He had his back to her as he was looking out the window, still shirtless, and hunched over as he studied the view outside. He wasn't looking at anything in particular, just clearing his mind of anything that might ruin his mood. His hair was a tad messier than when Lily had retreated into the bathroom thanks to him running his hands through it, and the ring on his pinky finger tapped against the windowsill in a steady rhythm.
She bit her lip, biting back another apology as she approached him. Her footsteps were soft, almost silent, enough so that she spoke a few feet away from him to keep from startling him. "Rhydar." She said softly, letting him know she was there before placing a hand on his arm once she was close enough. She tilted her head, studying him before leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek.
He looked down at Lily with a soft smile, lightly pressing his forehead against hers as his eyes fluttered closed. "I'm taking you shopping before we go strawberry picking," he declared, though not harshly. "Pay me however you wish, or not at all. That's entirely up to you. I should've said that the first time, but I'm a mindless idiot and didn't do that."
She leaned against him slightly, another attempt at showing that she trusted him, and that she was alright now. "I shouldn't have let the voice tell me you meant anything else." She said, apologetically, referring to the voice in the back of her mind, that constantly reminded her of things she wanted to forget. "I really can't convince you to let me keep wearing these, can I?"
A small smile curled at his lips as he opened his eyes to look at her. "No. You can't. My sole job is to make today the best date ever, so I'm taking you shopping and getting you whatever your heart desires, going strawberry picking, and then some other adventures that I'm keeping a secret." His smile grew as he lifted his head and pressed a loving kiss to the side of her head, his hand coming up to cup her cheek as he did so. "I'm glad you're okay," he whispered.
"I'm with you. That chases most of the bad things away on it's own." She whispered back, leaning into his hand as she met his eyes. "It sounds like you've got quite the day planned. Are you sure it's alright that I can't pay you back right away?" She asked, arching an eyebrow in question, her nose still scrunched from him kissing her head.
His lips curled up into a smile as he mouthed 'awwww' in response to her saying that just being with him was enough to get rid of some of the bad things on her mind. "Yes, I'm sure. Positive. It's my mission to make you happy today, so I'm going to do that to the best of my ability. You paying me back is the last thing I'm worried about."
"Alright. I'll do my best to as soon as I can, but thank you." She turned her head, pressing her lips to his palm and lingering there as she spoke again. "This'll be fun. I haven't been shopping in a while, and spending time with you is nice." She said sweetly, smiling against his palm before pulling away just enough to turn and look at him again.
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before dropping his hand to hook his fingers around her wrist. His eyes darted around her face, simply studying her as if he could engrave every detail into his mind. Really, he had done this very thing so many time he wouldn't be surprised if her face was permanently etched into his mind.
He did that a lot, she noticed. Watched her like that, like he was trying to commit her face to memory. It was odd, to her, because she really didn't think she had a face worth looking at that much, let alone studying. Her cheeks tinged a light pink, she tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. "Is there something on my face?" She asked innocently, her thumb tapping on his hand.
His lip turned up in a small smirk. She walked right into that, he thought as he said "Yeah," and leaned forward to brush his lips against hers, asking permission. He was still hesitant to simply kiss her whenever he pleased because he was unsure of how she'd react—especially with the guess he made about her past. He hoped he was wrong, but he had a feeling he wasn't, and that made him more determined to help her get past her past and to a bright future.
The smirk only managed to let her know she'd made a sort of mistake a moment too late, before Rhydar's lips were on hers, lightly and questioningly. She blinked, before her eyes drifted shut on their own. After a beat of consideration, making sure she could, she closed the distance he'd left between their lips, even taking a step towards him as well. That was what helped the most, him making it obvious she didn't have to if she didn't want to. But she did want to, and the best way to work past not being able to was to carefully push past them just a bit every day.
His hand slowly slid up her skin as she stepped towards him, his fingers curling around her upper arm as his eyes dropped, then closed. Her lips were so soft, something he appreciated about her every time they kissed. It was such a simple thing, something most people could say about themselves, but he found it somehow different for her, as if this incredible and adorable girl had the softest and most addicting lips in the world.
Cheesy and probably weird, he knew, but that was what he observed as he kissed Lily. He didn't pull her closer, but he did take an inconsequential step closer to her—mostly testing the waters, but also subconsciously wanting to be closer to her.
A shiver raced up her spin in response to his hand moving so slowly, and she pressed into the kiss just a bit harder, as though trying to pretend it hadn't happened. Fates, she really did love kissing him. He was gentle and kind, and at the same time, seemed to want to kiss her just as much as she wanted to kiss him. Her hand came up, tracing his jaw, cupping his cheek, and then resting there as she kissed him.
Rhydar noticed her pressing into the kiss harder, and he couldn't help the small smile that began to bloom over his lips. He gladly accepted her added ferocity in the kiss, though he didn't add any himself, leaving it all to her for now. Perhaps when they've gotten past all of the bad things and he was sure he didn't need to be cautious. He tilted his head somewhat to lean into her touch without disrupting the kiss.
Lily pulled away once she figured both of them could use air, barely even actually pulling away. Her lips brushed his with every breath, slightly swollen and red, and her eyes stayed closed as she rested her forehead against his. She kept her hand were it was, her finger tapping what seemed like a random rhythm. Dot dot dot. Dot dash. Dot dot dash dot. Dot. S-A-F-E.
Rhydar blinked when she started tapping on his cheek, recognizing the pattern. He didn't react further to that as he caught his breath, but his finger tapped her arm as he leaned his head against hers and made excuses to brush his lips against hers. Dot dot dot dot. Dot dash. Dot dash dash dot. Dot dash dash dot. Dash dot dash dash. H-A-P-P-Y.
Lily's eyes flickered open in surprise as he tapped the word happy, before dropping to his lips as they continued to brush against hers. Admittedly, she'd been doing the same. Trying to keep as much contact, particularly lip to lip, as she could while breathing. S-A-F-E. A-N-D. H-A-P-P-Y. She tapped back, in response.
His lips curled up into a smile as he leaned his head against her neck, almost as if he was hiding the happiness on his face. He refrained from teasing her with neck kisses, mostly because he had probably given her fair share of neck kisses first thing in the morning. His fingers curled just a tad tighter around her arm in his form of a hug, then let go.
She wrapped the arm he wasn't holding around his shoulders loosely, offering him a bit more along the lines of the hug he seemed to want to give her. "You smell nice." She murmured, flushing a little as her words caught up to her. That was weird. She was fairly certain of that, and she had said it, put it out for him to hear because her filter dissolved the more comfortable around him she got.
Rhydar chuckled, the sound reverberating through his chest; his breath escaped from his lips and played along Lily's skin. "Do I now?" he asked, moving his head so he could look up at her with a playfully raised brow. He appreciated her hug more than she probably thought, and that single action more than likely made his entire day—even if it wasn't a full-on hug. It was from Lily; it was enough.
Lily's blush darkened as he chuckled, his breath on her neck causing a small shiver. "I-uh, yeah. It's nice. Comforting?" She seemed unsure of how to vocalize her thoughts, avoiding meeting his eyes as she attempted to. Everything about Rhydar was comforting, and the scent of pine he carried was no exception to that. It made her think of the forest, freedom to run through the trees and a thousand different types of birds and creatures hiding among them.
Rhydar's smile grew but softened at the same time. She was so cute, especially when flustered or embarrassed. "Good to know," he murmured, then pulled back and kissed her nose. "Give me a minute, and I'll be right back so we can finally get to our date." He reached up and playfully ruffled her hair, then pulled back so he could go to the bathroom and freshen up.
Lily's nose scrunched as he kissed it, and she lifted a hand to bat at his when he ruffled her hair. "Was that entirely necessary?" She shook her head, covering an early morning yawn with a hand as she watched him head towards the bathroom. "I don't have many places to go, you know, and wouldn't leave if I did."
"Yes, yes it was," Rhydar said while flashing a dorky grin at Lily, then sketched a bow as he continued to back away. "And I thank you for that, my darling Lily. It means the world to me." She didn't know just how sincere his last statement was as he disappeared through the bathroom door.
Lily shook her head, his goofy antics drawing a fond smile from her. She watched him disappear into the bathroom, before taking a seat on the bed and combing her fingers through her hair in an attempt to make it not look like a mess. Maybe she'd just braid it, that way it was kept out of the way. There might've been a comb or something in the bathroom, but she couldn't really remember, and Rhydar was in there now.
Pulling her legs up onto the bed and crossing them, she reached over to the night stand next to it, where she'd put her photo. Lately, it had been drawing less and less guilt and sadness from her, not quite happy now but definitely lighter feelings.
Rhydar painstakingly put his jewelry back in, simultaneously combing his fingers through his hair to get it into some semblance of order. He thought about the date with Lily, but mostly Lily, as he selected which rings to put on today—he always carried extra. She was this amazing person, and it killed him to see her fall into her old fears every now and again, absolutely killed him. It shattered his heart, even. But when she told him she'd never leave. . . he hoped that was true, and he'd do everything in his power to make sure he gave her no reason to feel the need to run away.
He emerged from the bathroom, licking his lip repeatedly as he put the lip ring back in last. "I think I'm good to go," he said, licking his lip ring some more to get readjusted.
Lily looked up from her photo as Rhydar left the bathroom, her eyes lighting up as soon as they landed on him. Something she was unaware of, but that was noticeable. Her demons had mostly scattered now, a combination of just being with Rhydar, and knowing she was perfectly safe, fine to make her own decisions. All around, she was okay. Her eyes dropped to his lips as he licked his ring, faint color rising to her cheeks. "Look, it's Rhydar. What happened to the other man?" She asked, a playful tone to her voice as she tilted her head.
The light in her eyes was all he needed to make his day all the more amazing. His lips threatened to curl up into a smirk as he strode over to her, all serious, and placed his hands on either side of Lily, leaning slightly towards her. His eyes darted left and right, and his voice was hushed as he whispered, "I killed him. He was trying to take my flower." His eyes lit up, back to his mischievous and joking self, and his smirk showed itself with a blend of a half-smile. He could clearly see the color on her cheeks, and even though he didn't know the reason, he was delighted to see her blush nevertheless.
Her eyes widened as he strode closer, the color in her cheeks darkening as he leaned down to speak. The words themselves drew a surprised laugh from her, though her red cheeks definitely made it obvious that being referred to as his flower was at least semi-flustering. "We can't have that, can we? Rest assured, his attempts were mostly unsuccessful, dear."