Rodriguez Reunion (for acuya)

After she’d thrown down the gauntlet, Felina was glad to see her cousin stop and turn back around to address it. Saved her the trouble of busting into the men’s locker room and creating a much more awkward scene than necessary to get his attention. Though she rolled her eyes at his response.

“No no no no. If you really want to prove to me how much I’m wasting my time by being here, it damn sure ain’t gonna be in a spar. It’s gonna be out in Tension’s arena, in a real match. Besides, I still need an opponent for my debut here.” she said, her lips starting to curl into a slight grin again, almost like she was daring him to accept her challenge.

“What’s silly is you stalling after trying to sound so confident. If I’m really as doomed to fail here as you think, this should be the easiest win of your life, right? Why pass up a chance to prove your point and rack up an easy win for your record? That would be silly. So, what’s it gonna be?”

Shit. Army had kind of hoped Felina didn't mean what he thought she meant, but no - she meant it. Her first AFW match, and she wanted it to be against him.

He blinked a few times, thinking over all the potential problems, here. It was a short, but important list. He wasn't afraid of losing, no worry there, but it was already hard enough to get people behind him when he wasn't beating on his cousin in front of a live audience. He didn't care too much if people liked him, but it would be nice if they didn't actively hate him. And Amy would have something to say, too. Not to mention his family giving him metric shit-tons of crap if Felina wound up getting embarrased and quitting the AFW. Which she would.

So, there were a lot of reasons not to do it and one reason to: she was calling his bluff. That was just enough to tip the scales.

"Alright, fine, you're on." He hufffed and puffed and blew a few sweaty hairs off his face. "But I don't want to hear any crying when - when - I beat you. And if this is going down, you need to put a little something on the line, too. Bragging rights are nice and all, but you can think up better."

Had Army voiced his worries aloud, a part of Felina might have sympathized, even if only a little. A big, strong guy like him wailing away at a woman, especially one related to him, wouldn’t have been the best for his image. That is, if the fight was every bit as one-sided as Army was expecting it to be. But if Felina could give him the fight she thought she could, that wouldn’t even be a thought in anyone’s mind. It’d just be another entertaining match for everyone watching.

But that all came down to Felina, and whether she was as ready for this as she felt, or in over her head like Army thought. Regardless, her cousin’s words added a new level of intrigue in this for the latina, who thought for a moment before answering.

“Hmm... Alright then. If you win, I’ll ask for a transfer over to Friction, move over to Tokyo. Who knows? Maybe I flop there, maybe I don’t. But you’ll never have to see me in this gym, or even in Kyoto in general ever again.” She didn’t want to be the only one putting anything on the line, though. And as she thought for another moment, her grin widened and she pointed a thumb toward Carmen.

“And if I win, then not only am I staying right here in Kyoto as a Tension wrestler, but you’ll have to drive me and Carmen around the city for a day of fun. How’s that sound to you, Carmen?” she asked, glancing over toward the ring while calling out to her cousin.

Crap. Felina was thinking. That was never a good thing for him. For all the crap Army gave her, the girl didn't lack for confidence. He knew she believed her own press, evne if she couldn't back it up.

"You'd fill a niche over there, that's for damn sure. Dark skin's in short supply on that side." He turned Carmen's way as she put her students on hold for a moment, walking over and looking at them from over the ropes.

"I think that sounds like a lovely idea." Carmen smiled at Felina with a devilish grin, that, frankly, had Army just a tad worried. 'A day of fun' was about as vague as vague got, and that was probably on purpose.

Eh. Wouldn't matter.

"Fine with me." He shrugged and walked backwards, finally making his way to the lockerroom for the last time. "It's on like Saigon. See you in the ring." He gave Felina a wink, blew her away with a finger gun, and slipped past the door.

Carmen just sighed and turned back to her little cousin, giving her the same look she'd given them in a dozen similar situations. "Now. What did I say about playing nice?"

Felina giggled at Carmen’s reply, returning the devious grin before turning to face Army again, awaiting his answer. He was putting up a good poker face, but the latina knew her cousin well enough to detect a hint of concern. Assuming she didn’t end up having to pack up again and start looking for a place in Tokyo in the near future, this was looking pretty good to her.

When he accepted, again Felina chuckled, before giving a brief wave to Army as he walked off. “See you out there.” she said. Felina then huffed out a sigh and turned back to see Carmen looking at her with an all too familiar look. That same kind of look a parent gives their kid when they’ve been caught doing something they shouldn’t.

“Hey, we never even hit each other once. That’s something, right...?” She wasn’t counting those rough finger jabs. Hopefully Carmen wouldn’t either. “Besides, he totally started it...”

Carmen gave a little nod. "Yes, that's true, you didn't hit each other. You just set up for a match where you'll be hitting each other repeatedly."

Carmen took a moment to look over her shoulder and nod at the girls, dismissing them for the day. It had a been a little rough and there was still much work to be done, but they were at a good stopping point, and she really wanted to get in more time with her spitfire of a cousin.

As they exited the ring, Carmen dropped down and rolled under the bottom rope, landing beside Felina. "Come on, primata." She gave her cousin a quick pat on the backside and started to head back towards the front, wearing a wry smile on her face. "Let's get you setup and training. You've got a match coming up, after all."