It feels different to see a princess standing before him and know that she isn't lost, isn't here to receive any kind of medical treatment, but here for him. Ryuu still isn't sure what's happened in his life or how they even ended up here, but they did. It's a strange thing, but not an unwelcome one.
"I have to finish this up." He tells her, looking away from her in her fancy dress and her twinkling eyes that always speak of some kind of mischief that he isn't sure he wants to entertain.
"I can wait." Rona tells him with all the ease of someone his age, and for a moment, it's easy to forget that she's a princess and not just a normal girl wandering through the palace and holding a conversation with an herbalist.
"You don't mind?" Rona isn't the most patient of people, a trait that he speculates she inherited somehow from her family; he's heard enough things about Prince Raji to figure it's probably a family thing.
"I don't mind." She's half leaning on his desk by this point, "This way, I can watch you work after all."
"It's not that exciting." He tells her, if only to derail her almost quiet enthusiasm.
"It is." She insists, and Ryuu doesn't know how it possibly could be when the other has no knowledge of herbalism. For Ryuu, it's the amount of excitement he enjoys and isn't too overwhelming.
For Rona, all he can think is that it wouldn't be enough, because she'd probably want to go jump off a cliff for the thrill of it or wrestle with a bunch of lions. He wouldn't put that kind of dare devilry past her after all.
"I'm almost finished." He tells her, just in case, though when he looks back up at her, she's smiling that sweet, little smile of hers, that tells him more than he probably needed to know, that she does enjoy this, that she is happy to be spending time with him, even though they aren't really talking and Ryuu's working.
"Okay." She tells him, and she's still smiling when he puts everything away. How can she smile just like that? If she's not happy, that would be too much work, but she looks like she's happier than ever to just be near him.
"You don't get much time to visit." He tells her, more than asks, and she laughs with that joy that still floors him to this day.
"Yeah, but Brother's off visiting Shirayuki and Prince Zen." She shrugs, "Important royal matters. I'll figure it out later."
"You really don't mind me working when you're here?" He finally gets up the courage to ask.
"You like working, don't you?" She asks, instead of answering him.
"I do." It's easy to answer to at the very least; it's one of Ryuu's favorite pastimes.
"Than it's all worth it." She stretches, and somehow it makes him wonder if she needs something for sore muscles, maybe he left her waiting too long, but then her hand slips into his.
It feels a bit like a trick, but all the same, his face flames up redder than he'd meant for it too.
"If you say so." He tells her, trying to ignore how his face is just too warm, and her hand is somehow comforting in his own. It's hard to imagine that a princess would head over to Clarines to visit, because she wants to see an herbalist there, one that she really likes.
"It's the truth." She tells him, and leans on his shoulder.
"Your muscles aren't bothering you, are they?" He asks, to try to get the nervous lump out of his throat. It doesn't particularly work; Rona is so, so warm!
"Not particularly." She tells him, "I just want to be close to you." She speaks up honestly, and it somehow feels bold.
"O-Okay." He answers, because there really isn't all that much to say, and Rona might want to hear some kind of answer. And yet, she's comfortable leaning against him, and he feels so warm.
Even this much, as often as Rona pulls her stunts, is enough to make Ryuu's face a brilliant crimson and leave him at a complete loss for words.