When they’d left the nightmare that was the tea party from hell, Eileen hadn’t expected to be going to another one so soon. But a few moments of wandering around the outskirts of the Feagold markets, and they’d somehow managed to be get wrapped into doing just that. It hadn’t exactly been something Eileen had wanted to do at first.

Yet here she was sitting under the shaded wood area in the centre of a garden. There were roses all around them, with sprinklings of lilies and sunflowers of various colours. It was honestly a very pretty scene.

“What are your plans for the day?” The man who had invited them to it seemed more relaxed than he’d been the last time she’d seen him.

Ayla shot him a smile in between sips, “We don’t really have any concrete ones.”

“Hmm, I see.” Raiden returned the smile, “I didn’t quite catch where you were coming from.” Sip. “You’re dressed a little formally for a casual outing.”

The smile on faltered, “It doesn’t really matter.” At being reminded of the case after the peaceful moments they’d been spending, Eileen found herself grimacing around her cup a little as well.

His eyes glinted with curiosity, clearly wanting to know what had brought out that reaction. But ultimately, he shrugged and went back to drinking his tea as well. Which Eileen found to be a lot better than the one at the previous such function they’d been at.

But that may have just been due to the company. Raiden Redthorn was certainly better company to have when eating than snide remarks and judgemental attitudes. Even if he was very annoying at times.

Eileen wanted to roll her eyes as she remembered what had brought them there. He’d wandered upon them in the middle of the markets and invited them to lunch with tea. It was a little too perfect for it to be an coincidence.

She had wanted to refuse the invitation, but that been the exact moment Ayla’s stomach had decided to growl. She’d been embarrassed by and agreed to Raiden’s invite before Eileen could refuse.

Not that she had anything against spending time with him, but after breakfast yesterday, it seemed she was seeing him everywhere lately. The man was very persistent. So much so that it had been difficult to refuse his request to have lunch.

He’d insisted on paying for it, saying it was his way of repaying her for the breakfast. And Eileen had still been so angry with his friends and effected by the loneliness she’d witnessed in him, she had agreed. Eileen mentally shook her head at the reminder.

Still, it boded well for his and Kiran’s new friendship. Even if the lunch had been cut short due to Raiden getting a call from his brother. They hadn’t made any plans for the reschedule the man had told her about before leaving, but had managed to exchange phone numbers.

Which Eileen was amused to note he still hadn’t used. She wondered whether he was waiting for Kiran to call him first. The smile the thought brought was barely hidden by the cup, so she leaned over to take a sandwich to do instead.

In a way, it seemed, Raiden had already gotten his request for a reschedule. Not that he knew that. While they’d been on their way over, Eileen had noted it might be a little late for breakfast he’d initially been planning, so they’d turned it into more of a brunch.

She had to once again admire his flexibility and clear persistence when he’d simply taken a detour to pick up more suitable foods. It seemed he wasn’t afraid to spend money. The thought wasn’t all that comforting when certain images had immediately accompanied it in Eileen’s mind.

The sting of her nails digging into her free palm alerted to the way her hand had curled at the reminder now. Subtly glancing around, she was glad to see that Raiden and Ayla were engaged in their own conversation and hadn’t seen it. Tuning into it, she found it was little more than the perfunctory small talk.

“Was there a reason you brought us here?” Eileen decided to ask the question that had been on her mind the entire walk here. He’d been nervously tapping his foot under the table for a while now.

Suddenly, his eyes were on her and she found there was a startled gleam in the greys. “What?”

Eileen tilted her head to the side innocently, “You’ve been tapping your foot like there’s something you want to ask.”

He glanced at his feet and then up at her again before turning to look at Ayla, clearing his throat. “I was just wondering whether you knew where Kiran would be right now?’

Almost choking on her bite, Eileen just barely managed to make it seem as if she hadn’t reacted to that. It doesn’t seem to work as Ayla shoots her a dubious glance, but Raiden is too busy looking expectantly at Ayla to notice. Which is good, because it gives her the opportunity to pretend it didn’t happen at all.

Gods above. If he wanted to know where Kiran was, he should have just messaged her like a normal person. He didn’t need to set up a elaborate scheme to get them here to find that information. Eileen didn’t know whether to be annoyed or impressed by the dedication.

If she were to be honest, she was a little amused despite herself. This absolutely ridiculous man. How hard would it have been to simply ask?

“I think he’s out of town at the moment, ” Ayla tells him, “Why do you ask?”

It is at that moment that Eileen realises she forgot to tell Ayla they’re now friends. Oops. The way Raiden’s face seems to drop at that is not something she likes. Oh no.

“He’ll be back soon,” Eileen tells him, “You could always message him.”

When Ayla turns to give her a curious look as well, she knows that there will be a lot of questions about that later. Or even now, if the look on her face is any indication. Too bad she can’t tell her they can talk about this later with Raiden staring at her closely as well.

“How do you know that?” His eyebrows furrow and his head tilts slightly.

“He’s my cousin.” Eileen wants to curse her impulsiveness and she’s glad she has contacts in to disguise her eyes. “We didn’t really get along too well growing up, but we’ve recently been forced to talk because of him dating Ayla.”

Ayla’s muffled laugh goes unnoticed by the man currently staring at her in shock. Eyes roaming over her mask and up into her currently blue eyes, obviously trying to find the resemblance.

“They’re family on his father’s side,” Ayla adds, an undertone of amusement in her voice, “They’ve actually started living together as well.”

Eileen is starting to get the impression that she may have shot herself in the foot with this lie. But she has already said it, so all she can do now is to commit. She can hardly take the words back.

“Yep!” Nodding enthusiastically, she shoots him a grin, “It’s so much fun! He isn’t as annoying as I remember. ” Giggling, Eileen shakes her head and glances at Ayla, “I’m so glad that Ayla made us start talking again.”

He seems to have a lot of different things he wants to say, opening and closing his mouth multiple different ways.

“Did he say anything about her rescheduled lunch?”

Eileen blinks, not knowing how to answer this. She has never really liked lying to her friends, but she can’t exactly tell him they’re already having it. Then again, would it be lying if the one he was technically friends with was Kiran and not Eileen?

“Not really,” she tells him, “only that he’ll be back soon. You can always ask him when you see him next!”

He nods after a slight pause. Eileen also makes a note to tell him to just call her if he wants to know this stuff when she next sees him as Kiran. It was a little weird that he hadn’t done that already if he was that eager. On second thought, she glanced at Ayla, she supposed all of her friends were a little weird.

“This is a really nice lunch,” Ayla is telling him, “do you always come here for them?”

“Not always,” he replies, taking a small sip of his drink, “I thought you might enjoy it.”

“How’d you gather that?”

Raiden smiled, “Well,” he leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “there’s a star-gazing deck behind those sunflowers.”

“There is?” Ayla’s eyebrows shoot up, gaze immediately going in the direction he’d pointed, “and it’s not gated out?”

“No.” He leaned back with a smile, “My family funds this garden, and I’ve made sure to let them know to let you in if you were ever to want to use it.”

Ayla glanced at him curiously, “Why would you do that? You barely know me?”

“Well-”

“Is it because you felt bad for inviting her to lunch with ulterior motives?” Eileen cut in bluntly, “That’s it right?”

“…yes.” He looked a little flustered at being called out. How cute.

Although if she were asked a few days ago, she wouldn’t have imagined herself calling Raiden Redthorn cute this much. She was more likely to call him annoying.

“Nora,” Ayla turned to her, “It’s not nice to embarrass him.” Her tone lacked any heat, amusement playing in her eyes.

“Did I embarrass you?” She turned a wide-eyed glance at Raiden, “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” his voice was a little quiet and there was a tinge of red on his ears.

“Still!,” Eileen huffed, maybe enjoying teasing him a little too much, “I feel bad.”

“Really, it’s alright,” he told her, shooting her a small smile.

Smothering her smile, Eileen shot him a dubious look. “If you say so.”

“Anyway,” Ayla cut in, “I personally think this is a very underhanded bribe.”

That statement actually makes him look a little guilty and Eileen sees him fidget uncomfortably in his seat. Ah. It seems Ayla thinks his reasons are a little funny as well. Eileen is chagrined to note, it might be because it sounds like something she would do as well.

Knowing Ayla, she was probably a little impressed with his dedication as well. A glance to the side tells Eileen that she isn’t upset by it at all. She just wants to milk this opportunity to get what she wants.

“You’re most definitely right. What can I do to make up for it?”

Ayla’s lips widen into a shark like grin. “Well, you can show me to that stargazing deck to begin with.”

“Done,” he states immediately, “and?”

“And,” she glances around the table, gaze settling on Eileen for a few minutes before flickering back to Raiden’s expectant ones, “I want us to have weekly lunches at the very least.”

“What?” This time it’s not just Raiden who’s surprised by what she’s saying.

“I want you to buy us lunch once a week at the least.” Ayla tells him, “after all, if you’re going to use me to get updates on my date,” she shoots him a teasing smile, “I want to get something in return.”

Raiden looks like he wants to know why it needs to be weekly lunches and Eileen is wondering the same. For the first time in a while, she can’t guess Ayla’s motivations. Is it because of the chance to star gaze in the garden?

“I don’t have anything against it,” Raiden is telling her, “but may I ask why it needs to be a lunch?”

Ayla shakes her head at the question, “I thought it was obvious.” Eileen doesn’t really think that it is. This is the whole cross-dressing suggestion all over again. She has a feeling she’s not going to like this reason too much either. “I thought that since you and Kiran are friends now, it would be nice for us to get to know each other as well.”

She glances at Eileen before continuing, “After all, since he and I are dating, we’ll undoubtedly be seeing a lot more of each other. It wouldn’t do for us not to get along.”

Once again, Eileen was right. The reason may sound innocent, and in a sense it was, but it boded anything but well for Eileen. She would protest, but she knew she’d gotten herself into this situation on her own. Sighing internally, she decided she’d just let this play out.

Besides, her gaze went to his cup, it would give her a chance to observe him more frequently. Her appearances as Kiran weren’t all that frequent so far. If that trend was to continue, she’d have an easier time looking out for him if she saw him as Lenora.

“Sounds good to me,” Raiden smiled at her, agreeing despite Ayla clearly milking the excuse.

“Great!” Ayla held her hand out towards him, “I think we’re going to get along splendidly.”

“Likewise,” he replied shaking it.

Eileen thought so as well. She hadn’t noticed it until now, but the two of them had similar tastes when it came to food. The sandwiches he’d picked were variations of ones Ayla would have picked as well. Which could have been a coincidence, but she had a suspicion they had more things in common as well.

Choosing to ignore that thought for now, Eileen forced herself back to the situation at hand. “That’s great,” she shot Raiden a large grin, “I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of you from now on.”

As he returned it with a small smile of his own, she realised another implication of the arrangement. It was also more time he’d not be around his friends from the ball. A small spiteful part of her rejoiced at that. Her anger at their callous disregard still lurked beneath her thoughts about them.

If they ever decided to apologise for it, and stopped giving his location away so easily, she might grow to like them more. But right now she didn’t. Aren and Damian would never do those things, and they’d ironically became her standard for judgement.

As they continued to converse, Eileen noted that Raiden’s body language was a lot more relaxed than it had previously been. Ayla’s too, now that she was looking at her more closely. Away from their attention, Eileen frowned.

She was glad, don’t get her wrong, but she couldn’t shake off the feeling that this might come around and bite her. A warning of incoming trouble. Eileen shook herself. It was probably nothing.