#another brain blerp to end the year

[lollygaggingloser]

Nuru and Yong watched as Varian and Hugo argued again.

Nuru: So how long do you think it will be until they just kiss eachother and get over their silly squabbles?

Yong: That depends. Accidentally kiss or for real kiss? Cause they've already accidentally kissed and that only made them argue more. As for a for real kiss, that would have to wait until one of them realizes they like the other. Neither knows their own feelings yet, but I think Varian's closest to it.

Nuru (surprised): Have you been keeping track of their interactions?

Yong (nodding): It's been a long journey, and until you joined, I've only had Ruddiger and Olivia to make bets on who makes the first move. You wanna join?

Nuru: ...what are the current bets?

Yong: Olivia bets that Hugo will save Varian's life at some point and Varian will confess his feelings. Ruddiger bets Hugo will mess up our journey and apologize to Varian which will include his confession.

Nuru (thinking): Hugo does seem unreliable, but he's also saved you during the last trial.

Yong: Which makes both bets possible.

Nuru: What's yours?

Yong: I bet that they will have a big argument. Bigger than this one. And they will resolve it with a for real kiss.

Nuru (taking out a small handful of coins): They do like to argue...okay, I have my bet then. I bet these two will drag this on for so long that neither will confess until we make it to the eternal library.

Yong (writing down the bet and adding Nuru's coins to a bag containing more coins, shiny knick knacks, and apples): The winner gets the pot. And ties equally share it.

-----

For some strange reason, Varian and Hugo found that their teammates were adamant they be told exactly what happened in the eternal library at the end of their journey. The two did their best to explain how grand the library was and how meeting Varian's mother was a surprising and terrifying experience, but they weren't interested in those details. Instead, they were interested in how they reconciled and emerged out of the library as a couple. By the end of their explanation, Hugo and Varian were blushing from the embarrassment of it all.

The most confusing part was after telling their story, Nuru, Yong, Ruddiger, and Olivia were found splitting up the items in a brown bag that consisted of some coins, trinkets, and apples between each other. When Varian asked Yong what that was all about, he only answered.

"All of us made the correct bet."

[lollygaggingloser]

Hugo and the Holidays

Tangled/VAT7K brain blerp

Growing up, Hugo hated the holidays. He detested parties and any sort of festivities. Hugo found birthdays not worth celebrating (oh, you aged another year? So did millions of others), festivals a waste of resources (but a great cover to pickpocket and steal), and grand celebrations and eyesoring display of wealth from the royal and upper classes (what's more useless than swan ice sculptures?).

So it's insane when Rapunzel assigns him on the celebration committee during his first year working in Corona. Hugo tries to change Rapunzel's mind, but finds it futile when she expresses how thankful she is to have another helping hand since the committee has been short staffed recently. He wants to stay on Rapunzel's good side, since it was her who made the final decision to have him work in Corona (despite Fitzherbert's inital objections).

In the beginning, it sucks. Being in the committee takes sooo much time away from his work and spending time with Varian. And by the Sundrop, Corona has endless festivals! That doesn't even include competitions like the Challenge of the Brave and the Science Fair. Hugo nearly quits after the Good Will Gropher Grab, exhausted from setting up the arena and having to watch over the bim-berry eating rodent before the event. That is, until a couple of the townspeople thank him for a fun Gopher grab festival, mentioning how disastrous the event was a couple years back. He's not used to practical strangers showing such gratitude, so he gives them an awkward smile as they tell him they look forward to the next event.

During the Fall Harvest festival, Rapunzel encourages Hugo to enjoy a part of the evening with Varian, having Lance with Catalina and Kiera cover his post at the Lost and Found and Info booth. He's thankful for the break because he was forced to wake up early to help set up the food stalls. At first, he just wants to hide away and nap, but Varian persuades him to at least go on one hayride with him. Hugo agrees, and Varian takes him to the hayride area that Quirin operates. The ride is relaxing and the villagers and kids happily buzz about the festival games. Curious, the two try out some of the festival games and win prizes for each other. Getting hungry after playing some games, they visit the many food stalls showcasing the flavors of Old Corona's crops. At each stall they pass, the townspeople recognize Hugo as the committee member that helped them earlier in the day and offer him free food and secret menu items. Hugo declines at first, but the townspeople don't take no for an answer. Varian and Hugo end up trying all the different foods, enjoying the cuisine and laughing at the food items that miss the mark completely. Afterwards, Hugo makes his way back to the info booth, somehow having more energy than he did previously.

Each event brings him a litte closer to the people of Corona, and when he does have time to take part in the festivities, it surprises him that they're rather entertaining. At some point, he comes to the mindset of "Of course they're entertaining, I helped set them up, after all!" The science fair becomes a big hit that year with Varian winning first place and Hugo getting to meet other scientists across the multple kingdoms. Varian and him sign the book of Herz Der Sonne during the Romance festival, as embarrassing as it is. The royal celebration of Queen Arianna's birthday ends with an unforgettable fireworks display, courtesy of Hugo recommending Yong for the expert pyrotechnician job.

Rapunzel pays back the kindness by hosting a surprise belated birthday party for Hugo in the castle. She's sad to discover she had missed his birthday when bringing up the idea to Varian, but Varian assures her that Hugo doesn't really celebrate birthdays and wouldn't take offense to it being missed. Taking that into consideration, she only invites Hugo's closest friends and family to keep the celebration intimate. It's not as grand as the royal birthday party held before, but Hugo is taken aback by the gesture. He discovers the joy of these events thanks to those around him and it makes him all the more inspired to coordinate Corona's future celebrations; the Royal Snow Day, Yuletide Ceremony, New Year Celebration.

All of it culminates to the yearly Lantern Festival/Rapunzel's birthday that he spent weeks before coordinating with the rest of the committee. The morning of her birthday, Rapunzel informs Hugo to enjoy the full festival, having received an influx of volunteers for the event. Hugo does just that, taking in the fruits of his labor and celebrating the day with Varian and friends. He dances with Varian, having learned all of Corona's folk dances. He greets the towns people and interacts with them as if he's always been a part of the kingdom. He takes part in painting the festival mural. But most of all, he enjoys the celebrations full heartedly.

When Varian and him are alone at the end of the night, releasing their lanterns into the air, the two smile at each other.

"Another successful festival," Varian comments. "You really outdid yourself."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Hugo replied. "There's definitely ways I can improve it next year."

"About that," Varian noted. "Rapunzel told me the new volunteers enjoyed helping out so much that they'll be joining the celebration committee. Looks like the committee won't be short staffed anymore and you won't have to stay on it now."

"Oh....oh that's great.."

Hugo stared up at the floating lanterns, feeling disheartened at the thought of this being the last celebration he would help with. Had he known, he would have put more effort. Varian picked up on his boyfriend's small change of tone and slight frown.

"Of course, the volunteers are all newbies," Varian pointed out.

"...yeah?"

Varian nodded. "It's going to take time for them to learn the ropes and all of being part of the committee. I know you're dying to get back to more time in the lab, but Rapunzel would sure benefit from having you still on the committee during the transition period."

"Yeah..yeah! You're right!" Hugo agreed. "Someone has to teach these newbies how it's done. I can't have our summer plans get ruined by a group of inexperienced volunteers."

Varian chuckled as Hugo started to ramble about the plans the kingdom had for summer celebrations and how Rapunzel wants to create a new holiday for the anniversary of the Eternal Library opening.

"You don't mind though, right?" Hugo asked.

"Mind what?"

"Me spending time on these parties? There wasn't stuff like this in Ingvarr. At least not all the time. I know it's silly and all to be invested in another kingdom's holidays, but...I kind of...really like it. Is that weird? "

Varian smiled tenderly at him, leaning in and giving him a kiss. Hugo blushed as Varian pulled away, looking into his eyes that gleamed in the lantern light.

"Of course not. It's not weird to enjoy our kingdom's holidays."