Tangled: Stardust and the 12 Zodiacs (Varian Fanfiction)

Chapter 35: Another Reason to fear Cliffs

"Woah! Varian, did you even sleep last night?" Eugene asked with wide eyes as he stared at the half-awake alchemist with bloodshot eyes, sitting beside him on the bench by the window to the coachmen's boot. "You look like a zombie."

"I'm....fine...." Varian muttered before dozing off, leaning his head on Eugene's shoulder, snoring loudly.

"I don't know if I should find this cute or worrying." Eugene stated, gesturing at the sleeping alchemist. "How late did he stay up last night?"

"We, uh, stayed up until three in the morning." Soul sheepishly answered, scratching her cheek.

"Wait, Woah, Woah! THREE IN THE MORNING? How are you even fully awake right now?" The man shouted in disbelief before waving his hands. "Nevermind that, what were you two even doing, staying up late like that?" Eugene asked instead.

"I was stargazing and studying some stars and updating my star chart last night when he woke up and joined me. Plus, there was a meteor shower." Soul half-lied. There was no way she was going to tell them that they stayed up all night, trying to make her fear of cliffs disappear. So far, it was working. "And I'm used to staying up late." She added, nibbling on a biscuit.

"So, you and Varian watched a meteor shower together?" Kiera asked, nudging her sister, giggling.

Soul raised an eyebrow in slight confusion, turning to the two younger girls. "Yeah, why?" She asked back. The girls continued giggling as Catalina nudged Lance, urging him to explain.

"What?" Lance asked, looking down at the two girls. Catalina whispered something in his ear as the man broke into a grin. "Ohoho!"

"What?" Soul questioned, turning to look at the burly man sitting across her. "What's wrong?"

"So, you and Varian watched the meteor shower last night?" Lance queried, placing a hand underneath his chin, leaning on it as his arm rested on his lap.

"Yeah, so?"

"Just the two of you?" Lance asked.

"Unless you count the occasional flies bothering us, then yes, just the two of us." Soul replied.

"So you guys watched a meteor shower, just the two of you last night?"

"Where are you going with this, Lance? You're starting to test my patience here." The girl said, gritting her teeth as she angrily bit onto the biscuit she was eating. Lance held up his hands, surrendering.

"Woah, easy there. What I'm trying to say is that you and Varian went on a date last night?" Silence enveloped inside the caravan after Lance stated those words.

"I- what?" The girl stammered.

"Yeah, a date. You do know what a date is, right?" Lance's face fell as he didn't consider if Soul even knew of romantic relationships.

"I'm offended! Of course, I know. " Soul huffed, pouting. "And no, what we did wasn't a date. I was peacefully studying the stars when he decided to join me."

"Unless you did the date things." Catalina stated, wiggling her eyebrows. The older girl made a disgusted look, cringing at the younger girl, preparing her ears for the answer to her question.

"What date things?" Soul asked, raising her hands slightly to her ears, preparing to cover it if necessary.

"You know? Like, cuddle."

Soul took one look down the cliff and was about to run away when Varian held her tightly in his arms.

"Talk about sensitive stuff because they say it makes couples feel closer."