She furrowed her brows, half in confusion and half in worry, as she watched Rhydar get lost in thought. The brightening of his smile eased some of that worry, but served to further her curiosity. What went on inside his head was a complete mystery to her most of the time, and this was no different. His response made her blink, as she'd half not expected one at all. "You-really?"
He nodded and offered a small, gentle smile. "Really," he said softly. In fact, there was no one else on his mind at the moment. She took up all of his focus. Everything he thought about somehow revolved around her. A schoolboy's crush, no doubt, but a crush he was willing to give in to—a woman he was perfectly willing to give in to.
Her mouth formed a silent 'oh' as she looked away for a moment, and then back at him. It never failed to surprise her how genuinely innocent he was when it came to anything to do with her, from compliments to wanting to spend time with her. And there was that warm and fluttery feeling again. "That's…surprising. But…I want you to know that I would love to spend as much time with you as your schedule allows."
He chuckled lightly. "Everything I do seems to be surprising to you," he mused with a tilted head, licking his lip ring. But the fact that she also wanted to spend time with him—and not only that but would love to… Everything between them was steadily changing for the better, he realized. At first, she seemed to be perfectly fine with never speaking to him, or at least only when necessary. Now, well, now they were both willing to do things together as much as their lives allow.
((Ah, another good ol' fashioned mental breakdown.))
"It doesn't take a lot, if I'm being honest. But it's in a good way." She said softly, as her eyes once again dropped to his lip ring for only a split second, following the movement. He did that when he was thinking, she was fairly certain. And it was kind of…endearing.
Rhydar nodded and smiled over at her. "I'm glad it's in a good way. I'd be worried if it wasn't." Kaspa tossed his head slightly and snorted, then stretched his neck over towards Danzing. Rhydar clicked his tongue in warning, but the stallion didn't listen.
Danzing, to his credit, put up with the younger stallion's invasion of his space as long as he could. That didn't last too long though, as he went to nip at Kaspa in irritation. Lily was one step ahead of him though, already pulling on the reigns to move his head just enough to leave Kaspa out of range. "Danzing! That wasn't very nice." She scolded, momentarily derailed by just how much she sounded like her mother.
Rhydar laughed softly at Lily's scolding and urged Kaspa a little farther away from Danzing and Lily, making sure that the younger stallion couldn't get into any more trouble. "Sorry about him, he learned from me," Rhydar said as Kaspa huffed in disappointment, not at all concerned about nearly getting bit by the older stallion.
"And Danzing should have found another way to communicate his feelings." Lily said, shaking her head as she lightly flicked the stallion in question's ear. He huffed, shooting a look at Kaspa, but that seemed to be the end of that.
"Hey, we all have our way of communicating. Sometimes words aren't the easiest way to express feelings," Rhydar said, shrugging. He was partially talking about himself, as he often found words hard to express just what, exactly, he was trying to convey. If it was sympathy or comfort, he had a hell of a time trying to come up with the correct words. It was why he never bothered with learning other languages. One was enough of a hassle.
"I'm well aware of that, believe me." Lily looked up from Danzing to Rhydar, studying his face. "I meant, in a way that does not harm others. Violence is almost never the answer, after all." She knew that wasn't the saying, but she also knew that sometimes violence was the only answer that was left.
"Very true," he agreed, nodding. Often times, he was chastised by guards or other princes that said that he wasn't manly enough because he didn't like fighting head-on. He much preferred resorting to dirty tricks and confusion, then running away if things got too much for him to handle. He was a thief, not a warrior. He just wasn't built for swordplay and arm-wrestling.
Her eyes flickered back ahead of them as the stables came into view, before she returned her gaze to Rhydar, smiling softly. "Sadly, we do have to part ways soon. Remember though, you can always come and find me, if you need a break."
He sighed dramatically, then dipped his head in a makeshift bow. "Part ways we shall have to do, but I'm glad I was able to spend this morning the way we did," he added with a lopsided smile. He knew that he wouldn't be able to play hooky for long today, but he was bound determined to squeeze in some time with Lily.
"I've said it already, but I enjoyed spending time with you." The corners of her eyes crinkled slightly at the sight of his smile, and she shook her head. Finding something to do with the free time she suddenly had here at the palace might be hard, but she would manage. And Rhydar seemed willing to take up a bit of that time as well.
He fell silent as they approached the stables, the doors already opened by the stablehands. Rhydar murmured a thank you to the hidden servants, grateful for their services even if his mother wasn't fond of seeing them about.
Lily tilted her head, brows furrowed in thought as she glanced around the stables. It hadn't slipped past her, the way the servants were always just out of view, and it visibly rubbed her the wrong way. Shaking her head as she pulled Danzing to a stop, she attempted to dismount herself, not wanting to bother Rhydar again.
He glanced over at her and raised a curious brow her way when he saw that she was attempting to dismount on her own. He just sat back and waited to see if she actually needed help or not. Kaspa snorted and pawed at the ground, waiting to be rid of his tack.
Danzing craned his neck to look at her, nudging her gently in the side before looking to Rhydar, huffing a snort. It didn't take her long to realize she would, in fact, need help. "Rhydar? I hate to bother you again, but…is there any chance you could help me down?"
He chuckled and slid off of Kaspa. The stallion made his way to his stall without needing guidance, grabbing the stall handle with his lips and pulling it open. Rhydar rolled his eyes at his horse and came over to Lily. "You are in no way bothering me," he reassured her as he reached up to lightly grab her waist. "You okay?" he then asked.
"Yes, I am." Lily assured him, nodding. It was easy to quell the slight discomfort, focusing instead on the warmth that accompanied his reassurance. "I am slightly worried I might've hurt Danzing attempting this myself though." She admitted, scrunching up her nose.
Rhydar nodded and tightened his grip as he lifted her off the saddle, then gently brought her down to the ground. "Nah, he's a big guy. He can handle it, can't you?" he asked as he turned to Danzing, releasing his grip on Lily's waist. He didn't move back, though, as he usually would've done. It was both a question and a brief oversight—he had nearly forgotten her discomfort.
Danzing snorted in response, bobbing his head just slightly. Lily's eyes flickered up to Rhydar's face for a moment, coming to the fairly easy conclusion that he hadn't meant to stay so close. After a brief moment of thought, she placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently, before shifting away just a bit.
"Sorry. . ." he murmured, backing away, then heading over to Kaspa's stall to take off his tack. He licked his lip ring again as he sunk back into his thoughts, his hands moving deftly over the straps and buckles through muscle memory alone.
"It was a thank you, you know." She said, shaking her head as she removed Danzing's saddle with only a slight bit of difficulty, carrying it with no issue back to it's place. "You don't have to apologize. Somehow…everything's a bit more okay with you."
He looked over at her, hiding his surprise with an arched brow. "I was apologizing for standing so close," he clarified, then tilted his head as he slipped off Kaspa's saddle as well. "And if you don't mind me asking—how do you mean? With everything being more okay with me?"
"I know you were." She said, her eyes flickering to him before landing back on Danzing as she set to work with the rest of the tack. "And I don't…quite know." She grew quiet, trying to think about the best way to explain. "Before today, I couldn't even stand shaking someone's hand. Letting you lead me to the throne room yesterday was, I thought, a once-in-a-lifetime thing I was able to do."
His head tilted the other way as he thought that over. She had seemed a little hesitant when they first met and he had offered his hand to her. Though, now he knew the reason for that. Now that he thought about it, he was surprised that she had even taken his hand then.
"Like I said," She continued softly, leading Danzing back into his stall before going to put everything away. "You make me feel safe. Safe enough to get over some of that fear." With her hands free now, she was left to fiddle with the ring as she leaned against the stall door, looking over at Rhydar.
"Hm," he hummed, mulling over her words some more as he also finished up with Kaspa's tack. Once he was done and the stallion was happily munching on some hay, Rhydar came over to Lily and leaned against the stall door, making sure to keep a safe distance from her. "I'm flattered," was all he was able to come up with, and he sighed and dropped his head, ashamed with his inability to come up with anything more. "Sorry, words aren't my strong suit."