We Like To Party

Admittedly, Avery wasn't quite sure where her inquiry of tattoos would get her. It had been a friendly and harmless gesture. However, the last thing Ave had expected was for Akashi to actually show her those very tattoos right then and there. Thankfully, Akashi's kimono seemed to make the revealing act considerably easier than Avery would have otherwise imagined, but that didn't stop a faint tinge from touching young woman's freckled visage.  

"Dude, that's so awesome. I love them!" It wasn't exactly eloquent, but Avery's words were sincere.

She had seen Japanese characters as tattoos before; they were a popular choice even within the US. However, the inspirations behind each tattoo gave the ink along Akashi's shoulders a certain elegance in Avery's eyes. The fact that Akashi had chosen to share those intimate stories with her wouldn't go without appreciation as well.

"You look beautiful, by the way. Your kimono is so pretty! Sorry, I sorta meant to say something earlier," she brushed a hand through her own hair casually and smiled. "I've always wanted one, but ehh..." The tomboy flustered reluctantly.

Could she really do such an inherently graceful piece of clothing any justice? Needless to say, she wasn't entirely convinced.

"Domo... domo..." Akashi said bowing as she shrugged her shoulders and heaved the fabric back over her body covering up everything but the large spot of cleavage that had been there before.

She smiled at Avery with a faint blush on her cheeks at the girls words. Most people didn't really use that language with her. Hot, sure, fat, sometimes, but usually not beautiful even if she most certainly was. She looked down at her Kimono. UIt was green with embroidered dragons on it and she brushed her hand along the sides, her fingers faintly touching her chest.

However, she looked back up at Avery quizzically when she was dismissive of her own ability to wear a Kimono. "ehhh?" She said. "Why ehhh? Everyone should have at least one kimono on hand! Even Taylor has one!" Akashi blinked. "I need to take it back though... She needs a new one!" Akashi furrowed her brow for a moment before she looked at Avery. "I have a guy! I'll get you one. You'll look great!" Akashi smiled. "We can all get fitted for new ones. I'm due myself!" She said, puffing out her chest.

The door to the gym clacked open and Cassie scampered through. "There you are! Guys, c'mon, we're gonna watch stuff now. All hands on deck!" She eagerly motioned for Akashi and Avery to follow, and then zipped back out of the gym.

Taylor got up to pace a little after watching her career in musical review. She felt... nostalgic, in both a good and a bad way. She had few fond memories of her time training in New York, and while part of her would rather forget them entirely, the rest of her wore her struggles like a badge of honor to show how far she had come.

Either way, it called for another drink, no matter what Morrigan said.

"Fuck me, right?" She breathed to Bonnie, standing next to her, as she weathered the effects of another shot. "New York seems like forever ago. Ya know? Do you guys ever visit Texas? I dunno, man. The only thing there is my mom, and I'd have to keep explaining to everyone that I'm hot shit now, and I'm not a dumb whore anymore, and fuck that. I'm fine here. Live in the present, ya know? Fuck."

She was, at this point, slightly intoxicated.

When the video faded in, Bonnie eyes were glued to the screen with interest. Initially she was amused by the sight of the young Taylor, though she bore no real attachment to Taylor, so it didn'treally get to her, until she saw Taylor's reaction to it, making Bonnie's heart melt a little. The video eventually won Bonnie over, she didn't know everything about Taylor but  from what she saw, she gathered that She had fought up hill for so long just to finally get that title. It was quite inspiring and heart warming. Personally she blamed the music for giving her the feels.

Sure enough, the Champ came to sit by her. Bonnie just hoped it wasn't about her Favorite Brit.
The question she got made Bonnie think of her mother.  "Man... Neither of us  have been since we got here." Bonnie admitted while learning a bit more from the drunken Taylor.

"But ya... I love home but Japan has been good to me. I had to go into training before I debuted but I dunno if I could trade my modest career here for a low labor job. Japan clearly loves you though... And you got so many friends." Bonnie said, a bit envious.

"I love it here." She said, thinking Taylor's talk of her being a whore to just be an exaggeration.

"Yeah?" Taylor said, and gave Bonnie a sidelong glance. "Well, I do love it here. People like me more here than they ever did back home, but that's not saying much." She gave a single ironic laugh.

"But even though I've got Johnny and Akashi and Junko as my family now, I'll always be the New York girl who lives in Japan. Like, Japan is home, but New York is me."

She shrugged, and leaned back in her chair while she looked around the place. To her left, Jess gave Mai a quick, liquor-soaked lap dance on her way down, and sat on the girl's lap. In a fit of giggling, she slid off to the next chair and leaned against her friend's shoulder.

"And I dunno, we just invite everyone we know and see who shows up. Having friends is... kinda new for me."

"Yeah.. Same here." Bonnie stated, though unsure If Japan would be her permanent home.

She thought it was nice of Taylor to invite everyone, however...

"Is... Morri-" she paused. "Is Morgan part of that family?" She asked curiously while trying to sound as polite as possible. She was clearly bothered inside.

Taylor closed her eyes for a moment and let out a breath, carefully containing the cringe that Bonnie's words sent through her. Morrigan was already on thin ice, but of course people would want to come around and try to send her through, and Taylor with her.

"Yeah," she said, without looking at Bonnie. The room was a little unsteady, but she could use another drink.

Cassie cheerfully announced the start of Taylor's title match, shown on the large screen in front of them, and drew a few hoots out of the party.

Bonnie was prepared to tell Taylor about what Morrigan and Brittany had done to her brother and what she thought of her friendship with Friction's infamous sadist, but seeing Taylor's reaction to her question made the Texan feel like it was unneeded.

"You prolly get that a lot. I apologize fer that but... " She paused, recalling the instructions to not flip out.

"Sorry." She muttered, crossing her arms. Going silent for a bit as she looked away from Taylor before finally opening her mouth.

"So... I'm havin' a good ol' time but I might as well ask about what you were tryin' ta' get at me with earlier." Bonnie said with a tad bit of attitude, still feeling some bitterness towards Morrigan, a woman just as vile as Allison and Jocelyn without a doubt.

"What?" Taylor blinked at Bonnie, and struggled to remember what she was talking about.

"Oh. Don't be a bad guy." She looked at Cassie. The petite redhead hadn't been herself so much ever since Dark Angel, but there were still times like tonight when she seemed like the old Cassie. She was like a kid, and the world was her candy store. Taylor was so goddamn jealous of her. She'd do anything to keep other people from doing to her what Dark Angel did.

"Stop the bad guys. If you care about someone, you have to be willing to fight for them, and get hurt, and get fucked up in ways that don't ever get fixed. If you love someone, you'll do what you need to do, and it's shitty. Sometimes it's hard to tell what that is..."

She thought of Morrigan, and all the complex cloud of emotions that swirled around her in her head. "But don't turn into a bad guy in the process, or else the other good guys will come fuck you up. All the bad guys eventually get what's coming to 'em. Right?"

Bonnie gave Taylor an odd look, her advice was obvious and unneeded. She made it sound so simple too, and part of that frustrated Bonnie. But upon hearing the latter end of the statement, she got Bonnie's curiosity to perk up more. As well as her nervousness, like she was being warned more than advised.

But Bonnie remained silent. She never got to pay Nha and Sha back, it was one of the reasons why she was so strong on making sure Allison got her just deserts and not fade off away from her. But now it felt like Taylor was warning her, just like earlier. She felt a bit shaken an uneasy. She only wanted to fight Jocelyn and Allison. Maybe even Brittany and Morrigan too, but why was the champ going to come after her and label her a bad guy? She only did one questionable thing! She hadn't even hurt anyone yet!

"I ain't bad." Bonnie muttered sternly as if it were all directed at her. She turned to Taylor sharply.

"Allison Watson and Lu Jiao Jocelyn injured me. Durin' that time, my brother and girlfriend, did what they needed to do 'cause they loved me." Bonnie said with stern attitude. "And Clyde was..." She paused, thinking of his valued pride, making her hesitate. "He got fucked up by your girl and Brittany while lookin' fer Allison." She frowned bitterly, doubting Taylor knew.

"You gon' call me a bad guy and come after Me, if I go ta' work tomorrow ta' kick a bad guy's ass that you just so happen ta' care 'bout?" She was visibly defensive and angry, but nervous as hell on the inside, doing her best to contain that. She didn't want Taylor to be an enemy but clearly, she just didn't understand the cards that Bonnie had been dealt.

But suddenly Bonnie was starting to see that things weren't so black and white.