The RingBoys » Places

         

Nadine R. Valencia

---

"N-no, there's no reason for you to thank me," Nadine disagreed, shaking her head sadly. "I mean... I didn't find the box, I didn't help open it, I didn't even really do anything. I just happened to be a fourth trusted person there, and there was a fourth ring, so the others let me have it. I-in fact, I didn't even really expect anything to come of this. So... I'm not the one you should be thanking. I was no help at all in getting you out. I didn't even think to try. That's why... I'm sorry." She gave a wry, mirthless smile, looking sadly up at the boy from within the folds of the blanket she'd half pulled over her head in fright. It looked more like she had clad herself in some sort of bizarre hooded robe than simply slipped herself under the covers.

She seemed rather gloomy for a moment, but started from this demeanor when Niko addressed her again, referring to her as "Miss Valencia," something she really wasn't used to, save for in scoldings or overly impersonal talks with her disappointed teachers. Instinctively, she grimaced at those two words, and yet, she swiftly mastered herself, trying not to think about such things in a situation like this. She also couldn't help but notice that Niko hadn't answered her question about how to address him, but decided not to be rude by commenting on it. Playing it safe, she decided to just use the same polite, not overly familiar manner of address as he had just done, if she needed to.

"E-er... Y-you can just call me... N-Nadine, if you like," She said quietly. She hoped that didn't come off as sounding strange, as he seemed to be a little older than herself even discounting his apparent longevity, and, if the note was anything to go by, he was supposed to be some sort of guardian for her. Would it be odd of her to ask him to refer to her so informally, so suddenly? Especially considering the standards of the time period Niko had probably lived in. Maybe, from his point of view, it might even seem scandalous for a young lady like her to allow him to refer to her so informally right from their first meeting. At the very least, it would probably seem weird, which worried her. Nevertheless, she had a feeling that the others would probably laugh at her if she had this boy refer to her in such an indirect, respectful manner, and it might even seem like she was exploiting him to boost her own ego. She didn't want that, so she decided to risk it.

While she was fretting about these things, however, she looked up only to find that the boy had suddenly come much closer to her, and was looking inquisitively at her, as though closely inspecting her appearance. She couldn't help but recoil slightly beneath his direct gaze, uneasily wrapping herself more tightly in the blankets. Had she been wrong about his eyesight? It seemed this was at least partially the case, since his words made it obvious that he'd noticed something. And yet, given his attitude, it seemed his vision was at least partially impaired.

"A-ah, n-no...!" Nadine quickly denied, shaking her head nervously. "I-it's just that... E-er... I'm..." She stammered quite a bit at this point, not wanting to say something embarrassing by revealing her current state of dishevelment and lack of more modest clothing than her pajama-gown. Nevertheless, she had a feeling that if she didn't say something to that effect, Niko might get curious as to what she was hiding under the blanket, and try to see for himself. Needless to say, that wouldn't end well for either of them. So, Nadine resolved to at least partially clarify the situation before it got any worse.

"I'm... still.. in my bedclothes," She said at last, flushing a bright shade of red as she more mumbled the words into the blanket than actually saying them directly. Nevertheless, they'd probably be audible enough to easy interpret. She just hoped she didn't have to go into detail as to why exactly being seen in her current state would be embarrassing, since that would doubtless result in a conversation much more awkward than she cared at all to have.