Work In Progress

Taylor put on a big smile and posed with her sake cup. "Nothing to worry about!"


Later that night, Taylor sleepily plodded through the kitchen at her mother-in-law's house, in bare feet and cozy gray onesie pajamas with a hood, a cartoon elephant on the front, and the pant legs scrunched up on her calves. It fit snugly enough to show some of the details of her tight, athletic frame, and made for an off juxtaposition.

Junko also in the kitchen, quietly winding down for the night as Taylor patted past her to the fridge. She opened it and danced from foot to foot in front of it, like some kind of unconscious refrigerator rain-dance to beseech the thing for something to eat. Her own fridge was always stocked with fresh-squeezed juice, and she had grown accustomed to it. Junko, though, had not taken after her son in that regard.

After a moment, Taylor grunted softly and grabbed a can of beer and popped it open. It seemed like she was drinking so much these days, but whatever. It wasn't like a few drinks was going to totally mess up her training plan.

Junkies had been sipping a cup of tea in the kitchen. She was in a rather short cut nightie. Unlike her more modest daughter, Junko had no issues with showing off her own shapely, toned figure. It was her home, after all.

But as she watched Taylor dance in front of the fridge, she frowned when Taylor grabbed a beer. "Didn't you just come from drinking with Tanikaze-san?" She asked. Isn't it a little late to be drinking? I have tea. Have some of that with me. Sit with me, Taylor-chan." Junko said as she patted the seat next to her.

"And Morgan, too~" Taylor sang quietly.

She gracelessly plopped into the seat next to Junko and gathered her blonde ponytail back behind her. "But I already opened it," she reasoned, and took a long sip. "And I dunno, what time is it? I'm just tryin' to relax more, like we talked about, no big deal. It's not like I'm getting wasted and sleeping through training."

"Mmmmhmmm...."

Junko watched as Taylor took along swig of her beer. She slid her tea in front of Taylor and took the beer. "have you been keeping up with your training?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "And your film study?" Junko looked down at the beer.

"And are you relaxed?" She asked, looking over at Taylor.

Taylor grumbled and turned her eyes enviously at her former beer, and pawed at the cup of tea without interest.

"Ask the girls," she said bluntly. "And yeah, all I ever fuckin' do is stare at video of old matches where people I can't stand whale the shit out of some poor bitch. Of course I wouldn't miss a second of that."

She picked up the tea and leaned back in her chair, hooking one arm over the back and propping her knee against the edge of the table. "Don't I look relaxed?"

"Yes, you're doing a very good job of looking relaxed." Junko took a sip from the beer and looked at it. It did taste good.

"So, what do you actually plan to do now, Taylor-chan?" Junko asked seriously, looking at Taylor.

Taylor snorted. Whatever.

"Go to bed," she replied, and stood up to go upstairs.

She ran through her usual lengthy before bed routine, meticulously brushing, flossing, rinsing, washing, exfoliating, and moisturizing. She put her hair in a loose braid and drank half a glass of water, and retired to Johnny's old bedroom. She sat on the bed and poked around at her phone until she realized how hot it was, and then got up to open the window and strip off her onesie. She climbed into bed in just boxers and a bralette, kicked off everything but the sheet, and laid sprawled out on her back.

Time ticked by slowly. She listened to Junko's faint footsteps as she came up stairs some time later, made her own pass through the bathroom, and then went to bed, leaving the house completely quiet. She wondered where Julia and Alaina were, if they were out late or in bed early, or if they were staying here at all tonight.

Taylor closed her eyes and began her usual breathing exercises, taking long, deep, slow, relaxed breaths. Her body calmed down enough that she eventually drifted off to sleep.

It was still dark when she sprung off her pillow and sat bolt upright in the bed, unable to breathe. The house's delicate silence was shattered by her frantic, desperate gasps. Her lungs felt paralyzed, her throat constricted, and her heart hammered in her chest while she shook her hands in a panic. She wondered, for a moment, if she was going to die.

Julia had been in her room most of the day. There hadn’t seemed to be a ton that had needed to be done, so aside from a brief workout she’d spent most of her time watching and studying matches on her computer. But now, the luchadora was comfortably resting in bed in panties and t-shirt with her phone in hand, texting Drake.

Though it hardly seemed like any time had passed, she eventually looked at the clock and realized she’d stayed up far later than she’d intended. So after she let Drake know she was going to get some sleep, she set her phone down beside her and laid her head down on her pillow. But just as she did, the sudden sound of Taylor jolting awake in the next room startled Julia and practically made her jump right out of the little bit of clothing she was wearing.

Pulling the sheets off and getting out of bed, Julia left her room and went to Taylor’s, before opening the door just enough to poke her head inside. “Hey, you alright, Taylor?”

Taylor's wild, fearful eyes snapped over to the doorway, at Julia, and she repeatedly tapped her chest with her hand and shook her head. She had an overwhelming urge to flee the room, and with another strenuous gasp she tried to scramble for the door. Her limbs were heavy and tingling, like the blood had been drained out and replaced with cement, and she managed only to roll off the edge.

She hit the floor with a thud, and then pushed herself up with her back against the bed and her knees to her chest. She gasped again, and felt dizzy. She felt like weights were stacked up on her chest, like she was burning from the inside out, like she was being chased by a gang of murderers and needed to escape, but couldn't move. She was trapped in her body, on the floor, and gasping for just enough breath to keep from fainting.

She waved her hands in little distraught arcs toward Julia and kept shaking her head.

When she saw the distraught face looking right at her, Julia initially thought Taylor might’ve just woken up from a nightmare. However, it quickly became apparent that wasn’t the case as Taylor fell off her bed, then started frantically waving toward her, and Julia’s eyes immediately went wide with shock at what she was seeing.

“Oh my god! Taylor!” she shouted out, rushing over to the girl and kneeling beside her, putting her hands on her shoulders. But Julia wasn’t a doctor by any stretch, and didn’t know what was happening or what what she could do to help. So she turned her head back toward the door and shouted.

“HEY! SOMEBODY HELP!” Julia called out at the top of her lungs, before turning her focus back to Taylor. “Don’t you worry! You’re gonna be alright!” she said as reassuringly as she could as she waited for help to arrive.