hell is empty; the devils are here

“I’ve been…alright. This has helped; I had forgotten what it felt like being in the spotlight.” She replied, purposely avoiding his eyes so he couldn’t see the haggard depths of them. “How have you been?” She returned, finally looking at him when the drinks arrived and she pushed one toward him and sipped her own. “I heard that you and Arielle are finally official. When did that happen?” She asked with a small laugh, canting her head to the side and looking up at him. 

 “Good, thank you. And, Jesus, I don’t know --” Kaiden took the drink with a word of thanks, taking a sip before he continued. “I just apologized for being an asshole and asked her out, it came out of nowhere.” Kai huffed a laugh before falling silent for a while, mulling over how to change the subject to the main problem at hand. “Speaking off assholes..”  he raised his brows as he lifted his chin in a challenging manner, albeit not towards her, “Where’s the ex? I need her head on a stick. My place is lacking in decor.”

He sighed and Arielle’s worry grew again, her fingers wiggling a bit before pressing against the back of his hand as she waited for what he was going to say. He already said he was stay, right? It couldn’t be that bad. Arielle could feel her heart thumping harder in her chest as he continued, he was right and he wasn’t the only one of them who was scared of that. But she didn’t want to admit that, and seeing him smile always had a way of distracting her and making it seem like everything was okay. She let his hand pull away from hers easily, glancing down as he brushed her hair back, she must have really looked like a mess. “I mean,” letting out a slight laugh Arielle looked back up at Kaiden, trying to find some way to brighten their moods, “I don’t know if one more thing breaking me is going to make a huge difference at this point, y’know? Maybe we don’t worry about that too much.” She just wanted to hug him, for him to hold her, she wanted to climb out of the bed somehow find them in her bed, or his, somewhere before all this, at least somewhere more welcoming than a hospital room. But now she just wasn’t sure how they went back to acting like everything was okay again.

Leaning in with his elbow propped up on the bed, he rested the side of his face against his palm and loosely slung his arm over her waist. “I wish I could lie down with you.. this is so fucking lame.” Kaiden laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Realizing that he’d never asked, his brows knitted together as he inquired, “How long are you gonna be locked up here anyway? I could bring your laptop here or something, next time I visit.” Threading his fingers in her hair, he leaned his forehead against hers as he offered a knowing smirk. “I know you -” Kaiden kissed her, the kiss lingering longer than usual as if he dreaded letting go. Finally pulling away, he finished, “You can’t sit still. I know all your weaknesses, princess. ”

Pushing you away, her mind pointed out again quickly, the thought getting harder for her to ignore. 

&& [[ BONUS: put a STRIKE THROUGH each trait that they USED to have, but have unlearned due to character development, trauma, etc. - feel free to add more! ]]

s t r e n g t h s :

caring | merciful | brave | determined | forward | flexible | cheerful | wise | clever | humorous | spirited | lighthearted | mature | strong | sentient | generous | loving | calm | calculative | rational | unselfish | controlled | tactful | nurturing | protective | independent

w e a k n e s s e s :

The lights were bright in front of the curtain, but was cool and dark where Kallista waited, her eyes riveted on Teresa as she danced. She had spent a couple of days learning how things worked from her before she had her opening night. Now, her second night out here she found herself giddy, excitement running through her veins. It was even better because after she could relax with Racey and giggle about the performance and the men until she had to go back up. 

The upbeat tones of ‘Strut’ by Sheena Easton began and Kallista slunk from behind the curtain, her body glowing in the spotlights, and she felt like she was back on a normal stage again. She strutted up the stage, until her hands made contact with the cool metal of the pole and she pressed herself against it, sliding her body low and back up, setting herself into a rhythm that had become familiar at this point. She let her body wrap around the pole, sliding her skin against the metal, before lifting herself up and letting herself spin, slowly down the pole until she had almost touched the ground. She placed her hands on the floor, meeting the eyes of the patrons surrounding the stage, winking at a few of them before she flipped over, landing on her knees and slinking forward, sitting up and running her fingertips from her thighs to her neck. From that moment it was over, she fell into the rhythm of the music, it was like sex without a partner, and the pole was her bed. 

When the song had finished Kallista walked to the back, waving and blowing kisses at all the cat-callers and yelling men. She understood now why Teresa loved being up there, and for her it was just as exhilarating. She moved into the dressing room, sliding her gown on and tying it before walking out to the bar, her heels making incessant clacks on the floor. She slid onto the stool, and realized she knew the person staring at her. “Can I help you?” She asked sweetly, her grin devilish. 

He took a seat at the bar, hoping Kalli would arrive soon. However Kaiden was on time, and it was very unlike her to be late. As his gaze swept the area, his eyes widened considerably when they landed on the girl on stage. Kallista on stage. “What the fuck..” he breathed, his mouth ajar and his eyes narrowed, his words barely audible as the crowd clapped for her. As she finally got off stag and slid onto the stool next to him, Kaiden chuffed a laugh as he gestured to the stage. “You could’ve told me you were dancing! I had no idea where to look.”

“But why would-” Ari sighed and shook her head a little bit as Kaiden laughed, she didn’t think any of this was funny, “even if we did, have all the time in the world that wouldn’t make any of this okay.”She finally looked back to him, wiping her eyes  as she held her breath, trying to keep any more tears from falling. He was warning her, this is it, this is what it was always gonna be like and Arielle either had to accept that or leave. Even at the mention of ending what they had made her look down again, exhaling loudly as she realized she wasn’t breathing “I don’t want to have to do that.” but she still wasn’t sure how she was supposed to be behind this when it didn’t seem like he was sure he fully was. 

       But he felt that he should let her go one day, not wanting to hurt her any further

                                                                                            --- was that what love is?

He never knew. Perhaps, he never would. “So you’re saying you never want to end this? That you still want me to be your soul sucking boyfriend,” Kaiden practically spat the word, knowing that there was two meanings to it; not only did he literally steal souls, but he sucked it out of others because he was tiring to be around. “Even if I made the last few moments of your life an absolute misery?” The disbelief in his eyes dwindled for a moment as he looked into hers, softening, as he uttered, “I don’t know if I deserve your patience, Ari. But what I do know is.. that..” Kaiden sighed, his eyes closing as he thought about it for a moment before fluttering open again. “I’d hate to hurt you again. That’s why I brought up me leaving you be. But if you want me to stay, I’ll stay. Ok? It’s your choice.” Cupping the side of her face with one hand, he gently thumbed away her tears. “Just know that I do care about you more than anyone else, even though I do a terrible job at showing it. I’ll probably take a while to learn how to, even. But fuck, I do, Arielle.”

“It’s not your fault.” she finally mumbled softly, but she was lying, at least partially. And suddenly her anger began to return along with the hurt, and she could have sworn her heart ached as she straightened out her fingers to more easily slide her hand away from his slowly, looking down and away from him. She wanted to forgive him, she wanted to believe that he was sorry, that he wished he’d done something differently but the girl couldn’t stop herself from wondering if he’d still be apologizing had she not ended up in a hospital bed at the end of the night. “I-I told you before we even got together that I didn’t have time for stuff like this..I-” she tried to sound strong, she tried to talk louder than a whisper without her voice cracking but it was harder than she’d imagined. I wish I did, I wish I had all the time in the world for you, she wanted to add but the truth was she didn’t, and both of them knew that. Wishing wasn’t going to change anything. “It didn’t seem like nothing..” she finally added, the things he’d actually said that had previously been hard to recall were suddenly clear again in her memory, or at least she thought they were.

“If I stay here, you’re all gonna end up drowning with me.”

“We’ll learn to swim.”

She’d just gotten back from a second MRI. They doctors told her she definitely slipped a few discs which wasn’t great news considering she couldn’t feel it, along with some swelling in the brain that they determined was only a mild concussion. And the whiplash left her in a neck brace to prevent herself from hurting herself anymore than she already was. At least she hadn’t hurt anyone else, that’s what the cops said, and it seemed like all she’d have to do was pay a fine which Arielle could handle. 

Along with a broken wrist and some cuts and bruises Arielle thought she turned out alright after waking up in her car upside down. The healing was always the worst part of her getting hurt, because everyone else said she should be in pain, said she shouldn’t be able to do things because it would hurt but Arielle felt fine and wanted to act normal. She couldn’t remember if Racey got her text; she didn’t know what Kaiden had said in those messages, for all she knew he was dumping her, wouldn’t surprise her after the scene she’d made at the party.  Her phone hadn’t been recovered from the car, and with nothing to do and nothing on tv this time of day, Arielle decided she’d try to sleep.It seemed just as she closed her eyes she heard the door to her room open and a familiar voice along with it. “Huh?” she mumbled, lifting her head slightly off the bed and opening her eyes again. 

Kaiden normally hated to look like the needy one or to, hell, lose -- but he’d called around ten times since Arielle left the party, and six of those calls included an apology. He didn’t know, however, that her phone had yet to be recovered from the car, let alone that she got in an accident in the first place. Only once he heard somebody in town mention a car accident not far from Arielle’s neighbourhood, did he have an inkling. Next thing he knew he was already there, asking the receptionist if he could visit Arielle. He opened the door softly upon arriving, offering a soft “hey” despite being overwhelmed with relief that she was okay. 

As he picked up the only chair in the room to bring it closer to her, worry was already flooding right out of him as he uttered, “Fuck, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. I was worried sick. I called. Over and over again.” Kaiden sat down, his forearms leaning on his lap; fingers curled into fists as his azure hues bored into hers. “I thought I lost you, or you hated me. I --” He stopped himself, collecting his breath as he allowed himself to really evaluate her injuries; what he’d caused her to do. Kaiden leaned over to kiss Arielle’s forehead instead, his hand gingerly taking hers as he rested his forehead against the bed, hiding his face. However, there was no denying the uncharacteristic loss of bravado in his voice as he spoke, barely louder than a whisper,  “I’m such a dick... I’m so sorry.”

      E x c e p t ---;