𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 {𝕍𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕩 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣}

-Chapter Six- Dancing With Your Shadows

/it breaks my heart that you can't let go/ you say you're fine/ but girl, i know/ you've been dancing, dancing, dancing with your shadows/

-dancing with your shadows, phillip phillips

Varian and Y/n had been walking around the castle, collecting laundry from all of the guest rooms and making them up. They hadn't spoke much since Varian's strange reaction to Y/n's offer, and just completed the chores in silence- though not as comfortable of a silence as before.

The laundry on the cart had reached ridiculous heights, so when they passed by Rapunzel's room, Y/n could only hear her voice, the doorway obscured by the pile of clothing.

"...practical. Okay. Sure." she was saying, her voice sounding a bit dejected, before going up with confusion.

"Automatic laundry cart?"

"Now that..." she heard Eugene say, "I have not seen."

Y/n snickered a little bit, thinking of how the overflowing cart must look from that angle. She and Varian continued pushing it down the hall, bumping into a few columns on the way.

She could hear her sister rushing after them. "Uh, Varian? Y/n? Woah!" a shirt fell off the pile and landed on Rapunzel as Y/n stepped out from behind the cart, Varian close behind her. "Hey, Princess!" he exclaimed.

"What are you two doing?" Rapunzel asked, sounding concerned.

"We're helping Cass with her work!" Varian said proudly. Y/n nodded. "She needs help to pull guard duty." Y/n explained.

"But..." Rapunzel's expression was one of worry and concern. "Varian, shouldn't you be setting up your exhibit? And Y/n, don't you want to see the Expo?"

Varian shrugged, putting his hand on the back of his head and running a gloved hand through his hair. "Oh, theoretically. But I am presenting second to last, so I figure that'll give me a few extra minutes to get ready."

Y/n stood next to him, taking a handle of the cart as Varian walked back over. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of time to look around once we're done."

Varian smiled. "See! Plus, we just have that one room left right there."

Y/n pointed down the hall. "Oh, and that room."

Varian nodded, then looked around the cart down the hallway. "And that- that one too. Also that one."

The two of them walked down the hallway, and Rapunzel rushed after them. "Look, Varian, I know you really like- oh, um, Cass. Right. Cass. Yes, um, her, but I think-"

"Don't worry!" said Varian, turning around as Y/n stopped the cart, his tone partly reassuring, and partly stop talking before you reveal anything else. "Cass agreed to be my assistant during my presentation, so, ya know, we got everything under control." He turned around and began walking towards a set of double doors. "On to the next room!"

"Oh, Varian-" Y/n began, trying to catch up to him, "that is not a room, that's a..."

"Oh, that's a-" Varian said automatically, leaning on the door, before it swung inward and he fell. Y/n couldn't see exactly what happened, but she heard loud thuds and shouts of panic emanating from the door.

"...staircase." she finished with a wince.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

Later on, after Varian had recovered from his staircase incident, he and Y/n were down in the servant's tunnels, emptying the laundry pile into a chute. Varian pushed the door closed with an exhale, leaning against it, and Y/n patted his shoulder in a gesture of... sarcastic reassurance.