Things had gotten very strange for Cecelia over the last few months. Runeally had stopped coming to school and even when keeping an eye out for the Waldian Princess, both in magical and civilian guise, she had completely failed to so much as see her. Truth be told that was just as well for her; it meant a distracting and sometimes angering presence was no longer in her life. Disturbingly, at least at first, she had also failed to get back into contact with the demon that she was contracted to. She'd intended to find him and report on the progress of her energy collection and turn over to him what energy she'd collected since they'd last met, but she found every attempt at finding him equally as inaccessible.
A bit of quick scouting to the Portal showed something strange- it had shrunk dramatically, seeming still there but to a size that would only allow small items to be passed through. A few more scouting trips over the next couple of weeks showed nothing had changed.
Cecelia was not a stupid person, and given even magical attempts at contacting her demon 'allies' on Earth failed utterly it didn't take long for her to recognize what likely had happened. The Portal becoming unstable had necessitated their retreat; they were a patient kind, but not so patient to stay in a land with few to no goals capable of being accomplished. Especially not when it was all but clear that Runealy, their primary target, was no longer on Earth either.
She wasn't sure what to make of it, but for a brief period she allowed herself to relax. That came to a quick end, however, as she realized two things. The first was that while she had a few months worth of funding the wealth that allowed her to have a place to live, food to eat, and everything else necessary for life in this place would soon run out. The second was that she was being followed. At first she didn't recognize who it was, but after slipping away a few times she'd managed to recognize her pursuer- Mistral Durand.
This game of quiet cat and mouse continued for some time. As soon as Cecelia realized she was being followed she'd speed up, start changing her course throughout the city streets erratically, and eventually disappear. She didn't just feel pursued either- she felt hunted. Her allies were gone, and while Mistral's greatest ally in this city was as well there seemed to be many more predisposed like her who would take offense to her villainous ways of stealing energy from Tokyo's citizens. Despite these chases she'd done her best to maintain a normal life. Going to school, continuing to gain more formal training in singing, making a simple, quiet life for herself in this very different world.
It was February now, and once again she could feel that she was being pursued. This time Mistral had somehow gotten the drop on her, she recognized. She was close- much closer than she tried to let the other girl get. As usual she took a sudden turn and sped up, cutting down Clover Path and weaving between other pedestrians. Her height and long blonde hair would make it nearly impossible for her to avoid being seen at a distance, so she took another quick turn into an allyway.
Something was different this time, though. Mistral was too close to evade without using magic, and Cecelia... she had had enough of this game. So rather than continuing to run she stops a few feet inside the ally, far enough in that her pursuer would likely round the corner before realizing she'd stopped and close enough that it'd put them in immediately uncomfortable proximity.
She rests a single hand on her hip, blue eyes slightly narrowed. "Well? What is it?" she demands in a haughty, annoyed tone not much like one Mistral would have heard out of her before. She's putting on airs, obviously, but she's not trying to hide it either. "You've been chasing me around incessantly for weeks now. I assume you must want something from me, or have decided you're not going to put up with a villain in your midst any longer." She huffs a little, remembering the date and one of the local customs, and reaches back with her free hand to push her long hair back over her shoulder. "You're not trying to give me chocolates, are you?" She lets herself put on something of a small smirk, making the joke as much to calm herself as to try to put her pursuer off balance.
Sure Mistral had stayed behind to try and help the last two remnants stuck here without any outside help. Sure one was a violent flail weilding decay caster and the other did try to freeze her at one point, but who's she to talk?
She had been trying to chase Cecelia down for months now, every time she spotted the other girl, she picked up the pace, always worried about her, especially since it had seemed like they had gotten along so well and so easily! Of course, she didn't stop to think that it might be seen as an aggressive action, especially when she didn't give up. To be fair, she never sprinted after the girl or anything! It was usually just knowing how to cut people off. Not that it helps when they know how to avoid it.
She persists! She's not entirely sure why! Maybe she should have tried more mundane options, but who stops to think, "Maybe I can email her" When one's head is full of science, medicine, cute girls, studying, cute blondes and more studying!
Finally she seemed to have some luck, the crowd had made things easier. The day made it less awkward feeling, somehow. A thing that in hindsight she'd realize wasn't accurate.
There's that haughty attitude and familiar face. She looks genuinely confused at the attitude actually. "I've been trying to check up on you. I stayed behind because I was worried about you." She then tilts her head and asks, "What did you think I was doing?"
A look of surprise once again crosses her features, interrupting her trying to piece it all together. She fishes through her bag, grins and offers a rather nicely wrapped chocolate and says, "If you're hungry, I'd be happy to take you for much nicer food. I've been trying to cook too-" She pauses, "I wouldn't eat too much of this chocolate stuff, it's rich." She pauses, considering. One might think she realized what she was doing here. Instead she continues after that brief thought, "Are you doing okay?"
Cecelia holds her stance firm at first. Trying to check up on her? True, Mistral had seemed fairly thoughtful despite their antagonistic relationship when it came to matters of magic, but their circumstances had stayed. When she says she stayed behind because of her the blonde knows exactly what she means, blinking somewhat in surprise, her chilly expression faltering for a moment.
But then an question comes, and though her eyes are now no longer narrowed she replies with a cool, even tone. "I wasn't sure, but I wouldn't expect to be chased again and again for something as innocuous as a well-being check. I'm sure your Princess told you our school was neutral ground? I might have expected you to try to meet me there, if it really is as you say."
But then... then Mistral calls the bluff of her joke and actually produces some chocolate for her. "That's--" Cecelia's mouth closes and her hand drops from her hip. "I-"
The girl is still for a moment, her composure shattered by the complete destruction of any expectations she might has had. Without knowing what to say she reaches out and takes the wrapped chocolate with both hands, turning it over in them for a moment before getting a second shock. Her eyes flutter in surprise and then slightly widen, turning them back up to Mistral with a baffled expression on her face. "You... want to take me out to eat. Or cook for me?" It's stated as a semi-rhetorical question.
It's true she had felt like she'd gotten along fairly well with Mistral when they weren't battling one another; there were certain similarities between them that were hard to deny, and somehow she'd felt that Mistral understood her better than most would. Far better than Runealy had, certainly. But this...
Cecelia calmly watches Mistral for a moment, and it's clear she's sizing her up, judging her intentions. "...I am well enough, but I suppose I could do with a well cooked meal." She had been trying to save money recently, after all. She holds onto the wrapped chocolate in one hand, keeping it tucked against her side, held safe. "Cooking it yourself is out of the question though, Mistral. Though I'm sure you've learned all about herbs used for seasonings in this world by now, as well as the medicinal ones."
She lets out something of a sigh, finally lowering her guard for real.
Mistral Durand seems relaxed enough, though experience would probably hint that Mistral doesn't really play fair. Maybe she should work on that casual relaxed state. Actually relaxed state. She blinks and looks down, wondering if she can come across as actually at ease with someone. The fact that she's clearly distracted and not worried about the other girl escaping her at that moment. Clearly she's comfortable near her!
"What do you mean chased again and again?" She starts to explain that she much prefers a bushwhack anyway, but stops herself quickly. That's not helping. That's not helping at all. It's at that moment it clicks and she looks genuinely hurt for a moment, but buries it quickly enough. "I was worried." Is all she can offer, simply put.
Of course, that moment of disappointment is replaced when Cecelia is clearly thrown off guard. Which is confusing to Mistral, "Was it the worng kind of chocolate?" She questions out loud. "I thought you were hungry I uh, wanted to make sure you were okay and you were-... I do want to take you out to eat or cook for you, yes. It would be nice to have company from home!" She smiles brightly for a moment, it extends to those tired eyes. Her voice hinting just a touch at lonliness.
"I'm still not the best cook, but I'm trying. It takes a lot to get away from campfire cooking I guess." She sighs and gestures down the road, "We can find somewhere to eat if you really don't want me trying to cook though. I understand." She really doesn't. In many ways.
Cecelia is so thrown off by Mistral at the moment that she's starting to feel a bit of whiplash. She gives her an unimpressed look when the girl mentions preferring to spring in ambush, holding an even expression when reiterating her worry. It's everything that comes after that has Cecelia remaining off balance.
The wrong kind of chocolate? She looks at the box again- that kind of wrapping... it's clearly not done from obligation, but it's also clearly not homemade. What... what is Mistral trying to imply? The quick questions that come after only deepen her confusion, but then her straight forward, direct and blunt answers catch her slightly off guard.
...she's been in Tokyo too long. That kind of blunt reply should be normal to her, but all the people she's been around aren't near so direct. It catches her off guard. Without even really knowing why her cheeks warm a little. It just flusters her further, because she's so used to keeping careful control of her emotions. It's just... difficult. She hasn't exactly had much practice being embarrassed.
But then that hint of loneliness, the tiredness in those eyes.
"Ah."
A single softly spoken syllable, one that holds understanding. Loneliness, that is something Cecelia can understand something she can use to regain some semblance of normalcy. She walks forward, moving past Mistral out of the alley and onto the sidewalk, stopping once past her to look back over her shoulder, "Very well, I understand. Let's go find somewhere nice to eat; I'll keep you company."
The former bandit didn't mean to imply that she'd want to ambush... the cute girl. She quickly tries to hurry away, far away from that slip up. She didn't do it around the other knights. She was usually more guarded! Then she spots that blush and tries to sort out if she'd said something embarrassing, or worse, did something too far out there.
Mistral looks down, taking a moment to pull the pale hair from her eyes, tucked behind an ear. "I'm glad you stopped today finally."
As they turn, leaving the alley. "I want to keep you company too you know. I really did stay behind to make sure you were okay." She's definitely very honest, but then, she always was with Cecelia for some reason. There's familiarity in their past, so similar in some ways.
Mistral had always told her she deserved a second chance. Always tried to talk to her and only fought when it was for others right? She'd even seemed upset that she'd hurt Cecelia!
She lapses into thought, absentmindedly leaning against Cecelia should she allow it. She seems happier already even if it's clear she doesn't know why.
"Each other company." She tries to correct, tone far softer than she's used in years.
"You caught me off guard today," Cecelia replies, "I didn't notice you until you were close enough I couldn't get away. Not like this, anyway." She looks again to Mistral pointedly. She clearly means without using magic, but there are other meanings there. That despite the fact she'd been avoiding being chased, she didn't think it important enough to use magic to keep away-- but also that she easily could have, had she considered it necessary.
Then Mistral speaks again and she stops walking, turning to face her once more. "Did you really? You stayed here for me. I'm sure the Princess knows more about the Portal than me, but I don't think you'll have the chance to go through it any time soon. You realize it won't matter how much you learn about the healers of this world if you can't go back home to help the people you care about, don't you? That was very reckless of you." Cecelia looks away and is quiet for a moment before adding, "...but I appreciate it."
Just when she thinks she's getting her composure back Mistral leans on her. It catches her by surprise, and were it not for her earlier embarrassment maybe she could have simply given her an annoyed look and dealt with it. But being given chocolate, asked to go out to eat, and now being treated in such a familiar manner? That little bit of composure is shattered like someone jumping onto thin ice.
Rather than being calm and cool she tenses, eyes widening a little, and then gives Mistral a shocked look while her face slowly turns redder and redder. 'Each other's company.' That's not going to help. If she didn't know better she'd think the other Waldian was teasing her on purpose, but her tone is far too gentle for that. "Yes, right." Her own voice is a little tight when she speaks to accept the correction, quite odd for a girl used to controlling it to sing.
She starts to turn away from Mistral again, acting quite unlike herself. Except as she goes to walk away she hooks her arm into the other girls, and starts to physically pull her along down the street.
"Of course I did" Mistral replies on being questioned about staying. "I kept telling you I thought I could help you, didn't I? That I wanted to help?" When she's reprimanded, she looks a little guilty and adds quietly, "It was going to be a long time before I learned enough either way. I have faith that we can eventually go home. That I can take that knowledge and share... as much as I can without causing other problems too." Some kind of chat had clearly happened involving her goals, a reality check more than likely. Of course, that didn't bother her. Her cheeks do tinge pink when she admits, "I was worried about you." The hint of a hint that she might have had some subconscious wishes too!
Mistral, for better or worse is clearly clueless as to what all of the implications are at the moment, but it's also not hard to guess they might be sincere.
Arm in arm, it finally clicks for the country girl and she hesitates. Not working to pull herself away, but to compose herself. She watches Cecelia, thinks back over the pat few minutes and her own actions and... eventually smiles. A genuinely happy sight for the normally dour young woman. She hurries up her step, but tries to turn it from arm in arm, to instead holding Cecelia's hand while resuming that prior lean.
A small nod of agreement comes from Cecelia, "You did. I knew you thought you could help me, and that you wanted to. You made that very clear. I... simply did not believe you were in a position to do so." She feels just a little bad when Mistral seems slightly guilty and the reasoning she gives is sound. It's true- she's learned enough about the education processes of this new world since she'd started school to realize just how long an undertaking it is to become knowledgeable in their ways of healing. It's a serious, years long commitment, and Mistral had seemed fairly dedicated to it every time they'd talked.
She'd blush when Mistral again admits she was worried about her, but her face is already rather bright from the blushing. Blue eyes peek over, noticing the slight coloration on the guardian knight's face as well. She takes in breath and lets it out slowly. Why. Why is she having such a hard time keeping calm? It seems so silly.
As Mistral has her small revelation Cecelia is merely walking down the sidewalk, holding onto her arm and guiding her forward, towards some unknown restaurant they've yet to decide upon. Walking feels better than just standing still and getting leaned on. And then her hand is taken and she blinks again, once more looking over towards Mistral just in time to be leaned against once more. She watches the girl smile and then closes her eyes, sighing softly. Her hand is still for a moment, but then her nimble fingers wrap lightly around Mistral's hand as well.
A witty comment forms in her mind, and for seemingly the first time since they'd met the dark magical girl keeps quiet. Silence suits this moment better.