No Title Set

     It's raining, nothing too bad or too out of the ordinary really. Mistral has her phone out and she's got it close to her face under the brim of her hat as she tries to keep it dry. It's talking to her, clearly giving instructions to some address. What, it isn't immediately clear. Or you know, wouldn't be immediately clear if the now soaked through girl weren't at an apartment complex. Shaking her coat a few times, trying to get it less... dripping. She sighs, shakes it a few more times, spinning a few times in frustration and hopefully without any kind of witness.

     She waits a few minutes before actually knocking on the door. She may have lingered even longer after making sure it was the right door more than once, unable to tell at all why she's nervous. She even almost leaves once, unable to reconcile that nervousness with her feelings of the matter at hand!

     Still, she knocks and waits patiently at the door. Fiddling with her phone to seem 'cool'. It's not working well.

    School is officially out after some serious end of year finals, she doesn't have enough money left to spend on things that aren't necessities, and to top it off it's raining outside. All very good reasons for Cecelia to stay at home. All the studying she'd been doing in preparation for her finals meant that it was nice to have a few days to have nothing important to do other than relax.

    She's watching some old movie that is just enjoyable enough to keep watching on some cable channel or another when to her surprise there's a knock on the door of her apartment. It's a small thing, little more than a combined kitchen and living room, a bathroom and bedroom. It's kept rather sparse, no pictures or other decorations on the walls in the main room. A small desk is against one wall by the window with a laptop and some school supplies. There's a small two-cushion couch turned towards a relatively small TV. The bedroom door is open, and though it's kept neat there's little more in there than a futon on the floor and a small closet with some clothes in it. The only real effort to decorate are a fair number of potted plants placed about here and there, keeping the interior from seeming too bleak or depressing.

    Cecelia herself is wearing a cream colored long sleeve shirt and a black skirt with matching stockings and despite not intending on going anywhere her hair is kept neat and brushed out, her usual butterfly hair ornament in place. As soon as she hears the knock she gets up and walks over. She's expecting to see her landlady, unsure who else it could possibly be and still not sure why she'd be here- did she somehow know she'd have trouble paying her rent in a couple months if something didn't change?

    When she opens the door she blinks once, "Mistral. I wasn't expecting you." The surprise shows in her voice, and it's immediately followed by calmer tone, "You must not have been paying attention to the weather, or haven't bothered buying an umbrella." It's a gentle chiding of a sort that likely means she isn't in terrible spirits, not too upset to keep the words from being venomous, or disheartened to display her often laconic sense of humor.

    She waits there at the doorway, seeming to consider what to do for a few moments, but then steps aside and holds the door open further. "Here, come inside. I'll get you a towel so you can dry off." She'll make to shut the door behind the other girl and then head towards the bathroom, looking back over her shoulder, "Didn't anyone ever teach you letting yourself get soaked like that can get you sick?" She smiles a little to herself, "It looks like you have something left to learn, if you want to be a healer."

Mistral Durand lifts an eyebrow at the weather comment and says simply, "It didn't seem like it would rain for a while. It's harder to smell it coming here though." She resists the urge to shake her arms, clearing the mess from her acket and instead carefully removes it and asks, "Where should I hang this?" Gesturing to the pale blue English style jacket. Under, she's wearing a black and blue striped t-shirt and a pair dark capris. She's also wearing rather comfortable, but not in the slightest fashionable boots. Because they're comfortable you see. She tries not to look too embarassed at being called out though. "It's not so bad, really. I've slept in this kind of weather. No choice some times right?" She says this without any conviction, even if it's true.

     She tries to smile finally, a faint thing really, "I wanted to see how you did on your tests and maybe spend the day with you." She nods for emphasis, "Make sure you're doing okay too. It's been uh, c-... crazy? The last couple of weeks and I've missed- missed catching you."

     She does take a moment to look around the room, clearly curious at how her friend lives, especially now. She starts to ask, "Do you nee-" pauses, realizing it might go unanswered if she just outright asks and instead hurries along to, "Still need to make dinner?"

    Cecelia's eyes turn down to the phone Mistral is fiddling with in order to look cool, and then back up to her. "It isn't, no, but you can easily check the chance of rain on that," she motions to the phone. At the mention of having somewhere to hang her jacket Cecelia will pull a small jacket off a hook by the entryway, a standard small landing where shoes can be put on and taken off, and kept. "Put it there so it can dry out." She'll take a detour to her bedroom to hang her own jacket up in the her closet in the meantime. She's quiet on the matter of having slept in the rain; there's all manner of things she'd do out of necessity that she'd completely avoid otherwise and most of them don't bear repeating.

    It's not at all hard to converse even when she's briefly in other rooms, one benefit to such a small living space. "Well enough. Above average in most areas, except where those are concerned." She makes a quick motion to the laptop sitting on her desk. She hands over the towel, a simple white one, "For your hair. And your pants, if they're wet too."

    She'll then look into the older girl's eyes for a brief moment as she mentions spending the day with her and having missed her. "Okay." No teasing or snide remarks this time, just simple acceptance. "I'm surprised to see you here, though. Good job finding me."

    When food is mentioned her eyes turn over towards her kitchen and she fidgets a little, "I... have not made dinner yet, no." Then a soft sigh. It's going to come up, if Mistral is here and wanting to eat. "I'm afraid you'll be disappointed if you were hoping for something nice. I was only planning on having rice."

    Only planning on, as in there's hardly anything other than rice to be found in the kitchen. There's some kind of hot cereal and some dried fruit to go in it as well, but judging by the bowl in the sink that's what she ate for breakfast.

Mistral's arms lift briefly, wondering just how soaked through she is, then she sighs and drops her arms again. "I was going to offer a hug. They're nice" Then she pauses and adds quickly, "If you wanted one I mean." She stands there awkwardly, briefly. Jacket now hung up on the offered hook.

     Taking the towel, she carefully dries her hair. And by carefully, it's a mess. But she at least kinda smooths it out with her fingers, tugging a few knots, then smiling faintly. "Thank you!"

     At the mention of the limited food, she leans to the side to look at the TV, asking softly, "Do you want to order something? I could take you back to our-... I guess my place for now." She scowls very briefly, then shakes it off, trying to return to that faint smile.

     She stops though, realizing she was probably being a bit rude. "Let me take you shopping at least when it lightens up? I want to help."

    There are some ways the two are very similar, and others where they're not. Cecelia seems to find something amusing about the way Mistral dries her hair off and then makes mild attempts to straighten it out afterwards. Once she's done she'll take the towel back and hang it up on a towel rack to dry out; no need to wash it when it was just used to wick away some water.

    The TV is still playing that same old movie, some film or another about eccentric people in small town Japan. "I grew up mostly eating only what my family was able to grow. I'm accustomed to small, plain meals." She hadn't had to live that way for a while, though it hasn't been so long that she's unable to cope with it.

    Then an offer to take her shopping, and she looks down. She's quiet for a moment, and then she steps closer to Mistral. She hadn't responded to it immediately but now it seems she's accepting the offer of a hug, whether or not the other girl still has some rain on her. Her arms go around Mistral's shoulders and she leans against her, resting there for a few moments without squeezing especially tight.

    "I'm in trouble. I could easily get myself out of it and I will if I have to... but only if I do things I don't want to do." She pulls away, just enough so she can look at Mistral, "...are you? You might be, if 'it' is 'your' place..."

     Mistral blinks, realizing that she was being watched as she dries her hair. She hesitates for a moment, unsure if she should be embarrassed or if she should maybe try to keep it up a little longer. The towel is taken away, interrupting that brief reverie and instead she returns to that easy smile.

     "I uh-" Mistral starts, "I think we ate whatever we could hunt or steal after uh- anyway." She shakes her head, hands going up quickly. "Nevermind nevermind nevermind. Don't worry about that sort of thing."

     Mistral's breath catches briefly when Cecelia steps closer. She looks down awkwardly, then returns the hug almost immediately. She looks happy, confused, then worried in the span of a few moments. She doesn't let go of the hug of course, however she does consider her next words carefully. "If I can help out, I promise I will. I've told you before right?"

     With some consideration, she murmurs softly, "I don't know when everyone is coming back. Maybe I can find a place for u- you." She smiles, "I can help here. We'll go shopping and we'll find out how to best get this taken care of too."

    After another moment Cecelia nods, "I don't know how to hunt, but I could steal. I could steal enough to easily live a very comfortable life here. And nobody would be able to stop me even if they wanted." She's calm as she speaks, but then she shakes her head. "But I don't want to if I can help it. You're right... you told me you could help. I should be happy; this is what I wanted."

    She pulls away a little more but not entirely, no longer hugging Mistral but leaving her arms resting on her shoulders. "I... don't want them to come back. If they came back they'd make me fight you again." It's clear they're not talking about the exact same people but the meaning is clear; those that returned to Waldia, good and evil alike.

    The blonde is clearly conflicted and it shows in her eyes. She looks away again briefly when Mistral smiles to her, and then looks back. "It might be hard for you to believe, since you know where I came from. But I was taught not to expect that kind of help, that it'd come with a cost. I know that was wrong, and I know why I was raised that way... but it's still hard for me."

    Cecelia shakes her head and sighs, having a hard time meeting Mistral's smiling, friendly face. "I feel like I'm supposed to be afraid of you. That you'll be angry with me and judge me. But... I'm not. I've never felt that way about you and I don't know why. I... I trust you." She makes a face, something between aggravation and annoyance, but it's not at Mistral. "I was expecting this, you know. To be offered help, especially when I needed it. I was even ready to laugh at the people who offered it and tell them it wouldn't be so easy, that I'd fight them to the end and find my own way. But... everything is different now. Again. And so suddenly."

    She finally looks back to Mistral, "I don't care about that anymore; looking strong and making it on my own. You've already seen what I can do. Magic makes stealing easy, and I've already taken things more valuable than money from people. This should be hard for me to admit, and I think it would be to anyone else. But... I want your help. Any help you can give to me, I'd appreciate it. I was serious when I told you all I wanted was a second chance, and because 'they' aren't here anymore I'm going to get it. If you can help me do it without hurting people, then please."

     She looks over her shoulder to the door and says simply, "I... was going to offer to teach you. I'm a farm girl, it's nothing too out there right? But uh, I think the locals would be upset if I did." She pauses before adding, "I have to get used to not just taking things you know?" It's a weak attempt at a joke. Or at least she thinks it's funny. Kind of. Maybe. She actually perks up when Cecelia mentions she should be happy, which she sees as an improvement from before, adding, "I want you happy. I like seeing you smile and... uh." she trails off.

     The timing on pulling away probably didn't help her feel like she might have overstepped somehow. "Then don't fight, let me fight for you! I'll be your knight too!" She pauses and adds lamely, "I uh, kinda prefer knight to bandit as a title. It's a lot less likely to get me chased and-... you know, you protect people you care about."

     "Why would I ever judge you? I have done so much worse." She seems genuinely confused at first, but ignores that feeling, thinking she must have missed something. Besides, there's a spreading warmth in her cheeks as she's told she's trusted. That must be a particularly rare sentiment, what with only two people knowing who she is, what she's done and forgiving her either way. She hesitates, then slowly leans forward to pull Cecelia into a properr, full embrace of a hug. One she only vaguely associates with happy memories almost forgotten.

     "You don't have to go alone anymore. I'll always be there to protect you." It's the most confident she's sounded since she's arrived. Said with rare intensity and clarity of voice. "We'll both take our second chances together, alright?"

    There's a slightly amused smile as Mistral says she likes seeing her smile and then trails off afterwards, followed by an embarrassed shake of her head as she's told the older girl will be her knight. "My knight in shining armor? I like that better than a bandit too; I don't want to be a bandit either, Mistral." Cecelia gives a small shake of her head.

    Then a little shrug, "You wouldn't. I think that's why this isn't hard for me like I expected. You're like me... you understand what it means to do what you have to get by, to survive. Maybe you have done worse than me, but I would have done far worse than you if things had kept going the way they were." She had, after all, already tried to directly kill Runealy once in combat, something that would have meant the eventual destruction of Waldia and possibly Earth after, once the Barrier fell from a lack of upkeep.

    She's hugged close, freezing in place at first, but then leaning in once more and this time hugging tightly back. "Do you promise?" she whispers, clinging just a bit more. "I'm scared of being alone, but I'm also afraid to trust anyone. Anyone that isn't you..."