Lily Accepted The Helmet With An Amused Eyeroll, But Did Lower Her Head Slightly When He Reached Up To

Lily stuck her tongue out at him playfully in retaliation, snickering as he leaned into her in turn. “It’s almost as though I value your opinion or something.” She teased lightheartedly.

At the intersection she took the lead again, relieved that they aren’t terribly far from the pizza parlor. She doesn’t mind doing a lot of walking, of course! But she won’t complain about an opportunity to be lazy, either.

“That’s fair.” She hummed “Push comes to shove, we can always go to one of our places and sit on the balcony.” She added, in case they don’t want to risk dealing with people.

After spending the morning doing research on places in Linkon City that offer milk tea, Lily finally found a place that seemed like it would be a nice place to visit and had the coffee milk tea that Xavier mentioned. Plus it wasn't far from a few good places to eat so they'd have options based on what they were feeling up to without having to go all the way across town. Perfect.

Lily finally sent Xavier a text in the late morning.

'I found a place that has that coffee milk tea you mentioned! And it has really good reviews.'

After a moment of thought, she sent another text as well.

'And thank you for walking me home last night. I really appreciated it. It was nice, looking at the stars with you.'

If not for the sporadic texts, Xavier would still be asleep. Outside the birds that often bickered over his balcony were squawking at a volume loudly. The combination of factors is enough to stir him, just barely. He knows its her before having to unlock his phone.

↪[ Audio: I'm awake. I'm up. I'm coming. ]

↪[ It was nice. Let's do it again sometime ]

In a flash he rinses off, takes care of basic hygiene, and is donning a favored hoodie in spite of the weather.

By the time he gets downstairs, he's already rubbing his eyes again as he knocks on the door.

The exaggerated playfulness had Lily's giggles turning into proper laughter, still finding herself leaning into him for support. She hid her face in his arm once more, one of her arms looped around his and holding it close to her.

"You are such a dork!"

His musing about a bakery made her snort, tilting her head back slightly to look up at him. "What would we call it?"

[Phone call, Xavier's voice sounds urgent] "I'm in great danger I need you to come downstairs right now. Please! You're the only one that can help. In fact, the entire complex may be in danger if you don't help me stop this right now."

As soon as she registered the urgency and he mentioned 'upstairs', Lily was rushing out of her apartment, only sparing enough time to grab her guns as a precaution.

"I'm on my way!" She reassured as she hurried upthe flight of stairs between them. Her thoughts were already racing a mile a minute, wondering what could possibly be causing Xavier of all people to struggle and call for help, especially without causing much of a ruckus.

By the time she reached his door her heart was pounding and she was braced for a fight.

Send "NEWS FLASH!" + a scene that made my muse appear in the news to see their reaction

The "news" may or may not be true

*Gives Lily a flower crown*

// Give Lily an item, and see how she reacts!

Lily lets out a happy gasp when accepting the flower crown, immediately putting it on. "This is so cute! Thank you so much!"

Seeing him in such a state, frazzled and covered in who knows what, she spares just a moment to look him over for any visible injuries. Not seeing anything too obvious just yet she hurried in towards the kitchen at his urging, even though something in her brain flagged that particular room as being of note.

But once she reached the kitchen, she realized what it was that was noteworthy.

The kitchen. The one place Xavier should not be left alone in. The only thing she's found he's not very good at.

Cooking.

Letting out a slow breath to release some of the tension in her muscles, she put her guns somewhere safer since she didn't even have their holsters on her at the moment, and settled a hand on her chest to try and calm her racing heart.

"Xavier... I love you, and you're an amazing hunter with unparalleled skill, but I swear, you are going to give me a heart attack one of these days." She shook her head with a small, breathless laugh, both teasing him and not.

But with that she rolled up her sleeves to get to work cleaning so she can figure out what in the world he was trying to do.

[Phone call, Xavier's voice sounds urgent] "I'm in great danger I need you to come downstairs right now. Please! You're the only one that can help. In fact, the entire complex may be in danger if you don't help me stop this right now."

As soon as she registered the urgency and he mentioned 'upstairs', Lily was rushing out of her apartment, only sparing enough time to grab her guns as a precaution.

"I'm on my way!" She reassured as she hurried upthe flight of stairs between them. Her thoughts were already racing a mile a minute, wondering what could possibly be causing Xavier of all people to struggle and call for help, especially without causing much of a ruckus.

By the time she reached his door her heart was pounding and she was braced for a fight.

Lily couldn't not notice the slip up, though she couldn't put her finger on what he almost said. She couldn't even decide on how to bring it up, so she at least tried to leave it there for the moment, instead focusing on teasing their absent friend. 

"He did." She confirmed with a small laugh and shake of her head. "I went rushing up because I thought he was getting attacked or something, and nope! It was just him trying to cook. Then the brat basically tricked me into helping him make waffles the next day." She snorted, rolling her eyes.

The insistence they try to ensure Xavier only bring drinks earned some eager nods of agreement. "Oh absolutely. Either drinks, or he just brings himself." She agreed, since that's a safe enough bet. 

She did check her phone when it buzzed with the notification of the group chat, humming happily and nodding. "Perfect! Once I get home I can figure out what days would be best and send them in the chat."

( Jump - sender jumps on receivers back - @lily-of-the-linkon )

Lily grinned when seeing Jeremiah wasn't paying attention to her, a mischievous little plan forming in her head.

Putting her training to the test, she carefully approached him from behind. She kept her movements as silent as possible, slowly lifting her arms to brace herself for step two.

When she was finally within reach of the (unsuspecting?) man, she lunged to jump on his back. While she was careful not to knock him over if she could help it, she was still dramatic.

Almost immediately after 'impact', she couldn't help but break into giggles, shifting to at least attempt to look at his face. "Hi Jer~" she greeted with playfully exaggerated casualness.

"What the- ah!"

The sudden surprise and sensation of warmth pressed against his back shocked him enough to let out a yelp in surprise, but the familiarity of the voice immediately calmed his instincts.

He adjusts his grip to ensure her safety but doesn't put her down.

"Stars, Lilyyyy! Where did you come from!? How did you manage to be so quiet!?"

Give my muse an item and see how they react!

Things may or may not be added to their official inventory

I may or may not know a tiny bit too much about gemstones and various other shinies...

Once he set her down, she moved one hand up to cover her mouth with a loose fist to muffle the remaining giggles, finally settling down some herself. His 'attack' re-started the giggles, prompting her to smile at him innocently, moving her hand away from her mouth to instead rest under her chin playfully. Her? Being a chaotic little brat? Hardly~!

"Mmhm! I had to take my bike to the shop to get it checked over, so I got the rest of the day off to deal with that. Wanted to come say hi while I was in the neighborhood."

( Jump - sender jumps on receivers back - @lily-of-the-linkon )

Lily grinned when seeing Jeremiah wasn't paying attention to her, a mischievous little plan forming in her head.

Putting her training to the test, she carefully approached him from behind. She kept her movements as silent as possible, slowly lifting her arms to brace herself for step two.

When she was finally within reach of the (unsuspecting?) man, she lunged to jump on his back. While she was careful not to knock him over if she could help it, she was still dramatic.

Almost immediately after 'impact', she couldn't help but break into giggles, shifting to at least attempt to look at his face. "Hi Jer~" she greeted with playfully exaggerated casualness.

"What the- ah!"

The sudden surprise and sensation of warmth pressed against his back shocked him enough to let out a yelp in surprise, but the familiarity of the voice immediately calmed his instincts.

He adjusts his grip to ensure her safety but doesn't put her down.

"Stars, Lilyyyy! Where did you come from!? How did you manage to be so quiet!?"

"I get that, trust me." Lily reassured, shaking her head with a chuckle. "I can't count the number of times I've defaulted to neutrals for others, but it hasnt failed me yet!" She snickered.

With the questions, she nodded with a sheepish laugh, putting her hands of the white jacket. "Mmhm! It's really comfy and not too heavy, but it's not trapping heat as well as it used to, and the pockets are hanging on with a prayer." She admitted, even showing her.

Kaia's offer for company earned another nod of agreement "Sure, I don't mind!" She answered easily. "Plus then we can both tease the person who oh-so-cruelly abandoned you in the middle of the store." She teased lightheartedly.

"Oh, wait! Before you leave, what color do you think the jacket should b—" Not looking away from the clothing rack in front of her, she grabs the sleeve of the person nearest to her without thinking, and realizes a little too late that it felt... Different. She turns, blinking; the person she'd been talking to had left, and beside her instead was...

"Wait, you're—! Lily?! You're Lily, right?! Oh, my god, I am so sorry, I totally thought you were someone else! Gosh, and this is the first time I'm actually talking to you, too..."

—&&. @kaiakaya 🤍

Lily was more than a little startled to suddenly feel her sleeve grabbed while she was looking for a new jacket to replace her favorite one that has... been through it. It's getting a few small holes in it but she's already mended it so many times it's time to retire it.

She blinked in surprise at Kaia for a moment before she started laughing, keeping it relatively quiet for the moment so they don't draw too much attention.

"Yes, I'm Lily. You're Kaia, right?" She asked, hoping she doesn't make a fool of herself.

At Kaia's concerns about how this is the first time they're speaking, she shook her head with a smile and waved a hand dismissively. "It's alright, don't worry!" She reassured easily "Do you need help finding the person you're here with?" She offered, tilting her head slightly.