Post by Blaine Harrison on Aug 11, 2012 9:03:40 GMT -5
The smug face of Kit Kelsey fills the screen. From his smug, satisfied grin. Those beady little eyes. That tangle of blonde hair with the additional, drawn on devil horns. The camera starts to zoom out as an arrow zooms into frame and pierces Kit's face squarely between the eyes.
"Ben!" shouts out a female voice. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Target practice." I reply as I remove another arrow from the quiver at my feet and take aim again. Dianna doesn't look too impressed however. She stands in front of me, an angry scowl upon her face. I'm forced to lower my bow, lest I accidentally shoot her.
"Since when were you into archery?"
"When did 'Men In Tights' come out? '93?" I reply sarcastically; I think it's sarcasm anyway. Whatever it was, it annoys Dianna. "Shortly after I saw that film for the first time. And in the safety of my own back garden, I think I should be allowed to fire off a few..."
"The police might disagree with you!"
"Then the police don't know Kit Kelsey..."
That appears to be the finals straw as she grabs the quiver of arrows from near my feet and storms off into the house. Frustrated, I fire off the arrow I still have in my possession, nailing Kit in the left eye. It may seem like a good shot, but it's only like a seven pointer if that. I should be hitting the picture in his nose, that's the bullseye. From inside the house I hear the thud of my quiver being thrown into a cupboard, which is my cue to enter the house as well. I prop the bow up against the wall and remove my finger glove before entering the house; sure enough Dianna is waiting for me just by the cupboard under the stairs.
"I won't even ask about the pictures of Dixie Leigh and Johnny Royal." she says with a sigh.
"It was pretty much going to be the same routine" I reply. "A bit of archery and a clever metaphor about how I'm going to take them down at 'Reboot'. Maybe a joke about shooting on Dixie's face for those fans who expect a crude joke."
"But you beat Kit!" she raises her voice for some strange reason. "Is that not enough?"
"I'm not the PSW Heavyweight Champion..." I state bluntly. "No, beating him at 'Collision' wasn't enough. It restored some pride, but it means that now I know I can do it. Which in turn makes me question why I couldn't do it at 'Breakaway' or 'Spring Fever'. Why that smarmy little thong wearing Aussie had the good fortune to wear the PSW championship belt and not me! Why it wasn't me who faced Nick King at 'No Resolutions', why it wasn't me representing PSW at 'Collision'. WHY NOT ME!?"
The anger and frustration that Dianna was feeling seems to vanish into thin air, replaced by an uneasy feeling as I raise my voice at her. It's been a bad week; I tendered my resignation to FGA earlier this week, basically surrendering my last remaining championship belt in order to pursue my career in PSW and Revival Wrestling. Mainly for the money and the television exposure, but those aren't good enough reasons for Dianna. She thinks I should have had more loyalty to the promotion that she thinks 'gave me my career' and pushed me as their poster boy. Those who gave me every opportunity I asked for. She doesn't know I didn't ask for anything from them; I joined them for a paycheck, content with being a midcard wrestler while they built the promotion around the former RMP wrestlers who were pushed to the top in the first few weeks. The ones who left them hanging and I was asked to take their places. I, figuratively speaking, broke my back for them and I do not want to be bitched out for - for once - doing something that is solely to benefit myself.
"Don't raise your voice to me, Ben..." she whimpers as I realise I've been steadily stalking closer to her; I stop immediately and take a few steps back, wiping that sinister grin from my face.
"Sorry!" the word flies out of my mouth before I can bury my face in my hands, embarrassed at my actions. Admittedly when i'm wearing some cargo shorts and a white t-shirt with a picture of a Sesame Street character printed on it I may not cut a fearsome figure, but I don't want to intimidate my girlfriend.
"Sorry, but it felt like you were bitching me out" I try to explain myself. "And I don't need that right now. I don't need to be made to feel guilty about leaving FGA, I don't need to be made to feel inadequate about not being a PSW champion."
"I wasn't trying to do either of those things, Ben" she states.
"But you did both..."
"I didn't."
"You did!" I raise my voice again, shouting at her before mocking her in a voice that doesn't even closely resemble hers. "You beat Kit, is that not enough? Like I should be content with one feat of strength. One match doesn't make up for anything, Di. It's not enough to be going into an eight man tournament knowing that I've beat two of the people in it. It's not. One victory against Kit Kelsey. A couple of victories against August Joyce. Which were months ago at that!"
"Five other people, Di. Five others who I literally don't know if I can beat." I say resigned to the fact I've just misused the word literally. "Johnny Royal and Dixie Leigh have both bested me in the past. They took the belts away from the clown and I, left me as a former champion. You think there's not a nagging doubt in my head about them? I mean the untried, untested entities don't concern me as much. Travis Cage could turn out to be fifteen foot tall, weigh in at five hundred pounds I'm not batting an eyelid at him. Whoever Kevin Fox finds out in Nassau or wherever ... It doesn't matter to me if he's won gold at Olympic wrestling or if he's a rookie hired off the streets of Fayetteville just looking to make a buck and supplement his income. August Joyce, as much as I respect the man for defeating Sean Fallon, for defeating Slim...what's-his-face. I don't see him as my opponent in the final. No, no, no..."
"If I get to the final, I want Kit Kelsey on the grand stage! I want to wipe that smirk off his face once again and be crowned as the PSW Champion when I do so." my nostrils flaring as I speak slowly and with purpose. "I want to breeze past Travis Cage in the first round so I'm fresh for Johnny Royal in the semi finals. And I want to upstage him this weekend, Di, I really do. Exact some retribution for taking my tag title away. Gain a measure of revenge for him beating me in singles competition. I want Johnny Royal in that ring and I want to slam him head first into the mat so many times he forgets what day it is..."
My fists are clenched so tightly my fingers are going white, the scowl seems permanently etched on my face. I do want to hurt Johnny Royal, but don't feel the need to ramble on about the opportunity he cost me in the NWA. He was right, my career is right on track now. I'm getting the money and television exposure I require to progress, I just need some championship gold.
"When I am the PSW Champion" I say calmly. "Then it will be enough..."
"Will it though, Ben?" she asks quietly as I've lurched closer to her, so close that I'm almost in her face again. "You had the tag titles and they weren't enough. You were the FGA champion and that wasn't enough..."
My eyes narrow and my brow furrows. My lips tighten as I whisper something into her ear, causing Dianna to slap me hard across the face before making her way out of the kitchen and towards the front door. I hear it slam behind her as I rub my face where she just slapped me. Bah, I didn't need her anyway.
OOC: One of these days I will try to get my groove back. And sorry for the lateness.
"Ben!" shouts out a female voice. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Target practice." I reply as I remove another arrow from the quiver at my feet and take aim again. Dianna doesn't look too impressed however. She stands in front of me, an angry scowl upon her face. I'm forced to lower my bow, lest I accidentally shoot her.
"Since when were you into archery?"
"When did 'Men In Tights' come out? '93?" I reply sarcastically; I think it's sarcasm anyway. Whatever it was, it annoys Dianna. "Shortly after I saw that film for the first time. And in the safety of my own back garden, I think I should be allowed to fire off a few..."
"The police might disagree with you!"
"Then the police don't know Kit Kelsey..."
That appears to be the finals straw as she grabs the quiver of arrows from near my feet and storms off into the house. Frustrated, I fire off the arrow I still have in my possession, nailing Kit in the left eye. It may seem like a good shot, but it's only like a seven pointer if that. I should be hitting the picture in his nose, that's the bullseye. From inside the house I hear the thud of my quiver being thrown into a cupboard, which is my cue to enter the house as well. I prop the bow up against the wall and remove my finger glove before entering the house; sure enough Dianna is waiting for me just by the cupboard under the stairs.
"I won't even ask about the pictures of Dixie Leigh and Johnny Royal." she says with a sigh.
"It was pretty much going to be the same routine" I reply. "A bit of archery and a clever metaphor about how I'm going to take them down at 'Reboot'. Maybe a joke about shooting on Dixie's face for those fans who expect a crude joke."
"But you beat Kit!" she raises her voice for some strange reason. "Is that not enough?"
"I'm not the PSW Heavyweight Champion..." I state bluntly. "No, beating him at 'Collision' wasn't enough. It restored some pride, but it means that now I know I can do it. Which in turn makes me question why I couldn't do it at 'Breakaway' or 'Spring Fever'. Why that smarmy little thong wearing Aussie had the good fortune to wear the PSW championship belt and not me! Why it wasn't me who faced Nick King at 'No Resolutions', why it wasn't me representing PSW at 'Collision'. WHY NOT ME!?"
The anger and frustration that Dianna was feeling seems to vanish into thin air, replaced by an uneasy feeling as I raise my voice at her. It's been a bad week; I tendered my resignation to FGA earlier this week, basically surrendering my last remaining championship belt in order to pursue my career in PSW and Revival Wrestling. Mainly for the money and the television exposure, but those aren't good enough reasons for Dianna. She thinks I should have had more loyalty to the promotion that she thinks 'gave me my career' and pushed me as their poster boy. Those who gave me every opportunity I asked for. She doesn't know I didn't ask for anything from them; I joined them for a paycheck, content with being a midcard wrestler while they built the promotion around the former RMP wrestlers who were pushed to the top in the first few weeks. The ones who left them hanging and I was asked to take their places. I, figuratively speaking, broke my back for them and I do not want to be bitched out for - for once - doing something that is solely to benefit myself.
"Don't raise your voice to me, Ben..." she whimpers as I realise I've been steadily stalking closer to her; I stop immediately and take a few steps back, wiping that sinister grin from my face.
"Sorry!" the word flies out of my mouth before I can bury my face in my hands, embarrassed at my actions. Admittedly when i'm wearing some cargo shorts and a white t-shirt with a picture of a Sesame Street character printed on it I may not cut a fearsome figure, but I don't want to intimidate my girlfriend.
"Sorry, but it felt like you were bitching me out" I try to explain myself. "And I don't need that right now. I don't need to be made to feel guilty about leaving FGA, I don't need to be made to feel inadequate about not being a PSW champion."
"I wasn't trying to do either of those things, Ben" she states.
"But you did both..."
"I didn't."
"You did!" I raise my voice again, shouting at her before mocking her in a voice that doesn't even closely resemble hers. "You beat Kit, is that not enough? Like I should be content with one feat of strength. One match doesn't make up for anything, Di. It's not enough to be going into an eight man tournament knowing that I've beat two of the people in it. It's not. One victory against Kit Kelsey. A couple of victories against August Joyce. Which were months ago at that!"
"Five other people, Di. Five others who I literally don't know if I can beat." I say resigned to the fact I've just misused the word literally. "Johnny Royal and Dixie Leigh have both bested me in the past. They took the belts away from the clown and I, left me as a former champion. You think there's not a nagging doubt in my head about them? I mean the untried, untested entities don't concern me as much. Travis Cage could turn out to be fifteen foot tall, weigh in at five hundred pounds I'm not batting an eyelid at him. Whoever Kevin Fox finds out in Nassau or wherever ... It doesn't matter to me if he's won gold at Olympic wrestling or if he's a rookie hired off the streets of Fayetteville just looking to make a buck and supplement his income. August Joyce, as much as I respect the man for defeating Sean Fallon, for defeating Slim...what's-his-face. I don't see him as my opponent in the final. No, no, no..."
"If I get to the final, I want Kit Kelsey on the grand stage! I want to wipe that smirk off his face once again and be crowned as the PSW Champion when I do so." my nostrils flaring as I speak slowly and with purpose. "I want to breeze past Travis Cage in the first round so I'm fresh for Johnny Royal in the semi finals. And I want to upstage him this weekend, Di, I really do. Exact some retribution for taking my tag title away. Gain a measure of revenge for him beating me in singles competition. I want Johnny Royal in that ring and I want to slam him head first into the mat so many times he forgets what day it is..."
My fists are clenched so tightly my fingers are going white, the scowl seems permanently etched on my face. I do want to hurt Johnny Royal, but don't feel the need to ramble on about the opportunity he cost me in the NWA. He was right, my career is right on track now. I'm getting the money and television exposure I require to progress, I just need some championship gold.
"When I am the PSW Champion" I say calmly. "Then it will be enough..."
"Will it though, Ben?" she asks quietly as I've lurched closer to her, so close that I'm almost in her face again. "You had the tag titles and they weren't enough. You were the FGA champion and that wasn't enough..."
My eyes narrow and my brow furrows. My lips tighten as I whisper something into her ear, causing Dianna to slap me hard across the face before making her way out of the kitchen and towards the front door. I hear it slam behind her as I rub my face where she just slapped me. Bah, I didn't need her anyway.
OOC: One of these days I will try to get my groove back. And sorry for the lateness.