You looked a Mess

IV

'Darling, just hold my hand
Be my girl, I'll be your man
I see my future in your eyes'

"Can I finally open my eyes?" She asked impatiently, waiting for Hiccup to bring to a close of what he deemed to be the unbelievably important business which had made them stop here in the first place.

"Absolutely not. Calm down, Raps, nothing's happening."

"Oh, right. It's just me, standing still in the middle of a city, forbidden to look at anything, while you're busy with your shady deals. I guess I should be grateful for you not leaving me somewhere."

The boy glanced at her questioningly and raised his left brow, even though she couldn't see it.

"You've only been standing here for two minutes and I'm like six feet away. Thank you kindly." He added, turning to an elder shop assistant as she'd handed him the object he'd asked for. He passed her the cash with one hand, taking the elongated, delicate item with the other; he slipped it into his bag, in a way the upper part of it would poke out of its main pouch. "Have a good night."

"But you've been making a blind woman of me, and I still don't know why. What is it all for?"

"You ordered me to decide where we're going, so now you must let me do it my way." He answered calmly, approaching her. "Stop freaking out, you know I'd never let anything happen to you."

"But why won't you tell me anything more?"

"Surprise!"

"Remember what I told you about surprises this morning?"

"Of course I do. Only then you were talking about some hypothetical, imaginary stranger, while I have to deal with you. And I'm well aware of how much you love being amazed."

Even with her eyelids down, she was still capable of rolling her eyes.

The dark-haired man didn't seem to care much about that silent commentary, and having pulled his elbow toward her, he cleared his throat meaningfully.

"My arm is at your service. Will you allow me?"

He hoped his anticipation had been correct and that Rapunzel's whining showed nothing, except her usual eagerness for teasing him. When the girl didn't respond to his proposition, he nudged her softly. She didn't even flinch.

"Hey." He tried again, feeling his confidence slowly going away. Oh, no. Not today. "You'll huff at me only because I'm trying to make the evening pleasant for you? Come on, you're not like that. There's one more place where I want to take you, however, it will be rather hard for you to get there without a guide – and it's important that it would remain a surprise. So you can either take my arm, as you have so far, or I'll be forced to keep my promise and sling you over my shoulder, taking you there by force. I thought you preferred to avoid that."

"Anything, but this." She replied, eventually. Relieved, Hiccup noticed that the corners of her mouth were twitching from the laugh she was trying to hold back. He sighed inwardly. For now, it looked like he'd managed to bring back that most cheerful Rapunzel – he couldn't let her escape again.

He felt his friend's arm carefully interlocking with his, but showing not the half of that enthusiasm which had characterised her grip just a moment earlier - it was much more careless this time, and the man couldn't deny that the change didn't please him in the slightest. He quietly rebuked himself. With some difficulty, he managed to chase away the intrusive thoughts, and slowly set off in the direction of their mysterious destination, constantly making sure Rapunzel was not in the danger of stumbling over any of the numerous obstructions.