Cecil + Nagi, "Siege"
Jan. 2nd, 2019 02:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kinosternonFandom: Uta no Prince-Sama
Characters: Cecil Aijima, Nagi Mikado, Shion Amakusa (sort of)
Category: Gen
Words: 1,084
Summary: Cecil tries to work together with Nagi when Shion starts hiding from everyone again.
(Chapter on: Ao3 | FFN )
“When do you think he’ll come out, Nagi-kun?”
Nagi, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, glared at him. “How the hell would I know?”
Cecil tried on his best awkward smile. “Well, you are out here. Do you have any insights to offer?”
“No,” Nagi sighed. “It’s just my turn. That’s all.”
Cecil cocked his head. “You’ve been taking turns to watch over Shion-kun?”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “Really, it’s such…”
And then, as Cecil watched, he stopped, eyes widening. His gaze darted towards the closet, looking…was that guilt? It was gone in a flash and he continued remarkably quickly. “It’s very important that we get him back as soon as possible. So even if he’d be willing to talk at us through the door, that would be a start.”
Ah. So Nagi had remembered he would be overheard. Cecil looked over at the closed closet door again, speculative.
It was hard to get a straight answer out of Natsuki, sometimes. Everything was “cute” to him, and he seldom, if ever, criticized anyone. During his time with Shion, though, Cecil had been able to pick up on a little regardless.
At the very least, he knew that Nagi and Shion were fairly close. But it seemed that Nagi had only barely stopped himself from an insulting slip once already; perhaps that was just how he functioned, even if he liked Shion a great deal. That meant that Cecil would need to be very careful not to push him into saying something he’d regret.
He frowned. From the start, he’d always felt fairly comfortable around his fellow band members, and lately it seemed like his interactions with HEAVENS were making him appreciate it anew. He didn’t know how to help Shion, even after their duet had left them with slightly better knowledge of each other. He’d ended up with a certain affection and concern for him, though—as much as his own history had left him with a particular affinity for closets as hiding spaces, the rest of his idol friends did not resort to them quite so often. He had a lot of sympathy for Shion’s plight, so when he’d heard through Tokiya that the idol was having issues, he’d found a way to come investigate.
“And also, well,” Nagi muttered, shuffling his feet again, “he certainly likes hugging me enough. So I thought maybe we could talk.” His eyes narrowed at Cecil. “I don’t know why you’re here.”
Cecil smiled, sheepish. “I suppose I took an interest in Shion-kun after our duet. We have a few things in common, and I’d really like to get to know him better.” His smile dropped. “I’m sorry that things seem to be rough at the moment. Do you think there’s anything I can do to help?”
Cecil couldn’t tell whether Nagi’s squint meant he was fed up with him, or if he was actually thinking about it. “How would I know?” he said eventually. “I’ve never seen you together, but…your solo turned out all right, and Shion’s pretty shy. Point in your favor, I guess.”
Cecil grinned. “Thank you!”
“It wasn’t that much of a compliment,” Nagi said. “More to the point, if you really want to help, shouldn’t you be taking more initiative? Don’t just come around saying you want to help and then make everyone else do the thinking for you.” He gestured at the closet. “What are you planning to do about this?”
Cecil hesitated. “I…”
Nagi, it seemed, was overbearing and supercilious, and had very little of the respect for his elders that was supposed to be a cultural value in Japan. Cecil could work with all those things, but it was surprising. More surprising was the fact that Nagi had a point, somewhere under all the vitriol.
“I must admit, I was mostly hoping that patience might help,” he tried. “It took me a little while to get to know Shion-kun at first, too, so I thought…I’d just stay nearby and give him the option. Of talking, or coming out, or whatever he wants to do. Just as long as he knows that I care about him.”
There was a sound from within the closet, and Nagi and Cecil both froze, looking at the door. It stayed shut, but there was a sound of shuffling and what might’ve been a sniffle.
Nagi and Cecil looked at each other.
“Well,” Nagi admitted, voice low, “I hate to admit it, but I don’t have much ground to criticize you there. That’s about as much as we’ve come up with, either.” He sat down delicately, crossing his legs and sitting near the closet door. “I don’t suppose you have any ideas about how to entertain yourself in the meantime?”
“I brought some things,” Cecil said gamely, “just to work on while I waited. But it seems impolite to ignore you, Nagi-kun.”
“Hmph. Maybe I’ll get some stuff to work on, too, if this keeps up.” Nagi sighed, and from the pocket of his sweatshirt he pulled out a small rectangle. Cecil stared as he flipped it open.
“In the meantime,” he said, giving Cecil a mean look that didn’t quite match up with his cordial tone, “Shion’s been showing me this game. Do you even know anything about video games?”
“Very little,” Cecil said cheerfully.
“I didn’t think so,” Nagi said scornfully. “Well, you did say you wanted to get to know him better, right? Shion loves stuff like this. Once you get to know him well enough, he never shuts up about it.”
He patted the section of wall beside him, glaring down at his small screen.
Cecil beamed and scooted over to sit beside Nagi, looking over his shoulder. His earlier assessment seemed a bit off, now. Maybe a big part of what was going on here was Nagi dealing with being shy in his own way, just like Shion did.
His suspicions were confirmed when Nagi turned his head, ever so slightly, and spoke in a whisper. “This was my other idea,” he said, carefully clinical. “He might want to see how I’m doing if I play for a little while.”
Cecil nodded, and leaned down to get a better view. From the awkward frown on Nagi’s face as he turned back to the console, he’d seen Cecil’s proud smile.
Nagi wasn’t bad at all, Cecil decided happily. He would be happy to stay with him for as long as it took for Shion to feel comfortable coming out again.
Characters: Cecil Aijima, Nagi Mikado, Shion Amakusa (sort of)
Category: Gen
Words: 1,084
Summary: Cecil tries to work together with Nagi when Shion starts hiding from everyone again.
(Chapter on: Ao3 | FFN )
“When do you think he’ll come out, Nagi-kun?”
Nagi, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, glared at him. “How the hell would I know?”
Cecil tried on his best awkward smile. “Well, you are out here. Do you have any insights to offer?”
“No,” Nagi sighed. “It’s just my turn. That’s all.”
Cecil cocked his head. “You’ve been taking turns to watch over Shion-kun?”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “Really, it’s such…”
And then, as Cecil watched, he stopped, eyes widening. His gaze darted towards the closet, looking…was that guilt? It was gone in a flash and he continued remarkably quickly. “It’s very important that we get him back as soon as possible. So even if he’d be willing to talk at us through the door, that would be a start.”
Ah. So Nagi had remembered he would be overheard. Cecil looked over at the closed closet door again, speculative.
It was hard to get a straight answer out of Natsuki, sometimes. Everything was “cute” to him, and he seldom, if ever, criticized anyone. During his time with Shion, though, Cecil had been able to pick up on a little regardless.
At the very least, he knew that Nagi and Shion were fairly close. But it seemed that Nagi had only barely stopped himself from an insulting slip once already; perhaps that was just how he functioned, even if he liked Shion a great deal. That meant that Cecil would need to be very careful not to push him into saying something he’d regret.
He frowned. From the start, he’d always felt fairly comfortable around his fellow band members, and lately it seemed like his interactions with HEAVENS were making him appreciate it anew. He didn’t know how to help Shion, even after their duet had left them with slightly better knowledge of each other. He’d ended up with a certain affection and concern for him, though—as much as his own history had left him with a particular affinity for closets as hiding spaces, the rest of his idol friends did not resort to them quite so often. He had a lot of sympathy for Shion’s plight, so when he’d heard through Tokiya that the idol was having issues, he’d found a way to come investigate.
“And also, well,” Nagi muttered, shuffling his feet again, “he certainly likes hugging me enough. So I thought maybe we could talk.” His eyes narrowed at Cecil. “I don’t know why you’re here.”
Cecil smiled, sheepish. “I suppose I took an interest in Shion-kun after our duet. We have a few things in common, and I’d really like to get to know him better.” His smile dropped. “I’m sorry that things seem to be rough at the moment. Do you think there’s anything I can do to help?”
Cecil couldn’t tell whether Nagi’s squint meant he was fed up with him, or if he was actually thinking about it. “How would I know?” he said eventually. “I’ve never seen you together, but…your solo turned out all right, and Shion’s pretty shy. Point in your favor, I guess.”
Cecil grinned. “Thank you!”
“It wasn’t that much of a compliment,” Nagi said. “More to the point, if you really want to help, shouldn’t you be taking more initiative? Don’t just come around saying you want to help and then make everyone else do the thinking for you.” He gestured at the closet. “What are you planning to do about this?”
Cecil hesitated. “I…”
Nagi, it seemed, was overbearing and supercilious, and had very little of the respect for his elders that was supposed to be a cultural value in Japan. Cecil could work with all those things, but it was surprising. More surprising was the fact that Nagi had a point, somewhere under all the vitriol.
“I must admit, I was mostly hoping that patience might help,” he tried. “It took me a little while to get to know Shion-kun at first, too, so I thought…I’d just stay nearby and give him the option. Of talking, or coming out, or whatever he wants to do. Just as long as he knows that I care about him.”
There was a sound from within the closet, and Nagi and Cecil both froze, looking at the door. It stayed shut, but there was a sound of shuffling and what might’ve been a sniffle.
Nagi and Cecil looked at each other.
“Well,” Nagi admitted, voice low, “I hate to admit it, but I don’t have much ground to criticize you there. That’s about as much as we’ve come up with, either.” He sat down delicately, crossing his legs and sitting near the closet door. “I don’t suppose you have any ideas about how to entertain yourself in the meantime?”
“I brought some things,” Cecil said gamely, “just to work on while I waited. But it seems impolite to ignore you, Nagi-kun.”
“Hmph. Maybe I’ll get some stuff to work on, too, if this keeps up.” Nagi sighed, and from the pocket of his sweatshirt he pulled out a small rectangle. Cecil stared as he flipped it open.
“In the meantime,” he said, giving Cecil a mean look that didn’t quite match up with his cordial tone, “Shion’s been showing me this game. Do you even know anything about video games?”
“Very little,” Cecil said cheerfully.
“I didn’t think so,” Nagi said scornfully. “Well, you did say you wanted to get to know him better, right? Shion loves stuff like this. Once you get to know him well enough, he never shuts up about it.”
He patted the section of wall beside him, glaring down at his small screen.
Cecil beamed and scooted over to sit beside Nagi, looking over his shoulder. His earlier assessment seemed a bit off, now. Maybe a big part of what was going on here was Nagi dealing with being shy in his own way, just like Shion did.
His suspicions were confirmed when Nagi turned his head, ever so slightly, and spoke in a whisper. “This was my other idea,” he said, carefully clinical. “He might want to see how I’m doing if I play for a little while.”
Cecil nodded, and leaned down to get a better view. From the awkward frown on Nagi’s face as he turned back to the console, he’d seen Cecil’s proud smile.
Nagi wasn’t bad at all, Cecil decided happily. He would be happy to stay with him for as long as it took for Shion to feel comfortable coming out again.
