Rain Dance

Voltaire let out a small yelp despite himself. This wasn't the kind of treatment he had been expecting. He looked away and focused very hard on not letting his arm suddenly ignite in defense. This reminded him of needles giving him shots, and he hated shots. This wasn't a shot, the reverse of it really, but he kept thinking of doctors and shots anyway. At least Adair wasn't around to see this, or the Hunter would never hear the end of it.

At least he was starting to feel better, physically anyway.

Kimi pulled away, coughing and spitting the blood to the cave floor. "I think I got all of it for now" She panted, wiping her mouth on her long flowing sleeve. "But if it starts to feel bad again, you'll need to suck the poison I missed out." She stated.

She looked away, her face blushing a darker green. "You should rest. Trevor and I will take you to your friends when you feel better"

Trevor and I will take you to your friends when you feel better, she had said. He groaned and leaned back against the wall. When did she become the protector and he the protected? Well, he supposed that happened when he got that venomous bite in his arm. But that wasn't the point. He was supposed to be protecting her.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit," he growled, lightly hitting the back of his head against the cave wall. "Why do I always have to screw up?"

Kimi coughed lightly again, ducking her head. Blood did horrible things to her. It made her feel sick, especially since it reminded her of all the stuff he made her do.

She lurched forward suddenly to fall with her head in Voltaire's lap. She was out like a light.

Trevor hissed lightly and rushed forward to examine Kimi and make sure Voltaire didn't hurt her.

"Huh?...Hey, you alright? Hey!" Voltaire exclaimed, shaking her. "...Crap," Was it a reaction to the demonic energy in his blood? No, that should only be bad for humans...

He finally noticed Trevor glaring at him. His own aqua-green eyes glared back at the fierce little summon.

"Don't give me that look. I didn't do anything to her," he growled.

Directly, a voice in the back of his head added pessimistically.

Trevor growled at him deeply.

Kimi, on the other hand wasn't hurt at all. She was breathing deeply and evenly, probably the most sleep she'd gotten in a fortnight. She had only fainted from the taste of blood sliding down her throat. Her green flush was slowly fading back to her normal pale skin tone, which only caused her hair to look a finer white.

Voltaire relaxed a little when he affirmed that her breathing was normal. He still didn't understand why she suddenly collapsed though, so he was still uneasy. More importantly, her pet wasn't happy with him regardless of what actually happened to Kimi.

Well, it probably can't attack me with Kimi right on top of me like this. Even if he does, I can blow some fire at it to keep it at bay until Kimi wakes up.

Trevor stayed a healthy distance away from Voltaire. That didn't stop the evil looks or the hateful growls.

Kimi woke a short while later with a groan. She sat up with a start, her face turning a dark shade of green. "I'm so sorry!" She gasped. "I-I didn't mean to faint on you!" She hastily apologised.

"Apologize to hairball, not to me," Voltaire answered, pointing to Trevor. "So what happened? Didn't get yourself poisoned, did you? I ain't worth that much fuss."

Kimi's blush darkened as she pulled Trevor into her arms to comfort him. "... No. Its not that. Its just... The taste of blood." She mumbled shyly. "I-It makes me sick. It does unnatural things to me and I can't control it." She but her lip as a few tears came to her eyes. "I'm a monster..."

Ah hell, she's crying

"Uh...well, whatever. If you're a monster do am I," Voltaire answered, lazily blowing fire upward to prove it. "I don't know many people that aren't monsters in some way, really. And that's just counting people and not actual demons."

He glanced at the bite mark.

"At least you didn't, like, drink a bunch of my blood or something," he went on. "Though I guess it wouldn't have been a good idea since it was poisoned anyway...but you didn't have to do that if it was going to make you sick. My body would've gotten over it after a while, since it heals itself pretty fast. I probably would've..."

He sighed.

"Look, I suck at comforting people. Just stop crying, okay?"

Kimi nodded with a small sniffle. "Sorry" She mumbled. "I can take you to your friends now if you want." She stated softly. "If it would make you feel more comfortable."

"Do you know where they are, or suspect you might know?" questioned Voltaire, standing up. "Well, either way I'm ready whenever you are."

There was an awkward pause.

"...And, uh, look, I don't blame you for crying or anything. It sounds like you've been through a lot of crap."

"Trevor can find them. His sense of smell is far superior to either of ours." Kimi stated, standing after releasing the creature. "And thank you... For at least pretending to care."

Trevor started sniffing at the entrance to the cave.

"Hey, it's not like I don't care, I just...not good at fixing things with people," Voltaire responded, shaking his head. "I try to fix things and I end up making things worse. Anyway, let's follow furball."

Kimi nodded. "I understand. My brother-" She stopped to take a deep calming breath. "My brother wasn't good with emotions either. After mother- well, he just couldn't cope with anything so he just locked himself away." She gently led Voltaire along after Trevor as the creature led them into the darkness.

"Lousy family, huh?" remarked Voltaire, thinking of Adair and his heartless relations. "I've always been an orphan, so I don't really know what's family's like. Kind of like a guild, I guess. Anyway, from what I've seen of families lately I'm glad I don't have any."

"Mother- well she wasn't really my mother, Negau and I are only half siblings. Mother was different for a demon. She cared alot and raised brother as if he were human, the way she had been raised by her father. Talmara believed that had made him weak, and so he did things to make him stronger. After a while, brother found it easier to just close himself off. When he did that, I became his new victim." Kimi explained "To Goad brother out of his own mind"

"Classy," Voltaire muttered. "You and Adair should meet. You guys could discuss royalty pains and evil families for hours."

He heard a skitter, and fried a nearby cockroach the size of a pitbull. It died quickly, to Voltaire's relief.

"Brother cares for me deeply. If he could, he would have come find me. But he knows I am better off" Kimi mumbled.

The rest of their walk continued in silence until Trevor led them right up the cave Voltaire's companions were in. Trevor and Kimi stopped just out of the light cast by their fire.

Adair was the first to come out, nearly tripping over Trevor.

"Taire! We were about to go look for you, you know," the redhead greeted, looking a little annoyed but mostly relieved.

"Volty's back?" called Ava from the cave, sticking her large bird head out to see. "Oh hi Volty! Fiery was worried. Oh, who is your friend?"

Kimi released Voltaire's arm and started to back away. "I'll leave you now" She mumbled.

Trevor growled at the large bird he now viewed as a threat.

"Hey, hey, hold on," Voltaire protested, grabbing Kimi's arm. "At least stay and have something to eat. We've got plenty of food and water. Least I can do with your help."

He turned back to Adair, who was giving the Hunter a curious (and amused?) look. "This is Kimi. She helped me find you guys. I had to take the long way around since it's was pouring outside. Furball over there is Trevor, her summon. Don't try to groom him, Ava. That thing's vicious."

The gold-and-red phoenix was not intimidated by the feline creature, but rather stared at him with wonder of a little kid seeing something new. She seemed sad that she couldn't touch the creature.

"Anyway, this is Ava" -Voltaire gestured to the large bird - "and this is Adair" - he pointed at the other human in front of him- "And if you can survive me, you can survive them."

Kimi blushed green. She kept her head down and mumbled something about 'not wanting to intrude' but didn't pull away. If she pulled away and he didn't let go, Trevor would bite him. And if Trevor bit him, there wasn't anything she could do to help him; Trevor was deathly poisonous.

Seeming satisfied that Ava wasn't a total threat, Trevor turned back to Kimi and growled at Voltaire. It was just a warning growl.

"Yeah, yeah," Voltaire said to Trevor, before carefully leading Kimi into the cave room.

"It's nice to meet you," said Adair to Kimi, as he and Ava followed them into cavern. It didn't look much different from the rest of the cave, except for some bones and meat to the side and a campfire in the middle. "Did 'Taire behave himself?" he added with a slight smirk.

"Of course I did," Voltaire said indignantly as he sat down near the flames.

"I was wasn't asking you. I was asking her."

Ava took up a piece of meat in her beak and offered it to Kimi, and then offered a piece to Trevor as well.