"Is this really necessary?" She giggled as Hans secured his cravat over her eyes, the soft material pressing against her eyelids as she instinctively tried to open them. Her heart started to flutter at the sudden loss of sight and how vulnerable it made her felt; Hans would be there to catch her, of course, but the blindfold gave her the strangest feeling that she was completely at his mercy, the thought of this sending an electric shiver up her spine. She pondered at how something as innocent as dancing practice had managed to turn so… tempting.

"You keep looking at your feet," He said, trying to avoid ruining her hair as he tied the ends together. "You're doing fine, but every time you look down you stumble,"

"Just think how often I'll do that when I can't see anything at all,"

"Trust me," he murmured, adjusting the makeshift blindfold. "There. Not too tight, is it?"

She shook her head, her mind on other things; the fabric smelt like Hans, as if she were burrowing her nose into his neck, instead of standing right in front of him.

"Good," he walked back around to face her, his hand never leaving her, aware of how unsteady she'd be if he did. "Then let's continue,"

He slid one hand to the small of her back, grasping hers with the other.

"You know the steps already, just follow my lead," He'd pressed her closer than they would normally dance for stability, and she could feel the rumble of his voice in his chest. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be,"

He squeezed her hand and moved off, twirling her round like he had so many times before in this very room. Anna felt she was doing remarkably well considering she couldn't actually see anything, but as soon as she mentally acknowledged this achievement, her head dropped, instinctively trying to check her feet. As she had done so many other times today, she lost rhythm and stumbled, treading on Hans' feet.

"Sorry!" She gasped as he steadied her, hands cupping her elbows.

"You're still doing it!" She could hear the laughter in his voice as he fought to contain it. "You never usually have any problem with dancing, why is this one causing you so much trouble?"

"I don't know," She frowned, though he probably couldn't see it. "I guess I just want it to be perfect,"

"It would be perfect, if you'd just stop over-thinking where you put your feet," He stroked her bare shoulder, making her shiver.

"You're not cold are you?" He sounded concerned, and Anna could just imagine the little crease that would have appeared between his brows.

"A little bit," She lied, not wanting to admit how the loss of vision was making her even more susceptible than usual to his caresses.

"Here," he pulled her even closer, enveloping her in his arms. She could feel the warmth of his hands as he gently rubbed her back. "Is that any better?"

"It's a lot better," She sighed into his chest, brushing her cheek against the soft fabric of his jacket. Everything just felt better than usual with the blindfold on; Hans' jacket had surely been spun from the fluffiest clouds, and his hands radiated the very warmth from the sun.

He rested his chin atop her head and hummed, slowly drawing out his gentle sound of contentment to weave a new melody for them to waltz to. Ignoring the new moves for the moment, their feet fell into the familiar steps of their first dance together.

They spun across the ballroom together, the blindfold making Anna feel as if she were floating.

"See?" He murmured, lips pressed to her temple. "You can do it if you stop thinking so hard about what you're doing,"

It seemed to Anna that she could feel every syllable pass his lips, his breath ghosting across her skin like a light summer's breeze.

"But I already know this one," She pouted, not caring if she seemed childish.

"Well, practice makes perfect," He replied, slowly shifting into the new dance, giving Anna time to adjust. Her first few steps were sure, having mastered the beginning of the dance from having to start over so many times, but the further along they got, the more Anna started to lag behind before, once again, she tripped.

"Ugh! Why is this so difficult?" She exclaimed as Hans, once again, stopped her from falling. He was always there to catch her, but then always there to see her make a fool of herself, too. Why couldn't she just get things right for once? Her previously good mood had completely dissipated, and she felt hot tears prickle at her eyelids. She reached back, intending to untie the cravat from her eyes – what was the point of keeping it on? It was hardly helping – but Hans caught her hands, shushing her.

"Calm down," He soothed. "Upsetting yourself over this isn't going to help at all,"

"No, but it'll make me feel better," She grumbled.

"Will it, now? Because I can think of something that is guaranteed to cheer you up faster than moaning will,"

"And what would that be?"

"This," He replied, lifting her hands so he could press sweet kisses to her wrists, dragging his lips over the delicate bluish skin.

"Oh," She shivered, wondering if he knew that the loss of her sight made every one of his touches all the more delightful.

As if hearing her thoughts, he dropped her hands to cup her face, softly tracing her jaw. Gently gripping her chin, he tilted her head up to face him. She could see nothing through the blindfold, but she could feel his hot breath against her mouth, could imagine the way he was looking at her, eyes half-lidded and lustful. She craned her neck, attempting to close the distance between their lips, but he pulled away, chuckling.

"Hans," She huffed, irritated.

He said nothing, merely stroking her lower lip with a gloved thumb, but Anna was certain of the catlike smile he would surely be wearing, eyes alight with silent laughter. He did so love to make her beg for him.

"Not until you have some confidence,"

"Are we really doing this?"

"You were the one who wanted to learn the steps. I'm merely giving you an incentive,"

"So – what? A dance for a kiss?" Her lips quirked into a smile.

"Something like that," He felt him lean in closer – he must have been mere inches away from her, but his hand held her chin firmly in place, so she couldn't reach for him. "Though if you go for long enough without tripping over, perhaps I can find something even better than a kiss to reward you with,"

Oh.

Not waiting for a reply, he swept her across the dance floor again, smirking at the rather dazed expression on Anna's face as she flawlessly followed his lead.

"I've never before seen such a drastic improvement," He said later, as they curled up together in front of the fire. "I must remember this new teaching method next time you run into trouble with something,"

"It did seem to work miracles didn't it?" She mused, tracing gentle patterns across his chest. "Though until then," She turned to him, letting his cravat dangle from her fingers. "I think it's your turn to put this on,"