Kayden Keyes is a character played by Kiendis.
Physical Description[]
Kayden is 6’0" and has a slim build. He has medium white hair that is accompanied by a natural brown fade. Centered on his forehead is a black cross. He has blue/grey eyes that are circled by faded eye shadow. Both of his ears contain multiple piercings from top to bottom. His nails are often painted black.
Background[]
Kayden Keyes was born on November 23, 1998 on the outskirts of Vice City to an unknown couple who quickly relinquished him to the care of an Australian woman by the name of Ira Sinclair. Ira took on the role of a single mother and raised him while trying to make ends meet by running a local mechanic shop. This sparked Kayden’s fascination with cars as he progressed through his youth.
At 14, a girl named Taz Ortega moved in across the street. Her father raced sprint cars, so they’d often come by Ira’s shop, leaving Kayden and Taz to work and tinker with cars together.
By their late teens, The two had become romantically involved, and were working on race engines for Taz’s father until he died on the track just before their graduation. Ira also passed a short time later from multiple health related issues.
While Kayden and Taz were still passionate about cars, they had no interest in staying in a smaller town to run Ira’s shop. They decided to move into Vice City to find work at a reputable shop that dealt with higher performance vehicles. From there, they met connects to the race scene, and soon after were both known to be some of the most experienced and challenging racers to beat in the city.
A few years later, Taz became terminally ill and was admitted to the hospital where doctors gave her only several months to live, unless she were to undergo an operation that Kayden or Taz could not afford.
With limited income and time, Kayden decided to use his knowledge of racing and began getaway driving for small gangs and crews in the city to pay for the operation. Kayden’s skillset quickly becomes noticed by a large crime family and begins bringing him on larger jobs and heists that begin to slowly take a toll, as each one becomes more extreme and more violent. He chose to bear the cost of his fading morality, as he had no other choice since it offered the best odds for saving Taz.
After some time, an associate organization to the family called Midnight contracts Kayden to help boost a prototype car and promises a payout that would complete the funding for Taz’s surgery. Kayden accepts, but on the night of the heist, cops become aware quicker than anticipated and leads to a city wide chase and manhunt. Kayden ends up avoiding arrest, but severely damages the prototype doing so. The organization blames Kayden for the failure and asks for reimbursement. So, out of desperation he steals the vehicle in an attempt to scrap and sell what he could. Midnight then inform Kayden of their knowledge of Taz and threaten to kill her unless he were to instead kill Bobby, one of the leaders of the crime family he had been brought into.
Knowing that Midnight were setting him up to appear as a traitor to his group, he decided to follow through anyways and lured Bobby to talk alone before pulling a gun and shooting him in head. Kayden quicky fled to his apartment, and while packing to leave the city, N.O.O.S.E breaks down his door and places him under arrest after locating and seizing the stolen cash he had been saving for Taz’s operation. Information they had gathered all from of an anonymous tip that Kayden assumes could have only been Midnight.
While Bobby’s murder was never reported, Kayden was sentenced to several years in prison for the string of armed robberies he had committed. During his incarceration, Taz passed away from her illness, having never received the operation.
Once released, Kayden vowed to leave Vice City, but only after he was able to obtain Taz’s ashes, as she had been cremated and labeled “unclaimed”.
Kayden then drove cross country towards Taz’s hometown of Los Santos, as he had recalled stories of her father taking her to a campsite just north of the lighthouse. He decided to bury her there, on the cliffside overlooking the ocean.
Afterwards, he decided to stay in Los Santos, and visits Taz’s grave regularly, often bringing a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of whiskey with him.
Personality[]
While Kayden may be more quiet than most, he is not afraid to get his hands dirty, lie, or hide information to achieve his goals or protect those he cares for. Although he enjoys silence and isolation from others, He has a massive craving for adrenaline and is always looking for opportunities to be involved in anything or anyone that will provide it.
Kayden can be socially fickle. He is difficult to keep engaged in “small talk” conversations, but can appear silly, clueless, and air-headed at face value. This allows others to take him for granted and lead them to be loose-lipped, which benefits his ability to be observant and good at reading peoples behaviors and his surroundings.
He tends to be one-track minded and has short term memory, He often forgets to call or text people back, and even forgets locations he is actively driving to.
He loathes standing around with nothing to do, and quickly becomes restless when he doesn't have an outlet to focus his attention.
Despite his memory, Kayden can be very vindictive and hold harsh grudges. When seeking revenge or “get back” on others, he will try to plan a “punishment that fits the crime” and will never forgive or forget when someone has crossed him, and if he does, it will likely be for a prolonged amount of time.
While he is often calculated, calm, and reasonable when trying to resolve conflict or intense situations, he can become extremely brutal and aggressive if pushed too far or his patience is tested.
Kayden stays guarded and rarely shares compassionate or soft-hearted emotions towards others, even those he is fond of. This has led some to believe that he does not care about them or dislikes them entirely. For those very few that are able to get a glimpse of Kayden’s tender side, he’d very likely die for them if it meant their safety.
Kayden has a massive fear of riding motorcycles, and a moderate fear of heights and spiders.
Relationships[]
Piper Riggs[]
Currently, Piper is the closest person to Kayden, and is one of two people who know of his past. They first met at the hotel where Piper joked he dressed like a “bottom”.
After Kayden attended one of Piper’s shows, she drove him around the city and showed him her “alternate” life. Kayden quickly became fascinated, as her tenacity, demeanor, and her history with racing reminded him immensely of his deceased partner, Taz. They then began spending large amounts of time together, discussing things such as starting the race scene, the Cartel’s movements on Cayo, as well as sharing their past, all despite his gang’s growing concerns of suspecting she was not to be trusted.
When they finally both confessed their feelings for one another, Piper decided against the relationship and described herself as an “imploding star” and feared she would “break” Kayden if they continued romantically. They continued to be very close friends, and still had heavy heartfelt conversations with each other. Kayden offered that if she ever changed her mind, he’d always be there, as his feelings for her would always remain.
Some time later, Kayden would leave his old crew, accepting an offer from Piper to join the Golden Tigers, Soon after, the two ultimately put aside their concerns and finally decided to begin dating.
Saiko Akage[]
Saiko is a long time friend of Kayden and is the other person to know of his past, as both were previously a part of the same crime family before Kayden served time in prison. Typically, when they choose to work together towards a goal, they are able to achieve it, as where one’s skills lack, the other usually excels.
They banter and tease each other often, but are one of the first to come to each other for advice and guidance when desired.
Monty Cross[]
Kayden met Monty through their friend, Tommy King, upon first moving to Los Santos. They immediately got along very well due to their similar interests, style, and vision for a future group. Kayden also developed respect and trust in Monty since she took initiative to push for progress and group direction.
Despite how well they saw things in a similar light, Their friendship nearly ended late one night after an unsettled dispute between them led to a drunken impromptu therapy session with Reno Deno, who only made the situation worse. Eventually, they did manage to make up.
Kayden considered Monty his drinking partner, and when they did drink, it often lead to them becoming reckless and finding themselves in predicaments that created inconveniences for the rest of their group.
Eventually, Kayden decided to part ways with the group, once again straining his friendship with Monty. Days later, he hears of a large scale shootout with police and recalls Monty mentioning a plan to seek out cops for their corruption. After failing to get in touch with her or anyone else in his old crew, Kayden is lead to believe they are either dead or sentenced to life in federal prison.
Quotes[]
"I'm dead." — Kayden just before he thinks he's about to crash.
"...If there’s one thing I’ve learned about life, it’s that it isn’t fair… it isn’t sympathetic… It takes, and it takes, and it f*cking takes."
"Jokes on you. I have a c*ck."
*R2D2 screams*
"What makes me happy isn’t leaving behind some sort of reputation for those who never TRULY knew me, but instead, knowing that I’ve made an impact for those I DO care about."