Rising, Falling (Cecil)

Nadia finished her singing and bowed in thanks. When she bobbed her head back up she felt herself suddenly dizzy. She wasn't sure if it was the lights, or the loud people, or the drink she's had, but she suddenly felt like she was way too high up.

Instead of walking around to the stairs, she slid rather ungracefully off the front of the stage to the floor, snatching the stage for balance. Despite her sudden dizziness, however, the smile on her face was broad and infectious.

A hand on her shoulder startled her, and she looked up to see a young man...probably in his 20's. The man had blond hair tied back in a pony tail, and a handsome face. "Easy there, little miss. That was quite a performance. Was that your first time on stage?" he asked lightly. His eyes were the same light brown color of the drink she'd had.

Despite the man standing next to her, she was glancing around for Cecil, hoping he was nearby. It wasn't that she was frightened of this man, but more that she just really wanted to share her feelings with Cecil...wanted to tell someone about this feeling before it faded away. "are you looking for someone?" the man asked, not unkindly, still with a hand lightly on her shoulder.

"Mmhmm." Nadia replied, barely sparing the man a glance.

He'd been there as she sang. He'd made sure he would be when she told him she was here, there to support her as she stepped up to the stage.
And after his arrival listened along with a smile as she came into her own, moving the crowd with her voice.
He'd frozen as her gaze singled out in the crowd though. That was the moment when things ground to a halt.

With the applause, the spell was broken, and quickly he came to his feet as she practically fell off the stage. He started to notice the uneven sway of her form, the way she needed the stage to balance, and particularly the way she looked about as a man laid a hand on her shoulder - though not so much the way he started to pick up the pace slightly as he saw that.
Soon he was by her side, fretting over her with worried eyes. "Hey! Hey, are you alright? Are you ok?"

Nadia's eyes focused on Cecil immediately as he came into view. Heedless of his question she reached out with two hands, nearly stumbling into him, and snatched one of his hands in both of hers. "Did you see?? Everyone was watching me. Me! It was like I was really important for a- about 3 minutes. For three minutes I was the most important thing in the room!"

Cecil could likely smell the faint waft of alcohol on her breath, though it wasn't strong. The man who had been standing by raised an eyebrow, tucking his hands into his jeans pockets. "Are you her boyfriend?" he asked in the tone of voice that had already assumed it to be true. "Thats good. I was worried she was here alone."

Nadia was still mostly ignoring the other man. She was enthralled in the endeavor of finding words to express the profoundness of the swelling in her chest.

He was surprised at the way Nadia near latched onto him, nearly tumbling into him in her eagerness. The excitableness was...honestly endearing, but he just couldn't help the way his eyes narrowed slightly at the scent on her breath. Just how she'd ended up with alcohol and how much she'd had he didn't know, but he was not happy that it had happened.
There was no way she'd gotten that herself.

His attention snapped to the man to her side with wide eyes, and a flush spread over his face. He nearly started the denial, but soon a stray thought had him nodding meekly before turning his eyes back to Nadia.
He wouldn't dare normally, but...it would keep people off her.

He clears his throat as he remembered Nadia was still waiting for a reply. "Y-Yeah...you did great."

Did he just admit to being her boyfriend? Nadia hadn't been paying much attention the the man, but she'd heard what he said atleast. What would it matter if she was here alone or not? Oh well, that wasn't important.

"I Did? Really? Can we get drinks to celebrate?" she was already excitedly leading him toward the counter where she had met the red headed woman before, leaving the blond man behind. He scratched the back of neck as they left. "Ah, well take care you two. Make good choices."

"Y-Y-Yeah - hey, wait!" The sudden dragging was jarring, feet scrambling to catch up from Nadia's over-enthusiastic efforts to pull him to the counter. "Slow down, slow-"
Cecil's foot crashes into the back of his ankle.
His momentum carries him forward, body coming forward while his feet stay behind.
And so his body tilts...
And tumbles down.

Nadia was pulling Cecil along despite his complaints, as usual, when he pulled back, hard. As he toppled, he pulled Nadia off of her feet as well in his direction. She hit the ground with her tailbone and fell back over top of him, laying for a moment with stars in her eyes. Her dizziness was back en force now...and she felt like if she moved or got up at all she might vomit.

Also, the room was spinning a little bit. How did they manage that? "ahh...uh...I'm sorry, Cecil." she apologized. She hadn't recognized the compromised position she was in until someone came and yanked her up off of Cecil by the forearm.

Nadia barely got her feet under her, reeling, and planted her head instinctively against the shoulder of the individual, pinching her eyes shut to keep the world from spinning.

The woman who was supporting Nadia hard shoulder-length red hair, full lips tilted in a wry half-smile, and a form-fitting velvet dress. She reached down a hand to help Cecil to his feet, still holding Nadia steady with one hand. "If that was supposed to be a dance, you're doing it wrong."

Cecil winces as he hits the floor, and then subsequently has a little of the air forced out of him as a human body crashes down onto his back. Overall, there's one word he finds easily categorises the experience.
"Ow..."
He looks up to find a hand, and as he takes it, he looks past to find a woman that Nadia seems to be pressing herself against. Not sure of the situation but not willing to jump to any conclusions yet, Cecil simply groans as he finds his footing. "I'll say...I literally just tripped over my own feet. I can't believe that's a thing that actually happens."

Nadia pushed herself away from the woman, when she could trust her body not to fall over, and righted herself. It was the woman who had given her the rest of that drink... "You're... um...thank you again."

"Don't thank me. I'm the reason you and your boyfriend here are falling all over each other." she rose an eyebrow at Cecil. "And Not in the fun way. You're a lightweight in more ways that one, aren't you missy?"

"Actually, I'd like some more I think!" Nadia announced, looking from Cecil to the woman. "Cecil, this nice woman let me share some of her..." she looked at the woman. She didn't actually know what beverage it was.

"Scotch. And are you serious?" she rose an eyebrow at Nadia, then looked to Cecil who, regardless of being capable of tripping over his own feet, seemed to be the less tipsy of the two.

The comment about Nadia's tolerance was enough to tip him off, and soon he was letting out a frustrated sigh as he received the confirmation that, yes, this is where she had gotten her hands on alcohol. Scotch, no less. Because letting a teen girl have spirits was an excellent idea.

"Yes, she is...and she really shouldn't. Why did you let her have any the first time?" He turns his attentions to Nadia, looking distinctly unhappy. "And just...why were you having alcohol? No, rephrase - why were you drinking something that you didn't even know what it was?"

"She helped herself while I wasn't looking" the woman shrugged. "figured if she wanted to try it that badly, atleast it could be from me and not one of the guys I told to lay off of her."

That sounded like a good reason. But, Nadia didn't want to lie to make her self sound wiser than she was. "I tried it because I wanted to. I knew it was Alcohol. I'm not *that* clueless. My father drinks this stuff all the time..." she replied honestly.

The woman shook her head, looking to Cecil. "I think your girlfriend has learned enough about life for one evening. Why don't you take her home before she gets me, herself, or someone else kicked out, eh?"

Nadia earned herself a rather pointed look as Cecil find out just how this had happened, and he could only find his teeth gritting as the girl herself chimed in.
More than anything else, Cecil seemed distinctly and profoundly unhappy with her in that moment.

His expression blanks out as he nods to the woman. Right now, the title she referred to her with was the last thing on his mind. A quiet breath passes his lips as he steps forward, taking one of Nadia's arms around him, and placing one around her in turn. "...yeah. I think that's a good idea." Face impassive, he looks to Nadia. "Come on. I think that's enough for one night."
Carefully, he takes the lead, manoeuvring around the people around to the exit with Nadia.

Nadia, pouting just a little bit, allowed him to lead her out of the bar. The cool evening air hit her like a cold rag suddenly draped over her face. She hadn't noticed how hot she'd felt until just then. The sudden coolness was nice, refreshing even. She took in a deep breath, more than okay with the closeness of their current situation. If anything, it was a great capstone to a wonderful even.

Bobbing a long, eyes half-lidded with a contented smile on her face, she didn't even notice where they were going. She wasn't focused on it at all. "We've still got time. Where are we going?" She asked with a playful lilt to her voice. Spending the rest of the evening with Cecil would make today so much better.

"Home." Cecil's tone was flat, absent of the good humour that Nadia had found herself with. "I really don't know what you were thinking, going around snatching up people's alcohol when they don't happen to be looking, but now you're in a state where you think the stage front is a good substitute for the stairs and you can't really even support yourself properly." He gives her a pointed look. "I didn't really have any other plans than showing up to see you perform. This wasn't how I'd have hoped to find some."

Nadia stopped walking. Released Cecil, and took a step away from him. The disappointed tone in his voice cut through the high of the night, churning the butterflies in her stomach into acid. "This wasn't how I'd have hoped to find some." She swayed a little on her feet, but the sudden pain in her chest offered her some clarity, the adrenaline draining from her limbs left her a little cold.

"You're right...I'm sorry, Cecil. I just got carried away. It was also so exciting..." The ghost of her previous smile appeared on her face for a moment, then vanished. "They were all looking at me...It made me feel like I could do anything."

"I didn't mean to make you angry." She added pathetically, feeling a little ashamed now that the verneer of the moment had been stripped away. She had snatched the woman's drink without asking, drank it even though she was underage, and dragged Cecil around, knocking him over and everything...She'd put him through some uncomfortable situations, but this was just down right selfish. And the more she thought about it, the more her emotions spiraled downward, like her brain was slowly filling up with water. Tears started to bead at the edges of her eyes. "Don't take me back to the Inn. I don't want to have to explain to Kendra...anywhere else...please."