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The city of Corona is obnoxiously bright, Hugo decides. Be it the ever present sun that had followed Varian and him the minute they’d entered the country, or the white limestone of the castle itself, the city seems almost blinding . It makes him want to turn tail, escape back to the quiet of the woods they’d been travelling through for the past year, maybe go back to that Snuggly Duckling place they’d stopped for lunch at.
The thought of meeting Varian’s friends, as much as it made Hugo bitter to admit it, scared him .
Hugo’s pulled from his musings by a smaller hand slipping into his own. His eyes snapped over to Varain, who was nonchalantly looking out at the castle across the lake, the younger boy’s blue eyes glittering with excitement. Hugo smiled softly as Varian gave his hand a comforting squeeze, the pair of them stepping forwards onto the bridge before them.
It’s a bizarre experience for Hugo, walking hand in hand with his boyfriend was greeted by basically the entire city as they wandered towards the castle.
“Varian!” A large blacksmith hollers from his workstation, waving his hammer in greeting.
“Hey, Xavier!” Varian waves back, stopping Hugo with a tug of his hand. It’s a testament to how much Varian has his boyfriend wrapped around his finger, the way that Hugo lets himself be led through the city and stopped at will.
Tough, after the adventure they’d just had… after Donella… Hugo owed Varian the world, even if Varian was too good a person to ask for it.
Together the pair eventually get to the palace, and wasn’t that an interesting conversation they’d had last night, when Varian had dropped the bomb that he lived in the bloody Coronian Palace. When Varian had said he knew the princess and her husband Hugo had assumed it was in passing, not that he was basically a member of the royal family.
The castle is just as bright as it looks from the distance, the sun glinting off the limestone walls. Varian smiles widely at the sight of it, tugging on Hugo’s hand in excitement as they approach. Before they can enter the building, however, a streak of purple bolts from the front door and slams into Varian, ripping his hand from Hugo’s as the boy’s knocked to the ground.
“Varian!” The blur shouts with joy, and the boy groans in pain as Princess Rapunzel hugs him close, the two of them sprawled on the ground without a care.
“Jeeze, princess,” Varian complains, “Did you really have to run at me like that?”
“Sorry,” She says sheepishly, “Just really excited to see my favorite alchemist! It’s been almost a year since I’ve seen you, I think I’m allowed a little excitement!” She punctuates herself by beginning to pull at his hair, picking leaves and dirt from it with an ease that implied this was something she had done a million times before.
“A little is pushing it, sunshine,” A new voice calls from the door, male this time. Hugo turns from the wrestling pair on the ground, looking towards the main doors to the castle as out steps.
“Eugene!” Varian crows, escaping from Rapunzel’s aggressive mothering to stand up and face his other friend. “How’s the other half of Team Awesome?
Rapunzel pouts at being abandoned, and Eugene laughs at his wife’s antics. “Couldn’t be better, short-stack,” The man replies. His eyes then flick over to Hugo, catching the older boy with a sharp gaze. “Are you going to introduce us to your friend, Varian?” Eugene asks, his eyes never leaving Hugo’s. The man’s spark with recognition suddenly, widening slightly.
Hugo feels a chill roll down his spine.
“Oh, right, duh.” Varian splutters, taking Hugo’s hand again. “Rapunzel, Eugene, this is Hugo, my, uh, boyfriend. Hugo, obviously this is Rapunzel and Eugene.”
Rapunzel’s warm smile becomes pinched slightly, as if suddenly realizing something important.
“Hugo?” She asks with an over-the-top happy tone, “Like the Hugo who betrayed you and your other friends? And almost got you killed? That Hugo?”
Varian’s face drops at that, and he grips Hugo’s hand just a little tighter.
“He was forced to, yes. So he is that Hugo, but it’s over now. Right?”
Hugo startles from where he’d been having a staring contest with Eugene.
“Yeah, sweetcheeks, of course.” Hugo says nervously. “Over and done.”
Rapunzel has fixed him with a suspicious look, and Hugo can feel his heart sink down to the floor. Meeting the in-laws wasn’t going so well, he guesses, even as Varian remains oblivious. Rapunzel claps her hands onto Varian’s shoulders, steering him into the castle and beginning to chatter a million miles an hour, distracting the alchemist into letting go of Hugo’s hands again. Hugo goes to trail after his boyfriend like a lost puppy, but he’s stopped by a muscular arm appearing in front of him.
Eugene leans, with a forced casualness, against the wall. His arm blocks Hugo from Varian, and Eugene looks down with a forced smile that tells Hugo the man knows exactly what he’s doing.
“So,” Eugene starts with a forced camaraderie. “Boyfriends, huh?”
Hugo can feel his soul leaving his body.
“Yep.” Hugo says back, popping the “p”. He’s really not up for being grilled before they even get inside, let alone without Varian around to hide behind. He’d had more than one shovel talk in his life and he doesn’t really feel like adding to the list, even if it would be one from the future king of Corona.
“How interesting .” Eugene says, “That you had a change of heart once Donella started to lose.”
Hugo can feel a spark of offense in him, Donella had only started losing when he’d betrayed her after all, but he’d promised Varian he’d play nice, so he merely grits his teeth and scambles for something diplomatic.
“Anything for Varian.” Hugo muttered, suddenly very interested in what was going on with the cobblestones beneath his feet.
Eugene seems a little surprised at Hugo’s honesty, and he loosens his posture a bit, leaning back properly into his slouch. “So that’s why, then?” The man asks, “Just for Varian? No other reason?”
Ah. Hugo could see the man’s thoughts. They were some kind of kindred spirits, in a way. Thieves and liars, the both of them, until two literal beams of sunshine had entered their lives and decided they were worth saving. Hugo was sure that Eugene had gotten the same line of questions he was currently throwing at Hugo, and the thought made the blond’s temper ease slightly.
“ Anything for Varian.” Is all Hugo can say, unable to really articulate why exactly he’d done what he had without flubbing his words. It was just… Varian , and that was apparently enough for his idiot brain to decide he wanted to give being a good person a try.
Eugene lets his arm drop.
“Fair enough,” The man shrugs, holding up his hands in surrender. “Though it’s not really me you’re going to have to convince.”
Ah, that made sense. Eugene didn’t seem the type to be a hypocrite over past mistakes.
It was all down to the princess, then.
Eugene pushes off the wall and lets Hugo walk by at last, watching him with something closer to mischief than suspicion this time.
“Good luck, kid.” Is all he says, wandering off in the opposite direction.
If Hugo wasn’t a trained thief he would have missed Eugene’s muttered “ You’re going to need it ,” as he walked away.
Ah. Wonderful. Just had to convince a pissy royal he was a reformed man and should be able to continue dating her pseudo… brother… thing. Hugo let out a stressed puff of air as he left the courtyard, rolling his eyes.
How hard could it possibly be to convince some prissy princess, anyways?
“I don’t like him.” Rapunzel says the minute Eugene walks through the door of their bedroom that night. Eugene lets out a chuckle at the sight of his wife, short, cute, and absolutely furious.
“He hasn’t technically done anything to us, sunshine.” He says. Eugene walks to their wardrobe, swapping out of his captain's regalia as they speak. Rapunzel lets out an angry huff from her place in an armchair near the grand fireplace, her eyes angry.
“It’s not what he did to us,” She argues, “It’s what he did to Varian. I’m worried he’s not being honest, and it makes me nervous.”
Eugene nods, coming to join her near the fire. He plops down into a second armchair, finally letting the tension of the day drain from him. He sighs in contentment as the warmth from the fire sinks into his bones, washing away the small aches that came from patrol.
“That’s fair,” He says, “But try to remember that people used to say that about us.”
Rapunzel rolls her eyes as her face mushes itself into a pout. “He’s a… a ruffian! A thug! Varian deserves someone… well someone better ! I’m sure if we looked around we could find a nice boy for him, I know one of the princes of Rochester was crushing on him last time they were here-”
Eugene can’t help but laugh. “I think Varian might have something to say about that.” He giggles out. “If I remember correctly Varian ended up turning that prince down after he got a little too handsy.”
Rapunzel goes red, and fixes him with a look of shock. “Wait, what?!” She yelps, “When the hell did that happen?”
Eugene shrugs, stretching his toes in content at the heat. “Last time the Rochester royal family was here, sunshine. Varian threw an entire glass of punch in the guy’s face. How did you not know that?”
“I… what? What ?” Rapunzel seems to be having a bit of a crisis. “How am I only just learning that?”
Eugene didn’t have an answer, so he just kept quiet. It had been an interesting night, to say the least. Eugene had to put out more than one fire that night, but that Varian and his unwanted suitor had certainly been the most entertaining.
But back to the topic at hand.
“Varian’s a big boy,” Eugene soothingly says to his wife, breaking her from her thoughts. “He’s old enough to make his own decisions. Heck, he’s the same age you were when you met me, and it went fine for us, didn’t it?”
Rapunzel groans at the implications. “Now I feel like an old lady,” She bemoaned. Eugene can’t help but laugh again, reaching over and gently taking her hand from the armrest.
“The most beautiful old lady I’ve ever seen,” He says with his trademark smoulder.
Rapunznel responds by shoving a pillow into his face.
Despite Eugene’s best efforts, Rapunzel is unwavering in her determination to catch Hugo doing something nefarious. For the first week that Varain’s back in Corona she follows them with a diligence she didn’t know she had. Her own duties occasionally get in the way, but all of the free time she can spare is spent stalking her friend and his boyfriend. A brave person would call her paranoid , crazy, overly protective , and they’d probably be right but she refused to care.
If Hugo had bad intentions, and she was sure he did, she would catch him red handed if it killed her.
Which is how she found herself in her current position, crouched in the dirt inside of a bush in the Coronian royal garden.
She can feel the mud sink into her dress under her knees, but doesn’t dare to move in fear of startling her prey.
Varian and Hugo sit together on a bench near the water feature, idly chatting and tossing little pieces of breadcrumbs to the large koi fish within the man made pond. Hugo’s got an arm wrapped around Varian, holding the smaller boy close as he chatters about something to do with potassium nitrate. She’s unsure exactly what he’s talking about, but Hugo follows along with ease, sometimes offering his own input.
They are kinda cute together- no, no no, none of that .
Rapunzel shoves her inner romantic down, forcibly slamming a mental door in their face. There wasn’t time to coo over them being cute when Hugo was obviously out to break Varian’s heart again . She had to focus, for Varian’s sake.
Hugo stretches suddenly, wrapping his other arm around Varian and scooping the younger boy up and onto his lap. Varian lets out a laugh at that, wrapping his own arms around Hugo’s neck. Rapunzel goes red and looks away as their lips meet, she definitely didn’t want to see that, thank you.
Goddamn teenagers .
Had she and Eugene been that bad? Rapunzel certainly hopes not, it would have been so awkward for those around them. Something in her felt bad, Varian and Hugo probably thought they were alone enough to get all lovey-dovey without judgment, and here she was creeping around in the dirt and stalking them.
Varian and Hugo split, both of them bright red. Varian tucks himself into Hugo’s embrace, hiding his face. Hugo merely laughs and holds the smaller boy close, burying his face in Varian’s black hair. The two of them whisper things that Rapunzel can’t hear, though really she shouldn’t be listening in anyways, so maybe it’s right that she doesn’t.
She watches as the two of them stand from the bench, hand in hand, and wander over to a different part of the garden. She lets out a melancholy sigh, her own guilt eating her alive. Hugo really hadn’t done anything to her, and Varian seemed to have forgiven the other boy entirely, so why was Rapunzel the one so hung up on it?
She looks down to where her hands were fisted in the branches of the bush around her, and lets out a terrified shriek as a massive spider begins to crawl it’s way across her hand. She bolts out of the bush, hastily shaking her hand to dislodge it, and quickly shuffles her way out of the path of the spider. She lets out a shudder as it flops to the ground, unharmed, and begins to crawl around in the grass.
“Oh I deserved that,” She cries as she quickly escapes the garden, “Oh yep, yep, I deserved that but I still hated it, yep.”
Maybe she just needed to relax. Eugene was probably right, Varian was old enough to make his own decisions. She lets out a huff as she reaches the interior of the castle, leaning against a stone wall. They were all going to have lunch together, later that day. Maybe she’d take the time to grill Hugo, see how he and Varian acted when they weren’t alone.
Yeah, that might work.
Lunch was awkward from the word go. Even if Rapunzel had promised to at least try and be civil, something in her just refused to stop looking for something nefarious in Hugo’s actions. Varian and Hugo were sitting across from her and Eugene at the large table, in one of the less formal dining rooms. She’d had multiple wonderful meals with her friends at this table, in this room, but even Varian seemed to be able to pick up on the tension emanating from Rapunzel.
Bless him, he did his best to try and sooth it, but if anything it made it worse. Varian was too sweet to see that Hugo was potentially using him.
Hugo himself seems to sink under her glare, not exactly fighting it but definitely doing his best to ignore it.
“So!” Eugene says into the awkward silence of the room, “How was everyone’s day so far?”
Varian smiles at him with a grateful look, and hooks his arm into Hugo’s at the elbow. “We went on a walk through the gardens!” He said. “It’s a really beautiful day and we thought we might get some fresh air.”
Eugene smiles at them, and quietly elbows Rapunzel under the table. She forces her face into something somewhat resembling a smile. “That’s wonderful, Varian!” She bites out, but Varian’s face still falls at her tone.
Another awkward silence falls across the table, all four of them glancing around the room as if there was anything that would act as a distraction.
“Did you guys have a good day?” Vairan finally asks, poking at his food.
“Oh, yes.” Rapunzel said, still staring at an unflinching Hugo. “I was just re-reading those letters you had sent me while you were out on your adventures.”
Varian seems confused as to why she would say that, but then is hit by the startling realization that there were some not-so-nice things he’d written about Hugo after he’d betrayed them for Donella. After they’d left to come home however, Varian and Hugo had reconciled, but he’d never really told Rapunzel that out of sheer embarrassment.
Oh. Oh no .
Suddenly everything makes perfect sense.
“So, Hugo.” Rapunzel finally says. Hugo tenses at his name, but meets her intense glare from across the table. She leans forwards, poised for the kill. “Tell me, was it before or after you learned about Varian’s place in our household that you decided to get back together.”
Varian’s hand clenched around his fork.
“ After ,” The younger boy answers before Hugo can say anything at all. His tone is dangerous, and Varian fixes a judgemental glare towards his friend.
Eugene can see the forest fire beginning to brew, and immediately tries to placate everyone. “Hey, hey!” He chuckles awkwardly, “No need for that, lady and gents! How about we all just calm down and enjoy our lunch, huh?”
Rapunzel sits back like a viper uncoiling. “Of course,” She smiles dangerously.
The silence relapses for another second, but it’s because of the quiet that everyone at the table can hear Rapunzel’s next remark
“How interesting .”
And Hugo snaps .
“You know what?” The blond spits, standing from his chair, “I’ve met my fair share of judgemental assholes, but I thought you’d be better than that, princess .”
And like that, Hugo stalks from the room.
Varian stands the minute he’s gone, looking at the door Hugo had left through back to Rapunzel. Her heart sinks when she sees the hurt in his eyes.
“What is your problem ?” Varian says.
The boy doesn’t give her time to respond, rushing after Hugo. Rapunzel watches him go with an aching heart, her hands clenched in her dress. She turns an apprehensive look towards Eugene, but he merely stands as well, looking at her with something close to disappointment.
“Sorry, sunshine,” He says, “You dug this hole, you’ll have to fix this one on your own.”
And he leaves her as well.
Rapunzel sits at the table for another few minutes, ashamed. The guilt churns in her gut, vicious as it claws at her insides.
She had to apologize, to Varian, to Hugo, hell to Eugene as well.
Rapunzel had her work cut out for her, it seemed.
Hugo stalks through the halls of Corona Castle. Stupid uppity princess, stupid uppity castle, stupid uppity lifestyle-
“Hugo!” Varian calls from behind, and Hugo skids to a stop as Varian nearly runs into him. “Hugo, hey, I’m so sorry about Rapunzel, I don’t know what’s gotten into her, I swear she’s not usually-”
“I know exactly what’s gotten into her!” Hugo grumps, “She doesn’t approve of us.”
“Of us?” Varian’s head does this cute little cock to the side, like a puppy. Hugo feels his heart thump.
“Yeah, of us.” Hugo continues. “She doesn’t think we should be dating after what happened with… us. And Donella.”
A light sparks in Varian’s eyes, and Hugo falls a little more in love.
“Well that’s not her choice!” Varian says.
“Maybe not, but I don’t think she’s going to change her mind, sweetcheeks.”
Varian pouts at that, but seems to think for a second. “Well then, she won’t have to see it.” He says with determination. “If it’s that big of a problem we’ll go stay with my dad in Old Corona.”
“No, hey,” Hugo tries to backtrack as Varian heads into their lab. The boy quickly begins to aggressively shove beakers and other items into his satchel. “No, no, no, you’re not just going to abandon your dream job because of me!”
Hugo reaches a hand out and stops Varian from putting a beaker into the bag, trying to meet his eye.
Varian looks Hugo dead in the eye with a challenging glare, and shoves the beaker into his bag.
“I can get other jobs.” The younger boy says with forced casualness. “Besides, dad’ll be glad to have us, he misses me at home even if he won’t say it.”
Goddamn does Hugo love him.
They spend the next half hour packing their meager possessions back into their travel bags, it’s a quick process as they hadn’t even really had time to settle in at all. Varian lets out a huff as he hefts his backpack back onto his shoulders, the boy nearly stumbling from the weight of it. Hugo settles him with a hand on his lower back, and Varian blushes at the contact. Hugo’s heart does a weird little flutter at the sight.
God did he have it bad.
Hand in hand they leave the lab, heading for the front door of the castle. Varian still has to lead Hugo around, every time the blond had tried to get anywhere himself he always ended up lost, and Varian still thought it was funny after a week.
Rapunzel catches them near the door.
“I- Where are you going?” She asks frantically, catching sight of their bags.
“We’re going to go to my dad’s.” Varian says tartly, his face souring like he’d been force-fed a lemon.
Rapunzel’s face falls at that, before lighting up with a manic energy. “There’s no need for that,” She rushes out, “Really, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been so rude.”
Varian looks unconvinced. Hugo is definitely not hiding behind his boyfriend, nope.
Rapunzel deflates, but tries again. “I’m sorry .” She says. “I’m so sorry. It was terrible of me to hold a grudge.”
The princess really does seem to feel bad about it, but Varian seems to want to dig his heels in on this one. His face sinks into the angry pout that Hugo thinks is adorable .
“What changed your mind?” Varian says. Rapunzel seems to flounder for a second.
“I guess I realized that I keep thinking of you as younger than you are.” Rapunzel finally says, wringing her hands into her dress. “I keep forgetting that you’ve grown so much since we met.”
Her eyes turn glassy with tears, and she finally grabs at Varian’s unoccupied hand.
“Varian, I’m sorry, I was just being over-protective, and paranoid.” Her eyes snap to Hugo now, “And Hugo, I’ve been hypocritical and cruel to you. You don’t deserve it after you saved Varian. If anything, I owed you more than you know. I’m sorry for the way I acted.”
Varian fixes Hugo with a look, one that’s asking him what he wants to do. It’s a testament to how long they’ve spent together that Hugo can read Varian as easy as he can. Hugo finally shrugs, playing nonchalant.
The princess really did seem to regret her actions, and hell knows he wouldn’t trust him around Varian either. Hugo can find it within himself to give her one more chance, for Varian’s sake at least.
Varian finally concedes, and looks at the princess again.
“Alright.” He says to her, and she visibly deflates with relief.
“Thank you.” She gasps out, hastily wiping at her eyes as the more stubborn of the tears refuse to abate. “Maybe we can start over?”
The last bit is directed at Hugo, who merely shrugs and fixes her with a smirk.
“I guess that could be arranged,” Hugo says, before dipping into an extravagant bow. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Princess Rapunzel.”
She lets out a giggle, returning with a curtsey that nearly touches the floor. “Charmed, I’m sure,” She gets out between her laughter, “I’ve heard so much of you from Varian, and I’m sure we’ll be great friends.”
Varian fixes them both with a deadpan stare, clearly over this whole debacle.
“Okay then,” The younger boy finally gripes, grabbing his boyfriend by the shoulders and steering Hugo back towards the lab. “Good talk everyone.”
Rapunzel’s still laughing, waving to them as they disappear around a corner.
Hugo’s laughing too, and the minute they’re out of sight he dead-weights himself, sinking down into Varian’s pushing hands. Vairan, unable to hold him, is forced to stop his pushing. They end up face to face in a smaller alcove, tucked away and out of sight.
“Thank you for forgiving Rapunzel,” Varian finally says, “You didn’t have to, but I appreciate it.”
“Anything for you, sweetcheeks,” Hugo says with a smarmy smile, smooshing Varian’s face between his hands before pulling the younger boy into a kiss.
Anything for Varian, Hugo’s own voice from a week ago echoes in his head.
Forgiving a protective princess was easy enough, Hugo supposed.
Though if she woke up the next day with pink hair, maybe Hugo wasn’t exactly innocent.