Lily watched Cinthia push him out of the room, torn between confusion and amusement, and settling on some mix of both as she stood. Leaving Cinthia to scold Demitri, she slipped into the bathroom, locking the door before changing quickly.
Once her playful scolding was done, he simply said he'd wait in the hallway until they were done. She shot him a dazzling smile and went back into Lily's chambers. "I hope you're changing and didn't bolt," she said when she found the bathroom door closed and Lily missing.
"It was tempting." She called through the bathroom door, adjusting the dress. "I could have just pulled a Rhydar." She unlocked the door and stepped out, her clothes and boots in hand as she carried them over to the bed. "I figured I'd give you privacy to yell at your…date."
She flapped her hand. "It's not even really a date. Demitri and I have been friends forever, and neither of us really care for these sorts of things, so we just hang out with the food and drinks until it's an acceptable time to leave." Her lips twitched up in amusement as she registered Lily's previous words. "Pulled a Rhydar, hm? Already getting to know him?"
"Who do you think suggested the escape?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at Cinthia as she sat carefully on the edge of the bed. "And maybe I am getting to know him." She shrugged a shoulder, reaching up to fiddle with a strand of hair.
"It's a perfect match, I'm telling you." She found a pair of shoes for Lily to wear and handed them to her. "Here you go," she said. She didn't seem all that bothered that she, herself, wasn't wearing any shoes beneath the hem of her dress.
'You keep saying that." She commented, pulling up the skirt of the dress enough to slip into the shoes. "I'm curious what your reasoning is." Once she'd gotten the shoes on, she returned to fiddling with her hair, now that she couldn't fiddle with her sleeves.
"Hunch, mostly." Cinthia tapped the side of her head. "I've seen his ideal type, though. You're pretty damn near perfect in his book, but I know he'll be too pigheaded to actually see it for a while." She then loosely crossed her arms beneath her chest. "You're both not a fan of the whole idea of being prim and proper in this kind of life. You actually encouraged him to bail on some tea party. He hasn't tried to run away from you." She smirked and winked. "And you two look cute together."
His ideal type. "Him not running away might just be because my voice isn't fifteen octaves higher than humanly possible." Lily said, wrinkling her nose at the memory of the women she'd met earlier that day. "What exactly does that mean, 'you look cute together'?"
"Doubtful," Cinthia said simply, then shrugged, "And I mean that you'd make a cute couple." She smiled slightly. "I can see it now: Lily and Rhydar, royal troublemakers gallivanting across the country with their horses, camping under the stars, sitting by the fire, and professing their love for each other as their lips get closer and closer…" She was on the verge of amused giggles as she spoke.
Lily covered her eyes with a hand as her cheeks warmed, shaking her head. "You are incredibly into that idea of yours. It's slightly terrifying." She mumbled, peeking between her fingers to look up at Cinthia. "And have you considered that he might not 'pick' me?"
Cinthia grinned sweetly, putting her hands on her hips. "Considered and deduced that it's a slim possibility. As I said, you're the closest thing to his type 'round these parts, besides maybe a hot bandit. But there is no such person attending this thing, so your chances of winning him over are high."
"I very much doubt I'm his type." Lily said, shaking her head as she lowered her hand and stood. Her cheeks were still a rosy pink, but it was fading a bit as time went on.
"I very much believe you're his type," Cinthia countered, then waved for her to head over to the hallway. "Alright, enough chit chat. You have a prince to dance with, and I have some chocolate to eat."
"Am I required to dance?" Lily asked, looking just slightly uneasy as she stepped out into the hall and turned to look at Cinthia. She clasped her hands in front of her, without much to fiddle with.
"Not necessarily required, but…" she trailed off, shrugging.
Demitri was leaning against the opposite wall, arms crossed and head bowed. He looked up as Cinthia and Lily came out into the hall. "Cin," he said, "Shoes."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "No one but you would notice. It's fine."
"Shoes."
"Ass."
He flicked his brows up slightly, the corner of his lips ever so slightly twitching upwards. "Shoes."
"Fine." She huffed and marched into her room to get some shoes.
Lily raised an eyebrow, watching Cinthia disappear into her room in a huff. "Does she try to go barefoot to formal events often?" She asked, voice quiet as she looked over at Demitri. Cinthia seemed close with him, which meant he was alright, hopefully.
"Every time," Demitri said, shaking his head with a soft chuckle. "Sometimes she gets away with it, and others I make her wear shoes. This time would be the latter. I don't want some chick stomping on her feet with those weapons they call heels."
"Probably a good idea then." Lily said with a nod, looking back to Cinthia's door. "There are going to be plenty of those." She smoothed down her dress, needing something to do with her hands and coming up empty. "Being stepped on by those isn't very fun."
"No, no they are not," he muttered just as Cinthia breezed back into the hall. She linked arms with Demitri and pulled him along with her. "Alright," she declared, "let's get the hell over with, shall we?" She looked over at Lily with a soft smile.
"Gladly." Lily said, huffing a laugh as she followed Cinthia's lead. "The sooner this is over, the better, right?" She raised an eyebrow over at the two of them, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Exactly," she said with a bright smile, leading them both to the ballroom. People and music could already be heard through the large and heavy double doors separating them from the actual party. Demitri sighed and muttered to himself, whereas Cinthia waved to the guards. They nodded to her in unison and pulled open the doors for the three of them.
Lily bit her lip, forcing herself to straighten instead of her go-to of slouching. Small sacrifices. Small sacrifices for family. Just keep your chin up. That familiar anxiety was building up in her stomach again, and she very much would have loved to turn straight around and leave. Instead, she continued to stick close to Cinthia's side.
Cinthia and Demitri dropped their arms as they entered. He leaned down to say something to Cinthia. She nodded and waved for him to go ahead. He left with a quick double tap to her wrist, disappearing into the crowd. She turned to look at Lily. "Alright, so it's just you and me for a bit. Want to raid the chocolates?"
"Sure." Lily nodded, lips quirking in a slightly strained smile. "I haven't had chocolate in forever." She commented, looking around the ballroom. It was half curiosity, half wariness, as she carefully stepped out of the way of someone passing by.
Cinthia waved her hand for Lily to follow, leading her through the crowd of people to the snack bar. It was probably the best part of these things, in Cinthia's opinion. They had all sorts of sweets available for consumption. Even a chocolate fountain with strawberries constantly being restocked by hidden staff. Rhydar couldn't be seen by Cinthia, but she was sure he was here somewhere—as was her other siblings. Magnus had sent a message saying that he'd be up for this slice of torture for his big and annoying brother.
"That is quite a bit of food." Lily said quietly, carefully keeping at Cinthia's side. She'd rather accidentally bump into Cinthia than someone who was a complete stranger. "Is it always-are those strawberries?" Her entire demeanor quickly changed, her wariness fading as she visibly brightened.
Cinthia grinned and picked one up, dipping it into the chocolate fountain. She popped the now chocolate-covered strawberry into her mouth. The best thing about these strawberries was that they were already cleaned and rid of their stems. She nodded in answer to Lily's question, though it should've been obvious.
Lily smiled brightly, happily picking up a strawberry. She, perhaps with a bit too much fascination, dipped the strawberry in the chocolate and pulled it out, taking a bite. She hadn't been kidding. It had been forever since she'd had chocolate, and she usually didn't get much by way of fruit, either, because of how expensive it was.
Cinthia chuckled as she noticed Lily's smile, then swept her eyes over the group of dancers until they locked onto someone. She smirked and gently elbowed Lily, pointing out the familiar figure with tons of piercings who was looking over their way. "I think someone likes your smile," she said cheekily.