Sofia wandered into the stables, that housed the equestrian team's horses not far from campus. Her small scholarship waived the usual fees that the other students paid to keep the space impeccable in exchange for her to come in a couple times a month and pitch in with chores. She was told that a list outlining her duties would be left somewhere inside by a stableman, but while walking along the stalls she heard the murmur of a young man's voice.
She peeked around the corner of the next stall where the voice was coming from and saw the dark haired boy from move in day - the one who had snapped at her for bumping into him. He was tending to a pretty looking cream colored mare, brushing her coat with gentle strokes.
Sofia felt a wash of dread once she recognized him. Had he heard her? Would he be mad to see her there? He certainly didn't seem mad at the moment. In fact, a slight smile graced his features as he cooed sweetly to the horse, who matched his affection by nuzzling into him when his brush strokes slowed.
"Alright, alright," he chuckled, and plucked from his pocket a single snowy white sugar cube and lifted it to her. "But just one this time, or we're going to have to move you out of the stables and into a pig pen."
Sofia, forgetting herself for a moment, let a small giggle slip, and immediately regretted it as the boy's shoulders stiffened and he spun to turn to her. He very displeased to see her, his eyes going wide for a moment before narrowing.
"It's you." his voice was borderline venomous.
"It's me~" Sofia said, trying to lighten the mood. At that moment she spotted on the far wall a clipboard hanging from a nail, and she strode over to it and breathed a sigh of relief. The list was short: cleaning some buckets, then sweeping the tack and feed rooms. "Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon..."
"Let me guess, you're on the team too?" he muttered, glancing over to her. She nodded, trying not to look too apologetic. She had to remind herself that it wasn't her fault that they were interested in the same things! She started gathering buckets, and was expecting a bigger reaction from him but he simply turned to his mare again.
"Just my luck, huh, Electra?" she heard him murmur. Talking to his horse would have seemed much less charming if he didn't look like a prince out of a storybook when he did it.
Much like when they first met, he was dressed nicely. Almost too nicely for a stable, or at least for any real stable work. She had only gotten a glimpse of his face before, and it had been hard with his frustration at her, but now he just looked tired. It was a more attractive expression to be sure, and Sofia wondered briefly as she scrubbed the buckets how handsome he must be when he was genuinely pleased.
Sofia's next task was to fill the buckets with water and deliver them to each stall, and decided for the sake of getting it over with, to start with Electra's. As she wordlessly walked over to them and placed the bucket down she could feel his eyes on her, and she had a strange feeling he wanted to say something but was conflicted.
"Hey," he said finally when she was about to turn away, and she raised her eyes to meet his, keeping her expression steady, steeling herself for more acidic comments. She was surprised to hear his voice soften. "I...I know I came off as...kind of an ass earlier...both times now I guess."
"Only kind of?" Sofia smirked, and he gave her a surprised look before sighing.
"Okay, I deserve that." he rubbed the back of his neck, and avoided her eyes as he went on. "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. Again, both times. I know it's not a very good excuse, but I've just been under a lot of stress lately. But if we're going to be teammates we should try and get along, right? I mean, I should try and get along. So can we, like, start over or something?"
He held out a hand to her. She stared at it, then back at him. He looked thoroughly embarrassed, but committed to offering this olive branch. He was right however, if they were going to be seeing more of each other they ought to attempt at being friendly. And Sofia liked to think she was friendly. Still tentative, Sofia placed her hand in his.
"I'm Hugo." he said as his fingers curled over hers, warmer and softer than she expected.
"I'm Sofia." she said, shaking hands. "Nice to meet you, Hugo."
Satisfied, he let go of her hand, and then gestured to the mare next to him.
"Oh, and this is Electra." he added, giving Electra a firm pat on the neck. Sofia smiled, and stroked the horse's coat.
"Why, hello there, Electra. I suppose I'll be seeing a lot of you too, now that I'm assigned regular chores around here."
"Chores?" Hugo asked puzzled. "Did you get reprimanded or something?"
"No," Sofia shook her head and then proceeded to explain the situation. The scholarship, the waived fees, the chores.
"Oh, so that's how it is." Hugo said, after she finished. He walked towards the other water buckets and rolled up his shirt sleeves before kneeling and picking two up. "Still, it doesn't seem fair to have you do that on your own. Let me help you out."
"No, you really don't have to." Sofia said, embarrassed, worrying he thought she had been fishing for pity. He already had plopped those buckets in their respective stalls and was going back for another round.
"It's the least I can do, to make up for before." he said, grabbing two more and striding past her. "Beside, I did this stuff all the time back home for Electra. Here, I'll take care of this and you sweep the feed room, we'll get done sooner."
Sofia nodded, not seeing a point in arguing and grabbed a broom and got to work. She swept up quickly, glancing out the open door at Hugo who had already finished depositing half the buckets of water. His rolled up sleeves revealed a pair of strong looking forearms, that had been hidden under the deceptively fashionable button up and he didn't seem at all tired from the chore even though he was finishing it quicker than Sofia could have. He was more capable than he looked.
"So," Sofia said, trying to fill the quiet between them as they worked. "What has you so stressed out?"
Hugo paused his work, considering the genuine well meaning he could sense under her lighthearted tone.
"To be honest, it's my brother." he stated finally, before continuing his pace from before.
"Your brother?" Sofia blinked up at him.
"Yeah, he's just been driving me nuts since I started school. He's always been protective, but now that I'm going to 'his' school he's trying to 'show me all the ropes' and everyone knows me as 'Axel's Baby Brother'. I know he's just trying to help me out, but I feel like I'm not really having any of my own experiences, you know? The only time I ever really get to be alone is here and in the studio." suddenly, Hugo looked like he felt he was oversharing and turned to refocus on his work, his lips a thin hard line.
"You mean like a dance studio?" Sofia ventured, and he turned to stare at her, surprised she'd guessed. "Those were pointe shoes you dropped on move-in day, right?"
"Yeah," Hugo's cheeks were a little red, and not from the work. "Axel doesn't know about that, and I'd appreciate if you didn't tell anyone."
Sofia nodded and grinned, miming zipping her mouth shut and locking it, throwing the key over her shoulder. Hugo snorted and shook his head.
"Thanks." he said, finishing up with the last of the buckets. "It's just nice to have at least something that I don't have to worry about being compared with my 'amazing' older brother... Anyway, it looks like we're about finished here. Need a lift back to campus?"
"Thanks, I'd take you up on that, but … I have my bike." she looked at him apologetically. She had the urge to keep talking with him for some reason, but she didn't want to keep him any longer. Especially after he'd helped her.
He gave her a smile. One that was confident and casual and belonged to someone who was very much used to getting things he wanted. "I have a trunk. C'mon, let's get your bike."
Sofia swallowed, but followed him out the door without question.
'This boy…' she thought vaguely as she walked beside him towards his car in the dirt lot. His emotions seemed to turn on a dime: volatile one moment, then embarrassed, then brimming with confidence and with each new side she found him more and more intriguing.
She didn't know what to expect as he drove her towards the campus dorms, his windows rolled all the way down letting wind whip her chestnut hair around her shoulders, the music playing too loud. Her bike probably leaving dust as it sat in the back of his car.
But she knew, as she watched him staring steadily at the road in front of them, that she had been right: he was indeed quite handsome when he looked pleased and Sofia thought she could get used to it.
an: i know not everyone is a fan of Hugo, but please know that this road to Cedfia in this AU is paved with some Hugfia moments. thank you so much for reading this, i know it's been awhile since my last update and hopefully you weren't too disappointed with the lack of Cedric. i promise i will make up for it soon!
