I want to find every single person who voted for him and smack them with my frying pan.
[ she sighs though, and the anger drains from her face just as quickly as it flared up. ] I'm sorry, Varian. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm just... frustrated. And scared.
Well the votes are anonymous, so that might take a while.
[ ... god. such a large part of him feels vindicated at rapunzel feeling like that. and yet. and yet, and yet, and yet. he looks away. ]
No, it's... I understand. I really do. Your partner doesn't deserve that. [ "and neither do you" dies on his tongue, because he's not... sure where he falls on that, right now. ] And we don't know... what'll happen tomorrow.
[ she already has some guesses, but she doesn't want to be angry around varian. as she looks at him now, she remembers how desperate she was when she broke his promise to him -- before she totally forgot about him to paint i mean nvm --- and wonders how similar her own expression looks right now. ]
There's no saving him now, even if... the rest of us will be okay. I just... it isn't fair to him. He was just scared and desperate. He was never going to hurt anyone.
I'm sure he wasn't. [ honestly. he's not, but he was also not too worried about it, so. ] And we won't learn now, it's too late. I know, I know, I get it, but. That's not what I meant. I'm talking about that, that "happy ending", that Dragon talked about.
I know you know. [ a beat. ] Who did you vote for, Varian?
[ come to think of it. ]
The one where everyone from the Other Side gets to live again, right? [ she's not sure how much she can believe in that. ] Well, if I make it, then.... I want to make that happen.
[ the real tragedy here is that she's starting to be dtm as she's killed off. :/ :/ :/ ]
[ "you. because i got annoyed at not finding anything, and figured if i was going to waste my vote, i might as well waste it on petty revenge you'd never know was me."
varian, obviously, doesn't say it, though he makes a face at having to think up of a vote. he cycles through names under the pretense of hesitation before sighing. ]
... Akechi. He, he might not have done these, but we at least know he murdered someone. Everything else felt wrong. [ which is not entirely untrue. though. ] Why did you vote for yourself? Even if you make it, you might get hurt.
[ ... and at that part he blinks ]
So, you want to...? You know what that requires, right? With your objective.
[ okay. alright. so he has been lowkey ("lowkey") pushing for this outcome for his own personal reasons for ... a while. but this isn't really how he expected to get it. not to mention...well. it is contingent. ]
So, if you live. You'd be willing to have us go through with it? [ she just said that, but: ] In that case, we can table that talk for tomorrow.
[ she puts a hand on his shoulder and smiles gently. ]
If it does, then... please, take care of yourself and make sure you make it out of here. And... I have some things you can take back to Corona. For... your dad, and so that my dad doesn't freak out.
[ if that thing is another flower petal, he is going to kill her tonight and she won't have to worry about tomorrow.
... but the other thing he's thinking is that, if he makes it out of there, he's already in prison. he wonders if he'll still be blamed for the princess being missing anyway. probably, right? considering everything. ]
... I'm not just going to let you get stuck on the Other Side to protect myself. [ mostly because it wouldn't be much protection, but. no it's mostly that. only that. no other reason! fuck. ] But, what kind of... things?
[ just kidding, it's a proper lock of her hair that she cut off -- as well as a few letters. they're all addressed to rapunzel, because she owled them to herself, but they have subheaders to the king and queen, eugene, and cass. ]
I don't know how much use the hair will be, considering.... but the letters should stop them from doing anything rash. I actually tried to write Eugene, myself, but I don't know if it's a trick or not.
[ but she's rambling, and she stops herself. ]
.... But I know you won't, Varian. You and I.... we're a team. But just in case. I don't want my dad, or anyone... getting the wrong idea. I don't want to let you down again.
[ she's being too considerate, time to take two painting classes. ]
[ he's looking at the bundle in her hands and-- and-- god. too considerate is one word for it.
if he goes back to corona with those letters, he's definitely getting hanged, no matter what she wrote in them. it should be easy to just reject it with some platitude about how he won't need those because she'll be with him. it should. but somehow seeing those is making it... more real. she really could die tomorrow.
why can't he figure out how that makes him feel? ]
[ he takes the letters and the (useless, probably.) lock of hair ]
... That... really bothered you, huh? [ good. even though he still has trouble believing she felt that bad, he's glad it bothered her. ] ... I'm taking these, but it's just to hold onto. Whatever happens tomorrow, Rapunzel, I'll figure it out. I'll find the answers and-- [ set you free. he pauses and there's a twist to his mouth. ] I'll do what it takes.
[ why doesn't this feel as fake as he wants it to. he's not being murdery enough time to stab rapunzel immediately!!! ]
[ yeah, the gesture's nice and all but if if he goes back without her he's definitely getting murdered. rapunzel's naively counting on eugene and cass and arianna to come through even if fred doesn't but she's forgetting that no one else in corona cares about this ~highly dangerous pre-teen~ except for cass in like, 0.3 of an episode. ]
Of course it did. That was the hardest day of my life. [ it was so hard.... to do nothing....... as her guards threw him out into the snow....... then she had to take a painting class. ]
I know you will, Varian. And.... if things do go badly.... I'll do my best to help you. From the Other Side.
[ the hardest day of her life. of her life? varian takes a breath. he can't answer that part. if he acknowledges it, he's going to lose it on her. so he just. moves right the fuck on. ]
Let's ... hope it doesn't come to that.
[ just because it's possible doesn't mean it's the best option right now. ]
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[ she sighs though, and the anger drains from her face just as quickly as it flared up. ] I'm sorry, Varian. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm just... frustrated. And scared.
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[ ... god. such a large part of him feels vindicated at rapunzel feeling like that. and yet. and yet, and yet, and yet. he looks away. ]
No, it's... I understand. I really do. Your partner doesn't deserve that. [ "and neither do you" dies on his tongue, because he's not... sure where he falls on that, right now. ] And we don't know... what'll happen tomorrow.
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There's no saving him now, even if... the rest of us will be okay. I just... it isn't fair to him. He was just scared and desperate. He was never going to hurt anyone.
... And we still don't really know what happened.
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[ come to think of it. ]
The one where everyone from the Other Side gets to live again, right? [ she's not sure how much she can believe in that. ] Well, if I make it, then.... I want to make that happen.
[ the real tragedy here is that she's starting to be dtm as she's killed off. :/ :/ :/ ]
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varian, obviously, doesn't say it, though he makes a face at having to think up of a vote. he cycles through names under the pretense of hesitation before sighing. ]
... Akechi. He, he might not have done these, but we at least know he murdered someone. Everything else felt wrong. [ which is not entirely untrue. though. ] Why did you vote for yourself? Even if you make it, you might get hurt.
[ ... and at that part he blinks ]
So, you want to...? You know what that requires, right? With your objective.
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Yeah, you're right. That's what I should have done, but I don't think there was any right answer. Just... wrong, and wronger.
[ so basically she kind of panicked and i was out!!!! ]
I don't want it, but I don't want all this suffering to be for nothing. And, well, if we can't come up with something else....
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So, if you live. You'd be willing to have us go through with it? [ she just said that, but: ] In that case, we can table that talk for tomorrow.
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[ she hesitates. ] We have to make sure the people on the Other Side make it out of here. They're still.... I don't know about alive, but around.
[ a beat. ] So yeah, I guess... tomorrow, we can .... talk about that.
[ she looks miserable. ]
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[ but. he's willing to leave it to tomorrow. ]
... Look, Rapunzel, I... Whatever happens tomorrow...
[ he can't do it. he doesn't know what to say or how to react, or even how he'd feel if it actually happened. varian's ... at a blank. ]
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If it does, then... please, take care of yourself and make sure you make it out of here. And... I have some things you can take back to Corona. For... your dad, and so that my dad doesn't freak out.
... More than he already is.
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... but the other thing he's thinking is that, if he makes it out of there, he's already in prison. he wonders if he'll still be blamed for the princess being missing anyway. probably, right? considering everything. ]
... I'm not just going to let you get stuck on the Other Side to protect myself. [ mostly because it wouldn't be much protection, but. no it's mostly that. only that. no other reason! fuck. ] But, what kind of... things?
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[ just kidding, it's a proper lock of her hair that she cut off -- as well as a few letters. they're all addressed to rapunzel, because she owled them to herself, but they have subheaders to the king and queen, eugene, and cass. ]
I don't know how much use the hair will be, considering.... but the letters should stop them from doing anything rash. I actually tried to write Eugene, myself, but I don't know if it's a trick or not.
[ but she's rambling, and she stops herself. ]
.... But I know you won't, Varian. You and I.... we're a team. But just in case. I don't want my dad, or anyone... getting the wrong idea. I don't want to let you down again.
[ she's being too considerate, time to take two painting classes. ]
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if he goes back to corona with those letters, he's definitely getting hanged, no matter what she wrote in them. it should be easy to just reject it with some platitude about how he won't need those because she'll be with him. it should. but somehow seeing those is making it... more real. she really could die tomorrow.
why can't he figure out how that makes him feel? ]
[ he takes the letters and the (useless, probably.) lock of hair ]
... That... really bothered you, huh? [ good. even though he still has trouble believing she felt that bad, he's glad it bothered her. ] ... I'm taking these, but it's just to hold onto. Whatever happens tomorrow, Rapunzel, I'll figure it out. I'll find the answers and-- [ set you free. he pauses and there's a twist to his mouth. ] I'll do what it takes.
[ why doesn't this feel as fake as he wants it to. he's not being murdery enough time to stab rapunzel immediately!!! ]
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Of course it did. That was the hardest day of my life. [ it was so hard.... to do nothing....... as her guards threw him out into the snow....... then she had to take a painting class. ]
I know you will, Varian. And.... if things do go badly.... I'll do my best to help you. From the Other Side.
[ she knows it's possible, so. ]
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[ the hardest day of her life. of her life? varian takes a breath. he can't answer that part. if he acknowledges it, he's going to lose it on her. so he just. moves right the fuck on. ]
Let's ... hope it doesn't come to that.
[ just because it's possible doesn't mean it's the best option right now. ]