Rain Dance

Concentrating, Trevor summoned an Item from the stone. It fell to the ground next to them, and Trevor drew his paws away from the stone.

The item was a beautiful deep purple gown with dark green trim, with ribbon lacing up the back.

Leaving the stone in Voltaire's hands, Trevor began gathering the dress. It was obvious that he was going to take it to Kimi, but it was just a little too big for him to handle on his own.

"...Need some help?" Voltaire ventured to ask. He knew Kimi was going to look pretty in that...but that wasn't the point! He wasn't sure if Trevor wanted him going back down with him, since it could be...awkward.

Trevor shrugged and left the dress for Voltaire to deal with. He did take the Magis stone back into his mouth though.

Voltaire gazed at the dress. Apparently this was his duty now. He let out a huff and picked up the dress and started going back down to the collection of hot springs. He paused at the corner.

"Hey Kimi, you decent? I've got your dress for you."

Kimi blushed at his voice. "Um... Yes." She replied, slinking farther into the water so that her shoulders were covered and only her head could be seen. "I'm somewhat presentable."

A little wary of what "somewhat presentable" entailed for her kind, Voltaire cautiously stepped in. Seeing her mostly hidden by the water, he decided it was okay to come into further but to keep a safe distance. And try not to look at her too much, even though he couldn't really see anything.

"Uh...where do you want me to put this?" he asked, referring to the dress.

"Oh... Um... If you could set it on my cloak with my other things..." Kimi mumbled shyly.

Voltaire glanced to where the cloak lay. It wasn't very far from where she was in the pool.

Well of course not, he thought. Naked people want their clothes nearby so they can reach them quickly. They might get stolen otherwise.

That didn't make the walk there any less awkward though. He kept his eyes everywhere but straight ahead as he deposited the dress on the cloak. Then he quickly turned around and briskly walked a few paces away.

"Thank you" Kimi mumbled. "For all your help I mean."

"No problem. Least we could do since you helped us," Voltaire replied, pausing but still keeping his back turn. "...Uh, maybe you could stay for the tournament. Not as a contestant, as a spectator. Tournaments tend to be a lot safer than outside just because they are so many demons in one place. I know you and your fellow demons don't really get along, but most of the demons here do, at least to the point of not killing each other."

"Um... Alright. That-that would be nice" Kimi blushed darker.

"It's settled then," Voltaire answered, feeling a bit more relieved. One of the main reasons he and Adair went to these tournaments was for the protection it provided, particularly from the Gales, so he thought that it should provide Kimi with decent safety as well. "Though try not too get too worried during the fights. Like I said, we have doctors who treat us after the fights."

"Alright. I'll stay out of the way" Kimi smiled.

"Well, you'll see us around probably, besides the fights. I think it'll still be a couple days before everything officially starts" said Voltaire, starting to walk away again. "So...see you later."

He walked out of the hot spring area. He never did get around to enjoy them himself, but it wasn't like he could just strip while she was there. He didn't have much shame, but he had some.

Kimi carefully climbed out of the hotspring. She felt much better now, stronger too. She slid her undergarments on and then the dress. She pulled the ribbon tight at the bottom, so the top was tight, and gathered the rest of her things. Trevor appeared through the steam, and led her back to the hunter.

"Um... Voltaire?" She asked shyly. "Could you, um, tie the ribbon?"

Voltaire jumped, not expecting her back so soon.

"Uh, sure. Just don't expect anything fancy and pretty," Voltaire replied, going over and tying the ribbon in a simple but effective knot. He never was any good at bows.

"Hey, so this is where you've been," greeted a friendly but gruff voice.

Voltaire startled again (dammit, everyone was sneaking up on him today) and noticed an older man with short salt-and-pepper hair giving him the usual easy smile.

"...Hey Barret," he greeted, feeling a bit embarrassed at being caught tying a girl's hair ribbon. Voltaire the Handmaid.

"Who's your friend?" asked Barret. "Another phoenix in the fold?"

'No, she just helped us get through all the rain," Voltaire explained. Changelings were usually referred to by what type of demon their familiar was. Ava was a phoenix, so he and Adair were referred to as The Phoenixes. "Anyway, this is Kimi. She's going to be a spectator once the tournament starts. Kimi, this old man here is Barrett. He's been doing this kind of thing forever."

Kimi looked to the floor. "Hello" She mumbled shyly.

Trevor growled at the newcomer

Barrett gave Trevor a curious but unalarmed look. "Pet?" he asked.

"Strong intelligent pet. He can talk and tear up monster centipedes," Voltaire explained. "Speaking of intelligent pets, where's Raizin? And Curtis, for that matter?"

"He's a cat. He hates water. Why would he be going to a hot spring?" Barrett replied with a laugh. "As for Curtis, he'd love to, but hot springs are bad for zombies."

"Everything seems to be bad for zombies," Voltaire remarked. "He must hate it. I know drinking is bad for zombies, but he does it anyway."

"Drinking is bad for the living, much less the dead," Barrett replied, seeming irritated by the idea of alcohol. "You should lay off it some yourself."

"Eh, whatever."

"Um... I-I'll go wait with Ava" Kimi mumbled.

"Just stay with me then. That's where I'm going," replied Voltaire. "Might take a little while anyway. You'd think that finding a big red-and-yellow bird wouldn't be hard, but you'd be surprised."

"If you think that's hard, try finding a little black cat," Barrett said with a grin, strolling past them. "Anyway, see you guys later. Behave yourselves."

Voltaire grumbled something under his breath, then turned to Trevor. "Lead the way."

Trevor glared up at Voltaire "What am I, your tour guide?" He growled warningly.

Kimi stepped past him. "She said she would wait farther up this tunnel" She murmured

"Fair enough. If we do have trouble we can always ask someone," replied Voltaire, slightly miffed at Trevor. He went on ahead, going back to the main tunnel system.

It didn't take long to get noisy. Belle and a darker wolf, Caleb, scampered past them, leaving behind trails of frost. Those were two changelings that wouldn't be visiting the hot springs anytime soon. He wondered who else was at the tournament. The Wolves and the Cats were, but he hadn't seen anyone else yet.

He noticed Adair waiting near the end of the tunnel, Belle bouncing around him happily while Caleb waited for her with some impatience. Belle acted more like a dog than a wolf as far as Voltaire was concerned. Adair took note of Voltaire and Kimi and waved at them. There was a bloody bandage on one arm.

Kimi blinked in surprise. "What did you do to your arm, Adair?" She asked in shock.

"Blood offering," Adair explained, though he looked slightly annoyed. Voltaire knew it had nothing to do with the required cut to free blood, which he was mostly used to. It was just the way Kimi had phrased it. It was the way non-tournament people asked it after hearing about his post-Chiaroscuro depression fits and then seeing the scars on his arm.

"Tournaments usually require you to give some blood to drip on some idol or jewel or something," Voltaire added, showing his own scars. "It's not like we're emo or anything. It's just a stupid demon rule. Blood offering, doctor's visit's, all stupid prerequisite stuff."

"Doctor's visits aren't stupid," Adair corrected. "You just hate the shots."

"Don't remind me," Voltaire answered with a slight cringe.

Caleb sniffed at Kimi. Voltaire noticed this and gave him an annoyed nudge with his foot.

"Oh. I know what a blood offering is." Kimi replied. She rubbed her sleeved arms absently. "Though what my kind associate it with is far less, pleasant." She didn't even notice Caleb. "Where's Ava? I was going to wait with her"