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Bornes let out a loud, long sigh through his nose, not replying for a good minute, thinking of his words.

"Why is it... You always show up at just the right times?" Bornes gave a fake smirk, but it quickly quivered and went into a forlorn look. He still didn't want to get up. He didn't feel like moving. But he bent his knees slightly and brought his hands up to lay his head on them like a pillow, so his neck wasn't so uncomfortably bent.

Bornes groaned, but nevertheless went with Kaegan's prodding and sat on the cot again, hanging his head.
"Already?" he asked. It was all he could think of to say. To think he had bruises...

He put his forearms on his legs as he bent forward.
"Isiah has changed since we got here. I don't understand. But he says I am the one who has changed. I suppose that's true. But I don't know what I did wrong," he confessed.
"He put me in a chokehold over cigarettes, and then said it wasn't for the cigarettes. He makes no sense." He put his face in his hands.

"I suppose you were right. I don't want to be alone again. Not here. Not in this Nothing."

Bornes ran his hands through his hair and craned his neck up to watch Kaegan, hoping he wouldn't walk away.
"But why would he act in such a way?" He asked, not really expecting an answer as he didn't wait for one, and instead asked another question, full of conviction:
"What did you do to him?"

Bornes looked away. "Don't lie."

Ther was silence, aside from Bornes' tail moving from one side of the cot to the other, to hug his other leg.

"I suppose it doesn't matter." He gave a loud groan and put his head back in his hands.
"The other day I was sexually assaulted." He said blankly.

Idiot, that never happened. Remember? It never happened!

Bornes had no idea why he was telling Kaegan this. He must've been just that type of guy that one was so easy to trust.

"I know I'm better than this, but I can't seem to pull myself back together. Isiah is no help. I began falling apart as soon as we left the vault. This of course didn't help matters."

He pushed his sunglasses up onto his forehead and pushed his palms into his eyes. "I just want to go home, to pretend none of this happened. My life is nothing now."

Then, for added measure, "I have no idea why I'm telling you this. I shouldn't burden you with my problems."

Bornes shook his head. "He seemed southern, was a drug addict. Isiah killed him before anything too horrible happened. I was just..."

He shook a little, putting his sunglasses back over his eyes and staring at the floor. "He drugged me, and I just couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything but whine. And now that it's all over, I still can't do anything. All my senses seem stunted. I can't read anyone."

He put his hands on the edge of the cot, gripping it, feeling the old, tattered mattress beneath. "I just can't shake this pathetic victim feeling away. I've never been in a situation like that. I've always felt like I've had the upperhand. Even when I was losing. Now I can't even look at myself without being ashamed. "

He growled at himself. "What kind of man gets taken advantage like that? What sort of helpless puppy am I that I cannot defend myself from a blithering drug addict?"

"I don't have time to deal with it slowly. I just want it gone. I want to be myself again. I want my gun back. I want everything to be like it was before the blast. I had women and booze and nothing phased me because I was just too ******** up to care about anything aside from sex and contracts and lying on my belly waiting for the perfect shot."

He growled again. "I just want someone I can connect with. But there will never be. Before I was somebody. Not very high up but I liked my rank. Now, what am I? I am a funny looking boy with a tail who makes weird doggy noises and has a funny accent." He didn't have an accent, but he was nevertheless worried he did.

"Even in the angry glares and the french insults were better than this feeling."

He looked up to Kaegan, a pleading look on his face, albeit quite hidden behind the sunglasses. "I never worried about where I came from before now. Now I suddenly am thinking about my next move, wondering if I will just forget english and walk around on all fours, barking and whining like some mutant canine."

He looked away again, shaking in hate of himself. "Nobody could understand this feeling." His voice lowered. "I thought Isiah would, but now he just makes me regret even trying to connect with people."

Bornes sighed. He knew Kaegan was right. Getting all of this off his chest felt both good and strangely guilt-laden at the same time.

Kaegan didn't seem like a bad person, however Isiah still distrusted him so...
"I want to be helpful. I try to be," he replied, looking up.
"But.." He grit his teeth, not even sure why he would admit this to anyone, especially someone Isiah hated. "I am blind while the sun is up. I cannot function during the day. Isiah was the only one who was on my schedule, but now he is changing to fit yours."

He frowned. "I can't contribute here."

"Flock. You make it sound like you are a no more harmful than sheep."
He ran his fingers through his hair, and then looked up to Kaegan again.

"Isiah... Seems to dislike your pack. But if there is anything I could do for you...?"

He let the question trail off.