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It had been a week since the gang had left Nesdernia after claiming the totem. They were currently en route to the Dark Kingdom for the next trial. The group had come to a vote that they wanted to rest for the day before continuing on with their journey.
They had managed to find a clearing where they could put the caravan and Prometheus without leaving themselves exposed in the open. Nuru had volunteered to get some fresh water down at the stream while Hugo was out collecting firewood.
Yong and Varian had agreed to watch the camp while they were away. Once they finished unpacking, Yong asked Varian if he could work on some of his fireworks to show him. Varian agreed and offered his help, but Yong said he wanted to do it himself after getting some advice from Varian’s cousins.
After thirty minutes or so, Yong was ready to show Varian his fireworks. It was a long cylindrical firework coated in red and yellow. As Yong was about to light the fuse, Varian noticed that the stand that was holding the firework had tilted sideways instead of facing upward.
Varian’s eyes widened, and he ran toward Yong.
“Yong! Wait, wait, don’t—” Varian yelled.
Yong looked at him with a confused look, but it was too late. The light from the fuse moved quickly and ignited the black powder in the firework. Varian grabbed Yong’s wrist and moved a safe distance away from the firework.
The firework launched forward into the forest. Varian closed his eyes for a moment and let out a breath. He knew they would have to put out the fire that would likely spread from the explosive, but he was just glad his friend was safe.
A yell rang out from the direction the firework had been launched. Varian’s eyes shot open to the trees and he could see Hugo kneeling down clutching his side with logs scattered across the ground.
“Shit!” Varian sprinted over to Hugo, whose hands were hovering over the scorched hole in his shirt.
“Hugo, hey, hold on, I’m right here,” Varian said as his brows pulled sharply together.
Hugo gave a chuckle and winced immediately at the throbbing pain. “Aww, worried about little ol’ me, Goggles?”
Varian had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the comment as he was focused on the redness of Hugo’s skin.
“Let’s get you to the caravan so I can help you,” Varian said as he slung one of Hugo’s arms around his own shoulders.
Hugo grimaced as a sharp pain flared in his side. “Goggles, I’m fine, really. It just grazed me. I don’t need your—” Hugo looked over and caught Varian glaring at him. The sheer fury radiating from Varian’s face was enough for Hugo to know that he was treading on thin ice right now.
“Okay, never mind. To the caravan we go!” Hugo said quickly.
Varian smirked at how fast Hugo caved, but was also grateful. They walked to the caravan, but before they could enter, Yong appeared in front of them. Tears streamed down his face as he sniffled.
“I’m sorry, Hugo! I didn’t mean to! I—I didn’t hear Varian in time!” Yong said guiltily.
Hugo sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. “It’s fine, Sparkles.”
“Hey, Yong? Why don’t you pick up the firewood Hugo dropped and wait for Nuru out here. I’m gonna help him out right now and we’re gonna need space. Can you do that?” Varian said softly.
Yong shook his head and walked over to the firewood that was on the ground. Hugo looked at Varian and mouthed ‘thank you’. Varian nodded in return and started walking to the caravan.
Once they got inside, Varian led Hugo to his bed. He carefully maneuvered Hugo on the bed to sit. Hugo let out a hiss when Varian removed Hugo’s arm from around his shoulder.
“Don’t move,” Varian said as he walked to the desk to grab something out of his satchel.
Hugo huffed in annoyance. “As if I could,” he muttered.
After moving things around in his satchel, Varian pulled out a container filled with some gel. He then pulled out a cloth and a canteen. Varian opened the canteen and poured some water on the cloth just enough for it to be damp.
Once he finished, he walked back to Hugo. Hugo watched as Varian bit his lip while studying the hole in his shirt. Varian looked up with furrowed brows and a determined look in his eyes.
“Shirt off.”
Hugo blinked. He glanced down at his shirt, then back at Varian as though he’d heard him wrong. “What?”
“I need your shirt off to take care of the burn,” Varian said.
Even through the pain, Hugo couldn’t help but tease him.
“You sure that’s why you want it off?” Hugo teased.
Varian’s face flushed at the suggestion before he shook his head to banish the thought.
“Shut up and do it.”
Hugo hummed in response and slowly took off his shirt. It took longer than he wanted because of the sharp pain caused by the movement, but eventually he managed to get it off. Hugo tossed it onto the bed beside him and looked up at Varian expectantly.
Varian blinked, then seemed to remember what he was supposed to be doing. He set the container on the bed beside Hugo and tightened his grip on the cloth in his hand. Varian fixed his eyes on Hugo, who was already watching him.
“Can I press this on your burn? It’ll help numb it, but it’s going to sting a bit,” Varian asked with concern etched on his face.
Hugo chuckled. “It’s fine. I’ve dealt with worse,” he said casually.
Varian wanted to ask what Hugo meant by that, but he had more important things to focus on right now. So Varian lightly placed the cloth on Hugo’s skin. Hugo hissed at the contact. Varian’s hand jerked slightly at the sound before he steadied himself.
Hugo noticed and tried to steady his breathing so Varian could work. The cloth pressed firmly on the burn, and Varian looked up to study Hugo’s expression. Hugo managed to keep his facial expressions neutral while Varian watched. After a few seconds, Varian looked back down at the cloth.
“How do you know how to do all this?” Hugo asked.
Varian giggled at the memories flooding in. “When you’ve been in your fair share of explosions, you learn to pick up a thing or two on how to treat them.”
Hugo went silent at that. Varian thought they would just sit in silence while he tended to the burn. All of a sudden, Hugo burst out laughing.
Varian’s eyes widened at the sudden movement. He gripped Hugo’s shoulder to stop him from moving around so much, but the blonde was in a full-blown laughing fit. Varian couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
“What, what’s so funny?” Varian asked.
Hugo managed to rein in his laughter. As his breathing evened out, he wiped a tear of mirth from his eye.
“The way you said that as if that was normal caught me off guard. Seriously, Goggles, how many explosions have you been in?”
Varian huffed in annoyance. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said begrudgingly.
That only prompted more laughter out of Hugo. Varian rolled his eyes and tightened his grip on Hugo’s shoulder.
“Can you stop moving so much? You’re making this so much harder than it needs to be,” Varian said with exasperation.
“Only if you say please,” Hugo winked.
Varian gritted his teeth. You’re doing this to help. You’re doing this to help. You’re doing this to help.
Varian exhaled and narrowed his eyes. “Please,” Varian muttered.
Hugo grinned. “What was that?”
“I said please!” Varian yelled.
“Well, in that case, sure thing, Sweetcheeks,” Hugo teased.
Hugo let Varian apply the pressure to the burn. After about fifteen minutes, Varian removed the cloth. He grabbed the container and twisted the lid to open it. He scooped up some gel and began to smear it over the burn. Hugo clenched the blanket beneath him at the coolness of the gel.
Once the gel was thoroughly applied, Varian moved back to the desk and grabbed a sterile bandage to place over the burn. As he made his way over and was about to put the bandage on, Hugo spoke out of the blue.
“Where’d you get this?” Hugo gestured to the gel.
Varian blinked, then gazed at Hugo. “Oh, that? I made it myself.”
“I’m guessing for all those explosions you get into?” Hugo said with a smirk.
“Can you shut up about that?” Varian said as he glared at Hugo.
“How can I?” Hugo said before continuing. “You realize how insane that sounds, right? And here you are acting like it’s a normal occurrence on a fucking Friday.”
Varian sputtered. His eyebrows pulled inward as he narrowed his eyes. “What, you’re telling me you’ve never been caught in an explosion before?” Varian asked irritably.
“No, I haven’t actually. I may cause them and run away from them, but I’ve never been in one,” Hugo said.
Varian scoffed as he applied the bandage to the burn. “Well, you’re just perfect, aren’t you?”
“I mean, they’re your words, Sweetcheeks. Who am I to deny the obvious?” Hugo said with an amused smile.
Varian scoffed as he gathered up his supplies. “You’re insufferable.”
“Kind of hypocritical coming from you,” Hugo replied.
“Fuck you!” Varian yelled as he glared at Hugo.
“Oh, you would love that, wouldn’t you?” Hugo teased.
Varian’s face flushed red as he sputtered. “I—what—you—you’re impossible!”
Varian turned away and stomped over to the desk. He shoved the supplies back in his satchel harsher than he should’ve. Varian then sat at the desk and refused to look at Hugo. After a few minutes of silence, Hugo figured maybe he went a little too far. Just as he was about to apologize, Varian spoke first.
“Look, I shouldn’t have yelled at you while you’re hurt. I’m sorry,” Varian said as he looked at Hugo.
Hugo patted the spot next to him on the bed. Varian raised an eyebrow, but moved over to sit next to him.
“No, you don’t have anything to apologize for. You’ve been helping me and I was just making it harder,” Hugo admitted.
“Wow, I didn’t expect you to own up to it,” Varian said with a smirk.
Hugo laughed as he placed a hand over his heart. “Well, I’m a changed man.”
Varian laughed along with him before he quirked an eyebrow. “Oh, are you now?” he asked playfully.
Hugo shrugged half-heartedly. “Depends on who you ask.”
Varian rolled his eyes but with no actual malice. “Yeah, okay.”
The two sat in a comfortable silence before Varian stood up.
“I’m gonna check on Yong and see how he’s doing. Are you gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Varian nodded in response. He walked over to the door and was about to grab the handle when Hugo called out to him.
“Wait!”
Varian turned around, raising an eyebrow in question. Hugo wrung his hands together and looked like he regretted talking. After a moment, he let out a breath and fixed his attention on Varian.
“How long is the pain gonna last?” Hugo asked bashfully.
Varian’s eyes widened in surprise before his face softened.
“Well, it’s a small second-degree burn. It’ll hurt for a couple of weeks, but it’ll heal as long as we keep it clean and apply the gel.”
Hugo nodded as he looked back down. Varian was about to walk away but then a thought came to him. He glanced over his shoulder at Hugo and smirked.
“Hey, Hugo?”
Hugo looked up at him, confused.
“If you want, I can give it a little kiss to make you feel better.”
Hugo’s face quickly turned red and his mouth gaped open. What the fuck? Hugo thought. He tried to form words, but he genuinely couldn’t come up with a response. Varian grinned at Hugo being at a loss for words. Sweet, sweet payback. He opened the door and left the caravan without waiting for a response from the other.
Hugo didn’t know how long he stared at the closed door, but all he could feel was his heart pounding in his chest. His face still felt warm from the offer and the grin on Varian’s face. He let out a chuckle and carefully laid down on his back. He closed his eyes and thought back to the other’s face before he left.
His eyes shot open and widened at the realization he was having. The warmth in his face, the racing of his heart, the way his whole body burned whenever Varian was around. He liked Varian. He liked Varian.
“Oh shit.”