RP
August 2nd
9:28 pm
Hogsmeade, Avery's cottage
As Severus closed his journal, the noise from Varian's guitar rose to a screech, prompting the pressure behind his temples to give a painful throb. Annoyed, in the next minute, Severus threw his journal across the room at his friend and whined over the screeching guitar, "Variaaaaan, for Christ's sake, no more! Please!"
Varian looked over at Severus and grinned snarkily. "MORE!" he declared, enjoying himself muchly.
"My HEAD HURTS! Do you really want my headache on your conscience?!" Severus yelled, exasperated with his friend.
Letting out a snort of disbelief, Varian turned away, fiddling with the sound on the guitar for a moment (and letting the noise level decrease a bit in the process), before striking a twanging chord and saying defiantly, "SO?"
That instantly pissed Severus off, and in frustration, he snapped, "..... FINE. Go ahead and do it. But you're not getting any for the next week!" He slumped down a bit at that and pulled the blanket on the futon over his head, effectively hiding himself from view (though it did nothing to muffle Varian's incessant guitar playing).
"You piece of...POO!" Still treating it like Severus was just throwing a fit, Varian turned around halfway to give the younger man a snarky grin, twanging loudly on his guitar again. "Go suck on a squirrel," he said, knowing it made no sense.
"NO! If you don't stop, I'll cast a bloody silencing spell on you!" Okay, he didn't care if Varian's last comment made no sense, he was getting really annoyed and pissy, now (even if he couldn't see Varian's expression).
"SO do it!" Wearing a cocky expression, he just kept playing.
That was it. "FINE, I WILL!" Throwing the blanket off himself, Severus sat up, sliding off the bed and slinking barefoot over to where he had left his wand (in his shoulder bag by the door).
Varian just ignored him and tried a jump kick, knocking a lamp over in the process. "Oooops," he said, eyes immediately lowering to the floor to check how bad the damage was, the noise level in the one room cottage going down significantly.
Severus snatched up his wand and whirled around, pointing it at Varian. "Will you bloody stop now?" he demanded, glaring at his friend.
Varian stood there looking down at the broken lamp, and then looked up at him. His hands immediatly shot up, and his guitar slipped down even though it was on a shoulder strap. "Hey...heeeey now..partner.." he said consolingly, as if trying to calm a dangerous animal.
"This isn't my bloody cottage, I don't have to feel responsibility for wrecking anything," Severus informed him, wincing slightly at the slight throb of pain at his temples. "But I really do have a headache, and I fucking asked you nicely first to knock it off, so if you don't, I will feel no compunctions hexing you silent." There was a slight pause, and then he lowered his wand to take a step towards Varian, raising a hand threateningly as he added, "Don't make me bitchslap you."
Varian just stared at him, and then slowly put his hands down. "You are such a girl," was all he said.
"Now, see, normally I would bitch and complain that you just called me a girl, but I'm too tired to give a fuck right now." Stooping down to put wand away, Severus then put his fingers to his forehead, massaging along the temples to try and relieve the pressure as he stood and started back over to the futon.
"Then maybe you should stop doing whatever the hell you're doing over there..." Varian said with an arrogant air, pointing to the futon.
"Oh, like trying to sleep?" Severus quipped somewhat snippily, slumping down on the futon and curling up on it in a very childlike position.
"Is that all?" He smirked. "If theres something else you could of asked me for help."
"Unless you know of a way to get rid of this killer headache from HELL, leave me alone," he said snidely, raising his head slightly to look over sullenly at his friend.
Varian actually backed away and pulled his guitar off from his shoulder. He set it on its stand and kept his hands lifted to show 'no harm'. "Easy Kemosabe....take it easy there, boy."
"I'm trying, but you're not bloody listening to me!" Severus said in exasperation, squeezing his eyes shut and burrowing under the blankets again.
Theres just silence, and then the only movement in the room besides the lit fire in the fireplace was the shifting of weight on the futon as Varian sat down next to the large lump of blankets. Then, the gentle touch of his hands on what were Severus's covered shoulders.
Not expecting that, the muscles in his shoulders and back stiffened at first at Varian's touch, then he relaxed a bit, sighing slightly in tired exasperation, barely moving so as to avoid as much pain as possible.
Varian kneads Severus's shoulders under the covering, but doesn't say anything at first.
"What are -" he started to mumble then stopped, caught offguard by this - one of Varian's rare gestures of (possibly romantic??) kindness. Silence persisted with an occasional hitch of breath and then sigh as tense muscles started to unknot and relax, and a couple minutes later, Severus turned his head slowly to the side, watching Varian out of the corner of his eye before he was asking quietly, "... Why are you doing this?"
"You want me to stop?" Varian said, as his fingers stopped moving suddenly.
"No...." came a very soft murmur as he still watched Varian, eyes falling half shut as he shifted slightly, arching a bit to push shoulders back more against the other man's hands, a very cat like action.
Varian let out a slow breath and started to work the tight muscles again. A moment later, he said quietly, "It'd help if you nixed the blanket, Sev."
For some reason (perhaps his moody, emotional state from before), the tenderness of Varian's actions brought a lump to his throat, and he had to bury his face in his arms for a moment (easy since he was laying on his stomach) before he reached back a bit to pull the blanket away, unable to actually look Varian in the eye at the moment. A moment later, the thought ran belatedly through his mind - He called me... Sev... he rarely calls me that...
Once the blanket was moved, Varian shifted, being up on his knees. He put more pressure on Severus's shoulders, kneading them hard. He then took one off and, using his elbow, drilled it in the center between his shoulder blades.
This pulled a small breathy gasp from his mouth, not out of pain, but more out of relief as a knotted muscle he hadn't even been aware of gave way to a more relaxed state. Without realizing it, he found himself clenching and unclenching one fist weakly, a gesture of.... almost cat like contentment and satisfaction as he actually felt the pressure on his temples start to subside.
"No more complaining then..?" Varian's soft voice comes out as he runs his fingers along Severus's back and down to his lower back, further pushing the coverings away.
Squeezing his eyes shut again for a moment, Severus found himself feeling overwhelmed by this for some reason. Literally unable to speak at the moment, he kept his head down a bit, turning his face away from where he would have caught a glimpse of Varian's face as he just nodded in agreement, breathing coming a bit shallowly as his heart pounded. This wasn't stimulating by any means (it was making him more relaxed and sleepy than anything), but his heart was still pounding hard.
Varian paused before too long and slid off the futon, the matress reeling from the less weight. Varian made as little noise as he could as he started going through the stack of books on a chair nearby. Some were so old the dust was permantly attached. Finding one on the witch's every day home remedies, Varian flipped through it.
He didn't even quite notice that Varian was gone for a moment until he realized that that comforting touch was gone. Twisting around a bit, he watched Varian for a long while, still not saying anything, just... watching. He had no idea what exactly the other man was doing, but that overwhelming feeling wouldn't subside - his chest was feeling a bit tight and he had to swallow hard before he finally called out quietly in a voice shaky with emotion he didn't even have the strength to suppress, ".... Thank you..." He wasn't sure what he was thanking Varian for, but the need to say it was there, anyway.
"Not finished with you yet," Varian told him without even looking over. He seemed to find what he was looking for in the book and taps it. He then walked back and held the book open wide to Severus. "You're gifted in potions. Tell me how to make this elixir to cure your headache, and I will. Tell me what these ingredients are and where I can find them." Varian didn't want to admit he couldn't read half of it, being latin.
He wanted to blame his age on his reaction. He wanted to blame the fact that he's a hormonal, emotional teenager on the fact that for a moment he could do nothing but bite his lip and blink back the tears that were threatening to fall, sniffling as he turned to face away from Varian again, bringing one hand up to swipe furiously at his eyes. God... he hadn't actually cried for over seven months, why the hell was this making him so emotional?
Varian blinked fast and furrowed his eyebrows as his mouth formed a tight frown. "It's your bleeding headache, not mine!" he said rather bitterly, annoyed now but wasn't sure why. "You don't want to help me, fine. I'll figure it out myself." He started to turn, tapping his black painted finger nails on the book page. "If it doesn't work, its not my fucking fault, alright??" he said, voice less severe and more strained, as if worried.
Severus managed to speak up, albeit, voice still very shaky as he said, "No! No, it's... I'll help, it's just... it's nothing, I'm... I'll help." With that, he started to push himself up a bit, stopping once he'd sat up to try and wipe his eyes again surreptitiously, not wanting to draw attention to this.
Varian had his back partially turned and slowly closed the book, keeping his thumb as a bookmark. He glanced over at Severus, and immediatly his eyes widened. He was, in the next moment, sitting on the bed next to him with his arm draped across his shoulders. "You look like hell, you know," he said, wanting to do something but not sure what. And uncharacteristically, he swept the damp hair out of the younger man's eyes.
And unfortunately for Severus, that one thing is what did it for him. He found himself staring Varian in the eyes for a moment, his own eyes wide with amazement, and opened his mouth to say something - but no words made it out as instead a small hitching half gasp half sob was heard, and he lowered his head, eyes downcast and then closing of their own accord as he sniffled again, bringing a hand up to his face thankfully before he can break down. Without even realizing it, he actually leaned forward, an unconscious attempt to lean against Varian for support as (thankfully) mostly silent sobs shuddered through him.
Varian rolled his eyes upwards towards the ceiling and bent his arm. This caused his hand to press against Severus's shoulder, bringing him closer so he can serve as something to be leaned against. His hand then came up and fingers buried in Severus's hair. "Just...yeah just let it out," Varian told him, and leaned his chin on top of Severus's forehead, letting out a soft sigh.
Varian's acceptance of him reacting this way only made him feel more confused and out of sorts, and he found himself wishing that he could tell Varian right out why he was acting this way... but that would be a dead giveaway that he cared more than he possibly should about what Varian thought of him. Taking a couple deep breaths, Severus found he'd unintentionally breathed in the scent of his friend's cologne - and the familiar smell of that fresh water scent helped calm him down a bit as it was something he was used to. His sobs quieted themselves within a minute or so, leaving him feeling drained and listless for another moment before he realized that his headache had actually cleared up a lot. Slowly, he raised his eyes to look up at Varian's profile, reaching up carefully to brush his fingertips over the man's lips, staying quiet still for the moment.
Varian's eyebrow lifted at feeling the new sort of touch and tilted his chin down to look at him curiously. "Wha...." he started to say, his lips parting against the finger. He then cut himself off, and instead puckered his lips to kiss his fingers.
Severus didn't even flinch, having half expected a reaction like that now. It was still unusual, but it wasn't overwhelmingly unusual now, though it did send a small shiver through him to feel Varian's lips against his skin like that. "My... headache's almost gone," he finally said quietly, voice very subdued as his eyes focused more on Varian's mouth as he trailed his finger tips along the man's bottom lip. He wasn't trying to be flirty or make a sexual advance, he just wanted to... touch him. It felt.... good. Comforting right now.
"Bleeding miracle, it is," Avery said, almost in awe even with Severus's fingers poking at his lips. "Just crying it out relieved the pain and pressure then? Sorry you had to do that. Just isn't right for a bloke to cry." He looked absolutely guilty at this point, his shoulders slumping. "Girls, yeah. But not us blokes." He found himself staring directly at Severus's eyes, not even paying attention to anything. And he was rambling. All signs he was becoming more and more...soft...to the moment.
Think it was more I needed to feel like someone actually cared about me instead of just wanting to show off to me... he found himself thinking as he raised his eyes slightly to look into Varian's. "I guess," he said softly, letting his fingers trail to the corner of Varian's mouth before sliding up to actually caress over his cheek.
"There now, much better," he murmured to him in the most unreal and gentle of voices as he curled his arm around the younger man tightly. "Don't want to become a blubbering blonde fool like Jones, do we?" He actually meant it as a joke, and held him.
Varian's gentle demeanour right now was so surreal that he couldn't help but laugh softly, despite the fact that the dig at Bridget bothered him a bit. He wisely held his tongue, though, as he shook his head. "No, don't want to become a blubbering fool.." As he said this, he pulled himself up slightly, leaning in against the other man more and pressing lips to Varian's cheek lightly - he wouldn't verbalize his gratitude, but that gentle action would hopefully suffice for right now.
Varian's stiff upper lip twitched and he brought his hand up to pat the back of Severus's head. "Now..now.." his voice cracked uncharacterisitcally. "Now don't go....buttering up to me like that. I'll have..NONE of that, thank you!" he replied, speaking loudly even though he made no move to stop him. "I'm a right bastard, I'll have you know..." he added, but his plastered expression was faltering him.
"Maybe that's why I like you so much," he said softly, a weak attempt at teasing the man, lips still brushing against Varian's skin as he brought his hand down to rest on the other man's shoulder. He pressed a kiss again and pulled back, adding in a pleased tone he didn't even try to conceal, "I notice you aren't trying to stop me."
"I was planning to," he trailed off, and then got up. With a flick of his wand, he made the fire die down, reducing the light in the one room cottage. "You just haven't let me," he said as he started to pull his shirt off. "Always jumping ahead..." He tsked his tongue and proceded to undo his belt as the remaining light died in the fireplace.
9:28 pm
Hogsmeade, Avery's cottage
As Severus closed his journal, the noise from Varian's guitar rose to a screech, prompting the pressure behind his temples to give a painful throb. Annoyed, in the next minute, Severus threw his journal across the room at his friend and whined over the screeching guitar, "Variaaaaan, for Christ's sake, no more! Please!"
Varian looked over at Severus and grinned snarkily. "MORE!" he declared, enjoying himself muchly.
"My HEAD HURTS! Do you really want my headache on your conscience?!" Severus yelled, exasperated with his friend.
Letting out a snort of disbelief, Varian turned away, fiddling with the sound on the guitar for a moment (and letting the noise level decrease a bit in the process), before striking a twanging chord and saying defiantly, "SO?"
That instantly pissed Severus off, and in frustration, he snapped, "..... FINE. Go ahead and do it. But you're not getting any for the next week!" He slumped down a bit at that and pulled the blanket on the futon over his head, effectively hiding himself from view (though it did nothing to muffle Varian's incessant guitar playing).
"You piece of...POO!" Still treating it like Severus was just throwing a fit, Varian turned around halfway to give the younger man a snarky grin, twanging loudly on his guitar again. "Go suck on a squirrel," he said, knowing it made no sense.
"NO! If you don't stop, I'll cast a bloody silencing spell on you!" Okay, he didn't care if Varian's last comment made no sense, he was getting really annoyed and pissy, now (even if he couldn't see Varian's expression).
"SO do it!" Wearing a cocky expression, he just kept playing.
That was it. "FINE, I WILL!" Throwing the blanket off himself, Severus sat up, sliding off the bed and slinking barefoot over to where he had left his wand (in his shoulder bag by the door).
Varian just ignored him and tried a jump kick, knocking a lamp over in the process. "Oooops," he said, eyes immediately lowering to the floor to check how bad the damage was, the noise level in the one room cottage going down significantly.
Severus snatched up his wand and whirled around, pointing it at Varian. "Will you bloody stop now?" he demanded, glaring at his friend.
Varian stood there looking down at the broken lamp, and then looked up at him. His hands immediatly shot up, and his guitar slipped down even though it was on a shoulder strap. "Hey...heeeey now..partner.." he said consolingly, as if trying to calm a dangerous animal.
"This isn't my bloody cottage, I don't have to feel responsibility for wrecking anything," Severus informed him, wincing slightly at the slight throb of pain at his temples. "But I really do have a headache, and I fucking asked you nicely first to knock it off, so if you don't, I will feel no compunctions hexing you silent." There was a slight pause, and then he lowered his wand to take a step towards Varian, raising a hand threateningly as he added, "Don't make me bitchslap you."
Varian just stared at him, and then slowly put his hands down. "You are such a girl," was all he said.
"Now, see, normally I would bitch and complain that you just called me a girl, but I'm too tired to give a fuck right now." Stooping down to put wand away, Severus then put his fingers to his forehead, massaging along the temples to try and relieve the pressure as he stood and started back over to the futon.
"Then maybe you should stop doing whatever the hell you're doing over there..." Varian said with an arrogant air, pointing to the futon.
"Oh, like trying to sleep?" Severus quipped somewhat snippily, slumping down on the futon and curling up on it in a very childlike position.
"Is that all?" He smirked. "If theres something else you could of asked me for help."
"Unless you know of a way to get rid of this killer headache from HELL, leave me alone," he said snidely, raising his head slightly to look over sullenly at his friend.
Varian actually backed away and pulled his guitar off from his shoulder. He set it on its stand and kept his hands lifted to show 'no harm'. "Easy Kemosabe....take it easy there, boy."
"I'm trying, but you're not bloody listening to me!" Severus said in exasperation, squeezing his eyes shut and burrowing under the blankets again.
Theres just silence, and then the only movement in the room besides the lit fire in the fireplace was the shifting of weight on the futon as Varian sat down next to the large lump of blankets. Then, the gentle touch of his hands on what were Severus's covered shoulders.
Not expecting that, the muscles in his shoulders and back stiffened at first at Varian's touch, then he relaxed a bit, sighing slightly in tired exasperation, barely moving so as to avoid as much pain as possible.
Varian kneads Severus's shoulders under the covering, but doesn't say anything at first.
"What are -" he started to mumble then stopped, caught offguard by this - one of Varian's rare gestures of (possibly romantic??) kindness. Silence persisted with an occasional hitch of breath and then sigh as tense muscles started to unknot and relax, and a couple minutes later, Severus turned his head slowly to the side, watching Varian out of the corner of his eye before he was asking quietly, "... Why are you doing this?"
"You want me to stop?" Varian said, as his fingers stopped moving suddenly.
"No...." came a very soft murmur as he still watched Varian, eyes falling half shut as he shifted slightly, arching a bit to push shoulders back more against the other man's hands, a very cat like action.
Varian let out a slow breath and started to work the tight muscles again. A moment later, he said quietly, "It'd help if you nixed the blanket, Sev."
For some reason (perhaps his moody, emotional state from before), the tenderness of Varian's actions brought a lump to his throat, and he had to bury his face in his arms for a moment (easy since he was laying on his stomach) before he reached back a bit to pull the blanket away, unable to actually look Varian in the eye at the moment. A moment later, the thought ran belatedly through his mind - He called me... Sev... he rarely calls me that...
Once the blanket was moved, Varian shifted, being up on his knees. He put more pressure on Severus's shoulders, kneading them hard. He then took one off and, using his elbow, drilled it in the center between his shoulder blades.
This pulled a small breathy gasp from his mouth, not out of pain, but more out of relief as a knotted muscle he hadn't even been aware of gave way to a more relaxed state. Without realizing it, he found himself clenching and unclenching one fist weakly, a gesture of.... almost cat like contentment and satisfaction as he actually felt the pressure on his temples start to subside.
"No more complaining then..?" Varian's soft voice comes out as he runs his fingers along Severus's back and down to his lower back, further pushing the coverings away.
Squeezing his eyes shut again for a moment, Severus found himself feeling overwhelmed by this for some reason. Literally unable to speak at the moment, he kept his head down a bit, turning his face away from where he would have caught a glimpse of Varian's face as he just nodded in agreement, breathing coming a bit shallowly as his heart pounded. This wasn't stimulating by any means (it was making him more relaxed and sleepy than anything), but his heart was still pounding hard.
Varian paused before too long and slid off the futon, the matress reeling from the less weight. Varian made as little noise as he could as he started going through the stack of books on a chair nearby. Some were so old the dust was permantly attached. Finding one on the witch's every day home remedies, Varian flipped through it.
He didn't even quite notice that Varian was gone for a moment until he realized that that comforting touch was gone. Twisting around a bit, he watched Varian for a long while, still not saying anything, just... watching. He had no idea what exactly the other man was doing, but that overwhelming feeling wouldn't subside - his chest was feeling a bit tight and he had to swallow hard before he finally called out quietly in a voice shaky with emotion he didn't even have the strength to suppress, ".... Thank you..." He wasn't sure what he was thanking Varian for, but the need to say it was there, anyway.
"Not finished with you yet," Varian told him without even looking over. He seemed to find what he was looking for in the book and taps it. He then walked back and held the book open wide to Severus. "You're gifted in potions. Tell me how to make this elixir to cure your headache, and I will. Tell me what these ingredients are and where I can find them." Varian didn't want to admit he couldn't read half of it, being latin.
He wanted to blame his age on his reaction. He wanted to blame the fact that he's a hormonal, emotional teenager on the fact that for a moment he could do nothing but bite his lip and blink back the tears that were threatening to fall, sniffling as he turned to face away from Varian again, bringing one hand up to swipe furiously at his eyes. God... he hadn't actually cried for over seven months, why the hell was this making him so emotional?
Varian blinked fast and furrowed his eyebrows as his mouth formed a tight frown. "It's your bleeding headache, not mine!" he said rather bitterly, annoyed now but wasn't sure why. "You don't want to help me, fine. I'll figure it out myself." He started to turn, tapping his black painted finger nails on the book page. "If it doesn't work, its not my fucking fault, alright??" he said, voice less severe and more strained, as if worried.
Severus managed to speak up, albeit, voice still very shaky as he said, "No! No, it's... I'll help, it's just... it's nothing, I'm... I'll help." With that, he started to push himself up a bit, stopping once he'd sat up to try and wipe his eyes again surreptitiously, not wanting to draw attention to this.
Varian had his back partially turned and slowly closed the book, keeping his thumb as a bookmark. He glanced over at Severus, and immediatly his eyes widened. He was, in the next moment, sitting on the bed next to him with his arm draped across his shoulders. "You look like hell, you know," he said, wanting to do something but not sure what. And uncharacteristically, he swept the damp hair out of the younger man's eyes.
And unfortunately for Severus, that one thing is what did it for him. He found himself staring Varian in the eyes for a moment, his own eyes wide with amazement, and opened his mouth to say something - but no words made it out as instead a small hitching half gasp half sob was heard, and he lowered his head, eyes downcast and then closing of their own accord as he sniffled again, bringing a hand up to his face thankfully before he can break down. Without even realizing it, he actually leaned forward, an unconscious attempt to lean against Varian for support as (thankfully) mostly silent sobs shuddered through him.
Varian rolled his eyes upwards towards the ceiling and bent his arm. This caused his hand to press against Severus's shoulder, bringing him closer so he can serve as something to be leaned against. His hand then came up and fingers buried in Severus's hair. "Just...yeah just let it out," Varian told him, and leaned his chin on top of Severus's forehead, letting out a soft sigh.
Varian's acceptance of him reacting this way only made him feel more confused and out of sorts, and he found himself wishing that he could tell Varian right out why he was acting this way... but that would be a dead giveaway that he cared more than he possibly should about what Varian thought of him. Taking a couple deep breaths, Severus found he'd unintentionally breathed in the scent of his friend's cologne - and the familiar smell of that fresh water scent helped calm him down a bit as it was something he was used to. His sobs quieted themselves within a minute or so, leaving him feeling drained and listless for another moment before he realized that his headache had actually cleared up a lot. Slowly, he raised his eyes to look up at Varian's profile, reaching up carefully to brush his fingertips over the man's lips, staying quiet still for the moment.
Varian's eyebrow lifted at feeling the new sort of touch and tilted his chin down to look at him curiously. "Wha...." he started to say, his lips parting against the finger. He then cut himself off, and instead puckered his lips to kiss his fingers.
Severus didn't even flinch, having half expected a reaction like that now. It was still unusual, but it wasn't overwhelmingly unusual now, though it did send a small shiver through him to feel Varian's lips against his skin like that. "My... headache's almost gone," he finally said quietly, voice very subdued as his eyes focused more on Varian's mouth as he trailed his finger tips along the man's bottom lip. He wasn't trying to be flirty or make a sexual advance, he just wanted to... touch him. It felt.... good. Comforting right now.
"Bleeding miracle, it is," Avery said, almost in awe even with Severus's fingers poking at his lips. "Just crying it out relieved the pain and pressure then? Sorry you had to do that. Just isn't right for a bloke to cry." He looked absolutely guilty at this point, his shoulders slumping. "Girls, yeah. But not us blokes." He found himself staring directly at Severus's eyes, not even paying attention to anything. And he was rambling. All signs he was becoming more and more...soft...to the moment.
Think it was more I needed to feel like someone actually cared about me instead of just wanting to show off to me... he found himself thinking as he raised his eyes slightly to look into Varian's. "I guess," he said softly, letting his fingers trail to the corner of Varian's mouth before sliding up to actually caress over his cheek.
"There now, much better," he murmured to him in the most unreal and gentle of voices as he curled his arm around the younger man tightly. "Don't want to become a blubbering blonde fool like Jones, do we?" He actually meant it as a joke, and held him.
Varian's gentle demeanour right now was so surreal that he couldn't help but laugh softly, despite the fact that the dig at Bridget bothered him a bit. He wisely held his tongue, though, as he shook his head. "No, don't want to become a blubbering fool.." As he said this, he pulled himself up slightly, leaning in against the other man more and pressing lips to Varian's cheek lightly - he wouldn't verbalize his gratitude, but that gentle action would hopefully suffice for right now.
Varian's stiff upper lip twitched and he brought his hand up to pat the back of Severus's head. "Now..now.." his voice cracked uncharacterisitcally. "Now don't go....buttering up to me like that. I'll have..NONE of that, thank you!" he replied, speaking loudly even though he made no move to stop him. "I'm a right bastard, I'll have you know..." he added, but his plastered expression was faltering him.
"Maybe that's why I like you so much," he said softly, a weak attempt at teasing the man, lips still brushing against Varian's skin as he brought his hand down to rest on the other man's shoulder. He pressed a kiss again and pulled back, adding in a pleased tone he didn't even try to conceal, "I notice you aren't trying to stop me."
"I was planning to," he trailed off, and then got up. With a flick of his wand, he made the fire die down, reducing the light in the one room cottage. "You just haven't let me," he said as he started to pull his shirt off. "Always jumping ahead..." He tsked his tongue and proceded to undo his belt as the remaining light died in the fireplace.