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May. 4th, 2019 at 8:55 PM
[ She couldn't believe that they'd actually been roped into this, but here they are, at a ball. Here she is, wearing a dress.
Her mother was never going to let her hear the end of it.
If it weren't for Rapunzel's big heart they might not even be in this boat, but... even Piper found it difficult to say no to this particular side quest. A young man of no particular station wanted to win the hand of the daughter of a baron, who was hosting a ball in order to find a suitable match. What started off as simple tips and lessons to help prepare the guy for the challenges he'd face in dealing with high society (thanks largely to Cassandra and- to everyone's surprise -Piper) had somehow turned into them attending the ball AS WELL for moral support. He was convinced he wouldn't be able to do it if he had to go alone and he'd needed someone of Rapunzel's standing to vouch for him to even be permitted to attend. The baron had agreed on the sole condition that the princess herself attend (to bolster his reputation, and Piper could see why he needed it). The rest of them had been roped in as a result, if just to make sure nothing shady went down.
But now that whole situation has resolved itself and while both the new couple and Rapunzel and Eugene share their dances, the rest of them have slipped off to various areas of the estate for their own various reasons.
Cassandra kept close to keep an eye on things, Lance and Hookfoot had excused themselves to the refreshments table, and Piper isn't sure where Varian had gotten off to, but for her part she needed some fresh air.
Things have been akward between she and Varian for days now, even though their relationship seemed to finally be SOMEWHAT on the mend after their last serious talk. She knew that Eugene had opened up his big mouth about her feelings for the alchemist (needless to say Piper is planning her revenge and biding her time for when her fellow reformed thief least expects it), but she also knew that Varian's priorities were somewhere else entirely. Since he hadn't approached her about it yet she had to think she'd assumed correctly.
Did they need to talk? Absolutely. Piper just... wanted to take her mind off of everything for a while, at least until he was ready.
The gardens of the estate offered just such a relief, and seeing an opportunity, Piper had taken advantage of the excitement over events coming to a head to slip off. There's a pathway from the edge of the gardens leading up to a railed gazebo surrounded by flowers, wild and colorful. The view overlooking the enormous pond and lit fountain at the edge of the estate easily makes it the centerpiece, and it's here that Piper comes to rest. With her arms braced against the railing she looks out over the swans floating over the top of the otherwise glass like surface. The stars overhead sparkle back on the surface of the dark water like a mirror, and Piper's thoughts drift as she stares down into it and her own reflection. ]
Her mother was never going to let her hear the end of it.
If it weren't for Rapunzel's big heart they might not even be in this boat, but... even Piper found it difficult to say no to this particular side quest. A young man of no particular station wanted to win the hand of the daughter of a baron, who was hosting a ball in order to find a suitable match. What started off as simple tips and lessons to help prepare the guy for the challenges he'd face in dealing with high society (thanks largely to Cassandra and- to everyone's surprise -Piper) had somehow turned into them attending the ball AS WELL for moral support. He was convinced he wouldn't be able to do it if he had to go alone and he'd needed someone of Rapunzel's standing to vouch for him to even be permitted to attend. The baron had agreed on the sole condition that the princess herself attend (to bolster his reputation, and Piper could see why he needed it). The rest of them had been roped in as a result, if just to make sure nothing shady went down.
But now that whole situation has resolved itself and while both the new couple and Rapunzel and Eugene share their dances, the rest of them have slipped off to various areas of the estate for their own various reasons.
Cassandra kept close to keep an eye on things, Lance and Hookfoot had excused themselves to the refreshments table, and Piper isn't sure where Varian had gotten off to, but for her part she needed some fresh air.
Things have been akward between she and Varian for days now, even though their relationship seemed to finally be SOMEWHAT on the mend after their last serious talk. She knew that Eugene had opened up his big mouth about her feelings for the alchemist (needless to say Piper is planning her revenge and biding her time for when her fellow reformed thief least expects it), but she also knew that Varian's priorities were somewhere else entirely. Since he hadn't approached her about it yet she had to think she'd assumed correctly.
Did they need to talk? Absolutely. Piper just... wanted to take her mind off of everything for a while, at least until he was ready.
The gardens of the estate offered just such a relief, and seeing an opportunity, Piper had taken advantage of the excitement over events coming to a head to slip off. There's a pathway from the edge of the gardens leading up to a railed gazebo surrounded by flowers, wild and colorful. The view overlooking the enormous pond and lit fountain at the edge of the estate easily makes it the centerpiece, and it's here that Piper comes to rest. With her arms braced against the railing she looks out over the swans floating over the top of the otherwise glass like surface. The stars overhead sparkle back on the surface of the dark water like a mirror, and Piper's thoughts drift as she stares down into it and her own reflection. ]
Comments
He wasn't. There was something nice about a night of peace. So much had happened - Quirin's fate, the fight against Corona, his falling out with Piper and the harrowing things that'd had to happen to get them back to a better place.
And Piper really did look beautiful tonight. Varian hadn't realized he had feelings for her until recently, when Eugene had been "kind" enough to point out the reverse was also true. It had been a strange thing, and of course - being who he was - he'd thought about it far too much. Enough to trace back the spark of those feelings to long before he'd been imprisoned.
As she stares into the fountain, Piper might hear footsteps approaching. It's true that Varian's priorities are elsewhere, but this night just seems to lend itself to a certain something...]
Hey, you.
There were quite a few bruised egos and toes to go around that evening, between two of the young women.For just a second she's almost frozen, not sure how to greet him, but the awkwardness passes just enough for her to offer him a tiny, crooked little smile. ]
Hey... Guess I wasn't the only one who needed some fresh air...?
[ It was strange to think about but after everything that had transpired, and how she'd started to grow uncomfortably accustomed to seeing Varian constantly tense and pensive, seeing him lighten back up some tonight had done her heart a lot of good. It reassured her that he was still in there, and that maybe it wasn't too late to bring him back around in the end. She just wished things could be that easy between them again, but she'd settle for watching him be able to enjoy himself for once, for now. ]
It's not exactly my kind of thing. You either, I'm guessing? [He pauses with a flinch.] I mean... Just because you're out here, and not in there!
Summer was rude as heck for my time, I'm so sorry! D:
[ She's not sure what else to say after that, though. For a moment she just lets the answer linger. ]
No, it's fine! Honestly same here, either time or motivation was shot!
After a while, when the tune spilling out from inside the ballroom shifts to something spirited and bright, he braces himself to be bold.]
So...
[He can do this. And it will be easier than talking.]
Do you want to dance?
I'm glad that we both made come backs at about the same time then! LOL
The silence doesn't feel as awkward as she was expecting, and for a few moments it's just them and the sounds of the garden... until Varian throws her for a loop and asks if she wants to dance.
The initial rush of excitement shoots through her like a rush of adrenaline, thrilling and sudden, gone before she really recognizes it for what it is. Slowly, she turns her head to look at him in surprise. She hadn't even been paying much attention to the music, but it comes back into sharp focus now.
To her credit, the smile then is only the smallest bit dorky, awkward, maybe a little tentative. He wouldn't be asking if he hadn't meant it, but given the way things had been she really wasn't expecting more of a concession than getting back on speaking terms.
It's also the one invitation to dance that she's gotten all night that she'd even consider saying yes to. ]
Sure. I'd love to.
Definitely a good thing!
Heh. Okay.
[Though it's a little smile, it won't leave his face.]
I learned a little... But I've never had much practice, um.
[It's the first time he's felt like himself in a long time - like the young man he was before the Black Rocks started to encroach. He reaches for her hand with one of his own, for her waist with the other.]
You know Rapunzel and the others are going to end up spying on them from somewhere right? RIGHT? LOL
[ Varian isn't the only one who's noticed the change. Piper isn't embarrassed to admit to herself that her heart is racing a little to see the young man she'd fallen for coming back again for the first time in... months? He sounds like the "old" Varian again, and even though they both know that tomorrow reality will reassert itself again, that tomorrow they'll be back on the road, looking for a solution for the black rocks and helping Rapunzel find the Dark Kingdom...
Well, for right now, in the moment? It's like neither of their problems matter all that much, however untrue that may be. ]
Don't worry, goggles, I promise I won't laugh. [ It's the first time Piper's felt like herself in forever, too, and it shows with the familiar, easy going comfort that creeps into her tone when she drops her nickname for him. Even before the catacombs and the charmed necklace, she'd felt like she was walking on eggshells around him for a while. This is the most at ease she's felt with him since before she left Corona.
Slipping her hand into his, letting him take her waist, she rests her free hand on his shoulder for the moment, and she smiles again, encouraging and... happy. ]
Oh, no doubt in my mind there!
[It's a gift, to have a moment like this. A moment of peace; a moment to breathe. A moment where it's just the two of them being them, for the first time in... Ages.]
Well. You say that now...
[He grins, that goofy, bucktoothed grin he used to sport so often. It's the nickname that really makes the smile grow into that as he starts to lead her in a bright dance. He's stumbling, skipping steps, improvising, as soon as they start. He doesn't care, though.]
How long they're at it, she's not sure, one song seems to merge into the next- or maybe it's still the same song? She can't say. Eventually though she does give in, laughing a little breathlessly at a spin that's a bit clumsy on both of their parts and results in her stepping into his space for balance, one arm around his neck and shoulders.
Now her heart is really racing, chest rising and falling, skin flushed with excitement. ]
Hey.
[His smile shifts to something softer, and he's strangely okay with the idea of them just staying like that - it wouldn't be awkward. Exhilarating, but not awkward at all.]
She's okay with that. ]
Hey...
[ Her smile turns soft too, not uncomfortable with the proximity, and not looking like she's going to pull away anytime soon. ]
[He clears his throat, softly. She's not moving away, so he thinks it's okay to say it.]
...Nice.
Do we still wanna do our cheesy High School Musical duet? LMAO
It is...
lol, absolutely! Piper was going to be first to sing, iirc?
It just... Is also a little scary, because how long can this last? Them being them again, him feeling okay again? It's so fragile, and Varian's well-aware of that fact.
He doesn't straighten up to move away, but he does cast his gaze off to the side, unsure of how he should proceed - how he wants to proceed.]
1/2 - She was! Here is that reply super late. c8;;; TIME STOP FLYING SO FREAKING FAST.
For a long moment Piper is quiet and the silence is unbearable, broken only by the chirping of the insects all around them, and the far away echos of the ball, the dim hum of chatter and music in the distance. All of that fades into dull background noise after a while though.
Meeting Varian had opened her up to things that she never really thought twice about. After watching her father struggle through the loneliness of a famous lifestyle, and seeing the residual pain he had gone through in the pursuit of love she'd honestly half written it off for herself. She didn't want to find herself surrounded by fake friends who only wanted a piece of her father's limelight. She didn't want to put herself out there trying to meet the right person just to find herself let down when the reality didn't measure up to her expectations, like his had.
But Varian was different, right from the first. He wasn't at all like anything she would have imagined for herself in a match, but he fit her perfectly anyway, just seemed to fill in all the little dips and crevices in her roughshod surface, until they formed one cohesive whole. And then she'd gone and messed it up by not telling him the truth, all because she was afraid of what would happen if he found out, what he'd think of her.
Well... he found out anyway, and it's taken all this time to mend things between them. There were times when she really thought it would be easier to just leave, to remove herself from the equation and go it on her own again rather than facing his disappointment and the gap that had grown between them, but... somehow, for once, she didn't want to run away. It was worth it to stay and fight for their friendship. He meant too much to her and she's not even really sure when that had happened. She'd do it all again, pain and all, to end up right here, right now. HER. The loner who'd always toughed it out by herself rather than opening herself up to more pain.
Isn't that crazy to think about?
For a moment her gaze drifts back in Varian's direction again. Revelations like that wouldn't do her any good if she couldn't even find the words to help him realize what he meant to her.]
2/2
Living in my own world... didn't understand, that anything can happen... when you take a chance!
This is new territory for Varian, all things considered, and... He doesn't hate that. He usually doesn't like what he can't explain, but this is a good kind of unknown. Piper has always seen the things in him that he's wanted others to see - even when he didn't quite see them himself. It's both scary and thrilling.
And when she sings in that gentle way, his heart - as cliche as it sounds - skips a beat. He's smiling more easily tonight than he has in months and months. And when he opens his mouth, he almost says so many things... Before he realizes that there's really just one thing he needs to say. Or rather, sing.]
I never believed in what I couldn't see. I never opened my heart... To all the possibilities.
But instead he responds by admitting his own romantic shortcomings, but in a hopeful note. Piper's heart skips a beat in answer. It brings a tentatively hopeful smile to her face. Now their voices meet, sharing the same thought. ]
I know that something has changed, never felt this way!
[ They really have been through it all together, haven't they? Or at least a heck of a lot. From the Meet Cute to adventures of all sorts, the lowest of lows, and now, maybe the highest of highs. And where most people might have run away screaming after learning about what sort of baggage she came with, Varian stuck around... He'd seen things in her that she'd always wished others would see, too. Amazing, really, how they seemed to fill those voids in one another. ]
And right here tonight, this could be the start of something new!
[That she's stood by him, no matter what... It means the world to him. No one has ever been so supportive of him, at least, not so obviously. It's what he's always wanted. Someone to believe in him.
And of course, he believes in Piper just as much. She's amazing - not someone he puts on a pedestal, though, the way he does with his father, or used to do with Rapunzel. They're lives are different, but there's something about her that he relates to, and as a result, their connection is strong.]
Sure, his sense of humor could be a little corny at times, and there were moments when he forgot that the people around him weren't well versed in science and alchemy, but those things were just... so damn heartwarming and charming and him. Just like his compassion and unwavering bravery and loyalty. All the things that made up the whole, and he owned every bit of it, just so earnestly, unapologetically, confidentally Varian. She admired that about him, so much, the fact that he could be so confident in who he was, the things that made him him. Had she ever told him? She definitely should after this.]
It feels so right to be here with you! And now, looking in your eyes...
[Here Piper reaches for one of his hands again, taking it into her own.]
I feel in my heart...!
Edited 2020-01-30 07:20 am (UTC)