Chapter Text
Meis found the silence of the night watch to be the most calming part of his day. Sure, he loved the excitement of riding around, seeking danger and then narrowly avoiding it in a search of some kind of safety, but when perched on a rocky outcropping overlooking the featureless landscape that stretched on forever on the outskirts of civilization, he could pretend time stood perfectly still, that maybe if the sun never rose another day of living on the run would not come.
In the daytime, the sun baked the ground until it cracked, and it would bake the Mad Burnish too if they could get sunburned, but at night the temperature plummeted and were it not for the fire in his veins Meis would be shivering. As the cool breeze ruffled his hair he folded his arms and rested them on his knees, looking at nothing in particular. Everyone else should be long asleep by now.
This day was no tougher than the last, but few days are easy, it just gets easier to manage them. Meis was tired.
Footsteps on the rocky ground broke the thoughtless lull, and Meis whipped his head around, a flame sparking at his fingertips in defense.
“Whoa, hey man.” Gueira’s voice calmed him instantly, the blue flame he’d called snuffing out. Gueira’s posture was slouched as usual, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he walked closer. One corner of his mouth was turned up into a sloppy sort-of half smile.
“My bad,” Meis responded.
Gueira slid onto the ground next to him, hugging his knees up to his chest. Meis looked at him sidelong, at the moonlight on his unruly red curls, the way it highlighted his cheekbones. In daylight the freckles across his nose and cheeks were more apparent than now, but Meis looked at them enough to map them even in the dark. Gueira turned to him and his smile grew wider, showing sharp canines. Meis felt as if he might melt.
“What’re you out here for?” he asked. Gueira wouldn’t need to take watch for another few hours, and they both needed to take advantage of the little time they could sleep.
“Nothing. Fresh air.” Gueira said, then he smiled again and elbowed Meis playfully, “got the boss to sleep for once. Told him we’d both keep watch.”
“You wish,” Meis rolled his eyes. It was almost impossible to get Lio to relax, and usually it was Meis who can do it. Gueira just laughed.
“I did! I can’t believe you don’t think my natural charm worked!”
Meis simpered, “Oh I didn’t realize y’had natural charm.”
“Meis!” Gueira whined.
“Gueira!” Meis mimicked his tone perfectly. Gueira grabbed his shoulders, and Meis took hold of the front of Gueira’s jacket in retaliation; they grappled for a moment, each trying to push the other but matched too well. Gueira’s expression holds a spark of uninhibited energy that spurs Meis on, as it usually does.
“Did’ja finally get some muscle? Or is this a fluke?” Gueira asked, egging him on. Considering that the two of them liked to shove each other around on a near-daily basis-- it lets off tension-- Gueira was saying this to push his buttons.
“Maybe you’re losing your touch,” Meis said. He knew which buttons to press back.
His own physical strength alone couldn’t overpower Gueira’s, but he knew how to redirect him when he throws his weight around. With a smile, Meis leaned backwards, pulling Gueira off balance and down with him.
“Oof!” Gueira landed on top of Meis hard enough to nearly knock the wind out of both of them. But Meis was quicker than him and he shifted his body to flip them both over, pinning Gueira down by swinging his leg over and sitting on his torso.
Meis looked down at his best friend with a mischievous smile, knowing he’d won this one.
“Meis!” Gueira flailed under him a little “what the hell!”
“Used your own strength against you. Works every time.” Meis said triumphantly. Gueira puffed his cheeks out, frowning up at him, and Meis felt a pang in his chest that wasn’t unfamiliar as of late. He felt it when he and Gueira rode side by side over the vast badlands, miles from the nearest down and with only themselves and Lio to keep them company, when they watched brilliant blue and pink flames engulf that which seeks to destroy them, when Gueira turns to look at him in the hulking form of his armor and Meis catches a glimpse of his wild grin before rushing into a fight. It’s an odd feeling, but good.
“Meis?” Gueira looked up at him, red eyes darkened in the low light but no less full of fire. His shirt and jacket were a little disheveled, the collar pulled in such a way where it showed the tattoo on his collarbone. Meis blinked.
He thinks he might be in love.
“What?”
They’re closer, when did they get so close? If Meis were to lean down just a little more their noses would brush. Gueria smells like the well worn leather of his favorite jacket, like the soup he and Lio had made for dinner, like warmth, and he’s looking up at Meis with an expression of pure confusion, brows furrowed and lips parted. When he blinks his eyelashes flutter and Meis wondered Gueira was always this cute or if he’d maybe been out in the heat too long today, and being Burnish means he knows the answer.
“Why’re you lookin’ at me like that?” Gueira asked. He’d propped himself up on his elbows, meeting Meis at almost eye level.
“Like what?”
“Like, I dunno,” Gueira said, his voice is low, uncharacteristically hesitant, “like-”
The distance between them closed, one whose part neither would ever say but Meis thought it might be himself. Gueria made a small noise in surprise against his lips, but he didn’t pull back. Meis’ heartbeat quickened to a dizzying pace, he brought a hand up to the back of Gueira’s neck, fingers intertwined with red curls.
They broke the kiss but lingered a moment too long after, Meis breathlessly searched for a sign that it was good. Or not. He met Gueira’s gaze, having to resist the urge to pull him back in.
“Um…” Gueira started.
“Hm.” Dread washed over Meis, but he remained impassive as Gueira opened and closed his mouth in search of something to say.
“That was…”
“Weird.”
Meis finally moved and Gueira scrambled to sit up, running a hand through his hair. He brushed some of the reddish dirt from his clothes with a little too much vigor, eyes fixed on the ground.
For the first time since becoming Burnish, Meis felt cold.
“Definitely weird,” he said quietly, not really believing it himself. Gueira nodded a little too quickly.
“Yeah we-” he paused, “No.”
“Yeah, no.”
Meis chanced a glance up and caught Gueira’s eyes on him, the silence between them stretched thinner and thinner like a rubber band about to snap.
Then they both started to laugh. It started nervous, cautious, until it dissolved into peals of real, genuine laughter that drained the tension from the situation, like it were just part of their usual roughhousing. Like things aren’t going to be awkward. Like this doesn’t matter.
Meis matched Gueria’s grin and the two lean on each other, still laughing.
“Let’s not do that again,” Gueira said. It sent a barb of hurt through Meis’ chest, even in the midst of laughter. Still, he nodded.
“Yeah,” he agreed, “we shouldn’t.”
Then he looked up at the sky, the smattering of stars across inky blue, hyper-aware of how they’re sitting so close, shoulder to shoulder. Gueira huffed one last laugh and the two fall into silence until the sky starts to turn pink with the rising sun.
At some point Gueira dozed off with his head on Meis’ shoulder, and the night stretched on with nothing else for Meis to do but sit and think about what just happened, going over in his mind what he would have said or done differently if given another chance.
Most of all, he worried if this would change their friendship. His instinct said no, not on the surface, considering that Gueira fell asleep on him as usual, an odd reassurance that they were still just as they always were: partners in crime, best friends.
But in his own mind everything changed, Gueira wasn’t just his best friend now. Well, Gueira hadn’t been just his best friend to him for a while, but now it was harder to deny it.
Still, Meis wasn’t going to ask for more than what he already had, it would be asking too much with the way they had to live their lives.
▲▲▲
Sometimes Meis would lie awake and think about that night, even though it feels as if it happened in another lifetime, when they had to live on the run, on the fringe of society. He and Gueira had carried on as usual afterwards, causing trouble like they were prone to do, working in sync, it was second nature. Gueira’s strength and tendency to face fights head on paired so well with Meis’ more tactical, speed-based approach to fighting; it was like that from the moment they met and only really got stronger. There’s a reason they were the leaders of Mad Burnish before Lio, and why they remained the top generals, the people Lio counted on most.
Were Gueira and Meis to fight or fall out of their rhythm, they’d have ended up imprisoned, or dead, and if not them then other Burnish who were counting on them, or Lio, who they’d both protect with their lives. They cared too much to let personal issues get in the way of others’ survival. It’s easy to shove personal problems deep in one’s consciousness when you have to live with the constant threat of capture hanging over your head.
Now when Meis thought about it, he’s laying down in a real bed, under the stable roof of the apartment that he shared with Gueira. He has a job and dumb things to worry about like what to eat for dinner and if he happened to overwater the houseplants.
The apartment was never truly silent, not with the sounds of the city outside, though at this time of the night they calm to a slow simmer and with enough thoughts is easily drowned out. It was strange to Meis how much things can be so different after such a short time, even if it felt like it happened eons ago.
He planned on never bringing up the kiss again, with luck Gueira will have forgotten it ever happened, he’s good at just letting things go, not thinking too much about any one thing if he can’t do anything with it. Meis was never quite so easy, he tended to overthink things and it’s usually Gueira who can pull him out of it.
Gueira can’t pull him out of this one though, at least not in the same way.
▲▲▲
Meis wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, no doubt smearing grease onto his face. Today he was helping Lucia work on one of the mechs that’d been on the fritz recently. He’s no expert like she is, but he’s learning. Lucia doesn’t teach so much as she bounces around, her mind working faster than she could explain, but Meis had always been observant and caught on quickly.
Lucia disappeared into the body of the mech, no doubt in its mechanical innards as she tried to fix whatever was going wrong, leaving Meis on the outside to tend to more basic issues.
The garage of the Burning Rescue headquarters was always warm, Meis had his hair tied up in a ponytail to keep it off his neck as he worked. At least he could play music, and luckily Lucia didn’t mind metal.
“Hey slackers it’s lunchtime!” Gueira’s voice rang from the doorway. Meis stuck his head out from behind the mech to see him and Aina both grinning and holding up several brown paper bags. Meis smiled back.
“What’d ya bring?” He asked, wiping his hands on a rag lying near the toolkit. Gueira’s smile grew wider.
“Sandwiches!”
Lucia stuck her head out from inside the mech, two blond and pink hair buns sticking up comically from behind the hatch door, then her face, obscured by red goggles.
“You get me my meatball sub?”
“Of course!” Aina said, “but you have to come to the break room to get it.”
Lucia hopped out from the mech and practically chased Aina out of the garage, their laughter floating behind them.
Gueira watched after them, then turned to Meis.
“I got your favorite, BLT with extra bacon and mayo.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” Gueira beamed and turned to follow him to have their lunch.
They get to the break room and find Galo and Lio sitting at the table, already eating their sandwiches while Remi, Ignis and Varys were still unwrapping theirs. Aina slid into a seat and Lucia followed. She tore a piece of sauce covered bread off of her sandwich and gave it to Vinny. Galo and Lio were watching something on Galo’s phone, leaning on each other so they could both see the small screen. Galo fully descended into peals of laughter and Lio looks like he’ll break at any moment, a hand over his mouth.
Gueira and Meis take seats next to Lio as usual, Gueira leaned over onto Lio to try and see what was so funny. He sat back upright.
“It’s a cat video,” he reported, making Meis snort a laugh. Galo leaned over Lio to show them the video next and soon the entire table dissolved into laughter.
“Okay everyone simmer down a moment,” Ignis’ voice carried over the racket, but it took a few moments for everyone to quiet down. He waited patiently, he had a lot of practice. Meis glanced at Gueira, watching him take a comically large bite of his sandwich and struggle to chew it without issue.
“Thank you,” Ignis stroked his moustache before continuing, “Anyway, I’ll keep this short.”
He took a pause to look at everyone around the table before continuing.
“There’s an opening gala for the new community center being held in a month, we’ve been asked to help set up and attend. You all need to keep that night free of any other plans because this is not an optional event.”
The room is quiet for a moment, a rarity in the usual chaos of Burning Rescue Unit 3. An event seemed in order for the grand opening of the newly finished community center, a part of the Promopolis Rebuild Project that they’d all been involved in. Though Meis did remember helping burn the old one to rubble, and he wasn’t exactly proud of that memory.
“Yeah I have a question,” Galo started, “if we’re all at a party, who’s on duty in case there’s a fire?”
And the chaos starts right back up again, everyone already talking over each other excitedly at the announcement. Gueira turned to Meis, he had marinara sauce on his chin and Meis gestures to his own chin to let him know.
“Ah thanks,” Gueira wiped his chin, “but a gala huh? Sounds fancy.”
“I think it’s ‘gal-uh’ not ‘gay-luh’” Meis said. Gueira rolled his eyes.
“Potato po-tah-to. Don’t fancy people say ‘gay-luh’? Like,” he switches to what Meis assumes is a ‘fancy person voice’, “Chives, dear we’re going to the ‘gay-luh’ and I cannot seem to find my Gucci slides.”
“Gucci slides? To a gala?” Meis asked in mock offense, “I would never.”
“Yeah I know you’re just going to wear cowboy boots.”
“Gotta represent y’know?”
“Dude, I’m wearing sneakers.”
“Wow, that’s hot,” Meis said, getting a playful shove in response. He shoved Gueira back and braced himself for retaliation, only to be interrupted by Ignis.
“Hey, knock it off you two I’m not done yet.”
“Yes sir!” They both responded in unison. Gueira put his hands behind his back and flashed Ignis a sheepish grin, Meis just raised an eyebrow.
“Ahem.” Ignis addressed the squad again, “To answer your questions; yes, dressing up is required, no a shirt made to look like a tuxedo doesn’t count, Galo, no matter how funny it would be.”
Galo let out a dejected “aww,” which got a laugh out of Ignis, somehow. He was fairly fond of Galo, but who wasn’t? Even Meis thought he was charming, and that’s not just because he was dating Lio.
Meis listened to the rest of Ignis’ spiel with only mild interest, chin resting in his hand. It’s certainly a different life, working and being expected to go to a gala (that might also be a charity event? Meis felt strange about being the attendee to a charity event, it sounded so stuffy). He didn’t even own fancy clothes, he’d have to spend some of this month’s food budget on a suit and he was not pleased about that. At least he and Gueira split the bills.
And what does anyone do at these things? Dance? Meis didn’t like dancing. And getting too drunk was on Ignis’ list of Definitely-Do-Nots. Needless to say, this didn’t sound like fun at all, but at least he’d have Gueira to goof around with. Things couldn’t be too dull when Gueira was around.
“Hey, Meis?” he felt a light jab at his shoulder and blinked out of his thoughts. Gueira was leaning in front of him, eyes wide with curiosity.
“What?”
“Oh wow you were really spacing out,” Gueira said, “Lunch is over.”
Meis looked down at the half eaten sandwich in front of him and grimaced. Guess he’d have to save it for his break.
“Okay, yeah.”
Gueira already crossed the room to the door, but he threw one last look over his shoulder at Meis and grinned.
“Yeah, see ya after work Cowboy!” Gueira said, giving a little wave as he left the break room behind Galo and Aina. Meis watched him leave, an odd feeling settling in his chest. Then he wrapped his sandwich up and left it in the fridge before leaving to join Lucia back in the garage.
▲▲▲
That night the usual crowd crammed into Galo and Lio’s apartment for a movie night. Galo loved hosting them and as expected went all-out with an assortment of snacks and drinks. He and Lio had made a really cozy home for themselves too, the couch is plush and comfortable and it always smells like homecooked food. Meis and Gueira live in the same building as them, so they’re around a lot.
Meis sat on the floor in front of the couch, letting Aina attempt some elaborate braided hair style on him while she chatted with Gueira about the results of a recent soccer match. Meanwhile, Galo and Varys argued over what movie to watch as Lio egged them both on, looking much too amused with himself for his own good. Galo wanted Shrek 2, claiming it to be a cinematic masterpiece, and Varys wanted Sky High, a similarly acclaimed movie. Lio hadn’t seen either, so the two are trying to make the best pitches they can to win him over. In true Lio fashion, he pretended to not know which to choose just to make them both work harder.
“Aina we need a tie breaker and Lio isn’t helping!” Galo said, “Which one do we do?”
“Flip a coin, I’m not settling this,” she replied.
“Oh good idea!”
“Thanks Aina!” Varys said. Aina turned back to Gueira, giving him a small shrug.
“Anyway, I want to take Lucia to a game, but I’m not sure she’d be interested, seems like a bad way to possibly ask her out,” Aina said, finishing yet another tiny braid and pinning it with the rest of them.
“You have tickets?” Gueira asked. Meis could tell by his tone that he’s asking to maybe wheedle his way into getting to see a soccer match. It was either that he’s not subtle or Meis knew him too well.
“Yeah, two for a game next weekend,” she said, “Maybe you’d want to go, Gueira. Not as a date obviously.”
Then she laughed, “Wouldn’t want to step on Meis’ toes.”
Meis blinked. Aina had to be joking. She had to know he and Gueira were just friends . He chanced a glance at Gueira, who avoided his gaze with eyes averted to the ceiling, chewing on his bottom lip.
“It’s not, no you wouldn’t be steppin’ on anyone’s toes,” Meis started, hating how he stumbled through that sentence. It’s not like he’s lying, he has no problem with Aina and Gueira going to a soccer match. They’re not dating.
Aina blinked, “What-?”
“Yeah no, it ain’t like that,” Gueira said quickly, “Ain’t that at all.”
Now poor Aina just looked confused, letting the braid she was working on drop and unfurl and looking between the two so fast her ponytail almost hit her in the face.
“Wait. You’re not…?”
“We’re not dating.” Meis managed. Gueira nodded along vigorously.
“Not dating, not dating at all,” he added.
“I’m so sorry, I totally thought you were!” Aina said in earnest, apologetic, “I just thought from how you two act… Sorry!”
Meis knew he was flushed, judging by the warmth spreading over his face and down his neck, even as he tried to will it away.
“No!” Gueira waved his hands, looking anywhere but at Meis, “No, it’s fine! But yeah we’re just friends.”
The way Gueira said that made Meis’ chest hurt, a lump rose in his throat that he had to swallow back.
“Yeah just friends,” he added stiffly. Gueira didn’t look at him.
“My bad... I shouldn’t have assumed,” Aina said with a nervous laugh, “Nobody really said you weren’t, but I guess they never said you were either.”
Meis felt bad, it’s not as if Aina would have known, but the fact that she assumed made him nervous. Was he that obvious about his feelings? He didn’t think he was but now...
“Don’t worry about it!” Gueira said, “It’s no big deal, but…”
For the first time since the conversation started he glanced at Meis, who immediately avoided his eyes, feeling as if he’d burst into flames if did. He’d never felt so embarrassed around Gueira, and it made him slightly sick.
“Yeah,” Gueira finished lamely. Meis made a choked ‘hm’ noise in agreement.
“Oookay.” Aina said, clearly still embarrassed. Again, Meis’ heart went out to her for bringing it up in the first place. If he felt awkward, she must also feel just as awkward.
“Well, then Gueira, do you want to go to a soccer match?” Aina asked slowly, bringing the conversation back into comfortable territory. At this Gueira lit up.
“Uh yeah? I haven’t gone to one in so long!” He said, bouncing a little in his excitement. It’s cute, that’s the only coherent thought Meis had to offer himself. Except maybe that he really, really appreciated Aina.
“Cool, I’ll text you the details,” she said, “It’ll be hype.”
At this point Meis tuned the conversation out, face still burning. It’s not as if nobody asked the question before, hell when they met Lio he thought they were a couple. At first Meis hadn’t cared, in fact it’d been funny to imagine falling in love with his best friend in the entire world.
However, Meis would be lying through his teeth if he said he hadn’t thought about it, before and after that night they kissed and decided that it wasn’t right. Maybe then it really hadn’t been, though Meis was never quite convinced.
Still, as Meis sat there and listened to his friends chatter around him, he caught Gueira’s eyes on him and breathed an inward sigh of relief to see him grinning. He returned the smile with as much enthusiasm as he could.
Once the movie actually started and he and Gueira settled next to each other on the couch, Meis was hyper-aware of how they’re shoulder to shoulder even though they sit together like this all the time and nothing should be different. He took a handful of popcorn from the bowl Gueira balanced between the both of them; the movie started with music and the title flashing onscreen, not that Meis paid attention to what it said or what was happening, as all he could focus on was what exactly would make it seem like he and Gueira were dating, and maybe that he needed to be a little more guarded. Sitting as they were wasn’t helping, Gueira turning to Meis when something funny happened wasn’t helping either. Meis laughed along with him, the unsettled feeling in his chest only growing stronger.