Rain Dance

"Fair enough. Apples travel well," Voltaire answered, nabbing some apples and putting them in the bag. "Oh, and next tournament's about a week away from here, somewhere in a desert apparently."

"Wonderful. I like warm places." Kimi smiled.

"Same here," answered Voltaire as they went out of the cafeteria. "We had a tournament in a tundra area once. About froze my ass off."

Kimi grimaced. "Ice. Horrible stuff."

"Being a fire-type changeling helps some. But it's still cold," Voltaire replied. "Anyway, gonna drop this stuff off at the cave room and then we can go for a walk or whatever. I could use a little fresh air."

"Oh, let me change back into a dress first." Kimi chirped. "So I don't ruin these"

"...You know, most people are more concerned about ruining their dresses than their shirt and pants," Voltaire noted with some amusement.

"I have lots of dresses." Kimi replied. "But only one pair of pants and a shirt. I can ruin dresses and not worry about running out."

"Yeah, guess that's true," Voltaire replied. "But why would you be worried about ruining it anyway? It's just a walk..." He smirked impishly. "Or so I've heard."

"Because I like walking. And I like sitting outside. I don't want to get my pants dirty" Kimi replied. She missed his impish smirk.

"Fair enough," Voltaire answered with a shrug as they approached the cave room. "If you prefer a dress then a dress it is. Go ahead and get changed. Drop the food off while you're there."

"Okay" Kimi smiled. She took the bag and disappeared into the room. She came back out a few moments later in a black dress with purple trim. It had a long skirt, long sleeves, and a high neck. "Okay, let's go"

"Alright," Voltaire replied, taking Kimi's hand. "You look pretty in that."

Kimi blushed a tiny bit. "Thank you" She mumbled somewhat shyly. "This one was one of Lady Tala's, my mother"

"Oh okay," Voltaire answered. "Like I said, I'm an orphan, so I don't have any kind of family stuff. Well, got a last name, but that's it. Know of any Zephyrs?"

"Only you" Kimi replied.

"Yeah, that's what I figured," Voltaire answered casually. "Not that I would know what to do with some long-lost father or brother or uncle or whatever anyway. Well, maybe give long-lost dad a good punch to the face for not being there."

"Well, I'm here for you. And Ava and Adair. They're like family right?" Kimi asked

"...Yeah, I guess so," Voltaire answered. "I guess the old guild counts as family too, though I haven't seen them for a while and probably won't see them anytime soon."

"See? you have lots of family." Kimi smiled, giving his hand a gentle squeeze

Voltaire smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, even if they can be a pain in the ass sometimes. Blood doesn't matter."

Kimi smiled up at him. "That's right. Family is who is in your heart, not your blood"

"Yeah," Voltaire answered. If he wasn't so in love with Kimi he would have been ashamed of such a mushy conversation. "Try telling that to Mr. Hero. He only kinda gets it."

"Okay. Maybe I will later." Kimi smiled.

"Good luck with that," Voltaire commented, before his expression grew more serious. "Well, Adair's problem...Adair knows the Gales are heartless bastards, but he wants to save them and try to get their hearts working again. Which I don't think is likely to happen, but don't tell him that. He won't listen."