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Joachim Bright · (08-01-2018)

Zazu Restaurant
Quito, Ecuador
July 27, 2018

Taye handed over the menu to the waiter as he finished placing his order in Spanish, stopping briefly to poke Joachim on the wrist to prompt him to hand his over as well.

Seated across from them was a svelte, African American woman with light skin tones, dressed to kill in a sharp pale blue pantsuit. She also relinquished her menu and returned her attention to the two young men sitting across the table from her.

Being bilingual must come in handy.

Yeah, it's kind of why I tagged along on this trip. My mom was from Puerto Rico and we spoke English and Spanish in my house growing up.

Taye's gaze seemed to drift off at the end of that sentence, and Joachim picked up on it instinctively and redirected the conversation.

So, you're XWF's “brand management consultant”. That sound fancy, but what exactly is it you do Ms. Clarke?

Mercedes Clarke, XWF Brand Management Consultant, sits up a bit straighter in her seat, looking confident in that “about to give a practiced explanation for the one millionth time” kind of way. Well Mr. Bright, one of my many hats is that I offer image consultation to new talent at management's behest. In other words, I help people manage their on-air persona, and offer advice on how to make yourself as distinctive and popular as you can.

Taye looks at Joachim, and something unspoken passes between them. Jo quickly returns his attention to Mercedes. Wait, so are you saying that somebody in management thought I needed help with that?

Mercedes smiles slightly. Not so much that you need “help” Mr. Bright, just “refinement”.

Those kinda sound like the same thing.

Not so. Let me explain. She reaches into the large bag laying beside her seat and withdraws a manilla folder. At that point, the waiter returns with their drinks. Taye offers him a “thanks” in Spanish as Mercedes continues. We'll get the difficult stuff out of the way first. The way I see it, there are two potential traps you could fall into. Trap number 1 is that you run the risk of being defined by your father too much.

Not gonna happen.

Very well. Trap number 2, is that you run the risk of being the wrong kind of “good guy” character.

You mean “face” right? I love using the industry terms it makes me feel special. Taye gives a wide cheeky grin and Jo chuckles at him.

We actually try NOT to use those terms. Mr.

feels they're too restrictive. But yes, if you must think of it this way, Joachim is a “face”.

Jo holds his hands up as though pumping this conversation's proverbial breaks. Hold up, hold up, this isn't some character for me, it's who I am! It's....

Mercedes looks at him blankly.

Never mind. Go ahead.

She smiles and proceeds like nothing happened. As I was saying, you definitely fit the “good guy” mold. What we want to be wary of is ending up as another John Cena.

Joachim cocks his head as he tries to follow. You mean like ending up with X-Pac heat (thanks Madison)?

Yes, but like “good guy” X-Pac heat. It's a career killer.

You ever have one of those moments where you sit and listen to a conversation completely objectively and the words start to lose any real meaning and your head starts to hurt because....

Joachim considers Taye with a mock expression of annoyance. Hush. Okay, John Cena seemed to do well for himself despite that, but I get what you're saying. “Don't be lame.” But back to my earlier question, are you bringing this up because somebody doesn't like who I am and what I do?

Oh no. I mean, it's not there yet. But don't lay the whole “warrior for truth and justice” thing on too thick or you'll end up firmly in “Hustle. Loyalty. Respect”-ville and that's just not good for anyone.

Joachim starts to look annoyed, and Taye, seeing this, inches Joachim's drink a little closer to him, hinting he should take a break. Jo takes him up on it, takes a swig, and puts his glass down. Mercedes picks up on his annoyance too, and her affect brightens as she opens the folder in front of her. It's not all bad. We're all very, very pleased with the gains we've seen in a new demographic since you came aboard. Usually, our core demographic is 18-34 year old men with felony convictions, misdemeanor charges, or unusual internet search histories. But YOU, my friend.... She holds up a chart from out of the folder, and points to a bar on the bar graph. ....are KILLING it in the teens and tweens girl department!

He looks confused. Why?

Mercedes again reaches into her purse and pulls out a small make-up compact. She faces the mirror within towards Joachim and opens it, reflecting his own face back a him. You're adorbs.

But I'm not even interested in women.

Doesn't matter. You're still cute and safe and that's all that matters to this demographic. Plus, young gay males are all the rage now. Are you familiar with “shipping” Mr. Bright?

...what?

Shipping. It's when fan fiction writers pair up two male characters in their writing to make the author's fantasy pairing. And you are red hot on XWF fan forums amongst shippers.

This is just.... Jo takes another LONG gulp of his presumably alcoholic beverage. I'm not sure I wanna know, but who are they pairing me with?

Just about everyone. Vinnie Lane. Cadryn Tiberius. Finn Kuhn is pretty popular. A couple weirdo's like to ship you with your dad.....

Jo makes a deep dry heaving sound and Taye starts to rub his back. There, there hon. It's just the internet.

But my point is this, you can use this to your advantage. You can do certain things to appeal to this demographic, pull them in and make them permanent XWF viewers.

The young man looks just barely recovered from the notion that there are actual human people who picture him having sex with his dad. What “certain things”?

For the first time, Mercedes looks a bit tentative. Oh, you know....maybe casually cut a promo when you're just coming out of the shower at the gym. Tasteful, though! Waist up ONLY!

Taye slips a hand over his mouth to conceal the oncoming spurt of laughter and turns to the side as his boyfriend looks at Mercedes incredulously. Nooooooooope.

We thought you might be reluctant, but we have the potential to break through into a whole new demographic here. So we're willing to offer you a $10,000 bonus to do it.

I'm not a piece of meat, lady! Joachim realizes too late how loud he was. An older woman at the next table scowls at him and he mouths “sorry” and waves at her placatingly. With a more measured tone, he continues. Seriously though, this is weird and awkward and....

Taye puts a hand on Joachim's forearm, drawing his attention. And $10,000 would pay for Gracie's surgery.

Who's Gracie?

Joachim's mood seems to have changed abruptly and considerably now. She's one of the kids I help but....[lime] He turns to Taye. [lime]I shouldn't have to do it like this Taye. It feels slimy and gross....

It's not a big deal hon. It's not like you have anything to be ashamed of.

Jo sighs and taps his fingers in the table. He starts to say something, then scowls and shakes his head. Yeah, it's just....

You do it or I do it for you.

What?!

Taye smiles and crosses his arms. I'll get nekkid and cut the promo for you. Right now.

You are not doing that! Jo turns to Mercedes and points back at Taye. He's not doing it.

The consultant quirks an eyebrow and gives Taye the once over. I'd accept a substitute.

Taye takes his shirt off at the table, revealing a toned brown torso. Okie dokie?

Mercedes bites the corner of her lip, looking “distracted”. When she snaps to, she sputters. Oh-oh yeah, that's good.....

STAAAAAAAHP! Jo looks furiously around at the other diners before smacking Taye on the chest. Put your clothes on ass, I'll do the stupid beefcake promo!

Yaaaaaay! Gracie's gonna be so happy. Taye pulls his shirt back on over his head. Mercedes is still molesting him with her eyes however. Taye quirks an eyebrow at her.

Are you SURE you're....?

As the day is long.

She picks up her drink, muttering The good ones always are.... before dropping half of the beverage in one gulp.

/////Later/////

We are greeted by the sight of steam in a bathroom, steam which strategically covers the nethers of Joachim Bright as he opens the sliding glass door of a shower. He hastily snatches a towel off a nearby hook and ties it around his waist. He bats away the steam, before turning an embarrassed eye back towards the camera.

Oh no, you appear to have caught me just as I was exiting the shower, what peculiar timing. He drawls in a very unamused fashion. Nevertheless, he is indeed shirtless and glisteny for the benefit of his new teenage fanbase. I will now commence cutting a promo before dressing myself because REASONS.

Somebody clears their throat off camera. Jo rolls his eyes and forces a smile. Jack. Azrael. Not gonna lie. SUPER disappointed that neither of you seemed to have shown much interest in this match. I'm sure you had your reasons and all, but still. Facing a mummy avenger and a (admittedly gorgeous) ET at the same time is pretty much “once in a lifetime”. I was really looking forward to this. Still am, truth be told. But I guess I would have felt more fulfilled if I got to know you guys better, ya know? Not to gain a psychological advantage or any of that hammy shit, just because, ya'all are fascinating as hell. I wanted to know you. Hear what makes you tick because I like the weirdos.

But it's okay, I guess. I can't make you guys talk. Maybe it's because you're looking past me, thinking I don't rate. Or maybe, in Azraels case, you're just upset about how things panned out at Leap of Faith. Which, by the by, at least you were AT the pay per view. I put in for that opener against Rain!

Azrael, you'll get more opportunities, I'm sure. And Jack, there will always be a place for interesting guys like you. But one thing I've learned over the last couple days is that, as superficial as it may seem, putting yourself out there and making a brand for yourself does matter. And not just in terms of dollars and cents, but because giving yourself that identity is what allows you to connect with people, to give them a reason to cheer you or boo you, to feel SOMETHING about you. It's what plugs you in to the masses. And I feel that. And I see now why it's important. But as the old adage goes, 90% of life is just showing up, and you can't expect people to care if you can't even be bothered to comment.

Some people might look at me as a sell out right now. Okay, okay...I'm not thrilled with it either. But I just earned a sick little girl an operation that will give her a better quality of life. And nothing makes me feel more plugged in than that. By doing what I do here in the XWF, I can make a very real difference in people's lives, whether it's Gracie or that young gay kid who's afraid to let the world know who he really is.

This matters, what we do MATTERS.

It's a heavy burden, a big responsibility. And one a lot of people here don't take very seriously.

Joachim pulls the towel a bit tighter around his waist now, allowing himself a little nervous chuckle.

Self consciousness rising.... He mutters it playfully. Jack, Azrael...silence or not, I do look forward to seeing you guys at Warfare. I really do. And while my chances in this match aren't amazing, triple threats are kind of a biotch like that, I want to win. I'm gonna fight hard. Because I want this. I want to make a name for myself. I want to overtake The Engineer as the premier talent in the XWF, and I want to do it to prove that you don't have to sell your soul to attain a modicum of success here. But to do that, I got to win. Nothing personal.

See you gents real soon.

He starts to move off camera, when somebody from behind the camera says something that's hard to make out. Joachim looks disgusted.

No, I'm not flashing a little ass!

He tosses his head up imperiously and stomps off camera, but in so doing he almost loses his grip on his towel. He trips a bit and catches it just in time to make a decidedly ungraceful exit.

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