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Lio had it bad for Galo Thymos.
Whenever Galo was in the room, he was all Lio could focus on. His brilliant smile enveloped his entire face, even sometimes closing his eyes like a cartoon, and Lio found it to be an infectious disease. He couldn’t look at Galo smiling for long before the corners of his mouth began to pull upwards of their own accord. Lio prefered to maintain a stoic demeanor, he believed it to grant him better control over his own emotions, but Galo was like the summer sun beating down on Lio’s icy persona. It was no wonder Lio felt so comfortable expressing himself when he was alone with him, more comfortable than he felt around even Meis and Gueira. Galo’s personality was fine-tuned to fit through the miniscule cracks in Lio’s walls.
God fucking dammit. Lio had been going somewhere with that train of thought, only to be derailed by the thought of Galo smiling.
Lio pulled the blanket tighter around himself as he huddled by the running, open oven late at night. Galo. Smiling. Don’t get distracted.
Anyway. Lio’s observation of Galo, particularly of his smile, had led him to notice how his eyes stopped smiling whenever someone called him an idiot. His fists clenched at his sides, the corners of his mouth fell a few millimeters. Lio even swore he felt less warmth emanating from him.
He’d laugh along with everyone, fire back a “You know it!” or sometimes a “Takes one to know one!”, or just continue the conversation like nothing was said, but Lio could tell it upset him. No one else seemed to notice, not even Galo, he reckoned.
Lio didn’t think that Burning Rescue or even Gueira and Meis calling him an idiot was meant as an insult. The way everyone said the word, it sounded like a term of endearment. He suspected it may not have been at first, as it was when he and his generals had first encountered Galo, but now there was an affection in it.
But the thing was, Galo really wasn’t an idiot and Lio wasn’t sure why he seemed to be the only one who could see it.
Yes, Galo said and did dumb things a lot. Like. A lot. Lio had to collect him from the police station more than once for getting into fights with people he heard making derogatory comments about the Burnish. He had a special talent for sticking his foot in his mouth, making comments completely inappropriate and sometimes hardly related to the situation at hand. Sometimes Lio had to tell him his shirt was inside out.
But Lio had been watching Galo a lot. And Lio had studied his blue eyes as Lucia explained complicated engineering to him, the way they seemed to be quite literally drinking up the information like a sponge, his entire body rapt as he leaned towards her. The way he kept up with her as well as someone without a STEM degree could, asking relevant questions that Lucia didn’t seem to have considered. Lio had listened to Galo excitedly explain Japanese culture and history to him, detailing a society several eras past. There was no more Japan, just as there was no more America, but Galo had a clear fascination with the country his father had been born in that had pushed him to do what had to be a crazy amount of research. Lio had watched him perform first aid as the two of them worked to rescue the Burnish from their cells in the Parnassus. Lio himself had felt helpless when it came to the injured, while Galo immediately leapt into action, applying pressure or elevating the limb as he instructed Lio to call for help. Lio had seen Galo knowing exactly what to say to comfort the injured or to diffuse an argument before it even began.
Galo wasn’t an idiot. He was smart. Quick to learn. Extremely emotionally intelligent.
He was just impulsive, Lio now realized. He said the first thing that came to mind and he tended to not think before he acted, especially when he was in a rush, but none of those things indicated a lack of intelligence, especially when there was so much to the contrary.
And most importantly, Lio had been there when Kray called Galo an idiot. Maybe he had been okay with it before Lio met him, but that didn’t matter. Galo wasn’t okay with it now but wasn’t going to say anything for whatever reason.
Lio closed the oven and turned it off. His thoughts were beginning to jumble as his exhaustion began to cry louder than the cold absence of the Promare. He shuffled his way back into Galo’s room and crawled into bed beside Galo.
-
The next day, Lio had enough.
Burning Rescue Station 3 was gathered in the break room, cutting up about something or other. Lio wasn’t paying much attention, instead focused on the plastic lighter in his hands as he flicked it on and off and staring at the flame wavering on the opening, when he heard Remi gently chastise Galo with “You’re such an idiot.”
Immediately he looked up, flicking the lighter off and closing the hood as he sat up in his seat. “Galo isn’t an idiot.”
Everyone turned to look at him. There was an awkward, uncomfortable silence as no one, not even Galo, knew how to respond.
“He’s smart. He loves to learn and he can keep up with Lucia better than most everyone, and he always knows the right thing to say when he actually stops to think before he speaks.”
More silence. More staring.
Lio met Galo’s eyes, their blue depths shining with emotion.
“Impulsivity isn’t idiocy. Don’t assume someone’s okay with being constantly put down just because they haven’t stood up for themself yet.”
Tearing himself away from Galo’s gaze, Lio stood up and turned to leave. He may have started the conversation, but now Galo needed to finish it, and too many people were staring at him instead of asking Galo how he felt.
-
Lio was sitting in the garage when Galo found him later. He stood up to greet him but before he could say anything Galo had pulled him into a bone crushing hug.
“Thank you,” Galo said, pressing his head against the top of Lio’s head as he pressed Lio against his chest.
Lio pulled away enough to look up at him and smile. Not the half smiles that Galo often wrenched out of him, but one of his rare uninhibited smiles. “Anytime. Have you always not liked it, or is it because of what Kray said?”
“I never liked it, but it's become worse since Kray,” Galo answered, looking down at Lio. “How did you know?”
“Your smile,” Lio said, frowning, “it doesn’t reach your eyes like normal.”
His hand involuntarily found its way to Galo’s face, his thumb tracing the faint smile lines beginning to form in his skin. Somehow, despite being a sign of aging on most people, they didn’t age him at all.
Galo barely even seemed to register the presence of Lio’s hand. “I could kiss you right now.”
Again, Lio’s body acted before he could even process what he was doing. Galo’s smile must not be the only infectious thing about him. “Why don’t you then?” Too late to take back what he said, Lio slid his hand behind Galo’s neck and ever so slightly pulled down to reinforce the sincerity of the invitation. Might as well own it.
The encouragement was unnecessary, he realized, as Galo’s lips met his and he shifted to encircle his arms around Galo’s neck as he leaned down low enough for Lio to do so.
Yeah, Lio had it bad for Galo Thymos.