11-16-2009, 08:00 PM
Anger. Fatigue. Shock. Surprise. Confusion. Relief. Sorrow. Frustration.
The rapid-fire series of emotions that washed over Kaden was dizzying. He had managed to drift back to sleep after grabbing a quick bite of food, but that hadn’t lasted long. Normally, Kaden did not respond particularly well to human alarm clocks. However, he found he was forced to make an exception for Sophia.
“Sophia.. what-- Belle? Ashe!”
The only plus side to having been jolted awake by the priestess was getting to see the look on her face when Belle flung the door open with his superhuman strength and started yelling something. Menstruation? That’s what Kaden thought he heard, but… that couldn’t have been right.
When the pink-haired teenager walked through the door, Kaden found himself giving her his undivided attention. Hopping up from his bed, the courier bee-lined through the bunker, brushing past both Sophia and Belle. When Ashe caught sight of him, she froze. The surprised look on her face spoke volumes. Kaden stopped a couple steps short of the girl and opened his mouth to speak. Unfortunately he was cut off.
“Kaden! What are you doing? Are you ins—“
“Belle! Just…” Kaden suddenly whirled on the adventurer, almost screaming at him. He wanted to finish with ‘shut up’ but caught himself. Taking in a deep breath, the courier started. “… gimme a minute. I’ll be fine.”
Initially, the demi-saiyan had looked surprised at Kaden unprompted outburst, but the surprise quickly faded. Belle seemed to study Kaden for a second before shrugging and moving further into the bunker. More likely than not, Kaden looked as pathetic as he felt, and that would have been enough of an indicator for anyone to drop it.
“Ashe…” Kaden turned towards her. “I’m so sorry. That… I shouldn’t have let that happen.”
“Kaden, it’s ok. You—“
“Of course it’s not ok! Look at you! How is any of that ok?” Kaden couldn’t bring himself to look the girl in the eyes. Her shoes, however, he found quite interesting.
“I’m not blaming you. Really.”
Before the courier could make any more ridiculously selfish proclamations of guilt, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Sophia’s shoes next to his own. If he looked up, the priestess probably would have simply smiled and said something nice. Sadly, that didn’t fit the spiral Kaden seemed determined to throw himself down. Instead he just sighed.
“What happened with you guys?” Sophia asked both of them. “You both seem so… somber.”
With a resigned shrug, Kaden turned and recounted the “fight” between himself and Ashe, including his own conclusions about Damon’s control over the contestants. Not knowing better, the courier attributed such control to the collars around each participant’s neck. Several times during Kaden’s summary, Ashe interrupted to correct erroneous blame. While Kaden couldn’t agree, the girl seemed sincere… he just wasn’t sure whether that made him feel better or worse.
“What the hell?!” Belle suddenly interjected. “I’m not going to let some… dickwad take control of me!”
Kaden turned to address the hybrid directly. He mentioned that no amount of struggling, no amount of resistance, had done anything. He intended to repeat that part, though he was pretty sure Belle wouldn’t listen anyway. Before he got the chance to say anything, though, he was cut off. An announcement resounded through the bunker, delivered by a familiar, robotic female voice.
“The following announcement is provided by the generous Capsule Corporation. To the honored participants of Dante’s Abyss, collar detonation timers have been extended. Good luck.”
Awkward though the timing may have been, Kaden found himself thankful for the announcement. He just wanted to sit back down on a bed and sleep through the rest of the tournament. He knew that wasn’t actually going to happen, but sitting down still seemed like a good idea. As the courier stepped through the bunker, the rest of the occupants simply exchanged glances.
He needed to get out of his head, the courier knew that. Dwelling and doubting weren’t going to do him any good, and his situation was definitely not going to magically fix itself. The least he could do was not act like a whiny little bitch to the people around him. He was made of sturdier stuff than that. Or at least he liked to tell himself that. If he put on a happy – or as close to happy as he could muster – front then eventually he might actually forget how miserable he was.
The rapid-fire series of emotions that washed over Kaden was dizzying. He had managed to drift back to sleep after grabbing a quick bite of food, but that hadn’t lasted long. Normally, Kaden did not respond particularly well to human alarm clocks. However, he found he was forced to make an exception for Sophia.
“Sophia.. what-- Belle? Ashe!”
The only plus side to having been jolted awake by the priestess was getting to see the look on her face when Belle flung the door open with his superhuman strength and started yelling something. Menstruation? That’s what Kaden thought he heard, but… that couldn’t have been right.
When the pink-haired teenager walked through the door, Kaden found himself giving her his undivided attention. Hopping up from his bed, the courier bee-lined through the bunker, brushing past both Sophia and Belle. When Ashe caught sight of him, she froze. The surprised look on her face spoke volumes. Kaden stopped a couple steps short of the girl and opened his mouth to speak. Unfortunately he was cut off.
“Kaden! What are you doing? Are you ins—“
“Belle! Just…” Kaden suddenly whirled on the adventurer, almost screaming at him. He wanted to finish with ‘shut up’ but caught himself. Taking in a deep breath, the courier started. “… gimme a minute. I’ll be fine.”
Initially, the demi-saiyan had looked surprised at Kaden unprompted outburst, but the surprise quickly faded. Belle seemed to study Kaden for a second before shrugging and moving further into the bunker. More likely than not, Kaden looked as pathetic as he felt, and that would have been enough of an indicator for anyone to drop it.
“Ashe…” Kaden turned towards her. “I’m so sorry. That… I shouldn’t have let that happen.”
“Kaden, it’s ok. You—“
“Of course it’s not ok! Look at you! How is any of that ok?” Kaden couldn’t bring himself to look the girl in the eyes. Her shoes, however, he found quite interesting.
“I’m not blaming you. Really.”
Before the courier could make any more ridiculously selfish proclamations of guilt, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Sophia’s shoes next to his own. If he looked up, the priestess probably would have simply smiled and said something nice. Sadly, that didn’t fit the spiral Kaden seemed determined to throw himself down. Instead he just sighed.
“What happened with you guys?” Sophia asked both of them. “You both seem so… somber.”
With a resigned shrug, Kaden turned and recounted the “fight” between himself and Ashe, including his own conclusions about Damon’s control over the contestants. Not knowing better, the courier attributed such control to the collars around each participant’s neck. Several times during Kaden’s summary, Ashe interrupted to correct erroneous blame. While Kaden couldn’t agree, the girl seemed sincere… he just wasn’t sure whether that made him feel better or worse.
“What the hell?!” Belle suddenly interjected. “I’m not going to let some… dickwad take control of me!”
Kaden turned to address the hybrid directly. He mentioned that no amount of struggling, no amount of resistance, had done anything. He intended to repeat that part, though he was pretty sure Belle wouldn’t listen anyway. Before he got the chance to say anything, though, he was cut off. An announcement resounded through the bunker, delivered by a familiar, robotic female voice.
“The following announcement is provided by the generous Capsule Corporation. To the honored participants of Dante’s Abyss, collar detonation timers have been extended. Good luck.”
Awkward though the timing may have been, Kaden found himself thankful for the announcement. He just wanted to sit back down on a bed and sleep through the rest of the tournament. He knew that wasn’t actually going to happen, but sitting down still seemed like a good idea. As the courier stepped through the bunker, the rest of the occupants simply exchanged glances.
He needed to get out of his head, the courier knew that. Dwelling and doubting weren’t going to do him any good, and his situation was definitely not going to magically fix itself. The least he could do was not act like a whiny little bitch to the people around him. He was made of sturdier stuff than that. Or at least he liked to tell himself that. If he put on a happy – or as close to happy as he could muster – front then eventually he might actually forget how miserable he was.
![[Image: Kaden2.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v403/Nezumi16/Sigs/Kaden2.jpg)
"It's on my brain, driving me insane. It's on my mind, all of
the time, and if it left... I would be fine."