These two requests have both been sitting in my inbox for weeks, so I hope you guys won't mind that I combined them into one. I know one of the requests was for a kiss, but it didn't work out that way? Sorry… I'd say I'm not sure how it turned into this… But this is me, isn't it? Fluffy angst happens whether I want it to or not.

How Are You So Calm About This

Rapunzel's fingers moved with a surety Jack hadn't expected from her. If the blood coming from the cut in his side bothered her at all, she gave no sign of it. Pulling a rag from the bowl of hot water, she wrung it out and started to clean the wound. She did her best to be gentle, but Jack still cringed. Both at the touch, and the heat from the water still on the cloth.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

Jack shook his head. He watched her work. All her attention was focused on his side, her wide green eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Her lips moved, and he thought he caught the faintest whisper of her singing to herself as she worked.

When he had been injured, he had been frustrated that the blonde was the only one with him. He hadn't expected her to be any help, since he had assumed the sight of her blood would make her useless.

"How are you so calm about this?"

She looked up briefly, meeting his eyes before they flicked back to his side.

"What do you mean?" she asked, wringing the rag out and rinsing it out.

Still watching her, Jack considered the best way to phrase his thoughts and assumptions.

"I didn't expect a princess to know how to clean a wound," he admitted. Probably not the best way to say it.

"You thought the sight of blood would make me feint, you mean?" There was a hint of accusation in her tone. But there was also the hint of a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth.

Jack nodded, sheepishly.

"This isn't the first time I've seen blood."

Jack cocked his head to the side, hoping she would elaborate on that. The shadow that crossed her expression piqued his curiosity, in a dark way.

Instead she turned away, picking up the bandages she had pulled from his pack. Jack braced himself and sat up without being asked. He bit the inside of his cheek the keep from making any sounds of pain as the movement pulled at the torn skin.

As she started wrapping the bandages around his torso, her head was bent so he couldn't see her expression. The wound was almost completely hidden by the white fabric before she spoke.

"You're not the first person to get hurt protecting me, either, Jackson."

Ah. That would explain the shadow.

"Jack."

She finally looked up. "What?"

"Just… Jack," he said. "People usually only call me Jackson when I'm in trouble."

That got a small smile from her. "I'll keep that in mind."

Jack's mouth twitched in a grin, though he didn't have the energy to finish the expression.

He looked around the abandoned cabin they had found. With everything the previous owner had left behind, whoever they were had left in a hurry. Probably to get out when the war started getting closer to Corona's capital city. As a Guardian, it frustrated him that the war had been allowed to cause so much upheaval in the lives of so many people. But for the moment, he was grateful. It was the only reason Rapunzel had been able to boil the water.

Outside, the storm continued to rage.

"How did you even know this place was here?"

"I spend a lot of time in the woods," Rapunzel said. "I know them like the back of my hand. The family that lived her left a few months ago."

Jack nodded.

She finished the bandage. "You should sleep."

"So should you, Your Highness."

"I'm not injured," she said.

"My assignment is to look after you," he said. Keep her safe. That was all. Whatever more he was feeling as he watched her clean up needed to stop.

"Which you've done admirably," she said. She touched his shoulder gently, actually pushing him until he lay back on the bed. "If you want to keep doing so, you need to rest."

Jack chuckled reluctantly as he shifted, getting as comfortable as he could with the throbbing pain in his side.

The princess leaned over the side of the bed, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Jack stiffened, but her expression told him she thought nothing of the move as she stood back up.

"Go to sleep."

"I'm a Guardian, not a child."

"Sleep."

And he found himself closing his eyes obediently.