#Just made Varian and Hugo from memory

[popmushroombrains]

Doodles

can I just post like literally everything I draw? Is that allowed?

[hugogetspowerbottomed]

VARIGO CANON COMPLIANT ROUNDUP

A collection of all the Canonverse Varigo that I've enjoyed over the past three years. It is likely that there are a few missing due to them being deleted or my memory being poor. Nonetheless, pls enjoy.

Mature: +++ Explicit: *** Not Rated: 0

Teen/Gen: Not Marked

hello to my old heart by izabellwit

“Why do you trust me so much?”

Or: the beginning of the end for the betrayer. In which Hugo asks a long-overdue question, and gets the answer he never wanted to hear.

Say You Won't Let Go (I Won't) by DragonTalyn

Hugo needs some reassurance that Varian isn't going to leave

The Simple Act of Scraps Unraveling by @hybrix-hidings

There is a moment, on the trail to the library, where Varian realizes that he will love this man.

-

Or: Hugo and Varian enjoy a show, barefaced.

(Prompt #2 - Fireworks)

Snippets in Time by @sonicgetsrawed

Snippets of Varian’s adventures through the seven kingdoms to save his mother.

Darling you look perfect tonight by @the-reverse-mermaid

Hugo, Varian and Yong are invited to a winter holiday event in Nuru's kingdom, but one of them is having significantly less fun than the others… Hugo is already feeling insecure when a snobby noble decides to turn her nose up at him and make everything worse. Good thing his friends are there for him.

Small Chocolate Confections by @glitter-lisp +++

Sending Varian in to distract their target isn’t ideal, but someone has to keep him occupied while Hugo searches his room, and the duke made his interest pretty clear at dinner last night.

Hugo’s fine with that. Hugo’s very good at what he does, and so focused on the task at hand, and completely unbothered by the thought of Varian hanging out with a handsome guy who's probably feeding him fancy little desserts and talking about how rich he is while Hugo crawls around upstairs looking for loose floorboards and secret drawers.

Save Your Convictions (They Never Will Do) by @littlemisslol-fic

Varian and Hugo return to Corona after the events of the Varian and the Seven Kingdoms AU, with mixed reception. Turns out Rapunzel won't hold a grudge against people who slight her, but if they hurt her friends? And then show up still dating said friend?

Let's just say Hugo's got a storm coming.

The Dating Game by @littlemisslol-fic

In which Rapunzel, bless her heart, didn't know Varian and Hugo are dating, and thus takes it upon herself to find her darling baby brother a man of proper pedigree if it kills her. However, bloodlines aren't everything, and her choices are... less than stellar.

Darling, so It Goes (Some Things Are Meant to Be) by @littlemisslol-fic

My submissions for Effin' Varigo week! Big thanks to battybatzgirl for setting it up!

Hugo and Varian have been dating for three years, and are finally ready to take their relationship to somewhere a lot more serious. However, the world has other plans. With Hugo's proposal in shambles, and Varian focused on saving their friends, they think things can't really get any worse.

They would be wrong.

Prompts are Family ‧ Firework ‧ Fever ‧ Flirt ‧ Fight/Forgive ‧ Future ‧ and Free Day!

as long as it leaves a mark by @aziraphalesbookkeeper

For a guy who never takes off his gloves, Varian sure does lose them a lot. It’s not really the gloves Hugo notices though—it’s the scars underneath them.

Or: 5 times Hugo tries to take off Varian's gloves + 1 time he doesn't have to.

Whumptober Day 27: Scars AILESS Whumptober Day 9: Scar Reveal

We Carry Through by @aziraphalesbookkeeper

Adjusting to living in the castle with Varian is hard. Going from having nothing to having everything makes Hugo feel...twitchy. Luckily, there's one person who knows exactly what he's going through. Unfortunately, it's Fitzherbert.

Prompt: Family

The Touch of Sunlight by TheArtistsMuse ***

Varian was used to being kidnapped- as sad as that sounds- but he can always trust his friends to save him. Only this time was different, and now something is deeply bothering Hugo. Will Varian be able to get his secretive boyfriend to open up? Will they be able to figure out why he was taken?

... Will Varian be able to hide his very inconveniently timed sexual awakening?

meteor shower by @oshunalchemy 0

varian has a nightmare.

Wither and Decay by @eggmuffinwaffles

The Moonstone and the Sundrop were gone, the trials were completed, the Eternal Library was opened. Everything in Corona had returned to as close to normal as it could possibly get- but Corona seems to have a habit of attracting trouble. When old enemies arise, bent on her downfall, it will take more than just quick wit and luck to ensure that they fail.

My Head's Above The Rain and Roses by @eggmuffinwaffles

Whumptober Day 5: Every Whumpee Needs

Varian, Hugo, Nuru and Yong decide to go camping for the first time in a while after the trials. What could go wrong?

The answer is everything. Everything can go wrong.

Aka Part 1/3 of Hugo learning to like the TTS gang

Maybe if You Fixed the Whole World by Yourself by @eggmuffinwaffles

Whumptober Day 7: The Way You Shake and Shiver

Hugo had a really unfortunate habit of ruining his own life. It wasn’t intentional- if you asked him, he��d swear up and down that he played absolutely no part in causing his entire life to go up in flames, and yet time after time he would keep doing it. Funny how consequences work.

Maybe he was being a little bit dramatic.

OR:

Hugo finds himself being blackmailed by a noble at a ball, and gets help from an unexpected source

Part 2/3 of Hugo learning to like the TTS gang

Keeping Me Up At Night by @eggmuffinwaffles

Whumptober Day 29: What Doesn't Kill Me

Even a year after moving to Corona, sometimes Hugo's guilt finds itself creeping into his dreams. In the middle of an episode, he realizes he has more in common with Rapunzel than he thought.

Part 3/3 of Hugo learning to like the TTS gang

Turning Saints Into A Sea by @eggmuffinwaffles

Whumptober Day 25/Day 30: Silence is Golden/Note to Self Don't Get Kidnapped

Varian has to confront his jealousy head on when Hugo's ex finds herself back in Corona. Unfortunately her return might not be as innocent as she wants them to believe.

I Won't Let You Pull Me Down by @eggmuffinwaffles

Whumptober 2022 Day 16: No Way Out

Hugo and Varian get into a fight. Instead of handling it like an emotionally healthy adult, Hugo manages to go and get himself possessed.

Possession 2 electric boogaloo baby

Lessons in Luxury by @varibean

All his life, Hugo wanted nothing more than to live a live of riches and luxury. He had always failed to imagine what a change like that would entail. Real life was becoming too much like a fantasy and it was always the same questioned that brought him hurdling back to reality.

"Have you eaten today?"

Amalgam by @varibean 0

After relying on Ulla’s notebook to help them through their journey, the gang find that the next kingdom has little to no notes on where the next trial takes place. Their only clue is a location that might have a lead on where to go next. However, after a royal mess up on Hugo’s part, they’re left up the creek without a paddle. Not only are tensions high, but emotions as well. One thing was certain though: Hugo and Varian did not mix well.

[tomwaterbabies]

I hope the surgery went well and recovery goes smoothly!!! You asked for asks and I saw you have some robo Varian art that's been eating my brain for a few days now. I guess not technically a question but I'd love to hear more about that au if you wanna ramble 👉👈

HEYYY thank you so much! it went really well and the pain is super minimal rn, i can even sit up on my desk! which was recommended by my surgeon to do anyway so thats rad

ANYWAYSSSSS... THANK YOU for the kind words im so glad you like it!! and THANK YOU for reminding me of the fact i never posted about my robot au like i had meant to 💀

here it is NOW (and to anyone who hasnt seen the art here it be)

this is long as hell btw. so sorry

SO. setting i imagine is similar to typical vat7k BUT a little darker and more dystopian. think steampunk industrial stuff... which i know hugo's kingdom is already like lol but just imagine it like. in a lot more places. this is basically a "steampunk" au too

robots are VERY common. invented by a group of scientists with the main ones being donella and ulla

robots are used as service etc etc. theyre not sentient at all so this isnt like. some unethical practice

but ulla and donella are OBSESSED with making them more and more advanced, theyre besties and all that. but ulla is Particularly obsessed with making the Perfect Robot

we know that ulla is kind of messed up in the head. in this au she kind of messes way too much with robot sentience WHILE ALSO getting obsessed with the eternal library. same stuff happens eventually. donella and ulla fight about the eternal library etc etc

BUT ALSO... ulla is working on her Magnum Opus. a son for her and her husband, who she is making to be the perfect robot. quirin is unaware of the shit shes doing and fully trusts her and supports this passion project

and well! she does make the first Sentient Robot. with the use of science and Magical Knowledge she was able to basically give life force through magical means into the robot. The robot of course she named varian. and not only is he sentient, but he looks completely human

she did some messed up stuff tho! again! she's programmed him with fake memories so he thinks he has lived a life fully as a human. he's also programmed to not notice things like the small seams on his body and all that. like his code just immediately disregards all that

anywaysss. after ulla disappears, quirin is dedicated to taking care of varian. he figures it's best to follow with ulla's choice of making sure varian doesnt know hes a robot

MEANWHILE ! because of the schism between ulla and donella, there was some wack shit that happened. namely robots going completely crazy. now all robots are Murder Robots. so the world is pretty Dystopian at the moment

Varian decides he wants to go out and find the source of what made the robots go crazy. bc this sucks lol. like everyone is Just Miserable

so he meets his friends. nuru, yong, hugo!

LETS TALK ABOUT HUGO

hugo works for donella. hugo also absolutely HATES robots. the robots have been messing shit up since he was a kiddo

he's kind of like a robot hunter. harvesting them for parts as well as getting rid of them bc theyre dangerous. usually donella directs him to different missions. and now shes telling him to join this guy (varian) bc she wants the secrets that ulla had hidden and varian is sure as hell after them

sooooo at one point. varian gets hurt maybe, or interacts with something that breaks the code in him or whatever. the code that stops him from noticing his robotic qualities. i think he probably would get super injured and like. he and all his friends stare in shock and horror as some sort of gash or sparks or whatever show a metallic inside

they all find out he's a robot together weeeee. no one is having a good time

so he's living with existential crisis. he's away from his dad so he cant travel all the way back to be like hey What The Fuck. AND he's still dedicated to his goal. but now he's just. confused, scared, and unsure if he's worthy of his humanity that he thought he had

they all try to work with this new discovery (which i think would happen earlier on rather than way later). hugo especially is like. having a crisis. bc he's always hated robots and for good reason. but varian... varian is SO human. he thinks, he feels, he cares, etc. he's more Human than a lot of the Flesh and Blood people he's been around

so you know, hugo starts to fall in love with him anyway. lots of excellent scenes of him helping varian with his mechanics, etc

and of course varian starts falling in love with him too, but is dealing with a lot of confusion as well. like is he even real, doesnt hugo deserve to be loved by a Human and not a Robot, etc etc

ok jesus christ. i think thats all the main stuff. woaghghg

[pansy-picnics]

i would love to see and here more about emery !

old ask i just dug up but oughhghh em emmy my beloved…,,,..ive been trying to work on alina development recently as well as a few other things but ACTUALLY now that u mention it i just realized i don’t think i ever talked abt florence here!!! she’s emery’s bio mom!!!

honestly when i first made emery i told myself i wasnt gonna develop anyone from her bio family mostly because i KNEW i would get attached to them. but alas i DID and i HAVE.

don’t ask me about her dad tho. he’s out of the picture and idk what he did but whatever it was he was probably the problem. em’s ginger genes run strong but otherwise thats the only remnant of his existence

florence (flora for short) was very spiritual and hardworking, as well as open minded, down to earth and creative….she was a talented writer and enjoyed dabbling in poetry and fiction. flora was struggling, but she did her best to care for emery with what she had, and would always try to make up for the times she couldn’t be there.

she was only alive for the first few years of her daughter’s life, so she didn’t get to encounter the. frankly gorier side of emery’s passions; but emery was a curious kid who asked a lot of questions about everything and florence was always happy to answer. she would’ve supported them just as much as varian and hugo do, though she’d definitely be a bit unsure of how she would’ve tried her best. em loves florence very much and always has very fond memories of her, she basically gave up everything for emery :’3

i’m not exactly sure how florence died but it was definitely something related to an illness,,,, flora was already in poor health before emery was born and they weren’t well off enough to afford any extensive medical care. seeing their mom like this impacted emery in a lot of ways, and it subconsciously ended up pushing her towards her interests in biology and medicine.

when they do officially adopt emery varian and hugo try to dig up as much information as possible on florence as well. they see that em has that strong connection with their mom and they can’t bear to imagine them just growing up and forgetting about it,,,, so they spend a lot of time in the library learning as much as possible and telling her about it, to make sure she never forgets where she came from :((( <3

all that said though don’t worry bc flora is in fact alive and well in a modern au…i think for some reason she wasn’t able to take care of em full time, so varian and hugo coparent with her. her and rapunzel are best friends and she and emery get to hang out a few times a month so flora can take her out for lunch and emery can infodump about neurosurgery procedures or something

they watch gray’s anatomy and make fun of it together

[zonerobotnik]

There is so much content of Varian with other roles of Jeremy Jordan.

Death Note:

Here.

Here.

Here.

Bonnie and Clyde:

Here.

Here.

Heathers:

Here.

Here.

Here.

Here.

Newsies:

Here.

Here.

Here.

Here.

Here.

Death Note -

First link: This is actually on my "watch it every time it pops up in front of me" mental list. Varian inciting a mob against the Royal Family is such an underrated concept.

Second link: Uh, this is just the same video as the first. Did you intend to put something else here?

Third link: Ohhh, nice and fluid animation!

Why are these all the same song, though? He has so many amazing songs in that musical. Are you gonna tell me that no one has done Varian and Rapunzel with the songs of Light and L? I know there's a bunch with Hugo, because people voice-claim him, but Come. On! If not Rapunzel, maybe Eugene? Someone on the side of the King to counter him? I would LOVE to see an animatic of Varian and Eugene with "Playing His Game" that takes place during Varian's villain arc.

Or, geez, let's do Moon Varian with "Hurricane"! That's literally on my playlist for "Indentured"!

Or, or, this is always an amazing video: Link

Seriously, give me some variety! Let's hope the next section has more.

Bonnie and Clyde -

First video: Soap is always so great at drawing evil smiles. XD Did you see the Piece of Cake movie she made? It's so cute! It's on YouTube, let me get you a Link. And the Genshin Impact comic she's working on on IG is so great, her art has really come a long way!

Oh, about the video, it's always fun seeing him take advantage of the Corona Guard's stupidity and failure to search him for alchemy to break out. Like, guys, did you really let him keep the apron in prison? Without searching it? DUMB! XDD

Second link: Oh, this is a picture! Yeah, that's always fun to see.

Heathers:

First Link: Uh…I can't tell if Raps faked it or not. I'm going to assume the hair around her neck is not as tight as it looks.

Second Link: Oh, I did this with Mabel and Gideon before! He was holding the Memory Gun and dressed in the Society of Blind Eye's robes! Oh, and cute art.

Third Link: Looks cute.

Fourth Link: Varian looks great in both outfits.

You know, I was kind of hoping to hear some audio of this infamous Jeremy as JD stuff, but I guess there's no videos here. I'll have to go find it on my own, I guess, without Varian being involved. Next section!

Newsies:

Note: I have not seen this show yet. I should do that, it's on Disney+.

First Link: Cute art, but I don't understand the context.

Second Link: Eugene is so supportive of his bro. XD And Cass is Cass, as usual.

Third Link: That little tip of the hat as he leaves is so cute.

Fourth Link: Cute art.

Fifth Link: Neat art!

Okay, so no videos this time, but I got something from Newsies! Also, it features Nuru actually being a sassy teenager and that's adorable. Link

[adventuretolkienlover]

ALCHEMY BROS HEADCANNONS PART 4!!!!!

I clearly have too much time on my hands. Also, my fic and animatic are taking FOREVER. So take this as a peace offering!

Jacky once tried to play the lute. Varian reports that its sound made Ruddigar goes into a crazed frenzy. Apparently it did the same to Belle.

Belle is half Asian.

Her Mom was White. Her Father was Asian.

She actually bonded with Yong over sharing a common culture.

Hugo is clearly not a criminal any more. But he still has a mischievous streak. One time Eugene caught him trying out his skin care kit! To escape, Hugo just yeeted himself out the window! Everyone almost had a heart attack, until they found him hanging from the castle tangled up in one of the banners. He looked like a disgraced, guilty cat. 🤣

Ulla and Quirin have date nights to make up for lost time.

Those nights are the craziest, because most of the time, the kids are left to their own devices. One time they came home to find all four siblings acting out a scene from a Flynn Rider book!

Varian has a secret stash of sandwich making supplies and no one has ever been able to find it. It annoys Hugo to no end.

Hugo and Varian do not like the cold. As soon as they get home, it's hot chocolate and warm blankets. For Varian, it gives him bad memories of the blizzard. For Hugo, he just hates being cold.

Belle is even worst! She just refuses to go outside when it snows.

Belle, Nuru, Amber, and Vex formed their own girl group.

In return, Hugo joins Team Awesome

(EDIT) I just realized that Hugo shares a character trait with each Team Awesome member! Him and Lance are all about preforming and putting on a show. Him and Eugene both are consciencous about their looks and they like to be fashionable. And him and Varian are of course both science nerds! So he'd fit right in!

Hugo is the family fashion consultant. No one in his house is going to a gala or party without proper dress!

Ulla loves kids! She is practically the mom of every kid in Old Corona.

Hugo will sometimes get little things like charms and decorations to put on Buttercup's collar.

Belle's dog Cutlass is a rottweiler. Belle stole him from Donella's kennels in her escape from the lair. That had bonded previously while she was still working for Donella.

Varian's dog Frankie is a Border collie/Golden Retriever mix. He takes more after the Collie side.

Hugo's dog Buttercup is also a Border collie/Golden Retriever mix. But she takes more after the Retriever side.

Jacky eventually gets a pet. A parrot he names Leo.

Yong's newt Freckles plays checkers with Pascal.

Varian's evil laugh is just natural. He can't help it.

And there we go! Nice!

[eggmuffinwaffles]

I HAVE NO READING COMPREHESNION ANSWER THE 4 QUESTIONS YOURE MOST HYPED ABOUT SOMEONE ASKIGN

What scene did you write first in your current WIP?

I have WIPs for two seperate fandoms rn but since pretty much everyone who follows this account is in varigo hell -> for the one im working on right now it was a scene where Hugo and Varian see eachother again. I've actually already posted that chunk on here ehehehe

Rewrite a scene from your WIP from another character’s perspective.

This question actually made me squeal since I just posted the medium chapter and there are a couple scenes where I thought about the other characters POV but couldn't really include them -> here's the one that makes me the most insane Spoilers for new medium chapter (Ch4) under the cut 

Varian's hands shook where they hovered over the book. The motions were so familiar to him he could barely focus. His mind was lost, drifting through fading memories and a face that he could barely put back together.  The cold feeling too, was familiar. It was all familiar. Every bit of it- the ache, the tearing, the way it felt like he was giving up a piece of himself every time he opened his soul back up to the other side. He'd learnt a long time ago to block out the voices, even as their crying grew louder the more he made himself vulnerable. They could sense him, like sharks to blood- the one living thing pushing through the fabric between life and death.  It was familiar until it wasn't.  Suddenly, he felt his body jolt, like a wheel had hit a stone. He yelped, feeling his chest lurch forward, clenching his fists tighter to keep his body and soul stitched together.  In the darkness he could see a shadow. It was blurred against the shade of the trees but it still made his heart leap out of his throat. The shape was so painfully familiar, making his heart creak against his chest. The shadow of someone hidden in his kitchen in the dead of night, the smell of blood thick in the air. The shadow of someone who had seen into the depths of his rotten soul, who saw something in his nothing.  "Hugo?" he murmured.  There was a crackle of electricity that caused him to flinch. There was somethng between him and the shadow that tore, causing his heart to feel light and his body to feel numb. He was still here, but he was somewhere else too- his heart began to race, blood raced through his limbs as if he was running. 

Title your WIP like an article headline.

Breaking: Local Homosexual Merges Blorbos. 1 Dead and Several Injured. 

What’s the funniest/strangest way that inspiration has struck you when writing fic?

One of my WIPs is vashwood and it's very funny to me because I did straight up start this fic before I ever finished the show which is truly incredible

[i-found-you-justine-time]

I respectfully disagree. Your argument is that Varian/Hugo is an age gap ship because of the ages they were originally created as. You also argue that shipping them is no different to Varian/Cass or Varian/Eugene. I believe this is wrong because of two things: 1. There’s a difference between a character being “aged up” and a character just being older because a story takes place later in their life. 

2. There is a difference between characters who are established canon in the SAME STORY, and characters who are fodder for new in progress creations.

So for number one. Characters are fictional and therefore not real, but as most of them are meant to be human or creatures who age like humans do they get older. There’s nothing weird about deciding to write a story about a character a few years later from their original story. If anything, it’s natural to want to write about what happens next in their life. Just because a character is introduced at a certain age doesn’t mean a writer can’t then jump forward in time. It also doesn’t mean that that character can’t ever be romanced or put in more mature situations. If that were the case than there would be a huge problem with Tiana, Elsa, Anna, and Rapunzel who all make their first appearances in their respective canons as babies or children but then are given a skip forward in time. Most of them are also then given a romantic love interest. People age. And so can characters. In fact, this isn’t even the issue with Varian being shipped with any of the Tangled trio. If Varian had met them when he was 30, the age gap wouldn’t be so terrible. Adult date and marry people much older then them and often have healthy relationships. Instead, the issue with these ships is that in ESTABLISHED PUBLISHED canon they meet him when he’s 14. No one should be dating anyone they met as a teen if they were already an adult. (Rapunzel and Eugene really toe the line here, but im giving them a pass because Raps was closer to 18 then 17 when she met Eugene and it’s not like there’s some sort of magical transformation that takes place at the stroke of midnight on someone’s 18th birthday) Even if we fast forward to when Varian is 20 or 30 for a story, him dating Cass or Eugene is still uncomfortable because they have memories of him being a kid. This brings me to number two. Hugo is different because he’s not in Tangled or Tangled the Series canon. He’s just not. He is nor EVER WAS a published character. You argue that he was 24 when he was originally created but so what? He was someone’s dnd character. A made up creation for a GAME. Not even a novel or a show or anything like that, he was just a game piece for someone’s dnd night. (No hate on DND, I love that stuff and play it all the time). What’s happening here is that you’re making your argument by assuming the worst intentions in the creators. You’ve imagined that these storyboard artists, these paid employees of the disney company, saw this 14 year old character that they helped bring to life in the show and decided they wanted to ship him with someone so they grabbed their 24 year old dnd character off the shelf and smooshed their faces together like Barbie Dolls. No one can stop you from thinking that, but it’s pretty harsh to then take this imagining and repeat it as fact. You’re ignoring the organic and natural process of storytellers and writers who have the ability to imagine characters in new storylines, and who have the ability to use old material in new ways.

You’re ignoring what we’ve been told was the actual series of events. Kay and Anna felt was Varian was worth his own story and just as Rapunzel started her adventure at the age of 18 so they decided Varian would start his at 18. Not aging him up, just fast forwarding to when Tangled the Series would have concluded. (and again, giving it a thematic symmetry by having him start out the same age as Raps).

But since the story was going to be centered around Varian they wanted to create a new cast of characters. Somewhere in this creation  Anna decided to redesign an old character to fit this new story. It’s something writers do all the time. Same with old settings, or plotlines. Hugo from DND is not the same as Hugo from 7k. 7k Hugo is canonically 19. Or at least as canonically as he can be since the proposal for this story never got past the initial outlines and so was never published. But the intention was for him to be about the same age as Varian.

It’s different because he was changed before being placed in the story. It’s different because 7k isn’t a published story, it’s a concept that was only in the first stages of planning.

I realize that this little essay of mine isn’t about to sway any hearts or minds. If you feel a certain way about a ship then no one is going to stop you. And there’s nothing wrong with not liking a ship. But I’d rather you didn’t feel the need to invent justifications for your feelings.  This relationship does not and has never had an age gap because it was never written that way by Kay or Anna. It’s just not how fiction or storytelling works.

Apologies for the long response.

What do you think?

The creators of Vat7K absolutely shipped their 24 year old OC Hugo with 14 year old Varian. What other possible reason would have lead them to reuse this particular OC for an AU ship if they didn't? o__O; (And people get pissed when I call him a self insert wish fulfillment character. *sighs*) All logic points to this conclusion being an undeniable fact, but fans of the ship will vehemently deny it because they are afraid of being looped in with or potentially viewed as worse than Varipunzel or Cassanrian fans who age characters up for their respective ships. I mean a 10 year age gap is on level with Eugene x Varian. Hugo is pretty much portrayed as Flynn Rider 2.0 anyway. I don't ship it, but if they like it then they like it. It's all personal preference. Which should be respected. Though if they ever consider harassing fans of other ships for any age related reasons then they are nothing more than delusional hypocrites.

[ashdoesfandomarchieved]

ok so varian is very cringefail around hugo but hugo is also equally as cringefail bc they have a one sided rivalry

hugo is constantly trying to flirt with him and makes him lil trinkets in the lab but varian thinks he's just being a dick and is showing off, so he he makes hugo even bigger and better trinkets to one up him like "HA! Look at how much more intricate this pocket watch is compared to yours"

meanwhile hugo is just 'aw he made us matching pocket watches'

which lead to a very funny dynamic of hugo thinking that they're kinda sorta almost but not quite dating while varian is just huffy and gay about this guy

Hugo: hey baby, happy one month, i got you something-

Varian: ...excuse me but WHAT the FUCK is going on?

viktor and jayce watch them like fucking lab rats in a maze. they should've fired them ages ago but they put them both down as members in a social experiment to justify keeping them on payroll bc they don't know what these two lil freaks have going on but by god they're gonna be there when these weirdos figure it out.

they're also both from zaun but varian moved up to piltover fairly young so hugo is always calling him a 'paintjob piltie'. painted over all those zaun memories with a fresh coat of piltover privilege

I'M SCREAMING OH MY GOD THIS IS SO GOOD???

Ok first of all I need I NEED an office style outsider pov comedy where in the foreground of the most politically charged events ever to be happening, everyone is just watching the dumbest one sided enemies to lovers (one sided bc Varian THINKS they are enemies!!) relationship explode like a reality tv episode.

I JUST THINK ITS FUNNY THAT VICTOR AND JAYCE ADOPT THE TWO ONLY PEOPLE WEIRDER THAN THEM

[ren1327]

What a Bargain

Demon AU one-shot request

-----------------------------------

“I’m gonna save you, Dad.” Varian said. “I’m gonna, no matter what.”

Quirin was out of the house, laying in his bed in the infirmary. Last Varian had seen him, his breathing was shallow as a rot overtook his lungs and his heart slowed more every day.

Varian had gone to the princess. He had begged all the healers he could find.

But he was running out of time.

He was in his empty house, trying a desperate measure.

Bone powder, red paint (thankfully not blood) creating a circle with several symbols per the books drawing, an offering of gold and several black and green candles the only light in the room.

He held up the book and whispered the words, his mind. Oddly, unable to understand or even remember them as he said them.

The light went out, then burned with high green flames, Varian falling back as a figure stood in the middle of the circle.

Varian gasped, blue eyes staring up at the…man?

He was tall, blond, dressed in a black button up and slacks, with round gold rimmed glasses and oddly barefoot. But his ears were pointed and decorated with many gold earrings, a gold amulet with a green gem around his neck and several gold rings on his fingers and…on set of foot tall antlers that sprouted from the top of his head.

He glared down at Varian with a smirk.

“Really? You’re the one who summoned me?”

Varian nodded, mouth clamped shut, but eyes nearly bugging out.

The man took a step to Varian, stopping at the edge of the circle.

“What do you wish, Human?”

“Heal my Dad.” Varian said.

“Mm, and what do you offer?” The demon asked, examining his nails.

“My soul? My life?” Varian asked.

“Your life will be shortened regardless, given to your father. And your soul is tainted merely by summoning me…”

“What do you want from me, then?”

The blond look at him with a sly smirk.

“Hm…I don’t want to eat your soul, I want to eat your heart…”

“My…My heart?” Varian asked.

“Buuuut…since its the first time I’ve been summoned, and by a child no less—”

“I’m like, nineteen!” He yelled. “And have my own job and a part in the royal family!”

“Fine, fine.” The demon said, green eyes pinning Varian in place. “Your heart wont taste very good.”

“What?” Varian asked.

“I need hearts that have felt real love and real heartbreak.” He said. “I can sense heartbreak, but not love.”

“Haven’t got around it…sorry.” Varian growled. “Don’t really care to.”

“Is that a fact?”

“It’s a promise. I don’t want a relationship with any person at the moment.”

“Hm…Very well, how about this. Release me from this circle and I will heal your father, exchanging your life spans. But for MY payment…let’s play a game.” He said, tilting his head.

“What kind of game?” Varian asked.

“I’ll wipe your mind of this, but if you fall in love, a deep, true love…I will come for you and feast~” He hissed, eyes glowing like the green fire around them. “Should you beat me, I’ll give you back your life span to live happily with your father and he not experience the death of his son tomorrow.”

“So either way, I’m going to lose something…” Varian said softly. “Okay…Okay. You have a deal…”

He put his hand out.

“Hugo.” The demon said and took it, spinning around Varian and grinning.

He held out a hand, snapping as green sparks flew from his fingertips.

“There you are, Bluebird.” He murmured, cupping Varian’s chin. “And now I will allow you two years for our deal. If you have no love by then…well…you win.”

“My Dad is safe?”

“Yes. And he will be til a nice ripe old age. I just cleared his body of sickness, but it will still age.” Hugo said with a flick of his jeweled fingers.

“Two years. I just gotta—wait, wipe my memory?!” Varian asked.

Hugo smirked and ran a thumb over his bottom lip.

“Mm. You said it was a promise. When lips touch yours and you say their name with love in your heart…I will return and drag you to hell with me to be eaten…” Hugo said, licking his lips.

“Do you really like eating hearts?” Varian asked.

Hugo made a face and shrugged. “It’s a gimmick.”

“Wait, then why even—” Varian started with a grimace.

Hugo placed a hand over Varian’s eyes, and he felt himself become heavy, taken into the demon's arms.

Then he woke up to a clean room, confused how he got there and how he couldn’t remember anything.

His Dad!

He rolled out of bed and got dressed.

It was a quicker trip this time and when he turned a corner, he was shocked to see his father sitting up and eating breakfast.

“Dad!” Varian yelled excitedly and ran to hug him, the bed creaking slightly from his added weight.

“Varian. It’s a miracle! I feel amazing!”

“Maybe one of the potions worked.” Rapunzel said.

“Yeah.” Varian agreed. “Im so glad you’re okay!”

“Yeah, we’re going to be fine.” Quirin sighed, hugging his son.

*

Varian sighed as he sat alone at a table in the tavern.

“Hope Dad’s having a better night than me…” He sighed.

It has been about two years since he finally left his dad’s farm to live full time at the castle and a cute guard had asked him out.

Then Varian started talking about work and…

He was alone.

He sighed and was about to order more beer when a new pint was placed before him, a blond man sitting across from him.

He smiled, green eyes behind his glasses seeming to shine. Varian swallowed hard when he took in his lean form, hair done in a ponytail with an undercut and freckles dusted on his skin.

“Hi there.” He said.

Varian looked behind him and seeing no one there, stared at the handsome man.

“Hiiiiiiii?” Varian asked.

“What’s your name?” The man asked.

“V-V-Varian.” He stuttered, cheeks heating.

“Well, V-V-Varian…” He purred softly. “What’s a sweet little thing like you doing here all alone?”

“Uh…I’m a sweet, I-I-I mean…” He blushed and looked away. “I um, scared off a date?”

“Oh?” The blond asked, running a finger around the rim of his glass. “Ask about marriage? How many kids you want?”

“No, talked about Alchemical compounds and how to transmutate metals.”

The other man blinked.

“See, I knew—”

“We talking through heat or chemicals?” The blond asked.

“I…” Varian felt a smile going across his face. “I never got your name…”

“Hugo.” The blond said and smiled back.

“So you ever hear about the drip method?”

*

He woke up tucked in bed, clean and warm.

He sat up, horrified.

He had spent the night with his target!

He smelled something sweet and looked to his right.

There were fresh flowers and a cup of still warm coffee on the nightstand with a note he picked up.

‘I had a really good time last night. I had to go work. Let’s meet up again for lunch? You can come to the castle and visit if you want. Or meet me here in two days time. I hope I see you again. - Varian’

Hugo smiled and held the note to his lips as he looked at the flowers; pink alstroemeria and white chrysanthemums…

Odd combination.

“Okay, Varian.” He said. “Game on.”

*

Dinner again.

Hugo listened to Varian talk about his work and current research on creating a new compound.

“Gonna name it after me?” Hugo asked as he looked over his notes, walking his fingers up Varian’s hand.

“Naw. It’s ineffective and ruins everything.” Varian said, eyes looking up at him. “And you’re not that…that. At all.”

Hugo ignored the way his heart skipped a beat and shrugged, waving a hand and smiling.

“Ah, perfect for destroying chemicals. Perhaps it can even affect the PH balance of sulfuric acid?”

Varian opened his mouth to answer, then grabbed his book and started writing.

By the way he stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth and his brow furrowed, Hugo knew he had sparked something in that brilliant mind.

He sipped his drink and gazed at the calculations and formulas being written with a smile.

“How is your Dad?”

Varian’s pencil stopped.

“What?”

“Yesterday you said something about him.” Hugo said.

“He’s good. Great even. Strong as a horse.” He said. “I’m living on my own right now. Uh, what about you? Any family?”

“A mom.” Hugo said with a shrug.

“What’s she like?”

“Ah…” Hugo rubbed his neck. “She’s tough…but…fair and kind. To me at least. I uh…”

He bit his bottom lip.

“I didn’t have the greatest birth parents. They told me to go to hell and when we got…separated. I went to a bad, dark place. I felt like I deserved it. But she found me and took care of me, trying to get me somewhere safe. But she was the first person to be kind to me and I didn’t want to leave her, so she let me stay. Even got me a cute little pet, like your raccoon.”

“Ruddiger.” Varian said.

“Ruddiger Raccoon.” Hugo teased.

“Was it scary?” Varian asked suddenly.

Hugo scoffed.

“Trust me when I say she’s the scariest...” Hugo laughed. “She lets me travel, go new places in exchange for a…favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“Something that makes me like her. Something that will make sure I always come back…I’ve never…done it?” Hugo said with a shrug. “I will, I promised, but I…I never…I need to.”

“What is it?” Varian joked. “Can I help you?”

Hugo stared into his eyes.

“No. I’m not looking for it. Not the moment if I can be honest…” He said, twining his fingers with Varian’s.

*

He woke up again clean and tucked in, Varian no where to be found.

On the nightstand was a muffin, an apple and still steaming coffee.

His bouquet was now blue and green dahlias…

He found the next note.

‘I really liked seeing you again. Maybe we can take a walk tonight? Have a picnic? I’ll be waiting in front of the tavern if you want to join me at before sunset. I really want to keep seeing you. -Varian’

He sighed and fell back, the flower’s scent sweet in his nose.

He then saw a pair of red eyes and smiled, holding out a hand, a mouse crawling onto his hand.

“Olivia…there you are…”

Her eyes glowed slightly and he sighed.

“That time already?” He asked.

She squeaked and he nodded.

“I got one right now. This will cover me and you can hang out with me for non-business related time.” He said, feeding her some muffin. “Liv…I think I like this one. Don’t tell the boss.”

The mouse paused her eating, then nodded.

He sat up and looked at the flowers.

Stop, he thought.

He was going to eat Varian’s heart…he had to, to keep up his contract…

He sighed and wondered what Varian would think…

It didn’t matter…

He stroked a blue petal.

But he could pretend it did for a little bit…

*

“…And that’s ursa major. See that little cluster?” Varian asked, pointing up at the sky. “That’s the baby, ursa minor.”

They were laying on a blanket in a clearing, their half-eaten meal of meats, yellow cheese and fresh bread forgotten as they laid side by side.

Hugo had an arm behind his head, listening to Varian with rapt attention.

“That one is so bright…” Hugo said, pointing to one.

“It’s dying.”

“Dying?” He asked.

“I read it takes them millions of years to die.” Varian said. “But they shine brightest when its happening.”

“Shine brightest when its dying…” Hugo whispered. “It’s beautiful…in a sad way…”

Varian looked over to him and kissed his cheek, rolling over to hold him, lips meeting.

In the back of this head, this was wrong.

He was going to take Varian’s life and soul. But now…

Hugo entwined his fingers with Varian’s.

“Varian…I…” He kissed him again. “I really like being with you.”

‘Say it…say it so I can stop feeling like this…’ he thought. 'Or better yet, reject me. Please reject me...'

“Hugo…I…”

Hugo covered his mouth, tearing up.

“Don’t…don’t…I’m sorry…but don’t say it…please…” He whispered. “Don’t say it.”

There was a burst of flames before them, dark red as a figure stepped out of them.

It was a tall slender woman dressed in leather armor the color of dried blood, tall boots and a crown of black spikes with green and red gems on it between two tall horns that curled back and straight up. Her eyes landed on the pair as she took a step forward, flicking her long ash gray hair with thorns and jewels woven into it behind her back.

Varian moved in front of Hugo, but the blond lowered it.

“Master…” Hugo whispered.

“You’re late, Hugo...” She hummed, holding up Olivia by the tail, the mouse squeaking angrily.

“Master, I—”

She held up a hand and waved it at Varian, who blinked as Hugo’s horns and ears grew out.

“Boy. It seems you won your bet.” She said. “You get your soul and life back. Hugo…let’s go.”

“W-Wait…” Varian asked. “What’s going to happen to Hugo?”

She turned, hands behind her back.

“Normally, I’d eat his soul…” She said and Varian gasped.

“But she’s my mother of sorts…” Hugo sighed. “And we made a deal…”

“So he will be confined to the underworld with me.” She said curtly.

“What’s my soul worth?” Varian asked.

“Excuse me?” She asked. “Your soul? You do understand there is a paradise when you die and the underworld is a dark dreary place…”

Varian stared determinedly at her.

She chuckled.

“I can see why Hugo likes you. I’ll make a deal for both of you then.” She turned and waved a hand at Hugo, his antlers fading away and ears rounding again. “Your immortality for a human life…and…you will come…visit me.”

“Master?” Hugo asked.

“Oh, Hugo. I’m not evil. You were never mine to begin with. Not even the punishment demons are evil…consider it….a reward.” She said. “When you both pass from this life…come down to visit once an eternity or two.”

She pinched Hugo’s cheek and gave him Olivia.

“You watch him. He’s my favorite…” She said to the little creature.

Olivia squeaked excitedly and jumped to sit on Varian’s head.

“And you.” She said, looking at Varian. “You hurt him…”

Her eyes glowed and large tattered bat wings spread from her back, flexing almost like hands.

“I will not.” Varian said with wide eyes.

“You remind of my friend. She visits often as well.” The woman said. “I’ll take my leave now. Live happily Hugo.”

“Bye…” Hugo whispered as the flames consumed the woman.

He looked at Varian.

“So…about our deal—”

“New deal. No more wiping my memories. Dinner every night when we can, sleep next to each other when we’re both home and later,” He took Hugo’s hands. “Maybe we can talk about marriage? How many kids we want?”

Hugo laughed and nodded.

“Ey.” Varian said with a smirk. “Seal with a kiss.”

“Oh, what a bargain~” Hugo said as Varian dipped him, kissing a smile on his face.

*

“They do look happy, Don.” The angel said, holding a pomegranate and walking around the horned woman’s throne.

Donella threw an apple in the air, catching it. “I was nice for you, Ulla.”

They watched the men drink with Quirin and a few of Varian’s friends. Both had matching engagement rings. Hugo was cradling a bouquet of sunflowers Varian had presented him with, giving him several pecks on the lips as thier friends hooted and whistled at the couple.

Ulla smiled as she chewed her treat, swallowing and going to Donella’s side.

“And I thank you.” She said, kissing Donella’s cheek. “Wanna make a bet of how many children they’ll adopt? If you win, I’ll stay another few years~”

Donella laughed as Ulla sat on her lap, smiling up at her. She stroked a finger over a freckled cheek.

“Alright.” She said, leaning down and kissing her softly. “Deal.”

------------------

Hi, everyone!

Sorry it took me so long to get this one out. Just to let you know, this is the tumblr safe version.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

[i-found-you-justine-time]

Hang on. I just realized something. In chapter 19 Sigrevet Varian has PTSD when it's snowing. But in Chapter 4 Thief when he was traveling with Yong and Hugo to the 2nd trial to Galscrest there was also snowing (at least I think it was). How come he didn't look anxious about? Hugo would pretty sure noticed that.

And you know what's funny? I was rewatching "Plus Et En Vous" and Varian travels with Raps and Co to Demanitus's tomb through the snow and the only person who shows any aversion to it is Eugene! Varian gets triggered by Hugo's potion that freezes people because the way the ice crystals form is very similar to the way the amber worked so that tracks. As for the literal snow. We're going to say that when Varian was with Raps and Co he was with trusted adults and felt safe enough to not be worried by it. Plus they were hyperfocused on Zhan Tiri at that time. In Galcrest it had been over two years since the incident happened so Varian had recovered. But then the events of HOYT and the Saporian kidnapping drudged it all up again. Almost like an old wound opening up. So it made Varian more sensitive to it especially since he's so far from his dad and the other trusted adults in his life. And anyway, it's not like he was fully triggered or had panic attacks. It was more that the memories felt fresh again and it was easy to make him anxious. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! I appreciate you noticing that though! It means you're paying attention to the details of the fic which is so super flattering!! Thank you!

[fletchphoenix]

Hold You Through The Night

:)) literally all of these were started during my break and edited now - I really kinda like this one. Its decent i guess so i hope you enjoy :)

Also, its good to be back to writing.

-----------------

After such a long day, Hugo was..unbelievably excited to finally settle down. They’d been travelling and sleeping rough for what felt like days, his legs beginning to take the toll and aching constantly as though he’d aged twenty years in a week. Is this what Donella felt like? Was that why she was always in a mood? It made a lot of sense - after years of chasing after Hugo as a child, it had finally come to bite him in the ass in the form of the unbelievably energetic Yong. The kid seriously had no off switch and it drove him insane.

At last they approached the inn, a wooden sign above it swinging slowly in the wind and bringing back painful memories. Briefly, he glanced at his prosthetic arm, flexing the fingers and allowing himself to, once again, think about his mother and how much she’d helped him get back on his feet. Looking back on it, even though she had her tough love kind of methods, she could still be compassionate (like when she paid to get him his goggles - it being a big big deal if Donella went out of her way to pay for something) even if she didn’t show it through the most conventional methods.

“Hugo? You coming?” Varian’s voice brought him back to reality, a stupidly pretty smile on his face that had Hugo nodding frantically and walking inside before his suave persona slipped. Truth be told, he had a huge crush on the smaller man. He really didn’t know how it came about to be honest, the feelings less like a slow build and more like someone had thrown a brick straight at Hugo’s face and proceeded to beat him with it. It just came as fast as feelings could, and it scared him more than anything else in the world. 

The room they were in was quite small, small enough that he could probably make his way across the room in five steps if it weren’t for the counter pressed against the wall. To either side of him there was a door, one of them leading to a dining area and, presumably, a bar and the other directly to a staircase where the rooms were. The ambience was kind of nice, the interior decorated as though it were a log cabin in a desolate area, which fit nicely with the frozen exterior of the town. Behind the counter was a woman with short, blue hair and a soft smile playing on her lips as she talked with Nuru, though Hugo looked away in favour of looking at a certain black haired, blue streak, staff wielding alchemist.

Hugo stood awkwardly, leaning back against the wall and folding his arms as he waited for Nuru to stop negotiating about rooms with the woman, all the while his eyes staying fixed on Varian as he fixed his hands on Yong’s shoulders. He really didn’t get what he saw in the other - I mean, only a few weeks ago he’d reveled in being the most annoying man in the other’s life, but now he wanted to be the best man in his life and give him the world. It was draining as well, his brain in overdrive whenever he so much as looked in Varian’s direction. It was driving him insane in the best way possible.

“Okay good news is they have rooms. Bad news is there’s only three so Varian, Hugo, you’ve gotta share.” Nuru declared, extending her hand to Hugo who stared at it for a second before taking the key from the princess. He didn’t even bother with complaining like Varian did, already walking through the doorway on the left and making his way up the stairs, the wood moaning under his weight which...was not comforting at all. Quietly, he headed down the hallway, opting to ignore the various paintings on the wall and unlock the door, having to shove it open before walking into the room.

Oh no.

The room was rather nice, a desk against the wall which Hugo promptly placed his bag on, and a window on the right wall. It still fit with the general ‘log-cabin-in-the-winter’ vibe that the inn had going on, though there was one really really REALLY big problem that would certainly make his predicament with Varian way more difficult. 

There was only one bed.

“Hey Hugo, I tried to meet a compromise with Nuru about having different rooms, but no can do.” Varian commented as he opened the door, his eyes meeting the blond who was frozen in place in the middle of the room. “What are you looking at-oh.” His voice died out as he noticed the problem. “Well uh, if you want, I can sleep on the floor.”

“No need. We can make a pillow wall.” Hugo replied quickly, moving to his side of the room and changing into his pyjamas, Varian following suit. So this was really happening, huh? He had to share a bed with Varian and it was going to be the most awkward thing in the world. Hugo strolled across the room to lay down on the bed, leaving room for Varian to slip in before setting up the pillow wall. “Okay, here we go. That’s your side, this is my side. Stay there.”

“You have more room than me.” Varian whined as he shuffled upwards and glanced over the top to look down on Hugo. He had that little pout that made Hugo want to give him what he wanted, but this time the blond relented and narrowed his eyes. 

“I’m bigger than you and need more room. It’s not my fault you’re the size of a toddler. Quit complaining and go to bed, child.” He replied snarkily, turning his back to the raven haired boy and suppressing the chuckle that threatened to sound out as Varian grumbled like a two-year-old. He wasn’t sure when, but he fell asleep.

A harsh kick to the leg woke him up, grumbling and turning over to see Ruddiger chittering nervously. “The fuck do you want-” he began to say to the raccoon, before turning his head and taking in the sight before him. The raccoon’s owner looked to be in the middle of a nightmare, tossing, turning and thrashing before sitting up and waking up with a loud gasp, gasping for breath with tears rolling down his cheeks. “V, are you alright?” Hugo asked nervously, Varian jolting before his teary eyes looked at him.

“Hey uh-go back to sleep. I’m sorry.” He whispered in hushed apologies, before Hugo took the other man’s hand and pulled him into an (admittedly awkward and stiff) embrace, his fingers threading through raven locks as carefully as he could, his prosthetic sitting aside on the desk while the stump lay limply beside him. Varian welcomed this new embrace, his head resting on Hugo’s chest as he mumbled.

Hugo thought for a moment, racking his brain to try and think of something to calm Varian down. Slowly, Hugo began to sing a little tune, his lips ghosting against the other man’s forehead as he kept his voice gentle, all the while his fingers continued to dance through his hair. After a while, he heard a hushed snoring against his chest before he decided to stop singing and began to slowly fall asleep, Varian’s fat bastard of a raccoon coming to sit on the pillow beside his head as his eyes closed.

----------------------------

Sun rays blazed in through the window, the fabric of the curtains doing nothing to block it out. A slither made its way directly onto Hugo’s face, the glare making it almost impossible for him to ignore as he grumbled and groaned. His eyes opened slowly as he attempted to raise himself, though a heavy weight on his chest stopped him. Glancing down, the head of his favourite alchemist kept him in place and the sound of Varian’s snores echoed through their tiny room. 

Almost uncharacteristically, he pressed his lips against the top of the other’s head and shuffled his way out of bed to attach his prosthetic and change into his day clothes, and walked out of the room to head to the inn’s dining room for breakfast. 

Neither boy bothered to mention the cuddling session from last night, graciously sparing each other from teasing off Nuru and Yong, though Varian would be lying if he said he didn’t want it to happen again. And so, even if he did lie when paying for rooms,  Hugo never seemed to mind. Varian would even dare to say that Hugo liked it as much as he did. He could tell he was growing on the blond.

On the other hand, Hugo never mentioned the gentle kiss he pressed to the forehead of the other man or the way his touches began to linger, craving more contact with the alchemist before the inevitable betrayal. A gentle sigh left his lips at the thought. He wasn’t even sure he could betray them anymore. Over their time together, Hugo was starting to get more and more attached to the gang, and even though he loved Donella, he really wasn’t sure if he could risk hurting the other teens. 

Only time would tell, he guessed.

[sonicgetsrawed]

Everyday Can Be Like Christmas as Long as I Have You

This is a very late Christmas in July one shot featuring the boys!!! Enjoy!!!

Hugo groaned as the sunlight streamed through the window to his bedroom, the bedroom that he now shared with his boyfriend. Just thinking about how Varian was his boyfriend put a stupid smile on his face. It had almost been six months since their journey across the seven kingdoms and he couldn’t be happier, well he could if it wasn’t the middle of fucking summer and their bedroom just so happened to be in the hottest fucking corner of the castle. He couldn’t even sleep with a blanket, hell, he couldn’t even cuddle with Varian, he was like a fucking furnace himself, and it really put him in a shitty mood. After all that they’d been through was it so wrong for him to just want to cuddle his boyfriend? The sun apparently thought so. The curtains were thrown open, the sun blasting him with its full force. Sun above did it have to be so fucking bright?

“Good morning, babe!” Came Varian’s chipper voice, it was far too peppy for the godawful hour it had to be. He must have actually slept for once, good for him, Hugo couldn’t relate.

Hugo groaned in response, pulling Varian’s pillow over his face in a vain attempt at blocking out the sun.

“Time to get up! I’ve got a big day planned for us!” Varian said, ripping the pillow away from Hugo.

“So do I. It’s called sleeping in.” Hugo said, moving his own pillow over his face. He felt the bed shift as Varian climbed onto it. What he wasn’t expecting was for it to continue moving as Varian jumped up and down on it.

“Get up. Get up. Come on, get up. Hugo, are you up yet? Come on.” Varian repeated as he continued jumping.

Hugo groaned again, giving up as he swung his pillow at Varian. “Fine. I’m up. I’m up.”

“Great!” Varian said, handing Hugo his glasses and a cup of what he assumed was coffee as he settled next to him, pulling Hugo into a sitting position before wrapping his arms around Hugo’s middle and resting his head on his shoulder.

“So what’s your big plan?” Hugo asked, taking a sip from the drink, pulling back immediately as the taste of chocolate settled on his tongue. “Is this hot chocolate?”

“Yup.” Varian answered, a wide smile on his face.

“Why?”

“Why not?” Varian said, and Hugo could practically hear him wiggle his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to retort, but Varian cut him off. “So, you know how last night we were talking about Christmas?”

“Yeah?” Hugo said, confusion lacing his voice, not understanding what that had to do with the hot chocolate in his cup.

“And you said you’d never had a proper Christmas?” Varian continued, moving so he was now facing Hugo.

“And?” Hugo asked, drawing out the word.

“Well, I thought we could celebrate today! Surprise!” Varian finished, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Hugo blinked rapidly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Babe, it’s the middle of fucking summer.”

“I know, but just- just trust me okay?” Varian said, the same wide bucktooth smile on his face like when he had a particularly exciting breakthrough. And really how could Hugo say no to that face.

Hugo sighed, taking another sip of the hot chocolate as he nodded. “Okay. I’ll trust you, I’ll always trust you.”

Varian’s smile turned soft, leaning into Hugo’s touch as he cupped his face. “And I’ll always trust you.” Varian said before claiming Hugo’s lips in a soft kiss, the taste of chocolate still on his tongue and something lingering on Varian’s lips that made his almost tingly. Peppermint maybe. Whatever it was, Hugo decided he quite liked it, expertly moving his cup to the bedside table before snaking his now free hand around Varian’s waist, the other supporting Varian’s head as he fully intended to lay him down on the mattress and just devour his boyfriend. Varian seemed to know exactly what he was doing, pulling back and poking his chest with an accusing finger. “No, I know what you’re doing, and it’s not going to work.”

“But, babe.” Hugo whined, moving to place kisses along Varian’s neck, his lips teasingly lingering over the sensitive spot that he knew drove Varian mad.

“No.” Varian said a bit more forcefully, pushing Hugo back and fixing him with a glare that would’ve been a lot more menacing if it wasn’t for the way the corners of his lips twitched as he fought back a smile. “Get dressed and meet me in the kitchen in ten.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” Hugo said with a playful roll of his eyes, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to weasel out of whatever scheme Varian had planned for the day. And with one last chaste kiss Varian left Hugo alone to prepare for the eventful day.

******************

Hugo arrived in the kitchen thirty minutes later. Sure he was twenty minutes late, but it was his day off, he wasn’t going to rush and on top of that Varian made some damn good hot chocolate. Hugo let out a yawn as he scrubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes and pushed the door open.

“Merry Christmas!” Rapunzel yelled, her brown hair tucked under a chef's hat, the green of her dress peeking out from under her frilly pink apron, flour covering the freckles on her cheeks and a rolling pin in her hand. She threw some flour into the air before grabbing Hugo’s hands and pulling him over to the counter. Varian laughed from behind his hand, wearing a chef's jacket two sizes too big, flour on his face and hair, Rapunzel must have done the same to him. “So I thought we could start with my favorite Christmas activity, making gingerbread cookies!”

“Well we actually already made them, but we are going to decorate them!” Varian said, gesturing to the array of frostings and candies and of course cookies on the counter.

“And then we’re going to eat them!” Rapunzel added, bouncing excitedly on her feet.

“Why can’t we just eat them now?” Hugo asked, snatching one of the gingerbread men off the plate. He eyed it curiously, he’d always seen them in shop windows during the winters, but never actually had one. He’d never understood the fascination with them, sure when he was younger he’d always wanted one, but Donella always said they had more important things to do, more important things to spend money on.

“The point isn’t about eating the cookies, it’s about the memories we make by spending time together decorating them and having fun.” Rapunzel explained, snatching the cookie out of Hugo’s hand before he could take a bite.

“That’s what Christmas is all about. Spending time with the ones you love.” Varian said, placing a kiss to Hugo’s cheek. “Now I’ve got to go, but you two have fun!”

“Wait-“ Hugo reached for Varian’s hand but he was already by the exit, waving at Hugo as he headed out the door. And then he was gone, leaving Hugo alone with Rapunzel, and wasn’t that contradictory to what Varian had said, Christmas was about spending time with those you love and there was no one he loved more than Varian.

“Okay, so I like to start like this-“ Rapunzel explained, picking up a cookie and some icing, Hugo vaguely paying attention as she went about decorating her cookie before getting to work on his own.

After about ten minutes, and about twenty fucked up cookies on Hugo’s part, they opted to just eat the cookies. Now, an hour later Rapunzel was draped across the table, shoveling spoonfuls of icing into her mouth, Hugo laying across from her eating cookie after cookie as they talked.

“And then, Eugene says ‘Sunshine,” Rapunzel said, deepening her voice in a poor imitation of her husband, Hugo not even bothering to hide his laughter as she shoved another spoonful of icing into her mouth before continuing. “‘That’s too much glitter, don’t you think?’ Can you believe that? Too much glitter.”

“The fucking audacity! You can never have too much glitter.” Hugo said, shoveling his own spoonful of icing into his mouth. He felt like he might actually be sick if he had anymore sugar but that didn’t stop him from following up with yet another cookie. If he had to wait another six months for these delicious fuckers he was going to make the most of it.

“Right?! That’s what I said!” Rapunzel agreed, waving her spoon through the air.

“You should dump him.” Hugo deadpanned, pulling his spoon out of his mouth with a pop.

Rapunzel frowned, propping herself up on her elbows. “We’re married.” Rapunzel said, Hugo simply shrugging in response. Rapunzel bursting out in laughter and laying back down, a wide smile on her face. “You know, we should do this more often. It’s been fun.”

Hugo returned the smile with a small nod. “Yeah, it was.”

“I’m so glad!” Came Varian’s voice, Hugo jumping at the sound and scrambling to his feet as if he’d been caught doing something wrong. He supposed old habits die hard. Varian bounded over, grease now replacing the flour that had been on his cheeks. Hugo gently used his thumb to scrub at the grease, smearing it more than removing it, Varian’s nose scrunched up at the action. “Ready for our next stop?”

“Lead the way, Goggles.” Hugo said, taking Varian’s hand in his, placing a kiss to the back of it and letting him lead the way to their next destination.

*****************

Hugo stared up at the library doors. Of all the places he expected them to go it certainly wasn’t here. As much as he loved the library it wasn’t where he wanted to spend his day off. “Var-“

“Trust me.” Varian said, placing a finger over Hugo’s lips before he could continue, likely knowing what Hugo was going to say. Varian smiled widely as he pushed open the doors to the library.

“Merry Christmas, kid!” Eugene said, blowing a handful of confetti into Hugo’s face. Hugo swatted at the assaulting pieces of paper, although his annoyance didn’t last long as he took in the rest of the library. Garland and tinsel draped on the shelves, sparkling in the sunlight. At the center of the library was a large tree, it obviously wasn’t a Christmas tree, but it was trimmed in ornaments and tinsel all the same, presents sitting at the bottom.

“Sorry we couldn’t get an actual Christmas tree, but we did the best we could with such short notice.” Varian said, swinging their hands back and forth.

“It’s perfect.” Hugo responded, cupping Varian’s face fully intending to kiss his boyfriend senseless when Eugene cleared his throat.

“Yeah, hi, still here.” Eugene said with a small wave.

Varian laughed as he settled for a quick peck to Hugo’s lips. “And I should not still be here. I’ve got to finish your present. Speaking of~” Varian moved his hands in a little circle as he pulled out of Hugo’s grip and headed towards the door.

“Right.” Eugene said with a wink, slinging an arm around Hugo’s shoulder and leading him towards the tree. “So, my favorite part of Christmas, the presents!”

“Of course that would be your favorite part about Christmas.” Hugo said with a roll of his eyes, shrugging Eugene’s arm off. They were definitely on more amicable terms now, but he still wouldn’t call them friends.

“Ah, you misunderstand, it’s not about getting a gift it’s all about giving a gift.” Eugene said, sitting them down in front of the tree, pulling a wrapped package out from underneath. “Unfortunately, given the rude awakening at three this morning we weren’t really given time to prepare actual gifts, so this bitch empty.”

Hugo raised an eyebrow as Eugene tossed the box over his shoulder, choosing to ignore the present and focusing on that fact that Varian had apparently been up since three am. “Did he sleep at all?”

“Highly unlikely.” Eugene answered. “Anyways~ since I don’t have a physical gift, you will have to settle for a nugget of good ol Fitzherbert wisdom.”

“Oh, goodie.” Hugo said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, fiddling with a ribbon on a nearby present.

Eugene scooted closer, placing a hand on Hugo’s shoulder, Hugo glancing up at him over the top of his glasses. “Listen, kid, I know you did some shitty stuff, but you need to remember that you are worthy of forgiveness, you are worthy of love. Just because you fucked up doesn’t change that.”

Hugo swallowed thickly, his eyes darting down to the present. “I know, I’m working towards that, to re earn everyone’s trust, to re earn Varian’s.”

“And that’s great, but I’m not talking about everyone else.” Eugene said, giving Hugo’s shoulder a comforting squeeze, Hugo reluctantly meeting Eugene’s eyes. “You need to forgive yourself first, anyone else who’s worth a damn will follow.”

“I’m trying.” Hugo admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. As much as he loved his time with Varian, he couldn’t help the occasional surge of guilt that plagued him more often than he’d like to admit. He was really trying, more so for Varian than himself, but he was trying nonetheless.

“I know. Now come here, let’s hug it out.” Eugene pulled Hugo into a hug, the later stiffening in his grip. Normally he would’ve pushed Eugene away, but what the hell, it was Christmas, so Hugo returned the hug, surprising himself with how easily he relaxed into it.

“Aw, group hug!” A voice boomed across the library, a pair of strong arms lifting the two males off the ground, and there were only two people he knew with that kind of upper body strength, Rapunzel and-

“Lance.” Eugene whined, squirming in Lance’s grip. “Please, set us down.”

“Oops, sorry.” Lance said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Great, now that you’re here I’m going to go find Varian.” Hugo said, smoothing down his now wrinkled clothes.

“Not so fast, little man’s man, it’s my turn to show you how we celebrate Christmas in the Schnitz family.” Lance said, grabbing Hugo’s arm before he could escape. “First activity, caroling~”

“Nope.” Hugo responded, pulling his arm free and heading towards the door. He’d much rather hug Eugene again then go caroling of all things, that’s where he drew the line.

Lance cut him off, his eyes wide and hands clasped together in front of his chest. “Please, I’m begging you. I need a distraction! Kiera’s on a date and Catalina is spying on her for me. I cannot be left alone right now, I cannot.”

“Fine.” Hugo groaned, dragging a hand down his face, already regretting his decision, but if he was honest with himself he couldn’t say no to Lance, not really. Lance was the one out of all of Varian’s friends he got along with right away, he was the one that understood him, the one that never made Hugo feel like he didn’t belong, like he wasn’t good enough. Lance had struggled turning over a new leaf at first and in all honesty so had Hugo. He couldn’t count the number of times he almost left in the dead of night, thinking it was best for Varian, and the one time he actually did, he’d be long gone too if Lance hadn’t caught him and talked him out of it. He owed a lot to Lance, so if caroling made him happy then Hugo could suffer for a bit. Besides, how bad could it be?

**************************

The answer was bad, very bad, apparently. Hugo was sandwiched between the two older males as they belted Christmas carols very loudly and very offkey. His ears would be ringing for the next week and a half. He hadn’t even bothered singing himself, and the two idiots that flanked him were too absorbed in their own renditions to notice.

“And scene!” Lance said with a bow, pulling Hugo and Eugene down with him. The silence that followed soon filled by the sound of clapping.

“That was… lovely.” Arianna said, her voice soft and kind, but her scrunched up nose told a different story than her words.

“Why thank you! We’ve been practicing so we can knock 'em dead at the winter ball this year.” Eugene said, his chest puffed with pride.

“And I’m sure you’ll do just that.” Arianna responded, offering her hand to Hugo as the other two processed her words. “Come, dear, it’s time for your next surprise.”

Hugo gratefully took her hand, snickering as Lance and Eugene tried to make heads or tails of Arianna’s comment.

“Was that a jab?” Eugene asked, his voice carrying through the room as Hugo and the queen scurried towards the door.

“I think it was a jab.” Lance confirmed, sounding just as perplexed as Eugene.

As soon as the door closed, Hugo burst into laughter, linking his arm with the queen’s. “Well played, your majesty.”

Arianna laughed, patting Hugo’s hand. “Thank you, but I do hope the boys aren’t too offended.”

“They’ll live.” Hugo said, letting Arianna lead them through the halls. It had always struck him as strange that he got along so well with the queen given she was royalty, and royalty was the bane of his existence, but for some reason they just clicked.

“Let’s get into something more suitable for the weather.” Arianna said with a wink.

Hugo glanced down at his outfit, just a simple tank top and his pajama bottoms, he hadn’t even bothered to put on shoes. It was so fucking hot outside, how much more suitable could he dress?

“Just trust me on this.” Arianna said before Hugo could even ask, she always had a way of knowing things as simple and obvious as those things were sometimes. Hugo simply nodded, easily following Arianna through the halls.

********************

If anyone else had tried to stuff him into his winter coat and boots in the middle of the summer, he’d have told them they were out of their goddamn mind. But since it was Arianna he decided to have a little more tact. “And why the fuck am I wearing this?”

“Language.” Arianna reprimanded, fixing Hugo with a glare as she adjusted the hat on his head. “You’re going to be thanking me in a few minutes.”

“Am I though?” Hugo teased, pushing the hat back a bit.

“Yes.” Arianna responded, lightly smacking his arm. Hugo threw his head back in a laugh, retaking her arm as she led them to the doors to the garden, not even giving him a chance to question before she swung the doors open.

“Merry Christmas!” Varian shouted, and Hugo’s jaw dropped. The ground was coated in snow, well it was more slush than actual snow, but it white and it was cold. Two large metal machines sat on opposite sides of the garden spouting the white stuff. Ruddiger in his own set of gloves and goggles, occasionally hitting a button that Hugo assumed controlled the machines. Varian’s nose pink from the chill in the air, the pesky grease stains still on his cheeks, his scarf hanging loosely around his neck, his too big coat swallowing him, and his hair pushed back held in place only by his goggles, that adorable lopsided bucktooth smile on his face. By all means he looked like a fucking mess, but to Hugo he looked like a goddamn angel.

Hugo turned to Arianna, placing a kiss to her knuckles. “Thank you.” Arianna smiled in return, closing the doors as Hugo ran, more so stumbled towards Varian. He wrapped his arms around the smaller as soon as he was able, kissing Varian’s pink nose as he laughed. “You did all this?”

“Yeah. I wanted you to have the best Christmas ever, I couldn’t leave out your favorite part.” Varian said, snuggling into Hugo’s chest and wrapping his arms around him as well. It was stupid that snow was his favorite part of Christmas, but it had been the only true way for Hugo to know that it was in fact Christmas time. He’d never gotten the presents, or to sit by the Christmas tree, or to go caroling, or make cookies. But the snow had always been there, and when everyone else had gone to sleep he’d go out into the snow and wish for that ever elusive Christmas miracle. He supposed he finally found it, here in Corona, in Varian’s arms.

“Thank you. I just- thank you.” Hugo said, resting his chin on top of Varian’s head, watching the snow fall around them as he held him tight, for the first time since the summer started relishing in the body heat Varian produced. It was beautiful, but he couldn’t help but wonder about one last thing. “Hey, sweet cheeks?”

Varian hummed in response, lifting his head so his chin now rested on Hugo’s chest, snow already catching in his eyelashes.

“We did everyone else’s favorite things, but what about yours?” Hugo asked, genuinely curious. For all the talk they did about Christmas, Varian had failed to mention his favorite part.

“This.” Varian answered, a softer smile on his face as he let out a small laugh. “Spending time with my friends, and family, and you. That’s my favorite part. None of the other stuff matters as long as I have that.”

“You are so sappy.” Hugo said, smiling down at Varian, cupping his face as he rested his forehead against his. His heart fluttered in his chest, they hadn’t said those words yet, not since the showdown at the library but he knew he felt it. He loved Varian with all that he was, he’d give everything and anything for him. And now that they’d grown, and healed, there wasn’t a better time. “I love you.”

Varian’s face went blank for a second as he blinked up at Hugo, and for a second he thought he wouldn’t return the sentiment. Then he smiled, laughing again as he rubbed their noses together. “I love you too.”

Hugo smiled widely, leaning down further to claim Varian’s lips, but Varian beat him to it, slamming their lips together as he tackled Hugo to the ground. It was rougher than he intended, but Hugo wouldn’t have it any other way. Hugo smiled all the way through the kiss, paying no mind to the artificial snow beneath them. And even though Christmas wasn’t technically for another six months, Hugo was certain that this would be the best Christmas he ever had.

[littlemisslol-fic]

44 (Puppy love) and 20 (Breaking the rules) for Varian and Hugo? I just want dumb boys doing dumb things together,,,, UggHhHH

Hey anon!! Thanks for the ask! I merged both of these into one story, but it’s basically a full fledged oneshot by now so oops. Have some modern-day-au-varigo!!

44 (Puppy love) and 20 (Breaking the rules)

“We’re going to get into so much trouble…” 

Hugo looks at him like he’s lost his mind.

“What’s wrong, goggles?” The blond laughs, “Scared?”

Varian bristles at the taunt, scowling. He shifts awkwardly- his shoes scuff the dirt in a way that only accents how stressed out he feels. The forest around them sings with birdsong, the rustle of trees in the wind, and the gentle snip-snip of Hugo’s wire cutters. The moon shines down on them, full and bright, a hole punched in the middle of the sky surrounded with starry shrapnel. 

Varian’s hoodie- Hugo’s hoodie that he’d stolen, actually, not that he’d admit it- is soft and warm around him, the green fabric surrounding him like a hug. Hugo grins like an animal, and turns back to the fence in front of them. Varian watches with apprehension as Hugo snips away at it, chopping an ugly, but functional entrance.

“I’m not scared.” Varian finally mutters, shifting his weight again. The late August air is still warm, but starting to cool the closer they get to midnight. “I’m just… concerned.” 

“Sure, Var,” Hugo laughs, sticking out his tongue as he snips at the last of the fence. “Keep telling yourself that.” 

Varian scowls again, flushing. The woods around them are dark, but Varian isn’t concerned about that- he grew up here in the small town of Old Corona, after all, he knew these woods like the back of his hand- no, what scares him is the idea of getting caught. 

“Seriously, Hugo, if we get caught my dad’s gunna-”

“Flip out?” Hugo blows a lock of blond hair out of his face as he snips at the last of the wire. “Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re not going to get caught.”

Varian grits his teeth. Hugo, content with snipping the final chunk of fence, stands back up and shoves the wire cutters in his backpack. With a rough kick- Varian cringes at the noise, blue eyes scanning the treeline frantically- Hugo’s perfectly cut square goes flying away from the fence, leaving a doorway chopped out of the wire.

“See, easy.” Hugo grins. Varian scoffs, but when the blond offers him a hand he takes it. Hugo leads him through the hole in the fence and Varian follows with a grumble; as much as he’s bitching he’s curious about what exactly his boyfriend is up to. Hugo was nothing if not spontaneous, showing up at Varian’s house at nearly eleven at night and dragging him through the woods towards one of the only dangerous places in Old Corona.

The old fairgrounds, while only recently abandoned, had been locked tight for two years. Varian can’t help but look around in awe, seeing the way that the rusting metal and cracked concrete are slowly being overtaken by nature once again. It’s dark, the kind of inky black you can’t see inside the city, the kind that makes the milky way above so vibrant and bright in comparison- like a river of stars snaking across the night sky.

Varian can’t help but stop, just looking up and into the sky. Hugo pauses, grinning and letting him stare. Varian doesn’t get out much- not with his usual obligations as the mayor’s son- and these are the kinds of things he missed while growing up… the kind of things that Hugo is nothing but glad to show him.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Varian hears Hugo ask him. He nods, dumbstruck, but when he looks at his boyfriend- Hugo isn’t looking at the sky. He’s staring Varian dead in the eye. He feels his face grow hot- he must be a shocking colour of red by now- but Hugo doesn’t make mention of it. Instead he holds out an arm, an offering that Varian gladly takes. He worms his way into Hugo’s side, delighting as a strong arm wraps around his shoulders and pulls him close. 

The old fairgrounds are the kind of quiet that sinks deep in your chest. Not that they’re silent- Varian can hear the chirping of crickets and the creaky whine of metal swings as they pass a swing ride- a large tower with a round disk at the top, nearly a hundred swings hanging from rusty chains. When the wind blows they swing along in soft, meandering arcs. Out here, nearly in the country, the quiet is something that seems sacred. The kind of silence reserved for graveyards and churches, shrines and memorials. It feels immoral to break it, so they don’t.

Hugo leads Varian up to a large roller coaster, the wooden frame still nearly perfect. Varian looks at it with apprehension, digging the heels of his hightops into the cracked concrete as Hugo begins to tug him forward.

“We’re not going up there.” Varian declares, “I don’t have a deathwish, and neither did you last time I checked.” 

“Relax goggles.” Hugo grins, “I was up there earlier this afternoon, checked it myself. It’s sturdy. We gotta hurry though, or we’re going to miss it!”

Hugo spins on his heel and hops the metal turnstile, not looking back. Varian scowls, following despite himself. Hugo knows him too well- knows that Varian would follow him to the ends of the earth if Hugo asked it of him. They draw close to the base of the coaster, shuffling up on top of a series of boxes left behind by previous explorers- or maybe Hugo himself that afternoon, apparently. Varian can’t help but scowl… what did his boyfriend even get up to while Varian wasn’t keeping track of him? Risking life and limb to climb unstable ruins, apparently. 

Hugo begins to scale the main hill of the coaster, the path easy as on the left side is a set of metal stairs for maintenance. Varian follows, his hand firmly planted on the railing as they climb higher. 

“Are you just leading me up there to murder me?” Varian calls, shuddering as the wind picks up a little as they reach about halfway up. The hill’s nearly five stories high, easily the tallest attraction in the abandoned park. Varian can almost see the tops of the trees from here. 

“Why would I take you all the way up here?” Hugo asks, turning around and smirking at him. “If I wanted you dead I would have killed you on ground level.” 

“I… that’s not assuring!” Varian gripes, “If anything that makes this worse!” 

Hugo, the bastard, laughs.

“You don’t like bullshit.” Hugo says, and Varian can’t help but melt. Hugo turns around and keeps climbing, his boots making little thunk-thunks on the aging metal. Varian scrambles up after him, breathing in the wind as they finally reach the top. Hugo had been telling the truth, it seems, as there’s already a small setup at the very peak of the arch.

Two small camp chairs, a blue cooler in between, all precariously balanced on a small flat space at the very top. Varian assumes it was once for maintenance, like the stairs; a cluster of blankets hanging from two long flagpoles attached to the safety rails make a little roof, and when Hugo hits a little battery back a series of string lights flick on in a rainbow glow. Hugo crawls down into the little fort, looking back and smiling. Not his usual smirk, but an honest-to-god smile.

Varian can’t help but fall a little more in love. 

He crawls in after Hugo, laughing as they get tangled up for a second. For a second they become a flailing cluster of arms and legs, giggling like children as they trip over each other. Varian gets an elbow to the gut and grunts- Hugo’s arms are suddenly wrapping around his waist. 

“Sorry, sorry,” The blond snickers, “Didn’t account for your stupid legs-”

“What, you just want me to leave them behind next time?” Varian groans, resting up against Hugo’s side with a sigh. Hugo’s warm and solid as Varian leans into him- settles under Hugo’s arm like he belongs there, sinks into the heat of the other’s body, curls into the embrace like he was made for it.

Hugo’s chin settles on his head, and Varian smiles softly to himself. 

With Hugo’s back propped up against the pole, they both face out over the forest. In the distance, Old Corona glows with street lamps and houses and cars. Above them, the stars shine just as brightly, if not moreso. Varian smells pine and something distinctly Hugo- breathes it in and lets it settle deep in his chest like a balm. 

Hugo’s arms tighten around his waist, the two of them looking out towards the distant light of home. Varian feels at peace, the gentle waves of tranquil silence and soft lights from their little makeshift tent soothing the ails of day.

And then, just as Varian’s getting used to the relaxation-

Pop-pop, pop pop pop-pop-pop-

Fireworks scatter across the sky in a rainbow of light and colour, vivid oranges and blues and purples glowing across the inky sky like a scattering of magic. Varian’s eyes go wide, watching with a childlike glee as they fizzle and spark. Hugo’s hold on him gets a little closer as Varian shifts, as if the blond’s scared he’s going to pull away-

“Did you know about this?” Varian asks him, turning in his arms. He can see the reflection of colour in the lenses of Hugo’s glasses- and in the warm look in those green eyes.

“Sure I did.” Hugo says, “I know a guy who knew a guy.” 

Varian snorts, refusing to look away. Hugo’s trying to play this off- of course he is- but Varian knows that he’d probably been planning this for a while. He feels his heart start to thump at the thought, that Hugo had set all this up, had thought of doing all of this for Varian-

He grabs Hugo by the strings of his hoodie and pulls him into a kiss. Hugo smiles into it, leaning into it and pulling Varian close. They kiss for what feels like hours and seconds, Varian can’t tell, before they break. They both breathe a little heavily, gasping for air a mere few inches from another kiss.

“I love you, goggles.” Hugo whispers, like a prayer.

“I love you too,” Varian murmurs, lost to the moment. 

When they meet again, Varian can’t help but smile.  

[newsies-of-corona]

Would ya look at that! Another Alchemy Brothers oneshot! (Yes, the title is inspired by that JerJor song 😅)

Here For You

Warnings: Nightmares, Lots of emotional angst, Villain Varian (he definitely needs a warning)

“Hugo...”

The chilling voice sounded familiar. Too familiar. The blond alchemist shook his head and adjusted to his surroundings. He seemed to be in his and Varian’s lab, but the atmosphere was...different. The dingy space was covered floor to ceiling with increasingly noticeable dust. Not one surface or piece of equipment was spared from the filth, and the sight made Hugo’s skin crawl.

“Hugo...”

There was that voice again. The echoey nature of it made it hard to pin-point who’s it was, but Hugo was almost positive he knew; and that realization only deepened the pit forming in his stomach.

“Var-Varian?” He asked, timidly into the darkness.

The sardonic laughter that rang out into the emptiness couldn’t have been anyone else’s. Hugo staggered backward, but suddenly, a silhouette of the boy flashed in front of him. Hugo blinked once, and there Varian was standing directly in in his view, a twisted and sadistic smile resting on his face.

“You know, I’m not sure what’s more pathetic,” Varian echoed. “You...or the ridiculous idea that you think that someone could actually care about you.”

Hugo’s breath got caught in his throat. He couldn’t speak; couldn’t move; he was simply frozen.

Varian walked around the lab slowly, tipping over various flasks and beakers as he went.

“Face it, Hugo. You’ll never truly fit in here. Me, dad...we’re a family.”

He walked back over to Hugo, staring him down.

“And you were brought in solely out of pity.”

The solutions spilled onto the floor and fused together, morphing into a solid, rusty orange hue. The amber grew and spiked out all around Hugo, until it reached its peak, dividing the room and separating himself from Varian.

The deadly substance tore through a sleeve of Hugo’s clothes, making him reel back in surprise and pain. The cut was deeper than he expected, and it made his entire left arm sore. The pain traveled to his head as he collapsed on the ground He was still too shocked to cry, but his eyes burned almost as much as his head.

The image of Varian slowly faded into the darkness, but the amber continued to grow.

“He’s not coming back, Hugo.”

This time it was a different voice he heard; even more familiar than Varian’s. His head shot up, and suddenly he was face to face with...himself. Hugo scooted back to the wall as another shard of amber shot out and cut his other sleeve. He winced and grabbed his right arm, the room seeming to close in on him.

The phantom version of himself loomed over him, straight faced without a hint of emotion.

“You might as well give up while you still have the chance.”

The boy’s head started spinning as the pain became more severe, the words lingering in his mind...

———

Hugo’s eyes shot open, and he sat up in his bed, taking slow, shallow breaths. The tears came, as they always did, and they wet the sheets around him. He checked his arms for the cuts, but they were completely unharmed. It was just a dream.

“A nightmare,” Hugo corrected between his sobs. He hugged himself, slowly rocking back and forth, causing the bed to creak.

The sound traveled over to Varian’s side of the room, causing the boy to stir. His eyes fluttered slightly and he rolled over on his side. He saw a very distraught looking Hugo, curled into a ball on his bed and obviously crying. Varian immediately stood up and walked over to him, his feet making the floorboards creak.

Hugo heard him coming and tensed, having to remind himself again that it was just a nightmare. He scooted over to make room for Varian who promptly sat down next to him.

“Another nightmare?” Varian asked in a hushed tone.

Hugo could only nod miserably before laying his head on his knees.

Varian’s face fell; he hated seeing Hugo like this. Mostly because there was nothing he could really do to fix it.

...But he could still try.

Varian gingerly placed a hand on Hugo’s shoulder.

“Do you...want to talk about it?”

Hugo perked up slightly to look at Varian. This was his brother. His brother who did care about him. He could never act like...that.

Hugo closed his eyes and took a deep, slow breath, trying to shake the images in his mind. But they just kept coming back. Maybe talking about it would do him some good.

“I...I was in our lab,” Hugo started in a voice barely above a whisper. “And I saw...you.”

Varian quickly retracted his hand as his stomach dropped. Hugo had a nightmare about...him?

Hugo noticed Varian’s tenseness and quickly backtracked.

“But it wasn’t you, of course. I know you’d never hurt me like that.”

Varian’s eyes widened and he backed up further.

“I hurt you?”

“No, no, it was just...what you said,” Hugo recovered. “In my dream, I mean.”

“Oh...”

Varian moved closer to him again and lowered his voice. “What-what was that?”

Hugo’s face darkened as he stared at the floor.

“That...you didn’t actually care. And that dad only adopted me out of-“

Hugo’s eyes filled with tears again as he tried to get the words out.

“Out-out of...pity.” He laid his head on his knees again, continuing to rock back and forth.

Varian drew in a sharp breath and tried to find the words to comfort Hugo. His brother’s nightmares were always so...real.

“Hugo...you know that’s not true,” Varian began, urging his brother to look up at him.

“I’m your brother. And it’s not because of pity; it’s because I care about you. I care about you more than I’ve cared about anyone, and-and dad does too.”

Hugo managed to look up at Varian, his eyes still bloodshot with tears.

“I mean it, Hugo,” Varian went on in a serious tone. “I-I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here, heh.”

A genuine smile played at the corners of Hugo’s mouth. “You’d probably drive yourself crazy with your nerd facts instead of me,” Hugo joked under his breath, chuckling a little.

“Hey, I heard that!” Varian laughed along. The lightheartedness only lasted for a measly moment, however, before the mood shifted downward again.

“Whatever you saw in that dream...it wasn’t true,” Varian continued. “And it can never be true because whatever happens-“

He moved his hand to Hugo’s shoulder again in a comforting manner.

“I’ll always be here for you.”

Hugo’s tears started to come back, but this time they were happier. That was really all he needed to hear right now. Just that his brother was truly there. He stopped hugging himself to let Varian in. He knew he could always go to him for comfort. Hugo scooted closer to his brother and wrapped him in a hug.

“Thanks, Hairstripe,” he whispered.

Varian was startled at first; up until this point he had usually been the one to initiate affection when it came to Hugo, but this was a very welcome change. He was relieved that he was able to help, and he gratefully hugged his brother back.

“Heh, anytime.”

———

The memories hit Hugo like a brick.

How could everything suddenly be so different in the span of one year? That was back when he still had a family, and when his brother still cared. Now, the terrifying nightmare seems closer to reality than the heartwarming moment that came after it.

Hugo sits in the same curled up position, rocking back and forth. But this time...he’s alone. No one is there to comfort him even though the person who used to be there is in clear view. Hugo doesn’t look up, but he can sense that Varian is practically glaring at him. In the span of a single year they had gone from brothers...to enemies.

The blond shivers and backs up further onto his bed, hitting the wall of his cell. It all happened so fast; the amber, Varian’s turn, and now prison where he’s been for three months. The only things keeping him going are the memories. The memories of how things used to be. The joy that they both felt before everything started spiraling, and especially the care that they had for each other. It was all real, and he knew for a fact that those feelings couldn’t just go away overnight. Varian’s heart is hardened for the time being, but Hugo keeps the hope that deep down, his brother is still in there.

Hugo props his head up and regrettably looks in the direction of Varian’s cell, quoting to himself what his brother had said to him a year ago.

“I’ll always be here for you.”

———

The young convict is also leaning against the wall of his cell, unable to sleep. Along with Hugo, Varian’s mind is being plagued with memories which he tries to push away, but for the first time something is actually stronger than his anger. He holds his head and groans. He doesn’t want to remember the meaningful moments he shared with Hugo. Mostly because he knows that he does still care about him. Even after everything, he’d still be devastated if something happened to his brother...

But he doesn’t want to care either. It just gets in the way of what he wants most: revenge. He tries to think of new plots to break out of jail, schemes to attack Corona, anything but those dreaded memories, but they refuse to leave.

Varian shifts his position as his mood grows somber. He doesn’t really want revenge. He just wants his dad back; he wants Hugo back. As much as he tries to deny it, he misses his brother. But he’s gone too far to turn back now.

The sadness passes and his eyebrows furrow again. He needs to stick to his goal: break out of jail with Andrew, enact his vengeance plot on Corona...and somehow ignore Hugo the entire time.

Varian turns around to face Andrew’s cell, forgetting that it’s also Hugo’s. For a brief second he locks eyes with his brother, but he quickly turns away. Whatever happened a year ago is completely over. Hugo basically betrayed his trust just like everyone else, and that is something he wouldn’t forgive. There’s no way that their bond could ever go back to what it was.

Hugo sighs sadly after seeing Varian turn away so abruptly and turns around himself. The glimmer of hope he still has is starting to fade. It was a disheartening feeling; knowing that Varian wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

Hugo subconsciously rolls up his sleeves and looks at his arms. They were still unharmed, but this time the pain is real.

A new quote comes to Hugo’s mind as he pushes his sleeves back down. It was something distantly familiar, almost as if he had heard it in a dream. He grits his teeth and hangs his head, whispering to himself, “Maybe I should just give up while I still have the chance.”

[justaghostingon]

Steel Hooks in a Trusting Heart

In which Cyrus finds himself once again aiding Hugo in his schemes, this time to the purpose of helping Hugo win over his boyfriend’s family. There’s just one problem. Cyrus isn’t so certain he approves of this Varian guy Hugo’s dating.

Read on ao3 here https://archiveofourown.org/works/25996633

Or below the cut

Cyrus had not known what to expect when Hugo had roped him into a security job at the eternal library. For the most part, it had been an improvement. Sure, the job was pretty boring, not many people had been exactly eager to go into the formerly cursed library after its last human patron had been trapped inside. But it was getting better, thanks in large part to its two alchemists and Corona’s very friendly Queen. Seriously, that woman didn’t act like a noble at all. Cyrus half believed the rumors that she was some kind of sun goddess that had fallen from the sky. She was kind enough for it, and the sun never cared much for rich or poor. He did wish she’d stop jumping out of nowhere to say hello though, it was a bit unsettling.

And speaking of jump scares, Cyrus had grown to discover that this library was in fact inhabited by some sort of fae. She was a beautiful creature, if incredibly shy, always hiding when Cyrus moved to close, but Cyrus would catch her watching him out of the corner of his eye. He and Mona weren’t sure what kind of fae she was, but Mona had helped him recreate a few of the offerings from his grandpa’s stories, just in case.

Today’s offering was a plate of honey cookies and milk, but it was facing a serious challenge in the face of one of the most unexpected parts of his new job: Hugo.

“It’s just so frustrating!” Hugo sighed as he swiped a cookie from the plate of fresh honey cookies and sank into a chair. Cyrus scowled across at him.

It's not that Cyrus wasn’t expecting to see Hugo in his new job. But the library was vast, full of ancient scrolls to study and reluctant patrons to convince that this place wasn’t going to kill them. Cyrus, with his position at the entrance hall, had expected to see the alchemist maybe a handful of times as he welcomed the patrons for tours, and that would be it. For the most part, he was correct.

So no one was more surprised than Cyrus when Hugo had come down the first day, thrown himself dramatically in one of the chairs at the entrance hall, and started ranting about some annoying thing someone called Flynn Rider had done. At first he’d thought it was a one time thing, but no, Hugo continued to seek out his company every few days or so, to rant about all the people he was inevitably forced to work with in this new city.

It was nice, Cyrus supposed, to have someone from his own country here to talk to. If Hugo could behave. Cyrus pulled the plate of cookies away from Hugo as he went for another one. “Those aren’t for you,” he grunted.

Hugo rolled his eyes  “Are you still going on about that magic library fairy or whatever?” He licked the crumbs off his fingers as he continued. “She’s not real Cyrus, grow up and give the cookies to me.”

Cyrus grunted, pulling the honey cookies closer to himself. Behind Hugo, Cyrus could see a silver head peak over the edge of the bookshelf. “Still not yours,” he grumbled. “If you want cookies, come by the house and ask Mona.”

“Fine, be that way,” Hugo pouted, and behind him Cyrus saw the silver haired fae stick her tongue at Hugo’s back. “Just add to my burden, why don’t you?” Hugo sighed dramatically.

He wants me to ask doesn’t he? Cyrus thought as he held back a sigh of his own. “What happened this time?” he said.

“Oh it's terrible!” Hugo perked up, placing his feet back on the ground as he leaned forward to whisper theatrically at Cyrus. “Varian’s dad invited me on a fishing trip!”

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. “I don’t see the problem,” he said.

“Uh, Varian's Dad, remember?” Hugo crossed his arms. “Hates me? Thinks I’m not good enough for his son? I told you about him last week!” Hugo adds with a note of hurt in his voice.

Cyrus traded a look with the silver haired fae. She shrugged, and Cyrus figured she’d not be any help with this human affair. He pressed his fists together. “He invited you out fishing though, isn’t that a sign of progress? He’s giving you a chance.” Which was a pretty impressive turn around, considering the first impressions Hugo usually made.

“No, no, no!” Hugo shook his head, and Cyrus realized he must have missed something. “This is obviously a trap! He invited me fishing, so he can get me alone and make me look like a fool in front of Varian!”

If looking like a fool is enough to get Varian to stop dating you, you really shouldn’t be dating him, Cyrus didn’t say. Hugo seemed to sense it anyways, and he stretched out on the table, face burying in his arms.

“I just, really want him to think well of me,” he murmured, “especially after I messed up so badly.”

“You traitor!” Hugo flinched as Varian stalked towards him, teeth bared like a wild animal and eyes blazing with blue fire.

Cyrus’s gut twists at the memory, an old dread seeping over him. He didn’t think that was what Hugo meant exactly, but still. “I’ll go with you,” he stated. If Hugo had even the slightest fear of the dark side of his boyfriend appearing, then there was no way Cyrus was letting him go alone.

“Really?” Hugo beamed, all traces of earlier melancholy gone. “Excellent! I’ll meet you and Mona by the city gates at 9 am!” He bounced away, passing directly under the silver haired fan’s bookshelf. She ducked out of sight, but she needn’t have bothered. Hugo was too caught up in his own little world to notice.

Cyrus sat still at the table for a little while longer, dark thoughts swirling as he contemplated the trip and the dangerous opponents they'd have to face. The silver haired fae appeared beside the bookshelf, a frown on her face.

“He’s manipulating you,” her voice was flat as she crossed her arms.

“Not really,” Cyrus suppressed a smile, something about her posture reminded him of a jealous child tattling on a sibling. “But he probably thinks he is.” He held out one of the honey cookies. “Cookie?”

The silver fae hesitated for a second, before vanishing back behind the bookshelf. But that was fine, Cyrus shrugged as he pushed the cookies and milk into the middle of the table and pretended very hard to ignore it. Trust took time. She’d spoken today, and he would enjoy that victory for now.

--------------

“Do you think we’ll need more food?” Mona asked anxiously, hauling a truly enormous picnic basket into the air.

Cyrus grunted as he picked it up from where she was struggling. Mona gave a visible sigh of relief as the weight was lifted. Cyrus raised an eyebrow at her, and she blushed.

“Ok, ok, so it might be a bit much,” she gave Cyrus a sheepish smile as she straightened her good handkerchief on her head once more. “But you know how much you men eat!”

Cyrus shrugged, conceding the point. Men did eat a lot, especially growing boys. Speaking of which...

“There you two are!” Hugo appeared between them, seemingly materializing out of thin air. Both Mona and Cyrus jumped. And Cyrus allowed a slight scowl to cross his lips. Hugo had gotten sneakier and Cyrus did not appreciate it.

Hugo ignored Cyrus’s obvious annoyance in favor of slapping him heartily on the back, a wide, performative grin on his face. “Quirin! Varcakes! I invited my Aunt and Uncle along, since this is supposed to be a family outing. I hope you don’t mind!”

Cyrus followed his line of sight to see Varian walking with the man Cyrus presumed was Quirin. Cyrus straightened, rolling his shoulders back as he sized up this new opponent. Quirin was a large man, with tough, sun weathered skin that spoke to years of hard labor, like the farmer Hugo had described should have. But Cyrus wasn’t fooled. He saw the way the man held himself, back straight and feet planted firm, the way his eyes moved, both sizing up Mona and Cyrus and flickering to everything else that passed in the market. This was a warrior, and no amount of years in the farm and field could change that.

If it came to a fight, this man would be a difficult opponent, Cyrus reluctantly admitted. He could even give Cyrus a run for his money. But he was hardly the most dangerous one here. His eyes turned to Varian, and narrowed.

Varian winced, and Quirin frowned, rolling his shoulders and moving like he was going to step forward, but Mona got there first.

“How nice to meet you!” She flashed her most winning smile, the one she reserved for new neighbors and particularly grumpy children. Quirin’s attention snapped to her, clearly started, and Cyrus surpassed a grin. No one could stand up to her charms. She was Team Hugo’s secret weapon.

Quirin recovered quickly, and gave a slight bow. “A pleasure to meet you my lady,” he said, and Mona gave a nervous giggle from behind a hand, unsure of how to react to a term like “lady.” Cyrus privately wondered what Quirin’s problem with Hugo was, they should be able to bond over their shared love of theatrics.

“Dad!” Varian gave a squeak. He shot Cyrus and Hugo an apologetic smile as he rubbed his neck awkwardly. Cyrus drew his brows together and Varian turned away. “It’s nice to see you again Mona,” he offered.

“Oh darling I told you to call me Auntie!” Mona waved her hand, having recovered from Quirin’s theatrical attack to counterattack by reminding him of her acquaintanceship with Varian. Quirin turned his attention to Mona, but it was too late. Mona went in for the killing blow, “It’s been so long since you came over for dinner!”

Ha! Cyrus wanted to laugh, that was his wife! Winning the battle before it had even had a chance to begin. Now Quirin knew his son was close to Hugo’s family, and would have to be on good behavior so as not to embarrass Varian. Pride welled in his stomach as he fought back a smile. Mona had such a way with words.

But not everyone was as gifted as his wife. “Well, now we’re all acquainted,” Hugo said, linking his arm with Varian’s and Cyrus could see Quirin’s temper rise as all of Mona’s hard work began to lose its hold. “Let’s get going, we’ve fish to catch!” He pulled Varian up ahead, leaving the three adults to hurry after them.

“After you!” Mona smiled at Quirin, attempting to soften Hugo’s rudeness.

“Oh no, after you, my lady,” Quirin waved a hand like a butler welcoming a noble to her palace. Mona shot Cyrus a wink as she slipped her arm in his, and led him down the path.

-------------

The walk itself was mainly uneventful. Mona did her best to keep Quirin distracted, asking about the farm, the weather, whatever normal topics she could think of to get him talking and keep his attention off of Hugo. Cyrus tried to help, but he wasn’t nearly as good at small talk as his wife. His topics of conversation that seemed “normal” usually amounted to talking work, and given his primary work was with Hugo, he had to scramble to try and find something else. Eventually he landed on grunting in agreement with whatever Mona said.

Hugo was not helping at all, practically strolling along with his arm linked with Varian’s and occasionally stopping to point out some plant or animal and remark its proper latin name, which he thought made him look cool. But to Cyrus, who knew Hugo hadn’t known anything about wildlife until he’d spent the first three days reading through books on the subject to learn the context of Varian’s ‘simple peasant life,’ it just looked over done. Like he was trying too hard.

Cyrus knew Hugo was in love with Varian, a man doesn’t turn on a steady wage and a roof over his head for anything less than true love, romantic or otherwise. But he privately wished Hugo would relax a bit more, instead of trying to impress all the time.

Case and point, A leaf fell in Varian’s hair, and Hugo gave a gasp, pointing out how something with a big fancy sounding name was stuck in Varian’s hair. Varian freaked out, raising both hands to brush it off, only to see a leaf tumble down. Hugo gave a laugh and Varian’s eyes narrowed. Cyrus’s blood ran cold.

“I trusted you!” Varian snarls, spit flying into Hugo’s face. But Hugo is ashen and shaking, and doesn’t respond.

Varian reached a hand up, and Cyrus tensed, ready to run to Hugo’s aid. This time he would not freeze. But Varian gave Hugo a light shove. Hugo dipped away, laughing, while Varian glanced back at the three adults behind them. Their eyes met and Varian flinched, ducking close to Hugo to whisper in his ear.

“What?” Hugo said loudly, eyebrows rising in comical surprise. “No no! Of course Cyrus likes you.” He waved a hand back at Cyrus. “That’s just his face. He always looks like that.”

Mona and Quirin both sent Cyrus sharp looks, but Cyrus ignored them in favor of Hugo’s expectant face. He couldn’t let him down now. “I have a very scary face,” he admitted through gritted teeth, and Hugo beamed.

“There you go then,” he pulled Varian closer and gave a stage whisper into his ear. “It’s actually a problem, he’s lucky we took him in, or it would have been forced to work at the circus.”

“I’m pretty sure the circus would have been more exciting,” Varian rolled his eyes, and Quirin’s attention turned back to his son, seemingly appeased.

But Mona’s gaze lingered, biting her lip as she followed Cyrus’s gaze to Varian. She glanced up at Cyrus with a look that clearly says, “we’re going to talk about this,” and Cyrus felt the upcoming dread that only married couples know.

Sure enough, when they reached the lake, Mona gave a theatrical gasp and threw a hand over her mouth. “Oh no!”

Cyrus snapped to attention, senses overstimulating as he searched for the threat. He glanced quickly around to see what had set her off, but there was nothing dangerous in the immediate vicinity with the exception of Varian, and he was clearly as confused as Cyrus.

“I forgot desert!” Mona cried, and Cyrus felt himself marginally relax. Okay, nothing to fight. Unless she wanted him to hunt down a fairy and wish for desert. He shot the trees a glance, wondering if there were any a fairy might like to hide in. He wished he’d brought the honey cookies for bait. Then again, if they had honey cookies, they wouldn’t need a fairy.

“Don’t worry about it,” Quirin smiled. “We’ll be fine without it.”

“No! No!” Mona shook her head. “I saw some blackberries back there, I’ll just go and pick some while you boys get the boats out.” She extended a hand to Cyrus with a smile that made Cyrus break out in a cold sweat. “Cyrus dear?”

She used “dear” he was definitely in trouble.

“I could help too,” Varian offered, and in that minute Cyrus would almost have appreciated the rescue even if it came from him, but Mona waved Varian away. “We’ll be fine. Besides,” she shot Varian a wink. “You know how to set up a boat, and don’t you want to show Hugo how its done?” Varian and Hugo’s cheeks both flamed red, and Cyrus would have found it amusing if he didn’t know his doom was upon him.

Mona linked their arms and dragged him back towards the path and out of ear shot. She stopped in front of a blackberry bush and began to pick them. For one, glorious moment Cyrus thought they really were just here to get the desert, when Mona said, “You don’t approve of Varian.” It was not a question.

“It’s not my place,” Cyrus shifted uncomfortably. Because it really wasn’t. He wasn’t like Quirin. Hugo wasn’t his son. He could listen to his complaints sure, but he could hardly comment, or risk losing whatever fragile bond they had developed.

Mona snorted. “So you’re just going to glare at Varian all day?” she said, clearly seeing the issue and not at all agreeing with Cyrus’s method of disapproval.

Cyrus turned his head away, pulling a few more berries from the bush as he stayed stubbornly silent, not wanting to admit that yes, glaring was very childish.

Mona let out a sigh. “Could you tell me why you don’t approve?” Her voice was tired as she placed the blackberries she’d pulled free in an open jar.

Cyrus bit his lip. Why didn’t he approve? He hadn’t always, he’d helped Hugo leave to go with Varian and his friends after all. He’d seen how much these people meant to Hugo, and that they had been willing to fight Cyrus for him, and that had been enough. But then Donella had dragged him to the library, and it all went south.

“The library.” Cyrus struggled to put it into words. “When Donella revealed Hugo used to work for her, Varian got angry.” Angry didn’t even begin to describe it. The others had been angry, but Varian? He’d been so much worse.  “Really angry,” he added.

“I take it Hugo forgot to mention that detail earlier?” Mona asked dryly.

Cyrus shrugged. Because he knew that their anger was justified. It was Hugo after all. He was terrible at expressing his emotions, and although Cyrus knew how much it had taken him to leave, he was also absolutely certain Hugo did not explain this to Varian or the others. But then again...

“It's not just the anger, it was something more. The look in his eyes..” Cyrus shook his head, unable to put it into words.

Cyrus took half a step towards Hugo’s trembling form, but a single look from Varian froze him in his tracks. It wasn’t a look of heartbreak or a caged animal like he’d expected. No. It was a look that Cyrus had only seen a few times, in men so unhinged even the guild refused to lend them thugs. The look of a man who would burn the whole world to the ground to kill a single man.

In the second their eyes were locked, Cyrus felt all the air in the room sucked out as the agonizing aura of fear overpowered him. Then Varian turned his head and stomped into the library, ending the moment.

Cyrus gasped with relief as the portal shut behind Varian’s retreating back. Donella was swearing, but Cyrus only felt gratitude to whatever being out there watched over thugs. He knew if Varian had chosen to attack all three of them would have died, alchemic genius and brute strength be damned.  

Mona placed a gentle hand on Cyrus’s cheek, grounding him back to reality. Her face creased with concern as she asked, “Did he do anything to you or Hugo?”

Cyrus shook his head. “He just left.” Mona breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay,” she said. “So he scared you, and that’s no easy feat. But Cyrus,” she bit her lip, “he didn’t actually do anything. Right?” Cyrus grimaced, but Mona stopped him with a look. “No Cyrus, that’s important. When it comes down to it. He didn’t hurt Hugo, and he didn’t hurt you.”

She was right, Cyrus begrudgingly admitted to himself. But somehow the thought didn’t make him feel any better.

Mona sighed, leaning forward until her weight shifted half onto Cyrus in a slight hug. “He reminded me a bit of myself you know,” she mumbled into Cyrus’s shoulder.

“Impossible,” Cyrus said, Mona was nowhere near as terrifying as Varian had been. Except for when he walked muddy boots onto her nice clean floors one to many times, or when she saw those bruises on the neighbor kid, or... He shook his head to stop that train of thought.

“He was so eager to please,” Mona continued, “and afraid to be a burden. He helped me in the kitchen, when even Hugo didn’t think to.” And Cyrus remembered she’d mentioned that before.

Mona tilted her head up to look him in the eye. “You’ve only seen him at his worst Cyrus, but today? It's an opportunity! We can both watch how he interacts with Hugo, and see how he behaves day to day. And besides,” she gave him a wry grin, “if all he did at his worst was lock himself away, I’d say Hugo’s in pretty good hands.”

Cyrus’s shoulders sagged as he realized he’d been beaten once again. “Fine,” he grunted. “I’ll try to keep an open mind.”

“Thank you darling!” Mona stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the nose. Cyrus blushed, and pulled her close.

“What is taking you so long?!” Hugo shouted down the path and they hastily broke apart.

------------

Two seconds on the boat led Cyrus to realize two things that were very important. The first was that he knew absolutely nothing about fishing. He gazed over the strange rods with wires and hooks and vaguely horrid smell of canned sardines with complete confusion.

“Here,” Quirin pushed a fishing rod into Cyrus’ hands. “Can you string your own line?”

Cyrus’ hand automatically closed over the rod, and Quirin took this to mean he knew what he was doing and turned to offer a rod to Mona and Hugo. Cyrus blinked blankly down at the pole in his hands, wondering what he was supposed to do now. He glanced at Hugo and Mona, but they seemed equally lost.

Quirin completed handing out the rods and turned his attention to his own, hands moving in quick, easy motions as he wove the line through the hoops. Cyrus couldn’t catch all the details, but it seemed simple enough. He turned his attention to his own rod.

Carefully, he put the string through the first little ring. There. He stopped to admire his work. That wasn’t so hard. The string promptly slipped out of the little ring, and Cyrus realized this was going to take a while.

He threaded the little ring again, then the next and the next. He glanced at Quirin’s but found it still didn’t look right. Perhaps he was supposed to loop it? Yeah, so it could catch fish. He was pretty sure that was right. He tried looping the next ring, but it only succeeded in making it harder for the string to move. He tried to undo it, but found it had knotted. Oh no. He gave the string a sharp tug, but that only seemed to make a larger knot.

“Do you need a hand?” Varian offered and Cyrus nearly jumped out of his skin as he found the boy leaning over him, blue eyes wide. He looked the picture of innocence, but Cyrus could barely suppress the shutter that seemed to fill him as Varian blocked out the warmth of the sun. Beside him Mona leaned close, either as a comfort or a warning to behave.

“Yeah Cyrus, do you need a hand?” Hugo gave a mocking call, highlighting the second thing Cyrus had realized: that Hugo set him up to fail. Hugo didn’t know anything about fishing, so he’d invited Cyrus and Mona along to make even bigger fools of themselves and in turn make Hugo look like less of an idiot in front of Varian and his father. It was actually quite clever. Cyrus just wished he’d been up front about it so Cyrus would have had a better game plan.

“I’ll be fine,” Cyrus grunted, and Varian’s face fell. Cyrus braced for the worst, but nothing happened except for the biggest puppy dog eyes Cyrus had ever seen on a grown man. Mona frowned at him, and Cyrus held back a sigh. He had promised he would try.

“Why don’t you help Hugo instead,” he said as a sort of peace offering, pointing to Hugo’s own unstrung rod. Hugo scowled at him, clearly not happy at Cyrus for redirecting everyone’s attention to his own failings. Cyrus raised an eyebrow in response as Varian hurried to Hugo’s side. Hugo was getting the attention he clearly craved, so who was he to complain? And besides, it served him right for not being upfront about the whole thing.

Quirin’s eyebrows knit together as he watched Varian calmly instruct Hugo in how to thread the fishing rod. No doubt he was wondering if Hugo was really as clueless as his uncle, or just pretending to have Varian’s full attention.

Cyrus used the time to quietly cut his line out of its knots and castaway the smaller bits. He glanced back up to see if anyone had noticed, to find Mona watching him with an amused grin.

Cyrus blushed and turned his attention hurriedly to Varian and Hugo. Varian really was being very patient with him. He was snarking Hugo sure, but Cyrus could see his hands moving gently against Hugo’s as he directed him to the proper movements. Hugo’s lips quirked up, and Cyrus knew he was enjoying himself.

Mona gave Cyrus a slight nudge to say, see what I mean? And Cyrus hunched his shoulders. Because yes, he could see what she meant. A point to Varian. But one point wasn’t enough to stand against the thousand points he’d lost at the Library.

“Would you like some help Auntie?” Varian offered as he finished up with Hugo, a warm smile on his lips.

“I would love some help,” Mona smiled, and nudged Cyrus again to signal he should ask. Cyrus very deliberately did not ask, and she shot him a pout over Varian’s shoulder before turning her attention fully to the rod beneath her fingertips.

Varian began to speak, explaining in simple words what each of the rings were and the loopy thing, and how the rod was supposed to be strung like it was a needle. Mona listened attentively, and carefully moved to do as he asked.

Varian seemed to be speaking a bit louder than he was technically needed to, but Cyrus didn’t say anything. Instead he carefully moved his hands to follow the instructions without bringing any attention to it at all.

That’s two more points, he begrudgingly admitted to himself as he held up the finished rod. Three if he counted the way Varian had tried to shield his ego.

Maybe there was hope for him after all.

--------------

Fishing, it turned out, involved a lot of sitting around in the boat, waiting for a fish to catch on their lines. Which also led to a lot of room for conversation. Cyrus was beginning to see why Hugo had wanted him and Mona here, and not just to make him look like less of a fool. He’d also wanted two human shields to help prevent the one-sided interrogation that Quirin kept trying to start.

Mona and Cyrus did their best, but Quirin had the determination of a man who wants to stop his son from doing something very stupid. He kept pushing, and there was only so much about Hugo’s personal life they could believably answer.

“So Hugo,” Quirin smiled as he began his 45th question, “how are you adjusting to working at the eternal library?” As far as his questions went, this one was actually quite simple, clearly meant to ease the annoyed looks that Varian was shooting him. But the simple mention of the library in such a tense situation made the hairs on Cyrus’ neck stand on edge.

“Lovely,” Hugo waved a hand. “I have more knowledge than I could ever dream and the perfect partner to discover it all with.” He shot Varian a dopey smile, and the other boy blushed.

“Cyrus works there too!” Mona happily reminded them all, no doubt hoping to redirect the growing frown on Quirin’s face as Hugo leaned closer into Varian’s personal space. Help! her expression said.

Quirin turned to look at Cyrus with interest. “You do?” Cyrus gave a sharp nod. “Tell me,” Quirin leaned forward on his hands, and too late Cyrus realized this must be what he was going for from the beginning. “How is the library doing? It would be nice to hear about how the front is managing itself, and not just the research my son tells me of.”

Cyrus wondered if perhaps Quirin didn’t fully approve of Varian’s new job just as much as he didn’t approve of Hugo. Or if he’d just heard the rumors about the place and was worried. Either way, Cyrus felt he owed the man an answer.

“Business is slow,” he said bluntly, and Varian winced. “But it's steady, and growing every day.” Quirin didn’t look fully convinced, so Cyrus decided to elaborate. “No one’s been cursed yet,” he offered. “And our little fae has mostly stopped stealing back the books now she’s seen they get returned.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hugo glare. Why would you mention your imaginary friend? His expression said.

Quirin however, looked intrigued. “A fae you say?” he said, rubbing his chin. “Those are rare nowadays.” Cyrus saw Hugo’s mouth fall open in shock. “Tell me,” Quirin continued. “Have you tried giving her offerings?”

“Quite a few,” Cyrus’ lips quirked up, feeling a slight spark of smug pleasure in another acknowledging the silver-haired fae’s existence. “Just yesterday I offered Mona’s special honey cookies and milk.”

“Did it work?” Quirin asked. Cyrus shook his head. “Hmmm,” Quirin mused. “Honey and milk usually does it. It worked on the lake sprites that were giving the village some trouble a few years back.”

“Lake sprites did what now?” Varian gaped, but both men ignored him.

“Perhaps our library fae is just more stubborn than the lake sprites,” Cyrus shrugged, and instantly regretted it. What had Grandpa always said? Never insult a fae while in their domain?

He glanced around, but nothing seemed to change. Cyrus had just enough time to breathe a sigh of relief when Mona’s line gave a sharp tug. She startled, having been more engaged in the conversation than the rod, and pulled with all her might. But whatever was on the other side pulled with the strength no normal fish could have, and sent Mona flying over the side of the boat.

Cyrus reached out for her foot as it flew by his head, but his fist closed over empty air. No. Cyrus grabbed the edge of the boat, and with one mighty leap, hurled himself across the lake to where his wife had disappeared beneath the water.

It was not until after his head had fully submerged that the panic of “Mona can’t swim!” Became “I can’t swim!” He struggled in the water. waving his arms and legs about in a desperate hope that it might keep him afloat. The water flooded his open mouth, stealing his air away. He kicked harder, struggling against the current of water pulling him down.

Something hard collided with his back, tugging him forcefully to the surface. His head broke the water and he gasped, gulping down as much air as he could. Whatever it held him in place, strangely buoyant. He craned his neck around, to see something bright and pink was stuck to his back and arms.

“You absolute imbecile,” a very familiar voice said. Cyrus looked up to see Hugo standing above him, balanced on the buoyant pink that kept them both afloat.

“Hugo!” Cyrus cried. “Mona! Save Mona!” But Hugo ignored him, instead using a rope to pull them closer to the line. Strong arms pulled him upwards into the boat, and without the mobility of his arms, there really wasn’t much he could do.

“Mona!” he cried again, only to hear an answering,

“Cyrus!” he turned, a difficult feat with the strange pink substance still stuck to his back, to see Mona, soaking wet and covered in the same pink substance but breathing and alive. “Oh Cyrus!” Mona sobbed, and threw herself towards him. Cyrus tried to catch her, but found he still could not move his arms. Instead they lay against each other, drinking in each other’s presence.

“Now everyone is saved,” Hugo patted Cyrus’ shoulder and gave a tight smile. “What the hell were you thinking?” His hand closed into a fist.

Cyrus blinked. “Mona can’t swim.” He pointed out.

“Neither can you, you absolute idiot!” Hugo was shaking with fury. If Cyrus didn’t know better, he’d say he was afraid. “You never use your head! If you’d thought for even one moment, you’d have known there were better people to go after her!”

“You jumped in too,” Cyrus pointed out, feeling this whole tirade was somewhat hypocritical. “You can’t swim either.”

“Actually I can,” Hugo sniffed. “Varian taught me.” Cyrus looked over at Varian, who was standing awkwardly to the side, water dripping from his hair to his goggles. Teaching Hugo a life saving skill? That was worth at least fifty points. Varian ducked his head.

“He swam me to the boat!” Mona added, voice muffled as she spoke against Cyrus’ chest. And okay, saving Mona from near drowning was another fifty points. Still far from the thousand points he’d lost, but an impressive enough improvement to drive home how he really should take Mona’s advice.

“Gonna get us out of here?” He grunted at Varian, who’s head snapped up.

“I don’t know,” Hugo crossed his arms. “I think we should just leave you in there, so you don’t go jumping back in the lake.” Quirin frowned, and Hugo added hastily, “But Mona we can get out.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Varian rolled his eyes. “Here,” he said to Cyrus with a shy smile. “Let me help.” He uncorked a small vial, and poured the strange green liquid over Cyrus’s shoulders. Cyrus could feel the pink substance crackle and break as he drew his arms forward to cradle Mona, who was still stuck. Varian leaned over her, and Cyrus watched the pink slowly crumble off her shoulders.

“Thank you,” Mona gave a slight smile, and Cyrus felt her pull closer against him, body shivering.

“I think that’s enough fishing for today,” Quirin said, and Cyrus and Mona were quick to nod along. It was time to go back home.

-------------

“Can I talk to you son?” Quirin said casually as he and Hugo pulled in the boat. “Man to man?”

Cyrus stiffened. A sneak attack when everyone was beginning to relax. How hadn’t he seen this coming? He looked at Hugo, trying to convey the message, do you need me to follow in case of ambush?

Hugo’s shoulders slumped as he let out a long sigh. “Sure Quirin,” he said. He shot Cyrus a look that clearly said, come get me if I scream. Then he took a deep breath and followed Quirin, looking for all the world like a man going to his own execution.

As they moved around the bend and out of view, Cyrus realized he and Mona had been left alone with Varian. Great. Now what?

Varian shifted, tugging at his sleeve. “So I guess this is the time when you tell me not to break Hugo’s heart?” he asked, voice an octave higher.

Mona and Cyrus looked at each other. Cyrus sighed. “It’s not my place to tell Hugo what he can or can’t do. I’m not his father.” He said, getting really tired of people expecting him to have some kind of authority over Hugo. Mona raised an eyebrow and he shook his head. Really he didn’t. The last person to tell Hugo not to do something was Donella, and look how well that worked out. Mona looked down, seeming to understand.

“Oh,” Varian looked down, and Mona bit her lip.

“You know he’s not actually related to us right?” she offered. “That day he brought you over, I’d never seen him in person before.”

“I’m just a guy who worked for Donella,” Cyrus added, because Varian needed to understand that Hugo didn’t have anyone else, he’d given up his closest connection for Varian.

“Yeah, but,-” Varian’s brow wrinkled, “-you still helped him. And when my Dad suggested a family fishing trip, he insisted you guys come. You guys might not be related, but you’re important to him. And,-” His eyes met Cyrus’ blazing with a determined fire, “-I want Hugo’s family to approve of me.”

Cyrus starred back, feeling frozen one again under that familiar glare. For the first time, he wondered if maybe Varian was as intimidated of Cyrus as he was of him. The thought was almost laughable, he’d read up on Varian, he knew what he was really capable of. There was no way he’d be able to beat him if the boy decided to go all out. But then again, there were other ways to hurt someone.

What had it been Mona had said to him when they’d been on their way to introduce her to the thug guild?

“I just really want them to like me,” she’d confided when he’d asked why she was so nervous. “I want to be with you forever, and I don’t want to make that forever miserable for you.

Cyrus sighed. “I’m still not going to threaten you,” he said, and then because Varian looked far too happy to hear that he added, “I wouldn’t want you to see it coming.”

Varian’s face fell as Mona let out a peal of laughter. “Cyrus!” she giggled. “Hugo’s an adult now! You can’t go killing off his problems anymore!”

“He what now?” Varian’s eyes widened in alarm as he looked between Cyrus and Mona.

“There was only one,” Cyrus grunted, and Varian paled.

“He deserved it,” Mona waved a hand. “Don’t worry darling, you’d have to kill a few animals in front of their owners before you even came close.”

“I-” Varian started, looking hopelessly lost. “I think I’m missing something.”

“Welcome to the family kid,” Cyrus smiled as he saw Quirin and Hugo heading back around the bend. “You’ll get used to it.”