So, How's Life?

"He doesn't mean that!" Said Taylor from the couch with a grin.

Clyde jumped a bit the moment the front door swung open and in came Johnny hollering about, startling the cowboy slightly but he was quick to play it off like nothing happened, even though he'd be a liar to say he wasn't a bit shocked when he got a better look at the guy he drunkenly picked a fight with a while ago. Since when were Japanese kids that massive!? Weren't they just good at math? "Salutations." Clyde muttered plainly at the spiky haired dude. Now he felt REALLY awkard, Taylor's attire and the looks the newlyweds were giving eachother made Clyde consider arriving a bit later in the day. He'd make note of this if he ever made any other unscheduled visits.

"It's no problem, really. I just wanted to give y'all my best wishes and congratulate y'all and stuff. Heh." He replied to Johnny and Taylor mostly with a nervous scratch to the back of his head as they spoke of his deed just before Johnny walked up to Clyde and slapped his shoulder with his strong arm, making Clyde's body suddenly lean to one side like he was being pulled down. "Jesus Christ what does he eat!?" Clyde thought with wide eyes, rubbing his shoulder briefly as Johnny walked past him to head towards Taylor, Clyde quickly turned away out of respect as he expected an intimate greeting between the two.

"Huh? Uh oh. Yeah I'd love some. Thank you." Clyde responded to the offer for breakfast as politely as he could, though he was quite surprised. Johnny had every reason to want to him out the door and was being hospitable. It made Clyde feel a bit crummy knowing he started shit with both of them in the hotel. He was also aware that he was never as forgiving and would not have done the same for Johnny.

"Huh? N-Naw! Naw! I ain't ever been kidnapped!" He lied to Taylor. Heather kidnapped him and Lilly did as well. Saying almost kidnapped sounded a bit better in his eyes. "Don't matter if he means it or not! He's right! They ain't nuthin' but trouble, man..." He said with a sigh. He wondered if Lilly was looking for him. Maybe she forgot about him and moved on to some other poor soul?

"So how y'all been so far?" Clyde asked the couple before turning to Taylor. You had one helluva fight with She-Honda and took some hard licks, Missy... Be honest, you're just takin' time off ta' heal up, right?" Clyde asked curiously.

"Well..." Said Taylor, looking at Johnny with a sly smile. "I am trouble, but that's not all." She laughed, but her smile quickly faded when Clyde brought up her last match.

"Yeah, dude, I busted the shit out of her face in two matches, and I've got dick to show for it. Like, what the hell, man? Brittany and the other chick had to come rain on my parade, and Akashi... Um, I don't really want to talk about that match too much." She said meekly, pulling her feet up on the couch in front of her with her legs pressed together and her arms folded tightly over her stomach as she slouched on the couch.

"But yeah, I'm healing up and everything, but I just know that I don't want to fight anymore. Right now, I don't want to fight. I just don't have it, ya know? That thing that's wrong in your brain that makes you want to run into a ring with some crazy chicks in front of thousands and thousands of people who watch you all try to kill each other. I don't have that. Although..." Although she missed it every single day. It was such a hard thing to walk away from, the exhilaration, the intensity, the struggle, the triumph. She'd never felt as alive in a single moment as she did in the ring, even if it was a bad time. Not even with Johnny, though she'd never tell him that. Not that she'd trade her Johnny-time for all the ring time in the world.

"I'm just doing my thing, now, man. I got more calls from like, TV shows and companies and shit looking for my agent then I ever did when I was actually somebody. It's weird. I went on a couple, and it was weird. I'm gonna have to find someone to help me figure all that stuff out, because I'll need money and everything. Oh! Maybe Mercy can help? What ever happened with you two, anyway?"

Clyde nodded in agreement as Taylor said she didn't want to talk about her last match. He didn't know all the history with her and Akashi, nor did he intend to pry, but from he saw it was quite the emotional encounter. He'd respect her wishes. He frowned deeply though as she stated that she did not want to fight anymore, that she didn't have it. "What the fuck..." He thought while shifting in place, letting out a sigh while running a hand through his hair, but he heard her out before speaking.

Listening to the rest of Taylor's statement's, Clyde's face was stoic, standing there looking at Taylor with a hand on his chin like some detective in deep thought, for once keeping his mind focused on something else other than Mercy when her named was mentioned, granted he thought fondly of her in a brief moment, maybe Taylor would even see Clyde smile as he heard her name before he went back to a frown of sorts.

"I'm sure she'd love to help you in any way, Parker. Really. " Clyde answered her with an encouraging tone, knowing Mercy thought quite positively of Taylor. At least it seemed that way. "We went to Harajuku. I had fun." Clyde said quickly. Of Course he didn't really know the 'situation' with her either, but he wasn't here to think about that. At least not yet.

"Hmm. Rocky II." Clyde stated with a nod and wide smirk while looking at Taylor. "You're living Rocky II. You quit after yo' best fight and you gon' be doin commercials and shit but in time you'll be back in the ring! I mean... How old you said you was? 22? Ain't that a bit early to call it quits, man?" Clyde said with a somewhat pleading tone before turning to Johnny.

"Higurashi! Help me out here, man! Ain't she wastin' her talent quitin' so damn early!?" Clyde asked Johnny

"And I know You don't mean that 'I used to be somebody' shit. Cuz you know you'd be sounding like me and shit." Said the Cowboy aloud in an amused manner. He was supposed to be the nobody here, not Taylor.

While Clyde and Taylor were talking, Johnny was in the kitchen starting breakfast. He was making rice and broiling fish. There were some other ingredients out as well. Soon the kitchen would be smelling pretty good. Though he was trying to learn how to make more western food for Taylor, he was still mostly used to the Japanese stuff he ate most of his life, even though he had grown to like a lot of the western stuff as well. To go along with the fish, he was cooking some sausage and trying some hashed browns as well.

"Huh?" Johnny asked stepping in and hearing part of the conversation. "When were you ever somebody, dude?" He teased with a wide grin. He then looked past him at Taylor. "The longer she decides to stay retired the longer she spends her nights wrestlin me instead of some chick in tight clothing. Not that that's entirely a bad thing either." He said with an even wider grin.

Taylor's radiant grin couldn't possibly have got any bigger. She leaned forward on the couch with her legs still folded to see around into the kitchen at Johnny. As much as she found him irresistible, his broad, muscular shoulders and chiseled abs, she absolutely adored him for his gentle spirit. He was nothing like her in the best possible way. Probably he was more of a reason for her retirement than anything. Around him, she just melted and the anger that used to drive her to fight didn't stand a chance.

"How do you know what my talent is, cowboy?" She said, finally looking back to Clyde. "I sure as hell hope it isn't that, man. I sucked." She laughed. "I've got to be good for something else. I dunno, just put me on a stage and I'll make something happen, ya know? Cameras don't scare me, so that's got to be good for something. Or maybe Johnny will just get by on his looks and I'll be right there golddigging the shit out of him." She joked with a warm grin.

She picked up her legs to lounge on her side on the couch and rested her chin on her folded hands. "I dunno, man. I just don't. I can't say I don't miss it. But... I don't miss it. You know what I mean, right? Maybe you're not like me, though, and that's probably for the best. I'd end up killing myself if I kept going with that shit. I just... I can't ever settle, ya know, and when it isn't up to me... it can be hard. I just can't be second best, let alone ninth!" She said with a bitter laugh. "Fuck that."

Then she brightened up again and looked up at Clyde. "Oh! Do you have Mercy's number? Do you think she'd want to hang out sometime? Like... today?"

"Cause all you used to talk 'bout was 'I'ma Fighter! I train 25 Hours a Day! You're Short! Nah Nah Nah!" Clyde added as he pointed a finger at Taylor while giving his poor imitation of her. "Shit, I'd kill to be livin' Rocky II. It's the happiest one!" Said Clyde as he listened to what else Taylor had to say in regards to her situation which he had to admit made some sense to him, she lost the will the to fight apparently. Clyde understood that since wasn't sure why he was still wrestling when he lost one reason to continue doing so when she left him behind. Not that he regretted that as much now a days.

"There's always gon' be someone better though... The Rankings are shit anyway!" Clyde said with a sigh and shrug. He didn't feel right lecturing Taylor as he was not her elder nor her parent and he didn't come here to get in someone's face. He had been welcomed in the couple's home and offered breakfast by them. They could have rejected him buy they did not so he tried to not push the subject on Taylor right away, even if it did upset him.

Clyde eye twitched at Johnny's remark and he quickly turned to the would-be chef of the house. "Since the day's I's born ya dang ol'... That Fish?" Of course Clyde knew the scent! He used to fish a lot back home and he knew the smell! He didn't waste time leaving his spot in front of Taylor to venture into the kitchen to see that Johnny was prepping fish of all things... For Breakfast. "Yeah yeah she'd love to hang out with a lot, man. Just call the office or something..." Clyde suggested as he was too busy being nosy with the food.

"...Higurashi... Pardon me, hombre but... Do you always have Fish and... Rice for breakfast?" Clyde asked out of curiosity, it was kind of weird, he asked this before he tried to sling an arm around Higurashi and try to get in his ear.

"Hey Pal just a one little question here... You don't do ALL the cookin' here, do ya?" Clyde asked in a whisper.

Johnny was only half listening to what Clyde and Taylor were talking about. The food was what he was working on at the moment. When Clyde wandered in and started asking questions, ohnny looked at him like he was from another planet. "Uhhh... yeah man, like every day... This is Japan dude. Fish and Rice pretty much come with every meal..."

Johnny then raised an eyebrow at Clyde's words what was he getting at? Cooking food was no big deal. He shrugged. "Mostly just breakfast." He added. "Why ya askin, man?" He said knowing what Clyde was getting at.

Clyde looked at Johnny like he had just been told that pigs are born with rollerskates. "...Whut about Bacon and Eggs? ...And Toast." He asked a wounded yet hopeful expression.

Clyde's eyes then narrowed at Johnny's answer like he didn't know what he was getting at. "Ain't you bringin' home the bread now, man? Ain't it the lady who's supposed to cook?" Clyde asked in a whisper. He wasn't scared of Taylor but he wasn't that dumb. She could hit really hard with her goddamn knee.

"He wants to know if you're my bitch." Taylor called from the couch. "The answer is no. I'm Johnny's bitch. You're my bitch. Remember? Remember when I made you my bitch?"

She reached for her phone on an end table and started scrolling through her contacts. She'd forgotten that she probably had Mercy's number. And clearly Clyde did not.

"Oh, yeah, I got Mercy's number right here, muchacho. That's right. I got her number. How do you like them apples? And if she's anything like the rest of AFW, I could probably pick her up faster than you, too. I'm like Spanish goddamn fly to those weirdos." She leaned around the corner again to see Johnny. "What do you think, Jun-Bug, three way with little pinky? I bet she's just waiting for someone to turn her loose, man. We could use the handcuffs." She said with a lopsided grin, checked out Johnny's butt, and then lazily rolled off the couch onto the floor.

"I'mmmm hungryyyyyyy..." She quietly pitifully moaned in a quiet, funny little voice.