Post by Damon Graves on Nov 20, 2016 18:47:50 GMT -5
Scene opens inside the home of Redemption Wrestling competitors Damon and Aurora Graves. It’s early Saturday morning; early enough that the fullness of daylight hasn’t completely taken over the sky. The front door opens and Damon steps into the room with a McDonalds bag in his hand, closing and locking it behind him. He only takes a couple of steps before he stops in his tracks, a look of disbelief on his face.
Damon: You have got to be fucking kidding me....
The camera pans around to reveal the source of his vexation: a 7-foot tall, jet black Christmas tree, fully decorated with white lights and ornaments in silver and red. Groaning, Damon shakes his head as he runs a hand over his face.
Damon: Thanksgiving hasn't even come yet...
He looks around, scanning the area for any sign of his wife.
Damon: Harley? I’ve got a couple of McGriddles with your name on them….
He doesn't get a response. Looking around, he notices a note left on the counter, addressed to him. He picks it up and reads it aloud.
Damon: "Puddin, if you're looking for me, I'm out in the garage. Love, Harley." Garage? What the hell is she doing in there?
Damon sets down the note and heads out of the room, When we next see him, he enters the garage and notices a large object covered with a large drop cloth, but no sign of his wife.
Damon: Harley? Are you in here?
At the sound of his voice, we can hear something moving underneath the tarp, and a second later, Aurora Graves rolls out from under the tarp on a creeper, her face streaked with grease. Damon leans down to help her up, trying to sneak a peek at what's under the cover while doing so. Aurora admonishes her husband, tapping him lightly on the nose with a wadded-up shop rag.
Aurora: Uh-uh. No peeking.
Damon: The note you left on the counter said you were out here, so here I am….
Aurora: To be honest, I didn’t expect you home so quickly. I wanted a little more time to get this this finished and to wash up, so I could present it properly. As it is, I barely had enough time for Sergio to bring it by.
Damon: Well, I only went to McDonalds; not like I schlepped all the way across town or anything. Besides, it’s kinda obvious what’s under the tarp…
He leans past Aurora, looking at the shape of the object, which is obviously vehicular in nature.
Aurora: Yeah, but I would have met you at the garage door and made you close your eyes and all that shit…
Damon: Well, I can always leave and come back...
Aurora: No, that won’t work. You know I can tell when you’re faking being surprised.
Damon: If you say so, sweetheart…. So, do you care to do the honors?
Aurora: Oh, no, Puddin. This is my wedding present to you, so YOU get to unwrap this bad boy….
Damon: Okay, then in that case….
He grabs the corner of the tarp and pulls it back, slowly revealing a fully restored jet black Ford Mustang convertible with a red leather interior. As Aurora leans forward to see the expression on Damon’s face, he looks shellshocked.
Damon: Is… is this the ‘67 Mustang we saw a few months ago at the car show?
Aurora: The very same. It’s yours, now.
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a set of keys. She takes Damon by the hand, putting the keys into it as she looks into his eyes. He looks at the keys, then back at Aurora, and shakes his head.
Damon: No, Harley; it’s OURS now. Part of those wedding vows; everything that I have belongs to you, too. But I have to ask… when did you pick this up?
Aurora: A couple of months ago. It needed some work, so I had to get really creative in coming up with “reasons” to work on it.
Damon: You mean to tell me that all of those “strategy sessions” with Alicia were just a smokescreen for a foray into automotive restoration?
Aurora: Come on… you know I’ve been into vintage car restoration since I was 16. Had to do something with myself once I learned I’d never…
She stops herself in mid-sentence, quickly shaking her head. Damon puts his hands on her shoulders, giving her a knowing, comforting smile.
Damon: I know, Harley…
Aurora: Besides, TECHNICALLY they were strategy sessions… it’s just not that not all of them were concerning wrestling. As for the car, I kept it in their garage and had Sergio bring it over while you were out.
Damon scans over the car, which is in such pristine condition that it looks like it just came fresh off the line.
Damon: So, is she ready to go?
Aurora: Yup. The only thing I had left to do was change the oil. Now, all I have to do is take her off of the jacks.
Damon: Great! I can’t wait to take this baby for a spin!
Damon gives his wife a kiss, getting some grease on his face as well. Seeing the grease smudge on her husband’s cheek, she smirks.
Aurora: Er, I think we both need to hit the shower before we go anywhere,
The suggestion makes the corner of Damon’s lip curl up.[/i]
Damon: Sounds like fun…
Aurora: Down, tiger. Just… I don’t want to be out too long. We don’t want to linger around here all morning. We still need to get on the plane and head out to Phoenix, and I want to check out the city before Glory.
Damon: Relax, Harley! It’s not like Alicia and Jason’s plane is going to leave without us.
Aurora: One of the perks of flying on a private jet… even if it isn’t ours.
Damon: Hey, they let us use it whenever we want. Who am I to look a gift plane in the cockpit?
Aurora: My husband, the comedian.
She sniffs the air, catching the scent of maple syrup and sausage. Licking her lips, Aurora turns toward the door that leads from the garage and into the house.
Aurora: We can hold off on the shower… All that tinkering made me work up an appetite…
Aurora giggles as she walks back into the house, with Damon following close behind as the scene fades away.
Scene fades back in on Interstate 95, somewhere north of Las Vegas, as Damon adjusts a camera mounted to the dashboard of his new convertible while “Heading Out to the Highway” by Judas Priest plays on the car’s stereo. As husband and wife cruise down the open road, Aurora’s long blonde hair whips behind her, while Damon’s hair remains… firmly frozen in place. Matching pairs of black-framed Oakley sunglasses cover the eyes of the number one contenders to the Redemption Wrestling Tag Team Championships as Damon continues to drive.
Damon: Now this is more like it. Devlin Scott finally woke up and gave us the kind of competition we've been clamoring for since we've started here in Redemption Wrestling. Nothing gets the competitive juices flowing like facing someone challenging, and Avery Miles III certainly fits the bill. I'm not going to belittle any contributions Trixie is going to make to this match, because I know that she'll take the training that Avery is going to give her for this match and utilize it to the best of her ability.
That being said, The Pride does need to keep something in mind: the momentum that Rebel Ink has gained leading up to Winter Solstice isn't slowing down, and with the biggest show in Redemption Wrestling since Zero Hour just a few more weeks away, my wife and I have no plans on letting up.
Unfortunately, this means that Aurora and I have to once again face someone we hold a great deal of respect for in Avery Miles III, even if he is teaming with someone whose name is one you’d expect to see on the roster of names at the Bunny Ranch.
Aurora looks at Damon with a slight frown. The creases forming in her forehead suggest that her eyebrows are furrowed behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses.
Aurora: Damon, since when would you know about the girls at the Bunny Ranch?
Damon scoffs.
Damon: Hey, I’m not saying she’s a slut or anything… but the name she uses at the very least has “stripper” written all over it. In fact, I think there was a girl with that name down at Cheet...ah, never mind. Forget I said anything.
Aurora: Puddin’, I know where you went for your bachelor party… or did you forget that I check our bank records, too?
Damon swallows the lump in his throat as he blushes.
Damon: ANYWAY… Sorry if that gets you into trouble with Taylor… I’ll take the fall for that one. Besides, that little part of the festivities was Jason’s idea, anyway.
Damon tilts his head slightly in the direction of the camera, still keeping his eyes on the road.
Damon: Side note to Taylor… all he did was have a few shots. He kept his hands to himself the whole time.
He smirks as he straightens his neck out.
Damon: But getting back to the matter at hand. Avery, you’re as tough as they come. Not many people can say they took on a tag team single-handedly.
Aurora: Puddin, I think they get the point… Avery’s got more cojones than most of the Redemption roster combined. But that notwithstanding, you know what’s at stake in this match. Our position heading into Winter Solstice may be set in stone, but we can’t afford to lose any momentum between now and then. So expect us to be coming at you like we’ve got EVERYTHING to lose. Then again, I really don’t have to tell you that, do I, Avery?
Which brings me to your tag team partner…
Damon shakes his head as a sneer pulls his lip back to bare his upper teeth.
Damon: Trixie… you like to brag about beating the Genesis Champion, but you forget one little… yet VERY important detail. You can’t win a title off of a disqualification, sunshine. So Devlin Scott gave you your own belt to shut your whiny, spoiled little ass up. You want to clown on my wife, saying all she’s got is a ring on her finger… like that’s supposed to make her feel bad. Look at my wife, Trixie.
He gestures to Aurora as she smiles into the camera.
Damon: Does that look like the face of a woman that is disappointed with what she has? No… she looks like she’s pretty damned happy from where I’m sitting.
Aurora smiles, bringing up her left hand so that her wedding ring flashes in the sunlight.
Aurora: Trixie, sweetie… don’t kid yourself. Or have you forgotten that in the WAG hierarchy, girlfriends are on the LOW end of the totem pole. Sure, you’ve got all of that other useless crap, but I’ve got the one piece of jewelry you DON’T have, and that simple band of rubies, diamonds, and white gold is worth far more to me than all of the CRAP you brag about. You see, unlike you, I’m not hung up on material things. I’ve already got everything I could ever want, and then some. I’ve got a gorgeous husband who’s INSANELY talented…
Damon: Together, we’ve got not one, but TWO tag team championships to our names, and if we have anything to say about it, soon, the world will be calling us THREE-TIME champions. So by all means, go around, acting like the spoiled little brat that you are… Keep that shit up, and maybe Devlin will take you to Cartier and buy you a new necklace to make up for the fact that you’re about to be outclassed in the ring AGAIN. Meanwhile, the rest of the REAL athletes will continue to get it done in the ring.
And while I’m at it, I should probably issue a little warning to our “special referees,” Chaos Love. My wife and I trust you two about as much as we’d trust Count Dracula at a blood bank. So if either of you even THINK about fucking us over, let’s just say we’ll still have enough in the tank after defeating The Pride to take care of your asses.Call it straight down the middle, and we’ll get along just fine. If not…. We won’t wait until Winter Solstice to tear you two to shreds. So why don’t you do yourselves a favor and stick to the job you were handed? All you have to do is count to three...
And then raise our hands.
Damon reaches up to the camera, shutting it off as the recording cuts off.
