* 89 * 3/9/13, 3/10/13

Lily and her small party reentered the Keep, veering off to the left to come upon the dining hall. Bishop went in early to avoid being part of the grand spectacle when they walked in. Sure enough, everyone was already sitting around the table, only waiting on them before stuffing their mouths. Lily saw that Khelgar had cheated and taken an early bite out of his chicken, but that was no shocker. She was surprised, however, to see Duncan there.

Duncan winked at her. "Casavir caught me chatting with Pentin right when I was about to leave. I just couldn't miss this."

Lily smiled, happy to have everyone here. "Everyone, this is Daeghun Farlong, my adoptive father. He's the only real father I've ever had, and for that I love him."

The group exchanged glances at first, none of them having known that Lily was adopted before today.

Daeghun nodded weakly among the party's welcoming expressions, having lost his voice. He wasn't used to being the center of so much attention.

Lily looked at the plentiful bounty before her. The cooks must've had a fit over preparing so much food in a single morning; there were now twelve heads in the dining hall, and enough food on the long, full table to feed them all twice over.

"Sit down by me over here, father," Lily offered, going to take her seat at the head of the table, her father right by her side. Casavir sat just to the other side of Daeghun, and he immediately offered his hand to the elf.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, sir; truly an honor," the paladin greeted earnestly and politely.

Daeghun shook his hand firmly, much more comfortable now that eleven pairs of eyes weren't focused on him. "You must be Casavir."

"I am," the paladin answered, rather taken off guard. "Pardon me, sir, but how have you heard of me?"

"Lily spoke very highly of a Casavir outside of the fortress just now. I can only assume you are whom she spoke of, given your manners." Despite the positive wording, the elf's face was devoid of any such emotion.

Casavir grinned uncontrollably at this and adroitly turned his face away to hide any color that came to it from Lily and her father. Daeghun eyed him curiously.

Lily had been making faces back and forth with Grobnar to her right and now called Daeghun's attention. "Father, look at this," she said, taking out her communication mirror and setting it on the table before him. "It's an enchanted mirror that lets me talk to Grobnar," she explained, gesturing to the rock gnome sitting across from him. Grobnar beamed at the good word being put in about him.

Casavir gave the mirror a once-over. That must have been what he gave Lily in the basement that day.

"That sounds very useful, Lily. A nice tool to have if you're ever lost in the forest somewhere."

"Eheheh..." Lily nodded nervously, scratching her cheek with a finger. Neither Casavir nor Grobnar said anything.

Everyone else had already begun eating and the four of them now joined in. A plate of fish had been placed closest to Lily, but she quickly exchanged it for the plate of beef right behind it. Daeghun let out an amused breath.

"What?" Lily asked, talking while chewing a big bite of the delicious meat.

"You still do that."

Lily continued chewing. "I hate fish, you know that."

Casavir looked over at her plate, then back at his. He had taken some fish, though only a few bites' worth. He didn't know Lily couldn't stand it. The paladin kept this in mind a few seconds longer so it became stored in his long-term memory, then continued eating.

Bishop smirked from the other side of Grobnar and Duncan. He could perhaps use her dislike of fish to his advantage at a later date. He imagined rousing her by throwing one at her face, curious to see whether she'd attempt to catch it or ineptly try to dodge it.

"Isn't there any fish you can tolerate, Lily?" Grobnar asked, having piled plenty of fish onto his own plate.

"Um. Salmon, sometimes. And tuna. Tuna's actually pretty good. But it's usually the smell and texture that gets to me, not the taste."

"Oh," Grobnar replied. Shrugging, he started digging into his flounder.

Elanee saw an opportunity in this topic. "Lily, can I give you something?" she called from Casavir's left.

Lily blinked, catching the other elf's eyes. "Sure," she said, not wanting to be rude. She had no clue what it could be, though, and she admittedly felt a little apprehensive.

Bishop growled. He wanted Elanee to stay the hell away from Lily. He glowered at her on her way to the head of the table, but the druid paid him no attention.

Elanee reached Lily and put a box in the dumbfounded elf's hands. She looked up at the druid, as if not sure whether she was allowed to open it.

"Go ahead," Elanee urged.

All eyes were on Lily now. She gulped and opened the box slowly, having no idea what it could be, good or bad. When she looked inside and caught a glimpse of what it was, Lily dropped all of her negativity about it.

"No. You didn't," she said in bemused disbelief, but she was smiling. Though this baffled the others, Elanee grinned.

Lily pulled whatever it was out and brandished it to everyone. "She got me chocolate, everyone! Elanee got me chocolate!" she declared with a big smile. "Come here!" she said, giving Elanee a hug. The other elf was starkly shocked at Lily's reaction, and was only too happy to return her hug.

"Thank you, Elanee. This is so lovely of you."

"Of course, Lily," the druid replied cheerfully, going back to her seat to sit down.

Bishop was completely baffled. He stared gaping at Lily, wonder what the hell just happened. Was she okay with Elanee now?

The gift-opening somehow cut through Daeghun's emotional fortress, and he had the urge to tease Lily. "Mind if I have some of that, Lily?" he said, instantaneously reaching for her chocolate.

"No!" she said, tearing it away. She smiled, and Daeghun laughed.

Casavir was just as confused as the rest of them. "My lady?"

Lily's smile was positively beaming. "I love chocolate. Love, love, love," she enthused, swaying back and forth each time she said the word. "There is not a more pleasant taste on this earth."

Then she thought for a moment. "Well...except maybe vanilla." She winked at Bishop and, at first, he raised his eyebrows in astonishment. Then, he winked back, flashing a flirty smirk at her that made her blush. But still she held his gaze. Bishop's smirk didn't falter, not even for a second, as his eyes stayed locked on hers for several moments. When his intense look of amber finally made her smile shyly and look away, he grinned, still staring. Except for Casavir, everyone noticed the exchange, but said nothing. Casavir had been focused on the box of chocolate, seeming to be lost in thought.

"When Lily was little and had her first taste of it, she was beside herself," Daeghun started, bringing the table's attention back to the chocolate. "It's all she would ever ask for for any celebration days involving presents from that day forth," he explained, cracking a very tiny smirk.

This made Elanee smile. She was happy her gift was received so favorably and catered so specifically to Lily's interests. She looked to Bishop to see if her material apology meant anything to him, too, now that Lily didn't seem uncomfortable with her.

But she only got an amber-infused glare back. Elanee folded her arms and gave a mean look back. What does he want from me?

Bishop scowled in return. What does she expect me to do? Give her a round of applause?

He did find out that Lily loved chocolate from all that nonsense, though, something he could perhaps use to his advantage.

As Lily sank her teeth into her chocolate, the others got back to scarfing down their own meals. Waiting until most eyes were averted, Duncan, who sat to Grobnar's right and diagonally from Casavir, spoke to the paladin.

"So, Casavir, what do you think of Lily now?"

Despite their eyes being averted, several party members suddenly began eavesdropping on the very intriguing conversation while eating in silence. Bishop's mouth turned into a very deep frown.

Casavir gulped at the sudden pressure. He was very hesitant to respond, Lily sitting just two seats to his right, and with her father right next to him, even.

"She is..."

The world held still, waiting with bated breath.

Lily wasn't listening in, still marveling at the taste of her chocolate. But when she caught him staring at her, wordless, she smiled at him, partly encouraged by the chocolate melting on her tongue.

"...Incredible..." he finally finished breathlessly, his every faculty weakened by her smile.

He was shocked at his own words and looked down embarrassed at his plate, not having planned on punctuating that sentence with so much heartfelt emotion.

Everyone that had listened in now knew. They knew it.

They knew that Casavir was completely, wholeheartedly in love with Lily.

Completely, and unequivocally. Of course, they had known for quite a while that he was attracted to their Leader. They had even suspected that he had an undeniable weakness for her. But in that moment, as the paladin had let Lily's smile fill his entire being with joy, they could feel the love exuded from him, as if the tendrils of a raging flame reached out and touched them all for a lingering moment, only to be dispelled when he looked away from his object of affection.

Casavir could not stop hiding his face from the others. Despite his unwieldy discomposure, he refused to leave the table, not with such a large gathering there, and especially not with Lily's father sitting right next to him. Obliging him, everyone looked away, including Duncan himself.

Duncan was sorry he had asked, putting Casavir on the spot like that, but the paladin had misinterpreted his question. Bishop had let slip at the inn that Lily had been in an unusual state as of late, and he had simply wanted to know if Lily seemed back to normal in Casavir's eyes, knowing from past experience that the loyal paladin would likely be the most worried at her altered personage. He made a mental note to word his curiosities better next time.

If he was being honest, though, it almost seemed as if Casavir had wanted to let that information out for quite a while now, but perhaps had no one he felt would be appropriate to tell. The emotions that had rushed to his face had been sudden and looked rather overpowering, like a ticking time bomb billowing from his lips. Duncan wondered if the paladin ever shared his general woes with anyone, even Lily herself. He had obviously not told Lily about his feelings, given his reaction to his own words. Duncan now imagined that the stiff warrior was one to hold in his emotions and downplay them at every moment, perhaps feeling they would interfere with any situation, even those that were the most mundane.

Duncan eyed Casavir, then cast a glance at Bishop when he sensed movement. The ranger had folded his arms and had stopped eating, seemingly having lost his appetite from the paladin's displeasing outburst. Duncan blinked, dumbfounded.

...Could it be?

Bishop made a disgruntled sound and stared moodily at the paladin before shifting his eyes to Lily.

I see... So there's more to their rivalry, huh? Here was me thinking it was just a stark difference in ideals, the fighter barkeeper mused, watching Bishop as he refused to eat another bite in his displeasure.

I wonder, does Lily even know?

Given the severity of what the group had just witnessed and were pondering about, Lily's next comment seemed nothing short of downright bubbleheaded. "What do you think about the food, father?"

"I haven't had spiced meat in awhile," he replied, glad to take some pressure off of poor Casavir. Seeing the you-didn't-answer-my-question look on his daughter's face, he rethought his response. "It's not bad," he allowed.

At the other end of the table, Neeshka continued bopping Khelgar on his bald head with a turkey leg. Khelgar, having endured this for several minutes – he was granted a brief respite from it only when the entire table had turned to Casavir – finally snapped, his cheeks flushed with annoyance. "Stupid tiefling! Stop it!" The thief only cackled in response.

Qara glared and pointed at them with a chicken wing. "Cut it out. You're embarrassing yourselves," she said, popping the wing into her mouth. Neeshka stuck her tongue out, and Qara put on a You-wanna-go? face.

Witnessing their antics, Daeghun felt a little nostalgic for his own youth. He had been an adventurer, a pretty good one at that, which is how he met Lily's mother. Her mother and his wife had been killed in the first attack on West Harbor, and those extraordinary adventures had come to an abrupt end. Before that, however, the three of them had had a good meal or two together which consisted of similar bickering and merrymaking. The elf ranger gave a halfhearted smile at the bittersweet memories.

"Whew!" Lily exclaimed. "I'm stuffed! That was marvelous," she declared, leaning back in her chair and settling her hand on her stomach.

Bishop stopped eating a while ago, and Casavir had finished around the same time. On their portion of the table, which included Zhjaeve, Ammon, Duncan, and Sand, most were finished. Over by Khelgar, however, was a different story. Neeshka, Khelgar, and Qara seemed more content to play and/or fight with their food than eat it, though the dwarf himself did plenty of both.

Lily took in the wistful visage of her father. "Thank you for joining us, father. Really. It was a new experience. In a good way," she added.

"It was a pleasure." He really had enjoyed himself, despite the large crowd.

Lily stood up, signaling the end of the main event of the big breakfast. Her father followed suit, having left barely a crumb on his plate, a firm believer in eating all one takes. He noticed his daughter had followed the same principle.

"I should be going now," he said.

Lily nodded. "Let me walk you out."