October 7, 2015

OFF CAMERA: 10-07-2015

Aurora sent her trustworthy attendant Phibes to go pick up Nessa Wall at the airport; he had started out as the building's doorman but his devotion (and intelligence) toward Legacy and his new wife had gotten him promoted. Phibes wasn't actually his name, but he did look uncannily like the late Vincent Price and he didn't mind that "The Lady Rori" liked to call him that. Urbane, charming, he would hold the door for Nessa once they arrived at the tall building that housed the apartment high above where Rori lived. There were a few other tenants, but mostly the building was empty and in her confinement to Chicago during her admittedly high risk pregnancy she had taken to having the empty apartments transformed to strange things - galleries for art and in one case an indoor garden complete with statues. Once they had made their way to the floor which held only Rori and Legacy's apartment Phibes took Nessa to the door and rapped smartly on it rather than using the doorbell. His voice held that same baritone timber that Price had been famous for as he sketched a little bow to Nessa. "Here we are miss. If you'll just wait here, the Lady will be here to get you. She moves just a little slower, since she's expecting." A dark if charming smile followed before he excused himself, leaving Nessa to wait.

After just a few more moments there was a sharp click as the lock was opened and the door followed; Rori stood in the gap between door and frame with a bright (for her) smile on her face. She looked a little tired, which was to be expected considering she's got only a few more weeks until she's due, but for those that know her wrestling career? Far more shocking than the baby and the pregnancy breast size increase would be the fact that her dark hair had gone very, very blond. "Nessa..." her breathy whisper though, left no doubts. "Come in, come in... I hope you had a good trip here?"

The petite Canadian nodded although she looked utterly exhausted. "As good as can be expected, yes. Better than my flight to Kentucky, that's for sure." Following Aurora inside, she couldn't help but smile at the decor because it was so perfectly her that it was instantly comforting. "I absolutely love your hair, sweetie. You look like a completely different person."

Rori gave her a wry smile. "I miss my raven locks... but I guess this isn't so bad, for now. It was so odd at first, like looking at myself at sixteen but adding the years. You know how my mind works." She reached out and delicately touched Nessa's wrist, a light brush of fingertips. "Come on and sit with me in the little 'study' area Legacy put together for me..." Nessa might realize that meant 'that I told him to or else' but she also knew that scary seven foot 'Monster From Chicago' worshipped his wife and would do anything for her. "And I've got tea ready, you should see the cozy for the pot, it looks like a bat. It's cute but don't tell anyone I said it was cute." She winked, and led the way to what was likely meant to be a breakfast nook but now had an overstuffed comfy looking couch, a tea table that had Rori's favorite set on it with the matching cups, and bookshelves filled with all sorts of old looking books.

Nessa let herself be drawn to the bookshelves, trailing her finger across the spines of the volumes that filled them. "This is wonderful. I should do something like this with my place. It's just so open and I used to love it with all those windows and the gorgeous view... but now it just feels so empty." She flashed a brittle smile before taking a seat on the couch. "I'm a little surprised that you asked me here, if I'm being honest. I mean, the last time we talked... it had to be before your wedding, wasn't it?"

Rori sighed as she sat down, hands drawn to her rounded belly and she nodded. "Yes I think so, that sounds right. But you see, I dreamed you were here, and then I saw your Tweet...it fit." She shrugged gently. "And I couldn't go where you were, so this was best. Sugar for your tea?"

"Of course." Nessa accepted that at face value - she'd known Rori long enough not to question what others might consider eccentricities. "I hope it was a pleasant dream... and yes. Sugar would be lovely."

Rori picked up the little silver tongs and put two lumps of sugar in Nessa's cup and one in hers before taking the cozy off the pot and pouring the fragrant tea with practiced motions. She smiled as the steam rose, and then handed Nessa her cup before picking up her own to take a sip, sighing with a little delight before putting it aside and reaching out with her fingertips again, touching Nessa's wrist. "I'm glad you came. I've been cooped up here so long that if I didn't have these visits I'd have lost my mind. But at least people are coming." She paused, then forged on. "Nessa... if you haven't gotten a hotel yet, I'd like you to stay for a bit. We can talk. You've got such a weight on you, sweetie. It's coloring everything and I hate seeing you like this."

Maybe it was the concern in her voice. Maybe it was the touch of another human being in a way that wasn't at all filled with some sort of ulterior motive. Maybe it was the steam and the heavenly smell of the tea that reminded her of days gone by, but something inside her shattered. Her eyes filled with tears, her features almost crumpling as she looked down at her lap. "I already checked in at the Holiday Inn - I can't really afford anything better right now." Her voice came out small, haltingly. "I wouldn't want to..." she lifted her free hand to her face, swiping at the tears on her cheeks, "impose on you and Legacy."

"Nessa..." Rori shifted her hand so her fingers closed around the wrist she'd been touching, and drew her in, slipping her arms around her. "It's no imposition, I promise. I can send Phibes for your things, and it would make me feel better." She paused, a tiny hint of that dark humor she had in her voice. "I wouldn't even ask for your soul, sweetie." She stroked her hands down Nessa's back as best she could. "It's been dark for you, lately. I can feel it. Don't worry about the tears, or how it feels empty right now." Her voice lowered, softer than even usual. "I told Legacy once, when we were on a rooftop in the South Pacific... when he was trying to pretend he hadn't fallen for me at first sight, that he wasn't good for me... there was a bottle he'd emptied and dropped. It cracked, you know and I picked it up and pitched it off the roof and told him that when things break? You toss it out and make new ones. It's simple, Nessa. Your bottle is broken, and I know it hurts. I know that, but I know too that you can make a new one if you believe you can."

"I loved him... between us, you know... you know I still do. It's not something I can switch off or ignore and I've made such a huge mess of it..." it was so comforting to cry on the shoulder of someone who understood what heartache and sacrifice actually meant. "I know it's completely pathetic. He humiliated me on television. He kicked me out of our hotel room for sneezing... o-on the stupid championship belt and I mean, who does that? What sort of sane, normal person does that? Harmony thinks that I let him cut me off from my friends... she thinks that he was trying to isolate me but the truth is, Mika and I... we... we were about as close as I ever was with Kitty or Larry or Jade back in the day. I don't have friends. Not really." She straightened up, pulling away from Rori slightly now that her tears were starting to dry up a little, reaching for her cup of tea. She knew she didn't have to explain to Aurora how few people that had passed through her life had actually gotten past her defenses and become permanent fixtures. The evidence was right here, right now.

A hint of a smile came when she mentioned Larry, someone Aurora genuinely liked, but she nodded and listened to what Nessa said, and what she didn't say too, in her way. "Nessa, you do have friends... but I know what you're saying. It's hard to be in the middle, when things are chaotic. You need to talk to people that aren't in it knee deep and I know how the business is, believe me. I think you saw what I went through with Georgie and her .. ilk. But the thing is, it's hard to be strong. Matt's a child. You love him because you can love. I can't say ...no, I wouldn't say anything to sway you away from how you feel. I know how that is too. You remember the whispers, when I dated Shawn. The heart wants what it wants. The problem you have, is seeing your path. Do you try and fix things with Matt, knowing how he is? Or do you take that scary step and let go, rescue yourself. It's not easy, and I wish it could be. I wish there was some way to just snap my fingers and do that for you. But just... keep in mind, if you need me? I'll always listen."

She nodded, taking a sip of her tea before closing her eyes with a contented sigh. "That's why I came. I knew you would. This coming weekend, I have a match... one that Alexander Stryfe gave me as a reward before asking me to do something. I can turn it down, so he's told me, but... he wants me to referee Matthew's match against Harmony at Ground Zero. The two of them are trying to kill each other... they're at each other's throats and it's completely my fault and neither one will listen to reason. Harmony hates him because of what she thinks he did to me. Matt hates her because she's... he blames her for me leaving instead of looking in the mirror and all I want to do is hide under the covers until this all goes away." She sighed, taking another bracing swallow of the deliciously sweet tea.

"Oh good gods. Well you certainly would call that right down the middle, because honestly...even if you didn't I think you know the loser won't let it be. I'm surprised that Stryfe thinks this is a good idea, I think he's looking more at dollar signs than fallout." She paused, moving to pick up her own cup and take a sip before continuing. "What happens if you say no, Nessa? I mean beyond the loss of a match you want I'm guessing? Do you think he'd punish you for turning it down?"

"I'm not sure I'm really in the position to find out. That's what's got me so worried. I could be looking at never being booked again, or worse yet, fired without any sort of warning. And if I say yes, then I'm caught in the middle... damned either way, you know?" She heaved a sigh, shaking her head, "sometimes I wish I was more like you... or maybe even Brad. Strong enough to actually be able to handle the bumps in the road without going to pieces. But I'm seriously not a genius. At all."

"If it were me, I would do the match and if the loser started up with me I'd drop them on their damned head in the middle of the ring and spit on them." Rori smoothed her expression expertly before she continued. "Then I'd go stalking Mr. Stryfe and be out of a job likely. But that's me. We do what needs to be done, and that's not always the nice option...or the easy one, or the one that we secretly might want. Listen closely to your heart, Nessa and hear what it's telling you - and stop with that, you're plenty smart. You've got common sense I wish I'd had years ago, I wouldn't have gotten into half the mess I did." She nodded firmly, then took another sip of her tea, looking at Nessa over the rim of the cup. "I was ruthless because I had to be. I tried to do things the nice way, and people wanted to step on me. So I showed them why that wasn't a good idea. Maybe... you should do a little more showing, sweetie."

Nessa's smile was watery around the edges, but still wicked as she nodded. "Yes, I think you're right. Letting someone step all over me was what led to this mess in the first place. If I'd been more like you, Matthew Stone would have been out on his ass in the cold before that belt ever left my waist, let alone ended up around his."

"That's my girl. I believe you can do whatever you need to, Nessa. You're a lot stronger than you think. You've got that fire in you, sweetie. Now you just make them burn for it. I promise I'll be watching, and even though I can't be there... you know I support you."

"It's nice to know someone does..." Nessa said softly, "without any strings attached."