Refuge From The Deluge (Nadia / Tomomi)

It had gone to shit.

Even Tomomi thought that. When everyone had split from the failed meeting with the JEST group people, Tomomi didn't join the others in returning to regroup at the Playhouse. Instead, he went home to panic, and to think. Collating events in his head, formulating what went wrong, and most importantly, what didn't. Well, no, second most importantly. Most importantly was Nadia. Which brings to the present.

Having heard of Nadia's current location, Tomomi gathered some important items, and went on his way to the Platinum Playhouse. In a nearby alley, not only did Tomomi don his disguise but also, among the rubbish hid two sets of litter picking equipment; masks, pickers, a roll of bags, and a single pair of goggles. This done and alternate outfit donned, Tomomi then made his way into the Playhouse, before searching for Nadia, and approaching her.

Nadia was sprawled out on the couch in the meeting room of the playhouse, staring up at the ceiling. Her bag, neatly packed up and zipped, was propped against the dark-colored divan. Her phone was settled on the floor, a small flip phone with no internet access. right now it wasn't even turned on. Her red-dyed hair colored the pillow upon which she rested her head. She was still, silent as the grave, in fact, as gears turned and wheeled behind her eyes. So lost was she in the emptiness of the moment, that she didn't even notice Tomomi's approach.

She simply stared, dead-eyed, at some point far above the ceiling.

Watching the state Nadia was in for a moment, hoping she'd take notice, the terrorist shook his head to himself for a moment before sitting down on a nearby chair and leaning forwards, elbows resting just above his knees and a small frown upon his lips. Voice soft, the boy spoke up, not wanting to let this sorry state stay. "Hey, Nightingale."

At any sign of her acknowledging he was there, the frown would turn to a bitter smile, Ribbon speaking up. "You know, I don't think the ceiling is that pretty... Um... Mind showing me what the pretty part of the roof is?"

At Tomomi's words, Nadia stirred to life. She pushed herself up on her elbows, and looked around. At some point, it had become night time. And here Tomomi was, watching over her. Had he just arrived. She'd been so lost in thought, she hadn't even realized.

Nadia brushed red hair from her face, and turned to look at Tomomi with a sleepy face, but tired as she looked, she didn't look particularly unhappy.

"I don't know about the ceiling. But I was thinking about Cecil...His eyes, specifically...I like the way he looks at me." She admitted, unabashed. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. She flooped back down, laying on her side with one arm folded under her head. "Have you told him yet, by the way?" She asked faintly, with a small smile, "Life is short. And it will be good for him to have someone who loves him if I die."

As Nadia eventually looked at him, Tomomi listened to what she had to say. Thinking about his eyes, and the love Cecil felt for her... Then, at her question and statement Tomomi shut his eyes for a moment, exhaling beneath his breath, Tomomi thought of what to say for a moment. What could he say? Honesty? Yeah... Yeah, honesty.

Voice quiet, Tomomi shook his head as he spoke up. "I... I have not yet told him... But, um... First of all, stop that... You... You aren't dying... That's... That's actually um... I came today, or, tonight, or, whatever, to, um, about that... I... I have a plan. A plan to help you hide, and protect you, while also allowing you to go out and operate... I... I won't let you die, okay? Cecil needs you... And... And... And..."

The boy paused, hands shaking as tears lightly rolled down from beneath his and onto his cheek, Tomomi rubbing them away as his voice broke. "I need you too! So please! Please! Don't give up!"

Nadia's heart ached as she watched Tomomi mumble about how he was going to help her. Was there really any help for her? As it stood, she was going to be hunted by cadets for probably the rest of her life, unless this conflict came to some kind of resolution soon, which she doubted. She had to admit that things looked bad for her. Still, she wanted to know what his plan was. It was likely better than whatever she had concocted on her lonesome.

Nadia looked sympathetically at Tomomi, and sat up, getting off the couch and coming closer to him. It hit her square in the chest like a ton of bricks when he said Cecil needed her. That he needed her. She stopped for a moment to look at him. Then she closed the distance between them in two steps and took his shaking hands in hers. "Oh, Tomomi, I'm not giving up. I said if not when. I understand that the position we're in is dangerous on a good day, and I've had a couple pretty bad ones." She kissed his forehead, and then let go of his hands to give him a warm hug. "I'll be careful, I promise. Just like I promised Cecil. I wouldn't want to make you sad by disappearing." She pulled away enough to look at him with sad, but somehow hopeful eyes. "So...what is your plan?"

As Nadia embraced him, Tomomi hugged back, keeping his head low almost as if in shame at the amount of emotion he wore on his sleeve. He was supposed to be a terrorist damn it. Yet here he was...

As she asked about the plan, the boy terrorist looked around, as though making sure he wouldn't be overheard, before nodding, blinking beneath his visor to try and dry his eyes. "R-right... Plan... So..."

Confirming nobody was listening, Tomomi whispered out his plan. "First, you can't just stay here... It'd be bad for your mental health, and if anything happens to the Playhouse, or someone else does bring that... That Harlequin here... Then you'd be in even more danger. So, a place to stay... I hope you don't mind, but, I've prepared some things for you to be able to hide out at my place. It's not great I am afraid, but, there's a sofa there, and because of the nature of where I live, I know how to hide you inside the building in case of a cadet raid. Which is to say, I've hollow out the inside of my sofa, removing the springs and dangerous items so that in case of a raid, you can hide inside of the sofa with relative safety. It makes the sofa less comfortable, but, I think that's a small cost or whatever the expression is?"

Pausing and looking around before continuing, Tomomi coughed slightly. "Next up is being able to afford stuff like food, without looking suspicious. After all, if there is observation, then people will be noticing things like duplication of food purchase and waste. And there's cost. I was thinking of either trying to take up extra shifts or a second job. It'd be tricky, but, you could use some of my work gear to anonymise yourself. Hygiene masks, goggles, and hats. I can give you a quick run down of the training, and either we could clear shifts faster, or we could do different shifts. It'd take a bit of fudging numbers, but, they'd be minor enough shifts that it'd need to be extensively looked at if they wanted to find a discrepancor... Discripe... Desc... Problem. As for the food, either lots of smaller purchases, or, bulk buying. We can't use any of your money sadly, since, that'd reveal a sudden surge in available income... Which, I'm on minimum, so, that wouldn't exactly look realistic..."

"But, like I was saying, the uniform is also how I'd get you back to my place safely from here. I've brought two sets of my work attire, hidden nearby. We can get dressed into that work gear, and the two of us can head back with some already filled litter bags, looking as though we've just finished working."

With a heavy exhale, Tomomi looked at Nadia with a tilted head, awaiting her response to his plan so far.