Runaways Chapter 25 Burn

"Ow," Hux whimpered. He'd never thought he'd hear himself whining, but he hadn't imagined such a sensation existing either. "Make it stop."

"We don't have the right cream," Ben said helplessly. "I mean, there's normal burn cream like we put on your blaster burn, but that's more potent than necessary, and it wouldn't go nearly far enough."

Hux whimpered again. He was red pretty much all over – his quip about avoiding sunburn had proved true. Ben, lucky thing, had tanned everywhere except the back of his neck and the tips of his nose and ears. "Is there nothing we can do?"

Ben bit his lip. "We could try soaking bandages in water and wrapping them around you?" he offered. "We can chill the water for a bit first. That should offer you some relief. And we'll have to stop off at the nearest outpost."

Hux nearly whined. He didn't want to go anywhere near some place that might have sun – and he couldn't even bear the touch of fabric against his torched skin. He was still in his underclothes, and he'd even rolled up the hems a little. He was even burnt between his toes. Going to bed would be a nightmare. "Please do it," he begged.

Ben gave him an almost pitying look, and darted towards the fresher. He emerged a moment later with the medkit. "Want some painkillers while I sort out the bandages?"

Hux nodded, and looked at the options. There was the salicylate Ben took for his post-nightmare headache, an anti-inflammatory, and the morphate that was really too strong to be a standard in such kits, but Hux loved. No choice, really. He was going to be singing again.

Ben was worried about Hux. Earlier that day he'd worried that Hux regretted leaving his home, but with the older boy choosing to stick by him, there really wasn't anything he could do about that. But this was something he could help with.

And really, they should have expected it. Hux was so fair-skinned, and grew up being constantly rained on. Of course he was going to burn at the slightest touch of sun. Ben was now very glad of his desert-dweller genes.

Hux wouldn't come to bed. Instead he was lounging on the bench on the hold, wrapped the sheets from the spare bunk, which were drenched in more chilled water. The painkillers seemed to be doing their job – Ben couldn't sense much more than a distinct sense of lingering discomfort. He sat down on the floor next to the miserable cadet. "I really don't mind a bit of damp, or there's the spare bunk," he suggested.

Hux grunted, and the sopping sheet twitched back from his face. The distinctly grumpy glower would have been amusing, were it not for the raw-looking burns over his entire face. "I prefer the metal."

Ben winced. "I, erm, looked up a few things," he said. "This all should be fine, um, unless it starts blistering, uh, at which point we should seek professional medical attention, and it might take a day…or two…for the full…extent of the burn to show."

Hux looked at him incredulously. "It could get worse?!"

"It might. Sorry." Ben glanced down at the datapad he'd brought up medkit advice chip on. "Er, we can't use ice, because…that might give you frostbite? Something like that. There's moisturizing creams we should use, avoid more sun exposure, breathable fabrics only, anti-inflammatories for the pain but I guess you already worked that one out…" He looked back up at Hux. "I've set course for the nearest planetoid with a decent sized settlement, but it'll take half a day to get there. Hopefully by then we'll have seen if there are any signs of your, uh, condition getting worse."

Hux moaned, and pulled the sheet back over his face. "Just make it stop."

Ben sighed. He wanted to hug Hux, pat his shoulder and reassure him it would be alright, but physical contact was the last thing he needed right now.

There was a mew from further into the ship. "Sounds like Millicent wants her dinner," Ben said to the uncommunicative mound of wet sheet. "I can fix you something while I'm at it, if you like. I fancy curry, but I can leave some meat and grain unseasoned for you."

"Please," came the muffled voice. "'N iced caf?"

Ben chuckled. "As long as the ice stays in the caf," he joked.

Hux huffed what was probably an assent, and Ben made for the kitchen. Behind him, it sounded like Hux had started humming a dirge.

Ben was fairly sure Hux had only emerged from his cocoon to use the fresher and re-soak his sheets. There was still no blistering; the burns seemed no better, but no worse either, but Hux hadn't slept much from sheer discomfort. He'd occupied himself reading up on the settlement Ben was going to visit.

"Ieghi is neutral; neither Republic or Imperial but not ruled by the gangsters," he reported. "Best take the Hutt money as well as my digital wallet. Get a new one, and have half my credits exchanged for Republic and put on the second. My code's 9916. Get the sunburn lotion, and plenty of sun protection cream. See if you can get some red hair colouring while you're at it, and some pins or ties or something if you want to do something with your hair."

"Sir yes sir," Ben smirked.

Hux huffed. "Just get the stuff. I'm in pain here."

Ben tilted his head. "Your arms might hurt less if you took the knives off."

"I'll throw them at you."

"I'm going, I'm going."