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It's cold. It's so, incredibly cold and Lio feels like his skin is about to fall off. The warmth inside him is gone, it's gone and it's not coming back. He doesn't think he's ever going to feel warm again.
He grits his teeth and his body is aching, dark purple bruises forming on his body because there's nothing left to heal him anymore, so his hands get rubbed raw while he's moving rubble and rescuing people out of the boxes.
There's no whispers in his head anymore. No promare telling him to burn, burn, feed me . He almost wishes he had it so he couldn't hear the cries of pain from everyone in this goddamned ship.
There's no warmth in his veins when he's talking to Meis and Guiera, none when he's talking to the survivors and trying to make records.
Sure, maybe he's been at it for more than a day. Maybe he's had little to eat and nothing to fuel him, but he needs to get this done. There's so many things he needs to get done and-
A hand lands on his shoulder and he flinches, raising his arm up like he's trying to summon the sword as he always did, but it doesn't appear and it's just Ignis.
"Take a break. You need it. I've already convinced Galo." There's no expression behind those sunglasses and stony face of his, and Lio wants to argue. Tell him that he can keep going. That these people need him more than he needs rest.
His expression stays sharp as he sits down near one of the team's camps, convincing himself to keep up this façade. He doesn't know why he does it. To convince people that he's not tired? To show strength? He's the Mad Burnish leader, of course he's supposed to be the epitome of strength. Of rebellion. Of terrorism.
"Hey! Hey, Lio! Did Cap force you to sit down? Thank god. You've been working nonstop! I was just about to head home." Galo's voice fills his head, and he turns to look at him, wondering how the hell he's in such a good mood. Despite the wreckage and everything around him.
"I don't want to stop. But I was too tired to argue with him," He admits, almost closing his eyes and letting the mask fall. He doesn't understand why he says it. Galo is just... trustworthy. He's like a sun, radiating warmth to everyone around him.
Lio almost feels selfish because he wants to bask in his light. It's rambunctious and bites away at the aching cold in his body.
"Do you even have a place to stay, Lio? You can come stay with me if you don't!" There's an ache in his heart when Galo speaks, and it's so... so... unfamiliar. That he wants to push Galo away so he never has to feel it again.
"No. I just planned on staying here. You don't have to go out of your way-"
"I'm not going out of my way! You saved the world with me, and you're on the team now! So it's simple! You're staying with me. C'mon." He picks Lio up with ease, and Lio swears that Galo's hand can fit around his entire waist.
Galo holds him in his arms, fireman carry style, so he doesn't jostle him around too much. Lio's head strays back to inside of the ship, when his body was turning to ashes, body falling apart and flames in his chest dwindling-
Galo tilting his head up, and his body rushing with warmth as the fire roared down his lungs, bursting and licking their way into his skin-
He shakes his head as Galo sets him down, smiling at him stupidly and swinging a leg over his motorcycle.
"Here, just hold on tight, you had that super cool motorcycle, you know how it works. Did anyone ever teach you how to actually ride one or-" Galo rambles on, and Lio shushes him by pressing his palm against his lips, barely concealing the smile trying to pop up.
He presses himself against Galo's back as much as he can, trying to sap up as much warmth as he can. He can feel his back muscles moving slightly whenever they take a turn, and he allows himself to close his eyes. He knows, for some odd reason, that Galo won't let anything hurt him.
Maybe it's just some weird power he has. To be the stupidest yet warmest and kindest person in the world. He's happy, though, that even after being betrayed by Kray, Galo accepted it and moved on.
He's happy the universe can't lay a single finger on his burning soul. Nobody should be able to push him to the point of changing. He'll make damned sure nobody hurts him.
Galo almost has to jostle him to make him move, because he almost dozed off on the bike with the steady thrum of the engine and the warmth of Galo.
He's cold, now. Shivering. He forgot it wormed into his very bones and exhausted him beyond belief. Galo notices, and fumbles for his keys quicker.
"Welcome to the current house of the glorious Galo mcfreakin Thy-" Lio worms his way past him during the middle of the speech, and he's almost shocked at how comforting it is.
Yes, it's a little bit messy. He'll have to scold Galo about that sometime later. Galo almost looks betrayed that he ignored his speech, and he feels a twinge of guilt. Galo has convincing puppy eyes. Hell, the whole man is a golden retriever.
Galo sets the keys down on the table as Lio explores, silently remembering how all of the escape routes are unblocked and have kits near them. Anger frills up his spine, knuckles going white as he remembers Kray talking to Galo. How he destroyed his house. How Galo needs more than 2 escape routes.
He quickly tries to calm himself, remembering there's no flames he has to rein in. Just himself.
"Lio? I know your palms are stupidly raw, come here. I have a med kit!" He calls from the other room, and Lio takes his time. He's not used to being patched up. He's used to watching the neon fires run over his skin, wounds slowly closing over.
He's not used to feeling so weak.
Galo, with his stupidly pretty face and smile, with that stupid haircut and stupid shoulders, sits at the table, patting the chair in front of him.
Lio ignores him, hopping up on the table and pushing his palms out for him to clean up. Galo hums, opening the kit and pulling out disinfectant cream and bandages.
His big hands easily circle around Lio's wrist, and the contact sends a flush of warmth to his chest.
"Are you okay?! You're super cold!" Galo almost shouts, looking up at him with big eyes. Lio can't handle this.
Galo stares at him intently, concerned, and Lio struggles to give him an answer without revealing that he's not strong enough to handle feeling a little cold.
"Lio..." Galo's voice drops, and he slowly starts to work on his hands. "It's okay to admit that you're feeling rundown. I know you've been working super hard for the ex-burnish."
Lio almost wants to cry. His shoulders finally relax, untense, and the mask of seeming okay shatters in that moment. The cold nips at his skin, and he allows himself to be vulnerable.
His face is weary as the dam breaks, and all of his concerns and worries are pouring out of him as Galo listens to him, applying the bandages as softly as he can.
"Galo... Fuck. I don't- You bring this stupid side of me out. I... I've never always known what to do and I've always been strong but... I'm so unsure, now. Fuck," He slowly gets out, and Galo is picking him up, along with 6 more blankets before he can say anything else.
"You're cold, right? We'll tackle that first! We can just check it off one by one!" Galo throws him onto his bed, and Lio yelps as the blankets pile on top of him.
"Hold on, one- one second. I need to change and get the space heater cause you're absolutely freezing to death, which I can't have," He says, grabbing a pair of pants and heading to the bathroom.
Lio warily worms himself into the blankets, alert because this is all too nice and he's not used to having moments of calm like this. Galo is too soft and goodhearted and warm for someone like Lio.
He doesn't want to discuss their relationship. He knows the kiss happened, and piloting the mech together almost felt... intimate. But he doesn't want to ruin whatever system they have.
When Galo comes back, he's wearing only a pair of pajama pants and he's carrying a heater, tripping over the wire. He grins at Lio and plugs it in, settling into the bed and closing his eyes.
Lio just wants to stare at him. To drink in the sight of him happy, relaxed, calm. He cuddles into the blankets more, and while it's helping a bit, he's still cold.
Galo brushes his fingers against his neck, and shock runs across his face when he realizes that Lio is still abnormally cold.
"Here," He pushes his way into the blankets, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him into his bare chest. He shudders from the contact, void in his chest slowly heating up as Galo tangles their legs together and presses his head into the crook of Lio's neck.
"Get some rest, Lio. We can think everything over tomorrow. We'll be okay," He slurs out in a half-asleep state, and Lio is curious about how he manages to fall asleep so fast, but it's probably due to his empty head.
Lio basks in the heat, thinking over Galo's use of we while he was talking. It was them. Not Galo, not Lio, them .
He's never gone on an emotional rollercoaster like this before. There's nobody in his life- except Guiera and Meis, but in a different kind of way- who has shown him this much genuine kindness and affection.
His thoughts don't stop running around his head, making it difficult to sleep. But when Galo, still asleep, says something about his matoi gear in his sleep, Lio knows it's gonna be okay.
Because he's got this stupid firefighter near him.