The first few moments after Eugene's miraculous resurgence were filled with laughter, tears, and kisses of every kind. He was also aching to speak with Rapunzel, to let her know it had never been his choice to stay away, that the Stabbingtons had gleefully punched out his lights before tying him to the mast of that sail boat...but number one on the docket was making sure that Rapunzel was good and fully kissed before anything else happened. The new couple had been denied long enough.
Through her tears of joy, Rapunzel kept exclaiming, "You're here, oh, you're here! I can't believe you're really here!" "Yes, I'm here! I swear it's really me! I'm right here!" he was happy to say repeatedly, still half in shock himself. Never before had anyone in his life been this happy to see him. The young woman kept trailing kisses all up and down his face and neck. "I thought I'd lost you forever. Three separate times. Please - don't ever walk away like you did last night," she whispered, her lower lip trembling. Eugene placed his thumb on her chin which caused their foreheads to touch. He vowed, "This I promise to my sunshine princess: I shall never walk away again. Not. Ever." He felt almost certain that Rapunzel had believed him to be dead for far longer than "just a minute or two," as she had said.
"I thought I would never see you again!" they both exclaimed together. Then they shared another huge embrace and more tender kisses. "I knew she had to be lying about your execution!" and Rapunzel pulled back for a few tense seconds, stood up again, and peered down lovingly at Eugene. One of her hands stroked the back of his hair and with each caress, warm fuzzy fireflies of ecstasy exploded under his scalp and radiated outward to the rest of his body. He was at somewhat of a disadvantage in this situation, what with still being attached at the wrist and shackled to the banister. He couldn't stand up since the chain was too short and therefore currently had to be content with merely kneeling.
And at the moment, he didn't really feel like complaining...not with the way Rapunzel was currently looking down at him with her luminous green eyes….hungry green eyes. And then…and then! She pillowed his head against her perfect bosoms and Eugene thought he just might die…..again….in those arms. He could not reign in the contented sigh that betrayed his obvious pleasure as she continued stroking his hair at the nape of his neck. In response, Rapunzel giggled throatily, and heaven help Eugene, that giggle made her chest bob up and down against his face. Then his body reflexively tensed….or did it relax...maybe both? He wasn't sure which….either way, Rapunzel was clearly enjoying the effect she was having on him. It was just his luck (or curse) that his beloved new dream was a natural tease!
As for Eugene, his heart thundered against his ribcage up into his ears...and he wondered why, all of a sudden, he felt like a scrawny inept virgin of 15 all over again.
Flynn Rider had possessed almost magical animal instincts when it came to women. Flynn Rider could cold-read a woman's preferred type of man in thirty seconds, emulate that type of man, and have said woman fully seduced in another thirty seconds flat. Or so the legend goes.
The previous evening, even before Rapunzel had unexpectedly presented Eugene with that thrice-damned satchel, as part of putting Flynn Rider's past behind him, Eugene had already vowed to always take things slow and steady with Rapunzel. But for the life of him, though, he couldn't remember what slow or steady or even up or down was at the moment. Consequently, he just knelt on the glass-strewn floor like a love-sick puppy and let the most beautiful woman in all existence have her way with him. The most beautiful and the most curious woman.
For all his prowess and experience, Eugene had never met anyone remotely like Rapunzel, ergo his techniques meant next to nothing so all bets were off. Most of his carefully honed instincts had been dreadfully wrong where she was concerned. Nor could he recall having been so turned on merely by having his face pressed against a woman's covered breasts since he had been a pimply-faced teen.
At this point, Rapunzel pulled back, cupped his chin in her hand, and toyed with his goatee. He knew his body tensed taught as a bowstring this time and Eugene could feel a familiar heat growing in his groin. Hell, there was heat nearly everywhere now.
Rapunzel's instincts, however? Inexperienced though she was, the princess was nonetheless proving to be a remarkably apt pupil in the school of facial cartography. Eugene surrendered to the most tender exploration of his face he had ever experienced from anyone. For the millionth time in the past five minutes, he wondered how or even if she possibly knew the full effect she was having on him…..
"You have such amazing eyebrows," Rapunzel said huskily, leisurely tracing and kissing each one. "You think so, eh?" he murmured, arching one for her. She laughed and again pressed her lips to said raised eyebrow. "They would be so much fun to draw." Eugene's lips parted in a breathless chuckle and his eyes closed again as he yielded to Rapunzel's impossibly gentle touch. Even her compliments were different. A thought quickly skittered by that he'd have to model for her drawings someday soon. He'd once made some good money being a model for art collective classes before….until he got himself banned from the commune. It seemed he'd become too much of a "distraction" for its residents. And back on the wooden floor, although Eugene was feeling quite light-headed already, it was then that Rapunzel truly made her move.
With lightning speed, she covered Eugene's lips with her own. His eyes snapped open and a funny honk of surprise escaped his throat. But the princess was already into it so he determined he'd get right into it too. He brought up his free arm and slowly pressed Rapunzel's body against his own, his chestnut eyes rolling back and finally closing again.
Oh my….what was this that Rapunzel is trying now? It seemed she wasn't content to let him lead; rather they played add-on. She would kiss him one way, he would kiss her back the same way and add something to it; then Rapunzel would take her turn by repeating the first two actions and add-on a third…..and so on….and so on….. Hands...hands in hair, hands on face, hands on chest….hands on everything and flying everywhere, hearts roaring in their ears, hot breath on each other's skin, and lots and lots of liplock….
Only then did they pull away, chests heaving, sweating, panting…..and boy, was he light-headed and dizzy…. On the wooden floor. "Rapunzel…..I…..we-can't. Do. This," Eugene gasped out between breaths, each word its own staccato sentence. He waited a couple more minutes, willing his heart, lungs, and loins to stop burning. "You deserve to be with a man who is above reproach. This is my first official day as the new and improved 'Eugene Fitzherbert' who intends to be by your side forevermore. The new me needs to be more honorable and respectful…." and Eugene cringed ruefully, "it'll be tough at first, cultivating more gallantry than trickery, but I know it'll be worth it, provided the King and Queen of Corona don't straight up Banish me from Corona, or worse, the next time they see me….." he said, his voice overflowing with anxiety.
Rapunzel scooched over to Eugene across the floorboards and sideways-spooned against him, saying, "They won't Banish you. Because they're gonna know about all of the wonderful, selfless things you have done for me in the past two days. And especially fifteen minutes ago…..Eugene, I can't imagine living my new life without you in it. It's only possible because of your sacrifice…..I'd rather run away with you in the opposite direction than live in that castle without you." Eugene's heart soared and he held Rapunzel tight against him.
"Truth is, I've no idea what I'd do next without you in my life, mon petit trésor." He and Rapunzel looked at each other and he kissed her forehead. The young man would've booped her nose, had his other hand been free. "There's nowhere I'd rather be than in the sunshine kingdom with my sunshine princess….." he closed his eyes and kissed his new dream…..
When Eugene opened his eyes, Rapunzel was no longer at his side…..rather, she was hovering over him, wringing her hands together, and looking very worried. How on earth could she have moved so quickly?
Rapunzel's frog-lizard thingy was even on his chest, peering down at him and squeaking things aloud….he too looked anxious.
Eugene blinked several times trying to get his bearings….and it didn't really work. "What….what just happened?" he demanded, going to push himself upright.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rapunzel said, pushing him back down with firm hands, "whoa, whoa, whoa," she repeated when Eugene again tried to sit up. "Stay down for a bit."
"What is going on here?" Eugene noticed his vest was back on, and Rapunzel's corset was fully laced again. "Uhmmm, well, you were kneeling on the floor when we were getting really into kissing, uh, each other, and….you kinda fell backwards and passed out."
"I what?!" demanded Eugene. The man had never fainted a day in his life. He pushed up on his free elbow and Pascal scampered away only to have Rapunzel shove Eugene back down again.
"I'm perfectly fine," he insisted. But was he, really? Rapunzel felt his forehead. "You kinda felt clammy when you first passed out. It's way less noticeable now."
"How long….was I out?" he said, feeling the back of his head.
"Less than a minute," she replied. "But it's okay, I caught you before you could hit the floor," Rapunzel reassured him.
Eugene felt the last of the fiery tingles from earlier finally leave and once they did, he found he could think far more clearly. Heat, light-headedness, dizziness, tingles…..it dawned on him…..did he just swoon over kissing Rapunzel!? Flynn Rider swooning over kisses from…..the most beautiful woman I've ever met. Okay, well, when you put it that way….. He decided he was perfectly fine with it. Mostly. Maybe. Kinda?
"When you told me the Stabbingtons had knocked you out, it just….well, since I'd smacked your head with the frying pan so many times a couple of days ago, I thought maybe the cumulative effects of all those things might have wound up actually hurting you," she said, again on the verge of tears. "I'm very sorry. And was I just imagining it, or did you have bruises on the side of your face when you first showed up here? Before the Flower Magic did its thing?"
Eugene smiled ruefully and grabbed Rapunzel's hand. "I may very well have had bruises….I just didn't think to notice. All I could think about during the time we were separated was you and how foolish I was to have left your side. Burnsy and Patchy - the Stabbingtons - and I go way back. They have been punching me out since we were kids," he explained, "and usually their punches are hardly more than little love taps, since I can manage to jump outta the way," Eugene smirked. "This time….this time, though, was the first time I was genuinely afraid of those two….so instead of jumping out of the way like usual...I froze. They told me they knew about your magic, were gonna punish me for not 'sharing' this knowledge with them, and then go after you for themselves. And I friggen froze like a friggen rookie." And he kissed her hand and held it against his chest. "I'm the one who should be sorry here, not you."
Rapunzel leaned over and gently kissed his lips. "May I get up now?" he asked politely. Rapunzel stood up and helped Eugene right himself. He was now leaning up against the banister again. Again, Eugene looked at the rusted chain and yanked on it. That $#*% ^! chain…..
Rapunzel glanced behind him and said, "Oh dear, I should help you unlock that manacle. If only I knew where she kept the spare key…" and the young woman got up from Eugene's side and suddenly his hands felt far too empty. "Anyway, I knew Gothel had to be lying about your execution…." she trailed off and Eugene got sucked into the traumatic memories of his mad dash from the castle this morning.
He also got very solemn. Eugene had to fight his natural instinct to smooth things over and spare Rapunzel's feelings about the execution part of his very worrisome and rather terrifyingly rushed morning. Lying had once come more naturally than breathing to Flynn Rider. But he wasn't Flynn anymore. In reality, he would never be Flynn Rider again - it put her far too much at risk.
"Rapunzel -" Eugene kindly and regretfully interrupted her happy chatter, "-first of all, we don't even need a key. I'm a professional, remember?" he queried with a wink, flashing his quirky sideways smile. She closed her eyes, scrunched up her adorable button nose, and giggled even more adorably. Eugene made a mental note that he should get her to do that again…..very soon. "All I need is a hair pin and sewing needle, or something really heavy. Second off, I already would've made short work of this stupid thing," he almost growled the last word and tugged angrily at the rusted chain and latch still attached to his wrist, "but they confiscated my lock picks at the palace prison."
"The prison?!" echoed Rapunzel, rushing over to his side again, "Oh, Eugene!" she took his face in her hands and kissed him on the forehead, "So she wasn't lying about that part? However did you get free if they took your lock picks?!"
"No, she wasn't lying," he confirmed quietly, unable to hold her gaze. "In fact...I-barely-escaped. Just barely." Eugene paused, his lips pursed together. "They-they were actually escorting me to the gallows…." and Rapunzel's shocked gasp pierced his soul as she drew back from him, her jaw open wide with horror. "So you barely escape, immediately head here, and this -" she paused and pressed a palm against her bosom, effectively forcing herself to say the next words, "th-this mmm-mm-monster - kills you anyway!" She spat out the words, shocking herself further, hardly daring to believe that she could finally speak freely about the evil witch who had lied to her and done heaven-knew-what-else the past eighteen years.
"I'm so sorry, Eugene!" she whispered, her moment of empathetic bravado apparently spent. Her face crumpled and she crumpled and although Rapunzel struggled against it valiantly, he felt her curl up into far too tiny a ball against his chest, and she silently started to weep again. Therefore Eugene instantly hated himself for having brought it up at all. She clearly needed to know all of this information before they headed back to Corona, but that didn't mean he was entirely thrilled to divulge it all. The utter surreality of this topic was also not lost on him. No other soul on the planet would understand the true significance of this conversation. Yet he had long ago embraced the fact that "unconventional" would doubtless forever define his relationship with his dearest Rapunzel.
"Hey, hey," Eugene reminded gently, again struggling to cradle her as best he could with one arm, "just remember it's you who got the last say in the matter. That's what counts and that's why I'm still here now," he said matter-of-factly, stroking her small shoulder. "The truth is that you're stronger than her and you always have been, Rapunzel. That is what she feared the most about you," he said intensely.
She sat up again, sniffling, and stared up at him wide-eyed, "You really think that's why she kept me inside?" she asked, her voice full of awe. "And not because I'm-I'm-" Rapunzel couldn't finish. So Eugene did it for her.
"And not just because you're the lost princess?" he emphasized carefully, with his eyebrows rising. Her eyes grew wide as dinner plates and she gasped with surprise this time - for she was surprised that Eugene had figured things out for himself. "Oh, Rapunzel - I know it's why. You-you radiate light! You exude this positive dynamic energy that draws everyone to you. Watching you amongst the people of Corona yesterday was like watching the sunlight warming flower blossoms with its rays. For you, it was effortless. You weren't even trying to appeal to them, only make certain everyone had enjoyed themselves. And it's not merely that they're your people; you are their person too. And you didn't even know it. THAT is real power, Rapunzel. She feared you learning just how strong and powerful you truly are, because the truth is you've always been stronger than her." This was clearly something Rapunzel hadn't considered….ever.
"It was also because she didn't want me finding out how wonderful other people can be, you know," she informed him quietly, her face softening a little more as she again wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself sideways into his chest.
"Well I, for one, am very glad you're the most powerful one here." And he turned her chin up toward him, her tears glistening in the light from the window. "After all, it was these - these little drops of your sunlight -" and he used his thumb to smooth away the last of her tears and set her forehead against his, "- that unkilled me." She giggled through her nose at his unconventional word use...which is what he'd hoped for…. "Besides, Sunshine, you haven't heard the other half of it - my very daring escape! And I'm telling you right now you will never believe who helped spring me."
End Notes:
Don't worry, there's more coming...they haven't even left the tower yet, after all...