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Roleplay Boards => Archived Roleplays => Climax Control Archives => Topic started by: LJKasey on April 17, 2026, 11:57:20 PM
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BACK WHERE IT BEGAN
Manchester, England – Rebecca & Joan’s Home
The house hadn’t changed, not really. Maybe a new coat of paint on the hallway walls. Maybe a different lamp in the living room, but the bones of it, the feeling of it, was exactly the same. LJ noticed it the second he walked in.
Upstairs, the door to his old room creaked the same way it always had when he pushed it open. That hadn’t changed either. He stepped inside slowly, like the space might reject him if he moved too fast.
It didn’t. It just....accepted him. His same bed, same desk shoved into the corner that still held some of his pre-law books that didn’t get moved with him when he went to Las Vegas. Same faint marks on the wall where posters used to hang. His mums had kept it intact, not frozen in time, but close enough that it still felt like his. Like he could’ve walked out yesterday instead of years ago.
LJ sat down on the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, hands loosely clasped. His eyes drifted, to see photos, they were everywhere. On the dresser. On the wall. Framed and slightly crooked in that way that meant someone had adjusted them over time but never quite perfectly.
They were all of him, way younger, mud-stained cleats, oversized jerseys. That awkward in-between age where everything didn’t quite fit right yet, body, confidence, attitude, all of it still figuring itself out.
One picture in particular caught his attention. It was a group shot of his last lacrosse team. He was front row, grinning like nothing in the world could touch him. Stick resting across his lap, medal hanging crooked around his neck. He had no scars, there was no pressure on his face and no expectations beyond the next game.
LJ leaned back slightly, hands bracing behind him on the mattress as he stared at it.
“…That kid had it easy,” he muttered under his breath.
The door clicked softly behind him, he didn’t turn right away. He already knew who it was. Ally stepped inside quietly, closing the door with a gentle push of her foot. She didn’t say anything at first, just took the room in.
Her eyes moved slower than his had when he first came in. It was more curious and deliberate, “…Oh my God.”
That got a small reaction out of him. LJ huffed a quiet laugh, still not looking over, “Don’t start.”
“Oh, I’m absolutely starting,” Ally said, already moving toward the dresser. “You were adorable.”
He groaned. “I was not.”
She picked up one of the frames, tilting it slightly toward the light. “You had the haircut,” she said.
“…Everyone had that haircut. Looking back now I wish I hadn’t and just shaved my head.”
“You had confidence with the haircut.”
“That’s worse.”
Ally smiled to herself, eyes scanning another photo—this one with LJ mid-stride, lacrosse stick raised, face locked in concentration. “…You were intense even then,” she murmured.
That made him glance over. “Was not.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Lyle, you look like you were about to personally ruin someone’s afternoon.”
He smirked, “...Alright, maybe a little.”
She laughed softly and set the frame back down before turning toward him properly, that’s when she saw it. Not the room or the photos. But she saw him sitting there, still and quiet.
He was very much in his own head, thinking. Her expression softened as she crossed the room and sat down beside him on the bed, close enough that their shoulders brushed.
“You okay?” she asked gently.
LJ exhaled through his nose, eyes drifting back toward the photos. “…Yeah.”
She didn’t buy it. “Try again.”
A faint smirk tugged at his mouth, but it didn’t stick. “....I just forgot what this felt like,” he admitted.
“What?”
“Simple.”
The word sat there for a second, as Ally followed his gaze to the wall of photos.
“No expectations,” he continued. “No pressure. No fucking consequences tied to everything.”
He leaned forward slightly again, elbows on his knees. “Back then, it was just play the match, win if you can, go home.”
“Now?”
He let out a quiet breath. “Everything always means something.”
Ally tilted her head slightly, watching him. “That’s not always a bad thing.”
“No,” he agreed. “It’s not. But it’s heavy.”
That word carried more weight than anything he’d said so far. Ally didn’t respond right away. She just reached out, her hand finding his, fingers threading through his naturally.
“What’s really going on?” she asked.
LJ stared down at their hands for a second. “…I got the title shot.”
She smiled softly. “I know.”
“I know you know,” he said, glancing at her. “That’s not the problem.”
Her thumb brushed lightly across his knuckles. “Then what is?”
He hesitated, that alone told her everything. “…Miles,” he said finally.
Ally’s expression shifted, understanding, not surprise.
“He’s supposed to be going for that at Into the Void,” she said quietly.
He nodded once. “He earned that, angel,” LJ continued. “He fought for it, built toward it. That's supposed to be his moment.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“And now I’m standing here with a shot at the same title before he even gets there.”
Ally stayed quiet and just let him talk.
“I win that...” he said slowly, “And I change everything before he even gets to follow through. I don’t just win a championship. I potentially take something away from him before he even gets to it.”
He leaned back again, running a hand through his hair.
“And if I don’t? Then I’m the guy who couldn’t get it done when it mattered most.”
Silence filled the room but it wasn’t tense, just real. “I’m stuck either way,” LJ muttered. “Feels like I’m dooming something no matter what I do. And then it’s Hendrix getting that shot instead of him.”
Ally looked at him for a long moment, then she shifted slightly on the bed, turning her body more toward him.
“Can I ask you something?” she said.
“You know you can.”
“When Miles hugged you and told you to go for it, do you think he was lying?”
LJ frowned slightly. “No.”
“Do you think he meant it?”
“Of course he did.”
“Then why are you treating it like he didn’t?”
LJ looked at her, something in his expression shifting.
Ally didn’t let up, “You’re not taking something from him,” she said. “You’re stepping into something because of him. He helped you get here. He wants you here.”
She nodded toward the photos on the wall.
“Your brother?” she said softly. “He didn’t get here by accident.”
LJ glanced back at the pictures and then back at her.
“You’re not ruining anything,” Ally continued. “You’re part of the same story.”
Her voice softened just slightly. “And if anything....winning makes his moment even bigger, not smaller. Will you have the possibility of facing him seeing as he is the number one contender? Yeah but he’s that kind of guy that know that sometimes in this business, you have to do what you have to do”
LJ let that sit because that wasn’t how he’d been looking at it. “…You really believe that?” he asked.
Ally smiled. “I wouldn’t have said yes to you if I didn’t believe in you.”
That pulled a small, genuine smile out of him. “…That’s a dangerous level of confidence.”
“Get used to it.”
He shook his head slightly, but the tension in his shoulders had eased. It wasn’t gone but different and at least manageable.
Ally glanced back at the photos one more time, smirking slightly. “Also,” she added, “for the record…”
He narrowed his eyes. “…What?”
She pointed at one of the frames. “You were definitely adorable.”
LJ groaned, falling back onto the bed. “I’m ending this conversation.”
“Too late,” she laughed, lying back beside him.
They stayed there for a moment, side by side. Looking up at a ceiling that had seen a version of LJ that didn’t know what pressure felt like, didn’t know what stakes were and didn’t know what it meant to carry something bigger than himself.
Now he did and for the first time since the thought hit him...
It didn’t feel like a trap but instead it felt like a choice.
LJ turned his head slightly, looking at Ally beside him. “…Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
She didn’t look at him, just smiled.
“Always.”
Downstairs, the house carried on, quiet voices, movement, life continuing like it always had.
Up here?
LJ Kasey lay in the middle of his past finally starting to understand his future.
-------------------
NO DISTANCE FROM THIS
Copenhagen, Denmark – Nyhavn Harbor, Late Evening
The water moved slow, not still, not restless, just steady. The kind of movement that didn’t ask for attention. It just existed, reflecting the glow of streetlights and the soft colors of buildings lined up along the harbor like they’d been there longer than anyone could remember.
LJ Kasey leaned against the railing, forearms resting on the cold metal, eyes fixed somewhere out across the water. No camera crew in his face and no crowd. Just the quiet hum of a city that didn’t care who he was or what was waiting for him.
For once that helped. He rolled his shoulders once, loosening them out of habit more than tension, then let out a slow breath through his nose.
“…Funny thing about distance,” he said, almost like he was thinking out loud instead of cutting a promo. “It’s supposed to give you perspective.”
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “It’s supposed to help clear your head and help you sort things out.”
He shook his head slightly.
“Yeah… not so much.”
His fingers tapped lightly against the railing once, absent-minded.
“Because no matter how far you go… some things don’t get quieter. They get louder.”
His eyes lifted slightly, gaze sharpening.
“Alexander Raven.”
The name landed cleaner now, less like a question and more like a fact.
“Our current reigning SCW World Champion.”
He nodded once.
“A couple of weeks ago, I stepped into the ring with you and I beat you. Yeah it wasn’t how I wanted to beat you but because of the decisions that you and Alex made....you potentially saw what was your future. And now? I’ve got a title shot. It’s supposed to be simple, right? Beat the champion once… do it again… take the title.”
He huffed out a quiet, humorless laugh.
“Yeah. That’s how it looks on paper.” His jaw shifted slightly. “But nothing about this is simple.”
He pushed himself off the railing, turning slightly so he wasn’t just staring at the water anymore.
“This isn’t just another match,” he continued. “It’s not just another opportunity. It’s not just another step forward. This is the moment everything changes.”
His voice didn’t rise...It didn’t need to.
“Because when that bell rings...one of two things happens.”
He held up a finger.
“I win.”
Another finger.
“Or I don’t.”
A faint shake of his head.
“Real complicated math, I know.”
But then his expression tightened.
“Except what sits behind those two outcomes? That’s where it gets messy.”
He glanced down briefly, then back up.
“I win that title… I don’t just prove I belong.”
His voice lowered slightly.
“I jump the line I become World Champion before my brother even gets his shot.”
The words sat heavier than anything else he’d said so far.
“And yeah… he told me to go for it and he meant it.”
No doubt there.
“But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter.”
He stepped away from the railing completely now, pacing once along the harbor edge.
“Because this isn’t just about me,” LJ said. “It never has been, but it is my shot and if I don’t take it?”
He stopped pacing.
“Then what the hell am I doing?”
Silence hung for a moment.
“Raven, you like control. We’ve all seen it....”
He looked straight ahead now, like he could see the man standing across from him.
“You like making people think they’re playing your game.”
A faint smirk.
“You like the idea that everything bends eventually. Not this. Because I’ve already been through the part where things fall apart. I’ve already had everything go sideways.”
His voice sharpened.
“And I got back up anyway. So this? This isn’t pressure. This is clarity.”
His eyes hardened.
“You’re walking into this thinking you’re dealing with someone who’s still figuring it out.”
A slight tilt of his head.
“You’re not. You’re dealing with someone who knows exactly what this costs. And decided it’s worth it.”
The harbor lights flickered softly across the water behind him. LJ took a slow breath, steady.
“You’re the champion,” he said. “That means you’ve earned your place. I’m not taking that away from you.”
His gaze locked forward.
“I’m coming to take the title. And when that bell rings?”
He took one last step forward, stopping just short of the camera.
“There’s no distance left. No perspective. No noise.”
His voice dropped, quiet but firm.
“Just you… and me… and the truth of it.”
A faint, dangerous calm settled in.
“And the truth is?”
He held the moment.
“You’re not inevitable. I just proved that. And in a few days?”
The faintest hint of a smirk returned.
“I’m going to make it permanent.”
The camera lingered as LJ stepped past it, disappearing down the harbor path, leaving the water behind him still moving the same way it always had.