"porn definition": "material that depicts nudity or sexual acts for the purpose of sexual stimulation"

  "WWE": "entertainment-based performance theater"

  "choreography": "the sequence of steps and movements in dance or figure skating, especially in a ballet or other staged dance"

  When Husband told me we should return to Murray's, I did not understand why as they had attacked us twice, but he seemed to think this time would be different. We were certainly able to handle whatever they have shown to have for attacking us, so it was not truly a risk; but needing to defend ourselves, plus the bus ride to Tulsa, was effort for a possible chat and a possible drink.

  "And I did not like that Pepsi."

  "Try Sierra Mist."

  "Will I be Tanya today?"

  "No, this time you're Tabitha."

  "I liked being Tanya."

  "You liked beating up the BOB."

  "It was rather satisfying. But I also liked the name. It sounds playful. Perhaps we can use it again?"

  "Sure, we'll see what comes up."

  I read more about angels. There are many writings about them. The scholars talk about different types of angels, their duties, their powers and their names. Most people's views of them seem to be that they are good and kind, that they wear white and have wings, and that they have a glowy circle over their heads. That they are powerful and can do miracles. That they are servants of God and do God's will, and that one is more likely to see an angel than to see God.

  Yet there are other stories about them. A story called Supernatural describes angels as "assholes" that are more interested in what they want or what they think God wants than what people want or need. Many stories talk about sex with angels. Many other stories talk about Lucifer, a "fallen angel". More stories talk about sex with Lucifer.

  I think the men at Murray's were seeing Husband's strength, his white healer gear and his healing miracles. If I should need to heal them myself, I should perhaps wear white healer gear, so that the wife of the angel is an angel herself.

  Or perhaps they can see me in my black Ninja gear. Perhaps I will be a demon that an angel married. And has sex with.

  Murray's had not changed. The Pit changes. It has different people in it. Murray's had the same three people at the same table and the same bartender. It is even more like the Coffer and Coffin with its NPCs. Do other people not go to Murray's?

  I do not know yet what Sierra Mist is because the bar did not have it. Husband instead got the bartender to give him "soda water". It took him some time and words to get the bartender to understand; perhaps the bartender is not very smart. Soda water is interesting. It has texture instead of flavor.

  We sat down at the table with the three men we had fought. Husband nodded to the one who had tried to hold me. "Scott." He looked to the other two. "Guys."

  The men there looked at me. The one without a mustache who was not Scott tried to smile. I nodded back. I did not yet feel friendly with those people.

  "We're just waiting on Ted," said Scott. Husband nodded.

  We were all quiet until the not-mustache man tried being friendly with me. "So…you're a prizefighter?"

  I nodded.

  "Win a lot of fights?"

  "I win all my fights."

  "Yeah, I bet. Um…Scott says you got ears?"

  "Yes. I see you do too."

  He did not have more to say after that. We waited a short time before another man came in, heavier than the men at the table but not as fat as the bartender. Scott waved to him, and he came and pulled a chair to the table.

  "Hey, Ted. These are the people I told you about, Sid and Tabitha."

  "Nice to meecha." Ted looked at Husband. "Scott says you're looking for fighting tips?"

  Husband smiled and inclined his head toward me. "I mean, we both are, but she's the pro these days. So you're a fighter?"

  "Yeah, I was on kind of a pro circuit for a while. I went by 'Fleshly Crusher'."

  "...I'm sorry, but that totally sounds like a porn name."

  "What is porn, Husband?"

  The table grew quiet. After a moment, Husband said, "We'll talk about it later."

  I brought out my phone. Husband closed his eyes. "No…don't…google it."

  Stolen novel; please report.

  No one at the table was looking at me. The men had strange expressions. I put my phone away.

  Husband cleared his throat and smiled. "So…pro circuit, you say?"

  "Uh, yeah, World Power Sports. Kinda like WWE, but not as syndicated. We went straight to stream."

  I turned to Husband. "May I google WWE?"

  "Yes, you can. It's a teevee show about wrestling. There's some story to it too. Thing about that show, though, is that it's more performance and entertainment than real fighting. They call it 'scripted'...the people work out ahead of time who's going to win a fight." Husband looked to Ted. "That what your circuit was like?"

  "Pretty much, yeah. Like you said, we worked it all out ahead of time. Whatever got us the most views."

  I did not understand this. "Why would people bet on a fight if it was…scripted?"

  "They wouldn't," said Ted. "Least, I don't think they did. We were just doing it for the subscribers."

  "So the fighting was…mummery?"

  "Theatre, yeah," said Husband. "Choreography. I think Wikipedia calls it entertainment-based performance theatre, or something like that."

  "And how is this useful to us?"

  "Well, I think where Scott's coming from is that, if we're trying not to hurt people when fighting, we should learn about fake fighting."

  Scott nodded. Ted said, "I mean, it's not fake fake. You still have to be in shape. There's real physical stuff going on. It's just coordinated. So, like, what kind of fighting experience do you guys have?"

  Husband answered, "Combat deployment."

  "As in…active duty?"

  "Very much so."

  "...Okay, yeah, I agree with your wife. You know how to fight. What do you need me for?"

  "Well, that's a different kind of fighting, or at least I assume it is. We get in a cage, we're probably not going to try to kill people. Out in the field, we kind of are."

  "You looking to fix fights?"

  "No, we just…Look, did you bring the tire iron I asked for?"

  "Yeah…?"

  "Cool. How much was it?"

  "Seventy-five."

  Husband hesitated while reaching for his money, but still brought it out and paid Ted. Ted handed Husband a metal bar with what looked like a fork at one end and a cup at the other.

  Husband held the bar with one hand at each end. He took a deep breath, hunched his shoulders, and slowly bent the bar into an angle.

  Then he handed it to me. "Careful it doesn't snap."

  The numbers in Husband's app say I am stronger than any hyur in Earth. I have lifted men with one hand. But I had not tried bending metal bars before then. I held the bar in my hands and pushed hard, then harder, and it started to bend. I think I could have pushed harder still, but that might have snapped it as Husband had warned.

  When I had bent the bar fully double I handed it back to Husband, who peered at it. "You sure this was a seventy-five dollar tire iron? Because this doesn't feel like a seventy-five dollar tire iron."

  Ted looked nervous as he laughed. "You know, now that I think about it, I mighta gotten the thirty dollar tire iron…" He pulled out his money.

  Husband waved a hand. "No, that's okay. Call it a delivery fee." He handed the bent bar to Ted. "Anyway, this is what I'm worried about. We want to fight people and not do this to them."

  Ted took the bar. He stared at it. All the men at the table stared at it. He held it with both hands and tried to spread it. It did not spread.

  "We're not looking to fix fights. We don't have to. We're pretty sure we're going to win. We just don't want to hurt people too badly when we do. In fact, we don't want it to look too easy for us."

  Ted was still staring at the bar. He finally said, "Okay. The stuff we do in the ring is coordinated. We work together at doing it. But if you're this strong, you can probably do stuff without the other guy's cooperation…"

  Husband nodded. As Ted went on to talk about holds and throws, I remembered a video Husband showed me called The Princess Bride. I understood many of the jokes, though the sword fighting was simply silly.

  There was a moment in the video when the hero was fighting what I thought was a roegadyn but Husband insisted was a very large hyur named Andre the Giant. The hero threw himself at the giant a few times, accomplishing nothing, and finally said, "Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what?" The giant answered, "I just want you to feel you're doing well."

  I am not taller than the men I have fought. But to them I could be a giant. They cannot hurt me. They cannot throw me if I do not let them. But I should not break them as I could have broken the tire iron. And I need to let them feel they are doing well. Because nobody will want to fight a giant. Even a short giant.

  Ted finished with saying, "Okay, if we're gonna do this, we need a place to practice."

  Husband asked, "Does it need to be a ring? Or are floor mats enough?"

  "Should be okay. You got a place in mind?"

  "Yeah, there's a dojo I know of that I bet we can use." He turned to the mustached man with a smile. "It's run by the guy who sent us here the first time."

  "...I really wanna meet that guy."

  "Kinda thought you might. So, Ted…I hope it goes without saying that we want to keep quiet about this. Word gets out my wife is stronger than she looks, she might not be able to find any more fights. Bye bye career."

  "Sure, I get it. Lotsa pros have secrets. I won't be outing her."

  We parted from the men at Murray's, found an alley and Returned to Wyatt. Before we went to work at the diner, we stopped at the house. Husband led me to the bedroom and closed the door. He got out his computer. He showed me what porn was.

  "Why do people look at this?"

  "To make them think about sex."

  "Do you look at this to think about sex?"

  "I look at you to think about sex."

  "You look at me a lot."

  "That I do."

  "Why did you not want me to google it?"

  "Because if you google 'porn' you're much more likely to get porn than a definition of porn. And I didn't want that to happen at Murray's."

  "Perhaps I could have googled 'porn definition'."

  "Perhaps you could have. I was just embarrassed at the time."

  I nodded.

  "You are looking at me now."

  "That I am."