When he wasn't outside in it, and once he was in dry clothes once more with Akija carefully combing out his damp hair, Cacopheny found he rather liked the rain. The air was comfortably cool and moist, and the pattering of rain on the roof was a pleasant sound. Even the occasional rumble of thunder seemed like it belonged, and ceased to startle him. Perhaps he could chalk that up to simply getting his hair combed-- everything seemed all right, then-- but he thought he might rather like the sound of rain and thunder, anyway.

The shadows were of various opinions about the rain. Jova, thankfully, was no longer in the forefront of his thoughts. After being so forcefully denied death yet again-- this time at the blinding "hands" of the lightning-- and now being bored with crying at him, she was being sulky. Since he was comfortable and content, sitting on the floor in the living room while Akija sat above him in one of the round, wicker chairs, she was even more out of sorts, and ignored him. As he preferred it that way, he didn't even comment.

Others were not so quiet. Tiger, for one, was paying very close attention to everything, from the sensation of the comb to the feel of the floor to the sound of the rain-- though he said little, he was very obviously there. Flash was a bit less ominous, but he was certainly louder.

C'mon, tell 'er!

No.

C'mon! You know she wants to know!

No, Flash.

You're so fucking boring these days!

I'm sorry.

Bah.

Cacopheny just shut his eyes and let Akija comb. Though, of course, she didn't always use the comb. Now and then, at particularly bad snarls, he found with some surprise that she used her fingers-- or, rather, her claws-- to work the hair free. Usually she would stop quickly, but Cacopheny didn't really mind. It was an unusual sensation, and he thought he might like it as much as the comb's workings, but he had yet to muster up the desire to actually say anything. Speaking seemed like so much work, sometimes....

She really should know, you know.

Why?

Because it's fair.

.... Since when did you care about fairness?

Shut up, I just do. Who knows? Just tell her!

But....

She's thinking about it.

She is not. How could you know that?

Silence. Cacopheny sighed faintly. Tiger did have a point, just not in the way he thought he did. Maybe fair didn't have anything to do with it, but other things did. Such as her needing to know just who was likely to pop up and say or do things he wouldn't normally do. It might well be that she'd need to watch out for some of the shadows, who might not like her-- or just might not respect her enough to stay within the bounds of "supposed to" or "not supposed to".

"Akizja..." he began slowly, tentatively. "I haf... never tolt you about my zhadowsss. Haf I?"

He'd startled her. The combing stopped mid-stroke. He hunched his shoulders a little instinctively, but she resumed almost immediately. "Well, little things, but not much," she agreed. "In the cathedral when we first met, you said some things, and in the hallway the first day of school, too... but that's it, aside from telling me Tiger's name."

One sharp tooth protruded from his mouth to gnaw nervously on his lip, and he was silent.

Go on.

He stopped chewing. Tiger was insistent. "Do you... vant to to talk about ssem? To know ssings? Ssssso you know. Know ven ssey come out? Vat ssey might do? Ssay?"

Oh yes, couch it in those terms, will you.

Still don't trust us....

"If you're willing to tell, yes," she agreed again, a little hopefully, and confessed: "I am curious...."

Of course she's curious.

Anyone would be curious.

Especially her, she's always curious.

She's been very quiet about it....

He swallowed a little and nodded faintly, though without pulling on the comb in his hair. "Vat... vood you like to know? Virst?"

She had to think for a moment, to figure out what to start with. At least she came up with something to start with: Cacopheny hadn't the faintest idea where to begin. "Well... how many of them are there? Are they all different?"

"Ssey are all diff'rent, yesss," he agreed, "but I... to not know how many. Not essactly. Many...." Whenever he tried to count in the past, he came up with a different number-- or he lost count, distracted by something, usually the shadows he was trying to number. Besides, he tended to get mixed up with numbers higher than ten....

Which is sad.

"Then tell me a little about some of them, like Tiger, or Jova, since I've seen them...."

He automatically shied away from trying to describe Tiger, and focused on Jova. "Jzova... zhe iss sse von who vants to die. Zhe titn't like sse lightningk pebause it vas pretty. Vell, zhe did, but... but...." He rolled and hunched his shoulders in an awkward twitch of a shrug. "Zhe vanted it to ssdrike me."

Apparently that shocked her even further, and he cringed a little at her longer pause. "How sad..." she finally murmured, once again resuming her work with the comb. "Nothing makes her happy?"

"Attenzhion... pain, sometimesss. Moztly attenzhion. She likes... likes ven I am ssinkingk about her. Or ven osser zhadowss talk to her. Ven zhe iss paying attenzhion, anyvay," he added, since currently, she couldn't care less that she was being talked about. "I to not sssink. Zhe vill be happy, really, ssough. Not. I to not partic-- part-- to not really vant to die."

"I would hope not," Akija answered quietly. "But I'll remember that, for if she ever shows again, that she likes attention...." Rather than dwell on dismal thoughts of suicidal voices, she came up with another question to ask. "Is there anyone you think I should really know about, like... the ones you say are dangerous?"

"Tiker," he answered immediately, then clarified, "but he likes you forrrrrr... ssome reason. So he vill not. Hurt you, or Sentchio. Almatir-- tir-- dir. Almadir."

Why did you have to pick such fucking hard names to say?

Because they're ours.

I like my name, whelp, so shut up about it.

"Zhe iss alvays ankry, alvays vants to hurt... V-violent?" He hadn't used that word before, but he thought it fit with what he meant. "Ant Flash, but forrrrr diff'rent reasons." He wasn't sure, but he thought he might have been blushing; he hung his head a little, hair hiding what little she could see of his face. "He likes you, too. But not in a. A koot vay."

"Is there anyone at all nice?" she demanded.

"Oh, yes... ssey to not talk mutch outsssite my head, sso. Gzenner-- well, he talks. Ssome. But he iss not nice. Essactly. He issss. Issssssss. Well, he talks. He iss very sssmart. Intimitatingk smart. Ant he knowss it. Not very-- not very--" He gave up on "emotional" and amended, "He toes not feel mutch."

"I see. So... is there anything I should do when one of them comes out? Or not do?"

That stopped him, and he frowned thoughtfully. "I... ton't know," he said slowly. "Tepenss on who. I sssssuppose. Ssey all only ssspeak temon-tongue... Tiker, he trranslates. If he feelss like it."

For her? Always. How can she laugh at my wit or get angry with me if she can't understand me?

Tiger's voice was a purr, and Cacopheny twitched uncomfortably. Akija did better than that: she squawked, both in surprise and as an exclamation, dropping the comb as she fell back into the bowl of her chair, her hands flying uselessly to her temples. Cacopheny twisted in distress to stare at her, not sure what had just happened.

Huh, she didn't do that last time....

What-- what? That had just happened?

Relax, all I did was talk to her.

Which was not acceptable. "Tikerrrrrr," Cacopheny growled warningly, and the shadow subsided with a dark chuckle, letting the half-demon focus on Akija, turning around entirely to face her and hands almost but not quite touching her hands, her knees, anything. But not quite; they just fluttered around anxiously and uselessly. "Sorrrry sorrrrrry, all right? Are you? All right? Sorry-- titn't know. Tidn't know Tiker vood to ssat."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she said, putting her hands down and giving her head a little shake. He managed to get his own hands back under control, and somewhere both ineffectual and safe: on the arms of the chair. "It's just that awful buzz...."

"Buzz," he repeated blankly, before remembering her little "allergy" to words spoken inside her head.

Good thing you don't have any problems with that.

"I. I vill trrrry. To keep ssem from toink ssat," he promised hesitently. "I to not ssink many know how. Tiker... Gzenner, maype, but none of sse ossers."

Babbling.

"Rright. Ssorry. Vill try."

"I don't-- don't mind them talking," she answered as her thoughts started to get in order again, "it's just the itch that comes with, catches me by surprise. But I can probably get used to it... if they really want to talk to me that way." He stared at her. No one in their right mind would want to hear his shadows! Would they? "Hey, you never know, maybe... they'll be easier to get along with, if they have someone beside you and each other to talk to," she suggested.

Oh, I like that.

What a novel concept!

Someone to bother other than the mutt? Sign me up!

Shut up, you bother the whelp all the time.

So do you!

That's not the same thing.

Oh, please, no... don't bother her. Please?

"I... never ssought of ssat," he admitted, shaking his head to make the shadows quiet enough for him to think. "Maype so. But. But," he had to warn, "Ssey are not. Not usually very nice. Sse nice vons to not ssay mutch, and sse not-nice vons. Ssay a lot. Ant-- ant-- yourrr heat. Vill itch," he finished lamely.

"If you've learned to deal with a mind full of voices, I can learn to cope with a little itch," she replied, smiling briefly. What she said next was serious, though. "As for the rest of it, I understand, and honestly, I'd rather--" She frowned and paused a moment, and Cacopheny held his breath. "--I'd rather," she continued at last, "be stuck hearing the nasty ones with my own ears... than have to know they're there and talking, but not know what they're saying."

Ooo, clever girl.

I can understand that.

It's always better to know.

Cacopheny didn't really think so, but then, not many people thought the way he, did.

"Maybe it won't help," she finished, "but maybe it might, and I'm not afraid of taking chances."

And that is why we like her.

Spirit, she's got!

Heh, we'll see about that.... "Are you suuuuuuure, little girl?"

Taken unawares, Cacopheny gave a convulsive, twitching shudder and looked away sharply, clamping his mouth shut before the shadow's leering grin could join the words. The shadow's laughter echoed in his ears. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Completely sure," she managed around a cough that, if Cacopheny had to guess, was stifled laughter.

Is she....

...laughing at us?

And what if she is?

You have to admit, that was rather stupid.

Bah! She just didn't get my meaning, ya know?

What meaning? You're too stupid to have a meaning.

No, he's too stupid to have a meaning. Ha.

... shut up.

Stupid.

Cacopheny made a concerted effort to ignore them. "Ssat. Vas Flash," he explained. "He isssss. He isssssss. --Vell, ssat vas not a ssreat, really." He couldn't think of any better way to explain it.

"Oh, well," she coughed, getting herself recomposed. She still didn't understand, he could tell, but maybe it was better if she didn't. "Even so, seems I've opened quite a can or worms by giving him and the others permission, so to speak, to talk to me, huh?"

He smirked. "No, ssey to ssat a lot. Jzust. You to not notice, or I ssstop ssem peforre anyvon can notice. If you look, you vill see. Sse more ssan you ssink."

Akija blinked, and murmured, "Oh," a little blankly. Then after a moment, her expression softened and she found a little more to say: "That must be exhausting, to have to be on guard all the time."

"It isssss," he sighed, resting his temple against the arm of the chair and shutting his eyes. "S'qvieter here, ssoh... ssey to not have so many osser zhadows. To. To. Compete viss, I kess. Haven't needed to be ssso alone, herre." Which was good, seeing as he had nowhere to retreat to, in the crowded Watcher house... if things ever got bad, he didn't know where he'd go.

Should find out, sometime.

Rather not, thanks....

He felt something brushing his hair, then, but the only thing it could be was Akija's hand, so he didn't move. He even managed not to twitch. "I'm glad. Though I do wonder what our shadows-- mine and mum's and all-- would say if they did talk to you. When you hear other people's shadows, are they like the person they're... attached to? Or different?"

"Like. Ussssually. Sentio-- he isss clever. Ant curious. Sso. Zhadow is alvays asking qvestsins, ven he isss not. Not comf'terble asking ssem, himself. Zometimes ssey are diff'rent, but I ssink zhadows arre more-- more. More." He frowned, trying to find the right word. "More rrright? More true? Maybe, honest, maybe."

"Well, hey, honest is good, right?" Akija replied, still stroking his hair. It felt nice.

"Mm. Sssssometimes." Other times, he'd really rather not know.

Simply not the curious type, are ya?

I would want to know.

You want to know anything and everything, Genner.

So?

Hey, quiet back there.

They actually listened. Maybe since it was Tiger and not Cacopheny, but at the moment, he didn't care, because the bickering subsided into a low murmur. He gave a deep sigh and dropped his head onto the much more comfortable lap next to the chair's wicker arm, tired of questions. Apparently so was she, because she just sat there quietly and ran her claws over and through his hair in comfortable silence. Inside and out.