Post by styg on Jul 19, 2014 23:00:20 GMT -6
"Leo... Nessa... this is my unimpressed face."
It's a very good unimpressed face, conveying total evenness of expression despite the insanely flamboyant makeup all over it.
This particular promotional video opens on two women in their mid-twenties. The shorter one with the wavy dark brown hair and the tensely folded arms is dressed in dark blue jeans and a lilac-grey hoodie, and fastened around her waist is a golden championship belt. Her compatriot, the one in the turquoise tee with the holographic pink dolphin pattern and the psychedelic grass-and-flower print tights, with the messy black bob with the fringe, has a title belt too. The way it's slung over her shoulder is as casual as her knowingly louche stance. She raises her hand from her hips and 'ch-chks' at the screen, winking as she shoots a finger gun at us.
"Don't worry," she says quickly and reassuringly, "I'm not unimpressed by your talent. I know what you guys can do. Leo... I wish I could've had the chance to make some beautiful art with you in PDW. Your title unification match with Zero? Beautiful. Four and a half stars. Lacked a little something, a little something like yours truly... but that was still one hell of an exhibition of the hardcore art, and anyone who can dance like that with Zero McHannon in a Bloodshed match to three full falls is someone I want my chance at creating art with. Not to mention, obviously, you took the Cyber Championship off someone who completely hates me to death, so I have to give you respect for that," she adds with another wink, without breaking her flow as she continues,"As for Vanessa - I've seen your work too. Lotta people dismiss me as a high flier, but I promise I know my way around the mat too, an' Vanessa, I can recognise a master of the chain game when I see one. I've seen you get screwed in Sin City, seen you win gold in ASWF where my old tag team partner Isabella Sanchez used to stomp around... I like what I see. Hell, somethin' about you reminds me of me, even," she says, and it really genuinely sounds like a compliment, "I dunno what it is, exactly, an' y'know maybe a me who's a bit faster - or a lot faster - and who doesn't find the idea of bein' motivated by money to be utterly pathetically laughable, but something there anyway. I wouldn't mind finding out just what it is," she admits, "No... I'm not unimpressed by the idea of you challenging us for your titles. I'm excited to kill two birds with one stone... well, six, but I'll get to the other four in a bit... and join forces with you in searing indelible images into the retinas of the fans packing out Korakuen Hall, which just so happens to be one of my favourite, favourite places to make masterworks in the world."
The other woman, in case you're wondering, is still just standing there with her arms folded.
"I'm not unimpressed by the way you won the EXODUS Pro Tag Team Championship, either," continues our apparent host, "I mean, you're backstage, right? Mindin' your own business. An' someone says 'You, ring, now. Title match. Chop chop.' It'd be rude to say no, right? Anyone would've done the same. I ain't gonna stand here an' judge you for that." She pauses for a moment, smirking, then concludes: "No... what has me unimpressed is the fact we're not gonna be able to take the Tag Team Championship off Kameron Chase."
"See," her friend says as she takes over without warning, "We've kinda been buttin' heads with him a bit lately. You've prob'ly noticed that."
"Yeeaah..." muses the gaudy and fast-talking half of our duo thoughtfully, "It's fair to say we ain't squealing, badge-wearing members of the Kameron Chase fan club. Now, we do fully appreciate that's not what you'd call a rare and special opinion. The ol' Natural Disaster probably doesn't feature on a grand many EXODUS wrestlers' Christmas card lists. But myself an' Evangelista here, our issues with him, well... they go way back. Way back. Way way way back. No, even further back than you're thinkin'."
"2010, 2011."
The woman in the turquoise dolphin tee rolls her eyes. "Urgh, way to kill the mystique, Ell." And then she shakes her head for a second before continuing, "Okay, yes, it's actually been about four years. It's a shame," she sighs. "Because honestly, we've had good times with Kameron. We used to party with him. Got drunk with him, got high with him. Hell, even fucked him a few times," she shrugs.
Evangelista clears her throat and cuts in, "I haven't. Fucked him, I mean. Just... wanted to put that out there."
"Yeah, I've fucked him. He's good. I kinda miss it, to be honest. But c'est la vie. Shit happened that ruined our friendship, like it always does with Kam. Like every friendship he's ever had."
She bites the inside of her cheek, sucking in breath for a moment. "But I have a confession... unlike all his other collapsed friendships, unlike why pretty much everyone else in EXODUS hates him... this one wasn't actually Kam's fault. In pains me to admit this, but we were the ones in the wrong. I know, I know. Hard to believe Kameron ever being in the right, right? But it happened. And I don't blame him for still being mad at us. We know the magnitude of what we did. We understand how much we betrayed him, and others. But it's in the past now, and we're trying to move on. We're trying to make up for certain mistakes we made. He doesn't have to like it. He doesn't have to like us. But attackin' our opponents after a match, then attackin' us when we call him on it? I ain't about to have that. Call me fatalistic if you will, but I think a showdown between me and him's been in the aether a long time an' if this is how it condenses into crystal, so be it." Then she shrugs and adds, "But thanks to what happened on EXPRO nineteen, it won't be at Ascendency."
She pauses, cold grey eyes twinkling, then holds up a finger. "Y'know what, let's skip back to the start. My name is Laurel Anne Hardy and this right here," she gestures up and down at her friend, "Is my beautiful assistant, Evangelista."
"Ugh."
"Together we're known as Dragons Unleashed, formerly The UK Dragons. Before that, Fontaine & Guerra. Those were... those were our ring names back then. Laurel Guerra and Leanne Fontaine. We, uh, weren't very good with names back then. Leanne hadn't even named her finishers," admits Laurel with faux-sheepishness, and Leanne shrugs apologetically a little too. "Whatever you call us, though, some appellations are inseparable from us. We are, with absolutely no hyperbole, the greatest tag team in FRONTIER history. We are the greatest tag team in WARPED history. And this coming Monday at Korakuen Hall, our campaign to be the greatest tag team in EXODUS history begins."
"Something we need to make clear at this point," adds Evangelista, "Is we're not here to smash and grab. We're here to test ourselves against one of the most impressive rosters in the world today."
"We're here to introduce our art to a new audience. To ignite the atmosphere with displays of athletic prowess that will be sung of in legend for aeons to come."
"We're here, just as in FRONTIER, just as in FGA, to contribute positively to EXODUS and do everything we can to be the competitors it deserves."
"What we are not here to do," says Laurel, "Is win the titles and then vanish back to FRONTIER... there's been enough of that kinda talk between these two companies lately, don't you think? That ain't our business. We're entertainers, not footsoldiers. It's time to think about how we can move forward productively, and start mending bridges. And what better way than by having the biggest icons in FRONTIER's three years to date compete full time with EXODUS too? We don't say that as impending conquerors. We say it with respect and love."
"We're good, and EXODUS is good. It's as simple as that," says Evangelista, perhaps for fear that Laurel will never stop speaking given the chance.
Not that she hasn't still got plenty to say, clearly. "We're the only people in this match at Ascendency unable to say they've been EXODUS Pro Tag Team Champions, but consarn it, we're gonna be changing that in just a few days. I'm sorry, Mr and Mrs Miracles, that your incredible feat of winning the EXODUS Pro Tag Team Championship in your debut match is about to be repeated by someone else. But hey! You'll still be able to say you did it, right? And I wasn't kidding when I said we're excited to face you. We would be even if this wasn't for the big deuce. Just like TROUBLE, just like Short Change Heroes. Two teams, three men and one woman, who are threats to tag team championships any time they share a roster. Steve, Wulf, Abby and Johnny - we have the utmost respect for all of you. You all good people. You all fight the good fight - and there are so many fights in EXODUS, don't you think?"
"The fact you're all former Tag Team Champions here," adds Evangelista, "And that some of you have held singles titles here too, speaks to your talent."
Laurel smirks. "As for us? Who are we to walk into EXODUS after one match where we weren't even on the roster and get a title shot? Are TROUBLE an' Short Change Heroes lookin' at us, and at Generation of Miracles, and askin' why we're straight to top of the scene they've been the anchors of for so long?"
"Well..."
"Kinda already went over this, but... we're former GFC World Tag Team Champions together. We're former WARPED Tag Team Champions together. And we're just itching to complete the set. You want proof our skill? Yes, we had a little stnank against Dangerous Minds a while back, but we've beaten the Godfathers of Wrestling before. Jonathan Collins and Andreas "Ellipses" Lasiewciz, a former EXODUS World Champion if I'm not mistaken along with roughly a billion other world titles. And your girl here, she holds a victory over another EXODUS World Champion - specifically, the current one. That shiny gold around her waist right there? She went through Christum Furor, and ten other people, to get it." And Evangelista pats the belt as Laurel discusses it.
"Now, we're both champions already," continues Laurel, "That much we must admit. Looksee, I'm the DWF Blood Diamond Champion," she says, tapping the sticker-and-glitter-glue-decorated faceplate of the title over her shoulder, then points to the title around Evangelista's waist and says, "And Evangelista is the GFC Commonwealth Champion. That awkward moment, though: These two belts we have, they don't really accessorise. Come Ascendency - Monday the 19th of July, Korakuen Hall, be there - against Short Change Heroes, against TROUBLE, against Generation of Miracles... we fix that. Until then, people of EXODUS... stay fabulous."
Mix to black.
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It's a very good unimpressed face, conveying total evenness of expression despite the insanely flamboyant makeup all over it.
This particular promotional video opens on two women in their mid-twenties. The shorter one with the wavy dark brown hair and the tensely folded arms is dressed in dark blue jeans and a lilac-grey hoodie, and fastened around her waist is a golden championship belt. Her compatriot, the one in the turquoise tee with the holographic pink dolphin pattern and the psychedelic grass-and-flower print tights, with the messy black bob with the fringe, has a title belt too. The way it's slung over her shoulder is as casual as her knowingly louche stance. She raises her hand from her hips and 'ch-chks' at the screen, winking as she shoots a finger gun at us.
"Don't worry," she says quickly and reassuringly, "I'm not unimpressed by your talent. I know what you guys can do. Leo... I wish I could've had the chance to make some beautiful art with you in PDW. Your title unification match with Zero? Beautiful. Four and a half stars. Lacked a little something, a little something like yours truly... but that was still one hell of an exhibition of the hardcore art, and anyone who can dance like that with Zero McHannon in a Bloodshed match to three full falls is someone I want my chance at creating art with. Not to mention, obviously, you took the Cyber Championship off someone who completely hates me to death, so I have to give you respect for that," she adds with another wink, without breaking her flow as she continues,"As for Vanessa - I've seen your work too. Lotta people dismiss me as a high flier, but I promise I know my way around the mat too, an' Vanessa, I can recognise a master of the chain game when I see one. I've seen you get screwed in Sin City, seen you win gold in ASWF where my old tag team partner Isabella Sanchez used to stomp around... I like what I see. Hell, somethin' about you reminds me of me, even," she says, and it really genuinely sounds like a compliment, "I dunno what it is, exactly, an' y'know maybe a me who's a bit faster - or a lot faster - and who doesn't find the idea of bein' motivated by money to be utterly pathetically laughable, but something there anyway. I wouldn't mind finding out just what it is," she admits, "No... I'm not unimpressed by the idea of you challenging us for your titles. I'm excited to kill two birds with one stone... well, six, but I'll get to the other four in a bit... and join forces with you in searing indelible images into the retinas of the fans packing out Korakuen Hall, which just so happens to be one of my favourite, favourite places to make masterworks in the world."
The other woman, in case you're wondering, is still just standing there with her arms folded.
"I'm not unimpressed by the way you won the EXODUS Pro Tag Team Championship, either," continues our apparent host, "I mean, you're backstage, right? Mindin' your own business. An' someone says 'You, ring, now. Title match. Chop chop.' It'd be rude to say no, right? Anyone would've done the same. I ain't gonna stand here an' judge you for that." She pauses for a moment, smirking, then concludes: "No... what has me unimpressed is the fact we're not gonna be able to take the Tag Team Championship off Kameron Chase."
"See," her friend says as she takes over without warning, "We've kinda been buttin' heads with him a bit lately. You've prob'ly noticed that."
"Yeeaah..." muses the gaudy and fast-talking half of our duo thoughtfully, "It's fair to say we ain't squealing, badge-wearing members of the Kameron Chase fan club. Now, we do fully appreciate that's not what you'd call a rare and special opinion. The ol' Natural Disaster probably doesn't feature on a grand many EXODUS wrestlers' Christmas card lists. But myself an' Evangelista here, our issues with him, well... they go way back. Way back. Way way way back. No, even further back than you're thinkin'."
"2010, 2011."
The woman in the turquoise dolphin tee rolls her eyes. "Urgh, way to kill the mystique, Ell." And then she shakes her head for a second before continuing, "Okay, yes, it's actually been about four years. It's a shame," she sighs. "Because honestly, we've had good times with Kameron. We used to party with him. Got drunk with him, got high with him. Hell, even fucked him a few times," she shrugs.
Evangelista clears her throat and cuts in, "I haven't. Fucked him, I mean. Just... wanted to put that out there."
"Yeah, I've fucked him. He's good. I kinda miss it, to be honest. But c'est la vie. Shit happened that ruined our friendship, like it always does with Kam. Like every friendship he's ever had."
She bites the inside of her cheek, sucking in breath for a moment. "But I have a confession... unlike all his other collapsed friendships, unlike why pretty much everyone else in EXODUS hates him... this one wasn't actually Kam's fault. In pains me to admit this, but we were the ones in the wrong. I know, I know. Hard to believe Kameron ever being in the right, right? But it happened. And I don't blame him for still being mad at us. We know the magnitude of what we did. We understand how much we betrayed him, and others. But it's in the past now, and we're trying to move on. We're trying to make up for certain mistakes we made. He doesn't have to like it. He doesn't have to like us. But attackin' our opponents after a match, then attackin' us when we call him on it? I ain't about to have that. Call me fatalistic if you will, but I think a showdown between me and him's been in the aether a long time an' if this is how it condenses into crystal, so be it." Then she shrugs and adds, "But thanks to what happened on EXPRO nineteen, it won't be at Ascendency."
She pauses, cold grey eyes twinkling, then holds up a finger. "Y'know what, let's skip back to the start. My name is Laurel Anne Hardy and this right here," she gestures up and down at her friend, "Is my beautiful assistant, Evangelista."
"Ugh."
"Together we're known as Dragons Unleashed, formerly The UK Dragons. Before that, Fontaine & Guerra. Those were... those were our ring names back then. Laurel Guerra and Leanne Fontaine. We, uh, weren't very good with names back then. Leanne hadn't even named her finishers," admits Laurel with faux-sheepishness, and Leanne shrugs apologetically a little too. "Whatever you call us, though, some appellations are inseparable from us. We are, with absolutely no hyperbole, the greatest tag team in FRONTIER history. We are the greatest tag team in WARPED history. And this coming Monday at Korakuen Hall, our campaign to be the greatest tag team in EXODUS history begins."
"Something we need to make clear at this point," adds Evangelista, "Is we're not here to smash and grab. We're here to test ourselves against one of the most impressive rosters in the world today."
"We're here to introduce our art to a new audience. To ignite the atmosphere with displays of athletic prowess that will be sung of in legend for aeons to come."
"We're here, just as in FRONTIER, just as in FGA, to contribute positively to EXODUS and do everything we can to be the competitors it deserves."
"What we are not here to do," says Laurel, "Is win the titles and then vanish back to FRONTIER... there's been enough of that kinda talk between these two companies lately, don't you think? That ain't our business. We're entertainers, not footsoldiers. It's time to think about how we can move forward productively, and start mending bridges. And what better way than by having the biggest icons in FRONTIER's three years to date compete full time with EXODUS too? We don't say that as impending conquerors. We say it with respect and love."
"We're good, and EXODUS is good. It's as simple as that," says Evangelista, perhaps for fear that Laurel will never stop speaking given the chance.
Not that she hasn't still got plenty to say, clearly. "We're the only people in this match at Ascendency unable to say they've been EXODUS Pro Tag Team Champions, but consarn it, we're gonna be changing that in just a few days. I'm sorry, Mr and Mrs Miracles, that your incredible feat of winning the EXODUS Pro Tag Team Championship in your debut match is about to be repeated by someone else. But hey! You'll still be able to say you did it, right? And I wasn't kidding when I said we're excited to face you. We would be even if this wasn't for the big deuce. Just like TROUBLE, just like Short Change Heroes. Two teams, three men and one woman, who are threats to tag team championships any time they share a roster. Steve, Wulf, Abby and Johnny - we have the utmost respect for all of you. You all good people. You all fight the good fight - and there are so many fights in EXODUS, don't you think?"
"The fact you're all former Tag Team Champions here," adds Evangelista, "And that some of you have held singles titles here too, speaks to your talent."
Laurel smirks. "As for us? Who are we to walk into EXODUS after one match where we weren't even on the roster and get a title shot? Are TROUBLE an' Short Change Heroes lookin' at us, and at Generation of Miracles, and askin' why we're straight to top of the scene they've been the anchors of for so long?"
"Well..."
"Kinda already went over this, but... we're former GFC World Tag Team Champions together. We're former WARPED Tag Team Champions together. And we're just itching to complete the set. You want proof our skill? Yes, we had a little stnank against Dangerous Minds a while back, but we've beaten the Godfathers of Wrestling before. Jonathan Collins and Andreas "Ellipses" Lasiewciz, a former EXODUS World Champion if I'm not mistaken along with roughly a billion other world titles. And your girl here, she holds a victory over another EXODUS World Champion - specifically, the current one. That shiny gold around her waist right there? She went through Christum Furor, and ten other people, to get it." And Evangelista pats the belt as Laurel discusses it.
"Now, we're both champions already," continues Laurel, "That much we must admit. Looksee, I'm the DWF Blood Diamond Champion," she says, tapping the sticker-and-glitter-glue-decorated faceplate of the title over her shoulder, then points to the title around Evangelista's waist and says, "And Evangelista is the GFC Commonwealth Champion. That awkward moment, though: These two belts we have, they don't really accessorise. Come Ascendency - Monday the 19th of July, Korakuen Hall, be there - against Short Change Heroes, against TROUBLE, against Generation of Miracles... we fix that. Until then, people of EXODUS... stay fabulous."
Mix to black.
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"I dunno why you said that," said Leanne hesitantly, and Laurel turned her attention from the screen to her friend with a curious expression, "About us bein' the greatest tag team in FRONTIER history."
"Is this about Riley?" frowned Laurel.
"No, not that, I mean..." ...and Leanne sighed... "Are we? I thought the whole point of that tag against Dangerous Minds was to see for sure."
"You think they're better'n us?" asked Laurel incredulously, challengingly.
"I dunno... I mean, they beat us..." said Leanne flatly, staring into space.
Laurel paused the movie and stared her best friend's face up and down. The magnesium glare reflected in it from the screen brought out an otherworldly look in it, and made the faint embers in her eyes shimmer. She set her spoon down in the huge bowl of ice cream occupying the space between them on the sofa.
"'Greatest' isn't about wins and losses," she said, in her most sympathetically didactic tone of voice, "Who gets the loudest cheer every time they walk out through the curtain or hit a move? Us. Who do people leave every show buzzing about? Who's everyone discussin' in the foyer when it comes closing time? Us. Nobody brings the FRONTIER fans to their feet like me and you, Ell. Nobody. That's what makes us the greatest. And Chandler an' Jonathan will never have that."
Leanne didn't reply, but Laurel could tell she was thinking it over. After a silent moment, they both went back to their ice cream. Laurel had bought a huge tub on her way home from work and they were eating from the same bowl. 'Ice cream' didn't really do it justice, though. It was an overflowing volcano of dessert, a chilled cornucopia. Whipped cream, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, miniature marshmallows, sprinkles... neither had eaten much all day, but this bowl was serving them both as lunch and tea in one meal.
They'd demanded the living room to themselves for a few hours and were huddled on opposite ends of the settee, watching Legally Blonde - one of Leanne's favourite movies. They were both in their dressing gowns over the same clothes they'd been wearing all day. In Leanne's case, this meant the pyjama bottoms and old T-shirt she'd slept in the night before and had on for about thirty hours straight at this point, even under her jeans and hoodie while cutting a promo earlier.
In Laurel's case it was the uniform of the part time bartending and waitressing job she had at a hotel in the city centre, consisting of plain black shirt, plain black trousers, plain black tights and a shiny effect sky blue tie. She'd only done four hours today, which was about her usual weekly amount. She used to be full time, but flying to Japan and America for wrestling meant shows every week she didn't exactly have the time for that anymore, and most people wondered why she even bothered with the job at all. It wasn't as if she still needed the money that desperately.
Something else Leanne had wondered for a while was why Laurel generally stayed in her work uniform after getting home. For someone who could quite happily change her outfit every hour, on the hour, and who practically had a panic attack if she wasn't bright enough to blind motorists, Laurel seemed to spend far more time than she needed to in her plain black work clothes. She'd spent all evening in the outfit as she often did, and as usual hadn't even unbuttoned her collar or untucked her shirt; Leanne had always hated uniforms with a passion, be it school of work, and had always changed out of them as soon as she could.
She'd asked Laurel about it once, and Laurel hadn't really answered properly, but Leanne got the general idea that Laurel just liked the job and wished she could still do it more. People from within the wrestling business kept telling her to pack it in, and the odd fan made the pilgrimage to see her there which was more than a little creepy, but something about it just made Laurel happy. Leanne couldn't understand it.
Right now, Leanne was just mulling over what Laurel said about being the greatest tag team in FRONTIER history, and it seemed like Leanne couldn't understand that either.
"I can't do this," she whispered suddenly.
"Huh?"
"EXODUS, FGA... it's too much. I can't do everything," said Leanne, spiderwebs of doubt faltering through her voice.
Laurel was firm, though. Sometimes - well, most of the time - one had to be with Leanne. "It's not everything, it's two companies. And look, FRONTIER's down for the moment, so you don't have the pressure of that."
"Oh yeah. I'm the champion of a dead company," muttered Leanne darkly, "Until they come back and I lose the title to Frank Wiland."
Rolled her eyes, Laurel said with a degree of petulance, "You won't lose the title to Frank Wiland."
"No," conceded Leanne, "Because there won't be any more shows."
"No, because you made him tap out once already and you'll do it again."
"I got lucky," said Leanne in a low voice.
"No you didn't. He was tough, but you were smart, and you beat him."
Leanne just nodded that nod she always did when she didn't agree, but didn't have the energy to argue.
"I guess." And she went back to her ice cream, then cleared her throat softly and began, "Listen, Laurel..."
"Hm?"
"I want you to promise me something."
"Okay."
Leanne snapped her fingers in front of Laurel's face. "I mean it. I want you to look me in the eyes right now and promise me you won't start antagonising people in EXODUS for kicks. Not like with Starr or Malcolm Drake."
Laurel began to protest, "That wasn't for kicks!"
"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that," said Leanne quickly, and Laurel felt that she sincerely meant it, "But there's a lot of dangerous people in EXODUS, right, and we don't need them targetin' our friends and family. I know it's a bit late for that with Kam, but-"
"Kam's different," interrupted Laurel, "'Cause of the history. And anyway, I thought we went over this. Kam's not a psycho, he's just an arsehole. It's not like he's gonna come to our houses and-" -and she stopped herself there. Home invasion was still a touchy subject for them, after Alex StarrZoƫ had broken in and taken...
"Sorry," said Laurel, meaning it, "But point is, he won't drag families into things. Not after everything his own's been through. And I honestly don't think Daisuke will've changed that."
"Okay, well, what about Daisuke?" reasoned Leanne, despite her tone of voice sounding fairly unreasonable, "Just 'cause Kam wouldn't do shit like that, what's to say Daisuke wouldn't do it on his behalf?"
"You reckon he would?"
"You'd do it on my behalf, wouldn't you?" asked Leanne. Of that she was confident, as much as it pained her.
Laurel just shrugged. "Yeah, if it came to it."
"Well, yeah. I really, really hope it doesn't come to it. I don't wanna do anything to get into a war. We're still healing up from the last war," she pointed out.
Her friend was silent for a moment, then started, "Okay, but if they try to do shit like that anyway, I ain't standin' there and takin' it. If they decide to go after Matty or Zoe or Lily, I'm snuffing their shitty little candles out for good."
Part of Leanne's brain at that point was shouting at the rest, really quite insistently, Oh God, she means it. But more was reminding her that Laurel needed that... if she was going to make her go against what was natural to her, she had to give something back, right?
So she simply said, "I understand." Then she paused, ate some more ice cream, and added. "But you keep pushin' me into the darkness, into the unknown, and it's scary. For me to be able to handle that I need you by my side, and..." She sniffed back the hotness around the corners of her eyes. "I just don't always feel like you're by my side. I'm sorry... I feel like a piece of shit for saying this, but I feel like you're... off ahead of me somewhere. In a few ways. I'm sorry."
Reaching out an arm and placing her hand on Leanne's shoulder, Laurel said, "No, I understand, and... I'm sorry."
"I need you, Laurel. I need you to be next to me. I can't cope without..." ...and she dissolved into sniffing again.
"I need you too, Leanne. That's what I want to do this with you. It's why I want you with me when I'm doing stuff. I wanna wow new crowds with you. I wanna get back our GFC tag titles, Leanne, with you. I want to be EXODUS Tag Team Champions with you."
"But half the time if feels like you're so bloody determined to kill yourself..." sobbed Leanne.
"Don't worry... like I said the other day, it takes a hell of a lot more than that to-" Without warning Laurel started choking and rasping. Her eyes glazed over and crossed, and suddenly she pitched forward, landing face-first in the bowl of ice cream.
A moment passed.
"Don't even joke about that kinda thing."
"Sorry," said Laurel as she retracted her face.
"Urgh, you've got makeup in it."
"So?" asked Laurel as if talking to a child whining about vegetables, "Eat around it."
Leanne just shook her head as Laurel started digging in again. Then, slowly, she asked, "Aren't you gonna... y'know... clean your face?"
"Nah, I'm gonna keep it like this. I'm gonna bring it back."
"What, havin' your face coated in ice cream? I don't think that was ever in," she laughed, feeling the tears subside from the surface of her eyes. Then she added, "You've got caramel on you."
Laurel laughed too, through her confectionery mask. "Yeah, no shit."
"No, I meant..." and she pointed at Laurel's chest, and specifically, at the blob of caramel sauce front and centre on her bright blue tie.
"Oh!" exclaimed Laurel, with casual irritation, "Aw, bollocks. That was my last clean tie. An' I ain't got time to do laundry before we go to Japan."
"There must be spares at work?" suggested Leanne.
"Mmm... I'll let it dry an' tell people it's a tie pin," replied Laurel, and they both laughed.
Leanne picked up the remote and unpaused, and they went back to the film.
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"D'you ever think, like, the reason art an' music's so... iunno... like, defining of who we are..."
"Who who are?"
"Us! Humans! Like art an' music were probably the first ways to really express ourselves before we'd invented words. And 'cause bein' able to express yourself to that level was so satisfyin', we did it more an' more an' eventually it got to be, like, just part of the way things are, like you can't have life without music. You can't have life without art just like you can't have darkness without light or growth without death or coffee without caffeine-"
"AAAaaaaaww! I could totally go for a coffee right now. Yeah... mm. That sounds good. No, tea."
"What?"
"You wanna coffee?"
"Mmmmmmmmmmnah... thanks."
"Okay."
...
"What was that?"
"What?"
"What. Was that?"
"Coffee. I don't want one. But thanks."
"No, that stuff you were sayin' about... music, and..."
"Was I?"
"Like... music or genetics or something."
"Oh. I can't remember."
...
"You're stoned as fuck."
"Yeah."
...
"So are you."
"Yeah."
...
"You do talk a lot of shit sometimes."
"Hey, I can't help it if I'm a deep thinker."
"Is that what you call it?"
"It is."
...
"You know your problem, Leanne Evangelista, is you've got no sense of music."
"You what? Yes I do! I like plenty of music."
"Yeah, you like songs, fair enough. But you don't have music in your soul. You don't... dance through life. You don't... y'know... carry yourself to a beat. You don't even sing in the shower."
"Well? Maybe you're the one with the problem. You do dance through life. You never take anything... you never... slow down, an' just..."
"No, no. You gotta have music in you to get by, Ell. Life is all about waves. It's all about the... oscillations."
"The fuck are you talkin' about?"
"Everythin' in life is sine waves, Ell, an' they make the beat. If you don't skip across the peaks you'll fall in the troughs."
"I... no, you've lost me."
"Exactly. If you had a sense of music you'd get what I mean."
"Well, okay, then I guess I don't have a sense of music."
...
"I guess a lot of my favourite songs are things I used to listen to a lot when I was going through bad times."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, like... you know I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself by The White Stripes?"
"Dusty Springfield."
"It's The White Stripes, Ell. I've got the CD upstairs."
"Yeah, but originally it's Dusty Springfield."
"Okay, whatever, probably. But I'm talkin' about The White Stripes version, right! I was about... 13 or 14. My parents were goin' through a rough patch. Like, really bad. I thought they were gonna break up. I would sit with Lily in my bedroom just talkin', watchin' TV, whatever, and I... iunno, I was trying to, protect her? Make her feel like everythin' was gonna be okay, really. We, ah... we listened to that song a lot. Ever since then, every time I hear it... yeah."
...
"Wow. Ten years since that song came out... more than that. Eleven."
"Must be, yeah. Huh. I mean... I know it's not exactly somethin' you dance across the peaks with, but it's still... it still helps you through the troughs."
"I thought you didn't understand what I meant."
"Yeah, well. Maybe I figured it out."
...
"I have got music in my soul, Ell. It's just... different to yours."
"Maybe so... maybe that just makes us harmonise better."
Leanne laughed softly, and so did Laurel. They turned and looked into each other's eyes, and smiled.
"Maybe it does."