Lily paused to listen, nodding to show that she was. Once Cinthia had finished with the first chunk, she nodded once more and flitted about as she followed the instructions. She didn't need most of them, as she'd made cookies before, but this recipe was just a bit different from Jazmine's.
Wolf talked about random things with Cinthia–sometimes including Lily as well to not be rude–as he worked. However, he made the grave mistake of mentioning a slight crush, and Cinthia latched onto the tidbit of info and relentlessly hounded on him for more details. He adamantly refused.
"Cinthia, he's more likely to tell you later if you stop picking him apart now." Lily commented, not looking up from the eggs she was cracking. She had stayed fairly quiet throughout the time in the kitchen, not that that was knew, focusing on the baking.
"Highly unlikely," Wolf said in response to Lily's comment.
"Oh come on, I confided in you," she whined, pouting at Wolf. He just shook her head and tried focusing on his cupcakes. The tips of his ears were pink. She huffed and went over to Lily to check on her.
"Better than never." Lily shot back at Wolf, lips quirking up into a smile. She glanced up as Cinthia approached, raising an eyebrow and continuing on to mixing.
He turned around to stick his tongue out at her. Cinthia chuckled and helped Lily.
"I'm curious, about places and rooms in the castle worth spending time in, and ones to avoid." Lily said softly, after a few minutes of silence.
"Depends on personal preference," the twins said at the same time. Cinthia waved her hand lazily. "I'd suggest staying away from the barracks unless you like spending time with guards–and don't mind getting challenged to a friendly fight. The King and Queen's wing is definitely a no-go. There's a personal library here, but it's nowhere near as grand as the one that I showed you. Indoor greenhouse, an underground pool of river water, uhhhh…"
"Aquarium and stables," Wolf chimed in, "The kennels, aviary, that family of wild bunnies that now live in the gallery."
Lily looked up as they talked, her eyebrows raised in slight shock. "That's quite the selection of things to do. No way to go bored, I suppose." You shouldn't be thinking about recreational activities, Lily. Not with what's at stake.
They shrugged and opened their mouths to say something when the door opened and a familiar pair of emerald green eyes poked through. Rhydar's gaze landed on the twins and then found Lily. He flicked his brows up in surprise as he shut the door behind him. Now dressed in his usual casual clothing, rings and piercings galore, he very much looked the part of the thief that he was at heart. "Wasn't aware a party was going on in here," he said by greeting. The twins waved hello and went back to their baking.
Lily shook her head, going back to preparing to split the dough onto the pan for the cookies. "Kitchens are the perfect place for parties. Direct access to food." She said matter-of-factly, rolling the dough into small balls and placing them on the pan.
He huffed a laugh and headed over to Wolf, sticking his finger in the bowl of freshly finished frosting. Wolf loudly protested and shoved him away. As Rhydar was the shorter one of the two–and lighter–he was soon overpowered and ended up tripping over his own feet. Cinthia turned around as she heard his yelp, then covered her mouth to suppress her laughter.
Lily looked up, the scuffle drawing her attention away from the cookies. She watched for a moment, biting her lip to hide the amused smile threatening to show itself as Rhydar almost hit the ground. A small pang of longing hit her suddenly, the familiar wish that her own family was fine and together.
"You two," he started as he finally caught his balance, "are brats." The twins cackled but otherwise ignored their older brother. Wolf headed over to the oven and put his first batch of cupcakes in it to bake. Cinthia looked over at Lily to gauge her reaction towards Rhydar's presence.
Lily shook her head with a small laugh, at their playful fighting, her eyes flickering to Rhydar once more before she turned back to finish up the first batch of cookies. She managed to keep thoughts of the looming problem from her head, wanting to enjoy herself.
Rhydar huffed and jumped up on an unused counter, watching the three of them work relatively silently. He was bored and not really in the mood to cause many problems. He had just gotten free of two of the women that came here seeking his hand, and he already knew that those two would be booted before the first ball. They were so clingy and just wouldn't shut up about how his piercings made him look scary and blah blah blah blah blah.
Lily glanced up at Rhydar, noting his aggravation with a small frown. She looked back down at the cookie dough for a moment, thinking, before searching for a clean spoon. Once she'd found one, she scooped a bit of the cookie dough onto it, grabbing the pan with her free hand. She set the spoon next to Rhydar as she passed on her way to the oven, offering a small flash of a smile. Pretending everything was normal was hard, but offering the same instant cheer-up tactic her mother had used when she was younger helped a bit.
Rhydar jerked his head up when Lily passed and set a spoon down next to him. He looked over and saw that it was a spoonful of cookie dough. And that smile…He cocked his head as he watched her head over to the oven, trying to figure her out. She was an intriguing mystery of a woman, compared to the others he's interacted with. She didn't fawn, nor did she go out of her way to try and talk to him.
Cinthia smacked his side with the back of her hand, causing him to jerk with a small oww and look over at his sister. She cast a meaningful look towards the spoon of cookie dough, then Lily, then back to him. He sighed and picked it up, muttering, "I know, I know. Leave me be." He nodded at Lily and held up the spoon. "Thanks," he said to her.
Lily slid the pan into the oven before closing it once more. "It's nothing." She said after, turning to look at Rhydar as she leaned against the counter slightly. She'd missed Cinthia's slap, and had been too focused to pick up his mutterings. "You just looked like you could use something sweet."
He huffed a laugh and gestured to the twins. "It's because I'm surrounded by so much bitterness." They stuck their tongues out at him in response, to which he did the same. He then took a bite off of the cookie dough and tasted it, tilting his head. "Who did the cookies?" he asked.
"Cinthia and I." She said, raising an eyebrow just slightly at him. Though her first instinct was to ask if something was wrong with them, she managed to stomp it down, though a flicker of something like apprehension crossed her face.
He nodded and ate the rest of it. "'s really good," he managed to mumble around the spoon. "Manners," the twins said. Cinthia screeched and ducked her head as he stuck his tongue out at her before he finished eating the dough.
Her smile flickered back into place, just a bit bigger than it had been before. Compliments were rare for her, especially ones as innocent as that, and it made something warm flutter in her chest. "I'm glad I did it justice."
He nodded and finished eating, licking his lips. "Tastes almost as good as Cin's. Then again, I swear she puts something in all her stuff to make it all taste good. I'm guessing drugs." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. He grinned innocently at her.
"Witchery, interesting. I should have thought of that." She nodded solemnly, though her lips twitched with amusement. Her eyes flickered to Cinthia, alight with mirth.
"Oh shut it you two. I'm not a witch, nor do I drug you lot." She rolled her eyes and stood next to the oven, waiting for the cookies and cupcakes to be done.
"Well, you haven't exactly had the opportunity to drug me. Yet." She mused, feigning being deep in thought for a moment before looking to the oven. "The cookies should be done in three minutes."
Wolf and Rhydar snickered at Cinthia's yet another eye roll. Yet, despite her outward appearance that she might be slightly annoyed, her lips wobbled with the effort to keep from smiling.
Lily shook her head, a smile playing faintly on her lips as she crossed the kitchen back to where she'd left the cookie dough in the bowl, grabbing another spoon and scooping some of the cookie dough for herself as she leaned against the counter.
((Oh oh oh oh, I made a really bad chara sheet for her, if you wanna check it out. It's got a few more indepth things about her))