act nine: an issue of trust
"Excuse me?"
"I said, why don't you come on over and shoot the shit with us? You know, you're my partner now... I figured it'd be cool to actually act like tag partners and friends, rather than just, you know, two guys forced to team together."
It was a Friday night and I was over at Champion's, the two of us sat out in his living room with three giant television screens in front of us. Because Champion is a bit of a showman (which is a word that barely covers just what he really is), he had to have three screens set up with the three major video game consoles of today, each ready to go with their own game library at hand. I feared to ask him why, exactly, he had "Barbie's Horse Adventure" for the Nintendo Wii... I figured it was just to mess with guests, considering I knew quite well Georgina would never play a game like that.
As I said, better not to ask questions.
"But, wait, you... you want me to come by just to talk?"
"No! No, I mean, you know... just chill out for awhile. Champ's here, we're really just screwing around with his 360 right now and don't have much better to do, I figured it'd be cool to have you around since you're in the area. Hell, like I said, we're tag partners... better to try and get along than just bump into each other from time to time and only ever work together in the ring, you know?"
"... I mean, I suppose I could--"
"Great! I'll have Champ give you directions on how to get here."
I knew at the time I may have been a bit overly assertive in the whole thing, but I was thinking that it was about time that I took a little initiative in these professional relationships of mine. I'd always had close ties to the board, and I've always made friends fairly easily in the NLCW (though, to be fair, I've also made plenty of enemies without even meaning to)... why not try and get something established with my new tag team partner? After all, I was certain there were some trust issues to be had between us... quite a few to be numbered, really.
"Champ! Pause the game, Reynolds needs directions."
"Fuck you, Percolator! Master Chief answers to no man!"
"Is... is he playing Halo?"
He was, and unfortunately for Champion he was doing terrible as well. To his credit, the difficulty for the computer had been set on its highest as he insisted he could handle anything the game threw at him, but... well, let's just say that he didn't exactly do as well as he was hoping to. As I watched Champion's legandary warrior on the screen be taken down by a small band of grunts, I couldn't help but crack a smirk. Champion's reactions were always classic to these sort-of high pressure situations gone awry, and as usual, he didn't disappoint.
First, it began with a few mild curses, followed by a longer string of cursewords fused together to form a single word, as he dropped the controller to the ground and stood up abruptly, flinging his arms into the air. He began arguing with the television screen, gesturing wildly before growing frustrated and kicking the controller off to the side, stomping over in my direction and snatching the phone out of my hand.
"Give me that," he said sharply, a frown on his face, "Damn cheating ga-- Reynolds! How the hell are you? Actually, better question: where the hell are you? Can't give you directions if I don't know."
I stood up, stretching out my legs. Mario Kart was put in over on the Wii and I figured I'd give another shot at it after my earlier disaster against Champion... which, well, I'm still not sure how he kept getting red shells, but the fucker pulled it off and had me beat in record time thanks to them. It wasn't one of my proudest moments with the game, that was for certain... but the only thing worse than that bitter defeat was Champion's victory dance shortly after.
You know? As an aside, I'm so glad I stopped letting myself get talked into betting against Champion... I rarely ever win, the fucker's probably the luckiest person I know. From cards to games to races and everything in-between, I can do as well as I possibly can against him and still wind up losing if we decide to make it into a bet. Otherwise, if we aren't betting, he just gets lucky at a random and I at least stand a better chance at beating him more often.
As all the typical warning information about the strap for the Wiimote came on the screen, I heard Champion hang up the phone. He turned towards me at about the same time that I turned my head towards him, and he locked eyes with the screen before letting a huge grin spread across his face. Cracking his knuckles and tossing my phone back towards me, I caught it while he came over to grab his Wiimote steering wheel attachment, shaking it at me.
"You, my friend, are about to get your ass kicked again! It's like you never learn!"
"Whatever, you're a fucking lucksack, Chris."
He really is.
"Excuses, excuses. Now, prepare yourself Percolator, no amount of those cheap magic stars will save you this time."
Honestly? I love the fans, I love meeting with them and I love signing autographs and I really, really do love promoting the NLCW. The place, the people... they're my family and my blood, and working for this company really is my greatest childhood dream come true.
But for me, beyond that? I love my days off. Be them spent with Suki, family, friends, or even just relaxing alone for awhile... my days off are some of the best days of my week at times.
Oh, and as an aside? Those "cheap magic stars" wound up winning me the first race of the night. Brilliant, isn't it?