Heat shrugged his shoulders and sat down, looking for all the world as if he wished he could lean against a wall instead. The sun wasn't a very settling place to be. "You weren't one of us after all?"
"No," Gale replied, wondering when the others would call on him again. "Most of the junkyard came from God's memories, not Sera's."
"Damn. You alright with that?"
"More than I am with your expression of concern," Gale replied, smiling near imperceptibly as Heat huffed and regained his usual nonchalance. Truth be told, Gale was quite capable of accepting the change in Heat. It just happened to feel a little strange considering how many sides to Heat had been revealed since Sera came; more than had been seen of any of the others. Stranger still considering he'd virtually gone full circle, becoming loyal once again albeit not mindlessly so.
.
Serph's eyes told Gale everything after attracting his attention with a tap on the shoulder. Heat was in a mess, a bullet wedged in his thigh frighteningly close to the main artery after a skirmish with the Vanguards. It ought to be work for the surgeon at their base, but moving Heat could cause more problems and he was too valuable a fighter to risk impairing needlessly. Besides, Gale's knowledge of anatomy had always been excellent; not quite as startlingly so as the surgeon's, but still noteworthy.
All of them carried field kits, but tweezers were of little use in this situation and there was no point in closing up the flesh around the bullet. Gale took off his boot and dissembled the catches holding his knife, removed it for sterilising with the alcohol from his kit. Serph moved into place, kneeling on Heat's arms and covering the red-head's mouth to stop any screams, and Gale gripped the wounded thigh firmly, making an incision so he could push the bullet up into reach without nicking the artery.
Heat took the pain well, although Gale still refused to use him in further mission plans for several cycles despite protests that he was perfectly capable of fighting.
Truth be told, even if none of them had been emotionally awakened back then, Gale had found Heat's constitution impressive.
.
"You useless fucker!" Heat spat - along with blood - as soon as the battle was over. "What was that bastard using, bufudyne?"
"Bufula," Gale replied as he used the last of his magic reserves to heal them all. It had been an unpleasant fight, and had sukukaja not given them some very lucky misses, all three of them might have been left to the rain.
"I don't care! You're the fucking strategist!" Given that Heat had essentially almost died of hypothermia it was unsurprising he felt unpleasant, but shouting complaints after a narrow victory was not going to change the past.
"I have already apologised for my mistake. You should consider thanking Serph for keeping you alive."
Heat grunted angrily, making a peculiar gesture likely intended as another obscenity. "Don't you get worked up over anything?"
"I do not see the need for emotional outbursts," Gale replied, straightening to accentuate his height when Heat leant forward for a second, and feeling somewhat puzzled when the red-head pulled back with a smirk.
"Right."
.
The others left in relative silence, even Cielo going quiet, leaving him to devour the corpse. Argilla had protested briefly that it was wrong to let Gale devour a comrade, but most figured the true protest was over what happened to Jinana. It didn't hold up, so she and Cielo walked on ahead, Serph waiting patiently at the top of the ladder that would take them to Varin.
Heat remained. Rather, Agni remained; Lupa had been a large kill, one that would bring scavengers running if the smell stayed in the air much longer, and Serph felt it was only right to leave some additional protection behind. Agni's interest in the corpse was obvious from the start but Vayu wanted it for himself, shredding meat and bone with a speed that undoubtedly encouraged stomach problems. Still, Vayu wasn't fond of self-control.
He reverted after the last sliver of bone, left himself kneeling in the blood he hadn't scoured from the floor with Vayu's rough tongue, felt betrayed by how little feeding had eased the sorrow of losing the first person in the Junkyard he could empathise with.
"Guess you can feel something," Agni muttered, head tilting as if to watch Gale lick his fingers clean with a jealous hunger that wasn't appreciated. "Could've spared an arm, though."
Gale got to his feet unsteadily, that in itself a strange experience, knowing he probably seemed insignificant given his size compared with Agni but unafraid of the demon. "Clearly you do not comprehend," he replied before heading towards the ladder, ignoring the ache of tension in his shoulders and the way Agni dropped to lick up the last of Lupa's blood.
.
They barely spoke after that. Even when they made it out of the Junkyard and Heat did those terrible things, it was Serph and Sera who commanded all his attention. Gale wouldn't have wanted to take anyone's place in those moments, knew his ability with words had proved necessary to keep the others going; Cielo in particular had needed explicit reassurance to keep his mood up.
All in all, it had been a decidedly odd experience to meet up with him again on the surface of the sun, not least because they had both died - and remembered doing so - since they last spoke. Heat seemed a little relieved talking with him compared with the others, perhaps because Gale's previous life had never been heavily connected with his. It had to be a comfort knowing someone solely through the life you remembered living.
Given Agni's strength, Heat tended to get called to battle quite often. Vayu's diversity meant Gale would generally be brought in only when a creature resisted physical attacks, or its weaknesses were unknown; all in all, they were left with little time for talking to one another.
That was probably a good thing given Gale could still see Heat's frustration at small details, though he'd got better at handling his anger. That, and Seraph commanded so much of Heat's attention it would have been wrong to get in the way. Still, when they did have moments alone it was pleasant; despite his temper, Heat tended to be a little less aggravating than Cielo because he wasn't so loud and enthusiastic about his displays of emotion.
Gale stretched out on the floor for a moment, finding its lightly buoyant surface strangely comforting. "Heat - why would you die for Seraph?"
Heat's confused expression made it pretty clear he hadn't given the matter much thought. "I just would. At least this time I get a choice about it."
Gale nodded, accepting the answer though it didn't explain anything. There was an advantage that came with emotions - he no longer felt the overpowering need to pry for information that eluded him. He still preferred to know, but could live without it. Silence reigned for a moment before Heat stretched out next to Gale, putting an arm around his shoulder and looking a little awkward until Gale returned the gesture with an arm around the red-head's waist. "Yes?" He prompted, knowing Heat would answer in his own time. It was still something of a surprise when Heat kissed him.
.
You had to hand it to Heat; he kept life interesting. "What made you do that?" Gale asked, once all desires had been appropriately sated.
"I needed it."
That much had been pretty obvious the moment Gale had his hand on Heat's erection, so he attempted another prompt. "You love Seraph."
"Liking you is easier." Ah. That was odd, but definitely pleasant. "How long have you been taller than me?"
"I have always been taller," Gale replied, slightly surprised at the question and wondering why the idea that Heat had never realised this amused him. "My whole build is larger."
"Fat thighs."
"You were not complaining about them before."
Heat stared for a second before laughing out loud, defusing the mild tension that had risen, and having a long cat-like stretch. Even demons normally flinched at the sound of joints popping but Gale found it strangely pleasing, pictured bones shifting back swiftly but efficiently into their rightful places. The actual sight wasn't exactly unappealing either, exposing a glimpse of stomach that would have been tempting if satisfaction hadn't been achieved so recently. "You're alright, Gale."
"Thank you," Gale replied, adjusting his clothes as Cielo's scent started to become more noticeable on the air. Humanity had its advantages, but without the demonic side privacy would have become impossible, especially given Seraph's ethereal habit of moving without touching the floor. "You turned out acceptably enough in the end."
Heat got to his feet and straightened his own clothes, head slightly tilted, and smirked. "That'll do." A satisfied nod as Cielo's blue-braided head poked around the corner.
"'Ey bruddas. You coming?"
"Already have," Heat replied, and Gale couldn't resist a quiet laugh at the resulting confusion.
.
The End