He nodded. "Yeah, sure. Just give me a second to tie him up. I trust Kaspa not to go far, but I'm not too sure about Danzing." He then grabbed the reigns and led the horse to a nearby tree and securely tied them around the trunk. There was still plenty of room for the horse to move around should he want to, though. He then went over to Lily and lightly grabbed her waist. "Just to help you down," he said.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, but was surprised to find the panic was more a slight twinge of temporary fear instead of its' usual overwhelming wave. She nodded, letting him help her down from Danzing, who patiently waited for her to dismount before wandering a few feet away.
Rhydar tightened his grip slightly so that he didn't drop her, then helped her off of Danzing's back. Once she was safely on the ground, he let go and stepped back, giving her room once again. He looked off to the side when he heard Kaspa whinnying and snorting. The silly stallion was running around, tossing his head in the air like the proud beast that he was and kicking his back feet out playfully.
Lily followed his gaze, raising an eyebrow in amusement at Kaspa's antics. "You really were serious about him being like a child." She said, eyes flickering back to Rhydar, along with a smile, as though letting him know she was alright.
"I'm always serious," he said with a smirk as he turned back to Lily. He noticed her smile, and his shoulders sagged slightly in relief. Progress. They were making progress, and he was strangely proud of her.
He jerked his head in the direction of the forest. "Well, let's head on in. Unless you're afraid of some trees?" he said with an arched brow, his eyes glittering with humor.
"I've fallen out of enough trees to have lost any previous fear I had of them." She said, wrinkling her nose playfully at him. She rolled her shoulders, a sort of stretch after sitting mostly still.
Rhydar chuckled and gestured for her to follow him. He led her through a few layers of trees until they reached a clearing with a surprisingly deep pond in the middle. It was peppered with sunlight that managed to stream through the cracks between the tree leaves. The pond itself was crystal clear with some lily pads floating about, and some beautiful wildflowers surrounding it. Rhydar slid his hands in his pockets and ducked his head slightly as he glanced over at Lily.
Lily's eyes widened slightly in awe as she looked around the clearing, blinking a few times almost as though expecting everything to disappear or change somehow. The peace in the clearing was something she'd yet to have found anywhere, not since she was young, and yet here it was. "It's-…wow." She whispered, not wanting to disturb the quiet.
"It's so peaceful here," he murmured, looking around. A few songbirds fluttered about, and he held out a hand for them, already holding some seeds that he had grabbed from his pocket. They flew over to him and landed on his hand without fear, eating right out of his palm. He watched them with a soft, thoughtless smile, not moving lest he disturbs them.
"It is." She agreed quietly, her gaze finally landing on him and the birds. She watched him feed them, a small and soft smile playing on her lips as she tucked her hands into her pockets. "You said you spend a lot of time out here?"
He nodded his head slightly. "Enough that most of the critters here are pretty used to my presence," he said softly. He glanced over at her and slightly moved closer. The birds fluttered their wings to regain balance but were relatively unfazed. "You want to feed them?" he asked Lily, looking over at her after making sure the birds were fine.
She blinked, looking from the birds, to Rhydar. "I-yes?" She tilted her head, reaching up to brush her hair behind her ear. "Are you sure? I really wouldn't want to startle them or anything."
"Nah, you're good." He reached into his pocket again and pulled out some seeds. He gestured for Lily to open her hand so that he could pour the seed into her palm. Already, the birds were watching the new batch of food carefully.
She hesitantly held out her hand, palm up and cupped slightly to keep the seed from spilling. In the faint light streaming down from in between the trees, the colors in her eyes swirled, changing just slightly every few seconds. "If you're sure."
"Positive." He couldn't help but stare at her eyes as he poured the seed into her hand. Before the two eating from his hand could betray him and go to her, he heard some more fluttering and some bird calls. A slightly larger but colorful bird flitted about before finally landing on Lily's hand, eating out of her palm just like the songbirds. Rhydar laughed slightly when he recognized the bird. "Would you look at that, you got Beasty."
Lily blinked, an amused smile flickering into place as her eyes brightened slightly. "Beasty?" She raised an eyebrow, looking to Rhydar for a second before returning to studying the bird curiously. She chewed on her bottom lip, keeping incredibly still.
"Well, it's the name I've given him. He's bigger than the other songbirds and a bit of a stubborn bully if you ask me," Rhydar explained the bird's name. His eyes flicked down to her lips as she chewed on it before he forced to drag them back up to her eyes. The two smaller–normal-sized–songbirds had finished their meal and were now flying around the clearing. Beasty was eating pretty quickly, seemingly miffed about needing to eat out of a human's hand.
Lily made a 'huh' noise, nodding once. "He's pretty, that's for sure." She said, scrunching up her nose, half in amusement, and half without much reason. "When you say bully, do you mean he bullies you specifically?" She asked, a playful undertone to her voice as she looked up at Rhydar.
He rolled his eyes, though it was more playful than anything. "Oh shut it," he said with a small laugh. "No, he doesn't bully me. He just pushes the other birds around." He opened his mouth, closed it, then sighed and admitted with a grumble, "Okay, yeah, he's been prone to bite and scratch at me if I push his buttons a little too much. If my neck and arms are covered in little marks, then just know it was probably my fault."
"You have the unique ability to annoy both humans and animals, apparently. A man of many talents." She teased, shooting him the same lopsided and warm smile from earlier. "What are these buttons that push him too far?"
"I have no clue. It seems to change depending on the day." Rhydar stuck his tongue out at her teasing, unable to nor feeling like arguing with her on that point. She wasn't wrong—he could annoy just about anyone. He then looked at the pond and considered going for a quick swim to officially start his day.
Lily stood still until Beasty had finished and flown off, raising an eyebrow at Rhydar and following his gaze to the pond. "You look like you're considering going for a swim." She commented, fingers moving at her sides as though playing invisible keys, a habit that only tended to show itself when she felt at ease.
"Considering it, yes. Not sure if I want to or not." He shrugged and leaned against a tree, looking up at the treetops and listening to the singing birds. He also listened to the deer not too far from where they were, and the small rabbits hopping around the flowers.
She nodded, pausing her invisible playing to unbraid her hair and rebraid it. This time, she took care to braid it tighter, and then up in a bun of sorts, the scar on the back of her neck forgotten for the moment. "The question is, when will your next chance be?" She pointed out, making her way to the edge of the pond and crouching to peer down into the water.
"Probably tomorrow morning, if some girl doesn't try to show up at four o'clock in the morning just to drag me shopping with her," he said with a chuckle, coming up beside her and crouching down as well. There were some goldfish in the pond swimming around, and they came up to both of them in curiosity but swam away after a few seconds before circling back around to get another look. He rested his arms on his knees and his chin on his arms, looking down at the fish with an idle smile.