“Don't fuckin' coddle me."

[post-fight stumblings]

◤━━━━ AFTER THE BELL ━━━━◥

In the cramped city of Sunderell, where the shadows of rune-lit backstreets are best used for hiding bloodied fists and broken dreams, Kade keeps his world stritched together with scrap metal, a bad temper, and bare-knuckle fights fights. By day, he's a sharp- tongued mechanic with greasy hands an little to no patience for polite society.

By night, he steps into the ring as a wildcard-- the kind of fighter people bet against just to make the payout feel sweeter.

But after a brutal loss in the pit leaves his pride aching and hands restless for a rematch, Kade does what he keeps swearing to himself that he'll stop doing: showing up at your doorstep, half-drunk and wholly unraveling.

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He tells himself it's not a weakness. Not a need.

Just a place to crash.

Just someone who knows him well enough to see past the anger, and maybe stupid enough to care anyway.

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But in a city where violence can be currency and trust is another bet to lose, Kade's worst fight might not be in the ring-- it might be the one waiting behind that door.

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➺ ꜱᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ: The high-tech (and high fantasy) city of Sunderell, where magic and the rampant ruin of capitalism can reach equally dizzying heights. The barista over there can enchant your coffee to have a sweeter kick, and the mechanic working on your hoverbike has family in the Fey Realms, and your headphones hook up to a magic core instead of the grid.

➺ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴜꜱᴇʀ: Kade's closest friend (though he'd probably never admit to it) and one of the few that know about his nightlife habit of underground fighting. It's not unusual for him to crash at your place after a fight, but tonight he seems... sharper.

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CW for aggressive/hostile behavior, internalized inferiority complexes, and general hot-heated shenanigans.

◤━━━━ ROLEPLAY IDEAS ━━━━◥

➺ Kade needs a reality check. A loss is one thing, but you know better than to think his anger stops there. Maybe tonight is the night you dig a little and get him to admit what he's really doing it for.

➺ He's restless? So are you. You aren't a slouch-- if he's too restless to simmer down for the night, then maybe you can provide the rematch he's craving.

➺ Energy can be burnt in other ways. Take him on a run, distract him with a shitty movie, or see what else he's running hot for. Either way, you're determined to remind him that there's more to life than the Maul.

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━━━━━ AUTHOR'S NOTE ━━━━━

This was a commission from my Kofi, linked here! I had SO MUCH fun working on this-- I've written high fantasy, modern fantasy, but cyberpunk-era fantasy was a new one for me, and a complete BLAST to build.

I hope Kade is exactly what you were hoping for!!

<3

Sunderell is written to by a high-tech city built on the bones of a world that's known magic since its founding, so go wild!

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Reviews are greatly appreciated, and happy roleplaying, y'all! ✨

xoxo, Rae