Best Served Cold

Saturday mornings at the AFW training facility, unlike most other fitness centers, was still the teeming madhouse of activity as if it were any other day. Clangings of dumbbells and generically inoffensive pop music complimented the conversational murmurings of wrestlers shooting the breeze in between reps. Rumors swirled towards the unveiling of the match lineup in this years’ Avalanche and who would be called upon to take part in the premiere pay per view of the year. Discussions of the higher tier combatants of the league and their stats as if they were baseball cards would gravitate towards whether their talents merited such a sought after position on the match lineup….but for the Imperial one herself, her mind was preoccupied on matters of a more personal nature.

Light shovings and nudgings by Gwen’s royal blue jumpsuit clad entourage cleared the path for the curly-haired heiress, surrounding Gwendolyn while they advanced onward through the bustling locker room until they came to an abrupt stop at one of the numerous empty wrestling rings littered about. During their walk Gwen’s attention and eyesight never left the iPhone 6 in the palm of her hand, reading over the text message received from her dear Nikolette repeatedly and even envisioning the words being said in Nik’s country twang as it played back in her head.

“Hey, Gwennie! Running late, feel free to loosen up and I'll be there ASAP. See you soon! ”

“Hmm~…” Gwen hummed to herself with a blissful smile on her face at the thought of reuniting with her beloved engineer for their first training session together. Gwendolyn arrived with time to spare, her wrestling attire worn underneath her cerulean sweat suit with her initials in gold cursive lettering on the left side of her chest. It was Nikolettes idea to have their training session downstairs in a more public setting as opposed to Gwen’s private training facility in the hopes of better intermingling the heiress in the wrestling community and earn her some friends, or at the very least companions she didn’t pay to be in her company.

The heiress acquiesced to Nikolette’s request just to make her happy, though Gwendolyn had scant interest in cavorting with anyone else besides her dear partner~….

Cassie kept her eyes closed.

She slid easily over the blue wrestling mats, bare-legged in her little pink Fighter Girl shorts. She stretched and warmed up her hips, shrimped across the mat and rolled this way and that, one jiujitsu drill after another.

She kept her shoulders flat while she swung her legs to one side and walked them back until they were over her head, and while she was upside down, butt in the air and looking between her legs, she opened her eyes. There, facing the practice rings with her back to Cassie, flanked by her entourage, was the unmistakable figure of Gwendolyn Dupont... something. Gwendolyn with the long name.

"Oh," she said. "Hi, Gwendolyn."

She rolled easily over one shoulder to sit up with the bottoms of her bare feet together. "What's up?"

“Hm?” Gwendolyn would be awoken from her amorous daydreaming by a rather nonchalant greeting from just behind her. She looked over her shoulder to immediately recognize the unkempt red head from an eventful movie premier, made all the more enjoyable by the amount of sadistic glee she derived from publically breaking Cassie down in front of her date and an entire ballroom of fellow aristocrats. The heiress took little time to address Cass, turning to face and approach her with a beaming smile.

“Ah, How are you, Cassandra dear? A fortuitous reunion if there ever was one~…” Gwen stopped a foot short of the green-eyed grappler with a hand on her cheek and her elbow resting on her other hand. Perhaps Nikolette’s idea was bearing results already. “My, how one summer can seem like an eternity when concerning the separation of two good friends. How I’ve greatly missed our spirited discussions….perhaps you can be so kind as to keep a humble neophyte such as myself company until Nikolette arrives for my training session?” Gwendolyn maintained her chipper expression throughout, without any sign of malice or seemingly any awareness of the animosity Cass may have towards her.

My, Gwendolyn was really laying it on thick. Given that they had only met once, Cassie didn't know where they would have found the time for these "spirited discussions".

"Um... yes. Fortuitous, indeed." She grabbed her feet and bounced her knees up and down slightly against the mat. "I could definitely show you around though! There's a lot of stuff here, and I don't really use any of it... I just come here for mat space, mostly. I don't mind working with you until Nikolette gets here, though! I-if you don't mind, that is."

In the back of Cassie's mind was a nagging voice that told her that they weren't at a fancy movie premier this time. Gwendolyn might be the bell of the ball, but the mats were Cassie's world. She didn't feel at all scared or out of place like she had at the premier with Shinobu, and to look on Gwendolyn, looking glamorous even here in the gym, and not feel inadequate drove her self-confidence to new heights.

Hmm…Gwendolyn was honestly surprised to see Cassie so calm and collected when addressing her, anticipating Cass to lash out at her with some self-righteous diatribe towards Gwen and her behavior during the premier. She may have played it cool that night but Gwen overheard Cassie’s ramblings from behind her back as she made her exit that night, eventually talked down from making a complete spectacle of herself by the valiant Shinobu. Perhaps the young grappler learned some tact and humility since then when addressing her superiors…

“Well, I can scarcely see the harm in some friendly tutelage. Perhaps in the manner of a quick spar until my proper trainer arrives?...Although I fear that such a notoriously ‘fierce’ competitor as yourself may momentarily gain the upper hand, I’m confident that my experience thus far in the league has afforded me the skills necessary to emerge triumphant~…” With that Gwen would hop up on the apron behind them and sit on the middle rope as a friendly gesture to Cass. If Gwendolyn was seeming particularly confident in her skills this fine morning it may have been a result of her lucky streak since Cassie last met her, emerging victorious in her SummerSplash match against the super athlete Tatsuki as well as the random tag battle…though the latter she would rather not discuss…

“Ah, how is your ‘Friend-boy’ Shinobu fairing these days? Still as handsome as ever I trust?”

"Sparring?" Cassie said. Everyone in AFW just wanted to jump straight to sparring in the ring. There was so much more to training than just sparring, but she supposed everyone was looking to establish their place in the pecking order.

She shrugged, and got to her feet. She climbed up onto the apron and slipped through the ropes, and then sat on the middle rope to return the favor.

"He's really great. We went to a petting zoo the other day. It was so much fun." She didn't take any of Gwendolyn's bait. She didn't have to. The heiress could try to pick at her with her saccharine venom, but it wouldn't work. At least, not the way Gwendolyn probably wanted. "I like Nikolette. She's nice."

Though she also really wanted another crack at her.

"Where do you want to start? I can do on the feet, or if you wanted to work just on grappling we could start on our knees. You pick."
Just a friendly spar, though Gwendolyn had probably never heard the phrase "keep it playful". Cassie wasn't worried.

Gwen raised an eyebrow at the stalwart defenses Cassie was continuing to demonstrate towards her less than subtle attempts to illicit a reaction out of her. It was so much easier to toy with Cassie back at the premier, though getting under her skin now was seemingly a fruitless endeavor…

“Hmm…A petting zoo…well aren’t you low maintenance…” Gwen zipped off her jacket and stepped out of her track suit before flinging them over the ropes to be caught by her entourage. Dressed in her frilly blue and white wrestling outfit, arched her back and fluffed her curls before approaching Cass. The ginger grappler was hardly the source of entertainment Gwen remembered. Hopefully putting Cass through the wringer will dent that steadfast composure of hers.

“I limbered up and stretched before arriving, and on the feet will suffice. Bringing my opponent’s to their knees usually comes towards the end anyway~…” Gwen couldn’t resist one final haughty remark before beginning the spar proper, a salacious grin on her face as she approached slowly with her arms raised intending to lock up. She was aware Cassie’s forte was a cerebral approach to mat wrestling, so she figured on their feet where Gwen had the height advantage was a wiser move than bringing things down to Cass’ level.

"Eheh..."

Cassie managed a weak laugh at what she figured was a joke. She settle down into her stance, hips square to her opponent, knees bent, right leg forward, hands up in front. She pawed out with her lead hand at Gwendolyn's outstretched fingers.

"So how much experience do you have with grappling? Would you be okay if I took you down or threw you? I don't have to use any throws, they're really jarring if you're not used to taking the falls..." She said accommodatingly. "And you know about tapping out and sparring and all that?"

“Ah…ha...Yes…dearie…I am acutely aware of how a spar works. Do whatever you feel most comfortable with Cassandra. I can assure you my past few years of training under the best instructors money can afford is all the preparation I‘ll need to withstand whatever you have to offer…” Gwen stated with a sarcastic laugh, her cool demeanor started to be tested with Cassie’s kid gloved approach. Cassie may have been completely earnest with her fair warnings, but Gwen couldn’t help but take a slight offense to it…

Gwendolyn maintained a cautious distance as Cassie readied herself, inching forward until her fingertips were patting against Cassie’s until she attempted to make a grab for her wrist with both hands and twisting it to her side in a wrist lock.

Jeez. Cassie didn't mean to offend her or anything.

Well, maybe a little.

Still, Cassie had had the best instructors in the whole world for her whole life. It didn't matter how much Gwendolyn paid her teachers, they didn't live with her and raise her and a few years is hardly enough to...

She caught herself. She had to keep a good attitude. Keep it playful.

Gwen twisted her wrist and raised her arm and forced her to bend forward. Cassie didn't move very quickly, but she stepped smoothly and without thinking. She turned into Gwen so that her arm was twisted behind her back, and before the girl could adjust her grip she reached up behind her shoulder and wrapped an arm around the taller girl's neck. She bumped her hip into her stomach to help bend her over and bring her down to her own level.

She was mostly interested in what Gwen had to offer. Though... there was still a part of her that was champing at the bit to show her what she could do.