Work Text:
The medical exams had come back clear; he’d passed his physical with flying colors. Isami Ao had done battle with gods and emerged safe, healthy, and strong.
But that didn’t mean he was unchanged.
“Smith,” he said, during one of their shared dinner breaks. He wasn’t usually loud, but his voice was softer than normal. “When we’re done here, can I show you something?”
Lewis swallowed his food. “Of course!” he said. “What is it?”
Isami’s eyes shifted around the room. “I…it’s something I have to show you.”
Ooh, a surprise! Lewis smiled. “Can’t wait,” he said.
But it became clear, as they finished their meal and walked off the base hand-in-hand, that Isami wasn’t nearly as excited as Lewis. He didn’t speak at all; he just hummed in agreement with whatever Lewis said. By the time they made it down to the beach, Lewis had figured that Isami didn’t ask him out here so they could watch the sunset together.
Before he could ask what was wrong, Isami stopped in his tracks. “Stay here,” he said. Then he slipped his hand away from Lewis’s and took a few more steps forward.
Lewis frowned. “Isami…is everything okay?”
“It is,” Isami said. He’d turned around so that he was facing Lewis, judged the distance between them, and then took a few more steps backwards. “Please don’t freak out.”
“I would never,” Lewis promised. But the idea that whatever Isami was going to show him could—in Isami’s mind—lead to that outcome was a little worrying. “Isami, I—”
Isami didn’t let him finish talking. He took a deep breath, crossed his arms over his chest, called out, “Henshin!” and—
Lewis threw an arm over his face to shield his eyes from the bright light that followed. It was a brilliant white, a singularly concentrated sun that didn’t burn him, the kind that foretold the arrival of something divine.
And, well, that was fitting.
Because when the light faded and Lewis opened his eyes, he was looking up at Burn Brave Big Bang.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, before he could stop himself. He ran up to Burn Brave Big Bang and laid a hand on one of his oversized feet. “Isami, this is amazing! You’re amazing! You made a brand new mecha out of—”
“Shhhhh!” Burn Brave Big Bang scolded. He took a knee and frowned at Lewis. “You’re freaking out!”
Lewis blinked. Ah, that was right. He flushed, then laughed at himself in embarrassment. “Sorry…”
Then let his eyes trace over the contours of Burn Brave Big Bang’s body. The finish on the metal was spotless; the blue-green gems were tinted slightly darker than they’d been on Bravern to compliment it. And even though the light was gone, Burn Brave Big Bang still glowed bright, illuminated by the setting sun and Isami himself, probably. “Isami, you’re so cool.”
“I didn’t do this on purpose,” Burn Brave Big Bang said. Isami’s baseline grouchiness came through clearly, which made Lewis smile even wider. “It happened in the middle of reconstruction one day. I was in the hangar after everyone else had left, and I just had this…itch I couldn’t scratch, and then…” He sighed. “I almost took the roof off the place.”
Lewis laughed. He took a few steps until he was next to the hand Burn Brave Big Bang had planted on the ground to steady himself, and rubbed the metal up and down. He hoped it was comforting. “Thank you for showing me,” he said. “So, how’s it feel? It’s been a minute since you were in the cockpit.”
“I’m…still not,” Burn Brave Big Bang admitted.
“Huh?”
“I’m not in the cockpit. This…mecha…is me.” Burn Brave Big Bang tilted his massive face away. “I assume it works the same way it did when you were Bravern.”
Oh god. Turning into Bravern had been nothing short of a dream for Lewis, at first, but Isami? “Are you okay?” Lewis asked. “Do you need my help with anything? I know it can be a hard body to get used to.”
Burn Brave Big Bang turned even farther away. “That’s…something I wanted to ask,” he admitted. He didn’t have to blush to tell Lewis how embarrassed he felt about the whole thing. Lewis had already made up his mind to agree—to do whatever Isami needed—long ago, so he was ready to say yes even before Burn Brave Big Bang asked, “Can you…get inside me?”
Lewis suddenly became very aware of his boner, inside his unforgiving TS suit.
“You don’t have to,” Burn Brave Big Bang said, after apparently waiting too long for Lewis’s answer. “If you don’t want—”
“Isami,” Lewis said. Then he shook his head, and corrected himself. “Burn Brave Big Bang. It would be my honor to pilot you.” Then he shook his head and tugged on Burn Brave Big Bang’s hand. “You know that. Come on, lift me up. I wanna see your handsome face.” Maybe it was a little masturbatory to say that—Burn Brave Big Bang was based on Bravern’s original design, after all—but Lewis had met Bravern, before he’d known who designed him.
So he could say, unbiased, that Isami’s work was more handsome.
Burn Brave Big Bang sighed, but relented. He opened his palm up for Lewis to climb into, and once Lewis was in place and holding his thumb, lifted him towards his face.
Lewis’s heart was racing. He’d made his peace with not piloting Bravern, even before turning into him, but…
He’d wanted to pilot a super robot since childhood. And this super robot was Isami.
If they could feel as close again as they had when Isami had been the one to pilot Bravern…
Burn Brave Big Bang’s hand stopped in front of his face first, which gave Lewis a perfect view of his grimace. It was kind of a funny sight, and Lewis bit back a laugh as Burn Brave Big Bang spoke. “Sorry,” he said. “I just…my chest feels…”
“Empty?” Lewis suggested. He let go of Burn Brave Big Bang’s thumb, took a few steps, and laid his palms on his cheeks. The metal was warm, and a light hum buzzed against his skin.
He was blushing.
Lewis leaned forward and planted a long kiss on Burn Brave Big Bang’s lower lip. Then he dipped his head so his forehead met the tip of Burn Brave Big Bang’s nose. “I know what that feels like.”
Burn Brave Big Bang was quiet for a while. Then, “How…did you deal with that? For so long?”
Lewis kissed him again, and tried to remember. He’d felt that emptiness so acutely—Bravern’s heart had been made for Isami, and whenever they were apart, had called for him, yearned for him so strongly that Bravern’s six tons of metal had tripped over his own feet to get to him—but he knew the relief that followed, too. “It was worth it, whenever you piloted me,” he said. Then he made a fist with one of his hands and rapped lightly on Burn Brave Big Bang’s cheek. “Now, come on. Let me in.”
Burn Brave Big Bang did so. He lowered his hands and opened his cockpit, and when Lewis stepped inside, shuddered a little bit. When he spoke, he whispered so softly that it might’ve come from his internal walls, rather than his mouth. “Oh.”
Lewis grinned. “Right?” he asked. He stepped towards one of those walls—it was strange, they were so familiar but felt like unknown territory from this angle—and kissed that, too. “Better, isn’t it?”
“Much,” Burn Brave Big Bang admitted.
“Good.” Another kiss. Lewis’s cock throbbed. “Can I take you for a spin?”
“Mhm.”
Lewis waited a moment before chuckling softly. “I need some controls to do that.”
“Oh.” They materialized instantly; the same set-up Bravern had given Isami. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” As Lewis crossed the cockpit to get settled, his hands shook with excitement. “This is so cool.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Yeah, well, it’s true!” Once he was in position, Lewis took one of Burn Brave Big Bang’s control sticks in his hands and—of course—felt Isami.
It shook, just the slightest bit, the same way Isami’s own hands had each time they’d wrapped around Bravern’s. The same way Isami’s hands did when he wanted Lewis to touch him, but couldn’t find the words to ask. He was scared, but pushing through it.
He was being brave.
Lewis smiled. He wondered what Isami had felt, when he’d first touched Bravern’s controls.
A question for another time. “These work like a TS, yeah?” Lewis checked.
“Yes,” Burn Brave Big Bang confirmed. “But—”
But Lewis had already yanked upwards, pulling them both towards the sky. “Woohoo!” he cheered, as the g-forces dropped his stomach out from under him. Through the viewscreen, he saw them rocketing upwards, and soon enough, they were among the clouds.
“Smith!” Burn Brave Big Bang scolded. “Someone could’ve seen that!”
“They won’t,” Lewis reassured him. “Not while we’re this high up.”
When Burn Brave Big Bang stayed quiet, Lewis adjusted his grip on the controls. They still shook. “Was that okay, otherwise?” he checked.
Burn Brave Big Bang didn’t answer that directly, either. Instead, he said, “I didn’t realize it…being piloted, it feels like…” His voice had dropped a register; taken on the huskiness Isami’s only did while they were in bed together.
Lewis flushed. “You too, huh?” he asked with an embarrassed laugh. “It caught me by surprise, my first time…”
“That’s how you handled the…”
“Emptiness?”
“Yeah.”
“Part of it.” Lewis shrugged. “I also just…it was fun. When you piloted me, and our souls resonated.” Then he realized what he was saying, and where he was standing. “Want me to show you?”
“…yeah.”
Lewis grinned. “Alright, then. Challenge accepted. Let’s go, Burn Brave Big Bang!” Then he pulled the controls to the side, and they tore off through the clouds.
The effect was almost immediate. The air pressure in the cockpit let up, dipping to a level that was both more comfortable for Lewis—he hadn’t even noticed how high it’d been, before—and probably less stressful for Burn Brave Big Bang to maintain, at this altitude. “That’s good!” Lewis said, as he eased the controls back to center. He hoped it sounded encouraging. “Just relax. Once you get the hang of it, we—”
He was cut off before he could finish, by a flock of birds emerging from a cloud barely ten feet ahead of them. Burn Brave Big Bang halted in midair, throwing Lewis away from the controls and into the viewscreen in front of him. “Oof!” Lewis huffed, as he hit the screen.
“Sorry…” Burn Brave Big Bang said.
“You’re fine,” Lewis said. He dusted himself off and stumbled back to the controls. “It didn’t hurt, you just surprised me.” When he was back in position, he squeezed the controls to steady himself, and Burn Brave Big Bang hiccupped in response—which threw Lewis off balance again.
“I think,” he said, after he found his footing a few seconds later, “we’ve already learned one thing for sure. You’re the better pilot.”
Burn Brave Big Bang laughed. “We’ve known that ever since that first training exercise.”
Lewis laughed, too. “Touché,” he agreed.
He took a moment to cherish the thought silently. Isami was a better pilot than him—always had been—but Burn Brave Big Bang’s cockpit was open for him and him alone. Lewis took as much childish joy in knowing that as he did the rest of the situation.
“Wanna try again?” he asked, when he’d indulged for long enough.
Burn Brave Big Bang agreed, and they were off. It was better this time; they stayed out of the way of all birds and planes. Their movements were smoother. They acted more cohesively, more together. Lewis guided Burn Brave Big Bang through some flips and maneuvers, and Burn Brave Big Bang learned when to push back just enough to pull them into a jetstream and take them for a ride.
It was as close as they’d come to the way Braven had felt, being piloted by Isami. Their souls overlapped, and sang with their true voices in perfect harmony. Lewis’s blood pumped hot under his skin, like his hydraulics had as Bravern, and the thought that he was making that hydraulic fluid flow for Burn Brave Big Bang made him shiver with excitement.
Even their shared laughs through it all sounded complimentary.
It came to a climax when Burn Brave Big Bang designated one of the clouds as their enemy. It was a tall, white cumulus, and it looked like a puff of lopsided whipped cream against the dark evening sky. They slashed through it together, yelling their Burn Brave Zan with full chests, and when Burn Brave Big Bang struck his finishing pose, Lewis felt it in his core.
He held his breath as he came. It was the only thing he’d ever wanted to feel.
It was better than he’d ever dreamed.
Burn Brave Big Bang kept them aloft while Lewis came down. He’d made a mess of his pants, but that was alright. It was so, so worth it.
He looked out the viewscreen and admired the scenery around them. They were far from land, and the sun had long set. Stars littered in the sky, brighter than everything but the mech Lewis was inside.
It was nice to see them with his human eyes. He hoped Burn Brave Big Bang liked the view, too.
He got his answer when Burn Brave Big Bang, after a few more moments, said, “I don’t want to go back yet.”
Lewis smiled. He released the control sticks and walked to the side of the cockpit before leaning back against the wall and sliding down it. “Me neither,” he said. “Let’s hang out here and watch the stars together for a bit.”
Burn Brave Big Bang hummed in agreement. Lewis turned to the side so he could rest a hand against the wall.
He sat like that for a few seconds before a thought struck him. “Oh,” he said, “Burn Brave Big Bang. I don’t think I ever told you this, but…I think you’re beautiful.”
Burn Brave Big Bang snorted. “Dork.”
“I’m serious!” Lewis argued. He was smiling so wide it almost hurt. “All the great heroes turn gold for the final battle. It suits you well.”
“I know,” Burn Brave Big Bang said with a huff. “You showed me enough clips before you…I was just doing what I learned from you.”
Lewis’s heart squeezed.
“And it’s my favorite color,” Burn Brave Big Bang added, hurriedly.
Lewis frowned. “It is?” he asked. “I would’ve taken you more for a red kinda guy.”
There was a whirring from above him. Burn Brave Big Bang was shaking his head. “No. Red…it was fine, until you…and then I couldn’t think of it without…” He groaned in frustration. “I know there was no body, but…”
Lewis rubbed Burn Brave Big Bang’s wall, and kissed it. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Lewis figured that was the end of it, until Burn Brave Big Bang took a deep breath, and added, “Gold is—it reminds me of you, too. Your hair…”
Lewis craned his neck up, like he could see Burn Brave Big Bang’s face from where he was. Instead, he just saw the top of the cockpit that he was safely nestled inside. It was closer than he thought, and surprisingly comforting. It looked soft, like if Lewis had been thrown up that high, he would’ve been caught gently.
He pushed himself to his feet. “Mind if I take us back to shore?” he asked. “I want to give you a hug.”
“Sure.”
The flight back was much calmer, and much quicker. They weren’t that far out, if they took a direct path. And Lewis took as direct a path as he could manage.
He could feel Burn Brave Big Bang putting in some extra juice, too.
It took five minutes to get back to shore, which was still too long. Lewis stumbled out of the cockpit once they landed, and as soon as Burn Brave Big Bang gently placed him on the sand, he let his legs give out. He fell onto his back with his arms stretched wide, and looked up to admire Burn Brave Big Bang.
That mecha was his soulmate.
And he’d gotten to pilot him.
“I love you,” he said, loud enough to be heard.
Burn Brave Big Bang didn’t answer immediately. Instead, there was another flash of light, which meant that Lewis’s eyes were closed when a familiar, comfortable weight landed on top of him, taking his breath away.
He held Isami close. “Thank you,” he murmured. “That was amazing.”
Isami gathered Lewis’s head in his arms and tucked it into his shoulder. His fingers ran through Lewis’s hair, and Lewis shuddered.
He felt safe. He felt cherished.
“Yeah,” Isami agreed. “It was.”