Post by Danny Rizzo on Jul 26, 2019 8:47:09 GMT -5
For many, Disney was the most magical place in the whole wide world. Well, if you got past the screaming children who were exhausted from being out in the sun all day. The irritable parents who had to deal with those children and who had spent an exorbitant amount of money to be there only for those children to be tired and ready to go back to their hotel and play in the swimming pool after an hour. And if you got past the never ending lines and the fact that a system had been created for people to spend more money in order to bypass the lines that everyone else had to wait in.
There was magic to the place, no doubt about that. But just like everything else it was flawed and had its shortcomings and aspects that left a lot to be desired. However, as Danny Rizzo slumped down onto a bench nearby and his pretty blonde companion, Leela Watts, found a way to tuck herself into the curvature of his side as he draped his arm around her, he found that he didn’t really care about the magic of Disney or its flaws. He didn’t care about the fatigue he felt from a day having his senses bombarded by a vast array of colors, sounds, and scents. He didn’t care that he had seen the Millenium Falcon with his own eyes, or that he and Leela had managed to get a combined thirty two different characters autographs in a little blank booklet that they had spent far too much money on.
At that moment in time he could have been sitting on a park bench in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio and been just as content as he was as another day of Disney operations came to its conclusion. She seemed to identify his thoughts and instinctively intertwined her fingers with his own, squeezing his hand in a reassuring way without saying a single word. It brought a smile to his face and settled his mind that often raced in a hundred different directions at once. In that moment he couldn’t have cared any less about an UnYielding championship defense, or fans who had rejected the path that he had decided was the best for himself. And that was nice. That was what, more than anything else, Leela was able to provide that nobody else seemed to.
She gave him an escape. She was someone who would sit and talk to him and not have it be about wrestling. Oh, sure, they talked about that as well. And judging from the way she had been looking at him as she gave his hand that reassuring squeeze, something was on her mind.
Though he knew he didn’t need to say anything, that she would eventually come out with what she wanted to say without prodding, the waiting and anticipation always drove him crazy. “Say it..” His words hung between them for a moment and silence filled that space for a moment before Leela shifted herself so that she might look him in the eye.
“You know I’ll support you no matter what you do, right?” It was a rhetorical question. She knew that he would say yes, and he knew that that was indeed the case. There had been a brief moment of friction between them weeks before in the aftermath of Rite of Kings where, rightfully, she had questioned whether she had really known him at all or not. That friction had dissipated, though, and they had grown closer since then.
Wordlessly, he nodded his head and that encouraged her to press on. “You know you don’t have to do everything exactly the way Kaven wants you to. I know that he’s your friend and he’s known you a lot longer than I have. But… you don’t need him.” It was dangerous territory, especially given that they were still early on in building up the connection between them. It would have been easy for him to take her words as her trying to get him to push his friend away and leave him behind. And for a moment his mind drifted there. But then, he knew that wasn’t the sort of person that she was.
“I know. But.. he has my best interest at heart. People just don’t understand him. Just like they don’t understand me. Most don’t even take the time to try.” He had looked away from her as he responded but gently she reached out and touched his chin, turning his gaze back toward her. “And that’s okay. Just don’t forget he’s not the only one that has your back, Danny. He’s not the only one with your best interest at heart and I know that deep down inside…” Her fingers traced from his jawline down to the center of his chest where she pressed her index finger, pointing to his heart.
“You’re a good man. With an incredible heart. And sometimes good men have to do bad things to stop being taken advantage of. But..” She turned her head away briefly before looking back to him. “Don’t lose who you are in the process. Fight for what you believe in. But you are not him. You don’t have to be like him. Danny Rizzo is good enough.”
Again, silence fell between them and profoundly he felt that he was indeed the luckiest man in the world in that moment.
As though it had been set up, When You Wish Upon A Star began playing over the soft speakers that were designed to soften the noise of the rides and the business of the crowd. Subtly, Danny nodded his head and placed his lips gently against the mess of blonde hair that covered the top of Leela’s head. These were the sorts of moments that he loved. The sort of moments that balanced him out.
But for another man, standing someway down the fairly empty midway, these were the moments he loathed. These were the moments he despised. And through gritted teeth, he stared at the two with bitterness in his eyes.
Kaven Drell had work to do.
There was magic to the place, no doubt about that. But just like everything else it was flawed and had its shortcomings and aspects that left a lot to be desired. However, as Danny Rizzo slumped down onto a bench nearby and his pretty blonde companion, Leela Watts, found a way to tuck herself into the curvature of his side as he draped his arm around her, he found that he didn’t really care about the magic of Disney or its flaws. He didn’t care about the fatigue he felt from a day having his senses bombarded by a vast array of colors, sounds, and scents. He didn’t care that he had seen the Millenium Falcon with his own eyes, or that he and Leela had managed to get a combined thirty two different characters autographs in a little blank booklet that they had spent far too much money on.
At that moment in time he could have been sitting on a park bench in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio and been just as content as he was as another day of Disney operations came to its conclusion. She seemed to identify his thoughts and instinctively intertwined her fingers with his own, squeezing his hand in a reassuring way without saying a single word. It brought a smile to his face and settled his mind that often raced in a hundred different directions at once. In that moment he couldn’t have cared any less about an UnYielding championship defense, or fans who had rejected the path that he had decided was the best for himself. And that was nice. That was what, more than anything else, Leela was able to provide that nobody else seemed to.
She gave him an escape. She was someone who would sit and talk to him and not have it be about wrestling. Oh, sure, they talked about that as well. And judging from the way she had been looking at him as she gave his hand that reassuring squeeze, something was on her mind.
Though he knew he didn’t need to say anything, that she would eventually come out with what she wanted to say without prodding, the waiting and anticipation always drove him crazy. “Say it..” His words hung between them for a moment and silence filled that space for a moment before Leela shifted herself so that she might look him in the eye.
“You know I’ll support you no matter what you do, right?” It was a rhetorical question. She knew that he would say yes, and he knew that that was indeed the case. There had been a brief moment of friction between them weeks before in the aftermath of Rite of Kings where, rightfully, she had questioned whether she had really known him at all or not. That friction had dissipated, though, and they had grown closer since then.
Wordlessly, he nodded his head and that encouraged her to press on. “You know you don’t have to do everything exactly the way Kaven wants you to. I know that he’s your friend and he’s known you a lot longer than I have. But… you don’t need him.” It was dangerous territory, especially given that they were still early on in building up the connection between them. It would have been easy for him to take her words as her trying to get him to push his friend away and leave him behind. And for a moment his mind drifted there. But then, he knew that wasn’t the sort of person that she was.
“I know. But.. he has my best interest at heart. People just don’t understand him. Just like they don’t understand me. Most don’t even take the time to try.” He had looked away from her as he responded but gently she reached out and touched his chin, turning his gaze back toward her. “And that’s okay. Just don’t forget he’s not the only one that has your back, Danny. He’s not the only one with your best interest at heart and I know that deep down inside…” Her fingers traced from his jawline down to the center of his chest where she pressed her index finger, pointing to his heart.
“You’re a good man. With an incredible heart. And sometimes good men have to do bad things to stop being taken advantage of. But..” She turned her head away briefly before looking back to him. “Don’t lose who you are in the process. Fight for what you believe in. But you are not him. You don’t have to be like him. Danny Rizzo is good enough.”
Again, silence fell between them and profoundly he felt that he was indeed the luckiest man in the world in that moment.
As though it had been set up, When You Wish Upon A Star began playing over the soft speakers that were designed to soften the noise of the rides and the business of the crowd. Subtly, Danny nodded his head and placed his lips gently against the mess of blonde hair that covered the top of Leela’s head. These were the sorts of moments that he loved. The sort of moments that balanced him out.
But for another man, standing someway down the fairly empty midway, these were the moments he loathed. These were the moments he despised. And through gritted teeth, he stared at the two with bitterness in his eyes.
Kaven Drell had work to do.