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

Kendra smiled at Tomomi. "No problem!" She turned to look back at Nadia. She felt out of place during this conversation, but she may as well contribute. "He totally does love you. Even if he's never talked to me about it, I think he's sorta prove it, right?" She smiled as she spoke, picking at the salad a little bit.

When Cecil returned, Kendra went on to focus on eating. She didn't think she was supposed to say anything about what they had talked about, so focusing on eating good food was natural. "It's really tasty salad! Thanks. Tomomi!" She hadn't expected something that was made out of fruit to taste so good. She began to wonder if maybe Tomomi knew actual, non-Persona related magic. It would make sense to Kendra.

"Do you need anything else, Nadia? Today is all about you from now on! And tomorrow too! And the next day!" She wanted to make sure Nadia knew they were all there for her, no matter what. Kendra had never been great at comfort, but she could do orders. That was a given.

At the unexpected compliment, Tomomi blushed slightly, rubbing at the back of his neck again and shaking his head mildly. "A-ah, um, not r-really? I-I just used what N-Nadia had available, and let it r-rest in some vinegar, so, um, n-nothing special... I-I'm glad you enjoy though?"

That said, he just sat down and began eating, aware of the fact that he hadn't eaten today. Or, well, most mornings actually. Low incomes and breakfasts don't match, and costs have to be cut somewhere. So, Tomomi continuously seemed to eat, but despite his hunger, with a delicate nature that would not seem odd as the eating style of a princess. Swallowing a leaf, Tomomi nodded in agreement with Kendra, looking to Nadia. "What K-Kendra said. We're here, okay?"

Cecil laughs and shakes his head. "Come on Tomomi, just take the compliment. Being able to make something good with whatever you have to hand isn't something most people can pull off, even if it is just a salad." He starts on his own salad, and finds himself nodding. "And it is good. You don't have to worry about that."

He smiles away, but he tensed up and flushed the moment Nadia looked at the envelope, and that has yet to subside. He's sure she noticed, and that makes returning the key a whole lot more complicated.
Well...for now it was up to her if she wanted to address the matter.
"Nobody is going anywhere. We're here for you, Nadia -" He gives a pointed look to Tomomi. "- and everyone else here. We're all here for each other, and all important to each other."

Nadia couldn't tell if she felt uncomfortable or elated. This was what she'd wanted was it? What she had really wanted. They were all looking at her, concerned about her. Here to support her. For no other reason than because it was in their power to do so and they wanted to. It was...hard to accept. especially after so many days of telling herself otherwise. She looked down at her salad, eating it slowly. She felt like she might cry, but there had been enough tears, and she was too exhausted besides. Instead, she looked at the envelope on the table.

"Thank you, everyone..." She wasn't sure words could really even express this feeling, so she chose to focus on something else instead of trying. "Cecil I um...have something for you. I had been saving it, because I wasn't sure when a good time would be. But given the circumstances I thought..." She picked up the envelope, and her face paled as she realized it was empty. She looked into the envelope, face stricken. "U-um. I know I put it in here..." She fretted.

Kendra nodded her head to what Cecil said. "Cecil's right! Besides, I do actually do cook really well, and I think it's great! It takes me forever to make things perfect, so you're really skilled!" Kendra looked a little thoughtful after that. "Besides, confidence is key in many things. You gotta believe you can do it to be able to perform to the best of your abilities!" If there was one good thing her parents had taught her, it was that. She guessed she'd have to mentally thank them for that.

Kendra seemed to look a little nervous when Nadia brought up the envelope. Should she mention it? Nadia seemed so worried. She looked at Cecil, giving him a quick apologetic look, before she pointed her finger at him. "Cecil took it! He took the key! I saw him take it!" What a good, loyal, kind friend.

Tomomi now just sat there, at first flustered, and then at Nadia's confusion and concern, confusion of his own, and then confused panic at Kendra's pointed blame, looking between the three of them as he felt his pulse raise. Did he... Did he miss something important? Did Cecil steal from Nadia for some reason? Did Kendra not like Cecil and blame him for something he didn't do? What was going on?!

No, wait, no, calm down Tomomi. Deep breaths. If one were to for some reason pay attention to Tomomi rather than literally anything important happening in this crazy plot twist, it wouldn't be difficult to see his shoulders tense up, breathing a bit harder, and such signs of raised anxiety. He was fine. He was fine.

This was fine.

Cecil looked distinctly betrayed as Kendra literally started yelling and pointing fingers. "Are you serious?!" He was going to come clean anyway! This was entirely unnecessary!
And looking over to confirm what was in the corner of his eye, Tomomi almost seemed to thrum with anxious energy. He reaches over, and places a hand on his shoulder - or, he tries to. He has to shuffle and lean over a bit first. "Nothing to worry about. Nothing bad is happening. Relax, alright? Breath. I'll handle this."

Straightening up, he fishes the key from his pocket and looks over with an awkward expression. "...I may have opened the envelope. I was, uh...kinda worried what was in there, after today's scare." He clears his throat. "I'd hoped to put it back so you could do this on your own terms once I figured out what it was for."

Nadia blinked, looking up with a blank, curious expression as Kendra pointed at Cecil. Well...it was meant for him, after all, and she had been meaning to give it to him after all. But still...why would he...

He answered the question himself in due time. She looked at the envelope and paled. Well...this couldn't have looked like anything but a suicide note to someone who didn't know what it was. No wonder he'd opened it. After all, she'd been asleep and unable to ask at the time. And then Tomomi had come in and interrupted them, so he hadn't had time then either.

She blushed a little. "It's always a good idea to have someone else with a key in case of emergencies. I thought it should be you...I couldn't think of anyone else, really. Or rather...maybe I just wanted it to be you? But I didn't want to scare you with it or anything, you understand. If you're willing, you can keep it." She offered, without any show of being upset. In fact, she favored Cecil with a small, tired smile before sinking back below the covers a little and taking a few more bites of her Salad.

Kendra shrunk a little. "Sorry, Cecil, but Nadia's not upset, right? So it's fine! It was just better to tell her!" She was absolutely trying to backpedal and fix any damage her revealing Cecil had taken the key had done. She was not hiding her guilty expression well, clearly feeling a little bad about it.

"Nadia, are you doing any better? Do you need anything else?" Kendra was, admittedly, feeling useless. Compared to Tomomi and Cecil, she had barely done anything. Kendra felt the need to help, to do something worthwhile while she was here. She felt like she had been in the background. And despite the fact this wasn't some school event and was about her friend's health, she felt like she needed to do something to feel like she was more in control of the situation.

As Cecil comforted him, Tomomi just offered a shaky smile, nodding his head. Right. Nadia's time. Panic later. So, slowly, he tried to steady his breaths and posture, eating at his salad again while watching what was going on. It was startling how quickly Nadia and Cecil had grown close, but, he was glad for sure. Cecil needed someone that close to him, and clearly, Nadia did too.

At Kendra's apology, Tomomi looked over to her, tilting her head. Was she upset because of Cecil? Because of her own call out? Still, as she asked Nadia what she needed, and how she was, Tomomi turned to look at Nadia again, sitting in silence and just letting Kendra take this while he ate his salad.

Cecil looks flatly at Kendra, a sharp point to his gaze. "You did realise while you were evaluating the impact of suddenly yelling and pointing fingers that me and Nadia aren't the only other people here, right?"
He didn't push further, but he still was a tad unsympathetic at the moment after being subject to Kendra's manner of handling situations. It was one thing directed at him, but add in Tomomi getting caught in the crossfire and this was the point where he wasn't having any more of it.
Nadia was fairly close to Kendra compared to him, he got the feeling, and he doubted the short girl really had any sort of ill will in her ill-advised actions.
That didn't make them less ill-advised.

Sighing and shaking his head, he clears his throat. "Ah...anyway..." He turns his attention back to Nadia, trying to brush off the tension that didn't belong in the room. "I'd be happy to, Nadia."
He smiles warmly at her. "I'll have to start stopping by more often."

Kendra looked at the floor now, refusing to look at Cecil or Tomomi. Especially Cecil. "I was just trying to help." It wasn't her fault. She felt bad she had scared Tomomi, sure, but she was just trying to be helpful. She hadn't meant to cause any harm. She didn't really have any reason to feel bad, right?

Kendra sank down so she now had her head behind her knees, still refusing to make eye contact. She hadn't done a thing wrong. She repeated that to herself mentally. It had been a simple mistake, so what was the point in beating herself up over it? She just waited for Nadia to speak next.

"I'm alright, Kendra, no need to fuss." Nadia set the envelope, now useless, back on the table beside her bed and sighed as Cecil snapped at Kendra, and Kendra recoiled. She was swiftly becoming to tired to deal with all the various stimuli in the room, and it was making her head hurt. Or perhaps that was just the fatigue. Thoughts of ending her own life had been swallowed by more immediate thoughts of her friends and their worries and their considerations. Sharpening their tongues against each other was the last thing she wanted.

"Please don't get mad at each other. Everything is fine." The girl said, tiredly, rubbing her tired eyes with the backs of her hands. What was left of the salad - which was not much - was set on the bedside table. She didn't realize it, but every time she shifted she found her way further beneath the sheets, as if on instinct. "I'd like that, Cecil. Feel free to bring Tomomi or Kendra too. I'd love to see all of you...as often as you like. I'll buy...a videogame or something." She promised hazily, blinking heavy lids.

He felt pang in his chest as Nadia asked him to stop. Looking at Kendra as she stared sullenly at the ground, he sighed, and turned his attention back to Nadia as sleep started to come for her again. "You're right." Placing his salad aside, he pushes himself from the ground and tucks Nadia into bed once more, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Don't worry about anything right now. Just rest well. You deserve it." He grabs his salad and the dregs of Nadia's, and moves to the door. "Come on. We should give her some peace for now."

As he re-enters the main area, he sets the greens in his hands down on the counter, and closes the door after the other two if he finds neither has done it themselves, giving one last smile and nod to his bedbound girlfriend. From there, he moves to the couch, setting himself down. "...sorry. For piling everything on you two, and uh..." He looks over to Kendra. "For how I handled things just then."
He smiles - thinly, but he's trying. "...I think, ah..." He swallows. "We should all talk a little. Before any of us leave. Just...clear the air. None of us coped with this the best." He looks gratefully over Tomomi. "Though, ah, I will say...thanks, Tomomi. You handled this the best of all of us. Looks like it did a number on you, but...I'm grateful. I could probably be truly proud of myself today if I managed this like you did."

Nadia smiled warmly as Cecil came over to tuck her back in. Blinking up at him, she made a small amused, pleased sound as he kissed her forehead, and did her best to settle in. Then they moved to leave, and looked over at them. "I guess it's bed time for me...Thank you all for coming. I...Yes, thank you." She couldn't think of anything else to say. This was enough. With a small contented Sigh, Nadia closed her eyes, waited for the door to close her into the darkened room alone, and let sleep take her.

[Nadia Exit]