I was in a particularly fluffy mood today : )

Stealth. That had always been one of Flynn Rider's strongest points. He used it in his daring escapes, his, if he did say so himself, brilliant thieving, his bold moves and even sometimes when he was trying to-ahem-charm a pretty lady. One might even go as far to say that, next to his smolder, stealth was Flynn Rider's signature thing. And even though he preferred to go by the name Eugene now, stealth still came in handy on occasion. And this particular occasion happened to be one of them.

Eugene poked his head out from the corner he was currently hiding in and quickly looked around; no one to the left, no one to the right. It was safe to go ahead. Sweat beaded on his forehead; this was one of the toughest challenges he had come across in a while. But Eugene-and Flynn-always enjoyed a good challenge. He looked around again-just to be safe- then bolted across the castle hallway into a random room and swiftly shut the door before him.

With a sigh, Eugene slid down onto the floor. Being stealthy was always a bit tiring, but even more so when he hadn't put that particular skill to full use in a while. He was dating the princess after all-and men dating princesses probably shouldn't be caught being "stealthy" too often. It just didn't look too good on the kingdom's reputation. (So he was told)

Of course Eugene used his skills on special occasions-namely, sneaking in to see Rapunzel at night-but that barely took any effort at all. He had already successfully snuck into the castle to get the heavily-guarded crown once, so it was a synch sneaking into see his girl. (Not to mention the fact that Rapunzel's room wasn't the only female's room he had snuck into before, but that was beside the point.) But this was one case where he had to bring out the big guns-metaphorically speaking.

Looking up, Eugene glanced around the room he had entered and suddenly felt like a rock had been dropped in his stomach. There was no way out except for the way he came in. And a good thief knows never to leave the same way he arrived. (Not that he was a thief anymore, but, hey, the rules stick with you.)

No windows, no vents, no convenient man-sized holes he could slide through….he was trapped. Eugene racked his brain for an escape plan. Perhaps there was something in the room that could offer him assistance…

Rug? Nope.

Chair? No.

Book shelf? Definitely not.

Painting of an angry looking man with a plumage of peacock feathers in his hat? Eugene sincerely hoped not.

He had to get out of here befo-what was that? Eugene strained his ears and listened. All around him was silence, but Eugene knew when he heard something and he had most certainly heard something. He held his breath and listened. After waiting for a few moments-which felt like hours-Eugene decided that it was nothing. He was probably just being paranoid. After all, he was in a humongous castle; even the littlest sound could be amplified by its high ceilings and stone walls.

With one last desperate look around the room for something that might aid him in his need for an exit, Eugene sighed. Since he could see no other way out, he knew that there was only one thing to do: turn his stealth all the way up to maximum power and leave through the way he came in.

Pushing himself off the floor, he crept up to the door and moved to open it just a teensy crack so that he could look out when- WHAM! The door came flying open and Eugene just barely pulled back in time to avoid getting hit by it, although slipping on the rug in the process.

"Ahhugh!" he cried as fell

"Found you!" Rapunzel shouted gleefully at the same time. "Now it's your turn to find me!" She paused to look at him "Why are you on the floor?"

He groaned "Better question: Why do I agree to play games with you when I somehow always end up injured?"

Rapunzel laughed as she knelt down to help him up. "Because you love me. Obviously." She replied and then punctuated with a quick kiss (that somehow still made Eugene's head spin) before running away yelling for him to count to 100 before he came looking for her.

"Obviously." Eugene smiled to himself and ran a hand through his hair before he began counting.

"1, 2, 3, 4…"

P.S.

In my mind, Flynn doesn't live in the castle with Rapunzel until they're married-just because that how I imagine royalty working. ; )