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“You miss braiding your hair?” Varian looked over at the princess in surprise, pushing his own messy bangs out of his face. “Really?”
Rapunzel rubbed her arm, giving a slight chuckle. She’d come to Old Corona to go over some renovation schematics for the castle with Varian, and had found him in one of the fields, collecting plant specimens for his serums. He’d gladly accepted her offer to help, and as they’d gathered and carefully labelled the samples to fill his bag, they’d ended up reminiscing about the past…which in turn had brought up the subject of her recently shorn hair.
“I know it’s silly since I’ve had long hair for most of my life, but Gothel would never let me do anything to it other than brush it. I guess it was a control thing, so it was…really freeing to be able to do stuff like braid it or put pretty things like flowers into it.”
She lifted a finger and twirled a strand of short brown hair as Varian lowered himself to sit next to her, settling onto the patch of wildflowers and grass. “Don’t get me wrong, I like how easy it is to take care of, and it’s very literally a weight off my shoulders but…” She released a soft sigh. “I miss being able to do creative things with it. Even flowers just slide out.”
She plucked a daisy and nestled it into her brown hair, but a quick toss of her head made it fly from the short strands as they fanned out around her head. “See?”
“Hm…” Varian couldn’t say he’d ever really considered hair styling before, but to his untrained eye she still had enough hair to do a few things with. He reached over and took a lock of hair between his fingers, rolling it thoughtfully. “Mind if I try something?”
“Oh! Sure!” Rapunzel said, giving him a curious look as he scooted in closer. She felt the gentle pull and tug of his fingers as they carefully combed through her hair, ridding it of any small tangles before he began to weave the strands together, his tongue poking from the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. His dexterous fingers moved through his chosen section of hair, catching flyaways and safely tucking them into the tiny braid that steadily wove into existence along the side of her ear.
Pinching the end of the delicate braid, Varian realized he didn’t have any string, and thought for a moment before reaching into his bangs and plucking a few strands from the colored streak. He used them to tie off the braid, and found that he really liked the contrast of his blue hair with her soft brown.
Now for the finishing touch. Glancing around the patch of wildflowers, Varian carefully selected a blue cornflower and deftly wove the stem into the braid, securing the flower against the side of her head. “There!” he said proudly as he pulled back to admire his handiwork.
Rapunzel lifted a hand to feel what he’d done, and was delighted by the smooth crisscrossed section of hair beneath her fingertips, as well as the soft petals of the flower he’d woven in. “Oh!” She let out a delighted laugh as she turned to Varian. “Thank you, Varian! I’m sure it looks amazing!”
Varian nearly slapped himself in the forehead. Here he was acting so proud of himself when she couldn’t even see what he’d done. Brilliant.
He was fully prepared to continue his internal scolding until Rapunzel wove her fingers into her hair and tipped her head to the side, a beaming smile on her face. “Tell me how I look?” she asked him, blinking her green eyes at him winningly.
“U-um…” Varian gulped, caught completely off guard. That was a…pretty direct question. “You look…you look really pretty, Rapunzel.” He clasped his hands in his lap, his gaze dropping as he nervously twiddled his thumbs. “N-not to say you’re not always pretty, because you are, but uh, the braid makes you look…extra pretty?”
Ohhh, he needed to shut up.
Rapunzel giggled. It was so cute how flustered he was, and she reached out to place a hand over his fidgeting fingers.
Varian’s hands stilled as his eyes darted up to meet hers, only for him to release a soft gasp as her lips pressed a chaste peck to his cheek before she pulled back to smile at him. His cheeks blazed, head emptied of all thoughts except for one.
Rapunzel had just kissed him.
His flushed cheeks and dazed expression made Rapunzel giggle again, and she gave his hands a squeeze before rising from the patch of flowers.
“It’s getting late, so I should probably head back to the castle now,” she said, turning towards the main road. “Thanks again for the braid, I’ll come back tomorrow to discuss the renovation plans!”
Varian could only nod numbly as she walked away, raising one hand in a weak farewell before he dropped back amongst the flowers, staring up at the sky with a faraway smile.
Later that evening, Rapunzel sat in front of her vanity mirror, admiring Varian’s craftsmanship. He’d always been good with his hands, so it was no wonder he also had a knack for something as intricate as braiding. The blue strands keeping it tied together were a surprise though, and she realized they must be from his hair streak. The teal blue contrasted beautifully with the richer hues of the cornflower, and she smiled softly, brushing her fingers along the petals as she wondered if he knew that in the language of flowers, it symbolized a young man in love.