We Like To Party

"Eh, Taylor's right though. I mean, I know I don't have anything to do with why you hate her, but it is best to keep things professional. I mean, I liked kicking Jocelyn's ass, but if I saw her at the store I wouldn't fight her....in fact, I DID see her at the store once, and didn't fight her. Cassie was there too. That...was an odd day."

She shook her head, taking a look back at the bar before looking back at Bonnie.

"I mean, kick her ass, sure, win the match, but don't take it to a level it doesn't need to go to. Cause then you'd be the bitch, you know?"

She quickly looked over at her hostess, raising her glass to indicate a drink.

"Mind if I grab another?"

Taylor nodded to Ace. "Yeah, man. No more beer, though. Shots!"

She directed her deep blue gaze back at Bonnie and kept her voice low. "You don't have any idea what I've done. But you don't think that someone like Cecelia would've stomped on my neck and watched me die, then you're wrong. People go crazy here over serious shit, and people go crazy over stupid shit. No one's saying that whatever shit this chick did was right or whatever, but like... Kick her ass in the match. Take the win fast and make it decisive. But if you turn into Valley Doll just wanting to hurt people and forgetting about the match, then shit, I'd step in and teach you a lesson. Fuck, I should do that anyway after the shit with that high school girl."

Shinobu went off with Cassie to sit. He preferred it anyway. Meanwhile, Mai slipped over to Jess, grabbed her hips and began to sway, looking over Jess' shoulder while she tried to find more music. "Oh, Jess-san, we need to find some Heresy." She said with a giggle. "Maybe not for the party, but if we ever feel like we need to be more... dark and brooding and... super tough!" She giggled more and leaned forward so she was nearly slumped against Jess' back, peering at the small device. She hadn't had a single sip but she felt so giddy still!

"I'm gonna go juice up, man. Anyone want anything?" Johnny said and waited around for someone to want to come with him to see how the magic happened. When he got no bites, He sighed.

"I'm gonna just see what's shakin downstairs." Nikolette said and followed Johnny.

Morrigan, who was peering at the group, bid a hasty retreat when she say them begin to disperse. She slipped quickly and quietly down the stairs and stopped when she passed by Taylor, she stopped. "Don't drink too much, boss." She said with sincerity in her eyes. "Even if you're home, it doesn't look good as a hostess to be more drunk than the guests." She flashed a quick smile and then looked at Ace and Bonnie. "Of course, you could always make sure you're not." She added with a wide grin and hinted at her devious plan and poured shots for Ace and Bonnie and shoved one at both of them.

Mamouru, meanwhile, had slipped up stairs, passing Nikolette on the way. He had been fidgeting most of the night and decided that he couldn't sit around anymore. He got up and saw Johnny fidgeting with his juicer and asked where Alaina was. When Johnny said that she was in the gym, he quickly went and poked his head in. "Alaina-chan. Can we speak?" He asked and motioned for Alaina to follow him quickly as he disappeared from sight.

Akashi watched with a curious eye and then turned to Avery. It seemed like if Alaina was leaving, they'd suddenly be alone and Akashi didn't really even know who Avery was. She KNEW... but not really. She flashed a grin at Avery, although it was a little more cheesy than it probably should have considering she was trying to stifle any awkwardness between them.

"Uh... Right." Bonnie stated in repose to Ace after hearing her out. Of course Taylor was right! Right? And of course she knew not to go overboard, she wasn't the bad guy. But still, Bonnie doubted that sort of super hero crap, she didn't feel like winning the match and going home with your head held high or something would change anything. Allison would still be a huge bitch to everyone.

And then Taylor said something else that got Bonnie's attention, causing her to frown a bit. What was getting into sparkles? The whole Cecilia thing caught the Texan off guard, even more so when Taylor started lecturing her, warning her to not turn into Valley Doll or she'd step in. Bonnie raised a dry eyebrow at Taylor before... Emily was brought up.

Bonnie felt her stomach knot up. She felt pressured and nervous now. Up until now, Taylor had been very friendly with her, but now she wasn't sure if she was being warned or threatened.

"Beg Pardon?" She asked in response to being taught a lesson over the Emily situation before someone joined the scene. A red head. Bonnie's eyes would widen and eventually narrow as she saw Morrigan, coming up to her with a wide grin while Bonnie hid her anger. "Oh... Thanks. Don't think we've met. " She said politely, taking the shot in her hand, holding off on downing it.

"I dunno, man..." Taylor shook her head and stared off. "I just feel like I'm at my wit's end with stuff like this. I don't know what to do, so just... do the right thing, do the right thing."

She looked at Morrigan, with an accusatory glint in her eyes, but didn't respond to the girl. She poured herself a shot and threw it back, and let her eyes meet Morrigan's again just for a moment before Cassie's cheerfulness cut in.

"Hey, guys! Everybody gather 'round!" Cassie excitedly waved her arms to get everyone's attention and brightly chirped out more instructions. "Everyone get a chair up by the screen! At this time, we will have a special viewing of Taylor's triumphant title match at Avalanche, in which she defeated Angel to claim the Friction World Title as her own! With a special introduction by Bucky Jakey Elliot. Alaina? Can you get Avery?"

"Yeah, just one second..." Jake fiddled with some cables to connect his laptop to the home theater that occupied one wall, and began clicking around to get things ready. "Taylor, our gracious host, this is for you..." He said. "Bonnie? Since Shinobu is hogging my sister, I've got an extra seat right here..."

"...I will." Bonnie muttered softly, easing up a little, noticing how troubled Taylor looked. Bonnie was troubled herself and the Emily situation was a sensitive subject that she mostly wanted to avoid since this whole ordeal was finally coming to an end. Hopefully another series of bad events didn't start here at the party with 'Morgan' here.

Finally, Cassie fixed the mood by making her little announcement. People were following and Bonnie sort of hung back, though she was excited to see the clips of that awesome match again, she still wondered what Taylor's deal was with her.

But good ol' bucky soon snapped her out of her cautious demeanor. He didn't forget about her! She smiled brightly before hurriedly making her way into the seat beside him. "Uh..." She soon realized the name he had just dropped.

"The actor?" She asked while blinking.

Morrigan opened her mouth to speak but Taylor and then Cassie began with their thing. She shut her mouth and sighed. Why the hell was Taylor giving her a look. She furrowed her brow. At least her and Brittany had FUN before the girl went and got drunk and was an idiot. Taylor was just skipping to part two and it sort of pissed her off.

"What?" She said to Taylor and looked at her. "You should stop drinking." She said with a firmness in her tone. "People do stupid things when they drink." She was really starting to hate alcohol. She turned her back and decided to head upstairs. Maybe SHE just needed a drink herself.

Shinobu was surprised when Cassie suddenly got up but he watched her be a cute little mini hostess and blushed when Bucky called him out. He turned his head and took a few small steps towards Cassie. It wasn't so weird to hear his first name but still, for Bucky to be so open about things, even if it was no secret at all, still made him a little shy. He was still Japanese, after all.

He slipped next to Bonnie. "I think you're in good hands." Shinobu said coyly and nodded, bowing his body a bit. "It' nice to meet you. My name is Fujiwara Shinobu. I'm friends of the host and came with Cassie-chan." He said, trying to be polite and not speak about his acting.

"Yeah, I probably should..." Taylor grumbled bitterly, and headed over to the theater. "Babe? Are you coming?" She called out to Johnny, upstairs.

Jess forgot about the music for the time being and turned to face Mai. "Hey, by me a drink?" She smiled, and batted her eyes at the idol. "I'll be your date for the movie!"

"I'll go find the girls!" Cassie said, referring to Alaina and Avery, and ran off to the gym to get them.

"Okay, so I'll preface by saying that I'm a huge Taylor Parker fan. I have been ever since she and Baby Bear were getting started in New York, and though I wasn't a big pro wrestling fan at the time, I followed their careers once they came over here."

"Awwwww, babe! Bucky's fanboying on me!" Taylor called to Johnny again with a laugh.

"I won't even apologize for my Taylor Parker Avalanche 2011 poster. I know Johnny's big and scary, but it's okay, I don't think he knows jiu jitsu." Jake joked, and pushed play on his laptop. "I made this the other day."

The screen darkened, and gradually the scattered sounds of a sparse crowd faded in. A ramshackle wrestling ring in a small venue, a dark wrestling gym, came into view, with only a few dozen people in the stands. From one side, a skinny, teenaged girl bounded kinetically into view, skipping and shaking her hips and throwing her arms in the air as she made her way down to the ring. The music faded in, it's quiet beginnings visualized by the humble beginnings of the blue haired rookie wrestler in the ring.

Taylor gasped. Her smile vanished and she put a hand over her mouth. She stared wide-eyed and unblinking at the screen, as if she'd seen a ghost. "I've never..." She whispered to the nearest person, who happened to be Nikolette. "I don't even have pictures."

The faint, low-fi voice of an amateur ring announcer was only just audible. "Introducing first, from Staten Island, New York... Taylor Sparks!"

The drums hit and the song kicked into gear, and what followed was a fascinating series of clips from Taylor's matches over the years, making her way to the ring as a skinny, grinning, blue-haired punk, as a blonde pigtailed cowgirl, as a black-haired, bikini clad warrior in a cage, as a physically incredible, ferociously intense professional fighter.

"My only thought, with my last breath...

One by one, the Taylors jumped up onto turnbuckles and extended their arms to the crowd for an air-hug, and jumped down, and then one after another her opponents went down. A series of bone-crushing flying knees, aerobatically precise dropkicks, flying DDT's, suplexes. Her ring-shaking Kaze Driver on the hulking Iron Maiden looked even better than it did on TV.

The video rapidly came to the title matches with Angel, and the music quieted down while Taylor, after several highlights from the match, clutched the leather-and-gold belt in her hands, but couldn't lift it. The music returned for one last go when Junko grabbed her daughter-in-law's arm and hoisted it, and the belt, high in the air, while the crowd cheered and cheered and the whole thing faded out to black.

For a brief moment, Taylor forgot all of her title troubles. She leaned forward and smiled at Jake, before getting up to give him a hug. "Thanks."

Avery mindfully reminded herself not to gush. This was Akashi Tanikaze, after all.

But she totally had the leopardess all to herself!

Thankfully, their conversation had stumbled upon a topic the young redhead was quite comfortable speaking about; tattoos! The spaghetti-strap tank top Ave adorned did little to obscure the art that colorfully accented her fair, freckled, skin.

"My girlfriend--well, ex-girlfriend--gave me a lot of these. All of the cool chicks had tattoos. It was sexy, and so badass. Well, they were older too." Her girlfriend had been older as well. By around five years. She decided to keep that part to herself. No one wanted to hear about ex-girlfriends, anyway. "But, yeah. That was the scene I was trying to get with when I was young," she flustered briefly at her own words. It wasn't like she was exactly old now.  

Pretentious, much?

She brushed aside her own chiding thought with a sigh and a coy smile, "Anyway, I'm thinking about getting something new."

Ave lifted her arm and canted her hips provocatively. She'd flex her bicep and point to an area that wasn't quite as colorfully inclined as the rest of the tattooed muscle, "I'm thinking about getting a Supergirl symbol right here."

Flashing Akashi her cutest grin, the tomboy laughed, "So, what about you, got any tattooooos?~"

She feigned her ignorance like a champ; the alcohol probably helped with that. Of course, she knew Akashi had tattoos. Ave possessed the magazines to prove it! Regardless, that wouldn't prevent the gleam of curiosity that sparkled in her eyes. Not even slightly.

Akashi was thankful that Avery had found a topic of discussion that didn't just involve standing awkwardly near one another. While she looked at the brightly colored canvas that was Avery's body, she listened to the red head talk a bit. She couldn't really relate, but the tattoos were neat enough and Akashi was never going to turn down a chance to openly stare at another girl, especially one like Avery who was uniquely pretty, if not enthusiastic.

Akashi shook her head when Avery asked her a question like she was woken from a daze. "Oh... hai!" She chirped and turned her back towards Avery, pulling down her Kimono so it fell around her shoulders. Her hands pushed against her big chest, but in the position even more of her cleavage spilled into view. On her back was a small bit of Kanji and a tomoe.

"I only have two, but I am thinking about getting another one. I'd like that for sure. The one on my right is the Japanese symbol for 'Ronin.' I don't know if you've heard of the term but it essentially means a masterless samurai. I felt like that was me at the beginning of my career. I was stuck inside a roped in square when I had spent most of my life in a circle with no walls." She said poetically.

"I don't really feel that way, NOW, but I suppose the spirit still lives with me and there's no way, I can really regret it, which is kind of odd." She smiled. "Considering I was suuuuuuper wasted when I got it. It kind of... reminds me of things and it's way easier to show off than the piercing I got that night."

Akashi blushed and lowered her head. Those times were good but hard. It reminded her of her friend and rival Sarah Gatt. A terrible woman and a pretty awful friend. Akashi still didn't completely understand why she was friends with her, but she felt strongly about it even if Sarah was long gone, probably in a jail somewhere at best.

"The other one is a tomoe. Its... um... hard to explain but it's a very important symbol in my culture, I guess. To me it represents a lot of things that are probably pretty silly to you, but... something else is it sort of... um..." Akashi was getting a little nervous talking about something that personal to Avery who was someone she had more or less just met.

Akashi shook her head lightly and looked at Avery. "It's my father, my family and my sister, Taylor. I guess you might think they are all family but distinguishing them is important to me."