If it's one of many, many things that he loves it's a dinner party. Some would ask how? Don't you find it overwhelming, the entire process from preparing and cooking and serving to watching it swallowed in seconds among a conversation that you would otherwise find that you would rather bleed your ears out to and his response would simply be, well in a different world, one where he could not do what he does pretty well he would be inclined to agree but then there are those where the only guest who enjoys what has been prepared and takes in the delicacy of what has been prepared is him, since he is his biggest critic and well those are his favorite.
Would it be because he has an ego that needs to be stroked gently like cat fur? No, that's what the delicate fingers that belong to himself gliding along his beard are for. Is it because he can sit down and only hear himself talk? No, for his voice while as smooth as velvet with a husk of toasted cinnamon apple musk, the truth is that Maverick loves to hear others talk. He loves the different flecks of bravado that boom from the voices down to the tiny trickles of either disrespect because you have not earned it, or respect because you have but you can still feel the prickles of disgust that dance across the tongue because it burns them to have to give you that respect, but even then the lovely sounds of words, that which is praise (good or bad either one) ; these are the things that he does love to hear and yet as great as they can be, as shiny as the inanimate object of which that is words, can not physically do anything to us, they do make us feel, they can forever animate us and yet that still, being held in a high regard is not the reason. The reason was simple: He got to dress up!
Make sure that his suit was pressed, make sure that his white undershirt was creased to such a perfection that it was almost impossible to lay eyes on and yet every time that he swallowed, he knew that the suit looked good because it literally felt like it was choking the everlasting shit out of him. Still, a dinner party was an occassion where two things were known: You had to follow the dress code, and you had to at least fake it like you were eating the food. Now do not let it be looked at for nothing more than what it is, for it is simply how it presents himself a party with food. Why? Simple. You see there was this thing coming up called Keys to Success and Maverick had some scored a ticket to be right there in the middle of it all. A ladder match where it seemed so simple for all you had to do was get up, grab, and part of your road was already laid out for you but to do all that, to prepare for such an even on an empty stomach, he'd never be the type to do that. Still Maverick took a second to shake out his curls as he let out breath, but the button on his shirt was still just a little too tight, so he loosened it as his curls came down and bounced in front of his eyes.
"Originally, I looked at our match gentlemen," he said, his words soft and for once well spoken than they were before as he continued on even though there was no one else there, he still spoke as if there were. "And I thought, well then, it was not good or bad, it was just a state of neutral because as a man who is still trying to figure out his feelings the truth was at first I felt nothing. I got about half way excited once I realized that it was a ladder match, because ladders do get me into a state of excitement better than just an average match but even then our bodies always pay a price no matter who comes away the victor." He ran his index finger across his nose as he gave a second to think before speaking again. "Then I looked at it again, and again, and finally one last time to make sure that I seen the participants correctly and once that was understood I knew that I could not just approach this match in my usual, social media guru, good enough but not well enough to disassemble the formula and apply it to myself to become a winner in an event where it might actually mean something, and that, well that, in that flash of a second I simply knew that in order to be truly successful, I simply first needed to dress the part and then take the formula at least the way that I see it, apply it to myself only in a way where I do not conform to what you gentlemen think that you are getting when you step into the ring with me, but to a way where it does not matter if I get the first key or the second, all in all, this is a door created in a time before anyone in Intense International Wrestling knew who I was, but once Keys To Success has come and gone in this year, they will."
He took a second to clear his throat, as he looked back, and threw up both his index finger and bird finger in unison and used the two of them to signal the start of the arrival of the dishes, as a glass was also seen placed down beside him, and the sound of a cork popping was the only sound heard followed by the gentle sounds of the wine pouring. It was a dark red, followed by a second cup of a nice white, though Maverick was more interested in the food that now sat in front of him as opposed the the drink that would be used to help the food down as he picked up his silverware and nodded.
"Now I could talk about each of you individually and express how I do not need to be better than this one or that one but I find that if I do that my food will get cold. If I am so bold as to hold a dinner party all for myself I know that each of you know that I already am at the very least on the same level of you at least in your head. I know that your words will never acknowledge it and that is fine for words are fickle but gentlemen, for once, we are all starting from the same spot and we all have the same goal. Why is the difference and I will not bore any of you with the details of mine because they are personal as are each and every one of yours but I will simply say that I do get it. The words that you do not say, the sentences and threats and confidence that all align themselves behind your eyes and eat at your soul, those words, those feelings, I understand them. How can I possibly you may ask yourself but gentlemen no use in mincing tuna and trying to trade it for crab, we are all alike, we just hide it very differently. We all want to be successful in this match, no matter how successful we have been before because we are all curious are we not on just what it would be that would be next."
He took the time to lift the lids off of his course and stared down at the
first. Salmon Trout Tartare with Pressed Caviar and Tomatoes. "Well if that is not the prettiest thing that I have seen in a minute, but gentlemen the match as all of you are also aware of, will not be anywhere near as pretty as this." He took a second to wave his hand over the course and he finally reached forward and took a sip of his wine. He was surprised at how easy it went down as he finally removed himself from the table and began to walk around it, unveiling all of the other dishes. "You see, I am a man who works in pieces. It is something that has been imbedded into my head ever since I was a little kid and as much as I try to shake it off, as much as I try to learn a different way to approach every match thus far in my career, it is simply planted too deep into the roots of who I am, it stands along the creases of my heels and it helps me to maintain balance and arch up when I need it, but even at first I knew that this, applying that technique which I knew to the Keys 2 Success ladder match would drive me down to the thread of my wire but still I kept, no, no I keep going because it's the pieces that have gotten me this far. It is is each piece of my own formula that even has me placed in the match in the first place, and it is that same formula that I will apply to each and every one of you and use it to retrieve a key. Nothing personal gentlemen, I just like to whip my manhood out every once in a while and fuck everyone over in order to get what I want."
He laughed as he reached up and pulled the overhead light up over the table so that the delicious courses could be seen for he only wanted to present them with the best, even though he had not invited them to truly come to his house, he did enjoy cooking as if Liam, Aiden, the tag team of Bear-O-dactyl, O'Rourke, and Mr. Bourbon would show up. He had varied many dishes, some vegan, some not, some gluten free, all for the art of show, for that was his formula one hundred and percent of the time.
KNOCK, KNOCK / WHO'S THERE = ME
"I really do not think that this solution of for once, me actually taking the time to look out for myself is a shock to anyone and I am okay with that because I do fault myself for thinking that it would be any other way. I just, well I had to do the thing where first I had to self admit that I had to readjust my focus and find what was important." He took a second to take a seat at the table at the second course. "For everything that I have tasted in the world, everything that I have experienced I can already tell that none of it will leave as satisfactory of a taste as would winning keys to success." Still it did linger in the back of the mind, because it was like feeling the season change before you could actually see it. Everything would be against the skin, for instance the winter going from the cold shafts of "fuck me I need mittens," to the warm speckles of Spring where it becomes "hell where did I put my umbrella," but the one thing that the change in seasons seems to share with not only Maverick himself but the whole idea that seems to push the idea of Keys To Success, is change. "I find it ironic that while I am hovering over a dinner party clearly set out for seven but with only myself invited that I can speak about change and not only does it apply to everyone in my upcoming match at Keys to Success but it applies to Intense International Wrestling as well. The waves, the feeling of that which will only be described as change has danced along the edges of I.I.W.'s current pillars of foundation for a while now, but the dance has been slow, inviting, only eyed by those with a keen sense of not urgency but a sense of patience until now. Those waves are slowly starting to crash against the pillars and change is going to come not in just a single wave on the night of Keys To Success, but multiple waves, some so strong and overwhelming that there truly is no way to be prepared for them but no one should find themselves shocked about this."
He now leaned over the
second course, grilled fish and vegetable skewers. It was a delicious image at least on the outside. It was healthy and the presentation itself was A plus but damn didn't learning to and then actually skewering hurt? To twist and turn and then forcefully push into something else, hell it did not sound pleasant. None the less Maverick picked up one and took a bite and it was delicious. He finished chewing, took a second to wipe his mouth and spoke.
"I mean I am a lot of things but sadly surfing and knowing about water has been one of the areas that I find that I have lacked in, but I mean I do have a little experience with ladders as I am sure so does each and every one of my opponents does too. You know why I find am receiving such jollies as far as this match goes? Because guys, fellas!, let's be honest. The greatest part of it truly is the pain that we will willingly be able to inflict on one another. I mean a shot across the back, an "accidental" slip of the ladder's edge against the head, or ooh a steady smash that turns into an eventual crunch when fingers find themselves Chinese finger trapped along two ladders and those ladders do not move." Just thinking about it was making him hungry so he took another bite of his skewer before placing it down and wiping his hands.
His
third course was revealed to be a nice lentil soup. It was true that this soup was not one of his own favorites but he needed filler to make the courses stretch and more important than that to make it pretty and filled. If he had truly had the balls to invite his guest and truly invites each of the other six men how they deserved the last thing that he would have wanted was for them to leave hungry. Isn't that just the worse when someone invites you either out or over to eat and yet you can not find yourself getting full? "I find that when I am eating and I am not the host as I am here, I get so angry and easily overly annoyed when they do not give me enough to satsify my taste buds. It's not a good pay off but the outcome of this match, it's going to be ever so satisfying and I say that to simply say that no matter in the order of defeating what will essentially end up being five of you, I do hope that the tastes that my boot and the fact of knowing that I have become a victor over you leaves you never wanting to come near me again, because should either of you want that, should you find yourself simply having to get me in a one on one match to prove something I am already going to tell you that the only thing you will have once again proven to you will be that I will personally embarrass you in a match where you will not have others to blame it on."
He did not want it to come down to that but it was like a good palate cleanser. You did not always want it but sometimes you had to take it which lead to him showing his
fourth course. He had chosen to go with a small serving of pineapple. Now he knew that this particular fruit, much like himself was not as liked by most people as far as compared to say apples, melons of various kinds, and even oranges but there was something about the yellow that had always drawn Maverick's attention as he picked up his fork and slowly took a bite. "Hell I do not know where they got this from but it is already in season," he said. The truth was that he wanted to devour it but he could not be a host and be that rude so he bit it slowly, so much so that the pain of having to be proper and always show etiquette was putting him in an excruciating pain so he finally stopped. "I expect to also go through my fair share of pain in the match too. I mean if nothing else I expect for someone to try and pull my curls out of my head so I can go back to looking like a fetal version of myself but I am warning you now not to." The truth was in the end what any of their bodies would look like he was not too sure. "I always find that if you wait just enough, the big picture will eventually pull itself to the center of the story and all of the other side dishes, all of the other courses in this particular instance will lead to the main course, and guys I got to be honest. Now that I have found myself so involved in this match, I have no choice but to leave it looking like the main course of IIW. Now I know in a way that is me saying that I am better than all of you and I do believe that but tonight that is not what I am saying at all, I just, well the main course is also a bit like the main attraction and if anyone has main attraction status written across them in bright shining letters it is me," he said as he took a second to unveil the
fifth course. It was always fun when you got to this one.
He moved the light and spoke. "For the main course I chose Stout Braised Lamb Shanks. I thought that it should be something a little more fancy and then I did not want to overdo it," he said as he went to go smile but then he stopped for you see he did not see this as a smiling occasion for he meant everything and he did, or he would have wanted his guests to have a good time had he invited them and yet, there was a part of him, a very small inkling of him that had stopped himself because while he was a damn good host, sometimes you had to stop yourself, step back, and etch how you were in that moment. Make the memory because another dripping part of you could see a small glimpse where the road of what had been and what were currently happening were slowly merging themselves and you knew!; you deliciously knew that if you blinked too fast you would miss the roads coming out into the what will now be.
"Luckily gentlemen," he said as he finally took a chance to clear his throat, "our road, well excuse me, the road, the road is as open for all of us and as we merge into our lane and we all see that only two of the seven of us can get into it and make something out of it I do have to admit that it is going to hurt me so much emotionally to look back in my rear view mirror and see the others of you looking up as me as your faces realize that all the pieces have fallen into place. I do not care if it is by chance, I have never given a damn if it's shaded down in sheer circumstance and this with a little shake of that, one thing from this moment on is simply guaranteed, from this moment on I am done playing host. I am done with the dress up and, well no I need to finish the final course first because otherwise it would be rude and while I am that, it's like my wrestling skills comes naturally but I am never one for leaving someone hungry or at the least without options of eating so I chose to combine the
sixth and seventh courses and made a grasshopper drink. I can not lie, with it being March the green called to me almost immediately but it's because it is when I look at it I see nothing but money."
We all had a greed, we just had to know where it lay and how to control it. "Plus I do love as I hear someone once call it, a boozy milkshake but it has a taste that one can only describe once they have had it once. I guess the greatest thing about me is that I have been unlocking doors my entire life and as beautifully decorated as it is, as much shine as Keys to Success finds itself in, it's just another door and I am going through, or grabbing, punching, you can choose how you plan to see it in your head once my words have been fulfilled." He was not going to alert the other six gentlemen to anything else as he looked over all of his courses and he had thought that perhaps at the end of the day he should have truly invited the rest of his
#2ndComing mates but A.T.G. and Daddy Marisol were busy and that was always good because
#2ndComing did need a good outing during this pay per view. Still, he seemed to have a small flicker of something in his eye, everyone knew the kind; you had to actually look into the person's eyes to see it because just looking up at them for a second was not enough. It was no one's fault, actually it was nothing to be labeled as a fault in any kind of way, shape or form it was just something that we as people, as we go on about our day to day lives we forget to do, and still he turned and spoke.
"Seriously, how was that?" he asked looking up at the woman. She had no true distinctive marks or stand out features about herself, the only air of familiarity about the figure being that she had been noticed before but her surroundings were different. She had once been a secretary behind a desk that had simply said something along the lines of letting his therapist know that he was there. "Come on, how was it? You see I had thought that since my first therapy session was so rudely cut off and I did not get to show case it to the world that this one, the one I plan on airing on all of my social media platforms as soon as I uploaded them and what not, I feel like my sessions of therapy would be better presented in dinner table format and if you ask me, I fucking nailed it. I mean do you understand what addressing my career so far in I.I.W. has done for me? These feelings I can now understand them and my matches starting with Keys to Success will be handled by me in a completely different light. I get it now," he said.
He had finally been able to unshackle the chains that were a version of himself doing the worse possible thing that he could do to himself in any scenario. Holding himself back, but to be able to take the past few weeks off and place the pieces where they went, to be able to find Waldo, and that become your freedom, that become your therapy and it allow you to focus as you never have before? It was a feeling that he did not want to let go. As for her though, she was not so sure she would categorize this as good just yet as she spoke. "Just come to the office after the match and we will see how you are feeling then. Also stop wasting so much damn food. I think that it is rude and not to mention uncouth." He shrugged and spoke as she left. "I mean it was the first thing that came to mind." As if he could help it that he often ate too much when he was excited. Still, no getting too far ahead of ourselves at least not yet.
END
