Scorpius H. Malfoy (fullofsnark) wrote in unloading_zone, @ 2010-07-09 21:23:00 |
|
|||
Hugo hated honey. He really did. He always had the worst allergic reactions to the stuff. Someone had put tea in his honey and Hugo didn't notice till it was too late. His throat was swelling up and his face was getting puffy.
There was only one place to go to get the proper potion to make it better. He really, really didn't want to go, but what choice did he have. Walking into the apothecary, Hugo rang a bell on the desk. He couldn't believe he had to see Scorpius like this.
Why was there a bell? It was an annoying thing, and Scorpius swore to get rid of it when he heard it from the back room where he was letting his sun repellent potion cool and congeal.
"How can I.." began the menial phrase, but it caught in his throat when he saw who it was. Hugo, who looked like a puff fish. He might have laughed if his Healer instincts hadn't immediately kicked-in. "What the hell happened to your face?" Scorpius asked, moving around the counter and automatically checking Hugo's lymphs with his fingers. "Better question. What did you eat?"
Hugo ate a lot. Even Scorpius knew that.
"Honey," he choked out. It wasn't easy to talk when his throat felt like there was a vice around it. "Allergic." He couldn't really say more than that. Hugo was glad Scorpius was there. Even if they weren't together, he was still use to Scorpius taking care of him. He always looked after him and Hugo missed that.
And, hey, at least Scorpius was touching him and not running away in disgust.
Hugo's throat was badly swollen, it was a miracle he could still talk and breath. Scorpius knew had to act fast before it completely closed up. Muttering something like 'git' under his breath, he swiftly scoured the shelves until he found it. A bezoar stone. He ground it to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle, added just a splash of water, and poured it all into a vial.
"You have to swallow this down," Scorpius told him, putting the vial in Hugo's hands.
Really? Is that what he had to do? Hugo would've made a sarcastic comment (or eight) if he could talk. Instead he took the vial and drank it back as quickly as possible.
The stone worked almost instantly. His throat stopped swelling, but it didn't take away from the puffiness of his face. "Thanks. Don't know how honey got into my tea. I never use it."
You'd be surprised. Scorpius once had a patient try to snort up a powder-based remedy.
Now that the danger had passed, he was able to smirk. Hugo looked like a chubby-cheeked overgrown child. "An assassination attempt, perhaps?" Scorpius suggested with a snort. He once again felt Hugo's neck with the pads of his index and thumb, starting from the bottom and working up. "Or your own carelessness. The swelling will go away with ice."
"You're the only person who has a problem with me. So maybe you tried to off me." That seemed unlikely. Okay, impossible. Scorpius wasn't the sort of person who could hurt anyone. He was all talk and Hugo knew that. Hugo was the bloke who threw punches and got knocked around from time to time. He reached up to pull Scorpius' hands away from him. There was no need for his ex-boyfriend to touch him.
His ex-boyfriend. Hugo froze. He never thought he'd think that.
"Right, you caught me." Scorpius rolled his eyes. Because he knew Hugo was allergic to honey. "Your throat feels fine," he said, snatching his hands out of Hugo's grip and stepping back. "If that's all.."
Scorpius pointedly looked at the door. He'd served his purpose. Hugo was still alive. Now he could go away and they could keep avoiding each other.
"No. That's not all. I need some stuff." Hugo didn't need anything, but he didn't want to leave just yet. He wanted to stay close to Scorpius for a little while longer. "Like, uh, a headache potion. And some, uh, bug repellent." Those seemed like perfectly natural things to have, right? Totally normal and average. Nevermind that he could find the items himself or that he rarely got headaches. In that moment he just wanted to see Scorpius a little while longer.
"Why do you hate the idea of us so much? Is it just because I'm a bloke?"
Scorpius could tell Hugo was making excuses to linger, but he wrote the orders down. It would give him something to keep preoccupied with and Merlin knew he needed a challenge to keep from dying of boredom. If he didn't die because of Weasley stupidity first.
"Are you kidding me, or are you just that level of daft?" Scorpius frowned up at Hugo. "You're asking me this when you're the one who.. what was it again? Oh yes. Wanted an out."
"Don't call me stupid," he nearly growled. Hugo detested his intelligence being questioned or insulted. He was smart! He was. Stupid Scorpius. His Scorpius knew that. This one was a wanker.
"I'm pretty sure it's all about the gay thing. Can't stand the idea of two cocks together? Or is it because I'm a Weasley? Or maybe I'm too stupid. Which is it? Which is the reason the idea of being with me disgusts you?"
Hugo shouldn't be allowed to growl. Or say the word cocks because both did funny things to Scorpius and he wasn't laughing. They shot straight to his groin. He needed to find a way back behind his counter before the other man took notice.
"Get out," Scorpius demanded, tone cold and biting. "I don't have to explain myself to you when YOU don't even want it!"
"I DIDN'T WANT IT?!?" Hugo had an impressive bellow on him. Especially when he was hopping mad. "You're unreal. And not the Scorpius I fell in love with." His boyfriend wouldn't have pushed him away or called him a liar.
"I know you're brilliant at pretending you are perfect, but YOU hated the idea of me from the moment I saw you. You told me I was crazy. And then once you suddenly decide I wasn't lying I'm supposed to crawl to you?"
It really was a good thing he had sent Ariana out on an errand. Not that the whole damn island wouldn't be able to hear Hugo with the way he was bellowing at the top of his lungs.
"And what, I'm just supposed to hop on your cock because you said it happens?!" Scorpius shot back. "From the moment I saw you, you attacked my mouth and told me we were together. You didn't take one fucking moment to consider how confused I was and you STILL haven't! I don't know what Scorpius you fell in love with, but I'm not him. I don't fall in love with asinine berks!"
Scorpius' words stung. Hugo knew he was insensitive sometimes and when it was pointed out to him... It really upset him.
"Right. Course you don't." He really didn't care if Scorpius could love him or not. Honestly. "Except you did. And I still do. Wanker."
Hugo still loved him? After all this? After saying he wanted an out? Scorpius stared at him.
"You're a bigger git that I thought. We're done now. You can leave." And never come back because Scorpius didn't want to acknowledge even for a moment that he had been turned on in the slightest. He certainly wasn't in danger of showing it now.
"Fine," he said angrily. "I tried. Again. But sooner or later you're going to realise what we could've had." Hugo hated Scorpius right then. He wanted to make him angry.
So he crossed the shop and grabbed his ex. "No one will ever know you like I do. Or love you like I did." Hugo pressed his lips against Scorpius' firmly. The kiss was short, but intense. Pulling back, Hugo smirked. "I hope you hated that."
Scorpius was ready to fend off fists the moment Hugo roughly grabbed him. The kiss, quite literally, stole his breath away. He was shocked and confused and he hated that some little part of him was disappointed it hadn't lasted longer.
"Get out. GET OUT RIGHT NOW!" Scorpius shouted, shoving Hugo as hard as he could.
There was nothing Scorpius could have said to make Hugo feel any worse. When he stumbled backwards, it had little to do with the force behind the shove and everything to do with the words being shouted at him. Hugo had hoped that maybe a kiss would show Scorpius what they could feel like. That maybe a kiss would prove to him that this wasn't some passing fancy. It was real and concrete and.. and it was all shite.
Hugo knocked over a few jars of newt eyes before he turn and walked towards the door as quickly as he could. His throat was closing up again, but this time it had nothing to do with honey or any sort of allergic reactions. The man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with wanted nothing to do with him. So much for that ring he had bought. Hell, they probably fell apart back home too. He couldn't imagine how they would last if Scorpius felt like this at all. Walking out the door, Hugo knew he wouldn't be back. He'd tried and Scorpius didn't want him. There was nothing else he could do.