Away From The Sun [Idalia]

[Idalia Tsavaris]

There was still so much about Cecil she didn’t know she realized at that moment. “You have a twin?” She asked her jaw falling open. She smiled, a big family like hers, she was sure he could related to a lot of the fights and challenges. Both her mother and father worked so hard to make sure they had everything. Ida smiled warmly and shook her head, “No, I… I have nine sisters, actually.” She closed her eyes the air of sadness hanging on her lips. She held up her fingers and started counting. “Vivian is youngest, Jenna and Lenna are twins, then there was Aliana, Tressa, Naira, myself then Isolade, Rebecca, and Rio. Rio was the oldest.” Idalia didn’t like to talk about Rio in the past tense. She opened her eyes and smiled at Cecil, “Aliana and I were always really close and she told us first and then we were all there when she told our parents.” Well, almost, Rio had already passed by the time Aliana came out, but Rio had been there, as she had been there when Idalia graduated college and graduate school.

Idalia prided herself on being a strong woman, but like any other woman, especially a woman on camera she was constantly judged by her appearance. She ground her teeth at the very idea, it was insulting and she’d seen some woman tell people just where they could go. Ida wasn’t quite that strong, usually just ignored it. Hearing this from Cecil made her courage stronger and she was even more determined not to let anyone knock her down. Idalia didn’t know a lot about Cecil’s ex-husband, she figured it was a sensitive topic and generally avoided bringing it up. She just hoped that if he needed to talk that he knew she was there for him. She found Cecil attractive, and sweet. He was one of those people she used to lament over, because all of the good ones were gay. But Cecil was a friend and she wanted nothing more than to see him happy and she was more than glad to be his wing-woman if he needed.

Holding up a hand Ida smiled and said, “Say no more my friend.” She grinned, she was excited, she didn’t get out too much around Burlington, at least not unless it was within walking distance of her office but even then she didn’t usually leave for lunch. Idalia understood when he was busy he probably wouldn’t be coming over to hang out with her. They were both professionals and like when Russell had shown up, she’d been in the middle of something and well, if Russell hadn’t been able to respect her slight for the purpose of getting work down, then well, he wasn’t really a friend. Idalia was getting too old to keep petty people and drama in her friends. It was also the knowledge of Cecil’s work schedule that she usually showed up during typically slow hours, or when Cecil invited her out. She wished she could invite Cecil to show up at work sometimes but really, what was more boring than watching someone code?

Idalia giggled back at her friend and shrugged her shoulders innocently. “You love me,” she declared grinning like a minx. “Bah! You men and your manliness!” She cried with mock exasperation and threw her hands into the air. She smiled at him, laughing freely at his story. “Now that is a woman I would like to meet,” she said sincerely. Her own mother was a cook in all forms, she had worked as a cook for Hammel for a long time actually, her father was a doctor and for all of his intelligence, couldn’t make a piece of toast to save his life. “You know, I think you have a point, my dad could probably poison anyone while cooking, but put him at a grill and he’s a master.” She frowned at Ike and did her best to avoid his huge paws.

“Whew,” Idalia muttered as Mephit raced off and Ike chased her. She nodded and smiled shaking her head. They were indeed psycho puppies, but they were their psycho puppies. Idalia harrumphed comically and rolled her eyes at Cecil but let him finish his thought. By the end her mouth had dropped open and he left her in stitches she was laughing so hard. Admittedly, he had a point. “I do not sound like that,” she protested between her giggles pushing at his ‘microphone hand’. She finished off her drink and set it on one of the higher surfaces nearby to avoid the glass having an early demise via puppies. “Oh god, you’re right,” she admitted with a wistful laugh. “So not fair!” She pouted jokingly. “Besides it would only be fun if I had my favorite magic drink maker along for the ride.” She said pointing at Cecil.

[Cecil Wathen]

Cecil gave a soft chuckle at Idalia’s expression, nodding his head slightly. “I do. She’s eleven minutes younger than me, as she always delights in pointing out. She had a baby boy a few months ago, which made me feel even older.” He laughed again softly, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. With everything that had been going on with the bar and trying to cement his life over here independent of the man he’d arrived in the country with, Cecil hadn’t seen any of his family in what felt like a decade. He’d never seen his nephew outside of shared photographs and Skype conversations, and he wasn’t sure when he might get the chance to visit home and see everyone again. It was an uncomfortable, painful thought.

When Idalia mentioned having nine sisters Cecil’s initial reaction was one of utter surprise. “Nine?!?” The expression and surprise quickly faded, however, when he could sense and then saw the sadness on Idalia’s features. He listened to her semi-explanation quietly, and gently looped an arm around her shoulders to pull her in for a side-hug. He got the feeling that Idalia didn’t really want to talk about it and so he didn’t ask any questions, just giving a supportive smile as she spoke about her sisters.

The truth was that Cecil knew they both worked too much and could definitely use a break, even if it was just a few hours messing around planting things in the bar garden. Sure working hard could be a tonic in its own right, keeping the body and mind active and distracted and preventing it from dwelling on things that shouldn’t be dwelt on. However, it could be toxic in its own right too, souring the mind and creating tiredness and resentment where there should be none. A break, even if only for a few hours, would no doubt do them both a world of good.

After the moments of sadness it was a joy to see Idalia grinning like the Cheshire Cat again, and he just chuckled in bemusement and gave a slight nod when she announced that he loved her really. “Uh-huh. It’s a good job I’ve got you to remind me of that, otherwise I’d never remember.” He laughed brightly as Idalia spoke about her father. “I think that’s the same for all dads. Well, all men, really. My baby bro, Tris, I swear he could find a way to burn water, but he seems to think he’s the next Gordon Ramsey. He’d make mac and cheese from the packet then go on about it like it’s been lovingly slaved over for days.” Cecil himself loved to cook, he just didn’t get a chance to very often and so wasn’t as good as he would like to be. He had to admit though, the thought of cooking away at a barbecue in the middle of summer was a deeply appealing one.

Hopefully the ball would keep the bundles of raw energy distracted for a little while, and it was fun watching them chase and skitter after it. So many times Cecil had considered getting a friend for Mephit, but it just wouldn’t work right now. His apartment was hardly huge and even with this new garden space it was still a bit restrictive, and it wasn’t like he had all the time in the world to walk two dogs four times a day or so. Cecil ‘dropped’ the imaginary microphone, laughing brightly, and shook his head. “I know you don’t, I’m only teasing.” When Idalia mentioned that it would only be fun if he went along with her, he gave an enthusiastic nod of his head. “I would go too, you know! I can definitely see myself with a little beach bar, serving fancy cocktails in coconut halves to snobby businessmen on vacation with their mistresses.”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

“Awe, how sweet!” Okay so call Idalia crazy but despite being single and nowhere close to getting married, with Ike to take care of Idalia was definitely starting to get baby feels. She didn’t know what happened to change it but she had stopped looking at it as an ‘eventually’ and started looking at it as, ‘if I wait any longer I’m not gonna be able to have any!’ She didn’t see the light fade in his eyes but she smiled nonetheless. “Have you been able to see him yet?” As far as she knew he didn’t travel much, but that didn’t mean that his sister hadn’t come to visit or anything. Ida loved seeing her sisters kids, though they were getting older now. It was still hard to see some of her sisters with kids, after all she remembered what terrors they were as kids! At the very least, none of her sisters had any desire to have as many kids as their mother did.

“Nine,” Ida confirmed and couldn’t help but smile at his shocked expression. She got that a lot. She was still nodding when Cecil surprised her. She took strength from the gesture, thankful he didn’t press anything. She loved Rio, she missed Rio, but talking about her being gone always made it real. Without talking about it, it was almost as if she could imagine Rio was still out there lighting up everyone’s world. She smiled and rested her head briefly against his shoulder in silent thanks. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk about Rio, but she didn’t want to break into tears right now. She’d spent her whole life being strong and blundering through social circles without batting an eye. She did it all because showing weakness was expected of her and she wouldn’t do it. Not around people. Cecil was an exception, but they were having such a good time.

Recovering never meant forgetting. Idalia would never forget her sister, who was gone too soon to sleep. Cecil was easily the best friend she’d found here in a long time. She felt like she could turn her professional self off for once and be that secretly horrible person she really was. She blundered a lot in life and stepping carefully through society didn’t always sit well with her, she was too blunt to be gentle and had too sparse a filter to keep herself form accidentally offending someone. She elbowed him and giggled. He was like the brother she never had. One would think that out of ten children a boy would have shown up eventually, but oh well, she had no idea about anything remotely close to genetics or biology, she did the nonliving science.

Ida laughed and shook her head. She turned to give Cecil a bemused look. “What is it about boys and cooking outside?” The meteorologist always found it entertaining how there was still a small subset of males who believed that a woman’s place was in the kitchen, and yet the most respected chiefs were a cook. It appeared that women weren’t even allowed to excel even in the place that they were ‘meant’ to be. It made Idalia laugh. She was a decent cook, meaning if there was a recipe she would follow it to a tee. If there was a need to deviate she couldn’t do it. She didn’t have that cooking intuition some people seemed to have. “Oh mac and cheese! Well, it is complicated, you have to first learn how to not burn the water.” She giggled, she didn’t know Cecil had a brother as well. She was learning more and more about her best friend.

“I know,” Idalia replied and gave him a sly look, “Though you have a good reporter voice, maybe you should start D.J.-ing.” She thought Cecil would be good at it, though he was definitely an amazing drink maker, she didn’t think she’d want to have her drinks made by anyone but him anymore. He’d officially ruined her for all other bar tenders. When she went out, if she went anywhere in Burlington with coworkers (though she lobbied viciously for the Churchkey) she always found herself disappointed and thinking ‘this isn’t how Cecil would have made it.’ Idalia laughed and held her hand out so they could shake on it. “Alright then, its official, when we get sick of snow or finally retire, whichever comes first, we’re going to move someplace warm and I’m going to do my forecasts from your bar.” She giggled, she doubted that, but hey they could dream. And Hawaii was nice all times of the year.

[Cecil Wathen]

Cecil gave a small shake of his head. “No, not yet. Well, not outside Skype, anyway.” Cecil was putting money aside each month to save up to be able to go home and see his new nephew, but in truth money was the least of the problems. He was financially comfortable and had enough stashed away that he could easily afford the trip four or five times over, but that money was being reserved in case he ever completely lost it here and had to move back home officially. Really the biggest issue was the dog. He had a solid team fully capable of running the bar while he was away, but oddly he would trust his staff with his house and business far easier that he would trust them with Mephit. That reality sounded strange even in his own head, but that didn’t make it any less true. “I’m hoping to go and see him early next year, though, once I’ve managed to scrape some free time together and found a babysitter for Mephit. Do you get to see your family often?”

As Idalia rested her head on his shoulder Cecil smiled softly, planting a gentle kiss in the brunette curls of her hair. He knew she was strong and more than capable, but he also knew that sometimes everyone needed a shoulder to lean on for a moment. Christ, did he know that. Had it not been for the small but awesome pocket of friends he had made in Pilot Ridge, there was no way he would still be here. He’d have fled back to Wales with his tail between his legs long ago. If he could offer comfort to another, even if only for a few moments, he’d be damned before he wouldn’t at least try to ease their pain a little.

Thankfully Idalia’s mood seemed to lighten again, and Cecil gently broke the side-hug but kept a close eye on her in case she needed a little extra support and help. “I think it’s a thing left over from cavemen. Man make fire. Man cook on fire. Rawr!” He laughed lightly, shrugging his broad shoulders. “It could also be because drinking is somehow more permissible when cooking outside; getting wasted in the garden is perfectly fine, but in a kitchen it’s frowned upon more. OH!” He held up a finger as another thought came to him. “I’ve got it! It’s because grilling a burger is easy enough, and at a barbecue you don’t have to bother making fancy sides or anything. You just whip out a bag of buns and a packet of store-bought potato salad and you’re good to go.”

At the mention of maybe becoming a DJ Cecil barked a laugh. “Hell no! I may have an okay speaking voice, but I’ve got all the musical knowledge and talent of a dead starfish. I’ll leave that to the pro’s, thanks.” He took her hand when it was offered, giving her a firm but friendly shake. “Deal! And if you steer all the pretty buff men in my direction, I won’t even charge you for any of the drinks.”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

“Oh good! You definitely should, they’re only that age for so long.” She grinned, she remembered her sister’s kids when they were little, they were still little angels, at least as far as she knew but she couldn’t pick them up and just cuddle with them anymore. Idalia waved a hand, “Well you know you should take some time, it couldn’t be too hard to find someone to look after Mephit.” Idalia didn’t think she was a good option honestly, she worked a lot and while that was okay for Ike, Mephit had a lot more energy than Ike did. Idalia’s laugh bubbled up her throat. “Not as much as my parents would like,” she said, “My mom’s a cook at Hammel and they’re still waiting for Vivian to get through college. I actually live across town from them. My sisters are a little scattered but most of them live nearby, within a few hours, over in New York and Boston area. We get together for holidays and such.”

Idalia smiled warmly and her heart surged. How had she been so lucky to find a friend like Cecil? In Idalia’s lifetime she had come to know that friend and lovers came and went like the seasons. It was a truly rare thing to find a friend you could really count on. Cecil was special and well, to put it lightly if anyone wanted to hurt him they would have Idalia to contend with. And she was armed with a ferocious tongue and a camera. Not that she didn’t think Cecil couldn’t take care of himself, he obviously could and he was doing well for himself. But maybe it was just the little gestures that kept up her strength and helped her go on. Life on camera was hard but not nearly as hard as trying to run a business. Business could flounder if the economy went belly up, at least Idalia knew she wouldn’t be fired for being wrong.

Idalia had to hold onto her sides she was laughing so hard. She couldn’t even breathe, and she wiped at her eyes as they watered with laughter. She put a hand on Cecil’s shoulder to steady herself as she tried to get control of herself. When she finally was able to respond she had a sparkle in her eye and shook her head. “You’ve obviously never been in my kitchen, a little wine to cook with and the rest of the bottle for me.” She mimed putting a bottle bottom’s up to her lips. Idalia was super class, really she sometimes even put wine in a glass. “True that,” she chuckled, “Though I wouldn’t necessarily say throwing a burger on the grill was easy.” She said sheepishly, she may have blackened a burger or two in her day. Though she definitely couldn’t say any of them were ever inedible, at least not technically.

Laughing again Ida couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll hold you to that, but you can’t have all of them, you greedy boy,” she teased, giving him a wink. “I’m always your winglady,” she said nudging him. And conveniently enough she was friend with a bar tender and if someone bought her a drink she got a full rundown on them before she even turned to look at who it was. She raised her hands over her head and leaned back as if lounging in the sun. “That is starting to sound better and better.” Idalia sat up straight as she felt light headed and the smell of lightning filled her nose. Distantly she heard a bark and she was vaguely aware of a cold nose touching her hand. It steadied her even as she stood in Cecil’s garden, but Cecil was nowhere to be found, or maybe, ah-ha he was inside and a dense crowd was packed inside. An even denser snow was filling in the streets and Idalia found the air so bitter cold it hurt her lungs to breathe it. Blinking like an owl, the snow covered garden melted into the current. Ike hoped up on her lap and licked her back. She grunted in pain, she was probably going to have bruises on her legs.

Idalia ruffled his ears affectionately and hugged his head. She looked over at Cecil and gave an apologetic smile. “I think it’s going to be a rough winter, this year, colder and more snow, and sooner than anyone would like,” she reported. Ike squirmed in her arms until she released him and he bounded after Mephit like nothing at all had happened.

[Cecil Wathen]

Cecil gave a smile and nodded in agreement. “I intend to. As soon as I can get things in order, I'll be heading over there to see them all. Some of them I haven't seen since... since the divorce... so it'd be nice to be able to go round and make a trip to see everyone.” Skype was wonderful for keeping him in touch with his family from so far away, but it only eased the ache of the distance so much. He pined for his siblings, and he knew his parents were definitely not getting any younger. He knew that he had to make an effort to get home more often, before it got too late. He gave a firm shake of his head, as though the movement would dislodge that depressing thought from his mind. “I'm glad you get to see your family so much; it's obvious you're really close with them.”

It was so good to see Idalia laughing and so joyful again. He knew that she, like many people, had dark shadows in her past and he wished he possessed the ability to be able to ease them from her mind. Alas he did not, but he would do whatever he could to try and help her now be the happiest it could be. Cecil laughed along with her, giving her a gentle playful nudge with his elbow. “That sounds like my kind of kitchen! Remind me to come over to yours for dinner one time. We could have vodka spot prawns, aaaaand beef with red wine sauce, aaaaand tequila sorbet.”

One of the things that Cecil loved most about Idalia was just how easy she was to be around. With her he never had to hold anything back, never had to worry about how she might take something or whether he might accidentally say the wrong thing. He could just be... him, and that was always such a delightful feeling. He tried to pout and look disapproving at her comment, but it was a difficult look to achieve when he was fighting back chuckles. “I wont have to save any for you. The moment we get there you'll be swept off your feet by some billionaire TV exec and go and live on his hundred foot yacht in the Caribbean.”

As Idalia tensed and sat up suddenly, seemingly in a bit of a daze, Cecil knew what was going on. He'd been around her long enough to realise the signs of her power at work, and he knew that it was best to not disturb her and just make sure she stayed safe. He tried to keep Ike from jumping on her, but from where he was sat the Dane was able to get up to her before Cecil could stop him. He seemed to be trying to comfort her, though, so Cecil just made sure he didn't start getting too worked up and potentially accidentally hurting her. Once she came out of her daze, Cecil returned the smile with a soft one of his own. “Are you okay?” As she explained what she had foreseen, Cecil nodded and glanced up at the sky. “... Maybe some even hardier plants, then.”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

“Good for you Cecil,” She said reaching over and rubbing his shoulder, “And you know if you don’t go I’ll chase you out of here with a pool noodle.” She tried, she tried very hard to make her expression serious and threatening but her face soon broke into a smile and she giggled. She’d lived far from her family for undergraduate and graduate school and well, she’d found she missed them more than she thought she would and so going back, especially when she got the job just seemed like the next logical step. “I wish you could see yours more often,” Idalia replied giving him a bit of a sad smile, it must have been hard to be here, especially after the divorce. She wished that she’d known Cecil back then, she hoped he had had good people around him to help him.

“Mmm,” Idalia practically moaned with desire, “Okay Cecil, you’re welcome in my kitchen any time. What’s your favorite wine?” She giggled and smiled warmly. She didn’t have guests over enough and it reminded her that she should probably clean a bit. “You could bring Mephit, I mean it’s not a lot of space but Ike and her seem to get along very well.” She smiled up at the sky and then looked back at Cecil. “Tequila sorbet? That sounds like heaven.” So, maybe Ida did have a thing for tequila, it was definitely one of her favorites, not so much for the taste but for the memories of her college friends. She had had far more nights involving tequila than she actually remembered.

Idalia threw her head back and laughed, casually flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Now that would be a dream come true! Then you’d really never see me again.” She joked, after all what woman didn’t want to be treated like a princess with someone who had money. Well, one benefit of finding a rich husband, she would finally have time to do all the things she wanted to do, like crochet… and make puzzles… and… oh who was she kidding she would be bored out of her mind! “Have you ever been to the Caribbean, Cecil?” She asked her taste for adventure biting at her dreams. She didn’t want to just cruise the Caribbean, she wanted to said the high seas, feel the wind on her face and the taste of salt on her lips. She wanted her hair blown back in a storm, she wanted to hold out her arms and feel a hurricane’s power.

The vision came fast and was gone just as fast, she was never really sure how they worked, sometimes they seemed to last forever but they were only a moment in real time, but sometimes they stole her for a few minutes at a time. She gave Cecil a thanks for protecting her from her overprotective dog. “Yep, fine,” she said kissing the top of Ike’s head even as he struggled to lick her face. “I’m sorry,” she said sadly, sometimes she really wished she was wrong. “But if it helps any, it seemed pretty full in there,” she said gesturing back to the bar. “You could get some small evergreens and maybe for Christmas decorate them. You’d have the best holiday bar every.” Not to mention the romance factor that it would add. The cold tended to make people want to stand closer and beautiful lights would add to the magic and with liquor flowing many people would be very happy.

[Cecil Wathen]

Cecil laughed easily, partly from what Idalia said and partly from her expression as she tried to seem serious and threatening despite the laughter trying to claim her. “I’ll hold you to that, you know. If I haven’t booked a ticket by spring, you have full permission to beat me with a stick until I get to the computer and sort it.” He had missed his family so much the past few years, and discovered that it was true that you don’t really appreciate people until they aren’t there all the time any more. It was something he knew for a fact that he needed to fix. “Thanks, I wish that too. I’m gonna work on it, I promise.”

The chatter about cooking with wine was thankfully much lighter, and he chuckled and shook his head in amusement. “I’ll hold you to that, too. I’m more a cider man, but if you’ve got a dry white in I wont judge your hosting skills too harshly.” It was glorious being able to just relax and unwind outside, and with each passing moment Cecil was becoming more and more glad he’d gone ahead with this renovation project. At her comment about bringing Mephit along, Cecil smiled and looked over at the playing dogs. “Yeah, they do get on really well, don’t they? I was worried at first that she’d be either too hyperactive or spooked by him, but they’re great. I think it does them both the world of good, getting to romp like this.” Idalia’s mention of the tequila sorbet brought another chuckle to Cecil’s lips. “I’ll have to work out how to make it. I think I remember one of the blokes on the dog walking group mentioning making ice cream; I’ll ask him next time I see him. Who knows, maybe it’ll become an add-on to the bar menu.” Cecil smiled and closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the sunlight and warmth.

Another laugh broke Cecil’s lips; Idalia did seem to be so very good at encouraging them. “I definitely would still see you; he’s a TV person, he can’t make good cocktails. That’s what he employs people for.” He gave a good-natured shrug. “Who knows. Maybe your future husband will hire me full time just to make you drinks, and I’d end up with one of his other staff. I could see myself with some buff windswept sailor type.” Cecil grinned brightly, lightly throwing the ball across the grass again as a panting Mephit dropped it by his feet. “No, I’ve never had much chance to travel all that much. I want to, though, once life has calmed down a bit. How about you?”

When Idalia came back from her vision, Cecil gave a small nod as she announced that she was okay. At least they didn’t seem overly painful or seemed to give her too many side effects. He gave a quiet chuckle as she said it seemed busy in the bar. “That does help, yeah, thanks.” The idea of the decorated evergreens brought another soft smile to his lips, and he nodded in agreement. “You know, that sounds like an even better idea than the one I had.” He gave her a gentle affectionate nudge with his elbow. “I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

“Be careful what you wish for Cecil,” Idalia said pointing at him and giggling. She took another sip of the drink he made her and smiled as she felt it rush to her head momentarily, maybe she should take smaller drinks. “If you don’t do it, I’ll do it for you,” she said with a wicked grin. She wasn’t referring to using her own money she’d just tie Cecil to a chair and take his from his wallet for the ticket. “Me too,” Ida said nudging Cecil with her elbow. They both had their workaholic problems and Ida was looking to do better. It was her New Year’s resolution. Maybe it would be Cecil’s as well. The meteorologist knew it was going to be a challenge for her to separate herself from work but she had things to do, friends to see, and a puppy that was getting lonely.

Idalia smiled and made a mental note. “Alright ciders for Cecil and wine for me,” she laughed and nodded her head, “Oh Cecil, for someone who works in a bar you need to get your wine tasting buds tested.” Even though it was commonly joked as an ‘old lady’ wine Idalia could, and occasionally did, finish a bottle of White Zinfandel on her own. She loved the sweet stuff, and well for beer, cider was about all she would drink, which was a good thing because if she got Cecil beer it would likely be in her fridge until Cecil came over again. “It tires them both out at least,” Ida agreed cheerfully and nodded enthusiastically at Cecil. It sounded beyond delicious and he was making her mouth water just thinking about it. “Oh yum, you know Cecil you make that a regular item I might just start working from here.” She could totally telecommute from the bar, that would be alright wouldn’t it?

Ida pointed a finger at him indicating that he had a very good point. “Oh Cecil, I’d throw a rich girl tantrum to have you as my personal drink maker,” she said dramatically and swooped her arms around him in a large gesture. She loved Cecil, she didn’t know what she’d do without him. Idalia gave him a sly smile and couldn’t help but giggle. “Oh look at us getting all sorts of love on the high seas!” She exclaimed excitedly. She reached up and ran her hands through his hair, quickly pushing it back. She leaned back a bit and crossed her legs as she surveyed her handiwork. “Oh yeah, would look so good as a sailor, you’d catch yourself a buff guy for sure.” Honestly, if Cecil wasn’t gay Idalia had a feeling she would be all over him, he was adorable and sexy in all the right ways. Idalia shook her head, “No, I helped out with a couple field campaigns when I was in grad school, but I never went anywhere out of the states. I mean I got to see a couple of cool places but I’ve always wanted to go overseas. Especially to Greece to see where my Yia— my grandmother and grandfather grew up.”

A smile crossed her face as she watched Cecil, he was going to do good business, but she didn’t want to say that and jinx him, sometimes it happened where it intimidated people to know the future, at least outside the scope of weather. With weather it was easy, it was their whole purpose to find a way to look ahead. With a laugh she tossed her hair over her shoulder in a fabulous gesture. “I do my best,” she winked at him. “You know, I thought you went to Kosher right? But I don’t think I know what your power is,” she said gently, “By all means don’t feel like you have to tell me, I’m just curious,” she added.

[Cecil Wathen]

As Idalia semi-joked about forcing him to book a ticket if he didn’t do so himself, Cecil laughed and nodded. “I have every faith that you will.” As difficult as it would be to distance himself away from the bar for a longer length of time, he knew that he had to. He longed to see his homeland again, and he knew that as each year rolled into the next and the bar (hopefully) continued to grow it would get more and more difficult for him to get back. Besides, now he had a new person to go and visit while they were still in the adorable baby stage, and he didn’t want to miss that for the world. Mephit was good; he’d find someone to babysit her.

Laughing easily at her comment about wine, Cecil gave a shrug. “It’s a bar, not a fancy restaurant.” After a moment he did nod in agreement, though. “Yeah, I know. I’ve never been into wine, really. I tend to default to the expertise of those far, far more knowledgeable than me when it comes to that. But hey, I’ve never heard you complaining about what I have here, so I must be doing something right at least.” The thought of Idalia working from the bar was a deeply amusing one, and Cecil grinned and chuckled at the image of it. “I could live with that. Cecil Wathen, bartender to the stars! Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

Oh, but it was turning into such a fun day for hijinks, and Cecil laughed boldly at her statement about being a rich-girl. “And I bet you could learn to tantrum with the best of them, after a bit of practice. You’ve got all that fierceness going on that’s well suited to it.” Cecil pulled a bit of a face as Idalia roughed up his hair but it quickly turned into an amused grin as he rolled his eyes at her. “Thanks, mam.” Over the time they had known each other Cecil had formed a true fondness for Idalia, something that he really struggled to define as merely ‘friends’. She was one of the funniest, most kind spirited and intelligent people he knew, and moments like this were ones he had truly come to treasure. He didn’t fix his hair, letting it stay fluffed up as it was. “You should go. I mean, you’ve probably got a years worth of holiday dates owed to you by now; just book a trip. You’re still young, you can still see the world and meet a yacht owning TV exec.”

It was glorious to be able to sit outside and relax in the late summer sun, especially since he now knew that he should make the most of it before the hard winter arrived. As Idalia enquired about his power a slightly confused look crossed Cecil’s features, but it was soon replaced with a lazy smile instead. “I haven’t told you before? Sorry, I thought I had. No, I don’t mind chatting about it at all. I can bounce thoughts around; words, pictures, sounds… If I can create it in my imagination, I can make other people see or hear it in their mind, too.” He gave a small shrug, watching the dogs romping on the grass. “I can give you a demo, if you’d like?”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia crossed her arms and raised her chin daring him to challenge her. She smiled just enough to show she was joking, but Ida did have enough evil villain in her to make her diabolical in her plans to make him keep his promises. She nodded at him and grinned. “Also, you need to go retrieve pictures to show me,” she added. She loved children, and she loved her sisters’ children. She was starting to have more nieces and nephews than she knew what to do with. Idalia was so used to having such a large family where every new addition was treated like a celebrity. She couldn’t imagine Cecil not going to see the little one. “You definitely need to go before they grow old, they’re only little babies for so long.”

Ida waved her hand dismissively, that claim making no sway in her argument. “It’s all personal preference, I mean I’m still not a huge fan of beer myself.” She said, though Cecil probably knew that, Cecil knew all of her drink choices. When she came in and asked for a drink he knew exactly what she would like. He had a gift. Idalia giggled, “That’s because you’re a master drink maker, is there a technical name for that? Like a boozatier?” She giggled and covered her mouth blushing bright red. She flapped her hand. “Let’s just forget I said that.” She recovered and nodded excitedly. “I like it. You’ll be the most famous bartender in the world. People would come far and wide just to see you in action.” She bobbed her head, completely believing that he could be the greatest in the world.

“Believe it,” She said tossing her hair over her shoulder in a dramatic gesture. “People will fear having crossed me.” She had a feeling that there were people who already did. Even if she shouldn’t have she absolutely took that as a compliment. She had once been compared to a steamroller, she would get what she wanted no matter what it took. She was not very charitable with her forgiveness and her revenge was icy and harsh. More than one ex-boyfriend had gotten the deep freeze from Idalia and well, in her opinion they deserved it. Smiling as she worked, she scrunched her nose a little as she looked at him with her head tilted at an angle. Cecil was such a cutie. With a shrug and a wave of her hand she dismissed the idea. “I could, but I’d feel bad not taking you, or my sisters.” She added as an afterthought and laughed, “I’m not giving up on the TV Exec though, but he’s gonna have to deal with me working. If I’m going to be on a boat in the Caribbean I’m going to deck that thing out with instruments.” After a moment of pause she raised a brow and sarcastically drawled, “Sexy, eh?”

She shook her head at him, giving him a smile to dismiss his apology. “Oh really? That’s super cool.” Ida paused and considered telling him he didn’t need to but the other part of her was painfully curious. “You wouldn’t mind?” She asked carefully, she knew there were some people who didn’t like their power, hell Idalia had a great love-hate relationship with hers. She knew people from Hammel who left and didn’t use their power but once in a blue moon. She had to admit she was sad that Cecil hadn’t gone to Hammel, she had a feeling they would have been great friends. “Is it like a simulation?” She asked, thinking of an airplane simulator or something like that, where it would be a simulation but they’d still be very much grounded.

[Cecil Wathen]

Cecil had absolutely no want to challenge Idalia, especially since this was something he desperately wanted too. He missed so many of his family’s achievements and celebrations while he was over here and he had no intention at all of missing all of his nephew’s early days. Cecil was never going to be the most present uncle in the world, but he was never going to be a completely absent one either. “I promise there will be hundreds of pictures; you’ll be bored and begging me to stop going on about it before the end.”

Cecil nodded in agreement, adjusting his position slightly to get more comfortable. “It’s pretty much entirely personal preference. I mean, I like cider, but there’s some I like more than others and some I wouldn’t drink if I was being paid too.” When Idalia enquired about the technical name for a master drinks maker, Cecil laughed boldly and nodded quickly. “There is, but I am definitely adopting boozatier for me. That’s incredible! I’m going to get a pin-badge made and everything.” It was joyous just getting to relax and unwind like this, and Cecil found himself smiling more than he had done in months. “I clearly need to practice doing all the fancy bottle spinning and such, then, if I’m going to become some kind of sideshow act.”

Idalia’s fierceness and determination were aspects of her personality that Cecil absolutely admired. She was proactive and so very unafraid of pushing to get what she wanted, and while he knew that trait could sometimes perhaps rub on people, it did help him give her a lot of respect. He knew she had worked so incredibly hard to get to the position she was in, and she deserved her hard-won limelight. “You could always arrange it with all your sisters; set a date and all of you go on one big party holiday. I bet you’d have a blast.” He chuckled lightly as he finished off his drink. “Totally sexy. Especially since he’ll be a TV Exec, so he’ll be boring as hell. You can spend all day playing with your research, then head to the on-board bar in the evening to keep me and Horatio company.”

When Idalia asked if he minded giving a demo of his power Cecil shook his head quickly. “Nah, I don’t mind at all. I kinda enjoy doing it, actually. Well, within limits. The side-effects if I push it aren’t so fun.” At her next question Cecil’s brow furrowed a bit in thought. “Ahhh… Kind of, I guess, but not quite. It’s easier to show you. Here…” Cecil spent a moment deciding on what to do, and then the perfect image occurred to him. He concentrated, filling Idalia’s minds-eye with the image of Mephit and Ike bounding around chasing each other in the snow. To show it wasn’t just a memory, large fluttering moth wings graced Mephit’s back, and Ike possessed little horns and bat wings that flapped with each long stride he took. The scene was crystal clear, right down to the falling snowflakes and the sounds of their excited barks filling the evening air.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia laughed warmly and waved her hand. She’d lived through his sister’s going on and on about their children and showing millions of pictures of this time they did that or when there. It was a joy, it was especially entertaining to see if when the kids looks less than enthusiastic about the pictures. Adding those to the collection of things to show future boyfriends or girlfriends. “So long as there are pictures, I’m very good at faking it,” she grinned and made ‘ah’ing noises and nodded her head miming looking at picture after picture. When someone was showing pictures that was really all that it took, they were going to be doing most of the talking anyways. Idalia was guilty of the same thing, when she’d had her tornado chasing adventure she’d forced her sisters and parents to sit through all of the pictures of things they really couldn’t care less about.

“That’s understandable,” Idalia agreed, sure beer wasn’t her favorite but she drank it when it was around. Idalia blushed brightly and shook her head, nearly spewing the drink he’d made her out her nose as she struggled not to laugh. Swallowing only brought out the laughter she was holding in and she shook her head struggling to breathe through his laughter. “Oh no,” she barely got out and started dabbing at her eyes as they watered. “I can see it now,” she covered her mouth as giggles invaded her speech. “Cecil, Master Boozatier!” She was a mixture of amused and embarrassed and ended up covering her mouth with her hands and planting her forehead on Cecil’s shoulder, as if in shame. Lifting her head up she gave him a dazzling smile, “Oh Cecil, then you’ll have to come and serve me drinks, or else I’ll never get through the line to get a drink from you!”

Cocking her head, Idalia considered the idea. It wasn’t a bad one, it would take planning but, her and her sister’s hadn’t been on a trip in such a long time. It was true, they hadn’t been to Greece, that would be the ideal vacation and she knew she could probably get most of her sisters on board and well after that it would be convincing the ones who didn’t want to leave their families. Idalia had her work to consider and she was married to that about as well as her sisters were married to people. “It would be fun, we haven’t done that in such a long time,” she smiled at the idea, it would be just like old times, only instead of being girls they were women and honestly she hadn’t lived with some of her younger sisters very long. Idalia gave a startled laugh and nodded her head. She opened her mouth to reply when a sly grin took over her face and she changed her mind about what she wanted to say. “Horatio? So I get boring, if smoking hot, TV Exec and you get sexy and exotic Horatio?” She phrased it as a challenge but her smile spoke of nothing but humor.

“Oh,” she nodded understandingly, she definitely knew all about the whole power side effects thing. She was never going to forgive her power for the time she saw sunlight and stepped out into a drenching downpour. Ida prepared herself, not really sure what she was preparing for but she waited for something to happen. Keeping silent as to not interrupt and distract Cecil she waited and watched him work. Initially she thought it was a trick of the light but when she did a doubletake back to the dogs she laughed in delight. How cute! Mephit and Ike had wings. “Oh my goodness! I was right! He is a little devil!” She gasped behind her hand. It was strangely adorable. Demon dogs, but somehow the dopey expression on Ike’s face mixed with the wings and horns seemed to fit his personality just so well. The dog was a little devil but he did all of it innocently. How rare a quality was that? It certainly wasn’t human.

[Cecil Wathen]

Cecil rolled his eyes at Idalia's little show of faking enthusiasm over baby photos, but there was a bright grin on his lips. “Hey, part of my job involves spotting people who are faking things, you know. If you're not earnest, I'll know, and I'll... revoke your fancy cocktail rights, or something.” He chuckled warmly, relaxedly rolling his glass between his broad hands. The thought of being able to show off pictures of his nephew, even to those people who would likely be bored after the first two or three, was an admittedly exciting one, and just yet another reason to spur on with the visit home as soon as possible.

As Idalia almost choked on her drink at his comment, Cecil laughed boldly and patted her back, trying to assist her with the whole 'breathing' thing. “Easy there, tiger! You need those lungs. How will people know what the weather's doing if you're all drowned, ey?” He waited a moment as she regained her composure a little, and when she hung her head on his shoulder he rubbed her back warmly. “I will, you know. Next time you get here I'll have a pin-badge with that on, you'll see.” Whether he actually would or not was still to be seen, but for the moment it definitely didn't hurt to laugh about it. “Surely you'd just have a VIP badge so you could cut to the front, right?”

The thought of going away for a mega holiday with all his family was an idea Cecil had long considered, but there were too many hurdles in the way that would likely prevent it from ever happening. If Idalia could get the chance to do it with her family, Cecil would encourage it every step of the way. “It would; it's not exactly something you get to do every year. May as well make the most of the opportunity, while it's there. And you wouldn't have to worry about Ike; I'm sure Mephit would be happy to keep an eye on him for a while.” Idalia picking up on the name Cecil had magic'd up for his sailor-man caused him to laugh and shrug his broad shoulders. “Well, Horatio doesn't speak English very well, and he doesn't speak Welsh at all, so we'd mostly just end up grunting at each other all the time anyway.”

Cecil knew he was very lucky in having a power that he enjoyed, and one that did come in very handy from time to time. He knew there were people that truly detested there and that caused them all manner of trouble, and so he never complained even when the hallucinations were at their most horrifying, because he knew that it could be so much worse. Idalia's reaction to the image of the dogs was delightful, and Cecil smiled broadly as he watched her expression while sending the pictures into her mind. He left it there for a few long moments, then faded it away to another picture. A small seafront town, lit up in the early twilight, with a backdrop of rolling hillsides. "That's where I grew up." A deep twist of homesickness pulled in his stomach, the sound of his internal sigh accidentally carrying over into Idalia's mind. Then, just because he could, he placed a large red dragon circling lazily in the darkening sky above the town.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia gasped, her hands flying to her lips in a gesture of dramatic shock. “You wouldn’t,” she said with equal drama before breaking her act with a smile and a light laugh. “Oh Cecil, you know I’d love to see your pictures. No faking it,” Idalia promised with a bright smile. She honestly loved it, it allowed her to live vicariously through them. Her sisters with their children and her friends with travels. She took another sip of her drink, relishing it. Cecil had skill, he truly did, he was far too humble. There was not a single other human being that she felt that she could trust utterly to make her decisions for her, drink decisions that is. Cecil never let her down.

Cecil’s ‘helpful’ efforts only served to make Ida laugh harder and make her struggle greater. Recovering just enough to shoot her bright mirth filled eyes at him and say, “They’ll look out their window, of course,” she said sarcastically. She didn’t take people like that seriously anymore and whenever someone came at her with that kind of argument she knew inherently that she couldn’t argue with people like that so she didn’t bother. She leaned against Cecil, partly to hide her smile now. She lifted her head and smiled at him. “I can’t wait to see it.” She giggled and nodded her head. “I don’t need a VIP badge,” she gave him a mischievous look and shifted ever so slightly so her breasts stuck out a tad, “My badge is built in.” She laughed, this flirting was fun, but what might make it even better was that it didn’t have to lead anywhere, it was just friendly. She shrugged, “And when that doesn’t work, I can always tell them I know the bartenders phone number.” She winked at him. Not that she ever had, that would be vastly unfair to Cecil and she wasn’t that selfish.

“No,” she agreed, “But it would be fun. You know, Cecil you’re right, I’m gonna see if I can pull it off.” She smiled at Cecil and rubbed his arm affectionately. “Thank you so much, Cecil, that really means a lot to me. If I could take Mephit for you, you know I would. It would just be so unfair, I already feel bad leaving Ike alone s much, I just wish I didn’t work so much,” she lamented to her dear friend. It would be so unfair to Mephit, Mephit had a lot of energy and Idalia barely had enough energy herself to get Ike out and about. Though those obedience classes were helping and she was on the fence now about whether or not she could bring him into work. Maybe the night shift wouldn’t be so bad. The mood lightened again as they started discussing Horatio. She put her hand over her heart and sniffed dramatically, “Ah, true love.” She teased.

The image of the dogs faded from her mind and she gasped involuntarily as the new view took her breath away. She put a hand over her heart, she’d never seen anything so beautiful. Well, unless one counts a supercell and accompanying tornado as beautiful. She turned and gaped at Cecil and felt a strange sadness that she couldn’t identify as her own. She reached out and touched Cecil’s arm. “Oh Cecil, it’s beautiful,” she said barely above a whisper, her eyes following the dragon with wonder. She looked for Cecil, not sure if she could still see him in the vision but knowing where he was by feel she gave him a look that spoke volumes. “Oh, Cecil, go. The bar can take care of itself for a while. Go and see your family.” She squeezed his arm and smiled sweetly at him. She was so happy, she couldn’t even imagine growing up in a place like this, it was like something out of a dream. She wasn’t sure if the longing she felt for this place was real or imagined. “I could look at this all day,” she mused her eyes turning toward the dragon and her heart remembered it’s childhood dream to see the world and her imagination where dragons were real and unicorns filled the forests and she was a princess and Pegasus came down the clouds just for her.