"Of course I really mean it." She said, her smile softening as she squeezed his hand gently. They almost reminded her of new leaves, like those of the strawberry plants her family used to grow. Spring. "And while most of me wants you to get used to it," She said, her eyes sparkling teasingly, brown and grey now. "I do like the shy side of you."
He opened his mouth to protest, then closed it and grumbled as he looked away again. "Shut it, you. I'm supposed to be the one who teases and flusters you, not the other way around." Though despite his grumbling and complaining, he sort of liked this switch between them.
She pressed her free hand over her mouth, muffling quiet laughter. "I'm calling it payback. For all of the earlier flustering." She joked, her eyes crinkling somewhat at the corners with her smile.
"Oh, but you loved it," he said, his emerald eyes flashing with mirth as he smirked down at her. "You couldn't even walk straight, you were so focused on me. I can only imagine what was going through your mind, but I can guess what the center of your thoughts was."
The pink returned to her cheeks, but she managed to keep from looking away. "You were behind me. I didn't want to accidentally trip you." She countered, knowing full well that she had, in fact, been focused more on him than anything else.
His smirk only grew as he tilted his head knowingly. "Mmmhmm," he hummed, nodding. "I'm sure. Let's just go with that—nevermind the fact that I can refrain from tripping over the person in front of me as I talk to them. And let's also ignore the fact that you couldn't even form complete sentences."
"I didn't feel much like talking." She said, shaking her head. The twitch of her lips, like she was repressing a smile, made it even more obvious she was lying. "And just because you're incredibly skilled at everything doesn't mean I am. I can't dismount, remember? Why is not being able to walk so far-fetched?"
He grinned and snorted in amusement, the most laughter he would allow himself in these quiet halls. "I am far from incredibly skilled at everything." He leaned down towards her, his eyes sparkling. "And, correct me if I'm wrong, my darling Lily, but I think you're lying."
His grin did manage to bring a smile to her face, even as her blush deepened. She quirked an eyebrow slightly, tilting her head. "Oh, do you? And why would you possibly think I'm lying, Rhydar?" She asked, biting her bottom lip in a (failed) attempt at hiding her smile.
"I'm a thief, remember?" He said, tilting his head the other way, still looking down at her. "I'm a professional liar, and I know the different tells people have." He smirked and tapped her lips. "You're trying to hide your smile, which means you smile when you lie."
"Who says this is a tell?" She blinked innocently, finally giving up on trying to hide the smile. He wasn't wrong though. It was a more innocent tell, saved for when she was feeling at ease with someone enough to joke.
"I say it is," he said, smiling as well and tapping her nose. "It looks like a tell to me, and you can't make me think otherwise." This downtime with Lily, it was so simple yet so much fun. Just talking to her made him feel happy and at ease.
Lily's nose scrunched up in response to being tapped, a mix between adorable and amusing. "Honesty is the best policy, dear. What reason would I have to lie?" The term of endearment slipped easily off her tongue, much the same way they did when Rhydar said them.
He grinned at her scrunching her nose; his eyes sparkled when he caught the term of endearment. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe to deny the effect I have on you?" he drawled. His thumb ran circles over the top of her hand and brushed over her knuckles as he spoke.
"And what effect would that be, exactly?" She glanced down at their intertwined hands, a flicker of pure happiness passing over her face at the circles. There was something about the small and simple gesture that made her heart warm. Focusing back on his eyes, she raised an eyebrow, her own eyes sparkling playfully.
He tilted his head, closing one eye as he thought about it. He knew he had some sort of an effect on her, but he didn't know what that effect was. He sometimes had a hard time figuring out what was going on in that beautiful mind of hers, and now was one of those times. He chewed his lip, ducking his head in defeat. "You'd be the only one to answer that question, Lily."
She blinked, tilting her head as she studied him. She hadn't really put a whole lot of thought into it, if she was being honest. At least, not the kind of thought that put it into words. So that's what she did. She looked forward, chewing her lip as she thought for a minute or two. "You already know about the safe part. But, beyond that…it's so, so complicated and confusing. In an absolutely wonderful way."
He smiled, lightly squeezing her hand, for that was all he allowed himself to do. It's pretty easy to guess what he really wanted to do, but he had pushed his limits far enough today. He took a slight step farther and pressed a kiss to the side of her head, smiling even more. "I'm glad to hear," he murmured, pulling back to look down at her again.
The corners of her mouth pulled up into a small smile as he kissed the side of her head, and she leaned against his shoulder a bit as she looked up at him. "All good things, even if I do, admittedly, have trouble forming sentences when you do things like that."
((alsdkfs they're so cute, I have never loved an rp couple so much))
He smirked, though it was softened by his sparkling eyes. "See, you were lying," he cooed happily. He quickly glanced around them and was mildly disappointed when they were nearing her room. "Well, I suppose it's time to call it a night," he said, looking back down at her.
She huffed a laugh, nudging him. "Yes, I was lying. You were right." Shaking her head, she turned her gaze to the hallway fro a moment, before settling her eyes back on his, as her slight blush returned. "You…mentioned a 'goodnight kiss' earlier, along with something about sadly parting ways…"
He raised a brow, tilting his head. "I did," he said slowly, secretly adoring her blush. "What about it?" he asked, having a slight idea of why she was mentioning but not letting him get his hopes up just yet. Don't look down don't look down don't look down. He actually managed to hold eye contact, his eyes never leaving hers to stoop to her lips.
She bit her lip, somehow still unaware of the way it drew his attention most of the time. "A goal to look forward to." She said softly, arching an eyebrow slightly in question. "Is there…any chance you would be willing to kiss me goodnight tonight?"
Rhydar's eyes failed to listen to his brain and flickered down to Lily's lips as she bit it. He hummed as if in thought, then drew them to a halt in front of her door, lightly grabbing her arms and moving so that he was standing in front of her. "Many chances," he murmured, forcing his eyes back to hers.
Lily's blush deepened slightly, but she kept her eyes on his. Well, for the most part. It seemed her own eyes had the same troubles as his occasionally. "That's…relieving to know." She said softly, shifting a bit closer towards him.
He smiled softly, dipping his head and brushing his lips over hers, silently asking. He kept his fingers hooked around her arms instead of wrapping his arms around her. Boundaries, Rhydar. Those are a thing, y'know. Though he very much just wanted to wrap her up in a bear hug and kiss her whenever he wanted, he would ultimately ask her if it was okay before doing anything until they were both sure she'd be okay with it.
Her eyes fluttered shut as she tilted her head up, pressing her lips against his and exhaling softly through her nose. She felt lucky. Lucky to find Rhydar, a man so willing to be patient, despite how obvious it was that he was trying to keep from pushing her boundaries. Lucky he was trying at all. And lucky he actually, genuinely seemed to care about her.
He smiled into the kiss somewhat, eyes sliding closed as he savored the taste of her lips, the feeling of her so close. It was a feeling he would cherish, he knew, even when she got over everything. He'd cherish everything. It took Lily for him to finally realize how precious and extraordinary something like this was—and definitely it something to take advantage up and take lightly.
She moved as close to him as she trusted herself to, leaving not a whole lot of space between them, but just a bit. She had honestly given up on trying to make peace with herself, to put her past behind her and work towards something better, until she had met him. Thank you, so much. Rhydar represented hope to her, and everything she wanted to make better.
Rhydar let the kiss linger for a few more moments before reluctantly breaking it. He didn't pull back too far, though. Mainly because he wanted to stay as close to Lily as possible for as long as she allowed him to, but it was partially because he was contemplating kissing her again. He waited for her first, though, before he did anything else. He had also noticed how close they were, and it was her doing. A small smile flickered over his lips at that.