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Maker, it was hot out! It was only the beginning of summer but it felt like riding through a terrarium under a heat lamp.
Varian was no stranger to the heat or the blistering sun. He grew up in Corona, and in a farming village for that matter. On top of that he was wearing a sunblock he had concocted when he was younger after getting his first taste of a sunburn from working in the fields.
It was nearing afternoon and it was Varian’s turn driving the caravan. Despite the overwhelming heat radiating from the sun, a certain blonde had insisted on keeping him company and bugging him, per usual.
However, said blonde did happen to be one of the pastiest people Varian had ever met. It made sense, he grew up in Ingvarr and had clearly never experienced this kind of climate before. After a few hours of sitting next to Varian in the June sun, Hugo was obviously uncomfortable.
He had stopped talking a few minutes back (a rare occurrence for him) and had since taken up covering his face and looking downwards as to shield himself from the light.
Varian was starting to get concerned. “Hey, Hugo, not that I don’t appreciate the company but uhh… you don’t look too good. You can go inside If you want.” Varian offered looking down softly and putting a hand on Hugo’s shoulder.
Hugo groaned, ripping his head up from his hands and blinking at varian blearily. “Aw, c’mon Goggles, I’m totally fine! Don’t worry your pretty little head over me.” He responded, slumping back over his legs.
Varian, did however, continue to worry. Repeatedly checking to make sure Hugo was still responsive, which he always was. He simply wasn’t acclimating well to these new conditions.
Varian stopped them in a shaded clearing at around six in the afternoon. He knew they could probably make it farther but seeing Hugo stubbornly overheating was killing him a little bit. Besides, they could use a break.
“Why’re we stopping? It’s still early.” Hugo commented as Varian yanked Prometheus’s reigns to halt the caravan.
Varian shrugged, “Eh, we could all use some rest, especially in this heat.”
Hugo was far too sweaty to question this and simply shrugged, heading into the caravan to get some much needed shade.
…
Once tents were up for the night and food was cooking on the fire, Hugo’s very obvious sunburn began to show. It was on his cheeks and nose a bit but was most prevalent on his back, neck and arms. He didn’t even know skin could get sunburnt through fabric!
Hugo arrived to the circle surrounding the fire, stripped of his jacket in attempt to cool off, leaving only a white tank top. Upon seeing him Yong yelled out, “Hugo, what’s wrong with your skin? You’re all red!” Preceding him running over, grabbing Hugo’s arm with both hands, and pulling the tall man down to his height to observe the burn on his cheeks.
At this Hugo’s faced scrunched up, his arm stiffening as he he looked over to Varian and Nuru for help.
While Nuru could only laugh at Hugo’s distress, Varian rushed over, delicately peeling Yong’s hands off of Hugo, “He’s got a sunburn, Yong. It’ll heal but it might be sensitive to touch right now.” He tried to convey as gently as possible.
“Oh! Sorry, Hugo.” Yong apologized eyebrows scrunched.
“All good, Firecracker! I’ve had worse.” Hugo comforted, shaking out the lingering tingles in his arm.
“Alright!”
As soon as Yong scampered back over to the fire to explain his latest pyrotechnics to Nuru, Varian looked up at Hugo.
“You okay? This looks pretty bad.” Varian questioned while studying Hugo’s arms with a level of concern that nearly melted Hugo’s heart.
“I’m alright, Sweet cheeks, really. Like you said, it’ll heal.” Hugo reaffirmed.
This did not settle the issue like Hugo hoped it would.
…
After dinner had concluded and everyone had settled into their tents for the night, Hugo was lying (uncomfortably) in his bed trying to sleep until he heard footsteps from outside followed by his tent being breeched.
“Goggles? It’s eleven at night, what’re you doing?” Hugo asked, reaching for his glasses and sitting up.
Varian was holding a lantern as well as several vials that he quickly unloaded onto a nearby stool. He only just pulled his goggles up as Hugo looked over at him. And yes, Hugo was completely normal about the way that motion pinned back his bangs.
“I used the base component of my sunscreen and formulated what I hope will be a remedial solution rather than a preventative, oh, you’ll need to take your shirt off, it’s made from a plant I originally traded back in corona…”
“What?”
“I reverse engineered my sunscreen. To help with your sunburn.” Varian explained again, a little incredulous.
“I got that part, V. Why am I taking my shirt off? I can put it on just fine. I mean, I know it must be hard to resist an opportunity to feel up this but…”
“Cause I have to log the results and make sure your skin doesn't have a volatile reaction to the solution!” Varian interrupted, turning to face his equipment and hiding his flushed cheeks.
“Whatever you say, sweet cheeks.” Hugo relented, soon allowing Varian to place a sample amount of the solution on both the inside and outside of his arm. He shifted on his bed so that he was mostly front facing with his back slightly angled to the end to the bed.
As Varian was marking the control sample and the test on the burnt side, he absentmindedly muttered, “perfect… you’re doing such a good job…”
And of course Hugo was in no way normal about this. Just thinking about Varian directing that at him in a different context was enough to send an additional wave of heat to his face on top of the burns.
Varian brought over his notebook and jotted a few things down, occasionally flipping Hugo’s arm to observe the tests while Hugo daydreamed about… stuff.
After a while, Varian pulled Hugo back to attention, asking, “Do either of the test feel itchy, painful, or worse than before?”
“Hm? No, all good goggles.”
“Perfect! Does the burn test feel any better?”
From what Hugo could tell, it actually did feel noticeably better. The heat had gone down in the area, and it was no longer quite as sensitive.
“Yeah, actually. It’s not perfect but it is a bit better now. Jeez freckles, you impress me once again.” Hugo answered smirking as his praise found its intended result.
Varian chuckled breathily and rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks, I mean, I wasn’t just gonna let you stew in agony, I care about you.”
Oh
Varian quickly diverted, “Anyways, if it’s working okay, I’m gonna start applying on the rest of your arms first. Kay? Promise I’ll be gentile.”
“Oh yeah?” Hugo replied while smiling and dropping his eyelids slightly.
“Shut up!” Varian retorted, removing his gloves.
“As you like, hair stripe.”
Applying the drug to his arms went fairly smoothly. The stuff felt heavenly after having his skin boiling hot all afternoon. And to be honest Varian lived up to his his promise. Every time he moved his hands over Hugo’s skin, he felt like he was made of painted glass that Varian was scared to smudge or crack.
At some moments, Hugo felt liked he’d ought to hold his heart in place from just how tender and sweet Varian was being. Every now and again he’d ask, “This is still alright?” or “You’ll let me know if I hurt you, right?” And god, it was taking everything in him not to just lean forwards and kiss this man silly.
Eventually, Varian had finished implementing the remedial substance on Hugo’s arms and was now jotting more notes under “large scale application.”
All too soon it was time for his back. It was the most egregious burn along with his neck. But after experiencing a small amount of the miracle that was this mixture Hugo was prepared to shuck his shirt for some cold relief.
…
As soon as Varian looked up Hugo was striping his shirt. He knew he told him to do it and he’d been “prepared” but damn! All Varian could do was stare at Hugo’s bare chest, waist, hips…
Get it together! He had a job to do and he was not going to be distracted while preforming professional scientific experiments!
“Goggles? You gonna do this or what?”
Oh yeah, he got to touch that…
“Yeah yeah, sorry!” Varian affirmed. He knew damn well that Hugo saw him staring and all he could do was thank whatever higher being there was that he didn’t bring it up.
He walked around so he was mostly behind Hugo. Immediately he lost sight of his mission. He couldn’t stop his hand from trailing down Hugo’s spine nor could he stop himself from biting his lip as Hugo shivered and groaned slightly, arching his back at the touch.
Varian waited for Hugo to get up and leave, to tell him how weird that was, to make some comment, but no. He just stammered out a, “g-go ahead…”
And with that Varian jumped on the chance, pouring a sufficient quantity of the solution into his hands and gliding his palms against Hugo’s reddened shoulder blades.
As he reached his shoulders, neck, and ribs, Hugo continued to let out small sighs of contentment that Varian found all to enticing.
“Still good?” Varian asked before moving to apply the medicine to Hugo’s waist.
“Mhm, s’great.”
And maker, it was. Being allowed to trace the curves of Hugo’s slim waist was dizzying, almost as much as the noises.
As Varian finished up the application, he let his hands rest on Hugo’s hips for a brief moment before removing them to inspect the progress.
However, he did not expect the whine that escaped Hugo’s throat at the loss of contact, and clearly, neither did Hugo as he slapped a hand over his mouth.
Varian pretended not to have noticed it, and as he walked back around to Hugo’s front, he seemed to relax a bit.
“Alright, just your face left, then you’re done!” Varian proclaimed.
“Aww, I shall miss my guinea pig days dearly.” Hugo stated, oh so dramatically, pulling an exaggerated frown and leaning on his head board to support a swoon.
Varian smeared one last dab of the remedy onto his hand, rubbing it over both of his palms.
“Don’t you worry, I’ll have plenty of other experiments you can volunteer to be my lab rat for.” Varian assured sarcastically, while swiping the solution down Hugo’s nose with two fingers.
“Nothing like this…” Hugo whispered, looking faintly disappointed while Varian was finishing up placing the liquid on Hugo’s cheeks.
Varian was a bit stunned and paused with his palms still cupping either of Hugo’s cheeks. He hadn’t realized how close they were until now.
And damn, this man was unbearably cute when he was looking up at him with puppy dog eyes and longing and squished red cheeks.
Maybe it was that, or maybe it was the heat that shot straight to his stomach when Hugo’s eyes flicked to his lips for a second, but either way Varian leaned in.
All of a sudden Hugo’s lips were on his and he was pretty sure he’d never tasted anything better.
Not ten seconds passed before Hugo grabbed Varian’s hips and was pulling him in closer until Varian had no choice but to straddle him while he sat on the bed.
Before he knew it one of Hugo’s hands was in his hair and his own hands had slid to Hugo’s jaw, pulling each other impossibly closer.
He shifted his head slightly to the side, both to avoid smudging the still wet and cold mixture on Hugo’s face as well as to deepen the kiss.
In doing so, Hugo managed just enough space to slur out, “Maker, Varian, I love you so much.”
Oh wow
“I love you too.” Varian was able to reply as Hugo left his mouth to trail kisses along his face to his jaw and down to his neck. At that he felt a smile grow on Hugo’s lips against his skin, along with a slimy nose bridge pressed into his jaw.
Varian pushed Hugo back so he could see him better, drawing a strained and breathy whine out of the taller man. Hugo looked utterly crushed.
“Sorry, did I do something?” Hugo asked looking up at the alchemist perched on his lap. He loosened his hold on Varian’s hips slightly.
Varian immediately put his hands over Hugo’s, pressing them back into his hips. “No! Of course not! That was- I mean you were-”
“Varian”
“I don’t want to smear your medicine. I worked damn hard on that thing and by the moon and sun it will help you!” Varian stated.
And what else could Hugo do but laugh. Because of course that’s his concern.
“Quit laughing, come here.” Varian smoothed over the remedy’s coating as Hugo just stared at him with the stupidest lovesick face he’d ever seen.
“What?” Varian questioned, smiling softly.
“You’re so pretty”
“Thanks.” Varian blushed, giving Hugo one final peck on the lips before pushing off of his chest, Hugo leaning forwards as he went as if he were chasing the contact.
Varian collected his things and headed towards the tent flaps, turning back to face the blonde, smiling wide. “Get some rest, I’ll come see you in the morning to uh… see how the treatment is working. If anything happens you know where to find me.” Varian waved and finally exited the tent.
“Oh yeah, can’t wait.” Hugo replied, more to himself than anything.