Rain Dance

"Dragons. A royal pain in the ass to fight," Voltaire muttered. "Water element and electricity."

"Kick your ass ever time," Ruben added.

"Shut up."

"Oh..." Kimi mumbled. She continued picking at her food, eating only a little.

Voltaire snorted, smoke coming out of his nostrils. "Well whatever. We'll beat 'em next time."

"You keep saying that," Ruben replied, walking off to get food himself.

Voltaire focused angrily on his meal. He forgot how cutting Ruben's sparse comments could be sometimes. Usually everyone was busy being irritated with Omen instead.

Kimi ate the rest of the little bit of food she got and patiently waited for Voltaire to finish so she knew what to do with her dish.

After Voltaire cleaned off his plate and finished his water he carried his dishes over to the sink area. He had just deposited the tableware when a small dark-haired boy in exotic clothes happily flew around Voltaire and Kimi.

"Hi!" the boy greeted cheerfully.

Kimi placed her plate in the sink as well and stood close to Voltaire's side shyly, holding onto the hem of his shirt as she looked at the boy through her lashes.

"Whacha want, prince?" asked Voltaire with some annoyance.

"I just wanted to say hi to the new Phoenix," answered the Prince innocently, floating over to her. "Oh, and we have a match tomorrow. We're gonna win again, so maybe you should quit before you get hurt?"

"In your dreams kid," Voltaire growled back with a sneer. "Now stop bothering us and get something to eat, if you can find the food booth by yourself that is."

The prince crossed his arms and tried to look dignified. "I can do that just fine." He floated off.

"Was he one of the dragons?" Kimi asked quietly.

"Yeah," Voltaire grumbled. It made him wary of where the other one was. "You could tell, huh?"

"Just from the way you acted" Kimi mumbled. "Let's bring Adair some food and go back to the room. I don't like it in here."

"That's the plan," Voltaire answered, picking up a bag to put some food in. He turned back around and nearly walked right into Mikaela. "Goddammit, don't do that!"

"Hi Blondie," she replied undeterred.

Kimi hid behind Voltaire and held onto his shirt again.

"Hey c'mon, I don't bite," Mikaela replied, bending over to get a better look at Kimi. She noted Voltaire's protective expression. "Though Blondie might."

Voltaire felt his ears go red and hoped it wouldn't travel to the rest of his face. Mikaela had unintentionally hit more than one spot.

"No, you just drown and electrocute instead," he growled back.

"Because death by fire is so much more pleasant," Mikaela answered sarcastically.

Kimi blushed a light green and hid her face in the back of Voltaire's shirt. This changeling scared her a little.

"C'mon, let's go," Voltaire grumbled, escorting Kimi along. He didn't feel like arguing with Mikaela at the moment. He didn't want Kimi involved if it turned into a spar.

"Chicken," said Mikaela, amused by his retreat.

"Eel," Voltaire replied.

Kimi hurried to keep up with him. "Is that the other dragon changeling?" she asked softly. "She scares me"

"Mikaela scares everybody," Voltaire replied with a smirk. "And she wonders why she's still single."

Voltaire let out a yelp as a splash of cold water sent him stumbling forward. Apparently they weren't out Mikaela's hearing range yet.

Kimi paled as she looked back over her shoulder at the changeling. She hurried back to Voltaire and clung to him in fear again.

"She's not going to attack you. She's not evil. She attacks me because I purposely get on her nerves," Voltaire replied as they left the area. Still, he felt especially angry at the Dragon changeling for spooking Kimi so bad.

Having exacted her watery revenge, Mikaela was now focused on getting food.

"She still scares me" Kimi whimpered

"Meh, she's a brat with a temper," Voltaire went on as they walked back to the cave room, even though he knew Mikaela was a couple years older than him. "When I say she's scary, it's more of a joke than anything. Now Quetzelcoatl, their familiar, he's scary. As in, actually scary. Stay away from him."

Kimi held onto his shirt tighter. "He is?" she whispered

"Yeah," Voltaire continued. "He's called a dragon, but he's really just a giant electric eel. Anyway, he pretty much thinks humans are trash. Treats his own changelings that way. They hate him. That's part of the attitude problem."

"Oh..." Kimi murmured.

"Just be glad we've got Ava," Voltaire said, holding her hand again. "She's overbearing and doesn't always understand things, but she cares. Sometimes too much."