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Rhydar's lips parted slightly as he gazed at her, then he seemed to catch himself. He chuckled at seeing her struggle with her hair. "You want me to help you with that when we get to my room? Don't ask why, but I'm pretty good at it." His heart had warmed at her first statement, and he couldn't wipe off the smile on his face.
Lily blinked, glancing up at him, and then at a strand of hair that had fallen into her face. "I-yes? If you're offering, any help is appreciated." She shot him a small smile, absolutely unaware of the affect of her words on him. She'd barely even registered saying them, and they'd been spared the same amount of thought as any others. It was easy, with Rhydar.
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He returned her smile, then stopped at his door and unlocked it. He pushed it open and gestured for her to go ahead. "After you, m'lady. Make yourself at home while I put the papers somewhere." He started fidgeting again, his fingers tapping on the door, but it wasn't out of nervousness or anything like that. He was perfectly calm, if only happy about quite a few things.
She curtsied slightly, huffing a laugh as she stepped into the room and out of the way of the door. "Thank you, kind sir." She said, tucking her hands into her pockets as she glanced to Rhydar, before looking around the room curiously. Despite his assurance and offer to make herself at home, she was perfectly fine just standing near the wall.
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"Kind is an overstatement, but I'll let it slide," he joked, smiling in Lily's direction before heading into his office space to drop off the papers. He arranged a few things while he was in there, then headed back into his bedroom and tilted his head towards the chair in his room, indicating that Lily should sit in it. While he waited for her to do that, he swapped out a few of his rings for different ones, still keeping on the one on his left pinky finger, then grabbed a few clips that Cinthia had left in here on accident.
She opened her mouth to insist that she was fine standing, but closed it again as she realized there wasn't really a point. Rhydar would probably keep insisting she sit anyway, so she made her way over to sit carefully in the chair. "I was alright with standing." She said, raising an eyebrow slightly in his direction as she watched him swap rings out.
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His tongue flicked out to brush over his lip ring, an unconscious move that he didn't even register as he strode over to Lily with a slightly amused look, the corner of his lips quirked up, along with the corresponding brow. "You sitting will make this easier for me." He came up behind her and put the lips between his teeth so his hands would be free, then lightly brushed his fingers over her hair. It was him silently asking for permission to touch her, even if he didn't need to.
She sighed softly, lips curving down into a small and slightly playful frown. "Fine, fine. If it makes it easier." She tilted her head back for a moment to glance up at him, giving him a small nod as if saying 'okay', before looking forward again. "You're a hair expert?"
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"Mmmm," he hummed as he combed his fingers through her hair, sorta brushing it out to make it easier before grabbing the pins from his mouth so he could answer her. "If you've seen Cin's hair, then you've already got an idea of how difficult it is for her to maintain it. Fulfilling my duty as Big Brother, I've helped her with it on numerous occasions. Still do, sometimes, if she's feeling like fighting with it. It's honestly gotten worse over the years." He shut up and went back to work on Lily's hair, combing it with his fingers again as he pulled it up to a reasonable height, then got to work on pulling it into a bun.
She was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to enjoy this as much as she was, but that mental reminder was doing absolutely nothing for herself. Her eyes drifted shut as she listened to him talk, almost feeling drowsy, and a soft smile flickered onto her face. "That's sweet." She said, fingers tapping a rhythm on her knee, an attempt at keeping herself focused on staying, well, focused. "That you do that for your sister. My sister, Azzy, was the hair expert of our family. You two probably would have gotten along well."
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"Bonding over hair," he mused, then snorted softly at the thought. "Just don't expect me to do makeup." He kept his lips parted slightly in concentration. Out of habit, thanks to Cinthia's wildly untamable hair, he stepped back a few times to see his work, then hummed in disapproval and reworked it some more. Lily's hair was really soft, and his fingers glided through it without much of a problem.
"You're safe from makeup, don't worry. Apparently, Cinthia is perfectly happy doing that." She said, her voice soft. Talking about her family wasn't as hard as it normally was, oddly enough, though she would only notice that later, for sure. "Now I'm picturing you and Azzy trading tips and bonding over a love for causing trouble."
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"Cinthia will do others' makeup, but not her own. Don't ask…just, don't." He chuckled and shook his head, fixing some flyaways, then backed up and surveyed his work. "Never put me with someone that loves causing trouble. That will not end well for anyone but us. Trust me on that one." He smiled to himself and lightly tapped her shoulder. "I'm done. You're free to go."
Her eyes blinked open maybe a bit slower than they should have, and she shook her head slightly as she stood from the chair, turning to face him. "As long as you aren't hurting innocent people, I completely support your hobbies." She said, smiling at him as she blinked a few more times to clear the drowsiness from her mind.
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He rose a brow in amusement, tongue flicking out again as he smirked and crossed his arms loosely over his chest. "Much appreciated," he said, then tilted his head as his gaze bounced around her face. "You look tired," he commented, his voice betraying his amusement as he spotted her drowsiness.
"I'm fine." She said, shaking her head. This time, the movement was a bit stronger, more decisive, as the sleep that had threatened to overtake her mind faded away. "Oddly enough, I slept fairly well last night." Fairly well to her standards, at least. It was more a sort of diversion from the truth, and anyone could see that.
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He gave her a knowing look, then tilted his head towards the door. "If you say so," he said, then paused before reaching up and grabbing the flower by his ear, then transferring it to her hair, setting it next to the bun and situating it so that the stem could be held by her hair. "As much as I love a good accessory, I don't really feel like explaining the flower to a thousand different people as we head over to your beloved strawberries."
She raised an eyebrow, flickering her gaze up to his arm as he paced the flower in her hair. She was most definitely going to ignore the look he'd given her, preferring to pretend her sleeping habits, or lack thereof, were known to nobody but herself. "I suppose that makes sense. Shall we then?"
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He rolled his eyes at her blatant disregard for his look with an amused smile. He wouldn't push the subject, so he just hooked two fingers around her wrist and leaned in to press a quick kiss to her forehead. "We shall," he said softly, then pulled back and gestured for her to lead the way.
There was that familiar nose scrunch and happy light pink coloring to her cheeks. She adjusted her hand to weave her fingers through his in a moment of minor confidence, smiling slightly as she led the way out of his room and down the hall. "Strawberries." She said happily, slowing her steps just a bit to fall into step beside Rhydar.
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He chuckled at her happiness, not at all complaining about her weaving her fingers through his. He followed her out of his room and shut the door behind him, then returned to her side and led the way to the stables. "You sure love your strawberries," he said, still amused by her love for the berries. He made a mental note to send her some strawberries as a surprise gift every now and again.
"I grew up on a farm, most of my happiest memories are tied to berry picking. Plus, they taste good, too." She said simply, looking up at him and raising an eyebrow as though it should have been obvious. And to her, it was. Berries and fruit were happy memories, laughter and smiles and family and good things, paired with the sweet and sometimes sour-ish taste that came with fruit.
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Rhydar tilted his head to the side, thinking over her words. His happiest memories were few and far between, and most of them involved his siblings all being goofballs and breaking the rules of royalty. When he taught Cin how to steal, and then she and Demitri proceeded to take him along to their little kitchen-related heists. Every time Magnus had his back whenever he got into trouble, no matter how much his little brother exaggerated his grumblings. When Isla told him stories of great but unexpected heroes. When he and Wulfric sparred together but ended up trading insults that simply got more ridiculous as they went along, until they were both on the floor, rolling with laughter.
"I say most, because I've managed to add a few more." Lily said, after a minute or two of quiet thought. "While here." She added, her hand moving to fiddle with her hair before remembering it had been pulled up, and instead deciding to fiddle with the ring. "Spending time with Cinthia, and Wolf, that day we spent baking. Mostly with you, though."
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He looked down at her with a smile, then reached around her to pull her in a sort of side hug with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. "I can say the same." And he could. While his previous happy memories were few and far between, the ones he made with Lily were by far the best ones. She was the best. The hug didn't last long, and in heindseight, it probably wasn't the smartest move. His arm dropped back to his side after a quick second of holding her.
She blinked, her shoulders tensing slightly more out of habit than fear, though her pulse still quickened a bit as she fought the urge to curl into herself. Just a hug. That's what it was, nothing more, nothing less. And this time around, it was much easier to assure herself of that. "Well, I'm-I'm glad I'm enjoyable company." It wasn't a stutter. More a pause, as she realized that she wasn't going to stutter. Progress. Incredible progress.
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"Sorry," he murmured, referring to the hug. It was still a thing that he instinctually did when he was happy or grateful for someone, and Lily was one of the top people he simply wanted to be close to. He couldn't help but want to hold her or have her lean on him. He wanted to sit by the fire with her and drink some hot coca while bundled up in a bunch of blankets–
He mentally shook himself from those sappy thoughts. Lily most definitely had him wrapped around her finger without even realizing it.
She shook her head, reaching up to place a hand on his arm. "You let go. That's what matters, Rhydar, is that you thought about it, and let go. Thank you." She said, looking up at him. A sort-of half smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, grateful and slightly sad at the same time. Gods, she wanted to be able to handle something as simple as a surprise hug. She wanted more than that, for sure, but that seemed like a good first step. More realistic than any other option.
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He returned her smile with a matching one of his own, reaching up to cover her hand with his. "Anytime," he said softly, planting a quick but tender kiss to the side of her head. He still felt a little bad for springing that on her, but he felt reassured that she hadn't reacted too badly to it, unlike at the last ball. It could also be that he had hugged her shoulders and not her waist. At least he had made that unconscious effort to accommodate for her issues with physical touch.
"I'm sorry if I worried you, though." She said, furrowing her brows slightly, though her nose crinkled a bit at the kiss. Nobody should worry about me. That seems a lot like a waste of time. Shaking her head slightly, she managed to push the negative thought to the back of her mind for now. Another step forward. "Do you think I could convince you to let me hold your hand?"
