Varian x Arthas | By : flagfish Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 1726 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Warcraft nor any of the characters, nor do I make any money or profit from writing this story. |
In the days after Prince Varian's arrival at Lordaeron Keep, Arthas never saw him cry; he remained stoic and tense and didn't say much at all, and Arthas observed him curiously, he willed himself to force discipline where instead he had wanted to bombard him with questions. His heart swelled with empathy for the prince who had lost everything, and while he became aware he ought not try to coax emotion from him, he couldn't help his own fascination.
He admired Varian.
Unlike himself, Varian had been trained in armed combat from a very young age, his skill with a sword had Arthas overcome with both adoration and envy. He was tall and slender and had long, dark hair that batted around him wildly when they sparred, and although Arthas looked up to him profoundly, all the while he felt a terrible sorrow at the thought of the burden he carried.
Somewhere inside, he knew that he, personally, could never survive such a thing.
And while he didn't show it outright, Varian was fond of him, too; even though he didn't say much, as the months passed he'd begun to spend less time with Lothar and Khadgar, less time on his own, until it became simple fact that he would be found with Arthas.
Despite the pain he felt for him, Arthas all the while was tremendously content; Varian was the best friend he'd wanted badly through boyhood, far back as he could recall. What he liked, Arthas liked; what he chose appeared as the best course of action, down to his clothes or what he wanted for dinner.
"You can't wear the same uniform," Varian had said; "this is Stormwind's crest."
"Same colors," Arthas had replied; in the end, they wore each other's clothes regardless of the crest or style, or the fact that Varian was taller.
They ate and played together, and had their lessons together, and shared all their free time; all in all, after the tragedies Varian had endured it had done him a great deal of good. He had found in Arthas the brother he'd never had, and had come to love him the way he'd loved his own family.
When one night Lothar and Khadgar had found him asleep in Arthas' bed, they'd been taken a bit by surprise— but soon they had realized they ought not be; "But that's not so extraordinary, is it?" Khadgar had asked. "You must remember how it is at that age, the coveted status of a best friend—"
Lothar had opened his mouth to speak, but whatever words he had prepared never came; he regarded the two boys with a melancholy smile, and then got one arm around Khadgar's back. "Come on," he said, "let's go to sleep."
Arthas' older sister, Calia, had said the boys were inseparable; she said there were two things of which her brother was terribly fond, and they were his horse and his best mate. She'd said, "if he's not at the sparring arena then he's at the stables, and if he's at the stables then Varian's probably in there with him."
Calia, herself, had little time for games; as the elder sibling she'd been groomed since childhood to one day take the throne, she'd sometimes gazed enviably out the palace windows at where Varian and Arthas would ride out together. Nevertheless, she had liked them both.
"Let's not go back home today," Varian had said to Arthas; they lay out by Lordamere Lake one spring day, aware that nice weather was rare that time of year. After an afternoon of swimming they now reclined on the rocks and gazed at the swaying treetops, and Arthas knew why Varian didn't want to go back: that evening they'd been invited to visit Ellerian Manor, the residence of one Tiffin the Gryphon whom Varian utterly loathed.
The feeling between them was mutual; before either had so much as learned to walk or talk, Tiffin and Varian were bound by the shackles of an arranged marriage, and they despised one another consequently. When they had been very young children, Tiffin was larger and stronger than Varian, and at any visit between them she hadn't missed a chance to beat him up; Varian had terrible memories of wailing and screaming beneath her while she clawed at his face, until they'd been pulled apart and forced to behave.
Tiffin had found him repulsive, she'd called him Varian the Barbarian and refused to ever apologize for the way she'd bullied him; as a matter of fact, these very struggles had driven Varian's determination to train at combat and become stronger, and now Arthas could see why.
Even now she still towered over them both, she threatened them without any words to dare and come closer, and swore she'd rather die than have to marry the Barbarian.
"Like I wanna marry her anyway," Varian would mutter to Arthas; "what a dreadful thought."
Maybe if they hadn't been forced upon each other, things would have been different.
"Varian wants to marry Arthas," Calia had said; she was certain Arthas wouldn't mind, they were at an age when they weren't fond of girls yet, and the idea appealed to them both. But Lothar had told Varian that one day he would reclaim his kingdom, and that an heir would be expected of him; as revolting as the thought had sounded, it was something Varian was made to understand very early on, and indeed Lothar's words gave him courage and hope for the future.
He'd told Arthas, "There's no way I'm having an heir with Tiffin the Gryphon."
For once, Arthas felt glad that he wasn't first in line for Lordaeron's throne.
By the time he'd first met Calia's friend Jaina, Arthas already was fully enamored by Varian; he'd been curious about her, but she and Calia had spent so much time together he'd never got the chance to talk to her alone.
He'd confided in Varian that he'd fancied her, and Varian gave a small laugh, as though liking a girl had made him somehow weird; however, he didn't give him a hard time beyond that. He was glad that, unlike him, at least Arthas had got to choose the person he fancied.
It wasn't until adolescence that Jaina confided in Calia that she thought her little brother was cute.
She'd made her promise not to tell, but Calia couldn't help laughing; "You're kidding," she'd said, "Arthas, of all people?"
"I know," Jaina had said; she laughed and squirmed a little, like she, herself, was baffled. "Somehow he'd got kind of handsome— but Cali, you have to promise not to tell him."
Calia prepared herself to have a field day making fun of her, because the thought of her snot-nosed baby brother being somehow handsome was utterly ridiculous; Good luck extracting him from Varian's grip, she had said, but the closeness between the two boys was something Jaina found charming.
In the end it couldn't be helped, and a very awkward friendship ensued between Arthas and Jaina— but ultimately Arthas still went to Varian for comfort, and the two still preferred each other's company to that of anyone else.
Jaina didn't mind. She was fond of Varian and liked playing with them both, but soon her own demanding academic curriculum at Dalaran had completely consumed her life; what little free time she had she had spent at Lordaeron Keep with her friends, until the guards knew her as well as they knew the royal family.
One night, Arthas had knocked impatiently on Varian's bedroom door, and finally let himself in without waiting to be admitted; he'd been out at the shops with Jaina, and now returned to tell Varian that she'd nearly kissed him.
Varian sat up straighter at his writing desk, aware that here was a matter requiring his immediate attention; he checked his best friend for any permanent scars.
"Nearly kissed you?" he asked; "Why nearly?"
At that, Arthas flushed uncomfortably; he regarded Varian like he were helpless. "I don't know what to do," he said.
Varian had been about to tease him, but soon realized he knew just as little; "Well—" he said, "don't you just— that is— I mean, you've seen people kiss before, haven't you?"
The two paused in order to consider it; "Yeah—" Arthas said, "—but that still doesn't— I mean— what if, like—"
In the end they had made up their minds to practice on each other, because that had been easiest and would likely benefit them both; either way, by that age there was no part of their bodies they hadn't already fully compared and contrasted, there was no inhibition between them.
If only Jaina had known the things they had done, she'd likely have fancied Arthas much more— if he'd let her watch, at least.
(On to Chapter 2)
A/N: I would love to find someone interested in roleplaying Warcraft lore, especially Varian/Arthas, Wrathion/Anduin, or Illidan/Kael'thas (if this is still on here then I'm still looking, haha!) I've had a very difficult time finding anyone interested in this, as WoW fangirls usually like RPing their OCs (which I'm not interested in doing). I don't mind at all if you don't know much lore, if English isn't your first language, if you're a little shy, or if you're new to Warcraft or to RPing; I just like writing with someone else who's passionate about the same stuff =) If you feel like giving it a go, then please reach me through the contact info on my profile. Thank you! ^^
A/N: This story includes tiny variations from the lore, based on headcanons from RP; though I suppose that if Bliz can go back and change their own lore and retcon things, then perhaps in the grand scheme of things it might not be so bad ^^
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