Cecilia Warbeck

"You're cozier than the majority of us, that's for damn sure," Ivy pointed out with an amused huff. "I can imagine it's a hassle to carry so much with you – or on you – at all times right now."

"I don't really view it as that. More of a necessity actually." Cecilia answered with a little smile on her face. "But I am cozy with it which is the best feeling quite honestly. I would be so happy sat in a log cabin, on a sofa, blanket draped over my lap with the fire licking at wood whilst I read a book."

"At least it's a good excuse to get to wear all those layers, right?" Willow shrugged back with a laugh. "While I may be a summer girly at heart, some of those fluffy jumpers are just so cute– no? Now's a good excuse as any to make the most out of them."

"I do love clothes and I seem to update them on a regular basis too." She admitted, knowing she'd already been eyeing up some new jumpers. "Perhaps we should make it an excuse to go shopping?"

"What kind of company are you searching for?" she asked in reply. "Because you're not wrong in assuming that I'm the most social type. However if you're looking for something a little more private I can be pretty adaptable too," Laurel didn't mind including, considering she was open for any outcome this evening.

"My life has always been a bit too public. I like being able to keep it more private these days." Cecilia explained simply, motioning to the seat beside her. "You're welcome to join me but I am a little concerned I might bore you somewhat."

"Alright fair enough," Bekah snorted. "Anything more New Years-specific you'd like to adopt then?" she asked, nudging her back lightly when she felt Cecilia lean lightly on her. "Sometimes that's the best you can do," Bekah insisted with a shrug in reply. "The fact that you're out tonight and doing all of this is a great step as any into doing exactly what you said you'd do."

"Hm... I don't know." Cecilia murmured as she thought about her friends question. "My brain doesn't really feel like it is... braining right now anyway. Have you got any ideas for me?"

"It's all in how it sits and fastens. Also the covering. I do love a good faux fur personally." Cecilia answered with a little amused laugh at how perplexed the woman seemed. "I suppose it's not for everyone though."

"The little I do know about that genre, it seems like a rather overwhelming thing to get into. I wouldn't even know where to begin." Cecilia spoke when he explained some of it. "I have heard some good music is made for anime though, correct?"

"Is there a world where you can follow through with what you want to do? Set yourself apart from these expectations and 'targets' as you're calling them," Bekah wondered. "It sounds like you need to find your love for it again and being free of all the noise sounds like what could potentially be the most successful first step to getting there."

"I don't know. Contracts don't really allow for that now do they." She pointed out, a dullness to her voice at the thought of it. It wasn't that she didn't love music but it was difficult finding herself now given it had always been her and her brother together. "A lot of the love came from who I was sharing it with."

"Alright I guess that this– this is pretty nice," he admitted with a little sigh of defeat after he'd allowed himself to cradle the hot water bottle for a good moment and the heat had seeped into his bones. "I just can't imagine carrying this around with me whilst running around the town on errands or whatever," Axel chuckled.

"You could get one you tie around your waist or a hand muff, they are quite nice too." She said with a little shrug of her shoulders when Axel mentioned not liking the idea of carrying it around with him. "But then it'll be your loss when you are shivering and I am nice and toasty."

"Of course we can," Rosa replied with an easy nod of her head. She absolutely loved the markets so there was no issue for her when it came to going to check them out. "I don't know about you but I'm going to continue the tradition of ranking which stands have the best hot chocolate."

"I didn't realise that was a tradition but I can't say I mind it. I always try to seek out the best food and then you can't go past the cheese stands without trying their wares too." She loved being able to sample things so she'd always enjoyed that.

"Ah– that makes more sense," Axel acknowledged, originally thinking she was going to judge how much he'd been drinking as her motives had been unclear to him at first. "So I'm just a glorified step ladder to you, is that what this is?" he gasped for dramatic effect as Cecilia explained what he was needed for. "But what if we got one that looked exactly like it?" Axel tried to bargain, hoping that magic could get it down because creating a tipsy totem tower could end really badly.

"No no, more like a...." Cecilia appeared to be giving it quite deep thought for a moment before she answered. "An extension ladder... OH! I multi-purpose ladder! You have other uses after all." She seemed genuinely pleased with that conclusion. "I mean... I could but I don't want to buy one if my one is there and its the sentiment."

"Yes it does." She agreed after a moment, the visualisation in her head just really not fitting for her. No doubt it would be wildly wrong but her imagination did have a way of running away with itself sometimes. "And pretty much all of that made no sense to me so I'd say that was a pretty good idea."

Bekah smiled lightly in reply to that. She was more grateful to have Cece than she'd ever really be able to articulate. But it seemed that was an understanding they shared. "Do you not enjoy playing?" she wondered by the way Cecilia had phrased it.

There was a pause in her answer to Bekah as she appeared to formulate an answer. "No, it's not that exactly..." Cecilia began slowly. "It's just that I've been struggling more recently. And there is this expectation, what with the group and with targets to be met. It's proving to be quite the cement wall when it comes to my artistry."

"I have but there is more comfort from one of these too. Maybe the physical side of things, I don't know." Cecilia responded with a shrug of her shoulders. She didn't know how to explain it, only that this felt more effective in some way.

"That's a very sweet offer, Cece," she smiled when Cecilia had suggested that they do some casual jam sessions sometime. "I suppose I haven't done something like that in a while... it could be nice. Maybe it'd help inspire you too."

"What are friends for." Though it was also her love of music that made her offer too. It felt like less pressure than trying to create and play the type of music she had been doing recently. Knowing that it was for no other reason than to simply enjoy it with a friend. "Maybe. It'd be nice to simply be able to just enjoy playing."

"So... a stomach scarf?" Was the closest she could manage to get in her mind to what he'd described. Still, she supposed as long as it did the job the name was fairly irrelevant. "I'm probably a little bit behind on my pop culture."

"Not sure how that's any of your business," he chuckled when asked about how much he'd had to drink. Axel had come over with a smile at the enthusiastic greeting from Cecilia, only for his expression to drop. "Oh, I see– you just want me to be your errand boy," he scoffed, although he was just playing it up for the joke. Axel craned his neck upwards to see what she was referring to and where it'd gotten stuck. "Can't you just pull that down with magic or something? Or ask that 'someone cute' person to get it for you? Give you another?" he shrugged, looking back over to Cecilia.

"Woah rude much?" Cecilia said with a poke to his chest lightly. "I just was trying to figure out how much of a chance there was of you dropping me if I got you to pick me up so I could go and get that." Again, she pointed to the ceiling where the poor balloon had come to rest. "Nope. I don't need an errand boy, I just need someone tall to help me get up there." Not that it was much better when she put it like that. Honestly, she'd not even thought of magic to get it down and for a moment she fell silent. "But that one is the one so it's not the same if I got another."

"Create a tradition? That sounds like a whole lot of responsibility that I'm not qualified or sober enough for," Bekah snorted. "Can this be our tradition? Drinking together on the curb?" she replied half jokingly. "That's totally sound and not avoidant behavior at all," Bekah teased. "But like I get it. Same. I love a party but it feels like a lot is going on in there."

Cecilia laughed a little at that, leaning lightly against Bekah. "I would say yes though it feels more like a drinking tradition more than a new years tradition. I've seen plenty of people do it on a night out." She mused, taking the bottle back so she could have another swig. "Hey, I never pretended to be good at handling all of this, I just said I would give it a go."