Back To Work

A deep scowl darkened Taylor's face. Tai's attitude was like a light turning red just before you pull up to it, and she didn't show up to waste her time standing still. It was entirely possible that she was being unreasonable, but unreasonable was exactly what someone had to be to succeed in a place as bat shit fucking crazy as AFW.

"Look, Betty." She said with a petulant note. "Everyone walking by this gym right now can tell that you're not in good shape and you're not up to getting all this perfect right away. But it's like... it's like if you're running a marathon... right? You're running a marathon and halfway through you're just done. But it doesn't matter if you have to crawl an inch at a time, or if it takes you a year, you finish the race. You have to, because if you don't..."

Her eyes wandered up and to the right and glazed over as she thought it over. Then what? Taylor realized that she had imagined her marathon with a few people in front of her, and she was struggling to catch up with them. The rest of them were behind her, chasing her, and she couldn't let them catch her. It was like she had imagined running a marathon with a hundred angry, hungry cannibals.

She gave Tai a look like a scowl, just with her eyes. "If you don't, you end up like me." She said, with a horrible sense of finality. What if she'd just got up after Heather rolled out of the way of her 20' high suicide dive? Did she really not have it in her? Couldn't she just have dug a little deeper? Those thoughts had kept her up every night after the initial shock of being injured sunk in.

Tai was just getting up after her stomp on him to glare at her, stopping as he stood to listen to Taylor's marathon metaphor. A part of him wanted to be sarcastic and mention that nobody has to deal with their running coach randomly attacking them during their training, but kept silent as she continued, noticing the far off look in her eye as her sentence faded off.

When she finally finished, Tai stayed silent, letting her message sink in. Truth be told, he hadn't been giving it his all for a long time. He had become to complacent in simple hentai bouts, too unfocused. He had allowed himself to be lazy and stay in the middle of the race, instead of improving himself. Rather then get up and keep going, he would stop when things got tough and became a punching bag for his opponents.

Looking at Taylor, he figured what must be going through her head. Questions. Crippling doubt of her ability and skills. The same doubt that had been going through his head for nearly two years now.

Tai could have tried to say something. Tried to offer comfort, tell her that it she had fought hard in her match, which he later watched through the internet, that it was hardly her fault for losing with an injury, or for failing to get up after a 20 foot fall. He could have told her that she was honestly one of the toughest and best fighters he had ever been in the ring against, and that he respected her for it.

He could have said anything. He could of patted her arm, done something to show he understood. But he didn't. Maybe he was worried she would be insulted, or just brush it off as nothing. Maybe he felt that she wouldn't listen, judging that his opinion was worthless, as he was much further down the hole then she was, having proven he didn't have the ability then just doubting it. Maybe she would think he was coming on to her. Maybe he thought she would just dropkick kick him again.

Either way he didn't say anything. After a second of silence, He let out a deep sigh a deep sigh and faced the heavy back, bending his knees and jumping, attempting another dropkick, hitting the ground and getting up to attempt another one.

Failure to provide friendship and comfort aside, he had heard her message.

He understood.

For now, perhaps, that would be enough.