Chapter Text
The sun dipped low behind them, and Galo started yawning. Since he was driving, that was when Lio decided to call it a day and set up camp.
For miles around them, there was a whole lot of nothing. Some young plants cracking through dry dirt, a few husks of former buildings burned down to their foundations, long stretches of what used to be highways. That was about it.
But that was the state of the world, after being set on fire. Twice.
"Can you tell where you're going?" Galo asked him, covering his mouth when he yawned again.
"Sort of. It's not that close, but the promare can pick up on it. We're going in the right direction."
Lio released the fires that made up his bike, but he didn't force them away. They fluttered around on the air like technicolor moths, or fireflies. When he gave them that sort of freedom, the flames were happier. Knowing they were actually alive, it was wrong to bottle them up - as long as it was safe to let them burn, he would let them.
He scuffed the heel of his boot into the ground, just testing. Not too rocky, more sand. It would be fine to lay out sleeping bags and sleep there. He, at least, could sleep on that. Galo might be another story, since he'd never had to do much sleeping outside.
...It'd be fine.
"It's dry out, so we probably don't have to bother with a tent if you'd rather not," Lio said, "Stars look nicer, the farther away you are from civilization."
"What about bugs?"
"What, do you see any?"
"Or lizards? Or… whatever else is out here?"
"...Fine, we'll use the tent."
"I'm not saying we have to!"
Lio just rolled his eyes and unloaded the tent from his pack. At least it was easy to set up. He'd had a tent before while living outside of cities, a shabby old thing with pegs and a bunch of collapsible rods that didn't survive its first surprise attack by the Freeze Force, but this one popped right into place as soon as its binding was undone, and had advertised on its packaging that it was properly weather-resistant. Pegs were optional, he supposed, for bad weather or uneven ground. No need for them on a clear night in the middle of nowhere.
He'd brought some perishable food, and he figured they could eat that together the first night. He'd have to resupply at some point since the food would be for two, which he hadn't planned for. Maybe he could hunt, if they encountered wildlife.
One thing to get out of the way before relaxing. He pulled his phone out and called Burning Rescue Headquarters. Video call, so they could see he hadn't let anything happen to Galo yet.
"We're alive for now. Here's our daily check-in, as promised."
"Hi, we're definitely alive and Lio probably doesn't want to kill me yet!" Galo leaned over Lio's shoulder to get into the frame and see them.
Lucia, onscreen, was eating a slice of cake. She turned away and shouted, "Hey, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are calling!" Then she turned back to them. "They let me pick codenames for you."
"...Thanks," Lio said, heavy with sarcasm.
"So, any updates?" She stuffed a forkful of cake into her mouth.
"None. We didn't get all that far." They'd left in the afternoon, so nightfall wasn't going to take them too far out of town. "But it's true, I don't want to kill Galo yet."
Galo leaning over him like that, it was noteworthy. He also put a hand on Lio's side. That was... Something. Lio wanted him to keep it there for a while, maybe.
"I'm really not worried that you'll kill him," she grinned widely, talking with her mouth full. She swallowed and then pointed at the screen with her fork. "Has Galo tried anything, yet?"
"Anyway! We're doing great! Bye!" Galo reached over and ended the call. His face was panicked and red.
"...You couldn't be more suspicious if you tried," Lio told him.
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Don't play dumb when it's convenient."
"I'm never playing dumb."
Lio rolled his eyes again. It was going to be a very long night. "I really might kill you."
"Well, give me a good, authentic camping experience for my last night alive, then," Galo grinned at him.
There wasn't enough material around for a traditional campfire, so Lio guided his fire onto a fixed point, letting it burst into an enduring flame. It would burn all night if he let it, and he probably would. "Alright. Authentic burnish camping experience. Give me your gun." He held his hand out.
Galo wisely hesitated. "Why?"
"For the random Freeze Force raid in the middle of the night." Lio couldn't hold back a crooked smile. Galo looked less amused.
"I'll pass on that part."
Lio, unfazed, walked past him to where he'd set his travel pack down. "I guess we should eat and get to sleep early, so we can keep going when the sun comes back up."
He tossed one food container to Galo and grabbed one for himself, quickly warming them both in his hands. He'd filled them with some cooked vegetables and cured meat that he knew would survive without refrigeration for a couple more days. Enough nutrients to keep him going. He hadn't been too concerned with much else, because he never had to be while traveling.
"This doesn't count as cooking for you, by the way," Lio added. He'd said he would cook for Galo someday, and he still intended to. But this wasn't it. Obviously.
"I should hope not," Galo made a face, "The atmosphere is all wrong."
"...What is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh! Nothing," he said sheepishly. "Have you been out this way before?"
"There's no landmarks in sight, so who knows…"
Galo didn't push - he never did. He knew Lio didn't like talking about his past, so he never asked for any details. Maybe someday that would change. It could. Lio might be more willing to open up eventually, but Galo wouldn't like hearing the things he'd say, and that was the main reason he kept holding out.
"Do you know what direction we're heading in?"
"Specifically, I don't know. Somewhere east. I'm just following the promare for now. No idea where that'll take us."
"Where do you hope we're going?"
"Hmm," Lio hummed quietly as he considered that. There were plenty of places he'd probably like to go. "Have you ever been to the ocean?"
"Nuh-uh," Galo answered, with his mouth full.
"I'd like to take you there, then. Or the Great Lakes, if it's not too cold." He'd been to those shores before, once. A long time ago, in easier memories. Not the kind of thing he was open about. "Life is really different in other places. I think you'd be interested."
Galo was looking at him expectantly, waiting for more.
Lio shook his head. "Everything should be changing, now that there's no burnish, so I can't really predict what it'll be like anymore."
"Other than you."
"That's true," Lio bowed his head, staring at the food in his lap. It was something he'd feared before - being the last surviving burnish. This was, ultimately, the best way for such a thing to happen. All the others were still alive, just regular humans now. They had a shot at a normal life.
He didn't, but he'd convinced himself that he didn't need one anymore. He couldn't lead a fulfilling, normal life. He had to do something with his life, it had to be in service to the former burnish he cared so much about. It had to be for the promare, for everything he stood for before.
And… With Galo at his side, it would be fulfilling. He'd be happy. Not normal, but happy.
"Well, I guess someone else could have found some of those promare-stragglers, too." Galo thought aloud, as if it was the first time he'd considered it.
"Even if they did, not many people would know enough about the promare to do what I do."
"I can believe that. You're amazing with that stuff." It would've sounded better if he wasn't talking with his mouth full. Regardless, Lio felt his face warm. "So what will we do if someone found one and won't hand it over?"
"Steal it." He shrugged.
Galo didn't seem to like that answer.
"I mean, assuming they wouldn't accept money for it, I guess. Don't judge me, I've been living outside of the law for years, I'm still getting used to the 'right way' of doing things." He got a little defensive, which Galo laughed at. Lio grumbled to himself and stuffed food in his mouth.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Galo concluded, shoveling the remainder of the food in the small container into his mouth like a glutton. Lio pulled a face at that, but it was fine. He'd been getting used to Galo's eating habits since they'd lived together for months already.
"You couldn't ask for a better night than this to be sleeping outside for your first time," Lio told him, passing him the remainder of his own food (he was always giving up his food to his travel companions, it was a habit he meant to break, but he didn't see that happening anytime soon). "It's going to get a bit chilly, but it should be fine. You can just pull your sleeping bag closer to me if you need to."
Not that he wanted to be a space heater, but for Galo it was okay. On cold nights, the burnish would often crowd together. Lio was especially popular those days, since he could put off the most heat even in his sleep.
"I'll finish setting up. Get out your sleeping bag when you're done eating."
"You sure you don't want anymore?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
Galo looked skeptical, but tipped the rest of the food into his mouth anyway and set the containers aside, unsure of what to do with them. Lio would burn them later. According to Lucia, they wouldn't produce anything harmful upon melting, but it felt like normal plastic to him.
Lio laid out his sleeping bag and turned to wait for Galo's, but Galo kept fishing through things.
He knew Galo didn't actually pack for himself, but if Burning Rescue did it, they should've put more thought into it than Galo was capable of, right? Unless… "Don't tell me."
"Lio, I don't think they packed one," Galo frowned. Lio put his palm to his face, tiredly.
"Alright. You can just use mine, I'm used to this, anyw--"
"No! It's yours, so you should use it!"
"Galo, it's fine."
"Or we could share?"
Lio took a long, hard look at him with narrowed eyes. "Share. A single sleeping bag."
"Well, I kept crowding you in your sleep before, so, will it make much difference?" At least he had the sense to ask that in a bashful way, because he must know it was especially dumb.
And Lio, the lovestruck idiot, was also especially dumb. "Fine."
It was dark, so he hoped Galo didn't notice him turn red.
Before getting ready to sleep, Lio was texting back and forth with Gueira about something, and Galo was enjoying the way his expression would change while he did it. He was so unguarded lately. It was nice to see.
He chewed his lip and held back a laugh. He winced with an amused smile at something Galo could only assume was an overshare. He blushed furiously and threw the phone in the tent at around the tenth incoming message.
"I guess it is their wedding night…" He mumbled, as if he'd owed Galo some sort of explanation for that outburst. Galo just grinned at him.
Ten hours ago, he wouldn't have dreamed they'd be out there together. He was just counting down the minutes until Lio left Promepolis, and Galo, behind. Looking at travel brochures and wondering where he'd go without him, what he could do in those places, trying to hold himself back from doing something stupid and begging for him to stay-- Well, he'd done that, regardless. Luckily Lio didn't go for it. This option honestly seemed like a better fit for them both, and he was glad he could join him.
Officially, now, they were partners. He'd been calling Lio that for a while, but now it was in their job descriptions. They were going to be paid salaries to traipse around the world looking for shiny rocks that Lio could inhale fire out of, and that was only the most moderately ridiculous description Galo had come up with for it.
Officially, they were partners. Personally, Galo still kind of hoped for more, but didn't want to take advantage of their situation. If things didn't play out the way he hoped, their trip would be horrible for both of them.
Besides, things were already comfortable and close between them. Lio didn't complain when Galo got clingy in the middle of the night, and he didn't seem too bothered whenever he did something else mindlessly affectionate. It wasn't worth it to ruin that. No matter how nice it'd be to kiss him.
He couldn't slip a romantic filter over the memory of that 'kiss of life', it was too horrifying to watch him crumble away, and whenever he conjured the thought now it sent a wave of dread through him and rather than wanting to kiss Lio again, he just wanted to feel for his pulse. Which, of course, was super weird. So he tried not to dwell on that moment.
He'd had a lot of time to think while they were driving. A few hours ago he'd been so ready to kiss him goodbye.
No, not goodbye. More like a plea for him to stay. But it was better that he hadn't done that.
Lio opened the front of the tent and gestured for Galo to come with him. "No scary stories by the campfire?"
At first Lio looked confused. "...Is that really something you think happened at any campsite I've been part of?"
Galo was about to argue that not every camping experience had to be tense and awful, but he held back. Lio would likely have entertained his dumb idea if it had been something he was comfortable with. He usually did.
This would be an interesting adjustment for both of them. Galo was completely out of his element and Lio wasn't used to feeling safe. But, by god, Galo was going to make him feel safe if it was the last thing he did. Somehow, without coming on too strong.
"You get in first," Lio told him, unzipping the sleeping bag just enough to get inside easily. "And I swear, Galo, if you make this weirder than it has to be--"
"I won't!" Even though he denied it, he was positive he'd make it awkward somehow, and the way Lio glared at him made him sure that they both knew it. But Lio was a shockingly forgiving man. So it'd be fine. He slipped into the bag and got snug, wary of where he placed his arms.
As Lio joined him, he held his breath. It hadn't felt like a whole lot of room when he'd first seen it, but it was suddenly too much room, or Lio was too small, or something like that.
He gave Lio the reins, letting him rearrange their limbs to suit him better. He faced away from Galo and used his bicep as a pillow (the sewn-in pillow was kinda small for two heads), which was adorable. The tent had a sort of screen door flap on it that let light filter through from Lio's fire, but it wasn't so bright that it would keep him up. No, other things kept him awake just fine.
For example, Lio was really warm, and extremely comfortable to lie with even though the ground was firm and nothing like the plush beds he'd grown up with. Lio hadn't been exaggerating about it.
He listened to Lio breathing and kept from making a sound, waiting for the moment it changed when Lio fell asleep, but it didn't. Tired, and recklessly bold, Galo put his other arm around Lio's waist.
Lio tensed, but only for a moment. "Galo."
The tone was sharp enough that Galo started to pull away, but he felt Lio grasp his hand and hold his arm in place.
"...I'm glad you're here. With me."
With a soft hum, Galo took that as all the permission he needed and decided to hug Lio as close as possible (which honestly wasn't much closer than before, it was a sleeping bag). It'd be weird in the morning, with their bodies pressed so close together, but Galo was pretty sure it'd be worth it.
"You're stuck with me, Lio."
But he also knew that sometimes, Lio could be swept along by Galo's enthusiasm. If he chased that thought down, he'd doom himself to a sleepless night of feeling guilty, so he ignored it for the time.
One more squeeze and a yawn, and Galo closed his eyes.
When Lio woke up, he was trapped in some kind of hellish fantasy. He'd somehow rolled over so his face was right up against Galo's collar, Galo had drooled into his hair, and yet, none of those things particularly bothered him much. There was something of Galo's pressing into his thigh. That troubled him.
Because just before Galo started to snore, Lio had actually thought about confessing something kind of heavy to this idiot. Cozied up in a sleeping bag , Lio decided his brain must have short-circuited and he'd momentarily become dumber than Galo ever was. Luckily, it passed and he'd slept pretty soundly, from the looks of it.
But Galo smelled kind of nice, like riding all day in the open air, not especially clean but not dirty either. How easy would it be to just…
Nope. The moment Lio pulled back and saw the dopey, drooling grin on Galo's face, any amorous thoughts died instantly. At least he'd stopped snoring at some point.
Lio unzipped the sleeping bag and carefully climbed out. He would wake Galo later. They could absolutely not wake up at the same time with that sort of problem.
Burnish had unique ways of cleaning up: the fires would sweep over their skin and burn away anything that wasn't meant to be there, or was unwanted. Lio realized kind of suddenly, after cleaning himself off, that Galo didn't have that. Sure, Lio could do it for him, but one tiny mistake and he could burn some pretty sensitive skin, or he could end up without hair or something equally awful.
Maybe his colleagues had packed something for him - Lio supposed they were his colleagues now, too, but that was such a new development that he wasn't sure how to completely internalize it.
He wandered over to Galo's bike, rummaging through the supply pack. There was some package with Lucia's handwritten instructions on the outside that explained how to use a towel and a small machine to keep himself and his clothing clean.
There was a ton of water stored in there, at least three days' worth of clothing, toiletries, and what was basically a mini-fridge full of travel food. But if they were so thorough with everything else… Oh.
"Mornin'," Galo said, stretching his arms over his head and yawning.
"Galo."
"Hmm?"
"What do you think this is." Lio held an item up by the strap, and Galo tilted his head, confused.
"It's… A backpack?"
Lio threw it at his face. "It's a SLEEPING BAG."
For about five hours, Lio didn't say anything to Galo unless it was necessary. Galo could tell he wasn't actually that angry, at least. Just flustered. He had to resist the urge to think of it as cute, because even thinking it was probably rude.
He tried to help break down the camp, but Lio had it done so quickly that he knew he'd be useless there (but he'd learn and improve. He was adaptable). For breakfast, Galo picked out some of the food Burning Rescue had provided - not especially tasty, but it was really filling. Some kind of smoothie-like thing. It reminded Galo of baby food. Not that he'd ever eaten baby food, to his recollection. It just tasted and felt the way baby food looked.
Lio burned their trash with a small flash in his hands, and, maybe out of habit, he used fire to erase their tracks. Galo knew better than to comment on it. He commented on plenty of other things, getting only curt responses because Lio was determined to keep giving him the cold shoulder. It lasted until lunch, and probably only went on so long because they couldn't really talk much while driving in the first place.
The landscape was changing finally. There was a field of weeds to one side, but at least it was green. Young trees were peeking above the messy field, no rhyme or reason to their arrangement.
There was a water source nearby, which they stopped at. Lio kept wistfully gazing over the field.
"When I was young, this is the kind of thing I liked to burn." He suddenly explained. "I knew that plants were resilient and grew back after fires, so I thought it wasn't hurting anything."
"And then you moved on to buildings?" Galo didn't mean anything by it, but Lio shot him a look.
"No. I had good enough control that my flames could feed on the air, so I eventually decided that was safer. Buildings came after… I became aware of the Foresight Foundation."
He was leaving a lot of details out, but there was no way Galo would ask about it. Lio was cagey about things like that, and it was a miracle he'd spoken about the past as much as he had just then. Asking would be pushing too hard, and it seemed fair to believe that Lio would open up about it when and if he was ready.
They had something sandwich-like to eat for lunch, which was great. He picked up that Lio was aiming to finish off their perishables in the order in which they'd go bad, which made perfect sense, so Galo would follow his lead on that. Lio took a bite of his and made a face, so it might not have been very good. Galo tried it and thought it was plain, but okay.
"Then, I did the terrorist thing for a while." Lio tried to lighten things. Galo's silence probably made him worry that he'd soured the mood, which wasn't the case, but that was fine.
"You weren't a… terrorist-terrorist, though." Galo said thoughtfully, with his mouth full. "More like a freedom fighter!"
Lio half-smiled at him. "A freedom fighter?"
"Leading your people to freedom!"
"Well, that's putting a rather charitable spin on it."
"It's true though," Galo said, around another bite of the sandwich. "We're a freedom fighter and a firefighter team! I fight fires and you fight fr-- wait."
Lio ducked his head, shoulders shaking with poorly-contained laughter.
He knew there was probably a cool way of wording it, but laughter was a good response, so Galo left it at that and shoved the rest of his sandwich into his mouth. He missed pizza already.
"We should keep moving, as soon as we refill on water," Lio said, standing and passing the rest of his sandwich to Galo. It really didn't look like he'd eaten enough, but he was already walking away. Galo watched him worriedly for a few seconds, then ate it anyway. He'd bring it up later. And then force Lio to eat two portions, maybe. He still wasn't positive that Lio wasn't just full. His habits were different while traveling, that was obvious.
Lio took the task of refilling their water containers, and showed Galo how to do it without gathering dirty water so he could help next time. There were a lot of tricks to this survival thing. Lio was pretty fascinating.
"Can't you just boil the water to make it clean?"
"Trust me, I do that, too. But the sand and dirt, that doesn't boil away."
"If you didn't have your burnish fire back, would you still be okay traveling like this?" He was curious, not terribly serious, but Lio looked up at him with surprise.
"...I don't know. There's a very small fraction of my life in which I haven't been burnish," Lio capped the water and thought carefully. "...When I sent the promare home, I was a mess the next few days. I tried to hide it, but I kept hurting myself because I tried to use my flames. Jumping down from high areas, or touching things that burned me."
"I noticed," Galo frowned, offering a hand, "You got used to it, I thought."
"I got used to hiding it better." Lio corrected him, sheepishly. He handed off the water jug first and stood on his own. "And then I found the first of those promare that were left behind, after a few weeks… I had two injuries that scarred during that time, but everything else was healed."
"You have scars? Where?"
"Maybe you'll find out," Lio smiled at him.
Galo sputtered, but turned to put the water away rather than panicking and dropping it. That had been suggestive, he hadn't imagined it.
"Alright. I'm sure you noticed that we're on an actual road now. Recent tire tracks and everything." Once Galo managed to look at him again, he explained more, "That means it's a shipping route. If we follow it, we'll eventually find another settlement, or at least a motel and a gas station."
"I hadn't realized Promepolis was so isolated," Galo mused.
"It's less isolated in other directions," Lio called his flames in the shape of his bike as he spoke. "There's a farming community to the south, where a lot of the produce comes from. About two hours west there's another town, though it isn't as big, and the people there travel to Promepolis so often they just consider their town part of the city."
Galo couldn't pretend he wasn't impressed. Lio was well-traveled, and probably had a ton of cool stories to share. Maybe he'd feel up to sharing them, eventually.
He followed Lio's lead and they got on the road again.
It was later in the night when Lio stopped and made his bike dissipate in a hurry. He heard something up ahead, and couldn't let anyone see it. That was part of his deal with Burning Rescue. No one could know about the flames.
Galo watched him, then scooted forward on his bike so Lio could grab onto him and ride the rest of the way on a non-flaming motorcycle. It was a good enough plan, if a little awkward.
The sounds led to a small, shabby motel, which meant they could have beds for the night, a real shower, and possibly meals provided. There was a large truck outside making the noise, lights on and running. A man was inside of it talking on his phone, and he didn't notice them when they pulled up and parked. After a quick look around for security cameras, Lio brought his fire to solidify into chains around Galo's bike, so it couldn't be stolen. There weren't always shady types in places like that, but it wasn't rare to find them there either.
He paused one more time before opening the door though, to consider how it looked. He and Galo, walking into a run-down motel at night together… That was fine. Whatever assumptions were made, there were definitely worse impressions to give.
But before Lio could say anything beyond asking for a room, the elderly man at the front desk gave them a horrified look. "Are you even legal? I won't have any part of that! Get out!"
Lio bristled, "Excuse me? I'm in my twenties!"
The man demanded proof and Lio produced the ID Burning Rescue had issued to him, scowling the whole time. "Sorry about that, young man. We get a lot of unsavory types comin' through here."
It did nothing to smooth over his frustration, but the cheap price of the room helped a little.
Then he realized Galo was trying not to laugh at him and he got mad again. "Two beds, please," Lio requested venomously. He heard Galo's disappointment and huffed at him.
He snatched the key and walked back outside - access to the rooms was along a breezeway, an old-fashioned style that wasn't seen much anymore. Not that it was a new building; Lio would guess it was pre-blaze (though it had survived the second blaze, thanks to Galo). Even the keys were the clunky old kind, with large plastic keychains with the room numbers attached.
Each door was painted olive green, the numbers hand-drawn over the originals. At number eleven, Lio frowned. It was the one of the more freshly-painted ones, but that wasn't really saying much. Opening the door, he was still pretty unimpressed.
"This place is kinda spooky," Galo said. "Like those classic horror movies."
"Well, I'll protect you if you're scared of being ax-murdered," Lio responded absently. "Try not to talk too much. It's not unheard of for rooms like these to be bugged."
Judging by the expression on Galo's face, he'd forgotten that 'bug' had more than one meaning for a few seconds there.
"...Just be careful what you say." He pulled blankets back on one of the beds just to make sure it wasn't infested, and then sat down and took the set of brochures off the nightstand, just to see what cities they were closest to.
There was a Promepolis brochure with Kray's face on it, and he took a pen and vandalized the hell out of it. And didn't feel the slightest bit guilty.
They were between three noteworthy cities, all newly established after the first blaze. One was a cult, and had never been harmful to burnish so he'd never bothered them in return. The other was a city built around shipping warehouses, and one of the few remaining functional airports - air travel was a lot less popular after a ton of planes went down in flames thirty years ago.
Galo sat down on the other bed, looking like he wanted to say something, and Lio tilted his head to wait for him. Instead, he got a flustered look on his face, grumbled and fussed with his hair in that way he did when he was impatient or frustrated. "I'm gonna take a shower," he announced. Clearly, he'd taken Lio's warning to heart and was worried about saying something he shouldn't, but Galo was really bad at keeping himself in check.
"Did you bring a change of clothes?" Lio reminded him, intending to be helpful.
He hadn't, and sprinted out to the bike to dig into his supplies.
The nonspecific warning was going to kill him, he decided. Lio had said to be careful, but not about what. Judging by the 'unsavory types' warning at the front desk, Galo could assume that meant they shouldn't joke around about things like that? Or make any flirtatious comments, which they sometimes did. Maybe that was what Lio was worried about, outing himself to some stranger who was gross enough to bug a hotel room but not gross enough to allow someone underage to room with an adult?
He didn't think the guy seemed like the type to listen in, but his faith in people was irreparably shaken by Kray, so even though he wanted to trust him there was a tiny flicker of doubt he just couldn't ignore anymore.
On the other hand, Lio was used to being totally paranoid, so he could try to ignore it. He could also question why the hell Lio cared what some stranger thought, but he wasn't confident that he'd jumped to the right conclusion, so that was a pointless train of thought.
He also wondered if maybe Lio was just messing with him. It was possible, since he seemed annoyed that Galo thought it was funny when the man at the front desk thought he was a kid.
But see, it was funny, because Lio had never so much as blinked when people commented on his height or age before. So it was the context that made him angry, and that was cute and hilarious. The man thought they were there for a clandestine hookup. That it had drawn such a reaction from Lio was hysterically funny. Because it looked a lot like embarrassment, which supported Galo's 'Lio totally returns his crush' theory.
And as if to test that theory further, Galo decided to not fully dress or dry off when he left the bathroom, and it was a minor victory to see Lio glance up at him from his phone for half a second and blush. Still, he couldn't push it too far. They were in the first couple days of a long trip, and it would break his heart if he made Lio uncomfortable for the rest of it.
Plus, just because Lio seemed to like him, he'd been so wrong before, and he couldn't bank everything on it. Lio just got swept along, that didn't mean he enjoyed it--
No. Kray couldn't ruin this. Lio was far more honest than Kray, he'd stopped wearing masks around Galo completely. He had to believe that.
"Time for our nightly check in?" He blurted out, desperate for the distraction.
"...If you put clothes on. I'm not putting wild ideas into their heads."
"Haha, right." Galo threw on a shirt and sat down next to Lio on his bed, even though he knew that they wouldn't be sharing tonight. Just so they'd both be in the frame. It probably wasn't necessary, but too late, he did it anyway.
Lio looked over at him wordlessly, then back to the phone, starting the call.
This time Remi answered. "Oh, it's you two."
"Yes, our apologies, didn't mean to inconvenience you." Lio was putting on that bratty act he had with authority figures. He clearly did not like thinking of Remi as his superior. Was it bad to find that kind of cute, too? They'd get used to each other. Remi seemed cold at first, but he was a nice guy. "Anyway, we're alive. Found a room for the night."
"How close are you?" Remi was either taking notes on his tablet, or browsing something else while pretending to engage in conversation. "I don't know how this works for you, since I've never had alien fi--"
Lio ended the call abruptly.
Remi called back. "That was rude."
"We found a room," Lio repeated, adding more weight to the words through gritted teeth.
Remi looked at him, puzzled for a few seconds. "Oh. Right, you're paranoid, how could I forget?"
"Paranoia kept me alive for years, I don't intend to change."
"...Oh, That's what you were telling me to not talk about!" Galo chimed in.
After a pause, Lio snorted with amusement. Remi looked like he found it both annoying and funny, which was pretty normal.
"What? You're so cryptic sometimes! You know I can't keep up!"
Lio patted his shoulder, but didn't say anything to him yet, keeping his focus on the call. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'm not entirely sure how it works either. The closer we get, the more it's branching out, like there's several on the way I'm meant to find. And I will, and we'll let you know when that happens."
"Got it. You two go… keep being weird. Enjoy your room." Remi ended the call this time, and Lio's cheeks were red. Galo wasn't sure it was meant as anything suggestive on Remi's part, but he liked that Lio had that impression.
He also wanted to ask more about what he'd just told Remi, but knew asking for clarification would be specifically breaking that 'watch what you say' rule that Lio had set for the hotel room. He'd try and remember it later.
Lio flopped backwards on the bed, arms spread, exaggerating exhaustion. "There's not a free dinner here," he said, changing the subject, "But we can pay a little extra to get something, if you want. Their printed guide has a menu. Says they have a full kitchen."
"Is there pizza?"
"Of course there's pizza. What country do you think this is?" Lio sat up, leaning back on his hands. "I doubt it'll be as good as you're used to."
"I've decided," Galo announced, "That I'm turning our trip into a World Pizza Tour. I'll try any pizza, anywhere, and rate it! Maybe start a blog."
"...That's the dumbest thing I've heard today." It didn't sound like too harsh a criticism while he was smiling like that, though.
"Including the thing where the guy thought you were underage?" Galo teased him right back.
"Shut your mouth." Lio snapped, but it was one of those times where he acted a lot more irritated than he actually was. "Call the front desk and order your stupid pizza."
Galo laughed at him and only felt a little bad about it. But he ordered the pizza, fully expecting Lio to eat at least half, and didn't know what to say when he only ate two slices out of the eight the pizza was cut into. On the one hand, Lio was very small, and probably didn't need more than that; on the other, he hadn't eaten much at all in the past few days, and he'd definitely seen Lio put away more than half a pizza in one sitting before, even if it seemed like there was no room in him to store that much food.
"Are you sure you're eating enough?" Galo finally asked.
"I'd eat more if it didn't taste like frozen pizzas from the supermarket." Lio shrugged and laid down on the bed, messing with his phone. Galo assumed he was texting Meis and Gueira again, by the faces he'd been making.
He had a point though. This had definitely been freezer pizza. It wasn't inedible, it was still pizza, but it was a far cry from being called fresh or delicious. It felt like Lio was dismissing the comment for a different reason though, and he didn't exactly know how to counter it; Lio was an adult, he could decide for himself if he wanted to eat more. But Galo also knew there was something off. And he wanted to say something, but he couldn't without more evidence or he'd just piss Lio off.
So he ate his half, but left the two extra slices in case Lio got hungry later. There was a mini-fridge in the room, and a microwave, so it'd be fine.
And then it was time for the worst part of the night: sleeping alone.
Ever the light sleeper, Lio wasn't going to sleep through the sounds he heard from the other side of the room. He woke twice before already; once when he heard that truck driving away finally, and once when he thought he heard scratching through the walls (but if there were some sort of rodents in that cheap hotel, he couldn't bring himself to be surprised). The third thing that woke him was sniveling, whimpering. He could sleep through Galo's snoring, he'd gotten really good at drowning that out, but he couldn't ignore that.
He didn't waste time - he'd comforted plenty of burnish through nights like those, sat beside them until they could rest, stroked their hair, whatever they needed. He could be that for Galo, too.
He sat next to Galo on the bed, resting a hand on his shoulder to wake him gently, trying not to startle him out of a nightmare. It didn't work the way he planned, Galo woke with a gasp, and immediately grabbed Lio's wrist.
"...Oh." Galo was bashful about it. Nightmares weren't something he needed to feel ashamed of, and Lio wanted to say that, but his eyes locked onto his wrist, and the grip Galo was using on it.
He was feeling for a pulse.
"Sorry. Did I wake you?" He tried to play it off poorly, adjusting his grip to seem more neutral. There was a slight trembling in his fingers.
"Galo, is this…" Lio frowned, trying to piece together exactly what he wanted to say, and the right way to approach this clearly delicate topic. "Is this why you kept wanting to share?"
Galo sat up suddenly, about to say something loudly defiant, but clamped his mouth shut, grinding his teeth as he gathered his thoughts. "It's one reason," he said. "I like knowing you're-- you're still solid."
He still hadn't released Lio's wrist, so Lio tugged away and held his hand instead, using a strong grip of his own that he hoped was reassuring. "Of course I am." Then, pressing their foreheads together, he added, "Remember, you did that."
If he were more callous, he would probably have tried to reassure him by doing something far more forward. Kiss him. He wanted to do it, but he knew he couldn't, not in Galo's current state. But it was fine, Galo could have the reins and he took them, grabbing around Lio's shoulders and hugging him to his chest for a few seconds, then drawing a long breath.
"I'm okay now. Sorry for waking you up."
"Don't be," Lio said, firmly. "Move over a little bit." He started to climb under the covers so they could share again.
"You-- You don't have to do that, I know you wanted your own bed!"
Lio ignored him, getting comfortable. "Hey. Did you lie about the sleeping bag so that we'd share it?"
"Wha-- no! I seriously had no idea they were bundled up like that, it looked like a bag of clothes, or something! And it was dark!"
"Then it's fine. I'll stay," Lio tried to speak warmly, but he knew it came out a little more commanding than he meant it to. "It's helped me before, too. My life wasn't pretty, I get it."
Galo gave in, sinking back down on the bed and hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure it was okay even though they'd done it dozens of times and Lio was more than a willing participant, he hugged him around his waist to keep him close. "...Thanks, Lio."
"...What are the other reasons?"
He felt Galo tense. It took a few seconds, but eventually he gave a sleepy-sounding answer. "I like being near you. It's nothing like piloting together, but it's still kind of awesome... Lio de Galon, but without the robot."
Lio had a feeling he could've provoked more answers out of Galo, but it would have been cruel. Galo wasn't some shrinking violet, he was a man who would say what he wanted, when he wanted to say it, and Lio could wait for that. He resolved to wait for it. "Mm. Good enough," he said. "Good night, Galo."
Galo mumbled something into his hair that Lio couldn't understand, but if it was important Galo wouldn't have mumbled it. If Galo wanted something, he was forward, loud, kind of obnoxious, and he'd say it properly.
He hugged around Galo's waist too, letting out a deep sigh of his own, and they both slept soundly through the rest of the night.
There were biscuits for breakfast, and Galo was relieved to see Lio eat more than one of them while they prepared to leave again. He also put that leftover freezer pizza in that refrigerated cooler space Lucia had installed in the bike's storage compartment (the bike was a bit on the bulky side, but it was hard to mind that when it handled well, carried all the stuff he could need, and was basically free). If they didn't run into more hotels or towns for a while, food could be a precious resource! Couldn't waste it!
The old man saw them off with a friendly wave, and as soon as they were out of view, Lio made Galo stop so he could summon his fire-bike again. It was really neat to watch him do that. Before, there'd been more danger to it, because Lio was a fearsome terrorist (which was… ridiculous. He looked downright puny on that bike without all the armor), but now it was just flashy and impressive, condensed colorful fireworks erupting into bike parts.
He knew Lio was being mindful of their surroundings because he was always careful, but it must've been difficult to make sure that nobody would see them driving past. He didn't think a fire bike had a good rear view, so Galo resolved to keep his eyes peeled for him. As a team, they'd have to look out for each other. Lio used to have to look out for everyone, from what he understood, so Galo wanted to get him to lean on him at least a little.
Lio stopped mid-afternoon. They'd long gone off the beaten path, Lio leading the way as before, but he'd paused at what looked like an old, recovering forest. Tall spires of burned-out trees, ash-covered ground with very few fresh sprouts of plants. It would've been tough to drive through, so he would've assumed they ought to go around it.
"There's one here," Lio said, looking back at him. "It's not very loud. Do you have that weird thing?" He made a gesture with his hand that made Galo's heart stop for a second. He wasn't completely sure if that was intentional. No, it couldn't be.
"It's a matoi. Well, not really, but it's shaped like one." It was built into the bike, so he hit a release switch and pulled it free, holding it out for Lio.
"...I hope it doesn't bother you, but I don't feel comfortable holding it. Can you just find the right direction so I can go looking?"
"I thought it didn't hurt after Lucia fixed it," Galo said pointedly.
"It doesn't, but I don't like the feeling, either. Just don't aim it at me. It's weird."
Galo frowned, but switched on the device, turning it until he felt a snag, and then a shiny thread of burnish fire appeared out of thin air for Lio to follow. "What does it feel like?"
"Like I have a bunch of fire aliens sharing a body with me," Lio said sarcastically, glancing over his shoulder before he started making his way into the dead forest. "It makes me almost too aware of them. They don't like it either."
Those fire aliens though, he seemed to enjoy their company, so Galo couldn't piece together why being aware of them would be bad. He trailed a bit behind Lio, watching the little colored sparks around him flit about after him. "You let them do what they want now, don't you?"
"Hm, within limits," Lio explained. "I can't justify containing them, they're alive and they need their freedom too. But if I can make them understand the need for secrecy, they're okay with it. I just need to find space for them to burn freely sometimes." He ducked under a large fallen log of charcoal, and Galo jumped over it to keep in step.
"Do you really understand them that well?"
"I've heard them for years. Understanding them is just a little different." Lio's wistful smile was pretty. "You're full of questions today."
Galo let silence fall between them, listening instead to the crunch of burned out branches under their feet. He was curious, and he didn't think that was weird. Lio was amazing, understanding him was fun. "Do you not want to tell me?" He guessed. "I just thought it would be okay, since we're working together on this."
"It's not that," Lio corrected him quickly, turning to face him, "...I appreciate it. That you want to understand what it's like. I don't know if you could have ever become a burnish yourself, but it means something to me that you're trying to understand. If that's what you're doing."
"...It's not about the burnish, no. It's about you. Is that bad?"
Lio reached over and dusted ash off of Galo's shoulder. "It's not."
He didn't say anything else though, and turned back around to keep following the signal, leaving Galo to try puzzling it out himself, which he wasn't good at.
The signal led them to the base of one of the dead trees, everything around it charcoal-black. Lio leaned down, swept the ashes away with his gloved hand and picked up a black stone, like an obsidian arrowhead. "Here you are," He said, smiling at it with concern. "You caused some trouble here, didn't you?"
Galo switched his matoi gear off and watched Lio speak to the stone in his palm. As he'd witnessed before, it erupted into flames, Lio sucked them in, and the rock vanished. He made it look so simple, but also seemed like he was swallowing something bitter that burned all the way down his throat. "So the promare burned this place up recently?"
"...Seems that way. I didn't realize they could burn without a host, but that adds a whole new level of urgency to what we're doing." His face was determined, and just a little guilty because he'd taken responsibility for the promare himself. "It was upset about being left behind."
"Well, being upset is one thing," Galo frowned. "We need to tell the others. We might need them to mobilize in other cities, just to make sure none of them get 'upset' near people."
Lio's face was almost pained. "You're right. Let's get back to your bike. We should find a spot to set up camp."
After a long, exhausting video conference, Lio caught Galo zipping the sleeping bags together into one giant sleeping bag. He named it something, but Lio just rolled his eyes and brushed it off. It was fine. He'd made his peace with it, and he would sleep beside Galo no matter how awkward the mornings got.
It was such a small thing, and yet it made him feel needed and important, a small fragment of what he'd felt as the burnish leader. This wasn't the same, but it was sweet.
Sleeping side-by-side was close to what he wanted, anyway. It wasn't a punishment, so he couldn't complain. Someday perhaps Galo would be okay with taking it a step further, a kiss goodnight, affectionate words. Or maybe, Gueira and Meis had gotten into his head - their sappiness was justified after they tied the knot, but they kept putting ideas in his head.
Yes, Galo was striking; he carried responsibilities like Atlas with the burden of the entire world on his shoulders, willingly, and those shoulders, those arms, they were muscular and he could probably crush Lio's spine with a hug if he was trying hard enough. His body was attractive. His burning soul was attractive. He didn't need advice on how to properly admire it.
When r u gonna jump his bones boss? :)
Lio growled in frustration at the text from Gueira, responding with an obscene suggestion telling his former General where he could shove it.
He knew Galo had interest in him. He didn't know how deeply that interest ran, but he knew it was there. He was gentle and protective, and spent that entire conference call getting defensive for Lio's sake unnecessarily (Ignis kept cutting in, reminding Galo that no one was saying Lio was at fault for this or that problem). He'd uprooted his life to come follow Lio out into the world without so much as blinking.
The level of comfort between them was noteworthy, so Lio was almost positive that everything was mutual. And yet Galo, a force of nature himself, hadn't done a thing about it. There was a reason, and Lio wasn't foolish enough to kick him into acting. He knew how Galo must've felt in recent months, his heart was in a delicate place. It would be worth waiting for, and in the meantime, Lio would protect that heart as best he could.
Or maybe, just maybe, he was being a bit of a sap.
But it wasn't so bad, being sort of sappy about this kind of thing. He was far more comfortable at night than he'd ever been when sleeping in a burnish camp. Galo wasn't the only difference - the lack of worry over Freeze Force raids made his sleep far more restful, and having small luxuries like camping gear helped. But Lio could say, with confidence, that Galo had changed things significantly just by being there with him.
And Lio loved him.
He hoped it would be okay to say so soon.
There was a longer distance between the piece he'd just found and the one he needed to find next, and he now knew better than to think he had time to relax. He was up early as possible, pushed himself as late as possible (though when he saw Galo tiring out, he took that into special consideration). He knew Galo probably couldn't survive on the rations Lio was used to limiting himself to, so he kept offering whatever extra he could. In the next week they crossed mountains, but they didn't spend a whole lot of time there.
Eventually they came to wide farmlands, full of organized rows of vegetables. Orchards, where the growers also baked delicious pies and tarts with their produce to sell to anyone passing through. They were inexpensive, so Galo talked him into splurging a little. They could keep leftovers refrigerated for some time, but not for too long.
One farm let them camp out on their land, and another a day away insisted they stay the night in the house, which Lio didn't want to do, but Galo was persuasive. Or rather, too trusting. Still, nothing bad came of it, and in exchange for some cash and stories they got a decent set of meals and a comfortable, if slightly dusty, room for the night.
As they drew closer to their destinations, Lio realized that two pieces were probably close together, which would make the next hunt slightly easier.
"If we keep following this road east, where will we end up?" Lio asked the generous elderly couple who owned the house.
"Oh, Harper's Ferry might be a nice stop," the woman said, "and maybe the Old Capitol. I heard it's still standing after that nasty firestorm this year."
Lio and Galo exchanged glances, Lio with a stern look to try and prevent Galo from saying anything, but it was probably too late.
"It wasn't that nasty," Galo blurted out, like an idiot. "It wasn't even hot."
"That's true, it was nothing like the disaster thirty years before it," the man agreed, "But it did some damage, regardless. I heard the city where it started was completely leveled."
"No it wasn't! I mean, most of that damage wasn't even from the fi--"
Lio kicked him under the table to get him to stop. "Is that what the rumors are saying out here? That Promepolis was destroyed?"
"And good riddance to it," the man said, growling into his napkin, "That bastard in charge of the place, what's his name? Forestone? Foreskin? Oh, Foresight! That's right--"
Lio choked on a laugh and resisted the urge to encourage him to go with that second one.
"--He was the reason our kids had to go into hiding. We haven't seen them in three years." The woman finished his thought. "Our son and daughter both had the burnish mutation, sadly."
"Incidentally, our son torched half the apple orchard by accident," the man said, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes, "I miss the idiot."
There was a warmth in Lio's chest, hearing that. "I'm sure they'll come home soon," he said, twirling his fork on his plate thoughtfully. The baked apples were a nice touch on the edge of the dish, now. "The mutation died out after the fire. There aren't any burnish, anymore."
That sparked a whole new conversation, and one where Lio debated mentioning his past as a burnish, but decided against it. Even if everything they said sounded sympathetic to the burnish, that kindness might have only extended to their immediate family members. He kept a tight hold on the reins of the conversation, careful of allowing Galo to cut in, and explained what had happened in Promepolis as vaguely as he could while being honest, just to avoid spreading untrue rumors.
They were offered separate rooms, and Galo almost accepted that, but Lio took his hand to quiet him again. He'd been doing a lot of that, trying to control conversations he knew Galo might make a mess out of. Galo was a bit of a disaster waiting to happen, in that regard. "Thank you, but we'd rather share."
"Oh!" The woman looked from their joined hands to their faces, surprised. "Well. Make yourselves comfortable, then!"
Once they were shut into a room, he'd expected to let go of Galo's hand, but instead he felt Galo's grip tighten.
"You're really okay with that?"
"With what?"
"With people thinking we're…" Galo's words drifted off with embarrassment as his gaze wandered away. He was still holding Lio's hand.
"Are you not okay with it?" Lio asked genuinely.
"What!" Galo sputtered, face red. He was cute, embarrassed like that. "No! It's not that, I--"
"Then it's fine." He accentuated his point by lacing their fingers together and not taking his hand back yet.
The look on Galo's face was similar to the wildly flustered look he'd worn when he'd revived Lio on the Parnassus, only happier. Well, so long as he didn't flip out and try to punch him again.
"We can be as close as you want us to be, Galo," Lio said as he dropped their hands, walking to the middle of the room to take better stock of their surroundings. He knew Galo hadn't meant any harm. They weren't a couple, not really, they just acted like it all the time. He had to keep reminding himself to let Galo have the lead. "Let's get our nightly call out of the way?"
Galo shook off whatever thoughts were swimming around in his head and sat down on the bed, patting right next to him for Lio to sit beside him.
Any soft feelings that Lio had held that night shriveled up and died when Heris answered. Lucia was sitting to her left, but Lio's eyes locked on Heris alone, and it took every bit of control he had not to let his flames do the talking for him.
Galo picked up on it and took over for him, gently easing the phone from his hand and greeting them with a wary smile. "Hey there, how's it going?"
"Super," Lucia answered. "That's some old-school wallpaper behind you. And a shelf full of ponies? Where are you guys?"
"This nice family is letting us stay the night. I think this was their daughter's room," Galo started, telling them way more than necessary by babbling. Somehow it worked to ease Lio's nerves a little. Not entirely, but it was something. After he finished recounting the details of the apple-pumpkin pie they'd been given for dessert, Lucia finally interrupted him.
"That sounds so weird and good. But shut up, you're making me hungry," She had her elbows on the console in front of her. Heris was watching, making sure she didn't accidentally press buttons. "We have news too, y'know. Why do you always talk first?"
"Sorry! What's going on with you guys? Did you tell the pizza guy I miss him?"
"Galo, god you're annoying. No, I think Varys relayed that message and it was probably hilarious. Now can I tell you my amazing news yet?"
"Please do!"
"Heris and I put together a little something to make all our lives easier," she announced, holding up a small gadget that was round with a cute little screen. "I need to name it still, but it's gonna plot out where all the promare are via GPS. I just have to finish hijacking one of Kray's satellites, which is where Heris comes in."
"Ah… Yes, the Parnassus had a satellite prepared for… for the settlement in Omega Centauri. I've been tuning it to pick up on the promare the same way Lucia made those um… matoi?" She glanced at Lucia for confirmation, getting a smug nod (which Galo mirrored). "I'll just need some of that crystallized form of your fire for it, when you get back from this trip. That way, none of the promare themselves will need to be sacrificed…"
"Not your usual method," Lio sneered at her. She flinched. He was weeks away and she was still nervous around him. Good.
"That'll be really great, though!" Galo took the lead again, smiling at Lio. "Gathering them will be a lot easier if we don't have to follow the trail on foot, don't you think?"
Lio startled himself by thinking that even if it was easier, it wouldn't be his choice. He rather liked showing Galo the world. He liked seeing more of the world for himself, as well. But they weren't telling him to stay home, they were coming up with a way to avoid detours, which was ultimately the best option. Even if these detours were… kind of fun.
"So much for that pizza blog," he said quietly enough that the phone wouldn't pick it up, but Galo could hear his amusement.
"I'm not giving up on it!" Galo whispered right back.
Even with Heris on the call, Lio couldn't completely hide his smile.
"Ugh, you guys are gross. Just make out already." Lucia groaned.
"I'll take it under advisement," Lio said, reaching for the phone in Galo's hand. "Thank you for the update, Lucia."
As he ended the call, he noted that he was still somewhat sour just from seeing Heris, but it was… notably less than it would have been a few weeks ago. She hadn't redeemed herself. Something had changed, though.
Galo dropped backwards on the bed, grabbing Lio around the midsection and forcing him down with him. He groaned, "I'm so full. Makin' me sleepy…"
"I know what you mean," he agreed, closing his eyes and letting his head rest on Galo's chest, his legs still hanging off the bed. "That's the most I've eaten since we left." It was sweet, the woman (she introduced herself as Mrs. Freeman, but didn't mention her first name) kept insisting he eat more, that he was too thin, loading up his plate with all sorts of different things. He wondered to himself, if maybe his mother…
Galo's fingers in his hair changed the course of his thoughts, and he allowed it. "I'm surprised you don't suspect them of poisoning us," Galo mentioned lightly, almost laughing.
"Impossible. They're too damn nice." Galo had a point though. Another day, Lio might have been suspicious. But they must have won him over with their empathy towards the burnish, or even the vitriolic way the old man spat out Kray's name.
"Let's save their address. Do you think they celebrate Christmas? We should send them Christmas cards," Galo babbled sleepily, twirling Lio's hair around his finger. "Seriously, I'm tired. I think I'll sleep early… Then wake up early and run laps."
"Mm, sounds like a plan," Lio started to sit up and Galo whined, making grabby hands at him. With a laugh, Lio shrugged off his jacket and threw it over a chair, kicked his boots off next to the bed, and laid down on top of the covers beside Galo.
He was almost positive that he knew how Galo felt for him. Sure, they weren't going to be taking Lucia's advice in some stranger's house no matter how overly friendly they were, but Galo still pulled him close, and Lio heard his breath stutter, and felt his pulse speed up.
With a long sigh, he closed his eyes again, and waited.
He was fine with waiting.
The Freemans gave them a ton of food for the road. It would really solve his issue with Lio not eating enough, and also it was delicious. Galo absolutely took a picture of the pie too. Sure, his future blog would mostly be about pizza, but he could still post about different types of pies other than pizza pies now and then. When he told Lio that, he got a very dramatic eyeroll in response.
Lio didn't stop them to use his own bike that day - he kept hold of Galo's waist and told him to keep driving along the same road. When he was sure they were alone, he let flames burst around them, warning Galo each time by tightening his grip so they wouldn't end up crashing. It was an interesting change, but he didn't think Lio would go for it normally. The highway they followed just seemed busier than the empty desert roads they started out on.
They found an abandoned gas station the next night, where Lio looked at old maps of the area and traced lines to see where they were going. Of course, the old maps were way out of date, but a lot of larger cities would still exist. After the first blaze, if foundations survived, it was easier to rebuild than just start somewhere new.
The Old Capitol was the current name for the city that had bloomed around the ruins of what was once called DC. The government buildings had moved inland in recent years, but the old structures that were restored, or the few that survived, were treated less like memorials and more like public spaces.
Tourism wasn't a big thing anymore, but even so, there were a bunch of people that looked even more out of place than Galo and Lio did. Since Lio had admitted that he hadn't been there before, they did a little bit of sightseeing at Galo's insistence. Crumbling monuments, a spire-shaped one that had snapped in half and lay across a wide field of grass, temporary patchwork repairs on the fancy domed buildings. Galo guessed the damage must have been from all of the volcanic activity before he and Lio saved the world. It was inspiring to see the world rebuilding though.
They'd arrived early, which meant Lio wouldn't want to stay, but Galo talked him into lunch and hunted down a pizza joint (of course).
"I don't have unlimited funds for this, you know," Lio looked so annoyed at him, sitting across the table, chin resting in his hand.
Galo froze in place, holding his second slice from the second pizza he'd ordered. "...Lio, you're… You're saving your receipts, right?"
"What?"
"We're traveling on the job, so this counts as a business expense. You get reimbursed."
"... What."
"Oh my god. You didn't know?" Judging by Lio's horrified expression, he definitely didn't. Galo put down his slice and covered his mouth. "For once, you're the dumb one!"
"I don't even believe you!" Lio bristled, looking offended as a wet cat. Galo laughed harder. "Shut it! There's no way that's true!" He argued, pulling out his phone to call Ignis and stepping outside.
Galo watched his face through the window at the front of the shop, with ever-growing amusement. Amazing. It was understandable that Lio wouldn't know about it since he'd been avoiding this kind of bureaucratic nonsense almost all of his life, but Galo couldn't help teasing.
Lio stormed back in two minutes later and ordered an entire white pizza for himself, with a pout on his face. "Not a word," he hissed, and Galo did his best to hold it back. He tried.
"I can't believe you didn't know!" He blurted out with a wide, unrepentant grin after roughly three seconds of silence. "Wait, is this why you were rationing food so much? Shit, Lio!"
Lio kicked him under the table instead of responding, and stole a slice of Galo's pizza with the grouchiest, most embarrassed face he'd ever worn. He was so cute when he was caught off-guard like that. The only problem was, if Galo didn't change the subject, they'd eat the rest of their meal in complete, cranky silence, and he couldn't have that.
"So, do you know where the next piece is?" He gave Lio a few minutes to cool off before asking.
Lio started eating his pizza before it had cooled to a normal, human level, and the cheese was still gooey enough that it stretched from the slice to his mouth and seriously, Lio was just being inhumanly cute. Galo kept that to himself and handed Lio a napkin instead.
"It's that way," Lio said, pointing in the direction of the kitchens.
"In the kitchen?" Galo knew that was stupid, but it somehow came out of his mouth anyway.
"No, idiot. It feels like it's a few buildings over. Maybe in that collapsed one on the next block."
"Huh! I didn't realize we were that close." Galo took another bite, then snapped a photo of the pizza pans on the table.
"What's the rating?" Lio decided to ask, though Galo couldn't tell if he was actually interested.
"I'd say a seven out of ten. Good, but Inferno Volcano Margherita Megamax sets a high bar! They use way too much cheese here, too."
Lio half-smiled, then reached across the table with a napkin to wipe sauce from Galo's chin. "If you think this is too much cheese… Well, I'm worried about taking you some places up north."
"It's all about balance," Galo folded his arms and nodded authoritatively. Lio flicked him in the forehead before he could go on to explain what he meant. But Galo was not deterred by Lio's moodiness, and forged on, explaining the perfect ratio of cheese, sauce, crust and toppings. How neapolitan-style is just the best, and how pineapples are sometimes good, depending on how they were prepared (searing it before putting it on the pizza and baking)!
Sometimes Lio drowned him out, but he seemed to actually be listening, which was really nice. But he did run out of steam eventually, and they had the leftovers packed up and they went on their way, leaving the bike parked out front for the time being.
"Is it buried in the rubble here?" Galo watched Lio climb on top of a slab of concrete to get a better view.
"No, I see it," He said, hopping down and climbing over bent support beams and the fallen roof. He returned to Galo's side with the piece in his hand. "Can't use it here. There's people around," He reminded Galo quietly, urging him back to the bike so they could leave.
"Alright. Where to next, then?"
"It's… not too far. Maybe five hours?" Lio guessed. "South of here."
"Well, hopefully it's near a hotel. It's gonna be getting dark by then," Galo thought aloud, storing their leftovers and climbing on the bike, leaving Lio plenty of room behind him. The shard was tightly clenched in Lio's hand, and it felt as though it was burning Galo's side.
Once they'd traveled a decent distance from the city and the buildings thinned out to nothing, Lio tapped him to tell him to stop. The road was mostly empty, and the surroundings were just some distant forest, tall grass, a rusted sign with the number 17 on it, and an abandoned house with a caved-in porch and an old barn behind it. "This is far enough for now. Hold on."
Lio held the stone up and stared at it, looking for something in it. Then he shuddered and Galo wondered if he could do anything to help, but when he tried to get closer, Lio held up his hand to keep his distance.
"Come with me?" He said to the promare quietly, and as ever, it ignited. As he'd seen Lio do before, he breathed in the fire. It was a little different this time, though, when Lio collapsed.
Galo caught him, but he felt like magma in his arms, like he'd either slip out of them or burn right through them. "Shit! Lio, c'mon, are you okay?"
There wasn't a verbal answer yet, he just cringed and tried to make Galo let him go, but of course that didn't work.
"Talk to me, what's going on?"
Lio opened his mouth, but said nothing, just let out a hissing whimper. Pain? It looked that way. In spite of how hot it was, Galo kept cradling Lio's body until he closed his eyes, and finally lost consciousness.
When Lio woke, Galo had set up camp on his own, sans campfire. It was clearly very late, stars were glittering brightly overhead and it was dark as it could be on land. He saw Galo only because of the light on his cell phone, a good bit more distance between them than he was used to at night.
He knew he'd have to explain what happened, and wasn't looking forward to it. He'd been careless.
"You're up!" Galo cheered, propping himself up and using his phone screen as a lantern. Lio, mercifully, lit a fire so they could see. "How are you feeling?"
"...Overheated. But I'm sure you figured that out," He said, running a hand through his hair tiredly.
"Sure, but is it going to be okay? Is this like a burnish version of catching a cold, or something we actually need to worry about?"
"I hate to say it, but I don't know for sure," Lio confessed. "I think my body just needs to adjust to all of them, and I haven't been giving them enough to burn."
"All of… Wait, how many were in you before?"
"Just the one, I think? I never really had the chance to get to know it as a living being before. Just as a fire inside of me," he noted with regret.
"And how many do you have now?"
"Ten."
"Lio!"
He flinched, and Galo moved closer to him.
"What's going to happen to you, then? Can we-- I don't know, remove them?"
"No," Lio snapped, "I won't have anyone experimenting on me over this. Whatever happens, happens. I brought it on myself."
"I'm not suggesting we carve you up, I'm suggesting we keep you safe!" Galo argued. "If your body can't handle it, what happens? Could you be hurt more by it? Could you--" A pained pause that made Lio feel guilty "--Could you turn to ash?"
Lio carefully adjusted his temperature, reaching over to touch the side of Galo's face fondly, in a way he hoped was reassuring. "I just need to burn off the energy soon. I'm not used to holding back, I never have before."
To his surprise, Galo leaned into the touch, but it was subtle because he was still furious, or scared, or something. After allowing it for a few more seconds, he stood and started digging through the bike's storage, pulling out his ice gun. "Then we're fixing this now. Controlled burn. I'll make sure it doesn't spread."
"Galo…"
"No arguing. You're starting a fire and I'm putting it out. Simple as that."
Lio stared at him for a moment, then sighed, resigned. It couldn't hurt to try. He didn't have to spread the flames out, he could instead focus on burning them all together, hotter and condensed. They might not like it, but he didn't hear any resistance from them either. "Okay," Lio finally agreed, standing and looking around. "I think inside that barn will be the best bet to keep hidden from the road, just in case."
He extinguished the campfire but let little wisps light their way, and he started unbuttoning his shirt. Galo followed him rather closely behind, so he tossed it in his direction, getting a baffled "Huh?" in response.
"I have a lot to burn off. My clothes wouldn't survive." He continued undressing, not checking Galo's reaction (out of embarrassment), and handing off each article of clothing as he removed it. Once he'd positioned himself in the center of the barn, he lit himself on fire.
From the soles of his feet to his scalp, it felt like relief, but also an intense pain. Burning himself for the promare wore down their energy faster; they restored him just as fast as skin could possibly blister, but that ate away at their heat as well. Weaker flames fell dormant as he used them up. There was a familiar prickling sensation, like his limbs were falling asleep. Fires licked the wounds they caused apologetically, and he heard their voices whispering without words.
They were sorry for the burden they'd put on him. They wanted to help care for him, too.
He kept them as close to his body as possible, as if he could keep the fires trapped in a cage, but as he poured more energy into it the heat grew to such a level that natural fire started to catch around him, threatening to spread. True to his word, Galo snuffed them out as quickly as they appeared, and Lio relaxed just a little more.
The ground was melting under him, molten between his toes. He could go hotter, but he'd risk the whole place going up. It still might have, so he was thankful to have Galo watching out for him. The flames kept going until they told him it was enough, then they slowly began easing up on him, so the shock of them suddenly stopping wouldn't hurt his skin, tender with burns and mending quickly.
Once done, he looked down at his hands, waiting for the wounds to heal (which took about a second of time, nothing at all), with those wisps of light returning so that he could see. With caution, Galo approached and handed him his clothes. He was red in the face and had his head turned away, which was equal parts cute and pathetic.
"Galo," Lio murmured, getting his attention. Couldn't pretend it wasn't awkward, but he did want to address something. "I burned you, didn't I?"
"No, you kept it all wrapped up around you pretty well, I think!" Galo didn't meet his eyes. His voice cracked.
"When you caught me earlier. I know I was burning, so it must've hurt you."
"Hey, nothing a firefighter can't handle!" Galo took on that boisterous, cocky tone, and still didn't look at him.
Lio reached up, grabbed his face, and pulled him down to meet his mouth.
Galo was too stunned to move.
Even more stunned as fire crept down his throat, searing hot, but also sweet, and not painful at all. Lio's fire would never hurt him, he trusted that even if the fire wasn't the exact same as before.
Lio's hands were still on his face, holding him more gently now. Galo's own hands moved instinctively to Lio's waist, reminding him that Lio was still fantastically naked, and this was just the most awkward moment they'd ever had between them, and yet it would've been wrong to reject it. So… he didn't. He breathed in the fire Lio offered between soft lips, until Lio pulled away.
"Wh--what was that for!?" Galo sputtered, almost biting his tongue.
Lio had already turned around and started hurriedly putting on clothes again. He was inhumanly quick with those leather pants, and ordinarily Galo would've been impressed, but he was trying his best not to stare. Once at least that half of him was covered, he slipped his shirt over his shoulders without buttoning it up and turned to face Galo again, reaching to touch his arm. "Did it work?"
"Did what--" He followed Lio's line of sight. "...Oh."
"I wasn't sure it would work," Lio said with a dull smile, "I've only ever done this for burnish… But they really did heal you."
The burns weren't that bad. They'd felt like a sunburn at worst, so it had been completely unnecessary, and bad for his heart. But Lio was right, they were gone.
"I'm glad. I don't know first aid like you do. I need to be able to take care of you if something happens to you," Lio continued, looking up at him. His eyes looked damp. "It can't always be you saving me."
"You've saved me plenty." Galo said honestly. Lio had protected him with his fire before, and he'd done so much to protect his mental state since they'd started living together. He was hesitant, but he reached forward and brushed Lio's bangs back, and kissed his forehead.
Lio's expression changed. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't.
Before he allowed them to get awkward about it, Galo changed the subject. "Oh. There's one of your scars!" He traced a thumb above Lio's eyebrow. It was small, but it must have felt significant to Lio, against his otherwise flawless skin. Nobody would've noticed unless they were staring, and Galo was an expert at staring at Lio, so of course he saw it. "Where's the other one?"
Lio gave a startled, incredulous half-laughter and went back to righting his clothes. "You had the perfect chance to get an eyeful, you know."
"Hey! I'm a gentleman!"
"I wouldn't have been," Lio told him, stepping outside again to return to where Galo had laid out the sleeping bags.
Galo needed an extra couple of seconds to recover from that statement before he could follow. He looked behind him one more time, using his phone as a flashlight, and examined the scorch marks on the ground; more than scorch marks, the ground had straight-up melted. He wondered if that was the kind of intense heat Lio had dealt with before, or if it was a new byproduct of having ten times the usual amount of parasitic fire aliens attached to him.
It had been bright, like staring into the sun.
He knew he had to trust Lio, but that was going to be more difficult now that he knew Lio had hidden his condition to the point of collapse.
It damaged the part of him that believed Lio was genuine when he was being flirtatious like that. He couldn't know everything Lio was hiding from him, and it hurt.