2019-12-17 - Fight Club Chapter 2

Roxy is in a black outfit, booty shorts with a turquoise belt and side stripes, and matching low cut sports-bra style top, with stiletto ankle boots (reference: https://i.imgur.com/q1gpuGe.jpg). She has a matching turquoise cloth headband tied in a bow in her coal-black hair. At a signal from Joey Kelly, she steps into the ring and makes her way around the perimeter with a card bearing a sparkly number "1" raised above her head. There are blown kisses and winks for the audience. Then she steps back out.

Nicole has been here, arriving with Joey earlier in the evening to help make sure things were all set, and to look good doing it. That's her role on these nights, right? Look good. Red served her well not long ago when she herself was in the ring, though, that ring also held a kiddie pool full of jello, so she wears it tonight as well.

From the front, it seems a simple but elegant sleeveless sheath dress in a deep crimson. The view from the back reveals the saucier nature of Nicole. Splitting at her ribcage, the material sweeps up towards her spine where it twist between her shoulder blades, creating a deep V revealing bare skin above. Her lower back is almost completely bare moving up to that point while swooping low, just above her shapely bottom. The hem of the dress hits her just below her knees, and upon her feet, she wears strappy black glistening stilettos. Her hair is done up in a classic french twist and she wears a sparkly rhinestone bangle bracelet in black upon her wrist. She's currently standing near the bleachers, where she sat last time, smiling and greeting people she knows.

Mae is here already and seated in the bleachers, phone in her hands as she texts quietly. She glances up as things get started, leaning slightly to slide her phone in her purse. She puts her fingers in her mouth and lets out a wolf whistle as Roxy walks around the ring with the card in her hand. She's dressed for the weather, wearing a pair of warm leggings and an oversized sweater with the sleeves pushed up the arms. There is a silver flask in her purse that she occasionally pulls out to take a sip from, the front engraved with some words in fancy script.

Jaime is dressed in a pair of jeans and boots with a white collared shirt and a black blazer on, a fedora perched on his head, and a grin on his face. The recently voted less-sexy Kelly twin does not seem to be hiding in shame after his champion's loss. Instead, he's out to support Joey in this latest Fight Club extravaganza, and puts a bit of money down on the fights, for good measure, before he finds himself a seat in the bleachers and settles in to watch the bouts.

Poe makes his way into the gym along with Lex. He'd been here earlier, but this time he didn't linger around the gym all day. You can only punch the bag so many times before you need some real bones and flesh beneath that blow.

Gotta sate that blood thirst.

He leans in to kiss Lex's cheek and says something quietly to her before slipping away from her side to let the organizers know that he's here. Really that's just putting up a fist for Joey.

Graham immediately lies. "I'm always being honest." He takes his boop like a champ, flashing Andre one of his bestest smiles. "And I left it in the car," while he gets his pat-down, "I promise." (That part's actually true. Probably. Maybe.) Despite the fact that he's all but literally itching to get through the door and waste some money, he has to hang back to Elise get her boop, too. But then! Then he definitely drags Elise over to wherever, because money is burning a hole in his pocket. He just has to hand over the hundred-dollar-bills before Elise figures out there were five of them.

Kass is here. Because of course she is. She's like the ghost of the gym, haunting around the edges of the room and trying to stay away from the larger crowds. Clutching at the strap to her messenger bag, she manages to approach the Kelly's, offering a quick nod and a murmured, "Hey guys. Tonight promises to be pretty brutal." She also has a small smile and wave for Nicole. Because she's known, and liked. Then the redhead is drifting back towards the wall to inch around and place her bet with Andre before hurrying the Hell away from the popular man to find somewhere quiet to sit. Well. Relatively quiet.

"Hi Andre," Elise beams a bright smile at Andre, who tries his level best to be EXTRA gentle with his boop, but it still sends her stumbling back a few steps out of recoil. Still, she manages that brightness with just a bit of a crinkle to her freckled nose, until she's dragged inside with Graham. She manages to dump her donated clothes into the bin before they get fully inside. "Whoa whoa whoa was that five hundred dollars? You've got to be KIDDING me!" she fixes a look on Graham. "That's coming out of your money, right?"

Lilith strides in a little late, but not overly late, more or less in time to start weighing the odds and placing bets after listening to some talk and speculation around the gym. She's wearing black skinny jeans, a pair of booted black heels, and a floral embroidered leather black coat over a couple of form-fitting layered black and white t-shirts, mixing dressy chic with casual to come out to the bout down the road from her shop.

She's also come with cash in her beaded shoulder bag, and she takes a moment standing there with it to dig out a ponytail holder first once she's gotten out of her jacket to sling with the bag. Despite the chill, it's warm in here with the gathering, and once she has her hair up in twist and secure, she places some bets after eyeing the indicated fighters she doesn't know, then goes to find a seat at the bleachers when all settled up.

Jacob had shown up with two large transparent tupperware containers, visibly full of fresh baked brownies. Getting stopped at the door and being shaken down for a donation wasn't quite what he was expecting for a bake sale, but it's for charity, so he hands over a crisp $100 bill from his wallet before heading in. And looking around, seeing the situation with the ring set up, the bidding taking place, etc, he quickly realizes that this, in fact, is not a bake sale. Muttering to himself, "God damn it, Harry."

With a shake of his head, the doctor heads over to the bleachers and takes a seat, setting the boxes beside him. One of which is marked with a large x in green masking tape. He's wearing a thin jacket over his more casual outfit, a t-shirt and jeans, sneakers underneath.

He doesn't pause at the betting table. He doesn't know who's fighting, and at this point, he's more annoyed than anything to even consider putting anything down. The redhead lifts his hand to his chin, and scratches his skin through his full beard, trying to figure out why he was summoned here, and what his next move is going to be.

Cristobal isn't working security tonight, not in full. He might be keeping an eye on things, but he's dressed to fight in a pair of tight black shorts with cup support, barefoot and bare chested as he warms up on the side lines with a blue and white braided jump rope flicking around him with subtle wrist movements, feet barely leaving the floor as he quickly skips. His full set of tattoos is on display in such a simple pair of shorts: a sacred heart on his right pec, some Spanish words scrawled on his left ribs, and an angry, gored bull stomping a matador's red cape.

Sutton arrived earlier, so when she wanders out of the locker room, it's wearing a pair of bright yellow drawstring shorts over grey cycling shorts. Her top is a faded light grey tee with a Seattle Fire Department logo over the left chest. A few folded bills are slipped to the bet-taker, and she heads over to find a seat on the bleachers. She dropped a bunch of donation kits for the women's shelter off first thing. Of course she sits down just as Jacob rolls in with brownies. Hee hee.

Lex arches a blue eyebrow at Poe's back after the cheek kiss, and whether at the kiss or at whatever he's muttering, the tattooist look distinctly... dubious. Or maybe that's just her default expression for the night. She wear a black hoodie that's large enough to probably be Poe's, a pair of ripped once-denim jeans, and black knee-high boots. Blue ringlets have been drawn back in a lazy tail, with a rubberband that really doesn't look up for continuing the task.

Shauna had been there awhile warming up and when the matches are announced, the redhead seeks out the darker haired woman she remembered from the last time. They'd never been pitted together, but she had watched how the others had fought. Dressed in a pair of pants that reach her calves and are pretty tight along with a equally tight tank top, simply to prevent her clothing from being grabbed and yanked. If her competitor got the urge. Prepared, she walks up and rolls into the ring before getting to her feet. While she's not exactly tall, she's fast and scrappy and she bounces a little in the ring, throwing a fist or two to stay loose and warmed up as she waits.

Calling over to Jaime, Nicole says, "save my seat for me." She smiles and waves to Kass then, spotting the redhead greeting her. "Probably bad form for me to bet, so, I'll just donate my money to the shelter." Smiling a bit brighter when she sees Lilith walk in, the done-up blonde waves over there as well. "Hey Lilith!" It's a good turnout again tonight, that's good for everyone all around, and means that Nicole is all smiles so far.

Blake seems to have wandered in off the street after following an acquaintance carrying tupperware containers wishfully imagined to be filled with baked goods. After getting checked out for firearms and going through any other requisite obstacles when one is on a quest for baked goods, Blake strolls into the gym for the first time, notices the bleachers, and heads that way to remain as inconspicuous as possible while he gets his bearings on what he's stumbled into. If he's sitting in anyone's reserved seat, well, so be it.

Another one here and warming up is Shauna's opponent, Grace. Moving around some and feeling out her movements, doing some shadowboxing before relaxing and looking around. Looking to Shauna in return and meeting her gaze. Giving a nod of her head. Looking forward to the fight. Having watched Shauna's fight last time. Wearing an mma style outfit, with tight shorts reaching just above her knees. The top slightly lager than a sports bra. All sitting tight, similar idea as her opponent. Getting into the ring as well. Before the fight will offer her hands to bump with her opponent.

"First off, you're broke as fuck, so of course it's coming out of my money." Graham says this fondly, while bestowing unto Elise one smooch to the forehead. "Second off, if this is my money, that means these're gonna be my winnings. So don't be trying to get all-up-ons when I collect my cash." He doesn't want to go terribly far from the gambling, but he step-crowds Elise over somewhere that they can better see this actual fight. Which means he's proximate enough to Cristobal that he's not shouting across the whole gym to note, "You fighting here, man?" With a hiss across his teeth, like - wow, brave man.

"Am I ever not?" Rhys asks Andre with a grin as his hands are relieved of the tote bag of Things he brought as an entrance donation. Whether that question qualifies as honest could be debated, but it's certainly not a lie! If he gets booped, he apparently feels his dignity can take it at present, giving the bouncer a fingergun as he passes by . And only that kind. If he has any other guns they're sitting this evening out. He's in a black leather jacket tonight, over a green and blue plaid shirt and dark jeans, and saunters easily over to the betting area -- first to quietly chat with whoever's taking the money for a minute, and then to actually pass some cash over. The important stuff handled, he swings toward the bleachers, giving grins and periodic little handlifts or upnods to people he knows along the way. Nicole gets both as he nears her, along with a cheerful, "Nice dress. Looking forward to a more relaxed night?" For her, anyway.

Elise makes every attempt to smack Graham upside his stupid head, but he's too fast. So instead? She glares. "I will fuck you up later," she promises, narrowing a dangerous look. "And just remember you owe me rent. And a Christmas present," there's a 'hmph' at the end of it. But she comes along to the edge of the ring, relaxing into a lean against Graham. She may murder him later, but that doesn't mean she can't cuddle him now~

Lilith grins and waves over at Nicole and calls over after a little whistle of appreciation for the outfit between her teeth, "Nicole! Hey, girl, looking good tonight! Must be fun to spectate instead of squabble this time, mm?" After settling her coat and bag between her heeled feet to keep a boot heel on (this is Elm), the brunette fusses with her updone hair and pulls out some lip balm to put on while eyeing those getting set up to ring for the first bout once she's made her greetings across. She drops a wave over Joey and Jaime's respective ways too after dropping the tube of flushed lip balm back into her things, then leans forward with her forearms in drape at her leg-crossed lap, one foot bouncing to and fro.

Entering in, Everett ducks under the doorway as he does, before pausing to take a look around. Spying a shock of red, the stoic glare gives way to a smirk that covers the right side of his face. Before walking towards Kass, though, he takes a look at the line-up and frowns. The first time he was it was because he wanted to hurt and be hurt. Now, moving past those feelings, he's doesn't look certain he wants his name up there anymore.

A little late now he figures, going over to place down a bet. Andre gets a glare when he raises a finger to give Everett a nose boop, but its equal opportunity to equally sized men. With a shake of his head, Everett rolls his eyes with much-concealed mirth and goes to find his redhead.

Jacob turns, eyeing Sutton, eyes running down her outfit. "Lemmie guess. You're fighting, and I'm on standby in case someone gets hurt?" He shakes his head, digs a packaged brownie out of the unmarked box (rather than the one with green tape on it), and tosses it to the paramedic. "Not exactly the kind of thing that I had in mind when I gave you my number."

Blake's entry behind him gets a polite nod, but nothing else. Polite courtesy to his patient.

Joey sharks a toothy grin at Graham's. He looks to Jaime, "Bigger turnout than last time. Hoping no one gets stupid. Holidays always seem to make people stupid for some fucking reason." Looking to Roxy and Nicole he comments, "Roxy we're gonna get started in a moment." He goes into his office and wheels out the padded office chair. He points to Roxy and then the chair. There. He does murmur to them with Jaime in ear, "If anyone gets dumb, get to the back. Lock that door." He trusts nothing. He looks to Kass and nods to her as if to say You too. He makes his way to each corner to make sure the fighters and ringperson have the 411 on how this is going down.

Cris slows the momentum of the rope and let's the final loop over his head die with a thwap against his shins. Transferring both of the handles to one hand, he doubles up the braided strand and flicks it around his neck to grab the tail and drape it there. "Muy loco en la cabeza." He responds to Graham, winding a finger at his temple so no translation is likely needed. "So make sure to bet and bet big. Bigger the purse, the bigger the show." His eyebrows give a waggle while his feet never stop moving.

Roxy settles into the office chair, setting her cards down beside it, and nods to Joey. She looks like she doesn't expect things to go sideways though. She's such an optimist it's sometimes painful. She smiles to Nicole. "You did so well at the Jello Festival," she notes to the other woman.

Jaime lifts a hand to wave back at Lilith when she waves in their direction before commenting to Joey, "Probably no more stupid than usual." He grins, and then looks puzzled for a moment. "Why not just lock it now? Save the trouble?" Because let's be practical -- why wait to do that /after/ someone gets dumb.

Flashing another brief grin towards Nicole, Kass seems content to huddle near the bleachers where she's out of the way and can put her back to the wall. The nod from Joey gets another brief grin. Then there's Everett and she's offering up a smile towards the big man. "Hey. I bet on you. So you know. No taking a dive, mkay? Taking a dive is bad, mkay?" One bad Mr. Mackey impression and she's darting glances around before looking back up at him, "Seriously though. These guys looks serious tonight. Watch your back."

At Bleachers:
When Jacob looks his way, Blake doesn't respond for a beat or two. He's so frozen he doesn't even look like a deer in headlights. He doesn't nod in return or anything, well, it's just too late. Jacob has already moved on, and Blake just takes a deep breath and goes back to pretending like he knows no one here. Then he pulls out his phone to safely stare down at the screen and tap, tap, tap. Just one of many people checking out of their surroundings, surely.

"Not going to lie," Nicole says to Lilith as she makes her way over to sit beside Jaime at the bleachers, at the end of one bench. "It was a lot of fun, really. If I didn't already have a career..." Her voice trails off, leaving the end of that sentence a mystery. "Have you seen Joey in that suit though? I have to look good." She winks, then asks, "how are you tonight?" It's not so easy to be comfortable on bleachers in a dress like this, but Nicole tries, crossing her legs at the ankle and tucking them off to the side, posture straight, hands on her lap. Joey makes his rounds and Nicole watches, nodding to him with a smile when he looks her way. She's eyeing the fighters, murmuring, "it looks like some good matchups tonight. Bets or not, I am going to be rooting for a few."

"Thanks, Roxy! It was a lot of fun. Sorry I didn't get to chat with you there. It was... wow. I am still in awe about how well it all went."

Sutton's amused glance to Jacob is shortly followed by a thumbs up. "Good to see you at the party, doc." She nods. "Yeah, that's if you're willing. If you're not, I think I'm fighting last, so really then you only have to worry about a pair of us." She comes up with both hands to catch the brownie. "Much obliged, doc." There's a widening of her grin. "Welcome to the bake sale." She mms, shaking her head, "Not the kinda thing I'll use it for in future, unless you have some fun tonight. Thanks for the sweet, sweet."

Graham didn't get hit but still, "Ow." He's rubbing the back of his head while he makes faces at Cristobal, saying slowly and irritatingly, "No hob-lah Ess-pan-yole, bro. But I get your gist. I got - " He glances down at Elise, cups a hand around the side of his mouth and adds ever so subtly, "Plenty of cash on me. Who you fighting?" The hand that had been doing an awesome job of hiding his mouth lifts to throw a thumbs-up Joey's way, he sees ya over there.

Leaning down. Down, very down, Everett nuzzles against the side of Kass's red hair, his own swaying free before reacting to her bet. His head snaps "Aww," he murmurs with his deep cadence. "You didn't have to do that. I don't know who I'm fighting, but according to the odds, you're throwing your money away. If you lose, let me know how much you threw away and I'll pay you back." His smile widens a little more at the rest of her advice and he nods, then adds, "What are you talking about? I have you here." Then he tilts his head even lower. "How about you?" he asks, nodding his head towards 'them' the crowd, then leans in to whisper something, a pause, a wild gesture to the arena and adds something else.

Jacob gives a nod in return. "It's fine. Come find me after your fight and I'll hook you up with the good stuff." He waves back at Sutton in acknowledgement of the thanks, then turns back to watch the fight as it gets started. Hopefully he can just sit here and watch rather than having to pick someone up off of the floor of the ring.

Elise is giving Graham all sorts of side-eye. Go on, Graham, try to be subtle. SHE SEES YOU. "The more money you spend here, the more expensive my Christmas present better be," she says to Graham, canting her head and giving him a bold smile. Then she rolls her eyes and says to Cristobal: "Please win so he doesn't lose all his money."

Poe navigates by Joey and then makes his way over toward the bleachers in search of Lex. When he tracks her down he climbs up to join Lex and watch the first fight. Not much else to do to kill the time.

Cristobal gives a little directional indication to Poe with a hitch of his chin. "I like 'em tall and skinny." The bouncer replies to Graham with a wicked grin, and a serious nod to Elise. "I'll do what I can ma'am." And then he's stepping back as the first fight begins to enjoy the carnage, retaining subtle motion so he doesn't lose his warm up.

"Maybe you can always side job it, feeling like it's your calling in life for aggression relief?" Lilith wonders of Nicole before breathing out a half-laugh and clicking her tongue a few times with continued lean on her forearms, "I have tricks for it, to a degree, but I think I need more, I might have problems here and there with a bit of the 'grr' cropping up. But that's life, I suppose. Especially here." Her head tips to Joey in his suit then, and she straightens a bit while telling Nicole with a lopsided, fond semblance of a smile, "Mmhm. I was in on the boy's suit shopping trip in Seattle, he wears it like he was tailored straight into the realm of stride and suave. Old hood be damned, a good suit is magic."

When did we decide to climb bleachers? To clarify the order of things, Lex is following Poe up the set of bleachers, and dropping to the less-than-comfortable seat with a less-than-friendly look toward the man beside her. "Just... be decent enough to stay pretty, mm? This is stupid. ... Jesus, they have him fighting a girl? Again? If you ever fight a girl that isn't me, I will fuck your ass up." This is why Lex isn't allowed outside when she's talkative and annoyed.

Mae watches the shot to the head with a mild look on her face, picking her phone up again to text someone. She leans back, spotting Lex and Poe, offering the pair a brief wave before she turns her attention back to the fight, or the finish of it. She shakes her head and glances back down at her phone, smirking at the reply she's got.

Kass tips her head back to look up at Everett, "I'm doing alright. Not as many people this time. There's less.. wandering. People tending to stay put. Easier to handle." She glances towards the ring, wincing as the two women pound at each other, flinching back just a touch as her eyes drop to the ground and she bites down on her lip. Drawing in a deep breath through the nose, she listens to the whispered words and murmurs something back to him before glancing towards the ring once more.

Graham side-eyes Elise a minute longer at the 'like 'em tall and skinny' and then follows the direction Cristobal is pointing toward his future foe. "I feel you. Give 'em hell, man." There's a brief laugh at Elise's assertion about Christmas, which has him noting, "I promise you, the amount I spend here tonight will have no reflection on what I," steal, "get you for Christmas, baby. Now which one is Grace and which one is Shauna? 'Cause I got money on this shit." And should probably at least know for whom he's cheering.

Tall'n'Skinny Elise gives Graham one last look, coupled with a brow-arch, before she returns to snuggling up against him. "Uh huh," is all she has to say about her Christmas present, before she focuses on the fight at hand. "Which one did you bet on?" she asks G, not exactly fascinated with the fight but keeping her attention there when the punches start flying.

Waving to Poe and Lex as they head up the bleachers, Nicole spots Rhys there. "Oh! Hi! I didn't see you there. I swear I am blind as a bat when there are too many people around. How are you?" Turning to look at Lilith she says with a shrug of her shoulder, "maybe? You think I could get enough opponents? I dunno. Seems like something I will enjoy more if I only do it sometimes. Like, once a year." She smiles then looks back towards Joey again as Lilith describes how he wears the suit. "Mmhmm... " There is a slightly dreamy grin on her face for that moment, then she sees Mae looking at her phone. "I have to remember to talk to her soon..."

Sutton doesn't eat the plain brownie yet, despite the temptation to do so. She gives the brownie a sniff, then puts it down next to her on the bleacher where she sits, leaning forward to watch the fight in progress. She tips back, slides her phone out of her pocket, and tappy-taps away. She glances up to watch the fight while she types with her thumbs.

Grace does get caught by surprised as Shauna decks her. Though able to rise up and get back into the fight. Exchanging hits with Shauna, the lack of grapples might have her at a disadvantage. Or perhaps just not as much practice. Either way her guard drops a little to expose her head and that is all it takes to get her knocked down. Staying down for a bit.

In the first round Shauna watches her opponent's move and while it seems like her opponent takes a more evasive stance, she opts to wait for a swing and when it comes, she ducks, avoiding being hit herself, but she strikes a devastating blow, knocking her opponent down in one hit. Stepping back, she allows time for her to either get to her feet or call it. When she does get to her feet, she dips her head in respect but never takes her eyes off the dark haired woman. Immediately, she moves in, but there are three times where they graze each other or miss all together before Shauna gets a hit in to her head and takes her down again. Lifting an arm, she claims the win and lets anyone know who bet on her they won! Then she offers her hand down to Grace. "Let's get you checked out." It was a hard hit, she knows it, so she just looks concerned.

Listening to her, Everett's eyes in the ring, it isn't until Kass murmurs back at him that he looks at her with disbelief for a moment. A long moment. Shaking his head, a big sausage finger comes down and flicks Kass's chin before he returns her whispering with his own, then settles into the spot next to her, looking up into the ring again. When Grace gets her bell rung, Everett whines and murmurs, "Easy come, easy go."

With the first bout ended, it's Roxy time again, and the "2" card makes the circuit of the ring for the second bout, held overhead. She has a messenger bag worn crossbody this time. At the midpoint of each rope, she stops and tosses out a Kelly's Gym tee to the audience to hoots and hollers. Then she's gone and the round can begin.

"Hey. You go up against whoever they put you on the card against." Poe is saying to Lex, though by the tone of his voice it's clear he doesn't want to see what might happen if this actually came to pass. Saved by the bell? He sees that the fight in the ring is coming to a hard end and slips out of his seat.

"Here we go again." Poe says to Lex and then hops down and makes his way toward the ring. He catches Mae's wave and flashes her a smile on the way past.

Jacob watches the fight, wincing now and again. Especially as Grace gets knocked on her ass once, and then again. It looks like the brunette took a particularly nasty one to the head, at that. That was a bit one sided. He doesn't seem to be particularly eager to get up from his seat, however, and instead just digs a regular brownie out of the unmarked box at his feet, unwraps it, and starts chowing down, sending little crumbs of chocolate into his beard.

With a slight tilt of his head, he uses his spirit glimmer to see how bad off Grace is. Eh, she'll live. More time to munch on this brownie, unless he's approached directly.

Grace does get carried off, and will take a moment before she is back to normal. With an added headache. Frowning some. Though she will just sit and relax. Looking around to see if she can spot Shauna.

Hey, you know what Graham's going to do? Drop another five-hundred-bucks. But it's okay, because he can still pay his bills, even if he loses (probably because he doesn't HAVE any bills but let's not go down that rabbit hole). "It's fine," he promises with a shiny smile.

Shauna clears the ring before Joey takes it and Grace is removed. Once out though, she reaches for a water and remains to watch the next one, checking on Grace now and then. She doesn't look much like she's waiting for conversation, more focused on the fight.

Cris gives a hearty clap as the first match ends, but that apparently is the extent of his good sportsmanship. Why? Because he's holding up a little plastic spray of mistletoe and taunting Poe from across the ring with it dangling right above his junk. Then he tosses it over his shoulder into the bleachers for the lucky bridesmaid and steps through ropes to take his place with little dancing steps.

Lilith chuckles some at Nicole and watches the melee break out between the girls with a vaguely consternated expression... she's not sure she actually knows which girl is which, for one, and maybe the one she thinks is the one she bet on, that one's losing. After checking her little notation cheat sheet in her bag and listening to Joey's called announcement, she curses under her breath and settles back, pulling down her hair and putting it back up as something to do with her hands while she waits for the next fight to finish setting up. This one, she watches a little closer, eyes a bit cut and narrowed as if sizing the pair up physically.

After tipping a nod toward Mae, Lex is turning that same dubious look back at Poe. It's unlikely that he's going to get anything else until it gets better. Or worse. She stands when Poe does, making her own way down the bleachers to sit at the far corner -- nearest the door -- as she watches the ring.

Elise holds out her hand, wiggling her fingers at Graham. "Give me two hundred," it's not a question. She's gonna make a bet!

Poe looks pretty fucking amused at Cristobal's display across the ring, his grin splitting his face. "Man, that's not usually a first date thing for me. But pretty face like yours, might make an exception."

With their oral relationship established, Poe climbs into the ring and starts to loosen up.

She knows better than to distract Joey from work too much, and so when he sits with her and Jaime, Nicole leans in to press her shoulder to his for a moment, smiling at him before commenting, "word is getting out. Even though we aren't supposed to talk about Fight Club. Place is packed. You do good work." Noting Lilith's reaction to the previous fight, she bites her lip. "Better luck this time," she says, looking as Poe and Cristobal take to the ring.

Grace does watch the fighting as well. Giving it a moment so she can recover herself before moving over to where Shauna is. Nodding a respectful nod. Then lean down and whisper, handing her something, before moving back to her own spot.

Graham gives Elise FIVE hundred. And whatever he says to her as the reason he's giving her more hundreds than she asked for is none of anyone's business except Elise's.

Jacob can't help but smirk at the mistletoe taunting from Cristobal. He shakes his head a bit between brownie bites. Ballsy, that one. Hopefully this match won't be over quite so quickly.

Elise rolls her eyes at whatever is said, murmurs something back, and then kisses him on the lips. Then she's off to put a bet on whoever Graham bet would lose. Because she's going to win!

Kass glances back towards Everett and returns the murmured words before shifting aside slightly to better watch the fight between Poe and Cristobal. Making herself not look away as the pair duke it out in the ring.

"I'm very inconspicuous," Rhys tells Nicole seriously, "I've been practicing," before the grin escapes again, and he finds himself a spot fairly nearby to settle in the bleachers, where he can get a really good view of the bouts. But not, ideally, get splattered with anyone's blood. There's such a thing as too immersive an experience.

Jaime glances over at Rhys and says "Oh, hey.. Firefly guy. From the Jellofest. Good to see you again," when he comes over near where Joey, Nicole, and he are. He gives him an up-nod of greeting and then he grins over at Nicole. "The first rule about the first rule of fight club is knowing when to break the first rule of fight club."

"It's almost like you're a wizard, Rhys," Nicole smiles at him. "It's truly a gift. Sometimes. I often feel more comfortable fading into the background than being in the spotlight." She's got her eyes on the fight though. Chuckling at Jaime, she nods. "good point. Also, disguise it as a bake sale."

With a soft chuckle towards the ring at the antics, Everett's smile fades quickly after the whisper from Kass as he turns to look down at her again and watch her watching the fight for a few back and forths mulling over his answer. When he leans down to give it, doing his best to keep his low voice low enough for just her.

The fight goes back and forth and Mae is obviously torn on who she should root for. The guy she bet on, or her friend. She leans forward, elbows resting near her knees as punches are thrown. She gives her phone one final glance when it chimes with a text, but doesn't reply. Her flask is opened and sipped from before she stows it away again. She finally spots Blake and waves at him, tilting her flask back and forth as a silent offer.

Poe isn't talking about mouth hugs once the bell rings - he slips into his fighting stance and moves in quickly to engage with his opponent. Last time he held back, but tonight he seems ready to dive in and start throwing punches. Let the other guy react. See if he can do it quickly enough.

The strategy seems to go well in the early going. Poe twists out of the way of a couple strikes from Cristobal while getting inside the man's guard to land several solid blows.

Cris is grinning like a fool at Poe's comment, lowering his stance and rolling up his shoulders with his hands raised in defensive posture. Hips turn this way and that, making it difficult to say which is his dominant side. Their first few blows are like courting, getting to know one another as opponents. Poe seems to have a better handle on Cris than vice versa, and soon the bouncer slash punching bag starts to get pummeled in the chest with repetitive blows. He tries to throw a quick kick in there, just to give them some space but gets caught square in the solar plexus which sends him reeling backwards and to the mat. A little slower now (and with far less grinning) Cris gets back up to continue the fight until it's called.

Shauna accepts the number and folds it, placing it in her bag on the floor beside her. The match is watched, surprised when Cris isn't faring better than he is after he kicked her ass once in the ring in a spar. She doesn't bother sitting down, she's got too much restless energy still.

"Hey, if he beats you, I'll run him over in the parking lot!" Graham throws a couple thumbs-up at Cristobal, heard or not, then is busy trying to make side-bets. But only with Elise. 'Cause of all the respect he has for Joey (and also the fear he has of Andre, that mofo hits like a freight train).

"Always thought I'd make a good one," Rhys tells Nicole brightly, "I look magnificent in robes. All that gravitas. But definitely stave rather than wand, those just look like you're trying to conduct an invisible symphony. And you can't used them to whack someone satisfyingly upside the head." His eyes are on the fight as much as anywhere else, taking it all in, maybe hoping for an illustration even if no staves are in evidence. "Good seeing you too," he adds to Jaime, "How's it going?" It breaks off into an approving whistle when Cristobal gets back up.

Joey watches like a hawk. Shit this is his personal Christmas and watching both his dudes brawl it out? There is fewer things more exciting than living vicariously through your pals looking like they are vehemantly fighting over the last chicken nugget. "Jaime... I missed this."

"Graham!" Elise bumps her hip into Graham at his talk of running people over in the parking lot, even if it does make her snort back a laugh. Then she gets in close to make these side bets.

"There is something to be said for a good whacking," Nicole nods to Rhys. "Who could blame you for choosing a staff over a wand?" At the small comment Joey makes to Jaime, Nicole smiles at him. "Maybe we could arrange a non bake sale night for you to get your fix in, hmm?"

"You could if you whacked'm hard enough," Jaime says to Rhys with a grin. "Going well enough." Though his attention turns back toward the bout as it continues on. "You missed what?" Jaime asks Joey, not really sure what he was missing, since he owns the place and fighting happens pretty much on the regular here.

"Nicely done, girls." Sutton grins at Cris and Poe exit the ring, both still pretty, maybe a little more bruised up and bloody.

When Everett goes to joint he ring, Kass makes her way over to the Kelly twins and Nicole, sidling in to take a seat and offering a small smile and a "Hey again." Then she's looking towards the ring to watch the fight, only belatedly doing a double-take to see Rhys there. New person! She blinks, stares, then murmur, 'Uh.. hi." Then quickly looks away because that was SUPER smooth.

What Kass whispers back brings Everett's smile back. He leans down and murmurs something to her while shifting out of his leather jacket and offering it to her, "Hold this? I won't be long." Then he offers cheek, double tapping it. "You know. For luck."

Lilith whistles low through her teeth at some of the hits that Cris takes from Poe and sits up straighter while they're having it out, eyes keen and focused. Then when Cris is knocked out, she breathes out a little huff of relieved air and makes a whistle with her fingers up and held between her teeth to make shrill appreciative noise in brief, rowdy cheer fashion. After rolling out her shoulders some, she checks her phone as it goes off, stares at it a beat, then drops it back into her bag to watch Sutton get ready with Everett. And she can't help but grin a little at the very pointed physical differences. It's also clear who her money is on because she calls out, "Slay, Sutton, SLAY!"

After bringing Cristobal to the mat once Poe doesn't really relent in his attacks. Perhaps in another venue he'd back off a bit and let the man get himself established again, but money is on the line and in these fights you took whatever advantage you could get.

He keeps it simple - he's fast and strong and he'd broken through Cristobal's defenses the first time easily enough, he was going right back to that well. Again he shifts out of the way of the other man's strikes and finds those openings that allow solid body punch after solid body punch.

Cris' return to glory isn't very glorious at all. He only manages to go a few more blows before...was that a crack? Yes, that was definitely a CRACK. But seriously, he didn't need that rib anyways. He has so many others, that particular one was purely superfluous. Excessive even. Twelve perfectly paired ribs would be bragging. This time when he goes down, he's half crawling away on one elbow, tapping at the mat, while his arm curls to his injured side. "I almost had ya there." He laughs as he pretty much just pours himself out of the ring instead of stepping through the ropes. Limping off to the side, he coughs back at Sutton, "Give 'em hell, Little Pepper."

"I win!" Elise claps her hands together excitedly when Poe is announced the winner, before she makes eyes at Graham. "Come on, let's go collect my winnings," she grabs him by the hand and leads him through the crowd. One would think she'd go wherever she needs to go to collect her money, and yet she's pulling Graham out the door in the direction of the parking lot.

At Bleachers:
Blake is nose deep in whatever's going on on his phone. So much so he pretty much doesn't see anyone he recognizes for quite awhile, until he looks up and realizes that Poe is out there, because he's announced as the winner. "Crap. Oh well." He grins and then sees Mae finally in the small sea of people. He then ascends awkwardly trying not to touch /anyone/, lips pressed together in consternation. He's still standing when he holds his hand out toward Mae, so perfectly formed to fit a flask into it.

Sutton puts her phone down and makes her way to the ring. "Claro, Cristobal." She glances over at Everett and hops up to duck onto their little stage, straightening shortly after. Black-haired biker dude is over a foot taller than her. She reaches up to pull her hair into a short tail, securing it with an elastic from her wrist. She eyes her opponent briefly then asks, "Hey, what conditioner do you use?" What's a little small talk between new friends? Everett's hair is also longer and shinier than Sutton's. Hair envy!

It's time for another bout to begin, so it's time for Roxy to get up and flash the "3" card around the ring, doing some dance moves when she reaches the corners and waving to get the crowds to cheer. She gets the signal from Joey to depart and heads back out of the ring to her seat.

Jacob winces again. Okay, that fight did, in fact, go on a bit longer than the previous one. And Cristobal went down like a set of Christmas lights on December 26th.

The ginger doctor stands, heading over to the ring with a purpose, cramming the last bites of his brownie into his mouth. His boxes of brownies are, temporarily at least, abandoned at his seat. En route, he uses his glimmer once again with a tilt of the head to determine how bad off the man is, but with his actual medical training alone, he has a pretty good idea that Cris might've gotten more than he had bargained for.

He approaches the injured man as he crawls, then limps away, looking right into his eyes, grabbing the pen light out of his pocket and flashing it right back towards him. "Hey. You alright? Took a hell of a beating. Think you broke a rib." He knows damn well that the man broke a rib, but that doesn't stop him from habitually couching his words.

Waiting for the other guys to exit the boxing ring, Everett steps inside, and starts swinging his arms, stretching, while pacing. When the tarmac bows with extra weight, he turns around and... she's dressed a little differently the last time he's seen her, his opponent, but the nagging sense of familiarity lingers when Everett frowns softly and cants his head. Where the hell do I know her fr-- her ass was hanging out! Everett points down at Sutton, eyes wide as saucers. "I know you!" his voice booms, as everything he was a witness to that night comes flooding back. A recovery quicker then in the ring, Everett looks down to Sutton's pelvis, and covers his mouth with the back of his right hand, "Fffuck," he lingers, putting up his hands just a little distracted.

Nicole watches the end of the fight and cheers. "Good bout, guys!" Kass joins them and she gets a smile. "Hello again." Seeing the look on her face at Rhys, she kindly offers an introduction. "Rhys, this is Kass. She's a good friend of the Kellys. Kass, this is Rhys. He's a wizard. Watch him." She winks and chuckles then looks up towards the ring again for the next bout. "Oh..."

Lex is on her feet as soon as the match is called, arms crossing over a black-clad chest, and her eyes darting uneasily between Poe and... well, everyone else. Cristobal is given a rather lengthy sizing up before the match, and a dismissive glance once it's over. She glances toward the ring a last time as the next match is readied, and after a roll of her eyes, she's attempting to weave her way toward Poe. No relatives backstage? Try violent girlfriends.

Graham, whose priorities may be a little bit out of whack, delays long enough to make sure he gets some money on the last fight, too. THEN he gets pulled out the door with a backward-called, "I'mma pick up my money tomorrow, Joey Kelly." Fortunately, this means he won't be running anyone over in the parking lot.

Jacob looks away from Cristobal for a moment, eyeing the next two competitors. Really? Sutton versus Everett? Not that he knows the latter, but mixed gender fighting is.. unusual, to say the least.

The doctor looks over towards the betting table, yelling towards Joey. "Hey! Joey, is it? Five hundred on the blonde." And then his attention goes back to Cris, checking for signs of concussion to go along with the rib injury.

Mae passes her flask over to Blake, shifting her eyes in his direction with a slight grin. "Did you put in any bets?" She asks quietly, leaning in to bump the man's shoulder. Her attention turns to Sutton and Everett, and she whistles loudly at her friend in the ring. "I lost my bets so far, Don't tell Poe that I bet against him, hmm?" She reaches in to take the flask back after Blake takes a drink to take another one herself.

"Right down to the wire." Poe agrees to Cris' words, a grin crossing his breathless face. He seems happy enough that that man doesn't seem too much worse for the wear after the bout. He doesn't really want to hurt anyone more than they need to be hurt. A rib won't really be missed.

He hops down out of the ring when they're done and heads back toward where he'd last seen Lex. Of course, he meets her half way this this time. Poe has a wide grin and upon spotting Lex he closes the distance and wraps her in what promises to be a sweaty (but at least not bloody) embrace.

Cris blinks as suddenly Jacob is RIGHT THERE shining a bright light into his eyes. He keeps trying to turn his head to keep an eye on the start of the match between Everett and Sutton but keeps being diverted back to the redheaded man with good intentions. "Both of 'em still in there?" His eyeballs, he means. Both pupils are equal and reactive, though there is a strawberry bruising across one cheek where he caught some knuckles, not to mention the area of that Spanish worded tattoo will soon be mottled with pretty colors of black and blue. "Nothing some aspirin, a blonde, and a bottle of Jack can't fix." He tells Jacob with a grin, giving Poe an upnod of companionable acknowledgment as the man heads towards Lex.

At Bleachers:
"I didn't know what I was walking into, so I just sort of sat down," which would be a no, no bets. Blake shrugs and takes a sip he's going to regret (because it's way too small). He relinquishes the flask to Mae and tries to will more space next to her to appear out of thin air. Nope. Time to squish in between her and someone else like a stone...rigid and compact. He sort of hunches instinctively as if that will help him take up less horizontal space. "I missed Poe's fight so I don't know what you're talking about," he says with a small grin.

An upgrade from her storm-out-of-the-gym episode last time, Lex... well, she isn't storming out of the gym. Her expression is more of weary ehxaustion than the excitement that fills the place, and sweaty or not, she's turning her face against Poe's neck with the embrace. A nice place to hide for a moment.

Jacob clicks the light off. "Good enough. Come find me later if you want a hand getting patched up." He digs into his pocket, and pulls out a brownie with a green X on the top of the wrapper, handing it over to Cristobal. "Don't eat that all at once." There's a faint smell of weed to the brownie, especially more pungent once opened. There's probably a lot in there.

The doctor returns to his seat afterwards, eyes going to the next fight just getting started.

Grace is trying to follow along, but the hit did ring her bell some. So she is trying to recover mainly. But doing some light applauding along with the fights. Not really making too much fuss right now.

"Uh. Miracle Leave-In Plus Keratin?" offers the bruiser unassuredly. There's usually a reason why someone this small doesn't act more serious. And one of those reasons could be bad for him. Deciding the unknown might be better to size up first, Everett takes discretion rather than attacking full out. While it serves him the first hit landed, its only a bare graze. And then he gets his clock rung. The tide begins to turn swiftly after that, getting dazed and having that advantage left wide open to his opponent. His tiny. Tiny opponent.

"Not that I recall," Sutton says to Everett after he drops an f-bomb. "I mean unless I was unforgivably drunk. I'm pretty sure I'd remember climbing that jungle gym." She flicks a hand up, indicating the dude's height. She drops into a stance, lightly forward on the balls of her feet. Is she a kicker? Maybe. Maybe she is. "Cheer up, buttercup!" Oh, hell. Harry Sutton's been spending altogether too much time in the company of one Bennie Oakes. "Bend down a little, would you? I don't think I can reach your chin from here." She's kidding. It's only about a foot. Surely she can clock him just fine.

First the blonde begins by throwing a few jabs to test the big man's defense. He's faster than he looks, which is a nice surprise. Sutton smiles, the corner of her mouth quirking, though it flickers when he just about tit punches her. Luckily, the contact isn't hard enough to hit her rage button. The founds of small fists smacking into a meaty torso aren't hard, but they're certainly fast and relentless. She starts by tenderizing Everett's ribs, a couple of pops to his chest. When one of those tips him down enough to put his jaw in range, she hooks a shot to his head. "Fast hands, big guy. Nice looking out." If she's hurting, she doesn't let it show.

Cris gives the packaged brownie a little experimental sniff before he crooks a grin. "Half tempted to change my prescription to a redhead. Thanks, man." But the bouncer really doesn't have the energy to flirt with anyone be it Jacob, a blonde or even one of the familiar dancers up there in the bleachers. He's just plopping down on the end of the bleachers to watch Sutton's bout before he's going to crawl off under a rock some where.

"Well, damn," Rhys murmurs when the fight ends, a wince at the rib-crack possibly doing double-duty there. Oh well, his expression says, and he looks over to give Kass a slightly startled smile. That's famliiar hair! "Hey," he says, adding to Nicole, "We've met," and back to Kass, "but it's been... kinda a while. I might not be as memorable. That whole invisible wizard thing and all. How're you doing?" He does a damn good job of not making it sound like he's talking to someone who's been ill, considering there's a fair chance the last time he did hear how she was doing, ish, it involved high school rumours that said 'really not well, dude'.

Poe grins at whatever it is that Lex says quietly to him and then unwinds himself from her before leading them both back toward the bleachers. He spots both Mae and Blake there among others, but those two seem to get the thrust of his attention right now. He gives a big old thumbs up in their direction.

He climbs back up to the spot where Lex was before and settles down with her to watch the rest of the last match play out.

Kass almost cringes at being recognized. Almost. More, there's relief. Visible relief. He remembered. She looks back to Rhys and offers a faint smile, "Hi.. been a long time, right? I, uh... I'm sorry. About that.. you know. Uhm. The dance. That...." She gets worse with the stammering and stuttering until she's just blushing a furious crimson to match her hair and swiftly turns back round so she's not trying to look at him anymore. That makes it easier. "I remember you." Duh. She clears her throat and murmurs, "You look good. So. Uhm. Whatcha been up to? Still into Weezer?" She looks back to the ring just in time to see Everett take some nasty hits. Wincing, she lets out a small breath. Flickering gaze catching sight of Cristobal, offering him a small wave, then pantomining out something to the man. Patting her ribs, pointing to him, then making the sign of a call. We'll leave it up to Cristobal to determine if he understands that weird ass game of charades.

For a while the two trade punches like two shy teenagers at prom trying to figure out where the grip goes during a slow dance. The blonde is fast, and just evades a couple of really stern how-do-you-dos from those jumbo mitts the biker's wielding. The spread of jabs is wide, arm, chest, peppering the man's upper body and arms with hits. Sutton's feet never stop moving, bouncing her around like an exceptionally jabby pinball. When Everett gives her an opening, she takes it. Left hook to the brain pan!

A light wound to her leg, and for the second time Everett's clocked in the head. His eyes roll back as he teeters on his heels, wavers and before the gigantic man's knees go fully limp, the bell rings. He bounces off the tarmac, spitting a small gush of saliva laden blood from his mouth on to the canvas before his eyes close. And he lays still.

"Pretty long, yeah," Rhys agrees, studying Kass instead of the fight, which is almost a shame since there's some stylish pugilism goin' on up there. When she turns away like that, though, he lets more of his visual attention shift away, or at least appear to. "Nothing to be sorry about. Now, if you didn't remember me, then maybe, but I'd stoically pretend it didn't rend my heart, of course. Wizardry oblige." He gives her a smaller smile with that. Does it make sense? Does it need to? The tone's light and friendly. "That said, won't claim I didn't miss out. You look great. And of course I still like Weezer. They're still great. Ask me again when that changes." The blows in the ring get a low, just-audible whistle, and a degree quieter to Kass and her wince, "You friends with the Tick up there?"

Jacob sighs deeply, getting up AGAIN. On his way over to the ring, he uses his glimmer again to check out Everett. And he doesn't like what he sees. His pace increases a bit, turning into a quick jog before he gets to the ring, climbing in and kneeling towards the heap of a giant on the mat. "Hey, you alright?" The pen light comes out again, flashing towards his shut eyes, a thumb going to open his eyelid, checking for the automatic nervous system responses of the pupil contracting from the light.

Cristobal is focused on the fight, so he almost misses the Carly Rae Jepsen 'Call me maybe' hand signals from Kass, he gives her a little tick of a nod to Kass, "Any time, Mija, but if you want to go for a roll in the hay, you should wait for me to he...HELL YEAH, Pimienta! That's what I'm talking about!!" The last of course to Davida conquering Goliath in the ring.

It takes the gorilla in the ring a little while to start blinking his eyes and rolling his head attempting to recover and figure out what happened. He coughs a splatter of blood that had pooled in the back of his throat while he took a little nap, his eyes squinting with the pen-light in his eyes. "Fuckin'," he replies, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. And then Everett proves he's fine. "Hey, baby," he says to Jacob, "Told you I'd be right back." His eyes flutter again before his head falls back down to the canvas.