Star Gazing's Not Boring

This particular strip was practically all bars. One after the other, Taylor had strolled by bar after bar after nightclub after sleezy gentlemen's club. She didn't know what to do with herself, she was restless, so she had decided to go out, but she found nothing appealing. She didn't much want to be around people. She had too much on her mind to have to worry about pantomiming what she wanted or explaining to people who only barely spoke English that she didn't speak Japanese at all.

She had taken a narrow alley to the backside of the buildings, and found that behind them, not far away, was a park. It was late, though she didn't know the exact time, it was after midnight, so there wasn't anyone just hanging out there. Sporadic knots of people trickled down a path that connected the array of bars to what she imagined would be their way home. If they lived close enough to walk, or were too drunk to drive, or too drunk to figure out the trains home, then this park would let them safely shuffle their way to home and shake off the effects of their night out.

Taylor stood for several minutes, still partially lit by the yellow light over the backdoor of what she could only imagine was a bar, before she started shuffling down the path herself, hands stuffed in the pockets of her blue-gray sweatshirt. The hood was pulled up over her head and her hair, once again dyed bright blue, spilled out around her neck. She found a bench somewhere near the middle of the park and put on her earphones. She stared at her iPod for a few minutes before hitting random. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3Cg1wxgX6M:3aj53p5t]The song "Let Go" started up.[/url:3aj53p5t] It seemed to add an element of melodrama to Taylor's pensive mood that she couldn't help but think was uncool, but no one else could hear and she liked the song. She let it play while she began watching people pass, hands back in her pockets, their snippets of conversation too faint for her to discern anything but the occasional bout of laughter.

She had a match coming up in a couple days. A tag match, against a couple guys from Sex Wars, or whatever it was called now. Her partner, coincidentally, was Akashi. She was super psyched when she heard that. She was so excited to get in there and kick ass with the closest person she had to a friend. But as the match grew closer, she found an anxiety growing somewhere in the back of her mind. She was unsettled. She wasn't exactly sure why, maybe she was afraid of letting Akashi down? Or maybe she was just waiting for something to give and for Akashi to blow her off. Something, she didn't know what, which was why she found herself sitting on a bench in the middle of a park she'd never been to, in a strange part of a strange city.

Through her sweatshirt she thumbed at some frayed bits on the knees of her jeans. They were the only pair she had from the states. They fit perfectly, and looked awesome, not super tight, but tight enough when they needed to be. They were heavily worn now, faded, frayed, almost falling apart. She didn't know how much longer she could keep them going... eventually she'd have to buy a new pair. She didn't want a new pair. It was all very troubling.

She picked up her head and looked off in the distance. There was only one person in sight, just starting down the path from the bars. Taylor watched her approach, blankly. The two thingamabobs protruding from the top of her head, nodding with each step, gave her the feeling that she already knew who it was. She wasn't too far from where she was the first time she met her. She watched and waited until the girl was close enough that she could tell for sure who it was. Lia... something. The bunny-girl. From the bar that one night. She had to say... something.

"LUSH!"

Walking about the town was great exercise for Lia... not necessarily because it was particularly strenuous but instead because it got her away from the household full of psychopaths where she had unfortunately taken up residence.

It was also great for those nights where she could not get any sleep. Lia had been wandering aimlessly, following the lights of the streets still active at this hour. Unsurprisingly, this took her to the more... alcoholically inclined section of town. With each bar that passed, Lia briefly considered stopping, but thought better of it. She was not really in the mood. Alcohol was not the way out of this funk.

Lia rested her hands in her blazer pockets. That jacket, her skirt, and her rabbit ears made her instantly recognizable, but it was her look. She was a citizen now and damn well was going to enjoy the perks of it... Combined with the impeccable wardrobe care her time in the armed forces drilled into her.

The road she turned down had only other one person on it. Lia instinctively tensed up, but did not show it overtly. Lia was ready for trouble. Walking down normally, pretending to pay the figure minimal mind, Lia hoped to walk on by without incident, but was ready for anything that might happen.

Wait a minute... The girl looked vaguely familiar. Lia's rabbit ears perked up at the sound of Taylor's voice. "Well, well, if it isn't Sparky!" Lia had forgotten what she had taken to calling Taylor. She just selected the first nickname that came to her mind, "How have you been?" Lia gave Taylor a wry smile. The punk girl was grating, to be sure, but there was just something about her that Lia liked. Lia could not quite put a finger on why, but she sought explanations that suggested Taylor was like a cute yapping poodle so Lia did not soul-search much outside the box. Still, Taylor was probably the least crazy person she had met here in Japan so that made her, unfortunately, as shameful as it was to admit, the person Lia wanted to see the most... no, wanted to NOT see the least. Much better.

Taylor half-smiled. She wasn't in the mood to muster up a full-blown smile. "You seem tense, Bunny-Bunny. Sort of. Or something." She popped out one earphone and let it dangle. She was quiet for a second while she looked the girl over. She was a tough one to pin down, so to speak.

"I'm great, couldn't be better. Kicking ass and not really bothering to take names. I have a match with Akashi coming up." She didn't mean to mention that, but it was stuck in the front of her mind and just sort of popped out. "So... been drinkin'? Are you just wobbling home from beer-town over there? Do you need me to support you while you hobble around? I'll do it, but only because I'm so much fitter than you. I try to watch out for the fatties."

She didn't really know what the hell she was saying. Just rambling a little. "By yourself?" She asked plainly, the edge in her tone gone.

Lia shrugged, arching a playful eyebrow at Taylor. She forgot quite how exhausting Taylor could be. Still, you do not see people like Taylor every day... "Well, I was just afraid I was about to meet a fight-crazed psychopath out here and, look! My fears were justified." She chuckled softly, "Isn't it past your bed time?"

Lia glanced around, finally really bothering to take in her surroundings. Oh, I'm in a park. Who put this park here? How did I miss it? "Oh, yeah... totally drunk. Drunk off my ass." Lia quipped, feigning a bit of a half-hearted fake-drunken stumble. She immediately dropped that act and began looking around, taking in the scenery, the places to hide (Old habits), the stars, and finally turning back to Taylor. "I... uh, I did see your fights recently. You've definitely gotten a LOT better at the whole 'not throwing your face at the other girl's fist' routine. Not bad, really." Lia shrugged, putting back on the dopey grin, "At least I think so. I don't know much about all this fighting."

"Still, that fight with that bitch with the guitar? Totally badass..." She gave Taylor a thumbs up, "Except for the part where Akashi stopped it. That totally sucked."

"Wait, the badass part was me owning that girl or me getting the shit beat out of my by two girls and a guitar?" Taylor asked, arching an eyebrow. She'd forgotten how exhausting Lia was. "And dude, I have got better and stuff, but the first match was a total fluke and the second I was outnumbered. We've been over this." She added, annoyed.

"Oh, yeah, I've seen all of your matches lately too. All zero of them. You did great." She added just to be snarky, but she also realized that she was a bit flattered that Lia had seen her fights. She wasn't sure anyone took any notice.

The song ended on her iPod and [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6aPKt2R2Bc:2r2e5v94]As I Lay Dying[/url:2r2e5v94] started to play, but she didn't have the energy for it so she skipped ahead to her supply of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ya7ZRlrEo:2r2e5v94]Frank Sinatra[/url:2r2e5v94]. It helped her relax a bit. Frank always did. She eyed the goofy bunny-girl in front of her. "You're a pretty bad actor, ya know. What are... what are you doing here? You're obviously not from Japan."

"Oh, the part where you were about to get your skull caved in. That was the most badass, up until sumo girl ruined it." Lia replied with an almost too matter-of-fact delivery.

Lia shrugged, "I've been keeping busy with other things... Like watching your matches... Man, you are just a fighting machine." Lia sat down on the bench and grinned at Taylor, "Besides, my first two fights were probably the limit of my fighting ability anyway."

Lia's rabbit ears perked up at Taylor's pointed question. "Me? Dude, you're clearly not Japanese. The general manager's a psychotic Kraut who deserves a sledgehammer lobotomy and an auger up the ass for good measure. Our boss is a woman named Sellers. I've seen just up and down the hallways cowgirls, ex-mercenaries, American soldiers, Cubans, and people from other countries that if I admitted to knowing where they were on a map, I'd have to turn in my 'American' card. This place is a melting pot of nutjobs."

Lia leaned back in the bench and took a deep breath after that spiel, "I mean, hell, I could probably count the amount of actual Japanese people I've seen on my fingers and toes. Worse, if I were here looking for a sane person, I'd be out of luck." Lia froze, wondering why she was dropping backhanded hints to Taylor. She really did not trust the punk as much as she would have liked... Maybe Taylor was right. Lia was getting to be a crummy actress.

Lia suddenly took on a serious look, "Alright. Who are you and what have you done with Sparky? We've gone about ninety seconds and somehow I'm the only annoying one in the area. You haven't made an ass of yourself even ONCE. Are you feeling okay?"

Taylor wrinkled her nose at the comment about her near-death experience. She had serious doubts about her ability to tell when Lia was being genuine.

"That's not what I meant. You don't fight." She said, somewhat quietly. "How can you be Friction if you don't fight? At least, I haven't seen any of your fights. Well, except for that one... that was pretty funny. But yeah, I feel fine. Great. Ya know. Couldn't be better. Maybe I'm just tired or maybe I'm growing up or something. You're definitely not."

"So anyway," Taylor said, standing up off the bench with her hands still in the pockets of her sweatshirt. "You didn't actually answer the question. What are you doing here? Did you come here to go after a career in pro wrestling and then change your mind after your first couple matches? In that case, why are you still here?" Taylor wasn't sure why she was going after that point the way she was, but with all the uncertainty she had about Lia, she had to know.

Lia leaned forward, letting out a chuckle of annoyance at Taylor's persistence. She brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear, facing Taylor now with a smile that betrayed annoyance. Taylor was getting somewhere, at least.

"Good question. How can you hold a conversation without a brain?" Lia quipped icily, "Maybe I'm a pervert who just wants to watch nubile young women beat and rape each other. Hm? Maybe I'm well past my prime? Maybe I've got loads of cash sequestered away and I don't give a shit? Maybe I'm here because my one true love loves this shit more than anything? Maybe I'm a secret agent about to bust this whole ring wide open? Maybe I'm employed on the side by a certain super rich bastard working here?"

Lia stood up, taking a breath before continuing, "But, I can tell you one thing I am not. I am not someone who tells her life story to someone who has no business knowing it, an abrasive, histrionic little punk whose principle response to friendly chatter is just a few screaming fits shy and a few pathetic attempts to pick a fight beyond a full nervous breakdown."

Lia shrugged her shoulders, and, in a second, seemed to recover her cool, too cute demeanor once more. "Besides, why so interested in a wrestler who doesn't know anything about fighting? Is it the ears?" Lia wiggled her rabbit ears back and forth, flopping them against the back of her head and her forehead. "You were digging this much back at the bar and I thought you'd get the hint THEN."

Taylor laughed under her breath. "Wow. Dude. Uncool." She shook her head, a hint of a sneer appearing on her face.

She pulled her hood down, revealing her bright blue hair. Tonight was a rare occasion in which is was loose, it was just the sort of mood she was in. She took a step toward Lia. "Look, maaaan. I ask you one little question... you could've just said that you liked the food. You wig out on me and start insulting me with words that I don't know the meaning of and stuff. Get a grip.

"It's not even like I care, but, ya know, why not talk about stuff? We're both here and all and I can't imagine that many people can really tolerate that dentist drill personality of yours. I don't know what your problem is, or what you're trying to keep from people with your whole get-up and your crazy-person bunny ears, and to be honest, I don't care." She took another step forward, standing right in front of Lia.

"But... I don't like your attitude." She placed her hands on Lia's shoulders and gave her a rough shove. She grinned mischievously. "I wonder how much of you is too scared to show itself?"

Once again, Taylor was working circles around Lia, making her lash out like a rank amateur. The punkette was getting under her skin. That took tenacity.

Lia sighed after a deep breath, "You're talking to me about wigging out. That's rich."

Lia stumbled back from the shove, righting herself, scowling at Taylor. "And now, you talking about my attitude. Riiiight." The game plan of trying to lay low, act unimpressive was not really working with this one. It really was not Lia's strong suit anyway. Lia was not big on pointless fighting, especially with people as unreliable and unpredictable as Taylor, but it appeared Taylor was dead set on it. "Thaaat's me. Just a big ol' scared rabbit." Lia's tone, icy glare, and smug smile did not suggest any such fear. She stood her ground, almost daring Taylor to step forward. If Taylor wanted this fight, she would have to start it. Lia expected the punk to oblige.