"Lance, I'd really rather talk to him alone." Eugene stirred extra sugar into his tea. The evening and come surprisingly quickly with Edmund organizing nonsense bonding activities for them all day. Maybe if he had more visitors he wouldn't be so needy. Boy, this was going to get weird when he had kids.

"Don't worry, I'll go when he gets here. Just don't want to leave you hanging if he doesn't show." The former thieves sat across a small table in the castle's old tea room. Lance flicked the switch on a portable water heater of Varian's own design. The Hot chocolate inside would reheat to boiling within minutes.

Eugene nibbled his littlest nail nervously and sighed, "He wouldn't talk to me all day." He leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms.

"He wasn't talking to Hugo much, either" Lance comforted. "Not that they had chance with you dad hovering around them all day"

Yes, Edmund had been his obnoxious self, as usual. The game of Croquet had gone well with the younger travelers and the Coronans had learned much about them. Hugo, however, had been struggling to compose himself with Varian's help. Even when the young couple had tried to steal away for themselves under the guise of finishing their co-invented laundry machine, the king had just dragged his son down with them to continue his stories. The prince had tried to play it off politely while the poor boys worked in silence, but Hugo's temper surfaced within the first thirty minutes when he left for the bathroom and never returned. Varian did finish the device eventually by himself and by then it was time for dinner.

Throughout the day, Eugene hadn't seen the blond interacting with anyone else. It was a red flag, in his opinion, that Hugo wasn't just closest to Varian, but didn't seem to be liked at all by the other two. Even the clearly friendly and forgiving Yong had told the story of how they met with lingering bitterness. He was a suspicious character and even if he didn't have some nefarious reason for following them, it didn't mean he wasn't just using Varian for entertainment. He knew the type: Flyn Rider had been a player in his days.

But, Varian's view was what truly mattered. He had been suspicious of Hugo at first, so Yong had said, and his opinion had changed for a reason. Maybe Hugo was legitimate, maybe Varian was easier going than he thought, or maybe this boy was just a very classic mistake. One Varian just had to make and grow from. Eugene trusted him not to go into another murder rage, or if he did that it would be well deserved.

It was going to be another month or two before Varian's journey saw him home again and his big brothers were going to want to know everything that went down in his first real relationship. And tonight he was going to get all the context he could

"I'm not sure I trust that scrub with our Varian."

"They got along great, and Varian was clearly into him."

"Yeah, that's not good enough, Lance! You remember how I was with... you-know-who?"

"C'mon, Bleach Job might be trouble, but he's not daughter of the head of an underground crime ring trouble-"

CLICK!

Both men jumped in their seats as the toggle of the water heater snapped back into place signaling its readiness. Lance laughed while his old friend fussed over his tea-stained jacket and stood. "well, He'll be here in a minute. I'll leave you to... all this."

While preoccupied, Eugene failed to stop a cookie from being stolen. "Oh, is that what you were here for?"

"See ya!" The large man opened the door to find a much smaller figure behind it. "Oh, hey bud. He's right in there" Eugene straightened himself one final time as the man he'd been waiting for finally joined him.

Awkward greeting were shared, a hot chocolate poured, and a cookie or two eaten as a silence settled between them. "Ruddiger gave me your note." The younger started.

"Ruddiger gave me your note. Thanks for coming to see me."

"It really is good to see you."

"You too, kid." Eugene sipped what was left of his drink before "I'm not judging him for what happened; that was my fault."

"Yeah, it was"

Another silence. "Alright, let's just start all of this over. Varian! You scored a hot date. How did that happen."

Varian chuckled "Ah, well. Hugo and I have a lot in common. We're both alchemist. Uh..." His eyes shifted away in thought "we can both... hm... well... I think it's what's different about us that works. He's always... getting in fights... with bad guys! And he wins! He's good in fights." Varian was trying to say something nice, he really was. He didn't know how to describe it; they just had chemistry.

"Look, I don't have any right to judge a one night stand. I've had my own run-ins with some lovely young women. Many of whom I did not rob after. And I've had some nasty women I could tell you the tragic tales of for days."

"Like, as in Flinging Rider and the Sirins of Olympia"

"Worse."

"Yikes."

"Look, kid. I'm acting like this because... well... I've used people before, Varian. And I've screwed those people up. Some of them I've run into again and I fixed things. Some of them Rapunzel fixed for me. Some of them I wouldn't recognize if they ran up and slapped me in the face. I'm always scared that's going to happen. Anyway, this guy has a real 'Flyn Rider' vibe and I just can't stand the idea of you getting used," Eugene looked Varian dead in the eye "...again"

All humor was suddenly lost on the Younger's face. An intensity grew in his eyes and his voice shook when he finally spoke."...I'm... not locked up this time."

"No, but you're stuck with him." Eugene continued quickly to pull Varian's mind away from a horrible place. He slouched over himself with his elbows on his knees and hands together. "When I was with Stallion, I felt so stuck. I was just... expected to already be in love with her. To marry her. She was pushing me, and her dad was pushing me... And I was pushing me... I was a part of their crew. If I said 'no,' I knew I couldn't just stay. Eventually I just ditched them all. People who kind of cared about me. All because of one thing I didn't want to do. And not wanting to wasn't a reason they would take even if it was entirely valid. Not everyone will respect what you don't want to do.

"I don't want you getting yanked around by this guy just because you don't want to cause a problem in your group. Even if your friends siding with you and ganging up on him is what you're afraid of. I get that he matters to you a lot, but you feeling safe matters more than him feeling comfortable."

Varian sighed. "Hugo hasn't propose," he argued. "Last night was just..."

"A one-time thing?"

"No. Well, maybe... we haven't talked about it yet." Varian was a little sheepish now.

Eugene leaned back and crossed his legs, a little more relaxed. "I've been there. I really have. And that can be a lot of fun! It ends badly, sometimes. You need to know what you want, and you need him to know what you want, and you need to know he wants it too."

"I want to know what he wants... I don't... at all. I don't even know that much about him."

"What do you know?"

"He's from Ingvarr."

Eugene made a 'ech' sound at that information. "I've been to Ingvarr. Nasty place"

"You're wanted there, aren't you?"

"Anyway, what else?"

"I know he likes winning arguments, no matter how petty. Likes starting them, too. He make me laugh. His favorite color is green... He looks out for us. He gets us out of most danger. In the trial yesterday; he's the reason we're alive. He didn't use to be like that. He used to just be out for himself, but he's gotten better. He'd fight for any one of us. I feel safe around him. I love being around him." He looked up to see the other nodding with a smile and he smiled back.

"well," He grabbed another cookie and offered one to Varian. "I guess that'll do, for now. Kinda' does sound like Flynn Rider. Bet that's why you liked him in the first place, huh?" They both laughed at the smirk he gave. A laugh was good for them both. "You two still need to have that talk."

The last of his hot chocolate was cold as he finished it. "I don't even know how." Varian laughed nervously, a pit forming in his gut at what leaving this room meant for him. He had been dancing around his answers at first to avoid a lecture about how untrustworthy Hugo was, how unpleasant and suspicious. Nuru had never stopped complaining about him and it would be so much worse now. Yong was a child and while Ruddiger was the best listener, he wasn't good with advice. Eugene was the first person he could talk to about this. He had surpassed Varian's expectations with his patience and empathy and he liked finally getting to talk about Hugo. And no matter how this ended he could always come home to Eugene.

"I've got some Ideas, Kid."

And Eugene would always have his back.

"You didn't actually write an application did you?"

"Of course not. I'm just writing a letter for you dad. And one for Rapunzel. And maybe one for Cass."

"I've already written to my Dad about Hugo and Cass has already met him. "

"We'll he's going to need a more objective opinion."

"And that is not you."

Varian stood at the door for far too long. Truthfully he wasn't even sure Hugo would be in his room; he might have gone back to his own. He didn't even have to do this tonight, did he? Maybe he should find a gift of some kind, just to break the ice. He had brought with him a few left over cookies, that should do. Ok, if he was even there, they'd have the talk now. If he wasn't, some other time then. Holding his breath, he opened the door.

The room was empty. A twisted sense of relief deflated almost all of the tension in him. They could talk whenever, really. It didn't have to be a big deal. They were adults. It wasn't more than one question: 'so, do you want to be a couple? I'd like to.' That was it!

While changing into his night clothes, he saw the bathrobe on the bed. It was pretty cozy. Just that and pajama pants should do. Ruddiger chittered from the foot of the bed, awoken by his human slipping under the covers. It was admittedly quite early for sleep, but he had all been bone tired the whole day. Sleepy as he was, the critter was more than happy to finally snuggle with his boy and they both settled down for an early night.

Until there was a knock at the door.

The door that opened without his permission immediately after. And just his luck if was the man he had just been happy to avoid. A man dressed in his own bathrobe... and nothing else.

"Evening, sweet cheeks." He sauntered through the entry swinging his satchel from over his shoulder. As he reached the bed the bag was placed atop his back pack that Varian had failed to notice was there. Apparently, Hugo had decided they were rooming now. Not that there was a problem with that. All the easier to ask his question. Just one question to ask the man right in front of him, in the bathrobe that was way too short for his legs hung completely off of his shoulders and exposing his chest ."Aw, Baby, Anything wrong?" Oh, he must have been staring.

"People could have seen you." Now that would have been embarrassing. They still didn't know their other friends opinions on them together.

"Who cares?"

"Hugo..."

"I saw you beat me in here and, well, I was planning to surprise you whenever you got back"

"Surprise me with what?" He was suddenly slammed backwards onto the soft mattress beneath him, hands tangled in his hair. Lips held him captive sweetly for some time until Varian wiggled himself away to speak. "Wait, Hugo can I just ask you something real quick?"

"Go for it." Hugo left his lips to trail kisses up his jaw.

"A-ah~a-are we dating now?" By the moon, it was hard to think with a tung in his ear.

"Sure" Wait, 'sure?'

Varian's heart soared so much higher that he was ever prepared he was almost left gasping, or maybe that was just the little nibble at his earlobe. He was about to return all affections when Ruddiger reminded them of his presence with an annoyed chirp.

Hugo glared at his little nuisance. "Alright, trash cat. Time to beat it."

Unimpressed, Ruddiger growled. Varian sat them both up and scooted closer to his pet. "Ok, ok, ok." He reached out and the racoon settled in his lap still glaring at the blond. "We're all really tired. Let's just go to sleep." He lifted his had to Hugo's cheek.

"Can we at least make out first." There wasn't even an answer before the younger brought their lips back together and led them to the pillows. Their lazy kisses lasting only a few short minutes before Varian settled on Hugo's chest for the night; his hand snuggled into ruddiger's fur.

"You mean it, though? Boyfriends?"

"Hell yeah." And that was all he needed, for now.