Archive of Our Own

     It was hard to believe some days that the world still existed. After all of the soul-shredding preparations for Doomsday, after Heris had learned to see so many of the things on the planet Earth as transitory future ghosts, sometimes she needed to pinch herself to remember that the existences around her weren't a dream. At the moment, of course, there was no time for that. Right now was about the whooping siren on the fire engine, and the broken arm she was injecting with emergency analgesic before she set it into a splint and sent the girl away with the supervising medics.

     There was no way to know if the girl was a Burnish or not. Not anymore, not if there ever had been short of seeing the person wielding fire. Sometimes, Heris could speculate that this person or that person was a Burnish when they looked at her and hesitated. The fear and resentment -- if they were the type to show it -- were all that Heris had to go on. She'd tried so hard not to see their faces when she'd been working for Kray that she'd managed not to remember what a single one of the people she'd experimented on had looked like.

     She'd tried to do better when Lio had allowed her to apologize to whomever of his Burnish followers would come hear her say it, but old habits were hard to break. Anyway, she'd keep trying to do better, every day on her community service detail, and hopefully when her trial date came, she'd be able to persuade the panel of judges that she'd earned a chance to stay out here rebuilding the world and could be trusted.

     She did miss doing research, though.

     On a nearby stretch of road, Aina's helicopter landed, and the last of the people rescued from the blaze walked out. None of them looked like they needed emergency attention, something Heris could say for certain when her little sister jumped out and ran over to hug her without any of the rescued persons being directed her way.

     "I'm so glad they let you do your volunteer hours with our squad, Nee-san!" Aina squealed. "We get to see each other almost every day now!"

     "Of course," echoed a measured, commanding tenor from over Heris's shoulder.

     Lio Fotia. She hadn't noticed him approaching, which wasn't that unusual. He had a great deal of practice choosing carefully when he wanted to be seen and when he didn't. Right now, he was staring her down as if reminding her that -- while his opinion might not hold legal weight -- he had a great deal of personal influence over how the re-formed Promepolis Fire Department managed its resources.

     The blond promised her, "I won't make the same mistake as Kray Foresight," before he stalked off to talk to Ignis. It chilled her blood, knowing that she got to be free (for now) because she was considered to be at too high a risk of assassination to be kept with the other members of Kray's team, and that seeing Aina regularly was half reward for good behavior and half a way to ensure that she didn't do something unpredictable. Even so, she could follow the logic the courts had used. They weren't wrong about any of it. She knew it, and Aina, squeezing her hand in silence like the very best of sisters that she was, knew it.

     Particularly, she appreciated that Lio, for all that she knew he didn't trust her, had made it clear to his people that they shouldn't try to take revenge on her. He'd taken that effort, even though he had so much more to worry about, like the questions he came to every non-accidental fire to ask the station chief.

     "I'll see to counseling for any Burnish harmed in the fire. It can be hard for us to adapt to a life where we can be burned, Captain, but we find it easier when we can talk to others who've led the same life. Which brings me to--"

     "It's all right, Lio," the captain said, flipping through some of the notes he'd put together based on his examination of the scene so far. "No evidence that this fire was targeted at the Burnish population. Initial evidence looks like an accidental electrical fire from an overloaded power strip. No accelerant or other indications of arson, location and timing don't fit the revenge arsonist's signature, either."

     Tension slipped visibly out of Lio's shoulders. "Thank goodness. In that case, I'll return to my work."

     Of course, that was the moment when Galo jumped from one of the apartment windows to the top of the fire truck. "Lio Fotia! Trying to leave without saying hello?!"

     "Never! Come face me like a man, Galo Thymos!"

     And, in the moment of relief that followed Ignis saying this was just an ordinary fire, it was hard to miss how Lio smiled at Galo jumping to the street and lounging against the fire truck. Heris couldn't remember the last time she saw Lio look happy, which she understood very well, but at the same time... Was it just her, or was there something intimate about the way Lio and Galo whispered and smirked at each other before Lio walked off toward the cluster of Burnish rescued from the fire?

     "Goodness!" Heris gasped. "How long have those two been an item?"

     Aina looked over at the parting couple and scoffed. "Galo and Lio? Please! They've been like that since they met, basically. I swear, there is no helping those boys and their massive drama boners."

     For all that her sister had a very colorful vocabulary sometimes, Heris found that take just a little too innocent. "I don't know, Aina. I think there's more to it than that. I wonder if there's some way to find out for sure if they're dating or not?"

     "Nee-san, if you want to know so badly, it's okay to just ask them," Aina sighed, with an irrepressible smile that always said the little hot shot found her older sister amusing. "I'm pretty sure they'll tell you."

     No doubt, they'd tell her something, and Galo was even trusting enough that he might say what he thought was the truth, thought Heris, but she was specifically interested in the objective truth -- not necessarily the same thing as what a given person would say was the truth. After all, she was a scientist. One had to be precise about these things. As she nodded, she called to Galo so she could illustrate for her sister exactly why she didn't intend to take the fireman's word for anything.

     "Oh, Galo!" Heris sang out, using her Social Situations Voice -- higher pitched, more effervescent, and more likely to get an unguarded response than her natural voice. Their resident beefcake walked over with a smile.

     "What's up, Ms. Heris?"

     "I was just thinking, you looked so happy lately! Have you been seeing someone special?"

     She hadn't known what kind of response to expect, only that it would probably involve misinterpreting the question. In that, at least, she was correct, because he gave a sunshiney reply of, "I can see everybody here! I see Aina, and Ignis, and you, and--" Stopping abruptly, he leaned toward them with big, saucer eyes. "Wait. Are you saying there are other people I can't see?! Are other people in danger? Do we need to get Lucia to do another scan? Because I'll go save 'em all!"

     He really was staggeringly dense, she thought as Galo ran off toward the fire engine before Heris could explain. There was no logical way to predict anything about his behavior. He waved at them two seconds later, satisfied with whatever Lucia had told him, and yelled, "It's all good! We found everybody, Ms. Heris!"

     Turning to her sister, she said, "You see? I can't simply trust the accuracy of Galo's self-reported information, Aina. I need to take additional steps to verify any conclusions I come to. So will you indulge your big sister?"

     "Fine..." Aina answered, rolling her eyes. "But only because I haven't gotten to spend time with you in forever, okay? You work out all the sciency things we need to do, and I'll help get you some answers."

~//~

Hypothesis: Subject Dragon and Subject Jaybird are mutually engaged in a romantic relationship.

(Note: Personally Identifiable Information such as names, addresses, dates, and registered identity numbers are not to be entered in this log as it is an unsecured field notebook. As such, subjects are to be referred to solely by code names, which shall be linked to the identity of the subjects in paperwork kept at a secure location. Aina, please do not force me to burn another notebook.)

:P

To establish that the above-named subjects are in love and romantically involved, a protocol for scientific observation and study must be established due to an accurate response from either subject to direct inquiry being impossible to obtain with any degree of certainty.

1. In the case of Subject Dragon, the researcher deems it unlikely that she has established sufficient rapport with the subject for the discussion to be fruitful.
2. In the case of Subject Jaybird, the subject's intellectual capacity to give an accurate answer is in question.

It is therefore necessary to develop a method to:

1. Understand what behaviors Dragon and Jaybird would each undertake for the following conditions:
   1. In love and not dating
   2. In love and dating
   3. Not in love and not dating
   4. Not in love and dating, noting that feelings may be asymmetrical
   5. Account for factors such as potential enmity and "hatesex"?
2. Create a set of qualifying characteristics, either on a numerical scale for quantitative factors or in bins for descriptive characteristics, that can be used to create profiles able to be differentiated beyond a reasonable margin of error
3. Observe behavior of Subjects Dragon and Jaybird with respect to these characteristics over a sufficient period to statistically assign their behavior to a profile.

Limitations: It must be assumed that love languages are individual, and cannot be generalized. Therefore, these metrics must be specific to the test subjects noted above and may not be accurate if determined based on the behavior of other persons.

~//~

     Aina flipped through the newest observations Heris had made in her study notebook, snickering softly at a few of the lines. "You know, Nee-san, it's okay to just say that Galo is dumber than a box of rocks. He's not actually sensitive about that."

     Galo, who was heading towards the basement stairs with a soda and -- as usual -- no shirt, leaned over Aina's shoulder. "It's true! Being an idiot like me isn't anything to be ashamed of! If it weren't for stupid people, how could brainiacs like you guys be smart?!" He smiled a blindingly bright, toothy grin, flashing them a peace sign. "Intelligence is a spectrum! Lucia told me that! So if we want to have geniuses, then the world needs idiots, too! You're welcome!"

     The abuse of logic was mind-boggling. Heris honestly had no idea what to say to that. Galo was simultaneously so close to the truth, and yet so wholly divorced from the intrinsic nature of cause and effect. Once her current study was over, if she was able to stay here once she'd faced judgment, there was potentially so much to be learned about the nature of human cognition from Galo, who had all the pattern recognizing skills of a competent adult, and absolutely no common sense whatsoever.

     "Hey, Galo!" said Aina while Heris tried to process what she'd just heard the man say. "What's new?"

     "Just looking for Lio. It's Thursday, right? So he's leading the Burnish support group in the basement meeting room? I wanted to bring him some news and then we can go grab lunch."

     Pointing over her shoulder at an imposing set of doors next to Ignis's office, Aina told him, "Didn't you hear? Since Lio wanted to talk about the arsonist, the turnout for the Burnish support group was huge this week. Ignis told him to take the assembly hall instead of the basement. But it won't be over for at least an hour."

     "Perfect!" Galo's eyes sparkled, and he did a fist pump of victory. "I wanted to tell him we caught the guy!"

     "That's fantastic," said Heris, then saw Galo was pointing at Remi and Varys walking a thin man in cuffs past the open garage doors. "Wait. You caught the arsonist here? At the fire station?!"

     "Yep! I was standing next to a window to get some fresh air, and instead of fresh air, I smelled gasoline! So I jumped down, and he tried to light a match, so I shot it with my freeze gun. Fire out! And then, when he started yelling about, 'getting rid of those Burnish...' -- well, I won't make you listen to the rude crap he called them -- I put him in ice cuffs and called the guys to take him away. That's one guy who won't be starting any more fires!"

     Well, knowing the world she'd known, Heris couldn't say she was surprised that there were people who couldn't accept the Burnish as a part of society so easily. Even without their flame powers, quite a few citizens considered them an undeserving, lesser population, not the same as any other human despite the fact that now, scientifically, that was exactly what they were. The same.

     And Heris, better than most people, knew the exact degree to which there had already been too much death, down to the fraction of a joule. At fragile moments like this, when she couldn't distract herself with something less overwhelming, she wondered if there was a way to explain that to people who still hated the Burnish, and if she would ever be able to find the words without choking on them.

     Aina squeezing her hand brought her back to reality, and with no emergencies where she could volunteer her services at the moment, Heris turned her focus back to her current distraction. The notebook in her hands, of course, was exactly how she'd left it, and Galo was jogging toward the assembly hall after finishing whatever conversation he and Aina had had that Heris hadn't quite heard. Reviewing the latest of her notes, Heris turned to Aina. "Oh, did you ask Galo--"

     "Yes, Nee-san, I asked Galo to make sure Lio showed up at happy hour this Friday, and he promised he'd do his best, so I'm sure they'll both be there."

     "Thank you, Aina. You're the best."

     The doors opened to Lio's voice coming across the loudspeakers. "--do not define who we are. Experience shapes lives, and we will make the City Council understand that being a Burnish is more than a piece of history. It's a life we still--"

     She couldn't hear any more after the doors shut again. No doubt, everyone in that room would be happy to get the news that the arsonist had been caught, and she was happy for them. Lio and his people deserved every bit of good information they got. It didn't feel right for her to intrude on that moment, though.

     "Go on," she said to Aina, pushing her after Galo. "Go celebrate with your friends."

     Her sister squeezed her hand again. "You're sure you'll be okay?"

     Heris tapped her half-filled notebook. "Don't worry about me. I've got plenty to keep my mind occupied. I'll catch up with you later."

~//~

Casual Party Game Protocol: (aka, "Fuck, Marry, Kill") Results inconclusive.

Given the option of all people at the Fire Department happy hour, subjects returned the following responses:

1. Jaybird: chose to marry "everyone" (researcher notes enthusiastic vocal tone), while refusing to designate a person to fuck outside of marriage (researcher notes that subject prefers term, "make love," will not say, "fuck," in the sexual sense, and while not endorsing an anti-premarital sex position, feels that separating the concept of sex from marriage indicates that one would not have sex with a spouse, which the subject finds inconceivable). When prompted a second time to pick someone to kill, Subject Jaybird began to cry, citing, "But you're all my friends!" and inquiry was terminated.
2. Dragon: declined to answer on the grounds that, "[Redacted] neither fuck, marry, nor kill without reason," which the assembled found very funny, and as such prompting for a more specific response was counterindicated.

Romantic History Protocol: Results inconclusive.

No non-biased observers would consent to an interview on Subject Dragon's romantic history, even when approached by a researcher without a personal history of conflict with the subject's social group. Close peers are extremely protective.

Historical interviews on Subject Jaybird indicate that the subject has never had a verified romantic partner in the past. May once have attempted to date the reflection of a video game poster in a shop window, but this anecdote is contested. As such, control subjects for behaviors of interest could not be positively identified.

Positive/Negative Assignment Protocol: Able to establish positive feelings from Subject Dragon toward Subject Jaybird and vice versa by means of a simple "Yes/No" questionnaire about members of the community provided in anonymized format (See Protocol Instrument design notes), thus narrowing the field of inquiry to exclude "hatesex".

While creating an exhaustive behavioral profile based on purely theoretical data will still be difficult, it may be possible to establish profiles of likely behaviors for the following categories using thought experiment interviews and discussion of fictional situations to establish behavioral resonance:

1. Romantic positive feelings
2. Non-romantic positive feelings
3. Erotic feelings
4. Non-erotic feelings
5. Romantic negative feelings
6. Non-romantic negative feelings (establish examples)
7. Entirely neutral feelings (determine that these exist)
8. An established romantic relationship
9. An established non-romantic relationship.

NB: Ensure study design reflects that one relationship may fit into more than one of the above categories, provide supporting documentation before declaring any categories mutually exclusive.

~//~

     Working with a limited sample population (in this case, two people) and no previous wider studies on the nature of romantic/erotic relationships versus platonic relationships that would allow her to test Lio and Galo for significant traits made it more difficult than Heris had originally expected to create a test for love languages. After about a week of drafting and revising survey questions about ideal partners and expressions of love, attempting to balance what questions would get the most accurate input versus what questions would get the most easily graphed and analyzed answers, and having Aina address those to the subjects in what she considered the most appropriate way (a pretend magazine quiz, apparently), she had learned exactly two things:

     First, Galo Thymos thought putting out fires was both the most romantic and the most friendly activity in the entire world.

     Second, Lio Fotia, quote, "has no time for this."

     Clearly, she was going to need to refine her approach, Heris thought to herself as she made notes in her study notebook about where this attempt had gone wrong. It might be simpler to arrange for a population-wide study to determine generalized types of love languages first, and then come back to assign one (or more) types to Lio and Galo before making the determination of how those characteristics applied to the both of them. It was risky, of course, since there was no telling how long that would take, and the situation at hand might change. If the relationship between Lio and Galo evolved at some point between this moment and some future time when she had usable data, there might be no way to know for sure what the nature of their relationship was right now.

     "Got any new questions yet?" Aina asked, leaning over the table. "I'm done stowing and cleaning all my equipment, so until the next fire breaks out, I've got some time!"

     Heris smiled at her little sister, whom she'd gotten to talk with more in the last month than she could remember doing since she finished her doctorate. At least that much had come out of this. "Thank you, Aina, but I'm worried that--"

     The front doors of the fire station slammed open, Lio Fotia standing silhouetted in the doorframe. "Bring me Galo Thymos!" he yelled, sending administrative aides running even as he himself pulled one of the guest chairs to the very center of the entryway to sit down as if the fire station lobby was now his throne room.

     Aina waved, lounging against a wall as if this were perfectly normal. "Hey, Lio! How's it goin'?!"

     "Don't try to pretend you aren't a part of this, Aina Ardebit!"

     The words, "Oh gosh, a part of what?!" sounded innocent, but the eager glimmer in her sister's eye was one Heris knew all too well. She'd clearly been expecting this. Aina was downright eager when she saw Galo slide down the fireman's pole to the lobby (which, unfortunately, Heris was now in a position to know was the main reason Galo didn't also consider pants to be optional).

     "Lio Fotia!"

     "Galo Thymos!" Lio leaned forward on one of his spread knees. "Do you know why I've summoned you here today?"

     Galo blinked, then checked his wrist for the time, even though Heris had never seen him wear a watch. "I figured the same as every Thursday. Is it not lunch time yet?"

     "It's Tuesday, Galo," Aina stage whispered from across the lobby.

     Brightening up the way he usually only did when there was a fire to put out, Galo yelped, "You have time for lunch on Tuesdays, now?!"

     Lio's response was to point at the floor by his feet. "On your knees."

     If anyone else had gotten that instruction, Heris would have expected them to make a fuss, but somehow it didn't surprise her that Galo skipped right across the floor (skipped!) and plopped to his knees on the floor between Lio's legs. He folded his hands politely in his lap, ready to listen -- also not what Heris would have expected from that instruction.

     "What's up?"

     "It has come to my attention," Lio declared with the aura of a king, "that certain persons of our acquaintance are unclear about the nature of our relationship. And I, for one, will not stand for confusion. Do you have some problem with everyone knowing that you're my lover, Galo Thymos?!"

     Galo, still on his knees, snapped to a glowing, grinning salute. "None whatsoever!"

     Leaning into Galo's face, Lio growled, "Then show me! Kiss me, right no--"

     As Galo put his hands on Lio's knees and pushed up into a kiss that kept going for enough seconds that Heris could process everything she was seeing, everyone around the station who'd shown up to watch started clapping and wolf-whistling, including Aina. A few whispers caught Heris's ear, of people wondering, "Who the heck didn't know those two were a thing? I thought it was obvious!"

     She narrowed her eyes at the smirk Aina had aimed in precisely her direction. "You knew about this the whole time."

     "Sure. Didn't I tell you? When you asked how long they'd been dating, I said they'd been like that since they met. But then you got all sciency, and..." Aina stretched out her back, trying and failing to hide the guilty expression on her face. "...and we just haven't done a family activity in so long, and you were having so much fun..."

     Well, Heris couldn't argue with that. When had she ever been able to argue with Aina? With a sigh, she pushed her notebook away. "In that case, I guess I don't have to design a broad spectrum survey on love languages."

     "I mean, you still can," Aina said, writing one last line under Heris's notes. "You just can't use them as an excuse." And after she took one last look at the scene of Lio and Galo still kissing dramatically in the bright light streaming in the open fire station doors, Aina pushed the notebook back to Heris.

~//~

Conclusion: Oh, they fuckin'.