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Ignis has been down this road before.
“Fotia.”
Said man looks up at him from his paperwork on the couch.
“Captain Ex,” he begins, “Is there something I can do for you?”
Setting a hand on the younger’s shoulder, relieved at the significantly smaller flinch when compared to the first time.
He gives the former terrorist an intense stare, one he matches immediately.
He knows it won’t be easy, but this isn’t Ignis’ first rodeo; he’s been through this plenty of times with the others. It’s new ground, trying to trap someone like Lio, but he’s never been the kind of man to back down just because the field’s changed.
Ignis makes his move.
“Get in the car, I’m taking you out for ice cream.”
“…Excuse me?” The man asks, his suspicion slipping into confusion.
“You’ve been working hard lately, and it’s important that we show how much we appreciate it.”
“Oh…thank you,” He responds, awkwardly, clearly unused to being complimented and flabbergasted at the idea of being rewarded, “But that’s unnecessary, I’m only doing a small part, there’s no reason to do anything in recognition of that.”
Which is Lio Fotia for, “I haven’t done enough, I need to do more, I don’t deserve anything nice, I haven’t earned the right to be complimented or rewarded.”
Is the kid trying to qualify for sainthood?
“Look,” Ignis counters, “You may not see what you’re doing as much, but the rest of us do. So it’s more for us than you, okay?”
“I…”
Sighing, Ignis decides to pull out the big guns, “I had a feeling you wouldn’t be on board, so…Galo. Get in here.” He demands, calling for the idiot.
Said idiot bounces in, cheerfully asking, “What’s up?!”
Motioning to Lio with his head, Galo’s eyes widen in understanding.
“Oh! Okay!” And with that, the kid turns on the most pitiful kicked puppy face Ignis has ever seen.
“Liooooo……” The boy whines at his lover, “Just do what the captain wants…….”
“Galo, I…” His other half begins, clearly being broken down, no matter how much he tries to keep composure.
“Pleeeeeeeeasssseeee……” The twenty-three-year-old whimpers, starting to tear up.
“…I’m going to the parking lot.” Lio finally says as he gets up, conceding defeat.
“Thanks Galo,” Ignis says as they watch the small form recede from where they are.
Immediately bouncing back to his energetic nature, the boy gives him a salute and a, “Not a problem, sir!”
Nodding at him, Ignis begins the walk to his car.
“Oh, sir!” Galo calls out before he goes out the door.
Pausing, he turns around to look Galo in the face.
“Can you,” The boy starts, “Can you…not be too hard on him?”
“Look,” Ignis defends, “Somebody’s gotta let him know he’s an idiot.”
“Oh, I know!” The kid acknowledges, face a big smile, eyes closed in joy.
That open to venomous pupils.
“I wanna do it.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
“So,” Ignis begins, “You’re saying…”
“That Lio Fotia,” Remi continues, “failed to show up to his medical evaluation after the Parnassus Incident, and hasn’t made any attempts to get in touch with a doctor since.”
Rubbing his temples, Ignis motions for Remi to continue.
“I found this out when the station received a phone call from Promepolis General Hospital, who were curious as to why the former leader of Mad Burnish hadn’t come in to be given a checkup like the other Burnish citizens after the collapse; turns out the number he gave them to contact him with was for a gas station in Mexico and not Galo’s cell phone. So, we currently have an employee who’s state of health is unknown; in other words, we are breaking so many protocols, and if I see Fotia, then he is a dead man.”
Sighing, Ignis regards his lieutenant, “Well, we can be forgiven on the grounds that the apocalypse happened and we were short on manpower,” he starts, “As for proper employment, he’s still being counted as a parolee instead of a full-time worker, so that’s even less, so we don’t have to worry too much about labor law violations.”
“We’re still not sure if he’s in any condition to be doing any work!”
Placating Remi with his hand, Ignis cuts in, “I know, I know, I’ll take care of it. Honestly, I’m surprised Galo didn’t drag him there already.”
…
“Shit.” Ignis says as realization dawns on him.
“Galo,” Remi calls out the office door, “Can you come in here for a minute?”
The loud “Affirmative!” hardly gives them enough time to prepare for Galo bounding into the office.
“What can I do for you guys?” The young man asks peppily.
“Did Lio ever talk to you about getting a medical evaluation done?” Remi asks.
“Oh, yeah! Just after the whole end of the world-thing, he said a bunch of the Burnish had to get evaluated at the hospital. He said everything was taken care of.”
“Uh huh, did he ever say that he went?”
“Yeah, he said he went to the hospital a lot to check up on everyone!”
“I meant did he get evaluated?” Remi asks, patience growing thin.
“Well, I would assume so, unless you’re some idiot with no idea of self-preservation…” He says, slowing down as the gears start clicking in his head.
“…”
“LIO!” The youngest yells out, looking like he’s about to strangle his idiot partner, rushing out the door.
“So,” Remi begins again, “What are we going to do?”
“What we’ve always done when one of us tries to avoid doing something that makes sense,” The captain responds coolly.
The same trap they set to get Lucia to the dentist or Galo to the bank.
Exasperated, Remi asks, “Don’t tell me you mean-”
“I mean the ice cream.” Ignis cuts in before Remi can protest.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Lio sits straight in the car, eyes glued to the windshield, quieter than a church mouse as they drive down the street.
If he didn’t blink, Ignis would confuse him for one of those china dolls his grandmother used to collect.
“Sir?” He finally says after a thirty-minute silence.
“Yes?” Ignis answers.
“I apologize if this bothers you, but we’ve passed at least six ice cream vendors.”
“Yes we have.”
“Are we actually getting ice cream, Captain Ex?”
“…Hm. You catch on fast. Even Lucia needs another five minutes before she realizes what’s going on.”
“No, I’m just naturally suspicious of everyone, it’s a habit.”
“Understandable.”
“So where are we going?”
“To the hospital for the doctor’s appointment you were supposed to go to months ago.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have the time for that, there’s much more work that I-”
“Fotia,” Ignis begins sternly, “The city is not going to fall apart if you’re out for one day; so just sit back, and we’ll get there soon.”
“I’m busy,” the kid begins to hiss, his own air of pleasantry starting to fall.
“Well you should have thought about that before you skipped out on your checkup.”
Giving a glare, the kid moves his hands as quick as lightning, clicking his seat belt off, kicks open the door, and rolls out on his side…into the back seat where Ignis managed to park behind him just in time, swerving to turn the car to the side, opening the door, and setting up a small ramp in front of the open doorway for the kid to roll onto.
Using the momentary confusion to buckle Lio in and shut the doors, child-locking them, Ignis starts back on the drive.
“That one’s on me,” Ignis starts, silently laughing at the shocked look of his passenger, “Should have just put you in the back from the beginning.”
“…How did you-”
“Have you ever tried to take Lucia to the dentist?”
“…”
“And I saw the footage of you sliding your scrawny little body under a truck during the investigation of your escape, so don’t even think you can get away with that.”
“…Touché, Captain Ex.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
“So,” Varys begins, “He used the ol’ ‘Let’s get ice cream’ trick?”
“I still can’t believe it worked on Fotia of all people.” Remi breathes out, eyes blown back.
“You can call him ‘Lio’ you know,” Aina pipes up from where her and Lucia are trying to get said greenet’s hair tie back from Vinny, “And he’s probably never had a strong male role model in his life offer to get him ice cream before, so he was probably too confused to catch on.”
“I simply respect that he wants to keep his working relationships professional-”
“He wants to be friends, he just doesn’t know how!” Aina interrupts, angrily.
“VINNY!” Lucia yells at said rat, “Stop snuggling that, you don’t know where Lio’s been!”
“Vinny!” The rat shoots back, still fondly nuzzling the hair accessory, pushing the stray strands caught in it to his face, breathing in the scent of roses that accompanies his love.
“No, that lock of hair is NOT a token of your beloved’s favor that he left for you! His hair comes out easily because he’s malnourished! THAT’S PROBABLY WHY THE CAPTAIN TOOK HIM TO THE DOCTOR!”
The reminder of his precious Lio being in poor health causes a round of tears to begin spurting from the rat, his sobs echoing from the shelf he’s situated on.
“…Well it’s a better reaction than Galo,” Remi remarks, looking over at the young man aggressively doing push-ups.
Accentuated with his yelling of, “STUPID, SELF DESTRUCTIVE, ANGELIC, DECEPTIVE, WORKAHOLIC, SELFLESS, EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED ASSHOLE! YOU ARE DEAD WHEN YOU GET HOME, YOU BEAUTIFUL IDIOT! I AM GONNA KILL YOU…AFTER I FINISH KISSING YOU BETTER! I HATE YOU SO MUCH! ALMOST AS MUCH AS I LOVE YOU, YOU FLUFFY HAIRED BASTARD!!!!!!”
“…Yeah,” Varys agrees, “I don’t if I feel worse for him or the little honeydew head.”
“At least we can still use the ice cream trick on him to get him to go to the bank.” Remi states.
“It is effective,” Lucia agrees, plopping herself onto the couch with them, giving up on trying to get the accessory back from the sobbing rat, choosing to amuse herself with Galo’s yells of frustration and love.
“Hey,” Varys asks, “How come you keep goin’ along with it when you know the captain’s just taking you to the dentist?”
“Because if it ever is just for ice cream and I don’t take the chance, I’ll never forgive myself!”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Several foiled escape attempts later, Lio acknowledges the victory of his opponent as they pull into the hospital parking lot.
“Sir,” he starts, “I am giving you one last chance to let me get back to work, or I will be forced to take drastic measures.”
“And I told you,” the older man states as he unbuckles his seatbelt, “That the only paper you’re going to be filling out is a form for your medical history.”
As the man opens the door, Lio quickly finds a hand pressed to his back as he stands up, nearly making him panic until he realizes it belongs to the captain.
Entering the lobby, Ignis walks up to the receptionist and says, “We have an appointment for a ‘Lio Fotia’ to get a checkup.”
Skimming through the files, the receptionist lightly teases, “My, oh my! Quite a slippery thing, isn’t he? It says he should have been here months ago!”
“You don’t say,” Ignis says dryly, giving Lio a look that would make anyone else look to their feet in shame.
“Will this be the full examination for a former Burnish?”
“Yes, it will,” Ignis tells them, taking note of the momentary flinch when the kid hears the word “former.”
“Alright then, just sit somewhere and,” they say pulling out a sheet and clipboard, handing it to Lio, “grab a pen and fill that out, please, the doctor will see you shortly.”
Guiding the kid to a seat, Ignis plops down beside him.
“You don’t have to stay,” Lio says, starting on the sheet, “I can handle it from here.”
“You honestly think I trust you to do this by yourself right now?” The older man shoots back, giving the shorter a sharp look, “And be honest on that thing, the hosital’ll keep it to themselves.”
Saying nothing, Lio returns to filling out his answers.
After a while, Ignis notices the kid’s hand hasn’t moved for a bit and decides to investigate.
“Hey,” he says calmly, “What’s wrong?”
Giving him a suspicious look, Lio eventually figures his best bet is to get over with and admit it with annoyance in his voice, “I…can’t finish this.”
“What are you stuck on?”
Passing the man the form, it’s more of a question of what isn’t he stuck on: So far, he’s got his name, height, weight, sex and emergency contact information on the first page filled out and nothing else.
“You don’t have your age?”
“Years just slip by on the run,” the kid says, world-weary.
“Your birthday?”
“I forgot.”
“Blood type?”
“The scientists weren’t keen on sharing the results at the ‘research’ facility.” The kid says, bitterly, “I only know my height and weight because they were measured for the uniform at Burning Rescue.”
Ignis knows better than to ask about a social security number.
“Alright,” Ignis starts, “I’ll go talk to ‘em.” He says getting up, quickly shutting down Lio’s protests.
“This is fine,” the receptionist assures him, “Most Burnish patients can’t fill out a lot of the information, so we can’t expect much, it’s good enough that he could fill out what he has.”
Nodding, he heads back to where Fotia is sitting.
“Put your legs together, we’re in public.” He scolds.
“No.” The kid responds, completely indifferent.
Some time passes and Ignis notices the kid’s fingers curling into his hands, no doubt they’d leave red crescents on his palms if it weren’t for the gloves.
“Hey,” he starts evenly, still getting the kid to jerk a bit, like he just remembered where he was, “Are you all right?”
Catching his breath, the kid looks at him with a frustrated face and says, “It’s not important.”
Ignis is about to say something, but all too soon a voice is calling out, “Mr. Fotia?”
The smaller shoots up and basically power walks to the door, ignoring the whispers that started when his name was called.
“The terrorist?”
“Yeah, he was with Mad Burnish.”
“They’re really just letting him walk around?!”
“I dunno, didn’t he help Galo Thymos stop Governor Foresight?”
“But what’s he going to do now?”
“Well, it’s not like he’s a threat anymore.”
Following the nurse, he disappears into the doorway, closing the passage behind him.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
“Alright, Mr. Fotia,” a tall woman with brown hair in a lab coat and glasses starts as she enters after the nurse had taken his temperature, “I’m Dr. Hephaestus and I’m glad you could finally make it.”
“Apologies,” Lio starts, having the decency to look remorseful, “I regret if I’ve caused any problems for the hospital’s scheduling system.”
“Well, the Mexican gas station number really did throw us for a loop,” she lightly teases, as Lio puts all his effort into not looking at the ground, “But with all the other Burnish we had to evaluate, we didn’t have much time to worry.”
“The others…is anyone experiencing something serious?”
“Now, now, that’s not what we’re here for. Let’s focus on you, alright?”
Deciding to get it over with, he wills himself to remain still, no matter how much that lab coat makes his blood feel frozen.
“Before we do anything,” he says, “I’d like to ask that you tell me everything that you plan to do to me before you do it.”
Chuckling a little, he thinks he hears her mutter, “Just like the others,” before she adjusts her glasses, “Alright; I regret to inform you that you probably won’t be getting back to work today, there’s quite a few tests we’d like to run.”
Nodding in agreement, Lio waits for her to continue.
“First things first, we’d like to take some blood samples; these won’t come back to you for a bit, but the sooner the better.”
Being guided to sit on the table and taking off his jacket, Lio watches her clean off a spot on his arm before preparing a needle.
“I hope you didn’t skip your appointment because you’re scared of needles,” she teases.
“No,” he replies, “Needles are fine.”
Compared to having your arms disintegrate, the shot barely feels any worse than a mosquito bite.
“Good,” the doctor says once she’s obtained a decent sample, “Now, next is a bit more intimate,” she starts, “I’m going to need you to pee into this cup,” she says as she passes him said plastic cup.
“Of course,” he agrees as he begins to unzip his pants.
“In the bathroom, sir!”
“Oh, alright,” he says without a hint of shame as he heads to the restroom he is shown by a nurse.
Which has no windows, so possible escape routes are gone.
Sigh.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Around two hours later, the tests are finished and the results are collected.
For once, Lio’s actually impressed with himself: he’s managed to hold off a panic attack pretty well, considering all the lab coats and equipment around him.
“Okay, Mr. Fotia,” Dr. Hephaestus begins, “Now that we’ve got your test results, I’d like to go over them with you.”
Nodding in agreement, Lio motions for her to continue.
“Before we do so, however, I’d like to ask you some questions about your history form.”
Pausing in surprise, Lio eventually nods.
“It’s not that we’re worried about anything in particular…it’s more that we believe you didn’t understand some of the questions very well.”
“…Excuse me?”
“For starters, for your allergies, you put, ‘Politicians, racism and government-supported brutality.’”
“Yes, all of those things make me feel violently ill.”
“Mr. Fotia, none of those contain allergens, you’re simply experiencing disgust.”
“I see, then none that I know of.”
“…Continuing, for any history of illness in your family, you put, ‘Money.’”
“It’s poisoned them from the inside and left them shells of people that appear to be able to do nothing but waste time until they die.”
“Granted, but that’s not an illness.”
“I disagree, and I know of no others.”
“…And for sexual history, you only put, ‘Magnificent.’”
“It has been.”
“…Could you give an estimate of how many people you’ve slept with?”
“Six.”
“Alright, that’s a fair number for-”
“Pardon my interrupting, but did you mean recently, or in general?”
“…I’m honestly afraid to ask about in general, so please write it down on this napkin so I can have time to prepare myself.”
Doing so, Lio quickly scribbles a number down while Dr. Hephaestus prays for strength.
“Here,” he says as he hands the napkin back, “I had to guess somewhat, so it may not be the exact amount, but I believe it’s very close.”
Taking a breath, the doctor looks at the number.
“…I’m going to ask you this once if you’ve been completely serious about everything you’ve written, Mr. Fotia.”
Looking slightly shocked, the patient counters with, “With all due respect, what would cause you to believe that I’ve been lying, doctor?”
…
Deciding to move on and forget everything about his files, Dr. Hephaestus pulls out his test results.
“Alright, moving forward,” she begins, “Everything has come back clean, so there’s no need to worry at the moment for any disease in your system.”
Nodding, he readies himself to hear the bad news.
“However,” she begins, “Your body is clearly not within a healthy range, something that I’m sorry to admit can be deduced without proper medical training: Your current body mass index is significantly low and you are just barely above the point at which you would be hospitalized. This could lead to various ill health effects that, without the Promare in your system to fight them off, could cause you serious harm. And some appear to have already been taking effect, such as your stunted growth.
“You’re at high risk for conditions such as anemia and osteoporosis along with a weakened immune system. Are you aware of what those entail?”
Having heard this before, Lio nods, “Yes, my partner’s informed me of them.”
And nagged me about them to no end.
“Then you’re already aware of how dangerous they are, yes?”
“…Yes.”
“Good. Then you understand how important it is for you to focus on your recovery.”
“…”
“For now,” Dr. Hephaestus continues, grabbing a sheet of paper and passing it to him, “Here is a list of foods that should be able to help you gain weight, and let’s continue; your employer is here, isn’t he?”
Surprised, Lio tells her, “Yes.”
“Good, there’s some things I’d like to share with the both of you, if that’s alright with you.”
Taking a minute to think it over, before he decides that there’s no real reason to think the captain would do anything with that information, he agrees, “Yes, that’s fine.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
“Mr. Ex?”
Looking up from the newspaper he’d been reading at the nurse standing in front of him, Ignis is surprised to be addressed.
“Everything alright?” He questions.
“Yes, but Dr. Hephaestus would like to go over some of Mr. Fotia’s results with you.”
Grunting in affirmative, Ignis gets up, puts his paper back on the table and follows the nurse to the offices.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
“Thank you for coming, Mr. Ex,” Dr. Hephaestus starts as Ignis takes a seat, “We’re just about done here, but there’s something I needed to go over with both of you.”
“Is there something wrong?” Ignis asks.
“Well…that depends on how we handle things.”
Giving her a look, Lio cuts in, “It’s unimportant, there’s no reason to waste any more time-”
“Mr. Fotia, this is a major health concern-”
“One that I am more than capable of taking care of by myself-”
“Enough,” Ignis orders calmly, taking control of the conversation. Motioning to the doctor, he requests, “Continue.”
Straightening herself out, Dr. Hephaestus begins, “Mr. Fotia, like many other former Burnish, is suffering from the consequences of his life on the run, and he has not taken the proper steps to recover.” She says professionally, not noticing the Burnish digging his fingers into his thighs, “His body is in a state that is incredibly dangerous to leave as it is, and along with the high levels of stress we’ve examined complicating his recovery, I cannot say enough that he should not be working at the moment.”
…No wonder the kid looks like he’s about to sucker punch someone.
“I understand,” Ignis says, “But his work is currently being counted as his community service, so you’d have to speak to someone higher up about getting it suspended.”
“Oh, I’m not saying he’d have to stop,” she tries to clarify, “But he would have to be removed from any physical labor that he’s been doing: his bones at the moment are close to fracturing, the fact that they haven’t broken after working in reconstruction for so long with the current state of his body is remarkable in itself.”
“Well, let’s just say he’s stronger than he looks.”
“Even so, without sufficient muscle and bone strength for support, he is at high risk of doing damage to himself, and should instead be devoting his time to his recovery.”
Passing Ignis a note, the doctor continues, “If he keeps to a schedule, he should be physically well enough to be reassigned to active duty within a few months. As for his stress levels, I heavily suggest that his shifts be shortened and that his duties be spread out to others.”
“I see,” Ignis agrees, registering Lio’s breath stopping, “I’ll be sure to move some stuff around.”
SCREEEECHHHH!
Lio stands up quickly, his chair falling down from the velocity.
“I thank you both for giving so much consideration to my health,” he grits out, raising his head up with a fierce look, “But as long as I am able, I am going to continue what I’ve come here to do, end of discussion.”
“Mr. Fotia, you are in no condition to continue working right now, you need-”
“I am fully aware of what needs to be done,” Lio cuts her off, “And that cannot wait for anything this trivial.”
“Sir, your health is not-”
Raising a hand, signaling for the doctor to stop before Lio explodes, Ignis breaks into their standoff.
“Doctor, if you could excuse us for a second,” he begins, “I’d like to try talking to him, alone if you don’t mind.”
Seeing that he has a plan, the doctor nods, “Would you like to use my office, or…”
“The bathroom’s fine, thank you.”
Getting up, he tries to put a hand on the kid’s shoulder only for him to jerk away before contact, heading off to the direction of the bathroom.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
“I’m perfectly fine to continue as I am.”
Giving the shorter an unamused glance, Ignis starts, “You’re not getting out of this.”
Crossing his arms, trying to hide his twitching fingers, the kid shoots back, “I believe that I understand my body and it’s limits better than you or some stranger, so I will decide when I need to stop.”
“Sorry, but I’m more inclined to believe a trained professional than the guy who’s passed out in the showers because he didn’t sleep or eat for a week.”
Glaring, the kid starts to growl, “If you’re just going to go along with some scientist, then-”
“You mean, ‘Doctor?’”
Eyes widening, eyebrows nearly getting swallowed by his bangs, Lio seems to freeze at realizing the slip of his tongue.
“Is that why you’re so on edge?” Ignis asks, gently, “Because you think they’re like the scientists from the Foundation?”
“…”
“Is that why you didn’t want to go to your checkup in the first place? Because you were scared of the doctors?”
“…It’s pathetic…”
“Hey…”
“I did all this work to get the Burnish access to proper care, tried to help them get comfortable enough to let the people help, and I couldn’t even go through with something the children were able to."
Smiling ruefully, he continues, “I was using the devastation to avoid going as an excuse so no one would realize that I was this pathetic,” chuckling bitterly, he says, “But you figured it out anyways. Just another testament to me being a failure, I suppose.”
Registering the shaking, Ignis moves in before Fotia has a panic attack, placing a hand on his shoulder, making the kid jerk a bit.
“Look,” Ignis begins evenly, “If you were scared, you should have just said so.”
“There was…no point in bothering anyone about my shortcomings.”
“That’s not a shortcoming, it’s a trauma; something you seem to recognize in everyone but yourself.”
“It’s…not important…”
“Because it’s about you.”
Looking to his feet, Lio’s silence is all the confirmation he needs.
“Look…” Ignis tries to comfort, “I’m sorry, but you need to recover, so we’re doing what the doctor said.”
That makes the kid lift his face up in defiance, before it falls down in resignation.
“As for the rest,” Ignis starts again, “I’ll go back and talk to the doctor, you can just wait here, and we’ll go in a bit.”
“I’m not a child,” the kid shoots back, the fire coming back in his eyes, “I can go back, I’m fine now.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, let’s get this over with.”
Taking a few deep breaths, Lio opens the door and heads out, Ignis trailing behind him.
“Just keep your cool.”
“Not an issue, sir.”
Smirking ever so slightly, Ignis tells him, “Of course.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Getting back into the car after getting checked out, the sun setting, a doctor’s note and well wishes with them after Lio apologized for his outburst, Ignis can see that the kid’s looking drained, too tired to keep up the ice king act.
“Hey.”
Glancing at the captain from the passenger seat, arm propped up on the windowsill, cheek in hand, the kid looks weary in a way Ignis knows isn’t from the tests.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Ignis excuses, “At least you managed to keep yourself from exploding this time.”
Turning to look out the window again, Lio regards the moving road without really looking at it, and Ignis knows he can’t bring him back home miserable.
“Well, we’ve got one more stop before I take you back to your place.”
“Hmm?” Lio mutters, raising an eyebrow.
Because even if it’s not the first stop like they thought it’d be…
“I figured you needed a little pick-me-up.”
If Galo can get his taxes together or Lucia doesn’t have any cavities…
“And if you promise to let someone know before you have a meltdown the next time…”
Or now, if someone does his best to face his fears…
“We can get you something that might get you out of your funk.”
Then they’ve earned an ice cream cone.
“…Thank you.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Pulling up to the parking lot for Galo and Lio’s apartment complex, Ignis watches Lio start to exit the car.
“Fotia.”
Looking back to the captain, Lio regards him with apprehension.
“…Try to take care of yourself, okay?”
The smallest smile crosses the twig’s face, “I make no promises.”
“Fine. Then I guess he’ll do it.”
“Huh-”
THUD!!!!
Is the sound made by Galo Thymos as he flings himself into the passenger door, infuriated face smushed against the window.
“YOOOOUUUUUU…” the living ball of energy utters in a surprisingly terrifying voice, directed at his lover.
The one desperately trying to recede into his seat.
“I texted him about your appointment while you were picking a flavor; he was not happy.” Ignis confesses.
Pushing the shocked Burnish out the open doorway, to much protest, Ignis watches Galo lift his partner by the armpits and press their foreheads together in confrontation.
“First you don’t go to the doctor when you’re supposed to, then you try to ignore everything they tell you?!” He yells at his terrified co-pilot, “DO YOU WANT TO TURN MY HAIR GRAY?!!!!!”
“Galo, I-” the smaller tries to explain.
“NOPE! Your right to explain yourself has been revoked for the rest of the night, Lio Fotia!” Galo declares as he starts to walk off carrying his roommate like a newborn, kissing his cheeks between enraged shouts, “Right now, you’re going to eat dinner and then it’s straight to bed for you!”
“But I have to-” The former terrorist tries to fight back, unused to being cowed by an opponent.
“TOUGH SHIT! I’VE CHANNELED MY BURNING SOUL INTO BURNING BLASTS OF NAGGING FURY SO THIS IS WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO BE LIVING WITH UNTIL YOU QUIT BEING AN IDIOT!!!!!!”
Ignoring the groan of despair from Lio, Galo turns his infuriated face to Ignis and yells, “Goodnight Captain, we’ll see you tomorrow!” And he marches towards the complex, Lio trying to squeeze his way out of his arms.
Starting back on the road, Ignis knows things could have gone worse.
Recovery takes time, but…
Seeing the kid let his mask slip just that tiny bit, he knows they’re making progress.