Break on Through

Gabbie watched as Taylor moved away and got some glasses out. She was glad the tension passed for the moment and carefully watched the blonde. A glass of juice sounded kind of good, but when the alcohol was poured into it, Gabbie blinked.

She remained still, even as the drink was passed to her and then looked down at it like it was an alien. "Ummm..." She said shyly, turning her head a bit.

"I've never actually drank before..." She said as her cheeks continued to redden and she stared at the glass. "But, uhh...." Gabbie looked up at Taylor. She didn't want to seem rude so she lifted up the glass and gave it a quick sniff. Her nose wrinkled instantly. "I think just this once is fine, but should I...?" How was she supposed to do it? Just throw it back in one gulp?

Taylor's brow lifted in surprise and she couldn't help but crack a smile at the little Canadian. "Aw, Gabbers," she said, and put a hand behind the girl's neck to drawn her in, and touched her forehead against hers.

"Don't worry, no pressure or anything. Pour some juice if you want, but I'm a total lightweight, anyway. I have a drink like a couple times a year. It's one of the things I told myself I wouldn't do, so I could make myself a perfect athlete and unstoppable killing machine 'n junk. But... Turns out that being wound too tight means you eventually snap, so I've been really trying to loosen up lately. So here's to that."

She held up her glass and clinked it against Gabbie's. "To being more of an animal in the ring, and less of one outside of it." She took a smallish sip, and closed her eyes for a moment when the vodka-like liquor warmed her insides.

"I love tangerines. Nectarines are my favorite fruit. I've been super depressed since getting back." She shrugged. "Coming down off the high of being back in New York, and seeing Cassie, and getting this belt back... Killer. Rough stuff. Cassie's doing awesome, by the way. And she's letting her hair grow out. You knew her when she had long hair, right?"

"That's why I haven't had anything." Gabbie stated. She looked at the drink while Taylor spoke. She didn't think she was an animal at all, but one drink wasn't going to kill her. She never was one to shy away from trying  new things, either.

Gabbie watched Taylor drink it and then took a deep breath. She threw back the shot and then coughed when it hit the back of her throat. She shut her eyes and stuck her tongue out and then shook her head back and forth. "Why ... why would someone drink that!?" She exclaimed. "Yuck! It makes the juice taste nasty!"

Gabbie shook her head again as her cheeks reddened. "No... Not again." She declared and looked up at Taylor. "I like blueberries the best." She said in response. "It's because they are tart, but if you cook with them, they become sweet. My muh-mah makes the best blueberry pie ever." She said, smiling faintly as she thought about it.

"Yeah, I've known her my whole life." She said about Cassie. "We're almost the same age, so we pretty much grew up around each other. When we started to get serious about competitive fighting, she was in Jiu Jitsu, of course. Since Nikki took that up and is the same age, they were always together more. I did my own thing. I stuck with Savate, which is what our family trains, and then went on to boxing and kickboxing."

Gabbie looked down, tucking her chin into her neck. "Also... please don't call me that. Gabbers. It's too childish. Nikki calls me that but she's my sister and... she's still pretty much a kid but I don't like it anymore. Gabrielle's too fancy, so Gabbie's fine." The blonde muttered to Taylor, touching her cheek and feeling the warmth from the alcohol. It still burned a bit.

Taylor nodded and took another small sip while Gabbie spoke. She raised an eyebrow at the way she downed the whole damned drink at once, but... She'd learn quicker that way, she supposed.

"I promise I'll only call you that when I want to piss you off," she said with a smile, and raised her glass. She took another sip. "I've always just been Taylor. A few losers have called me Tay, one loser has tried calling me Tay-Tay just to piss me off. I used to go by Taylor Sparks when I was a nineteen-year-old rookie, but I grew out of it pretty quick. I'm not, like, ashamed of it anymore, though."

She rolled the spiked juice around on the rim of the glass and wondered briefly how things were going with Haruna. That girl was going to be a handful, and to be honest she didn't think it would last long, but they had to try their best all the same.

Gabbie was pretty difficult, too, but in a less villainous way.

"I've thought about moonlighting a little, ya know, and doing some kickboxing fights. I think I'd get to the top there pretty quick. But now that I'm Friction champ again, it just wouldn't be right for me to go off and do other things, so... Maybe I can just fight you now and again."

Gabbie smiled a little bit. "That name is pretty dumb. I'd still be ashamed of it." Gabbie shook her head. "I don't really like nicknames... except for Gabbie. It's fine to just be yourself. It's who you're going to be anyway, so it's natural to embrace it. It feels better anyway."

Gabbie looked at her empty glass and then at the juice. She poured some juice only to help cleanse the alcohol from her palette. "If you ever want to lose a kickboxing match, I'll be happy to help you out. I can't be getting rusty while I'm training with wrestling and it's the least I can do for getting this training from you. I have to say though, I have missed my gloves in the wrestling ring. I haven't even had a boxing match since I've joined Momentum. Friction has taken up all my time. It's a little annoying."

Gabbie furrowed her brow and took a drink of juice. "But... I have more to prove in Friction than in Momentum. You still think I'm going to run into someone who's going to beat me down hard and I'll give up. I'm only going back to Canada to visit." She reassured Taylor.

Taylor only shrugged and finished her drink. "Could be worse."

She set her glass down and hopped up to sit on the counter with her hands stuffed in the pocket of her sweatshirt. With Gabbie's provocation, she found herself with some real motivation to get in the gym for the first time since getting back.

"Nah. I'd win," she said confidently. She gave Gabbie a nudge with her foot with a lopsided grin. "And yeah, maybe. You never really know how you'll react to crushing defeat until you're there. Like, what happens when you lose everything. Where do you go from there."

She looked down at her hands and squeezed them into fists. She knew exactly how she reacted to crushing defeats. She had had so many setbacks in her career and in her life. She could feel the wear and tear on her body and her soul adding up, but at the same time the payoffs were so much bigger now. She had everything she wanted right now, except a win in her next title defense. There was always something else.

"Ya know my red gloves? That I wear in the ring? They fit super tight, it's like wearing hand wraps. They're pretty awesome. I got the idea after I broke my hand on Akashi's head. That's the idea, though. when something breaks, you figure out how to fix it, and the second you get scared of breaking it and try to avoid it, you lose. I can definitely show you all the places where you need to be better as a wrestler, but... We'll take it slow."

"Speaking of..." She nodded, and pulled her sweatshirt off over her head and tossed it on the back of a chair, leaving her in just her bright red sports bra and yoga pants. "I've been slacking off for long enough. Let's get at it until mom gets back, then you and her can have the talk."

"Only in your dreams."

Gabbie replied back with a serious look, listening to the rest of what Taylor said. She knew what the blonde was trying to say and she understood it well enough but she liked to think she could bring herself to a point where that wasn't going to happen. Even if she lost a match, she wasn't going to get broken like that. And, if by some chance she DID, she knew she could make it through it. She HAD to.

Gabbie brushed all of that aside. She was eager to train but as she followed Taylor, she furrowed her brow when she mentioned Junko. Why did she say it like that?

**********

Nicole's bunny ears dipped up and down as she strolled through the bustling city. Nicole had convinced her friend Hayley to join her on a jog that took them from the AFW facility all the way to Junko Higurashi's house. She knew that Gabbie was supposed to officially join the dojo today and Nicole wanted to be there to see her little sister off on her next adventure. She'd even packed her a nice lunch!

However, Ace had told her about everything that happened between them, but Nicole had convinced the girl that she just wanted to stop by. Nicole wasn't looking to cause any problems, but she still wanted to see her sister. If they could just stop by, Nicole would be quick. Hayley could even wait outside. it wouldn't be so bad, really.

Finally, Nicole stopped in front of the house and leaned over to catch her breath. She pulled a bottle of water from her knapsack, took a drink and passed the bottle to Hayley.

"Ok, I'll just be a minute, I promise!" She chirped and went up to the door and rand the bell. She then started to fish out the lunch she brought for Gabbie.

Hayley nodded, waterfalling a short drink from Nicole's bottle as she waited in the driveway, nervously shuffling her feet. The two of them had been hanging out a bit more recently, and the run had been pretty enjoyable so far, until she realized they were going to Junko's house, where Taylor's Dojo did all of its Dojo activities.

It was probably silly of her to be nervous like she was, but she really couldn't help it. Her and Taylor were never really on GOOD terms, and every single time she had been in Taylor's home, as well the one time she had been at Junko's before, she had ended up making a scene and pissing Taylor off.

As if that wasn't enough, the fact that Taylor has won the world title back recently, and that Julia and Alaina were co-Entropy champs, made her more nervous. The Dojo was on top of all AFW, and she was outside their headquarters, with a history of pissing their leader off. She was hoping that, if Nicole just made her visit a quick one and Hayley stayed outside, maybe she'd be able to avoid any issues this time and just keep going with the fun run she and her bunny eared friend had been having.

Alaina had been resting and walking in the direction of the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Clad in jeans and an old Journey t-shirt Alaina began heading towards the door. "I got it!" Alaina called out as she neared the door. She wasn't entirely sure who would be there, and she doubted anyone expected to see her first thing at the door.

Alaina opened it up and at first was highly confused. Bunny ears? "Oh.... hello there?" Alaina blurted out, still confused about this woman's choice of headgear. Alaina was baffled but snapped back to it when she saw Ace there... a much more familiar face. "Oh! Heya Ace, how's it going? Is Taylor or Junko expecting ya? Do you want to come in?" Alaina asked as she held the door open, stepping aside so the two women could pass.

"Oh, heya, Alaina, eheh!" Nicole chirped when Alaina opened the door. "I'm just here to see Gabbers. She's in, right?" The red head asked. "I just wanted to deliver her some lunch on her first big day! I'll only be a minute, eheh."

Nicole looked back to Ace and shrugged.. See... it's not so bad. You know someone here! Was what her look silently said.