Rain Dance

"Okay, take it easy then," Adair replied. "Make sure Taire does too."

Said Hunter of subject was just getting out of the bathroom, fully dressed and still steaming slightly.

"Okay" Kimi chirped.

Adair walked out of the kitchen only to notice Voltaire walking down the hall. He didn't look too bad, though he did seem tired.

"Hey," the Hunter greeted blandly. "Finally wake up, did you?"

"Yeah," Adair replied. "Everything okay?"

Voltaire gave out a huff. "We're...kinda screwed."

Kimi poked her head from the door. "It'll be done soon, so don't wander off" she smiled

"Alright," Voltaire called, before turning back to Adair.

"What's going on?" asked Adair.

Voltaire took a deep breath. He might as well start at the beginning. "Well, I'm evolving, or will be pretty soon-"

"What?" exclaimed Adair. "That's impossible! Ava said she was going to stop that if-"

"Adair, you know?" asked Voltaire, his voice disbelieving and low. "All this time you've fucking known?"

Dawn stuck his head out the kitchen doorway. "Take it outside, I'm not sure how long Damon can keep Kimi otherwise occupied."

"Fine," growled Voltaire, leering at Adair as he went outside. Adair followed quietly.

"Thank you~" Dawn called before retreating back into the kitchen

They walked a few feet from the house before stopping.

"So, how long have you known?" asked Voltaire, turning around.

"...Only a little while," Adair replied, looking away from the Hunter's hard gaze. "About the middle of the last tournament, I think."

"So why didn't you tell me?" questioned Voltaire. "Scratch that for now. What do you know?"

Adair took a deep breath. "The fiery lines are worms, which is what a phoenix really is, a parasitic worm that alters and takes over its host. It usually favors birds, but it can live in certain other demons or animals as well."

"Including humans," Voltaire deduced, feeling slightly sick. Those strings were worms. He had freaking worms in him like some mangy street mutt. The grand firebird demon was little more than a parasite, or the result of one.

In the kitchen, Kimi finished cooking and turned to fetch the boys, but Dawn stopped her. "Let them talk. They can eat afterwards"

"So why didn't you tell me this earlier?" growled Voltaire.

"Because Ava was supposed to take the focus off of you and onto me," Adair explained. "She said if I evolved then it would be less necessary to evolve you too."

"...So what, you're just giving up on your humanity just like that?' asked Voltaire. "You dumbass, I did this to save your ass, not mine."

"Look, you have something to go back to. I don't!" Adair snapped. "If I become a phoenix, maybe I'll be able to heal myself and possibly save my family so neither of us have to go through this crap anymore! I...I..." He swayed slightly, some black-and-white flame coming out of his mouth.

"Go talk to Ava about it," Voltaire snarled, more annoyed by the impeding Chiaroscuro fit than anything. "Or beat the crpa out of her. I don't care. But I don;t really have anything to go back to at this point either."

He left Adair and went back inside.

Kimi was using a ladle to fill some bowls with stew. She looked up when Voltaire came back in. "Is something the matter?" She asked softly.

"Mr. Hero's having one of his Chiaroscuro fits. Might be a few minutes before he gets back in, and when he does he'll be depressing as hell," Voltaire muttered.

"Oh, Alright" Kimi smiled softly. "Would you like some stew? To get your strength back up?"

Damon stood from the table. "If you're well enough, tomorrow I can begin your training with Demon magic" he stated

"Might as well," Voltaire replied, sitting down. He hoped to finish before Adair came in. "What kind of demon magic?"

"Combat. Mostly" Damon replied. "I might be able to get in some of the difficult survival spells if you take to the combat skills"

"Combat shouldn't be too hard," Voltaire replied lazily. "What do you mean by survival magic? Like healing?"

Damon shook his head. "Angels heal, Demons hide."

Voltaire snorted. "I know that feeling."

"We're predators. We need to know certain skills to survive." Damon stated

"I'm a Hunter, human or changeling or whatever, so it's the same here," Voltaire answered. He looked over to see if his food was ready yet.

Kimi set the bowl in front of Voltaire with a small smile. "Here you go"

"Thanks," Voltaire replied, soon starting his dinner. "But yeah, combat or survival, I can definitely use both."

"We all can always use more help" Damon replied

"Guess so," Voltaire replied. "We just rarely want to ask for it."