Where's that Taco stand?

Charlie happily nodded as he ate his food, his mouth too full to answer. Amy seemed much nicer than a lot of the women he'd met in Tension, especially when compared to the Thorns of a Rose bunch. Charlie didn't know what their deal was. Being screwed over by a guy meant that all guys sucked? He was pretty sure it would remain a mystery to him which was fine, the further he was from them the better.

Alaina tilted her head in surprise as Amy spoke. "Man, I can't tell ya what I'd give to even get another shot at Gwendolyn and the entropy belt..." She said with a sigh before pausing a moment. "You know what though... even though I friggin' hate losing, I do love what I do regardless of the outcome even if it doesn't look like it. I mean, we're lucky ya know? How many people can say they like what they do for work?"

Amy nodded slowly. She didn’t know what a lot of those words meant. Was Gwendolyn a name she should know? Was Entropy a third AFW franchise? But Alaina said she was Friction…

But Amy agreed with that last part. “Totally. It’s crazy that we get paid to do this. Keep this on the DL, but...” she leaned in, her voice low. “...I’d do it for free.” She leaned back again, and a fresh taco came up with her. “But they do pay us, and they pay us good. We are pretty lucky. It’s a good gig; it's gonna suck when I leave.” Amy brought her taco up to her mouth, then down again. “I kinda wanna know more about the two of you. You're both from SD? Did you know each other before coming to Japan? Because you guys seem pretty close.”

Charlie, who had just finished chomping his mouthful of food was the first to answer Amy. "Yeah, we went to school together but didn't really know each other there. I am a couple years older." He began to say.

"Yeah and he used to be super quiet too." Alaina continued. "He stuck to himself so jerks called him 'gnarly Charlie' as an ironic name because he was never invited to parties or anything. I used to be a nurse, but I was a closet wrestling fan. I saw a local show and as I sat down I recognized Charlie!"

Charlie laughed as Alaina divulged the old secret to his chosen ring nickname that everyone made fun of him for. "Yeah. Alaina liked the show so much that she wanted to try out. She beat some chick on our local roster and she wrestled part time for a year. We were offered contracts and came over! Right after we arrived I... well stupidly injured my knee. Alaina changed from Tension to Friction and the rest is history!"

Was it made clear how much Amy loved tacos? Amy really loved tacos. Were they her favorite food? Mmm… maybe. No, wait, probably not. Ahh, she couldn’t say. She never really grew out of the typical American teenager diet of junk food- cheeseburgers, fries, pizza, and the like- so tacos were pretty high on her list. Yeah.

Anyway, Amy was out of tacos. She just finished the al pastor- she’d saved her second favorite for last. Her favorite, the adobada, got eaten first, because fuck delayed gratification; food comes out hot and you should eat it hot. Carne asada was second because, while marinated pork tasted better, you could find carne asada on every taco menu in the world. It made for a decent yardstick to measure quality across restaurants.

She wanted to get more, but she was full-  tacos, son, how long had it been? Then she realized: wait. I’m in now. I’m in the know. I’m part of the club, and I can get tacos whenever I want. And she relaxed.

You’d think that with her mind thusly focused, she’d have little attention left to pay to her dining companions. But food math was second nature to Amy, and she was still listening actively to the San Diegans’ stories.

Once the table fell quiet, she pointed a dripping straw at Charlie: “Dude, you could do a lot worse than “Gnarly” as a nickname. It’s actually pretty kickass. Jokes on those jerks. How long's it been since your knee got fucked up?” Then she pointed it Alaina’s way: “What made you switch to Friction? And were you were you buff as a nurse, or did you get that way after joining up?”

Then she tossed her straw onto the table. “Think about your answers, kids. I’m going to take a moment and get in good with the owner. Talk amongst yourselves.” Amy winked, then stood up and made her way to the counter to ask after the manager, leaving her tablemates behind.

As Amy walked away Alaina looked at Charlie with a grin.  "She's fun, but you've had that anxious look since you got that ring."  She began to say.  She knew what was going through his mind but had to ask just to be totally sure.  "You are nervous as hell about proposing aren't you?  What is LC going to do playing second string to a lady?"

Charlie got a chuckle out of Alaina.  "I am sorta worried about how LC will react but I think he understands.  He seems to have warmed up to Talia a lot.  Honestly with the proposal I am more excited than nervous.  I know she'll say yes when I ask."  Charlie said, 99% sure she would.  However, that 1% of doubt did make him nervous.  

Once Amy came back, Charlie happily shifted the conversation to his knee... at least as happily as he could when discussing the injury that nearly ended his career.  "I got in the wreck back in February 2014.  I rehabbed it as aggressively as I could and came back in... late August?  I have my speed and all that but... I dunno based on my last couple matches I mighta rushed the comeback a bit but, whatever ya know?"

Alaina had her turn to respond, and she did so with a smile as usual.  She never thought of herself as a buff nurse before.  "I've always been about this big and I was only slightly less sculpted as a nurse.  I did some fitness competitions and stuff while in nursing school and the gym routine stuck.  I never thought of myself as buff though, scrubs hide things like that real well.  I worked with kids a lot too and they never noticed anything other than me being taller than a lot of other women." Alaina took a breath, realizing she forgot one key aspect of Amy's question. "I knew that I didn't want to be in Tension if I could tag with my little buddy Charlie here. I also find that a lot of the Tension guys are just... creepers." She added giving his ribs a playful elbow.

When Amy returned, she plopped down a fresh plate of tacos; complimentary, and enough for one taco each. “These are for the table. Dude, the owner loves you guys. I thought Alaina was exaggerating, but Charlie, you’re here, like, almost every day, huh?” Amy reclaimed her seat, then leaned forward, like she was about to share a secret. “So apparently the owner’s got this thing about crowds and doesn’t want people to post about this place on Yelp or whatever- isn’t that crazy? I feel like he’s sitting on a gold mine, here; real Mexican food would blow up in Japan. I mean, now that I’m enlightened, yeah, sure, I want to keep the lines short, so I’ll shut up, too, but damn.” Amy took a taco. She was full, but she wasn’t about to turn down free food.

Amy was pleased to see that the pair hadn’t forgotten about her questions while she was getting acquainted with the owner. Amy nodded sympathetically at Charlie’s story. “There’s no way I would have been able to sit still for six whole months; I’d have been trying to get back into things ASAP, too, so yeah. I feel you, bro.”

Then it was Alaina’s turn. Amy grinned. “Yeah, total horndogs. Wouldn’t trust them as far as you could throw them.” Amy’s eyes snagged on Alaina’s shoulders, and she corrected herself. “As far as I could throw them.”

But all this talk about Alaina’s figure set wheels turning in her mind. She pondered the issue as she spoke, took a bite of her taco, and chewed. Then, as she swallowed, it hit her: I’ve seen this woman’s butt in leopard print. And, just like that, the pieces of mystery 2 fell right into place. Amy wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, then the back of her hand on her jeans. “Hey Alaina, this is kind a weird question, but have you ever been tased before?”

Charlie began to laugh uproariously as Amy brought up the taser. Alaina looked over and smacked him in the back of the head!

"Oww!" Charlie grunted, realizing that he probably deserved it. "That bountiful booty of yours is recognizable!" Charlie said, not really reading Amy's mind but bringing up what he thought was the most striking of Alaina's many easy-on-the-eyes features. Before he could say anything more she jokingly, or semi-jokingly covered his mouth with her left hand.

"Shut up Charlie." She said flatly before looking at Amy. "I dunno if its more flattering or embarassing that ya recognized me in the promo as the lady who got tased." Alaina said with a nervous giggle. "That woman, Brittany Luuve was the source of that shitty memory and the worst loss I have ever had inside a ring." Her debut against Z.Z was a close second in embarassing losses.... "But, I guess thanks for recognizing me and stuff."

Amy nodded. She didn't think that was something worth getting thanked for, but Alaina must have felt otherwise. It did bring up an interesting question, though. "I don't watch much AFW programming outside of Tension, but if you challenged for a title, you must get recognized for more than just being the chick that got tased, right?" Amy had fans, but she hadn't really been approached on the street yet. That was okay, though; Amy wasn't exactly looking forward to when that happened. "Do you get asked for autographs and pictures and stuff?"

Alaina blushed a little bit. "Yeah, sometimes I do."

She knew she had a solid fanbase, but never thought it was anything bigger than anyone else had. Apparently she was wrong? Maybe Friction ladies were just more popular?

"Like, what I would love to do is some charity work at a childrens hospital. I heard that sometimes they look for volunteers to be superheroes for the kids. If it meant making their day I would do it in a heartbeat!" Alaina said with a goofy smile. She realized Charlie was giving her a strange look and imagined Amy may as well after seeing how giddy Alaina was over the prospect of playing superhero for some kids. "I worked with kids a lot as a nurse...."

For such a big girl, Alaina could be pretty cute. Amy watched, fascinated, as all that muscle and definition regressed into a kid herself, eyes starry at the thought of dressing up for and getting to play with kids. When Alaina sent a sheepish look her way, Amy responded with a reassuring smile. "Which hero would you dress up as?" Big Barda, probably... ah, but kids might not really get that one. Wonder Woman? Kids would go nuts for a good Rescue cosplay these days. Or maybe Sailor Jupiter, considering their host country and Alaina's hair.