[b]Collaboration with [@Silver Carrot][/b]
[center][b]On the Road[/b][/center]

"Welcome to Denny's. Can I interest you in a grandslamwich? They're very popular!"

[color=#cc00cc]"May I ask what's in a...grandslamwich?"[/color]

"You get two eggs, a sausage, some bacon, some ham, mayonaisse, cheese and maple spread. All inside a sandwich."

[color=#cc00cc]"....I'll have the cranberry apple chicken salad, please. And some coffee. Thanks."[/color]

Oscar stared after the waiter as he left. That sandwich he just suggested sound like 500% of his recommended daily allowance of everything. Better to eat light than eat heavy, in Oscar's opinion. He'll just make up the macro defecit with dinner.

He looked around the restaurant. He'd arrived early and got a table. Jean should be arriving about now. It was surprising how few people had approached him recognising him, though half the bar had stared at him at some point, and one woman had asked if he was an actor. He had replied that he was, in a manner of speaking. Oscar just had one of those faces that people recognise but not where from. It didn't help that at the period where he was World Champ and main heel of the company, he had long hair and no beard. Casual viewers or parents of fans might have a whole conversation with him and not recognise him.

Denny's was a restaraunt that Jean knew well, because they were extremely consistent when it came to being mediocre. The same quality standard persisted across the country, but their grilled chicken was alright and you could find them at about half of the interstate exits in the nation. He didn't like to eat anything too greasy on the road, and Denny's did a better job that rivals like Fridays or Applebees.

He found the table where Oscar was sitting just as the waiter left, but he could flag them down on the next pass. Jean was pretty anonymous, not the kind of wrestler who sold many t-shirts or appeared in advertising, but sitting with Oscar might jog someone's memory more than he would on his own. While he waited, he figured that it would be good to get to business early, they could talk about other matters after their food came. [color=f26522]"So," he said [color=f26522]"It's a short feud, but we can make something good. The first match is a throwaway on TV, so it won't be much, but we should think about how the others will go. For the PPV, I was thinking of working the legs, because you've got a lot of flying moves. What would you do, would you match me and go techical, or shift to brawling or something else?"[/color]

Oscar thought for a while. [color=#cc00cc]"If I mainly use high-flying moves in the tournament match to wrestle smart and keep out your reach, and you worked my legs in the PPV match, I'd probably start with technical, to try and prove that I can do that as well as you can, and when it turns out I can't, then start using a much dirtier brawler style. I think that would tell it's own story with nothing but the styles I'm using."[/color]

Jean took a look at the specials on the menu while they talked, just in case there was anything that looked tempting enough to tear him away from his usual dish. He said [color=f26522]"You're good with that style switching stuff, I think the crowd would get into it. That's something that's neat about AWE, they encourage people to mix it up. Back in Japan, the promotion and the trainers had their style and I that's what I spent my time working on. I was fine with it, but some people, guys like Caiden, wanted variety so they spent their early years floating between promotions. Speaking of promoter's preferences, have they told you anything specific they want out of us? All I've gotten so far is the finishes."[/color]
 
[color=#cc00cc]"That's the good thing about being a pro in this company. You're trusted enough to make up the rest of the match yourself. Having said that, there was a part of the commentary where I claimed I could escape a Tripitaka lock. I'm sorry I have to ask this, and it's okay if you say no, but may I pretty please escape a tripitaka lock without rope-breaking?"[/color] Oscar pleased, even linking his hands together in a prey gesture.

Jean smilead and waved his hand, gesturing that everything was alright. [color=f26522]"Yeah, I'm alright with that. I like to protect it, but this is program is a little bigger than what I usually do. One of the reasons I went with this finisher is because there's a good escape to it, the forward roll looks clean on the camera and you can chain it into something else. Anything else you want to brainstorm? I've got a couple leglock to armlock transitions that I was thinking of using for the third match, the one where I win. It'll be like I'm building on the working the leg from the PPV match, but this time also wearing down the arm to set up the finish."[/color]

Oscar's food arrived at that point. He thanked the waiter then took a forkful of the salad. When he finished, he responded. [color=#cc00cc]"I prefer to think up sequences in the training center, but I do have a few spots runing around my head, like hitting you with the belt to win in the first match, but winning the second with an Over and Out. I don't believe in dirty title changes."[/color]

Jean put in his order, knowing that it might be a while before it arrived, as the restauraunt was almost full by this point. [color=f26522]"Sounds good. After this series, I heard you're going to be part of that big storyline with Caiden. If I remember, you've been wanting to work with him for a while now. It's great that AWE keeps bringing in fresh talent and trying new things, but some of the time I wonder about the new generation. Again, I don't have the benefit of being here long enough to see different eras, but the future of any promotion rests on how it cultivates it's young talent."[/color]

 [color=#cc00cc]"Well,"[/color] Oscar replied after another mouthful,  [color=#cc00cc]"As one of the new kids myself once, along with Drayden and Johny Walker, though he left a few years ago, we ushered in the new era that actually seems to be ending now with guys like Caiden being the next faces of the company, and my job as one of the faces of the old generation is to get him over. Then again, from what I've learned about the story for him, we won't need that much of my help to become huge. It doesn't hurt that him, as well as the rest of the new arrivals, are some of the best wrestlers on the planet."[/color]
 
 Jean thought for a moment, mulling over the changes AWE had seen. He wasn't a scholar of their history, and even when growing up he only knew about it from channel flipping and advertising, wrestling just wasn't something they watched in the Mpolondo household. [color=f26522]"These guys might differ in many things, from styles to experience to personality, but I see the same drive in every one of them. Caiden might have it stronger than anyone. We both started around the same time in Japan and we crossed paths a couple times, but he's always been distant, like nothing outside of the ring matters. I get the feeling that this is what life is about to him, that it's something he can never leave behind even when it's time to go home after the show. I kind of stumbled into this career and I'm grateful for it, but I can't say that it's the fulfillment of my dreams or anything. To me, it's just what I do to support my family."[/color]
 
[color=#cc00cc]"I can understand you both to a degree. This used to just be a job to me. I clocked in, wrestled, trained, planned the next match, clocked out and then spent my free time how I chose. But the AWE...well, it is my family now. I don't leave the ring and go back to a normal life, I leave the ring and go back to the locker room, and only ever leave the locker room until it's time for the next match. At least that's how it feels. I'm not sure if I'll ever have time for a real family."[/color]