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He ran, and ran, and ran. Water bubbled up to the surface of the room–he was no longer running. The totem was right in front of him… He was being forced to swim, forced to submerge, forced to drown–
Varian jolted awake in his bed. It was just a nightmare. He clutched at his chest for a moment, trying to slow his breathing. Deep breath in, deep breath out, and he had calmed himself down enough to wander off into his kitchen.
The clock on the oven Robin had installed read two-thirty in the morning. Varian heaved a sigh, pulling up a chair to the table and setting some coffee to brew.
He appreciated Robin so much. Her work on his mom's old cottage had done it some good. But now he was stuck with it for the rest of his life, stuck in Pelican Town–Varian sighed again. It wasn't a bad sigh, though. It was filled with contentment.
He pulled out his phone. There were three texts from Hugo.
Hugo - 2:19am
Goggles
Hugo - 2:19am
It's freakishly cold outside. don't even try to say anything about it being the middle of the night or else i'll smite you.
Hugo - 2:24am
You awake?
The farmer suppressed a chuckle. He closed his eyes and leaned back, taking in the air of his house. His phone dinged again before he could fall asleep like that.
Hugo - 2:31am
knock knock.
Varian stared at his phone. Wordlessly, he got up and made his way to the door. When he opened it, he was blasted with a rush of cool air and the smell of snow soon to come. And, of course, there was Hugo at the center of it.
“Welcome, Mr. I-can't-stay-out-of-Varian's-business.”
“Hello to you too, Mr. Insomniac.” Hugo rolled his eyes fondly. Varian smiled in turn.
Hugo shoved his way inside, pushing past an ever so curious Varian as he walked to the kitchen table. The smell of coffee was soon strong in the air. Varian was at the counter, making two mugs–one black as charcoal and the other sweet as honey. Their matching mugs filled to the brim, Varian finally noticed what Hugo was doing. He was setting up a small gift box looking thing.
Varian cocked his head, giving Hugo a skeptical look. Hugo gave him a look, seeming to convey “just open it,” with his eyes. Shrugging, Varian shifted over to the table and inspected the box. It was relatively small. What could Hugo have possibly hid in it?
Varian undid the bow on top, trying to ignore Hugo's smile that he could feel on the back of his head. He popped off the top, and inside… A gorgeous necklace with a greenish-bluish gem. Underneath, a pair of black, soft gloves. Varian smiled and put them on. He was surprised to find that they felt tight on his hands, but not too tight–they felt just right.
Hugo coughed into his fist, his face a bit more pink than usual. Varian assumed it was from the cold. “The necklace has fluorite in it. There's symbolism to it, clearing mental clutter and such, but… It was just pretty. Compliments your eyes.”
Varian's smile was now directed at Hugo. Hugo did not hold eye contact.
“And the gloves… compression gloves. You do a lot of hard work on the farm. I don't want you getting carpal tunnel.”
Varian laughed, “I appreciate it, Hugo. I'm just so tired…”
His laugh swiftly turned into a yawn and he looked out the window. He really hadn't been getting enough sleep lately. And what was Hugo doing up at two thirty anyway? He probably had important stuff to do too.
“Why are you up, anyway? And why'd you come here?” Varian asked sleepily. Why was he so drowsy now? This never happened after he woke up from a nightmare.
…Was it because Hugo was there?
Hugo piped up, “Well… I couldn't sleep. I figured you'd be up too, since you haven't really been sleeping lately. We could… watch a movie? Or I can just go home it'sreallynotanissue so sorry–”
Varian cut Hugo off by pressing a finger to his lips in order to shush him. He motioned to his couch and started walking, Hugo right behind. They sat down and as Varian looked for something good to watch– he would probably just put on one of his firefighter shows. They were interesting and he would die on that hill.
So, he did, and as he settled back into the cushions, he couldn't help but doze off. Instead of drinking and driving, drowning, or dying, his dreams were filled with… more embarrassing things. More embarrassing people. A certain tall, blonde, someone who had come over in the middle of the night to keep him company.
To keep him company.
Varian’s heart skipped a beat at that. And if he woke up just a few hours later to find that they had fallen asleep snuggled into each other, who was he to move himself?
~ ♡
Nuru didn't take it upon herself to check on Varian when he didn't respond to her texts. Much less Hugo. But, she was up to about ten missed calls and fifty seven unread texts, so she was getting a tad worried!
What she wasn't expecting, however, was the sight when she barged in.
“VARI– an?” Her voice quieted to a whisper when she saw the tell-tale bedhead of Hugo. Which says a lot, because he was sleeping on a couch.
They had both fallen asleep on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, holding each other. They both looked positively exhausted.
Who was she to wake them up?
Nuru smiled to herself and slinked back out the door. She hummed a familiar town tune as she made her way through the snow on the square. She decided that she'd go back home and get some rest. Her and Varian had been hard at work lately.
There'll be time later, she supposed. I'm just so tired.