Beer and Sympathy

Taylor glanced to the side at Angel with a sly, knowing smile. She figured Angel knew without having to say anything... but maybe she didn't. Angel hadn't even watched the second match. Maybe she didn't have to, or maybe Angel didn't understand things between them the same way Taylor did.

"I get out of the house all the time, dude. I live half the time in Tokyo, I train a few different places, I've got publicity stuff and business stuff and the Dojo... I try to be at the arena to support all the girls and stuff, and Johnny in Kyoto. And I've got my hobbies at home and stuff, so... I guess I don't really get a lot of time to just shut off and forget everything." She rubbed the back of her neck and made a face. "And with Bear leaving..."

"...with Bear leaving, that's going to free up some time in your schedule, right?"

Angel threw up her hands innocently, and smiled back at Taylor. "Look. I might be wrong, but it sounds to me like you have way too much going on at once. You're pushing yourself hard, and it's great that you're trying to support everyone, but...you know. You have to take it easy and make time to shut off and not worry about everything."

She raised her arms upwards, stretching them above her head as she took in the night air. She thought over her next words carefully, glancing back towards Taylor. "Why don't we try to make tonight a more regular thing, chica? Me and you, getting drunk and relaxing and not letting things get to us?"

Taylor breathed a laugh and cracked half a smile, but shrugged it away. "I dunno, man... I mean like, me and Bear go back, ya know? All the way back. I met her when I was like... eighteen or something."

She stopped on the sidewalk, nowhere in particular, and stared off into space as thoughts of times past filled her mind. "She used to annoy the hell out of me, because she was like... always there and trying to be my friend, and she just wouldn't take a goddamn hint. I thought I had to be some super tough lone wolf for anyone to respect me, and... the guys at our pro wrestling school didn't respect me, mostly. I... blew a few of 'em, and fucked one. I don't really talk about that.

"But she always stuck up for me, she always did nice things for me, and no matter how much I wanted her to go away... she was always there. She knew that I needed someone, and so she just decided to be that someone. Once I started to get my shit together and I started to realize the way things really were...

"I want to be like Cassie so bad, man. I want to be the girl that's there for people and stuff, and I just thought that she'd always be around to help me. But I guess I'm still pretty fucking selfish, because I still didn't realize that like, what if she just wasn't happy here in the first place?"

She shook her head and bumped her shoulder against Angel's. "I'm just rambling, don't mind me. This is just really fuckin' hard for me, as someone who can't just let shit go. But... to answer your question, yeah. Let's do that. Let's do stuff that has fuck all to do with wrestling and forget about trying to be bad ass pro fighters once in a while. Sounds like a good time."

She smiled at Angel, and not her big, flashy, magazine cover grin. Not her cocky stage smile or her snarky lopsided one, nothing sly or coy, just a genuine smile, no strings attached.

Angel reached out, when Taylor bumped into her, throwing an arm around her shoulder so that she could pull her in close. "Ramble all you want, chica. Let it out. Let it out and maybe you can let some of your shit go."

She gave Taylor a squeeze, then let her go, stretching her arms up towards the sky. "Good answer. Leave all that wrestling stuff behind for a while. Let's just get out and be people, you know?" She looked towards Taylor, and smiled back at her, just a simple, easy smile. "It'll be nice to get out more often, with someone else with me."

She looked upwards again, looking as if she was getting lost in her thoughts. "Wrestling school, huh? Didn't have anything like that back where I started at. We had a dumpy little local league. They'd let anyone get in if they could fight. That's how I got my start, you know." She sighed, and looked back downwards. "That was a lot of fun. I can't even remember how many times I got my ass kicked before I learned to wrestle for real."

Taylor nodded. "Yup. Wrestling school. It sucked. Except... for the matches."

She swung her arms as she strolled along, whimsically recounting her experience back in Manhattan. "The guys all hated me because I was a girl, and a skinny white girl at that. Dumb blonde. But then there was this other girl, and they all loved her! Like, what the fuck!

"I mean, who the hell did I have to sleep with to get some fucking credit? And... I tried that, kinda. I didn't really have a lot of self-esteem. Two guys named Matt, but one everyone called Mitchel, one guy named John but not John Mitchel. John Mitchel and me overlapped a little at that gym. I kinda fucked my way through the gym a little, and it was whatever... Still had to fight tooth and nail to prove I belonged there.

"When I finally got my first match, I just had so much... heat inside me, ready to roll on the poor girl. I was nineteen, and I flattened her in like two minutes, and that got me some fucking attention. The next one went the same way. I started out on a winning streak, just on like, talent and adrenaline and being scared shitless. It wasn't until I came here that I started losing..."

She looked over at Angel and whacked her on the shoulder. "Hey, aren't we supposed to be talking about other stuff? Like... I dunno. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Angel rubbed her shoulder where Taylor struck her shoulder, looking towards the blonde with a look of mock surprise and pain. She stopped in place, pretending to be baffled and befuddled by her words. Her response was short and sweet, the Latina feigning confusion and shock at the question.

"You mean...we're not grown up already? Why am I just finding this out?!"

"Hell no, we're not grown up!" Taylor laughed. "I'm just coming into my mid-twenties and stuff. Like, I have a career and fame and money and I've been married for going on three years, and I have a house and stuff, but I still don't know what the hell I'm doing. I mean like... Can you imagine what life will be like in our forties?"

She looked Angel up and down, at the Latina's fit and curvy body. In their line of work, your body was your identity and your pride, and certainly both of them had a lot to be proud of.

"What's life gonna be like when you can't get beat up all the time anymore. And like, when these things start getting all worn out." She reached out and wiggled her finger against Angel's big, pillowy breast, and stuck out her tongue mischievously. "What are you gonna do with the other fifty years of your life?"

Angel laughed back at Taylor, playfully swatting at her hand as her finger pushed against her breast. She could only offer her a shrug in response, with a quiet groan afterwards.

"Honestly? I have no fucking idea." She looked almost embarrassed, like Taylor had figured out a secret that she didn't want to share. "I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I hardly ever think that far ahead."

A nearby bench caught the Latina's eye, and she stepped towards it, taking a seat and gesturing for Taylor to join her. "I've always just been...you know. Full speed ahead. I've never really thought about the future." Her voice and her expression softened, and her gaze fell towards the sidewalk. "The future's a scary thing, chica. I know I should think about things and have a plan, but..."

Her words trailed off, and she looked at Taylor with another soft laugh. "I guess I'm really not grown up, huh? Dammit. And here I was thinking I was doing good as an adult, too!"

Taylor took a seat next to Angel and leaned back, one foot up on the bench with her heel against her butt. "Yeah... It's really easy to just always worry about the next match and stuff. But I don't just want to be an ex-wrestler for the rest of my life. Like, when I retire from wrestling, I want to use that to help me do really good stuff.

"I think about this stuff a lot, man. I don't know if you'd call me smart or anything, but I do a lot of thinking about stuff. I've got a whole pile of journals that I filled up on the train from Tokyo to Hamamatsu or Kyoto. I know that I want to be something good for people, and mostly for kids. I want to help kids to not grow up like I did." She looked over at Angel. "Ya know?"

Angel looked away from Taylor and leaned back, looking back up towards the sky again. "You've got your shit together, chica. Way more then I do." She squirmed a little in her seat, looking awkward, way more then she usually did, most of her usual confidence slipping away as she let thoughts of the future roll through her mind.

She was quiet, for a long time, before she spoke up again, another soft sigh passing her lips first. "I really just don't know what's going to happen when it's all over. Maybe I'll go back home and try to do something there." She lowered her gaze from the night sky, looking at the passing cars going down the road. "You know... for a while, last year, I was thinking of buying the old gym I trained at when I first getting started one day. It's pretty run down, but it's where everything really started for me, you know? I've got lots of memories there." She shrugged, and went quiet again, still thinking over things. "There's loads of good rookies back home, at least there were when I was new, but there's not really anywhere for them to really train at. Might be cool to get the place fixed up and outfitted the right way, and give some of them a hand.

"What do you think, chica?" She asked, looking back at Taylor with a smile.