Rain Dance

Kimi woke with a start at Ava's alarm. She let out a cry of her own, starting to thrash. She panicked easily, especially because of past experiences.

Once Ava fully woke up as recognized her attacker.

"Volty! Volty, stop that!" she scolded, merely annoyed by the attack. She gave him a few light pecks on the head to discourage him. "You're making Kimi scared!"

Kimi clutched at Ava's feathers and tried to make herself as small as possible, whimpering.

Ava grew more irritated as Voltaire's attack persisted. "Volty!" she barked, swatting him down with her free wing and pinning him there. "Behave!"

"...Leave her alone," he muttered, too tired from his sudden outburst to put up much of a struggle. "Don't hurt her..."

Kimi peeked out from under Ava's wing.

"I'm not doing anything bad to Kimi," Ava assured, preening Voltaire's hair some. "Kimi's not a phoenix type."

He still eyed the firebird suspiciously. Ava instead turned her attention to Kimi.

"It's okay, Kimi, it's okay," she soothed, grooming her hair.

"Wh-what happened?" She quivered.

"Volty got confused," Ava replied simply.

Voltaire let out a huff of indignation.

Kimi gave another small whimper.

Ava gave a disapproving trill at the sight of the two of them.

"Volty, make Kimi feel better," said Ava. She picked up by the scruff of his shirt with her beak and, despite his protests, moved him under the wing where Kimi was. He squirmed uneasily under the feathers.

Kimi clung to Voltaire with another whimper.

The anger and anxiety soon melted into guilt. Voltaire held Kimi close, nuzzling her hair. "Shhh...Shhh..."

"You scared me" Kimi whimpered. "What were you doing out there?"

Voltaire clung to her tighter, unsure of where to begin.

"Thought...thought she was trying to pump demon energy into you," he mumbled. "So I got mad and attacked her. Lot of good that did."

"Why would she do that?" Kimi whimpered. "I'm already a demon"

"To turn you into a phoenix demon," Voltaire clarified.

"I wouldn't do that," Ava protested. "She's not a type that can be turned into a phoenix. Demon energies clash too much."

"She's been giving me and Adair doses without us knowing," Voltaire muttered on. "Or at least has been giving me doses without warning. Adair apparently gave up on being human without telling me."

Kimi clung to him and tucked her head under his chin. "Is that why you were mad?" She whispered

"Yeah," Voltaire replied. He felt so tired, even though he had been sleeping most of the day. He rested his burning brow on Kimi's shoulder.

Kimi clutched his shirt tighter. "I'm sorry" She mumbled.

"It's not you. It's everyone else," Voltaire answered, kissing her shoulder. "I should be the one apologizing. I've treated you like crap today."

Kimi didn't respond at first. "You're healing" She finally mumbled

"Not really an excuse," he muttered back. He began to shiver despite the heat.

Kimi looked up at him in concern. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah. Just...tired, t-that's all," Voltaire replied, giving her a few trembling kisses. "I-I'm a-alright."

Kimi looked up at him with eyes wide with concern. "B-but you're shaking"