Yankee Roses

In the mirror, after splashing her face with cold water, while applying some placeholder makeup, Taylor noticed the beginnings of a black eye. Which was pretty awesome.

She showered and changed, and left her sweaty ring gear in her gym bag stuffed in her locker. She could get it later. She dressed herself in a short, black, pleated skirt with a thick leather belt, and a pale pink tank top with one of her own crayon drawings printed on the front. It showed a derpy cartoon Taylor with her fists triumphantly in the air, standing over a derpy cartoon Killer King, with X's for eyes and his tongue sticking out, with the words "Kitty Killer Queen" underneath. She wore a thin choker with a flat silver charm in front, black and red terrycloth wristbands, and a pair of beat up, used-to-be-black Chuck Taylor's, laced only halfway so that the high-tops flopped loosely. She tossed her damp hair with her fingers and left it loose.

"Babe, ohmigod," she said into the air. Her phone, laying on the sink, had Johnny on speakerphone. "It was so, so awesome. I feel so awesome. I'm gonna chill with Dixie for dinner or whatever, then I'll come get you, okay? But like... Maybe 'cause, like, we actually had a clean fight and we don't hate each other, and she's Dixie Clemets and everything, but like... The fight, mixing it up and making her tap was like... A prrretty big turn on. Can't wait to see you, Tiger."

Johnny was sitting in one of the lounges back stage. He'd watched the match from the employee box and was just waiting for her to say she was ready to head out. When he got the phone call, he was surprised she'd found a partner in crime with Dixie but if she wanted to spend a night out on the town, he could find something else to do.

"Sounds great, babe. You were pretty awesome." He aid, grinning as he paced back and forth. "Watching it was pretty hot too." He chuckled into the phone. "Well, I'll figure out something to do while you're out but, uhh... like, don't stay out tooo late and junk." He said, grinning widely and blushing a bit. "Unless you just wanna stay here when your all done chillin. Like, instead of going aaallll the way home and junk."

"I won't. I'm pretty beat. I'm rocking a pretty kick ass black eye... I might have a drink or two with her, if she wants to drink. She's from Texas. Everyone in Texas is an alcoholic. I promise I won't make out with her, though."

She laughed easily. Kissing Talia wasn't as funny at the time, but now they could just laugh about it. What else could they do?

"Okay babe, I'm gonna get going. I love you so much. I'll be thinking of you the whole time I'm with Dixie. Dixie Clemets. Fuck me, man, this is so awesome. How did I not meet these girls before? I need to, like, invite Reiko over. She's in Japan, right? In AFW? Anyway, love you, love you, love you, see you real soon. Mwah."

She ended the call and stuck her phone in her back pocket. She wasn't going to carry a purse or anything, because she'd probably lose it. Her credit card occupied her other back pocket, and that was about all she needed. She gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror, and then skipped out to the hallway to find the cowgirl.

"Heyyyyyy Dix! Ready? Do you want to walk or take a cab? I'm fine either way."

As exhausted as she was, she wasn't going to let walking a few blocks beat her. She always had to say yes to some light exercise.

"Heh. Ok, babe." Johnny said as Taylor spoke. She was definitely excited with how rapidly she was talking. Johnny only managed to sneak in a quick "Love ya too!" before she ended the call.

Now he was left with nothing to do for probably a good two hours at least. He'd call his mom. They could crash there for sure. He didn't really want to hang out there though. Maybe he could find something else to do...

Taylor wouldn't have to wait long. Dixie was already there waiting for her.

Once their match had ended, Dixie had hurried backstage, going to the locker room to get a quick shower of her own, to wash the sweat (and the small bit of dried blood from her nose) off of herself. Then, she headed out to wait for Taylor. She couldn't help but to be amused by the night's strange turn of events. She had never been asked to hang out or anything right after a match, and she certainly wasn't expecting to be hanging out with Taylor Parker of all people.

She was leaning against the wall as Taylor came out of the locker room, dressed in a much plainer fashion then the girl, a simple pair of blue jeans and a boring white t-shirt. Nothing fancy at all. She hadn't expected to be going out anywhere after her match, of course.

As soon as Taylor stepped out looking for her, Dixie pushed off the wall and stepped towards her, wearing a bright grin on her face. "We can walk. It's cheaper that way," she answered moving in close to Taylor. "But before we go...here. It's yer's now." She raised up a hand, holding an old, beat-up cowboy hat, and set it onto Taylor's head, giving her a wink, then stepping back to give her an inspection.

"Looks pretty good on ya, girl."

Taylor's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, and though she tried her best to play it cool, no force in the universe could have removed the sweeping, proud grin from her face.

She wanted to say something witty, but instead all that came out was a giggle. She went to the window on an office door to find her reflection, and turned her head to the side to pose with her new hat.

"How 'bout this," she said, holding up her hands toward Dixie, palms out. "If someday you beat me, you can have it back."

She winked, and turned for the door. She walked with so much of a strut that she might as well have been dancing.

Dixie leaned in towards Taylor as she lifted her hands up, raiding her own arms and pressing her palms against the girl's. She pushed in towards her, just a little bit, letting a tiny lil' smirk cross her face.

"No if about it. Ah gotta pay ya back fer tonight sometime, y'know. Can't just let ya make me look bad and get away with it!"

She followed Taylor as she turned for the door, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans, striding along behind her. She watched her younger companion for a moment, shaking her head at her, then called to her, a teasing sound in her voice.

"How the hell do you still have so much energy?" she asked. "Two matches back-to-back and yer bouncin' around like ya ain't done a damn thing tonight!" She went quiet for a moment, then spoke up again, reaching up to give Taylor a playful little shove from behind. "Maybe we should go find ya a third match before we get out of here, burn off some of that energy. Ya look like ya could handle it okay to me!"

Taylor giggle again, and turned around to face Dixie while she skipped backwards down the sidewalk.

"I am tired. But like... diet and exercise, man, and I guess genetics or whatever. I don't mess around with that stuff. I only eat stuff that I know will help, because I know bitches like you are going to show up and try to wear me out!"

She pulled down the brim of her new cowgirl hat and struck a pose, pointing a finger gun at Dixie and cocking her hips. "And I've already got a third match lined up, but that's after I get home. My boy's probably pretty lonely by now, but it's okay. I'll make him wait." She put on a devilish grin and then turned to watch where she was going.

Only a few blocks away, the two found a suitable restaurant, one Taylor liked that also served vaguely American-ish food, and alcohol. The inside was bustling with the late night crowd, and Taylor and Dixie predictably attracted some attention when they walked through the doors, due in no small part to Taylor's dynamic entrance.

She leaped in front of the host station, legs spread wide and arms up in the air like a star. She struck a dramatic pose, and declared, in Japanese, "{A table for the former champ, and the future champ, please!}" Even while they were led to the table, she was dancing.

"So everything's on me, man, go nuts. Drinks? I really never drink, but I'll have one with you. It's only for really special occasions. If Reiko was here too, I'd get straight up shitfaced." She laughed. "And man, like, on TV I guess I didn't really notice, but you're huge! You're like over six feet tall! You make me feel like a shrimp!"

As they entered the restaurant, Dixie hung back a little bit, letting the hyped up Taylor jump forward and gather everyone's attention. She almost wanted to say something about keeping unwanted attention away, but she decided against it. Taylor was in a good mood. Tonight was her night, and the cowgirl wasn't going to try and take that away from her.

She slipped into her seat at the table, sliding a menu over in front of her and flipping it open, scanning it carefully while she decided what she wanted. While she looked over the menu, she answered Taylor back, glancing up at her with a laugh of her own.

"Ah'm a naturally big girl, ah guess. Helps that ah work out, too." She closed the menu and leaned back in her chair, settling into it with a relaxed look on her face. "But, ya know that size don't matter any. Ya might be a lil' shrimp, but that didn't mean much tonight, did it?" She grinned and shook her head again, reaching back with one hand to gently rub at the small of her back. "Ya did a damn good number on me in there. Ah ain't been taken down that easily in a right long time. Don't matter how big ah am if ya can bring me get me down and wrapped up so quick, right?"

Taylor beamed with pride, but again, tried to play it cool.

"Size isn't everything is my middle name," she said. "I'm not even that small, there's just so many girls bigger than me. I'm not big. But I am ripped!" She flexed her shoulders, uncovered by her pink tank top. "But you, man, like, you look good. I've always wished I had a body like yours. Ya know, like... big, in the right places, and curvy and stuff. I mean, I'm perfectly happy with my body, but sometimes I wish I had something that jiggled a little. It's like all your girl parts are turned up to ten, and you're so sexy. But... now I feel weird, so I'll shut up."

She rubbed the back of her neck as her face flushed hotly.

"But anyway, I'm built more like a boy, who is a sexy-ass chick. I'm okay with it. But, also, like... I feel kinda dumb. About the neck thing? Like, I wasn't trying to be a little bitch about it, but it hurt so bad! I... Angel fucked up my neck in our match, probably with the powerbomb at the end, and then Kelly Conway came out and wrecked it. It's still not a hundred percent. I mean, I'm not gonna cry about it or anything, but yeah. I wanted to be tougher, but I couldn't help it."