Down Time

A few blocks away from the AFW building, Taylor happened upon a bar that didn't look too scary. She was looking for somewhere low-key where she could spend a low-key evening having a few conciliatory drinks. She didn't know what it was called, she couldn't read the sign, but it didn't look like the sort of place where she'd run into any AFW people. They'd probably stick closer to the campus, anyway, at least that's what she figured when she walked all the way there after putting in her evening workout.

The room itself was long and narrow, with the narrow end facing the street. The bar was a little more than halfway back, and most of the patrons congregated more toward the back, laughing and drinking and carrying on. Taylor picked an L shaped booth near the front, far away from people but adjacent to the window. That way she was far enough away from people so as to not have to go through the awkwardness of explaining that she doesn't speak Japanese in English to someone who didn't speak English. She had found that a lot of people spoke English, just not very well.

In the back pocket of her jeans was a wad of cash she had taken from her sock drawer. She didn't really know how much it was worth, it was like 50,000 bucks or something, but she intended to turn some of it into drinks. Maybe she'd even duck into a few stores while she was out... she had yet to buy anything but food since arriving in the country. She wondered what Japanese clothing stores were like, but then she figured they probably all sold Hello Kitty stuff and hats with animal ears on them and whatever else Japanese people were into. She didn't feel like she fit in. Still, when she found out that the drinking age was only 20 and not 21, she had to come out at least once, even if it was by herself.

She stood in front of her booth for a minute, staring off toward the bar. Now that she was here, she wasn't sure that she wanted to go through the trouble of trying to order a drink without speaking the language. Between her dour mood and being a stranger in a strange land, she was lacking much of her panache. She imagined for a moment what she could've done if she were in her hometown...probably it'd be a non-issue, since she could probably just get people to buy her drinks. Here in Japan, though, maybe it was that she just didn't project the same confidence, but it seemed like the Japanese guys didn't even look twice at her. She always though Japanese guys would be way more lecherous.

She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt and plopped down in the booth, still staring at the bar. She just needed a minute. There was no one thing that caused her to be so hesitant, it was just... she needed a minute. She slouched in her seat and turned her head to watch people walk by on the sidewalk. She wondered if she'd have been this miserable if she had moved to Canada instead. She could've like... worked in a gift shop at Niagra Falls, or... maybe been a clerk at a highway motel. God, even her imagination was lame. She couldn't even dream her way into a better situation.

She frowned. This sucks.

A bottle slammed down on the table in front of Taylor, almost out of nowhere, rudely interrupting Taylor's self-piteous reverie. Attached to the bottle was an arm, clad in a wrinkled blazer jacket, leading up to a tall woman with red eyes, fair hair, and fake rabbit ears atop her head. One such ear drooped lazily to the side. A loosened, sloppily cared for tie hung from her neck.

The woman smiled down at Taylor, leaving the bottle, Japanese in labeling, but it looked vaguely alcoholic, in front of Taylor. With naught but a friendly nod, she slid into the booth in a swift, fluid motion as though she belonged there. She took a sizable gulp of a separate bottle of her own and set it on the table, letting out a powerful sigh in appreciation of the beverage. "Ah, sweet. An American!" She spoke in Japanese, and froze, shaking her head as though she realized she made a mistake. Switching back to English she repeated herself. "Sweet action! An American! Shit, I feel TALL in this country!" Her other ear, the other RABBIT one, lilted to the side in lazy acknowledgment of Taylor.

The peculiar rabbit-eared woman leaned back in the booth and took another drink of her beverage, this one a gentle sip. "Well, partner, we're both drinking alone. So let's both drink alone... together, shall we?" She smiled wryly at Taylor. "Lia Cross." The bunny girl extended her arm across the table for a handshake. If Taylor took it, Lia would squeeze Taylor's hand quite tightly, enough to ensure it hurt just a bit but not much more than necessary to razz her. She would release Taylor after a few quick pumps, leaving her hand up to point knowingly at Taylor as a rabbit ear arched upright as though a flash of memory came over Lia, "I recognize you, Blueberry. You were throwing a tantrum or something about two matches that you lost, so I actually had to go back and rewind my VCR and see them myself." She chuckled loudly, "Ho ho ho, hoo boy, you DID get your ass handed to you, didn't you?" She raised her bottle to Taylor before taking one more sip, "Eh, it's not like I got room to talk. You shoulda seen MY first match. Hell, if you blinked, you probably missed it..." Lia shook her head chuckling as she remembered that 'fight' with Chesna, under her breath adding, "That fucking whorebitch."

Lia leaned back, placing her arms behind her head and kicking her feet up on the table away from Taylor's face, a considerable feat of dexterity given how cramped the booth was. "Anyway, what's your story, besides being a practitioner of the potent face-to-fist style of Wu Shu?"

Taylor snapped back to reality. She was somewhat startled, but had been lost in her ennui and was slow to react. "Thanks." she said quietly and grabbed the bottle, thumbing it around and looking at the label.

"Yeah. Heh. Makes me wonder if I'll have trouble finding clothes." She said in response to Lia's comment about feeling tall.

As Lia stuck her hand out she looked blankly at for a moment before shaking it. Somehow she wasn't surprised at the vigor of her handshake and she winced slightly before Lia let her go. She lowered her eyes with a wry half-smile. "Yeah. Good to know people at least notice me making an ass of my-" she stopped short as Lia continued. "Dude!" She was starting to get angry as Lia jumped right into the topic of how badly she got beat.

"Hey, whoa, who the hell even are you? You've spent like 5 seconds in the ring and you're talking trash to me? You don't even know me. I could totally..." she started to run out of steam and remembered the beer in her hand. She raised it to her lips and took a sip. It was okay.

She pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head and pulled the sleeves down over her hands. "Hey I've fought four girls and only lost twice. At least I... whatever. Thanks for... this," she held up the bottle. "It really wasn't what I had in mind when I came here, getting recognized for getting my ass kicked and making a total idiot of myself in front of people. Um..." she looked Lia over with a measure of cautious inquisitiveness. "I won't ask about your hair, but... what the hell is up with the... ya know. Ears."

Taylor glanced hastily over the room and took another sip.

Almost in reaction to Taylor's query, the rabbit ears perked up, as if in surprise. "Eh? Oh, these!" Lia reached up and poked them gently, setting them wobbling. "They're my rabbit ears, silly!" She flashed a goofy grin.

Taylor seemed definitely down about her ring performance. Understandably so. Lia almost felt bad for teasing her about it... then again... "Just a tip, when your record is all losses, pointing out those losses to the entire audience is never smart, especially if you don't want to get teased, partner." Lia grinned, "Don't sweat it, Blueberry. We all get beat sometimes. There are, what, dozens of matches in any given week? Every one of those matches HAS to create at least one loser. Crowd's not gonna remember the last two weeks if you give them something good THIS week, know what I'm saying?"

Lia shrugged, "Still, could be worse... The pay is nice, decent medical, and the average thug will just beat you up and get bored. Some of the bitches here are downright NASTY though." Lia's nose wiggled just a bit. Since Taylor had brought up the ears, Lia decided to sprinkle in a few more bunny mannerisms. "Speaking of which, Blueberry, who was that girl with the two friends? Cat something? I may need to know who to avoid in the future..." Lia knew a bit more about Sarah than she was letting on. Sarah was a hard person to ignore on Friction, and Lia knew there was definitely a chance she would have to cross paths with the Queen of Brawl before long. Thugs and troublemakers never kept to themselves.

Taylor blinked and stared blankly at Lia while she explained her bunny ears. Then she shrugged and took another sip.

Taylor scowled and raised her voice, unconsciously starting to stand up, but she was stopped by the table. "Hey, I don't fu-" she stopped and settled herself down before continuing in a lower tone. "I don't lose. Okay? -I- don't lose like that. I'm good, okay? I put in my time getting my ass kicked and I'm done with it. I'm better than both of those cheating-" she stopped herself as Lia continued. She scowled again and took another sip.

She snorted. "Yeah, you can call her Threesome. Or Kitty-Cat. She likes both of those. If I had realized this was a team sport I wouldn't have shipped out alone from NY, right."

Suddenly Taylor sat back, giving Lia a look now more of cautious suspicion. "Hey, girl, Lia, whatever. Like, what are you doing here? Are you just going to mess with me till we step outside and you and your friends jump me? How'd you even spot me in here, eh? If you're looking for something just say it. I am NOT afraid of you, okay?!" Taylor glanced around and saw that she was drawing a few stares. Then she noticed that she was standing up with her finger in Lia's face. She sat back down and stuffed her hands back into her pockets.

"Did you actually just come here to... hey. Do what you want." Taylor let her eyes drift over to the floor. She felt a little embarrassed by her outburst and didn't want to look at Lia.

One of Lia's rabbit ears stood up, the other fell limp. Lia herself raised an eyebrow at Taylor, "You don't gotta explain yourself to me, Aquamarine. Just get back out there and win the next one!"

"Threesome, huh?" Lia's eyes narrowed slightly. She wanted to know the odds, but Taylor probably was not good for a LOT of useful information... "So the Queen of Hearts, Tweedle Dee, and Tweedle Dum, I assume? Other two obviously her minions then?"

Lia chuckled softly at Taylor's suspicions, her rabbit ears drooping forward. "Sweetie, if I wanted to jump you for that almost embarrassingly large wad of cash you're sitting on, I would not need any friends." She winked at Taylor, leaning back and taking another sip. Lia raised a finger to a passing waiter, pointing to her beer and gesturing for two more. She turned back to Taylor, her tone of voice a bit more serious, her face a bit more even, "No, no. I am here because, between my day job and my best friend, I have had more than my fill of rubbing up against women. I've got a head full of bad memories, I'm absolutely surrounded by perverts, psychos, criminals, and ex-mercenaries, and I want to enjoy some piss-flavored, watery, Japanese excuse for 'beer' without the unmitigated shame of drinking alone." She gave Taylor a tired smile, "Prrrettty sure you do not want to be drinking alone either." Lia shrugged, swirling her nearly empty bottle around, "Of course, if you really want me to jump you, you can just head out back and I'll catch up. If I drank about six more of these, it'd be a fair fight."

The waiter arrived with the bottles, offering one each to Lia and Taylor, "My treat."

Taylor stared hard at Lia during her little speech. Her expression ranged from general concern to momentary bursts of outrage. There was a long pause after she finished while Taylor thought it over. Slowly, a sly smile slid across her face.

She slid around the booth till she was right next to Lia. She leaned over and said "You look ridiculous. And I like you. Also, you should know, if we went outside right now I would choke you to death with your bunny ears."

Taylor wasn't even halfway through her first bottle, so she slid both over to her new spot. She took a sip from the new one, since they were both open. Something occurred to her as she remembered something Lia had said and she looked up at her with concern. "So, like...... what's your day job?"

Lia chuckled at Taylor's threat, "Why thank you, Muffin." Taking advantage of the proximity, Lia would lean in and plant a quick peck of a kiss on Taylor's nose. "I might even let you if it spared us all another therapy session about how horrible your next loss was." Lia actually enjoyed Taylor's company, so she did not try to escalate the game of threats TOO far.

Lia played with a loose lock of her hair, "Well, I'd call Friction my day job, really. I left my old, real job a while back, but keeping in shape for this one sure seems to take all day." She took a sip of her drink, "You would NOT believe the amount of psychopaths on AFW payroll looking for trouble. It's... ridiculous. Thought my old job was bad enough..." She did not quite mean to slip in that last sentence. Trying to hastily head off the next question, she added, "... A... Acquisitions," she lied, her left rabbit ear twitched, "Just a pretty euphemism for working with a bunch of psychos with daddy issues."

Lia turned toward Taylor, trying to aggressively change the subject, "So, why here, in Japan? You look like a fish out of water." She grinned wryly, "Don't tell me you saw all those women getting fingered for the audience's amusement on TV and knew you wanted some of THAT action."

Akashi Tanikaze was feeling about as good as she could get. She'd won some hard fought matches lately including her last match against the former Friction champion. With the belt now in her possession, the already cheerful Akashi had even more to celebrate. Those she would usually roll with were not available today and she had had enough training to settle herself down for the time being. No, what she wanted to do was merely relax and just enjoy some time alone and escape. Passing by her usual watering hole (When she did decide to go drinking outside of home), McNally's, she stopped into this off the beaten path dive.

Clad in her normal out of the ring attire, she wore a black pair of Hakama pants and sandals. Accompanying the skirt-like pants was a black Kimono with bright koi adorning it. The kimono was only loosely tied, revealing much of the woman's ample chest to those who would desire a glance, or perhaps a full session of ogling. Akashi was never one for modesty and she had barely even noticed anymore that she tied her kimono so loosely. She just liked the breeze. Pressing her hand to the door, she let out a sigh and then smiled. "Well, this should be fun!"

She then pushed open the door and looked around. Most of the buzzing seemed to be coming from the back. The bar was mostly empty and one table up in the front seemed to be occupied by a pair of ladies who seemed to be enjoying each other's company quite nicely. Akashi looked at them for a moment. Both were quite attractive and the scene of the two next to each other made a very faint blush come over her cheeks. "Cute..." She muttered. But no! She couldn't get sucked into that just now. Maybe later (probably sooner rather than) When she was drunk, she'd end up over there making a fool of herself but for now, while she was still of able faculty, She raised her hand in the air, pointing to the ceiling as she marched towards the bar. "Oi! The next rounds on me!" She said with a big grin as several of the Japanese versions of 'huzzah!' rang forth from the bar.

"Talented and generous, who knew?" said a female voice and an arm went around her shoulders. "I'll take you up on that offer." Kei flashes her a smirk. Wering a long black leather jacket with a small white fuzzy collar uptop. To go with that and her black leather pants she has red and white Canada hockey jersey underneath. The jacket was undone so it was visible. Once she got her beer she thanks Akashi and says she'll meet up with her shortly as she sees something else that sparks her interest.

She sees a table with some people at it, one of which interests her and she sneeks off. Talk about timing, the jukebox, for some reason, was playing that one tune from Jaws, the duh nun...duh nun (repeats but faster each time) one. As it played Kei snuck up to the table and when the timing was right she jumped up and glomped Taylor." She looks at Taylor with a smirk at first then chances toa cute smile "Hey Taylor, long time so see hmmm ^_^?"