Chapter Text
"Look, Sunshine, I'm just saying, we’re picking up the kid from a holding cell. It's not exactly the best first impression.”
The streets were dark on this Coronan night, car humming steadily as it crept ever closer to the County Jail at this ungodly hour. His sheer annoyance and creeping doubt over the situation the only thing that could keep his eyes open as he wrung the fingers of his unoccupied hand.
Twelve hours early. They were driving to pick up their brand new and very first foster child, twelve hours early. Why? He ran away from the group center, and got halfway to the city border, and got arrested. Again. Resulting in Eugene having to get up a mere four hours after going to bed to pick the little criminal up.
Lovely.
“It’s not anything too bad, Eugene!" Rapunzel reassured him, staring happily out of the window, watching bright streetlights and warm fall scenery zoom by. "The officers told us it was just shoplifting—"
He scoffed, “Oh yeah just shoplifting, well isn’t that a relief, kid really deserves a medal for that one"
She sighed, looking back over to him and placing her hand over his which couldn’t help but make his heart melt a little, tension melting from his shoulders as they pulled over to a stop at Corona’s very own County Jail, lights beaming from the inside like something unholy. Like a warning. Have fun with this one Fitzherbert.
…
Eugene hadn’t wanted this. The two of them hadn’t seen Varian in years, not since— the last time they saw him, he wasn’t the boy they knew. He was, angry, violent, a raging storm that only wanted to hurt everyone he could so they could feel the same way he was. And fucking Christ the kid knew how to hurt people. Why in the seven hells whould he want to bring that into his house. No way, the past needed to stay where it couldn’t hurt them anymore.
Then Rapunzel told him he’d been placed in the system, and they where ready to send him off to some juvenile center in Ingvarr.
So… they sighted up to get their license.
Rapunzel loved kids, she loved Varian, up until that day. She didn’t hesitate for a single second after they were asked, she wanted this, she wanted to mend their friendship. Believed with every fiber of her positive being that a good home and a big hug she could fix the kid and make him their friend again. It’d been years after all, time heals all wounds.
But she wasen’t the one who read the file… Eugene wasn’t so sure his girl could love her way through one.
“Hey Stan!”
She blew the door open, reveling in the flickering florescent lights as if they were in a cupcake shop rather than a jail at one in morning, smiling while Stan snapped up from the paperwork he’d been using as a pillow, “Oh, morning boss, princess”
Remind me to stop putting him on the night shifts “Morning Stan.”
His eyes fluttered between open and closed, shuffling through papers, “I’m assuming you two are here for little Varian?”
Unfortunately “That we are! Is he all set, good and everything?”
A flash of horror passed through Stans tired, dulled eyes, a look that’d make you think the man was reliving a war he’d never fought. A thousand-yard glare that in no way made Eugene feel at all better about this. “You…good? Stan?”
He shook himself out of it, “Yes sir— I’ll just— go, get…the kid”
Stan left in silence, pausing for a second at the doorway where he thought the couple couldn’t hear, crossing and mumbling a terrified prayer before rushing off like a man running to the field of battle, leaving him and Rapunzel alone under the flickering lights.
…
“This is gonna go great!”
Sure blondie…sure…
The pair waited for around fifteen minutes in silence, Rapunzel happily drumming her fingers on the armrest of the bone-stiff plastic chair of the station, Eugene tapping his leg and counting every second as it tipped past on the clock. Recounting every warning the social worker had filed on the kid, every angry scream and curse he’d yelled at them on that day.
Too late to leave now Fitzherbert.
No, stop, he’s catastrophizing, he’s just a teenager, it’ll be fine.
Unless he tries to kill you in your sleep
Finally, mumbled back and forth began to fade in from the far hallway and they both rose out of their seats, Raps wringing her hands in excitment— Eugene in dread.
Stop— resisting please!
I don't wanna go! Fucking— let go—!
Come on Varian, they're lovely people! You're gonna love this placement I know it—
Go kill yourself
They rounded the corner, Stan's hands steadily holding a firm grip on this skeleton of a boy glaring death into the floor like he could crack the cheap concrete with his eyes.
And god...he wishes the skeleton thing was more of a joke.
Varian was nearly drowning in his clothes, oversize being an understatement. The hoodie worn and ragged with its blue faded almost to a dull grey. Lint in every crevice, rips barely sewn together. Dark jeans with rips that definitely weren't there whenever the boy first bought it, patches almost making it look punk but not enough to save it from the overwhelming patheticness of his figure.
His hair looked close to the same, if just a bit longer with the stripe fading out like the rest of him. What face wasn't covered in hair looked like it hadn't seen a droplet of vitamin D in years, his head turned to hide the right side of his face. Not a single word had left his lips since he entered the room.
"Alright Varian! I assume you need to introduction and know how this goes buddy."
A hand slipped out of its pocket without missing a beat, flipping Stan right off.
Lovely.
He shot Stan the most sympathetic of looks he could manage this stressed and sleep deprived— reminder two, get Stan some kind of gift card for his suffering— and Varian snarled, pushing himself away from Stan's grip to no fight from the older officer. Rubbing his shoulders and looking back down to the ground.
Stan cleared his throat, "Alrighty everybody, just need a few more signatures from you two and we can all move on from there."
The kid said nothing, shoved his hands back in caves of his pockets, wringing them around from withen. Rapunzel jumped forward— pen already in hand before Eugene could even cringe at the thought of more paperwork. So Stan led her towards the desk, repeating things they'd heard a million times before in this process as she nodded her head excitedly. .. Leaving him alone with the kid, tension in the air thick enough to be cut with the kid's eye-daggers.
Eugene sighed deeply, drawing out the breath and tapping his leg like an antsy dog. Come on, say something dude "Excited to get outta here Goggles? Wait where are the—"
"Confiscated" he spat out, voice raspy and whineg and thick with venom and animosity, looking up just enough to meet his eyes, "and no."
Well this is a great start to things.
Thank God they were both saved from having to stand in this awkwardness any longer by a squeal from the blonde princess and her returning with Stan in tow, holding a old ratty backpack.
"We're all settttt~~~" She singsonged, taken the backpack from Stan and holding it tenderly before Eugene gestured to it and she handed it over to him, bouncing on two feet.
He broused through the contents mindlessly, "Um is this all he's got Stan? No like extra garbage bags or anything?" Come on he's gotta have some shit to his name.
This flimsy little bag barely held two changes of clothes, some water-logged notebooks, a phone with a spiderwebbed screen that rendered it most likly usless and—
Blurry old Polaroids he couldn't even see if they had anything on them before the bag was ripped out of his hands by the brooding teenager who cut shoved him back with a glare. Muttering under his breath as he rustled through it’s contents, checking each pocket in a rush before snapping his head up. "Where’s my—!"
"Some things we had to have permanently confiscated," Stan cut through, hand on the back of his neck looking away from the small child, "but with paperwork you could maybe—"
"Never mind" he snarled, hugging the bag close to his chest, "Can we just go now?"
As he turned to look up at him and Rapunzel, Eugene finally caught a glance at the right side of his face. The swirls of black and blue and puke green bruises trailing all the way down his neck. The red scrapes burning on top and the swell keeping half his eye closed. The way he moved his hair to cover jt back up not a second later.
How... the fuck kid....
Varian blinked at him, huffing and rolling the one good eye, "So....?"
Eugene clearned hos throat, clapping his hands and mentally scolding himself when the kid flinched slightly, "Um yeah! Let's go— see ya Monday Stan"
The tension followed them all the way to the car, Varian striding silently behind them and making himself as small as he could in the backseat of their car. Hands worming around in his pockets, gaze trained out the window. Music playing at the lowest volume that didn't help bring back any sort of vibe.
Eugene couldn't help but look back every few seconds, just— waiting for the kid to blow up or to figure out something to say to him. What's your favorite color? How's life going since you killed your dad bud. Want ice cream?
Unfortunately, his girlfriend beat him to it.
"So! Varian" She turned her head back to at least try and look him in the eye, "You hungry? I know it's a little late but I'm sure we can stop by some sort of—"
"Im good."
God how could so much sass fit in two fucking words. Please Blondie, for the love of God stop—
"That's okay! Im not a big fan of late-night meals either. I could make some hot chocolate for you when we're home! We're almost there anyway, we picked out a room for you and decorated a bit but you can change anything you want about it Varian! We can go down to the IKEA or a nice little thrift store downtown has the best thriftstores Varian I find the best stuff there—!"
"What we're trying to say here kid is that, we want you to feel welcome. Okay? I know this shit was a little rushed and everything but we want you here, and we're here for you."
He heard the smallest of scoffs over the music, looking back through the mirror to see the boy glaring daggers out the window, biting his already busted lip, "Yeah, sure, now you two want that."
Ah fuck—, "Kid—" But he'd already pulled the old blue hood over his head, fully masking himself from the pair in the front. Looking so small and pitiful you could mistake him for a pile of dry cleaning they'd left in the car.
Yep, this was gonna go great.