onlythebranch | [august]

Never in all of his very long life did Mad Sweeney figure himself for this sort of shit, the friendship he's cultivated with a girl from a fairy tale, but now that he has he can't imagine it being any other way. Even now, after everything, his memories can be fickle and turbulent, but if there's one thing he knows for certain -- besides his love of violence -- it's that his very being will always be connected to the sun. It only makes sense that he and Rapunzel have the connection they do, even if they look utterly absurd from the outside.

And absurd they are. Especially on a day like today. Sweeney's eye is blackened from a recent fight and there's a cut on his lip he keeps probing with his tongue. He's not hungover, but he looks as if he could be, or maybe that he'd spent the entire night sleeping on the bench where he's currently seated, his arms resting along the back, his legs spread out in front of him. He's a big man and he takes up a great deal of space.

And this morning, looking as he does, he's waiting for Rapunzel.

There are few things in the world he could care less about than the opinions of the people who live in this place. He's got the folks who matter, the rest can go fuck themselves, and when they glance his way, whispering at the state of him, he just bares his teeth in a deranged grin that tends to send them all scurrying away.

Rapunzel won't approve, but she always seems to forgive him. He figures she's got a soft spot for him, just like he has one for her.

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Rapunzel rounds the corner to see her friend practically growling at a couple of teenagers until they flee, and she rolls her eyes in fond exasperation as they rush by her. She sits on the bench next to him and Pascal immediately scurries up onto the top of his head as she looks him over.

"I can't take you anywhere," she says fondly, leaning over to press a kiss to his scruffy cheek. At this point, his blackened eyes and split lips have stopped making her so upset, because by now she knows that he usually brought them on himself. Still, as always, she lifts a bit of her hair in question. "I assume you don't want me to take care of your busted face."

"Hm, maybe I oughta let you make me all pretty again for my man," he says thoughtfully, grinning over at her. He's sort of curious, he can't deny, and even though he likes the pain, there's nothing saying Spike can't cause him more pain if he's looking for it later.

"C'mon, give it a go," he decides, turning toward her a bit on the bench so he's facing her. "Let's see what all the fuss is about."

He can withstand more pain than most people can, but he doesn't heal overly quickly. Faster than some, but not like what Rapunzel can do. Not even close.

Rapunzel is expecting him to turn her down like he has every time before, so she shares a surprised look with Pascal when he says yes instead. Smiling, she gets up onto her knees on the bench and looks around. There isn't anyone in the immediate vicinity, so she quickly loops her hair loosely around Sweeney's neck and gently holds a bit of it to the worst of the bruising on his face.

"Okay, hold still," she tells him, glancing around once more before starting to softly sing. "Flower gleam and glow, let your powers shine...

Golden light spills from the crown of her head and travels down the length of her hair, and she smiles once it reaches Sweeney and the bruising fades from his face. Once her incantation is done, the light fades away and she pulls her hair back into her lap as she settles back onto her haunches. "So handsome!"

Before it had all started, he'd expected it to be a weird sensation, the kind of magic he's never experienced before, but Rapunzel starts to sing and his skin begins to warm and he feels closer to Lugh for just a split second. Closer to the sun.

Then it's gone and all that's left is a distinct lack of pain.

"Darlin', I'm always handsome," he answers with a grin that turns soft as he gives her a gentle nudge with his elbow. "But thank you. Spike sure as hell won't disapprove of the way you've got me looking now."

"Of course you are," she replies, smiling back at him. "But don't go using this as an excuse to get into more dumb fights. I will leave you to face Spike's wrath."

After coiling her hair back up and putting it back inside of her tote bag, she worms her way up under one of Sweeney's massive arms and leans against his side. "I'm glad he makes you happy."

"That fucker? Christ, he's a pain in my ass," Sweeney says cheerfully. He means it sincerely; Spike is a royal pain in his ass more often than not, but he loves it. Loves every stupid goddamn second of it.

"Kinda weird," he admits. "Bein' with someone else who's seen more than a century of this world. I mean, hell, there was Wednesday, but he and I never exactly had a heart to heart. Mostly because I fuckin' hated him."

"Yes, your dislike is plainly obvious," Rapunzel says with obvious sarcasm, rolling her eyes even as she reaches over to rest her hand over his, where it sits on his thigh.

"But it must feel good," she says after a moment, turning her head look up at him. "To be with someone who can understand you like that."

Sweeney shrugs, still finding it tough to articulate his feelings even after all this time. Perhaps it's because he's so old that it's difficult. He's had generations to build up these walls, this suit of armour, much longer than most.

But she's not wrong and he thinks she knows it, so he grins and turns it around on her.

"How 'bout you?" he asks. "That boy of yours understand you?"

"I think he does," Rapunzel says with a soft smile. They've both been through some awful things, and they're very different people, but she thinks that they complement each other wonderfully.

"I'm going to ask him to move in with me soon, I think." It's the first time she's admitted it out loud to anyone, and she feels a flutter of nerves in her belly. Even though Peter makes her feel so loved, she still sometimes can't help but to hear Gothel's voice in her head. "Around his birthday."

"Shit, good for you," he says. Whatever dirty jokes he wants to make remain unsaid, even though he's pretty sure Rapunzel knows him well enough to assume he's got at least four he could spit out on a second's notice.

It's a good thing for her, though. A happy thing. He can be less than an asshole for at least a few minutes.

"Make sure he cleans up his dirty fuckin' underwear and shit like that before you do," he advises. "Men are gross."

"Men are gross," she says with a bright laugh. "But he isn't too bad. Sometimes I have to bring the mess to his attention, but he certainly isn't helpless."

She sighs happily and rests her head on Sweeney's shoulder, letting her feet swing back and forth where they dangle from the bench. "Having your own space is important, but I get kind of sad every morning that I wake up and he isn't next to me, you know? I want him to be the first thing I see, always."

Pascal huffs on her shoulder, and she rolls her eyes fondly. "Or the second."

"Oh, Christ, don't tell me you're jealous of a boy," he says to Pascal and resists the urge to reach over and poke him. Instead he just settles in against the bench, letting Rapunzel rest her head against him.

"You ever wanna run away and make her worry, you can come stay at mine," he offers, smirking at the thought of the chameleon running around the place he shares with Spike. "We'll have a real good fuckin' party and you won't even miss her."

Pascal grumbles irritably, and then squeals in delight at Sweeney's offer before making a big show of crawling up onto Sweeney's head. Rapunzel rolls her eyes and tips his head back.

"He knows that he'll always be my best friend," she says. "But sometimes Peter and I need to be alone. For reasons."

Her traitorous companion makes a gagging sound, and Rapunzel huffs. "Oh, stop it!"

"I'm with you," Sweeney says when Pascal makes a gagging sound from atop his head. Not that he really gives a damn what Rapunzel does or doesn't do with her beau, he just likes to give her shit about the whole thing.

Whether or not her chameleon really cares, he's not going to ask. That's their business.

"I might be tempted t'give Peter a hard time just for the hell of it, but I guess he puts up with him," he says, pointing up toward his head. "That gives him some points."

"They get along just fine," Rapunzel huffs out. "He just likes being difficult."

Pascal laughs, going so far as to stand on his back feet and hold his belly, and Rapunzel rolls her eyes before twisting to fall back onto the bench. She rests her head on his massive thigh and looks up at him.

"Summer's almost over." She sighs and shifts her gaze up to the sky. "The nights will start getting shorter soon. It always goes by so fast."

"Yeah, folks like us, we ain't meant for the dark days of winter, are we?" he asks, looking up at the sky as well. It's funny, being with Spike, someone who needs the dark like Sweeney needs the sun.

"But somehow we make it through," he says, bouncing his leg once, bouncing her head against his thigh. "Helps that we've got folks who understand, yeah?"

And he's different than he used to be. That helps, too.

[august]

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