Blind Man's Bluff

They were once again in the Sylleblossom meadow.

Noctis had suggested a game named 'Blind Man's Bluff' to play as a way to pass time, a game he had played often with royal servants before his injury. His back was nearly healed by now, and he was confident to stand and walk without his wheelchair (whenever he was out of his father's sight, that was). Luna had never heard of the game, and gave him a look of confusion when he'd suggested it.

"Blind Man's... Bluff? What's that?" She asked as he led her to the edge of the meadow, on the border of the Tenebraean forest. The air was considerably warmer than it had been over the past week, and the sun shone down but it was still quite cold out. Luna wore a pale blue shawl around her shoulders, fastened in a silver clip at her neck. Noctis was wearing his standard black jacket in order to keep out the chill, but at present it wasn't doing a very good job.

They came to a halt, where Noctis held up the white strip of fabric he'd been holding in his free hand. "The rules are pretty simple. The person who's 'it' will wear this white ribbon as a blindfold. The other person has to avoid being 'tagged", without moving faster than a walking pace. When the person is tagged, the blindfolded person has to say, 'tag' or 'you're it'."

"Sounds easy enough to me!" Luna smiled brightly. "So - who's it first?"

"I don't mind. You can try to tag me first, if you like." Noctis replied. Luna nodded, the smile never leaving her lips. Noctis moved behind her, placing the white material over her eyes and tying it over the back of her head. Walking around to face her again, he held his hand in front of her eyes.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" He asked, and Luna laughed.

"I don't know, silly." She tilted her head. "I can't see anything."

"You could be lying." Noctis pointed out teasingly. "But I trust you, and that means I believe you, too."

"It wouldn't be fun to cheat anyway, Noctis. Playing fair is much more entertaining." Luna's pretty smile widened.

"Right," Noctis agreed. "So before we begin, I have to spin you around five times until you're a little dizzy."

"Okay." Luna allowed Noctis to take her by the shoulders, turning her around several times until she was uneasy on her feet. "Don't go too far, now. Otherwise I may never find you!"

Noctis grinned. "I won't, don't worry, Luna. Give me a three second headstart." As Luna began to count, Noctis took several steps to his left, keeping his footsteps as silent as possible as he walked over the grass. He fancied he could see the metaphorical cogs turning in Luna's head as she tried to hear his movements before she finally finished counting.

"Ready or not, here I come!"

Luna stretched her arms out, grasping at the air in an attempt to catch the evasive prince as he dodged around her when she neared. Whenever Luna got too close for safety, he would duck beneath her arms and tap her shoulder, causing her to whirl around and try to catch him. When she finally caught him with a swift turn that Noctis was too slow to evade, she yelled out a very unsophisticated "yes!", and removed her blindfold.

Noctis smiled along with his friend. "Want to play some more?"

Several rounds of Blind Man's Bluff later, the two children lay side by side on the ground, laughing and panting from the exercise. Luna's hair was tangled and her cheeks were red from the cool air and Noctis was grinning more than he had in years. He reached over to hold Luna's hand, and she turned to look at him.

"Noctis?"

"Yeah?"

"...Can we play again tomorrow?"

"Of course we can."