On the Dot - Dirty Pink
Source IFL News Network
By Midnight Eve
October 16, 2015
Under a blanket of grey rain was falling over Rhy'Din. As big of a fan of the rain Eve was, she was scurrying through puddles in yellow rain boots with her peacoat held over her head. "Why is it always me?!" Her cab had dropped her off about a block or two short and she was left to make up the distance with her Coach bag dangling by her side. Thank god it was fake!
She found a little relief by the door and scraped the bottom of the rubber boots by the door as one should before entering an establishment before she turned the knob and stepped in, letting out a huff with a shake of her now frizzled hair.
She looked around once and began to squeak her way over to the bar, digging for a brush in her bag and pulling one of her hair ties off her wrist by her teeth.
The L-shaped building was filled with mismatched tables and chairs, a few were full but most were empty in favor of the seating provided by the plush booths around the corner or the high stools at the cherry wood bar. A lone server worked the floor, periodically returning to the break in the bar to pick up orders for delivery. Behind the bar, a young lady with a charming smile and a fair amount of cleavage was sure to be making a killing off of the early evening barflies wanting to liquor up before they went home to their old ladies. At the end of the bar, the pink haired owner of that fine establishment had taken up an easy lean while she made intermittent conversation with the kitchen staff as they popped up in the window with dishes of steaming comfort food.
With the opening of the door came a tumble of chilly air to prompt her attention. She lifted a look from her half drank beer toward the new face and offered smile and a nod at much the same time the floor's server zipped by with a menu, intent on ushering the woman to a seat. That was the point that Claire pushed off from her lean and mosied down the bar's length to head 'em off. "Good evening and welcome to the Sassy Owl Saloon. Getcha a seat or are you here for anything in particular?"
Eve set her bag down on the bar and slipped from the peacoat with some unexpected ease, folding it over the stool beside her right. She was in a green turtleneck sweater and denim jeggings with the yellow rubber rain boots. It kind of matched, kind of.
"Hi there I'm actually looking for the owner, I think?" She began to look through her bag and pulled out a pad and pen and began flipping through some of the pages, her eyes visibly scanning left to right until she found what she was looking for. "Aha!" Squint. "Wait.. yeah okay. I'm looking for Claire Caelum."
Claire was en route, donning a grin as she made it just in time to realize it was who she expected. She hardly looked the part of restaurant owner let alone put together duelist or anything of the sort. Dark wash skinny jeans were dusted with a coating what looked like drywall dust. The black and pink t-shirt was covered in much the same though the bold Dirty "D" was still easily seen beneath. At least she'd had the forethought to wash her hands before coming down from the upper level where construction was under way. She extended a clean right hand to the woman. "Claire Caelum, nice to meet you. Are you Eve?"
"The one but probably not the only!" Rhy'Din was a big yet small place after all. She took the right hand and shook it gently before taking her seat again on the stool with her pen and pad set down on the bar before her.
"I'd like to take some time to talk about Dirty and IFL. Past, present and all of the potential future that lays in store for one of the newer brands that the tournament has seen." She cracked her knuckles and fetched the pad and pen, flipping through the pages to find the next blank page that would be dedicated to a new story and a new team.
"The one that matters tonight at the very least. Grab a drink if you want." Letting the woman's hand go, she too slid up onto a stool with a discrete signal for the tender to grab her beer for her and to take Eve's order should she wish to put one in. Meanwhile, Claire angled herself to the bar just enough to set one elbow to the counter while she semi-faced Eve. Above the back bar, one of the flat screens cycled through recaps of past Diamond Quests while the upcoming 83rd Diamond Quest was discussed by offscreen announcers.
"Dirty and Iron Fists League, two of my favorite things." At the very least, Gio had prepped her ahead of time for the onslaught of interviews that were surely coming now that the fifth season of IFL was about to begin. "Have at it then."
Eve wasn't much of a drinker when it came to work hours but she'd be lying if she said she hadn't been perusing the many bottles with her curious eyes. "I'll have some hot chocolate thank you." That was a drink that at least didn't make shaping letters and words more difficult with each glass, and was just right for a rainy night.
She smiled hearing it out of Claire and began with a few clicks to the end of the pen. "Dirty will be entering their third year in the IFL and since their Freshman has seen improvements consecutively. One might think this rate of growth is impossible to sustain over time. What might you say to that? What are your goals for this year? Also, you have two past diamonds on your current roster, are there current sights on making that three?" She had taken note of the t.v. and didn't mind working that right into her questions.
The pretty blonde behind the bar brought Claire her beer and skittered off to get Eve set up with a hot chocolate. She returned with a nondescript mug brimming with steaming liquid topped with a swirl of whipped cream and a peppering of chocolate flakes. As quickly as she had shown up, she was gone, leaving the pair to the relative privacy of their little section of the bar.
"While it's difficult to say for certain with only two seasons as a sample, I think we've learned enough from past seasons to hopefully continue that growth and performance. The first year was pretty rough, we definitely weren't ready for it. But we've steadily acquired more talent, refined the talent that we have, and I think Dirty: Pink will be a serious contender this season." Lifting her beer, she took a drink and a moment to breathe before continuing. "My goal has been the same every year; a championship. But before that, there's always the matter of having fun while beating people's faces in. That's pretty high on the goal list too." A glance tipped up to the TV, dropped to her beer, then swung back to Eve as she chuckled. "I'm the only Emerald rank on Pink that doesn't have a Diamond, it's definitely on my To Do list. Shadow, who is my Outback mentee right now, should also see a bump up to Emerald before long as well. He's easily a contender and a win for any of our crew is a win for the whole team."
"It's certainly not hidden that Dirty has managed to upgrade its roster after each season but they're not the only ones. Team Fist is looking stronger than ever with a lineup that's air tight. With the addition of Dirty: Black it might be fair to say Dirty's chances have just doubled to make it to the finals and if we look elsewhere in the league we see Royal taking a similar approach. It's fair to say taking home the prize isn't every team's goal but the competition seems to be getting steeper and steeper each season, how does Dirty keep up with the curve? Can you share some insight on each fighter's styles?"
"Team Fist made some pretty smart offseason acquisitions that I think surprised a lot of us. It sounds like Asian Invasion won't be coming back, so for two of their strongest fighters to go to Fist is huge. They already had a strong team, especially with Darik Warchild picking up the Kiowa Belt last year. But like you said, when we added Dirty: Black, we definitely increase our likelihood of taking home a title this year. After all, it's all Dirty at the end of the day. Now that some of the league's rookies, who may not have Outback rank, are spending more time in IFL, they're climbing the league ranks too which makes them scarier. It's only inevitable that it becomes more of a shark tank.
"But we started making moves as soon as the last season ended. Once Harris announced that Top Flight wouldn't be back, I knew there would be a grab for his displaced fighters. Vinny was a huge addition, so thanks Harris! We've also spent a ton of time over the offseason training. Dirty is lucky enough to have our very own training center, sponsored by Caelum Enterprises, and it's been running around the clock to accommodate everyone on the team as they get into prime fighting shape.
"As far as their styles go, well, each person on the team is no stranger to brawling. I haven't brought in anyone that doesn't know how to fight, even if they're not a duelist. I've got a military backing myself, so that translates pretty heavily into my style. It's not for show and meant more so for pummeling the crap out of your target until they can't fight back anymore. My Co-Captain Hope has a far more extensive martial arts background in comparison. Clean and precise. If you're looking for textbook, she's your go to. Zack's been a part of the team since the beginning and I still haven't found a way to sum up his style except to say I don't envy anyone that takes him on. The boy's built like a brick house and packs a punch to match. He's a homegrown fighter, all of his training came from his family and it's a very explosive, high energy approach to fighting."
At that point she had to pause to take a drink because she was sure she was talking the poor woman's ear off. "Shadow's got what we call Legolas-fu. Damn elves, you know? He relies on his speed and agility over power and after the season he had last year, I'd say it worked. And finally, we've got Gunther Queen. I don't want to say too much about him just yet, but suffice to say, he's got fighting in his blood."
Eve was wordless as she did her best to trail the words as they came with scribbles on the page. Every now and then she'd pause to figure how to word as Claire went and near the end she paused, the emphasis on one word in particular was all that reaffirmed what had been going through Eve's mind.
She sat speechless and looked directly at Claire over the rim of the hot chocolate taking another sip before setting it down. "You know they say every storm has an eye. We've seen Dirty get close, real close with a bye last off-season but fell short at the semi-finals versus Rock Hard. What do you think will get you past the hump this year? What will be the eye of your storm to keep it grounded?"
The grin Claire offered in return was borderline cocky but somehow managed to stay just on this side of the line. "After our first year, we didn't set our hopes horribly high in the second. But after last year's success... finishing first in the regular season...I think it's safe to say that we're hungry for the win this year. That desire, our additions to the team, improvements in the offseason over last year... yeah, I think that's the winning combination."
"A lineup that has seen revisions, a core that has stuck around to keep the culture. Dirty is returning for their third year and they're not settling for less. With only one team on paper that can trump their lineup, they won't be content unless they find themselves in the finals. We all know paper isn't everything, with the addition of Dirty: Black and the rest of the teams involved, Dirty will be sure to stay frosty from week one to the finals."
Eve flipped the page over and polished off the rest of the hot chocolate. "Would you say Dirty has any rivals? Anyone you're really looking forward to hitting?"
Her grin grew further with Eve's analysis. "That sounds about right, yeah." Cause for pause came with the follow up question and her grin faltered in favor of a thoughtful look. "With Top Flight out, that leaves us Team Fist to really be worried about. Beyond that, I'd say we've had some past with the Rock Hards. Nothing big, but after last year, I'm looking forward to getting over them."
After dotting that last sentence Eve set down the pad and flipped the pages until it lay atop the bar in its de facto position with the pen atop it. She stretched out overhead and let out a yawn, completely classy.
"I think that's just about what we were looking for." She smiled and stretched out her legs standing beside the bar. "Do you have any words for the readers that are going to see all of this? Anything my editors won't pull their hair out about?"
Claire took that opportunity to finish up her beer, turning the empty glass over and setting it on the bartop. "Mm, not keen on jinxing us more than I already have. So anything beyond that, we'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for coming down to talk to me!"
"Wise words." Eve grinned and scooped up her pen and pad and set them into the Coach purse and zipped it up. The peacoat was fit snug and she buttoned that one up as well.
"I appreciate you taking the time out tonight to share with me. I'm sure your fans will be happy to read it all." She eased the purse over her shoulder and began heading back to the rain. "Have a good night, best of luck in the season!"
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