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Lando’s always had a thing for shine and glitter. He’s currently at the airport, bored to death as he walks through some shops, waiting for his flight, half awake, mildly dehydrated and highly susceptible to anything shiny. His eyes catch onto it in a second, something labeled ‘vanilla sugar glaze’ and for a moment he thinks it's ridiculous. The packaging is obnoxiously shiny, like a disco ball. But the longer he stares, the better it gets, as if he gets hypnotised by it. So, of course, he buys it, on an impulse. One thing he does not expect is how good it tastes. Not just good… but addictive. Sweet in a way that lingers, warm and soft, like it melts instead of fades. It’s subtle enough that you don’t get sick of it, but noticeable enough that you keep chasing it. Lando, predictably, does exactly that. He uses it constantly, absentmindedly, everywhere.
1.
Oscar doesn’t think much of it first. They’re in a garage, noise bouncing off every surface, engineers talking too fast, too loud. It’s the kind of chaos Oscar usually filters out without thinking until something blinding appears in his vision. His eyes flick over automatically. Lando’s sitting on a stool, twisting open something small and silvery. He doesn’t even pause his conversation, just drags it across his bottom lip, smooth and practiced. Shine catches under the lights and Oscar can’t look away. Is it because he likes the way it looks on him or is it just that it’s fully ridiculous to see Lando doing that? If you ask Oscar, it’s definitely the latter. Okay, it’s lipgloss. That’s… normal. People use lip balm all the time, this is the same thing, just shinier. And sweeter, apparently.
“Tastes like vanilla cake.” Lando says, grining at someone off to the side.
Oscar’s brain latches onto that for no reason. Cake? Why would it-
Lando presses his lips together, then, without thinking, runs his tongue across them, savoring the flavor and closing his eyes.
Oscar’s thoughts stutter. There’s a weird, fleeting moment where his brain tries to fill in something. Taste, texture, something he has absolutely no reference for, then immediately shuts itself down. Nope. Irrelevant. He looks away, forgets about it almost. Except, later, when Lando laughs at something and the light hits his lips again, Oscar’s gaze flick back before he can stop it. Just to check, even though he has no idea what he’s checking for.
2.
The second time, Oscar knows exactly what’s he’s looking for, which makes it worse.
Plane, late evening, dim lighting, everything is quieter and slower, except when Lando digs out a bag from his backpack and empties it into his lap. There are countless small, glistening silver packages, all labeled ‘vanilla sugar glaze’.
Oscar, against his better judgement, picks one package up. “Did you really buy like ten packs of the same lipgloss?” he questions Lando as he inspects the package in his hand.
“Fifteen, actually.” Lando replies as matter of factly.
Oscar snorts and looks at him. “You’re crazy.”
“Uhm, no. It’s just tasty and I love it.” Lando grabs the pack from Oscar’s hands opening it. “You see…” he takes the gloss out and opens it. “It’s also shiny.” he grins before applying it on his lips. Oscar watches his every move carefully, like he’s hypnotised. Lando’s tongue flick across his bottom lip as soon as he put it on and he moans. Actually moans.
“Is it really that tasty?” Oscar asks, half shocked and half amused by Lando’s sound.
Lando grins. “Hell yeah. Wanna try it?” he extends the same lipgloss he just used, like that’s just the most normal thing to do.
“No.” Oscar says, too quickly. “I was just asking.”
Lando shrugs, a pout on his lips. “Suit yourself. You’re missing out on a vanilla paradise.”
Vanilla paradise.
Oscar’s brain latches onto that too, because now it’s specific. Because now his brain is doing something deeply unhelpful, like trying to recreate a taste he hasn’t experienced. He does not register for how long he was zoned out, but when his gaze flicks back to Lando, he’s already asleep, head slightly turned towards Oscar. Lips still-
Stop. Oscar looks away sharply, inhaling shakily. This is getting weird.
3.
By the third time, Oscar is fully aware he has a problem.
They’re doing media, cameras in their faces, questions neither of them care about. Lando’s answering something, animated, hands moving, voice quick and bright. Oscar’s just nodding along, not a clue what’s being said. Because mid sentence, Lando pauses, pulls the gloss out and swipes it on like it’s second nature. Oscar watches, everything else speeds up, the voices, the people, the world, all but that. And now, his brain fills in the gap immediately. Vanilla. Sweetness. It’s automatic, like the association has already been built. Lando presses his lips together, and as always, drags his tongue across the bottom lip again. This time Oscar, absentmindedly, does the movement himself, like the taste is going to transfer to his lips if he does it. It does not, his lips still without any taste.
“Oscar?”
He blinks, snapping out of it. “What?”
Lando’s looking at him, amused. “You listening?”
“Yeah.” Oscar says, because that’s easier than explaining whatever he was doing.
Lando’s eyes narrow slightly, eyes still on Oscar, then he licks his lips once again, slower this time. Oscar forces himself to look anywhere else, camera, table, floor… Literally anywhere.
As the interview ends, Lando pulls out the lipgloss once again, but this time he hands it to Oscar. “Seriously, try it.” he mutters just loud enough for him to hear.
Oscar’s head snaps back and look at Lando. There’s something different in his look this time. Not teasing, just curious, like he’s noticed. Oscar hesitates. Because he could try it, it would solve the problem, right?
“No.” he says again, but it feels less certain now. And Lando sees that, Oscar knows he does.
+1
The forth time, Oscar caves.
They’re alone in the hotel room, late, TV on but muted. Neither of them watching. Lando’s sprawled across the couch, upside down, scrolling. Oscar’s in an armchair, doing something on his laptop.
Lando lifts his hips slightly, just so he can fish something out of his pocket. Oscar lifts his head due to movement and lets out a snort. “What is this, gymnastics class?”
“Ha ha.” Lando looks at him and laughs sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
It takes a second for Oscar to figure out why was Lando stretching across the couch. He can’t miss the small bottle that Lando’s opening in his hands. He applies it like it’s a routine now. Oscar watches, of course he does, and once again licks his lips as soon as Lando does.
“Okay, this is getting weird.” Lando comments, snapping Oscar out.
Oscar stiffens. “What is?”
“You,” Lando says, sitting up, looking straight at him. “You keep staring.”
Oscar goes still. “I’m not-”
“You are.” There no accusation in it, just certainty.
Oscar opens his mouth, closes it. Because arguing would be pointless. Because he is staring.
Lando studies him, something shifting in his expression. Curiosity, maybe. “You wanna try it.” he says.
Oscar’s pulse jumps, like he’s just been accused of murder. “No.” he breathes out.
Lando tilts his head, amused. “That wasn’t a question.”
“Yet, it was wrong.”
“Then why do you look like that every time I use it?” Lando points at his face.
Oscar knows he looks like a deer in the headlights. He doesn’t have an answer. Or at least not the one he can say. Because I can’t stop thinking about what it tastes like sounds insane.
The silence stretches. Then, Lando holds it out again. Oscar looks at it, then at him. This is a bad idea. He leans over his laptop and takes it out of Lando’s hands.
He looks at it and turns around like it’s the most fascinating thing in the whole world. It really is shiny, shimmering across even though there is only a little light covering it. He expects it to be underwhelming. That all of this, whatever this is, has been exaggerated in his head into something bigger than it actually is. It’s lipgloss, that’s it, all it is. He twists it open slowly, aware of Lando watching him.
“Don’t overthink it.” Lando says.
Too late for that. Oscar brings it up, hesitates, then applies it. It’s strange at first, thick and slimy. He rubs his lips together, as it’s an automatic response. Then he licks his bottom lip, this time tasting the sweetness on his tongue. Oh. He closes his eyes, pressing his lips together as the taste lingers. And suddenly he understands why Lando keeps reapplying it, why he licks his lips like that, why-
Oscar swallows because his brain immediately makes the connection that’s been circling for days. This is what it tastes like. On him.
His eyes open aggressively with the realisation, immediately looking at Lando, who was, maybe for a second, staring at Oscar’s lips. Oscar was surely imagining it.
“That’s-” he starts, his voice slightly off.
Lando grins. “Told you.”
Oscar nods,distracted, still processing, still tasting. Because it’s not going away, no matter how many times he tastes it. And now, his brain won’t shut up, because now it’s not guessing anymore, now it knows. He hands the gloss back to Lando, fingers slightly brushing. The contact is quick but it lingers, everything lingers now. The taste, the thought, the realisation.
And as Lando puts it away, like it’s nothing, Oscar can’t help but think It probably tastes better on him. He looks away immediately but it’s too late. Because the thought sticks, for a long time.
+2
It happens a few days later, few long days, where Oscar was too deep into his thoughts. It was not planned, not even intentional, just a pure instinct.
They’re alone again, a quiet moment between things, neither of them doing much. It’s easy, familiar. Lando’s talking about something, Oscar’s not fully listening, lost in his own thoughts. It’s not long until he snaps out of it, his vision disturbed by the lipgloss he hasn’t stopped thinking about.
Lando applies it like always, automatic, unthinking. And Oscar knows exactly what it tastes like now. That’s the problem, because now when Lando presses his lips together, when he drags his tongue across them… Oscar’s brain doesn’t have to guess anymore. He just remembers. Warm, sweet, vanilla. And suddently, the thought from before comes back, sharper this time. It probably tastes better on him. Oscar exhales slowly. This is ridiculous, he needs to stop.
Lando just extends his hand, handing the gloss to Oscar. Oscar looks at it, then back at Lando, as if thinking about it. “I’ll bring you one next time.” Lando laughs.
“It’s okay.” Oscar restrains, both from taking it and Lando offering to bring him one.
“C’mon.” he shakes the gloss once again. “You look like you’re going to eat me alive if I don’t offer it.”
I might. That’s when it dawns to Oscar. He really wants to know what it tastes like on Lando.
Oscar hungrily smiles at Lando, whose eyebrow is now raised, not knowing Oscar’s train of though. He takes the gloss from Lando’s hands and holds it for a second. Turns it over once, twice, buying the time he doesn’t actually need. Then throws it aside, not far, but enough.
“Hey-” Lando’s about to protest, but Oscar cuts his words, smashing his lips onto Lando’s glossy ones.
Yeah, he was right. It does taste better like this. Familiar but different, softer, warmer, tastier.
Lando makes a quiet sound, surprised but not pulling away. If anything, leaning in closer, closing the distance between their bodies. Oscar breathes into the kiss, as if that movement made it even better. They pull apart eventually, not far.
Lando’s smiling, a little breathless. “If I knew this is what would get you going, I’d do it sooner.”
That earns a huff from Oscar and he leans in again, needing to taste it again. Maybe not only the lipgloss, because Lando tastes even sweeter and Oscar… well, Oscar could get high on the taste.