When Varian next woke up, it was much later in the day. He was still surrounded by all of the adults, and he felt that his hand was in Rapunzel's. Her face looked sad. He remembered earlier, and how he opened up about being raped. He cringed a little, biting back an apology. He felt like—like he needed to defend himself? But the conversation was over for now. He didn't want to start talking about it again. They were all at their emotional limits for that day.

"How about some dinner?" Rapunzel asked quietly, "you didn't really keep much down today."

Once he nodded, Rapunzel handed Varian a cup of broth, which he took happily, "thank you" He literally moaned when the hot broth touched his lips.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?" Lance chuckled, trying to lighten the mood as Varian greedily slurped up his soup. It had the opposite effect.

"Oh, sorry. She uh...she kinda died before she had the chance" Varian said with awkward jazz hands through sips of his soup.

"Lance!" Eugene cried.

Cassandra smacked him over the back of the head, and Rapunzel swore that if Varian shed a single tear—

"Sorry, sorry sorry!" Lance exclaimed.

"Apology accepted" Varian said, before giggling, "the looks on your faces. Priceless, every time."

"Well sorry that we didn't know how you were going to react!" Eugene exclaimed, placing a hand over his heart, letting out a sigh of relief.

Varian shrugged, "Crying won't bring her back. I tried when I was like, five."

"Damn" Cassandra muttered.

"Hey speaking of, the only person in here with an alive mom is Rapunzel" Lance commented.

"Did any of you know your moms?" Varian cocked(HA)his head to the side.

Everyone tensed up and glanced at Cassandra, "I...um, knew her for a little bit. I didn't really remember though..."

"All Me and Lance knew was the orphanage until we ran away, so nope" Eugene said.

Varian frowned, "this is sad" he frowned, before smirking, "But you know, I win."

"What do you mean you win?" Lance asked skeptically.

"Are you kidding? His mom tucked him in and read him a bed time story every night, look at him the little mama's boy" Eugene smirked.

"Exactly" Varian said, smirking.

"When we were like, seven years old Eugene used to tuck all the littler kids in and read them one of the Flynn Ryder books as a bedtime story. I forced him to tuck me in too, does that count?" Lance asked.

Cassandra smirked, "awe~ Eugene reading bed time stories to little orphan kids? That is so precious."

"Shut up Cassandra, kids probably burst into tears from just hearing your footsteps!" Eugene hissed.

"Oh, no I think it's sweet" Rapunzel told him, smiling brightly, "It was a really nice thing for you to do for them. I'm sure they look back on it very fondly."

Eugene smiled a little, taking Rapunzel's hand, "Thanks, sunshine."

"Okay, thanks for that, i'm going to go puke now" Cassandra said.

"Hey" Varian joked as he finished his soup and handed it to Rapunzel, "you're not allowed to puke until I do. Wait—when do you guys even eat?"

"Eh, whenever we find the time. Some nights we'll have dinner together with the king and queen" Lance said.

"Oh, wow" Varian said.

"Yeah, not every day a lady in waiting and a couple of street rats get the opportunity, but we're not complaining" Cassandra smirked.

"Street rats?!" Lance exclaimed in offense.

"That's just cold, Cassandra" Eugene said, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"Do the king and queen know about...you know. Me...yet?" Varian squeaked.

Rapunzel sighed, "well, the king doesn't know..."

Varian covered his face and groaned, "Oh my sun, I can't face her please just let me be executed or something."

"Hey...don't say that" Rapunzel frowned.

"Sorry" Varian mumbled, "but I literally kidnapped her. Probably even traumatized her, what if she tries to like. Traumatize me back?"

Eugene gave him a blank look, "Varian. You've been traumatized enough."

  Rapunzel nodded, "My mom had to make a public address about it, because, well everyone was so worried about her" she told him, "she claims that it was certainly frightening at first, but she didn't think you would actually end up harming her. You just wanted help, and she was the bait. She said it didn't affect her all too much. She talked to professionals about the experience, and by the end of the month, she was honestly fine."

"She told me that things had been getting pretty boring prior to that anyway. You added some excitement to her life" Eugene smirked.

"I—I mean—she doesn't know that I wouldn't have hurt her, I was so blinded by my anger, I could have—well, I wasn't going to murder her or anything— but I did threaten to encase her in the amber" Varian muttered, "she probably hates me..."

"Varian, she doesn't hate you" Rapunzel assured, "she just wants you to get the help you need."

"Well...I feel really bad about what I did. I want her to hate me, she deserves to hate me and I deserve to be hated. I'm just some—some dumb kid who couldn't regulate his emotions and went too far" Varian sniffled, quickly falling into a panic.

"Varian...that isn't true" Rapunzel said, sitting next to him on the bed and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She rested her chin on top of his head.

"It kind of is" he sighed, "I did go way too far, don't sugar coat it" he chuckled.

"Yeah...he kind of did, Raps" Cassandra shrugged, "don't act like he made no mistakes just because you feel guilty."

Rapunzel gasped, "I—I was not—ugh, okay fine—how can you read me so well?" She sighed.

"Maybe because I'm your best friend?" Cassandra questioned, resting an elbow on her shoulder.

Rapunzel smiled fondly, "okay, fine, fine fine fine, Varian did go too far—but the rest of it isn't true!"

"Yeah kid, if you've proven one thing, it's that you aren't dumb—you're a actually very intelligent, especially for your age and i'm sure you know that by now.  Aside from that, everyone deserves help, even if they did terrorize the royal family and send an entire kingdom into a panic" Eugene said, ruffling the boys hair.

Varian rolled his eyes, "gee, thanks."

"Don't mention it, kid" he joked, "and maybe deserve isn't the correct word?"

"Fine. She has the right to hate me, how about that?" He asked.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" Lance exclaimed.

"..We're really not" Rapunzel said, "don't think about that kind of stuff Varian, you just need to get better right now."

"I—I kind of want to see her..." Varian said after a minute, "y'know, now that i'm thinking about it" he mumbled, "even though it's scary..I mean, she has every right to not forgive me, but I need to tell her how sorry I am. I know I already kind of did when I was in the dungeons, but it's the very least I could do. You know, I can't do much else."

"That's brave, you know. To face your fears" Rapunzel smiled, "are you sure? She's really been wanting to see you as well! We could schedule a time for her to come and see you if you want? The only reason she hasn't come yet is because we didn't want to overwhelm you."

"Can she really?" Varian asked quickly, "I do want to see her."

"Of course! I'll talk to her tomorrow and see if we can work out a time for her to come" Rapunzel said, "but for now...are you sleepy? It's getting a little late."

"I've been doing nothing but sleep all day, so not really. But if you guys are tired I can just sleep anyways" he said.

Rapunzel smiled, "I don't think I could sleep even if I wanted to, you've worried me far too much today. I'm on an adrenaline high right now."

"Oh..sorry about that" he chuckled sheepishly.

Rapunzel gasped, "oh! I know what we can do~~~" she drawled out, "inventing!"

Varian's eyes lit up, "yes!"

Rapunzel giggled, "okay, i'll go get the parts, you stay right here! Lance, Eugene, Cass do you want to stay? Maybe you could even help!"

"As a man, I have a knack for bullding" Eugene said with a flick of his hair, "perhaps I can show the ice witch over here how it's done" he jabbed a thumb in Cassandra's direction.

The woman growled. "Oh, you are on Fitzherjerk."

"Now, now, now! Let's just all calm down. We all know i'm going to kick all of your butts!" Lance exclaimed.

Rapunzel rolled her eyes fondly, before exiting the room quietly with a lit candle, "i'll be right back—actually, Cass why don't you come with me? It'll be easier if I have some help!"

-/————————————jsiioy——767—————-0

Varian bounced his toes nervously against his bed as he waited for Rapunzel to return with the parts. He couldn't wait to start inventing! Even more exciting was that Cass Lance and Eugene were going to stay too!

  Varian grunted in pain as he used his arms to try and sit himself up, ultimately failing and falling back onto his pillow. He huffed and tried again with similar results. Eugene came over eventually to help him sit up with his legs criss crossed.

"I didn't need your help" Varian spat, folding his arms with a pout.

Eugene raised a brow.

"Oh-ho-ho!" Cassandra laughed, entering the room with Rapunzel, arms filled with supplies, "someone's grumpy!"

"Teenage angst" Lance sighed wistfully, leaning against Eugene, "I can't believe his first outburst was directed towards you."

Varian gave him a blank look, "I can assure you, this is not my first outburst."

"Oh right. Sorry, it's just so easy to forget..." Lance chuckled sheepishly.

"Varian, that wasn't very nice of you" Rapunzel chastised, placing her hands on her hips and leaning down to his level after putting the parts down, "now what do we say?"

Varian shrunk in on himself, pulling his blanket up to his face to hide himself, "um—um, sorry.." he mumbled.

She took the blanket away from him and raised a brow, trying to hide her amused smile, "oh, no, i'm sorry..I don't think that I heard you? And isn't it more polite to look at the person you're talking to?"

His face flushed in embarrassment as he lifted his eyes, bangs falling over his face. He caught a glimpse of Cassandra, her cheeks red and puffed out as she tried to hold in her laughter, "uh, sorry."

Rapunzel nodded in approval, "good...now am I the one who you yelled at?"

"...no ma'am" Varian sighed in defeat, turning to Eugene and mumbling, "i'm sorry for yelling, sir..."

Eugene busted into laughter, wiping a tear from his eyes, "oh, blondie maybe you're right, we should so be parents one day! Oh, that was hilarious! You're not actually in trouble, kid!"

Lance snorted, "You're adorable!"

Varian glared at a spot on his bed in front of him, grumbling, "no..."

Cassandra let out a chuckle of her own, "ah, kid that was amazing."

Varian pouted, "you're mean.." he sniffled, bringing his hands up to his face to wipe away his crocodile tears.

"Awe, Varian..." Rapunzel giggled, "I didn't mean to make you upset!"

"I'm not upset!" His voice cracked, "i'm...it's allergy season!"

"Kid, no it's not" Eugene smirked.

Varian folded his arms over his chest, and scooted away from them, "hmph."

"Awe, Varian..." Rapunzel said, placing a hand on his shoulder, though he didn't budge, "Variaaaaannn~" she sang, bopping his nose, "boop!"

"Stoppit!" He exclaimed.

"Not until you quit being so mopey!" She exclaimed, bringing her hands to his stomach with a smirk, "tickle fight!"

"N-no!" Varian exclaimed, giggling.

Rapunzel's smirk grew, "you know, as soon as you laugh I win, right?" She asked, watching as he twitched away when her fingers danced across his stomach. He squeaked and squealed, obviously not wanting to give in. Goosebumps began to burst all over his skin, and he finally gave in, trying to shove her away as he laughed.

Everyone watched the scene play out with differing levels of amusement. Cassandra tried to hide it, though she was clearly enjoying it.

"R-Rapunzel, stop!" He laughed, "okay, okay I give in—ow, ow!" He exclaimed when her fingers brushed over his ribs, "mind the bruises ple-e-ease!" He wheezed, wincing in pain through his laughter.

"Sorry!" Rapunzel exclaimed, immediately retracting her hands, "are you okay?"

"Yeah" he said, "yeah" he sighed shakily, laying down completely sprawled on the bed, taking in deep breaths.

"Good..then now I can see how ticklish your armpits are!" She exclaimed.

He yelped in surprise when she attacked him again, immediately giggling and kicking his feet.

"R-RAPUNZE-E-E-E-EEELLL!" He basically screamed, "STO-HHOHOHOHOPPPPP!"

"Are you done being grumpy?" She asked smugly.

"YES! YES PLEASE SHOW MERCY-Y-Y I'M—I'M GOING TO PEE MYSELF!" He boomed.

Her hands retracted even quicker than they did previously, and soon, his high, hysterical laughter died out and he realized the room was silent.

"Do you actually need to pee?" Rapunzel asked with concern.

"No! No no no, I just—it felt like it!" He let out a shaky breath, his chest rising up and down, "I—ouch...mmm...tickling was a bad idea..chest hurts.." he mumbled, wrapping an arm around himself.

"Oops.." Rapunzel said sheepishly.

"That took everything out of me" Varian said, sighing deeply.

"Probably wasn't a good idea, but it sure was hilarious to watch. And it was nice to see you not looking depressed for once. You almost looked like a normal kid" Eugene said.

Cassandra had a glint of amusement in her eyes, a light smirk pulling up the corner of her mouth, "as hilarious as that was, we have to keep the broken ribs in mind. No more tickling, got it?" She narrowed her eyes when Eugene rolled his at her, but eventually nodded, "Now how about that invention, huh?"

Varian nodded with a smile, "yeah! I got the blueprints right here!" He grabbed them off of his desk after he finished catching his breath, "the original, as we've already been over, was amazing—very powerful. It was awesome how you were able to control the airstream like that! It's just that, with a smaller device we'll need stronger parts."

"Alrighty then! Show me those blueprints, explain what to do, and let's get cracking!" Rapunzel exclaimed, excitement clear in her voice.

—————————————————

They fell asleep about five hours later, and by then they had the first prototype done. Eugene and Lance were the first ones out, exhausted from training guards how to think like thieves. Cassandra was next to go, followed by Rapunzel.

Surprisingly, Varian stayed up for an entire hour longer than the other three. It kind of felt like old times—like he was overworking himself, staying up all night doing alchemy or inventing until his bones grew weary, and his dad had to come down and remind him to eat, sleep or take a break.

Except his dad wasn't going to do that. He couldn't. Not anymore.

He cried himself to sleep in the middle of everyone, thinking of his dad with the invention laying on his lap.

————————————————-

How all four adults fit on the bed was a mystery, but even so, castle beds were huge. When morning came, Rapunzel was the first to wake, bright and early as always. She felt kind of bad for falling asleep, and by the looks of their little invention, Varian had stayed up much longer to finish.

She took it from the boy and set it safely on the nearby night stand so it wouldn't fall and break. She left the room, deciding to give everyone just a few moments of peace as she went to make breakfast for everyone. She was supposed to sit in on some royal meeting with her father today, though could she really do that if no one could find her?

She made simple breakfasts for everyone, hoping that Varian wouldn't be too jealous of everyone else's fruit and pancakes while he just had broth.

She balanced the heavy tray of food in her hands and turned a light on to brighten the room. She set the tray down and shook everyone awake, "guys, wake up!" She exclaimed.

A chorus of groans sounded from everyone, except from Varian who just snapped his eyes open and stared at her. Eugene was right, that was pretty creepy.

"How are you so cheerful so early, sunshine?" Eugene groaned.

Cassandra rolled her eyes, "I think you just answered your own question, genius."

She didn't have too much time to dwell on the usual quipping before she was reminded on why she'd woken them up. Breakfast, of course—but she also needed to talk to Varian about the arrangements for the queen's visit.

"Alrighty, everyone! Since it's so early I brought breakfast for everyone!" she giggled, handing out plates.

"Shouldn't be a problem, the bed is almost as big as Eugene's ego" Cassandra muttered, smirking when he earned a scoff from Eugene and giggles from Varian and Lance.

"Yeah, it is pretty big—Varian looks so small just laying in the middle of it" Rapunzel teased lightly.

"I am small" Varian commented, flicking his hair, "we've already been over this. I'm the ultimate skinny."

"That you are. Don't get too jealous, kid" Lance said as he dug into his pancakes.

Varian recoiled and took a sip of his broth, "yeah, that won't be a problem" he cringed, "it looks...heavy."

"Well i'm heavy too! It's a match made in heaven" he said, taking another bite.

Rapunzel frowned, "Varian, when do you think you will be able to eat something like pancakes?"

Varian cringed, "minus the syrup, butter and..all the extra calories..soon maybe, I don't know. The broth is okay for now, my stomach has actually been feeling fine."

Rapunzel nodded, "alright. Well, if you ever find yourself having more of an appetite, you can always ask for food. And seconds. We believe firmly in seconds here."

Varian nodded, though he doubted that would happen. He felt guilty just eating their soup. And wasting all of their time. No, he needed to be as easy to handle as possible. He could eat only what's necessary. Just until he's satisfied enough that his stomach wasn't growling anymore.

He watched as Ruddiger chittered at the princess, swaying his tail back and forth, and she was quick to hand him an apple, "don't think I forgot you, buddy!" She patted his head and the animal went off to go sit next to him.

He smiled, taking a sip of his broth as everyone watched in complete horror as Ruddiger demolished the apple. The pit was handed back to Rapunzel in no less than five seconds.

"Is—is he still hungry?" Rapunzel asked, eyes wide at what she had just witnessed.

"No, but we all know Ruddiger. He can certainly eat" Varian chuckled.

"Surely! Look at how fat and squishy he is!" Eugene poked his belly.

Varian frowned and glared, petting Ruddiger protectively, "are you fat shaming my baby?" He kissed Ruddiger's nose, "he's perfect just the way he is!"

Rapunzel gasped, "shame on you, Eugene!"

"What?!" Eugene exclaimed, "No! I wasn't, I was just—he's cute and fluffy is what I meant!"

Cassandra let out her signature ice witch laugh and Lance clapped a hand on Eugene's shoulder and told him to shut up.

"Okay" Rapunzel began, knowing that all of it was in good fun, "we need to talk about arrangements. For the Queen coming to see you."

Varian froze mid sip, before sputtering, and he sat up straight, "O-oh yeah..."

Rapunzel smiled gently, "if you wanted to back out, this is your chance."

Varian chuckles weakly, "i'm just afraid that she's going to take one look at me and decide to send me back, which, by the way, is really pathetic of me. Honestly, why should I be scared? I'm the one who kidnapped her."

"Kid, the Queen isn't as fragile as you think. She didn't fall to pieces over this...being royalty always poses the risk for things like these to happen, and she's been prepared to face something like that" Cassandra explained, "she knew what was underneath all that anger."

"Yeah! Remember what Eugene said? She actually told us that looking back, it was kind of exciting. I mean, my mom's an adventurer at heart, and being kidnapped is way more interesting than sitting in on boring meetings with nobles" Rapunzel chuckled.

Varian looked down, nodding, "okay..okay, she can still come. I want her to come. As long as she doesn't bring the King with her."

Rapunzel nodded, "my father thinks you're still in the dungeons."

Varian's eyes rounded in shock, "really? How?"

"Stan and Pete were alerted of the situation. They give him fake reports, pretending to be Jefferey and Frank, whenever he asks them about you" she smirked, "they were kinda upset when they got switched from you, they said you were pleasant to be around despite what you'd done, and pretty well behaved."

"That roughly translates to: 'we liked having Varian because we could just goof off on duty.'"Cassandra said.

Varian blushed, "it was, y'know, nice having them too. They were pretty entertaining."

"Goofballs at heart—Alright! I'll see if my mom can find it in her schedule to get down here! How about in the mean time, you and Cass test out the modified version of my invention? This is just a simple first design so i'm sure there's much room for improvement" she said.

"Hey, what about us?" Lance frowned, pointing between himself and Eugene.

"Oh yeah..right.." she chuckled sheepishly, "I mean this in the nicest way possible, but...you two would probably blow it up just by looking at it. I'm not taking any chances if literally just tickling him nearly opened his stitches" Rapunzel shrugged, "sorry, bye!"

Cassandra cackled her laugh that sent fearful shivers down Eugene's spine, and began to follow Varian's instructions.

—————————————————

"Hey mom! Are you by any chance busy?" Rapunzel asked, skipping into the throne room where her mother and father were seated, speaking with some villager's and trying to rectify their problems.

"No more than usual" Arianna smiled weakly, gesturing to the King, before lowering her voice, "just making sure your father doesn't make any brash decisions."

Both women giggled before Frederic cleared his throat, "I can hear you, my darling."

Arianna rolled her eyes lovingly, "you're sitting right next to me, I know. Now, what did you need Rapunzel?"

"Oh, um, actually it's a private matter..so, I was wondering if you could step out for a few moments so I could speak with you?" Rapunzel asked.

"Of course, dear" Arianna's eyebrows furrowed in concern, "is everything alright?"

"Perhaps I should come as well—"

"No!" She cut her dad off, before clearing her throat, "no no, no" she chuckled, "it's um—it's a lady problem."

The King furrowed his brows for a moment before his eyes went wide. He cleared his throat and averted his eyes, "oh, yes yes very well! I'll be happy to stay here!"

Rapunzel giggled, "see you in a moment!"

She pulled her mom out quickly and before she could be questioned glanced around to make sure they were alone, "okay, so. I lied. This isn't a lady problem, it's a Varian problem" she whispered.

Her eyes widened, "is he hurt? Or..did he hurt someone?"

"Oh! Oh, heavens no, he wouldn't hurt a fly! Well...not anymore..and I guess i'd be lying again if I said that he wasn't hurt, but that's not why I came to see you!" She rambled, before lowering her voice again, "he wants you to come and visit him."

Her eyes widened in shock, "really?" Well, that was certainly the last thing she'd expected.

Rapunzel nodded, "he...he really regrets what he did mom, and he's worried that you're still upset, or afraid of him, which I guess you have every right to be—but I think he just wants to clear some things up? I'm not sure, he requested to see you though. If you wanted to."

Arianna stared for a few moments, before abruptly responding, "oh—oh, yes! Of course, i'd absolutely love to see him! I've been begging ever since I found out.! Oh, yes, please. I need him to know that I didn't mean to just abandon him. I was forbidden from seeing him, and I feel terrible..."

"Don't worry mom, he holds no ill will towards you...now, do you have a certain time of day you'd be free to see him? And don't say now, because I can tell you're busy—you can come by anytime you want to, here, i'll write down the room and floor."

—————————————————

Upon entering the room, the queen let out a light gasp. She had followed Rapunzel's instructions carefully, and knocked on a locked door in a less busy area of the castle. When the door was opened, and she was ushered in by her daughter and her friends, she slowly made her way to the bed, where Cassandra was, rewrapping the boy's bandages.

And he was asleep.

"My goodness..." She whispered.

"He passed out when he tore his stitches" Cassandra explained, "kid doesn't do too well with blood" she chuckled lightly.

Arianna nodded, only half listening as she stared in horror at the extent of the boy's injuries. She was compelled to look away, but she found herself unblinking, staring at him. His gown was off of his chest, only covering his waist. His stomach was just...nonexistent. Vacuumed into his back, ribs poking against his pale skin, which was an ugly shade of purple.

"How did he...tear his stitches?" She mumbled.

"Another nightmare" Lance sighed, "he freaked out and started thrashing around. He thought the blankets were someone trying to hold him down."

Arianna gave a slight nod, breath hitching when Cassandra took off his chest's bandages, revealing many more scars. She covered her mouth with a hand. It was heartbreaking, "how do you..how do you look at him?" She whispered, closing her eyes to will unshed tears away, "I can't bear it..."

"He usually has his gown on...it hides a lot of injuries, and almost how terribly thin he is" Cassandra said, tightening his bandages and packing up the first aid kit, "i'm sorry you had to see him like this."

"No..no. I needed to. This is horrible, but it's evidence" she sighed.

"He didn't want you to see his injuries. He thought you'd lessen the consequences if you pitied him" Eugene commented.

"Consequences?" She asked, her voice so calm that Rapunzel knew there was hidden anger behind it. The king was going to get his ass beat, "hasn't he been through enough? I'd say he's more than paid for his crimes. Wouldn't you?"

"We keep telling him that" Rapunzel began, "We aren't sure that dad will be convinced so easily. Varian isn worried about him."

"Well he shouldn't be. Your father should be worried about us" she said, her face glaring, before she shook the look away, "this—this is unacceptable. Completely and utterly unacceptable. He told me that everything was under control. That Varian was okay, that he was being fe—f-fed, and taken care of, and that—that—" her voice broke, "how could I have allowed this to happen?"

"You couldn't have done much if he ordered you to stay away" Cassandra assured lightly, "his word trumps yours. The throne was his birthright, you married into it."

"Sometimes it feels like i'm nothing more than a trophy, for that very reason" Arianna chuckled lightly, "but If I knew then, what I know now..." she mumbled, "I would have done something. I would have fought harder" she shook her head, "I'd hate to wake him up right now" Arianna said, "perhaps i'll return later?"

"He never sleeps for long" Eugene said, sighing, before he snapped his fingers, "ooh, hey I got a trick, watch this" he smirked, leaning down towards the boy, "Varian wake up" He said, his voice level.

Varian's eyes snapped open, glazed over and unblinking for a solid five seconds before he rubbed the tiredness out and yawned, sitting up, "Wh—" his words died in his throat when he saw the queen, a calm, soft expression on her face as she leaned down to peer at him with kind emerald eyes.

He squeaked, pulling the covers over himself, before slowly peaking out, "H-Hello, your majesty!" He stuttered, attempting to bow before cringing as he put too much pressure on a bruise.

"Oh, no none of that!" The Queen fussed, "lay back down, dear. You might hurt yourself."

Varian nodded weakly, doing as he was told. Ruddiger stirred, opening his eyes and chittering, before excitedly jumping into the queen's arms. Varian gave him a look of betrayal.

"Could we get the room?" Arianna questioned, petting the raccoon and feeding him a cracker she'd brought for him.

Cassandra looked very apprehensive at that request, and everyone else also looked a little unsure. None more than Varian.

"You can trust me" Arianna said kindly, not a hint of malice in her gleaming eyes. Just genuine honestly.

"Varian?" Rapunzel questioned, "is it alright?"

Varian bit his lip for a moment, before he finally spoke, his voice shy and small, "can Ruddiger stay?"

Arianna smiled gently, "of course" she handed the animal back to Varian, who hugged him to his chest and looked up with those big blue eyes. Her breath caught in her throat, because he was so broken and damaged, but he just looked so much like the kid he was.

The room was silent when everyone left, the atmosphere tense and awkward.

"I'm sorry" both of them said at the same time.

Varian chuckled awkwardly, clearing hi throat and rubbing the back of his neck, "P-Pardon?"

"I'm so sorry this happened to you" Arianna whispered, "you were meant to be given help. Not a sentence to the dungeons...not this."

"Everyone keeps saying that" he sighed, "but it's such a contradiction to what i've been told for the past two years. And I feel..I don't know" he covered his eyes with the palms of his hands, "I—I don't have excuses for you. But I do have an apology. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry" he said, his voice filled with nothing but sincerity as he clasped his hands together and bowed his head.

She smiled gently, "Varian, you know i've forgiven you already...but thank you."

He nodded, "Doesn't hurt to say it again though. Rapunzel told me the king wouldn't let you come see me anymore in the dungeons. I thought you stopped because you didn't really care for me, or because you thought I was dangerous, realized that I was...beyond repair. But now it makes more sense. I mean, the king probably thought i'd try to manipulate you with my child tears or something."

"We have much to discuss..." she whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed.

———————————————————————-

"You weren't kidding. He is a very polite young man" Queen Arianna said as she exited the room, hands clasped in front of her, "Quite adorable as well. I think all ended well in there. I had to resist from patting his head" she chuckled, before taking on a more serious tone, "he is....how do I put this...damaged. He told me a bit about his time in the dungeons. I can't even imagine..."

"Yeah" Rapunzel sighed, "he doesn't really talk much about it but we can tell how badly it affects him."

"The one thing Lance is serious about is him" Eugene commented.

"I've always understood why we must keep this from Frederic" Arianna said, "he can not be sent back there. But I do think it's important for him to know, while everything is still...fresh. Now, don't get me wrong—I hate the idea, but we have to convince him."

Rapunzel nodded, "you're right, mom. But we're not going to let him come to see him unless he's blindfolded here and back."

"Oh, certainly!" She exclaimed, "we wouldn't want guards knocking down the doors in the middle of the night. Now, I think we should arrange some type of meeting. Keep Varian locked in his room while we do it. We have plenty of time to plan. Perhaps we could speak more about it later."

"If we aren't going to show the king Varian, Rapunzel could draw him" Lance commented, "all the...the injuries and everything. How bad the scars and cuts are...ooh, did you see his leg? All wrapped up? It is whipped out of place."

"Yep, it needs a couple of days before I can even touch it again" Cassandra commented, "but yes, I definitely agree on the whole meeting with the king thing. Has to happen."

"No rush" the queen smiled, "and I think drawings would be a wonderful idea, even though it's not in your usual range of style..."

"I can make serious drawings too! Not everything is rainbows and flowers!" Rapunzel argued, "i'll do it."

—————————————————————————-

Rapunzel and Eugene nodded to each other, staring concernedly into each other's eyes. Eugene had the flame of a candlestick illuminating the dark hallway. One look at Rapunzel's pocket watch told her that it was midnight. They'd left Varian alone to get himself asleep a few hours ago, but they were up late talking and decided to go check on the boy.

The reason they were a little worried was because of the soft cries coming from inside of the bedroom. Rapunzel placed her ear against the door, trying to listen, "am I hearing things?" She mumbled. The sniffling kept on abruptly cutting off and turning into choked sobs.

"No, I hear it too" Eugene whispered, fishing his key out of his pocket and unlocking the door. Rapunzel gently pushed it open, and a quiet creak was heard as she did so, and all the noise within the room suddenly vanished.

Eventually, she heard some panting and whimpers, so glanced at Eugene. They both walked further into the room, Eugene holding out his candle to light it up as Rapunzel closed the door.

"Hello, Varian. We came to check up on you" Rapunzel said, keeping her voice low and soft, "were you crying, dear?" She questioned, slowly inching closer to the boy.

Varian sucked his lip in between his buck teeth, knowing there was no point in lying since he'd clearly been caught. His face was red and blotchy, with tear tracks running down his cheeks from bloodshot eyes. He nodded.

"Well, what's the matter?" She asked, sitting herself on the edge of the bed, scooting a little closer to the boy as moments passed. She opened her arms, asking a silent question that Varian responded to by resting his head onto her as she embraced him.

"...Stupid reason" Varian whispered, staring at the ground.

Eugene went on the other side of the bed, setting his candle down on the nightstand and making himself comfortable on the other side of Varian, "it can't be too stupid. Tell us why you're so upset, hm?"

"...It was...dark" he admitted timidly.

Eugene blinked slowly, opening his mouth, most likely to make a quip. One look from Rapunzel shut him down fast.

"Could you elaborate?" Rapunzel questioned.

"Well. Uhm, I usually leave a candle on when I sleep" Varian began slowly, trying to find a way to word this that didn't make him seem childish, "Or some form of light. I had one lit, but I think it went out while I was asleep. I had a nightmare..." he cringed, shutting his eyes tightly, "...and woke up a little while ago freaking out, and I just—it was dark, just like the dungeons and it reminded me of my nightmare. I couldn't stop crying, it really shook me up" Varian whispered, "i'm sorry."

"Oh, we had no idea. I'm so sorry Varian, I should have known. Of course you'd be afraid of the dark after all that" Rapunzel said, running gentle fingers through Varian's hair.

"Hairstripe, there's nothing to be sorry for" Eugene told him, "it's natural to be afraid of something like that, especially after what's happened to you."

Varian nodded meekly, and Rapunzel spoke up, "do you want to talk about it? The nightmare?"

Varian's breath caught in his throat. Jefferey and Frank, both naked, laying on either side of him, his arms pinned above his head as they began to put their hard members against his body. Frank, forcing Varian to kiss him. Rough, heavy hands and stuttered breaths against his neck and chest, dark hickeys decorated with saliva trailing up and down his body.

Rapidly, Varian shook his head no, feeling like he could cry all over again. "That's alright" Rapunzel said, scooting closer to him. It was nice. He liked the warmth he got from being sandwiched between them. Rapunzel's gentle, loving touch coupled with Eugene's firm, reassuring hold was the ultimate comfort combo.

  Varian's heavy eyelids fluttered shut, and they fell asleep like that.