Personal [Burrows RP vs. Vodka Fizz - FFTF WC]
Mar 23, 2022 19:29:37 GMT -5
anthonycaffrey likes this
Post by Kris on Mar 23, 2022 19:29:37 GMT -5
"Vodka Fizz."
One will likely find the... conflicted way Natalie Burrows says her opponent's name to be unsurprising as the visual fades in, considering her relationship to Vodka. It's a simple set-up--just the Southern Belle leaning against the wall of her hotel room with the title cradled with care on her left shoulder, a pair of jeans and her Guardians shirt as her chosen attire. While she's got some make-up on, it's obvious that the lioness hasn't been resting as well as she should have. Is it because of how she and Vodka have been apart? There's no way to know for sure. Natalie offers up a bit of a smile and a nod of respect before she continues to speak.
"As well as you know me by now... for you to be the one underestimating me after falsely accusing me of doing that to you is quite the shock. Then again, you're also the one that claimed that I was too nice to beat you--you called me a 'lioness without teeth' before comparing me to a rug, to be exact. Surely you didn't intend to imply that you'd be able to walk all over me, dear, when we both know that's not the case."
Bemusement colors the tone of the Southern Belle, but there's something lurking beneath that rather poor attempt at respectful lightness. It's the same thing that prowls along the edges of her expression, keeping that half-smile from becoming the real thing. She's trying, though, to keep things playful... even if it's already beginning to come apart at the seams.
"Nevermind how you then went on to do your level best to diminish my accomplishment of being the one to best MAJESTY by making it sound like it happened in 2011 instead of just shy of six months ago, or glossing over the successful defenses I've had since then, or deciding to sexualize me with that quip about how easily you make me purr like a kitten well outside the confines of the squared circle like it's somehow relevant when you know full well how many times promoters tried to exploit me when I was younger..."
That half-smile dims all the further as FIRESIDE's longest-reigning World Champion takes a deep breath before she decides to stop trying to pretend that everything is fine when it clearly isn't.
"We agreed to keep things in our personal lives separate from our professional lives. After making that agreement, though, the first chance you got--the literal first time that you had the chance to keep up your end of the bargain--that promise went right out the window when you decided to do all you could to minimize me, to disrespect me not just as a wrestler, but as a person. You talked like you didn't have to push yourself to your limit to beat me by the skin of your teeth when the FIRESIDE World Title wasn't on the line at Caveat Emptor--and for what? The possibility of a mental advantage in a match that you knew I didn't care about winning, not when the meaning of the award of Wrestler Of The Year was ripped away by Anthony's ego trip. You knew, you absolutely knew that my focus was on making that jerk pay for what he did to Adrien--and even without that knowledge, you could've easily kept to our agreement. Instead, you decided to break that faith. And as much as I wish, I wish I could be... I'm not angry at you, Voddy."
The vestiges of her smile giving up the ghost, her expression openly displaying how she feels--and in case it's not clear?
"I'm disappointed."
Natalie is leaving no room for doubt. She shakes her head.
"That's not just aimed at you, by the way--I'm disappointed in myself, too, because what you said shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did. By now, I know that trying to get that mental advantage is part of the game--that sometimes, you've got to tell the harsh truth to someone you respect. I've been the one to tell that harsh truth more times than I can count... and I'm going to be the one to say it now. First, by the time you were done bending the truth to make yourself look better than me in a few places, what was left didn't even come close to resembling anything that could be considered true. That's not the hardest truth, though, that you deserve to hear."
A deep breath... and the Southern Belle makes damn sure she's looking the camera right in the lens just like if it was the eyes of Vodka Fizz instead.
"I should've never agreed to that promise myself because I'm not going to be able to keep it, either."
The Southern Belle shakes her head.
"I don't mean that I'm going to start making quips about how you've felt my teeth or anything like that, or how I'm going to act like you didn't beat a lot of tough opponents to get to this match when the entire world knows that you have. No, I'm saying that because while you've got a dividing line between your career as Vodka Fizz and the rest of your life as [REDACTED]... I don't. I have lived and breathed wrestling since before I can recall. It's so much a part of me that there is no separation--my first memory is of Mister Morgan acting like a kick from four-year-old me was the most painful thing he's ever felt as my daddy laughed and told me to do it again. There's very few core memories for me that don't involve wrestling in one way or another. Not any of my soccer games growing up where all the local indy folks would show up to cheer me on, not when my prom dates all got the talk from Misters Morgan and Norcia and whoever else was around... not at the funeral of my mother, when wrestlers both from the Durham area as well as more than a few members of VWA's roster gathered around me to help hold me up. They were there for Daddy's, too, but that was slightly different since Robbie Burrows was a part of their world. Mom? She wasn't, but even then she was honored just the same. There is no persona that I become when I wrestle, nor am I a different person when I'm making my children breakfast. The Natalie Burrows that is the FIRESIDE World Champion and the Natalie Burrows that is doing her darndest to raise her kids are one and the same. There is no way for me to separate the two."
The slight smile that graces Natalie's lips is sad, a calloused hand rising to run the back of her hand along her eyes just in case.
"And I'm sure that there's part of you that's gonna look at what I just said and try to justify your comments about how I'm too nice because even after admitting that I won't be able to keep the agreement, I'm not going for your throat in the way you think I should. I'm not working myself up into a near-psychotic state over a misunderstanding, I'm not diminishing your accomplishments and the wars you've taken part in, win or lose. I'm not even trying to minimize the fact that I fought like Hell when I faced you last, but you got the win. However, to mistake me not running from the truth as kindness you can take advantage of... you're going to pay for implying that, Voddy."
Trailing off, silence reigns for a moment before the champion is properly glaring at the camera.
"You're going to pay for that dearly, as a matter of fact, because no matter how much you tried to act like I've grown soft since I bested MAJESTY and survived their realm? I'm still very much the same woman who did what you and so many others couldn't. If anything, I'm all the stronger now from everything I've endured since. Did I always win? No, but I always learned--and that includes learning things about wrestling you that can only come from that first hand experience. You had that same opportunity, of course... but from what you've said since then, you didn't learn nearly as much as you think you did. If you had, then you'd know better than to dismiss how open I am about my feelings as a weakness when those very emotions are what I reach into to push myself past things that have stopped so many others dead in their tracks. How else did I win this from the Dragon that terrified so many?"
Natalie subtly nods her head in the direction of the championship on her shoulder.
"And Voddy, I know you're desperate to prove that you deserve to be at the top of the mountain, and I'll be the first to say that you absolutely do... but you're not going to get there by beating me. I'm baffled as to how you missed the obvious here, but I'll point it out for you; nothing makes me more dangerous as an opponent than being told that I can't do something. It's something we have in common, but you must have missed it when you thought that me telling you to focus on the future after our first match was me looking past you. I wasn't looking past you then, and I'm not looking past you now. No, you've got every single ounce of my focus on you, and that's going to lead to me using the weight of my experience, my emotions, my knowledge-- my everything to get your shoulders pinned to the mat for the three count so that once the dust has settled and the ending bell has rang? My hand will be the one held aloft... and I will still be FIRESIDE World Champion."
Nodding to affirm that point, it seems as if the blond is going to end things there. However, as unpleasant as the elephant that has now shown up in the room may be? She has to address it. To do otherwise would be unfair to her... not to mention the man she loves, and so even if it takes some of the impact away? She's going to say it.
"Nothing I've said erases the fact that I love you, [REDACTED]. You should know that... and I know you love me, too, even with what you've said. I hope that our relationship endures this match, not to mention the matches after this. I hope the day comes that, when we each decide it's time to hang up our boots, that we are able to settle into a future together as the kids give us grandkids and so on down the line. It seems that as much as our first match was a test, so is this one--but this one's stakes are higher. The match at Caveat Emptor measured us against one another, but our match at Fuel For The Fire isn't just testing us. It's testing our bond, the... how did the card say it? Ah, yes--the blossoming relationship, like it's just something to sell tickets. I don't need to wonder on this one, I know Anthony is trying to make money off that part most of all just the same as I know he picked a match type that's meant to push our relationship to shatter because how can two prideful lions cope with such a thing? If it were anyone else, any other couple... I could see the danger. He's trying to tell us our relationship can't make it past this, that we're too weak to not let this challenge separate us."
A pause; Natalie smirks in a way that closely resembles that of Vodka's trademark expression, though Vodka ought to know the sharpness isn't aimed at him. Not this time, anyway.
"And you know how we both are about being told we can't do something..."
Fade.
One will likely find the... conflicted way Natalie Burrows says her opponent's name to be unsurprising as the visual fades in, considering her relationship to Vodka. It's a simple set-up--just the Southern Belle leaning against the wall of her hotel room with the title cradled with care on her left shoulder, a pair of jeans and her Guardians shirt as her chosen attire. While she's got some make-up on, it's obvious that the lioness hasn't been resting as well as she should have. Is it because of how she and Vodka have been apart? There's no way to know for sure. Natalie offers up a bit of a smile and a nod of respect before she continues to speak.
"As well as you know me by now... for you to be the one underestimating me after falsely accusing me of doing that to you is quite the shock. Then again, you're also the one that claimed that I was too nice to beat you--you called me a 'lioness without teeth' before comparing me to a rug, to be exact. Surely you didn't intend to imply that you'd be able to walk all over me, dear, when we both know that's not the case."
Bemusement colors the tone of the Southern Belle, but there's something lurking beneath that rather poor attempt at respectful lightness. It's the same thing that prowls along the edges of her expression, keeping that half-smile from becoming the real thing. She's trying, though, to keep things playful... even if it's already beginning to come apart at the seams.
"Nevermind how you then went on to do your level best to diminish my accomplishment of being the one to best MAJESTY by making it sound like it happened in 2011 instead of just shy of six months ago, or glossing over the successful defenses I've had since then, or deciding to sexualize me with that quip about how easily you make me purr like a kitten well outside the confines of the squared circle like it's somehow relevant when you know full well how many times promoters tried to exploit me when I was younger..."
That half-smile dims all the further as FIRESIDE's longest-reigning World Champion takes a deep breath before she decides to stop trying to pretend that everything is fine when it clearly isn't.
"We agreed to keep things in our personal lives separate from our professional lives. After making that agreement, though, the first chance you got--the literal first time that you had the chance to keep up your end of the bargain--that promise went right out the window when you decided to do all you could to minimize me, to disrespect me not just as a wrestler, but as a person. You talked like you didn't have to push yourself to your limit to beat me by the skin of your teeth when the FIRESIDE World Title wasn't on the line at Caveat Emptor--and for what? The possibility of a mental advantage in a match that you knew I didn't care about winning, not when the meaning of the award of Wrestler Of The Year was ripped away by Anthony's ego trip. You knew, you absolutely knew that my focus was on making that jerk pay for what he did to Adrien--and even without that knowledge, you could've easily kept to our agreement. Instead, you decided to break that faith. And as much as I wish, I wish I could be... I'm not angry at you, Voddy."
The vestiges of her smile giving up the ghost, her expression openly displaying how she feels--and in case it's not clear?
"I'm disappointed."
Natalie is leaving no room for doubt. She shakes her head.
"That's not just aimed at you, by the way--I'm disappointed in myself, too, because what you said shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did. By now, I know that trying to get that mental advantage is part of the game--that sometimes, you've got to tell the harsh truth to someone you respect. I've been the one to tell that harsh truth more times than I can count... and I'm going to be the one to say it now. First, by the time you were done bending the truth to make yourself look better than me in a few places, what was left didn't even come close to resembling anything that could be considered true. That's not the hardest truth, though, that you deserve to hear."
A deep breath... and the Southern Belle makes damn sure she's looking the camera right in the lens just like if it was the eyes of Vodka Fizz instead.
"I should've never agreed to that promise myself because I'm not going to be able to keep it, either."
The Southern Belle shakes her head.
"I don't mean that I'm going to start making quips about how you've felt my teeth or anything like that, or how I'm going to act like you didn't beat a lot of tough opponents to get to this match when the entire world knows that you have. No, I'm saying that because while you've got a dividing line between your career as Vodka Fizz and the rest of your life as [REDACTED]... I don't. I have lived and breathed wrestling since before I can recall. It's so much a part of me that there is no separation--my first memory is of Mister Morgan acting like a kick from four-year-old me was the most painful thing he's ever felt as my daddy laughed and told me to do it again. There's very few core memories for me that don't involve wrestling in one way or another. Not any of my soccer games growing up where all the local indy folks would show up to cheer me on, not when my prom dates all got the talk from Misters Morgan and Norcia and whoever else was around... not at the funeral of my mother, when wrestlers both from the Durham area as well as more than a few members of VWA's roster gathered around me to help hold me up. They were there for Daddy's, too, but that was slightly different since Robbie Burrows was a part of their world. Mom? She wasn't, but even then she was honored just the same. There is no persona that I become when I wrestle, nor am I a different person when I'm making my children breakfast. The Natalie Burrows that is the FIRESIDE World Champion and the Natalie Burrows that is doing her darndest to raise her kids are one and the same. There is no way for me to separate the two."
The slight smile that graces Natalie's lips is sad, a calloused hand rising to run the back of her hand along her eyes just in case.
"And I'm sure that there's part of you that's gonna look at what I just said and try to justify your comments about how I'm too nice because even after admitting that I won't be able to keep the agreement, I'm not going for your throat in the way you think I should. I'm not working myself up into a near-psychotic state over a misunderstanding, I'm not diminishing your accomplishments and the wars you've taken part in, win or lose. I'm not even trying to minimize the fact that I fought like Hell when I faced you last, but you got the win. However, to mistake me not running from the truth as kindness you can take advantage of... you're going to pay for implying that, Voddy."
Trailing off, silence reigns for a moment before the champion is properly glaring at the camera.
"You're going to pay for that dearly, as a matter of fact, because no matter how much you tried to act like I've grown soft since I bested MAJESTY and survived their realm? I'm still very much the same woman who did what you and so many others couldn't. If anything, I'm all the stronger now from everything I've endured since. Did I always win? No, but I always learned--and that includes learning things about wrestling you that can only come from that first hand experience. You had that same opportunity, of course... but from what you've said since then, you didn't learn nearly as much as you think you did. If you had, then you'd know better than to dismiss how open I am about my feelings as a weakness when those very emotions are what I reach into to push myself past things that have stopped so many others dead in their tracks. How else did I win this from the Dragon that terrified so many?"
Natalie subtly nods her head in the direction of the championship on her shoulder.
"And Voddy, I know you're desperate to prove that you deserve to be at the top of the mountain, and I'll be the first to say that you absolutely do... but you're not going to get there by beating me. I'm baffled as to how you missed the obvious here, but I'll point it out for you; nothing makes me more dangerous as an opponent than being told that I can't do something. It's something we have in common, but you must have missed it when you thought that me telling you to focus on the future after our first match was me looking past you. I wasn't looking past you then, and I'm not looking past you now. No, you've got every single ounce of my focus on you, and that's going to lead to me using the weight of my experience, my emotions, my knowledge-- my everything to get your shoulders pinned to the mat for the three count so that once the dust has settled and the ending bell has rang? My hand will be the one held aloft... and I will still be FIRESIDE World Champion."
Nodding to affirm that point, it seems as if the blond is going to end things there. However, as unpleasant as the elephant that has now shown up in the room may be? She has to address it. To do otherwise would be unfair to her... not to mention the man she loves, and so even if it takes some of the impact away? She's going to say it.
"Nothing I've said erases the fact that I love you, [REDACTED]. You should know that... and I know you love me, too, even with what you've said. I hope that our relationship endures this match, not to mention the matches after this. I hope the day comes that, when we each decide it's time to hang up our boots, that we are able to settle into a future together as the kids give us grandkids and so on down the line. It seems that as much as our first match was a test, so is this one--but this one's stakes are higher. The match at Caveat Emptor measured us against one another, but our match at Fuel For The Fire isn't just testing us. It's testing our bond, the... how did the card say it? Ah, yes--the blossoming relationship, like it's just something to sell tickets. I don't need to wonder on this one, I know Anthony is trying to make money off that part most of all just the same as I know he picked a match type that's meant to push our relationship to shatter because how can two prideful lions cope with such a thing? If it were anyone else, any other couple... I could see the danger. He's trying to tell us our relationship can't make it past this, that we're too weak to not let this challenge separate us."
A pause; Natalie smirks in a way that closely resembles that of Vodka's trademark expression, though Vodka ought to know the sharpness isn't aimed at him. Not this time, anyway.
"And you know how we both are about being told we can't do something..."
Fade.