Show Me Things I've Never Had (Cecil/Nadia)

"Mr. Luneth? Come on now, you make me feel old!" He laughs as he steps through the door. "Never mind that though. You'll have your tea soon enough."

As Luneth disappears into the next room, Cecil nods and mumbles in reply to Nadia. "Y-Yeah...we...we probably should."
He doesn't do anything, though.
"Oi, bro." Rydia steps forward with a frown and pokes Cecil sharply in the middle of his forehead, eliciting a wince from him. "Are you really going to make your girlfriend try to walk like that?"
His eyes widen with a sudden burst of realisation. "Oh! Oh. R-Right..." For a couple of seconds he doesn't move, emanating a sense of reluctance. Then, he hesitantly releases her from his arms, sliding one hand down her arm to twine his fingers with hers again in a refusal to completely relinquish contact. He looks at her with an awkward, nervous expression. "So, uh... shall we, um...sit down?"

Cecil's nervousness was threatening to stir her own nerves, but Nadia did her best to ignore the feeling as his hand slid down to twine with hers. The feeling of his hand pass over the length of her arm sent a shiver of excitement, unbidden, down her spine. It was a strange feeling that she didn't know what to do with. Still, she knew it would need to go somewhere. She gave Rydia an apologetic look, as though she were apologizing for Cecil's awkwardness. It was her who had forced him into this today, after all. As usual.

She pulled Cecil along lightly to sit down beside her on the couch, unable to wait for him to figure out how his feet worked. She wasn't really sure what to say next though...small talk wasn't exactly something she was known for being good at. Now that she was settled however, on the couch next to Cecil, she felt her nerves ease a little bit, though Cecil was still rigid beside her, and she turned to give him one of those Cecil-only smiles that bore with it all the affection she could muster.

Rydia acknowledges the look with a roll of her eyes and look back as if to say she's used to this. "This is nowhere near as bad as it gets, trust me."

As Cecil sits beside Nadia, Rydia goes over and flops back onto the other couch, watching the two with interest. After a little more fidgeting, Cecil pulls one of Nadia's arms around him and nestles into her, taking some comfort in the action. Something about what he did seems to register with his sister, but she doesn't comment on it, simply grinning after a moment's pause. "Not helping yourself there with the animal comparisons, bro. Just look at you two..." Her grin takes a predatory edge. "Like a little puppy looking to be petted."
A little of the nervousness seems to evaporate from Cecil as he pouts slightly toward his sister, pulling Nadia's arm tighter around him as he snuggles into her further but otherwise not refuting the comment. The pout becomes a little more pronounced as Rydia brings a hand to her mouth, stifling another bout of snickering.

"So, Nadia..." Her hand comes away from her face to reveal a catlike grin as a playful lilt comes to her voice. "What have you two lovebirds gotten up to while nobody's been paying attention, hmm?" She leans forward a little, grin only widening. "Have you done it yet? I know my dear brother's an awkward mess, but I'm sure he'd do more than his best to tenderly attend your needs."
Cecil sputters wildly and shrinks into himself with a look of palpable embarrassment, trying to hide a face that's only getting redder that Nadia has ever seen it.

Nadia was a little surprised when Cecil moved her arm to be around him, bit didnt pull away. As she heard Rydia's joke she smiled. Resting her chin on Cecil's shoulder as he pulled her around him. "I think he's more like a turtle, hiding in his shell." she joked, feeling at Cecil's chest for the turtle pendant.

The next question succeeded in catching Nadia off-guard. If she hadn't already gotten the question from someone else it may have made her hesitate, but she knew what the question meant. "Nope. But he has spent the night at my place twice." she held up two fingers like a peace sign. "Everyone at the Inn thinks we have. I dont really care what other people think though." she giggled, giving Cecil a little teddy bear squeeze. "He is awkward but so am I, so it works out." she said, but as if in response to her own words suddenly looked back and forth from them, realizing that she had just said whatever she was thinking and hadn't realized how they might respond.

Rydia raises an eyebrow. "Guess I know who got him that necklace now. That's not his usual taste."

Before Rydia has the chance to jump on Nadia's statement, Luneth re-enters the room with a mugful of black tea, and he chuckles to himself as he sees the scene. "Somebody has gotten comfortable, it seems. You haven't done that in a long time."
Cecil remains silent as his father turns his attention to Nadia. "Shall I get you something to place your tea down on, or do you think you can manage with my son vying for your attentions? Sorry if it's a little strong. I realised I never asked how you take your tea."

"It...it isn't? But you said you like it..." Nadia's face was suddenly as mask of uncertainty as she looked quizzically at the boy beside her.

She almost didnt register the man as he brought the tea. "Oh! Um, I'm good with just about any, thank you. And yes, please. I think that would be lovely." she nodded with a small smile.

She pressed her face close to Cecil's and whispered. "Your father is such a gentleman!" she shifted in her chair. "Wait...what hasn't Cecil done in a long time?"

"I do..." His hand comes up to clasp the jade turtle as it hangs about his neck. "Most of this stuff is...gaudy, and over-elaborate. That I've seen, anyway. Just...showoff-ish and overdone. This is nice. Simple."


"Consider it done." Luneth goes over and retrieves an end table, placing it by Nadia and resting the mug atop it before taking his own seat on the sofa with his daughter.
Cecil rolls his eyes as he mutters back. "You wouldn't say that if you saw what he was like normally..."

At Nadia's question, Luneth briefly glances to Cecil as the boy starts to pay more attention to matters outside snuggling with his girlfriend. "He used to do that with his mother when he was younger. His sister, too. He even grew out his hair so they would play with it." Luneth smiles wistfully as he recounts the memory. "He would simply stay there like that, not moving until he was made to."
Rydia smirks. "He wasn't that young. I still remember him practically forcing Sis to do it whenever she came over. If he's a turtle, she was a turtle charmer - like putty in her hands."
Cecil doesn't comment, nodding as a fond but slightly sad expression comes to his face.

As Cecil told her why he liked the necklace, Nadia smiled, and blee on her tea mug, holding it gingerly in the hard that wasn't around Cecil. She listened as they talked about his mother and his sister.

The third number he had put into her phone. Nadia looked up. "Another sister?" she asked lightly, glancing at him curiously. The tone of the room had fallen. For once it wasn't her fault. But...she was curious where it would lead. So, without really thinking about it she opened her mouth. "What happened to her?"

"Nothing." The statement flew from his lips the moment the question was asked, and directly afterwards he clamped his mouth shut again.
He had to calm down. He...he had to let her know. It was part of the reason why they were here. Why he wasn't being more reluctant about all of this.
He couldn't say it himself.

Rydia and Luneth share a look, before the older man shakes his head. They look to Cecil.
He nods.
"...maybe I should take this from the top." Luneth seems to brace himself, keeping a careful eye on his son. "Cecil had-"
"Has."
Luneth frowns slightly, but nods anyway. "Has, an older sister. Rosa. He always did adore here...more than me or his mother, it would sometimes seem. I never thought I would be so jealous of my own daughter." He chuckles to himself. "She was practically his anchor during the days of the Divide. It didn't seem like anything could scare him with her there."

As he sees the solemn expression developing on Rydia's face, Luneth places a hand on her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. She manages a small smile. "I'm alright, Dad. Relax."
Smiling and raising an eyebrow at her assurances, Luneth continues on. "Those two stayed inseparable after we got situated. Even after she moved out, Cecil eagerly awaited her next visit, or the next chance to visit her in turn. And then..."
He pauses. By this point, Cecil's started to tear up, pressing close to Nadia. "Cecil...are you sure you're going to be alright? Do you need to step out?"
The blond shakes his head, taking shaky breaths. "No, no...I'll...I'll be fine. I'm fine. See?" He smiles widely and unconvincingly, plastering a saccharine smile on his face. "Perfectly alright!"
It's plain to see his father is unconvinced, but he drops it as he brushes a few strands of his ginger mane to one side. "Don't push yourself. Alright?"

Taking a deep breath, Luneth continues. "It was a year and a half ago when the rest happened. We were all eagerly awaiting her arriving for a family meal. I'd made ribs - a favourite of those two. She didn't show up that day, though, and I couldn't get in contact with her. After then...we never heard anything from her. It took a while before we could get Cecil to stop waiting for her. It was...painful, to watch him sat at the window like that.""
Silence falls on the room, sombre memories playing in the minds of the inhabitants. Rydia's eyes fixate on his older brother, the boy only roughly holding onto his composure.
"...that's enough for now, Dad."
"Alright."
The silence holds once more as everyone processes what has been said.

Nadia's face returned to it's usual blank expression as she listened intently to the story. It was a sad story, made even sadder by how attached Cecil was to his sister. Not much was said about his mother after they mentioned the Divide, so Nadia assumed without asking that it had taken her. Or that something else had happened along the way. Mentioning it now would only make things worse. As Cecil nuzzled into Nadia, she gave him a small smile, and moved her hand up to lightly play with his scalp beneath his hair, and continued to listen.

When the tale was over, she sipped her tea slowly in the silence that followed. She kept moving her fingers slowly, comfortingly, through his hair. "I'm sorry, Cecil." She finally said. "Did you...ever go looking? There had to be evidence. Clues, maybe? Even in this world people don't just disappear." She gave Cecil a meaningful look - one to be shared only between Psyche Terrorists. Nadia's immediate thought...what if she had been a PT and been captured by the Cadets? It probably wasn't a sound thought, and after so long there was little that could be done. But Nadia was so curious about it. What if she was out there somewhere? What if she was alive, and they could be reunited?

"NO!" Rydia leaps to her feet, trembling with anger as she storms over to Nadia. "Don't you DARE! I am NOT dealing with that again! I am NOT losing my brother!"
"Rydia-"
"Shut the fuck up, dad! You know EXACTLY what I'm on about! I'm not the only one who saw him tear himself apart waiting for her! I'm not the only one who-" Her voice starts to tremble, tears coming to her eyes. "-who worried themselves sick trying to find him when he did exactly that and nearly got KILLED for it!"
She glares, tears in her eyes, before breaking down crying, throwing herself onto her brother. "Not you too, bro...not you too..."

With a guilty expression, Cecil looks up at Nadia before sitting himself up, this time bringing his younger sister into his embrace. "Hey...come on, I'm not going anywhere."
"You, you better...!" Rydia sniffles before starting to cry into his chest.
Luneth watches on with a pained expression, sighing and pinching his nose. "Not again...I never was the better one at this..."

Nadia's eyes flew open as Rydia exploded, and she flinched away. The violent anguish that came off of the girl in waves broke across her like the ocean capsizing a boat. Nadia froze and watched as Rydia hugged her brother, all curiousity vanishing behind her mind like smoke. Replaced by something much darker and more familiar. She had stood up to avoid the girl, and was now standing next to couch instead of sitting on it...just watching. To the onlookers it would likely seem as though she had spaced out, just watching. Cecil would likely recognize the blank, confused look, however, and the anxiety that was raging on the other side.

She could see the tense worried expression on Luneth's face, the way Rydia was crying and Cecil was distraught - caught between his own grief and his need to comfort his sister. This was family. Broken and messy and beautiful. It was the kind of family that she had never known. She wasn't sure how to cope with it, or how to react. She wanted to hug Rydia as well - but it wasn't her pain to share. She was an outsider. And right now Cecil's own pained expression was the only thing that kept Nadia from bolting for the door. "I'm sorry... Of course Cecil would... I didn't mean..." Always saying the wrong thing. always. She pinched her eyes closed. "I didn't mean for something like this to happen..."

A guilty expression turned to a torturous one as now Nadia's suffering pulled Cecil's attention, leaving him to look around helplessly as his sister cried into his chest and his girlfriend became a pit of rising stress to rival his own. "It's not your fault, you couldn't have..."

Luneth shakes his head, and gestures to Rydia - a simple message to focus on his sister for now. Standing up from the sofa, he takes gentle steps towards Nadia, a sympathetic look on his features. "Shall we go somewhere else for now? I think those two need some time."
There's no judgement or recrimination as he speaks to Nadia, just a simple sense of understanding reassurance.

When the father stood, Nadia's eyes locked with his with a startled expression - like a deer in the headlights. She looked at him for a small moment, silently, before she nodded, taking her tea in trembling hands. With a last forlorn look to Cecil, she quietly followed Luneth from the room.

Gently, Luneth guides Nadia through the door he first went through to fetch her drink, leading her into a well equipped kitchen space. As they enter, he sets a kettle going, opening a cupboard and looking back to the girl currently bound in shock. "Would you like some more tea, or would you prefer something else? We have a few types here, depending on your taste. Rydia always found the herbal teas calming."