One-Shot Summary: Rapunzel and Eugene's wedding has arrived, and Varian and Juliet speak about a future and also debate on something they view as serious.
The summer breeze helped cool her neck, which had been sweltering thanks to the summer heat. Why Rapunzel and Eugene had to get married on the hottest day of the year was a mystery to her, but then again still four years out from being introduced to civilization and many things still were.
Juliet leaned back on the stairs and let her hands fan out behind her to keep her steady, the skirt of her red dress blowing in the wind. She didn't know quite what it was with the color red, but ever since the day Xavier had gifted her that red dress years ago, her wardrobe had grown to contain many dresses in the bright, cherry color. Even now, her dress was formal and meant for the wedding she had just attended but was still her signature color.
The sounds of the party going on wafted from the nearby ballroom, but after nearly three hours of celebration Juliet had finally decided she needed to pull away, even if it was just for a little bit. She truly was happy for Rapunzel and Eugene, but for now she just needed a moment to be quiet. She shut her eyes and let herself soak in the starlight for a moment as the gentle hum of background noise faded into a comforting rhythm, a smile working at her lips.
"Here she is!"
Juliet's eyes widened as a furry pressure came upon her lap and she looked down to see the smiling form of Rudiger.
"Hi, Rudiger," she said. "Of course, you can sit on my lap." Rudiger rolled his eyes at her. Juliet couldn't remember Rudiger ever asking permission to sit or be held, he just kind of naturally assumed Juliet (or Varian) would immedailty react to him. Which in many ways was the truth, if Juliet were to be honest too.
"Maybe she wanted to be left alone," Varian said, standing on the steps beside her and crossing his arms. Juliet smiled at him and patted the spot next to him, a signal for him to sit next to her.
"No, it's fine, Varian, I don't mind the company," Juliet said warmly. Varian took the seat next to her skeptically, and she was hyper-aware of how close their hands were to each other. She had been hyper-aware of all things Varian for four years.
"Why are you out here?" Varian asked. "I thought you would be enjoying the party."
Juliet shrugged and pet Rudiger's head. "I just needed some quiet." Juliet looked back towards the door before turning back towards Varian.
"You ever think about it?"
"What?"
"Getting married," Juliet said. Varian's eyes widened.
"Are you saying you want to get married?" Varian asked, his expression an odd mix of fear, confusion, and excitement. "Because Jules, I love you, but we're like nineteen and everything –"
Juliet cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Not right now or anything. But like, one day I do want to get married. We didn't really have marriage or anything on the island, so actually technically, I'd be the first of my family to be married." Juliet raised an eyebrow. "Any thoughts?"
Varian shrugged, now calm thanks to her quelling the idea she wanted to get married immedailty. "I don't know. I guess a part of me assumed that one day we would, but I never thought about when. We started being …. well, uh, us way back when. We never really actually talked about dating and it's just been you and me –"
"And me!"
"Rudiger would like it noted it's been the three of us."
"—and Rudiger," Varian said. "But yeah, I guess, I want to get married someday."
Juliet would be lying if she said that didn't make her feel happy. Her boyfriend just basically admitted to her that he was in it for the long haul – who wouldn't be excited at hearing that?
"There's only one problem," Juliet said. Varian raised a brow.
"What?"
Juliet smiled mischievously and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "You'd have to be crazy like me for us to get married."
Varian snorted and rolled his eyes. "Well that shouldn't be a problem, considering that I'm so much crazier than you."
Juliet frowned at him and recoiled her arm back. "You think you're crazier than the girl who can talk to animals and was raised by a swan on an island?"
He grinned and leaned forward teasingly. "You think you're crazier than the treasonous former child prodigy that blew up his whole village – twice?"
"Well, uh, yeah," Juliet said matter-of-factly. She pulled her legs forward, temporarily displacing Rudiger before he moved to her shoulders.
"Jules, come on, it isn't even a contest. I'm crazier than you," he said.
"No, Varian, I'm crazier than you."
"No, I'm crazier than you."
"No, I'm crazier than you!"
"I'm crazier than you!"
"Juliet, come on, you know I'm the crazier one!"
"Is this some kind of human foreplay thing I don't understand? Because if so, I'm going back inside," Rudiger said and Juliet was pretty sure she died right there. A blush rose to her cheeks and she let her head fall into her hands.
"Oh, God, Rudiger," she admonished. Varian frowned.
"What did he say?" Varian asked.
"Something I will never, ever translate," Julie said, peeking up at him through her fingers. Varian eyed his pet raccoon critically and reached to take him in his arms, but Rudiger refuted the invitation and curled around Juliet's shoulders.
"You know, I use to think Rudiger was the sweetest raccoon ever," Varian commented. "But you won't translate half of what he says so now I think I might have been wrong."
Juliet's flashed back to the first thing Rudiger ever said to her. Maybe the young girlie can talk some sense into him, because right now he's acting like a pain. "You know, you're not too far off the mark."
"Hey!"
"Rudiger, after what you just implied, you earned that remark," Juliet shot back. Varian sighed and brushed away some of his hair. Juliet had very specifically hidden his trademark goggles earlier so that he wouldn't be tempted to wear to them to the wedding, but as they also worked as a headband of sorts, his hair was getting everywhere. But still, Juliet was quite happy he hadn't searched too hard for them. They hid his eyes, which she didn't like very much.
"Sometimes I look back on my life and wonder how I got to the point where my best friend is raccoon and my girlfriend is a girl who can talk to said raccoon," Varian lamented dramatically. Juliet laughed at him and pushed his shoulder playfully.
"You know, when you say it like that, I'd almost be inclined to believe you are crazier than me," Juliet said. "You'd have to be if you end up with us as your companions in life."
A comfortable silence enveloped them, and Juliet leaned over to rest on his shoulder. Rudiger frowned and returned to his position on her lap and began to pout, but Juliet choose to ignore it as she shifted her head, so it rested more comfortably. God love him, Varian was bony so in some places, it felt like his shoulder was trying to dig into her head.
"How long do you think the party will go on?" Juliet wondered. Varian's shrugged, which once again forced her to shift.
"Well, Rapunzel likes having fun, but she has her limits. Eugene likes having a party though…." Varian trailed off.
"You know I love them, but did Rapunzel have to be a princess?" Juliet said. "There's about four million people in there, and she knows only like half of them, and they're only here to prevent an international incident. That also makes it impossible to be in there for more than, like, two hours at a time."
"Jules…" Varian said, rolling his eyes.
"What?" Juliet said. "I'm just saying. When we get married, it's goanna be small, mark my words."
"OH MY GOSH!" an excited voice squealed. The two turned to see the form of the smiling bride and groom, Rapunzel rushing towards them as her veil trailed behind her like her once blonde hair did years ago. "Are you two getting married?!"
Eugene rolled his eyes good-naturally. "Couldn't let us have one day, could you?"
Juliet quickly shook her head and stood up to face them. "No, no, me and Varian aren't get married any time soon."
"Gee, way to sound enthused about marrying me."
"You know what I meant, Varian," Juliet said to him. She reached over to embrace the brunette newlywed woman which Rapunzel accepted with a smile.
"I know you've heard it about a thousand times tonight, but once again, congratulations Rapunzel," Juliet offered sincerely. Rapunzel broke out of the embrace and Juliet bore witness to perhaps the largest smile she had ever seen.
"Thank you!" Rapunzel said. Her voice was bright and cheery despite the late hour, which told Juliet that Rapunzel was not slowing down anytime soon.
"Ditto for me!"
"Rudiger sends on his congratulations as well," Juliet said earnestly.
"By the way, did Max and Pascal ever tell you what was up with the oil and the rings?" Eugene asked, raising an amused eyebrow. Juliet chuckled at the story the chameleon and horse had told her about trying to hunt down the wedding rings.
"Believe me, you don't wanna know," Juliet said.
"I found it hilarious!"
"I know you found it funny, Rudiger, you laughed for twenty minutes," Juliet said. Varian and Eugene laughed at this, but a quick look from Juliet and Rapunzel made them stop.
"I'll tell you guys later," Juliet assured. "For right now, go enjoy yourselves. It's your wedding after all." Eugene beamed as he took Rapunzel's hand.
"They're right, Blondie," Eugene said. "I hate royal functions and doing stuff for press and all the blahity-blah-blah, but if you don't say hi to everyone then the thin-skinned dignitaries will get their feathers ruffled." He smiled a crooked smile at his wife. "Besides, I would like to show off my gorgeous new wife."
Rapunzel's blush was so strong that it bordered the line between red and orange. Juliet smiled at them and motioned forward, pushing them towards the sounds from the slightly ajar wooden doors.
"Go, enjoy yourselves," Juliet said to them. "We may not see each other again the rest of the night, so let me say congratulations again."
"Hey, you guys are so lucky to have found each other," Varian offered sincerely. Rapunzel gave one more smile and an embrace.
"Let's hope the next wedding we attend is yours!" Rapunzel said teasingly, before Eugene and she slipped back behind the doors. Juliet rolled her eyes and took Varian's hand.
"I think the two might be excited," Juliet said. Varian scoffed.
"You think?"
Juliet laughed and began to pull him back towards the steps but hesitated before sitting back down on the stone. She turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Ready to head home?" she asked.
"Already?" he said. Juliet shrugged.
"We live a few hours away, plus we've already said our personal congratulations and had our relationship status half-way upgraded." Juliet smiled. "Not too shabby of a wedding. But I'm thinking it's time we head back. Your father is probably neck deep in confusion on how to keep up with the animals and making sure nothing in your lab catches on fire."
Quirin had gotten injured the previous week, so hadn't been able to make the trip up for the wedding despite his agreement to attend. Even though the duo had told him he didn't need to look after the lab or even Juliet's animals (she had quickly become known as the Old Corona 'animal lady' as she pretty much looked after every stray animal and cared for the sick animals in the village), they were pretty sure the middle-aged man had went ahead and done something, and the guess it was something way out of his depths. It was easy to see where Varian had gotten his impatient curiosity from, as Quirin was always doing this and that. Quirin's was much subtler about it that his son, but to Juliet it was something easy to pick up on.
"The price of being the village freaks," Varian said, splaying his hand across his chest dramatically. "Having to leave the wedding of the princess early to make sure the things making us freaks are still intact."
Juliet frowned. "Did I ask for your sass?"
"No, but I gave it for free. You should count yourself lucky, I'm thinking of charging people."
Juliet sighed and pulled her boyfriend forward, placing a quick kiss to his cheek. "Come on. Let's go home."
Originally, this week was going to have a one-shot about Juliet getting a red dress, which was to become her "signature" outfit. Then I saw The Addams Family musical and the song "Crazier Than You" that Wednesday and Lucas sung got stuck in my head, so this was born. Uncle Fester and the Moon is my new OTP, tbh.
Rudiger is quickly escalating to one of my favorite characters to write, because I imagine him as being a sarcastic pain for some reason. Juliet is the only one who knows, so conversations between the two of them is hysterical. Originally, the two said curse words, but I cut that down because I try to keep it family-friendly. Although the foreplay line was so glorious to me I couldn't cut it. Basically, everyone save Rapunzel are snarky for no reason other than the fact then I wrote them and in real life I am sarcastic to everyone and everything, so prepare for some major sass coming your way.
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desertoasisqueen: Thank you for your review! Varian and Juliet wouldn't leave me alone, so I knew I had to keep going. V and J deserve a much better writer than me telling their story, but I'm glad you've enjoyed them so far.