The Other Side of Life (Cecil) (Post-awakening)

They reached the Inn without stopping, and once they were inside, Nadia deftly dodged questions about Cecil to the Innkeeper, after conveying regards from "A blue-haired Cadet." She didn't even notice the look on Bridget's face as she led Cecil up the stairs, still holding his hand and pulling him along. She'd almost forgot she'd been doing it up to that point. When they reached the door to her room, she noticed that she was still very much gripping his hand, and released it. The hand on it's own was shaking a little.

She quickly opened the door and closed it behind the blond before locking it behind them. With a shuddering breath, she sank against the wood of the door, forehead pressed against the grain. When her breathing returned to normal, she turned to face him. "So...What should we do next time?" Despite the close call and the night's terror, there was a pleasant...eagerness to her voice and smile.

Nadia's Room:

Cecil looked...rather uncomfortable being the subject of questioning from the innkeeper as Nadia held onto his hand. It was starting to set in his mind what was happening, and he looked utterly mortified by it all. Still, he remained silent throughout it all.
He swore he felt eyes boring into him as he was dragged up the stairs.

He shrunk into himself as he was released and let into the room where...he'd probably really have to stay to keep up appearances. He stands to one side of the room away from the bed, looking around awkwardly. "Uhh...not stay out so late? Maybe?" Seeing nowhere he was sure about settling down, he flops onto the floor. "God, the I can still feel the innkeeper staring now..." He shudders.

Nadia didn't even seem to register that there was now a boy in her room, or that this was somehow and issue. But the situation seemed to cause Cecil a bit of stress. Everything seemed to cause him stress to some degree, but this was different. She still felt like she was at fault for it. She let her excitement ebb, smile draining away back down to the small curve it usually was, and straightened.

"I didn't even think about the Innkeeper. I'm sorry about that. But, does it matter what any of those people think?" She asked, moving passed him. Once she was passed him, she stopped near the bed and dropped her bag, and began untying the Obi of the Kimono she was wearing. The fact that Cecil was there didn't seem to bother her. "In any case...I wanted to ask...Is all that stuff that the Terrorists broadcast to us... She dropped her voice down as she laid the untied Obi on the back of her desk chair. The Kimono was still wrapped loosely about her. "Is all of it true?"

Cecil frowned at the question, thinking back to the school and the things he tried to avoid listening to. "People say enough stuff already...I've got enough people winding me up as it is at home."
As Nadia started to undo the obi, Cecil started and looked away, going as far as turning his body away as even he recognised the problem with the situation. He didn't look back even as Nadia spoke, covering his eyes. He nods at the question. "Another day, please. I still don't feel comfortable. Still have no idea how I'm supposed to sleep." He didn't dare look about, but there was one bed and a whole lot of floor, and there wasn't anything about to get him in that bed. "I'm just glad it's the weekend tomorrow. God, I don't want to think about if I had to get to school on top of this too."

Nadia turned fully around and saw him turned away and covering his eyes. It made her smile. What a gentleman. She hadn't even thought about it. It wasn't as though she was going to fully undress in front of him but..."Okay, You don't have to answer now. Just...take a seat on the bed and try to calm down. I know it's been a tough night." She rummaged around in one of her dresser drawers for a moment before taking her leave to the bathroom.

This would leave Cecil with a few moments of silence.

The silence gave her some time to think. About the fact that she had a boy in her room. His concerns about it made her wonder about that thing that Bridget had said the other day. That she should go on a "date" is that what Little tokyo had been? was it bad that she sort of wanted it to be? did it even really matter if the word applied? it had been a wonderful evening either way. She wanted to be able to say she'd experienced "dating," But it was enough that she had enjoyed this experience. It didn't need a word attached to it.

She hung her Kimono as well as she could on the back of the bathroom door after changing, and came back out into the room wearing a light blue camisole with a sports bra underneath, and pajama bottoms. It would be a little uncomfortable to sleep in, but it would be more comfortable for him. Speaking of comfort, there was something he'd said that had bothered her once that other train of mind had set in. She sat down on the bed, and looked at him. Again, apologetic. There was a note of vulnerability in her question that was uncharacteristic. "Cecil...do I make you uncomfortable?"

Cecil didn't move an inch until he heard Nadia enter the bathroom, at which point...he waited a few moments longer just to be safe.
Then he slowly stood, and moved to the bed.
Then he felt uncomfortable about sitting on the bed and sat at the desk instead.
Yes.
This was fine.
No problems here.

...maybe Dad would pass up bollocking him for getting stuck out if he just admitted he'd had to stay in a girl's room for the night? Him and Rydia would jump on that.
Actually, no.
He'd prefer the bollocking to the teasing.
One of those things would stop.

He stared at the door he imagined the innkeep listening at, only to look away and feel uncomfortable at staring down a person he only imagined was there.

He thought about anything except what was happening.


He wasn't sure whether it was better or worse when Nadia eventually emerged. He was glad he wouldn't catch her undressed, at the least...so there was that.
The question caught him off guard. He practically jumped in shock, shaking his head and waving his hands frantically. "No! Nonononononononnono."
"...no."

"Why would you think that?"

Nadia blinked, pressing her fingertips together as she watched him squirm at her question. Such a conflicting emotion when she saw him do that. On one had, she wanted to calm him down, but on the other hand, she kind of wanted to see how far she could push it. Afterall, they were trying to change themselves, weren't they? make up for lost time? She held onto that in times like that.

tonight, she had changed. She had glimpsed a person she could be...a chance to forge a new identity with new experience...and Cecil had been there for that. If they hadn't met on the side of the road that day...this may have never happened. Looking up at him with her curious, wide eyes she reminded him. "You said 'I still don't feel comfortable.' I can't help but feel responsible for that. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have to be in this situation..." She looked around her meager room. "With me, at all. I could understand if you didn't want to have any new experiences with me after this. But I hope you will. Because I feel like maybe I was able to change a little bit because of it."

Cecil's eyes widen as Nadia elaborates, and almost seems...upset, that Nadia was blaming herself. It wasn't her fault. She shouldn't be feeling bad about this.
No, she wasn't the one at fault in this situation.
He felt strangely resolute at that moment. Like when he was talking to Tomomi at the restaurant. "You don't have to worry about that. You really, really don't have to worry about that. You're not responsible, not remotely. Don't think otherwise." Discomfort briefly forgotten, Cecil looks determinedly at Nadia. "I'm not going to avoid you. I'm not going to push you away. I had fun." His fingers come up and wrap around the jade turtle hanging around his neck that she had gotten for him earlier in the day. "Not gonna hide in my shell."

He pauses. "...sleeping on the floor definitely isn't an experience I'm looking forward to though. Less of that."

"Not gonna hide in my shell."

The Smile that spread across Nadia's face made her feel like her cheeks were going to split apart. That...would likely be an interesting sight, actually. Definitely worthy of pastels...

But that aside, He voiced his concerns about the floor, and she frowned a little. Standing up, she grabbed the comforter and pulled it off of the bed, letting it fall to the floor. Next came the bed sheet. "I didn't have much of a childhood, Cecil. One of the many experiences I never had...was building the fabled 'Pillow fort' with a friend. A great deal more comfortable than a plain floor. We can share the floor...at a comfortable distance. With lots of blankets." She announced, reaching across the bed to snatch a pillow and toss it to the floor. "And because I work here, I can go grab extra sheets and blankets. I'll be back in a few minutes." Slipping a pair of slippers on, Nadia opened the door and left the room.

A few minutes later, as promised, she returned, pushing a cart stacked with pillows and draped with a couple comforters. It wouldn't be as comfortable as the bed, but if they weren't sharing the bed, they could both enjoy a modicum of comfort on the floor. Wherever he was in the room when she returned, she balled up one of the sheets and threw it at him. "Catch...good sir knight." It was her first attempt at a nick name...and it might be a little too on-the-nose. But it made her feel light and a little giddy to say it. Because they had a shared secret, and what was more exciting than that?

It all felt worthwhile to say as Nadia started to beam - which was very good because he was starting to remember where he was again and oh god his family would never let this go if they knew

He looks confusedly as Nadia begins to pull things to the floor from her bed, only for dawning realisation to spread across his features with the explanation, bringing with it an awkward smile. "I can't say I've ever done that either. Not having friends that you visit does make that kind of difficult." He nods. "Let's make up for lost time."

Nadia comes back to Cecil meticulously curating the basis of the pillow fort, arranging what little items he had to work with childish fervour and no regard for anything else but the task. The comforter was spread as best as possible, the pillow tactically placed, and he was currently struggling with the bed sheet.
He never had a hope of catching the sheet as it crashed into him and unfurled over him. He frantically flailed the sheet off his body before turning and practically pouting at Nadia - both from the thrown sheet, and the nickname. "...this is not making a pillow fort. This is not making a pillow fort at all. I'd take Turtle over that."

Nadia was beside herself when she saw he had already started arranging things. "Let's make up for lost time." They had both said it. Their one crucial tie, but as he looked up at her pouting beneath the sheet, She thought maybe there was something else. She picked up a pillow and threw it at him lightly. A smile brightened her features again, pure and natural. For the moment, she had no reason at all to contemplate death. This was all about life.

"Turtle it is then." She laughed, beaming again. She strode over to the cassette player, and pulled out a couple cassettes, too sad...nope, too much death in that one...ah, this one. one of her favorites.



Together, the two of them delicately arranged the largest blankets. Cecil had already started pinning the blanket between the wall and the desk, and another corner of it was tucked securely into one of the top dresser drawers. Nadia hummed along to the pleasant music as she laid out pillows beneath the canopy he was deftly making. It took a few minutes to set the cart and chair in such a way that most of the floor on the bathroom side of the bed was covered, but now...now it was sagging a little bit in the middle.

Snapping her fingers, Nadia sat up and reached underneath the bed, pulling out a case for rolled posters. She propped it up in the middle of the fort, to hold up the sheets better in the middle. "This will work!" She announced, as she crawled out from under the fort and inspected their handiwork alongside Cecil. "What do you think, foreman?"

He was ready this time. The incoming pillow was snatched out of the air and sent right back Nadia's way with adeptness Cecil could normally never aspire to. "Not this time!"
A blink and a groan are Nadia's reply to her statement as Cecil buries his face in his hands. "I walked right into that one..."

Never mind. More important things.

It was surprisingly easy to construct the pillow fort with more help. Everything went by quickly to the tune of the music, a sprawling wonderland of blanket and pillow that spread across the room. He returned to the task with the same zeal he'd started on it.
Scowling and poking at the sagging centre of the fort was replaced with a delighted look as the poster case took its place as the final support, and he nodded with satisfaction. "That there's a mighty fine pillow fort if ah do so say so myself." His voice shifted to a drawling tone, a deliberate act as he surveys the area. "Mighty fine indeed."

At Cecil's voice, A giggle bubbled up from Nadia that not even she was expecting. She sank down and dove underneath the fort, as if trying to escape from the voice. "Mighty fine indeed."She repeated, laying back in the pillows and covering her mouth. Here eyes followed Cecil.

When she sobered, she beckoned him down into the fort with a wave of her hand. "I don't think I've had this much fun...in my whole life, Cecil." She was astonished by the truth of that statement. "I'm glad I met you."

Cecil grins and slips easily into the pillow fort, taking a free space in the blanket expanse. The grin turns into an awkward, dumbstruck look, before he's scratching at the back of his head and looking away. "...I'm not sure what to say about that...I'm sure you'll find other people you'll have much more fun with, but..." He pauses. "Me too. I'm glad this is a thing."

Nadia did her very best in this moment to say that his sadness was beautiful. But it was trying on it's own to get in the way of this elated feeling. And in the midst of this childlike euphoria...she thought maybe she had the strength to say something about it. Rolling onto her side and crawling toward him, her brow knit together as she got closer to him. "why do you always say things like that?" She asked, curiously tilting her head, probably a little too close to him, but she was giving herself allowances at the moment.

"'I'm sure you'll find other people'... et cetera, et cetera...Cecil, right now, the only one I'm looking at is you. And I don't want it to be anyone else. Accept it. This is *our* juvenile pillow fort, and nobody else's." She couldn't help but giggle as she said that last part, sitting up away from him and pushing another pillow at him. "These experiences are important to me. And you too, I hope. Think about that when you think things like 'She has more fun with other people.'"