Lily Hummed Her Agreement, Since She Knows Full Well That Caffeine Is Only Good In Moderation. She Made

Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena // Alain de Botton, Essays in Love // Eden Robinson, "Writing Prompts for the Broken-Hearted" // Chloe Liese, Always Only You // Anne Carson and Euripides, An Oresteia // Two—Sleeping At Last // Studio Bones, SK8 the Infinity // Trista Mateer, "is it okay to say this?" // @moodylilac // D. H. Lawrence, "The Rainbow"

Half of Lily's strategy in life is throwing people off, so realizing he hadn't expected that earned excited laughter as she continued her pursuit. "Oh~? Did you perhaps underestimate your bodyguard~?" she teased. When she managed to feel relatively confident that she could make the shot, she threw the snowball at his back. Of course, she did her best to ensure she wouldn't risk hitting him in the head or anything!

❄️ -@artistrafayel

Send ❄️ to throw a snowball at Lily!

Lily yelped in surprise at the sudden impact before turning to Rafayel, seeming almost offended for all of... two seconds.

A wide grin spread across her face as she leaned down to make a snowball of her own. "Are you sure you want to play this game~?" she asked playfully, glancing up at him from where her hands were making quick work of the snow.

"I tend to be good at making sense." She teased playfully, looking up at him with a smirk.

His question makes her hum, expression softening. "I don't know... But I hope so."

As much as it hurt to not be certain, no matter how much she wanted to insist that they'd see each other again, she couldn't bear the thought of insisting so confidently and then not being able to follow through, whether it was by her choice or not. But she meant what she did get to say, genuinely hoping that they could see each other again. It looks like she has a lot of hugs to make up for!

"Try to take care of yourself until then, okay?" She requested, her tone gentle as she reached up to cup his cheek.

( 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.

Sorry Xavier, you asked Lily open ended questions while she's tired and in a weird brain space. Welcome to deep answers and depressing thoughts!

She hummed in response, looking up at the sky again. "Maybe... I know it's a tall order." She mused, her eyes half lidded.

Once realizing that it was her turn to ask him a question, she tilted her head back slightly to look up at him. "What's your goal? With how strong you are, there must be some goal you're working towards, something you fight for?"

❛ you shouldn’t be out here by yourself. ❜ 

Send me a prompt!

~

Normally, Lily tries to be fully aware of her surroundings. Working as a Hunter means she shouldn't let her guard down, especially when by herself. Who knows what threats are just waiting for a chance to strike, after all?

Though normally, Lily doesn't have to resort to late night walks to try and clear her mind so that she can sleep.

Suddenly hearing a voice nearby startles her out of her own thoughts, immediately setting her on alert. Her head whipped around towards the source, her posture tense and ready for a fight. Once she finally recognized Xavier, she let out a slow breath that ended in a sheepish laugh.

"Xavier!" She half-greeted, half-scolded.

Once she finally processed his warning, she offered what she hoped came across as a reassuring smile. "I know, I know. But I'm a big girl, I can handle going for a little starlit walk before bed." She teased, running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm herself down further so her heart wasn't pounding so hard in her chest.

"What about you? You're out rather late too."

Lily at least attempted to pay for their meal, sticking her tongue out at him as she stepped aside to wait with him.

"Then shouldn't you call me once you're caught up and ready for the rambling?" She asked, her tone both playful and genuine. She doesn't want to rush him after all, so it's better for it to be on his terms.

She took another sip of her drink, which was also mostly empty, though she didn't seem phased by the cold condensation.

"Maybe?" She hummed thoughtfully, absently chewing on the straw. "It would be nice, just get to relax for a bit."

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.

"Right now?" She echoed, even as she was already shaking her head. "No, I don't feel lonely right now. Not anymore."

When she could finally see their apartment complex just a few blocks away, she stood up a little straighter. They're almost home, then she can finally give in to her fatigue. However despite trying to keep herself coherent a little while longer, she made no effort to pull herself away from Xavier.

She couldn't help but chuckle softly at Xavier's answer, figuring that she shouldn't have expected anything else from him. "Truly, the perfect Hunter." She teased affectionately, giving him just the tiniest of nudges. "I suppose I can't argue that answer though, so your turn."

❛ you shouldn’t be out here by yourself. ❜ 

Send me a prompt!

~

Normally, Lily tries to be fully aware of her surroundings. Working as a Hunter means she shouldn't let her guard down, especially when by herself. Who knows what threats are just waiting for a chance to strike, after all?

Though normally, Lily doesn't have to resort to late night walks to try and clear her mind so that she can sleep.

Suddenly hearing a voice nearby startles her out of her own thoughts, immediately setting her on alert. Her head whipped around towards the source, her posture tense and ready for a fight. Once she finally recognized Xavier, she let out a slow breath that ended in a sheepish laugh.

"Xavier!" She half-greeted, half-scolded.

Once she finally processed his warning, she offered what she hoped came across as a reassuring smile. "I know, I know. But I'm a big girl, I can handle going for a little starlit walk before bed." She teased, running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm herself down further so her heart wasn't pounding so hard in her chest.

"What about you? You're out rather late too."

My muse is feeling touch-starved.

Send one of the following touches for my muse’s reaction. Bonus points for a description/context of some kind to make it easier for your partner to respond!

❤ - gentle or loving touch (romantic or platonic!), such as face caressing, holding your muse, rubbing their back, petting their hair, hugging them tightly, etc

ღ - kisses of any kind (romantic or platonic) such as cheek kisses, hair kisses, mouth kisses, kiss to the hand/fingertips or eyelids, etc. feel free to specify a body part!

☕ - reassuring touch, such as holding their hand, gripping their shoulder, guiding them by the arm or by a hand on the small of their back, etc

❥ - rough, violent, or dominant touch, such as gripping the back of their neck, holding them down, shoving them into a wall, digging their nails into them, grabbing their jaw, etc

❣ - add this to any of the above to make it sexual. 

¿ - write your own touches!

"You don't have to be a good artist to be good at different forms of art." Lily reassured, amused by how much such a simple observation cheered Kaia up. "I still think I'd trust you to pick out an outfit for me."

She's perfectly content to watch Kaia get so excited and ramble, propping her head up for now.

Taking a moment to thank the waiter, Lily turned her attention back to Kaia and nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe we did? If we did I don't really remember it, but I probably wouldn't have noticed since I would've been too focused on my books..." She mused just as thoughtfully. "We should absolutely go together sometime, though!"

"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.

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.