Games and Players (For snappleR)

"Hey. You callin' me a swampmonster? You sayin' I'm Swamp Thing?," accuses Blaise, giving her a cock-eyed look. "You wish swampmonsters looked this good."

He leans back in his chair again, now cradling the cup in his lap. His answer is likely not what one would expect, but he delivers it with a wistful smile. "Family."

Amy was crafting a response that weaved together a compliment of Blaise's hair and a general diss on the rest of his appearance when he answered her question. Amy paused, then slowly smiled. That was an unexpectedly sweet answer, and Amy couldn't help but be charmed. "That's... that's nice, Blaise. Cheesy as fuck, and I didn't learn shit about Miami. But I liked it."  But was there something sad about that smile? "You got a big family out there?"

Blaise looks pleased at her reaction and simply bobs a shoulder in a passive shrug. He doesn't dwell on her complaints. Were they even complaints, or was she just trying to give him the business? Either way, they roll off him like a raindrop on a duck's back.

"Enough to fill one side of Family Fued," is Blaise's abstract response. "Mom, Dad, one older brother, and one younger sister. And a few extended family members scattered around the great state of America's Lower Tail Fin." He lifts the cup to take a quiet sip from the straw. Once satisfied, he adds more quietly, "I miss'em a lot," despite their extreme lack of support, "but... y'gotta chase opportunity when it comes up, y'know?"

The cup is set on the table again. "What about you? Where are you from? Got any family watching you back home?"

"Yeah..." Amy was satisfied with the answer. Okay, so he misses his family. I can understand that. "Pretty cool that you chased opportunities all the way to Japan. Is becoming a pro-wrestler your dream? You looking to get that gold around your waist?"

The spotlight moved to Amy, and she turned similarly cagey. "Me? I'm from LA- California, not like, N'awlins. I don't usually have to clarify, but when I'm not in California, you never know." Amy idly tapped at the straw in her drink. "I've got a dad, stepmom, three step brothers, and a big ol' dog back there. It wasn't always, but there's a pretty big family back home now. It's different, but it can be nice." It wasn't a lie- she just avoided part of the question. Amy didn't need Blaise following up, so, whether he noticed or not, Amy stood up from her chair. "Hey, let's walk with the rest of our drinks. We can take the long way around back to the Xbox."

Blaise makes no clear indication concerning whether or not he caught her dodging mentioning whether or not her family would be watching her. But in reality? It registered. His own family refuses to watch him do anything relating to this sport. But he's happy to let the focus shift around.

"I'm already living the dream!," he points out with a bright smile. "It.. it'd be cool to take a title. But I'm happy just being in the ring. It's what I've wanted to do since I was a little kid! Fightin', puttin' myself out there, proving myself..." He exhales a breezy sigh, his gaze growing distant. Wrestling isn't an occupation for him - it's a passion. He's not doing it with an objective. He's doing it because he loves it.

He takes up his cup and stands. "Sure! Um.." He pauses, tilting his head slightly at her. His expression subtly changes, adopting a more interrogative look. "..is there something on your mind, Amy?"

Amy could have guessed that that would be Blaise's answer; it fit right in with the rest of his happy-go-lucky personality. And it was the part that Amy could relate the most to, since she, like him, and unlike many others on the roster, was here just for the fun of it.

Then Blaise unexpectedly showed that he had a bit of social perceptive awareness. "Nope!" Amy looked right into Blaise's eyes, a playful smile pulling up one side of her mouth, and maybe not quite reaching her eyes. "The only thing on my mind right now is kicking your ass in the duet. Unless I've got that wrong, and duet's cooperative, then the only thing on my mind is putting my initials at the top of the high score list." To demonstrate her resolve, Amy took a power stance and chugged the rest of her smoothie. She had half of a large cup left, so it took several gulps, but Amy killed it in less than five seconds. When she was finished, she held her cup up high and gave a satisfied, "Ahhh!" She winked at Blaise, and threw her cup in the trash. "Alright, champ, if you and I can't take the high score, then- ahhhh! Fuck!" Amy hunched over, and her hands flew up to her temples as the mother of all brain freezes, angered by Amy's continued tempting of fate, assaulted her head.

As Amy chugs down the semi-frozen beverage, Blaise sips in a contrastingly delicate way through his straw, giving her a suspicious, slightly bug-eyed sidelong look. You know the one; it's all like c_c

When the forces of nature demand respect in the form of blasting poor Amy's brain from top chakra to inner eardrums, Blaise suddenly says, "Hey! Do this!" He sets the cup down and holds a palm a mere inch from his mouth. He then gives a slow, steamy exhale. "It helps!" And it should. It causes heat to flow along the throat and linger inside the mouth, then through the sinuses...

He picks up his cup again. "Champion of the Universe isn't done with his drink. So while I'm workin' on that, you've gotta talk."

Amy took Blaise's advice, and it did seem to help. "Haaah... haaah..." Before too long, her head seemed to be more or less back to normal, and she was able to straighten up again. "Thanks."

But her gratitude was short lived. Huh, for a guy she backed up off of not a few minutes ago, he sure was being nosy. "Alright, I can fill in the time." She motioned at him to walk. "When I graduated college two years ago, I took off for Italy, and I've been country hopping since. I only go home for Christmas, so I don't get to see my family all that often. When I do, it's a good time, and I get a lot of questions about what I've seen and done. I also get a lot of questions about how I've been earning money." Amy hesitated, but, really, what was the harm? Blaise seemed trustworthy, and it wasn't like it was a secret from him. "Usually my answer is "English teacher," and usually that's true."

She turned around and started to walk backwards so that she could face Blaise while walking, her hands clasped behind her back. "Japan's been different, obviously. If anyone in my family were into professional wrestling, they'd probably find me out in a heartbeat, but they're not. My stepmom's Korean, and my stepbrothers are all way smarter than me, and they're always studying or reading a book or something, never wasting time on stuff like that. Or if anyone bothered to Google my name, I'd get caught pretty quick, too, quicker if I ever bothered to try and shoot for a title."

Amy turned around again, this time her eyes lifted to the sky. "Being a pro-wrestler at the AFW wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't 80% a softcore porn company... and 15% hardcore porn. But it is. I keep myself from the pornier fights as much as I can, just in case, so that I can look Dad in the eye if he ever found out. But still, there's some shady rapey shit that goes on here, and the company doesn't really do fuck all about it, and that's enough for me to want to hide my employment from my family. So, to answer your question: no, I've got no one watching me at home, because no one knows that I'm doing this."

Blaise just looks on, innocent as a puppy capable of speech, as she begins forking over guarded information. But he obliges by starting to walk, at least!

By the time she says she claims to be an English teacher, he looks authentically puzzled, complete with headtilt. It's on the tip of his tongue why she'd lie about it, but she answers the question without needing a prompt. And it sinks in. He nips onto his lower lip as a look of sincere sympathy settles on his face to stay.

"I... oh... wow..." He has the overwhelming urge to hug her, but he suspects that wouldn't be appreciated. So instead, he moves in a little closer and touches her arm at the elbow. It's a small point of contact, but gentle and significant. "I didn't even know that stuff happened here when I signed up. And I didn't believe it when I heard about it. But... I guess this confirms it, huh..?" He isn't even sure how he feels about those types of matches. He's a showman, but is he that kind of showman? The ring has and always will be intimidating for a few reasons, but in this case, it's on a whole other level.

Amy just gave him some cold truth about her life, though. He needs to reciprocate. He opts for the bandaid approach; rip it off real quick and get it over with, "My family refuses to watch me. So... we're not that different there." She hides hers from her family, his family wants nothing to do with it.

There was a touch of warmth at her elbow, and Amy looked up at Blaise, grateful. "Thanks. Yeah. Some of the people that do it seem like they're into it, so good on them, but others... I don't know, it's all kinds of messed up. All I know is that it's not for me."

His own admission earned him a quizzical look. Possible explanations flooded her mind, but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions. "They refuse to watch you? What do you mean?"