Demands of the Sister (Isabelle/Cecil)

...THE HELL, RYDIA?! WHERE ARE YOU?!
Cecil was currently out shopping with his younger sister - or, to put it more accurately, Rydia had dragged him out with her because she didn't feel like carrying everything herself. He could have said no to her, but not only was this reality and not some crazy fever dream, to put it in her words: "You aren't gonna be doing anything else anyway, are ya?"

They'd been out here for an hour and a half, Cecil's arms gradually being loaded with all the baggage his sister didn't feel like carrying. Then, she'd suddenly stopped and turned around. "Forgot about something!" She'd said. "Wait here, just be a moment!" She'd then rushed off faster before he could actually process what had happened.
Honestly, it'd bug him less if she hadn't been gone for at least half an hour at this point.

He didn't dare go looking in case she got back here while he was gone, and trying to get anything out of her via text had been an effort in futility. Not that she hadn't replied, just that she'd insisted she'd be back before he knew it.
And look how that turned out!
...what is even in some of these things, anyway? I don't care what's in there, a bag full of hair products has no right to be this heavy.

The end result of it all was that Cecil was currently stood by a wall, keeping an eye out for his sister. He couldn't put his headphones on in case he failed to hear her, he didn't really want to put anything down no matter how much his arms ached because it looked like some of the bags might spill if he did, and in general, the chatter of the Backlight and the absence of his sister were really fraying at his nerves.
As much as he tried not to let all this bother him, just about everything about the way he was acting made it clear that he was really stressed right now.

...what's taking you so long? Just get back here already...

Isabelle was having a good time today, buying what she wanted and getting a few nick knacks for her apartment, Honestly the day was going quite well for her, and then she noticed some guy standing alone looking stressed to high hell and back holding the bags from a long session of shopping and she got a bit curious, so she walked on over and smiled to the guy who seemed to be looking around as if expecting someone to show up "Hey there...lost?...girlfriend left you holding the bags? or just waiting for friends?" she asked with a large smile on her face, of course her manner of dress was something that couldn't help but grab the attention of passers by, if not her boisterous attitude, or her figure, and as she walked up to the guy she smiled even more at him as she towered over him by a considerable margin.

"don't look around like that, people will think your up to something" she said with a calm smile on her face, "Need a hand holding all those? if not why not just sit down? there is a bench just right there" she said pointing out the bench. Now Isabelle loved talking to and interacting with people, it was one of the few things she got to do growing up where she did, and it was rather clear this guy was stressed, so she was trying to be as open as possible but she knew sometimes people in that position tended to snap.

As for herself her reasons for being in the area was shopping, and spending her extra funds, why not live a little while you had the time and money right? besides she had a tough set of matches set up for the night and she wanted to relax before they started.

"GAH!"
Yep. He was stressed.
Also, not very observant, though this was probably on a whole new level for him. How the hell did he miss HER?! She towered over him!
(As it was, there were several ways she drew attention, but that was the only one that really registered for him. The way his eyes moved suggested he'd seen the whole picture, but only her height seemed to draw a response from him.)
"Sorry! Sorry. Didn't...didn't notice you there...soooomehoooowwww..." He shakes his head. "No...none of the above. Hah, I wish...just a the work of a very frustrating sister." A sister who he wouldn't be surprised to see show up now and start winding him up. She was like a damn vulture. A very frustrated grin develops on his face. "Wish she wouldn't bloody do this..."

He flinches as Isabelle comments on how he's acting. "Is...is it that ba-" He suddenly falls silent as he finds out she hadn't finished talking. It takes him a little before he's able to speak up again. "Yeah, help would be nice...still, even if these weren't about to go everywhere if I put them down, the bench is fu-uulllll..." Or at least, it was full. Unless its previous occupants had turned invisible, he couldn't say the same now.
Looked like he was two for two in the unobservance department.

At this point, Cecil lets out a long, exasperated groan. "Alright, this is starting to get silly. Is there a UFO over my head I failed to notice, too, or is it just a giant mecha walking a little down the street instead?" He shakes his head. "Ugh...goddammit. I probably do need to sit down."
Cecil takes a few heavy steps and then unceremoniously thuds down on the bench, placing down the assorted baggage on his arms very slowly afterwards. The way some of those bags bulged, it's not hard to guess why.
After shaking his arms loose, he takes his phone out.
What are you even doing?! This is not a moment!
Sure it is. It's just a long moment. Nothing to be concerned about.
I hate you so much right now.
He puts his phone away again, sighing deeply. He looks over to Isabelle. "Nope. Still as helpful as before." The words are spoken in a clipped, exasperated tone. "Well, unless you have a particular interest in getting involved in other people's problems, I'm assuming you have better things to do."

He was still very obviously stressed, and didn't seem to think Isabelle had the slightest interest in hanging around. His left hand rests on his earphones, gripping it similarly to how one might grasp onto a life-preserver when they were drowning.

Isabelle couldn't help but smile as the boy almost jumped at her suddenly being there, how he didn't notice her even she didn't know, then again with how he seemed to be looking around for something specific maybe that was how he was just to occupied to really notice someone that stood out a lot normally since she wasn't what he was looking for? Made sense really and as he apologized she only smiled more at him, he also was kind enough to answer her question from before which was nice, so his sister had left him with all the shopping things huh? well more then likely she ran off to the bathroom, or was making him wait on purpose, hell maybe she went home? She really didn't know nor did this boy apparently.

As he mentioned the bench being full it was emptied almost before he actually looked at it, mostly because Isabelle had noticed the people getting ready to leave when she pointed out the bench, and as he grumbled about missing the obvious once more she couldn't help but giggle as she followed him over to the bench a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she sat on the bench with him, and she waited politely as he seemed to be Texting his sister so she took the time to check her scheduled match ups, reading their win loss records and the like, not like this info was normally available, it was all hidden after all, funnily enough to look like a little phone game.

She always wondered why they did that, then again it made it accessible at any time really, from anywhere even if the place was crowded it would only look like they where playing a phone game, hide in plane sight they say and this was a good example of that.

With her business done on the info she looked back up as the boy started to talk again and she smiled resting her chin in one hand as she looked at him "Well I would find it easier to be interested in your problems if I knew your name, I'm Isabelle by the way" she said as she held out her gloved hand for a hand shake "As for other peoples problems I like to be helpful if I can, and if you don't mind talking about it" she said as she waited for him to introduce himself with her hand still extended for a shake.

Something seems to snap in Cecil's head at Isabelle's reply. His expression might best be summed up as 'pleasantly bewildered' as the exchange plays out. "Oooo...kaaay....?" For a moment, he stares, stunned, before rational thought returns to him and he starts freaking out over what he was doing. "Way-ay-ack-gaaaaah..." He takes a deep breath. All he needed to do was calm down, and speak like a human being for once.

"Uhhh..Cecaghkl-Cejeeel-Cesh-"
COME ON!
Sound it out first? That might work? It needed to work. "Ce. Cil. Cecil. I'm Cecil." Looking altogether too exasperated, he takes the offered hand, and shakes it. "I'd say I'm usually less of a mess, but that wouldn't be entirely right." He lets out a short, awkward laugh after the self-deprecating comment.

"Aaaanywaaay...I'm ah...not sure what you can do here? I mean, I guess you can listen to me going on, but that doesn't change...this." He gestures around him and to the bags. "I love my sister. I really, really do. But she loves winding me up too much, and unlike a certain other wind-up artist I know, I don't think she really knows when to stop." He lets out a deep sigh, and starts mumbling to himself. "I just wanted to spend some time with her without having to worry about any of the usual shit. Not...this."

He turns back to Isabelle, trying not to let any sign of what he was feeling show on his face. He knew that'll have seemed odd, but he at least hoped nothing he said was coherent to her. "Let me know if you see her, would you? Blonde hair with an orange streak, a little shorter than I am, and the most smug look you've ever seen. I'd rather not miss her once she got back because she decided to hide somewhere to spy on us."

Isabelle smiled as the boy seemed to take a moment before freaking out, so he was apparently bad with people? or just women? she didn't know but he was stuttering and sputtering for a bit, even struggling with his own name, and as she shook his hand she smiled at him as he mentioned his situation and apparent issues, and she only nodded a bit before gently letting go of his hand and listening to his issues, and as she heard him talk she smiled some more, seems he wanted to spend time with her as well, she didn't remember if she had siblings or not, but she felt like she would have loved to get close to them and got to know them without having to be teased.

He then started to describe his sister and she nodded a bit "Well why don't I sit with you till she gets back? and have you maybe talked with her about wanting to hang out with out her doing things like this? I am sure she loves you too but maybe she has problems letting you know that? and this is the only way she can think of?" she said with a kind smile as she sat with the boy, honestly it sounded like maybe they both had issues with expressing themselves, she didn't think she would be able to help, but she certainly couldn't do any damage could she?

Granted she didn't know the whole situation, but the sister could also just be caught up in other things, maybe she didn't realize how good she had it having a brother that cared about her? Maybe she could talk with the sister and see if she could make her understand at least a little? but then again she also wasn't their mother so what right did she have to butt in? With a smile though she decided to at least try.

At the offer for her to stick around til the return of his sister, Cecil was grateful, he really was. Wondering what was going on was absolutely destroying his composure.
Of course, that was hard to tell, given that he also looked absolutely mortified. He looked over Isabelle, he looked around the area, and he buried his face in his hands. His voice was muffled, but the resignation and despair rang out loud and clear. "Aghhhh...oh god, I'll never hear the end of this."
Taking his face from out his hands, he closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "Aghhh..." He shook his head, and looked over to Isabelle, a picture of nerves and awkwardness. "That'd be nice. Thanks."

Cecil falls silent a moment as Isabelle continues on, grimacing. "It's...it's not that easy." Running a hand through his hair, he looks away. "And, I...that actually wouldn't surprise me. I'm not the only one out of the two of us with problems. I just..."
Cecil's quiet for a few seconds. His gaze trails the floor, a sullen look on his face. "...what kind of twisted love is it to worry the hell out of someone?"

Isabelle smiled a bit as he said it was okay for her to stick around, he then continued to mumble a bit under his breath, but she simply sat there to wait with him, at the very least she guessed his sister would notice her outfit, a lot of people seemed to look at her clothes as they were a little outlandish, of course it never occurred to her that some where staring at her figure, or her height, and as she sat there with him she listened to his reply on what she said, the smile still on her face as she could see he did care a lot for his sister, and with a nod she let him finish before she started back up again.

"Maybe she wants to know you care? Do you two talk at all? do you show her you care? or do you act indifferent? maybe she wants to know you would worry if she suddenly disappeared, maybe she is worried she may be pushing you away with her own awkwardness? and this is her own way of seeing that you would miss her? that you don't hate her? people are complex, you can't always figure out what they are thinking, maybe you should try talking to her?" she smiled as she looked at him and then looked around to see if she could spot this sister of his.

"That I don't-!" He winces. "Of course I don't hate her! I love her, goddammit! Why...why would she...?" His hand runs into his hair again, clenching and grasping at the strands. "I...shit. Shit."
With the possibility pointed out, just about every possible way it could actually be possible ran rampant in Cecil's mind. The things he didn't do, the things he couldn't do, the ways he kept shutting himself off and the ways he never reached out, because he'd always assumed that Rydia knew how he felt.

Nearby, out of immediate view, was a girl looking on with a concerned expression. She had blonde hair running a little past her shoulders, with an orange streak on the right side and a couple of accessories adorning it.
She looked a bit like Cecil.
She also looked unsure of what to do.

Isabelle smiled a bit as she seen the boys reaction, clearly it hadn't occurred to him and she guessed that if it hadn't occurred to him, if his sister was anything like him, she was assuming all the wrong things as well, and she let the boy sit there and let his mind calculate, though she had to poke just a bit of fun at him "Should be careful, things like this can give girls a complex about wanting their brothers attention and affection..." she said totally meaning it teasingly, as she looked at him.

"Or maybe brothers complexes about their sisters? but I highly doubt that, you wouldn't be reacting like this if that was the case, and besides, I'm just joking...but you should try to be more...open with her...did you want to go look for her? Or we can sit here and talk about something else if you want, maybe send her another text asking if she is okay? that might help? would let her know your worried at least and may make her come back" she said as she looked to the young boy.

It took a few seconds to actually process what Isabella had said. Once it finally struck home, he looked in her direction before burying his face in his hands again, their presence muffling his words. "What kind of piece of shit am I...?"
A long moment passes with him like that, not saying a word as the world goes on around him. Eventually, he sits up slowly, taking a deep breath as he sits back and letting the torment he was putting himself through...mostly, wash off his face. He didn't look so utterly miserable anymore, but a sense of melancholy still bled through. "I...I don't know. I just-"
"So, who's this then?"

Cecil positively leaps out of his skin as he hears the voice, turning to look with utter shock on his face. Behind his place on the bench is the girl that had been watching, a catlike grin on her face. "Didn't know your tastes were like that, bro. Pretty smooth when you want to be, aren't you?"
With every word, Cecil's face becomes an increasingly violent war-ground of conflicting feelings, until eventually sheer embarrassment wins out. "What?! You-no-this-YOU -IIII-aaaaaahjk..." He leans forward and groans. "Dammit Rydia...!"
The grin on the girl's face only becomes more satisfied as Cecil reacts...and for a moment as he looks away, just a little relieved.

Isabelle sighed a bit as the boy seemed to take things WAY to hard and she gently patted his head, "You really need to learn to relax...or at least talk to your sister so things don't get...awekward between you too...". At about that Time a voice rang out though and Cecil reacted to it, Isabelle herself looked up to see who was talking and seen a girl she had spotted before, she had been spying on the lone boy and she had wondered at the time if she hada crush on him and was to shy to walk over, Though as she spoke she called Cecil bro, so it made it rather obvious that this was the sister he had been going on about.

She watched the girls face and she caught the relieved look and she decided maybe she should even the playing ground "Oh it's you, I seen you sneaking around spying on Cecil here, at first I thought maybe you were some girl who had a crush on him and didn't have the courage to come up to him...so your Rydia, I'm Isabelle" she said as she stood up, towering over the shorter girl as she walked around the bench and gently placed her hands on the shorter girls shoulders and she started to guide her to sit next to Cecil "Now then....lets talk about you...and your brother complex shall we?" she said with a smirk, trying to embarrass the girl a bit just to get back at her for Cecil.

Rydia's expression freezes as Isabelle stands and starts to say things that funnily enough, she would have rather not revealed to Cecil. "What are you on about? Like I'd - h-hey, what are you doing?!" She starts to squirm as Isabelle's hands rest on her shoulders, but she only resists the attempt to move her weakly, somewhat intimidated by the presence the woman bears.
As she's sat down, Rydia looks over to her brother, finding him giving her a strange look. "Look, whatever you're thinking-"

Cecil cuts her off with a tight hug.

After the initial shock passes, Rydia returns the hug, expression somewhat solemn as she finds herself comforting her older brother.
"You...do know I love you, right?"
A split second later, Rydia gives a sigh and a roll of her eyes, smiling softly and squeezing her brother a little tighter. "Of course I do. Hard not to when I see you looking like a kicked puppy at the idea I think you don't like me."
Relief washes over Cecil's face for a moment, but he continues to look upset and worried. Feeling his hold only getting tighter, Rydia breaks the hug and looks her brother in the eye. "Cecil?"
He looks uncertainly back, not sure what's coming next. "Yes...?"
She flicks him on the forehead. "Your girlfriend's right. You need to relax more."
Any hint of distress is overridden as Cecil starts sputtering denials again.

Isabelle smiled a bit as she watched the two, it was adorable to see them being all sentimental and such though the sister still tried to get him embarrassed and Isabelle reached down and gently flicked her forehead "Hey now play nice, I seen you fretting and worrying all over the place when you were hiding away from him" she said with a smirk "You were just as worried that he didn't like you...admit it..." she said as she looked over the two.

She felt a pleased feeling at having helped the two, and was giving almost a motherly smile to the two, it was nice to see them getting along now, though Rydia was still teasing Cecil, maybe she would stop maybe it was her way of showing she cared, ether way though at least it was clear to both of them that they didn't hate each other "Well at least it's obvious Cecil doesn't have a sister complex....though Rydia's brother complex is still up for debate...." she said deciding to tease Rydia in Cecil's stead.

"I was not, and do not!" Rydia has a fierce pout as she starts spouting her own denials, hers forceful where Cecil's are haphazard. "He was supposed to talk to people! Then he did! But suddenly you're giving him ideas and he's tearing himself to pieces and-" She stops suddenly mid-tirade. "I don't have to explain myself to you! We're going! Now!"
Picking herself back up, she storms off into the distance with an embarrassed look and a flush to her cheeks.

Cecil finds himself looking back and forth between Isabelle and his retreating sister with a distinctly bewildered look. "I-I...think I need to follow her..." He gets up and starts heading off, only to double back for all the bag he'd been left with. "Rydia! Hold up!"
Straining as his ill-rested arms are made to bear weight once more, Cecil tries to chase down his sister.