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Joachim Bright · (06-19-2018)

Somewhere....

**~~IN DREAMS~~**

Panting, breathless, and with his heart hammering against his rib cage so hard it's threatening to break free, he half dives half stumbles against the base of one of the statues. Curling himself into a ball like a small child, he buries his head between his knees repeating the mantra over and over again. Please go away. Please go away. Please go away.

But the spectral sigh sounds in the distance. A faint choking moan. And then the gentle weeping.

Joachim bites down HARD on his bottom lip, desperately trying to keep his wits about him in the face of the mounting terror. And then, he feels a strange sensation on his scalp. Something impacts on it. And then again. He looks up into the face of the statue he's taken refuge under.

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It's weeping on him. He cuts short a cry of surprise, springing up on his haunches and crab walking behind it. Looking out at the rest of the statue park he sees now that they are all bleeding, just like every other time. The blood somehow aglow against the darkness of the night, like it has an oily sheen and a supernatural phosphorescence.

The sobbing is getting closer now, echoing off the statues as they run red with stark crimson. And just like in every other dream, the weeping grows in intensity, starting out as something tragic and mounting into a more hysterical sob. NoNoNoNo.... He covers his ears but can still somehow hear her cries.

And that's when the razor wire appears, again encroaching on the periphery of the dream itself like a twisted border, suturing in and out of the vision like flesh, pulling itself closer and closer to Joachim like it possessed intelligence and it was a hunter stalking prey. He knew all he could do it at this point was pray for it to end and for him to wake up in Taye's arms.

Pulling himself into a tigher and tighter ball as the tearing wire marches in, he forces himself to look up. She's there.

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Her howl is worse this time, deafening. Joachim presses his hands against his ears so hard he can almost hear his skull creak in protest. He screams but cannot even hear it as his Razor Mother's sonic assault causes the very ground beneath him to tremble. The bleeding statues in the distance crumble and fall and finally the very earth gives way dropping him into....

...into....

**~~WAKING~~**

Joachim throws the covers off the bed, coughing and sputtering as he stumbles towards the bathroom. Pulling the chain to the archaic light, he finds the sink and grabs the sides of it like he's holding onto it for dear life. Cranking the handles, he catches the cool water that issues forth and starts splashing it on his face. His breathing gradually starts to steady, the thundering in his chest subsides. He pants, focusing on slowing his body down.

Taye appears in the doorway, concern etched on his face. It's getting worse.

Jo runs some of the water through his hair. Yeah.

Maybe you should talk to somebody about it. He walks closer, snaking an arm around Joachim's waist and pulling him into a hug. I need my top pupil at 100% after all. Taye smiles but doesn't really feel it.

Joachim replies with his face buried in Taye's chest. I talk to you, don't I?

Taye sighs, rubbing his back. Yeah but I'm not a-

You're not a psychiatrist. Joachim finishes his statement for him, looking up at him and trying to put on a wistful smile. How do you put up with all this crazy?

Taye plants a peck on his forehead. I manage. But seriously hon-

I know. I know. I'll look into it. He pulls Taye in closer to himself and just stands there for a while, drinking in his presence, until the morning sun peeks through the bathroom window.

Later....

Joachim's alone in Taye's apartment now. A duffel bag is splayed open on the bed, and he's sifting through a pile of folded clothes and placing them inside. We see him do this for a moment, carefully arraying the contents, when he finally turns towards the camera.

Well, this is it.... He zips up the bag and drops it at his feet. I actually wasn't planning on doing another one, but I felt like it would be disrespectful not to say something after you were so honest with me. Plus, I'd like to put some of your manager's fears to rest. You know what, let's start with that little chestnut.

Engy's not gonna do shit to you. Because he knows that if he does, I will never let him hear the end of it. For some perverse reason, I think he still cares about what I think of him. And I think he knows that trying to pick off my opponent's in the wake of each of my matches is gonna piss me off right good. Plus, for all his many, many faults....he understands the business. He understands people get hurt. And I don't think he'd hold doing your job against you.

He looks aside, and then looks back with kind of a funny expression.

That being said, if you have a problem with him....er, let me know. And incidentally, he didn't actually kill that lady over that crown, just stuffed her head in shit. He did kill one of the guys who killed Jim Caedus though. He looks sheepish. This isn't helping, is it?

Joachim sits on the bed, looking over the rest of the items that need packing. I appreciate all that stuff you said about your dad. I'm genuinely sorry you had to go through that. I...I can't imagine. I really can't actually. I've never actually been abused like that as a child. Never had that fundamental trust in a parent ripped away and stomped on. One of the few benefits of never actually having a parent in your life I suppose. He kind of trails off at the end, his adam's apple bobbing in his throat as he takes a deep swallow and blinks away...something.

He leans forward now, an eager look suddenly crossing his features. I was pleasantly surprised by you though, man. Really. I was half expecting to eat some insults about being too sensitive....or being gay....or just, whatever. You went high though. I respect that. It makes me hopeful. But I definitely see what you're saying about becoming jaded. I don't have blinders on man. I've been disappointed before. Lots of times. Had people I lifted out of the gutter turn around and steal from me. People I trusted turn around and mock me once they found a new crew who wasn't cool with my sexuality. I get human nature, it's dirty and rotten sometimes. Even worse when the bad is coming from family.

But you can't let it get to you. You can't. That way lies..... Jo looks like he's searching for the word, but it escapes him. He shakes his head. As for my confidence, that's never really been an issue for me. Let me be clear, I don't EXPECT to lose. But I acknowledge that I could. Overconfidence is stupid, and just makes you look like even more of an asshole when you DO lose. So I try not to fall in that trap. You see over and over these rookies come marching in like a house of fire, promising win after win only to get their asses handed to them so hard they roll right back out the door again. He chuckles. Not me, man. Humility. That's the key. And another thing that's grossly lacking around here.

He slaps his knees and cants his head, a wry smirk crossing his lips. So I guess this is the “go home” bit where I'm supposed to run you down and tell you how bad you are and how there is no possible way you're coming out of this match ALIVE, much less with a dubya and blah....blah....blah, in case you haven't figured it out, that's not me.

I wish you luck. Truly. I scouted some of your stuff. You got talent. Taye said you're good too, for whatever that's worth to you. But I wanna win. Grrrrr. He chuckles. And you know what? You got me thinking. Maybe you and I could have a future here. I think we COULD be friends. More than that, I think we could be partners. There's safety in numbers. So how about this, groups are a “thing” in wrestling, right? How about we form one o those groups. A group for people just getting their feet wet in the XWF to serve as a support network of sorts, a layer of protection from the people like The Engineer who would seek to do us harm. What do you say?

I guess Azrael could be in it too, if he wants. He doesn't seem too bad, for an alien. And God knows I'm all for a little gender fluidity.

Holler at me, Nate. Let's do this thing.

Joachim returns to his packing as the shot pans back and closes before dropping into static.

And in the static, you think, just maybe, you saw a thin piece of razor wire cutting through the white noise before disappearing completely.

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