Wildfire

"Azure Flare. ...That is your identity, is it not?"

No one was supposed to know that title. No one.

He made fucking sure of it.

So... how? Just... fuckin' how?

How did Camber know?

"AuuuUUGHHHH!" Calhoun screeches as he angrily paces the hotel room. "Where the fuck did she... How the fuck did she...?!" He curls his fingers into fists at his sides, his mind racing. "Did... Did someone snitch? ...No... No, it couldn't have been any of the guys back home... They'd never tell..." He lowers his hand. "...and I never told them where exactly I was workin', either... Ugh. Fuck. Fuck!" He kicks at the wall. "Fuckin'... Was it that asshole manager...? No... there's no way he could've known about that... Tch, what the hell kinda power does she have...?!" He sneers. "First Pryce, now this "Queen of Flames" woman... Just how much do these shitty fucking people think they know?" He raises his voice, punching at the wall. "What the ever lovin' fuck is going on?!"

"Uh... Hey, Calhoun?" A voice slips through a crack in the door as it opens. Pryce pokes his head in before entering. "Could you maybe... keep it down a bit?" He closes the door behind him with a click.

"Fuckin'... you! Motherfucker! Where the hell have you been? " He snaps at Pryce without missing a beat. "You fuck off into the aether and come back like nothing's happened? Fuck, and then you have the balls to try and tell me what to fuckin' do again?!"

"Hoo boy, here we go..." The manager mutters under his breath. He didn't have the energy to deal with this now. "C'mon, Calhoun. I'm just asking ya to keep it down." He sets some documents down on a table. "There's other people around, yanno? It's just common courtesy, yeah?"

"Tch...!" Calhoun sneers. "Fuck them and fuck you!"

Pryce sighs. "Well," he starts with a weathered smile. "That's flattering, really, but I'm afraid I simply don't have time for anyone else other than Chiyoko-"

"Oh, is that what you're going with? Huh?" He scowls. "You fuckin' act like you give a shit about her well being, but I see what's fuckin' going on! All you care about is whether or not shit will earn you money!"

"...Calhoun..." Pryce sighs again, plopping down in an armchair. "Calhoun, look." He props an elbow up on an armrest, resting his head on his hand. "Do you know what a contract is? It's an agreement. No one said this job would be easy, yeah?" He closes his eyes for a moment. "But she took that contract. She agreed to this job, and she gets profits, too. That's just business." He lazily cracks open an eye. "Other than that? Don't act like I don't do what I can to keep her comfortable."

"Oho, fuckin' do you?! Do you really?" He clenches his fists at his sides, looming over Pryce's seat. "Because you always leave me and her in the dark until the last minute, and that cuts into my goddamn job! Fuck, you didn't tell us jack fucking shit about this dinner!"

Pryce sits up straight, brows furrowing. "I made the raffle announcement at Ignition! And-"

"And it's with Camber! Fuckin' Camber!" Calhoun throws his arms up. "Chyoke's out eating dinner with someone who threatened her! Why the fuck didn't you screen that shit?!"

"H-Hey, I didn't expect that!" Pryce lifts his hands in surrender. "But... I tried to get her out of it! Really!" Calhoun rolls his eyes, pacing away from the armchair. "I called KiriCan immediately after the draw... And they said we risk Camber suing us if we didn't go through with it...!"

He jolts his head back to Pryce. "What the fuck? Then let her fuckin' sue! Agh, fuckin'...! You're full of shit!" He scowls. "Caring more about losing a couple thousand bucks over the safety of your precious little idol...!"

"Hey," Pryce frowns, his tone sharp. "She's being looked after, all right?"

"We were supposed to be trainin' now, asshole!" Calhoun snarls. "But you didn't bother to tell us when the hell this bullshit dinner thing would happen, and now she's out dinin' with someone who, at best, wants her title, and at worst, wants to fuckin' retire her!"

"Look, that was last minute because I don't get all the details right away, okay?" Pryce straightens himself up in his chair. "Sometimes I'm left in the dark as much as you two are..." He lets out an annoyed sigh, hoping to maintain his composure. "But like I said, the bodyguards will-"

"No, fuck you, that's not the goddamn point!" Calhoun growls. "You never saw the goddamn point! You piece of shit! All this goddamn fuckin' time, it's appearances, or photo shoots, or fan meetings or... whatever the fuck!" He lifts a hand, angrily counting off each of his fingers. "You're okay with throwing her into a fighting ring without proper training, you're okay with her fans getting fuckin' creepy, shit, you fuckin exploited her sadness to record some fanmail segment!" He throws his hands up again. "What the fuck?! Who does that? Who the fuck does that?!" He sneers before jabbing an index finger in Pryce's direction. "You! Assholes like you! So long as you can control them, you don't give a shit about people! You don't give two shits about anything!"

Pryce furrows his brow. "...Look," he grunts, forcing himself back onto his feet. "Let's... calm down, okay?" He raises both hands diplomatically, motioning at Calhoun. He speaks slowly and carefully. "Chiyoko said... we should talk stuff out, yeah? And if this is what's been bugging you, well... Okay." He drops his hands at his sides, his usual lighthearted tone suddenly flat and frank. "I ain't out to control you, Calhoun. I offered you your job, I did what I could to convince you... but in the end, it was your choice to take it." He lifts his shoulders in a mild shrug, forcing a slight smile. "...Am I right? That was your choice, yeah?" Calhoun only stares back, the corners of his mouth still twitching with anger. Pryce's smile fades. "...C'mon, Calhoun. You're angry, I'm tired... Gimmie a break, all right?" He sighs again. "I'm just tryin' to help..."

"DON'T YOU FUCKIN' PULL THAT SHIT ON ME!"

"Gh...!"


"It was my choice, but don't tell me you're trying to help, 'cuz that's fuckin' BULLSHIT!!" He snarls, slamming Pryce's back into the wall. "Controlling others... That's all your goddamn job is! Chyoke's easy enough to manipulate, but when a fucker like me comes along, y'all resort to fuckin' blackmail!"

"C-Calhoun..." Pryce's eyes widen as he struggles to keep his voice steady. "...The hell are you talking about...?"

"You piece of SHIT!" He barks, his scowl deepening. "You threatened me! You threatened me into playin' nice because you said you knew shit about me! Do you seriously think I'd let you get away with that?! Do you think I'd forget?!"

"I..." He starts, glancing aside in thought. "I don't... remember anything like that..." He halfheartedly shrugs in Calhoun's grip. "It was probably just a joke, yanno...?"

"Just a joke? Just a JOKE?" Pryce flinches as Calhoun tightens his hold on his suit, yelling in his face. "Freedom ain't a fucking joke, Pryce! YOU DON'T FUCKIN' JOKE ABOUT A MAN'S FREEDOM!" Calhoun pulls away, his face twisted with disgust. "But I guess you wouldn't really give a shit, would you?! So long as you can make a profit off of it, nothing's off limits to you, huh?!"

The manager frowns for a moment, his brow slowly furrowing in realization. He takes a steady breath, carefully composing his words. "...I never forced you to stay, Calhoun." His eyelids lower into a look of contempt. "If all of this bothers you that badly...? You can leave at literally any time you want. There's nothing stopping you." He grits his teeth into a defiant grin. "But all this talk of being selfish? Heh... I've gone out of my way to accommodate you." He laughs bitterly. "Nevermind the times I've cleared up her schedule so you two could train. Nevermind that any equipment you needed, I made sure you had, even at my own expense... Nevermind that all could've cost me my job, and all three of us would be screwed."

"Shut up!"

Pryce's grin fades. "Fine. You wanna talk about threatening people? What about all the times you've threatened me, huh?" He leers. "When you thought I was having you train a child to fight? Or last week, when you said if anything happened to Chiyoko, you would end me!" He snerks, glaring back at Calhoun.. "Hell, look at you right now! You're here trying to preach to me about a man's freedom, when you're standing right here, threatening another man with violence for not conforming to what you want? A little... hypocritical, don't you think?" He grins bitterly again. "Or is that word too big for a man who only knows how to fight?"

Calhoun trembles with rage, his anger like acid - burning and potent. "F... Y-you fuckin'...!" He stammers, throwing a fist up.

"What, you gonna hit me?" Pryce raises a brow, his gaze steadily fixed on Calhoun. "You finally gonna follow through on one of your threats? ...Or are you all just talk?"

"...Ksh...!" Calhoun snarls between his teeth, the tension in his fist twitching as he hesitates.

"Come on, hit me. Do it. Punch a man who can't fight back." His eyes narrow. "You're in the right here, I'm just the villain. I don't care at all about the well-being of others, all I do is threaten them!" He pauses. "...Unlike you, Casey."

"FUCK!"

Calhoun's fist cuts through the air like a bullet. Pryce screw his eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

There was a loud thud, but the impact never came.

Pryce opens his eyes to see Calhoun’s fist smashed into the wall beside his head.

The other man stands there for a moment, his shoulders heaving with anger. The moment he pulls his back his fist, he stares down at it.

"...Fuck." He finally grunts. He releases his grip on Pryce's suit, roughly shoving him aside. He looks away from the manager, stomping off towards the exit. "Fuck...!" He rips open the door, storming out. "FUCK!" He shouts, slamming it.

Pryce remains slumped against the wall in silence. He sighs. He was tired, goddamnit. All he wanted was to rest, but instead he had to navigate the paranoid minefield that was Calhoun. "...The nerve of some people..." He grumbles, straightening himself up. He begins to brush his suit off. "Who would've thought-" He muses, but a loud knocking interrupts him. Pryce looks over, his face flat with dull surprise. "...Ugh. Really? Back already...?" He groans, steeling his nerves as he forces himself to the door, opening it. "What else do you want, Cal- ...Huh?" He stops, blinking hard. "Wait, you're not-"

The rest of his words are cut off by a punch to the gut as he topples to the floor, groaning weakly. The silhouettes of vague figures loom over him as his vision goes black.