A/N: This story is more of an exposition piece than an action-filled one-shot, centered on Varrick's POV and on what he considers a "family"... Hope you like it though x)
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STORY 8 — ZHURRICK WEEK DAY 6 — FAMILY
Family for Varrick was everyone close to him. Zhu Li was part of it since long before their marriage.
The Varrick family encompassed the movers cast, the circus crew, and a good dozen of eccentrics of all sorts, as well as everybody who ever worked for him. Zhu Li was part of the family before she even realized that herself.
When it comes to Zhu Li's adoptive parents, however, they had only met Varrick once, when he was staying at their place with Zhu Li, just after Unavaatu's attack on Republic City. Varrick and Zhu Li were then fugitives, recently escaped from prison, and needed a place to stop and hide before finding some other place to set. Luckily, Varrick knew that he could count on Suyin, an ancient circus friend of his, or in other words, a cousin of sorts.
At that moment, Zhu Li's parents were only helping them. They weren't working with them enough to be actual "family" to Varrick. Not yet.
If Zhu Li was a family member, she would be that weird aunt who always stays on the side, probably considered to be half-mad by the rest of the family, until they found out that she's just the kind of person who likes to keep for herself, while at the same time burgeoning with ideas. Varrick loved her for that.
It was always hard to pinpoint the exact moment when it started. It happened progressively, growing, until Varrick finally realized that Zhu Li has gotten under his skin too much to step back. She was a family member, like all the others, but something more at the same time.
Ginger and Bolin were special too, now that he thinks of that, but in another way. Ginger was willing to be a test-subject for every new idea to be marketed, a bit like a kid who's willing to try all sorts of candies, even though he knows that he'll be sick, just so he could claim that he tried them all. Ginger was like that. And the audience loved her. Some other members of the Varrick family didn't like her because she wasn't very bright and could be a bit spoiled, but she was kind-hearted, and most importantly, a hard worker.
There was also Bolin, who Varrick saw as his own nephew, maybe even as a son. Something about the kid made him feel good about himself. Was it giving a kid who had a harsh life a chance for a glorious future? Was it because Bolin, like Ginger, was willing to try everything for fun and fame? Or was it because Bolin was so hopelessly kind that anyone in his immediate presence would be bathed in his generosity and end up becoming a better person? Whatever the case, Bolin was like the closest kin...
Just after Zhu Li, that is. It seems crazy when he thinks of how long it took him to realize that the most obvious thing in the world would be making Zhu Li his wife. That way, they'd officially become a family. With her, Varrick would enrich his family by two other members, Zhu Li's parents, who helped them so much in times of need. Most of his family up till then was based on business relations, but now, he could bring something else to existence. With Zhu Li, it was now possible to create a family of another sort.