#i got one more brain blerp on prosthetic limbed Hugo but its late and im tired and i got work early in the morning

[lollygaggingloser]

Did someone say more prosthetic limbed Hugo? No? I'm just hearing things? Awesome, here's more:

When Nuru joins the team, Hugo and her get on the wrong foot instantly. The trio break into the Koto castle during a ball to find the next trial, and Hugo tries to sweet talk his way around Nuru to find the trial's location. His fake charm is something she sees right through as a princess used to having people take advantage of her as a young royal. At some point, Hugo pivots his plan from getting info from Nuru to keeping Nuru distracted so Yong and Varian can sneak by into closed off areas. Nuru catches them slipping by and tries to warn the guards, but Hugo steps in her way to keep up the distraction. Upset, she pushes through Hugo who loses his balance and falls, either landing on his prosthetic arm or knee wrong and slightly damaging it. Nuru realizes that Hugo is disabled when this happens and unlike Varian or Yong, she treats him like some unfortunate victim, apologizing profusely to him for her behavior and asking if there's anything she can do to help him. While her reaction irks him, Hugo assures her he's fine and uses the situation to keep her attention for just a bit longer. What really pisses him off though is when she orders the guards to carry him to a chair where he can 'rest'. Being manhandled this way humiliates him, and he hates the looks of pity that other ball attendees give him. Eventually, Hugo manages to slip away to join Varian and Yong before all three are caught before they can enter the trial and Nuru questions their actions. While Varian convinces Nuru that they need to complete the trial for their journey to the eternal library, she decides to join the group, to which Hugo tries to persuade Varian and Yong to not let her tag along. Varian and Yong accept Nuru's help in the trial and Nuru spends her time not only helping with the trials puzzles, but offering Hugo help whenever the group has to go through rough terrain, offering to hold his hand or carry items for him. She thinks she's being genuinely kind to Hugo, but it's making him feel coddled, and he detests it.

At some point in the trial, Hugo and Nuru get separated from Varian and Yong through a trap door that they fall through when Nuru tries helping him. With Nuru's excessive pampering, Hugo rudely responds to her that he doesn't need her help and they wouldn't have fallen into the trap if she minded her own business. They argue, Nuru not understanding why Hugo is being difficult when she's just trying to help, and Hugo insisting he's not a charity case for some princess to get an ego boost from. After letting out pent up steam through their fight, the two notice symbols on the ceiling that display the constellations. To open up the pathway forward, all constellations from the Ursa Major family need to be touched, glowing a bright blue from human touch. Since the ceiling is rather high, Hugo instructs Nuru step onto his shoulders to reach the ceiling. Nuru doesn't want to, worried about Hugo’s prosthesis until the blond insults her, saying "Look, if you don't know which constellations to push, you can just tell me instead of pretending you're above stepping on others. Figures, I'm stuck with a saccharine halfwitted princess."

Out of spite, she goes along with Hugo's plan and stands on his shoulders to touch the constellations. At some point, she hears Hugo groan as he walks toward the next constellation, but before she can offer him a break from holding her up, Hugo goes "I thought princesses are supposed to be light. If part of me weren't metal, my bones wouldn't be able to carry your heaviness", making Nuru scoff at him and respond "Oh, can it! I don't need a talking step stool."

Eventually, all constellations are touched and the two rejoin Varian and Yong as a door opens. While Hugo and Nuru still don't like each other when they finish the trial, at that point, Nuru stops being so accommodating to Hugo and learns to interact with him without his disability coming into frame with their interactions. To her, he's no longer this poor angry person who's rough around the edges due to his handicap, but just a rude smartass that happens to have a prosthetic limb. They are not friends, far from it, but it's still a step up from where they began.

Part 1

Part 2