[Fin] Chasing the Dragon [Kari]

[Vyn]

Poe couldn't begin to count all the times she'd ventured into these smoky dens, filling her lungs with that blissfully numbing drug time and time again. Everything was just a little softer, a little easier to bare, whenever Poe went chasing after the dragon.

She was hooked before she could stop to think of the repercussions. After all, with the pain that daily life brought her Poe was thankful for even the slightest reprieves; no matter the consequence.

As noon progressed on toward late afternoon, Poe finally managed to rouse herself and drag her tired limbs out into the open air once more. She coughed briefly, readjusting to the lack of smoke in her lungs, and then shuffled her way down the street. The only other place Poe ever bothered to visit in this dreary town was an equally dreary little coffee shop. It, of course, served the best coffee in town and was also a popular spot for the poets and the starving artists.

Which was, in all honesty, exactly what Poe was.

She could lurk here for hours, just drinking in the atmosphere, but from time to time the delightful relief from her pain could bring Poe onto the small, shadowed stage where she would quietly sing her heart out for everyone to hear; if they were coherent enough to listen, that is. That was where Poe stood now, figure diminished by the pull of her bindings but her voice soft and somewhat dreamy, temporarily free from her ever-nagging curse.

[Kari Muffin]

Xiven was in no way amused by this. She wanted to take one of the coffee pots and beat someone to death with it. Not only were people staring, they were being emotional wreaks over coffee and tea. Didn't they have better things to than mope around.

"Just... just give me black coffee." She was a Queen damnit. It wasn't a hard request to fill either.

The woman behind the counter squeaked at Xiven's tone of voice, but hurried to get what she was told.

Well at least one thing was going right. When the door opened, Xiven turned to look. Yet another depressed person in this bleak and dreary place. No wonder her mother left.

This person was different though. Her bindings were something that made Xiven cringe. How cruel could someone possibly be? With a flicker of protest, her fluffy tail snapped in the air. Well then, she would just have to approach the girl about those bindings right after she got her black coffee. There was no way she could be healthy with something like that.

[Vyn]

Unaware that unusual attention had fallen upon her, Poe lingered briefly in the doorway, soft amethyst eyes traveling around the gloomy little coffee shoppe with a mixture of comfort and vague distraction. The opium was still circulating heavily through her blood, weighing on her chest and leaving her in a state that was more like dreaming than waking.

She could've stayed like that forever.

A voice, however, caught her attention as a young bipedal chipmunk ambled over. They spoke briefly, though by expression and tone one would be able to gauge that the two were friends despite the adolescent finch's apparent shyness. Her voice remained low and gentle, but the chipmunk's lifted a little as he turned and made his way back toward the counter.

"Take a seat, Miss Poe, 'nd I'll be right back with your usual!"

Poe thanked him with a low dip of her head and moved to claim a seat for the evening. She would sing later, she imagined, when the shop was a little less full and she was a little more connected with reality.

[Kari Muffin]

Xiven was happy to finally get the right order. It really wasn't that hard to get a freaking coffee, but with the way people stared at her sometimes, she had to wonder. Looking back she followed the path of the girl. She looked pretty out there, but how could the feline blame her? This place was painfully depressing.

Without a moments hesitation she walked up to take a seat across from the bird. Even though she was uninvited she made herself comfortable. Sipping her coffee she smiled at the girl.

"I see you have a rather interesting dilemma. Or rather, painful and cruel bindings." She sipped her coffee again. "Wouldn't you like to have a non-lethal set of piercings?" It wasn't as blunt as Xiven normally was, but it still got the point across. That was assuming the girl wasn't up in the clouds or whatever they called it.

[Vyn]

Humming quietly to herself, Poe stared aimlessly at the woman on stage as she lamented her life's woes in poetic verse. None of the words really managed to penetrate the haze of her high, but the girl's voice wasn't entirely unpleasant though so Poe had no objections.

What did manage to break her haze, however, was Xiven's sudden appearance next to her and her...unusual conversation started wasn't something easily ignored either. The finch chirped in confusion, brows furrowing slightly. "What...!?"

Poe couldn't believe that the woman was suggesting such a thing. Exchange her bindings? That...wasn't possible. Not with Poe surviving, that is.

"That... That would be impossible." This, of course, didn't appear to be true for the stranger tossing about these questions. As Poe's eyes briefly wandered over the feline's figure, she noted both rank and, to her surprise, her utter lack of bindings. Poe brought a wing to her face briefly, trying to clear her muddled thoughts. Why was this happening now? "...You'd be one to talk, wouldn't you? ...Where are you bindings?"

All of this should have been a bigger surprise to Poe, but with such a heavy dose of opium flowing through her bloodstream Poe found herself beginning to wonder if this was even real. Or, rather, worth ruining the lovely dreamy distance of her high for.

[Kari Muffin]

"I took them off," Xiven said flatly in the sudden dead silence between verses. Several people turned their heads, but most were too busy with the poet on stage to notice. Thank you coffee shop patrons.

"And yours would just need to be removed with a bit of surgery if I know my anatomy correctly." And Xiven was pretty sure that those hooks were at a vital point. "I mean, the surgery is pretty expensive but what's wrong with me paying for it?"

Yes, Xiven was capable of random acts of charity. In a place like this, seeing all the depressed people with all their painful bindings... if one person was a little better off maybe Xiven could go home without kicking herself for coming to such a place? No, she would still kick herself.

"Seriously though. My name's Xiven, and you would be?" Introductions came late, but they were still good enough.

[Vyn]

Poe's expression fluttered with surprise, confusion clear in her eyes as she searched Xiven yet again for the bindings that were not there.

"Why?" The bird's question was flat but curious. She should have been disturbed, should have recognized the conversation for the taboo it was...but every tilt and turn of her head reminded her of the pain that was lurking beneath the embrace of her drugs. "Why would you take your bindings off...?"

The feline's offer remained disturbing, a concept that made her skin crawl beneath her feathers, but she couldn't seem to just say 'no'.

Deep down inside she knew why. The terror of wearing her bindings was far more overpowering than the taboo of living life without them. She had submitted to the reality of things, though, and had learned to stop questioning why. That was just the way things were and nothing could change it.

Xiven telling her that it was possible was perhaps the most absurd thing she'd ever heard...and Poe simply couldn't walk away form it now.

"Poe. I'm Poe... It's a pleasure to meet you, Xiven. Even with how strange this conversation is." She smiled weakly, hesitating as the young chipmunk from earlier returned with her drink. After muttering a quick 'thanks', Xiven began to sip quietly at her drink -- a cherry-scented concoction that couldn't quite be called coffee nor soda. It, however, seemed to calm the young finch even further and left her mind wandering in circles of contemplation.

"...You would pay," she began quite suddenly "to remove my bindings?"

[Kari Muffin]

"I was tired of falling flat on my face over, and over again. I was tired of all the pain." Xiven said with a hand flourish. She was actually tired of all the humiliation that went with tripping.

She had an appropriate name, especially for a place like this. Xiven took a sip of her coffee. It wasn't as good as tea, but it still had the caffeine she needed to function. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Xiven smiled.

"Yes, I would pay to remove them. Why not? I can't imagine you could get your biped form without having those removed anyway. And having the ability to sit up straight wouldn't be awful? I mean, taking you to someone who could remove them wouldn't be that much of a strain for me." How many times had she said this, and how many times had she been refused? Well, if one person took her up on the offer... it wouldn't be a waste of a vacation.

[Vyn]

Poe listened intently, eyes focused and yet distant with a vague hint of dreaminess. She was soaking in everything Xiven said without a problem...it was getting her own thoughts into a coherent order that was becoming troublesome. This all felt like a strange dream. A woman had just offered her the most secret desire of her soul. Her freedom...and from so much more than a simple set of bindings.

"Pain... I'm so tired of pain." Poe sighed sweetly, eyes fluttering closed for a brief moment as she tried to envision escaping those bindings. If only... When Poe opened her eyes once more she was almost surprised to see Xiven still sitting there. Xiven had to be a figment, there was no other way to explain this moment.

The finch sipped quietly at her drink, basking in the glory of the liquefied opium mix and the further absolving of her pains and worries. "Sitting up straight... I'd like that." That was all she said but that was most likely the closest thing Xiven would ever get to a proper agreement.

[Kari Muffin]

Oh she was high. There was no doubt about that one. However Xiven wasn't going to think about it. "All right then. I suppose that means I can drag you back to the Palace of Hearts, or Corvistowne so you can have an operation. Then you'll be able to sit up straight just like everyone else."

She smiled. One Torquehelm was going to be less emo... well as long as she stayed high. Xiven would have to make sure of that esepcially before she had an operation. Otherwise she might change her little mind, and her health would be at risk. Xiven didn't want that.

And she wanted much less angst floating around the world. Especially something so unnecessary as this. She was obviously in pain. How could bindings like that not hurt? The feline would never understand binding despite her mother's various explanations. "Want to have some cake after this nice little coffee shop poet is finished?"