New Kid In The Gym

"I hear you about the psycho's that are around here. No one should have to deal with a BS attack the way you did." Alaina said as she continued to stretch Taylor. "It makes me think my hopes of finding a good guy over here are going to be very short lived." Alaina added before addressing the matter of her and Charlie.

"Charlie and I became real good friends this past year, but we've actually known each other since we were in school. He helped me start out and we were both scouted together. We decided to stick together coming over because its cheaper rent and neither of us had ever been to Japan."

Alaina's curiosity was piqued at Taylor mentioning Charlie. "He is a real nice guy, even if he tends to rub people the wrong way sometimes. Do you also think I'm crazy for thinking a male and female can live together without being interested in each other, or.....?"

"Oh, yeah, totally." Taylor laughed. "You're out of your fuckin' mind, dude! Like he's not a bad looking guy, ya know, it's not like he's some grease-ball or whatever. Tell you what, why don't you tell me? Get comfy with him, and in a couple months, let me know if either one of you would maybe feel a little pinch if the other one started dating someone."

Her laughter slowed to a stop, and she sighed whimsically. "I got really, really lucky, though. I've met one good, dateable guy since coming to Japan, and he's awesome. My Johnny's really just like... I love him so much. We've been married for like one-and-a-third years now." She found herself smiling absently, as she often did when the subject came up. "As for you, though, you might be fucked. My buddy Cassie has just got burned with everyone she's ever looked twice at."

She thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "But maybe you're not, maybe you've already got one in the next room."

"Ha... I never really thought of him like that. I mean if he did date someone and she wasn't some stupid bitch I'd be O.K with it I think." Alaina said with a slight blush. "He flirts once in a blue moon, but I just never thought he saw me as anything more than a friend unless you are picking up on something that I'm not."

Taylor just shrugged, with a smile that might've looked smug if she had anything to be smug about. "Don't look at me, man, I just work here."

She sat up and waved Alaina's hands away. That seemed like enough stretching. She kneaded her hip with her palms and flipped over onto her stomach to stretch, her legs flat on the mat while she arched her upper body up.

"Thanks a lot, by the way. Every little bit helps, right? I sure as shit can't sit on the couch all day."

Mercy hummed as she stepped through the gym and saw Taylor and Alaina stretching. oooh, it looked like some great yoga! Mercy was a Yoga champ! This would be cake. She adjusted herself and then hopped up to the ring apron. "I didn't miss anything did I!?" She said cheerfully as she looked over the girls. She was wearing some black yoga pants and a sports bra. She was ready to go!

She turned to Alaina and tilted her head. "Zenzele Zeca is the name of your first opponent. Good luck with that." She said. She then turned to Taylor and approximated a ridiculous kung fu stance that she saw when Clyde forced her to watch some stupid movie. He had just been lucky that Jean Claude Van Damme had been shirtless for about 85% of it. "So... I need you to teach me how to totally smash some chick's nose into her brain. You can do that, right?" Mercy asked as if that was how ever AFW match ended. She awkwardly pantomimed a palm strike and then kicked for good measure.

"Taylor its me who should be thanking you! Listen, if there is ever anything I can do for ya let me give you my contact information." Alaina said as she gave her cell phone number and email address to Taylor. "You were a blast to work with, and who knows maybe someday I'll be good enough to step in the ring for real against you. Also, your friend Cassie sounds interesting. I'd like to work with her sometime as well if it would be something she was also interested in."

Alaina turned her attention to Mercy who just informed her of her opponent. She was beyond excited as she quickly began to rattle off questions at the poor girl. "Awesome! When is the match? How big are the crowds normally? How are the fans with rookies usually?"

"Next week." Mercy shrugged. She turned her head so she was only looking at Alaina through her peripheral vision, focusing more on Taylor. "The crowds are always full capacity. The AFWDome seats like a billion people." She said, tossing out a frightening number just to scare the rookie. She then looked back at Alaina. "I dunno. Are you planning on showing your boobs or flipping off the crowd or something?" She said. "Most of the time they are just happy to see two girls tussle. It's pretty pathetic, really." Mercy said, frowning. Normally she woudl add 'I wouldn't be caught dead in a ring' but that very instance seemed to be a lot more closer to reality these days.

Alaina was happy to hear that the crowd would be quite large, and dismissed the rest of Mercy's comments about her behavior. She was about to turn to Mercy and ask about sparring when she heard a door open, followed by the clicking of small dog paws on the floor....

"Hey Allie I got our lunch and brought a special guest!" Charlie shouted as his Welsh Corgi, Little Charlie came running in, prepared to begin inspecting all the new smells especially those of the two new humans.

Taylor assumed a similarly ridiculous kung fu stance with her fingers straight and ready for karate chopping, then laughed and strolled over to the ropes. She assumed Mercy was joking about all things nose and death related.

She had begun to slip through the ropes and set off to find her water bottle when Charlie arrived with an unexpected guest. "Oh, Jesus..." She stopped short and pulled back into the ring with her leg still draped over the middle rope. "I don't think that thing has a Friction contract."

She figured the dog's stubby little legs wouldn't let it jump this high, so she stayed in the ring and glanced back at Mercy. Maybe the water could wait. "Okay, so, did you want to just do some some plyo to go with your yoga or something?"

"Not a dog person Taylor? L.C won't bite or bother you, he's just a happy little attention whore who likes to be pet." Alaina said as she climbed between the ropes and hopped to the floor, making her way to Charlie and Little Charlie. She was a little hungry and was more than happy to begin eating her sushi.

Charlie saw Taylor's reaction to the dog and tried not to laugh. He didn't figure the tough chick ring veteran would be afraid of a 13" 28 lb Corgi but he did begin to feel bad that L.C was causing a bit of a disruption."Hey I'm sorry to cause a ruckus with L.C over here." Charlie said as he motioned to Little Charlie who was at this moment sitting in front of Mercy. Little Charlie looked up at her, cocked his head and let out a small snort or grunt before happily waddling back to Charlie with his tongue hanging out his mouth. "I can bring him back outside so you aren't stuck in the ring if you like."