My Fair Lady

Odessa knew that Liberty's laughter was at the thought of such a proper English gentlewoman trying to mingle with the crowd at the roller derby. Odessa had never actually had occasion to attend a roller derby competition herself, but she had to admit that the sport had a romantic sort of appeal. Sexy women roughing each other up while also wearing charmingly retro outfits and sliding around a track at high speeds on roller blades sounded thrilling. Odessa even recalled stumbling across a comic book owned by one of her American friends which had depicted the consequences one roller derby team faced at the hands of their opponents for losing a match—consequences taking place in the locker room and centering around some rather remarkable toys. The concept of roller derby had always captivated her.

Of course, would the real thing live up to such lofty expectations? Well, how would she know until she saw it with her own eyes? Not only that, but the rally, if it was for the sort of causes which Odessa assumed Liberty often agitated for, would be an excellent experience for Odessa, a chance to broaden her horizons, meet new people, and perhaps invest her time and energy in a good cause. "Well, I'm sure you know by now that I can handle rough. And, frankly, roller skates and lesbians sound like the perfect ingredients for a long, hot night!" As she pulled Liberty out of their car, she would laugh lightly. "Though I must confess that I don't really have any experience with moshing..."

Odessa led Liberty inside, and the two really must have been quite the stunning sight. Two clearly non-Japanese women, similar heights and builds, but looking like photo negatives of each other: one with dark skin, light hair and a light dress, the other with light skin, dark hair and a dark dress. Even Shiro's hostess seemed to be dazzled by the two beauties as they walked inside. Professional as she was, she rallied quickly, and promptly ushered the women to their table. Ascending a shallow staircase to a half-story above the main floor, the two of them were led to a table in the back, illuminated by a flickering candle in the center—and by the glow of Tokyo outside the large bay window they would sit beside. Outside, a balcony and a large garden party space were visible, where young socialites mingled and sipped cocktails. Beyond that was a sea of brilliant lights, the whole city in a single gorgeous panoramic view!

”You’ve never been to a mosh pit?” Liberty asked, bringing up what might’ve been one of the silliest questions ever spoken aloud. ”You might like it, never know. Lot of elbows in your face and punches and getting thrown around. Close contact, really intense. Kind of like a wrestling match, only nobody can wrestle.” She skipped a beat, then bobbed her head. ”So, actually, kind of like a lot of AFW wrestling matches, really. With a soundtrack.”

And with that, Liberty found herself stepping into a place she would’ve passed by any other day without thinking about it, wearing clothes she’d never dreamed of slipping into, to eat food she didn’t even realized existed. Life was funny, sometimes.

It was a nice setup, she could admit that much. Romantic, not that she had much experience with the classic concept. The view, the table, the privacy of it all, the waitress that was trying hard to not let on her fascination with Liberty’s ass, the little candle and the murmur of patrons below...sort of gave the place a cultured feeling, like they sliced a part of some other place and put it right in the middle of Japan.

They made their way to their seats, and she took the time to glance at few meals on their way, seeing what all the other fine people in this establishment were chowing down on. All rich looking stuff. Things she couldn't identify, and fancier versions of stuff she could.”Wow,” Liberty admired the dazzling view, as she sat down and slid into her seat ”Forget how big this city is, sometimes. Don’t get to see much of it on my day-to-day.” She scooped up a menu and started thumbing through it, looking for foods she could remember. ”They got places like this back home?”

"No, I've never had the pleasure," Odessa would reply, confirming that she had never been in a mosh pit. She had been to plenty of concerts in her day, of course, but most of them were not of the sort of music which could be...moshed to, and even those that might have been she had never exactly been in a position to throw herself into the undulating, crashing sea of bodies that inhabited the space just in front of the stage. "I suppose I've always preferred such violent encounters to be of a one-on-one variety rather than as part of some...writhing mass."

The two of them were seated at their table, and Odessa noted with pride how the waitress's eyes lingered over Liberty's beautiful figure. Of course, Odessa could hardly take the credit for all of it, but she had done quite the clean-up jon on the Italian-American brawler, if she did say so herself. The waitress gave them a quick rundown of the night's specials—one, a seafood risotto, done in the Japanese modern style of a deconstructed sushi roll with seaweed, shalots, scallops, shrimp, and crab, and the next a sixteen-ounce Wagyu aged Porterhouse steak served on a bed of teriyaki brussel sprouts tossed with almonds—and provided some drink suggestions before she left them to their own devices.

"You can pick out what we'll be drinking for the evening, if you're so inclined," Odessa would say, as she picked up the menu and glanced over it. Shiro had a selection of fine Wagyu steaks, as well as a number of seafood dishes and a small sampling of sushi and sashimi. The view, of course, was just as spectacular as the food, as Liberty seemed to have recognized. Looking down at the large courtyard garden reminded Odessa of the Hitchcock film Rear Window, and added an air of twentieth-century sensibility and mystery to the already romantic air of the restaurant.

"While none of them are Japanese-European fusion, there are a good number of places like this one in London, though I'm afraid that it's been quite a while since I dined at any of them," Odessa would say. "I've been away from home for an awfully long time, with only a visit here and there during the holidays to hold me over. But having good friends here in Tokyo helps to heal that homesickness some!" She would laugh and smile again at Liberty.

”Ah ah.” Liberty wagged a finger Odessa’s way. ”You say that now, but how many writhing masses have you ever been a part of? Think of it like an orgy, only with less humping and a lot more bumping.” Truth told, there was a lot of humping involved, too, but best not to elaborate on that while she was selling the product. ”Worth a shot, sometime. If you even listen to that sort of music, ever.”

At any rate, that was a fun little diversion for another time. For now, Liberty had to try and parse through this menu and find something she recognized.

While she hadn’t been lying earlier about having more refined tastes than people might think, a place like this was still a bit higher than her tongue’s usual pay grade. Still, she managed to navigate the menu well enough for them to be drinking something a little more refined than Coca Cola.

”There’s Umesho. Or awamori, that’s new.” She flipped another page, then went back, then flipped again. So much to choose from, and she wasn’t sure if any of it was good.

”But do you think you’ll ever go home fulltime?” Liberty cocked her head to the side, as if the menu would make more sense if she read it that way. ”I mean, after you’ve done…”

Liberty paused for a moment, letting that sentence play out in her head. It raised an interesting question. ”What are you trying to do in the AFW?” She rubbed her chin and looked Odessa over, trying hard not to linger too long on her tits. ”Like, ultimate goal, where do you want to be?”

"'Think of it like an orgy?' Do I strike you as a connoisseur of orgies?" Odessa would ask, though she knew that the answer to her question would probably be a resounding "Yes!" Odessa was not exactly subtle about her sexuality, and her sexual escapades were well-publicized, documented both on AFW video and in the stains left on her bedroom sheets, and the sheets of a half dozen other beautiful woman wrestlers here in Tokyo. "I can't say I listen to that sort of music very often, either. Though moshing does sound like it could be exciting in and of itself."

Odessa allowed Liberty to choose what they would be drinking, and it seemed that the black-haired brawler was taking the responsibility very seriously. She knew her Japanese liquors, it seemed, identifying a few as she flipped through the menu trying to decide what to order. "I'm sure anything you choose will be delicious. Choose whatever you'd like best," Odessa would say, as she began to glance over the food on the menu. That was, until Liberty posed a very interesting question: what was Odessa's ultimate goal at AFW? What did she want to accomplish? Odessa would pause, setting her menu down for a moment as she thought about that question.

"Well, I might say that I'm here to entertain the crowds and have fun. And that, so long as I'm doing those two things, I'll happily accept whatever might come to me during my time here," Odessa would say. She stopped and thought for a moment again, and then would continue: "If I were to be completely honest with you, Liberty, I do intend to get my hands on a title belt one of these days. Having come so close to both the hardcore belt and the Friction belt—and having fought championship-caliber women my whole time here in Japan—it would feel like something, some capstone, was missing from my time at AFW if I left without holding a title at some point."

Odessa might’ve been sure that anything Liberty chose would taste good, but the woman herself didn’t have the same confidence. There were few things in the world worst than ordering a meal on someone else’s treat, then finding out the food tasted bad. You still had to eat it, you didn’t want to waste someone else’s money, so you wound up choking down something your stomach might be rejecting later on. Bad times.

But whatever. She’d go for a steak. Couldn’t go wrong with a steak.

She perked up at the mention of titles, though, getting on to better subjects than experimenting with her taste buds.

”Oh, yeah.” Liberty tapped the table and nodded. ”Saw what happened with you and the title match. Having it be an evening gown thing was a little…”

Silly? Dumb? Pointless?

”...odd. But you fought hard, and you were sooooooo much better than Brittany. Hate that Conway showed up.” Liberty groaned at the mere thought of the way things had gone down. ”It’s like she’s just a leech, always gravitating around the damn thing.”

She held up a finger and sat the menu to the side, waiting for the waitress to return. ”Gotta say, though, I was real surprised when I heard you went after the hardcore belt after I dropped it, didn't see that coming. Seemed like it would be so not your thing, you know?”

Odessa was confident that whatever alcohol Liberty chose for the two of them would be delicious, and she was also more than happy to pay for whatever meal Liberty had in mind. Of course, she needed to find something to eat herself, as well, but she decided that that could wait while they got into this discussion of titles. No one had really asked Odessa what her goals were for her time at AFW, and sometimes she hardly even thought about them. As comfortable and happy as she was living in Tokyo and working with the AFW league, she knew that there were things she wanted to accomplish that she hadn't yet been able to attain.

Odessa chuckled and shrugged when Liberty told her how much better she had been during the Friction world title match than Brittany. "Well, thank you. As far as the evening gowns went, it might have been partially my doing to add those as a stipulation of the fight...I figured if she claimed to be so flawlessly gorgeous, she might as well be proven wrong in the clearest way possible. And, even if I didn't win the title, I know I accomplished that much! And, more than that, I'll be getting another shot at that woman sometime soon. And I'll make sure that little Conway brat doesn't get in the way again."

The conversation would then turn to Odessa's first title hunt, when she had come within an inch of getting a shot at the hardcore title. Liberty's surprise was to be expected, and, honestly, sometimes Odessa was surprised herself that she had been so close to that title, as well. "Well, firstly, I clearly can compete with hardcore women like yourself or, for example, Cecilia Northman," Odessa would say, "but I suppose that my idea of hardcore is somewhat out of date with AFW. I'm more than happy in a fistfight. I can be brutal and merciless and beat a woman into unconsciousness if I so desire. But when it comes to weapons, and other sorts of unsavory tactics...with a few exceptions, I'm not very inclined to use them. Which, if that is what the hardcore title is today, rather than brawling with you or Ceci, then I suppose I don't really fit into that chase. That's largely why I've put my pursuit of it on hold."

She would glance back down to her menu, but would soon glance back up to Liberty. "What about you? You've already been a champion. Do you have any more goals you would like to fulfill? Or are you satisfied with what you've attained thus far?"

Yeah, it wasn’t terribly surprising that Odessa wanted the evening gown part of the championship match. Not that Liberty could really claim to wear all that much in her matches, but it was different for her. Her clothes were functional. Helped her out in a fight. Yeah, people would kind of gawk at them sometimes, and if she took too much damage, things would slip out, but she didn’t care. It was all about being at her best. Form over function.

Made sense in her head, at least.

”Good that you’re getting another shot at it, then. Lot of times, it kind of feels like it’s the same people getting a crack at that belt over and over and over. Kelly lost it and she barely defended the stupid thing when she had it. Far as I’m concerned, she should be getting to the back of the line.” Liberty thumbed over her shoulder.

Liberty laid her menu aside as Odessa talked more about hardcore wrestling and the state of it in the AFW. That was a big subject. A tough subject. One that the former hardcore champion could go on for hours with if given half a chance, but she decided to hold back. No reason to start an argument tonight, and all the gory talk could ruin a meal.

”I don’t know.” She answered Odessa’s question after taking a few moments to mull it over, running her fingers through her shimmering hair as she pondered. ”I know I want to get my title back. Kind of sticks in my craw that I never really lost the stupid, you know? Don’t hate Adrian, but it’s kind of, like…mine.” She rolled her wrist, hoping she was getting the message through. ”Want to really make the hardcore division awesome, but I’m dabbling in the standard stuff, too. Kind of.” Liberty huffed, not even bothering to hide the frustration. “Had a match with Gwendolyn that didn’t go so well…”

Translation: She’d gotten her ass kicked. Not the polite way to put it, but...

"Oh, don't get me started about that little Conway brat. I hardly know her, and I already can't stand her. I must say, watching some of her earlier matches, I honestly expected more out of her, even given her size," Odessa would say, waving her hand as if to dismiss even the thought of Kelly in a gesture. "Of course, I couldn't stand you after our first match, either, but at least you demonstrated that you were a dangerous opponent. I suppose, back then, I was annoyed, but impressed at the same time." She would chuckle a little bit about that.

After having spoken a little bit about the sort of fights which the hardcore belt was now contested in, Odessa knew that Liberty probably did not have the same preference as she regarding that belt. Odessa preferred an elegant sort of brutality, while Liberty and River Styx and all those other women who fought over that belt seemed to often act as glorified streetfighters. It was an interesting ideological difference which some women—Liberty and Cecilia foremost in Odessa's mind—could bridge easily, while others, such as Odessa herself, struggled to find the motivation.

Liberty, meanwhile, was similarly frustrated, as she, too, was in hot pursuit of a title. Of course, in her case, it was a title she had already won once. While Odessa felt as if she could be satisfied with even a brief reign as a champion, she had to imagine that having tasted that level of success in this world-class league, it would be difficult to let the belt go. "I understand that. With any luck you'll be able to regain it. I can't think of anyone more suited to that belt than you. And as for the 'standard stuff,' well...if you ever want to train together, feel free to call me in!" Odessa would lean her head on her knuckles and smile at Liberty.

When their waitress walked back over, Odessa found herself completely unprepared to order, and would sit up straight suddenly and grab her menu at the girl's small, sweet "What would you like?"

”Conway’s just a little toad.” Liberty waved it off with rolling eyes. ”She does little toad things with her toad friends, swarms around the belt like-”

Liberty was going to say ‘like flies on shit’, but since they were about to eat, it seemed like a bad idea. Manners. She’d have to work on them.

-like flies around...ice cream. That’s fallen on the street. Yeah.” Good recovery. ”And Brittany’s not much better, especially since she got on the whole runway model schtick. So waiting for someone to come along and put them both down. Really. We need good champs. For all the belts. Make them mean something.”

Odessa’s vote of confidence was appreciated - it was nice to have someone in her corner, for what it was worth. What she was more interested in, though, was the offer for help. Truth told, it was starting to become obvious that she needed some help on the technical side of wrestling - the side that didn’t involve heavy violence and withstanding heavy violence. Actual complex moves. Maybe a counter. If there was anyone to ask, Odessa would be it...

Before she had long to ponder the possibility, though, it was time to order. Liberty decided it was best not to risk mispronunciations and just pointed to what she wanted on the menu, singling out the expensive steak and the slightly less expensive drink that’d go along with it. ”This and this. Medium rare.”