Surprise Guests

Gwendolyn's posh demeanor remained unfazed from Gabbie's ill-tempered outburst. The lack of discipline and respect from Junko's baggage handler demonstrating to Gwendolyn that the Dojo was just as ineptly guided as she thought. The heiress raised an eyebrow at the cracks in the Dojo's unified front, already formulating further methods of poking and prodding at the Dojo members before the familiar voice of her beloved would interrupt the proceedings...

Any eagle-eyed members of the Dojo may have picked on the subtle cues in Gwen's reaction to Nik's appearance, her hazel-eyed gaze lightening up with a wholesome smile burgeoning across her face. Resisting the urge to reflexively fly into her lover's arms and shower her with unbridled affection, Gwen would instead keep the facade up until Nikolette had been given enough time to gather herself and assess the situation.

"Greetings, Madam Tesla...I'm ever so thrilled you could join us on this propitious occasion~..." Gwen cheerfully chimed in while elegantly stepping towards the confused engineer until they were fairly close to each other. "While I may have had my own business to attend to in this fine establishment, pertaining to certain difficult decisions..." Gwen would emphasize those words in the hope that Nik would catch on to the true intentions of her visit. They were the exact words Gwen used in regards to them coming clean with their torrid relationship during their last intimate rendezvous.

"...it appears the timing for my visit has coincided with another celebratory occasion. Allow me to introduce Julia's siblings, Joshua and Jesse Rogers." Gwen would exaggeratedly wave a hand in their direction for a grandiose gesture and introduction. "Josh...Jess...allow me to introduce you to Ms. Nikolette Tesla. Perhaps the most talented competitor in this room...aside from myself, of course~..." Gwen brightly stated, joyfully promoting her beloved while referring to Joshua and Jessie by their nicknames as if they were indeed all one big happy family.

"Madame..." Nikolette wrinkled her nose at Gwendolyn. Even though she knew her lover to be formal and understood she would be formal to people who didn't know they were involved, that was just weird. However, her incredulous look vanished when the two words finished off Gwendolyn's sentence. Nikolette's face blanched briefly and she turned nervously to look at the other girls in the room. She swallowed hard and opened her mouth but Gwendolyn continued.

She looked back at Jesse and Josh and scrutinized them a bit. She hadn't heard anything about what was going on but that didn't really matter. Any family of Julia's was family of Nik's as far as the Serb was concerned.

"Uhh, nice to meet y'all!" Nikolette said with a friendly wave of her hand and a bright smile, her Eastern European accent coming out thickly in her drawl. She then looked towards Gwendolyn and eyed her. She knew her lover was haughty and she didn't mind it and she knew she was arrogant and she could handle that, but the situation was weird and she wasn't exactly sure if she appreciated Gwendolyn keeping up appearances as the wolf in sheep's clothing especially when she  had decided, without Nikolette's consent, to bring up a topic of conversation that Nikolette wasn't sure she could handle right this second in this fashion.

"Nik's fine, really and, I just work hard. Gwendolyn's just bein kind..."

Junko had been watching their interactions and carefully narrowed her eyes to scrutinize the pair. "Yes..." She said. "She is..." Junko stepped forward. "So, Gwendolyn-san... How about you actually tell us why you're here, hm? There's only one girl left in this house who isn't in this room and I'm fairly sure you don't want her interrupting you." Junko said, referring to Akashi who was still in the gym.

Though none of them said anything, all three of the Rogers siblings entirely agreed with Gabbie. But before anything else could come from that part of the conversation, it took another unexpected turn as Nik entered the scene. Neither Josh nor Jesse were familiar with her, though Gwen set about fixing that little issue, which only further drove the annoyance of Julia’s brother and sister. Not so much due to the fact that they were being introduced to Nik as the fact that Gwen was acting as if there was a hint of genuine friendliness between them, which couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“Likewise.” Josh said to Nik with a nod, at least attempting to be somewhat polite. Jesse neither budged nor spoke. That is, until Nik’s last comment. “That’s one way to put it...” she muttered, less as a sleight against Nik than it was against Gwen. But no one said anything after that, and all eyes were soon back on the heiress when Junko asked Gwen why she was there. Even after all the riling up the surprise “guest” had done since her arrival, the true purpose behind it still was completely unknown to Julia, Josh and Jesse.

Nikolette's reserved modesty would have only compelled Gwen to boast onward and prop her on the highest of pedestals had their not been other, more pressing matters to attend to. Junko's obnoxious insistence about finally unveiling the ultimate purpose behind her social visit appeared to be the point of no return for Gwen, the heiress apparently having exhausted the entirety of everyone's patience in a miraculously short amount of time.

"...Indeed...I do suppose my welcome has been sufficiently worn out, and the root of the matter needs to be tended to..." Gwen somberly stated, a gravely sincere inflection in her tone while handing Junko her empty tea cup.

"...Hmm...you'll have to excuse me. I'm finding it rather challenging to...I'm afraid the proper words are escaping me at the moment..." Gwen furrowed her brow and looked towards the floor, propping her chin under her index finger in sullen contemplation. The plethora of ways to approach this subject had left her unable of deciding how best to even begin telling this tale. She was certainly not accustomed to being at a loss for words...it thoroughly vexed her.

After several seconds of introspective thought, Gwen would turn her attention back towards Nik...a radiant smile beaming across her face once the answer dawned on her.

Daintily placing her gloved hands on Nik's cheeks, Gwen's lips softly touched hers. The heiress hummed blissfully into the caressing embrace of their lips with her hazel eyes closed, one of her hands reaching up to clasp the sweaty towel on Nik's head and fling it in Julia's general direction. Allowing her dear engineer's hair to flow wildly behind her and unfettered in this one beautifully sensual and assuredly jaw-dropping moment. Tilting her head out of the kiss and staring contently into Nik's emerald eyes with a rosy blush on her cheeks, Gwen proceeded onward after having found the inspiration she needed.

"Ms. Engineer and I have been romantically entangled ever since our first encounter in the Friction World Cup. Ever since that fateful day, what began as mere flickering sparks has been fanned into something substantially more...heated. Our relationship has been tested through rugged seas and personal downfalls, surviving every tumultuous obstacle thrown our way only by relying on each other in our times of need. And now, we've both come to the realization that maintaining it's secrecy only now seems to endanger it...so, we've decided to move forward in unveiling it to the world. And weather any further storm that should come of our actions~..."

Nikolette blushed when Gwendolyn touched her cheek. She looked down nervously. She had seen Gwendolyn struggle for how to approach and more than once she thought about just blurting it out but when the heiress pressed her lips against hers, She was shocked. She nearly pulled away, afraid of what might happened, but when she felt her lovers lips, She pressed forward.

Her arms wrapped around Gwendolyn's and she pressed the kiss. She kissed her lover with emphatic passion but knew she had to pull back when the point was proven and decency was at stake. Turning to face her dojo sisters, Nikolette's hand slipped around Gwendolyn's waist.

"It's true." She said shyly. "We've been datin fer about two years now..." Nikolette turned her head. "It wasn't somethin I wanted ta hide, especially not from y'all, but..." Her eyes refused to look up at the group. "There were just, uh, reasons for it..." She said. "But, uh..." Nikolette looked at Gwendolyn. "I am... we are... we'lll, we're in love for sure." Nikolette said nervously. She had no clue how it might play.

Alaina had sat back, listening to the whole thing and ready to back up Julia if Gwendolyn tried to pull anything funny. This however, was far from funny. Really, Alaina had no idea what to think of that announcement. She was shocked into total disbelief, shaking her head and blinking her eyes. Did Gwendolyn really just say that?

Did they just kiss like that?!

.....I did not see that one coming...." Is all the stunned amazonian woman could say. She looked over to Junko, Julia and the rest, just to see if they saw what she saw.

The suspense definitely built up while Gwen tried to find the right way to explain herself, which was a bizarre sight in and of itself to Julia. Gwen, speechless? That entire concept was completely foreign to the cowgirl, though it certainly wasn’t one she minded. But as strange as that was, it was absolutely nothing in comparison the heiress suddenly grabbing onto Nik and making out with her, right there in front of practically the whole dojo!

Julia, Josh and Jesse simultaneously gasped in shock, and all three of their jaws dropped. And then...Nik was kissing her back!!! WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON??? Even when the towel was flung right onto Julia’s face, she was too stunned to react. She just stayed completely still while it slid off of her and dropped onto the floor.

Then, finally, Gwen announced the previously hidden relationship between herself and Nik. Julia would’ve found the notion entirely ridiculous, if not for the engineer’s active participation in that sudden makeout session and her affirmation of Gwen’s words. In a day full of big surprises, this one was almost too much for Julia to take. Other than shocked beyond all comprehension, she had no idea what her own thoughts even were about this. Her brain’s futile attempt to grasp everything started to make her feel a bit lightheaded.

“I....... I don’t..know what to say....” was all the dumbfounded luchadora could bring herself to say. Her siblings were just as shocked, silent and clueless as to how to even react.

Junko had been just as surprised as everyone else and even the older woman found herself without much to say. It was the young, blonde kohai that seemed to watch the scene with annoyance rather than shock. She was surprised, for sure, but after the dust settled and she stared at all the mouths agape, she decided to clear the air.

"Fine. Whatever. Congratulations." She said finally, bowing her head politely. "Nikolette's a class act as far as I'm concerned." She added. "And from what I've seen and what I've heard, her girlfriend hasn't rubbed off on her one bit. It's pretty sad it hasn't gone the other way, but as long as she continues to be respectful to us and to the dojo, her business is her business even if I ... can't really understand it."

Gabbie weaved through the small crowd. "If she's happy, it's none of my business. I'm just glad I don't have to deal with it." She said, knowing how difficult it must been to stay neutral during the whole mess with Gwendolyn and the dojo. "I'm going back to the gym. I have a match to get ready for."

Junko watched Gabbie leave and looked around. "Two years?" She said finally. "Nik-chan..."

The overwhelmingly slack-jawed reaction was about what the heiress had anticipated, though in hindsight she wished she had somehow thought of a way to immortalize this moment through some manner of hidden camera. The enamored and admittedly farfetched couple embracing each other in public for the first time and perhaps in front of the most appropriate audience.

As loquaciously verbose as she could come off, in this one instance Gwen honestly preferred Nik's more succinct explanation of their relationship. Her naturally calm demeanor softening up with doe-eyed contentment and blissful smiles the longer Nik held them tightly together, never wavering from locking eyes with her dear engineer until the baggage handler tainted the mood and stormed off. The heiress watching her rudely excuse herself before turning her head back to the remaining Dojo members.

"Hmm...certainly not quite the announcement you were expecting, I'd imagine." Gwen said, uttering perhaps the defining understatement of the year. "Well, when I first joined the ranks of this uncivilized league, amongst amateurish luchadoras and boorish Amazons, the absolute last thing I expected to find was...someone." Gwen turned her attention back to Nik after subtly poking jabs at certain Dojo members, extending her arms over Nik's shoulders and staring longingly into her emerald eyes, Nik's sweaty warmth and the rubbing of their chest adding to the heated chemistry between them. "Someone who genuinely made me...happy~...They say you can't choose whom you fall in love with, and in this instance, I'm actually rather grateful for that fact. Because I honestly don't believe I could have chosen anyone better~...*giggle*...Given my rather sordid history with this Dojo, and the shining spotlight that would be cast upon us both from the media fallout, surely you can understand our need for discretion in this matter."

Nikolette furrowed her brow a bit at Gwendolyn as she spoke, but still kept one arm loosely around her. "C'mon, Gwennie." She said, nudging her lover a bit. She knew that Gwendolyn had a bad habit of poking and prodding people, but these girls were her family and she loved them as much as she loved Gwendolyn, just as sisters and not lovers. She hoped that Gwendolyn could understand that poking the bear in the den was just going to make Nikolette as upset as anyone else but she tried to ignore it past a little bit of nudging.

"She makes me happy too though." Nikolette said. "And, I dunno how to explain it. I don't even try. When we met, I thought my heart was somewhere else or no where at all. I'd been burned too many times and we weren't even supposed ta be anythin but opponents." Nikolette shrugged. "I dunno. I hope y'all don't think of me any different. I ain't." She said. "I'm still a part of this dojo one hundred percent and that ain't gonna change. No one knew about us fer nearly two years so I hope that we can continue to not make a fuss over it. I'd appreciate that and I know Gwennie would too."

Nikolette looked atlooked at her haughty blonde lover then back tot he group. "It's just you guys when it comes ta me. I really don't care if the whole world knows, but there's more at stake fer Gwendolyn. She's got a reputation ta keep up and things're..." Nikolette paused. She didn't need to go into the details of it.