Kita-Ku, Saturday, 7pm

Ace giggled a little at the idea of going by "Silver Haley", which sounded like a bad Silver Age comic sidekick.

"I could have "Haley's Comet" be my finisher name!"

She joked, before shrugging.

"No, the name Silver Ace was given to me by a wrestler I respected when I was training in Mexico, Silver King, along with a horrible silver spandex outfit."

She shivered at the thought of it.

"Eventually I just dyed my hair so I could keep the name. Besides, I don't mind when fellow wrestlers use my name, but I really don't want fans knowing who I am or what I look like outside the ring. The fans here.....don't really like me, and the last thing I need is to go out on a day off and have some drunk in a bar wanting to fight, or have some fan give me shit when I'm trying to relax, ya know?"

She shrugged again, not sure if Cassie would really understand that. Like Taylor, the girl seemed beloved by fans, unlike the general apathy and occasional detesting that Ace had been subjected too in recent matches.

"I appreciate the compliment, I'm proud of that match with Taylor."

She waved off Cassie's joking concern about the kick

"Bah, If I did, you'd be too busy wondering what it was that hit you and why my hand was being raised to even feel it."

She giggled, doing a "wave it off" motion to hopefully indicate she was kidding around.

"As for the rest of my matches.....could be going better I guess. I mean...lost to Maiden...and to Taylor...and Akashi pretty much killed me....that one hurt."


"But on the bright side, I got my first win over Valley Doll. She's a 12 year veteran, and I made her tap out! Now, she's a good friend, and kind of mentor!"

Ace beamed proudly....then blushed, tapping her fingers together.

"Plus uh...we are also dating..."

She said with a nervous laugh.

"Twelve years? That's a long time. But... I guess if you count jiu jitsu, I'm a fifteen year veteran!" She laughed. "I don't really count the children's competitions, but I guess they also do count for something. You know?"

Cassie knew everyone in AFW was gay. She didn't care. At least the guys were straight... not that she'd had any luck with them. She frowned, and looked Ace over as if to make sure she was okay.

"I thought Taylor was a lot rougher than she had to be..." She said in a concerned tone. "The ending series was... a bit much. I thought she could've ended the match a lot sooner. I'm glad you're okay, though! Piledrivers make me so nervous, and you took two! Among other things. I guess you've had kind of a rough start, but are you healthy, though?"

"Wow, 15 years? That's impressive...I was only 5 back then....though I will say that, as 4-5 year vet, I'm not exactly a rookie myself."

Ace blinked at Cassie's concern for her health. That alone cemented Ace's opinion, no way was this girl the scary monster that idiot fans online had claimed her to be. Ace had already met enough crazy bitches in AFW to know who wasn't one, and Cassie did not fit that bill. It made Ace more relaxed. Granted, she didn't appreciate other peoples automatic claims of Ace being lesser than Cassie, but if she had to be compared to somebody, at least she was being compared to a nice person with talent.

"Heh...Yeah, that first piledriver pretty much ended it, the rest was just showing off. Akashi actually did the same thing, trying to top Taylor by giving me three powerbomb's in a row. 3 doesn't seem to be my lucky number. If we had a match, you'd have to b...*cough*..put me in three holds at the same time to get me to tap!"

She said, nervously rubbing the back of her head. She had almost said, jokingly, that Cassie would have to break 3 of her limbs to make her submit, thankful she caught herself before she did. Ace doubted Cassie had taken any pleasure in those events, and bringing it up would just be awkward.

Trying to pick up the conversation though, Ace knocked on her head.

"I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine though, really. I took some bruises, a neck stinger, a headache after, and my leg was dead, but it didn't amount to anything serious. Same with after the Akashi match, all in all it was nothing that a warm shower, an ice back, and a few days of bed rest couldn't fix. Trust me, I'm made of far tougher stuff than I look!"

She bragged, proud of her endurance.

"Oh, no, I could make you tap with just one," Cassie said with a placid little smile, and thought nothing of it.

"That's good, though. The last thing I ever want to see is anyone get really hurt..." She knew that Ace had seen her matches, at least some of them, and that being the case she had to have seen her break Bunny Bomber's shoulder, or Dark Angel's... chest? And jaw. She had hurt Jocelyn's knee. She didn't really need to elaborate on what must have been a pretty ironic statement to Ace.

"I spent a few months at home, and my dad told me, he's my coach, he told me 'Cassie, it's their job to tap'. And... I think that's really helped me, because before I was always scared to hurt anyone, and so I ended up getting beat up a lot, but now I know that it's okay to to go for the finish, and it's... not my fault if they don't tap. It's their decision..."

She hesitated, and her cheeks turned a rosy shade. She seemed to shrink and become even smaller than she was. She patted her fingertips together and stepped one foot on top of the other, crossing her pink-clad legs. "Um..." She said, without looking at Ace. "Those matches before that you probably saw, those were... kind of accidents."

Ace listened as Cassie seemed to open to her a little, telling her about herself a bit. Then she seemed to....close up a bit, the reason becoming clear in her next sentence, Ace nodding and, hoping she wasn't being too forward, leaning in and patted Cassie's shoulder a little.

"Hey, relax, you don't owe any explanation for that. It happened. Accidents happen, especially in our line of work. Perfect example: I didn't tap out when I has Akashi's ass sitting on me, bending me with a camel clutch, and if something had snapped or broke, it would have been all my fault.

The way I see it, you went out to do your job, which is to compete. Your not required to go easy on people just because you have them stuck in a hold. The body knows, it can feel when an arm or a leg is at its breaking point. They have control over if they are going to give up or not. If they don't and something goes past that breaking point, and they end up hurt, then it's their own damn fault for not listening to their body and their preservation skills. All you can do is do what you do best, and what happens, happens."

She patted her shoulder again, knowing that she, having only met Cassie, was stepping far out of line by attempting to comfort her like this, but hoped she didn't mind. Ace had found comfort in a near stranger before in Valley, and it had done wonders for her. She hoped Cassie didn't mind the gesture, or that anybody who happened to see them didn't get the wrong idea, and think Ace was picking on the girl or anything like that.

Cassie's face took on a funny, disquieted little smile, and aside from a few stray glances up she still avoided Ace's gaze. At the end, she stepped in and wrapped her arms tightly around the blonde and gave her a squeeze.

"Thanks," she said, and stepped back. She opened her eyes wide and blinked several times to make sure there were no tears waiting to make a run down her cheeks, and then smiled earnestly at Ace as if she might've said something, but didn't.

After a brief silence, she changed the subject, taking on her practiced instructional tone. "You're actually not very likely to get injured in a camel clutch, unless there's a really big strength difference. The worst would be maybe straining your neck, like... well, like I do it. It's actually kind of mean, but I incorporate a neck crank into mine. I stay pretty high up on their back, since I'm so small, for control. To make sure I really have the position locked. I like to trap their arms under my legs, and I keep a shallow angle on the neck, and to really make it suck I twist, like..." She pantomimed the motion, one hand pulling up on an imaginary chin, one palm pushing away the back of an imaginary head. "And there are different ways to do that, depending on the... situation. Nobody's tapped to it, I think, but it really sucks."

She pointed a finger at Ace. "I saw you had a choke on Taylor for a while. That was okay. And then... she had her single leg crab on you. I..." She cracked a proud smile. "I actually helped her with that. She takes more risks with her weight distribution than I'd like, but that's Taylor. I bet you remember that one!"

Ace blushed as Cassie suddenly hugged her tight, having just enough time to begin to return the hug before Cassie pulled back, composing herself.


"Oooh...that sounds painful.."

Ace said a minute later, wincing as Cassie demonstrated her neck cranking ability

She rubbed the back of her head again.

"Well uhh....I don't remember every detail of that match....those piledrivers were right on my head after all. I just watch it online a lot."

She smiled, before tapping her left leg.

"I do remember that my leg collapsed on me when I tried to get out of the ring, so she did a pretty damn good job with it, didn't she? Submissions have never really been a specialty me of mine. I know a few easier holds, and I can do a pretty good Tri-Ace, I mean uh, Triangle Choke, and I've made a few people tap to an STF, but that's about it. Striking is more my style, fast and hard kicks. I mean, if you worked my leg long enough, you could probably apply a Crab to make me tap, but can you do it before my Flash Kick knocks you out before you see it coming?"

She said with a laugh, figuring Cassie would get that she was using a general 'you" and not being specific.

"Aww!" Cassie's eyebrows leapt up. "I love triangle chokes! But my triangle sucks, I never hit it in competition. Well, almost never. I'm too short." She pouted. "That's really awesome that you use it, though! They aren't easy! Easy to attempt and they can be really hard to finish. So many details. You're lucky, you're much taller, and you have long legs. I'm really only built to hold position and go for tight chokes and stuff. I actually have a mean D'arce choke, but I've never used it here. I really like armlocks, too, like in competition I had more than a few flying armbars that made highlight reels, and I actually have a pretty good Kimura, but my key lock, don't tell anyone, but my key lock is nasty!"

"Don't believe her," Taylor interrupted as she and Akashi approached from the side. Cassie suddenly realized that she'd talked Ace's ear off about something she probably wasn't as interested in as she was, and grinned at her two closest friends.

"She says she's good at this and that, but she'll fuck you up with anything she gets her hands on," Taylor playfully jabbed Cassie in the ribs. "She's a little savage. You should see her roll with Akashi. It's epic."

Akashi was walking up to the two Canadians not because she wanted to but because she had to. Taylor was about to start making a big stink about mingling and it was just easier to get this over with even though she wanted to have nothing to do with the rude Canadian.

"Konbanwa." Akashi said with her arms crossed. <It's good to see you again, Ichi-san. I hope you're not talking Cassie's ear off too much, I know that she's a little shy.> Akashi was talking entirely in Japanese and smirked a little and ruffled Cassie's hair. She then looked down at Ace, wondering if she even bothered to take her shoes off.

<So, what did you bring the hosts? I know it's a trifle but, I'm sure that for you it'd be no big deal.> Akashi frowned. <Did you buy the Emperor's Cup for her or did you find Nobunaga's skull on auction? Can't ever have too many of them laying around, you know. They make great sake dishes>

Akashi was purposefully speaking rapidly enough that it would be hard to understand unless someone was very good at Japanese, almost slurring her words together. Being drunk helped.

Ace had actually been listening intently, both out of interest in "talking shop" and mentally filing away certain details for later use. Taylor actually surprised her, making him jump a little as she was taken out of the zone, though the big jump came when she saw who was with Taylor.

"Oh uh..hey Taylor, great house, really, it's pretty awesome...and uh...h-heyAkashi"

She said quickly, lowering her eyes to stare at her white socks.

Akashi's words left a confused, not to mention nervous, look on Ace's face. She had only just began attempting to learn japanese, and frankly wouldn't have understood a majority of Akashi's words if she was speaking normally, but the quick pace and small slur in her speech made it even more difficult.
"Umm...Sorry? I'm uh..just learning the language....I um...don't know what[size=85:2snvz8nk]you're..um..[size=50:2snvz8nk]saying...I'm sorry?"

She said, getting meeker as she took a couple steps back, avoiding eye contact and trying to keep her head down. Maybe if she backed out enough, she could get recognized, or recognize someone, and find an excuse to get away from the sumo.