laminae | Tangled AU

Tangled AU

Fern's first memories are painful ones. The first thing he feels is like he's dying, which might sound like a contradiction but makes sense within the context of his creation. Rapunzel's voice echoes throughout the Great Tree, the Decaying Incantation killing the once great being, and in a last ditch attempt to avoid death, either by the Tree itself or Zhan Tiri's influence, the slowly fading embers of its life force are pumped into whatever plant life it can reach. Of course, the Incantation still hits most of it, and every single one of those plants wither away into nothingness all the same.

Everything, that is, except for a small patch of grass. It fades like the rest, but one last spark of life enters as the Incantation is abruptly cut off by the impulsive actions of one Handmaiden, and it remains. As the group moves on towards the Dark Kingdom, and Adira drags Hector off to bandage his injuries, that patch of grass comes to life.

It's painful, suddenly wrenched into sentient consciousness thanks to a spell designed to kill. Like an explosion of death and decay all around him, threatening to smother him the very second he started existing. With no eyes and ears he can't tell what's going on around him, and with no mouth and lungs he can't cry out, so he can do nothing but fight back and push through the agony until it subsides into a dull ache.

He's weak at first, and the remains of the Tree overhead block out any sunlight he could have used to grow stronger. Still, the grass twitches and curls and gradually bundles itself together into a ball, and then after more time something more person-shaped. It's a rough approximation of the body the Great Tree had possessed shortly before its death, and since those memories are strongest in his mind that's what he goes with: two arms, two legs, a head, a body, two eyes and two ears, a nose, a mouth. Something vaguely human and at the same time distinctly not, something that allows him to more freely move around, find a patch of sunlight, and regain some strength. Human senses follow, again based on vague memories that aren't really his, and over the next few months he finds his footing in the complete and total disaster that is Being Alive. He doesn't start living, though, until the man the Tree had possessed finally returns to his long-destroyed home.

~

Beyond the Tree a whirlwind of events happen, not limited to the near total destruction of a kingdom, the rise of an ancient demon, and the reuniting of two cosmic powers. To say a lot has happened is a total understatement, and frankly, Hector is just glad to get out of there, away from people. He always did better with animals, and he has some literal and metaphorical wounds to lick. Turns out getting mind controlled twice is a horrifying experience, who knew.

He is, technically, back at the site of the Tree per Edmund's orders. Before he and Edmund and Adira had left Corona there was talk of building up a proper road of some sort to better connect the two kingdoms, and that would obviously involve clearing out the Tree's remains to make the area more amenable to horses and wagons. Unlike the rest of them, though, he doesn't particularly care about any of that. This was his home for many, many years, and he isn't so eager to raze what's left of it in the name of friendship and progress. So he goes, but he goes because being around the epitome of sunshine is a lot to deal with, and he needs to get away from all of that. All of those people. He needs a metaphorical dark hole where he can be alone with his rhino and his binturongs and all he has to worry about is survival of the fittest.

So it's a big downer to find someone else has taken up residence in his home. It goes without saying that as soon as his binturongs catch the scent that something is off Hector is on the hunt, and then it's only a matter of time before he's ambushing one residual plant monster he assumes is being controlled by Zhan Tiri. Or is Zhan Tiri, whichever. He doesn't care, he's just happy to get a good fight in. The creature is bizarre and learns quickly, mimicking him in the span of only a few minutes and creating a hardened blade out of vine, similar to his own retractable gauntlet sword. The thing fights fiercely, but mimicry isn't a replacement for actual skill and experience, and it isn't long before Hector gets the upper hand. And once he does, the creature starts falling apart, fighting more and more like a cornered animal. As it tires out he gradually finds himself comparing the creature more to his animals than the cunning and deliberate Zhan Tiri. Still, he doesn't hesitate in chopping its head off, ending the battle.

.... Except that doesn't take at all, and while the creature finally backs off it doesn't actually die. It regrows and reattaches its head, then scrambles up some old vines out of his reach to hiss at him. Sort of like an upset cat that's been dunked in a river instead of some demonic monster. It's hardly the most threatening thing... in fact, it's actually a little funny.

Thus began the strange, feral relationship between Hector and a small grass creature. A few more fights occur, though nothing quite as serious as the first one, and each time the creature retreats before he can chop another body part off. It becomes increasingly clear that this thing, while obviously magical, doesn't seem to be an agent of Zhan Tiri. He even learns the damn thing can talk and eat food, after one unfortunate night when he let his guard down while cooking a rabbit he had caught. It was roasting on a spit over a fire, and he had dozed off for all of two minutes, and the creature had snuck past the animals to steal it. He had gone after it, cursing up a storm, and it had responded with some equally vociferous curses. After that night, it had apparently decided that speaking to him was safe enough, and it started doing so.

Though they were less conversations, and more it demanding to know what Hector was doing on any given day. The demands start out simple enough, wanting to know more about eating (makes sense, it's obviously a plant), but grow more complicated over time - how did you build that trap for dinner, what's that thing on your arm, why is it called a sword, how did you get the sword.

There are a lot of sword questions, and one day the creature reappears holding Demanitus's enchanted spear. Hector had thought that thing had gotten buried in the rubble of the Great Tree when it collapsed, but apparently this thing had been doing some digging.

It's gradual, but Hector even starts answering some of them. Mostly the questions about weaponry, and when he does his answers are usually bitingly sharp or mocking, but they're still answers, and the creature accepts them with the kind of curiosity you normally only see in kids. It's a tenuous foundation, but it's there and over time it becomes more solid, to the point where Hector finds he doesn't even mind having the grass.... kid.... thing around. He stays out of his way when he's in a bad mood, and he's aggressive and won't hesitate to fight, and the kid is clearly growing more attached to him (though, that might be because there isn't anyone else around). It's still strange, but it isn't the worst thing ever, and it's certainly preferable to being surrounded by actual people.

When the weather starts to cool down Hector leaves him some proper clothes (patched together, with more animal furs than necessary), and at some point their occasional fights shift from impulsive bursts of violence to actual training and sparring. Hector can't even remember when he started giving the kid a nickname, but he did at some point, if only because he needed something short when telling him off, and 'grass monster' was too much of a mouthful.

~

It doesn't last.

Hector had been keeping in contact with Edmund and Adira via letters sent and received by Hamuel during his time at the Tree. He hadn't mentioned Fern - there didn't seem to be much of a point, if he wasn't connected to Zhan Tiri - though he did offhandedly say the spear had been recovered. Unfortunately, he one day receives word from a very tired Hamuel that Edmund is ordering him back to the Dark Kingdom proper to assist with rebuilding efforts, and to leave the spear in Corona with Quirin's son, apparently some kind of genius alchemist similar to Demanitus himself. He has absolutely no desire to take the kid with him, though efforts to simply leave don't come so easily when Fern starts following him, so he does the first thing that comes to mind.

He tries to ditch him. Several times. But it turns out it isn't so easy to ditch a kid made out of grass in forests, so as soon as he meets up with Adira he tries to pawn him off onto her. That doesn't go so well, either. That leaves him with two options: take him to the Dark Kingdom, or dump him with Quirin.

He chooses the latter, and does it in the most spectacularly low effort way possible. Taking Fern with him, he makes a rapid trip to Old Corona, showing up late one night on Quirin's doorstep with absolutely no notice. He tells Fern a few simple lies to make him stay put long enough to get away, then knocks on Quirin's door. Quirin is, understandably, not thrilled with this arrangement, but Hector doesn't give him any options. After a very quick (and lacking) explanation of what's going on the guy books it out of there on his rhino, leaving Fern standing there on his doorstep, spear in hand. As exasperated as Quirin is, he can't very leave just leave... whatever this thing is... like Hector just did, so he sends word to Varian that the spear is currently in his possession and lets Fern stay. It takes Fern a few days to feel comfortable enough to even go inside the house, and while that isn't the best situation (his presence has a tendency to terrify the Old Corona citizens), Quirin figures he can get this sorted out before Varian arrives.

He's being far too optimistic, though in the meantime he does manage to persuade Fern indoors during a particularly heavy and cold rain, even letting him use Varian's bed for the moment. Just until he can get ahold of literally anyone else in the Brotherhood.

So that's where Fern is tonight. He isn't used to sleeping on a bed but it's a lot softer and more comfortable than the ground, so he doesn't mind. The faint aroma of chemicals bothers him more, honestly, and he tries to ignore it as he burrows further until the blankets.

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Okay, even if Fern is agreeing he can't help but let out a little scoff at that. This is just his life now, he supposes. Obnoxious teen alchemists.

He gives a little nod. It would be kind of interesting to see her again, maybe a little... awkward, too. "It's okay. It's probably better you weren't there. Nothing good really happened, honestly. There were just a bunch of arguments, and fights, and uh - me dying. Everyone was really unhappy."

This is his life, this is what he chose. He should have run when he had the chance.

"I wouldn't have been welcome there even if I was there. It would have been so much worse," he was still broken then, still angry and desperate and stupid and sitting in a jail cell like a caged animal. "Still...I'm sorry that happened to you. It sounds awful. But- but at least it means you're here now, right? Like- like as you? That's got to be worth something."

He really should have. It's too late now though, he's finding himself more and more invested in Varian, and to a lesser extent Quirin. They're some of the first people to treat him decently, and that's valuable to him.

Fern chews on his lip. It probably would have been worse, though it also may have meant they would've met sooner, somehow....

It takes him a moment to snap out of that thought. "Um - yeah. Being here's been pretty good so far," he answers, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm glad Hector dropped me off here."

Varian feels a smile pull at his lips- his chest feels weird and tight again, the feeling of butterflies creeping up on him again. He doesn't fight it this time, but he doesn't do anything about it, either. He's not even sure what he's supposed to do about this anyway. A soft, awkward chuckle bubbles out of his throat as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Y-yeah. I'm... uh. I'm really glad he did, too," his grin turns a little lopsided. "Even if it did mean getting a heart attack from finding you in my bed."

That awkward chuckle is kind of becoming endearing at this point, so Fern grins back, completely clueless about Varian's weird feelings. "At least it wasn't a real heart attack!" He says, laughing as he reaches over to give a friendly poke to Varian's chest.

That gives him a nice, warm feeling, and that makes him chill out a bit on the teasing. His smile softens a bit. "Sorry for freaking you out. I really feel bad about that."

Oh boy okay, he wasn't expecting the chest poke and a blush tinges his cheeks- just for a moment, as he tries to get it together. C'mon, this is silly, and awkward, so awkward- pull it together.

"True! I'd probably be dead!" ha ha, so funny, his own smile softens, as he tucks some hair behind his ear, trying to ease down the fluttering going on in his chest. "It's okay- don't feel bad. I probably should have stayed in the Snuggly Duckling and waited out the storm, then I would have shown up... y'know, in the daytime."

Fortunately, Fern has a similar self-deprecating style of humour, so he laughs at that joke. It's funny because it's true! Between the tree going evil, Hector attacking them, and everything falling apart, there's a good chance Varian would have at least gotten hurt.

And then there's some more fluttery feelings, because Varian tucking his hair behind his ear seems... cute, for some reason? What the heck? He internally tries to shake that off, even though a few little cherry blossoms and nightshade flowers are blooming in his hair, and shrugs. "It's okay, this just means we've got a funny story to tell people about how we met. Nothing wrong with that."

Varian doesn't think he'd have much of a chance- heck, especially given his mentality still back then. He likely wouldn't have been in a good place. It's...probably for the best that he was still in prison back then. Varian makes note of the plants growing in Fern's hair, feeling his chest tighten which is weird and dumb.

"Ha...ha, yeah! We definitely have that. We can do that once we get to the capital. The guys'll think it's hilarious."

After a moment Fern notices the flowers growing in his hair, and in mild embarrassment he blushes, then reaches up to yank them out. Get out of here, inconvenient flowers, this is really bad timing.

"Then we'll definitely tell 'em," he says in agreement. "And your friends can have a good laugh at both of us."

Varian's a little disappointed to see the flowers go, and he doesn't make a great job of hiding it in his expression. Aww, he liked those.

"Oh, no doubt they will. And I'm sure you'll love it there, the city's so cool. It's much busier than Old Corona is."

After a moment Fern notices Varian's expression, and instead of just dropping the flowers to the floor he goes ahead and sets them down on the table. You know, just in case.

"Sounds like it's gonna be an interesting place," Fern agrees. It'll definitely be interesting, since he isn't totally sure how he'll handle being somewhere busy. Old Corona was his first village, and Corona is going to be his first proper kingdom. There was the Dark Kingdom, sure, but that place was basically abandoned. He isn't sure what to expect.

The next few days go fairly smoothly, considering it's these two disasters. Fern hangs out around the house, trying to help Varian with his alchemy experiments, occasionally getting in the way, more often than not getting bored. More than once he tries dragging the other boy out to explore the village, or help Quirin with the farming, or climb back up onto the wall to look out at the view. When they start preparing to head back to the kingdom is when he gets excited - he had been a little antsy that Hector hadn't returned, so this is a good distraction. He helps pile supplies into the wagon along with the spear, in no time at all they're ready to head out on the road.

He's sitting next to Varian on the wagon as they leave Old Corona, looking around at their surroundings curiously. "So we're stopping at that Duck place, right?"

If Varian were honest with himself, he was really enjoying having Fern's company over the next few days. He has his friends in the capital, of course, but Eugene is busy with Captain duties and Rapunzel is taking more and more royal duties ready to take over from her parents. Lance is busy with the girls and Cassandra is...wherever she is in the world. As much as he enjoys his own company for his experiments (and however many times he's no doubt grouched at Fern for disrupting them) having someone to bring him out of that and actually just relax is a refreshing change. He finds himself very glad that Fern is coming with him- he doesn't want his time with the other boy to end just yet. It even makes the sting of parting with his father a little less.

"The Snuggly Ducking?" he smiles, nodding. "Sure. It's a good place to stop before getting into the city- it'll be pretty late by the time we get there. It'd be better to get some rest before crossing over onto the island. You'll love it, it's pretty cool in there."

Wow, so visiting his first real tavern is going to be more than a quick pit stop. Fern looks pretty enthusiastic about that. "Cool!" He says, grinning. "Anything I should know about it before we get there?"

Not that he's a particularly careful person, but he would like to avoid getting stared at too much like he did in Old Corona. If that's even avoidable... given his whole nature, that might not be possible.

Fern's nature will definitely raise a few eyebrows- but after the mess with Cassandra and Zhan Tiri, so long as he's not actively attacking them, Varian hopes he'll be able to slide in relatively easily. He does hum softly at the query though.

"Don't say anything bad about Vlad's unicorns. He's really sensitive about them," that's a pretty important one. "Also Ulf just... does the mime thing. Smile and nod. OH and do not, under any circumstances, let Shorty touch anything."

Fern nods eagerly at this information, though to be honest it sounds a little bizarre to him. Unicorns? Mimes? What the heck is even a mime? And what's wrong with letting someone touch stuff?

A beat passes and he realizes something, then shoves at Varian's shoulder playfully. "Aha! Very funny. Never heard of a mime before, so you should've left that one out." Because clearly he's just joking around!!! "So what should I actually know about the place?"

Varian wasn't expecting the sudden contact and lets out of soft 'gryah' as he's shoved. He has a flustered moment while he sits himself back up, trying to gather some coolness back despite the soft colour to his cheeks. This is fine, he's dealing with this, this is absolutely fine.

"Look, I'm just preparing you for it. Because he will do it and you're going to ask questions and he's never going to answer you and I don't want you getting into a fight with Ulf."

He can see it coming a mile away.

"Seriously, those were the important things. It used to be 'don't eat the mystery meat' but that's gone since Lance started cooking there."

Whoops! Fern realizes a bit too late that maybe shoving a noodly nerd, no matter how dangerous he can be, isn't a good idea. Helpfully, when Varian moves to sit back up Fern grabs hold of his shoulder to help him right himself. His hand lingers there, even after the other boy is back to sitting normally. It's partly because he likes it there, partly because he's being distracted by processing that response.

"You're serious?" That wasn't actually a joke? Oh, geez, that's a lot to take in. Except... he doesn't do that, because he's more interested in something else.

"Hold up - fight? This Ulf guy likes to fight??" He sounds very, very excited about this. "Why wouldn't I want to fight someone??"

Sorry, Fern. Varian is vaguely aware that he's still being spoken to, but he's too busy staring at the hand that's remaining on his shoulder. It feels...really nice to have it there, the weight of it welcoming and comforting while churning up those awkward feelings in his stomach again all at the same time. He blinks- realising Fern asked him a question, looking up from where he'd been staring for way too long.

"Huh?" so eloquent. "N-no, no he doesn't. He's a mime. But I know YOU like to fight. Don't pick one with him because he isn't speaking to you and...acting weird. That's what mimes do? It's like...talking but without words."

It takes Fern a little bit to notice the silence and the staring, but once he does he furrows his brow. What's up with that?

"Oh, uh - okay." The whole mime thing is still really weird to him, but it's a little less important right now. Reluctantly he pulls his hand back, thinking he did something wrong, figuring that Varian probably just isn't thrilled with a weird grass person touching him. He shifts a little uncomfortably at that thought. "Um, you okay?"

Varian's brow furrows softly. He feels the loss of Fern's hand as he moves it and he finds he mourns it no longer being on his shoulder. His own hand moves to hover over his shoulder where Fern had left it for a brief moment, before it drops again. He doesn't even know how to answer that question. He feels weird and awkward in a way he hasn't for years. He manages a lopsided smile.

"Y-yeah, I'm good. Are...are you good?"

Fern just sits there, watching Varian reach up to his shoulder, look a little... sad? That he isn't touching him anymore? He isn't totally sure, but that isn't the expression of someone who is repulsed by being touched.

It's weird, it's really weird, and Fern is feeling a strange twisting in his nonexistent guts that makes him want to settle his hand on the other boy's shoulder again. So... he does, though it's halting and awkward and he has no clue if it's a good idea.

"Um, yeah. I'm good," he replies, his cheeks turning a darker shade of green. "You were just - starting - and I thought - ...."

He trails off, unsure of what he even thought.

Oh. Well. Varian definitely wasn't expecting the other boy's hand to return and his breath catches at the action, his chest suddenly feeling very tight and fluttery. Seeing Fern's blush only darkens his own as a nervous chuckle escapes him. He hesitates for a moment because the wild, insane idea to put his hand over the other boys comes into his head, unbidden. He probably shouldn't. That would probably be a bad move.

Feeling a little reckless, he goes ahead and does it anyway. He'd only intended to give Fern's hand a reassuring pat with his own and then remove it, but instead, it lingers there, fingers curling a little on the back of the other boy's hand.

"Oh...no- no, I'm okay. Sorry. I- uh" he clears his throat, looking at Fern. "I um- I didn't mean to stare."

Okay. Okay, there is definitely something going on here. The blushing, and the awkward chuckle, aaaand now Varian is putting his hand on his and the feeling is... really nice? Not just warm because of the differences in their body temperatures, there's more to it than that, and Fern isn't totally sure why that is, but it's making his blush darken.

And it's making apple and plum and cherry blossoms start blooming in his hair. It's fine, this is fine. He doesn't move his hand, it seems just fine where it is, and Varian doesn't seem bothered. The opposite, in fact.

"It's - it's cool," he replies softly. "I"m just - not really used to it."

He should let go of his hand. Varian's eyes travel to Fern's hair, watching the blossoms appear and that makes his pulse quicken a little. He's aware of what this is, these feelings awkwardly hammering around inside him. He remembers how he had these strange fluttery feelings around Cass and Eugene - he can recognise what they are. He's a little afraid of indulging in them, though. Because, unlike Cass or Eugene, Fern's attainable and that's terrifying. He's never been in a position where someone reciprocating those feelings would be possible. He kind of gave up on that. No one really wants anything to do with the guy that did the damage he did, not that there's any people his own ages around for that anyway.

He still hasn't let go of his hand. It stays there, his thumb brushing lazily over the back of the other boy's hand. This is stupid, and dangerous and he really should stop. But he doesn't want to.

"Oh...oh, okay, g-good?" god, words are hard. "So...so long as you're okay with it. I um- don't want to make you uncomfortable."

Fern, meanwhile, is more than a little clueless as to the exact emotions going on inside his head. There's a bunch of new things rolling around, ones he's never actually felt before, and they're getting bigger and bigger. He isn't sure what to do about this. They don't feel bad, but it's a lot at the same time.

He glances down at their hands, watching Varian's thumb brush over his hand, his fingers curling a little bit. This time he does the staring, as he tries to process all of this. Varian doesn't want to make him uncomfortable, and he... well. "I, um. I don't really know how I'm feeling," he says honestly, his voice still soft. "I don't think I'm uncomfortable, though. Just - really, really good?"

He makes a noise like a sigh, growing a bit more embarrassed. "I'm not good at explaining this."

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