Varian x Reader Oneshots

One Step, Two Step

You laid on your bed, the softness of the fabric ruffling up around your head, the wisps of cloth waving faintly in front of your vision as you stared at the ticking clock. Its hands were mesmerising, the way that they just... moved. How they moved in time, so rhythmically. One... two... three... four. Then back to one. The hands moved with such ease, and it was hard for you to believe that they were only doing so on account of the many gears interlocked inside the clock's body. And here you were, a complex creature with millions of years of evolution, many muscles and bones and tendons that all worked together to allow you to move in so many different ways.

And you couldn't even learn the stupid dance.

You groaned, the back of your hand flapping to your forehead in defeat, your eyes closing and your head spinning from the ticking. Your legs crossed over one another and your feet waved towards the floor, stretching out your aching muscles.

You had been practicing for three hours, and for a third of those your best friend had been watching you intently, with a mix of humour and exasperation on his face, and concern when you tripped, the many many times that you did. In fact, he was laughing at you right now.

"Varian, will you shut up I'm trying to focus on how horrid I am," you complained, rocking your head over to the wall, which he was leant up against. His hand was across his mouth, trying to sustain his giggles. His bangs were hanging loose over his forehead, the circular lenses of his goggles facing you.

"Sorry, I-," he was interrupted by his giggles, and he waved his hand in dismissal of his own outburst, "I-I'm sorry, it's just you keep rushing through it. If you were just patient-"

"If I was really meant to do this dance tonight, it would just come naturally. I guess it's just not meant to be," you said, shaking your head suddenly for dramatic effect.

"You know that's a load of bull," he said, and a sudden pressure below you suggested he had sat on the bed. You looked over at him, "besides, why are you doing this dance anyways?"

"Rapunzel," you confirmed, and grunted as you pulled yourself up.

"Ah," he said in understanding.

"Yeah, she said that since it's the commoners ball, that she shouldn't open the ball with a royal. Hence, no Eugene."

Varian looked at you, contemplating.

"And Cassandra..."

"Is being Cassandra, and like Cassandra, she refused," you laughed, and Varian joined you.

"What about..."

"Lance?" You said. Varian nodded.

"Lance has two left feet," you said, and he looked at you in defeat.

"Guess you have to learn the dance then," he shrugged, and you sighed. However, that sigh turned into surprise when he grabbed you by the arm, and headed you off the bed.

"What are we doing?" You asked. Varian raised his eyebrows at you.

"What does it look like we're doing?" He said.

"Well, it looks like we're dancing, Var," you answered as he took your waist.

"Bingo," he confirmed, and you wrapped your arms around his shoulders. He started to move his legs, and instinctively you looked down at your feet.

"No," he said softly, and you looked up at him.

"Don't focus on that, just let it come naturally, as you think it should," he said, and you shook your head down at the ground, laughing slightly.

"I'm serious," he said, and you looked up at him with a smile on your face.

"Okay then," you laughed, and Varian started to move again.

And he was right.

It did come naturally.

You swayed together as your feet moved forward, then right, then backwards, then left, as you danced with Varian. You stared into his eyes, and occasionally he bit his lip as you stepped on his feet, but he never complained. You respected him for that. And, it seemed, that as you continued to move to the beat of the clock, that you began to press closer. Your arms slid further around his neck, and his hands pulled you closer into his torso. You were just so deep in conversation that you didn't seem to notice.

Or.

You simply didn't seem to care.

You watched as his eyes lit up when he recalled some equation, and observed the redness of his cheeks as he described the way two chemicals reacted. It was... fascinating, the way the human body worked. How the mind sends signals down nerves, tracing the passageways of the body, to produce a blush, or a blink. How the mind could release chemicals like dopamine, endorphins, serotonin... the perfect concoction.

A chemical reaction in your brain.

The product?

Love.

Your eyes jumped from one freckle to the next as you spun with him, trying to focus on anywhere but his eyes. Direct eye contact... it was tricky. Too invasive, too personal. But as you grew closer and closer, prolonged eye contact didn't seem to scare you anymore.

You looked up into his eyes, and he looked down into yours. His irises swum with little specks of green and yellow, like the ocean and its fish, its body of blue constantly interchanging. They carried an air of maturity; of knowing, but at the same time glittered with droplets of childlike innocence.

You'd never noticed them before.

At least not fully.

You were so infatuated in them, you didn't notice when Varian leaned in.

Your lips met, and immediately a wave of energy crashed over your body, a sense of euphoria that you had never dreamed of experiencing. Varian's fingers curled around your hips, pulling you in forcefully, a soft display of dominance. You wrapped your fingers into his hair, and fiddled with the straps of his goggles.

And then you pulled away.

And you stared at him, and he at you, in total silence.

And then you started to laugh.

You rested your head on his chest, underneath his chin, and laughed into his shirt. He smelled of cinnamon.

"What's so funny," Varian asked, worry nipping at his voice. You looked up at him.

"I never ever thought you'd have the guts," you joked, an edge of mockery present in your tone.

"Well, I must have gained a lot more at some point," he teased back, and leaned in again, swerving to your cheek at the last second when someone knocked on the door.

"It's Rapunzel!" Rapunzel chirped from the door, and Varian stared at your red face with your own.

"Ready for that dance?" Varian said, and held his arm out for you. You raised your eyebrow at him.

"I'm a commoner, I'm coming. You don't have to dance with Rapunzel all night do you?" He said, and you blushed slightly.

You took his arm.

Tonight would be a good night.