Urgent Matters (Tomomi/Cecil)

Cecil glances away, shrugging. "I...I don't know. Just...hearing you two came up with a me protection team? In my name? Whether or not I can protect myself, I just...I can't comprehend it. It doesn't make sense to me, friend or not, that you'd devise a group for the sole purpose of covering for me. It's...ridiculous. It feels absolutely insane. God, you even gave it a cheesy name...it's..." He shakes his head, and looks back to Tomomi. "It's surreal. You wouldn't go about doing this with everyone else you know, would you?"

At Cecil's explanation, Tomomi frowned slightly at first. Right, his self doubt... So, Tomomi had brought it on by mentioning the team name? Yeah... That should have probably stayed a secret, but, that was too late now. Then, at the end, Tomomi gave a slightly pained smile, and shook his head. "No. I wouldn't. And, I don't think I ever would for anyone else in the future either... I mean... I... I don't want to drag the conversation down, but, I... I... I think this needs to be said..."

As he said this, Tomomi stopped crouching and instead sat down on the floor in front of Cecil, sighing heavily. "You know I've been alone since... Since the Divide. I had friends, but... They were never close friends. They... Just kind of were there, and knew I was there, but... I always got this feeling that if I were to disappear one day, I'd be forgotten the next... In truth, I... I didn't want to live. I was living as a bystander, and I had just resigned myself to... To this idea of watching, and getting by just for the sake of getting by... Then, I met you, and, we became friends... Actual friends... You gave me... Me... An actual reason to live. So... I know it's not really much to show for it, and, I know you don't think too highly of yourself but... To me, you are the single closest person I have ever met, and you reminded me what it's like to smile, laugh, talk, and feel at peace..."

As he finishes, he looks up at the ceiling, letting out an exhale, and frowning temporarily, before looking back to Cecil with a dry smile, trying hard not to cry with his lips quivering slightly. "B-besides, I mean... You showed me some great Black Bean meal time."

"...Tomomi?"

Cecil watches as Tomomi takes a seat in front of him, and soon, he finds himself listening to a story that seems...all too familiar, in different ways. Each word that comes from his lips seems to echo little pieces of things he knows - different experiences, both those shared with him, and others he can personally find memories for that reflect what he hears.
Uncomfortable feelings rise and swirl, and he's forced to swallow them down back to the place they're sealed before they overflow. A pain borne of recognition flashes over his features, bringing with it a seeping, icy chill. "You too, Tomomi...?"

He witnesses as his friend teeters on an emotional brink, and reaches out to grasp his shoulder. "You know...Divide or no Divide, I don't think I've had a friend like you before, Tomomi. I used to have friends like you talked about before, but...well, I was a lot younger then. I barely had acquiantances after the Divide - and then, not even that. Everyone just drifted away. Even..." He lets out a shaking breath. "Even the person I was closest to in the world eventually disappeared from my life too."
It takes him several seconds to pull himself back together after that, but he continues on. "Seven Stars brought me the first friends I've had in a while. I've...already found myself out of contact with several of them, and the year's not even out. But you know what? None of them were like you. I couldn't have made friends with you without them, but ever since then you've outshone every last one of those people I lost touch with."
It's a push, but he manages to smile brightly, struggling through everything else. "Basically, Tomomi...me too. I can't say I don't miss the people that got me here, but...I think I'll manage just fine while you're around."

A thought strikes him, and he can't help but laugh a little. It's dumb, it's silly, but it was a way to lighten the mood, and that felt like what they needed. "So, to make this absolutely clear!" A cartoonish grin sprung to his face as he bounced to his feet and prepared for what stood to be a humiliating moment.
"I ain't never had a friend, never had a friend-"
"I ain't never had a friend, never had a friend-"
He gestures down to Tomomi as he sits on the floor, hoping to all hell this got the point across and he'd actually cheer up.
"I ain't never had a friend like ye!"




It occurred to him just then that Tomomi might not understand the reference he had just leaped on for this.




Under the circumstances, he did a remarkable job of concealing how much he was dying inside.

Him too...?

Tomomi was at a loss for words for a moment, listening to Cecil's story with tears glistening in his eyes, threatening to turn into full blown crying, and Tomomi just kept listening. The forced smile wasn't as bitter sweet as those Cecil had shown before, and Tomomi tried his best to give a smile up at him in return. At least, until Cecil leapt from his seat and started... Was Cecil... Was Cecil singing?!

As he finished, Tomomi stared in disbelief for a moment, having not understood the reference. But, given the words he used and his enthusiasm, it was fairly obvious that it was meant to be a reference. Wait, was this like Tomomi lying down in an embarrassing pose to cheer Cecil up?

Then, even though he didn't understand, Tomomi began giggling, not even a snicker to show any build up. With a laugh, Tomomi leaned backwards from his sitting position on the floor, perhaps a bit too much, falling over backwards with a giggle that seemed neither forced or manic, before bonking his head on the floor from laughing, causing Tomomi to stop for just long enough to sit up, and rub at his head. "Ow..."

And then, Tomomi just looked back up at Cecil with a smile. "Thank you."

The moment of waiting was a palpable torture, silence stabbing into him and ripping away at his mind as it screamed a sole few words-
Fuck! He doesn't get it!
FuuuuuuuuUUUUU-

Wait.
He was giggling.

The relief was immeasurable as Tomomi started to laugh anyway, the display of mirth sending him back and back and "Wait Tomomi-!"
Cecil winced and let out a hissing noise as Tomomi's head met the floor,

Cecil sat down and didn't say anything as Tomomi picked himself up, looking altogether a little awkward. Soon though, the other boy found his smile mirrored as he gave his thanks, receiving a little nod in return. "It's no problem, though..." Cecil lets out a little grin. "It looks like I'd be doing you a disservice not to introduce you to Aladdin as soon as possible."

As Cecil returned the smile, Tomomi got himself up off the floor, showing a surprising amount of nimbleness as he rose to his feet in a single motion, before moving back to where he was sat earlier, listening as Cecil declared he had to introduce Tomomi to Aladdin. At this, Tomomi rubbed at the back of his neck slightly, laughing. "I'm guessing that's what your sing and dance was a reference to? In that case, we'll have to watch it for sure. Is it a book where it's written down? Someone that performs? A theatre production? Song? Movie? If it's a movie, is it still in theatres?"

And with that, Tomomi had confirmed that he knew literally nothing about not just Aladdin, but even perhaps that entire copyrighted monolith entirely. "Well, I guess whatever the format, if it got you to sing and dance, I can only imagine how much fun it'd be." he declared, returning to his can of Dr Salt NEO and finishing it off.

Cecil briefly stares shocked at Tomomi. "You...you don't have the faintest idea do you...?"
"...alright, that settles it!"

Quickly shifting so he's directly adjacent to Tomomi, he whips out his phone and starts digging through streaming services with a wild grin. "You, Tomomi, are about to enter a - snrk - a whole new world of wonders the likes of which you have no idea the scale of!"
Finding the subject of attention for the day, he flips his phone to its side and looks over to Tomomi. "Best be ready, Tomomi. You're not forgetting this in a hurry."

He sets the film going-
And welcomes his best friend to the world of Prince Ali, Fabulous he, Ali Ababwa...and a pile of infectious tracks besides.

And so, a meeting of two friends in high tensions ended with two best friends watching the greatest realistic story of all time. Tomomi's eyes were opened, and he suddenly became obsessed with lamps and talking parrots.

[Exit]