Business or Pleasure?

"I actually suck at darts myself." Alaina stated as she picked up the darts. "If it was anything related to track, softball, volleyball or cross country you'd be screwed. That and I think I might be able to take you in arm wrestling." Alaina added with a playful shrug before hearing about Mamouru's comment about losing money to her.

"Don't worry about betting from me... I had a bad experience with it during my debut matchup." Alaina said in a much less cheery tone as she recalled her first loss. She still wanted to get a hold of Z.Z even if it meant making a bet of some kind but she wasn't sure how to level the playing field, a necessity given Z.Z and Fathia's tactics.

Mamouru smiled at Alaina. COULD she win at arm wrestling? Mamouru kept himself fit and in shape as well. If it was his brother, there'd be no issue at all. He knew that. It might be fun to try it though.

"Generally speaking, that's how it goes. Most rookies think they are on top of the world until they realize that the AFW is a very different animal. At least you did not have a debut like Silver Ace." He said. "Who did you go up against? I may have seen the match. I, uh, tend to keep an eye out on the rookies." He said shyly, looking to cover up his blush by taking a sip of his drink, deeper than he'd normally have.

"I went up against a pirate named Z.Z, and her pal Fathia showed up towards the end. Alaina said, trying her best to hide the disdain in her voice. "Its hard to explain. I feel like from a strictly physcial and wrestling standpoint I was better than her, but she won the mental battle." Alaina said as she threw her first dart, hitting the dart board but not at the spot she had hoped to hit. "She also used a few... sneaky tactics here and there."

Alaina stepped aside and let Mamouru take his turn at darts. "So you're a fan of us ladies wrestling huh? I know a couple famous wrestlers, and I am pretty sure I'm the polar opposite. I have a lot to learnin-ring, and I'm surrounded by skinny models while I just kinda look, well, average."

Mamouru had seen that match and now remembered Alaina. Those pirates had used dirty tricks before but they didn't have matches often enough to be particularly threatening to the roster in general. Perhaps Alaina specifically though.

"You should have just ignored her and focused on the match. You probably would have beaten her easily." He said honestly. "Fathia would have most likely still done what she had done but, you were just unfortunate to have faced off against Z.Z. Just try and avoid them if you can and that shouldn't be anissue int he future." Mamouru paused. "Though... girls like them are more the norm than women like yourself, I'm afraid." Mamouru lowered her head.

"I've... been involved in the wrestling business my whole life. It's a part of who I am, really. That's why I keep track of Friction matches.' Among other reasons...

Mamouru took the darts and approximated Alaina's stance. He threw it and it wobbled and floundered, hitting the two in the lower right quadrant. Mamouru frowned. His next attempt was marginally more successful as he managed the thirteen in the upper right. His final attempt hit the dartboard's left side but failed to hit a number of any kind, just sticking the outside rim. He felt it had sailed with more accuracy, however, so he stood aside feelign good about his first throw of darts.

"Leaving them alone would be the smart thing to do, I agree. Its just that...." Alaina began to say before shaking her head. She silently threw a dart that landed on the 10... barely on the board. "I felt so humiliated and I need to prove that I can beat Z.Z in a rematch. I'd need to put up something for a bet which is fine. The problem is I need to think of a way to even out the playing field so it comes down to ability, determination and all that trumping dirty tricks."

Alaina threw her second dart and that landed right next to her last dart. "Its cool that you were involved in wrestling for so long, I've only been at it for about a year. Just by lookin' you over I'm gonna guess that you are pretty good, you definitely have a good mind for it."

Mamouru clenched his teeth. "I could... help..." He said, almost trying to force the words back down his throat. "I'm... actually a manager for Friction talent. Currently I have no clients at the moment though..." He said and turned his head.

"I wrestle in Tension as well.... I'm..." He paused and sighed. "Well... I've been thinking about trying to focus more on managing but I'm not even sure if I want to do that anymore. The last few clients I have had... things hadn't ended very well, I'm afraid. It's part of the reason I'm here." He muttered.

"Y-you'd be willing to help me?" Alaina said, surprised and hopeful. "I'll take any help I can get. I want to show everyone that I'm not some big talentless jobber."

Alaina walked up next to Mamouru and put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry that things didn't work out for you Mamouru. If you still have any interest in managing, I'd gladly hire ya even though on my current contract's salary I can't really pay out a lot. If you want to leave managing behind thats fine too, I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you don't want to."

Alaina three her third dart from where they were standing and turned her attention back to Mamouru as she finished her drink. "I'm gonna get another drink, do you want a second one too? I'll buy." Alaina offered as she gave Mamouru's shoulder a small squeeze.

"Willing? Of course." Mamouru said smiling. "I'm sure anyone would do their best to help you out, Alaina-san." He added. "However, I have some skill. It's my profession. It's in my blood." He continued. He blushed at Alaina's contact and when he found himself lowering his head to look at her hand, he also realized just how close the rest of her body was. She didn't even seem to notice either. Mamouru's fingers clenched into a tight fist. What was the universe trying to do to him? It wasn't fair at all!

"Ah, well... it's ok." Mamouru said. "When it comes to managing, I'll take a percentage and the AFW will also compensate me. It's structured so that the better you do, the more we both make." He said, assuring her that cost would be no issue for the up and coming rookie.

Mamouru blushed when Alaina squeezed his shoulder. "Uhh..." He said, dazed for a moment before he shook his head and smiled. "S-Sure..." he said. His head was still swimming from everything he'd drunk before. "Whatever you'll have, Alaina-ch-san."

"Thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!" Alaina happily said as she smiled at Mamouru. She bounded up to the bar with some extra pep in her step to grab a couple shots. She never thought she'd have an actual manager. I mean, sure Charlie helped out when he could but he also had rehab which took up a ton of time.... not to mention his new lady-friend he'd been seeing.

Alaina came back with a couple shots of rum, handing one out to Mamouru. "Drink up partner." She said as she tapped his shot glass with hers and downed the rum. "Also, I am a big believer in being comfortable with the people you work with. So... if you are more comfortable calling me Alaina-chan instead of Alaina-san thats fine with me. If you have anything you prefer being called just let me know, and if there's anything you want to know about me just ask away!" Alaina said as she gave Mamouru a quick looking over.

Mamouru tapped glasses with Alaina and took the shot like a champ. He could feel it burn down his lungs and lowered his head, smiling as Alaina spoke. His hand reached out and he placed it over hers. "I think it would be better if I stuck with Alaina-san for now." He said, despite not removing his hand from hers.

"There's a lot I'd like to know, Alaina-san." He said, lifting up his head to smile at her. His cheeks were rosy again. "But, maybe it would be better if we talked about that later. I'd hate to make a fool of myself. I was already indecent when you approached. Now all I could hope to do is break even, though likely I'd do worse." He said, turning his head.