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His hands were scarred.
That was what Rapunzel noticed the first time she touched the skin beneath Varian’s gloves.
Sitting across the table from him, her fingers skimmed over a slightly raised burn mark just behind the second knuckle of his index finger, then trailed to the whitish line that pathed across two tendons on the back of his hand. There were other markings, small nicks and burns and poorly healed abrasions, and Rapunzel made a point to memorize each and every one of them.
“So many,” she breathed softly, lifting her eyes to meet his gaze. “How did you get them?”
Varian hummed, propping his chin with the hand not currently in the princess’s possession. “Well, some are from lab…mishaps, and a few are from helping my dad around the farm.” He cracked a lopsided grin and shrugged. “It’s just what happens when you work with your hands a lot—I’d probably have even more if I didn’t wear gloves.”
Rapunzel nodded as she continued to trace the markings, the light, soothing touch making Varian’s eyelids droop slightly.
The concept of scarring had been foreign to Rapunzel for eighteen years, and while enough time had passed for her to accumulate a few small scuffs of her own, Varian had an entire lifetime’s worth of stories etched into his skin.
“I’m actually a bit jealous,” she confided, and Varian’s expression of sleepy content melted into one of confusion, his brows raising to his hairline.
“Of my scars?”
Rapunzel smiled softly. “Of your stories.” Lifting his hand from the table, she cuddled it against her cheek, relishing the mild rasp of the callouses that edged his palm and tipped his fingers. “Each one of these is proof that you’ve lived your life to the fullest.”
Varian blinked. “Huh. I…never thought of them like that.” Truth be told, he wore gloves so often that he never really gave the scattered marks on his hands and forearms a second thought.
“Will you tell me about them?” Rapunzel asked, eyes sparkling as she pressed a kiss to his thumb.
A dusting of pink spread crept across Varian’s nose and cheeks, and he rubbed the back of his neck with a small, pleased grin. “I mean, sure, if you want. And…if you’re interested…” He leaned in conspiratorially. “I’ve got scars a few other places~” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Rapunzel broke into a fit of giggles as she swatted at his chest.
“We’ll get to those later,” she promised. “Now, tell me how you got this one…”