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Hugs have never been Flame's thing.
Lomedy hugged him once or twice. It was always sudden, unexpected and completely unnecessary. Still, Lomedy hugged him and Flame didn't know how to react.
The first time was after he got out of the Law prison. Flame will admit, it was a reasonable moment to hug him. Especially since they didn't exactly split off on good terms.
It wasn't much. Just Lomedy coming up to him with hesitant footsteps and avoidant eyes. He even stumbled while coming closer, which Flame snorted at. Lomedy didn't back down, though.
He didn't stop at the usual distance they left between one another. Regardless of how subtle, Flame froze when Lomedy reached his personal space, so close he could feel his body heat.
If it was possible, he froze even more when arms wrapped around his torso, pulling him flush against Lomedy's chest. Sure, it didn't last a lot, but it made something distant twitch in his gut.
By the time he processed what had happened, Lomedy was already telling him about what he had to fix around his base and what he wanted to improve. Flame continued to act as normal as possible.
The second time Lomedy hugged him was a time which he didn't really want to remember. The memory was still bitter, waking up a sourness that affected his entire mood.
He had a nightmare, which was childish. Flame was a grown man, he shouldn't be crying over stupid dreams with no meaning. Except this dream did have meaning.
Lomedy entered his room to find him tangled in blankets, fallen to the ground. He's seen him countless times without his blindfold, but he'd never seen him crying before. Lomedy stepped closer, crouching to his level.
Flame remembers him saying something, trying to calm him down most likely, but the words didn't register. What did register were the warm arms pulling his head into Lomedy's shoulder. His heartbeat overflowing the loudness of his thoughts.
It felt nice. It was also scary.
When Wemmbu started pulling his strings, landing closer to him after a missed mace, walking half a step next to him with their shoulders brushing or even shoving him to the side, Flame didn't know what to make of it.
Wemmbu and him have never been that close, but not that distant either. They fought, they talked and sometimes they hung out, accompanying each other to Capital City and back.
Flame found himself not minding the closeness. It sent sparks of warmth through his already hot skin, leaving long lasting feeling in the place which Wemmbu touched.
Wemmbu first hugged him after the Law fight. They finished that fight and they were both exhausted. Wemmbu could barely sit up straight without trembling.
His mace wasn't helping the weight distribution. Flame knew that he was going to betray Wemmbu, but he didn't want the idiot to accidentally mace himself. It was a very real possibility too.
Flame mindlessly walked closer to him, reaching Wemmbu's back. He didn't register his presence until the mace wasn't lifted from his shoulder, carefully placed next to him.
Wemmbu turned around then. Flame froze, the weird feeling returning to his gut. Only this time it was stronger, as if it wanted to eat him alive and not leave even a drop of blood or fragment of blood behind.
Wemmbu fell in his chest, arms hanging loosely behind his back. Flame didn't react. He was too busy keeping his pulse steady and low. Hugging Wemmbu made his brain flip and heart flutter.
He stabbed Wemmbu in the back a few minutes later.
Now, months after everything got resolved, Flame was mourning the feeling. Not Lomedy's hugs, no. Wemmbu's.
Flame was not a coward. Despite not being in touch with his feelings, he didn't ignore them if they got annoying or strong enough. Right now, his skin was about to melt off if he didn't find Wemmbu.
He knocked on his front door, listening carefully to the footsteps moving around inside. Wemmbu's hair was sticking out in all directions, eyes half lided as he opened the door.
Flame was not a coward. He was not patient either. He moved quickly, allowing himself in and gently shoving the door closed behind him. Wemmbu let out a questioning hum, but didn't stop him.
In a blink he was anchoring himself around the other's frame, arms tightly held around his waist while his head rested on his shoulder. It felt nice, exactly what Flame needed.
Wemmbu was shocked for an entirety of four seconds before he sighed, simply returning the hug. He didn't speak, but he did push Flame to move towards his bedroom, 'gently' pulling him down under the covers.
Flame wasn't commenting on anything tonight. His brain was silent, allowing exhaustion to take over and sluggishly annihilate any rational thoughts. The blanket was thrown over them, but it didn't really matter.
Not when Wemmbu's arms were holding him close, legs tangling naturally with his. A hand on the crook of his neck guided it under his jaw, a soft kiss being planted on his forehead, before it started massaging his scalp.
It was comfortable. Warm, safe and everything Flame was sure he didn't need. But the feeling in his stomach eased by a lot, allowing him to fall asleep. So maybe being next to Wemmbu wasn't as bad as he originally thought.