Meet and Greet

Cicilia blinked as Bubbles promised to send her some REAL country music. From what she heard about it, that genre of music was... unique to say the least. If Bubbles thought it was quality, she could at least give it at try, right? Maybe help expand her pallet a little bit. When Cicilia noticed that her girlfriend was full of surprises earlier in this dinner, she clearly didn't express that enough... The closest thing that Sayumi had ever got to play and was good at was a carnival game...? She couldn't tell whether she should be horrified or laugh that the girl she had fallen so very deeply in love for had absolutely no talent for the controller at all. She knew she didn't play games but... wow... That shed a whole knew light on her lover. Secretly she made a pact with herself that she'd one day make Sayumi into one of the best gamers in the world!!!!... assuming she was interested of course. Maybe she'd pop the idea once they were both all situated together and their apartment was set up the way they wanted... She already had some nice little games planned to make teaching her all the more interesting....

It seemed that everyone was ready to get on with the show... Oh boy... this couldn't have possibly come any later...? Apparently not as Mariah was heading back towards the machine to get it all set up, encouraging Sayumi to come help her... The German turned her way and, with a smile, pulled her into a soft kiss, more to steady her own nerves more than anything else... God knew she needed it...

"I'll be over there in a minute... Just let me finish my water." With that, she'd let her lover go if she planned to head that way, the boxer turning her attention over to Bubbles.

"Actually... Sayumi and I had a thought about that." The German confessed, her nervousness slowly melting away as she was reminded of her match. "How about we do a 3 round fight? We arm-wrestle to determine what kind of match the first-round would be, boxing or wrestling, and the second round would be the one we didn't do. Finally the third round would be determined by a coin-flip. Keep things all nice and sporty. Sound good?"

"Hmm... Time Crisis. I think that might be it. I we pretty good at that. They use to pick on me because I took cover so much. I outlasted them all, and still managed to progress." She grins brightly, proud of her former self. "Oh sure! Hopefully it's not too complicated. I am not super tech savvy."

As Cicilia pulled her in for a soft kiss, Sayumi draped her arms around the woman planting a big wet kiss on her lips, nudging her back a bit as she leaned into it. "Mmmmwah!" She giggled, booping their noses together before scampering off after Mariah. She was sure to grab her binder on the way.

It seemed like Bubbles and Cicilia had drifted apart a little during the conversation, hadn’t found the common ground she was hoping for, but now that they were down to discussing the match, they were both talking in a language she knew well.

”Arm-wrestling?” Those words left her perked up. She didn’t know what enticed her more: the idea of arm-wrestling Cicilia, or that Cicilia was confident enough in her strength to try taking her on. Either way, she was down for it. [color=#0099ff]”I like the sound of that, all of that. Though, I’ll just throw in, if you’re trying to keep things even for me, it’s fine - I don’t mind just boxing with you, if you want. Winning and losing isn’t really all that important to me, you know? I’m here for the thrill.”brought up another topic, one that she didn’t want to get into with Sayumi close by, but now was the best time. [color=#0099ff]”One more thing.” She leaned forward, speaking a bit quiet. ”You watch my matches, so you know I can get a little handsy, right? It’s the way I wrestle. But, if that sort of thing might cause some friction here, just say the word and I’ll keep that to a minimum.” She placed a hand on her heart.

Meanwhile, Mariah was in the process of getting things setup with Sayumi, plugging it all the necessary bit while Sayumi handled the program. She wasn’t a technical wizard, but knew enough about setting up these sorts of systems back from her traveling wrestler days. Not too hard.

”So, about the song.” Red to red, white to white, yellow to yellow. ”You pick what sounds good to you, I’ll roll with it as best I can.” She flicked a switch and brought the setup to life - along with the microphone, which immediately started to give feedback.

”Whoops,here we go.” She grabbed the stereo and moved it a few feet away, killing the loop. ”Anyway, just try for something in English, if you can. If not, it’s fine, but I sing bad enough in my own language. Don’t want to torture yours, too.”

It seemed when Cicilia went in for that kiss, she got quite a bit more than she bargained for. Sayumi pressed herself into her giving her a BIG kiss that caught the boxer completely off guard.... again. Cicilia's blush returned with a vengeance but she kissed right back with all the enthusiasm she was given, letting out a soft sigh once her partner pulled away. She smiled softly as they two of them *boop*ed noses, watching her go with a longing expression on her face.

"There goes the best woman I've ever met..." The German sighed before returning her attention back to Bubbles. Her generosity as to which match they'd be doing caused a wide smile to spread across her face... It was nice to know she had the power to pick what they'd be doing... T'was certainly very generous but choosing wouldn't be any fun without the little struggle at the beginning and the chance at the end. Bubbles leaned in, offering to keep her rather... hands-on wrestling style to a minimum lest it cause any "friction" between Cicilia and Sayumi. Honestly, her first thought was to laugh, noticing the pun she either meaningfully or unintentionally slipped in there. Her second thought was more serious. What would Sayumi think...? Cicilia hadn't been in any matches where that had been a thing besides with her.... She didn't know how she'd take the boxer being fondled by another woman, even if it was only within the context of a match... She knew one thing for certain: She didn't want to find out whatever unholy rage that could be conjured from under all that bubbly sweetness...

"Yeah... I'd appreciate it..." Cicilia whispered back, glancing towards her girlfriend. Such a transformation would give the Juggernaut something very real to fear. Leaning back, Cicilia returned to her regular tone. "So you wanna start that arm-wrestle now or once we're done... singing...?"

Aside from being able to fill a role that nearly anyone in Japan could, Sayumi was woefully inexperienced for the task of helping to set up electronics. The poor girl didn't even own a TV. It had taken her a bit of toying around to figure out which of the two remotes was for the actual karaoke machine proper. From then it was almost like a paint by numbers to set up. She consulted the instruction pamphlet provided as if it was a holy text as she crouched down before the alter of Kara-Oke, deity of song and merriment.

Praise be to him and his name.

While she rarely sung non-japanese music she was familiar with quite a few American pop songs since becoming a wrestler, especially these days. They sometimes played pop rock hit playlists at the gym during normal business hours. "Well, once we have it set up we can look for something I know. I'm not going to make you sing Japanese." She smirked over at Mariah. "Though it would be funny... I bet Bubbles and Cicilia wouldn't even notice if you spoke gibberish the whole time."

Her giggles was cut short by the feedback loop catching her off guard, she wobbles before falling over, blinking. "What happened? Did I mess something up?" She pushed herself back up, smiling sheepishly. "We'll see what we can do about the song choice... You have a preference of genre?" She grinned at Mariah trying to picture dressed up like a Korean rapper. It was very tempted if you took away the fact she wouldn't magically be able to perform a song she didn't know.

At Cicilia’s request, Bubbles nodded. ”No problem.” There was a hint of disappointment in her voice, but it was tempered well, and she made sure to show how serious she wa about it. While you would have to search harder to find a more ardent lover of the female form, she wasn’t in the business of messing up relationships, fully realizing that not everyone subscribed to the same thoughts of free love that she and Mariah reveled in.

”We can get the arm-wrestle on after we get the singing out of the way, I’m thinking.” She stood up and started to make her way to the stage. ”Speaking of which…”

Getting the machine setup was...a task to put it mildly. Mariah and Sayumi tagteamed it, but the device was remarkably stubborn, and took a couple of minutes of finagling before it finally went down for the count, when it was ready, Mariah took a step back and gave it one more look over. To admire her work and ensure it wasn’t about to explode.

She giggled at Sayumi getting startled by the feedback, then tapped her chin, considering the question. ”I’m pretty big on the eighties, late seventies. Anything from that decade, I probably know.” She snapped her fingers. ”Oh! Have you heard ‘Turning Japanese’?”

Cicilia sensed the tad of disappointment in Bubbles' voice but hey... Between the relationship with a new friend (and idol) vs. the relationship with the girl you've fallen in love with, she'd choose the latter every time. That... and the German found she had a particular preference to only be fondled by Sayumi... Did that make her weird in Japan...? She had no idea...

Bubbles' decision to wait until AFTER the singing left the boxer with her own little brand of disappointment, eager to test herself against such a powerhouse SOONER rather than later. That and... she hoped the whole thing would last long enough so that they'd be able to put off the singing-bit a little while longer... It sounded so cowardly to think this but... Ugh... there was no buts were there? It was cowardly, especially if her fears were immaterial. What was the absolute worst that could happen? The glass shatter from her bad singing? The sky opening up and the almighty hand of god decending from heaven to smite her? ...Sayumi being disappointed that she couldn't hold a tune...? All these things sounded so ridiculous... Yeah! She could get through a little singing! Pfft, if she could punch hundreds of pounds above her weight, this was NOTHING!

Cicilia followed her idol's lead as the two of them got up from the table, making their way over to the karaoke machine just in time to be hit with the full, screeching might of a rogue microphone's feedback. The Boxer's left eye scrunched shut in response to the horrid scream of the machine, all of them saved by Mariah's quick thinking. It seemed the two of them had gotten the machine up and running! Great! Now if only she could smother this unholy anticipation of what came next!

"So... Got a song in mind...?" the boxer asked, stuffing her hands in her hoodie-pockets.

So long as it ended right...? Cicilia thought to herself, intent on crushing this fear. So long as none of us go in there with high expectations...

"I... don't think I am familiar with that one." She couldn't help but be a bit curious about the song by the name alone. How does one simply turn Japanese? There were certainly plenty of foreigners who came over here and acclimated well enough. That really didn't constitute turning Japanese though. Her brow furrowed in deeper thought than anyone had likely give that song in quite some time. She shook her head, setting that back in her mind someplace. She could ask more about it later. She was currently wracking her mind for old American music she might know.

"I know... Physical... um... Holding on... no, out? Holding Out for a Hero..." She blinked, holding her hands to her mouth. "OH! MJ... MJ is 80s? I know a lot of those. I know... the Thriller, and the criminal one!" She looked SO proud of herself in this moment, like nobody in Heaven or Earth could take this from her. She popped up from her crouch, skipping over to join Mariah. "Are any of those good?" She gave a big wave as Bubbles and Cicilia made there way over.

"You should sing a song with Bubbles!" She was talking to Cicilia. She stepped up beside Mariah, bouncing on her feet a bit. "It will be a bonding experience!" Also possibly hilarious. Though she kept that to herself. She had to be supportive... it was in her book after all. "Also maybe a German song! I want to hear you singing your native language."

Sayumi seemed proud of herself and Mariah was proud of her. If anything, she felt a little silly for not thinking about Michael Jackson first. It was hard to get more ubiquitous than the undisputed King of Pop. ”Thriller is, indeed, 80s. In fact, it’s pretty hard to get more 80s. Unless we’re talking Robocop.” She gave Sayumi the double thumbs up of approval. “Excellent choice, can’t argue with the classic, we’ll go with that.”

She was already getting into position and clearing out her throat when Bubbles and Cicilia approached, looking like they’d just gotten off a little bonding and come to an accord on a few things. Good. Mariah was hoping things could stay sociable, no matter what happened in the ring.

Sayumi’s suggestion lit Bubbles up, and she gave Cicilia a playful shove - though it wouldn’t felt so playful to a woman with a lighter build than the boxer.

”I’m down for a German song, sure. I mean, I don’t speak a single word.” She shrugged, not the least bit bothered by that fact, just pointing out. ”I’ll demolish your language out here, then I’ll demolish you inside the ring. How’s that sound?”

Well... It seemed this day was just getting worse... Or better. It was hard to tell honestly. The German's mere presence seemed to invoke a new idea in Sayumi, That Cicilia herself would sing a duet with bubbles but not just any song... A GERMAN SONG! This request was indeed a mixed bag... On one hand, she could choose whatever song she was going to mangle... Gave her an opportunity to make to choose an easy song... On the other hand, Bubbles was there and she probably didn't know a word of the German language... Oh and the song she was considering was all serious and stuff... Well... Maybe Bubbles would give it the humorous edge it needed...

A quick slap on the shoulder send the boxer stumbling forward a step, the strength of Miss Burste catching her completely unprepared. Bubbles' enthusiasm for the idea and her admission to not knowing a word of German made the boxer laugh... Oh boy this was going to be a mess, wasn't it? Now, though... with how light-hearted everyone was taking this, Cicilia was starting to feel her own courage begin to take root... Granted, she was still dreading getting up there on stage, knowing that this was going to be a disaster and having her singing-companion acknowledge that it most definitely would be... it made it less painful.

"HA! You're on." Like that, a switch had been flipped. Cicilia had been challenged and with that challenge came the desire to crush all expectations. Even though the taller wrestler meant it in the context of their match, it bled into what was coming next.

"Well, we might as well go first so you two can finish it off right." Cicilia sighed, the time to back out far behind her. "The Song I hand in mind is called 'Liebst Du Mich' or 'Do you love me'. It's a bit sad, but it's something I can sing."