Work Text:
Varian blinked at the failed project sat on the wooden desk in front of him. This was the fourth time that he had exploded something tonight, and it would be surprising if nobody in the castle heard. He just couldn’t focus, no matter how hard he tried.
As much as he hated to admit it, Varian’s head hurt. His whole body hurt. It felt like everything was on fire, and not in a good way. Was that going to stop him from working though? Hell no. It’s just a silly fever. How pathetic would it look if Varian took time off working in the lab for a little sickness? Pretty pathetic.
Varian’s blinking soon turned into squinting, the light in the room suddenly becoming too bright for his liking. He stood up from his chair, leaning on the desk to steady him, and made an attempt to reach the other side of the room where the door was. It was only a fever, it could be sorted with a sip of water.
After minute of almost collapsing on the spot and struggling, Varian made it to the door, which he leant on whilst pushing it open.
Come on Varian, it’s just a headache, a stupid fever. You can carry on working.
He huffed then forced himself to walk out into the hallways of the castle. Each step took loads of energy out of him, leaving Varian out of breath after taking two or three steps.
He wasn’t going to go back to bed for a headache. (Even though it was much worse than a headache.)
He never stopped working for something as small as a headache.
Varian stumbled into the castle’s kitchen, snatching a glass from the side and putting under the tap. He waited until is was semi-full then brought the glass to his lips, gulping the whole thing down and shaking his head.
That should be sorted now, right?
But he was wrong, as Varian only felt worse. His head felt heavy, as if gravity had quietly doubled. The ache in his shoulders spread across his body, making it difficult to do a task as simple as looking at the glass in front of him, or noticing someone walking into the kitchen and towards him.
”Goggles?” A familiar voice said from behind him, erupting a quiet groan from Varian.
He turned around and wasn’t surprised in the slightest when he sees his beloved partner Hugo. Varian blinked a few times again and coughed, trying to quickly cover up the state he was clearly in. His ocean blue eyes stared up into Hugo’s emerald ones. Varian didn’t miss the blonde’s smug smile either.
”Hi… Hugo.” Varian mumbled, though it was meant to be louder than what actually came out.
“You look pale. You doing okay?” Despite Hugo’s smug expression, there was a hint of worry in his eyes. He’s still going to be worried about his boyfriend, even if the only reason he came in here was to tease him.
Varian sniffed, leaning on his hands which were gripping onto the edge of the counter behind him. He cleared his throat and again, tried his best to cover up the fact that he is so obviously dying inside.
”Yup, perfect! Couldn’t feel-“ A loud cough coming from nowhere interrupted him, which he covered with his elbow. “… Better,”
Hugo crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. He could see right through Varian’s lies, and his appearance wasn’t helping his case.
”Yeah… sure. Maybe you should go to bed?” He suggested, looking down at the smaller boy with a more concerned face rather than teasing.
”I’m fine, Hugh. Just a cough.”
As if on cue, Varian started coughing hysterically into his arm, spitting a bit of phlegm into the bin next to them. He laughed weakly and stared back up at Hugo, who was shaking his head at the state of Varian.
”S-See…?” He smiled a little, as if the smile would convince the blonde in front of him that he was well and able to work.
”Mhm, no. You’re going to bed, goggles,” Hugo uncrossed his arms and places his hands on Varian’s shoulders, pulling the smaller boy closer by a few inches.
This got a whine out of Varian, obviously not wanting to go to bed. He wanted to work. Well, to prove that he was able to work to Hugo and whoever else thought he wasn’t well enough. He wasn’t weak, a stupid fever wasn’t going to stop him from doing his job. Plus, Varian had worked through worse sicknesses when he was younger.
“No… M’fine. Seriously,” He pushed Hugo’s chest weakly, a sad attempt to get out of the blonde’s grasp.
Seeing this, Hugo slowly spun Varian around so his back was against his chest, wrapping his arms around Varian’s shoulders and holding his arms back so it was difficult to push away.
”I’m being serious,” He moved his head so it was hovering just above his boyfriend’s shoulder. “You’re going to bed.”
Varian shook his head once again, giving up on trying to stand on his own since Hugo clearly wasn’t moving unless it was to put him to bed. He sighed whilst slowly leaning into the touch, but not agreeing to going to sleep.
”… Stupid.” Varian mumbled under his breath, making Hugo move his head closer to look at him.
”You look stupid, for sure.” Hugo responded, a smirk growing back on his face.
”Ha-ha. Very funny.”
”I am funny.”
That got a glare from Varian. He wasn’t in the mood for his boyfriend’s bullshit today, and the shit-eating grin on Hugo’s face wasn’t helping. Though, it did almost distract him from all the aching in his body, which soon came back after a few seconds. Varian sniffled, wiping his nose, which was ridiculously runny, with his sleeve, covering the edges with mucus. He found it disgusting and embarrassing, especially because it was in front of his boyfriend. Varian looked down, an attempt to cover his now pink cheeks from said boyfriend.
”… Don’t look at me.” This only made Hugo look at him.
After a ‘little’ bit of bickering and physical force, Hugo had finally got Varian into their bed. Of course, he wasn’t too happy about being forced into rest when he could be working, but Hugo was stubborn when he wanted to be, leaving Varian with little to no choice.
Hugo sat on the edge of the bed which Varian was tucked in to, causing it to dip slightly. Their eyes met once again, the two boys staring at each other. Hugo smiled softly at the sight of his boyfriend.
”You-“ Varian was cut off again by a sharp cough that hit right to the back of his throat. “… You can go. I don’t want you getting sick ‘cause of me.”
Hugo almost laughed at that. As if he was going to leave Varian alone when he was in this state.
“I’m not leaving you when you’re sick, V. Plus, it’s funny seeing you like this,” Clearly, he was referencing to the fact that Hugo could say whatever he wanted to Varian right now and he wouldn’t have the strength to fight back.
Of course Hugo wasn’t going to take advantage of that, he can be caring when he needs to be. Varian tried to protest, but gave up after opening his mouth. He’d already lost to Hugo once today, he couldn’t be bothered losing again.
”Mmm, ‘kay.” He shuffled over, leaving room for Hugo to climb in next to him.
And he did, which Varian was not too happy about as he didn’t want to get the blonde sick as well.
”Can I… hug you?” Hugo said quieter than usual. Even though the two had been dating for quite a while now, they still asked for permission in bed.
”When do you ever ask,” Varian mumbled, sniffling.
Hugo wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, pulling him snug against him. He didn’t care if he got sick looking after Varian, the only thing that Hugo cared about in that moment was making sure he was okay.
Despite being in a mood because of their position, Varian couldn’t help but lean into Hugo, enjoying the comfort he was getting. Maybe being sick wasn’t so bad when his stupid blonde was with him. Varian nuzzled his head into Hugo’s neck, mumbling nonsense whilst doing so.
”You okay there?” Hugo’s voice was a mix of softness and sarcasm, a hand coming to the back of Varian’s hair and lightly rubbing the back of his scalp.
”Mhm,” Varian muttered, finally getting himself comfy and settling. “If I can’t be in the lab… at least let me sleep and shut up.”
Hugo chuckled, a slight smirk appearing on his face again.
”You mean, ‘shut up and let me sleep’?”
”Yes. Shut up,”
”Sorry, sorry.” Hugo carried on rubbing the back of Varian’s scalp.
He decided to shut up for real now. Even though Hugo had his fun with light teasing Varian, he was still evidently sick. He had a red nose, his head was burning, constantly sniffling. Not to mention the shiver every so often. So he laid there with Varian in his arms, massaging the back of his head whilst he made an attempt to fall asleep.
”G’night goggles.” Hugo said, his tone less sarcastic compared to before, and more softer.”
Varian made a quiet noise in response, eyes closed and half passed out against Hugo.