Hiccup spent much too long just standing there staring at other!Jack, enough that he couldn't keep referring to the man as a figure—a mere object, no life—when the other's chest moved with each breath and he looked at Hiccup with emotions too deep the brunette—the only one of the two, his mind kept repeating—couldn't fathom it. The other made no signs of discomfort, no matter how long time dragged on, and it didn't enter in Hiccup's mind that he should do much else until his forearms and hands started feeling uncomfortable with the oil and wax cooling against his skin. He stepped back in sudden clarity and other!Jack tightened his hold on both of Hiccup's hands.

Hiccup became strikingly aware of the wax cooling on other!Jack's skin, the pale, naked skin still shining from the oil but the wax hardening to white, stiff trails. He felt a flush travel down to his chest and he tilted his head away from the sight. Disconcerted by how not uneasy the not-sculpture was in his state.

"U-uh," Hiccup stuttered, "I need to wash my hands."

He nearly stumbled in his quest to the sink and other!Jack trailed after him and hovered as he washed the oil away. He scrubbed his skin forcefully, watching the freckles fade against the pink and willfully ignoring the piercing gaze of the other male. But he could only wash his hands and arms for so long, skin starting to ache and sore, and he shook his arms over the sink. He moved awkwardly to look for a towel while the sounds of squelched footsteps followed him like a puppy. He finally turned to other!Jack as he was drying his arms, pressing lightly at the flushed and irritated skin. The man beamed at him and bounced a little on the balls of his feet when he saw Hiccup finally giving him attention and Hiccup fumbled with the towel.

He fiddled with the cloth, looking hopelessly at the slick-skinned male. "Hey, uh, you," he called, unsure of what name he should refer other!Jack, "you should take a shower. To, err, wash away the wax." He cleared his throat. "And the oil."

Other!Jack hummed in response and Hiccup nodded. He turned for the bathroom, and then mentally slapped his forehead because he was in his studio and while there was a tiny bathroom in it, there was definitely no shower or soap or any of those bath items that the white haired man would need to wash away the wax. The studio was right by store, but was not, unfortunately right by his home, and he would have to drive the other male to his home where the shower and soap was.

"Uhm, uh," Hiccup flickered his eyes everywhere, clearing his throat again awkwardly. Other!Jack stepped closer to him and he nearly squeaked. "U-uh, so we need to get to my apartment to get to the shower and I need to drive you and you're kinda naked right now and that's kind of an indecent display in public and you're also kind of covered in wax and oil which is a really strange outer coating when going out and—clothes!"

Other!Jack blinked but laughed and Hiccup altogether ignored him as he searched for anything to cover the still very bare, still completely covered in oil male lingering behind him. He found a hoodie, covered in charcoal and paint, under a stack of newspapers and he yanked it up, making a sound of triumph. It was massive enough that it even draped loosely on other!Jack, a shining collarbone peaking from the hood and Hiccup made a sound from the back of his throat.

He grabbed the damp towel and thrust it to other!Jack. "Wrap it around your waist. I, uh, don't have any pants here."

He resolutely did not look at the other male. And as soon as the other was decent, or as decent as he could possibly be, he headed abruptly for his car, knowing that other!Jack would follow him enthusiastically. He directed the man to the passenger seat, and the other seemed to try making up for Hiccup's hesitant handling with him brushing his hands along Hiccup as much as he can and the sculptor did end up stumbling towards the driver's seat. The drive was painstakingly long, for more than one reason, and he couldn't find it in himself to care about how his car was now gathering oil that would definitely require too much effort to wash away from the seats and floor.

When finally, finally, they reached the building, he ushered other!Jack to his apartment quickly, knowing that people could and would talk, especially about a man Hiccup was bringing to his apartment with questionable fluids along his body and the same hairstyle only Jack could ever have managed—who was dead and did not have white hair. He shuddered when he'd finally found the safety of his little home and other!Jack pressed his side along Hiccup's and Hiccup shuddered again.

He didn't know if other!Jack shared his Jack's memories—he acted like Hiccup was frighteningly, intimately familiar but he hadn't actually said Hiccup's name—and he wasn't sure he wanted to know, so without prompt, he led other!Jack to the bathroom. He opened the shower curtain with a woosh! and had other!Jack enter into the shower. When he moved to pull of the hoodie and towel from other!Jack's body, other!Jack smiled adoringly at him and he furrowed his brows in embarrassment.

"The towel is there," he gestured to the towel draped in clear sight, half draped on the sink but at the very least dry, and rolled the garments together. He moved for the door, planning to look for clothes for other!Jack, but he didn't get very far before other!Jack whined, high and distressed, and latched hard onto Hiccup's own shirt.

"I have to get your clothes," Hiccup reasoned helplessly, "you can shower on your own."

Other!Jack whined again in answer, pulling on Hiccup's top towards him.

"No, Ja—uh," he hugged damp fabrics to his chest. "I can't bathe you. No, I—you can do it. Just call me when you need something."

Other!Jack made another sound, insistent and pleading, yanking Hiccup to him and holding on with his other hand as well. His mouth was set to a stubborn line, brows creased with persistence and Hiccup knew that he wouldn't get away from this.

He feebly looked at the exit, and then at the soiled towel and hoodie bunched up to his chest. Other!Jack tugged again and he bit his lip.

"Okay," he grieved, "okay." He dropped the things in his hand to the floor, uncaring of the mess it made. He was scared of how other!Jack had seemingly imprinted on him, like a baby duckling to what it thought to be its mother. He didn't know what to do with the frightening fixation other!Jack had.

He rolled his sleeves up, rolled his pants up too, not caring that his clothes would get wet even with the effort. He wasn't going to shed his clothes off with other!Jack in front of him, he wasn't.

He stayed at the other side, still out of the shower, and was, for probably the first time ever, thankful that his bathroom was small and that the shower area was actually just a tub one entered where a showerhead and a faucet was located. He curled away from where the water would inevitably fall and turned the knob. The sounds of pouring shower water seemingly took over the entire room and Hiccup tried to find comfort in the mundane noise.

For the next number of minutes, he felt like he was both bathing a kid and acting out a porno scene, scrubbing away the wax and soaping out the oil. The other male's body was familiar, details his hands had long since grown accustomed to, and it was just like touching Jack. But this man's skin was cool all over, slightly chilly that it caused little goose bumps to move up his arms. He fumbled his way through the oil but soon enough, the skin turned smooth, much softer than his Jack's actually ever had. When his fingers slipped through other!Jack's, they didn't feel the calluses they were used to, but each curve stayed, each vein, each bump, and when hands curled around his wrists, they weren't the rough he was comfortable with, but the way the fingers curled, the width and length of the hands was something he found himself easing into.

Other!Jack was how his Jack just was, kicking the water that gathered and messing with his hair and getting Hiccup wet and giggling and touching him everywhere. Other!Jack gathered shower water in his mouth until his cheeks bulged like a squirrel's and Hiccup snorted softly at the water dripping from the middle of his mouth. Other!Jack swiveled his head to him, cheeks swishing along and Hiccup laughed. He started, "He—"

—and immediately had water showered to his face.

"He-hey!" he sputtered, rubbing the water away with his hands, and other!Jack laughed, loud and manic. Hiccup glared at him and the other male covered his mouth with a hand, laughter escaping from his fingers and the sides of the smaller's lips tugged up helplessly. Other!Jack's free hand stumbled to scrub the water across Hiccup's face and Hiccup chortled. "Stop it," Hiccup managed in between snickers, slapping away the pale hand, and other!Jack giggled for the last time before tugging on Hiccup's wet hair.

It became vastly easier after that and he didn't mind the hands that fumbled along his arms and chest, occasionally sliding across his face, and he pinched other!Jack's skin every now and then.

He was firm in having the taller dry himself, asserting, "you. Just you," as he pushed the towel to other!Jack's chest. "I will get you clothes." He narrowed his eyes even further. "Stay here."

He left quickly. He had his own clothes changed as he got some for Jack, using his shirt to dry the water that seeped through the cloth. He threw his used clothes to the hamper with a fwump! and gathered other!Jack's set in his arms. They were a relatively thin sweater and a pair of pale green shorts, boxer briefs wedged between the pair. They were Jack's clothes and having this Jack wear them finally had him looking so much more like his Jack.

"Come on," he led him to the couch and seeing the familiar pattern had something that he didn't noticed was wound tight loosen. Other!Jack flopped down beside him, once again pressing his entire side to Hiccup.

Hiccup sighed, adjusting his arm to let Jack plaster himself to Hiccup and arms wound tight around his torso. Other!Jack dug his face in the area between Hiccup's neck and shoulder, shoving his smile to the hollow of Hiccup's chest.

He didn't understand if the twist in his chest was a good thing or a bad one but he started combing his fingers through snow-white hair.

So the morning after I posted my wax au, I decided to read it to look for mistakes since I didn't the night before and the ending felt sorely lack so! Bonus scene!