Sweet Surrender

The next day at school started exactly the same for Varian, only he arrived late to Homeroom which passed by in a blur, sending him reeling to Marine Biology.

Not really wanting to put any effort into arriving on time he walked slowly to his first period and got in the room shortly after the bell rang.

As usual everyone turned to stare at him as he entered the room and the whispers began. They were like a second shadow to Varian, wherever he went they always followed.

"Take a seat Mr. Joll, we were just about to begin discussing the general food web of Arctic Marine life."

A collective groan sounded from the class and Varian used that time to slip into his chair next to Justin. Who glanced up briefly from doodling some random sketch in his notebook and then averted his gaze just as quickly, his expression a little sad.

Varian knew he'd have to reconcile with Justin. He just had to figure out how. Sighing, Varian pulled out his Marine Biology textbook, it was thick and somewhat heavy, and the cover had a picture of a coral reef filled with colorful fish and a couple sharks. His notebook was shoved in it, and he pulled that out too, opening it to the first page, and he set his light brown inked pen on his notebook fully intending on taking notes today.

Varian watched Justin glance at him again, go back to doodling, and then look at him again. It was amusing in a way, and more irritating than Venerra not wanting to go to bed all at the same time. When this process was repeated at least three more times, Varian decided it was time to take action. Thankfully, Miss Whikler decided to put on a loud documentary on phytoplankton and zoo-plankton.

"I expect you all to take notes, feel free to share them amongst each other."

Varian grinned. She was practically inviting the students to do what he decided to do. Pass notes.

'You're not very talkative today, and stealing all those glances is kind of irritating.' Varian scribbled on his notebook. Passing it to Justin, he relaxed when he could hear the vigorous writing of students and the sound of papers being passed all around.

Justin took Varian's notebook and began furiously scrawling into it. When Varian got it back it said:

'I'M SORRY I CAN'T HELP IT 'DREA TOLD ME NOT TO TALK TO YOU CAUSE SHE SAID YOU'D PUNCH ME 'CAUSE I'M ANNOYING BUT FUCK HER So how was your day?'

Varian smiled, and began writing back.

'I can't say I'd blame her. But I'm going to try and not do that.' Passing it to Justin, Varian watched him squint to read the ink in the dark room. Once through reading he hastily wrote a response and slid it back.

'Oh that's good! And you didn't answer my question!'

'Right. Um. It's going alright I guess.' Varian pushed his notebook back to Justin.

Justin set the notebook between them, and began his response. That way they wouldn't have to keep sliding the notebook back and forth.

Justin: '... That's it? Fuck your boring... Oh! Are you sitting with us at lunch again???'

Varian: 'If you want a detailed answer, then ask a detailed question, as to the lunch thing, I don't think your friend would like that very much.'

Justin: 'Which one? They can both go fuck themselves, your funny. And Nathan might talk today! It's not Monday! Which means he can't be pissy.'

Varian: 'Why does he hate Mondays so much?'

Justin: 'I dunno. He never answers. He yells a lot though. So we just kinda... Ignore him. On Mondays. He's good the rest of the
week though. I'd dare say he's even joyful.'

Varian: 'That's strange....He's quite interesting.'

Justin: 'LOL That's what YOU think! He only seems interesting because you don't know him. He's actually really boring.'

Varian: 'Every boring person has something to tell, or hide.'

Justin: 'Not Nathan. the only secret he has are his weird eyes. Some sorta weird pigmintation thing.'

Varian: 'The eyes are the window to a person's soul, perhaps what he's feeling'

Varian stopped writing when the light flipped on and the teacher said that class was over. Justin glanced at Varian's half-written message and smiled, shaking his head.

Snatching his notebook back, he shoved it back into his book and put his book in his bag, reminding himself to read the section later.

**********************************************************************************

"Glad to see you're not a complete jackass today."

Nathan glanced up from his desk to see Andrea, hands placed on her hips. He shrugged in response. "I can start back up if you want."

She only raised an eyebrow, taking her seat to the right of him and sighing. "You actually going to talk to me today."

Nathan pretended to think over his response, putting on a concentrating face before smirking. "What the Hell; what else do I do in this class?"

Andrea laughed, moving her desk closer to Nathan's and resting her chin in her palm. "So. What did you think of that guy yesterday?" she asked curiously, playing with a few of his bracelets. He shrugged slightly, his hand clenching when she brushed it with her own.

"He was... Weird, I guess. No worse than Justin is. Just... Quiet." Nathan refrained himself from saying 'silent'; if yesterday was anything to go by, Varian was most definitely not silent. Andrea nodded after a minute, looking up at Nathan seriously.

"I think he's an ass." she said simply. Nathan snorted, shaking his head slightly. He couldn't disagree with that statement. "A pretty good looking ass though." Andrea added.

Nathan took a minute to process what she just said before smirking. "I'm sure he has a wonderful ass; my question is why were you looking?"

Andrea glared, smacking the side of his head as he laughed. "You're a pervert. You know what I meant, and it had nothing to do with his ass!"

"Oh really? So he doesn't have a nice ass?"

"I'm sure it's a great ass-"

Nathan kept laughing, unable to form a response to that as Andrea hung her head while shaking it, her black hair hanging in front of her face and swinging back and forth. "Nathan; You're a dickhead."

"I disagree with that statement." he smiled, looking as Mr. Rollins walked into the room and cleared his throats, everyone moving into their assigned seats. Andrea moved her desk back over, glaring at Nathan once more before turning to the board.

Oh, how he loved messing with her.

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Setting his tray of food down on the table, Varian watched Evan sit across from him once again.

Second period had been another day in Physics of understanding sig digs. Most of the class was confused still, especially when it came to multiplying and dividing with them.

As for Trig, well, Evan wasn't nearly as irritating as he had been, and it made Varian begin to consider considering his proposition the day before. he hadn't been with anyone since Grant, and that was Freshman year. Maybe it was time to move on....

Varian sensed the presence of another Changed besides Evan who still smelled slightly minty.

Looking up from his pizza, Varian grinned when he saw Stan. Stan hadn't showed up homeroom or Physics, but he was here now.

"Hey," Stan said.

"Hey," Varian responded. "Have a seat."

"Thanks," Stan said, sliding next to Evan.

Evan looked Stan over and offered his hand. Stan took it and they shook warmly.

"I'm Evan, and you must be Stan. Varian's mentioned you a couple times."

"Nice to meet you Evan. Um, if you don't mind me asking, are you...um...."

"Yes. I'm gay and I'm proud of who I am. And thanks for asking. Most people just assume."

"Sure," Stan said uncertainly.

Varian grinned to himself. The second day of school, and he already had two friends.

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"And how are my two favorite people today?" Justin asked, slamming his tray on to the lunch table as he glanced between Andrea and Nathan.

"Oh, we're fine." Andrea mumbled, glaring at Nathan. He attempted to look innocent, which failed miserably when he snorted, ducking his head and taking a large bite of his salad. Justin nodded slowly, sitting down.

"So Nathan, guess who I talked about you with in Marine Biology..." Justin began. Andrea rolled her eyes, her glare turning to her brother.

"I told you not to talk to that guy anymore. He's weird."

"No, but he talked to me first! Er... Spoke... Whatever! He started it."

Nathan wasn't particularly surprised to hear this. Though he had to admit, he didn't appreciate how often Varian was coming up. He still didn't really like him.

"That's not the point. The point is that we talked about Nathan basically all period." Justin finished. Nathan frowned, glancing up at him.

"Why me?"

"He called you 'interesting'." Justin responded, saying 'interesting' with a deep accented voice while rolling his eyes. "I told him you were about as interesting as a clam. He obviously isn't buying it though."

Andrea sighed, shaking her head. "Nathan is interesting. In his own way. He's just... Anti-social."

"Right. Sure he is. I also told him about your color-changing eyes." Justin went on, "The last thing he wrote was something to do with your mood I think..."

Nathan's fork paused in between his tray and his mouth, a piece of lettuce from his salad hanging off it. He slowly set it back down before sighing. "I think Andrea's right, Justin. Maybe you shouldn't talk to that guy anymore." he mumbled. Justin's mouth hung open as Andrea smirked, pushing her own food around.

"B-b-but... He's funny..." Justin murmured. Nathan shrugged in response, shoving the lettuce in his mouth to keep him busy. Justin looked between the two of them, each staring down at their own tray and avoiding his eyes.

"Well if you guys wanna be assholes to him, fine. But I won't. And nothing you say will make me." Justin muttered stubbornly, glaring at his food.

He wasn't very hungry anymore.

**********************************************************************************

Thanks to Evan giving Varian blood the day before, Varian's senses were almost at their peak levels. Which meant he could hear every detail being spoken at Justin's table.

He couldn't help but notice Nathaniel's reaction to the comment about his eyes changing color from his mood.

He knows. He knows that something isn't right about himself, but why would he deny it?

**********************************************************************************

Nathan had decided to stay out of the argument commencing between Justin and Andrea; he knew how vocal and even violent they could get. Years of sleepovers proved it.

"He's a freak, Justin! Just stay away from him."

"Oh, just because he's a little odd and you don't like him, that makes him a freak? Wow, never expected you to be so shallow."

"This has nothing to do with me not liking him; he's more than a little odd, I personally think there's something wrong with him. What if he ends up being a serial killer and you're found dead somewhere?"

"You're so fucking dramatic."

That migraine was coming back. Slowly but surely, in the back of his head as he tuned the arguing out, staring intently on his half eaten lunch. He barely even noticed Andrea yelling for Justin who at some point had gotten up from his seat and was heading toward the table Varian and two others occupied with a determined expression.

She turned her glare onto Nathan, who shrunk back slightly. "And you're supposed to be his best friend, why the fuck weren't you helping me?" she demanded. He stayed silent, ducking his head and sighing.

**********************************************************************************

Varian raised an eyebrow as Justin came up to his table.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh. You know. Not much. Sister's a bitch. And, you know, should you ever wish to randomly wander over to our table and piss her off, I'd be cool with that... Just throwing that out there... I guess...."

"Well, in that case, I'd be happy to oblige," Varian responded, grinning.

"Good! Follow me! Or go at your own pace, I'm good either way," Justin said excitedly. he took off back towards the table and Varian followed, hands in his pockets.

**********************************************************************************

Nathan felt more than heard Andrea's indignant snort as both Justin and Varian came back to the table, Justin with an obviously proud of himself expression.

Varian stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at Andrea. "If you've got a beef with me say it to my face. I hear enough from backstabbers already." he told her, the underlying obvious as he tilted his head. He leaned back, and Andrea and Nathan both caught the red glint to his supposedly brown eyes. Justin was oblivious, smiling in satisfaction at Andrea's wide eyes.

Nathan glanced down to his tray, pushing it back slightly before looking back to Varian out of the corner of his eye. He sat down next to Justin, resting his chin on his hands. "Anything else any of you want to say while I'm here? Now's a good time."

Andrea ducked her head, attempting to subtly pull her hair down to hide her face as Nathan sits silently. Justin, always being the one to break an awkward silence, looked over at him. "See? I told you guys he was fine." he said.

"Leave me out of this, Justin." Nathan mumbled back, glaring slightly across the table as he shifted uncomfortably. The red highlight from Varian's eyes had freaked him out, but he was interested in it at the same time.

Apparently Varian was more interested in his own eye color. "Did you know that your eyes changed because of your mood? Or were you trying to hide it? Did you not want to face the truth that you aren't like your friends?" he asked Nathan.

The table remained silent, Justin ducking his head as Nathan's glare dropped replaced with a neutral expression. "I don't know what you're talking about." He whispered hoarsely.

He knew his eyes changed; he didn't need to be told. But the doctor's had specifically said it was a pigmentation gene mutation; so why was Varian saying shit about his mood affecting it?

Varian leaned forward on the table, palms flat against it and his forearms tense; most likely with agitation. "I know you know what I'm talking about," he began, voice sounding more like a growl than anything human, "Your eyes are normally a spring green, but in Latin class yesterday they shifted with black. Do you know what those colors mean?"

Nathan took a moment, leaning back in his seat. This guy really thought he knew what was going on.

"You don't know what you're talking about. I have a pigmentation disorder- Do you understand what that is? It means my eyes change fucking color all the time. It doesn't have a fucking thing to do with my damn moos. I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, or why the fuck you're so pissed off over it, but grow the fuck up and ask some fucking questions next time you feel like you fucking know everything." Nathan said in a calm voice, though he felt anything but. He sort of felt the way his Dad described after a long day at work- like strangling something cute and fluffy.

This only seemed to piss Varian off farther as he stood from the table, walking around and grabbing Nathan's arm before pulling him out of the cafeteria and down the hall. Once they reached a bathroom Varian shoved him inside, following and pointing to a nearby mirror.

"If you don't believe me, then get your head out of the sand and take a look into that mirror! Your eyes are black, Nathaniel! Pure black, as in your base mood is so consumed by your feelings that your eyes have changed completely to that color; no spark, no swirl, no streak, pure black. Do you get it now?"

He let go of Nathan, who was looking into the mirror at his own eyes. He had to admit, they'd never turned that color before. He turned, deciding to indulge the strange person he's some how come to meet. Unfortunately.

"Alright, fine- Hypothetically, let's say I believe you and your fucked up idea. Any idea as to why they might do that? If it's plausible, I might believe it." he said, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.

Varian looked at him momentarily. "You've heard of the expression 'eyes are windows to the soul'?"

"Yeah. I have. Are you telling me you're a person who actually believes that?"

Varian sighed, leaning back against the wall and looking up to the ceiling. After a minute he leveled his gaze with Nathan. "... What I'm telling you is this, and only this, so listen carefully and keep your thick skull thin for just a moment, okay?"

Nathan treated him to a bored expression. "I'll make an attempt." he mumbled.

Varian bit his lip, glancing at the floor quickly before moving back to look at Nathan and continuing. "Well, there's a reason that expression was created. Because a long time ago there were a lot more people with what you called a 'pigmentation disorder'. It's kind of a legend..." he paused, checking to make sure Nathan was still with him. He motioned for the story to continue hurriedly. He wanted the point, not a long-ass back story.

Varian tilted his head slightly, silent for a moment before continuing. "The legend says that the ones with pure hearts and good intentions could reflect their moods through the pigmentation in the eyes. Red for lust, black for anger or hatred, green for sadness, and many others. When their souls became corrupt with the blood of another, they Changed. Their eyes lost their openness, and gained the general brown sheen with a red tint. Forever trapped it mirror numbness and lust. And those who had open hearts were called Mortal. What you are."

Nathan processed that information for a minute, which still had a fucking back story, before deciding something.

He had cracked.

"I've cracked, haven't I? All this is some sort of hallucination..." he mumbled, glancing around himself with an impressed expression, waiting to wake up at any given moment. Varian stepped over to him too quickly, pushing Nathan against the wall and lowering his gaze to meet his eyes. The lights above them shined at just the right angle, bringing out the red in his eyes.

"Is this still a hallucination?"

Nathan stared back, slowly and subtly reaching a hand up to poke the small area between Varian's eyes. "Possibly. I hear there are people who know they're hallucinating but still don't wake up." he responded.

Varian reached up, causing Nathan to pull his hand away quickly as he brushed some of Nathan's hair out of his face before pulling away. "I can't make you believe something; so it's up to you to decide."

As he turned to leave the bathroom, he paused, turning back to Nathan briefly. "And you can't be hallucinating if you can feel physical sensations." and with that, he was out the door and gone.

Nathan remained against the wall, jumping slightly when he heard the bell ring.

... Well fuck.