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Well yeah, I noticed. [That much is obvious. It's the whole reason he reached out for help, keeping them contained so they didn't run wild once Lio set them.]

But I couldn't...talk to you about it. Had me worried about what you were thinking...feeling. And all I could do was wait around to see if you came back.

[Galo always wants to talk. He always wants to use actions and words, where Lio only uses words when he has to. Actions speak louder.

And his actions lately haven't been very good. He curls in on himself a little, the air around him warming gently.]

I was hurt. I was angry, I was ...A lot of things. I needed to burn it out.

[Galo sighs and finally moves, dropping the pout/frown and moving to sit near Lio's crouched form. Close enough, but hopefully not close to the point of starling him.]

And did you? Burn it out, I mean...

[He glances up at him.]

I'll never stop burning, but.... For the most part. [Nods.]

Wouldn't be you if there wasn't some spark. [And there it is. That easy, friendly, open, and welcoming smile.]

Okay. Come on in here. [It's said after a pause, but it's said with arms wide open. It's the only warning he gives before he's pulling Lio in to what can only be called a "bear hug".]

What?

[That's such a mood change!! He knows Galo is prone to it but right now is still the weirdest thing. As Galo pulls him in for a hug, Lio gets a glimpse of his chest and has that flash, that moment of sinking a Burnish blade into the skin. Lio almost goes limp in his arms remembering it and... Doesn't move.]

Galo...

[It's the way Galo is, at the end of the day. He burns too bright, feels too much to just let it lie and be with words alone. Sometimes the quiet is best, but he's been holding this all in since--since a quiet bloody night on a beach not too far from here.

But Lio's limp and still--and that's what gets him to loosen up and scoot back, concern creeping into his expression as he looks him over.]

Lio...?

[When Galo scoots back, Lio's eyes are locked to his chest. He carefully reaches, touches his fingertips to where he knows he stabbed him. He will never admit later how he's trembling touching the skin.]

How... can you not hate me?

Why would I hate you? [He knows why Lio would think he does, the notion solidifying with the touch to his chest. He knows just where that spot hits, can almost feel the bite of the blade if he thinks on it too long.]

I don't know how many ways or times I have to say it but you saved me. [He covers Lio's hand with his own, holding it firm and still. There wouldn't be running, not if he could help it this time.]

If you didn't do what you did...I--That other me could still be running around using your flame to stir up trouble, to hurt people. I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be me without that...

[Galo won't hear it, then. Won't hear the way Lio's heart sinks with that; he did something horrible. He shouldn't be so readily forgiven or excused. He did the one thing he swore he would never do. He caused massive property damage to burn out his own agony, and for what? For Galo to console him now?

His hand trembles in Galo's grip before he leans forward, head against his chest shaking slightly. If one were to listen, they may hear the sounds of someone unused to crying letting tears form. But only if they were to listen.]

[It's a soft sound, one he wouldn't have caught if it wasn't for the silence around them. And it was utterly heartbreaking--shattering really. And Galo is at a loss of what to do.

Lio is a different sort, had to be handled differently than his other friends. But this--this wasn't something he was prepared to figure out, so he went with what he would do on instinct. He bundles Lio back up in his arms, settles him in the space where his legs crossed and tucked him up against him, chin resting softly on top of Lio's head.

And then he doesn't say a word. Just sits, and waits.]

[He's quiet for some time, probably no more than five minutes. But the five minutes of almost complete silence stretch into days as he sits there, bundled up in Galo's arms against his chest.

He can't bring himself to speak above a whisper; something will break in him if he does.]

I can't lead the Burnish anymore.

What are you talking about? [He's not discounting what Lio said. He knows why he thinks it true, and knows any argument made against that belief is likely to be discounted. But Galo believes things just as fiercely, if not more so; and he believes in Lio.]

Of course you can still lead them.

We can't even get home, and I--

[Lio just. Sort of crumbles into his arms, head down and shoulders low. Galo doesn't understand. Galo keeps saying that isn't what he did, but Lio knows what he did and he can never undo or change it.]

It doesn't matter.

You're upset. It matters. [He may not get it. He's put it behind him, never held it against Lio in the first place, so he isn't likely to understand Lio's position as it was. But...he had to try, and even then he could at least keep listening, keep being there.]

It kept you from coming here. So it matters.

I've already explained it and you refuse to listen.

[He knows it isn't that, not exactly. It's the fact that Galo refuses to accept and forgive him, instead choosing to pretend it wasn't what happened at all. That's what's getting to him.]

Just... don't.

It's not that I'm not listening! I just...I don't see it the way you do. We're on opposite ends of that, Lio, and we're going to feel differently about it.

[Because he's never going to get that. To him there's nothing to forgive because--]

I don't hold it against you. Never did...

But I hold it against myself.

[That's the thing. Lio holds himself to such a high standard for the sake of his gang, for the sake of setting an example. Who is he to hold them to such a standard if he can't do it himself.]

Galo, I-- [Oh god it's hard to talk about it.] I felt the blade go in. I felt the blood, I-i saw... your eyes... as it happened.

[He knew this. He knew that Lio saw it, was there through it all. But it's a painful fact to be reminded of.]

I know...I can still remember it, even--[Even though it hadn't really been him, it also had been in some way. He wouldn't remember it otherwise.]

I can't keep you from holding it against yourself but I don't want you to either...

[And he has to hesitate to say the next part because he doesn't know how Lio will take it. But to move past this, it's better to put everything out there.] For that whole Nobody thing to end, it had to happen. If I had been aware I probably would have...asked you to do it. Wouldn't have trusted anybody else, and I doubt I would have been able to take myself out. Shitty thing to admit to...

I know it did. I'd-- Someone on the network talked about it, I remembered it.

[That doesn't make it better. It doesn't make it easier, or simpler.]

Please just... Accept that I did it. And stop trying to act like I didn't.

I know you did it, Lio. Kind of hard not to.

[He sighs.]

I'm not trying to act like you didn't. But I don't hold it against you, so I don't...linger on it. Sorry, it's come across like something else.

[At that, Lio finally looks up at him, eyes still red and cheeks wet. So Galo understands then. And is apologizing for it even.]

...Thank you.

Hey...[Oh. There's that soft, fond smile again. He gives it freely like he does almost everything else, as he reaches up to brush fingers against Lio's damp cheek.]

We're a team. Just...got out of sync there for a second.

Edited 2020-03-20 03:14 (UTC)

[Oh... He forgets sometimes how bag Galo's hands are until they're like this. He just swallows the lump in his throat until Galo's done and watches him.

God there's. Something he's feeling now. He can't put a finger on it just yet.]

Yeah... Out of sync.

But...we're good now.

[But there's that hint of hesitation. A momentary pause.]

Right?

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