STORY 4 - ZHURRICK WEEK, DAY 2 : OBLIVIOUS
Set during Book 4, shortly after Zhu Li makes her apology to Varrick and snaps at him for not treating her as an equal. Varrick is trying to come to term with what he feels, helped by a Bolin who's sick of his shenaningans.
"Apology accepted?!" yelled Bolin's voice. "This could have been your chance to tell her what you feel and you spoiled it!"
"Look, excuse me kid!" answered Varrick.
"Excuse me?! You have Zhu Li telling you that you mean the world to her and you don't seize the opportunity to tell her you feel the same?!"
"How do you know that I feel the same?!" shouted Varrick.
"Err, Varrick? Are you okay" asked Bolin, entering the room without knocking.
"Am I okay?" blurted Varrick. "Of course I'm not okay! My consciousness is attacking me! And it speaks in your voice, for some reason! How do you want me to be okay?!"
"Oh... And what did I say in your head?" asked Bolin.
"You yelled at me! You told me that I spoiled my chance! That I spoiled everything!"
"Well, you kind of did..."
"Oh, shut up! Wait, no!" Varrick stopped and looked at Bolin with insistence. "Was that you or was that the voice in my head once again?"
"Errr... Neither? Both?" said Bolin, a bit confused. Then after taking one deep breath he said:
"Varrick, you need to talk to Zhu Li."
"And tell her what exactly?"
"Well, apologize, for a start... And then tell her what weighs on your chest! Tell her how you feel!"
Bolin opened his arms, a grin on his face. Varrick, on the contrary, kept a sullen expression.
"You can't be serious, kid. That would never work."
"How can you be such a genius and yet be so oblivious?!" asked Bolin, frustrated.
"Oblivious to what?" asked Varrick.
"To Zhu Li's feelings! She feels like you, exactly like you, Varrick..."
"And what do I feel?"
Bolin stopped.
"Wait..." he said. "You aren't aware of what you feel? Have you ever been in love?"
"Of course I have!" blurted Varrick. "I've been in love for years, kid! For years!"
"Varrick, I'm not talking about being in love with your job," sighed Bolin.
"I know what you're talking about, kid. And the answer remains the same."
"Are we both talking about Zhu Li?"
"Yes... No! Maybe... I don't know!"
Varrick took his head in his hands and started running in circles.
"Err... Varrick?" whispered Bolin, worried. "I... I think that you should really... Calm down a bit, will you?"
"You know who could calm me down?" asked Varrick, suddenly stopping.
"Don't make me guess..."
"Zhu Li," said Varrick dreamily.
"Okay, I've had enough, I'm calling her," said Bolin.
"Wait sto-"
But before Varrick could stop Bolin, his friend was already out of the room. Any moment now, he would come back with Zhu Li. Varrick started panicking, his heart beating in his chest stronger than ever.
Damn you, kid, he thought. I taught you too well.
Moments later, Bolin arrived in the room, dragging Zhu Li with him, as if she didn't want to come along. The thought made Varrick's heart sink. Then again, her simple presence made him feel better, in a way. She didn't look apologetic this time. She looked confident, almost intimidating. And absolutely stunning by the same occasion.
"So, now that we're all here," started Bolin impatiently, "I think that Varrick has something to tell you."
"I'm listening," said Zhu Li in a flat tone.
She had a daring gaze in her eyes. She stood in front of Varrick more powerful than ever. Nothing could shake her now. Zhu Li was glowing with fearlessness and Varrick felt butterflies in his stomach.
"I... I wanted to ask you if you wanted to work with me again," he muttered.
Upon noticing Bolin preparing to facepalm once again, Varrick coughed and tried another approach.
"But before that, I want to apologize," he said. "I wanted to apologize for not showing proper appreciation for your work."
Varrick waited for a few moments, staring at the floor. Then, he looked up at Zhu Li.
"You saved my life," he finally said. "You've been with me through thick and thin... And when you left, I realized that I could barely survive without you... I apologize for never having shown you how much you mean to me..."
Zhu Li eyed him for a moment, a shadow of a smirk on her face.
"Apology accepted," she said calmly, extending her hand towards Varrick as a sign of agreement.
Varrick took her hand in his own, hesitating to shake it. Zhu Li was playing with him, but he felt too disarmed to retaliate.
"Partners again?" asked Varrick.
"Only on my terms," she answered, shaking his hand.
Bolin couldn't stand them anymore, so he left the room. The sparkles that glistened in their eyes when they were together were visible to every other person in the world. Only Varrick and Zhu Li were oblivious to them. Or rather, pretended to be
A/N: I absolutely love Bolin's relationship with Varrick and I'm quite sure that Varrick's conscience has Bolin's voice xD or at least, that's what I choose to believe x))
Also, I really wanted to show Varrick's apology to Zhu Li... I feel like some things happened behind the scenes, before Varrick's proposal, but that we didn't get to see them... Well... That's what fanfiction is for, right? x)