Colin's posts

"......" Jaden was silent as he saw her sign.

"Ah... crap..." he said.

"Crap, I used to be really fluent in ASL..." he muttered.

"Ah... I-M..." he went on, before shaking his head.

"Well, it's clear that you are hearing-impaired." he then commented.

"I... you hide it well." he told her.

"And these headphones are miraculous. I didn't know these were even a thing on the market." he admitted further.

Jaden hesitantly accepted the headphones, and slid them over his head and ears.

"Woah." he said.

"These things are a little on the heavy side." he commented.

He then paused for a moment, looking confused.

"Wait..." he mumbled.

"Why does everything seem... louder, and... distorted?" he asked.

"Wait, the hell's going on?" he asked further, taking them off and handing them back.

"Ah, it's fine." Jaden responded.

"We managed to rebound, and I don't think the audience noticed." he told her.

"So yeah, no worries." he assured her.

"And those get in the way a bit?" he asked.

"Well, I'd say then perhaps not wear them, but... well, as you said, they're part of your image." he went on.

"And in our line of work, image consistency is important."

"Ahhh, all right." Jaden replied.

"And yeah, it did." he agreed.

"Pretty sure we nailed it." he went on.

"Working with you was pretty awesome." he then told her.

"I'm glad we managed to gel our performances together so well."

"....very well, then." Jaden muttered.

'Strange girl...' he thought.

With that, they excuse themselves to put on a show.

And put on a show, they did. They acted their parts, combined their magic acts, and it seemed like the majority of both demographics were completely into it. Kalin's club was the busiest it had ever been.

At the end, the two of them bowed to the crowd to thunderous applause, as the curtain went down in front of them.

"Good show." he said to her.

"Also, I'm impressed you can hear so well with those large padded headphones on." he then added, gesturing to the audio equipment in question.

Jaden just smirked.

"Hasn't yet." he said.

"And I can sustain it for long enough." he told her further.

"Beyond that, it's all showmanship." he continued.

He then shrugged, his smirk turning into a smile.

"And I know you're good at THAT." he went on.

"I've seen a couple of your public performances."

Jaden thought for a moment, and nodded.

"Brilliant." he said.

"The perfect scenario." he told her.

"And I assume you're good at improv." he went on.

"...." he was then silent, before clearing his throat.

"And you'll be okay with... well... stabbing me?"

The first thing Jaden noticed was how adorable and cute Desiree looked... yet somehow sexy at the same time.

He started to feel himself blush, but quickly shook it off.

"Right." he said.

"You are TOO good at that." he told her.

He then sighed, before looking in the direction of the stage.

"Well, we need to come up with some 'plot-points', and we need to do it ASAP." he commented.

Jaden narrowed his eyes a little.

"If she can perform on stage with me, then I can perform on stage with her." he said.

"I realise that this show not happening is... well, it'll be bad for your club." he then told Kalin.

"So I can, at the very least, try this." he continued.

"But what about your injuries?' he then asked Desiree.

"Can you hide them while on stage well enough?"

Jaden just sighed.

"Okaaaaay." he said.

"Riiiight then." he muttered.

"We have VERY different styles of presentation, as you just said.' he said to Kalin.

"However, I think my own demographic will put up with a slightly less 'life-is-grey-and-pain-is-feeling' atmosphere, if Desiree thinks that her own audience can deal with some... potentially dangerous stunts." he went on.

"I can skewer myself with a sword, but rather than play it up as serious and acting like I might actually be hurt, I can play up that it's all right and I'm okay." he went on.

"Desiree's audience is key here. My own just wants to see the blades pierce me and shit."

Jaden was frozen in fear for a moment, feeling the 'spear of mana' pierce his soul... but he quickly shook it off after the few seconds had expired.

He then gritted his teeth when he heard the conversation and saw the bruises.

"...Deryck?" he asked.

"Who's Deryck?" he asked further.

"If he's someone that abuses you, then something needs to be done." he told her.

Also, in his mind, he made a mental note to thank Vyn for helping Desiree... and to ask her how she even found her in the first place.

"I didn't realise the cooler was actually a key part of the structure of that pile of stuff, gimme a break!" Ryker responded with a laugh.

He then took the cooler and tossed it off to the side.

"That should work, though." he said.

"Anyway, let's just pile this stuff in a corner somewhere." he suggested.

"None of the boxes opened, at least. They're taped shut pretty well."

Downstairs was a pile of boxes and bags... and Ryker emerged from under them.

"Oh,, blah!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm cool." he told Eke.

"Just ended up causing a junk-valanche." he chuckled.

"S'what I get for trying to take a cooler from the bottom."

Jaden was still curious as all hell, but nodded at Vyn before following Kalin and Desiree.

They made their way back to Kalin's office, where Jaden sighed.

"I, uh..." he stammered.

"Are you... all right?" he asked.

"You don't seem to be in tip-top shape, to massively understate it." he went on.

"Also, should I leave?" he then asked.

"So you and Kalin can talk privately?"