Final Fantasy XII (Basch/Vossler) [week 3 - prompt 4]
Title: Weather of Your Country Author: Cadence Rating: PG-13 Word Count: 400 Summary: Basch lies here still, burning as if the sun still beat down on him.
Vossler’s skin feels cool under his fingers, which is ridiculous even though Basch knows it is largely because his own skin is radiating heat like a chunk of fire magicite.
He’d been in Dalmasca long enough, he thought. He and Vossler spent the same time out in the sun, demonstrating the same training regimen. They retreated back to their tent to avoid the strongest heat of day at the same time. And yet Vossler cooled down quickly and dropped into a light sleep, while Basch lies here still, burning as if the sun still beat down on him. It’s entirely unfair.
And so Basch can’t feel terribly guilty about the possibility of waking him. He picks up his fingers from their light rest on the curve of Vossler’s bicep to run the remaining length of his arm.
To his surprise, Vossler doesn’t stir. Basch sits further up on an elbow and looks at him, but if he is pretending sleep he is doing it flawlessly. So he continues his exploration on Vossler’s chest, dipping the pads of his fingers into topography of muscle and browned skin. Basch wonders how long he can spend like this, just looking and feeling Vossler’s body; there are enough details to notice that he could be a long while.
It’s when he rakes blunt nails across Vossler’s side that it’s enough; barely a twitch of Vossler’s eyelids and then he’s up and Basch’s back is flat on the floor. He begins to suspect that Vossler had never been unconscious.
“The sun still gets to you, then, strange man of the north?” Vossler says, faintly teasing. And then again perhaps he was asleep, as his voice is low and rough like it is in the morning after a long night. It prompts a new type of warmth to flush through Basch.
“Perhaps I’m simply normal, and it’s the weather of your country that’s bizarre.” Basch tries, with as much composure as he can manage when Vossler has him pinned. Vossler looks briefly indignant, and then Basch follows up with, “or perhaps it is you that have gotten to me.”
Vossler’s eyes darken for a moment. Then he shakes his head and lets up. “Try to sleep. We have work to do yet this evening.”
Basch sighs but smiles, and they both settle back. He can feel the heat flow from Vossler’s skin as he moves away.