But if You Close Your Eyes

Talia stepped off the train with the aid of her crutches. She was wearing a heavy black coat over a pink Hello Kitty sweater. She was wearing black jeans and Uggs to shield her from the cold. Winter in Japan was much colder than California. She didn't like it. But, it was her last Winter here so she was determined to enjoy it the best she could. Ironically, it was the first time she was in Kyoto without any specific thing to do. She had a list of places she wanted to see, and she didn't care what she looked like.

She hobbled her way out of the train station and onto a bus. For the first time, she deliberately sat at the window so she could see everything as it passed by. The city was eerily beautiful. Modern skyscrapers only blocks from traditional buildings. Welcoming the new while preserving the old seemed like something poets just wrote about. Somehow places like this managed to embody that. There were plenty of places she wanted to go and see today. It would've helped to have somebody with her but today was going to be her day. She knew she didn't have to be alone anymore. But at least for this she wanted to be by herself.

Suddenly her stomach growled. And she knew she needed to eat first. She got off the bus in the center of the city. It was a familiar place to her already thanks to her short time in Tension. Only a few blocks away was the Tension arena. And right in front of her...the ramen place Johnny took Talia when they. She came up to the entrance and unfortunately no one could see her through the large wooden door. She balanced on one foot and leaned one of her crutches on the wall. She tried to open the door but it was too heavy for her.

Kyoto had one foot in the modern age, and one foot in the classics. Zak was half Japanese, and he grew up in the bustling American metroplex that was Washington DC. Any parallels between the place and the man were completely lost on him, though, he didn't have time to think about stuff like that. Newly arrived in Japan, making his triumphant return after having been away for almost his whole life, he was a man on a mission.

He patrolled the sidewalks of the city to get acquainted with it and certain people, certain kinds of people, but so far... nothing. The cold December air left him disappointed, as people bundled themselves up beyond recognition and hurried from place to place. Ruddy cheeked, he kept his hands in his pockets and the hood of his silver and black puffy coat up, and didn't even notice the slush on the sidewalk with his Timberlands on. He wasn't cold, and he knew he looked good.

He rounded a corner and was about to cross the street when he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. He backed up several steps and turned to see a girl, a white girl with crutches and Uggs, struggling to open the door to... well, whatever it was.

He smiled, and then put his game face on, leaned to one side, and swaggered up behind her.

"Hey, lemme grab this for you, baby doll," he said in his smoothest voice. It was deeper than one would expect for someone barely an inch taller than the petite girl, but not by much. He pulled the door open for her and gave her an enticing smile. "You come here often?"

Talia was more relieved than anything else when someone was nice enough to finally open the door for her. It was more than a little surprising, though. Not only did the man speak fluent English, but he seemed...not quite Japanese. He looked mixed in some way. "Thank you," Talia nodded with a smile. "Umm, not really actually. I've been here once before with...well with someone else." She grabbed her crutches and hobbled into the ramen house. Thankfully, a booth opened up just as they walked in so she knew she wouldn't have to sit at the bar with these two sticks leaning against it.

A waitress walked up to the two and gestured for them to sit down in the open booth. "Table for two?" she asked. Despite the question, she proceeded to place silverware on the table and walked away as if the answer was assumed to be yes.

"Oh...umm..." Talia stuttered unsure how to resolve the awkwardness. There weren't any other open seats in the restaurant. "You can take it..." she said to the nice man. He held the door open for her anyways. At the very least she should pay the kindness forward.

Up close, Zak was able to get a good look at Talia, and she was... alright. Kind of messy, not really put together or anything. Nice eyes, or whatever. But as she walked past him into the restaurant, he leaned back just enough to check out her...

Whoooo! He silently made the face. God damn! Well... the coat was still kind of in the way, but still, he could tell. "Yeah? This is my first time, but it looks pretty good so far. I might even make it a regular thing." He winked, but of course she wasn't looking at him at the time.

He pulled down his hood and walked in behind her, and didn't even hesitate when the waitress approached. He nodded, and followed along to the booth. He made a mental note to drop that chick one hell of a tip... except he was mostly broke after just moving to Japan. Maybe she'd settle for a fist bump.

"Aw, don't be like that. You said you were here before, right? Last time it was with someone else, this time you're here with me. Doesn't look like we have a choice, anyway." The place was packed. He couldn't believe his luck. There was only one thing left to do, and that was toss out the bait.

He pulled off his puffy coat and tossed it in the back of the booth. Underneath, he wore baggy jeans with a big black belt and a tight gray t-shirt, chosen specifically to highlight the physique that earned him... well, nothing, but it showed off his rippling muscles and impressive pecs. This chick was so in the bag.

"C'mon, sit down. Just a couple Americans chillin' in the middle of Japan. What are the odds, right? Want me to carry you?"

Talia watched the man make his way to the booth. Drat. She'd have to wait. Or not. She cracked a smile and was about to shake her head. But she didn't since the man was kinda right. She didn't want to spend the day waiting for another booth to open up. She couldn't believe she was about to do this. "I guess so. What's the harm, right?" Immediately, she hobbled over to the booth just to avoid answering his last question. She took off her coat and threw it in the booth. She gripped the table to balance herself as she sat down and pulled the crutches under the table.

Talia looked at the menu already placed on the table. She looked down the list and instantly recognized the item Johnny ordered the two of them over a year before. Her gaze drifted up and to the bar where they sat. It felt like a lifetime ago. Things felt so promising back then. Catching herself before getting too deep into the thought, Talia looked across the table at the man. He wasn't dressed the same way she was. He was dressed like a style-ish...jersey shore cast member. She was more...lazy college student. She stared at him for a second before shifting her eyes back up.

"Yea...there aren't many people around who I don't have to struggle to understand..." The unfortunate part was that all those she could easily understand...weren't people she wanted to talk to. "What brings you to Japan...mister..."

Zak spread his arms out across the back of the seat and thoughtlessly propped up his snowy boots on the seat across, next to Talia. He moved his long braid so it ran in front of his shoulder instead of being stuck between his back and the seat, and then smiled at Talia. He didn't bother looking at a menu.

"Zak," he said, and nearly beamed at the question. He had to play it cool, though. He tried a modest smile. "Oh, ya know. Just a little business venture, no big deal." His eyes crept over her, somewhat conspicuously. "And what's your name, baby girl? You here with somebody?" He assumed she was a tourist. It must suck to visit a place with a broken leg or whatever.

Talia crossed her arms and grinned at Zak. "My name is Talia." At least now she knew the baby girl talk was just the way he spoke. "No, I'm...I'm here alone today." This time it was by choice but not long ago it wasn't. It was odd being in this restaurant once more with some guy she had only just met. Acting on a whim didn't end well the last time she did it. At least this time she knew any consequences probably wouldn't last too long.

"I actually live up in Tokyo. I'm just visiting Kyoto for the day. I've been here for...almost two years now and I've never actually gone sight seeing, believe it or not. I felt like I owed it to myself." The waitress walked up to their table and asked in Japanese what they wanted. Talia simply pointed to the item on her menu. It was the same thing Johnny had ordered for her. It was weird heeding his advice after all they went through...but at least she learned what was good at this place out of it.

"So...what's this business venture of yours?"

"Talia, huh?" Zak said, slyly looking Talia over. The name fit, and he nodded his approval. "Yeah, that sounds right. But where you been hidin'? How's a sweet li'l thing like you all by yourself?"

He pointed just like Talia and ordered the same thing as her, and the waitress just smiled and nodded before walking away. He put on a smirk that couldn't possibly have been any more smug, he was hoping Talia would ask him that. She shifted in his seat and prepared to rock Talia's world.

"Babe, I'm a pro wrestler. I just moved to Japan for a step up in competition," he checked to see if she was impressed, and then flexed one of his considerable biceps in front for her. "You ever thought about doing any wrestling? I mean, god damn, you got the body for it."

As much as she appreciated Zak's wording, she didn't much enjoy answering the question. Because I'm batshit crazy. "I dunno actually...I guess I was too focused on my career to look for people, you know?" She wasn't going to go any further into the career until Zak happened to mention something interesting. She placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her fist.

"A professional wrestler you say?" She asked pretending to be interested. It didn't surprise her in hindsight. He was very well built and a bit over zealous. All he needed was a sadist or rapist attitude and he'd fit right in with the tension roster. "Oh? You think I have the body for it? I dunno...I've always felt a bit too small to get by in wrestling." Admittedly, she enjoyed being noticed for that. Not many others ever mentioned it. "Have you wrestled at all yet?"

Zak nodded. "That's right," he said casually. She was totally into him now, he could tell by the way she was leaning forward and stuff and acting all interested. She wanted it bad.

"Nah, not yet. Why? You wanna make some plans for my debut?" He grinned. "I bet you'd do just fine. Well, aside from your leg or whatever, but don't worry," he put his boots back on the floor and leaned forward to prop his elbows on the table. "I'd be gentle."

He leaned back again and laughed. "So what's up with the crutches, anyway? You twist your ankle playing soccer or somethin'?"