diff --git a/ablescript/src/interpret.rs b/ablescript/src/interpret.rs
index febd1c7..d0885d0 100644
--- a/ablescript/src/interpret.rs
+++ b/ablescript/src/interpret.rs
@@ -307,10 +307,10 @@ impl ExecEnv {
     fn assign(&mut self, dest: &Assignable, value: Value) -> Result<(), Error> {
         match dest.kind {
             AssignableKind::Variable => {
-                self.get_var_rc(&dest.ident)?.replace(value);
+                self.get_var_rc_mut(&dest.ident)?.replace(value);
             }
             AssignableKind::Index { ref indices } => {
-                let mut cell = self.get_var_rc(&dest.ident)?;
+                let mut cell = self.get_var_rc_mut(&dest.ident)?.clone();
                 for index in indices {
                     let index = self.eval_expr(index)?;
 
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ impl ExecEnv {
             .iter()
             .map(|arg| {
                 if let Expr::Variable(name) = &arg.item {
-                    self.get_var_rc(&Spanned::new(name.to_owned(), arg.span.clone()))
+                    self.get_var_rc_mut(&Spanned::new(name.to_owned(), arg.span.clone())).cloned()
                 } else {
                     self.eval_expr(arg).map(ValueRef::new)
                 }
@@ -555,11 +555,11 @@ impl ExecEnv {
         }
     }
 
-    /// Get an Rc'd pointer to the value of a variable. Throw an error
+    /// Get an reference to an Rc'd pointer to the value of a variable. Throw an error
     /// if the variable is inaccessible or banned.
-    fn get_var_rc(&mut self, name: &Spanned<String>) -> Result<ValueRef, Error> {
+    fn get_var_rc_mut(&mut self, name: &Spanned<String>) -> Result<&mut ValueRef, Error> {
         match self.get_var_mut(name)? {
-            Variable::Ref(r) => Ok(r.clone()),
+            Variable::Ref(r) => Ok(r),
             Variable::Melo => Err(Error {
                 kind: ErrorKind::MeloVariable(name.item.to_owned()),
                 span: name.span.clone(),