Nadia Protection Squad Assemble (Kendra/Cecil/Nadia/Tomomi)

Kendra watched as Nadia grasped for Cecil, a concerned look on her face that faded once once Cecil kissed her forehead lightly. Nadia wasn't going to be left alone again. She continued to watch Cecil finish putting Nadia to bed, happy to see how caring he was being. He seemed to really, genuinely care about Nadia. So long as Cecil continued to care for Nadia, Kendra had no doubt that things would work out for her.

Kendra finally noticed the envelope there, and she seemed to be a little confused. "I don't know if you should touch it or not. Might be important, but maybe we should have Nadia explain it." She seemed to be as lost as Cecil when it came to this.

Cecil shakes his head as he removes the key, turning it over between his fingers with a certain quiet melancholy. He'd expected to find something in there, but...a key...? He... didn't understand it. There was a meaning to it, but it was utterly lost on him.
He looked up to Kendra from the ground, slightly dull eyes begging for some sort of answer that he might understand. Something that would settle the twisting feeling that didn't know whether it wanted to be hopeful or dreading. The key turns in his hands in a slow, ritualistic rhythm, fingers running over each facet.
He felt small again. He couldn't place it before, but he felt a little smaller, back in a time where he just couldn't make sense of anything.

Kendra's eyes widen when she sees it's a key. It could mean so many things! maybe Nadia was leaving it for Cecil if anything happened. Maybe it was meant to be romantic, like she was fine with giving Cecil the "key to her heart", or something! Or maybe it was just a key she was going to mail!

"Well, it's a key, and she totally had it in an envelope with your name o it. It probably should be yours! But you should totally wait for Nadia to wake up. I bet she wanted to surprise you with it!" Kendra clapped her hands together, as though she had just solved a giant problem.

Kendra's outburst and clap cut through the shallow haze of Nadia's dozing, and she stirred beneath the comfort of her blankets. Her eyes opened lazily, about halfway, and seeing the blur of gold and pink that was Cecil not too far away, she smiled a little serenely at him. Her fuzzy mind didn't even think to register his hand or what was in it, or even whether or not she was dreaming, she just slowly blinked sleep away, looking up at the boy and threatening to fall back into sleep. "Hello, Handsome." She said groggily, still in her sleepy haze.

Meanwhile, as everyone was enacting chaos in an attempt to send Nadia to sleep, Tomomi was doing what Tomomi does; after putting the cups and glasses in the sink to wash and giving them a basic rinse for now, Tomomi got a glass bowl, and with a bunch of ingredients from the fridge, began to make everyone a nice salad, having deemed that everything else was outside his cooking repertoire - nothing more than a mini-fridge and microwave never made for much genuine cooking skill. Still, he could make a mean salad.

So, with the assorted salad ingredients in a bowl, and vinegar lightly drizzled over the salady goodness, Tomomi looked around the place. It was fairly well kept, but... Well, given that Nadia wasn't feeling well, it could use a bit of a dusting. So, having recalled seeing a duster near the entrance to the kitchen, Tomomi grabbed it, and just as he was about to start dusting - clap and shout.

Cautiously, Tomomi followed the noise, poking his head into the room with a curious look, before stepping in completely, tilting his head. "A-ah um... I-is everything okay? I um... I'm just making a salad if a-anyone's hungry..."

As Kendra's volume suddenly increased, he shot her a sharp look and quickly looked over to Nadia. To his utter lack of surprise, she was stirring, and he quickly shoved the key into his pocket and put on a brighter expression...
Utterly forgetting that he'd left the envelope open on the bedside table.
"Hey, Nadia...sorry to wake you up. You should really be sleeping but..." He looks over as Tomomi comes peering into the room, and laughs awkwardly. "Well, uh...that was some timing there, Tomomi. Perfect, even." His eyes flick to Nadia. "Have you...eaten, much?"

Kendra hadn't realized how loud she was being in her excitement until heard Nadia speak, signalling she had woken up. With a guilty look, like she was a child caught stealing from the cookie jar, Kendra looked at her feet, digging the tip of her foot into the ground a little. The look Cecil had sent her only served to make her feel even more guilty.

"We're okay. I just got excited. Sorry Nadia." She realized how loud she was being after she heard herself speak. "You should have some salad." She looked up to smile at Nadia reassuringly, much quieter.

Nadia glanced at the envelope on the bedside table, not seeing that it had been opened, and looked quickly back to the others, eyes bleary with sleep. She wouldn't have said she was hungry, but at the mention of food suddenly she was sharply aware of the hunger in her belly. She was groggy, and wanted nothing more than to drift back off to sleep, but at looking at all their faces, she decided maybe she should eat something. If for no other reason than to put another of their fears to rest.

She slowly sat up, easing herself back against the head board, and blinked at Cecil, but did not answer his question about if she'd eaten much. Instead she simply replied with a nod. "A little salad actually sounds pretty nice. Thank you, Tomomi."

Still having no idea what was going on, Tomomi just decided to nod, turning to leave the room again. "I-in that case, um, if you three want to stay here, I'll go dish the sa-salads up, and then, um, if anyone wants any d-drinks, just say?"

Offer made, Tomomi walked back to the kitchen, taking 3 bowls, and serving out 3 portions of salad, carrying one in at first to prioritise Nadia, then walking back in with the second set of two, holding them out for Cecil and Kendra before smiling and bowing his head slightly. "I um... I'll just be dusting in the other room if you n-need anything, so, just, um, come get me if you want some water, or, some more salad, or anything like that? A-and um... S-sorry for using your ingredients without permission Nadia, I've um... L-left some money on the side for it."

That said, once more, Tomomi left to go dusting.

Cecil let out a small sigh of relief as Nadia agreed to eat something. She probably needed it.
He nodded and smiled thankfully as Tomomi came back with portions for each of them, but as his best friend tries to excuse himself, he finds it doesn't last. It's not long before he's on his feet to stop Tomomi, placing his bowl in his hands. "Hey. You're as much a part of all of this as the rest of us. So...stick around, alright? I'll get my own. You just take it easy, alright?" He does his best to look reassuring for his friend. "You've been put through enough already. I don't want you working yourself more, alright? So...relax. Back in a moment."

He heads past him into the kitchen, identifying the salad and searching out the bowls. As he finds them and plucks one out, he can feel the key in his pocket, heavy in the way Nadia's phone was. His eyes drift to the door, and glancing back to the bedroom, he creeps over to Nadia's front door and removes the key from his pocket, placing it quietly in the lock and hoping nobody notices as he tests to see if it would lock.

The key did indeed work in the lock.

Meanwhile, as Tomomi turned to leave and Cecil went after him, Nadia looked a little forlornly as she watched the exchange, could see in this small gesture the strength of their bond. She felt a small prick of that guilt she'd felt before, at how she'd gotten in the way of that. As Cecil left and she was fairly certain he wouldn't hear her voice, Nadia looked at Tomomi, and then down at her Salad. "I'm sorry that I take up so much of Cecil's time. I don't mean to make things harder for the two of you." She admitted in a small, tired voice, before spearing some of the salad and sliding it into her mouth. It was light and crisp, and savory. Just the sort of thing she needed at the moment. Anything sweeter or heavier might end up coming back up. She'd been none to kind to her body in the previous days, and she wasn't sure she trusted it now.

Kendra nodded her head, sitting down on the floor, accepting the bowl of salad with a small smile. She was more happy, however, that Nadia was going to eat. She wasn't sure when she had last eaten, but Nadia did need food in her system. "Cecil's right! You should totally stay around. You helped a lot, and came up with the professional suggestion which is totally useful!" She smiled as comfortingly as she could, though she still seemed stressed.

She hoped they all could stay together as a group for a little. Kendra thought it might be more comforting for Nadia if they all stayed together. And a more selfish part of her acknowledged she didn't want to be alone right then and there.

Rather than leaving the room, Tomomi found that Cecil was the one that left the room, and so here Tomomi just stood confused for a moment with a salad in hand. So, he stood there, very confused, before deciding to sit down on the floor where he was, making sure he was out of the way of the door for when Cecil walked back in.

What then caught his attention was Nadia speaking, and Tomomi wasn't quite sure how to reply at first. Then, he offered her a gentle smile, voice soft as he replied. "Hey, Cecil hangs out with you be-because he wants to, right? It hasn't made things any harder for us, and I'm just happy to see him happy. We still hang out, no more or less than we did before, okay? S-so, don't worry."

Of course, he couldn't deny there was a bit of jealousy, but, Tomomi had made peace with that, an unrequited crush that wasn't ever going to be more than that. So the boy found himself shaking his head slowly to get the thought out of his head. "He really loves you, you know? You really are something to make him smile how he does." At this, the boy grinned, before turning to Kendra and awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck at the compliments. "Ah, um, t-thanks... A-anyways, um, Nadia, you just focus on resting up, okay? I-if you need to sleep while we're here, just say so. We'll be here for you, so, just, focus on getting your energy back, o-okay?"

It was tempting to continue toying with the lock, but it was clear enough. This was a key to Nadia's door. To here.
He couldn't quite put it into context with recent events...but then again, maybe this wasn't a recent thing...? That envelope had sat there long enough to gather a bit of dust before he'd been driven to open it. Not a letter or note of any kind like he'd almost expected, but...this.

No, no...he had to get his head clear.

Leaving the door locked and slipping back out of the hallway that led to it, he doles himself a messy portion of the salad and re-enters the bedroom with a light flush, moving back to his old spot by Nadia - and more importantly, the bedside table with the envelope he shouldn't have opened. The fact she hadn't given him it told him that much.
This was something for her to do, something significant - not something for him to take out of her hands and tread all over.
When she was ready.
...as soon as he could put the key back without her noticing.
Gaaaahhh...

He smiles and nods to Tomomi as he settles down, and glances to Nadia as she eats. "So...how is it...?"

Nadia chewed slowly, listening to Tomomi's words. "Cecil hangs out with you because he wants to..." He had said. It seemed to be true. Even though it had felt to her like she was just pulling him around, here he was, doing his best to take care of her at a time where she had little desire to take care of herself. The feeling welled up in her, and threatened tears, but she bit them back with a hard swallow and kept eating.

"He...Loves me...? You really think so?" The thought brought color to her cheeks and a small smile to her face. "He hasn't said it, if he does." The smile didn't disappear, but it looked somehow more sad, wistful even. "But I don't mind that. If he isn't ready, then it wouldn't be worth hearing." The thought had allowed her to sink back into fond memory; laying together in grassy fields, crying together as always. It seems their every meeting was capstoned by tears.

Cecil returning brought her out of her reverie, and brought a new flash of red to her face, and she busied herself with her salad. "it-it's good." She replied between mouthfuls, looking again to the upturned letter on her bedside table. Wasn't it facing the other way last time she looked at it? Odd... still, a nervousness fluttered around like butterflies in her stomach as she looked at it, wondering. Was this the time? Would he think she was crazy? Getting ahead of herself again? Probably. But still...