Weirdly specific question but how do you think Varian, Rapunzel and Eugene would interact after the events of Vat7k? And also since you’ve mentioned Hugo coming back with Varian if you have any thoughts on his interactions/opinions about Rapunzel and Eugene.
i personally think that varian saved up what little vacation days he had, then declared he was spending them all (and then some) on this trip. i truly believe he thought he’d get to relax while searching for clues about his dead mom’s fate. it’s already… very pitiful, and then people keep insisting on coming along! and he has so many more problems! argh! (he winds up loving said people, but still!)
anyway, i think varian’s a bit broken up inside post-vat7k. it is incredibly violating to have your body puppeted like that, and if a ghost is doing it, she probably isn’t concerned with trivial things like breathing and blinking. very scarring. also, that ghost was his mom— the center of the whole quest, and all that— so varian’s really at the end of his rope.
varian would storm into rapunzel’s meeting room, absentmindedly goo-trapping the guards that got defensive due to his rapid entrance, and announce that he’s taking at least a temporary break from being royal engineer, and he doesn’t care what consequences he faces for that choice.
rapunzel, very bewildered and still in the “oh, yay, varian’s back!” train of thought, would say something like “there aren’t… consequences?”
a much-needed conversation would follow, with rapunzel saying things like “i thought the position was a nice gift for you” and varian saying things like “yes, i love being able to have the supplies i need, but i hate working for the royal family— no offense— and the workload and demand is kind of immense?” and then there’d be a “why didn’t you feel like you could tell me?” and some awkward silence and probably a hug. (they’re trying their best, and rapunzel did have good intentions, but. yikes.)
i do think hugo would come back with varian, yes! i don’t see them working in the eternal library at all. that’s the site of ulla’s death and spiral into insanity, for one thing, and secondly… varian and hugo want to discover the answers on their own. they don’t need to be hand-fed everything they want to know. they can use their minds. (everyone in the tts & vat7k universes would be against gen ai and chatgpt, by the way. don’t use that slop.)
so, most likely, varian is still hanging around the castle. he did miss his kinda-friends, and he does want to catch up on everything that happened. hugo is currently trying to regain varian’s trust, so he’s staying with him.
this means that rapunzel and eugene are getting front-row seats to the chemistry— no pun intended— and they have some mixed feelings.
rapunzel hopes hugo is good for varian. she’s… heard things, about andrew, and read more information in varian’s little changes. she wants hugo to be someone varian can trust. she has gently threatened hugo before, in a classic “don’t break his heart” type of way, but she mentally took it back when hugo hinted at donella. and now rapunzel’s seeing quite a few similarities between hugo and herself, which she’s trying not to think about.
eugene does not give hugo the benefit of the doubt whatsoever. he knows what it’s like to be in love with someone who’s taking advantage of your vulnerability, and he, too, has enough similarities with hugo to be uncomfortable. (i picture them resolving their differences by being kidnapped by someone with a grudge against both of them, having a deep conversation while captured, and working together to escape. thief stuff.)
hugo hates them both on principle— at first— because they did fail varian. eventually, though, he begins to see why varian made the choice to forgive them, and he starts to have this twisting feeling of hope, because… these people are each other’s happy ending. they live in comfort. they try to help those that are less fortunate, without being two-faced like the other powerful figures hugo’s encountered. maybe they’re a sign that his future can be bright (and have varian in it). even if they’re not, even if they’re just people… well, hugo’s warming up to them.
varian would be in his shell for months after that whole trip. it would take a while for him to even tell his dad about it, let alone rapunzel and eugene.
when he does open up, though, he finds that it’s easier. he’s talking to them as a friend, not their royal engineer. maybe he’ll have some new position of importance in the future, but right now, he can simply rely on them. he can rest his cheek on rapunzel’s shoulder and whisper “i wanted my mother”, and she and eugene can nod with a silence that aches of understanding.
thanks for the ask! i love weirdly specific ones, and i’m glad you enjoy my little fragment of the internet!
