Personal Pain Relief

John had gotten out the hospital a couple of days ago, the UK Elite were now former tag champs. They lost the belts to WhiteGale's Sion and Daisuke in a ladder match, which had concluded with the artist getting tossed off the top of the ladder by the male Canadian. Losing with a literal case of the mighty falling, and it had been a pretty rough landing to say the least for the master of creation. It had all been a bit of a blur, but the doctors told John that he was actually pretty lucky. Only bruised ribs and a minor concussion, Lucy told him to count his blessings. But John couldn't see how, he and Ryan still lost.

Now the young man was in his apartment, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and black socks. His upper body had bandages around his injured area, and overall John had a rather dishevelled look to him. A far cry from his usual smart-casual manner. Usually he'd be hanging out with his team, but there was just one problem with that usual social situation.

Ryan was gone, up and away since yesterday. The British man had left a note on his study saying he was going to train and that he didn't know when he'd be back, hadn't answered calls or texts and no one local had seen him. Lucy was around, didn't seem too surprised by it to be honest considering John's boss did odd stuff like that all the time. Still Mr Carnaby couldn't help but think one thing, he let Ryan down. So close to winning, but he costed them the belts. Let them down, that's how the match was going to look in the lenses of history.

Since then John had more or less vanished from the public scene, Lucy checked up on him every so often. But aside from that the young man rarely ventured out, he knew that Ryan wouldn't want him to mope around. But given his current state he couldn't really jump around either.

"....................." John silently lay on top of his bed covers, looking up at the ceiling as youtube videos played from the nearby TV. He had no schedule, nothing to attend to. He just felt......lost.

Eske had watched that fight. She watched how badly John had gotten hurt. But, she almost didnt care about that. Almost. She was much more disappointed in the fact that he didnt win and defend his title. If she herself could break the bonds of the lower levels of the AFW and win herself a belt, she would never let it go. Even risking the rest of her career for it. When she texted Ryan where John was he wouldnt answer her. Maybe because he was busy with that girlfriend of his. She seemed to be a weak woman anyway. Eske didnt know why he wasted his time with her.

But she was smarter than that to wait for a response. Eske deduced that John must have been taking a break. Or even wallowing in his own failure. And the woman wouldnt have it. So, she took her best tool with her. Her mind. The mind that majored in Psychology. She took it and powered her body with it to get herself to the address she saved for that Christmas ordeal.

The quiet woman knocked rather hard on the door, a scowl on her face to whoever answered it.

John couldn't actually recall the last time he loafed around like this, maybe it was because of his usual tasks as Ryan and Lucy's retainer. It had stuff like making tea, uploading videos and other things. It kept him active, and he'd he also had a title belt. At such an early point of his wrestler career too, cue the cries of rookie from the naysayers. Now though, John didn't know what everyone was saying. He'd pretty much became a borderline hikikomori following that loss, John would like to justify it with his injuries. But then he'd probably not be fully honest.

The master of creation was taken out of his navel contemplating state by a knock on the door. Was it Lucy? No, she'd open the door first a little and then knock. Besides she was out doing stuff, Lucy had checked with the young man this morning. Though without much of her usual pep. Perhaps it was someone else? Probably not a fangirl.

So John shuffled off his bed and shouted with "Hang on!" and made his way to the door. A quick unlock and the artist poked his head out to see who the visitor was.

It was Eske.

This was a surprise, or maybe not. The woman greeted John silently, as she often did. Even with the scowl on her John would admit that it was good to see her again, he knew though that there was good in her. After all the way she thanked him at Christmas last year was proof of that. In spite of his body and mind's states John offered a small smile to the writer.

"Oh Eske, hey there. Please come in." John said as he opened the door to let her in, as he did so he ruffled his hair with his free hand to at least try and look a bit more presentable. Once Eske entered Mr Carnaby would shut the door and make his way to his kitchen area.

"Feel free to take a seat, I'll make some tea for us. Have things been alright?" John said as he got the cups ready, he had a guest now to entertain. And perhaps this prompt was the thing that the young man needed, in everything that had happened he had kinda neglected keeping in touch with Eske. The fact that she had come to visit was making John feel a little better already.

He told her to hang on. Not kind to make a lady wait too long. Though, she did drop by unexpectedly. Eske fixed her glasses that donned her face. They were fairly new ones that she bought after the holidays where she caught up a bit with her father. Her previous ones were cracked in a match. These had a better arch around the ears so they would stay on better.

John soon opened the door and greeted her. She saw his match, but didnt care to keep up with the aftermath of the same match. All she knew was that he and Ryan lost the title belts. He looked to be in a worse shape than she realized. But that did not falter the scholar's stare as she was let in. The artist allows the writer to sit down in the kitchen, where she got lightly comfortable in the chair, keeping her back straight and not slouching. It would put off something she did not want. He asked if she was alright.

She didnt come here for him to ask her questions. No, she came here to get answers. "I dont know. Have things been alright for you? You dropped off the radars of Tension fairly quickly." Though she was not one to talk, he didnt seem to have the energy to rebuttal with her own absence from the rings of the same place.

John hadn't said this but Eske's presence was very much welcomed, it was different from Lucy's. Eske brought something that Ms Grange didn't, intelligence and maturity. From how she dressed to how she carried herself, and those were qualities of her that the young man couldn't help but admire. Eske knew it too which John liked also, the confidence. Sure Eske could at times be acerbic, but Mr Carnaby had gotten to know her personally he liked to think. Perhaps moreso than most of the people that she knew outside of her family, and the master of creation was happy and grateful to be able to know her.

He promptly poured some tea for himself and her, going through the motions with practise from his time as Ryan and Lucy's steward. Being a bit more active was recommended by the doctors, no wrestling though. Not with his current state, but John didn't ever want to really loaf around anyway. He'd rather be doing something, there was a small smile on his face as he readied the tea and brought it to Eske and sat near her as well as she had spoken to him.

Once he sat down John sighed, it was a haggard sort of noise. The young man put his knuckles under his chin, a sad expression on his face before saying "Well......I'll be honest no things haven't been alright. Lost the titles, nearly busted my ribs in the process. My boss is gone, where I got no clue and his Sister barely speaks now. Can't make a public appearance when your everything on the inside is falling around you."

John took a sip of his tea before saying "It's not looking good no point in sugar coating it, don't know what'll happen now. But I feel a bit better already though, because your here Eske." with the young man giving a small chuckle after it.

Eske didnt even ask for tea. Maybe because he was just so used to having to somewhat serve under Ryan Knight and his sister. But it was appreciated. John began on how he was doing in his past few days. Eske knew that he lost the belts. She learned that he was suffering from harmed ribs as a result.

"Doesn't mean you cant go out in public." She just didnt know how much he would get mobbed by people wanting to talk to him. Taking a sip of her tea, she fixed her glasses and chuckled. "Normally you're the one with a cheery attitude around me. Let me tell you that I will not reciprocate. I didnt come here to baby you and play nurse."

"However...I did come here to restore you to yourself again."

John wasn't really feeling like showing up in public in his current state, it wasn't that he had gained a lot of weight or got a nasty scar or anything like that. Though the bruised ribs did make walking around outside and lifting things a bit more annoying than the young man would like, when John did go out it was mostly at night. Thanks to the 24/7 service shops that were dotted around Kyoto John could get his stuff without bumping into most people, perhaps it was just because with what happened to John it left him more than a bit shaken. Not just in body but also in mind.

Was this meaning that John was thinking of quitting the wrestling business? No, he'd grown to enjoy it. Plus he'd had the great chance to meet people like Eske, and his boss too. Wouldn't change any of it, though John had to admit that fall was the worst thing he'd ever taken in his career thus far. Losing those belts rubbed some real big salt on those wounds. He wouldn't lie, John blamed himself for the loss. No doubt the critics would too, Ryan would have had none of it and professed as much following when John woke up in the hospital. That said though his boss wasn't here now, up and vanished in the middle of the night with a note on his study saying he had to prepare for his girlfriend's matter.

John chuckled a little at Eske's words, she was right of course. He was normally the one that was cheerful, saying all the right things to get her to smile and talk. Mr Carnaby was happy that he was perhaps of the few to have had the chance at that with the writer. "You're not playing nurse? Aw too bad~" John said with a smirk, a mental image of Eske in that outfit wafted into the young man's mind. Now that was tantalising, but like getting a smart comment out of Donald Trump it probably wasn't going to happen. Possible slightly but very not likely.

Though Eske's next words intrigued John, she what now? Restore John to who he was? That was odd, but just what did this entail? He took another sip of his tea and then set it down, tilting his head slightly before saying "Uhh, okay. You visiting is already making me feel better, but I'll take all the help I can get. Thanks Eske." John wasn't worried in the least, because after all he trusted her. Plus he wouldn't lie, part of him was curious to see what Eske had in mind.

"Dont earn yourself another bruised rib." She sharply says when he kidded around about her being a nurse. She knew what was thinking. Eske didn't even own an outfit like that. So only an artist could imagine one up on the woman's form. Of course, she wasnt going to really give him another harmed rib. She didn't want to have Ryan come home to that and hunt her down.

"Hmm..." Eske stood up, movies around the table and standing in front of him and examining John's body. If he was socked or barefoot, Eske would bring the heel of yer boot down on his foot. Or if, for some reason he was shoed, Eske would give him a stinging slap across the face.

Well Eske's reaction certainly nipped the caring nurse idea in the bud, for now though. At any rate John was nothing if not a trier, better to see where the road led you than to never walk it. The former tag champ took her sharpness in stride, it was again another thing he liked. When Eske did choose to speak she had no qualms about being blunt and honest, some might not like that but John found it refreshing. Better to point out the flaws and get them fixed before anything bad happens after all.

So it looked like the quiet girl was going to get to work now, she stood up just as John finished his tea. He set down the cup and turned his body to face Eske, one of his eyebrows doing an impression of the sort that The Rock would do. If she had a plan in mind then she was playing it close to her chest, but she quickly went into action.

By stomping down on John's socked feet, that was unexpected. And in response the master of creation gave a loud yelp and jerked his leg upwards, banging it into the table. Thank goodness he finished his tea otherwise it might have spilled.

"Ow! Why'd you do that?!" John said as he leaned down to rub the affected area, something was telling him that perhaps this might not be such a good idea.

A good test. She learned it in school. If someone is harmed and does not fight back instantly, then they either have no will to fight. Or/ the more likely reason, John trusted Eske fairly well. And she was going to prey on this. Eske was going to make the situation very uncomfortable as quickly as possible for the down and out man. A different type of shock therapy.

"I apologize. I just had to know." She leans down, cupping John's chin in her hand and coming in close to his face. "You trust me, dont you John?" If his answer was yes then she could continue. Eske walked back a few steps. She looked John's attire up and down. "Look at me. Every detail. My clothing. My features. What do you see?"