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[misscecilia]

It's taken far too long for Cecilia to move into her new apartment. She's not actually sure when she managed to acquire this much stuff in the first place, let alone how she got it all back across the Atlantic and up the coast to Maine, and if she is ever required to move again, she's going to handle it by giving away all her worldly possessions and becoming a nun or one of those New Age lifestyle bloggers. Or at least by paying someone to unpack all her things for her. One of the two.

The point is, it's been weeks since her arrival, and she'd been starting to think she was never going to get all the cardboard boxes out of her apartment. She has, though, she hauled the last ones down the stairs this morning. It's a feat worthy of celebration, Cecilia thinks, and she takes herself off to the boardwalk to do just that.

Notwithstanding her brief visit last year, she hasn't been back to Siren Cove in ages, and she's not sure how much of it will be like she remembers. The boardwalk, though, seems the same as it ever has, and Cecilia, after obtaining a huge and definitely overpriced ice cream cone, is content to wander, offering friendly smiles to everyone she passes.

[Open to everyone forever, come say hi! Find her on the boardwalk and let her looooooooove you.]

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[misscecilia]

Cecilia knows that voice, as well as she knows her own name, and she's already grinning by the time she figures out where it's coming from. She doesn't quite run to Fabrice, but it's a close thing; when she reaches him, she immediately throws her free arm around him in a one-armed hug.

"Missed you," she whispers, so only he can hear, and when she's finally done hugging him, she presses a kiss to his cheek, steps back, and just beams at him for a minute. She hasn't seen him since she got back, which is partially her own fault - between unpacking and plotting with Amelie, she's been fairly distracted - and partially due to the fact that he's been away every time she's dropped by his house.

"Brother dearest," she teases, arching an eyebrow over her grin, "have you been avoiding me?"

[ofcatsandfate]

He grins when Cecilia starts nearly running towards him, picking up his own pace in response. He takes care to hold what remains of his fried dough away from his sister as she pulls him in for a hug. He squeezes back, delighted to see her.

"I missed you too," he replies with a sheepish grin and a quick kiss to her cheek as well. And then she's beaming at him, bright and full of life. His shining star of a sister. He can't help but beam back, even as the guilt creeps in for not contacting her sooner.

"I, um, I can see how some would come to that conclusion, yes," he admits, susceptible as ever to her teasing. "I'm sorry, Cecilia. I should've seen you sooner. I just." He exhales. "It's complicated."

[misscecilia]

Cecilia hadn't really meant anything by it, but one glance at the look on Fabrice's face tells her all she needs to know about how close to the mark her teasing was. Her other eyebrow inches up to join the first.

"Complicated?" She draws out the word until it turns into something halfway between worried accusation and gentle mockery. There are only a handful of complications Cecilia can think of that might keep Fabrice from coming to see her, and absolutely none of them are good. "Fabrice, what did you do this time?"

[ofcatsandfate]

As much as Fabrice enjoys teasing with his sister, he has a tendency towards the oblivious whenever she balances actual teasing and accusing him of something. He offers her a sheepish smile in response to the knowing look on her face.

"I, um," he exhales, running a hand through his hair briefly before bringing his hands together to fidget uncomfortably. Telling Cecilia about all the trouble he runs into seems to make it all the more inescapable and real. "I may have gotten into an argument with a witch who may or may not have cursed me. You know. That sort of complication."

[misscecilia]

"You what."

Torn between anger and concern, Cecilia has to take a minute to remind herself that Fabrice had gone all sorts of places, and that this witch is probably not in Siren Cove and thus not available to be destroyed. Yet.

Concern wins out.

"Oh my god, Fabrice, what happened? Are you alright?"

[ofcatsandfate]

He winces, instinctively, when she speaks. His shoulders hunch in on themselves out of habit. She has every right to be angry with him: he should have told her before he got back to town and he shouldn't have avoided Cecilia to begin with. Still, Fabrice wants very much for his twin not to be angry at him.

"I'm fine," he assures her. "It's..." He chews on his lower lip, trying to think of how to best explain his situation. "I tend to transform into my deer form whenever I get too nervous or wound up."

And now, of course, for the part he most dreads telling her. "And I might have accidentally been startled walking into town the other day."

[misscecilia]

For a minute, Cecilia just blinks at him, then she wraps her hand around his arm and drags him over to a more secluded spot, out of the ebb and flow of passers-by. She doesn't drag him, doesn't do anything to draw attention or make a scene, but her steely grip on his upper arm is as effective as if she had.

"Who saw you?" she asks once they're less likely to be overheard. The way Fabrice is acting, she'd bet just about anything that his transformation didn't go unnoticed. "Do I need to hex them? And actually, while we're on the subject of hexing, who did this to you and where can I find them?"

[ofcatsandfate]

She doesn't say anything, at first, which allows for Fabrice's mind to come up with all sorts of possibilities for what she might say to him. Luckily, he doesn't have to process them, as Cecilia prods him over to a more discrete area with her steel-like grip. He winces briefly at the strength of it, but he follows, as he always does whenever Cecilia makes up her mind about something.

"Um." He hesitates, running a hand through his hair. "A few people. I mean, I was only at the edge of town when it happened, but there was a fair crowd. And I met another witch, too."

"I don't remember everyone who saw me," he says. "And as for the witch who did this to me, he's still in Oregon, last I checked. I hope. He was an asshole."