[Roux]

 OFF-CAMERA
Fort Defiance, AZ
9 June 2017
12:05 PM MDT

Porter taps his foot impatiently as he taps his phone screen to check the time. If there was one thing he hated it was when people wasted his time and his twin did it constantly. He was already five minutes late and there wasn't even a text message to indicate when he would actually arrive. The waiter comes by with his pitcher of ice water, offering to refill Porter’s glass, but the Black Sheep member shakes his head with his palm up over his glass. It does not work like he wants it to, the waiter choosing to approach him anyways.

“Still waiting on one more, right?”

Porter can barely manage a half-sincere smile, and he did not attempt to mask the contempt in his voice.

“Perpetually.”

The waiter only nods in response, backing away from the table and going back to his rounds. It irritated Porter that his twin was a constant drain on his time. They may wear the same face, but that is almost where their similarities ended. Killian left most things until the last minute, yet always seemed to scrape by. Porter, on the other hand, never stopped planning, and always showed up over-prepared, only to have the same results as his brother. The most frustrating, of course, was that neither brother could convince the other that their approach was better since they always yielded the same results. They were destined to fight about it forever. Porter would always be by the book. Killian would continue to live like he was born with a lucky horseshoe and rabbit's foot. It even happened throughout their childhood, adolescence and now into their adulthood. Porter had to study twice as hard, work twice as hard but for Killian it came without much effort. The results of their debut match was no different. Porter had done all of the planning. He had dragged his brother kicking and screaming through their strategy. Yet, when the time came, Killian was the one making the pin and winning their debut match. He reaches out for his water, looking down at the watch on his wrist and taking note of the time for what had to be the thirtieth time since he sat down.

“Where are you….”

The words are muttered under his breath as he raises his glass, but when he looks up, his question is answered. Instead of bringing his glass up to his lips he places it back down on table as Killian enters the patio area of the bistro. It did not take long for Porter to ascertain the reason for his brother’s tardiness. One look at him and anyone would have noticed that he wasn't dressed as formal today as he always was. Another giveaway were the dark sunglasses covering his eyes. Porter could see the smile on his brother’s face as he spoke to the staff to locate his table, but it was hardly the boisterous entrance he would normally make. Once Killian starts to head his way, Porter does not give him the satisfaction of looking in his direction, trying to seem occupied by the people walking by on the sidewalk.

“I would apologize for being late but you wouldn’t accept it so it would be a waste of breath.”

The younger of the twins pulls out his chair, and his right hand makes a move to unbutton the middle button of his jacket, only to realize that he is not wearing one. He shakes the thought away as habit, and takes his seat, immediately crossing and ankle over his knee. Porter finally allows himself to turn back to his brother as he lifts the sunglasses to the top of his head. Killian offers him a lazy smile, but Porter is not swayed.

“If this is all just going to be a punchline to you, I can just keep traveling and not worry about this Sin City thing.”

Killian waves the thought off, and shakes his head.

“You don’t mean that. You’ve already put too much work into it to bail on the idea now. Plus, we have already made our debut, impressively. To disappear after that would be more insulting to you than showing up late.”

Porter raises both hands to his face, sighing heavily and wiping at his eyes. His brother was not wrong, but it did not help to quell any frustration. Normally he would hold himself back from having any sort of argument in public, but what he had to say needed to be heard. Porter sits back in his chair, lacing his fingers together in his lap.

“I could understand if you were doing something important, but you weren’t. I could understand if you were preparing for this match, but you’re not. I know it’s not exactly your style to act like important things are… well… important, but you would think that after we ended up here because of how you act, that you would put in more effort.”

Unlike when he made his one word statement to the waiter, Porter manages to keep his voice level, and even pleasant. Anyone walking by the two, without eavesdropping, would have thought that they were having any regular lunch conversation. Killian tries to cut in to respond, but before he can, Porter unloads a little more.

“We have been planning this for months. You’ve been with this girl for a few weeks. You show up late any time we have to see each other, and she is always the excuse. Now you’re wearing sunglasses to hide your bloodshot eyes from staying up too late and not actually sleeping, and you’re not dressed like normal because my guess is you woke up late and had to haul ass just to get here when you did.”

Porter looks over to meet his brother’s gaze.

“What’s more important? I travel all over the world with Nevaeh but manage to show up when and where I say that I’m going to. I don’t see why it’s so hard if it is something that you actually want to do.”

Killian’s smile grows wider, not intimidated in the least by Porter’s low-key anger and irritation.

“What exactly is it you DO with Nevaeh?”

He can’t help but cringe.

“Such a ridiculous name by the way. Maybe I should name my first born Natas or lived. There are enough perfectly normal names...”

Porter rolls his eyes at his brother’s off tangent sidebar. Killian clears his throat.

“I can guarantee that you haven't even held her hand and you guys have been... whatever this is...” he waves a hand up and down, “...for longer than I have been with Cecily. Honestly, even when I was single being on time wasn't exactly on my list of strong skills.”

Porter waves him off this time.

“I’m sorry that I don’t parade what it is we are doing on social media so that you can keep up. The difference is, our being friends doesn’t have any kind of impact on you, so why does it matter if that’s all we are?”

Killian leans in.

“That’s all you think it is, but is that where SHE thinks it is leading? Friends is great to start but I know that she’s hoping for more. She wouldn't be as attached to you if she wasn't. So to put it bluntly mon frere, shit or get off the pot. Don’t let that poor girl throw her life away on the 31 year old virgin.”

He sits back, a shit eating grin on his face. Porter quickly comes back.

“Better than defiling every woman that crosses my path, and blowing off more important things in order to do it”

But as per usual, Killian is rarely affected by his brother’s attempts to dig at him.

“You need to lighten up. I mean look at the two of us. You pour hours into research and training. You never allow yourself to loosen up and relax. Life is short. I mean I put in the minimum required and I still end up in the same place as you at the finish line. Shouldn't that be proof enough that you work yourself entirely too hard. I know I sound like a broken record but if you just let yourself get laid, maybe you can finally remove that stick from your ass.”

The waiter returns. Killian buries himself in the menu, where he orders a few things as well as a mimosa. Porter politely declines food.

“Bring him an Irish Coffee. Extra shot in it.”

The waiter walks away before he can refuse Killian’s request for him.

“For God's sake Porter, I am getting worried that you are broken. How can two men who are supposed to be identical be so different?” he shakes his head disappointed.

“We were not talking about me, we were talking about you before you tried to spin this all around.”

Killian smirks, knowing full well that it was going to irritate his brother more than his words could.

“Yes we were, but you have to ask yourself, what’s worse? Being you, obviously miserable and lacking any kind of real human companionship and succeeding, or being happy, having fun and still succeeding just the same?”

Porter opens his mouth to rebuttal but stops. In his mind, he thinks it's because there is no use arguing with his brother but in actual fact, he has nothing he can use to prove him wrong at this point. Why did he work so hard only to have the same results that Killian had with half the effort? In truth, deep down he was a little frightened at what Killian could accomplish if he did buckle down and put more thought into his thoughts and actions. Killian however is not the type to gloat in the conflict flickering in his twin’s eyes, instead he is genuinely more concerned with Porter’s mental health above all. He sits back in the chair, looking even more relaxed than he normally did, which was saying a lot. He continues talking as if he didn't pick up on Porter's strife.

“Besides... I was only five minutes late this time, that’s actually an improvement...”

The eyeroll that Killian gets in response grates on him, as they get the exact same mannerism in response from their sister.

”An improvement on a failure, that is only a little less of a failure.”

The waiter returns, putting a drink down on the table without even breaking his stride, knowing better than to insert himself into a heated conversation.

”Some the most important discoveries in the last couple hundred years have been as a result of a failure dear brother. Failure isn’t bad, it only leads to greater accomplishments.”

Porter shakes his head.

”Failure isn’t bad, and scraping by on no effort is better than planning things out. That’s your pitch?”

Porter narrows his eyes on his brother. Killian was not the only twin capable of twisting a conversation to suit his benefit. It made the times that they argued especially agitating for both sides.

”And you wonder why I am not jumping at the bit to do things like you.”

Killian gives a half hearted shrug.

”What you see as ‘scraping by’ managed to secure us a win in our last match. If I was really as unprepared as you claim, how would I have done that for us? I’ll wait until you come up with some twisted little explanation.”

Killian sighs deeply./i]

“And I know that is really what is bothering you. You put everything into it and I did what you considered the bare minimum and I ended up the guy getting the count. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I put in the amount of effort I deem the opponent is worth. I saw a team that was already congratulating us on our win before even getting in the ring. Why the hell would I waste my time looking up shit about them if they couldn't even be bothered to act like they wanted to win? They might as well have just laid down in the middle of the ring and let us pin them. So if you’re wondering if I am proud of our win? No. It was a joke. But I can feel better knowing I only gave them what they put out and know that I didn't waste a single extra second of my time on them.”

He folds his arms over his chest, his voice sounding more heated than it had since they had signed contracts in SCW.

“And what happens when we come up against a team like us?”

Killian shakes his head at first, but has the perfect response.

“There are---”

Porter finishes the sentence for him.

“...no other teams like us? Maybe not. The problem is, we aren’t going to know until it’s too late if we do it your way. Just because we are up against team that shouldn’t intimidate us, that doesn’t mean we should blow them off. Right now we are the least accomplished and least decorated members of a group that we started. People look at us and see everyone with a championship except for us. So, in response, they take us lightly. Then by the time they realized they made a mistake, we have already won the match. What happens when a team acts like The Elders, but actually have the ability to back it up? What happens when you’re wrong?”

Killian seems taken aback at first, but he was not one to lose an argument without a fight.

“Let me ask you Porter, how many times was I wrong in Japan? How long did we carry those tag titles and how many different times did we then take them back. I am not naive enough to think a team like us could make an appearance in SCW without being somewhat of a known commodity. In fact I expect it to happen, but I know what a team has the moment I see them walk down the ramp. They give everything important away in just those first three minutes. I never underestimate our opponents, like I said, I give them exactly the right amount needed to eliminate them. No more, no less. I am a very confident person but don't mistake that for arrogance.”

Porter leans away, scratching the top of his head and conceding, with one condition.

“Then what do we do about The Monstimals?”

A confident smile crosses Killian’s face. It was the question that he had hoped Porter would ask.



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ON-CAMERA
Fort Defiance, AZ
9 June 2017
5:41 PM MDT
SCWrestling.net Exclusive


“How often do we see wedding vows being broken?”

Porter is the one to throw the question to the audience as the feed comes to life with both twins standing in the middle of the frame.

“The divorce rate in Canada is something like 41%. I’m pretty sure it’s probably higher here. Look at Twitter marriages for instance. People are getting divorced on there everyday and remarried the next week.”

Porter cuts his brother off before he can start another thought. Not trying to get away from the subject.

“Yet, with all the proof that marriage is just a temporary connection between two people, it seems to be the ‘it’ thing to be doing when it comes to tag team wrestling in Sin City. You have the Bad Boys who are making a punchline out of gay marriage on a daily basis. Dying Breed is another, slightly more successful marriage, yet just as underwhelming tag team. There are even our opponents, the SCW Internet Champion Lord Raab and his husband Samuel McPherson. ”

The exchange between them is much more fluid this time, with Porter finishing this thought before his brother takes a step forward to clarify the point.

“Marriage is, for all intents and purposes, just another contract and just like any contract it can be broken. As much as love ballads claim it's destined across infinity and no one will ever feel the same way, we as humans are not meant to specifically be monogamous for such long periods of times. The code in our DNA tells us to seek out a mate with the best genetic match. When that first match no longer fills the need, we move on to another better suited mate. So it's because of that, when I see married couples becoming tag teams I can’t help but pull out my betting charts to gamble on the inevitable fallout date.”

He turns back to look at Porter, who nods in agreement.

“Kris even makes money off of always seeming to nail the dates relationships are going to implode. It’s part of the reason we started paying attention to him when we were putting together the Black Sheep.”

Porter joins his brother at his side.

”I’m sure these two will tell you that they have some sort of unshakable bond that is stronger than anything else in the world. That’s why they are such a great tag team. That’s why they are going to win this match. However, even if we put aside that one of them is so mentally challenged that he can only respond semi-accurately to yes or no questions, I think we just showed you that marriage isn’t the way to go.”

Killian raises his index finger to his mouth, tapping his lips while having the perfect idea for an alternative.

“But what if... your DNA is genetically indistinguishable from your tag partner’s? What if you knew exactly what your partner was capable of, just by understanding your own limits? Even better, what about having a relationship with your partner that cannot be severed because of a fight, or who someone is sleeping with? Some might say that Porter and I are at a disadvantage because we are the same size, and while they are wrong, we have to acknowledge that.However, Porter and I may have the same size and stature, we have very different styles. Just like as much as we may argue, we aren’t going to be dissolving our relationship in a court. As much as some people want to claim we are not a strong team, they obviously have just been distracted by the mundane instead of what’s really important.”

Porter places his hand on his brother’s shoulder, and tries to approach the topic a different way.

“We pointed out that this company has had it’s share of tag teams that are in relationships, but what about tag teams of brothers? For as lackluster, and uninteresting as Dying Breed might be, you have a team like Jet City that helped everyone remember that this company has a tag division. That is the kind of thing that you are comparing when you put a team like us against a team like The Monstimals. A team that, even if they were focused on us, is little more than brute strength without a lot of intelligence to go with it. They are outmatched, and the bell hasn’t even rung yet.”

Killian looks at Porter, tapping his bottom lip a little.

“Raab has been spending all his energy on this match against J2H but before even accepting that match, he tried to give that opportunity to his husband. A guy, who let’s be honest here, would not have afforded such an honor on his own. And in all this time of knowing about this match with us there hasn't been a peep about us. He has already brushed us away without even a second thought. And that is thing that is going to have everything unravelling. ”

Porter shakes his head, shooting a disappointed look to the camera.

“First we get The Elders, who are… less than enthusiastic in the ring these days. Now SCW throws us a team that hasn’t even been mentioned by name since March? Are we supposed to be intimidated by a team that hasn’t won a match in this division this year? I suppose that I’m treating them a little unfairly, being that they have only had one match this year, the one where they came up short to Team BJ at Blaze Of Glory, but the fact remains. This weekend we face a team that has slipped into the shadows of this company. Raab might be a person as far as his solo career goes, but a member of a successful tag team, he is not. The Monstimals are an afterthought, whose last success was beating the Unholy Alliance. Remind me again which of those teams challenged for the tag team championships after that match? Even in victory, this team wasn’t good enough for management to want to push forward. Now they end up in our path. They end up getting thrown to the new guys so that we can prove that we belong in the division. We understand why we have this match. We just don’t understand why these two even bother to pretend to care about the tag team division in SCW.”

Killian interjects, coming up with a solution to the problem.

“The rumour is that Mark is looking to make big changes in SCW, I certainly hope that removing these BIG wastes of spaces on the roster is one of them and if not? I’m sure that our complete and utter demolition of these... He pauses to make sarcastic emphasis of the ridiculous name of the team they are facing with air quotes. ““Monstimals”... will show that Black Sheep are what’s really going to give the tag team division nightmares, because monsters don’t exist.”

With that, the feed cuts off.