Varian was sitting in the open window, as he had been doing a lot lately, feeling the wind hit his, and the warmth from the sun. He was just considering going for a walk, when he heard a knock from the door and turned to see Eugene leaning against the door frame. "Hey, kid, enjoying the weather?" He nodded, giving Eugene a bright smile. Varian had never exactly been an outdoorsy person, exactly, but he'd sure missed the outdoors while being in the dungeons. His only real relief down there had been a small window, but if he got too close to it for too long the guards would yell at him, thinking he was trying to break out.
Funny enough, he seemed to not have been able to break free from the idea that the window was his small piece of freedom, even now that he was out of there.
Eugene returned his smile, stepping into the room. "You've been sitting a lot indoors lately, how about we go for a walk?" Varian playfully rolled his eyes at him. "Sure, dad." He gave Eugene another bright smile, as if to really get across that he meant the sarcasm in a fun and loving way. He'd been so used to use sarcasm to convey his anger, and he knew he sometimes accidentally let a bit of bitterness slip into his words even now.
Varian jumped down from the windowsill, clumsily landing on his feet. Eugene on instinct reached out his hand to steady him. "Whoa there, bean sprout. Be careful." He laughed, giving Varian's shoulder a light squeeze, before letting go. "Team Awesome would only be half as awesome if one of the members died from falling down from a windowsill, ya know?" He playfully punched Varian's shoulder.
Varian gave him a mischievous grin, before pushing him to the side, running off as fast as he could. "Last person at the gates of the castle is a loser." He yelled over his shoulder." Eugene stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds before realization hit him. "Hey!" He yelled, as he set off after the kid."
Varian was standing at the gates, casually leaning against them, a smug smile on his face, but Eugene could see that he was fighting against the urge to loudly gasp for air. "Alright, alright, you win. Team awesome and team loser it is then?" Eugene suggested, leaning against the other gate to take a moment to catch his breath.
Varian let out a breathless laugh. "Nah," He looked at Eugene with a fond smile. "you're still... still pretty awesome." He mumbled the last part, looking down at the ground. Varian wasn't always the best with giving compliments. Letting someone know that he thought of them as a friend was always a bit scary to him, as he was always afraid that they didn't think of him the same way, with Eugene, however, he knew that they were friends.
Eugene laughed. "Thanks, kid. You're quite awesome yourself." Varian looked, beaming at Eugene's comment. Eugene felt a warmth in his chest, seeing his little brother smile like that. Then realization hit him. He'd just thought of Varian as his little brother. He grinned for himself, before directing his attention to Varian again. "Alrigth, Goggles, let's go for a walk. Wanted to tell me about your new project?"
Neither of them could stop smiling, as they continued their walk, Eugene with a hand around Varian shoulder, and Varian rambling on about his newest project. Both feeling like they'd found a brother in each other, with none of them having to say anything.