(no subject)
Why was it so cold? That was the first thought that came to him as slowly- uncomfortably- he came back to consciousness. Why was it so damn cold?
Kei groaned, put a hand over his eyes and rolled onto his side, hiding his face as much as possible. It was too bright for the kind of headache he had. He hadn’t felt this terrible since he’d challenged his old man to a drinking contest and lost spectacularly. Speaking of which, where was the bum? His father always woke him up in the mornings. Maybe it was early. It had to be that- why else would it be so cold and why else was no one else around?
It was then that he noticed the smell. The dusty, earthy haze of the desert he had lived in all his life was gone, replaced by something different, something very unfamiliar. Kei snapped upright, twisting around drunkenly and squinting in the bright sunlight.
“Okay, what the he-?” he froze and wished he hadn’t sat up at all.
It didn’t look like any town he knew- there were stones on the road for one thing and lots of buildings. He was used to dirt paths and rickety old saloons. But, truthfully, he wasn’t exactly making detailed notes on architecture. He was too focused on one extremely worrying point- he had no idea where he was.
Kei scrambled to his feet and tried to pick his jaw off the ground. This definitely, definitely was not good. If it was a joke it wasn’t a very funny one. He swallowed, pressing a hand to his forehead. “Th-this can’t be happening to me…” he said hoarsely, “This can’t be happening.”
As much as he said it, he knew it was happening and he had to get used to it. So, chin up, chest up, swaggering on full, Kei took a deep breath. He may have been a fish out of water but he sure as hell didn’t want to look like one. No way was he going to look vulnerable. Hah! The word wasn't in his vocabulary. The only thing left to do was stop shaking.