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 Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 5:59 pm
Kam felt like s**t. He literally felt like someone had run him over with an eighteen wheeler. No, scratch that, he felt like someone had run him over, backed up, and done it on repeat. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so completely drained, other than the time those tribesmen had convinced him to attempt that initiation ceremony maybe.
It took all of his effort just to find the muscles attached to his eyelids and force them to work. The pale, florescent lighting of the hospital was almost unbearable and he shut them as soon as they fluttered open, wincing as the light tried to shoot daggers into the back of his skull. Then, when he heard a mumbled conversation to the left, he forced them back open and sat through the pain until his eyes dilated.
The first thing he was aware of was the IV dangling over head and connected to his dark arm. Fluids, blood, probably some kind of painkiller.. he had a whole bouquet of packets hanging from the tall silver pole.
He struggled to sit up then and, just as he was about to use his arms to prop himself up, a nurse in colorful scrubs came flying towards him. "Oh, no, no, no, no, sit still or you'll rip the stitches." Her panic was enough to make him drop back against the bed, but what stitches? What was she going on about? Then a sharp pain in his shoulder reminded him of why he was in the hospital in the first place. He glanced down quickly to find his arm in a sling and beneath that was a wad of bandages that he had nearly bled through already.
"My bad," he said with a hoarse voice, his throat scratchy and sore. That had the nurse fumbling around the room to try and find him some water without his even having to ask - but it let him examine everything again. There were his clothes, folded on a nearby chair. His cellphone was on the bedside table, for all the good that did him. Then, by the door just inside the room was a girl with dark, frayed hair who looked like she hadn't slept all night.
Oh right, that was Delphine, who had probably saved him from dying. He should probably thank her, or something.
"What's up?" Yeah, that's all he had.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 6:18 pm
Delphine was on the phone with her mother, her voice soft, genuinely too exhausted to argue with her worried parent. When she had gotten a call from Kamboja, it had been late in the evening. She took her mother's car without permission, sped through town to pick up her bleeding and half-dead friend. The back of her mother's car looked like a CSI crime scene. Delphine hadn't possessed the foresight to bring nearly enough towels to cover the car seats. One moment she was talking to a school friend on the phone, the next she was rushing out the door because she had been pretty ******** convinced that Kamboja had been dying.
The truth was that Delphine had been scared. Why else would she have been haunting his hospital room? Things had settled down now, and Kamboja was certainly stabilized after a blood transfusion. He'd be all right, but that didn't mean Delphine had suffered a heart attack once or twice throughout the course of the evening. All she could imagine was finally finding Khaldun again, and having to explain to him that his brother was did. 'Oh, it's awesome to see you again! By the way, I watched your brother die. I'm very sorry for your loss.'
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking of telling you I'm taking the car to pick up my injured friend." There wasn't the normal bite to her voice as she talked with her mom. The words themselves were still antagonistic, but she certainly didn't have the willpower to mean anything by them. "The car is going to seriously need to be professionally cleaned, though -- He was bleeding, you can't honestly have expected me to bring a giant band-aid to stop the blood flow." An aggravated sigh filled the silenced followed by her words. "He's up. I'll be home later, yeah, bye."
She slid her cellphone closed, blue eyes sweeping over the hospital room to a now awake Kamboja. Delphine very much wanted to yell and scold him, but in the end settled for moving to the chair next to his bed and flopping grumpily down into it. "I knew you weren't the smartest person, and I was fine with that, really. But can we stop this whole dying thing? It's annoying." Her gaze was now fixed on him, waiting for an explanation. She ******** deserved one for hauling a** to pick him up out of the streets.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 6:49 pm
Kam felt a little guilty as he listened to Delphine on the phone with her mom. If she'd been her normal angry self, it would have been different, but she sounded strained and tired. Even the egotistical a** himself could recognized when people were having bad days and this seemed to be a pretty bad day for Delphine.
Of course, it was probably worse for him and would only continue to get worse as people found out he was bedridden at the hospital. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if Penny found out.
When Delphine flopped into the chair and fixed him with that accusatory gaze, her just sighed and rolled his head so that he could stare up at the ceiling. The nurse returned with the water and set it on the bedside tray, then smiled and walked out of the room when she realized that is was serious discussion time with the two of them. She probably thought they were dating or something else ridiculous like that - why else would Delphine be waiting, right?
"So maybe I underestimated the captain a little," he would have shrugged it off as no big deal if, uh, shrugging wasn't the last thing he wanted to do with his shoulder at that moment. He paused for a moment, thinking, then finally looked back at Delphine. "She hurt Meri, though." For as bad as Kam's temper could be, his loyalty was just as fierce and usually better placed.
He let out a long, exhausted sigh and looked back down at his sling bound arm. "This is going to put a huge dent in my work out routine."
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 7:00 pm
It sounded like something Delphine would have done, and so there was really no room for her to criticize Kamboja's actions. If Damon had been hurt, she would have hunted down Queen Beryl herself in order to get revenge. Everything Kamboja was doing was just like her first year of being a senshi, doing things on her own, getting hurt because of her refusal to really rely on anyone. Sure, she had the Dream Team as back-up, but she had hardly ever called on them. "You shouldn't be going up against Captains - they're stronger, and they definitely have more experience in a fight. Their weapons usually aren't ridiculously stupid either." Delphine needed to inform him, because she didn't want to have to see him in a hospital bed like this ever again.
"I fought by myself a lot, because I refused to admit I needed anyone else's help. I got hurt a lot, and only now am I relying on other people a little despite my growth in power and capabilities." Her worry had certainly gotten to her. She wasn't bitching at him, instead trying to figure out how to keep him from doing stupid s**t like this again. Of course, she didn't trust that anything she said would have an effect on him, but she could only hope. "You can call me for help, you know. Not just when you're bleeding out in an alleyway." He wouldn't have called her, not for something like this. But, she'd let the offer stand. If Kamboja needed aid, Delphine would be there.
"You'll have to lay off fighting for a while. You're lucky you don't live with your parents, I've long since run out of excuses for every time I come home beaten and bruised. I've had my face carved into, my back sliced to pieces..." A ghost of a smile appeared on her face, as if they were fond memories of her failures and triumphs. "Your hospital bills are hell. Do you have money? I can probably convince my parents to help cover some of it." It wasn't her money, exactly, so she wouldn't feel pained by losing it to Kamboja.
"Just, think, before you do this stupid s**t. I have uh, obligations, but I can shove them aside for a little while if you want to go revenge-hunting or something like that." She hadn't quite told them about the Blood Moon Court. It was a force of habit not to talk about it.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 7:26 pm
He didn't argue or complain or try to buck her off when she started her long speech of' what to do' and 'what not do'. He couldn't exactly tell her to ******** off about it because, in reality, he really needed the advice. Not only did he not have much of a clue about any of this crazy super hero bullshit still, but it was becoming painfully obvious that he and Penny had to start doing something to protect themselves. If they were going to keep doing this save the cheerleader, save the world s**t then they needed to be prepared on all fronts.
Then she mentioned parents and his patient face fell, crumbled, and he turned his head to look out the picture window on the opposite wall from Delphine. He listened, sure, but in such a weak state it was harder to hide all of his problems. After she had finished speaking he remained in silence for a while, contemplating all of his choices and just how much he wanted to tell her. He supposed he would have to, sooner or later.
"Our parents died when we were in high school," he didn't look at her though, he just stared out at the new morning beyond the long blinds. For a moment it seemed like he might expand, explain a little more, but then he shut down. He was strained and tired and while that was what lead him to speaking to begin with, it was also what ultimately shut him down.
"I've got a little money from my job, but if you can convince your parents to help out it'd be.. pretty awesome." He turned back to look at her then like he hadn't said anything else. He managed to smile, even if it was a little strained by the previous conversation. It was still a smile though. "Don't worry about it though, I'll you next time before she stabs me. How's that?"
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 7:40 pm
Perhaps it was out of respect and sensitivity that she didn't ask him to expand on what happened to his and Khaldun's parents. When he spoke, Delphine gently inclined her head, staring into her lap. Maybe the subject was one she wasn't ready to hear about - the thought of losing her own parents could stab her through the chest harder than any blade. Her family was the reason she fought so violently and without forgiveness. If she slacked, if the Negaverse won, what would happen to them? If she died, how would they carry on with their lives? That was why Nemesis was one hard b***h to kill, she'd fight for her life until every last one of her limbs were chopped off and teeth pulled from her mouth.
"I'm their only daughter, and we're pretty well off, so I am sure I can convince them to help. Hell, Khaldun pretty much lived with me because I whined at my parents until they caved." Perhaps talking about Kamboja's long-lost brother wasn't that good of an idea. Delphine hadn't been thinking ahead when she spoke it, which she couldn't entirely be blamed for. She had been up all night worrying over Kamboja. Hell, worrying over him shouldn't even be her job. He had a semi-girlfriend for that, didn't he?
"You better, I've been known to put a Captain or two in their place." She had to, what other choice did she have? It was fight or die, and Delphine was a fighter, If she reflected on when she was first awakened, she would have been sickened by her own behavior. She had spent a good deal of time just chasing after youma, out of some feeling of obligation to this city. It took her a while to figure out a true reason for fighting, for putting her life at risk again and again.
"I bet you that Cimmerian is going to be thrilled with you. I promise not to let her see the back of my mom's car." Delphine was trying to push the topic of conversation to something that damaged Kamboja's psyche less. Perhaps Cimmerian's response to what happened wasn't the best choice, but it was a step above dead parents and a missing brother.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 8:09 pm
No, talking about Khetal hadn't been the best decision. His face fell a little again, even if he didn't expand on the subject, and he turned to look back out of the window again. What would have happened to his brother if Delphine had found him five minutes later? Ten? For the first time since all of this super hero bullshit started, he was kicking himself.
Then she just had to add insult to injury by bringing up how angry Meri was going to be. ********.
"I'm sorry about the car, but please don't ******** show her that." He didn't know if Delphine was being truthful or mocking him. He was just suddenly looking at her again with a pretty shocked expression, worried that she might try to get some pay back for the other night. He groaned and brought his good arm up to rub at his face, rolling his head back into the pillows like he could smother himself in them that way.
"What a ******** stupid night."
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 8:21 pm
"I won't, don't worry. I figure she'll be mad enough at you without having to see the extent of the damage." Delphine followed his gaze to the window, and then realized that there was nothing interesting out there to have caught his eye so many times. Shaking her head, she took a few quick moments to respond to a text from her brother, who was probably sympathy freaking out. "I'm not that mean, anyways. Or I just don't want to get involved with that whole upcoming situation. If I give a ******** about what happens to you, she probably gives 20 ******** first laugh of her day bubbled from her lips tiredly. "You can say that again. You so could have saved yourself some pain and suffering if you had just invited me along. I need to get back at the Negaverse, they've given me some huge ******** grievances lately." She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it, though. It was far easier to focus on Kamboja's troubles than her own.
"It only gets worse from here on out, though." He had to know that the worst was yet to come, that he was only just beginning to stick his hand through the huge pile of s**t that was this war. "You're the type, at least, that will do s**t, and hopefully not be so prone to dying or corruption as other people I've known." She had faith in Kamboja, because at least he wasn't scared of battling. He wasn't going to run away because of this. He'd trudge forward, and it gave her a little hope for the future.
A little.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 8:47 pm
"Stop reminding me." He was currently trying to imagine all the ways Penny would try to beat the hell out of him for what he'd done and how many different insults she'd be able to think of. Could he put her on the 'no visiting' list so he at least had chance to recover before she tried to kill him?
He let his hand flop back onto the bed with a thud, then looked back up at Delphine as she began to explain how much life sucked. He suspected that he and Penny had only touched the tip of the iceberg when he first learned of the Negaverse, but he really had no idea what kind of scale they were working on here.
"Have you really never seen any Knights besides me and Meri?" It had him curious. There were so many senshi and, he guessed, nearly as many of these negaverse people. So why were there only a couple of Knights? Were the rest hiding, or had they been killed? He had no idea, and that was annoying.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 9:00 pm
"No, I haven't seen other Knights besides you guys. I've seen plenty of senshi, plenty of Negaverse, but you guys? Nope. At least it's better than some more evil s**t showing up. The Negaverse is more than a handful..." Why were there Knights now? Did the special forces behind senshi being awakened think that it was necessary to provide another source of power to spice things up? It was disconcerting, when she reflected on how much she did not know, despite having been fighting for years. There were bound to be more things out there that would surprise her when they reared their ugly heads.
"One day you think you finally know what the ******** is going on, and you get blindsided by more weird s**t." Delphine gestured flippantly to Kamboja, not to point him as the source of weirdness, but rather the fact that he was Knight and that there were more of them out there. Delphine still needed to soak in what Kamboja had told her earlier about Knights. Life was a little too busy to just stop and think. She kept pushing forward, and that was why the thinking was left to people who could handle stopping doing other s**t to focus on their thoughts.
"Hey, when you're better, let's go to Nemesis." It was her thinking place, but perhaps taking Kamboja with her would lead to new discoveries. Delphine couldn't hope to cover the ground that she desired to on her own. Two sets of eyes were better than one, and all that good s**t. "If you find something cool on Nemesis, I'll let you keep it. But it's basically rock and more rock."
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 9:23 pm
"Maybe you guys aren't doing your job right and the great cosmic forces decided to call in for back up." There was a smirk on his face now that was much more reminiscent of Kamboja, not the giant sulky baby that had been in his bed moments before. There was still a little awkwardness about him but now that they were on a subject that he was more comfortable with, he was coming around.
He managed not to say anything when she gestured at him, knowing what she meant even if he would normally mock offense and harass her for it. As much as he was learning about this strange new world, she was trying to figure out why everything she'd known was changing. It was perhaps the only time in Kam's life where he was actually showing even the tiniest glimmer of empathy.
Then she spoke again and every trace of it vanished.
"That sounds like some strange sexual invitation." His brows rose a little, even if he inwardly doubted that she meant it the way he was hearing it. "You should probably elaborate."
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 9:36 pm
Delphine snorted, clearly disapproving of Kamboja insinuating that she wasn't doing a good enough job to protect the city and the world. But, he was injured, and perhaps a little too dosed up on drugs, so she would let this case slide. Kamboja was getting a little reprieve from Nemesis' torment. As soon as he was better, it was almost a guarantee that she would return to picking on him and trying to kick his a** in Pokemon. It was a pity, they could have pokemon battled now while he was bedridden to keep themselves entertained. But, no, he had to introduce his DS to the floor (and the DS had no chance of survival).
Delphine outright laughed, his comment taking her by surprise. Well, someone was starting to feel better. "You wish," she commented with an amused smirk. "But, no, I don't do the whole dreads thing. I am convinced there's a dead animal hiding in the mass that is your hair." Delphine would leave the... fine specimen that is Kamboja for some poor girl with really low standards.
"Planet Nemesis. Senshi are guardians of planets, and stars, and what-have-yous. We are also named after our home world... and have the ability to go back to our desolate homes every now and again. I was inviting you to come with me on my next trip. I'm hoping to find something interesting there, something that'll clue me in to what my life in the past was like." A vague idea of her past life was forming in her head, but it didn't help that it was completely overshadowed by the fact that she had been a lesbian before.
Oh god, she couldn't be a lesbian in this life, could she?
Suddenly, she was staring very hard at Kamboja, willing herself to feel some sort of sexual attraction to him.
Almost... She was sort of feeling something.
Nope.
Delphine sighed, and hoped that a really hot guy would walk in front of her soon so she could convince herself she wasn't destined to kiss girls for the rest of her life.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 9:50 pm
He feigned insult when she told him he wasn't interested, going so far as to put his good hand over his heart. Not that he really cared, much, though - he was pretty sure his brother was banging the chick despite her aversion to dreads for whatever reason. Maybe for that reason. In any case, he wasn't going to ******** that up for Khetal if his sorry a** ever showed back up.
"I would say that sounds absolutely ******** stupid, except Meri was telling me about something like that." He dropped his hand back down to the bed and leaned his head back into the pillows again, taking a deep breath. Now that he was calm, he could feel the pain medication making him drowsy.
"I can supposedly go to Mars, but I haven't figure that out yet." He yawned and rolled his head to the side to give her a sleepy look. "I'll go with you to your giant rock in the sky, though, no problem. Just let me heal before you drag me through the universe." He smirked at the thought of going to a far distant planet, still not quite able to imagine it.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 10:04 pm
Delphine was convinced that Kamboja wasn't that heartbroken over not having her affections. Besides, he had that Meri chick he was so worked up over. If there was anyone who'd take the bet, she'd bet her current life savings on the possibility of them getting together even just for a one-night stand. It was inevitable, and Delphine would s**t bricks if it didn't happen some time soon. "You poor thing, I'm sure there's somebody out there who's attracted to hobo lookalikes." Reaching over to him, she comfortingly rested her hand on his good shoulder.
"Maybe you'll get lucky and figure it out once you take the trip with me." She shrugged her shoulders, because there certainly was no guarantee that Kamboja would figure out how to get to Mars from the experience of going to Nemesis with her. "Don't worry, I think your girlfriend would kick my a** if I made you do anything before you were healed. You'll love visiting planet Nemesis. It's all sunshine and rainbows." How sarcastic did she sound at that moment? Very.
Covering her mouth to conceal a yawn, she pushed herself back up onto her feet. "Get some more rest, you look pretty damned pale, and that's an achievement considering your skin tone. I am getting some MccyD's, but I'll be back later. May have that talk with my parents about covering some of your bills." With a weak wave of her hand, she disappeared out of his hospital room to give him some peace.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 11:15 pm
Kam was growing increasingly tired the more he lay there watching Delphine. It wasn't that she was boring, it was just that this body was trying to heal and, well, they were pumping him full of all kinds of nice medicine. The fact that he had stayed awake so long already was a miracle. Really.
"I don't ever look pale," he mumbled at her when she stood up, fighting suddenly to keep his eyelids open. He followed her with his eyes, half listening to whatever the hell she was saying. Parents, bills, McDonald's --
hey wait.
Kam wanted some.
He tried to sit up and get her attention, to demand she bring him some chicken nuggets, but in the end all he managed was a little groan before she slipped away through the door. He sighed and shut his eyes, disappointed in his lack of food but he'd forget soon. It was time to sleep this s**t off.
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