Def Ears, Listen Up (For RedShinigami)

[GolemGuardian]

Chris was ignoring the idiots talking shit thus far. Though yeah, the rock star was kind of regretting the sit down for the shared drinks. Not because of Veronika, she'd actually been decent so far. No, she was struggling hard with her social skills. She had expected them to bury the hatchet, share some alcohol and maybe some food, and now Veronika was a crying mess. The rocker was very much not used to being a comforter.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, her rival was set off. One of her fake fans, those who just followed to try and get under her skin whenever they had the chance to, spoke up and insulted her. Chris was about to turn to them and thank them for wasting their time and money, since they seemed to have nothing better to do, but the Franco-Austrian did that for her. And not only that, but she seemed to take the five she was going at all the way up to thirty-two. It was a bit intense, especially with Veronika giving that crooked smile that made her feel a little uneasy.

She just sat there, watching the interaction take place, stunned. She couldn't even tell the dancer even she wasn't allowed to call her that, but the fact she came to her rescue at all surprised her. Soon it was over, and Veronika turned back towards her, wiping her tears and smiling more gently. "Th-thanks..." Was all Chris could say, before she grabbed Veronika's hand and pulling her back towards her seat. "That was... unexpected. Never thought you'd snap for me." Chris was half tempted to go ask George if he had a back room or somewhere they could have more privacy, but given his perverse ways, she doubted there wouldn't be twelve innuendos and fifteen instances that nothing would happen back there. "Just ignore them. They're just pathetic sacks of puss who have nothing to do and just spend time ruining popular people's lives."

[RedShinigami]

Veronika was drunk, humiliated and at the end of her line.
She just wanted to get away.
It was all said and done was it?
She still hated her?
Fine...
"If... If...sniff...you would know...",she said through tears that were welling up again.
"if you would know...how hard...this is for me...", she whimpered and as Chris took her hands, the dancer yelped.
"Chris... Please... I want to go. I want to go...", she said and looked at her with the face of a lost child.
She could'nt stand to be here anymore, were the people hated her, wer everything was so small and tight... She was close to panic...
"Please, let us go..."

[GolemGuardian]

Chris could only sit there, watching the dancer have her little, drunken break down. Their entire meeting tonight had been a whirlwind, to say the least. From the harsh words and threats, to their attempts to be civil, to them not only being civil but actually getting closer to an understanding. And now to here, where her rival came to her defense and then went a little farther with a little threatening. All accumulating to Veronika's tears falling soon after, going on about how hard apologizing was. The rock star may not have understood, but something in Chris told her to follow through on this. If not to just bury the hatchet for them, then because something nagged at her.

"OK, we're going," The rocker said as she put down an amount of money, what she thought should be enough but was actually about fifty bucks over, let go of her rival's hand and instead wrapped around her waist protectively. They'd exit the pub, with Chris flipping all her 'fans' off for their behavior and no farewells to George - he'd probably understand if he saw all the events, she hopes.

But... where she was going to go instead, she didn't really have an idea right now. So she'd just walk towards her apartment, with no other destination in mind where such spiteful attention could be avoided, for either of them. "Bad question, I know, but... Feeling any better?" Hopefully her social skills could last long enough for her to figure out a plan.

[RedShinigami]

The proud and glamourus woman named Veronika Noir had never felt so embarrassed in her whole life.
And why?
Because she came to say sorry to a woman who broke her arm!
She just could'nt understand what was wrong with her.
Since Chris left her, having won their feud and broken her arm, Veronika was'nt able to wrestle or do much anything except lying in her bed and thinking...
Thinking how she would get back at her for this, thinking of how she finally would break those thin, easily hurtable legs...
Until she came to the realisation that this was something she never wanted.
She was cruel ,she hurt people, mentally and physically but breaking someones legs or ending their careers...this was too much even for a heelish bitch like her.

And this thought never left her, especially as she was the one getting a broken limb after their final confrontation.
She was mad at Chris, screamed in her room, cursed her broke some expensive plates she had bought in Italy.
This slut would run around ,telling everyone, everyone how she beat her, how she broke her arm, how she was just better then her...
And Veronikas character, heavily formed by the constant abuse of her mother could'nt take it.
She was close to snapping, seeing Chris Yukine celebrating another victory and running into her at their party!
Did she say something?

Did she say sorry, no, she said nothing and looked at her with those ,stupid, beautiful eyes of hers.
Veronik cried now, kneeling on the sidewalk before the pub, her hands in her face as endless streams of tears flew down her face.
"I don't know what I should dooo...", she screamed and her whole body started to shake in the cold february air.

[GolemGuardian]

Everything Veronika felt was justified. Chris let things get out of hand, specifically when she had broken the dancer's arm. The only reason she ever brought it up when she was interviewed was because the interviewers always asked about it. How it felt broken her rival's arm in revenge for all the humiliation she had been put through, to feel the bone twist and snap in her grasp as the Franco-Austrian refused to give up. And each time, though she bore a smile as she spoke of the moment, inside was a knot of regret and self loathing.

That wasn't entertainment for the crowd, it wasn't some big moment of revenge. It was a mistake made in anger. Anger she hadn't felt since she was very young when the other kids picked on her for her parents death. Blinding rage that never got her anywhere and only got her beat up instead of the opposite she intended. And the more time that passed from the match to her apology, Chris found it hard to face Veronika. What would she say, what would she attempt. And honestly, it was just the rock star's guilt and selfishness that ended putting it off. There would never be enough to earn Veroinka's forgiveness for it. Humiliated or not, trying to end her career or not. Chris knew she went farther than anyone should in a wrestling ring, and that black spot haunted her.

And it all led to here, their encounter in the pub, their dinner and the dancer coming in like a white knight for her when a false fan talked trash their way. And now Veronika breaking down worse than before just outside the pub, dragging the Japanese American down with her as she fell to the sidewalk. "I shouldn't have stopped the gym visits," she muttered quietly, awkwardly coming down to kneel with Veronika. She screeched into the frigid air, the dancer's attire not really made for the weather. Chris definitely did not have the social skills to deal with this! She was in inner panic mode right now.

But... she should at least try, right?

"Get up," Chris said, straining to get Veronika back up. It almost sounded like she was just trying to get the dancer to start moving again so they weren't just standing there, but she hoped to whatever higher powers there were - if there were - that her next words made things a little better. "You're nicer than I ever thought you could be, honestly. Maybe if you acted more like that, rather than the spiteful woman I fought so many times, then maybe a work relationship would be salvageable. Not just with me, but any other girls you've pissed off since you've been here or even some in the future you could have potentially pissed off." Oh gods, the moment those words left her mouth sounded... a little worse than she thought. "I don't know whatever shit it is that's gone on in your life, Veronika, but... If that defined you you'd be nowhere. Heck, my parents died in a fucking terrorist attack and got burnt to heck. I was angry at everything and everyone. If I let that be all I was, don't think I'd ever be here." And now it sounded selfish again. "Er, sorry. This isn't about me. That wasn't what I was trying to do. I-I just meant it's the only example I have." Oh gods, that wasn't going to help at all. What the heck else was there she could bloody do!??!

[RedShinigami]

Veronika did'nt feel the crippling cold as she walked out and fell on her knees, breathing heavily, having some sort of panic attack.
She never had drank that much and the memories it pulled out from her unconcious mind were less then pleasant...they were horrifying, they were what shaped the womans character, well not all of it, but enough to be the brutal, very competable and spiteful woman she was in the ring.
But she was'nt like this all the time. There was another Veronika in her, a Veronika that cared, a Veronika that was a dancer and wrestler at heart and just loved to fight as many beautiful girls as she could.

And she did.
But her childhood always caught up to her, her mother in some asylum in france, being nothing more then a vegetable. She could'nt hurt her anymore, she could'nt. But whenever Veronika felt that she could move on, like a monster out of a horror film her mother appeared behind her and dragged her back. Into the big mansion ,the cold, dark attic, to the countless training sessions were her mother...the lawyers called it "torturing" her...

She wrapped her arms around herself and the tears started to trickle down her face.
It was'nt her father who ended all of this, it was their butler.
Seeing Veronika getting abused day after day, seeing Veronikas mother going down a path that could only lead to something horrible...and indeed.
One evening Veronikas mother had snapped and tried to kill her...for a second time.
And she was'nt shy to admit it...

I wish I had killed you then...you unthankful little beast...
Maman, please, no, you are hurting me.
Shut your mouth you filfthy little slut!
AAAAH!
Madame, what are you doing?
What I should have done ten years ago...
Madame, put away the knife, at this instant!
Now Veronika, you won't upstage me anymore...you won't
be more beautiful then I am, you will never be!
YOU ARE DEAD!
MADAME!

And suddenly as Chris approached her Veronika let out the loudest scream she had ever mustered.
"MAMAAAAAN!", she screamed , her voice not sounding like the bitch who humiliated others in the ring but like that of a little girl.
"No,no,no...", she said and shook her head and as Chris approached her she looked up.
There was not hate in her gaze, no arrogance, no distain, it was the face of a young girl, looking for help.
"Help me...please...help me..."
The same words she spoke to her butler when he managed to take her mother down.
And as her butler had embraced her and carried her in her arms, Veronika searched for the same emotion again, even if it was Chris, someone she grew to hate, but did'nt anymore.
Veronika through herself at Chris as she tried to lift her up and pressed herself against the Rocker and both of them against a streetlight.
"Don't leave...I am so afraid..."

[GolemGuardian]

Chris didn't understand what was going on with Veronika. She was at least a little buzzed, but still lucid enough to get that the Franco-Austrian was having a breakdown. But why? What was causing it? The rock star had neither the doctorate or the social ability to be of any real help. Heck, she nearly fell back on her butt when Veronika suddenly screamed for, or maybe at, her 'maman,' whatever that was. Chris could guess it meant mom, but she wasn't going to presume anything for the moment. Plus, it wasn't her place to ask.

"Veronika?" Chris said gently as she tried to approach again, pausing at her demeanor. It wasn't of the spiteful bitch she fought in the ring, or the vengeful host who had 'interviewed' her. It was a scared girl, who had faced a deep trauma that had shaped her. It was a look Chris knew too well. A look she saw the first few nights after the explosion that killed her parents, the wide eyes that stared back in the mirror everyday when her school had sent her back when she was beaten up after some punk kid made fun of her over her dead parents. All the guilt she felt over the broken arm, the anger her rock soul screamed in her ears just for her eternal rival being near her, it all faded behind the sympathy she felt right now.

"I'm not going anywhere for now." Chris moved once more, helping Veronika up and doing her best to keep from stumbling too much. "Come on, we're geting you somewhere more safe, OK?" That would be the last words she shared as they went back to her apartment. And hopefully by now Tania was sleeping, either after a call with her girlfriend overseas or passing out after too much sex. Veronika no doubt wanted as few people to see her like this.

[RedShinigami]

Veronika shook her head.
She panicked, she was'nt accustomed to being THIS drunk.
And mixed with the PTSD that haunted her it was a terrible mix.
"Please just let me go... Let me go...", she said as her heart was beating like a jackhammer.
"Let... Let me breath... Its good.... Its good..."
The shame and denial of someone with panic issues...
"I come down... I come down...",she said while walking in circles.
She hated this, it happened right before her hated rival... Or... Her friend?
Veronika wasnt sure what was right or wrong anymore and tried to calm down.
This was'nt her... She was better then this!
Finally she approached Chris and sighed.
"Sorry for that...", she said and looked to the said.
"Shall we go?", she asked and grabbed for Chris hand, squeezing it.
"Wherever that is..."

[GolemGuardian]

What was going on? That was a question Chris questioned many times when she fought Veronika, and even many times tonight. She understood the dancer was a little drunk and might be having a panic attack, but that was all she followed. It wasn't her place to ask what was going on, but maybe she actually should? Worst was she'd get yelled at again, right?

By the time she finally finished her inner monologue, Veronika had also calmed down a little. "U-um, it's fine. I've had a panic attack before, to.... Not that bad, you get the award for that." Her blush returned as soon as Veronika grabbed her hand and squeezed it, unable to really get why her rival - er friend, acquaintance, whatever the heck they're relation ship was now. She just didn't get what was going on anymore.

"I-it's just my apartment. Not anything as fancy as the Eagle's Nest, but there'll be only one asshole there." She gave a small chuckle, pulling her rival behind her. "And she has the key there. Besides, you're in no shape to go back to that mansion for now." Chris would then start walking back to her apartment where she could talk to Veronika to see if she could or even wanted to bare more of her soul. And if not, then it would just be a place for her to not have another scene in public.

[RedShinigami]

Veronika Noir was unsure what she did here but then again she was so drunk that she did'nt care anymore.
Even if they both hated each other, of course some animosity would linger, but maybe there was something that could
be done about it time after time...

The Burlesque Dancer felt that she had, with going to Chris, throwing all in her face that had built up in her and even having these visions of her mother, had done something.
What this was she could'nt point a finger to yet but she knew she felt...better.

The whole evening was an up and down of emotions, hate, frustration, sadness, memories and even...fun.
She had fun, with this feisty little rocker.
Even if she were a little dumbass that was much, much to closed up.
Well..maybe Veronika could change that.

"You know...you are so damn sexy...and you are at LAW, why do you fucking hide so much?", she asked and shook her head while walking down the snowy streets with the Rocker.
"I mean, you don't have to run around like me...no one can, because..."
She stopped and let her hand trail over her forms in the tight sweater.
"No one has a body like me...", she chuckled and followed Chris again.

"But still..."
Then she grew silent.
"Really hurt you with all of that huh, the show, the mud match, the photos...", she said motionless.