"Aww, come on!" he playfully whined, biting his lip as he smiled over at her. He wanted to get closer, an easy way to get a girl even more flustered, but he knew it would make her more uncomfortable than anything. So he settled with teasing. "I'd like to know what you find cute about me. I can definitely list some things that I like about you."
She was quiet, obviously considering her next words. "Now I'm curious myself." She finally muttered, lowering her hand to look up at him. Her cheeks were still red, and she was fairly certain the blush had no intentions of going anywhere. "Your…lip ring. And the thing you do, where you-gods, I feel stupid."
"Oh, you mean this?" he asked right before he licked his lip ring again, once again doing it slowly as he looked directly in Lily's eyes. He enjoyed seeing her so flustered, and it made his own heart flutter slightly.
"Er-yes, that." She said, looking away as she debated covering her face again. He was messing with her, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. Well, that wasn't quite true. She did feel like she looked like a tomato.
"Hmm, well that answers my question." He flashed a smile in her direction even though she wasn't looking, then pushed off of the stall door and letting his hands go slack.
"Glad I could help." She muttered, hunching her shoulders as she once again tried to un-fluster herself. However that would work. Was he always like this? His reputation sure would point towards that.
He glanced.over at her and felt a surge of guilt. He was only teasing, but maybe had had gone too far. He moved in front of her as close as he dared and went to reach for her arms, curled his fingers into his palms, and dropped his hands to his sides. "I'm sorry if I went too far," he said softly, his guilt clear in his eyes.
"What?" She blinked, tilting her head slightly as she looked up at him. Her eyes widened in realization, and she shook her head, reaching up to place a hand on his shoulder before she could stop herself. "No, you didn't-I'm not used to this." She said, motioning between them with her free hand, referring to the teasing, flirting, whatever one would call that. "So I just…get easily flustered. You didn't do anything wrong, Rhydar. Don't worry."
Rhydar's shoulders slumped slightly in relief, though his heart fluttered somewhat when he registered that she had initiated contact—however small. He let out a small breath and darted his eyes away for a split second before looking back at her. "Okay. . .okay," he breathed, nodding. He didn't want to hurt Lily in any way, and he sometimes hurt people with his teasing, as he had a habit of leaving them be after getting them flustered.
"I'll tell you what." Lily said softly, one corner of her mouth turning up slightly in a small, soft smile. "If you're ever close to pushing any of those…boundaries, I'll let you know, all right?" She tilted her head in question, seemingly unaware of her hand still on his shoulder.
He nodded again, his eyes softening with relief and gratitude. "Alright," he agreed, stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep himself from hugging her—or pulling her into another kiss. He didn't dare let his gaze flicker to anywhere but her eyes.
"Thank you, though. For caring enough to be worried." She moved her hand, though instead of dropping it right away, she cupped his cheek for a few beats. She bit her lip as her eyes flickered across his face, her hand returning to her side.
He didn't let himself breathe when she cupped his cheek, so all he could do was lick his lips and slightly nod. When the heat of her skin left his cheek, he was able to form words. "Of course. I don't want you to hurt," he said softly.
"That means the world." Her smile brightened just slightly, in a hopeful sort of way, as she tucked her hands into her pockets. "I've, um, kept you for longer than I probably should, haven't I?" She asked after a few moments of studying him quietly.
"Well, it's not like you're physically holding me back," Rhydar said with a quirked lip and brow. "And I don't mind being held up, especially by you," he added with a wink, then looked over in the direction of the door to the palace. "But I really should be going," he muttered regretfully. "I'll see you soon."
A light pink bloomed on Lily's cheeks at his comment, and she bit her lip before nodding. "Try and stay out of trouble, as best you can. Please?" She raised an eyebrow as she pushed off the stall door, careful not to accidentally bump into him.
He backed away from her to give her room, all without looking at her still. He was listening—the servants were chatting. The corner of his lips curled up, and he nodded to acknowledge Lily's words. "Yeah, I'll try," he said, then glanced back at her. "Well, I suppose I should be going now."
"Have fun." She quipped, scrunching up her nose playfully at him. She could only imagine how agonizing spending any time with those women would be, but the whole situation was just slightly ridiculous.
"I'm sure I will," he said with a small laugh, then waved and headed out of the stable. He had no plans of doing his princely duties today. There was a foreign merchant's mansion to have a look at. He pretended that he was heading to the throne room until he spotted no guards. Then he bolted for the nearest servant's passage and snuck out.
((Skip forward until Then, or..?))
((I mean, there's nothing much else to do. Should we have it at sundown, so she gets worried because she has yet to bump into him?))
((Absolutely. My start?))
((Please do, I'm currently making a charrie, and I want to make an adorable one for once))
((Lmao a'ight))
Lily was worried. She probably shouldn't have been, of course Rhydar could take care of himself, but she hadn't even seen him since the stables. Was that even something to worry about? Maybe not. Though she had no way of knowing just how untrue that thought was, some wicked voice in the back of her head suggested that he was avoiding her. And while she didn't want to believe it, hope was a fickle thing for her.
Shaking her head, she settled down onto the bench along the garden path, pulling her legs up onto the bench with her. The sun was setting, and she had found a bench with a decent view of the horizon where it would go down, hoping to distract herself from her thoughts somewhat.
Rhydar slipped through the gardens, shaking out his hands to try and shake off the stinging feeling. So apparently the merchant wasn't as unguarded as he had hoped. Two burly giants of men had found Rhydar looting a safe and gave him a sound warning against doing it again. He had managed to get a ruby necklace and a matching ring from it, however, as they hadn't bothered to check his pockets.
However, he had also gotten a split lip, bruised and bloody knuckles, and some bruises blooming along his chest and abdomen. Not so good.
He didn't notice Lily as he winced and slowly eased himself on a nearby bench, sighing heavily, closing his eyes, and leaning his head back.