Forget {Varian x Reader}

-Chapter Eight- Teenager In Love

Y/n had expected Varian to answer, but instead she was greeted by his father, Quirin. "Hello?" he said, looking down at her. "Can I help you?"

"Erm, uh..." Y/n stuttered, before regaining her composure. For alchemy's sake, pull yourself together! "Princess Y/n." she said, stabilizing her voice. She gave Quirin a very small bow, before extending her hand to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Quirin frowned for a moment, brows wrinkling in confusion. "Princess? But I thought..." a look of realization crossed his face. "Oh, right! Yes, the princess, I remember." He took Y/n's hand and shook it. "So... What can I do for you?"

This cannot get more embarrassing. Y/n bit back the bitterness that arose from being forgotten about- again. "Oh, um... I came to hang out with Varian, if that's alright? Sir." said Y/n awkwardly. "We're friends, I, um, saw him at the Expo... yeah."

Quirin's face brightened. "You're his friend?" Y/n nodded hesitantly, still a bit intimidated. Quirin smiled before continuing. "I'm glad. Don't tell him I said this, but Varian doesn't really... have many friends. I'm glad he's finally branching out- and to a princess, no less!" He nodded with approval. "I'm certainly no genius, but I know that there can't be anything wrong with any of Frederic's children."

Oh, you have no idea.

Quirin stepped aside, and Y/n stepped gently over the door frame. Quirin exited in the opposite direction, one hand on the door, before turning to look at Y/n. "I have work to do, but you two have fun. Alright?"

"Of course." said Y/n with a smile as Quirin closed the door behind him, and Y/n began to make her way to Varian's lab.

Y/n opened the door to Varian's lab as quietly as she could, keeping one hand on the doorframe. The lab was still damaged, but the walls had been patched, and most of the debris had been cleared.

She glanced around the room, and her eyes locked on Varian. He was sitting at a desk and facing away from her, bent over a paper that he was scribbling something on. A raccoon- the same one from before?-was curled up, asleep in his lap, and the room was completely silent, save for the soft scratching of Varian's quill.

A soft smile crossed Y/n's face, and she stood silently in the doorway, watching the alchemist for a moment. Varian was writing frantically, as if his quill could not keep up with the speed of his thoughts. Every so often, he would make a small noise- almost silent, but Y/n could hear mutters of "no, that's not right!" and "well, maybe...", punctuated occasionally by an "aha!"

Honestly? It was pretty cute. Y/n felt like she could have stood there for hours... but this was probably starting to get weird. She took a quiet breath and raised her hand in a fist, knocking on the doorframe.

Varian screamed- actually screamed. He toppled out of his chair, landing sideways on the floor as the raccoon gracefully leapt onto the desk.

Y/n laughed for a moment, and Varian relaxed when he saw that it was her. "Oh, I-" he exhaled with relief. "Y/n, hi."

"Hey, Goggles." she said with a smirk, extending a hand and helping him up from the ground. Varian dusted off his apron, and reached one hand over to his desk, where the raccoon leapt onto him and climbed up his arm, resting on his shoulders.

"Who's your friend?" asked Y/n with a laugh, reaching up to scratch the raccoon's ears.

"This is Ruddiger!" said Varian with a proud smile. "Yeah, uh... the traps weren't working so well, and he just kept coming back for food, so..."

"I like him." laughed Y/n. "So, uh... I'm going to be honest, I didn't really have a plan for coming here. Was there anything you needed to do?"

Varian blinked. "Yes!" Y/n stared at him for a moment before he blushed and began to stammer. "I, um, I needed to get some more supplies for a compound I wanted to create." He put his hand on the back of his neck nervously. "Do, uh... do you want to come?"