victory_road | video | dating show attempt #1: naked attraction

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video | dating show attempt #1: naked attraction

[ The video opens from an angle, filming what looks like a film crew and a man wearing a very large cravat talking with Annie. Both faces can be seen from the side. ]

So get this, [ he says, lifting his hands. ] you start out by seeing everyone's bare feet—

[ Annie stares at him, unblinking. The man's smile fixes in place, and he continues on. ]

Then you see their bare legs—

[ Annie continues staring without blinking. Determined, the man goes on. ]

Then you see bare everything from the legs up, and then their faces—

[ Annie stares, her eyes narrowing. ]

Before at last you step out, naked, and—

[ She holds up a hand, cutting him off. ]

When they said this was going to be a dating show, I didn't realise they really meant pornography. A young woman like me might take offense.

[ The man waves his hands, shaking his head. ]

No, no, no! It's not pornography, it's art! There's no touching invol—

[ His voice is cut off as Annie moves forward, her quick throw of the man landing him on his back on the ground with Annie placing one knee on the middle of his chest. His arms are held overhead. He's breathless, wheezing a little, eyes wide from what whites can be seen by the camera, which floats closer. ]

To hell with art. Contact me when you have a real proposal.

[ She pushes up to her feet, dusting herself off with a look of irritation still on her face. Her eyes flit to the camera, then to the one holding it. ]

Turn it off, Fritz. Now.

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I'm forwarding that to the idiots back there, because anything is better than thinking seeing a bunch of people naked tells you shit about how intolerable they are.

[ lmfasd his comment about her wrestling merits a raised eyebrow and a pointed look; ]

Only if you're ready to bring something to the field.

[ She's not a performer, and doesn't see her fighting that way. Granted, there's a small part of her that is at least appreciating the recognition, but it's small and easily tamped out with the dismissal of insincerity. Her martial arts are important to her because of who taught her, and whose style they belong to; genuine interest is something she has a hard time turning away from.

This, however, is offhand. ]

Only if you want the locals to understand exactly what you mean.

You know what? I'm willing to throw down with someone that carries herself like a Hunter. [And he's pretty sure that she's probably not carrying a gun on her. He's usually pretty sneaky about what he does, but he didn't become a Dredgen on questionable looks and slippery charm alone.] Love to see what perks your armor would have been best set up for. I'm already bettin' it would have been for Recovery. Your Mobility's already killin' it.

[Hey, he is 100% genuinely interested. Someone able to absolutely crush it is definitely in his wheelhouse.]

Maybe I'll just go halvsies on that one.

Name the date, and I'm happy to oblige.

[ This is perhaps exactly how she ends up sparring with anyone here: one or the other chooses a date, and then they show up, and viola! Sparring session! Remarkably efficient. If anything, her eyes narrow a fraction when she tosses the offer out, only to leave her snorting, a touch harsh, at the recovery.

It's far too close to the truth, and he'll never know it. ]

Meaning stamina or something else?

Mobility is how fast you move an' for how long. Resilience is your ability to soak damage. Recovery is how fast you can get back up after takin' that damage. So Resilience would be in keepin the fight goin' and takin' the beating, but Recovery'd be how quick you could get back up after a necessary retreat. You see where I'm headed?

What I'm guessin' you're pretty good on resilience and recovery, too, but you'd need some bonus on the latter.

[He's already rambling on his favored armor stats, Traveller help us all.]

Not that anyone can put up their best fight here.

Best fights here are a bit more animal-human team oriented.

[ She notes, an offhand comment really. The rest merits a nod of her head: she does understand. As far as Recovery? Back home, or maybe just off this world, not even that is necessary.

But his point is valid here regardless. ]

What kind of fighting games were running in your part of your dimension?

I've done a few. The one I'm runnin' now is called 'Gambit'. Four-person team against another four-person team. They collect items [which he is in dire need of, 'Motes of Dark'] and put 'em in a bank. You can only carry fifteen of 'em. Now, fill up your bank enough? You can send somebody over to other side an' give 'em hell.

That's my usual preference in games. Ones that are fair, at the start, but they don't necessarily stay fair if you can't stick with it. You can't depend on one highly skilled person to wreck it. Y'all gotta throw your weight in.

So I just gotta adjust my thinkin' from person team to person an' choice pokemon team. Simple as that.

Mm, thinking like that, you could get the interest of people like chest ruffles.

[ The director with the terrible naked dating pitch. ]

Competitions and contests rather than challenges, like what you see at the gyms here. Might not be that kind of high stakes money situation, but you decide what makes it interesting.

Maybe I could.

Could I hire you to throw him again if he rubs me the wrong way? I think it'd be more effective if you do it. Some men deserve the extra little kick to their pride.

Would be a first.

[ Being hired as the muscle. She appreciates the logic, as well as the element of throwing off everyone else's expectations. Even the man she'd thrown today is fifty percent likely to presume maybe, maybe, it was because he was caught off guard. ]

Yeah. Call me.

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