Archive of Our Own

Corona was always known for its shit security. Their guards were never taking their jobs seriously. They were ordered around by a bossy horse. And there weren’t nearly enough of them to cover the castle.

Well, apparently, those were rumours. Very outdated rumours.

Donella had sent him here on a mission. It was nothing much, just retrieve a little magic object from their royal vault. Supposedly the thing held some value, to be honest he didn’t look too much into it. He never had a penchant for magic, what with being a scientist after all.

So he took his time. In fact, he was even leisurely about the way he leaped over rooftops and slid down the castle walls. When he finally got into the castle, he already had a map straight to the vault. Sure, there were loads of annoying tunnels, but the traps there were barely a struggle for him, and most of them didn’t even work.

Wow, no wonder this kingdom nearly got destroyed by a teenager. They can’t even handle him waltzing his way to the vault.

When he finally got into the vault, he quickly rummaged around for the thing. It was in a diamond shaped box, and had a rune over it to protect the carrier from the magic until they opened it.

Well, the vault wasn’t the most organised. Things lay strewn everywhere, making him groan as he made to sort through every little thing. The amount of gold here could kill a man, the amount of random artefacts they had was actually surprising, but wow it took forever to get through. After nearly an hour of searching, Hugo finally found the box. He held it up to his eye triumphantly, grinning at how it gleamed in the moonlight.

This was too easy.

He made for the tunnels again, noticing that the air looked thicker than before. Almost as if smoke filled it. Was there a fire? Now that would be funny. And really helpful for him. He gets away because the all the guards are focused on the fire.

To be honest, it kind of gave him ideas for future heists.

But as he turned through them, he felt his legs start to shake. His knees buckled after that. He tried to pull his way through desperately, not wanting to be caught, but then the object clattered out of his hands, the poor digits barely able to move a muscle.

The last thing Hugo saw was a person in a mask, their eyes a vibrant yellow and voice low, “Told them I’d get you.”

…

And that’s how Hugo woke up in a Coronan jail cell. He really thought he was better than this.

It seemed that the person from before was part of their security. In fact, he’d guess that they put the smoke in there that took him out. Nasty guy.

Now he was stuck here, scratching words into the bricks of the walls with nothing but his bloodied nails. He was awfully bored, making to try and make a swing out of his blanket (it didn’t really work), eat the bars (again, didn’t work) and try to fit through the bars (seems he wasn’t as slippery as he thought when he could barely get a leg through).

He just sat, twiddling his thumbs, waiting for the guards to give him his sentence. He hoped Donella would come for him. She probably would, she still needed him for missions. He was useful to her.

Was he? Now that he had failed, in such an embarrassing way as well, did she really need someone like him? Maybe she thought he was useless now? A failure? A waste of space?

Hugo tucked his knees under his chest. He couldn’t think like that. He needed to be hopeful to survive this place, otherwise he’d succumb to it. And Hugo was never one to be tied down.

Guards started to come in after that, walking directly to his cell.

“Good morning,” he drawled, refusing to make eye contact.

“It’s afternoon,” one guard answered back.

“Oh is it?” Hugo looked up at them, wide-eyed, “See, I wouldn’t know that. It’s not like you give me a clock in here, or literally anything at all. Do you want me to die of boredom?”

“I think that’s the least of your concerns right now,” the guard responded in a monotone voice.

“Oh, try me,” Hugo grinned.

Another guard rolled her eyes, “Okay, moving on. Hugo, we are arresting you for grand larceny against the royal family. How do you plead?”

Hugo lay on his back, “Hungry?”

The woman muttered what sounded like a curse under her breath before she continued, “What were you doing last night?”

“I can’t remember.”

“Don’t be difficult with us, Hugo—“

Hugo shot up, “How do you know my name?”

The man next to her crossed his arms, “It’s on your travel papers that were in your bag.”

Hugo fell silent at that, letting the woman continue, “Who do you work for?”

Hugo remained silent, not wanting to give anything to these roaches. He knew how this game worked. Anything he said could be used against him. So he chose to say nothing throughout the onslaught of questions. Nearly three hours later, with two tired out guards, they both finally gave up.

Hugo finally thought he’d get some peace and quiet now.

Well, he never got what he wanted. Those two kept coming again. And again. They came every day twice a day for a whole week, and every time they’d leave more unsuccessful and downtrodden. The poor things. They looked like kicked puppies.

Hugo liked getting a rise out of the guy. He was always fuming by the end of it, nearly rattling the bars to get him to talk. It amused him, seeing him squirm because of his insubordination. But the woman? She was calm. More confident. She was more difficult to deal with, and was half the fun of guy.

But you can only get so much out of the same two people you don’t really care about. By the end of the week, he was tired of them as much as they were tired of him. So when the guy muttered under his breath about bringing in the expert, he couldn’t suppress the thrill in him at that.

Finally, some fresh meat.

…

So, he didn’t expect said fresh meat to be a cute blue-eyed boy about his age. What’s worse, he didn’t expect him to be the guy who knocked him out.

But lo and behold, the man in the mask approached his cell, knocking it to get him to wake up.

“Are you kidding me?” Hugo groaned, “It’s like three in the morning!”

The man chucked, taking off his mask and letting the voice filter fall away, revealing a softer voice, “Yeah, it’s when I’m awake.”

Fucking weirdo. Who chose to be awake at this time? Was he a vampire?

Hugo grumbled, turning over, “Okay, that’s nice, now can I sleep?”

The man grinned, pulling out a cookie, “I mean, you can, but I just want to talk.”

Oh, so he was one of the guards. And here he thought he was actually someone of interest.

“I don’t,” Hugo huffed, refusing to make eye contact.

“Okay,” Varian opened the door, stepping into the cell. No one did that, “Would you like a cookie?”

He looked up at his large blue eyes, almost shimmering when the moonlight hit them. He tried his best to fight the blush creeping up his neck, because no way was he going to fall for the guy who had him locked up.

“No,” Hugo rolled his eyes, turning away to avoid looking into his eyes and saying something he’d regret.

The man pouted, and Hugo had to resist the urge to look at his pink lips, “Please? I made them myself.”

So they were probably poisoned. You weren’t slick there.

“That’s cute, but I don’t care,” Hugo gritted out, refusing to show any sign of enthusiasm.

The man turned, grabbing something from his pocket, “Fine then. I guess you leave me no choice.”

“What’s that supposed to mean—“

He pinned him down, slamming a needle into his arm as he injected something in. Hugo writhed, screaming and trying to push him off.

“Relax,” he laughed, “The more you fight me the more it’ll hurt.”

Hugo didn’t care. He wasn’t one to lie about and let death take its course. He thrashed, trying to bite him, kick him, do anything to get the needle out. But the man, despite his small stature, was stronger than he appeared, and Hugo didn’t manage to do anything to stop him from emptying the contents inside of him.

He slid the needle out, wiping away the blood, “See, now that wasn’t that bad—“

Hugo yelled, “You pinned me down and injected me with who knows what against my will!”

“If it’ll help, it’s nothing dangerous,” the man wandered around the cell, taking a seat on his cot, “Now come sit.”

Hugo refused to do so, instead pacing up and down. In the beginning, he felt fine. It was like he had just injected water. Their conversation flowed nicely. He found out that the guys name was Varian. Pretty name.

But then it started to go south. His mind turned to mush. His mouth was moving too quickly. He said things he didn’t mean, or well he did, but he didn’t want to say. He’d do more erratic things, say exactly what was on his mind as soon as it entered his brain, and overall act as if he had drank ten beers in one sitting.

That’s when he realised Varian had done something to make him so supple. It was truth serum.

He tried to lie, he tried to resist, but every time it was like needles were stabbing him. He’d either tell the truth, or suffer an excruciating pain worse than death.

So, it wasn’t looking so good for him. And Varian knew exactly what he had done. In fact, the little sadistic twat was sitting happily as Hugo writhed on the floor and screamed, not offering once to help him up.

After a while, when Hugo had given up trying to resist it, Varian decided to start asking questions.

“So, how is it down here?”

He answered immediately, unable to contain the surprise in his voice that he so desperately wanted to hide, “The security here is surprisingly good.”

Varian had a smug expression on his face, “Yeah, it is. All me by the way.”

Hugo snorted, “No need to show off. I get you probably designed all this.”

“Oh?” Varian laughed, “How so?”

“You’re wearing goggles, an apron and have fifteen different wrenches in your pockets, I’m not blind,” Hugo rolled his eyes, making Varian laugh more.

Varian stopped after some time, “Well I didn’t design them, I’m afraid. It’s just… it’s wonders what having a teenage terrorist does to the kingdom.”

Hugo knew. There was this really angry teenage boy a couple of years ago who decided to overthrow Corona. It was quite known in the other kingdoms, especially since the boy had nearly succeeded. Apparently it was to do with a feud with the royals, but all he knew was that the poor kid got locked up. If it were up to Hugo, the guy would be paraded around. Come on, a teenager managed to overthrow a kingdom for their corruption? They were the ones who got his dad basically killed. They abandoned him. They—

So, if you didn’t know, Hugo may or may not have had a teeny tiny obsession with the guy. You could almost call it a crush.

But what did it matter? He was probably still down here, rotting away. Hey, maybe he could meet him after Varian leaves him alone.

“Yeah, I know all about the kid,” Hugo replied, “And you shouldn’t have locked him up. He was a child, and he was abandoned with no support system by the royals who are supposed to be helping their citizens.”

Varian turned to look at him curiously, “I agree.”

He… agreed? A man, working with the royal family, agreed with what a criminal did? Maybe there was more to Varian after all.

“Uh, why?” Hugo asked, perplexed, “Don’t you work for the royal family.”

“I do now,” Varian replied calmly.

That’s when it clicked. He’s supportive of a major criminal. He’s the one who had a role in the security. He can’t have been a guard, looking at his getup. And worst of all:

All he knew about the teenager from the wanted posters was this: he was an alchemist, and he had a blue streak in his hair. Varian had both.

Hugo gasped, “Oh I am such an idiot.”

“Perhaps,” Varian laughed.

A million thoughts were going through his head at once. He was standing in front of his idol. No, not idol, object of his affection. He loved this guy, like actually loved him: he gushed about him to Cyrus for four hours straight (the poor guy passed out halfway through), he had his wanted posters on his wall, he’d always wanted to meet him—

And here he was. Scrawny. Innocent eyes. And a cute toothy grin. Not what he had expected, but still endearing nonetheless.

“How did you— why are you— what?”

“It’s a long story,” Varian twirled his hair in his hands, “but enough about me. Now you know that we’re kindred spirits, I’d like to ask you some questions. What did you want to steal?”

“Your heart” Hugo’s lips betrayed him.

Varian looked taken aback, shuffling away from him, “How are you bypassing my serum?”

“I’m not,” Hugo whined, “Why don’t you believe me?”

“Because— oh never mind,” Varian ran a hand down his face, “Who sent you here?”

“You did,” Hugo responded.

“I most certainly did not, I knew my serum wasn’t working—“

“You committed treason at fourteen and I’ve been making bad decisions ever since. Like trying to do what you do,” Hugo spat out, hating every word of it. This was buried deep, something he wouldn’t admit to anyone, not even Donella.

Varian groaned in irritation, “Fine. What were you doing this morning? Were you in Corona or not?”

“I was,” Hugo started, “I was thinking about kissing you.”

Varian wrinkled his nose in disgust, “Stop lying!”

Hugo shrugged, “I physically cannot.”

“You didn’t even know me back then,” Varian snarled, nearly grabbing Hugo’s collar.

Hugo laughed as he fell backwards, “Well, I kind of did. You can’t tell me you’ve never fantasised about a celebrity crush—“

“Stop, stop, stop, we are not here to have this conversation,” Varian flushed.

“For a hardened criminal, you’re surprisingly soft about all this,” Hugo grinned maniacally, making Varian go purple.

“Because—,” he stuttered, “Because I’m reformed!”

“That’s what they all say,” Hugo leaned back against the wall.

Varian furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at him with distaste, “What caught your attention first?”

“The blue streak.”

Varian shot up with an incredulous look on his face, “The what? I meant in the vault!”

“Well, next time you need to clearer,” Hugo crossed his arms.

Varian exploded, “Next time you need to stop finding loopholes which let you flirt with me!”

“These aren’t loopholes, this is the truth—“

Varian pulled out another syringe, cursing under his breath when he realised it was empty. He fisted his hands, as if he was about to punch him to get him to be quiet.

Varian’s voice fell low, “I guess you’re getting off lucky today. But I’ll be back. And I’ll be sure to crack you.”

Hugo leaped up in excitement, “Oh! I can’t wait! I didn’t know you’d be so forward.”

As soon as Varian realised what he had meant, he dashed out of the door, locking it behind him as he screamed about how that was not what he meant at all.

Well, Hugo would interpret it how he wanted. It was funnier. Oh he was going to have fun down here. He was even more easy to rile up than the other guy, he didn’t even have to lie. It was like he was made to annoy him.

Hugo was going to enjoy this.

…

The next time he saw Varian was a week later. He rushed in, books in hand. The stack was so tall that it teetered dangerously, obscuring his face. He miraculously opened the cell, stepping in and dropping them onto the cot.

“Hello to you too,” Hugo chuckled at Varian’s red face.

Varian puffed, trying to catch his breath, “Do you like reading?”

“I do, actually, but I bet you’ll have nothing that will catch my eye—“

Varian dropped a book onto his lap, making a loud sound as it smacked his legs roughly. Hugo groaned, staring at him as the other boy leaned back, almost as if he was enjoying it, “How’s this one?”

He looked at the spine, almost screaming in delight, “How did you know? I’ve been wanting to read this for years!”

Varian crossed his legs, “I’m just that good at my job.”

Hugo didn’t care how he did it. He knew the guy was crazy before, he didn’t need a reminder. He probably got into the library’s records about him and then tortured local librarians with his injections until they handed it over.

Hugo began reading at once, letting himself be overcome by the far away worlds, until he realised he had just stolen a guys book, “Oh, is it okay if I keep this?”

Varian mused, picking up a book of his own, “Of course, why else would I bring it to you?”

And that was that. In just under an hour, Hugo had read the entire thing. It was a murder mystery book, one of his favourite genres, and it did its job well. It had him on the edge of the cot for the last twenty minutes.

Varian peered up curiously at him, “Oh, you’re done? How was it?”

Hugo didn’t know why, but he ended up going on a twenty minute rant. He knew Varian probably didn’t care, heck the guy was probably scared of him after their last encounter, but he just couldn’t stop. Maybe he had injected him again without him knowing. He gushed about how good the twists were, how well written the characters were, how he definitely knew who it was all this time (he didn’t, he just wanted to impress Varian). And Varian… listened. He just sat there, nodding and fuelling him to keep going. He asked questions. He showed… actual care. Genuine interest.

It was odd to say the least.

After Hugo was finished, Varian got up, “I’m afraid I have to go now. But… I can bring more next time?”

“I’d like that,” Hugo replied softly.

Varian’s grin grew wicked, “Even if I picked the genre?”

“Sure,” Hugo agreed. It couldn’t be that bad.

…

Oh it could be. It could be that bad.

Because apparently, Varian was a fan of the worst genre known to man. The most cringey, disgusting, weirdest genre ever.

Young adult fantasy.

Now, there were many things wrong with it. First of all, fantasy. Hugo hated magic. He dealt with it too much due to Donella having a weird obsession with it already. He didn’t need to keep reading about the bogus practice. And then there was the young adult bit. It was a misleading title, because the books are for teenagers, not actual adults. The plot is ridiculous, the characters are immature and illogical and they always manage to win because a hot guy with dark hair and no personality saves the female protagonist and then fucks her silly because that’s love folks.

It’s safe to say, he hated these books with a passion. So when Varian dropped one onto his lap, he groaned and nearly threw it at his head.

“I’m not doing this.”

Varian nudged him, “Now that’s not fair. You agreed to whatever I picked. Now I pick this. Read it.”

Hugo huffed, turning away from the book, “If I don’t, what will you do to me?”

Varian hummed, “Well I guess I’ll have to string you up on my wall and use you to try out all of my new serums. My last guinea pig died yesterday.”

Hugo went pale, before Varian laughed, “Only joking. I wouldn’t do that. Just… read it, please?”

Hugo complied, grumbling under his breath about how stupid this was.

And wow, he was right. It was stupid. Probably the worst book he had ever read. It made no sense, the ending wasn’t satisfying and it was just completely pointless to waste his time on it.

“I can’t believe you like young adult fantasy,” Hugo muttered under his breath.

Varian cocked his head to the side, “Really? I read lots of it actually. Sure, I have to hide it behind my textbook but I am reading about young adults fighting in wars, not biochemistry.”

“How can you?” Hugo huffed, “This was awful! The protagonist was stupid.”

Varian’s face burned, “No she wasn’t!”

“Yes she was,” Hugo slammed the book down, “She couldn’t do anything herself. They said she was the most powerful witch in a hundred years, but the mysterious dark guy who was so obviously the love interest had to keep saving her. And she was annoying as fuck, always complaining about this or that.”

“You just don’t understand her character motivation,” Varian crossed his arms.

Hugo looked taken aback, “I understand it better than you do!”

“Name one motive,” Varian challenged.

“Wanting to escape but then refusing to do so when she had the chance—“

Varian shot out, “That’s character development!”

Hugo also raised his voice slightly, “It’s not when there’s no build up to it!”

They both paused, waiting to see who would attack next about the forsaken book.

Funnily enough, it was Varian, “I don’t get it. What’s wrong with wanting to be saved by a handsome dark haired man?”

Hugo smirked, “Oh, do you want a handsome dark haired man?”

Varian didn’t shrink back, “With demons horns and fangs like him? Yes.”

Hugo’s heart sank at that. He didn’t have any of that. Well, except the height. They were always above six foot. He had no idea why, considering the girl was always barely five foot. Did they want to be able to reach their boyfriend’s lips or not?

At the end of each session, Varian would slip in small questions about his mission, who he worked for, any state secrets he held from Ingvarr. But as their book club meetings went on over the weeks, the amount of questions shrunk, until he only remembered he had to do them when he was out of the cell.

After a month of this, Varian decided to bring a new type of book. Apparently he was done arguing over young adult books, and now held thick alchemy textbooks in his hands.

Hugo grinned as he placed them down, nearly dropping them, “Finally, something good—“

Varian beamed, literally leaping on him, “You like alchemy as well?”

“Oh, yeah,” Hugo dusted a book off, “I used to do it all the time before I was here. It’s more reliable than magic—“

“Exactly!” Varian enthused, “Magic doesn’t make sense! It doesn’t follow logical rules, and it’s just stupid.”

They both lay in silence, staring at each other in shock. They didn’t expect this to happen, a sudden agreement between them. Usually it was bickering. That was all they did. This? This was uncharted territory.

Varian nudged him, “Well? Are you going to read or not? This one is on transmutation of ordinary objects to precious metals—“

Hugo snatched it happily, “And now you’re talking my language Goggles.”

Varian eyed him weirdly at the nickname, but made no comment as he just sat, watching Hugo read. It was weird. Usually Varian would do something else, like read his own book. But this time, he chose to just stare at him.

Stare as Hugo poured over formulas, laughing to himself when something clicked. Varian barely contained a smile, poorly hiding it behind his hands. Hugo found it adorable really, the way he observed him carefully, drinking up every reaction—

Hugo, this wasn’t cute. He’s observing: he’s doing his job. You know, interrogating?

Hugo eyed him, “Liking the view?”

Varian spluttered, “No, ew, why do you keep doing that?”

Hugo laughed, “Because you can’t keep your eyes to yourself. And you say I’m the obsessed one.”

“You are, remember our first conversation?”

Hugo didn’t want to remember actually. That was probably the most embarrassing situation he’s ever been in. He’s rather jump into a lake and drown.

Hugo finished it, closing it gently, “So, why did you bring this book?”

Varian mused, staring off into space, “I just wanted to show you it.

Hugo knew it was a lie. Varian was doing a job. He knew every book here was just a distraction, a technique to wear Hugo’s walls down and bond with Varian so much that he starts to spill.

Well, he was too smart for that. But he’d indulge, just to make Varian think he was winning.

Hugo teased, “You did? Why? You like me that much that you want to share your favourite books?”

“I don’t like you at all,” Varian huffed, stepping to open the door, “I just wanted to show you that I like amazing books. Not just young adult.”

“Oh right,” Hugo stood up, “It’s just to prove me wrong?”

“Yes,” Varian agreed, and Hugo just knew he was lying. His face was tight, eyes barely showing anything, let alone sincerity. He was a good liar, sure, but not good enough for a person who made a living off of lying.

Varian then tossed a book into Hugo’s arms, it nearly toppling him over, “I want you to read this whilst I’m gone.”

“And what if I don’t?”

Varian cursed as he clenched his jaw, “Just do it, Hugo.”

And just like that, he did. Hugo hated how one annoyed look from Varian was all it took to convince him.

…

So Hugo read it. He funnily enough got it done that day, despite being a big procrastinator. There was really nothing to procrastinate with when he was down here. And it was actually a good book. It was on stability and reactivity, which was interesting because it focused on compounds indigenous to Corona, and so Hugo hadn’t heard of any of them before.

But, it was also weird. The author said ‘High energy systems aren’t flawed, they’re simply seeking a lower energy state’. Now it sounds normal in theory, but the wording of this and of the whole book felt… personal? He didn’t know how to describe it, but it was like they were discussing a person. Like they treated the science itself as a human entity.

Oh, and they made an error. Hugo was so going to bring that up.

So when Varian came down to ask, he got ready to drive him insane.

Varian was wide eyed, almost excited if Hugo didn’t know better. Wow he must like interrogation, “How was it?”

Hugo smirked, “This textbook is wrong.”

Varian froze, “Excuse me?”

“Page 63.”

Varian fumed, “Page 63 is perfectly correct!”

Hugo chucked, showing him the page, “It’s not. The page is talking about entropy, but refers to enthalpy. That’s factually incorrect—“

Varian snatched it off him, “No way, I swear I checked through it, I wasn’t that tired was I—“

Hugo was filled with glee, “Oh, did you write it?”

“No,” Varian glared daggers, reading over the page frantically, “I just check books before I give them. You know, for a quality check.”

Hugo hummed, not believing it for a second. Especially when as soon as he found the error he started cursing under his breath, writing notes that he needed to send off to the publisher. Varian seems like the type to be annoyed if one thing went slightly wrong, and he really was, displayed by the fact that after Hugo told him, he put on a tight smile and said he needed to go and blow off some steam.

Hugo just pitied the publisher. They were about to have a bad day.

…

This pattern repeated over the coming weeks. Varian would come under the pre-tense of wanting to read with him, and then he’d try to get stuff out of him. But slowly, it stopped feeling like a facade. He seemed genuinely interested in what Hugo had to say. He gave his opinions weight, and even engaged in scientific debate on numerous occasions. Those were always his favourites. Varian seemed to loved arguing about things as well. As soon as Hugo made one little disagreement, Varian would sieze the opportunity to go off. It was almost like the conflict fuelled the boy.

Like the one time they had read something about theory verse practicality in alchemy, and it had turned into a three hour long argument.

Varian huffed, “If we went with your idea, we’d sacrificed 18% yield!”

“So what?” Hugo snorted, “We’d save four hours. It’s worth it.”

“Four hours? You’re sacrificing yield for four hours?”

Hugo crossed his arms, “Yeah?”

“You can’t just ignore the yield—“

“Look, Goggles, we can’t get 100%. That’s just not how the real world works. You know, there’s things to consider, like activation energy. Of course, you wouldn’t know, you live in a castle—“

Varian nearly rattled the bars, “Oh really? Must I remind you that I spent my fifteenth birthday in the cell you’re in right now? Talk about the real world, I couldn’t get enough of it.”

Hugo’s face fell at the sudden bitterness in his voice. He only meant to tease, to pull his leg slightly and get his worked up. But never meant to hurt Varian.

See, it was weird what they had. Usually you’d expect Hugo to want to hurt his captor, but Varian wasn’t an ordinary captor. Their arguments were usually fun when Hugo didn’t go too far, the way they bounced off of each other or the way Varian sat next to him silently, despite him being a prisoner, and reading with him.

He was finding himself, over the weeks, looking forward to the interrogations. He felt a thrill go down his spine when Varian showed up, when they got to nerd out over whatever book he had brought. Despite telling himself he knew Varian’s motives, he couldn’t help the smile that formed when he saw him.

After three months of interrogations, Hugo finally got to learn something interesting.

Varian came down, instead with a board game, “You like chess?”

Hugo didn’t like to admit it to others, because it just sounded nerdy, but he did. And to Varian, he felt strangely comfortable saying it, “Oh yeah. What, have we run out of books?”

Varian grinned, hands on his hips, “No, I just wanted to beat you in something else. See I’m running an experiment. How many times do you have to lose to me, and in how many different ways, until I finally crush your ego.”

Oh Varian was fun. He never tried to dull his tongue or sound overly nice. He wasn’t fake, like most of the guards he met down here. That was a breath of fresh in itself.

So they played, laughing over playful remarks as they did. Hugo was losing badly, he didn’t expect Varian to be this good. All he was down to now was a rook, his king and two pawns.

Varian grinned, “Do you want to give up? I can save you the embarrassment of defeat.”

Hugo laughed, “No way, I can still turn this around.”

He can’t.

He just wanted Varian to stay down here longer.

“If you say so—“ Varian was cut off by a small ringing noise. He promptly pulled out a pocket watch, rolling his eyes as he turned it off immediately.

“What was that—“

“Nothing!” Varian insisted, pushing his queen forward, “Let’s just play.”

Hugo nodded, but it never left the back of his mind. Why was he so panicked about the ringing?

Hugo managed to stay alive for the next half an hour, surprisingly, but still lost to Varian. He knew the outcome was coming, but all he could feel was woe as he realised Varian would be forced from him again.

But, he wasn’t.

Varian stayed after. They continued to talk about meaningless things. Varian’s favourite colour is blue, but a light blue, like his hair, not like the sea. He hates snow due to a blizzard years ago. His favourite food is plain ham sandwiches (now Hugo didn’t get him on that, a sandwich with just meat and bread would be too dry, but oh well).

He realised then and there that these ‘interrogations’ as Varian called them weren’t that anymore. Varian had stopped asking questions all together. They had lost all structure, instead just playing games and enjoying each other’s company.

Or was that what he wanted him to think? To lower his guard more? Varian was a genius, he probably knew Hugo was tough to crack and so was worming his way into his heart to do it.

It was working. It was working too well.

He lay on his cot, trying to sleep despite the frost that covered his fingers, until he heard voices. He got up, trying to discern what they were saying.

A woman spoke, her tone annoyed, “What was he doing?”

A man spoke next, “I have no idea. You know how the Royal Alchemist is. His methods have always been… a little eccentric.”

The woman spoke again, “Eccentric? He should have left an hour ago! The princess made sure of that by making him keep track of the time. I’m starting to think this is something to be reported—“

The man gasped, “You want to rat on the Royal Alchemist?”

She softened her voice, “Not at all! I’m just concerned. What if he’s grown too attached to the prisoner. We don’t want him to become biased.”

Hugo sat back, his mind dizzy as he comprehended it all. Varian was supposed to keep time… the pocket watch. When it rung, it served as an alarm that Varian decided to ignore. He wanted to extend it further, much further than the Princess probably wanted.

Meaning only one thing. A dangerous thought that Hugo didn’t let himself think:

What if Varian didn’t have an ulterior motive? What if he actually liked being with him?

This place was slowly killing him, but not through physical torture, but the pain of what could be.

…

It had been five months when Andrew came up to him at lunch. Hugo mostly kept to himself, not having the energy to put up with idle conversation, but Andrew had managed to try and make an acquaintance of him. He had no idea why the man was so interested in him, he had showed no interest in Andrew, but Andrew was always watching him. Always trying to talk to him. The guy had friends of his own, his little Saporian gang were all here, making it increasing more strange that he chose to spend his time on him.

He knew who Andrew was. He knew what he and his friends had done to Corona, and how they had miserably failed due to Varian and the Princess. So he knew that Varian hated the guy. And honestly, he did too. Not just because of what he did, but because he was downright annoying. Always in his business, trying to get to ‘know him’ and be his ‘friend’. And this point, he was interrogating him more than Varian was.

Andrew had sat next to him, bumping his shoulder playfully, “Long time no see! Where have you been? I haven’t seen you around here in a while.”

“I stopped eating lunch,” Hugo responded dryly, “It’s bad for my figure.”

Andrew looked him up and down, “Uh huh, if you say so kid. Anyways, I came here to tell you something interesting. You’ll want to hear this.”

Hugo couldn’t fake enough enthusiasm in his voice, “Oh really? Tell me!”

He had no idea why Andrew didn’t pick up on the dripping sarcasm. Maybe he was just socially blind or something, “We have a plan to escape. Me and the others are going to do it tonight. If you want to join us, I’d be happy to bring you along.”

Hugo considered it for a moment. Fresh air. Freedom. Green grass and trees. It sounded almost idyllic compared to his dingy cell.

But strangely enough, it wasn’t the most motivating for him. Ask him a couple of months ago and he would have left in a heartbeat, but now all his heart could scream was one word:

Varian.

He couldn’t leave Varian.

It’s not like he felt bad for the guy. He probably had tons of friends on the surface. But Varian was refreshing. He was full of life. He was intriguing. It was like a puzzle he couldn’t leave half done.

He acted like he didn’t care, then pulled moves that made him look obviously the opposite. He was complicated. He was prickly at times. He was as smart as they’d come.

He had found himself spending most of his time with Varian. They understood each other deeper than others did. Both on the same path of science, both inquisitive minds and both competitive hearts. He loved talking to him, seeing how his brain worked. He wanted to see how his brain worked every day of his life if he could.

That’s when it hit him: Varian was his favourite person. He hadn’t liked people like this before. Donella was a mother figure who had abandoned him, Cyrus was a weird older brother to him and well… he didn’t have many other friends. Sure he could charm and schmooze but it didn’t get a real friendship if he was fake. Here, Hugo was real. And apparently, Varian was too.

Now that was terrifying. No guards up. Just two unfiltered beings.

So he refused Andrew’s offer. Funnily enough the guy tried again, and again, until Hugo was about to stab his fork into his hand.

Andrew leaned back in his chair, “Oh, I know what this is.”

“Of course you do, you’re a genius,” Hugo gripped the fork tighter, trying to stop himself from attacking.

“It’s Varian,” he snarled, “I told you not to trust him.”

Andrew had told him that the day Varian came to visit for the first time. Apparently they had more history. Varian had worked with the Saporians for a bit, taking over Corona until he betrayed them for the Princess. They’d all said that his ‘redemption’ was just proof that he couldn’t be trusted. That Hugo needed to stay away from him.

Hugo rolled his eyes, “It’s not Varian. I just… don’t want to get in trouble. My sentence is bad enough as it is.”

Andrew stared at him incredulously, “What has he done to you?

Hugo laughed nervously, realising his attempt at lying was pretty pathetic, “What do you mean?”

“You, the guy who steals from every guard here, doesn’t want to get into trouble? You are trouble,” Andrew started to get up, dusting off his trousers.

Hugo knew he couldn’t say what was actually happening. So he just let the guy go. He’d get caught eventually. And Hugo could stay right here, exactly where he wanted.

Hugo narrowed his eyes, “Whatever. I’m still not joining you.”

Andrew tottered off, muttering something about the ‘Varian effect’ as he left. Hugo snorted at that, before heading back to his cell for their next meeting.

Varian walked in, taking his cloak off slowly as he grinned, “Did you hear about the attempted escape?”

Hugo leaned back on his cot, “Hear about it? Freckles, I was nearly in it.”

Varian’s eyes widened, almost looking like he was panicking, “You- you were? Why didn’t you go? Did you want to go?”

Hugo was taken aback by the sudden flurry of questions, “Because I like annoying you.”

Varian steeled himself, “Of course you do.”

They stayed silent for a while. Nothing much happened in that conversation really. Varian was flushed pink and stuttering constantly, then choosing to leave early. He looked like a wreck.

But after that, interrogations got weirder. A lot weirder.

They were reading, as per usual, but this time it was about psychology. Varian had told him he wanted to show him a specific chapter about why we like what we do. Hugo didn’t resist to it, instead letting himself fall into the comfortable motions of Varian sitting next to him and the book on both of their laps.

Varian looked up at him, like he was inspecting him, “Hypothetically speaking, are you involved with anyone right now?”

Hugo turned his head in confusion, “I’m talking to you?”

Varian flushed, “No! No, you know. Other people.”

Hugo felt like Varian’s words were just mush to him, “Other people? That’s broad—“

“Romantically!” Varian exclaimed, almost like it hurt him to say.

Hugo paused, before laughing, “Oh, so a new interrogation tactic I see? Does my love life go into a folder you have about me?”

“I don’t have a folder on you,” Varian stared at him coldly, “I’m just asking out of curiosity. They’re probably missing you, since it’s been so long.”

“That’s awfully nice of you,” Hugo turned the page, “I didn’t know you were considering me in that much detail.”

It was too nice. Too nice of Varian. He wasn’t comfortable with it. He didn’t like Varian being nice to him. He wanted him to be mean. To not care.

He needed him to stop acting like he did.

Hugo fell into silence, before musing, “So are you writing about love now?”

“No,” Varian shot up, “I’m a scientist!”

“Love can be a science—“

“No it cannot, there aren’t proper facts, it’s so subjective—“

Hugo placed his hand on his arm, and he nearly recoiled at the burn, “Okay, calm down Goggles, I was just pulling your leg.”

Varian’s voice was quiet, almost wavering, “Can you answer the question please?”

Hugo was taken aback by the rawness in it. Varian didn’t let himself look so weak usually.

Hugo, almost like Varian’s voice had hypnotised him, talked, “Never had the time for it. Busy life. Crime. Running away from the law. The best you can have is a small fling and then run to the next town that doesn’t want your head.”

Varian hummed, going back to reading. Hugo decided to get some revenge, “How about you?”

Varian tensed up, “What?”

“Have you been involved with anyone romantically?”

Varian fell silent, “It’s not important.”

“So you have,” Hugo teased.

Varian went even more red, “No I haven’t! Hey, I’m asking the questions here!”

He put his hands up in mock surrender, “Forgive me. It’s just a cute thing like you has definitely had some action.”

Varian looked like he had forgotten how to talk, before swiftly turning the page, “You had flings right? So you’ve slept with someone before?”

Wow, first he avoided the question and now he was asking really personal things.

Hugo crossed his arms, “What does it matter to you?”

“Just wanted to know,” Varian tried to keep his voice level, but it shook slightly.

“Maybe I have. Does it bother you?”

Varian’s face fell, “No, it doesn’t.”

Well, it sure didn’t look that way.

“Were they pretty?”

Hugo didn’t expect another question so soon, “What?”

“The girls,” Varian repeated.

Hugo just stared at him stupidly, “What girls?”

As soon as the words escaped his lips, he realised how stupid he had been. His eyes widened, looking up to Varian’s equally shocked expression.

Varian got his words out first, but he sounded completely unsure of himself, “What— what did they look like? The, uh, guys. Blonde like you?”

“Oh no way,” Hugo tried to laugh off the awkward situation, “I like them dark haired you know.”

Varian let out a sigh of relief, “Then why were you so against the dark haired guys in my books?”

“Because they had no personality, and I just wanted to see you scream.”

They fell into a not so comfortable silence. Hugo sat there, twiddling his thumbs. Why was he doing this? This wasn’t a normal interrogation procedure at all? Meaning he was doing this of his own accord, which again didn’t make sense. Varian didn’t like him like that. Why would he care?

He can’t like him like that. Or Hugo would explode.

Varian avoided eye contact as he spoke, “Have you ever fallen for someone you shouldn’t?”

Hugo’s stomach dropped. What was Varian playing at? What kind of sick game was this? Playing with his heart like this? Getting his hopes up? This was torture.

Hugo shrugged, “I mean… yeah I guess.”

Varian leaned back, studying him. Hugo shifted forwards, wanting to tip the scales, “Why did you ask?”

“It’s irrelevant—“

Hugo’s voice hardened, “You asking for yourself, Goggles?”

Varian felt silent, refusing to look up at him. The silence killed him, making his stomach twist all over the place. Why did he ask that? Because he wanted it to be true? He was stupid. He was being stupid.

Varian then became erratic. He shut the book fast, striding over to the door and locking it abruptly. He turned over his shoulder as he left, “Forget I said anything.”

He called out his name. His actual name. Not Goggles. Not Freckles. Varian. But he didn’t return.

Hugo slumped down a wall, holding his knees up to his chest. His breath quickened as his heart pounded dangerously. Why did he feel like he was going to die? He was fine just a minute ago.

His mind was rampant. He knew that his relationship with Varian was weird. It started out as a puppy crush sure, but now he actually knew the guy. They spent time together. All day sometimes. Every single day. He had started to hate every time Varian treated him kindly, or like an equal. Because every time he did it, it hurt.

That’s when it dawned on him. He couldn’t have Varian be nice, because if he was, he couldn’t keep burying this forever. He couldn’t keep acting like it isn’t there, because his hopes that it could be reciprocated were climbing. And that’s what he was afraid of at the same time.

Afraid of love. Wanting it anyways. Varian had officially driven him insane in here. He had won.

Because Hugo was actually in love with him. He wanted to be with him, properly, not just behind bars.

And the worst part was?

Varian seemed to like him as well.

…

Varian didn’t show up again for a while, and Hugo finally felt at ease. He wasn’t constantly in panic at how he felt, or fearful of what it was. He was just content in his own world.

But one fateful day, about a month later, Varian did show. He stayed in his cell until late, talking about things he was experimenting on, how he desperately wanted to show Hugo these things. He just talked, talked about his life, things Hugo would love and hate about it, and Hugo just sat, silently, admiring how he glowed under the soft moonlight. Varian talking to him was easy. This was what he wanted.

The pocket watch rung, and Varian groaned into his hands.

Hugo patted his shoulder, “Hey, I’ll see you tomorrow, don’t look so down.”

Varian moved, locking the door as he went to leave. He turned slowly, eyes flicking to the door and then back to him. Hugo stood, curious to what was going through his head. What crisis was he having?

All he heard was Varian curse under his breath, before he ran back, pulling Hugo by his shirt and kissing him. Hugo was in awe. It was hot. Sweet. Perfect.

He was pressed against the bars, Varian clearly trying to get as close as possible. Varian managed to grab his face, tilting him to allow him to go deeper. Hugo groaned slightly, trying to run his hands down Varian’s back to pull him closer.

When you kiss someone, you expect it to be warm. Just you and them.

So, why was Varian’s tongue cold? And why did it have a metallic aftertaste?

Varian slid something solid into Hugo’s mouth, pulling back by his hair to force him still so he would take it. He leaned back after, lips red and bruised, whilst he panted, “I’m the first door on the left on the third floor. If you wanted to know.”

Varian cleared his throat, trying to look professional as he left with a burning face. Hugo waited for a moment, until spitting out the object.

A metal key lay in his palm. Small, inconspicuous, and his ticket out of here.

He grinned, opening the door to not only his cell, but his future. A future he would choose not to fear.