A/N: Christmas went about as well as Hiccup & his dad get along before HTTYD1's climax. Anyway. YES, I am always busting at the seams to tell all about what means what, or what is referencing what, how I feel about my own writing, & I still have outdated thoughts about what the characters think of me... Ask me! Anywhere. Please?
Reminder: Still Rated M for more reasons.
Chapter 3: Tangled vs The Sandworm
The heat had driven their bodies apart during the night. But with the predawn chill, Rapunzel had pulled claim over nearly the whole blanket. Eugene lay sprawled on his back, with his nearer arm bent above his head, and the other resting over his stomach. The blanket pulled taut across his knees diagonally, til it reached the cocoon Rapunzel had wrapped herself up in. She lay folded up in a comfortable fetal position, facing him.
Rapunzel found consciousness first, but just barely. A draft from the window at her back reached her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. Wait- my neck? Eyes still closed, she reached a hand up to her neck. She brushed the new tips of her hair. OH. She opened her eyes, suddenly remembering the trauma from the day prior, and scariness of the day ahead.
Right in front of her eyes though, Eugene's bare flesh took up most of her vision, as she merely peeped out of the covers below. Everything about him is so different... Like, I can see more of his muscles than my own. His chest slowly rose and fell. Besides the great abundance of, and slightly darker, hair she had already noticed on his arms, this was also the case on his side. Although here it tapered off from his chest and abs as it neared his back. His armpit though, that huge tuft caught her attention. She wriggled the top of the blanket down from her shoulders and leaned up on her elbows.
Now she could finally see over his bicep to his face, which lolled to the side toward her, into his shoulder. She rested her head on her hand and poked a thumbnail in between her teeth as she studied him. She remembered the sadness from this time yesterday as she similarly looked down on him. How much difference there was, thankfully. The color in his cheeks, the twitch of eyelashes, comfortably closed mouth, and the flare of his nose as he breathed.
Should I wake him? I don't know, but... She reached out to smooth his bangs out along his temples. He really is beautiful...
The corner of his mouth tugged up a bit, then the other side slowly followed. He started to open his eyes, but they merely fluttered before the light drove them back closed. His mind had yet to comprehend the morning as she had, and so sought to retreat back to sleep.
Rapunzel blurted out a little chortle at him.
At that, Eugene's brow bounced up for a moment, before he took a deep breath and tried to open his eyes again, and failed. But he was awake now. Awake, and successfully holding back the flood of random predictions about the day with simply overpowering No's. He took another deep breath which quickly morphed into a yawn. "Hey..." he croaked out lazily, forcing one eye to open towards her. He stretched his legs out; one then the other joined as he arched his back up and twisted slightly, trying to crack it.
She bemusedly let her gaze wander down his body.
His eyes had closed again. A slit in his shorts was just being pushed open by a prominent bulge. It was morning. The covers were down to his knees. And he was the first man she had ever seen- was ever seeing.
Is that-? "AAAH!" Rapunzel yelled out as if she'd just seen a snake or just been plunged into darkness.
Eugene's eyes shot wide open. "WHAT, WHAT!" He bolted up, leaning back up on his elbows. He glanced all around the room, but found they were still perfectly alone.
Rapunzel kicked her way out of the blanket, and nearly fell onto the floor as she clambered out of the bed and fixed her silky blue nightgown. "EUGENE?!"
Eugene darted his attention back to her, and saw that her eyes were locked on him. Unblinking, he followed her line of sight to his groin. "FUCK!" He pushed up to sitting with his legs straight out in front of him. The fight-or-flight adrenaline had killed the problem anyway.
"Pascal?" Rapunzel had dashed to the end of the bed to the bag. "Where's the frying pan?"
Eugene was pulling his legs up to sit pretzel style, when her supposed plan of action caused an all new panic. "Whoa! Hey? Blondie!" He kept pulling himself closer up into a ball til he was crouching atop his own pillow with his knees up to his chin, nearly naked, hands down to protect himself, and turned away from her.
She found the frying pan, and brandished it like a bat. "What-"
"Ho- oh- Hold on! Rapunzel, please!" He held a hand up defensively between them. "It's just ME!"
"NO," she persisted angrily, "What was THAT?!" She pointed with the pan towards his lower half.
"It- that IS me," he spat out, getting more annoyed than anything. He glared at her. "You can hit my head all ya like, but you canNOT hit me here. So just, calm down, aright?"
She took an exaggeratedly deep breath for show, but shook her head. "No. Explain."
Eugene groaned and rolled his eyes. "You said I'm the first man you've ever seen, right?"
Hesitantly, she answered. "Yes..." So is what she said true? Is it 'all men?'
He sighed again and dropped his forehead to rest on his knee. You're worried about your parents hanging me, yet here you're gonna club me into a eunuch?! After a few more deep breaths, he began again, much calmer himself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to be your introduction." He sighed yet again, then turned back to her. "Will you please put that thing down?"
Rapunzel was taken aback by his request. She scoffed and reaffirmed her hold on it.
"Rapunzel." He was still serious, but made sure it came out careful and level. "You're not a child anymore."
The shock of such a statement directed towards her softened her expression, much to her surprise.
"Comon," he motioned for her to come back towards the bed, to drop the weapon and to sit. "I didn't hurt you before, did I? Last night?" he asked rhetorically.
Shocked again, she slowly lowered the pan in front of her. She looked down at it and shook her head. "No, you didn't." A smile sprung to her face. Last night was amazing...
He breathed a sigh of relief and mirrored her smile. "And I'm not going to hurt you."
She looked back to him pensively. "Well," she had to look away again. "I know, but..." But if any of what she's said is true, then oh you COULD hurt me, and that alone is scary!
"You told me I could trust you, like when you first healed my hand, you remember? I had never seen anything like that before. And that's exactly what I'm doing now. I'm asking you trust me."
She frowned, but finally allowed them to keep eye contact again. He did save me.
"Rapunzel, you know I'm not gonna do anything to you." His brow furrowed. "Come on," he motioned with his head this time. "Relax. Just sit down and let me explain. Okay?"
Anytime he directed her to 'calm down' or 'relax,' she was pretty sure it had the opposite effect. But he is reassuring otherwise. She bit her lip. "Well, I suppose, I could sit while you explain..."
"Promise you won't hurt me?"
Rapunzel guffawed. "What?"
He smirked shyly. "It's actually the most delicate part of a man."
She wrinkled her face in confusion and disbelief.
"So, actually, I guess," he dipped his head and shrugged his shoulders, "IF any guy ever tries to hurt you, kick em in the- in, right there, okay?" He pointed down between his knees.
She chuckled. "Okay," she set the frying pan down on the bed. She swung one leg up onto the edge and sat down herself, hands in her lap. "I'm listening."
He smiled goofily. "Okay, yeah, where to begin," he looked down. "Uh, well..." He grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it up to his waist, as he faced her and resituated into a cross-legged sitting position. He thought a moment before reasserting eye contact, however worried he looked. "Do you know what sex is?"
She barely hesitated. "Um, yeah," but she still looked confused. "Like whether you're a man or a woman."
"Well, that's one meaning of it," he shrugged again. "There's the act of, uh-" his eyes had to leave hers to say the word, "Sex, and then there's the difference between a man and a woman." He tried to force a chuckle. "Some more adult novels even use 'sex' as a euphemism, instead of actually saying um," his eyes retreated once more. "'Vagina' for a woman, or, for a man, it's called a 'penis.'" Where is my train of thought going with this? Yeah, sure, erotica is my reference for explaining birds and the bees to the Princess! He frowned at himself. Talk about what gutter trash I am... He looked back to study her face for a reaction. He leaned over and gestured with one hand. "Anyway, are you getting any of this?"
She was staring at his blanket-covered knee, rather blankly. "Oh, um, I guess." She looked away for a moment, then back to him. "So, I know, what I have-" she blushed as she stuttered, "Is a- what a woman has, but..." Her eyes were drawn back to his center, still shielded by his hands. "Do all men have that?"
He nodded, "Yeah," then gulped.
Rapunzel's expression fell to nearly hopeless disappointment, and just dropped her head to stare into her lap. "I just thought," she shrugged, "That since you didn't have pointy teeth, and you were so nice, that you didn't have that, either."
Well, at least some of her fears of the world aren't all irrational. "Well..." He suddenly felt the grossness and guilt come back, from countless times in taverns when he had been assumed to be no better than the ravaging, uncouth, jerks he'd witnessed. It had cost him nothing extra to sweet-talk, however sleazily, a willing barmaid for himself, rather than to harass or force them as some others had. His past had been a trail littered with as many girls as those fairytale breadcrumbs, though he never followed them back. Most just knew he wasn't good enough to keep around. A few girls had been left crying, but only from broken hearts that had latched onto unrequited dreams. He always comforted his own actions with the knowledge that it could be worse for them. "Yeah, men do have an awful reputation, don't we?"
Rapunzel lifted her eyes to meet his again, in silent agreement. Doesn't get much lower than the Underworld.
Eugene sighed. "But at it's most basic, I mean really, a penis does the same thing as a vagina." Her expression twisted, but he continued. "Both are how you go to the bathroom, and both are used for sex." He kept eye contact this time, but grimaced. "Just that one's an innie, like yours, and mine's an outie." He chuckled at himself for that, and she joined in as well.
"Hm, okay." That does seem pretty simple. "But, is there anything else?" What ELSE does yours do... Her brow furrowed.
"Yeah," he tried to smile again. "Yeah, there's a lot more..." He looked down to twiddle his fingers together. "Why don't you, um," he looked her in the eye again. "Why don't you tell me what Gothel had told you, first?"
"Um, well..." Rapunzel chuckled uneasily. She brought her other leg up onto the bed, curled up to the side while she leaned on her arm. "It was one of those things she never wanted to talk about. Basically just that it was evil," she spaced out staring into nothing in the direction of his knee again. She scoffed a little. "Well, anything about men was all evil. But there was this thing like a wand, she said, that was like, a 'key to opening the Underworld.' That it could 'disturb spirits...'" She shook her head. "But I don't know what she really meant by it all. I tried piecing it together with other spells and rituals from my studies, but it never made any real sense." She sighed with a smile. "So I just imagined it was just a dark wand to summon ghosts or the Boogeyman. But at some point I did get from her somehow that it was like, located around there." She looked back up to Eugene.
He was trying very, very hard to not look at her like he thought she was crazy. "Um, okay," he tried to respond. "That is,really weird." And... pagan... he cringed to himself.
Rapunzel immediately pursed her lips, licked them, and pulled her knees up to her chin as he had before, and wrapped her arms around them. Her knees moved entirely within her nightgown, now giving it the appearance of a small tent with only toes sticking out. "Well," she tried to laugh it off, "I guess, yeah, and with everything else she lied and exaggerated about..." Her nervousness quickly faded into despair. "But if she lied about these things, then what else is there that I only think I know?"
"Whoa, hey there, Little Socrates," he beamed at her, as he reached forward to touch her leg. "You're already so smart. You're just missing a couple pieces of information, that's all. 'N I'll always be here to help you." Wait- what the fuck- oh shit, no- why did I say 'always?!'
She didn't flinch at his touch as she thought she might. No, instead, he warmed her. She smiled to him.
DEFLECT! He sat back up straight. "So, uh, first of all, all that hocus-pocus isn't real."
"But that's what I mean," she groaned. "MY magic is real."
As is my postponed religious crisis- incidentally, where WAS Peter?! -but this is neither the time nor the place. "But there aren't any shadows running around, stealing hearts or whatever; no 'key to other worlds.'"
"Hrmph," she smirked. "There might be."
Eugene folded his hands and hunched forward, elbows on his knees. He smirked. "We're getting off the subject."
Rapunzel giggled at the face he made. She covered her mouth with her hands and kicked her feet back and forth a little. This is my favorite thing about Eugene- just a human friend who wants to teach me so many things! And he is just adorable, too, ah! It all makes me so giddy!
She likewise drew Eugene in to smile widely at her cuteness. "Com'ere, you," he growled playfully as he reached out and tugged her arms away from her legs. As he pulled back, he let them go and patted her pillow beside him. "Comon, si' down." His eyes softened from playfully twinkling to somberly trying to look happy. "I actually did want to talk to you about this before you get back to the castle."
He watched her as she crawled over and plopped down right beside him, their knees almost touching. "About what?" she chirped.
"Well," he pulled his shoulders in to make himself smaller, less assuming, more distant. "About sex." He winced and shrugged, but looked to her.
She met his eyes, then glanced away for a second, expecting him to continue. "Well?"
"Um, okay," he looked straight down into his lap again. Good ol' cliché? "When a man and a woman l-" No. NO. His heart screamed suddenly. My Love is the little Princess who will not get to be with the man she LOVES... He shook his head and waved his hands in front to dismiss the idea. Nevermind. Hopefully, she WILL end up with someone she'll love. Just, stick to biology. "It's when, well, remember how I said men and women have opposite parts there? An innie and an outie?"
"Yeah."
"Well, it's... to make a baby."
"A baby?" Her interest was piqued. Her smile revitalized and brow raised. Gothel always said it was some kind of magic I couldn't do, but a dark magic at that.
He smiled at her enthusiasm. Wait what could she even know about babies, ugh this is hard. "Yeah. Sorry, I don't know how much you would know about any of this, but a baby actually starts out growing in a woman's belly." Again he checked her reaction.
She merely glanced away for moment with slight perplexity, but remained interested.
"Er, for 9 months. Til it's a tiny lil bundle," he crossed into a baby voice, and mimed cradling one, "Hardly any bigger than a small sack of flour. Just a cute lil sweet thing... But yeah," he dropped his hands and smiled too dreamily- then he remembered himself and cleared his throat. "A tiny person."
"Hm... Gothel always told me that she found me in the grass on the cliffside, just like a 'flower,' like she calls me. Or would call me- called me." She sighed. "I guess she did find me somewhere though... Anyway, I'm sorry," she turned back to Eugene, who was patiently absorbing her exposition as well. "It grows for 9 months in the woman's belly, and then what?"
"Well that part is pretty painful," he winced, "The baby knows when it's done growing inside enough, and it gets pushed out of the woman- B-but it's perfectly natural. All people start out like that, every single person ever."
"How... I mean, where-?" Gah, why do I keep asking him such stupid questions! I feel like I can tell him anything, but I really should keep my mouth shut more... She pursed her lips and smiled nervously.
He looked back to her and smiled. "Huh, you actually are pretty mature about this, aren't you?"
She chuckled and shrugged. "I guess?"
"You are." He resumed his eye lock on his lap. "So, now don't freak out," he bumped her elbow. "But the baby actually comes out of the woman's vagina- er, the um, the middle part."
"Oh." She leaned back in just slight surprise, at the revelation, and that he even knew that much about women's bodies. "But even that part- it's still kinda small though, isn't it?" Ugh- No, stop it, he always answers my questions.
Eugene shrugged and smirked. "I only know so much about the many mysteries that women pull off."
Rapunzel giggled a little. Okay, well, he always tries to answer my questions.
He took a deep breath. "Now, how about how the baby starts growing in the first place?" He arched his brow high and glanced over to her.
"Um, I dunno, a potion? An incantation?" She smirked.
"No," he guffawed. "It, ah..." He paused as they fell serious. "The... The um..." Quit stalling and just say it already! He had been trying very hard, and succeeding, in ignoring his own physiology as they spoke. But now he became too keenly aware of his body, and hers beside him. All that separated them were a nightgown and his shorts. With his top half completely exposed, he suddenly felt more naked than he had in over a decade, as if he were a pubescent boy again trying to tell a girl how much he liked her. He squeezed his elbows together in front of himself more, trying to feel some cover. God yes I do want TO- but as soon as I say what it is, she'll start asking about ME- the fuck am I supposed to say? He closed his eyes.
"Eugene?" Rapunzel asked, both confused and worried.
"The penis goes in the vagina."
In the silent stillness that followed, he expected her to unleash Hell itself to devour him whole. Although, he was not entirely sure he was against the idea.
She blinked a few times, mulling over the finished puzzle. The abstract parts themselves clicked in her mind, but then so did much more. If all men have those, and she wanted to keep me away from men especially, it's because she didn't want me to have a baby... She hung her head, sullen. "Gothel always said I wasn't 'meant' to have children."
"What?" his embarrassment gone, his attention darted to her. "Don't say that!" She started at his resolve. "Of course you were meant to have children." I totally would say 'if you want,' but Corona needs heirs..
"Well, sure, but..." She stared into his concerned eyes. Babies? Families? She sighed and shrugged, "I really do know nothing."
He sighed and smirked at her. "That's why I'm telling you about it. So that you know." He rubbed his neck. "Now that the blatantly awkward part is out in the open, uh, heh, there's a few more details."
Bemused, Rapunzel half smiled at him. "Go on."
"So, that's the whole family cycle there. Once someone is about your age," he gulped, "They get married. And that's the person they, have sex with- supposed to be the only person. Um..." Suddenly he tucked his neck in. He'd asked her to marry him before she knew it meant this type of promise. But I wouldn't have, like- I just wanted her to know I'd protect her. He cleared his throat and continued. "That's what marriage is, that those two people promise each other and God to only be with that person for the rest of their lives. To protect them, honor them, and, yeah, that they're only going to have sex with each other. Because, that means that eventually, you'll have babies, that are made up from stuff from each of you, and then you raise them together, usually, til they've grown up themselves, and they go off." He cycled his hand around in a loop. "And so on, and so on..."
She smiled. Cycles she understood. And his explanation had a nice symmetry to it, unlike her own upbringing. She knew of a Goddess, so God, who he spoke of, must be her opposite, her marriage partner, perhaps? Marriage... Oh. OH! She sat up straighter in a bit of shock. "Eugene! You-!"
He locked eyes with her, but merely raised his brow expectantly. He was caught, and she could tell.
She gasped. "You... really?!" Her hand flew to her heart. ALL that? "You want to do all that with me? Only with me?"
He dipped his head toward her. "That's my new dream." Is it lying if I omit the part where I can't though? -oh, yeah... whoops.
Rapunzel folded her legs up and hugged them, rocking back and forth a little, as a wildfire of blush consumed her face. "And," she giggled a little, "That sounds like it'd be mine, too."
Eugene could not help the painful, embarrassed, but honest smile that overtook him as he watched her.
She looked down and buried her blushing face against her knees, but still eyed him out the side. "Isn't it- I mean sex- Isn't that kind of, intimate? I mean, you'd have to get so close," she giggled, "And I mean, how does that work? That's what you said you originally wanted to talk about, right?"
"I did." He nodded. "And well, intimate? We've already been emotionally intimate with each other. Sex is, well it is rather physically intimate."
Rapunzel popped her head up toward him, "Hmm, we were pretty physically intimate last night. Hmm?"
He laughed as he closed his eyes and let his head droop. "Exactly like last night."
Suddenly she was taken aback. "Wait-"
But he picked his head back up just as quick. "No, no, I mean- hoh, No, that is NOT what we did last night." She relaxed with a deep breath. He continued, "Stuff like that is, people do stuff like that either instead of sex, or leading up to it. But yeah, intimate on both counts."
"Oh..." she stated blankly.
'Oh'? Just 'Oh'? Is that a good 'Oh' or a bad 'Oh'? She hesitated too long, so he started blathering. "I'm sorry- I knew it was all too much for you in one day, and-"
"Eugene, it's-" She reached her hand out to him.
"-you didn't even know, but I mean how-"
"Eugene." He finally stopped and looked her in the eye. She was smiling. "It's alright," she chuckled. "I liked, that stuff." She nudged him with her elbow.
Like a machine, her nudge popped a smile onto his face, though he still sighed through it. "Rapunzel, I know you're certainly not ready to 'go all the way,' as the expression is."
"Well, why not?" Her urge to run headlong into exploring overtook any residual fears.
"Well, your first time is supposed to be special. In the Church, your first time is supposed to be the night of your wedding."
'The Church' have something to do with Corona I guess? "So, 'someday?'" I HATE 'someday's...
He subtly glanced to the opposite direction of her for the first time. "Yeah, someday." Don't. Don't get sad. She will notice. "Ah, for me, though," he nodded back towards her while still looking down, "Well, sorry to say, I've already had my first time many years ago. Had plenty of other girls' first times, too." I can be a fucking jerk but I'll be damned if I don't use it to help protect you.
Her smile faltered. Wait, what?
"But never married." He looked up to her, to see the hurt threatening to spread across her face. "Oh, Sweetie!" he rushed his hand on her shoulder. "No, no. Sex doesn't always end up being with someone you love. It's best when you're in love, but I- I wasn't, not really, I guess..."
She was staunched for the moment. "And babies?"
"No," he shook his head, "No babies either. It doesn't create a baby every single time, plus there are things you can do to make it less likely." He watched her take it in, but was unable to read her beyond confusion. I need to explain myself. "I never wanted a baby with anyone before. I never wanted to stay with anyone before. Well, maybe a few, but they didn't wanna stay with me, and would've ended up bad news anyway. I just did it 'cause," he shrugged. "Just 'cause it feels good." His one hand remained on her shoulder, while his other cupped her cheek to keep her chin up towards him. "But you..." her eyes entranced him, "I love you, Blondie." Dammit no I was supposed to keep it neutral! Why'd I go explaining that. That's enough. He flashed a weak smile. "Do you understand?"
He looks so concerned... She smiled and nodded against his palm. "You really have been up to no good for a long time, hm?"
His smile returned as well. "Eh, well," he shrugged it off. "That's how I know so much." He reclined back against the wall and straightened his legs out, sure to keep the covers above waist level, though all was flat again down there again.
Rapunzel watched his bare arms flex, how the abs of his torso moved and how his chest barely did. Those were all questions for another time, apparently.
Eugene held one arm out as an invitation. "Cuddle?"
Her blush returned. As best she could figure, she slouched down atop his arm, and against his side. Her head tentatively rested in his shoulder. He still smells like his leather, well, and sweat and dirt. His other arm quickly appeared, crossed her, and together they squeezed her against him. A giggle erupted out of her, though she took the opportunity to venture laying her hand on his ribs. He was warm, and surprisingly soft and smooth. His crossed over hand began running down her arm, and just as she thought to pull her hand away from feeling his side, he covered it and held her there.
He kissed her temple. "I just don't want you to be afraid of men- well, strange men, yes, be very wary of, but-"
"You were a strange man."
He scoffed. "Yes, and, you tied me to a chair." They shared a laugh, before he sighed again. His arms remained secure around her. Time for the important kicker. "Rapunzel, there is this myth, that women have to bleed the first time they have sex, and that it's supposed to be painful. But it's just a myth. Even though a lot of people still believe it..." He brushed his fingers along her arm.
"Why does everyone still believe it, then?"
"To scare people off it."
"Ah," she frowned and nodded. Now who have I seen do that before.
"And well, it can hurt, and sometimes it is bad enough for the woman to bleed. Not like your cycle, but like a wound."
He knows about women's cycles? He knows everything! "But it shouldn't?"
"No, it shouldn't. If at least one of you knows what you're doing, and you're careful, it shouldn't hurt. It should feel as completely amazing as last night. If it hurts, at all, then something's wrong. You got that?"
"Hmm, yeah. But you said you know what you're doing, in that respect, right?"
"Yeah, but I mean..." he gulped. "It's just stuff you should know." He chuckled to himself, "When I first learned about all this, I still thought girls were ewwy."
She chuckled with him again.
"Just don't be afraid to ask me about anything, okay?"
Rapunzel gasped a little. That's it exactly! Her brow furrowed but she smiled at that, the best part of all: telling her she could ask him anything. She gripped at his side a little, bracing herself to open up. "Okay," she hummed nervously. "So, like..." she began, but ended up giggling, at what, she wasn't sure. Perhaps it was the novelty of such intimacy, and the implications; memories of the night just before, and the possibilities of the future; and putting it all into words to communicate about what they were both feeling to a man, this man, that caused her to blush as well.
"What?" he asked, hoping to be let in on what was so funny to her.
"Um, ya know, so, last night..." she stuttered but then tried to be sultry, to varying success. "How do you do that? For yourself, I mean."
He froze. "Oh, ummm..." Now he blushed and started giggling. "Do I have to answer that one?"
"Eugene!" She turned to lean more fully on him, to climb up his chest, closer to his smirking face. "You just said I could ask you anything!"
"Ugh," he rolled his eyes away, while his smile only grew. When he looked back to her, he froze up again at how close they were.
She seemed stunned as well, just a breath away as she lay on his chest.
He blinked a few times and his lips twitched toward her, but did not quite think moving forward a good idea.
Rapunzel suffered much less hesitation here. She rushed in to capture his mouth.
And he was happy to be had. His arms moved to hold her up and pull her closer, to run over her back and arms, knowing she could never be close enough. But if he could at least hold this moment – kissing her in the sweet morning sunlight, filtering in through a dusty haze around them – then maybe he could survive.
She clamored her arms up to around his neck, pulling him closer to her as well. However much exploring his bare skin made her nervous, it was too intriguing to not want to touch more of. He had touched her so, sensually, last night, that she just had to learn what his was like. He had assured her it was perfectly safe, and she knew she could trust him. She wanted those amazing feelings back from last night. Not necessarily the physical one she knew, but the rush of excitement from getting so intimate with another person. Especially with this remarkable person! She moaned into his mouth, unable to quite harness her urges.
Eugene's brow raised and he could not help but peak at her. She's like... pure bliss... And she's in pure bliss. He decided to play a little tongue combat with her – but suddenly, he was aware of her pushing off one of his arms. Huh? He complied, but she merely ran her hand down his arm to his wrist, and grabbed hold of it. Um, okay. Not planning on movin any faster than you, but okay.
She had to know. And if this was what studying and learning from him felt like, oh, she never wanted class to end. She needed to know him more, like he already knew her. Carefully, she lay his hand on his abdomen, then matched hers atop it, and slowly, started moving it down.
He broke the kiss. "Rah-Blondie," he panted as he could not decide which name he'd miss calling her more, "What're you..." His mind went to full alarm, but also began losing most functionality.
Rapunzel leaned back a bit, a little dazed herself, to question him. "Don't you want to?"
He melted, as much as he hated himself for it. With his brow all knotted, he nodded. "I do." Deep down, he knew he would regret it either way: missing his only chance to be with the Princess, or having had only one chance with her. Damn it... I'm totally losing control of this situation, though...
She resumed the kiss, making him whimper in surprise and worry, but she sucked his tongue away and he subsided. He winced, concentrating his hardest to remain on beginner mode for her. He surrendered control of his hand to her, while the other dug in to grip gently at her hair. Fuck... fuck... fuck...! Their hands crept lower and lower.
She noted the defined trail of hair leading down, over a tenser belly, down to below where the blanket covered. She inhaled sharply, and decided to start above the blanket. Another moment, and his hand was fully over himself. Her slender fingers perched perfectly atop his, not actually feeling anything but his hand. All she could make out was that the terrain underneath was squishy. The deathly embarrassing notion she was still basically touching someone's most private part lit her cheeks aflame.
Eugene sensed her apprehension as she froze up, and he twisted his way out of the kiss. "You okay?" He asked as he touched their foreheads together.
"Yeah," she panted. "I just have no idea what..."
"Do you want me to...?" He turned his hand to hold her fingers, but still separating her from feeling him.
"Yeah," she repeated. Great idea, you do it, oh my Goddess, I have no idea what I'm doing! How did he ever learn about girls so well! I just want to- to- to- I don't know! But I want HIM!
He kissed her again, but immediately relinquished control of his lips to her bidding. Down below, though, he stroked his fingers over hers as he switched hers to the bottom, against himself. It immediately twitched; he moaned, but Rapunzel withdrew her hand with a gasp.
"It's alright," he reassured her, as shaky as his voice was.
"Sorry," she whined.
"No," he shook his head against her forehead. He gasped to try to slow his heart rate, any air of dignity completely gone. "It gets hard and a lil longer when I get excited- and just when I wake up in the morning like you saw before. Think of it like a muscle or something. That's blood rushing to it-"
"'Cause you're 'excited?'" she mused.
"Yeah," his breathing still heavy. "'Aroused.'" He smiled as his brain automatically threw out the synonym as it was losing proper social control. "Not just like, 'ooh, you made me pancakes'-excited, but like, heh, 'there's this gorgeous woman I love wearing only her nightgown in bed with me and she's touching me...'-excited." He pecked her grinning lips once again. "Heh, you know what I mean?"
"Hmm, I think I'm starting to." She rubbed their noses together, eliciting a giggle from him, before rejoining their lips. I will never get enough of kissing him...
Though I guess it spooked her too much down there. Guess that's over. He brought his hand back up to cup her soft cheek.
"Mm-mm," Rapunzel hummed unexpectedly.
Eugene retreated at the negative sound, though confused as to why she also sounded amused. "What now?"
"Show me." She smirked and recaptured him under her spell quickly enough with her recently learned bedroom eyes. The wind left him as she took his hand back. A deep breath herself, and she placed it back over him with barely a flinch this time. His eyes drooped closed and every breath became heavy, as she ever so delicately ran her hand over and around. Even through the blanket and his shorts, the fact that she was doing it drove him crazy.
"Blondie..." Now would be when he latched on to the girl's throat and sucked till he'd left marks to remember him by when he was long gone, or perhaps for another man to simply have known of his presence. He would not need to think one bit as he just poured out any primal urge she milked from him. But, no. This was the princess, whom, though he would still have to leave, he could not leave his imprint on beyond her heart and mind. Swollen lips would have to do. His hand still near her neck propelled them together much as she first had. She parted her lips as other times, but he shrugged that away in favor of sucking and nipping on one lip, then the other, and back, til he knew the tingle would remain at least past this morning. He would still find a way to be on her lips, to comfort her after her sure-to-be ill-fated attempt to speak to her parents on his behalf. Really though, who knew? Her hair had saved him, her tears had saved him, perhaps these lips could save him as well. She would make him out to be a hell of a guy, a hero. He believed neither, but regardless, he would worship them for trying.
Rapunzel could scarcely focus on only one thing or the other. She had ground to a full halt below, though her mere presence was enough to still encourage its growth. His hand had resumed its spot above hers, guiding it and moving her fingers into just the right spots to press, and where to glide along from there.
This was getting to be too much for the blanket to be in the way. Eugene released her mouth. "Rapunzel... Either you need to leave or I need to get these shorts off."
"No, I want to see you," she blurted. "Promise I won't freak out," she giggled, both from the fond memory of an inside joke they already shared, and proud of herself for not being scared anymore.
"Okay, just... Stop if you wanna stop. It's okay." Although she's probably too stubborn to stop. Eugene released her completely as he tossed off the blanket, and, with only slight hesitation for her benefit, slid his shorts down and kicked them away.
Rapunzel predictably drew her arms into herself, eyes wide and fixed on what she could only compare to a snake. Calm down, no, it's Eugene and he would never hurt me. That's the very same thing I just felt, just out in the light... to see how gross it looks. Or, actually, I guess it also looks like a sausage... That'd be a nice way to think of it, yeah. She blushed and smiled back face to face with him, especially once she noticed he looked uneasy and almost shy himself. She rejoined their lips, and placed her hand back at his hip, to show she was still in this.
He noticeably relaxed, and softly reunited their hands. He had to let her know and keep her assured she could withdraw at any point. Although, he had come to hope she would not, while another part of him wracked up the guilt for so soon spoiling such a perfectly innocent maiden. Not only a virgin, but one completely ignorant of so much in life. No – Innocent my ass. Still... do I ruin everything I touch? And everyone I meet... His thoughts from drowning in the cave resurfaced. He caressed her fingers more at his hip, then finally, pushed them to move. Better me than some other douchebag.
She inhaled sharply as she felt his own coarse, curly hairs.
He peaked at her again and loosened his grip further. They lingered there a moment, then at last cut the suspense. He guided her over but another inch, where just two of her fingertips brushed his shaft. But she did not flinch this time. He broke the kiss again and cursed himself for moving her too quickly in what, three days? Four. Fuck the kingdom, this should have been months from now, married. "Talk to me, Blondie."
She giggled. "About what?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah," she breathed, completely at ease now. "It's warm. And your hair's just like mine."
"Yeah." He brushed his cheek against hers. Below, he delicately scooted her hand over more and more, til her whole palm and fingers stretched down its length. He picked his head back up to worriedly look her in the eye. God, gorgeous... "You okay?"
She had been watching their hands, trying to get over shyness at every second. He was helping, and she was succeeding. But she locked eyes with him again. "Yeah... I actually am..." She smiled at him. He's beautiful...
"Then, ready to see how it's really done?" he asked, concerned.
Rapunzel's eyes widened. "Wait, what, sex? No no no, uh..." She tensed.
"No no no – no..." He flashed a smile at her lack of nuanced pillow talk. "I just mean this. Um, masturbation, it's called. What you, and then I, did last night. Well, that's called fingering, and this would be a handjob." Let's learn to crawl before you try to sache.
Just when she thought she would need to write down all this terminology, he spit in his hand. "EW! What-!?"
But Eugene was unperturbed. "I don't get wet on my own like you do." She moved her hand aside and just watched. He slathered it all along and then around the shaft, then gripped it, continuing to stroke it up and down lazily. Looking almost drugged, he nuzzled her cheek to look back to him. "Do you still want to?"
"But you just spit on it!"
He grabbed at her mouth with his. She happily obliged, and he ran his tongue quickly along hers. "And now you've tasted my spit. So?"
They both giggled. Okay, point. "Well, you're still going to have to help me."
"That's fine." He smiled as he trailed kisses along her cheek. His hand took hers again, and guided her small fingers to wrap around and underneath. He moaned as he felt his way back to her lips, but he remembered himself and merely brushed them together briefly. "I love you, Rapunzel. You don't have to do this – If you want to stop, at anytime, then just take your hand away. But I'm gonna keep going myself regardless, okay? Do you understand?" He sounded serious and urgent.
"Eugene, I want to, for you to show me how to make you feel amazing, too."
Fuck... No one's ever known me as- she said my name. My real name. He felt a pang at his eyes. If we ever did have sex I'd probably literally cry, wouldn't I... He smiled wistfully anyway and kissed her as he gripped his hand fully around hers. Slowly, he began to glide them up and down.
She sighed as she tried to settle into a rhythm with him. "Um, does that, feel good?" she stuttered out.
"Heh, yeah..." he moaned.
Down there, she focused on getting to know him better. She noted its width was about that of a sausage as well, that fit comfortably in her hand. Meaty, veiny, with skin that seemed to slide a little loosely itself; she smiled through the kiss. Not scary at all. She felt that he had been rubbing his thumb over the mushroom-like tip with each go. She ventured this move herself, which cause him to falter completely as he gasped. He leaned back to look at her, surprised. She merely gaped back expectantly. He obeyed and began again, gripping her hand tighter and this time taking her over the tip with him.
He was quickly reaching his limit, being the morning, and especially with the lone thought of her. His face burrowed into her shoulder, then down to her chest. Kisses trailed behind him. Breathing came in only hot gasps. She buried her face in his thick hair, one of the sources of the sweetness in his scent as well, she determined.
"Mrgh – Blondie... Rapunzel," he moaned, pushing further into her bosom, "I'm gonna come."
"Huh?"
Fuck... her word? "Finish."
"Oh," she blushed.
His moans strained and his chest heaved more and more. He threw his head back to the wall, and darted his other hand to grip the forearm she was using. "Fuuuuuck," he quietly growled.
Rapunzel watched his face, much to her dismay and confusion. He looks like he's in pain! His teeth were clenched, nose scrunched, and eyes screwed shut. "Eugene?"
There was his natural born name again, sounding so sweet on those lovely lips, wrought with worry. He squeezed her forearm tighter, then snatched it away and shoved her aside a bit. He doubled over himself, and caught the product in the handkerchief again. His moans shuddered through his rippling body, standing every nerve on edge. Any noises he was making devolved to sighs as his brain went blurry and nothing else about his body mattered. Handkerchief tossed to the floor again, he finally collapsed. He flopped back onto his side, hands feeling their way to her. He could not tell if he was still moaning, or why, but his eyes could not open and his mouth hung open.
Rapunzel herded his limp hands together into hers and tangled them all up in her lap. She was not sure if she understand the subtle differences in what just happened, but she chuckled at how silly it seemed. Judgment could hold out til this poor crumpled lump explained.
The hazy morning light played a pleasant melodic buzz in his ears. The rush had flooded out all feeling of connection to his body. Eugene squirmed around til his head was under her arm and on her abdomen, with his legs curled up to her knees. "Mmm... Blondie," he smiled stupidly.
She giggled. "Eugene, you're ridiculous! What are you doing?"
"Gimme a min," he gargled out drowsily but happily.
She ran a hand through his hair, eliciting a new string of super sensitive squeals from him, and more giggles from her. "Are you alright though? I didn't hurt you before, did I?"
He merely grinned wider. "No," he sighed, "No... this is perfect." Somehow at the declaration of 'perfect,' he felt it all slipping away again. No, just let me hold onto this moment forever. His smile faded and unfortunately his eyes opened to face reality again. He saw their hands woven around each others in her lap. He squeezed hers, rubbing his thumbs over them. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said cheerily again. "But I'm not sure I got what all of that was about."
"Ah, yeah... That's the- the um, with the back and forth like, and then that's what would go to, um..." he tried to reply as he sat back up, much to her amusement. "Um, like, you..." he motioned with one hand's index finger and the other making an O. "Ya get it?"
"Ohhh." Rapunzel's smile burned up into a puckering blush, fully understanding of what he meant. She spied that the length that had been there was gone, and all was once again small and squishy. But, something was oozing out of it.
Eugene chuckled with her, then noticed her inquiring stare. "Ah crap..." He wiped it away with just his hand. Before she could even ask, he continued. "That's the stuff that comes out when I finish, that would go to start making a baby, if it came out inside of a woman. So that's how you would-"
"Oh!" she actually cut him off, "So you just don't finish, like, while you'd be inside?"
"Yeah," he answered, amazed at how quick she was. His own mind started racing again. Yeah, great, lemme just detail all the different sorts of contraception you and your prince could use for a few years, anything else your friggen highness? Goddammit...
She on the other hand, could not seem to believe the progress she must have just conquered. Knees pulled up under her and to the side, one arm up and playing with the ends of her hair behind her ear; her cheeks glowed as she bit her lip, eying all the rest of him up again. She could hardly stop giggling or blushing.
One look back to her smile and his spirit warmed back over. He rolled over onto his stomach and pulled himself up beside her. A natural smolder came over him as he brushed her cheek, then hooked his hand around her neck to pull her to his face for just one more sensual kiss. "Rapunzel," he touched their foreheads, "I will always love you – please," he winced, "Just don't ever doubt that."
"I know," she replied softly.
"No matter what happens, I need you to trust me, you promise?"
She leaned back away. Why is he acting like this... She looked him in the eyes; there was something new, a growing worry she saw in him. Reluctantly, she smiled for him. "I promise."
He forced a smile, nodded and gulped. Suddenly he was realizing how unsure he was of his own courage to follow through. "Alright then." He cleared his throat and withdrew to gather his clothes. "We should get going..."
Rapunzel took a deep breath and followed suit. This time was much easier, though Eugene still kept his back to her. She was able to get her bottom undergarments on under her nightgown, and with her shift over the nightgown, she could wriggle the nightgown out from under it.
She watched as Eugene, already back in his pants, fumbled around with his ripped and bloody white shirt, getting it on backwards at first. He paced back and forth, nervously trying to button it up, unevenly. He noticed eventually and groaned as he undid it all.
She sighed. "Come here."
He looked over to her but shook his head. "Nah, nah I got it," he sighed. "But lemme know when you need help with your corset." As he fixed the rolls of his sleeves, he watched her get her skirts set and held her corset up in place. He redid all the tiny buttons for her, bidding each one goodbye this time.
As she felt him finish, Rapunzel turned an popped a quick peck on his lips; much to his pleasant surprise. While he was stunned, she brushed the tear in his shirt. "I know you won't admit it," she said as slid her fingers through the hole to brush his skin, drawing him to gasp. She continued, "But you're my hero, too."
"Thanks," but he brushed it off and turned to pick up his doublet.
"You know, maybe you don't have to take me back." She tried to give him puppy dog eyes, but smiled at the cheerier thought of running away.
"What? No..." He barely glanced back at her, seemingly paying more attention to his belts. "They're your real parents, your real mother, who is actually heartbroken and wants to hold you, not keep ya locked away in some friggen-"
"But if they find you-!" She grabbed his still-open lapels and turned him to face her.
He clenched his jaw, trying to keep his face blank. "They won't."
She shook her head, pouting. "You can't take me back."
"Rapunzel," he said sweetly, "Everything is gonna be fine." He pecked her forehead, faking a smile for her. "Trust me." He was doing a very good job of ignoring his internal screaming.
She hmphed through her nose a little. Everything is not gonna be fine. Her stomach churned, but she let him and the subject go so they could finish dressing.
Downstairs was strangely quiet, save for the sizzling and scraping of a lone someone cooking. They looked around as they descended the steps, Eugene already carrying the bag and paint case.
"Attila?" Rapunzel called out.
At a stove, he turned and waved.
She took a deep breath through the nose, and did not regret it this time. "Ah..."
"Ah, I thought I smelled pancakes!" Eugene exclaimed. His air was light and merry again, through much unseen effort.
"Hungry?" Attila's voice sounded like a bear growling.
"Oh, um, actually..." Rapunzel clutched her stomach.
"Well, thanks, but I'm good." Eugene answered first. "You hungry?"
She shyly looked up to him, lips anxiously scrunched up, and shook her head. "I just have no appetite right now..." she mumbled.
"Yeah, me neither," he sighed to her.
Attila simply stared blankly at them, then turned back to the stove.
"Where's Max?" Rapunzel asked, wondering how she could miss a giant white horse.
Eugene was distracted staring down the two guards, who were still tied, but now quite awake, in the corner. As more light seeped into the pub this time of day, he could now see they were tied to a huge intruding tree root. They looked just as terrified as him as they watched them move towards the back door. "Um... outside?" he idly answered her.
She opened the door to find Max snout-deep in a bushel.
He picked his head up to look as he heard the door open. Apple bits dripped from his mouth; Pascal watched from atop his mane.
Rapunzel giggled a bit of her anxiety off at the sight of him, but Eugene's frayed nerves snapped and he burst out laughing.
Much to both their chagrins, Max greeted them by nosing them up, and smirking disapprovingly.
"What?" Eugene laughed innocently.
Max tapped a hoof on his chest a few times, then slowly pushed him away from Rapunzel.
Eugene just scoffed and mock-laughed at him. "Eh-heh-heh – Tell ya what. Next time, you can share a bed with Blondie, mmkay? Right now we're all wanted, and we're all in this together." He scooped off a blushing Pascal, and pet him good morning as he sat him on his shoulder. "There ya go, lil green," he whispered to him.
Rapunzel took Pascal from his shoulder, only to chatter with him herself.
Standing right against the closed back door, he gambled that the guards were listening. "So, Max, what's the gameplan?" he made sure to speak a little louder.
Max whinnied in confusion.
"What?" Rapunzel asked, also confused.
Eugene brought his finger to his lips to shush her. "Shush! They'll. Hear. Us!" He said loud and clear. But he jerked his head back as he winked and smirked.
Rapunzel mouthed a silent "oh," as she grinned mischievously.
"East? Well, what's out there for us? … Oh, oh – No, that's good."
"So, East it is!" Rapunzel announced, retaining a giggle.
"Only thing west of here is Corona-"
"And we've already made it this far!"
"Right! There's lots of places to the East, that we could hide out in!" he beamed to his new favorite partner in crime, then turned back to Max. "Eat up. We'll meet you round front in a bit."
As Eugene was loading Max back up in front of the Snuggly Duckling, Rapunzel was slicing up apple pieces for Pascal.
Hookhand had woken up in time to see them off. Eugene pulled him aside to shake his hand.
"Thank you, so much, for everything you've done for us." More quietly, he continued, "Later today, see if you can get those guards to head back to the castle. The crown's already been returned, and you should tell them their Lost Princess has been found."
Hook nodded. "And you?"
Now he whispered low enough, certain that Rapunzel could not here them. "I'm not sticking around. Tell them Flynn Rider won't be bothering anyone anymore. I gotta head south to report back about this botched job, but after that, I might still have a friend in one of the Charmings."
Hook raised a brow and shook his head. "She don't wanna see you."
Eugene rolled his eyes and nodded. "I know, but I'm hoping she doesn't want me dead. She can't be implicated in harboring me, though, or her whole kingdom-"
"I know." Hook held up his hand to stop him, then looked him in the eye. "I don't know nothin."
"Thanks."
Hook shook his head cynically. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to get involved with the alliances?"
Eugene just smiled wider. "Yup." And with that, he turned to mount Max.
Rapunzel stepped up to Hook now, both smiling sweetly to each other. "I can't thank you enough, but once I'm, back, I'll do whatever I can to help make your dream come true." She looked over to Attila and now Vlad who had joined them. "All of your dreams. I promise." She hugged each of them, then joined Eugene in the saddle and they were off.
On the road again, Rapunzel noticed how tightly Eugene was holding her. But before she could get the nerve to question him, he had more to tell her.
"You heard what the plan is for those guards," he said flatly.
"Oh, yeah..."
"You can't tell anyone where I might be, okay?"
"Where will you be?" she asked eagerly.
He hesitated. "I'm not sure myself where I might end up."
She turned back to look at him. He's not coming back for me...
"Just trust me, Blondie." He tried flashing a smolder as he looked her right in the eye.
She merely wrinkled her brow with worry, then turned back to face forward. "I do trust you..." she mumbled. Though why does it feel like I can't believe a word you say...
"And one more thing," he nuzzled her spiky hair.
"What's that." She was losing amusement with his lies.
"You can't tell anyone there about us, or what we've done." He leaned aside to see her face.
She looked to him. Was she really soon to never see those eyes again? And he would have her forced to pretend for the rest of her life that there was never anything between them? She gulped. "If it will keep you safe-"
"It will keep both of us safe. Promise me – that's the one thing I need you to promise me. That you'll remember what I've said, but not tell anyone what we've done."
She sighed and closed her eyes. "I promise." She squeezed his arms around her tighter.
A/N: Follow me as MiraNova23 on tumblr for Tangled Fandom Resurrection, messaging, my other fanworks, lots of Chuck vs Tangled, and general Disnerdiness.