She had just trailed off, practiced words fading to nothing within the expanse of her rooms. Irritation at her own worry crept up her swanlike throat, clawing over the maiden’s tongue in a vicious, almost-choking sensation. The mare shooed the sickly feeling away and took a sip of her tea, resisting the urge to flinch as the amber liquid scalded her tongue. Placing the flower-shaped cup back upon it’s saucer, the movement eliciting a tiny clink, Llewelyn stared regally at the empty space across the table.
She was no spurned fishwife waiting for her husband’s return from the sea, she would face the male’s absence with practiced indifference.
At least on the surface, but appearances were really all that mattered, anyway.
As if summoned by her anxiety, Mateo glided gently into his companion’s chambers. His entrance was largely a silent one, the rustling of ebony feathers and the whisper of the breeze upon his back the only sounds. Sooty hooves pressed into the gold embroidered carpet, denting the plush surface ever so slightly with half moons. Windblown and roguish, her emerald-eyed counterpart sailed back into the Mateo-shaped spot within Llewelyn’s life with a flourish and a bow.
A small rage flickered within her breast, blistering and quick, at how easily she knew she would forgive him for his transgressions, however small. Already, his mere presence was smoothing over her stresses, painting the inconvenience as an exciting twist in an otherwise predictable schedule. At his apology and her nickname on his tongue - the use of the casual title by anyone other than the obsidian pegasus was paramount to murder - Llewelyn sniffed, raising her nose haughtily and looking away in a pointed expression of upset.
He had made her wait; even worse, he had made her worry, and worry never became a Lady.
She heard it would give you wrinkles.
He truly was sorry, she could hear it in his honeyed voice the same way one could hear the ocean against the shore, and she knew that she wasn’t truly angry with him. How could she be? He had been her closest friend and confidante since she had stepped into the sprawling citadel. They had grown up together, mischief and gossip and laughter echoing down the hallways and setting their hearts aglow. Mateo had helped her learn how to read when she had started falling behind, had been a steady and unfaltering presence at her side.
No, she could never truly be angry with him, they belonged to each other. In truth, she adored him, cherished him even; but it had always been fun to play games.
So as he settled upon his cushion, mussed locks in charming contrast with the pristinely organized parlor, Llewelyn refused to offer her customary grin, refused to look him in the eye. The maiden wanted to exude a certain shame on you air, and hoped that all her time spent practicing facial expressions in the mirror was paying off. At last, she returns his gaze, and finds that the devilry in his eyes almost, almost draws a smile from her. Brow quirking at the flash of color beneath his wing, the Lady couldn’t escape from the delighted gasp that lit up her face as Mateo proffered his beautiful - albeit slightly wilted - gift.
“A flower,” she cooed, unable to keep up her charade any longer. Gifts and compliments could hardly be ignored, and the femme knew better than to pretend at upset past that, her friend was far too clever to have believed it. “You’re incorrigible, Mateo,” she murmured, though there was no venom in the rebuke, only a soft teasing as she gently grasped the bloom with her telepathy and brushed her lips reverently over its vibrant petals. Looking up at his handsome face through a fan of lowered lashes, Llewelyn finally allowed herself to relax, the comforting familiarity of his presence wrapping about her frame like a blanket.
The courtier allowed herself a few more moments to admire her new trinket before tucking it expertly at behind her left ear and turning the full force of her golden gaze upon her comrade. “So,” she began, a sly grin working its way over her lips, “Outside of unwittingly looking the part of a knight here to rescue a princess, have you heard about that absolutely humiliating debacle in the Day Court?”
@Mateo I am having SO much fun with this! Thank you for giving me such a great opportunity to play around with her character<3 Mateo for president tbh
