Work Text:
got a call. don't wait up for me.
love u
all of u
Lio responds with his usual stay safe but doesn't engage further. A pang of guilt hits as it always does when he's not on the same call as Galo, but his usual worry has mostly dissipated. By now, he trusts Ignis to be aware of everyone's strengths, to know who's needed when - and the outcome from there is out of Lio's hands.
It's a shame that they're not all together to break in the new couch on its first night, though.
"He'll be okay, Boss," Meis soothes, in the way he always does when Galo gets into something dangerous or reckless without him - which, in one way or another, is about every other day. "He was made for this."
Lio nods, folding his knees up. This is true. But something else is bugging him, and he can't put his finger on it.
"Turn this ooooffff," Gueira moans, as a local report about Foresight's upcoming trial drones quietly under their comfortable buzz. The display is thankfully relegated to a tiny corner of the TV screen as Meis flips through the guide, cycling through tired yet haunting images of Burnish refugees after the Crash. "We live it every damn day , I don't wanna hear it anymore."
Meis hums in irritated agreement, and quickly switches to whatever his cursor has landed on indiscriminately: some talk show where three middle-aged ladies are gushing about some new celebrity perfume. Lio sort of envies the blissfully ignorant reality they seem to occupy.
"This isn't any better." Gueira's grumpy mood will pass soon, Lio knows; he moves in close, a slim arm wrapping around Gueira's deceptively corded shoulders, immediately feeling him sigh and lean his head back.
"Thanks, Boss," he breathes, and that hollow needle pricks at Lio's insides again.
Meis lounges long-ways across the empty space on the couch, unwilling to leave any room in Galo's absence, probably relishing the chance to stretch his legs. He leans back against Lio's side to squish him in the middle, his wiry frame bowling them over like dominoes.
"Two weeks," Lio breathes, petting at Gueira's mane of hair to soften the blow of his incoming adrenaline. It feels so far away and so close, long awaited yet much too soon. He's not too keen on talking about it much himself, but they might as well get it out of their systems, especially while Galo's away.
Galo hasn't mentioned it once .
"He's done for," Meis mutters, bitter and righteous. "We just have to survive it one more time."
They all do; they all will . Distantly, Lio frets that Galo might be able to sense their worry as an icy prod in his core that could distract him for a moment too long. He should really give the world's number one firefighting idiot more credit, but he tries to manifest more positive thoughts anyway.
"Fucker's gonna wish you iced him," Gueira seethes, rage still leashed. Lio kisses his cheek, and Meis hums against Lio's chest, half laying across him.
Anticipation and anxiety coil hot in Lio's gut, oil and water. He wants to be crushed, smothered, overwhelmed. He wants to stop thinking .
Head fuzzy, Lio is dimly aware that this is the first time that just the three of them have had a chance to fool around since they were on the run. Taking any part of them out of the equation greatly affects the outcome, though every combination and possibility is equally thrilling, delicious.
"Gueira," Lio purrs, "do you remember our first night, all together?" He's close enough to hear the hitch of Gueira's breath, as well as Meis' chuckle warming the front of his shirt.
"With the Fireboy? Yeah, 'course - " Gueira's throat clicks as he swallows, and Lio's other hand gently cradles his jaw. "Look on his face was priceless . And it was only, mmm , a couple months ago, you think my memory's that bad?"
"Not with Galo." Lio's voice drips honey. He licks against Gueira's lips, and hears Meis behind him, taking off his own shirt. It seems everyone's on the same page; excellent . "Just us."
Gueira makes a noise deep in his throat, something like a moan but also consideration, yet Meis beats him to the punch. "You were a brat . Took you a few times to relax into it. Thought Boss was gonna steal me from you, huh?"
Lio straddles Gueira's hips, and Meis moves in close, tugging at the sleeves of Gueira's hoodie. Gueira can't answer very easily with the way Lio's laying claim to his mouth, tugging at the short hairs at the nape of his neck, just the right spot to short circuit his brain.
He makes a valiant effort anyway: "What kinda Mad Burnish would I be if... hnn ...I just let anybody crawl into bed with us, babe? Had to make him earn it a bit."
"Right." Lio nips at his ear, freeing Gueira's mouth but making him shiver. " I had to earn it, but pretty soon you were begging for me, weren't you?"
Gueira's temperature rises a few degrees. He leans forward to shuck off his jacket, trying to refocus. "C'mon, Lio…"
That sends a jolt of excitement up Lio's spine, even if he's too worked up to analyze it.
Lio lifts his arms as Meis lifts the bottom of his T-shirt, straightening his spine as it's pulled off of him, arching his back as he perches on Gueira's hips. Meis trails down to the waistband of Lio's leather pants - casual today, no belts - pulling them most of the way toward his knees.
"So pretty when you beg," Meis rasps, head tipped toward Gueira but just out of reach for a kiss. "Galo's gotchu all toppy now. Miss it sometimes."
Lio stands just long enough to fully shed his pants, revealing his mismatched striped knee socks. "Don't laugh," he seethes at the twin breathy chuckles he receives. "I have to do laundry." As he reclaims his place in Gueira's lap, he braces his hands on the back of the couch, grinding down hard. Gueira moans as he clutches the backs of Lio's thighs, sharing a look with Meis that for once, Lio can't read.
Meis stands to position himself behind Lio, grabbing him by the waist and hoisting him up against his chest, knocking all the wind out of him. In the same motion, Gueira anchors his hands behind Lio's knees and pulls up, letting them hook over his shoulders.
Meis' grip on Lio's waist is solid and secure as his head lolls back against Meis' collarbone. Gueira tugs at the tops of the socks, but Meis shakes his head. "Too cute," he murmurs, and somehow Lio bites his tongue.
Gueira's hands move up, sitting just below where Meis' are splayed across Lio's ribs, cradling him as Gueira mouths at Lio's cock. The angle should be wrong, and Meis' arms are certainly going to ache in short order, but they don't seem worried, so Lio sets it aside too.
"Not so scrawny anymore, Boss," Meis murmurs, kissing Lio's temple, and Lio groans as Gueira takes him in one smooth thrust to the back of his throat. "Big guy must be feedin' you good." The anticipation that had been banked melts into faint annoyance again, but Lio holds it back. This feels too good; they're working too hard for him to allow this change of mood to stop them.
It's a maddening push-pull, a trust fall with every pass into Gueira's mouth. He's making the most of the angle, too, curling his tongue around Lio's length with every thrust, closing his lips tight around the head as he retreats. All the while their hands never show any sign of fatigue, the nails of one pair digging in before the fingertips of the other soothe the sting, reminding Lio that they've got him.
As if he could ever doubt, or forget.
The heat in Lio's belly builds in gradual pulses until it spikes, and he rolls his hips, heels digging into Gueira's back, chasing his high. Meis is breathing heavy against his ear, huffing the occasional encouragement and praise - so good to us, Boss, gonna come for us? so gorgeous like this, wanna make you feel so good - and if Lio could string two coherent thoughts together, he'd be thinking about how to return the favor after his inevitable orgasm.
But for now their grip on him is absolute, inside and out, growing hotter and faster - a temple of breath and hands that they've made together, and he gets to see the view from the top -
The door clicks open.
Lio flinches bodily in his ex-generals' hold, before his brain reminds him that it can only be Galo. Lio's limpid eyes train to Galo's face: weary, yet wearing a sheen of relief. Lio can tell he grabbed a quick shower at the station barracks, but it hasn't banked the exhaustion etched in the slouch of his shoulders, or washed off the ever-present smell of smoke from his skin and hair.
He kicks his boots off, then smiles at the display in the living room, bright under his tired eyes. Whatever awkwardness should probably exist is wiped from the slate.
"D'you have room for one more?" he greets, a sweet rasp that sends a jolt through Lio's adrenaline-confused dick, which has momentarily slipped from Gueira's attention.
"That was kinda quick," Meis notes. "Everyone good?"
Galo nods as he approaches, shedding his clothes haphazardly on the way. "Fast and hard. Burned like a dream." He nestles into Gueira's side on the couch. So far, he's the only one among them who's fully naked.
"Keep talkin' like that, and you'll get me all worked up," Gueira rasps, voice a little wrecked from Lio's cock. He squeezes the tops of Lio's thighs as he faces Galo, presses their foreheads together. They share a quick kiss, and Lio considers Galo tasting him on Gueira's lips, choking on a moan at the thought.
Galo sighs, dark eyes finding Lio's face. "Hope you're not gonna leave him like that," he teases, tracing a circle on Lio's knee. Lio's hips move in helpless little figure-eights, not caring who gets him off at this point as long as he gets there, and soon .
All three of them can read the urgency, and by now they wordlessly know how to feed it. Gueira lifts Lio's legs up and back, which messes with Lio's balance and worries him only momentarily until Galo has him, too. He holds unwavering to one hip while Gueira grasps the other, and Meis adjusts the angle to aim Lio's dick between Galo's parted lips - he goes easily, still slick from Gueira's hard work.
Meis pulls him back after a few languid strokes, and deftly pushes Lio back into Gueira's similar but singular heat - longer strokes of his tongue, well-versed but more easily distracted. They continue that way, alternating a few more times until Lio is shaking under their hands, face and chest flushed and panting, clawing at Meis' arms.
He wonders who's going to swallow him, and figures he's got a fifty-fifty shot at guessing, but he's wrong - Galo squeezes Lio's hand in between the final switch, a signal to Meis, then turns to kiss Gueira. Meis' knowing laughter is a low rumble against Lio's shoulder before Galo takes hold of his cock with his free hand, his touch work-roughened and warm. He lavishes just a few long, tight strokes, pushing Lio past the point of whiting out.
As his chest heaves through each wave, Lio's consciousness bobs back to shore like a letter in a bottle. His eyes open to the sight of Gueira and Galo making out, sharing his taste again. The remains of his release are splattered high on their cheekbones, heedless of the mess dribbling down.
It takes a combined effort to set Lio down. As Gueira and Meis lose the rest of their clothes and topple into each other, Lio is content to spectate from his perch on the arm of the couch. He continues to come down, coaxing the other three along with the prettiest words and the kindest touches he can find.
Galo is quick to come down Gueira's throat. Meis bites down into Gueira's shoulder and whines as he ruts between his pressed-together thighs, jerking him off with a desperate fervor. As they pant and heave and collapse into each other, Lio sprawls in his knee socks and grins like he's surveying his kingdom, but the way they all turn to him in the comedown with a sated light in their eyes makes Lio feel like what he has is far greater.
With an exasperated smile in his voice, he teases,"We finally get this nice couch, and two of you still end up on the floor."
▼ ▲ ▼
There's never been a dull moment in the apartment that's home to all four of them half the time.
Lio's not really invested in this bet. The whole thing is silly - who really cares who can hold off coming the longest? It feels juvenile, yet just intriguing enough that when Galo asks for his blessing, he obliges.
Things only get more interesting as Gueira gives a tell-tale keen below him, coming into his mouth. He's not sure yet if he's supposed to be relieved or disappointed, but Galo lets out a woop! of excitement beside them, bookended by his breathy gasps as Meis keeps going to town on him.
Gueira scrubs his hands over his face. Maybe his temper will flare, or he'll say something absurd like accusing Galo of cheating by having Meis go easy on him (as if). Whether it's the afterglow, or Galo's easy disposition is finally rubbing off on him, he just offers a completely ridiculous fistbump that Galo returns with fervor.
Galo's not far behind - there's a reason this was a challenge, after all. Lio's not really concerned about getting off himself, but he is invested in Galo's end of the bargain: Gueira had left the terms incredibly open and vague. Anything you want us to do, we'll do it. I'll make it happen.
"I wanna take you out," Galo says sleepily, piercing the silence that was waiting to be broken. "There's a pizza place the team would go to all the time. Before...everything. Heard it's reopening next week."
Huh.
"I know you tend to think with either your stomach or your dick," Lio muses, "but that's all you want?"
Galo scratches at Meis' scalp, running a thumb over his swollen bottom lip. "What else is there?"
▼ ▲ ▼
Galo's fingers lace at the nape of his neck as he walks, body angled toward the sunlight, face full of a hope that the people around him drink in like a fountain. "You're gonna love it so much. I heard that the old chef is back - he was Burnish too, and he...well, anyway, he's the best! And Pops is super nice - "
Gueira sniffs at the air. "You sure this is the place?"
"Uh, yeah?" Galo double takes at the street signs. "I've been here like, a million times. What's wrong?"
"Nothin'," Gueira chuckles. "Let's see if it lives up to your hype, big guy."
▼ ▲ ▼
"Still the best," Galo mumbles around his mouthful. He knocks his knees against Lio's beside him, and Lio knocks back.
"It's fantastic," Lio agrees, almost reverent. He's never told Galo that he's never tried pizza before they'd met (not a proper one, anyway); he's not sure he'd be able to live it down. He has little to compare it to, but he still knows good food when it's in front of him.
Gueira shares a look with Meis. "Hasn't changed, huh?"
Galo chokes. "Hrmn?"
Lio looks to Gueira too; he'd expected Galo to be the only one with a history here. Suddenly he feels a little out of place.
Meis shakes too many pepper flakes onto his slice, and wrinkles his nose. "Hardly a bit. Didn't think we'd ever be back here again, huh, babe?"
Galo gawks. "Can you please tell me what's going on?"
Gueira makes a surreptitious attempt to switch plates with Meis, and Meis doesn't stop him. "When we joined Mad Burnish," he starts, scraping only a few flakes off before shoving half the slice in his mouth at once and continuing, "they had the basement of this place set up for strategy meetings and such. Meis and I joined kinda late, so we were only here a few times."
Meis nods, gaze darting across the tables, at the paintings dotting the walls. "We wanted to take you, Boss, but...everything happened so fast. We didn't know if it'd come back."
"Heard it got raided by Freeze Force," Gueira near-whispers.
Galo goes very still beside Lio, staring down at his pizza, mostly just a crust bearing his bite marks. He's always been easy to read, often to a fault, but right now he makes himself as small as Lio's ever seen.
Then there's a cheerful, rotund man clapping Galo's back and giving a throaty hoot as a greeting, and Galo's face lights up again. "There's the man of the hour!"
"Pops!" Galo looks profoundly like a child as he meets the man's eyes, stars dancing in the wet depths of his own. "I'm so glad you guys are up and running again!"
The man scans the table, giving Lio a quick, approving nod. When he reaches Gueira and Meis, his nod has a longer, silent history behind it. "It's partly thanks to you guys, after all. Lio, is it? Think your lot was responsible for the grant that helped us get things moving again. Not to mention, y'know, saving the world and all! How could we ever thank you enough?"
Galo's grin is almost bigger than his face. He scrubs the back of his neck. "Oh, that? That was just firefighting; it's what I do, sir."
By now, their conversation has started to attract the curious eyes of other patrons. Lio squirms, while Meis and Gueira withdraw as they focus on eating, camouflaging themselves.
"Yes, well! There's not a medal in Promepolis big enough for you now!" The owner claps Galo on the shoulder again. "I can get Yu out here when he has a second; I know he wanted to thank you too - "
"No," Galo sharply interjects. Then softer, apologetic, "No need, Pops. This is the best thanks I could ever get." He gestures weakly to the pizzas remaining on the table.
"Gotcha. Well, I'll tell him you stopped by." The owner glances back toward the back of the house, apparently noticing something that requires his attention as he slips away. "Hope you'll be back soon, Galo! Take care, all!"
Galo keeps stealing guilty glances back toward the kitchen, and his grin never fully returns for the remainder of their stay.
▼ ▲ ▼
It's just the two of them in bed that night, but Galo takes up enough space on his own that Meis and Gueira's absences aren't too jarring.
Lio stirs in the dark, expecting Galo's steady snoring to lull him back to sleep, as it usually does. Instead, Galo is sitting up against the headboard, knees held close to his chest.
"Galo?" Lio mumbles, seeming to startle him from a deep concentration, deeper than Lio usually sees. Galo's brief surprise is quickly replaced with a warm smile.
"Hey, firebug," he answers, like he's soothing a spooked wild thing. "I'm...I'm gonna be strong for all of us, okay?
Lio frowns, and thinks about what it means for Galo to give that away. "You're plenty strong, Galo," he assures. "We're gonna get through this."
There's still so much distance in his stare, so much tension Lio wants to soothe away. Which wounds will heal with time, and which ones need his care?
▼ ▲ ▼
The trial drags for what feels like months, combatted and postponed on every possible front by the grubbiest, most spineless lawyers that Kray's blood money can buy. At every corner, evidence is dragged from the depths of Mad Burnish's darkest days to paint them as the true villains - estimates of property damage and casualties, both before and after the induction of Gueira and Meis, before and after Lio's leadership. Some of the figures admittedly make Lio's head spin, but they're just a cheap deflection from the issue at hand.
Lio, Gueira, and Meis are made to justify their every action through the years, from choosing camps to planning raids. Gueira, the most hot-blooded of their rank, keeps a pretty level head through the interrogation. The only clues to his rage and frustration bubbling under the surface are deep sighs that rack his frame before answering something particularly incendiary. Meis fares better, with an impassioned testimony about their actions speaking for their people who never had a voice.
Lio makes his own ideals very clear - that Mad Burnish, under his command, always provided escape routes and would never take a life - to which he's met with the terrifyingly astute follow-up that all of his good intentions could very easily have gone to hell. Escape routes are an empty sentiment, he's told, if the people he gives them to aren't aware of them, or don't take them.
His mouth goes dry, enough to make him worry that all of the eyes on him will poke through the weak parts of his armor. All the while, Kray sits across from the stand, a snake-like smirk under an unreadable gaze. Lio can't let him get an upper hand on them, not after everything they've been through, not in some stuffy courtroom full of suits that will never understand how a single one of them suffered.
What really makes Lio bare his fangs is the way the defense lawyer dares to talk to Galo - like a puppy who's pissed on the floor, like he deserves to be reminded of his place. He walks Galo through every moderately neutral-to-positive thing that Kray had ever done for him through childhood - as if the testament that Galo had been fed, clothed, and educated through government funds would make up for all of Kray's unspeakable crimes.
Galo keeps it together through the cross-examination, focused and steely, never faltering even when he's thrown curveballs meant to crumble his emotional defenses, make him lash out, say something foolish. Lio's so, so proud of him, but he doesn't verbalize it at the time - just presses his affirmations and comforts into the skin of Galo's strong back every night as they drift off to sleep - sleep that's never enough to rest them up for the day ahead.
In the aftermath, the time they spend together is largely quiet, motionless. It's only Galo who breaks the heavy silences with too-loud jokes rushing out of his mouth like water, but Galo is nothing if not easy to read when his reassuring smiles don't reach his eyes.
Even in repose, the tension of the wire everyone's been walking on feels ready to snap at any moment. In rest and togetherness they're still haunted by the screams of friends and the bitter accusations of enemies, only passing the hollows in their bones between them when they seek to soothe it by touching.
After the final day of testimony, they return to Pop's Pizza, but Galo's attention is commanded by the drone of the trial coverage on the flatscreen on the far wall. He grits his teeth and tries to look away, but he keeps being drawn back.
"Hey," Gueira offers, "let's move outside, okay?"
Pops seems to silently tune into Galo's need for space; he only approaches toward the end of their meal to offer it on the house, but Galo politely yet adamantly refuses. He tells Galo to get some rest, claps him on the shoulder one more time.
An errant passerby recognizes Galo from when Foresight had feigned pride to spit your Galo Thymos on a public broadcast. They exchange pleasantries until the rubber band of Galo's composure is snapped in half: "Weren't you close with Kray? Didn't he save you? I'm surprised you're testifying against him - "
Gueira looks to be two seconds away from tearing this guy a new one, but Meis bodily holds him back with a hand on his chest.
"I have nothing else to say," Galo pleads, voice thin. "Have a great day, sir."
The dude just keeps walking like nothing happened, like a program he was watching suddenly switched off. Lio suggests asking for takeout boxes, but suddenly Galo is standing up and bolting , slapping crumpled bills on the table from his pocket. Lio is quick to stand, calling after him, but Meis touches his wrist, urging him to give Galo time.
Lio fights the tears prickling behind his eyes. He takes a moment to consider where Galo will go, and remembers the tale of how he dug an absurd depth into the frozen lake out of sheer frustration. Now that the ice is gone, Lio wonders what else he could channel himself into, what else he could dig up or tear apart or break open. He aches at the image.
Soon after, his phone buzzes; be back soon . It's followed a few minutes later by love u
all of u
Pops stops by a few minutes later with more unordered-but-anticipated pizzas, eyes darting around for Galo. "Everything alright here?"
Lio nods curtly. "We'd like some boxes for these, please."
The bill they receive barely covers what they ate, let alone what they're taking home, but Lio hopes they make up for it in their tip. They walk down the street, two pizza boxes each between them.
"We can stay, Boss," Meis offers. "'Til he comes home."
It's a tempting offer. He could use the connection and contact, but there's just nothing left in him to give. Not today.
He shakes his head. "I need to shower." It's become Lio's go-to for I need some time to think.
There's a child's voice behind them, footsteps growing closer, but Lio thinks little of it. Until the voice seems to keep repeating the same unintelligible sound over and over, until it's right behind them. "Sirs!"
He's about ten, all gangly limbs and a fauxhawk. Gueira stops abruptly, meeting his eager eyes. "Oh, hi there. What's up?"
"Oh," Meis says, "you're the kid from last week."
Meis had mentioned this incident in passing: the child had been Burnish, and hadn't been taught proper fire safety since losing the Promare. He'd turned on the stove, unsupervised, and set some nearby paper plates aflame. It was a small fire without much collateral damage, though Gueira had to treat minor burns on the kid's fingers.
(Meis and Gueira are dispatched together whenever possible, despite Ignis' stern warning not to expect it as normal procedure. Similarly, Ignis had initially hesitated to place Galo and Lio on the same calls, especially after discovering their relationship, but quickly conceded that they cover each other's blind spots in a way that never compromises their goals. They're brilliant alone, and unstoppable together.)
"I just wanted you to know," the kid proclaims, still panting a bit from his run, "that I thought about it, and I wanna be a firefighter just like you guys!"
Meis and Gueira's jaws slacken, looking to each other for words, for something snappy and succinct to respond with. Even being called firefighters seems to be a surreality that they're still grappling with.
Gueira balances his pizzas on one hand and ruffles the kid's hair. "Y'know, I never, ever thought we'd be doing what we do now. But I think I'm realizing; it's worth it. That sounds like a great idea, boss."
The kid beams . "Gueira, right? And Meis?" They nod together. "I'm gonna remember you! And when I join Burning Rescue, I bet I can even outrank you!"
"I can't wait to see you try!" Gueira returns playfully, fist-bumping the kid; Meis supports Gueira's pizza boxes with his own as they start to teeter in his unbalanced hold.
"And you too!" he directs at Lio; it catches him off guard for a moment, to be spoken to. "I've heard of you, Mister Lio, I wanna be like you too!"
Lio thinks briefly about the statements he's given to reporters, the televised meetings he's held with various boards over the past few weeks. He imagines a pair of parents huddled rigidly in front of a TV while their young child passes by, knowing only that the young blond guy speaking is fighting on their behalf.
"There's no rush," Lio gently urges. He doesn't bend his knees; he used to hate when adults did that to him as a kid. "Take your time, grow up, learn as much as you can. Then when you catch up, I bet you can pass me."
▼ ▲ ▼
Meis and Gueira walk Lio to his front door, kissing him goodbye, promising to return on a day that feels a little lighter. Lio showers until the hot water is completely drained and his skin is pink and warm to the touch, stepping out in a towel and a cloud of steam to see Galo in the hall, looking much more relaxed and limber than mere hours ago.
"Galo - " Lio starts - maybe it's an apology, or one of the sweet-nothing comforts that's worn thin like a record over the last few hellish days, but either way, Galo squeezes it all out of him in a big, crushing hug. The front of his shirt bears a big wet mark from Lio's hair when Lio pulls back to look up at him.
"I went to Aina's place," Galo explains.
"Not the lake?" Lio goes for teasing but ends up somewhere between confused and concerned.
"It's not the same anymore. And it just….has bad memories now. Lots of 'em." Galo shakes his head, banishing unpleasant thoughts. "We hung out for a while. She took me shopping. It was good to walk around."
"That's good," Lio commends.
"She also said we should get away for a while. Like, go campin' or something. Said she can help us get some stuff together." Galo gently rocks them side to side as he speaks.
"Oh? You think we can get the time off?"
Galo chuckles. "I said the same thing, but she says the Captain would find any reason to give us time right now, with how things've been lately. I can talk to him in the morning."
Lio tips his head up to kiss Galo's jaw. "Guess it makes sense, that he'd want us at our best."
"Yeah," Galo agrees, reaching for one of Lio's hands and squeezing. "And I also told Aina," - his fingers dance between Lio's absentmindedly, lacing and twining - "that we'd need enough supplies for four people."
"Ah," Lio stammers, strangely moved.
"If they want to!" Galo adds, hurriedly.
"I can ask," Lio supplies. "It'd be good for them, too. For all of us."
When Lio falls asleep that night, Galo is pressed against his back, a reverse of their usual routine. Galo's breath puffing rhythmically against his shoulder might normally be annoying, but right now, Lio is just glad to have him close. He dreams of the awed eyes of a child that's found a hero to emulate, and prays from the depths of his soul to be worthy of that adoration someday.
▼ ▲ ▼
Meis and Gueira aren't half bad at setting up a tent, so Lio is eternally grateful that they offer to take the lead. They only call for Galo when they need his height, or an extra eye. In the meantime, Galo tugs Lio's hand and leads him towards the woods on the edge of the clearing they've staked out.
He knows the names of a bunch of flowers and bugs that Lio has never noticed before. There's a sparkle in his eye as he speaks, a side of the man he loves so dearly that couldn't have revealed itself in the confines of the city. It's like how Gueira and Meis' domesticity could only rear itself once they were safe and settled in an apartment, after so many years of surviving day to day in the desert.
Lio hears twin whoops and cheers, looking back toward the clearing to see the tent standing proud, until he notices it slowly drooping. They appear to have forgotten one of the top poles. He and Galo laugh together as Gueira and Meis grumble and curse, quickly trying again, getting it right the second time.
"Hey," Galo prompts, "you wanna catch fireflies?"
Lio blinks, pauses to make sure the question isn't rhetorical. "I'm...not too familiar with them, actually. You can… catch them?"
Galo giggles. "Yeah, yeah - wait, you've never caught them? Let's do that tonight! It'll be fun! You just put 'em in a jar for a bit and let 'em go, and they're fine!"
Lio digs his fingers past the grass into the earth. It's so damp, so cold, full of life. He's spent a lot of time living outside, but only in dead places, ears constantly perked for armored trucks or freeze fire. When was the last time he's been able to sit in nature, breathe, and enjoy it?
He might not see the point right now, but he trusts Galo; if he doesn't enjoy himself, he can at least enjoy the wonder on his boyfriend's face while he catches a few fireflies. Maybe he has a lot left to learn about the world.
"Yeah," Lio agrees. His fingers are dirty when they entwine with Galo's. "Let's get back though, before those two kill each other. Set up the sleeping bags and stuff."
▼ ▲ ▼
It's twilight when they build a fire.
Gueira and Meis circle it for a while, reminiscence in their gazes, before Gueira pulls Meis toward the river and insists that they skip rocks.
"Maybe I should've started it," Galo muses. He shifts restlessly in his folding chair, energy from earlier muted, the flames reflecting in his downcast eyes. "Need to get used to starting fires once in a while. That's what normal people do, right?"
Lio schooches his own chair closer, watching the deep golden light of the setting sun bounce off of Galo's arms, his chest. The smoke is dense and nostalgic, and he has to keep drawing his attention away from the hypnotic fire. "Galo...I wouldn't ever want a normal version of you. That would be awfully scary."
That earns him a chuckle, which is a good start.
"You know that I never... ever , since I was a kid." This broken sentence is enough for Lio to hear the words unsaid in it, too heavy to be spoken. "Never even a stove or a candle. Always thought everything around me would burn down."
Lio clasps his hands together; the heat from the flames laps at them. "I was like that when I became Burnish. I tried so hard to hold it back, that I tried to stay away from anything that could burn. But eventually I flared. I didn't hurt anybody, but they were all so horrified. They thought I wasn't myself anymore. So I ran."
Lio worries for a moment that he's broken the moment. He's still figuring out when it's okay to talk about himself, or when he should shut up and let others speak. Before he can apologize, Galo breaks through his doubts, though his voice is small again.
"Back then, I thought he wanted me around." Galo's fists tighten, arms wrapping around himself almost unconsciously. "But thinking back...he always had his back turned. He never smiled at me, unless it was in front of a camera. He never said he was proud of me, unless it made him look good."
Lio nearly swallows his tongue, waiting.
"Every day during the trial, new stuff kept coming to me," Galo continues. "Memories that I thought were happy, when I dust them off, are ugly as hell. I wanna burn 'em all."
Galo's fists loosen when Lio's fingers brush over them, just the barest feather-caress reminding Galo that he's there. The fire seems to roar higher as Galo speaks, maintaining its fury as his words settle.
Lio has long lived with his own awful memories, but at the end of the day, at least he can trust them.
"You always came to places like this when you were angry, right?" Lio's voice is soft enough to be ignored if Galo wants, but it wracks a sigh through him, something purifying.
Then he nods, as if his voice is spent, throat choked.
"I should've known," Galo seethes. "Should've known a long time ago, and maybe I could've done something - "
"Hey, no." Lio leans his head on Galo's shoulder. "You were a child. It wasn't your job to see through the adults that should've been looking after you."
There's a hitch in Galo's breath, but his shoulders stay strong.
"I know you probably wanna settle down," Lio murmurs, lips brushing the fabric over Galo's collarbone, "but would you be up for going back into the woods for a bit? We could all stand to let off some steam. Scream, kick, break a branch if we have to. We've had a really stressful time lately."
Galo stares off into the sky, where a few stars are appearing over the fast-retreating sunset. "I can get the others. Um…where did they go, exactly?"
▼ ▲ ▼
"This is nice," Gueira sighs as he spreads his arms against the current of the river. "Haven't been able to just… be lately, y'know?"
Meis nods, glancing at the husks of their clothes left on the bank. There's not much daylight left, but he can still spot Lio and Galo's fire like a beacon to guide them. He's missed the stars; before, he was always huddled in caves or under rubble, out of direct sight, and now he's holed up in the city whose own light blots out the constellations. His gaze is caught in a triangulation between the sky, the fire, and Gueira's darling face.
"It's a perfect night," Meis adds.
Gueira nods his assent. "But as much as I love your company, and your face, and your winning personality, I'm excited for the rest of the night, too." Gueira gives a muted little smirk that Meis can open up and read like a novel, cinnamon and wickedness and bad intentions.
Meis puts on a fake pout. "And here I thought you just wanted to talk."
Gueira closes in, cold wet hands framing Meis' face. Both of them strip away all of their smartassery to let themselves be seen - open, held. "So talk to me," Gueira whispers, teeth flashing in the early moonlight. "Tell me something that you've always wanted to do, that we've never had the chance to. The four of us, we're the only people in the world tonight."
A firefly dances between them as Meis searches for his answer, reaching into his darkest corners. He comes up with something they'd discussed once, what feels like eons ago. Gueira and Meis have existed in one state of open relationship or another practically since they met, always a revolving door on the run until Lio had stepped into their midst, pulled under their tides until he could command them just as well, but they never had much of a chance to test it out all together.
Meis tilts his head to whisper into Gueira's ear, like keeping a secret from the trees, and he feels Gueira's breath catch and halt. When he pulls back, he knows his own face is hot, thankful that the dusk covers his unusual blush.
"I've…I used to think about it a lot," Meis continues, conversational. "It's crossed my mind with Boss, and the Fireboy, and it would…I guess it would just make me feel like you're being taken care of, to have them…if they would…"
"Holy hell, you haven't stammered this much since I've known you." Gueira's lips curl up as he presses a thumb to Meis' trembling lips. "It's a tall order, Dallie, but I can always make it work for you."
Meis' heart somersaults at the long-buried pet name. He likes to think that he's a grown ass adult who can always hold it together, but no matter how high his walls get, Gueira knows how to turn them to dust with the force of a gentle breath.
"YO!" Galo's distant voice echoes through the trees, causing a chattery commotion of birds and insects. "Lio said we're all gonna go in the woods and scream!"
"That sounds dope!" Gueira calls, letting Meis sit in his rare shyness a little longer. "Be right there!"
They're giggling and clumsily kissing as they wade to shore. Gueira helps Meis ring out the river water from his hair, and they towel each other off before pulling their clothes back over their damp skin, clambering to reunite with Lio and Galo.
Galo has scoped out a nice clearing, and insists that the chances of anyone else hearing them are incredibly slim. For a few moments, they all exchange glances, like they're politely passing off the privilege of the first break in the silence.
"Start us off, Fireboy," Meis offers, gesturing with his chin, grinning with all his teeth.
Galo nods, oddly solemn for their current itinerary. He closes his eyes, broad chest expanding on a deep inhale,
and he screams.
And like the first bull to run in a stampede, that expression of catharsis is like a call to action. Gueira is next, naturally - somehow, two voices together feel less alarming than one, albeit no less chaotic.
Meis and Lio join in at about the same time. Pretty soon, they're all playing with their voices - the screaming turns to yipping and yelping, something less agonized and more playful. And within minutes, they're tired out, falling into a heap and laughing, throats spent.
▼ ▲ ▼
"Why did you pack so many pillows?" Lio watches in horror as Galo creates a veritable nest in the middle of the floor of the tent. He alone brought two bags: one little backpack with just his and Lio's clothes and immediate necessities, then another much larger duffel that Lio hadn't questioned - absolutely filled to the brim with rolled-up pillows.
"Uh," Galo answers, like Lio had just asked why he packed a toothbrush, too. "There's four of us? Nothing else to sleep on but this shitty air mattress and the ground?"
"It's adorable that you think we're not used to sleeping on the ground," Gueira offers. Meis is attending to him, slowly lifting up Gueira's tee and kissing the skin of his ribs as it's exposed.
"Not fucking on the ground," Galo answers. He's the first to flop down on the air mattress with a little too much force; the pillow fortress does a little to support him, but he mostly just feels his ass bust against cold hard soil. Meis and Gueira are giving him an answering, questioning look.
Galo crooks a finger to Lio, who helplessly follows his call. Meis urges Gueira down into the heap, shirtless and jeans unzipped. They lay in separate but nearby pairs, Meis and Lio bearing their partners down, kisses echoing in stereo around fabric walls.
"Turn over for me," Meis urges, and Gueira groans in anticipation for him. His belt jingles as Meis pulls Gueira's jeans past his lips, holding up his legs with ease as he shucks them off completely. Any move that Gueira and Meis make sends vibrations to the other side of the mattress; Lio can feel Gueira shiver, with the one hand he's bracing himself against the pillows with.
Galo leans over toward his edge, pushing the other side of the mattress up in his wake to reach his backpack, fishing for the lube he's put in the front pocket. "Think this'll be enough?"
Meis sizes the bottle up, taking the question seriously. "If it's not, we've got some serious issues to work out." He ignores it for the moment, pressing himself to Gueira's back and kissing along his neck and shoulders.
Galo sits up, pulling Lio with him into his lap. Lio's legs encircle his waist, arms around his shoulders. "I suppose I'm impressed," Lio teases against his ear. "You went through all this trouble, just to make us comfortable?"
"I supposed we've fucked in tents before," Gueira muses, "but never like this."
(Lio parses what he means: safely, peacefully.)
"Yeah," Meis groans in agreement. "It's fucking intense."
"Did you just - " Gueira is cut off by a quick little slap against his bare ass.
"Ready, darlin'?" Meis' voice has gone deep now, something dark and dangerous lurking beneath that makes Gueira grin into the pillow under his face.
Galo tugs at Lio's shorts, pouting. "Get these oooff," he whines. "It's been so long, baby…"
It's true; Lio and Galo haven't really been intimate since the start of the trial. Getting off has once again become an isolated, desperate endorphin release rather than a means of bringing him closer to the people he loves. He can't speak for the others, but regardless, the distance between all of them has grown a new rift, filled in gradually with each little kiss and scratch, a handful of sand at a time.
Lio quietly sighs against him; they're not needed for the main event yet, not until Meis is done with Gueira. Meis has picked up the lube and coated his fingers, petting against Gueira's flank with his free hand.
"Gonna be a good boy for me?" Meis asks him, in a bit of a drawl that tends to be reserved just for Gueira. "Like ya used to?"
"I always am," Gueira rasps, the bare threads of his voice indicating that he's already down. He rocks his hips back, gasping and sighing at the first intrusion of Meis' fingers. Lio catches Galo watching Meis work; his mouth is agape, hands stilling over Lio's body. It pulls a giggle out of him.
"Distracted?" Lio teases, kissing the corner of his mouth. Galo goes bashful, and his ensuing kisses are sweet, apologetic.
"Can't help it," Galo says between Lio's parted lips. "All of you…you look so good…"
Lio steals a glance behind him, noticing that Meis has escalated to three fingers pumping in and out of Gueira, which is where he normally stops. Meis is draped over him, hair falling around him like a curtain, kissing and biting against Gueira's flesh as he twitches and whines.
"Gonna look a whole lot better in a minute," Meis tells him. He shifts to speak right into Gueira's ear, whispering but still loud enough for the other two to hear: "You all set, love? You really think you can handle both of 'em at once? You know what Fireboy's, packin', and Lio's no pushover, either…"
Gueira groans, pushing back against the four fingers now stretching him open. "I can take 'em," he asserts. "Want you to watch me."
Lio props himself up on Galo's hips, reaching down to grip both himself and Galo in hand, giving a few warm, welcoming strokes. He balances back, grabbing for the lube and slickening his touch, just a paltry taste of what awaits them. Galo's lower lip is caught in his teeth, watching Meis as he pulls himself free and pulls Gueira into a kneel, murmuring sweetly to him all the while.
Meis stays to help Gueira balance, as Gueira straddles himself between Lio and Galo, pressed heavily against Galo's chest before he pushes himself down. It takes some fine tuning, Meis' hands on Gueira's hips and Lio positioning their cocks until they're pressing where he's soft and slick. Galo strokes a hand across Gueira's chest, strapping him in as Gueira's hips bear down, both heads slipping inside with a chorus of groans.
"God, honey…" Meis coos, tipping Gueira's chin to kiss him. Slowly but steadily, Gueira bears himself down all the way, flush to the base where Galo and Lio are held together, letting out a throaty whine. "Wish you could see yourself right now. You're a fuckin' marvel . You're takin' it all."
Galo brings his hand down to Gueira's thigh, bumping against Lio's and threading their fingers together without a second thought. With the other, Galo goes for Gueira's cock, sighing when he finds him dripping and straining. His mouth latches onto Gueira's shoulder as he quickens his pace, his hold warm, secure.
"Close already?" Galo teases, the pad of his thumb circling the head of Gueira's dick. He squeezes Lio's hand as he rocks upward; Meis just keeps kissing him, deep and wet and messy. Gueira twitches with every downward stroke, like he's pushing his body past what it thinks it can take.
"Try it sometime, big guy," Gueira grits, and then Lio has a hand at Gueira's throat, taking his own turn with Gueira's mouth, pushing him back against Galo's chest. It changes the angle, and Gueira rolls his hips against it, worked up enough that Lio and Galo slip out when he shifts up. Lio releases his throat, gripping himself and Galo together in one hand again before guiding them back inside.
Galo and Lio clasp hands, creating a cage of limbs as they rock upward together. Gueira's jaw falls slack, using the strength left in his arms to claw at Galo's thighs, Meis' arms. A ragged sound close to a scream erupts from him as he spills white hot between himself and Lio, spearing himself to milk as much as he can. Lio watches him rapt, completely given over, bearing all of their burdens on his own shoulders and then shedding them like broken shackles falling to the floor of the tent.
Meis is there in an instant, kissing Gueira's cheeks and coaxing him off, but Gueira shakes his head. "No," he babbles, "no, no, not yet…"
Gueira inches his hips up, inch by searing inch, and bears himself back down just as slowly, clenching deliciously as he rolls his head back, sighing. Galo pets at his face, his shoulders, around the splatter of come on his abs. Sweat beads on Galo's brow, and Lio can tell by the distance in his eyes, the quickening of his breath, that he's close now too.
"Sweetheart," Meis coos, muffled against the crux of Gueira's neck. "Fuck, if you're not the prettiest thing i've ever seen. Tell me, are you holding out so I can tell you how good you're being, or because you need cock that badly?"
"Yes," Gueira pants, shaking, surrounded.
One of Meis' arms slides around Galo's shoulders, the other around Lio's. He nuzzles Gueira's neck, pressing a flurry of kisses and nips where his pulse frantically races. "You're perfect. You always give your all to everything, and that's why we all work so well. Brave and strong and sexy, and mine."
"Yours," Gueira slurs.
"Yours," Galo says at the same time, almost below thought.
Lio and Meis share a little chuckle, and Meis nibbles at the lobe of Gueira's ear. "That's right. That's exactly right. Now what do you need, Gueira, baby? Is it too much?"
"W'nna be full," Gueira answers, and Meis makes a little sympathetic noise. Gueira's cock is soft against his shaking thigh, and his fingers tremble where Galo holds them.
"Baby boy," says Meis, "you're incredible. Can you do that, guys? After how wonderful he's been?"
Galo moans as if in answer. Lio reaches between them to tease Galo's thighs, then around to cradle his balls, knuckles nudging the underside of Gueira's thighs in the process.
"Lio," Galo whines, "Gueira, m'gonna - "
"Give it to him," Lio murmurs, voice soft, commanding. "Give it to me."
Few things could do Galo in quicker than that. His hips twitch up, forehead dropping to Gueira's opposite shoulder as he whines and spills. His shallow breaths quickly even out, hips stilling, falling out of sync with Lio.
"That's it." Meis takes over again; one by one, he unclasps Galo's fingers from Gueira's, then helps Gueira's boneless body lift from their laps. "So good, my Gueira. Let our boys take such good care of you."
"Wanted them both," Gueira moans, mournful.
"You're at your limit, sweet boy," Meis gently objects, hands stroking up and down his back as Gueira slumps against Meis' front. "Maybe another time, I promise. But you've done so much already. You can just enjoy the show now."
Galo is similarly blissed-out, but he surges for Lio like he still has a job to do, overwhelming him with kisses all over his face. "How'd you do that," Galo murmurs in between, "your hands, Lio, they're like. Magical, or somethin'. Wanna make you feel this good, too."
"Galo," Lio calls, a gentle protest despite his little smile. "You have, you do. Just - "
"Know he likes it when you throw your weight around, Fireboy," Gueira says, soft and slurred. He's settled against Meis, who's pressing kisses into his hair, lazily stroking Meis' dick as he watches the display in front of him.
And damn him, Gueira's right. Lio would never abide being pinned or tied down by his limbs, but when Galo is on top of him, pressed against him, the rest of the world falls so easily away. Galo is sunshine and safety, a fire unto himself.
"Yeah?" Galo asks, draping himself across Lio, dwarfing him with his body. Normally Lio would throw a fit about the mess, but he's in too deep to worry about that right now. He just focuses on Galo's solid warmth, the sweet press of his soft cock against his hip.
"Galo," Lio gasps, like he's drowning, like Galo is the only air left.
And Galo's hand is searing and encompassing around Lio's slick cock, pumping in exactly the rhythm he knows Lio likes. Lio's little sounds are rare, especially since he's usually the one driving a scene, but he whimpers as Galo inches down, tonguing across his throat, worrying the skin of Lio's collarbones between his teeth.
"Love what he does to you," Gueira continues, conversational. "Love how you fit together. Love that face you make when you feel so good you can't take it anymore."
Lio wants to playfully bite back that the commentary isn't necessary, but Galo twists his wrist and swipes his thumb over the head and his vision goes starry, a long groan ripping from his half-hoarse throat as he adds to the mess between them. (Fuck, as soon as this is over, he knows he'll be miserable even in the afterglow.)
Galo doesn't stop kissing him, fluttering and tender all across Lio's chest, across the jagged freeze bullet scar, the scant protrusion of his ribs. Lio pets the shaven back of Galo's head, scratching the back of his neck.
"Perfect," breathes Meis, urgency in his thinned voice as Gueira's pace speeds. "All of you, fuck, how did I get so lucky, fuckin' love you - "
"Focus," Gueira murmurs, leaning in to kiss Meis' nipple, flicking his tongue against it. "I know, Dallie, they know. Just feel it."
Gueira's legs tangle with Meis', and Meis comes with a strangled cry. The tent has warmed with all of their mingled, labored breaths, and the four of them sprawl out and inch closer until their fingers and wrists and ankles can tangle and twine, until no words are needed, at least for a short time.
Lio hates to do it, but after several long minutes, he breaks the blissful haze. "We are fucking disgusting," he gripes. "I need like three showers."
"I know just the place," Gueira chimes happily, though he's still boneless and sore enough that he can't get up as quickly as he'd like.
Galo, as if by instinct, sits up so he can pull Gueira into a bridal carry, which amuses Meis enough to make him snort. "The river, yeah? It might be kinda cold, but yeah, that's our safest bet. You up for it, Lio?"
Hells below, he's not, but at least he won't have to do it alone.
▼ ▲ ▼
Lio is notoriously the least morning-enthused of the four. He's gotten used to work alarms blaring before the break of dawn, and will wrest himself from coziness for the sake of a greater purpose, but if he has no obligations, he can just as easily sleep the morning away.
So he's not super alarmed when he wakes alone in the tent. He can sense the others nearby, hear the faint sound of a newly-stoked fire, and when he strains his ears…
Someone is crying.
Blearily, Lio throws on one of the too-big t-shirts Galo had packed just for him, crawling to the tent's entrance to unzip it. When he peers out, he finds Galo sitting near the fire, presumably the source of those heart-wrenching little sobs, and Meis and Gueira have their arms wrapped around him like a big cocoon.
Lio is drawn to the heap of limbs like the scene of a housefire, but Meis silently signals to him that everything is okay. Implicitly, with just a thumbs up, Lio knows that no one is hurt, nothing is badly damaged. Perhaps all of the stress of the trial, the weight of Galo's memories - the dam has finally broken, and his charges are allowing everything Galo has held back to flow freely.
"Lio," Galo hiccups, red-rimmed eyes glancing over Gueira's shoulder. Lio slots himself at Galo's back, joining in the tangle.
"We've got you," Lio answers. "Let it out, Galo, it's okay. You need it."
And Galo shudders and shakes, even with the weight of three men steadying him. His tears soak Meis' shoulder, his sobs wrack his wide frame. And none of them let go, none of them need to speak.
Eventually, the storm subsides, and Galo's sharp breaths even out. When he lifts his head, his face is soaked, his expression blank. Still, no one moves.
"Love you," says Galo, leaning forward to kiss Gueira's cheek, then Meis' forehead, then twisting to catch Lio's waiting mouth. "It's over, huh?"
"Yeah," Meis agrees. "Never have to think about those bastards again. We can start our lives now."
"Doesn't mean it'll always be easy," Gueira supplies, "but that's one huge weight off our backs."
Galo nods. "I really," he starts, swallowing as he finds his voice, "I really almost lost my hope there for a second."
Lio kisses the back of his neck. "Whenever you feel that way, we'll have some to spare for you. When one of us wanes, the others carry the torch."
Meis chuckles. "You used to say that back at the settlement."
"And it still applies." Lio grins, extending his reach to rub little circles into Meis and Gueira's arms.
Galo reaches back to squeeze Lio's hand, and Lio squeezes back.
"I've got a baggie of Spanish rice boiling," says Gueira. "Then…I dunno. Meis, you wanna look for bugs?"
"Hell yeah," Meis answers, gently pulling back from the bear hug to check their boiling pot. Gueira follows close behind.
"Bugs," Lio repeats. "Galo, I'm sorry. I forgot all about the fireflies."
Galo just laughs, turning to pull Lio close. "No, it's okay. I thought about it, and it's probably more fun just to watch 'em, anyway." He kisses the top of Lio's head. "Besides, I already caught my firefly."
Lio doesn't fight the embarrassed smile that alights his face, doesn't deny Galo his joy. "Tonight, then. I'd love to see them."
In front of the tent, Gueira forgets that he can no longer comfortably reach into a pot of boiling water, and yelps in slightly-exaggerated agony.
Galo is already making his way over; he'll turn Gueira's hand every which way, and Gueira will hem and haw about Galo 'babying' him, and Lio wouldn't have it any other way.
"It's a date," Galo says. "Gueira, show me your hand!"