A/n: yay new chapter

Varian sketched in his notebook some designs for a modified model of the new invention. A few kinks needed to be worked out, and a few new materials needed to be tested, but all in all, everything was going smoothly. He was even getting better at writing and drawing, not skill wise but more of a 'hey I can actually pick up the quill and not shake so bad the ink goes everywhere' kinda thing.

He was alone, waiting for Rapunzel and Cassandra to come with lunch. It was kind of weird being alone. At least one adult was always with him. He wasn't sure if it was because of his dark concerning humor, they thought he was still unstable and might try to escape or attack, or if they were genuinely concerned for him, but maybe it was a little bit of everything.

It was nice to have some alone time though. Some quiet. It was only ever really quiet if Cassandra was the only one stuck on 'babysitting duty' as she dubbed it. Lance and Eugene can be loud and eccentric, and Rapunzel can be...well, everything. Cassandra was just chill. And sometimes he needed that.

"Oh, Varian~" Rapunzel sang, "I got you something!"

Cassandra entered the room as well, a tray in her hand as Rapunzel held the door open, "do none of you know how to keep a secret?" Cassandra hissed, kicking the door shut, "seriously, every single time this door opens someone yells his name!"

"Oops, sorry!" Rapunzel said, clapping a hand over her mouth, giggling, "anyway—me and Cass made you something special! I think you're ready to move on from broth to..." she took off a lid covering her masterpiece, revealing a new dish, "soup! But not just any soup...Hazelnut soup! It's my favorite, actually!"

Varian gave her a deadpan look, "Rapunzel. It's barely been a week."

"We're being optimistic!" Rapunzel cried.

Cassandra physically recoiled at that statement, "I was not being optimistic."

Rapunzel sighed, rolling her eyes, "fine, I was being optimistic, Cass had the same mindset as you, but this doesn't really have anything solid, it's just a thick consistency! Like baby food!"

"Yeah, she taught me how to make it" Cassandra said, "I thought it looked gross, y'know. Like throw up, but it actually tasted good. Oh, and we sent the guys to grab Ruddiger something by the way. Is he getting tired of apples? It's all he's been eating."

Varian glanced at his little buddy, "I don't think that's possible, he's a raccoon, so. You know, he'll probably eat anything you give him and enjoy it."

"Fair enough" she shrugged, "maybe we'll bring him some blueberries later."

Rapunzel squealed, handing Varian the bowl of soup, "this is so exciting, another step to recovery! Different food and it's in a bowl!"

Varian chuckled, sitting up fully, "yep. I think i'll be able to feed myself. My hands are getting less shaky" he picked up his spoon and blew on the hot soup, before tasting it, making his reaction slow on purpose to see if Rapunzel would physically combust.

"Do you like it?" She blurted out, bouncing on her toes.

Varian let go of the act and smiled, "yes! I've never had hazelnut soup before, it's really good, actually."

"Yes!" Rapunzel pumped a fist in the air, "I knew you'd like it! Even Cass liked it!"

"I have to admit, it was good" the older woman smirked at the princess's excitement.

"I thought that maybe it was just because I grew up on it. It tasted like home. Which probably shouldn't be a good thing because of where I grew up. But still! Sorry, i'm rambling" she giggled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Varian shrugged, "don't worry, I ramble a lot too."

Cassandra rolled her eyes, "we know. You're a nerd."

Varian smiled, showing off his bucked teeth, probably on purpose to manipulate them with his adorableness, "no i'm not!"

"Fine. You're a dork" she reasoned, "now eat your soup before Raps explodes."

Varian nodded, doing so until eventually Eugene and Lance returned with Ruddiger's food, which was a bowl of fruity arrangements. The raccoon chittered happily before diving into it.

"Now you guys are spoiling him too? You said you were getting apples" Cassandra said.

"Well, Ruddiger is just too cute—" Lance stopped when he noticed Varianc "Awe, we missed it! Varian's first real food!" Lance cried, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye.

"He didn't even drop the bowl" Rapunzel said fondly, "he's so strong."

Varian grumbled, taking the last bite of his food, "you guys are so embarrassing."

He held out the bowl to put it on the nightstand, but his arms shook with exhaustion and he nearly dropped it. Rapunzel took it from him and set it down for him.

"Almost had it" he sighed, "i'm never going to get better. I can't even set a bowl down."

"Hey kid, don't be too hard on yourself, I mean, it's barely even been a week. You have plenty of time to heal" Eugene said, "besides—you're writing, you're eating, you can keep down water...mostly, i'd say you're on track, kiddo."

"Yeah! Encouragement and all that" Lance said, waving an arm around.

"Yep" Eugene said, "now. How about a game? I know you were doing spectacularly at the cards last time, but i'm not going easy on you now."

"Eugene. You literally were trying your hardest and still got beaten eleven times by someone who would probably pass out if he got out of bed" Cassandra smirked, "no offense, Varian."

He gave an awkward thumbs up, unsure if he was allowed to participate in the conversation. Well—she had directly addressed him, so maybe he should give her like, a verbal response? But what if—

"No! I was showing mercy! It'll be different this time!" Eugene exclaimed.

"No it won't. And do you know why?" Cassandra asked slyly, smirking.

"Why?" Eugene asked, folding his arms with a glare.

She leaned in and whispered, "because you and Lance have a guard class to teach with my dad, and you're five minutes late."

Eugene gasped, "Oh my word! Lance, come on!" He rushed out of the room, glaring at Cassandra, "You really couldn't have told me this ten minutes ago?!"

Cassandra barked out a laugh as the two men left the room, and Rapunzel shook her head with a fond smile on her face.

Varian chuckled as well as they left, before he felt a roiling in his stomach and a gurgle in the back of his throat. He stopped breathing entirely and wrapped a hand around his stomach, staring straight ahead with wide eyes.

Rapunzel glanced over when she heard his breath hitch and so did Cassandra. "Varian?" Rapunzel asked, "are you—?"

"Bucket" mumbled, "gimme'the bucket" he slurred.

Rapunzel was quick to it and hand it to him. He shoved his head into it as soon as he received it and started to choke as his lunch came right back up. His shoulders shook as he wretched, his body trembling violently.

"S—sun" he mumbled, blinking quickly as not to pass out, before he puffed his cheeks and wretched again. It went on like this for several minutes, Rapunzel just whispering sweet, comforting words to him and rubbing soothing circles on his back while Cassandra took notes on her clipboard with a frown on her face.

When he finally finished and wiped his mouth he cringed at the feeling of his bruised ribs being agitated, "i'm so sorry..." he mumbled.

Rapunzel scrunched up her nose at the bucket. His body had not digested any of that soup. It came up the same way it went down, "no, no, Varian it's fine. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to give you that...but, it...it wasn't very heavy, I don't know why your stomach couldn't handle it" she frowned.

He shrugged, "ma-maybe it was too much? I mean the broth much light. The soup isn't necessarily heavier, but it has more ingredients..."

Rapunzel handed Varian some water to sip to get rid of the nasty taste of bile in his mouth and to soothe his throat.

"Maybe we should start giving you snacks between meals. That would probably help. Fruit seems like a good option—" Cassandra began, before cutting herself off when she noticed a splotch of crimson red beginning to seep into Varian's hospital gown and slowly spread, "oh no. Varian don't look down. It's okay, don't look."

Rapunzel looked and gasped, "oh no!"

Varian couldn't help himself, he looked down too, panicking when be saw it, "oh my gosh, oh my gosh" he flapped his hands nervously, "why am I bleed—bleed—" his eyes began to flutter shut, "oh no."

"Varian!" Rapunzel exclaimed as he slipped into unconsciousness, falling backwards until his head hit the pillow, "man he really can not handle blood."

Cassandra sighed as she maneuvered him to take his gown off, "the kid tore his stitches. Again."

Rapunzel frowned, "awe, poor thing, I know they hurt...oh, it's because he puked, isn't it!"

"Yep. It agitated them" Cassandra sighed, "I'm kind of glad he passed out, because he refuses to even look like he's in pain. I think he's afraid" she shook her head as she grabbed a med kit, "I hate that look he gets. Like he's afraid of me. Like he thinks i'm going to do something to hurt him if he shows weakness—" she cut herself off to steady her voice, closing her eyes, "I just want him to...to tell us that it hurts. I want him to know that it's okay to be in pain."

Rapunzel smiled gently, placing a hand on Cassandra's shoulder, "So do I, Cass, but...he's sensitive right now. Everything is still so fresh, and new, and crazy. His life flipped upside down. And besides, i'd say that he's pretty comfortable around us. He enjoys the quipping and teasing, it's just that...when things get a little more serious, it can be overwhelming. He knows that he's a child who's weak and defenseless right now, and that if we wanted to do something to him, we could. It'll just take some time."

Cassandra sighed, "you're right. Thanks, I just. It's hard to see him hurting, and too scared to say anything about it."

"Well, it's especially intimidating with you, because..well, you are the captains daughter. And very well trained in fighting, so there's that" Rapunzel shrugged, helping Cassandra take out the old stitches and clean the wound. She frowned, "if this keeps on happening he's going to get an infection. The stitches need to stay in place and have time to heal."

Cassandra nodded, restitching the deep cut, that she could guess was from a harsh crack of a whip. Poor kid, "yeah. So does he."

—————————————————

Varian stirred awake not even five minutes later, just as Cassandra was in the middle of cleaning the wound. She was pressing a cloth lightly into it to soak up all the blood, and was just about to begin stitching. They stared wide eyed at each other for a moment, "uh, hi" he said awkwardly.

"Hey there" she snorted, rubbing some numbing ointment around the oh, you know, gaping open wound on his chest, "just going to stitch this puppy back up. Sorry kid, it might hurt a little."

Varian nodded, "that's okay.." he shifted a little, noticing that his bladder was getting pretty full. He hadn't gone yet that day, and it was getting to be about that time.

"Can we wait for Eugene? To replace my stitches?" Varian blurted, trying not to cringe at how uncomfortably full he felt. He wasn't even sure how he'd be able to pee, it's not like he could sit up.

Cassandra raised an eyebrow, "why? This really needs to get done as soon as possible, and he's pretty busy."

"Oh, ok..never mind, it's not important" he mumbled.

"Are you sure?" Rapunzel asked from where she sat next to him, a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, i'm sure, I guess..i'm just..a little scared" he said, his voice small as he tried to use their pity to his advantage, the saps.

"Awe, Varian!" Rapunzel said, "don't be scared...I know Eugene is really strong and tough and all, but you don't need him!"

Cassandra scoffed, "you're pushing it now, Raps. Plus, I don't need his commentary. I need to concentrate."

Varian nodded meekly, and realized he'd just have to wait and stared as Cassandra began to thread the needle in his skin. Rapunzel took his hand and squeezed gently. He wasn't sure how he was able to handle watching a needle go through his skin when he couldn't handle seeing blood.

He shifted a little bit to relieve some pressure in his bladder, which resulted in Cassandra jolting in surprise, "Varian!" She hissed. His shoulders jerked and he pulled his face back in a flinch, as if bracing himself for a hit, and Cassandra felt sick to know that he thought she'd hurt him. She lowered her voice into something more gentle, glad Eugene wasn't there to hear, "you have to sit still, kid. This is delicate work."

Varian bit his lip and nodded, his voice a low squeak, "i'm sorry."

"It's okay. I just don't want to hurt you" She told him, adjusting the needle back. She caught Rapunzel's eyes and rolled her own at the fond look she was being given.

Varian sat as still as he possibly could as Cassandra began to fully stitch him up. He was impressed with all of her medical knowledge, though he supposed that as someone training to be a guard, and someone who observed so many training sessions, she had to be at the ready incase anyone got injured.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, trying his best not to relax. He did not want to have an accident. Especially while Cassandra was mid stitch.

"Does it hurt?" Cassandra asked when she heard a high pitched noise escape from his throat, "the stitching?"

"No" he said immediately.

She raised a brow in suspicion. She knew that it hurt, but maybe that wasn't his main focus, "does...something else hurt?" She noticed that he gave it a moment of thought before he answered 'no' again, so now she knew he was lying.

She decided to let it go for now, and finished up the stitching. She placed a gauze patch over it, "there. Now, try not to move much. If it opens again it may not turn out so well. I'd recommend just laying down for a few hours, the stitches are pretty sensitive."

Varian nodded. Welp. There went his chances of relieving himself. If he couldn't get up, how could he get on his knees to use the tub? Hopefully Eugene or Lance would be able to figure something out.

But...they had just left for guard training not even an hour earlier. It would be a good while before they returned, and Varian wasn't sure he could hold it that much longer. He was sure that he had some kind of damage at this point from all his holding.

He laid his head down and looked around the room. His eyes landed on the urinal bottle. Oh, right. He didn't need to use the tub anymore, he could just place the bottle and go. It was still humiliating though.

"Oh, I hate to leave you" Rapunzel sighed, checking her pocket watch and ruffling Varian's hair, "but sadly, I have some royal duties to attend to. There's a little...meeting my mother and I are arranging...Cassandra can stay though. Be good" she joked.

As Rapunzel left, his chances of relieving himself went with her. He couldn't just tell Cassandra. No, he would hold it.

Cassandra wasn't just chill, she was quiet. She was scary. Not because she was necessarily mean, but because of how silent she was when by herself. She was actually pretty awkward without someone else to bounce off of, and Varian sure as hell wasn't going to start a conversation, especially when he was about to wet himself.

He wasn't going to tell her. He could hold it.

___________________________

He had to tell her. He really did, there was no not telling her.

He had a feeling she was suspicious anyways. She kept on looking up at him because of all his movements.

It had only been fifteen more minutes but he really needed to go. He sucked in a breath. This was humiliating. He really hoped Cassandra wouldn't mind being bothered, especially since she'd just finished stitching him back up.

She was being silent though, a clipboard in her hand as she chewed her pen in thought. Probably doing guard stuff. He hated to interrupt but it was growing urgent.

"Um...Cassandra?" Varian asked quietly, nerves clear in his jittering voice.

Cassandra nearly froze. No Cass? No Cassie? She almost felt disrespected, despite her claiming to hate the nickname he'd chosen for her. This must've been serious, "yes?" She questioned, growing nervous herself at the sheer amount of anxiety radiating off of the boy. He was giving her motion sickness by how often he was shifting around, "did something happen?"

Varian bit his lip and stared at his fidgeting hands, "um. No. I just—I..." he looked down. He tried to force the words out. His face was extremely red, "nothing. Sorry."

He shouldn't have said anything at all.

"Nope. Not doing that" Cassandra said, "tell me what's wrong."

He sucked in a breath. This was so mortifying, "I just. I kind of like—I really need to pee. And um, I've tried to hold it but...I don't think I can anymore."

Cassandra's eyes widened in realization as she stared at him for a moment, wondering how the hell this was about to work.

"I-I can wait, though" Varian protested quickly.

"No you can't" Cassandra sighed.

"...Okay, no I can't" Varian agreed.

"Oh! That reminds me, we found something a lot easier to use than the tub. It seems like sitting up on the edge is really irritating your ribs—I can tell because the bruising isn't getting any better and because your breathing gets kind of weird afterwards—bedpans wouldn't really work because boys typically have..control issues.." Cassandra began.

Varian blushed as she continued, "have you used it yet? It's a urinal bottle. I told Eugene to give it to you, but you know. I can't rely on him for anything."

Varian's blush increased as it was handed to him, "yeah, uh, I used it already..." He was not sticking himself inside of anything, especially not with Cassandra right there!

She gave him a few more moments, but when he made no move, she chimed in, "I thought you were dying to go? Do you like, need some help, or—"

"No!" Varian squeaked, before clearing his throat, "no. No—I just...you're...looking..."

Oh.

Right, privacy. She'd never really cared for privacy. She literally dressed Rapunzel every morning.

But this made more sense. Varian was a teenage boy, after all. And she was a young woman who he used to have a crush on. Hm. She wondered if he still had that crush or not. She sure hoped not, because she didn't know how to let someone down easy.

"Oh. Right, of course" she said with a roll of her eyes. Varian huffed, but she guessed he was satisfied because she heard him rustling around. It took a little while of panting, strained breaths before Cassandra spoke again.

"Are you seriously bladder shy on top of everything else?" Cassandra asked with a smirk when she didn't hear anything happening.

"Shh!" Varian hissed, "you're going to make it go away!" He groaned, voice cracking, "I was so close."

Shit. Now she felt bad, "Hey, don't be upset—"

"It hurts" he whimpered, "it always hurts."

Well that was certainly concerning.

"Hey, how about I go in the bathroom and you can tell me when you're done, okay?" She asked, realizing that she probably should've just done that in the first place, but in her defense, she hadn't expected this to be a whole ordeal.

"Okay" he said, his voice small. He covered himself up and bit his lip harshly as he waited for her to turn around and get out of the room.

Cassandra was quick to leave once given the all clear, making her way inside of the bathroom and closing the door.

Varian sighed in relief, pulling his gown up again and sticking himself inside of the bottle to ensure that he didn't miss this time, leaning back while closing his eyes and allowing himself to relax. He felt a small stream trickle out of him before it gained strength. Soon, he was going full force, his distended bladder expelling its contents as it deflated.

He expected to feel relief of some sort—but that strangely never came. Sure, when he finished he felt empty, but the last few seconds of his stream was just hot, burning pain in his urethra, followed by an uncomfortable feeling in his bladder. It felt like he was being prickled and almost stabbed. He didn't even feel completely empty—It was a constant annoyance.

It dampened his mood considerably, and he started to feel frustrated when the feeling didn't go away. And just like previously, he still felt like he had to go a little, except now that feeling was quickly becoming painful. He tried to force some more out, but only got dribbles that felt like fire.

He would definitely need a lot of water to flush out his system. He removed himself from the bottle and capped the lid on it, covering himself up before cringing at the color of the liquid. Uh oh, Cass wasn't going to like that.

It was red.

"I-I'm done!" Varian called out, anxiety in his voice.

Cassandra made her way back into the room, "okay show it to me. Please tell me it's not orange, or i'm going to have to force feed you water."

Varian flushed, hiding the bottle under his blanket, "no."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow, "No?"

"No" he repeated, "I don't want you...to see it..."

She rolled her eyes, "Varian you're being dramatic, i've seen you wet the bed, and i've seen your dick, this isn't—" she cut herself off after she realized what she'd said. Varian's eyes went round.

"You said you didn't see it!" He shrieked, groaning in embarrassment, and maybe even a little bit in pain, "and don't call it that!"

"I'm sorry" she said quickly, "I just—didn't want you to be upset. And what do you want me go call it? Your manhood?" After seeing Varian's face when she said that, every mistake she'd ever made in her life leading up to that moment was worth it. His humiliation was priceless.

"Fine, fine i'll just call it nothing. Now show me the piss" she laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Don't call it that!" He whisper shouted.

Cassandra almost snorted, "really?! why not?" She asked, amusement clear in her voice.

"Because..because!" He exclaimed.

"Valid argument" she deadpanned, "let me guess..is it because it's..a no no word?" She smirked.

"No!" Varian exclaimed, "you can say whatever you want..I don't care" he mumbled.

"Just show it to me, or next time i'm going to stare at you while you go and draw you while you do it" she said, trying to make a grab for the container.

He crinkled his nose and squinted his eyes, "ew, that's disgusting!"

"Yeah, don't tell anybody I said that, actually. I'm not trying to catch a case" she said, finally grabbing the bottle from him. She sighed when she saw the color, "kid. This is the third time you've had blood in your pee."

Varian nodded, "sorry."

"Kid, you really shouldn't be holding it. You need to go, like, as soon as you need to. You're going to get an infection" she said.

He cringed. A little too late for that.

—————————————————————————

Varian was grumpy.

Who could blame him? Life hadn't been particularly kind to him. But now he was grumpy for different reasons.

His kidneys hurt. Like, really hurt. He thought that time would help, but nope, nearly two hours later and he couldn't even move without them hurting. And his bladder was burning him. He kept on feeling like he was uncomfortably full, but anytime he tried to go he would only get fire hot drops, and if he was lucky, a little leak.

Which was very concerning for him. He'd been peeing a lot lately, many times within just thirty minutes, but now nearly two hours have gone by with nothing.

Cassandra was getting suspicious of how often he was going with such little results, though she just assumed he was paranoid.

But Varian was getting sick of it. Cassandra had left a few minutes ago to get some water for him, so Varian put a pillow in his face and screamed until his throat was raw. When Cassandra got back, Varian realized how thirsty he actually was. He'd been waiting for Cassandra to suggest water for a while, not wanting to outright ask for it.

She set down a tray with a pitcher of water and poured him a glass from it, "okay, I know you've been rejecting this kind of stuff, but you need to drink at least some—"

He snatched the glass from her as soon as she finished pouring it and gulped it down quicker than she could say "be careful." He gave her a sheepish look as he handed the shocked woman the empty glass back. He really just wanted to flush his system out, "thank you" he said politely.

"Sun above—thirsty much?" She finally got out, "you know, if you want water you can ask for it before you're dying. You're dehydrated anyways, you need a lot. Do you want some more?"

"...Yes please" he said meekly, an embarrassed look on his face. For the sake of Cassandra's sanity, he drank this one a little bit slower, though still finished it quicker than any normal human would.

"Did you even breathe?!" Cassandra asked in shock. Varian just shook his head and held his glass out expectantly.

"You want more? Geez, I wish you were this way with food, then maybe you wouldn't faint so often" she poured his glass again and and watched in amusement as he inhaled it.

He finally set it down and closed his eyes, "okay. I'm done. I might puke if I drink anymore. Heck, I might puke anyways, give it a few minutes."

Cassandra smirked, "I have to admit, that was impressive."

"I'm very satisfied now" Varian said, panting, "to have earned your approval."

"Well I give credit where credit's due" she smirked.

"At least I can impress someone" he shrugged.

A knock sounded on the door and Varian literally jolted, throwing his covers over his head to hide.

Cassandra snorted out a laugh, opening the door to reveal Rapunzel.

"Hey guys" she said once it was closed, "how's it been?"

"Scary. But we managed to avoid an accident" she smirked, purposefully lowering her voice dramatically.

Varian poked his head out and gasped, "I was not going to pee on myself!"

"You kinda were" she smirked, "He was too embarrassed to go potty with me in the room. I had to leave."

He blushed, "that's worse than the other word!"

"What other word?" Rapunzel asked.

"Piss" Cassandra deadpanned.

Rapunzel gasped, diving to cover Varian's ears(she noticed the way he flinched back when her hands came towards him and felt slightly guilty) "Cassandra! He has a young, impressionable mind! You're a bad influence, maybe letting you two spend time together was a bad idea."

"Oh c'mon Raps, I was just joking!" Cassandra smirked, "which reminds me, he had pee in his blood."

"Don't you mean blood in his pee?" Rapunzel asked.

"No. That's how much of it there was" she said plainly.

"Yeah, yeah enough about me" Varian said quickly, "what did you do today Rapunzel?"

"Boring Royal stuff" she groaned, "i'm lucky pascal was there. He kept me entertained. I had to attend a royal brunch with some snooty nobles after the...meeting arrangements." Her eyes flickered up to Cassandra and the woman nodded.

"Ew" Varian said, "how'd you survive?"

"Will power" she said, "Hey, I wonder when Eugene and Lance are getting back? They've been gone a while."

Varian frowned, "do you think they got hurt?"

"Don't worry, i'm sure they're fine" Rapunzel cooed, brushing his bangs from his face, "my my, you really do need a haircut."

"Okay" Varian said simply, "what do you want to do with it?"

Rapunzel glanced over to Cass, before looking back to Varian with a nervous chuckle, "well—it's not my decision, it's yours!"

"But..you said I needed a haircut?" He asked.

"...Yes, but you get to decide what to do with it" She stressed, "it's your hair after all."

"Oh...okay, then can I get it to look like Eugene's?" He asked, eyes glimmering brightly.

"No" Cassandra said immediately, recoiling in disgust, "absolutely not."

Varian snorted, "yeah I was joking, I just wanted to see what you'd say."

"I'm relieved" Cassandra sighed.

"Do I..have to get it cut?" Varian asked.

"Oh..well, I suppose not, but maybe a few inches off just to keep it healthy? You've got some dead ends" Rapunzel said, "I assumed that you'd want to get it like it used to be..."

"Is it because i'm a boy?" He asked.

"No! No, no.." Rapunzel began, "it's just because...well, I mean, I guess boys do usually prefer to keep it short..."

Varian shrugged, "I didn't ever really think i'd like long hair, but it's fun to style."

"Yeah, your hair isn't really even that long" Rapunzel said.

Cassandra gave her a dry look, "of course it doesn't look long to you. You have seventy feet of hair."

"That's a fair point" she shrugged, "anyway—have you fed him? Given him something to drink?"

"Oh, trust me, he has had plenty to drink" she smirked.

Varian nodded, "yeah. Three whole glasses!"

"In under fifteen seconds" Cassandra commented, "you should have seen him. He's on his way to finally getting hydrated."

"I'm so proud!" Rapunzel smiled.

"Yeah, I would probably still be drinking if I didn't have self control" He said, "i'm like, really thirsty. But I really don't feel like puking again today" he cringed, "not a fun experience."

"Oh, i'm sure you won't puke if you pace yourself...how about we try some more in about ten minutes? Give it some time to settle in" she said.

Varian nodded his head, "sounds good..."

—————————————————

Everything hurt.

He didn't know why he was still hurting—especially since he'd had a few more glasses of water over the past few hours. Theoretically, he should have to pee like, really badly right about now. Actually no, he probably should have had to pee that badly two hours ago, and wet himself three times since then. Thats how much water he took in.

He didn't quite understand. Maybe his body was just taking in the water instead of putting it in his bladder? Or maybe it was just the bladder infection?

He didn't know exactly what it was, but he still felt thirsty, and he still felt like his bladder was on fire. On top of that, he was getting very grumpy. Like, if Eugene and Cassandra didn't stop arguing he would terrorize the royal family again level of grumpy.

"Fitzherbert, I swear, if you say one more thing—"

"One more thing" he said flippantly, smirking.

"Ugh!" Cassandra shouted in frustration, "you're impossible!"

"You know impossible basically says I'm possible, so."

"He's the princesses boyfriend he's the princesses boyfriend he's the princesses boyfriend he's the princesses boyfriend" she muttered over and over to herself.

"Talking to ourselves now are we, Cass-and-ra?" he taunted.

"He's the princesses dead boyfriend!" She exclaimed, pouncing on him and drawing a fist. Rapunzel was quick to use her hair and wrap it around Cassandra's hand to yank her back off of Eugene when she realized that the woman was actually about to sucker punch her boyfriend.

"Rapunzel!" Cassandra exclaimed, shaking the hair off, "let me give Fitzherjerk what he deserves!"

The yelling was ringing in Varian's ears, the words jumbling together in his head. They continued to yell at each other, Lance eventually getting involved when Cassandra brought him into it by insulting his baldness. He wasn't even sure why they were mad anymore, he couldn't physically think back to it.

He whimpered. His head hurt so bad, and his entire body ached. His bladder was stinging and his urethra was burning. He couldn't take the constant noise and arguments. He just needed some peace and quiet.

He closed his eyes, "guys" he began weakly, "guys...can you be quiet?" His voice was crackly and pitiful.

The only person who stopped was Rapunzel, who was previously trying to get everyone to stop screaming.

Varian groaned as Rapunzel's absence made things grow louder. He whimpered, screwing his eyes shut tightly as he hid underneath the blanket, wrapping his arms tightly around himself.

Varian felt himself growing more and more frustrated as everyone started to yell over each other and disregard Rapunzel's warnings to stop.

He took in a deep shaky breath, don't snap. Calm down. Just stay calm.

"Ugh, Cassandra! My hair!" Eugene yelled, "you got your dirty little gloves on it! They're probably infected with your dark, twisted soul!"

"Maybe I wouldn't have pulled your hair if you hadn't insulted my fighting skills—!"

"Can you guys just stop?!" Varian boomed, exploding in frustration, throwing the blankets off of himself, glaring at them, "seriously, can you guys go a day, just a single day is all I ask, without fighting?!"

Everybody's next words died on their tongues. Varian yelling at them was what they least expected from the boy. At their silence he faltered, realizing what he'd just done, "Um, I—I—sorry, sorry. Just..could this whole..whatever you're yelling about stop...? Or...be taken somewhere else?"

"Of course, Varian. We're so sorry for arguing" Rapunzel said sincerely, elbowing Eugene's chest.

"Yeah, Varian" Lance said after Eugene still looked stubborn, "we're sorry."

Eugene and Cassandra glared at each other for a moment before mumbling apologies of their own.

Varian sighed deeply at the quiet and gently lowered his head onto his pillow, trying to make the throbbing go down.

"Well...aside from this, i've been meaning to ask, what's got you all grumpy today?" Rapunzel questioned, her voice so gentle and quiet that Varian nearly preferred it to the silence, "you've seemed on edge all day."

"I'm fine" he grumbled, "j-just snappy. I'm sorry."

"No, no. She's right" Eugene said, "you've had a scowl on your face all day. And you look very uncomfortable."

"Yeah, because three people who are supposed to be the mature adults are at each other's throats, and not listening to the person trying to get them to be quiet. And i'm right in the line of fire if something gets thrown" he pouted, "you guys are mean."

Cassandra rolled her eyes, "you always make yourself look childish somehow."

"Guys, he's right" Rapunzel frowned, "you guys have been yelling nonstop. Did you ever stop to think about Varian? How he's literally right there?"

"I mean, usually I find it amusing. Your fights are kinda more like roast battles than anything, and me and Lance are usually back here laughing together, but my head is just—like, pounding right now" Varian admitted "and I guess it can be a little startling too" he shrugged, "I mean, my dad never really yelled. He just had that calm angry voice, but you could kinda always see it in his face or just like—hear it, when he was upset, or disappointed" Varian shrugged, "and I never really had any friend arguments. Nobody wanted to be friends with the town witch's son" he chuckled, "so, I dunno..I guess the yelling is kinda like. I dunno. New to me?"

"We're sorry, kiddo" Lance said, "we should've been more considerate.

"Do you want head pats?" Cassandra asked, "I can do head pats. Apologies? Those are much harder" she joked.

Eugene rolled his eyes, about to quip back, but a glare from Rapunzel quickly shut him up.

"Well," Eugene began instead, "I hope at the end of our daily roast battles you always find that my quips are far more hilarious and impactful."

"I'm not sure" Varian said, smirking lightly, "Cassandra goes for the head every time."

Eugene's mouth fell open in betrayal as Cassandra laughed at him.

Varian would have laughed too, but felt a painful pang in his bladder. His lip began to quiver, his eyes filled with tears. Why did the pain get so much worse?

"Varian, what's wrong?" Lance asked, noticing his tears. He got closer to the boy, until he was sitting next to him. He placed a hand that he hopes was comforting on Varian's arm. He noted that the sudden contact made Varian flinch slightly, but the boy knew that it was just Lance, so leaned into the touch.

"C-can I get some water?" He mumbled. Sun, he really wanted to just be able to pee already and flush all those toxins out.

"Of course" Cassandra said, moving to pour a glass, "you've sure been drinking a lot today. Oh, hey that reminds me—do you need to use the bathroom? It's been several glasses and several hours."

Varian shook his head and answered honestly, "no."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow, "really? We can step out if you need some privacy."

Varian shook his head again, "I actually don't have to go. Promise."

Eugene raised a brow, "does this have anything to do with you being grumpy?"

Varian tensed, "well. Uh, I guess it kinda hurts."

Cassandra groaned, "why didn't you tell us?"

"I—I thought it would go away on its own. But now..i've been drinking because I want to pee so the feeling will go away but I just don't need to go."

"Awe, hairstripe i'm sorry" Eugene sighed, "I think it's just going to take some more time. But when it happens it's going to hit you like a horse carriage. All this waiting around because you're embarrassed isn't doing you any good, it's probably one of the reasons this happened. Please tell us as soon as you need to pee."

Varian nodded weakly, "okay."

"What kind of pain is it?" Cassandra asked, "how bad does it hurt?"

"Oh, y'know. Only like...a lot" he mumbled, "and it feels like. Like, b-burning, and like..stabbing? Like, it makes me tense up and jerk forward" He explained.

Cassandra nodded, "might have a UTI."

Varian groaned, "of course. Because why wouldn't I? How long do these things last for?"

"A few weeks at the most" she said cooly.

"Weeks?!" Varian exclaimed, groaning, "you should have just left me to die."

"Varian" Rapunzel said dangerously low. At this point her tone wasn't a warning. It was a threat.

"Sorry, sorry sorry—geez, can a guy not joke around?" He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Not about dying, no" Rapunzel said, "now. Do you need some more water?"

Varian nodded, "If..if that's okay" he smiled shakily.

Rapunzel nodded, grabbing the recently refilled pitcher and pouring the boy a glass.

"Operation potty is a go" Eugene said, "what should we do while we wait?"

—————————————————————————

They ended up playing some games. Luckily, not cards again—Lance would have lost his ever loving mind if he lost for the third night in a row—they played some standard sleepover party games, like truth or dare and never have I ever.

"Okay okay..never have I ever..had a crush!" Lance cried excitedly, hugging a pillow to his chest.

Cassandra gave him a blank stare, "what are we, teenagers?"

Varian gave her a look to match her own, before everyone giggled.

Everyone except Cassandra put a finger down, "Lance, do you even know how to play this? You're supposed to say something you haven't done" Cassandra said, "we all know about your giant crush on Adira."

Lance nodded, "but that's boring. I've done everything."

"C'mon Cass, you've never had a crush?" Rapunzel asked, "not even a small one?"

"No" she spat.

"Well now we all have to spill, who've you all had crushes on?" Lance asked, "I can name at least ten girls that Eugene has taken to—"

"A NICE CANDLE LIT DINNER!" Eugene butted in, before clearing his throat, "but none of them were ever right for me" he turned to his girlfriend, "Until I met you" he looked into Rapunzel's eyes lovingly.

"Awe..Eugene" Rapunzel whispered, taking his hand from where he sat across the bed from her.

"Nice save" Cassandra smirked, "and ugh, gross no PDA! This is why I separated you two!"

"Well what about you, Rapunzel?" Lance asked.

Rapunzel blinked at him, "tower. First eighteen years of my life. I didn't even really think men existed until Eugene came by, so he was my first and only crush."

"Oh right" Lance chuckled.

"Didn't you think Andrew was pretty handsome?" Eugene muttered jealously. Varian physically jolted at the mention of Andrew. Had he forgotten to mention to them that he'd made enemies with terrorists? Whoops...

"Awe, he's jealous" Cassandra said with a fake pout.

Rapunzel giggled, "well, I don't need a crush to think someone's handsome! And I mean, I guess I had book crushes. I was always reading books, and the men on there always seemed cool. Hey, Varian what about you? Who have you had a crush on?"

Varian tensed up, eyes going wide as he looked anywhere except Cassandra, "I hate this" he declared, hiding his beet red face, "I look back and cringe. It's so cringy it physically pains me to think about."

"Oooh...Blondie I think i'm remembering now" Eugene smirked.

A look of realization crossed Rapunzel's face, "Oh yeah!"

Cassandra smirked to herself, trying to hide her amusement at Varian's face.

"No!" Varian whined.

" 'I always knew I could sweep you off your feet' " Eugene quoted, laughing hysterically.

Varian ripped his hands away from his red face, "shut up!" He hissed, "oh my sun. I literally stood in front of the mirror and rehearsed that!"

Cassandra let out a high pitched laugh, before covering her mouth, "no way!"

"I don't have that crush anymore!" Varian whined, "I—I'm a changed boy—man—I mean—"

Lance snorted.

"Why'd you loose interest, kid? Am I not good enough anymore?" Cassandra pouted.

"You're old" Varian said, before his eyes went wide, "wait no, that's not what I mea—"

Eugene and Lance were the real life example of lmfao at the moment, and Cassandra feigned offense, "WOW! You know it's rude to say that to a woman."

"No! I meant too old for me, not that you're old!" Varian said quickly, glaring at Eugene as he cried on Lance's shoulder.

"Is that the only reason?" Cassandra smirked.

Varian blushed deeply, "I—I don't like this game anymore!"

"Awe, so you still have the crush, you just know and understand it's unrealistic now?" Rapunzel questioned.

"No! I do not have a crush on her! I will admit, she's cool, and smart and pretty and like—everything about her is awesome, but—"

"I'm flattered!" Cassandra butted in, a wide grin on her face as she laughed.

Varian blushed darkly, hiding his face, "i'm not like in love with you anymore or anything!" He defended, before covering his mouth.

"Anymore?" Cassandra smirked, "so you were in love with me?"

"Awe, he called her pretty!" Lance cried.

"Okay, okay—let's spare the boy, huh? My turn" Rapunzel laughed, "never have I ever...been to jail!"

Varian literally scowled at her as he put his finger down, though he was happy for the distraction from his humiliating crush.

Eugene and Lance both put their fingers down.

"Oh, well this was no surprise" Rapunzel frowned.

"I don't believe that Cassandra hasn't been to jail" Eugene scoffed.

"My dad's the captain of the guard. He'd do anything for me" she shrugged, "even hide a body."

"Ha! You're funny" Lance said, chuckling before growing quiet as Cassandra stared at him seriously.

"Haha! Yep, that's our Cass, always—always joking!" Rapunzel cut in nervously, gritting her teeth, "Varian! Your turn!" She said quickly, changing the subject.

"Hm...Never have I ever..kissed my best friend" Varian said with a smirk. Revenge.

Everyone's faces went red, but they all slowly put their fingers down.

"What?!" Varian exclaimed in shock, "I mean, Cassandra literally dresses Rapunzel, no surprise there—but Lance?! Eugene?!"

"Would you believe me if I said Rapunzel is my best friend?" Eugene asked.

"Considering the fact that Lance put a finger down too and you're his only friend, and the way you and Lance looked at each other...no. No I would not" Varian said, "explain yourselves. Actually no, Rapunzel, did you and Cassandra kiss?"

"Hey wait, actually, yeah!" Eugene said accusingly, "I kissed Lance before we were dating! Not to say me and Lance had a thing! There's a perfectly reasonable excuse—I mean—explanation for us!" He exclaimed.

"Gothel would kiss me all the time, and tell me that it was a normal thing to do with people" Rapunzel shrugged, "I didn't think twice when there was a sleepover with some maids in my room the first week after I got back and they dared me and Cass to. Besides, I was never exactly given the whole sex ed talk! I had no idea, I thought that kisses were platonic!"

"Wait wait, back up! Gothel..what?" Eugene asked in disgust.

"She was my mother!" Rapunzel argued, "it was just a Peck!"

"Oh. Just a peck?" Eugene asked, "still creepy...but, I suppose if you just pecked Cassandra and it was a dare, then fine."

"Every girl has kissed their best friend" Cassandra shrugged, "most of them use their tongues though. You're lucky I restrained myself" she joked.

"Ew!" Varian exclaimed, recoiling in disgust, "why would you put your tongue in someone's mouth!?"

"Pleasure" Eugene smirked.

Rapunzel blushed and smacked him, "Eugene!"

"I didn't find it very pleasurable" Varian muttered.

"Well. In your case, I would hope not" Eugene cringed.

"Well then, tell us about your experience with Lance, then" Cassandra said, deciding to change the subject before they got into depressing territory.

"It was—we—we were kids, okay?!" Eugene hissed, "it doesn't matter."

"Did you and Lance have crushes on each other?!" Rapunzel squealed, clapping her hands.

"Boys can like each other now?" Varian asked, cocking his head to the side and raising a brow, "how much did I miss when I was in prison?"

"No, no, the laws are still the same. Most kingdoms don't take..kindly...to homosexuality. Me and Lance kissing was kind of what landed us in jail for one of the first times" Eugene chuckled, "but times have changed since I was a boy. A few kingdoms are at least a little more accepting."

"Corona used to hang people" Rapunzel cringed, "I read about it...I was shocked when I came out of the tower and found out that people could be put to death for loving one another. Though our kingdom doesn't hang anymore, people are still very unaccepting" she shrugged, "you can't show affection in public though. Or get married. I'm sorry that happened to you two."

"No, no..it was really silly, it was such a little thing" Lance rolled his eyes, "we just felt so close and emotionally vulnerable, like nobody except us understood each other. It was very sappy and kind of laughable looking back. We were nine."

"That's actually adorable" Rapunzel smiled gently.

"Huh" Varian mumbled to himself. Boys could date? That was cool. (Foreshadowing Varigo? Maybe? 👀👀👀👀)

"Yeah, only three of the seven kingdoms still execute people for it. The other ones just have certain laws like, no public affection if you're a same sex couple. Oh, and I think five of the kingdoms have laws that don't allow them to get married, including Corona." Cassandra explained.

"That's not fair" Varian frowned.

"Yeah, well, people are trying to convince the royals to change it, but this kind of thing is new and scary...and even gross and weird to most people" Rapunzel sighed, "I doubt other kingdoms will change their laws so quickly."

"Oh, don't look so down kid! I'm sure nobody's been executed in a long time over something like this!" Lance exclaimed.

"It's just sad...that you'd go to jail or be killed. For—for loving someone" he frowned.

"You know, i've never really given it too much thought before. But... now that you mention it that is pretty sad" Cassandra frowned.

"Just you wait until i'm queen. Corona will lead by example! I have a theory that Stan and Pete are secretly together, but can't admit it or they'll get fired. In this essay, I will—"

————————————————

They soon abandoned the notion of their little games in favor of keeping their hands busy instead as they talked. They got into some light conversation, talking about every topic under the sun as Cassandra and Rapunzel painted each other's nails, and Eugene tried to teach Varian the art of a man bun.

"Varian, your bladder is huge. Are you sure you don't have to go?" Eugene asked.

"Why are you looking down there?!" Varian shrieked, pulling a blanket up over himself.

"I just noticed! How could I not, look at it!" Eugene defended, "stop making everything weird!"

Varian pulled his gown up over his stomach to see and looked down, "woah. Uh. I don't feel like I have to go. I'm kinda scared. This is certainly concerning."

It was swollen and bulging, and kind of made him look a little bloated.

"Woah" Rapunzel breathed.

"Impressive" Cassandra said, "it's huge."

"Can I poke it?" Lance asked, "pretty please?"

"Maybe his body will realize he has to go if it's poked?" Rapunzel inquired.

"No, what if he pisses himself?" Cassandra asked.

"Cassie, shush, I will not!" Varian exclaimed, before turning to Lance, "here, do it."

Lance squealed like a little girl before coming over and jabbing him harshly in the bladder, "ow!" Varian exclaimed, "Lance that hurt!" He whined, "why'd you do it so hard?"

"Do you need to pee?" Eugene asked, still messing with Varian's hair, and motioning for Rapunzel to hand him an elastic band.

"No, actually. It just feels full" he mumbled, "maybe I should like, try?"

And then it hit him. Just as Eugene said it would. Like a carriage.

Eugene was using an elastic band to tie his hair up when he jolted, hissing a little as he doubled over. Eugene released his hair, just as he got the band tied on. And for once, Varian didn't care that so many people were in the room. He had to go, and he had to to now.

"Varian? What's wrong?" Eugene asked quickly. Lance sat up straighter on the bed.

"Gotta pee" he said frantically, eyes going wide, bouncing up and down, "oh my sun—how?! It's going to come out" he hissed, grabbing himself tightly.

Lance literally swan dived off the bed to quickly grab the urinal bottle, and Eugene was quick to get the girls off the bed and help get Varian situated.

Varian snatched the bottle from Lance as soon as it was within his reach, and at least had the decency to wait until the girls were turned around before he was shoving the bottle under his gown and pissing furiously into it.

He whimpered as he was finally able to release, closing his eyes and leaning his head on the wooden frame behind him, "oh my sun" he whispered, practically moaning.

Rapunzel and Cassansra just stood there, both a little embarrassed for him. They knew he'd be humiliated afterwards.

It was several minutes before Varian even showed signs of stopping, when the heavy stream began to slow its pace and the liquid hitting plastic was less aggressive than before.

Eventually, his stream trickled off into nothing, and Varian had to take a few moments to recover, breathing heavily and blinking slowly. His bladder was no longer big and distended, but was still very sore, almost throbbing. It kind of felt like it was sighing with relief. The burning feeling would come back soon, he was sure of it. But he was just glad to have felt relief instead of pain.

"Oh my sun, he pissed so good he passed out!" Cassandra exclaimed when he hadn't opened his eyes.

He snapped them open, blushing and coughing, "oh, um. Sorry, I uh..couldn't hold it" he mumbled, taking the bottle out from under his gown and capping it.

Lance snorted, "i'll say!"

Eugene's eyes bulged as Varian showed them the bottle.

There was so much. And while it wasn't heavy with blood, it was a concerning shade of red...orange? It was kind of tinted.

"How did you..not feel all that?" Rapunzel asked, "how can someone so small hold so much?"

Varian shrugged, "i'm not that small" he mumbled.

"You kinda are" Cassandra smirked, "what happened to you achieving the ultimate skinny?"

He sighed, defeated, "fine."

"Well I guess i'll bring this to the royal doctor. I told them about this special case and they said they'd need a urine sample" Rapunzel said.

"Uh, blondie that's about seven hundred urine samples" Eugene smirked.

"Sorry" Varian mumbled.

"There's nothing to be sorry for" Lance chuckled, "it's a natural thing."

"Okay" he responded.

"You're really easy to convince" Eugene chuckled.

Varian shrugged. He'd learned over his time in prison that it was easier to agree than to anger.

"Does anything hurt still, by the way?" Eugene asked.

"Oh. Um, not really, I should be fine, sorry for all the trouble" Varian said quickly.

"Varian" Rapunzel said, her voice low, "I will fight you." It wasn't a warning anymore. It wasn't a threat. It was a promise.

"Okay fine, it hurts! But not as bad" Varian defended.

Rapunzel sighed, "Alright then. I'll take this to the doctor and see if she can provide any antibiotics. In the meantime, drink some more water."

"Okay" Varian said, waving goodbye to the princess as she left.

"I think it would be suspicious for her to just walk around by herself with a urinal bottle. Especially one with so much in it" Cassandra said, trying to hide her amusement when she glanced over to a very flustered Varian.

"I'll go with her" Cassandra said, hurrying to catch up with the princess.

The door closed after her and Varian just sat there awkwardly. Eugene got back on the bed behind him and adjusted his bun after a moment, "so. Um, Varian" he began. He figured now was as good of a time as ever to bring up his burning questions about the kid's emotional turmoil.

"Yeah?" Varian asked, staring at Lance, who got in front of him on the bed.

"How do you feel? About...all this?" He asked.

"All..this?" Varian repeated, furrowing his brows.

"You know," Eugene started, grabbing another elastic band when the previous one busted because of how thick the kids hair was, "I...don't think we've ever had this conversation. You know, being big bad masculine men and all" he joked, "but...being out of prison. Seeing us again, I mean. You seem..calm? And I just think it's weird. I expected you to be angry."

"Oh...well, I had...a lot of time to think" Varian chuckled, "It was just me down there. The guards came down regularly to...y'know...but other than that...just me and Ruddiger" he smiled at the animal,who was asleep on a small little pillow, "until he was taken away...but, still, I thought long and hard about everything."

"How long were you angry?" Eugene asked.

"I stopped wanting to murder you after a few weeks, but it took me months to finally stop being mad at you guys. But I think I was just in denial. Didn't wanna admit that I was in the wrong, that I was the one who was hurting people when there were other options—" he continued, "sure, Rapunzel didn't check up on me after the blizzard. But I didn't ask her for help again either. I went straight to drugging people with cookies and—and committing treason. I was in the wrong, I went too far" he bit his wobbling lip as his voice cracked, "I was the monster."

Eugene tied the new elastic band into his hair, "Varian, you're not that person anymore. You've grown a lot. Not physically, but you know what I mean" he joked lightly, urging him to continue.

"So...I guess. I guess I feel grateful. It's admirable how after everything I did to her, to her family—all of you, that she can just smile at me, and forgive me for what I've done. I don't deserve it, but she's just so genuine and selfless" he said, voice filled with emotion, "and you—you're literally doing my hair right now. Last year, this wouldn't have seemed possible."

Lance smiled weakly, "it's nice that you can admit you were wrong. But even though your mistakes may have been...a little greater...both sides could've adjusted their decision making skills a little."

Varian shrugged, "I can hardly blame her. I mean, she didn't grow up trained, and told what to do in these situations. It was supposed to be a simple, easy training day to give her a little experience, and suddenly she was put under so much stress and pressure. I don't blame her."

"I'm glad you understand her side" Eugene smiled.

Varian leaned into Eugene's touch as the man ran his fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes, "you know..back in the cell, sometimes I wished that I would have died. When I was..when I was thrown out into the storm" he swallowed, keeping his eyes shut. He was glad he was faced away from Eugene. He felt the man's fingers stop moving through his hair, and everything seemed to have frozen.

"I just..." his voice wavered, "it was a deadly storm. I shouldn't have survived. I ran all the way there and back, and there was so much snow. I just...sometimes I wished that I would have died so that I never would have done all those—those terrible things" he opened his eyes, staring straight past Lance's shocked expression.

He wiped his eyes, "selfish, I know. To just want to die, when my dad.."

"Oh, Varian" Eugene muttered, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and bringing him into a hug, "kiddo..i'm so sorry you felt that way."

Lance wordlessly joined the hug, staring at Eugene. After a few moments he spoke up, "how can someone so young suffer so much?"

Varian shrugged, "I deserved it. I'm sorry..for attacking you guys. And trying to hurt Rapunzel. I just, I don't really know how to show you guys that i'm truly sorry."

"You already have" Lance insisted, "and you didn't deserve any of that."

"Yeah" Eugene agreed, putting that little 'I deserved it' to the back of his mind for later, "you're so sincere. Trust me. We know. And we forgive you, Varian."

"But that doesn't mean everyone will" the boy muttered, "and I guess..that's fine. They don't have to."

Eugene rolled his eyes, "if we, the people who were actually affected by the whole experience can forgive you, i'm sure that the people of Corona can."

"You can't force them to" Varian snorted.

"Watch me" Eugene smirked.

Varian closed his eyes as Eugene finally tied his hair into a bun, his bangs no longer in his face. But then he noticed something.

"Uhm..." Varian started, before abruptly stopping.

"Yeah?" Eugene asked.

"I um, kind of...sort of...have to pee again" Varian murmured.

"I think your body is tricking you. There is no way you have to pee again after that!" Eugene cried, "you should wait a little while."

"Oh...okay maybe you're right" Varian agreed, his heart jumping into his throat. He had basically just been told no, "it's all in my head."

"It wouldn't hurt to try" Lance chimed in, elbowing Eugene when he noticed the boy's clear distress, "it's like you said Eugene, he shouldn't hold it."

"Okay—fine" Eugene said, not liking the pitiful look Varian had on his face, "do we have another one of those bottles?" Eugene asked.

Lance found one on a desk and brought it over, "okay here."

"I doubt anything will come—" Eugene began, before getting cut off by the sound of a harsh spray of urine hitting plastic, "out..."

It lasted a lot longer than they thought it would, but eventually it stopped, and they all just sat in some awkward silence for a few seconds, before Varian shuffled around to cap his bottle and put it on the desk, "told you so" Varian smirked.

"Dang, kid" Eugene said, "guess I ate my words."

"It feels like I still gotta go" Varian groaned, "I hate this."

"Well you did have a lot of water" Eugene said, "we'll just keep the bottle handy, alright?"

—————————————————

By the time Rapunzel returned, Varian had went three more times with similar results. The good news was that every time he went, the shade got just a little lighter.

"We got antibiotics" Cassandra said, "it's been determined—he has a bladder infection. And his kidneys...are damaged, but she's assessing it still to find out more. Here kid, drink some water and take this pil—"

"No" Varian said, eyes wide in horror. He spoke like a man back from war, "no—no more water."

Cassandra raised a brow, "what? Why?" He'd spoken like a boy who had been traumatized. Well, he was but that was besides the point.

"He has been peeing nonstop" Eugene said, "seriously. And he says it's starting to hurt really bad again."

"He needs to take the pill then. Come on Varian, if you dehydrate yourself it'll only get worse" Cassandra said.

"Poor thing. Maybe a good night's rest will help! But Cass is right. Here" Rapunzel said, pouring a glass of water, and handing him the pill, "just take it, okay? Then you can go to sleep!"

"Fine" Varian sighed, "just—just give it to me."

Varian took the smallest of sips to get the pill down, before realizing that he was unfortunately still thirsty, and downed the whole glass of water like a shot.

"What happened to not being thirsty?!" Cassandra asked incredulously as the boy panted, trying to recover from taking in so much water.

"I changed my mind" he shrugged.

"Well, let's get some dinner in you and get you to sleep. We'll be sure to leave a good amount of water in here with you for throughout the night" Rapunzel chuckled.

Varian sighed deeply, "thank you. I can not wait to go to sleep."