Chapter Text
"You'd think after nearly risking your life against a horde of hilichurls, you'd head to medical bay or even Barbara for actual healing." A scowl was forming on your lips, and all Varka saw was things in his imagination he'd also want to see your lips do....(like be on his, or smile at him, or laugh at his jokes, he's not a picky guy). But instead, he gets a lecture about why he stumbled all the way up the northeast, past Windrise, to come see you.
Your arms were crossed, a book was laid next to your table, some cards, Barbeloth must have came by to check in, even she rambles about how aloof you can be, whether to her, someone she's know for a good time, or even to Alice, however granted as Varka has learned, whenever Alice visits you it is because she needs you to do damage control. Even Nicole, whom you claim is a "good one," gets your "please don't talk to me right now" energy.
But when Varka visits? All that "aloof and not friendly goes out the window" because you have a man on death's door with flowers waiting to be answered. So of course, you shuffle him in every single time (4th time this month, btw) and heal him. You're not even that good of a healer, but he insists that you do it.
"I do not understand. Why come to me when there are more experienced healers in Mondstat? Either you're a masochist with a humiliation kink or the lights are not fully on in your head. How many times do I have to repeat myself, Varka?" You can voice insults, taunts, anything, but Varka was quick enough to catch your concern laced in your voice, the way your eyes widened when you answered the door for him. He knew. But he also liked teasing you.
Instead, Varka did his usual, shrugged off his overcoat, his armor, layers of clothes, and sat in the dedicated chair(the one he always sat in when you two did this sing and dance) and instead asked you about your progress with whatever project you were working on. "So what is it this time? Turning another apple inside out, fixing something Klee broke? She asks about you, Alice complained at the last tea party about her wanting to see you, oh! Did I tell you about Noelle and her progress? Recently she...." like this was normal.
You narrowed your eyes but listened nonetheless; you knew Varka was compassionate about whatever he held close. So him sharing about his students, or more like the knights he showed his paternal side to, about their successes and his concerns. You knew about a kid named Razor, a nun named Rosaria, a few of his captains and knights, one being from a noble family, how he despises paperwork but will swallow the bitter pill if it means Jean could relax more. All of it. Sometimes you state you don't care, but others you do ask for the "sake of taking his mind off the pain" and for an excuse to hear him talk.
"Oh, Barbeloth asked about you, she wanted to know if I could 'drag you out of your hobbit hut' for a tea party with the others. Funny, she asked me to do it."
"Ironic, she of all people calls my home a hobbit hut. Seeing as she loves to drop by uninvited and leave her things around for me to keep safe. That or complaining about her student. What kind of mentor changes their name to outdo their student for the sake of pride? Definitely not someone to call my house a dam hut." You'd think this is something she and Alice share in common. And they do.
But it has been a while since you've seen your Hexrei sisters. Nicole often speaks with you about how much they've all missed seeing you. But they understand your standoffish nature. Exile was what you chose to protect yourself with; they understood but still wished better. After decades, they wished for change, even M wanted to see a change; the last tea party you attended was when she was still writing her story. It's been a while.
As much as you could dwell on it, you had a 6'4 over 190-pound man looking like a kicked puppy whenever you ignored his annoyance of a presence for more than 2 minutes. Like right now, he's tugging at your fingers to get your attention. "[Name]? [Naaaammmeeee]? You hear me?"
Snapping out of your memories, you frown. "I had the pleasure not to, but what do you want now?" He smirks, your words did have a bite at one point but now its similar to a cat trying to bite his hands, little to no effect. His hands found your hips and pulled you in front of him gently as he tried with his smoothest voice. "I want to go out with you, you should come to angels share, I'll buy, just for tonight?" His sweet charming appeal was met with your deadpan face and the look of annoyance.
"Out with you? Why would I force more time spent with you? I've already had the displeasure of seeing you naked and bleeding on my rugs."
"Wow, you really do not let that go."
"Not when those rugs are older than you. And why angels share, so I can have my peace tainted with drunkards?"
Varka completely ignored the last part of your words and refocused on the fact that you have seen him naked. So to make an excuse again, he stood from his chair and leaned in really close. Like his nose touching your cheek closely. "Oh, so did look when I had to change after getting my ass kicked by Andrius." His hands encircle your waist, and his thumbs rub against the fabric of your clothes.
"Not when you decided to change in the middle of the room while whining about bleeding and losing to an overgrown snow dog like Andrius. Honestly, you don't have a sense of awareness, do you?"
"Around you? No. Come on, I know if you really hated me, you could have just obliterated me into smithereens. Not that I would have minded, but by now you should have pushed me away." Your hand was on his chest, gently with little to no force, pushing him out of your space. Annnnd, he got you. This was the spot. Your face can play the game well, but the way your body is reacting, not a chance. He whispered his question again.
"Could you please come to Angels' share with me tonight? I'll buy. We don't even have to drink. I just want you there with me." The grimace you tried to play fell into something heartfelt at his honesty, but quickly you put the act back on.
"You really are a masochist to admit you wouldn't mind me using magic on you." You huffed and squeaked when he pressed oh so close, like Varka wanted to live in your skin.
"And you are not sly with seeing me in all my bloody glory, why? Did you like what'd you saw? I can strip down again to let you get a better look. Anything for my favorite witch."
"If Alice, Nicole, or Barbeloth heard you, they'd have you on your knees apologizing." You're feeding into his ego; he knows you are.
"I'd like to for you."
"Out! Off and out. I swear to the great winds if you got any of your bodily fluids on me-!" Varka chuckled and pecked your cheek with a feather-light kiss, so light it almost did not happen. But it did. You knew it did. Quickly as it came, Varka got his clothes and was out the door with the promising hope that this time, you'd come out to see him.
In the quietness of your home, you touched your cheek, your eyes drifted from the chair he always sat in to the table. Locked onto an item that belonged to your "annoying" knight. His gloves. He forgot them. He always took them off when he was around you. You wondered why.
"Varka! You were supposed to invite them to the tea parties, not to the tavern! What about us!" Alice and her fellow hexrei sisters were sitting in his office, highly upset that the Grandmaster's charm had failed to get you to come outside your home; instead, it left Varka face down on his desk as he reevaluated his decisions and where he had failed. "Most people would just give up at this point, I think [name] may expect that too," Barbeloth mutters, not surprised but still disappointed.
Varka should be discouraged; most would be, that or plain hurt from your coldness, but Varka was not like most people, something he prided himself on, so instead, he changed his strategy. His mind was reviewing all of your interactions, not the tavern, or the training grounds, perhaps Windrise? You didn't live far; it wouldn't leave him in an odd position if you chose not to come. Unlike the 3 hours he waited at the tavern wanting to see you, instead looking like a kicked dog whose owner didn't come back in time while waiting by the front door.
The door had a stern knock against its wood before revealing the acting grandmaster, Jean, opening it. In her hand were a few papers needing to be signed. "Grandmaster, sorry for my interruption, but I have a few more reports that need to be looked over and-" She paused, seeing Varka and the 3 witches all mulling together. But mainly, she could see her leader not in the highest of spirits. "Is everything okay, sir?"
Nicole gently answered. Alice was still deeply upset; she was looking forward to another tea party. hell you could have gotten to see Klee again! But instead, Nicole answered first, speaking into everyone's minds. "He is currently upset that our fellow witch [name] did not follow up on his invitation to join him at the Angels Share tavern," Jean looked back at Varka, analyzing his frown. It was subtle, but if you looked deep enough, it was there. But her eyes caught something other than his small frown.
"Grandmaster, excuse my notice, but where are your gloves?" Varka groaned, but then did notice, finally, that his hands were bare. "I had them on all day and-" Did he misplace them? He doesn't usually take them off, not unless...
A loud gasp leaves his lips. Varka stands and quickly leaves, a smile forming on his lips. "I left them with my witch! I'll be back, Jean, you can handle my reports, yeah, thanks, I owe you one!" Jean and the others stood in shock, a quiet pause over in the air.
"Did he say his witch?"
"And he left me with his papers again."
Fortunately a overcast was predicted to form over the lands of Mondstat, a fortune Barbatos has to be looking out for the Knight of Boreas, because it means he does not have to immediately come back, I mean, who would travel all the way back during a bad rain storm? (Him, he would, to see you, yes, he would, and has.) Arriving at your doorstep was when the onpour began; the dark and thundering clouds would mean bad luck to anyone else, but for Varka, no, a perfect opportunity. Before he could even do his signature knock and perfect his stance to appear charming at your door, you open it first.
"What the hell are you doing on my doorstep in a rainstorm? Are you purposely trying to get sick?!" Oh, how your voice was music to his ears. Varka was shuffled into your home. Thankfully, you were doing laundry, totally not worrying over him, and thinking of ways to return his gloves (you have magic, why not use it?) You get him seated in his chair and begrudgingly give him a cup of tea in a cup he recognizes.
"Oh, you're giving me my own cup now? You made me drink that nasty concoction from this before. Remember? When I was throwing up after a trip through Springvale?" he had gotten some random spur of illness, but came to you instead of the Cathedral or even the medical bay knights for aid dealing with a puking and sick grandmaster as he took home in your spare room.
"I remember, I had to clean you up while avoiding vomit, and the "concotion" was a basic herbal remedy from Liyue I had to make and learn, or else you'd be dead in a grave." Again, he was used to the tone, but the care you went out of your way to nurse him back to health for a week straight was clearer. He smiled and crossed his arms, watching you sip your tea, your eyes were avoiding his, not out of the usual reasons, but more so out of guilt.
"You didn't come to the tavern."
"I was busy."
"I waited 4 hours, how busy could you have been?" A normal person would be upset, angry, even, you were waiting for the other shoe to drop, for him to finally give up, but as you avoided his gaze, Varka's smirk grew into a smile, a genuine one. He scooted his chair closer. leaning closer. You could feel his presence and knew he knew.
You were scared to come and see him, not that you didn't out fo rejection. He could tell, from all the times he's tried, this time it was different. "If you're so deeply hurt by that and don't respect my schedule, like usual, then I apologize for not coming out to see a bunch of loud drunkards." Again, the bite lacked force and venom. He grabbed the leg of your chair and pulled you closer to his presence. A yelp escapes your throat(and the reminder he could manhandle you if he chose).
Varka, like in his nature, pressed into your personal space, his voice genuine and raw. Not proud, not prideful, not that dorkish tone he carried when he threw pick-up lines at you. "I wanted to see you. I had hoped this one time, for once, you'd answer back. Tell me what I am doing wrong, and I'll change. anything, name it and I will." The kicked dog look was amplified, but his smile held sadness. You tried looking away, but his hand, gently, pulled you back to him. Any other time, you had no problem scowling, narrowing your eyes, or even glaring at him in the face. But now a look of embarrassment and shame was on your face.
"You forgot your gloves." Really, that was what you were going to give him after all of this, you were going to- "I was thinking of ways to get them back to you, I didn't want to be stopped by Alice or the others, for their lectures would never end about the many invitations I've neglected, and I didn't want to ask one of your knights to waste their time."
He was expecting something else, but instead he smiled sweetly. Quickly, your tone changed back to sharpness to protect yourself. "All of this...what you're trying to do is irrelevant, and a waste of your time. When will you see that? That this is all a distraction of my time and taking me away from my work." Oh, you were scrambling; anything else seemed more important. He could see right through you. Varka's hand cupped your cheek.
"I'm a distraction?" "You always are, whenever you barge in here begging for my help, when you offer to fix my door after you broke its hinges, which was rude first off, when you got sick for a week and-" His other hand cupped your face, holding you to look at him, with little to no force, you could break away and make him leave, instead he squished your face into a cute pout, one he's grown to love.
A silence grew, delicate like a flower, but you finally cracked. "I'm terrified."
Your expression fell, the guard was down. "terrified, you'll see how pointless this is, pursuing me, that you will leave for better. Like you deserve to."
"But I don't want better, I want you. Whatever you'll give me, I want it," he leaned in, proving his point, your noses touching. A whisper leaves you again. "You're scaring me with your stubbornness." He chuckles and shrugs, "You call it stubborn, I'd say deeply and madly in love."
"You're going to see the uglier side of me."
"I've seen worse, you're not scaring me that easily."
"You'll leave when you realize it sooner or later."
"I've stayed this long, haven't I?"
You open your mouth, but he stops the argument. "I am going to kiss you now to shut you up. You understand?" Any words of rebuttal in your throat die out, with a small nod, heleans in and presses his lips to yours. The kiss was gentle, loving, but with underlying hunger; he's dreamed of this. Varka felt like his body was on fire. He could go for more, but this will satisfy it all for now.
Your lips move in tandem. He didn't want to scare you off, so he restrained a little, your hand pressed into his chest, and you could feel it beating rapidly. When you break away, the sound of the rain and your heart ringing in your ears. Varka leans in and pecks your cheek.
"Next time, surely you'll come out with me now that you know you can't get rid of me." Your eyes narrow, but a smile does form on your lips. "You are going to be like a dam leech, aren't you?" He wheezes a laugh and smirks.
"Like a parasite."
Bonus: Varka did convince you to come to a tea party, finally, Alice set the tea, Nicole set plates, Barbeloth prepped the snacks, but he didn't tell them he invited you. Nicole did set a plate at your chair, though probably a useless thing for her to do, Alice set a tea cup down beside the plate as always. The trio took their seats, and a quiet peace flowed between them.
"Alice, hope you set out an extra chair!" The witches looked up to see Varka dragging you (not really, he led you to the table), in your hands was the stack of invitations you had previously ignored. You smiled sheepishly before you could bite out a remark, and hands and arms circled around you.
"[Name]!"
"You finally came outof your hobbit house!"
"Please tell me this isn't a spell you've made up?" Your sister witches hugged and fretted over you so much that you ended up walking backwards to avoid the lectures and concern talks, so far back you bumped into Varka's chest. He smiled at you and simply patted your shoulder. "No backing out, honey."
"And- wait...Honey?"
"Honey?" was all that was heard before Alice began the rant of how cute you finally opened up. "Aw [name], finally! You have a lover, oh, after so long!"
"Surprised you didn't sedate him yet." You shot a glare at Barbeloth. She waved it off and went to place a delicacy on your plate. Nicole congratulated you, and she and Alice held your arms and took you to the table so they could tease you some more.
Varka took a seat and smiled. You acted the same, but he could see the softness. It was concrete in his mind that he was not going anywhere without you.