#kindaaa?

His mouth isn't usually visible, but if aggravated enough (or captured by Labs!Sabre...) he'll CHOMP the shit outta whoever's holding him >:3

He only has one eye in pickaxe form too, so...navigating is *really* hard. Not to mention the fact that he's still somewhat organic and needs to eat and rest. If it weren't for the rest of the TWA characters showing up, he wouldn't be able to find food or, frankly, get all that far..

Thanks to TWA!Sabre hiding him when Labs!Sabre shows, Rainbow eventually returns the favor..By mauling the fuck out of Labs!Sabre, after the guy manhandled other TWA characters to get all three Rainbow Pickaxes (and kidnaps TWA!Sabre). Basically as soon as someone showed Rainbow real kindness, he's like a vicious dog, loyal and protective. Without them, he would've never felt the confidence- and reason- to try at all.

Rainbow manages to yoink the other two Pickaxes from Sabre, throw them out of sight of Assistant, and starts attacking, as TWA!Sabre pulls himself loose. And then the two run out, avoiding Assistant and grabbing the others.

Much, much later, TWA!Sabre *finally* has the supplies for various machines, and starts fixing up people. Rainbow, as in the bottom 2 pics, gets a...different kind of Steve form. He's still part pickaxe, as seen in his hands, legs, and horns/ears, and general body shape. Lanky boi 🥰 his horns can kinda move like ears but are rock solid.

His face is especially fucked up, looking like one of those Picasso paintings where the whole face is misaligned. It can look different depending on what angle you look at him from. It gets worse if he's upset. He's even more vicious towards the Labs duo, and much, MUCH more capable of fucking shit up. He stab >:] Labs!Sabre never learns his lesson, heh..

But!! Rainbow is sososososo happy to have a proper body now!! He's still uncomfortable about speaking (like Circus au!Winter tbh..) but communicates pretty well still. He's very attached to TWA!Sabre, Ivy, and the other Rainbows, and basically everyone else, but especially them, since he was held by Ivy/Sabre most of the time, and the other Rainbow Pickaxes were especially nice to him! :]

And this genuine excitement and gratitude for being a person rubs off on Sabre, slowly making his whole "reality/game" thing feel a lot less scary. Because yeah, he's a different Flavor of person compared to everyone else, but why not revel in that fact than despair? And since Rainbow's spent quite a lot of time with him as a pickaxe, Sabre's relatively comfortable with him too.

Eventually, Sabre finally tells him the truth, sorta. That he got locked out of his old home, old body, and had to adjust to this one. But old problems followed him here, and now he's struggling more than ever. But now he's trying to savor the sensation rather than fight it off, because Rainbow's shown him how to. Because Sabre knew from the start that Rainbow wasn't okay, and he wishes he could amend that. But he couldn't, not til now, and in the meantime, Rainbow was...surprisingly more capable than he expected. And even as a pickaxe, he still found a way to express joy and happiness even though he was stuck in an unnatural, inorganic body.

Jiro checked and re-checked again his cloak, nervously wondering if his clothes looked as decent as everyone else at the small reception. He couldn't really tell if he looked that horrible or if it was just his mind playing tricks on him. Most of Lowtown had dressed up as best as they could, and their best definitely looked better than whatever Jiro had managed to scrounge up in a month, that was for sure.

With a groan, he brushed off a few snowflakes from his shoulders before taking his backpack off, shoving it in a dark empty corner of the hall; at least looking a bit shabby would make sure no one would try to steal it.

"Good evening Jiro, glad to see you could make it."

The softness and familiarity of the doctor's voice slid down his spine in an oh-so delicious way Jiro physically shook it off before turning around, rearranging his messy hair. He caught a glimpse of the delicate sweater that had replaced his undershirt, the usual medical coat covering it a short wool cloak falling over their shoulders. His eyes fell down to the junction between the cloak and the sweater to see it didn't hide the curve of his hips. He cleared his throat, looking back up again, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"Good evening to you too Kuras, I know I'm a bit late but I had to get a few things right before coming."

"No offense is taken, of course.", he said, laying a hand on their shoulder.

Jiro's face softened for a second feeling the warmth of Kura's hand against their body, melting the tension straining their body, before they perked back up.

"We should probably get out of the entry."

"Of course, I'm sure you'll enjoy this reception very much."

With a gentle pull, the doctor invited him into the somewhat crowded hall. By force of habit, Jiro stayed close behind. Perhaps the heat emanating from him also played a reason with the way the boy felt compelled to always trail behind him like a puppy, but he didn't like thinking about that too much (at least not in public). The smell of food somewhere in the room made the raven's desperately empty stomach growl, and he stopped for a second, avidly looking for the source.

"Oh, are you hungry? My apologies for noticing earlier, come with me."

Carving a path to a table displaying an assortment of food, Kuras grabbed a bowl and poured some sort of broth containing fish, bread, potatoes and parnish in it, before leading the raven to a table in the corner of the room, relatively away from the crowd. Jiro hurriedly sat down, and the doctor put the bowl and spoon down in front of him.

"Thank you."

"No need to mention it. Please satiate yourself first, the rest can wait."

The raven nodded vigorously before grabbing the spoon and starting to hurriedly eat the contents of the bowl. In a lightly undignified, perhaps, but they were starving. Once their frenzy had died down a bit, they looked up, catching a glimpse of the way Kuras looked at him when he thought he couldn't see. 

He always looked at him with this sort of amusement, as if gazing at a cat playing with its own tail, except Jiro didn't have a tail and the doctor definitely looked at him like this while he was distracted doing very ordinary things. It was definitely a bit weird but he could feel he didn't have any ill intent towards him doing this, so he let it slide every time, and had come to accept it as an expression conveying affection from the doctor. He almost choked on a piece of bread thinking about it. He cleared his throat a bit loudly.

The noise seemed to alert the doctor, who quickly looked to the side, trying to play off the fact he was caught. His face certainly managed to look relaxed enough to pull it off, but the nervous jittering of his fingers broke the illusion.

"Are you enjoying your meal?"

"Quite. If an eating house did this, I should try to find out where it's located. If they're affordable, it could be a lifesaver."

"I thought the wet wick provided you with food if needed?"

"Oh yes, I can eat as much bar snacks as I want but it's pretty bad for my eating habits overall and... well, being so dependent on Leander kind of makes me feel... uncomfortable? Guilty? Something of the sort, anyway."  

"I see. As for the issue of your eating habits, I do wonder if Leander has changed so much that he'd stopped asking people to accompany him for dinner on a weekly occurrence."

"He hasn't, my mind just loops back to issue number two."

"Of course. Old habits die hard, as I've guessed."

The small laugh stifled underneath his sentence made Jiro feel so full he felt tempted to leave the rest of their broth. Correctly guessing this was a very irrational thought,  they persisted and drank the broth until the last drop, a sigh of content leaving their lips as they settled the bowl down.

"I never could've guessed lowtown would be able to come together and provide a space such as this for everyone, even for just a night."

"You shouldn't be so surprised, it is part of human nature to come together when experiencing hardships."

"Depends who's considered part of their community.", they scoffed on instinct.

"Unfortunately you aren't wrong. Humans can be quite cruel to people they feel threatened by, whether it's a real threat or simply perceived. I'm sorry that you experienced this enough for it to plague your mind even when you are in a safe place."

"It's OK, don't worry."

Jiro didn't mean it exactly like that, but whatever he had actually on his mind was too heavy to utter out loud.

"If you're done, how about you explore a bit of the party? There are multiple activities held here tonight, I'm sure a few of those would be of your liking--"

"You're not coming with me?"

Jiro immediately realised he'd said that too early, in a way too desperate manner. He swallowed nervously, watching Kura's eyes widen with surprise. He anxiously picked at his finger, too afraid to break the silence.

"If your wish is for me to accompany you... I do not see any reason to disoblige."

The raven didn't miss the way the raven's lips curved upwards when he said that. Was he happy being around him? His heart fluttered. Allmother, he hoped he did.

After returning the bowl to the table, Kuras beckoned him by his side and headed to a flight of stairs leading to an overhead balcony overlooking the main hall. Faint unrecognizable smells and voices could be heard from a few open doors down the hall.

"The new year celebrations are a good occasion to forge new bonds within the community, and to try out new things. You'd benefit greatly from it all."

The doctor knocked on a half open door, and joyful voices answered from the inside.

"We're free, please come in!"

Following behind the long flowing hair of the doctor, they entered the room. The pale walls were covered by rugs and the floor in small candles, making the temperature warmer than outside. Two young smiling women were kneeling on cushions, a small low table separating them from the raven and Kuras.

"Good evening doctor! Did you bring a friend with you this year?"

"Jiro is new to lowtown, and they asked I accompany them for the night, I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, it's a pleasure to not see you alone for once!"

In a smooth motion, Kuras sat down at the table, and Jiro imitated him a little bit less gracefully.

"Have you ever had henna, dear?", the one in front of him asked, extending a hand, "Your hands look pretty even covered up like this."

"Oh, what's henna exactly?"

"It's a dye that we apply on the skin in patterns during celebrations! It's for good luck and good looks. We'll leave it on for some time, then clean it up, and you'll be left with the stain for up to a week."

"Woah... yes, that sounds interesting."

"Well come on, give me your hand, don't worry, whatever they look like isn't an issue."

"I can't, I'm sorry.", the raven mumbled, quickly retracting his hands further into his cloak, unable to shake off the tingling feeling in his fingertips.

"Hmm, well, if you change your mind for whatever reason while we're here, don't hesitate, OK?"

"Hm."

The girls set a few liquid containers, wipes and small piping bags on the table, getting a few words out of Kuras with their small talk. His attention diverted to the way the doctor's long cascading hair shimmered in the low candlelight, the lighter ends of his hair pooling and curling out like gold. How could a human be so pretty?

"So Kuras, what type of design do you want to go with today?"

"I must say I have been wanting to try out something new for some time, but my imagination has been of very little help."

"Well that's a bummer, how about your friend pitches in?"

Jiro settled his attention back onto the girl in front of him in a startled movement. He noticed a few freckles dotting her olive skin, all connected together by dark lines as if imitating constellations. Were they also henna?

"Uhhh, yes sure, what kinds of things could be good for this?"

"Let's see, do you have a favorite plant or fruit?"

"I guess my favorite fruit is clementines, does that help?"

"Yes, yes! The flowers also grow in beautiful clusters, what do you say we add those too?"

"O-oh, I'm not an expert and this is for Kuras after all, please feel free to do what would look best..."

"Hmm, I can see it, he has a very nice mount of Venus, we can do a clementine there and have a cluster of flowers burst forth along your life line, it'd look beautiful I think."

Jiro hadn't realised until now how little conversations he'd had with people since coming to Eridia, or even before. This felt comforting. Warm. Natural. His gaze nonetheless settled back on Kuras.

"And you, doctor? What's a plant you like?", the girl in front of him asked.

"I'm quite fond of clementines as well.", he answered with a bit of surprise.

"Then do you want both of your hands with clementines and clementine flowers?"

"That would be good, thank you."

"Out of curiosity, is the design on both hands?", Jiro interrupted out of curiosity

"Usually yes, and they can show continuing scenes on the same side of a hand."

"Oh, like a sun and moon theme on each hand but the main elements staying the same?"

Both women looked at each other simultaneously in surprise, humming in approval.

"You have some good ideas for someone who's never dabbled in it! Are you an artist?"

"Not at all, please this is nothing...", Jiro stuttered, trying to hide his cheeks burning up in embarrassment behind a piece of his cloak.

"Nooo, don't devalue yourself like that! Are you OK with me using this idea?"

"I wouldn't mind, of course..."

"Then I don't either, please feel free to work with it.", the doctor spoke softly.

They mutually exchanged a discreet smile, before Kuras presented his left hand to the young lady in front of him. As she turned his palm upwards to scrub it, Jiro hurriedly turned away after catching a glimpse of the cut running along it. 

Kura seemed to lightly position his palm away from view most times, and with the amount of respect he had for the doctor, he certainly didn't want to be overstepping.

"Oh, do you want me to hide it again or can I incorporate it into the design?"

"I trust your experience to manage to incorporate it into the design well enough."

"A challenge, huh? Consider it accepted, doctor!"

After a bit of hesitation, Jiro looked back in the direction of the doctor's hands, to see that the woman had started to apply the henna on Kuras with one of the small piping bags she had set on the table earlier. He watched with admiration the unwavering outline the woman had managed to start tracing out on his skin, plant elements meeting complex geometrical patterns on his palm, continuing up to his wrists, then spreading all the way to his fingertips.

"How pretty..."

"Are you considering letting me do your hands?", the woman in front of him asked with a little grin.

She was obviously just assuming it was all in good fun and Jiro was simply insecure, but it still made them uneasy. Underneath his cloak, Jiro nervously pressed his nails into his hands.

"No, I'm fine..."

"Mariam, Enoth, if I may ask, I do believe you have opened a shop down by riverside, is the state of affairs to your satisfaction?"

"Aww, thanks for asking doctor, I didn't think you'd care! Well, things are going great..."

Surprised to hear the sound of voice, Jiro turned towards him, meeting his gaze with a violence he wasn't expecting.

This half lidded gaze and inscrutable expression always left the raven feeling exposed and vulnerable, even if they couldn't tell exactly why. After all, Kuras had always been the most patient person he'd met here, the one he was sure wouldn't pry behind his back. He averted his eyes, nodding slowly to thank him for getting the attention away from him.

"Okay, we'll let this sit for a few more minutes and then you'll be good to continue on with your evening."

Kuras took his eyes off of them to thank the young woman, breaking the spell he'd put the raven under. Putting a hand against their chest, they could feel their fastened heartbeat finally starting to slow. They let out a small sigh of relief. Feeling temperature with the thickness of the bandages was a bit too hard so they didn't bother to try and see if they had been blushing, merely hoping that not having felt anything meant they hadn't been.

He realised he'd dozed off when his eyes caught movement in the blurry background, and he quickly snapped back in reality to see the setting time was over and the women were now carefully removing the excess and washing his hands one last time. He curiously bent over to see the results.

Criss crossing patterns envelopped by branches, leaves and petals covered the back of his hands. When Kuras turned them over, Jiro let out a small admirative noise. With both of his palms next to each other, the raven could see both represented the same nature scenery, but the left one sported a bright sun with stylised rays, one of which was used to camouflage the scar in the center of his palm. The lines on the flowers and fruits undulated lightly, as if the heat of the rising sun was already scorching. On the right one, the landscape appeared under a dark night sky illuminated by a crescent moon and shining star, the flowers dotted with dew shining like diamonds.

"I am glad it is of your liking. Your idea was most fortunate."

Jiro flinched hearing his voice rumble so close to his ear, and realised he'd gotten quite close to the brunette without knowing. Smiling for just a second, Kuras took in his hands a wild strand of hair away from his face, tucking it behind his ear.

"What do you say I show you the view from here now that we're done here? I bet you'll love it."

"O-oh, sure, yeah, let's do that!"

The doctor stood up, smoothing out any potential creases in his short cloak while Jiro fumbled to do the same.

"Thank you for your services, young ladies. Your mastery of your craft never ceases to improve and it is a delight to witness every time."

"It was nice to meet you two as well", the raven chimed in before following the doctor who had already started to turn away and walk out of the room.

Right before they could also exit, one of the girls grabbed the hem of their coat to hold them back. Jiro tensed up lightly, but noticed she'd willingly avoided grabbing their arm. They looked at her questioningly.

"Just wanted to say... I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier, whatever reason you have to not want to show your arms; it's okay."

"Oh, now worries, I didn't hold that against you!"

"Also, Jiro... us lower citizens gotta stick together. You seem new around here. Me too.", she said in a determined tone of voice, looking directly into the raven's eyes.

Behind them, the other woman cleared her throat, but from the sound the conversation, it didn't seem like a coincidence, more like a warning.

"If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to look for a shop called "the lunar arts" by the riverside. I'll see what I can do to help."

Feeling a sudden heaviness to the conversation, Jiro only managed to nod. The woman smiled to disperse the tension, the lines connecting the freckles on her cheeks curving upwards.

"I'm Enoth, it was a pleasure to meet you, Jiro."

"It was a pleasure to meet you too, I hope I'll see you again."

After this pleasant-- although ominous, small conversation, Jiro caught up to the doctor, who had waited for him near another closed door.

"Glad to see this little detour was to your liking."

"Very much so! I don't think I would've thought of coming here by myself, so truly, thank you."

"You are most welcome. Now, there is a place I'd hope to show you tonight."

Opening the door, Kuras let the raven walk out onto balcony before him.

The cold air turning to mist as he exhaled, he approached the fencing to get a better look at the view of the sprawling city.

Colorful lights blooming out of every window, from hightown passing by the high tower of the senobium to lowtown, the murmurs of voices could reach him from anywhere. A city celebrating the coming of a new year of life in a dying world. Usually, such a thought would make Jiro despair, but here, so close to his goal, having met people he could rely on, for once he wanted to give in and believe in this celebration.

Feeling unbotherd by the cold, he turned around to the doctor with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"This is beautiful."

"There will always be light to be found in this world if one knows where to look. Please remember that."

"Never a good meeting with you if we're missing a foreboding advice, huh?"

"My apologies, I'm afraid this is simply a flaw of mine.", the doctor whispered, the gems placed under his eyes catching the light for a moment and gleaming like stars.

"Come on, I never said it was one."

Jiro came to settle next to him, the warmth of the doctor finally reaching him again.

"You know, I thought that I should try and match the occasion and get gifts for everyone who helped me out so far. But... I have a confession, I may have lacked... A few resources."

The raven sunk his hands into his cloak, feeling around for his pocket, before grasping a small object.

"So... Please be nice, okay? Uhm... I'm really sorry if it's bad, I'm not exactly skilled with my hands, but... I thought you'd appreciate something hand-made."

He stretched out his hands clasped together, and Kuras stretches out a hand, a questioning expression on his face. After a moment of hesitation, anxiety twisting his stomach in knots, he gently opened them, letting a small object fall into the doctor's hand.

His golden eyes open wide with surprise, using a finger to stroke the small figure made out of rope, a bright red jewel-looking rock embedded in its open chest. Jiro grimaced, the cracks and poorly done cuts on the rock he'd made trying to carve the small thing into the shape of  an anatomical heart appearing much more visible under this light.

"This is really bad, I'm really sorry I couldn't do better--"

"It's beautiful."

A gentle smile spread appeared on Kura's lips, who wrapped his fingers around the figure, absentmindedly bringing it closer to his body like the gesture actually meant a lot to him.

"O-oh... I'm. Glad... you like it, I--"

Jiro felt he couldn't utter a single coherent word, yet desperate vocalise something, anything-- to make sure the doctor could know how much this meant to him, how much--

As he looked up, breathing in deeply, trying to calm the erratic pulse of his heart, the sight of something green on the dormer of the window they had both come out of caught his attention. His cheeks became red again and his heart started drumming in his chest harder.

"Mistletoe...?"

Kuras turned around to see, and skimmed the leaves with the back of his hand with a coy smile.

"It appears so. Do you know the tradition associated with this plant?"

Jiro swallowed drily. Don't tell him anything, don't let him guess anything.

"Uh-uhm, I'm afraid this wasn't common practice where I came from, s-so I, I don't think I know exactly..."

"In a bygone era, mistletoe used to be considered a sacred herb for its ability to blossom among the harshest of snows, and praised for its vivacity. It was first used in fertility rituals, but soon enough people saw even simply kissing near it a sign of good luck for lovers."

Oh fuck. The raven reminded himself to breathe.

"Do you believe in those sorts of things, Jiro?"

The glint in the brunette's eyes made a hot thrill rang through Jiro's body and they suddenly felt incredibly dizzy. Their vision suddenly blurred. Why now was this acting up? Their knees buckled, but the brunette's grip on their shoulder didn't let them completely fall over. A hand flew to his forehead, checking his temperature.

"Oh dear, are you okay?"

The raven took a second to breathe deeper, the black spots obscuring their vision gradually receding. The doctor's hand finally settled on the side of their face, gently keeping it straight. The heat emanating from his hand was so intense, yet comforting and familiar. Like something Jiro had forgotten but that he'd merely survived without his whole life. He dared look into Kura's eyes, now tainted with worry. He realised their bodies were pressed against each other, in an intimacy they'd never quite allowed each other to be in with the other. 

If he spoke, he'd break the spell and they would go back to before. Never quite one or the other, too entangled in their own personal messes to really think of making a reality out of what the raven fantasised about. Of course Kuras probably didn't think about these sorts of things, especially with someone like him, it was just a nice fantasy to indulge in from time to time.

"I am, don't worry, this is just a recurring problem..."

"Do you need any help with this?"

The raven could guess the underlying question behind the troubled but mostly curious glance Kuras was giving him."Is it part of your curse?" He bristled. Of course it had to always be about his curse, wasn't it?

"There's nothing you can do for me, I appreciate the thought anyway."

Wiggling out of the doctor's grasp, he took a step back, not daring to look him in the eyes.

"I'm-- I'm glad you appreciated my gift, Kuras. I'll... just go explore the party a bit, see you around."

"Make the most out of your evening, Jiro. I hope to see you again tonight."

The obvious disappointment in his tone felt like a punch in the guts, but Jiro knew he needed to get away from this situation before he made everything worse. Whatever hurt he was causing by leaving wouldn't be as bad as if he stayed around. Pinching his lips together, he finally looked back up to Kuras for a brief section before disappearing back inside. An observation kept repeating, one he started to hold onto to try and ignore the terrible guilt and shame that threatened to overcome his mind.

"I did not see mistletoe on that dormer when we went out."