[00] Hotel

[Kaden]

When Orion had left, though it brought conversation to something of a lull, Kaden found himself glad that the dead-to-living ratio had been set right once again. Being around the... well -- ghosts didn't seem like the right term, but it was close enough for Kaden's purposes -- ghosts of people he had known didn't exactly squelch his desire to drink. Unfortunately, the courier's glass was empty.

The next order of business would have been to call over the bartender, but an unexpected guest interrupted things. Kaden was more than a little surprised to see another person he knew, though it seemed that suspending his disbelief for the course of "Dante's Abyss" would be necessary if the courier hoped to retain any of his sanity.

After quick introductions, Kaden watched Belle recoil in terror from his bar mates and stumble into an unfortunately positioned Sage. As the courier watched Belle attempt to grope his way back to his feet, he couldn't help but feel the slightest twinge of jealousy. Not because it was Sage, but simply because Kaden was understandably stressed and an outlet for that stress -- any kind of outlet -- would be more than welcome. So he ordered another drink.

Picking up his food, Belle walked around the bar to sit on Kaden's right. Sage was on the courier's left, and Sophia was to her left. For several moments, the only sound was Belle chomping down on his food. The legendary Saiyan appetite seemed to be alive and well. Finally Sophia spoke up.

"Woo... it's cold in here," the priestess said with a slight shiver.

"Yeah, I can tell," Kaden was the first to reply. As he spoke, he pointed with his glass meaningfully at the priestess.

There was a glimmer of confusion on the priestess' face that stretched on almost longer than the courier could bare. In an instant, the confusion was replaced with an emotion somewhere between anger and confusion as Sophia turned away from her companions and snapped her head down. Kaden couldn't help but chuckle at his own joke.

"I'm just kidding," Kaden said as Sophia turned back to them.

"I don't get it," Belle said as he swallowed a mouthful of fries.

"It's ok," Kaden reassured him. "You don't want to. Seriously, though, you can use my jacket if you're cold."

"... I'm fine," Sophia replied with a hint of glare.

"Ok, well, standing offer," Kaden shrugged.

After a moment of contemplation, Belle nodded and simply took the courier's word for it. "Wait," he suddenly said. "What are you doing here, anyway? This doesn't really seem like your kind of... thing."

Kaden couldn't help but laugh. With each sip he came a little closer to rounding the corner from depression to resigned amusement. Not real amusement, but that bitter kind of "sucks to be me, might as well laugh about it" kind of amusement. Not Kaden's first choice, admittedly, but he tried to roll with the punches.

"Here," Kaden reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved the invitation that had been sent to him. With a flick of his wrist, he slid it across the bar to Belle. "That's why I'm here."

Belle stared down at the piece of paper in front of him with widened eyes, not bothering to pick it up. As Kaden watched him, his mind flashed back to a moment in Central City where Belle had tried to read something off the PDA they had taken from one of their opponents. With a sigh, the courier snatched the invitation back and held it in front of his face.

"I'll just read it. I'm sure Sophia and Sage could use a good laugh." With a dramatic clearing of his throat, Kaden read the invitation with lavish sweeps of his arms and a deep over-exaggerated announcer-like voice. "So basically," he concluded. "I thought it was a vacation, or something."

"Ha! This is a pretty shitty place for a vacation," Belle said.

"Yeah... yeah it is."

"I thought it was a party," Sophia said, trying to make eye-contact with Belle. "Sage knew what was going on, though she was in the minority for a while there."

"Sage is our official source for Dante's Abyss information." Kaden raised his hand to clap the girl on the shoulder, but stopped when she all but recoiled. She had remained quite since Belle's... arrival. "Isn't that right, Sage?"

"I... guess so," was Sage's meek reply.

"Have you ever seen one of these tournaments?" Sophia asked. "From what you were saying earlier, it sounds pretty brutal."

"Just... highlight reels... and stuff like that."

"Highlight reels?" Kaden said with a hint of disdain in his voice. "Does that mean we'll be on TV?"

"It's been on TV in... the past."

"Wonderful. Just wonderful." Setting down his now-empty glass, Kaden rapped his knuckles on the bar. "My good man, can I get a refill por favor?" After adding a bit of ethnic flair to his request, Kaden winced when he saw the bar tender's name tag: Jose. Fortunately, Jose hadn't quite heard him.

"Que¿"