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Varian’s eyes, heavy with dark circles and sleep-deprived, scanned his mother’s journal with relentless focus. His hair was a tangled mess, and he absentmindedly tugged at the blue streak in it, struggling to stay awake as the pages turned one after another. He had been at this all through the previous night, chasing the secrets hidden in the words.
Despite how fruitless his efforts appeared to be, he pressed on, as an attempt to use time to good advantage, given the days he and his team were staying in camp. However, his limited food intake and unorganized sleep schedule—plus, uncooperative party members—made it almost impossible to decipher the journal. So, in the midst of his personal hell, he hoped all the magical none-sense said about the eternal library was all worth the detriment of his health.
When going through one of the journal’s pages (which words had lost total sense by then) for a second time, thinking he was getting somewhere; he heard an annoyingly familiar screech coming a feet or two from behind him; it was Hugo’s, who he didn’t even register coming into the tent until then. Turning himself around stiffly, Varian saw the other boy wrestling against Ruddiger, as the creature aggressively refused to quit pulling at his hair; which would’ve been incredibly funny, if Varian wasn’t in a literal zombie state.
The brunette huffed in irritation, feeling his left eye twitch at the sight. “Oh, please! I’m trying to study here!” He groaned, throwing one of his hands to hit the desk.
Ruddiger kept on with pulling and scratching, and Hugo winced at the pain even more. “Sorry to bother you, Goggles. But I think I could use a hand right now..”
“Ruddiger, get down! Now!” Varian stood up and raised his voice, as well as his index finger, determinedly pointing it to Ruddiger, and then to the floor, in a scolding.
It had become a routine seeing them have some kind of fight everyday over something silly. However, at some point Ruddiger and Hugo always found a way to fill Varian’s patience, like at that moment. Especially after Hugo tripped on something while trying to get Ruddiger off from him, and fell over a nearby table along with the raccoon, messing Varian’s stuff by accident.
“Enough! The hell is wrong with you two?!” Varian gestured fiercely at both of them. “Look what you did! You messed everything up!”
“Tell that only to the savage you call your pet. He jumped on me when I came into the lab!” Hugo replied, as he managed to stand up from the floor with difficulty. Luckily, Ruddiger no longer bothered him, as he had leaped away after falling on the table. Yet, Hugo’s hair was still a mess, and his face was scratched.
Varian threw his arms in the air. “Shut up!” He yelled, with tears forming in his eyes from the exhaustion. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to focus on this hell-hole of a journal, with you two messing around? The brunette gestured fiercely at the book. “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in the days we’ve been staying here, in the hope of working this out quicker than usual, but it’s been impossible with you!”
The older boy rolled his eyes. He tried to ignore the pinch of guilt he felt at seeing Varian so wasted, who quickly wiped out the tears forming in his eyes. “Well, if you just weren’t so secretive and distrustful, and showed me the content of that journal from the first moment, I could’ve helped you figure it out a lot earlier. It’s teamwork, Stripes.” He suggested, fixing his hair into his distinctive ponytail as he spoke.
“Don’t bring that into the conversation, that’s unrelated.” Varian rolled his eyes at the topic. He promised himself he’d never let Hugo see the journal’s secrets. “All I’m asking is for you to leave me alone; not annoying me is the bare minimum you can do as a team member, and yet you can’t even get that right!”
“Did your fat brain miss what I said? I told you the trash panda jumped into my head once I walked into the lab. It wasn’t my fault!”
Varian crossed his arms, giving him an unsurprised look. “You two fight because you’re always annoying him. And, even though sometimes it seems like he started the fight, he is just doing it in retaliation for your past actions. Besides, don’t tell me you can handle a pet raccoon on your own.” The critter climbed on Varian’s shoulder, sticking his tongue out at Hugo.
“I just did, thank you. And for the record, I’ve met wild raccoons with more manners and etiquette than yours.”
“You’re no one to speak, Hugo. You search these situations for yourself with your behavior.”
“Victim blaming is bad, Goggles.”
“Whatever, feed your ego alone. I’m busy.” Varian groaned, and turned away from the older boy, back again to sitting on his desk. Ruddiger decided he preferred Varian’s lap rather than his shoulder, so he rubbed himself on Varian’s stomach, catching the boy’s attention almost immediately. Regardless of the scene it did, how could he deny the critter’s affection?
“Don’t you think that exempts you from behaving properly as well.” The alchemist muttered to Ruddiger in a mushy tone, leaning in to kiss him on his fluffy temples with utmost affection.
Hugo’s chest tightened at the sight, and he even felt his own cheeks burning. It was so annoying he even rolled his eyes to avoid the feeling. Hugo avoided putting too much thought into it, but his brain betrayed him everytime Varian did something cute, especially when displaying affection to Ruddiger. Just thinking about it made him get ridiculously flustered in ways he couldn’t begin to understand.
As much as he irrationally wished to demand Varian's affection, like the Raccoon had just done (as if he could ever ask that from him), Hugo swallowed back the urge, knowing better. Instead, he joked bitterly:
“Comforting the aggressor, how very noble of you.” He said, unable to keep the pinch of frustration from lingering out of his tone.
Varian turned to him, clearly amused.
“Ah. Jealous, are we, Blondie? Want a kiss too?” Varian teased, his eyes twinkling in that infuriating way Hugo had learnt to love and hate at the same time, expecting a reaction from him.
Hugo cleared his throat noisily, in his attempt to disguise a squeak of surprise; blushing cherry red as he did. Hugo usually did the “do not confuse teasing with flirting” game, not Varian. Whenever Varian turned the tables, it sent him reeling.
“That’s what I thought.” Varian chuckled, stroking Ruddiger, who was still settled on his lap. Fuck I wish that was me— Hugo’s brain supplied traitorously. If only he could be the fluffy animal for one day of his life, and get Varian's undying affection for the first time in his miserable cold life—
“Fine, just let me say one last thing.” Varian rolled his eyes, and Hugo took it as permission to continue. “It might be good to teach your trash panda some manners. It’s really not ideal for him to attack anyone he doesn’t like. Makes his owner seem… uncivilized.” Hugo smiled smugly. “I mean, unless that’s the vibe you’re going for.” He chuckled.
“Counter argument—how about we teach you some manners, Hugo?”
“Oh. I had no idea you were naughty like that, Goggles.” Hugo smirked. “How exactly are you planning on doing it?” The blonde crooned, leaning in, clearly enjoying the escalation.
In the midst of teasing, Varian’s eyes suddenly lit up with an idea, Hugo could swear he almost saw a flame in them, and chill went down his large spine. It could mean great things—or complete chaos.
“How do you feel about social experiments?” Varian asked him, putting an inquisitive hand to his chin, with a mischievous look. Hugo squinted in confusion.
“Uh.. Not really my thing. Why?”
Varian grinned. “If any action you inflicted on Ruddiger was given back to you by me, would you be nicer to him?”
Ah. Of course, Varian would make this into an experiment. At the sound of his name, the raccoon perked up, almost as if he understood the stakes.
“Where’s the catch?”
“There’s no catch, I just think getting a taste of your own medicine might be... educational. Humbling, even.” Varian’s condescending tone held a dare. “But if it’s too much for you to handle I get it.”
The blonde leaned in, flashing a cocky grin. “So. A challenge, huh?”
“Yeah. If you say so.”
————————————————————————————
Hugo got a fun wicked idea.
Knowing Hugo (kind of), Varian thought that he’d take this as a funny silly little game but anything serious. Hugo was willing to prove him wrong.
Later at night, Hugo slipped into the lab; in the hopes of finding Varian. Who he walked into running alchemical tests, with Ruddiger, of course. Seeing them in identical goggles and gloves made him snicker.
“Is there room for a third wheel, or should I just leave?” Hugo called, walking in unannounced.
At his presence, Varian lost focus on the experiment, and almost tripped in surprise. However, instead of being annoyed by Hugo, the brunette felt a heartfelt smile forming on his mouth, as well as his cheeks getting ruddy after almost falling. He quickly suppressed the smile; biting his lip.
“Hey.” The alchemist chuckled nervously, turning to eye him. “Ready to give up?” He teased, with a bit of confidence, moving his goggles up to his head to reveal his doe eyes. Hugo maintained eye contact for a hot second, enchanted at the way the lab’s tender light managed to warm up Varian’s icy colored eyes, as well as his already soft features. Feeling his own face burn, he diverted his sight to the floor, starting to pace around slowly.
“Nah. I’m here to show you how seriously I’m taking this, actually. Starting from now.” Hugo grabbed a nearby chair and sat on it, facing its back, going back to stare at Varian’s eyes. “You said I’d have to do unto Ruddiger, as I would have you do unto me, right?”
“Well, in other words. But yeah. What about it?” The smaller boy asked, and Hugo ignored him.
“Good. Check this out.” The blonde got an apple out from his bag, and continued to whistle. To which Ruddiger chittered in response to the stimulus. He went to get the apple, but got stopped by a pair of scrawny arms, suddenly grabbing him close.
“Oh, Hugo—I wouldn’t do that if I were y—” Varian tried warning him, but before finishing his sentence, it was cut abruptly, as Hugo leaned in to kiss the critter right on top of his head; leaving the brunette stiff and silent, as well as the raccoon.
”Wait. Did you just....”
"Yeah." Hugo carefully let the raccoon down, and handed him the apple as if nothing had happened. The thief had a smug grin drawn to both edges of his face, hoping he had outsmarted Varian this time.
“I didn’t expect you’d actually play along!” The brunette’s cheeks turned crimson red. “This means I have to—” He cut himself in the middle of the sentence, and when he opened his mouth to finish it, he shutted it quickly again, in defeat; turning his head to the side. Varian’s brain went through confusion, surprise and embarrassment all at the same time, Hugo couldn’t help laughing at it.
“So? Where’s my kiss Stripes?” Hugo asked in full confidence, pleased with himself. And leaning in, he motioned hilarious kissing gestures. While the younger boy shot him killer glares, that seemed to go right through his body like knives.
Inevitably, Varian ended up kicking him out of the lab that night. Hugo thought it was worth it. He spent the rest of the night enjoying his victory, getting a good night’s sleep. While Varian was left more restless and red-faced.
————————————————————————————
The next morning, Hugo awoke, slightly groggy but feeling smug. He busied himself with maintenance work in the lab, occasionally taking small breaks to rest; on which he laid his head and arms on one of the lab’s tables, with his eyes closed, giving the idea he was taking a nap. During one of these intervals, someone came in, with Hugo being too tired to notice, or even care; until he felt slightly chapped lips pressing on his temple—a quick, soft kiss. For a second he almost opened his eyes in surprise, yet he didn’t, he couldn’t— Not after he registered Varian’s unique chemical-hinted scent so close to his face. Varian had kissed him! His face heated up immediately, in the same speed as he felt his breath slightly hitch, and his heart hit his chest frantically.
Regardless of this, he pretended to be asleep for what felt like ages, since the smaller boy paused for a couple of seconds to smell Hugo's blonde locks, before moving away, and finally leaving him alone.
Unable to move, or even speak; Hugo didn’t say anything to Varian at the moment. Unlike most of the time, Hugo was speechless, and motionless. He could still feel his heartbeat beating against his chest, as if it were trapped and trying to escape; leaving him to wonder if Varian felt it too when leaning in to kiss him.
After a long minute of dissonance, Hugo raised his head; catching a sight of his flushed face on one of the beakers of the lab, and muttered a curse on his breath.
Before standing up, and going back to work, or having a crisis, he glanced sideways; getting startled by Ruddiger, who looked at him in something only Hugo could describe as a smirk.
Maybe this time, he had gotten a taste of his own medicine.