Zero-Cool Laser

Amy and Mariko had carried Blaise all the way to the top of the ramp before paramedics took him off of their hands. There were more of them than usual- the standard two busied themselves with collecting the patient, but another four just stood around uselessly, like they had nothing better to do than stare Amy and Mariko down.

The truth was that they were there to block the women from interfering. The medical team had watched the chaos of the match, had seen the blows that security had taken in violation of the unspoken (and, since it was explicitly in the employee handbook, written) rule that staff and crew were off limits, so they were understandably a little wary.

But Amy and Mariko made no move to interfere. Amy, at least, was drained from the whole ordeal. It wasn’t from the fight itself- which was invigorating, as per usual- or from Miss Sellers’ surprise announcement- which was annoying, sure, but hardly enervating. No, her lack of energy came from Blaise’s lack of reaction to her presence. Blaise had done little but stare at her in confusion the entire time that she was out there, and he didn’t say a word the whole time he was getting schlepped up to curtain. Amy wasn’t necessarily looking for a thank you, but she didn’t expect a cold shoulder, either.

There was clearly some residual resentment from their conversation in the locker room, and Amy couldn’t really blame him. A night to sleep on the issue led her to admit that she might have been a little too harsh on the teen. But her point was one that she continued to stand behind, and Blaise would have to be made to understand that. It was especially important that they move past this now that they'd been granted a big ass showdown with the Valkyries. And now that they had the ideal third on the team.

Once Amy heard that Blaise had been discharged from his night in the hospital, she dialed Mariko. It was time for a team meeting.

“Hello? Mariko?”

When they’d handed Blaise over to the paramedics, the abnormal number of them present was a detail that hadn’t escaped Mariko’s attention. But she didn’t dwell on it for long, and kept her mind focused on the upcoming battle with the Valkyries. The adrenaline rush that had fueled her through the chaotic brawl moments ago had died down, but still she could hardly wait for the pay per view to arrive. But at the same time, she knew they weren’t ready. At least not yet...

Once they had done everything the could for Blaise, there wasn’t anything left to do for the moment but head back home and rest up. Although, sleep hadn’t come easy. All the thoughts running through Mariko’s head had made her restless, and it was only after what felt like an eternity of tossing and turning in bed before she finally managed to drift off.

She was awoken several hours later by the ringing of her cell phone right next to her head. After groaning and stirring a bit, her eyes finally opened a bit as she reached for her phone and held it up to see who was calling. “Amy..” she said, reading the name aloud. She’d figured they’d be getting in touch soon, and had even made a mental note to give Amy a call later today if she hadn’t heard from the blonde first. Seemed that wouldn’t be necessary now, and Mariko answered the phone before holding it up to her ear.

“Good morning, Amy.” It was still morning, wasn’t it? Mariko gave a brief glance at the clock beside her bed just to be sure. It was, but just barely. “How’re you feeling? Any updates on Blaise?”

“Morning!” Amy replied automatically, before checking the clock on her phone. Was it even morning, still? I guess it was, technically. “I’m great, thanks for asking. And, actually, Blaise went home just a few hours ago. Are you free for a surprise visit to his place?”

Then Amy took a sip of her hot chocolate, which had just cooled off to the perfect temperature. She could have timed this phone call better, she realized.

“Absolutely. Glad he’s alright.” Mariko replied, rubbing her eyes with the back of her wrist as she pushed herself to sit up in her bed. “Text me his address and I’ll meet you over there in, oh... thirty or forty minutes?”

That should be more than enough time to take a quick shower, and grab a quick cup of coffee so she could be fully awake and alert. Which reminded her... “Oh, and I’ll probably stop by for coffee somewhere on the way. Want me to pick something up for you guys too?”

“Thirty to forty minutes is perfect.” It would give her time to finish up her drink and her sandwich, then go in for that shower. “Actually, Blaise lives in the Tension dorms, so if you wanna swing by the gym, we can walk over together.” Because that’s where she’d been for the past few hours now, trying to sweat off her stress into the heavy bags and the pool.

Amy put down her mug, grateful for Mariko’s offer. “Thanks! I’m good, though, and Blaise doesn’t drink coffee. But I’d bet he’d like a juice.” Amy craned her neck over the back of her chair to look over at the juice bar behind her. “Actually, I’ll take care of Blaise. Text me when you get to the gym, and I’ll come out and meet you.”

“Alright then. I’ll meet you at the gym in just a little while. See you soon.” And with that, Mariko hang up and pulled herself out of bed, then took off her clothes before heading into the shower. The feeling of the hot water against her skin helped wake her up quite a bit, but coffee was still going to be needed to get the rest of the job done.

So after getting out and drying off several minutes later, she threw on a pair of skinny jeans, a plain blue tank top and a pair of flats, then was out the door. Mariko headed to a Starbucks conveniently located just down the street. Fortunately there weren’t too many people to wait in line behind, so it didn’t take long to get her drink. Never one to get too picky about this kind of thing, she just went with a normal cup of coffee, with lots of cream and lots of sugar.

Another benefit to living where she did was her close proximity to the ring. No car or even a taxi was needed. After about a 10 minute walk, she was standing at the entrance to Tension’s arena, then walked inside and headed for the gym.

When she arrived, Mariko opened the door and went right in, then pulled out her phone to see how she was doing on time. “Looks like I’m a bit early.” she said, then moved to seat herself on the apron of the gym’s ring to wait for Amy, unaware that the blonde was already there somewhere...

Thirty to forty minutes; that was a lot of time. Amy savored her food. Whoever made the sandwiches that morning must have been distracted, because her katsu sando came with an extra portion of meat, making it twice as thick as its brothers. It was really the only reason she decided to buy it at all- nice!

Then she curled up in her seat and slowly sipped her drink, gazing out over the parking lot through the window. The hot chocolate was an impulse buy, too. It wasn’t cold out, but it was overcast, just as it had been all week- perfect hot cocoa weather. Well, almost, Amy thought as she took another sip. The forecast had promised her that the day would stay dry, but a bit of rain would have been nice here.

The original plan was to get a banana and a bottle of chilled water- a quick refueling before hitting the floor again. But news of Blaise’s release buzzed her phone while she was in line- no serious injuries, everything in working order, a bit of rest and he’ll be as good as new- and her short break evolved into a sudden lunch.

Amy relaxed, hands stinging from the heat of the mug. Dreary is a nice word. Dreary.

When she finally wrapped up her meal, twenty minutes had gone by, giving her just enough time to shower before Mariko was slated to arrive. But, instead, she returned to the line, this time to buy a smoothie for Blaise. I really should do this after washing up, Amy thought lazily. But when Amy next stepped onto the gym floor, it was with a tall plastic cup of “Wrestler’s Colada” in hand.

Amy did feel a little gross. She'd gotten most of her sweat off onto the towel currently around her neck, so she was no longer drenched. But she could smell herself, which meant that other people could probably smell her too. Plus, it would have been nice to change out of her workout attire- a sky blue sports bra and black compression shorts- so a shower probably would have been the smart move. But maybe Amy was reluctant because she wasn't ready to end her workout just yet, not when she hadn't achieved what she had started out to do. Mariko hadn’t texted, which meant that she still had a little time, enough perhaps to fiddle with some machines. Not a lot though, which was too bad, since a quick spar would have really hit the spot.

Amy eyed the tall woman sitting patiently on the edge of the gym ring. If only she had the time.

...Oh wait, that’s Mariko.

Amy picked up her pace, approaching with a smile. “Hey! You got here quick.” When Amy got to Mariko, she touched her free hand warmly to Mariko’s bare shoulder. “You look really good in those jeans.”

Mariko sipped on her coffee while her eyes scanned around the room, looking at all the various occupants of the gym. Although, she wasn’t paying too much attention to the people she saw. She was just looking out for Amy, and doubted she would be too difficult to spot considering the gym wasn’t particularly crowded today. Still, it was Amy who spotted Mariko first.

By the time her eyes found the blonde, Amy was already heading her way, with a smile on her face and a smoothie in her hand. “Hey, Amy.” Mariko while returning the smile , and hopped down from the apron. “Thanks.” she replied when complimented on her jeans. “I like that top. Really matches your eyes.” Even aside from the fact that Amy both looked and smelled like she’d just finished up a workout not long ago, she still looked great. Or at least, Mariko thought so.

“So, crazy night last night, huh?” she said with a light chuckle. But her smile then began to wane a bit. “Hey, listen... I’m sorry I didn’t take you guys up on your offer the first time around. I thought staying out of all of this would be the smart thing to do, but,... I guess that was a pretty naive assumption on my part. But I want you to know I’m all in. And not just because Sellers booked the match already. I want to fight with you guys to make sure the Valkyries get everything they deserve at Climax.”

Before now, Mariko had hardly even considered how Amy or Blaise might’ve felt about her suddenly joining the fray after initially backing down from the opportunity. She hoped there were no hard feelings, and that what she just said would help dispel any that might’ve been there.

“So, I think I’m ready to head over to the dorms whenever you are, unless there’s anything else you need to do here first...” Mariko said. She was eager to get down to business, but had no intention of rushing Amy.

Amy laughed. “Thanks; it does, doesn’t it?” A lot of her clothes did; it was her favorite color. She didn’t know if it was her favorite color because it matched her eyes, but she'd never bothered to find out; she was afraid of what the answer might be.

Amy picked up whatever Mariko lost in her smile and returned her hand to Mariko’s shoulder, this time adding a genial squeeze. “Don’t sweat it. You joined up at the right perfect time, and we’re glad to have you on the team. Speaking of which, I never thanked you for saving our asses last night, so thanks. You were like a pissed-off superhero; it was a pleasure to watch you work.”

Amy was curious about what brought the change, but she figured that she could ask later. Right now, though, “I’m good to go. Just let me grab my shit from the lockers real quick. Do you mind holding-?” She held out Blaise's drink with an unspoken 'please'.

Mariko didn’t know what sort of response to expect from Amy, though resentment from the blonde wouldn’t have been all too surprising. So when she instead felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder and heard Amy’s words, a wave of relief washed over the Japanese beauty, and her smile quickly returned. Especially at the compliment over her part in the impromptu brawl the previous night.

“The pleasure was all mine.” she replied with a chuckle. Mariko certainly hadn’t felt joyful during the fight, but it really had felt good to finally get her hands on the Valkyries, even if only for a little while. That was alright. There was still Climax to look forward to, after all.

“Sure thing. I'll be right out here.” Mariko answered when Amy held out the drink, then took it from her so the blonde could go get her things. And while she waited she hopped back up to sit on the apron of the ring and sipped her way through some more of her coffee, though she tried to save some of it so she’d have something to drink while they were visiting Blaise.