Kaeden's Commitment
by Draugr
Chapter I: A Drink Called Loneliness
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Kaeden hung his head in his paws, staring at the polished wooden surface of the bar, his own murky reflection staring listlessly back at him. A shot glass full of cheap rum sat beside him, untouched. He'd come here to forget, and although he'd already downed several shots and a few beers, it was slow progress. The things he was trying to so hard to forget refused to suppressed by the alcoholic haze. His failed job interview, today. His failed relationship with his girlfriend, and the last thing she'd said to him a few days before. She'd told him, or rather, yelled at him, that he was a failure of a man, and he was starting to think she was right.
There wasn't just one failed job interview, after all, there was a long string of them. Nobody wanted to hire a dog who had held twelve jobs in two years, even if it was for simple factory or kitchen work. Too unreliable, he'd been told. Well, the exact phrase the stoic-faced avian interviewer had used was “We'll call you back and let you know,” but he'd heard those words enough times to know what they meant. Kaeden's didn't blame himself for the long string of jobs over the past few years, of course. The jobs were just boring, and he wanted something different. There wasn't anything there for him. And, he just knew the supervisor at his last job had it out for him! Why stick around if he was going to fail anyway?
Sighing in irritation, he picked up his shot, downing it in one go. He was about to order another beer to wash it down, when he was interrupted by one of the other bar patrons sitting next to him.
“Buy you a drink, stranger?” Kaeden looked up and over to his side to see a large Rottweiler sitting on the bar stool next to him. He didn't have an accent, but Kaeden still wondered if he was from out of town: his button-up striped shirt and khaki pants were a little out of place in the small-town seedy bar.
“Don't swing that way,” he muttered, looking back at the table. He doubted the Rottweiler was actually gay, but it was easier to just brush him off. Conversation was not something he was interested in right now.
“Wasn't on my mind,” the other said dismissively. “You just look like a friend in need of a stiff drink.”
Kaeden grabbed his empty shot glass, rolling it around in his paw. He could use another, and he didn't really want to drink away his last paycheck.
“Guess I could use a friend. And a drink,” he finally replied. “What're you having?”
"Excellent. It's better than drinkin' alone," he said, grinning, then turned to the bartender and ordered two cocktails with some strange name Kaeden's alcohol-riddled mind couldn't understand.
“It's a speciality where my family comes from, the Rottweiler explained. “I'm Rashid,” he said, offering a handshake.
"Kaeden,” the Shepherd offered, returning the gesture. “Your name sounds Arabic. Born there?” Kaeden wasn't great at small talk, and didn't really care about the other's personal history, but he knew how to pretend. Pick up a queue from what the other said, follow up with a question. Right now any distraction was welcome to him.
Rashid shook his head. “Parents moved here during the war about thirty years ago. Born and raised in this town.”
Kaeden thought this was odd. “Strange. I don't remember seeing you here before.”
“I've... been away for a long time,” the other said evasively, looking off toward the far wall. “Traveling. What brings you here?”
The shift in focus didn't seem to set off any alarms in the drunken Shephed's mind. “You wouldn't be interested,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders.
“Try me,” the Rottweiler said, donning a friendly smile.
Kaeden relayed his job and girlfriend troubles, to which the Rottweiler offered a sympathetic nod, and simple agreements here and there. During his tale, which wound up growing longer than he'd expected, the drinks arrived. If Kaeden hadn't been quite as intoxicated, he might have noticed his new 'friend' dropping an odorless, white powder into the German Shepherd's drink before pushing it over to him.
“Bottoms up,” the Rottweiler said, grinning. Kaeden wasted no time in downing the cocktail. He wasn't a drunk or anything, but his paychecks afforded him one or two binges a week, and it felt good to drink himself into forgetfulness. Kaeden sighed, growing depressed as he realized that wasn't going to be possible any longer.
They talked for a few more minutes. Kaeden actually found himself growing slightly curious about his new 'friend,' but the Rottweiler seemed quite adept at brushing the topic of conversation off himself and back onto the Shepherd. In fact, the Rottweiler seemed a little too interested in him. Kaeden wondered if his first assessment hadn't been correct after all.
Kaeden decided it was time to go. He stood up, and nearly fell to the floor. It was an odd sensation; the dog could usually hold his liquor, and it wasn't a typical drunken loss of coordination. He almost felt tired, not intoxicated. Well, he was tired, and depressed. Perhaps that was to be expected.
“Whoah, friend. Maybe I should drive you home? Seems like you've had a lot,” the Rottweiler said, helping him stand back up.
“No, no, I'm... I'm fine... ” Kaeden trailed, speech slowing but not slurred. He pulled away from the Rottweiler, a sudden surge of adrenaline working its way through his system. Getting picked up by a dude was not on the list of Things To Cheer Kaeden Up. Grunting with irritation, the Shepherd put his head down and determinedly paced toward the door – abruptly running right into Rashid, who had placed himself in the drunken young adult's path.
“Look, man, thanks for the drink and conversation and all,” Kaeden started, “but I'm seriously not getting in your car. I'm not a tail-raiser.” The Shepherd must have said this louder than he intended, as a few nearby patrons looked their way and snickered.
The Rottweiler looked left and right, but when his gaze returned to Kaeden, rather than any sort of lust, he only saw fear. Why was the other dog afraid of him? His words said he was concerned, but nothing about how he was acting felt right. Something was very wrong, and the didn't want to stick around to find out what it was.
“I told you,” the Rottweiler said, in a low voice, “that’s certainly not my interest. Don't be crude. I just don't want to see you get hurt, is all.”
“And I told you, uh... ” Kaeden trailed off again as his mind started to get fuzzy. Something wasn't right. He needed to get back home. “Uh, that... that I'm... ” Another long pause. “I'm fine, yeah. I'm fine. I drive home from here all the time. Now... uh, get out... out of my way,” he mumbled.
He shoved past the Rottweiler, and marched out to the parking lot, wavering back and forth a bit as he approached his car. His large ears picked up Rashid swearing under his breath, and following him.
Kaeden got his keys off his belt clip, but when hurriedly fumbling for the door key, he dropped them on the ground. Whirling around, he found the Rottweiler right behind him, just as he'd expected.
“Dude, quit following me. I'll... call the cops, I promise.”
“Dude,” the Rottweiler mocked. “I'm not stalking you. You're in no shape to drive.”
Kaeden answered by spitting on the ground in front of him. The Rottweiler backed up, disgusted, and Kaeden took this opportunity to pick up his keys. Unlocking the door with his remote, he got in and slammed the door for good measure.
He spun the wheels, spitting up gravel as he swerved out of the parking lot and onto the highway. By this time it was dark, so he didn't even see the Rottweiler get into his own vehicle and follow him out. Despite the adrenaline surge caused by the strange encounter with his apparent male stalker, Kaeden was having a very hard time staying awake. He was certain he'd actually fallen asleep at several points.
“C'mon, man, stay awake. Just ten more minutes to home.” he said aloud.
Ten more minutes proved to be nine minutes too many, as only a minute later he finally nodded off for good, drifting off the road. Thankfully, his foot had fallen off the accelerator and by the time a large oak tree stopped his forward momentum, he wasn't traveling very fast at all.
“Ughhh... .” Kaeden groaned as he opened his eyes. Despite the shock of the crash, the Shepherd still wanted to go back to sleep. He did, for all of fifteen seconds before being shook back awake.
“Hey, man, you alright? Talk to me.” The sleepy dog took a moment to recognize the voice – it was that other dog from the bar.
“Oh... oh man, not you. Seriously-”
“You need some help?” he asked.
“What does it look like?” the Shepherd said, yawning. “In a... a wreck... yeah, help, I guess... nice... would be... nice” he said, closing his eyes again. “First a...nap.”
The Rottweiler said something after that, but Kaeden was already in the process of passing out.
v1.1
I'm a big fan of Vexxus's work and I'm glad that it inspired you to write this one.
The story caught me after the first paragraph. And this is way faster than I anticipated. However, I think I need some more time to get used to your language (that is absolutely normal for me ;) ).
Can't say much about this chapter since most of what is going through my mind would probably spoil the chapters to come. (Seriously, you furs should really read Vexxus's "Aran's Abrogation" first!)
Perhaps I can say: At least asked Rashid "his question" just in time.
On a technical note, while I was already watching you, I haven't got a notification for this submission. Was is "locked" first and then got "unlocked"? As far as I can remember Vexxus has mentioned such issues somewhere...
For me it wasn't a problem as I stalked your profile since I was told about this story :D
Way faster? Faster in pace of the plot, or did I release the story faster than you expected?
Feel free to PM things if you need to say them but don't want to spoil upcoming events :).
Perhaps does editing in a different folder and then moving it to the right spot the trick. I don't have own experiences with uploads, though. And the Wiki doesn't give hints on that either. But Vexxus found a way for his latter chapters.
My bonding to the story was fast. I expected to stay calm during the introduction. But in the first paragraph I already had empathy with Kaeden.
But I was also surprised about the release date as I read the announcement over on FA two days ago.
Thanks for the offer to send you a PM. But I will give the plot (for now) its chance to answer my questions itself. Otherwise I would risk to spoil my own experience ;)
I can't really evaluate the pace of the plot after only one chapter. But it has no impression to be rushed.
Though I work seven days a week, so divisions like that are largely meaningless to me XD.
This intro MAY be reworked at some point. I'm not entirely satisfied with the length...but then again, chapters in this story aren't going to be formatted to be "close to" any sort of length.
I see the parallel to Vexxus story at the end, but damn it he almost caused him to die! Yes he was drunk, but drunk and passing out from being drugged is far worse. It takes a lot for me to have ANY sympathy for drunk driving as I was almost killed by drunk driver. It took me almost a year to recover. -_- But you managed to do it.
Thankfully it didn't end in tragedy, although I expect poor Kaeden is going to be quite sore for a day or two, even with a low-speed crash.
Glad to know you've recovered, but there's no need for you to have any sympathy for what Kaeden DID. He's meant to be an empathetic character, but that doesn't mean everything he does is meant to cause the reader to react with positive emotions.
He drove home drunk without a second thought, so it's likely not the first time he's done this. Pretty despicable thing to do. But, don't worry, there will be plenty of chances to feel sorry for him later on :).
There will be a few more parallel's to Vexxus' story, of course, so I hope you enjoy :3.
I apologize if I came off condoning Kaeden driving drunk. My empathy for him is his life being put to an even worse risk by the rottie's deceitful behavior leaving completely unable to exercise any control over his safety. Yes Kaeden is stupid, but driving after being slipped a Micky is almost a certain death sentence.
He screwed up, though, yes, and this is why drugging people to get them into "all this" is not really a good idea, even if it is Rashid's preferred method.
Kaiser did design a sedative that is supposed to ignore the prescence of adrenaline. Said compound is the main agent in the emergency sedative each and every "field employee" carries, but that stuff is designed to take out the target [i]as quickly as possible[/i], rather than nice and smooth. It'd have caused a scene, I suppose, while discretion is the better part of valor.
Even so, it would be difficult to fit that information in. I'm trying to keep the narrative focused around things Kaeden is able to observe, for the most part, or at least that occur near him, and abruptly switching into Rashid's thoughts/memories might be kind of odd and jarring.
Unfortunately discretion didn't work out here...but at least he avoided police involvement :).
Given his prime motivation at the time seemed to be putting as much distance as he could between him and Rashid, as disgusting as driving drunk was, I can't say I blame him too much. When the options are 'drive home yourself, even if you're not feeling great' or 'get in the car of the creepy stranger you just met', option one looks /much/ better in comparison.
Even before I spied the version label or your journal, I noticed some differences while browsing over the text. I decided to re-read this chapter (instead of proceeding to chapter 2...).
While not plot critical the added details give a better impression to Kaedens current situation of life. The latest events of his life seem to have a more serious impact on him, now.
And with the more directer words I finally got the meaning of Kaedens first said sentence :P
Rashid's part wasn't really changed in this revision.
The technical thingy (just to inform you):
I got a watch notification for chapter 2.
And I got 7 notifications for chapter 1 and 3 for chapter 2 in the subscribed folder section.
I did a 'save as draft' first before publishing chapter 2 (though I had a couple more changes to make when I accidentally hit "publish" instead of "save as draft"). I'll remember that, thanks.
That's what I was aiming for, for Kaeden to really seem even more down in the dumps. Glad that was accomplished. Before it didn't really seem to be all that meaningful.