"D'you really think we'll be able t'build that thing?" Hugo asked. He was laying on Varian's bed, while the boy read through the book at his desk.
"We won't know unless we try."
"Sounds like you're not sure." Hugo smirked.
"Ok, the plans are...a little confusing. But nothing I can't handle."
"You're not big on asking for help, huh?"
"And you are?"
"I didn't say I was. I just expected you to be."
"Why do I feel like you've had a lot of assumptions about me that were wrong?" Varian turned in his chair to face Hugo.
"You're not predictable, I'll give you that." The blonde chuckled.
"Hey, I'll admit you've surprised me a few times."
"Like when I saved your life?" Hugo smirked, smugly.
"Heh. Like when you gave me your reward money." Varian smiled and turned back to the book, while Hugo looked aside, embarrassed.
"I...don't think you would've done that when we first met." Varian said.
"I might have." Hugo protested.
"I saw you sleeping with a pouch of gold in your hand." Varian smirked.
"Ok, so what? You changed me?"
"No- you can't change someone." Varian laughed, "All I did was give you a chance..." He looked to Hugo again, "You made the decision to change yourself."
Hugo sat up, so Varian turned to look over at the bed again. When the blonde stared meaningfully down at his hands, Varian pushed the book aside then went to join him on the side of the bed.
"Do you...feel changed?" Varian laughed slightly.
"In a way." Hugo replied with a chuckle, "I still want money." He smirked, "But it's not a priority."
"Yeah? And what is?" Varian prompted.
"Helping you find your mom." Hugo smiled, "Donella said she was in the Library. That means you can meet her, like you wanted."
Varian stared at Hugo then smiled too,
"Is that why you stayed?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Goggles. I'm still in it for the money." Hugo reached into his pocket and pulled a gold coin from it, "Which you still owe me."
"You kept that?" Varian chuckled.
"Of course- it's the first instalment of many to come." Hugo grinned and Varian nudged him. There was silence, though it wasn't uncomfortable. Hugo rubbed the coin between his fingers,
"Hey, Stripes..."
"Mm?"
"We're comin' towards the end of the trials now...and soon we'll've reached the Library, so..." Hugo begun and Varian's heart felt heavy at the thought, "Before I leave, and- we don't see each other again for...who knows how long, I..." Hugo looked up at Varian. The boy's smile was so genuine and made it hard to keep a train of thought. Before Hugo could continue, Varian placed a hand on his arm,
"Stay." He said, simply.
"Stay?" Hugo laughed, blushing lightly.
"Yeah, i- it doesn't have to be for long...you said you might stay in Corona a while."
"I wasn't serious." Hugo looked aside.
"You should stay. I could use a lab assistant." Varian joked with a wide smirk.
"Pfft...like I wanna be your assistant."
"Ok, ok- there's other jobs in Corona."
"A job doesn't sound like my sorta thing." Hugo smirked and Varian rolled his eyes. There was more silence.
"Where would I stay, anyway?" Hugo asked, casually, but he knew the answer he wanted to hear.
"I dunno- I'm sure we could find you somewhere to stay..." Varian laughed and the blonde looked a bit disheartened. Varian took notice of this, "It- was just an idea." He stuttered.
"No, no...I'm not- I'd love to stay a while." Hugo took Varian's hand into his own and the boy blushed, "I guess...I was hoping you'd invite me to stay here."
Varian's eyes widened and Hugo went red, "Y- You wanna stay here with me?" Varian stared.
"If...you'd even want me here."
"No- y- yeah, of course I want you here. Not that- I don't want the others here too- I'm not singling you out specifically."
"Course not." Hugo grinned.
"B- but you're offering to stay, so if you want to stay here..." Varian looked up at Hugo. The blonde was as red as he was, "With me..."
"Y- You don't have to put the offer out there just cause I brought it up..." Hugo cleared his throat and Varian was quiet.
"It's not that I don't want you to stay here. It's just- my dad- he might not want someone else staying with us...and I don't want Nuru or Yong to think- you're my favourite or anything."
"But I am." Hugo grinned widely. Varian smiled, squeezing Hugo's hand slightly without realising it. The blonde's eyes flickered down to their hands and his cheeks were hotter than ever.
"I'd be happy to have you stay here if you decide to." Varian smirked.
"Thanks, Goggles."
The boys talked a while longer, into the late hours of the night before falling asleep, side by side. By morning, they were still fast asleep while Nuru, Yong and Quirin had breakfast downstairs.
Nuru knocked on Varian's bedroom door. When there was no response, she carefully opened the door and peered in slowly. There upon the bed laid Hugo and Varian, facing each other, and fast asleep. The Princess walked over quietly. She couldn't help but smile at the two.
"Varian..." Nuru spoke softly then placed a hand on the boy's arm and shook him lightly. The boy murmured and before he could wake up properly, Yong ran in.
"Hey, Varian! You gotta get up so we can go into town!" Yong yelled, excited. Both Varian and Hugo both sat up, tiredly.
"Oh, hi Hugo." Yong added with a smile.
"Mornin'..." Hugo mumbled, adjusting his glasses and Varian stretched.
"So, what're you doing in here? Did you get lonely by yourself?" Nuru teased, grinning at Hugo.
"You should've come to my room- I was doing a puzzle." Yong added.
"Sounds like a blast, Sparkles. Maybe next time." Hugo smirked.
"Your father's made breakfast." Nuru turned to Varian, "You'd better get downstairs before it goes cold." She laughed.
After breakfast, the group prepared to leave for the castle. They knew where they needed to go, all that was left to do was to rebuild the device.
Varian, with Hugo's help, gathered some tools and supplies from the house to move into the caravan. Varian insisted his father come with them, but he had business to attend in the village. He insured his son he would visit the castle as soon as he could afford to leave Old Corona. They said their goodbyes, then the gang left for the town.
"I like your dad." Yong smiled, "He's nice."
"Yeah, he's great." Varian watched Quirin disappear back into the house as they went, "I'm so close to meeting my mother now...I was hoping he'd get to see her too."
"Hey, the device isn't built yet- and he said he'd try to make it down. Maybe he will get to see her." Hugo chuckled.
"I hope so." Varian smiled widely, "He deserves to."
The trip to town wasn't a very long one. Rapunzel was on them before they'd even reached the castle; having recognised the caravan immediately. She petted Prometheus when he stopped by the fountain in the middle of town, then ran to the camper door to greet Varian. Instead of Varian, however, a young boy stood at the door. The Princess smiled at the boy, "Hello. You must be a new friend of Varian's." The brunette bit her lip, trying to contain her excitement.
"Yeah- I'm Yong." Yong put his hand out, and Rapunzel took it, shaking it with a lot of enthusiasm.
"It's very nice to meet you, Yong." Rapunzel's smile only grew when Nuru appeared at the door with Varian; Hugo's head poking out above the others.
"Varian- it's so good to see you!" Rapunzel grinned joyfully.
"It's good to see you too, Princess." Varian moved past Yong to hug Rapunzel. When he moved away, she spoke again,
"Who're your friends- I've already met Yong." She gave the young boy a small wave.
"Rapunzel, this is Nuru and Hugo." Varian gestured to the two. Nuru waved and Hugo saluted the princess with two fingers.
"It's great to meet you both. I'm Rapunzel." She put out both of her hands to shake Hugo and Nuru's simultaneously, but when they took them, she pulled them both into a hug,
"Welcome to Corona. I really hope you enjoy your time here."
Hugo didn't look very pleased by the sudden embrace, but patted the girl's back awkwardly. When she moved away, Nuru smiled widely.
"So, what're you doing here? Is there anything I can help with?" Rapunzel asked, looking to Varian.
"There is, actually. We need to rebuild the Demanitus Device."
"Rebuild it? Why?"
"It's gonna help us get to the Eternal Library- my mother's there- i- it's kinda a weird story, but I'll explain later." Varian chuckled.
"Ok, so you need to use the Demanitus Chamber?" Rapunzel asked and Varian nodded, "Alright. I can get some guards to help you move some of your supplies there. There's...gonna be a lot if you're rebuilding that machine, right?"
"Heh. Yeah." Varian smiled, "Thanks, Rapunzel.
"You're welcome." She smiled widely, "I'll go and find Eugene. I'll send him and his guards to meet you at the entrance to the tunnels, ok?"
"Sounds good." Varian smiled widely.
The Princess walked off to find Eugene and Varian turned to his friends.
"She was very sweet." Nuru smiled.
"Yeah- she's so nice." Yong added.
"Wasn't massively into the whole hugging thing, but she definitely got to the point with this whole Demanitus Chamber thing, I'll give her that." Hugo grinned.
They took the camper to the entrance of the underground tunnels, and soon enough, Eugene, Lance and a group of royal guards showed up to help move the equipment to the Demanitus Chamber.
"Varian! Oh, we've missed you little guy." Lance walked up to Varian and lifted him off of the ground, into a hug.
"Missed you too, Lance." Varian chuckled lightly and the man put him down.
"It's good to see you, kid." Eugene smiled at Varian and punched his shoulder gently, "And I see you've made some friends."
Yong looked Eugene up and down then gasped loudly, "Flynn Rider!"
"Flynn- who? Flynn Rider?" Eugene laughed in an exaggerated way, "You must have mistaken me for someone completely diff-"
"He's read one of the books." Varian interrupted, crossing his arms.
"Right! Of course- I see...well, I'm sorry to disappoint, kiddo." Eugene crouched beside Yong, "But I'm simply a fan of ol' Flynnigan Rider, just like you."
"I like your goatee- I wanna grow one when I'm older!" Yong cheered.
"Oh- that reminds me of when Varian drew on that cute little goatee- remember that, Eugene?" Lance leaned his elbow on Varian's shoulder. The dark-haired boy blushed and nudged Lance.
"Hey, you'll get there one day." Eugene smiled at Varian, "Now, who're your friends? I'm especially interested in the guy who is trying to steal from one of my guards." The brunette man said, casually and Hugo froze up from behind one of the guards. The blonde smiled innocently and moved away, hands behind his back.
"Hugo!" Varian glared.
"What? His pockets were clinking- it's like he was asking me to empty them." Hugo grinned.
"So, you've picked up your very own Flynn Rider?" Eugene smirked at Varian.
"Unintentionally." Varian crossed his arms, with a slight grin, "This is Nuru and Yong." The boy gestured to the two, "Nuru, Yong, Hugo...meet Eugene Fitzherbert; Captain of the Royal Guard and Princess Rapunzel's husband."
Hugo sniggered, "That's some name."
"Yeah? And what's yours?" Eugene crossed his arms.
"Oh, I don't have a last name. Grew up without parents." Hugo explained, plainly.
"The orphanage didn't give you a name?" Lance asked.
"Never been to one." Hugo responded.
"Then how'd you get your first name?" He raised a brow.
"That's- a good question." Varian looked to Lance, who nodded.
"Can we just get this stuff to the Chamber?" Hugo rolled his eyes.
"Gladly." Eugene chuckled.
"And you're going to rebuild the whole thing?" Eugene asked, staring into the chasm in which the Demanitus Device had sunk.
"That's the plan." Varian stood beside the man, hands on his hips.
"Any idea how long that'll take?"
"Oho...A while." Varian laughed, "But with the four of us working on it, it'll definitely be quicker than if I had to do it alone." He smiled over at his friends as they talked to Lance.
"Look at you; growing up and meeting friends of your very own." Eugene nudged the boy in a friendly way, "I almost feel like a proud father." He placed a hand on his heart then raised a brow, "Or uncle- big brother? Y'know I'm not exactly sure, but the point is, you're like family."
"Thanks, Eugene." The boy smiled widely.
"So, Stripes." Hugo wandered over and wrapped an arm around Varian, "Where do we start?"
"Hey, we only just got here. Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Varian grinned.
"Me? Get ahead of myself?" Hugo smirked. Eugene watched the two. He thought he picked up on something neither of them even noticed. The man smiled and patted Varian's back before walking over to his guards.
"What happened here?" Nuru asked as she joined Varian and Hugo by the chasm in the ground.
"The original device sunk into the ground after...an attack."
"Sounds like whoever...attacked done a lot of damage." Nuru crossed her arms.
"Hah, yeah. I was actually here. I probably could've done more to help Rapunzel..." Varian bit his lip, thinking back on the memory.
"If you'd done anything differently, we may not be standing here today." Nuru said, wisely.
"I think that's the smartest thing you've ever said." Hugo replied and the Princess rolled her eyes.
After moving everything into the Demanitus Chamber, Rapunzel invited Varian and his friends to the castle to catch up.
"Checking out the red-head?" Hugo asked Yong, who was watching Angry and Catalina talk with Varian.
"No!" Yong protested, his cheeks turning red.
"Y'know, I can help you talk to her." Hugo grinned and Nuru scoffed from beside him.
"Yong's perfectly capable of talking to whoever he wants to." She looked past Hugo to smile at Yong, "You've got this, Yong. Just be your charming self."
"Ha. You really gonna take the Princess' advice? I bet she's never flirted with a girl in her life." Hugo grinned and Nuru rolled her eyes.
"Have you?" Yong asked.
"Course I have." He placed a hand on Yong's shoulder, "Now, what you're gonna wanna do is act casual. No one likes someone who's too overbearing. And always talk about her- girls like that."
Nuru laughed, "This is ridiculous. Yong, take it from a girl," She glared at Hugo, "Be yourself."
"I'm confused." Yong pouted.
"Just listen to my advice and you'll be golden." Hugo winked and nudged Yong along, over to Catalina, Angry and Varian,
"Hey- can I borrow Goggles for a sec? Great! This is Yong." Hugo grabbed Varian by the shoulders and pulled him away, over to Nuru, leaving Yong with the girls.
"What was that about?" Varian asked, raising a brow.
"I'm helping Yong get a girlfriend." Hugo leaned his elbow on Varian's shoulder.
"You're what?" Varian chuckled.
"I told him it was ridiculous." Nuru commented.
"What would you know about that?" Varian grinned at Hugo.
"Well, I know the basics of flirting." He smirked.
"Yeah?" Varian crossed his arms.
"Yeah. How'm I doin'?" Hugo grinned widely at Varian, who rolled his eyes and took to watching Yong.
"What sorta things do you invent?" Catalina asked Yong, intrigued.
"Lots of things- I built this dragon head which shot up into the air...but me and Varian used it to catapult up onto a mountain and it exploded." Yong said, enthusiastically.
"Awesome!" Catalina smiled.
"Could you make another one so we can see?" Angry asked.
"Sure!" Yong smiled widely and looked to Hugo, giving an exaggerated wink. Hugo gave him a thumbs up in return.
"It's so good to have you back, Varian." Rapunzel hugged the boy again for the millionth time.
"It's good to be back." Varian chuckled.
"So, what's the plan? Is there anything I can do to help?" Rapunzel grinned.
"You've done...more than enough." Varian laughed, "I've got this."
"Well, if you change your mind..."
"If I need anything, you'll be the first to know."
The next morning, Varian was up bright and early to work on the Demanitus Device. The others wandered in one after the other. Hugo was last into the Chamber, stretching as he walked down the stairs with wet hair.
"Nice of you to join us." Nuru joked.
"Hey, that was the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in- and hot running water? You really out-done yourself, Stripes." He joined his friends by the work desk where they were building the core of the device, "Forgive me for enjoying the high-life while I can." Hugo leaned against the desk,
"So, what're the goings, Sweetcheeks?" He grinned at Varian.
"I see you're charming as ever, even in the early hours of the afternoon." Varian removed his goggles.
"Did you want my help or not? I could always get outta here- explore the castle." Hugo gestured to the stairs.
"That might be nice, actually." Nuru smirked, "Less distractions."
"Hah. There's no way I'm letting Hugo wander around the castle alone. Come 'ere, Pretty boy."
Hugo grinned at Nuru as he walked over to join Varian at the desk.
"What d'you need, Goggles?"
The dark-haired boy pushed a list on parchment over to Hugo, "I need you to go into town and get these supplies."
Hugo took the list and scanned over it, "Can't Princess Sunshine get this stuff for you?"
"She is- well, she's paying for it...she insisted." Varian looked a little embarrassed, "So I told her we'd pick up the supplies ourselves, at least."
"Can't Nuru do it?" Hugo sighed leaning close to Varian with a pout. The Princess rolled her eyes.
"The quicker you get going, the quicker you'll be back." Varian chuckled and pulled his goggles back on.
"Torch." He said and Yong passed him a blowtorch.
"Can I take the kid at least?" The blonde asked after Varian had melded some metal panels together.
"You wanna go to get supplies with Hugo?" Varian asked the young boy, who looked up at the grinning blonde.
"Yeah!" Yong said with a lot of enthusiasm.
"What's first?" Yong asked as he and Hugo wandered through the market town.
"We need five Herrington gears blah blah..." Hugo skipped over the specifics, "Bevel gears, raw aquamarine crystals..."
"How are we gonna get all this stuff back to the Demanitus Chamber?" Yong asked.
"Good question." Hugo responded, suddenly thinking there was probably a reason Varian sent him off to fetch these supplies.
"Can you pass that wrench?" Varian asked and Nuru handed the tool over, "Where do I attach this?"
"Here." Nuru referred to the plans then pointed to a piece of the device Varian was putting together.
"Do you think we all should've gone to get supplies?" The boy asked, blowing hair from his face.
"They can handle it. There would be no sense in us all going. We need to build this device as soon as possible." Nuru pulled on some goggles Varian had given her and grabbed the blowtorch.