Breaking news! (Cecil)

Electronic stores were one of many places to display their products in the window front but where other stores would use that space to present groceries or flowers electronic stores instead preview televisions. This store's televisions were displaying the news which a few people here and there stopped to watch as they went about their

One such person was a raven haired female, a amused smile on her face at the subject of the news. Those who stopped to take their time and pay attention to the television, and the woman watching it, would notice something rather odd. The identity of the missing person on the news report looked an awful lot like the raven haired female watching it. The clothing and hair style were different but.....

"Oh that's funny..." A grin that could only be described as malicious spread across the female's face, as she turned to walk away from the store front. Oh man this was rich. Were her former self's father really trying to look for her? The Shadow may never have directly met her "father" but she had enough reference material to know just how vile a man he was. Oh boy this was just funny. It made Melina want to laugh and laugh and laugh. A Cheshire grin born of the delicious irony slowly grew across her face.

Once more, Cecil had found himself walking the streets with his headphones on, a tired look to his face as he paid little attention to the world around him.
God, did he need this break. He was almost, almost ready to flop out and just not move for the next few hours, but his little friend inside his mind decided that what he'd done was sufficient for now.
Guess Ankou hated studying for Isla Class too.

Inattentiveness proved to get the better of him though, as unexpected motion came into his awareness far too late. Refusing to repeat the time he met Kevin, he made to quickly turn - and got his own legs tangled with each other during the panic.
The plus side of this was that he was successful in not crashing into the woman.
The down side was that he'd managed to fall diagonally past her instead, and end up laid out on the floor...at least his headphones seemed to have come out of it alright.

Chuckling to herself Melina turned away from the front of the store which was probably a good thing. She didn't want anybody noticing her after all. It would be an awkward inconvenience if the authorities noticed Melina's presence especially given how she was a shadow. It was as Melina turned away from the that she was forced to stop suddenly, a figure falling towards the ground.

Without bothering to stop or think Melina acted, throwing her arms out and attempting to catch the falling figure. Were she successful, she would hold in the dance move known as the dip. A smug smirk spread across her face, cracking its mask in a joyful expression of mirth. Oh this was going to be fun yes indeedy. She leaned in close towards the boy's face chuckling all the while, her expression twisting into something one could only call predatory.

"You alright there hon?" Melina kept Cecil in the dip longer than necessary but not too long as to become creepy. She would raise him up back onto his feet and brushed him down, acting under the pretense of cleaning Cecil up when really she wanted to touch him. Physical contact with others was something Melina knew, from memories, was generally considered a positive thing yet she had no experience with it. It was due to this body, and the memories associated with it, being borrowed at worst and stolen at best.

The ground was getting closer and closer, his fall inevitable...and then to his surprise, it slowed as he found himself being whirled round to look up as he was caught in the arm of the woman he'd tried to avoid hitting. There was a distinct deer-in-the-headlights look as Cecil stared up at the woman leaning over him, holding him up inches off the ground.
The fact she seemed to be laughing and leaning in even closer did nothing to ease the disarray he found himself in the midst of.
"I-aghk!" Anything he was about to say cut off with a strangled noise as he was raised to his feet and brushed down, Cecil meekly fending off the contact. "I-ay-uh-um-ah-ughk-arghjk-" He lets out a groan, cutting off the train of gibberish. "Yes?"

Yes..oh yes oh yes~ The stutter, the way he tripped over his words and struggled to form a coherent sentence. That was exactly what Melina wanted! For now the Shadow kept her distance eyes soaking up every last detail of Cecil's face. His face was soft but had a rounded point to the chin which was the perfect shape to grasp.

"Mmmm cat got your tongue huh? Or...is it something about me?" She smiled sincerely now, patting Cecil on the head before cocking her hips, a single hand resting on her right hip. A brief glance to the electronics store revealed the news show had ended which was a relief; Melina did not want Cecil thinking she was the missing person she in fact was.

"Mmmm so got a name kid? Or did the cat take that too?" She leaned in just a little bit closer, bending forwards to put her face right in front of Cecil's. It also had the side effect of exposing a fair amount of her cleavage but honestly? Melina was genuinely unaware of that. The reason for this genuine innocence was because, like with a lot of things, she hadn't experienced living as a human. As such, she had no experience with human concepts with sex appeal being one of them.

"Aghk-I-you-hey!" In the midst of his failure in commanding the English language, Cecil continued to fend off the probing hands in an utter panic. "Wh-what are you on about?!" He had no idea how to handle this, and it was showing.

Cecil steps back instinctively as Melina leans in, making a variety of strangled noises attempting to masquerade as speech but that ultimately failed to even approximate it. He nods wildly as he tries to get his vocal cords in order. "Jk-rck-ck - yes! Of course!"

"Hooo? Do you not like my touch?...Mmmm here I thought physical contact was something people enjoyed..." Melina's once mirthful grin had now turned into a pronounced pout, her lower lip jutting out like the figure head of a ship. Melina had been amused by Cecil's blubbering gibberish at first but now? It was getting a little bit bored.

As Cecil stepped back Melina would step forth, staring in his eyes thinking to herself. Cecil's face was cute but....hmmm...okay! The Shadow knew what she would do! Standing up at her full height she rested her hands on her hips, chuckling warmly.

"Well then, how about we exchange names and get to know each other over a drink? I know a place that serves some simply divine cakes." Hopefully Cecil would agree. Melina was bored and really didn't have much to do with herself until her shift started in a couple of hours. She may as well kill time getting to know this rather funny kid.

How the fuck was he supposed to handle this?!
How the flying fuck was he supposed to handle this?!
"I-I - I don't even know you. Whether it is or not, I'm pretty sure people don't get so touchy with strangers." It wasn't an accusatory statement - just the way he understood things. Honestly, he felt so, so awkward right now...how this could be so normal for anyone was beyond him.

Cecil locks up as Melina follows after the involuntary motion, dark green eyes meeting those of the predator before him before starting to drift around in an attempt to be looking anywhere else.
Oh god, they were close though. There wasn't much place to look that wasn't her.
He startles back into focus as the chuckling starts up again, returning his attention to Melina. "Uhh...al-alright? That's...that's fine. With me?"
Saying no and trying to continue about his business was certainly something he could have attempted to do, but it wasn't an idea that occurred to him at that moment.
A creeping feeling in his subconscious told him that might not have been an option anyway.

"Really? Hmmm.....that is a problem huh...?" Humans weren't supposed to make physical contact with humans they didn't know? Weird. Very very weird. The weirdness was mostly down to the fact Melina had actually seen a lot of other humans engaging in physical contact with one another but they probably knew each other...

"Well the solution is simple! We just need to get to know each other then!" From Melina's point of view it was that simple! She just had to get to know Cecil better and then everything would be fine! Melina was genuinely relieved to hear that Cecil had agreed; after all it would be oh so boring had the boy refused.

"Let's go then" She gestured for Cecil to follow and then began to walk off eventually ending up at what was, amazingly, a perfectly ordinary looking coffee shop. With a mostly wooden interior, the potent smell of coffee and the sound of chattering customers it seemed to be exactly like a perfectly ordinary coffee shop. Melina would take a seat near the front of the store, offering a rather nice view of the Emporium Stretch.

...Cecil simply found himself confused, for a moment. The thoughts had to struggle through the flustered haze, but he did notice how...literally, she seemed to be taking the prior statement. Like it was some sort of rule or something.
Well, it was one in a way, but still.
"Okay...?" Cecil followed after Melina, and at the approach of their destination, the distinct smell of coffee hit his nose - not that he was educated enough in the stuff to say anything other than that it was coffee, but it was a strong smell. He sat himself down, quickly glancing for any signs of Velvet Blue in the vicinity. "You wouldn't happen to know a girl in blue named Safie, would you...?"

"Nope. I'm....hmmm new to this part of the city. Don't really know many people in the area." With a smile she sat down at the table, one leg folded over the other. Instead of checking the menu above the main counter she kept her eyes focused on Cecil, smiling sweetly. Given how it was Melina who dragged this boy here she was, obviously, going to pay for whatever expenses this visit incurred.

"I'm Melina. It's nice to meet you. That's what people say isn't it?" The Shadow was only half joking in that as like with many things, she had the memories but not the experience of those memories. Turning her gaze away from Cecil for a few moments Melina wondered just who on Earth that Safie girl was. Were they Cecil's girlfriend? Oh boy that would actually be rather amusing if it was.

"So is that Safie girl your girlfriend or something?"

Maybe she wasn't from behind the Velvet Door, then...but this woman definitely reminded him of her. Not quite as clueless, maybe, but there were some little oddities that struck him as similar nonetheless.
The way he could feel the eyes on him wasn't one of them, though...it was a different sort of attention that he didn't know what to think of.
"...yeah, it is..." He was starting to get curious. Something felt off, even if she had the blessing not to be a victim of Safie's master...
Wait, shit, he was supposed to introduce himself.
"I'm Cecil. It's...nice to meet you too."

The question came, and Cecil's brain shorted. "No! No. She's not my girlfriend. I don't have a girlfriend. Never looked for one." He shakes his head wildly. "You...you just-" He pauses. "It's nothing. Me thinking stupid stuff."

"Cecil huh? Well. What brings you to the Backlight?" She briefly looked past Cecil at the menu above the counter, her eyes scanning what was on offer before deciding she would have a milkshake. A chocolate one at that...or maybe it should she go for banana? Both were good choices but back to the conversation at hand!

"Oh she's not? I was under the impression a lot of people your age had a girlfriend...hmmmm well, I suppose this Safie girl will miss out then~" With a wry smile she mockingly laughed beneath her breath, gleaming great enjoyment from teasing Cecil. If this was how human's were supposed to socialise the Shadow could actually get used to this!

"I was going to order myself a milkshake. You want one?"

Cecil shrugs. "Nothing in particular...I, uh...guess I just needed a break from studying." Frankly, he'd have appreciated not being stuck studying nearly as long in general, but he refused to go back to what it was like with Ankou before. "Just...decided to take a walk."

Melina found a tense, wary look directed her way, the sort of look one would get from one all too experienced with embarrassment when conversation turned to these topics and that was expecting it again. He gave a slight, slow shake of his head. "Even if they do, I'm not as obsessed with that stuff as they are...a-and, uh...what do you mean by that?"

Milkshakes?
It took a moment for his mind to readjust to properly process the question. It wasn't the sort of dread inducing line of conversation he was expecting. His eyes drifted to the menu, and sure enough, there were milkshakes. "U-Uh..." He facepalmed, wiping his hand down his face as he used the motion to mentally reset. "That sounds good...haven't had one in a while. Vanilla is good."

"Studying huh? Oh you must be a student at that school right? The big fancy one?" It was entirely possible that was not the case, after all there was no way a city this size could have all its educational needs handled by a single school, but it was definitely possible. A student taking a break from their studies seemed perfectly ordinary...and kind of boring really.

"Well you seem like a rather polite, and dare I say cute, young boy. I've never really dated, nor do I spend much time with people, but....well, the general consensus is that people want somebody cute right?" In all honesty? Melina had no idea what people really wanted when it came to dating prospects. She was just messing with Cecil at this point.

"Mmmm okay. I'll be right back. Consider it my treat." The Shadow rose from her seat, golden eyes shining from under her fringe as she made her way towards the counter. Roughly five minutes later she returned with two frothing milkshakes both the same yellow colour. One of which, the vanilla most likely, was placed in front of Cecil while Melina obviously sat down with her own.