On and On and On....

"It's a Taylor Parker match, they're pretty much crazy good be default!"

Haley yelled back, before stepping out of her closet. The natural blonde was clad in a tight pair of exercise shorts that were practically skintight, and a slim white tank top, showing off her legs and lithe figure. Granted, it was standard "chilling out at home" attire for her, but she looked good in them, and if Valley liked it, it just made them better.

Hopping onto the bed, she laid down next to her girlfriend and watched the match, nodding in recognition at the masked girl in the ring.

"Oh yeah, that's Julia, Alaina was telling me about her at the beach a couple months back. She's pretty kickass, flies around the ring, but hits really hard with her legs too...She's kinda like...like a cross up between you and Angel or something. Not bad looking either."

She giggled, rubbing her leg against Valleys, before pausing.

"Sorry, do your legs still hurt? That cute catgirl you fought had you in that hold for a while..."

"Pfft, oh, really? A 'cross'?" Valley let her bare thigh rub against Haley's, flexing to give her a feel of the muscles within. She was careful not to flex too much, though. Teddy's handiwork was still very much in effect. "You think my legs aren't up to Angel's standards?"

She started to tease Haley a little more, when she was drawn to a sudden commotion - poor Julia had been cut off from making the tag, and things were startng to go quite poorly for her. The two giants were cutting her off, keeping her on one side of the ring and working her over. Not exactly fair play, but effective.. "Maybe a little too headstrong, though - she's been active way too long. That could cost her."

She managed to tear her attention away from the screen long enough to look her lover in the eye, then glance behind them. "A bit, yeah. Mostly when I walk. Probably need to cut off my routine tomorrow, lay off them for a couple of days and let my body heal up. No big deal."]

Haley blushed a little, though she didn't move her leg away.

"I-I didn't say they couldn't compare...I like your's better anyways..."

She said, before wincing as Julia took another hard hit. "Nothing against her or Taylor, but one of them really should have brought Alaina for this. Alaina could power back against Styx or Jessica and be in less trouble. I mean, Taylor hits hard, yeah, but its not hard to hurt her back. Alaina's built for power though. She's like a thinner Akashi in that regard."

She giggled a little, reaching down and patting Valley's thigh.

"I know the feeling all too well. I think I've only had like, 2 matches that didn't end with me taking a week or two off to recuperate. Sometimes I think the people that used to fake this stuff were actually the smarter ones for it."

"That Teddy girl sounded nice from what you said though...maybe we should invite her over sometime, or set up a playdate for her and Rai?"

She asked, looking over at the carpeted floor, where Valley's lazy, yet loveable, old cat Valentine had been playing with his old and beaten up mouse toy, while Rai, Haley's new kitten, with all black fur, curiously leaned in and sniffed at it, giving it a soft poke with his paw, and letting out a curious sounding "Mrow?"

Valentine, at first, didn't seem to notice Rai, far too wrapped up in playing with his toy to realize that anything else in the universe existed. He only noticed the poor kitten after his inquistive purr, and even then, he only spared the little guy a quick glance before shuffling away and going right back to the business of making sure his chew toy was properly chewed.

"That's about the only regard where she's like Akashi." Valley said, with the slightest, ever-so-faint hint of disdain. It vanished the moment Haley touched her thigh. Tonight was about more pleasant thoughts. "But she is good, yes. I hope she gets the title shot she's gunning for. Starting to get a little sick of seeing Gwen worm her way into holding the belt over and over."

She looked over the side of the bed as Valentine once again shuffled away from Rai, leaving the poor kitten out in the cold. "She has a bunch of cats, so that might not be the worst idea. Valentine needs to get used to being around other cats. I think this might be his first time in years, at least since I brought him to Japan..."

Rai, to his credit, just kept following Valentine around, giving him the occasional curious poke with his paw, before finally just hopping on top of the bigger cat and curling up on top of him.

"Yeah...You know, the sad thing is, Gwen's actually a pretty damn good fighter on her own...if she ever actually bothered fighting on her own..."

She giggled, looking over at the cats before laying back next to Valley.

"So hey, did you see Summer Splash? I know the match was brutal, though that psycho deserved it, but I was going to ask what you thought of my new facepaint look and all that."

Valentine seemed annoyed by Rai's persistence, and he might have done something about it. There was the small problem of him being a cat, however, which brought with it a certain degree of laziness. Eventually, he just gave up and let Rai pin him for the three count, laying on his side while the kitten enjoyed his nap.

"The facepaint?" Valley paused for a moment, remembering what Haley was talking about it. Not that she hadn't seen the match - she had. Twice, in fact. But, of all the things to remember from that match, the facepaint wasn't the biggest thing that stuck out in her mind. She'd been a little too focused on her girlfriend fighting a dangerous psychopath from a dangerous height to really give much thought on the details.

"I think it's a nice look." Valley squirmed around and laid on her back, while the television boomed with what she assumed was the sound of Julia's back hitting the canvas from a great height. "I mean, I've never been big on the outlandish looks, you know? I wore a white leotard for about ten years of my career. But you're spicing it up, that's good. Staying fresh. I like it." She leaned over and gave Haley a kiss on the cheek. "Is there a story behind it?"

"Well...I guess the story would be that...I dunno. I needed a change. Like...I've been in kind of a rut I guess. I lost the belt to Gwen in my first defense, I got lucky by rolling up Alaina after she tossed me around like I was nothing, then Alaina pinned me in like, less than 5 minutes...on top of that, nothing I was doing was enough to make more than a handful of fans give a shit.

I mean, I came in like a bat out of hell and I grabbed everybody's attention at first...But now it seems like I've been fighting for months to get anybody to give a shit. Nobody even cared I got my belt robbed by Gwen, but Alaina and Julia have like, fan petitions going to get themselves rematches..."

She sighed, putting her hands behind her head.

"Then with this thing with Amethyst happening, and my confidence already shot...I just felt I needed to...do something different, do something fresh. Something that set me apart again. The scaffold match was one thing, and the face paint was kinda of inspired by this video series I watched about Kabuki Theater and its history. I dunno. It just seemed fresh, gave me a bit of a new edge is all. Made me worth talking about again."

Sighing a little, she offered Valley a small smile.

"I liked you in the white spandex, by the way."

Meanwhile, Rai, apparently realizing Valentine had no intention of playing, wanted attention, hopping from the fat cat onto the bed, where he purred and rubbed against Valley Dolls arm.

"Hey," Valley matched Haley's smile with one of her own, and gave her a playful elbow in the side. "I cared."

She sighed and looked her lover over from head to toe, seeing the distress play itself out over her body. "I understand where you're coming from, though. And..." She felt something brush against her and sat up on reflex, just in time to see Rai nudging against her. "Hey there, little guy." She chirped and reached down, picking him up as his cute little body wrigged between her hands. "Valentine's not playing with you, huh? I can fix that."

Valley laid back and hugged Rai close to her chest, letting him nuzzle against her - Valentine's favorite spot. He'd notice in a minute, she was sure of it. "There you go." She giggled as he squirmed around and tickled her, then turned back to Haley with a brighter smile than before.

"But, like I was saying, I understand where you're coming from. The AFW has so many different personalities, it's just...it's crazy. It's so easy to get lost in the pile. And nothing against Julia or Alaina, they're great competitors, but they benefit a lot from their association with Taylor. Name recognition gives them instant popularity. She stands behind them, she endorses them, she fights with them. Like, when I started out, I pretty much had a fanbase ready to go, because my mother was popular and I was wrestling under her name. People wanted to like me, and they were willing to forgive things they wouldn't have with others." She shrugged and readjusted her position, pulling Rai deeper into her chest. "It's not exactly fair, but there it is."

"Mrow!"

Rai replied, purring and cuddling up on Valley's chest, rolling over and playfully pawing at her hands, enjoying the attention as Haley leaned in and rubbed his belly a little before laying back down.

"Yeah...you got a point there. I came in with no name value and my only supporter was a worthless tension wrestler turned worthless manager. My matches with Iron Maiden and Taylor started to get me a fanbase...but then Akashi was like "You're a racist with no honor!" and I've been struggling to get any attention from the crowd since."

She adjusted herself a little.

"So yeah, sometimes that's how things work out. Some people get instant credibility and respect because of being associated with somebody else who is popular and talented, and some of us have to use face paint to try and reconnect with the crowd. Hopefully, being the only one in AFW using face paint will help me stand out a bit, and my in ring skills can do the rest."

Valley groaned at the mention of everyone's favortie sumo. Far from her favorite subject. "That is one of the more annoying things about having a show that's always in one spot - certain people are always the hometown hero. Even if they don't always do heroic things. Like, say, throwing someone out of the ring onto the announcer's table. Sheesh."

She rolled her eyes and glanced up at the screen, right as Julia hit a sunset flip for the pinfall. She'd been so wrapped up in Haley that she missed the finish, and it looked like it was a doozy, too. Shame of shames.

"You know, you've got great in-ring skills, but if you're going to get a wilder look, it might help to add some wilder moves on, too. Add a little flash." She held her hand up and twirled her finger around. "People love the flips. Instant pop. You can badmouth them, talk trash, cheat, try to make them hate you, but if you do a suicide dive out of the ring, they will cheer you. Like, every time." She reached down and pat Haley's stomach, feeling her firm muscles. "You've got the body for it, no question. We could add some high risk moves to your arsenal, just say the word."