Stars Align

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"Hey, time to wake up over there."

Rivkah looked up from the hand mirror at the man standing across the room from her at an easel. The man nodded at her, pushing up his glasses with paint-covered hands, leaving a drop of red on the bridge of his glasses. "How you feeling?"

Rivkah dropped the mirror on the bed next to her, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. "...Tired," she said, for lack of a better word. A better word might be... distant? Like the feeling you got after a long time spent daydreaming. "What time is it?"

"Nine," Dylan said, his light brown curls falling down between his glasses and his eyes as he turned back to his painting. He blew up at the hair, trying to get it out without using his hands. "See anything?"

Rivkah shook her head. "Jack shit," she said, blinking hard. "Maybe something, but I don't remember it."

"Don't let it discourage you. Probably we haven't found the right medium for you yet," he said, studying his painting. "It's easy to get lost looking, too."

"I know," she muttered, standing up and stumbling as her legs nearly gave way. She felt way too weak after that.

"I was gonna order pizza soon if you want any," Dylan said, putting down his palette on a table near the easel. "You probably shouldn't go out yet like that,"

"Pizza is awesome," Rivkah said, wandering over towards the window and pulling open the blinds. She stared down from Dylan's window on the fifth floor of his apartment complex to the city below. Clubs were starting to light up already, filling up with college kids drinking and dancing away the weekend. Dylan lived in the heart of the 'college' district of the city, near the university campus - the guys who lived there called it Dinkytown.

She heard the sound of running water as Dylan turned the sink on. "You gonna go out and join them?" he asked.

Rivkah shrugged. "Maybe. Why the hell not."

"Oh fuck off," she said, not looking behind her, already knowing she probably couldn't tell. Fuck you. She'd already said she wasn't going to play his games. Does he even know what jailbait means?

Rivkah's face went dark, anger twisting it almost beyond recognition. She yelled an incantation, reaching her hand to the wall of the building next to them and melding into the shadows.

She jumped out of the shadow next to and behind him, grabbing his shoulder. She spun him around and threw him into the wall with surprising force. "You insane fuck," she said, disappearing back into the shadow on the wall as the flames chased her.

She reappeared just next to him, stomping her booted foot down on his as she threw her elbow into his side. In an instant, she was gone again, reappearing half a block down outside of one shadow, vicious, inhuman anger in her eyes.

Any other person might have been more focused on staying clear of the flames, but Rivkah was not any other person. Rage fueled her, and so when she leaped into the shadows again and felt barbs tearing at her skin, she pushed through it, reappearing behind him and slamming a fist into a kidney. She grabbed the back of his suit, pulling him between her and the flames.

She didn't seem to care, flinching as she felt a burn but continuing her assault on him. She grabbed the back of his suit and swung him around into the wall again, slamming her foot into the side of his knee.

His arrogant bullshit reminded her of her dad. This was not a good thing.

That one hurt. She was trying pretty damn hard to hurt him, so her own strike dazed her and, now the fact that she wanted to hit him but couldn't only pissed her off more.

In the back of her mind, she recognized she needed to get out so she could think, and she melded back into the shadows as the flames came for her. She fell back out quickly less than a block over, the pain from his spell too much for her to stay in there, and took off running.

The bastard things didn't stop pursuing her, and she eventually ducked into an alley, darting in and out of shadows to dodge them as she attempted to stay out of sight. Christ, what the fuck would make them stop?

She pointed at the one that looked most like flames as it shot at her. "That one!" she said. It immediately stopped, and the three symbols all dissipated at once. Rivkah dropped her arm, breathing hard with clenched fists.

That... that idiot.

He had to do something flashy. He had to risk drawing attention so he could play teacher. He might as well have fucking set off fireworks, anyone looking probably noticed. And now she was injured - well, both of them were - injured and alone and this couldn't possibly end well.

He started it, sure, but she didn't help it. But she was so fucking angry - there was nothing she hated more than being pushed around like that. Than having her weakness fucking called out to be mocked. Fuck him. But she had to find him before someone else found one or both of them.

Rivkah quickly muttered an incantation, melding back into the shadows again and racing for the spot she'd left him at.

He was long gone by the time she showed up, and Rivkah paced, uncertain. Lots of places he could've gone, maybe straight to the cathedral but that seemed stupid. Dick's place?

She doubled back towards the bar - even if he wasn't there she could probably kill a lot of time there.

"That's what I was going to ask," she said, pulling herself up onto a stool at the bar. She looked down at the ice pack and sighed. "We made it twenty feet before I beat the shit out of him," she admitted, taking the icepack and placing it against the back of her neck where the flames had caught her.

"Obviously it was," she said, taking the ointment with a nod. She gave him a sour look at his later words before she sighed, letting it go. She looked down at her jacket, now with scorch marks as well as the knife hole. It was such a nice jacket. "Any idea where he mighta run off to?"

Rivkah gave him a look and laid her head down on her arms on the counter. "Tell me when the fuck shows up," she muttered into her arms. She didn't like seeing him again on his terms, but it was smart - it wasn't safe to go out alone. But it didn't mean she had to like it. Or him.

Rivkah lifted her head from her arms as he appeared, and her face darkened as he spoke to her. She took in a deep breath to stay calm, looking at him out of the corner of her eye as he rambled on.

She gave Dick a grateful look as he slipped her brandy, and she grabbed it and chugged it immediately, slamming the glass down as soon as she finished. Rivkah took another breath, turned, and slapped Teuto across the face.

"If I wanted your 'teaching,' I would have fucking asked for it," she said.