"Chasing them around like a child has it's perks, either way." She joked, reaching up to brush her hair from her face. It took her a moment to notice his gaze on her smile, her cheeks pinkening slightly as she remembered Cinthia's earlier comment.
He offered a lopsided smile, flicking his eyes back up to hers. "I guess it does." He noticed the pink on her cheeks and tilted his head slightly, but didn't comment on it.
Her nose scrunched up in thought as she got quiet for a moment, before reaching up. Her hands closed around a firefly that had been lazily circling her head, lowering back down as she opened them with a smile. "They're so pretty."
He smiled as well, watching her. His fireflies had flown away by now, so his hands hung limp at his sides. "Yeah, I usually come here to escape everyone." He waved a hand around. "But these guys are nice company."
"Escape is nice, but company can be too." She said, nodding. The firefly seemed perfectly content to crawl around her hands, obviously in no hurry to leave. She looked up at him, her smile widening and taking on a slightly playful tone. "So, Mr. Thief. Think you can catch more lightning bugs than me?"
He blinked, then broke out in a grin, which brightened his eyes. "Well, milady, I've been catching fireflies ever since I could walk." He smirked and crossed his arms. "So that's a definitely."
Now that was an expression she could get used to. She gently shooed the firefly off her palm, watching it flutter away, before raising an eyebrow. "Shall we put that to the test then?"
The smirk didn't last long, soon replaced by the grin once again. "Oh, you're on," he said, taking the whole thing a little too seriously for theatrical purposes. "On the count of three?" he suggested.
She huffed a laugh, stepping back with a nod. "One…" She started, already looking around. "Two…" She was fairly well aware he'd likely beat her, considering she hadn't done this in forever, but that wasn't the point. "Three."
He spotted a group of fireflies near a bush and instantly went there. He managed to grab four of them, but the others scattered. He huffed and ended up chasing after them—like a child. Little did he know, the ones he had caught were little escape artists and were wiggling through his fingers.
Lily was a bit more careful in catching them, at least when it came to keeping them in her hands. She had abandoned her shoes back by the bench, making it easier to move quickly, a light and happy laugh bubbling up as she caught another firefly, not bothering to keep track of the number.
"Hey, so, what's the time limit?" Rhydar asked, not looking at Lily as he finally caught sight of his sneaky fireflies and paid extra attention to the ones he caught. He didn't want to crush the poor things, though, so he slowed down some and just ended up standing in one spot and reaching out to ones that happened to fly by.
"Coming up with one before we began might have been a decent idea." Lily said, shaking her head with a small laugh. "Two more minutes, maybe?" She paused her chasing, standing still as a few of the fireflies landed atop her head.
"Works for me," he said, turning around. A startled laugh escaped him as he spotted the fireflies on her head. He whined when he saw all of his catches fly away, as he had accidentally let go of them. "Now look what you did," he accused playfully, chuckling.
"That seems more your fault than mine." She pointed out, raising an eyebrow at him. She opened up her hands, allowing the fireflies she'd caught to fly off, though a few of them decided her shoulders were a perfect place to land. "There. Now we're somewhat even again."
He tilted his head. "And here I thought you'd take the opportunity to take the lead." He smiled idly as he gazed at the fireflies on her shoulders and head. She truly looked stunning tonight, no matter how simple her outfit was compared to all of the other ladies attending the ball.
"I considered it." She said, flashing a smile in his direction. She was careful not to disturb the fireflies, perfectly fine with letting them stay where they were. "But I figured it would be nicer to help you out."
"How sweet," he said with a small smile. He looked up as a few fireflies swirled around him, and he watched them dance in the air, momentarily distracted. His eyes followed them as they bobbed and flashed their little lights, sprinkling the garden with mini stars.
She took the opportunity to study him, a soft smile playing on her lips. He wasn't quite what she'd been expecting when she'd come here. She'd been expecting an arrogant prince, and while he certainly had his moments, he was so much more. If only they'd met under different circumstances…
He has always loved the open night sky for some reason, and fireflies had become a close similarity for him. Something good enough to admire when he was holed up in the palace. He would much rather be out on the open plains, sitting by an open fire and hunting his own meals. Listening to the whispering trees and gossiping birds, watching the dancing grass and thundering herds of wild horses. He had always dreamed of catching one of his own.
His wondering eyes eventually landed on Lily, and he paused for a few seconds before speaking. "We should head back in," he said softly, "I'll take you back to your room."
She blinked, pulled out of her thoughts as she nodded. The fireflies resting on her scattered lazily, and she tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. "You don't have to. You could always head back."
He shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets once again. "I want to. And I'd much rather spend a little more time with you and making sure you're still okay than heading right back to the ball," he admitted, pretending to be nonchalant about it.
She blinked, obviously surprised by that. "Oh. Well, in that case, I would love the company on the way back." She said softly, reaching up to fiddle with her hair.
He smiled slightly and walked over to her, but provided enough space between them as to not bother her. He tilted his head towards one of the doorways leading back into the palace. "Well then. Shall we?"
"Sadly." She sighed, grabbing her shoes from where they were lying near the bench, but deciding to carry them instead of putting them back on. She started for the doorway, at a fairly slow pace to wait for Rhydar to catch up.
He came up beside her and kept pace with her easily. He didn't know what to do with his hands, so he kept them stuffed in his pockets. He absentmindedly spun one of his rings around, the action bringing a surprising amount of comfort and ease to him.
Her footsteps fell silent alongside his as they made their way through the halls, Lily occasionally pausing to recall the right hallway to turn down. She was quiet for the first few minutes, before speaking to once again apologize. "I know I said it earlier, but I really am sorry for causing a scene." The way she said it made it obvious she fully believed the entire thing was more her fault than anything.
He lightly grabbed her arm to bring them to a stop, then quickly let go, facing her. His eyes were serious and his jaw was set as he locked eyes with her. "None of it was your fault. You didn't go up to him and make him do any of that to you. I chose to knock his pride down a few notches by tossing him around like the drunken bellend that he is. You were the unfortunate victim. Nothing was your fault," he repeated, his tone unwavering.
Nothing was your fault. He seemed so sure of that, it made her want to believe him. Her eyes flickered across his face, habitually looking for any sign of a lie, and she was startled to find none, focusing them back on his. She'd been told plenty of times that it was her fault, and here he was saying the opposite. "I-you're sure?"
Out of habit, he reached out to very loosely grab her arms. His form of reassurance. "I'm more than sure," he said softly, "I'm positive. You didn't do anything that could even be seen as your fault." He quickly let go and backed away to give her space once again.