A Still-Doll Dancing

A side RP between Rain and a trickster god named K'yon. This will take place in the Comatose, in an AU where Rain was rescued from Madhouse and taken back to Camrian's hideout for the other stars.

~ ~ ~

The Comatose Café is a unique discothèque; unlike the contesting nightclubs of large cities, its activity supersedes the average drink-and-dance desires of those who are desperate. Its outward appearance follows that of a nightcore club, built bottom-up with checkered floors and neon lights. A bar stretches along the farther-most wall, stocked with every alcoholic beverage imaginable, as well as some that have never been heard of before. Stereo systems pump raw energy into the crowds that so often occupy the dance floor. Plush couches and chairs are arranged in lounge areas off to the sides of the large building. To uncurious eyes, this club is much like every other nightclub, with the same freak-show guests and bass-heavy melodies. But if you take a good look around, you might notice that the allure of the club strays your thoughts just a little more than normal. You might become a little too enthused by the thought of dancing to such enchanting tunes.

This is because the Comatose Café is, in fact, a place where people come to dine on delusion. It was made specifically by and for a multitude of inhuman creatures, for those who need exterior forms of energy to survive. Whether they be vampires, fae, or succubus alike, they come to feed on the energy of those unlucky enough to be among their midst. The music that drifts through the dance floor has a curious way of seeping into the body and encouraging the muscles to move more so than normal. The drinks are spiked with magical liquids and powders, that burn through your veins like a constant rush of adrenaline. Any human unknowing enough to be lured into the club is surely weak enough to be transformed by these traps. The café is designed to provide a constant supply of energy to inhuman creatures, without causing direct or life-threatening harm to humans. Although, in a place as unpredictable as this, there is always the chance that someone could take advantage of the situation and use it for their own greed or gain.

"If you love me, let me go!"
"Rain, I don't-"
"Cause these words are knives and often leave scars,"
"What are you talking abou-"
"And truth be told, I never was yours,"
"Dammit, Rain!"

The current bass-heavy melody came to a close just as the blue-haired starlet whisked herself away from the bar, away from the man with the burning burgundy eyes. They had been arguing, sort of.

~ ~ ~

She'd descended upon him with her tall, neon-blue drink in hand, shouting off unintelligible phrases while he scrambled to finish a drink he was pouring for another customer. That customer was an irritating man with a dangerously flashy smirk, who leaned into Rain's leather jacket sleeve and spewed a few lines from his succubus tongue at her. How unfortunate for the man that Rain couldn't be swayed by such things. She shoved him away with distaste, training her eyes on the bartender - a tall raven-haired man, Skylan, and continued her misshapen rant between pulls of the cyan liquid. That made the hungry customer mad, enough so that he swiped at her red face with claws outstretched. His hand made contact with fire-hot skin, melting away to reveal dilapidated and charred flesh which barely clung to the underlying skull.

The succubus stumbled back, watching as the marred face was replaced by perfectly flushed skin and a healthy grin. Rain hadn't even felt the sting of his fist connecting, but she'd felt the pressure, and could see it in the man's eyes that she'd angered him. "This is gospel for the fallen ones!" She'd shouted at him, stumbling forward with bright blue eyes that burned like fire. But the bartender, Skylan, snapped his hand out to hold the girl back and draw the customer's attention.

"It would be best if you leave now," he said as he passed the man his drink. And the succubus was smart enough to take it and leave. Skylan had been gritting his teeth and staring at the blue-haired woman for several long seconds before she'd started flinging her confusing insults at him.

"If you love me, let me go!"
"Rain, I don't-"
"Cause these words are knives and often leave scars,"
"What are you talking abou-"
"And truth be told, I never was yours,"
"Dammit, Rain!"

She swept herself away from him after that, grabbing the special container of liquid Sky kept on the end of the bar for her and starting back onto the dance floor as a song ended. A heartbeat started to pour from the speakers, pounding in time with her footsteps as she wove through the grabby crowd and found a booth near the front of the house. Soon enough lyrics started to flow over the crowd, ones Skylan recognized as belonging to Panic! At the Disco's "This is Gospel". So she hadn't been arguing with him. She'd been singing one of her favorite songs, knowing it was about to play on the stereo before even Sky could expect it. The raven-haired, fire-eyed bartender growled under his breath from the revelation and cast the woman's distant figure one conflicted gaze before pouring his next customers' drink.

~ ~ ~

Silly, silly boy, hadn't even recognized the song or decided to sing along. They played this game often enough that Rain expected her friend to understand. But he didn't. Silly, stupid boy. But he made good drinks! Dancing back through the crowd to her booth, Rain sloshed the tall mixing bottle around in her hands. And when she saw the deep red table she had so excitedly scrawled her name on days before now, Rain sunk into the plushy seats with a content sigh. This was her booth, it said so right on the table, "Property of Rain: KEEP OFF!" People were smart enough to stay away from it, yup yup. The scary red-head had been angry with Rain at first, even started yelling, and Rain had wanted to curl up on the floor and cry. But, oh, her darling raven came to the rescue! Like a knight, he'd stood up for her honor as a lady, pronouncing this booth as Rain's property, and the wicked red-headed witch vowed not to touch it, Nevermore, Nevermore!  

Rain edged herself on top of the large table in her private booth and sprawled out on the cool marble, pressing her burning flesh into it with a loving sigh. Beautiful. Beautiful. The colorful lights spiraled over her body in dazzling patterns, turning her bright blue hair varying shades of green, red, purple. She drank from the flask made special, especially for her by her raven knight, guzzling the neon liquid until her cheeks flushed with a tipsy warmth. Rain wasn't able to get fully drunk anymore, and she hated, hated it! The fire fueling her body burned off the alcohol almost immediately, and so she kept drinking the sweet and sour liquid, hoping it would give her more than just a slight buzz. Her breath smelled of blackberries and fire, and her tongue snaked out several times over her lips and chin to catch the stray beads of liquid that dared to escape. "Fools! The Raven Knight will punish you if you disobey me!" She grumbled at the rivulets of liquid fire drizzling down her neck.

But then a familiar twinkle started to sing in the back of her mind, and she forgot the disobedient drink and the red-haired witch and the gross man at the bar who tried coming on to her. Rain scrambled off the table and nearly fell on the floor. A stranger caught her, steadied her, and held on to her longer than she liked. She pushed him away, shushing the crowd and the music around her with angry lips, because she wanted to know what her mind was singing. A familiar melody started to play, twisted and enchanting, slow, accented by the crackle of a warm fire, and Rain wanted to hear more of it. A bright blue flame lit her eyes and started to glow, startling the people dancing near her table. They stumbled back into the waiting crowd that still danced blindly to a fast-based dubstep medley, but Rain stopped hearing them, stopped hearing the speakers and the laughter and moans that played constantly through the Comatose.

All she could hear was the ghost bell, the precious music-box song that started playing in her head when something was about to change. Rain was giddy, giggling under her breath and pressing her hands tightly to her ears. "Nevermore, never- No! No no, forevermore! He sings to me forevermore, foreverore..." There was a hitch in her breathing, a startled whimper seeping from her lips for the shortest moment, but she didn't recognize it. The music entranced her and led her onto the middle of the dance floor. People parted for her, startled by the glowing blue-fire eyes. A circle of empty space formed around Rain's small body, and then she began to dance, swaying slowly to the music box inside her head, the ghost bell. Around her the speakers still spewed bass-heavy dubstep, and the people danced quickly, with hungry groans, but Rain moved in peace to the lighthearted music in her mind, following the crackle of fire. She continued this way for a while, one little blue flame in a circle of fleshy people, undisturbed yet disturbing those that circled her. Dancing to a slow tune only she could hear.

The ghost bell lasted for several minutes, but to the crazed little spitfire, it could have been days before the twisted melody drifted from her mind. Her body protested the emptiness it left her with, and she needed to sit down, to drink more of her very special drink and to hear her very special Raven Prince say lovely things to her. He was working but that didn't mean anything, nope nope, not to her, and he preferred her company more than anyone else, anyway! If she asked him to run away with her he would, of course, because he was the Raven Prince. He would probably fly her away on his beautiful black wings to a place in the sky. To the place of the stars, where she belonged. She would like that. They could leave the Red Clown behind in his meat suit and she would never have to worry about him again. Nope. "Nevermore, nevermore~""

She sang the word over and over again until it became a chant, becoming louder and louder as she edged back to the bar, back to her Raven Prince, the knight with his flaming armor. "Nevermore!" Rain shouted as she came to sit in the chair in front of Skylan at the bar. Nevermind the other customers who he was pouring drinks for. She needed him, because the ghost bell had made her tired, and she was starting to think about the Red Clown again, and that made her very, very sad. "He came to visit me again, Raven Prince, he whispered things to me," Babbling for the sake of sanity, her trembling fingertips clutched the edge of the bar, pressing and pressing until CRACK! a sliver fractured the marble countertop. "Just a little bit, a little bit," she assured him, because the Red Witch would be very angry with her if the bar broke.

"Rain?" Skylan flashed his conflicted eyes to the broken little doll sitting at his bar, a grimace settling into his long face. It was difficult for him to run the bar and watch Rain at the same time, but this was his shift, Rian was sleeping, and Camrian set Rain off the deep end most days. He had to make due. Setting his washcloth aside, the raven-haired man leaned over the bar, closer to the broken girl he'd taken under his wing. She started babbling and he recognized immediately what had happened - the song had come back, the music box that'd been playing when she awoke for the first time as a new being. Rain had come back to life in a nest of blood and body parts, listening to the twisted music box and the deranged hum of a sadistic anti-star, Madhouse. He hadn't been able to help her then. He'd left her for the clown to ravage and distort as he pleased, because there was nothing else Skylan could do without making matters worse. And now Rain suffered for it. Ever disgusted with himself, all Sky wanted to do was take her in his arms, bring her back down into their hideout and console her until she was better, whole again. But a bar stood between them, and he couldn't leave the place alone for his own desires.

"Don't worry about the bar-" he started to say, trying to calm her down before she snapped, before the flame in her right eye fizzled out and she lost her mind completely. But more customers wandered over to the bar, and he needed to deal with them as well. "One minute, love," Giving her a hard look, Sky inched away, coming to stand on the other side of the bar from a previous customer, one wearing a leather jacket and jeans, with slightly long hair and tan skin. "Sorry for the wait, sir. Can I get you a refill?"

The Raven Prince walked away from her, choosing the customers over her, and she was dismayed. Was he mad that she cracked the bar? That she had been dancing with other people around her? Had she done something terribly wrong, and now the Raven Prince didn't want her anymore? Rain whimpered quietly as he walked to the other end of the bar, and after a minute she followed him, wanting to apologize for being a mistake. Rain didn't pay attention to the other people at first, sitting down next to the customer Sky was talking to and looking at him with hard blue eyes. The flames flickered nervously, as if dangerously close to flaring up or sputtering out. She was imbalanced. A mistake, yes, because she wasn't doing what she was supposed to. Not that she understood it, not at all. The Raven Prince talked a lot about their brothers, about tipping a scale, or choosing a side, but she hated, hated talking about it. It was so grim, so finite, and she was a crazy little thing that fluttered where the wind took her.

Again, she thought how wonderful it would be if the Raven Prince took her far away on his wings, searing through the sky like stars, like her past life. But any time she talked about flying away he shook his head and told her no, that it wasn't okay, that they had responsibilities. Maybe she just wasn't enough of a Princess for him to steal her away. She was too broken for him to want, and that was a sad thought, too. Sad thoughts were too sad for her to bear, she wanted to feel happy again, to feel like flying. Rain reached over the bar, grabbing the Raven Prince by his arm and shaking it until he looked at her. "Can I have more liquid fire, Raven Prince?" With eyes wide and childlike she pleaded to him, a playful smile tilting her lips up at the corner. He cast her a conflicted look, and she thought he might deny her, so she gripped him tighter and continued to plead, "Oh please, oh please, may I have some more?"

And then, as if needing help to convince him, she turned to the next customer over - the man with the long hair and tan skin - and nodded her head eagerly. "Its really quite good! Tasty, tasty! Blackberries and warmth, galore, galore~" Chanting the phrase like a new song dedicated to her very special drink, she turned back to the Raven Prince, watching as his composure caved and he began to mix her especially special drink. "Yay! Oh, thank you, stranger, you convinced him!" She chanted to the man at her side, holding her hand up for a high-five. He was her partner in crime now, and he couldn't get out of it, nope nope~

Skylan was reluctant to give the customer what he asked for, knowing the side effects of drinking another's fire from experience. He, a mere child so long ago, had ventured to steal a taste of his eldest brother's fix in secret. He felt cheated for not having a drink of his own at the time, and all of the brotherhood talked about the liquid fire, partied over their glasses while Skylan watched. So he'd snuck a vile full and downed it in one gulp, welcoming the burn that slid down his throat. He'd woken some time later, coughing up gallons of black tar - blood - as his eldest brother watched on with a satisfied smirk. "Have you learned your lesson, little pup?" He had. Sky spent the following week in an infirmary, vomiting up the bile that poisoned his system until not even the slightest trace remained. He'd gotten his own special drink after that, his brothers feeding Sky the mixture during that week to keep his flames from going haywire. It was the worst week of his life.

This customer wasn't like them, and so the drink would be less like poison and more like its own name, fire. Humans burned to a crisp from the smallest taste of this drink, but Sky could tell this man wasn't human at least. Even so, giving him the drink was risky, and he really didn't want to subject the man to the surefire promise of pain. He would have pushed it, had Rain not leaned over the bar and clung to his arm again, shaking his limbs until he looked at her. "Go on, go on! Let him try LetHimTryLetHimTRY!" A flickering of her fire-blue eyes told him she sensed something, and for a moment he wondered if the song she heard had anything to do with this man. It tolled only when things were about to change. In the past, things had changed for the worst... and Sky became suspicious of this man, then, wishing nothing more than for him to walk away and leave his already broken doll alone. But Rain wouldn't have that. "Nownownow! He needs it, Raven Prince! If you won't give it to him, I will-"

The shaky-handed girl fumbled with her glass, attempting to push it in the customer's hands, but Skylan stopped her before she could get that far. "Alright, alright. I got it." Forcing an irritated sigh between his gritted teeth, Sky poured some of the pre-mixed drink into a shot glass and slid it over the counter top to the suspicious man. "Don't blame me if you regret it later on." Sitting back on his stool behind the bar, Skylan watched on as the man toasted Rain and they both drew their glasses to their waiting lips. Whatever happened from here on out, he sure as hell wasn't going to take the blame for it. He'd warned the man.

"Nyahn~ Cheers, kind stranger!" The porcelain doll chirped as she clinked glasses with him, and some of the liquid splashed over their fingers, sizzling against her skin and searing his own slightly. Greedily she pulled her tall glass to her lips and took a long drink, wiggling in her seat as the fire coursed down her burning throat and washed her with a temporary but oh so very pleasant cooling sensation. "Ahhhn, tasty tasy," She sighed with pleasure, setting her empty glass on the bar for Skylan to clean. And then she trained her bright blue eyes on the stranger, eager to see how perfectly perfect his reaction might be. Skylan told her once that no normal person could survive liquid fire. No one besides them. People burned up, drinking her very special drink, and she wanted to see what pretty color his corpse might be. A warm burgundy, like the Raven Prince? Or bright blue, like her? Or maybe green, or purple, or blac-

"NONONO! NOT BLACK, NO!" The broken doll shouted out loud, and then she began to shake her head, because nonono he couldn't burn with black flames, nonono. Her body trembled with a very sudden and intense fear, but she couldn't for the life of her understand it, because the stranger did not burn with black flames. Or any flames for that matter. Wasn't him, wasn't him, and it wasn't the clown either, and that made her very very relieved. So much so that she broke out into a fest of giggles. But her body was still shaking as she watched the man. No, he didn't burst into flames. He looked forward with an irritated expression on his strong face, eye twitching slightly, and she could hear a chorus of flames burning through his esophagus, but he didn't burst into flames. "Magic! You're Magical, Kind Stranger! A hawk with burnt brown feathers but nonono flames, perfect! How did you like my very very special drink?"

And suddenly she was inching forward on her bar stool, her hands shooting out to clasp his own eagerly. She needed to know, wanted to hear him say it, to speak about her special potion and know that he was magic. Nevermind the fact that when their skin touched, the facade of her hands melted away and it looked like only decaying bone and charred flesh clutched him delicately. But she still felt real, human and whole, and she was very gentle with him because this was a very special bird. She couldn't hurt him. Rain watched him with large, childlike eyes that pleaded for something she couldn't verbalize. She watched and waited, and when he spoke, smoke plumed from his lips like a soul separating from its human husk. "...re...refreshing..." The stranger's voice was very hoarse, but he could speak, and that was more than what she expected from him.

"Kuuu, you did it! You really are an unburnt bird! A Hawk! May I ask thy name, Hawk?" For the first time that day, a sincere expression entered Rain's whimsical face. She seemed normal again, whole, not mentally cracked as she questioned his name. Pulling her hands away from his with an apologetic smile, the strange girl brushed a curl of her long hair behind her left ear, palms resting together in the bed of her lap shortly afterward. Skylan watched on with barely suppressed shock pale across his face, but she didn't bother with the Raven Prince, not now, not when so many interesting things were starting to occur.

The Raven Prince was tense behind his bar, fists clenching and unclenching every now and again around the wash cloth he wielded. Rain could smell the special fumes of his emotion like burnt cinnamon, his nervousness and his need to protect. But protect her from what, exactly? The only other person here was the unburnt Hawk, and he certainly was no threat, nope nope. He was a special creature, and she liked him. He did not smile like the red clown or the man of smoke. His smile was kind, and it was sincere. The Hawk wasn't faking anything, she could tell, because the red clown had taught her what fake emotions looked like. But her Raven Prince didn't understand, he didn't know because he hadn't been taught by the red clown like she'd been. Why couldn't he just see what she saw? It was so frustrating, she wanted to yell and stamp her foot until he saw it her way, because he was being silly silly stupid!

"Those who know me well may call me K'yon, though I have many other names..." The Hawk captured her attention and brought her down to earth before she snapped on her stupid Raven Prince, and she nodded eagerly to him, hoping beyond hope that he would let her call him K'yon. He didn't leave her wanting, either. "And you most certainly may as well." The very small smile he offered her sent Rain over the moon with joy.

"Oh, yay! I can tell we will be very best friends, K'yon!" Her long blue waves of hair bounced over her shoulders and spilled into the opening of her leather jacket as she nodded, appearing more and more sane by the moment, although she still spoke with a childish awe in her voice. "You can call me Rain, if you'd like. That's my real name, real and true!" Her star name, the name she was supposed to keep secret and use only in the presence of other stars. But she didn't like the human name they'd given her. May... something? Bell? Ball? It was stupid, and so she insisted on the people she liked calling her Rain instead. Apparently that didn't make Skylan any happier than it made Camrian, the red witch.

"Rai-" he started, then choked down her name, because he didn't feel like repeating it in front of the man. So hypocritical, she thought, because he called her Rain all the time. "Do you really think you can trust this guy? I mean..." Skylan looked like he was about to say something offensive to the man, and Rain wanted to tell him to stop being stupid, but then she felt someone leaning into her leather jacket sleeve for the second time that night and the overwhelming smell of alcohol and something else - something that was meant to seduce, but to her smelled rank - wafted into her face. She slapped her hand over her nose and made a distasteful noise in the back of her throat as the succubus from earlier drawled into her ear with his thick voice. A deep shudder pounded down her spine, and she wanted nothing more than for him to disappear, because he was so like the red clown it hurt.

"Nonono! Go away, go away-" The doll was starting to crumble again, and her eyes began to fog into a mask of hysteria. Her Raven Prince began to move, but the Hawk was faster, spinning the succubus around so quick that her vision swam trying to follow the movement. The blond creep swung a clawed fist toward her new friend, and Rain whimpered, the flame in her right eye sputtering dangerously. But the Hawk slapped his meaty stub of a hand away like an annoying gnat and made eye contact, and then Rain was confused, because she could swear she saw a flash of something and then everything stopped. The succubus whined like a kicked puppy and with only the briefest warning from K'yon, he stumbled away, leaving her and the Raven Prince and the Hawk alone. When Rain looked at her new friend again, she could swear the gold she'd seen in his eye was magical armor, glowing and sharp, a knight's armor. So he was a Hawk Knight, then. How perfectly magical!

Awe swam in her eyes as Rain stared him down, most of the hysteria slipping away, replaced by an unusual sense of peace. He said something, but she wasn't really paying attention. A few awkward moments passed in silence between the three, and then Skylan cleared his throat, setting the wash cloth on the bar and wringing his nervous hands together. "I don't know what that was just now, but..." Sky started, struggling with his words. Rain blinked a couple times before breaking eye contact with K'yon and looking to her Raven Prince. He looked like he was in pain, town between two desires. It worried her that he might say something mean to the Hawk Knight and make him go away, so she scrambled to grab K'yon's hand again and shake it lightly, urgently.

"That was very brave of you. Succubi and Incubi can be very dangerous if they've fed - Sky and I have a friend whose an Incubi, and he's very powerful - but you scared him away. You are very kind, Hawk Knight K'yon. Thank you." Sincerity shone in her bright blue eyes as Rain released his hand again and sat back on her bar stool. And as much as Skylan hated to admit it, she could tell that he was thankful to the kind stranger. She could smell his relief. But he wasn't all that happy about it, either. Still, Sky mumbled a soft "thank you" to K'yon and bowed his head just the slightest bit before wandering a few feet away to greet a new customer. That made Rain very, very happy. He trusted her new friend enough to walk away, if only a little bit, and she took that in good faith. "Well then, K'yon, would you mind accompanying me to my private booth? We should let Sky get back to work." She nodded lightly, as if convincing herself to leave the Raven Prince alone for a little while, and gathered the hidden bottle of her special drink Sky stashed behind the bar before hopping off her stool. The crowd parted for her, as usual, and she wandered back to the booth she'd burned her name into days before with a skip in her step and a twisted hum in her voice. She hoped beyond hope that K'yon would follow, and that they could have a fun conversation together before he left.

Rain bounced with giddy excitement on her side of the booth as K'yon popped into her line of vision again, throwing him a dangerously cheeky grin. "Glad you could make it!" Swallowing a small gulp of her very tall glass, the whimsical girl brushed her hair aside and melted into the plush seats. She really, really loved this booth. Close to the front of the house, away from the main speakers, and tucked into a corner most people stayed away from. Neon lights flashed over their table every few seconds, lighting up the black tabletop with deep reds and purples and pinks. The lights caught on the edge of the burned letters, lining her name in colorful light. It looked so perfect, and for a while she watched him quietly, curious about the look of disgust on his face after tasting his beverage. Then he dipped his finger in her drink, and she feared for a brief moment that it would burn him. But if his flesh had been marred it healed itself before she could notice, and so she watched curiously as he landed the drop in his drink.

The glass lit up like the forth of July, flashing a pretty blue, like the color of her hair, and setting into a slow burn. A candle for their special table. "Aw, how perfect! Why have I never thought of that?" Rain mused to herself as she swirled her pinky finger in her drink, coating it with the shiny blue liquid. Her glass threw sparks around the rim, and every so often they fell to the table, or to her hair, or her jacket, and little bursts of light fizzled into existence for a breath of a moment. So beautiful. "Don't mind Sky, he has a sour personality. He's nice, though," A soft sigh fluttered from her lips, and Rain grew quiet for a moment, mulling over his negative attitude toward K'yon. It had been rather rude of him, but she understood it, mostly anyway. He was protective, and she wasn't right in the head, not really. She was a broken thing that he felt the need to protect, and that was probably the reason why Skylan wasn't tender with her the way she wished he would be.

His second comment distracted her, though, and she looked up to him with cheer in her eyes. "Oh, yes, it is a very special drink. It soothes my throat, like tea and cough drops. But other people don't usually respond that way..." It hadn't occurred to her before, but suddenly Rain was very curious what this man, the Hawk Knight, was. Clearly not a succubus or incubus. Rian had hardly been able to tolerate a drop of the fiery liquid, and he was a strong incubus. She didn't think he was a vampire either, because no vampire came here to drink alcohol. And Fae weren't all that interested in alcohol either - they thrived off the raw energy this place put out. "Are you a werewolf?" She could see it. He looked strongly Native American, like the lycans and werewolves Skylan had shown her pictures of before. Werewolves liked to drink, too. And he had long hair! Yes, yes, she could practically see him now, turning into a furry brown wolf, and for a moment she reconsidered the nickname she'd given him. Werewolves didn't have wings or beaks and they didn't caw. They did hunt, though, right? Eyeing him with big blue eyes, Rain continued to swirl her pinky in her drink, smiling as the cool liquid soothed her scorching flesh.

The little creature skittering around his palm seriously was the cutest thing she'd ever seen on this planet, even cuter then the small children and the dollies Rian gave her to play with. Rain had been about to reach out and ask to hold the small little thing when he crushed it away in his palm, pouring the dreamlike energy back into his pocket like fairy dust. She was at the same time sad and wonderfully surprised, because K'yon's job sounded noble and wonderful. He really was a Knight, and since he wasn't a were, her nickname still fit. "Ahnn~ How splendid! I knew I picked the right nickname for you! I'm very good with nicknames, you know, I've given everyone here a new name!" By 'here', she meant 'earth'. But Rain didn't dawdled on the details, nope nope. Not when she had such an interesting man to listen to.

She liked that K'yon was kind, that he complimented her fearlessness and her prettiness. So overjoyed, the girl's legs began to swing back and forth like pendulums under the table, every now and again brushing up against his leg and hitting him lightly. Laughter bubbled from her lips when she considered his question. What was she? Sky would call her Blue Fire, contained in the ghost of a charred human body. But Rain was truly so much more than that. Before joining the brotherhood, before dying and breaking like a sad little doll, Rain had been a distant star, shimmering bright in a realm of empty space. She belonged to a society of celestial spirits, Guardians of the solar systems. She had been a sun, spreading light over creatures far away from this universe. But that all seemed so complicated to explain to him, and when she thought about it too much her mind went fuzzy, confused. Someone didn't want her thinking about the sky or the spirit realm. When she ventured to remember her past life, a searing pain shot through her head and crowded out all other thought besides pain, and that was terribly unpleasant. This had "RED CLOWN" written all over it, yes it did.

"Hm... What am I?" That was the question. And Rain wanted to answer him truthfully, like he'd done for her. But the poor girl struggled to find words that would express her own confusion about the topic of discussion. If only she could give him her brain for a little while, so he could study it and see what her existence consisted of. "I'm a... star. Yes, a star. I was a star, anyway. I was the Guardian of a Universe far, far away, dancing in the sky, glowing blue like fire. And then I came here," And then what? Hnnn, what was so hard about this? Why couldn't she just understand it? As if she thought it might help, Rain brought her hands up to press against the sides of her head. She pressed, trying to squeeze the information out of her charred skull, and could only feel slight pressure. So she pressed harder, a deep grimace spreading over her face. "Come on, brain, work! You stupid thing! This is why I hate humans!" Angry with this stupid vessel she was stuck in, Rain continued to press until the flesh under her fists started to bruise a faint black color. Tar-like blood pooled behind her fake skin, but she couldn't feel any pain. And that made her angry.

Blowing out a frustrated sigh, the conflicted girl finally dropped her fists. They slammed against the table with brute force and echoed a dull thud through their booth, but she couldn't look at them. A collecting of bruises spotted her temples and the skin around her hairline, disappearing into the deep blue of her hair. She looked down for a while, afraid what concerned look she might see on the Hawk Knight's face, because whenever she lost it in front of her Raven Prince he looked at her as if she were truly a maddening threat. Which she was. But it hurt to see him look at her like she wasn't actually there. A deep frown carved its way across her face for a long time before she spoke again, this time eyeing the glass of liquid fire with bottled-up contempt for the mixture and what it meant. "I came here, and a very evil man burned me until my nervous system shut down from shock of pain. And I died. And then I woke up, and I was this... this thing. A living corpse. Just fire, in a charred corpse." She fell quiet for a minute, risking a glance at K'yon's face before murmuring in a distant sigh, "Sad story, isn't it?"

K'yon was forthright, leaning across the table to grab her hand. He held onto her gently, but with persistence. Rain welcomed the pressure against her palm, which by now shook with uncertainty and barely restrained distress. She'd done it again, broken down in front of someone and made them pity her. She could see it in the Hawk's eyes. That sadness one felt when they looked at something too destroyed to fix. And she wanted to pull her disgusting corpse-hand away, to paste a smile on her face so that she wouldn't have to ruin another opportunity for real friendship, but he wouldn't have that. He started talking, eyes trained on her face rather than the macabre limb he held, or the bruises coloring her skull, and it distracted Rain from her desire to pull away and bottle her sadness up again.

He told her about a friend of his, who sounded so much like Rain. Even the way she was, the distraught girl felt bad for that broken man K'yon spoke of. He must have suffered a lot. Must have been hurt several times by many people. She really did feel for him... but at least he had a friend that made him better. That made Rain smile, to know the stranger had someone to keep him calm and at peace. For a moment, Rain entertained the wish of meeting this couple one day, imagining what it would be liked to talk to someone as cracked as she. It took the still-doll a while to realize what K'yon was implying; even longer for her to meet his gaze with understanding, and nod slowly.

Skylan was her Prince. He didn't understand what it meant to be a star, but he cherished her and her family all the same, protected them with every ounce of his being. And he was the only other living flame she'd met. Skylan mixed her the special drinks that kept her balanced, and he held her when the Red Clown tried to sneak back into her dreams. He reminded her every night before bed that the Man of Smoke would never harm her again, and she would never have to feel the black fire that destroyed her so thoroughly. Not as long as he continued burning in this world. "Princes are very good healers," she admitted, and a soft smile touched her lips. In that moment, Rain was very glad to have met the Hawk Knight, K'yon. He hadn't fixed her, not by a long shot, but he turned her in the direction of peace, and for that she could not thank him enough. "You are very good at your job, K'yon. I think I will have very good dreams tonight."

A thought occurred to Rain as he sat back in the booth and their hands broke contact. Sparing him a happy grin, the girl pulled her drink forward and dipped her pinky in the liquid again. She held it there for a few moments before removing it from the glass and pressing it into the black tabletop. Fire ignited on her fingertip, burning a bright blue and illuminating the words scrawled there, "Property of Rain: KEEP OFF!" She added to it now, burning the words "and Hawk Knight" next to her own name. Satisfied, she drew her burning finger between her lips and sucked the fire away like a dollop of whipped cream. "There, now you have a private booth to sit at any time you come to visit. Not even the Raven Prince is allowed to sit here, so it'll be our secret, okay? He would be jealous if he knew, I think." Although she was tempted to see how Sky acted when he was jealous, the thought of unnecessary conflict between the Prince and her new friend put a sour taste in Rain's mouth. One she gracefully chased down with a gulp of her special drink.

And then, setting the glass aside, Rain zipped her mouth shut with her fingertips and locked them with a key. She held the invisible key out to K'yon, motioning for him to do the same. Only when he'd taken her key did she open her mouth, gasping for a deep breath and grinning a silly smile. "That is an especially special key, so don't lose it, okay? I might need it back some day. Be a good Knight and keep it safe for me!"

"Show me all things...?"

The worlds tasted strange on her tongue, like a bath of thick velvet pouring down her throat. They were pleasantly exciting for the still-doll who feared many things in this world. The promise of a new world, free from the Red Clown or the Man of Smoke, seemed like a very good place indeed. One question made her hesitant, though. "I would love to see your world, and to meet your friend. But... My Prince may not like for me to leave his side..."

Perhaps she could sneak out, when the time came, just for a little while... But then what would she do without her drink? Skylan was the only person she knew that could make it, and Rain would not dare risk traveling to a strange place without herself in balance. A troubling complication, indeed. "I will have to convince the Raven Prince, between now and when-"

"Convince me of what? And when what?"

Uh Ohhhhh. Quick, quick thinking!

"Convince you to let the Hawk Knight have another taste of my drink!" Okay, maybe that wasn't the best cover story, but surely her Prince might believe it. Hopefully.

"Uh... What?" Dumbfounded was he, the tall Raven Prince looming off to Rain's left. He stood beside her special booth with a wash cloth between his hands, and looked to be drying them with the white scrap of fabric. "I mean, if you're masochistic enough to want more, I won't stop you..." He struggled for another moment on the concept, and Rain could see her Prince eyeing the Hawk Knight with thinly reserved suspicion. Don'tquestionitdon'tquestionitdon'tquestionit she chanted in her head, breath held until the Prince shook his head and straightened his posture decidedly. "Anyway, not right now. My shift is up, and Rian will be taking over the bar. Which means..." A pointed look was aimed in Rain's direction, and she knew what he was trying to imply. That it was time for her to hide away below deck, and leave her new friend behind. But Rain wasn't tired.

"I want to stay up here for a while longer. You can go to sleep, though, Raven Prince." The very brief look of shock on his face felt like a slap, but Rain resisted the urge to apologize and follow him.

"...But, Rain-" He started, and quickly shut up when a thin hand slapped down on his shoulder firmly.

"Rain, my sweet! Just the firecracker I wanted to see! There is some chit-chat to be had, yes? Sky, be a dear and wash my dirty laundry before you go to sleep, alright? I'll need some fresh clothes, come morning time, and I'd like very much for our little Princess here to join me for a drink before she wanders off to sleep." It was the cotton-candy haired fellow named Rian who'd come to interrupt their conversation - one of Rain's best friends in this place. And certainly the Raven Prince's most trusted companion. Sky had no room to argue, and they all knew it, and Rain loved her Cotton Candy Clown for helping to get her way. Clearly Skylan was not as sweet on him right then, however.

Reluctantly, the Raven Prince grumbled his acceptance and eyed her one more time. "Very well. Don't stay up here for too long, though. And Rian,"

"Hmmmmm~"

Sky's palm slapped down on the Cotton Candy Clown's shoulder with audible force, and Rain thought it must have hurt, but you could never tell with Rian's permanently superfluous smile. "I will not clean your clothes again. I've witnessed far too much of your delicates last time you asked me to do them."

That said, the Prince stomped away like a live wire, disappearing into the crowd until she could no longer sense the presence of his raging fires. Rian chuckled to himself, clearly smug in his manipulative gifts. "Well then, I have a bar to tend to. Be sure to visit me soon, little one, and bring your new friend along~" The tall demon swept himself into a comically lazy bow before sauntering off to his domain, and Rain waved at his shrinking figure with a childish grin on her bright face.

"He's the very very best, the Cotton Candy Clown. He will like you a lot, I bet. Ehehe..." Something in the way she said it implied the type of
"interest" Rian would take in her Hawk Knight, but whether he picked up on it was another question for a different time. For the moment, Rain found contentment in lounging against her comfortable booth and considering all of the wonderful things she might see in the world K'yon had come from.