The Last of Us (12)

“Snap out of it, brother.” Tyler said, as Conor came right back into the here-and-now. “We have papers to sign.”

“Games to load.” Conor once again mumbled. His brother’s “people-speak” was getting under his skin. He didn’t like how Tyler would often suppress their video-game terminology to fit in with everyone else.

They both grabbed a clipboard. Conor signed his instantly. Tyler, meanwhile, took a few moments to read the fine print over. “My brother,” he started to Bryan with a smirk, “he never reads the instruction booklets.”

Saying that to appease Conor, both of them handed the representative their contracts. Tyler knew he occasionally needed to break into gamer-speak when it absolutely called for it.

“We’re really looking forward to this.” Tyler said. “We haven’t wrestled in a few years, but we’ve kept in good shape and I can assure you, you won’t be sorry.”

Bryan put both contracts on the table and then raised a hand to his chin. “No I don’t think we will. I did some research on you boys beforehand, as I’m sure you did on us. You are very good wrestlers. Lots of energy. Lots of high flying. Very good stuff.”

“Thank you.” Tyler stated. “I try to stay grounded. Not that great up in the air. Nothing like… him. But we want to wrestle fast-paced, too. Keeps the crowd into it.”

Conor agreed. “I can get a little crazy at times.”

“Crazy is good.” Bryan confirmed. “Trust me, if you’ve seen Jack Harmen, Chris Ross, The Dibbins. UTA’s presence might have pissed the boss off, but they can go.”

Tyler and Conor were about to leave but Sterritt continued.

“And that’s the whole point of this invasion. It really sucks to have some great wrestlers attempting to turn this place into something we’re not.” Sterritt lowered his head. “We’re not a sports entertainment industry. We’re wrestling first. That’s why I supported the hiring of you guys to Mr. Dane. You’re weird, sure. But you can wrestle. There’s way more to both of you than your weirdness. Besides… aren’t we all a little weird?”

Conor was beginning to like this guy, if not a little. “We’re all weird.” He confirmed.

That’s when Conor walked over and patted Bryan on the shoulder.

“We’re going to stop the infection. This game is a wrestling game. We are going to play it and we are going to beat it.”

He turned to seek confirmation from his brother. Tyler nodded in complete agreement.

“Okay then.” Conor said. “We’ll be back in a few weeks. Run those demos- I mean teasers. We’ll get UTA. We’ll get them good. Game over.”

For one final time, Bryan shakes both of their hands and The Fuse Bros. exit the office. The door closes behind them.

“Oh, we’ll get them.” Tyler said, but Conor wasn’t listening. He was thinking to himself again.

“Are we really that weird?” Conor asked his brother.

“Yes.” Tyler said. “Pretty sure we are.”

The two continued down the hall.

“Okay, cool. I was just checking.”

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