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[sup]Collab with [@Lovely Complex][/sup][hr][hr]
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[indent]Having arrived in the hotel room just over an hour ago, Caiden had showered and dressed down already. There’d been a live show earlier that evening, but that was over now. A string of live shows had landed them in LA for the next Shock N AWE, taking place at the Staples Center. Caiden had been working with Zachary Wake during this circuit, and he was enjoying it, but he didn’t really have any idea where he was going next — didn’t know if he even had a match booked at the upcoming big show.
 
His entire tenure year had felt pretty damn directionless, and he as a person was sick of it. He’d even gone so far as to once go on a tirade about how the AWE were wasting his talent on Twitter, gotten bitched at over it, and decided to never Tweet again, and he hadn’t opened the stupid social site in almost five months now. At Judgment Day, when they’d wanted him to lose to Drayden — the injured Drayden who everyone in the company knew was injured and out, Caiden had been furious. He’d screamed at Roddy, he’d screamed at all the writers, but he’d ultimately been professional and gone out and done the job. Now that he’d been fed to Drayden, he was just like every other chump out there.
 
So, he would probably stay directionless for the next eight months that remained on his contract, and then he’d be gone. He didn’t really much care for this company, and if they wanted to offer him another contract, he was adamant that he would [i]not[/i] sign. No way, he’d be way better off elsewhere, where he could actually be the superstar he [i]knew[/i] he could be, even if that meant making a bit less money. He’d take the pay cut if that’s what it needed.
 
The man sat down cross legged  in the center of his bed, with a container of ramen he’d ordered, and adjusted his tablet so he could watch some YouTube videos before bed. Ramen was good, that was the main thing he’d learned during his tenure in Japan. That and sushi wasn’t so bad, but he was a ramen guy first and foremost. Having spent a good portion of his life in Japan, Caiden had preferences, and one of them was definitely Japanese food. That and peace and quiet, which is why he tended to ride alone and rarely roomed with anyone. He hit play on his YouTube video, and took the first bite. It’d been a long day, now to get some rest… 
 
Unfortunately for the exhausted wrestler, there was a light knock on his door. [i]Knock, knock.[/i] It was gentle and sounded like only two knuckles were hitting the surface (the middle finger and the pointer finger). Most likely a woman was waiting on the other side. There was a brief moment of silence, as if the person on the other side was contemplating if she should announce her presence before he opened the door (or not). Was he even going to open the door? 
 
Yes, he was going to open the door.
 
It wasn’t Caiden’s style to just ignore the door, if someone was knocking they probably wanted something important. Generally speaking, plus who would even know where his room was? Sliding his legs off of the bed, Caiden closed the gap between himself and the door, before reaching out and opening it wide. When he saw who was standing on the other side, Caiden almost audibly groaned.
 
[color=0f4891][b]“What do you want, Joy?”[/b][/color]
 
With her hair in a messy bun and her body adorned with a white tank, black sweats, and fuzzy blue socks, Joy stared at the man with pure exhaustion in her eyes, like she had just come from fucking war. This wasn’t her first option, to disturb her favorite wrestler because she was pathetically weak, but the people she would have gone to, LITERALLY ALL OF THEM, were MIA. If she wasn’t restless, she wouldn’t need to bake at this hour. And yet, she could not sleep for the life of her, so she was GOING to bake like her mama would do with her. A remedy for her mind and also something that would result in a delicious reward. [color=9966cc][b]“Hi. I’m sorry for disturbing you…”[/b][/color] 
 
Caiden let out a huge breath when the girl responsible for breaking his pleasant night spoke to him. Yeah, she’d better be sorry for disturbing him… this was the only alone time he really got, and if he wanted to spend it eating ramen and watching YouTube. She’d better have a good reason.
 
Her voice trailed off when she noticed what he was wearing (white t-shirt and boxers). Her cheeks turned a faint pink, as she immediately brought her eyes back to his face. [color=9966cc][b]“Usually… Wade helps me with this, but I think he went galavanting with my sister. Somewhere. Or they’re ‘busy’ and didn’t want to answer their door… eh-hem. Anyways.”[/b][/color] 
 
[color=0f4891][b]“Gross.”[/b][/color]
 
She lifted up her hands, one was holding a can of pineapples and the other one was holding a can opener.  [color=9966cc][b]“This is one battle I can never win.”[/b][/color]
 
Oh, COME ON. That wasn’t a real reason to bother someone! Buy an electric can opener, dammit. He reached his hand out and snatched the pineapple can out of her hands, and the can opener. [color=0f4891][b]“Are you kidding me? You want me to open this?”[/b][/color] He positioned the can opener on the can, and then with a single, effortless twist, the lid popped open, and he handed it over to Joy. [color=0f4891][b]“Anything else, my queen?”[/b][/color] If words could bite, Joy would be feeling the numbing teeth of sarcasm sinking into her arm.
 
Joy felt small, smaller than her sister and that was small! She had more cans that needed to be opened, since she wanted to make enough for her, the people she cared about (Trinity, for one, had a huge appetite), and some of the other wrestlers (any extra would be brought to the match tomorrow), but maybe she could save baking for later and pull an all nighter. It wouldn’t be the first time she did that. Looking downward at her socks apologetically, she decided to lie through her teeth, [color=9966cc][b]“Yes… I mean, no. No, I’m good.”[/b][/color] She looked up with a sad expression on and apologized again, [color=9966cc][b]“I’m really sorry.”[/b][/color] Reaching to grab the can and the can opener away from him, she was getting ready to dismiss herself to be alone in her room. Maybe she’ll look to see if any of her brother’s matches in Japan have been posted online. 
 
My god, she was like a broken puppy. Geezus, he was bad with women or something; man, Blake would throw a fit if he just let his baby sister walk off like that. Caiden just couldn’t catch a break, could he? He’d never be able to eat ramen and watch YouTube in peace, because everyone was always wanting him to do stuff… With a defeated tone, Caiden asked:  [color=0f4891][b]“Are you sure you don’t have more cans to open?”[/b][/color] He asked, looking down at the smol girl in front of him.
 
If there was one thing a Ryder child had in common, it was being puppy-dog like. Joy more so than the rest of her siblings because of her empathy. If she wasn’t already down, her mood would have taken a 180 and she would’ve responded completely enthusiastic to his question, but now she knew she was bothering him and now that she put actual thought in her impulses, she realized this situation was rather… silly. Her disturbing a man late at night just so he can open cans of pineapple for her. Silly. Pulling the items away from him, she shook her head, [color=9966cc][b]“It’s really okay! You can get back to your--”[/b][/color] Pausing for a second, she glanced behind him to observe his bed situation and caught sight of his food, [color=9966cc][b]“Ramen. I’ll just do something else. Thanks again!”[/b][/color] Eheh. 
 
Caiden’s eyes narrowed. Now she didn’t want his help?! What if he’d been asleep, then she would have been RUDE. He folded his arms over his chest, which may have looked intimidating, but was really kind of silly — after all he was just in his loose fitting t-shirt, an old, almost retro piece of AWE merch, from a small PPV many years ago that Caiden had attended, and boxers. [color=0f4891][b]“No way, dude. You’re not seriously gonna bother someone in the dead of the night so they can open a single can of pineapples, are you? What if I was asleep? You either have underlying motives — that is to say you just want to see me, or you need more cans open. So which one is it?”[/b][/color] Women, honestly.
 
This response caused Joy’s cheeks to flare up. She darted her blue eyes at him and got defensive,  [color=9966cc][b]“I don’t have ulterior motives!”[/b][/color] Grumpily pouting, she lifted the can and can opener up, [color=9966cc][b]“It’s not my fault these things are stupid. All I wanted to do was make my mom’s famous carrot cake, enough to feed an army, because it helps me sleep. But nooooooo, I spent almost forty minutes trying to open this can because it’s [i]hard[/i]. And yes, yes I do have more cans but you’re already upset! So, I won’t bake.”[/b][/color] Joy didn’t realize how silly this situation was and how it continued to be… silly. She just wanted carrot cake. 
 
[color=0f4891][b]“...pineapples… in carrot cake? That sounds wrong and awful. You should make mandarin orange cake, with vanilla pudding frosting. That’s my favorite. My grandma used to make it, but she never gave the recipe to anyone before she died… so I haven’t had it in almost ten years now… If you don’t want to bake, you can hang out with me for a bit, I’m just eating dinner and watching YouTube.”[/b][/color] Caiden said, shrugging his shoulders. He felt bad now, and he didn’t really like that feeling… So, he was going to his best to be nice to her and make her happy. [color=0f4891][b]“If you want, I don’t care.”[/b][/color]
 
He was letting her in? To bake or spend time in Caiden Winter’s room. To bake or spend time in Caiden Winter’s room.... to bake or-- [color=9966cc][b]“...what are you watching on YouTube?”[/b][/color] She tiptoed closer to him, having decided baking could wait and when she did get around to baking, it wouldn’t be carrot cake. [color=9966cc][b]“If you don’t mind me coming in, I’d love to. It beats watching YouTube alone in my room!”[/b][/color] She wanted to comment on his grandma’s mandarin orange cake but it didn’t seem appropriate. 
 
[color=0f4891][b]“Uh, just some video game stuff. I like to stay in the know, in case anything worth playing is coming out. Nothing is, so I’ll probably just watch Netflix in a few minutes.”[/b][/color] Caiden steeled his mind, preparing to spend the night with the most talkative of the Ryders, and shut the door behind the girl once she’d stepped in.[/indent]