Lily Easily Hummed Her Agreement To Kaia's Comment About Some Days Favoring One Meal Over Another, Taking

She scrunched her nose up playfully when he returned the boop, wiggling her nose for further emphasis. She couldn't help but think how it's almost funny how he's clearly endured so much and come out the other side, only for him to be seemingly baffled by such simple affections.

Almost. It's still far more heartbreaking.

"You don't have to worry about hurting me, I'm not that fragile." She attempted to reassure, even playfully flexing to show off what little visible muscle she has that still pales in comparison to his own build.

( from @lily-of-the-linkon )

Lily holds her arms out slightly towards Dawnbreaker, hoping to make it so he won't feel bad if he refuses her invitation.

"Would you like a hug?"

His eyes light up briefly at the prospect of physical comfort.

"...Yes, I would."

He steps towards her, enveloping her in a gentle embrace to avoid causing her any discomfort, despite his wishes. He leans his forehead on her shoulder, closing his eyes.

Lily didn't realize what Sylus was doing at first, too distracted by watching the petals landing in her hand. It felt so strange to enjoy a moment so peaceful with him, but she's certainly not going to complain either way.

When he turned towards her, she turned her attention up to him in turn, her head tilting slightly in confusion. Feeling him delicately placing the flower behind her ear, her face flushed even deeper, enough so she swears it was radiating heat at this point. Without even realizing it, she found herself leaning into his touch.

Though, perhaps the tenderness of the action was affected by her response to his teasing being to stick her tongue out at him.

"While I'm not exactly opposed to you waxing poetic, and I did agree to tag along so we could spend time together, we didn't come here to make it all about me," she teased playfully as she looked up at him.

closed starter ofr: @lily-of-the-linkon

Sylus picked up his phone, swiping through the screen as he dialed Lily’s number, his thumb tapping rhythmically against the glass. He leaned back in his chair, watching the soft light of the afternoon filter through the blinds. As the phone rang, he let out a small sigh, a hint of impatience buried beneath the calm exterior.

When the call finally connected, he greeted her with a casual tone. “Hey, Lily, you busy? If not… would you want to come see me for the spring? The cherry blossoms are finally blooming, and I haven’t had the chance to see them with anyone yet.”

There was a slight pause as he adjusted his position, a faint smirk creeping across his lips.

"Thought it might be nice, you know... to have someone to appreciate them with."

He exhaled, gaze still fixed on the view outside of the dark N109 zone. "Never had the chance to see it with someone before." The words were quieter, almost absentminded, but laced with something unspoken

"I'm honestly trying to be flexible with weaponry, but I'm most comfortable with a gun. I prefer keeping a distance where I can." Lily answered honestly "Though I've been practicing with the sword lately. It is a lot more active, and exhausting." She laughed sheepishly, shaking her head. "Talk about a workout..."

She looked at the jacket curiously and felt it curiously, humming happily "Ooo it feels nice!" She beamed, checking the size before taking off her white jacket to try on the blue one. "I think this is actually a really good fit. Good choice!" She praised, turning her attention back to Kaia.

"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.

How Xavier manages to say just the right thing as though it came as naturally to him as breathing, Lily will never understand. She already found herself a little flustered by his words, so when he followed it up with a move straight out of a fairytale?

Made her feel like royalty, regardless of how exhausted she felt?

Her face flushed, color flooding or originally pale cheeks, taking to searching for his phone in hopes of recomposing herself. Picking it up once she saw it on the coffee table, she offered it over to him and set the first aid kit on the table in it's stead. Within reach, but out of the way.

Satisfied with their little makeshift recovery set-up, and thoroughly done with moving, Lily carefully leaned against his side. Doing her best not to irritate his injuries, she offered a quiet hum of approval. "The audiobook sounds perfect."

Wanting to return the affection, but not wanting to over-exert either of them, she turned her head slightly to plant a small kiss against his shoulder, hoping it could at least somewhat convey her gratitude.

"I'm fine, don't worry... it's just a scratch. What about you? Isn't it a nope day? You should lie down..."

"I'm still going to worry," she insisted stubbornly, her eyebrows furrowed, "Sit down for now, I'll be right back."

As much as she knows she should listen to him and sit down, trust him to tend to himself, not over do it... She can't help but fuss. Is she going to pay for it later? Probably. But it's worth it to know he's okay now.

So she shuffled her way to the bathroom, grabbing a hair tie and messily pulling it back and out of the way for the time being. Once relatively satisfied with that, and once again dismissing the thought that short hair would be easier to deal with on days like this, she grabbed her first aid kit from under the sink and shuffled her way back to Xavier.

Planet and Star Earrings // Ninaouity

With fatigue trying to dig it's claws into her, Lily focused on listening to where Xavier went and what he did. She wasn't ready to nap... not yet.

She lifted her head again when he approached, her eyebrows furrowing in concern with how uncomfortable he was. She accepted her medicine gratefully, taking a sip of the water to get it down before offering him a bottle of pain medicine from the first aid kit as well as her water bottle.

The candy being offered caught her off guard, her expression softening as she let out a small giggle, accepting it.

"You're too good to me, Xav..." she mumbled quietly, hoping he understood how much she really did appreciate him.

"I'm fine, don't worry... it's just a scratch. What about you? Isn't it a nope day? You should lie down..."

"I'm still going to worry," she insisted stubbornly, her eyebrows furrowed, "Sit down for now, I'll be right back."

As much as she knows she should listen to him and sit down, trust him to tend to himself, not over do it... She can't help but fuss. Is she going to pay for it later? Probably. But it's worth it to know he's okay now.

So she shuffled her way to the bathroom, grabbing a hair tie and messily pulling it back and out of the way for the time being. Once relatively satisfied with that, and once again dismissing the thought that short hair would be easier to deal with on days like this, she grabbed her first aid kit from under the sink and shuffled her way back to Xavier.

Lily accepted the helmet with an amused eyeroll, but did lower her head slightly when he reached up to move her hair out of her face. She did obediently put on the helmet though when he was satisfied, snorting at his comment.

"How sweet of you. And here I thought you're trying to make the entire building jealous," she teased playfully before taking her seat behind him carefully, at least used to this when hanging out with him. Though, she can't deny the fact that even the small compliment made her blush, though the visor of the helmet helped to hide it.

closed starter ofr: @lily-of-the-linkon

Sylus picked up his phone, swiping through the screen as he dialed Lily’s number, his thumb tapping rhythmically against the glass. He leaned back in his chair, watching the soft light of the afternoon filter through the blinds. As the phone rang, he let out a small sigh, a hint of impatience buried beneath the calm exterior.

When the call finally connected, he greeted her with a casual tone. “Hey, Lily, you busy? If not… would you want to come see me for the spring? The cherry blossoms are finally blooming, and I haven’t had the chance to see them with anyone yet.”

There was a slight pause as he adjusted his position, a faint smirk creeping across his lips.

"Thought it might be nice, you know... to have someone to appreciate them with."

He exhaled, gaze still fixed on the view outside of the dark N109 zone. "Never had the chance to see it with someone before." The words were quieter, almost absentminded, but laced with something unspoken

Lily flushed at his response to her choice, it didn't comment further. She smiled politely to the cashier as she ordered and paid, giggling to herself quietly when recognizing Xavier's instinct to try and pay first.

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully before she also stepped aside to wait for their drinks. Once they were ready she accepted the drinks, going over to Xavier and offering him his drink.

"Now then... Food time?"

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.

Lily's expression softened at his admission that the cookies were meant to be a surprise. Bless his heart she really can't stay upset with him for any length of time. He's too sweet for that.

Once she was done with cleaning his microwave from the explosion as best as she could, she turned her attention back to him. The music he'd chosen had her absently swaying along, moving over to him to take a look at the state of the recipe paper.

"I'd say that's still pretty legible, yeah." She agreed, smiling up at him. "Then shall we? Do you have enough ingredients for a second attempt?"

[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.