Yabu no Naka

Morrigan had been off in the city while Taylor had been training in AFW. She'd been running around Tokyo taking care of some business and still had a lot to do. Taylor had texted her saying she wanted to meet up, so Morrigan reflexively said she'd meet Taylor at her home. She had finished most of the sit down work she had to do on the train ride so when she arrived at Taylor's house, she was basically left with nothing to do.

Johnny was still out and Taylor hadn't arrived yet so Morrigan decided to grab a soda and put on a movie. She had made sure to start filling Taylor's collection with movies that the blonde would like, but she had kept her own stash on hand in case she needed to just watch something good or make Taylor watch something good. The blonde had awful taste in most things, that was for sure.

She had gotten hold of a copy of Kuroneko, an old black and white Japanese horror film and was sitting in one of the theatre seats with her lap top open. She was doing work while the Japanese rabbled about in surround sound but eventually, she began to doze. She'd fallen completely asleep until her phone buzzed. Brittany was texting her, wanting to see her.

"She knows I got a job..." Morrigan growled and thumbed back a terse "I'll be home later tonight." before drifting off to sleep again.

Trains were just a part of Taylor's life. She had learned to value the constant two-hour rides, as they were among the only times that she was able to sit still. She used the time to read, to write in her journal, to nap, or anything that just wasn't training. As far as her body was concerned, the breaks the train rides provided were a godsend.

For this one, though, she had been unable to sit still. Her notebook lay open on her lap, pen bouncing rapidly off the paper with a soft patpatpatpat, her knee jittering restlessly up and down. She fidgeted, she tried napping but only tossed and turned. She finally wrote one line in her journal.

I really hope Morg isn't pissed

She saw Morgan had already made it back to the house, and upon entering she dumped her gym bag onto the floor in the kitchen and went to the cabinet for a glass. As she waited for it to fill from the filter installed at the sink, she doffed her black windbreaker, leaving her in a loose gray tank top, showing hints of the red sports bra beneath through the arm holes, and a pair of black running shorts. She would probably shower again later.

"Hey, Morg," she called. She could hear the TV downstairs, and followed the sound to find Morgan half asleep in front of a movie. She picked up her baggy black hoodie from a seat in the front and plunked down into a seat next to the Irish girl, with one empty seat between them.

"Did you eat?" She asked. "I've got stuff in the fridge, but we can order out or something if you want something more exciting." She let a silent moment pass. They were both tired. "Everything good?"

"Uwah?"

Morrigan mumbled when she heard Taylor's voice and glanced around as she blinked away the bleary daze. "Uhh..." She let the hum escape her open mouth as she wiped away the drool from the corner of her mouth. She blinked once more and looked at Taylor.

"Yeah, everything's good..." She said, looking over the blonde. "Finished all the stuff I wanted to go over with you on the train so I was just enjoying a movie I got. It's way better on this set up, even if it's old." She said with a wary smile. "I... haven't eaten in a while, I guess I could call for something."

"How'd training go?" She asked, looking up at the tv for a moment before she began clicking away at her laptop, looking over online menus.

"Eh, I can call. I'll pick it up if we need, I don't mind. I've still got energy. Just tell me what you..." She was cut short by a big, overpowering yawn. She blinked several times and shook her head. "Trains, man. I just need to wake up."

She put her arms up over her head and pulled on each elbow, and then stretched her arms out in front of her. "Training was good. Me and Nik punched each other. I'm so glad I'm not a boxer, because like... I'm not good at it. But that's the idea, I guess, it's something to get better at. Frustrating as shit, though." She sighed heavily, and resigned herself to the coming conversation. "Brittany was there. Did she talk to you?"

"Fuck!" Morrigan growled after her own giant yawn followed Taylor's "Don't fuckin yawn!" She said with a teasing smile at her lips. "I'll eat whatever. I'm not picky so just get me whatever you order unless you order some rabbit food. Then get me something normal." She said, fully grinning.

"Yeah? I guess punching each other int he face over and over could be fun. I don't like it though. I don't like having my fists restrained." She said with a bit of a cruel streak in her tone.

However, Morrigan's tone became serious when Taylor mentioned Brittany. "Oh was she now?" She asked. "She wants me to come home. I told her I was busy. We'll talk later, I guess." She said with a shrug. "I'm not really avoiding her, but she can wait, I guess. Why?" Morrigan paused. "She wasn't getting lippy with you? I told her she better start being a good girl." Morrigan said, scowling. "At least with you. There's a whole fucking league of dumb cunts she can boot in the crotch if she's feeling pissy."

"Um..." Taylor wearily tried to figure out how to put it. "You could say that. She, uh..."

Another heavy sigh, and she went for it. "I think I have some stuff to apologize for. Like, I was talking to Nik, and I didn't really realize Brittany was there, and so she overheard me say that you were with me during her match in Jersey. She didn't like that, and like, this happened..." She tapped the small cut on her lip that Brittany's opening punch had left. "But that was it, I didn't let her touch me or anything. I didn't touch her. I think I said something about you being too good for her, and she... She said some shit that..." She turned her sincere deep blue eyes on Morrigan. "And I just can't let it slide. I can't. Everybody's been taking free rides off of me lately, and they've gotta know that they can't just talk shit about me, and my career, and my dad. So... we're gonna have a match. I'm gonna talk to Junko, maybe Brittany will talk to you. But I'm gonna keep it totally clean, ya know, I'm not gonna, like... I'm just gonna beat her and show people that..."

She finally stopped talking, and just looked at her friend and assistant. She didn't envy the position she was putting her in, and it again made her think of her relationship with Akashi.

"I'm sorry."

Morrigan's head began to tilt even further at Taylor's words. Even though her face remained as expressionless as possible, she began to grind her teeth and her fist began to clutch the laptop mouse tightly. Her cheeks also began to redden as well. After Taylor was finished, Morrigan stood up, heaving the laptop off her so it crashed to the ground. 

She turned and looked at Taylor and scowled. She wasn't mad at Taylor but her finger pointed at Taylor as though she was. "Do you know why I didn't tell her!? Because she's a fucking baby!" She growled. Her cheeks were flushed and she turned away, pulling out her cell phone. She pulled it up and started dialing Brittany's number. "Go head and beat her fucking ass." Morrigan growled. "I'd say it would teach her a lesson but obviously that's not going to happen!"

When the phone clicked on, Morrigan's features instantly.  changed. "Mmmmm, Lilith." She purred in a sultry voice. "I'm still a little busy, was there something you needed?" She asked. "I have a little bit of time to talk before Taylor yanks me back into work though."

Brittany knew that Morrigan was going to be pissed when she told her what had happened but Brittany couldn't hide it from her lover. So, when Morrigan finally picked up Brittany just out right told her what had happened. "So i may have picked a fight with Taylor." Brittany said as she sighed into the phone. "Now before you flip out on me let me explain. I may have said some things that i shouldn't have but i couldn't help myself." Brittany said as she hoped that Morrigan wasn't with Taylor right now.

"Look, before you say anything. I am going to fight Taylor in the ring and i promise i will try to fight fair and not hurt her. But this fight has been coming for a long time. I can't just sit back and let her disrespect me." Brittany said as she continued on. "I lost it when she said that i didn't deserve you." Brittany then let out another sigh as she waited for Morrigan response.

Morrigan raised her head and sucked in a breath. She was about to rip into Brittany when the blonde continued. Morrigan shut her mouth and shrank. She narrowed her eyes as Brittany seemed to be as contrite as she possibly could. Morrigan looked at Taylor. Both were eager to fight each other. They had good reason. There was a time when Morrigan would have been right there beside Brittany. No, actually Morrigan never really wanted to fight Taylor. She had just wanted to hurt Taylor.

As she looked over Taylor, she realized that she may have caused the blonde more pain by being a friend than she ever could have by being an a enemy. Now she had the means to stab a very deep hole into the girl any time she liked. She also no longer had the desire to pick that knife up.

After Brittany was finished, Morrigan furrowed her brow. "Tch. you're both extra retarded and I'm too good for both of you." She growled into the phone while she stared at Taylor. "it's not like either of you have any brain cells to lose if you beat the hell out of each other." She said as her cheeks got redder and redder. 

"Do whatever. I don't care. But if you two don't kiss and make up after this is over then I'll finish whatever you started, understand?" She said into the microphone while eying Taylor.

Taylor nodded her head in agreement, her eyes on the floor. Though she couldn't quite agree to that last part...

"I'm not kissing that. I know where it's been." She sighed, and helplessly waved a hand in the air. "But I guess we'll see, man. If that's gonna happen, I'll do my part, but... I dunno. For you, though, not her."