||RAINDROPS||

- 9096 - THE BROWN BEAN - STARVUS - TZAR CAPITAL -

Chroma raises her steamy mug of mini marshmallow sprinkled hot chocolate into the air with the enthusiasm of an overly excited child, nearly spilling the beverage over the rim. Jime pushes a napkin under her arm, just to be safe.

"To new beginnings!" she says, before downing her scorching drink and possibly burning her esophagus in the process.

Jime winces at the sight. He looks over to the seat beside him and sees that Sivvy hasn't touched her coffee. She turns the cup around in between her hands, and stares off into the distance.

"You okay?" He asks. It's a genuine question.

Sivvy pulls herself out of her mind and looks back at Jime, "Just thinking. Why?"

Jime shrugs, "You look sulky."

"I do not."

"Eh, you kinda do."

Sivvy's eyes narrow.

Chroma is turned around in her seat, frantically fanning her tongue. She says something, but she may as well be speaking in a foreign language.

Jime shakes his head and stands, "I'll get some ice water."

He pushes out his chair and walks off.

Chroma takes quick, sharp breaths in and out of her mouth, "God, so hot. I'm an idiot." she says, in between periods of hyperventilation.

Jime returns not long later, and before he has time to place the glass down, Chroma aggressively snatches it out of his hand, splashing about half of the water onto the floor before chugging what's left.

Jime looks down at the floor with a set expression. "I'll get some napkins." He turns around and makes another trip across the coffee shop.

A thoroughly welcomed coldness runs over Chroma's tongue, giving her a short lived sense of relief. It's gone as fast as it came, and she feels a familiar sting growing inside her mouth. "Get some more water while you're over there!" she yells, unbothered by the stares she receives from other people.

Chroma looks back and notices Sivvy has barely said a word, and is simply staring into her cup.

"Is everything alright?" She says, continuing to fan herself.

Sivvy glances up before looking back down, propping her head up against the knuckles of her right hand, "Yeah, i'm good."

"You sure? You look a bit...."

Sivvy glares at her out of the corner of her eye. "Don't."

"Sulky...."

Sivvy groans, "I am NOT sulky. I'm just..."

"You're thinking about our conversation, aren't you? About work?"

Sivvy pauses. "Yeah, I guess....." She shifts her position and looks out the store window. "I just....

I still don't know if it's a good idea." she says, as honestly as possible.

"It'll be good, Siv. For all of us."

Jime comes back to the table carrying a handful of wadded up napkins, and a second glass of ice water.

"God, finally." Chroma says, gladly taking the glass, this time a little more gently.

"You're welcome...." Jime passively mutters as he bends down underneath the table to clean up her mess.

Chroma doesn't waste a second finishing the drink. After she's done, she puts the empty glass down and wipes off any excess wetness on her lips with the sleeve of her multicolored sweater. She turns back towards Sivvy.

"With your talents plus us to help you out, we'll be reeling in customers from all over the city."

Jime puts up a pointer finger from below them, "And Starvus, might I add, is a very big city."

Sivvy chuckles and sighs, "Whatever you say," she concludes, "But i'm expecting nothing less but riches and many many units in our future."

"Don't worry," says Chroma, "I'm predicting nothing but cloudless skies and sunny days to come, my friend."

* * *

- 9096 - TWO WEEKS LATER -

Rain is pouring down miserably over the streets of Starvus. Those caught in the drizzle push past the crowds of umbrella's and black polyester coats.

Hoverships pass overhead, casting momentary shadows below.

The city usually has a glow to it this time of day, but now it looks reminiscent of a bleak painting an artist might paint on a quiet afternoon or after a particularly long and tiring day.

Sivvy is sitting to Jime's left, the sidewalk riddled with the filth and rubbish of the city.

Chroma, who is sitting to Jime's right, strums chords on her ukulele with a half smile on her face.

She nudges Jime as she plays. He looks at her, "What.... now?" He whispers.

Chroma nods.

The ukulele stops, waiting for him to begin. Jime sighs and rubs a hand over his face.

"Raindrops keep falling on my head..." he sings, and the music starts again as the two of them sway in unison to the rhythm.

They're sitting in front of a beaten helmet they'd found tucked away in a corner of Sivvy's storage room. They'd placed it upside down. It's what they'd been using to collect the money of generous strangers that happen to be walking past. Sivvy wonders how many of them thought they were homeless.

Not homeless, thought Sivvy, not yet at less. They hadn't gotten a single good paying customer since she'd quit her job at the library.

The advertisements that they'd placed at any reasonable area in the city had helped, (she'd gotten a couple jobs fixing hoverbikes and regular bikes and even some old transmitters. Models she had never seen in person before, only on film and TV. She imagines it's hard to come by any repairman who'd know how to fix one of those, but she managed fairly on her own.)

Contrary to Chroma's belief, Sivvy didn't think they were flying too high at the moment. Although she was without a proper job, Jime and Chroma still worked at a couple fast food joints around downtown streets. It's barely enough to get by on for any of them. It's hardly even enough to pay the rent.

"-And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed," Jime continues, "Nothing seems to fit. Those raindrops keep falling on my head, they keep falling."

Chroma begins to hum in harmony. This was (very clearly enough) her idea. Sivvy and Jime had refused at first, not wanting to admit they'd fallen that far, but Chroma had told them it was something like a service to the public, and to not think of it as a way of helping themselves.

Even though that's exactly what it was.

"So I just did me some talkin to the sun.... And I said I didn't like the way he got things done, sleeping on the job. Those raindrops keep falling on my head, they keep falling."

Chroma hands the ukulele over to Jime and gets off the ground. The trade off is seamless, from one person to the next. The song keeps moving.

Jime is now strumming through the chords.

"But there's one thing I know...."

Chroma puts down the hood of her shiny yellow raincoat, letting her mane of strawberry blonde hair fall out and frame her face.

She hops out into the downpour and spins around in clumsy movements. She's anything but graceful, but even still she looks happy. Content.

It's clear that her radiance is what attracts the attention of onlookers, and soon enough, there's a crowd of people surrounding them.

"The blues they send to meet me..." Jime's voice breaks a little, seeing that more and more people have come to watch. It isn't necessarily a very breathtaking crowd, but it was enough to startle him. "won't defeat me... it won't be long... till happiness steps up to greet me...."

Chroma makes her way back over with a giggle and takes the instrument from him. He takes a deep breath through the next couple of strums.

"Raindrops keeping falling on my head... but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red. Crying's not for me. Cause i'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining."

Sivvy sighs and leans back against the wet, brick building wall behind her, letting the music continue to play. She closes her eyes.

Nothing but cloudless skies and sunny days to come.