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.
Lily knew she should let Rhydar get some rest, but she really, really didn't want him to leave quite yet. And to be honest, she wanted to kiss him as long as she could. Don't leave me quite yet, please. She rested her forehead against his, eyes still closed as she breathed quietly for a few moments. "Can I kiss you again? Just one more time?"
He smiled softly, then gently cupped her face in his hands as he tilted his head to press his lips against hers. He was perfectly fine with staying here for a little while longer, and sleep barely even occurred to him as he continued to taste Lily's lips and have her so close.
His hands on her face were soft and warm, and she found herself leaning just slightly to the left, pressing her cheek into his palm as a smile flickered across her lips. He kissed her like she was something priceless, which never failed to make her heart flutter.
The fact that she leaned into his touch instead of away made his heart swell with happiness, and his lips curled slightly in a small smile. Just like any moment with Lily, it was like a dream that Rhydar never wanted to wake up from. It was just so unbelievable.
For a split second, Lily was almost worried she'd done something wrong. But the feeling of his smile against her lips eased that worry, allowing her to focus again on just that, his lips against hers.
Once again, Rhydar let the kiss linger for a few moments before breaking it once again. He kept his forehead pressed against hers as his thumb lightly brushed against her cheek. He looked down at her with a soft, almost happy smile on his face.
Lily opened her eyes slowly to meet his, her own sparkling with a definite happiness. Kissing him really never got old, just as she'd predicted. And neither did his smiles. Rhydar was safe, they'd been over that, but he also made her feel happy, and like someone worth the care he put into holding her.
His smile warmed at seeing the sparkle in her eyes. She looked so happy, and he had a pretty good guess as to what the cause was. He kissed her forehead and moved his hands down to her shoulders, then down to her upper arms. "That was more than one goodnight kiss, darling Lily," he teased, looking down at her again and meeting her eyes. "Not that I'm complaining."
She huffed a laugh, a light blush painting her cheeks. "I know, I know. I should really stop holding you up, shouldn't I?" She said, tilting her head and scrunching her nose slightly. She liked the comfort she felt when she was with him, though, and the welcome reprieve from her thoughts.
He grinned at her blush, then lightly tapped her scrunched up nose. It was cute—she was cute. "I'm perfectly capable of refusing a kiss and letting both of us get to bed." Lie. He could never refuse a kiss or anything from Lily. It was almost physically impossible for him to keep himself from kissing her if she asked.
She crossed her eyes slightly in an attempt to see his finger as he tapped her nose, before looking back up at him. "Of course you can." She said honestly, nodding. "But I guess that makes you about as ready to go to bed as I am." Which was to say, not at all.
He opened his mouth, sucking in a breath to deny it, before closing it and licking his lip ring. "Alright, fine. I may or may not have other things on my mind that don't involve going to sleep," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck and shifting his weight.
She huffed a small and soft laugh, tilting her head. "Penny for your thoughts, then?" She just hoped they weren't anything that would make her worry about him. But she would listen anyway, and that much was obvious.
"You, mostly," he said after a few quiet moments, his eyes flicking around her face. "But I'm also thinking about how I'm gonna get whooped for skipping out on my royal duties again. I might just stay up with Cin to catch up on what I missed."
She blinked, somehow not expecting the first answer. Mostly. Out of all the things he could be thinking about, and all the different levels, she was the one thing occupying most of his thoughts? "O-oh. Y-you really should get some sleep, but I would rather you didn't get 'whooped'."