brightness of the room, knowing that he didn’t have to do anything that day. Although Lio preferred to to wake up at set time and start his day organised, it wasn’t always a given that he would have been able to sleep at all. Fixing his sleeping schedule, after literal years of being forced to stay awake for days on the run and exhausting himself to the point when even his promare weren’t able to keep him running, was harder than he anticipated. And the sheets were warm, sleeping in his new hoodie was warm, not moving was warm.
Ever since Promare left, everything felt so cold; and all he could do was put more sweaters and shirts on himself. Even his old vinyl pants no longer made him warm - only sweaty.
Responsibilities. Even though it was the weekend and both him and Galo were forced off duty (regardless of their complaints), he would still spend most the day with paperwork, trying to organize arranging ID-s for ex-Burnis; trying to get them anything so they can start a decent life. Having wiggled his way out of his sheets nest (slowly, so he would stay in warmth as long as possible), he stood up, putting on soft slippers Aina got him a few days back.
They were nice. Surprisingly nice. Not the slippers, but the Burning Rescue team. Ever since the Ex-Burnish amnesty program had been launched, he was allowed to work at the fire station. He didn’t have much choice, really - Galo dragged him there straight from the court, explaining to him that since they were already connected, they definitely have to work together and he needs a team of friends to have his back. He didn’t really complain or put up any fight. Why would he? They were offering him a stable job and people who will not discriminate him, and he was allowed to take up as many ex-Burnish cases in his spare time as he wanted. Work for the Burnish Amnesty foundation turned out to be easier than he expected. Donations had been coming in every day, and he knew that Galo was giving a generous amount of his paycheck for it too; rest of the team was probably not far behind with that. He appreciated it more than he was willing to voice.
Galo.
He never expected to move in with him without second thoughts. At first he wanted to get a place of his own once he gathered enough money, but the Burning Rescue team leader, Ignis, said it would be better if he stayed with one of them. Trauma, getting back to the society and shock of change had been mentioned carefully, as if Lio had PTSD. Of course he didn’t, he was stronger than that. He merely had nightmares, and that fleeting feeling telling him to run whenever he saw the police - even though he would be in his Burning Rescue uniform. That wasn’t PSTD, but only a habit.
Of course it was only a habit.
But somehow he is now living with Galo. He even made the man buy himself a new couch and during a heated discussion they agreed to get a leather one, black as Lio likes, but openable so it could work as a bed. Somehow they also paid for it together, splitting the fee, not thinking that eventually it will have to go or stay once either of them will move on with their life.
Move on? Galo insisted on calling them soulmates since they'd shared their mind and soul in Deus Ex Machina that one time. It was quite hard for him to argue about that - they were actually somehow weirdly connected and it seems that bond never really faded, making Lio feel hungry when Galo was making his way home tired from work and actually ordering something for them both just in time to get it for his starving friend. He knew when to put popcorn into the microwave, when Galo was picking a movie in the living room without telling him he even turned the TV on. But the oddest thing was that he would start typing “cute” in his phone when Galo was sending him a dog picture, before he actually received it. Normally, it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing, as he knew that if Galo is sending him a pictures, it will either be a selfie from the Fire Station or a dog. Both those pictures would be cute, but he felt that tiny spark of joy and he felt the smile creep on his face and before he knew it he was typing “cute” to an empty chat - before even an icon indicating that Galo was typing or sending him anything appeared.
Sometimes Galo only texted back “I KNOW RIGHT” - in capitals, just like the energy of his speech - forgetting to upload the actual picture.
Galo was cute too. He was like a faithful dog that never left Lio’s side. When Lio was able to finally leave his apartment ( Their apartment? His apartment ? Who knows ?), after the court was done with the amnesty program, Galo kept following him around, pressing that he is here to help, he is to here to support Lio, and apparently to even drive him home, regardless if Lio was getting mad and screaming that he can handle it all on his own. He could though, Galo knew it too. He just liked to follow him around, it seemed.
He is protecting me from loneliness.
The thought popped in his head as he made his way to the kitchen and had to shake it off his head quickly, hurting his knee on the sharp counter in the lack of focus. He was vulnerable in this house but strangely comfortable with that - it was probably the only place in the entire universe where he felt okay with letting his guard down. Hissing from pain on, he put the kettle on the stove and turned it on. Making himself a coffee was one of his favourite things to do. It seemed that Galo was here earlier, dirty mug with the fire station logo left in the sink and a small note on the counter saying that Galo is out and will be back before noon.
He felt a bit uneasy even though he shouldn't have. Wasn’t it normal for him to be alone? He didn’t like being alone in Galo’s flat. He liked when that noisy giant occupied space with him, it made it easier not to think too much when he was feeling anx… not so well. Lio Fotia was never anxious. He was just tired. Whistle of the boiling water interrupted his train of thoughts and made him focus on it. He was careful - he only got burned once ever since the promare went away . Galo made such a big fuss about it, banning him from the kitchen for a week - before he finally convinced him that he has to try in order to learn. He was craving warmth and the only salvation so far was long hot showers. Water in the tub got cold way too quick for his liking; and neither Galo nor anybody else could see that the shower he took was too hot, making his body gain those funny red patterns when you start to almost burn your flesh, but not enough to actually damage it. He didn’t mean to hurt himself, he just wanted some warthm that his body and soul were craving ever since they departed. Promare’s voices were substituted by white noise made by Galo with his every breath, every loud, obnoxious comment, every laugh and every move that made everything around him make a sound too. It was a surprisingly good replacement, it worked, it was sufficient.
It's too quiet now.
He sat in his still slightly warm sheets with the cup of coffee, waving to the TV to turn it on and watch the news. Galo wasn’t on them, so it meant he didn’t rush out from the apartment to save some lives despite their ban to work on the weekends. That was good. He took the tablet that belonged to Galo but was now mostly used by Lio (He even changed the password from “MATOI” to a combination of numbers and letters to make it an actual password. After Galo’s cries, they settled on “LioDeGalo1418”.
It had face recognition set up to it’s owner anyway, so Lio didn’t know why Galo wanted another password so badly, but he handled it anyway). He scrolled through his emails quickly, seeing that some were opened by Galo in the morning. He still didn’t know how this overeager puppy managed to not wake him in the morning when he was so loud in everything else he did on daily basis.
Most of the opened mail were Ex-Burnish ID applications, all of them still on hold or in processing. They needed them desperately to get the reparations, to get a job, to get a bank account, to buy things, to rent a flat. They were mostly on temporary ID-s or in shelters, some of more lucky ones like Lio already working and living with non-burnish friends. But they needed help and as the member of the foundation, he was doing his best to handle it quickly. After reading though over fifty emails and replying to over half of them, he realised he abandoned that unfinished coffee some time ago- now only cold and bitter leftovers of the liquid left in the only mug that was officially his in the apartament, small flames lining the bottom of the cup (a present from the ex-burnish friends). His feet were getting cold on the couch so he started to wonder if he shouldn't stand up, wash and dress himself up, maybe eat something, when the doors slammed. He jerked on his seat, almost spilling everything from his mug that he was about to take to the kitchen, surprised by the sudden sound. He shouldn't have been surprised - it was ten to noon, so Galo was to be here soon. If he wasn’t, Lio would have been worried, though he felt like if the other was actually in any danger, he would feel it in every bone.
“I’m home!” Galo screamed again.
I know.
- Lio thought with a smile, shuffling off the sofa.
“Welcome home.” he said instead, taking the mug to put it on the coffee table safely and starts folding the bed to make it an actual sofa again.
“I’ll go make breakfast! ” Galo exclaimed happily making his way to the kitchen. It was another one of those mind reading soulmate things - knowing that he didn’t have breakfast yet, and coming in to the apartment loud since he knew somehow deep in his heart, that Lio was awake already. He never woke him with such actions so far, and it seemed to be one of those things that will remain a mystery. Lio liked it though, he liked to still have at least that tiny glimpse of superpowers, magic in his life after Promare departed. Galo didn’t ask what he wanted for breakfast either, he probably knew it somehow, though their “soulmate” bond. To Lio, there was one terrifying thing about it - the possibility that it might fade in time, break or just burn out. He was holding onto this bond a lot, it made his loneliness a bit better, a bit easier.
How will I be able to keep up again if I become completely alone?
“Come, It’s almost done, I brought you something” Galo exclaimed from the kitchen, the apartment smelling like scrambled eggs. Oh. Yes, he indeed wanted scrambled eggs. He made his way to the kitchen and sat on the chair that was different to the other chair that came with the apartment. They found it standing next to their local trash can, the seat worn out and the textile covering it cracked in a few places. Somebody clearly wanted to get rid of it, but Lio back then felt oddly connected to that old furniture, reminding him of home before all of that happened. Before Lio was able to work at the Burning rescue, he focused on paperwork and renovating the chair, painting it dark and changing the upholstery to leather. It was a simple, art deco stylised piece, fitting Lio’s aesthetic perfectly.
“Thanks” he said when a big portion of scrambled eggs and two cheese toast were put in front of him, and looked up at Galo. Today the other man was wearing a shirt that underlined his muscles in a really nice way and made Lio’s mind run in a direction he usually didn’t allow it to go. They were soulmates, yes, but Galo was tall, handsome and definitely, surely straight or fire-extinguisher-sexual. Maybe Matoi sexual.
Maybe if Lio’s last name was Matoi, he would stand a chance.
If Galo was by chance into him, he already had a few months of chances to show it and Lio didn’t want to push his luck. That was one of those things that their soulmate bond told him nothing about. That was an unspoken thing between them - “soulmates”, but in platonic sense. They have never discussed the whole thing, just took it as it was, bickering and flirting lightly and shamelessly but never actually acting up to it; teasing one another, but never touching, being extremely domestic together, but never going nearly remotely as far as sleeping in the same bed. Galo was like an open book, no, like a dog who cannot hide their excitement by anything, because the wiggling of their tail would give him away. Even easier to read. If he liked Lio, it would have shown already.
“It snowed a little today” Galo said cheerfully. He seemed to like the idea of snow. Lio was rather curious of it - he didn’t remember the feeling of snow on his hands; everything had been melting around him for so long that it was rather like an old dream of his childhood, something he was only told about but didn’t have any memories of his own. It also meant it will get even colder - and Lio shivered in his hoodie at the very thought.
“Want to see the snow later in the day? Ignis will kill us if we only work for the whole day. We can go grab some pizza for dinner” Galo suggested lightly, no pressure in his words. Lio nodded, mouth full of eggs, and looked up at the other’s happy face again .
“What did you get me again?” he asked, since Galo never elaborated on the statement. The man in question shoved the rest of his breakfast, not in the prettiest manner, into his mouth and came back to the entrance where he left a medium sized package packed in plain brown paper. That looked oddly old-fashioned for the world they were living in now. What that could possibly be? Old books? Or maybe something from Galo’s childhood?
The package was carefully pushed towards Lio, a warm, gentle smile reassuring him that it was something that he shouldn't be afraid of. Putting his plate aside, he pulled the object carefully and untied the string that held the paper together. It was full of Identity cards - hundreds of them, if not more.
“I went to pick some of them up!. We can only start giving them out once they complete the whole batch, so we will have to wait for another half, but I figured you would want to see them. All from A to M, by surnames.” Galo explained to astonished Lio.
It was happening.
They were really making the Burnish people again. That tiny piece of plastic was a proof that they were counted as actual human beings again. He was speechless, looking at neatly packed piles of cards.
“And those are only for those who applied in the first wave, wait until the rest registers and applies for their ID-s, I won’t be able to bring them home myself!”
Galo grinned and suddenly it seemed like a thought went through his mind. Not that it was unusual - everybody were used to calling him an idiot, but what they really meant by and picked on was him being reckless and a bit of a cloud-headed by that. Galo wasn’t stupid; he was dumb, and that is a whole other thing. He eyed the cards and gently took one of the piles in his big hand, somehow not disturbing the rest with his uncoordinated fingers, searching for someone. Was he looking for the Governor? He probably applied too, despite serving his sentence in jail. Didn’t he have an identity card anyway? He wasn’t counted as a burnish up until recently. Come to think of it, the whole process of Galo’s greatest idol becoming the biggest villain must have been traumatic to the core for him. Wasn’t Galo, like, almost underage? Lio never actually asked him how old he was when his family was killed in Burnish flames, nor he never learned how much time passed until now. Despite his tough looks, he was quite childish and naive and that indicated rather young age. Not that Lio was very old himself but being only …
“Twenty three???!!” Galo asked, shock on his face making him look even younger and more childish.
“You’re three years older than me!?” he exclaimed shoving into Lio’s face… Lio’s face. Digitally printed, but his very own face on a cheap pinkish piece of plastic. He wasn’t looking up Kray, but him. Curious.
“You are twenty? I assumed you were fifteen with that attitude” Lio teased, taking the ID from Galo’s hand and examining it carefully. It was simple - name, surname, date and place of birth, nationality, his ID number and a photo. He had to remove his piercings for it and move his bangs to the side, which made him look ridiculous. Galo seemed to completely miss the insult and grinned at Lio, picking something from his pocket.
“Don’t worry, I also look like an idiot on my ID” he said sliding a piece of plastic to Lio and he had to restrain himself from laughing. Galo had his hair smoothed down flat, so closely to his skull that it looked more like a polished blue pool cap, his side cuts longer, making his head look stretched.
“Nevermind, mine is good” Lio finally said, unable to stop his laughter, hiding the smile under ungloved hand. Galo seemed to pay little attention to such details as good photos.
“You know, you’re cute when you smile, I hope there are more stupid photos in the pile if they’ll make you do that more” the taller man said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world and Lio’s heart skipped, his face turning red. What rescued him from the embarrassment of the situation was a stench of something being burned and Galo looked with panic over the stove, giving Lio time to properly hide his face and take a few deep breaths. When he glanced up again, Galo had already jumped to the kitchen, having moved an empty pot from the stove, smiling in apology. He cracked open the window a bit, letting the smell of burned wood and metal flee the room, pan hissing gently under cold stream of water.
Something was out of place, but Lio couldn’t put his finger on what exactly it was. Probably him imagining things, hoping that under Galo’s words was something more than tease. He took a deep breath and looked at Galo with faked irritation.
After packing the ID’s, leaving only his and Galo’s on the table, Lio made his way to the bathroom, finally cleaning himself up , finished by washing and blow drying his bangs that were even more unruly these days. He pulled on a pair of sweatpants. knowing he will be sitting on the couch for the rest of the day, checking if all the applications match the ID’s received and waiting for Galo to tell him to dress up to go out.
It took hours, and after four or five of them his mind was not functioning properly, even though Galo worked with him patiently, despite being significantly slower with the given task. When Galo’s stomach started to audibly rumble, they finally paused their task despite being only able to work up to letter C.
“Come on, I promised you snow, didn’t I?” Galo said smiling brightly to the other, putting on his jacket and handing Lio his own coat. The shorter man looked at him with disbelief and having pretended he didn’t saw that, made his way to his tiny drawer that they had moved to the living room. He took a pair of leather pants and a proper shirt and made his way to the bathroom in order to change from the fire station tee he was wearing. He came back in minutes and saw Galo putting a bit on concealer under his chin on a spot that Lio wasn't even able to see.
“Ready?” he asked smiling again, when Lio pulled his coat, gloves, scarf and hat on. A short nod was more than enough of a reply. With phone tucked safely in his pocket and keys in Galo’s hand, they left the apartament in comfortable silence.
.
Turned out it wasn’t snowing anymore, but a thin layer of the white icy fluff remained on everything lying at least a bit further away from the warm asphalt of the street. Lio looked at tiny pieces of snow with utter fascination and although it wasn’t as pretty as snowflakes, he felt quite happy with a experiencing a thing actually this new to his touch. Having taken off his glove carefully, he dipped his finger in the white substance and felt a shiver go down his spine from the cold. After a second it melted around his finger, reminding him of the time back when he had his Promare, and it was actually more of happy than a sad memory. So, he was warm - and alive after all. Slowly turning his head, he peeked back at Galo to see both cheerfulness and some sense of relief painted on his face. Did he think that Lio would hate the snow?
“It’s nice. Almost touchable, but it melts when I want to feel it more. That’s not a new thing but it is a new one… without Promare. It felt a bit like… rust? It reminds me of the feeling when I was melting rusted metals.” he said, remembering their morning conversation and smiling to show Galo that he actually enjoyed the snow.
“Don’t melt it all down, it looks pretty when it’s covering everything. Clean.” Galo noted, moving a bit to indicate that they should probably be on their way.
The walk was nice and slow. They were discussing how much more time they would need to complete checking all the ID’s and that they promised to come over to Aina and Heris on Wednesday to check out the sisters’ new apartament. After all that fuss, girls decided to move in together and become actually closer, wanting to re-learn trusting one another again. They should probably buy a housewarming gift for them. Lio forgot about such things a long time ago and having Galo point it out that they need to do it - was reminding him of Ignis talking about getting back to functioning in the society. Yeah, Galo was definitely helping.
“What should we get them?” Lio asked opening the doors to the pizzeria, letting Galo in. The taller man shrugged, unsure, suggesting some kind of a pot flower or just ordering pizza to their place. They agreed on arranging a framed photo of the Ardebit siblings, and at least one potted plant, since Galo was very persuasive about it.
After ordering their own food to go, wanting to get more work done while eating, they came back the same way, Galo oddly keeping his hands in his pockets all the way to the pizzeria and safely tucked under pizza boxes on their way back.
“Are your hands cold?” Lio asked almost concerned and when he realised that he sounded emotional, he smirked and added “I thought you weren’t able to get too cold or too cold, mr. firefighter” he teased.
I would like to hold them even if they’re colder than mine.
Galo seemed a bit lost, but he followed up quickly with a shy “Yeah, well, everybody has their weaknesses”, fixing boxes in his hands and looking far away, not teasing Lio back, whitch was unusual. What was that about? Was he feeling unwell?
“If you feel under the weather maybe take a nap once we get home?” Lio suggested, this time undisturbed by letting himself pour genuine concern into his tone. The other shook his head, the usual smile creeping back on his face as he grinned to Lio.
“Nah, you need my incomparable intelligence to complete the ID matching task, cannot leave you in need! ” he joked , smile present on his face as if nothing had happened. It seemed Galo was just daydreaming about something. Maybe about Aina? They were just talking about her after all. It stroke a tiny spark of jealousy in Lio’s heart and his cheeks burned again as he started to walk quicker, balancing the pizza boxes in his arms.
“Lio? Come on, don’t make it a race” Galo exclaimed catching up with the other.
“I’m not making it a race, you are!”
.
.
.
They made it home with only one pizza box soaked in the nearby fountain, rest untouched and still piping hot despite carrying it in the frosty weather.
“I call… it……. a tie” Galo said, trying to catch his breath between words. Lio grinned.
“You call it a tie, ‘cause you actually lost by seconds.” he teased, making his way to their elevator. “And you lost a pizza box, too.”
It’s not like they didn’t buy more pizza than they were able to eat. Galo’s hunger would not be satisfied with any amount of it anyway. Once they finished taking off their wet shoes and putting the pizza on the coffee table, teasing one another through it in the casual, usual way, Lio went to the kitchen to grab some drinks, smiling like an idiot.
Those little things gave him so much joy, taking his mind off problems and it seemed that simply spending time with Galo was his best medicine.
The kitchen was still smelling a bit like something burnt, but when he looked into the sink to check how badly the pot from the morning was damaged, it appeared quite fine. Only a little darker on the bottom, but not as much burnt as the smell suggested before. Odd. Maybe that wasn't the pot? Maybe he didn’t notice when Galo disposed of something else that got burned after shamefully almost setting it on fire? His poor, big firefighter's soul couldn't stand that kind of embarrassment? But when Lio turned around to take his mug that still had a bit of very cold coffee inside, he noticed two black dots on the kitchen table. Large enough to be in a shape of a bigger coin. Were those here before? He cleaned that table yesterday and if definitely lacked two similar stains on cheap wood. He took off his glove - he was about to do that anyway - and rubbed the black surface to see if will be removed easily.
A familiar stench and charcoal texture under his fingertips made him go stiff, breath shallow with anxiety..
Burned wood, actually damaged surface. And those two circles were oddly in perfect shape of two human elbows. Familiar elbows.
Galo’s elbows this morning, when he was leaning in to tell him that he should smile more.