Warm Souls

Sayo rocked back and forth on the bench. She was wearing a black jacket with Kuro the frog on it, ear muffs and yellow leggings. Even so, she was freezing in the winter weather. Her little frame didn't shrug off the cold like others could. She contemplating texting Charlie to meet her in the nearest store instead, but he was only a few minutes away. She didn't want to be a bother.

And it made her feel a little warmer knowing little Angel was probably even colder than her; if only because she knew it could be worse.

Nevertheless, Sayo shivered as she rubbed her gloved hands together repeatedly, looking around for Charlie.

"Come on girl, Sayo is waiting for us!" Charlie said as he made his way to the park with Angel. Charlie was in jeans and a warm, grey jacket along with his workbooks. Angel was wearing a little yellow dog sweater, trotting along happily. Charlie's recovery was coming along nicely, at least as far as everything he had control of. He heard about Alaina's meeting with Aurora and Talia backstage after her match with Talia. It made Charlie's blood boil for sure, and he'd been back into training again.

However, having Angel at home was a breath of fresh air. She managed to help him cope with losing his old buddy L.C. Now he was going to meet the lady who Angel was more or less responsible for setting him up with. He saw Sayo in the distance and picked up his pace a bit. "Heya Sayo, sorry to keep you waiting!" Charlie said as he approached, giving her a big hug as soon as he made it over to the bench, finally taking a seat after the embrace.

Sayo was rocking her head back and forth to J-pop music when she saw the two out of the corner of her eye. She pulled the earbuds out and jumped up. She squeezed Charlie back tightly with a big smile on her face. "Hello Charlie. It's okay, I wasn't waiting long!" Sayo bent down above the adorable little dog and scratched her behind the ears. The mixed dachshund wagged her tail happily. "Look at you two cuties...I love the sweater."

The girl then straightened up and looked at Charlie as he sat down. "Nonono, let's...let's go someplace a little warmer. How about a bite to eat?"

Charlie kept his arm around Sayo as Angel happily wagged her tail soaking up all the attention that she could. "Food is always good for me babe." Charlie said as he kissed her on the cheek, looking up at the sidewalks to see if there was something that caught his eye.

"I could totally go for Tai's Taco Stand, but its a bit of a walk. There is that noodle place right over there thats closer..." Charlie said as he motioned with his head towards a nearby ramen joint. To him food was food and he would eat nearly anything. However, right now above all else he wanted Sayo to be happy. He hoped that one of the choices would appeal to her. Angel barked once and kept walking between the two, demanding attention. Charlie happily obliged by picking her up and petting her.

Sayo casually rubbed Angel down the sweater to her little furry butt, loving how healthy and happy the little dog now looked. She was so different from the stray she first found awhile ago. And the change made Sayo warmer than any sweater could.

But not quite warm enough to stand around. "Either works for me," she said back with a smile. "We could walk to the Taco place though," Sayo continued while wrapping her arms tightly around Charlie for warmth. "How have you been lately?"

Charlie smiled at Sayo. She had a warming effect on him, like nothing in the world could possibly be wrong when she was around. "All righty, Tai's Tacos it is!" Charlie said as the three began to make their way over. Charlie also knew Tai would be pet friendly so it was a double win.

"Things are going great... I am training again and back on track." Charlie said with a slight pause. "Well, like, my crazy ex is being crazy and shit but other than her acting up things are great." Charlie smiled softly as if he was hoping Sayo wouldn't dig into details about Talia. If she watched Friction, then she likely knew about what happened between Talia and Alaina recently in their match. Charlie didn't crush on Alaina anymore, but she was still like an over-achieving little sister to him. "Whats new on your end babe? How has everything been?"

Sayo squeezed Charlie a little tighter when he mentioned his ex. Talia had come up from time to time but Sayo never probed too far into it. After all, it always seemed to get him so riled up and annoyed. And she hated to see him that way. "Everything's been okay. I've been working hard at training too. The coordinator says he might have a match for me soon, so I'm excited!" Despite her answer, Sayo's mind was stuck on Charlie's ex.

The taco place came into distant view, and Sayo quickened her pace a little bit. "Are you okay with the winter weather here?" she asked while tugging Charlie along. "Much different from California, isn't it?"

"Awesome! I bet you will step in there and take it to whoever they sign you up to fight!" Charlie said encouragingly to his new girlfriend. He would do all he could to help her out and get started again on the right foot. Say always brightened his day, so it was his turn to do the same for her.

Charlie shivered a bit when Sayo mentioned his old southern California winters, or lack thereof. Sun all year round was great, especially when there wasn't any snow to go along with it. Sure, snow was great for some things but Charlie just wasn't a cold weather guy. "I miss my San Diego non-winters to be honest but its really not that bad, I just have to remember to dress warm enough and its all good babe." Charlie said as he held onto Sayo's hand with his non-dog holding hand. Angel looked over at the two with a happy expression on her face, complete with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

Sayo nodded to the encouragement. She wasn't as confident as he said she should be, but she loved the support nonetheless. She had a looooot of work to do before she would be ready for a real fight. She'd seen how rough the matches can get, and she lately had felt in over her head. But that was a problem she didn't need to burden Charlie with for now.

"Well...it's only a few months so hang in there." Sayo then reached out to take Angel from Charlie's hand. She held her in front firmly with both hands. "You too you little dog." It probably sounded cuter in her head. They arrived at Tai's and immediately Sayo showed relief to be out of the cold. She placed Angel on the ground and rubbed her arms to ward off the cold.

The two found a table and sat down. As they looked over the menu, Sayo made a few faces at the different menu items. She didn't eat out a whole lot, and tacos were a new things for her. Not that she hadn't seen them before on television and the internet. "What should I get?"

Charlie sat down with Sayo and Angel, who happily sat right next to Charlie in a small booth. "I like the burritos here, and the plain tacos are more than just plain. You really can't go wrong babe." Charlie said, flashing a warm smile. It seemed like all he did was smile these days. There was just such a nasty stretch where the last thing he ever wanted to do was smile. After all he couldn't smile when he had a bottle up to his lips.

He was so glad those days were over. He sent out a fair share of thank you notes to people but he still had to go out and do more. Especially for Alaina and Carmen. Still, the little lady sitting across from him was the best thing to happen to him. He had felt that way about someone once, but he was sure that this time things would be diffferent. No meltdown. No walking out. As Charlie felt certain about the way things were going, his smile only got bigger. "So whatcha gonna get? If you like it a lot we can come here for your first match back celebration!"

Angel let out a small woof of agreement.