#varlex

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Alex slowly woke up, blinking away the sleep in his eyes as the first sight he was greeted with was Victor’s face, whose bedhead was as messy as ever, but, this time, it was wild to such an intense degree that Alex couldn’t help but reach out to start to comb his fingers through Victor's hair.

As Alex combed out the tangles that had built up in Victor’s hair, Victor blearily woke up, blinking at Alex.

“Good morning,” Alex greeted softly.

“Mornin,” Victor responded. “What’re you doin?”

“You’re so cute when you sleep,” Alex responded, and Victor gave a soft smile before leaning in to give Alex a gentle kiss, opting to rest against Alex’s chest once he parted from the kiss.

Arlo turned over to hold Alex in a spooning position.

“What time is it?” Arlo mumbled, his voice gravely from sleep.

“Too early,” Victor answered. “Sleep.”

you can also find this drabble on ao3 in my “Varlex Drabbles” fic (Chapter 9)

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“My husband is a member of the Flying Pigs!” Victor puffed his chest out proudly, and Susan narrowed her eyes.

“Just yesterday you were telling me that your husband has had the number one workshop back in Portia for five years straight,” Susan pointed out. “There’s no way he’s also a member of the Flying Pigs.”

“Well, he’s not a member of the Flying Pigs,” Victor admitted.

“Then why’d you say it?”

“Cause my <i>other</i> husband is a member of the Flying Pigs!” Victor proclaimed.

“How many husbands do you even have?”

“Just two,” Victor held up two fingers. “And we have the most wonderful son! His name is Stanza, look, I have a picture of him.”

Victor brought out a photo of Stanza, a young boy with shaggy brown hair and warm brown eyes. He was a little roughed up in the photo, with swatches of dirt on him along with several band-aids, but he had a big smile on his face, revealing a missing tooth.

“Awww,” Susan cooed. “He’s adorable!”

“He started learning to knit recently!” Victor announced. “My husband, Alex, tried knitting before - he’s the builder husband - but he just couldn’t get the hang of it. He stuck through with it enough to make me and our other husband scarves, but he hasn’t touched a pair of knitting needles since. Stanza, on the other hand, seemed to be making good progress on learning how to knit last time I was home.”

“I have to say that I’m a little surprised your husband isn’t good at knitting, especially with how you praised his building skills before.”

“Building and knitting are different skills,” Victor pointed out. “I admire him for his refusal to give up.”

“And what about your other husband? How is he at knitting?”

“He doesn’t have the time for it,” Victor said. “He’s a busy guy, after all.”

“Right, right,” Susan nodded. “Flying Pigs and all.”

“Yep.”

“What about you? Are you any good at knitting?”

“I’m fantastic at it,” Victor claimed. “I don’t do it too often though. I prefer crocheting.”

“You’ll have to show me some of your creations.”

So - a little explanation: this is an au where my builder, Victor, is a ghost that haunts the workshop and helps @dads-typo‘s builder out with his crush on Arlo

You can also find this work on my ao3 account in the fic titled “Varlex Drabbles”

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Arlo was having a pleasant conversation with Alex, and he was about to leave before Alex suddenly changed his demeanor completely.

Alex went from his nice and sweet self to something more confident, and, if Arlo was being honest, somewhat intimidating.

Alex hooked a finger on Arlo’s pants and pressed himself against Arlo’s chest, and Arlo suddenly found it extremely difficult to breathe, especially with how close Alex’s lips were to his own.

“You’re a dumbass,” Alex spoke, and Arlo could feel his breath on his lips. “You’re lucky you’re so handsome.”

Arlo’s knees went weak as Alex’s voice dropped down an octave, and oh god they were so close.

Alex’s demeanor then went back to normal, and Alex’s face went red as he quickly removed himself from Arlo, apologizing profusely, just as Arlo had the thought of what would happen if he closed the gap between them.

“Sorry! That was, uh, Victor who possessed me,” Alex explained, and Arlo found himself a little disappointed that it wasn’t Alex himself that did that.

...Why was he so disappointed?

“It’s, uh, fine,” Arlo got out, but he couldn’t take his gaze off of Alex’s lips. If he had moved just a centimeter while they were pressed together, they would have… “I! Really have to go now! Thank you for the lemonade!”

Arlo left abruptly, and, once he was out of eyesight of anyone else, he brought a hand up to his lips.

...What would it have been like?

Arlo found himself drifting off every now and then, thinking about what would have happened if Alex didn't pull away so soon, and then pulling himself back down into reality to continue working.

He didn't have the excuse of working once he was back in his room and trying to sleep.

So his thoughts wondered. Would Alex's lips be soft? Chapped? How would he kiss? Would he be gentle or unexpectedly rough? Would Alex be the type to touch his partner while he kisses them? Alex did have really nice, calloused hands from his work. What would those feel like running over Arlo's body as he kissed him?

Arlo's face was red, and he didn't know why he couldn't stop thinking about kissing Alex.

Maybe he just had to sleep it off. Yeah.

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"Why the FUCK did you do that!?" Alex asked once Arlo left, and Victor made himself visible.

"Arlo's stupid," Victor answered. "And he won't realize his crush on you unless you make yourself known as a romantic option."

“Arlo doesn't have a crush on me…"

"Uh-huh. And I'm not a ghost," Victor said sarcastically. "But even if Arlo didn't have a crush on you, we've got to do some work to <i>make</i> him have a crush on you."

"Uh. That's a little much, isn't it?"

"No," Victor promptly answered. "You've got to be a little more selfish sometimes, you know that right?"

"So you've told me."

"But since you won't just sit in his lap and give him a lap dance-"

"Cause that's TOO much!" Alex interrupted with a huge flush on his face.

"We've got to employ more subtle tactics. I guess."

"What about what you did was subtle?"

"The part where I didn't actually kiss Arlo. If that man doesn't stay up late tonight thinking about what it'd be like to kiss you, then I haven't done my job right. Keep me updated, yeah?"

"You don't even have a job…" Alex trailed off and reluctantly promised to take note of Arlo's attitude towards him over the next few days.

It didn't really seem to change? But Victor certainly noticed a difference when Arlo came over at one point, saying how Arlo couldn't stop staring at Alex's mouth, and then Victor made the suggestion to put that mouth to good use.

"Really? Cherry stems?" Alex asked, and Victor nodded.

"You can tie them into a knot with your tongue right? And if Arlo didn't want you before, he'll certainly be thirsting after you after seeing that particular party trick."

"If you say so…"

Arlo was visiting Alex like he did often. Alex even offered some cherries, which Arlo accepted.

Arlo would probably never admit to anyone how much his gaze strayed downwards towards Alex's lips, and he always made sure his eyes were off of them when Alex was looking.

"Hey, wanna see a fun trick I know how to do?" Alex asked, and Arlo agreed.

Alex popped another cherry into his mouth, and he moved his lips and jaw around before sticking out his tongue to reveal a cherry stem tied into a knot.

Arlo had a sudden urge to kiss Alex again, but this time the desire was more intense.

Before, Arlo was only thinking of soft, surface-level kisses, but now he had the thought of what it would feel like if Alex's tongue were to intertwine with Arlo's.

Arlo flushed and left with some excuse about how he had some work to do, and Alex frowned when Arlo left.

“It’s not supposed to make him run away,” Alex frowned, and Victor let out a laugh.

“I’m betting you didn’t see the erection Arlo was sporting,” Victor pointed out, and the comment made Alex’s face turn red.

“Victor!” Alex shouted. “Don’t say things like that!”

“What are you gonna do about it? Kill me?” Victor laughed again.

“I just don’t want Arlo to act weird around me,” Alex admitted.

“Well, when you’ve got a crush on someone, you’re bound to act a little weird around them. There’s no getting around that. The solution here is just to ask him out.”

“I guess…” Alex trailed off. “But that’s just…a lot to even think about doing.”

Also on ao3

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It was Saturday, and Arlo slowly woke up to the sounds of rain pattering against the roof. His boyfriends were on either side of him, cuddling up against him, and Arlo was tempted to sink into their warmth with the sound of the rain lulling him to sleep.

However, Arlo had a job to do, and he couldn't do it if he was lying down in bed all day, so he started making efforts to get up.

Arlo tried sitting up, only for Victor to let out a displeased sound, and he held on tighter to Arlo. Meanwhile, Alex huddled closer to Arlo, making it all the more difficult for Arlo to get out of bed.

"Guys, I have to go to work," Arlo announced, much to the displeasure of his boyfriends.

"But it's raining," Alex complained.

"And cold," Victor agreed.

"That doesn't stop me from needing to go to work," Arlo responded.

"You've been working too hard lately, hun," Alex said. "You should take a day off."

"I can't just take a day off," Arlo responded.

"Not with that attitude," Victor countered. "Just don't go. It'll be fine."

"It very much won't. Come on. Let me up."

"Sam and Remington will forgive you," Alex reasoned, and he yawned sleepily.

"Just because they'll be okay with it doesn't mean I should neglect my duties. As much as I love you both and would love to just lie here and cuddle all day, Portia needs me, and I can't let them down."

"You need to be more selfish," Victor advised. "If you just wanna lie here and cuddle with us, you should just lie here and cuddle with us. It's not that hard."

Alex hummed his agreement, and Arlo frowned.

"If I went with the philosophy of doing only what I want, I wouldn't get anything done. There's other people to worry about, you know."

"Then worry about us," Victor replied. "Cause Alex and I are in desperate need of cuddles."

"You've gotten cuddles all night."

"Those are asleep cuddles. These are awake cuddles," Alex explained.

Arlo tried to sit up once again, only to be held down by both Alex and Victor. Arlo could overpower them if it was just one of them, but it was impossible when the two of them were working together.

"Let me up," Arlo ordered, and both Alex and Victor nuzzled into his neck, and Arlo practically melted, his eyes fluttering closed before he again remembered the job he still very much needed to do. "No! Stop that!"

Victor responded by giving a soft kiss to Arlo's neck, and Arlo very nearly caved, but it gave him an idea for a possibility of escape.

Arlo relaxed into their embrace until he could feel their grip on him start to soften. He brought up a hand to start running it through Victor's hair, and Victor let out a content noise as Arlo started to do so.

Arlo felt a little bad about doing this to Victor, but he had to get to work.

"Victor, love," Arlo called out, paying special attention to the hair at the nape of Victor's neck. He knew it was working from the flush that became apparent on Victor's face at the pet name. "Would you please let me up?"

Arlo punctuated his statement with a light kiss of Victor's forehead before trying to brute force his way out of bed yet again, this time relying on the hope that he flustered Victor enough to weaken him so he'd only have to break out of Alex's grip.

Alex suddenly tightened his hold immensely as Arlo attempted to escape, even hooking a leg over him to make escape more difficult.

"You aren't going to give me a kiss too?" Alex asked, giving Arlo those puppy dog eyes that had Arlo immediately caving. He turned, giving Alex a kiss on the forehead before he was dragged down to rest against Alex's chest, with Victor going in to spoon Arlo, effectively sandwiching Arlo between the two of them.

"Alex! Victor!" Arlo scolded. "I know neither of you have work today, but I do! Get off of me!"

"You have work every day," Victor pointed out.

"Just relax," Alex said, bringing his hand to carefully play with the back of Arlo's hair, and he found himself crumbling.

It would be <i>so easy</i> to close his eyes and get lost in the sensation. So easy to stay there in the warmth of his boyfriends and go back to sleep with the sound of rain soothing him. So easy to just give in.

"If you don't let me go, I'll sleep on the couch tonight," Arlo threatened.

"We'll just carry you back to bed," Victor said.

"Then-I'll sleep at the Civil Corps."

"Sounds like a sleepover to me," Alex responded.

"Fine. No kisses then," Arlo huffed.

"No kisses?" Victor asked, and Arlo could feel the pout in his voice, and he steeled himself.

"No kisses," Arlo confirmed. "Unless you both let me up. Then you can get all the kisses you want."

"But you're so warm~," Victor protested, huddling closer to Arlo, practically enveloping Arlo as he did so.

"And it's raining..." Alex reasoned. "And you've been working so hard lately. Don't you deserve a break? And besides, you don't want to get all soaked out there in the rain and then get sick, do you?"

Arlo did not.

"It doesn't matter what I want! I have a job, and I'm going to get dressed. So both of you are going to have to let me go. Please."

"Nope," Victor denied. "It's your day off. We've decided."

"Yep," Alex agreed.

"Hey, I didn't agree to this."

"If it was up to you, you'd never have a day off," Alex explained. "That's why you have us. To make sure you're taking proper breaks."

"Victor does the same thing," Arlo claimed.

"Yeah, but I've got a boss that forces me to take days off. You, however, are your own boss."

"Technically the mayor is my boss," Arlo pointed out.

"The mayor once asked me to force Mint to take a break because he was working too hard," Alex said. "I'm certain he'd encourage Victor and I in our endeavors to make you take a day off."

"Just give in, baby," Victor stated. "We know that you want to."

Victor had started to rub soft circles just above Arlo's hip, and this in conjunction with Alex's hand running through his hair made Arlo all the more tempted to stay there forever.

"Just go back to sleep," Alex whispered, and, fuck, Arlo wanted to. He really, really wanted to. He could feel his eyes dropping already.

"Only for five minutes," Arlo gave in, letting out a content sigh as he allowed himself to relax completely.

Arlo didn't know when he fell asleep, but he woke up to someone knocking at the door. He groaned, and he made an effort to get up to try and answer it, and Alex and Victor just pulled him back in and, yeah, okay. He won't answer the door. He had much more important matters to attend to.

It must have been someone that was close to them because they had the key and came in.

"Alex? You here?" Remington called out, and Arlo was very much reminded of the fact that <i>he said</i> only five more minutes but clearly it had been much longer than that. "Arlo hasn't come in for work today, and I was wondering-"

Remington entered the bedroom and smiled seeing how Arlo was trapped between Alex and Victor.

"Nevermind, clearly Arlo is very busy," Remington teased.

"I'm really not," Arlo announced, now fully awake. "Victor and Alex just refuse to let me get up."

"He's having a mandated day off," Alex said.

"About time he took one. I'll be sure to tell Sam not to disturb you today."

"No, no, I'm getting up," Arlo announced.

"Absolutely not," Victor protested.

"I'm going to have to side with Victor on this one, Arlo," Remington stated. "Take it easy today. You've been working too hard lately."

With that, Remington left, and, while Remington was perfectly fine with Arlo taking a day off, Arlo certainly wasn't.

"Alright, I said five more minutes, and it's been way longer than that. You have to let me up now," Arlo negotiated.

"Why?" Victor asked.

"Hm-mm, we even told Remington that it was your day off."

"No, I'm at least going to go on patrol," Arlo announced.

"You were being so good for us before," Victor caressed Arlo's side, and Arlo felt a shiver go up his spine. "What happened?"

"Don't use that against me," Arlo scolded.

"Use what against you?" Victor asked, and Arlo could hear his teasing grin. "I just want you to be a good boy for me and Alex. Could you do that? Be a good boy?"

"N-no," Arlo said, and everything inside him protested against him saying that. "I've got to go to work."

"You don't," Alex soothed. "You can stay right here in our arms, content and warm and relaxed, and you don't have to worry about anything."

"But-"

"It's okay," Alex continued stroking through Arlo's hair. "You can relax. You don't have work today. We already informed Remington about it, so it's okay, hun. Just relax."

"...okay," Arlo whispered.

It was warm. Safe. The rain tapped against the window, and Arlo found himself glad that he was inside. He let out a content sigh.

Arlo reached down to loosely hold Victor's hand and used his other arm to wrap around Alex. He started to lightly play with Alex's hair while Victor began to lightly rub his thumb over Arlo's hand.

Alex hummed, pressing his lips against Arlo's forehead in a light kiss, and Arlo completely melted.

“Det e jaggi me rart koss det kan gå te,” Alex began to sing softly, and Arlo didn’t understand the words, but it sounded so nice. Alex’s singing was so nice. “Tenk at du går i lag med meg.”

Arlo smiled softy, comfortable and content.