Chapter Text
Flynn Rider was starting a new life.
For starters, he was no longer Flynn Rider. Changing his name and hiding his identity wasn't new to him, but he had always returned to the moniker Flynn Rider: world renowned rogue, master thief, and uncatchable joker with no place to call his own.
But this identity wasn't one that was meant to disappear. This identity wasn't even fake. This was his name, the name he had since he was a snot nosed orphan.
Eugene Fitzherbert.
Ok, it wasn't a glamorous name. It was a pretty lame name, actually.
Fitzherbert. Yeesh.
But it was his. And more importantly it was hers now, too. Not the Fitzherbert part, hopefully that would come later. Sometime soon later, but later. At least until after her coronation.
Princess Rapunzel. Long lost heir to the Corona Royal Throne, kidnapped as a child by an evil witch. An evil witch that had killed him, by the way. Stabbed dead. Shanked in the back. Knife to the gut. Sent on his merry way to the last hideout in the sky.
But he got better.
A whole lot of stuff happened, but somewhere along the way Rapunzel killed the evil witch, had an extremely over dramatic haircut, and had brought him back to life. He wasn't quite sure how other than 'magic', which was something he had never really liked. Stuff could happen and the only explanation for it you got was 'magic'. It was annoying.
But since then he was devoted, heart and soul, to the most beautiful, caring, loving girl in the whole wide world. He would go to the ends of the world for her, throw out the maps and follow her anywhere. She was a dream he had always wanted to share. And he wouldn't have it any other way.
The fact she was royalty and he'd never have to worry about money, food, or shelter ever again also really helped. He even preferred the short, brunette hair she now had, although the sunshine-like blondeness had really suited her. Heck, he didn't even need to work anymore! Well, he had work. A single important job.
"Say ahh," Eugene said happily as he held a forkful of strawberry cake out to Rapunzel. She took the bite and had a giggle muffled by the food in her mouth.
"Fyugene," she started through the cake before she swallowed, "Eugene! I'm not a baby." She pushed him in that affectionate way couples do when they're flirting that Eugene had only really experienced when pulling a con.
"What, can't a boyfriend feed his girlfriend cake when they're on a picnic date?" He asked with dramatic flair. "You got to let yourself get swept up in the moment when you've got a view like this!" He gestured towards the city of Corona that sprawled out before them from their perch on Rapunzel's balcony.
"Fine then," said Rapunzel as she carved some cake onto her own fork, "in that case it's only fair I get to do it to you." Eugene opened his mouth happy to accept the sugary treat offered to him. He'd take a lap over the roofs of the city later to burn the calories, of course.
Except he wouldn't need to if he never got to eat the cake.
The door to Rapunzel's new room was thrown open and the worst thing about castle life trotted in on soft soled shoes. Eugene nearly fell off the balcony railing at the surprise of it all.
"You're still here?" This was Cassandra; stickler for the rules, total buzz kill, always eye-rolling, pain in Eugene's neck. She was also the official Lady-in-Waiting to the Princess of Corona, which meant she was almost always at Rapunzel's side.
"I already told you, Cass, he's not going anywhere. Eugene gets to stay in the castle with me and that's final." That Rapunzel stood up for him bolstered Eugene's confidence and pride.
"Yeah! Final!" Ok, not the wittiest of responses, but sometimes simple is best.
"As much as I'd like to see him go, I wasn't talking about him. You've got a schedule to keep, I left it out for you last night." Walking over to the table on which she had placed the paper, Cassandra's face slowly melted into a frown. "There's so much paint… this wasn't here last night, where did all this come from?"
"Twas a gift from yours truly" Eugene said, waving a cake tipped fork like a magic wand. He and Rapunzel walked into the room from the balcony and Eugene deposited himself into a comfy chair with a womph. He put his feet up on a chest and popped the cake piece into his mouth.
"Eugene brought them as a gift this morning! Along with this wonderful cake. It's so good. You have to try some!" Rapunzel rushed to her Lady-in-Waiting's side holding the plate in front of her, fork held up to feed her like she was about to do for Eugene moments ago.
Cassandra was too preoccupied lifting jars of paint and bundles of brushes looking for the schedule she'd left to notice the incoming cake. "Princess we don't have timmff!"
"It's delicious, right?" Rapunzel said with glee. Eugene chuckled from his chair at the chipmunk cheeks and wide eyed surprise on Cassandra's face. "We were just talking about strawberry desserts the other day."
Without getting up from his chair Eugene spun his fork in a circle parallel to him and bowed his head. "What can I say, I aim to please. If my lady says she needs cake and paint, I get her cake and paint."
He was proud to have made Rapunzel so giddy. It felt good being with a girl as peppy as her, and it felt even better being her reason for being so peppy.
Cassandra finally swallowed her surprise mouthful of sweet pastry and strawberry filling while holding up two jars of paint. "Rapunzel, if you wanted paint you could have asked any member of the castle staff and we'll happily get it for you. Like your personal Lady-in-Waiting, for example?" Her flippant tone went well with the over exaggerated shrug she was making. "You don't need to ask a lazy buffoon to get it for you. He probably stole it, anyways."
Rapunzel was about to hand Eugene her plate when he rose from his seat with indignation, handing his plate to her instead. "Hey! I'll have you know I bought those paints fair and square!" He conveniently left out the part where he had bought it with what was technically Rapunzel's money. "And besides, even if I did steal'em, which I didn't, it would have taken some effort to do. That means it go fatso, you can't call me lazy."
"The phrase is 'ipso facto' you moron." Cassandra replied, slamming the most recent jars of paint she had picked up back onto the table. She also approached him with the same indignation and they locked eyes inches apart from each other.
As he stared into those hazel eyes Eugene’s head ran through a dozen scenarios and cons he could use to diffuse this situation by reflex.
But he didn’t have to do any of them. There was no job anymore. This was going to be the start of his new life, and nothing was going to stand in his way.
“Guys, guys! C’mon, don’t fight like this,” Rapunzel interjected, placing the plates down on an empty part of the table of paint. “Cassandra, Eugene, take deep breaths, c’mon, that’s it. In and out. I~n… ou~t.” She made her way between them to separate the pair from each other and act as a buffer to their aggression.
“Cass, I’m sorry about not knowing about the schedule, that’s as much my fault as it is Eugene’s.” Cassandra visibly softened at the Princess’s apology and this time it was Eugene’s turn to roll his eyes. But they quickly returned to attention when Rapunzel turned on her heel to face him. “And Eugene, Cassandra’s totally right. I’ve got responsibilities now and I should pay attention to them. Thank you so much for the cake and paints, but we should say sorry and I really should get back to being a Princess again.”
Cassandra was giving him that incredibly annoying condescending look she did oh so often and Eugene had enough. “But she…!” He stopped himself when he looked down at Rapunzel staring up at him. The twinkle in her eyes, the way her smile was so soothing. His anger, well, his anger didn’t subside. But it softened and he let his shoulders slump and his brow to unfurrow. Being angry was bad for his face, anyways, made too many crease marks.
“Whatever you say, Princess,” he said without a hint of sarcasm. He ruffled her brown hair and looked over at the self-superior faced woman. How did she make such a pretty blue dress look so… so… like she could beat you up? It was rude to the dress.
“Cassandra,” he began, saying her name with the emphasis on the ‘and’ the way she hated. “I’m sorry.” He could at least get one last jab in by saying her name his way.
“See? All of us are friends again. Group hug!” Rapunzel pulled Cass and Eugene into a hug on either side of her, both not nearly as into the group hug as Rapunzel. Nonetheless, for her sake, they slowly put their arms around each other, too. Eugene had to admit, she wasn’t as cold or scaly or rough to the touch as he had expected her to be. Hugging with her was actually rather nice. If only she weren’t so mean.
“Cass, I’ll be right out, promise. But can you give me and Eugene a moment?” Rapunzel asked after she finally released them from her group hug.
Eugene watched as Cassandra’s anger, well, it probably didn’t subside. She was always angry about something. But her face softened and she let her shoulders slump and her brow unfurrow. Hah! He felt superior that he wasn’t so easily taken in by Rapunzel’s charms.
“Whatever you say, Princess,” she said without a hint of sarcasm. She gave a delicate curtsey to Rapunzel and a death glare to Eugene as she left the room. As the door swung shut he saw her crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.
“You've got to be nicer to her, Eugene. She’s my very first friend outside of the tower.” Rapunzel took Eugene’s arm in hers and stroked it affectionately.
“Hey, I’m your friend and I definitely met you first.” He returned the gesture by patting her hand as it rested upon his shoulder.
“You know you don’t count. You’re my friend, but you’re also my boyfriend.” She punctuated the statement by leaning up and giving him a kiss on the lips. Eugene was not someone who blushed at affection, it just wasn’t in his nature personally and biologically. But if he was, he’d have done it now.
“And don’t you forget it,” was his cocky response as he leaned down to give her a second kiss.
“So you’ll try your best to get along with Cass?” She asked him, disengaging and moving the exact set of brushes that covered her itinerary. Had she known where it was the whole time?
“I’ll… try. For you. I’ll… hmm. Is there something she likes to do? I could try the whole friendship thing with her. There’s got to be something she likes that I can hold my lunch down for.” He picked up the two plates of cake and carefully poured his plate onto her plate and then placed it under the now double-caked plate. He went back to sit on the chair from before.
Rapunzel’s lips moved silently as she read the itinerary to herself. She walked to her bedside and reached for a rope on a pulley, giving it two tugs. After a brief moment the rope began to move and Pascal on his branch lowered himself down to Rapunzel height. The frog leapt off, causing the branch to swing, and landed on Rapunzel’s shoulder. “No more relaxation for us, Pascal.” she said to him.
“Blondie- uh, I mean, Rapunzel? Did you hear me?” Eugene said, briefly forgetting her new brown hair. He waved a fork of cake to get her attention only for the cake to fall off and land on the floor next to him. He glanced at it, shrugged, and forked another piece.
Thankfully Rapunzel didn’t notice, although Pascal did and crossed his arms at him. How a lizard could make a face that clearly said ‘really?’ was beyond him. The animals in Corona were something else.
“Hmm? Oh, Cassandra. Let’s see. She enjoys lots of things. Sewing, traditional Corona music, horseback riding… oh! She spends a lot of time down at the barracks. Maybe you two can do something fun there? You can have an archery match or something!”
Eugene chewed on the thought while he chewed on the cake. He didn’t like going down to the barracks. Too many memories. A new one popped into his head as he swallowed.
“That’s right, dragon lady is the Captain’s daughter. Ugh.” Eugene shivered as he thought of the man who only too recently tried to execute him. His hand reflexively went to his neck. “I guess it’s in her blood to hate me.” He forked another piece of cake much more firmly at the thought.
Rapunzel seemed to have finished reading the itinerary and was collecting a few things she’d need for the day. Probably needed for the day, Eugene didn’t know and didn’t really care. “Actually she’s adopted. She was an orphan, just like you.”
This made Eugene stop mid-chew. “An orphan, huh?” he mumbled through cake. He put the fork and plate down on the chest in front of him and stood up, brushing crumbs off his clothes. He swallowed what was in his mouth and walked over to his girlfriend.
“I guess I could make an honest effort, then.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and patted Pascal on his little froggy head. “We still on for that horse ride tomorrow at least?”
Rapunzel briefly looked up at him from what she was doing as though something just occurred to her. “Of course! But my dad insists some of the Royal Guard go with us. I hope you don't mind?” She looked just as disappointed at it as he felt.
Eugene knew better than to complain and instead chose to adapt. "That's totally fine! We can turn it into a race, us two versus them. We can show them they've got nothing on us!" It wouldn't be too far from the truth to say Eugene liked the opportunity to show off for his girlfriend.
Pascal gave a squeak from Rapunzel's shoulder, causing her to grin competitively at Eugene. "That's a great idea, Pascal. How about we race each other, too. Bet you I can get to the walls past Old Corona before you can."
"A challenge? Well, well your Royalship. I think you're underestimating the great Flynn Rider. Riding is literally in the name, you know." He knew this was just an excuse to divert their ride to one of the kingdom's walls, but he didn't see any harm in it.
Eugene pinched Rapunzel's cheek teasingly. "I accept your challenge!" She swatted his hand away as they both laughed.
"Alright, I'll let you get to your princess-ing." He tried to give another head pat to Pascal but to his surprise the reptile raised a hand and turned it into a high five. Or a high three in his case. "Nice," Eugene complimented the lizard as he made for the door.
Rapunzel returned to her stack of papers, each with a name and crudely drawn face on them. Eugene didn’t give it a second thought as he walked away.
He opened the door and Cassandra whirled around expectantly, but the smile on her face drooped when she saw it was him. “She’s all yours,” Eugene said, ignoring her blatant non-verbal communication. He began to walk by her in annoyance when he remembered what Rapunzel had said.
Orphan.
“Hey Cass?” She stopped just before entering the room, hand still holding the door open. She had a raised eyebrow, obviously wary of what he had to say.
“What do you say we meet up this weekend at the training fields. Have a bit of sparring session. It’ll be fun.” Her upturned eyebrow was joined by its counterpart in what seemed like real surprise at his offer.
“That… That sounds fun. Yeah, I’d like that.” She smiled at him. An actual smile, too. No smug, no sarcasm, no righteous condescension. Eugene smiled back.
“Sunday then,” Eugene tapped his chin while thinking of a time. “Ten in the morning?”
“Ten in the morning. Sunday. I’ll see you there.” Cassandra gave him a nod and returned to entering Rapunzel’s room. Eugene heard her say “Oh good, you’re already studying the dignitaries from… ugh, I just stepped in cake!” before the door closed behind her.
Eugene walked down the hall towards his own room, clasping his hands behind his head and cracking his neck by tilting his head side to side. “An orphan, huh?” he repeated to himself. “Must have sucked getting picked up by the Captain. But still…” He stopped at the end of the hall and turned to look at Rapunzel’s room. “I guess I could get to like her.”
He broke into a happy jog back to his room.