Lunchtime at AFW

Jessica looked around the packed AFW cafeteria. The plate of eggs, bread, and chicken teetered and tottered as she tried to find an empty seat. The chef was rude, as usual, and yes, she did want 8 eggs and 3 chicken breasts, god dammit. She knew beneath the chef's dumb smile he understood every word she managed in her stilted Japanese and decided to be a jackass anyways. She sighed and turned. Damned. Looks like she would have to try and be social today.

Just at the moment she was going to give up hope for being a miserable loner she found an empty table with four chairs almost tucked in underneath it. She plopped her bag on one of them, falsely claiming it and took her seat. The smell of sweat permeated the few feet around her, ensuring the people at the table around her would have an unpleasant dining experience, but Jessica didn't mind. She had just made her way from the gym. This emetic amount of protein was her reward for a few long hours of pumping iron. She slathered a piece of bread with hot sauce to give give her meal of dash of flavor and loaded the meat and eggs on top of it. The other slice of bread, so precariously thin, topped the whole thing off. Jessica took a long drink of water. Oh, this was going to be delicious.

The soft murmur of other's voices might as well have been on Mars for as much as Jessica cared. She scooted her chair forward and crossed her legs under the table. No napkin, as always. The first big bite of the sandwich went down with a gulp and she nearly moaned with pleasure. Why wasn't she the chef? She knew so much more about food and what you could get out of it.

Jessica's mind was essentially blank, more concerned with the topic in hand than anything else. She did feel a sense of bliss at relieving her grumbling stomach. But other than that, her single track mind was just that. The wrestlers and entourages and hangers on around her paid no notice to the violet girl at the table.

As Kandi stepped into the cafeteria and saw the line, she gave a little groan of exasperation at the length of the queue. She'd been hoping to grab a quick bite to eat and then head home after her workout in the gym, which had been a whole crazy affair in itself, but seeing how packed the place was it didn't look like she was going to get out of here anytime soon. Weighing her options, she gave a resigned sigh and joined the end of the queue.

By the time she had her order (a considerably stacked plate of sweet potato fries, under which a well-done T-bone steak nestled, rounded off with a small tub of coleslaw), the seating had filled up, and Kandi was left having to awkwardly hold her tray low down at around the height of her navel - her ample chest made it difficult to hold the tray too high up without her having to hold her arms straight out in front of her to compensate for her bust's volume, or rest it on top and obscure her vision with the tray. Finally though, her questing eyes found a pair of empty seats, enough room for her to find a modicum of comfort while she ate, but as she approached she could see the table was already occupied but a single woman, although the bag draped over one seat seemed to indicate she had a friend. Hmm, only the one plate though...

Kandi gave a mental shrug. What was the worst that could happen? She considered herself a pretty gregarious personality, and had no issue with approaching strangers. The issue was more that the AFW was a vast melting pot of people from all walks of life, different countries of origin, and covered a pretty broad spectrum of personalities. Still, the alternative was to try and use her chest as a crude table, and that wasn't an option that had ever worked for her in the past (although at the time it had been hilariously funny, and she had learned that what it lacked as a table it certainly made up for as a shot glass holder). She approached the table, her ample figure dressed in a cotton-candy pink sweatshirt and training pants, her equally tinged hair still bound in a long ponytail from her workout. She briefly considered what language the woman spoke, but settled for English as an opener, since almost everyone she had met spoke at least a little.

"Hi there, are these seats taken?" Kandi asked her with a smile, starting to lower the tray a little so it hovered above the table, but not quite setting it down before she got her answer.

Jessica looked up and blinked. This pink woman was certainly, err, what was the word? Embonpoint. That was it. "Um, no, you can have 'em," Jessica mumbled through a mouthful of sandwich. Looks like she would have to suffer through being social today. She blinked again and looked the woman up and down. Her obscenely pink outfit signified she wasn't much of a threat, in Jessica's mind at least. Jessica marked this woman down as a manager or a hanger on. Certainly not a wrestler, not with a figure like that. Unless AFW had a sumo division. She almost shrugged, reckoning the AFW could very well have a sumo league. No matter.

Jessica figured she could probably throw her. Probably. She put the sandwich down and eyed Kandi's plate. She raised her eyebrows and searched for eye contact with the woman. "I take it you are running a marathon later?" Jessica's face revealed nothing. Th ultimate reason was to try and gauge this woman's reaction, the more proximate reason being she didn't have a lot of energy after the workout. She brushed a long strand of hair, plastered to her face from sweat, aside. No smiles yet. She wanted to see if she would take the snide remark as a jab.

This woman was quite a sight. Jessica imagined she was quite a sight as well in her black sweat-soaked tank top and baggy red gym shorts. A pair of black, beaten to shit high top converses were tightly laced over her gangly feet. Her chest had stopped heaving from the workout and her heart rate had begun to decelerate. Normal, human interaction. Right. She could do this, even if she didn't want to.

When Kandi received the somewhat reluctant affirmation that the seat was free, she kept her smile steady, gratefully setting her tray down and pulling back both the chairs, scooting one out the way a little - while she was a big gal and she knew it, she was hardly in need of two seats, and while she'd certainly spill a little over the sides, just the one would be necessary. As she settled herself in, she was aware of the other woman's gaze across her body, but she didn't find it rude or objectionable - it was a reaction she was more than used to now, and she could hardly say that she didn't stand out with her figure, especially in Japan. The AFW had its fair share of heavyweights, but even so, Kandi was up there with some of the fluffiest as far as she had seen.

It was for that reason that the woman's second comment didn't get a rise out of her either. Besides the fact she was aware and comfortable in her size, Kandi had received her fair share of hecklers in her time, and the line felt baited to get some kind of reaction out of her. One look at her fellow diner's face was enough to see that she was trying to get a gauge on her, like she was squaring off against one another and seeking that edge. Looked like some people in the AFW couldn't leave the sparring at the door on the way out.

In response, Kandi picked up one of the thick-cut fries between thumb and forefinger, dipped it into the tub of coleslaw to scoop a measure of it onto the length of it, and popped it into her mouth, munching away with a contended sigh as she maintained her smile and raised a single eyebrow quizzically. "What, you think I have the kind of build for a marathon?" she asked, not in an accusative manner, but keeping the tone light-hearted as she licked her finger and selected the next morsel to consume, "But the stuff I do, it never hurts to have some carbs and protein under your belt, you know?"

She bit into the second fry, using it as an opportunity to but a few moments quiet as she took in this woman. She was tall, and while slender (which, to be honest, most people were in relative terms to Kandi) she had a lean build that suggested power behind those limbs. By the look of her, from the messed up hair to the sweat-stained workout clothes, it didn't take Sherlock to figure out she'd been training before she got here, and the meal she had before her was typical fare for the kind of lean protein those who were a bit more serious about their training regimes needed. Tolerable, but Kandi was a hedonist before she was a wrestler, so early on she'd ruled out sustaining herself on a diet such as that. She gulped as she swallowed her mouthful, and she extended a hand - she wasn't sure quite what this woman made of her, but at the very least she could be civil. "I'm Kandi, Kandi Kotton. Nice to meet you."

The blank look on Jessica's face slowly morphed into one of confusion. The constant grin threw her, and then she saw Kandi dip a fry in coleslaw. She learned after a few trips to the Iowa State Fair that everything under the sun could be put in a deep fryer, but this was new. She almost asked her for a bite before looking back down at her own protein based meal. These thoughts had to be spurned. No sense in throwing away the workout she just had. Jessica might have guessed no one was really looking in or trying to overhear, but to an outsider these two would have been an odd pairing. Tall, strong Jessica and round, pink Kandi.

"I didn't say otherwise. There are just all sorts of people here. And all sorts of...surprises." Jessica picked up her own sandwich. She found the fact that Kandi was licking her fingers to be completely disgusting. Maybe she could hide some of that with a mountain of meat in front of her. She bit off a big chunk and chewed as she continued to eye Kandi. A look of surprise crossed her face as Kandi offered a handshake and she quickly set down the sandwich to oblige. She met Kandi's handshake with her own unnecessarily firm grip and swallowed. "I'm Jessica Wright. Nice to meet you as well." The woman sounded distinctly British, which must have made Jessica's nasally Midwestern drawl all the more grating.

Her eyes narrowed as she withdrew her hand. "What exactly is the stuff you do?" Curiosity brought about the question more than politeness did. She returned to her sandwich. She had wolfed down half of it and would take another bite as she waited for an answer. Bodyguard, maybe. Probably a manager. No way in hell was she a trainer. Her eyes roved over Kandi's face, looking for something other than a smile. "Is Kandi Kotton your given name? Or did you pick it?" Jessica fired another subtle salvo at Kandi. The constant grin screamed that she was a ditz and Jessica wanted to see if she could pick up that she was mocking her. Although her tone might have given her away.

The handshake was pretty much what Kandi had expected from the woman across from this Jessica woman - as soon as their palms met, her fingers had gripped just a little too firmly, like she was more used to a test-of-strength than a handshake. Still, it was a hell of a squeeze, and Kandi couldn't hide the slight wince of discomfort before their grips finally parted. She didn't want to assume that she had everything she needed to know about this woman down, but she was starting to get a pretty good idea as she resumed her enjoyment of her lunch.

"Yeah, certainly seems like the AFW is a real melting pot when it comes to interesting people from around the world," Kandi said, nodding her head in agreement to Jessica's comment about surprises, although she felt there was more to that statement, another probing jibe. Equally, the next question she posed felt equally likely to be some kind of jab at her weight, but the honest curiosity she saw in it made her feel like Jessica was sincerely not sure what she was doing here. It didn't bother Kandi that her first assumption hadn't been as a wrestler - some people had very fixed ideas about what constituted as a something, and had trouble thinking beyond their own preconceptions. As she considered how to answer, another coleslaw-laden fry disappeared with an appreciative smacking of lips.

"Well, I do a lot of things. I suppose my main profession would be as a DJ," she said after some contemplation, "I do some gigs, mostly private stuff, I have a few singles out there but never really pursued having a label, you know? But really why I'm at the AFW is for some personal reasons. My friends and I recently joined up as a bit of a shared-experience deal, and I've been showing them the ropes a little, getting their confidence up, that sort of thing. Oh, and the name? Yeah, it's Samantha Cotton by birth, Kandi Kotton is my DJ name and, well, I guess my ring name now too."

She paused as she fetched her water bottle out of her bag and took a few deep gulps. She wasn't a fan of flavoured beverages with her food, she felt it took away from the flavour of the meal itself, and she still needed to keep her fluids up after her exercise. She set it down and returned to smiling at Jessica. "So how about you? Seems like you're either a wrestler here, or a trainer at least. Been here in the AFW a long while?"

Jessica chewed slowly. She unnerved Blossom in about forty seconds, and made Lamya nuts for her a little slower. Kandi over here remained completely insouciant to every thing she said. Well, fine. If she didn't want to play along, Jessica would be nice too. Or she would at least put it an effort. Kandi was at least listening though, and Jessica wondered if she got more immediate respect. If Jessica could manage to keep the conversation going a little longer, she could see.

She felt her ears perking up as she listened to her dining partner. The woman was a DJ and probably only played electronic nonsense. Jessica kept eye contact and pretended to care as Kandi prattled on. She leaned forward when Kandi mentioned AFW and listened intently. Oh, so she was just a manager or something. Then she heard the words. Ring name. Managers don't have ring names. Jessica widened her eyes a bit. The indie circuits had wrestlers with scores of gimmicks, but she wasn't quite sure what Kandi's was. She had never seen a bubbly pink British girl in the ring before. Clowns, cowboys, goths and a go-getters, but never a girl like Kandi. All sorts of people here indeed.

"Ring name? You're a wrestler, then?" Jessica grabbed her water and took a long drink through the straw. She leaned back in her chair and scratched the back of her head. The move was practiced, smooth, highlighting her bulging biceps. "Cuz you can say that I'm a wrestler too." Her words sounded forced and a hint of disappointment showed on Jessica's pretty face. Kandi didn't even recognize her. Maybe she wasn't as notorious as she thought she was. "Yeah, been here for a spell. Nothing too long though. What about yourself? Ever found yourself in the ring?"

Jessica took another long swig of water, until the sucking sound could be heard.

"Awesome, you look like you'd be a tough girl to square off with in the ring," Kandi said, still smiling. It was rare when Kandi wasn't smiling - why not smile, when there was so much to enjoy in life? Her words were honest too, especially after Jessica had leant back to show more of that toned physique. The woman was tall and lean with muscle, and if that hard grip had been any indication she wasn't shy about using that strength in the ring at all. She could certainly see her putting her that height into some pretty powerful slams. Still, Jessica seemed to deflate a little at her words, like she'd been expecting to hear some other reply, but Kandi pressed on regardless.

"Well, I've not had a match here in the AFW yet, although I've got a debut match on the cards," she said, her thoughts drifting back to her run-in with Lily and the match they'd arranged for herself and Lamya, "But I used to wrestle in some independent circuits back home in the UK, I had a few friends who were regular faces so I figured I'd give it a try. Turns out I wasn't too bad at it," she paused to take a sip of water and pop another couple of fries into her mouth.

"So anyway, during a gig I'm doing at a university in Manchester, I bump into a girl from Japan whose even bigger than I am, and I'm not a small girl by any means. So we end up hanging out a lot, making friends, that kind of thing, and one day while her sister is over to visit, the whole wrestling thing comes up and AFW gets mentioned. Pretty sure you can figure the rest of that story," Kandi finished with a wink, picking up her knife and fork as she eyed the steak she'd slowly been uncovering from beneath the heap of fries since she'd sat down like an excavation, "So what about yourself? Is the AFW your first time in a federation like this, or did you do much elsewhere first? I've seen some of the stuff over in the States that's pretty intense."

Jessica flashed a wan smile at the compliment. Of course she was a tough girl to go against in the ring, if not the toughest. She just had to show it to everyone. She returned her chair and her body to the full upright position. Kandi showed her respect, so the least she could do was talk. "There are a lot of weirdos here, that do weird things in the ring. No such thing as too cautious." The advice came suddenly. Jessica herself wasn't quite sure where it came from. It wasn't advice she would give out to just anyone, but Jessica truly doubted Kandi could hack it in the ring. She listened to the woman with interest, trying to figure out how she worked, if she was any good.

"Yeah, in the US we can get a bit...carried away. I was never into hardcore matches too much. It seems like a dumb spectacle for the fans. But I did partake from time to time. There are just times when you just wanna bash a girl's head in, y'know?" Jessica cocked her head to the side. She doubted the grinning girl across from her was every really all that mad in the ring, but it never hurt to find out. "I bounced around the Midwest for a while in my teens. I wrestled in every little dingy building you could possibly think of. High school gymnasiums, outdoor festivals, even a church one time." A knowing smile lit up Jessica's face. After knocking her opponent out, she exposed a grown woman's breast in the church, right in front of the pastor. "I am originally from Iowa, but I've worked in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, even Chicago a few times. I attracted some attention from scouts, and they were throwin' money at me to come work here. So I thought I could get a belt against the best of the best." Jessica took another bite of her sandwich. and chewed quickly. "Where I learned from, well..." Jessica paused and closed her eyes. "That's not important. Anyway, what were the indies like in jolly old England?" Jessica cringed at her own awful segue.

Kandi listened to Jessica's tale with genuine interest. She seemed to have broken past the initial bravado that was typical of a lot of wrestlers, and the tall American seemed to start opening up a little as she discussed her experiences that led her to the AFW. Kandi was chewing on a mouthful of steak when Jessica seemed to falter in her telling, before diverting the topic back to her. Kandi chose not to probe - it was clearly a subject Jessica wasn't willing to discuss, and it would be rude to pressure her further.

"Well they certainly weren't as rough as the American stuff sounds," she replied with a laugh, carving another lump of steak off as she talked, "It was still hard work for sure, but it was mostly spectacle stuff, putting on a show for people, yeah? We didn't skimp on the bumps, but it was all very over-the-top, pantomime ring personas, that kinda jazz," Kandi waved her fork around for emphasis, the lump of meat still speared to it before she brought it to her mouth.

"Still, they were amazing times. The UK is so small, you could get from Glasgow to London in a few hours on the train, do a show, then hitch a late-night bus to Dover to catch a ferry over to Dublin for the next day's performance. It was like being a rock star...a really low-paid, unheard of rock star," She amended for the sake of honesty, but added with a grin, "But we still got the groupies. Nothing beats wrestling groupies."