[@LiegeLord]
Cecilia didn't say or ask anything while James explained things to Helena. As was her tendency, she silently contemplated these revelations about the mysterious symbiotic beings like James and Neric as well as the kind of bond the two of them share. She didn't stop petting when Neric growled, although she was concerned. There seemed like so much about the two of them that she didn't understand, perhaps that she couldn't understand. She was curious. But that didn't seem like a good enough excuse to ask or mention anything that might upset them. The subject of the girl that they had rescued shot across her mind. The incident earlier still felt like a lingering mistake, the kind she didn't want to make again. Her expression fell a little; she wasn't used to feeling so useless.

She was glad James' attention was elsewhere for the time being, but she knew that pondering on this wouldn't do anyone any good. For a moment she tried to think of something else as she gazed ahead to the trail and nature ahead of them. [color=1a7b30][i]If James could be 'hurt' when Neric is attacked, could he also feel other things... like...?[/i][/color] Cecilia's cheeks flushed a bit when she entertained the notion of James feeling, even a little, her touch as she petted Neric. [color=1a7b30][i]That can't be how it works! Can it?... No! Absolutely not! I have to stop thinking about it... I...[/i][/color] her mind raced when all of a sudden she felt what she immediately turned her head to see as James' hand. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice her hand drawing closer to his until it was too late. "Ah...!" she gasped rather quietly and in a way that was completely unfamiliar to her. Her face noticeably flushed, she looked up at James, immediately withdrawing her hand.

Cecilia then heard a commotion behind them; Helena, Aki, Ivy and the white-haired boy she saw earlier were gathered around someone new, though from where she was, it was hard to get more information than that. Either way, it appeared as though the hike was at a stop, at least temporarily. "W-what's going on? You think we should go see?" she anxiously attempted to ask James and Neric, though she was partially looking in the direction of the others, hoping James would pay attention to them and not to how red her cheeks were.