5 Times Zach Was Hugged (+ 1 Time He Hugged Someone Else)

Chapter 4: 4) Call For Help

Zach Varmitech was not a Good Guy. He wasn't! He just maybe, sorta, kinda... felt a little sorry for certain animals, sometimes.

It wasn't his fault pigeons were a lot cuter than he'd thought they'd be, okay?!

"So, let me get this straight." Chris grinned, leaning back against a tree. Zach got the feeling he was going to regret this. "You. Want me. To help you. On a Creature Rescue?"

Oh, Zach was definitely going to regret this. "Are you in or not? It's a simple question, Green Guy, you don't need to be so smug about it."

"Oh, I definitely need to be this smug about it." Chris retorted, moving to follow the Zachbots back towards the Varmijet, which Zach took as a 'yes'. "But if you really want help, Zach, we should get the whole team on the case."

"If you try to tell Aviva and the others about this," Zach growled from his perch on top of a Zachbot, "I'm locking you in a cell and saving Quincy myself!"

"Quincy?" Chris asked. Oops. "You named one? You named one!"

"Shut up!" Zach squawked, blushing enough for his pale skin to almost appear reddish. Chris's excited staring made him break down much too quickly. He groaned loudly, making sure that his displeasure at admitting this was clear. "Okay, yes, I named a city birdy thingy. You rubbed off on me more than I thought, you happy now?"

Months ago, secretly meeting up to point out a technological flaw in exchange for a favor had seemed like a good idea. The following meetings had just seemed like good business and an excuse to see Chris. Now, Zach was halfway convinced that Aviva had cooked up a brainwashing device and given it to the cute Wild Rat.

Chris reached up and grabbed Zach by the shirt, pulling him off the Zachbot and into a hug. Zach yelped in surprise, making the Zachbots beep in concern, but they were used enough to the green Kratt to not immediately react without a clear order.

"Yes, for your information, I'm very happy." Chris chuckled. Zach rolled his eyes. "Come on, Zach; you're growing! Be proud of it."

"You be proud of it, I'm sticking with ashamed." Zach responded, tucking his head under Chris's chin but not hugging back. After a moment, he pulled away, somewhat surprised when he was instantly let go. "Now, if you're done stalling, we still need to save Quincy!"

It was much later, after Chris had taken many 'blackmail photos' of Quincy sitting on Zach's head (Zach was 80% sure he was kidding about the blackmail), that the inventor remembered the hug.

Sitting in his jet, surrounded by Zachbots, watching Quincy eat, Zach wondered if any of the Wild Rats had ever even heard of any level of personal space whatsoever.

A deeper part of him that he did a decent job of ignoring wondered how he could get Chris to do it again.