Post by sonstuds on Jul 5, 2007 14:09:52 GMT -5
{He nonchalantly walks down the deserted apartment hallway. His shoes squeak after each step as he flashes a quick look at his watch. Ten minutes earlier then he would have liked, but he’ll blame the lack of traffic on that one. Yes, that’ll due. Reaching his destination at the end of the hallway he politely knocks on a door. Room 5B. Sticking his hands in his pockets he casually looks around. Regardless of the time of night he feels it’d be logical to at least have some lights on. After all, it’s not very late and it’d seem reasonable that tenants would be in and out of their apartments. Perhaps it’s all a ploy to keep strangers out by making them feel uncomfortable. A ploy to keep him out. Or maybe they want him here and are simply trying to make him feel awkward for their amusement. He looks around. There’s probably cameras. He’s probably on some guy’s version of “The Truman Show”. Probably. He quickly stares at the ground. He can’t let them know he’s possibly on to them.
After a longer-than-anticipated wait the door is opened. Standing there is a large width man, unshaven, short unkempt black hair. He squints at EBR as both men remain silent.}[/color]
EBR:[/COLOR]…Hi.
{Less than enthusiastically the man sighs.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color]…Come in.
{He walks back into his apartment as EBR follows, slightly relieved he’s no longer possibly being watched. Sullee disappears into his kitchen as EBR wonders around the small apartment. He hears Sullee yelling.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] Take your shoes off. And close the damn door.
EBR:[/COLOR] No shit, you fat fuck.
{He back tracks and slowly closes the door, making sure that no noise is made in the process. He yells back.}[/color]
EBR:[/COLOR] What kind of man would I be if I walked into someone’s house and didn’t close the door? What do you take me for? Prick.
{EBR and Sullee always had a strange relationship. They met sometime in the summer of 2003. That’s as far as EBR can remember. All he truthfully knows is that Sullee “claims” to be a former wrestler. When and where he doesn’t know, nor does he honestly care. Of course, the occasional impulse of curiosity arises in which he wishes he had asked, but that moment of clarification has passed. He had at the second, at the very least the third conversation to ask. Four years later it’d just be awkward and embarrassing for the both of them.
Then again, EBR’s always had his doubts about Sullee and his past. He’s been to his apartment several times, yet never once has he seen any kind of memorabilia or pictures. He’s also quite sure that Sullee has never been in good enough shape in which his body could handle hard physical labor. He’s seen Sullee get tired after eating a sandwich. A part of him always wondered if Sullee was just playing him the entire time for his own sick amusement. Whatever the case, EBR never seemed to care. So what if he may have never lived it, at least it sounds good. What he says either applies, or at least makes him question whether it applies. EBR knows Sullee can read him and call his bluffs. It threatens and intrigues him. It’s why he’s the only man he’ll talk to regarding any advice in wrestling related problems. He’s also the only man he’ll refuse to play poker with.
As EBR makes his way to the small navy blue couch Sullee resumes from the kitchen with a Miller Lite bottle in his hand. He looks at EBR.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] You didn’t take your shoes off.
EBR:[/COLOR] Neither did you.
Sullee:[/color] It’s my house.
EBR:[/COLOR] And it looks like shit. You could at least vacuum.
Sullee:[/color] Are you saying I can’t because I’m heavy? Is that a fat joke? Are you making fun of my weight?
EBR:[/COLOR] {Confused}[/color] What?
Sullee:[/color] {Agitated}[/color] Huh?
{Sitting down in his black recliner Sullee places his beer on a wooden crate as EBR wonders around the crowded apartment. Their encounters tend to be the same. They usually start this way. EBR does something to piss Sullee off and they’ll both ignore each other for several minutes. One of them will finally break the ice and they’ll have a fairly intelligent conversation before one of them gets offended. Then they’ll have fun after that.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] You could have at least told me you were coming.
EBR:[/COLOR] Why? You have nothing to do.
Sullee:[/color] Still.
{EBR spots himself behind Sullee and near an old, red punching bag. He wipes away any partial dust as Sullee twists his beer cap off and throws it on his already littered carpet.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] So, I saw you two weeks ago.
EBR:[/COLOR] Really.
{He begins to playfully jab at the punching bag.}[/color]
EBR:[/COLOR] What context?
Sullee:[/color] WFWF. You were talking about this Yukio Blaze character.
EBR:[/COLOR] {Fixated on each punch}[/color] I came off look pretty snazzy there.
Sullee:[/color] Enlighten me on why you want the Tag Team Titles.
EBR:[/COLOR] Pretty self explanatory.
Sullee:[/color] Really? I seem to remember you not caring when you previously won them. What makes this so different?
EBR:[/COLOR] I should still be the champion. I never lost my belt. Call it a matter of principle.
Sullee:[/color] So, what now? You just want a title to help fuel your ego?
EBR:[/COLOR] Pretty much.
Sullee:[/color] {Chuckling}[/color] I thought you were trying to “save” the WFWF? Yet here you are, taking a belt that you admittedly have no real interest in. I guess you never changed.
EBR:[/COLOR] How so? I wanted to help the WFWF. I really, truthfully did. But I got shit on for it. They didn’t want me. Not the other way around. I figure now? Well, I gave a lot to the WFWF. It’s finally time I can begin taking things for myself. Fuck if it’s perceived as being “right” by traditional standards.
Sullee:[/color] Wasn’t your whole hook that you were offended the belts are being held by one man?
EBR:[/COLOR] I could really care less.
Sullee:[/color] I suppose your quest to bring the titles back to, in your words, respectability was short lived?
EBR:[/COLOR] Look, Yukio Blaze tries to get all high and mighty and pretends to know why I do what I do. He wants to make me look bad; I’ll do the same exact thing to him. So maybe I stretched the truth on how I really feel about the Tag Team Titles in the process. Who cares?
Sullee:[/color] Probably no one, but I can’t fathom why you’d feel the need to lie about where you stand, especially over a title when you could have just asked for a title shot instead of demanding that the belt be given to you.
EBR:[/COLOR] Lying about what? It’s such a trivial subject to begin with. Technically, everyone in the WFWF is a liar. Everyone’s fake. The only difference is I admit it. Besides, I still want the title. Why does it matter how I go about explaining the reasoning for it?
Sullee:[/color] Because you’re trying to play the good guy role like you did during the Anointed?
{Enough with his shadow boxing EBR walks around and sits on the couch, but not before flipping the cushion over as Sullee continues.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] You always feel you need to have people on your side, tracing back to when you faced Master of Destruction and Total Apocalypse. What was your little angle in that one? You’d try and get away from the fact you attacked someone when never warranted by claiming it wasn’t personal? Did you put the icing on the cake and throw in a “believe me; it hurt me more than it hurt you”? And what was it you said about Total Apocalypse? A veteran returning to help an old friend is unsportsmanlike? Than what exactly would you classify joining the Anointed as?
EBR:[/COLOR] It’s a little more complicated than that.
Sullee:[/color] Really? How so?
EBR:[/COLOR] Look, it was a year ago. What ever happened happened. It doesn’t really matter anymore.
Sullee:[/color] Yet here you are in this vaguely similar situation.
EBR:[/COLOR] Nah…{Smirking}[/color] I don’t know who my partner is this time.
Sullee:[/color] And that’s supposed to get away from the fact its two-on-one?
EBR:[/COLOR] How’s that supposed to be my fault? Yukio Blaze won the belt in the same context. Now we can’t have the belts defended because it’s unfair to him? Besides, I never asked for a partner, or a title shot.
Sullee:[/color] No – you just wanted one of the belts handed to you.
EBR:[/COLOR] It’s a subjective opinion. As far as I’m concerned I’ve done just as much to earn one of those belts as anyone else in the WFWF. Explain to me the difference in what Yukio Blaze did and what I did. We both won it, and thus far, neither one of us have lost it.
Sullee:[/color] You like to leave out the fact they were retired.
EBR:[/COLOR] No, I understand that and in most cases I’d have enough respect to let it pass. But sorry, I have a hard time biting on the excuse that I don’t hold the rights to the belt that I never lost because it was retired, and than three months later reactivated when it was the same basic division – minus the champions of course. Nothing will ever convince me I shouldn’t be holding a belt.
Sullee:[/color] You didn’t win them by yourself. With your logic couldn’t Alex be claiming he should get the other belt, not you?
EBR:[/COLOR] Hypothetical. He isn’t, so I fail to see how any of that’s valid. Besides, until any team beats us in a title match Alex Sean and I will always be the rightful champions in my mind.
{For the first time in their conversation, Sullee looks at EBR.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] You know, it all kind of sounds like this entire situation is simply you taking out frustration on someone who’s done nothing to warrant it. You’re complaining about not having a title, yet this entire time you’re ignoring the fact that another team won them in your absence. If you or Alex had been in the WFWF at the time the belts were brought back I’d understand your reasoning, I really would. But throughout this, throughout everything, you’ve never mentioned that you weren’t even in the WFWF when new champions were crowned. If we’re going by your ideology the belts could have never returned if you didn’t.
EBR:[/COLOR] To be fair, that’s not what I said.
Sullee:[/color] No, but it’s what you mean. How was the WFWF supposed to know you’d ever return? When you left the first time it took you three years before you ever came back. As I see it, admittedly someone from the outside looking in, you’re just trying to ruin someone else’s day. Yukio Blaze has this great accomplishment of being the first man to hold the Tag Team Titles by himself, so naturally, you want to take it away from him just because you’re still a little moody the belts returned without your apparent permission. You know you don’t want them. You didn’t even have a partner. Perhaps it’s all in your subconscious, but trust me E, this entire situation is just you being an immature assshole.
{He remains silent for a few seconds, but after this brief pause EBR speaks.}[/color]
EBR:[/COLOR] No. I wanted the belts when I found out the Axis had them. In fact, I never wanted Yukio Blaze to win them the first place. You think I actually want to win back my title in a handicap match? Yukio may be a little prick, but compared to the majority of the WFWF he comes out smelling like a rose. I don’t want to win my title back that way.
Sullee:[/color] But you’ll do it anyway?
EBR:[/COLOR] Not exactly. I figure I’ll level the playing field for him. I’ll only enter the ring or get involved if I’m the legal man. Unless Yukio Blaze cheap shots me, but I figure he has enough common sense not too.
Sullee:[/color] This also allows you to make the case you should still be champion if he pins your partner and not you?
EBR:[/COLOR] You really need to stop over analyzing everything. It is what it is.
Sullee:[/color] Just seems a little shady, as if there’s more to this than meets the eye.
EBR:[/COLOR] Look, figuratively speaking I can’t win. I’ll get my Tag Team Title back and that’s about it. You think by doing this I’ll get the recognition I actually want and deserve? In the end I have nothing to gain from this. Nothing. I beat Yukio and I’ll get the “congratulations - but you were supposed to win”. Yet if I lose I’ll end up looking fucking pathetic.
Sullee:[/color] Catch-22.
EBR:[/COLOR] Maybe I did want a Tag Team Title handed to me, but fuck, it’s far more respectable than how I’ll end up getting it back. I don’t need any kind of advantage. I don’t want any kind of advantage. All it’ll do is detract from my accomplishment. I sure as hell don’t need you claiming that there’s a hidden agenda in all my plans and making me out to be a manipulative assshole when I’ve done nothing wrong, so just shut the fuck up.
{Offended, EBR crosses his arms as Sullee remains silent. Occasionally he’ll take a sip of his beer as both men sit uncomfortably. Finally, Sullee turns on the TV. They remain silent for several more minutes.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] Padres look good this year.
{EBR turns.}[/color]
EBR:[/COLOR] Yeah, but you know what team I’m really digging? The Brewers. I think they have a decent chance to do something.
Sullee:[/color] Gallardo looked good his last game.
EBR:[/COLOR] Looked very good.
Fin[/i]
After a longer-than-anticipated wait the door is opened. Standing there is a large width man, unshaven, short unkempt black hair. He squints at EBR as both men remain silent.}[/color]
EBR:[/COLOR]…Hi.
{Less than enthusiastically the man sighs.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color]…Come in.
{He walks back into his apartment as EBR follows, slightly relieved he’s no longer possibly being watched. Sullee disappears into his kitchen as EBR wonders around the small apartment. He hears Sullee yelling.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] Take your shoes off. And close the damn door.
EBR:[/COLOR] No shit, you fat fuck.
{He back tracks and slowly closes the door, making sure that no noise is made in the process. He yells back.}[/color]
EBR:[/COLOR] What kind of man would I be if I walked into someone’s house and didn’t close the door? What do you take me for? Prick.
{EBR and Sullee always had a strange relationship. They met sometime in the summer of 2003. That’s as far as EBR can remember. All he truthfully knows is that Sullee “claims” to be a former wrestler. When and where he doesn’t know, nor does he honestly care. Of course, the occasional impulse of curiosity arises in which he wishes he had asked, but that moment of clarification has passed. He had at the second, at the very least the third conversation to ask. Four years later it’d just be awkward and embarrassing for the both of them.
Then again, EBR’s always had his doubts about Sullee and his past. He’s been to his apartment several times, yet never once has he seen any kind of memorabilia or pictures. He’s also quite sure that Sullee has never been in good enough shape in which his body could handle hard physical labor. He’s seen Sullee get tired after eating a sandwich. A part of him always wondered if Sullee was just playing him the entire time for his own sick amusement. Whatever the case, EBR never seemed to care. So what if he may have never lived it, at least it sounds good. What he says either applies, or at least makes him question whether it applies. EBR knows Sullee can read him and call his bluffs. It threatens and intrigues him. It’s why he’s the only man he’ll talk to regarding any advice in wrestling related problems. He’s also the only man he’ll refuse to play poker with.
As EBR makes his way to the small navy blue couch Sullee resumes from the kitchen with a Miller Lite bottle in his hand. He looks at EBR.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] You didn’t take your shoes off.
EBR:[/COLOR] Neither did you.
Sullee:[/color] It’s my house.
EBR:[/COLOR] And it looks like shit. You could at least vacuum.
Sullee:[/color] Are you saying I can’t because I’m heavy? Is that a fat joke? Are you making fun of my weight?
EBR:[/COLOR] {Confused}[/color] What?
Sullee:[/color] {Agitated}[/color] Huh?
{Sitting down in his black recliner Sullee places his beer on a wooden crate as EBR wonders around the crowded apartment. Their encounters tend to be the same. They usually start this way. EBR does something to piss Sullee off and they’ll both ignore each other for several minutes. One of them will finally break the ice and they’ll have a fairly intelligent conversation before one of them gets offended. Then they’ll have fun after that.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] You could have at least told me you were coming.
EBR:[/COLOR] Why? You have nothing to do.
Sullee:[/color] Still.
{EBR spots himself behind Sullee and near an old, red punching bag. He wipes away any partial dust as Sullee twists his beer cap off and throws it on his already littered carpet.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] So, I saw you two weeks ago.
EBR:[/COLOR] Really.
{He begins to playfully jab at the punching bag.}[/color]
EBR:[/COLOR] What context?
Sullee:[/color] WFWF. You were talking about this Yukio Blaze character.
EBR:[/COLOR] {Fixated on each punch}[/color] I came off look pretty snazzy there.
Sullee:[/color] Enlighten me on why you want the Tag Team Titles.
EBR:[/COLOR] Pretty self explanatory.
Sullee:[/color] Really? I seem to remember you not caring when you previously won them. What makes this so different?
EBR:[/COLOR] I should still be the champion. I never lost my belt. Call it a matter of principle.
Sullee:[/color] So, what now? You just want a title to help fuel your ego?
EBR:[/COLOR] Pretty much.
Sullee:[/color] {Chuckling}[/color] I thought you were trying to “save” the WFWF? Yet here you are, taking a belt that you admittedly have no real interest in. I guess you never changed.
EBR:[/COLOR] How so? I wanted to help the WFWF. I really, truthfully did. But I got shit on for it. They didn’t want me. Not the other way around. I figure now? Well, I gave a lot to the WFWF. It’s finally time I can begin taking things for myself. Fuck if it’s perceived as being “right” by traditional standards.
Sullee:[/color] Wasn’t your whole hook that you were offended the belts are being held by one man?
EBR:[/COLOR] I could really care less.
Sullee:[/color] I suppose your quest to bring the titles back to, in your words, respectability was short lived?
EBR:[/COLOR] Look, Yukio Blaze tries to get all high and mighty and pretends to know why I do what I do. He wants to make me look bad; I’ll do the same exact thing to him. So maybe I stretched the truth on how I really feel about the Tag Team Titles in the process. Who cares?
Sullee:[/color] Probably no one, but I can’t fathom why you’d feel the need to lie about where you stand, especially over a title when you could have just asked for a title shot instead of demanding that the belt be given to you.
EBR:[/COLOR] Lying about what? It’s such a trivial subject to begin with. Technically, everyone in the WFWF is a liar. Everyone’s fake. The only difference is I admit it. Besides, I still want the title. Why does it matter how I go about explaining the reasoning for it?
Sullee:[/color] Because you’re trying to play the good guy role like you did during the Anointed?
{Enough with his shadow boxing EBR walks around and sits on the couch, but not before flipping the cushion over as Sullee continues.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] You always feel you need to have people on your side, tracing back to when you faced Master of Destruction and Total Apocalypse. What was your little angle in that one? You’d try and get away from the fact you attacked someone when never warranted by claiming it wasn’t personal? Did you put the icing on the cake and throw in a “believe me; it hurt me more than it hurt you”? And what was it you said about Total Apocalypse? A veteran returning to help an old friend is unsportsmanlike? Than what exactly would you classify joining the Anointed as?
EBR:[/COLOR] It’s a little more complicated than that.
Sullee:[/color] Really? How so?
EBR:[/COLOR] Look, it was a year ago. What ever happened happened. It doesn’t really matter anymore.
Sullee:[/color] Yet here you are in this vaguely similar situation.
EBR:[/COLOR] Nah…{Smirking}[/color] I don’t know who my partner is this time.
Sullee:[/color] And that’s supposed to get away from the fact its two-on-one?
EBR:[/COLOR] How’s that supposed to be my fault? Yukio Blaze won the belt in the same context. Now we can’t have the belts defended because it’s unfair to him? Besides, I never asked for a partner, or a title shot.
Sullee:[/color] No – you just wanted one of the belts handed to you.
EBR:[/COLOR] It’s a subjective opinion. As far as I’m concerned I’ve done just as much to earn one of those belts as anyone else in the WFWF. Explain to me the difference in what Yukio Blaze did and what I did. We both won it, and thus far, neither one of us have lost it.
Sullee:[/color] You like to leave out the fact they were retired.
EBR:[/COLOR] No, I understand that and in most cases I’d have enough respect to let it pass. But sorry, I have a hard time biting on the excuse that I don’t hold the rights to the belt that I never lost because it was retired, and than three months later reactivated when it was the same basic division – minus the champions of course. Nothing will ever convince me I shouldn’t be holding a belt.
Sullee:[/color] You didn’t win them by yourself. With your logic couldn’t Alex be claiming he should get the other belt, not you?
EBR:[/COLOR] Hypothetical. He isn’t, so I fail to see how any of that’s valid. Besides, until any team beats us in a title match Alex Sean and I will always be the rightful champions in my mind.
{For the first time in their conversation, Sullee looks at EBR.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] You know, it all kind of sounds like this entire situation is simply you taking out frustration on someone who’s done nothing to warrant it. You’re complaining about not having a title, yet this entire time you’re ignoring the fact that another team won them in your absence. If you or Alex had been in the WFWF at the time the belts were brought back I’d understand your reasoning, I really would. But throughout this, throughout everything, you’ve never mentioned that you weren’t even in the WFWF when new champions were crowned. If we’re going by your ideology the belts could have never returned if you didn’t.
EBR:[/COLOR] To be fair, that’s not what I said.
Sullee:[/color] No, but it’s what you mean. How was the WFWF supposed to know you’d ever return? When you left the first time it took you three years before you ever came back. As I see it, admittedly someone from the outside looking in, you’re just trying to ruin someone else’s day. Yukio Blaze has this great accomplishment of being the first man to hold the Tag Team Titles by himself, so naturally, you want to take it away from him just because you’re still a little moody the belts returned without your apparent permission. You know you don’t want them. You didn’t even have a partner. Perhaps it’s all in your subconscious, but trust me E, this entire situation is just you being an immature assshole.
{He remains silent for a few seconds, but after this brief pause EBR speaks.}[/color]
EBR:[/COLOR] No. I wanted the belts when I found out the Axis had them. In fact, I never wanted Yukio Blaze to win them the first place. You think I actually want to win back my title in a handicap match? Yukio may be a little prick, but compared to the majority of the WFWF he comes out smelling like a rose. I don’t want to win my title back that way.
Sullee:[/color] But you’ll do it anyway?
EBR:[/COLOR] Not exactly. I figure I’ll level the playing field for him. I’ll only enter the ring or get involved if I’m the legal man. Unless Yukio Blaze cheap shots me, but I figure he has enough common sense not too.
Sullee:[/color] This also allows you to make the case you should still be champion if he pins your partner and not you?
EBR:[/COLOR] You really need to stop over analyzing everything. It is what it is.
Sullee:[/color] Just seems a little shady, as if there’s more to this than meets the eye.
EBR:[/COLOR] Look, figuratively speaking I can’t win. I’ll get my Tag Team Title back and that’s about it. You think by doing this I’ll get the recognition I actually want and deserve? In the end I have nothing to gain from this. Nothing. I beat Yukio and I’ll get the “congratulations - but you were supposed to win”. Yet if I lose I’ll end up looking fucking pathetic.
Sullee:[/color] Catch-22.
EBR:[/COLOR] Maybe I did want a Tag Team Title handed to me, but fuck, it’s far more respectable than how I’ll end up getting it back. I don’t need any kind of advantage. I don’t want any kind of advantage. All it’ll do is detract from my accomplishment. I sure as hell don’t need you claiming that there’s a hidden agenda in all my plans and making me out to be a manipulative assshole when I’ve done nothing wrong, so just shut the fuck up.
{Offended, EBR crosses his arms as Sullee remains silent. Occasionally he’ll take a sip of his beer as both men sit uncomfortably. Finally, Sullee turns on the TV. They remain silent for several more minutes.}[/color]
Sullee:[/color] Padres look good this year.
{EBR turns.}[/color]
EBR:[/COLOR] Yeah, but you know what team I’m really digging? The Brewers. I think they have a decent chance to do something.
Sullee:[/color] Gallardo looked good his last game.
EBR:[/COLOR] Looked very good.
Fin[/i]
