Beer and Sympathy

Taylor nearly choked on her drink and snorted a laugh. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Hey, you started it," she said sheepishly. "Seriously though, I still don't remember doing that. I watched it happen a dozen times, but..."

She smiled sympathetically at Angel and nodded her head in thought. The thought did strike her as odd, that of all her rivals Angel was the one that came up the most.

"Man..." She said. "Watch that second match, and be proud of it. I had you figured out that time just like you had me the first time, but even when I was beating you up, you showed so much heart and guts and determination, and you should be just as proud of that as any kind of skill or success or whatever. That's what it's about, ya know?" Then she added "Not getting beaten up. But... passion and... will. It's good."

She finished off her first beer and motioned to the bartender for another. She so rarely had alcohol, but her stratospheric metabolism had her in the habit of eating and drinking twice as much as the average woman her size. She could put away a few beers without a problem, but the effects would catch up to her pretty quickly.

"It's weird that it wasn't Adrian, or Kelly, or Brittany... or Talia, or Natalia. Not yet, anyway. But no matter who's got the belt, I'm glad that we had our chance to do what we did. Ya know? No hard feelings or anything, it's just like... Respect and stuff. It's a really intimate feeling."

Angel shook her head, looking away from Taylor. She said it was heart, and guts, but there was more to it then that. There was sheer desperation in Angel's fighting that night, the desperation to keep the one person she knew could take the title from her from doing so.

"I don't think I can watch it," she stated plainly, looking back at Taylor. "That match fucked me up, you know? You beat me bad, worse then I've ever been beat before. Hell, not even Gatt wrecked me as hard as you did when I fought her." She reached for her beer again, but instead of lifting it to her lips, she stared down towards it, looking at the pale liquid inside, swirling it idly around the glass. "It's like...you beat me bad, chica. So bad that I ran off where no one could find me." She set the glass back down, then looked towards the punk again, giving her another smile.

"But...you're right. I'm glad we had the chance to do that. It's been way too long since anyone has pushed me anywhere near as hard as you did. I think I needed that, chica. So...thanks, I think."

Taylor frowned and shook her head while Angel spoke. "So that's the worst you've ever taken, and you're still here, still fighting, and still winning. What do you have to be afraid of?"

She began to lift her next beer to her lips, but stopped short and set it back down. "Look, man, I don't do anything half-way. When I've lost, I've lost hard. I've had more than a few soul-crushing losses in my career. In my life. And every time, I cry my eyes out, I freak out, I wish I had just been smart enough to go to college so that I wouldn't have ended up doing dumb shit like this, but every new day I wake up and I feel it a little less. Every day is proof that I'm not beat.

"I'm not gonna do this forever, but right now this is what's in my heart. This is my passion. Not beating people up, but showing what's really inside, like, of everybody. I just feel so fortunate that I can do this the way I do, and I hope that when people see me win the title, that they think I can do that, whatever that is. I hope when I'm defeated, and people see me pick myself up and push through, that they see some strength in themselves that they didn't see before. And... I hope when they see this," she pointed a finger at her crooked nose. "They'll understand that nothing comes for free."

She took a long drink, and set the bottle down. She turned to face Angel and put a hand around behind the girl's neck while she looked her in the eye. "I cried for weeks because of this. Kelly broke it again, but you kicked it halfway around my face. Like... My nose was always my favorite feature. Like, it was so straight and perfect, and it was like... me. My dad told me that my eyes would make people fall in love, but my nose... And now look at it." She turned her head back and forth to let Angel get a good look. "This is what it costs to do what we do. You lose things that are really important to you, and if you want to keep going you have to learn to let them go."

Angel stared at Taylor, her gaze affixed on her nose as Taylor turned her head back and forth, the Latina letting her words sink in. When she finished, she reached up, gently pushing Taylor's hand away from her neck, and looked away from her. She sighed, a deep, heavy sound, and shook her head again, letting her gaze fall downwards.

"Listen. This is my passion, too. I love what I do out there. I can't imagine myself doing anything else, I really can't. It's just..." She fell silent, then sighed again. She raised her head back up, and looked back towards Taylor again.

"Can I be honest, chica?" She asked softly. "Like, really honest, and tell you what's really eating at me?" She smiled slightly wistfully, and then stifled a small laugh, looking back away again. "Christ, I didn't think we'd be having a conversation like this tonight..."

Taylor raised a curious eyebrow, but her gaze was soft. "Sure, Angel. Go for it."

She didn't like the sound of it... But Angel had certainly piqued her interest.

"I guess I feel...lost, I guess?" Angel began, hardly believing that she was opening up to Taylor of all people like this. What the hell, though. It could hurt to get things off her chest, and maybe the punk could help her.

"It's just...I don't know. Ever since you kicked my ass, I haven't really known what to do with myself. Like, when I first got into the AFW? When my career really first began? It was mostly for my family, back home." She reached for her beer, and took a drink, wetting her throat so she could continue. "Did I ever tell you that for a long time, I was sending them half of my paychecks? Just to help them out?" She laughed, and took another drink. "I did that for a long time, until Mama called me and bitched me out, saying they were fine, and to keep my money, and they didn't need it.

"Then I really got caught up in the race for the title. I've spent most of my career in the company chasing after that damn belt, and then I got it, and...it felt good, chica. It felt damn good, you know?" She leaned over, and nudged Taylor again, another laugh passing her lips. "Of course you do. You got to enjoy it for a little bit after you knocked me out, before the drama started, I hope."

She grew sober again, and swiveled her seat away from the bar, leaning back in it, looking out over the other patrons in the building while she continued. "I guess...I don't know. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. I spent so long clawing my way to the top, trying to prove that I was the best, that I don't know what I'm supposed to do now, now that it's all passed. I still want to fight, that's for damn sure, but...I don't know."

She sighed, and whirled her seat back towards the bar, turning her head back towards Taylor with a grin. "I probably sound crazy, don't I?"

"No, man, I know what you mean." Taylor nodded, and took a drink. She was unfazed by Angel's outpouring. It was something she dealt with on a regular basis, from herself and her Dojo-mates.

"I get it. You need a goal." She shrugged, as if it was simple. "You were only chasing the belt, but now you think it's out of reach. It's not out of reach, first of all, and... I think if you want to be a good champion it can't just be about the belt. I can't give you your reasons, though, that's up to you. Ya know? We talk about this stuff in the Dojo all the time, mom and me."

She took another drink while she thought. She was already feeling the warm and woozy effects of the alcohol. She was such a lightweight.

"I do kinda feel like a piece of shit, though..." She mused. "I tried sending my mom something before, but... I mean, I only talked to her on the phone once since I got here. Dad's dead and mom hates me, so... I still should probably do something for my mom. She struggled a lot with me, and... She's still my mom." She nodded.

"And... As far as I'm concerned, I was never the champ. The only reason I ever got to hold the belt is because Avery did what she did. And look where that got her..." She shook her head sorrowfully. "I was never the champ, and I should never have put my hands on that belt. I just wanted to know what it was like..." She said bitterly, and then shook her head and drowned the thought with a long drink.

Angel quickly shook her head when Taylor finished, downing her own drink again and signalling the bartender for a third. "I don't think it's out of reach. I just don't want to get involved with it until you've taken care of things." She could feel her own head getting a bit woozy, but she pushed on, still grinning at her fellow wrestler. "I mean, I could totally go out there and kick Kelly's ass, and that bitch wouldn't even know what hit her. But...it wouldn't be right, you know? You won the title, and as far as I'm concerned, you're still the champion. It's not my place to get involved, and it damn sure wouldn't feel right for me to stick my nose into things."

She went quiet again, waiting for the bartender to bring her the third beer, and once it arrived, she took a long drink from it, the Latina looking thoughtful as set the booze back down. Without hesitating, she leaned over, and slid an arm around Taylor's shoulder, sliding towards her and pulling her in close.

"Hey. It's your turn to listen to me, alright? You were the champion, and you still are, chica. No one can go through you went through with me and not be considered the champ, alright?" She reached up with her free hand, brushing back her hair from her forehead, revealing the deep scar that was left from her bout with Taylor, from when the girl busted her open. "I busted your nose wide open, but you gave me this. We scarred each other out there, Taylor. We fought like dogs out there, and you came out on top."

She squeezed Taylor close, her voice growing softer as she spoke. "Even if Avery didn't get involved, and Kelly had taken the belt from you right there after we fought, you'd still be the champion. That bitch? She's just a pretender that's too scared to fight someone the right way. She's nobody, but you? You're the fucking best, chica, and don't you forget it, alright?"

She gave Taylor another squeeze, then let her go, sliding back to the center of her seat. She lifted up her drink again, and took a long sip from the beer, letting the cold liquid slide down her throat, as she once again fell silent.

"Oh, nice..." Taylor said as she inspected Angel's scar. It was a pretty good one. She leaned her head against Angel's shoulder until the girl pulled away.

She was silent at first. The only things that came immediately to mind were arguments about how she was never really the champion, and if she was then she was the worst champion in AFW history. The shortest reign. Only defended once against some slutty interloper from Tension.

But she held her tongue, and drowned those thoughts with the last of beer number two. "Man," she said, as she put the bottle down, "Who would've thought we'd end up like this?"

AFW was a weird, weird place.

"Well, I hope I do get a chance to take the title back. And when I do, I hope you earn your fiftieth title shot. I'd love to give you another beating and keep the title out of your hands some more." She grinned, and stuck her tongue out through her teeth as she motioned for another drink.

"End up like what?" Angel grinned, finally speaking back up after a moment's silence longer. "A couple sad sacks sitting in a bar, getting weepy with each other?" She gave Taylor a lop-sided shrug. "Beats me. But, you know, I don't think either of us can really complain too much, yeah?"

She took another drink from her beer, trying to stifle a laugh as Taylor taunted her with her little challenge. Without missing a beat, she lowered spun her chair towards the punk, and reached out, giving her a playful punch in the shoulder.

"When you do finally get off your ass and take it back, chica, I'll be right there in the front row cheering for you. Hell, I'll be the one in the ring afterwards raising your arm and getting the crowd to chant your name!" She leaned back, and folded her arms behind her head, putting on her usual cocky, full-of-herself grin. "But after that, you had better get your rest, because I'm coming straight for you the first chance I get. I'm going to love kicking your nose back into place, and then bringing my title back home where it belongs."

She lowered her hands to her waist, motioning where the belt would be, and stuck her own tongue out at Taylor, then reached for her drink again, lifting it back up to her lips to down another sip.