Here Comes A New Challenger

Inhale from the nose. Hold, two, three, four, five. Exhale from the lips.

Eliza Harenwood has been utilising that breathing pattern for more than a minute now; each time was becoming easier to establish the rhythm. Her chest rose with each inhale, focusing on holding it for a brief moment before her lungs exhaled that breath. Legs were crossed and folded Indian style on the foam mats below. Goto noted that it helped to relax her body, to calm nerves. The Dancing Passion denied that she was feeling nervous lately, but once she started to use that technique, Eliza realised she was lying.

Inhale from the nose. Hold, two, three, four, five. Exhale from the lips.

She didn’t realise this, but the Darling of Tension was wary when she entered the gym. Nowadays, she found herself in a spar, or just someone wants to pick on the fact that she is who she is. Sin made it clear that she wasn’t going to take the loss quietly. The Dominion targeted her, despite the facts being laid out to its members. What used to be her sanctum became less enjoyable to be in. The gym isn’t bad in of itself. The British Aristocrat has met pleasant wrestlers in the past, one that she’d mentor. But now, something was different, a shift in the atmosphere. It was as if something was deliberately trying to take her joy away from her, seen or otherwise. Goto was wise enough to point that out to his student, where he recommended those breathing techniques.

Inhale from the nose. Hold, two, three, four, five. Exhale from the lips.

Who knew that ANC earbuds would be such a godsend?

Since that incident with Jacob, a family member was kind to gift Ms Harenwood some earbuds for her birthday. And she has been putting it to use, using them, so she doesn’t give some rude idiot a reason. It also worked to drown out the noise from the gym itself and focus on the ambient music playing. The Dancing Passion was in her world, completely detached from whatever is happening. Peace. Glorious peace. Sitting in her corner of the gym, a stray thought scurried around her mind. Was this going to last? Is it too good to be true? No, don’t think that. Just focus on the meditation.

Inhale from the nose. Hold, two, three, four, five. Exhale from the lips.

Ah, the Tension gym... it was a place that the young Bluenette had found himself becoming increasingly familiar with as his time with AFW went on, it was to be honest the biggest gym he'd ever been to and probably the nicest, well the structure and facilities were the nicest he'd seen, as for the regular visitors other than him?... well that was a separate matter all together, for Jasper tended to keep to himself and away from the others within the Gym for good reason. The Gym was often host to some admittedly fairly unsavory types who ranged from merely being rude to downright hostile and aggressive with impromptu fights not being all that uncommon within the locker room, now while there were plenty friendly wrestlers who visited the gym just as frequently, it still didn't really change the little Rookie's view on things. So for the most part unless he was all alone in the gym, then the little Bluenette frequently ended up finding himself a pleasant quiet corner away from everyone else, popping in his earbuds and then getting lost in his music and workout routine.

... But today, things were different. Today it appeared to be one of those days where barely anyone was in the gym, which for Jasper was a massive upside, but other than that the boy was feeling quite cheerful and confident today, just a few days earlier he'd won his Showdown Pre-Show match despite interference from his opponent's *ahem* associate. Besides that another reason that the lad was so excitable was that he'd bought himself a new bike just the day before, and he just adored that little Honda! Having spent the whole of yesterday looking over the owner's manual and studying it. Oh! How he loved it! Using it for his commute today, oh what a lovely day, and eager to keep the good feels going, Jasper put on his wired earbuds as he walked out of the changing room and into the Gym proper clad in his green-white two-piece wrestling attire and his red and white novelty varsity jacket, the cheerful lad set his phone, now pocketed in his little gray thigh-holster to play one of his favorite songs on Spotify.

Jasper's Song:

To the tune of the 1983 Pop hit, Jasper walked in with not a care in the world, happily bopping along to the song with a bit of a strut, getting sucked into the bright energetic hook, humming to himself before inevitably beginning to sing along softly to the tune. Getting himself distracted into the song and not realizing where he was going. "Waaalking on Sunshine~ Heh! It's time to feel good~!" Jasper sang to himself, spinning on the ball of one of his feet absentmindedly to the music, his dancing walk having no real set path as he made his way around the Gym, so sucked in by the song and his good mood that without warning, Jasper would blunder his way into a sudden and surprising stop as he crashed into a certain veteran wrestler who was busily meditating before the little Welsh rookie blundered into her, the sudden crash snapping him back into reality. "-EEP! -S-Sorry!" He said with surprise, apologizing immediately to the Tension darling whose meditation he had clumsily interrupted, earbuds now draped on his shoulders still playing the song as if nothing had happened.