The Day the Music Died [Lily]

Damien continued with his daily routine, about 3 miles into his roadwork. The sun wasn't bearing down so oppressively as the first day he had arrived, and there was a nice breeze whispering through the alleys and streets. He had elected to keep his hoodie and gloves on, if only because he wasn't even breaking a sweat without the heat. His beloved headphones floated on his neck, blasting Aranda as usual. Damien felt wonderful- his new life was taking off- even if he had yet to find a partner, though Damien wasn't too worried there, he was out of the gangs, and he was just enjoying the rhythmic falling of his steps.

Damien waved at the fishmonger as he passed by, and blew kisses to the girls at Chupa Cabra's as they waved to get his attention. Laughing, Damien poured on the speed and left them in the dust, just enjoying the day in general. Today was a good day. "Maybe I can swing back to Chupa Cabra's, see if I can't mump some more food off those nice girls." Damien thought casually as he continued his roadwork. Others might mock the cafe behind its back, but Damien loved the food- especially since he could usually get most of it for free. There was nothing more tasty in the world than free food. Damien felt on top of the world, and he didn't have a care in it.

However, even Fortune's favorite child was prone to her capricious wrath. "Look out look out look out- gangway! I lost control!" Damien heard a voice behind him, and a sound suspiciously like a motorcycle. "What's u-?" Damien turned around to ask, but he never got that far. A moped crashed into the giant just as he was turning around, stealing the breath from him. Unbalanced as he was, Damien was thrown back, but not before he saw the rider sent flying. "Good... Size still counts.... for something in this world.[/i]" Damien thought with a halfhearted smirk as his vision buzzed out, like a television with bad reception.

Unfortunately, Damien's head was far too hard to send him to bed with a single hit. He just laid there, growing unbearably bored, but for a moment forgetting just what the hell he was doing on the ground. "Ohh...Riiiiiight. I got hit by... one of those stupid mopeds.[/i]" Damien rubbed the back of his head, which was still sore. "Dammit, that hurt." Damien muttered as he slowly lifted his upper body off the ground. Almost immediately, though, he froze to the sound of tinkling glass and plastic. "No..." Damien whispered. "No no no no no no no![/i]" Damien thought, the dread rising in him like some eldritch beast. Finally he found it, and his fears were confirmed: all those sound had come from his iPod- or rather, what was left of it.

Damien held the corpse of his beloved music player in trembling hands. To many, this may have been seen as crying over spilled milk, but that iPod held special significance to Damien. It was a gift from Armando, just a week before the two of them had met for the final time on that fateful, rainy night. It was the first time Damien had ever owned such a luxury, and he had cherished it. But now...

Standing up, ignoring all the bystanders, and looking for all the world a man possessed, Damien whipped his head from left to right, looking for the nearest music store, praying for the revival of his dead music. And all the while that one damnable song played over and over in his head:

~But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died, singing: Bye, bye, Miss American Pie, I drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry. And three good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye, singing "This'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die.~

After an hour of searching, Damien sat just outside the window of Death Records, clutching the remains of his music player, the bleeding finally stopped by some brave souls who had held him down- even if it took a full crowd of them to do it. Not a single music shop in the entire district had been able to fix it. The last man's words still haunted his mind: "With that kind of damage, you'd be better off with a magician rather than a technician." Sighing, Damien looked up dejectedly. He would probably get over this, but it was just so damn depressing...

Lily watched the big man cradle the broken machine. She wanted it. She wanted too tinker and play with it. She wanted to fix it. She wanted so much to adore and love it as was her wont with every thing of mechanical nature. Except cars. Cars could kiss her paper white bohankus. Blue eyes stared at the broken bit of mechanics in his hands and she considered all the ways to approach him but couldn't find the courage. He was so large and frightening but he was in such obvious pain over the loss of his machine. Could no one fix it for him?

That wouldn't do. He looked like he might cry. That was just unacceptable. She would have to cheer him up... Somehow. She wondered what kind of machine it was. She'd seen some like it, even found a few in various dumpsters around town. Old habits died hard but she had enough sense to not go into the massive receptacles without covering her clothes and cleaning them first. The washroom of the place she'd used to get the stink out had been quite unhappy about it but at least she was clean now albeit a bit damp still. The sun was drying her nicely.

She peered into her backpack and pulled out the many parts she'd scavenged out of habit and then back to the man who was suffering the loss of his machine. She could spare them to make him smile. Maybe he was nice. He might be like Cyrus was, or Charli even. Oh, he was outside a music shop. Was it a music machine? That had to be it! He was sad because his music was gone! It gave her an idea of how to bolster her courage enough to get close, grab the machine, fix it, and return it before he could question her too much.

With an excited grin Lily plucked up her courage and thought of a song. Do it for the machine Lily! The perfect song cam,e to mind, something cheery and uplifting. It was something she'd heard on the radio in the city. A lovely song that had filled her with joy to hear. It might be a song that spoke to his soul as well. She could only take a deep breath and hope. She filled her lungs fully and began her plan. With a swish of her skirts she danced over to him and sang, her voice beginning to weave a sweet melody for him.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh

You were walking on the moon, now you're feeling low
What they said wasn't true, you're beautiful
Sticks and stones break your bones, I know what you're feeling
Words like those won't steal your glow, you're one in a million

This, this is for all the girls, boys all over the world
Whatever you've been told, you're worth more than gold
So hold your head up high, it's your time to shine
From the inside out it shows, you're worth more than gold
You're worth more than gold~"

She smiled as she knew she caught his eye and with wiggling hips pranced up beside him to slip the broken bits of iPod out of his hands and prance to the other end of the bench he was sitting on, pulling her backpack off and opening it up to pull out a small bag full of tools and random bits of what appeared to be junk and scrap. What could she possibly be doing? Whatever it was she was sifting through the mess of junk and bits of broken toys and mechanical parts that were missing everything else, a couple of circuit boards, several other mp3 players of varying types and degrees of damage along with one or two portable radios that were missing a good number of knobs, buttons, and other bits.

Then, came the visual of her tools. With a flourish she swept back a flap inside her backpack that revealed the mainstay of her passion. A slew of portable wrench sets and screw drivers were present, even a few odd tools that defied any accurate description but appeared to serve some function or other. She kept her voice strong and steady as she sang for him and worked. If she could split her focus for the task effectively maybe he wouldn't be so sad while she worked.

"Well everybody keeps score, afraid you're gonna lose
Just ignore they don't know the real you
All the rain in the sky can't put out your fire
Of all the stars out tonight, you shine brighter

So don't let anybody tell you that you're not loved
And don't let anybody tell you that you're not enough
Yeah there are days when we all feel like we're messed up
But the truth is that we're all diamonds in the rough
So don't be ashamed to wear your crown
You're a king you're a queen inside and out
You glow like the moon, you shine like the stars
This is for you, wherever you are

Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, oh, oh,
You're gold~"

Lily smiled as she sang and selected the parts and tools needed for the repair. Disassembling some of the larger and more intact machines she pulled out circuit boards and compared them to the make of the one she held. When no answer seemed apparent there she set the pieces aside and then, checked the smaller things she'd found. Oh, there was something close! Oh dear, it had the wrong capacitors and resistors! Well, she could fix that too! She pulled out what appeared to be a very delicate pair of tweezers and began prying the smaller parts of the circuit board apart but each time the tweezers touched they gave a buzz and a sparking, probably caused by what appeared to be a battery pack attached to the handle. A nip here, a tuck there and solder rolled right off.

Lily's voice kept on above the din of the tool even as she pried more bits off another circuit board to interchange them and add parts that weren't there before. She pulled out a big book and ripped a blank sheet from it, a pen sliding from the spine into her hand as she drew a new schematic diagram for her project. This should work better if it was moved to connect with the second capacitor. This one will work but I have to switch to the transistor. Oh dear, the diode is busted. She tried to keep the song going with all her heart while she worked but focusing on the two tasks simultaneously was proving to slow her down.

"So don't be ashamed to wear your crown
You're a king you're a queen inside and out~"

As she finished the song she pulled apart another machine of an uncannily similar make and almost wanted to kick herself. She'd had another the whole time and could have simply swapped parts! Oh well, she'd worked so hard on his new circuit boards already. She pulled a new tool from the pack that looked like a very delicate soldering gun. Indeed it was as she began reattaching the parts in their new positions, looking between the circuit board and the hand drawn schematic. Finally with her concentration on the task at hand she popped the screws from the slots on the look alike model, connected the new parts and some of the old parts from the horribly destroyed one the man had been sad over.

After a few more minutes she held up the new frankenPod in it's scuffed pink case and offered it to him. She'd done the best she could with what she had on hand. It wasn't much but it would at least work. There was no use for the screen, it was crushed LCD and she didn't have the means for it. As well the on of switch was reversed so that now on was off and off was on. Other than that it would function just fine. It would require a complete format but it would at least work.

"I-I-I think it sh-sh-should w-w-work again. You'll h-h-have to get th-th-the screen f-f-fixed a-a-and a couple other th-th-things are funny but i-i-it should work a-a-after a format." Lily smiled sheepishly and slid it across the bench to him. "S-s-sorry if it d-d-doesn't work. I-I-I d-d-did my b-b-best." She hoped it would be alright. Would he smile now? She hoped he'd feel better. He didn't seem so big and scary now. She'd managed to at least sorta fix his problem.

Damien shrugged and was just about to stand up and leave, chalking this up as unlucky and just getting on with his life. At that point though, Fortune took pity on him and sent him a strange girl- if only he knew that she was the very magician that he needed. All he could see was a crazy singing loon. With swinging hips and flailing arms, she danced her way over to Damien, singing at the top of her lungs.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh

You were walking on the moon, now you're feeling low
What they said wasn't true, you're beautiful
Sticks and stones break your bones, I know what you're feeling
Words like those won't steal your glow, you're one in a million

This, this is for all the girls, boys all over the world
Whatever you've been told, you're worth more than gold
So hold your head up high, it's your time to shine
From the inside out it shows, you're worth more than gold
You're worth more than gold~"


She had a wonderful voice, one easily able to soothe the savage beast. It was so wonderful, in fact, Damien was still stunned when she dexterously slipped the iPod from his fingers. "How the hell- what? Does she have a death wish or something?[/i]" Damien began to stand up, fully intending to take his iPod back by any means necessary. "Hey, what do you thi-" Damien was immediately silenced as he saw the toolbelt appear from HammerSpace. He held his breath, and almost didn't dare to look her way, as if his hope was so fragile it would break at the slightest provocation. Could she bring his iPod back to life? A few people began to give the pair of them strange looks, but a single glare from Damien silenced them all. If she could do what he hoped she could, he would go toe-to-toe with everyone in the square if so necessary.

"Well everybody keeps score, afraid you're gonna lose
Just ignore they don't know the real you
All the rain in the sky can't put out your fire
Of all the stars out tonight, you shine brighter

So don't let anybody tell you that you're not loved
And don't let anybody tell you that you're not enough
Yeah there are days when we all feel like we're messed up
But the truth is that we're all diamonds in the rough
So don't be ashamed to wear your crown
You're a king you're a queen inside and out
You glow like the moon, you shine like the stars
This is for you, wherever you are

Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, oh, oh,
You're gold~"

Smiling, Damien couldn't help but chuckle to himself as the girl finished her song. "Is she... is she singing to actually cheer me up?[/i]" It was all Damien could do not to burst out in uproarious laughter. This simply could not stand. He was supposed to be the constantly cheery one! How would he ever look at himself in the mirror if he moped around while a girl sang to him, trying to pick up his spirits? Quickly thinking, Damien decided to return the favor.

One trouble: He had no idea what to sing. "Layla? Good, but it's sending the wrong kinda message. Savior's no good without a band behind you, and she would probably get self-conscious from 'Tush.'[/i]" Damien pondered for a moment before an idea popped into his head. "All Right Now! Yeah, that'll definitely work!" Licking his lips with a grin, Damien started singing in his honeyed baritone.

"There she stood in the street, smiling from her head to her feet
I said, "A-hey, what is this?"
Now baby maybe, maybe she's in need of a kiss
I said, "A-hey, what's your name, baby?
Maybe we can see things the same
Now don't you wait or hesitate
Let's move before they raise the parking rate"
All right now baby, it's all right now
All right now baby, it's all right now

Let me tell you now-
"

As Damien started to sing, he attracted even more stares. It was one thing for an attractive- if brightly colored- young lady to start singing, but for the man who looked ready for a street fight? Half the people there fully expected the other half to break out in perfectly choreographed dances for the musical. Still, he didn't give a damn. Even at the worst of times, Damien didn't really care what others thought of him, and this was the least he could do for the lady trying to save his iPod.

Finally, the song finished and so did she. The girl handed over his iPod with a sheepish smile. Slowly taking it from her hands, Damien pressed the home button with all the fear hope brought with it, praying that his desires wouldn't be crushed against the rocks of reality. When that beautiful light shone forth from the crushed LCD screen, Damien sat there, simply stunned. Sure, the casing seemed a couple shades lighter than its usual black, but who cares? He then turned to Lily with a grin that split his face from ear to ear. "Thank you!" Damien exclaimed as he wrapped Lily up in a hug, careful not to hurt her.

Damien laughed as he let go, pocketing his iPod. "Thank you so much. That was a present from a close friend of mine; I really didn't know what I was going to do. You have a wonderful singing voice, by the way." Damien laughed at his wonderful fortune. "Oh, my name's Damien Lier. What's yours?"

Lily watched him curiously from the corners of her eyes as he sang. She hadn't expected him to sing back but he had a gorgeous voice like liquid sunshine. He made goosebumps rise on her skin with the smooth sound of his low timbre. This was an interesting way to meet someone. Not near as direct as Cyrus but this man at least acknowledged her friendly fashion as she had worked on his machine.

Curious blue eyes watched as he pressed the button. The trembling hope that his face held was like a he stood at the edge of a precipice might fall in if this failed. The light came on and through the crushed screen Lily could see that the machine did indeed work to some degree. Wow, this was lucky! She'd been wondering what they did. Did they really play music like she had heard they did? The last time she'd heard about music legitimately it had been about CDs and not anything like this. She had a lot of catching up to do.

She blushed hotly as he wrapped her up in his massive arms and hugged her without hurting her. Her first reaction was terror but it passed quickly as she knew he wasn't going to hurt her intentionally. He was huge but he was kind. He sang to her in return. Maybe he was someone like Cyrus, kind and odd at first glance. Maybe deep down he was much more like her than she thought. She smiled up at him vibrantly and clasped her hands behind her back, fidgeting and twisting as she spoke softly. Her eyes were on the sidewalk as she spoke as if she was simply too shy to look up.

"O-o-oh! M-m-my name is L-L-Lilliana. Lilliana N-N-Nariko Morthena." She gave him a graceful curtsey as she introduced herself. She began to pack the hand made tools away back into their home in her backpack and instead pulled Zachary Binx out like she had when she had been around Cyrus. She turned back to Damien and set Binx on her hat as she lifted her parasol and popped it open to shade herself and her stuffed toy in a simply eccentric fashion.

"Oh, th-th-this is Z-Z-Zachary B-B-Binx!" She said, pointing at the stuffed cat on her hat that wore a beribboned hat all it's own. "All th-th-the better that I-I-I was c-c-curious ab-b-bout them then. Th-th-thank y-y-you for l-l-letting me f-f-fix it. I l-l-love machines a-a-an you l-l-looked so s-s-sad." She grinned kiddishly and slipped him off her head and into the crook of her elbow, making her plushie wave at Damien almost childishly. Why bother hiding him? People had already stared when she started singing to Damien. She hoped meeting Binx would cheer him up. It had worked with Ceci when she was little, maybe it would work on this big guy too? Only one way to find out.

Damien smiled as the obviously shy girl gave him her name. "Liliana, eh? You have a beautiful name." Damien smiled gently at the savior of his music. At this point, she could be a witch and Damien wouldn't even give a damn. She was a good person, and really, that's all Damien ever cared about.

Then she brought out 'Zachary Binx' and Damien couldn't help himself- his smile just stretched ear from ear. She was just so innocent, you couldn't help it- you just knew she was good. Damien bowed, a large, sweeping motion, akin to what many actors do at curtain call. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Binx." With that, Damien gently took the little hand that Lily made to wave and shook it, as he would for any other gentleman.

Seeing Lily's face light up like a thousand suns, Damien grinned. "Well. Looks like I did something right.[/i]" But then a glorious idea popped into his head. She was like a little kid right? Soo...

"Hey, Liliana, I know it's not a whole lot compared to what you just did, but do you want to go for ice cream? My treat, of course. Zachary can get his own cone, naturally." Damien was almost blinded by the pure joy radiating off Lily at that time, so he guessed that he did the right thing.

As the two walked towards the ice cream shop, Damien pulled out his iPod. He had noticed that she was intrigued by the machine, and seemed to love music. "Hey, Liliana, listen to this." Damien grinned as he put his beloved headphones around her head, having the band wrap from behind her head so as to not disturb her hat. With that, Damien fiddled with his strangely off-color iPod for a minute, before finding Aranda's 'Testify.' "Here, these guys are my favorite band. They're some of the best singers I've ever heard."

The two continued on like this for some time until reaching the shop. "Heya, Damien!" The shopkeeper called out. "Heya old man! Can I have the orange sorbet? Oh, and I'm paying for her as well." "Oh? She's cute. Is she your little sister?" Damien grimaced for a moment. "Aw, just get the ice cream!" They both laughed as Damien pulled up a table for himself and Lily. "So, tell me about yourself? What do you do that you were able to fix my iPod? It was literally crushed by a moving vehicle. Everyone told me it couldn't be fixed. How did you fix it?"

Lily blushed and put her closed hands over her cheeks as a giggle quivered through her shoulders. He was must have been one of those types, the gentle giant. His cheer seemed to fill her up and overflow. He was so kind, even to Zachary he was a gentleman above and beyond expectation. He must have known much love for manners and respect like she did. He was a very good man indeed, she could almost feel the goodness rolling off of him like a steam of sweat on the cruelest days here..

Big blue eyes looked up to him as he asked about ice cream and then the joy beaming through her smile turned into an inquisitive tilt as she tapped her cheek with a single finger. "Ice... cream?" What was that? Momma had used cream with sugar in her tea. Was it like that or was it something entirely different? Whatever it was the word was not in the girl's vocabulary as she stared at him blankly for a moment. He was offering to buy but she couldn't bother him for that could she? Her stomach answered for her after having gone long enough without a snack. She still wasn't used to eating regularly.

"Oh, um..." She dropped her hands down to her thighs and began to shift between her feet nervously as a rosy tinge warmed her cheeks. She shouldn't, Kindness was free. She seemed to stare at her feet as if they held the answers but he took her moment of hesitance in stride and with a smile began to tow her off in the appropriate direction. Oh my. Lily let him lead her by the hand a while before he took off his headphones and covered her ears with them while fiddling with the iPod. He mentioned a band which confirmed her suspicions about the device's purpose. Wait, does it even w-? Her eyes widened with shock as the sound flowing forth answered her question. It worked! She had done even better than she had thought! He hadn't needed to reformat the memory space.

It was strange to work on a music player that small, all of Jezza's had been enormous. She abandoned all thoughts of the past as the lyrics swept her away. She listened with the look of someone dying of thirst taking their first gulp of water. The music absorbed her along the way and she seemed to prance smoothly beside him as if nothing could ruin her for this moment. Music was the universal language. It was the voice of the heart and poetry of the soul. Lily accepted the gesture as if a gift from a god; Sharing one's music in her book was akin sharing one's soul. Charli had enjoyed Lily's sharing as much as Damien had and now he had responded in kind twice; once with his own voice and now with a voice that had touched his soul from another. It was the unspoken acceptance and enjoyment of the gift that shone through brightest.

As Damien led her up to a building and swung the door in Lily looked on in awe. She had seen many of these places from the outside during her wandering but had never actually been inside one. She stared at all the bins of ice cream on tip-toes with Binx held up so he could see as well. It was pretty rare she brought him out of her backpack but Damien was going to be getting Binx an ice cream cone too. Was that stuff in the bins ice cream? They were flavors. How odd. What on earth was this stuff? She stared and stared as if the shiny freezers would answer her question if she glared long enough. They refused to respond to her piercing gaze.

Oh, there were a couple flavors she was familiar with! Strawberry and banana sounded like a great idea, but she wasn't sure how to read the currency signs here; It was a bit disorienting to the mathematical part of her. Unfortunately the flavors were in separate bins. How could she decide which one she would try? "Binx, could we share a cone so kind Mr. Damien doesn't have to buy two? Strawberry and banana, yeah? I'll share mine if you share yours~" She grinned and nodded his head in response to her questioning. It was the perfect solution to get to taste both flavors and to save a bit of money for Damien, at least so she hoped.

Once their ice cream was scooped out and stacked into the cones Lily sat herself as if she were a butterfly alighting on a flower with a smooth and flutter of her skirt. She set her parasol across the table to keep it in sight from the outside and looked at the scoops of the cold substance known as ice cream. It would be some sort of sweet and creamy she suspected but still she was leery of the new treat. Tentatively she tasted it, a dainty brush across the top and she was in paradise. It was the most delicious thing she had tasted in her life. She would certainly get better parts and fix his music player up like brand new if she was in town long enough.

Then, he asked her about her work and how she had fixed it. She beamed genuine delight at the subject and couldn't help but share her enthusiasm about the topic. She set Binx in a chair to free up one hand so she could retrieve the schematic from her backpack. "I absolutely love machines! Mechanics is a fascinating and fun subject for study. I'm going to be the best mechanic around someday. I'll work and work until I can build or fix anything in the world! Someday, I may even fix the world." She seemed to take on a dreamy cast to her eyes as she folded her hands in her lap and gently picked her chair up to scoot closer without scuffing the floor.

"I'm not the best yet, not by far, no. You see, I saw several of those devices in the music store window. Naturally, I assumed they made or played music in some fashion. I have never studied these machines before so it was a great chance, an opportunity to learn and listen. Music is the simply the emotions of the soul and lyrics are the poetry of the heart." She seemed to wiggle in excitement before she noticed the ice cream was melting and quickly devoured the droplets. She began to fidget again, running her free hand over Bink's back absently.

"I went scavenging for parts and found as many devices as I could and a few other interesting bits I wish to dissect and reassemble into new things. It was my pleasure to work on yours. I'm glad I was able to save it for you. I'm terribly sorry about the screwy bits, I'll fix it prettier next time, promise." Damien had earned it. He'd given her such new and wonderful gifts freely. It was the was the most earnest gesture she could offer in return for his generosity. "Oh, if you know where to get the right parts and a proper schematic for me to read I can fix it perfect or better!" Would he be angry for the offer to upgrade or would he just take in stride as everything else? She didn't seem anywhere near as nervous or shy as before. It was partly the earnesty he had gained from her and a little jolt of hyper activity from the sweet treat she had been bequeathed by the large man.

Damien grinned at Lily's overflowing joy. He simply couldn't help it- she was just so innocent. It was like seeing one of his little sisters heading off for school, or something. She looked as if she didn't even know what a sin was, much less how to commit one. Damien shook his head with a smile as he took a lick of his ice cream- and immediately frowned. "What flavor is this? It doesn't...taste like orange...[/i]" In fact, it tasted like blueberry. Damien stared at his ice cream, trying to tell what the color was. "Stupid...friggin'....colors.[/i]" Damien thought as he gave up guessing the color.

"Hey, old man, are you trying to mess with me? I know this isn't orange." The ice cream man laughed. "Sorry Damien- it's just always priceless to see your reaction." Damien was dumbfounded. "I- but- aw, c'mon. Just gimme the orange. Please." He grinned sheepishly. The old man threw his hands up, as if he were being arrested. "All right, all right. Fine. It's on the house, then."

Taking his ice cream back to his seat, now satisfied with the flavor, Damien tried explaining what just happened to Lily. "Ah... right. I'm full colorblind. Monochromatic. I can only see black and white, and a whole lotta grey. The old man found this out a while ago, and love messin' with me." Damien shrugged as he took another lick of his ice cream.

He leaned back as Lily explained her dream, and once again, Damien had no choice but to smile. "Good luck with that, honey. You'll need all the luck you can get if you think you're gonna fix the world.[/i]" Damien thought, uncharacteristically dark for him. Even then, Lily was able to cheer him up. "What? You want to make it even better? Sure! I've never been one to refuse help, and I'm not gonna stop you if this is what you like." Laughing, Damien couldn't help but like the girl before him. She was shy, but was just so damn kind. "She's trying to help me out so much... what could I do in kind?[/i]

But then Damien got an idea, and once again his eyes lit up like stars. "Hey! Liliana! Why don't you start a machine shop or something? You would get all sorts of customers and make plenty of money, with your skill. Plus, your job would literally be just fixing and making machines of all sorts. You would be able to make hundreds of people as happy as I am. I'll help out- it'll be fun! So, what do you say?" Damien questioned with his eyes, looking for Lily's answer.

Lily looked at him and tilted her head in curiosity as he traded his not orange ice cream for orange. So that was his trouble? She could fix that if she studied enough potions! She'd just have to check in her book if there was a potion that might help him. Unfortunately, she didn't have that with her today as she'd left it at home. Lily slurped more of the ice cream dribbles as she listened to him with the utmost of attention. She couldn't seem to sit still though.

"O-oh! I'd have to ask M-master if it would be okay. We're in town on business you see. If business goes well I don't see why we wouldn't be staying." She grinned pleased with her own answer and swung her legs idly. She giggled softly and picked Binx up to perch on her shoulder. "All we have to do is find Sir Mikhail! He's supposed to keep us safe but I was bad and wandered away." She hung her head to accentuate the point and began to fidget until she looked like she was developing a nervous tick.

"I'd have to start somewhere though. I want to earn the money myself to start it. If you go in half, you can own half? Is that what businessmen say when founding something? I think I read that somewhere. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, I'd also need some place to stay. I'm sure I could find a place to hole up and make a nest like I used to until I can get an actual place. I've scouted out a few empty buildings already. Just need water and electric and I'll have a place for a lil bit." The nonstop rush of conversation barely seemed to go where it probably wasn't supposed to but Lily just couldn't hold her words back. She was just to energetic to stop and take a breath for what seemed an incredible time. Could she talk any faster? The ice cream would tell.

Lily took a bite out of the top scoop and then quickly finished it off with a thick swallow. OUCH! That had hurt. Oh no no that was cold and painful and stabby! She groaned and forced the freezing lump down her throat and coughed. Oh that wasn't smart at all. Don't choke yourself idiot! Lily gasped and got a breath into her lungs and gave Damien a thumbs up as the other scoop landed on the ground. Awww, I really liked the banana..

She sighed and looked at the cone sadly. "Well," She took a bite out of the cone as if she had simply moved on from the tragedy. She would not dare complain about the loss. "I also work on potions too. Maybe I can help you with your eyes. I might be able to find a potion for you. If we find Mikhail I can ask his opinion. Surely he'd know where to find out about business! We should find him, I don't even know where I am." She seemed to deflate again. She took a dejected bite out of her cone. Poor Mikhail must be so worried about her by now.

Having browsed through most of the books that he found on the subject of romance and displays of affection, Mikhail came to the conclusion that some things were best left done in privacy. While he lacked full understanding of most things that he came across, they would require hands on practice at some point, Mikhail felt confident that he would now be able to properly kiss at the very least. With his bag full of books, he debated finding another person to test his technique on, however, to go after just any girl on the street was ill advised by the more reputable books he had bought. Miss Lilliana would be a suitable subject seeing as how he had already made an impression on the lady when they left Chupa Cabra, remembering the moment where he made a miscalculation as to romantic technique. Turning behind him, Mikhail for the first time realized that there was not colorful blond girl following him, for the first time in quite a long while he realized that he was alone.

At first, seeing as how she was so short, Mikhail thought he had simply overlooked her. After inspecting the area more thoroughly, and inquiring about the subject with those around at the time he entered, Mikhail realized she must not have followed him here at all in the first place. His first thought, as he slipped into an alley to take crow form, was that Master Leo would be sorely upset if any harm befell their new companion after such a short time. Flying over Death City, careful to look over the entire area for Miss Lilliana, Mikhail failed to pick out her form the first couple times, growing more and more desperate as the thoughts of what might happen to her filled his head. Death City was filled with many dangers for a witch, and should she be found, there was a high chance of death, which would end badly when it came to whatever plans Lord Leo had.

It wasn't until he got near a certain store, Death Records he read, that he noticed someone singing sweetly while sitting on a bench. He had heard the birds around his old crow days, singing their little tweeting songs to welcome the morning, and it was something he had grown quite accustomed to hearing. This wasn't a bird. This was something else, that demanded his attention, bringing him down to the street across from the bench, Mikhail closed his eyes as the song filled his mind. It had been ages since he had taken the time to listen to something so soft and beautiful.

As the song finished, he allowed his curiosity to take a peek at who it was that sang so wonderfully, better than the birds of his old life had ever done. Miss Lilliana was the one that caught his eye, sitting beside a rather large man that he had not seen before, holding a small device in his hand. Rather than reveal himself immediately, Mikhail decided to watch the two interact, should the moment come when Miss Lilliana needed his help, Mikhail would have no trouble disposing of the giant she was with. He wasn't sure why that was the first thought that crossed his mind, and was certain that the Lady would not appreciate bloodshed in her midst. However, he felt like it would be an enjoyable act either way.

Following them to the Ice Cream shop, Mikhail perched behind the two, listening in on the conversation until he was certain that there was no danger associating herself with the man, Damien. After turning back to his human form in secret, Mikhail walked calmly up behind Miss Lilliana and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You are far too small to be wandering off alone Miss Lilliana." He glanced over at Damien, but didn't say a word as he stood by, silently watching the man with indifference. "Master Leo has yet to report on his business affairs. It would be wise to limit interaction with the people here."

Damien smiled as Lily proposed a partnership. "Alright, if you say so." He chuckled. "Though I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do so much, other than tend the shop. I'm a bit useless when it comes to machines- other than running into them, apparently." Damien's chuckles turned into full fledged laughter as he thought of the horrendous fate of the crushed moped. Stupid little things- couldn't even decide what they want to be. What Damien did should be counted as a mercy killing.

But joy quickly turned to shock, and Damien's jaw slowly dropped as he heard Lily speak. Apparently 'Sir Mikhail' sucked at his job. How on earth- no, why should a girl like Lily be forced to squat in a building? It was bad enough in Los Angeles, but in Death City? No. This was not going to happen. It pissed off Damien enough when he saw it back home. He was not going to allow it here. "Hey, Liliana, just tell me if you need a place to stay. You can come room with me- I'll just take the couch or something. You shouldn't have to be a squatter."

Shaking off his anger, storing it for later, Damien shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Lily- you're all right if I call you that, right? Anyway, I'm fine being colorblind. It comes with a couple advantages, anyway. But thanks for the thought." But as the words left his mouth, certain gears began to turn in his mind. "Wait a minute...potions?[/i]" Damien thought. "What the hell is she, a witch? Or one of those new-age hippie voodoo fellas, or something? Whatever.[/i]" Damien dismissed the thought as unimportant. How wrong he would prove to be.

Damien grinned once more as an idea popped into his head. Man, his brain was just on the ball today! "Hey, Lily, I have an idea. Why don't we go looking for your friends? Leo, or Mikhail- whichever one we can find. I'm so lucky, I bet ya we find them inside the hour." Damien smiled as he crunched into the last of his ice cream. "Yeah...So I can ask quite kindly just why they're treating a lady like Lily how they are. And if I don't like the answer- which I won't... well, the kindness ends.[/i]" Damien thought a bit more darkly. Still, he did not let such thoughts cloud his outward appearance.

Standing up, Damien prepared to execute his plan when the greasiest looking man Damien had ever seen (and that was saying something) approached the pair and put his hand on Lily's shoulder. "Who the hell are you, you greasy, nazi lookin' sonnuva bitch?[/i]" Damien thought rather uncharitably. Damien instinctively disliked people in military outfits. There had been a riot once when he was a kid, and the riot squad did not hesitate in using the tear gas.

Then Damien heard the man speak, and he was able to guess as to the man's identity. Since he obviously knew Liliana, and referred to another man as 'Master Leo,' he must be Mikhail- the one Damien put the most blame on. A master could be inattentive, but from the sound of it, Mikhail was Lily's guardian- and a poor one like that. With a sudden realization, Damien realized why he felt such dislike of the man. "Oh great, the greaser's just like the old man. Well, this is gonna be fun."

With his usual smile on his face, Damien stood up. With a grandiose movement, Damien approached Mikhail, both arms spread wide, as if going for a hug. "Ah, you must be the Mikhail I've been hearing about." Just as Mikhail had put his hand on Lily's shoulder, Damien repeated the motion, gently placing his right hand on Mikhail's shoulder- and then holding said shoulder in a vise-like grip. It wouldn't hurt, but Damien certainly wasn't letting go anytime soon.

"Anyway, I've been meaning to ask you a few questions, if ya don't mind." Damien's left hand clenched into a fist, his only outward display of anger. "Just wanted to know some things. Mind if we step outside for a few minutes?" Damien asked, once again not unkindly. Still, like how one can feel the power behind a volcano just about to erupt, Damien's rage was all directed towards Mikhail, and it was all but palpable. Slowly, but inexorably, Damien used his monstrous strength to take a single step at a time, intending to force Mikhail outside if necessary.

Lily jumped with a slight yelp as Mikhail broke her rapt attention from Damien's grasp. His voice soothed her immediately as she turned to slip out of her seat graceful as a butterfly. She would have wrapped her arms around Mikhail's middle with a sigh of releif but fate had other plans. Lily recognized Damien's posture for exactly what it was the moment he made his move toward Mikhail. She was no stranger to masked rage. He had the exact same look as she had whenever it Lily had done something to be punished.

First came the shadow of Damien cast over the small, young woman who stood between him and her kind guardian. Mikhail was in danger and she was too weak to protect him. Whatever Damien did to him would be beyond her healing skills and quite easily at that! Lily stood in shock for a moment as Damien spoke and a knot of pure ice formed in the pit of her stomach. She had to save Mikhail! But she didn't even know how to fight! How could she? HE needed her and she was frozen solid as if the ice in her stomach had numbed her entire being.

She stared and watched the world as if through a haze. It was terrifying and horrid. Every memory of the one person Lily feared most rose to the fore of her mind as if it were all happening again. The flood gates broke and every emotion from confusion and wonder to absolute terror whisked across her face in seconds. Then, came the tears flowing down her face like twin waterfalls as her voice loosed itself in fright. It was a short and piercing shriek like a terrified child would give. The sound that rose was nothing but blood curdling horror.

Lily fell and curled to her knees sobbing in fear. She couldn't do it. She wasn't strong enough. She couldn't save Mikhail and now he'd take a beating for her mistake whatever it was. He didn't deserve it and there was nothing at all she could do about it. She clutched at herself as every sob wracked her body with violent waves of quivering. Master Leo would be so upset. He might ask her to leave, or worse punish her to match Mikhail's hurt. Her frantic and terrified mind buzzed in every direction of the horrors that lay ahead for both of them. She begged only that she would be able to ease Mikhail's suffering and pain when it was done. She would fail again and now Mikhail would pay the price for her weakness.

Lady Lilliana, excited to see him had slipped up to her feet as gracefully as always, turning to give her usual greeting when the two were parted for various reasons before. He was prepared for this, however, he was not prepared for the large, rude man's interjection into the two's little moment of reunion. With a large, powerful hand gripping his shoulder, Mikhail glanced back, about to form Chapter 1, until it was remembered where the Crow currently was. The use of magic in this area was sure to cause trouble, even if he did show that he was not a witch, but a magical animal. Trapped in this regard, he gave a heavy sigh, and while he was surely physically weaker than the man, it was possible to overcome this with some of the more subtle arts he had learned while preparing to be Master Leo's companion.

As the man began to force him away, for a private talk that Mikhail assumed would eventually come to blows, he noticed Miss Lilliana's reaction. It was for the best to perform such violent actions away from the lady, as with the amount of emotional control that she possessed, upsetting her would cause a myriad of problems. She had already started to break, surely sensing the seriousness of the situation. What truly got the crow's attention was the sharp scream the small Moth Witch let out as she fell to her knees, overcome by some sadness that Mikhail had been getting more used to. "Remove your hand." Glancing into the mans eyes, Mikhail narrowed his own pale blue gaze while forcing the giants off, pushing on the wrist, his grip surely loosening at the sound of Miss Liliana's distressed cry.

Walking swiftly to the curled up ball of sadness that was Lilliana, Mikhail knelt beside her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and attempting to turn her face upwards to his own. "Calm yourself Lady Nariko, all is well, there is no need to shed tears now." He cradled her in his arms, a tip picked up from one of the novels he read in the book store about some sea faring gentleman and his escapades with a young lady. He didn't dare go to the next scene that the book contained, as such things were best tested in a more private area. He did place a gentle kiss on her forehead however, one of the most effective comfort techniques available he had read. He repeated again, "All is well M'Lady."

Damien had been fully focused on Mikhail when he heard it. After all, most men had an instinctual attack switch when threatened. It was just human nature, and Damien didn't feel like getting a knife between the ribs because he had let his attention wander. But as the sound made its way into his (admittedly probably small) forebrain, Damien couldn't help but freeze, stiller than Michelangelo's David. Sobbing. It was slight, but Damien knew that he heard it. Turning his head slightly, Damien looked for the source of the sound.

Oh God. It was coming from Lily. Something was wrong. Horribly horribly wrong. "Hey, Lily, are you alright? Is something th-" Damien was cut off by a piercing scream, and he knew something was up. Oh hell.[/i] Damien thought as all his attention focused itself like a laser on Lily. His grip loosened, and he didn't even notice as Mikhail slipped his grasp. He was simply too busy trying to find some sort of solution to this new problem. But though his brain may have been firing on all cylinders, it was producing nothing but smoke. Damien had no idea what was happening and what was wrong.

"Hey, Lily? What's the matter? Are you hurt?" Damien crouched, anxiously going through the checklist he would always perform with one of his own siblings. Still, he saw no blood, leading Damien to think it was something else. Alright, you oversized bastard, think of what happened. What could have caused this?[/i] Calming slightly, Damien began to run though events. She was fine with ice cream, good when they were talking, and...actually seemed happy when she saw Mikhail for the first time. Okay, nothing wrong there. Maybe Damien had made a mistake about that guy, but then what could it-

Oh.

Oh, hell.

It was him.

Damien fell to his knees in despair. It was his aggression that caused this. He had tried to protect Lily, but in his overzealousness he had caused her the worst wound of all. She actually cared about Mikhail, and to her it must have seemed as if he had been planning on making him bite the curb. A shudder wracked Damien's body. She had fixed his iPod and had sang to him, and this was how he repaid her? Damien was disgusted with himself. "I-I'm sorry, Lily. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean- I didn't know..." Damien trailed off, unable to continue. His confidence was shattered, and once again, he had no idea what to do or how to fix this. And he hated himself for it.

Lily wrapped her arms around Mikhail's neck and buried her face to hide the tears that spilled freely down her cheeks. Lily clung to Mikhail as though the wind would come up any moment and try to carry her away. She was terrified almost beyond reason but she felt their eyes upon her. It wasn't the worst scenario that had crashed into her thoughts. She had to collect herself and make sure they weren't about to hurt each other.

Lily sniffled and tried to hush her roaring thoughts silently. It was like every siren in the world was wailing inside her head. She had to get it together, these gentlemen needed her to be alright. They were worried about her enough to cease being violent for the time being. That was a good thing to start off with. Lily steadied her breathing as much as possible, closing her eyes and filling her lungs as much as she could. When she could speak again without stuttering too much she whispered to Mikhail. "Please forgive him Sir Mikhail, he doesn't know."

She pushed herself away slowly and slide to her feet, a faint tremor still rocking her knees. She carefully dabbed her eyes and glided over to Damien. No, this would not do. He didn't need to blame himself, Cyrus had reminded her of that. She remembered what anger was like, a little. It always ended up hurting someone. Damien deserved to know what was what. "Mister Damien," She cleared her throat nervously and plucked up a smile. "I'm st-still not used to having a home to-to go to. S-Sir Mikhail is a servant under my master. I-it's not his f-fault that I keep wandering away."

Lily wrung her hands nervously as she hoped against every hope he'd forgive her for stirring the whole thing up with improper impressions. That was no reason for Mikhail to get into a fight at all. If she could persaude Damien to the idea that Mikhail wasn't the one he should be upset with or himself. Would they be able to forgive the slight? She hoped it would be resolved soon. For imagining a lot of problems she sure didn't see many solutions. That wasn't good, she'd have to work on that.

Mikhail was fairly certain he would have to become comfortable with the feeling of tears dampening his uniform, and the feeling of being held so tightly by another person. He heard the large man's distraught apology, obviously aware of his mistake and on his knees. It seemed he would be safe in this situation for now, thanks to Lilliana's breakdown and Mr. Damien's, rather slow, understanding of what was going on. The Crow had been concerned that it would be necessary to cover their tracks, dispatching of the man before he could reveal Miss Lilliana's identity. However, sensing his current cognitive ability, it wouldn't be a problem hiding their identity from him until Master Leo was able to finish his plans.

"Fear not Miss Lilliana, there is no need for me to take action against him now that everything has been made clear." He whispered the words back to her before glancing to Damien out of the corner of his eye. As long as the other party could keep calm, which was looking like a safe bet at this point. Rising to his feet as Miss Lilliana did, he folded his hands behind his back, standing straight with his legs together as if he was an actual soldier. He waited patiently for things this dramatic situation to conclude, keeping his eyes locked on Damien in case things really did start heating back up. He more suspicious of the man than he would of been before, as he didn't know much more than that Damien was thinking he was protecting Miss Lilliana.

To avoid situations like this, perhaps a leash would need to be purchased for Miss Lilliana. It would be easier to keep track of her if he had something to hold onto. Perhaps a children's harness would be enough if he could find one of the right size.