Boys and Stuff

Talia pretended to read the menu at the restaurant. She already knew what she wanted but she didn't want to be bugged by the waiter until Cassie was there. It had been quite an eventful year. They would never have met like this last year. But now it felt like a normal, almost necessary thing for Talia. Her hair was back to its normal orange and she had lost a little bit of weight since last seeing her friend.

She was wearing her business clothes and glasses which was a new look for her entirely. In her mind, it needed to be different. She wanted to start fresh, and just looking it made her think she was on the right track.

"Sorry I'm late," Cassie said, and sat down across from Talia. She pulled off her gray, crocheted beanie and ran a hand through her short orange hair with a smile for her fellow redhead. "Were you waiting long? How are you?"

She slid her backpack off her shoulders and slid it underneath her chair. She glanced around at the spotless, brightly lit, restaurant. It was very Toyko-modern, with big windows and minimal details, though the tables were somewhat crowded together. When the waitress came, she ordered a green tea and chicken katsu donburi with a green salad. When she was gone, Cassie gave Talia her full attention.

"So the job's good? How is everything?"

Talia looked up from her menu with a smile when Cassie arrived. "Hi Cassie!" she said happily. It hadn't been too long since she last saw her, but it was the first time they had met since they came back to Tokyo. She ordered an assortment of sushi and a water. "Job is good, yea. It's a different pace than wrestling that's for sure..." It was a polite way of saying it was boring. And she didn't want to share that boredom with Cassie. "I got a place just outside of Tokyo. I get to ride the train every morning and night." And by 'ride' she meant stand awkwardly in an incredibly packed train car.

"But yea, I ran into John Mitchel at the office the other day. We're suppose to get lunch sometime soon. You're friends with him right?" Talia always assumed she had been just because they cheered her on during their match. She hadn't noticed anything about him after all their other interactions. Up until they met at her office. "Are you uhh...well do you know what his story is...girl wise?"

"Well, sometimes a change of pace is nice."

Cassie couldn't imagine just leaving wrestling behind after it having been her whole life for so long. Talia, as far as she knew, hadn't been involved nearly as long as Cassie, but the transition to a desk job had to be tough. Maybe that was just what Talia needed for now, though.

"Oh, John. He's nice," Cassie nodded. "He yelled at Clyde Gastin, so he's probably alright." She laughed.

As far as girl-wise, John was a little more complicated. Taylor had told her what John had said, about sleeping with his two girl-friends. If he didn't see anything wrong with that, then probably he wasn't the kind of guy to just stick to one girl. But should she tell Talia that? What if that stuff was over, and he was really interested in Talia? The girl needed a win, and maybe Cassie wouldn't try to take it from her.

"Taylor and I hung out with him and his two friends, Amanda and Ro. They're all pretty nice. They're pretty... Tension-y." She said blankly, and then nodded. "How did you guys meet? I thought you didn't like Tension guys."

Talia nodded intently. "Yea, he seems nice. I met him awhile back. Like, right after our match. I was having trouble taking pictures with crutches and he helped out." Even though she had wanted to be left alone. "He tried to talk to me about things...I was being difficult...but he didn't give up on it." Talia then crossed her arms remembering all those feelings of hopelessness and loneliness. Those times were over though, she decided. Now things were different. They were better.

"Yea...I don't like tension guys." For a wide variety of reasons too. "But I don't know...he seems different. Like...I don't know...like a real, genuine person. Like a good guy who happens to be in tension. You know?" She bit her lip having gone in circles. Thankfully their food arrived which gave her a chance to regroup. "Like...he gave me a chance to explain myself. Even if I didn't like my own explanation, he seemed open about it all." Kinda like Cassie, actually. Talia ate a couple pieces of sushi then stood up in attention.

"So how have you been? I saw your match!" She had done well. It had also been the only match she bothered tuning into since returning to Japan. "Everything's going great now, right?" She asked with a genuine smile and dipped another piece of sushi into soy sauce.

"That's good. Well, let me know how it goes!" Cassie said. She hoped John was just what Talia needed.

She gave a small, embarrassed laugh and scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, that match was fine. I feel kind of bad about it, because I don't know if she was... healthy. I dunno. I've done a lot of grappling, like, a lot, and I've never had someone just collapse like that after the fact." She shook her head, and poked at her food with her chopsticks. "But I won, and I didn't get hurt. So that's good. I'm really looking forward to my next match, because I feel like I'm a lot better now. I can't wait to test myself against someone a little... better."

She ate a piece of eggy chicken and chewed it thoughtfully. "So," she said once she swallowed. "Do you miss wrestling? Or... is it kind of like... a relief to be out?"

Talia sipped her water. Cassie wouldn't have been one to enjoy an easy victory. It was one of the cool things about her. She had to compete and win. "Yea...that's good that you didn't get hurt." She continued eating the good and was a little caught off guard by Cassie's question. It wasn't that suggestive or anything. Plenty of people pushed her into staying with wrestling. And it had gotten annoying. But this was more of a question on how things were now than anything else.

"I'll admit, I kinda miss the thrill of competing. It really made you feel alive...and I always felt so healthy and in shape all the time...but..." So much bad came from said competition. At least from her end. It made her crazy...made her try to ruin people's lives. Even if she felt like a different person now, she wasn't so sure Dark Angel was entirely gone. "But like...at least now I don't have to worry about getting hurt." Physically or otherwise. "And even though I don't like waking up at 7 every morning, it gives me a definite schedule to stick to." Even if said schedule was mostly boring.

"I do kinda miss it though...I wish I could compete without having to worry about things, you know?"

Cassie nodded sympathetically while she ate. "I think it's good, though. Nothing is forever, and for right now, maybe you just need some time to be boring and figure stuff out. Then later, if you feel better and you want to compete, then you can figure out what you want to do. You have a lot of freedom now, ya know?"

There were few things that could interfere with Cassie's appetite. She was concerned for Talia, and hoped that she could rebuild her life in a way that she could be happy, and in the meantime Cassie munched away at her chicken and rice.

"Actually," she said thoughtfully. "Jiu jitsu was very competitive, but no one acted like the people here do. That's probably the hardest thing about Friction for me, is, well, was you. You taught me that Friction tests more than just your grappling skill. But Friction isn't the only place to do stuff, you could definitely find a good school and get training and compete in something else if you wanted."

Talia nodded thoughtfully. She did have a lot of free time nowadays. It wasn't like she was spending a ton of time with people after work or anything. "Yea...Friction and Tension are...competitive in a different way." She swallowed nervously, remembering all the fights they had. Cassie made it sound like a learning experience. It was, but Talia would never have thought of it in anyway as a positive one. But at least that did save Cassie the trouble of learning that from someone worse than her. Even Talia knew those people existed.

"Jiujitsu?" Talia asked with a tilt of her head. She hadn't thought of that. It seemed like it was Cassie's world, not hers. But at the same time, it was Cassie's training in that field that made her so dangerous. Well, partly. "Do you know of any in town? I'm sure they're out there, but I bet you would know of the better schools here." The redhead grinned to herself imagining how awesome she'd be if she was as dangerous as Cassie was. "I don't really know anyone else who could help with that."

"Why not?" Cassie shrugged. "And I could definitely go with you to a school to find out if it's any good. Jiu jitsu is really dangerous if people don't know how to train properly. And you definitely don't want bad teachers, sooo...

"That could be really good for you! Jiu jitsu is a way of life. It's the gentle art for a reason! And you wouldn't be doing it professionally, obviously, but you'd compete by weight class and rank, so you wouldn't have to worry about fighting giant guys or anything. And of course I could give you a few pointers..." She gave a funny, feline smile.

She ate a couple more bites while she thought. "Ya know..." She said, pointing at Talia. "I hear John knows a thing or two. Judo, I think. Still good. Maybe you two could have a gym date."