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"But-"
"For the last time Fitzherbert, yes, your hair is fine," Cassandra growled, tugging more harshly at his arm and nearly sending both of them tumbling to the ground.
She muttered an unconvinced "sorry" and Eugene chuckled weakly, knowing that his attempts to lighten the situation up were not appreciated right now. Cassandra was a tough public to please, however today, it wasn't about her. It was about him, and himself only, or, more precisely, about not freaking out more than he already was. He stayed silent approximately two seconds and a half, before feeling like he might choke in the darkness.
"And my skin?" He asked breathlessly, trying very hard to sound flippant and failing miserably. "Is my skin still well-hydrated? I mean, I know my skincare routine is perfect but it needs some touch up during the day you know, these looks take work to-"
"One more word and you'll be mute too, I swear."
Eugene gulped and shut up. He knew that Cassandra didn't mean it like that - knew that she was harsh, because that's how she dealt with situations she didn't like, but that her face was probably creased in concern and worry. Well, he could only guess that part, since he couldn't see anything at all, but after years of her forced company, including nearly one on the road together, he felt like he knew her well.
Which is why he knew she wouldn't really make him mute. That didn't mean the possibility, or even the simple mention of it, didn't make him feel dread right in his bones.
He was blind. Not forever, he hoped, but for now, in broad daylight, he could only see darkness and he hated it. So maybe he had started to nag at Cass about the state of his clothes, his hair, or his skin, because egotistical and self-centered funny guy was an easy role to fall back on when he didn't know what to do with his emotions, but who could blame him? He was blind. And it wasn't even his fault. Or, not entirely.
"I told you that big flower was bad news," he sighed in exasperation, hoping that he was rolling his eyes like he felt he was, "but did you listen?"
"I'm sorry but who told you to stay back?" Cassandra snarked in answer, her hold tightening on his arm. "Yes, that flower was dangerous, but I knew how to get close enough and get my sword back without problems, you decided to fall right face first in it!"
"Well you shouldn't have lost your sword in the first place!"
"Are you kidding me? You threw my sword in the flower!"
"You attacked me with it!"
"I didn't attack you, I wanted you to shut up, I was threatening you nicely!"
"Threa-threatening me nicely?!" Eugene sputtered. "That doesn't mean anything!"
"It does!" "Does not!" "It does!" "Does not!"
Eugene's feet caught in a protruding root and he lost his balance, crashing into Cassandra and taking them both down with a yell. He was quite glad, for a second, to not be able to see the position they were in, because he really didn't want to see the glare she was probably throwing him as he laid on her. He could still feel his skin tingling, and he put it under the "Cassandra has psychic powers" box he kept in his head. (One day, he would have enough evidence to reveal the dragon lady for the terrifying creature she really was deep down.) He rolled to his side, his brain scrambling to reconcile the absolute darkness and his other senses' signals, but he felt Cassandra get up next to him.
He could hear her brush the dirt off her clothing in silence, the only other noises being the wind in the leaves and the random birds' chirping.
"Need help getting up?" she asked gruffly and Eugene nodded, lifting his hand up vaguely until she took it and pulled.
He felt like he should be brushing the dirt off his clothes too, but he couldn't see where it was needed because he couldn't see anything because he was blind. Stupid flower with its stupid spores that felt like an open flame on his face for a second, before making him think that it was over until he realised that his eyes were, in fact, open. Stupid sword that fell in the flower, stupid him for falling after it, stupid Cass for being annoying and stupid- well not stupid, his Sunshine could never be, but tiny bit annoying Rapunzel for forcing them to go search for food together, so they could have a bonding experience.
Their only bonding was made through teasing and making faces at each other like preschoolers, not hunting.
"Oh god," Cassandra breathed out suddenly, stopping in her tracks, "what are we going to say to Rapunzel?"
Eugene laughed, happy that she was the one who broke the silence this time. "Well, she's going to be worried enough about me that she'll forgive my participation in the accident. You however…"
"It's not my fault you go searching for trouble!" Cass protested. "The whole flower incident could have been avoided if you'd just been careful!"
The argument started up again, and they bickered the whole way towards the caravan. Eugene didn't notice, but Cassandra managed to distract him thoroughly from his current situation, their teasing and mean remarks a scenario he knew very well. That way, he didn't have to take too much notice about the careful way she guided him, or the fact that he kept stumbling around, or even the rebellious wick of hair that claimed its freedom as soon as he lost his sight. (Cassandra refused to be the one to tell him that though, for fear that he would ask her to style it back.)
"Here goes," Cassandra whispered, his only warning that they were back before Lance screeched "Oh my god are you holding hands?!"
They had a lot of explaining to do.
The situation positively sucked. Eugene hated being helpless, he hated being babied and the only person he ever wanted to be vulnerable with was Rapunzel - Lance too, possibly, and a case could be made for Cassandra, but certainly not Hookfoot or Shorty. For that only, this day had not been the greatest in his life; he was blind and sad, and the third Lance's surprise hug special nearly gave him a heart attack, and Cassandra nearly drowned him when they tried to wash his eyes thoroughly, and that was only part of what happened today.
There was one thing that was good, however and, as always in Eugene's life, it was Rapunzel.
She had took the whole thing way better than he thought she would. She had not panicked like the others, she had not questioned him as if he had any ideas of what was happening, she had just… been here. All day, right at his side, making jokes and soothing him when she felt him freaking out and, all in all, being the best human being on Earth - which Eugene knew she was, but every day, he fell a little more in love with her. Rapunzel knew exactly what he needed, probably better than even himself.
"Aren't you worried?" he asked at some point, when they were both left alone in the caravan and he was laying his head on her lap, while her fingers carded gently through his hair. It wasn't an accusation, really - but he was worried, he even felt sick to his stomach and she was just… so calm.
"I'm terrified, Eugene," she answered softly, her brute honestly surprising him, "but you're terrified too. I may not be able to do anything about your eyes, but I can help you feel better, so that what I'll do."
He hummed, and they fell back into comfortable silence, only interrupted but Rapunzel's scratching in her journal. He was so glad for her, she could probably never get how much; she had managed to take all the dread that inhabited him and turned it into warmth and love. If Eugene had to live his whole life blind, what would break his heart the most was to not be able to see her ever again. How could he live with only the memory of her smile, or the sparkle in her eyes, or the majesty she could exude as well as she did playfulness, or- or- He didn't need to see Rapunzel to love her, but he wanted to see each and every of her expression, he wanted to be able to map the freckles on her skin and to bear witness of every changes in her body. He wanted… He…
"You okay?" Rapunzel asked gently, and he could practically hear the worried smile on her lips.
"Yeah," he breathed out silently, not sure of what exactly she could be seeing in his face that made her worry. "I'm only tired."
It wasn't an excuse - he felt weary and exhausted, as if he had spent the whole day running. He thought that, maybe, being on high alert constantly had a way to make someone tired, but he wasn't sure. His head was also starting to ache, but he didn't want to worry Rapunzel more than she already was, so he only hoped it would go away on its own.
"Oh!" Rapunzel exclaimed, "Wait!"
She extracted herself from under him and, before he could protest, went over him and out of the bed. He could hear her move around and he wasn't sure of what she was doing, but he restrained himself from calling out to her - he was pretty sure she wouldn't leave like that. He tried to raise himself on his arms but it still felt very disorienting to only rely on his knowledge of the place, so he abandoned the endeavour and fell back. What must he look like, on his back on a bed, eyes open and unseeing as if he was a fish? And he couldn't even check his hair - though, with Rapunzel's carding, he had a pretty good idea of the disarray it must be in.
"I'm back!" Rapunzel said joyfully, startling him as she lightly pushed at him. "Come on, let's get you under the covers."
It was awkward, because he didn't really understand her cues, but they managed to get him tucked into bed. Then, as he had hoped, Rapunzel slipped to his side, automatically snuggling him.
"Oh, I like this," Eugene sighed, contempt.
"I like this too," Rapunzel murmured, kissing his ear sweetly.
Eugene wondered if it was as dark for Rapunzel as it was for him - he didn't even know if night had fallen. He didn't even know the time .
"Sunshine," he started, not sure where his sentence was going. His hand wandered blindly toward her, until it found her stomach and settled here. "What if-"
"Hey," she interrupted, her hand going over his, "if you really want to talk about this, we can but… Maybe we should sleep. You're clearly exhausted, I am too and… We can be worried tomorrow?"
He could hear the nervousness in her voice, as if she was worried she had crossed a line but, going by the relief he felt, she had once more guessed exactly what he needed right now. Taking a risk, he carefully went closer to her face and kissed her, his lips ending on her nose instead of her lips - good enough. She giggled, and put a hand on his neck to guide him to her, and their lips finally met.
God, he loved her. So much.
It didn't take him long to fall asleep when he was warm and safe inside the arms of his dream.
------
Eugene was cold. He was cold, and he couldn't see anything but the dark veil falling in front of his eyes, blocking Rapunzel from his sight while he tried desperately to get to her. She was talking, begging really, promising to go with the monster that called itself her mother is she could only save his life and- she couldn't. He called her name weakly, trying to crawl to her, ignoring the terrible pain in his side or the darkness, his mind only on her, on this girl that saved his life in a day, who liked Eugene more than Flynn, who was…
"Rapunzel," he coughed, feeling the metallic taste in his mouth and not caring about what it meant for him.
Then, before he realised, he was shackled to the stairs and bleeding out, the world dark except for her hair. Rapunzel was telling him that everything would be alright, but he knew it wouldn't, because it couldn't be when she was suffering. He tried to push her away, begged her to stop, but he couldn't see her, he could barely move and she escaped his attempts easily. His side was burning and his eyes were too, as he frantically searched for a piece of mirror to cut her hair off.
He didn't find it. He couldn't look for it, he couldn't do anything, because he was cold and blind and dying, and he needed to save Rapunzel but he couldn't. She gathered him in her arms, singing her damned song, and he called out to her again without success. If anything, the song only made him colder, only made the world darker, and he thought he would be swallowed whole by it, Gothel's laugh echoing sharply off the walls in his mind. He was losing Rapunzel, and he was dying again, but those two events shouldn't coexist and he knew it. He tried to scream her name, but his voice wasn't working, and he could only hear the healing incantation, and the desperation behind these words.
If only he could see her- if only he could tell that she didn't need to do that, that she was his dream, were his dream, but that she deserved to live free and find her true parents and- and-
"Eugene!" Rapunzel yelled and he startled awake with a gasp, his grip tightening around her waist before he realised he was crushing her. "It's okay, it was just a dream," she soothed, taking his hands in hers, but he didn't answer, he only tried to get his breathing under control.
He still couldn't see her. He could feel her hair brushing against his stomach as she was leaning over him, and he knew it was long and blond but Gothel's laugh was still ringing in his ears and he couldn't see her and- it was as dark as when he died. He had been cold and empty, swimming in shadows until he heard her voice and felt her light as she brought the sunshine back in his life. And now, he couldn't see her and…
"You need to breathe Eugene," Rapunzel instructed gently, her voice soft and controlled, even if he could still hear the tremors in it. One of her hands went to his hair, brushing a sweaty lock out of his forehead, as if it would hinder his vision, and Eugene let out a stressed laugh.
"Sorry, I- Sorry," he mumbled after some time, his eyes desperately trying to meet hers even when he couldn't see them.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," she whispered, still touching him gently. "You… Do you want to talk about it?"
Did he? Eugene wasn't sure. He still felt terrified and he knew it wasn't going to go away, especially not when he was still blind, but having Rapunzel near him had already calmed him down enough, didn't it? She was waiting patiently for his response and, once again, he wondered what she could be seeing on his face - and what he would be seeing on hers, if he could see it. She was probably concealing the worry in her voice much more than he realised.
"I… I was back at the tower," he admitted, surprising even himself. She breathed out his name with sorrow, but let him talk. "I was dying and… I couldn't see you. I couldn't see anything and- you were singing but you didn't realise that I was already- that I…"
He didn't finish his sentence. Rapunzel hugged him tight anyway, and he hold her back, both seeking comfort in each other. He didn't tell her about not finding the mirror fragment, because that was a "what if" he never managed to get over - he preferred not to think about the world in which it happened. Rapunzel was safe, and she had saved him too and, nightmares aside, they had left this behind. More or less.
"What time is it?" He whispered, face still pressed in the crook of her shoulder.
"Night," was the mumbled answer, punctuated by a yawn that made him chuckle lightly. "You still want to sleep?"
Honestly, Eugene wasn't sure, but he nodded anyway, because Rapunzel certainly needed it. They stayed like that, entangled with each other, and it wasn't long until he could hear her breathing deepen, her weight warm and heavy in his arms. He smiled, and prepared himself for a long sleepless night - before falling asleep again, exhausted and safe in their embrace.
For the umpteenth time in his weird life, he was woken up by a cold tongue in his ear and - quite frankly - shrieked, to the sound of Pascal and Rapunzel's laughs. She had gone out of bed at some point, but went to kiss him quickly, before returning to her journal.
"Good morning!"
"G'd m'rn'g" he mumbled, falling back pathetically, never the morning person that she was. "Wha-" he trailed off, eyes widening considerably as he took in his environment.
His blurry and still a little dark at the edges but very visible environment.
Eugene got up quickly, turning towards the blond blob that was currently Rapunzel and felt a grin spread on his lips almost against his wishes. She wasn't looking at him right now, so he took advantage of that and rushed to hug her, drawing a squeak and a delighted laugh as she realised that his vision was coming back.
It took two days for it to be completely back to normal, but blurry was better than nothing so Eugene got up to mischief for the time being. And, when his eyes were as good as before, and when he had kissed Rapunzel a lot and gazed into her eyes like the love-sick fool that he was, he wasn't that surprised to see her smile turn into her Princess' frown.
"Now, Eugene, we'll have to talk about not throwing ourselves at dangerous and unknown flowers for nothing," she announced sternly.
He grimaced and glared at a snickering Cassandra, promising himself that he'll get her back for that one day. After the lecture, though.